10ST - Committees

10ST is an ongoing series digging into Geoff Surratt's Ten Stupid Things that Keep Churches from Growing and how those stupid things keep youth ministries from growing as well.

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Ok, so technically, committees themselves aren't the stupid thing as this title may suggest, but "letting committees steer the ship" is. Surratt suggests that letting committees lead decisions ineffectively slows the decision making process so much that it qualifies for stupid thing status. I'd have to agree. Vision (which is critical to leading well) comes from God, not from a committee. Instead of having committees to determine direction, we need God to tell us where He's leading... then we need courageous people to step out and follow, and we need effectively led and resourced teams to implement action.

At least in the circles I've grown up in, this stupid thing may be one of the most common. Our churches strongly (and sometimes even to our own detriment) maintain the independence of each congregation and choose our own leaders. Our system of choosing leaders can (but doesn't always) lead to a multitude of committees and meetings and agenda items. Without a compelling vision from God, these committees often degenerate into meetings with little sense of the need to actually accomplishing something. We came. We met. See you again next month/week/year...

Surratt offers a four pronged approach to leading well in a team environment that will benefit about every youth minister & pastor I know. (Remember, the committees aren't really the problem; it's when the committees lead rather than implement.)

1. Get a vision. Be alone with God enough that you know what He wants. If you don't have a clear and compelling picture of what God is calling you to do, it will be nearly impossible to see the team/committee you're leading flourish and grow.
2. Share the dream. Once the vision is clear, begin to share it with key leaders in your ministry.
3. Define the mission. As the team understands and buys into the vision, you need to be defining the specific roles and pieces and how those play into that vision. It's awesome when a team is able to put people into service in areas where they are genuinely gifted and passionate about serving to reach the mission.
4. Empower the missionaries. Keep the vision fresh, keep the team on mission, keep the path clear, and give the team what it needs to accomplish the mission.

Momentum Starts When You Take Action

I came across this video by Geoff Schultz that was made for Elevation Church. The graphics are fun, but the message has been recurring for me lately - take action... do something... move... go... take the next step... put ideas into motion...

I get it.

I lost momentum. Over the past year or so, I've gained some new momentum back, but there is much that still feels stalled. Pray I make the right steps next, that I incarnate the right ideas.


Momentum from Geoff Schultz on Vimeo.

Planning Ahead

"Meeting with our creative team today to lay out all the sermons thru early 2013."

Is this a quote from the future?
A text from some preacher with way too much time on his hands?

No. It's actually a tweet from @PastorMark (Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church in Seattle). In addition to leading a young family and teaching at this multi-campus church, he is heavily involved in Acts 29 Network church planting, Churches Helping Churches, and Resurgence. He also does an incredible amount of writing and leadership training with church leaders all over the map. I'm not listing that stuff to put him on a pedestal or anything, but to point to the fact that here's a guy who has a busy schedule. Growing kids, growing church, thriving ministry... and yet, he's prioritized time to plot a course for the next 2 years of his preaching.

I know a lot of preachers, teachers, and youth ministers who don't even know what they're teaching next week, let alone the next 100 weeks' worth of messages. How many Sunday school teachers will pick up their curriculum magazine this Saturday night and wonder why more people don't come to class Sunday morning? We think we can fly by the seat of our pants and call it being led by the Spirit or being responsive to circumstances.  But we know the reality, I think, is that we just haven't used our time for planning. Why?

Tackling a Big Project

I'm hoping to embark on a pretty big project in our student ministry soon. Actually, it's an idea that's been broached before, but failed to launch for some reason. I've been reading through Exodus lately and found a great picture yesterday in the 35th chapter of how God's people once tackled a big project:

The Hebrews had escaped Egypt and were entering into a covenant with their Deliverer. Free from slavery, but not quite into the Promised Land... Part of that covenant was the construction of the tabernacle, a meeting place for God and His people. This was a huge undertaking for a displaced tribe of wanderers, but they did it. I think there are some notable factors to their success in building the tabernacle that we can learn from in the church today.

- They had a clear picture of what was to be done. In Ex. 35:4 "Moses said... 'This is what the Lord commanded.'" Moses had been given clear instruction and was able to articulate God's vision to God's people.

- They were invited to contribute to the work. "If their hearts were stirred and they desired to do so, they brought to the Lord their offerings..." Their gifts weren't coerced or given out of guilt - they were moved by God to give! "Everyone who wanted to help in the work the Lord had given them..." brought the materials needed for the construction of the tabernacle.

- They entrusted their offerings to those best gifted to make use of them. God had chosen Bezalel and Oholiab and filled them with His Spirit and the ability "to create beautiful objects..." and also to teach their skills to others. These guys were gifted by God to lead in this project, so Moses gave them the materials that the people provided. Then he let them do their work.

- They gave "more than enough to complete the whole project." God had provided all the resources needed to accomplish the work He wanted to do - and when the people set their hearts to do what He wanted, they gave so much that there was extra.
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I wonder who really wants to help in the work God has given us today?
Do we have a compelling picture of what that work really is?

