A Christmas That Isn't Magical?

Last week we celebrated our son's 4th birthday at a local inflatable play land. One inflatable maze was particularly distressing to my little Luke because at the second section it had a "squeeze" tube where the child would squeeze through the inflated nylon fabric. This moment of "gentle" pressure passing through the squeeze was terrifying to Luke.  He went into an almost fit of panic at the thought of pushing through it.  I think that's how a lot of us feel today, "squeezed" by so many things in life, pressed to the point of panic. For some it's the feeling of loss at this holiday season, it's the stress of fighting crowds and materialism at the mall, it's the weight of responsibilities that seem too great, it's the list that is a mile long that you can't seem to accomplish, it's the feeling of inadequacy, or it's the grieving and pain of the terrible loss of children. 

I've heard so many say that these pressures of life have robbed them of the magic of Christmas. It is that particular phrase, "the magic of Christmas", that keeps ringing in my head. It was that particular phrase that drove me to Luke chapter two.  This passage tells of a night when a young, unwed girl gave birth in a barn. Was her Christmas magical? I would say no. I would guess, having given birth twice and in a hospital, that Mary and Joseph's Christmas was filled with fear, pain and panic. It was not magical, BUT it was a miracle.

This account in Luke goes on to tell of a group of shepherds that were "terrified" at what they saw in the sky.  This word "terrified" can also be used as "panic". Would you call a group of men being panicked magical? The shepherds' Christmas wasn't magical, BUT it was a miracle.

What was the message of this MIRACLE Christmas? "Do not be afraid, I bring you good news of great joy". The magic of Christmas is irrelevant and unnecessary. The miracle of Christmas, however, is important. It is a gift of peace, good news and JOY!  The miracle of Christmas is Jesus.  Just saying His name a lone brings a refreshment to the soul. My 4 year old son finally made it through the "squeeze" and on the other side he had such fun.  I don't know what your particular "squeeze" is this holiday season. I don't know what has stolen the magic out of your Christmas.  But I do know that you don't need magic when you have a MIRACLE.  And you can find JOY in Jesus regardless of the "squeeze"!

Faithfulness 101: The Real Truth

I don't like it when spiritual truths are vague and mystical.  I think too many times we who have grown up in Christian homes and have sat in 5, 982 Sunday School lessons ASSUME that everyone understands what we mean when we use big spiritual words.  I've had some good friends who have helped me understand that sometimes it's important to stop and clearly explain what exactly we mean when we spatter off this Christian jargon. We also make the mistake of expecting other Christians to understand what we mean when we discuss these familiar terms.  Today I was led back to one of my favorite Bible Characters (Samuel) and it was like this profound and clear explanation of FAITHFULNESS jumped right off my Bible page at me.  So, maybe you've heard people like me or other Christians pleading with you to be Faithful. Maybe you did understand what it meant, but just in case you  didn't, here is Faithfulness 101 from the life of Samuel.

1.  Faithfulness is not a choice.  I Sam. 1:11, 24-28
From even before Samuel's conception he was dedicated to the Lord.  He did not have nor was given the choice of the service of his life.  Even as a child of 3 he was taught by his mother the purpose of his life.  Why do we as Christians make faithfulness to Bible reading, prayer, Church, Service a choice? We often act as if we have the right to make that decision with our lives.  God has called all of us to be faithful whether we want to or not. 

2. Faithfulness takes sacrifice.  I Sam. 1:26-28
Can you imagine how hard it was for Hannah to leave her precious preschooler in the temple, only to see him again 1 time each year?  It will take sacrifice to faithfully read your Bible, to faithfully attend church, to faithfully serve the Lord.  There may be many times you'd rather rather be watching that move than reading your Bible.  I garauntee there will be times when you have to give up something you'd rather do than serve.  How can we not be faithful after Christ sacrificed so much for us?

