The goal of ministry (at least mine) is to play a small part in the transformation process God has people in.  But how do we bring about transformation.  True transformation.  Well, I don’t believe we do.  I know, a little disheartening.

But God can and does (example: Phil. 1:6).  And, I know that He happens to use our prayers…somehow, someway.  So, I’ve been trying to lead more through praying for people.

This morning I led a time of prayer for the people in my church.  We’ve been doing this all week.  Each time we gather we’re focusing on different aspects and disciplines of prayer – listening, exaltation, adoration, etc.  Today we began our time in silence, listening.  Then we prayed through Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 3:14-21.  It’s deep and pointed.  So we went through the prayer, praying it specifically for each other – individually.  It was a great time of focused and obviously biblically focused prayer.

Sometimes I like to do this to make sure I’m staying focused and praying through things that will actually bring about transformation.

Something I’ve done throughout the years is to find prayers like these and pray them for those in my ministry.  If you’re struggling to see transformation, pray through this prayer for those you minister to.  If you’re not seeing fruit, pray through this prayer for those who need it most.  It’s simple.  Take out your database and simply walk through the names, praying this prayer for them….specifically.

Oh, and if you want to encourage someone send them a text telling them you prayed that prayer for them.  That’s always fun too.

This week leading up to Easter is often very hectic for church leaders.  Many are planning all sorts of stuff.  Most churches have Good Friday services as well as Easter services…preluded by a week of choir and band practices, play rehearsals, prayer times…on and on.  Add onto that family gatherings, food prep, tensions with uncles and aunts, and potentially emotions due  to this being the first Easter without a loved one.

This week, however, I’ve decided to make relaxed and prayerful in my church.  We decided to encourage people to simply gather at the church building MWF at 6am and 9pm for prayer.  These times are guided a bit, but just prayer.  For one another.  For our neighbors.  For things happening in the church.  TTH we are encouraging people to gather in their community groups for prayer – or, if they don’t gather, at least praying for those in their community group.

Rather than busying people with service prep, mass mailers, drama’s and special music presentations, we just called people to a week of prayer and fasting.  I’m, of course, not saying the previous things are bad and I’m not suggesting the way we’re doing it is better or more right.  I’m just saying we are trying to focus.  For me, at least, busyness with “church stuff” and prep for a weekend service easily takes my focus off of what this week is really all about.  Maybe it’s just me.  I’m sure there are those that can stay focused in midst of busyness, but in our church we want to minimize task during this week so that we might be able to maximize a prayerful focus.

In fact, we’re not even having a Good Friday “service.”  Our prayer time Friday morning at 6 am and evening at 9pm will cover that.  And our Easter service will be simple.  A few songs and a message about redemption and reconciliation because of Christ conquering death.  So, people have been asking me if this week is crazy busy.  Nope, it’s not at all.  People have asked if I have time to meet this week to talk through something. Yep, I sure do…

Refreshing.

A few weeks ago I was in Pittsburgh, PA speaking at the Jubilee Conference.  If you haven’t heard about it, you should learn more about it.  It’s put on by the Coalition of Christian Outreach, or better known as the CCO.  They are a regional ministry working with college age people in extremely unique and effective ways.  They are doing things right, in so many ways.  About a year ago I had the pleasure of sitting down for dinner with Scott Calgero who basically puts on the Jubilee Conference every year.  I heard what CCO does, how they go about it, and I was impressed.

Anyway, on my way back to the airport from the conference I happened to ride with another speaker, Leroy Barber. He’s a gentle yet funny man with a great vision for a ministry in urban cities.  The ministry is called, “Mission Year.”  I’m writing about them because they have a one year opportunity for 18-29 year olds to dive into justice work in an urban city.  A huge vision with practical outcomes.  You can learn about the program here.  If you know of a recent high school grad who is not ready to attend a college, a college age student looking to take a year off (and get credit), or a recent college grad who can’t seem to land a job, let them know about this opportunity…it could be time well spent!  They’ll spend a year living in a neighborhood, partnering with local churches, and doing justice/community work in a concentrated area.  Good stuff, if you ask me…

Every church and organization has a mission statement.  And, for the most part, every ministry leader has a mission statement for their specific ministry – especially in the church.  Mission statements are important because they articulate (hopefully) what we’re about, what we stand for and what we’re seeking to accomplish.  These are good.

