When The Pressure Is Too Much To Handle

I didn’t know it would be this hard.

When my parents told me that I would need to prepare for harder days.

When my youth pastor told me it wouldn’t be easy following Christ; much less, being a pastor.

When Jerry Falwell repeatedly encouraged us to “never, never quit.”

And that’s the nature of life. You can’t know something intimately until you experience it.

So, what’s “it”?

It’s the feeling that I’m not being the best husband I can be.
It’s the sense that I could have spent a couple more quality minutes with my boys.
It’s that nagging critical comment that won’t get out of my head.
It’s the worry that my hard work is in vain.
It’s the weight of the fact that I still haven’t paid that debt down.
It’s the paralyzing fear that my life is a joke.

Have you been there? I have. Pastors aren’t immune to these feelings by any stretch of the imagination!

Jesus promised us this in Matthew 16:13-20:

“And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keysof the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bond in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

What’s beautiful about Jesus’ promise here is that it’s not up to Peter to build God’s church. Jesus wasn’t saying that He would build His church on Peter…or even a literal rock. He was speaking about the confession Peter made moments earlier in verse 16:

“You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Jesus will build His church. I happen to believe that He will use His faithful servants to do so. What’s even more interesting is that, in the Bible, we have numerous examples of common, uneducated men doing the work of ministry. They didn’t always get it right, but they stuck close to God.

Let me speak clearly to you church leaders for a minute. Don’t fall into the trap that I’ve fallen into many times; that it’s up to you to do the work of the ministry.

If you have been called, then you have been equipped. If you have been equipped, then you have everything you need to do what God wants you to do! It’s not up to you anyways! You have the Holy Spirit living inside of you!

Let the Divine Guider guide you. Let the Divine Comforter comfort you. Let Him empower you and convict you.

Whatever you do, don’t attempt the work without his power, direction, favor, or blessing. It will crumble.

But God’s work…God’s work will stand! The gates of hell will not prevail against it. Nothing will prevail against you. YOU ARE THE CHURCH!

“Nothing of eternal significance is ever accomplished apart from prayer.”

– Jerry Falwell

Fortune Cookie Prophecy

A couple weeks ago, my wife and I went on a double date with some friends of ours, Jared and Katie Clifton (during which we were blessed with a free babysitter…THANK YOU TAYLOR!).

As we were catching up at dinner, I had mentioned that I felt something brewing in me; a new project that had been stirring for the last several months.

I told our friends that I would be taking a week of vacation to write a book.

We talked a little bit about the publishing process and what the book would be about and moved on.

And then I cracked open a fortune cookie. Like any self-respecting man, I was excited about adding “in bed” to my fortune after I read it out loud. The guys would laugh. The girls would glare. And everything would be right in the world.

Then I read my fortune. In fact, I took a picture to prove it. Because I wouldn’t have believed it either.

Are you serious?! This moment could have only been more exciting if my lucky numbers were 4, 8, 15, 16, 23 and 42 (you’re welcome LOST fans).

But seriously, I’ve never gotten a fortune cookie that was that specific. Am I putting stock in it? No. Is it wicked cool that it happened? Yes.

So, I’m writing a book. What’s it about? You’ll have to wait and see. I have a title and about a third of the book done. I’m hoping to finish the rest of the book next week. I’m not one to take vacation days, so I have plenty of time to work on it. Not to mention, I’m pretty excited to camp out in a coffee shop next week and knock it out.

That’s my big announcement for the time being. In the next few weeks, I might showcase a couple of the ideas for the cover art. If you’re nice, I might even let you pick what it looks like!

I’m excited. Here’s to a new hobby!

NHS Induction Speech

I had the honor of speaking to the new class of National Honor Society inductees and parents on Sunday at Bryant High School (Bryant, Arkansas). I really love opportunities to speak at events such as this, so I jumped at the opportunity when I was invited. Here’s the speech I was honored to give:

Congratulations to the newest members of the Bryant High School National Honor Society. You’ve worked hard to earn it. We’re very proud of you and your accomplishments.

Congratulations are also in order for you families, friends, and teachers who play a greater role in all this than you probably realize now.

I’m going to assume something about this group of students. If you’re a NHS inductee, I think it’s a safe bet to assume that you, on some level, hope to make a difference with your life.

