Love for the Down Under

I received a question from someone who does not live in Australia why I don't blog more about the greatness that is coming out of the Land Down Under. My response is simple. Shame on Me! Now I know that most of my readers are here in the United States and we can get egotistical sometimes about how cutting edge we are, but we can and should learn more by looking around the world. If you are not aware, Hillsong Kids is doing some incredible things. They are leading the way when it comes to music for Children's Ministry for starters. If you have ever had the thought that kids in elementary can't worship to music then you are doing music wrong for one and two you haven't picked up a Hillsong Kid's DVD. Pick one up and watch kids worship right before your eyes. We use quite a few of their songs and our kids' favorite is "One Way", even though "Jesus in my Life" is a very close second. Also, one of their head guys, Dave Wakerley, has an excellent blog. If you are not reading it you should. Here is the link. One last thing... They are having a conference coming up in July. I have not had the chance to go but I am trying my best to clear my schedule for next year. I know that we have great conferences here in the States but I think we should make it a point to get to Hillsong at least once. By they way, they dress cool too.

I wear socks like that when I play indoor soccer. Maybe I should wear them when I lead worship?!

PureNRG, new music group for kids

As you know, music is one of the most important tools that we can use for Children's Ministry. About 5 years ago we were blessed with a group called Jump 5. This little teen bop group resonated with kids like crazy. We have not had another group capture that excitement since. I am glad to announce that we have another one that is sure to do the same thing that Jump 5 did. The group is called PureNRG. They consist of two 11 year old girls and one 14 year old boy. Your kids are going to love them. Their CD hits the shelves May 1st. Their website is www.purenrgonline.com. There are samples of their music but the site is not totally up yet and won't be until May 1st. So go ahead and impress your kids with the knowledge of what is coming. The funniest song is their cover of Footloose. I am sorry but I had to laugh when I heard it. They are a Christian group and Disney has already picked them up. The advance CD is very good.

The Human Side

I got this question from someone calling himself (I hope it is a him) "Tank":

Mckee, Great idea, but how does it work when 2 of the guys you mentioned are suing each other b/c of stolen ideas?

Now this was in response to a post I have called "A Children's Curriculum Idea". First of all, if you want to comment on this site please feel free. That is why I do this blog and I hope that I have some thought, idea or review that warrants a response. I do ask though that you at least let us know who you are. Tank, thanks for the encouragement about the idea and the question but please let me know how I can contact you.

Okay, that is done and now let me get to my point of why I call this post "The Human Side."

Children's Ministry as a business is like any other industry. You have your major players who have been loyal to their company and have been through many years of trials, hardships, and successes. Because of their experience, vision, leadership, and insight many people follow them and look up to them as mentors. Like any other industry many of those major players change over the years. For instance in Children's Ministry... If you take a look at Saddleback, Willow, and North Point, all of the heads of state are no longer in the same role they where in just 2 years ago. Reggie Joiner is doing his own thing with the reThink Group and doing quite well if I might add. Sue Miller has joined Reggie in the reThink Group. Talk about a dynamic team. I did interview with Willow to see if I could take over for her. I didn't make the cut. I got the, "We think you need more experience. You are just to young. This was after interviewing with them for 3 months. Don't worry, I'm not bitter. Craig Jutila is no longer at Saddleback and is taking a break to refocus himself. By the way, I know I have knocked Craig a little on this site, but I will say that I have the utmost respect for his decision and the way he handled it was nothing but class. I still want him on my bus when it comes to ministry. He is truly gifted. Anyway, Children's Ministry has a human side. Like it or not there is a business side. My hope is that we can get past both of these and get to the ministry side of things. The 2 guys that are suing each other need to come together. Both need to ask for forgiveness and then start working together again. Their stuff was much better when they were on speaking terms. I understand that things went down in a really bad way but it is the past. Sins happen and God gives grace. Believe me, I know I need grace from "ministry" things that I have done and in ways that I have treated people. The most important thing that we can do as Children's ministers is not get caught up on this human side. It isn't going to matter who the next head of state is because they are going to be human as well. Things, people, ministries, and industries change but let us learn from their mistakes. Today's kids need us too and believe me when I say that tomorrow's kids expect us too.

