"When I got to the building I found that the hurricane had knocked off some bricks around the top, so I rigged a beam with a pully at the top of the building and hoisted a couple of barrels full of bricks. When I had fixed the damaged area, there were a lot of bricks left over. Then I went to the bottom and began releasing the line. Unfortunately the barrel of bricks was much heavier than I was and before I knew what was happening, the barrel started coming down jerking me up. I decided to hang on since I was too far off the ground by then to jump, and half way up I met the barrel of bricks coming down fast. I received a hard blow on my shoulder. I then continued to the top banging my head against the beam and getting my fingers pinched and jammed in the pully. When the barrel hit the ground hard, it burst its bottom allowing the bricks to spill out. I was now heavier than the barrel, so I started down again at high speed and half way down I met the barrel coming up fast and received severe injuries to my shins. When I hit the ground, I landed on the pile of spilled bricks getting several painful cuts and deep bruises. At this point I must have lost my presence of mind because I let go of my grip on the line, and the barrel came down fast giving me another blow to my head and putting me in the hospital. I respectfully request sick leave."

Bricks and burdens. Life can be rough. A lot of ministers give up on the ministry because they are so discouraged. A lot of people are discouraged - friends, neighbors, relatives. St. Paul writes: "Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing" (1 Thess. 5:11). He wrote this to some Thessalonians he had led to Christ. They had become discouraged. He said, "Now remember who you are - God's people. Remember that Jesus has promised never to leave you. Remember how much He loves you!"

Be like Paul. Be an encourager; watch for opportunities each day. Even your perspective on life can change as you encourage. Lift up the arms of those who are hanging, shoulder the burdens they are carrying, take time to lift the corners of their mouths, and in the process you will change, too. I encourage you to be an encourager!

How does your church get work done? If you are like most churches, you have called a pastor, and perhaps other ministry staff, a church secretary, janitor, etc. You may also have elders, boards, and committees. Further, like most churches, you probably encourage people to volunteer: to be ushers, wash dishes, set up chairs, sing on worship teams, teach Sunday School, bake pies, paint hallways, visit the nursing home, count the money, etc. It is shocking, but 98% of the churches in the US do not follow God's primary plan to get work done: disciples discipling disciples.

What is the goal of the Great Commission? Form a committee? Have an election? Plead for volunteers for VBS from the pulpit? The Great Commission Jesus gave in Matthew 28:19-20 is this: As you go through life, make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and teaching them all I have commanded you.

What did Jesus do? He didn't have elections. He didn't form boards and committees. He called 12. He said, "Follow Me, and I will teach you how to catch men." Jesus spent time nurturing, teaching, modeling, briefing, sending, and debriefing. He did this for three years. His influence spilled onto many others, but He discipled a few. What did they do? They discipled others, who discipled, etc.

The church is not supposed to grow. It is supposed to explode! Exponential growth is God's plan. To populate earth, God said, "Be fruitful and multiply." People have a few children and pour into them a lot of training (if they are good parents). Then those children, hopefully, have children and follow the same pattern and before you know it, you have a big family of several generations. This is multiplication - it is God's way. It is the way of all creation. You plant a kernel of corn and you get a stalk with one or possibly two ears, each with 250 kernels. You plant an apple seed and you get an apple tree with lots of apples, each with several seeds. Everything in creation is built on the concept of multiplication.

When it comes to populating heaven, God uses the same scheme: be fruitful and multiply - make disciples. The genius of this is that discipling is equipping, training. You do it with a few, not many. But, in time, it multiplies.

So what should your church look like? Pastors are not called just to do ministry, but to equip God's people for the work of ministry. Look at Ephesians 4. God has provided apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers to equip God's people for the work. So when pastors do ministry, like make hospital calls, the key is to take someone along and, while they do ministry, equip another to do ministry: multiply themselves. Leaders in the church should always see their responsibilities of a lifestyle of praying for, finding, and equipping - discipling others. That means ushers, worship leaders, everyone. For example, do you have trouble getting people to teach Sunday School? Then ask, "What is the job description?" Is it just to teach Sunday School? Or is it to also find and equip another while you are teaching Sunday School?

So who is your project? Who are you discipling? If you are a parent of young children, you are a disciple of them first and foremost. But who else? What younger person or new Christian are you discipling? How are you multiplying yourself?

Focus on these issues:

1. Change your worldview from addition to multiplication.
2. Change your self-image: "I am an equipper of others, it is my job to pray for, find, equip, and mentor other people in Christian ministry."
3. Think about this for now and in the future. This year I have Bob and Joe as projects. But when they reach a certain level, who will be next? It is not an event. It is a lifestyle!
4. Change your church. Ask your leaders who they are discipling.
5. Help your church recognize that classrooms alone don't make disciples. It is on the job training.

Making disciples: it is a relational commitment to grow another person. It is all about investing time, on the job training, teaching, and modeling. Experience the discipleship difference. It is revolutionary. It is the way to get work done for God.

Dr. Kent Hunter is nationally known as the Church Doctor. You can contact him at (800) 626-8515, or visit his website at www.churchdoctor.org.

