The Precedent Has Been Established!

Long before I was born, a world record was broken in 1954 that forever altered history. While many records may come to mind, the one that I am referring to involves Roger Bannister who dared to push beyond the barriers of impossibilities to become the very first person to run a mile in less than four minutes. He challenged his body and mind to accomplish the very first 4-minute mile. For years, the 4-minute mile was considered not merely unreachable but according to physiologists of the time, dangerous to the health of any athlete who attempted to reach it.

Before breaking the world record, Bannister was running with the 2-year-old memory of disappointment still burning within him. He had expected -- and had been expected -- to win the 1,500 meters, the metric mile, at the 1952 Olympics. Even the Duke of Edinburgh had timed his visit to Helsinki in order to be there when the final was run. But Bannister was jostled during the race, never got into contention and finished fourth. Only a remarkable performance down the road could erase the disappointment. He achieved it at Iffley. On May 6, 1954, Roger Bannister ran the first sub-4-minute mile in recorded history. The 25-year-old native of Harrow on the Hill, England, completed the distance in 3:59.4 at Oxford. When he crossed the finish line, he broke through a psychological barrier as well.

What was the importance of Bannister's feat of strength and endurance? If one person could do it, then others could too. Once the door had been opened, once a precedent had been set, it became plausible and possible for others to break through.

The Day of Pentecost accomplished a milestone and a turning point for God’s relationship with children. In reading the Old Testament, we find a few, select occasions where God spoke to children or used them for His purposes. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost marked a new dimension for God’s relationship with children. Peter announced in his message on the Day of Pentecost a new day for God’s visitation upon and His ministry through boys and girls. No longer would His Spirit rest upon a few, select individuals. Upon the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, His Spirit could now enable and equip “you and your children” (Acts 2:39). Now, the door had been opened. The precedent had been established. The promise had been given (Joel 2:28) and fulfilled so that children could boldly speak forth the Word of the Lord. “Your children shall prophesy.” (Acts 2:17).  

The purpose for this week's blog is to remind you that the precedent has been set. Because of the Day of Pentecost and the outpouring of God's Spirit, children and children's ministries all over the world are enjoying what was once impossible. The door is wide open for you to go where you once were forbidden or restricted. Come on in and bring your children with you!

It's Time for Your Annual Check-Up!

Once a year, most adults go to a physician for a physical check-up. Whether we like it or not, the check-up generally affirms what we already know to be true. The annual report tells us that aren't exercising enough, we need to lay off of the sweets, and that "diet" is a four-letter word that won't get our mouths washed out with soap by our mother. Each year, we pay a lot of money to hear a physician tell us what we already know to be true and the prescription needed to get to where we need to be, right? 

For this week's blog entry, I want to share a check-up report about today's church as presented by two highly respected leaders.

Dr. A. W. Tozer (noted Pastor, preacher, and author) - “If the Holy Spirit was withdrawn from the church today, 95 percent of what we do would go on and no one would know the difference. If the Holy spirit had been withdrawn from the New Testament church, 95 percent of what they did would stop, and everybody would know the difference.” 

C.T. Studd (missionary to China, India, and Africa) - "How little chance the Holy Ghost has nowadays. The churches and missionary societies have so bound Him in red tape that they practically ask Him to sit in a corner while they do the work themselves."

To be honest, these assessments weren't written in the past few months. In fact, both of these men lived many, many years ago. And yet, their assessment of today's church is still so accurate. Sadly, just like our annual physical report, we are hearing what we already know to be true. Much of what is done in the church is done without the anointing and presence of the Holy Spirit. We know that this is true!

The purpose of this week's blog is to challenge you to assess what is going on in your children's ministry. Be honest. You already know the answer. Is the Holy Spirit's presence readily seen in your ministry? Is He allowed to move about as He desires or is He bound up in the red tape? Upon answering these questions, you already know what needs to be done. Come on. Start making the necessary changes to get the ministry where you know it should be.

Selah ...

Stockpiling Your Arsenal

Anyone with any military experience knows the importance of being well-armed and prepared as they enter into battle. Battles are lengthy. The combat strategy calls for an army ready for the long-haul. With that in mind, no one would enter into combat only being armed with a gun loaded with a single bullet, right? Instead, they would enter the battle with an arsenal of weapons. They would have their primary weapon and a host of auxiliary weapons and a stockpile of ammo.

This week, I want to deviate away from passing along a teaching idea or principle and instead share some of the arsenal of resources that I constantly refer to in my quest to impact a generation of children and equip multitudes of children's ministry leaders to know, love, and flow with the Holy Spirit. While the Bible has been and continues to be my ultimate, primary weapon, over the years I have collected many, many books that share teaching about Holy Spirit's personality, works, gifts, attributes, fruit, etc. In this arsenal, you will find many books with dog-eared pages, my handwritten notes scattered throughout the book, and an abundance of highlighted sentences and/or paragraphs.

