Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Jubilee Gang Christmas News Letter



Merry Christmas from
Jerry, Candy, & Wild Thing!

Dear Friends and Partners,
     As the year comes to an end and we are all enjoying the holidays with our      families we look back over this year for Jubilee Gang Ministries. We had another awesome year of ministering to children and families and feel so blessed and grateful for all God is doing through this ministry. We traveled over 25,000 miles from CT to WA State, ministered in 34 churches, in 18 different states. We ministered in over 151 different services this year, and have seen over 1,188 people born again. 

   This summer we were on the road for 3 months without coming home. Even though the schedule and being away from home was grueling at times and we missed seeing our family and friends it was a very fruitful summer.  In July we partnered with Gospel Hill Ministries in Warsaw, OH to conduct an outreach event on the White Mountains Apache Reservation in the White Mountains of AZ. During this two day event we saw 74 people born again. Also in July we partnered with 6 different churches in Bullhead City, AZ to conduct a city wide outreach that was held in their local High School. It was awesome to see 6 different churches from a variety of backgrounds as divers as Baptist, to Pentecostal, to non denominational come together to reach out to their community. During this 3 day event we saw over 50 people born again.
It looks like 2013 will be another busy year as we again travel from coast to coast ministering to children and families across America. Please keep us in your prayers as we travel Americas highways leading men, woman, boys, and girls to Jesus.    


Apache Children enjoying
The Jubilee Gang
Bullhead City, AZ Outreach

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Evangelism Quotes


Evangelizing in the church is like fishing in a bathtub: it’s terribly convenient, but you don’t catch much.” (Dr. Roy Fish)

"We're no longer fishers of men, but keepers of the aquarium, and we spend most of our time swiping fish from each others bowls."

"In the Great Commission, the Lord has called us to be--like Peter--fishers of men. We’ve turned the commission around so that we have become merely keepers of the aquarium. Occasionally I take some fish out of your fishbowl and put them into mine, and you do the same with my bowl. But we’re all tending the same fish."

"Evangelism is the outward flowing of the rivers of grace toward men, but worship is the upward expression of the human spirit toward God."
- Donald Gee

We need to quit praying that God would send revival! He sent you to your city. Become the revival that you have been praying for!

The church that becomes focused upon maintaining itself instead of the gospel becomes a dead branch of the living vine... Thomas C. Oden

I'm sick and tired of only reading about church history; let's make some by the grace of God! - LEONARD RAVENHILL

"We are not called to proclaim philosophy and metaphysics, but the simple gospel. Man's fall, his need of a new birth, forgiveness through atonement, and salvation as the result of faith, these are our battle-ax and weapons of war." - C. H. SPURGEON

"We are not called to proclaim philosophy and metaphysics, but the simple gospel. Man's fall, his need of a new birth, forgiveness through atonement, and salvation as the result of faith, these are our battle-ax and weapons of war." - C. H. SPURGEON

To get a man soundly saved it is not enough to put on him a pair of new breeches, to give him regular work, or even to give him a University education. These things are all outside a man, and if the inside remains unchanged you have wasted your labor. You must in some way or other graft upon the man's nature a new nature, which has in it the element of the Divine. - General William Booth

The true follower of Christ will not ask, "If I embrace this truth, what will it cost me?" Rather he will say, "This is truth. God help me to walk in it, let come what may!" ~ A. W. Tozer

"Let's quit fiddling with religion and do something to bring the world to Christ." ~ Billy Sunday

When is a revival needed? When carelessness and unconcern keep the people asleep. - Billy Sunday

"It is possible for the most obscure person in a church, with a heart right toward God, to exercise as much power for the evangelization of the world, as it is for those who stand in the most prominent positions." -- John R. Mott

A revival is nothing else than a new beginning of obedience to God. - Charles Finney

“Catch on fire and others will love to come watch you burn.” - John Wesley

"We must wake ourselves up! Or somebody else will take our place, and bear our cross, and thereby rob us of our crown."- William Booth

“You have nothing to do but to save souls. Therefore spend and be spent in this work. And go not only to those that need you, but to those that need you most…It is not your business to preach so many times, and to take care of this or that society; but to save as many souls as you can; to bring as many sinners as you possibly can to repentance.”
– John Wesley

"The greatest of all things is not theology; it is not controversy; it is to save souls." - Dr. Lyman Beecher

On the night of October 8, 1871, D.L. Moody finished a message with some words he regretted for the rest of his life. So great was his remorse that he committed himself to never making the same mistake again. The title of Moody's sermon was "What Shall I Do with Jesus?" At the end, he announced, "Now I want you to take the question with you and think it over, and next Sunday I want you to come back and tell me what you're going to do with Him." But next Sunday never came. As Moody dismissed his audience, the nearby courthouse fire bell sounded. At the time, no one had any idea how serious the blaze would become. As it turned out, the hall in which Moody spoke, the church he established, and his home were all destroyed in the inferno that became the Great Chicago Fire, along with more than 18,000 other buildings. But Moody hardly gave a second thought to his gutted home and church. They could easily be replaced – but not the lost souls. It was the memory of the audience he never saw again that was seared in his mind for the rest of his life.

If your Gospel isn't touching others, it hasn't touched you! -Curry R. Blake

"There is no improving the future without disturbing the present." - Catherine Booth

"In all ages conformity to the world by Christians has resulted in lack of spiritual life and a consequent lack of spiritual vision and enterprise. A secularized or self-centered Church can never evangelize the world." - John R. Mot

When William and Catherine Booth were told by their denomination to move from a place where they were making a maximum impact for the Kingdom of God to another area where they would not be able to make such an impact, Katherine Booth stood up and boldly proclaimed "HELL NO!" Let us proclaim to Hell that we will not conform to its plans for our lives no matter who the messenger is! Let us follow God and make a Maximum Impact for His Kingdom!

Our relationship with God is a personal thing but not a private thing. We are the light of the world. We should never hide our light!

