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Book Reviews, Featured, Guest Posts, Ministry, Resources, Speakers and Events, User Submitted Resources

Guest Post From Rick Lawrence…

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Editor’s Note: 
This post is in conjunction with the release of Rick’s new book – Skin in The Game. The following is an excerpt… 41Q-wB5DRdL._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_

Jesus Wants Your Skin In the Game

By Rick Lawrence

There He is again, playing a game of verbal “Battleship” with the Pharisees in the temple court—they take a shot at him, and he fires right back. Jesus has, once again, so grossly offended the teachers of the law that they intend to stone him to death… Typical of His in-your-face style with the teachers of the law, He’s just pulled the pin on this little grenade: “You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him” (John 8:44).

John records what happens next with elegant simplicity: “Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple.” If an angry mob picked up stones, intending to kill you, “hiding yourself” would require a) Harry Potter’s “cloak of invisibility” or b) fast feet. John leaves out the details. This is all merely the prequel to a bigger drama that’s about to unfold…

Likely breathless from his escape, Jesus runs across a man who is blind from birth (John 9). When the disciples catch up, they ask a question that’s quintessentially human: “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?” They want to know why bad things happen to good people—a conundrum that’s fundamental to our life in a broken culture.

“It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents,” Jesus replies, “but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him.” Then, without permission or hesitation—or, it has to be said, apparent rationality—the Master spits on the ground, fashions a little clay, then smears it all over the man’s eyes and face.

As shocking as all of this must have been for a blind man who’s suddenly been sucked into a big moment, the next words out of Jesus’ mouth must have seemed no less astonishing: “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (John 9:1–7). The pool is on the other side of town, a long trek away. And this man has just been told to walk there on his own. Still blind, his eyes smeared with spit and mud, he’s supposed to find his way to a specific pool where he can wash his face. If he can find the place…

What’s the point?

Why would Jesus ask this man to do something that will so obviously require him to take a great risk?

Why, when He has healed multitudes with a simple touch, does Jesus ask the man to jump through hoops in order to find his freedom?

It makes no sense—unless Jesus wants the man to put his skin in the game.

Risk, Jesus says, is our primary language for communicating the great works of God. And when the man offers his skin in the game, he’s really setting the stage for God to be known and worshiped.

The blind man is used to poor treatment, and getting clay smeared on his eyes smacks of same-old, same-old. So why should he obey Jesus’ bizarre instructions, after an equally bizarre and inexplicable act of apparent disrespect? We don’t know the calculus going on inside the man’s head, but we do know his response. He accepts Jesus’ challenge and finds his way to the pool of Siloam, where he washes the clay from his eyes—and then runs back through town to declare the impossible: He can see! For the first time in his life, he can see!

We may not like the hard edge of risk, but Jesus requires it of those who would wash away their blindness. And so, we must consider the dimensions of the man’s risk, and our own, because our courage is proportionate to its impediments. Like the man born blind, we’ve heard an Accuser’s voice our whole life, planting lies in our soul.

On a men’s retreat a couple of years ago, my friend Bob Krulish asked a group of sixty gathered in a mountain auditorium to answer this simple question: “What’s one lie you are right now believing about yourself?” Here’s a sampler of their anonymous responses:

I’m not really desired by my wife

I’m not enough (listed multiple times).

I always feel like a failure.

If you really knew me, you’d reject me (listed multiple times).

I’m not worthy or capable of success.

I’m invisible.

I’m inadequate.

My life isn’t worth much or special.

I’m dirty.

I’m a loser.

I can’t do it.

I don’t have what it takes

I can do it all by myself—don’t need others.

There is something wrong with me.

What about the man born blind, with mud smeared on his beaten and weathered face? His own interior collection of lies may well be legion—a toxic stew of the entire bulleted list. But he chooses to risk anyway, stumbling his way through town, past the averted eyes of others, all the way to Siloam and a miracle that exceeds his deepest hopes. For the man is about to gain more than his eyesight alone. His newfound vision will turn the tables of his entire life. Before, he was defined by what he needed, but henceforth, he will be defined by what he gives.

