IH82LSE

Yet another license plate as I drive through life. I have wrote one other post a while back on another license plate that is interesting, you can read it, it is HVNCNW8. This license plate happened to be on a C300 Sport Sedan Mercedes Benz, but a few years older, new they are priced at a low $33,775, that does includes transportation and handling charges but not taxes, title registration or tags, smile.

Let's talk a little more about this. I am competitive, sometimes too competitive. I am the type that will go too far, run too fast, throw too hard, etc. This typically leaves me VERY exhausted and a few times in this past year out of breathe and wheezing, nurse Kathy told me I have sports asthma after I was out of commission for about 45 minutes this past summer at Youth Camp. Nothing is worse than having to walk off the court with your head down knowing you can't finish. Lack of strength, lack of breath, lack of motivation, simply the lack of something... this holds so many athletes back from reaching their potential, their best. How true is this for the Christian that has a lack of motivation, breath, strength, or anything else that holds him back from reaching his world, changing his world, impacting his world; the way 12 ordinary guys did 2,000 years ago. Creatives stop their creativity because lack of vision, lack of dreams, lack of sketching on their whiteboards of life. Pastors stop leading because lack of strength, lack of vision, lack of support, lack of encouragement. We lose because we lack.

There are so many excuses/reasons for this... LACK.

Proverbs 5:23 NIV - He will die for lack of discipline, led astray by his own great folly.

This past week I had given our interns a quote to dissect and we spent about an hour chewing on this and breaking it up. The quote is:

"Structure demands discipline, without it is chaos."

After we discussed it I had them write a one-page reflection journal to turn in this past Thursday. They got it! Each of the 6 seemed to really be able to grapple it and unserstand the depth and see how it can help them in college/ministry/causes/etc.

This is one simple straightforward quote, not many words but enough words that can put so much finishing in our life. Living with this simple concept apparent in our life, in all our decisions, can cause us to complete so many things in life and keep us from loosing out. As Proverbs says, we will die because of our lack of discipline, which will eventually lead us to major mistakes. Chaos breeds mistakes:folly! In order to make mistakes infertile, to destroy the ability to birth life of mistakes in our life, we must begin to bring discipline to the forefront of our minds and our decision making process. When we lack that ability we fail; we lose out on being great. We settle for being good and sell out for being great. Scott Gibbons in his book, Carry-On, said...

"Good things become bad things when they keep us from the great things."

The New Testament is scattered with passages of Paul referring to our life like a race and talking about not losing. He says things like keep pressing on, look forward, run with a pace, keep your eye on the prize, don't give up, run hard. These are not the words of the average, the bleak, the almosts, these are the words of athletes and the determined.

Do you have the heart of a champion, the heart of a lion, the heart of one who wants nothing out of life other than becoming the greatest that God can enable you to become? Quit lacking. I said it before in a post called Twitterranked and Self-Branding:

"Anyone doing anything better than you is providing you the resources, strategies, and ideas for you to be better than you already are." - Me

Allow me to be a little direct. Quit giving opportunity to lack, you have no excuses. Piggyback off the wins/experiences/failures of others, learn what they did(n't) do, spend time with them and ask them questions. Be intentional about your discipline. As you begin to find ways in your life to bring discipline into it you will see the chaos of loss begin to become impotent.

Have a passion that says IH82LSE!

...read more on "IH82LSE"!

MADE Week 3

This is week 3 of RMCC's series based off the MTV show Made where Pastor Jeff will be discussing what is our purpose in life. We will be hitting several areas, lifegroups, where real life happens, worship encounters, where we get to experience God, and volunteer teams, where we get to serve the body and people of our community. Join us as I get to coach Cougar McSangston on life and how to get made into what God has him to be.

I got to coach Cougar about stewardship and how it applied to his life, talents, time, money and resources. He is growing and learning. Two more weeks and he should be Made more into the image that God has for him.

...read more on "MADE Week 3"!

Money, Missions and PART 2

Why do we keep sending out missionaries when our own country is failing in the Mission Field?

Well Jesus said that we were to go into Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, then the other parts of the world. Well maybe those places represent people groups.

• Jerusalem being your home turf, your city/community
• Judea being your state/country, anything outside of your community
• Samaria being the people groups that are considered less thans, the homeless, the hurt, broken, impoverished.
• Other parts of the world being exactly as it says.
  

