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Plowing

January 21, 2009 in Blog, Everything, Uncategorized with 0 Comments

It’s winter right now in Indiana.  That means that spring is just a few months away.  (I went to school for 12 years to learn that!)  Here in Indiana, spring means time to plow and plant for most farmers.  They tear up the old stalks and roots, and bring fresh soil to the surface.  That allows them to plant new seed on top that will flourish and grow.  But what happens if that farmer doesn’t plow his field and just throws seed on top of it all?  (Some of you from in the city may have to think harder about this one.)  Very little grows.  Shocking, I know.  Scripture points this out to us too:

Proverbs 20:4 (NCV) “Lazy farmers don’t plow when they should; they expect a harvest, but there is none.”

I find myself like that lazy farmer a lot.  It’s hard to part with old things.  They’re just comfortable.  I’m pretty sure you know what I’m talking about too.  What are those policies, programs, ideas, or people that are comfortable and are so hard to get rid of?  They’re like the old crops for the farmer.  We try and tell ourselves that we can add this new thing to the old thing, and it’ll be better.  Take this hypothetical classroom for example: you have an old, grumpy, generally angry guy teaching a class.  So you think, “Well, if I just put someone less grumpy in there with him, it’ll all be OK.”  The thing is, the problem is still there.  You’re just masking it.  You can throw fertile new young hearts out onto that soil, but few of them will take.  You haven’t plowed the problem.

Sometimes, plowing things up and getting rid of the old is painful.  It takes a sharp blade to plow.  You’ll make people mad.  It’s guaranteed.  I realize you can’t just go around offending everybody.  That’s poor leadership.  There’s also a point at which you let yourself be walked on too much.  That’s poor leadership too.  It all comes down to what’s more important.  Offending a few adults who have had years to grow in their faith, or turning an entire generation of kids with fertile new hearts (seeds) off to the Gospel because you weren’t willing to plow up the old stuff?  Take a look at your ministry today: what can you start plowing up?

Lessons from the Christmas Cantata

December 22, 2008 in Blog, Everything, Uncategorized with 0 Comments

Tonight was the Christmas cantata at my home church, Liberty Baptist.  Our music pastor, Chas Singer, and our choir did amazingly as always.  As I sat there this evening, listening to the words they sang so beautifully, some things hit me.  I wanted to share some of those with you.

1.  Imagine being Mary and Joseph, lying in the stable looking the living, breathing Son of God right in the face.  Imagine the task of parenting a perfect child for the next 30 years!  (Most parents probably wouldn’t complain.)  He’d be courageous, relentless, and brave.  He’d love a world of sin.  Nothing we could do would keep us from the intimate love he would give.  He overcomes it all.  This is our God.  These are some of the ideas from the song, “This is Our God” that our choir shared tonight.  Remember that you serve a living Savior.  He came as a baby for you.  Even when you’re burned out, you have the knowledge of His unspeakable gift to you to drive you on.  That’s a crazy thought.  Here’s some of the highlights of the lyrics from this song:

Who is this child asleep in the manger?
Tender and mild, this intimate Stranger?
Recklessly, wildly loving a dangerous world
Who is this light invading our darkness…

This is our God, living and breathing
Call Him courageous, relentless, and brave
This is our God, loving and reaching… Continue Reading…

Orange-alicious!

December 21, 2008 in Blog, Everything, Uncategorized with 1 Comment

So, out of the three of us, I have the unique position of never having been to an Orange conference, and not yet planning to go to one.  (Unless, of course, someone volunteered to take me!)  So rather than talking about what I like about Orange, and what I look forward to, I’m going to talk more about some of the pluses and minuses of Orange, as I see it.

1.  Great speakers and music.  Orange has always done a great job of getting and keeping the best minds in children’s ministry, and the greatest musical talent.  If you want to be encouraged, uplifted, and worship, you can’t beat the group the team at reThink has brought together.  It’s an amazing conference in this area- one of the best in the industry.

2.  Spread out.  One of the most common complaints I hear about Orange is just how many people are in one place.  Orange may need to consider doing two sites in the future- help reduce overcrowding a little.  They’ve started on this already by moving to a larger venue, but it’s still something to look out for.

3.  Keep the loose schedule.  One of Orange’s strengths is how loose their schedule is.  You’ve got plenty of time to take some time to refresh and recharge, check out Atlanta, and whatever you want.  You won’t feel rushed through the day, without feeling like you’ve got too much free time.

4.  Diversify their interests.  Orange was started primarily to be a family ministry conference, and they’ve done really well as such.  But in order to be even more successful than they are now, they’re going to have to start diversifying a little of what they talk about.  The conference needs to be more open to other forms of ministry, rather than just one.  They must still keep what makes them them, without excluding everyone else.

So those are my thoughts about Orange.  What do you think?

When you care enough to send the very best

May 22, 2007 in Blog, Everything with 1 Comment

Every night I have a quiet time which consists of a short devotional (in the ESV) and that day’s “Bible in a Year” assigned reading (in the Message paraphrase). Last night’s reading was the book of Malachi (I start in September). I had read this passage before, and many other translations carry the same meaning, but the Message’s paraphrase of Malachi 1:12-14 especially stood out to me:
“Instead of honoring me, you profane me. You profane me when you say, ‘Worship is not important, and what we bring to worship is of no account,’ and when you say, ‘I’m bored—this doesn’t do anything for me.’ You act so superior, sticking your noses in the air—act superior to me, God-of-the-Angel-Armies! And when you do offer something to me, it’s a hand-me-down, or broken, or useless. Do you think I’m going to accept it? This is God speaking to you!
A curse on the person who makes a big show of doing something great for me—an expensive sacrifice, say—and then at the last minute brings in something puny and worthless! I’m a great king, God-of-the-Angel-Armies, honored far and wide, and I’ll not put up with it!”

My initial response to this was, “Great! A good way to guilt people into donating new items to the Children’s Ministry!”. But then in thinking about it some more, I realized that this could be applied to our personal lives as well.

Often when we are burned out, we stop giving our best to God. We may or may not attend worship, but whether we do or not, we may not feel like giving God our worship or may feel like prayer is ineffective. However, our God is amazing and deserving of our best! And many times, you will find that if you give your best, God gives his best back.

Check out God’s word for encouragement constantly, and connect with other ministers in your area. Encouragement can come from the strangest places sometimes. Don’t be terribly showy. Just give God you, and nothing more, and that will make him more than pleased.

Ministry wisdom from the man behind the sunshine

May 21, 2007 in Blog, Everything with 0 Comments

And no, in this case I’m not talking about God. I’m talking about the Jimmy Dean commercials with the sunshine character in them. Very funny commercials, yes, but I digress.

Here’s the real reason why I’m mentioning him. Over the course of this blog, you’ll learn that I really like quotes from various people. Correction, I really LOVE quotes. But here’s a quote from Jimmy Dean, the man behind the sunshine (Not made in reference to ministry, but still applicable):
“I can’t change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.”

Ministry many times may seem ineffective. A few years ago, the “culture winds” were blowing one way, and so you adjusted your sails. But have you adjusted your sails recently, or on a regular basis?

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