5 Reasons NewSpring Church Is Wildly Successful

Upon my visit toNewSpring Churchfor the Unleash Conference, I kept my eyes open for the things that set them apart from other churches.

There were a lot of elements that contributed to the excitement at Unleash.  In fact, the same mistake is usually made by most church leaders – to mimic singular elements, hoping that it produces the desired result.  For example, lights, a great sound system, artistic staff, a huge building, and a couple musicians don’t actually create the environment that we saw.  As I said, it would be way too easy to rely on these elements, but that’s not what creates passionate churches following a radical God.

As I said, there are a lot of factors that contribute to a healthy, passionate church, but when you boil them all down, there are a couple non-negotiable sources to the passion we witnessed.

1. The vision is clear. A church that keeps the vision out front is a church that stays on the same path.  This means that you don’t have people hijacking the vision because they don’t know what it actually is.  When the vision is clear, everyone can move in the same direction.  When everyone can move in the same direction, progress is inevitable!

2. The leadership is excited. I talked with 5-10 staff members at NewSpring, and they were more excited than most of the church leaders I’ve ever worked with.  They were so pumped about being a part of NewSpring, and it was so easy to get on board with their excitement.  When the leadership is excited, it transfers to everyone around them.

3. The direction is strategic. You won’t find NewSpring doing anything that doesn’t make sense for the people they want to reach.  This is because they pay very close attention to every move they make.  Each change in direction is carefully calculated, and they take extreme caution that their direction is strategic.  Too many churches follow suit from other churches, because “that’s what churches do.”  It’s refreshing to see a church break the mold, and bear fruit because of it.  After all, if we follow those who aren’t bearing fruit, what can we expect?

4. The mission is laser-focused. This church isn’t just throwing money at everything under the sun in hopes that it will “work.”  They’re laser-focused in the areas of their resources (finances, energy, staff), which means they don’t have paid staff doing things that are off-mission.  You won’t see them starting ministries that fill every single need that everyone in the world has.  For example, in one of the breakouts they offered at Unleash, one of their staff members got very transparent about their finances and what they invest in.  Because that list is very short, they’re able to invest a lot more than most churches do.  It’s time to ask a really tough question: “Are we diluting our resources by dividing our assets into too many avenues?

5. The energy is contagious. Like I said earlier, the excitement of the staff members trickles down to the volunteers.  I don’t know the last time that I’ve seen several hundred volunteers all be as excited as possible.  Here’s something that we have to know about this church – that doesn’t happen on accident!  They are led well!  What would happen if we realized the potential of our attitude?  What could happen if we decided to start being positive on purpose?  Here’s the hard question: Do you think that the people who talk about your church always do so with a contagious positive energy?  If not, what are people catching from the leadership at your church?

Songs For My Walk: Volume 1

Music has a pretty profound influence on my life.  It’s scary actually, but sometimes music can literally change the course of my future.  I’m sure I’m not alone on this.  Not only does music influence me though, but I’ve always been really into getting lost in some of my favorite songs.

So, because I know that I can be influenced pretty easily, I try to keep a good amount of music around that keeps my eyes focused on Jesus.  So, I thought I would give you what’s been on repeat on my iTunes library.  For those of you who don’t have a lot of Christian music, but are looking to find some good stuff, maybe this will help. I’m linking everything to iTunes (because you should be buying these songs, not burning them off someone else…just sayin’).

ps. If you’re one of those people who can’t resist, but to tell me that my music choices are short-sighted and boring, I’m sure you know where the comment button is. Fire it off and feel better about being the elite music-knower that we all should know that you are. I’m just sharing what has helped lead me to the hrone of God – so here goes nothin’.  They’re all listed in alphabetical order by the way.

1. “Like A Lion” by David Crowder Band
2. “Shadows” by David Crowder Band
3. “We Crown You” by Steve Fee
4. “Hallelujah (All I Need)” by Stephen Cole*
5. “You Hold It All” by Desperation Band
6. “The Lord Is My Rock” by Elevation Worship
7. “Everything” by Ryan Stuart
8. “Glory To God Forever” by Steve Fee
9. “Everything Falls” by Steve Fee
10. “It Is Well” by Todd Fields
11. “For Your Name” by Hillsong
12. “We The Redeemed” by Hillsong
13. “You Hold Me Now” by Hillsong
14. “My Desire” by Chuck Hooten
15. “Hands Of The Healer” by Eddie Kirkland
16. “Life Light Up” by Christy Knockles
17. “Make Us One” by Liberty University Campus Praise Band
18. “Alive Again” by Matt Maher
19. “Our God Is Love” by Newspring Church Band
20. “Yours Is The Victory” by Newspring Church Band
21. “Worthy Of Affection” by Shane and Shane
22. “Your Love Is A Song” by Switchfoot
23. “What A Savior” by Laura Story*
24. “Awakening” by Chris Tomlin
25. “Father Will You Come” by Unhindered
26. “Jesus Saves” by Carlos Whittaker
27. “Rain It Down” by Carlos Whittaker
28. “We Will Worship You” by Carlos Whittaker
29. “One Who Overcomes” by Phil Wickham*
30. “Because Of Your Love” by Phil Wickham

*These songs were included in the Catalyst Music Project. These songs were not written by these artists, but by worship leaders around the country.  They were lucky enough to have them sung by the artists listed.  You should do some research on the people behind these songs!

Because I can’t resist, I feel like I need to give you the top 5 songs on this list, in my humble opinion.  These are the songs that carry the most weight with me.  Some are associated with a story in my life. Others are just songs that have been crazy impactful to me.  They are:

1. NewSpring Worship – “Our God Is Love”
2. Hillsong – “You Hold Me Now”
3. Switchfoot – “Your Love Is A Song”
4. Shane and Shane – “Worthy of Affection”
5. Stephen Cole – “Hallelujah (All I Need)”

If you have good suggestions for songs that lead you to Jesus, please share! Who knows, maybe they’ll make it on Volume 2!

Is God In The Details?

Ministry is a funny thing.

