Kidmin Volunteers: Make It Better!

Family ministries have an untapped resource to grow their ministry and expand their vision:  their volunteers.

The staff leadership of family ministry wear many hats.  Most of the time, they are overseeing multiple age groups (pre-school, elementary, middle school, and high school ministries are often combined at least partially) or multiple environments (small group rooms, large group production, guest services, etc.)  They also have a list longer than there are hours in the day of things that they, as leaders, are ultimately responsible for--recruiting, training, scheduling, curriculum production and distribution, security, guest services, production, technical support, materials wrangling, vision-casting, communicating with senior staff/other ministry leaders/volunteers/families, event planning, managing staff disagreements, and overseeing/implementing special needs ministry services--just to name a few.

You didn’t think they just showed up on Sundays and barked out the orders, did you?

And the sad fact is that too many leaders get burned out because they are taking on too many responsibilities, either because they are assigned too many, they lack delegation skills, or nobody else has agreed to help.  There are ways, however, that you as a volunteer can make things better.

In fact, every single member of the team bears responsibility for leading your ministry.  Every.  Single. One.  

In other words--you.

MAKE IT BETTER

Andy Stanley, the lead pastor of North Point Community Church, always tells volunteers that they should all work to “make it better.”  It’s what Sue Miller and Adam Duckworth would call “being owners not renters” in your volunteer role.  Instead of being threatened by new ideas or suggestions from volunteer staff, the North Point staff embraces suggestions and rewards ingenuity in making things go from good to great.   Not all organizations are like that, and the church seems to have a particular affinity for maintaining the status quo. In virtually every decision an organization makes, there is a tension between maintaining the status quo of how it’s currently being done and the energy of much needed change to serve our families better.  If we’re serious about reaching the next generation, we need to be willing to embrace change and join the new thing that Jesus is doing now.

Too often even leaders in family ministry who want to go to the next level are trapped into maintaining the status quo because of the “tyranny of the urgent” in their job--the day-to-day, week-to-week to-do list that usurps all of their time and energy, severely limiting or sidelining plans to make it better or grow the vision.  

As someone who has served as a staff member overseeing children’s ministry and who currently serves as a volunteer for Upstreet, I can tell you that staff members generally LOVE volunteers that help them MAKE IT BETTER and that you will rarely meet a staff leader who feels like they have tackled everything they need to in order to advance the ministry.  There’s always something that got sidelined due to lack of time or resources and that is usually a source of frustration for the vision-casting leader tasked with elevating the family ministry game to the next level.

WHOM SHALL I SCHEDULE?

Those crazy volunteers who would never say, “that’s not my job” but rather great every challenge with “how can I help?” are like manna from heaven to our personal ministry.

A challenge that most staff members leading family ministry have is when to ask volunteers to add to their duties and when not to.  The temptation once we find a reliable volunteer who brings value to the team is to ask them to do more.  There is, however, always that nagging fear that we will ask too much of them and burn them out.  It’s a constant mental balancing act.

So, here’s an idea:  If you are an “owner” as a volunteer--don’t wait to be asked.  Go to your staff leadership and tell them you are ready for more.  Share your heart.  What is it in your ministry that moves you the most?  That’s likely the area that God has appointed for you and probably an area your ministry needs help with.  You may be the blessing that allows your leadership to take the ministry to the next level.

IF YOU SEE SOMETHING, SAY SOMETHING...BUT IN THE RIGHT AUDIENCE

Andy Stanley also advises volunteers that “if you see something, say something.”  If you, as a committed volunteer, see something that could stand improving--tell your leadership about it and give them your idea for improving it.  And if you don’t have an idea, maybe spend some time in prayer about it before addressing it to see if God gives you wisdom on how to make it better.

You do run the risk of alienating your leader if they take this as a threat to their leadership or an undermining of their authority.  And some leaders who are not self-aware or secure in their position might see your suggestion this way.  One way to ensure that they take your idea the right way is to know your audience and your own limitations.  Take your legitimate concerns to your leaders privately.  Let them know that you are willing to help make it better.  Give them suggestions for what you’d like to do.  You might open your leaders eyes to something that they didn’t see, lead to a larger conversation about how to improve this area of your ministry, or give you the opportunity to take ownership of your role.  

