The Ten Commandments of the Supernatural #2

Years ago, I spoke at a conference and shared a teaching entitled Why Settle for the Natural When You Can Have the Supernatural. It was evident that the room was filled with people dissatisfied with the present status of their ministry. All across the room, people sat weeping as the Holy Spirit ministered. They knew that heaven offered more than what they were experiencing.

It is true. There is more. That longing and dissatisfaction within you is God's Spirit working, prompting you to align yourself with Heaven so that He can move in and among your children.

Last week, I shared the first of The Ten Commandments of the Supernatural. I trust that you've made the changes shared in that teaching. This week, we'll share the second commandment.

Commandment #2 Thou Shalt Connect With Your Children
This commandment ties in with the first commandment. Often, many children's ministry workers arrive just before time that class is to begin and then race to set up their room, locate the ministry equipment that mysteriously disappeared during the week, and then start the service. In doing so, they have set into motion two enemies to a supernatural children's ministry.

1. Neglecting the Opportunity to Connect. Believe it or not, many children's workers miss out on one of the most powerful times of ministry. Long before your feet hit the platform to start the service, the opportunity for supernatural ministry can be in motion! You see, supernatural ministry can begin at the very instant that the first child walks into the room. That one-on-one time with an individual child before your class time begins can produce equal if not greater results than your platform ministry. How is this possible? 1 Corinthians 13 tells us of the greatness and power of love and Romans 5:5 tells us that this love is a supernatural work of the Holy Ghost. I have witnessed over and over again the ministry of the Holy Spirit as I connected with and gave my undivided attention and love to a child. It is amazing how 45 seconds or 2 minutes can eternally impact a child's life.
2. The Wrong Kind of Connection. In arriving just in the nick of time, there is a connection of the wrong kind, one that can thwart any move of the Holy Ghost. I really don't need to provide much explanation because this happens far too often. Our late arrival causes our attention to be distracted from the children as we frantically put things together. We are confused and bewildered as we race to make things happen. Soon, our confusion, bewilderment, and anxiety permeates the room and sets in motion a ministry catastrophe. Why? Because there is a spiritual connection with the children. The children pick up and join in on our confused, anxious spirit. The end result is chaotic.

See you next week with Commandment #3.

The Ten Commandments of the Supernatural #1

While teaching recently at an Ignite & Unite Conference in Montego Bay, Jamaica, I taught a workshop entitled The Ten Commandments of the Supernatural. I had so much fun teaching the workshop that I'd have bought the CD of the teaching myself. The teaching is just good solid, foundational information that we need to hear over and over again. When followed, the commandments open the door for the Holy Spirit to begin to manifest in our services.

For the next few weeks, I'll share these commandments with you. Please share these commandments with those who work alongside you in your children's ministry. Let's jump in ....

Commandment #1 Thou Shalt Maximize Your Time

I know that this doesn't sound spiritual, much less supernatural. But, believe me it is. Most children's ministries operate within a defined time frame. In other words, your service begins and ends at specified times. And while we know these boundaries and that we only have XX number of minutes with our children each week, many children's leaders and workers fail to maximize this opportunity.


There are two ways to maximize your ministry time.
1. Start on Time. It is amazing how often that we put restraints upon the Holy Spirit because we have crowded our ministry time by starting late. Many consistently start their service late and thus shorten the time available for the Holy Spirit to move. By starting late, we minister under a time pressure to get everything done in a shorter amount of time. Because of our tardiness, the teaching becomes less effective because we feel the pressure to rush through the teaching. Altar ministry becomes non-existent. Should there be a few minutes for the altar ministry, we are interrupted by impatient parents who are walking into the service to pick up their children.