We want to plan, but we want God to be the doer.

We want to be diligent, but isn’t it up to God anyways?

Recently, I’ve been plagued with the thoughts that maybe I’m wasting a junkload of time doing something that doesn’t matter in the end – driving down the details. We have a pretty small staff for a church of our size, which means I’m a part of the planning for some of the main objectives (teachings, events, initiatives, etc).

I haven’t always been someone who tries to drive down to the nitty gritty, and I am by no means a detailed person. However, when it comes time to make some hard-and-fast decisions that affect practical items, I get pretty picky. Most times, my opinions bring a level of paralysis, because I can usually come up with enough cons to veto anything.

Lately, I’ve started questioning my tendency to pick the details apart. Don’t get me wrong, I think that we should all be diligent in our work. However, in ministry, we should be calling on the Holy Spirit to make it happen, right?

Or should we be asking for empowerment instead?

Noah dealt with this (Genesis 6:5-8). He had it way worse, too. He didn’t have anything to go from. This dude was a part of God’s plan when God’s plan hadn’t been fully revealed yet. All he knew was that God told him to build a big boat, because he was sorry that he’d made humans, and he was going to kill them all via a giant flood (I’m sure you’ve seen the cutesy version of that story on a flannelgraph, so I’ll move on).

God didn’t stop at merely asking Noah to build a boat. He told Noahspecifically how to build it, right down to the materials he should use. If you read it (Genesis 6:14-22), you can see that God didn’t spare many details; and if He did, it must not have been a crucial part of the project.

We see this attention to detail again later when God told Solomon to build a temple.  The instructions were crazy detailed!

So what can we infer from all this; that God is the annoying uncle standing behind you, as you build something, reminding you that “you’re doing it all wrong?”

Not at all.

Here’s what I take from Scripture. In any case in the Bible in which God spoke to someone with a command, a few things happened.
1. God spoke.
2. The hearer listened.
3. The hearer either obeyed or disobeyed.
4. God’s plan prevails, whether by the obedience of the hearer, or by their disobedience.

Before I enter a Romans-like diatribe, let me cap it off.  I’m not saying that we can clearly disobey God, and it all go well for us.  What I am saying is that God is on His throne whether you obey or not.  Similarly, His plan will prevail whether you choose to be a positive element or not. It seems to me that those on whom God called were chosen by Him (that’s cool in itself).  In the cases in which those on whom God called were unqualified (ummm…all of them), He qualified and equipped them (also very cool).

If God has called you to lead, then lead. Follow Him with every last bit of strength in you.  Watch His commands with a watchful eye.  When He gives you freedom, lead freely.  After all, creativity is an element that God has exhibited since the beginning of time as we know it.  Get involved in the details until God moves you another direction.

Is God in the details?  I believe so.  Sometimes, we don’t have them upfront.  But the key was never to be detailed.  The key is to follow as best as we know how.  Then, we’ll truly lead.

11 Unforgettable Moments With My Youth Pastor: Part 2

7. When he got us back.My friend, Clint, and I were morons in high school. We were the jokers, the class clowns of our group. Two (maybe three) years in a row, we decided that we would roll Danny’s house the night before camp kicked off. I should share that we left for camp around 4 am every year. Clint and I were at Danny’s house around 11:30 pm. This usually involved the police, and it almost involved jail one year (I wish I were kidding). This would be a great story if it ended there, but it doesn’t. One night before service at camp, Clint and I were called up separately to be used as “illustrations.” We both knew that something was up but we had no idea what was to come. We were duct taped to chairs (on our bare skin). We were blind-folded by diapers. Peanut butter was spread all over us, and shoved in our ears and noses. Then came the honey. I think there was more, but my brain won’t let me remember it all. Post-traumatic Syndrome I think.

Later, he had one of the camp counselors (who was apparently a freaking black belt) come up and demonstrate his awesomeness on us.  But nooo, we’d learned our lesson.  However, with the whole room wanting to see more “embarrass Clint and Cox” time, we were pushed to the front.  This time, there wasn’t any duct tape involved.  Only carrots.  So what were we to do with these carrots?  Well, friends, we were supposed to put them in our mouths, while Mr. Blackbelt took his nunchucks out and started swinging.  Our only advice: stand very still.  As the crowd watched, and I waited for a trip to the ER to reattach my nose, he stood to the side of me, doing his nunchuck show.  Then, out of nowhere, he swings the nunchucks my way, and knocks the carrot out of my mouth.  This is possibly one of the scariest moments of my life.  Again, pictures speak louder than words.

8. When he led a youth service by spontaneously praying for God to forgive us. One night, when we were in high school, we ended up spending the last half of a service in spontaneous prayer. Danny invited us all to go to the altar to pray if we felt led. We prayed that night as a group for 30-45 minutes. I’ll never forget the sound of Danny fighting through tears to cry out to God. As students, we had no idea what might be happening in his life to warrant those tears. All I knew was that this guy was serious about calling out to God. And it made me want to be serious, too.

9. When he went on his first trip with us. When I was a junior in high school, I’d just got plugged into our youth ministry for the first time. I wasn’t sure what to expect. All I knew is that we’d had two youth pastors up until that point, and the third was on his way. We’d been told about Danny, but I didn’t have a clue who he was or why I should care. The church leadership thought it would be a good idea for him to go on a ski trip with us to get to know us. I don’t know if he officially had the job or not; all I know is that he spent that entire weekend loving on us. The moment that I’ll never forget is the memory of Danny talking with all the students in the back of the bus about his perspective on life and how God uses different trials to grow us. The quickly conversation turned into an “ask anything” question, as the students hearts were being sparked by the passion of this 22-year old guy we’d spent the weekend with. It was at that moment that I knew God was going to use him in a big way in all of our lives. I went up to our former youth pastor, who was sitting at the front of the bus talking with the bus driver. I’d never really had a very open relationship with my old youth pastor, but at that moment, I wanted to tell him that I really believed in Danny, and that I thought he was great. He smiled and said, “I agree.”