If that were the case then at home is the biggest need. When other countries are sending missionaries here it should shoot up a flag to warn us of our predicament. In our district we recently got a missionary from another country here in Arizona. Guess what, flags went up! This is much like the pastor who over exerts himself in his ministry neglecting his very family. The family end up being second place to ministry, the wife feels unloved the kids have their soccer games only with mom. Dad is restless and complains and is bitter. Could America be creating this exact problem as a country as it's missionaries are leaving? We are not producing enough young pastors to keep up with the pastors retiring, something needs to be done fast. I guess at the present time the best option is welcoming missionaries here!

This brings up a whole other point with me, a sort of semantics. I hate the term missionary, it seems to devalue every pastor who feels called to the mission. I feel in a sense how much America is growing in a post-modern mindset that the American pulpit pastor is becoming a missionary and requires the same cross-culture training to enter his world then one going to a foreign country. They must learn the language of their people, of their tribe. America is so multi-cultural with so many sub-cultures. Am I wrong? Is the term missionary slowly adapting it's definition to the American pastor?

----

In AGWM (Assemblies of God World Missions) a missionary typically raises money in their own district but because the churches are so financially strapped and have committed to so many missionaries the missionary needs to go to 18 different districts basically and fly all around the country spending money to make money.

One thought, what about missionaries study the cross-culture issues then work in that country a couple years to become indigenous? Then the argument is that is less time they get to minister. Then I would say, no time is wasted time, as you live and work in the market place you build relationships. But Paul was financially supported? You got me there... but then again our abilities to be more manageable with money has got to be a little better than 2000 year ago! We have millions of inventions, powerful banks (no pun intended), business minds and MBAs, etc, I would hope that the modern age would be able to solve some financial issues. Could it be that we venture to bring in the big dogs, the professionals? I really feel that we as Christians need to step it up some and be the answers and the advocacy to the worlds problems. That they come to us for answers and direction. That happens when believers begin to give in abundance and remove the strain from the local church.

A great friend of mine that I have known for about 13 years said (and I will leave them anonymous)...

That's one of the reasons that I changed my major from missions to teaching...I think the A/G method of funding missionaries is one of the most inefficient models out there. Someone needs to overhaul the system!

So if finances and providing funding is the problem, what's the answer? Any thoughts? We need a full restructure but I don't have the answers! Do you have any solutions?

...read more on "Money, Missions and PART 2"!

When The Call Gets Dropped

Now that I got your ear, this has nothing to do with cell phones, crappy service, or literally dropping your phone during a call. This has to do with the purpose each human has for their own life. Now if you feel there is no Supreme Being in life then this does not apply, if there was not Intelligent Design then we are mere accidents serving no purpose and it would make no difference running around killing and raping anyone we so choose. Morality, ethics, laws of civility, etc can be discussed at a later time. For those of you who do have a sense in a higher power, a higher order than listen up. We were created in the image of the invisible, in God's likeness and His image. We are the eikons of God. The other thing to point out is each person had a calling/purpose/reason for being. When we begin to discover our calling, meaning begins to invade our life.

I sat down with a great friend and great leader, Ray Schulz, someone I allow to speak into my life and we discussed the calling and I wanted to expound on it.

I want to talk about the three elements of fulfilling your calling. I have had several friends who felt a burden for ministry and a true calling and never wen into ministry or left after beginning. To put it in terms familiar with cell phones, they have dropped their call and it wasn't the other person who had bad service, it was themselves.

The first thing when someone is telling me hey do not know what they are meant for or doubt they are meant for anything truly great, I ask them, "What is your passion?" In the last RMCC Made video, I ask Coug, "How do you express yourself?"

Passion is the required intangible quality of anyone who is truly great.

What our passion is typically creates our calling, our purpose, our sunshine & smiles with ice tea on a nice spring morning! Look inside at your passion and desires.

The second is your abilities. Let me give you the MOST valuable two words you an ever here, these two words are worth a whole blog on. Ready? It is very profound and deep if you choose to really chew it.

YOU CAN!

Your abilities that you already posses will give you the necessary tools... but don't use that last statement for arrogance. You may not have all the tools on the table yet. Learn, grow, read, adapt, observe, be taught, coached, mentored and led. All the abilities are available if you so desire to be the best. Don't settle for mediocrity but instead set yourself to achieve excellence, being the best that you are capable of.

The last thought is location. Location, location, location is said of the importance to real estate, hunting and pan handling. Here is six words for you...

You are in the RIGHT place!

I hear so many other pastors who say I am not sure I am at the right church, or my pastor doesn't support my vision. What? Your pastor doesn't support your vision... get him on your team or tweak your vision to adapt to his vision. His job is not to adpt the whole organization to you! You are able to be great and fulfill your calling where you are at. Where you are at is a part of your future.

