Written by Mark Harper | 19 February 2012

It has been said that “success is a journey, not a destination,” so I thought I would share with you my ministry journey and the lessons I’ve learned along the way.

I remember the first time I met a children’s pastor. It was October of 1978. I was attending my second year of Bible College at Rhema Bible Training Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma. One of my classes was entitled, “Ministering to Children” and was taught by Willie George, a children’s pastor at a local church in Tulsa.

Today, Pastor Willie George is Senior Pastor at Church On The Move – one of the largest churches in the country, but in 1978 I didn’t know who Willie George was.

Even though I had no desire to minister to kids, this became my favorite class and I looked forward to it every day. I still have my handwritten notes from that class. One of the things that I never forgot was this statement, “God calls people to children’s ministry.” I didn’t know that God could anoint people to minister to children. I saw children’s ministry as babysitting – taking care of the kids so parents could receive ministry. 

Pastor Willie changed all that for me as he began to teach on the ministry of a children’s pastor. Many churches had youth pastors, but I had never heard of the concept of “children’s pastor” before. God used Pastor Willie to pioneer the ministry of the “children’s pastor.” He wasn’t the first guy to think of the concept; however, there is no doubt that God used him to spearhead the calling of the “children’s pastor” and to bring it to the forefront in the body of Christ.

I’m not sure at what point I felt called to be a children’s pastor. I just knew that I needed to learn everything I could from this man – Willie George.

One day after class I approached Pastor Willie and said, “I’d like to get involved with your children’s ministry.”

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Written by Mark Harper | 16 February 2012

“…Let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. …” Romans 12:2

Transformation is vital to our walk with God and our ministry. The word “transform” means “to change,” if we don’t change we can become extinct.

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Written by Mark Harper | 08 February 2012

Every summer I take a team of kids and teens on a ministry trip to help lead with worship and drama. I strategically pick churches that are different so my kids can experience how God moves in different kinds of churches.

These are some of my favorite churches that I have ministered at.

• Faith Christian Family Church in Rushville, Illinois is a church of 250 people. You are driving down the highway through the cornfields of Illinois and the church suddenly appears. The church has literally built a youth camp on their church grounds. Every summer 900 kids and youth attend Summer Scream Camp at the church in the cornfields. The entire church gets involved in blessing kids that come from 50 different churches. I love this church and I love their vision for blessing kids.

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Written by Mark Harper | 07 February 2012

“In His grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well.” Romans 12:6 (NLT)

One of the things I love about church is the diversity I see in the body of Christ around the world. There are many different kinds of churches and each church has a specific purpose. You could say it like this - God has given us different churches for doing different things.

There are small churches, mega churches, country churches, inner-city churches, ethnic churches and multi-racial churches. The list could go on forever.

I once had a fellow believer ask me, “How come there are so many different kinds of churches?” (He was angry because we were planting a new church in his town.) My response was, “There are different kinds of churches because there are different kinds of people.”

Arby’s used to have an advertising slogan, “Different is good.” I think that God is like Arby’s. Churches are different from each other and different is good.

 Have you ever attended a church service and thought, “This is not for me?” There is a good chance someone else attended the same church for the first time and said, “I found my home.” This is why we need different kinds of churches.

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Written by Mark Harper | 02 February 2012

“Therefore I remind you that you stir up the gift of God….”

I remember when I first started teaching kids. It was 1978 and I was only19 years old. Pastor Willie George taught a class on Ministering to Children at the Bible School I was attending. One day, Pastor Willie shared 50 ideas for illustrated sermons and I burned up my pencil writing down those ideas.

After graduating from Bible School I became a full time CP at a church in Port Huron, Michigan. Each week I would pick one of Willie’s sermons and preach it to the kids.

I still remember when I used that last idea. Panic hit me when I realized that “these kids know everything that I know.” After that I spent long hours in prayer begging God to give me some new ideas for sermons for kids. I kept thinking to myself “I wish I was creative like Pastor Willie.”

One day the Holy Spirit whispered to me, “You are creative.”

My response was “No, I am not”

“I live inside you and I am the Creator” was His response.

It’s hard to argue with that.

Do you really believe the Creator of the universe lives inside you? We all have the ability to be creative, we just need to stir up our creativity.

Here are Ten Practical Things to Do to Stir Up Your Creativity 

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Written by Mark Harper | 01 February 2012

Have you ever reached that point where you don’t feel like leading anymore?