 

This blog is adapted from the just-released book Skin In the Game: Living an Epic Jesus-Centered Life.

– For a free excerpt of the book, go here: http://store.kregel.com/client/excerpt/978-0-8254-4359-6.pdf

– To order the book, go here: http://www.amazon.com/Skin-Game-Living-Epic-Jesus-Centered/dp/0825443598/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1422108013&sr=8-1&keywords=Skin+In+the+Game+Rick+Lawrence

–  To connect with Rick Lawrence, go here…

Web Site: RickLawrence.com

Twitter: @RickSkip

Facebook: Facebook.com/RickSkip

 

Rick Lawrence is an author, ministry leader, and the longtime executive editor of GROUP Magazine, the world’s leading resource for the “Navy SEALS” of ministry—youth workers. He’s the general editor for The Jesus-Centered Life Bible (Fall 2015), and he’s the author or co-author of 37 books, including his newest, Skin In the Game: Living an Epic Jesus-Centered Life (Kregel).

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Christian Leadership, Rural Ministry, Stories, Student Ministry

When The Levee Breaks

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One of the things I encounter working with rural communitites is bringing awareness to the queston of “what are we going to do to reach and engage the next generation?”. The more I talk with community leaders, the more I hear a response that goes something along the lines of “well, we haven’t really thought about it…”. As someone who at least tries to plan with a big picture result in mind, I had no frame for this response. I understand not having a 5-point plan with milestones, but no plan?

Then it hit me. I was listening to some music while doing some paperwork, and the song “When the Levee Breaks” by Led Zepplin came on. I had heard this song many times before, but a couple of the lies decribed the state of our rural communities today so well.  “If it keeps on rainin’ the levee’s gonna break. When the levee breaks, I’ll have no place to stay”. This is the state of our communities. There has not been a coordinated effort to reach the students together for many years. There has been an increase in the number of things that disctract, harm, isolate, and even end lives early for our young people. At some point, the social pressures will may be greater than a community can handle. Then what? What does that community look like? What happens with the students after High School? What then becomes the role of young pople in our rural towns?

I have seen glimpses of this in some midwestern communities over the years. The response comes in another part of the song I mentioned above… “If you’re goin’ down south, they got no work to do, if you don’t know about Chicago…” In many of our small towns, many of our best and brghtest have left for colleges far away, training for jobs that do not exist in our communitites. Few of them return. The ones that do may not be able to find jobs in a shrinking small town job market. The few that do return and find jobs may not be able to balance life with the ever-growing sizes of student debt loads. Some researchers have referred to this as the “rural brain drain”.

Now is the time to come up with solutions that will reach your young people. Solutions that build a solid foundation for the next generation. I will tell you that in a small town, not one church, one business, one organization, or individual holds the key to this. The key lies in working together to improve your community for your children and grandchildren. Because “sitting on the levee and moaning” is not going to bring solutions.

Christian Leadership, Ministry, Stories, Student Ministry, Youth Leader Health

Healthy Youth Leaders: PRAY

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HealthyI asked the following question in a room of 60 people recently. “How many of you are consistently praying for one of the other youth leaders or pastors in your community?” ONE hand. One hand went up. We have to pray for one another. It is beyond important. I have heard too many stories lately of pastors failing, community tragedies, and churches withering away without so much as reaching out a weak hand for help.

Pastors, church members, youth leaders – we are in this together and only as strong as our weakest link. Satan WILL target that link in many different ways to accomplish what he desires – a stop to the growth of God’s kingdom work.

Pray for one another. Not in a mealymouthed Wednesday night prayer list kind of way, but in a real, authentic understanding of who you are in Christ.

We are better together.

Bible Study, Christian Leadership, Resources, Rural Ministry, Student Ministry, Youth Leader Health

Healthy Youth Leaders : Learn

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HealthyIn the last post in this series, we looked at what it means to be a healthy youth leader.

The first element of youth leader health is a willingness to learn. I am not necessarily talking about college or seminary. There are some great programs and resources out there that include conferences, mentoring programs, and just networking with other youth leaders as well.

