It has been exactly a year since I talked to my pastor of 17 years for the first time about my departure from the staff there. I never thought I would leave but it was God that I did. What a year this has been! It’s been amazing to watch the Father’s care for me and my family. It’s wild how a step of obedience can be both the best of times and the worst of times. Peace and faith went head to head against wonder and unknown and won. If you had told me this time last year that I would be on staff at a new church, I would be living in Tennessee, giving my leadership club away free to children’s pasters under 30 years old and I would be seeing another dream of mine coming true, launching a 12 month mentoring service, I would have said….naw. It’s been the greatest year of learning, reflecting, evaluation, dreaming, and change I’ve experienced in years. I’ve prayed more, laughed more, cried more, repented more, traveled more and ate more than I should have but it’s been a great year! I’m healthier, happier, and less stressfull. I’ve found myself asking people “How are you doing?” more than “What have you been doing? or “What’s going on?” As I think about the question “What will I be writing in a year?” I don’t have a clue what the new year holds but I know it’s going to be good. I choose to have only 2 kinds of days…good days and better days! And I am committed to spend the rest of my life pouring into the next generation of leaders. Thanks for your prayers and coming with me on the journey.
Monthly Archive for April, 2008
Albert Mehrabian, a Professor Emeritus of Psychology at UCLA, says that within 30 days, people forget 90 percent of what they have learned unless it is repeatedly reinforced.
Stop and think about what you did last Sunday with the kids in your ministry. How much time was spent reinforcing what they learned the week before, and the week before that? Remember the old saying, “Practice makes perfect.”
If you don’t intentionally plan to reinforce and review what has already been taught, it will go by the wayside. So here’s what I’ve decided to do. I’m going to write review time into my kids church schedule starting this Sunday. I can’t be content with simply asking review questions and giving candy to the kids that answer my questions right. That’s got to be one of the lamest ways to review. I’ll have to get creative. If I want them to retain more than 10% of what I teach, I don’t have a choice.
I’ve always believed that getting new things now and then is the best way to breathe some fresh air into your ministry. Tonight during church I was thinking about some of the new things we’ve done between last Sunday and today.
1) Ladder Ball Golf - I was walking through WalMart doing my weekly candy / supply run for Sunday and picked up 2 sets of Ladder Ball Golf. What caught my eye was the fact that they were big and they require more than one person to play. I set them in the back of the kids church room for kids to play as a pre-service activity with their friends. The kids love it and the cost of each set was less than $20.
2) While at WalMart (that same day) I bought 2 boxes of Sock’em Boppers. These aren’t new to the toy department but I thought they would make a great game since my lesson last week was on bullies. We made a masking tape line on the floor and two kids took turns slugging each other with the inflatable boxing gloves. Don’t worry, they had to keep it from the head down and I managed to keep my job in the process.
Continue reading ‘A breath of fresh air’
For those of you new to the blog or with very short memories (who, you?), you can view the first Seuss and the Bible post here.
Last time, I went over some truths we can learn from Horton Hears a Who. This time our focus shifts to two more of Seuss’ stories.
Green Eggs and Ham: If you can’t remember why your children always come home with green tongues on Seuss’ birthday, here’s the 5 second plot summary: Two friends. Friend #1 has lots of enthusiasm about his great new food, green eggs and ham. Friend #2 is (much) less enthusiastic. Eventually Friend #2 gives into Friend #1, and ends up loving green eggs and ham. Continue reading ‘Seuss and the Bible: Green Eggs and Ham/The Lorax’
Tonight I was reading over at another blog of a children’s minister online. His name is Hiew Hong Teck, and he’s a children’s pastor over in Singapore. He had some great tips for developing your PowerPoint presentations. They were just so good that I had to share them with you. You can check them out at his blog, ragsstudio.
Legal Mumbo Jumbo Stuff: As always, any links posted here on The Way We See It are not controlled by us. We don’t necessarily agree with everything that may be said on a third-party site, but we do recognize there is some great content out there on some blogs. So enjoy!
Our senior pastor has been leading youth group for the past several weeks with a series on the book of Daniel. Last week we were covering the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. If you forget the story, go read Daniel 3. For a quick summary, the story was: king set up idol, everyone but three worshipped it, three get thrown into furnace, saved from burning by God, king is amazed. I just condensed an entire chapter of the Bible into 22 words. Wow.
In talking about idols, our senior pastor made this remark:
“Anything that comes between you and Christ is excess. An idol.”
He went on to talk about how anything can become an idol: family, friends, socializing, even ministry. Continue reading ‘Ministryholism’
Tonight I was browsing the Cold Water Cafe and found this picture. Enjoy!
Click to enlarge.
In summary, remember these seven points:
1. Full-time doesn’t always give you more time than what you have now .
2. You’re not the first to be in this situation.
3. Your gift will make room for you.
4. Keep your priorities in the proper order.
5 Time management is a must.
6. Learn to be a good communicator.
7. Learn to be content where you are.
As you walk out these steps, you will be more effective as you serve your Lord full-time on part-time or less pay.
7. Learn to be content where you are.
Paul tells us in Philippians 4:12 that there is a secret to being content. He tells us that he knew what it was like to have plenty and he knew what it was like to be in need. The secret to being content in any situation is to know that God is your strength.
Many times we look at circumstances and situations. If everything is smooth, then everything must be okay. But we cannot look at situations or people for encouragement. Our strength comes from the Lord. It’s by His might that you will overcome. It’s in Him that you are victorious. It is Jesus’ strength that will empower you to do all that you have to do with such a small amount of time.
If you cannot find contentment doing what you are now doing with part-time or less pay, you would not be content even as a full-time staff member. Contentment is a way of life. It’s a desire and attitude of heart that says, “No matter what, God is the source of my strength. I will stand upon His Word. I will trust and abide by His Word because His Word brings power and victory.”
It’s not the title that you have that makes you a minister. It’s not the fact that you draw a salary from a church or have an office that makes you effective and obedient to the call on your lives. It’s whether or not you get the job done that really counts. First Peter 5:23 tells you to be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, serving as overseers— not because you must—but because you are willing as God wants you to be. Not greedy for money, but eager to serve. Not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.
You see titles are easy to get. Many people call themselves a youth or children’s pastor. It’s not the title that makes you a pastor. It’s not where you get your income or paycheck that makes you a pastor. The only thing that can make you a true pastor is when you obey these verses. When you feed and care for the sheep entrusted to you willingly, eager to serve, quick to love, quick to forgive, and are a true example, it is only then that you can be considered a pastor to them. It doesn’t matter whether you are full-time, part-time, or one-quarter time, What matters is that you are being obedient to the call and will of God in your life.
I am writing this post from a hotel room in Castle Rock, CO. I have been in Castle Rock since Wednesday at an INCM board meeting. Today we spent the day as a board with some of the INCM staff doing strategic planning for the upcoming year. Let me tell you, there are some cool things on the horizon for those like you who do children’s ministry! I left the meeting exhausted and energized at the same time.
Here’s the thought for today. Do you prefer brainstorming or blamestorming? There is power in brainstorming. Blamestorming is the fastest road to nowhere. Why do we throw blame instead of putting our minds together to come up with a powerful solution?
Today I received an email from my office about a big mess up that happened last night at my church (in my absence). Instead of throwing blame, I emailed this individual and we agreed to work through a solution so it might not happen again.
Here are three things to take home with you: 1) Create an environment where brainstorming is welcomed. 2) Purposefully establish times for brainstorming. 3) Create a leadership lifestyle of brainstorming. Be known as the guy or gal who is always asking for ideas, getting feedback, and wanting to make things better.