10. When he told me that I was wrong. As an intern, I had a lot of responsibilities. One of those was to mingle with as many students as possible in our Wednesday night service. On one particular day, Danny asked me to invite a certain student to sit next to me. He had routinely sat in the same seat, by himself, for the last few weeks. Danny was aiming to introduce him to some of the other students. I told him I would do so, and we went on with our day. About 5 minutes before the service started, I chose a seat next to some students that I felt comfortable around (on purpose). I was so uncomfortable going up to this student, so I just didn’t. What happened next marked me. Danny came up to me to ask me point-blank, “Why didn’t you do what I asked you to do?” This is the same Danny who took me out for coffee and called me his friend. But when it came time for me to know when I was wrong, he wasn’t afraid. Friendship is good. But friendship without confrontation (when necessary) isn’t true friendship. He taught me something about leadership that day, and I’ll never forget it.

11. When he brought my fellow graduates up in front of our group to talk about what we meant to him. There’s something you need to know about me. When I was a freshman in high school, I found my identity in other peoples’ idea of me. I accepted Christ as a sophomore, but was still dealing with a bunch of junk in my life. I got hooked into our youth ministry as a late sophomore, and began to plug in more and more. From that point on, my identity was not found in sports, people groups, classes, or anything like that. It was Jesus and those who loved Jesus – namely, our student ministry. So by the time I graduated, it was a pretty big deal. We were the first class who’d been able to spend a full year with Danny, and we’d created some very meaningful relationships. The last youth night of our senior year, I, along with my fellow graduates, was invited to the front of the room. We were greeted with a big hug and applause from the other students. I remember a very close friend of mine in the crowd locking eyes with me, because she knew that I was about to leave something (and someone) that I dearly loved. She knew what that moment meant to me. That moment is burned in my memory as a transition out of high school and into the “real world.” I think sometimes we might forget the heaviness associated with graduating high school. That was such a huge moment.

Maybe the best youth ministry decision you could make this week is to be OK with putting all the important things in your office on hold, so you can go love on students – because ultimately, that’s what carries the most impact anyways. If you want to be an influencer of the next generation, it takes time.

11 Unforgettable Moments With My Youth Pastor: Part 1

As a youth pastor, my mind is always full of youth ministry-related ideas.  So many times, my tendency is to camp out in my office and navigate each idea and its usefulness to our student ministry.  But when I think back to being a student myself, my memories aren’t made up mainly of knowing that Danny (my youth pastor) was in his office, hard at work.  The most memorable moments were spent when he invested in me personally, wherever we were.  A lot of our meetings were surrounded by coffee (now you know why I’m a Starbucks addict!), but he was always taking me alongside him – I’m so thankful for that.

So, this post isn’t just a tribute to my youth pastor, but it’s a reminder to myself and all you other youth pastors that a huge part of student ministry is about being with your students – that’s it.

1. 6 a.m. meetings at Starbucks. I’ll be honest. I hated these when I was a teenager. It’s a funny thing to think about it now, but I’m always making decisions based on “what teenagers like.”  Looking back, this is one of my favorite memories, but what teenager likes waking up at 6 am?  Exactly.

2. Praying with him every morning at 7 am during an entire summer. Again, I wasn’t a huge fan of waking up at 7 am every morning (yep, I said every morning) during multiple summers to pray together as a group. But that time was so precious. It taught me that prayer is so important, it should be the first thing that happens every day. It also taught me how to pray, as we were joining with several older men to pray. It was a privilege to listen to them pour their hearts out to God. On a very real note, it taught me about commitment. Danny always called us to a higher level of commitment to Jesus. Our morning prayer time was a small example of devotion to Christ.

3. Visiting North Point Community Church together. While we were at camp one year in Georgia, we decided that we’d take a trip to go see North Point. Danny had introduced me to Andy by giving me one of his books, Next Generation Leader. I’d heard that North Point was a pretty inspiring place, so we went together. The funny thing is I was more impacted by the fact that Danny took me with him on such a cool trip, then by the actual destination.

4. Early morning coffee during an over-night event. I was an intern for Danny one summer. We went to visit a local Christian college and Kings Island. The night that we stayed in the dorms was hell for Danny, because our teenagers had no desire to fall asleep. He sent me in to calm them down, but they didn’t listen. Eventually, we all fell asleep. That next morning, Danny woke me up and asked me if I wanted to go out for coffee before everyone woke up. I wasn’t ever the kind of guy to turn opportunities like this down (the time with Danny, not just the caffeine), so I got up and went with him. We went to a local coffee shop, got our coffee, and spent some time together as friends. He had every right to be ticked off at me for not calming those students down, but he wasn’t. Sometimes, it’s the small things that we remember.

5. Meeting with him a couple years after I’d been “sent out” to discuss the realities of youth ministry. Something that every rookie pastor goes through is realizing that ministry isn’t all roses. One weekend, I visited my family. I knew he was a pretty busy guy, so I didn’t try to meet up with him. I don’t know if I was more worried about his schedule, or being disappointed if we couldn’t meet, but I just didn’t try. He heard I was home, and asked me if I could meet with him a couple hours before I left. Of course I said yes. We talked for three hours that morning about the difficulties of ministry, the disappointment from different people, and the general struggles of spiritual leadership. This is so valuable. I got to hear my hero’s struggles, and share mine with him.

6. Talking with him one night at camp, about how God had answered prayers for our students. The summer after I graduated, I had shared with Danny that God had placed it on my heart to be in intense prayer for the students that were going to camp that year. He told me that that was cool, and that he would pray alongside me. That year at camp, I watched, night after night, as the students ignored God’s work in their life. Until the last night. And it was exactly what you’re thinking – a camp fire, a guitar, and testimonies. When it came out that God had been working in all these students’ lives, I broke down like a school girl. Danny came to sit next to me and put his hand on my shoulder. I looked up, and he was crying to. He nodded at me, and a word was never spoken.

