Archives For relevant

Books I Am Currently Reading and Learning From

October 2, 2012 — 5 Comments

It is funny. In high school I don’t think I read a single book all the way through. For all my book reports, I would literally make it up as I went and I would get passing grades. Not saying that is okay, I’m just stating what happened. Regardless, I love reading now. I’m what some might call an “Amazon junky”. I can’t stop.  I thought it would be fun just to post the books I’m currently in the middle of right now.

I read a chapter a day in each of them. I don’t know if that is the best way for me to retain information, but it seems to be working for me. Here they are in no particular order:

  • The Next Generation Leader: 5 Essentials for Those Who Will Shape the Future- The Next Generation Leader has been challenging young Christians eager to learn, grow, and lead in ministry or in the marketplace since its original release in 2003. Now with an all-new look, this repackaged version continues to advance the mission of the first release. Mentoring young leaders as they face the unique issues of a changing world has been pastor and bestselling author Andy Stanley’s passion for more than a decade. Here he shares material from his leadership training sessions, developed to address essential leadership qualities such as character, clarity, courage, and competency. This is the perfect guide for any new leader—or for the mentor of a future leader!
  • Unleash!: Breaking Free from Normalcy-Why is it that we trust Jesus with our salvation but never fully trust him with our lives? God longs to unleash his full measure of power in our lives to fill us with passion and purpose. But too often the things of our past—fear, anger, bitterness, worry and doubt—hold us back. Rather than focusing on the reality of who Christ is and what he has done for us, we allow ourselves to be identified by all the things we aren’t. But we are not who our past says we are, and we are not who the enemy says we are. We are who God and his Word say that we are. Pastor Perry Noble challenges all followers of Christ to make a bold move by fully embracing the exciting adventure God has called us to. Are you ready to unleash all the life he has created you to live? Join Perry on this journey as he digs into the major barriers holding people back and shows how Jesus calls and equips his followers to experience a life most of us never dreamed possible.

  • The Power fo a Praying Husband-  Designed to accompany the powerful bestseller, The Power of a Praying Husband, this study guide helps men in their quest to pray more effectively for their wives. Through a variety of suggestions, examples, and thought-provoking questions, men will develop prayers that fit the circumstances of their marriage. Each week they will embrace the power to heal relationships, grow in faith, and accept the blessings of a life and marriage given over to God’s hands.

(I’m technically not a husband yet, but I will be in a month so I wanted to get ahead of the game.)

  • Axiom: Powerful Leadership Proverbs- The best leaders not only lead well but also reflect on their leadership long enough and thoughtfully enough to articulate the philosophies that cause them to do so. Whether serving in the marketplace or in ministry, as executives or rank-and-file employees, as salaried staff or volunteer servants, good leaders can pinpoint the rationale for their actions and decisions with the ease of reciting their home address. In Axiom, author Bill Hybels divulges the God-given convictions that have dictated his leadership strategy for more than three decades as senior pastor of Willow Creek Community Church. Oriented toward four key leadership categories … 1. Vision and strategy (‘Promote Shameless Profitability,’ ‘Take a Flyer’) 2. Teamwork and communication (‘Obi-Wan Kenobi Isn’t for Hire,’ ‘Disagree without Drawing Blood’) 3. Activity and assessment (‘Develop a Mole System,’ ‘Sweat the Small Stuff’) 4. Personal integrity (‘Admit Mistakes, and Your Stock Goes Up,’ ‘Fight for Your Family’) … Axiom brokers accessible wisdom from one leader’s journey, as well as emboldens you to nail down the reasons why you lead like you lead.

What are some of the books you are reading and learning from? Which ones do I need to add to my reading list?

In Book Review, Free Stuff, Leadership, personal growth, student ministry, Uncategorized, Youth Ministry , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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GUEST POST: Humble Beginnings

September 13, 2012 — 3 Comments

Recently I accepted the position of Saddleback Huntington Beach Student Ministries Director. I cannot begin to tell you how surreal that sentence is.

I come from a church in a small town where you are bound to run into at least ten people you know on a daily basis wherever you go. I had the honor of being the Jr. High Director for my home church for almost two years. I watched our ministry start with a handful of students and grow to 300+ in the course of a year. I’ve seen God do incredible things in our students lives on a daily basis.

