Category Archives: Ethos

Discipleship, Ethos, Experience, Faith in Action, Leadership, Life, Ministry, Wrestling With Scripture

They Could Not Take Your PRIDE

Every year on this day I celebrate the life Martin Luther King with a post of one of Dr King’s speeches. Sometimes I post the full text or I highlight some of moments that speak to me as I read them. Today I want to post my favorite quote from Dr. King. It is short. It is to the point. It is powerful. I think a lot about this quote in life. Too often we feel that the task before us- whether it be a grand task like Justice or a seemingly insignificant one like Self-Discipline- is impossible.

Press on and keep pressing. If you can’t fly, run; if you can’t run, walk; if you can’t walk- CRAWL.”

Having this attitude, this focus, and creed helps me keep crawling to a better day for my self, my family, my ministry, and all those whom I come in contact with.

I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:14)

This is my goal. This is my ideal. This is my mission. Press on and keep pressing… fly, run, walk, or crawl.

Whose crawling with me?

2009, Ethos, Leadership, Life, Resources, Youth Ministry

Thursdays Are For Micheal

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This semester I have changed my day off from Tuesdays to Thursdays. Tuesdays were not working for me for a variety of reasons but mainly it boiled down to being too early in the week and too many commitments that made Tuesdays a terrible day for me to be off.

I have spent the last two weeks spending my Thursdays on myself and have felt the better for it. I don’t feel rushed trying to finish a Bible study or preparing for Wednesday night class like I did on Tuesdays. I have actually been able to work on a few personal projects. I am learning what a day off really can be. It feels good.

2009, Ethos, Leadership, Life, Ministry, Youth Ministry

Wednesdays Are For Relationships

One of my favorite parts of youth ministry is visiting my students for lunch at their school. For me this usually happens when I can fit it in or when I need to connect with a student during a difficult time in their life. As I looked at managing my schedule better I wanted to carve out specific time for me to visit schools on a regular and consistent basis. So now Wednesdays Are For Relationships.

The plan is for me to visit schools during lunch on Wednesdays this semester. By making this a priority and by staying a head of my schedule I think that I can keep this up.

Rather than haphazardly intending to meet with students I’m strategically making time for it.

Discipleship, Ethos, Experience, Leadership, Life, Movies, Resources

Tuesdays Are For Development

So yesterday I laid the foundation for my whole week- I mapped out my To Do list and my Due Date list, I prepped for each of my teaching times, and I wrapped up loose ends from last week. Now that I have a base for operating out of it is time to move towards Development.

Development of Classes
I still prep for my teaching times today but I focus more on my Tuesday and Wednesday teaching times. For simplicity sake and for consistency- these teaching times are both traditional Bible study times. On Tuesdays we are studying through 2 Timothy and Wednesdays are focused on John. This allows for a bit of a pattern so that I’m not prepping for two completely different things back to back. It helps me and I believe that the students benefit from traditional Bible study. On Wednesday I’ll continue developing my Wed night class and dive deeper on Sunday AM and PM.

Development of Ministry
To develop my ministry I set aside time to read, process, evaluate and dream each week. Today I’m reading through a ministry journal to glean tips and ideas for the ministry. After that I’m making a few calls to set up some events for the coming months. I’ll wrap up the day reading and taking notes on developing community within our group. If I can get to it today I will also work on some art work for an upcoming series and I have an office administration form I need to work on. These two projects are low on the totem pole though. I have them scheduled under “if there is time” today. If I can’t get to them today I have room in my schedule to fit them in by Friday. That’s the genius of planning.

I have really benefited from implementing Covey’s 4 Quadrants into my life (more on Q2 below). Development of content, character, and vision always trumps the bells and whistles. It is tempting to just work on the icing and the design of the surface but if there is no cake underneath then you have failed as a baker.

Holistic Development
Covey defines Quadrant 2 (Important/Not Urgent) habits as those that lead to holistic development: Preparation, Prevention, Values Clarification, Planning, Relationship building, Empowerment. The fact that I spent Monday laying these foundations helps me develop these habits, my ministry and my self today. Covey would say that is putting first things first. I just say that Tuesdays Are For Development.

2009, Collecting Experiences, Ethos, Leadership, Life, Resources

Mondays Are For Foundations

This week the plan is to post some thoughts on my new schedule. As I stated last semester (I’m the son of teachers, I’m married to a teacher, I am a minister to students- I think in semesters) I was stretched a little thin. The problem wasn’t that I felt overloaded. The problem was that I felt like my schedule was out of my hands. Years ago I wouldn’t have cared but now that I’m staring down a baby that is on its way and a busy summer schedule I knew I had to change something. I decided rather than to ride the wave with a “come what may” attitude that I would take the initiative and make the wave work for me. I sat down and marked down the have tos– the things that I must do or must accomplish each week. From there everything kind of fell into place. I found that in order to start of my week right I would have to make sure that Mondays Are For Foundations.

Each week I make sure that my Mondays are set aside for preparation, study, meetings, and planning.

Have To: Prepare for Teaching
As it now stands, I have to prepare for 4 separate teaching times- Sunday AM, Sunday PM, Tuesday Night, and Wednesday Night. If I don’t adequately prepare for these teaching times than I’m cheating everyone involved from my teens to their parents to myself and I am ignoring my calling to “preach the word.”

Solution
One thing that I learned to do years ago is to approach classes, sermons, and teaching times with a “series” mentality. That way I know what I’ve done, what I’m doing, and where we want to go. By laying out about 3-4 months at a time I can keep my eyes and ears open and prepare “on the go.” This allows me to shorten the actual preparation time for a single class or lesson because I (in essence) have been working on it for weeks. Example: On Sunday Nights I know that in February I’m teaching a month long series on Gospel and Culture and in April I’ll be teaching on the Holy Spirit. I already have pages of notes on each that I add to as I come across things or meditate on these topics. When it comes time to write out these lessons much of the leg work has already been done. It is like I’m sketching the rough outline now and then I’ll come back with the paint when it’s time to teach that lesson. Be prepared helps me be prepared.

