Rob Bradbury asked me to speak in the Kidshaper electives this year about a topic near and dear to my heart. I firmly believe that everyone has a creative spark in them, especially when it has to do with your calling in life!  And I’m not just just talking about creativity that immediately springs to mind like songwriting or script writing, but everything from problem solving to preaching to leading volunteers.

This is a brief few thoughts from what I presented at the conference.

Learning how to use your imagination

 1. We have an imperative to create
God tells us to sing a new song. God is the only one who can create from nothing. We simply re-imagine.  BUT stronger can be our desire to hold on to our previous creations – don’t ride any dead horses… dismount.

2. Unblock the Hose
I wrote about this a while ago here. But sometimes you need to figure out HOW before you figure out WHAT. Perhaps you want to create a video for your weekend services but your grand ideas supersede your technical ability. Find someone with the know-how!

3. Give Yourself Space
In my role at Church I have to create a space so I can devote my entire brain area cavity to an idea or issue – and I am confident that I have God given ability to come up with solutions not because I am especially gifted but simply because I am called!

4. Don’t Accept the First Draft
Do not expect platinum without a rewrite. Sit with your ideas for a while before acting on them.

5. Don’t Mix Meetings and Ideas
NEVER. If you are brainstorming with team, stay away from agenda and ‘to do lists’. Focus on the dreams not the doing!

6. Be Mr/Mrs Implementation
Don’t just be known as Mr. Idea.

The bottom line is all this: Effort places value on our children… so take the time and develop your imagination!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Kidinspiration Exclusive Special Report: Kidshaper Book Leaked!

Sydney, Australia – 29 July 2010.

On the 26th of July, 2010 I was contacted by a man who wanted to be known only as ‘Deep_Waffle’ (and yes he insisted on the underscore in his name). He told me he had stumbled on an item that may be of great interest to me.

He claimed to have been drinking a soy latte with candy sprinkles at his local Gloria Jeans Coffee establishment and upon finishing his tasty beverage, was disposing of it noticed a rather bald man with a sizeable grin staring at him from the pages of what appeared to be a substantial book. He recognised the man as Rob Bradbury, a notable 70′s rock musician now a pastor, author, speaker, thinker, father, son, leader and part time lawnmower mechanic.

What was in this book?

What’s it for?

Why is Rob grinning?

Take a close look at the photo from Deep_Waffle.

My feeling that this book is going to be released at this years Kidshaper conference. I have no idea why this is in a coffee shop, but I do know that someone may just loose their job over this in the sprawling Planet Kids compound down there in Melbourne Australia.

Of course there is the potential that this is a hoax, albeit a rather elaborate one, so let’s look at the facts:

• It is 164 pages long
• Full colour, this is no photocopied tract!
• It lines up with this years theme at Kidshaper; TASTE
• As you can see, there is a picture of Rob Bradbury in it. I know for a fact that Rob doesn’t allow the use of his image anywhere…
• There is a stack load of content in it which appears to be from leaders all over the earth.
• The timing seems right, printing this would take a while so the fact that it is ready now for the conference would make sense.
• The team that runs Kidshaper are always trying new things, pushing the envelope – this move would make sense.

Just like the blog Gizmodo which faced legal action from Apple when they revealed an iPhone 4 found in a bar in California, I am not expecting Mr. Bradbury and his well funded suit wearing legal department to take this lying down. Will they deny this or simply stand up and say ‘we messed up’ and apologise to the children’s ministry world?

Updates to come.

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)

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!

Last week our team flew to Melbourne to the Kidshaper conference.

We took most of the staff, and a bunch of volunteers, about 20 people all up.

There is MUCH that could be said about the week. The fantastic input from Glen cialis viagra sale Berteau, the awesome worship from the Planetshakers band and the team from Citikidz in Brisbane. Being massively inspired by the ever youthful Rob Bradbury who is more passionate about reaching kids for Christ than he ever was!

One of the afternoons we sat down as a team and talked about what we felt God was saying to us and others. I really felt that God is pounding the point into my somewhat slow cranium, that I need to pray, believe and expect for miracles with our kids and powerful encounters with God each service!

It’s not just about teaching the word of God, but it is also His presence!

In a country with very few full time ministers to children I am VERY excited to see over one thousand at a conference like this.

So here’s to next year with the statesman that is Jim WIdeman and daughter Yancy!

Even though I didn’t blog much during the conference, I did twitter a bunch, so check the stream out.

So thanks Rob and Team… and I guess I have to write a book now?

At some ungodly hour I will awaken tomorrow and get on a little bus and make my way down south… Way down South to Melbourne to Kidshaper, our annual national Children’s ministry conference.

We are taking not just our staff this year, but a whole bunch of volunteers so it will be a blast!!!

I plan to cialis to buy Twitter the conference which will hopefully be a better experience than the one at our Colour conference a few months ago.

It turns out it’s hard to blog a conference while serving at it! (who knew).

I am speaking in just one elective so I will have a lot more time to comment on the messages and ministry.

So follow the Twitter stream at http://Twitter.com/kidinspiration

If you are coming, see you there! My elective is on Thursday afternoon, come and say hi!

KidsRUs is the national childrens ministry movement of the AoG in Australia. Led by the incredibly profound and the profoundly incredible Rob Bradbury, children’s pastor at Planet Shakers church in Melbourne. He and wife Assunta are committed to training up leaders of passion who will reach and disciple this generation to be all they can be. They have three children Amy, Timothy and Peter who are already a testimony to Rob & Assunta’s gifting with children.

Their yearly children’s Ministry Leadership Conference is on from the 31st Aug to Sept 3 2005. If you are in Aussie, or even NZ… make thy way down south. It promises to be an awesome few days of training and connection… find out more at:

www.kidshaper.com