The heart of our students

I'm cleaning my office.  It's a tradition to have a clean office before I go on a week of vacation.  I'm 3 trash bags in and about 1/2 done.  I just came across what the students wrote the last time I preached in Oxygen.  

I asked "If you were transported to heaven and were face-to-face with Jesus...and only had time to ask one questions...what would it be?  Most of the questions you would expect...what is my life purpose, when will the world end, why do you allow sin in the world, etc.  But there were a couple that really got me...

1.  Why did you allow the terrible things in my life to happen?

2.  Jesus, could you give me a hug?

3.  Why did you take the ones I love away from me?

4.  Do you accept me for being gay?

5.  Can I come home to you Lord?

6  Does my dad have kids we don't know about?

7.  If my dad knew that I was around, would he love me?

The thoughts and questions that are bouncing around in our students heads are important.  Are we giving them adequate time to voice them?

  

Willow Creek's Leadership Summit

Get a play-by-play of Willow's Leadership Summit on Rob's blog here.

New Granger Series Trailer

GCC out did themselves with this new trailer. It's incredible!

Ravi Zacharias

Great video post by Ravi Zacharias here. It's got my brain on overload. Here is part of what I attempted to transcribe.

"The emergent church, at it’s core, lets the consumer be the definer of what is relevant and what is appropriate.

There is a point you have to be relevant. But it is Truth that makes relevance, relevant. Without Truth, relevance is irrelevant. So really you cannot strip anything of the Truth. They are focusing more on form than substance. So propositional truth is minimized, felt truth is maximized. How did this come about? Sometimes church preaching and communication got so out of touch with the listener, we hurt those who were already hurting, feed the pride of those already proud…and were just not meeting the needs of the people where they were. So there was a problem, but what they’ve done is sacrificed content in the process.

Jesus always questioned his questioners, to open them within their own assumptions and then determined the entry point of the discussion…but got them to the truth to where He wanted them to be. “Why do you call me good? There is nothing good but God? Are you calling me God? If you are calling me God, are you going to listen to Me?”

“Is it alright to play taxes to Caesar?” Jesus says, “You got a coin? Whose image is on this?” “Caesars.” Jesus, “Give to Caesar that which is Caesar, unto God which is God.” At this point, the questioner ought to have said, “What belongs to God?” Jesus would have said, “Whose image is on you?”

Jesus took people from where they were to bring them to where He is.

The emergent church is not that new. Some of it started in the Garden of Eden when the enemy of our soul said, “Has God really said…did God really say this?” Causing doubt on the propositional revelation of God. So, I think the Emergent church is flirting with a lot of danger. It is flirting with the obliteration of the revealed Word and making a felt reality, ultimate reality. My experience is not what is ultimately real. God’s Word is eternally true and I have to alter my way of thinking to conform to God’s Word, not the other way around.”

Spiritual Mothers and Fathers

Great post by Craig Groeschel on spiritual fathers here. It not a term that I heard much in the north or United Methodist church ... not sure which was the reason, north or UM. Anyway, now that I'm in the South and at an AG church I here it all the time. While I've experienced many pros and cons on the complete denominational flip, it's one of the things I've really grown to appreciate in the transition.

Latest Article - Forecast Your Future

FORECAST YOUR FUTURE
By Judy Gregory

July and August are the times in which Atlanta lives up to its nickname…Hotlanta. Playing two hours of tennis yesterday in the 95 degree heat and sunshine just about took me out. Had I listened to the weatherman the day before, I might not have been so quick to hit the court.

Back in my northern Indiana hometown, January marks the annual concern over the amount of “lake-effect snow” a storm will bring. During the Blizzard of ‘78, the “lake-effect snow” did not just threaten to take us out, it did! With snow drifts up to the roof, our world came to a complete stand still for nearly two weeks. While it was decades ago, I remember as if it were yesterday when our meteorologist, Dick Addis, foretold – before the first flake hit the ground – that there would be no school the next day. He was right!

Some things are just predictable, the signs are everywhere…youth ministry is no exception! Just like Dick Addis, you too can learn to forecast the future…YOUR future, both personally and professionally! If you simply pay attention, not only will there be less surprises, you’ll have a fighting chance of winning the game, set, match and title.

When it comes to the future, the past 15 years in youth ministry has taught me…

· You don’t program a serious, come to the cross moment the day before middle school students get out for Christmas Vacation or Spring Break. They are like Energizer Bunnies on steroids before they even hit your door!

· If your Wednesday night program takes on a different look over the summer, you need to fire it back up by rallying your leaders and veteran students before you re-launch it with a special fall kick-off.