CONFESSIONS OF A FORMER STAFF LEADER TURNED VOLUNTEER:

1. Leaders need help and support.  They need encouragement.  They need PRAYER. Don’t make the job of growing your ministry all fall on their shoulders.  It’s not all their responsibility.  Do your part or they will get burnt out and you will all suffer.
2. Leaders, more often than not, will listen to you if you are an “owner” who has demonstrated your commitment to the ministry.  Are you an “owner” in your role?  Do you go above and beyond or do you show up unprepared and sleepwalk your way through your duty?  
3. Leaders and volunteers should always be improving themselves.  Don’t stop growing and don’t refuse to learn.  You may have been involved in family ministry since the dawn of time.  Guess what?  Kids are different now.  Learn about them.  Find out what you don’t know about today’s generation and how that might impact your approach. The good folks at Orange have a gaggle of resources for you on that front as well as awesome training conferences and tour stops.  There are also great podcasts, blogs, books, and social media encouragement from leaders like Nick Blevins, Jarrid Wilson, Chase Snyder, Corey Ray Jones & others who constantly share their best practices, their wisdom, and their resources with family ministry leaders.  Connect with them.  
4. LISTEN.  Both leaders and volunteers need to listen.  Don’t allow emotion or insecurity to rob you of progress.  It might hurt your feelings, but if it’s coming from a good place, consider it, pray over it and see if maybe, just maybe, there might be some truth to it.

Imagine what a difference would be made in your ministry, your church and your community, if you chose every day to make it better by being an owner, sharing your ideas, and supporting your leaders and team!  It’s my prayer for 2017 that family ministry volunteers would be emboldened to take a larger role in their ministry and that our leaders would feel the love and support that they are due!  That ownership of serving will radiate through our families and our community.

Activate A Child's Faith: Every Kid Needs a Champion

Every kid needs a champion.

In nearly fifteen years of teaching in a public high school, and ten years of leading children’s ministry at church, I’ve had a wide range of experience.  From pre-school to graduating seniors, I’ve been involved in every phase through either my church life or my work life.  Being the father of three kids also helps.

And one truth that is undeniable throughout my years of experience is this--kids need a champion.

The children and teens that I’ve worked with who have been the most successful in achieving success have been those who had a champion rooting for them, encouraging them, and helping guide them through the minefield of life.

While this concept of a champion is not necessarily a shocking revelation, it is unfortunately far less common than it should be.

And in the age of social media, true authentic relationships are often drying up and replaced by the fake, surface level digital facades.  

Psychologists will tell you that human beings have a deep need of community and a sense of belonging.  And studies are showing that social media is having the opposite effect.  While we might know more about our friends and acquaintances (like what they ate for dinner!) we KNOW them less.  We know more about the life events big and small, but less of their heart.  And the inevitable comparisons contained in the filters, platforms, and messaging of the various social media platforms can have a tremendous hindering impact on our self-esteem creating depression and isolation.

Today’s generation is the first to be truly immersed in digital citizenship from birth on.  Toddlers are playing games on tablets and young kids are making duckfaces for selfies.  

By contrast, I had a pager during college so that I could call you from a pay phone if you really needed to get ahold of me and my computer made weird squawking bird sounds when it took about 20 minutes to connect to the internet.  

Children today are growing up in a world where learning how to develop an authentic relationship is a skill that they have very limited practice with.  And with the central role that relationship plays in activating an authentic faith, that’s dangerous ground.

That’s why kids need a CHAMPION.

GENERATIONAL FAITH: PAUL & TIMOTHY

The book of 2 Timothy is a great picture of a godly mentorship.  The older Paul is writing to his younger colleague in the ministry to encourage him.  And everything about the passage speaks to relationship.  In chapter 1, Paul reminds Timothy that it was because of his grandmother and mother than he came to faith and that Timothy is but the latest generation in a link of faith.  He encourages Timothy to continue in the faith and activate the faith of the next generation by investing in them as his mom and grandmother did for him.  

Then Paul CHAMPIONS Timothy to stay in the faith and contend for the faith.  He also reminds him of the example of his own life:

“You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, 11persecutions, sufferings—what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured. Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them.” 2 Timothy 3:10-11

Paul didn’t just teach Timothy theology.  He showed up.  Big time.  He modeled an authentic faith.  He walked through the doubts and persecution with him.  He was a CHAMPION for Timothy.

WHAT ABOUT PARENTS?

Parents are the biggest influence (present or absent) in their child’s life.  Period.  

They are uniquely positioned to influence their child in positive or negative ways through their relationship, their habits, their personality, their words, and their example.  They have the greatest capacity for being a CHAMPION of their own children.

Parents can’t always be that champion for every stage, however.  For example, during the teenage phase, kids are much more willing to share things with other leaders, mentors, teachers, and coaches rather than their own parents.  It’s just reality.  And it’s a reality that my wife and I are learning now that our oldest is in high school.  Parents need to be intentional about establishing those kinds of relationships with adults who will reinforce what they would say to their child if they could.  Churches need to be intentional about providing them with “Pauls” for this very purpose.

WARMTH & CONSISTENCY

Being a champion doesn’t necessarily mean being the coolest and most trendy old person on the scene.  It just means showing up with a willingness to engage.

