How to do a conference...

Are you attending the Orange Conference 2015? Here are some of my suggestions on making the most of the conference! (In no particular order)

• Arrive early - don't arrive right as the conference is starting especially if you are traveling any distance. Take time to check into your hotel, maybe get a little rest or something to eat.
• Take time to meet other folks at the conference. Networking with others who are churches your size can help you with ideas and give encouragement. 
• Be Real! Don't try and cover up your failures in ministry. Your failures can help someone keep from making the same mistake.
• Take good notes - in large group sessions and break outs always take good notes. But don't just take the notes be sure to review them when you get back to your hotel room. I like to highlight the things that really stood out to me so I can do something with it when I get home.
• In my opinion you should not do all the things happening at the conference - it will wear you out and overload your brain. Or maybe that is just me!
• Talk over what you learned with others, either your folks you came to the conference with or others at the conference. 
• Be sure to get the names, emails address and phone numbers of the folks you meet. You'll want to connect with them again in the future.
• Don't forget to check out the Resource area! Buy some to take home and share with others.

These are just some of my ideas - I would love to hear what you do at a conference to get the most out of everything. 

My thoughts on Conferences

I love conferences, probably because I'm an extrovert and enjoy being around a large crowd of people. But I love them for other reasons too. I love hearing good speakers share and fill up my spiritual tank. As pastors we tend to give and give and don't always take the time to be filled up.  Listening to speakers at a conference always gets me fired up and ready to take on another six months in ministry. The other reason I love conferences is because I love to network with people. I like to here what they are doing in ministry and share ideas, hear their successes as well as woes. I have met some wonderful people (Cathy Harwick and Chris Boz to name drop) at conference and thanks to Facebook I am still friends with them.

If you are in Children's Ministry, especially children's pastors and ministers who are running the ministry I highly recommend you attending at least one conference a year. And this year I would love to invite you to the Orange Conference 2015 in Atlanta, GA. It is going to be a great time of filling up your spiritual tank when you hear from the line up of amazing speakers. Hearing from Reggie Joiner and Sue Miller alone is worth the time to attend the conference, at least in my opinion. But there are many more great speakers who will be at OC15. Check out the list of speakers here - OC15

But don't forget about all the new friendships you are going to create! And seeing old friends.(looking forward to seeing Chara Robinson at OC15 this year) I'm hoping to make lots of new friends at OC15 this year and I hope you will be one of them. Maybe we can sit and chat over coffee - Let me know if you will be there, would love to meet you and hear what God is doing in and through you!

See ya at OC15!

Thorn Tour 2015

It is that time once again...Thorn Time!!!! What is the Thorn you ask, well I'll tell you; 
The Thorn is a visually dynamic and heart-stirring theatrical portrayal of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Not your average Passion play, The Thorn combines martial arts, aerial acrobatics and emotionally powerful performances that have been engaging audiences across the US for almost 20 years. You can find out more about Thorn Productions by visiting The Thorn 


Over the past several years I have had the joy of stage managing and producing the Thorn in Charleston, SC, Austin, TX and Nashville, TN, Sacramento, CA. This year I will be traveling with the Thorn Tour Staff back to Texas to the Dallas/Fort Worth Area.  Being able to share the gospel of Jesus Christ through a theatrical performance is right up my alley.  I love telling the story of Christ and I enjoy the theater, the two combined makes for a happy me!  


This year the Thorn will be in 6 different cities across the US. Check out the website to see if there is one playing near you. I promise you it is worth the money to see this show. It is so life changing, even for a believer.
If you get the chance you should check out one of these performances, and bring a friend with you - it is a powerful and amazing story come to life through music, dance, acrobats and drama.

Here's another way you can help out - you can support me as I prepare to travel with the Thorn. You can support me through prayer or financially. Please check out my fund raising page.

Who's job is it anyway?