Here is where I’m coming from…
Would you go to a doctor that has been out of med school 25 years and has done ZERO continued education? What about a mechanic? Or a PC technician?

A willingness to learn new things about ministry and the families we serve is vital to a healthy state of ministry to students.

In the comments below, share how you continue learning as a youth leader. Or share the resources you use.

Next up: Healthy Youth Leaders Make Disciples that Make Disciples

Christ Church Stellarton
Christian Leadership, Ministry, Ministry Tech, Stories, Youth Leader Health

@perrynoble and 10 Convictions on the Church…

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Today, Perry Noble posted a list on 10 convictions about the church. Some of them I agree with, some I need to think/pray about before I respond openly. However, there are two things to learn from this list:

1) What are your convictions that you operate under?
Are they fluid, changing with popular opinion?

2) How do they shape how you do ministry? How do you know where you are, if you have no clue where you have been?

Know where you are at. Know your “non-negotiables” and let’s reach people for Christ!Christ Church Stellarton

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Christian Leadership, Ministry, Student Ministry, Youth Leader Health

Healthy Youth Leaders Do This: ______….

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Since accepting my new position, I have accepted several speaking Healthyand training opportunities that give me a chance to pour into Youth Leaders. Honestly, this is one of my favorite things to do in ministry.

I am doing a training in Illinois for Southern Baptist Youth Leaders at the end of this month called “Healthy Youth Leaders Do This:_____”. I have  decided to start this discussion online early to a wider audience, because this is such a vital issue!

Youth Leader health is so important. I am not just talking about exercise and eating your veggies. If you want to discuss that, my friend Mark at SweatCor does an excellent job with that. I want to take a step in a little different direction and talk Spiritual, Emotional, and Family health as a Youth Leader.

Its way to easy to just look at another youth worker that is doing “the right things” without looking at the basis for why they are doing what they are doing to reach students for the kingdom. We have to be willing to ask the tough questions if we are going to do student ministry from a healthy place. I desire for you to be there, because healthy Youth Workers reach more students for the Kingdom.

I’m going to ask you a question that may hurt a little, especially if you have been in ministry for a long time… Do you know what it is to be a healthy youth worker?

We can operate for years using great programs borrowed from others, slick curriculums printed by some great people, and games that get the students riled up. But have you ever served from a healthy place? 

As a 14-year veteran of student ministry, that question stings me a little. I can quickly look back to times in minstry that I have been chewed up, knocked around, and deeply hurt by things going on in the church or my personal life that affected how I served families. But to look at the inverse of this hurt to healthy times makes me a little angry. Angry that I have been serving of a place as a “wounded soidier” almost as much as showing any sign of real, vital health.

 

Don’t get me wrong, “healthy” in student ministry is not a destination, as much as a level of maintenance. Just like an athelete has to continually train to maintain a level of performance on the field, we have to make sure we are doing what is healthy first for ourselves, then for the families that we serve.

So to continue this discussion, lets be clear that everything we’re going to discuss is something that will require constant attention in our lives and ministries. The work is going to be tough, but the payoff is going to be worth it in our lives, our families, and our ministries.

What benchmarks for Youth Leader Health are you aiming for? Share in the comments area below…

Lets do this. We are better together.

Next up: Healthy Youth Leaders: Learn

 

 

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Ministry, Money, Rural Ministry, Technology, YM For Cheap!

A Unique Fundraising Idea

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I have a fundraising idea that’s a bit out of the box.

I’ll warn you that it is not conventional.  It’s not exactly easy either.  But, if done right, it could net your youth group a good amount of money and cost you almost nothing to do it.

Willing to consider something different?  Then read further.

This past year, I published my first novel, Sheep Among Wolves.  It’s a self-published novel that started life first as an e-book, then expanded to an actual paperback book offering.  I’ll spare you all the details of why we chose self-publishing, but one of the big reasons was control over our work and a better profit margin.  You see, we get 70 percent of the sales of our e-book.

