• Heartprints

    Kid’s Ministry Bar Set to Gospel Height

    Like a sneaky ninja, your heart’s expectations can easily karate chop joys and ministry relationships, which inevitably strains the vision of kid’s ministry. Spoken or not, expectations exist and reveal themselves at some point like the ninja. Do we expect people to volunteer, keep their word or possess skills to deliver? Do we expect our health to maintain it’s course, keep us faithful to each day and allow us to work continuously without rest? Do we expect God to bless our ministry because everything is in order? How did we first set the bar of expectations? Are expectations to low or to high? Are the expectations helpful or deterrents?

  • Heartprints

    The Gospel Multiplies Kid Disciples through Faith Alone

    How to teach kids the gospel and faith? Study how kids process information across the world where each kid loves a short story. Short stories act like small time bombs delivered through simple teaching into the ears exploding with complexity to deepen kid’s assurance of the truth. Jesus, the greatest teacher, used short stories known as parables. Parables utilize real world things and people to teach life lessons. Then, how do we teach kids about faith, a seemingly confusing concept?

  • Heartprints

    Daddy Donut Day

    Each week may seem only about ministry work for the leader's and pastor's family. Girls growing up in daddy's home may feel neglected and isolated day-to-day with only having a daddy to return home carrying out only discipline. Daddy becomes more like a man a temp agency hired to appease the family, rather than a loving daddy, holding, hugging, kissing, discussing, patient and leading daddy. Daddy leaders need to re-define ministry work to involve their personal family like including a day of the week committed to his own kids.

  • Heartprints

    The Gospel Builds a Family

    Fluids, mucus, skin, organs, hair, soul, mind, heart, blood and strength make up a human being. Multiple human beings located in close proximity makes up a community, city or special group. Multiple human beings, though not located in close proximity, related to the same father resemble a family. A family is built by kids being born and the parents adopting. Children listen to their father’s instruction, grow in his wisdom, obey his words, receive his discipline, rejoice in his love and believe him to be good news.

  • Heartprints

    Teaching the Passover at Easter

    Kick the kids back in their chair through killing a sugary candy peep on the table. Just kidding. But, to make Easter or Resurrection Week memorable, God has supplied an Old Testament event of the Passover to better understand a New Testament event of Jesus’ death and resurrection. No matter what you teach, the visiting kids coming to a church service need to hear the good news of Jesus and also why it is good news to their young souls. Remember, a thirty-minute lesson might not change a kid on the spot, but can implant the lesson that may be changing later in their life.

  • Heartprints

    Hello Mr. Little Agenda

    Twirling eyeballs, three-second attention span, gold fish memory capacity, and speech capacity of a politician has become the norm around my parts of the world for kids. A normal kid seems to be defined by a broken home, with multiple people related to him, no structure, no discipline, no morality, no cares, fed only a sugar diet, walking through an assembly line of education, and no direction. With no direction, control and care, lesson times become hazy, frustrating, and filled with the teacher battling ten little kids pushing their own aimless agenda. Result? The teacher’s welcome statement to kids turns from “Hi, Johnny” to “Hi, Mr. Little Agenda, how old…

  • Heartprints

    Changing to be a Good, not Crazy Children’s Ministry?

    Q: Have these been verbally thrown at you in ministry: (1) “He is out of his mind”; (2) “You are nuts”; (3) “Weirdo”; (4) “He is on the other spiritual team” or (5) “I think that crazy guy about to be mauled by the crowd is my brother”? A: If not, just wait. If never, repent. If so, welcome to Jesus’ team. Let the dry sarcastic humor bleed through these three profound answers, and also lead us to understand that being called crazy is different than actually being crazy (perception vs. reality). Therefore, is the goal of becoming gospel-centered children’s ministry to be crazy? Or even to be perceived as…

  • Heartprints

    A Children’s Ministry that Calls, Prepares and Sends?

    How is the booger control in the room? How is the children’s room demolition crew during playtime? How are the little creatures, germs, getting along with the kids? How are the goldfish snacks in their new kid’s stomach bowl? These are great questions to include in staff meetings, leading the workers from the humorous state of working with children to the deep issues of life. Going deep in a worker’s meeting needs not be a transition from the children’s Circus-Circus to a library cemetery; rather, let it be enjoyable from the service to the deepest part of the ocean. Part of the depth is asking the question, “How is training…

  • Heartprints

    Panic, Scrutinize, Withdraw, Over-Power or Lead?

    My wife and I landed here in Sacramento, CA July 2010 in order to spread a passion for Jesus among all nations. Our life in ministry thus far has placed us in a position to create, oversee and manage all educational ministries of our new church. Children's ministry had no oversight of teachers, curriculum or discipleship. Two teachers filled the teaching spots for two age groups: (1) 2-5 years and (2) 6-11 years. The church is small, and has an average of 15-20 children total from both age groups. Therefore, what was our focus to be? Panic to get things rolling? Scrutinize the teachers or the current system? Come in…

  • Heartprints

    How to Kill Children’s Ministry? – Step 3

    Does the terms “isolate, avoid, hinder, destroy and separate” the gospel from ministry ever come to your mind? Does the question of “what can I do to keep out every child in the neighborhoods” pop up? Does the statement “you are not welcome because you are human” appear in your mind? Do you take joy in children never knowing the gospel? These questions are weird, crazy, confusing and seemingly untrue – at least I hope. Though we might not say these statements, we sure might come across this way to others – especially to God. Idolatry and pride will produce a defensive, non-self assessing boast of “this is how we…