As a youth pastor, I get to work with students on a daily basis. After a while, it becomes easy to see the descriptors of an entire generation. As I talk with youth pastors in other cities across our country, they see the same descriptors.

You are a change-oriented group of students. You want to make a difference and that is evident in the efforts of your generation.

– Toms Shoes exists for one purpose: to give a pair of shoes to a child in need for every pair bought. By October 2011, they gave 2 million pairs of shoes away.
– Charity: Water exists for one purpose: to solve the water crisis. By the end of 2011, they served 2 million people by giving them clean water.

Students are rising up all over the nation who want to make a significant change. They feel empowered because they see other young people making a difference.

However, many people want to make a difference, but people rarely do.
What is it that stops them?

Unfortunately, this generation also leans toward entitlement. Everyone feels like the world owes them a title, immediate influence, and a position of leadership without responsibility. Now, I’m not saying that the whole generation is lost; absolutely not.

I actually believe that there are some difference-makers in this room. I believe that there are students in here that will make this world better in a significant way. However, it will only happen if you hold to the four pillars of the National Honor Society: scholarship, leadership, service, and character.

In scholarship, I would commend you to embrace the call of being a lifelong learner. Learning doesn’t stop when you graduate high school or college. If you think that, you’re in for a rude awakening. Be a lifelong learner.

In leadership, I would commend you to embrace a style of leadership that matters. Do work that matters. If you want to be a game-changer, it takes years of focused effort. Work hard. Back up your talk with action. That begins now.

In service, I would commend you to live a life of humility. When you serve, you remember that this life is less about achievement and more about people. Don’t you dare embrace a style of leadership that oppresses people. Jim Collins, author of Good To Great, says, “The X-factor of great leadership is humility combined with will.”

In character, I would commend you to build your life on values that reflect strong character. Decide who you’re going to be now, and your decisions become a lot easier. One misstep can derail you from accomplishing your dreams. In his book, Next Generation Leader, Andy Stanley says, “You can lead without character… But character is what makes you a leader worth following. To become a leader worth following, you must give time and attention to the inner man. To leave a legacy that goes beyond accomplishment alone, a leader must devote himself to matters of the heart.”

I rarely see students that embrace these qualities. But these are qualities of game-changers. These are the qualities of people who will shape the future.

You have it in you. Fight to stay focused. I believe in you. We need the next generation of leaders to be strong in character, humility, and integrity. Thank you very much!

Blank Canvas

A blank canvas is refreshing to me. I like the idea of having a fresh opportunity to make a difference.

Endless opportunities are at your fingertips.

So, as you set out to make your plans for 2012-2013, what do you want to see happen?

Because, in 10-12 months, your canvas will be filled with what you’ve accomplished over the last year. And the beauty of today is that you get to pick what you will see.

And that’s the haunting question I want you to wrestle with.

In 12 months, when you are another year older, what will your canvas be filled with? If you have any idea what you want, you’re going to have to be intentional about it.

Which is why we’re going to talk about how to reverse-engineer tomorrow.

Is Christian Music Dying?

A friend of mine (who happens to manage a band) asked me a question yesterday. I answered the question, but I also wanted to ask you. So here’s the question:

Do you promote Christian music? Do you encourage your students to listen to it? It seems, more and more, that the next generation doesn’t buy the CD’s, go to the shows, or follow the bands. Why is that?

I gave my answer. Now it’s time for you to give yours. And if you take time to answer, it will enter you into a contest to win some free music (fitting, right?).

Who can answer?

Originally, this question was designed for student pastors, because of their influence with the next generation. However, we’d like to hear from everyone (teenagers, parents, senior pastors, etc.). So fire away! Just make sure to tell us how old you are, so we know who’s talking.

How can you respond?

1. Comment below. Feel free to leave as detailed an answer as you’d like.

2. Tweet your reply. Although this won’t enter you in the contest, it will still help us.

3. Tell your friends. If you share this post on Facebook or Twitter, I’ll TRIPLE your chances of winning by throwing your name in the hat another two times, in addition to the one entry you get from commenting below. It might look like this:

Have 2 minutes to take a survey on Christian music? Your could win some free music! Head over to http://bit.ly/M0wTIg and be heard!

You have until noon on Friday, June 29 to answer. Thanks so much for helping out with this!

And for those wondering, the giveaway will include one free album from the band that’s asking the question. In addition, I’ll throw in a couple extras, including an iTunes card (in case you don’t trust my musical prowess). I promise it will be worth it!

