Are You Smarter Than the Average Bear?

If you are a product of the 1960's, you grew up watching some incredible cartoons. There's nothing on television today that remotely comes close to cartoon shows like The Jetsons or The Flintstones or cartoon characters like Bugs Bunny or Woody Woodpecker or Top Cat or Tweety Bird or Magilla Gorilla!

One of my all time favorites is the Hanna-Barbera cartoon character Yogi Bear. If I close my eyes, I can still see him looking at his Jellystone Park sidekick, Boo Boo, and saying, "I'm smarter than the average bear." Yogi snatched many a picnic basket as he showcased his brilliance.

Whether you are a Yogi Bear or an average bear like me, here is a truth found in God's Word that is so simple to understand. In praying with boys and girls to receive the infilling or baptism in God's Holy Spirit, you don't have to be smarter than the average bear to know that you know that you know that God ALWAYS wants to pour His Spirit into our children. Luke 11:13 makes His will known.

"Even though you are bad, you know how to give good things
to your children. How much more your heavenly Father
will give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” 

Luke 11:13 (New Century Version)

It's so plain. It's so simple. Even Yogi would know that it is God's unequivocal will to ALWAYS baptize EVERYONE (and this includes children) who asks to be baptized with His precious Spirit. 

I love what Charles Finney stated in his Revival Lectures.

  

"God says he is more ready to give his Holy Spirit to them that ask him, than parents are to give bread unto their children. Here we are bound to believe that we shall receive it when we pray for it. You have no right to put an if, and say, "Lord, if it be your will, give us thy Holy Spirit."  This is an insult to God. To put an if into God's promise, where God has put none, is tantamount to charging God with being insincere. It is like saying, "O God, if thou art in earnest in making these promises, grant us the blessing we pray for."

Are you smarter than the average bear? If not, don't be discouraged. Luke 11 tells us to give our brain a  break. No thinking is required. When you pray with a child to receive this gift from heaven, they can and will be filled to overflowing. It's just that simple. So, go ahead and allow the children to ask. Rest assured. They will be filled with the Holy Spirit!

Be Bold? Who Me? YEP!!!

For my daily devotions this year, I've chosen to just read through the New Testament. I'm doing this for several reasons. First, it's not an overwhelming amount of reading each day. Like you, my life is full and extra time just isn't in my schedule. Secondly, I am using a program (Laridian PocketBible) on my iPad that allows me to have a screen showing three panels. I have it set up so that the Scripture is in the full left panel and then the two right panels (one on top of the other) are two commentaries. Thus, I'm not spending too much time each day because my reading is usually just one chapter PLUS I get to dig a little into each reading. Pretty cool!

Here's something that I've discovered in reading in my readings in Matthew's gospel. In the first 16 chapters, I've noticed twice that the people marveled at Jesus' authority. (Matthew 7 and 9). What's significant about this? Many of these people knew Jesus personally. After all, in His childhood, Jesus had played with their kids. He perhaps lived in a nearby town and they had bumped into each other from time-to-time. They knew that He was Joseph and Mary's son. For some 30 years, there wasn't anything significant about Him. He was just Jesus of Nazareth. Now, for some strange reason, this Jesus guy is different. There is a boldness and power about Him.

They same could be said about Peter and John in the Book of Acts. After the miracle found in Acts 3, we read that the Jewish leaders marveled at the power and authority demonstrated at the healing of the lame man. In Acts 4, the astonished leaders begin to discuss what they knew about Peter and John. They had known these men for years. As kids, they had dealings with each other. Peter's mom knew their mothers. They used to skip school together. They knew for a fact that Peter and John weren't the most brilliant guys around. But now, for some strange reason, Peter and John are different.

Here is the common denominator. The "change in life" occurred after the infilling of the Holy Ghost. It's the truth! Read through the Gospels and you'll notice that nothing of significance was recorded in Jesus' first 30 years. But, after the infilling of the Holy Ghost, people began to take note of what He said and what He did. The same could be said about Peter and John. Up to the Day of Pentecost, their bio sheet wasn't anything to brag about. Right? Failures and disappointments abounded. But, after being filled with the Holy Ghost, things were different. A new-found boldness and authority permeated from these men.