I’ll tell you, I did a lot of groundwork myself.  I spent a lot of time researching self-publishing, formatting, editing, and marketing.  The more work I did myself was less work I had to pay someone else to do.  The more I paid out, the less I made.  I found that producing an e-book took only minimal computer skills and was not actually that difficult.

Ok, I hear you, enough of the commercial for your book.  What’s the actual fundraising idea?

Well, that is the idea.  Self-publish a book.  Not just any book, but a cookbook.

This occurred to me the other day after a church fellowship.  So many of our church folks are great cooks.  I know I always look forward to church potlucks because they always have the best food.  I even had a church produce a bound cookbook one year of recipes from within the church.  It was an in-house deal.

But what if it wasn’t?

You see, with an e-book, your only expenses are services you pay others to do.  There is no overhead for books.  You don’t have to order a set amount.  If you can do all or most of the work, there is almost no expense to publishing an e-book.  No expense means more profit.

So what if you procured recipes from the youth group?  If that’s not large enough, target the entire church.  You can have congregation members submit their best potluck or family recipe.  As a fun fellowship, have everyone bring their dish so you can photograph it (for the book, of course) and then eat it afterwards (for the fun, of course.)

Once all the recipes are compiled and photos taken, format it into a cookbook.  Formatting is not as hard as it seems.  For a computer savvy teen or adult, it can be done in a few hours.  It mainly consists of learning some HTML code and placing all your images in the right places.  Find a good editor to edit your work.  When it’s done, you simply publish it on-line and start selling on Amazon, Nook, etc.  Most companies (such as Amazon) give you 70 percent on books $2.99 or higher in price.

Then turn your students and church loose on selling and buying the book.

A little quick math:  Charge $3.99 for the book.  That’s a profit of about $3.00 per book.  Now have each student try to sell 10 books.  That’s $30.  Now multiply that by your number of students.  Say you have 20 students.  You just made $600 and it cost you nothing but time and effort.

There are even better ways to increase profit.  You can sell it on your church website or Facebook page.  That’s 100 percent profit.  You could format it via CreateSpace and sell it as a paperback.  You’d have to charge more, but it’s more accessible to people in your church.  Again, it costs you nothing to do that.

So, there you go.  A different and out of the box fundraiser idea.  I’m not in youth ministry anymore, so I can’t try it.  But I’m curious on how it would go.

If your interested or want to know more or simply want to share results, e-mail me or post below.

 

ChristmasYall
Christian Leadership, Evangelism, Ministry, Missions, Resources, Rural Ministry, SBC

An Early Christmas Gift for SBC Pastors…

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Christmas is coming, you are decorating the trees that are in your churches, hanging lights, and putting up the nativity set. We all know that there may be a lot of new faces (or ones we only see a couple times a year) at church on Christmas Sunday.

Many churches go the extra mile with choir productions, childrens programs, dramas, and other special touches for that Sunday. In Southern Baptist Churches, there is one step that many of our churches have forgotten.

On the SBC.Net homepage, there has been a lot of work over the last couple years, mainly toward making it easier to find a local Southern Baptist Church in your area. They have cross referenced addresses they receive from annual reporting with Google Maps data. They have done quite well. However, any map is only as good as the data it uses.

Here is my early Christmas gift to you, SBC pastor. Stop what you giftare doing, go to the Church Search Page (after reading the rest of this post, of course) and make sure it is updated with the latest information on your church. Phone number, address, email addresses, service times, directions, and staff members names can all be part of this page.  Many of the individual church pages will also display the last time you have updated this information. In looking at some of the churches in my part of the country, the last update was 7-9 years ago! This kind of thing would never be allowed in the maintenance of your church building (oh, we’re out of toilet paper,… but we just bought some 8 years ago…). We need to have the mindset of treating the church’s online presence with dignity as well, even if your church search page is the only online presence your church has.

This may be the only way someone can find your church. For example, Church Search is the first result when you Google “southern baptist church near me“. Make it easier, not harder for people to find you. I am not talking rocket science, nuclear chemistry, or reaching 18-35 year olds. Just simple common sense. It’s asking the question, “if this is all someone sees of our church when they move to the community, is it what we want them to see?”