Earl Creps said, "Many times your future makes sense of your past."

Hindsight is 20/20, so be present now and fulfill your calling.

Can you hear me now?

3 Elements of Fulfilling Your Calling

• Passion
• Ability
• Location

...read more on "When The Call Gets Dropped"!

Tech Stuff

Sometimes I question the purpose of this blog, is it meant to inspire, be about leadership, show a window into my crazy mind, look into technology and show ways to truly help you, the leader/ pastor/creative/etc? Well I think because I do not force any of you to read this (even in that comment there is hilarity because I have this pseudo-high that there actually readers, silly me), than I can have it to be whatever I want it to be about.


Well here is the newest tool that is shocking me right now at it's abilities and plus, it is free. Check it out, it can be very useful. Here is a link to a blog about it over at Youth Ministry Geek. The program is at http://www.evernote.com/. I urge you to read the blog first, it does a better job explaining the program than the website. Best of all, it's also good for PC, Mac, iPhone, and Windows Mobile!

...read more on "Tech Stuff"!

Money, Missions and Responsibilities PART 1

This is just a bent of mine that I am not angry about nor upset but am open to figuring out a better way to manage the issue. This is a two part post. Now I want to discuss where a church funds their missions program then the next post will discuss the missionary at large, the terminology and how they personally raise support. Hope not to offend anyone, I got a great few friends in mission work and love them dearly. I just want to throw out my thoughts no matter how wrong I am, correct me if needed, thanks.

Should missions giving come out of General Funds or just what the people give and pledge to missions? This was a question that popped in my head this morning as I sat in a staff meeting as we debriefed about the previous night's board meeting as they discussed the financials for 2009. As we look at MANY churches across the nation they reflect the financial depression of America. Now don't shoot me, I don't say depression as the 1930's, I say depression in reference to the depressed nature of people, they are mentally feeling that we are in dire straights. So again, I propose the question, should missions giving come from General Funds, meaning the general tithes that people give back to the church, or should the people see the needs and become more missional in their giving?

The difference is the heart of the giver. IF people believe in giving to the need AND believe in tithing then churches don't need to give to missions to cover the peoples shortages, they would reach all the needs both communally and around the world.

As I referenced in a previous post, The Pareto Principle explains how 20% of givers counts for 80% of the general income, the other 80% only make up the last 20%. Now our personal church has taken about a 15% hit which is not huge compared to the overall downturn for a lot of churches, but when you look at the Pareto Principle in relation to our situation we are pretty close to the expectation. That means the 80% are not doing their 20% efforts. Now how can I say that the 80% are responsibile of the 20%? You can refer back to my previous blog, Within Reason...

"...the Pareto Principle, the law of the vital few. It is based off the principle of factor sparsity, basically 80% of consequences build from 20% of the causes, the vice versa is true. 80% of greatness is created by the 20%."

Tippers and Tithers:

• Tippers give $10 or $20 a week (typically what's in their pocket or available at the given time).
• Tithers give a percent of their income.

Most church's givers that are tithers are committed and understand the value of stewardship and know that giving isn't an option, it is all God's to being with and he has given it to us as stewards and we are merely giving it back to him. The next MADE series video will address this so keep tuned for the Part 2 of this post and next week and for the video! Your 20% are your established, understanding, experienced people that are faithful, now in this economy no doubt they are affected and might give less or as often but you can still count on them. The tippers are the ones who are project/need oriented. Great people, again, dependable but do not tithe, just give what's in their pockets, $10 here, $20 there. If a need is presented, a project, a mission then they drop that money in for that. The tough thing is they give regularly just not to the same area so the church can not be dependent on that and when things are tight like our economy they are the first to stop giving. They simply are not your 20%.

Maybe we need to be investing in people and projects and allow the congregation to invest in missions? This is a statement that is new to my thinking but I am slowly feeling it may be appropriate. We invest in the people monetarily, spiritually, emotionally, etc, and then present the missions needs and allow them to give to that above and beyond their tithe.

Tell me, am I wrong? IS there ONE correct way? Does this idea help solve any problem or produce its own kinds of problems?

...read more on "Money, Missions and Responsibilities PART 1"!

Image Is Nothing, Desire (Thirst) Is Everything!

You probably can't read the next line without knowing exactly what it is:

"Image is nothing.
Thirst is everything.
Obey your thirst."

Back in the summer of 1996, Sprite, who is made by Coca-Cola was realizing that the old campaign of "I like the Sprite in you" was time to retire. They feared that it was not catching the ears of "Generation X".

