1.) What's the purpose of the environment?
2.) Who will use the environment?
3.) What do we want people to experience?
4.) What do we want people to leave with? (What steps will they take from here? Is there a natural on-ramp or choice of on-ramps for people to consider?)
5.) Who's responsible for quality control?
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Strategic Investment
As I take this summer to get laser focused on being strategic in the ministry God has entrusted me to lead, here are some questions that I am journaling and thinking on:
1.) Does the current set-up of our ministry, the structure, does it have an end in mind? Is there a master plan? If a student comes in to our ministry in 6th grade or as a senior, where are we leading them? Is there a bigger picture in mind? What or who do we want students to be once they graduate?
2.) Does it develop leaders? The adult leaders are the very back bone of our ministry, simply put, I can't do this alone...with that in mind, does our strategy help them not only spiritually but does it develop relationships as they are engaging and helping students remember, understand, and apply what they're being taught?
3.) Does it make community a priority? It's important for students not just to be taught, but to be able to talk it out, interact, and experience. It's important for students to have their opinions validated even if some of those opinions are not right...all along helping students further their understanding in what they are hearing so when they walk out of that environment, they are much more apt to be able to apply it to their life.
4.) Does it promote fusion among parents? Does it someway or somehow bring mom and dad into the spiritual equation with their teen? Parents are the primary spiritual influence, what we teach needs to reinforce, enhance, and enable parents to be able to talk about spiritual things with their teens.
5.) Does it mobilize students to engage in personal ministry? A student who applies what they are taught, begins to live out their faith by applying what we invest in them spiritually to everyday life and begins to serve, is the student that has great influence and impact on culture.
1.) Does the current set-up of our ministry, the structure, does it have an end in mind? Is there a master plan? If a student comes in to our ministry in 6th grade or as a senior, where are we leading them? Is there a bigger picture in mind? What or who do we want students to be once they graduate?
2.) Does it develop leaders? The adult leaders are the very back bone of our ministry, simply put, I can't do this alone...with that in mind, does our strategy help them not only spiritually but does it develop relationships as they are engaging and helping students remember, understand, and apply what they're being taught?
3.) Does it make community a priority? It's important for students not just to be taught, but to be able to talk it out, interact, and experience. It's important for students to have their opinions validated even if some of those opinions are not right...all along helping students further their understanding in what they are hearing so when they walk out of that environment, they are much more apt to be able to apply it to their life.
4.) Does it promote fusion among parents? Does it someway or somehow bring mom and dad into the spiritual equation with their teen? Parents are the primary spiritual influence, what we teach needs to reinforce, enhance, and enable parents to be able to talk about spiritual things with their teens.
5.) Does it mobilize students to engage in personal ministry? A student who applies what they are taught, begins to live out their faith by applying what we invest in them spiritually to everyday life and begins to serve, is the student that has great influence and impact on culture.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Plans
“Unless the LORD builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; unless the LORD guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. (Psalm 127:1)”
Ultimately, we cannot do anything of lasting value unless God blesses our work. The Apostle Paul reminds the believers at Corinth:
“I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. (1 Corinthians 3:6)”
This statement doesn’t diminish the work of Paul or of Apollos. If you have read anything about either of their lives, you know that both men possessed incredible faith and courage. They worked hard. They endured setbacks without losing heart. But, at the end of the day, they also knew that it was all in vain unless God “gave the increase.”
No one knows this better than a farmer. The farmer can till and fertilize the soil. He can plant the seed. He can chase off varmints. He can spray for bugs. He can even irrigate his fields. But he can’t make it rain. Nor can he restrain the winds, the lightening, or the hail. At the end of the day, whether he acknowledges it or not, he is dependent on God for a successful harvest. Here are some implications for us to think on:
1. Stay humble. The Bible says “pride goes before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18). Just when you think you have it figured out, things change. To remain successful, you have to keep adopting the posture of a beginner.
2. Trust God. If you don’t need God to pull off what you are planning, you are not dreaming big enough. In case you are wondering, no, you are not smart enough. No, you don’t have enough experience. and, no, you don’t have enough resources. But with God, all things are possible (Mark 10:27).
3. Work hard. Too often, people want to exercise faith in lieu of real work. But these should never be pitted against one another (James 2:14–18). They go hand in hand. Trust God and then work your buns off.
Ultimately, we cannot do anything of lasting value unless God blesses our work. The Apostle Paul reminds the believers at Corinth:
“I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. (1 Corinthians 3:6)”
This statement doesn’t diminish the work of Paul or of Apollos. If you have read anything about either of their lives, you know that both men possessed incredible faith and courage. They worked hard. They endured setbacks without losing heart. But, at the end of the day, they also knew that it was all in vain unless God “gave the increase.”
