Tag: Spirituality

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Friday Fun

Here’s a little video to entertain you for the next 60 seconds. Kind of makes me think of a 60 second video Bible drill. One of my former students sent it to me on my MySpace Account:

[vodpod id=Groupvideo.1477444&w=425&h=350&fv=m%3D40696338%26type%3Dvideo%26a%3D0]

Click HERE for more videos by Barats and Bareta

Join the Conversation: What’s Your Favorite Story in the Bible? Or, What is Your Favorite Book of the Bible?

My favorite book has always been Daniel and my favorite story is the one about the Warrior Ehud…he was the left handed warrior that stabbed King Eglon in the stomach and his fat swallowed the sword. (Judges 3) – I am left handed and I’ve got to support my left handed brothers! :mrgreen:

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What Is Kingdom Day?


So I opened my big mouth and I am in the middle of watching something HUGE unfold right in front of my very eyes, and it has nothing to do with me, this is seriously a GOD thing, and I am blown away that in the last week I have had the opportunity to be a part of what is going to happen in 2009. “Kingdom Day” has been one of those things that I told some people about and then I blogged about it, and it started catching fire in front of my very eyes and the response has been great so far , but it will totally be bigger than I can grasp on my own. Go HERE to see how “Kingdom Day” started, and continue reading to get a better idea of what is going to happen.

I am not trying to be overly spiritual here with the name “Kingdom Day” – but I feel it is time that the Church that claims the name of Christ quits talking and starts walking. We are always talking about being unified as the Body of Christ, yet we never do anything about it. Recently we have seen some progress in this area with new methods such as the ONE Prayer Campaign, but what if we went a little further? What if we quit praying that Christ would use us to make a difference in the world around us and in the life of people who are in need, and we take action to be the answer to our own prayers? That’s what Kingdom Day is all about. Its not about gathering a group of students to see who can go out and recruit the most souls for the Kingdom of God. Trust me, I am pro-evangelism and I am pro-sharing our faith, but we (Christians) talk a lot! I believe it is time that we quit talking and start living it out and showing our cities and our communities what the Kingdom of God is all about. ‘Your Kingdom Come, Your Will Be Done…’ We are the body of Christ and it is our responsibility to be the hands and feet for Jesus, to flesh out the faith life we say we have. I believe actions truly do speak louder than words in many cases. In James 2:18, James said that he would reveal his faith through his good deeds. In chapter 1 verse 27 James told us, “Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.” – It is evident that part of God’s will for his Body is to take care of the hurting, the broken, and the needy.

We are asking Student Ministry leaders to unite their students with at least one other student ministry in their community to plan a service project for their city and community. Projects may be as large as renovating a park or helping a local mission or community center do minor repairs and renovations or could be on a smaller scale of working a soup kitchen for the poor or helping an elderly adult with projects around their home. With student ministries varying in size we want each group to plan their own projects that will take place on April 25, 2009, Kingdom Day. This project is powerful in 2 ways: #1 Student’s are learning how to serve together with other members of the Body of Christ, despite their denomination, their worship styles, their personal preferences, or their group size. As leaders we are taking on the responsibility of paving a path that is pleasing to God with our students, so when they take our place as adults, they will lead the revolutionary church that Jesus intended. #2 With each student ministry partnering with other student ministries in their local area and serving with this campaign on Kingdom Day, our students will take part in the largest single service project in the history of the church! I believe that would bring a smile to Jesus’ face. One day…One Church…One Mission. Together we will unite under that which unites us, the banner of Christ, and we will live out the Gospel of Love for all the world to see, and Christ will use our students in an awesome way!

Ephesians 3:20 (NLT) “Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish “INFINITELY” more than we might ask or think.”

We are in the process of getting a quote on a website package as well we are discussing the details with youth ministry networks across the country, both small and large. We will reveal more solid details as decisions are made, until then, here are a few questions I would like you to ask yourself (Pastor, Youth Pastor, Volunteer Leader, Associate Pastor, Etc…):

  1. Am I willing to get my student ministry involved in this campaign?
    If Yes, Email me (CLICK HERE) If No, Why?
  2. I am a member of this Body, how can I utilize my gifts, talents, and abilities to help?
  3. Am I willing to assist with funding for this campaign?
    (Major costs so far will be logos/web widgets/website/promotional, etc.)
  4. Why have I not emailed or called at least 3-5 other youth pastors to spread the word? (Go ahead and do that now 🙂

Email me or leave a comment if your student ministry will be involved and if you have any ideas or thoughts as well as your willingness to help fund this campaign (& maybe effective ways we can raise funds). We look forward to serving with you!

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Overcoming Obstacles in Leadership

I love this portion of John Maxwell’s, Developing the Leader Within You.

“A wise philosopher once commented that an eagle’s only obstacle to overcome for flying with greater speed and ease is the air. Yet, if the air were withdrawn, and the proud bird were to fly in a vacuum, it would fall instantly to the ground, unable to fly at all. The very element that offers resistance to flying is at the same time the condition for flight.”

