From the Ground Up: The Rebuild

Thought this article was great from a real practical standpoint. Speaking as someone whose almost entire core team has changed over the last three years it's been a challenging season of blessing and God has grown me in some amazing ways. So here's to teams past, present, and future!

Rebuilding Your Team
 by Kurt Johnston & Josh Griffin

There’s nothing more painful than losing your dream team…or even one dream player.  From time to time, you will be faced with a key leader moving away or a right-hand man being moved up to help with a program for adults. It happens – our adult ministry steals our best people all of the time!

So when this happens – you have a few choices to make: (1) you can wallow in the golden years of what was, or (2) you can get to work on rebuilding a young team and see where God takes you. Honestly, you’ve probably done enough of (1) already, so let’s talk about (2). Here we go:

Don’t compare to the past
Rebuilding a team is difficult enough without making comparisons to the past. You are building a new team now – with different gifts, personalities and passions – embrace it instead of focusing on the frustrating differences.

Adjust your leadership to who you have now
The way you led last year probably isn’t going to work anymore. Different people need to be led differently – the pressure to adjust is on you, not on them. Consider giving everyone a personality test or the 5 Love Languages quiz to see what you’re working with and make a real effort to lead in a new way in the new season.

Become the world’s best coach
Maybe one of the reasons you’re lamenting the loss of your teammates is because you had a whole pack of seasoned, battle-hardened veterans and now you’ve got fresh meat. Become the world’s best coach! Constantly push, nudge and challenge your people in the right direction. Before you know it, they’ll be veterans as well…and prime pickings for adult ministry to swoop down for another batch (not that we’re bitter or anything).

Face the challenges head on
Need a pep talk? We got one: You can do this! Keep your head in the game! Don’t run from the challenge! Rebuilding a team is not an easy task. Hang in there! We knowthat God is going to use you in new ways in the next season

This week at Impact....

We're starting a look at the letter from James. Hope to see you there.

Charlestons Post and Courier

Did you have a chance to check out today's paper...

Resolve for Monday : Fini

Well friends I started this study of Edwards resolutions in January of 2010. It's been a challenging time looking at how this pastor, arguably the greatest American theologian, led himself as well as his flock and to have written these resolutions as a young man is mind blowing. It's been a great challenge for me and hopefully for you as well. So with this last one and my prayers I'll leave you.

70. Let there be something of benevolence, in all that I speak. 

    " If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal."

1 Corinthians 13:1 ESV

Impact's Fall Retreat

The youth ministry I lead is heading out on our Fall retreat tomorrow. I know the ol blog has been quiet this week due to all the prep work. Tomorrow at 10AM we will be loading a bus and heading up to Camp Long Ridge for a weekend of great small groups, challenging talks, loads of fun, and a rather chilly blob! Here's a favorite pic from last years retreat....

Resolve For Monday

Every Monday I'm going to post one of Jonathan Edwards resolutions. He
penned these while still a very young man and used them to guide
his life. What am I using to guide me, my family, my ministry??


69. Resolved, always to do that, which I shall wish I had done when I see others do it. Aug. 11, 1723.

• Recently I heard a pastor speak of the fact that when we study to much without applying it we become very skeptical about those who are in the trenches of ministry. Jonathan Edwards in this resolution is speaking to the point of not only desire but action.
• There's a joke that some people got into youth ministry because they raised their hand to go to the bathroom at a church meeting and accidentally volunteered themselves. When people come to me with a complaint (most of the time) it's something they care enough about voice their opinion. I'm always asking the Holy Spirit how they can be part of the answer.  What do you complain about and in what ways can you be part of the solution?

Judges and Leadership Part 6: God If You Really Want Me To Do That Then....

Part of my study time this season is to walk through the book of Judges in the Old Testament and use it as a template to study leadership. As I'm only to chapter 6 I'm finding this study increasingly fruitful. Chapter 6 starts out the same way most other chapters in Judges starts out. Israel has turned from God and the lord has permitted evil to befall them. Naturally some cry out to God for deliverance and the LORD chooses a "judge" or leader to deliver his people from their folly. In this chapter we are introduced to one of the two most famous Judges: Gideon.

