What do you fear? at Saturday, October 31, 2009

This past week I heard a missionary speaking about the area he is going too and there was a point that he made that struck me. I haven't been able to get it out of my head, but I have been meditating on it for this whole week. This is what he said

"The people don't fear persecution, but fear disobeying God".

This just made me think if it came down to it would I fear persecution or fear disobeying God? The country that we live in we don't have to worry about it, but there will come a time where we will be persecuted. So my question is simple 

What would you fear persecution or disobeying God?

Greg

A Kids Love and God's Love at Wednesday, October 21, 2009

I love hanging out with my kids. I knew that when I was going to be a parent there was this huge responsibility that is now put on me. The fear rose up in my heart because I knew that I was now responsible for raising my kids up to fear God.

My son is 2 and is going to be 3 in December of this year. I love watching him trying to figure things out. He has a tough outer skin, but deep down he is very sweet in his heart. When we get onto him he knows that he did wrong and usually he will straighten up. There is one thing that I do that I absolutely love to do.

Before I leave for work or before we put him down to bed I love to tell him. Dominic I love you and the response that I get from him is priceless and that is "I love you too daddy". It makes me feel so good when my son responds that he loves me too by calling me by my name. I can't help but think how much God loves it when we tell him that we love him and spend that time with him. I know how it makes me feel when I get to spend that time with my son, but when we spend time with our heavenly father in prayer and reading the word he loves that, but I think that his heart leaps when we tell him that we love him too or we thank him for his undying love for us.

Thank you Lord I love you... Take some time today and tell the Lord that you love him.

Teaching about Sex at Wednesday, October 14, 2009

For the past few years our church has been able to get into high schools in the area and teach about abstinence. My heart as everybody else should be to go into the parts of our community and to be a light for christ. Now I can't go into the school and tell them about jesus, but its a time for someone to just be real with them. I see a huge need for us to talk about sex in the church. Three days of these talks include

Day 1: S TD's what you can get when your sexual active and pregnancy.
Day 2: How to have the best sex. Now just listen
Day 3: is all about Real Intimacy. What does this look like to kids and what should it be like.

Our kids are growing up thinking that intimacy is having sex and they done realize all the chemicals that goes into you bonding yourself to that person.

I love doing this program because if we are not doing this then its nonexistent. We are trying to change the sexual landscape for the good. I think more churches should take time and talk with their kids all about these three days worth. We see a lot of kids who are misinformed about these issues and why not inform them about the truth and make the make their decision based on the information and the word of God.
Greg Ferguson
Childrens Pastor
Grace Community A/G

Hanging out with Dom at Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Today was one of those days rainy. My son had a terrible cough and was not able to go to school. While my wife and my daughter was at there MDO program I had a great opportunity to hang out with my son.

I was up early to deliver presents to store at an elementary school in the area. I piled my 2 year old son in the car and headed to the school. We unloaded presents out of the trailer and loaded our cart then hauled them into the school while on the way back my son got to sit on the flatbed and ride the hallways back to the outside.

You might be asking yourself what is the big deal and why are you sharing this. The point is its never to early to teach your child how to give back to kids and people. I am teaching my son what it means to be a christian by taking him with me and showing him how to serve God and people. So I ask you to think about ways you can share in something with your child you will be surprised in the outcome.

Greg Ferguson
Childrens Pastor
Grace Community A/G

Missions Sunday at Sunday, October 11, 2009

Today like every second sunday of the month we had our missions sunday. I felt impressed to challenge our kids to pledge to give 100 dollars a month. If every child gave 5 dollars they would be able to give that dollar amount.

Next month the children's department at my church we are going to fast soda for three weeks and the money spent on drinking a soda they would put in a soda can and on thanksgiving day we all would break the fast. They will take all that money saved from soda drinks and give it all too missions.

Greg Ferguson
Childrens Pastor
Grace Community A/G

Toy Box Leadership somewhat book review at Friday, October 09, 2009

Several of us children's pastors met with some of the people @ D6. We had a great time talking and sharing ideas about children's ministries. They gave out some prizes and the one prize that stuck out in my mind was the toy box leadership book by Ron hunter jr & Michael waddell.

I am already at chapter five and it is a must read. I never thought about the toys that they talk about could relate to leadership in that way. this book has made me examine my life in leadership.

I think that every leader should read this and you can even pass it along to your other leaders. That's what I plan to do with this book.
Greg Ferguson
Childrens Pastor
Grace Community A/G

Ideas What to do with them at Friday, October 09, 2009

I am the king of coming up with ideas. I have come up with hundreds of ideas, but the one thing that I am bad about is doing something with my ideas. 