I realized this was a pretty long post, so this will be split up into two parts. Part two comes tomorrow…

Learning From Perry Noble At Unleash Conference

The first session of Unleash was pretty exciting.  It was my first time at NewSpring Church, and the room was full of excitement.

He started the conference off by taking us to Joshua 5, which is where the story is told that God told Joshua to make flint knives and to circumcise the sons of Israel for a second time.  You might guess that the room was filled with nervous laughter as Perry began to unpack the situation.  Joshua was asked to circumcise hundreds of thousands of grown men.  He capped the description off by saying, “And we think leadership is hard!”

Perry followed this Scripture up by talking about a trip he took with his family, in which they stopped at a cliff that people could jump off into a lake.  The cliff was pretty high, and Perry admitted to being afraid to jump.  However, his very young daughter decided she wanted to jump.  At this request, Perry’s first response was to tell her that she was not allowed.  But, he thought if she saw the height from which she had to jump, that she might change her mind on her own.

He was wrong.

He stood at the top of the cliff with her, and as they leaned over to see how far she would fall, she responded, “I wanna jump, daddy!”

So, he let her jump!

Crazy, right?  His point was this.  So many church leaders are afraid to jump into what God has called them to do.  Because they’re afraid, they tell the next generation that they shouldn’t jump either.  But he didn’t take the courage of the next generation into consideration.  She wanted to jump – and she did!

Church leaders have forgotten how to jump.

4 Factors Involved in Bold Church Leadership:

1. Desperation Factor

1. God brought them to a place and marked them, so that they had to be desperate for God, because without his provision, they can’t go on.
2. When was the last time you were desperate for God?

2. Sacrifice Factor

1. Everybody in Joshua’s church loved the idea of progress.  It’s the sacrifice we have a problem with.
2. When it comes to sacrifice, leaders have to go first.
   1. i.     Comforts need to go.
      1. We’d like that people come back every week, rather than they’re lives be changed.
      2. We’re more concerned with attendance than repentance.
      3. We want people to enjoy our church services, but God might people to be disturbed!
      4. The church needs to be comfortable with the lost acting like the lost.  We should just be glad they’re in church!
      5. ii.     Conformity needs to go, too.
         1. Stop using Christian buzzwords to describe yourself.  Just go prove it by loving your community!
         2. Some of us are rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.

3. Recognition Factor

1. Joshua 5:13
2. The reason churches look like they like today is because the leadership doesn’t recognize Jesus anymore.
3. Are we building His church or asking Him to build ours?

4. Strategy Factor

1. Joshua 6:1-5 – If you’re a leader, you’re not reading this, thinking, “That’s gonna work.”
2. Church leaders need to stop depending so much on strategy and start looking to Jesus again.
3. Vision ALWAYS comes before strategy.
   1. i.     If I wrote a book about surgery, there’s not a doctor in the world who would buy it, but people listen to anyone in the church world?!
   2. ii.     That’s stupid!
   3. iii.     Listen to God. Do what He says!
4. Too many churches are just trying to “get back to Acts 2.”
   1. i.     Why go back, when that was where God started?
   2. ii.     He’s doing a new thing now!
5. If you can fully explain everything that’s happening in your church, then God is probably not involved.

My notes from the second session will come soon.

Learning From Brad Cooper At Fuse Student Ministry

Recently, I was privileged enough to attend the Unleash Conference atNewSpring Church.  We arrived on Wednesday afternoon, and had planned to attend NewSpring’s Wednesday Night service for middle school students, Fuse.

I had a pretty good idea that I would be seeing and hearing some things that wowed me.  Most of the times I get to go observe a youth ministry that has been immensely blessed by God, I try to pull myself out of the worship aspect of it and just concentrate on all of the practical elements that it takes to put something like that together (i.e. Production, Media, Volunteerism, Hardware, Staging Elements, etc).

This particular time, however, I found myself lost in worship.  The experience was awesome, and I got to check out some of the practical elements, too!  So, this post is all about what inspired me, what I learned, and what I want to change about what we’re doing in our context in Bryant, Arkansas.

First of all, we were asked to arrive on campus no later than 5:00 pm.  The service starts at 6:30 pm.  While this may seem a little extreme to a lot of people, this is just the first example of a group of people caring so much about a group of teenagers that they’re willing to put the needs of a bunch of youth pastors aside.

And I loved it!

Think about it. Do you want a couple hundred random adults walking around your teenagers during their service?  If you’re OK with that, I’m not OK with you.  In fact, I heard a story that a friend of mine told me about a time he’d visited the student ministry the year prior.  They walked in a little later than the rest and entered the front doors of the student building.  Within seconds, a man larger than myself kindly and quickly introduced himself to my friend.  As my friend told me the story, he grabbed my arm to illustrate the situation.  He pushed on a pressure point on the inside of my arm, which made me cower like a middle school girl (no offense, middle school girls – just sayin’).  “Can I help you?’ the adult asked intently.  My friend shared that he was there to observe the service.  The youth workers at NewSpring then kindly showed him around.

First youth ministry lesson: Can a complete stranger walk in your student ministry environment and have free reign with any of the students?

So, we signed in outside of the side of the building, and were escorted to our seats in the Fuse worship center.  Myself and about 150 other leaders sat in the corner of the auditorium, when a young, blond youth worker greeted us all.  She politely greeted us and gave us the run-down of how things were going to happen.  She made no qualms about the fact that they unapologetically ask youth pastors to step out if the middle school students needed seats.  They mentioned something about middle school students needing to hear about Jesus. Crazy, right?

Second youth ministry lesson: What is the burning passion of your youth workers?  A night without problems? A well-oiled machine? All these are good, but let’s not miss the point. Eternity hangs in the balanace.

We were told that the middle school students would be coming in momentarily, and that we needed to be ready to jet if they ran out of seats.  While we desperately wanted to see the service, we were pretty pumped about filling that room up with middle school students, too.  As they started flowing in, we knew there weren’t going to be enough seats, so we started talking about dinner plans.  But lo and behold, the doors shut behind the last student, leaving around 20 seats in a 900-seat auditorium.  We got to stay!  The service kicked off with an upbeat song and the students were totally into it.  Throughout the night, i noticed that the setlist didn’t include a lot of “happy fun songs” that you might think comprise a middle school service.  Nope – these were main service level songs.  And here’s the best part – THE STUDENTS WERE SO INTO IT!