5 Gut-Check Questions For Leaders

1. What do you really want to do in ministry? Are you doing that? Maybe it’s time to take some inventory. If it’s not happening, then what are you really doing? Don’t you dare come to the end of your leadership life and look back with regret!

2. Why are you letting your excuses holding you back? No, seriously. What are they? Because others are finding ways around their excuses. They’re finding new pathways. The next generation leader must exercise the courage to find a new way to move the ball forward.

3. Are you leading under God’s vision or the popular vote? The fear of man is a snare. Don’t ever forget that your fear should lie in the One who is King of our souls. Not in someone who said something ugly about you.

4. Where are you being lazy in leadership? Your enemy is at work 24/7. You can’t afford to be lazy!

5. If you keep leading like you’re leading right now, what will be the result? We all know the definition of insanity (continuing with the same methods, while expecting different results). As leaders, we tend to fall into a rut; leadership becomes a cold set of comfortable gestures.

Legacy: The Part You Play

This past weekend, I was excited to be able to take a couple students to check Liberty University out (which is where Christi and I went to school). It was a blast and we all had a really good time.

If you’ve finished college, left the city, and come back to visit, you’ve felt the feeling of overwhelming nostalgia that I felt.

I was describing it to a friend: “Everything is so different!”

He asked me to specify, but it was hard to describe everything. After thinking about it some more, I realized that my thoughts were centered around this one idea:

If I went to school here today, I would have a completely different experience, by virtue of the fact that this school is continually expanding into an even greater atmosphere.

And then, this next thought hit me like a ton of bricks:

This must be what it’s like to have a strong vision for something and not live long enough to see it grow beyond your wildest dreams.

All throughout Scripture, we see examples of people who were called by God to do amazing things. Every one of those people were playing their small part in God’s meta narrative.

1. Abraham was called to go to the place that God would show Him.

2. Joseph was called to a life of obedience among negative circumstances, resulting in major influence.

3. Moses was called to lead the nation of Israel out of slavery and into the promised land.

4. Joshua was called to build on Moses’ work.

5. David was called to be a king.

6. Nehemiah was called to build a wall.

7. John the Baptist was called to prepare the way for the coming Messiah.

8. Peter was called to help move God’s people to a new way.

9. Paul was called to spread the Gospel throughout the nations and to plant churches.

All of these people played big parts in God’s story. In their day, they were recognized for their many feats and displays of faith.

But for them (and for us), our “small” part in God’s big story is 100% of our entire life!

The connection point is this: Jerry Falwell never got to see the fullness of God’s vision for His life come to pass (because it is still coming to pass as each day passes!).

This should give us so much encouragement, in that our work is not done in vain! God will bring His work to pass. We are merely agents of His grace; wires through which His power flows.

We may not get to see the full outcome of our work here on earth, but that isn’t the purpose! Our purpose is to humbly serve Jesus.

Take comfort that your work is not in vain, if it is done in Jesus’ Name.

Take Heart. God Is With You.

Psalm 91 reads:

“He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the LORD, ‘My refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust.’

For He will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and buckler. You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.

A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. You will only look with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked.

Because you have made the LORD your dwelling place — the most High, who is my refuge — no evil shall be allowed to befall you, no plague come near your tent.

For He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone. You will tread on the lion and the adder; the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot.

‘Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows my name. When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.'”

Take heart. God is with you. Or is He?

This Psalm describes the protected as:
1. He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High.
2. Those who make God their refuge and fortress.
3. Those who trust in God.
4. Those who made God their dwelling place.

Don’t be discouraged. Don’t be afraid. Take courage in making our Heavenly Father your refuge. Let’s be done shaking our fists in the air. Let’s stop telling God what’s true. Let us find our refuge in Him alone!

Why I Stopped Blogging

I haven’t written a real blog post in almost four months. I used to post four times a week. At first, I needed a break. Not long after that, I felt the itch to start writing again, but couldn’t find the time to make it happen (mainly because this has been, without a doubt, the busiest and most stressful season of my entire life).

I blame Louie Giglio.

I attended Passion 2012with some of my students and friends. It was an unbelievable experience. I learned so much. God was speaking to me non-stop. One of the things that He made clear to me was that I needed to pull back from public writing (blogs, tweets, etc.) and get back to where it all started.Journaling.

