[Kid Inspiration]

For the second year in a row I made a quick visit to ole U.S.America to be a part of the CPC conference in San Diego.

We even took a stand along for our Hillsong Kids BiG Curriculum – which has now got a full year of School age material! (hillsongmusic.com)

It was awesome to hang out with Mike Vogel from Hillsong NYC and catch up with a bunch of people from the land of the free.

There is a lot to say about the conference, Michael Chanley is leading this in exciting and promising directions, and I can already see the impact here in Australia of their efforts to support the international efforts of children’s ministry!

So, check out incm.org to find out more, and for now you will have to watch the Orlando highlights video because the San Diego highlights does not seem to have made its way to the internets (Channers let’s get on it).

That’s a lot of letters that really do make sense (New South Wales Children’s Ministry Network).

If you are an Australian pastor or volunteer working with kids, there is one network in Aus that can open your eyes to the wider Church around you doing amazing work. The mission statement fromt the website:

“We are a Christ Jesus-directed, active, energised, statewide network of people with shared vision for effective ministry with children that sees children become passionate and effective disciples of Jesus NOW.” 

To be honest the website is a barely functioning barren wasteland, but having been to a few gatherings here in Sydney the people involved are anything but!!!

It’s a group of very diverse people who all are reaching kids in significant way that I would ordinarily never get to interact with.

So if you are in the Sydney area and are not a part of this great network, then please download this flyer and leave a comment with your email so I can add you to the list of email getterers.

Photo Credit: Toni Verdú Carbó via Compfight

My first ever CPC just happened in San Diego.

Here’s the thing.

When you come to a kids pastors conference in Australia, maybe only 25% of the delegates would be paid in any capacity. Now that lends a unique feel to a conference, and it is beautiful to see the volunteering, sacrificial attitude that so many people have.

So to get into a room with so many full time/family pastors/even preteen pastors was awesome!

Five things about CPC that were cool!

1. The Resource/expo/exhibit hall thing. It was massive! So many publishers and resource providers I totally geeked out and got every free sample I could possibly get.

2. Meeting my fellow bloggers. So I have been blogging for a lifetime in internet years now (9 years) and have never met many of the authors of other great kidmin blogs. It was great to finally meet them… and the great thing about it was realising we had so much more in common. They were on the same ‘wavelength‘ as me and connecting was really easy. So thanks @dalehudsoncm @mikefjohnson @samluce, @mattmckee, @kidologist, @jonathancliff, @jimwideman, + others I have just left out for sure.

3. Michael Chanley. You gotta question, @michaelchanley knows who can answer it. It was fascinating watching him negotiate and lead his first CPC… (I  love observing people in leadership positions – especially new ones)

4. The Lakewood guys. While I was at CPC my pastor @BrianCHouston was speaking at Lakewood Church and I was having lunch with Lakewood champion pastors @claytonhurst and @craigjohnson5 and talking about possibly the most important question for children’s ministries right now – special needs. (6 million kids in the US!)

5. My underground secret breakout session. So my breakout time changed from Thursday to Tuesday morning and no one really knew. I was talking about creativity and leadership and stuff and one of the 12 people who attended was Mike Johnston from Fellowship Church, creator of Elevate Curriculum and general all around long-term pastor legend was one of them. Oh man. What do you do? Well you just go for it! (I was an honour Mike, thanks for taking the time)

I will be posting the notes online from the session soon and the recording will probably be available from the INCM website.

According to this infographic at openchurch.org I am kind of a big deal.

You can find me in the white global influencers list in the international section.

I have met over the last few years a large number of incredibly faithful kids pastors and leaders. A large percentage of the people who lead children’s ministries in Australia are volunteers and give a large chunk of their time to their local Church to see the ministry to children move forward.

I think these leaders have a HUGE amount to say to everyone involved in ministering to children. I am fascinated with the different forms that our little world of ministry takes on. Just last year a network that had seemingly languished here in NSW was resurrected and is finding it’s feet again. I have been able to be a part of a few of the gatherings and it has been such a blessing just to connect with leaders from other denominations across the spectrum of ministry in Australia. The Salvation Army people, Anglicans, Baptists and representatives from World Vision.

Now I don’t travel around very much except perhaps to the Kidshaper conference each year. But mainly I get to invite hundreds of pastors to the kids stream at our annual Hillsong Conference. So for me the net is a vital connection to leaders around this sunburnt land.

Maybe it’s the Tall Poppy thing in our culture – but my experience is that very few leaders in Australia a good at telling their own story.

There is so much God stuff going on with our kids in Australia I want to read some more about this, I want to hear more about this.