No one knows this better than a farmer. The farmer can till and fertilize the soil. He can plant the seed. He can chase off varmints. He can spray for bugs. He can even irrigate his fields. But he can’t make it rain. Nor can he restrain the winds, the lightening, or the hail. At the end of the day, whether he acknowledges it or not, he is dependent on God for a successful harvest. Here are some implications for us to think on:
1. Stay humble. The Bible says “pride goes before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18). Just when you think you have it figured out, things change. To remain successful, you have to keep adopting the posture of a beginner.
2. Trust God. If you don’t need God to pull off what you are planning, you are not dreaming big enough. In case you are wondering, no, you are not smart enough. No, you don’t have enough experience. and, no, you don’t have enough resources. But with God, all things are possible (Mark 10:27).
3. Work hard. Too often, people want to exercise faith in lieu of real work. But these should never be pitted against one another (James 2:14–18). They go hand in hand. Trust God and then work your buns off.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Deviation
I have been in evaluation mode over these past 2 weeks, evaluating our purpose and whether or not our process and programs lines up with our overall purpose. I am realizing that deviating from our vision and purpose is so easy to do, not intentionally by usually with the best intentions. There are many GOOD things that can pull our ministries off course. We easily fall prey to the idea that "more is better" which then results in a full calendar of programs and events that do nothing to carry out the vision of our ministry. I like the way Eric Geiger and Jeff Borton put it in Simple Student Ministry, "the buffet of activities becomes the focus of the student ministry." As leaders we must define what is essential for our ministry and then set our focus and guard our focus on that which is essential. Here are some questions I am asking myself:
1.) What is our definition of a fully devoted follower of Christ?
2.) What essential programs and environments are in place or need to be in place to partner with students to take their next steps toward and with Christ?
3.) Do I really believe those programs and environments will carry out the vision and point towards our purpose?
4.) If I do believe that they are, is my desire to see all the energy and resources of our ministry go toward what is essential?
1.) What is our definition of a fully devoted follower of Christ?
2.) What essential programs and environments are in place or need to be in place to partner with students to take their next steps toward and with Christ?
3.) Do I really believe those programs and environments will carry out the vision and point towards our purpose?
4.) If I do believe that they are, is my desire to see all the energy and resources of our ministry go toward what is essential?
Monday, June 15, 2009
Folders
Lately I've been trying to compartmentalize files on my computer into folders. The folders serve as general areas of storage for specific items that pertain to the folder name, such as music, pictures, etc. With that in mind, I think often I try to do the same with life. It's easy to do. We have our God folder, we put everything that pertains to God (based on our natural tendency) into the God folder: church attendance, good deeds, quiet time, etc. and we feel good that we have a God folder and we often look at that as the one compartment. Then there are the other folders: relationships, job, marriage, money, etc. They have their own compartments in our lives all the while the God folder is just hanging out with it's own set of "files".
As I think of this idea of folders and compartmentalizing my life, I am reminded of and challenged by the words of Paul in 1 Corinthians 10:31 "So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it ALL for the the glory of God." WOW! There should be a God folder on the desktop of my life and that should be it, everything else whether it's my relationships, money, job, marriage, etc. should be in the God folder, God must be the center of all these areas! My prayer is that we would rid of ourselves of the folders or compartments that we try to satisfy with our own pursuits and place EVERYTHING in the God folder. What folders do you need to CUT and PASTE into the God folder?
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
On-Ramp or Cul-de-sac?
After a particular event in our ministry what do we want the students in our ministry to do? Where do we want them to go? The events in our ministry should serve as on-ramps to a person's next step toward Christ or with Christ, if they don't serve as on-ramps then they are cul-de-sacs and the result is no forward movement. To determine the nature (on-ramp or cul-de-sac) of our events we gotta ask some tough questions:
1.) Why does our ministry exist? What is our purpose?
2.) Do the programs or events in our ministry point towards our purpose or are we aimlessly doing events for the sake of tradition or to fill a calendar?
3.) What environments are we offering for students to take their next steps toward Christ and with Christ? On the flipside, what environments do we lack?
4.) Are we strategic and intentional about seeing students become fully devoted followers of Christ? What does that look like?
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Commitment and Accountability
If there is one thing that will make our ministry great, it's dedicated volunteers. Not just adult chaperones who hold up a wall and make an authoritative presence. I'm talking about leaders who are the very front line for relationships with students, in many cases they are the pastor to students that I may never get to build relationships with. For the longest time I have fell to the misconception that you can't hold volunteers accountable because at the end of the day, they're not receiving a paycheck. The volunteers in our ministry shouldn't be threatened by accountability, the should crave it. We should clearly state the expectations for the volunteers in our ministry and those expecatation should be birthed out of the vision God has placed in our hearts. If there is no standard by which to measure, then accountability will never happen, and there will definitely be no room for excellence. We need to set the bar, but we must guard the bar and that happens through accountability, it creates a standard that everyone can live by and ensures unity in the overall vision.
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