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  • Activating Revival
    I'm so excited. I see a genuine hunger for a revival in children's ministries. Children's ministries leaders around the world are desiring a move of God in their children. They are so dissatisfied with seeing their children sitting week after week untouched by the Holy Spirit. These leaders are desperately longing to see Holy Ghost interruptions in their services that will radically impact their boys and girls.

    Let me share a simple truth that will change longing into seeing. Here's the truth ... the Holy Spirit is far more desirous of moving among your children than you are. Did you get that? If the Holy Spirit had His way, the Book of Acts would be retold through the lives of each and every child in your ministry TODAY!

    So, if this is true (and it is!), then what is the hold up? What needs to happen to activiate this move of God?

    The answer is found in Genesis 1. In this chapter, we find that the Holy Spirit had been hovering (sitting patiently, idly) over chaos (does this describe your ministry?). "The earth was a shapeless, chaotic mass, with the Spirit of God brooding over the dark vapors." Genesis 1:2 (The Living Bible). For ions, nothing had happened. Chaos prevailed. But notice when things changed. Upon HEARING a voice DECLARING the will of God, the Holy Spirit IMMEDIATELY changed His modus operandi and begin to move supernaturally. Within a nano-second of HEARING the Word of God, things changed.

    Here is my challenge to you. If you truly long for a move of God, changes must be made. Too often, we talk about a move of God being off in the future. SOMEDAY or ONE DAY never comes. Instead, begin to use your VOICE and BOLDLY DECLARE that "TODAY is the day of the Holy Ghost. TODAY is the day for a mighty move of God's Spirit. TODAY is the day for salvation, for healing, for deliverance, for ... In THIS service, Holy Spirit, be Yourself. Move mightily, undeniably TODAY among our children." Upon HEARING you SPEAK forth the Word of God, the Holy Spirit who has been sitting patiently, idly waiting will spring into action.

    SPEAK God's Word OUT LOUD so that HEARING is involved. Heaven will hear your voice and spring into action. You will hear your voice and faith will arise. Hell will hear your voice and begin to tremble. Continually DECLARE that "TODAY is the day of the Holy Ghost!" and as you do the thing that you have longed for will manifest before your eyes.

  • Look What the Lord Has Done!
    Being a children's pastor in a megachurch has its pros and cons. There are a lot of things that a church of 3,500 can do that a smaller church perhaps can't do. At the same time, there are things that can happen in a smaller church that a large church just can't facilitate.

    There's one thing that I really, really miss from the days of my upbringing in a smaller church. On Sunday and Wednesday nights, our services included what we called a testimony service. During this portion of the service, individuals would stand up before the congregation and tell of God's goodness. One person might tell of a healing that had taken place last week while another person might tell of a supernatural provision. As a child, these stories helped cement my confidence in an all-loving, all-caring God.

    While I recognize that due to time restraints posed by having multiple services and also having the impossibility of an individual's voice being heard in an auditorium that seats some 1,500, having a testimony service in a large church is next to impossible. And yet, I still long to hear those testimonies. I know the value of hearing what God is doing today among the people that I know and love.

    Evidently David knew the value of a testimony service. Consider David's instructions:

    "Let each generation tell its children what glorious things He does."
    Psalm 145:4 (The Living Bible)

    I've come to this resolve. While we may not be able to have a testimony service in the adult service, I can't afford to allow our children to miss out on this faith-building tool. I must allow my staff and the children an opportunity to tell of the glorious things that God is doing. Each week, I will start the testimony service by telling of what the Lord has done for me or my family in the last 7 days and then allow a few minutes for my staff and then the children to testify of God's goodness. After building their faith by hearing what God has done, it becomes easy to then trust God for as we go into our time of prayer for the current needs of that week.

    David knew what he was talking about. Let's bring back the testimony service and build faith in our children by showcasing God's marvelous deeds. Let's allow the children to see that God is alive and well. Let's build an understanding in our children that what God has done for another person, He can and will do it for you.


