This morning I am teaching on free will to a group of first and second graders. It’s really only a lesson into, but nevertheless, it’s got me thinking – how do you get people, adults or kids, to grasp the sheer Power of their Choices? Our free will is the greatest and yet most dangerous gift God has given us. When I say “dangerous” you may immediately think I mean because of how it can be misused. And of course, that is true. But I am more thinking of the loss when it is NOT used. Missed opportunity, missed potential, kids or people who failed to reach their potential in life because they simply refuse to make the big or little choices daily that would get them there. How do you motivate or inspire others to grab a hold of the Power they have to Choose?! This AMAZING POWER we have to CHOOSE what we want to do each day and with our lives? Now some will be quick to point out that there are many things we can’t control or can’t change or can’t choose. Of course! I can’t go buy myself a Ferrari this afternoon, nor (more painfully) my six kids to the park. Life doesn’t always turn out the way we hoped or planned, BUT… do we focus on what we CAN’T choose? Or on what we can? The reality is, there is ALWAYS MORE THAT WE CAN CHOOSE than that we can’t if we are willing to SEE it.
So, the question remains, how do we instill this in kids? How do we inspire them to seize their life? To make good choices? To dream and to go for it? And how do we NEVER STOP saying, “TODAY I’m going to make some choices that will move me forward and stop the stall or the circling pattern I’m in?”
To move forward, stay on the right path, or get back on the right path, you must be willing to make the tough choices others are too afraid to make. I’ve certainly made some bad decisions in my life, but I try to be a person who is willing to make bold decisions when needed. Two near death experiences makes you very aware you only live once. I refuse to allow inaction to hold me back. Other obstacles in life can hold me back – but may it never be my own inability or unwillingness to make Choices when they need to be made. So I moved across the country to get out of an unhealthy situation. Once I had to choose to go to the boss and fess up. I’ve quit a job I loved, really loved, because the boss was not doing things right behind closed doors and I wanted nothing to do with it. I have chosen to barely watch TV. I rearranged my life to work from home. (I wish I could choose to get up earlier! But that is just too hard! LOL) I chose the Mac over the PC to give myself many more hours a week for family and ministry and less headaches. (That isn’t a jab at my PC friends, that was a hard switch for me, I once was one of those PC guys annoyed by my Mac friends trying to convert me! But I made the choice because of what it meant for my life, it was one of the best choices I’ve made to be quite honest.)
Choices. You make them every day. There might be some big ones you need to make. Don’t put them off any longer. But today there are little choices too. Don’t under estimate them. Your life is the sum of the little choices you make.
Everyone worships God differently. The Bible says those who don’t worship God, arefools. (Creation indeed leaves them without excuse.) But how they worship God, varies based on personality and interests. Some sing. Some paint. Some build. Some create. Some meditate. Some think. Some write. Some serve.
While I find many means of worship enjoyable and meaningful, one that I find most pleasing and satisfying I call “worshiping through my lens.” It is simply enjoying and attempting to capture God’s Creation through the lens of my camera, and then taking some time to edit with iPhoto.
I enjoy the compliments I get and people are often surprised I’m not a “Photoshop” expert and do everything I do to my photos with only iPhoto. So I thought this time, instead of just posting photos from my Father’s Day outing to the Denver Botanic Gardens (where we have a membership) I’d go ahead and give you my “before and after” pics to show you the difference between the pics I took and the way they look after I had some fun on the computer with them.
NOTE: All pics can be clicked to be viewed larger.
White Daisies (BEFORE)
White Daisies (AFTER) See the bug?