That’s why most children’s ministries are now embracing a small group-based model with a consistent leader who will show up every week in the life of their few.  When you “lead small” you are actually making a big impact.  Churches have for many years just tossed whatever unwitting fool was standing in the doorway into their children’s and student’s ministry environments.  They’ve been willing to schedule folks around their convenience and only ask for a limited commitment or sporadic scheduling for fear of not having enough volunteers.

Our kids deserve better.  As Reggie Joiner says, “never put the needs of an adult above the heart of a child.”

Having a consistent adult in their lives will provide them with the safe place to share their doubts and questions about their faith, and allow them to have someone other than their parents that knows them.  This is tremendously important to developing a vibrant faith that they can own and activate in their daily life.

I would guess that most of my former students would probably not remember a great deal of the specific lessons that I taught.  (Although our games of Survivor were pretty epic during the Lord of the Flies unit, and I’m not sure they will ever discard the importance of color symbolism after our enthralling chats on The Great Gatsby.)  I do think that I’m a good communicator and teacher. But if I’m honest, the most meaningful impact that I’ve made in the lives of the kids entrusted to me has not been academic.  It’s been relational.  What does last, hopefully, is how I made them feel and how I helped spark their belief in themselves or their curiosity in their purpose.  Hopefully during our time together, they knew that I was there to cheer them on to success.

Each person is unique and uniquely gifted.  Each person has a temperament and learning style that differs from their peers.  The “one size fits all” approach to education or developing an authentic faith in Jesus never works, but the one consistent factor is RELATIONSHIP.   

Here’s what I know:

1. CHILDREN ARE NOT ALL THE SAME--even within families--so no approach or model can be applied exactly the same to every child in exactly the same way.  What works with one child, doesn’t work with another.  It takes RELATIONSHIP to understand that and employ the right approach.
2. CIRCUMSTANCES DEMAND FLEXIBILITY--there will be times in that child’s life where the circumstances of life (family dysfunction, dealing with the death of a loved one, personal relationships, substance abuse, depression, bullying, etc.) overshadow what the lesson plan for the day is.  A champion will recognize this and use the circumstances to help grow the child in some way.   That doesn’t always mean teaching.  Sometimes it means just showing up and being present.  During a particularly challenging day in my teaching career, we had a student killed in a car accident which several other students were involved in (as drivers and passengers.)  Most of the school day was spent standing in the hallway with students collapsing into uncontrolled sobbing masses.  We didn’t teach academics that day.  We didn’t try to talk them through it.  We did the only thing we could--grabbed a box of tissues, hugged desperately hurting students, modeled love and support during a time of intense tragedy.  The same is true in growing faith.  God often uses circumstances in our lives to grow our faith.  A consistent leader will be able to pour into our kids during those times when they really need it--and be fully aware of the backstory and bigger picture in that child’s life to help them gain perspective later on.
3. GENERATIONS ARE NOT ALL THE SAME--growing up today are not the same as kids growing up in the 1990s, or the 1980s, or the 1970s, or any decade prior to that.  If we want to influence them and their faith, we need to get to KNOW THEM.  Consistency is key in that.  As Reggie Joiner says, “you can’t influence someone you don’t know.”

It’s the job of the church to partner with families to ensure that every child has a CHAMPION.  

And how can you be a champion?  It doesn’t require training, or academic finesse.  It doesn’t hinge on your communication skills.  It’s as simple as this:

1. Show up.
2. Care deeply.
3. Listen intently.
4. Pray fervently.
5. Know them genuinely.
6. Impart truth regularly.
7. Model faith authentically.
8. Encourage liberally.

When you show up to be a CHAMPION in the life of a child, you are changing the course of a life, the destiny of a family, and the reality of future generations.  It’s worth it.  Show up.

Involved in student ministry?  Children’s ministry?  Teaching?  What are some of the ways that you’ve SHOWN UP to be a CHAMPION for your entrusted few?  How have you LED SMALL?

Haughty Humility

"That person is a hot mess. At least I'm not as bad as that person."

"I'll never amount to anything.  I'm destined to fail."

I'm sure you've made at least one of those statement--even if only in your head.  Amiright?

Our society is ripe with comparisons.  Social media and a celebrity-worshipping culture have only made that worse.

And if you're like me, and I suspect, a lot of Christians, than you probably manage to simultaneously exude a haughty elitism and a humility grounded not in truth but in the lies of the enemy.

Let me explain.

So many people are convinced that life is about being good.  Good people get rewarded via karma.  Only good people can get into heaven.  Even Christians talk about doing good and being a good person as though it determines our eternal destination.

If you are a true follower of Christ, you know that is not the case.  It is not possible to earn your salvation through goodness.  Salvation is found only in Christ's redemptive work on the cross and through a contrite heart that embraces that sacrifice.

