Lead Well

I love to invest in others.  There's a certain joy in seeing someone grow because of the investment I've made in them.  Recently, I was angry because I couldn't invest in young leaders.  I thought I needed to start a ministry college or even a Master's Commission. As I looked at our church situation, the budget, and my time commitments, I realized that this probably is not the right time.  I went to God and began to whine. I complained that the opportunity didn't exist. That the students won't come, and that I can't use this desire He placed in my heart.  Then, he bopped me upside my head. I do have people, leaders, in my ministry right now that I am neglecting.  I've given them some ministry opportunities.  I've trusted them to handle certain elements of the service, but I never really challenged them. God told me to look around and be faithful with what I have. At the end of the Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25 , the Master tells his...

Ever feel overwhelmed?  You wake up in the morning and you just don't want to get out of bed?  Feel like you're drowning under the workload? courtesy gettyimages.com We all feel this way at some point in out lives.  Let me tell you the time I felt like this most recently.  My wife had gone out of town for the weekend to spend time with her family.  I told her not to worry about Sunday morning that everything was under control.  I wasn't lying; I just had no idea what lay ahead. This particular morning was one of the busiest Sunday mornings ever.  We had new lifegroup sign-ups in both services,which I had to be a part of, we were giving away new volunteer t-shirts, which weren't set up yet, I was supposed to start a new fifth and sixth grade leadership team that night, Two of my small group leaders were absent so I had to fill in for one of them, small groups had a craft that morning that had a lot of pieces and none of it was ready for childre...

Vacation Bible School is this week, so I am going to blog every night about the night's experiences. We did it!  The week is over.  The decorations are down, the materials are put away, and the lights are turned down.  Another VBS for the history books.  I could not have made it without an amazing team helping me along the way.  Here are some things I've learned through this latest journey: When advertising say pre-registration and not just registration. I had several calls all week asking if their kids could still come to VBS even though they didn't register before the event.  After pondering why this question would surface I've narrowed it down to this  possibility .  People were confused and led to believe that if they didn't register early they couldn't register at all.  That's easily fixed next year. Don't put VBS in the same month that everything else is going on. This month alone, I went to Orlando for JBQ national finals...

Vacation Bible School is this week, so I am going to blog every night about the night's experiences. We're in the home stretch now.  Tonight was the night that the whole week was building toward.  We gave the kids two opportunities to accept Christ.  While I don't know the numbers yet, I'm sure most of the kids have been impacted by what they have learned throughout this week.   Children's ministry offers us an awesome opportunity to impact lives, but also keeps us young and provides many opportunities to laugh.  Here are two funny stories from tonight. During Elementary Chadder's Theater, our wonderful station leader was saying the sinner prayer with the kids.  In the middle of the prayer, a little girl had to "toot."The entire room heard it and half the room smelled it.  After the prayer was finished the little girl kept looking around asking who did it.  No matter what happens...Trust God! For the Finale, I needed to put some...

Vacation Bible School is this week, so I am going to blog every night about the night's experiences. Day 3 is over.  We had another great night.  Our volunteers continue to deliver from the oldest to the youngest, they are doing an incredible job night after night.   Tonight we got to help some ladies from another church learn some things about how to run a VBS.  They were amazed with the organization, the production, and most of all the excitement surrounding each event.  I had a blast walking around with them sharing some of the knowledge I learned through the school of hard knocks.   There is no way we could do this without all of our volunteers.  Your hard work and feedback is part of what makes this VBS so great.  Thank you so much for giving of your time this week. Don't forget to check out the pictures and videos on the Kidtricity Facebook page: http://facebook.com/kidtricity If your kids love their crew lea...

Vacation Bible School is this week, so I am going to blog every night about the night's experiences. What a crazy day!  Day 2 is complete and Liz and I couldn't be happier with the outcome.  Tonight we learned that no matter how you feel...TRUST GOD!  We talked about even though we may be sad, afraid, or sick we have to trust God.  It was an appropriate theme for the night since one of our volunteer's mother was put in the hospital minutes before the night began.  Instead of staying home and sulking, the volunteer decided to come to VBS and trust God.  Several of us prayed with this volunteer after the night, and we ask you to do the same.   I am so thankful for all the volunteers who are giving of their time to come to VBS.  Without them this entire week could not happen.  We are laying the foundation to make a huge impact in the years to come with future vacation Bible schools.   If you would like to see some pictures ...

Vacation Bible School is this week, so I am going to blog every night about the night's experiences. Day 1 is over.  It was a crazy day that went so much faster than I ever could have dreamed.  For the first big VBS at Evangel, I am blown away by the volunteer response and all the kids learning that "Everything is possible with God!"   We had our ups and downs, schedule mishaps, scratched fingers and even an overflowing toilet!  Nevertheless our kids learned that "no matter who you are...trust God!"  One hundred six kids came to tonight's event and we are expecting even more tomorrow night. Please continue to be in prayer for sick kids and volunteers, and for Thursday as we will be giving our kids the opportunity to accept Christ. You're welcome to come hang out with us each night for our Up & Away Sing and Play and our Fly Away Finale.  We'll have a chair saved just for you. If you came to VBS, leave a comment below and tell us ab...

Tomorrow is the big day.  All the hard work, stress, lack of sleep, advertising, and recruiting is over.  The materials are purchased and the rooms are decorated.  As I walk through the hallways, I am overwhelmed by God's faithfulness and blessings to my church and me. A year ago, I decided to answer God's call to leave First Assembly of God, not knowing where He would take me.  Here I am at an incredible church with amazing people and an opportunity to minister to more children at one time than ever before.  I cannot move forward with giving God thanks for all He has done. I am reminded of one of the songs from this year's VBS.  "I'm feeling kind of sad and afraid and kind of angry too...God give me strength and help me find my way."  It's chorus says that no matter how I feel right now I will trust in [God].  So here I am trusting in God.  I am believing that God will do incredible things next week and lives will be changed forever. N...

In a few weeks, I'm going to do one of the scariest things I've ever done with volunteers.  I'm going to give them the opportunity to quit. In many ministries, we recruit volunteers or volunteer ourselves with no end in sight.  We very infrequently recruit for a specific time.  After studying the recruiting strategies of several different large churches that have hundreds of volunteers and lots of prayer, I decided that I needed to trust my volunteers. So every six months the volunteers in all of Kidtricity will be given the opportunity to quit.  Of course I don't frame it this way.  I ask our volunteers to re-enroll in their ministries.  This gives them the opportunity to change their Sunday, their service, or even their department. After all of this moving around is done, I may have some vacancies, but I think it is worth it. My hope is that new people will take this opportunity to step into a new adventure in children's ministry.  Th...