Coming from a ministry where everyone “gets it” to a ministry where you have the challenge of starting from scratch really teaches you about humble beginnings. “Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin.” - Zechariah 4:10 NLT

I have the privilege of taking these handful of students back to the basics. I get to teach them why it’s important to read their bibles, why they should take notes, why they should serve, and why they should reach out to their friends.

Was it always an exciting feeling to start from scratch? To be honest… No. I knew it would be a challenge, but I also knew that God had called me to this and I also knew that He would be there every step of the way. I know ministry can be discouraging when you feel like students aren’t getting it, or when you feel like what you’re saying is going in one ear and out the other. I encourage you to celebrate the win.

What do I mean by that?

Every week I remind my students to bring their bibles and journals. For the first couple months I got nothing. The other day I had a student walk up to me and say “Hey Brenda! Look! I brought my bible and journal!” You better believe I celebrated that all morning! I even gave him a shout out during service for setting the example.

These things may not seem like a big deal, but to a ministry that is going back to the basics to build a solid foundation it is a huge step in the right direction. I celebrate that they stepped out and talked to someone. I celebrate that they invited a friend. I celebrate when they take notes. I celebrate the first time a student raises his or her hand in worship.

What gets rewarded gets repeated.

We may not be celebrating that we had 100′s of students show up on a Sunday morning (yet), but I am celebrating that they are making progress. If you aren’t moving forward then you’re standing still.

My advice to anyone in ministry: Celebrate the WIN. We so often as ministry workers tend to hear and fixate on the negative. I pray that we start recognizing that even if just one student gets something out of your weekly message then you’re doing something right and someone’s life is being changed.

Brenda Medina is the Student Ministries Director for Saddleback Huntington Beach. She is a lover of Christ. Encourager. Over analyzer. Writer. Reaching the next generation with passion and heart. Devoted to building up leaders, Brenda is available for any suggestions or comments.

Brenda Medina. Student Ministries Director | Saddleback HB

T: @_Bren_

F: BrendaSays

B: BrendaSays.blogspot.com

In creativity, Devotional, God, Guest Post, Leadership, service programing, student ministry, Transitions, Uncategorized, Youth Ministry , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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GUEST POST: The Often Forgotten: Volunteers As Free Labor?

August 30, 2012 — Leave a comment

The role of a youth pastor is unfortunately cross-functional and creative.  Read that again.  The responsibilities that are the weekly to-do list are daunting and incredibly unachievable.  No, that’s not pessimism – that’s realism.

Here’s the thing, ministry is not meant to be done on your own.  That’s not profound, that’s simple.

I have been looking for a job as a high school pastor for 4 years now.  I have seen interview after interview, panel after panel.  Though each community is unique, one question remains consistent: “How do you balance your ministry?”

Believe it or not, my answer is not “I just do.”  The key responsibilities of youth pastors are two-fold: Lead students, Train leaders.  This second half is often overlooked.

As I said above, all churches and communities are unique, but this fact remains true no matter how big your youth room is.  You need staff support.  No, I don’t mean free labor to pick up a gallon of milk for your Wednesday night game.  I mean a group of people who are passionate about connecting with students.

I had a professor in college that continually beat into my skull that, “life-change happens in the context of a meaningful relationship.”  This means the gallon challenge won’t officially bring students into a relationship with Jesus Christ.  However, a student and a volunteer talking about the gallon challenge could.

That might seem a little unattainable but it remains true.  Students connect with each other and with Christ through volunteer leaders.  I would strongly argue that the best way to grow your ministry is through training and empowering your volunteers.

I know a lot of youth workers who think they can connect with every student and single-handedly disciple and grow the ministry.  I don’t know about you, but I might label this as a messiah complex.  The ministry of your youth group should involve the extension of your heart for Christ and students through the time and effort of your volunteers.  This is why it is crucial to focus on the development of your leaders as much as you focus on the development of your students.

Take a look at Luke 9:1-2 –

“When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.”

Huh. If Jesus didn’t do it on his own… you probably shouldn’t do it either.

So this is where the rubber meets the road.  Are you investing in your volunteers or are they free labor?  Is your staff growing or is it tough to get people to show up?  This is why I see the ministry of a youth pastor to be a healthy balance.  Investment in students is most successful when you empower your dedicated leaders to do it as well.

This is not an excuse to run your ministry as the CEO of a fortune 500, but it is permission to share the responsibility.  Ministry is not a one man or woman show.  Developing your relationship with your leaders allows you to see the gifts these volunteers bring to your community of students.

