Pastor Alan's BlogPastor Alan's BlogA relevant , contemporary, funny, and impacting blog for families and children's pastors and children's workers who want to be great at what they do on a weekly basis. This blog is also designed to help good events become great events so that whole f Articles
The Church and Your Personal Finances!
2008-01-24 18:21:00 I was getting my usual GMA fix this morning and this segment really caught my attention. They were talking about how a couple that regularly attends a financial class called Good Sense at their church really got their finances in order. My church as a matter of fact offers this same class. Here is the article as it appears on the GMA Website. Some Use Church for Guidance with Personal Finances As Recession Fears Abound, Some Use the Good Book for Good Advice Some seek divine intervention to deal with their finances. The country’s economic woes have forced some to look for advice not from traditional financial advisers but from a higher power. For some, churches with financial support groups have superceded brokers and accountants. Now thousands of churches worldwide offer teachings on how to handle money. Such was the case for Keith Kiser and Terri Lampman, who were $90,000 in debt before they joined a group at their evangelical megachurch in suburban Chi... More About: The Church
Ministry Tune-Up!
2008-01-23 17:55:00 I come from a family of do it yourselfers. I can remember when we needed something fixed around my house growing up we didn’t call someone to fix it for us we fixed it ourselves. This is probably why I started doing all my own tune-ups on my cars and even rebuilt some pretty sweet engines back in the day. So for years now I have tried to translate this tune it up attitude into my ministry. When I used to do tune-ups I wouldn’t just replace the spark plugs and not replace anything else I would replace everything spark plugs, spark plug wires, rotar, condensor, points and even the distributor cap (only if it was cracked). I could then be assured that when I did all of this the car would run great, get better gas mileage, and perform much better over the long haul. So you are probably by now asking how can this be applied to ministry, well I am glad you asked! I am a firm believer in at least once to twice a year going through our ministries with a fine tooth comb and ... More About: Ministry , Tune
Family Ministry Leadership Podcast - “How to Have a Great Ministry Fo
2008-01-20 05:16:00 This is our first podcast of 2008 and Kevin Carter and I are talking about what I believe is a subject that we really need to focus in on for this new year. We are sharing our thoughts on ”How to Have a Great Ministry Focus” and giving some practical tips from our own personal experiences on how to see our great ideas and visions actually become reality. Click on our FML logo above and subscribe through feedburner to listen in. More About: Family , Leadership , Podcast
How do we have a great focus for 2008!
2008-01-17 17:20:00 As I was thinking through the start of the new year, I was reminded of all the times I have started something and then after the newness wore off all of a sudden I began to stop. I don’t know if this has ever happened to you or not, but if it has you might want to keep on reading. I began to think of three ways to have a great focus in order to stick with the task at hand for the entire year, so here we go. 1. Stick to the original vision or idea that you had at the beginning. So many people including myself begin to muddy the waters by adding this idea and this idea and this idea to our original idea or vision that after a while we cannot even focus on what our original idea or vision really was. Know wonder we begin to quit and fizzle out, it’s pretty hard to focus when we can’t even see the original idea or vision that we started with. 2. Set realistic goals & always have a strategy to back those goals up. We all love those pie in the sky goals, but aft... More About: Great , Focus , 2008
A Proud Father!
2008-01-13 22:09:00 I have been waiting for this moment for over six years. Both of my boy’s are playing a sport together and it is one of my personal favorites, basketball. My youngest son Ezekiel and my oldest son Noah are both playing for the first time. They are playing in a YMCA league and are having such a good time. They had their first games yesterday and here are some short video clips that I shot on my Son’s Flip Video camera. Ezekiel (#1) Going For “The Basket” WPvideo 1.10 Download! Noah (#5) Playing The Big “D” WPvideo 1.10 Download! More About: Father , Proud
Goals for 2008 & and I hope the word Strategy follows close behind!