What about churches or even cultures that tend to perpetually arrive late? Shouldn't we wait on the kids to arrive so that they won't miss anything? NOPE! Start on time. Waiting and starting late only perpetuates the problem. To solve this problem, try this positive reinforcement. When the service starts (at the designated time), distribute On Time certificates to all of the children who are on time. Midway through the service, have the On Time certificate winners to stand to their feet and make a big deal about this select group of children. Then, show the prize (make it something worth drooling over) that they will receive at the end of the service. Finally, at the end of the service when the On Time certificates are redeemed, once again make a big deal about the big prize received for being on time. Then, do this again the next week. You could do this for several weeks or announce that it will be done sporadically. Believe me, this will get the children to your service on time. They will be waking up their parents at 5 AM so they will get the On Time certificate.

2. Redeem the Time. This is scriptural. "Make the most of your opportunities because these are evil days." (Ephesians 5:16, God's Word Trans.) We all know that if we wear a size 34 pair of pants to not squeeze a 40 inch waist into the pants, right? And yet, we consistently try to squeeze 120 minutes of ministry into the allotted 9o minute time frame. We rush. We push. Racing through the over-packed schedule leaves no room to deviate because we have so much to accomplish. What if we placed LESS into the service and made time for Him to talk and demonstrate that He is in the room? Honestly examine your service. There are things that we all do that are time eaters, things that push us up to the time when the parents are impatiently waiting for us to finish the service. Let's redeem the time. Let's make the brief few minutes that we have with the children count by making room for the Holy Spirit to minister.

See you next week with Commandment #2.

Lord, Do It One More Time #3

The old adage is so true. Sometimes we aren't able to see the forest because of the trees. In other words, the things (obstacles, challenges, etc.) immediately in front of us can prevent us from seeing the bigger picture (the complete work of God). It is all too easy to look at those "angels" who seemingly aren't being moved by the Holy Spirit and begin to lose hope. Week after week, you pray and prepare, pray and prepare, and then pray and prepare some more and yet what you've prayed for just isn't manifesting. The trees (the unmoved boys and girls) are preventing you from seeing the forest (the underlying work of God).

So, when those times come (and those times can come all too frequently), I find it important to pull back and begin to remind myself of the things that I know to be true. I begin to remind myself about who God is. I meditate upon the integrity of His Word and promises. I encourage myself by remembering that what God has done in the past, He can and will do again ... for those who believe! Soon, the confusion and disillusionment dissipates and disappears.

Allow me in this third and final segment of the Lord, Do It Again One More Time blog series to encourage you. Know that the same Holy Spirit that worked in and through the child mentioned in John G. Lake's Adventures in God is at work in your children and children's ministry. Remember that if the Holy Spirit did it once, He can do it again!

John G. Lake. “I was sitting one day in the home of the DeValeras in Krugersdorp, South Africa, when a man arrived who had ... been following me from place to place, trying to catch up with me. He ... had developed a large cancer. He came into the house and ... in a little while a 6-year-old child who had been sitting near me went across the room, climbed on the man’s knees, put her hands on his face, and prayed. I saw the cancer wither. In half an hour, the thing had disappeared.” John G. Lake, Adventures in God (Tulsa: Harrison House, Inc., 1981), 15,16.

Join me one more time in crying out, "Lord, do it one more time" in my children and children's ministry!

Lord, Do It One More Time #2

Last week, I shared that if we can read in the Word or in times gone by of God working supernaturally in a certain area then we can have a precidence for asking Him doing it again. We can be confident of the fact that if God has done it before, He can do it again.

The reason for this series of blogs is to show that history records times of God moving supernaturally in and through boys and girls. And, in seeing this, it should cause us to cry out, "Lord, do it again. Send your Spirit to my children's ministry. Pour out your Spirit upon my children so that they can be mightily used of you. Lord, please do it one more time!"

This week, let's look at another time in history of God coming upon children...

Welsh Revival, Evan Roberts, 1904. "While this was a revival of youth, children were so taken up with the things of God that they held their own meetings in homes, barns, yards; many from the age of 10 would exhort, sing and pray with great power. Many young children took part in public meetings as well." Mary Stewart Relfe, Cure of All Ills,(Montgomery: League of Prayer, 1988), 86 "Children began to sing and pray for hours."Wesley Duewel, Revival Fire (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1995), 165.

Join me. Together let's cry out, "Lord, do it one more time!"