We have a huge job to do. God has not called us to merely get together and sing our favorite songs once or twice a week. He has called us to awaken the world to the reality of His love for them. He has called us to bring hope where there is no hope, to bring life where there is only death. He has given us everything we need to accomplish the work, and He is stirring in the hearts of His people right now - moving them to action, inspiring them to give themselves to His work to redeem humanity.

Spend some time with God today and find out what you can give...

Message Delivered: "Believe a Better Story"

This isn't a transcript, but this is the message from yesterday. I'll try to post some audio if anyone would like it, but for those who can't stand the sound of my voice... read this in whatever voice you'd prefer.
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I was struck last week by the number of runners in the half-marathon who, most people would assume would not be running. There was one finisher who was 73 years old - and she finished about a half an hour before I did! Not that I'm the swiftest distance runner out there, but she's 73! I think the biggest thing that keeps people from running a long distance is that they believe a story in which they can't run a long distance. As Donald Miller suggests, we become the character in the story we believe about ourselves.

We believe a lot of bad stories. Unloved and unwanted... Too fat, too short... Not smart enough, not fast enough, not talented enough... Too old, too young... We need to believe a better story. I don't mean some kind of self-help, believe and achieve type of thing: I mean that we need to believe God's story and overcome every obstacle in the way of living His story.

I had a student who walked into our youth ministry one night and sat down in the back row, bringing in a 'cloud' that changed the atmosphere of the whole room. I had no idea who she was or why she'd come - she didn't really seem connected with any of the other students, and every time I tried to get to talk with her she was out the door by the time I got to the back of the room. As it turned out, she was believing a story that started with an abusive father leaving the family. In her story, she was rejected, unloved, and worthless. One of my greatest joys in youth ministry was watching God reveal a better story to this girl - His girl. In God's story, she found out, she is invaluable!

Some bad stories we sometimes believe:
"I don't have what it takes."
"No one cares, but if I sleep with him, he will."
"I'm too old, I can't relate to those young people anymore."
"I'm retired - I already did my work"

If you find yourself buying into these stories, you need to believe a better story. Simon was a guy who was invited into a better story. Early in the gospel of Matthew, Simon was just a fisherman. Passed up by the Rabbis, Simon took on the family trade and spent his days throwing nets into the sea and smelling like fish... until the son of a carpenter invited him into a better story. Simon took Jesus' invitation and lived a better story. He saw the miracles of Jesus, the healings, heard the teaching first-hand, and saw the love in Jesus' eyes up close. He even walked on water! Peter lived a better story.

In Mt. 16, the story got even better. "Who do you say I am?" "You are the Messiah, the son of the living God." In this moment, Jesus opens a new chapter in His story for Simon. He gave Simon a new name, and invited him into the story of His unstoppable church. The church that even the gates of hell would not overcome. We, the church today, need to believe a better story. Just like individuals, sometimes churches settle for less:

"We're just a small family in a small town... can't expect too much from that."
"We have to keep youth ministry separate from adults and leave it to 'the experts'"
"The Pastor's in charge."
"We're big enough."
"Other churches in town are our competition."
"We've been hurt too badly to fully recover."
"Our best days are in the past."

Back in the late 80's and early 90's, there was a church that believed a better story. All they wanted was to reach people for Christ and no obstacle was too big to tackle. They weren't afraid to try things that other churches wouldn't try for fear of abandoning convention. The result of this was that the people of the church were excited about sharing Jesus with other people. They loved to bring their friends and neighbors... even the kids loved being a part of what was going on in this church. It was an exciting time. But as more friends came, and more neighbors came, another obstacle came up - a big one. It was an obstacle that had stopped many churches in their tracks: the building was hindering ministry to the community.

The church had pulled together to show Jesus to the community, and it was working. They'd stretched resources and rearranged service schedules to accommodate more people, but the facilities were simply maxed out. So in 1994, the church removed that obstacle with the purchase and renovation of an old lumber yard and a relocation. They continued to grow, and in 2004 a new auditorium was built that would facilitate their continued efforts to reach the community.

That room is the room in which we meet every week. That church was the Church at Bryant, which was given the name WestWay when they relocated. That's our story. But I'm afraid we've lost a little of the clarity to the story. Our vision can get a little fuzzy due to a creeping internal focus that leaves us dissatisfied when things don't go our way. People have left the church for unshared reasons, and some of those reasons remain unshared because they don't feel like anyone's listening anyway. We need to believe a better story. Don't believe that your leaders don't care. Don't believe that none of us are listening. Don't believe that this church belongs to anyone other than Jesus Christ.

