Wow it has been almost a month since I did a Backstage Pass to allow a little sneak peak access into the lessons I learn, re-learn, or the bloopers that I commit. So, let’s take a look into some more from this past weekend.

1. Anytime you do not prepare properly (even though each time this has happened I always felt that I had good reasons until I flopped on my face on Sunday), it will effect your sleep on Saturday night. I could not sleep Saturday night and was up and down and up and down every hour or so. So when I showed up Sunday morning, I was dragging and no amount of Starbucks was going to help. Fortunately the day went ok except me knowing it could have been better.

2. Never try to have a real serious service when the kids and parents minds are on the Super Bowl or other type of after church service stuff. We had to rally the troups several times that Sunday due to where their minds where at. Plus me being tired probably did not add to the situation.

3. Keep your mission at the top and values in line with that mission.

4. There are times you need to nip bad attitudes right away before they walk away and spread them to others on the team.

5. Always keep asking yourself why you do what you do the way you do it and challenge everything. Once you stop doing that you have started to become irrelevant. 

6. When you have great team members, it is amazing how much more you can do and how much faster and more efficient you can do stuff. So out of all of my budget items, investing in the team s something that should never slip. I love my team members.

7. When you can foster a spirit of “we don’t care who get’s the credit”, it makes those who do care who gets the credit even more obvious.

Well there it is, the good, the bad, and the ugly. But what a grat God we serve as He has helped me make the proper adjustments for to battle and overcome each one of those.
To God be all the glory!!

Here is another Texting Tuesday post from our questions during our Texting services done in Take TWO’s The Studio. This week we had less questions to post due to bad weather and us canceling all services but the 2pm service. I still want to encourage parents to use what is here as devotional material with your kids. Use it to talk with them on some topics that to tell you the truth have surprised some of us that kids even had on their radar let alone some actually dealing with these issues. We love the kids and we love their parents, and it is through this love and understanding that parents will have a far greater influence into their kids lives than any children’s pastor like myself or any volunteer like the ones we have throughout all of Take TWO will ever have. So it is our intention to provide this Texting Tuesday material for family use. Plus when kids need an answer that is given with the heartbeat of God, this will be a place they can come. We even power our search field through Google so they can search for answers that may have been given a while ago.

Just a reminder, we do not edit the questions outside of taking all phone numbers and names out.

Q: How do i get my anger out at my dad? He cheated on the best mom in the woreld! Just becuse sex! He lied to my face in a store last year! He looked in my eyes and said he was not cheting but when i was mowing the lawn wit my grandpa my mom came out screaming becuse she fond out that my dad was cheating on her! How do i get my anger out?
A: This is by no means an easy answer or easy to do either. But check these out as examples that also where not easy to do but necessary:
* The Apostle Paul instructs us to “be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you” (Eph. 4:32) All of our sins had equal part in driving Christ to the cross.
* John tells us, “The one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked” (1 John 2:6).
* Jesus Himself is our pattern for forgiveness. On behalf of those who drove the nails through His hands, spit in His face, mocked Him, and crushed a crown of thorns onto His head, Jesus said, “Father, forgive them” (Luke 23:34). He is our role model. The severity of any offense toward us cannot match what Christ endured.
* The writer of Hebrews said, “You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin” (12:4).
Now as this may have been much easier to write, it is not as easy to follow. Deep hurts like what is taking place with you from the sins of your dad will take time. But it takes obedience from you to continue to lift it up to the only One who can truly help you with this. Do it daily, be honest with Jesus of your pain, anger and all the feelings. Over time, He will walk with you out of this shadow of pain and then you will have a strong testimony of Gods love to share with others who may be in the same kind of pain.

Q: Whos fault was its adam or eve?
A: both because we are all responsible 4 our own acts. they both made their own descision to disobey God.

