Lead Well

Getting kids to learn scripture, especially long passages can be hard.  We have to make it fun and interesting for them to even engage.  A couple of my leaders did something really creative for their Ranger Kids (Kindergarten-2nd grade boys) to learn the 23rd Psalm. They challenged the boys, if they learned the Psalm they would have a party at local park to finish off their unit.  The cool thing about this park is that it has green pastures and still waters.  (I asked if they were going to use lawn darts for valley of the shadow of death. Thankfully, they said no.)  She also made sheep cupcakes. Last Sunday, I was teaching the 1st and 2nd grade boys small group and all the boys were eager to show off what they've learned. Many of us have curriculum that makes us think we don't have time for creativity.  In reality, there is time to do something fun and creative.  You don't have to do it every week.  Just doing something every once and...

We’ve all felt it. The impatience that comes when we ask God to do something, and it doesn’t happen immediately. ”He’s the God of the universe with infinite power.” We think. “Can’t he just answer this one small request?” Unfortunately, many times God’s promises don’t work that way. They take time to happen. In today’s world when we hear that, we think, “Ok, so… a year?” When in actuality, God thinks much more long term. The Bible is full of promises. Some happened immediately, but many more took years, decades, even thousands of years! We can’t microwave our faith. We can’t pray a short 5 second prayer with all faith and earnestness and expect God to move mountains. Many moves of God take much longer and a whole lot more time in prayer. Here are some reasons why God may not answer your prayer immediately. You’re not ready. Just like Joseph wasn’t ready to become ruler over his brother’s when God gave him the promise, we may not be ready to receive what God has for ...

This past Wednesday, one of our Mpact Girls Sponsors, Jenni, did something really cool to make the creation story come alive.  She made a creation tube! Here's a picture. The tube is made of medicine cups with a fun thing inside to remind kids what God did during the creation week.  When I called Jenni to ask her how she came up with this really cool, fun, and unique activity, she said she got it from Pinterest.  As a guy, I'm not a user, but I know there are a lot of great ideas out there.  You can see the full directions here.    A lot of us think we have to be super creative.  That's just not the truth.  There are a ton of resources out there that can help you find something fun, engaging, and memorable. Jenni said that the girls loved opening each container and seeing what was inside.  She said she even had trouble putting the thing back together because they wanted to see what was inside. You don't have to be gifte...

John 16:33 says “…In this world you will have trouble.” Jesus guarantees us that we will have problems in our lives. The question isn’t will you have trouble, but what will you do when trouble comes? Since we all lead people somewhere, at home, church, work, communities, we have to be prepared to lead people through difficult times. So, when the tough times come here are some easy things we can do to lead well. Keep God first. When bad things happen it’s easy to blame God for your problems. He’s up there with all that power and He loves us, so everything should be easy, right? Not always true. God may be working out a plan. He may be trying to teach us something or correct us, or make us into a better person. Instead of blaming God for your problems, we should consider it pure joy as James says in chapter 1 verse 2. Count your blessings. Many times when things go wrong that’s all we focus on. It doesn’t matter how many people have told us how good of a job we are doin...

Recently, I spoke at the All Church Ministries Summit for the Alabama District Assemblies of God.  I talked specifically about integrating the many ministries that fall under Children.  Use the following links to download my notes and the PowerPoint Presentation Notes PowerPoint

Are you good at math? Can you write songs? Can you make really great looking crafts? By now, you’ve probably noticed that there are some things in which you’re naturally good and there are other things that you’re just not. That’s OK. God made us for specific purpose with special gifts and abilities. All through school and in our society we are told we have to be well rounded. We have to be Renaissance Men /Women with skills and interests in a large variety of topics and skills. However, studies have shown the most successful and fulfilled people are the ones who have a singular focus. They’ve discovered what they can be the best in the world (at least in their world) and do only that. Sure they’re good at other things, but they can be really great at this one thing. Let me give you an example from my life. I was always good at math. I made good grades in Trigonometry, Physics, and Calculus in high school. When I decided to pursue my degree in math education, I conti...

We all have dreams. No, not the dreams we have when we sleep. The other kind of dreams. The ones where we want to do something big. We want to make a name for ourselves, be a great parent, or start something totally new. We’re trained very early on to think about this. We ask our kids all the time, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Then there are dreams, that are God-given dreams. Something God has placed in your heart. You can’t explain it, but you know it’s something that you must do. Unfortuntely the circumstances of life can steal away our attention. After a while, we look around and ask ourselves, “How did I get here?” Jesus knew this would be a problem. So in Matthew 6:25-34 , he addresses all the things we worry about in life. Our clothes, our food, our children, our homes. He guarantees that our Heavenly Father will take care of all these things for us, if we do this one little thing. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these t...