Landry Holmes

Bible Skills, Bible Study, Bibles, Kids Ministry, Leadership

September 12, 2018

Don’t Take My Word for It

Ironic, isn’t it? We have access to more information than the generations that came before us, yet we distrust that information with increasing cynicism. There was a time when we believed what we read or heard until the information was proven false. Now, we assume most of the things we read on the Internet are suspect until authenticated.

This is the world in which our kids are living. However, there is one source of information that is absolutely true all the time—God’s Word. Our challenge is to teach kids the Bible is authoritative. It’s the one book we can trust and not question. Congruous to that challenge, is the need to guide children to accept as truth only that which they can verify for themselves in Scripture. Such was the case for people from Josiah to Timothy.

Kids need their own copy of the Bible. During a dark period of church history, common people were denied access to the Scriptures. What they knew of God’s Word was limited to whatever the professional clergy chose to tell them. People were not allowed to question what they heard, and they had no personal access to the Bible. This, however, was never God’s plan, as illustrated by both Josiah and Ezra’s public reading of the Scriptures. (See 2 Kings 23 and Nehemiah 8.) God intends for kids to hear and read the actual words of the Bible for themselves.
Kids can trust the historicity of the Bible. If you are like I am, you often may skip over the introductory matter of some Bible books. Doing so when reading the gospel of Luke can cause you to miss an important insight. God inspired Luke to write his gospel based on “carefully investigated” truth, in order for Theophilus to “know the certainty of the things about which” he had “been instructed.” (Luke 1:3-4) Every historical fact in the Bible is true, and many are based on eyewitness accounts.
Kids should learn Bible skills. One of my favorite, obscure Bible stories is the one of the Bereans in Acts 17. These synagogue-goers did not accept at face value what Paul and his companions taught. They refused to be gullible. Instead, the Bereans “examined the Scriptures daily” to make sure Paul’s teachings were true. (Acts 17:11) When we provide kids with practical Bible skills, they will be equipped for the rest of their lives to test what they hear against the truth of God’s Word.
We must teach kids the Bible. Paul gives a clear, yet indirect, mandate to teach kids the Bible while they are still young. What a gracious reminder Paul provides Timothy when he says, “But as for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed. You know those who taught you, and you know that from infancy you have known the sacred Scriptures, which are able to give you wisdom for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” (2 Tim 3:14-15) Don’t miss that last part. God’s Word points us to Jesus. The same Jesus who wants to rescue the kids you teach.

Ultimately, the reason you and I are called to guide kids to explore the Bible and understand the truths of God’s Word for themselves is so that they can meet and know the God of the Bible through His Son Jesus. We can and must accept this challenge. But, as in the closing words of that children’s television program, Reading Rainbow, “You don’t have to take my word for it.”

Landry Holmes is the Manager of Lifeway Kids Ministry Publishing, Nashville, TN. A graduate of Howard Payne University and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Landry served on church staffs before coming to Lifeway. He is a church leader, writer, workshop facilitator, and publisher. Landry also teaches children at his church in Middle Tennessee. He and his wife Janetta are the grandparents of two adorable grandbabies.

Encouragement, Kids Ministry, Leadership

August 15, 2018

When Church Work is Hard

By Landry Holmes

It was one of those Sundays. Actually, it was one of a series of those Sundays. You know what I’m talking about. You arrived at church extra early, and you stayed late. While everyone else was eating pancakes for breakfast or ordering lunch at a restaurant, you were setting up or cleaning up so their preschoolers and elementary kids could have a positive experience at church. However, the experience didn’t feel positive to you. In fact, you dragged your weary self out to your car in the empty church parking lot, thinking that all your work was for naught. But, was it?

Well, that depends. Whose work was it and why did you do it? If your Sunday toiling is your work and you do it out of extrinsic or selfish motivation (guilt, pride, ego, etc.), then maybe it is for naught. However, if you show up every week because of what Jesus did for you on the cross and because the work is not yours but God’s, then you do not labor in vain.

I have been part of kids ministry all my adult life as either a volunteer, a paid church staff member, or the spouse of a staff member. In each of those roles, I have found church work to be challenging and downright hard. There are days I want to quit. As a volunteer sometimes I’m tempted to say, “I’m just a volunteer; why do I put up with this mess?”

Sure, the 10-year-old girl hurt your feelings or the 3-year-old boy punched you in the face, and some kids didn’t show up because their parents had “something better” to do; however, Jesus experienced far worse. And, Christians all over the world are persecuted every day for their faith. I say that not to induce guilt, but to remind you to place your misery in perspective.