Reaching the lost is the lifeblood of a church. If you aren't winning souls, be so disturbed about it that you change! - Willie George
Ministry need not be an office; it’s a lifestyle devoted to attracting the lost to Christ and encouraging other believers in the faith.” – D.L. Moody
I have but one candle of life to burn, and I would rather burn it out in a land filled with darkness than in a land flooded with light-- John Keith Falconer
The Great Commission is not an option to be considered; it is a command to be obeyed -- Hudson Taylor
The Church exists for nothing else but to draw men into Christ, to make them little Christs. If they are not doing that, all the cathedrals, clergy, missions, sermons, even the Bible itself, are simply a waste of time. God became Man for no other purpose. --C. S. Lewis
“The crowds themselves are meaningless. The thing that counts is what happens to the hearts of the people.” - Billy Graham
"Isn't it staggering when you think that one sermon on the day of Pentecost produced 3000 people? And we had some cities yesterday where 3000 sermons were preached and nobody was saved. And it doesn't even faze us."- Leonard Ravenhill
"Evangelism is not a professional job for a few trained men, but is instead the unrelenting responsibility of every person who belongs to the company of Jesus." - Elton Trueblood
Evangelism is the spontaneous overflow of a glad and free heart in Jesus Christ.
A man once testified in one of D.L. Moody's meetings that he had lived "on the Mount of Transfiguration" for five years. "How many souls did you lead to Christ last year?" Moody bluntly asked him. "Well," the man hesitated, "I don't know." "Have you saved any?" Moody persisted. "I don't know that I have," the man admitted. "Well," said Moody, "we don't want that kind of mountaintop experience. When a man gets up so high that he cannot reach down and save poor sinners, there is something wrong.
Some wish to live within the sound of a chapel bell; I wish to run a rescue mission within a yard of hell. -- C.T. Studd
“I look on all the world as my parish; thus far I mean, that, in whatever part of it I am, I judge it meet, right, and my bounden duty, to declare unto all that are willing to hear, the glad tidings of salvation” -John Wesley
“We are told to let our light shine, and if it does, we won't need to tell anybody it does. Lighthouses don't fire cannons to call attention to their shining- they just shine.” - Dwight L Moody
"God save us from living in comfort while sinners are sinking into hell!" Charles Spurgeon
"Give me one hundred preachers who fear nothing but sin and desire nothing but God, and I care not whether they be clergymen or laymen, they alone will shake the gates of Hell and set up the kingdom of Heaven upon Earth." - John Wesley
To call a man evangelical who is not evangelistic is an utter contradiction. - Morgan, G. Campbell
"I'd rather have people hate me with the knowledge that I tried to save them." - Keith Green
“Oh, to realize that souls, precious, never dying souls, are perishing all around us, going out into the blackness of darkness and despair, eternally lost, and yet to feel no anguish, shed no tears, know no travail! How little we know of the compassion of Jesus!" - Oswald J. Smith
"It is of no use for any of you to try to be soul-winners if you are not bearing fruit in your own lives. How can you serve the Lord with your lips if you do not serve Him with your lives.? How can you preach His gospel with your tongues, when with hands, feet, and heart you are preaching the devil’s gospel, and setting up an antichrist by your practical unholiness?" - Charles Spurgeon
"Can we go too fast in saving souls? If anyone still wants a reply, let him ask the lost souls in Hell."- William Booth
Our business is to present the Christian faith clothed in modern terms, not to propagate modern thought clothed in Christian terms. Confusion here is fatal. - J. I. Packer
It is now possible to live a "christian life" without doing the things that Jesus commanded us to do. "We have hired people to go into all the world, to visit those in prison, to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to care for widows and orphans. The average Christian doesn't have to do it.--Cal Thomas
A revival does two things. First, it returns the Church from her backsliding and second, it causes the conversion of men and women; and it always includes the conviction of sin on the part of the Church. What a spell the devil seems to cast over the Church today!- Billy Sundy
I have but one passion: It is He, it is He alone. The world is the field and the field is the world; and henceforth that country shall be my home where I can be most used in winning souls for Christ. -- Count Nicolaus Ludwn Zinzendorf
Are you waiting on the call? Stop waiting... We are called to surrender and once surrender happens the commissioning will come. (Acts 1:4)
In an effort to rebrand the church, we must be careful not to rebrand the message of Christ!
"Evangelism requires leadership. Leading someone toward giving up their world-view & embracing yours isn't easy" Seth Godin
"We've made a big mistake by asking people to "ask Jesus into their hearts"...Jesus never asked for our "hearts"...Jesus asked for our lives and the question is not if we will receive Jesus the question is have me met the requirements for God to receive us...we come to God on God's terms." Rick Renner
True ministry is reaching people and touching lives. Everything else is just stuff we have to do. -  Jerry Moyer 
People of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things.”  - Elinor Smith
With decades of leading the body of Christ into positional truths - isn't it time that we now lead the same toward a concern for the lost? – Doug Jones
Someone asked “will the heathen who have never heard the Gospel be saved?” It is more a question with me whether we who have the Gospel and fail to give it to those who have not can be saved. -- Charles Spurgeon
God calls us into ministry to be his hands and feet to our generation. If it ceases to be about this, maybe we should look for another job!
"If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this." ~ C.S. Lewis
"The walls of every church must include the ends of the earth"  - R. Bonnke
"The Christian is a person who makes it easy for others to believe in God." - Robert Murray McCheyne
It matters not how spiritual a church may profess to be, if souls are not saved, something is radically wrong, and the professed spirituality is simply a false experience, a delusion of the devil. People who are satisfied to meet together simply to have a good time among themselves are far away from God. Real spirituality always has an outcome." - Oswald J. Smith























Saturday, May 5, 2012

Our Book "Six Types of Games That Teach" is now Available on Kindle



Our Book called " Six Types of Games That Teach" is now Available on Kindle at the link below

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0080NB03U

The purpose of this book is to demonstrate how to teach children the Word of God by using different type of games. It is not designed to give you new game ideas, but rather how to use games to teach. We have found children learn faster and easier when they are having fun. So, over the years we have incorporated these six different types of games into our lessons to get our point across and help children retain the message. We teach that games are not just fun activities, but can also be an effective method to teach your lesson while getting the message across to children. Not all of the games in this book are our original ideas, but games we have seen and used in children’s church and Jubilee Gang events to help get biblical truths into the hearts of children.

Monday, March 26, 2012

Jubilee Gang Family Event vs. Kids Crusade



  • Family events
  1. Our programs are simple enough for a child to understand but relative to all ages.
  2. Families can receive ministry together, grow spiritually together, and participate in the interactivity of the event together.
  3. Adults don’t feel spoken down to or out of place because our programs minister to old and young alike.
  4. Attendance is usually better.
  5. Many adults feel they received just as much as their children do, and remark on how refreshing it is to be in a service with their children where the kids are not board yet the parents enjoyed it.
  6. Jubilee Gang family events cross many boundaries including age, race, and culture.
  7. Parents help with crowd control and financial support of the event.
  8. Use the event to outreach to unchurched families in your community with a fun, yet straight up with the gospel message event.
  9. Encourage you church families to discuses the message from the event at home bringing dialogue about faith between children and parents.
  • Kids Crusades
  1. Reach out to the children in your community with a kid’s crusade style event instead of a traditional VBS.
  2. Children are ministered to separately from their parents on their level.
  3. Children often respond to ministry invitations better when parents are not watching.
  4. Adult helpers must be recruited to help with crowd control and organization of the event.
  5. Use the event as a time set aside just for the children of your church and community.
  6. Children do not have the means to support an event like this. Plus, parents are less likely to give because they are not involved, so support of the event will need to come from church budget or fund raisers.

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

A Day in the Life of a Children's Pastor

This add some humor to the reality of what its like to be a children's Pastor!

Monday, March 5, 2012

What sets the Jubilee Gang Apart?

What sets the Jubilee Gang Apart?


Experience:
A Jubilee Gang event is a one of a kind experience for children and families. All in attendance will stay on the edge of their seats as they learn bible truths. We bring our own sound, lighting, and video to provide the most cutting edge ministry experience possible. Our system includes robotic intelligentlights, lasers, hilarious video clips, exciting adrenaline blasted games, and interactive video games on a large screen to provide and atmosphere of excitement and expectation.


