I had one of the cutest things happen a few weeks ago in our mid-week 4-year-old class. I came by the room that night to check on and communicate with the teachers for a couple of minutes and in doing so, I became engaged in conversation with an adorable little boy who was enjoying playing with Play Dough. After a talking for a while, I asked him, "Do you know who I am?" Looking up at me with the most loving eyes, he said, "Jesus?" At first, the cuteness factor was almost too much. I wanted to laugh out loud at his statement. Me? Jesus? Was he kidding? But later, the Holy Spirit reminded me...

Several years ago, I was in one of three weekend services and my wife Vickie was on the platform leading the children in worship. I'll have to admit, it was one of the most wonderful, powerful times of worship that I had witnessed in any of our services. It seemed as though that we had entered into a new level of intensity and passion. After the worship was over and I was on the platform transitioning into the next area of the service, I commented to Vickie about what I had just witnessed and told her that I saw that some day that we would have to work to get the kids to stop praising and...

While we all love the elements that make up our ministry (the crazy characters, games, skits, puppets, visuals, etc.), we know that the litmus test of the success of a particular service isn't found in these elements. It is so important that we constantly remind ourselves that these are just mere tools that open the children's hearts so that the gospel can be presented. They are just the means of, not the meaning of our ministry. It is far too easy to get this reversed and place such emphasis upon the tools that we neglect the message and purpose of our ministry. Upon leaving a ministry...