At the start of every new month at MinTools.com an e-mail newsletter is sent to those who sign up for it.  I praise God for the many people from around the world who have subscribed to it and the good comments I have received about it.

These newsletters have multiple purposes:

1. They provide an update of new material on the site in both the online training and store.
2. They address a spiritual issue or ministry need relevant to believers in the Church.
3. They seek to encourage or challenge us to think about how well we are lining up with the character of God and principles from His Word, the Bible, in that area.

Please take time to read this month’s newsletter.  You can subscribe to it on that same page in the left navigation panel.  Please know that your e-mail address is used for no other purpose.

I don’t know about you but in today’s economy I look for ways to save money both for the ministry and personally.  One of the things I do is to buy used books when it is not for a gift. Getting used books can also be a good way to build your church library. Pastors and teachers might need books for research purposes.  Often you can find books in new, like new, or very good conditions that can well suit your purpose. Here are places I look:

Generally you will find that  more recently published books will be a higher cost.  In that case, if the price seems close to the retail cost, I might buy a new book at Christianbook.com or Amazon.com and sometimes even Buy.com.  I do some comparison shopping, remembering to figure in shipping costs from the different sites.

Another way I save money is to sell used books on Amazon.com and Half.com and through the MinTools.com site.  When the book has served its purpose, rather than sit it on a shelf to collect dust I try to sell it.  God has also blessed this ministry with books donated by people I know to sell for extra ministry income.

So, that’s something I do to save money in today’s economy.  If we stop and think about what we do personally,  in our churches and ministries, there are undoubtedly many other ways to save.

Years ago my church worked through Experiencing God by Henry & Richard Blackaby and Claude King.  We used it in our home fellowship groups, taught on it in Sunday School and from the pulpit, and encouraged people to do the workbook on their own.

Through all that investment into this book, the one idea that keeps coming back to me the most is “Watch to see where God is working and join Him” based on John 5:17, 19-20.

In an earlier post I wrote about how God used a 40 Day Challenge I developed to help a friend.  I’ve continued to see or learn of God working through that tool in the lives of many more people.

As the lesson from Experiencing God came to mind, I asked God what more He wanted me to do as it was obvious this was one of those situations where God was at work.  I soon knew that the next step for me was to prepare a discussion guide to go with the 40 Day Challenge.  I asked my prayer support team to be praying with me about its development and the result is that the Foundational Pillars of Truth for Maintaining a Healthy Perspective Discussion Guide is now available.

Having joined God in where He is working, I now look forward to seeing what He will do.  Your prayers would be appreciated.  Thanks.

When I used to work in children’s and youth ministries I would keep my eyes open for unique or innovative ways of getting the message across.  I still do!

Here’s why:

The message heard in the same way starts to fall on deaf ears.

Recently I came across an innovative tool, the Memory Cross.  You keep opening it from the middle and eventually it gets back to the beginning.  It would be best if you saw it for yourself so here is an example:

Some are pre-fab and some the children color.  They even have blank cards so teachers or kids can customize their own.  There are Bible stories, memory verses, and tracts.  Some are designed for different holidays like Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Easter, Valentine’s Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.  Check out Memory Cross for a different means of presenting the same message.