We got some new songs for our upcoming “God Is…” series in Toon Town!

Check them out here!

Talking about the 5 skills to establish faith in our kids.  Catch the first 4 here.

Faith Skill #4: Articulate Faith

Create a safe place to discuss and wrestle with what kids believe.  This is key for our kids to make their faith their own.

Not just as parents, but as individuals, we can fear doubt.  We are scared of questions.  Sometimes it freaks us out when people question their faith.  We think we might lose them forever.  They might go off the deep end.

“Just have more faith.  Have more faith!”

I’m not discounting faith.  It’s a vital component to your relationship with Jesus.  But in order to make something your own, sometimes you’ve got to wrestle it down yourself.   I appreciate a good sermon, but I value scripture more when I labor through, question and digest it myself.

Give people in your home the space and the safety to question.  Have less faith in your explanations of God… and have more faith in the work God is doing in the midst of the wrestle.

Some of the best parenting advise I’d ever heard came from a 23 year old single man.  He said…

Talk less.  Pray more.

Do questions make you uncomfortable?  Do you allow people to question and wrestle with their faith?

Tonight I spoke with a group of parents participating in our Child Dedication experience.  This is how I feel after I speak to a crowd.  I’m highly critical of myself and typically battle insecurity in the aftermath.

I’ve learned to pray for the things God was in to ’stick’ and the things God was not in to fall away and be forgotten.  (like my cracks about Oprah parenting tips!)

Please pray for our families.  Pray that God would inspire His vision for His glory.

Thank you, friends, for all your prayer, comments and support.

At the Orange Conference I attended a breakout session talking about 5 basic Faith Skills to build into kids to help them take ownership of their faith and make it theirs.  If you are a parent and/or serve in kids ministry, you don’t want to miss the next 5 posts.

Skill #1:  Navigate the Bible

• Children should know how the smaller stories within the Bible work together to tell God’s Big Story.  Many ministries are guilty of teaching the bible as a series of one-liners that support the main teaching point.  Yet kids fail to see the bigger picture in scripture.
  
• The Bible is a place they can go to find verses that will help them with specific questions.
  

God’s word is a source of Life to a believer.  Read in context, it reminds us that we are part of something bigger than ourselves.  Kids that learn a biblical worldview have a more solid foundation to build their life upon.  We can’t expect our kids to have a biblical worldview unless the Bible plays a prominent role in our lives.

Parents, how can we better equip you to teach your kids how to navigate the Bible?

Ministry leaders, how well does your curriculum teach kids to view the Bible as a continuous story of His Glory?

We recently celebrated Baptisms at LifeChurch.tv.  My passion centers around equipping parents for the long haul, so I lean toward providing ‘tools’ for them rather than just doing it myself.  I love the idea of mom/dad having a rich God-conversation on the playground… like baptism.  If I can give them the right questions to ask along with the right responses to look for, they can make a determination regarding their child’s readiness for these milestones.

The last baptism weekend was touching when a dad approached me right before his daughter’s baptism.  He said,

Three weeks ago my 8 year old asked about salvation.  I was able to go to LifeKIDS.tv, find information about salvation, have a great conversation with my little girl then lead her through a prayer to ask Jesus into her life.  Last week she wanted to know about baptism.  Again, I went to LifeKIDS.tv and found information about baptism.  Today I’m baptizing my daughter because she wants everyone to know what God has done.  I want you to know what you have done.  You empowered me to have conversations with my daughter I never thought I could have.  Thank you

That was amazing.  And he has no idea how much that meant to hear.

I need to learn more…

As a parent, what additional tools can your kids ministry leaders put in your hands?

As a ministry leader, what tools do you offer your parents?

The winner of a signed copy of Reggie Joiner’s latest book, Think Orange is…

**cue drumroll**

Sarah Thompson

Sarah is the Children’s Pastor of  SouthLife Church in Dunedin, New Zealand.  You can check out her blog here. She’s got some great questions and I love the perspective she brings to the Kids Ministry conversation.  I’ve become a big fan of collaboration and the pursuit of working with churches in our communities to make a bigger impact on families.  Sarah is hard at work doing just that.  She shares a little about that here.  Check out her blog and leave some comment love.  Working alongside Sarah, we can help teach kids in New Zealand how to follow Jesus with all their heart, mind and strength.

How Cool Is That!?!

Sarah, thanks for all you do… seen and unseen… to serve this generation.  Keep rockin’ it out!

Reggie Joiner has a new book called…

Think Orange

Reggie’s book has been a long time coming.  If you’ve seen his dvd, Essence of Orange, you’ll want to read this. 

Reggie’s book won’t officially release to the public until June but will be available for purchase at the Orange Conference next week!

I have the privilege of giving away a free, signed copy of the book this week!  (signed by Reggie, not me)

So, here’s what I’m thinking…

I plan to squeeze every ounce out of the Orange Conference 2009.  So, if you’re in ministry and unable to attend OR you’re a parent in LifeKIDS.tv, what can I bring back to you?

Leave your responses below.  Winner will be announced Friday 12pm!

I can’t wait. 

How do we teach kids to truly worship God?

“Perhaps we haven’t tapped into what is possible for children when it comes to worship.  It is easy for children to worship things that fascinate and interest them.”  Kathleen Chapman  Teaching Kids Authentic Worship

 

What do you think?

One of the biggest challenges in kids ministry is communication to parents.

Most parents want to be informed. Most kids ministries wish to inform. But there is a disconnect I’ve not comprehensively bridged yet. I’m hoping you can help me out.

• How often to you expect communication from your kids pastor?
• What form? Email, Snail Mail, Website, etc?
• Do you like it in frequent tidbits? Or less frequent chunks?
• What is your expectation?
  • Is it… Information about the content of your child’s service? (i.e. ‘Here is what we learned today…’)
  • Or… Big picture tools and/or activities to implement at home? (i.e. ‘We’re focused on the miracles of Jesus this month. Here are some great resources to use with your child at home’.)
• How often do you seek out tools to use in your child’s spiritual development? (i.e. books, devotionals, games, etc)
• What question would you add to this list?

Please let me know your thoughts. Your feedback will help me significantly improve the partnership between kids ministry and parents.