3.  Faithfulness means separation.  I Sam. 2:17-18
The 2 sons of Eli the priest (Hophni and Phineas) were living in open and defiant sin to God.  These few chapters are interesting as they show the contrast between Hophni and Phineas and Samuel.  Samuel could have "gone with the crowd" and done exactly what these two older (maybe cooler) boys were doing but instead he remained "faithful" to God's service and God's Words.  Sometimes to be faithful it means we have to say "no, I won't do that" or "no, I won't go there".  It's not always the popular thing to separate from a crowd that is headed to sin, but to be faithful we might need to separate.

4.  Faithfulness means doing what it takes.  I Sam. 3:1
I can only assume that it wasn't the most glamorous job to serve Eli in the temple.  I imagine he had cleaning chores and other manual tasks.  There's usually not a long list of volunteers for jobs of this nature within a ministry, but I don't ever see Samuel complaining about his daily tasks. He did anything and everything he was asked to do.  He did whatever it took to serve his Lord.

5.  Faithfulness means being rewarded.  I Sam. 2:1, 20, 26, 35
God always rewards faithfulness.  This is the primary reason faithful people stay faithful.  They have stayed the course long enough to see the blessings God gives.  Faithful people go to depths of intimacy with the Lord that keep them seeking to be faithful. 

So the next time you hear someone taking about being a "Faithful Christian" you will better understand what exactly that means.  All from the life of a little boy named Samuel. 

Just Sayin'

I made 2 loaves of homemade bread yesterday.  This was my first successful accomplishment of bread making after several failed attempts over the years.  This bread turned out soooooo delicious and my family has really enjoyed it.  I know they want me to keep making it, but it is exhausting! It's complicated!  There is so much work and preparation! You have to mix the yeast and let it sit, add ingredients and let it sit, add more and let it sit, punch down the dough and let it sit, and on and on.  After several hours you FINALLY get to bake it and out comes an amazing, golden brown, delicious warm loaf of bread. 

All I could think about with this experience is how much this symbolizes ministry.  So many Christians want a slice of the bread, but they don't want to do the work to make it! The list is long for people to sign up to join a small group, to be mentored by a small group leader, or to do anything that benefits THEM! Everyone wants to run to the table to enjoy a piece of this amazing bread, but very few are signing up to do the work it takes to get there.  Ministry takes work and there are the same few servants who faithfully show up every week to work, "to make the bread", so that the majority can enjoy.  Maybe it's time for Christians to start carrying their weight. To stop enjoying the bread and start helping to make it.  Maybe it's time to slip out of your small group for a semester and work the nursery.  Think of the impact you could make on that lost and hurting mother by keeping her child in the nursery and letting her feel the love of a Christian family that could change her life.  Christians are always so busy gobbling up the bread that they leave nothing for those who are truly hungry.

Doesn't this remind you of the children's story of the little hen who needed help harvesting the wheat, threshing the wheat and baking the bread? All of her friends were too tired or hot to help.  At the end when the bread was done they conveniently were there to eat the bread.  Of course we know that the hen did not let them eat it because they had not worked for it.  Wow, can you imagine if we didn't allow people to "enjoy" the benefits of ministry until they had served somewhere? We might accuse a church that did that as being harsh.       

"He said to his disciples, “The harvest is great, but the workers are few.   So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.”
Mt 9:37–38

How can you work in the house of the Lord? Is it time for you to take your turn "making the bread" so others can enjoy and be fed?

Has Children's Ministry Really Changed?

Has children's ministry really changed? Is it really different from the generation before us? I ask this because as a children's ministry leader, I hear the same things over and over: "Back in my day, we didn't have to have so many workers, why do you all need so many now?", "I used to have a class of 50 kids all by myself and they were just fine", "Why does the children's ministry need so much money now, we used to run that program on a shoe string", "I never had trouble getting kids to behave in class", "Why do we need audio visual equipment in EVERY children's classroom?", or "Those kids are so loud, when I worked with children they were always much more quiet."
  
