photo by Leo Reynolds

Sometimes you have things that just get stuck on your mind. Lately there have been a few ideas, thoughts and things that I just can get off my mind. Here they are:

1. The Gospel

My mind and heart have been reawakened to the glory of the gospel. It’s literally changing so many things about the way that I teach, explain and plan for my preteens, that it’s constantly something that I’m thinking about. God’s plan, our fall, Christ’s life, death, resurrection, our response, and God’s reconciliation of creation to Himself. One specific idea related to the gospel I will share later. I felt it was significant enough to get 2 spots.

2. Parenting

As I write this, my wife is 8 days from due date. I have had a distinct desire to just hold and kiss and spend time with my son the past week. It’s crazy. It also has gotten me to think about all of the sermons, books, and blogs that I’ve read on parenting. It’s also why this song from Elvis has been resonating in my heart:

Little things I should have said and done
I just never took the time

I’m praying that this isn’t what I look back on when it comes to parenting.

3. 5:1

This is an idea that I heard about from the Orange Conference from Kara Powell, author of Sticky Faith. She talked about as ministry leaders that we need to be more worried about the 5 adults voices in the lives of our students rather than our 1 adult for every 5 students.

I can not shake this one.

It’s so easy to communicate to parents and so helpful. I’ve already shared this with parents at 2 separate meetings. I love getting to talk about it. Man if I could help parents grasp this, I truly believe volunteering, faith, and collaboration would look very different at Brookwood Church.

4. Cannon

Yeah, my son. I’m so pumped for him. I’m worried for him, I’m excited for him. There has always been the thought in my head that God may have only created me to be a dad and a husband. I can’t wait to see the journey that God has planned for us.

If I haven’t already shared this, my son is at an increased chance for Down Syndrome. We chose not to take any tests to find out if he does or not. I don’t think about this a lot, but believe me, it’s in my brain. God is in control and we are all in on our baby son, but to think that it doesn’t scare the living crap out of me would be dishonest.

5. Switch

God has been giving me some new vision for Switch. Mainly, that I need to release a lot more control. I love to teach students, however, I am not the only one that can teach 5th and 6th grade students at Brookwood. That is not what God has called only me to do.

I can’t wait to see how this happens, but God is already moving on this front. Can’t wait.

6. 2 services

Our church is moving to 2 services. We’ve always done 3 services since I’ve been here. It’s exciting and challenging logistically but it’s such an opportunity to pour vision into our families. I can’t wait to see what God is going to do!

7. 6th graders

For the first time in a while, I’m excited for 6th graders to move into 7th grade. Our newest addition, Brian Schwanbeck, is the pastor to students in grade 7 and 8. He has so many things on his mind to grow and challenge the rising students. I can’t wait to see what they are going to accomplish together.

8. Writing

I love writing. I’ve been blogging since I was a junior in high school. That was almost 10 years ago. I blogged for me to process through things. It’s helped. Now this space is being read by people around the world. I’ve been making a concerted effort lately to write for others, rather than for myself. I feel like it’s helped my writing.

However, I still like to write for me. So I’ve got something that I hopefully will pour some major time into soon. It’s a big writing project. I’ve always dreamed of writing a book. I’m ready to start

9. Gospel Centered Homework

This is an idea from a book that I read entitled, “Gospel Centered Discipleship”. Phenomenal read! Rather than explain the idea fully, here’s a video with the author and Matt Chandler talking about Gospel Centered Homework:

This idea has changed how I look at my message preparation. I’m pretty real when it comes to my students and I always try to prick the lies, but I’ve never had an organized way of thinking thru it. Now I do.

Hang on Switch!

10. Mentoring

I’ve had the desire to take part in ministry mentoring for a while now. It’s something that’s always on my mind. Being a dad soon, has piqued my interest in the subject. I have some incredible men around me.

Some older: Dad, dad-in-law, Mike Hepola and Josh Bradley

Some at similar ages: Jared Patrick and Brian Schwanbeck

But I’ve really been thinking thru what this looks like for the younger ones around me. Full on, straight up mentoring younger men thinking about pursuing ministry in some format. I’m praying that God points me in the direction of some men that I can pour my life into.

So that’s what’s been on my mind. What’s on your mind?

How your preteen ministry is structured is one of the key elements in making things smooth and consistent across the board for families. I pointed this very thing out in my breakout at the Orange Conference. I think this is one of the key things that allowed Switch, our preteen ministry, to start off so well.