Message:
Jerry Moyer is one of the top communicators to children and families today. His style is simple enough for a child to understand, but relative to all ages. Bible truths will be taught in a way that all in attendance walk away challenged to deepen their relationship with God. Through the use of video clips, multi media presentations, skits, and games the message of each lesson is driven home in a way that breaks down barriers and inhibitions that people might have. Each lesson is filled with scripture and biblical truth, but it’s presented in a way that is easy to understand for adults and children alike.



Ministry:
The Jubilee Gang is very entertaining, but 100% about ministry. At the end of each program all in attendance will be given a chance to respond to the message presented, whether it is accepting Jesus and being born again, or going deeper in their relationship with God. The Jubilee Gang experience is about getting the world of God into people that produces change in their lives so that they will look and act like Jesus that ultimately results in being the light of the world.

Here is what others are saying about The Jubilee Gang

Pastor Josh Payne, Victory Church in Troy, Pa
We were pleased to host the Jubilee Gang this past September for our Back to School Blast Sunday morning main event. The excellence of this ministry begins when the door of their trailer drops. Everything had a place and there was a place for everything. Jubilee Gang is a far cry from a rag tag hodge podge of antiquated Sunday School style entertainment. The Jubilee Gang provided Victory Church with a meaningful ministry experience that still has our children and adults alike talking about the impartation they received months after the event. The Moyers have spared no expense in there investment using equipment that is cutting edge and will engage young and old alike as Jerry delivers Gods timeless truth. Jerry's message is anointed and uncompromising. His in your face style is not only what the youth of this generation need but its what they want. Young to old and everyone in between will be encouraged and inspired to not only follow but chase after Jesus Christ.

Mike Dsane, Children’s Pastor Crossroads Cathedral 1st Assembly of God of Oklahoma City, OK
The Jubilee Gang’s time of ministry at our church was incredible. Because our church is made up of such a diversity of people, it is difficult to meet the cultural needs of everyone in the congregation. When a group of inner city students walked in and experienced the ministry of the Jubilee Gang, they showed more excitement than I had ever seen out of them in a church service. Their ministry broke every distinction whether it was age, race, or denomination. Students went home excited not only excited by the event, but also the decision they had made for Christ.

Dianne Sheeley, Associate Pastor to Children Stillmeadow Church of the Nazarene in York, PA
Our families and kids are still talking about the awesome ministry event last year. What a creative and exciting way to show kids God's love and their need of a savior, Jesus Christ. We are having a great time discipling the many boys and girls that were saved when the Jubilee Gang came to Stillmeadow Church of the Nazarene in York, PA.

Pastor Bob Trombi, Champions Church in Portland, OR:
There are not many traveling Children's Ministers that have so much to offer as the Jubilee Gang. Jerry Moyer is a talented and committed Christian who has a vision to reach children and families. He uses the most cutting edge equipment and visuals to keep their attention. Your children will love him and his ministry, and you will see your children's workers rise to a new level of excitement and commitment after experiencing his ministry.

Geri Grieb, Children’s Director at New Beginning Christian Center in Portland, OR
We were so blessed to have Jubilee Gang minister at our church! Our families loved the fun faith filled multi-media ministry. It also gave our children’s ministry team a vision of how to reach the children of our city. With ease and excellence Jubilee Gang is busy about our Father’s business, bringing souls into the Kingdom of God!

Pastor Dennis Duirg, Children’s Pastor Living Word Church in Dayton, Ohio:
The Jubilee Gang is an exciting, Multi-media children’s ministry that ministers in a way that keeps children on the edge of their seats. Jerry Moyer and the Jubilee Gang are on the very cutting edge of children’s ministry, and I would highly recommend them to minister to the adults and children in your congregation.

Pastor Joe Cameneti, Believers Christian Fellowship in Warren, Ohio:
The Jubilee Gang has been a great blessing in our church! We used them in a six day camp meeting. They held the children's attention, built excitement in them, and ministered to their spirits, soul, and body at the same time. I highly recommend them as a ministry that will bless the churches they go to.

Pastor Mark DiGirolamo Children’s Pastor Visalia First Assembly of God: Visalia, CA
I am writing on behalf of Jerry Moyer and his ministry Jubilee Gang. I have had the opportunity to have Jerry and his ministry team at our church on two occasions. The most recent they ministered to over 700 kids and adults. Their ministry is Bible based, high energy and full of multimedia that will help any child to remain attentive and alert to hear the message presented. I would not hesitate to have The Jubilee Gang minister to the children of my church. We saw kids at each of our services accept the invitation to be prayed for at the altar. They are great to work with and have a great attitude towards ministry.


Tuesday, February 28, 2012

A letter to aspiring Children’s Evangelist


A letter to aspiring Children’s Evangelist

First of all let me congratulate you for desiring to reach out to the most unreached group of people on earth today. There is a huge need for children’s Evangelist. There are way too many churches in America, way too many people dying and going to hell, and way to few people reaching children with the Gospel for there to be any competition among Children’s Evangelist. The Bible says in Romans 10:13-15, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”

Below are a few statistics that I have collected over the years.

  • • Of the 5 billion people on the earth today, 50% are under the age of 14.
  • • By the year 2000, 50% of the world's 9 billion people were under 8.
  • • 40 million children in the United States have never been to church.
  • • 2 out of 3 children in the United States do not know JESUS.
  • • In the United States, 21 percent of the population is under age 15
  • • 86% of all people who receive Jesus make that decision before age 15.
  • • The years prior to age 12 are when a majority of children make their decision as to whether or not they will follow Christ.
  • • Only 10% of all the money put into the gospel is directed to the ministry of children.

Billy Graham said that, “The age of 7 is the age a person is most receptive to the Gospel.” After a person turns 18 they are less likely to make a decision for Christ. The older people get the less likely it is that they will receive Christ.

After seeing this why do 99 percent of evangelists go after adults? That’s why God has called you to reach children! Probably 95 percent of people traveling in children’s ministry today are entertainment for kids & families. We do not need any more Christian entertainers. We need people that are reaching children & families with the good news of the gospel and changing lives for the kingdom!

In the great commission Jesus told us to, “Go into all the world and make disciples.” He did not say go into all the world and entertain the masses. Make sure that your ministry is leading people to the Lord and helping them to become his disciple.

I would assume your motives are right in wanting to get into the field of Children’s Evangelism or you would not want to pursue such a calling. It is probably one of the most underrated, overlooked callings in the church world in America today. When churches go to set there budgets for the year with guest speakers a children’s evangelist or guest speaker for the children is probably the last thing on most churches list. I had one pastor I worked for tell me that I was one of the best children’s ministers in the country, so why would we need to have a Children’s Evangelist or guest speaker come to our church. My reply was the following; “Pastor, your one of the best pastors in the country, why do we need to have guest speakers come to minister to the adults?” The same reasons we need adult guest speakers is the same reasons we need guest speakers for the children.

