your opinion...please

Our Young Adult ministry is going through a season of evaluation and last night a market analyst came in to lead us through 2 focus groups. Here are some statements I highlighted in my notes while I sat at the observation table, a.k.a the table that you’re told to shut up and just listen at.

Here's some of what I heard:

“I felt isolated because I didn’t know how to plug in, there was not an obvious entry point”

“Environment is EVERYTHING to me and it shows that this is IMPORTANT to you, and I appreciate that, even if you get it wrong at times”

“Form doesn’t matter as much as real encounters with God”

“Our Generations doesn’t want church, they want God, so give me real encounters with God”

“if you want to create a comfortable environment just put your gathering where all our friends naturally hang out”

“I felt no accountability to the church because no one seemed to notice when I wasn’t here?”

“When someone stands up to teach me, they better shoot straight, not beat around the bush, and be real! Cause the one thing I’m looking for the most is an authentic faith, I'm sick of pat answers”

“I want to know where YOU have screwed up, and how God was there!”

“I don’t go to events to meet new people, I go to events with my existing friends, I don’t leave my comfort zone, and I’m considered to be an outgoing person”

“Always have food!”

“What I mean by wanting “deeper teaching” is more historical context”

any insights? feel free to share

mistake

I came across this passage by mistake this morning and it is still shaking me.

“What shall I render to the Lord for all His benefits toward me?” Ps. 116:12

David is asking a rhetorical question to which he already knows the answer. “What shall I render to the Lord for all His benefits toward me?” The answer is nothing. There is nothing we can return to the Lord for what he has done for us. Upon seeing who God is and what He has done for him, David is in awe at the mercy and grace of God. There is no gift(s) or act(s) of service that can come close to repaying God for His benefits toward us.

I just bought a house a few months ago with borrowed money. So, I could potentially be repaying the bank what I owe it over the next thirty years. It will take a loooooong time but I will pay the bank back. How deceived are we when we think that we can repay God for what He has done. Who are we to think that our efforts alone can appease such a holy God? Oh what a debt we have to pay for our sins and there is no way we can settle this account with God! But when seeing the debt that I owe, God has looked upon the payment of His Son as sufficient for it. Paid in full! Christ has rescued me from darkness (Co. 1:13). Because of His great love and being rich in mercy, while we were dead in our sins and transgressions, God has made us alive together with Christ! (Eph. 2:4).

What shall I render to the Lord for all His benefits toward me? Nothing! There is no sufficient gift for what God has done for us. Knowing that my efforts are useless and empty and that I am nothing without Christ and that all I can do is rest in the grace of God-that's what is shaking me. Our response to this is worship. Worship God for who He is and what He has done and offer a life of thankful obedience. Praise God for His being rich in mercy and great in love and that He does not require us to pay Him back!

Those guys…

Parks here...
I just finished blogging about "those guys" on my personal blog, you can read more here.

In a nutshell, we had a rockin night tonight at Saturate (our young adult gathering) yet the evening had a lot of set up and tear down and I was not looking too forward to the time it would take to do this, but "those guys" jumped in and knocked it out. You each have "those guys" in your churches, those unsung heroes who do what ever it takes to make things happen. They wash dishes, they clean floors, they drive tractors over to run ice cream machines, don't laugh I just did it tonight.

Hero's in the church they are!

I was reminded how God sends those priceless volunteers at just the right time to make things happen. They are so critical to our ministries and I often forget this.

So, tonight as I'm about to crawl into bed, my soul is thankful, thankful for "those guys" who seem to come out of the wood work to pitch in a head to make things happen.

God, thanks for sending "those guys" at just the right moment.

May I slow down my life so I can truly be thankful for the many hands that make our gatherings and environments happen.

May I live with my eyes open to see where I can pitch in

May I lead well, praise often, and know how to thank "those guys"

great podcast

My friend and leader in ministry, Steve Wright, was interviewed by a guy from the North Carolina Baptist Convention. The podcast of the interview can be found here. It is a great dialogue discussing student ministry. You must take the time to listen to it! Also check out Steve's blog at www.lastingdivergence.com.

