What About Children's Ministry?

Every pastor has found the occasion to use the famous quote by Jesus, where He said, “Let the little children come to me and forbid them not; for of such is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 19:14) Certainly, Jesus was being very directive to those of us who would lead His church today.

One of the tragedies of the church today is that children’s ministry across the church is so easily neglected. When budgets are cut, we cut out of the children’s ministry. When we are looking for staff, we staff first, the choir, then finance office, then the youth director, then a personal secretary for the pastor and maybe, sometimes later we hire one of the parents to do a little part-time work for the children’s programs.

It is so easy to neglect the children. We would not call it neglect, because we know there are parents who will take care of the needs or there will be some kindly grandmother who will teach the third grade Sunday school class. Maybe we can find someone who will do the children’s sermon. With a lot of persuasion and arm-twisting we recruit the workers for Vacation Bible-School and the Children’s Christmas Program. It seems that in the work we do in the church, it is so easy to put children’s ministry near the bottom of our priority list. This is ironic because most pastors have spent a good part of their lives trying their best to be good parents to their own children and to see that they had a good Christian education.

Most pastors realize that to have young families as a part of your church, you must have an effective children’s program. Yet, we as pastors, along with the partnership of older lay leaders of the local church, often put children’s ministry as our last priority.

I believe that Jesus’ advice about children is to the church today. It’s time for us to change our priorities and make children’s ministry at the top of the list!

*Note* Leadership Nexus Foundation will be presenting “Leadership Conference 2012” at First UMC of Colorado Springs, Colorado, July 30 – August 2, 2012. This is going to be a powerful training event for clergy and lay leaders. The event features topics, such as “Leadership in Children’s Ministry”; “Youth Ministry”; “Social Media and Worship” and more! Speakers for this event are experts in these areas and include:  Author and Professor, Dr. Lovett Weems; Director of New Church Starts and Author, Bob Crossman; Rev. Dr. Leanne Ciampa Hadley; Associate Pastor and Author; Speaker, Professor and Award-Winning Writer, Bob Whitesel; Craig Miller; Director of Evangelism, NCD, UMC GBOD and Author; plus many more.... For more information please email us or visit our event page.

Single Again Workshop

Single Again Workshop
http://www.singleagainworkshop.com/

Weekend workshop for people who have experienced divorce will be held at Oklahoma Wesleyan University, Tulsa Campus on March 30^th – April 1^st, 2012. The seminar will provide opportunities for persons to work through some of the major issues faced in dealing with divorce. The conference is being led by Dr. Robert Pierson, former senior pastor of Christ United Church in Tulsa and is a part of the OWU program of service to the Tulsa community. Subjects to be dealt with as a part of the conference will be: anger, disappointment, grief, self-esteem, finances and re-planning life. We will also discuss single-parent issues, financial issues, and understanding singleness today. All of this will be dealt with in the context of the Christian faith, prayer and understanding of God’s support and help. The opening session begins at 6:30pm and concludes at 9:30pm, on Friday evening, March 30^th. The second session is Saturday, beginning at 8:30am, continuing until 5:30pm. The final session is on Sunday afternoon, from 1:30pm until 9:00pm.

People who have experienced this workshop have said, “This seminar truly saved my life!” and “It gave me the tools I needed for rebuilding.” One attendee commented that this event “Provided me with a new direction and confidence about the future.” Most have described this conference as a place where participants sense God’s direction through a troubled time.

The cost is $30 per person. Childcare will be provided for single parents. Seating is limited. Scholarships are available on request. To reserve your seat today click here or for more information, contact Dr. Bob Pierson at 918-809-7489 or email. Visit us on Facebook Events and invite your friends.

We hope you will join us for this encouraging and life-changing experience!

Hospitality for this event is provided by the Tulsa Christyle Community, a fellowship of Christians committed to vigorously placing Christ first in their lives. For more information about the Christyle Community, please visit our facebook page.

