Though I was raised in a small city, we still had enough country in us that our family always planted a garden each Spring. From those days, I learned that long before the seed is planted into the soil, the size of the crop is being established. How? The smart gardener knows not to throw the seed upon a dry, crusty ground. He knows the value of tilling the soil, removing the weeds, fertilizing, etc.Sadly, many children's ministry leaders and workers haven't learned this valuable principle. They haven't learned that the success of their ministry time is determined long before they walk into...

The Bible is an amazing book. No matter how many times that I read it, I constantly discover "nuggets" that I have never seen before.A couple of weeks ago, I was reading John 16:13 and a phrase jumped off the page that I've really never overly paid attention to. I have always emphasized the "guide you into all truth" and the "whatever He hears, He speaks" portion of the verse. On that Sunday morning, the Holy Spirit emphasized the phrase "and He will show you things to come."When I read those words, there came an excitement and new-found passion for the Holy Spirit. In studying this phrase,...

Rather than give a leadership/motivation/teaching thought this week, allow me to jump start your creativity with an idea for your children's ministry. This past weekend, we began a four-part series with our children entitled Batteries Not Included. We taught our first lesson yesterday showing that while each and every child is fearfully and wonderfully (amazingly and miraculously God's Word for Today) made (Psalms 139:14) and are placed on this earth with an assignment (Jeremiah 1:5), each child is placed on this earth with batteries not included. To illustrate this, we used a television...