Let me start off by saying that the following list is far from being exhaustive. My bookshelves at home and the office are filled to overflowing with books about the Holy Spirit. The following is in my opinion the "must-haves". Most if not all of the books are available through amazon.com.

* The Book of Acts: A Commentary by C. Peter Wagner
* The Dynamic Duo: The Holy Spirit and You by Rick Renner
* The Spirit Himself by Ralph Riggs

* The God I Never Knew by Robert Morris
* Commissioned with Power by Gordon Lindsay
* The Holy Spirit, My Senior Partner by David Yonggi Cho

* Tongues: Beyond the Upper Room by Kenneth Hagin
* 70 Reasons for Speaking in Tongues by Dr. Bill Hamon
* The Walk of the Spirit, the Walk of Power by Dave Roberson (available for free download on his website www.daveroberson.org)
* Pentecost Lost by Patricia Holland

I trust that these books will become a part of your library and be a blessing to you.

One more quick note ... I am currently reading Taking Action by Reinhard Bonnke. It is an incredible addition to my library.

Where Are the Martin Luther's?

This past week, a historical event of mammoth proportion went largely unnoticed by the American church. Overshadowed by the other festivities on October 31st was the remembrance and honoring of an event that forever changed the church. It was on the Wednesday of October 31st in 1517 that an Augustinian monk named Martin Luther publicly renounced the sin and heresy of the church as he nailed his 95 Theses to the church door in Wittenberg, Germany. From this act, the Protestant Reformation was birthed.

I am quite confident that Martin Luther wasn't alone in his assessment of the gross error and sin of the church. Surely there were many who also recognized that the church had deviated from the Word. But while there were possibly many who were disturbed by what they saw, it was Luther who took action and declared that enough is enough and in doing so changed the course of human history.

I challenge you to look at the condition of today's children's ministry. Surely you can see what I see. I'm not talking about a children's ministry plagued with sin and doctrinal error. I see a children's ministry that is void of power. I see children graduating from our ministries not prepared to be the world changers that God destined them to be. We have settled for ministries filled with hype and performance (enticing words of man's wisdom ... 2 Corinthians 2:4) but missing the visible, viable presence and power of the Holy Spirit.

Where are today's Martin Luther's?  Where are the men and women who will stand up and cry aloud, "Enough is enough!"? Where are the children's leaders who will post a mantra to ignite change in a powerless, unproductive "ministry" to children?

Will you just stay disturbed or will you join me in being a present-day Martin Luther? Will you go beyond being disturbed and do some nailing and announcing that enough is enough? Will you begin to announce that the same-o, same-o days are over and that today is a new day? It is a day of change. It is a day of REVOLUTION as "Today is the day of the Holy Ghost". 

Let's go get our hammers. We've got some work to do .....

Make It Visible #8

Here is one final idea for making the teaching about the Holy Spirit come alive.

Object Lesson: Praying in Other Tongues, The Key to Unlocking the Benefits of Heaven
Props: Key, Plastic Hotel Room Key Card
Slide: 1 Corinthians 14:2

If you have stayed in a hotel lately, you know that it is a rare thing to find a hotel that still uses the traditional key (show key) anymore for their rooms. After having key after key not being returned as the guests left their hotel, hotel owners called upon technology to create a safe, secure, affordable means to allow guests to get into their hotel rooms. The result is a key card. (Show hotel key card.)

Have you seen one of these cards before? No matter the hotel chain, the key cards are all basically the same. On one side, you have information about the hotel. It might show the logo of the hotel chain or maybe just the word "welcome". The other side of the key card is generally nothing but a magnetic stripe.

Let's take a couple of minutes and talk about the magnetic stripe found on the back of the motel room key card. Now I will readily admit that I am not the smartest person. To me, the stripe on the back of this card doesn't look like much. There's nothing too exciting about a stripe. But, inside of this stripe is embedded or hidden a secret language that enables you to enter into a place that once was forbidden. Am I right? Without this secret or mysterious language, you won't be able to enjoy all that is beyond the door.

Here is one more benefit of this stripe. You don't have to be able to decipher the hidden language. You don't have to know all that is hidden inside of the stripe. The lock on the door recognizes, reads, and responds to the hidden language!

Why have I shared this information about a hotel room key card? Because God has provided a way for you and I to enjoy special benefits from heaven that can only be obtained and opened by using something that is much like this magnetic stripe on the back of the key card. In God's Word we find: (Show slide)

"For if you have the ability to speak in tongues, you will be
talking only to God, since people won’t be able to understand
you. You will be speaking by the power of the Spirit,

but it will all be mysterious."

2 Corinthians 14:2 (The New Living Translation) 

Did you get that? By praying in a special language given by the Holy Spirit, we are able to pray secrets or mysteries. This is so exciting because this only-God-and-you secret language (mysteries) will unlock heaven and open the door for God to do wonderful things to us and through us. As the mysterious words come out of our mouths, heaven instantly recognizes, reads, and responds to the hidden language and ... well, let's pray in our language right now and let God show us what will happen!