Satan wants you to quit. The more you show love to children in Jesus’ name and point them to our Heavenly Father, the more Satan tries to tempt you to quit with thoughts of despair. What do those thoughts do? They distract you from focusing on Jesus and the kids He loves, and they cause you to doubt your Kingdom effectiveness.

What should you do when your body, mind, and spirit are exhausted and screaming for you to give up? Scripture is quite clear. “Let us not get tired of doing good, for we will reap at the proper time if we don’t give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us work for the good of all, especially for those who belong to the household of faith.” (Galatians 6:9-10)

Church work is hard. Kids ministry is hard. We are living in a fallen world inhabited by sinful people, including you and me. By God’s grace, we can get out of bed before daylight on Sunday morning and stay until the last child is out the door. And maybe, just maybe, we can go home, take a nap, and start all over the next week.

Encouragement, Kids Ministry, Leadership

July 2, 2018

Unintentional Influence

By Landry Holmes

Do you think of yourself as an influencer? Leadership expert John C. Maxwell explains, “Leadership is not about titles, positions or flowcharts. It is about one life influencing another.” As kids ministry leaders, we have influence. As believers, we have influence.

Many times, we intentionally try to exercise influence through meetings, training sessions, one-on-one conversations, emails, and social media. However, you may be surprised at how many times you influence people without realizing you are doing so.

If you don’t believe me, think about people who have unintentionally influenced you. The neighbor who uses organic-only lawn care products. The friend who reads a genre of books you haven’t thought about reading. The co-worker who brings her lunch to the office in order to save money.

Lately, I’ve been thinking about people whom I may have influenced in ways unbeknownst to me. For example, a few years ago I was invited by a colleague to meet with a young man who wanted to know more about the work of Lifeway’s Kids Ministry Publishing and how he might engage with us. He was attending college, majoring in graphic design. I explained that, at the time, there might be more future employment opportunities in the editorial field than in design. He returned to the university and added a second major in English. Now is he is on the team I lead as a versatile graphic designer.

Almost 20 years ago, my wife and I taught a preschooler in Sunday School who clung to her mother’s leg almost every Sunday morning. As a teenager, she helped us teach preschoolers in VBS, and as a college student, she is a full-fledged Sunday School teacher. She even changed her major to early childhood development.

More recently I taught a workshop related to kids ministry. Among those participating were a mother and her teenage son. As I often do when teaching leaders, I used the teen’s name as part of an illustration. Several days later, his mom sent me a thank-you note and mentioned the positive impact of my acknowledging him as a preschool teacher.

I did not set out to influence those three individuals, but I believe God places us in the right place at the right time to encourage and influence others for His glory. God used Paul in this way. In fact, Paul reminds the younger Timothy, “What you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, commit to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” (2 Timothy 2:2)

The enemy tries to convince us that we don’t provide positive influence, that what we do doesn’t matter or have a lasting impact. But we know better. When I get discouraged and wonder if what I’m doing in kids ministry is making a difference, I remember those whom I’ve influenced to “teach others also.” Whom have you influenced? Thank God for the opportunity to influence others for His glory.

Kids Ministry, Leadership

May 25, 2018

Help Kids Navigate a GoFundMe® World

By Landry Holmes

We live in the age of the crowd. Need a lot of people to help with an idea or project? Try crowdsourcing. Need to raise money for yourself or an organization? Use an online crowdfunding platform.

Merriam-Webster defines crowdfunding as “the practice of obtaining needed funding (as for a new business) by soliciting contributions from a large number of people especially from the online community.” While the term crowdfunding may be new, the concept is not.

The New Testament church in Acts knew firsthand what it meant to provide necessary funding for those in need: “Now all the believers were together and held all things in common. They sold their possessions and property and distributed the proceeds to all, as any had need.” (Acts 2:44-45)

What does this have to do with kids ministry? Almost daily, our kids and their families are asked to give to various causes. The Internet has provided well-meaning, as well as unscrupulous, individuals an easy entry into our wallets. Door-to-door solicitation and plastic collection jars at the cash register are being replaced by online GoFundMe® campaigns. Some of these fundraising efforts are legitimate, others are not.

