A Strategy for Easter—Part 1

March 26, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Easter is right around the corner. We’ll be celebrating the death and resurrection of our Lord with our church family and the people from the community who only show up at Easter and Christmas. And you know they will be there. To them, they are “doing their religious thing” so they’ll show up and feel like saints because they actually went to church. Regardless of why they are there, the big deal is…they are there. We have a great opportunity to reach out to these people and show them the … [Read more...]

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GUEST POST – A Place Where Runny Noses Are Welcome and Boo Boos Get Band-Aids

March 23, 2012 by Leave a Comment

…was a phrase I overheard this week and it has stuck in my mind like sticky fingerprints on a doorknob. While echoing the simplicity of a child’s heart, one parent completely wrapped up what we are all about in the nursery. We love kids where they are at and care what they care about while connecting them to God and others AND, here’s the best part, our families understand that!  But sometimes, in the everyday hustle and bustle of ministry, I can forget it. It’s easy while working with the … [Read more...]

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Resource Spotlight – “Minute To Win It”

March 20, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Last week I talked about how we can utilize games in our children’s services to communicate truth, set atmosphere and tear down walls of resistance with the kids. This week, I want to spotlight a great resource for games. I’m sure many of you have already taken advantage of this great resource, but just in case here it is…“Minute to Win It.” It’s as if someone at NBC said, “Hey, lets help out the children’s ministry leaders by developing a great resource for their services.” Well, I seriously … [Read more...]

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That One Family

March 19, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Every church has ”that one family.” You know the ones I’m talking about. They are the first ones to complain about the music being too loud and they are the ones who send your Sr. Pastor those “we don’t want to cause trouble but just thought you should know” letters. They are the ones who CONSISTENTLY show up an hour late to pick up their child after an all night lock in. (Which by the way, tests my Christian faith like nothing else). They are the ones who constantly ask you to make exceptions … [Read more...]

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How NOT to Communicate to Your Sr. Pastor

March 13, 2012 by 1 Comment

Maybe you have learned some valuable lessons when it comes to communicating to your Sr. Pastor. If so, I would love to hear them. But there are some simple things I have learned over the years, mostly the hard way, when it comes to communicating to my Sr. Pastor and I thought I would share one of those lessons today. Here it is…TIMING IS EVERYTHING! When you have something important to share with your Sr. Leader, always remember that timing is everything. Sometimes we don’t get the … [Read more...]

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Should We Play Games at Church?

March 7, 2012 by 3 Comments

Well of course we should! I had a church member ask me this question. But in this particular case, they were using a question to make a statement. Hidden inside the question “should the kids be playing games at church” was the statement “kids should not be playing games at church.” My immediate response was “Well of course they should. They are kids and kids love to play games.” The reality is this. Games can be a great tool in connecting with kids. Not only are games fun, but it helps to lower … [Read more...]

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“Pointing is not always bad”

March 5, 2012 by 2 Comments

My wife Stephanie volunteers in the 4 year old class at our church. She loves teaching these guys and every week has a funny story to tell. This weekend was no exception. She was teaching her class the story of Jonah. As you are well aware, God gave Jonah a specific command to go to the city of Nineveh. Steph was trying to help her class of 4 year olds understand that Jonah disobeyed God. So she told them this, ”God told Jonah to go to Nineveh (she points to the left), but Jonah disobeyed and … [Read more...]

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Limitations are My Friend

February 28, 2012 by 1 Comment

You would think that the dream scenario for an artist is to be told you have an unlimited budget, all the time you need and you have freedom to create whatever you want. That sounds like fun but the reality is, too much freedom is actually limiting. Orson Welles said, “The enemy of art is the absence of limitations.” So how in the world can limitations help me? We are actually built to operate with boundaries. The boundaries are not necessarily barriers; in fact, they focus our energies and … [Read more...]

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“Working For The Weekend”

February 24, 2012 by 2 Comments

The weekend is here. Of course, we still have PLENTY of time before services start so we don’t have that “panic” feeling just yet. It’s always amazing to me that no matter how much I think about an object lesson, a PG way of telling the story of David and Bathsheba, look for a cool song to sing that connects with the service theme or whatever it is,  my best ideas come to me 3 min before the service starts. I think I know one reason why is because we do so many different things that nothing … [Read more...]

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Was your church fun today?

February 21, 2012 by 7 Comments

It's interesting to me how a child can say the most simple thing, yet, it has such a profound impact. Between services at church last week, I passed by a little 3 or 4-year girl holding hands with her grandpa. As I walked by, the little girl looked up at her grandpa and said “Grandpa, did you have fun in your church today?”  What a scene. An adorable little girl, talking so sweetly to her grandpa and visibly excited about her time at church. But the thing that stood out to me was this….that … [Read more...]

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