Unleash Recap (Part 2) – The Practical

I want to focus on the practical things I learned at Unleash today. Everything I learned was practical, but  I want to focus on the systems I can implement into our ministry. Hope this adds value to you and your ministry. I went to two sessions 1.)  Triple Threat Youth Ministry with Brad Cooper (This was awesome!) and 2.) Hiring, Firing, and Creating a Staff Culture with Jason Wilson (their Executive Pastor).  Here we go:

Services:

• Run Through an Entire Service during mock service as if you were having service
• Worship – Use Planning Center Online - Record Tracks early in the week – send them to team
• Countdown’s with the Series Graphic on it
• If it doesn’t point people to service, don’t do  it!
  • They Worship, Preach the Word, and do Small Groups – Period. No events except Summer Camp
• 2 Invitations: Salvation and Prayer – Leaders take students who raise their hands for both and either lead them to the Lord or pray with them then follow-up with them

Weekly Schedule (Youth):

• Sunday – All staff goes  to all 4 services
• Monday – Critique of Sunday (Brutally honest) / Focus on Area of Specialty
• Tuesday – Plan Services 4 1/2 weeks out / Afternoon off
  
• Wednesday -  A.m. Off /  Set-up tear down/ Relationships / Youth Service
• Thursday – Critique of Service
• Friday – Off until 5 p.m. – then Youth Service
• Saturday – Off

Follow-UP

• They use Fellowship One
  
• Small Group Leaders do the Follow-Up
• They TextSignal.com to follow-up with Text Messages

1st Time Guests

• Have Adult Leaders Escort all 1st time Guests around all night and follow up with that student
• They have a first time guest party – the Jump off – Every 1st timer gets a wrist band that gets them in there
• They get a letter at the 1st time guest party

Volunteer Process

• To be a member – you have to serve
• Observation Night
• Interview
• Application

Staff

• They have staff getaways just to pursue God together
• Evaluations every 6 months – great conversation times, feedback,  rating employees

This is just a touch of what I learned and look to implement into our ministry. I definitely recommend following Newspring and seeing what they’re doing. They’ve helped me out several times – they’re more than willing to pour into others and share anything they can that will add value to people and ministries.

Unleash Recap (Part 1)

I got the privilege to go to NewSpring’s Unleash Conference today. It was an incredible experience. It was amazing to see what God has done here! This will be a 2-part review! One with a summary of key takeaways and another of the practical ministry takeaways. Here were my big takeaways:

It’s All About Making Jesus Famous One Life at a Time - This is NewSpring’s Vision. It is beyond evident that the vision is burning in the hearts of every staff member and volunteer. Everything they do as a church, is done with the intention of changing people’s lives. When I say everything… I mean everything!

Quit Playing Games and Start Preaching the Word - I love how simple Newspring is. I.E. The youth – ALL they do is preach, worship, small groups, and a summer camp. It’s all centered around pointing teenagers to Jesus. Period. I love it!

People Act Like they Don’t Know Christ, Because they Don’t Know Christ - Let me clarify! They had a 5th grader that went to their childrens ministry for the first time. He saw a PS3 and Wii and said, “They have a PS3! A Wii! This s*** is awesome!” Those are the people we’re trying to reach, we need to have people like this coming to church! Instead of correcting them, let’s love them and point them to Jesus. They’ll only change as a result of knowing Him!

People Can Believe in You and Go to Hell - I love Perry. He was saying that we should never try to get people to believe in us or think we’re awesome. We need to constantly be getting their eyes off  of us and onto Jesus. He’s the only one that can save them.

Celebrating Wins is Critical – Every staff meeting they start with sharing victories in their church. Then they celebrate them – this fuels them with passion every week becasuse it helps them recognize they are doing what God called them to do!

They Don’t Know How They Grew! - Twice in their church their attendance has doubled in a one week span… from 400 to 900 and 4,000 to 8,000. What did they do? Nothing… They have no idea how it happened! Perry always relays it like this: Leadership is as easy as listening to God. Then do what He  says! Perry said, “If you can explain what God is doing in your church, He’s probably not that involved in it!