Third youth ministry lesson: Are you writing off the middle school students’ ability to get lost in worship? Don’t.

Brad got up to teach, and as always, hit a home run.  They started a new series called, “Less and Less,” which was centered on the truth of John 3:30 (He must increase and I must decrease).  He used some great illustrations like the hot air balloon and my personal favorite, the hour glass (as the top empties, the bottom fills up).  It was straight brilliance.  I’ve included a couple videos below to give you an idea what we saw.  The two junky quality videos are of Brad laying down some truth, and of the band singing.  The HQ Vimeo video is an illustration video they capped off the service with – and it was excellent.

My favorite part of my experience was getting to watch the Fuse team prepare in the run-through.  Here are a couple things I noticed:
1. They ran through every single song, all the way through.
2. When Brad came out to quickly run through his part, they checked every element of his teaching. For instance, he was using a chalk board, and they tested it out to see how it looked on the screen.
3. They all weighed in on the font size on the screen.
4. The volunteers were pumped about it! They all kept givin’ each other “atta boys” and “atta girls” when they did something well.
5. Everyone used the term, “family” to refer to each other on the team. And in case you’re thinking that that’s cheesy…think again. There was a love between these people that was purely evident. This is a tight-knit team. If they were playing Red Rover, well you know :).

All in all, it was a super-inspirational visit and I learned a lot.  Not to mention, it was great to not be involved in planning a service.  I got lost in worship, got taught the Word, and had a great time.  I seriously would invite you to check the videos below, but make sure to check in with Brad sometime at his blog.

The Life My Son Will Lead

I realized last night that February was ending, March was starting, and that I’ll very likely be introduced to my first-born son before this month is over.

That thought jarred me.  It all sunk in.  Fear overwhelmed me.  I stared in the mirror for around 10 minutes trying to get my head around my new reality.  The weight of it is too much to comprehend.

In preparation for his arrival, my wife and I have been talking about what will go in his room as decoration.  One of the ideas we spoke about was a banner that would include a life verse and a word to sum it all up.  It didn’t hit me until that moment that I would be raising a son to live a certain kind of life.  As we talked about the words to sum it all up, my wife suggested, “loved” and “blessed” as examples.  I don’t usually like to do what others tend to do, because I feel an innate drive to be different, but always on purpose.  So, the first word that came to my mind was, “leader.”

The thought that I might be raising a leader of men is pretty exciting, most likely because that is what drives me (spiritual leadership).  Maybe my son will lead the next generation to the cross!  That would be amazing!

As I got lost in thought, though, it hit me that my purpose for my son may not be what God has in store for him.  It might seem like a good thing to be a spiritual leader of a group of people, but if it’s not what God has called him to do, then that’s not going to work.

I got stuck in my quiet time this morning when I hit a verse that strikes a similar chord.  In Genesis 5, Moses outlines the genealogy of some of the earth’s earliest people.  After a couple verses of family tree fun, in Genesis 5:28-29, Noah is introduced.

“Lamech lived one hundred and eighty two years, and became the father of a son.  Now he called his name Noah, saying ‘This one will give us rest from our work and from the toil of our hands arising from the ground which the LORD has cursed.'”

I don’t know what was going through Lamech’s mind when Noah was born, but it must have been quite a thought to know that Noah would play such a huge role in human history; that God Himself would use Noah to “reboot the system” so to speak.

As I pray for my son, I don’t know what God has in store for him.  I haven’t had any dreams including an angel and the infamous “fear not” introduction.  I haven’t seen any burning bushes, nor have I seen water turned to wine.

I know this, though.  He knows my son.  He knows his beginning and his end.  He knows what his years are going to look like.  He knows what his relationships are going to look like.  He knows what he’s going to be inspired by and passionate about.

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you.”

Jeremiah 1:5

God has literally given my son a purpose in this world.  He’s already set him apart.  Wow!!!  In the midst of the fear of raising a child, I’m so encouraged to know that God has a plan for my son, even though I might screw up! That’s peace beyond my understanding!

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank you for the gift of a son!  As I fight to understand why you would give me a gift like him, I want to pursue Godly leadership of my family.  Would you allow me to be the father that Kipton needs?  Would you please allow me to give him what he needs?  I beg of you to steer me as I raise him to look to you for guidance.  God, I beg you to allow me to do this one thing in a way that pleases you: to love and lead my family to your cross.  Amen.

Teaching So They Learn

I didn’t grow up with a propensity to communicate clearly. In fact, I grew up scared to death to be in front of people. When God called me to ministry, I knew a part of that would probably include teaching. Thanks to a couple people pouring into me, I was able to get my feet wet and learn the up’s and down’s of teaching teenagers.

Before I move on, if you don’t already know, I’m a youth pastor. That’s the world I live in. This concept isn’t constrained to teenagers, though. It’s transferrable to teaching kids, adults, or even leading board meetings or giving a presentation to a bunch of executives. The principles are the same. They govern our ability to communicate clearly what we so desperately want to impart.

I recently invited one of our freshman students to teach in our community service on a Wednesday night and he blew it out of the water! I was so impressed by his teaching, that it influenced me to write this post. As a 14 year-old guy, he communicated very clearly to his peers what God had called him to show them. As I watched him teach, I realized there are a couple simple hints that I could take away to help those who need some guidance in the role of a teacher.

1. Invite God in. This will always be the greatest foundation for communicating anything to anyone, especially if it is spiritual truth. Why would you want to try to communicate something so important without God’s blessing? This is the obvious one to remember, but let me ask you this: How many times have you taught God’s Word without so much as saying a simple prayer to ask for God to use you? That’s what I thought. Me too. The truth is that God would love to speak through you, if you’ll just give Him the opportunity. Hint: It’s better that way, anyways!