I'm writing this blog today to remind you that the same Holy Ghost who turned insignificant, unnoticeable individuals into men who changed the world now lives on the inside of you. That same boldness is abiding inside of you. That same authority resides in you. So, don't sit back. Stand up. Speak up. Dare to believe God. History is waiting to tell your story!!!

What is Your Expectation Level?

I love reading the nineteenth chapter of Acts. Each time that I read it, I see things that somehow or another suddenly appear in this chapter that I've never noticed before. I know what is happening. As I read it over and over again, the Holy Spirit turns the black ink into red ink. I love when this happens.

Recently, I was reading this chapter again and I had trouble reading past verse 6. Let me share the verse with you:

"Paul put his hands on their heads and the Holy Spirit entered them.

From that moment on, they were praising God in tongues

and talking about God's actions." 

Acts 19:6 (The Message Bible)

Here is what the Holy Spirit told me in this verse. When Paul laid his hands upon the Ephesians, he got what he expected. I know that this truth is so, so simple. But evidently, it must be too simple ... simple enough that many have overlooked it.

Consider this. When you lay hands upon the children in your ministry, what do you expect? If the truth be known, many would be shocked if anything happened. The shock would cause them to pass out and their co-workers would have to do mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to revive them. To watch and listen to some leaders and workers pray, you can tell that the expectation level is mighty low.

That wasn't the case with Paul. In fact, just a couple of verses later it states that Paul was speaking boldly. His ministry in Ephesus was marked with boldness and confidence.

Let me challenge you. Lay hands upon the children and pray with authority, expecting God to supernaturally, instantaneously enter into the children and deliver what He has promised. Pray with confidence. Don't be timid. Your reputation isn't on the line. Move your expectation meter up to the highest level and get ready. Testimonies will soon follow!

Pentecost

I recently discovered and then downloaded to my iPad three books written by a great British Pentecostal pioneer Alexander A. Boddy. The first of the books, The Laying on of Hands, was written in 1895 and the remaining two, Pentecost for England and (The True) Pleading of the Blood, were written in 1907. It was through the influence of the Anglican Alexander and his wife Mary that a move of God's Spirit began to sweep across the United Kingdom at the beginning of the twentieth century. Mary often prayed for people to receive the Baptism in the Holy Spirit. The most famous of these is Smith Wigglesworth.

It was in the book Pentecost for England that I discovered a thought that I continue to meditate upon and trust that it will be a blessing to you.

Pentecost is a baptism of praise, coming over the balconies of heaven from the glorified presence of our Savior, having an unmistakable relation to His glorification, fills us with His glory striking the chords of praise we never dreamed existed in our souls and finding adequate expression only in the tongues, which come with it the scenes of heavenly praise and adoration above. 

Boddy's statement reminds us that being Pentecostal isn't a denomination. It is ... well, reread the quotation again and allow the Holy Spirit define His presence in your life.

Meet My Friend, the Holy Spirit

Just a quick question which is inspired by my recently reading Acts 19. If the apostle Paul were to visit your church as he did the church in Ephesus and ask the question, "Have you received the Holy Spirit since you've believed?" would the boys and girls in your Sunday school class or children's church or mid-week Bible club give the same answer as the Ephesians?

Let's be honest. In most churches, children would echo the response of the Ephesians, "We haven't even heard that there is a Holy Spirit." I'm talking about churches that fall under the category of being Pentecostal or Charismatic.

Take this challenge. Please, please, please, please (I could keep typing this word over and over again) introduce your boys and girls to this Person who has been called to walk alongside of them. Allow them to meet and fall in love with this Counselor, Helper, Advocate, Intercessor, Strengthener and Standby. Your children and your ministry will never ever be the same again!