Hungry Bee (BEFORE)
Hungry Bee (AFTER)
Lonely Flower (BEFORE)
Lonely Flower (AFTER)
Red Rose (BEFORE)
Red Rose (AFTER)
Purple Fields (BEFORE)
Purple Fields (AFTER)
Busy Ants (BEFORE)
Busy Ants (AFTER)
Fire Flower (BEFORE)
Fire Flower (AFTER)
Waves of Grain (BEFORE)
Waves of Grain (AFTER)
And then, of course, I shoot pictures of my favorite subjects: (no ‘before’ on these)
I often do this… it is relaxing and my own personal form of worship to sit and edit photos of nature on my Mac. I don’t post them often, because I don’t assume they would make for a very interesting blog if I did it often. At times I think I should start a photo-blog, but then that would be another website to maintain andIhaveenoughwebsitesalready!
That’s what this weekend is all about. It’s about the Grace God showed us by looking past our short-comings, our failures, and our imperfections… and loving us anyway.
It’s about wanting us to be Family in spite of us. It’s about Him DYING to make us Family, even though we were wrapped up in ourselves and our needs.
We’ve all got people in our lives (and families) and drive us nuts and who are wrapped up in themselves. People who have let us down. People who don’t deserve a second chance. People who don’t deserve forgiveness. People who are a “lost cause.”
Christ was demonstrating for us what He expects of us by what He did for us. While WE were a lost cause, beyond hope, undeserving, selfish and wrapped up in OURselves – He died for us, and then did the biggest “come back” in His-Story to redeem us.
We have no excuse to hold anyone at arm’s length or hold a grudge. Those who have truly experienced Grace, find it so much easier and natural to extend Grace – for they have been to the foot of the Cross and begged for it.
This Easter, look around for who you can be Jesus to… someone perhaps you’ve overlooked, forgotten, or even given a cold shoulder too… and welcome them back.
After all, it’s what Jesus did for you and me on the first Good Friday and Easter not so long ago. (In God’s eternal timing)
I’ve got a bit of a sober warning and challenge for my fellow ministers today – one written in my personal online journal a few years ago that I’m publishing today. I pray some will consider it slowly and with an open heart. It was written by one who learned these lesson not easily! So it is written not preaching down – not side to side, and perhaps at the time it was written, broken looking up.
OC writes,“These are days of tremendous enterprises, days when we are trying to work for God, and therein lies the snare. Profoundly speaking, we can never work for God.”
Out of deep and sincere devotion to God we can make great effort to work for God, to assist Him in building the Kingdom, but our efforts are like a little boy with a toy hammer banging on the side of a sky scrapper. We may feel really powerful and important, but our efforts are silliness compared what God is doing and has already done. And to think that we can DO anything, is so wrong.
“The men and women He is going to use in His mighty building enterprises are those in whom He has done everything.”
The moment we look at something we have done, is the moment it is no longer a part of what God is doing.
“The only men and women He will use in His building enterprises are those who love Him personally, passionately and devotedly beyond any of the closest ties on earth. The conditions are stern, but they are glorious.”
We talk much of vision, and goals, and objectives (I’ve got published articles all about them!) but the spiritual reality is that GOD alone does the aiming, and we are the mere arrow in His bow. Our work is to chose to remain in the bow (our situation) and in the Hands of God (our Master Archer) while the bow is bending.
“A saint’s life is in the hands of God like a bow and arrow in the hands of an archer. God is aiming at something the saint cannot see, and He stretches and strains, and every now and again the said says – “I cannot stand any more.” God does not heed, He goes on stretching till his purpose is in sight, then He lets fly. Trust yourself in God’s hands.”
Our aim ought not be ministry, but fellowship with God, and HE will take care of the aiming for us.
“Shipwreck occurs where there is not that mental poise which comes from being established on the eternal truth that God is holy love. Faith is the heroic effort of your life; you fling yourself in reckless confidence in God.”
In the midst of ministry, it is extremely difficult to keep our aim and focus on God, because so much of what we are doing, if not everything, is ABOUT God and His work! Being in the midst of ministry is the most dangerous place to be spiritually, because it is nearly impossible to see when our focus gets off God and instead gets onto His work.
“When once we lose sight of God, we begin to be reckless, we cast off certain restrainsts, we cast off praying, we cast off the vision of God in little things, and begin to act on our own initiative.”
