EXCERPT from the newly released book “Your Children’s Ministry Beyond Basics” (Amazon) How do we know that we have fully equipped a child spiritually to go into youth group? What is the goal? What does the fully discipled child look like? What does that child sound like? The answer to these questions should guide […]
Kids are created with a trusting nature, but when they become teenagers they will begin to question what they believe. If they have been raised in the church they will begin to question what they have been taught by the church. We already know what their questions will be because this has been happening […]
In all my years of kids ministry, I have always been so amazed at the wonder kids have. I have been equally amazed at how uncomfortable I can be and many adults can be with the idea of wonder itself. Here is the problem with wonder. You can’t explain it. You can’t reason with […]
Years ago I required my volunteers to attend monthly training meetings on Sunday nights. This worked well, but eventually less and less people attended the Sunday night training meetings. If I am doing something that is having less success than it used to have, it may be a signal that I need to […]
We hear a lot of talk today about partnering with parents but how do you do this if you have little exposure in the pulpit? The best way to partner with parents is to get parents involved with the children’s ministry program. In other words, use the kidmin program to disciple the parents. I meet […]
It’s easy for a parent or a teacher to recognize leadership gifts in their children. If I can spend several hours teaching and observing a group of children, I can pick out who the leaders are. One thing about people who have leadership gifts is that they will find a way to use their […]
Many times I get parents who have questions from their kids they can’t answer. Kids love to ask hard questions about God, life, death, sickness, injustice, heaven, hell, the Bible etc. I think we get frustrated when we can’t articulate answers. I used to think I had all the answers or I was somehow […]
Mother’s day holds a special place in my heart for many reasons. Today I want to share with you just one reason Mother’s day is so special to me. My wife Missy and I had tremendous difficulty the first four years of our marriage trying to have kids. In the fall of 2012, we […]
Each team has a leader and team members. What are you? “The leaders who work most effectively, it seems to me, never say ‘I.’ And that’s not because they have trained themselves not to say ‘I.’ They don’t think ‘I.’ They think ‘we’; they think ‘team.’ They understand their job to make the team […]
Does God speak to kids? Emphatically, YES! God spoke to kids and teens in the Bible and He still speaks to kids today. I remember when I began in full time ministry, it was an exciting time because at every church we went to, most of the kids in children’s church would get saved […]