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Refine the message

January 19, 2010 in Family Ministry, Lead 0

Giant Pen, little kid, originally uploaded by allemander.

Refining the message. This transition is probably the thing that I look forward to the most.

I think as a teacher we always want to make things attainable, clear, and concise for those that learn from us. But at times we get in the bigger is better mentality or the more is more line of thinking.

But the reality is that Jesus, who I’m sure most would agree, we can glean a lot from the way he taught others, had two things for us to focus on.

Love God
Love Others

Refining the message means being able to focus in on some areas that you can focus on developing in kids or students. I like to call them core values.

However, transitioning to this place takes time (a theme in any type of transition) and long range planning. And that means honesty and openness and the willingness to learn something about an area that might not deal with your particular focus in ministry.

But establishing core values from birth to 18 helps so many areas of ministry. Production, Curriculum development, Events, and Prayer.

And while smaller seems like less, it’s really not. Think of a magnifying glass. The more focused the beam of light, the quicker those ants burn….uh…I mean the more concentrated power of the beam.

And that’s what refining the message is all about.

Integrated Strategy

January 18, 2010 in Family Ministry, Lead 2

orange-week-1

So Integrated Strategy? The ol’ two heads are better than one thing huh? But is that how it really is? Yeah unless someone gets in the way.

I’ll start with probably my favorite Emerson quote:

“For everything you have missed, you have gained something else, and for everything you gain, you lose something else.”

Are you willing to go through this? Because this is what Orange is about. It always seems so easy from the outside to see what family ministry looks like. The family experience, the seamless communication between children’s and students, and how everything seems to just work so gosh darn well. But in reality there is a struggle.

Reaching families for the gospel of Christ and giving them the resources to bring about change in their own family is not an easy task. It takes a concerted effort to get there. It takes more than one group and more than one event and more than one idea to bring this goal to fruition. Things that your group might see as completely beneficial may have more holes than you think. Your “golden calf” of an idea that works for your area might have to be lost in order to gain partnership with parents. Your comfort zone will be breached and you will gain some much needed perspective. But are you willing to go through it. Cuz as I’m sure most of the bloggers during Orange week will attest. It ain’t easy, but it’s good.

So here are the 3 struggles that I see switching from children/student to family ministry integrated strategy will include:

Communication-being more honest with others and yourself. you need to bring all of your thoughts to the table. You might see something that no one else does and it needs to be communicated. You’ll have to be open to hearing and receiving other’s ideas and being open to change things that “we’ve always done”.

Time-the turnaround on things has to be lengthened because their are more parties involved. The transition itself takes time. And the meetings….argh.

Conflict-anything that’s worth doing involves conflict, but because it’s so new it will be tougher than most of what you’ve experienced.

But those things that are a part of the process. And the payoff is tremendous. You discover more about yourself and your team and those golden calves are destroyed and get turned into glorious sacrifices. The communication gets better, the time is worth it and the conflicts produce growth. And in the end you have a strategy that both parties can agree on to reach the goal of partnering with parents in the spiritual development of their children.

So are you willing to lose some things in order to gain something much greater?

Orange Week

January 18, 2010 in Family Ministry, Lead 2

Orange in a glass, originally uploaded by Andrew _ B.

I’m behind. But I’ll catch up to the crowd today. First of all visit Kenny Conley’s site to find the recap of a ton of bloggers: Dan Scott, Matt Mckee, Kendra Golden, Jonathan Cliff, Sam Luce, Gina McClain, and last but certainly not least, my left coast man Anthony Prince, all  giving their insights into the Orange Philosophy. All week long.

I will be bringing a bit of a different spin as Brookwood Church is in the middle of a transition to a Family Ministry. So as I’m posting about each element, I want to give you the benefits of the change and the struggles you might certainly face.

I will try to be as forthright about our struggles as I possibly can thus far, and hope to give you some encouragement if your environment is planning to make the switch as well.

Help Haiti

January 14, 2010 in Lead, Life, Resources 0

haiti-shirt800

So I believe everyone has heard about the earthquake in Haiti. Some estimates are saying between 50k-100k people have passed and up to 1,000,000 could be homeless. So here’s a chance to get involved. This link will take you to a site where you can get this shirt to help you raise awareness and donate $5.

The shirt is normally $15 but Doubletake Clothing has setup easy entry process to donate an extra $5 to the people in Haiti.

  • That’s a meal
  • 5 candy bars
  • 12 pack of Diet Pepsi’s
  • 2 cups of coffee at Sbux

Please take the time to donate to the cause and wear the shirt to raise awareness!

