I did finally meet Kenny at the Orange Conference in 2009, and 2010.  I’ve also had Kenny and his family over for an evening in Lubbock once when they drove through town on their way to Colorado.  This summer my family returned the favor (albiet staying for much longer) and we all had a blast.  Ask him to tell you about the time he almost killed me and my oldest son on the San Marcos river in late July 2010!  My kids knew him much before they actually met him; because when we had some family medical issues a few years ago, Kenny and his wife Sara paid to have some pizza delivered to our house.  Such a special thing for my family at the time, and much appreciated!

Kenny is somebody worth following, and he can be followed at www.childrensministryonline.com.  He’s worked in small churches, and big churches; baptist churches, and pentecostal churches; and he’s been through some pretty great ministry highs, and some pretty sorry ministry lows.  For being only in his early 30′s, it’s amazing what Kenny has seen and been through as it relates to Children’s Ministry and now Family Ministry.  In Austin he’s transitioned to a more family ministry leadership role, taking the coolest job title in the word; “Next Generations Pastor” at Gateway Church.  While he no longer teaches kids with weekend regularity, or recruits 3 year old teachers with reckless abandon; he’s still committed to leading others into leading churches to intentionally equip children.

He’ll try anything, and has a closed mind about very few things in ministry.  He’s easy to get time with, and I promise if you email him…he will eventually return your email.  And when he does, I can guarantee you it will be sent between the hours of midnight at 2:00 a.m.

I am always on the search for good music in our Children’s Ministry environments.  If you take me to lunch sometime I’ll tell you about all the ones I love and hate!  So when Bob Singleton from God’s Kids Worship asked me to review something new that is being put out for Children’s Ministry…I was all over it.  Thanks Bob for sending along something so fun to look through.

God’s Kids Worship is available in both CD Audio format and in the very popular DVD Video format.  I’ve looked through the Modern Worship Summer DVD and the Modern Worship CD Pack.  There is so much here, and I only have a small portion of all that GKW offers to churches, schools, and families!  Let’s talk about what we do have.

Here is what I liked:

• These DVD’s have everything!  Need service countdown videos? They got it!  Need background images for when you’re teaching? They got it!  Need high-energy songs complete with easy to read words to the worship songs? They got those too!  I can’t think of anything they forgot to include.
• The DVD’s are so easy to use.  They load super fast, and the menus are totally dummy proof.  If you can’t find what you’re looking for, then you have other issues. ;)  These DVD’s would be great with any knowledge level of sound and video guy helping you.  Trust me, this is so important when Sunday Morning rolls around.
• The music is familiar.  The music is all stuff we do in our Adult Worship Services, and many of the songs are heard on the local Christian radio stations.  (And I know that I’ve only looked at a very small portion of what GKW has available on their main website and in stores now!)
• It just looks cool!  GKW has taken the extra step to make everything packaging and visually related is a home run.  These are not your father’s Children’s Ministry songs!  Don’t underestimate the cool-factor when programming for children.
• There is a curriculum that follows along with everything.  Anytime you can work your music around what you are teaching for the Bible it’s a win-win.

Here is the only thing I didn’t like:

• I’m going to be guilty here of being nit-picky; but if I’m totally being honest I would say that I wish there were more adult vocals included on the audio.  The children’s choir that is recorded on all the audio is stellar and it’s really done well, but my experience tells me that when there is one adult focal voice on the track it helps keep my kids attention better when I use it as a worship product.  However, GKW has been designed to be kid-only and I totally undersand their position.

Summary:

• What we have here is a fantastic resource that is new, cutting-edge, modern and yet they still make some classic church music for those of you working in a more traditional environment.  I’m going to make it really easy for you to try out this new product, as God’s Kids Worship has graciously provided us with a giveaway.

I have one quarter of the Brand New Modern Worship DVD to giveaway.  People, this is a $60 value and it’s completely going to be free to one lucky reader!  This DVD has 3 easy-to-use Lyrics and Music DVD songs, countdowns, worship orders, and much more.  It is seriously over 42 tracks of Children’s Ministry worship gold!

What do you have to do to win? Easy, easy, easy!  There are two ways to win, and two ways to enter.  Yes, I said it.  You can enter twice.

1. Just leave a comment here for one easy entry for the give-away!
2. Tweet this: @jonathancliff is giving  away one FREE Worship DVD from God’s Kids Worship over @ jonathancliff.com  http://bit.ly/WorshipGiveaway #kidmin

I’m going to run this contest until Tuesday, September 7th and then throw all the entries into a random generator and pick our winner!  Only 7 days to enter twice!  Why not start today?

