Category: children’s ministry cartoons

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children's ministry children's ministry cartoons Christianity Christianity Religion Cartoons

The Mysterious Span of Time

Cartoon of a boy and a grumpy, old man. The man says, "Yes, I know Jesus. No, I wasn't there when he began his ministry."
Previously Published in "Kidzmatter Magazine."

It’s hard for kids to experience how long the span of time really is. To them, history is anything that happened before they were born. And it is true, isn’t it? It’s just that they have a hard time imagining an older person’s history wasn’t in the time of Bible stories or dinosaurs. To them, the Gettysburg Address and the fall of the Roman Empire all happened in that little span of time we call history.

I remember my Mom saying, “Just you wait! One minute you’re ten years old. The next minute you’re thirty-five.” Of course I didn’t believe her. Now I am older than she was at the time. Yes, you blink and time speeds by. But that doesn’t mean I lived during the time of Shakespeare. He wasn’t a cousin and we didn’t hang out together.

Time happens fast, and it drags on. I remember wondering if I would ever make it out of second grade. It must have been quite a boring year for me. I am happy to announce I made it through and then some. And so did my kids. Where did all the time go?

Time is an enigma. Embrace it and make the best use of it. Yes, you can tell them you lived at a time before smartphones. And you can patiently tell them cars and electricity was invented way before you were born.

Do you have any stories of kids having humorous issues with the span of time? Leave a comment and let us know?

Cartoon of a boy and a grumpy, old man. The man says, "Yes, I know Jesus. No, I wasn't there when he began his ministry."
Previously Published in “Kidzmatter Magazine.”
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children's ministry cartoons motivation

Why We Need Others to Make Progress

Cartoon of a guy dressed in bright, gaudy clothes and wearing a lampshade. A boy says to his dad, "Does our family ministry include Crazy Uncle Carl?"
Previously published in "Kidzmatter" Magazine

If it wasn’t for my wife, I would probably be that crazy uncle in my cartoon. The shirt that Crazy Uncle Carl wears reminds me of a hot pink shirt I had in the eighties. And those striped, neon green pants? Well, I may not have had them, but I would have bought them in a heartbeat! The lampshade would have attracted my design “sensibilities” as well.

If my wife didn’t come along at just the right time, my wardrobe may have remained stuck in the eighties and the course of history would have changed forever.

When our relationship started getting serious, she began purging my wardrobe. The obnoxious colors, old t-shirts and corduroy pants had to go. On the outside, I wasn’t very happy. But I knew she had good fashion sense and she was saving me from a life of being that crazy, single uncle.

We all have blind spots. If you think hot pink and neon green go together, your blind spot may be quite large. We need each other to make progress. We also need others to help us see where we are weak and to show us how we can make progress.

Cartoon of a guy dressed in bright, gaudy clothes and wearing a lampshade. A boy says to his dad, "Does our family ministry include Crazy Uncle Carl?"
Previously published in “Kidzmatter” Magazine
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children's ministry cartoons

Flying Objects of Biblical Proportions

Cartoon of two boys. a toy block and a ball are in mid air. One boy says, "When the preschoolers learn about David and Goliath, you should look out for flying objects."

There’s nothing like a good Bible story to inspire preschoolers. And there’s no other story like David and Goliath to get the kids going.

It is the story of the underdog going at the champion by faith. David has no armor, his brothers aren’t supportive. The king has the attitude of “good luck, because you’re going to need it!”

And yet, the kid conquers the giant. David doesn’t just barely make it. He kills him, collects the spoils and causes the enemy army to run in disarray. The unthinkable suddenly becomes reality because a boy had faith and determination.

So I can understand if a preschooler gets excited and wants to try out her own slingshot skills. Just be careful when that happens. You may want to bring some safety glasses to Sunday school this morning, just in case.

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cartoon children's ministry cartoons church cartoons

Pizza, Animal Crackers & Budgets

Cartoon of two boys talking to a teacher. A boy says, "The youth get pizza and we get animal crackers? You need to renegotiate the children's ministry budget!"
Cartoon of two boys talking to a teacher. A boy says, "The youth get pizza and we get animal crackers? You need to renegotiate the children's ministry budget!"
This originally appeared in the September 2018 CHOGNews.
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children's ministry children's ministry cartoons

A Clean, Janitor-Free Dream

Cartoon of two women having coffee. One says, "I have a dream. One day, our children's ministry will skip a whole day without calling for janitor backup."
Copyright ©2017 Kevin Spear & Kidzmatter Magazine

True story: I was a church janitor once. Actually, I was a teen church janitor for over two years. When your grandfather is the pastor and your father is the Maintenance Supervisor you get those kinds of perks. I have maintenance supervisor in italics because it was a small church, Dad was a volunteer and he had the job because no one else was available on a Saturday morning and Grandpa trusted him with the keys. (My brother and I must be the only church janitors in modern history that never had an impressive set of keys.)

Continue reading “A Clean, Janitor-Free Dream”