Effectiveness

We just finished holding a Creativity Conference in Orlando; it’s the sixth time we’ve done this conference. We do it in partnership with a group of very committed Christian Disney employees, creative pastors, and church leaders. It is a very helpful event. You can visit our our website to read some of the conference evaluations.

I studied the Disney Company extensively over the years and certainly all of us are impressed with the creativity of Disney World and the Disney movies. So much of our culture has been influenced by the excellent entertainment, experiences and stories. Disney has influenced the world’s culture in some very positive ways. In the midst of all the excitement of Disney productions, movies, and stories it’s easy to miss one of the most significant contributions of this organization in our society.

That is - simple effectiveness. The church needs to realize that our purpose is to be effective.

• We need to lead worship that is effective in leading people to the presence of God.
• We need to provide education that really works in teaching children values to live by.
• We need to provide an understanding of prayer in a way that can be effectively used in people’s daily lives.
• We need to be an effective church, an excellent church.

In studying Disney I’ve realized that Disney is effective because of their clear goals, high standards, rules, and disciplines. For instance, if you work at the Disney theme park as an employee (a.k.a.“cast member”), whether you’re in a good mood or a bad mood you’re required by Disney to perform at your best and to present a mood that serves your customers and accomplishes the goal.

As a pastor, many times I would excuse a poor job in preaching, neglected pastoral care responsibility, or a failed church program on the lack of dedication of my church members, the bad mood I was in, or the family issue with which I was dealing. Disney expects their employee to put those things aside and do their best to accomplish the goal. Working for Jesus ought to be as important as working for Disney. It should demand our complete loyalty, our willingness to put aside our own cares and problems with the determination to do the best we can for His church.

Effectiveness has to do with discipline, loyalty, clear goals, and the desire to do things right. After being around Disney employees, I am impressed with their loyalty and determination to be effective. Sometimes I am ashamed that I have not been as loyal and determined in working with Jesus as they seem to be working for Disney. Effectiveness is our goal.

The Great Commission

We’re not doing what He told us to do. The mainline Protestant church is declining and has been for years. Jesus in Matthew 28 told us clearly to reach more people. We’re not doing what Jesus told us to do. It’s as simple as that. It’s the great commission, not the great excuse. It’s what Jesus told us we must do.

Any study of statistics of the mainline Protestant church today will make it clear that in the next 30 years we will not exist because the majority of our members will have died. This is scary and ridiculous that we cannot do the mobilization to reach new people that the leaders of our various denominations have done in starting the denominations. It is ridiculous that we have put other things as priorities and not followed Christ’s clear direction to make disciples. It’s time for us to mobilize our efforts to do what Jesus said.

Go to our website to find more information about what you can do. I’ve published two books on how to reach new people for Christ: Needs-Based Evangelism (The Good Samaritan Church) and TELL: How to Share Your Faith. I’m going to be doing training all over the country. I’d love to come to your area. Go to our Facebook  page and join in sharing comments about our lack of evangelistic effectiveness today and what we can do about it.

89 Days With Jesus

Recently, I sat in a denominational meeting. The discussion was about a particular program, organizational structure, and the implementation. In the middle of the heated discussion, the argument was interrupted by my friend, Vance, who said, “What we have here is a Jesus problem.” Then he proceeded to deal with what I believe is the basic problem that the Church must face: How do we place Jesus Christ at the center of all that we’re doing and trying to do in the Church today? There are strategic plans, goals, programs, staff; there is complaining about someone’s leadership or another group’s theological position; the laity complain about needing a better pastor, and the pastors complain about needing a better congregation. 

Vance is right – what we have is a Jesus problem. Somehow, in the midst of all of our highly developed and sophisticated solutions, we need to get back to following Jesus Christ. That’s not a simplistic, evangelical criticism of the Church; it’s just the point that we must let the main thing be the main thing. If what we do is not based upon a clear commitment to Christ, an understanding of His teachings, and willingness to follow Him, we become hypocritical, confused, and ineffective.

