Every week our Church asks parents to do something for one hour that I think can be the most valuable time of their week. We ask parents to sit in worship while their children go to children’s Church. I started this practice 20 years ago and I am a strong supporter of it to this day. Let me give you a few reasons.

1. It Eliminates Distractions – A small child of any age is a distraction. They distract parents from worship and the sermon. They distract everyone around them. People often argue with me about this and say, “They don’t bother me.” First, let me say that is not true. I watch you. You are distracted. Second, I will let you know that it distracts the preacher. If you do not believe this then you have never done any public speaking. One of our goals is to help people to focus on God for one hour.

2. It Helps the Children – We gear everything in Children’s Church for … children. In our regular worship I speak to adults. I talk about sin, temptation, cheating, and punishment. I talk about marriage and parenting and other adult topics that children will not understand yet. In our children’s area they get songs, lessons, crafts and even play time that is on their level. People tell me their children can handle the sermon. I tell them it is rare. Most children learn to sit still and be quiet because Church is not really for them. No wonder when they get older they say, “Church is not for me.”

3. It Reinforces Faith – One of the biggest push backs I have to Children’s Church is that people want their children to see other adults in worship. I tell them that is not what their children need. Children need to see and hear adults teaching them! They need to hear the words that their parents say being reinforced by other adults. They need to hear someone say the same things their parents say. Watching is not the same as learning.

4. Children Bring Parents – In today’s world children have a greater influence than parents. If a child says they want to do something then parents frequently bend over backwards to give it to them. This is true in all areas of life, including Church. If a child goes one time to a Church and they enjoy themselves they will want to go back. Soon the children are bringing the parents every week. The flip side is also true. If children are bored and unconnected then parents will have to drag their children to Church. One or two weeks of that and the whole family quits coming.

These are just a few of the reasons I strongly support Children’s Church. Now, it has to be a quality program for the kids to enjoy and learn. A ministry is only as strong as its volunteers. So let me encourage everyone to get involved in the children’s area of your Church. It might be the most important thing you do in your Church.

Everyone hates Mondays. I think this is especially true for preachers.

Every Monday I struggle with the work I do. From talking to preachers I find that most of us struggle with this exact same issues.

The sermon didn’t go as well as I wanted.
I second guess the choices I made in speaking.
The people didn’t show up like I hoped.
Attendance was down … again.
That family quit. I am not sure what is wrong.
I said the wrong thing and I think I offended someone.
Some of our volunteers didn’t show up.
Other people just didn’t volunteer.
The music didn’t go smoothly.
Their was a big distraction during the program.
People were sleeping.
It was too nice outside. It was too bad outside.
I hate holiday weekends.
Should I call or email that person?
What am I doing wrong?
It would be so much easier to just punch a clock for work.
I have to do better next week.
Maybe I will become a teacher. I like public speaking and I could have the summer off.
Better yet, I am going to start a professional speaking business.
God, should I quit?

I wish this line of thinking were not true, but for most preachers it is their Monday reality and it usually starts on Sunday evening. Now, before you start sending me encouraging notes or comments hoping for me to stay in ministry I need to tell you the other side of my Monday.

While every Sunday afternoon and Monday is an emotional roller coaster of disappointment and job security questions there is an upside. I find that I am continually amazed by God. Somehow He takes our flawed programs and my less than perfect words and touches people’s lives. He uses the morning to encourage, to strengthen and challenge people. Almost every week God shows up and does something that I wasn’t expecting. People grow in their faith, connections are made to other believers and God’s word is heard above my own.

I still hate going to the office on Monday for some of the same reasons as everyone else. But I do look forward to how God used Sunday to impact the world. Some weeks it feels like it was all a waste, but I have come to believe that God never wastes a Sunday.

There is a chance of rain this weekend. So if you get stuck inside here are some good articles to read.

4 Methods To Organize Your Prayer Life

The Number One False God in America

From Blueprint to Building in Your Bible – A helpful article comparing the Old and New Testament.

Should churches use air conditioning?