Nothing is inherently wrong with GoFundMe® and other crowdfunding mechanisms. They definitely have been used for good. The question for us, however, is, “How can we teach kids about godly financial stewardship, regardless of the manner in which funds are collected?” Consider guiding kids to learn these biblical principles:

- The church is responsible for its impoverished members. (See Acts 6:1-7.)
- Giving is a voluntary and cheerful privilege. (See 2 Corinthians 9:7.)
- A sense of entitlement does not glorify God. (See Philippians 4:10-20.)
- If we can work, we should work. (See Proverbs 6:6-11.)

God’s plan for caring for the physical needs of Jesus’ followers in the New Testament was simple. Those in the church who had financial resources were to share them with believers who needed help. Those who chose to follow their own plan faced dire consequences. Just ask Ananias and Sapphira. This husband and wife duo sold some property, decided to keep some for themselves rather than share with fellow church members, and collaborated a lie about their offering. As a result, Ananias and Sapphire both “dropped dead” because they dishonored God. (See Acts 5:1-11.)

Crowdfunding worked for the fledgling church when its members glorified God with their gifts. And, why did most of them give cheerfully? Because God gave the ultimate gift of His Son, Jesus Christ. Isn’t that what we want kids to learn and practice? If this generation of kids learns to give in response to God’s amazing love and not out of guilt or a sense of obligation, then who knows, maybe we won’t need secular crowdfunding.

Easter, Kids Ministry, Leadership, Preschool

April 4, 2018

Easter Egg Hunt Blues

By Landry Holmes

The annual Easter egg hunt is over, leaving in its wake empty plastic egg shells covered in dry grass and stained with melted chocolate. When you and your team were stuffing those 14,000 eggs, you thought this day would never come. You fretted over securing enough candy, and your house looked like the chickens had come home to roost. Now, you’re wondering why you feel blue.

After a major event—even one filled with blissful mirth—feeling melancholy is normal. One way to escape the doldrums is to get some physical nourishment and rest. Next, take some time to evaluate the Easter egg hunt. I suggest doing this alone first, and then with your team. Ask yourself (and your team) questions such as these:

- What was our goal or purpose for the event? (If you held the Easter egg hunt because, “We always have one,” then you may need to redefine your goal before planning the next one.)
- Did we accomplish that goal or purpose? In what specific ways?
- Did we plan the event with enough lead time to be successful?
- Did the entire church participate, or just a select few? How can we involve more people in the next big event?
- Who came to the egg hunt? Regular attenders of our church? Unchurched people in our community?
- How did the Easter egg hunt further the mission of our church?
- What can we do next year during the Easter season to reach families with the gospel?

We ask ourselves these tough questions to ensure that egg hunts and other events are vehicles that help accomplish the mission of the Church as set forth in Matthew 28:18-20, to “make disciples.” All those mismatched plastic eggs you find under your couch and in the church flower bed six months from now, just might be worth it.

Kids Ministry, Leadership, Media, Technology

March 26, 2018

10 Ways to Leverage Kids’ Technological Distractions

By Landry Holmes

On my way to church on a recent Wednesday evening, I found out that I needed to help in preschool choir. The lead teacher’s family had the flu, so her co-teacher would be taking the lead and she needed an assistant. Miss LeeAnn, a college student, quickly pulled together some music videos and a Bible story app on her smartphone, which she subsequently connected to the TV in the preschool classroom. And away we went!

Miss LeeAnn leveraged technology in order to effectively teach biblical truth that Wednesday night. Today’s preschoolers and elementary kids are what Marc Prensky calls digital natives. They have never known a world without smartphones and electronic tablets. So, instead of lamenting that fact, let’s use technology in positive ways at church.

Embrace technology for what it is, technology; and don’t condemn kids for using it.
Teach kids the theology of technology. Remind them that their identity is in Christ, not dependent on how many “likes” and “shares” they receive.
Help kids apply what Jesus referred to as the greatest commands—love God and love others—to their use of technology, rather than succumb to negative digital distractions.
Establish ground rules for mobile devices at church for both teachers and kids.
Incorporate the usage of family apps in class.
Use TV screens.
Take pictures/video of kids engaged in Bible learning, in real time. However, be sure to follow your church’s privacy policy.
Present biblical truth and life application in terms of sound bites, quotes, memes, short videos, engaging images, share squares, and emojis.
Build in time for interruptions. When kids have questions, try to respond immediately. If a child makes a relevant statement, allow for open discussion on the spot if appropriate.
Use large group experiences to teach patience. The world of smartphones has created expectations of immediate gratification. When a child has to wait for a teacher or her peers before speaking or taking action, she will learn patience; and patience is biblical. (See Galatians 5:22.)