But there is something that wars against our understanding of this.  There is a voice that condemns our worth because of our actions.  And yet, as human beings, we know that our value is not ascribed.  It is intrinsic. In other words, your value and dignity are not something you have to earn.  You are born with your value and dignity.  You matter regardless of what you can do or the choices that you make.

We should be mindful of our actions and choices.  We should feel badly when we fall short in our life.  But we need to use our failures as a GPS to lead us straight to the healing power of Jesus.  His desire is our restoration and illumination.  Jesus wants us to learn from our mistakes, not be condemned by them.  He wants to take our broken vessels and restore them so that we become a beacon of light that points the way for others.

If we don't get that, we lose.  And so does the world.  If we allow our failures to condemn us into a falsely-grounded humility and despair, we will fall into complacency and our sins will magnify.  

On the other end of the spectrum, however, we need to be sure to compare ourselves to God' standard and not other people.  Sometimes it is easy to get haughty by looking upon the failures and sins of others and deciding that we are better than those people.  It can numb our awareness of our own sin and failures.  A sense of superiority flies in the face of everything Jesus did here on earth.  He was the walking personification of grace.  He never abandoned sharing truth with people about their sins and failures, but He always treated them with grace.  Except the religious leaders.  He kinda just freaked out and called them vipers.

Why is that?  Because following Jesus is about the heart.  He wants RELATIONSHIP.  He wants you to understand the TRUTH of your condition and your need for HIM.  He wants you to also extend that same grace that was extended to you to the unworthy masses around you.  In Matthew 7, Jesus cautions:

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. 

“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye."

Stop judging, Judgey McJudgey Pants.  That's how that passage is usually interpreted by well-meaning hipsters.  That's not exactly the whole point, though.  Jesus is simply cautioning against the hardening of the heart that comes with seeing yourself as MORE worthy of forgiveness and grace than others.  The admonition is not instructing you to keep the truth to yourself when you see someone sinning, but rather a reminder that you were extended grace that you didn't earn and that you should also wrap your truth-burgers for others in a cushiony roll of grace as well.

Again, this comes down to IDENTITY.  A subtle change in your alignment can harden your heart or decimate it.  A subtle shift in your view can strangle the hope out of your life or stop up the passage to compassion that God wants you to share with a world in need.

Let's truly see the world--and ourselves--through the intact lens of GRACE and TRUTH.

Generational Faith - The Cornerstone is Relationship

It's easy to look at the anger, violence, and cultural disintegration of our nation and become fearful.  It seems rather hopeless.  It seems like lives are being wasted on the pursuit of the frivolous and that "claiming to be wise" we have become a nation of fools.

And that's partly true.  Selfies seem to matter more than selflessness these days.

But then you remember the power of GOD and how His love can transform a life in a MOMENT.

Children form their conception of WHO THEY ARE and WHO GOD IS from the adults and peers in their lives.  IDENTITY is typically realized in the context of community.  It isn't one person that defines who we are, it's a mosaic of the people in our lives.  The same is true of our view of God.  We typically don't form our opinion in a vacuum.  It is forged through the people in our lives, our experiences, and our own sense of identity.  So, when a kid's view of God and self is obstructed, it's devastating for their future.

As a high school English teacher, I once had a student who was a senior in high school and a pretty angry girl overall.  This was my first year of teaching and everything was new and confusing to me as I attempted to navigate old British literature with a room full of dynamic and sometimes explosive students.  This girl was often angry and combative, but she was usually fine for me.  Toward the end of her senior year, she asked me for a letter of recommendation.  She wasn't a stellar student, but she was on average a decent student for me, and I knew that my class was actually one of her better ones.

I agreed to write the letter, but I wasn't quite sure what I could say in it.  Before I had an opportunity to attempt a letter, she came in one day and lashed out in her anger at me.  She called me a curse word and made a scene.  I had no choice but to send her to the office and write her up. That afternoon, I called her home to share about the day's events and to tell her mom that I wouldn't be able to write a letter of recommendation at this time.  

I was not prepared for what came over the phone line.

Her mom assaulted me with a line of cursing directed not at me, but at her daughter.  She exclaimed, "I don't know why my daughter would want you to write a letter of recommendation because she is nothing but a B---- and a whore.  And if that whore thought that I was going to spend one penny on her to go to college to do nothing but sleep around, she's nuts.  That B----- is worthless.  I'm not surprised she acted like that.  She's trash."

I was stunned.  And in that moment, I realized how much power we have over the young people in our lives in defining who they are and what path they will take in life.

Suddenly, I saw this girl in an entirely new light.  If that level of anger and hatred was directed at her on a regular basis from her mother, no wonder she acted that way!  She defined herself in the confines of her mother's anger.  And that set her on the path leading to a lot of bad things.

