After a little break, it’s time for the next installment of the Non-Negotiables.  In this series, we are reviewing a variety of things in our lives which we cannot afford to give up on in order to “make time.”  Thus far we have looked at:

• An Introduction to the Series
• Prayer
• Time in God’s Word
• Church

Today (and in the next installment), we move on to a struggle that many of us in ministry have faced or do face – making sure that we do not sacrifice family in order to accomplish what we want to in ministry.  Last week, I published an excerpt from Charles Spurgeon’s Evening by Evening Devotional in which he wrote: (more…)

As I write this, I am less than 100 hours from an event that has quickly become a summer tradition in my life.  I call it “Go Dark Week.” It is a week where I unplug from all the technology that pervades our daily lives.  From 12:00 AM August 14th until 12:00 AM August 21st, I will:

• Turn off the TV
• Shut down the computer
• Put away the cell phone
• Turn down the music
• Put away electronic games

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Welcome back to the series where we are examining those activities and pursuits in our day-to-day lives which we can not afford to sacrifice in order to make time for other pursuits.   Thus far, we have introduced the series and talked about both prayer and time in the Word as activities which we cannot afford to forsake.  That brings us to our third Non-Negotiable – church.

In My Testimony, I talk about the general distrust I has of the church prior to accepting Christ as Lord and Savior.  The history of atrocities and abuses committed in the name of the church is undeniable.  Furthermore, there is no doubt that such abuses and atrocities continue today in so called churches around the world.  All of that to illustrate that I did not come from a place where the church was prominent in my life.  Indeed, my relationship with the church has been an area where God has worked mightily in my own life.  I have gone from a true skeptic of organized religion to such an extent that God worked through a very atypical church to draw me to himself in the first place to someone who has become a member of a local church and a proponent of regular church attendance.  My love for Jesus has manifested itself in a love for his church.  That said, it is still easy to miss church, or not get involved enough, or make excuses not to participate – something which we can really not afford to do.

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I hate to admit this, but the show True Beauty just sucked me in. Here is how ABC’s website describes the show:

The attractive contestants assume they’re being judged solely on their physical attributes when, in fact, the episodes will showcase two sides of each person, one that displays outer beauty as well as one that exhibits inner beauty. One person will be eliminated each week based on their behavior and how well they ranked in each challenge, as they’re evaluated and critiqued by the judges. At the end of eight episodes, one winner will be declared who has successfully demonstrated both inner and outer beauty. That winner will receive a $100,000 cash prize and a feature article in People magazine.

The show revolves around a cast of people who believe they are being judged solely on their physical beauty when in fact, the main point of the show is to judge how they act when they think no one is watching.  At the end of the show, the judges show the eliminated contestant hidden camera footage of how they acted when they thought no one was paying attention.

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Welcome to our continuing discussion of the The Non-Negotiables – those things in our lives which must be given the place of first priority and be closely guarded.  These are the things which we must plan for, make time to do, and guard against interruption and skipping.  In previous installments, we have Introduced the idea of Non-Negotiables and examined the importance of Prayer.  Today, we will be discussing the next Non-Negotiable which is near and dear to my heart, and that is the Bible.  I love my Bible.  Ever since I became a Christian and read it for the very first time, I’ve been hooked.  I’ve written about 100 phrases which describe God’s Word…. I’ve written about Psalm 119 – The Word of God, and I started a series featuring 25 Reasons I Believe the Bible. I’ve written about 10 Way to Get Kids Excited About the Bible and cited hundreds, if not thousands, of Bible verses in my articles. And, I’ve done it all because I love my Bible.  I do not worship my Bible, but I worship the one my Bible tells me about.

All that to say – I love my Bible.  Even so, there are times when I struggle to make sure that I read it every day.  There are times when several days slip away, and I realize that I haven’t read my Bible at all.  It’s like Paul writes in Romans 8: (more…)

This past week, I took three days off from work for vacation and headed to the CM Expo in Kentucky (that’s where the VW van was located, not my transportation). In two weeks, I will be taking another week of vacation from my FT job to participate in a children’s summer camp.