THE MODERN MAN AND HIS FANTASY WORLD

Something Rotten in the Local Church

10 Church Growth Strategies That Cost Zero Dollars

Transformation tourism

Most preachers that I know hate performing weddings and find more joy in performing funerals. Please let me clarify. One minister friend told me that at funerals he can minister to the family in their time of loss. He can pray with the family and speak words of comfort and hope. He further went on to tell me that at weddings people can be demanding and difficult to handle. I know a great number of preachers feel that same way.

I am the exact opposite. I have performed well over a hundred weddings during my time in ministry. Most of them have been a great experience for me. On the other hand, I have only performed a dozen of so funerals. Almost all of them have been hard on me. I think the reason is because almost of them have been for people I did not know.

Through the years someone randomly called the Church I served and asked me to perform a funeral for a person who knew someone, who knew someone who once attended our Church. Having no knowledge of the person always leaves me at the mercy of the family. They have to tell me about this person on every level. They tell me about family, friends, and hobbies without any struggle. Then comes the biggest question of all, “Can you tell me about their faith?”

With this one question the room usually grows deadly silent. People look at each other and then they stare at the floor. They stutter and offer half-hearted answers. Often they tell some story from years and years ago. Sometimes they have a story about a nice conversation with a hospital chaplain or hospice nurse. The bottom line is that they have no idea about what this person really believed. Usually their thoughts about eternity are based on weak threads of questionable dialog.

As a result of my odd experiences with funerals I have been able to reach one concrete conclusion about my life. I want to live my life in such a way that no one has to guess about my beliefs. I want there to be no doubt about where I am going to spend eternity. I want my family to be confident about who I am, what I believe and how I lived. I want my loved ones to know my favorite scriptures and songs that were important to me. I want them to speak with confidence about my journey with Jesus.

I hope the same is true for you when I am asked to do your funeral.

I usually don’t just repost other people’s material. I usually wait and do a bunch of articles on a Friday as links, but I thought this info by Chuck Lawless was great.

It was really written for Church leaders but it has a wider application. Several are technologically related. Also, I think #10 works well on special days. #14 is not going to happen right now. The rest is very easy and would work. Enjoy –

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Do you struggle knowing members of your church family? Maybe one or two of these ideas will be helpful to you:

1. Friend them on Facebook. You may not always like what you learn, but you’ll know a lot more about some church members.

2. Go to their workplace. Men especially like to talk about their jobs, and you’ll understand better what they face each week.

3. Meet with them via Skype or FaceTime. Use technology to meet folks in their home, workplace, or university. You control the time, and your members remain in their comfort zone.

4. Follow them on Twitter. Again, what you learn may stress you out, but that’s part of shepherding people.

5. Learn to ask a lot of questions. Regardless of the setting, lead people to tell you about themselves. You can learn a lot about a person in five minutes of Q & A if you refuse to talk about yourself.

6. Have conversations prior to the service. Intentionally hang out with your people before the service begins. Those few minutes with you might make somebody’s week.

7. Create your own pictorial directory. Ask your members to send you an electronic picture of their family. Then, work on recognizing faces and names.

8. Pray for each family at least once per quarter. If you contact them to get prayer requests before you pray, you’ll know your people at a more intimate level.

9. Regularly attend small groups. Perhaps you already attend a particular group. That’s great, but you might also consider attending more than one group throughout the year.

10. Ask everyone to wear nametags. Readers disliked this idea when I first proposed it, but I stand by it. You’ll know people better when they help you know their names.

11. Teach the membership class. In what is often a smaller setting, get to know members when they first join. They want that time with church leaders.

12. Support children and student ministries. If you want to meet families – or learn about broken families – hang out where the children and students are.

13. Schedule a regular breakfast or lunch. That’s intentionality: planning time with a different member or family at least once a month.

14. Include video introductions on your church website. Let your families (all of them, including the long-term members) introduce themselves to one another and to the community.

15. Never do ministry alone. If you never do ministry by yourself, you wisely protect yourself from temptation while also getting to know somebody.

What other ideas would you add? What’s worked for you?