First of all many of these comments are made by wonderful people but they have been out of children's ministry for long enough to get that "glossy" view of what it was like.  This is similar to what happens to women in childbirth.  A few days or even weeks after delivery they say there is NO way they are doing that again but as time passes those memories of pain get glossed over and a few years go by and they find themselves expecting another baby.  I'll be honest, children's ministry is tough.  Many times you are in very real battle over the souls and lives of those children.  If Satan can derail a life in the early years then he has a much better chance of ruining their effectiveness for Christ in the future.  Those who work in any shape or form with children stay on the front lines of spiritual warfare, yet they are investing their lives in one of the most fertile and rewarding ministries. Have you ever considered how many of the great leaders of Scripture were first talked about or shown when they were children?  Working with children puts your hands directly into eternity.  So has it changed?

Yes, children's ministry has changed.  Can't this be said of almost every ministry? And why is change viewed as negative? Children's ministry has changed for several reasons:

1.  Society has changed.  The emphasis today is placed on oneself.  Even if we try to resist it, we live in an extremely narcissistic culture.  We are encouraged everywhere to talk, find ourselves, to love ourselves more.  The focus has turned inward instead of upward towards Christ.  James 1:19 clearly shows us how we should stop talking and start listening.  I think this has affected all of us.  If society as a whole become self-centered then that seeps into our churches and into our children's ministry where children are encouraged by everyone and everything else to put themselves first.  Then we get them for 1 or 2 hours a week to teach them James 2:8.  We fight against society to give these children doses of truth.

2.  Parents have changed.  There isn't an easy way to put this, but many of the parents today practice "child worship".  No, they don't bow down to their children physically, but they center all of their lives and decisions around their children.  Many let their children even make their decisions.  In years past, families centered their lives around the church and their service to the Lord and today their lives are centered around their children and their children's many activities. 

3.  Media has changed.  One of the biggest reasons children's ministry has changed is because of the over stimulation of children through media.  Media in and of itself is not bad, in fact it is a tool that we use for the Lord in our ministry, but children are bombarded with it on all sides.  When they arrive at church they are electrified from all the hours that they are influenced by media.  Then we come along and unwillingly compete with the latest graphics and story lines that they are used to outside of the church.  Sometimes they are so overstimulated that they struggle to sit still or to even listen to the narratives from Scripture. 

What do we do about all this? We have identified 3 main changes that have occurred and so we must now change the course of ministry to reach today's children.  We evaluate past methods, keeping those that are effective, yet we never change our message.

So, No children's ministry has not changed.  Children are still born with a sin nature and need the free gift of salvation.  Children are still precious to God and are still our most valuable treasures.  Children still have a desire for the Lord that needs to be awakened in them.

How is our ministry moving forward down this path?


1. It is important to teach children the whole council of God, to teach children not only the narratives of Scripture but to also teach the parts that are often left out. We are currently teaching the kid's Wednesday night summer program through the book of James, teaching them the practical applications of the Christian life.  In teaching expositoraly through Scriptures, the children see the truth about themselves and the truth about their focus. 


2.  We must also view our children's ministry as a family ministry.  Including parents in the spiritual lives of their children.  When a children's ministry is running well then parents feel comfortable leaving their children in our care and attending a worship service upstairs and plugging into a small group during the week.  This is where their lives are changed and once again the focus of the family turns back to Christ.  Then families come together to worship, to learn, to serve, and to play.  One of the greatest things for a family to do is to serve together!

3.  We must NOT try to compete with "Hollywood", or current media.  The Truth of God's Word stand alone! While we must make our lessons fun and interesting for children, God's Word is living and does not return void.  Sometimes the calmness of a narrative taught with flashcards are a nice break from the over the top media that the children are used to.  While we use methods to make the lessons appealing and understandable, we let God's Word stand and the Holy Spirit Work. 

Our ministry has a 3 fold goal: To lead children to the Savior, to equip them for ministry, and to be a light to our community and other churches. 

My Dad, My Pastor

 There are 2 things that really stand out to me about my Dad. First, I always knew that he loved me no matter what and that there was nothing I could do to change that, and second, he was genuine.  I rested in knowing that even if the bottom fell out of my life, I could still come to him, much like the safety net on a trapeze circus act.  Those gymnasts twist, flip, fly, and even make mistakes, but they know if they slip, there is a net to catch them.  That's an amazing gift of security to give a child.