If you are in the midst of ministry, STOP for a moment. PAUSE. Set it all aside – and check your walk with God. Nothing you are doing for God matters, if you are not in close fellowship with Him. It won’t matter for anything, and it can cost you the very things you are striving to maintain.
“The real meaning of eternal life is a life that can face anything it has to face without wavering. If we take this view, life becomes one great romance, a glorious opportuity for seeing marvelous things all the time. God is discipllinging us into this central place of power.”
Are you building a ministry? Or building our fellowship and relationship with God? THAT is the only building that will last, and the one that will build a stronger and longer lasting ministry anyway. So focus your aim and energy on God, not ministry, and the ministry will take care of itself.
Italics are quotes for Oswald Chambers, My Utmost For His Highest
As we started our Family Pit Stop yesterday I asked Luke if he would review for me our Bible Trading Cards. Sara grabbed my iPhone and Luke surprised us by going through all the cards with very little help. This wasn’t staged or planned. And while the video is a little longer than I normally would post – I post it first and foremost for family to enjoy and secondly as an encouragement to dads to show them just how effective just a few minutes a day is of being intentional with your kids in opening up the Bible (or Bible trading cards as the case may be) and teaching your kids the Word. It’s not the church’s job, it’s your job to teach your kids the Bible. (Deut. 6)
Hear me dads: When we are doing our Pit Stop (as we call our family devotional time) Luke is often fiddling, fussing, fidgeting, etc. and I half wonder if he is “getting it” – but this video demonstrates that he is hearing it and learning, and there is lots he knows that comes up other times that isn’t reflected here in the video.
It was especially touching when we got to the Cross and Luke said, “I don’t want to learn about that, it’s sad” but then kept going back to that card with several questions.”
In January 2007, I presented ten trends I predicted would characterize children’s ministry in the years ahead. As we approach January 2011 and I review those, it is interesting to consider which of those have trends still resonate as hot trends, which are assumed or fading, and which I wish were of greater emphasis as I scan articles, workshop descriptions of conferences or forum discussions of various websites.
Whenever I am asked to write or speak on the “future” I often start with one of my favorite quotes, which always goes off better verbally…
“I’m not a prophet, nor the son of prophet. In fact, I work for a non-profit organization.”
The reality is, I’m always faced with a very real dilemma. Do I respond with my Predicted Future, or my Preferred Future? Because in many ways, unfortunately, they are very different when I look over the children’s ministry landscape today. I often feel as though I am both fighting against the advance of the kidmin culture as well as contributing to it. On one hand, I’ve been a significant influencer of children’s ministry over the years, and on the other hand, I often find myself trying to push against the goads and challenging the status quo. As I’m about to do.
My answer to the question, “What is the Future of Children’s Ministry?” is going to be to answer it twice. First, I will give you my Predicted Future and then my Preferred Future. Which describes your future will depend on whether you are a leader who is interested in numbers or disciple-making. It will depend on whether you want to wow kids and parents or whether you want children who will walk with Jesus through high school and into their adult lives.
The stats are in. Despite all the modern advances of children’s ministry, youth pastor’s can tell us, if we will listen, we aren’t doing them any favors with our million dollar facilities and fancy curriculum and edutainment and mini-youth groups. Their job hasn’t gotten much easier. And blaming families isn’t the answer either. While supporting families is critically important, in our culture, less and less children are in healthy Christian families, so there will only be a growing need for strong children’s ministries to reach them. So let’s take a look at two possible futures and then make a choice.