Q: Hey i have aa question;when nicole was talking about being cut i want to know how i can fill my love.
(Just a little brief explanation of this question, we had someone share of how for years they were into “cutting” trying to find release from all kinds of stuff, trying to find love, trying to find forgiveness etc.)
A: the only way u can fill ur love is finding Jesus. allow Him 2 come in and fix our mistakes. complete surrender from ur heart. God will come in and do the rest.
Q:  What is the real definition of love
A: 1 John 4:7-10 - 7 Dear friends, we should love each other, because love comes from God. Everyone who loves has become God’s child and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love to us: He sent his one and only Son into the world so that we could have life through him. This is what real love is: It is not our love for God; it is God’s love for us. He sent his Son to die in our place to take away our sins.(The Everyday Bible : New Century Version. 2005 (1 Jn 4:7–10). Nashville, TN.: Thomas Nelson, Inc.)

Here we have another batch of questions that have been asked by the kids that we did not get to during our Studio Kids service. It is our desire to get to the place of posting these every Tuesday here on this blog for our Texting Tuesday post. What is a Texting Tuesday post day exactly? We have started to allow kids in our studio service (4-6th grade) to bring their cell phones and use them during our service. We have found out that often times kids have more on their minds that we are aware. The there are those parents who want a way into the thoughts and concerns of their kids but are unsure of how to get this accomplished. Well here is part of our answer for this. Please note, I did not go in and edit spelling or punctuation for this because we wanted to stay as true as possible to what and how the kids asked their questions.

Parents, please continue to check this blog out every Tuesday (well every Tuesday once we get a rythm for ourselves that is). You will be able to read what is on the minds of kids, your kids through a venue that they enjoy - texting. We do not connect the kids with the questions, and we take out the phone numbers, as this is not relevant for what we are attempting to do. But even with all that taken out, the real goods are still here - their questions, thoughts, concerns etc. Feel free to pick through these and talk to your kids about. Who knows, your may have some of the same thoughts and concerns.

You will notice the format of this is I post their question ad then myself or one of my leaders answer the question. I am Google voice for all of this so that I have a record of what is being asked and answered as well. I then for the most part copy and paste here for your family to use. We are also finding that this is becoming a great data base for them to refer their friends to as well, seeing that also have my search feature powered by Google and it is making a great data base for answers for kids and families. Parents. may you also feel free to ask a question or so and we will respond to you the same. Ask your kids for our number they all have it.

Enjoy

Q: Is it bad to watch whichcraf like harrypotter of wizards of waverly place
A: Yes, The Bible give us very clear guidance on shows of this type. The Bible describes the sin of witchcraft. It also tells us that we should not call evil, good or good, evil. Both these shows call what is evil, good.

Q: What is sexual sin
A: Simply put sexual sin is sin the goes against what God has saved for married people.

Q: Why are we born with sin
A: GRACE! What the Bible defines as sin serves as a schoolmaster to show us all that God’s grace forgives. If we were not sinners we would not need grace. We sin because we are sinners. Note the difference from: we are sinners because we have sinned.

Q: Sometimes people dont understand me. H0w do i help them understand me?
A: Communication, People will understand you when you share your life with them. If you want friends. Be a friend.

Q: Is it true that when parents disipline you, they d0 it because they love you?
A: Yes, In most cases your parents discipline you because they love you. They see future consequences of your actions that will harm you.

Q: Why does god let us mess up?
A: The short answer is free will. God made us in his image. God is the ultimate Creator. We also have the ability to build and create things. Sometimes we can create a mess.

Q: How do you break the swearing habit????
A: To break any negative habit, like swearing,replace it with something positive. Php 4:6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. Php 4:7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Q : Is it ok when you are doing a good deed to think of the later reward
A: It is ok to think of the reward as long as the reward is not the reason for the deed. Your motive is what counts. The Bible compare good deeds with wrong motives to straw. And when the fire comes it will be burned up. If the good deed is do with pure motive then it is compared to gold and it will last.

Q: If god created us perfect how did adam and eve sin
A: The Bible says Gen 5:1 when God created Adam it was in Gods likeness or resemblance. God is described as All knowing, All powerfull, Eternal, None of those were used to describe Adam. Adam was born without sin, but did sin though his willful disobedience of Gods command.

