When’s the last time you asked that question on the way home? I did today. Today was one of those mornings that the kids just didn’t want to listen. They behaved worse than they have in years. Yes, years. The early service (8:15am) was fine, of course the kids are half asleep when they come in. The second service (10:45) was another story. As soon as the buses unloaded, I could tell it was going to be “one of those days”. They were wired.
Why wouldn’t they listen? It wasn’t because we weren’t ready for them. We had several theories. 1) School starts Tuesday. 2) Today’s bus promotion was a picnic after church at the park. 3) We’ve had a heat wave and the kids have been stuck inside all week.
Why didn’t the kids listen today? I don’t know. What am I going to do about it? I’m not going to quit, that’s for sure. I’m going to get this day behind me, thank the Lord for another Sunday of ministry, and plan even a better service next Sunday.
Remember, everyone has a bad day sometimes. That’s the way I see it.
This morning while preparing my sermon for kid’s church tomorrow, I came across some staggering research. We all know that kids spend a ton of time in front of the TV and are subjected to the media and it’s messages, but did you know how much? Professor Dale Kunkel of the University of California at Santa Barbara discovered that kids watch an average of 40,000 TV commercials every year.
40,000 TV commercials. That’s per year don’t forget. Think about the ramifications of that. It sure makes my every minute of my sermon tomorrow seem more precious. We must preach with purpose the Word of God and challenge kids not to be brainwashed by the world system and the messages they see on TV. What do you think?
I hate going to the BMV. It’s one of those errands that I always put off until the last day when I am forced to go. Today was that day.
Have you noticed that the BMV is a place that everyone has to visit? Let me share with you the clientele that I saw today. I saw a greasy mechanic and a business man in a suit. There was a teenager taking his driving test and an 80-year-old lady with a cane. There was a really nice guy sitting next to me and there was a jerk that decided to make a scene when he found out that he didn’t bring what he needed with him. You see all kinds at the license branch.
Here’s what caught my attention today (hey I had a 45-minute wait and plenty of time to look around) - a big sign with the BMV mission statement. It read:
The Bureau of Motor Vehicles is dedicated to providing professional and efficient service in the licensing of drivers, the registration and titling of vehicles, the collection and distribution of taxes and the management of records related to these functions.
It’s nothing fancy but it gets the point across. It lets the customers know what’s important to them. It keeps the employees focused.
Do the parents in your church know your mission? What about your volunteers, do they know? You know what your mission is, but you have to let everyone else know. Normally God gives the vision to a leader. The leader’s job is to communicate it to the people.
There’s a difference in being different and making a difference. I got to go to NYC to see Les Paul Live. See my other blog for the details. As I was sitting there, loving every minute of watching this living legend and modern music innovator live I thought about how he and many others have shaped my life because they chose to make a difference rather than just be different. How about you? What do you chose? I want to be a difference maker to the generations of children’s pastors who come after me. Wanting to is not enough choosing to daily gets it done.
bj
I took the day off today and we took our daughter Luci to the Kokomo Beach. It was a perfect day to swim. We’ve had some hot days here in Indiana. Today the weather man said that it was 91, but with the humidity, it would feel like 99. As Tim Hawkins says, it was 99 then.
The point of this post is this. I was surrounded by hundreds of kids splashing, swimming and playing. One of this big hits was the Big Squirt, a popular toy at water parks. All around me were kids that didn’t know each other (okay, maybe a few kids came with a friend) but there they were playing together and having fun. Kids came up to Luci and played with her. Luci found kids and splashed with them.
Why is it that kids come to Sunday School or Kids Church and when they arrive they sit and stare? Maybe in your church the kids don’t do this, cuddos to you. Today I left Kokomo Beach reminded of the importance of creating a fun, kid-friendly environment. Leave the sterile rooms for the hospital. Ask yourself, what can I do this week to make my room at church a more fun, kid-friendly place that will foster interaction?
At my church we are within weeks of completing a new children’s ministry building. We broke ground last August for this 22,000 square foot facility. This morning when I went through the building they are laying carpet and installing fixtures. We are rounding fourth base and before long will be using this beautiful new building. It looks like we are going to complete the project debt-free too (praise the Lord!).
Here’s my question. Am I a bad children’s pastor if I make a new rule that says “no more kool-aid”? We have beautiful new carpet and I am toying with making a “water-only” rule through the whole building. Okay, I guess the babies can drink milk in the nursery. I stand behind kids at the gas station paying a buck for a bottle of water, so I am thinking that making the kids drink water won’t kill them. Water doesn’t stain carpet and water is healthy. After all kids are suppose to drink 3-6 cups of H2O every day.