This isn’t a formula – it’s an idea.  There are a lot of ways to make this practical and I encourage you to find what works for your group.  A great place to start is looking at Justin’s blog on the 10-foot rule.

So as you plan your next message or event, grab coffee with a leader and see what happens.

*Timothy Crossland is a youth ministry major from Azusa Pacific University who is now up in Kirkland, WA (looking for a youth ministry position, get him, he’s amazing). He just started a blog at http://timcrossland.tumblr.com/ and you can follow him on twitter at @tbxland
 
In Guest Post, high school ministry, Leadership, Ministry Idea, Relational, service programing, Uncategorized, Youth Ministry , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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GUEST POST: Students and Their Gifting

August 28, 2012 — Leave a comment

One of my favorite parts about my job is that I get to help students discover their gifts.  I believe that knowing how you are gifted is a key characteristic of not just an effective leader, but a kingdom worker in general. God specifically created each one of us with unique talents and abilities that we need take full advantage of.  It is a huge part of us finding our identity in Christ.  We need to find security in who God created us to be so that we aren’t consistently trying to become who we feel others want us to be.  Normally, that message is taught about moral integrity, but I believe that it can also apply to Godly servanthood and leadership.  When it comes to student leadership, I always encourage students to lead according to how God created them.  While I want them to be looking at other leaders and applying leadership skills that they have observed, I don’t want them to lead like someone else who has different gifts. When we aren’t using our gifts, we are keeping ourselves from reaching our full potential.  I got to see a great example of this a couple months ago.

This summer, we took our student leaders to the Student Leadership Conference (if you aren’t already going, you need to go next year!). At the conference, two of our students (Delaney and Ashley) got the opportunity to lead a workshop.  Each girl got to teach their workshop two times, which allowed for them to learn a valuable lesson. The first time around, both workshops fell flat.  After some debriefing, we found that the problem was that they weren’t using their gifts. For example, Ashley is an incredible writer, often sharing her poetry in our weekend services. Being the writer she is, she wrote a beautiful lesson on how to lead like Jesus. Now Ashley is great at communicating what she has written down, but isn’t strong when she teaches off of memory.  The first time she led her workshop, she abandoned what she had written and taught outside her “sweet spot”, where she fell flat. Because of that, we told her to read off of what she had written.  99% of the time, that is the worst advice you can give to a speaker, but with her, it was perfect.  She started her workshop by explaining that God has gifted her with writing and she began to read off her message with the passion in which she wrote it.  The results were powerful and impactful, with several students walking out talking about it.

Once Ashley made use of the gifts that the Lord had given her, she was able to lead like never before. That is what I want to see all students doing, making use of their gifts! If you are wondering how to help the students in your ministry do this, here are a couple resources you can check out:

  • Student Leaders Start Here by Doug Franklin: What I love is that this book is a workbook.  It teaches students leadership principles while allowing them to take quizzes to find out more about their spiritual gifts and leadership style.  We are currently taking our students through it.
  • Strengths Finder 2.0 by Tom Rath: It is a secular book, but it is incredible. When you buy the book, you are also buying an online strengths quiz.  The book walks you through the pros and cons of your strengths.
  • Congratulations… You’re Gifted! By Doug Fields: This book takes you through the S.H.A.P.E acrostic (Spiritual Gifts, Heart, Abilities, Personality, and Experiences).  We use the S.H.A.P.E. model even in our adult ministry at Saddleback Church.

What are you doing to help your students find their gifts?

 

Colton Harker is the Student Leadership Coordinator at Saddleback HSM.  If you have any questions or comments, feel free to contact him at coltonharker@gmail.com or on twitter at @ColtonHarker

In Guest Post, high school ministry, Leadership, Ministry Idea, Relational, student ministry, Youth Ministry , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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Tattooed Blessings

July 10, 2012 — 2 Comments

If you read my post yesterday, I just got done reading a book called “The Tangible Kingdom” (you can go check it out HERE). The book is about getting out of the church and being with people through relationaships and through that, by your life style, they will inquire about what you believe and why your life style seems to have something that they do not… Jesus. It is an incredible book with a really interesting/practical concept. After reading it, prayed to God saying, “God, let me be more like this. Help me be a light everywhere I go and shine Your love by my words and actions.” God answered big time.

I got a call two days ago from my tattoo artist. Usually the only time we talk on the phone is to schedule my next appointment, but this time was different. He asked me for a favor.