Fourteen years later I still think about this girl.  I still pray for her on occasion, hoping that she somehow found a way to find peace in her life.  I hope that someone came into her life to speak words of hope and encouragement to her.  I hope that she had someone share with her that there was a future and hope planned for her before her birth and that she was loved beyond comprehension by her heavenly Father.

The sad reality for this girl and for many like her is that she's completely divorced from the idea of a loving parent.   Any concept of God that she might have had would spring out of that sea of anger and dysfunction.  God created her with a purpose and a plan.  Unfortunately, she might not see that because there are so many other voices shattering her self-image and obscuring her view of the path of life marked out for her by her Creator.

And here's the thing.  Maybe that started out small, but consider a ship at sea.  Personally, I get seasick on boats, so I don't like to think about them, but it's a good example, so stay with me.  If a ship is off course by just a small degree, it isn't noticeable at first.  But after a long time traveling on the wrong course, the ship gets farther and farther away from where it is meant to go.  The same is true of us.  When we start out life with a false understanding of who we are, who God is, and what it means to actively pursue and follow a relationship with Him, we end up off course.  It isn't noticeable at first, but after years pass by, we find ourselves nowhere near where God wants us to be and like nothing He designed us to be.  And that brings hurt, disappointment, and brokenness.  

The truth is that we all need someone speaking life into us, not just kids.  Parents are supposed to do that.  The church can help parents find a way to do that by partnering with them.  When you look at Deuteronomy 6:4-9, you will see that Moses spoke about the importance of the leaders in the community partnering with parents to ensure that the next generation of faith understood God in a personal way:

"Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates."

The transferring of faith from one generation to the next was about community and relationship and the cornerstone of this generational continuance of faith was to be the family.  Why?  Because following Jesus is not about an institution or a set of rules.  Following Jesus is about relationship and the best way to model and convey that to the next generation is through relationships.  That's why families and churches need to be intentional about how we convey a relationship with Jesus. 

It is for that reason that generational faith matters.  In his children's ministry book, Orange Essentials, Reggie Joiner said of children's ministry workers:

"You are the CHAMPIONS of family.  You are the ADVOCATES for the church.  But most
importantly...you are the MESSENGERS of of God ILLUMINATING, LOVING, and DEMONSTRATING His story of redemption to SONS and DAUGHTERS."

Imagine how different our culture would look if we just embraced this fully.  What if instead of focusing on PROGRAMMING in our churches, we focused on COMMUNITY? What if instead of focusing on filling the family calendar with ACTIVITIES, we focused it around being intentional and using every second to build relationships and impart GOD's INDENTITY for our children?  What if instead of seeing church as a place to SIT, we saw it as a place to SERVE and intentionally created opportunities for our kids to serve alongside of us?

There are so many angry and evil voices competing for your child's attention.  Don't let yours be one of them.  Don't passively accept that this is just the way things are.  Be intentional about finding people who will share your love for your child and impart the wisdom and hope that you do for them. And if you never had that yourself, there is good news--Jesus is all about restoring broken people.  There is a hope and future for you beyond your comprehension if you will just lean into Him.

Be A Gandalf: YOU SHALL NOT PASS

Gandalfs be like "YOU SHALL NO PASS"

If you've seen the first Lord of the Rings film or read the book, you know that Gandalf takes one for the team in the mines of Moria.

The evil Balrog flame creature thing is emerging from the shadows and threatens to engulf the entire fellowship of the ring in a terrifying fire akin to a tanning booth.

An expert on tanning, Gandalf knows that he can't let his team turn orange and embarrass themselves.

Tolkien's tale of the fellowship is quite interesting.  Frodo is the simple hobbit who bears the One Ring that has the potential to rule all of Middle Earth through the evil power of Sauron.  Sauron is an evil all-powerful being, although for most of the movie trilogy he is just an eye made of flames that sits atop a tower and looks around like a spotlight.

Frodo needs protection.  Hobbits are cool, but kinda useless.  Enter Aragorn, Gimli, Legolas and Boromir.  He also needs a true friend, enter Sam.  And also comic relief.  Enter Merry and Pippin.

Gandalf is similar to my previous blog topic, Yoda, in that he represents the sage archetype in literature.  Sages often initiate the selection of the hero and the beginning of the quest.  They call the hero to adventure, they nurture them, train them, protect them, and die.

Wait, what?

Well from a storytelling perspective, it makes sense for most sages to die.  And if you think about sages in popular culture, you will realize that most of them do.

Yoda.

Obi-Wan.

Micky from Rocky.

Gandalf (sorta).

Dumbledore (I think, but I've never actually read it.)

Doc (from Cars.)

Uncle Ben (from Spider-Man not the rice guy.)

Clark Kent's real dad and adoptive dad.