Yesterday I began to think about all of those ideas that I have had and they have just been pushed aside they might be good or they might be bad who knows they have never gone from idea to implementing. 

I decided that there has to be a better way so today I got on my computer and got on excel and started to plug away columns such as ideas hatched, keeper, throw away, implement date. My goal is to write my ideas surf through them and start implementing them. What is your way that you go from Idea being hatched to researching it to possible implementing them?

Greg Ferguson
Childrens Pastor
Grace Community A/G

Busy... Busy... Busy... at Thursday, October 08, 2009

I think everyone hears this term a lot. "Hey how are you doing today"? "I am doing great I am so busy, but it's great?" I have even been caught saying this I am just BUSY. I was reading this chapter in "Toy Box Leadership" and this caught my attention "Some people feel as long as they are busy, they are making progress.

Is this really true? Ask yourself when you are busy how does that make you feel? Does it feel like you are accomplishing a lot of things? this chapter also goes on to say "Busyness makes them feel important, but Henry David Thoreau wrote, It is not enough to be busy. The question is: what are we busy about?"

The next time you have a conversation and you are about to say I am busy ask yourself what am I busy about?

I know from past senior pastors that I have had busyness was a sign of progress. I want you to have these kids up here doing stuff. I want noisy hallways. There are seasons in our lives that are going to be busy, but should that season really be every day life.

I had a pastor in Houston during our busy season came up and told me to come in the office later. He knew we had been running around to every event, prayer meeting etc. So is busyness a good thing I will leave that one up to you, but the one thing I would like to add is just because you are busy you can still be ineffective.

What are you busy with?

Getting the most out of your volunteers. at Thursday, October 08, 2009

I ask myself this question all the time. How far is to far? When dealing with a volunteer staff how far can you push them before they quit on you. I have worked at a total of three different churches and they were all completely different. I was at a church in Houston and our midweek was slowly going down the tubes what was the problem a lack of leadership. Church in Shreveport I was put in an unlikely situation and told to get rid of a midweek program and start my own from scratch (YIKES). 

I have come to this conclusion if you lead and supply a vision and keep sharing it to your people then the people will follow. Example: Hitler had a vision and he spoke about his vision over and over and the people followed him and people are still following him even though he is not around. I know that is pretty extreme, but what it boils down to is that we have to have an expectation for our volunteers to meet so that the classroom that they teach in can go over and beyond what they ever imagined. Our job is simple create a vision for your teachers and ministry and the train them up. This is how you can push your volunteers to become better.

Everyone is different, but the message is still the same. You have a vision to where you want to take your ministry, and by putting job descriptions and other things what you are trying to do is to make your volunteers better then they thought they would ever be. Communicate that to your volunteer don't be afraid to continue to share your vision and to keep sharing your vision because once people catch on then you will have a great ministry staff because of God and not you.

No fear at Saturday, October 03, 2009

I was talking to one of our students this past week and they were in a sociology class talking about genes. It got to a pretty controversial part and this student speaks up about this topic. Starts talking all about christ and the bible. She was shut down by her teacher and said that she can't talk about these things.

I was proud of her for speaking up for what she believes. The other thing I told her to not worry about it and continue to talk about this. She told me that she didn't want to get in trouble for speaking all about christ.

So my question is if your child comes to you telling you that they got in trouble for talking about Christ. What do you tell them.

Hope to hear from all of you.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

One Year!!!! at Friday, October 02, 2009

I was at starbucks yesterday and I looked down at my phone and it hit me like a ton of bricks I have been at my church for one full year. It was a year ago yesterday that I started at Grace Community Church in Flower Mound, Texas. My daughter was sixteen days old while we moved back to Texas. Was this the best time to move probably not, but was this a move spurred on by God? YES! I interned at this church so the good thing was I already knew the pastor, the people, and the culture. I look back and see that God has been so good to the children @ Grace. Here are the things that we have seen since coming to Grace a year ago yesterday.

1. Kids come and worship God throughout the service.

2. We have seen kids get saved for the first time

3. We have seen kids get filled with the Holy Spirit

4. We have kids getting a burden to see the lost saved

5. Kids excited about coming to kids church

6. We have brought in 4 families since coming to Grace

7. We have added a Sidewalk Sunday School that reaches the city of lewisville

8. We are almost fully staffed in the children's department

9. Parents see the need for their kids coming to kids church

I am probably missing a few things, but this list excites me every time I look at what God has done and what God is doing then I am so amazed and humbled to think that God would use me because I am so far from being anything. I am so excited for our next year at Grace. I have already felt a huge burden for all of next year and it's going to take an act of God for it all to get done, but that why it's a God Vision instead of a man vision because with God it will happen. How many of you have look over your year at being at your church and see what God has done, but most important what God is still doing.