I loved being at Newspring! I know it definitely fired me  up to come home and do more for Jesus. I’m so glad they are doing what God called them to do and inspiring the body of Christ while they do it!

Tomorrow I’ll talk about the practical things I learned that we can implement in our ministries!

This is Your Only Chance

¹⁷And when Jesus heard it, He said to them, Those who are strong and well have no need of a physician, but those who are weak and sick; I came not to call the righteous ones to repentance, but sinners (the erring ones and all those not free from sin).                                                  Mark 2:17

Something I’ve been dwelling on lately is this:

This is the only opportunity I have to reach the people that are in my life right now. I’ll never get to reach them again. As I look back at my high school year book I realize, my time to influence and reach those people have past. College – past. Previous jobs – past. I’ll never get the influence I had in those seasons with those people back.

Implications?

College Students: You’ll never get to Room with your roommates again, or sit next to that kid in your chem class – this is your only chance to reach them.

Pastors - People are coming to our ministries every week and it might be the only chance they’re giving to God, they’re coming one time. It’s our only chance to reach them.

High School Students - Even though you think you will, you won’t be friends with very many people from high school once you graduate – this is your only chance to reach them!

Parents - You get a limited window in which you can reach your kids – it’s your only chance.

You – You meet and interact with a ton of people everyday that you’ll never talk to again. You only have one chance to lift their lives and point them to God.

What are you doing to reach the people in your life right now? Time is short, the clock is ticking, and this really is your only chance.

Hanging and Pointing

¹⁷And when Jesus heard it, He said to them, Those who are strong and well have no need of a physician, but those who are weak and sick; I came not to call the righteous ones to repentance, but sinners (the erring ones and all those not free from sin).                                                  Mark 2:17

This is quickly becoming a life verse for me. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy spending time with Christians, in fact my best friends are all Christians. However, I want to have a lot more friends that don’t live for God.

We’re here for one reason: to reach the world for Jesus. How are we going to do that if we’re not befriending and loving on people who don’t know God?

Here are Some Statistics that should shock you, and ideally inspire you to action:

Within 2 Years of Being a Christian, Statistically, Christians will Have 0 Non-Christian Friends in their Lives

There are 5 Types of Unchurched People in the World -4/5 Said they Will go To Church if Someone Invites Them

21% of Christians Will Invite Someone to Church in their Lifetime

2% of that 21% Actually Invite Non-Christians to Church in their Lifetime

What does this mean? Churches are growing at the expense of other churches. We’re taking Christians from one church and bringing them to our church. We’re only reaching 2% of the lost! Does anyone else see something wrong with this?

While we spend all of our times trying to encourage and lift other believers (this is a good thing, but we need a balance), there are billions of people who are desperate for a relationship with God. People desperate for hope. People looking for purpose. People who go to bed and know there has to be something more to life. People who we can point to Jesus.

The Concept is Simple: Hang out with People who don’t know God, love on them, and point them to Jesus. If that’s too hard for you, at least you can do is invite them to church!

If we don’t, who will?

Deny, Forget, Ignore, Disown, & Lose Sight of Yourself

³⁴And Jesus called [to Him] the throng with His disciples and said to them, If anyone intends to come after Me, let him deny himself [forget, ignore, disown, and lose sight of himself and his own interests] and take up his cross, and joining Me as a disciple and siding with My party] follow with Me [continually, cleaving steadfastly to Me].                                            -Mark 8:34

I know we talk a lot about God giving us the desires of our hearts, God having an amazing plan for our lives, and Him causing us to live abundant lives, all of which are true. However, I think in pursuing those things, we often miss out on the avenue God intends us to take to get those things.

When we give our hearts to God, we no longer own our lives, He owns them. It’s not up to us to choose what we want to do and pursue, it’s up for us to discover those things which God has planned for us.

Jesus said in Mark 8:35 that, “Whoever wants to save his life, will lose it, and whoever gives up his life for His sake and the gospel’s will save it.”

Every morning we wake up, we have 2 choices: Deny, forget, ignore, disown, and lose sight of ourselves and our desires in order to pursue what He would have us pursue or live for ourselves and what we want and think we need.