My Favorite Blogger loves Quitters

Seth Godin is my favorite blogger. He is a marketing genius and has many ideas and inspirations that the church can take and better itself. He is one of the few marketing guys who you read and feel that he is being real with you. Seth has a new book coming out this May. It is called "The Dip, a little book that teaches you when to quit and when to stick." You can pre-order it at amazon.com. Seth even has a blog just for this book, which by the way is very smart marketing. In this blog he has asked for quitters who have gone on to be the best in the world at something else. Of course there are famous people who have made the top ten. Now, I know there are some of you out there who have quit your secular job and have gone into ministry. I also know that there are some of you who have done the opposite. There are some days that I wonder if I am following my passion or if I am settling for something that I am good at and enjoy. Other days I couldn't think about doing anything else. I expect this book to challenge me, the blog already has done just that. I hope my honesty hasn't scared you and that you take some time to read this book when it comes out and honestly evaluate yourself and your situation. Now I know that full time ministry is a calling but would you be better for the ministry if you quit working for the church and started working in the secular world? Ministry is still going to happen in both places and so where is your passion? Don't settle working in an area where God hasn't given you a passion. Life is to short and you could be waisting the real ministry God has for you.

Jott Yourself

5 years ago I bought a voice recorder. I was inspired by my boss at the time. He would walk around the church and remind himself of all the things that needed to improve or simply change by speaking into a nice little compact device. He would then have his assistant or himself type out all his notes from the recorder. I saw this as a manager and thought it was a good idea. I tried it for a while and found it very underwhelming but loved the idea. Last week I was introduced to Jott. Jott is a voice recognition web based software that you call with your cell phone and it turns your call into a written e-mail and sends it for you. It attaches the voicemail to the e-mail in case the software does not understand your words. The voice recognition is very nice though so I haven't had to check the voicemail yet. Why is this important? Well, I can Jott myself reminders and have copies of those reminders in my e-mail. I can put groups together and send them all an e-mail by speaking into my cell phone. I can send an e-mail and not be near a computer or have to use my thumbs on my PDA phone. The best part about this service is that it is FREE, at least for now. I am in love with this service. So much so, that I have told everyone in every meeting about it over the last week. I am now what they call a "Citizen Marketer" for Jott. I hope to get Jotts from many of you now. As someone else wrote: Voicemail and E-Mail are now one. Enjoy and go to Jott.

Using Twitter for Ministry

I love to ask the question, "How can this new technology help me minister to kids and parents?" I believe that if we aren't willing to explore then we will be settling for something less and God deserves the best. So as you can read from my post a couple of weeks ago, I was introduced to Twitter.com. Twitter is a new way of mini-blogging that goes to your group of friends instantly through Text Message, Instant Messanger, and through Twitter.com. Twitter simply asks the question "What are you doing?. Believe me when I say that it is huge right now. So how can this new technology be used to minister? I think it could be used by getting Sunday's material in the hands of parents throughout the week. Here is how I am going to use it and how you could use it too:

1. Set up a Twitter account that is for your ministry. Make sure it is not a personal account

2. Let every family know that you are now using Twitter as a ministry tool and invite them to become your friend.

3. On Monday send out a "Tweet" about what the Main Point was on Sunday.

4. On Wednesday send out a Tweet about this week's Bible Verse

5. On Thursday send out a Tweet with the reference of the Bible Story that you used on Sunday.

6. On Friday give them a heads up of what is coming this weekend.

All of this is free for you and depending on how they receive their Tweets is free for them. It gets your message out on days besides Sunday and is far more effective than just a parent piece. The only thing that I would make sure and do is not to send your parents and kids any junk. Make sure it is very intentional with reminders about the lesson and ideas for parents to connect with their kids. This is just one idea. I will let you know how it goes for our church. I know that our parents may not be the most tech savvy but I am going to pick a couple of families to start with this weekend. Do you have any more ideas?