· If you have a bump in your momentum due to a snow storm or school break, you typically will experience a negative bump (i.e. reduction) in your attendance the following week. Momentum is everything. It’s just like a car, even if your foot is only off the accelerator for a few seconds, it takes a moment to get back up to speed.

· Obey your gut out of the gate when it comes to questionable leaders. It’s a whole lot easier to never bring them onboard, then to get rid of them once you’ve got them.

· Eighth grade is one of the most physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually turbulent years ever! You would do well just to encourage your parents “to hold on” and occasionally remind them “it will be ok.”

· The more senses you engage when speaking, the more likely students will remember the message.

· If you can get the ring leader of the group of troublemakers on your side, it makes all the difference in the world.

· The minute your favorite kid goes spiritually south, you’ll feel like your heart just got ripped out. But, if (big “if”) you stick around long enough, in a couple of months…or years…there is a high likelihood he will come back around.

And the list, while a little on the random side, goes on…and on…and on. But, your ministry isn’t the only thing predictable, so are you! Here are a couple things to watch out for…

· There is something I like to call the three year itch. I’m not sure what causes it, but I know after about three years in a position, you’ll get an itch to move on. I’m not sure if it’s the point where boredom sets in, the senior pastor’s flaws become glaringly obvious, you get fed up with church politics, or what…I just know at the three year mark you can expect the itch. I remember the conversation I had long ago with a youth pastor in Iowa. Almost bragging, he was giving me the list of churches he’d been at over the previous decade. No joke, he concluded by saying, “I don’t know what it is, but every three years I feel God calling me to move on.” It’s not for me to say, but I’m not sure it was God. The only cure for the three year itch is to stay put.

· This personal pattern of mine took me a little longer to figure out. Yours might not look exactly the same, but you need to guard against it. The first week of August for a number of years, I’d hit a “low” that bordered on depression. It was like clockwork. It left me wondering what the heck was going on. But then, it was as if someone flipped the light on as to the reason. Let me try and explain. I feel there is no greater cause worthy of my life, outside of my family, than youth ministry. It drives me to get out of bed in the morning. But you can only be driven so far before you have to refuel. I had worked hard all school year preaching, teaching, planning, counseling and taking care of leaders, and then, without skipping a beat, I’d move right into summer camps, mission trips, events and Bible studies. When August hit and it was time to plan for the upcoming school year, there was nothing left in me. I wasn’t driven to get out of bed, but seriously just wanted to pull the covers over my head. I learned to call it quits the first and second week of August every year. No appointment, event or meeting was planned for that two-week period. Unless it was absolutely necessary, I wouldn’t ever respond to phone calls. I’d spend the minimum time possible in the office. Sometimes, when I needed to pick something up from the church, I’d send a friend after it just so I didn’t have to hear “Hey Judy, you got a second…” I didn’t work “less,” just “differently.” Sometimes I would take a week of vacation and sleep part of the “low” off but it’s not always ideal to blow your vacation trying to “recover.”

I could continue, but I think you get my drift. It’s time for you to check the radar. What’s brewing on the horizon? Based on past experiences, what can you forecast about the future? I guarantee if you take the time to reflect and begin writing some of it down, it will make riding out the storms so much easier.

Houston...we have hair

Sarah turns 2 soon and the hair is coming in. Looking at this pic reminds me how this little apple of our eye came at just the right time. Her and I go for a lil prayer walk everytime I'm home.

Baby Sarah

Pint size baby Sarah when I was home last month. We were making faces at each other. Word on the street is that she's finally got an appetite. But I think she's holding out until she's 2 on the hair, at least that's what her dad did.

Leadership vs. Discipleship

Jesus and I have been spending a lot of time hanging out on my mini-deck lately. He's been stirring some things up in my heart for awhile in regard to discipleship vs. leadership (both are great, neither bad). But, I've come to the conclusion that I've been a better leader than discipler a good chunk of my Christian life. In the coming years, I hope to rectify that by bringing the pendulum back into balance through focused effort. In fact, I wrote an article on it. It's rapped around a story, but this is the nuts and bolts of where I'm at...

What does a great “discipler” look like? Beats me. I do know it goes beyond encouraging someone to have a quiet time, creatively preaching a message and orchestrating a few events. Studying Jesus’ life, the ultimate discipler, I know He did more teaching in circles, than preaching in rows. I know He asked a lot of questions, some of them uncomfortable, that forced those around Him to verbalize the thoughts bouncing around in their heads. I know He studied human behavior enough to know what people were thinking and, as a result, drew a few lines in the sand and forced them to choose a side. I know the first words He spoke to the disciples collectively in Luke 6 included challenging choices they would come face-to-face with that would, depending how they responded, either catapult them forward like a slingshot or derail them like a freight train. Choices they would later see Him make up close and personal as they did life “beyond the not so comfortable surface” together.

