The lights are on but nobody is home. #kidmin

Long before Orange Conferences and before the book Think Orange there was Reggie Joiner. I will never forget going to a #kidmin conference in Tulsa, Ok. called Dream. My mentor in books and tapes, Jim Wideman was the children’s pastor at COTM. The general session speaker that night was Reggie Joiner. It was the first time I had ever heard about yellow and red in the context of #thinkorange. I totally knew that when you mix the two colors you get Orange. *Smile* I listened intently as Reggie used the lamp, the orange cones and the gumballs (3000/40). He talked about the lamp stand’s purpose in the temple. The purpose of the lamp stand in the temple was to illuminate the table of shew bread. It was the job of the priest to make sure the lamp never burned out. It was their job to make sure the lamp never moved. The lamp or the color yellow symbolizes the church. It reminds me of how Reggie explained our purpose as the church. We are to illuminate the word of God. If we move the lamp to illuminate our programs we lose purpose and we lose effectiveness. As the church we have one goal and that is to illuminate the word of God. By illuminating the word, God will draw all people unto Himself.


Have you ever heard the phrase – “The lights are on but nobody is home?“ I have but it was used in a bad ”blonde joke” kind of way. This idiom reminds me of the stance most children’s pastors take and families for that matter. The lights are on. As #kidmin we are doing our job. We are shining. We are pouring into the life of a child BUT nobody’s home is our thought. What happens when the child gets home? Is there anyone there speaking into their lives? Some families believed that we (#kidmin) were the only ones equipped for the job of spiritual leadership in the life of their child. I believe that parents love their children and want only the best. That is where red comes in to play. Red symbolizes the heart of the home. It’s not that nobody is home it’s that most parents don’t feel qualified to lead their child spiritually. I believe it was out of that need that Orange was birthed. It was to shed light (pun intended) on the fact that we are to partner with families. We are to so mix yellow with red that all anyone sees is Orange. It is not yellow against red or red is better than yellow or vice versa. We are to unite with one end in mind and that is to reach generations and help them become the spiritual champions that God intended. We are to be mentors in the lives of the families we serve.

I want to say thank you to Reggie Joiner and the whole #thinkorange team for continually stretching me as a #kidmin. Thank you for continuing the conversation.

Thank you also to Bro. Jim Wideman for being one of the leading influences and mentors in my life.

oRANGE

I keep seeing words within words and it’s speaking to me. Ha! Ok stay with me for a few short moments.


Thinking orange encompasses a few different areas but I want to talk about the one that has been on my heart the most and that is – Integrate Strategy. What is strategy? a plan of action with the end in mind. An integrated strategy is aligning leaders and parents to lead with the same end in mind.

Maybe that is why the word RANGE popped off the page today when I was thinking about the Orange marathon among Orange leading #kidmin.

Check out the definitions of range –

1. Range

a. Extent of perception, knowledge, experience, or ability.

b. The area or sphere in which an activity takes place.

c. The full extent covered: within the range of possibilities.

d. A place equipped for practice in shooting at targets.



When I spend time thinking about Orange and how to make it more than a catch phrase at vision team meetings or the color of our ministry shirts; I think about letter (a) of the definition - Extent of perception, knowledge, experience or ability

Am I conveying the message clearly? Do parents grasp the importance? How can I better convey the impact that they possess in the lives of their children? Do they truly understand that there are 8760 hours a year in which the average parents get 3000 to influence the life of their child and I get 40? Do I equip parents and other leaders in kid’s ministry with the knowledge and tools to work together?

I know lots of questions.

How is my training time going with the team that works with me every Sunday? Have we made it the best hour of every kid’s week?


That leads me to letter (b) the area the activity takes place. We get one hour a week and out of 52 weeks a year we may get 40. I would dare say I only get about 25 hours a year. The area or sphere is which the influencing happens is at home. I believe deep in my heart that two combined influences have the greatest impact. In saying that strategy is where it’s at.


Which leads me to letter (c) the full extent covered; a range of possibilities! I know that the end in mind for my own children is that they become fully devoted followers of Christ and that they love and serve with reckless abandon. I believe that the parents that bring their children into Kid’s ministry at CLC want the same.


The home and the church make me think about letter (d) a place equipped where our “arrows” can shoot at the target. The target or end in mind being fully devoted followers of Christ. I need to better equip my parents and my team with the end in mind.

I love my team, my parents and their children (or little arrows). St. Louis Blues fan's say they bleed blue. #kidmin should bleed orange!

dRAMa

As I was thinking about how much I hate drama and how it hurts innocent people; I saw a word within the word – Ram. For a moment I was thrown back, RAM. So, like always I did a word study. Words can bring life and death to any situation. Thus the reason I really want to know the meaning to every word.


We are all guilty of paying for entertainment in the form of a good movie or drama. The drama I am talking about is not on the big screen or the flat screen. It’s in homes and between families. It is vengeful, hurtful and leaves long lasting scars. It doesn’t hit or RAM its intended target at all, it hurts the innocent. The ones we AIM to protect are the very ones that get impinged in the battle. What is the battle all about? Really, I take the side of the innocent. I will not pick up the flying words that get hurled or used to ram another. This is my stand on drama. I stay silent and I realize that in silence I am not helping the hurting.

Look at the definition of ram –

: to strike with violence, to make compact (as by pounding), : to force passage or acceptance of : to strike against violently

Your words bring life or death. What are you speaking? About your ex? About your kids? About your boss? About the neighhbor? etc. Seriously, our children hear everything, even the unspoken sighs, gestures…our body language screams. Choose life! Speak life!

Proverbs 18:21 The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.

Love drama? Then you eat the fruit of destruction. A ramrod is used to bring about destruction. (to load a charge in a firearm)

In your fight for who’s right, you lose the battle. Stop clamoring! It is time to stop and come together. I always get deeply hurt by drama. I love both “flame throwers”. I realized a long time ago though, if I am going to die for a cause it better be a cause worth dying for. I will die to bring peace. I will die to self. I will die(or silence) myself even if I believe I am right. I will love others. I will esteem their needs above my own. I will love God with all my heart, soul, mind and strength AND love my neighbor.

Will you?

Stop the drama at home,
at work,
in your church,
in your neighborhood.

How do you stop it? Do something to show the other person you value them,

Stop the gossip, no really I mean don't listen to it or start it or continue it.

Matthew 5:9
God blesses those who work for peace, for they will be called the children of God.