  • The Law of Sowing and Reaping
    We knew that this day would eventually come. It was inevitable. Yesterday, Vickie and I walked away from Southeastern University with tears rolling down our cheeks and aching hearts as we left our youngest son, Aaron, to begin his freshman year of college. Even now, for fear of another gullywasher of tears, I push aside the memory of me giving Aaron a final hug and turning my back towards him as Vickie and I began that long walk back to our car. You would think that after going through this experience with our oldest son, Jason, and then our second son, Michael, this wouldn't be a major trauma. WRONG!

    In my rollercoaster ride of emotions, I find a peace in knowing that while Aaron is out of our home and even our watchful eye, God is attentively caring for our son. We know that God has already placed people in strategic positions that will be at the right place at the right time ready to be there for our son. In Aaron's time of need, someone is already positioned to be there to provide what is needed.

    How can I know this? In our conferences, I teach that one of the greatest reasons for being in this ministry is that the Law of Sowing and Reaping applies to what we do each and every week. Because we are faithful in ministering to and loving on other people's children, God is honor bound to minister to and love my children. For 31 years of children's ministry, Vickie and I have given our lives to being there for child after child. Now, as Aaron is at Southeastern University, we can expect God to have people ready be there for Aaron. That's enough reason to make me keep on keeping on in this ministry. How about you?

  • A Special Offer to Our Readership

    As a way of saying thank you to the faithful readers of my weekly blog, I want to provide an exclusive offer giving a substantial discount to the upcoming Ignite the Supernatural Conference. This is a one time offer and is ONLY being shared through this blog.

    Ignite the Supernatural Conference
    September 30 - October 2 Dallas, TX

    This annual conference is a global gathering of children's ministry leaders and workers who have recognized that just good games and lessons aren't changing this generation of children. These leaders and volunteers long for the information, revelation, confirmation, and impartation that will enable them to know how to flow with the Holy Spirit. With 21 workshops and 6 general sessions, we believe that the attendees will need name tages for when they return home so that their friends and family will recognize them.

    To receive a 50% savings on the registration, go to the conference website, http://www.igniteconference.com/, and during the registration process enter the coupon code BLOG. This offer is valid until midnight, Sunday, August 22.


  • The Virtue of Stickability
    A few weeks ago, Vickie and I celebrated our 31st anniversary in children's ministry. This week, Vickie and I are celebrating our 21st anniversary of being Trinity Church International's Children's Pastors. That's a long time, isn't it! I can probably count on two hands the number of individuals that I know who have been in this ministry this long and on one hand the number of individuals who have been in the same church this long. Does this place me in the same category as the Model T car and the T Rex dinosaur? Am I an ancient relic?

    The purpose for this week's blog is to applaud the virtue of stickability. I don't know whether or not "stickability" is actually a word. In today's world, it is a rare treat to find stickability.
    You'll have to agree with me that it is rare to find anyone who sticks with anything for a long period of time. Many have the mindset that the grass is always greener on the other side causing them to move and then move again and then move again.

    I admit that I have come by this virtue honestly. The people who shaped my life demonstrated stickability. My parents have been married for well over 50 years. The pastor who greatly influenced my life, B.B. Hankins, pastored my South Texas church in West Columbia for over 50 years. The pastor with whom Vickie and I are honored to serve under, Tom Peters, has been the pastor of Trinity for 38 years.

    What is the bedrock for my stickability? I always ask myself this question, "What was the last thing that God told me to do?" and then I'll continue doing what I last heard from God. This means that I'll keep doing what I'm doing whether I like it or don't like it, whether things are going great or if it seems like God moved and failed to give me a forwarding address. What did God tell me to do? Has He given me a new direction? If not, I'll just keep doing what I am doing.

    Here's the update for what has happened in our 21 years at Trinity (at least from what I see because I only see a part of the total picture) ... many boys and girls who sat under our ministry are now in full time ministry, only God knows the number of children who have been saved, filled with the Baptism in the Holy Spirit, healed, encouraged, and loved on. We have touched not only the children but also the lives of untold thousands of parents and grandparents as we've loved on their children. Need I go on?

    Here's the ultimate reason for stickability as written by the apostle Paul ...

    (1 Corinthians 15:58 KJV) "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord."

    Because of stickability (stedfast, unmovable) our labor has not been in vain. I think that I'll go on for another 31 years in children's ministry and another 21 years at Trinity. Here's to stickability!


 
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