But there is something I want to point out that causes confusion.  Or, at least, can.  And that is church-based ministries that have a different mission statement than the church they are a part of.  I see this all the time.  The junior high ministry has a mission.  The high school ministry will have a different one.  And the church yet another one.  Now, the truth is when you boil mission statements down, most churches are basically saying the same thing…just worded differently.  But different mission statements in the same church?

Really?

Are we really seeking an entirely different mission?  Or, are we simply seeking to move people in an age-stage toward embracing the same mission?  If we’re a part of a church, I hope it’s the latter.  Sure, the vision of implementing and applying that mission should be unique for age stage ministries, but it’s not a different mission!  Well, at least it shouldn’t be.

Here are 3 encouragements:

1. Make sure you agree with the mission statement of the organization you serve under.  If you feel like you need to change the mission statement, you probably shouldn’t be there anyway.
2. Understand that college age people long to belong in the church as a whole, not just a ministry.  Having the same mission statement  as the church (and helping the students we work with embrace that mission) is a very simply way we can help them feel a part of the bigger picture.
3. College ministry is an assimilation ministry where we bridge people from relational connection in the student life of our churches into relational connections in the adult life of our churches.  We need all the continuity we can get in order to be effective in this.  And this continuity begins with the mission statement.

Jeff Atherstone is a friend of mine from seminary.  We also worked together for a few years at Cornerstone – he was the pastor of student ministries in one of our church plants.  Cool and very sharp guy.

A few years ago he left the ministry at Cornerstone and went out to Uganda to be a part of training leaders there.  Church leaders.  Pastors.  There is a video here that has some very interesting statistics that honestly kind of surprised me.  But in this video Jeff articulated a vision for what they are doing.  He sees the big picture and is trying to get people behind it.  He has been challenged by some questions by pastors of churches in Uganda:

Do I feed the orphans in the church or my own children?
Do I pay for the widow’s hospital bills or do I take my own wife to the hospital?
How can I find something to teach when I have never been taught?

Deep and penetrating questions.  I wanted to post this video for three main reasons:

1. There are so many ministries world-wide that nobody has a clue about.  Are you exposing your college students to new ones?  If not, please consider doing so.  They can and will get behind these types of things.
2. I believe in what Jeff is doing.  He’s meeting a need that is not being met.  He became aware of the need, and is seeking to meet it.  Are you finding unique needs and helping those in your ministry meet unmet needs?  Maybe even use this video as an illustration of seeking needs where you are…or, just watch it and be exposed to someone doing something for the furthering of the gospel.
3. I appreciate Jeff’s heart for protecting the gospel message.  Sometimes we focus more on protecting or building a program.  The truth is we ought to only be concerned about protecting and furthering the gospel message.

Anyway, watch and enjoy this short 2 minute video….it’s very well done.

I’ve known Francis Chan for over 11 years now and worked with him for 9 of those.  I have a tremendous amount of respect for him as a believer, friend, leader, husband, and father.  And there’s something coming out that you ought to be aware of!

Flannel, the company that produced the NOOMA videos (with Rob Bell), are working with Francis on a series of video’s.  These are a part of a series called, “Basic.”  They are of the highest quality – in content, creativity, and film.  There is currently a 7 part series coming out – over a period of time – and these will be available with small group curriculum/questions beginning this summer.  The curriculum piece is written by another friend of mine, Mark Beuving.  You’ve probably never heard of him, but he’s a great guy and incredibly gifted.  I hired him to work with me at Cornerstone in our college ministry and now he’s on staff with Eternity Bible College.  Anyway, you should check out these videos!  You can watch a promo by clicking here.  Enjoy…

I’m sitting here in a coffee shop overhearing two seminary students debate theology, talk about Aristotle theory, discussing papers they’ve written and theological ideas they’ve had.  Stimulating to the mind, for sure.  I’ve been there myself.  But I don’t think this is what we need more of today in college ministry or in the Church in general.