So, I stopped. I have a few posts in the hopper that I had drafted. I’ll post those soon. But I really feel like God didn’t just want me to stop blogging.

1. He wants me to stop fueling my need for approval. I didn’t start checking stats for a long time. I didn’t care how many people were looking at it. And then, all of a sudden, I became friends with Google Analytics. And a little part of me sold out. Now, if something is on my heart and it won’t draw a big crowd, I trash it. Something about that isn’t right.

2. He wants me to put focus where it belongs. Right now, that’s not blogging. I’d love to tell you what that is, but I can’t. That shall come later.

3. He wants me to re-discover the purpose for writing/journaling/blogging. I wrote my very first blog post on Friday, February 2, 2007 (It was actually my second. The obligatory “I’m starting a blog” post doesn’t count). The original reason for starting a blog was to share what I was learning as I read through Scripture. Somewhere along the way, it became posting about cultural hot-button issues and leadership lessons. I have rarely posted about my learnings in Scripture. And I’m not a fan of that.

4. I’m tired of people (especially pastors) pimping themselves.Seriously. Stop it. You’re making the church look like a whore. I mean that in the most literal sense possible. You are taking money to please a crowd. Our job is to make much of Jesus, not make much of us making much of Jesus.

5. He wants me to focus on a broader audience. From the start of this blog, it has always been focused on church leaders. I’m going to break the rules and zoom out. This blog will probably just be for…wait for it…people (gasp!).

As it stands, I’m going to try to keep my posting to once a week. I’ll be working on some other projects on the side, which will be requiring the majority of my attention. But I also have a couple things to say. So the blogging sabbatical is over. But I’m not going to turn it on like a fire hydrant. More like a steady, flowing river. Doesn’t that sound nice? I thought so.

Caden's Birth Announcement!

Tear It Down & Start Over

Every six months, I get away for a couple days, hide out in a coffee shop, and take a sledgehammer to our youth ministry.

Sounds excessive, right?

It might not be the way you process things, but it is absolutely necessary for me to abandon my office hours for a few hours, so that I can zoom out and look at what’s really happening. If you’re a fan of Andy Stanley’s writings, he talks about this principle in 7 Practices For Effective Ministry. It’s called, “Work On It, Not Just In It.”

Maybe it’s because, when I clean out a closet, I pull every single thing out, and then put it back where it needs to be, slowly throwing stuff away as I go.

Maybe it’s because I just don’t process things as quickly and efficiently as the rest. But there has to be a moment in your year, in which you sit back, evaluate the current system and its effectiveness. Sometimes, that’s scary, but it’s absolutely vital to the direction of your ministry and to the accomplishment of your goals.

Here’s what it helps me to do, though:
– Cut out the excess fat of the student ministry.
– Re-evaluate (outdated and obsolete) organizational assumptions that once governed our systems.
– Re-acquaint myself with the vision of the student ministry.
– Dream of more relevant and effective methods of accomplishing our vision.
– Set new goals.

I’ve found that if I never pause to re-evaluate, I’ll drift from the vision God has given us. If you want to keep a laser focus, tear it down and start over!

p.s. You HAVE to schedule time to do this, because you will never have time to!

The Problem With College Football Commentators

Every Saturday, I see the same tweets from hundreds of people:

– “Well, you can tell who the commentators are rooting for!”
– “Did the other team pay the commentators to say that?”
– “I bet the commentators are wearing the other team’s jersey!”

I understand that you have a vested interest in your team. When someone says something bad about your team, it’s like someone says something bad about your kid. You want to put up a fight.

But let’s be honest: Sometimes, your team plays like crap and you need to own up to it! At some point, you need to stop blaming the refs, commentators and the whole BCS system (even though it’s hard to call it a system).

If your team is going to be standout, then your coaching staff, offense, defense, playbook, and resolve has to be excellent.

Here’s the principle at work here:

If you want the “commentators” to praise “your team,” then your team needs to perform excellently!

I don’t care who you are:
If your team is undefeated, people notice.
If you are loaded with all-stars, people notice.
If you play well every time, people notice.

People don’t notice when:
…you play OK and get OK results..
…you have as many off days as on days.
…you give it your best and you don’t rank. (This isn’t kindergarten! You don’t get a gold star for effort!)

