Have you seen the new website with free countdown timers? No memberships. No hidden fees. Just free countdown timers.
Check out www.freecountdowns.net.
I’m real excited about the new cmconnect.org. Today I talked to Michael Chanley on the phone for about 30 minutes. He’s the guy who got the idea to start the site. Bravo. He’s an elementary children’s pastor at SouthEast Christian Church. The social networking available on this site is great.
Join Jim Wideman, Roger Fields, and a bunch of other great people on cmconnect.org. Once you’ve joined, be sure to join the K! Magazine and the KidzMatter groups.
I went into Starbucks this morning to get a Grande Iced Coffee. While I was waiting, I was looking at the wall art and noticed a theme: the one thing. It’s repeated over and over all over the walls.
At Starbucks, their one thing is obvious. It’s coffee. Yes, they do pastries, tea, and other things too, but coffee is who they are. It’s what they excel at.
Each of us need to have our one thing. The thing we’re great at, our passion, our way of life. For me, my personal one thing is passionately sharing with children not only what Christians believe, but why we believe it. Our church’s children’s ministry’s one thing is raising kids to be their best physically, mentally, and spiritually. KidzMatter’s one thing is to partner with churches to help them to make an eternal impact in the lives of kids.
Thanks to everyone who answered my question last week. I asked, “What comes to mind when you hear the question: Do you drink pop?”
If you ask me that question, I think of Pepsi. You might think of Sprite or Diet Coke. If I ask you, “Would you like a pop to drink?” and you say yes, I would be grossly wrong to assume that you must want a Pepsi. Why? Pop comes in many flavors.
One of my pet peeves about the family ministry buzz is that too many pastors have narrowed the definition. They assume that pop means Pepsi. I had a guy email me a few weeks ago and ask me if my church has a family ministry. I asked him what he meant. His response? “Do you have a service for the children and their parents on Sunday morning?” Why have some narrowed the definition of family ministry to an hour on Sunday morning?
In the next issue of K! Magazine, I asked Reggie Joiner (creator of reThink / Orange) to write an article on this very issue. I asked him to clear up the family ministry confusion. He agreed. You will find this article helpful as you try to help the families in your church and community.
Family ministry is so much more than a big building, a new worship service or a pastor with a door plate that says, “Family Pastor”. While family ministry can (and often does) include these, they do not define it.
Soda comes in a zillion flavors - ministering to families can too. That’s the way I see it.
What image comes to mind when I ask, “Do you drink pop?” Let me know by leaving a quick comment.
There is a point to this question, but I’m not going wait a few days to tell you what it is.
Check out this video on SermonSpice. It’s a fun reminder of what it takes to be a real man of genius in children’s ministry.
Busy is one of those words that can mean different things at different times. There has been times when I thought I was busy then later I thought “What was I thinking? I wasn’t busy then, I’m busy now.” In a few months I end up eatting my words because it just got busier. Why does busy change?
1. Your time management skills either need to improve or you are not practicing what you know about time management.
2. You’re not delegating to your team.
3. You’re having a hard time saying no.
4. “Your hummingbird butt overrode your alligator mouth.” Which means, “You bit off more than you can chew,” which means all of the above need work.
Have you read the parable of the talents lately? It’s found in Matthew 25:14-30. My pastor preached on this parable Sunday night. Verse 14 says “it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them.”
Did you know that everything you have belongs to the master? It has been “entrusted” to you for a short while. Your family, your house, your car, even your ministry. It all belongs to Him.
Why don’t you pause right now and think about your ministry. Who’s running the show? Who’s calling the shots? Who do you work for? The answer to these questions is JESUS!
If you read the parable of the talents, you will discover that the master was pleased with the servants who were good stewards with this possessions. Remember today that your ministry is not your own, it is the Lord’s. He has simply asked you to manage it and grow it for Him. I don’t know about you, but that sure takes a load off my back!
Last Saturday I took my car for a scheduled service and tune-up. I was reminded by the service manager at the dealership that it was time to come and bring the car. When I arrived, he pulled the service history up on his computer. He was immediately brought to speed on the history of the car and what needed work.
A few days later I had lunch with a children’s pastor in my area. He asked me if I kept spiritual history files on the kids in my ministry. It’s something he’d be thinking about doing. Gulp. I answered with a no.
A spiritual history file - what a great idea! If the service manager at the car dealership knows the history of my car shouldn’t I know the SPIRITUAL history of the kids in my church?
How well do you know the kids in your ministry? I’m not talking about their names or their favorite candy. I’m talking about their walk with the Lord. Have they been saved? What about baptized? Are they involved in Sunday School or small groups? Are they making progress in their faith?
If you keep spiritual history files on the kids in your church, I’d love to hear how you do it. Post a comment and tell us your system and how it is helping your ministry.
Same action brings same results… I’ve found out these past 53 years on the earth you can’t keep doing things the same way you have always done them and get different results. For the last 12+ years I have been teaching a monthly audio leadership lesson that I call the children’s ministers leadership club or theClub for short. Every workshop, book chapter, magazine article and blog post I do has come from a club lesson. TheClub has been a blessing to me and the lifeblood of income and support for JWM. They have also blessed a lot of leaders. In January I made the Young Guns Program available to CM Leaders under 30 so they could get theClub lessons free. I’ve had a great response. But I feel led to do something crazy over the next 3 months I’m going to give my June, July, and August club lessons away free to anyone of any age who signs up for my newsletter on jimwideman.com. Call me crazy, call me generous, call me a nice middle age gentleman who looks a little like the guy on the chicken bucket. Hurry and sign up before June 15th so you won’t miss a single lesson. I’m excited to see the growth that will happen when you dare to expand how you think about leadership.
Now…”that’s the way I see it!”