I also had the unique privilege of riding in the "back seat" of my parent's ministry.  I got to learn things just from watching them that seminaries and schools don't teach. What stuck in my mind as a child was that my dad was real with this Christianity stuff.  He gave his whole life for the service of our Savior.  He was more than flexible, he was fluid.  I watched him give and bend as he ministered to others and yet he always did it in love and never regretted a minute of it. There are many moments of a pastors life that people don't see, moments when they weep over a wayward or hurting member.  What I saw was a mom and dad who loved each member and attender of our church as though they were our blood relatives.  I truly believe that I am enjoying the blessings of my Dad's labor of love.  It is a wonderful thing to have a godly father and it is equally as wonderful to be married to a godly husband.  Happy Father's Day!

Happy Birthday Grace!

No one ever wants to wait for anything, especially a child that you desire to have so much.  I couldn’t understand why so much time passed without God fulfilling our desire for a child.  Didn’t God know that I had a timetable? Didn’t He know that I was going to teach my last year of school then have a baby in June, just in time for the summer? Nothing we planned was happening and each negative pregnancy test brought sorrow.  For 18 mo. I prayed for a sweet baby and finally decided to see a doctor.  The problem we ran into was the cost of testing and our lack of insurance at that time. Jeremy insisted that we leave it with the Lord and that we stop fretting and that we do not do any testing.  Wouldn’t you believe how God worked for us, because just a few weeks later, we found out we were expecting! Things were smooth until a routine screening showed the possibility for Down Syndrome which sent us to a specialist for specialized appointments and testing, all which came out negative.  So on this night 7 years ago, we went to the hospital because I was in labor and on June 9^th 2005, at 4:29pm our sweet little Grace came into this world.  She has been exactly what her name is to us, God’s grace given to us in the form of a sweet girl.  She is our deep thinker, our Bible scholar, our compassionate nurse, and our tender girl! I wouldn’t change a moment of our life with her! She brings such joy to our family!

Pearls of Blessing: Lessons from an ordinary task

As some of you may have caught on by now, I have picked up some cleaning responsibilities at church to help out.  Our facilities are quite large and it takes quite a crew to keep them in excellent condition.  I have learned more lessons in my few months of cleaning than any other time.  There is something cool about cleaning the house of God while talking with God as you clean. 

Today was particularly significant to me because I was cleaning up AFTER our Easter Sunday services. And you can imagine how the bathrooms would look after being used by almost 1,500 people in 3 services.   I was engrossed in my cleaning of the ladies bathroom, when I notice there seemed to be little (costume) pearls everywhere.  There were a few behind some of the toilets, some near the trashcan, some near the sink, and as I picked up pearls, I kept finding more.  I began walking back and forth to the trash getting rid of the handful I had and then returning to my cleaning only to find more hiding somewhere.  It started to become really funny, but I was alone so I just laughed to myself!

After a few minutes of this I gathered a few in my hand and then as if I heard Him, I felt God speaking to me.  Cleaning this bathroom was like one of the trials I have been in, it's unpleasant and difficult.  Those pearls were like God's rich blessing, they were scattered all throughout my trial and hidden in places I never thought of!  Sometimes God Gives us the gift of a trial and sometimes he leaves us in it.  Sometimes it feels like He has left us in it longer than we would like :) But in His trial He gives us His richest blessings, like little pearls of wisdom!  He blesses us in times and places that surprises us!

James 5:11 "We give great honor to those who endure under suffering. For instance, you know about Job, a man of great endurance. You can see how the Lord was kind to him at the end, for the Lord is full of tenderness and mercy. "  I could chose NOT to clean that bathroom, but then I would have missed the pearls.  We could chose NOT to trust God in our trial, but then we would miss His blessing!

Spring Cleaning

Lately I've been doing a lot of cleaning in a lot of places.  The one thing I especially notice when I clean at the church is that it's the fragrant "clean" smell that alerts people to what I've been doing.  The fresh smell of pine or citrus floats throughout the building and everyone that passes by says, "oh everything is so clean"!  In fact it's nearly impossible to clean without creating that wonderful fresh smell that comes from all the cleaning products I use. 