2008-01-13 02:08:00 2008 is really beginning to gear up and I hope you have some great goals, but I hope you back them up with a good strategy as well. I am a firm believer that if you don’t have a good strategy to back up your adventurous goals they will never move forward for the new year, they will eventually fail. Goal setting and startegic planning are really on my heart right now because at RCC we are taking this year to create a startegic plan for the next five years of ministry. This plan will be the central guiding force behind everything we do at our ministry. So let me start out by giving you the definition for strategy. I am not convinced that everyone out their leading a family, a family oriented ministry or even an organization knows what a strategy really is. So here it is. strat·e·gy - a plan, method, or series of maneuvers or stratagems for obtaining a specific goal or result: a strategy for getting ahead in the world. If you want to get ahead this year and truly ... More About: Strategy , Word , Goals , Hope , Close
The Day has finally arrived!!!
2008-01-11 21:32:00 I hope everyone has got their tickets or plans on waiting in a long line to get their tickets for this evening’s opening of the newest Veggietales movie. I have already got my tickets and I am very excited about seeing if these three pirates can really become heroes or not, I hope they do by the way. I believe this can be a good time for your family to go and have a great family experience together. This is also a really good movie to support in general, because anytime you have a very large secular company like Universal that comes along side a great Christian based family oriented company like Big Idea productions I believe we need to support that. So I hope you will take your family to see this great family fun film! Click the link below to order tickets or just get more information. http://veggiepirates.com/ More About: Finally
New Year New You Blah Blah Blah!
2008-01-11 03:58:00 Hey Everyone, it’s Rebecca again! Ok, I am tired of hearing about New Year resolutions. Every morning show has a segment on how to lose weight, budget, date better, etc…I have decided this year to resolve to grow spiritually. You won’t hear about that on any morning show. You won’t hear Diane Sawyer say if you really want a happy new year read your Bible more. Matt Lauer is not telling you to pray on a regular basis, and Chris Cuomo (New guy on Good Morning America) won’t say if you really want to get your finances in order you should pay your tithe to God. I know it all sounds a little to easy but I think growing spiritually would be an easier resolution than resolving to lose weight, manage money better or anything else you could resolve to do. The great thing about growing spiritually is once you do, all the other areas in your life can fall into place. So if you want to lose weight pray that God will help you to seek his peace and like th... More About: Blah Blah Blah , Blah , Blah Blah
Easy Family Bonding!
2008-01-10 03:36:00 Hey Everyone, I can’t believe Alan is actually letting me touch his beloved blog! As you probably know I am Alan’s wife Rebecca. We’ve been married for almost 12yrs. now. We have three kids, Hannah, Noah, and Ezekiel (Zeik). I hope by the end of the week you will be encouraged by what I write. I thought with Alan fasting it would be great to talk about how important family meal time is. If you have families in your ministry or organiztion that need ways to bond or maybe you need to get to know your family better, then eat dinner together. I know this sounds really simple but it really works! Recent studies by the University of Minnesota have linked family meal times to children’s well-being and academic success. What better platform for our kids to ask us important questions about God, life, us, themselves etc… We try to sit down and eat together most of the week, except this week of course. Even on those nights when we it just seems like li... More About: Family , Easy
How cool is it to start an Internet Church Campus and a week of prayer and
2008-01-09 03:50:00 This last Sunday we did a live test on our RCC Internet Campus . Ten people attended and we have not even done any promotion at all, how cool is that! I know ten is not a big number but I know that number will grow and the sky is the limit with the combination of God + RCC + the Internet. I hope you will check it out especially as time goes on, our goal is that in the spring to have an internet campus pastor live on the site during one of our Sunday services. This is our annual week of prayer & fasting and I am fasting all week long. I don’t mean one meal a day I mean water all week long and that is it. Plus I am invloved in at least 4 prayer meetings during the week. So I will not really be blogging a lot this week. My wife Rebecca had an idea that I should let her blog in my place. So I am going to take her up on her offer, so starting tomorrow she will be posting in my stead. I look forward to your feedback and comments this week on how she does. I am also look... More About: Church , Cool , Prayer
The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything - A Veggietales Movie
2008-01-05 01:33:00 The 7 day countdown has begun! Whether you work with kids as a volunteer or as a full-time children’s pastor like myself I hope you have promoted this movie to the families within your sphere of influence. But maybe you really have not, I would say to you ”GET WITH IT” you have one more week. Send out emails, get on the phone, put it on your blog, tell every family you know, well you get the picture. I am so excited that Universal pictures has partnered with Big Idea productions to make a movie that families can go to and walk away saying wow that was really cool. So please take your family and all the families that you know to see this very great family friendly movie. More About: Movie , Pirates , Irate
My top three must have resources for families in 2008!
