Archive for Childrens Ministry
Why Are We Afraid Of God’s Voice? February 13, 2008
The other day I had another thought about how awesome the love of God is while I was spending time with Charisse.
I walked into the living room after being at the gym for an hour or so and Charisse was playing in the floor & was unaware that I had came back home.
I called her name and she immediately looked up at me…AND…smiled. Nothing, I mean NOTHING can warm up the heart of a father any faster than seeing his child smile at him.
She didn’t fear me bringing up her past…and her past HAS been nasty if you think about all of the crap and snot and vomit that she’s blown all over the place!
She was not fearful that I was going to yell at her and begin asking her to do things that would eventually hurt her and make her hate life.
She didn’t think that I was going to take something away from her, that I was actually out to get her and make her as miserable as possible.
NONE of that took place. She looked at me with her HUGE blue eyes and smiled because she KNEW that I was about to run to her, scoop her up in my arms and hug her as tightly as possible.
She looked at me with anticipation that something great was about to take place.
She looked at me with joy because of how good I’ve been to her in her seven months so far on this planet.
She looked at me with complete trust, knowing that I’ve never done anything to hurt her…only to bless her and teach her.
She looked at me like any child should look at a father…and how I should look to God!
He’s not out to get me…OR I’d have already been gotten!
He’s not out to take something from me–what could I possibly have that He wants. (By the way–it’s already His!)
He’s not out to hurt me, only to bless and teach me.
He’s been so good to me, seriously, He owes me NOTHING!
He’s not out to remind me of myr past–He’s already paid for that and made me brand new.
He wants to see me SMILE at Him, to see true joy in my life and complete trust that He is who Scripture says He is…my PERFECT heavenly father.
I am praying that God will continue to teach me to view Him through the eyes of a child…and it is blowing my mind!!!!
Sometimes You HAVE To Laugh July 20, 2007
Summer Blockbuster is our annual event we do for kids in grades one through five every summer…and it is HUGE. This year we had over 1,000 kids on opening night!!!
At the end of the evening they all come into the auditorium for a full production with videos, songs and drama. (Alden has a picture here.)
Anyway…one of the scenes that took place this past Wednesday was…let’s just say…unexpected. Keep in mind before checking out this video that the scene was originally supposed to be about two lines long–and the bed was NOT supposed to break…but sometimes the unexpected happens! The funniest thing is watching Pudge and Sandy get cracked up.
Here is the link! You can hear the hundreds of adults laughing!!! AND–it made me laugh as well!
Sunday Night Thoughts… June 24, 2007
Here are some random things running through my mind this evening…
- Why did God make mosquitoes? I just want outside to arrange the sprinklers and got TORE UP! I hate them…all of them!
- A staff member at our church today who shall remain nameless was late to our services this evening because her cat got into a fight and another cat bit it on the butt. SO…she had to take it to them vet. Uh…yeah…that caused me to laugh.
- Today was my birthday…I am 36 years old…and today the entire church sang to me all four services. Uh, yeah…it was embarrassing.
- For the record…I HATE it when you go to a restaurant and they come out clapping their hands and sing that stupid birthday song…AHHHHH!!!
- Tuesday night at NewSpring is going to be awesome–my friend Joe will be teaching what is called the Financial learning experience…HERE is the information!!! Folks…this is free–and it WELL worth the time. BUT…you should ONLY come IF you want to get out of debt and have plenty of money for the future so that you can be generous and provide for your family!!!
- We received two awesome baby gifts this weekend…the first was butt paste. Yes, it is called that–and I will be doing an entire post on butt paste later this week. :-) The second was M&M’s with Charisse’s name on them! WOW–that’s awesome!!!
- The concert on Friday is going to be incredible! BE THERE…remember, this event is a way that our church can seriously IMPACT some awesome organizations in our community. EVERY DIME given will be going to support either Anderson Interfaith Ministries and the Crisis Pregnancy Center. I said EVERY DIME. NewSpring is TOTALLY underwriting the cost of EVERYTHING. SO…come prepared to give generously at the door!
- I ran about 4.5 miles this morning before speaking and it felt great–all except for right knee and left foot–they hurt…pray for them!!! :-)
- I am thinking about attempting another marathon in December! Anyone wanna train?
- Next Sunday we will be dealing with the concept of spiritual warfare at NewSpring! I think it is going to be a great weekend.
- Summer Blockbuster is going to be off the charts…if you are a parent with a child K-5 through 5th grade–check out this information and get your kid signed up ASAP! I can’t wait to be there.
- Holy crap…I am about to be a dad!!!
- Lucretia MADE me an ice cream cake for my birthday…yet MORE evidence that she is a godly woman who loves Jesus!!!
- I preached on greed today–tense message…more on that later.
