[Kid Inspiration]

I am excited!

And not just because it’s Fri and a full weekend in Church is ahead of me with loads of opportunities to be a blessing.

Not just because I’m sitting here at home on my computer looking out at a beautiful afternoon listening to my son play Wii Fit.

But because there are new things on the horizon.

I’m excited to see new projects coming, to see new initiatives and new seasons.

It gives me a hope for the future.

I’ll bet that it’s the same for you.

And if you and I feel the same then why should detrol la order it be any different for those we lead.

So next year for your teams and leaders, even if they are staying in the same role and serving with the same kids give them fresh vision that gives the expectation of a new season ahead. Because it IS a new season. In my experience God elevates and promotes in a moment and you can’t plan for it, but you can prepare!

Prepare your people.

It’s what leaders do.

And when opportunity arises, in the fullness of time… there will be people around you ready to rebuild the wall. (So we built the wall…for the people had a mind to work. Neh 4:6)

Hey you need to do this!

I pasted some text from the Kiva website below, I love this concept!

============================>

I just made a loan to someone in Benin using a revolutionary new website called Kiva (www.kiva.org).

You can go to Kiva’s website and lend to someone across the globe who needs a loan for their business – like raising goats, selling vegetables at market or making bricks.  Each loan has a picture of the entrepreneur, a description of their business and how they plan to use the loan so you know exactly how your money is being spent – and you get updates letting you know how the entrepreneur is going.

The best part is, when the entrepreneur pays back their loan you deltasone online get your money back – and Kiva’s loans are managed by microfinance institutions on the ground who have a lot of experience doing this, so you can trust that your money is being handled responsibly.

I just made a loan to an entrepreneur named Cyriane in Benin.  They still need another $250.00 to complete their loan request of $475.00 (you can loan as little as $25.00!).  Help me get this entrepreneur off the ground by clicking on the link below to make a loan to Cyriane too:

http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=148474

It’s finally easy to actually do something about poverty – using Kiva I know exactly who my money is loaned to and what they’re using it for.  And most of all, I know that I’m helping them build a
sustainable business that will provide income to feed, clothe, house and educate their family long after my loan is paid back.

Join me in changing the world – one loan at a time.

Thanks!

———————————————————
What others are saying about www.Kiva.org:

‘Revolutionising how donors and lenders in the US are connecting with small entrepreneurs in developing countries.’
– BBC

‘If you’ve got 25 bucks, a PC and a PayPal account, you’ve now got the wherewithal to be an international financier.’
– CNN Money

‘Smaller investors can make loans of as little as $25 to specific individual entrepreneurs through a service launched last fall by Kiva.org.’
– The Wall Street Journal

‘An inexpensive feel-good investment opportunity…All loaned funds go directly to the applicants, and most loans are repaid in full.’
– Entrepreneur Magazine

WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?

No seriously, you’re reading the blog of a Children’s Pastor… and seemingly remaining interested… unless you just searched for the term ‘Don’t Do Normal’ and this page came up, which raises two very important points… 1 Thanks Google, and 2 Why can’t people who are searching for ‘How to give away one million dollars’ come here?

(Hmm… just writing that down has increased my chances)

So what are you doing here?

You are set apart not just as a believer in Jesus Christ, but a person who may be called to minister to children! You are like a statistic within a statistic, a piece of a piece of a pie.

• You are unusual
• You are counter-cultural
• You are different
• You are standing out
• You are separate, distinct and set apart
• You are peculiar, unconventional and too some, strange
• You are contrary not to the Word of God, but to the world
• You are an visiting alien here for a specific purpose and goal
• You are opposed, not to the world but to anything that exalts itself against the Kingdom of God
• You are anything but average

YOU’RE A DEVIATION FROM THE NORM

Once you become a follower of Jesus normal just isn’t good enough anymore. You are part of the world that is to come… The Kingdom of God is here… and yet to come. The Jews were not expecting Jesus. They expected a conquering king, a strong soldier. He would free them from all their enemies. He would change the way that they lived. There would be freedom from the rule of their enemies.