2008-01-04 05:10:00 If you are a children’s minister or work with kids on a part time or volunteer basis here are my top three resources that I give to families all the time. These are resources that if families will really use them they can transform their family for the better. #1 It Takes A Parent by Betsy Hart http://www.betsyhart.net/PAGE-ItTakesAPar ent-Book.htm #2 The 10 Building Blocks for a Happy Family by Jim Burns http://www.parable.com/HomeWord/offer_535 .htm #3 Bible Based, Parent-Designed, Family Tested Products by Doorposts http://www.doorposts.net/ More About: Resources , Families , 2008
“Carpe Diem” - Seize the Blog in 2008!
2008-01-03 02:28:00 First of all I am a fairly new to the blogosphere but I am already hooked and I love the networking and friendship possibilities that are out their for the taking. I am a full-time children’s pastor in Richmond, VA. and in my opinion blogging is not only here to stay but it can be a very powerful ministry tool if used correctly. I really started getting serious about blogging back in 2007 (Wow that was so long ago, Not!) on September 27 and now I blog almost everyday. It is still so amazing to me that with just a few keystrokes and a click of the mouse your personal or professional thoughts can be heard all around the world. This is why we need way more children’s ministers out their blogging. Karl Bastian the Kidologist made a great comment on David Wakerley’s blog. This comment Karl I want you to know spoke to me and formed my main goal for my blog for 2008 , which is to focus my posts more on the subject that my blog was intended to capture “Family Minis... More About: Blog , Carpe Diem
Happy New Year!
2008-01-02 03:08:00 I am so looking forward to all the great and powerful changes that I know 2008 will bring with it. My hope for everyone reading my blog is that the changes in your life both professional and personal will bring you closer to God. Happy New Year from my family to yours! WPvideo 1.10 Download! More About: Happy New Year
The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything - A Veggietales Movie
2007-12-29 06:30:00 The two week countdown has begun and I can’t wait till the new veggietales movie comes out! I hope if you work with kids or families in any capacity that you will be promoting this film to the families that you have influence with. Check out the links below: Veggie Pirates Homepage http://www.veggiepirates.com/ Q&A Forum on Kidology with the writer & director of “The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything” http://www.kidology.org/zones/zone_post.a sp?post_id=4226 More About: Movie , Irate
Short After Christmas Thoughts!
2007-12-27 06:25:00 Well Christmas is over and for some reason the busyness still goes on, well duh! As I am sitting here reflecting on the last several days and the upcoming year ahead, I am reminded of a scripture from the Bible. “I leave my peace with you. I give my peace to you. I do not give it to you as the world does. Do not let your hearts be troubled. And do not be afraid. John 14:27 NiRV God has given a lot of us some pretty great visions myself included, but they are not without their challenges. A lot of times I think we just say “that will never happen” or “that will take a lot of money” or one of my peronal favorites “who am I.” God has spoke some things to me and I have said some of these very things and I am tired of my little hang ups and I hope you are to. As the new year is right around the corner. I hope you will be reminded as I am of John 14:27 and “Do Not Be Afraid.” If God has told you to do something or he has given you ... More About: Thoughts , Short
Merry Christmas Everybody!!!!!!!
