To Save A Life

A new movie released yesterday about a teenager who goes through some life lessons.  This is a great movie to watch!  I haven’t seen it yet, but I’ve read a bit on the plot, and it’s worth seeing.  It tells the story of a teenager who has decided to stop running after the world and start focusing on Christ.  He goes through the same stuff that teenagers are going through today, and the movie takes a clear look at what it takes to make a change.  You need to see this!  I’m going to be taking a group of students to see this – anyone who wants to see it, let me know and we’ll pick a day!  Check out the trailer for yourself.  And seriously, if you live in Central Arkansas and want to see this together, comment and let me know you’re interested!

Check your local listings at your local theaters, and be sure to check out the official website for the movie here.

What Can Happen in 2 Hours of a Teens Life?

I ran across this video a couple weeks ago thanks to a friend, and thought it was worth sharing.  It goes into the stats of what exactly happens every two hours in a teen’s life across the world.  Check it out!  Crazy stuff!  We need to get busy!

Paintball Announcements

I’ve been in church all my life.  It’s always looked the same to me.  That’s why when I saw Josh Griffin and Jake Rutenbar spice the announcements up at the Simply Youth Ministry Conference, I was inspired.  So I want to show you our version.  I’ll also show you theirs.

But before we get to the video goodness, I want to point out the reason for this video.  A colleague of mine once asked, “Aren’t the announcements supposed to be boring?”  My answer was no.  The example was the video you’re about to see.  My point is this – not everyone can share information with their people in this way (this is kind of a youth ministry thing), but announcements can be fun!  It’s all about creativity.  And with that, I give you Paintball Announcements.

Again, I want you to know I ripped this off Josh Griffin.  Here’s his video:

My Intentional Devotional Plan for 2010

If you haven’t read JR Vassar’s post on creating an intentional devotion plan for the year yet, you should.  That post is the reason I started this.

So, after 10 years of following Jesus, I finally created an intentional devotion plan for the year.  Wow.  That’s sad, but it’s OK.  I’m starting now.

The schedule is posted below, but let me explain how I went about creating it.

1. Be real. If you don’t have time to read 10 chapters a day, don’t create a plan where those are the expectations.  The idea isn’t to get through the Bible. It’s to get the Bible through you.  So start small and get after it.  I chose a system in which I read two chapters a day in an Old Testament book and one chapter from Proverbs each day.  It wasn’t my plan to read through the entire Old Testament in a year, but that’s what it came out to look like.

2. You’re going to miss a day. So, when you do, recognize that if that keeps up, this whole plan will be a waste of time.  You have two options.  Catch up or just ignore what you missed.  I’m not going to tell you what to do, but it’s my personal goal to keep up with it.  For me, if I miss some, I’m going to work overtime to cover lost time.

3. Remind yourself. There’s lots of ways to remind yourself of your daily reading.  I like to post the list on the wall in a frequently trafficked area in my home.  My wife doesn’t like that, though, so I’ve got other ideas.  You can make use of an RSS reader, that will send you you’re daily reading in your email.  I believe you can get help from YouVersion or Bible Gateway on this.  You can take the time to put your daily reading assignment in your Outlook/Entourage/iCal, or whatever suits you.  I set timers and alarms for everything I need to remember.  Why would I not use them for this?

Whatever you do, remember the purpose for this.  My purpose is to take bite-size chunks of the Bible each day, with the desired goal that I would understand God’s Word better, and create a more intimate daily relationship with my Heavenly Father.

