by Chase | How To, Leadership
I love reading and spend a significant amount of time each week consuming various blogs, books, and news outlets to keep me focused. And, depending on who you talk to, I might be addicted to buying books. My office might be covered with books… The struggle for shelf space is definitely real though – I am having to start stacking them on random flat surfaces! The question has become, “Do I keep the picture of my kids during our beach vacation or use that space to stack books?”
Sadly I feel like the minority when it comes to reading. Too many people are quick to dismiss disciplines because of their daily demands. Learning is a discipline that is developed and maintained. As I talk to people it is clear that they value the idea of learning and reading, but can’t find time to invest in their own personal development. Strong leaders are learners regardless of how busy their schedules become.
I am in no way an expert in time management but here are a few hacks I have used to fuel my hunger for learning.
Life Hacks To Help You Learn Throughout The Day
Start Listening To Audiobooks and (Quality) Podcasts
Audiobooks and podcasts are a great resource to utilize during your commute, while you are mowing the yard, as you complete your morning workout regimen. When you start adding the time you waste listening to talk radio or pop music you can spend significant time absorbing to new ideas. Each week I am able to listen to four to five podcasts on current events, sermons, or leadership ideas by simply listening while I workout and mow my yard.
Read One Chapter Per Day
For some the thought of reading a book is overwhelming. An easy way to read a book is to break it into manageable chunks. I aim to read one chapter of a book per day. At that rate I can read through a book in a couple weeks. If this is too much, cut it back to a chapter every three days.
Study One Topic Per Month
Since I am a pastor I spend significant time preparing sermons, bible lessons, and talks. One way I focus in on my study is to spend one month researching, praying through, and learning about one doctrine, idea, or person per month. Over the course of a year I am able to develop a deep grasp of twelve biblical doctrines.
Follow Local and National News Outlets on Twitter
If I had to guess I bet that you do not have a daily newspaper subscription. Print media has taken a hit since the rise of the digital age, but news outlets have figured out how to share stories on social media. Twitter will show you the most recent posts from those your follow. Add in a few news accounts and your Twitter feed will deliver you the top stories in real time.
Now What?
How are you setting aside time to learn in spite of your busy schedule?
by Chase | Leadership
One of the most dangerous traps a church can fall into is a state of apathy. How does a body of believers who gather each week to celebrate the risen Savior get sucked into a state of apathy? Maybe it is because of stress. Perhaps it stems from years of pain that has happened within the organization. Or it might emanate from the congregationâs comfort.
Regardless of the source, apathy causes churches and individuals to lose interest, concern, emotion, passion, and excitement for obeying God. Apathy removes our urgency for the Gospel and replaces it with indifference.
It keeps us content with that we are doing, when we do it, and how we have always done it. Many see the opportunity for growth, depth, and new disciplines but that realization doesnât translate into motivation.
Apathy is often the root of our lack of service.
But the truth is that we are plenty busy. Our calendars are jammed with appointments, ball games, deadlines, and meetings. Apathy, as it relates to serving, if often a reflection of misaligned priorities. Gandhi said, âAction expresses priorities.â He is right. You can say serving God is important to you, but your actions will prove if it really is a priority.
How do we make the things of God important to us? How do we create excitement, joy, and passion?
Those attributes are fruits of the Spirit and the only way to possess them is to be growing in Christ. Apathy is a spiritual problem that needs to be addressed by prayer. Praying for God to remove our apathy and give us the faith to take steps of obedience brings us out of the passionless existence.
Here are 5 Ways Prayer Removes Apathy
Prayer Gives Us Hope
We need to rest in Godâs provision. This isnât merely financial provisions, but His promises to love, correct, empower, and equip us.
Prayer Mends Your Brokenness
The Holy Spirit helps us communicate our needs with God. God is not absent from our lives.
Prayer Creates Excitement when God Answers Prayer
When God moves in and around our lives it causes us to celebrate Him!
Prayer Shifts Our Priorities
As we commit ourselves to prayer we often see that our priorities are not the priorities God would have for our day.
Prayer Emboldens Us To Move
Seeing Godâs faithfulness builds our own faith in Him. When we commit ourselves to journey with Jesus, the Holy Spirit will embolden us for what lies ahead.
by Chase | Leadership
No one wants to embrace awkwardness. In fact, most of us wish we could remove our most embarrassing moments from our memories.
But Sammy Rhodes has a different thought: he believes that we should embrace our awkwardness because it leads to a vulnerability that God uses for His glory.
In This Is Awkward: How Life’s Uncomfortable Moments Open the Door to Intimacy and Connection
, Rhodes lets readers know that Godâs glory shines through the awkward moments. He uses life stories to open up about topics like pornography, insecurity, weight loss, divorce, and depression to shine light on the fact that we all have gaps and are not as put together as we claim to be. The message is simple: Donât waste your awkwardness.
I enjoyed working through the book. Rhodes writing style is extremely conversational, blunt, and transparent. It was refreshing to read a book from an author who is willing to discuss his faults and struggles in an effort to inspire others to depend on the forgiveness and grace of Jesus.
This is a worthwhile read that will open up avenues of conversation about taboo topics in many church cultures.
Top Quotes from This Is Awkward:
- âWhat awkward moments (and people) do is simply shine the spotlight on the gap, revealing the cracks in our humanity, no matter how shiny and cool we may seem on the outside.â
- âGodâs love is the only love that can sustain a marriage because it is the only love that can promise itâs never going anywhere.â
- âThe Lord loves to love people out of their lust in ways that begin to transform them from the inside out.â
- âHeâs (Jesus) with me in the darkness and heâs for me through the darkness.â
- âThe Lord doesnât promise to never take us into the wilderness. This is the bad news. The good news is that even the wilderness is his, and he is there.â
(Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookLook Bloggers book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.)
by Chase | Leadership, Student Min
Student leadership teams are awesome!
