It’s a kids ministry Revolution baby!

1. Expect to be there for the kids. Don’t just be there, BE there.  From the moment you walk in to help set up to the last second of the debrief at the end it’s all about the kids. You’ve got all week to catch up with your mates on fb, go out for coffee, meet in your life group, talk on the phone and text if you must… so  resist the urge to huddle in a sharing circle with your friends in the foyer when you should be meeting kids as they come in, or stand facing the wall trying to hide the fact that your texting as you supervise a game. Get amoungst it, kids love it when they’ve got your full attention.  I reckon thats why kids liked being around Jesus so much, He didn’t get distracted with othe stuff when they were hanging out.
2. Expect to be seen. Kids notice everything.  If you pick your nose, they’ll see.  If your having a good day they will see.  If you’re having a bad day they’ll see.  If you’ve got at stinky attitude they will see… and we know that monkey see, monkey do.  Quite often if kids are having an unsettled day it reflects whats going on in the adults around them so often there are things that we need to check at the door. Know that you’ll be noticed and that can have a huge impact on the kids you lead.
3. Expect to grow. I think it’s easy to approach kids ministry like primary school – I’ve been through it and passed all the tests, there’s nothing more I can get out of it now.  We can come along thinking that we’re the experts and the kids need to hear the vast expanse of all we know.  But the cool thing about what we do at LifeKids is that we expect our teaching to not just be information but relvelation, where God takes the information and flicks on the light bulb and kids have that, “A ha!” moment.  If our ears and hearts are open to being challenged by God then any message, regardless of how well you know it you can also have those A ha! moments and cause you to grow.  Grow with the kids, dont just tell them to grow.
4. Expect to meet God. I love this! There is something special about meeting with other followers of Jesus and worshiping Him together.  He is there in a special way.  And we can’t spend time in the presece of God and walk away the same.  Expect to meet God and expect our kids to meet Him too.
5. Expect to be lead. A really famous person who I can’t exactly remember but probably John Maxwell once said, “to be a great leader you must be a great follower”.  As a team leader when I’m looking to give more oppertunites to people on my team I’m looking for the ones who follow well.  I know that I can trust them to carry the vision and heart for LifeKids.  I know that they’re not going to go off on some wacky tangent.  If you want to be a good leader, learn to be a good follower.

Last night at Revo James preached a whopper: Defeating the giant of failure! You can listen to it here.

We’ve got this saying at the moment… when someone does something that was obviously stupid and the result was… somewhat less then desirable… just to rub it in, someone else sarcastically declares FAIL.  It’s funny how it’s easy for our jokes to be negative, pulling others down. Why can’t we be positive? Why can’t we say SUCCESS every time someone does something right?

Failures can be anything from failing an exam, messing up a friendship, dropping your toast on the floor (jam side down), getting into debt, saying the wrong thing at the wrong time, crashing the car… to things that you don’t even have control over – parents split, loosing your job, praying for years and not getting the answer you’d hoped for.

The Bible is filled with failures… Adam and Eve – kicked out of the garden – FAIL. Noah – gets drunk and naked – FAIL. Joseph – brothers throw him in a pit and becomes a slave – FAIL.  David – sleeps with woman, kills husband – FAIL. Jonah – heads the wrong direction – FAIL.  Jesus – conceived out of marriage, lives in a town that “nothing good could come from”, picks up fathers trade (not chosen to follow a Rabi) – FAIL

Yet in each of these stories there are huge victories, Jesus’ victory being the ultimate!

We looked at Luke 15, the parable of the lost son.  What was the son’s problem, why didn’t he just come home the moment he knew he could no longer make it on his own?  I’m sure you will know from your own story that the problem was PRIDE.  Pride inflates the giant of failure… “if you turn back now you’ll be admitting you’ve made the wrong choice”… “everyone will know that you’ve failed”… ever heard those words in your own mind?

So how do we deflate this giant? With HONESTY and HUMILITY. We need to be honest about our failures, not become experts at covering them up.  Admit that you’ve messed it up, don’t wait for someone to declear FAIL! And humility… check out James 4:

So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

I like this! The devil is also known as the accuser – the one who makes you feel really stink about your failures.  When we humble ourselves before God, honestly admit that we’ve messed it up, the devil has to flee!  He can’t accuse you when you’ve been honest and accepted God’s grace.

What a good message!  Well done James on hitting the nail on the head yet again!

Just read this artical about an Australian study that shows that playgroups make mums feel even more guilty then usual because of comparing their children and themselves as parents.

I’m not yet a parent, but I’ve heard this concern expressed by several of my friends who are.  If we’re running a playgroup as a church, I want it to be a place where parents are built up, encouraged and equipped, not walk away feeling like they’re not cutting it as a parent.

Do you run a play group in your church?  What can we do to encourage and  uplifting culutre rather then a comparing culture?  Would love some thoughts.

Wasnt that long ago that us Kiwi’s cringed at our own accent.  Truth is we still do… well I do.  But the likes of the Flight of the Concords have really made the Kiwi sound hot. In fact, a survey done in the UK shows that our accent is both attractive and prestigious!  You can read the whole article here.

If you don’t know any Kiwi’s (New Zealanders) and feel somewhat deprived of enjoying out accent, here is a taste for you…

perhaps this one doesn’t demonstrate prestigousness…

I’m not really sure how to write this post.  A beautiful little girl, Asling Symes has been missing for over a week.  New Zealand has been anxious to solve the mystery of her disappearance, to know she is safe and well.  Tradgically her body was found last night.  If you want to know more you can read it here.