In the book of Acts, we find the early Christians believing a better story. The Spirit of God was on a mission to establish the church, and despite all odds and obstacles, the church thrived. Through the last several chapters of Acts, we see a man joining that same mission. Paul was not going to be stopped. He had bought into the story of Jesus with every fiber of his being and was going to deliver the message of God's Kingdom in every place in which he could step foot! He was accosted, arrested, imprisoned... Paul was challenged and beaten and left for dead... Snake-bit, shipwrecked and shackled... and yet, he proclaimed God's Kingdom still.

The final words of the book of Acts tell us that Paul was telling everyone of the Kingdom "with all boldness and without hindrance." No obstacle would hinder him from living a better story.
That is the unstoppable mission in which we have a place.
That is the Kingdom we proclaim.
That is the story we need to believe.

God is not finished with His church. Though obstacles have arisen - and many more will...
Be a people who believe a better story: His story about His unstoppable church.

A Bandwagon Worth Riding?

I've always hated bandwagons. "America's Team" has never been my thing (sorry, Dallas). I grew up sitting on my grandma's lap while she cussed out a young John Elway on the TV and have liked the Broncos as long as I can remember. I will never be sporting the most purchased jersey of any sport, and when the masses start telling me how great something is, I become predisposed to not like it (sorry, Avatar). Something I learned well at Jr. High dances was "don't believe the hype". Maybe it's a character flaw, I don't know... but when something becomes so popular that it's everywhere I turn, I just want to go out to the hills and hit rocks with sticks (sorry, rocks). I guess I'm just not a fan of being a fan...

That is especially true when it comes to people. Now... I AM a fan of people in general, just not a fan of joining the various cults of personality that seem to crop up around everyone with a little charisma. This invariably leads to great loss and consternation when the idol topples (they always do). So, at the risk of sounding like a fan-boy, I thought I'd share a list of some speakers that I've really been challenged by lately. I listen and read these guys a lot and really appreciate different aspects of their teaching & personalities:

Erwin McManus - watch/listen, Search Amazon.com for Erwin McManus
Mark Batterson - watch/listen, blog, Search Amazon.com for Mark Batterson
Francis Chan -watch/listen, Search Amazon.com for Francis Chan
Perry Noble - watch/listen, blog
Mark Driscoll - watch/listen, Search Amazon.com for Mark Driscoll
Andy Stanley - watch/listen, Search Amazon.com for Andy Stanley

God has been teaching me a ton through these servants. Check them out, maybe we can learn something together. Who else is God using to grow you?

Thinking about Joel...

"Pass the awful story down from generation to generation."

The last bit of the Jewish nation was facing devastation as God spoke to them through Joel. Everything they knew of their way of life was being stripped away as they inched ever nearer to a destruction they were powerless to stop - a destruction justly brought by God Himself. It may have been a punishment deserved, but God was not eager for the judgment. Over and over again throughout the Old Testament writings, we find Him patiently reminding His people of all He'd done; every trial through which He'd led, and every danger from which He'd rescued.

And so, again, God opens a door of escape. "Turn to me now, while there is time! Give me your hearts. Come with fasting, weeping, and mourning. Don't tear your clothing in your grief; instead, tear your hearts." It wasn't just an outward change that God was asking for, He desired the very heart of His people.

He still does.

"I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams. Your young men will see visions. In those days, I will pour out my Spirit even on servants, men and women alike." What a turnaround! In response to genuine contrition, not only does God offer back all that they have lost, He also promises His own Spirit. Once again, an "awful story" redeemed by gracious and merciful God.

May His grace and mercy continue to break through calloused hearts as they are given fully to Him. May His Spirit continue to inspire His people to dream dreams that only He can bring to fulfillment. And May we lean completely on His presence for every breath we breathe.

First Post of the Year...

For the first post of 2010, I looked back at what have been my first posts for the past few years.

2009... Part 4 of a series I called "Imagine"  I dealt with some obstacles to doing ministry out of imagination instead of memory (an important thought from Mark Batterson). This particular post had to do with using "past success as a vehicle that will launch us into tomorrow instead of a bed upon which to rest or a wall to prop us up." I really liked this post... wish I was doing a better job of living it out! But to be honest, I just wrote an article the other day about resting on past successes. Maybe this year, I'll listen to myself more intently. Maybe other people will listen too. Let's stop repeating the past and create the future!

2008... Who Belongs Here? In this post, I reflected on some thoughts I'd had as a visitor to a church and wondered what a guest experience at our church looks like. As I think about it, the system is still the same here as it was then. The positives are still in place and the deficiencies are still there, too. We can do better.

2007... DIA Din On the way to class at Hope (was that really 3 whole years ago?!), waiting in a very busy airport, I issued this call to truly live - to do more than "suck and blow air... do more than create some noise as we scurry about." I'm stilling playing this drum. Life is not a series of mundane breaths and busy activities - it is an adventure in bringing praise to our Creator!

2006... Insight from a 3 year old Dakota We were sitting in a Christmas Eve service and Dakota leaned over in the stillness, with wonder and concern in his eyes. I could tell he was a little worried about what he was going to do. The problem? In his own whispered words, "Dad, I'm running out of quiet." May we be so filled with the presence of God that we cannot possibly keep quiet!

