National Youth Workers Conference

In a couple of hours I will be leaving for Group's National Youth Workers Conference in Columbus Ohio, which is hosting names like: Jeanne Mayo, Mike DeVries, Jim Burns, Bo Boshers, Kay Warren, and of course Doug Fields. I AM FLIPPIN' STOKED OUT OF MY MIND!!! I am so blessed to have a Lead Pastor and a board who allows me to participate in things like this! I am taking three of my leaders with me and we are going to just soak it all in. I am PUMPED! Did I mention that?

Anyway, I think with a great conference like this, it is easy to walk away with 50 different ideas on how to run a youth ministry, build a team, and change your community. But I think the key is not to walk away from something like this and try to implement those 50 or 15 or 10.....not even 5 things you gather. I think the idea, at least this is what is going on in my head, is to walk away with 1 or 2, maximum 3, things that will really work right now; that will help our youth ministry take that NEXT STEP forward. It's all about baby steps in life and the same goes in any ministry capacity. I have to tell myself this all the time because I am so driven and vision/goal oriented, I get way ahead of myself. I think many of us leaders can relate to this. Therefore, my mindset is to walk away with just a couple of ideas to implement, and I will file away the rest for another season. With that, I now digress....

Thick Skin

I have been really struggling the past few days with this idea of having "thick skin and a soft heart" in regard to ministry. I have realized over the past couple of weeks that my "skin" is not as tough as I'd like it to be nor as it needs to be. So, How DO I develop toughness yet keep the softness of my heart? I have yet to discover anything groundbreaking and within the past few days have been praying vivaciously for some help in this area. I Do not know how some people do it. This is probably my most vulnerable blog ever posted, but I feel that so many of us struggle with insecurities, authentically loving people unconditionally, serving God, pleasing people, pleasing God, doing things we do not want to do, doing what is right despite opposition, and being the type of leader who doesn't let certain things phase him/her, all at the same time. These are tough things to balance and work through; at times, difficult dragons to slay. I guess, as Mark Driscoll says, since I can't afford theropy this will have to do for now :-)

Thoughts?

Half Awake But Mostly Asleep.

I am a light sleeper. At the same time, I talk in my sleep (ask any of my past roommates and they would be happy to tell you some pretty interesting stories about my conversations while sleeping). So, sometimes I will wake myself up because I am talking too loud in my sleep or whatever. BUT, last night I added so pizaz. Have any of you awaken in the middle of the night but were still technically "asleep"? Welp, all I remember is waking myself up, due to excessive dialogue with myself, and, while looking at my clock, popped up out of bed (all the time continuing to mumble to myself). I noticed that I did not set my alarm, so I walked over to my clock muttering something about me being irresponsible and an idiot...the time was around 3:15. I turned my alarm on and fell back asleep muttering something about my Dad and Brother.....I think. Here is the thing...MY DAY OFF is Monday!! So, my alarm went off, WAY TOO EARLY, and Sean Was NOT a Happy Camper!!! I barely remember what I was doing and I am still trying to make some sense of what I was dreaming and mumbling about. I think so many things are going on in my mind and so much work needs to be done, I do weird things like this. Who knows. Good news is I was able to fall back asleep for a couple more hours.

Sharing Your Faith

Last night we capped off our two part teaching on how NOT to share your faith, and HOW TO share Jesus with others. I thought it beneficial to post the seven practical methods to share Jesus with others we mentioned last night. AND NO, going door to door with tracts was NOT one of them :-)

• Romans Road--We are all dirty rotten sinners and, compared to Jesus, fall short of "good enough" (Romans 3:23). We deserve death NOT life (Romans 6:23) but Jesus died for our sin (Romans 5:8) and if we admit our shortcoming and turn from our sin (Romans 10:9-13) we will live in freedom with Jesus now and forever (Romans 8:38-39).
• ABC's-- A: accept that Jesus is who He said He is. B: believe (or trust) in Him. C: confess your sin to Him and walk toward Him.
• Three D's-- Develop friendships, Discover stories, and Determine next steps. This is always centered around authentically LOVING people, finding out about them, and helping them take one step closer to Jesus.
• Random Acts of Kindness-- Everybody has the capability of BEING kind to someone, doing the very things Jesus did to others who least expected or deserved it.
• Share Your Story-- Nothing is more powerful than your story. People cannot argue away what you have experienced. Share Your Story.
• Use Me-- Our hope is that everyone who walks through our doors will walk out different than when they came in. We will teach JESUS every time we meet. Invite people to events, growth groups, and our mid-week gatherings. We will teach Scripture.

Welp, there they are. Some of these work for certain people, and some for others. And there are some methods that we did not discuss last night...and I'm sure those will work well for others too. The objective last night was to encourage everyone to take a step forward with Jesus and begin telling others about Jesus, our Master and Leader.

To Write a Book From the perspective of Satan part Final!

WOW. What an intense read. Lewis made the spiritual realm come to life; it became real, not just a concept that gets talked about only once a year. Lewis pulls no punches. He opens our eyes up to what a conversation between spiritual beings, who care not a lick about us, would look like. The demons' soul desire is to see a man and his woman fall out of faith with their Savior.