Something that caught my attention throughout all this is the support that the family have recieved from their church, Ranui Baptist Church.  Although the cicumstances are so increidbly sad, the church is just so beautiful in the way it responds.  I love the church and the fact that together we don’t just show what the love of Jesus is like, we are the love of Jesus. We’ve got so much to give those who are grieving, lonely, hopeless, helpless.

There’s this weird phenomenon in our church community, a fascination for the humble onesie, one piece pj’s, usually designed for the older lady, worn by… well if you really desire you can see details here.

I actually think they’re dumb and can’t understand why grown men would travel the world with a onesie in their luggage, but anyhoo… I was reminded of this phenomenon by this…

“And here he is, hand-carrying this letter—Onesimus! He was useless to you before; now he’s useful to both of us.” Philemon v11ish,

Onesimus was a little rat bag, a servant for Philemon.  He probably stole something and caused a bit of trouble, then either bolted or got kicked out.  Either way he ended up meeting Paul, heard the message and started to follow Jesus.

In this letter, Paul is urging Philemon to take Onesie back, telling him about how the young lad had changed, and in fact was as special to him as a son.  Now he’s useful!

I bet you know some young people… maybe they’re on your team, maybe they’re in youth at your church… bet there are even some in you kids ministry that always seem to cause trouble.  It’s so easy to feel like giving up on them.  Perhaps we would be too PC to use the term “useless” to discribe them, but we sure wouldn’t call them “useful”!

There’s a few things I’ve noticed…

1. No one, dispite the trouble they’ve caused is really useless… God can do the most amazing thing in peoples hearts and lives.
2. Paul invested a lot of time into this guy.  Is there anyone that I need to invest in, even though the potnetial isn’t blazingly obvious?
3. Philemon probably needed Paul to point out that Onesimus is now useful.  Perhaps I need to get a fresh perspective on some of those tricky ones.

Onesies may look really silly, but (as some will swear by) are well worth the investment!

Over the past 3 years I’ve being doing relief teaching in primary schools in Dunedin.  I’m paid “20 hours” (if you know what I mean!) at church, which is a huge privilege, so the teaching has been great and it’s worked in really well.  As a kids pastor, the chance to get around primary schools and get a taste of what our kids are up to 30 hours per week has been valuable.  I’ve had the chance to see what is happening for kids in schools from a perspective that even parents don’t get.

This year has been a bit of a challenge.  Although there has been a lot of sickness around (a bonus for anyone who relies on sick people for their job), there have also been a lot more people in the relief pool.  Loads of people returning back to teaching due to economic stuff.  So just a few weeks ago I started thinking and looking around for other options…

Little did I know that God had something in mind.  The day after I talked to my pastor about it and seriously started praying into it, an opportunity came up to help look after a family part time who have tragically lost their mum earlier in the year.  It’s really more then a job, it’s a ministry.  It’s going to be quite a challenge and I’ve got loads of stuff to learn, but what an opportunity!

So If anyone wants an orange folder packed with ready to use activities for any curriculum area for year 1-8 then talk to me!  And if you like, I would appreciate some prayers.

Love this song. Check out the words…

Even if my world falls apart, I know that I will follow you always, always

Even if it tries pulls me down, I know that I will follow you always, always

I know, you’re everything to me,  simply I love you, I love you

It’s unconditional, I will follow you always, Always I will, simply love you

Even if my friends all walk away, I know that I will follow you always, always

Even if I feel like giving up, I know that I will follow you always, always

You’re the reason that I stand, You’re the reason that I live

What if our kids got a hold on what this song is saying?! It’s awesome eh! Can’t wait to sing it on Sunday.

If you’re curious, it’s from “Can You Feel It?”, last years album from Equippers Church.  We sing quite a few of their songs at LifeKids.  They use language that’s incredibly relevant, so it makes sense to our kids and they love it.  These guys are world class, so make sure you check them out.

Just sent this to the high school kids on my team…

You are officially invited to the LifeKids leaders traditional school holiday spring clean. Strong lads required for garage tidy, thoughtful chicks needed for their tidy up expertise. This is an offer you simply can’t refuse. Not only will you experience the joy of team work, but you will receive a free pizza feed, courtesy of Adman… I mean Sarah. Offer valid from 3pm Friday, pizza redeemable before Urban starts.

Yo’llo (I just made up  that word!)

Just home from our national conference.  Truly it was amazing!   LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE what God is doing through our movement.  We are so incredibley blessed to have leaders who’s hearts are quick to obey God and loves people.  Our national leader, Bruce Monk, has a beautiful way of honoring those who have gone before, those who are doing the hard yards now, as well as championing the generations coming through – Apostolic Fire Brands!

The highlight (as usual) for me was meeting other kidmin people.  I don’t think Revel has ever seen so many children’s pastors in one week!  We looked the coolest eva in our purple t-shirts.  God is raising up some awesome leaders who are building significant kids ministries and have loads to contribute the the kidmin community and more importantly to the local church.  The really exciting part is that some of these people are going to join us on Kids Ministry Revolution!  I’ll introduce you to them over the next few weeks.

Something I’ve learned/relearned is that I only hold a small piece of the puzzle.  When I met with a couple of other leaders this morning and we started to talk, it was like putting our pieces together.  They make a lot more sense when they’re fitted together.

Hanging out with our team was also very cool.  Great to get to know everyone a little better.  The singing from the 1 and a half year old member of our group (and incidentailly the child of our worship pastor)  all the way to the airport (which in Auckland is quite a long way!) was the cherry on top! Baby baby baby baby baby baby baby…