Last 4 Months

So its been about 4 months since I have last chronicled my thoughts on the ole blog!  So much has gone on, been accomplished, been so close to coming together... its an exciting time!   Had an intern for 7 months, Britton Asbell.  What a tremendous job he did while he was here.  He was all about the students... such a huge help to me since 1 person can only connect with so many people.  We said goodbye to him Sunday, he will be missed.   we are looking to the future, whats next, what does God want from us, where does he want us to invest our time/energy/resources into?  I love this stage, because it takes me out of the equation because I don't know the next steps... only GOD knows... and I'm OK waiting on Him!

My prayer life needed a shot in the arm and got one after reading "Sun Stand Still" by Steven Furtick (lead pastor at Elevation Church in Charlotte, North Carolina)  I pray like a sissy not a juggernaut, its time to get serious about it, time to start making strides in my personal relationship with God. It is hard to lead others to grow when you are not going after it with all you have.  Ive seen that in my life and it is changing and will continue changing!!  LETS GO!!  

Join me... join me in the pursuit of God and worshiping him for who He is, what He has done and what He is going to do!!

The Student Leader

Leadership is something that is sought after in all areas of life, workforce, home.   We are constantly trying to develop and bring about leadership in people.  Some have so much potential to impact people in a positive way yet they dont fully take hold of those opportunities, they let life slip away.  Some do not have a lot of potential or may not be wired that way but work at it extremely hard because they UNDERSTAND why leadership in any aspect in life is important!  If we can develop at a young age students heart for leadership no matter how gifted or how much potential they have; then we are developing people who can change the world. 

The student leader is every student ministries pastors best friend.  Without these leaders then we find ourselves looking for ways to motivate, create energy and get students to buy into whats going on in the ministry.  Student Leaders are essential for the vital health of the church as well.  These are the next generation of church leadership, a group that will rise up and take hold of the awesome responsibility of spreading the Gospel. 

Its hard to start from scratch and develop leaders, here are a few tips for starting out...

1. Open your eyes - lots of students have the natural ability, people gravitate towards them, they can be the life of the crowd.  Those students need some coaching but have limitless potential.

2. Solid Trumps Popular - students who are grounded in what they believe will be more committed than the popular student who isnt as focused and isnt dependable.

3. Consistency in Meeting - meet with these students on a regular basis, consistency breeds accountability and allows them to be encouraged consistently.

4. Poll the student body- ask them who they look up to, who do they look to for spiritual matters, who would they follow... they usually get it right!

5.  Challenge - Dont make it easy on them.  Give the student/s something to strive for, something that will stretch them and allow them to fail.  Nothing says learning from experience like having a task and bombing!!  You learn real quick what to do and what not to do!

6.  PRAY like crazy - In order for God to do something huge through these students then you must intercede for them on their behalf. 

My desire is for students to be equipped to change the world.  There is nothing to big that God cannot do...  dream big, live big... impact people for Christ!!

Dream...

“Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore" - Gide

If you could do anything in your ministry what would you do?  If cash was no object and you could have any facility you wanted and could totally redesign your ministry what would you do?  

Ive been asked to think about these things a few times...  so I have!  The more I contemplate this facilitates the wrong mindset for me and for the student ministry and Sugar Grove Church.   When I dream for myself I come up with programs, atmosphere, lights, flat screens and Ipods... "stuff."  I think this happens to all of us in Youth Ministry at some point or another.  We want all the bells in whistles so we can make our student ministry "cool" or a place where your students want to bring their friends.  Wanting your students to enjoy coming and invite their friends and instill pride in their church is all well and good.  This, however, does not reach the heart of why we should be doing what we are doing.

If we focus on the outward we miss the inward.  As hard as it is to not be consumed by those things we should be more worried about our students being sold out for Christ.   We want to help bring up fully devoted followers of Christ and no light board, flat screen or sweet video is going to do that.  None of those things are bad unless they take precedence in your ministry.  