Wednesday Wisdom 1/13/2010

January 13, 2010 in Lead, Life 0

simple

You don’t need to outdo the competition. It’s expensive and defensive. Underdo your competition. We need more simplicity and clarity.

-Jason Fried

Long term planning…with Jesus

January 11, 2010 in Lead 3

used-car-salesman, originally uploaded by mrkittycatguy.

I think sometimes we get this whole long term planning thing screwed up. Actually when I say we, I really mean me. I try and make plans based on things that I would love to happen. But honestly, I don’t know if they would ever occur just trying to do the best that I can.

So this week my car finally bit the dust. Funny thing it had the exact thing happen to it that happened to my wife’s car about 6-7 months ago. So now we are looking at buying a car. Wasn’t really in my planning breakdown. We were saving up for a home. But that get’s put on the backburner for now.

And guess what. We’ve saved and we’ll be able to buy an ok car with cash and cash only. And while that’s super cool that God has allowed us to be able to do that. We still need the car to not be a lemon.

As much as we research:

Carfax
Bluebook
TMV
Consumer Reports
My degree in Marketing
Negotiation Classes and Training (for the game of course)

This issue still remains an issue of hope. Hope that this car lasts us and doesn’t totally die when we drive it off the lot. Hope that it lasts us for awhile, like more than 1 year. And there’s nothing that we can do about it. Sometimes I really forget what knowing God is really about and that’s just straight up trust. No strings, circumstances, or comfort holding me there, just dangling in the middle of my life trusting that God is taking care of me.

It’s tough and I’m glad that this little experience again helps me to realize that trust is where it’s at and planning is waaaayyyy behind.

Oh and I could give you some tips on buying a used car if you like. Like seriously.

Wednesday Wisdom 1/6/2010

January 6, 2010 in Lead 0

“Dare to be yourself.”

-Andre Gide

Bible Reading Plans

January 4, 2010 in Lead, Resources 0

antique bible 2, originally uploaded by Shannta.

I hope that you had an incredible new year. 2010 is going to be incredible for sure and to get you started on the right foot, I’d like to point you to a resource from Lifechurch.

Lifechurch.tv started a site called youversion.com for this reason:

YouVersion represents a new frontier in LifeChurch.tv’s efforts. We aren’t just building a tool to impact the world using innovative technology, more importantly, we are engaging people into relationships with God as they discover the relevance the Bible has for their lives.

And they have a new resource on their site for those that want to soak in some more of God’s word. They have a list of Reading Plans that vary by length of time and content and are a great place to start 2010!

Check them out and let them know exactly how much you appreciate by being engaged more in God’s word than ever before.

Primal by Mark Batterson

December 22, 2009 in Lead, Resources 0

1001591_bPrimal, great book. It’s about getting back to the core of Christianity. And it does that. It’s challenging, stretching, and it pushes you to action. I’m definitely a fan of the way Mark Batterson deals with these two issues specifically: Scripture and Worship. I love how he challenges us to get back to the basics of Scripture and pushes you to redefine worship in your own life.

Plus there is the way in which Batterson writes his books. The way that he uses science, art, travel, philosophy, and religion to illustrate the complexity of God’s creation and dare I say “wonderment” of God. He pushes you to think. It’s frightening how many things, most see as mundane, Batterson can totally reform to illustrate the complexity and awe inspiring glory of God.

Here’s a quote that I would love to share with you that gives you a glimpse of the goodness that is Primal:

“For the record, there are approximately two thousand thunderstorms somewhere on planet Earth at any given time. And there are approximately one hundred lightning strikes per second, or 8.64 million lightning strikes per day! That is a lot of standing ovations. But according to the psalmist, the angels shout, “Encore!” after each one.

When was the last time you cried or clapped for the Creator? When was the last time you gave Him a standing ovation? When was the last time you thanked God for a baby’s smile or a child’s laugh or a spouse’s touch? When was the last time you were so awed by the night sky or autumn leaves or snowcapped mountains or ocean waves that you worshiped the Creator in wide-eyed wonder like a little child?”

If you are trying to get back to that place where you felt most primitive, and yet alive in your relationship with God, then Primal is the book for you. Hats off to Batterson for another challenging and inspiring read.

If you want to purchase Primal click here

This book was provided for review by WaterBrook Multnomah.

You can make a difference…now

December 15, 2009 in Family Ministry, Lead, Random thoughts, Resources 4


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Watch this. Unbelievable story. Incredible effort by this school.

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