Guest Blog: Tiffany Poston

Childcare vs. Children’s Ministry by Tiffany Poston

George Barna did a study and found that a person’s moral foundation and spiritual moorings are in place by the age of 9. That is the age of an average 4th grader. This means by 9, a child will have their perceptions of church and God set in place, and the older they get, the more difficult it is for him or her to replace these ideas. Starting as young as possible, Lifepoint’s KidZone wants children to grow up knowing that church is exciting and that God loves them, and He is real and relevant to their life. This is why at Lifepoint we don’t have childcare; we do Children’s Ministry. What is the difference between the two? Glad you asked…

Childcare says, “Let’s just make sure they don’t kill each other or themselves while they’re here.”
Children’s Ministry says, “Let’s give them a loving and safe environment where we teach them about going to Heaven and saving themselves for eternity.”
Childcare puts on a video because its easy.
Children’s Ministry engages kids in an interactive story from the Bible that they get to be a part of, no matter how much effort it takes on our part.
Childcare gives them a coloring sheet to do.
Children’s Ministry puts them in small groups with other children their age so they can discuss the story and the bottom line for the day and figure out how it applies to their life.
Childcare is, for the most part, impersonal.
Children’s Ministry small group leaders get to know their group on a personal level and discusses issues the children are going through; and together, they discover how they can handle them in a biblical and Godly way.
Childcare is a child getting in trouble for having too much energy.
Children’s Ministry knows that kids need to get extra energy out, so we dance and have interactive games that teach them about values and how to be a person of character.
Childcare has adults who are obligated to be there.
Children’s Ministry has volunteers who are so involved and excited to get to pour into a child’s life, they are willing to take time out of their own to be there every week.
Childcare is letting the parents know their child survived.
Children’s Ministry is continually partnering with the parents to help them be the spiritual leaders in their child’s life.
Childcare doesn’t teach anything.
Children’s Ministry teaches every week that God loves them, that they can trust God no matter what, Jesus wants to be their friend, and more.
Childcare is the last resort when there is nothing else for the children to do.
Children’s Ministry is the best hour of a child’s week; an environment so engaging, fun, and spiritually educational that kids can’t wait to come to church on Sundays.

Children’s Ministry is something we take very seriously, because these kids need to know who God is! The older they get and the more time that goes by, chances are, they won’t be listening. Why not now? I am so passionate about pointing these kids to life in Jesus, and I am so blessed and excited to be able to work with a group of staff and volunteers who feel the same. Lifepoint KidZone doesn’t provide childcare on Sunday mornings, we do Children’s Ministry to the extreme to reach these kids for Jesus!

/ 2 Comments / Nov 05.08 / Leadership / by jeffkapusta

I Prayed for Obama

I went to bed last night in the uncertainty of who would be the next President of the United States. The first thing I did this morning is log on to cnn.com to check the reporting and saw that with 94% of the precincts reporting that Obama would be our next president.

Then I prayed for him.

Regardless of who you voted for, the correct posture as a Christian is to pray for and support your leaders. How about taking a second and pray that God would give him the wisdom that He needs to lead our country. Pray that he would lead with integrity. Pray that the United States would bond together to serve the world.

/ 2 Comments / Nov 05.08 / Leadership / by jeffkapusta

Guest Blog: Daryl Strickland

The Joys of Being Portable by Daryl Strickland

Portable Churches are becoming more and more common of late and we are one of them. Being portable has both huge benefits and huge headaches. I would like to share a few of each that we have experienced.

I like to end on a positive so I will start with the headaches.

Being portable means…
•    You can get a call on Friday that says you can’t use space that is critical to your services.
•    You can show up to no air-conditioning in August and flooded areas of the building.
•    Your rent can go up 400% over night and you can go from paying by the month to 4 months up front at a time.
•    If you scratch it you buy it.
•    You’re nervous to walk on waxed floors.
•    You may have to cut grass on Sunday mornings.
•    You may have to share your facility with a movie company that has 16 trucks, 150 stage hands/extras and runs cables through your lobby.
•    You don’t ever get to just cut the lights off.

Now for the reasons that I love being portable.

Being portable means…
•    We are not defined by a building.
•    We don’t get stereotyped by those disenchanted with church.
•    We have even more volunteers serving God and making a difference.
•    We save a lot of money on building cost that we are able to pour into ministry right now.
•    We are in a non-threatening environment for the unchurched (meeting them on their turf).
•    We are forced to be creative with set design, decorating and all things environmental.
•    We build relationships with schools that are molding and shaping the next generation.
•    We have an instant landmark in the community (school).
•    We don’t have to worry about facility maintenance (well most of the time).

Being portable is awesome and it forces us to be a team and to trust God. I love it when people ask me when we are going to build a church. I usually pause for a moment, smile and say, “we are building a church right now”!

/ 5 Comments / Nov 04.08 / Leadership / by jeffkapusta

Weekend Recap // 11.2.08

It’s crazy to think that we are in November already! Holy Cow! Where has 2008 gone?

We had a great day yesterday at Lifepoint. Here is the run down:

We kicked off our mini-series called “INKED” yesterday.
Talking about Tattoos is fun.
I got to preach out of Leviticus! I’ve waited a long time to do that.
I also got to talk about circumcision and baptism which by the way we are doing next week. Just to clarify we are doing baptisms next week…not the other one.
If you have made the decision to begin a relationship with Jesus than I invite you to join us next week for baptism. Shoot us an email to get signed up.
Exodus did an awesome job yesterday. It was nice to give our guys a week off.
Just in case you’re curious, the person getting tattooed in the bumper video was none other than our childrens director, Tiffany Poston. Yeah, she ROCKS!
Both services were rocking but I have to say the 9am crowd was just a bit louder. The extra hour of sleep must have paid off.
We switch coffee companies this weekend and will now be brewing coffee by: Land of a Thousand Hills.

If you want to know more about my friend Skip who held the foot washing service for street kids in Bolivia you can visit his blog here. Drop by and let him know how proud of him you are.

In light of our current economic instabilitiy, I am excited about the new series that we are launching in two weeks called, “Debt Free Wilmington.” Spread the word…it’s gonna be extremely helpful to many people!

/ No Comments / Nov 03.08 / Lifepoint Stuff / by jeffkapusta

Guest Blogs This Week

I was taught early in life that there is no “I” in team. That is the absolute truth! God has blessed me with an incredible team! This week I want you to hear from some of our awesome staff members that help make Lifepoint what it is.

Hang in there…we’ve got some awesome posts on the horizon!

/ No Comments / Nov 03.08 / Leadership / by jeffkapusta