Hopefully, you’ve caught the transferable principle here. Only standout teams get noticed. Only teams that practice hard, perform well, and get results get noticed.

So which side is your team on? Don’t you dare get mad if the commentators are telling the truth.

Work hard.
Change the perspective.
Earn the right to be called number one.

Leading The Church Vs. Doing Church Things

A couple gut check questions for your Monday morning:

1. Do you want to “lead a church” or do the work of the ministry?

2. Are you obedient to the Holy Spirit or are you running a show, starring you?

If you do the things the church does, with the Holy Spirit inside of you, that’s church! Conversely, if you merely “lead a church,” but don’t do things the church does, what are you doing?

What’s the motivation? What’s the purpose? At the end of the day, what are you doing? It’s all in how you view people. Are they your machine? Or is your purpose truly serving people?

Brad Cooper, Student Pastor at Newspring Church said something a few years ago that has never left me:

“This is polluted Christianity. It is not OK, and it is never right, and our aim is not to make much of me making much of Jesus. That’s not Christianity. That’s called pride. The aim is to make His Name famous, and my name less.”

What You Do Vs. Who You Are

In most conversations, the first thing you start with is identification:

“What’s your name? What do you do?”

Be careful not to confuse the two. Your identity is not found in what you do! To get a glimpse of this concept in the Bible, let’s look to Peter.

First, Jesus met Peter at the sea to call him to be a disciple. As soon as Jesus performs the miracle, Peter falls to his knees in humility. Why did Jesus call Peter? Obviously, because He wanted to. But I think it had something to do with the fact that Peter, at the end of the day, was a humble man who would follow His Master.

Pretty positive, right?
Wait for it.
It’s all uphill from here.

Next, there’s the moment where Peter is invited to walk on water. He gets distracted when he sees the wind and the waves and begins to sink. Immediately, he cries out to Jesus to save him; and immediately Jesus reaches out, grabs him, and rebukes Peter for his lack of faith. Tough moment.

What about the time that Peter rebuked Jesus, right after Jesus gave the whole “You are Peter and on this rock” speech”?! Yep. Jesus responds, “Get behind me, Satan.” Not a good day.

Oh, and then there’s the “denying Jesus” bit.

Here’s the interesting point: Immediately after Jesus rises from the dead, He doesn’t head to the media to talk about His miracle. He doesn’t sign a book deal or try to grab a reality TV show. He makes a beeline for Peter. Why? Because Jesus was deeply invested in who Peter was becoming. If it were any one of us, we would have given up on Peter at the beginning.

And that’s the beautiful thing: Jesus should have given up on us long ago. But He didn’t. He is deeply invested in who we are becoming. What you do does not equal who you are!

If you pay attention to what Jesus wanted from His disciples, He was far more concerned with who they were becoming,
NOT what they were doing.

Let us not place our identity in the what. It has to be the who.

I Have 6-Pack Abs (And 9 Other Lies We Tell Ourselves)

1. I don’t make mistakes. Right. Becauseyou’re perfect. No one else is, but you are. Let’s stop kidding ourselves.

2. Everyone thinks I’m a big deal. Sure, we might deify Christian celebrities. We make them rock stars. That doesn’t mean it’s right. And it doesn’t mean that you should live as if you’re God’s gift to the church.

“Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.” (Romans 12:3)

3. My work doesn’t need improvement. Everyone’s work needs improvement. We never arrive. If you have arrived, you are further away from doing what God wants than you think.

4. I don’t need more discipline. Systems are great. Discipline to make those systems happen are great. But when you fail to discipline yourself, things fall apart. You can always amp up your discipline to the next level. Never stop pushing for that!

5. I don’t need a coach. Because you’ve got it all handled, right? I’ve listened to countless spirit-filled, successful pastors and one of the consistent things throughout all of them is that they all need a coach. Even in the midst of success! In fact, I would submit that you need a coach more after you’ve hit success! Who are you allowing to mentor you?

6. I don’t need to step up my game. I once thought this. When I was invited to lead the student ministry I currently lead, everything was great from the outside looking in. And I knew I had what it took to lead it. I came in with the mindset of management. “I’ll just manage the current process and it will grow.” I couldn’t have been more wrong. Stepping up your game means adapting, driving change, going the extra mile, stepping out of your comfort zone, working with new people, getting out of the box, etc. All of us need to continually step up our game.