Our mission statement here in Kidscoast is to partner with parents in raising their children to be fully devoted followers of Christ. Notice it doesn't say to raise children to be fully devoted followers of Christ, but to partner with parents...This is key to me. Over the years I have had lots of parents ask me to sit down and talk to their children about becoming a Christ follower, but that really isn't my job. I mean I love to share Christ with kids, and I love when a child makes a decision to follow Christ but it is not what I'm here to do. No, my job is to equip, encourage and assist the parents in leading their child to Christ.  As excited as I would be if a Children's Ministry worker came to me and said that one of my children made a decision to follow Christ in class, I would be disappointed if I wasn't there to lead them. As a matter of fact, both my boys asked Jesus into their heart during Bible Class with their mom. (we home school so Bible class is allowed). As excited as I was to hear the news, I have to admit I was a little disappointed that I wasn't there to pray with them. I was however the one who got to baptize them and that made up for it.
Sometimes I think parents either don't realize their responsibility or don't feel adequate to do the job. When we do our Family Baptism Celebrations at the church I always encourage the parents to baptize their own children. Not because I don't want to do it, and not just because I know the awesome feeling it is to baptize your own children. I encourage them because it is their job, their responsibility.
In Deuteronomy 6 it clearly give the command for parents to teach their children. I joke with parents all the time reminding them that it does not say "Parents take your kids to church so the Children's Ministry workers can get your kids saved..." No it clearly is talking to parents. My job as a Children's Pastor is not to get your child saved, my job is to partner with you in getting your child into a relationship with Christ and to help you grow your child in that relationship. One ways the church does that is by providing age appropriate classrooms and teachings for children on the weekend and during the week. I have one homeschooling friend who tells her kids every weekend that if they learn something new about the Bible in Children's Church she will do their chores for them for a week. She feels so strongly that it is her job as a parent to teach them about the Bible and who God is and that it is the churches job to reinforce what the kids are learning at home.  I love this!
Now I understand that this is not for everyone and that everyone is not a bible scholar. However, I do feel that if the parents are not expecting the church to reinforce what the kids are learning at home, then it is important for the parents to reinforce at home what the kids are learning in church.
Mind if I get on my soapbox for a minute...I believe that sports and the arts are important, but if they are pulling your child away from the church then you need to realign your priorities. (remember these are my thoughts and opinions that is why it is my blog, you don't have to agree with me). I just hate to see kids miss weekend services week after week only to find out it was because of a sport they were playing or a show they were in or whatever the excuse. I won't lie I'm not a sports fan, but I am a big fan and supporter of the arts but I won't let my kids miss church week after week because of one of these things going on. Church is a priority, not because I'm a children's pastor but because in our house, God is a priority. (okay off my box for now).
My point on all this is that Children's Ministry is not supposed to be the one who gets your child into a relationship with Christ, that is the your job, the parents, you are the spiritual leaders of your family. My job is to equip, encourage and assist parents, to partner with them, come alongside and to reinforce the biblical principles you are teaching them at home. So how can I do that for you, please let me know.
Just a thought, hope you found a nugget in that somewhere!

What's Really Happening in Children's Ministry

Have you ever wondered what really happens in the classrooms of the Children's Ministry? I know that at a lot of churches when you drop your kids off in their classrooms, there are lots of things going on. Some kids might be playing video games, others might be playing 4 Square or Air Hockey. Maybe a group of girls are sitting on the couch giggling.  Whatever it is it looks fun and inviting to most kids.  And sometimes when you come back to pick your child up they are doing the same thing they were doing when you dropped them off - but does that mean that is all they did?  

In my time in Children's ministry here at Seacoast, I have had parents ask me that question...Is that all they do in the classroom? Because when I ask my child what they learned they say nothing.  And maybe they didn't learn anything and there are reasons for that - maybe what they were being taught that day they already knew. How may times have you sat in BIG church and it was a great reminder, but you already knew what the pastor was teaching? You might not be walking it out, but you knew it and what you should be doing.  Same is true with kids.  Or maybe they didn't learn anything because they weren't paying attention, maybe they were distracted by someone sitting next to them who was talking (or maybe they were the one doing the talking).  Asking, "What did you learn?" is a great question, but sometimes you have to dig deeper.  Even with my kids when I ask what they learned in church they usually tell me: " You know dad, you're the children's pastor." And usually they are right, I do know, but I want to know they know too.

I can promise you that children at Seacoast church are having church themselves while you are in the adult worship. It may not look like what you do, but they are doing the same thing. We have a time of worship in each of our rooms from 2 year olds up through 5th grade. Sometimes their songs are the same songs you are singing, sometimes they are different, but the point of the importance of worshiping God is taught. We have lessons that teach a characteristic of who God is with Biblical backing on what we call our Virtue of the Month. These teaching come from a group of talented writers and creators at ReThinnk.  This month our elementary kids are learning about kindness and the importance of treating others the way they want to be treated. As a parent I love this, because I can use it throughout the week with my kids when they aren't being so kind to one another at home. Reinforcing what was taught on the weekend is always good. 