Saying all this, I am going to spend the bulk of this letter on the more practical side of being a Children’s Evangelist. I often have people contact me about becoming a children’s evangelist. I have at least 2 or 3 people contact me each year wanting advice on how to get started, sometimes more. Maybe this is because I have been a Children’s Evangelist for over 20 years. Over the course of the last 20 plus years, I have seen many Children’s Evangelist come and go. Many of the Children’s Evangelist who were traveling when I started and plowed the way for what I am doing have moved on to becoming either a pastor, or are now struggling to get meetings because one of two reasons: One, they have gone on and off the road and when they returned they find it hard to reestablish their old contacts, and two, because their style has become outdated and for one reason or the other they are not able to become relative again. I have also seen that very few people that start traveling as a children’s evangelist stay on the road for over a few years at a time.

I will endeavor to be candid as possible during this letter by often times sharing some of the more negative sides of being on the road. This is not for me to share my pity party or to try and discourage you from being a children’s evangelist. I wish someone would have been this candid with me and shared with me the things I needed to do to be successful on the road. I learned from the school of hard knocks, a little from Bible College, and a few things from Willie George’s conferences that I attended long ago. Very little information was available in the late 80s early 90s on being a children’s evangelist. I just had a desire to reach children and went for it.

Finances:

The number one reason people do not continue to be a children’s evangelist is because of finances. Therefore, I will endeavor to share with you some of the things I have leaned over the past 20 plus years

  1. Don’t quit your day job: Too many people jump out on the road cold turkey with no preparation. They quit their children’s pastor job or other job and jump out on the road with no financial preparation. I tell people all the time to transition out of a normal more stable job to life on the road. I made this mistake and went through years of extreme poverty. We were so rag tag in the beginning that I had a pastor that felt so sorry for me that he gave me shirts out of his own closets to wear because mine were so bad. One winter when all of our utilities got shut off, God had to deliver me from the mess I had gotten myself into by a pastor hiring me to be his children’s pastor for $1000.00 per month.
  2. Prepare, Prepare, Prepare: If you are thinking of transitioning out of a children’s pastor position or secular employment into life on the road save up enough money or raise support for at least one to two years. Get all the equipment you will need to do your ministry while you still have a paycheck. After you go full time most of what comes in will need to be used to keep you and your family alive.
  3. Get out of debt: Before you take the leap of faith to go full time it is highly advisable to get yourself out of debt. Get use to living a simpler lifestyle if that is what it takes. This does not mean that you have to stay there. God will promote those that are faithful. If you have debt hanging over you or cannot control your spending, it will become a burden while trying to get started.
  4. Develop a business plan: Most people in ministry have no business sense at all. They blindly take the leap of faith into full time traveling ministry with no idea in the natural what they are doing. An instructor at my bible college once said “The Natural and the supernatural coming together make an explosive force for God.” You can have all the faith in the world, but if you don’t know how to handle money you are doomed for failure. To be honest we have to put money aside during our busy season to make it through our slow season every year. This takes a lot of planning, self control, and living a simpler life sometimes. The notion that you will get rich from being a Children’s Evangelist is simply not true. You can be successful and live a decent lifestyle, eventually God will bless and promote you as you make wise decisions and put him first.
  5. Love offering VS Honorarium? An adult evangelist blesses adults and when takes up an offering people will give. A children’s evangelist blesses children when children might have a few nickels and dimes to give. I would encourage you to figure out what you need to live each month. What it takes to pay all your bills and continue to travel. Then let churches know up front what you need. To be honest pastors have no idea what it takes to keep a ministry such as ours on the road. I haul around 7000 Lbs. of equipment in a 20 ft. trailer with a suburban that gets about 10 miles per gallon. Travel costs have gone through the roof as of late. If all your income goes to pay your travel expenses, then what will you live off of? Do not under charge for coming to minister at a church, however starting out do not over charge for your qualifications or you will not get any bookings. Our ministry survives off of honorariums, sales of merchandise, and very few monthly supporters. I have not figured out a way to get people to become a monthly supporter of our ministry. I refuse to use any manipulative methods to raise funds. Always be flexible with smaller churches that cannot afford your cost but remember you have to live also.
  6. Merchandise: Willie George said one time, “If you are going to make it as a children’s evangelist you must have good, quality product to sale to supplement your income. He had good curriculum and a video club that was very popular in the late 80s and early 90s. I have taken this approach of offering quality concert type gear such as; T-shirts, hats, beanies, jewelry, and a few other things that you might find at a concert setting. I have also offered a few resources for children’s workers over the years. This takes an initial investment, however it has paid off for our ministry. Be careful not to offer trinkets and things that parents are really hesitant to buy for their kids because they end up in the bottom of the toy box or on the closet floor. Our merchandise is a quality product that children can wear. That reminds them of our ministry, or has a good Christian message on them. Do not be cheesy in this area!
  7. Winter cometh: Be advised that it is much harder to book events in the winter months from November 1st to March 1st than it is in the spring through fall. It is like a roller coaster for us each year it starts building around March peeks in the summer and starts declining in the fall until November. It usually stops dead with an occasional booking in December, January, and February. If you are not prepared for this you will starve in the winter months and it might actually drive you off the road all together. I know of only one Children’s Evangelist that stays booked all year except December. All others that I know of go through this same cycle. Some have developed holiday themed events for November and December however, there is a limited market for this and a limited time slot that it can take place. Usually the more ministry minded evangelist this is harder forbecause churches are not looking for powerful ministry during these times as much as warm fuzzes for the holidays. You must either put away money during the busy season for the slower season and live a disciplined lifestyle, or go get a job each winter which cuts back on your preparation, and advertising time for the following season.

Advertise, Advertise, And Advertise!

Take advantage of every opportunity you can afford to let people know that you are available. Use every social network as possible to let people know what you are doing without becoming annoying. Your web site is your front page of your ministry. Make sure it is where you put a lot of your advertising budget into. Everything else should be the bait that draws people to your website which is the hook. A lot of people feel that advertising is self promotion, however if people do not know you are available they will not contact you to come to their church. Make sure to put money aside each year to advertise for the upcoming year. The best time for me to promote for the following year is around the 1st of October before the holiday’s and right after the 1st of the year is also a good time to promote.

Break outside your Realm!

Don’t stay in your comfort zone of your denomination or group. Most denominations do not have enough churches in a certain area to keep you busy enough to support yourself. Market yourself to as many denominations and groups as possible without compromising your core beliefs. I have been blessed to be accepted in several denominations and groups across Christendom. I respect each groups for their specific doctrinal believes and stay on the basics without watering down my message. This is why I know some denominations and groups will not contact me. Many traveling ministries make the mistake of watering down their ministry to be accepted across the board which results in nothing more than Christian entertainment. Keep true to the word, anointing, and real ministry while being respectful to wherever God opens the doors for you to go. I have had to draw lines of what I will and will not compromise on. I would encourage you to do this before you make the leap or you will be tempted to compromise to get an event.

Local verses national:

There is many regional Children’s Evangelist, but very few national. Part of the secret to my success is I am willing to drive long distances between events in a short period of time. I have found that most regions do not have enough opportunities to keep me busy enough to support myself and our ministry.

