Training

“If a man owns a hundred sheep and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the other ninety-nine on the hillside and go off in search of the one who went astray?” - Matthew 18:12 (NCB) Every year about this time I am reminded of my own spiritual journey. This is about the time when a group of high school friends reached out to this lost sheep and introduced him to the Savior. I am convinced that there are still lost sheep that need to be found and introduced to the Savior. “The shepherd leaves the 99 well-behaved...

We all desire for our children to be disciples of Jesus. His last words in Matthew 28:18-20 command us to make disciples of all nations. Have you ever considered yourself as a parent a disciple-maker? How about a disciple-maker of all nations? And have you considered that Jesus also calls your children to be disciple-makers of all nations? This probably seems like a daunting task! You may think, “I can hardly get my children out the door for school on time. How can I disciple my children to be disciple-makers? And to all nations? You are crazy!” The beautiful truth...

Whenever I meet a second-grade student, I always joke, “I spent two of the happiest years of my life in the second grade.” Adults laugh but the child rarely gets it. The irony is, while most think it’s just a joke, I did repeat second grade, and I might add, they weren’t the happiest years of my life. I was a child with a special need that wasn’t discovered until second grade. Somehow, I had managed through preschool, at home, and at church, to hide the fact that I was almost completely deaf in my left ear. Fifty percent hearing...

I have a confession. I have a struggle, a struggle not so uncommon to many, but this struggle is mine, nonetheless. If there is a conflict of sorts between me and another person, I have trouble letting it go. I have trouble dropping the matter. You may identify and share in this common struggle. As a leader in ministry, I KNOW the danger that this struggle can be in my role of shepherding others. I also know that whether this is an area of great personal struggle or not, it IS a challenge that all ministry leaders will face. Children’s...

As the journey to launch a 1-and-2-year old class within our church continues, we have fine-tuned the classroom schedule. We ask the teachers and helpers to arrive 30 minutes before the service starts. This not only allows time to review that day’s teaching, but also to pray over the room and the children before the first child arrives. Since our church services last between 75 and 90 minutes, our classroom schedule looks like this: 20 minutes Free play 5 minutes Prayer / snacks 20 minutes Bible / lesson / singing / mirror 30 minutes Guided play 15 minutes Clean up...