Monday I lay the foundation for the week’s teaching times. I fully prep for Tuesday and Wednesday (I’ll spend time those mornings to tie up any loose ends) and I map out for Sunday. I will work/study on each class throughout the week but I really prep hard today.

I lay the foundation early so I can hit the ground building each Monday morning.

Awe, Discipleship, Ethos, Experience, Faith in Action, Theology, Worship, Wrestling With Scripture

Expansion

“The highest science, the loftiest speculation, the mightiest philosophy, which can ever engage the attention of a child of God, is the name, the nature, the person, the work, the doings, and the existence of the great God whom he calls his Father.

No subject of contemplation will tend more to humble the mind, than thoughts of God… But while the subject humbles the mind, it also expands it. He who often thinks of God, will have a larger mind than the man who simply plods around this narrow globe… Nothing will so enlarge the intellect, nothing so magnify the whole soul of man, as a devout, earnest, continued investigation of the great subject of the Deity.” -C.H. Spurgeon (by way of J.I. Packer)

2008, Discipleship, Ethos, Experience, Leadership, Life, Resources

Productive Day

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I got a whole lot of stuff done today. Sure I started my day an hour earlier but who’s counting?

One of the things I’m trying to do before baby arrives is to create a good deal of margin in my life. Things get so hectic and over scheduled in our world that most of us live edge to edge. In fact if we’re honest we tend to let things bleed over to the next page.

For me I decided that I wanted to be more purposeful in my time-management. I picked up “Time Management from the Inside Out” by Julie Morgenster, scheduled out the coming week in my planner, and then set about working my plan today.

If the rest of the week goes as well as it did today than I am well on my way to managing my time margin allowing me to be more strategic with my minutes and hours.

What helps you manage time most effectively?

Discipleship, Ethos, Experience, Faith in Action, General, Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving

I hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving. It seems that lately the November turkey, the November family gatherings, and the whole idea of stopping to count ones blessings has been pushed to the sidelines by the December tree and the fat guy in the red suit.

Don’t just let this season of thankfulness pass you by and don’t just celebrate it on the fourth Thursday of November. Live a life marked by seasons of Thanksgiving year round.

“Sing to the LORD with grateful praise; make music to our God on the harp. He covers the sky with clouds; he supplies the earth with rain and makes grass grow on the hills. He provides food for the cattle and for the young ravens when they call. His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse, nor his delight in the power of human legs; the LORD delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love.” (Psalms 147:7-11 TNIV)

I firmly believe that the song of your heart is lived out by your actions. Yes, sing out with thanksgiving. Every day. In every way.

Peace,
Felker

Collecting Experiences, Ethos, Experience, Guilty Pleasure, Ministry, Resources, Spilling Personal Secrets, Study, Unchained from my Desk, Youth Ministry

The Batcave, aka The Nerdery

Much like Superman’s Fortress of Solitude, the Batcave serves as a place of privacy and tranquility where Batman can be himself. – Wikipedia

When I need to get away and do some focused hard-core study for a class or a lesson I pack up all my gear – my notebook, Bible(s), book(s), iPod, pens, and highlighters – and head straight for my new, secret getaway. This place serves my needs because it is away from my desk, it is always quiet, and I avoid distraction from email or phone calls. I call this place of privacy and tranquility…

The Batcave
IMG_0384

This top-secret photo was snapped during my last visit and smuggled off the premises on my iPhone.

So where is the Batcave? I’ll never tell. However, I will spill the beans on what the Batcave is.

The Batcave is an annexed room next to my local comic book shop. The room is often used by groups of people play fantasy games like D&D, Warhammer 40K, and World of Darkness. It’s official name is The Gamers Guild.

That’s right I study at The Nerdery. But as you can see from my picture, in the middle of the afternoon no one is playing anything. The room is almost always completely empty. The people at the comic shop are so cool and so kind to let me use this area to study. I am so thankful to them. Every employee there has teated me so kindly. I love my new study-home.

It is so quiet there that I feel like my productivity quadruples. I just throw on my iPod (or don’t) whip out my pen and notebook and go to town crafting lessons. Very awesome.

Sure, there is no supercomputer or trophy room filled with the spoils of past lessons or retreats and there definitely is no Batmobile waiting in the wings (I do have a black car though) but this Batcave suits me just fine.

Until next time readers. Same Bat-channel. Same nerdy writer.

Book Review, Environmental Tech, ET, Ethos, Politics, Popular Culture, Questions, Remarkable

Hot, Flat, & Crowded pt 1

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I love living back in the Dallas/Ft Worth area. I mean L-O-V-E, love it.

It is great to be living in a place where I am afforded great opportunities to do neat things. Every band imaginable comes through town, there are wonderful festivals and community events every weekend, and there are ample opportunities to see and hear great voices.

Last night, I had the opportunity to hear Thomas Friedman, author of The World Is Flat speak at the University of Texas at Arlington. Friedman was speaking on his latest book, Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution- and How It Can Renew America. This isn’t a pithy commentary on recycling your Coke cans or hooking up your home with solar panels. This is a call to radically change the face of the planet by harnessing the imagination and innovation of 300 million Amercans to once again solve a giant “multi-generational” problem. We’ve done it in the past, Friedman argues, and we MUST do it again.

I’m still trying to process everything and I’m plowing through the book as we speak. Like his other books it is dense but extremely engaging and highly readable.

I hope to finish the book over the weekend and I’ll post my thoughts on it and the lecture early next week.