Mad Church Disease

I am reading the book Mad Church Disease with my team. If you work for a church, volunteer for a church, or go to a church I would highly recommend it.

Last semester, LifeKIDS Stillwater was growing by leaps and bounds. We were having fun in and out of the office and it seemed that nothing could stop us. We let our guard down.

BAD IDEA

Satan was just waiting for a chance to jump into and jumble things up. All of a sudden we were all struggling with things personally and professionally. And it didn't just end with the staff. Our office volunteers were being attacked too. We had gotten so caught up in how fun everything was and how great everything was going that we forgot to cover our backs in prayer and stay broken and yearning for our Father.

If you are working to further the Kingdom of God, Satan is waiting to take you out. It's not a matter of if, but when. In my case, he clouded my mind with tasks and business so that my ministry kicked the Jesus out of my life. I no longer was seeking God FIRST to be my leader and show me what HE wanted. I was trying to do it all on my own. Let's face it, without the Holy Spirit, I'm just not that good.

You can't go too long without Jesus in the Captain's chair without noticing something is really wrong. I started to get worn down and just plain exhausted. Thank goodness, God doesn't let me go too long before He slaps me in face and asks me, "What are you doing?"

So now the question is, "What do I do now?" I feel like have to start over from square one and put Jesus as the foundation of my life and my ministry and start building for there. It may take a bit to get back to land of milk and honey. But I honestly never want to settle there. I never want to be at a place where I feel everything is good and I don't have a need to pursue my #1 anymore. I always want to feel a little uneasy. I never want to feel like I have it all figured out. I want to remain as broken as I feel right now so that I will always remember that with my Savior I am nothing. And only through His work in me that I may have the wonderful opportunity and privilege to impact His Kingdom.

Thanks Gina!

Last week, all the LifeChurch.tv LifeKIDS Directors from all of our campuses got together for a retreat. It was a great time to just shoot the breeze and talk about kids ministry, ask questions, and just compare ideas. And then Gina McClain the LifeKIDS Pastor at the OKC campus shared something with us that just rocked my world.

60-80% of kids who grow up in church will CHOOSE NOT to have a relationship with Jesus once they move out of their parent's house.

60-80%

60-80% of the kids that I minister to each week will choose that a relationship with Jesus Christ is not important to their life.

That sentence felt like a punch in the stomach. Then the doubt started to roll in. What am I doing? Why do I work so hard, loose so much sleep, and care so much if later on, all the LifeKIDS that I love so much will CHOOSE that they don't need a relationship with their Savior.

Then the fighter in me comes out. I will not let another day go by with out doing something to change this statistic. Gina then shared 5 things that parents can do at home to help change the statistic too.

I am one person have the opportunity to invest in these kids at a best of 3 hours a week. Their parents have a considerable greater amount of time. This year I am making it a priority to help parents take back the ownership of disciplining their kids. I don't know how it's going to happen. I don't know what I am going to do or what I am going to say. But I am asking God to change the mindset of parents today...and whatever He would like for me to do. The answer is YES!

Check out Gina's talk here: http://vimeo.com/3168978