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A Case of the I Wants! |
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Written by Mike Wing
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Friday, 30 April 2010 11:15 |
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The iPad just recently came out, and it looks pretty sweet, and so like any other person who always has to have the latest, coolest technology that comes out, I was trying to think of ways I could justify spending that amount of money on a glorified iPod. The iPad is just a bigger version of the iPod touch, which I already have! So why on earth do I need the iPad? Just because it’s a new toy?
As I snapped back to reality I realized that I had a bad case of the I wants. You know what those are, you see something new, cool, or something you don’t have, that you just gotta have. I call it the I wants. So as I became aware that I had this problem, I asked myself this question - When am I going to go from I want to I have?
I could always give you a long list of the things that I want, like the iPad for instance. But why is it so hard to realize everything I’m blessed with? Things like my family, friends, a roof over my head, and everything else!
I don't think I'm the only one who struggles with this, but the sad thing is we do this with our ministry as well. I’m sure their are plenty of things in our ministry that cause us to have a case of the I wants! We want more people, more help, more money, more resources, more time. We want to see our teens have more of a relationship with God.
And although these are good things to want, we sometimes focus on them more than what we have been given. On a particular night of youth group I was so bummed about our small attendance numbers, that it caused me to focus on who wasn’t their instead of who was, and I cheated the people that were there!
Let’s start to focus on what we do have. Let’s make sure we give our best to the people we do have. Let’s start to show our volunteers, and co-leaders appreciation for their hard work, and focus on what they are good at, not what they are lacking. Let’s make sure we accept the people in our ministry where they are at in their walk with God, and not be always frustrated with their lack of growth.
Here is one final thought for you. If you are constantly focusing on things you don’t have, you will never fully enjoy what you do have. That goes for your personal life, and ministry life.
For now...
Mike Wing |
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Honor Your Leader: an exerpt from He Who Honors Me |
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Written by Mike Kim
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Tuesday, 06 April 2010 14:31 |
 This month is my turn to submit a blog entry for theEF Generation Team that I serve on, so I thought I’d share an excerpt from my upcoming book, He Who Honors Me: Keeping God at the Center of Worship Leading which I wrote with Derek Joseph of Isaiah Six. There’s a lot more to this but here’s a small sample. Look for the book release in May 2010…it’s just a few weeks away! We feel it will be a great resource for pastors, youth pastors/leaders, worship leaders/teams in churches and ministries of all sizes. This is from one of my chapters called Honor Your Leader:
Leaders in the church are often treated like Jesus—people either love them or want to crucify them. Suffice it to say: leaders have a tough job.
I’ll never forget learning this firsthand when in 2002 I was asked to serve as a youth pastor while attending seminary. During those years I felt completely like a fish out of water! Instead of being in my comfort zone behind a guitar or keyboard, I now had to stand behind a pulpit every week. Not only that, I had to counsel students, cast vision, address conflicts, recruit volunteers, meet with parents, plan events, and balance budgets, all while trying to stay fresh and relevant in my preaching and maintain some semblance of sanity. I quickly realized how much work went into leading a ministry! And as any leader knows, you can give to the best of your ability and it still doesn’t seem good enough.
I ate a lot of humble pie in those days, along with many nights wondering why I accepted the position. In the midst of those struggles, various people would send a note of thanks or a token of appreciation to honor me. Though certainly grateful, accepting these gifts was difficult because I felt unworthy of honor. My understanding at the time was that honor was only due to those who were doing a good job.
God used this season as a youth pastor to teach me that my ministerial performance was nearly irrelevant when it came to honor. There was honor due me as a leader in two ways. One took the form of genuine gratitude from people for my personal investment in them or the difference made in their lives through my ministry. This was easy to understand. The other was people honoring me for the office I held, even if they weren’t my biggest fans or disagreed with my decisions and methods. One of the places Paul addresses honor and authority is in the first half of Romans 13 . After touching on various civil government leaders and authorities, he offers verse 7 as the bottom line: “Render to all men their dues. Pay taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, and honor to whom honor is due.” Simply put, leaders are due honor by virtue of their office. After standing on that side of the worship leader/pastor fence, I had a much greater appreciation for those who manned the lead seat. God helped me apply these lessons to my own leaders and walk in honor toward them. I was on a journey to respecting the office, not just the person sitting in it.
Every worship leader will eventually bump up against the “honor your leader” test. Our gifts will only get us so far. Walking in dishonor towards leadership will eventually disqualify us from the privilege of serving in ministry. Friend, you have a greater legacy in store for you than being remembered as an arrogant person or someone too talented for your own good. Cultivate a healthy relationship with your leader and guard your heart against pride, self-centeredness, and unhealthy ambitions. Let’s align ourselves with the Word of God on this issue, partner with our leaders to build the kingdom, and flow in a pure anointing.