2007-12-24 19:58:00 I hope everyone viewing this post will have a very Wonderful Christmas . Please remember to find just a “little peace and quiet” to remember that Jesus came so that we could have peace with God. I would encourage you to also show peace to someone else, not just during this Christmas season but all of 2008 as well. Final prep has been done and we are finally ready for our three Christmas Eve Services this evening (Breathing a BIG sigh of relief). I am so excited and can’t wait for our building to fill up to capacity. This I am sure will be an awesome evening of people of all ages and backgrounds experiencing God and His Son Jesus for the first time. If you are in the Richmond area stop by and give us a shout. Click the link below for more details and directions. More About: Merry Christmas , Merry , Everybody
Order of the Ancient Chapter 9,10
2007-12-23 23:04:00 Chapter 9 Wow, what a great turn of adventure! Who is Greg Johnson and why did he and his family move away? Why did Greg only move a couple of blocks away and why did he not know Brent anymore? What is Mr. Kimble working on so late at the Academy Science and Research Building? There is a mystery behind that building and I can’t wait to find out what is going on at the 4th floor and above. Brent just had to find out for himself, but would he be able to do it without getting caught. I sure hope so because security is high at this facility, there’s that mystery again. Brent to my surprise made it all the way to Mr Kimble’s office without being detected. Brent was thinking that someday he could show Mr.Kimble the truth of the Sovereign, when all of a sudden his thought’s were suddenly interrupted. Footsteps were approaching the door where Brent was hiding and he began to speak to the Sovereign like never before. Would he be caught? and if so what would happ... More About: Order , Ancient , Chapter 9
Hillsong Kids “Tell The World”
2007-12-21 17:29:00 This so AWESOME!!! I just got the new Hillsong Kids DVD/CD Combo and I have already picked out my personal top three favorite songs and here they are. I can’t wait to get our team together and start working on these new songs and hopefully by mid-January introduce them to my Promiseland children’s ministry. Whether you are a children’s pastor, work with kids, or just know of someone who works with kids at a church in my opinion this DVD and CD are a must have item. My Top Three 1. Tell The World 2.My Number One 3. I’m Not Ashamed Click here to listen to an audio sample of My Number One More About: The World
RCC Christmas Eve Services!
2007-12-20 22:13:00 All of our church staff is really gearing up and has been for months for our three Richmond Community Church Christmas Eve Services this coming Monday. Our Christmas services are as great as our Easter services in the spring as far as bringing people into our church. The churches I have been at in the past we would somewhat gear down for Christmas, here at RCC we do just the opposite and we gear up. I can’t wait until Monday evening when people who are believers bring thier friends and family and people who may never darken the door of a church the rest of the year will bring themselves and both will experience God and peace. I love everything about Christmas and our Christmas Eve services. My prayer this Christmas and all year long is that you will be able to find just a little peace and quiet to remember the true meaning of Christmas with your family and friends. Check out our promo video for our three Christmas Eve services. WPvideo 1.10 Download!...
Family Ministry Leadership Podcast - “A Little Peace and Quiet”
2007-12-19 20:28:00 This month Kevin Carter and I are talking about finding just “A Little Peace and Quiet”. We are sharing our thoughts on the Christmas Season and giving some practical tips from our own family experiences on how to remember the true reason for the season. Click the link below and subscribe through feedburner to listen in. http://feeds.feedburner.com/Family Ministr yLeadership More About: Podcast , Ministry
Update on Uncle Charlie!
2007-12-19 02:36:00 I received the following update on Charlie Bancroft yesterday from Ryan Franks Blog and wanted to pass it on to you. We have been praying for Uncle Charlie for the last month in my children’s ministry and I am so glad to here that he is doing well and will be starting physical therapy soon. I am praying for a continued speedy recovery, God’s continued provision in every way for Charlie and his wife Tammy and that he will be able to continue this spring making more great music for children’s ministries all over the world. It has been exactly one month since that terrible day when Uncle Charlie nearly lost his life in a high speed head on collision in southern Oklahoma. We were told time and time again what a miracle it was that Uncle Charlie was able to survive. The more we learn of the details of the accident, the more we all realize how blessed and fortunate we are to still have Uncle Charlie around! Since that day, many more miracles have taken place, all... More About: Update
A New Holiday, Wow!
2007-12-18 13:23:00 I had no idea this holiday even existed, “Merry Tossmas”. It is all about saying Merry Christmas over Happy Holiday ’s, which I agree with. Take a look at this interesting video by clicking the link below and give me your thoughts by leaving a comment. http://www.citizenlink.org/Stoplight/A000 005834.cfm
“Monday Morphosis” Jesus gave us peace at Christmas and He want
2007-12-17 22:15:00 Jesus Christ was born during this Christmas season, so that we could have peace with God. He wants use to take that same peace and share it with someone else. It doesn’t matter if it’s in a line at the store, driving in rush hour traffic trying to get that perfect Christmas gift for that perfect someone, or just wishing life would slow down. I would encourage you this Christmas to find some time know matter where you are at in life and experience peace for yourself by sharing it with others. Sharing peace with someone else can be as simple as a smile or as profound as providing gifts for a family of six and don’t forget about everything in between. Their are lots of ways to show peace all year long. We just have to show a little initiative and dare to make a difference. So find a “little peace and quiet” this Christmas and please share that peace with someone else. Click the link below to check out a video story of making a great moment t... More About: Jesus , Peace , Morphosis , Monday
Aardman Animation!
