do you have family traditions?

you should

we’ve got a few.

last night was one… and it’s always a hit.

Okay. So I started these posts last week discussing the six lessons that comprise the book, Inside the Magic Kingdom. We’re half-way there! Let’s finish it up.

Lesson #4: Everything walks the talk.

Just like ‘Everyone walks the talk’, Everything must walk the talk, as well. Everything from the space your ministry occupies to the tools your ministry produces. It means that every detail of your experience is intentional. It means that every item added to your space fits with the theme of that space. It means the very design of your volunteer structure reflects the mission of your ministry.

It boils down to keeping ‘the main thing’ the main thing. In my world, the ‘main thing‘ is kids. The ‘main thing‘ is establishing kids in their relationship with Jesus today! Not when they’re older. Not when they graduate. Not when they get into the ‘real world’.

Today.

It means my volunteer structure reflects our passion for relationships with kids. Our volunteer training focuses and refocuses our team on the mission of life-change within our LifeKIDS.

It means everything my ministry produces should move a LifeKID deeper into their relationship with Jesus. If it does not accomplish this… it’s a waste of time.

Everything communicates something. Is it communicating what you want?

I’m always on the lookout for good tools that will help me in raising my kids.

You might have some great stuff that I could use. But if you’re going to offer these tools in a book, website, whatever… here’s a tip.

Don’t make the family on the cover look like the perfect, Christ-following family that sits around at home singing Cum-by-yah and sharing personal testimony of how God used them in His Divine and Perfect Will that day.

I can’t relate to that.

Show me a family where the toddler has something hanging out his nose, the ‘princess’ insists on wearing her tiara, and the eldest son is diligently perfecting his armpit fart. Yet they are a reflection of God’s Grace and Joy.

I don’t know how they could capture that in a picture. But that’s a world I know.

Connor found the Flamin’ Hot Cheetos…

This should be interesting…

• Great site for parents. Custom make chore charts for your kids. (call it lessons in responsibility… i call it slave labor )
• 100 post milestone! (a few posts back… Late again.)
• Dads! Read this and consider changing your bedtime routine tonight.
• Just in case you missed Rob Bell’s tour last year, Floating Axehead gives us a taste.
• Books.  I love books.  Barnes & Noble makes me salivate.  What books have challenged your thinking lately?  Will you share?
• Thank You Notes.  When was the last time you sent a hand-written thank you?  Listen to what Church of the Customer has to say about it.
• Thinking of writing a parenting book titled, Connor and the Purple Crayon.  Given my vast experience with cleaning crayon, pen, marker and other various writing utensil marks from my walls… I’ve got a few words on the matter.

Continuing the conversation on the 6 Lessons in Inside the Magic Kingdom…

Lesson #3: Everyone Walks the Talk

With Lesson #3 came a big lesson in humility. Everyone walks the talk means that if you say you value it… then your actions are a natural reflection.

If you value a clean space, you’re the first to cross the lobby and pick up the napkin that just hit the floor. Everyone is equally responsible for presentation. Equally responsible for preparation. Equally responsible for execution.

This does not negate the need for division of responsibility as it relates to tasks. However, it does eliminate finger-pointing once a ball is dropped. The vision behind why we do what we do should be so ingrained in our DNA that living out these actions is 2nd nature.

Here’s a convicting thought…

If I value changed-lives, I should be the first to dig into someone’s challenge to help bring about a solution. I can’t claim 100% on that. Maybe I need to examine… am I walking the talk?

Continuing our discussion on the book, Inside the Magic Kingdom…

No hesitation. No introduction. Let’s hit the next lesson.

Lesson #2: Pay Fantastic Attention to Detail

Fantastic attention to detail. What a great way to put that. What does that mean? How does that apply to ministry?

In my world it means:

• Replacing batteries in baby toys; repairing/replacing safety belts on baby swings
• Room inspections searching for areas that require repair, touch up, clean up, replacement, etc. And accomplishing these tasks before the following weekend
• Walking our space, placing ourselves in ‘Guest Mode’ to determine that our directional signage, table/booth placement, and traffic flow foster the right experience for someone brand new to our church
• Restocking supplies to ensure no one is running around during ’show time’ trying to find a form, pen, cotton balls, batteries, etc
• Getting on our knees and viewing our space from a kids point of view. Will it capture them? Excite them? Grab their attention?

I could go on and on. But the bottom line is, we work all week for the big game. The big game is the Weekend Worship Experience. (and let it be that… let it be an experience!)

Part of our role in kids ministry is to set the stage for a child to learn about Jesus. To prepare the space where someone’s life will be transformed. Fantastic attention to detail pays in dividends when a child’s eternity is changed.

Where in your ministry should you pay fantastic attention to detail?

Inside the Magic Kingdom is a foundational book for the LifeKIDS ministry at LifeChurch.tv. Given the impact to my ministry (and me personally), I want to share the 6 primary lessons of this book and flesh them out one post at a time. I’m taking a little turn here, but hang with me and imagine how these lessons might translate to your world.

Lesson #1: Your competition is anyone the customer compares you with.

Who is your customer?

In LifeKIDS, our primary customer is the kid.

What would a kid compare us with?

Nickelodeon, Noggin, Disney, Hannah Montana, High School Musical, PS2, Wii, Webkinz, etc, etc. This is where our kids spend their time. These are the things that capture (and keep) their attention.

Why do we want their attention? We have to have their attention in order to teach them about Jesus! So, what do we do the grab their attention?

Anything short of sin!!

In my humble opinion.

Anything short of sin.

Use wisdom, stewardship and (by all means) the leading of the Holy Spirit. The window of opportunity is brief. Know your customer. Know what grabs them and create an experience of the same caliber. Then do whatever it takes to grab their attention so that Jesus can transform their hearts.

• From my friend, Bob B. Nothing more to add. You just gotta’ read it.

• Scott Hodge having issues.
• Starting a new series in Toon Town this weekend called Sib Cribs. Kind of a ‘While You Were Out’ take. Should be fun for the kids.
• Running to the library today to pay my fines. Sad, really. I think I’m saving money by using the library… but I only manage to pay for books that I never keep in the end.
• Praying for change. Not just within me but change in the way I approach my world. Join me?
• Check out Rindy Walton’s blog. This is a chic I’d like to get to know.
• A must read… Second Guessing God by Brian Jones.
• For the record, I’m scraping everything I know. I’ll tell you more later…

I hope it sticks.  But I know that I’ll probably fall off the wagon soon.  That’s the way of addiction, right?  But with time, prayer and accountability possibly the falls off the wagon grow farther apart.  I hope.

I confess to an addiction.  Probably not the first few vices that pop in your head.  Alcohol.  Drugs.  Whipped Cream cans.  (although there was a time…  But I digress. )

My addiction is far more suttle.  And far more socially acceptable. 

I’m addicted to comfort. 

I like being comfortable. 

I like my warm clothes.  I love my bed.  My pillow and I are pretty tight.  I’m so addicted to these creature comforts that I take for granted the blessing they are. 

Yesterday it would have been a foreign thought that my bed and pillow are blessings.  Yet today I look at them entirely different.  I spent the morning serving breakfast to a group of people that don’t have such simple comfort.  It’s sobering. 

Lord, place people in my life to draw me out and keep me out of my inward-focused world!  Break this addiction in me.