2005... Hope for a new venture My first blog post of 2005 didn't come until April 7th. That's because that was the day I decided to start blogging. The theme was hope (not the Obama kind). What if we lived our lives with such hope that all fear was driven out of our lives? I still ask myself this question. There are times when discouragement threatens to wreck everything I've been learning in my 10 years of ministry. I need hope to keep going.
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It's interesting to look back at these snapshots of where God's been leading me (and maybe where I've redirected off course from time to time). It's a strange thing to think of collecting thoughts and throwing them out there for people to digest. I hope someone's been able to gain as much from reading my blog as I've gained from writing it. We have so far to go in our quest to know God. May we glean from each other as much as possible as we travel together...

Impossible is Nothing

"We're too young to know certain things are impossible, so we will do them anyway." (the William Pitt character in the movie Amazing Grace)

What a disservice we do to the world when we rob youth of their dreams and teach them what can't be done. What if instead, we showed them "Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine..." and helped them learn to fully love and follow His lead?

Wind & WaterMarks

This is my entry for our church's newsletter sweepstakes, so when you get yours in the mail, just pretend you didn't read it here already...

I've had a number of discussions lately about just what exactly we're working to develop in our student ministry. What is Wind & Water Student Ministries all about? The short answer is discipleship. We are all about revealing the one true God to students and being disciples of His Son - but let me flesh that out a little bit.

We don’t just want students to show up. The world has more than enough pew-sitters content to be spoon fed once a week, pay their dues when it’s convenient, and sit back and wait for Jesus to return. I don’t need to train our students to do that. I don’t need to teach them to think only about themselves and what will make them the most comfortable with their church experience, never thinking about what kind of experience may reveal God to His missing people.

We ask more of our students. I’ve been thinking a lot and praying that 5 markers would identify our students. I pray that every one of our students would come to exhibit these characteristics:

- a permanent attitude of worship

- a global view of God’s Church

- a passion for revealing God to people who don’t see Him

- a commitment to local service as the church

- a hunger for depth in their relationship with God

The Nines Stew - Pt. 2

This is a continuation of reflections on my notes from The Nines. I heard this week, that the videos will be released next week: check out The Show on Tuesday for the details.

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One of the comments that I've really been thinking about was from Rick Rusaw. He asked the question "How can we be the best church FOR our community?" It's easy for churches to begin to focus on being "the best church in town" - what can we do/offer that no one else is doing? How can we set ourselves apart from the crowd of churches? But this is the wrong approach that only feeds people's consumerist nature. This question shifts the focus to being there FOR the community and re-engaging our community - not competing with other churches for people's attention. Brings to mind something about being "salt and light"...

Bil Cornelius talked about the power of mentoring. As a youth minister, I've been privileged to serve as a mentor for some awesome students. I just got off the phone with one of my students who's heading out next year to do missions work in Spain/Morocco and yesterday talked with one who is a youth minister in IA. It's so exciting to continue to pray for these guys and watch what God is doing in their lives. One of the things I love the most about youth ministry is being able to see students that I've invested in pour themselves into kingdom ventures like this! But as much as I've given in mentoring, I also need to be mentored. If you're a leader, don't ever think that you're beyond the influence of others. You are setting yourself up to languish in the status quo if you think you don't need coaching anymore. And you will take the people you lead down with you. Seek mentorship in relationship with other leaders, conferences, books "from those who've done what you want to do", coaching networks, etc.

I appreciated Pete Wilson's suggestion that "the greatest crisis in the church is lack of transformation". We are not just saved from something; we are saved to something. We are rescued from death in order to bring life to humanity.

Jon Tyson offered a great reminder that "the power for our leadership doesn't come from methods/techniques/strategies... it comes from God." I have a problem with writing in books. Even highlighting was a problem for me in college. (I know, I have issues... my therapist says it's getting better though!) One of the very first things I ever underlined or wrote in a Bible was at the National Youth Leaders Convention in 2004 in 2 Cor. 3 "Such confidence as this is ours through Christ before God. Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant - not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life." Tyson's 9 minutes was a great reminder of this life changing approach to leadership.

I love it when Sr. leader type guys champion next generation ministries. Youth ministers like me can talk all day long about the importance of stretching ourselves to reach the next generation, but we're often blown off because we're seen more as big brothers for church kids than as pastors who've spent years of our lives studying and training to be missionaries to young people. But when guys like Reggie Joiner talk about the importance of ministry to children and students, it sits differently with other leaders. He talked about how Nehemiah had a vision for the next generation and their perspective of God - and how today's young generation needs to see God in a new way. When Nehemiah rallied the people, it was to fight for their sons and daughters - outsiders began to see God differently, insiders began to pay attention to God, and His work was celebrated. Hey church... fight for your sons and daughters!

