Home BlogPage 3

Do You Need a BREAK from Ministry?

So, just HOW excited would you be to get AWAY from your job for a week? You can only IMAGINE… no e-mail, no texts, no meetings, no phone calls, no to-do lists, no boss dropping in with some new task… how excited would you me? Maybe as excited as this guy on Yosemite Summit at the top of Sentinel Dome! Yosemite Summit is a week long sabbatical retreat for men in the heart of Yosemite National Park. This is not camping. This is a week at a relaxing lodge for refreshment, renewal and recharging away from the hustle and bustle of fast-paced ministry life. You can leave your watch behind as there is no schedule other than eat breakfast, hike, chill, and return for home cooked dinner in the evening enjoying fellowship with other men during the day. Explore YosemiteSummit.org to learn more or register here! I’m praying for the guys that will join me on next year’s Summit. Will it be you?

Continue reading

Expect Much, Get Much!

Children typically only rise as far as you expect them to. Rarely does a student exceed the expectations of the leaders in their life. I’ve learned, “Expect Little, Get Little; Expect Much, Get Much.” Many children have a low opinion of themselves, but if you think more of them than they think of themselves, you can have the power to help lift them to the next level on their Christian journey! As a young boy, one of my teachers, Helen Reed, gave me a passion for Scripture memory. I still remember hearing, “I think you can do it,” whispered in my ear as I worked to memorize the Bible verses she provided. Her consistent encouragement pushed me to accomplish much! I would have never memorized all of those verses, nor would I have the grasp of Scripture I have today, if it wasn’t for her faithful challenging. When it came to Scripture memory, I knew that was an area of strength, so did I no longer need challenging? Far from it! We moved and I got a new church teacher. Mr. Ralph could have just complimented me on my knowledge of Scripture, but instead he commented, “I’ll be impressed when…

Continue reading

STOP, DROP and ROLL!

As teachers, we have an agenda. We have a lesson plan we are trying to teach, a game we are trying to lead, a craft we are trying to complete, or some other activity that we prayed about, planned, prepared and now are trying to pull off. But often our children have other ideas about how the time in the classroom is going to be spent. There is an old children’s ministry saying that goes, “If you don’t have a plan for the kids, they’ll have a plan for you!” What do you do when you are trying to lead young children in one direction and they are moving in an entirely different direction? We usually tell them to stop what they are doing and to do what we tell them to do. Does this work? Not usually. Someone once defined insanity as taking something that doesn’t work and working harder at it. When children don’t respond well to our request to stop and obey, we have a conflict. In the classroom we are dealing with other peoples’ children, so we lack the authority and leverage we’d normally have over our own children, so we feel rather powerless. We try…

Continue reading

What is Your Philosophy?

Do you have a Philosophy of Children’s Ministry? Guess what? You do! Whether you have written it out or not, you have core principles that guide your thoughts, decisions, actions, re-actions, opinions and even what annoys you. I would challenge you as you head into a new year, to define the core values that drive you and your ministry forward. It will help you understand yourself, explain your decisions and actions to others, and challenge others to re-think their own approach to ministry to children, particularly your volunteers. It will help your parents understand the reasoning behind why you do things the way you do. HERE IS MINE: Our Children’s Ministry: Is Dedicated to supplementing the family in their attempt to lay a spiritual foundation that, in God’s timing, will lead a child into a relationship with God through Jesus Christ and then to provide for them a place where they can grow in their knowledge and love for God. It is not our job to replace the family, but to support and re-enforce the family.He commanded our ancestors to teach their children, so the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in…

Continue reading

NEW YEAR – New Opportunity!

I love a New Year! And this time, we get a new Decade! While I see the point the New Year’s Resolution Nasayers are trying to make in poo-pooing making goals at the New Year, I personally think that’s a silly way of admitting failure before even beginning. To ridicule new years resolutions I think is a redemptive attack on failure. But one that assures failure rather than promotes success. To not play a game because you might lose is to miss out on the joy and excitement of the game. Didn’t our parents teach us that winning isn’t everything? I set new goals every year. Do they last all year? Rarely. Does that make them a waste or pointless? Far from it! Even if they improve your life for the next three to six months, they are worth it. And the good news? You don’t have to wait until next January 1st to make fresh ones. August 1st Resolutions are just as valuable, as are March 17th. So don’t let the question of whether you’ll make it a year stop you from making goals for 2020. I’m sure you’ve heard it said, “Aim at nothing and you are sure…

Continue reading