Home Archive by category "Children’s Ministry" (Page 113)

Category: Children’s Ministry

Two Raging Battles

Here is a SNEAK PEEK at the next Kidology Online Training Leadership Lab which is titled, “Partnering with Parents.” There are two battles raging today in children’ ministry. The first battle is for the hearts and minds of our children. It is a battle that we are losing on many fronts. While in many places children’s ministry has “arrived” with it’s kid-friendly facilities and multi-media “edutainment” style of teaching, there is little evidence that all this “fun” and “excitement” is automatically translating into young, fully devoted disciples of Jesus Christ. This is a battle that we are all aware of for the most part, and are trying our best to engage and win. However, there is a second battle I see raging in the Church that I’m not sure many recognize. It is a battle of the “Blame Game.” As parents and church leaders are waking up to the fact that, despite all the high-tech gadgets and endless resources, we are losing the first battle, they shift to this second one, turning on each other. Parents, who feel they are doing their best, are looking to the church for help and answers, and are feeling they aren’t getting enough. And…

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A Model CM Ministry!

This past weekend I was honored to be invited as they keynote speaker at a conference hosted by Spiritual Formation Ministry of the Wesleyan Church. (see www.wesleyankids.org) It was called The Huddle, and while there was several these Huddles around the country, I was at the Shenandoah district hosted by Parkway Wesleyan Church in Roanoke, Virginia. Marty Martin, a Kidology CP Team member, invited me over a year ago and knew to lure me with pictures of the mountains that surround the church. I highly recommend installing mountains around your church! The church is located on the top of it’s own mountain with a beautiful winding road leading up to it and has a spectacular view of the entire city. Marty and his wife Patsy posing in a brisk cold wind in front of the church. They are an awesome team. Patsy leads the children’s worship as well helps with many other behind-the-scenes things. There joy of serving the Lord together was so evident. It was obvious right away that this was a church that understands children. From the wind tunnel dude greeting visitors to the playground, granted, it was too cold to be filled wit children on Sunday! Parkview…

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Educated?

When is a child truly EDUCATED? This powerful video asks that very question. Back in 2000 I heard this most thought provoking poem on WMBI and tracked down the author to get permission to make the following video to show our parents at our church. Many of the kids in this video are now out of high school! Every time I show this video at a conference when speaking on children’s ministry and disciple making I am asked for a copy of it. (We now sell it as a download on Kidology.org) Here is the video as read by some of the kids in my previous ministry. (Many thanks to Pastor Jim Crouter who did the editing for me on his PC) Here are the words: YOU MAY PURCHASE A DOWNLOADABLE COPY OF THIS VIDEO FOR ONLY $4 ON KIDOLOGY.org (You will also get a Word document with the words of the poem) It is also included free as part of my Leadership Lab #4 on Partnering with Parents

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So Easy A Kid Can’t Do It!

On a recent trip out of town, I was missing my little boy so I did what many parents do, I dropped into a toy store to find a treat to bring home. I saw something rather fun (and affordable) and picked it up to bring home. It was called a Puffimal. The idea is simple, a rubber ball/balloon that is in the shape of an animal. I picked the elephant and looked forward to giving to Luke. The instructions seemed simple enough: Please note: so easy, right? All you have to do is “place mouth over the nozzle end and blow” – in fact, they even show a picture of a little boy inflating his Puffimal. This is blatant fraud and false advertising! Not only could NO CHILD blow up this little toy, but not even a grown man who when he was twelve was told by his doctor that he had the lungs of a thirty year old due to his asthma. In fact, people often marvel that I easily inflate the long thin balloons used for balloon animals without a pump, since most adults can’t inflate them. But this Puffimal I could not do! I about ruptured…

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My Friend Dan Gets to Celebrate Easter With Jesus

Dan and I, March 4th, 2008  Today I got one of those calls none of us wants to get. When I saw “Dan Rase” on my phone it didn’t matter that I was about to go out the door with my little boy for a father-son evening, this was a good friend calling – even if it had to be short and offer to call back, I was so glad he was calling. Instead it was his wife, Joyce. As soon as I heard her voice I knew something was wrong, but I was not prepared for her to tell me that Dan had gone to meet the Lord early this morning due to a heart attack while he slept. I had just seen Dan at the Kidology Gathering at CPC in San Diego. Afterward, even though it was nearly 11pm, we stood outside enjoying the cool evening California weather and talked until after midnight. We talked about life, our marriages, our ministries, our failures, our disappointments, our hopes and dreams… and our adopted children. It was one of those conversations that marks you and changes you. I was sick that whole week and running pretty weak, but knew that…

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