My Predicted Future
The demise of the children’s pastor and children’s ministry. Both have been usurped and swallowed by family ministry. Misunderstanding the distinct difference between children’s ministry and family ministry, churches opt to roll the children’s ministry into family ministry. Rather than embracing family ministry as a church-wide responsibility that should coordinate with and work in concert with children’s ministry, it is seen as the solution and biblical mandate that renders children’s ministry obsolete. Of course, this happens slowly. First the children’s pastor is replaced. Next, the word “ministry” is dropped from children’s ministry. In time, “children’s programming” becomes part of the family ministry, a disguised name for child care. This is denied emphatically, but the lack of evangelism, discipleship and solid biblical teaching is the proof, those having been all been delegated to parents. Volunteers are no longer trained to study and teach and lead children to a saving faith in Christ. They are trained in safety standards, how to run video equipment, and to foster caring environments and build loving relationships. Worship is emphasized and is central to the experience at church along with highly entertaining programs teaching bible stories and virtues based on biblical principles. All of which are important, but do not fulfill Jesus’ mandate to “Go into all the world and make disciples of all nations.” (Matthew 18:19-20) Processing large groups of children through similar group experiences with as few volunteers as possible will be key. Resources that make volunteering as easy as possible with as little preparation as necessary will be the best selling. And of course, neither children, nor volunteers, will bother bringing their Bibles to church anymore, because they simply are no longer needed in the Lord’s House.
My Preferred Future
The resurgence of the teacher and a return of the student. When was the last time you heard the kids at church referred to as “students?” I would like to envision both the children’s pastor and volunteers studying the Bible during the week. I’d like to see children again memorizing Scripture and completing assignments at home. I see them logging on to a website with their parents to interact with materials the church has provided to help them engage with what the church is teaching their children. I see Dad getting a text message during the week from the children’s pastor with a question he can ask his son about the main point of the week in class and Mom getting an e-mail with ideas of discussion questions the family can use at dinner time about the theme of the month from the family pastor. I see the family ministry and children’s ministry working together, one first being far broader than families with kids – and the latter being far broader than kids with a mom and dad. Where they overlap, there is a lot they do together, but where they don’t, they have learned that merging them leaves too many left neglected. So family ministry reaching far more than a children’s ministry ever could, and children’s ministry reaches more than families ever could. Oh, and on Sundays, the children’s pastor, (this is a role, not necessarily their title) is actually teaching from the Word, with a Bible in hand, and the children are following along in their Bibles, some even underlining, learning to correctly handle the Word of Truth. (2 Timothy 2:15)
Neither of these futures are automatic, nor will either represent every church. But both will exist in some churches. The question is only which is more likely to more closely represent your church?
What the future of children’s ministry needs most for success is a return to an emphasis on the study of and teaching of the Word of God, and less on making ministry easy for volunteers, attractive to families and processing large groups of children through fun environments. That hasn’t produced disciples who will walk with Jesus for life. The future doesn’t need more technology – it needs deeper and better relationships. If technology can foster more connectivity or methods of relating, that is wonderful. But “His divine power has given us everythingweneed for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.” (2 Peter 1:3)
As Kidology folks know, I’m passionate about the topic of “Intentional Parenting” – its the theme of my Online Training Lab “Partnering with Parents” (Kidology Members can watch the training video for free) – and something I have preached and “teached” about…
But, of course, it starts in your own home. Early on when we first became parents we got excited about starting a family learning time, and inspired by a family in one of our first ministries (the Camarenas) who did a “Praise the Lord Time” every evening, we started that with Luke when he was around two. It was a complete disaster. LOL. We quickly had to surrender that we were starting the family devotional thing too soon, and settled for bedtime Bible stories and prayers, of course prayers at meals, Christian entertainment, and learning moments throughout the day – and engaging with the materials from church, but set aside any formal home devotional time for the time being. My over-eagerness to be a good dad and start this with a two year old would have made for some good candid camera moments.
Since I actually write and publish family devotional guides for a publisher (download a sample) I can’t wait until Luke is much older to be able to use those as a family – but we probably let a little too much time slip by before restarting an intentional strategy again.
But the time has come for me to give myself a kick in my own rear to be more intentional as a parent in being a Deuteronomy 6 Dad and start doing some formal (but fun) spiritual training in my own home – and not just encouraging others to be doing it in theirs via the materials I write for churches.
