All Pro Dad is Family First’s innovative program helping men become better fathers. AllProDad.com is a one-stop resource where dads can find encouragement, ideas, information and videos. The site contains hundreds of Articles and Top 10 Lists to help dads engage their children in fun and creative ways.
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We introduced the song called “Here and Now” written by Eddie Kirkland a few weeks ago at church. The song is a great challenge for the church. The first verse states, “we want to be a people full of grace,” “we want to be a shelter where the broken find their place,” and “we want to be a light for the world to see.” Often I find myself complacent at church. I am often content with coming to church to see my friends, worship God and listen to the message. However, I think we are missing an important part. Don’t get me wrong, worship, sermons and community are huge parts of the church but how are we doing at being a welcoming church? I have the privilege of working on staff at College Park and I can say that Pastor Gary and Pastor Paul are doing some great things to help our church become a more welcoming church. To mention a few examples, they put up signs throughout the church that will help visitors move throughout the building. They search out new faces every Sunday morning and call new visitors throughout the week after they visit College Park. They have developed a new strategy transitioning visitors into College Park’s church body. I love that! Those things are all very important but what are we doing to be inviting? To have a truly welcoming community we need to do our part of the Great Commission. We need to seek out new faces at church. We need to live authentic lives at our workplace, at school and at home. We need to love others because we first were loved! I hope this song is encouraging and challenging for you. I am excited for what God is doing and will continue to do a College Park Church!
Here is the link to the song! Here and Now
Parenting is a high calling from the Lord, and it can get tough at times – especially when trying to discern the good influences from the bad in our culture. Sometimes it seems impossible to stay on top of what is going on with our kids in the midst of pop cultural influences such as music, movies, and video games. Fortunately, there are ministries dedicated to helping Christians be clued in to what is going on in our world. The following two websites have been very helpful to me as a youth pastor, dad, and Christ-follower who desires to be careful about what is being absorbed through media and culture.
Plugged in.com - www.pluggedin.com - This on-line ministry of Focus on the Family is geared to clue Christians in to the positive and negative content in media. It contains evaluations and reviews of books, videos, movies, music, and video games. It is very helpful in quickly finding out what kind of messages are contained in the media that people (especially youth) are being exposed to. I have found the movie reviews extremely helpful.
Center for Parent and Youth Understanding - www.cpyu.org - This website is the brainchild of youth ministry veteran Walt Mueller. It contains a wealth of great information about youth culture today including blog posts, links to articles relating to adolescent issues, parenting advice, and much more. They even have a “monthly parents page” you can sign up for. Although it may seem overwhelming when you first access the page, it is well worth time it takes to get used to navigating the site.
-Pastor Mark
Living on the Edge exists to help Christians live like Christians. Founded by pastor and author Chip Ingram, the ministry provides Biblical teaching and practical tools that help believers live out their faith on a daily basis by fulfilling God’s calling on their life.
Here is the link to the website- livingontheedge.org
Bible Gateway provides various translations of Scripture, the ability to listen to scripture online, Bible reading plans, study tools, and devotionals. Currently available is a 40 day devotional based on the writings of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Check it out at http://www.biblegateway.com/.