2007-12-16 00:11:00 Aardman Animation the creators of Wallace & Gromit and Shaun The Sheep are always coming up with new animated adventures. I was introduced to Aardman studios back in the late 90’s and have loved their work ever since. They are working on some new stuff for Wallace & Gromit and Shaun the Sheep, so check out the youtube preview and click on the website link below for an exclusive interview with creator Nick Park. http://www.wallaceandgromit.com/ WPvideo 1.10 Download! More About: Aardman , Imation
Wacky Games and Wacky Characters!
2007-12-14 16:33:00 My most successful wacky character “Wacky Willy” A Great Wacky Game “Helmet Head” I have noticed lately a lot of Google searches for either wacky games or wacky characters that have taken people to my blog. So I wanted to respond and give my top wacky game resources and my top thoughts for wacky characters that really work and are effective in today’s world of children’s ministry. MY TOP WACKY GAME RESOURCES 1. http://www.thesource4ym.com/games/ 2. http://www.kidology.org/zones/zone.asp?zo ne_id=6 3. https://w... More About: Games , Characters , Hara
Such a cool puppet!
2007-12-13 22:15:00 I was making my usual travels around the blogosphere when I came across a really cool Robot Blacklight Puppet on Squonk’s Blog and this was a great encouragement to me, because I am making a resurgence into the basics of Children’s ministry. Puppets are definitely one of those basic ministry essentials. So check out this picture and performance video and enjoy it like I did and thanks again Squonk. WPvideo 1.10 Download! More About: Cool
Does Christianity have an image problem?
2007-12-12 17:29:00 Several days ago I recieved a book in the mail and the weird thing is that I don’t remember signing up to recieve it. The book is co-authored by David Kinnaman president of the Barna Group and Gabe Lyons founder of Catalyst and the Fermi project. The book is about how Christians are supposed to represent Christ to the world. Ok this is nothing new, but according to this book and it’s studies that is not happening and Christianity in general has a real image problem. The book focuses on the age group 16-29 and brings up some pretty thought provoking issues. For instance, How do Outsiders (those who do not follow God and His teachings) percieve Evangelicals and Born-Again Christians? What are some of the major struggles for young churchgoers? and What would you say are the two most important priorities for Christians to pursue in terms of their faith? Well I hope by now you get my point, this is a very thought provoking and stark reality kind of read. I have just ... More About: Problem , Image
What a great team!
2007-12-11 06:54:00 We had our Promiseland volunteer Christmas party yesterday at our house and boy did we ever have a good time. My wife Rebecca went home after our first service yesterday which never happens and she began to cook and she created a meal straight off of a food network show. The meal ended with some great hot cocoa and apple cider. Then my wife (the spectacular hostess that she is) planned some pretty awesome games and we even gave away some cool door prizes at the end. I remember looking around at some point during the evening and saying to myself this is a beautiful site. New relationships have started, old relationships strengthened, and everyone is having a great time together. I am so thankful to God for all the team that He has brought together here at RCC to minister to our next generation of leaders, our kids. Everyone had such a great time, check out these pictures! More About: Great , Team
“Monday Morphosis” 3 Ways That We As Children’s Ministers
More articles from this author:2007-12-11 01:19:00 Today I was getting my haircut at my favorite place SportClips. In the waiting area I observed a very random mom with two kids. Her son was being a normal boy and running around like crazy, nothing out of the norm. Except the fact that she kept telling her son (estimated age of 4) not to do something and he just chose not to listen to her and did whatever he wanted to do anyway. This happened at least 5 or 6 times and to my surprise there were no consequences for his obvious defiant behavior to his mom’s frustrated requests. Finally she got so frustrated with her son not listening to her that she grabbed him by his sweater and pulled him into a seat (this was on the 7th or 8th time). It took everything within me not to intervene and have a good talk with this boy and more so his mom. Lately I have gotten more requests from parents for me to meet with them and give them advice on what they can do with their kids, who are obviously running right over them and just not... More About: Children , Ministers , Morphosis , Monday 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 |
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