Coming out of hibernation

The good ol' blogs been silent for awhile. I decided it needed to be when I started to hang out more with it than with Jesus. But, I'm back. Probably less frequent, but back.

I've discovered the coolness of the deck of my apartment. It's become Jesus' and my favorite place as of late as I discover what it looks like to be a better discipler than leader. Long story, but maybe I will post what the Lord helped me to spill out on the computer screen a week or so ago.

I've also discoved the coolness of Logos Bible Software. One of our board member's wife gifted me with the Gold Edition. It was like a kiss from Jesus himself. The discounted price is a grand and it's supposedly the largest electronic theological library ever assembled with $11,700 in equivalent print editions. I don't know if its claims are true, but the software is off-the-hook. It's taken my Bible study up about a thousand notches. Having it reminds me of something God laid on my heart a few years back, which lines up with what He's laying on my heart now .... hmmmm, wonder if I should do something with that.

Profound Leadership Day

What a great leadership day...full of wisdom. It began with MC "Envelope Moments" with Jeanne. Won't share why, but this is a special day each year. Her message was golden. The notes are below, but my favorite line was "Your gift-set will be ready for ministry long before your character, your endurance, your wisdom, or maturity will be."

Then after a little afternoon work, it was off to a post-NYLC meeting with Mike, an incredible man of God, full of wisdom regarding business and Jesus ... then dinner with some of the NYLC team ... then sat in on the MC meeting with Mike where he shares his wealth of experience whenever he's in town.

Leadership Nuggets from Jeanne, the queen herself, this morning...

• An envelope moment is when you feel another person or circumstance are in control of your life and you feel powerless regarding the outcome
• A loss of relationship with the Lord isn’t sudden, it is a slow process that goes bit by bit
  Most of the time it will be, “wow, feels like a curveball hit my face”
• It takes more faith to have a right response and trust God when circumstances don’t go as planned than to go along merrily when they go as planned
• People and circumstance will make or cause countless decisions that will cause pain in your life
• Never confuse man’s decisions with God’s directive
• Unforgiveness is like drinking a poison and expecting someone else will die
• You need to get nervous when the coaches in your life get quiet
• The degree to which you are able to trust God with heavy envelope moments is parallel to the degree of anointing on your life
• A goal of “finishing well” may not be impressive to people, but is to God
• Do not focus on the why of the envelope, but rather on the what
  Not, “Why Lord did You do this?”
  You probably won’t ever really figure out the why
  Say, “Lord what can You do with this in my life?”
• Success in life comes not from holding a good hand but playing a tough hand well
• Never let a good crisis go to waste
• Faith doesn’t mean its always going to be pretty
• Never doubt that ultimately God is bigger than any envelope in your life…SO much bigger
• Plan B can become plan A when envelope moments occur if your spirit and heart are right
• The Father heart of God wants to take care of you when you go through hard things
  During those envelope moments, refuse to give in to the narcotic of self-pity
• Be above society and don’t get the victim mentality
• All of life really is suck it up, because if you don’t suck it up, it will eventually suck you up
• Many people build their identity off of what people did wrong to them
• Compassion is the adrenaline for acts of mercy
• Self-pity is a narcotic that leaves its addicts wasted and alone
• SELF – Satan’s Exact Location Forever
• There is a difference between compassion and picking up another persons offense
• Finish the race with the wind in your face
• The object is not getting over the finish line, the object is getting over the finish line with a spiritual passion and the fire still burning in your heart (illus. olympic marathon athletes in old days)
• A double minded man is unstable in ALL his ways
• Your gift-set will be ready for ministry long before your character, your endurance, your wisdom, or maturity will be.
• Don’t turn a deaf ear to the messages when you say you want coaches in your life
• Don’t be too quick to be done or you will forfeit all who you could be
• In God’s economy no sin is worse, the problem is some sins cost more
• Story of boy opening the cocoon too early to see the butterfly but the butterfly wasn’t fully formed and developed so it ended up crippled and couldn’t fly
  All the other kids had their experiments done and all that was left was his
  He saw the rip and made it bigger
  The boy didn’t want the caterpillar to strain and work an go through this hard ordeal so he snipped it to make it easier, it seemed better at first and the butterfly had come out, but really it wasn’t done growing
  Relate to this
  The only thing that gave the butterfly the strength in its wings to gain the altitude was the struggle
  Only through difficult times do your wings ever find the strength to fly
  If you want to be real good you won’t take your wings until you are saying to people around you and say, “Am I really ready for this?”

