Category Archives: Resources

Book Review, Discipleship, Ethos, Leadership, Resources

Notes to Practice Greatness With

A few weeks ago, I read Reggie McNeal’s Practicing Greatness. This book quickly shot up into my Top 10 books of all time list and has been slowly washing over me since finishing it.

In the book McNeal challenges leaders to practice 7 disciplines that give power to great spiritual leaders. What I loved about this book is that McNeal’s heart and desire for good leaders to become great leaders really shone through. Some of these disciplines you may already be practicing but by naming them and by intentionally practicing them they should truly impact your life of service. McNeal writes that great spiritual leaders are committed, consciously and intentionally, to these 7 practices:

Self-Awareness: This protects leaders from being self-absorbed and merely role driven. This leads to increase awareness of burn-out and helps leaders overcome stress. Integration of mission, talent, and personality through life-experience.

Self-Management: The failure to manage self leads to self sabotage or derailment.

Self-Development: Never stop growing. Pursue life-long learning and build on your strengths. Choose to grow through failure.

Mission: Decide to spend your life focused on your mission rather than allow your life to be hijacked by other people’s expectations and agendas. Don’t be distracted by weaknesses that debilitate your energies.

Decision-Making: Be consistent in making good decisions. good leaders know how, when, and what good decisions need to be made.

Belonging: Enjoy significant relationships that nurture your life.

Aloneness: Not just the realization of the alone-nature of leadership but intentionally building solitude with God into your life.

All in all this is one of my favorite books on leadership. I just hit the highlights here so I would encourage you to pick up a copy of this great book and integrate these practices into your life.

Which discipline are you practicing right now? Which discipline do you really need to practice today?

Book Review, Discipleship, Ministry, Questions, Resources, Theology, Worship, Wrestling With Scripture

Quick Thoughts About the Holy Spirit and Our Worship

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“All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (John 14:25-27)

“When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me. And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.” (John 15:26-27)

“But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment:about sin, because people do not believe in me;about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned. I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.” (John 16:7-15)

While there are many debates and discussions about the Holy Spirit’s role in our worship I want to focus on some things that Jesus tells his disciples right up front about what the Holy Spirit will do in their lives. Rather than sift through meaningless debate let’s look to the source and see what Jesus has to say about it (I’m crazy right? See what Jesus has to say!?!? Weird I know but go with me on this one).

I would encourage you to read John 14-16 before you read here any further. Then grab a pen/pencil and mark every time Jesus mentions the Holy Spirit (Advocate, Counselor) and mark what Jesus says about the Spirit’s role in the lives of his followers.

Here is what I found.

The Counselor, the Spirit of truth- lives in those who love Jesus and is with them (14:16-17)
The Counselor, the Holy Spirit- teaches us and reminds us of what Jesus said and did (14:26)
The Counselor- testifies about Jesus (15:26)
The Counselor- convicts the world of guilt in regard to sin, righteousness, and judgement (16:7-11)
The Spirit of truth- guides us into truth, speaks what he hears (16:13); brings glory to Jesus by taking what is Jesus’ and makes it know to the world (16:14-15)

So how does this knowledge help us as we gather together for worship? It means that as we worship, as we focus on glorifying God in Jesus Christ, the Spirit is there with us. He teaches us and reminds us of who God is, what his Son taught and accomplished, and how dependent we are on the loving and powerful God. The Spirit allows us to testify to Jesus and the saving power of the cross. The Spirit convicts me and everyone else about their sin and calls us to righteousness. Ultimately it is the Spirit in us and working through us that empowers our worship to make Jesus known through our lives and throughout the world.

That take a lot of pressure off me as a leader. I humbly submit to the Spirit knowing that it isn’t the powerpoint, lesson, or even the songs that glorify God and change lives. It is the power of almighty God in Jesus Christ through his Spirit that allows us to worship in spirit and truth. If we fail to recognize this than we are merely relying on man-made tricks to get people feeling “worshipful.”