I’m blogging about it for a few reasons:
1) To hold myself accountable – by telling others we are doing it, there is some public accountability! People can ask me how it’s going. (gulp!)
2) To get feedback, suggestions, ideas and questions to improve what we are doing.
3) To maybe inspire others to be more intentional in their spiritual parenting.
Daddy and Luke after our First Family Pit Stop!
My first challenge was to come up with a name for our intentional family time. I wanted something that would last for years – not sound too “spiritual” – and not overly define what we were going to do, as I want to be flexible. I was writing all kinds of words on a paper as Sara and I brain stormed. It had to be simple enough for a four year old to understand, and yet have some meaning that would still make sense when he is ten. (Yes, I pray we are still doing it years from now!) We had Bible Learning Time, God Time, Family Zone, Prayer Circle, Family Huddle – and lots of key words – and then it hit me: my boy LOVES cars, and race cars need to pull out of the race to refuel and get repaired and stop racing for a bit so they can get back in the race. Everyone knows what happened to Lightening McQueen when he thought he didn’t need a pit stop at the beginning of the Disney Cars movie!
So I explained to Luke that every night after supper we are going to have a Family Pit Stop. We are going to pull out of the family race and daddy is going to plan a little something to focus us on God. We might watch a video and talk about it, we might read a book, we might play a game, we might do a craft, we might watch a toybox tale, but we will always just take some time to focus on God. We’ll read something out of the Bible and pray. They don’t have to be long. Pit Stops are using fast anyway. But the point is to always make one.
Of course, I know there will be days we can’t make one – but I really want that to be the exception. I want my boy to grow up knowing that our family had a Family Pit Stop in the evening, even if it was short, we always pulled over to talk about God, read some scripture and pray. Some days I can get really creative (After all, after twenty plus years as a children’s pastor, I have an entire children’s ministry in my basement!) but other days it will just be a kids devotional book and prayer – but the point will be stopping and focusing on God as a family.
I think it will be fun to even do a Family Pit Stop by iChat when I’m on the road someday!
Preparing for Halloween
Tonight, since Halloween is coming, and Luke is starting to notice scary stuff around the neighborhood and in stores – I decided to show him what a skeleton really is. I got this cool books at Costco awhile back, one of a Car Body and one of the Human Body, where as you page through them you get to see the “parts” unfold and see the insides. We did the car first and talked about the insides of a car and how you can’t see the insides normally, but that is how a car works, and then we did the human and talked about how people have insides too, and he learned a lot about how his body works, and then we just talked about how that’s what a skeleton is. So when he sees skeletons, he doesn’t need to be scared, they are just pictures of people like in this book showing how God made us. He was fascinated and said that he wasn’t scared of skeletons at all and it was silly to make them walk and talk, people can’t do that with no skin on!
Then we did a devotional book with the story of Jesus on the road to Emmaus, and how he disappeared, and then when he appeared to the disciples they thought he was a ghost, but he proved he wasn’t by eating, and talked about how the only real ghost was Jesus – and he wasn’t even a ghost, and he proved it by eating. So all the ghosts and skeletons are just things people put out for fun.
At the very end Luke said he loved the Pit Stop and said, “This was fun, now can we get back to racing and run around the house?” Reminding me that kids are quite literal, so he took the pit stop explanation quite literal!
I plan to wear the racing jacket for Pit Stop time for awhile, until my NASCAR hat arrives. Then, when it is Family Pit Stop time, I will just put on the hat and announce, “It’s time for Family Pit Stop!” Pray for me that I will be faithful to keep up this commitment.
RELATED: Dads, you need to check this out: Pastor Dad
Yosemite Summit was first a dream – a weak sliver of a dream in the mind of a frail and broken man who was issued a challenge by his pastor to dare to intentionally build re-creation into his life.
It took another two years for that dream to become a reality. First, I needed to heal the wounds of my own brokenness – and the consequences of overextended ministry passion. My marriage, my soul and many relationships needed focused repentance, repair and restoration.