Q: Why doesn’t god hardly ever answer in words when you pray
A: That one is tough. If I had to give an answer to why does God not answer audibly, I would say because we could not handle it. If you remember Moses face glowed because he saw God, Isiah had to be hid in the clef of a rock and was only allowed to see God’s back as he passed by so he would not die.

Q: why is it illegal in some counties to worship God….
A: Not all counties have America’s Heritage, our founding fathers knew all of our rights are given by God. Not all counties in fact very few were founded by Godly people that trusted God to lead them to form Government. A lot of foregien countries do not want to admit God has all power. If they did they would have the power themselves.

I must start off this review with a confession. This book took me longer than any other book to read for only one purpose: My life became very busy from the moment I took on this book. This book is an easy read and one that should keep you engaged.

Ralph de la Vega is the author of “Obstacles Welcome” and the president & CEO of AT&T mobility and consumer markets. As the tagline of the book, ‘turn adversity to advantage in business and life’ suggests this book comprises of writer’s lifetime experiences and the theories and attitude he followed to achieve his goals.

I enjoyed how every chapter of the book ends with ‘Takeaway Messages’, giving points to spark continued thinking about through our daily struggles or opportunities in life. His way of looking towards life is admirable and can provide inspiration in thought.

Obstacles Welcome outlines a simple set of strategies for people at every level of society who face challenges in their businesses, education and personal lives.

1. First, de la Vega says, when faced with a challenge we must assess the situation, examining our strengths and weaknesses.

2. We must establish a vision, what we have decided we are going to accomplish.

3. We must create a plan for success, listing the steps necessary to make the vision become reality. “Hope,” de la Vega points out, “is not a strategy.”

4. Lastly we must put the plan into effect, monitoring and adjusting it with incoming information as we progress toward the goal, keeping in mind a solid foundation of values. Ethical practice is not only “the right thing but the wise thing to do,” de la Vega declares.

As the book ends, so I want to end this the same way..

“So now my work continues…creating experiences to convince the youth of the world that life can be more than they ever dreamed if they get an education and use it to bring their own best ideas to reality.

I want this ongoing journey to be their own plane to freedom, helping to lift them above their limitations and landing them where their opportunities have no limits.”

Read this book and maybe you too will pick this heart beat of the author up.

It may sound something like this…

The four Stages of team development were originally identified by educational psychologist Bruce W. Tuckman in the mid-1960’s. Still valid today, they are:

  * Forming
  * Storming
  * Norming
  * Performing

Forming is what happens at your leadership retreat or first meeting. Everyone comes with company manners and is nice to each other. You might do some bonding games or talk about all you will achieve together. Hopefully you leave pumped and feel almost like you’ve found a fresh love.

Back home and back in the trenches, reality hits. The turf wars begin. Team members begin to jockey for acknowledged expertise in an area. Things get tense. You may wonder what you were thinking when you agreed to be a part of the team!

The storming phase has begun. Teammates are diligently working to identify who does and knows what. Pressure increases on how the team works together and challenges how the team deals with differing opinions around the table. Successfully working through this uncomfortable season will establish group norms. Just like after any storm, calm follows, relatively speaking that is.

Norming is building on the outcomes from the storm. This leads to growing trust within the team, and real forward progress begins.

With clear norms, performing becomes doable because the team is attuned to the same wavelength. It’s almost as if you can read everyone’s mind. The team delivers high-performance, and life is good.

Unfortunately, the process doesn’t always work quite this smoothly. Many teams never get beyond storming. Not quite understanding what is going on, leaders risk allowing things to get personal. This can become a de-motivator, and team members may start jumping ship, stalling progress. Teaching your new team the four phases can help them knowingly and successfully move through the storming phase.

Since most teams experience some turnover in their life span, it is vital to be aware that whenever a new member joins the team or someone drops from the team, the process will usually revert back to the storming phase. Be sure your team members are equipped to survive the storming process and work through to norming.

Awareness of what’s going on in your team and what phase you are in can smooth the growth of your team.
Smith, M.K., Bruce W. Tuckman, 2005

So what do you agree with or disagree with? What have been your experiences in “team”?