Mark Batterson shared one of his recurring themes: "I'd rather have 1 God idea than 1000 good ideas." I'm an ideas guy - I love ideas and am always wondering "what if..." Some of my ideas are pretty stupid (like riding my bike straight into a downed log or shooting the lock off a gate with a BB gun from about 6 inches away) and some are actually good. But "you can only get a God idea... from God." If I'm not spending enough time with Him, my ideas will always fall short of His.

Sam Chand offered some interesting thoughts regarding leadership pain. "You won't grow beyond your capacity to endure the pain of leading - and the only way to grow your pain threshold is... more pain." Leaders get hurt. Satan wants to take us down and unfortunately, some the of the people who follow are more that willing to let him use them to take potshots at us. But how we respond to the pain has a lot to do with whether our leadership will grow or stagnate. Stagnant leadership will cripple the growth of any ministry.

Dan Kimball stressed the urgency of God's mission. Eternity is at stake for the people we know and love - and that is something we should be desperate about. "Tradition should never get in the way of mission. If it does - it is sin." The problem is traditions are comfortable - it is soothing to know what to expect. So we settle into patterns and become numb to the need for God that abounds. But I don't think Jesus died to build us into a nice theological recliner where we can all sit back and think about God in predictable ways and annual cycles. He died to build us into a work force for His Father's mission - may we come to see the local church as a missionary training center.

There was so much else to think about... but I'll spare you. Check out The Show next Tuesday for details on how to get the videos (I know I will) and watch them for yourself.

One last thought that came from Brian McClaren's 9: "The gospel is not an evacuation plan - it is a transformation plan."

Faking a Living?

Is God at work in your life?

Do you really depend on God?

Are you living the life God knows you can live?

These are questions we may not wrestle with enough. We've settled into lesser lives, in which we are sufficient and we don't really need God. Think about the last six hours... What have you done that required you to depend on God? What are you working on that is doomed to fail without Him? Have you settled for a mundane 5 day work week that you must slog through until the next weekend comes around?

I know in a climate of uncertainty, the most plentiful advice may be to take any job that comes along and hold on tight. There may be times when that is true, but if the overall trajectory of your life is merely a 5 on, 2 off pattern of faking a living, I wonder if you're really living at all... If you can make it day after day after day without the Creator - you've missed the life He created you to live.

But this isn't really about jobs. There are times when I can approach my job in ministry in the same way that masses of humanity approach theirs - punch the time clock, meet my quota of widgets, and collect the check. Though I don't actually have a time clock, the widgets are NEVER done, and I'm told the check leaves something to be desired (though it's been 10 years and I haven't missed a meal yet). The job isn't the issue.

It's about living life that is really life. God created us for life with Him, Jesus died so we could live life with Him, the Holy Spirit is here so we can live with Him - so wouldn't it make sense if we actually lived WITH HIM? In the little world where I pretend I'm in control, God's not needed. The problem is that world is not real, it's boring, and when I stuff myself away in my little safe room I am doing nothing good for anybody else. Life isn't supposed to be boring. It's not supposed to be well managed and balanced. The day to day business of living isn't supposed to suck the very life from your soul. Life should be a mission straight into the heart of God - a rescue mission where former captives become rescuers.

Father forgive our dim vision and reveal to us a task with such enormity that it drives us to our knees begging for your help.

I wish...

A couple weeks ago, we did an exercise with our Jr. High and High school students to get them dreaming about 'what could be' in the church.  Each person received an index card with the words "I wish WestWay..." printed across the top (beautifully printed by Missi & a blue marker I might add).  

There were no boundaries - just wishes.

I anticipated some pretty good responses (we have some pretty sharp students) sprinkled with a few less helpful thoughts (they have a sense of humor, too).  We're in the process, over the next couple weeks, of breaking these thoughts down and sifting through to determine some next steps.  Here were the responses of our teens:

I wish WestWay...

-and the community would become one

-would bring more members to the church

-would awaken from her slumber and move to change the world

-could have a heart for God and reach out to the lost instead of waiting for them to find us

-would be able to get our church to go out and speak to the ghetto because the Mexicans are cool in school and if they will be with God then everyone will

-would have some sort of a "good deed group"

-in the future would be able, under some circumstance, convert millions of poeple to God - and may God have it happen

-would grow bigger out to the community

-could travel out of town to minister to other teens in other towns

-would do more mission trips - save the whole world

-could help a person to have a healthy life and we could support that one person for 2 or 3 years

-could stay strong and get more people to fill the seats that are empty on Sunday mornings.  I also wish we could get mroe students to come Wednesdays

-would do something.  I don't think anyone has thought about the Spring Thing message.  I want people to take it to heart

-would have more opportunities to reach out by community service

-would be able to bring people to Christ

-would make more things for teenagers to do

-would get a bowling alley

-would grow more spiritually and closer together, and that we would grow more as a body and not just keep going on through life without stopping and looking at what God is doing

-would make more things for teens to do

-had a pet chimp named Joe

-had a youth ministry on Sunday, not just an adult one and you children

-would only change in a good way

-would have a time where we can connect with others, I used to feel on the outside until I started feeling comfortable in front of everyone here.