Do something no one else is doing:

In other words find your nitch and perfect it. Then learn how to market it. Willie George said that to be successful now as a Children’s Evangelist that you must have a Gimmick. This is a sad but true statement. The fact that you have a heart for God, love kids, and want to reach as many of them as possible is not enough to book you in most churches. When pastors and children’s pastors are looking for a Children’s Evangelist they look for someone that can do something that they cannot do. Most Children’s Evangelist that come in with a guitar, a puppet, and a few object lessons do not stay booked enough to support them selves. My gimmick would be all the Multi media, Lighting, and staging I haul around with me. Kidz Blitz would be their game show atmosphere. Some people sing or perform well and that is their nitch. It’s their Gimmick. Most churches are not looking for another clown or magician. The field is swamped and mostly with very amateur ones at that. The ones that are successful are the ones that have risen above the norm. Before Terry Fator and Jeff Dunham came along the art of being a ventriloquists was looked down upon by most people because it was the same old jokes and routines over and over. I remember the statement by the “America’s got talent” judge when Terry Fator walked out on stage with a dummy. “Oh no not another ventriloquists act”.

Family:

The second highest reason people do not stay on the road very long is the toll it takes on their family. Make sure your entire family is on board with the decision to be an evangelist and are willing to count the cost to do it. Make sure everyone is being realistic with what it involves. It can either make you closer or pull you apart! It can take a huge toll on your children if you don’t do it right. I have seen some Children’s Evangelist that the children loved it and are now Children’s Evangelist as adults, and I have seen others that want nothing to do with God or ministry after being dragged around the country while their parents minister.

Don’t be afraid to ask the tough questions:

If something is not working do not be afraid to ask why it is not working. Evaluation is good, even if it hurts. The only person the likes change is a wet baby! Don’t continually beat a bush that is not producing the results you want. Someone said, “If you always do what you have always done, you will always get what you have always had.” To continually do the same thing and expect a different result is delusional. Don’t be afraid to evaluate yourself and ask others their honest opinion. Do not be afraid of the answers you might get. I have always asked 2 questions when I receive criticism. I ask myself, is it true and can I do anything about it? Some things are true and some thing’s are not. If you find it to be true, bite the bullet and make a change. However, some things cannot be changed. If it is a deep conviction or something that is a trait that it is impossible to change, well it cannot be changed. However, do not be unwilling to change something because of sentimental value or because it’s the way you have always done it. Do not be afraid to change yourself for the better even if it hurts!

Saying all this I will leave you with one of my favorite quotes. I am not sure who originally said it but it goes like this…


DREAM A DREAM SO BIG THAT UNLESS GOD DOES IT, IT WILL NOT HAPPEN!

Jerry Moyer

Jubilee Gang Ministries
Website http://www.blogger.com/www.jubileegang.com
FaceBook http://www.blogger.com/www.facebook.com/jubileegangministries
Twitter http://www.blogger.com/www.twitter.com/jubileegang
YouTube http://www.blogger.com/www.youtube.com/jubileegang


Sunday, February 26, 2012

"Are You Sure You're Saved" by Rick Renner



I highly recommend watching this sermon by Rick Renner called "Are You Sure You're Saved" its in 4 parts at the links below...

Rick Renner " Are You Sure You're Saved Pt 1"

Rick Renner " Are You Sure You're Saved Pt 2"

Rick Renner " Are You Sure You're Saved Pt 3"

Rick Renner " Are You Sure You're Saved Pt 4"

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Who Cares? by General William Booth

Who Cares?
General William Booth

On one of my recent journeys, as I gazed from the coach window I was led into a train of thought concerning the conditions of the multitudes around me. They were living carelessly in the most open and shameless rebellion against God, without a thought for their eternal welfare. As I looked out the window, I seemed to see them all… millions of people all around me given up to their drink and their pleasure, their dancing and their music, their business and their anxieties, their politics and their troubles. Ignorant-willfully ignorant in many cases – and in other instances knowing all about the truth and not caring at all. But all of them, the whole mass of them, sweeping on and up in their blasphemies and devilries to the throne of God. While my mind was thus engaged, I had a vision.
I saw a dark and stormy ocean. Over it the black clouds hung heavily; through them every now and then vivid lightning flashed and loud thunder rolled, while the winds moaned, and the waves rose and foamed, towered and broke, only to rise and foam, tower and break again.
In that ocean I thought I saw myriads of poor human beings plunging and floating; shouting and shrieking, cursing and struggling and drowning; and as they cursed and screamed, they rose and shrieked again, and then some sank to rise no more.
And I saw out of this dark, angry ocean, a mighty rock that rose up with its summit towering high above the black clouds that overhung the stormy sea. And all around the base of this rock I saw a vast platform. Onto this platform, I saw with delight a number of the poor struggling, drowning wretches continually climbing out of the angry ocean. And I saw that a few of those who were already safe on the platform were helping the poor creatures still in the angry waters to reach the place of safety.
On looking more closely, I found a number of those who had been rescued, industriously working and scheming by ladders, ropes, boats, and other means more effective, to deliver the poor strugglers out of this sea. Here and there were some who actually jumped into the water, regardless of all the consequences, in their passion to “rescue the perishing.” And I hardly know which gladdened me most-the sight of the poor drowning people climbing onto the rocks, reaching the place of safety, or the devotion and self-sacrifice of those whose whole beings were wrapped up in the effort for their deliverance.
As I looked on, I saw that the occupants of that platform were quite a mixed company. That is, they were divided into different “sets” or classes, and they occupied themselves with different pleasures and employment. But only a very few of them seemed to make it their business to get the people out of the sea.
But what puzzled me most was the fact that though all of them had been rescued at one time or another from the ocean, nearly everyone seemed to have forgotten all about it. Anyway, it seemed the memory of its darkness and danger no longer troubled them at all. And what seemed equally strange and perplexing to me was that these people did not even seem to have any care – that is any agonizing care – about the poor perishing ones who were struggling and drowning right before their very eyes, many of whom were their own husbands and wives, brothers, and sisters, and even their own children.
Now this astonishing unconcern could not have been the result of ignorance or lack of knowledge, because they lived right there in full sight of it all and even talked about it sometimes. Many even went regularly to hear lectures and sermons in which the awful state of these people drowning creatures was described.
I have already said that the occupants of this platform were engaged in different pursuits and pastimes. Some of them were absorbed night and day in trading and business In order to make gain, storing up their savings in boxes, safes, and the like.
"Who Cares?", an illustration of General William Booth's vision depicting the Church's apparent lack of concern over the fate of lost souls. (William Booth was the founder of the Salvation Army). This oil painting was commissioned in 1993 by   Last Days Ministries (founded by Keith Green). Read William Booth's   "Who Cares?" article. Order a 25" X 17" poster of this painting through LDM's website.
"Who Cares?"
An illustration of General William Booth's vision depicting the Church's apparent lack of concern over the fate of lost souls. (William Booth was the founder of the Salvation Army). This oil painting was commissioned in 1993 by Last Days Ministries (founded by Keith Green). Read William Booth's "Who Cares?" article. Order a 25" X 17" poster of this painting through LDM's website.

