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.
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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!”
It’s scary what some idle time in the car will do to the mind of a children’s pastor. Here’s an example. I came up with 15 ways for a senior pastor to lose his children’s pastor in 10 days.
1. Tell him that if he keeps up the good work you’ll promote him to youth pastor.
2. Base her pay on a commission from the weekly kids church offering.
3. Call on Friday night and tell her that the ladies need a babysitter at the church on Saturday morning.
4. Tell him the board voted that goldfish crackers are banned from the building.
5. Make him to spend twelve weeks in kids church teaching through the book of Leviticus.
6. Blame him for every new carpet stain in the fellowship hall.
7. Encourage the parents to peak their heads in the door at least twice each service to check on their kids.
8. Announce to the church that VBS will be outside this year.
9. Ask him to babysit your kids while you go on vacation this summer.
10. When he says he needs more nursery workers, tell him that running an announcement in the bulletin should be good enough.
11. Tell him that if the old metal chairs were good enough for him when he was a kid, then they’re good enough today.
12. Encourage the kids church leaders to join the choir.
13. Give her a gift card to Sam’s Club as a Christmas bonus.
14. Tell the ladies ministry that they can start using the resource room for storage too.
15. Decide to start a new weekend service without talking to him.
Last week I took my wife on an anniversary getaway to Clifty Falls State Park in southern Indiana. There is really nice Inn at the park where we had a beautiful view of the Ohio River. We enjoyed hiking (though neither of us are anything near avid hikers) and spending time in historic Madison. We were able to spend some good quality time together.
Before the trip, I decided to leave some things behind. This included my laptop. How could I survive three days with no email, no blog surfing, and none of my regular updates to the KidzMatter website? The answer is: just fine! Amazingly the world went on. Our website didn’t crash. My email was waiting on me when I got home. All was well.
May this short blog post be a reminder that life can move on just fine when you decide to spend time on the most important things in life - I’m thinking about your spouse and kids. A friend of mine says that you can always get another ministry but you can’t get another family. Those are some wise words, huh?
Imagine a world without computers. Maybe it’s time to stop imagining and make it happen for a few days. I’m glad I did.
Hey, this is Evan! Something very exciting happened yesterday: Ryan celebrated 10 years of full time ministry at our home church, Liberty Baptist. All along, his wife Beth has been serving with him in ministry. To show him the church’s appreciation, we threw a surprise party for Ryan and Beth yesterday during the evening service. It was an exciting night as we looked back over the 10 years Ryan has been at Liberty full time. And even more exciting, we were reminded of how thankful we are that the fashion from the late 90s is over!
Ryan means a lot to our church, as well as to many of you. So if you have a funny story, thank you, or anything else you would like us to share with Ryan, just leave a comment on below! This is our little way of showing Ryan how much his church family and his online family care!
Now, what Ryan didn’t know was that behind his back I sent an email to several of our Way We See It subscribers and asked for their comments to share with him. Here a just a few of them I’ve received:
“As children’s pastors, in networks of children’s pastors, we are learning, sharing, growing, and spreading God’s love in new and creative ways because kidz matter. You may never see or meet all the lives impacted this side of heaven, but heaven will be different because of your investment in the lives of leaders in the here and now. Your investment in the kids you minister to each week has ripple effects as you challenge, grow and stretch each of us. Thanks for allowing God to use you to make a difference in the Kingdom for kids, families, teachers, and leaders.” Susan Hoak
“Thank you, Ryan, for allowing God to use you to touch the lives of so many kids and those who minister to kids. It is easy to see that kids really do matter to you. I have been blessed through your ministry. Keep pressing on!” Melinda Autry
“Please add me to the count of Children’s Pastors that is so appreciative of Ryan and Beth for the support they provide through their friendship, Kidzmatter.com, the Blog, as well as the workshops Ryan leads. May God continue to use Ryan for the advancement of His kingdom at Liberty Baptist and throughout the world!” Deana Hayes
“I’ve always appreciated Pastor Ryan and Beth’s drive for the Lord. Whenever I think of Pastor Ryan and Beth I think of hard work, enthusiasm for God’s work, and most of all, integrity. Both Ryan and Beth are vital members of our congregation and the body of Christ as a whole. We, at Liberty, are so blessed to call them family!” Briana Pickering
Good reasons to say no
1. There simply aren’t enough hours in a day to work on it, even if I get to work early and stay late.
Just say no!
2. You are booked
Just say no!
3. My other work will suffer if I take on this assignment.
Just say no!
4. I don’t have the necessary skills to complete this project and I will not be able to attain them in
time.
Just say no!
Ok it’s your turn again. Know any reasons to say yes to no?
jw
Bad reasons to say no
1. The project looks too difficult. Don’t say no to an opportunity to grow and learn.
2. It isn’t part of my job description. Never let these words come out of your mouth
3. I’m in the middle of planning my wedding and can’t focus on anything
right now. What? This was told to me by a leader once, life never stops, learn to balance personal stuff and your ministry. There will always be something going on at the same time as something you need to do for ministry. Both life and church must go on.
How about you? Know any bad reasons to say no?
jw
Here are 6 questions to ask before saying no for no sake.
1. Am I already working on several important assignments that leave me no time for this one?
If so maybe no is the right answer.
2. Can I delegate some of my other work to make room for this assignment?
If no maybe no is the right answer.
3. Can I put some of my other assignments on the back burner while I work on this one?
If not maybe no is the right answer.
4. Will taking on this assignment cause harm to my other work?
If so maybe no is the right answer.
5. Do I absolutely lack the skills necessary to complete this assignment?
If yes maybe no is the right answer.
6. Am I the only person who can successfully complete this assignment?
If no maybe no is the right answer.
more to come…
Let’s look at our example (JESUS) Here are eight times Jesus said no..
1. He said no to the devil (Luke 4)
2. He said no to religious people and their doctrines & traditions (Luke 5 & 6)
3. He said no to family (Luke 8:19-21)
4. He said no to a man who wanted Jesus to act as a judge between an inheritance dispute
with his brother (Luke 12:14)
5. He said no to miracles because of the lack of faith of people in their hometown (Mark 6:5)
6. He said no to his disciples when they asked him to send the people away so they could buy
themselves food. He said no, you give them something to eat (Mark 6:36 & 37)
7. Said no to the Syrian Phoenician woman because she didn’t have a covenant (Mark 7:26)
8. He said no to ministry (Matt. 8:18 When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the other side of the lake.)
Notice he didn’t say no to all these situations all the time but what these verse give me is permission to say no to even good things as well as bad things. It also let’s me know that sometimes no is the best answer.
Most people work on their strengths and ignore their weaknesses. I believe it’s good to know your strengths and develop them to their fullest. I get a lot done, I do, time management fascinates me.
I have a true confession: “My greatest strength also covers up my biggest weakness!” I’ve always been a sucker for “it can’t be done.” I’ve also had a hard time passing up the challenge, “no one can do this.” I don’t think I’m a workaholic. Sure I enjoy what I do. My wife says I have the gift to turn hobbies into work. Over the past year I have learned to separate my self-worth from my performance. I have been called driven and maybe I am. I sometimes have unrealistic expectations for myself and others. I have been known to enjoy the high of success although the pressure can be too much some time. The truth is I have a hard time saying no! Okay I said it!
I struggle with when. I struggle with how. I struggle with why. I’m having to work on walking out the fact of “just because I am asked to do something that it doesn’t mean it’s God’s will for my life!”
more to come…