January – 31 Days

Genesis 1-50

Exodus 1-12

Proverbs

February – 28 Days

Exodus 13-40

Leviticus 1-27

Numbers 1-4

Proverbs

March – 31 Days

Numbers 5-36

Deuteronomy 1-34

Proverbs

April – 30 Days

Joshua 1-24

Judges 1-21

Ruth 1-4

1 Samuel 1-12

Proverbs

May – 31 Days

1 Samuel 13-31

2 Samuel 1-24

1 Kings 1-20

Proverbs

June – 30 Days

1 Kings 21-22

2 Kings 1-25

1 Chronicles 1-29

2 Chronicles 1-6

Proverbs

July – 31 Days

2 Chronicles 7-36

Ezra 1-10

Nehemiah 1-13

Proverbs

August – 31 Days

Esther 1-10

Job 1-42

Ecclesiastes 1-12

Proverbs

September – 30 Days

Isaiah 1-62

Proverbs

October – 31 Days

Jeremiah 1-52

Lamentations 1-5

Ezekiel 1-6

Proverbs

November – 30 Days

Ezekiel 7-48

Daniel 1-12

Hosea 1-14

Proverbs

December – 31 Days

Joel 1-3

Amos 1-9

Obadiah 1

Jonah 1-4

Micah 1-7

Nahum 1-3

Habakkuk 1-3

Zephaniah 1-3

Haggai 1-2

Zechariah 1-14

Malachi 1-4

Proverbs

I’d love to hear your ideas or feedback!  Lay it on me!

The Key to Following Jesus

I’ve always read the Gospels, in a way that led me to believe that guys like Peter just followed Jesus, without any emotion.  I guess I missed a pretty crucial element, until yesterday.  I was reading in Luke yesterday morning and I ran across something I haven’t seen yet (don’t you love when that happens?).

If you read Luke 5, you’ll see a familiar story about Peter and his friends coming in after a long night’s worth of fishing, and to no avail.  Jesus walks on the scene, and starts giving instructions.  I want to pause here for a commentary.  These guys must have thought Jesus was the most annoying dude in the world!  Have you ever been hard at work on something that you’ve been doing all your life, only to have a stranger (or anyone else) walk up to you to ‘fill you in’ on how the system works?  I’m not sure what I would’ve done in Peter’s situation, but it probably wouldn’t have been worth repeating.

However, what’s most interesting about this story isn’t the fisherman’s failure or even Jesus’ introduction to the scene.  It’s all about Peter’s reaction to Jesus.

“Master, we worked hard all night acaught nothing, but I will do as You say and let down the nets.”

Peter refers to Jesus as “Master.”  Interesting.  The story goes on to show that Jesus’ plan worked, and they couldn’t even handle the fish they brought in.  Again, it’s not this miraculous occasion that I want to draw attention to.

“But when Simon Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus’ feet, saying, ‘Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!’

Not only did Peter bow down at that very moment, but he actually asked Jesus to leave him, because he was a sinful and broken man.  I don’t know if I’m not hanging out with the right kind of people, or if I just don’t get out all that much, but you don’t see this kind of humility today! I understand, Jesus isn’t walking around today, doing miracles before our very eyes, but what happened to our amazement in Him?

Jesus responds.

“Do not fear, from now on you will be catching men.”

I usually like to draw some conclusions about text to wrap it all up.  I want to let you do that today.  What is your response to Jesus today?  Is Jesus asking you to follow Him?  What is your response?

It’s time to get on our knees before Him!

Movie Review: The Blindside

If you haven’t seen or heard, the movie, The Blindside, has had quite an effect on its viewers.  I had the chance to see it recently and highly recommend it.  Here are my thoughts:

1. It communicates hope, hard work and success.  Michael Oher, the main character of the film, is a boy who’s had a rough history.  One day, he gets the chance to go to a private Christian school, due to his athletic ability.  While this started as the “light at the end of the tunnel,” there are many more negative circumstances that come his way.  He fights through them all to find that his hard work was worth something.  That’s as much as I can say without giving the story away.  You need to see this film for yourself!

2. It depicts the sacrificial act of one family, with no strings attached.  The family that took Michael in was a normal, upper-class family. One day, they were faced with the option of letting him go homeless, or opening their home to him.  They chose the high road.  While this was initially a ‘just until you get on your feet’ kind of deal, they ended up exceeding his expectations.  In some cases, they forced him to be loved.  As you may have expected, this family went through some obstacles to take care of Michael.  They faced them all head-on.  The love that this family showed Michael is definitely worthy of emulating.

