It Really is All About God

This morning I am still sitting in awe of what God has done at our church.  A year ago when I joined the staff of Lakeview I had no idea how many wonderful lessons God would teach me through this medium-size, multi-site, multi-ethnic church.  I come from a mega-church background, a church that has been in a long season of transition, so in the process have watched some pretty painful moments.  As well as I work with churches who are in tough seasons. It is not often that I get a front-row seat to watch a church get-it-right in their process.  But the last six months it has been my privilege to get a whole new view.

Some quick history.  I live in the ethnically diverse land called Chicago.  In the Chicago area there are about 150,000 Korean speaking immigrants.  Over the last several years the four largest Korean speaking churches have each had at least one split.  It is a broken community.   My church, Lakeview, has many second and third generation Koreans, including our senior pastor.  Over the summer our senior pastor shared with the elders, staff and church that he felt God asking Lakeview to be a part of the healing process for this community. 

Sounds nice, but in practicality this vision included adopting a Korean-speaking campus, a multi-million dollar building, and raising $500,000 in a month.  Almost everyones first response was "no", and had huge reservations about taking on the financial challenge of a third campus, the cultural challenges, and relationship challenges.  Here is where the big lessons came in. I watched a church full of individuals who stopped themselves from quickly saying "no" but seeking God.  I watched an entire church voice their concerns honestly and authentically through town hall meetings.  I watched person after person process the question, "What is God saying to me?"  Then I watched and entire church fast and pray for 21 days to discern God's will. I watched them pray that whatever the outcome of the vote that God would protect the church from division.

Two days ago the members voted and overwhelmingly voted for Lakeview to adopt it's third campus.  An entire church of changed hearts, seeking God's plan for them.  Oh, and the half a million dollars, God touched the hearts of several before the vote even took place and over a quarter of a million has already been raised.  Will the next year be filled with relationship challenges, cultural challenges.  Yep, I am sure it will be.  But looking forward to being a part of a praying church and praying our way through.

What's in the Bible? GIVEWAY

What's in the Bible DVD 3 Wanderin in the Desert is here!! you’ll have the time of your life as you watch buck denver and friends journey through leviticus, numbers and deuteronomy to finish out the pentateuch!

part 1: don’t lie, don’t cheat … don’t trim your beard? the old testament is full of rules, and some of them are kind of, well, weird. learn why god gave all these rules to israel and which ones still apply to us today!

part 2: what is a pentateuch? learn about israel’s 40-year “time-out” as we finish the first five books of the bible! plus, discover why we can believe what the bible says – even though we weren’t there to see it happen!

i’m giving away 3 copies to 3 winners of dvd 3 and 1 Buck’s Bundle GRAND PRIZE

here’s how you can enter to win:

1. tweet: I entered to win DVD 3 from @whatsinthebible! #kidmin

2. leave a comment on the blog expressing your excitement for DVD 3!

every time you tweet or comment, you will be entered again to win! 3 winners of DVD 3, and 1 Buck’s Bundle Grand Prize Winner will be chosen at random at the end of the day Wednesday, 5/12.

good luck!

An Audience of One

It used to be the only time I was able to connect with other children's leaders was through the handful of those I met at a conference. Over the last few years the blessing of being able to follow the blogs, tweets, and social networks of some amazing children's leaders and organizations has increased my knowledge and equipped me as a children's pastor.

The longer I am in children's ministry the more I value these relationships. So I guess that is why my heart has been a little sad the last few weeks as I watched some groups/organizations and even a few children's pastors bring in the "ugly" side of business into ministry. The Kingdom is a very big place and there are SO many families and kids to serve. It is a dangerous place when we take our eyes off God.

The truth is, each of us serve an audience of One. And what a blessing it can be to God and those of us we connect with, when we reach out to connect someone with a ministry challenge to the person or organization with the solution.

Formational Children's Ministry - A Book Review

I met Ivy three years ago at a gathering of children ministry leaders with very different views. Prior to that meeting my perception was that both Ivy and I have different views of children's ministry in the local church. During that meeting I discovered we had much more common ground than first perceived. Since that time I have sought out her wisdom more than once of how a child is spiritually formed. Ivy's is a voice of great value when you take seriously spiritually forming the children in your ministries.

Ivy's new book Formational Children's Ministry: The Search for the New Model is insightful and thought provoking. In this book Ivy expresses some frustration with the common model in children's ministry of "teaching" children and successfully argues that children's ministries should be a place where we help children with their relationship with God by leading them into the powerful stories of God. The book explains the importance of the "story", the use of "ritual and being in "relationship."

One thing I like about Ivy is her ability to balance her thought with opposing views in children's ministry. Throughout the book as Ivy introduces new concepts she consistently balances that with common practices, and the pros and cons of utilizing a new model.

I highly recommend Ivy's new book. While I will not utilize all the ideas in my church as they would not align with our culture, and some I did not agree with. I did find Ivy's book very helpful in expanding the lens that I look through when creating a strong, spiritually forming, Sunday morning experience.

Legal Disclosure: Baker Books provided me with a free copy of Formational Children's Ministry for the purpose of reviewing. The opinions expressed are solely mine"

Changing a Tradition

I love traditions. Since, I am a learner and also love the beauty of an experience, when my boys were very young I wanted to make sure that we had the best Christmas traditions. The year the boys were 3, 2 and an infant, I spent that fall asking my friends, acquaintances, and even complete strangers how they celebrated Christmas. Many of our family Christmas traditions are a result of those conversations. There are many, but things like making sure the “cool” gifts come from the parents and the boring gifts like underwear come from Santa. That way the “cool” parents get the credit (love this one.) Choosing a picture book for each child that reminds us of their year, writing in it what we saw in them, and reading it to them first thing on Christmas.

This Fall I sat down and had conversations with some volunteers and families. One of the questions was, “Is there anything you would like to see changed?” Over and over, one of their replies was to change something that was actually a tradition in the church. During the Christmas Eve main service the children would perform. Volunteers and families found this very stressful on an already full day. They very much wanted the kids to have the chance to sing for the congregation, but not on Christmas Eve. One lesson I learned long ago is to listen well to volunteers and families. The call for a change in tradition I heard loud and clear, but I was not as confident how my Senior Pastor and programming team would like to hear about the change in tradition.

Traditions should enhance our experiences. Are there traditions that you have in your ministry that need to be evaluated and asked, “Why do we do it that way?” “Is this the best thing for our kids, families & ministry?” I encourage you to ask the hard questions, evaluate and make the changes if necessary.

As for our Senior Pastor, his heart is to serve, shepherd, and teach our congregation. When he heard the thoughts of the volunteers and families he was quick to create a new tradition. This year the kids are singing the Sunday before Christmas and EVERYONE is thrilled and looking forward to the experience.