Today as I was cleaning and people kept noticing that wonderful smell, I couldn't help but think about Psalms 51:1-4.  David wrote this prayer shortly after his terrible sin with Bathsheba.  He was doing some "Spring cleaning" of his heart, and what I couldn't help but wonder is if other people noticed?!  If my life is "clean" before the Lord then I should be fragrant to Him and to others!  People should notice! I should be pleasing to His nostrils! The opposite would then also be true.  If I have sin in my life, then I would be a terrible stench to God and to others.  Just like a bag of trash that I found today that had been left in a closet containing a dirty diaper! That bag left a stench all throughout the room and almost made me have to leave it! I want to be fragrant to my Savior! I want to be fragrant to others!  What about you? Do you have the "scent of sin" that lingers every where you go? Or do you leave a sweet fresh smell in the nostrils of others?  Remember you can't by any brand of "Febreeze" that truly covers the stench of sin! Only confession before the Lord can truly make us clean!

The Danger of Our Words

The book of James is written to a group of Jewish Christians who were under great persecution.  They were going through many very difficult trials.  That is why in James 1, we are instructed how to respond to trials.  Building on that foundation, James 2 teaches how we are to see other people.  James drives home the importance of seeing people as God sees them, worth dying for.  The key phrase in this chapter is found in James 2:8, "Love your neighbor as yourself".  It is very interesting to stop here and consider that James is instructing a group of hurting, suffering Christians to love and serve others! This is so counter culture to what we see today! Today we are told that if you are suffering, then you need to take some time and focus on "me".  God has a very different plan for Christians.  Though we are pressed from all sides, we have no excuse to stop loving others.  The greatest blessing comes from living our faith in spite of our pain.

James 3 almost seems like it's out of place.  Why would he teach on the "tongue" to a group of persecuted Christians?  The answer is clear and can be seen in our own lives.  When we face struggles and trials we are pressed, just as if you pressed on a grape, and what comes out reveals the truth about what is inside.  No doubt as these Christians were "pressed", what they said with their tongues was not pleasing to God.  You see many of us when going through a difficult situation, begin to lose control of our tongues.  We say things we shouldn't and we cause more damage then we realize.  James 3:6 compares the tongue to a flame that sets a whole forest on fire, it defiles the whole body, and its words are from Hell itself.  We would never ever go set fire to a neighbor's house, yet we set fire spiritually to others with what we say about them.  And often we think the damage is contained in one small place, but what we do not realize is the damage the "smoke" does.  Often people have small house fires where the fire only damages a small amount and yet the smoke infiltrates and ruins the rest of the house.  We need to be very careful of what we say and how we say it.

There is truly death and life in our tongue.  And all of this goes right back to James 2.  If we truly love our neighbor as ourselves then we will not destroy them with our words.  Ask yourself these questions: How many people have gone to Hell because of my tongue? How many people have been kept out of Hell because of my tongue?  And if I truly see people as God sees them, then how should my words reflect that?    

90 min. a Day Prayer Challenge and the Lessons Learned

If you had asked me to rate my prayer life 6 months or even a year ago, I would have told you that on a scale of 1 to 10, I was about a 6.  Not too shabby, but still could use some improvement.  This passed weekend I attended a conference and heard a message that was about many things, but touched on the topic of prayer.  (I had recently started a prayer schedule/notebook as seen in my previous blog) I picked up the speaker's book and began to read it that very day.  Guess what the first chapter was about?! If you guessed prayer then you were right.  One of the statements in his book touched me very deeply.  He said that of all those he had seen who serve in ministry and had spent at least 90 min. a day in prayer, everyone of them saw growth in their spiritual life as well as in their ministry.  That hit me between the eyes because I want nothing more than to see the Children's Ministry where I serve to be blessed by God and to reach children.  So I made a challenge to myself and my ministry partners: For three days, we will pray for 90 minutes a day.  To help with all of the distractions we decided to eliminate social media for those 3 days. 