3. It’s a real-life story.  If you didn’t know, this story is, in fact, a true story.  A real boy went through the pain and heartache depicted in this film.  If you want the backstory, watch the following news clip telling Michael’s story.  Today, he’s an NFL player for the Baltimore Ravens.  I want to warn you.  While this movie is worth watching, it tells the true story of Michael’s life.  One of the reasons I liked it so much was that it was true-to-life.  There are some scenes involving violence and profanity.  However, the inclusion of these scenes really helped to tell the story.  Again, you heard me correctly, I highly recommend this movie.  I recommend the whole family (children of certain ages of course) watching it together.  And lastly, I recommend talking with your family about what true love looks like, and how you, as a family, can exhibit this kind of love.  Now go see the movie for yourself!

Silence

I don’t know what it is about my life, but I can’t avoid clutter.  I can’t avoid the lack of focus that will eventually set in.  As a spiritual leader of my home and a group of teenagers, I find it necessary to escape on a regular basis to listen up – to listen to what God has to say about my life and future.

Today is one of those days.

Sometimes, escaping is the first idea I come to.  Other times, I dabble mindlessly until I snap out of it, and realize I need to get away with God.

So, when you have one of those days, give yourself the freedom to flee from mediocrity and into God’s arms.

That’s it.  It’s simple.  Run to Him!

The Story Behind New Life Church and “Overcome”

My pursuit of great Christian music has led me to New Life Church in Colorado Springs over and over.  They’re youth band, “Desperation Band” has put out some really amazing music, as well as their main worship band.  This church has gone through some major struggles over the years, which birthed one of their most powerful songs, “Overcome.”  This is the story behind it.

The first video is an explanation of their story.  The second video is the actual recording of the worship service they mentioned in the first video.

Goal-Setting Done Right – Part 2

This post is a continuation from Goal-Setting Done Right – Part 1. If you haven’t read it yet, check it out first.

4. Decide what you want to do, and then give yourself deadlines. I’m a firm believer that schools use homework to teach us that deadlines are a healthy thing in the job force.  If you work in an arena in which you have to set your own goals and deadlines, this can be tough sometimes.  The process I’ve adopted allows me to make a “Dream List.”  These are the big things I want to make happen this year.  This is usually a very invigorating time…until you look at the finished list.  It’s super-easy to look at a list like that and think it can never happen.  That’s why the second part is so crucial. Divide those ‘dreams’ into quarters of the year.  I made a list of 10 big dreams for the year, which is a lot to accomplish.  However, if you can split those into two or three per quarter, it’s a lot more manageable.  You have to learn the value of taking initiative.  Again, there are people far more capable of ‘getting things done.’  Why are you OK with just hoping it gets done?  Make it happen!

5. Convince those around you that these goals are worthy of a year’s effort. In any organization, there are people that help you make this happen.  And in most cases, the people that help you make it happen are not just subordinate to you.  In fact, the most important meeting you’ll have, after engaging in goal-setting, is sharing your goals with those who lead you.  John Maxwell coined a term, “leading up” that described the process in which an employee shares ideas with his/her direct report.  In my case, that’s my pastor.  Now that you’ve poured your heart and soul onto a whiteboard, you need to compile it in a clear and concise plan and hand it to your boss.  Please know that this is dangerous!  You need to be ready for anything.  Your goals may not be their goals (it helps to know the expectations you have been given before you even start setting goals).  They may not approve, and if they don’t, you need to be mentally prepared to head back to the drawing board. Once your plans have been approved, you need to convince those who follow you that these goals are worth chasing.  If your team is not on the same page, you cannot move forward.  You can try as you may, but don’t expect much progress.  This process may be more difficult than you thought.  However, it’s wise to gain the approval and excitement of your team before you can move forward.  A singular focus is a crucial element to progress.  If you don’t have focus, you can’t have synergy.  And if you can’t have synergy, your idea will invariably fall apart at the seams.

