2. Keep your priorities in order. As I said above this is a daily choice. The order of your priorities may be different at different times; this is where your leadership must become intentional. My favorite scripture in the whole wide world is Proverbs 28:2 “When a country is rebellious, it has many rulers, but a man of understanding and knowledge maintains order. Maintaining order is the missing element in becoming a super leader.
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1. Set your priorities! You can’t keep priorities if you don’t have priorities. If you can’t name your priorities by number at gunpoint then they are not how you order your life.
Arrange your events, tasks and duties by your priorities. My first 3 never change. My relationship with Christ, my relationship with my family, and my pastor’s problems. All other priorities in my life can change daily. I must be willing to make their choices on a daily basis. Could you make a list right now of your top 10 priorities?
We must choose to keep life simple! It’s our choice when things get crazy.
Sometimes our responsibilities and the pressures of life affect us in a negative way.
We see this in the story of Mary and her sister Martha. Luke 10:38-42 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, He came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to Him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what He said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to Him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” We all are face with this choice so to help me keep my crazy world on track here are 18 steps I use to keep life simple when things are crazy.
Jesus is our help and peace in stressful times. Are you glad you don’t have to face life alone when things get complicated? Here’s what the word says…
“Psalm 46:1 “God is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in trouble. Not only was Jesus called the Prince of Peace; He is our Prince of Peace. John 14:27 “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” John 14:16 tells us, “And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever-
Jesus never leads us into something that will harm us. This helper or comforter guides us and leads us to God perfect plan for our lives. God’s plan includes a peaceful life.
Jesus is the master of simplifying life. The laws of the Old Testament were many and complex but Jesus made it very easy to follow them (Matthew 22:36-40) 36“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?” 37Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ ◙ 38This is the first and great commandment. 39And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ ◙ 40On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” Jesus’ answers concerning life are always simple even though it may not always be easy to carry them out. Paul too had a quest to keep life simple in 2Corinthians 1:12, he writes, “For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conversation in the world, and more abundantly to you-ward. Paul had a heart for following the Lord. He patterned his life after the example of Jesus (see 2Corinthians 11:3) The devil tried to complicate God’s simple instructions to Adam and Eve. He still tries today to complicate our lives by injecting thoughts into our minds.
I was forced to delegate. Delegation did not come easy to me. When things would get overwhelming I would think just find someone to help. But it was hard to let go of things I enjoyed doing and were good at to let others do. It wasn’t until I moved to Tulsa that I really had no choice but to delegate. When I started working at the church it was in addition to the job I was already doing traveling and training children’s workers. This was before Southwest Airlines came along and in those days there were cities where a Saturday night stay was required for the plane ticket to be reasonable. I had not choice than to allow others to help me at the church when I was stuck in another state. It was the best thing that could of happened it forced me to let others help me. Over the years some of the best lessons I’ve learned have been from situations I found myself in that made me ask myself “What am I doing that someone else can do and what do I need to be doing that only I can do?”
Where do you need to delegate?
Life can sure get wild in the ministry. Have you ever noticed how just when you don’t think things can get any busier they do? We’ve all been there, but really and truly busy is a relative term. What’s busy to me might not be busy to you and what’s manageable to me might be crazy busy to someone else. Whatever your definition of busy is it is a source of pressure in your life. Pressure is not always bad it can cause you to grow or it can expose weakness. The more pressure you are able to handle well the more money you will be paid. The bottom line is our worth to the pastors and churches we serve is tied to our ability to handle the craziness and pressures of life and ministry.
Have you seen the new Apple Fries at Burger King? I did today. Burger King is making it easier for kids to eat healthy. An apple disguised as french fries - what a genius concept.
Wouldn’t it be nice if getting kids to eat spiritually was so easy? While it’s not always easy, it’s very possible. Consider what you are going to teach this weekend. What could you do to make it like Apple Fries? How can you slice the same apple (the message) a new way?