-It would be cool if we had a prayer altar where we can go pray humbly in front of Him like in one of the side rooms.  People need to listen and learn

-no hypocrites

-could be more of a free talking place, like discussing personal things

-would expand its members and we would gain more people

-would come with me to college or I could bring some of the rest of the church back when I visit

-would get more one on one with each other

-would have more youth Sundays maybe

The bold answers are the ones that groups of 4 or 5 students selected last night as priorities out of the list.  I love where this is pointing.  God is at work in our student ministry - calling students out of themselves and into Him, where He is shaping a mission oriented work force with more energy than GE could ever imagine!  There's a ton of potential energy that's about to go kinetic!

Late CatalystWest Follow Up Pt. 3

I woke up with a headache on Thursday and it kind of lingered all day. When I went to bed I wasn't very optimistic about being able to function at a very high level Friday. When I woke up, though, I felt really good and was thankfully able to pay attention all day long.

The day began with Erwin McManus. Since the first time I read An Unstoppable Force, I've really appreciated his leadership in the church and the environment he's developed at Mosaic. This time, was no exception as he dealt with ideas presented in Wide Awake - mainly the idea that the world needs us to live our most heroic life. Not just to be 'visionary' but to be 'visional' - awakening God's visions in others. He advocated being committed to helping people unbury the dreams God has planted within them that have been buried in the rubble of life.

After speaking, with some dance elements added to illustrate, Erwin's daughter came on stage and sang a song she'd written. A dream within her has been nurtured by her father and allowed to flourish. I was reminded and very convicted that my first job is my family. I need to draw God's dreams out of their lives. If I fail at that and my kids join the masses of automatons with still-buried dreams - it doesn't matter what else I accomplish. I know they will make their own choices, but they will do so knowing that God has planted His Kingdom dreams in their lives and wants to see those dreams fleshed out into reality.

Andy Stanley returned to the stage Friday morning to interview Rick Warren. As Warren began his comments with a bit of a disclaimer, you could kind of sense some in the crowd dropping their guard and seeing him and his ministry in a new light. It's easy to look at Saddleback and Rick Warren, being so big and having so much in the way of resources, that some seem to write them with assumptions about 'we could never do that here' or 'they must be compromising something'. Warren stated that what he does is because he's "addicted to changed lives" and that what he (and Saddleback) are doing is simply showing people the One who has the power to effect change that matters.

Andy Stanley revealed a great sense of humor (as did Warren) all through this interview. Sharing the stage with perhaps the most recognizable pastor on the planet, he did an awesome job of leaving space for Warren to share his heart while at the same time not just fading into the scenery. There was some really funny back and forth between the two and a great focus on discipleship - moving people from the "come and see" front door to the "come and die" call of Christ to His mission in the world.

I think that I am a "come and die" minister in a "come and see" church. The problem (and maybe it's part of God's solution for both me and WestWay) is that it's not healthy to be one or the other. If we only focus on creating a comfortable nest or exciting show for people to come and check out, without also being clear about just what Jesus expects of His people (everything), then we relegate the church to splashing around in pretty shallow waters. But if we simply issue the call to come and die outside of relational development and equipment for ministry, then we severely limit the likelihood of fruitful ministry.

After lunch, which was again free Chick-Fil-A, Craig Groeschel talked about some myths that are perpetuated in the church: things he'd been "taught and that he thought..." Here are those myths:
-We're taught that the church should be a safe place.
The church needs to be made dangerous again by faithfulness to a world changing gospel. The gospel is not a safe message. It is dangerous for those who would hold on to the value systems of the world. The church needs to be a healthy environment, but we're not just inviting people to come and be nice and get a 'better life' - we're calling them to enlist in God's redemptive mission.
-We're taught to build a church.
It is more important to build the kingdom, and we need to stop focusing on our own little empires/outposts and see the bigger picture of what God is doing to build His Kingdom. We need to partner with other congregations not compete.
-We're taught that success is all about big numbers.
Big crowd does not equal successful/effective ministry. Success is when people are finding their identity in Christ. It is what he called reaching "Line 3". Line 1 is, "I believe the gospel enough to benefit from it." Line 2 is, "I believe enough to contribute what is comfortable." Line 3 is, "I believe the gospel enough to give my life to it.

Sidenote: Craig Groeschel has some serious biceps. I think Jimmy wet himself just a little when Groeschel opened the gun show!