When I first started in ministry I wanted to quit about once a week. As I matured it was just once a month. Now it is only once or twice or year that I think about putting up the white flag.

My Pastor, Mac Hammond, is one of the best leaders I know. I have learned so much about leadership by simply watching Mac Hammond. Pastor Mac shared these un-leadership principals at a recent leadership conference and I thought I would share them with you.

Ten Steps On How Not To Be A Leader

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Written by Mark Harper | 28 January 2012

I can’t go to Hawaii this year. Instead of wallowing around in self-pity I am blogging about the Top Ten Reason Not To Go To Hawaii.

10) Chickens and Roosters

9) Banana Pancakes

8) Sharks

7) Danger

One of the biggest dangers in Hawaii is the waves in the ocean. When the waves in the Pacific Ocean get too big, the lifeguards put up these red flags. The red flag is another way of saying “Danger!”

Two things happen when the red flags go up.

1) All of the tourists scramble out of the water to get away from the dangerous waves.

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Written by Mark Harper | 25 January 2012

This little guy is in the "shark pond" at the JW Marriott Ihilani Resort at Ko Olina.

I usually go to Hawaii every February to break up the Minnesota winters. I can’t go this year, so to make myself feel better I am blogging about the Top Ten Reasons Not To Go To Hawaii For Your Vacation.


Everyone knows that sharks are bad, but in Hawaii they are really bad. The state of Hawaii is a group of seven islands. It doesn't really matter which island you are on, it's still an island and you are surrounded by water. (Now stay with me here.) Not only are you surrounded by water you are also surrounded by sharks.

If you were in the state of Florida, which is a peninsula, (not an island) you could escape from the state without having to go through the sharks. 
 In Hawaii the locals try to get you into the water to go snorkeling or scuba diving. All of this is just a trick to help feed the shark population that surrounds Hawaii.

How do I know this?

Because, I saw a shark when I was snorkeling near Kaanapali Beach. I was about to dive down to get a closer look at some brightly colored fish when a reef shark swam directly under me. My heart skipped a few beats as fear tried to grip me. Suddenly a comforting thought entered my mind.


"He is just a little guy (about 5 feet long) and I'm bigger than him. All he could do is bite off one of my fingers, or maybe my hand, and that's not too bad."

When I got to shore I returned my snorkeling equipment to the dude in the little shack. I thought I should tell somebody about the shark. I was sure they might want to clear out the ocean like they did in Jaws.

The rental guy just said, "That's cool"

"What" I said to myself. "I thought sharks were evil"

He didn't call the shark police, or anything. 
That's when it hit me; there is a conspiracy between the sharks and the people that rent snorkeling equipment.

So, if you do not like sharks, and you do want to keep both of your hands, then don't vacation in Hawaii. Or at least stay out of the ocean.

I can’t go to Hawaii this year, but I am going to be in Cleveland, Tennessee on February 3 for one of our TRANSFORM conferences. I hope to see you there.

Click here for more info.

Come back tomorrow for more bad news about Hawaii.

Written by Mark Harper | 25 January 2012

Deb and I usually go to Hawaii in February. It is how I deal with the Minnesota winters. My thinking goes like this. Once I get past Christmas I look forward to our vacation in Hawaii. When I get back from Hawaii it is almost March and the snow starts to melt in a few weeks.

Sadly, we will not be able to go to Hawaii this year because we are starting a new career and focused on our TRANSFORM conferences in February. Since I can’t go to Hawaii I thought I would comfort myself by posting on the Top Ten Reasons not to go Hawaii.


10) Chickens.

There are hundreds of chickens running around randomly on the island of Kauai. I’m talking real chickens, not rubber chickens. When I saw all the chickens I thought, "Why doesn't somebody eat these chickens?"

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Written by Mark Harper | 18 January 2012

“For if we would judge ourselves we should not be judged.” I Corinthians 11:31

One of the signs of a mature Christian is that they have an internal compass. They have the ability to judge themselves. The key to spiritual growth is the ability to do self-examination.

Self-examination is also the key to church growth.

Growing churches have differing theologies, worship programs and building designs, but one thing they all have in common is the ability to do self-examination. The reverse is also true. When large churches reach the point where they think they have arrived and they stop evaluating themselves they stop growing.

Take some time and walk around your church on Sunday morning and look at things from the visitor’s point of view. 100% of your growth is going to come from people who do not currently attend your church.

Here are some of the areas that affect church growth:

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