What kind of children’s pastor am I if I ban kool-aid? What do you think?
A week ago Sunday I preached a message to the kids titled, “Does God Really Hear Me?” It’s one of a series of messages I am preaching on MythBusters (soon to be released on KidzMatter.com).
After praying about what to do yesterday with the kids, I really felt the Lord’s leading to take a break from preaching and show a video. I hate showing videos in kids church. I feel like kids watch TV all week and when they come to church they need something else. However, I understand that it’s a digital age and videos can help achieve variety. I went to the resource room and pulled down a Gospel Bill video called “Does God Answer Prayer?”.
I remember watching “Gospel Bill” on Saturday mornings when I was a kid. It was a great kid’s show that taught kids about salvation and making good choices. It was filmed and aired back in the 1980s and starred Willie George as Gospel Bill. Little did I know when I was a kid that one of the stars of the show (Lefty Wright) would become one of my best friends. Do you know who played Lefty the barber? Jim Wideman, an author on this blog.
Whenever I show an old “Gospel Bill” video in my kids church, the kids are captivated. Sunday when I was watching the video with the kids (and eating store-bought cookies) I thought to myself, “We need another Gospel Bill show!”
If someone out there with an interest in film would develop a good business plan for a “Gospel Bill” type show, and if you did it right, I know you would be successful. Children’s pastors would buy the videos up.
Don’t run to the bookstore and try to find the “Gospel Bill” show. They’re hard to find. I have yet to find a website that distributes them. TBN has stopped airing the show. Jim Wideman tells me that you can order them from Willie George Ministries. Click here to go to their website. You can order most of the episodes by phone, they just aren’t listed on their website.
I’m in the big apple, that’s right the old guy is in the city that never sleeps. My wife and I went to our favorite place in little Italy, Angelo’s. We walked around Little Italy and Chinatown, we shopped in Soho and hit the Whole Foods Market in Union Square then back to the hotel until tomorrow. But I just noticed something although NY City boasts to be a city that caters to all in the last 7 hours I have not seen a single child. Manhattan is a grown up’s playground but it’s not real child friendly. Our churches could take a lesson from this. There is a difference between an adult place that allows kids and a family place. Think about the steakhouse, I like the steakhouse but they are built for adults with a limited menu for kids. I think there’s a huge difference in places like these and places that are child welcoming and designed just for kids and families. I think if we are serious about reaching kids it’s time we don’t treat ministry to children as an add on or after thought but a destination for families. If we want to see intentional results we must see intentional plans of action. I hope kids are spotted all over your church and it’s more than just a place designed with adults in mind.
We are in. Beth, Luci and I are having breakfast with Cinderella. We started talking about this dinner date a year ago.
This January we will be in Orlando for Children’s Pastors’ Conference. We’ve decided to go a few days early so we can enjoy the Disney experience as a family before I get busy wearing my conference hat. We wanted to have breakfast with Cinderella last year, but there was a problem. We were too late. How late? One day.
If you want to eat breakfast with Cinderella, you have to make your reservation 180 days out. Exactly 180 days out. And you can’t call anytime during that day. You have to call in the first 15 minutes that the phone lines open or the tables fill up.
I am proud to report that we hit it. We set the alarm clock for 6:30am and when the phone line opened at 7, we were chatting with the happiest place on earth making our reservation.
Do you think this would work in children’s ministry? What if parents were forced to sign-up their kids for VBS exactly 180 days out and had to do it at 7am? Wishful thinking? Perhaps. Or maybe if our ministries were a little more magical, amazing things would happen.
Yesterday was my birthday. 32 big ones for Ryan. My wife planned some festivities to celebrate the occasion. We went Ruby Tuesday’s with some friends where I enjoyed my favorite hamburger in the world (it’s a close tie with In and Out): the Triple Prime Burger. After dinner we headed back to our house for a movie outside. I clamped a big white sheet to Luci’s swingset, hooked up my video projector and some sound, and poof, we had an instant drive-in theater (minus the teenagers making out on the back row). It was so much fun. A cool summer night, smores on the fire-pit, popcorn, and ice-cold Pepsi.
Big is always cool. What’s not cool about sitting outside and watching a movie on a big sheet under the stars? Why do we get so excited about big things? Remember when you were a kid and you saved enough money to buy a king-size candy bar and a 32 ounce Polar Pop? Now you’re an adult and you get excited about a big house or an iPod that holds a big amount of music. There’s something about big that lures people.
Remember this tomorrow morning when you teach. Take whatever you are doing and make it big. Make it explode. It might just be the next big thing the kids talk about.