Many spent their time in amusing themselves with growing flowers on the side of the rock, others in painting pieces of cloth or in playing music or in dressing themselves up in different styles and walking about to be admired. Some occupy themselves chiefly in eating and drinking, others were taken up with arguing about the poor drowning creatures that had already been rescued.
But the thing to me that seemed the most amazing was that those on the platform to whom He called, who heard His voice and felt they ought to obey it at least they said they did those who confessed to love Him much and were in full sympathy with Him in the task He had undertaken – who worshipped Him or who professed to do so – were so taken up with their trades and professions, their money saving and pleasures, their families and circles, their religions and arguments about it, and their preparation for going to the mainland, that they did not listen to the cry that came to them from this Wonderful Being who had Himself gone down into the sea. Anyway, if they heard it they did not heed it. They did not care. And so the multitude went on right before them struggling and shrieking and drowning in the darkness.
And then I saw something that seemed to me even more strange than anything that had gone on before in this strange vision. I saw that some Of these people on the platform whom this Wonderful Being had called to, wanting them to come and help Him in His difficult task of saving these perishing creatures, were always praying and crying out to Him to come to them.
Some wanted Him to come and stay with them and spend His time and strength in making them happier. Others wanted Him to come and take away various doubts and misgivings they had concerning the truth of some letters which He had written them. Some wanted Him to come and make them feel more secure on the rock-so secure that they would be quite sure that they should never slip off again into the ocean. Numbers of others wanted Him to make them feel quite certain that they would really get off the rock and onto the mainland someday; because as a matter of fact, it was well known that some had walked so carelessly as to lose their footing, and had fallen back again, into the stormy waters.
So these people used to meet and get up as high on the rock as they could, and looking toward the mainland (where they thought the Great Being was) they would cry out, “Come to us! Come, help us!” And all the while He was down (by His Spirit) among the poor struggling, drowning creatures in the angry deep, with His arms around them trying to drag them out, and looking up oh! so longingly, but all in vain to those on the rock, crying to them with His voice all hoarse from calling, “Come to Me! Come, and help Me!”
And then I understood it all. It was plain enough. That sea was the ocean of life-the sea of real, actual human existence. That lightning was the gleaming of piercing truth coming from Jehovah’s throne. That thunder was the distant echoing of the wrath of God. Those multitudes of people shrieking, struggling, and agonizing in the stormy sea, were the thousands and thousands of poor harlots and harlot-makers, of drunkards and drunkard-makers, of thieves, liars, blasphemers, and ungodly people of every kindred, tongue, and nation.
Oh, what a black sea it was! And oh, what multitudes of rich and poor, ignorant and educated were there. They were all so unalike in their outward circumstances and conditions, yet all alike in one thing all sinners before God all held by, and holding onto, some iniquity, fascinated by some idol, the slaves of some devilish lust, and ruled by the foul fiend from the bottomless pit! “All alike in one thing?” No, all alike in two things not only the same in their wickedness but, unless rescued, the same in their sinking, sinking… down, down, down… to the same terrible doom. That great sheltering rock represented Calvary, the place where Jesus had died for them. And the people on it were those who had been rescued. The way they used their energies, gifts, and time represented the occupations and amusements of those who professed to be saved from sin and hell followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. The handful of fierce, determined ones, who were risking their own lives in saving the perishing, were true soldiers of the cross of Jesus. That Mighty Being who was calling to them from the midst of the angry waters was the Son of God, “the same yesterday, today, and forever,” who is still struggling and interceding to save the dying multitudes about us from this terrible doom of damnation, and whose voice can be heard above the music, machinery, and noise of life calling on the rescued to come and help Him save the world.
My friends in Christ, you are rescued from the waters, you are on the rock. He is in the dark sea calling on you to come to Him and help Him. Will you go? Look for yourselves. The surging sea of life crowded with perishing multitudes rolls up to the very spot on which you stand. Leaving the vision, I now come to speak of the fact a fact that is as real as the Bible, as real as the Christ who hung upon the cross, as real as the judgment day will be, and as real as the heaven and hell that will follow it.
Look! Don’t be deceived by appearances men and things are not what they seem. All who are not on the rock are in the sea! Look at them from the standpoint of the great white throne, and what a sight you have! Jesus Christ, the Son of God is, through His Spirit, in the midst of this dying multitude, struggling to save them. And He is calling on you to jump into the sea to go right away to His side and help Him in the holy strife. Will you jump? That is, will you go to His feet and place yourself absolutely at His disposal?
A young Christian once came to me and told me that for some time she had been giving the Lord her profession and prayers and money, but now she wanted to give Him her life. She wanted to go right into the fight. In other words, she wanted to go to His assistance in the sea. As when a man from the shore seeing another struggling in the water, takes off those outer garments that would hinder his efforts, and leaps to the rescue so will you who still linger on the bank, thinking and singing and praying about the poor perishing souls, lay aside your shame, your pride, your cares about other people’s opinions, your love of ease and all the selfish loves that have kept you back for so long, and rush to the rescue of this multitude of dying men and women?
Does the surging sea look dark and dangerous? Unquestionably it is so. There is no doubt that the leap for you, as for every one who takes it, means difficulty and scorn and suffering. For you it may mean more than this. It may mean death. He who beckons you from the sea however, knows what it will mean and knowing, He still calls to you and bids you come.
You must do it! You cannot hold back. You have enjoyed yourself in Christianity long enough. You have had pleasant feelings, pleasant songs, pleasant meetings, and pleasant prospects. There has been much of human happiness, much clapping of hands and shouting of praises, very much of heaven on earth.
Now then, go to God and tell Him you are prepared as much as necessary to turn your back upon it all, and that you are willing to spend the rest of your days struggling in the midst of these perishing multitudes, whatever it may cost you.
You must do it. With the light that is now broken in upon your mind, and the call that is now sounding in your ears, and the beckoning hands that are now before your eyes, you have no alternative. To go down among the perishing crowds is your duty. Your happiness from now on will consist in sharing their misery, your ease in sharing their pain, your crown in helping them to bear their cross, and your heaven in going into the very jaws of hell to rescue them.
Now, what will you do?
by General William Booth

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Three ways to raise the bar spiritually while making full use of technology

Jerry Moyer of The Jubilee Gang teaching at Children's Ministry Leadership Conference at Living Word Christian Center in Minneapolis, MN on three ways to raise the bar spiritually while making full use of technology


Monday, February 13, 2012

Taking the spiritual temperature of your ministry

Are you a thermostat or a thermometer?

A thermometer reacts to the temperature of the room. A thermostat sets the temperature in a room.

Do you set the spiritual climate in your class or do the children?

We as Christian leaders need to set the spiritual temperature for our classrooms whether we are a Sunday school teacher, Children’s Pastor, or volunteer children’s worker. It is important that when we enter a classroom that we are spiritually prepared to set the spiritual climate for the class. If not the child with the strongest personality will set that climate.

If a child experienced chaos on the way to the service they will bring chaos to the service. If everyone was up late the night before Sunday morning service and tired, the class will be unresponsive to the lesson.