Several years ago Pastor Greg introduced response time at the end of the message, it is a time in the service after the message that you can respond to what God is saying to you about what you just learned.  You can take a prayer or struggle to the cross and pin it there, you can light a candle for a friend or loved one or get prayer from the prayer team.  We have carried this over to our elementary areas as well.  (Okay, maybe not the candles, but we could use the battery operated tea lights). We do allow kids to go to a cross and put a prayer request on the cross, or ask a leader for prayer. This is a very powerful time and lots of our kids look forward to going to the cross.

After the large group time is over we have small group time where we take and break the lesson down for the kids. What did this story that happened over 2000 years ago apply to my life as an elementary student? This to me is one of the most important times in the ministry.  Kids want to connect and know they can trust the person leading them. I am so thankful for the dedicated Kidscoast Dream Team members who lead small groups every weekend. (side plug... WE NEED MORE!) In order for this to work properly we need to make sure we have one leader for every 8-10 kids but sometimes it is more like one leader for every 20+ kids - and I know that it is not just our church, other churches struggle with this as well. If you are not connected to serving in Kidscoast and have the heart and time for it, please sign up. These kids need you.  Just like adults, kids who don't feel connected won't stay. We want kids connecting with kids their own age as well as leaders they can trust and who care about them. Okay, I’m off my soapbox...

Bottom line, just because it looks like the kids are playing when they come in and maybe when you pick them up, they aren't playing the whole time. Here in Kidscoast we take teaching kids about who God is and how much He loves them very seriously, we just believe you can have fun while doing it because God is just that AWESOME! If you have never been to a Children's ministry service at Seacoast or at your home church, talk to your children's pastor, I'm sure they would love to have you sit in and see what they are doing.

Just my thoughts - hope you got something out of it!

When we get out of God's way...

Some of you are aware that we have been in the process of adopting - it has been a long process and journey. However, the night we returned from our trip to Alaska Meghan and I were talking about the adoption and I said I was done, finished, did not wish to go on. You see I had found two boys on one of those websites they have for kids available for adoption and spent a lot of time thinking about them, emailing caseworkers to find out information, but just was not getting any answers. So I was giving up. In reality I wasn't giving up, I was getting out of the way. I was trying to do all of this on my own. I was pursuing (well, us as a couple). I was the one who found the children, I was the one who put the request in for these children...ME, I, US- not God.

So as I was saying, I gave up - that is when God was able to do something, when I got out of His way. The same night I said I give up I received an email concerning some children that were available for adoption, three to be exact. It would be a private adoption, not something we even considered because of costs. Plus the youngest child was younger than we wished to go. I didn't tell Meghan about the email right away, partly because she was asleep when I received the email and I was still asleep when she left the house in the morning. So that afternoon I told Meghan about it and we decided we would look into it a little more.

Since this was going to be a private adoption, and would cost us money and adding three kids to the family was going to mean we need a new vehicle to be able to transport us all around, and we would need some kind of added income to feed three extra children...we knew that the only way this was going to even happen was for God to take charge of it all.

The next step that needed to happen was for us to submit our home study, if we were approved we would receive more information about the children and the mom. We decided to step out in faith and say; God if this is of you then we trust you will provide for all our needs and open all the doors that need to be open.  You see our desire is to see children in a forever family, our family if that is what God wants, so we submitted our home study trusting God.

We got word our family was being considered for the adoption of these three kids and we received more information about them.  We are continuing to move forward until God closes a door. We are looking into grants, fundraising and any other means we feel God is calling us to as we move forward with this adoption. I ask that you would join us in praying and seeking God's Will in all of this for our family.

The part I want you to hear in all of this is how I needed to move out of the way. I was trying to push the adoption on my own. I was getting frustrated by lack of communication and the length of time the process was taking. Once I threw my hands in the air and said I give up I was out of the way for God to do what He needed to do.  Now I don't know if this adoption will go through or not, it is totally up to God.  I once heard Derwin Gray say; "Attempt things that only Jesus could do so only He can get the Glory." That is what we are doing. This adoption would never be a possibility in our own rite, but only by God doing some really BIG things!  What are you attempting that is so huge it could only be accomplished by God? Maybe it isn't working out cause you are still in the way.
Just my thoughts and I hope you get a nugget out of it!