There are two clear trends we see from 98118. The first is the draw of diversity and the second is the diversifying of America. Each Census reveals how America continues to grow in diversity.

Are you prepared to be a place that reflect the diversity of the kingdom of God that is present at our door step. Now is the time for change. Change that sacrifice our primary culture to welcome all cultures into our local places of worship. Change is not easy, but this change that shows the love of God to many cultures in one local body is vital to the advancement of the local church.

I praise the Orange Conference (whatisorange.com) for bringing this important issue to the attention of so many children’s and youth ministry leaders at their conference last week. Now that so many more people are aware of the changing face of America and what it means for the church, the question is, …what are we going to do with it?

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Last week my wife was in helping out at my sons school and decided to eat lunch with my kindergartener. While at lunch my wife overheard the following conversation between my son and his friend, whom we will call James.

James said, “where is your dad?”

My son replied, “at work.”

James asked, “where does your dad work?”

My son replied, “at my church.”

James said, “people don’t work at churches.”

My son said, “yes they do. My dad is a pastor.”

James said, “He can’t be, all pastors have to have brown skin.”

James’ five to six years of church going experience has taught him that in order to be a Pastor you have to have brown skin. James has been to school where he has seen teacher with different skin colors. He has played on sports teams where he has seen coaches with different skin colors. He has been to stores where he has seen workers with different skin colors. James lives in a country where our presidents have had different skin colors. But at church he experienced that the leadership could only be one color. What better time than now for the church to step up and be an example our young ones can relate to.

Hearing this story encouraged me with the truth of how important multicultural ministry is for our children. Whether we are meaning to teach them or not, every experience is something that our children learn from.

What are children learning from your ministry? Are they learning that God’s kingdom is open to everyone and his love knows no boundaries? Are they learning that God the learning that God’s kingdom will be made up of people from all colors, races, tribes and languages?

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Jeremy Lin burst on to the sports scene a few weeks back and captured the sports world. What a great story to have a young man, not drafted and about be cut, become the focus of the sports world. It makes me wonder why did Jeremy Lin become an overnight sensation. Did he not have the talent or the skill prior to a few weeks ago, or was he not given the opportunity? Lin is a player who is always working to improve, so no doubt he is probably a better ball player than he was even a few months ago. But, I believe his opportunities were limited by racial assumptions. In an interview Lin was asked if he felt like he was not highly recruited by colleges or given a better chance by more NBA teams because he was Asian-American. Lin said, he believed his ethnicity probably had something to do with it. Lin’s college coach Tommy Amaker believes Lin’s ethnicity contributed to Lin being over looked. Wow, can you imagine that valuable of a player being overlooked, and Lin’s talent never being seen in the NBA.

So what can Jeremy Lin teach us about ministry? Probably a lot. Today he is causing me to ask a few important questions. Who do we overlook? Because of what preconceived notions might we pass someone by? As we survey the ministries we are involved in, their are clearly people we are not leaving out. But my challenge to you is compare your current audience to your surrounding community. What people group is missing. What special attention might you need to pay to that people group to make them feel at home in your ministry? Whatever it is, I promise it will be worth it. A few years down the road you will look back and say wow, can you imagine our ministry without…

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The Martin Luther King Holiday has just passed and as I was reflecting on the significant contributions that Dr. King made to this world, I was reminded by my twitter friends about the many great quotes Dr. King made. Powerful quotes like, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.” And,  “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” There is a wealth of quotes and challenging speeches through out the many writings by and about Dr. King. So my challenge to you this year is to read one book by or about Martin Luther King Jr. As you read pay attention to what MLK stood for, why he stood for what he stood for and most importantly how he took a stand. If you take away the what, why, how you take away the from the example that Dr. King set.

Here are a few recommendations:

A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr. by Martin Luther King and James M. Washington (Dec 7, 1990)

The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr. by Martin Luther King Jr. and Clayborne Carson (Jan 1, 2001)