Structuring Issues

When Mike Hepola, our family pastor, started to consider beginning a 5th and 6th grade ministry, one of the things that Mike and myself really took a lot of time to analyze was our current family ministry structure. We looked at everything about children’s and student ministry to get a good picture of where we were at the time and where we wanted to end up.

I think this step was key because I had spent two years working on the Children’s Ministry team and Mike was the Student Pastor who oversaw all of student ministries before he made the jump to Family Pastor. We went over a ton of stuff and were pretty honest with where both ministries were at. Eventually we came down to a few keys, but to try to give you a summary of some of the things that we thought thru, here’s a picture taken from my breakout slides:

We looked at our structure from birth to high school. Here are some things that we knew were problems with this age group:

• worship – preteens weren’t engaged in children’s ministry and were intimidated by the environment in middle school
• check-in/drop off – parents were not a fan of dropping off their kids at the student building. Preteens felt like “babies” in 5th grade because of the check-out process
• teaching – preteens were bought out of the programming in children’s ministry (rightfully so, same for 4 years. 1st and 5th graders in the same room)
• small groups- because of the structure of children’s ministry, 5th grade small groups were built for 2nd and 3rd graders rather than 5th graders. We wanted to see more discussion.
• lack of stickiness – besides outreach, our families weren’t sticking well thru this stage of life.

Proposed Solutions

After a few meetings with Mike, we came up with a few key differences (baby steps) between Children’s Ministry and Student Ministry.

• Graduated check-out process - such a key. Big deal for our preteens
• Live worship – with 5th and 6th grade students. This is something I love to see every week. Can’t wait to tell you about some of the things our volunteers are doing for this during the summer.
• Hybrid program – small groups on the back-end of large group programming, but shorter and more discussion based than children’s.
• Location – main campus rather than the student building.

Keys

1. Every structure is different – you can’t just assume ours looks like yours. God has called you to the church that you are a part of, not my church. Your structure should and will look different.
2. Collaboration – you have to work together with children’s and student ministry. I think we take this for granted at Brookwood, but our teams work well together. This is a must if your ministries are to flow well together.
3. Input from families – We asked a ton of questions to parents and students. Future and past, old and young, traditional and non-traditional families all were asked their input. We had a ton of relational equity built up because we were solving a problem.

All of this really helped propel Switch to a place of momentum from the start.

How about your ministry structure? What are some areas that need to be tweaked? When was the last time you sat down and had a conversation involving your student ministry team and your children’s ministry team?

The Eric Trap Book Review

So I was offered the opportunity to read a book and review it written by some wonderful people in Children’s Ministry. The book is called The Eric Trap: 5 things every leader has to get right.

It’s a great read and a book that I am blessed to have. The book takes you thru the story of a fake #kidmin pastor named Eric Newman. Eric has all kinds of issues that he has gotten himself into, from fighting with volunteers, misaligned priorities, and lack of self awareness. It’s a challenging read for a young person in ministry.

I’ve got a son on the way named Cannon and I want him to have the father that he needs. I want my wife to have the husband that she needs and I want my ministry to have the pastor that it needs. Because of these things, the issues talked about in this book are a shot right to my heart. It’s one thing to desire these things, it’s a whole nother ballgame to align your actions with these desires.

This book is a challenge to all people, but I think it applies most to young people to get 5 things right every time in your ministry role. You can either learn from your own mistakes or the mistakes of others.

Such a great book and a easy read. I wonder if Eric truly is fake though, maybe Sam and Kenny talked Jim into telling some best of stories and put them into the book. Or maybe Eric is Sam or Kenny or maybe even Jonathan Cliff.

One thing is for sure. I’ve been challenged not only by the book, but by my wife after talking about the things contained in it. Pray for me as I try to apply some of the principles contained in it’s pages.

I’ll be giving away two copies of the book. I’m giving one away to someone in my ministry. A winner will be picked at random using the widget below a week from today. You have a week to enter.

This book is important for you as a leader. It’s important for you as a member of any organization church related or not. It’s important for you as a follower of Christ.

Here’s how to enter:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

[I received a copy of this book to review and some copies to give away.]

Over the last 2 weeks, I’ve felt completely overwhelmed. As a part of my development as a ministry leader, the step that I’ve been walking through is budgeting and planning out a ministry year. I’ve had a ton of help in the past planning out our calendar and I’ve had a bit of help when it comes to this one as well, but my level of ownership of my budget and calendar are a bit more than in the past.

The details of the planning is overwhelming to me. Planning something months and sometimes even a year out is a tough thing to do, but planning pricing, attendance, supply list, etc. is more than crazy for me. 