2. Be passionate. A lot of people can have a really lame message, but capture their audience because they were excited. So, what does that do for the person who is communicating the most important message in the universe? Passion communicates more than truth – it communicates belief and buy-in. One of the best ways to ensure that you’re passionate is to start with what you believe in with all your heart, and create your message from there. If you don’t believe it, everyone in the room will know it. People these days have awesome crap-detectors.

3. Know your audience. Again, simple right? Not so. It’s so easy to get in front of a group of people and communicate in your own language. This is especially true for guys like me, because we get older, and our audience stays the same age. I constantly find myself wanting to use words that make sense to me. Sometimes, I even find myself trying to explain a concept on stage, like I’m explaining it to myself in the mirror, using words that illustrate a certain image in my head. Congratulations, idiot. You just ignored the fact that your audience doesn’t use words with more than two syllables. Change your focus.

4. Make it an A+. This could be wildly misinterpreted, so let me clarify. You don’t have to give a life-changing message each week. If you try to do that, your head will explode, and your audience won’t know when to recognize a special message. A pastor I have a lot of respect for, JR Vassar, said the other day, “There is a cumulative effect to your preaching. Not every sermon has to be a home run. Just preach Christ and relax.” He’s right. However, that doesn’t mean to start slacking on your teachings.  You can teach a B lesson or an A+ lesson.  Which would you rather be a part of?

5. Find your confidence. One of the easiest ways to do this is to visualize the win. What is it you want to accomplish? Being a man, I tend to daydream. I picture moments in my head, where a man steals a woman’s purse, and I track him down, tackle him, get the purse back, and accept the rousing applause, as those around me stop to appreciate my heroic adventure. I’m really good at visualizing wins. It’s innate. It’s intuitive. So, before I get up to speak, I focus in on finding my confidence. Because if there’s anything that is an influence-killer, it’s sitting under the teaching of someone who’s sweating bullets and stumbling over their words, nervously. Don’t misread me, I love to give new speakers a chance to communicate, so they can get their feet about them, but there’s a time for us to man up and change the world with our words.

What Churches Can Learn From Restaurants

“One of the thoughts that passed through my head was that this terrible experience in this restaurant was our first time and that it wouldn’t be probable that we’d be back.  Then, it struck me.  If people encountered anything close to this terrible first-time experience in our church, they would have every reason to never come back.  And that makes me very nervous.”

Recently, my wife and I went to a local pizza place on the referral of a friend.  This is one of the only places that serves Chicago-style pizza in Little Rock.  Since my wife and I both love Chicago-style pizza, we decided to try it out.

At the beginning, it wasn’t all that bad of an experience.  We noticed that there was a disclaimer on the menu stating that Chicago-style pizzas take longer to cook, and that we should expect a 30-minute cook time.  Since Christi and I both have at least 4 years experience working in the restaurant industry, we understood and decided to go with it anyways.  We ordered some breadsticks to have as an appetizer to tide us over, and a Chicago-style supreme pizza.  Plus, it was a date night and we really weren’t in a hurry to get anywhere anyways.

After we ordered, we enjoyed conversation and just enjoyed being together.  Around 40 minutes after we ordered, we noticed that we hadn’t received our appetizer yet. This is probably where the whole thing went downhill.  Again, knowing what we know about the restaurant business made us not want to bother the server to ask about our appetizer, but we were starving!  So, when we decided to ask her if it was coming before the meal, she replied, “It should!”  In restaurant-speak, this translates, “I forgot to put it in.”  Sometimes, it’s disguised as, “Let me go check.”  Again, that actually means, “Let me go put it in.”

We understood and continued on with conversation.  We received our appetizer about 5 minutes later, which tasted like cardboard.  No worries.  They’re not known for breadsticks.  They’re known for pizza.

About 15 minutes later, another server walks out with a barbecue chicken pizza, and places it on our table confidently.  We politely told her that it wasn’t our pizza before she walked off.  So, with a confused look on her face, she took this pizza back to ask what the mix-up was.  She returned about a minute later asking if we were sure (you know, because sometimes you forget…I guess).  We told her that we were, in fact, very sure of what we ordered.  She then asked my wife, “I’m sorry, but are you pregnant?”  My wife nodded, not knowing where she was going with such a question.  “Your server told me that this was for the table with the pregnant woman.”  We looked around.  No obviously pregnant women to be seen (my wife is currently 8.5 months pregnant).  We reminded her that we didn’t order that.

It became obvious that our 30-minute cook-time pizza had not been made.  Let the negotiations begin!  We were offered the barbecue chicken pizza at a discounted price, or the pizza we ordered at a discounted price (knowing it had to be cooked still).  We opted for the barbecue chicken pizza, knowing that it would take another 30 minutes.  The barbecue chicken pizza tasted pretty terrible, so we quickly told our server that we’d wait it out for what we came for.  She returned about 5 minutes later with what she called a Chicago-style supreme pizza.  “This is definitely your pizza.”  She then decided to take the “high road” and blame the mistake on another server (Dear servers, this is never a good choice).  We were a little hesitant, but we took the pizza and started dishing it up, only to find that it only had two toppings, Sausage and Peppers; hardly a supreme pizza.  We decided that we’d cut our losses, eat the pizza that we got, and go home.  We’d been there for 2 hours at that point, and still had some shopping to do.

Then, we get the ticket.  We remembered the server assuring us that we would receive a discount on either pizza that we chose.  We received no such discount.  We didn’t decide to make a big deal of it, nor did we decide to take it out of her tip.  We paid for our pizza, tipped the waitress, and departed with the left-overs of “not our pizza.”

So, what can churches learn from this?  Well, simply put, we have guests every week that are coming for an experience and a product, much like the restaurant we visited.  One of the thoughts that passed through my head was that this terrible experience in this restaurant was our first time and that it wouldn’t be probable that we’d be back.  Then, it struck me.  If people encountered anything close to this terrible first-time experience in our church, they would have every reason to never come back.  And that makes me very nervous.

