daddy4ms

On Monday, June 1st, I had the opportunity to talk with Josh Allen, Executive Pastor and Brian Haynes, Lead Pastor of Bay Area First Baptist Church in Houston, Texas.  Many of you might be familiar with Brian Haynes as he is the author of The Legacy Path. We give out this book to parents during our parent/child dedication at Hesston MB Church. I was interested in how the milestones are being implemented in Haynes' new church. In addition, I had questions about curriculum and how milestones strategy affects children's ministry. Here are thoughts from my two conversations: Vision drives specific ministries.  I know this, but it was repeated by both Josh and Brian. Everything they do in children, youth or adult ministry is determined by their vision which is "Bay Area exists to glorify God by making disciples , equipping families , and serving the world  with the Gospel of Jesus Christ." Brian shared that is important to recognize "how" w...

Last night was Step Up Night at our church.  Step Up Night is when 4th, 6th, & 8th graders move up to the ministry they will be a part of next school year.  This night always includes excitement and apprehension.  Excitement because of it being new and apprehension because of the uncertainty and a different group to get to know.  Pizza, ice cream sundaes, and other goodies help to make it a night of fun. These promotion-like events started me thinking about adulthood.  Do we have opportunities in our spiritual growth to "step up" as adults?  We tend to get in a Sunday School class and then stick with it for the rest of our lives.  How do we know we are progressing in our faith?  Do we need this?  I appreciate Brian Haynes Legacy Milestones because it gives these "steps" from birth through adulthood.  We can be checking how we are doing by evaluating our life based on Milestone 7.  See his website here .  I also am excit...

Here is a blog post from last year's D6 Conference. Brian Haynes will again be speaking this year. You can participate in the D6 Conference from home by following my blog as I share quotes and reflections from the speaker or by watching some of the sessions live. Visit www.d6conference.com for more information. Brian Haynes spoke on the topic of family ministry. I have enjoyed attending his pre -con labs the last two years. His church website is www.legacymilestones.com. He talked about the following during his keynote: Deuteronomy 6:4-9 + Matthew 28:18-20 = Family Ministry He calls this generational discipleship. In his ministry, they have developed a common path for church and family to walk. It has 7 Milestones & 3 Parent Actions. The Milestones are parent/child dedication, faith commitment, preparing for adolescence, purity for life, rite of passage, high school graduation, and life in Christ. Parents & Church celebrate each milestone and the church and home ...

I have been looking forward to reading "The Legacy Path: Discover Intentional Spiritual Parenting" since I heard Brian Haynes was writing a second book. Haynes' first book, "Shift: What It Takes To Finally Reach Families Today" was a discipleship strategy based on Haynes' research and study, but more focused on a theology of family ministry. I wondered, how will this book be a repeat and how will it be different? In reading reviews of his first book, several challenged Haynes' on his strategy leaving out the church and wondered about children from non-Christian homes. I loved Shift and did not understand the critiques coming from bloggers. However, I read Shift as one who had talked personally with Brian on the phone and as one who had attended workshops he had led at the D6 Conference. For more information about D6, visit http://www.d6conference.com Needless to say, I was excited about a practical way to implement family ministry in the church...