Francis Chan was the next speaker and there is no mistaking: Francis loves Jesus! With a passion that cannot be manufactured, Chan directed our attention to our very reason for breathing and the only one with Life to give us. Some great questions that came up as he spoke:
-Whose name comes up more often in the conversations of the church - ours or His?
-Are there more fair-weather church fans or fans of Jesus who will be where He is NO MATTER WHAT?
-Are we waiting for the Holy Spirit (and His power) or are we just doing church in our own power?
-Are we stoppable?
-Are we praying for AND known for boldness?
-If you start with Scripture, would you come up with the church in its present forms?

The final session was Perry Noble, whom Rodd, in the peanut gallery line of the week, likened to Mark Driscoll's redneck cousin. Don't know how either of them would feel about the comparison, but we thought it was pretty funny... please don't put us in a choke-hold! It's late, and this session was just plain awesome, so I will set this to post early tomorrow and I'll talk about Perry later tomorrow.

Late Catalyst West Follow Up Pt. 2

I was hoping to get these done while I was out there at the end of each day, but my roommates were just so adamant about sleep that I felt like I should turn off my computer and go to bed, so... Oh well. Seriously, we had some great discussion and I didn't want to sacrifice that in order to write stuff down here. "You can't fake presence." (one of Erwin McManus' statements) was definitely in play. So, the following are some thoughts from Thursday's sessions:

Andy Stanley opened the morning with some thoughts about leading in uncertain times. His main idea is that uncertainty is why we need leaders. If everyone in the church is certain about where we're headed and how to get there, then we don't really need leaders. It's in those times of uncertainty that God shows up and brings leaders to the surface. I wondered, as he spoke, "Why do so many in leadership positions spend so much effort trying to eliminate uncertainty?"

As I think about this more, I recognize that not all in positions of leadership are truly leading. Also, there is a ton of leadership that happens outside the constructs of our leadership structures.

"It's ok to be uncertain - but not ok to be unclear." We need to be clear about the vision for our ministries. What is it that God has called us to do? What was that first spark that started the fire of leadership in our lives? "We'll never be more than 80% certain." None of us knows how every little thing will unfold, so we need to be sure to keep track of that anchor that is the original vision and keep moving forward into uncertainty. (I'm just remembering some great thoughts from Leonard Sweet's AquaChurch about using anchors to move forward and even change direction; they're not just about keeping the ship in the same place.)

"Many churches are dead because they've long ago abandoned the vision and fallen in love with their plans." When a church loses sight of why they started a particular project in the first place, that project loses a great deal of value. We need to be flexible with our plans as we stick to the vision.

The second speaker of the day was Guy Kawasaki. Rodd and Jimmy are both Macboys, so the man-crush vibe was a little strong, but he was really fun to listen to and had a lot of great stuff to say about the art of innovation. His thoughts about putting out a version 1.0 were especially helpful to hear. Sometimes, "Don't worry - be Crappy..." should be our motto. Put some wheels on the idea, get it going, get it out there, then fine-tune and fix it. Some of his stories of the early mac-days particularly flesh this idea out. He called one of the products they were shipping when Mac was first growing out of Apple a "revolutionary piece of crap", but they made exponential progress when they tweaked on great ideas "with elements of crapiness to them".

In the next session, Jud Wilhite talked about how our distorted self image need to be replaced with God's image. We need to live out of God's view of who we are: We are loved. We are chosen. We are part of a plan. Ravi Zacharias followed Jud's reminder of who we are with some thoughts about the pillars that should define our lives: Eternity, Morality, Accountability, and Charity. Ravi is a great thinker and communicator. "You can mess around with infrastructure, but the foundation must have integrity."

The last session of the night was the Aussie session. Brian Houston of Hillsong Church spoke about the church as the house of God. This is a guy who is madly in love with the church of Jesus Christ! I think he could make people want to get up and go be the church, even if they don't know what that means yet. A haunting question he asked, though - "If they can't flourish, why would they stay planted?" If people can't grow and develop and live life that is really life in our ministries, why would they stay?

Nick Vujicic spoke after Brian and talked about believing in the greatness of God. This was one of the recurring themes that hit me during the week. "I'd be dishonoring God if I didn't live my life believing I can change the world." I have to admit, I haven't been thinking of myself in those terms lately. I used to. I used to all the time. But lately I've just been 'getting ready for Wednesday' or 'working on stuff' or 'planning stuff'... I want to go back to 'changing the world'. God is big enough!

"An excuse is a skin of reason stuffed with lies." A notable quote from Nick. How many times do we stop short of God's vision for our lives because of excuses? There may be a covering of reason (good stewardship, not offending people, can't afford to lose members, avoid the controversy...on and on) but within the reason, is the lie: "it's not worth it." Hey, if you're not changing the world I guess it's not worth it, but if the struggle is into God's vision, it's worth giving everything. Nick is definitely not buying the lie and is changing the world - without arms and legs. He was born without them.

We need to stop making excuses.
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Sorry this is a bit long, and the shotgun method may not be the best, but I wanted to get some of this on here while it's still fresh. Oh, the free Chick-Fil-A was awesome at lunch and Claim Jumper for dinner was a great choice by Rodd!