However, if we enter the room spiritually charged and on fire about our lesson the excitement will spread. If we believe in what we are teaching and show excitement about the subject others will be excited also. True faith is contagious. When someone is so excited about what they believe that they speak about it in confidence with passion in their voice others will believe also. If we are not sure about what we are teaching and are reading it out of our lesson planner, the children will be board and not buy into what we are offering them. Confidence comes through knowing the material inside out. You need to know it so well you can present it without reading it. I have notes every time I speak publicly, however notes are to glance at to keep me on tract so, I arrive at the planned destination. I can expound upon each point of my notes without reading them line for line, however my notes make sure I do not drift off course during my program. I can expound upon each point because the subject is in my heart. It is not something I am not sure about or do not know a lot about.

If we are not confident on our lesson it will show in our body language, tone of our voice, and all around presentation. We cannot give something we do not have. If it is not in our heart then we are just regurgitating an old cold lesson out of a book that really means nothing to us.

The reason young adults are leaving our churches by the droves when they are old enough to make the decision for themselves is that all they have heard their entire time growing up in church is old, cold, regurgitated material that is not relative. It does not apply to them. We have offered exciting programs with all the latest methods but have forgotten the message.

Teachers must be passionate about their faith and what they are teaching. Like I said before true faith is contagious. It spreads like a wild fire. When we hear someone with true heartfelt convictions, we want what they have. If we are around it long enough we will start to crave it. And when you crave something bad enough you do whatever it takes to get it.

Let’s turn up the spiritual temperature in our classrooms.

Our children deserve it.

By Jerry Moyer
The Jubilee Gang
Website www.jubileegang.com
FaceBook www.facebook.com/jubileegangministries
Twitter www.twitter.com/jubileegang
YouTube www.youtube.com/jubileegang

Monday, February 6, 2012

Church Minded Vs. Kingdom Minded


Jerry Praying with 5 children to be born again in Cheshire, CT

We hear a lot today about church growth and church growth is good. A healthy church should be growing just like a healthy person should grow. A healthy church cannot help but grow!

A lot of churches are starting to evaluate every program according to how much it helps the church grow. Evaluation is good and healthy as long as we look at the big picture. The big picture that I am talking about is the Kingdom of God.

Matt. 6:33 says that if we seek first the kingdom of God that all these things will be added unto us. We do not seek his kingdom to get what we want, but as we seek first the kingdom of God our lives and ministry cannot help but grow.

Church growth cannot be the only reason we do certain programs or cut certain programs in our local churches. There is a much higher calling to grow the kingdom of God.

Jesus said in the great commission to go into all the world and make disciples. Those people that need to be reached and discipled in all the world don’t just include people from our local communities that will attend our local churches.

A lot of times when people look at having a Kid’s Crusade or family outreach event they count how many families return after the event and judge whether they should continue having this kind of events in the future.

A lot of times we see great growth in our local churches from such events, but sometimes it does not effect the growth of our local body however it effects the growth of the kingdom of God.

Now I am not saying that we should not evaluate the effectiveness of a certain ministry or outreach events. We should evaluate everything we do to find out if it reached the goals we had for the event and how we can be more effective in reaching these goals during future events. However, our goal should not just be getting new people to come to our church. It should be part of it, but not the entire goal.

When I was on staff as a children’s pastor, I would ask myself what is the goal of any given event and how can we best achieve this goal. A lot of times we do an event just because we have always done this event.

When looking at the event of a traditional VBS and seeing the large budget it required and the manpower from our church, I would ask myself what the goal of VBS was. Was it to encourage the Christian children in our church to grow or to outreach into the community? Being the evangelist that I am and knowing that my children were well taught in children’s church my goal for most large events was outreach.

Then, I would ask myself if we were achieving that goal through the current VBS program. Most VBS curriculums are designed to teach bible truths around a certain theme for the year and not to see children born again and made disciples. VBS programs in some communities have turned into nothing more than a baby sitting service to the parents of the community. Kids jump from VBS to VBS every week during the summer just to have something to do while their parents are at work. Churches even work together to make sure that every week in the summer is covered by a different church and that everyone is not using the same curriculum. Most VBS curriculums have been watered down so that it is not offensive to anyone to get more children to attend. Sure there is a small amount of Bible in the curriculum, but in its self is not anything that will change a life for eternity.

After evaluating the program and seeing that my goal was outreach and evangelism, I decided to change to more of a Kids Crusade format. I do not call it a Kid’s Crusade because the un churched community does not understand the term and usually associate it with the crusades of the dark ages.

I have always been a kingdom minded person. Probably because Matt. 6:33 was one of the first scriptures that really came alive to me as a teen.

We will not always see church growth as a result of an event or program; however we must ask our self if the kingdom grew because of the event or program. Now I am not talking about loosely using the phrase …

If we touched one child it is worth it

It is worth it to touch the life of one child. We do not know what that child will become. Maybe this child might become the next Billy Graham or something. But why should we only touch the life of one child during the event? While we are touching their live why not touch the lives of hundreds more. If only one child is reached we should ask ourselves how we can reach more next time and make the adjustments to our program, advertising, and marketing of the event to the community to reach more people.

We recently ministered at a church that had us in and had small crowds each night. Mostly church kids and a few un churched friends attended. The same children came forward each evening during the invitation to be born again. A few people that did not attend the church came forward, but it was mostly the children from their church. I would say around 20 children were born again despite having around 50 children respond to the invitation during the 3 day event. I could see where the pastor might be discouraged and consider not having this type of event in the future because of the cost of the program and the results he saw.

No one new that a friend of mine from facebook attended the service from a neighboring town one of the evenings with a group of children including her 7 year old daughter. She had seen on facebook where we were going to be ministering at this church and wanted to come and check out our ministry.

After the event I received the following e-mail from my facebook friend…

"Thanks for inviting us. I'm sorry we couldn't make all three days. The kids I brought LOVED it, they want you to come to our church. My daughter who's 7 also came with me on Monday night. She has been telling people in her class and in our congregation how she is "born again" and "how God gave her a clean heart". This is HUGE coming from a very Traditional Presbyterian Church. So thank you. You have encouraged me to change my Sunday School curriculum and change the direction of my ministry to be more evangelism based. I'll be back in touch soon after speaking with our finance committee to discuss scheduling a Jubilee Gang event at our church.”

This was worth the whole event to see the lives of these young people changed and to see the possibility of an entire children’s ministry at another church become more evangelistic because of the children’s pastor attending this meeting.

I also received a testimony from a children’s pastor in VA that was born again at a Kids Crusade at a church that he did not attend and never attended except for the Kid’s Crusade where he was born again. Below is his story…

“When I was 5 years old my parents took me to see a traveling children’s evangelist who was ministering in a local church. At the end of the service I asked Jesus into my heart for the first time. My family and I never went back to that church but found ourselves planted in another local church where we grew in Christ.

I often think about that first church where I found Jesus. I’m so grateful that church had a kingdom mindset when it came to outreach. Many churches see the goal of outreach as a way to boost attendance numbers. Outreaches are evaluated by measurable returns, but the Bible reminds us that we’re here to build a kingdom…not just our own church.