"We were looking for something hip, something fresh, something that would appeal to the younger generation," stated Coke spokesman Bob Bertini.

Sprite realized they didn't have the answer so they hired Lowe & Partners/SMS, a New York based advertising agency known for its ability to appeal to the younger masses (Lowe also handles the entire Reebok campaign). Surprisingly within one week the "obey your thirst" motto was proposed and accepted by Coca-Cola.

I promise I am going somewhere with this but check out this first. It was hugely successful. Sales increased by about 9% since the introduction, especially in the younger age groups. 93% of 18-24 said they were effective. Amongst all the consumers, 83% said the same. That is HUGE!

Donald Rifkin was the genius behind the slogan. His inspiration for the slogan came from an old political speech he had run across in his free time.

"I just love looking through artifacts of political history. I chanced across this one particular speech, and the speaker made an aside about thirst that absolutely just stuck in my head. I felt that I could use it somewhere, so I jotted it down. A month later, when Sprite came calling, the match almost seemed too easy."

In 1971, former President Ronald Reagan, then the Governor of California, was addressing a gathering of the Boy Scouts of America on a particularly scorching Southern California day. As he neared conclusion, Reagan paused briefly to take a sip of water. Noticeably refreshed, upon returning to the microphone, he told the audience, "Now, I certainly have spoken on a number of different topics today. However, if you are to remember one thing, and only one thing, it should be this: Speeches are nothing. Thirst is everything. Always remember to obey your thirst."

There is a great line in the Bible that says, "To obey is better than sacrifice." There are so many things in our life that we are forced to obey. Our simple needs to survive includes, but are not limited to, breathing, eating, sleeping, etc. From an early age we are taught to obey our parents. School teachers, law enforcement, most people in uniforms, etc, demand our obedience, at least expect it. For the average person all these areas of obedience are accepted to a degree.

However where most people lose out on their desire to obey comes in their relationship with God. I see many people in the church that sacrifice so much, give so much time and effort, they give monetarily, and they justify it off by saying I am offering my life as a sacrifice to God, they measure how much they are giving. God clearly declares that if we simply lay our lives out in obedience then allow the sacrifice to follow then it works better. Isaac shows this best as his dad Abraham lays him on the altar to sacrifice him in Genesis 22. For the son, Isaac honored his dad in obedience to death. For Abraham, he honored God in obedience that led to what he thought would be the sacrifice of his son until God provided a ram.

We need to allow our obedience to create the arena, the altar of personal sacrifice. As we begin to live that way we will begin to see lives affected as we the eikons of God love in action and truth instead of just words.

How will your day look differently because of your obedience instead of sacrifice?

...read more on "Image Is Nothing, Desire (Thirst) Is Everything!"!

MADE Week 2

This is week 2 of RMCC's series based off the MTV show Made where Pastor Jeff will be discussing what is our purpose in life. We will be hitting several areas, lifegroups, where real life happens, worship encounters, where we get to experience God, and volunteer teams, where we get to serve the body and people of our community. Join us as I get to coach Cougar McSangston on life and how to get made into what God has him to be.

This was a great week discussing worship and how worship is more than just singing... even blogging can be a form of worship, smile!

...read more on "MADE Week 2"!

Digital Breathe - Living Simply Complicated

Wife's text response: "You could pick your bible and read it."

My thoughts: "How?!? The internet is down, so therefore crosswalk is not available, nor youversion, or any others, so how do I read the bible, dang it!"

I realize in life how digital I have become when even reading the bible or popular book becomes online reading or listening to an audio mp3. I grew up on a PC and now have been on a Mac for about 2 years and am quite the aficionado. I have always had this deep desire to learn as much as I can when it comes to technology. I would take apart my parents VCR just to see it then put it back together as a child, a slight affection towards tech stuff. Made magazines are a techies dream escape.

When it comes to ministry and technology and the digital life we as leaders/pastors/creatives strategize our efforts. The truth is things are a changin'. Therefore our strategies must change and adapt. I have realized that so much of my world is concentrated around the use of technology. If I got away from my alarm that sits on my nightstand and used my cell phone to wake me up then my entire world could be classified as mobile. Music, I got my old school 30gb iPod with as much movies as I do music and a few seasons of The Office. For calls, texts, tweets, light email and internet I got my Moto Q9C. For the rest of my brain I got my Macbook Pro, this helps me with EVERYTHING, literally my world is inside that or online. Here are a couple things I use:

• My calendar syncs from iCal to Google Calendars to Plaxo. It automatically updates all birthdays and anniversaries from Facebook and Plaxo updates to my iCal.
• All my contacts sync from my Address Book to phone to Google contacts to Plaxo to Linkedin, etc, etc.
• Every sermon I have every wrote over the last 8 years, every thought, two books in progress, and teaching, leadership lesson, etc are on my 120gb Macbook Pro that syncs to all my files on my work computer and many files synced to Google Documents.