Bruce Wayne's parents (although Alfred replaces them.)

You get the idea.  At some point the sage steps off the stage to let the hero move forward.  In fact, his still being there means that the hero doesn't really have the incentive to step up to the plate and save the day because the older wiser mentor is there to handle it.

It's kind of like how I viewed my handy-man dad growing up.  He knew how to fix anything, so I never bothered to learn.  Why did I need to know how to fix stuff?  Dad can do that.  I'd rather watch television.

Of course, now I no longer live with my dad and I can't fix a thing.  When Luke refused to listen to Yoda he lost a hand.  When Spider-Man forgot that his uncle told him that "with great power comes great responsibility" he ended up enabling the dude who killed his uncle.

Bilbo and Frodo both benefit from the mentoring of Gandalf.  He alone sees of the elder Baggins in The Hobbit, that there is a "great deal more in him than you know and a deal more than he has any idea of himself," as he pitches the incompetent homebody Bilbo Baggins to be a burglar for a group of adventure-seeking dwarves.  Sages see our inner potential and they help us realize it.

In the Christian sense, sages understand that every child has been created in the image of God and EVERY KID has the potential to lead, to love, to inspire, to create, and to change the world.  And that's something worth cultivating and even dying for.

Gandalf as a sage doesn't technically die, but he disappears frequently in The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings series in order to allow for his heroes-in-training to step up and do their job.

In the case of the above mentioned action, Gandalf makes a final stand in the mines of Moria.  He knows that he's likely not going to make it out of this alive, but he knows that the real mission is keeping Frodo alive so that he can get that ring to Mt. Doom to save Middle Earth.  He dramatically thrusts his staff into the ground and emphatically declares to the Balrog that "YOU SHALL NOT PASS!"

The others end up running out of the mines.  Gandalf gets pulled down into the abyss with the super huge fire monster.

Frodo and the gang think that this is the end of Gandalf.  It is not.  He later returns as Gandalf the White, having succeeded in taking down the Balrog and emerging with new power just to finish the job.

In the meantime, however, Frodo grows into his role as a leader because Gandalf the Crutch is no longer there.  The same was true of the disciples.  Somewhat hapless ne'er-do-wells while Jesus was on earth, after His death, they finally step into the role that Jesus was preparing them for all along.  They finally connect the dots. They finally embrace the adventure that Jesus initiated for them.

All of our kids need Gandalfs in their lives.  And we need to never put our own adult egos ahead of the heart of a child.  Our job as parents and leaders is to lay down our lives to ensure that our children embrace the adventure that God has marked out for them.  Kids have this superhero power of a kid-sized faith passion that adults seem uneasy with.  The boundless energy and passion of a child is something that us geezers wish we could bottle.

What we lack in passion, however, we can make up for with wisdom and protection.

I love what Moses tells the Israelites in Exodus as the Egyptian army is advancing toward them.  He tells them to stand firm and they will see that the Lord will fight for them.  That this advancing menacing army that they see today, they will not see again.

Frodo never saw the Balrog again.  He stood there while Gandalf fought for him.

God will fight for our kids.  The needs will change over time, but our role will not.  It is up to us to show them true courage in standing firm in the Lord when scary life-altering things come their way.  (For me that is Mr. Peanut.) It's our job to stand in the gap for them like Gandalf and boldly declare to the enemy "YOU SHALL NOT PASS."  (Growing a beard and wearing wizard garb is optional.)

You never know what hangs in the balance if you fail to embrace your inner Gandalf.  If Gandalf didn't intercede on Frodo's behalf, Middle Earth would have been lost.  The kids that we are entrusted with are the Esthers, Moseses, Peters, Pauls, and Davids of their generation.  Every Esther needs her Mordecai, every Moses needs his Jethro, every David needs his Samuel or Nathan (depending on your mood.)

Future generations need this generation to rise to the occasion.  It is our job to ensure they get out of the mine to safely continue that journey.  And what a sacred task that is.

Yoda Faith: Do Or Do Not, There Is No Try

Yoda lights the way for the Christian journey...

Adore the green little Jedi master named Yoda, I do.  Ashamed of that, I am not.  Covered with Yoda merchandise, my desk is.

As a child in the early 1980s, I loved Star Wars.  I had all three films on VHS TAPE.  Yes kids, many years ago before the glory of Netflix and Hulu, we actually had to purchase copies of movies on VHS tapes that we played in magical machines called VCRs.  You couldn't skip to a scene.  You had to fast forward or rewind.  The hours of your life spent rewinding and fast forwarding your favorite VHS tapes were hours that you never got back.