Need some help in making this introduction? I'm always just an email away. billy@billyburnsministries.com

Leading Children into the Baptism in the Holy Spirit

As a child, I'd hear from time-to-time a challenge or dare from a friend to try to prod me to do something that I was uncomfortable doing. One of these challenges was to dive off of the high diving board at our local swimming pool. From the perspective of a ten-year-old, that diving board towered ten million miles above the pool's deep-end waters. To me, that seemed so impossible. So, for many weeks, I endured the taunts from these "friends" as they labeled me as being a great big "fraidy cat" or "scaredy cat". To this day, if I close my eyes, I can still picture these kids attempting to pressure me to do what I feared to be impossible. 

Often after completing a regional Ignite the Supernatural Conference, I have the privilege of preaching in the Sunday morning service of the host church. After preaching on the subject of the Holy Spirit, giving the altar call, and having many people baptized in the Holy Spirit, I have heard pastor after pastor comment upon how easy it seemed for me to bring people into this beautiful relationship with the Holy Spirit. They comment at how difficult it is for them to minister in this area. And, to be honest, as I hear their words, I can almost see an all-too-familiar look in their eyes. It's that same "fraidy cat" and "scaredy cat" look that came from a ten-year-old boy looking at the incredibly high diving board. 

Let me briefly share why ministering on the Baptism in the Holy Spirit and giving an altar call for people to be filled with the precious Holy Spirit is so, so easy for me. ALL that is required of me is to share the message and give the invitation. The rest of the responsibility is upon God and the individuals standing in front of me. I see this in Luke 11:13. 

"Even though you are bad, you know how to give good things
to your children. How much more your heavenly Father

will give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"
Luke 11:13 (New Century Version)

I tell about the Gift from heaven and then it becomes God's responsibility to provide the Gift and the individuals responsibility to receive and open the Gift. And, Luke 11:13 tells us that God is anxiously awaiting to provide this Gift to EVERYONE who asks Him. Pressure? Are you kidding? This is easier than jumping off of a high diving board!

Let me tell you, it's time to wipe the "fraidy cat" and "scaredy cat" look off of your faces. Sunday school teacher, children's church leader, mid-week Bible club worker .... prepare the way through teaching/preaching and then boldly, confidently give the opportunity for the Giver to give His Gift to those children who ask. If you will do your part, then you can provide the opportunity knowing that God WILL most assuredly baptize ALL who ask.

One more thought ... I did wipe the "fraidy cat" and "scaredy cat" look off of my face and conquered the high diving board at our West Columbia community pool. The high diving board became the highlight of the trips to the pool.

The Command

While reading through Acts 1 last weekend, I could sense the urgency in Jesus' time with His followers. Look at this ...

And, being assembled together with them, commanded
them that they should not depart from Jerusalem,
but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he,
ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water;
but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost
not many days hence. Acts 1:4-5

Did you notice that He commanded them to remain in Jerusalem and wait for the promise of the Father? Jesus didn't suggest that if it was convenient or if they might be able to rearrange their schedules to hang around Jerusalem for a few extra days. The urgency shows that this directive wasn't something that He said as a passing statement that might be considered questionable or be easily misunderstood. Why? Because Jesus knew that the furtherance of the Kingdom depended upon His followers being endued with power (verse 8). Jesus knew that no "when the Holy Ghost is come upon you" would equal no "Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth."

The reason for this week's blog entry is quite simple. Have you shared this same urgency with your children? Have you shared the command that your children not leave your "upper room" (a.k.a. your children's church auditorium or Sunday school classroom or midweek Bible club) until they have received the promise of the Father? Perhaps your lack of urgency might be the reason that there is no Jerusalems and Judaeas and ....

Let's follow Jesus' example and, in doing so, we will see children leaving your upper room and begin to turn their worlds upside down. (Acts 17:6)

Certification of Delivery

We recently concluded a series of lessons entitled The Helper which tells of the sending of the Holy Spirit. The four lessons were:

* I Won't Leave You Helpless
* Let Me Introduce the Helper
* Jesus Promised, God Delivered, the Helper Came
* The Helper & You

In this blog entry, I want to share an object lesson from our third lesson. Hopefully you can use this in your ministry.