Kauflin ends the chapter by challenging leaders to ask the following questions:

1) Next Sunday, if the Spirit stopped empowering your worship, would anyone notice?
2) Would you?

The questions are to you and me. Would we notice? I hope so. I hope we would notice and then humbly submit to God to send a fresh outpouring of his Spirit so that we might be changed – “for the good of the church and the glory of the Savior.”

Book Review, Discipleship, Leadership, Resources, Worship, Wrestling With Scripture

Working Definition of a Worship Leader 1

In Worship Matters, author Bob Kauflin laysout his working definition of a Worship Leader. He states,

A faithful worship leader
magnifies the Greatness of God in Jesus Christ
through the power of the Holy Spirit
by skillfully combining God’s Word with music,
thereby motivating the gathered church
to proclaim the gospel,
to cherish God’s presence,
and to live for God’s glory.

Let’s unpack this definition and get at the heart of what Kauflin is saying.

A Faithful Worship Leader…
Here faithful is defined as “adhering to the observance of a duty, keeping your word, fulfilling your obligations. It involves being loyal, constant, and reliable.” Kauflin rightfully argues that God isn’t concerned with the worship leader being exalted with fame and/or popularity. God is first and foremost seeking worship leaders who are faithful to Him. In my favorite section of this chapter Kauflin writes,

Although we never know exactly how people are going to respond during a meeting, we tend to reap what we sow. If we sow to God’s glory in Christ, we’ll reap the fruit of people in awe of God’s greatness and goodness. But to do that we must faithfully paint a compelling, attractive, biblical picture of the Savior. God isn’t hiding from us, waiting to see if we’ll find the right combination to unlock his blessing. He is eager to work through us as we faithfully lead our church into a clearer understanding of his glory.

In the margin of the book I wrote a great big ole “BOOM!” around this passage. Kauflin is exactly right. We can’t be faithful to tends because they come and go. We can’t be faithful to styles or to particular songs. We are called to be faithful to God Almighty. Anything less would be foolish.

Magnifies the Greatness of God…
When leading others in worship, I always seek to begin with songs that proclaim the greatness of God. I love hearing the church sing songs like We Praise Thee O God, Hallelujah, Praise Jehovah, How Great Is Our God, Indescribable, and Awesome God. I often will read a Psalm that reminds us of the nature of the God we sing to and pray to and worship. Kauflin begins this chapter by quoting Psalm 145:3:

“Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable.”

Kauflin believes that when leading worship the leader must be clear and specific about God’s nature and acts so that we remind people just who this God is and what he has done. Basically, we need to make sure that we communicate through the songs that we sing, the scriptures that we read, the prayers that we pray, and everything else we do proclaims that God alone is worthy of our worship. He warns that unless there is a strong biblical foundation for our worship we will run the risk of worshiping a feeling, emotion, or style. Reminding people of who God is and what he has done- not an upbeat song or warm fuzzy feeling- provides the appropriate foundation for our affections.

In Jesus Christ…
One of my biggest complaints with some churches and ministers is when I gather with them we can often spend an entire worship experience together and the name of Jesus rarely, if ever, comes up. There is a guy on TV that preaches and I have never-NEVER- heard him talk about Jesus. What’s with that? It isn’t just guys on TV. Too many ministers and preachers have forgotten to heed the example of Paul and have failed to deliver the message of “first importance.” The message of Jesus Christ and his death for our sins.

Kauflin encourages those who lead worship with this challenge,

Everytime we step up to lead the congregation, we should present a clear picture of “the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2Cor 4:6). We come together to retell, remember, and respond to the gospel and all that it accomplished. We have been saved to trust in, love, desire, and obey the matchless One who is the only Savior of the world and the radience of the Father’s glory.

Therefore, one of our primary thoughts as we plan a Sunday meeting should be: Will our time together cause people’s view of, trust in, and desire for God’s glory in Christ and him crucified to increase?

That is a great challenge and one I will take with me every time I step up to lead.