I can’t tell you how many times as a leader I have thought or communicated the idea that if a specific obstacle was not standing in our way, we would be able to accomplish much more than we were able to in that moment. However, looking back on those times, I now see that without those obstacles or problems, we would have never achieved what we achieved. Erwin McManus shares that it is the very lack of resources that forces us as leaders to be more creative in achieving our goals…but many times people look at obstacles as God “shutting a door” or “God not providing.” So instead of mobilizing and moving forward towards our goal, we back down and sit paralyzed staring at the obstacle that we allowed to stand in our way. I immediately think about Joshua and the Wall of Jericho. Joshua knew what God had called him to but he had the choice to obey or to be paralyzed, we all know based on the Biblical account, he did not allow the obstacle to stand in the way. Here is what Maxwell goes on to say…

“Many of the Psalms were born in difficulty. “Most of the Epistles were written in prisons. Most of the greatest thoughts of the greatest thinkers of all time had to pass through the fire. Bunyan wrote Pilgrim’s Progress from jail. Florence Nightingale, too ill to move from her bed, reorganized hospitals of England…Bury a person in snows of Valley Forge, and you have a George Washington. Raise him in abject poverty, and you have an Abraham Lincoln. Strike him down with infantile paralysis, and he becomes a Franklin D. Roosevelt. Burn him so severely that the doctors say he will never walk again, and you have Glenn Cunningham, who set the world’s one-mile record in 1934. Have him or her born black in a society filled with racial discrimination, and you have Washington Carver, or a Martin Luther King, Jr. Call him a slow learner and retarded-writing him off as uneducable, and you have an Albert Einstein.”

So what obstacle are you allowing to be an excuse to be paralyzed as a leader? Finances, Space, Volunteers, Lack of Knowledge/Wisdom, Lack of Skill??? Sometimes the very thing we think is holding us back is the very thing that propels us forward! (By the way, if you have influence you are a leader – Christian, Business owner, parent, spouse, employer, teacher, we are all leaders in some way).

Join the Conversation: What obstacles as a leader are you facing? Is it paralyzing you or is is propelling you forward to be more effective?

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Kingdom Day – Living Out the Gospel

I had an idea the other day, but now it has grown into a massive dream. What is it? I want to inspire student ministries all across the world to participate in the largest single day service project ever! Why? To live out the Gospel to our disconnected communities. Will this dream happen? I don’t know, that will require the body of Christ working together and being willing to unite under the banner of Christ, putting aside personal preferences, styles, denominations, number, and everything else that divides us in order to flesh out the faith we claim to follow. Here’s how this idea became a massive dream and where I would like to see it go…

I am a part of a local youth workers network that works together to promote and to host several annual activities and events for the students in our communities. One of the events we coordinate as a network is a city wide D-Now (Disciple Now) where each church coordinates a weekend of small groups that meet in homes and group activities with the students of their ministries. On Saturday evening of the D-Now all of the students who participate in the D-Now come to a central location to participate in a concert and a guest speaker. Basically it is a ‘feed me’ type atmosphere where students do no more than ‘come and watch’ a show. Our D-Now’s can bring in anywhere from 700-2,000 students depending on what band we bring in and who the speaker is, so I made a suggestion (the idea) that my buddy Shane was all about too because we have the same heart on a lot of issues…

Why don’t we (the network) capitalize on the opportunity we have on this weekend with these students to do more than ‘come and watch’ to mobilize them to ‘go and invest/serve’ in our community? 700-2,000 students from 30 + churches is an awesome time for the CHURCH to unite to make a difference in the life of those who live in our communities. So I have contacted the Mayor of Augusta to see if there is a park that needs renovating in a poor neighborhood, as well, we are looking at partnering with a local mission and/or community center to help repair, clean, and freshen up with paint and other services that can be accomplished by students. We have also discussed finding some elderly people, who are disabled or in need that needs work completed on their private homes. In one day, a whole community will feel and experience the impact of Christianity, under the banner of Jesus Christ, as represented by 30 + different churches.

So my idea blew up into a massive dream as I was taking a shower the other night. It was almost as if the Lord questioned me, “Why stop with 30 + churches and why focus locally….why not globally?” – And I personally was inspired and could not sleep, so I shot a few emails off to people who may can help get this ball rolling, if it is meant to be. My dream is this…I believe with the combination of bloggers and a few major networks of youth pastors this thing could become a reality. Each youth pastor who desires for their ministry to participate would partner with at least 1 other youth ministry and youth pastor in their area. Together these youth pastors would plan a major or a small project for their ministries to accomplish together on one day, while thousands of other ministries and students are doing the same in their communities, Saturday, April 25, 2009. In one day, youth ministries all across the globe would act out the single largest service project ever in the worlds history, all for the cause of Christ and to futher the Gospel through the example of our service.

The logo may change, some details may change, this is about 24 hours old, but my question is, why can’t it be done? I read in Ephesians 3:20 (NLT) today and it blew my mind…“Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish “INFINITELY” more than we might ask or think.”

So, are you in? What can you do? What do we need to do? I need help!!! We have less than a year, but together it can be done. We may need a website, bloggers, logos, t-shirts?, I don’t know, but maybe you do. If you have ideas or want to join in and help push this forward email me HERE or leave a comment. Kingdom Day (name may change), Saturday, April 25, 2009 (Date is Firm 🙂 )

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My Prayer

At the beginning of the week as I was spending some time praying the old song, He’s Still Working on Me, popped into my head. It all just clicked and made sense…what I was asking Jesus was simply, “Lord, Make Me What I Ought to Be…”

Where I lack wisdom…
Where I lack love…
Where I lack patience…
Where I lack skill…
Where I lack in priorities…
Where I lack…

“Lord, Make Me What I Ought to Be!“

Join the Conversation…What’s Your Prayer?