However, In the end Screwtape and Wormwood lose their man to THE Man (Jesus), whom they call "the Enemy". Every time I read that phrasing of God, "the Enemy", I had to remind myself that Lewis is writing from the perspective of a veteran demon. It could get very confusing, because everything I perceive as being "good" is portrayed as evil or "bad", yet still some things that I see as being beneficial to MY faith Screwtape view's being beneficial as well! Therefore, I get the feeling that I should watch it with those things that I see as good, lest they be twisted in a way that honors myself (and Satan) rather than God! Oh my me, it gets a little confusing Eh? Here's the point...I think: Any "thing" that is good can be used for bad. There are plenty of good things out in our world that have been twisted for evil, inflicted pain, and destroyed lives. For example, One of the obvious things, a topic Screwtape tries to exploit throughout the letters, is SEX. We have torn down the concept of "covenant" and "boundaries"; taking a good thing...A GOD THING, and used it wrongly. We have taken a legitimate desire, SEX (i like putting that word in all caps. it is fun), and tried to fulfill this desire in an illegitimate way, pre-marital SEX :-) and pornography SIMPLY to name a few of the array of distortions. The Theme of this book is simply this: Satan's pursuit is to take what is good and twist it enough to where we forget all about the God who tuely cares for us. Outside of complete surrender to my Holy, good God, anything can destroy me, whether it be a good thing are not!

The question I now am trying to ask myself, courtesy of a one Mark Batterson (check out his blog. he's got something to say): Is this a GOD THING. Just some food for thought I guess. If you haven't read the book, i recommend it. Giving it an: A.

I Am Pumped UP!!

Tonight we conclude a two week series on sharing your faith with others. It was a good two part message, but I must admit that I've been a little distracted during it because I have been looking forward to the future. I feel kind of weird admitting this, but it is true. Beginning in March, we kick off a new series which will probably take us into the Summer, called "Drop Some Knowledge." I AM SO PUMPED FOR US TO BEGIN!! We will be going through the book of Proverbs, picking out some of the most famous sayings of the likes of Solomon and some of the other dudes who wrote in the book. We will touch on and go deep into issues like sex, money, obedience, vision, character, wisdom (of course!), honesty, slander versus loyalty, and many other topics.

This is exactly what teenagers in our culture need: some knowledge. BUT, NOT just any knowledge...sound Biblical knowledge that leads to a life of freedom, responsibility, and fulfillment. I believe the Proverbial sayings have much to offer this generation; therefore, I Am stoked out of my mind to Drop Some Knowledge on them!!! IF you haven't noticed...I am pumped!!!! :-)

Stop, Collaborate, and Listen

I find myself getting distracted and off track at times throughout the day. So, I decided to PAUSE half way through the day for about 5 to 10 minutes and refocus my priorities. I put it in my iCal as a reminder, and I call it "Stop, Collaborate, and Listen." (innovative right?!?!) I Drop everything, Pause, and read my Bible or pray or read my Bible and pray or just sit in silence and breathe. I also might do some journaling or blogging. All this does for me is get me on track with what Jesus wants, NOT what I want or think should be. I am Designing this 10 minutes or so to hear from God in the middle of my day. I want to do His will, which can be elusive for a guy like me who is so driven and tends to do my own will (or everyone else's) rather than God's.

I am finding that refocussing and doing some good 'ol fashion surrendering goes a LONG LONG WAY.

the importance of a team

We just had our monthly Leadership team meeting last night and I cannot stop thanking God for the team He has given me. We typically go for about an hour and 15 minutes; every meeting, without fail, it flies by! I have an eclectic group of people, some older than me, some younger than me, and a couple my age-ish, and yet we have so much fun together. There is a certain transparency and electricity that I could not have crafted if I tried to. We laugh hard with each other, pray vivaciously for one another, and care deeply for our students together. The longer I am with my team, the more I realize how essential and non-negotiable my three C's of leadership are (in regard to the leadership team). If I have piqued your curiosity, here they are (Adopted from Bill Hybels' Courageous Leadership):

1. Character. I cannot have a double-minded person in leadership or people who demonstrate little or no real spiritual/biblical depth. How can we expect those we lead to do something (serving God with all of our lives) if we ourselves are not? We are all a work in progress, and it is essential for leadership to progressively move toward God one step at a time.
2. Chemistry. If I don't like you or cannot get along with you, it's not going to work out. There must be a strong sense of comradory...PERIOD.
   
3. Commitment. If you don't show up to church, meetings, activities, etc., forget about it; you cannot be a leader. You either sell out to the vision of the ministry and show your support by showing up, OR just stay home.

I can proudly say that each of my leader's exhibit the three C's. Are they perfect? Heck NO!! And neither am I!!! But we are learning. You know it is a good thing when a member of my leadership team says to me, "I can honestly say that in all the years I have been on leadership, I like everyone on the team." That is a good starting point I think.