We know that people make mistakes, and it’s easy to forgive a simple mistake like they made at the restaurant.  However, when eternity hangs in the balance, church need to remember that there are people in the crowd every single week that need to have a great experience!  After all, we’re showing them the greatest “product” in the world!  The gospel of Jesus Christ is the most important thing in this world.  How are you presenting it to people?  And are you giving people a reason to leave and never come back?

Bible Reading Plan

Do you have an intentional plan to read the Bible this year?

I never have before…until now.

I decided that at the end of every year, I’m discontent with how much I’ve read (or not read) the Bible.

Someone once told me that it’s great to have goals, but goals that aren’t written down are just wishes.  So, if it’s a true goal for me to read through a certain portion of the Bible this year, it’s time to start writing it down.

I decided that this year, I’d commit to reading 2 chapters a day.  It’s not all that difficult to schedule in 10 minutes a day to read 2 chapters.  In fact, if we can’t schedule 10 minutes a day for God, then I think we’ve got some priority issues.  What I’ve learned through this first month and a half of reading is that I don’t usually automatically give God the best part of my day.

Now that I have a plan in place, it stares me in the face as soon as I walk into the office.  It’s helped me tremendously and I’ve learned more than I have in a while!  Why not try it?

I’ve decided to make a “prettied up” version of the pdf version of the schedule I posted a month ago for two reasons.

1. I hate the look of word documents.
2. For some reason, the post didn’t export correctly from my old blog, so i’m reposting it.

So here it is.  Click this link to download the plan.  If you’re behind (my guess is you are – not because you’re not awesome, but because it’s February), add a couple extra chapters a day to catch up.  Maybe you could block off an entire evening just to read through Genesis.  It might seem like it’s pulling teeth to read the Bible, but I’ve found that when you’re able to read a large portion in one sitting, the entire story comes together a lot easier in our human minds.

So go for it.  Let’s do this!

Below is a sample reading plan I put together from 2010. Maybe use it to jump-start your process for this year!

The Laws Of Guest Services

I’ve spent most of my youth ministry years (not that many) thinking about how to make guests feel more comfortable at church.  In my endless pursuit of molding our environments to be more inviting, and designing our services to be more relevant, I’ve decided that it is something that will always need to be re-worked.

However, upon my last couple visits to Starbucks (my second office), I’ve been introduced to a new thought in this arena.

Starbucks created a business strategy that is similar to most modern churches: assume everyone is a first-timer, and help them through every step of the process, knowing that they’re probably uncomfortable.  It is their mission to ensure that you have a place to relax – namely, “Third Place.”  Everyone has a home, and everyone has a place of work.  Those are the first two places; but people need a third place – a place where they can relax and just be.  I’ve learned this from my reading of The Starbucks Experience by Joseph Michelli.

My experience lately, upon returning to the same Starbucks, is that they don’t remember my order.  This may seem extremely self-centered, but one of the points of service is specifically to remember “regulars, their drink, and their stories.”  New customers should be greeted, and led through the ordering process comfortably.  Returning customers should be welcomed remembered.

So how are we doing, churches?  Are we welcoming our guests, remembering our people and their stories?  Are we preparing comfortable and inviting environments, while working to continue relationships with meaningful people?  Does the illustration even connect?

What are your thoughts?  I’d love to get a discussion going.  Let’s see where we end up with our different opinions.

(Disclaimer: I love Starbucks, and think they’re great at what they do.  This was an isolated incident, and not a representation of a failure of the entire organization.)

Holy Spirit Wind

This morning started like every morning.  I took my dog outside to “go potty.”  Who would’ve known God can use these moments :).

As I was standing there, waiting for her to go (she takes longer than any dog…ever), I had a moment of clarity and peace.  We live next to some woods, so the sounds of birds chirping and leaves waving in the wind is nothing new.  But this time, there was something different about it.

I heard the faint sound of the trees starting to rustle, then it got louder, as the trees closest to us were being affected by this wind.  Then, after a short pause, the wind hit my body.  Sometimes the wind is desperately needed; like when you’re working out in the yard and if you’re about to break down, and then the wind comes to relieve you.  Still others, it seems to heighten the frigidness of the cold or the rain.

But have you ever paused to think about the fact that wind is there?  And have you ever paused to think about the Creator of that wind?  Because my first thought was, why on the earth does this air have to move like that…like some cosmic fan?  Why are we distanced so perfectly from the sun, that we are neither consumed by its heat, nor frozen from being too far away?  How awesome is it that the plants all around us are carbon dioxide-consuming, oxygen-producing beings, and that we are oxygen-consuming, carbon dioxide-producing beings, creating a never-ending give-and-take relationship.

There are systems at work all over creation that we take for granted – and because of that, we take the CREATOR of those systems for granted.  May you feel the wind today and know that God, your Creator, loves you deeply!

“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands.
Day after day, they pour forth speech; night after night, they display knowledge.
Psalm 19:1-2

Swapping Worry For Hope

I have a friend going through a medical problem right now.  We just left the hospital, where the family is not able to be with their sick wife and mom.  In times like these, in which sickness comes out of nowhere, we don’t normally know how to respond.  Instead, there is a default within us that naturally shifts to worrying.  The Bible teaches us that worry is a lack of faith, and sometimes Christians are unauthentically forced to not show signs of worry, because we know it’s wrong.

Now I’m not making any theological statements here, but I would submit that worry can be a symptom of a greater love beneath the surface.  Although we believe in a God who is the Divine Healer, our frail minds automatically start to wander with all the possibilities and outcomes.  This is where the need for fervent prayer enters the scene.  We, as humans, know that God is the One in control; but at the same time, we hurt for our sick loved ones.

So tonight, I’m writing a post specifically for that family (you know who you are), in hopes not that we will medicate ourselves with a robotic sense of hope, but that we will consistently place oursleves at the feet of Jesus in humility to His love.

Reading Romans, a few verses pop out to me (taken completely out of context) that might bring peace to our hurting hearts tonight.