"The Helper Came"
Props: Bible, Envelope, Certified Mail Slip
Slides: Optical Illusion (easily found on the internet), Acts 2:4

I’m sure that you’ve all seen optical illusions before. (Show slides of optical illusion.) While looking at this picture, you are seeing a picture and quite possibly the person sitting beside you that is looking at the same picture sees something entirely different. This can cause quite a bit of confusion.

When our heavenly Father was sending the Helper, He wanted to insure that there was no confusion. He wanted each and every person receiving the Holy Spirit to know that they know that they know that the Holy Spirit had been sent as promised.

So, when this gift was sent from heaven, God eliminated all confusion by providing a proof of delivery. Just like certain types of mail sent by our United States Postal Service require an evidence of the envelope or package arriving (show envelope with attached Certified Mail slip), heaven made it so evident of the arrival of this Helper by a proof of delivery found in today's Bible verse.

“They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they began
to speak different languages.” Acts 2:4 (New Century Version)

Did you see the evidence or the proof of delivery? Our verse says that when the Holy Spirit arrived, each of the 120 people began to speak in a heavenly language. How do we know that this was the proof of delivery? Because we see it again and again when we read Acts 10 and Acts 19. They all began to show the arrival and indwelling of the Helper as they prayed in another tongue.

How Young is Too Young?

We all know that it is not debatable that the outpouring of the Holy Spirit found in Acts 2 included children and the promise for future generations of children to receive this gift from heaven. Because of the call and assignment of God upon every child (established in their mother's womb - Jeremiah 1:5) and the desperate need for power, boldness, and fire to accomplish this assignment, it is not up for discussion that EVERY child in THIS generation must be filled to overflowing with the precious Holy Spirit as early as possible.

While we know that this gift is for EVERY child, here is something for you to ponder ... how young is too young to minister to children about the Baptism in the Holy Spirit?

I heard Charles Capps say many years ago "The gospel is so simple that we need a lot of help to misunderstand it." With that thought in mind, I ask you if we can make this so simple that even the youngest of children can be filled with the Holy Spirit?

Here are some questions to consider as you decide how and when to minister to young children. The answer is found in answering these questions:
1. Can the child understand that God loves them and loves to provide good gifts to them?
2. Can the child understand that when Jesus left this earth that He promised to send a gift from heaven that would enable them to do great things for God?
3. Can the child understand that the Holy Spirit comes from heaven as a gift for EVERY Christian ... no matter how old or young that person might be?
4. Can the child understand that when this gift is opened, there will be an evidence or way of knowing that this gift is now yours to enjoy?

Four simple questions ... questions that every child can understand. So, in thinking about these questions, at what age should you teach about the Holy Spirit and provide an opportunity for children to be baptized in the Holy Spirit? I can't answer this question for you. I know of many children who have been baptized in the Holy Spirit at the ages of 3 and 4 and pray in their heavenly prayer language. I know of Spirit-baptized 5-year-olds who would put most adults to shame as they unashamedly demonstrate the indwelling of the Holy Spirit as they lay hands upon their peers.

Your question is how young is too young? My question is what are you waiting for?

Training Children to Pray in the Spirit

We all know that including a time of prayer is an important element in our children's church service, Sunday school class, or mid-week Bible club, right? It is in this time that we are touching heaven for our children's needs. It is also a time of training our children how to personally touch heaven.

Have you considered that this time of prayer is also an important time for training our children to know the importance of praying in their heavenly prayer language?

Consider this idea. If possible, journal the requests as the children share their personal needs. Write down the name of child giving the request, a brief overview of the request, and finally the date of the request. Before praying for the needs given that week, look back at previous requests and asks for updates for each need. Allow the children to testify about what God has done. Then, before we pray over the new requests, I always love to share a scripture the illuminates and brings clarity to what will happen as we pray. It might be 1 John 5:14-15 or Matthew 18:19 or John 16:23. Then, after praying for the needs, I remind the children that as they gave their requests, they only gave us part of the information. There are often details about this need that we don't know. So, according to Romans 8:26, we can allow the Holy Spirit to pray through us in our heavenly prayer language about these needs. It is as we pray in other tongues that the Holy Spirit helps to pray as we should about things that we have no earthly knowledge.