I could keep going... my simply complicated life is wired! The internet and phone is down and I found myself sitting there dazed and confused. I would attempt to say most people, at least leaders/pastors/creatives are overly encompassed by their need of their tethered electronic world.

One thing to keep in mind is the people around us, your audience, the world around us is moving to a technologically attached mainframe. Many churches are looking at going to an internet campus. and looking at the internet as a viable asset to their churches.

The Denver Post wrote a great article on the role of technology in the church. Here is one important thought from the article that was very important:

“Church is not the Internet or a building — it’s people.” If the notion that a virtual community can be as real as a physical one seems crazy, you may be showing your age.

Thanks to online shopping, online dating, online social networking and online darn-near-everything-else, many young Americans don’t distinguish between their friends from school and those fromFacebook.

These youngsters just see them all as friends, said David Kinnaman, president of the Barna Group, a consulting firm that conducts survey research for churches and other religious groups.

In fact, Kinnaman’s firm predicts that by 2010, 10 percent of Americans will rely exclusively on the Internet for their religious experience.

10 percent! This is a moment that we must engage ourselves into our changing culture, we must ride the tide instead of chase the wave. That wave is understanding the language of the culture. A good friend of mine, Travis Clark defined culture in his blog as...

"...the "language" that people are currently speaking. And for us as leaders we must learn that "language" in order to engage the people."

If we do not begin to speak the language of our culture we become ignorant because we don't have the capacity to make intelligent conversation. The lanuguage is becoming more digital day by day.

Rhett Smith points out that the “front door” of churches is no longer a “physical” door:

Do we even realize that the physical building isn’t the front door anymore, but that the online world is the front door? If you don’t have a strong [online] presence, or aren’t telling a good story online, which is the front door–will you be able to bring people from the online world, to the physical front door of the church?

For the moment that we had no internet I realized that my "online" and "offline" are one in the same. As a matter of fact when it happend that for almost a whole day I was "offline" my life felt wierd. I belive for many that line will begin to blur more as more generations rise up with a connected lifestyle. Online and offline is simply becoming 'life', simple and functional.

As Justin Wise says, "If you (and your church) don’t begin to understand and learn to speak the language of this younger generation, no amount of catch-up and “digital cramming” will help in as little as five years."

One thing I have been thinking about and not really heard much buzz around it but guarantee if I searched hard enough over at churchmarketingsucks.com or beyondrelevance.com I could find a post on the topic of the difference between consumers that come to you/your church website versus the future of the consumer that is wanting you to feed them your information. We need to rethink how we are getting information to people, feeders and aggregates are the futures muscle for getting people information. Every person pretty much carries a cell phone, they are your mobile consumers, get them the information they want in their hands which is convenient. We need to begin to think smarter not harder.

So are you able to engage your culture in a whole new way? Does the digital language something you are willing to tackle? Are you willing to translate the previous language to the digital language?

So let me ask you, are these patterns happening in your local church? Does the ends justify the means?

...read more on "Digital Breathe - Living Simply Complicated"!

Shallow Waters Devotional 4

Here is another Shallow Water Devotional from my great buddy Jesse Watson, click on his name to visit his blog. He is one great guy and has a deep insight into the life of swimming with your clothes on can be applied to your spiritual life.


Shallow Waters Daily Devotional of the Week from Student Impact on Vimeo.

...read more on "Shallow Waters Devotional 4"!

Twitteranked and Self-Branding

"Twitteranked? Sweet now I can see how good I am really doing. 14.47, what a loser!

(click on the picture to read the full story)

Notice how I got twitteranked 17 hours ago then low and behold my great friend, God, updated me 10 minutes ago that I was scammed! It coulda been worse than it really was, I guess that's why God was 16 hours and 50 minutes late, the guy likes teaching me lessons.

It is amazing how Twitter or Facebook or Myspace or any other aggregate feeds and social networks create such a desire of self-branding. I will rabbit trail for a moment on 3 studs of professional self-branders, for the simple point for you to realize that...

