Never Give up!

This is a really inspiring video for anyone who is going through a tough time. This great dad and son video is a great reflection of how God responds to us when we most need him. Seeing this father come and support his son reminds me and encourages me to be the same supportive dad to my 3 boys. At the same time, I hope and pray that each of my boys will have the determination to see their race through to the end!

What a great video!

http://www.godtube.com/featured/video/never-give-life

Get 'Em While They're Young

How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to Your word. PSALM 119:9
For many years George Barna has been a leading researcher on Church and cultural trends in America. When he appeared on our radio broadcast, I posed a question I'd always wanted to ask him: "What was the most stunning set of data you ever received?"
This is a man who isn't stunned by much. Even though he's become well known for exposing very troubling patterns in our society, his findings rarely surprise him.
This one did. He took a national sample of 13-year-olds and compared them with a sampling of adults comprising every age segment. On 12 core spiritual perspectives, he discovered no difference between any of the groups. In other words, the things a person believes by age 13 are pretty much what he or she will die believing.
This tells me something: We don't need to wait until our children are teenagers before we expect them to be able to understand major biblical truths. Things like being saved by grace through faith, not by good deeds. Things like how our hearts are naturally inclined to sin and that as a result, they need forgiveness.
As Charles Spurgeon said, "A child who knowingly sins can savingly believe."
Dwight Moody was speaking to a group of children in Scotland when he rhetorically asked them, "What is sin?" One of the children replied, "Sin is transgression of the law of God"—straight out of the catechism. Amazed, Moody responded, "Children, you must thank God that you have grown up in Scotland"—where they were systematically taught the Bible from an early age.
I pray that our children will thank God they have grown up in our homes, where they are learning the Scriptures and learning how to live.
DISCUSS
See if you can list 8 to 10 vital Christian truths or concepts that you need to begin to teach (or continue teaching) to your kids.
PRAY
Pray that God would cement your own beliefs and convictions more clearly in your mind and show you how to communicate them in real-life ways to your family and others.
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At the front of the stage!

I recently had a great day out at a music event called the Big Church Day Out. Whilst there, it struck me that people were desperate to get to the front by the stage where the 'famous people' were. I started thinking, why do people do this? At times, we all aspire to be up on that stage - living the dream and proving to everyone how sucessful we've been as Christians. But sometimes, we lose focus of the fact that God aspires for us all to be successful in our own way -'His plan is to prosper us and not to harm us Jer 29:11'. For me, it is about producing Kingdom Fruit. Equipping the next generation to live a life which is Word based, Christ focussed and relationship driven through the Love of Christ. I hope and pray for the day that every Christian feels like one of the artists up on that stage and I am convinced that there is only one way to see that - For each of us to establish our lives on Jesus and the Word of God. I pray that our game helps to make children come into a living knowledge that they are successful, loved and confident; to press into the very throne of God and to dwell in His presence alone. What a great church that will be!

Family memories are made by quality time

I love my family and on a recent trip to Butlins (Minehead) we took the time to have running races on the beach! We can get so caught up with being busy that we dont find quality time to build memories with our children. This picture speaks a thousand words for me. We are all running as fast as we possibly can after taking staggered starts along the beach! The best part of all is that we all crossed the finish line at the same time! Life is a race and we find ourselves comparing our lives with other peoples. Do they have a better job, bigger car, more holiday entitlement or are they better at football or swimming! In the end it does not matter what everyone else is doing when your family are 100% behind you and encouraging you to be a winner.
Take pictures of your special family time and look back through them as a family to relive the special moments. Family always comes before work, don't fall into the trap of looking back on life and wondering where the time went!

Moorlands College - Testament Trumps Speach

I was recently invited by Colin Bennett and Steve Brady to share my vision for Testament Trumps at a Bible Fresh Event. It was great fun to share a little about our game and how it helps equip children and adults in the Word of God. Here is the link to the audio if you have 10 minutes free:

http://www.moorlands.ac.uk/audio/post10-9596/bible-fresh-testament-trumps-steve-strongman.php

Otherwise, search on google for Moorlands College, go to media, MP3's and second page - dadaar - there I am Steve Strongman, Testament Trumps. It was a bit nerve racking but the message got across I hope.

Aaron holding snake!

Here is the first pencil sketch of Aaron from our Testament Trumps game. You may recall that it was Aaron who threw Moses' staff on the ground so that it became a snake before Pharaoh. I imagine that if Aaron was a normal person like you or I, he might have been a little shocked at the outcome!

Under his arm there is a loudspeaker - 'he will speak to the people for you as if he were your mouth'Exodus 4:16

Oh lastly - there is a sheep hidden in the Hawaiian shirt - it's Abrahams pet 'Trojan'.

This is me!

Well, I guess that some people will want to see the face behind the game - so here goes - let me introduce myself. I'm Steve Strongman and I'm happily married to Veronica and have 3 boys aged 10, 8 and 6.

We have been working in church youth groups for about 15 years and have a passion to help people learn more about the bible. Not only that, we want to help equip families to play together, laugh together and grow together and believe that this can best be acheived by following Gods guidelines.

Dads - be Dads and make sure you are there for your children and your wife and make decisions for their sake not yours.

Mums - be gentle and kind and patient and be supportive of your husband

Kids - honour your parents.

It's not that simple, but hey, I'm just sharing for now and what better place to start off?

I look forward to sharing more of our vision as God continues to reveal it to us. I hope you enjoy sharing our stories, opportunities and successes as we continue to bring a contemporary and relevant message to a world that desperately needs more of God.