Below I am showing some of the questions we received as text during service. These are the ones we did not have the opportunity to respond to during the service either from the platform or from our other computers we were working from during the service to keep up with giving answers. I would encourage others who read this to give your input here in the blog on the ones labeled “Blog”. These were questions that were too lengthy to answer through a text or during the service.

Here we go:

Q-is it bad 2 l00k up 2 pe0ple other than g0d 11:41 AM
A-Paul wrote “follow me as I follow Christ” It is bad to follow people if they are not doing what God wants them to do.  Just remember God will give you people that you should follow to lead you to him.

Q: Is it bad to not obey my Mom Dad and God
A:Scripture says honor your mother and father and it will be well with you.  So yes in almost every case it is wrong to disobey your parents.  Remember God did not come to condemn the world he came to redeem it.  So if you have failed to obey God ask him to forgive you and he will. 

Q:: Should we have open hearts to every one?
A: blog (How would you answer this for a child in 4-6th grade?)

Q: Whats the nugget of wisdom
A: A nugget is a small bite size piece, similar to chicken nuggets, you can pick one up, eat and go on the next piece. Nuggets of wisdom are small bite size pieces of information that is in Gods word.

Q: Is bad to try to correct older people.
A: The scripture that comes to mind is that was written about early church leaders “never sharply rebuke an elder” Note the word sharply, if you come to a person with a humble loving heart to help and explain to them what you see and feel to them that is not bad.  Keep respect and honor, first and foremost.  If they are a person of God, God will do the correcting.

Q: How can we tell the difference between the two types of fears
A: Blog (How would you answer this for a child in 4-6th grade?)

Q: Is there a book that helps u understand the bible because i get confused with some of the metaphores 11:46 AM Jamie answered
Fire bible.

Q: I always wonder what people think uv me. But i n0 that their th0tz d0nt mater. 0nly g0d’s d0. H0w d0 i make my self n0t care wut otherz think about me? 11:47 AM
A: Paraphrase of scripture.” Rest on the lord god all you heart lean not on your own understanding and in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make you path straight.”  It sounds like you are doing this keep it up. What this scripture means, is it only matters what God thinks of you.  Do what he says, and give God the credit.

Q: What if your friend cuss and then turnes around and sayes that they r a christain 11:46 AM
A: (How would you answer this for a child in 4-6th grade?)

Q: If someone drinks and smokes and cussis can they still be an christian 11:48 AM 11:49 AM
A: Blog (How would you answer this for a child in 4-6th grade?)

Q: Should you always walk away from bad people 11:50 AM
A: Yes , the scripture that comes to mind is “flee from immorality” There are situations that you know are wrong and the best thing to do is leave.  Your leaving can be as simple as I know this is wrong and I do not want to be a part of it.  This may give other the strength to do the same.

Q: in matt 6:10 it tells you to use the lords prayer…should we pray like that all the time
A: The lords prayer is a pattern of what prayer should be.  I will take it in pieces.
“Our father which art in heaven hollowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.  But lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.  For thine is the kingdom and the glory forever. “  Our prayers should give God glory for who he. This prayer also makes clear we want God in control of our lives. It also says God gives us exactly what we need when we need it. Just like he gave the Israelites enough mana to feed them and not any more than they needed.  “daily bread”  It also ask God for his hand of protection on us, then wraps up with glorifying God again.  Mathew 6:10 should be our pattern for prayer but does not have to be repeated verbatim.

Q: How can we kow wat to say yes /no
A: When Jesus was in the the desert being tempted by the Devil.  His answer always started, it is written.  The only completely correct answer is if the Bible say yes, then yes, If the Bible says no then no.  If it is not exactly layed out in the bible.  Then find a principle that is clear in the bible.  Never forget the Golden rule.  Mat 7:12 ?  Do onto others as you would want them to do to you.

Q: Is it bad wen we mis church?
A: Missing church is like missing a meal.  It will leave you hungry for what you soul needs.

Q: How can we stay focused on god
A: blog (How would you answer this for a child in 4-6th grade?)

Q: D0 u think god letz us make our own choises? Or d0 u think he ch00ses 4 us?
A: Blog (How would you answer this for a child in 4-6th grade?)