Speaking to a previous generation, G. K. Chesterton stated, “The huge modern heresy is to alter the human soul to fit modern social conditions, instead of altering modern social conditions to fit the human soul.” Our job is not to change the gospel message to fit technology, but rather to leverage technology to teach kids the unchanging truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Encouragement, Kids Ministry, Leadership

March 7, 2018

5 Tips to Becoming Less Technologically Distracted

By Landry Holmes

This morning I awoke early, spent time looking at my electronic tablet while getting ready, connected my smartphone to my vehicle’s audio system, drove to the airport and showed the parking attendant the reservation on my smartphone, checked my baggage using the boarding pass on my smartphone, went through the security checkpoint with my electronic boarding pass, boarded the plane with a quick scan of my smartphone’s airline app, and read emails until time to switch my smartphone to airplane mode.

And I wonder why I’m tired, stressed, and distracted! Granted this is not a typical morning for me; however, almost every day begins with reaching for my tablet or phone and ends with putting them away before crawling into bed exhausted. Our world has become so connected and attached to powerful electronic devices that we are constantly technologically distracted everywhere we go. Even the security checkpoint officer was briefly distracted this morning when she stole a quick glance at her smartphone.

What does this have to do with teaching preschoolers and elementary kids at church? Tony Reinke in his book 12 Ways Your Phone is Changing You says, “We check our smartphones about 81,500 times each year, or once every 4.3 minutes of our waking lives.” That could mean you’re checking your phone almost 14 times during the one hour you’re teaching kids at church.

So, what can you and I do to be less distracted by technology as we attempt to teach kids the Bible? Here are five steps that can apply not only to the classroom setting, but to work and home as well:

1. Accept the reality and limits of technology. Technology is here to stay and will continue to be more invasive. However, it can never make us omnipresent. The sooner we learn that, the more engaged with real people in real time we will become. Smartphones and tablets will never take the place of one-on-one, biblical conversations with kids.
2. Evaluate your personal tech usage. Free tools exist that can help you know if you are too connected digitally. Search online for the Internet Addiction Test (IAT), the Facebook Intensity Quiz, and other assessments. Make changes based on your evaluation.
3. Establish “No Tech” zones. Place your smartphone out of reach in the classroom. Know where it is for emergencies, but otherwise “forget” where it is. Say to yourself and your co-teachers, “I don’t check my phone in the classroom.” Just making this statement reinforces your resolve.
4. Use the “do not disturb” feature on your phone. If you don’t know how, ask a first grader to show you. Basically this feature allows calls and texts only from specific contacts, such as your spouse or children’s pastor.
5. Enlist a tech accountability partner. This could be your co-teacher. Give her permission to give you “the look” or some other signal when you start pulling your phone out of your pocket. I teach every week with a Millennial, and she NEVER uses her smartphone in the classroom. I could learn from her example.

A few months ago I was sitting in the blocks area of a Bible study classroom, and a pre-kindergartener was trying to explain something to me. He felt compelled to say, “Hey!” to get my attention. I almost missed a Bible-teaching moment because I was looking at a text. That shameful incident helped me make some changes. What about you? What changes will you make this week?

Well, it’s time to put this blog post to bed and send to the editor. For the price of a fast-food meal I could connect to WiFi while flying 38,000 feet in the air and email what I just wrote, but I’m too frugal for that . . . or distracted.

Kids Ministry, Leadership, Parent Helps, Preschoolers

January 17, 2018

Promote a 2018 Preschool Bible-reading Plan

By Landry Holmes

There are a myriad of Bible-reading plans available via special edition Bibles, websites, and apps. Some plans call for reading the entire Bible in 365 days. Others may take the Bible student on a year-long journey that examines major biblical themes.

If preschool parents are even thinking about a 2018 personal Bible-reading plan, they probably are not considering the possibility of including their children. However, recent Lifeway research has shown that Bible reading is the most important thing parents can lead their children to do in order to place them on a healthy spiritual trajectory.

One way we as kids ministry leaders can equip parents to engage their preschoolers in Bible reading is by providing resources such as these:

Lifeway Kids Apps on the iTunes Store or Google Play

CSB Read to Me Bible

For Kindergarteners, you may want to kick it up a notch and provide kids with Foundations for Kids: A 260-day Bible Reading Plan for Kids and their parents with Foundations: A 260-Day Bible Reading Plan for Busy Believers. Parents and kids together can go through a guided plan of reading the Bible, examining essential passages from Genesis to Revelation.