All the while, I am watching families that I minister to take vacations to the beach, to the mountains, etc. to relax.  My vacations, however, are focused more on my “part-time job” (children/youth pastor) and my volunteer role serving with regional Awana missionaries rather than for “fun in the sun.”  Oftentimes, the vacation time I do take in scheduled around Sundays so I can be at the Sunday services to serve the children and families in my church.  I really can’t remember the last Sunday I wasn’t at my home church.

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A couple of weeks ago, we started a new series here on Kidmin1124 called The Non-Neogtiables. In this series, we will look at certain activities and undertakings that can not be sacrificed in our attempt to “find” more hours in the day.  During any given day, our time is consumed with so many things including ministry, family, work, chores, relationships, and more.  None of these things are bad, but they all take time.  When we are prioritizing all the things that must get done each day, these items must be placed at (or near) the top of the list.  Bold them.  Highlight them.  Write them in red ink.  Whatever it takes, you have to make sure that these items get done, or the remainder of your list will be rendered completely meaningless.

The first Non-Negotiable we’re going to discuss is prayer.  Every day should be bathed in prayer.  Frankly, every day should start with prayer, end with prayer, and be punctuated by times of prayer as often as possible.  Before we jump write in to talking about prayer though, I feel like I should be a little bit transparent with those of you reading this.  I chose prayer as the first non-negotiable, not because I feel like I have mastered it, but because I realize how far short I fall in this area.  All too often, I find myself praying something to the effect of: (more…)

One of the problems that we often face as volunteers in children’s ministry is maintaining focus in our “day jobs.”  When you are passionate about something, it is hard not to focus on it and hard not to get sidetracked about it.  Think back to the first time you really fell in love.  How much time did you spend thinking about your new love?  How much of your day was consumed dreaming about what the future might hold?  If you are parent, do you remember the first days back to work after your child was born?  How often did you stare at their picture wishing you were home?  How much of your time was spent contemplating/worrying about their future?  How many times did you call home just to see how they were doing?  This tendency towards distraction is consistent in anything that we are passionate about.

When I am not very intentional about it, it is very easy for me to let my passion for children’s ministry distract me when I should be focusing on my day job.  Since I spend a chunk of my day working with computers, it would be quite easy to allow my mind to wander, to dream about children’s ministry, to think about the lesson for the coming weekend and more.  On a more concrete level, things like e-mail, conferences, online research and more can easily interfere with your “day job.”  Instead, I much be very intentional about focusing on what I should be doing at that particular moment.

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As volunteers and/or bi-vocational children’s ministers who are passionate about reaching kids for God, there is one constant battle that we all face.  It is something that we all battle with every day.  That thing is TIME.  More specifically, it finding time to accomplish all of the things we have to accomplish and those things we want to accomplish.  Although Kidmin1124 is only 10 days old, this issue has already been prevalent in the articles featured here.  I think that is because it is a universal problem.  God only gives us a certain number of hours in each week, and between our commitment to our ministries and our other responsibilities outside the church, there never seems to be enough time.  This issue is certainly not unique to volunteers and bi-vocational ministers, but it is certainly prevalent and perhaps compounded by other fulltime jobs and responsibilities.

So, what are we to do about it?  Well, today marks the beginning of a new series here on Kidmin1124, our first series, which I have titled “The Non-Negotiables.”  This is not a series general about time management.  I am sure we will see plenty of that here on this site in the days and weeks to come, but that is not the purpose of this series.  If you’re looking for good resources on time management (especially from a children’s ministry perspective, I suggest you check out Brother Jim Wideman’s book Beat the Clock.  It is chocked full of great advice and ideas from a trusted leader in the field of children’s ministry.  A review and give away of the book will be coming up soon here on Kidmin1124 as soon as I can find the time to write it (and, yes I appreciate the irony of that comment).

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