7. Everything in my organization is good. Nothing needs improvement. I can just manage what exists. I just decided this one needs it’s own point. If you’ve hit a point in your leadership, in which you believe your best move is to manage what currently exists, the clock is ticking down to the eventual downfall of your ministry.

8. Everyone is on my team. This is a lie I’ve told myself to help me sleep at night. It’s just never going to be true. There will always be a Judas. There will always be someone who would not only prefer things were different; they would prefer that you weren’t in leadership! And you know what, that’s OK. That will always exist. The sooner you embrace it, the sooner you can move past it and start making educated decisions for your team (that are NEVER based on your approval rating, but the overall success of your team). There’s a good chance that the decisions that get criticized the most are the ones that aren’t

9. If I were in charge, everything would be better. Wherever you are on the org chart, you’ve thought this at one point. The truth is this: no one is perfect. Everyone will make mistakes, and everyone’s leadership style comes with a set of problems. Your style of leadership may solve one set of problems, but it introduces a new set of problems. So you have to be very careful about how you define “better.” Because you may be dead wrong. And when you stake a church or organization on your definition of “better,” other people are affected. Be very careful about that lie. Humility is key. You will always win with humility.

Be Graceful As You Go

A friend recently told me a story about a former student who came back to him to apologize for how he had acted while he was in the youth ministry.

I’m actually a living, breathing example of that story. I terrorized my youth pastor by toilet-papering his house the night before we’d leave for camp every year. It might help you to understand the level of this crime if you know that we would leave for camp around 4 or 5 am every year.

I deserve Hell for doing that to him!

He would wake up at 3 am, with all kinds of stuff to think about. One of the biggest events of the year was about to kick off. And I thought it would be funny that he woke up to that. I’ve since asked for his forgiveness.

More recently, I’ve heard a lot of stories of students turning their back on their student ministries to go to other local student ministries that offer the “bigger and better.”

Specifically, one youth pastor told me about a student who left because he “wasn’t getting anything out of the sermons.” The youth pastor was shaking his head as he recounted how he gave that student several opportunities to jump into leadership. But instead of getting in the game, the student would disengage, sleep in on Sundays, and complain that it wasn’t good enough.

The sad truth is that we would rather complain about the status quo than do something to change it.

And it makes sense that we would experience that. The nature of our job is to serve those who “aren’t there yet” (and they won’t ever be there). No one is naturally a producer. We’re all born consumers. It takes intentionality to be a producer. To be compassionate. To be considerate. To serve.

All of us will have a different perspective ten years down the road. If you think you won’t, you’re ignorant. You don’t know everything there is to know right now.

Knowing that we might have a different perspective down the road, we should take caution to be graceful as we go. There’s nothing wrong with apologizing for what you’ve done wrong in the past, but you have no idea how impactful your words/actions are NOW.

One day, you’re going to apologize for what you’ve done wrong. But one day is not today for the person who’s been wronged. Today is here. Be graceful as you go.

A Roadblock Might Be Exactly What We Need

Every year, in the fall, our student ministry sponsors a community-wide clean-up day for the elderly. We rake leaves, clean gutters, trim hedges, cut down trees, and whatever else they need done.

This year, we realized there just wasn’t a good day to plan something like that for everyone. We usually try to plan around big home games, band trips, holidays, etc., but this time, we just couldn’t make it happen.

We hit a roadblock.

I was super uneasy, because this is something that helps to show our students what we’re really all about – serving others. Furthermore, I really don’t want to cancel such an important event, because we didn’t want it to conflict with other things that don’t matter in the long run (Yep. I’m talking about football. Get over it.).

As our team was talking it through, someone proposed that each of our small groups could adopt a home and watch over them throughout the entire fall. The pro’s were obvious: scheduling is easier with a smaller group of people, continual focus throughout the season, and building community within your small group. The only con was that it didn’t carry the energy of the big community event day.

But who really cares? Are we really doing this for our momentum? Or for other peoples’ good?

So, maybe a roadblock is exactly what we need. It causes you to re-consider your motives, re-think your priorities, and re-engage your team.

Not to mention, a huge benefit of busting through a roadblock is that it demands that you bump up against your organizational assumptions. You know, the things that you believe to be true about your people and about your church. For instance, my assumption was that we needed to do our community event as a big group. I don’t know why that assumption existed or how it got there, but that doesn’t matter. It was there and I hadn’t questioned it until now.