Through the Power of the Holy Spirit
I know sometimes I get so wrapped up in the lighting, the mood, the right songs, avoiding the wrong songs, pacing, verse numbers, atmosphere, sound system that I feel like leading people in worship is my job and mine alone. I believe that by controlling all the right elements that I can change peoples focus and attitudes toward God. While I don’t really believe that my actions/focus might say otherwise.

Kauflin begins by saying that churches can magnify the greatness of God in Christ and still “fail to demonstrate the kind of empowered living and passion that the gospel should produce” because churches/leaders “attempt to worship God apart from the power of the Holy Spirit.”

One of the most haunting conversations I have had was with a leader with one of the ministries I served. We had had numerous issues with spiritually impoverished people- infighting, rampant sin, rebellion against authority, ill-will, and lack of leadership. One day while lamenting these issues he turned to me and said, ‘Micheal, maybe were are seeing these things because the Holy Spirit has never been welcomed here. We are wondering where his presence is in the middle of all this and I’m thinking he isn’t here because people have never invited him here.”

There is so much we speculate about when it comes to the Holy Spirit. We spend nearly 100% of our time when speaking about the HS either avoiding talk about the HS or arguing about the unknown mysteries of the HS. I think it is time we remember what we do know about the Spirit’s role in worship.

Tomorrow: The Spirit’s Role

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.

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.

2009, Experience, Leadership, Ministry, Resources

Staying On Top Of It All

“If we center our lives on correct principles and create a balanced focus between doing and increasing our ability to do, we become empowered in creating effective useful, and peaceful lives.”– Steven Covey, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

With a new year and a new semester upon us I have been taking a few steps to make my schedule work for me. I’m glad that today is a Friday so I could spend a little time thinking and preparing for the first full week of the new year. I have mapped out my week and look forward to seeing how everything fits together. It is my hope that this new schedule will help me be better- a better disciple, husband, minister, friend, and parent-to-be.

Last semester I was stretched a little thin. The problem wasn’t the load but the schedule. I was out three nights in a row- Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday- with ministry related events. No bueno. This semester I am changing my day off to Thursday and I am only involved in ministry related events on two nights in a row- Tuesday and Wednesday nights. I know what I need to get done each week, how to do it, and when it needs to be finished.

Proactive scheduling is my attempt to be my best in every area of my life. I try and schedule my time the way I drive my car.

When I drive my car I don’t stare at the hood or just in front of my vehicle. That’s too often how we schedule our lives. We focus on the most pressing issue or we only have enough energy for the thing right in front of us. This leads to emergencies, pile-ups, accidents, and dented backends!

When I head out in my car I keep my eyes on the road ahead. I note the traffic, I stay a few moves a head of my directions (No GPS for me- I want to know ahead of time where I’m going. Turn by turn doesn’t do it for me), I observe any road closed signs, and I anticipate the gridlock or an accident. There are too many things to do or get done to be blindsided by a foreseeable incident.

Sure there are things that come up that I can’t anticipate and emergencies I could never account for. I forget things and miss things at times. I get interrupted with real emergencies and with time bandits. That’s ok.

I believe being proactive accounts for the unseen. It allows for breathing room because I am not overloaded with the tyranny of the urgent. This allows me to be fully present when an emergency occurs. It also gives me a sense of peace and clarity and energy to engage an interruption because I know that I’ve done the legwork and that I’ve been faithful to the process of preparation.

How do you schedule your time? What out of control areas of your life could benefit from a few moments of focus and proactive engagement?

Discipleship, Faith in Action, Ministry, Preaching, Resources, The Word, Theology, Worship, Wrestling With Scripture

The Gift

I had the chance to preach again yesterday. I don’t do it very often but I really enjoy sharing a message with the people of our church family whenever I get the chance.

I taught on Romans 12 and the Gift of Life, Jesus.

Since it is the week of Christmas I could let the opportunity of teaching a Christmas lesson pass me by. We’re taking off to Tennessee later this week so I want to post some of yesterday’s message with you here. These posts are from my teaching notes.