We all need to be willing to do anything, live anywhere, give everything away, in a moment’s notice for His sake. The real abundant life is living everyday in His presence, doing what He says to do, regardless of the cost.

Everyday we need to say to ourselves, just like John the Baptist did, “HE MUST Increase, and I must decrease.”

Ask God to open up your eyes to things that you’re holding onto that are holding you back from following Him with every fiber in your being. When he reveals them to you, let go and pursue Him with everything you got – you’ll find abundant life in the pursuit.

You Should be like Shaun White

¹⁰ God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another. ¹¹ Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ.    I Peter 4:10-11

Watching the Olympics has been awesome. Nothing has impressed me more than watching Shaun White on the Half Pipe! He is amazing!

I started thinking though… why is it so awesome to watch him? Because he found out what his gift was, dedicated himself to it, and now he gives his gift to the world to enjoy.

Sadly, while Shaun White gives his gift away for the world to enjoy, too many of us sit at home watcing people do remarkable things, and never entertain the thought that we could give something remarkable to the world.

Here is a truth: YOU have something remarkable to offer the world. I don’t know what it is, but the people around you do. Ask people what your good at, discover the gifts that God has placed in you, dedicate yourself to developing those gifts, and then give something remarkable to the rest of the world.

The world will recognize when they see something remarkable – make sure when they see the remarkable in you- you  use it as an opportunity to point people to God, because the reality is, without the gifts and gracings He’s put in our lives, we would never be anything near remarkable.

Don’t neglect what God’s put in you. Be remarkable. Give Your Gift Away for the World to Enjoy.

Porn

But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. – Matthew 5:28

Every second – $3,075.64 is being spent on pornography, Every second – 28,258 Internet users are viewing pornography, Every 39 minutes: a new pornographic video is being created in the United States?.

I’ve never met anyone who is addicted to porn who is actually proud of it. Everyone I meet is hurting, has caused pain to people around them, and longing for a way out. It’s the easiest thing to hide, but one of the hardest things to come clean to somebody about. The shame can be almost unbearable. So how can you get free?

1.) Repent and Pursue God - In James it says, if you draw near to God, He’ll draw near to you. Though you’ll feel so distant from God it’s not even funny, if you’ll pursue Him, His desires will start becoming your desires, and porn will become less and less of a temptation.

2.) Recognize You’re Not Alone - There are millions of people struggling with the exact same thing you are and feeling the exact same way you are. You’re not alone.

3.) Humble Yourself and Tell Somebody that Loves you Unconditionally – This is the hardest step. Find somebody you know will love you regardless, and will walk you through the journey to freedom.

4.) Get Accountability - The video above is promoting 2 programs: X3Watch and Safe Eyes - both are accountability software that will block sites you shouldn’t be going to, and send any questionable sites you do visit to two accountability partners of your choice.

5.) Control Your Thoughts - You can control your thoughts – that is a fact. Philippians says to think on Good things only! What you put in your heart through what you watch and listen to, will fill your thought life. If you’ve been watching porn for a while, you’re probably filled with bad thoughts. Focus on putting positive deposits into your heart (go to church, listen to sermons, read great articles). Garbage in, Garbage Out. Purity in, Purity out!

Another Great Resource is XXX Church which is headed up by Craig Gross – you’ll find tons of great videos and articles to help you.

I hope this helps you – if you’re in need of someone to talk to – Send me a message on Facebook – I’d love to talk to you.

Tiger Woods and Accountability . . . Who Can Tell You No?

¹⁷ As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. -Proverbs 27:17

This is not a post bashing Tiger Woods. If you got all the money and influence he received at such a young age, there’s no telling what you’d of done with it. My prayer is that God will bring people into his life to love on him and lift him, and he’ll  come back and use his influence for the Kingdom of God. However, I do believe if Tiger had people in his life that could tell him no that he’d listen to, he wouldn’t be in the position he is in today.

I once heard a pastor tell of a time when he got to counsel Deon Sanders. The pastor said, “Deon, all your life, you’ve been able to have anything you want, when you want it. My question to you is, Who can tell you no that you’ll actually listen to?”

Anybody who has ever struggled with lust, sex, affairs, or pornography knows how tough of a battle it can be. Nobody plans on having an affair, becoming addicted to porn, being publically humilated, and having to apologize to the entire world.