To Write a Book From the perspective of Satan part 2

The Screwtape Letters has a kind of creepy and yet intriguing eeriness and truth to it. C.S. Lewis must have been in constant prayer during the penning of this book because it can, if allowed, become so convicting and depressing all at the same time. Nevertheless, here is a line that really spoke to me today while reading:

While telling Wormwood to direct and distract his human's (or "patient" as they call him) gaze on the future rather than the present, Screwtape gives a great explanation as to why: "We want a whole race perpetually in pursuit of the rainbow's end, never honest, nor kind, nor happy now, but always using as mere fuel wherewith to heap the alter of the future every real gift which is offered them in the present." (pg. 78)

I do not know who said it but the idea for us to not put off for tomorrow what we can do today speaks volumes to me. Today is a gift and all too often we get caught up in worrying about tomorrow while in the process we miss what GOD HAS FOR US TODAY. As a vision oriented person, I fall into this trap All Too Often. The present has MUCH to offer us. Do what we can with Today, and let God deal with tomorrow. Don't chase a rainbow's end. You'll never catch it...and their is no treasure of gold.

"Do not worry about tomorrow, for it will worry about itself. Sufficient are the worries of tommorow." (my own translation. a combo of NLT, NIV, and ESV if you will).

I just killed my Pectoral Muscles (which I often times call "my boobs". Please don't be offended...i'm just be honest) by engaging in 5 different chest exercises at my gym. KEEEYAAAHHHH!! I hit the gym approximately 4 times a week and on Saturdays I usually zero in on one muscle group; today, as it is on most Saturdays, was my chest. I love "killing" my muscles!! It is Flippin' tight!! And...IT IS BIBLICAL. I Corinthians 3:16 tells us to take care of our temple (that place where the Lord makes His home). Also, in chapter 6 verse 19 and 20, Paul says that we are not our own and we need to honor God with our bodies; use them in a way that glorifies HIM (in this section Paul is talking about sexual promisciuty and imorality, but the principle still applies wonderfully to Godly excercise!). One of the ways I remain Biblical and do this is by, metaphorically, hitting those weights! And oh how good it makes me feel!!! Stay active ladies and gentlemen. You will never regret it.

How do you stay active?

To Write a Book From the perspective of Satan part I.

Who else on planet earth could have written a book like "The Screwtape Letters" other than the Oxford Don, Clive Staples? Just yesterday I decided that it was time to pick this classic up and dive into it FULL ON (after putting it off for who knows how long). What great insight Lewis has for his readers on the subject of our Enemy, and to be honest, this book is really intense so far. I can only read a few letters at a time (and each letter is only a few pages long!). Maybe that will change as I get further along, but as of right now, I think I will take it slow while reading from a Demon's perspective on how to destroy a Christian's walk with God. Nonetheless, what great insight. I will keep you filled in with thoughts as I go on this "journey" if you will.

That's a Lot of snow!!!

As i sit here in my office wrapping up the day, I look out my window and see nothing but white. ALL kinds of white! I am in the midst of my first white out of Cincinnati and i'm not going to lie, it is wicked crazy. At times I can barely see out the window; all I see is whiteness (kind of like when some people take off their shirts and those who are in their path are blinded by the whiteness as the sun reflects off the body). It is one of those things that are beautiful and destructive all at the same time. Hopefully my youth service does not get canceled tomorrow night though. If it does, that would make it two weeks in a row!! Ahhhhhh.

THE Stress Reliever...

is definitely my Gym. I do not know what I would do without hitting the weights at my gym at least 4 times a week. It is the best way for me to clear my head, decompress, and get caught up on podcasts. Everyone needs to have an activity they do that relieves pressure and stress. An intricate piece to staying healthy (in my opinion) spiritually, emotionally, mentally, as well as physically, is keeping active in some way shape or form (this does not include lifting the remote control up and down).

I am now stepping down from my soapbox. Time to pump some iron Baby....

Super Bowl

This was a great NFL season, an even greater post-season, concluded with a fun unexpected grand finale (the super bowl). I say all this first so I am not misinterpreted by what will follow. This was a hard fought, fun, and entertaining super bowl (with special emphasis on the 4th quarter). BUT...

the referee's really blew it at points. This will be short and sweet: HOW DO YOU NOT REVIEW KURT WARNER'S PASS ATTEMPT WITH 8 SECONDS LEFT TO PLAY?!?!?!?!? This was a poor poor NO decision. You cannot NOT review this call from the booth in the biggest game of the year. YOU ARE REFEREEING THE SUPER BOWL FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!!! I am not saying Warner would have thrown the ball in the endzone for the win if he had the chance....BUT, HE SHOULD have had the Chance!!!! On top of the 15 yd. penalty, the Cardinals would have been in Great position to make one last play. The Ref's blew several calls in the favor of Pittsburgh, but this one was crucial. You cannot review the Holmes Touchdown catch 500 times to make sure he was in and NOT ONCE look at the last play of the game for Warner!!!! RIDICULOUS!!! I was shocked!! Now, I am disappointed. Taking nothing away from the Steelers, they played tough. Bottom line: The Cardinals deserved another chance because Warner's arm was moving forward. Horrible non-review. HORRIBLE. And, as expected, the Cardinals were class acts about it. They handled everything wtih integrity.

On another note: Holmes catch was not nearly as impressive as David Tyre's last year.