Parents often begin plotting their child’s intellectual map before they bring their baby home. They think about how they will teach them pre-reading skills, pre-math skills, music appreciation, and sports. So, suggesting that we encourage parents to develop and stick to a Bible-reading plan for their preschooler is not outlandish at all. Let’s give them tools to get them started in 2018!

Discipleship, Kids Ministry, Leadership, Preschoolers

November 15, 2017

Can Preschoolers be Discipled?

By Landry Holmes

No, your eyes are not playing tricks on you and the title doesn’t contain a typo. This post is about preschool discipleship, not preschool discipline.

By definition, a disciple is someone “who accepts and assists in spreading the doctrines of another.” Therefore, the answer to the title question would appear to be, “No.” Most preschoolers have yet to trust Jesus as their Savior and Lord, the first step in becoming His disciple. However, God can use us to build foundations for discipleship in the lives of preschoolers.

Lifeway’s Levels of Biblical Learning® informs us on some ways in which we can do that:

Model discipleship by reading the Bible to preschoolers and praying out loud, using familiar vocabulary.
Tell babies and toddlers that Jesus loves them and that Jesus did everything God told Him to do.
Remind the youngest preschoolers that God has plans for them and helps them grow like Jesus grew.
Teach three- and four-year-olds that the Bible teaches what Jesus did and God wants people to learn from Jesus.
Help five-year-olds understand that Jesus died on the cross and is alive and that people who love Jesus want to obey Him.

Admittedly, the suggestions above are very basic. And, that’s the point. Our role as leaders, teachers, and parents is to lay the groundwork so that when a child does receive God’s gift of salvation through Christ, he or she will already know some foundational discipleship truths.

So if we allow ourselves some latitude, the answer is, “Yes, preschoolers can be discipled through the teachings of the Bible in preparation for a fuller expression of discipleship after they become true Jesus followers.”

Bible Study, Kids Ministry, Leadership, Sunday School, Teaching Kids

October 9, 2017

Is Trustworthy Content a Kidmin Deal Breaker?

By Landry Holmes

If you are a kids ministry leader, then you are a content provider.

“Whoa! Hold on now!” you may be thinking. “I’m not publisher, writer, song-writer, or video producer; so how am I a content provider?” Every preschool and children’s ministry leader and teacher is a content provider. The question is, “What kind of content are you serving to the kids in your church?”

Our ultimate goal is to make disciples of kids. The Bible is clear that making disciples includes teaching them the Bible. Jesus says in Matthew 28:19-20, “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Emphasis mine.)

So, what are we teaching the kids in our churches? I’ve seen a lot of curriculum, some published and some not. A lot of good, trustworthy content is available. However, there is also an abundance of not-so-trustworthy content out there. How do we discern the difference?

Start with asking yourself, “Does the content teach the truth and nothing but the truth?” Paul reminds his young protégé in 2 Timothy 2:15 to, “Be diligent to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who doesn’t need to be ashamed, correctly teaching the word of truth.” (Emphasis mine.) This means that we present Bible content to kids without embellishment, always. If we think we have to add to the Bible content just to make it interesting to kids, what are we saying about our belief in God’s inerrant word?

Another question to ask is, “Does the content point kids to Jesus?” This may come as a surprise to many of us, but kids were around during Bible times. How do you think they learned about God’s plan of redemption? They studied the Scriptures. Again, Paul reminds Timothy, “And you know that from infancy you have known the sacred Scriptures, which are able to give you wisdom for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” (2 Timothy 3:15)

The kids alive during Bible times either experienced violence and hardship or heard stories about battles and God’s provision. Some of them heard about the Messiah. Others sat in the Messiah’s lap. They also memorized long passages of Scripture that didn’t have any action in them. Do you think their parents and teachers embellished the stories of old to keep kids from being bored? Of course they didn’t, and neither should we.

Before you teach kids this week, evaluate the video, music, scripts, and printed words you plan to present. Does the content teach God’s truth unaltered and point kids to Jesus? If not, what changes will you make to be a provider of trustworthy content?

Don’t Take My Word for It

When Church Work is Hard

Unintentional Influence

Help Kids Navigate a GoFundMe® World

Easter Egg Hunt Blues

5 Tips to Becoming Less Technologically Distracted

Promote a 2018 Preschool Bible-reading Plan

Can Preschoolers be Discipled?

Is Trustworthy Content a Kidmin Deal Breaker?

All Ministry Sites

Digital Resources

Lifeway Network