Anyway, I actually do remember seeing The Return of the Jedi in the theaters.  It was the only Star Wars film that I was old enough to see in the theaters.  As a worldly young man of the age of 7, I rather enjoyed the film.  My younger brother was scared of Jabba the Hutt and I laughed at him for it.  I found Jabba entertaining.  Eating some sort of frog thing.  Having some puppet creature sitting on his tail. The pig guards.  What's not to like?

So, I was enjoying the film.  Then it happened.  Luke Skywalker finally returned to Yoda to complete his training.  And Yoda died.  HE. DIED.  He coughed and mumbled something about another Skywalker and then coughed some more.  He rolled over saying that he must "rest, rest, must rest."  And then he died and disappeared from his bed.

Sure, he was over 900 years old, but I was devastated.  (Much like my previously described devastation at the death of Optimus Prime.)

Looking back over Yoda's storyline, however, I begin to sense a reason why I like him so much.  Yoda trained centuries worth of Jedi knights.  He was wise.  He was all-powerful.  He had his mind blown by a flashlight.  Wait, what?

Yes, okay, so the great Jedi master perhaps spent too much time in the swamp, as he fought R2D2 over a flashlight and giggled like a toddler over it's magnificence.

Don't mess with Yoda. You have been warned.

That aside, Yoda knew how to impart wisdom and faith to the next generation.  When Luke Skywalker spent a large portion of his training whining and sniveling about how unfair things were and how he would never get it, Yoda just shook his head and used inverted syntax to impart gems to Luke  Gems such as:

“Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.” (Yoda understood how destructive fear, anger and hatred are to faith.  He must have meditated on Jesus' teaching to love the Lord your God with all your heart, your soul and your strength and to love your neighbor as yourself.)

“Always pass on what you have learned.” (Yoda was very focused on discipleship.)

“[Luke:] I can’t believe it. [Yoda:] That is why you fail.”  (Yoda understood that without faith it is impossible to please God.)

“You must unlearn what you have learned.” (Yoda clearly understood that your mind will be renewed through the power of Christ.)

“Truly wonderful the mind of a child is.”  (Clearly Yoda understood that you have to come to Christ like a child!)

“Do or do not. There is no try.”  (Yoda understood that a faith without works was dead.)

“Luke: What’s in there? Yoda: Only what you take with you.” (Yoda understood laying your burdens down and not carrying them with you in your daily walk with Christ.)

"Size matters not. Look at me.  Judge me by my size, do you?  Hmm?  Hmm.  And well you should not."  (Yoda was a big fan of David and Goliath.)

Understood the path of faith in Christ, Yoda did.

Yoda's training of the Jedi knights parallels the active role that your faith in Christ should have in your life.  In today's consumer driven church, where believers come to be fed and then see no importance in serving, Yoda's teachings could help light the way.  As Yoda famously chided Luke, there isn't a "try" in following Christ.  You do.  Or you do not.  Hot.  Or cold. There is no lukewarm try.  That is not to say that you will always succeed in all that you do.  It is to say that you should actively seek after the Lord every day and seek first His kingdom.

Do yourself a favor and follow Yoda's faith advice.  If you don't, your father will turn into an evil cyborg and he will cut off your hand and try to kill you.

The choice is yours.

Very definitive, Yoda is.  Uncertain, he is not.

Calvary Chapel Gloucester County Kid Min Blog: The Determination of Moses!

This Sunday your child learned about the determination of Moses.  We looked at the adventures of Moses' life through the lens of needing to finish what you start and working with GOD to do that.  

Moses accomplished a  lot of great things during his life.  He led the Exodus of God's people from oppressive slavery in Egypt.  He parted called down the plagues on Egypt.  He parted the red sea.  He led the Israelites for 40 years in the wilderness and he met with God personally on top of the mountain and brought down the Ten Commandments (not the movie) to God's people.

He intervened time and time again for God's people when they lacked the determination to keep following God.

Through Moses, we saw that another aspect of developing a life-changing faith determination is to keep doing what is right because God is AWE-some.

To read the rest of the post, visit our church Kidmin blog by clicking below...

Calvary Chapel Gloucester County Kid Min Blog: The Determination of Moses!: 

Peter: Dissing Jesus One Minute & Loving Him The Next

"Feed Me!"  

You have to love Peter.  Or maybe you don't.  I don't know you so I won't presume to tell you what to do.

Anyway, Peter is a man of high highs and low lows.  Dude jumped out of the boat when he saw Jesus walking on the water toward them when everyone else was messing themselves and shaking like a leaf.

Then he sank into the water because his fear and lack of faith got the best of him.

He was also eager to build tents for Elijah and Moses when they networked socially with Jesus during the Mount of Transfiguration experience.  They weren't planning on hanging out long enough to need the digs, so he never got to build them.

Then during the Last Supper when Judas was all-Satan-ed up, Peter dramatically declared that he would never betray or leave Jesus only to have Jesus rebuke him by predicting his betrayal as a prologue to the exciting event of a rooster crowing.  Me thinks the burly fisherman doth protest too much.