Build relationships, grow disciples, show Christs love to the people you come into contact with, pray for your students, challenge them to take risks for Christ, make an impact...  from the inside out!

Whats the heartbeat of SGC

Recently I have really been thinking about the heartbeat of our church... what is it?  What is God calling us to here in Elkhart County??  What is Sugar Grove's role in it all??

I want to ask you those questions... what do you think?? 

Love to hear your thoughts on it...

Top Ten of Memphis 2010

Here we are after 2 weeks being in Memphis, TN.   What an amazing trip it was... serving the people, loving the people... showing them Christ!

It was a life changing trip, here are the top ten things that happened on the Hope Experience:

10 - hottest slip n slide of all time, actually baked the grass underneath


9 - stripped down and painted 2 homes in intense heat


8 - dancing with the kids at Memphis Athletic Ministries, proving that white people cant dance! :)


7 - the rolls and bread at The Grove campground = shocking

6 - making a whirlpool in a rectangle pool...  that just happened

5 - Teaching Refugee's from countries around the world English and how to fill out a job application, very humbling and exciting to be able to help them

4 - Rendevzous Ribs - no napkins, no silverware just Tshirts - so fun

3 - Warrens Denim Scrubs

2 - playing with the kids at the refugee apartments, letting them paint your face with sidewalk chalk, seeing their smiles and giving them blankets... priceless

1 - hearing about how Lauren & Patrick had the chance to lead someone to Christ at Holy Community Church... Sharing Faith, Giving Hope, Showing Love

Unbelievable Trip...

The Elijah Effect

The story of Elijah is an amazing and profound statement of one mans faith in God.  Elijah takes on the prophets of Baal and Asherah and challenges them.  The Lord answers Elijah's prayer! (Check out the full story in 1 Kings 18)

However I want to send a little "high five" Elijahs way.  Here is a man that was THE LAST PROPHET of the Lord, the one and only, no one else around, no one to help keep him accountable, no one to laugh with, cry with, pray with, confide in... only one left.   Elijah stood for the Lord, and the Lord blessed him.   This fires me up, not only cause Elijah stood up and defended his belief in God but because he had no help doing it.  It makes me wonder if everyone with like faith would band together and stand for up for our belief in God what would happen?  If all of us would have the same fire, the same passion for God what could be done?  How many people need to know about God and His unconditional love for us, His mercy, His grace, the hope that he gives... if we stand up and have faith that God is with us, think of the impact on this country we could have.   This challenges me and humbles me because I can only imagine how much courage that takes...

Whats holding us back?

Elijah was one man... we have thousands and millions to help encourage and push eachother onward.

We need an Elijah effect!!!

Refining Leadership

Today leadership is more crucial than ever before.  You can see it all around you, solid leadership breeds consistent, functional, productive ministries, teams and businesses!  When you see something that has or is successful in their field, more often than not the people that are in leadership positions within that organization are constantly looking for ways that they can better lead.  They are continuing to refine their skills, knowledge and practices.  The refining process happens to increase value & quality. 

Gold is one of those precious metals that has benefited from this economic downturn in the last couple years.   Gold has increased in value and people have started cashing in on this.  Cash 4 Gold stores, Joe's Gold... you name it stores are popping up buying gold from people who are strapped for cash and then turning around and selling it for more than they paid.  The more refined the gold, the more pure the gold is the more its worth.  Gold is refined in intense heat, the dross(impurities) is taken out and the gold is made more valuable because it is a higher quality.

In order to grow as a leader the refining process needs to take place!   Everyone has a limitless ceiling when it comes to leadership.   Continuing to grow as a leader is important, here are some things that can help refine you as a leader:

1. Learning from those who have gone before you
2. There are great books out there (Leaders are Readers)
3. Blogs
4. Conferences
5. Ask those you lead how you can improve

**Be in Gods word daily, Be in constant communication with Him (prayer), ask for Him to be the leader in your life.

Dont Stop, Keep Leading!!