Don't Waste Your Pulpit

What a great challenge and conviction from John Piper.

another Charles Bridges quote

This book is rocking my world. The more I read it the more convicted I become. The context for this quote is Bridges' discussion of pastors using their position to exalt themselves.

“The most pernicious and debasing evil of all is, a converting our sacred office into a medium for setting forth our own excellence-prostituting the glories of the cross for the indulgence of our own pride-drawing a veil over the glories of our adorable Master-and committing a robbery against him, even in the professed business to exalt him” (p. 330).

Wow. That is me.

John 3:30

teaching/preaching/ministry...

I am reading a great book by Charles Bridges called, The Christian Ministry. By the way, it was first published in 1830. I encourage you to get it. I was a bit skeptical at first but it is a treasure for those in ministry. I was reading a chapter on preaching and came across this staggering quote:

"Let not ministers be unduly exalted among their people. We are only instruments 'by whom they believe,' and a dependence on our labour may provoke the grand Agent-who 'giveth not his glory to another'-to wither the most effective Ministry, that these idolaters may 'know that we are but men.' We may be reduced to ask-'Where is the Lord God of Elijah?'-who can accomplish more by one feeble sentence from the feeblest instrument, than we can do without him by the most powerful preaching." (p. 81)

How useless our ministry is without the hand of God. How useless are our sermons unless they are breathed by Him. How often do we rely on our own skill and performance to accomplish Kingdom work? How often do we craft a sermon without much prayer, study, meditation, and practice? How many times do we plan an event and never pray about it? On many occasions I will leave the office and then think, "Did I pray at all today?" Did I call on God desperate for His help? When did I humbly admit that I cannot do this without Him and allow His Spirit to guide me? Sometimes I forget. Sometimes it is pride. Both are wrong.

How humbling is it to know that God can accomplish far greater things through one feeble sentence than any sermon from the greatest of preachers without Him? Why do I convince myself that my skills and experience are enough to accomplish great things for God or even survive in ministry? Why do I tell myself that I have what it takes? How prideful and stupid of me.

I am nothing without Christ. It is not me, it is CHRIST through me. I pray that I will always be humble enough to admit this and make sure that I don't get in the way of His work. I hope we will cry out to God desperately for His help each day and allow Him to work through us. I pray that I will faithfully study His Word, and faithfully prepare in whatever I do in my ministry.

Family and Ministry

Gwen and I are expecting our first child this September. I expect when we all have children it will make us rethink how we are doing ministry. We may not think about this that much since most of us do not have children and can manage a heavy work load and marriage, or maybe we can’t. The excitement of our first full time position at a church may still be fresh and we have not felt the strains of our jobs yet, or maybe we have. Maybe we are really struggling with the demands of ministry. Maybe the meetings, the sermons, the events, the programs, and all of the other demands of ministry are taking a toll on our marriages, our children, ourselves, just 2 ½ years out of college.

Regularly I hear of pastors and youth pastors whose marriages and families are struggling due to the demands of their ministry. Almost every month I hear of disgruntled wives that have a disdain for the church and ministry because of what it has done to their husbands and families. Oh God, may my ministry NEVER harm my family and be the factor that disrupts its harmony. My very first, foremost, and most important ministry is my marriage, and in September it will be my wife and child. I cannot imagine the pain of one day watching my child walk away from their faith because of my ministry.

Could the way we do ministry today seriously harm our families in the future? Do our wives already feel the strain of our ministry? Do WE feel the unhealthy strain of ministry already? Could this be harmful? Several years ago I would have never thought that ministry could be harmful to our families. Is the ministry causing us to neglect our families? Is our ministry removing the joy of serving Christ from our lives? What do our wives think about our ministry and our church? I pray that we’ll be bold enough to ask ourselves and our families these questions and be strong enough to make the correct changes to allow ourselves to give our BEST ministry to our families. Please read the article below. I pray for y’all each week. I’d love to hear thoughts and comments from you.