Make It Visible #7

Here is one more object lesson that will help make your teaching about the Holy Spirit come alive.

Object Lesson: This Gift is For You
Prop: Giant dictionary
Slides: Joel 2:28, word definitions
Note: While any dictionary will work for this object lesson, I use the Webster's New Universal Unabridged Dictionary. This dictionary is huge! It is about 4 inches thick and contains over 2100 pages of words and definitions. It makes for a great prop to show the enormity of our English language. Perhaps your local public or school library will allow you to borrow a comparable dictionary.

For those coming into our nation and having to learn to communicate in a new language, our English language can be quite difficult to learn and master. One of the difficulties comes from the fact that many of our words have multiple meanings. The person learning our language might hear a word used in a sentence and have a full understanding of one of its meanings and yet not understand how that word fits into the subject of the conversation. For example, consider the word "trunk". From this massive dictionary (show dictionary), we find that there are ten different definitions, all talking about different things. The definitions include: (Show slide … revealing one definition at a time.)

1. The main woody axis of a tree.
2. A proboscis, especially the long prehensile proboscis of an elephant.
3. A covering over the hatches of a ship.
4. A covered compartment for luggage and storage, generally at the rear of an automobile.
5. A large packing case or box that clasps shut, used as luggage or for storage.

Can you see how difficult that this can be? They might be hearing the word "trunk" and think that the speaker is talking about a long nose on an elephant when in all actuality the speaker is referring to the part of a car that stores luggage.

Here is the reason for today's object lesson. God was so careful to insure that you know that He loves you so much that He has a special gift for you. In sending His precious Holy Spirit, He wanted to make sure that you know and understand that you are to be included with those receiving this gift. God said in Joel 2:28: (Show slide)

"I will pour out my Spirit upon all people ..."
Joel 2:28 (New Living Translation)

Did you notice the word "all"? Let's look in this dictionary one more time to make sure that there is no room for confusion. Here is the definition for the word "all":

1. Being or representing the entire or total number, amount, or quantity.
2. Every.

It is just that simple. The word "all" doesn't mean just a few or one or two here and there. All means ALL. In looking at our Bible verse again (show slide), how many people did God say that He would pour His Spirit upon? It's so simple. A-L-L people. No one is left out. In fact, the Bible even makes double sure that you know that you are included when we discover that a little further in this verse and then later in Acts 2:17 and Acts 2:39 God specifically says that this "all" includes children.

Let's not make this difficult or complicated. There aren't ten different definitions for the word "all". It is impossible to not know God's desire. His gift of the Holy Spirit is for Y-O-U!

Make It Visible #6

Here is another object lesson to enhance your teaching about the Holy Spirit.

Object Lesson: The Holy Spirit, Our Counselor
Prop: Newspaper
Slides: Fictitious advice column, John 16:13

A lot of moms and dads start off their day by reading a newspaper. Some will sit with the newspaper in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other. Now, you may not know this but every newspaper is divided into sections. There is the section devoted to the national, state, and local news. (Show front page/section of the newspaper.) Then, there is the section of the newspaper that tells the news about business/finance. (Show that portion of the newspaper.) Third is usually the section devoted to the sports news. (Show that portion of the newspaper.) And then finally is the section of the newspaper that has what I call the personal interest news which includes the comics, recipes, television programming schedules, and advice columns. (Show that portion of the newspaper.)

I brought this newspaper to the service today because I want to look at this last section, and in particular to the portion of the section called the advice columns. In this newpaper you find Dear Abby and then next to it is Dear Ann Landers. In these columns, these individuals print letters which have been written asking for their advice. It might have to do with needing advice on how to deal with a lazy child or a mean co-worker or a friend with horrible bad breath. The letters can be quite serious or out and out hilarious. In fact, I have taken one of these letters from a recent column and placed it on a slide. (Create and then show a funny letter. It might be from a person claiming that they have a cat that talks to its owner demanding milk served at a certain temperature and other crazy demands.) If you read very many of these columns day after day, you will see that there are many people needing advice and help.

Here is my question for you. Why would people ask advice from someone whom they've never met and don't know? They don't know Abby or Ann and Abby and Ann doesn't know them. And yet, the writer is pouring out their heart and telling personal and maybe secret things to Abby or Ann.

Here is an idea. Instead of Dear Abby or Ann Landers, why don't we seek the advice and direction from the Holy Spirit who knows us and everything about us? You see, He knows everything about everything and is anxiously waiting for an opportunity to share that information with us. (Show slide.)

"But when the Spirit of truth comes, he will lead you

into all truth. He will not speak his own words, but he will

 speak only what he hears,and he will tell you what is to come."

 John 16:13 (New Century Version)

When we need help and direction, we have THE One to turn to. (To illustrate this, hold up your index finger when you say the words "THE One" and then add the middle finger when you add the next word "to". When you say the word "turn", turn your hand around and then when you add the final "to" return your hand to the original position.)

Thank God for the Holy Spirit!