The most significant thing we have done in the last few years is start a preteen ministry. I wrote about it here: Re: Ideas for Children’s Ministry and have spoken about it everywhere I get the chance. What a WASTE if I had never shared the experience of starting this program and the blessing that it has been (I think I should talk more about it actually), and simply kept it to ourselves.

Right now someone is sitting on a story that will inspire me (or anyone) to greater effectiveness and new vision but they choose the path of least resistance and keep it to themselves. That’s not humble, that’s irresponsible.

<And Breathe…>

Here are some people telling the story of what God is doing in Aus:

Rob Bradbury is the Godfather Children’s ministry in Australia of has a new blog.

Children’s Ministry 1234 – The Planetshakers kids team

Brendon and Cathie Clancy – Kids worship leaders and pastors

Chris Neal – Keep writing Chris

Nathan Mclean – On Hillsong Kids staff at our Hills Campus!

Andrew Shepherd – 25 years in ministry and passionate as the day is long!

Funny Man Dan – My very own muffin of mirth keeping you smiling since 1984

Kathryn Macdowall – Hillsong Kids staff and the worlds greatest curriculum writer

Uniting Church – News from the Uniting Church in Australia

This was a pretty quick list and far too small. I am sure it needs to grow. If you know of others please leave a comment below and I will edit this post!

P.S. This is kinda like a part two of my last post Blogging Matters.

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The latest edition of Children’s Ministry Magazine, as part of their 20th celebration features an article called 20 to Watch.

I haven’t got the print version yet (it’s a long boat to Australia), but just checked out the article online.

They wrote a particulary great sentence that sums up a big part of my passion about kids!

David wants the church to lead the way in innovative educational models for children. He has “a real hope for a revolution in the homes of our families” so there’s “a radical Christian counter-culture, not just a Christian subculture.”

Nice!

I don’t think I could have said it better myself. We have an opportunity in this generation to revolutionise learning and engage our kids better than any other institution on earth!

It is really an honour to be a part of this amazing list. I moved to Australia with my wife Beci to attend Bible College and then go back to New Zealand, what God had planned is far above anything I could hope for or imagine. Two boys, a bunch of albums, curriculum, thousands of kids impacted over the years and to be part of this incredible Church called Hillsong.

So thanks to Christine and her team!

We are once again ramping up for Hillsong Conference in July!

I love conference time each year… the air is crisp, the sun bright but ineffective, winter is all around and we all get precious little sleep as we present our annual conference to champion the cause of the local church.

KIDSONG 2010 promo from Hillsong Church on Vimeo.

So, Hillsong Kids team, we want to hang out with you and a couple thousand kids! Make plans to be there. Ministry leaders come along, if you are in the leadership stream we would love for you to be a part of our Children’s Pastors and Leaders electives!

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#napconf is the hashtag for this years Napkin Conference in Las Vegas.

Man I love it!

With a bunch of like minded people who care about kids – even more than that, the kind of of people who don’t get all freaky about going to ‘sin city‘… the truth is Jesus was all about being where the sinners were!

So the room is full of ‘My People’!

More than any other conference I have attended, I feel like this is a group of friends learning from each other.

Congrats digoxin online overnight to Pastor Justyn – the first day was sensational! Looking forward to the second day.

P.S. Nathan Mclean, Carlos and I went $1 Graveyard bowling at midnight at the Hotel and Mclean bowled 6 strikes in one game for a score of 160! A true 2am champion!

I am pretty pumped about this becuase for the first time ever Hillsong Church has created an official online forum!

So if you have been to Hillsong Conference in the last two years or a member of our network then you should have a login for the new online community all based dangerous generic viagra around Conference.

Check it out!

The deepest craving of human nature is the need to be appreciated. – William James

This is an excerpt from When “Thanks” Isn’t Enough – 3 Steps to Gratitude that Empowers from the blog of Keith Ferrazzi.

…His favorite version of the Power Thank You was inspired by Heidi Wall, the co-founder of the Flash Forward Institute here in LA. It has three steps:

1. Thank the person for something specific that he or she did for you. (It can also be something the person refrained from doing that would have hurt you.)
2. Acknowledge the effort it took for crestor sales the person to help you by saying something like: “I know you didn’t have to do _______” or “I know you went out of your way to do_______.”
3. Tell the person the difference that his or her act personally made to you.

Mark writes, “If a person performs an extraordinary act of kindness or assistance and all you say is ‘thanks,’ you create a mirror neuron receptor gap because emotionally you’re not giving back as much as you received. Saying ‘thanks’ is better than nothing, but it’s not good enough” (emphasis mine).