"Anyone doing anything better than you is providing you the resources, strategies, and ideas for you to be better than you already are." - Me

• Seth Godin, who is a business genius and has an amazing ability to see what many others don't. He made famous the idea of permission marketing, which is as simple as it sounds. He has three elements that is seen in most of his writings. First, he realizes that advertisers can't command the attention of anyone they choose (great thought for church leaders in a post-modern world, that is basically post-modern marketing). Second, consumers are gaining more power, which means more respect, truthfulness and less bias on the marketers (more here for the church leader, are we slow to teach and explain theology in a philosophical way, why are so many Christian college students leaving? They lack the ability to argue theology philosophically). And third, the only way a product or idea will be spread, is that it has earned a buzz by being remarkable. (church leaders please re-read that then repeat two more times. Are we making a buzz in our culture, making a buzz in our community, neighborhood?!?)
  
• Josh Spear, is a youth specialist, trendsetter who saw the blog-phenomenon as a major thread in credible form of media. He, via his blog, has set out to be a "source of inspiration for marketers, brand managers, advertising executives, and a wide range of everyday people from around the world who love to stay ahead of the curve." (What could the church leader be looking into as the next main thread of getting into people's minds and hearts? Are you looking or are you doing tomorrow what you did yesterday?)
  
• Brian Shaler, this guy is one of my favorites, he's a jumper! He's a web developer, marketer, writer, speaker and photographer. He banks the term self-brander, probably one of the best in the field.

Now back to the original post before the rabbit grabbed my attention. In our personal seeking to be self-promoters which by all means we should be. Every human has something to market. The professional business person, themselves, their resume, their accolades, their education. The homeless, their loss, their story, their history. The Christian, their purpose, their life, their hope, their calling.

Our postmodern world leads us to be self-marketers, people want to know you, what you think and what you identify with. What is your brand? Your brand highly dictates your audience, your audience highly dictates your success. Many people get in the wrong arenas and begin to self-promote and fail because they had the wrong audience. You must sell your GENIUS, the Geenie-in-us. What is it in you that is special, that is magical, that sets you apart. Make your story and begin to sell it. Every person has an audience, a circle of people that are influenced by you. One general question I ask is who is your mentor and who are you mentoring?

Your audience was created because of your brand, now learn to market to that audience to hear the best message they have ever heard. For you Christians, be real, authentic, take off the mask regardless how ugly it is beneath the whitewash, then allow your audience to hear the best spoken message God has given voice to. Be an eikon, be the representation of God into your world not just in word but in action and deed too.

...read more on "Twitteranked and Self-Branding"!

MADE Week 1

Our church is doing a 5 week series based off the MTV show Made where Pastor Jeff will be discussing what is our purpose in life. We will be hitting several areas, lifegroups, where real life happens, worship encounters, where we get to experience God, and volunteer teams, where we get to serve the body and people of our community. Join us as I get to coach Cougar McSangston on life and how to get made into what God has him to be.

This videos is week 1, hope you enjoy.

I still debate if I shoulda gone the Hollywood route, not bad acting if I do say so myself. Maybe not a Pierce Brosnan but maybe in the likes of Brat Pitt or Denzel Washington, minus the skin tones. I could be a star. What do you think, comment me and let me know if I got the marks of Hollywood.

...read more on "MADE Week 1"!

Shallow Waters Devotional 3

Here are some of the most challenging, thought provoking devotionals from some of the most thoughtful minds of our culture. I am honored to be the newest member of their tribe and to even associate with such modern minds!


Shallow Waters Devotional from Shaun Mayfield on Vimeo.

...read more on "Shallow Waters Devotional 3"!

Shallow Waters Devotional 2

Here are some of the most challenging, thought provoking devotionals from some of the most thoughtful minds of our culture. I am honored to be the newest member of their tribe and to even associate with such modern minds! This is one of my greatest friends Sam, check out his blog here!

...read more on "Shallow Waters Devotional 2"!

Shallow Waters Devotionals 1

Here are some of the most challenging, thought provoking devotionals from some of the most thoughtful minds of our culture. I am honored to be the newest member of their tribe and to even associate with such modern minds! Jesse is the Senior High Pastor over at Phoenix First and is a awesome guy and a lot of fun.

...read more on "Shallow Waters Devotionals 1"!

AZ Youth Workers Conference Session 3 of 3

Speaker: Doug Reed

The Greatest Responsibility

Reading this generation, this generation looks bored, they weren't made to be captive and caged up.

1 Samuel 16

Like a custodian makes sure ever door is locked, we need to access the corridors of our life and make sure every door is OPEN for God to move in.

My thoughts:
Success is when someone has let their guard down and I get to go inside and mess some things up that makes them think differently for the positive, getting the backstage pass into their life. When a student gives that access they are letting you into their life to penetrate and find the hurts, brokenness and bring healing. Through the authenticity, creativity, and hard works and the kid is standing their defenselessness and they cry out for help.

