Children’s Ministry 101 as Taught by Gideon
I love the biblical account of Gideon's victory over the Midianites. From my early days in Sunday School, this story has ranked up there right alongside David's battle with Goliath and Joshua and the battle of Jericho.This story found Judges 6 and 7 provides three great leadership principles for Children's Ministry leaders. The number of your army (staff) may not be what you want. Gideon didn't appreciate God whittling down his numbers. Through Gideon's example, God proved that being understaffed wasn't a deterent to Gideon's victory. The members of your army (staff) may not be the ones that...
The Discipline of Revival
In teaching about moves of God, I often state that moves of God are nothing more than passion and discipline connecting. People rarely fail in the area of passion. They truly want God to show up. Their roadblock often lies in the area of discipline. Life is just too busy to begin and maintain the disciplines that move us from an occasional visit from God into a lifestyle that has the habitation of God (revival). Sadly, people are dissatisfied where things are but not desperate enough to do what it takes to bring about a change. I love what Martin Luther wrote in his journal, "I have a very...
The "Secret" of Revival
In reading E.G. Carre's Praying Hyde, Apostle of Prayer, I came across a quote from Charles G. Finney that is so simple and yet so profound. "A revival is no more a miracle than a crop of wheat." Think about it ... I can't add to Finney's observation.
The Importance of Coming Apart
What a day. After too many full weeks and weekends, a day off was a much needed change. Here lately, due to being out of town for conferences and then, when I am home, trying to catch up for being gone and also getting ready for the next trip out of town, days off just haven’t happened. Today, I determined that I HAD to have a “me” day, a day to come apart so I won’t fall apart.It was a fun day, a day of decluttering … if that’s really a word. I decluttered my body by doing a whole lot of nothing (at least for the morning) and enjoying a whole lot of sleep, decluttered my mind in the...
Seeing the Whole Picture
Don’t you love Saturdays? It is a day off, isn’t it? Not for those involved in children’s ministry. Give me a break. There’s usually too much to do and not enough time to do it in, especially for those who also have a Saturday night service.Something happened this past Saturday that set it apart from any other Saturday. At the end of our service, I received a call from a parent who hasn’t had a child in the Children’s Ministry age bracket for some time. They called to tell me that their youngest child, a 15-year-old, had told them of a report that they had written as a school assignment to...
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