- Daryl and I got to hang out today for a little while–he and his wife drove all the way from Wilmington to be at NewSpring today.
- I LOVE THE LOCAL CHURCH–there’s nothing like it!
- We saw people receive Christ today. Folks…I preached on money and greed and several people met Jesus–that’s God!!!
That’s about it for now…I love you NewSpring! I am REALLY looking forward to Sunday!
What About Me? May 9, 2007
Someone asked me a really great question the other day. They said, “Perry, whenever you cast vision you always speak specifically about the children and then teenagers; however, you don’t really say a lot regarding the adults, why is that?”
Here was my answer…I love adults, especially the senior citizens. One of the most fun trips I have ever taken was at my last church–the pastor asked me to take the senior adults to Myrtle Beach for a conference–and it was more wild than any youth trip I had ever been on! I actually had to tell them we were NOT going to Hooters!
The senior adults…and the not so senior adults…should not be ignored and/or neglected; however, I do not believe they need to be the focus of the church, which, unfortunately has happened in many churches in our country.
Come on now, don’t tell me it doesn’t happen. If the youth and children want to do something, go on a mission trip or summer camp then what does the church do? Stick them out in the sun and make them wash cars and sell doughnuts. BUT…in that same church…if the senior adults want to go pick apples then the church completely pays for the trip.
Maybe it’s just me…but I see something SERIOUS that is wrong with that.
I know, I know–I’ve heard it all before. “Perry, the adults give all the money!” So…because they give money the church should finance their recreational activities? My question is “WHY” do they give the money? Is it so the church can do what they want to be done…or because they love Jesus?
Adults in the church DO have rights…and it is NOT wrong for us to have personal preferences; however, I think a part of being a mature adult is getting past yourself enough to understand that everyone does not like things “my way,” and in order to really impact the next generation then I need to be willing to give up my desires.
For example…I am about to be a dad. What if I took this approach, “My child is going to have to adjust to ME when she gets here. I will not inconvenience myself in any way for her. If she pees herself and I don’t feel like changing her…she will just have to get over it. If we only have a certain amount of money and I have to decide whether or not to buy her some food or me a nice steak dinner…I guess she’ll know what its like to be hungry.”
If the above were how I operated as a parent then there is only one word to describe me–SORRY!
How is the above attitude different from most churches today? If we want to SERIOUSLY impact the world we live in–I believe it MUST be done through dynamic youth and children’s ministry…and in order to do that we MUST spend money on them…and if we are spending money of them then that means that some of the things we would love to see as adults in the church…well…we go without them! We inconvenience ourselves. We go without! All in an effort to reach a generation that needs Jesus more than any generation that has ever existed.
Why do I say that? Because church attendance among teenagers and twenty something’s is the lowest of any generation in existence. Statistics show that 1 out of 8 churched kids DROP OUT of church before the age of 25. The church needs to wake up and smell the flippin’ coffee!!!!
The ONLY way to seriously impact the world that teenagers and children live in is to spend money. Disney spends money! MTV spends money! The cartoon network spends money! The church has GOT to spend money.
As an adult I understand that there are times I must prove my maturity and give up any “rights” and “privileges” that I think are somehow owed to me (as if God owes us anything but hell) in order for the greater good.
At NewSpring we want to see people come to Christ! Young and old–BUT we also understand that 85% of the decisions that people make to follow Christ are done so before the age of 18.
If you are an adult in this church…OR a senior adult…let me be the first to say thank you for all that you do! The way you pray, serve and give mean so much to God’s kingdom. However, if we want to see this church last past our lifetime–we have GOT to invest heavily in the next generation. I believe one of the reasons so many kids have dropped out of church, or haven’t gone at all, is because the church has been giving them leftovers and telling them they ought to appreciate it…while the world has been spending BILLIONS of dollars telling them, “We’ll take you–come over here!”
So what about us adults? What are we willing to give up? (If you are a parent you should understand this!) Our activities? Our music style? (It amazes me the number of parents and grandparents that say they would give their own life to save their child or grandchild, yet that same parent or grandparent won’t give up their personal preference when it comes to music in church to reach that same child/grandchild!)
I believe in our children! I believe in our youth group! I believe in strong families! I want to see our community changed because moms and dads and kids are all falling in love with Jesus. AND adults–we can do this a lot easier than they can, at least we SHOULD be able to…that is why it is God’s call on our life to continue to do all we can to allow the generation after us stand on our shoulders!
I will be sharing more about the specifics of this vision in the days to come. Our youth and kids are going to be a MAJOR focus of our next campaign…as well as local and foreign missions AND starting new satellite campuses. I won’t say much more than that right now…but I do know this–God is REALLY stretching me right now…and great things are about to happen!