Q: If u pray but dont pray every night or day dose it matter? 
A: I anwered a question earlier about missing church is like missing a meal.  Missing prayer is almost like forgetting to breath, You can hold your breath for awhile but sooner or later if you don’t breath you will die.  If you go a long time with prayer it is not healthy for your spirit.  When you are in love with something you want to spend time with it.  God is no different.

Q: Do you need fear in your life? 11:53 AM
A: The bible say the beginning of wisdom is the fear of God.  Fear is this spriture is more along the lines of respect.  Another use of fear in the bible that talks about fear is “ God did not give us a spirit of fear but one of life”  Fear should not keep you from serving God.  Blog?

Q: do you have to give offering
A: Offering is given from a heart of love or a desire to give. If you think you have to do anything that is LAW.  God looks at your heart, man looks at what you do.  I will ask your question another way. Should you want to give offings?  The answer to that is yes.

Q: I have a friend who is a Jehovah’s Witness..Should I still be her friend
A: Blog?  (How would you answer this for a child in 4-6th grade?)

I left these un-edited on purpose. I took out the phone numbers or names as this is not important for anyone to see, but left the text itself alone. The answers on these where provided by sme great team members who helped me get answers to all the kids. Again, how would you have answered any of them differently? Or what kind of answer would you give on those marked “blog”?

Today’s blog is a quick one but one that is important. I was thinking about this when I was sitting with my family last night watching t.v and I began to do something that I have made part of a regular habit over the last few years. I think of how important it has been for me and the difference it has made for me as well. I am learning to write these things down more and share more as I continue in my wonderful journey of being a Kidology Coach.

There are 86,400 seconds in every day for each one of us. No more and no less. It’s about how we maximize that time that allows us to increase our chances of success. That is why I am a firm believer that there is no such thing as a “time manager” but there are definitely “task managers”! See no one except God can change time or manage it. A second will follow a second and a minute will follow a minute now matter what you do. There is no management in that. But there are numerous tasks that can be managed within those seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, years - you get the idea. 

So here is a “Task Management” idea. At the end of each day, make a list of the have-to-do’s for your next day. Who are the people you need to speak with, and who are the people that you need to follow up with? Who needs to receive an e-mail, and who needs to receive a phone call or personal visit? Bottom line, who needs to see you or hear from you in some capacity? What task do you need to do? What task are coming up? Think through these type of questions and add some of your own as well.

This is a list that can be created right before you go to bed or while you are watching television and relaxing. The time you take to prepare will allow you to plan for success! I even plan certain types of tasks depending on the time of day. See for me mornings are always the best. I love 4am-11am. During that time I am my most productive so I schedule accordingly. Then for me I work the phones and email type stuff from 2-4pm because these are the slowest times for me when I am usually hitting a wall.

So use seasons or patterns of life accordingly. 

Wow I can not believe that 2009 is already over. I was going back through the archives looking at the last time I posted a Backstage Pass and it was back on December 20th. So much has seemed to happen since then and more importantly for this topic, more lessons have been learned than I have taken the time to blog about.

Today I will try and get down some of the quick behind the scenes/back stage type lessons and ideas, new and old that I have been reminded of or discovered new for myself.

* Kids Love to text. Yesterday we had a texting service where we had all the kids (98% of all of our 4-6th graders have phones) brought them and used them to text us questions during the service. We would answer all of them that we could. Well we were delightfully surprised to the amount of great questions they sent us. We were able to get a peek into their minds and lives that no amount of money could have paid for. Because it was done through texting they felt a comfort of asking true, transparent questions. It was one of my most favorite services over the last few years.

* One little idea can lead to some really bigger ideas and more developed. That is what the texting service is doing for us. We have some great minds now thinking through how to make this bigger and better. We saw more visitors yesterday than in a long time. The main difference, we WANTED them to bring their phones and text during service. This is what I refer to as “Godly Naughtiness”.

* People want to be challenged and live up to something greater than themselves.

* Use people where they already love being and they will not feel it is a task.

* When people are given an opportunity to succeed they will take it. So offer many opportunities to success.