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Remember? |
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Written by Seth Goodson
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Tuesday, 09 March 2010 12:56 |
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As I look across the horizon of youth ministry the growing intensity of the spirit of despair and hopelessness is growing. The potential for our circumstances, our trials, our lack of seeing growth in our ministries, our own spiritual dryness has the potential to make us ineffective at the call of God on our lives. Not to mention the despair and hopelessness that our students are feeling. But today I want to address us as youth leaders because we can never take our students where we haven’t been. This morning I was reading a quote by Aw Tozer and I believe it will help us out.
“God’s sovereignty is the attribute by which He rules His entire creation, and to be sovereign God must be all-knowing, all powerful, and absolutely free. The reasons are these: Were there even on datum of knowledge, however small unknown to God, His rule would break down at that point. To be Lord over all the creation, He must possess all knowledge. And were God lacking one infinitesimal modicum of power, that lack would end His reign and undo His kingdom; that one stray atom of power would belong to someone else and God would be a limited ruler and hence no sovereign.
“Furthermore, His sovereignty requires that He be absolutely free, which means simply that He must be free to do whatever He wills to do anywhere at anytime to carry out His eternal purpose in every single detail without interference. Were He less than free He must be less than sovereign.”
We can trust Him in every situation because He hasn’t lost control. God spoke to me in the midst of a fear battle many months ago that “fear is the belief God has lost control.” He can’t lose control everything that I walk through will benefit me. When we as leaders begin to walk in the confidence of who God is the spirit of despair and hopeless loses ground.
May Grace be with you,
Pastor Seth Goodson
Youth Pastor
Elim Gospel Church
elimgospel.org
(585) 624-5560
http://egc-pastorseth.blogspot.com/ |
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Minor Adjustment |
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Written by Laurie Crowley
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Friday, 19 February 2010 15:59 |
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Someone showed me a picture they took of me the other day, and it was a picture I didn’t know was being taken. In the picture setting, I was actually listening and paying attention to what was happening around me, but my facial expression didn’t convey that. I’ve been told my facial expressions can be misleading. Oops! If I’m not smiling, I don’t look very pleasant is basically what I’ve been told. This picture captured that look, and I thought to myself, “Wowwww, I look ticked or annoyed, tho I’m actually just intent on listening…”
Following this experience, I was at Oxygen, Jeanne Mayo’s youth ministry. (BTW – Jeanne will be with us at The Summit 2011, and you don’t want to miss it!). I was standing in the back of the room, just watching as kids arrived. I was simply taking in my surroundings, seeing how things worked and just watching how everything unfolded. A friend of mine came up to me and asked what was wrong. Can you guess why she asked that? Yepp, you got it, my facial expression! Nothing was wrong; I was just focused on soaking up as much as I could while I was there. No expression was on my face, but that can be a bad thing, at least when it comes to me.
That same night, Jeanne sat in front of me. Now I’ve followed Jeanne from a distance for years, but in the past year or so, I’ve been privileged to spend time with her close up, and I’ve made it a goal to watch how she handles herself. One thing I’ve picked up quickly is the woman is always smiling. So here is Jeanne Mayo, sitting directly in front of me, 3 chairs to my right. (You better believe I was excited out of my mind!!!). Lo and behold, she has a smile on her face. She’s sitting with some of her teens as one of her youth leaders is leading the service, and a simple, pleasant smile is on her face. And this is how she always is. If she’s walking around the room, there’s a smile on her face. If she’s looking around, surveying a room or crowd, there’s a smile is on her face. If she’s speaking, greeting or listening, there’s a smile on her face. I’m telling you, there is always (almost always) a huge smile or pleasant look on the face of my hero in youth ministry, Jeanne Mayo.
I thought to myself that night at Oxygen, “I need to learn this method.” I need to make myself smile more, even if I’m not doing anything. Think about how much less intimidating, how much more welcoming and inviting I’d look. I’ve thought this on many occasions as I’ve walked thru the mall or grocery store. No expression means, stay away! I certainly have an un-approachable expression when I’m at the gym. But a warm smile on my face could lead to conversation; it could open a door to a divine appointment; it could spread a little love of Christ, as compared to my typical expression-less face that tends to speak louder than words, but of things I’d rather not be expressing.
I know a smile goes a long way in my world. Seeing someone else smiling as they are walking thru life, or having someone cast a smile in my direction just makes the world a better place; it brightens my day. It really takes minimal effort on their part, but does a world of good on my end.
I want to be inviting and welcoming, loving and accepting. So I’ve decided to challenge myself on this. I’m gonna work on my facial expressions so people don’t misread me and get the wrong perspective. I’m gonna work on my facial expressions with the hopes that a smile on my face could brighten their day or open doors where God could use me. It’s really a simple observation, this need to smile more. It doesn’t sound to profound, now does it? But sometimes the simplest changes can bring about the biggest impact. I want to grow and challenge myself reach others for Jesus. I think this is one way I can accomplish all 3. Any simple change you can think of my friend? Let’s grow together! |
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