Here are the benefits of doing this each and every week:
1. We are raising up intercessors.
2. Through our journaling, we are giving the children an opportunity to pray for needs and then come back in future weeks to see how God has met those needs. The old-timers (this includes me) called this Testimony Service.
3. We are instilling in our children the value of praying in other tongues by weekly demonstrating its importance as a vital part of our prayer time.
4. We are providing an opportunity for the children to become comfortable in praying in their heavenly prayer language. This is not something weird or spooky. Praying in other tongues must become a part of our daily lives.

The Importance of Praying in Other Tongues

Recently, I did a brief recap of the previous four lessons about the Gift of the Baptism in the Holy Spirit. I believe that this teaching is so, so critical and important. As I concluded the teaching, I mentioned that our battle against the enemy is an unfair battle. In this battle, we aren't fighting against things that we can see. To help make this point clear, I brought two boys onto the platform and informed them that we would do something that we have never done in my 20 years of being a children's pastor. In our service, we would have an all out, knock-down, put the smack on fight between the two boys. To make the fight even more memorable, I then gave each boy a baseball bat to use. Needless to say, our audience went wild about this idea. I then announced that to make this fight even more unforgettable, I would place a blindfold upon one of the boys. Both boys would be fighting with a baseball bat, one with full vision and the other blindfolded. You should have seen the eyes of the child that would be fighting blindfolded. It was a moment that I'll never forget. Of course, there was no fight. It was just a great illustration.

In ourselves, we are no match against Satan. The apostle Paul stated that our enemy isn't flesh and blood, but principalities and powers and rulers of darkness. There is no way that we can compete against an unseen enemy. But, the Helper from heaven has given us tools that gives us an advantage over our unseen enemy. One of these tools is the ability to communicate with God in a language that our enemy cannot understand. This language from heaven, other tongues, enables us to talk the secrets of Heaven and Satan is totally clueless.

I then gave the illustration about how our United States military utilized the Najavo Indian language to bypass the constant surveillance of the Japanese army during World War II. Rather than retell the story, you can go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_talker#Use_of_Navajo. This is an illustration that will make this point come alive.

Thank God for the Holy Spirit. Thank God for the language that He enables us to speak (Acts 2:4) that gives us the ability to "put the smack down" on our blinded enemy!

Leading Children into the Baptism in the Holy Spirit - Help #3

This weekend, we had an awesome time of ministering about the Baptism in the Holy Spirit. It was awesome to watch child after child receive this gift from heaven.

In this blog entry, allow me to share a truth that made a difference for the altar ministry. In the second object lesson we did a segment called "Here's What You Can Expect", we used a bowling ball, chair, balloon, and Bible. In this object lesson, we used a child to help illustrate this point. To each of the following three scenarios, we asked the child the question, "what would you expect?" We told the child that we would drop a bowling ball on their toes. Next, we told the child to stand on a chair and drop backwards. We told the child that we would not be there to catch them. Lastly, we told the child that we would want them to inflate a balloon and then stick their head up into the balloon. After giving each of these scenarios, the child was to tell us what they knew would happen to them after doing the event. It was a great, fun object lesson because the child would be confident of the sure consequences of each action. It is literally a no-brainer!

In the object lesson, we showed a video clip showing what happened in Acts 2:1-4 in the initial outpouring of the Holy Spirit. After the clip, we then focused upon what happened in Acts 2:4 in the upper room. This is the first of many accounts in the Book of Acts showing that when people were filled with the Holy Spirit, they immediately began to speak in a heavenly prayer language. From seeing these accounts, it is easy to know what to expect. Just like the illustrations in the object lesson with the child, this becomes a no-brainer in us knowing what to expect when we are baptized in the Holy Spirit.