Tons of student ministries have student leadership teams, but few are utilizing the students’ gifts, talents, and abilities fully. Many ministries don’t encourage students to serve outside of the greeting time at midweek services. As a result, students don’t take ownership, get excited, or invite their friends like the student pastor wants them to.Â
Our student ministry has a student leadership team of seven students who are upperclassmen in high school.
I believe your student leadership team is one of the keys to building an effective student ministry. When you get students invested in serving, your student ministry will see incredible spiritual growth.Â
Here are 10 ideas that actually give students ownership in your ministry:
Plan Services
You arenât 16 anymore. Your idea of awesome is different from the average middle and high school student. This is one area your student leadership team can help keep your student ministry engaged in youth culture. Give them the sermon outline and let them help the worship team create (with their guidance) engaging and creative midweek experiences.
Follow Up With Guests
Most student ministries gather contact information on visitors (if not, you need to start) and have adults send a card to visiting students. While students love getting mail, imagine the impact if an upperclassman sent a card! You can have the student write the card and you address them so there are no confidentiality breaches (students will be students).
Lead Games
I try to get our leadership team upfront as much as possible. Students need to see their peers on stage reading scripture, praying, and acting like fools. Give them some game resources, let them learn the rules, and schedule them in the worship set. For great game ideas check out FunNinja.org and DownloadYouthMinistry.com.Â
Lead Kids Worship
The high school leadership team is perfect to help with Kids Worship on Sunday mornings. We have two services, so I expect our student leaders to worship one and then help serve in Kids Worship. They lead songs, participate in skits, give devotions, and facilitate games. The kids love having high school students lead them (and our adults love that the high school students have as much energy as the kids)!
Plan Trips and Events
There have been times that I thought an event would be a sure-fire hit and found out that it was a flop. Pass event ideas by your leadership team (I use group texting for this) so you can get their honest feedback. They have awesome ideas! Remind them that you still have the final say on budget, safety, and logistics.
Create Theme Nights For Student Worship
Once a month we have theme nights for our student ministry. On that Wednesday our middle school and high school students are combined for one large group worship session. We use this to bring in new students and focus heavily on sharing the Gospel. (Blog post to come on how to utilize theme nights in your student and kid ministry.) Our least involved theme night is Flannel Night. The high school students came up with the idea and it amazes me how excited they get about flannel shirts.
Announcement Videos
This is an area I want to implement in our student ministry. Announcements can be boring and dry. Give your student leaders a list of announcements, a time limit (1 minute or so) and a GoPro camera and let them create something awesome!
T-Shirt Designs
Student pastors spend too much time trying to create T-shirt designs. You rarely know what is cool and are probably not a graphic designer. Let your team know the theme of your event and see what they can find or create. Send them links to CustomInk.com and FundTheNations.com, let them pick out a shirt, then order it. You will thank me later for saving you hours of design time.Â
Stage Designs
Each quarter we update our student ministryâs stage design. These updates are not expensive, but they are key to building ownership in the student center. Send a group text to your student leadership team with a link to ChurchStageDesignIdeas.com and let them help you create an awesome look for your space!
Ask Them Where They Want To Serve
Remember, your students are creative and intelligent. They will come up with ideas and ways to serve that you havenât even thought about! Get their input. I canât state that enough. Get their input. If you fail to get studentâs input, they will not be invested.
Do you have any other ideas for getting your student leadership team mobilized for ministry?
by Chase | Leadership
The Biggest Struggle Youth Ministers Face
–Â Christopher Wesley
The biggest struggle that youth ministers faces is that they don’t know when to stop.Â
Learning To Lead Your Team
–Â Jeff Pratt
To further your ministry you must be able to lead a team. Here are some helpful tips.Â
Teach Children To Be Strong In The Lord
–Â Rob GallatyÂ
Children can experience disappointment and frustrations just like adults. Rob explains how we can encourage them to stay strong in Jesus.Â
by Chase | Leadership
It is hard to imagine what life would be like in the first century.
How did student ministry thrive before Wal-Mart and smartphones??
Shoot, most regions of America have had indoor plumbing for less than 100 years!
Needless to say, the church has seen thousands of changes over the last 2,000 years. From church polity to buildings, and programs, churches have been no strangers to change. The mission of the church is eternal, but the methods are constantly changing!
But unfortunately, many local congregations struggle with implementing change.
When we make big things out of the small items we will never address the larger issues.Â
I am convinced that most churches do not grow because they are spinning their wheels on petty complaints and minor issues.
Just for fun here are a list of complaints early church members never said.
I need a reminder every now and again that our church gatherings are about making Jesus known in our hearts and in our communities. I need a reminder that our complaints are often foolish and 1st-world problems that typically show our lack of commitment to Jesus.
10 Things the Early Church Never Complained About
10. “The music is too loud.”
9. “I can’t believe the pastor preaches from an iPad!”
8. “I hope we can park our mule closer to the church this week.”
7. “The transition from songs to the offertory prayer was a bit awkward…”
6. “It appalls me that I would have to bring my child to service with me on the 5th Sunday.”
5. “Why can’t we adjust the thermostat? Do they not know it is summer?”
4. “Someone sat in my seat!”
3. “Student worship never ends on time.”
2. “They left my announcement out of the bulletin!”
1. “Are they really asking us to serve again? That is what we pay the staff to do!”
The book of Acts paints a picture of the JOY that came from a group that was largely persecuted. The early church didn’t complain about the petty issues, but pray about the larger situations. Their faith in Jesus overcame their need for control.
What complaints would you add to this list?