We should have 3 responses:

1. A prophetic response - Samuel knew there was someone else
- 1 Samuel 16:1
- 4 Elements of prophetic response
1. We must see the Big Picture
2. Be willing to take a Risk
3. Do not deny the moment
- We can't deny the moment just because the moment is controversial.
4. There must be follow through

2. A Parenting Response - Jesse left David in the field
- So many of your students have had parents, that instead of speaking life to them, they have spoken death to them.
- What happens to the kid when their protector becomes their predator?
- Ephesians is a good book that speaks of self-worth
- Part of our redemptive process was not only the beating that was for our healing, not only the salvation from his death, but as they hurled insults he redeems every negative attack that has been said about us, every word that has broken us down.

3. A Prepared Voice - Samuel went off to Rama after anointing David
- Use your hurt to help someone in life instead of using your hurt to hate and have an excuse to never help anyone. As if a girls who was raped to ask how would God let that happen, did God see that happen? The truth is God says He would never leave us nor forsake us, so yes God was there.
- John Wayne movie, The Cowboy, John teaches a bunch of boys how to be men, being a father to them.
- When you awake the man inside a boy you can expect a war every time.
- Come out of your cage to fight for a generation.

...read more on "AZ Youth Workers Conference Session 3 of 3"!

AZ Youth Workers Conference Session 2 of 3

Speaker: Garland Owensby

Topic: Postmodern Church/Emerging Church
Postmodern is a philosophy

Postmodern Youth Ministry

Book: Soul Tsunami - Leonard Sweets

Modern world says I don't need proof, post-modern says prove it.

Postmodernism is the reaction to the unfulfilled process of modernism

Science, education and rationalism were supposed to end war poverty and sickness.

Modernism:

• Learn truth
• Reality is out there to be discovered
• Individual emphasis
• Progress undeniable
• Logic is convincing

Postmodernism:

• We make truth
• Reality is simply to be constructed
• Team emphasis
• process is highly questionable
• stories are convincing

Earl Creps AGTS July 2003

1. Objectivity is out

• The FBI would not ask for your son if there was a bomb to go off if the bad guys ordered for him OR a box of chocolates and a case of beer. There is either another option or there is only ONE way.
• Postmodernists do believe in truth, their truth is 't'ruth, ours is 'T'ruth.
• Any time we see certainty they see arrogance, hard to be a win-win.
• Feelings are subjective, truth is objective, postmodernism basically stands on subjective source over objective truth.
• Mandy Moore Seventeen 2003 p187, "Truth is discovered from passion."
• We should discover Truth then become passionate about it.
• We must proclaim truth in Love, if we feel guilty then we must search our heart for subjective thoughts.

2. Question everything/Try anything

3. You will know me if you know mt story. (Experience)

• When we read the epistles, every rule is about a real life situation.
• Every dumb rule in life is about a real situation.

4. Tolerance is a necessity

• No absolutism, we must be tolerant

5. Multi-culturism and Pluralism

• Many faiths all competing together.
• Greg Steir about Starbucks Christianity quote, this is a generation that embraces a "Starbucks spirituality. Teens today are used to customizing every aspect of life, so why wouldn't this spill over into the areas of their spiritual lives...

Modernism: Facts - influence - belief - influence - behavior
Postmodernism: Experience - influence - belief - influence - behaviors

Modern truth affects relationships experiences and feelings, postmodern affects the others.

How do we reach the Postmodern World.
1. Invite them into the body of Christ, ecclesia
2. Invite them to experience God
3. Use authentic Language
4. Speak Love before Judgment
5. Relationships
A. What's it like to be ______________?
6. Build Community - small groups
7. Train students to share their testimony
8. Emphasize Dialogue

My thoughts:
There are emergent theology and emerging praxology. One has rebuilt it's foundation while the building is standing, the other is always making sure the building will continue to stand shoring up any areas of question. Emergent theology saw the postmodern movement and changed it's foundation of theology, the emerging praxology saw the postmodern movement and changed it's ways of teaching it's theology, these are big differences to be noted. When we have exchanged our core theologies to match the desire of our culture we risk huge losses when we cash in our stock, however when we realize that the culture has changed and we begin to chase it and adapt our inadequacies to meet the demand blessing ensues and the one being chased recognizes the relevancy or at least the futile attempts and realizes the status quo has changed. The average, typical person that has set his mind against the church has perfectly adequate reason, we have met every doubt in his mind, as I always say, the worst of us (the radical rights) represent the best of us. Paul said it best, follow him as he follows Christ. Case in point, it was also Paul who recognized this when he was in Athens in Acts 17. He recognized that the culture had changed, not that culture changed literally but his surroundings had changed. He picks up right from their belief system and applied biblical theology to their pagan praxology. The theology stayed the same that he had instilled but his praxology changed to using Greek mythology and an altar that had some writing on it. This is one of the most beautiful chapters in the bible for cross-cultural communications. The bigger admittance is realizing that we live in a cross-cultural nation, no longer do we need to go over seas to recognize this. And I don't say this due to the many languages in America nor the skin tones, but the modern thought versus the post-modern thought.