Now to give some back ground, Mike (my tattoo artist) and I have been friends for 6 years. I got my first tattoo from him and I have been going to him ever sense. He is not Christian, actually, he is probably one of the furthest guys from being any form of religion I know. He is all tatted up, a super tough, ruggid, crude guy I have ever met, but he has a heart of gold. And we have developed this unique friendship. We have hung out many times outside of me getting tattooed and he has even attended some church services with me. Most of our late night tattoo sessions turn into theological talks. It is pretty sweet. I have been praying for this guy since the day I met him.

Back to his favor. He called me up to tell me that him and a few other guys are starting their very own tattoo shop. It is a huge risk for them and they are telling their current boss this week that they are quitting to start this new place. They have put everything they have into the place. And he called me and asked if I would be willing to come and I quote, “Pray a prayer of blessing over the new or some  **** and pray for us telling our current boss. We need all the help we can get and I thought you would be the right person to do so.” I was floored. How awesome is that? Have I ever done something like that before? Nope. But what a great opportunity to hang out and minister with 3 guys who are open to having a pastor come and check out and pray over their new shop. I have been praying for an opportunity to talk to these guys about God, and here it is placed right in front of me, 3 days after I pray for the opportunity.

That is just the thing. We usually pray for God to make us bolder, patient, to have opportunities to talk to people about Jesus, or fill in the blank with whatever you want. But does God automatically make you any of those things? When you pray for boldness does he right then and there make you bold? No! Rather he gives you the opportunity to be bold, and it is up to us to take the opportunity. Same thing with anything, when we pray for something for us to be more __________ (whatever you want to be more of), He will not make you that thing, yet He will give you more opportunities to be it.

It is up to us whether we are going to open our eyes and take the opportunity and use it to glorify God.

I prayed for this to happen and God answered with an opportunity and I am going to take it. That should be everyone’s daily challenge. What opportunities are you missing because you’re not taking them.

Colossians 4:5

Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. (NIV)

In Devotional, God, high school ministry, Leadership, Ministry Idea, personal growth, student ministry, Uncategorized, Youth Ministry , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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Volunteers Feel They Have Ownership On Stage

June 21, 2012 — Leave a comment

Like I have said in some previous posts, one of my goals about running a successful service is making sure everything goes as smooth as possible with no dead time. Usually to make that happen you need to have people who are comfortable on stage and know how to work the crowd, someone who feels natural up there and not awkward. But that also means the same people will be up on stage all of the time and that can get real boring. So you have to sacrifice smoothness (until volunteers are used to being on stage) for the development of leaders.

One of the things I try to do is trying to get as many people on stage as possible. If you were on stage the week before, you wont be on stage the next week. New faces, fresh dialogue. Some people are more natural than others but the only way to get better up there is actually be up there.

Having volunteers up on stage can be the best thing for them and the ministry overall, and here is why:

  • The volunteer, even though might stumble through the whole intro or welcome (at first) will get them up on stage and confident that they are apart of the ministry. It will give them ownership of the ministry.
  • Students will see them up there, and know that they are apart of the ministry and it can break down any walls that were there before. I know for me, being on stage makes students feel they can come up and talk to me because they feel like they know me, because I show who I am on stage and it breaks down some barriers. It will do the same for your volunteers their relationships with the students.
  • The students will see you are not the only one they can talk to and that there are other people involved in ministry here.
  • It will give the volunteer more confidence to talk to students who they do not know. They know they were on stage and they were seen by the students so they wont be the “creeper” coming up to them.
  • You will develop confidence in leadership and ownership within that volunteer.

All of these reasons are why I want to get our adult volunteers some stage time to get some face time in front of the students. I think this is important and does some amazing work when it comes to them and ministry.

In Uncategorized, God, Leadership, organization, Ministry Idea, high school ministry, service programing, student ministry, creativity, Youth Ministry , , , , , , , , , , ,
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Lion Eats Baby

June 19, 2012 — Leave a comment

This video is pretty awesome. I have to admit that. But it got me thinking…

What if that glass was not there? It would a completely different kind of video wouldn’t it? It would be a massacre. That baby would have no chance.

1 Peter 5:8 says, “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.”

So let us picture in that video, our enemy is that lion. We then are that little baby, that is dressed to look like a little zebra, whom that lion is very obviously trying to take into its jaws and have a little baby snack. The glass then, that is protecting that baby from the jaws of the lion is God Word, Scripture, the Bible, protecting us from the jaws of the enemy.