I hope that it helps you focus on the greatest gifts that we have been given- Jesus Christ and a new life lived by his Spirit. It don’t get much better than that.

The Gift of Life- Romans 12
We love giving gifts don’t we? Of course we do! I know the reason we love to give gifts- Genesis tells us that we are made in the image of God and He is a gift giver. In fact he is the ultimate gift giver. Scripture chronicles the great and mighty gifts that God has given mankind:

Creation
Life (that’s a biggie)
In the fall we deserved death but he showed his loving kindness
Saved Noah
Chose Abraham (To be blessed AND to bless the whole world)
Provided for Isaac
Renamed Jacob
Rescued the world from famine through Joseph
Repurposed the price of Egypt, Moses, and gave freedom to his people
The Law- knowledge of what is required
The promised land
Teachings from the Prophets

Finally God gave us himself through his son Jesus Christ. It doesn’t matter the date because Galatians 4 says,

“But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” So you are no longer slaves, but God’s children; and since you are his children, he has made you also heirs.” (Galatians 4:4-7)

Do you see that? Do you hear that? God didn’t just send his Son for us. He didn’t just send us his Spirit. It wasn’t enough for God to just give us freedom. Scripture tells us that on top of all this God also adopts us as his own sons and daughters.

Jesus’ birth, life, death, and resurrection were the ultimate gifs given to mankind.

From our human father, Adam, we received the gifts of sin, death, selfishness, murder, wrath, and spiritual poverty.

From our heavenly Father we have received life and resurrection. This gift of new birth and everlasting life is for all who wish to have it.

Tomorrow: From Theory to Practice

Ministry, Parenting, Popular Culture, Resources, Youth Ministry

The Elephant in The Family Week 2

I got a ton of great feedback from readers last week that they were looking forward to this series of posts. Thanks to everyone who posted comments and left me info on more resources. Thank you so much.

I had planned on posting this earlier in the week but I was unable to do so. I am scheduled to preach this Sunday and I caught a bit of the crud this week. I am feeling much better today. I hope every one has a great weekend. Enjoy my teaching notes from last week’s class, The Elephant in the Family.

Week 2: The Message Has Been Tampered With
As a youth minister I’ve heard my fair share of questions that teens ask about dating, relationships, and sex? There are a handful of questions that I seem to get over and over.

How far is to far?
If you participate in oral sex are you still a virgin?
Can I sleep with someone even though we are getting married?
Is masturbation wrong?
Can I be forgiven for having pre-marital sex? If I go too far?

These questions make us nervous don’t they? They catch us off guard. Like me, some of you may believe you have the perfect answer to one or all of these questions but feel like your brain and you mouth struggle to synch up when speaking. The problem is that the Christian message of holiness and purity and devotion has been lost is a sea of indifference, secular culture, and fear.

The issue is that kids have questions and who better to answer them then their parents and the church. In that order. Based on our discussions from last week and our experiences most parents do not take the time to deal with these questions. Kids aren’t hearing from us in ways that they should.

What They Hear
Teenagers hear these messages about sex…

Parents say, “Don’t do it…”
The Church say, “Don’t do it because it is dirty, rotten, and shameful… so wait ‘til your married.”
The Culture say, “You should do it when YOU’RE ready…make sure to use protection.”

No wonder our kids mess up. There is no consistency of message.

Crisis Points
This inconsistency leads us to a handful of Crisis Points that everyone in society is concerned with.

Results of promiscuity
Instant Intimacy
Early Sexualization

“The Christian perspective is much more concerned for the whole person. Our focus is on the development of healthy values, being responsible for one’s actions, one’s relationship with God, and generally what is right and wrong. The Christian perspective deal with, to a greater extent, how we treat members of the opposite sex and our deeper moral character.” (22)

Parents Job Description

Talk
Role Model with Honesty and Integrity
Positive Peer Influence
Grace & Forgiveness
Something is better than nothing

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?