I suppose I listen to sermons a little differently as a preacher. I listen for things that are not only true but also repeatable. As a result I remember a lot of statements made by preachers through the years. One of those comments that stuck with me through the years was a preacher’s description of how Jesus cared for people. This preacher whose name I don’t remember said that Jesus did three things to connect with people.

1. A Look – The first thing Jesus did was the most simple yet profound. In this world we have a tendency to overlook people and this was especially true in Jesus day. People who had physical problems or no family were left to beg for money from other people. They would position themselves in prominent places and plea for any gifts that people would give. I imagine that most people who had money would just ignore them after a while. They would avoid eye contact and begin to treat them as invisible people. Jesus stops and looks directly at them acknowledging their existence and worth. I think eye contact is as valuable today as it was back then.

2. A Word – Jesus not only looked at people he also spoke with them. He asks them questions and treats them as real people. In their culture only the opinions of the rich and influential mattered. Jesus stops and talks to everyone. He values people by speaking with them. When we stop and ask people about themselves it creates a sense of care and concern that runs deeper than mere words. Speak to people and listen to them.

3. A Touch – Jesus takes a cripple by the hand and lifts him up to walk. He takes a leper, who may have not felt physical touch for years, and he touched them. Obviously this has appropriate limits, but it still has value today. A handshake is a great start but it also includes a pat on the back and a hug when we are feeling down.

Too often we think of showing care for people as a time-consuming and draining task. Usually the things that matter the most are the little actions of kindness. Jesus frequently went on to heal people from whatever ailment dominated their life. I still believe that Jesus can heal people’s souls today but only if we first show the care of our Savior.

One of my Monday morning rituals is to walk around the Church dealing with the mess of Sunday. There will be cups setting in various places usually half full of coffee that was left by someone planning on drinking the rest. Trash will be found in every corner of the building. Dirt will be on the carpet. Frequently the trash cans are full and need emptied. Bibles need restocked on the table in the entryway along with mints and gift bags for our guests. Numerous items simply need picked up and put away. I am usually busy for at least an hour just doing a surface level cleaning of the Church.

That may not sound like a great way to start your Monday and I will admit that I don’t love all of it, especially clogged toilets leftover from the day before. I also find myself celebrating this time each week. This simple walk around the Church reminds me that we are doing ministry. People were here on Sunday. They drank coffee and got carried away in conversation. They had fellowship while eating something a generous person had prepared. People took home Bibles and gift bags. People came on Sunday morning and connected with one another and with God.

Doing ministry will leave a mess. A Church of our brotherhood in Seward Alaska closed its doors. I was talking to a minister who had been a part of the formation of the Church and helped it through its life. He was there from its conception to its death. He told me in a private conversation about how the building would sell fast because it was in great condition. The building had almost new carpet even after several years of ministry. Then he paused and said, “It really makes me sad. We had all these dreams of ministry and nothing ever happened.”

I know the other side of this story. Some people will complain. They will say that new people need to pick up after themselves. They should know better. People will complain about the dirt, the trash and the fact that the carpet is being ruined.

Personally, I praise God for the mess. To me it means that rough people who often have no Church background are coming. They are bringing their messy lives to Church and receiving the ministry of our Church. It means children are filling our building for a lesson and then running around while parents talk. I thank God that our building is full each Sunday with people who want to know more about him. Sure it would be nice to have less of a mess each week but NOT if that means fewer people.

My wife made cookies the other day and they did not turn out exactly the way she wanted. The main problem was that the cookies did not look exactly right and these were going to be given away. She looked over her recipe and ran through her actions in her head and could not immediately put her finger on the problem. The final conclusion was that she must have missed some ingredient or at least she didn’t get the right amount.

One little ingredient can make all the difference. If you do not believe me, just leave one single ingredient out of your next recipe and see if your family notices a difference. Each part is important.

This truth applies to Churches. Each part is important. Whenever one person is missing the whole thing suffers. We may not be able to put our finger on it, but everyone knows that something is just not right. A missing greeter, an absent nursery worker, a cleaning person who missed their week, a singer that didn’t show and a hundred other little pieces make a difference. I have come to believe that when a Church is struggling it is often because some of the ingredients are missing.