Origins Labs

Today was the Origins Labs day - kind of pre-conference workshops ahead of Catalyst tomorrow and Friday. It was a good and challenging day, begun by a great time with Erwin McManus in the openning session. It was awesome.

Starting with Acts 17 (when Paul was in Athens), he talked about how there is a first space, which we create for ourselves - a place where we're comfortable. The second space, as I understand it, is sort of a common space, where we work together and live together with others. The third space is a space into which we will only be invited into by others based on our authenticity and ability to engage in meaningful conversation. People really are willing to enter in to spiritual conversation - but if Jesus isn't the overwhelming reality of our lives, why would they want to talk to us about him?

Some questions I jotted down as he spoke:
-Are we pretending to touch Athens, while merely living in the synagogue? Are we creating 1st Spaces that are exclusive to those who are like us?
-Are we teaching people to engage in conversation, or are we just talking to each other about nothing?
-Is Jesus the overwhelming reality of my life?
-Are we afraid of the second place so much that we've created first spaces to protect ourselves?

McManus had a great comment when talking about the question of how to get the church to engage culture? "What did you do to disengage it?"

In the closing session, he made the statement that "All the material you need to help someone else find God is already within them." I really love that thought. God wants us to find Him, so He causes us to seek. My job isn't to teach the right set of facts, or even inspire (or coerce) the right actions - it is to reach into young lives and help people discover where God already is in their story (& where they fit into His).

Some other meaningful phrases and thoughts from the labs with Dave Gibbons and Mark Batterson (I'll try to unpack later)
-Honor the past; fuel the fringe. (I really feel the tension in this one from Dave Gibbons, whose book I will be buying before we leave.)
-The greatest miracles of life often happen in transitional times. What are the 'hybrids' God is calling us to create?
-Leaders are fathers. It's critical to really see people (with insight of the Holy Spirit) and affirm their unique destiny. There's no plug-and-play option for discipleship.
-I need to foster an "everything is experimental" mentality in my ministry. (Do we really need things to be 'established'?)
-Pray for the "unexplainable and uncontrollable".
-Create a culture of positivity.
-Sometimes the most spiritual thing we can do is to keep going even though it's tough, so "try" longer than the opposition tries or circumstances last.
-God brings us ideas/dreams/vision even when the math doesn't add up. Is the God we serve big enough to bring them about anyway?
-"You'll never be more than 80% sure."
-What is one next step I need to take and who will push me to follow through?
-Live with a holy expectation that God can invade my reality at any time. This was from Mark Batterson, but it really echoes back to Erwin's thoughts about Jesus being the overwhelming reality of our lives.

It was great (and just the beginning). Too much more to write about now.
(+ the awesomeness of Chick-Fil-A with bacon, pepperjack, and Polynesian sauce).

The First Decade

It was 10 years ago that my pregnant-for-the-first-time wife and I moved to Auburn, NE to begin our first full time adventure in youth ministry.  We learned so much in our time there about life, each other, the church, and ministry.  I can honestly say that our time there led to as much personal and spiritual growth as any other time in our lives.

It was a great time, but looking back I wonder if what I did there best, I did on accident. Or at least it was just something that I did naturally without trying to think about it and figure it out. One of those things you just know how to do, but can't explain how or why you know how to do it.  I had no solutions to the problems I was facing.  No experience to tell me what to do to reach desired outcomes.  So I made sure to stay out of God's way and let Him work.  I knew I would be wholly inadequate for the task at hand if I were to rely on myself - so I didn't.

When we left Auburn, at least from our new outside perspective, the youth ministry didn't even slow down for a breath.  The team that had been working with me to lead the youth ministry continued to lead the youth ministry.  Most of them still are (and leading well I'd add).  But I don't remember doing anything specific to assemble that team.  A few of them were there when I got there, others came alongside at other points... but I don't ever remember taking any specific actions to pull them together.  Maybe I did and just don't remember, but I think the more likely case is that God was doing the pulling.  He'd given me and them a vision for what the youth ministry could be and those who shared that vision worked to make it reality.

These days I'm finding myself trying to figure things out a lot more.  For whatever reason, I think I felt like I had to perform here and prove myself, so I slipped into relying on myself to find ways to get where I thought we needed to be, then into frustration when things didn't go the way I thought they would.  Moron!  I'm done.

God has given me a vision for student ministry that doesn't fit the traditional youth ministry mold.  I want to see students connecting with Jesus by connecting to His Body, not just each other.  I want to create moments where students encounter the true and living God and give themselves to Him in worship.  I want to see dead students resuscitated and learning to breathe the Spirit of Life.

You may think that after 10 years of doing this, I'd have this youth ministry thing figured out a little better that this post makes it sound.  On my weaker days, I think that, too.  Then I remember how experimental youth ministry can be - like a research and development department for the Body of Christ.  I'd appreciate your prayers as I search God for the way forward and the freedom to keep experimenting together.