In Matthew 4, Jesus goes out into the wilderness to fast and to pray where he is then met with Satan who tempts him to veer off the path that God had for Him. If you were to read Matthew 4, Jesus is tempted 3 times, and you will notice Jesus recites scripture to refute each temptation. If Jesus knew and used scripture to stay out of the jaws of the roaming lion, how on earth do we think we can go on not doing this as well?

To be a Christian means to be a “miniature Christ” on this earth. We are to be  mirror of who Christ is, and if Jesus read and knows God’s Word inside and out to fight against temptation and sin, then we are called to do the same. We are called to know God’s voice as He bids us to follow Him.

Because if we are not following God voice then we are following someone else’s, and that is not the road in which God has called us to go down.

In personal growth, God, Devotional, Leadership, sweet articles, high school ministry, student ministry , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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Service Programming: Planning Center

June 14, 2012 — Leave a comment

I would have to say Planning Center Online is my service programming saving grace. Planning Center is an online program that allows you to plan out services for the future, allows you to set up program sheets to the detail, minute by minute account of where you want service to go to make sure everyone is one the same page at the same time.

We didn’t have this when I first came onto Saddleback HSM, and since we brought it online, services have been going smoother because of the communication that comes from everything that Planning Center has to offer.

Here are some of the main reasons why I personally love and use this program:

  • Organization – I get flustered when things are all out of whack when it comes to planning services. Especially when we are a few months out, and things change. I love that I am able to click a weekend, go in and make a change, and that’s it, everyone else gets an update. On a week to week basis, I can write notes to all who are involved in the service. For example, I can write a note to the band on when to come in, or a note to cameras what kind of shot we want to get, etc. It makes it real easy to communicate on all moving parts.
  • It is a one stop shop – all moving parts of our weekend services are based off what is on planning center. This is the central HUB for our entire operation. Our Worship Director can go on and add songs for the weekend (and add the song notes, mp3’s, and chord charts to it as an attachment), all of our tech arts is scheduled from here, our graphics guy can go on and see our announcements and message notes to make sure he has everything we need, and this is the paper I pass out to everyone to make sure we are on the same page.
  • It is hard to mess up – You would have to try really hard to mess it up. When you look at it, it is super clean-looking. It is not confusing at all (at least to me). Everyone can look at it and know exactly where and when everything is supposed to go, especially if I am writing notes to all the different areas of tech, audio, band, and speaker. I can essentially not explain the whole service in person and someone can just look at this sheet and would know how to run the service without any direction.
  • Planning Center Live – We are not here yet, but I want to be able to use the Live version of this program during our services. This is where all areas (band, speaker, tech, audio, lights, etc) are all on the same system online, and it is a live feed of what is happening service. Where I would have my iPad calling the shots moving section by section through the service, writing notes to all areas who need it. It gives the live run down, how you are on time, and so much more which I will be excited to explore hopefully in the fall.

Here is a program sheet from one of our services from a few weeks ago:

If you don’t have it, I would recommend talking to your church about getting on it. It  has helped me be organized, and get all of our moving parts organized as well so we are able to run a smooth but amazing service.

In Uncategorized, God, sweet articles, high school ministry, service programing, student ministry, creativity , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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The Greatest Lie Ever Told

June 12, 2012 — 1 Comment

Spiritual warfare is not real. All spiritual warfare is are angels and demons running around with the bad acting of Keanu Reeves in the movie Constantine…NOT. This is not the case. Whether you believe it or not there is a battle going on for your soul, and it is vicious. But we need not to worry. Do you want to know why? Keep reading.

The Dark Knight is one of my favorite movies. I am not a huge comic book movie fan, but Heath Ledger playing the Joker is unreal and the whole story behind it is incredible. The Dark Knight is the classic “Good vs. Evil” plot. Both ends are on equal playing fields trying to stop the other from either destroying the city or saving someone. Both sides have an equal chance of winning but because it is the movies the good guys usually win.

I think this is the way we think of the idea of spiritual warfare.

Whoa Justin! Spiritual warfare? You are kidding. That is not a real thing right? Satan is a liar and con artist and I believe his most successful lie, his most successful con of all time, is to get people to believe that he is not real and this whole idea of spiritual warfare is just a joke. Well, if you have never heard of spiritual warfare, or you feel like there is an inner struggle going on within you right now, I cannot stress enough that right now there is a battle going on for your soul. There is a battle going on right now for your love, attention and affection. We were made to give our love, attention and affection to God but the enemy will do whatever it can to detour you from doing so. Whether through sin, temptation, or business, it will do anything to take your focus off of God. THAT, is spiritual warfare.