I hope you never feel like your service at the Church is not important. “Oh, they will never miss me” is simply not a true statement. Every part is important. You are needed to make the Church the best it can possibly be.

My thoughts are composed from a thousand random voices. I have the words of teachers, preachers, songs, movies, books, family, the Bible, professors, parents, blogs, magazines and TV all placed in the filing system of my brain. All of these little pieces of information influence who I am, what I say, how I react, and what I believe.

This is true for every human being. You are the product of all the voices you have heard over your lifetime.

Since that is true I have a series of questions for you:

1. What voices speak to you the most often? Are you watching lots of TV or movies? Do you read widely? Do you spend time in the Bible or Church? If I am continually filling my head with a certain type of information then I will quickly transform into a certain type of person. Are there more Christian voices in your life than non-Christian? Do you have people around you that encourage your faith journey or discourage it? You will be shaped by the voices you allow to speak to you.

2. What voices speak to you the loudest? Most people have a couple of sources they trust without many questions. For many people that might be your parents. It might have been a beloved teacher or author. They speak and their words hold more sway than any other voice. Now ask yourself, “What kind of a person is that?”

3. What are you doing with your voice? I continually share the principle of “first in, wins” That means that the first piece of information we receive shapes our thinking more than any other voice. If that is true, then what are we teaching the next generation? If you do not tell young people about sex, money, God or anything important – know that someone is going to tell them. Then that voice will shape their views and not you. Are you using your voice to teach and train others?

I am a strong believer in the power of words. Every week I throw words into the air for around thirty minutes in an effort to mold a world for God. I teach Sunday School and lead discussions at youth group. I talk and talk and talk. All in the hopes that one little piece of information will lodge in someone’s brain and help shape them for good.

We live in a world full of information. Where it comes from is important.

My son and I attended a Christian Men’s conference together a couple of weeks ago. We arrived in time for a dinner of a pulled pork sandwich served in a paper bag with chips, a cookie and a drink. We then proceeded to go out onto the front lawn to sit and eat our picnic meal. While sitting there I noticed something interesting to me. There was not one dandelion in the grass. Then I looked closer and noticed not one single weed of any kind. The lawn was lush and green while being completely free of weeds.

When we went inside the building I began to notice all of the attention this Church paid to the details. No dust or dirt, no messes, bright lights, modern pictures and a thousand little touches. It was clear that people in this Church paid careful attention to the details.

This experience reminded me of two separate expressions that are closely related. The first is “God is in the detail.” This phrase most likely originated in the 1800’s and is still used today. It captures the idea that we need to pay careful attention to every aspect of life even the smallest details. Big rewards come from numerous small pieces coming together.

The second phrase is said to have been born out of the first one. The second is “the devil is in the details.” This phrase captures the idea the smallest details are often the hardest to focus on. As a result of the neglect of the minutia we often fail in a big way. Small steps can lead to a big failure.

There is an application of this for every Church. Every Church should pick up the trash, clean their building, maintain their lawn, update their decoration and make sure the details are handled. Satan can keep people away from the word of God being preached inside a Church by the neglect of the details. It is hard to prove to people that we care about their souls when we have a dirty nursery. Every Church needs to pay attention to the details of their ministry.

I also think there is a very personal application to this truth. Each one of us needs to know that it is often the details of our life that damage our faith and witness. A person cannot neglect the big aspects of prayer, bible reading, worship or fellowship, but they also need to pay attention to the details. We cannot allow anger to take root in our words. We must guard against pride. Avoid gossip in person and online. Say please and thank you. Stop using “God” or “Jesus” names in inappropriate ways. Work hard for your pay. Tell your spouse, “I love you.”

There are a thousand seemingly small details in life that need our attention. The reality is that is often a series of small steps that lead people away from God. Equally true is that we often destroy the work of sharing our faith because of seemingly insignificant action. We need to pay attention to the details.

I wonder, “Is God or the devil found in the details of your life?”