Something that I remember to tell myself though is this, I’m sure you’ve heard it once or twice: a failure to plan, is a plan to fail.

This exercise in budgeting let me in on how many details I don’t know about events and purchasing. It let me know that there are things that I can find a bit cheaper and others that I have no idea the cost on, official dodge balls for example. My creative writer/idea creator/communicator brain was overwhelmed with pricing/structure/plans.

I love the idea of structure, but putting one together from scratch is a tough thing when it’s numbers and plans and not people.

I don’t know if you are the type to get overwhelmed when it comes to budgeting, but if that’s not you, if you thrive on budgets and planning, what’s your secret?

Seriously. What are your tips for thriving during budget season?

image via Casey Serin

It’s been incredibly interesting how much I’ve learned in the past few weeks. I’m so thankful for a few people that have helped me to sharpen my leadership saw:

• J-Pat. My boss, pulled off an incredible retreat last weekend for the High Schoolers and he’s been leading me through the budget process. (Which I’ve never officially done before). I’m thankful for his leadership, his heart and his desire for excellence.
• Hepman, aka Family Pastor, has helped me think strategically about my family and has challenged me to set the pace for my ministry. He pushes me more than most I know.
• Schwanny, our Axis (7th-8th grade Pastor) is a beast when it comes to leaders. I’ve seen it first hand and I pray that one day I can invest into people like he does, have challenging conversations the way that he does, and builds relationships like he does. He’s a guru.
• Melinda, our admin (yes we have one admin for 3 ministries) and mother of 5. I literally have no idea how her husband and her do it. Not just surviving but she has intentional time built in for her, Pete and the kids. No cable, very little tv, and lots of family activities. Her kids will be blessed for her and her husband’s sacrifices. I pray that I am a small piece of this for my son and maybe more future kids
• Sam Luce, from afar. He’s been bringing it on his blogs lately and I’ve been challenged big time by a few. I’m thankful for those that have been there that are pouring into those who, God willing will get there one day.
• My volunteers at Switch. We are a growing ministry and we are getting new volunteers left and right. I cannot do ministry without them. They not only pour into preteen students, but they do it without a paycheck. I’m thankful for them and that my students have many, many youth pastors!!
• Last, but certainly not least, my wife. We’ve been having some difficult conversations over the past few weeks about what our life will look like in a few months with a baby. I’m so, so, so thankful that she is my wife and partner in this thing. She makes me feel as though I can conquer the world and yet reminds me that I need to take out the trash.

I haven’t blogged consistently in the last few months, but I’m better for it. I’m thankful for all the people pouring into me. I’m praying that God will bless those that invest in my family.

Who’s been investing into you lately? Is it always the opposite? Take a break if that’s the case and let God in your space again.

image via NeoGaboX

-Tony Stoltzfus

Here we go.

Integrity

Coach Pastner is a different mold of basketball coach. According to this article from the USA Today, he abstains from alcochol, soda, and doesn’t use profanity and rarely raises his voice. If he does raise his voice, it’s met with a quick apology.

“If you need to be screamed at, you probably shouldn’t come to Memphis,” Pastner says.

Creativity

Listen coaching can become a routine I imagine, just like ministry, if you let it. Pastner has done two pretty out of the box type things just this year.

First he hired one of the best trainers in the history of the world, not just currently. Here’s a piece about him, Hell’s Trainer. He wears a mask and has trained Blake Griffin. Yeah, the….Blake Griffin. But the creativity just begins there. His title? Life Changer. It’s in the media guide. That’s just fun.

Second, he hired an NBA player as an assistant during the lockout. He took a huge risk but it seems to be paying off as the Players and Owners can’t come to an agreement. Screams genius to me

Work Ethic

The guy is just relentless. He is a monster on the phone. In fact, I would email everyone of our sports programs at the University of Memphis after the year to encourage the coaches. It seems to be a tough gig. I’ve only received an email back once, from Larry Porter. Josh Pastner called my phone number listed in my signature and personally thanked me for the encouraging email. Seriously. Top 10 Basketball program and called to thank me for an email.

The guy is a beast. He was known as a phenom as a student at Arizona. He was on the team but really wanted to coach, so he would coach during practices. He also won an AAU championship as a high school student, coaching the likes of Emeka Okafor, T.J. Ford, and Daniel Gibson.