• Principle 12: Know Who You Are Your identity as a leader is more important then your budget, your staff, your team, your title, and your reputation. Ahem... Let me say that again... your identity is more important then your reputation. I just bought a book purely because I loved the cover. The book is called Disciple by Bill Clem and the cover art is a picture of trench warfare with a church in the background. It's subtitle is "Getting Your Identity From Jesus" In chapter 6 of Judges we see Gideon hiding in a wine-press trying to sort out food so his family could live. This is not the bravest of positions for the almighty God to find you in. God comes and addresses him as "O mighty man of valor" (Judges 6:12) God sees past what Gideon is to who Gideon is. Our identity can no longer be based off of what we do it has to be based our of what Jesus has done. Here's the honest question how do you see yourself and is that they way God sees you? Do you see yourself in the light that scripture paints you in? That truths tells us we are? A sinner saved by grace, covered in God's mercy through the cross of Jesus Christ? Do we see that our calling to be a leader only comes because "He who knew no sin became sin so that we might know the righteousness of God". If our identity hinges on the fact that we are unmerited adopted children then we have a good foundation to build off of.  

• Principle 13: Testing In scripture I see two kinds of testing. The kind where our faith is tested. That according to James produces steadfastness and makes us "perfect and complete." "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. " (James1:2-4)  The other kind of testing I see in scripture is when people try to test God like Gideon did. Several times in fact. He did this fully knowing “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test..." Deut 6:16 and I think if we are truthful we do too.  We want the assurance of success before we try, we want to know what we'll do is worth our resources, and commitment. So we try and barter with the Almighty. I can remember a recent event where we sunk a ton of publicity into it, had bus loads of kids showing up to our outdoor event and a horrid line of thunderstorms sweeping across the city. In those moments I wish I could tell you that I called my team together and crafted some creative plan. Instead I got discouraged and started to reason with God. God, don't you want all these students to hear the Gospel? God what about all the people who have given money to see this thing happen? God if you stop this storm.. Let's just stop there. I'm really greatfull God knows our weakness and loves us the same. He knew Gideon would play these games, he knew I'd freak out, he even knew Martin Luther would barter in the field leading him to become a monk. How are the ways you are testing God? Where does our faith need to grow?
  

I am an expert in stucco, a veteran in love, and an outlaw in Peru.

For a while now I've been feeling the push and pull of youth ministry. It's a strange ministry of constant leaving and continual arriving. Every year we get a fresh crop of 6th graders in and every year we wave goodbye to a wonderful group of seniors. Recently the transitional nature of this cycle has been rubbing on me. As I write college recommendations, scholarship referrals, and hear talk of college essays I  find something in me getting excited when a student mentions a local college and staying close to home.

The flip side of that coin is that after their time in our ministry there is a real sending aspect. I can't think of another time in life when people are sent into such diverse communities and have the ability to carry the gospel to influence people who will, after a few years return and carry that gospel with them.

That said I thought I'd include one of the greatest college essay's I've ever read below....

"I am a dynamic figure, often seen scaling walls and crushing ice. I have been known to remodel train stations on my lunch breaks, making them more efficient in the area of heat retention. I translate ethnic slurs for Cuban refugees, I write award-winning operas, I manage time efficiently.

Occasionally, I tread water for three days in a row. I woo women with my sensuous and godlike trombone playing, I can pilot bicycles up severe inclines with unflagging speed, and I cook Thirty-Minute Brownies in twenty minutes. I am an expert in stucco, a veteran in love, and an outlaw in Peru.

Using only a hoe and a large glass of water, I once single-handedly defended a small village in the Amazon Basin from a horde of ferocious army ants. I play bluegrass cello, I was scouted by the Mets, I am the subject of numerous documentaries. When I'm bored, I build large suspension bridges in my yard. I enjoy urban hang gliding. On Wednesdays, after school, I repair electrical appliances free of charge.

I am an abstract artist, a concrete analyst, and a ruthless bookie. Critics worldwide swoon over my original line of corduroy evening wear. I don't perspire. I am a private citizen, yet I receive fan mail. I have been caller number nine and have won the weekend passes. Last summer I toured New Jersey with a traveling centrifugal-force demonstration. I bat 400.

My deft floral arrangements have earned me fame in international botany circles. Children trust me. I can hurl tennis rackets at small moving objects with deadly accuracy. I once read Paradise Lost, Moby Dick, and David Copperfield in one day and still had time to refurbish an entire dining room that evening. I know the exact location of every food item in the supermarket. I have performed several covert operations with the CIA. I found Waldo.

I sleep once a week; when I do sleep, I sleep in a chair. While on vacation in Canada, I successfully negotiated with a group of terrorists who had seized a small bakery. I balance, I weave, I dodge, I frolic, and my bills are all paid.