This is what the religious leaders got in Matt 5… the beatitudes

• The way up is down
• The way in is out
• The way first is last
• The way of success is service
• The way of strength is weakness
• The way of security is vulnerability
• The way of protection is forgiveness
• God’s power is made perfect… in our weakness
• Want to become great? Become least.
• Want to discover crestor generics yourself? Forget your self.
• Want to ‘get even’? Bless and love them.
• Jesus didn’t just tell us to turn the other cheek we have to turn our hands and heart toward the other and do good.

You’re not normal, so don’t pretend to be.

Anyway, different is far more interesting.

Ministry can be often intense.

You very infrequently look back at an experience and wish you were angrier… now maybe you think of a great creatine sale comeback line, but that’s just being too clever too late. Unfortunately for my temper I admire the leaders who respond with grace in a situation. When some old pastor guy (using the term loosely) tells a story about the time when a group of angry congregation members/protesters/motorcycle gang, wrote a strongly worded letter/protested/punched while quoting scripture/burning an effigy of the pastor/killing bunny rabbits and they responded by taking them all our to lunch/praying and they took him out to lunch/getting all of them saved and one member turned out to own Harley Davidson and giving hundreds of bikes to the Church Men’s Ministry… well I always repent of my angry ways and promise to do better in the future.

• Irregardless of circumstance does the Church have your heart?
• Irregardless of leadership do the children have your heart?
• Does time make the heart grow fonder?
• Does time make your heart grow colder?

Guard your heart.

So I spoke at the Kidshaper conference last week about keeping perspective in our lives… here are some great quotes about perspective and a summary:

• In order to keep a true perspective of one’s importance, everyone should have a dog that will worship him and a cat that will ignore him.
• Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts. Albert Einstein
• Every generalization is dangerous, especially this one. Mark Twain
• I’ve creatine retail price missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed. Michael Jordan
• Won’t you come into the garden? I would like my roses to see you. Richard Brinsley Sheridan
• A penny will hide the biggest star in the Universe if you hold it close enough to your eye. Samuel Grafton
• When a man sits with a pretty girl for an hour, it seems like a minute. But let him sit on a hot stove for a minute – and it’s longer than any hour. That’s relativity. Albert Einstein
• There is no burnt rice to a hungry person. Philippine Proverb

GIDEON: Judges 7:1-8

• God bought about a victory from an army too small (Midianites 135,000 = 450 to 1)
• With weapons that were completely inadequate (empty clay jar, a torch, a trumpet)
• And a leader who was determined but felt completely insignificant (Judges 6:11)

Twittered this thought a few days ago, just thought I would put it here in case you missed it:

I am not here to grow my Children’s ministry, I am here to grow my Church BY building coreg generic forms my Children’s ministry.

It’s a shift in thinking. I really want to see our whole Church family move forward!

Love this post from Wayne Stocks brilliant random thoughts blog, which is what you call your blog before you realise there are approx. 18.7 million with the same title.
(Man, I really know how to build up and tear down in one sentence)

Anyway read it today!

8 Reasons to Get Involved in coreg generic Children’s Ministry from Psalm 78

I had read about the HBO Movie ‘Taking Chance‘ on a blog written by a Marine serving in Iraq (One Marines View), and just watched it tonight.

I love a movie that reignites my love of Cinema! This is not a Summer action movie blockbuster… it is a very thoughful and moving tribute to a man who served his country.

Visit the site for more info on the actual movie, but the one word you can use to describe this film is ‘Honour’.

As the story unfolds of this young marines body being returned to his family what follows him is respect and honour. Every step along the way people are moved to respond in ways that place value on the life that has been given to protect them. And it surprised me by being a very powerful and moving film.

So get it and watch it

But what it did awaken me to was the fact that this world really would be a better place if we hounoured people. All people. Not just the ones percieved as heroes.

I am going to make sure my son gets to experience different cultures. From the honouring, to places where there is a complete lack of respect. So he can see for himself the outcomes and consequences. And also build into him a respect for the house of God where youth is celebrated, and wisdom and age is loved and appreciated.

Our churches really should be the most diverse places on earth. Contrary to the world where religion and ethnicity divides we build communities that by their very existence proves coreg cr price the nature and chrarcter of our God!