So what happened in those 3 days?  Well, to be honest it was hard.  That's right, you just heard a woman who is a Preacher's daughter and Preacher's wife say that 90 min. a day of prayer was hard.  To be still and quiet three times a day for 30 minutes was difficult for a driven, busy mom.  Once I set the stopwatch on my phone and couldn't believe it when I was done praying and yet clock only read 21 minutes. ;)   I stopped several times to take my 3 year old to the potty or to break up an argument between my 2 kids.  One day my phone even rang off the hook! lol  Satan did all he could to put road blocks between my fellowship with God.  Despite all the normal daily distractions, I kept on.  I kept hearing things ring in my heart.  "If I can spend 90 minutes on FB then why can't I spend 90 minutes with my Savior?" "Why do I strive so hard exhausting myself when if I would only pray about it, God would do the work?" "Why am I leaving my children to chance instead of covering their lives with prayer?"  All of these convicting thoughts wouldn't let me quit. 

I will tell you that I feel like I touched God in a new way and I believe it was really only the tip of the ice burg.  I saw God move in my life and in the lives of others like never before.  It almost took me by surprise when He revealed Himself through this.  One afternoon I was beginning my prayer time and Grace was home and playing and the thought struck me that I should invite her to join me.  Many times we as adults pray in the early morning and late at night and our children NEVER see us pray.  In fact, when I showed her my prayer notebook, she said she had no idea that was what that was.  I prayed as she listened.  Later that night she told Jeremy that she teared up hearing me pray because she knew I really loved her! Wow! That made me think, if we as parents are to be spiritual leaders in our home then we need to model the Christian life for them in a VERY practical way!  We are always told that if we want our children to have a love of reading that we should read to them every day.  In that same thought, if we want our children to love prayer then we need to let them hear us pray. 

I'm sorry this blog tonight has no Scripture attached (although there are many to choose from), but I just wanted to encourage you to PRAY PRAY PRAY! I will not promise you it is easy, I will not promise you that Satan will not try to distract you, but we must spend time with the One who died so we could live!  Every moment you spend in prayer is better than a moment NOT spent in prayer.  My 3 days is up, but I plan to continue, will you join me? 

Prayer Notebook

We all know in our head the value of prayer, but we don't often allow that to reach our heart! In this I truly struggle.  It's hard when you barely get a minute alone to find time to spend in prayer.  It's also hard when you stay connected to so many people on Facebook who constantly need prayer, to keep up with all the prayer needs.  I find myself praying for things that come to my mind but somehow forgetting the needs that are most important!  Recently a lady that I respect very much shared with me her prayer schedule and prayer book.  It is so simple that I feel silly to have not implemented it before now.  Several of you have asked me to share it and I thought this would be the best way to get it to everyone. 

Simply purchase a small 3 ring note book, 2 packages of tabbed pages (10 tabs total), and a pack of paper to put in it.  Now choose your 10 categories.  Designate each section for one category you want to pray for.  Put paper into each section. 7 of the 10 categories will get divided over the 7 days of the week.  The other 3 will be things that you pray for every single day.  Make this schedule out and put it in your notebook.  Now write requests for each category.  Each day you will pray for your 3 daily requests plus 1 from your weekly requests.  As you grow, you can add more categories and you may even have 2 daily categories that you pray for. 

Now, ideally it would be wonderful to pray for 1 hour each day.  That is what we should strive for, but for me it is difficult so I am challenging myself to 30 minutes a day.  And because I don't have 30 min. of quiet a day, I am going to do 10 minute segments 3 times a day and then increase as I go. 

Having the extra paper in the notebook allows me to write down details of the request or even journal.  When I am asked on FB for a request I usually pray write at that moment, and now if it is a long term request I can add it to my notebook.  Also, keep in mind that Satan will do everything he can in this prayer time to distract you with other thoughts.  To avoid this, keep a piece of paper and pen handy so that if you find your mind wandering during prayer of thinking on other things, simply jot them down so that you don't have to worry about it till later.  If you don't write it down, you will continue to fret over it the whole prayer time.

I think of prayer as like a covering over our lives and the lives of those we know and love.  Just like our earth is covered with a protective ozone layer.  When we are not praying as we should, that covering gets "holes" in it!  Prayer really does change things! I'm sorry if I bored you with this simplicity, but it has helped me to be organized!