Very important! A crook steals outgoing paid bills from your mailbox and places a piece of cellophane tape over the front and back of your signature on check. Then the check is placed in a pan of nail polish remover for about 30 minutes which lifts anything that's not printer's ink except for your tape- protected signature. The check is then blow-dried and flattened in a book, and the tape is removed. Voila! A blank check signed by you. Only one type of ink, the kind in gel pens, can prevent the above. One of these is the uni-ball Gel Impact pen, which sells for about $2 at any office supply or chain store. Keep this pen next to your check book.

"I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge - that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God" (Ephesians 3:17-19).

Getting out the vote. Millions of believers in this country did not vote in the last election. Another important election comes up in a matter of weeks. A sad truth for believers. There are many millions of voters out there who strongly oppose your views and your way of life. The issues are vital and they are many. Who would ever have imagined a few years ago that today we would be debating the definition of marriage? The list goes on and on. Be sure that you vote. And be sure that you strongly encourage your spiritual brothers and sisters to vote. Pastors - take the lead.

Letters to the pastor: "Dear Pastor: Please say in your sermon that Peter Peterson has been a good boy all week. I am Peter Peterson. Sincerely, Pete." "Dear Pastor: Please pray for all the airline pilots. I am flying to California tomorrow. Laurie."

Helen Keller: "I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble."

Woman again wins $1 million in lottery. She said, "The first time I couldn't believe it." "This time I said, 'God's on my side.'" Overall her chances of winning both games were 1 in 3,669,120,000,000. Even more is this as it applies to those of us who believe on the Lord Jesus: "God predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ... to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the One He loves" (Ephesians 1:5-6).

As you make your bed so shall you..... mess it up.
Better be safe than..... punch a 5th grader.
Strike while the..... bug is close.
It's always darkest before.... daylight savings time.
You can lead a horse to water but..... how?
Don't bite the hand that..... looks dirty.
If you lie down with the dogs, you'll..... stink in the morning.
An idle mind is..... the best way to relax.
Happy is the bride who..... gets all the presents.
A penny saved is..... not much.
Laugh and the whole world laughs with you, cry and..... you have to blow your nose. Children should be seen and not..... spanked or grounded.
When the blind leadeth the blind..... get out of the way.

Then one of my elders and dear friends, Bill Thomas, visited his son in Texas and saw the "lunch bucket" used for the children's sermon. (Forgive me for not knowing the church or Pastor; this idea is his, not mine.) The idea is simple. A lunch bucket is given to a child and he or she is instructed to put anything in it. There's only one rule: nothing living or once living, except vegetation, goes in the lunch bucket. Next Sunday the young worshipers are invited to come forward and the lunch bucket (hopefully) is brought to you. You haven't seen what's in it. That's half the fun. Open it and your children's sermon begins.

I've been doing this now for ten years. If you don't mind improvisation it's a great way to go. There are cons - choosing whom to give the bucket to, buying a new one every few years (I'm on my third bucket in seven years in my current congregation.) But the pros outweigh them.

No prep. I don't waste time rounding up the recommended three props. Also, I'm less likely to talk over the kids' heads because I haven't had time to think of anything. The only other way around this is to delegate the children's sermon to someone else. It means a lot to the seeker that the Pastor can relate to their kids. That's reason enough to do the children's sermon.

The kids. They are involved and take ownership. It's their lunch bucket. The children's sermon is their time, not the Pastor's time to lecture them, their time to show the Pastor the trophy they won or their birthday gift. It gets them talking. I was once told that the best children's sermons are the ones where the kids do the majority of the talking. Show them whatever is in the lunch bucket and ask, "What is this?" and you're off to a good start.

The parents. "Now what is he going to do?" grabs their attention. They all have their own idea of what I should have done with Droopy, the floppy- eared dog (I get a lot of stuffed animals.) which means they were actively engaged in application.

The fun. I've found the lunch bucket brings an element of fun into our worship. Yes, our God is worthy of praise and deserves reverence. I believe He enjoys laughter, too. I know what you're thinking: what if a child forgets to bring the lunch bucket? That's easy. Just have your acolyte bring you the stapler from the sacristy, "You see kids, God holds us together."

Rev. Jason Cashmere (LCMS) is one of several pastors on staff at Christ the King Lutheran Church, a fast growing church in Southgate, MI. He is brought the lunch bucket by a child at the late service Sunday mornings with an average of 70 children in attendance.

Rev. Dr. Richard J. Davis, Advisor on Personal Growth and Leadership, Fort Wayne, IN.

When Jesus said, "Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven" (Matthew 6:20), He wanted us to become aware of an amazing secret, namely, how good giving brings glory to God and joy to the giver. "How To Be A Good Giver" is a Biblical view on giving that every Christian can understand. It offers a positive and joyful approach to giving rather than a guilt trip.

The 14 page "Good Giver Folder" has 31 stewardship Scripture verses with contemporary illustrations. It can be used in different venues:

• Every Member Visit
• Cottage Meetings
• Congregational Dinner
• Pulpit

The "Good Giver Stewardship Kit" contains a "Stewardship Planner," the 14 page "Good Giver Folder," a "Commitment Card," and the "My Gifts To The Lord" envelope.

Just email us at info@churchpress.com, and ask for your free kit.