Only then was I ready invite others to join me on a retreat in Yosemite for a week of hiking, reflection, and connecting with God in a way I had never done before.
At first I was going to go alone. Then with just one friend. And then I realized – I can’t be the only children’s pastor who needs this. So I created Yosemite Summit – an annual event where I CHECK OUT of ministry and CHECK IN with God and make sure I never again get going so fast, I out-pace God.
I’ve now done this event three times and every year has bee so unique, I can’t wait to see what God does in 2011 to make the fourth Summit special.
The event isn’t cheap – it costs me over $5000 to pull off this event, regardless of whether 3 or 8 guys come. The cost is basically the same, for the lodge, the van, the fuel, and all the food. If I can fill the lodge, it averages out to about $600 each. So that is what I charge, I actually lose money every year. But I don’t do this to make money – I do it because I need it. And because I know other men need it too.
However, I know that there are guys who need this event, but can’t afford to pay that much – plus the airfare to get to Sacramento. So this year, I’m taking a step of faith, and instead of offering a few scholarships, like I did last year – to help a few guys come for free – instead, I am going to offer the option of allowing guys to optionally pay less – on their honor – if they need to.
Hear me out, if a guy’s church can afford the full $625 plus the Sacramento lodging (that’s an extra $100 that everyone pays) then I expect ‘em to pay. BUT if they need to pay less, I’m giving that option, between them and God.
Crazy, huh?!
One year, I had a guy from a big church who picked up the gasoline on the 15 passenger gas a few times to help me out. I’ve had others who have donated. I’m gonna trust God to honor this, because I have a sense there are a few guys who NEED this trip, and I want them on it…
There are only a few openings available. My only concern with this is, I don’t want to scare off guys who CAN afford it. This retreat is open and available to anyone who needs it. Big church, little church – doesn’t matter. There are guys at big churches who can easily afford it – and they need it! They are crazy busy, and NEED to get away and disconnect and hike and commune with God.
But I just want to also make sure that guys who look at that $625 price tag and say, “I could never go to Yosemite Summit” to know that they CAN come… I’m willing to work with them and they can opt to pay several hundred dollars less.
If you were asked, “Do you partner with parents?” it’s been my experience that you are most likely to answer, “I try.” And if I were to ask you, “How do you partner with parents?” you are likely to list types of events you’ve done, resources you’ve sent home, or things that you’ve tried once, but didn’t seem to quite you pull off. My guess is that when it comes to the concept of partnering with parents, you feel defeated, or in a quandary as to how to do it. You are not alone! What if you could say with confidence, “YES! We partner with families in my church.” I believe you can.
I think it is safe to assume that you are very concerned about the spiritual welfare of the children in your church. If you are a parent, you have your own children in mind as you think about the challenges that they are currently facing and the battles that lie ahead. Perhaps the title “Partnering with Parents” resonates with you as something that is desperately needed in your church. However, it may be a phrase that conjures up feelings of doubt, discouragement or frustration because as much as you know it is needed, you’re not sure how to do it. Perhaps you’ve tried, but nothing seems to be working, at least not as well as you’d like.
First off, I need to confirm that you are right, it’s NOT easy. But I also want you to know that I have discovered a completely different approach to partnering with parents. It is an approach that you may find radical, or you may simply find it a relief.
But it is an approach that enables you to say with confidence, “Yes, we genuinely partner with parents in our ministry.”
Why are children’s ministry leaders clamoring for books on family ministry and packing out workshops on “partnering with parents?” Because they are coming to the realization that the church is failing to produce children who are fully devoted disciples of Jesus Christ. Even a casual look at our youth groups, often filled with kids who grew up in the church, our hearts break to hear about the language, drinking, drug use, immorality and general abandonment of core Christian values and beliefs.
In his latest book, Raising a Modern-Day Joseph, Larry Fowler presents three sobering realities facing the church, and the parents who drop them off.