Sunday night we had the opportunity to have the One Way Street summer ministry team in my church. These seven young people, led by Dale VonSeggan, did a wonderful job. They ministered to a packed house (and it was on a Sunday night - imagine that). The performance included blacklight puppetry, full-body puppets and lots more! The kids and grown-ups alike loved it.
Are puppets still effective in children’s ministry today? Yes! Sesame Street is still growing and captivating the minds of millions of kids. Here’s the secret: you have to do it right! If your puppet presentations are lame, the kids aren’t going to connect.
As a young children’s pastor, I was blessed to have a lady (Ruth) join the church who had experience in puppet ministry. She immediately volunteered to start a puppet team. For the last ten years we have had what I call an “excellent” puppet ministry. What makes it excellent? Do we have expensive puppets? Not really. Are our puppeteers professionals? No - they are kids. Here’s why I think our puppet team is excellent.
1) The puppet director views her ministry as a divine calling. She’s not filling a slot for the children’s pastor or kid’s church teacher.
2) The puppet team members (most of them are teens) take the weekly rehearsal time seriously. They know that practice starts at 5:00 and that means 5:00 sharp.
3) The puppet teams takes time to have fun together. They know how to work but they also know how to have fun.
4) The puppet team makes it a priority to get training. Click here to learn about the best puppet training you can get.
5) The puppet programs are never predictable. The kids never know what to expect. Maybe the puppets will sing a song, maybe they will teach a Bible verse, maybe they will do a blacklight presentation - it always changes.
6) The puppet team uses props. I believe props are just as important as the puppets themselves. Props will take a puppet show from one thumbs-up to two thumbs-up.
7) The puppet family never stops growing. I bought two new puppets for our puppet team Sunday night. You don’t have to have a mammoth budget to pull this off. Commit to buying at least two new puppets every year.
In this media-driven age of children’s ministry, let’s not forget the impact that an excellent puppet ministry can have in the hearts of kids.
I’m writing this post to you from my BlackBerry on my way to teen camp. I was just looking through the photos on my phone, and noticed one that I had taken at IKEA just last Saturday.
The photo was of the entrance to the Children’s IKEA area. On this arch are written the words: “For the most important people in the world.”
IKEA has figured it out. Most people reading this blog have figured it out at some point. Children are the most important people in the world.
So many times, it’s easy to forget this, even as children’s ministers. Children’s ministers spend so much time “doing their jobs” that they forget what’s truly important: building vital relationships with children to transform their lives for God.
You also have to remember to remind your pastors and church members why children are so important, because they don’t see the ministry at work week to week. They’re even harder to remind.
I don’t know about you, but I want to do with my life what is most important. Kids are that thing. So just remember: the world has figured out how important kids are. We need to remember that too. And that’s the way I see it.
This week I had the opportunity to speak at Camp Patmos to a group of two hundred 4th-6th graders. Camp Patmos is located on the beautiful Kelleys Island on Lake Eerie. My schedule doesn’t allow me to do much camp speaking (although I love it) but I accepted this invitation from one of my best childhood friends.
The theme of camp this summer was Pursuit. I decided to speak on Jonah each night (a guy who made one bad choice after another and was pursued by God) and Corrie Ten Boom each morning (a lady who made one good choice after another and pursued God). The story of Jonah is always a hit with kids. I wasn’t sure how Corrie Ten Boom would go but really felt compelled to share her story. These tweens loved Corrie’s story.
Question: How much time do you give to sharing the stories of great Christian heroes of the faith? As children’s pastors, we are the first one to shake our heads at Miley Cyrus and other famous people that kids choose as heroes.
Think about the lives of great people like Corrie Ten Boom, Jim Elliot, Amy Carmichael, Fanny Crosby, Martin Luther, Joni Eareckson Tada, and others. How will the kids in our churches learn about them if we don’t tell them? Are we justified in “preaching” to them about bad role models and heroes if we don’t tell them the stories of the good ones?
I think there needs to be a return to telling some hero stories - intentionally. That’s the way I see it.