The Gospel is #1. Tell it often. Tell it well.

Nothing is more important than sharing the Gospel. Nothing. I remember like it was yesterday. I was in seminary (not ‘cemetery,’ as kids often call it) with a room full of potential pastors. I was the only kids pastor. The rest were in training for much “higher office,” aka Lead Pastors. The professor in the front of the room described a horrible situation in graphic detail that I’ll spare you. In short, a man had been in a terrible car accident and was dying on the side of the road. In this hypothetical situation, he said that we happened along the scene and had only moments to share Christ with him and usher the dying man into the presence of Jesus. One by one he invited these future preachers to the front of the room to share the Good News with this dying man and explain the fullness of the Gospel. One by one as they came up and pontificated about substitutionary atonement, propitiatory reconciliation, the intricacies of redemptive sacrifice or Old Testament covenants fulfilled through the justification and subsequent glorification of Christ, the professor would interrupt them and say, “Too late, the guys dead. Next.” Finally, it was my…

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Making the Complex Simple and FUN!

For as long as I can remember, one of my favorite jokes has been, “I’m not a prophet. Nor am I the son of a prophet. In fact, I work for a non-profit organization!” Obviously, it works better verbally than in print. As we head into Christmas, one of the greatest evidences for Christianity is the number of prophesies that Jesus fulfilled when He came as a child and the many more He fulfilled throughout His life and ministry and, of course, in His death and resurrection. Over the years, I heard countless times, “Jesus fulfilled over 200 prophesies!” But no one ever provided the data on the many referenced prophesies. Clearly, that’s a lot of evidence, and presenting it in an easy-to-understand format is challenging – especially to children – and so we are forced to simply ask our audience to “trust us” on this bold claim. Last year, when writing the Angel Sightings series for it Bible Curriculum, I finally decided “trust me on this” wasn’t enough. I wanted to SHOW MY KIDS the prophesies that Jesus had fulfilled, but I wanted to do it in a fun and easy-to-digest manner. I had no idea how big a…

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Volunteer Scheduling – New from KidCheck

KidCheck now offers volunteer scheduling—a powerful addition to your volunteer strategy. Volunteer scheduling saves valuable time, eliminates manual processes, and helps simplify the daily administrative tasks of overseeing volunteers.   Powerful yet simple. Fast and efficient. Intuitive, quick, and easy. That’s KidCheck’s volunteer scheduling. Plus, it’s available in both a mobile app and desktop version. KidCheck’s volunteer scheduling is perfect for any event across your organization requiring support, such as Sunday service, community events, VBS, fundraisers, camps, and conferences. Volunteer scheduling can help manage resource needs for the classroom, security, music, hospitality, technical support, and more. If you’re looking to coordinate event resources with less effort, KidCheck’s volunteer scheduling is a fast, efficient, and easy way to deliver a better volunteer experience and a successful event. Are you interested in using KidCheck secure children’s check-in? Click here to request a free demo. It’s an excellent way for organizations to see and learn the benefits of using secure children’s check-in.

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Unlock Learning with Intentional Questions

The Quest for Quality Questions! The story goes that a student once asked his wise old mentor, “Why is it that every time I ask you a question, you respond with a question of your own?” to which the teacher responded, “Why do you think I do that?” Obviously, the teacher understood the power of questions. Questions are the key that unlock answers and unravel the mysteries of our world. Children love questions! At the earliest age, “Why?” seems to become one of their favorite words! I remember when my young son would play a verbal game with me by asking “Why” after every answer I would give to see how far I was willing to go before I figured out I was just being played. A popular magazine has as its tag line, “Enquiring minds want to know.” This would be a perfect tag line for children! A wise teacher doesn’t ask questions off the cuff – they intentionally plan them in advance! Here are some Quick Tips on how to use questions to engage children in learning to use questions. Then I’ll go deeper on how to ask questions that truly change lives. Ask questions that are more…

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Teaching Teenagers

While our church is between youth pastors, I’ve been leading our yourh ministry. I’ve been a Kids & Youth Pastor in the past, and done this interim role before – and I always enjoy it. People often ask me how is teaching teenagers different from teaching kids, or preaching to adults for that matter. Honestly, I love it. It’s the best of both worlds! Too many youth pastors, I think, teach them as though they are already adults – as though they are suddenly “too cool” for the “kid stuff.” I beg to differ. Instead, I find you get to enjoy a really fun blend of both styles. Teenagers are not little adults. Don’t let those those big bodies fool you! They may start to interact as peers, but they are FAR from peers. If you want to be effective in ministry with teens, you must respect them as emerging adults, but secretly understand that they are more big kids than little adults. And actually still crave kids stuff more than they will admit. Let’s talk simple brain development. How is the teenage brain different from the chid they were just a few years ago and the adult they will…

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