We have a little box of cards on the table.

On the cards are random activity ideas, questions or bible verses to look up and discuss.

My kids are 9 and 6.  They don’t appreciate the bible verses near as much as their parents.  But the activities are a big. hit.

So Josie pulled a card yesterday.  It states (and I quote),

“Go to a community playground and play together for only 5 minutes.  When time is up, go to another playground.  Repeat until you run out of playgrounds or daylight.”

So these are our plans for Thursday night.  A little family fun playground hopping.

What are your plans for family time this week?

2 Kings 13:20-21

Ever wonder what that would have been like?  I’m not sure if I’d be more freaked out by a group of robbers or a dead guy walking out of a tomb.

i got on a rant today.  someone asked for my 2 cents… i gave a little extra.

a friend receieved an email from someone asking his opinion on divorce.  here was the question

Do you think it’s possible for God to allow a married couple (even after trying very hard to fix things) to fight so much to the point that they desperately want their single lives back, in order  to make the point that He didn’t want them to be together in the first place? 

i admit, i’ve never been in this place.  i cannot speak from experience.  but as a woman married for 14 years… here were my thoughts.

Whether God did or did not want them together at this point is no longer relevant.  If you made the wrong decision at ‘square one’, He will not draw you back to square one to remake the decision.  Instead He’ll start from where you are. 

I would question how much they’ve worked on their marriage.  How long?  How have they invested?  Counseling?  Mentoring? 

I have a seriously hard time believing that if they both truly wanted to make this work and were willing to throw off everything that hinders them in order to make it work that God won’t bless that.  God is the author of “that lovin’ feeling”.  So if they’ve lost it towards each other then they need to seek the only One that can give it back. 

It’s not an overnight solution.  It may take a long time.  But they have no kids.  They have only their jobs.  From my perspective they’ve got a lot of free time to focus on the right things that will make the relationship work.  

Whether or not God wanted them to become ‘one’ in marriage is irrelevant.  They are now one.  They need to do whatever is necessary to function as one rather than seeking validation to walk away from that.  

like i said… my two cents.  what would you say?

1 Kings 14 tells the story of a mom who learns that her son will die the moment she returns home.

What do you suppose that walk was like?

Would I race home in hopes to ‘beat the clock’?  Or would I walk slowly in effort to give him more time?

We offer 6 different worship experiences every weekend.  It works out that our longest attending peeps typically come to our Saturday night experiences.  Most of our guests come Sunday morning.

So why is it that our officers directing traffic between our Saturday night worship experineces see more of ‘the finger’ than all day Sunday?

That’s sad.

the media design team of LifeChurch.tv was recognized as the team with ‘It’ in 2008.  here’s why…

september was ‘beard-tember’ in the Bling building.  anyone capable of growing facial hair, was encourage to grow facial hair. 

october was ’stache-tober’ where blade was taken to the gnarly beards but not completely.

and now we have… ‘It’

Wicked Mustaches from kevin ely on Vimeo.

We love volunteers that capture the vision, get excited and jump in with both feet.

But sometimes even the boldest person can get hurt.  How do you prepare volunteers for ministry?

A couple in our church went on a MicroMission and served a group of women in a rehab facility.  Relationships were fostered and connections were made.  This couple was so pumped to be a part of what God was doing, they were open to helping in any way they could.  When they learned that many of the women in this facility wanted to attend church, the couple went out and purchased a 15-passenger van.  For months they’ve taxied women and children back and forth to church on the weekends.  It’s a cool story.

Ministry would be great if that’s what it always looked like.  But the reality is, this couple is ministering to a very broken group of people and a few of them have taken advantage.  And it causes pain and doubt.

When a volunteer sees a need, grabs the bull by the horns and jumps in to help… heart and soul… we celebrate.  But what do you do when the bull begins to gore?

Hey Guys!  Have you ever wanted to change someone’s life with the simple click of a mouse?  Here you go…

Lifechurch is teaming up with http://www.shoesfororphansouls.org/ to supply shoes to needy children.  All you have to do is click on this Target link and choose the pair (or pairs) you would like to donate.  Then mark “ship to registry address”.  That’s it!  You just blessed a child.  Help me make a difference and send a child a pair of shoes today!

Seriously… the OKC Campus goal is 6,500 pairs of shoes for kids.  That’s a lofty goal for our campus.  But nothing if we get the word out.  Help me make a dent in this number.  Help us exceed it in ways we can’t imagine.  Post the paragraph above on your blog.  Give others the opportunity to join this cause.

Thanks blogging peeps.

that’s all i’m shoutin’

Leading praise and worship (a.k.a. the song and dance) in kids ministry is a full-body experience.

This is no spectator sport.

Kids love to sing.  Kids love to dance.  Part of every experience for kids includes this element.  It’s another way to teach kids how to praise their God.

But if you’re volunteers don’t know how to praise their God, then this element can run flat.

I’m not suggesting that every kids volunteer would love to stand in front of a bunch of 4-year-olds waving a worship scarf around while singing songs.  It’s true… there has to be one of those crazy fanatics in the group… but not everyone has to be like that.

This really has less to do with how energetic or silly they are while leading kids in a worship song.  It has more to do with the spiritual discipline of praise and how it’s applied in their own lives.

My theory is this…

If my volunteers have never incorporated the spiritual discipline of praise into their own lives, then teaching kids how to honor God’s name in worship can feel pretty manufactured.  Kids pick up on that stuff.  Clearly this can affect every aspect of the kids experience… but (in my experience) it seems most obvious during the time when their leading kids in song and dance.

Why is that?

Because I can feel pretty comfortable in my own skin when I’m reading a story, leading a craft or just hanging out coloring with kids.  But put me in front of kids with a song I wouldn’t normally listen to on the radio, a worship scarf I would never be found dead with in Big Church and ask me to lead a bunch of little kids through the song with energy and enthusiasm… I’m not feeling so comfortable any more.  It’s the most exposing part of the kids experience and most adults don’t enjoy leading it.  Why?

It’s the least adult-like function of the entire hour.

So relating back to yesterday’s post… Lead your volunteers spiritually.  Challenge them to the spiritual discipline of praise.  Do they truly praise God?  What does that look like?

Praise has everything to do with God and nothing to do with us.  Praise isn’t all about singing a song… in fact that’s only one of many ways to bring praise and glory to God.  Praise is about acknowledging who God is… recognizing His attributes… honoring His name.

So here’s a great challenge for your volunteer… for all of us, for that matter.

Take 5 minutes and praise God.  Do nothing but talk to Him about Him.  No mention of yourself.  There can be NO pronouns.  It’s tougher than you think.  Our spirits are so adept at making things about us that shifting our focus for even 5 minutes to recognize and honor God is a discipline that must be built up.

I believe that when a volunteer incorporates this discipline into their life it can change the way they approach volunteering as a whole.  It can certainly change the way they feel about singing and dancing in front of 4-year olds.  Why?  Because they have established in their lives that it isn’t about them… it’s about teaching these kids to do what they’ve learned to do… bring glory and honor to their God.