Leadership nuggets from our amazing board Mike (caught without a pen on this one...stink!). Three memorable ones...

• Come September, after the summer, will the team come back stronger or weaker? Will you be stronger on September 1, than you were on June 1? Challenge, spiritually what are you going to do over the summer to get better? It was meant as a challenge to the students, but because of some staff changes, I'm owning it for myself. We are going to the team approach for teaching our MC clasesses and I'm on the rotation. Game on. I'm pretty excited to get back behind the music stand on a more consistent basis.
• Some are given the vision, while others are given the provision (for the vision). I think there is a sermon in there ... "pro" vision ... "for" vision.
• Some of you think because circumstance changed, that God changed His mind.

That's one for the books

Aaron Hill, one of our MC students, let me rip off his notes from the Leadership Lessons that Jeanne taught a couple of days ago. In it was a quote from another MC student, Adrian Taylor. I thought it was a pretty profound leadership one. In my paraphrase, it was "when the coach goes quiet, that's when you should worry."

Here are some of the other notes Aaron took (they're kind of random, but some real golden nuggets in there):

Give the why behind the what
Don’t let there be negative perceptions of the people
Don’t freak out but have faith and wisdom in finances
Use the situation to make everyone better
Start out saying that’s its all going to be all ok then go to the worst then to the least worst
Don’t do it when it's convenient to you
If you treat people right, God will treat you right
Bring the info. In a clear tangible way
Set your people up for success and failure.
Live a life with Jesus and integrity and go above and beyond.
Present a solution with a problem
There is a God outside of Master's Commission
Many ministries mean well but the picture they give is that if they aren't with them they wont be ok
Don’t make people feel less or stupid
You may feel the pressure but don’t show it
The Lord lets you learn how to do the small stuff then you can build to the heavy stuff
Each year get a little better
A great leader assesses a situation then takes care of it.
Masters will take care of the church because without the church there is no Masters
A good leader looks into the future to see what the enemy could use as grounds.
Bring the news, but mentor as well. Show how to present it as a good leader.
Make the meetings comfortable. Have a voice tone that this is important but you're not in trouble.
To get respect you give respect
Always give a strong finish
You impact others around you by the attitude you have
God's plan for your life is bigger than the mistakes of men.
Deal with it, feel it and go on. God is bigger than the mistakes that the executive team can make.
We are more rewarded now because we handled things well
Don’t pace yourself by other people give your personal best!
It gives more hope when a leader can say that they get worried
Every good leader knows first they've got to sort things out in their own head before they make everyone else ok
The longer you walk with Christ the less faith it takes to have faith.
The more you walk with God the more faith you will have because you have seen God come through so many times.
Answer questions before people have them
When I'm yelling you're ok but when I stop talking then you should worry.
Character will always out weigh charisma
Churches normally applaud charisma not character
Security is built by a loving mom and dad and you
All wise parents know there has to be disciplines. That gives your children security.
Don’t judge others unless you are judged
Live a life that is not perfect but is so Christ like it is tough to disrespect you.
Remember Jesus Christ is inside of you watching and listening to the media you listen or watch

May they remember

Just came out of a 2 1/2 hour meeting and watched my hero/mentor "do her thing" masterfully. She is a brilliant communicator, leader and wife to her hubby. The meeting was full of teaching moments ... and I mean FULL of them. Having lived a lot of them, the only words that kept going through my head are "that's good"..."that's real good." Unfortunately most of the MC students haven't lived them to know their true value. My prayer is that when they are in the midst of the twists and turns of life, they will remember.

Marking Moments

Walking through marking moments in life with young men and women hungry to hear from Jesus has to be one of the greatest privileges in life ... those marking moments are some of the sweetest and, sometimes, the most painful.

Twitter

Ok, signed up for Twitter months ago ... now I am going to try and use it.

Cleveland Hospital

I've spent the last two days at the hospital in a waiting room. They've come a long way, but I still hate them. Cleveland Hospital is cool in many ways though ... they have a Subway and McDonalds (along with a bunch of other food places in it). It's kinda of a hospital and art gallary all wrapped up in one.

Modern day medicine is truly a miracle that I am grateful for. Wendy came through surgery with flying colors. The pain medicine is making her sick to her stomach though, so please pray for her. A long road to recovery is ahead for her, but she's stubborn enough to do just fine. I've got a thousand and seventeen things I need to be doing, but I'm sooo very glad that I am here. It's been great hanging out with friends the last few days.