So, my challenge to you is while you are preparing your church building for Christmas, that you prepare your online presence as well.

 

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Christian Leadership, Redneck Tech, Rural Ministry, Stories, Student Ministry

The Kaskaskia Dragon and Youth Ministry…

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One of the interesting things about my new position with NNYM is that I get to see some really wild things that are off the beaten path. One of these gems is the Kaskaskia Dragon. It is located off US 40 in Vandalia, Illinois.

According to Roadside America, this creation was originally built for parades, but found a permanent home near Highway 40. It is plumbed with propane, for a dollar, breathes fire and is apparently quite the sight after dark.
It is a “people who know, go” attraction.

This speaks much for youth ministry. I am not talking gimmicks. I am posing the question “What does your ministry excel at?”… The Kaskaskia Dragon does not try to be the St Louis Arch (even though there is a replica across town).

Find the thing your ministry does well, and build on it. Then, you have flexibility to partner with other ministries that do well where you need help. This is the picture of a body working together that Paul paints in the New Testament. We would do well to revisit that today.

Don’t try to be a ministry you are not.

We are better Together.

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Christian Leadership, Ministry, Rural Ministry

Is It Too Late?

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The church is dclosed-300x223ying. Literally.

I don’t have a plethora of stats to back this up, at least not on the rural level.  I just use my own two eyes.  It doesn’t take a rocket scientist (or a statistician) to see that rural churches are aging and younger people just aren’t stepping up to lead.

As I look around at small rural churches, I see a lot of older leaders.  Men and women who have been serving for years who are still serving in those positions.  Where are the young leaders?  Sitting in the pews, if they’re coming at all.

Now, before this becomes a bashing session on older members, I don’t think they are completely the problem.  Yes, in some churches, we have older leaders who just don’t want to relinquish power.  I saw, first hand, what can happen when older power brokers refuse to give up power.  It can be ugly, stifling and limit leadership growth in the church.

Yet, I’m now seeing a new trend that bothers me just as much—a reluctance by young people to take leadership positions.  I recently read an article that suggests millennials would rather plant a new church than to fix the current one.  As the article states, “They would rather have babies than raise the dead.”

And so, the church is dying.  I’m not being completely figurative.  I’m being literal.

You see, here are the hard facts.  The baby boomers, those folks who have led the church for years and who are likely in leadership positions now, are dying.  As they begin to retire and face the golden years, churches are going to feel the pain.  In the next 20-30 years, many of them will be passing away.  If you look around and see 2/3 to ¾ of your leadership as 60 or older, then realize that 2/3 to ¾ of your leadership won’t exist in the next 20 years.

That’s scary, and here’s why.

They’re still leading because younger folks, the busters and the millennials, don’t want to lead.

I don’t know if this comes from the “serve me” mentality or the “let the pastor do it” idea, but they have no desire to lead.  But make no mistake, if they don’t lead, the local church will die.

In fact, I saw it happen.  A church had faithful deacons who all died off.  When the last one died, despite having a decent congregation, the church closed the doors.  Why? No one wanted to take over as a deacon.  No one wanted to lead.  Without leadership, the church had no choice but to close.

Something must be done.  What?  I don’t know.

I’m burdened with this problem.  How do you get young people engaged in serving the church?  This transcends youth ministry.  It transcends the pastorate.  It’s a growing problem and one, that if not corrected, will see churches, many of them rural churches, closing their doors.  Not for failure to bring people in, but for failure to find people to lead.

Bible Study, Christian Leadership, Family Stuff, Resources, Stories

A Youth Ministry Prayer for Today

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“Be still and know that I am God – Psalm 46:10″

In our society we have a hard time slowing down, to relax , to wait. We want it our way and right now. STOP IT. Just sit here and rest in the next sentence.

God is.

That’s it.

Not God was or God will be.

God is.

His immediacy is what should give us rest. He is here with you now. It takes slowing down enough to BE STILL and then you will know He is God.

Rest in this. And truly rest.

#RuralMinistry and More.

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