I’m grateful for ministries like the Jubilee Gang who spend their time spreading the seed of God’s word into young hearts. And I’m grateful that this first church had a kingdom mindset that allowed me to hear the gospel for the first time. Their measurable return may be considered insufficient by many churches today but I will be eternally grateful to God for them.”

This is what it is all about folks! As a result of this church being kingdom minded this young child was born again and is now a children’s pastor at a large church that is affecting hundreds if not thousands of lives.

It would be wrong to not give a testimony from a church that did not see growth from a Kids crusade at their church. I received the following letter from a church in OK where a child was born again during the kids crusade and went home and told his mother about Christ and led her to the lord…

“Our pastor's wife was teaching a Wednesday night class and a mom was helping. The mom brought in her form that we have everyone fill out before they help in children's church. Pastor's wife looked at the form and saw that the mom got saved in October and asked her about it.

The mom's two kids came to the crusade and heard about being born again. The boy came to the front to pray. (That's awesome at that) That night when they got home, they told their mom about being born again and the mom got saved in her living room that night and has been faithful to church ever since.”

We would have never have know this if the pastor’s wife had not asked some questions. The kingdom was affected by this event!

When evaluating events and programs let make sure that we are not cutting a program that is affecting the Kingdom when we do not see our church numbers increase.

By Jerry Moyer
The Jubilee Gang
Website www.jubileegang.com
Facebook www.facebook.com/jubileegang
YouTube www.youtube.com/jubileegang
Twitter www.twitter.com/jubileegang

Monday, January 30, 2012

Why Ministry?

Why Ministry?
Why are we in ministry?
Why set a goal to be in full time ministry?
I have a cousin that was a full time youth minister. Everyday at lunch he would go to the YMCA and play basketball with the youth from the church and community. One day one of his sons came to him and said, “Dad, I want to grow up and be a minister like you.” This made my cousin feel good that his son wanted to follow in his foot steps. As my cousin pursued this a little by asking his son why he wanted to be in ministry when he grew up? His bubble was popped when his son replied, “so I can get paid to play basketball everyday like you.” I do not think this was the answer my cousin was looking for.

A lot of times we want to be in ministry because it looks like an easy occupation. Any one with a successful ministry knows that ministry is spelled W.O.R.K.

A lot of times we want to be in ministry because our father and grandfather were in ministry before us, and we think we should follow in their footsteps. Some may think ministry looks glamorous from the outside. A lot of people see our ministry programs and say “Man I wish I could do this!” If they only had to walk in our shoes for a year the majority of them would want to quit. If all you see is our live ministry event it looks like a spectacular lifestyle. However, most people never see all the behind the scenes of the day to day lifestyle that being on the road consist of. A lot of young aspiring ministers that have gotten to travel with us as interns are very excited at first about getting to travel and use all of our equipment. At first their commits always are “Man when I get my own ministry I want equipment just like this.” About half way through the tour season the statements change to “I don’t think I want to do this when I have my own ministry.

There is too much to set up and tear down. There is too much work involved. Too many hours spent traveling in a vehicle.“ If we do not have a genuine love for people and a desire to see the furtherance of the kingdom this lifestyle gets old real fast.


I believe we should ask ourselves periodically throughout our time in ministry why we are doing this. Over and over in the Bible we read that Jesus was moved with compassion when he ministered to people. When he healed the sick, when he raised the dead, when he multiplied the loaves and fishes to feed the multitude, and when he taught the crowds of people. The overwhelming love for people (compassion) was Jesus motivation to do what he did during his ministry on earth.

It was not that he felt it was his duty, it was not to make a name for himself, it was not that it was the only thing he knew how to do, it was because he looked at the need and was moved with compassion. Compassion was the overwhelming love for people that motivated him to do something.

Why did God the father send his only son into the world to die on a cross? It was because he loved the world. He was moved with such an overwhelming love that he had to do something.
Our motivation in ministry should be the love God has put in our heart. The bible says in Romans 5:5 that the love of God has been put in our heart by the Holy Spirit. When we are born again we receive the life and nature of God. The Bible says in 1 John 4:8 that God is Love. It is his nature, His Character. When we are born again we are now born of God. His life and nature is inside of us.

1 John 4:7-11
7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

1 Pet 1:3 says God has given us all things that pertain to life and Godliness (Godliness means having God like qualities) it’s up to us to allow this love to be the motivating factor of our lives.
2 Peter 1:4 says that we have been given exceeding great and precious promises that through these we might become partakers of the divine nature. What is the divine nature? 1 John 4:8 says that God is love. Where do we find these great and precious promises? We find it in the Word of God, the Bible.
As we renew our minds with God’s word it becomes part of our lives. The more it becomes part of our lives the more we become partakers of it. The Bible says in Romans 12:2 be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind. Be transformed into what? We should be transformed into the Image of Christ.

Eph. 4:15 says that we should grow up until we look like Christ. What does Christ look like? He looks like the father and the father is Love. Let this overwhelming love for people be the motivating factor in our lives and ministry.

We truly need to grow up until we look like Christ, so the world can see God in our lives. Let us be moved with compassion when we see a need.

Love for people and the furtherance of God’s Kingdom should be the motivating factor in our lives and ministry. I have always said true ministry is reaching people and touching Lives. Everything else is just stuff we have to do.

Before I had my own ministry, before anyone knew who Jerry Moyer of the Jubilee Gang was, and before anyone wanted to schedule us at their church, I did not wait on a big break. I did not hope that someday my schedule would be full. I starting going to the local housing projects in Southern Ohio because of the love in my heart for the people there. No one was reaching out to them and I saw a need. When I went to the local housing authority and asked if we could do a crusade in the projects, they told me that there had never been any preaching in the projects and there never would be.

I did not give up on what was in my heart to do. As I was reading the news paper one day, I saw where a professional base ball player had came back to our home town and started a anti drug program in the projects. I felt in my heart to go to that organization and tell them that the “Just say No” campaign was not working. Kids need something to say yes to so they can say no to drugs.

I offered to do an anti drug program for them that said say yes to Jesus so that you can say no to drugs. Anything to do with an anti drug message was welcome through this organization. Our first event in the local housing projects we saw around 100 people born again. This happened over and over in different projects around the area. Before long the projects were calling us.

As I put my hand to ministering in the local housing projects because of the love I had for the people God continued to open more and more doors to our ministry. First it was public schools. We offered them a free anti drug program in exchange for the use of the building that evening for a large event where we could present the Gospel. Our first public school outreach we had 250 children in the school and 180 people came out that night to hear the gospel. Almost every one of them came forward to be born again. Then, we opened our program up to churches and it has grown from there.
Let love be the motivating factor in everything we do. God has given us everything we need. Its up to us to use it!

By
Jerry Moyer
The Jubilee Gang
Website http://www.jubileegang.com
FaceBook http://www.facebook.com/jubileegangministries
Twitter http://www.twitter.com/jubileegang
YouTube http://www.youtube.com/jubileegang