Accidents, Cadre and Open Heart Surgery

Jeanne totalled her car on Saturday and tried to break by putting her head through the windshield. It didn't work. I've never seen two more swollen black eyes in my life...no exaggeration. To let you know what a warrior I work with, she still did the 2 day Cadre on Monday and Tuesday (11 hours on Monday and 14 hours on Tuesday). Cadre plane tickets had long ago been purchased, so the thought of canceling on 35 youth pastors didn't seem like an option. So, I watched my boss and friend nail it despite the intense pain. She was 110% fully there and fully on. Impressive.

I jumped on a plane after I made sure the majority of the Cadre guys and girls had made their way back home. A friend of mine is having a five hour open heart surgery where they will stop her heart for two hours to replace two valves. I think I already blogged about it, but there are 5 families I am committed to do life with from Indiana, along with my family, for eternity. Wendy's is one of them.

Hurricane Clean Up

Getting everything back on track after NYLC is a little (stress little) bit like cleaning up after a Hurricane. For the month prior, everything got put on the back burner. Now that we are home, everything is red hot front burner stuff. We have 4 conference call, 3 Cadres, a Spring retreat and 2nd year iterviews over the next six weeks, including all the clean up from NYLC. Exciting days are ahead. We have over 200 new Source and YLC subscribers, along with over 200 people interested in the Cadre.

On a side note, we had Reunite tonight to celebrate the MC students coming back from Spring Break. Glad to have them back in the house. It's way too quiet here without them.

On a final note, I hate power surges/outages. As a result of Friday's storms, we blew the ethernet chip in our motherboard and have no access to the Youth Leader's Coach storage area. UGH! I don't know who the Kernal is, but without the Ethernet chip he won't load. So much for surge protectors. Plus, battery back-ups are of little use when you don't plug the stupid thing into it. The cost of silly mistakes drive me insane.

NYLC 09 - Fully Between Someone Else And Jesus

The conference was a smashing success. How do I know? Because countless have told me. And after spending part of my vacation watching it, I know why they are saying what they are saying. It's funny, but there is so much work to do in the moment...to make what is happening around the people seem effortless, that I didn't catch most of the conference. It can be disheartening if you let it...that is until you ask yourself the question of "why do you do what you do anyway?" There is a time for it to be "fully between you and Jesus," but then there are times you make the sacrifice for it to be "fully between someone else and Jesus." That's what NYLC 09 was for me. However, it wasn't without countless personal highlights, like...

1. Watching youth pastors get real honest on some tough issues using 2,000 key pads that registers audience responses.
2. Watching Jeanne be able to do what she does best without much concern for the details that our team had well covered.
3. Doing my two breakout sessions despite the fact that I lost 80% of my voice day one.
4. Praying with people on Wednesday night at the conclusion of the evening service.
5. Watching the MC Atlanta team in action. Wow, they were off-the-hook impressive.
6. Seeing what a difference the Cadre makes when it comes to a conference. The day after the conference was truly like a family reunion with all of them. However, typically you're ready for family reunions to come to an end, but I wasn't ready for this one to.
7. Seeing some typically quiet MC Atlanta students rise up and own some things that were ginormous ... they nailed it.
8. Each night I would steal a few seconds away and go to the top balcony area where there were these cool side sections. From there you could see countless worshipping...most with hands help high, while others were praying. It was a site to behold and the mental Kodak moment of the conference for me.
9. Hanging out with my sister, Carole, Chris and Karen. I miss them. They were and still are my armor bearers. Hopefully, I am for them as well.
10. Knowing the impact the conference had on the "youth ministry teams" present. There are times when it's just plain good for your team to hear someone else say the exact same things you've been saying. Plus, it's good to steal away three days for teams to be together when nothing else is pulling at you (or them) and all the work is being done by someone else. I remember the impact a trip my team took at Granger to a Saddleback youth conference. I loved being able to provide for others what they provided for me. Also, the diversity of the speakers (Ed Young, Judah Smith, Chris Hill, Greg Stier, Craig Gross, etc.) ensured the different personalities on the team would connect with at least a few of the speakers, if not all.

After the conference, and months of sleepless or little sleep nights, we went on a five day cruise. Sounds glamorous, I know. However, I literally slept 17 hours or more each day for 4 of the 5 days. Sounds like I'm exaggerating, but I so am not. Crazy...I know. I think I was on the verge of exhaustion and didn't know it. I could tell it in my emotions, but no place else. That's a whole lot of sleep for someone that typically sleeps 4-6 hours tops a night. It was good for my soul and great preparation for this weekend when I've set aside time for it to be "fully between me and Jesus."

Leavin' on a jet plane

Leavin' for Dallas at 6 a.m.
Whohoo.