On weekends, to let off steam, I participate in full-contact origami. Years ago I discovered the meaning of life but forgot to write it down. I have made extraordinary four course meals using only a mouli and a toaster oven. I breed prize-winning clams. I have won bullfights in San Juan, cliff-diving competitions in Sri Lanka, and spelling bees at the Kremlin.

I have played Hamlet, I have performed open-heart surgery, and I have spoken with Elvis, but I have yet to go to college."

 

Resolve for Monday

Every Monday I'm going to post one of Jonathan Edwards resolutions. He
penned these while still a very young man and used them to guide
his life. What am I using to guide me, my family, my ministry?? 

 68. Resolved, to confess frankly to myself all that which I find in myself, either infirmity or sin; and, if it be what concerns religion, also to confess the whole case to God, and implore needed help. July 23, and August 10, 1723.

• How's your view of God these days? A big view of God will bring you to a place of awe and Biblical fear. Edwards had that big view of God. He had to or else he wouldn't ever felt the need to confess. 
• Speaking of confession when was the last time you confessed? Really spilled it all out to your savior? 
• If Jesus knows your secret then why not honestly ask him for help?

 

Best Dog Halloween Costume

Props to boingboing.net

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Off to the Jungle With You

I read something this morning that reminded me of my life right before I came to follow Jesus. In that season of life I had this notion that if I were to throw my whole heart in after Christ he would surely call me to move off into the jungle somewhere and work there in some way which negated all my hopes and dreams. Oswald Chambers writes in his classic devotional My Utmost For His Highest...

"As long as you have the tiniest bit of spiritual impertinence, it will always reveal itself in the fact that you are expecting God to tell you to do a big thing, and all He is telling you to do is to “come.”"

The Father simply wanted me to come to him.

Friday Night Lights

Pretty much my office on Friday night.

Love Our Small Groups

We have a bunch of great small groups in our high school community at St. Andrews. All of them have their own flair and feel. Recently once of our small group leaders posted this article about her crew, which call themselves..."Fight Club"...

The Fight Club.  I'm in it.  100%.  It's not what you think and I really can't talk too much about it.  But, I just have to put this out there.  I get to lead a high school small group at church.  We just so happen to be called FIGHT CLUB.  And it's AWESOME.  I'm not kidding.  I have always loved my small groups, but was nervous when some of the all-stars graduated and left us this year.  But I have a special feeling about this year's group.  In fact, whenever I think about them or talk about them I almost start crying.  Weird I know.  I just love them.  A LOT.  They are some of my favorite lil people.  I'm so thankful for each one of them.  Our group is about disciples making disciples, being real with eachother, being intentional and getting in the WORD and just doing life together.  It's been pretty awesome so far. This little group is one of my favorite things that I get to be a part of and I thought yall should know about it.   

To read it all and check out some pics click here. 

Need a Reason To Be Happy?

 

        Job 5:17

    Happy is the man whom God correcteth
    Happy, because the correction is designed to bring him into paths of blessedness and peace.
    Happy, because there is no unnecessary severity in it.
    Happy, because the chastisement is not so much against us, as against our most cruel enemies—our sins.
    Happy, because we have abundant words of consolation.
    Happy, because whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth.
    Happy, because our light affliction is but for a moment.

George Bowen

Hardman, S. G., & Moody, D. L. (1998). 

Thoughts for the quiet hour. 

Willow Grove, PA: Woodlawn Electronic Publishing.

Just a Public Service Reminder...

Resolve For Monday

Every Monday I'm going to post one of Jonathan Edwards resolutions. He
penned these while still a very young man and used them to guide
his life. What am I using to guide me, my family, my ministry??

67. Resolved, after afflictions, to inquire, what I am the better for them, what good I have got by them, and what I might have got by them.

• So are you the main character in the movie of your life or are you a supporting character in the grand redemptive story God is writing through human history? 
• If it's the first then trials and afflictions are setbacks and things to be overcome if it's the later then they are things that shape us. James 1 says that our trials produce steadfastness and it is that steadfastness that the Holy Spirit uses to make us "perfect and complete"

Here's to Fall

Here's to Fall and a busy one at that. Very excited that today's temp is topping out in the mid 70's, and tomorrow's Sunday which means Impact in the morning and football in the afternoon. Also our husky Keira is very excited it's no longer 110 deg. outside. Just thought I'd share.