However, these are just outcomes of untamed thought lives. The truth is, if people who struggle with these things would have had people in their lives that could tell them no, and keep them accountable, they could have missed out on a world of hurt.

I encourage you to find someone in your life who you can be honest with and share your heart with. Make sure it’s someone who will have the courage to tell you NO.

Have them ask you these questions:

1.) Have you been thinking about anything you shouldn’t be thinking about?

2.) Have you been looking at anything you shouldn’t be looking at?

3.) Have you been going anywhere you shouldn’t be going?

4.) Have you been hanging out with anyone you shouldn’t be hanging out with?

5.) Have you been doing anything you shouldn’t be doing?

Who in your world can tell you no? You better find them and listen to them – they can save you from a world of pain.

Pay It Forward – Change the World

Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions -I John 3:18

The “Pay it Forward” principle comes from the movie, “Pay it Forward” If you haven’t seen this movie, you need to. The whole concept is this: Help three people in a really big way, do something for them that they can’t do for themselves. In return, ask them to “pay it forward” and do the same thing for three people in their lives.

Ask God to put three people on your heart, something to do to help each of them, and then do it.

Think about that. Have you ever done something for someone that they couldn’t pay you back for? It’s the most rewarding thing in life!

I would encourage you to put this principle into practice -> Ask God to put three people on your heart, something to do to help each of them, and then do it.

When they want to pay you -> just say, “No thanks, just know that God loves and cares about you very much. If you’d like to pay me back, do something for three people in your life that they can’t pay you back for!”

If we’ll put this into practice, and once we’re done with our three people, find three more, we really will change the world one person at a time.

The Atheist Engineer

But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty I Corinthians 1:27

The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” -Psalm 14:1

I used to work at a Bank. I got to interact with hundreds of people everyday and I got to know our regular customers pretty well. One of my favorite customers was an engineer who would always come in chomping a cigar. By the world’s standards, this guy was successful. He was smart and had a ton of money!

Every time he came in, he would share with me “Keys to Success in Life”. We would have some good conversations, until I left for Africa for two weeks. When I came back and saw him again, I greeted him, and he responded, “O the moron’s back from serving God! I’m disappointed in you, I thought you were smarter than that, Doug (My real name).”

(I thought this Picture Was Pretty Funny, I obviously Don’t Believe Atheists Threaten Christians)

From that day on, everyday he would come in, it would be to harass me for my beliefs. He never tried to disprove God, but just tried to make me feel like an idiot for believing in Him. People at the bank  would actually apologize to me for him when he would leave!

I’ve Lived Without God, and Lived for God – There is no Comparison

My response for a while was to just ignore his attacks,  try to have a normal conversation, and love on him as much as I could. He kept this up and so one day I asked him an honest question . . . “Can I ask you a question?” “Yes” he responded. “Do you enjoy your life? Do you have a great family life? You have vacation houses and all the money someone could want… Are you happy?”

“No, my life sucks, I hate it.” He said.

He didn’t have to say much after that. I think he got the point . . . after that moment he started asking me questions about God. He actually invited me to his house for coffee with him and his wife to talk about God. After that we had great conversations and I know that I had the privilege of planting seeds in his heart and I pray that others will water it, and God will take care of the rest.

Whats my point? I’m not saying that every atheist on the planet hates their lives, but I can tell you that they are missing out on the life Jesus provided for them through the cross, and if they’d look deep in their hearts, I promise you that they know there is something more to life than the life they’ve been living.

Philemon 1:6 says, “I pray that everyone who meets you find out how wonderful it is to live in Christ.” That’s something I pray everyday.” Most people are turned off by Christians – Why? Because they know some! They think, if being a Christian is like being like Aunt Mildred, Forget it! When people who don’t live for God see our lives, they should literally be thinking, they have something I don’t and I want it!

If there are people you know that don’t believe in God – don’t condemn them, love them. Love always wins and never fails. Don’t try to prove to them God exists – show them God exists by living your life for God. When a door opens to share Jesus with them do it! I promise you that one day – they’ll come back and thank you for it!

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