Leading Children into the Baptism in the Holy Spirit - Help #2

Believe it or not, one of the greatest challenges of children's ministry is in remembering that we are ministering to CHILDREN ... hence the name "children's ministry". While the obvious should be obvious, obviously it isn't! It is amazing to watch people try to minister to children and see that the children really don't have a clue as to what it being taught.

Since our children would echo the words found in Acts 19 "We didn't even know that there is a Holy Spirit", let me briefly share the three keys to making this message of the Baptism in the Holy Spirit come alive for your children.
1. Be Visual. It is amazing how a few props can exponentially multiply the comprehension level. Use barbells to illustrate how the Holy Spirit builds us (Jude 20), batteries and a flashlight to illustrate how the Holy Spirit gives us power (Acts 1:8), a GPS to illustrate how the Holy Spirit can see things ahead of us that we can't see (John 16:13), etc.
2. Be Relevant. Be sure to use humorous or dramatic personal stories to accompany the Bible stories. Personal stories amplify the biblical truth and makes it an up-to-date truth. The stories could include events from your childhood or in your family's life, etc. I love to tell of the time while Vickie and I were on our way to Africa and had a layover in Amsterdam. (Forgive me for giving a brief man's version of the story. I use the Amplifed Version, aka women's version, to tell the story.) We were carrying quite a sizeable sum of money to give to our missionaries. Before leaving the hotel room to go take a late night walk, Vickie felt prompted to tell me to leave this money in the room. While we were walking, a robber jumped out of the darkness and tried to rob us. Had Vickie not heard the Holy Spirit, we would have lost all of the money. (Illustrating John 16:13).
3. Be Memorable. Be creative. Use characters whose elevator doesn’t make it to the top floor (I R Smart, Not Too Bright, Brain Freeze, Tool Time Tim) or characters who are there to rescue you or help you (Ura Crop, a Personal Trainer, Scripture Man, Bible Blaster, Chef Pierre’).

Leading Children into the Baptism in the Holy Spirit - Help #1

One of the most challenging areas of ministry for many children's ministry leaders is in the area of leading children into receiving the Baptism in the Holy Spirit.

This week, allow me to share an important key in preparing boys and girls to receive Heaven's gift: Help #1: Utilize the McDonald's Happy Meal Principle.

For those of us with children, we know that food inside of the McDonald's Happy Meal bag is the very same food that we adults are eating, just served in smaller portions. In order to prepare a Happy Meal hamburger, McDonald's didn't find miniature cows so that they could produce smaller meat patties. The meat in the Happy Meal hamburger is the very same beef used for the quarter pounder hamburgers, right? But, for the Happy Meal, McDonald's reduced the portion of beef served. The Happy Meal french fries didn't come from midget potatoes, did they? Of course not. The french fries served in the Happy Meal are the very same french fries served with the adult meals. But, for the Happy Meal, McDonald's has provided a kid-sized portion of fries.

Wouldn't it be insane to try to serve a 7-year-old child a double quarter pounder hamburger with a large order of french fries and an extra large soft drink? Even more insane, wouldn't it be incomprehensible to expect the child to eat that meal all in one setting? And yet, in ministering on the subject of the Baptism in the Holy Spirit, we fail to see that we can overwhelm the children if we serve them an adult-sized spiritual meal in one service.

This teaching is so very, very important that we can't afford to overwhelm them by serving super-sized portions. Instead, serve this spiritual meal in kid-sized portions. Take what most adults could consume in one setting and serve this message in several class settings. The first week, teach the children on Jesus' introduction of the Holy Spirit. (John 14). The next week, teach on why Jesus knew that His return to Heaven was important. (John 16:7). The next week, teach on what happens when we receive the Holy Spirit. (Acts 2). The final week, teach about the importance of allowing the Holy Spirit to work within us daily. (Jude 20).

Use wisdom. Don't super-size the ministry portions. Utilize the McDonald's Happy Meal Principle (King James - line upon line principle). In doing so, you will see child after child receive this awesome gift from Heaven.