What are the assumptions that are foundational to your systems? I guarantee, if you dig deep enough, you’ll find something that is outdated and obsolete.

Don’t be afraid of the roadblocks. Push through the obstacles. That’s leadership!

When Paul Prays

A friend of mine (short plug: my friend, Sean Michel, who was on American Idol, makes some pretty rockin’ music with his band. Go check them out!) stopped by my office one day a few weeks ago to talk an idea he had for our student ministry. He said that he was really encouraged by our student ministry because he thought of our us as sending “little Apostle Paul’s” out.

Pause for a moment to reflect on that. I mean, c’mon. Apostle Paul’s? Love it!

He knows that I meet with our leadership team once a week to encourage, provide accountability, and to talk over the next week’s lesson. He said that he thought it would be cool to go over Paul’s prayers in his epistles.

I jumped on it and our students did, too. What’s cool is that our students started discovering some truths in Scripture that they hadn’t found in the past.

Not to mention, they were able to see Paul’s heart for his people. I would say he’s a pretty good example to follow.

As we studied through Ephesians, Philippians and Colossians, one thing kept popping out to me over and over again; in Ephesians, specifically.

“…that God may give you a spirit of wisdom…”

“…that God may give you a spirit of revelation in the knowledgeof Him” (literally that God would reveal Himself to you).

“…that the eyes of your hearts may be enlightened…”

“…that you may know the hope to which He has called you.”

Is it obvious to anyone else that Paul wanted the Ephesian church to know God more? And when it all boils down, if we simply focus on getting to know God, all else (outreach, discipleship, worship, justice, kindness, grace, etc.)

A couple take-aways:

1. In your own spiritual life, what are you shooting for? Is it to know God?

2. In your prayers for your people, what are you asking God for?

Milk Duds

This is a video that we used for one of our cell group lessons a couple weeks back. The guy talking is Patrick Martin. He was one of our volunteers for a couple years until he was offered a promotion in another state. He had a pretty big impact with a lot of our students, so we decided to bring him back in video form.

This video landed pretty hard with a lot of our students, as it related to the things we’re all chasing that aren’t God. I don’t know if you could use this in your youth ministry, but if you’d like a copy, I’d love to send you a download.

Testimonies will always work with teenagers. When your students hear the stories of others who have been through a struggle, there’s a good chance they’ll identify with their past mistakes and open up to Jesus.

The Key To Following Jesus

I’ve always read the Gospels, in a way that led me to believe that guys like Peter just followed Jesus, without any emotion.  I guess I missed a pretty crucial element, until yesterday.  I was reading in Luke yesterday morning and I ran across something I haven’t seen yet (don’t you love when that happens?).

If you read Luke 5, you’ll see a familiar story about Peter and his friends coming in after a long night’s worth of fishing, and to no avail.  Jesus walks on the scene, and starts giving instructions.  I want to pause here for a commentary.  These guys must have thought Jesus was the most annoying dude in the world!  Have you ever been hard at work on something that you’ve been doing all your life, only to have a stranger (or anyone else) walk up to you to ‘fill you in’ on how the system works?  I’m not sure what I would’ve done in Peter’s situation, but it probably wouldn’t have been worth repeating.

However, what’s most interesting about this story isn’t the fisherman’s failure or even Jesus’ introduction to the scene.  It’s all about Peter’s reaction to Jesus.

“Master, we worked hard all night acaught nothing, but I will do as You say and let down the nets.”

Peter refers to Jesus as “Master.”  Interesting.  The story goes on to show that Jesus’ plan worked, and they couldn’t even handle the fish they brought in.  Again, it’s not this miraculous occasion that I want to draw attention to.

“But when Simon Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus’ feet, saying, ‘Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!’

Not only did Peter bow down at that very moment, but he actually asked Jesus to leave him, because he was a sinful and broken man.  I don’t know if I’m not hanging out with the right kind of people, or if I just don’t get out all that much, but you don’t see this kind of humility today! I understand, Jesus isn’t walking around today, doing miracles before our very eyes, but what happened to our amazement in Him?

Jesus responds.

“Do not fear, from now on you will be catching men.”

I usually like to draw some conclusions about text to wrap it all up.  I want to let you do that today.  What is your response to Jesus today?  Is Jesus asking you to follow Him?  What is your response?

It’s time to get on our knees before Him!