Let us not change our belief to accommodate all thoughts. Yes it is true that all truth is God's truth, his inspired truth. Yes, this truth can run deep in the pagan practices and ruthless extremists, even they wouldn't approve of you raping and pillaging their families. We can't assume that morality leads to God if different religions all agree on common morals. All truths definitely share common thread but those threads eventually weave ropes of theology that are tied to anchors of religions... we can agree in the midst of truth but must not be ignorant to realize that they all lead to their own individual 'gods'/God. I love my fellow Jew and even the radical Islam, the Jewish person deep down inside might even find love for me and the Islam and same for the Islam, that doesn't mean our belief lands us all on the same cloud with the same harpist as be knock on heavens door, let us not be so arrogant/ignorant.

...read more on "AZ Youth Workers Conference Session 2 of 3"!

AZ Youth Workers Conference Session 1 of 3

Speaker: Doug Reed

Lack Of Passions

Colossians 2:3

We become great at methodology but lack the passion that goes beyond theology.
Their has to be a soulfulness to communication.

Sometimes we struggle with passion because we don't like the position God has put us in.

IQ - our intelligence quotience.
EQ - our emotional quotience.

God Is About Making Us Passionate About Him.

1 Corinthians 1:26-29 - (rephrased my me) God chose the nobodies to point out the shallowness of the somebody's.

5 Principles of those who are passionate:

1. Principle of Solitude

• Satan fights your personal time because he is so afraid of the value it brings.
• Passion grows in the dark, it has to settle into your heart
• Dr. Cho, said, "I have more to do, I guess I better spend another hour with my creator to get it all done."
• Ezekiel spent three years before God used him to kill the Baal prophets.
• Principals of greatness begin with principles of solitude.

2. Principle of Self Encouragement

• Passion will die if it is not encouraged by yourself.
• enCourage is when courage is put in, disCourage is when courage is stolen.
• "Shut up and drive, we have all been shot" - Black Hawk Down

3. Principle of Sacrifice

• Personal cost will build passion

4. Principle of Simplicity

• Passion is like an arrow, it must have a target.
• If you live without a vision you make life more difficult to live.
  

5. Principle of Spiritual Experience

• Jesus is the vine and we are the branches and apart from him we can do nothing.

Great One Liners:
The problem with the lack of passion is not what happened, it is what didn't happen.

You get tired when you live below your destiny.

All jobs have their own set of challenges.

...read more on "AZ Youth Workers Conference Session 1 of 3"!

donkey & cow are smelling brown baby Jesus' butt

Sound like a line from Talladega Nights? Appropriately yes... "donkey & cow are smelling brown baby Jesus' butt" was the instant message this morning when I got in to my office from my assistant (http://twitter.com/…dybecerra). Apparently some of my interns and possibly someone else on staff ransacked her cubicle, turning everything upside down and around, stuff in her drink, trash can on her desk, and messed everything up. Of course when something of the sort happens you is to blame... well typically the fingers point toward me. I am by nature an instigator and surprised even myself that the messy cubicle was not brought by myself. And as you can see in the picture, it all made sense. I had gotten this nativity set when I had gone to Peru to lead a Leadership Conference. The great thing is the nativity set was that of a Peruvian baby Jesus, etc. Sometimes somethings are too good to let pass by so this had to be shared.



The important thing to know is that when mom and dad's back are turned who knows what is happening, poor brown Jesus.



Take care.

Mobile post sent by shaunMayfield using Utterli. Replies.

...read more on "donkey & cow are smelling brown baby Jesus' butt"!

mobilePOST

Grocery shopping with the family. Our daughter is amazingly beautiful. It is quite amazing how much you can love someone or in my case two ppl. God is amazing with giving us the option and free will to love.



Did I mention how talented I am to write this and push the buggy and play with the kid all at one, the champion of multi-tasking.

Mobile post sent by shaunMayfield using Utterz. Replies.

...read more on "mobilePOST"!