Declining Commitment
Christian young people are leaving the church and the faith of their parents as they leave home for college and work. Christian researcher, George Barna, reports that “the most potent data regarding disengagement (of youth from their faith) is that a majority of twentysomethings – 61% of today’s young adults – had been churched at one point during their teen years but they are now spiritually unengaged.”
Unbiblical Worldviews
Christian young people are not transferring the biblical knowledge they have into a biblical worldview. Christian apologist and researcher Josh McDowell claims that between 69 and 94 percent of teenagers leave the church after high school. He also reports that only 15% of Christian young people have a biblical world view. George Barna says it is only 10%.
Declining Bible Knowledge
Christian young people don’t know nearly as much about the Bible as they used to.
Christian Smith, principal investigator of the National Study of Youth and Religion states that
“Most U.S. teens have a difficult time explaining what they believe, what it means, and what the implications of their beliefs are for their lives.”
How can this be? (!) Not so many decades ago “children’s ministry” hardly existed. “Children’s Pastors” are relatively new on the church staff scene. As Linda Massey Weddle points out in her book, Driveway to the Highway, most churches now provide fully staffed nurseries, Sunday School, children’s church, mid-week and after school programs, and much more! Children’s Ministry curriculum is more entertaining, colorful and professional looking than ever before. Publishing houses have flooded the market with “Christian” books, toys, resources and more. Radio stations play Christian music and messages twenty-four hours a day. Why is it, we wonder, do kids walk away from the faith of their parents and church when we have all these “advantages” in the church in America?
Church leaders look at statistics and are concerned. (They ought to be alarmed!) Parents, on the other hand, often don’t need stats. They are concerned, and often alarmed, simply by what they see in their own home or in the homes of their kids’ friends and classmates. There is little doubt the church is doing its best – sincerity and effort are not in question – but the results are coming in, and it’s not looking good. Parents are also doing the best they know how, and are feeling the sense of failure more personally, for it is their own children, whom they deeply love, that who they are watching fall away – or are afraid might.
George Barna, in his book Transforming Children into Spiritual Champions, confirmed through scientific research what children’s leaders have long undertood – Christian education during childhood is the most critical of a person’s entire life, as it will most likely determine what they believe their entire life! Children’s ministry leaders and parents who are awake see the dangers and the spiritual casualties and are desperate for change. It is more critical than ever that the church and parents start partnering to do a better job of preparing children for a life of faith in a world that is ever increasingly seeking to mislead and destroy them.
We have a choice. Keep doing what we are doing or step back and take a serious look at how we can do a better job.
That is why I took a completely new and radical approach to “partnering with parents” – but you know what? it worked.
You can learn about it in my Leadership Lab, “Partnering with Parents.” Be prepared for a totally different way of thinking about partnering with parents. But be prepared for results too.
TWO LISTS: The “Sorry List” and the “Lightening List!”
Everyone who listens to my podcast knows I’ve been ministering with Gus, my teaching partner, since Bible College – they may not realize, that one of our routines is included in every lesson of DiscipleTown! (The children’s church curricululm I write for DiscipleLand, which you can use regardless of what Sunday School curricula you use.)
Here is a sample from Lesson Two of How to Pray! Yes, now you too can can do a wacky puppet routine – or convert it to a skit – and introduce the topic of your lesson in a humorous, and yet very thought provoking manner, that really gets the point of the forthcoming lesson across.
The Lesson is on Repentance and the the Main Point of this lesson is:In prayer, God shows ways we need to change!
Note: “Puppet” refers to “Gus” but in the curriculum, you are encouraged to use your own puppet so I leave it generic. (This is my pre-edited version, the final version from the publisher may be slightly different.)