1. Romans 8:26 – In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.

2. Romans 8:28 – And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

3. Romans 8:31 – What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?

4. Romans 8:38-39 – For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

I’m praying for our loved one tonight, swapping worry for hope, in Jesus love for us, and our dear friend. One of the sweetest souls I know is under the Lord’s watch tonight. I rest in Him knowing that He is in the room with her as I type these very words, holding her with His Divine touch.

5 Practical Ways To Celebrate Easter Weekend With Family

So, we all know what time it is, and every year it’s the same song and dance…at least for me. I just finished watching Passion of the Christ with Indian Springs a few moments ago.  The gripping nature of the film leaves you anything but thoughtless.

So I saw the movie, but it doesn’t stop there.  It can’t.  So, I decided to write down a few of my thoughts for practically celebrating Easter, or more simply put, remembering what Jesus did in order for us to exist in the reality we exist in.

1. Decide to spend some extra time in God’s Word and prayer.
This is the most obvious, so I start here.  However cliche this may sound, though, I imagine that this is one of the things our Heavenly Father wants most – to reconnect with Him.  Commit to spend a little extra time reading the very words He decided to speak directly to you!  Respond in conversation and worship!  As much as I know my earthly father and I love to spend time together, I imagine this would be a great start.

2. Decide to express your love and thanksgiving creatively.
Lots of us have hobbies, some creative, some not.  I’m not sure who you are and what you enjoy doing in your spare time, but I’m guessing there is something that sparks your creative fire that intersects with the story of Jesus.  This might be painting, journaling, writing poetry, playing music, or just losing yourself in nature.  I’ve found that expressing my love for Jesus creatively actually brings out a passion I didn’t know existed.

3. Tell the story of Jesus.
DISCLAIMER: Please don’t go knock on someone’s door and tell them that they’re going to hell if things don’t change.  No one likes that.  No one likes super-Christian.  In fact, I’d be curious to know if this method of evangelism has EVER worked.  No, tell the story of Jesus with your words, with your actions, with your body language, anything to show someone the love of Christ.  Somewhere between 2 AD and 2009, people have mistaken the Jesus who endured more pain than anyone I know for the Jesus that is overly-political, misogynisitic, and a religious bigot.  This isn’t true – maybe you can change someone’s mind.

4. Decide to go out of your way, and out of your comfort zone to serve someone this week.
When i think about the pain Jesus endured for us on the cross, I just can’t stop thinking that the whole time He had the option to exit the situation.  From the interrogation, to the beatings, and to the actual crucifixion, Jesus knew that what He was doing had to be done…for us!  Who is around you that needs to be served in some way?  My guess is that you know who they are.  A picture of that person has already appeared in your mind’s eye.  Go love on that person, even if it means great sacrifice.

5. Yes, go to church.  But be the church, too.
This Sunday, the church doors will be open.  People will walk through the corridor of churches all over the world, all for different reasons.  Don’t just go to your normal seat, talk to your group of friends, and follow the pattern of your own routine.  Break the rules.  Seek the people that Jesus loves, and is drawing to Himself.  Because if someone didn’t follow the call to serve you, then where would you be today?

Dear Teenager Hater...

I was walking along my merry way in Walmart the other day, when I overheard a conversation between two people.  I won’t take this time to hint at the gender, age, race, description, history, eye color, food preference, etc. of these two individuals, simply to avoid the very type of hate that I’m ranting about here.  I also will admit, before I go on, that I didn’t hear the context of the conversation.  I’m really just here to make my point, and move on with my life.

The said conversation involved a comment that went a little something like this, “Today’s teenagers just don’t have any respect for anyone these days.  It’s a problem with the whole generation.”

It’s a good thing I was busy, or I might have blown a gasket.

I want to take a moment to redeem the apparently-ruined character of today’s teenagers.

1. There may be a few bad apples. I’m sure there aren’t ANY GROUPS OF PEOPLE that don’t have the same problem.
2. You’re prejudging, which is wrong, so stop it.
3. I have a strong sense of pride of my generation, and those coming behind mine.

You see, we aren’t the types that have a blatant disregard for authority, or a sick sense of pleasure in runing the established order.  Today’s teenagers, like anyone else, are in the process of learning how to do life.  The very last thing they need is criticism along that path.  Those who had a major, positive impact on my life were the ones who invested, not the ones who blindly recklessly me down, out of blind arrogance.

So check yourself, before the next cutting remark leaves your tongue.  I have been radically saved by Jesus Christ, and am daily being made more iike Him.  That’s a slow process, but I’d like to point out that I’m not seeing many “Walking Jesuses” these days either.

That’s my story.  I’m sticking to it.  If you’re offended, then comment – I want to hear your thoughts.  If you agree, then comment – I’d also like to hear your thoughts.  That’s all I got for today!

Psalm 143 In A New Light

Sometimes, when I read the Scripture, it’s life-giving; other times it’s dry.  Sometimes, we give it the attention it needs – others, not so much.

And then, every once in a while, I read the Scripture, and it breathes life into me.  I mean God comes down and is embracing you, and as you read, you feel the very heart of God moving you.  This morning I read Psalm 143.  There have been songs written, and sermons taught about this particular song, but today, today it spoke to me in a different light.

For the first time, I think that my heart was exactly where David’s was when he wrote this.  I believe that he was experiencing a time in his life in which he knew he couldn’t take another step without God’s blessing – not one, single step.  Satan was hard after him, and the powers of this world were closing in on him, and he needed to just kneel and let God fight his enemies.  I believe he was crying, sobbing uncontrollably when he wrote this, so much he couldn’t even see the words he was writing, much less having no idea the impact that his writings would have on humanity.

He writes, “Answer me quickly, O LORD, my spirit fails; Do not hide Your face from me, Or I will become like those who go down to the pit.  Let me hear your lovingkindness in the morning; For I trust in You; Teach me the way in which I should walk; For to You I lift up my soul.  Deliver me, O LORD, from my enemies; I take refuge in You.

May you run to your Creator today.  May you take refuge in Him alone.