Author: Kevin Spear

I am a content creator and storyteller based in Florida, where I work for OneHope. I love digital and content marketing, writing, and the occasional doodle.

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Cartoon: Act your Age

Whoever first gave the advice to act your age had no clue what they were talking about. I have seen mature seven-year-olds and immature seventy-year-olds. Who really sets up how someone should act at a certain age anyway?

Cartoon of an old man talking to a boy. The man says, "Anyone who tells you to act your age is a booger head!"

Generally, when someone gives this advice, they are telling the person to stop acting silly. Either that or a person is failing to take responsibility for their actions. There is a big difference between being childish and childlike.

Childishness and Responsibility

When I worked for an Arizona call center, I found it remarkable when young women would complain that their boyfriends or husbands were home all day playing video games while they worked. I believe that sort of immaturity has to be addressed with tough love. Any able-bodied person should work in whatever way they are able to.

That said, I knew how it felt to look for work and not find something that complimented my abilities. Here I was a guy with a graduate degree and working in a call center. Before that, I had worked at a grocery to pay bills while I looked for something that aligned with my skills.

I knew the responsible thing to do was work in some way while I found something better. Every adult can do something while they work to improve their situation. Video games and surfing the web do not count.

On the contrary, workers can be quite immature too. This article on bad habits that make you look immature at work is helpful. Gossiping and being unhelpful are two key bad qualities. Let’s be professional when we’re on the job!

Childish vs. Childlike

To be creative, we need to be childlike. A sense of wonder combined with playfulness and a willingness to look at things differently is essential. We all need to be a little childlike to embrace change and encourage innovation.

Also, to have fun, we need to be a little childlike. The best times on vacation is when adults let go with their kids and have a blast. That is why the commercials when kids are acting like adults while the parents are being silly are so effective.

This Advice can be quite subjective. I have often wondered if I’ve given the correct advice to my kids. What is the correct advice anyway? Yelling “Boogerhead!” and running away rarely works. How would I know? Don’t ask.

Editor’s Note: I originally published this blog on October 6, 2015. I revamped and updated it for timeliness and comprehensiveness.

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children's ministry cartoons

Cartoon: Old Curriculum

Change can be hard in churches and in children’s ministry. I remember one church that had some old curriculum dating back ten years or more. One of the teachers was comfortable with it and had no desire to update or refresh the lessons.

This led to the following cartoon idea:

Cartoon of two women with scrolls

Truths are timeless. But cultural references can get stale quickly. If you have a curriculum that references pet rocks, mimeographs, or George Beverly Shea, your lessons probably need to be updated.

That isn’t to say new is always better. Many churches are on tight budgets. Plus, lessons of the past can have a solid track record that the new curriculum can’t compete with. If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it, right?

Publishers and Old Curriculum

That said, I sympathize with publishing houses. After all, It is very difficult to keep a business going when past lessons work just fine. Is it the teacher’s problem that a publishing house needs to keep the lights on? No, but we lose something special when we lose a publisher due to economics.

I’ve been on the side of the teacher’s desk and the publisher’s. I’ve come to realize we need each other. Without innovation coming from publishers, we begin to lose our effectiveness to reach new generations. And without affordable options, teachers have to find ways to cut costs without losing their ability to reach kids.

In other words, Kids haven’t changed over the years, but culture sure has! What may have grabbed a child’s attention in the 1970s won’t do so now. Technology has grown and our attention spans have shrunk. We need to keep teaching timeless truths but do so in a dialect that speaks to today’s culture.

I drew this cartoon for Kidzmatter Magazine.

Editor’s Note: I originally published this blog on October 6, 2015. I revamped and updated it for timeliness and comprehensiveness.

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church cartoons technology cartoons

Texting to Give at Church

There was a time when giving at church was as easy as passing the offering plate down the aisle. But these days are different. Welcome to texting to give at church!

Of course, when a new technology appears, there is always someone trying to exploit it. When I thought about that, it led to this cartoon.

Cartoon of an annoyed man with a smartphone. He says, "While we do offer text-to-give, we cannot accept 'IOU" as your account number."

Granted, texting to give doesn’t allow for IOU’s. Because if that did exist, we know someone would exploit it. Rather, a donor’s cell phone carrier typically bills them.

Here is a good article on how text-to-give works for nonprofits and churches. The concept goes back to 2010 when the Red Cross raised funds for the earthquake in Haiti. At that time, the campaign raised $487.6 million for the cause.

Some of us would assume that church culture is not ready for text-to-give. But we would be wrong. According to the article I cited above, 96% of Americans own a cell phone today.

In churches, seven out of ten parishioners text. Those stats have changed dramatically since text-to-give was first introduced eleven years ago!

So do not fear! When it comes to texting to give at church, we have entered a new era. And you need not worry about the wise guy that formerly added an IOU to the offering plate!

I drew this cartoon for the November 2022 CHOGNews.

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GPS Sheep Tracking

This cartoon is a good example of how technology has changed. When I first drew this, smartphones were just beginning to replace standalone GPS units. Who would have thought that today, there is such a thing as GPS sheep tracking?

Cartoon of two sheep

Today, we can track anything, including livestock. Radiofrequency identification (RFID) technology is small enough, we can keep track of and identify an entire flock without leaving the house.

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children cartoons Safety Cartoons School Cartoons webcomic

Safety is the Best Policy

When I first drew this cartoon, I was concerned mainly with safety in children’s ministry. I had no idea a few years later I would be managing at a printing facility. Since then, I have truly learned safety is the best policy.

Cartoon of a boy with a cast and a teacher

Safety at Work

Before then, I didn’t think too much about workplace safety. I had been in office settings. When I visited warehouses and printing facilities, I let the host worry about safety. I see now how foolish that was. For there are hazards even in an office environment.

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