You get the sense when you read John's Gospel that there was a friendly rivalry between these two.  John-boy was the "beloved disciple" and often subtly refers to himself as such when writing his Gospel narrative.  I guess it's a way to try to remain humble about the honor.

To read his account, you see that when Jesus was arrested and Peter was warming up for his betrayal performance of a lifetime, John was also there:

"And Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple. Now that disciple was known to the high priest, and went with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest.  But Peter stood at the door outside. Then the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to her who kept the door, and brought Peter in."  JOHN 18:15-16

Now, it's true that the account doesn't specifically say it was John, but among the 10 possibilities (let's go ahead and rule out Judas) for this mysterious other disciple, only John is recorded at being at the cross during Jesus' crucifixion.  John and Peter are almost ALWAYS referred to as being together.  Pretty much any major narrative involving one of them involves the other.  Symbolically their partnership serves as a glimpse of the collaborative relationship between FAITH & DEVOTION (John) and ACTION (Peter).   Additionally, John ALWAYS refers to himself in third person, but typically names the other disciples. 

If it is indeed John (and since I'm the author of this blog, I'm declaring that it is) it is interesting that the only disciple to see Jesus through to the cross and the one who bore such a deep and abiding love for Jesus was probably a first-hand witness to at least one of Peter's denials.  According to the text, Disciple X (see also John) was allowed into the courtyard but the salty rough and tumble Peter was not.  Physically, John-boy was probably not nearly as menacing as Petey and yet he doesn't deny Jesus for fear of peer pressure the way Mr. "Rock" does.  Anyway, John used his street cred with the door-lady and "brought Peter in."  Then the very next verse says, "Then the servant girl who kept the door said to Peter, 'You are not also one of this Man's disciples, are you?' He said, 'I am not.'"  

So, John went to get Peter, vouched for Peter and then "brought Peter in" and in that very same instant, Peter was questioned by this door-lady and denied Jesus.  Ouch.  

That my friends is a literary contrast.  And this English teacher likes it.

So, after Peter denied Jesus and runs from the courtyard weeping, John stays and watches his Savior die for the sins of the world.

The two then also face off in racing to the empty tomb.

And then there is Peter's restoration.  Peter was previously described as a "rock" by Jesus and then he had that epic rooster-crow-inducing FAIL of denial.

So when Jesus appears to the disciples after His resurrection, it should be no surprise that He makes a special point to restore Peter's rock-ness. And just as John gave Peter access to the courtyard that night, it's again John that confirms to Peter that it is Jesus speaking to them from the shore in John 21:6-7:

"And He said to them, 'Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.' So they cast, and now they were not able to draw it in because of the multitude of fish. 7 Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, 'It is the Lord!' Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment (for he had removed it), and plunged into the sea."

After Peter gets to the shore, Jesus engages him in a little game of "Do You Love Me" where He asks Peter THREE times whether he loves Him or not.  Peter basically answers that he likes him a lot.  And each time Jesus commands him to feed and tend His sheep.  This is to restore Peter to his rightful position as a rock of the faith that will help lay the foundation of the early church.  Jesus knew that Peter had the tenacity and the ACTION to get it done, but here He's restoring Peter's love and devotion (see also relationship) with Him after the nasty denial episode.

Again, interestingly enough, Peter will now get his wish to follow Christ even to death as Jesus predicts that Peter will also die via crucifixion.  Jesus is allowing Peter to truly go where He has gone even after Peter dropped the ball and cajoled a rooster into breaking the serene morning hours with his obnoxious wake-inducing melody.

And even still Peter is comparing himself to John.  He wants to know about John's type of death.  Perhaps because he now feels like he's in the inner circle of relationship again and wants to confirm that all folks in the "in crowd" will suffer and die like that.  Jesus' answer is to again turn the wayward eye of Peter back to Him and not on others.

(Side note:  It's always troubled me that Jesus seems to suggest that John would live to see the end times and the typical "Jesus was just redirecting Peter's attention" explanation never quite cut it.  Thankfully this time reading through the Holy Spirit reminded me that John did in fact see the end times when he wrote the book of Revelation.  Mystery solved.)

John and Peter represent the need for faith and action to work together.  Peter may have had shortcomings and failures but Jesus demonstrated through his story that He is all about restoring broken people by giving them opportunities to learn from their failures and grow closer to Him as a result.

As parents and world-changers in the lives of children, we need to understand that our kids are the same way.  We need to build up both a deep and abiding love of Jesus AND the boldness to act and rock this world to the foundation.  There's a lot to learn from the lives of Peter and John.  

And there are a lot of the Master's sheep to tend and feed.  And if we truly LOVE HIM we will do just that!