From Erwin MacManus via coreg 12.5 mg target=”_blank”>Tony Morgan:

There has never been one ordinary child born on this planet

Here endeths my Sunday.

More than anything else, I want to finish well. So many times when asking a young person the vision they have for their life, what they would love to do they talk about the task, the job, the mission they can see themselves doing. compazine 10 mg I just want to finish my ‘race’ with a wife and family that loves me, knowing that to the best of ability I lived with faith, hope and love (1 Cor 13:13). What I ‘Do’ accomplishing this goal is up to God.

Here are a few posts that hit it out of the park in the last few weeks!

Pudge on Leading for Tomorrow

A bunch of posts from Henry Zonio about the Conspire Conference Rewiring Ministry for the Digital Learner,  Spiritual Formation in compare prices nexium Children

Fascinating stuff from The Connecting Church and Home Conference from Jared Kennedy via Doug

Shane Hipps on Technology from the Q blog! MUST WATCH! Hipps discusses how technology shapes your faith and offers a critique of the cliche “the methods change but the message doesn’t.”

How to Blog 101 from churchrelevance.com

Now that we have three main campuses we don’t get to see each others room setups. So last kids staff meeting we had a fun competition. But I will let Kathryn MacDaddy tell you the rest of the story:

We had a competition between our Hillsong Kids staff called “Pimp my Set up”… The idea was that we each take 5 photos of our age groups room set up and we present them to the team. We then choose 3 finalists and vote on the winner. And I WON!! Yeah Baby..I WON IT!!! My prize was a gift card for the movies, which I will enjoy every second of!!! clomid lowest price target=”_blank”>Read On

Love reading Erwin Mcmanus.

Read claritin 20 mg target=”_blank”>Uprising: A Revolution of the Soul a while ago and wrote down this quote (Paperback pg. 63):

If anonymity was the price you would have to pay for significance, would it be too great a price?

Would it be?

Peer recognition is one of the most powerful forces in the human psyche. Learning to serve without it is one of the greatest skills this culture/generation schooled in the allure of instant fame needs!

Teach your kids that God is the only one they need recognition from!

I just sent out an email to our key team… thought I would post it here:

(And if you want to post your answers in the comments).

====================>

Are you growing in your passion to reach children for Christ and grow His church?

We citalopram without prescription never become mature in our leadership or love for God. The thing about mature fruit is that it is just a few days away from becoming rotten fruit. We have to be leaders that are growing, not stagnant.

Really search your heart and address the issues that are holding you back. This break Beci and I are on right now is time for me to address one of the things that is holding me back. Devotion – I need to develop
the time I spend in devotion to Jesus Christ.

I have something different for our key team meeting this Wednesday.

We will not be meeting at church, instead I would love you to take the time and read this article.

http://www.christianitytoday.com/childrensministry/articles/becominganauthenticleader.html

Then simply reply to this email and write down some thoughts for me about one of the areas Jim talks about.

eg. 2. Leaders are problem solvers. Let me know a challenge or something God has spoken to you about problem solving, or even a problem you have solved in your ministry.

Looking forward to your answers!

God Bless

David Wakerley

I just read a short article in which Mark Batterson was talking about a book by Garry Kasparov titled “How Life Imitates Chess”.

Kasparov won his first world-championship chess match in 1985 and he dominated the chess qworld for several decades. In the book he shares some of the lessons he learned. Here is one of them: “A Grandmaster makes the best moves because they are based on what he wants the board to look like ten or twenty moves in the future.”

That is exactly why I serve children.

In citalopram without prescription their hands is the future – ten or twenty, or fifty years in the future.

The older you get the more you realize you don’t know.

Just when I think I have an insight or handle on things I see or hear a quote that blows me away.

I am a student of culture. cipla generic viagra I study it, disect it, look for the good in it and generally spend my life searching for the glimpses of God that can be found in it. Especially the culture as it relates to kids.

So what you need to do is visit the Catalyst conference website and watch their promo video.

(www.catalystconference.com)

“There’s far too much preaching today coming from culture instead of speaking Gods word to the culture.”
- Craig Groeschel

Anyway it may not be life changing to you, but it reminds me to make sure our kids bring God to their worlds and not let the world overwhelm their God.

Dave out.