Here are some more facts about his work ethic

• Josh knew he wanted to be a coach since he was in the 5th grade.
• By the age of 13 he was publishing the Josh Pastner Scouting Report of local high school talent in the Houston area.
• At the age of 16, the Houston Hoops AAU squad was turned over to Pastner by his father, his first job as a head coach.
• After winning the NCAA title, as a walk on at the University of Arizona, Pastner was able to finish his degree in only two and a half years, taking as many as 33 units per semester.
• He earned his bachelor’s degree in Family Studies from Arizona in December 1998. He finished his master’s in Teaching and Teacher Education in December 1999 before beginning work on his doctorate and starting his coaching career in 2000 as a graduate-assistant under Lute Olson at Arizona.

Some people said the Memphis gig wasn’t worth it, because you would be following Coach John Calipari. It looks like we got someone worth keeping around.

Go Tigers Go!! 2012 Memphis Tigers Basketball is starting and we are gonna be good.

Note: If you don’t like Basketball I’ll keep these posts to a minimum, but man are we gonna be good

Jared, high school pastor, gave a great example of something we experienced on staff retreat. We were at a fire pit and Chris, worship and production, was building a fire. He piled a bunch of leaves, pine needles, and grass on top of the wood that was gathered. When it was lit, immediately it was huge. It was crazy huge.  But it died pretty quickly.

Jared likened it to our large groups services. They are awesome. In fact they will produce a large fire in our students, but we don’t think that it will be one that lasts.

Then he talked about Chris was creating some kindling (ask Jared to say that word for you ) underneath the firewood. Eventually after working and blowing and stirring the wood caught fire and lasted for awhile. In fact, we even joked about taking guesses on how long it would last.

Chris posing near his creation

Jared went on to explain for our students, small groups provide the kindling needed for fire to last. A fire that burns longer than what our services can provide. Not only that, but our services will also be better because of the fire in small groups.

It was a great example and provided a reminder to our leaders that we aren’t building a student ministry, we are building students. We don’t wants fans of Jesus, we want disciples of Jesus. That takes a lot more work and time than creating an explosive service.

Great night and we’re excited about what’s coming at BSM!!

What do you think about the fire illustration and large group versus small group?

pic from Panoramas

When it comes to ministry, this picture is a scary one. It’s a picture of a plateau. A beautiful piece of God’s creation, but not really what you want if you are the leader of any ministry or business entity. Because this image represents lack of growth.

It might only be for a season, but this is something that in no way is something that I look forward to experiencing. In fact it scares me. But it’s also something that you must learn to embrace for a season.

There are certain things that you can see from a plateau:

1. Where you’ve been
2. Where you’d like to go
3. How stuck in the middle you are

Ever struggle with your ideas not becoming a reality? Have you ever wanted to complete more tasks? Have you ever had the desire to look back on things accomplished with satisfaction and not regret? Then this book is for you. Making Ideas Happen by Scott Belsky
, is by far an incredible resource for you to make progress towards making your ideas happen.

I was told to read this book by a friend. I’ve been sort of at a weird point in my leadership lately. When I was a teenager there was one thing that set me apart from the others. I could get stuff done. I wasn’t the smartest, most athletic, or best public speaker, but when it came down to it, when something needed to get done, I was the guy.

Lately I’ve felt as if I’ve fallen off that road. More descriptively in some mire of delegation, follow-up, miscommunication, feeling overwhelmed by stuff I’m not good at, and just plain not getting stuff done and maybe more importantly getting the right stuff done. Now this isn’t to say that I haven’t gotten anything done or even a lot of things done. But I hadn’t been clicking on all cylinders and the cylinders that I was clicking on weren’t necessarily the ones that I wanted to be clicking on.

So I reached out to a friend, who gets stuff done and he recommended this book to me. It’s been a huge help to me in so many ways. In order to convince you to read it, here are a few from me:

1. This isn’t your normal “How to come up with ideas book” This book is about making your ideas come to fruition.
2. Helps you understand and for me re-learn focus.
3. Pushes you to set priorities.
4. Action becomes a word that is second nature to you.
5. The way that you do meetings, brainstorm, execute are all measured in action steps.
6. There is a task list system available for free online that was developed in lieu of the book.
7. Simple enough, yet organized to help you Get Stuff Done.
8. Ideas don’t matter unless they are realized of completed.
9. The most creative people you know from business aren’t the ones with the best ideas, just the ones with the best ideas that are completed.
10. Action, Action, Action. Action is measurable.

If you need a little step up in your Get Stuff Done tool belt. I highly recommend this book, but only if you put some principles from it into action.

This review was not done for a book review program or any kind of compensation. It was good and beneficial for me so I wanted to review it.