Puppet comes out and is very excited about the lesson today because he understands that it is about repentance. Teacher says it is indeed. Puppet says that he has put together two lists. Teacher asks what the lists are. Puppet says, “Well, the first list is my ‘Sorry List.” Teacher, says, well, that sounds great! What’s on that list?” Puppet says, “Well, I wrote out all the stuff I’m going to do that that I feel sorry about.” Teacher says, “What?!?!” Puppet says, “Well, there’s just some things I gotta do, but that I know are wrong, and I feel really bad about ‘em, so I thought I’d better confess ‘em ahead of time, just to make sure God knows I’m sorry about ‘em. You know, then it’s not as bad, as if I just did ‘em and didn’t feel bad, you know, like some people we know.”
The teacher is flabbergasted, and says, “That’s doesn’t make any sense, “If its wrong its wrong, it doesn’t matter if you feel sorry or not, if its wrong, it’s… well, its still wrong. Even if you say you’re sorry about it in advance. It’s almost worse then.” Puppet says, “Well, I’m confessing it? Doesn’t that count for anything?” Teacher says, “Yeah, its premeditated wrongness! That’s what it counts for!” Puppet says, “Bummer, I was afraid you were going to say that. So feeling sorry isn’t enough, huh?” Teacher replied, “No, to repent means to change your mind about it, it means to go the other way – its more than just being sorry, its deciding not to do it.”
Puppet sighs and scratches his head. Pauses, and then says, “O.K., I repent then, I’ll rip that list up, I repent then. I won’t do anything on that list, and I’m so glad God forgives me. I’m forgiven, right?” Teacher says, “You sure are.” Puppet says, “That’s good news. I feel so much better.” Teacher asks, “I’m almost afraid to ask, but what’s the other list?” Puppet says, “Oh, that’s my Lightening List.”
Teacher is exasperated again. “Lightening List! What is tar-nation is that?!?!?” Puppet answers, mater-of-factly, “Why the people I want God to strike with lightening, that’s all, why? Something wrong with that too?” Teacher is about to lose it. “Yes! How can you have a list like that?” Puppet says, “Simple, they all did something to me, and unlike me, they haven’t repented yet. So I think they should be struck by lightening.”
Teacher takes a deep breath and says, “Didn’t you just say it was good news that God forgave you of your sins?” Puppet answers, “Yes, but what’s that got to do with anything?” Teacher says, “Everything! The Bible says you will be forgive as you forgive others. In fact, in the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus instructed us to pray, ‘forgive us our sins as we forgive others who have sinned against us.’ So that means, if you don’t forgive the people on that there list – why should God forgive you?”
Puppet stutters, “Uh, well, uh, gulp – I guess, if I get forgiveness when I don’t deserve it, they should get it too, even though they don’t deserve it?” Teacher says, “I think so.” Puppet throws his hands up, “Do you know what this means?” Teacher says, “No, what does this mean?” Puppet answers, “This means I have to rip up my last list, and now I don’t have any lists left.”
Teacher says, “That’s O.K., you’re on a better list, the list of the forgiven – and there is no better list than that!” Puppet says, “I’m gonna start a new list, my Blessing List, all the ways God has blessed me!” Teacher says, “Now you’re talking!”
To learn more about my lastest DiscipleTown unit, How to Pray, I’d encourage you to read all about it.
Prayer is not an unfamiliar topic to children – but do we truly teach children How to Pray? For too many Christians, of any age, prayer is something reserved for times or trouble or perhaps meal times, instead of being a means for connecting with their Creator on a daily basis and deepening their walk with God. That is the meaning the purpose of prayer, but it is a skill that must be taught to children so that they can discover the richness of having a meaningful prayer life. Teach a child to pray, and there are a great many other things you will not have to teach them, for the Holy Spirit will do it for you.
That’s why I was eager to write a series that taught children How to Pray! In order to give children a simple mental framework, the many aspects of prayer are broken down into four areas that start with the letters of the word P.R.A.Y. – Praising, Repenting, Asking and Yielding. While there is certainly more to prayer than can be captured in four simple words, each of the lessons expands on these and hints at the broader aspects of prayer and that they will have a life time to explore the power and joy learning How to Pray!
