25 Lessons in 25 Years – Lesson 5: Choose Your Allies Carefully

I remember an episode of the show “The Office” in which the character Dwight asked his co-worker and rival, Jim, if he wanted to “form an alliance.” Dwight’s request was driven by office politics, not friendship. Typically, when we think of alliances we think of politics or shrewdness, but that is not the central idea behind my thoughts today. There is an interesting story in 2 Chronicles about King Jehoshaphat that speaks directly to the title of today’s lesson in the series “25 Lessons in … [Read more...]

PODCAST 22 – Connecting with Families through Child Dedication

We have Crystal Hansen, our Nursery-3 year old program and child dedication staff member, joining us today as we try to connect young families to our church through child dedications. We have included some ideas, resources and information about how we do child dedication. Let us know how you do your child dedications by commenting on the blog or emailing us at steve@morethanpuppets.com. Resources: Child Dedication Handbook, Presentation and Booklet Child Dedication Class and Service … [Read more...]

25 Lessons in 25 Years – Lesson 4: Take Time to Think

In part 4 of this series I want to share a valuable lesson that is actually a discipline that I am still trying to master…the discipline of intentional thinking. Because of the busyness of life and ministry I can tell you this, if you are not taking time for intentional thinking then it is probably not happening. If that is the case, there are probably brilliant ideas lingering in your mind just waiting for the opportunity to be released. Years ago I read a book written by John Maxwell … [Read more...]

25 Lessons in 25 Years – Lesson 3: Leave Well

Transition is a natural part of ministry. Some are fortunate enough to spend their entire ministry in one location, with one church. But the reality is, if you are in ministry for very long, you will probably have to make a transition at some point. And all too often those transitions do not go well. I would be willing to bet that you know someone who had a bad experience in a ministry transition. In fact, some of you reading this blog have experienced that personally. Whether you leave by … [Read more...]