The Key to Longevity – Connect!
Here is an observation from 29+ years of children's ministry. Many children's workers fail to make it for the long haul. The children's ministry grave yard is filled with the remains of those who passed from the scene with little fanfare. Their departure was as pronounced as their time of ministry. No one knew that they were there or that they left.Why am I still around? How have I eluded the children's ministry graveyard? Early in my ministry I learned this secret ... I need you. I learned that my survival is contingent upon my reminding myself that I am utterly and helplessly incomplete...
I Don’t Plan to Ever Quit the Children’s Ministry!
Many things have changed in the 29 years that Vickie and I have been in full-time children's ministry. I just caught myself writing full-time as though there is a part-time alternative. We all know that it is full-time to do all that is required to effectively minister to children. Many leaders put in full-time hours and energy for the children's ministry and receive their finances from an 8 to 5 job.While many things have changed over the years, there is one thing that hasn't changed. Every children's ministry is always in need of additional staff, right? I haven't heard of anyone with a...
The Greater the Sensitivity, the Greater the Power
If you have been in children's ministry for any length of time, you will agree that this is an on-the-job training ministry. At the beginning, mistakes are plentiful. As you continue through the School of Hard Knocks, you soon earn your bachelor's degree and the mistakes become fewer and fewer.One of the dangers of being a graduate of the School of Hard Knocks is that, after a while, it is so easy to begin to operate off of previous experience. There is security in having done things before. In our ministry, we know what works, what to do/what not to do, etc. There can't be many mistakes...
They are Children!
After moving from South Texas to South Florida in 1989, we began to behave like the Israelites after they left Egypt and began to crave the foods that are peculiar to back home. (Forgive me fellow Texans. In no way is Texas like Egypt. It is just a biblical example to make me look studious.) We longed for GOOD Tex-Mex, Dr. Pepper in every restaurant, and real Texas BBQ.Not long after moving to Florida, we were blessed with a smoker (the kind that is used to smoke meat ... don't go and try to ruin my testimony). Soon, we were smoking brisket and once again enjoying hickory or mesquite smoked...
The Greater the Dependence, the Greater the Power
One of the traps of longevity in children's ministry is that we can become so good and self-sufficient that we don’t need His presence and power. In the natural, no challenge is too difficult, no circumstance is insurmountable.It would be wise for us to learn from the apostle Paul in this matter. We all know that Paul had credentials and qualifications second to none. And yet we read in 2 Corinthians 3:5 (NCV) "We are not saying that we can do this work ourselves. It is God who makes us able to do all that we do."Here's the reason for this blog. The measure of your dependence will determine...
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