With all of this, most people think of spiritual warfare as a really great “Good vs. Evil” movie. That both sides are on equal playing fields and have an equal chance of winning over the other. Fortunately this is not the case when it comes to our God and the enemy. If we look at Scripture at all of the times Jesus interacted with someone who was possessed by a demon or an evil spirit, you will see there is no equality anywhere. The demons are submissive to who Jesus is. Jesus is dominant over them.

Read Luke 4:31-36 and Luke 8:26-33 and notice the language used when Jesus is talking to the evil spirits. Notice how the spirits bowed down, were afraid, and OBEYED what Jesus had to say. There is no equality there. Jesus is superior to them.

If there is battle for our love, attention, affection and our soul, looking at these passages should give us a sense of relief because THE WAR HAS ALREADY BEEN WON through Jesus and what He has done for us on the cross. God is dominant over anything that is trying to detour us away from following Him. The war has already been won but we are still left to fight the daily battle. If we go into a game that we know already what the outcome is going to be, don’t you go in with more confidence? God is dominant over whatever sin, temptation, or battle is going on for your worship, we just need to recognize what He has done through Jesus and the war is over and we can battle daily knowing the outcome overall.

God is bigger than any sin, any struggle that we have. Thank God there is no equal playing field on the battle ground but that He is dominant over anything and everything and carries our soul with tenderness and care.

AMEN.

In personal growth, God, Devotional, high school ministry, worship, service programing, student ministry , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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Service Programming: Creative/Brainstorm Meetings 201

June 7, 2012 — Leave a comment

Last week I posted on the first part of our creative process for Saddleback Church high school ministry. If you missed it, click HERE and you can check it out and catch up.

From our big brain storm meeting where everyone is involved, we have a smaller meeting the following week with Josh (high school pastor), Parker (creative master, video extraordinary), Travis (mind can think of anything funny/can literally build anything) and myself (the guy who tries to reign everyone in on one point). This meeting is to take all of the ideas from the big meeting and start the conversations of putting feet to some of the ideas that the students had and make them happen in the services. This is where we talk about what ideas go best in certain services, what sermon illustrations can actually happen, and what videos we think we can actually do make service just that much more fun.

How I process this meeting:

Dont be too specific – This meeting is not to hammer out exactly what we are doing for each service. The previous meeting was to get ALL ideas come to the board for the entire month of services. This meeting is to start to place some ideas (which not all ideas will be used) into the service we feel will best fit for the topic of teaching. This is just to get a basic over view, and a generic plan of action of who, what, and why we want this idea into the service. The specifics will be hashed out in one more meeting (which I will post next week).

Let it soak in – Coming from the previous big meeting, there are a ton of ideas that are being thrown left and right. It can be a lot to take in all at once. I know for me, I let all of the ideas come, and I just sit back and help navigate to make sure they don’t stop. I do better when I have all the ideas and I can look them over and have a few days to process them. then I can come up with a better way of implementing them into our services. That is why I dont like to have a meeting the next day. Give it a week.

Make it intimate - I don’t mean have a dimly lit room and candles everywhere. I mean this meeting needs to be intentionally smaller than the main idea one. I want just a few people, the people who will actually be making the ideas into reality for services. Instead of the bombarding of ideas, this is where you take the existing ideas and talk about what is actually possible. You need to be able to discuss and be able to banter back and forth. This is how amazing ideas come out of good ideas.

Allow discussion and disagreement – A lot of the time, we are left to thinking we are limited on what we can do because we have not tried something before. If one person feels strong for one idea, and I dont feel like I can pull it off, there is aback and forth and a push of encouragement to pull it off. We all push each other to do things we never have done before, or things that have never been done before ever. I’m excited as we keep on pushing each other for the fall. Big things coming out of Saddleback HSM.

Be strategic – At this point, we are a month out. During this meeting we talk about what ideas should go to what service and how we should do them. We know how much time we have and this is the meeting we talk about what it will take to get the idea done. We dont hash out the specifics, but just the general idea for what needs to happen and how much time this will take us. We need to be up on our game and know when to start moving.

Are you a slow processor? A fast processor? Is there anything you think I am missing? Would love to hear your input!

In creativity, Devotional, God, high school ministry, Leadership, personal growth, service programing, student ministry, sweet articles , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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