Hide and Go Seek!

Joey, Billy, Gavin, and Vickie

Recently, Vickie and I went up to Lakeland, Florida for a couple of days so that we could join in on the birthday celebration of our youngest grandson, Gavin. It's difficult to believe that he has already turned 2-years-old. He is an incredibly handsome little boy. (No brag, just fact!)

While we were with Joey and Gavin, I don't know who had the most fun, the grandparents or the grandsons. We laughed, wrestled, tickled, played with toys, and played games. Can you see that Vickie and I loved our time with these boys?

One game that we played with our 4-year-old grandson Joey is the game Hide and Go Seek. To be honest, the game was so much fun. You see, Joey is a horrible hider. He would hide behind window drapes and have his feet in plain sight thus making him easy to be found. At other times, Joey would hide under the dining room table, again, easy to be found. I'm still laughing at the giggles coming from Joey as we would search for this "masterful" hider. If his poor hiding didn't give his location away, his giggles would make it impossible to not find him.

Would you take some time today and discover the Holy Spirit? You see, He is also a horrible hider. In fact, it is safe to say that He is too, too easy to find. He so wants to be discovered in your life and children's services. He hides in plain sight. And, He is so anxious to be discovered, the Holy Spirit is continually talking while He is "hiding". You can't help but find Him ... if you will only take the time to look.

Selah.

An INCREDIBLE Teaching Tool

I found it. I Found it. I FOund it. I FOUnd it. I FOUNd it. I FOUND it. I FOUND It. I FOUND IT. What? One of the greatest tools to help make your teaching come alive.

A couple of months ago, I attended a Royal Ranger Pow Wow (an Assemblies of God district-wide boys ministry campout) with some 2,000+ boys and leaders. The evening services were awesome. But the thing that made the ministry come alive was the Bible story that lead into the altar ministry time. What made the story so much more compelling? The PowerPoint artwork. The slides literally made stories that I've told over and over again during my 30+ years of ministry seem so fresh and new. After the service was over, I rushed to get to the speaker to find out if it was possible for me to purchase the PowerPoint slides. Discovering these stories made the discomfort of sleeping in a sleeping bag and doing without air conditioning worth the inconvenience. I returned to my church and purchased and downloaded the complete set of the Bible stories. Just this weekend, I used the stories The Birth of Samson and The Call of Samson as we taught on hearing the voice of God. The kids sat spellbound! The sample slide shown in this blog taken from The Day of Pentecost story shows the beauty of the artwork.

The slides that I viewed at the Pow Wow and almost 150 more Bible stories are produced by a company in Scotland named Eikon Bible Art. You can go to their website www.eikonbibleart.com to view the complete list of Bible stories.

Here is what you receive in purchasing the artwork:
* Stories available for immediate download.
* Full rights for the stories to be used by every ministry within your church. This means that you can have the downloaded files available for your Sunday school teachers, children's church staff, mid-week Bible clubs, senior pastor, etc.
* A downloadable PDF file for making handouts. The handout contains one page with the key Bible verse and puzzles to re-emphasize the teaching and another page with artwork of the lesson.
* A downloadable teacher's page showing the slides, the Bible background to accompany each slide, and the key points of the lesson.

Cost? It is so inexpensive, especially when purchasing the stories in groups. Use the promo code BURNSBA for an additional 10% discount.

Do yourself a favor. Go to the website today and download both the PowerPoint story and the handout file for The Road to Damascus for FREE. Afterwards, I know that you will want the entire series!

A Case of Stinking Thinking

I am constantly amazed as I watch many children's ministry leaders and workers standing in front of children. You can tell by the way that they talk and act that an emergency medical unit would be needed if anything supernatural actually, or better yet, accidentally happened in their service. These leaders and workers have bought into the philosophy that they are "only" children's ministers. What if anything could happen in a children's service?  

This week, let me share a thought that will change this horrendous mindset. Consider this verse ...

"The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you."
Romans 8:11 (New Living Translation)

This verse shows that abiding inside of me (a lowly children's worker ... if you buy into the totally whacked out philosophy) is the VERY SAME Spirit that accomplished the impossible. Residing inside of me is the VERY SAME Spirit that totally thwarted every single plan of Satan as Christ was came out of that grave!

If this is true (and it is!), why in the world should you walk into a ministry opportunity with little or no expectations? With a revelation of God's Spirit living on the inside of you, you can expect Satan to begin to tweet to all of his imps and cohorts, "Oh NO ... he's back" when your feet enter into the auditorium or classroom. You can rest assured that Satan's proponents will call an emergency meeting to discuss how they will deal with the damage handed to them through your Spirit-empowered, Spirit-led ministry. Principalities, powers, rulers of darkness, and spiritual wickedness in high places will take note of and tremble at any person (this includes Y-O-U) who is fully aware of the Person and power of the indwelling Spirit of God.

Tell those working alongside of you to take their fingers off of their cell phones. There's no need to have the emergency medical unit telephone number on speed dial. Now that you are in your RIGHT mind, be ready. That VERY SAME Spirit will begin to make His presence known!

Ministering With An Advantage

As children's ministry workers, we are always conscious of the importance of going into a ministry opportunity with the classroom properly set up, the lesson studied and restudied, and the right teaching techniques and tools ready to go. We know that the key to successful ministry is summarized in three words ... preparation, preparation, preparation. Am I correct? It's true! We want to go into the ministry time with everything working to our advantage!

Allow me this week to share a thought that will "seal the deal" on what happens in your time of ministry, something that will be to your advantage when you minister to children. Are you ready? It's found in this verse ...

"However, I am telling you nothing but the truth when I say
it is profitable (good, expedient, advantageous) for you that I
go away. Because if I do not go away, the Comforter (Counselor,
Helper, Advocate, Intercessor, Strengthener, Standby) will not
come to you [into close fellowship with you]; but if I go away,
I will send Him to you [to be in close fellowship with you]."

John 16:7 (The Amplified Translation)

Did you catch that? Jesus said that He was going to do something that was to our advantage. That "something" was about a "Someone", the Holy Spirit. 

I won't spend more space writing about this. I believe that the truth is so evident. If we truly want to minister and have everything working to our advantage, we must have this sent one, the Holy Spirit, walk into the classroom with us and minister alongside us to bring about the will of the Father.

My FREE Gift to You

It's quite early on this Monday morning. In fact, it's just after 4 AM. Vickie and I arrived back home just 4 1/2 hours ago from our Regional Ignite the Supernatural Conference held in Lenexa, Kansas. I won't even begin to try to find the words to describe God's goodness at the conference. The words "incredible" and "awesome" fall far short. I guess that it would be safe to write that God outdid Himself as hungry people gathered together to learn how to flow with His precious Holy Spirit. I am honestly living right now in the afterglow of this meeting.

While I loved each and every workshop and general session at the conference, it was evident that there was a special, tangible anointing as I taught the workshop on The Ten Commandments of the Supernatural. The truths are simple and yet so practical and needed. I wish that I could go to every church represented by those reading this blog and personally share this teaching. The day will come (hopefully soon) that I can propagate this teaching in book form. 

While I can't personally travel to every church and personally teach this lesson, I recognize that I can teach this lesson through you. Below, you will find a link that will make this teaching available to you. Download it. Print it. Distribute this teaching to each and every worker in your children's ministry. I only ask two things of you. First, please do not modify this teaching. Secondly, please retain the copyright information shown at the bottom of the teaching. 

www.billyburnsministries.com/downloads/10Commandments.pdf

One more thing. Do me one favor. Write me and let me know how the teaching impacted those working alongside of you. billy@billyburnsministries.com.