Jesus in the Bathroom: A Blog About Kid's Ministry

I always was a fan of Kid's Ministry.

It wasn't until recently that I became a believer in Kid's Ministry.

The impression of Kid's Min I had over the years was spiritual babysitting but with better snacks.  Following our services I always like to check in with our volunteers to see if the kids had fun, but then I started to receive feedback about the kid's having more than just fun, they really love the bible lessons; love Jesus.

As a church planter I knew we needed to have something for kids, I didn't realize it could change their life.

Last week this revelation really came to fruition.

We have been featuring The Circle Maker, by Mark Batterson with our volunteer team during our service planning meetings, watching the DVD and reading the book as a team.

The Circle Maker has inspired my prayer life and our team.  No other book has redefined my approach to prayer like this one, and it has been encouraging to see what God has done with Batterson's church from the early stages in a school to the transition to the theater with 7 campus across Washington DC.

Last week I was engergized by Mark's prayer walk around Front St and Union Station in DC to do a prayer walk of my own around the community center grounds where VCC meets.

I took my two year old son and we started to walk.

When we reached the front of the community center he started to pull my hand to go inside and said repeatedly, "Net's house! Net's House!"

"Net" is one of our head Kid's Min volunteers, her name is actually Lynnette.  I always have confidence in her and know that she does a great job with kids; however this gave me a whole new perspective when I heard my son call VCC, "Net's House."

One of the most telling quotes from Orange a conference that focuses on Kid's Ministry was,
“What you do with kids now will have a profound impact on how they define church later.”

As a kid we all have that family member or neighbor whose house was cool and fun; where everyone wanted to hang out.  For my son and other kids VCC is that place.

Another comment I heard last week that made me tear up and crack up was from a post on our Facebook page from Sarah, a mom who attends VCC...

"So today we came home from church and my son told me " Jesus loves us mommy" I replied with "yes your right he does". He continued on to ask me who Jesus was and I wasn't really sure how to give an answer to a 4 year old that he would understand. My reply was "Jesus watches over us and is with us all the time". He wanted to know if Jesus was here right now and I said yes. Now he has been coming to me all day telling me that Jesus is over our house, and so far he's been on the couch, in Cason's room, in the shower and peeing in our toilet LOL!!"


I love it!

I love that at such a young age my son and other kids at VCC can have special connection to church, and that is because of people like "Net."

I love having a great Kid's Ministry not just for kids to have fun,
but for them to love a great God.

Free Fallin' & Church Plantin'

It's like reaching the peak of a roller coaster one link at a time and then...

It's like stepping inside the batter's box adjusting your swing and then...

It's like jumping out of an airplane and there is no going back. 

It's like church planting.

We planted, launched or jumped in faith Valley Community Church April 1, 2012 and it was no April Fool's joke.  It is one thing to TALK about church planting, it is another to DO church planting.  Four years of talking and planning lead up to this moment, and I was sick, sicker than sick.  On the surface it looked like any other church service but we did it...and there was no looking back! 

The day was a success, but now the reality is hitting me in the face at over 100 mph. 

I feel like Jerry Maguire stepping out of the comforts of his job and into the dream of the unknown. 

The dream of doing things different.

The dream of meeting a need.

The dream of Hope in the Valley.

Each service is another exercise of praying like it depends on God and working like it depends on us.  It is amazing how I've come to value each person, each soul that walks thru the Community Center doors.  I have to be honest, it's hard to remember to do an official count of how many people there are on a given Sunday, but I never forget to make a conscious effort to talk and connect with our VCCers. 

There is pressure to get this church off the ground, much like there is pressure to get anything that is new  stable and moving in the right direction.  Although this feels like a scary ride I just have to sing and remind myself that the scariest rides sometimes make the most memorable rides. 

I am Free Fallin'. 

Free Fallin in Faith.

(I find myself singing in my car like this a lot, and just as off key too).

Pearl Jam Pastor

Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam

I loved the music of the 90's.

Bands like Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and Smashing Pumpkins changed music over night from hair-bands and ballads to crunchy guitars and flannel.

Interesting enough, most of those bands did not set out to be famous.

The "Grunge" movement was counter-cultural and these artists were in it for the music not the fame.

“We didn’t write to make hits. But those fragile songs get crushed by the business,” Eddie Vedder frontman for Pearl Jam told Carmon Crowe in an interview for Rolling Stone.

They just wanted to have integrity and make great music.

As a Pastor I struggle with the need to be famous.

I want to have a mega church.
I want to write books that sell millions of copies.
I want to speak at large ministry conferences.

It is frustrating that even myself and ministry can get sucked into the "Fame Machine."

The other side of the "I wants..." leads more out of my heart than my ego.

I want to be a good family man.
I want to have integrity in my craft.
I want to serve my church and community.

This is the place that I want be, but the culture of the day pushes me to not be happy, to want more.

Despite the pull to be bigger and have more it is the small that fuels America in business and in the church.

A recent study by the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Office of Advocacy counted 26.8 million businesses in the United States.


Of those, 99.9% have fewer than 500 employees and as such are considered small businesses. This means that only one-tenth of one percent have more than 500 employees. Yet, more notable is the fact that according to the U.S. Census Bureau, 98.2% have fewer than 100 employees. And if you are impressed with that number, you may be amazed to learn that in the same report it states that 89.3% of the businesses in America have fewer than 20 employees! Bear with me for just a moment more as I drive this point home. Even more amazing is the fact that 78.6% have fewer than 10 employees and 60.8% have fewer than 5 employees.

A recent study by the Hartford Institute for Religion Research reported 300,000 Protestant and other Christian churches (excluding Catholic Churches) in America.

Of those, 94% have fewer than 500 worshipers and are considered a small church. And to break that number down even further 59% of churches have 99 or less worshipers on a given Sunday.  The Mega Church that is considered to have over 1000 worshipers makes up 2% of the churches in America. The Joel Osteen and the Craig Groschel churches of 10,000 worshipers or more make up .01% of the church population in America.

I may never get that book deal, because quite frankly I am not a good writer, or speak at an awesome church conferences like Catalyst...

but I love my family.
I love my church.
I love what I do
and that Rocks.