Ministry Blackboard

7Jan/130

the Monday Morning Debrief: the Power to Change

"...what really counts is not the immediate act of courage or of valor, but those who bear the struggle day in and day out--not the sunshine patriots but those who are willing to stand for a long period of time."

"Never before has man had such capacity to control his own destiny, to end thirst and hunger, to conquer poverty and disease, to banish illiteracy and massive human misery. We have the power to make this the best generation of mankind in the history of the world--or make it the last."

Both comments were spoken by JFK, one of my favorite Presidents (please, if you don't approve, keep that to yourself).  But as I am speaking on courage, hope and destiny with the youth this coming week, I ran upon these quotes I had of President Kennedy and they really did inspire me.

Here is what I love about them.

  • Courage is defined by not a simple act but how long you are able to stand for what you believe.  It is a daily challenge.  
  • We have the ability to control our own destiny.

These aren't new themes at all.  You hear "control your own destiny" over and over again (usually in sporting events).  But, seeing these quotes inspired me (almost 50 years after they were said) because as we hang with students I hear over and over again how because of X or Y they can't do it.  They can't stand for Christ.  They can't give up Porn.  They can't stand with the "loser" in school.  They have to have sex before marriage because everyone else is doing it.  They can't do a quiet time or pray on a daily basis.  Even with talking to other ministers, I hear, "I can't do it", "my boss makes me crazy", "I want to quit".

Sorry, but...no crap.  No one can.  It is hard, especially when we focus on "forever" aspect.  But we were never called to focus on it.  We were called to seek Him first (Matthew 6:33).  To steal a quote from "AA", "one day at a time".  Focus on the Lord, win the day and then start over the next day.  It's the courage we take day in and day out that will determine how successful we will be achieving our goals.  That way, nothing is impossible with God (Philippians 4:13).  The more we are successful that day, the more our confidence become and the long lasting our courage is.  Each day we win for the Lord, our confidence and our ability to stand becomes greater.

And, the great thing about it is that we don't have to do it alone.

In Matthew 28:19-20, Christ calls us to, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you."  That's a pretty big task that could cause all sorts of stress   But he promise us that we are not alone, "And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”  Christ gives us a challenge to go and make disciples.  But he also promises us that he will be with us, to the end of the age.  Again, this sounds redundant, but when we are gaining the courage to overcome all things, we don't have to do it alone.  We have Christ with us and surely he will be with us.

As JFK says, "Never before has man had such capacity to control his own destiny".  We have that ability as ministers in our own setting but also we have the ability to inspire and encourage the students we minister to.  Have the courage to stand up, not just for 1 moment or another, but for a long period of time and see where God leads you because of it.

Here's reality and the point of this whole post...You and those you are ministering to have the power to change who you are.  Question is do you have the courage to do it?  It take courage to be someone who you know you can be in Christ.  Again, the question is, do you have the courage to do it.

TAKE A MINUTE right now and think through how you are living your life.  Is there something you are lacking courage to change?  If so, what is it and what do you need to do to change that.  Also, who are some students that you need to really challenge to step up, take courage and make some changes in their lives?  What do you need to do to encourage them?

Change is within our grasp.  Let's go after it and inspire others to as well, as JFK inspired me, and see where God leads us.

Thoughts? Comments? Experiences?  Post them so that we can all be encouraged and learn from each other.

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7Nov/120

1 Ministry Application I learned from Election ’12

Note to reader: I'm not a political expert (that's my brother's job), nor do I play one on TV so please read with caution (and no political rants in the comment section please).

Last night, no matter what news channel I flipped to, I heard a theme.  That theme was that America is changing, the demographics are changing and the Republicans are missing out.  In particular they missed on Latino and Women voters.  Latino voters are the fastest growing segment of voters in America and the Republicans are not reaching them.

Now, I say that because it made me think of the question I am asking myself in my student ministry lately...who is our demographic (or, who is our audience) and how are we reaching them?  Are we reaching them?  What can we be doing differently to reach more of them?

It's a question I think all of us in our ministries need to be asking ourselves as we best try to reach our communities for Christ.  So, TAKE A MINUTE right now and think through who you are reaching, how you are reaching them and what else can you be doing to reach them for Christ.

Thoughts?  Comments?  Experiences?  AND PLEASE, no political comments.  This was not meant to be a political post, just an observation from last night's election that made me think of ministry.

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26Sep/110

The Monday Morning Debrief: Approval Ratings

This week, President Obama's approval rating has hit a historic low.  It currently stands at 36% approval and 56% disapproval of how he is doing as President.  This is particularly concerning for Democrats because it is about a year until the next presidential election and his potential Republican counterparts seem to be gaining ground against him.

So how does President Obama's approval rating happen to apply to ministry?

It brings up the question for all of us, ministers, what do you do when your approval rating drops?  How do we respond when no matter what we seem to be doing, people are constantly unhappy with our performance.  What do you do then?  I believe you can go to 3 different groups of people that will help you reverse the ratings and get you going back on the right track as a ministry.

For starters, you have to seek the Lord.  This seems like the obvious choice, but when I have encountered this in the past, it is amazing how many times I turn towards other people before I turn to God.  By turning to God this is your opportunity to cry out to Him, seeking his comfort and peace in the midst of some negativity.  It is also an opportunity for you to ask Him for the truth that lies within the criticism you face.  Remember, even thought people may seem harsh and it feels like personal attacks, usually there is always a little bit of truth that we can learn from and apply to our experience.

Secondly, you need to talk with some trusted volunteers and ministry supporters.  When you are finding out negative feedback about your performance, you need to go before some trusted members or your volunteer staff and some supporters and find out what they know and if it is true or not.  These people will hopefully share with you honestly and help you process what the next steps are.  I have found these times to be very valuable to me and have really helped to build up my leadership team.  Why?  Because I have gone to my fellow team members and not only asked them for their honesty, but I also enlisted their help to make our youth program better and me better as the Head Leader of the program.

Lastly, I would recommend going to some students you know and trust.  Go to these students and share with them that you have heard things are not going well in the program, but that you desire to make it better and need their help.  If you have heard specific things about your program, you can ask them to verify if the other students feel this way.  Finally, you can ask what needs to be done and how can they help make the necessary changes to the program.  Just like with your leaders, by enlisting them to help you make the necessary changes, you are getting theses students on board with your program.  Hopefully others will follow and as they see changes being made, your approval rating could go up as well.

So now what?  What's the point of going to these 3 groups of people?  The ultimate point here is to grow from this experience.  No one, whether you admit it or now, wants to have poor approval ratings and be viewed as doing a poor job at anything.  That is why you not only have to take the feedback you have gotten now and do something with it.  You have to make changes to what you are doing.  It's going to be humbling in one way or another, but as 1 Peter 5:6 says, "Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time."

Remember, the reason why you are doing ministry in the first place is to bring people into a relationship with the Lord.  So, although it may be humbling, you owe it to God to do whatever you can to do the best job possible.  Lives are at stake so we need to be doing everything and anything we can to win people to Christ for HIS GLORY, not ours.

So when you receive the feedback, devise a plan (even include others in on it) and go after these students for Christ with a new passion and excitement, turning to Him at every turn so that people may come to know Him and He be glorified for it.

Thoughts? Comments? Questions? Experiences? TAKE A MINUTE and share so we can all learn and benefit.

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