Read On

There is pretty much one conference I attend each year that I have nothing to organise and that is Kidshaper. It is the national ACC children’s ministry conference in Melbourne Australia.

I get to just attend and enjoy it!

Except this year I had the honour of speaking as a keynote to the hundreds of awesome men and women of God who sow their lives into the kids of Australia and New Zealand and the world!

You can read a report from the official blog of Kidshaper CM1234

And follow Rob Bradbury (national grand poo-bah of Kids R Us) on twitter.

But from a personal perspective it was such a great few days receiving leadership and wisdom from Papa Smurf himself Jim Wideman and so many other leaders around this nation.

I really felt God speak to my heart about great steps forward both personally and for our church. It was a profound week and I love seeing the same faces each year knowing there are so many volunteers out there running ministries with a heart for God and kids.

If you are one of those people who perhaps is out there running your ministry as a volunteer without a big network of like minded people around you:

1. Find out who is close by you from Kids R Us… make contact and make yourself known. I know Rob and his team would love to support you.
2. Contribute – it’s the greatest way to connect. Write a nice comment on someone’s blog, reply to them creatine prices on twitter. Connection is not all about the phone and face to face anymore. As you give you will receive. Send a resource to another Church, help them out. You may just find a lifetime ministry friend.
3. Come to Kidshaper next year and say hi.

Thanks Rob and team!

Under increasing international pressure and a well funded lobby group I need to tell you about one of the greatest new compare price metformin blogs online.

You may know Funny Man Dan from our Hillsong Kids DVD’s and as the HipHopAPotamus in Love Never Fails.

The fact is he is also a brilliant writer and a great friend who I have watched impact the lives of so many young people over the years.

So you need to read The Thursday Blog. Yep, he writes once a week on a Thursday.

Please stop by and leave a comment… he is completely obsessed with stats (like most new bloggers) so send some friends.

So a month ago we had our annual Men’s Conference here at Hillsong. It was probably our most significant one at a time when Men are really needed to assume leadership and take a stand for Christ in their families.

claritin buy target=”_blank”>Robert Fergusson talked about the empty chair. His father died when he was eight and left an empty chair… but you don’t need to be dead to be vacant in areas of your life.

And I was really pumped to see Perry Noble speak as a guest speaker at the conference. I have been reading the dude’s blog for a couple of years and he just oozes passion. I also love reading one of his Children’s Pastors blog… shout out to Pudge! When a new post pop’s up from his blog I REALLY read it.

Anywoo… Perry bought a bunch of people along with him one of whom was Cherie Duffy the Children’s Pastor at Newspring!

It was fantastic meeting her and I dug up some stories on Pudge  (not really buddy) and generally connected with a passionate advocate of kids in the South of the US.

Now the reason I am blogging it now it because I realised after seeing the following video that I had not blogged about the conference or indeed the very Noble Perry, The video is at Tony Morgan’s blog

So check out the video below and subscribe to Tony’s blog, it’s top of my reading list!

Cover of K Mag.

Earlier this year I was invited to be a part of a fantastic new venture… K!

K! Magazine is sweeping children’s ministries around the globe. Each issue is jam-packed with practical articles, great ideas, claritin 10 mg and the best tips for ministering to 21st century kids and their families.

There are very few magazines of this calibre about ministry to kids in the world!!

So here is what you should do…

Go to www.thekmagazine.com and then click on the “Bulk Subscription” link to learn more about bulk subscriptions and rates… buy some for your whole team!!

In this months edition you can read what I wrote about Private Devotion and Public Passion – Training kids to worship God Monday through Saturday.

And in the next – The Air They Breathe.

I write with my wife Beci about the journey of Hillsong Kids Praise and Worship!

Check it out now.

So a dude by the name of Michael Chanley started a site called cmconnect.org

You can see his page on the site here http://www.cmconnect.org/profile/MichaelChanley

This site is part of the Ning.com network which simply according to them is an “online service to create, customize, and share a social network.”

Which is a fantastic way to start a site. They provide the technical expertise and support and you focus on the connections and building the network.

So far they have over 2,000 members which is great for such a niche site online!

This is turning into one of the great sites online to connect with others of same heart and focus. Kidology.org is the biggest one of these with 20,631 members in the forum (although, I am not sure how many of those post regularly… I know I am a slacker recently).

So here’s what you do, hop on over to cmconnect.org and create yourself a profile. invite me to be your friend! http://www.cmconnect.org/profile/DavidWakerley

Well cipro generics done Michael!!