We began to pray for opportunities to make additional contributions and vowed that all money above our normal monthly income would be given to the Beyond Project at Trinity..  And then it happened.  We began to receive unexpected rebate checks, insurance payment refunds, and my own kids (with help from their mother) organized a family garage sale.  At about this same time, I was approached by some different sponsors offering to pay for ad space here at www.jonathancliff.com.  As you might have guessed, if you read this blog I have accepted their offers.  I’m working with the Beacon Ad network to make sure that my ads are of high quality content, and so far my experience with them has been positive.

It’s my hope that the sponsors we have here at www.jonathancliff.com will reflect something of interest to my readers.  I know that some might seem more interesting than others, but I ask that you take the time to visit each and every one as they are added over in the right sidebar.  I will also from time to time be doing product reviews, and I promise that I will not accept payment from anyone in exchange for a positive review; honesty will rule the reviews!  You can ready my entire advertising philosophy over on the advertise page HERE.

In this spirit let me introduce you to two of my newest sponsors:

• Christianity Cove is run by Mary Kate Warner and you can visit all that is happening at the cove at http://www.christianitycove.com.  Her blog has been up and running since 2006 with hundreds of pages of free content to help Sunday School teachers, home schooling parents, children’s pastors, etc. pull together fun lessons, games, activities, etc.  I know that you will find many of her resources worth looking at!
• Ministry-to-Children.com has also joined as a partner.  MTC is a fantastic resource for anyone associated in any form whatsoever with Children’s Ministry.  I cannot more highly recommend the A+ content put out on this site. Specifically you will find a link to their coloring page catalog.  Good Stuff.  Tony Kummer, and his group of writers at MTC have long been an important part of the online Kidmin community.  Go there now and say hello!

Thank you so much for being a faithful reader, and as we enter this new adventure together I hope that I can bring advertisers that can enrich your experience!  Feel free to email me with any questions if you ever feel your trust has been compromised by an ad that you see at jonathancliff.com.

What’s different?

• Families can check-in using a RFID key tag.  Each family is being given two key tags that they will then be able to use anytime they visit Kidsplace.  Previously we used name tags with magnetic stripes that kids “swiped” on a reader.
• After check-in for each child, there will be a name badge printed for them next to the kiosks.  Previously we used hard plastic name tags that had to be returned each week to be used again the next week.  Can you say time-intensive?
• All visitors are entered into our ARENA database program when they visit.  Using Family Registration, every visitor will be entered in, and subsequently checked-in to their appropriate location.  Previously we kept a running spreadsheet and didn’t enter a child until they had attended 3 times or more, and then we would create a permanent name tag for them.
• Visitors will be able to check-in using their phone number on there very next visit to church.  No more visitor line for them!  Previously, they continued to visit this visitor line until they had attended for a few weeks and were moved to a permanent name tag.  I’m so excited to be able to give our first-timers a real special experience!

I’m real excited, and mildly concerned about how easy this will all pull off this weekend.  I can tell you that I’m gonna love the RFID name tags, as we no longer have to deal with barcodes or magnetic stripes at check-in!  Here is a short video that was distributed to parents this week to prepare them for the transition.  Now…fire away with those questions in the comment area!

But I’ve also met Keith.  For months and months we would exchange emails about various things happening in and around our lives.  Once I emailed him and asked if he would give me a run-down of all the U2 songs that a newbie to U2 like myself should listen too.  See, if you’ve read BON you would know that Keith rarely listens to other music and is the quintessential U2 snob.  (That’s not an insult!)  As I awaited his return email with a list of songs I should buy on iTunes, I instead received a package in the mail.  This Internet stranger had sent me a mix-tape of his favorite U2 songs, along with the reasons for him including each song on the mix-tape.  Seriously, he did this!

I’ve read and exchanged emails while he nursed his sick mother, who would eventually pass away.  I’ve followed along from a distance as he visited her native land in Vietnam along with his wife.  And recently I’ve watched him learn to be a father for the first time!  Keith is a seeker of truth, and I love his spirit and perseverance to find answers to his questions on spirituality.  We would all benefit from his curiosity.

So when have we actually met?  A few months after he sent me the U2 mix-tape, I had an extra ticket to a Dallas Stars game; so I invited him and we got to hang out for the evening.  I think we may have had lunch before I left the Dallas area and headed to Lubbock, I think we did; but I’m not sure.  But last September on a Sunday afternoon I got a call from Keith.  He had purchased two tickets to the U2 show in Arlington for a Monday night, and through a series of unfortunate events (and more close friends being unable to attend) he asked if I was interested.  So in a matter of 24 hours I was back in Dallas, camping out in his spare bedroom and standing right next to the stage for the U2 concert at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, TX.  What a thrill!  I count this as one of the more spiritual experiences of my life!

Keith is a long-distance friend, and is one of the many reasons that I love the Internet.  If you’ve not taken the time to shoot of an email to that blog author that you read, then do it.  It’s always worth is to make a new friend, even if it’s an Internet friend!