Certainly, though it may be hard to say, it’s not always easy to ascertain the Christ-centered approach, but that’s our job. As I wrestled with how to get this clear for us as the Church, it seems that the simple answer is to begin by reading, studying, discussing the four Gospels. There are other things we can do to get on track – prayer, retreats, change of priorities, clearer responsibilities, better loving relationships. It seems to me, however, if we don’t remember clearly what Jesus Christ taught and who He is, we can continue to emphasize the wrong things.

There are 89 chapters in the four Gospels. Why not spend the next 89 days with Jesus? Join me, the Christyle Community, and Christians all across the nation in reading through those chapters as a start to getting our priorities in personal life, church life, business life, and the life of our country back on track. Follow along with our Facebook event (you will need a Facebook account to access the information).

I also have developed some free materials to help guide the study. Email me if you are interested!

Accountability

One of the hardest things in life is to deal with the issue of accountability. Certainly, God has promised us His forgiveness and love. God has placed in our world so many blessings and so many things to enjoy. Part of that is to enjoy God’s loving forgiveness. At the same time, the Bible is clear about accountability. In Galatians 6, Paul writes in vv. 7-9,

Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

This interesting statement about reaping what we sow makes it clear that there is accountability. So much is said in our society today about our culture being a kind of “entitlement culture”; that is, we feel entitled to get so many benefits without ever doing the work or putting forth the effort for them. Matthew 25 is very clear in three stories that Jesus told that there is an accountability for what we do. It seems to me that this simple idea of reaping what we sow is not a harsh thing but a healthy thing for all of us to understand. We teach our children to study their lessons for school so that they learn. Yet, we, as adults, often skip responsibilities, don’t follow the teachings of Jesus, and expect there to be no accountability or consequences.

In Matthew 25, Jesus says that there is a judgment day. We will be separated: sheep from goats. In the same chapter, He tells us that we will be judged on what we do with what we have been given, that we will be allowed into the feast only if we are prepared. I know this sounds like your mother telling you to pick up your clothes, your teacher telling you to do your studies, or the highway patrolman telling you to slow down.

I pray that we remember that accountability is a good thing for governments, church leaders, and average, ordinary people like me and you!

Final Instructions

Our culture in the United States has shifted significantly in the last 15 years. There was a time when we truly were a nation that celebrated being “under God.” Today, while we may historically be a nation under God, our culture is much more non-Christian, agnostic, or atheistic. We claim to practice freedom of religion, but there are a lot of negative comments toward the Christian in our culture today. Therefore, it becomes difficult for the average Christian to share the faith. Yet, when you read Matthew 28:18-20, there is no question about it. Jesus’ final instructions were to go make disciples. It wasn’t a choice; it was a commandment. Since that time, theologians have called it the Great Commission. Whatever we call it, these were His final instructions.

I have struggled greatly with this understanding throughout my entire ministry. Making disciples is so important. Yet, as our culture has changed in the last 15 years, I have come to realize that sometimes it is very difficult for a Christian to share his faith. The criticisms are great; the lack of concern is significant. Still, we are called to make disciples.

It is out of this concern that I have written a book called TELL. It is about how to share your faith in a very secular time – how to tell the story of Jesus Christ in a sometimes agnostic world – how to share the faith with your skeptical nephew who hasn’t been to church since he was three; how to explain your beliefs without getting into arguments or creating confusion about the differences of denominations and the points of view of individual Christians.

The fact that the culture has changed and it’s difficult to share is not a valid excuse for not sharing our faith. It is simply a description of where we are called to share and work. The book TELL deals clearly with four ideas that are absolutely necessary for us to be effective in telling others about Jesus Christ. The the publisher finished the book last week; it is available through our website or by emailing us here. See our website for more details about the book and read some very motivating endorsements from church leaders across the country! 

If you would like me to speak on evangelism in your local church, please email us here. Like us on Facebook and follow us Twitter!

Photo Credit: Busy Nation Under God Contemporary Flag Oil Painting by Laurie
painting by artist Laurie Justus Pace taken from http://www.dailypainters.com/paintings/69654/Busy-Nation-Under-God-Contemporary-Flag-Oil-Painting-by-Laurie-Pace/.