6. Continually remind your team members of your goals and follow through. This is the tough part for me.  I’m a big picture kind-of-guy.  That means a couple things about me.  I’m not good with details.  I’m really good at starting things, and rarely good at finishing them.  Ideas excite me.  Processing them drains me.  If you’re like me, you need a team of people to help you with this.  Whether you have employees or volunteers, they are the ones who are going to help you make this idea come to life.  What does follow-through look like in my life?  Simply, it means keeping that list in front of me for 12 months.  It also looks like reminding my team, at every level, and at every meeting, what we’re shooting for.  This has the potential to be really annoying and stagnating.  One way to avoid that is to present the idea creatively.  If you say the same sentence over and over again, expecting people to catch the idea, it probably won’t be caught.  However, different people respond to different stories, illustrations, and dreams.  You may catch someone’s attention on the third or fourth cast.  That’s normal!  This is the same reason you see commercials aired repeatedly in a given night.  What do you remember?  The commercial that aired once in a four-hour span, or the commercial that aired every single break between shows?  Repetition isn’t your enemy.  Presentation is.

In short, your team needs to be excited about the plan.  Once they’re excited, they need to know what part you want them to play, and how to play it. That’s leadership.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on the processes you’ve adapted, and what you may think works better in your context!

Goal-Setting Done Right – Part 1

If you’re like me, December/January is a time to evaluate the last year, and to set goals for the next year.  If you live in the youth ministry world, this might happen in August, too (I usually assess twice a year – August and January).

I found myself at the whiteboard again this past week, looking at the potential for growth in another year of student ministry.  But if you’re like me, you might not know where to start.  In fact, most of our goals, like our new years resolutions, fade away during the hustle and bustle of the year.

So I started a new system of goal-setting this week.  It’s not revolutionary, overly-intellectual, but it helped me zero in on some time-specific goals.  This process shouldn’t be organization-specific.  It’s pretty transferable.  So, here are six steps to outline that process.  The first three will be available today.  The last three will be published tomorrow.

1. What is the mission of your organization? This should be the first question you ask yourself at the beginning of any goal-setting process.  If you can’t “clarify the win” early, you’ll start picking a bunch of ‘really good’ ideas that would be fun to chase after.  This is the time to drill down on the mission and vision of your organization.  For me, prayer is a non-negotiable in goal-setting for a couple reasons.  First of all, I’m asking God what He wants for His people (not what I want).  Secondly, He may decide that you are off-mission.  Sometimes, we need a healthy reminder.  This is so important.  I’m afraid a bunch of youth ministries decide which fun events they want to do, so they can have a full calendar.  If the goal of your youth ministry is to have fun events and nothing else, then you’ve hit the bingo.  This is also important because wasting time means wasting money, and today, who can afford to waste money?

2. What are the dreams that you have for your organization? It’s really easy to say that you want to make more sales, up the attendance, or boost the market share.  In fact, let’s just call those ‘givens.’  When you daydream about what ‘could be’ in your organization, why not shoot for that?  I’ll tell you why – it’s scary, and darn near impossible.  But the other guys are dreaming it.  Your competition (church people, I’m not talking about churches.  I’m talking about what fights for their attention) is dreaming about what’s impossible.  For those of us in the church leadership world, why do we strike the impossibilities from our list?  God, Who created this universe, called you to be an agent of change.  So far, I haven’t seen Him be a minimalist.  He’s got HUGE plans for us!  Why not take Him up on it?

3. What worked last year?  What didn’t work?  What needs tweaking?  What needs trashing? This is time for brutal honesty.  We all inherently feel like our ideas are good.  After all, they are our ideas!  The problem with that mindset is that other people have to buy into them.  If you’re in business, you need people to buy your product.  If you’re in nonprofit, you need people to believe in your mission and methods.  If people don’t buy what you’re selling, you have to take a hard look in the mirror and admit that the idea may not work.  Still other times, you may feel a deep commitment to an idea, and feel it needs some time to mature.  Whatever the case, don’t hold onto a dead or dying idea.  Ideas have shelf lives just like food.  you wouldn’t eat rotten food, would you?  So why would you embrace a rotten idea that could hurt you in the end?

Part 2 coming tomorrow…