Sure, we ought to engage the minds of college age people.  But before you teach next, think about how to do that best.  Is it really by giving new information and ideas?  I ask you to rethink this, if so.  People aren’t bored because they don’t have more information. They’re bored because they’re not living out what they already know.

I’d encourage you push people toward deeper commitment to what they already know.  Before you teach again, rather than seeking to engage people by causing intellectual gymnastics over information, consider how you might stimulate and challenge people’s mind with deep commitment to what they already know.

Everyone has doubts.  We all have areas that we are not 100% certain in.  This could be life circumstances and even faith.  Regardless of where we are in our faith maturity, we still have areas or questioning.  The issue is not whether or not we have doubts and uncertainty, it’s whether or not we allow space to work through them openly and honestly.

College age people are reevaluating what they believe and why.  Some of course do this more intensely than others, but all do.  This reevaluation naturally brings uncertainty and doubt to the surface.  Others might have a mentor that “falls” and all of the sudden things become uncertain.  Still others grew up with an idea of who God is and how He works and yet find circumstances not lining quite up to that ideal.  When these types of things occur, doubt crashes in.

But do people in your ministry feel freedom to admit these areas and thoughts?

I think this idea of processing questions and doubt is a good and necessary aspect of faith development.  True faith must have questions and doubt in it’s past to some degree.  And, I’d suggest that consistently working through questions, being a learner, and humbly admitting our questions is critical for continual growth.  But setting a culture that allows for these types of things is crucial in college ministry.  You see, college age people too often mistake doubt for faith abandonment.  They can wrongly assume they are the only ones thinking these things, that others will look down on them if they’re honest about it (which is unfortunately true at times), and confuse having questions about God with questioning God altogether.

This is a much bigger issue than we might realize in college ministry.  And how we handle this issue will greatly impact our success in ministry to college age people.  Let college age people see your unwavering faith in the midst of areas of uncertainty.

Leading something, anything, is not easy.  There are so many decisions to make, thoughts to guide, and directions to head.  Over the last 15 years I’ve learned a lot about what it means to be a leader, ways to lead that are effective for me and those that aren’t.  I’ve also learned the difference between what it means to be a leader versus a manager.

A manager, well, manages.  They maintain what’s there.  They iron any creases in the “fabric” of the ministry, make sure people are doing what they are supposed to do, but don’t necessarily see areas that need changing.  They make decisions, but not necessarily ones that influence the long-term direction.

A leader is different.  Leaders don’t like to maintain, they’re not afraid of change and even crave it.  They put out fires and even cause some.  They make decisions that guide people toward and through change…even when it hurts or people don’t understand.  They don’t settle for what’s good, but constantly seek what’s best.  And when they find something better, they’re not afraid of leaving “good” to head in that direction.

I also have learned one more little, but important, distinction between leaders and managers.  They handle immediate pressures and needs differently.  When we face immediate pressures or needs we have to make a decision.  Manager’s revert back to past experience to see what they’ve done to relieve those pressures or meet those needs before.  They then implement that same methodology…but often hang onto hope for a different result.  And that never works.

On the other hand when leaders face immediate pressure or needs they don’t negate their experience, but they also don’t automatically revert back to what they’ve seen done or implemented themselves.  They think bigger and in fact sometimes intentionally don’t look backwards.  They ask what’s gained and what’s lost in this decision?  Leaders protect the bigger vision by making sure they don’t do something that undermines what’s valued.  And if necessary they try something they’ve never heard of…and are excited about it.

Do you have managers in leadership positions?  If so, be careful.  You might be expecting something that’s not going to come.

I’ve gotten a few emails lately regarding internships.  Essentially they have been asking me what I focus on with my interns.  Well, there is a whole slew of things that can happen in internships and if I’m honest every one is different.  Every person is different.  Every calling is unique.  And every ministry is specific.

Having said that here are 5 general things I think internships ought to be about:

1. Helping people understand the heart of a spiritual leader.  So many time we jump into assigning tasks, fulfilling details…and sometimes just ought right giving away the stuff we don’t want to do.  When this is the case, we may miss the most important aspect of interning: getting a glimpse of the heart of a pastor.
2. Internships are about discovery.  This is NOT limited to what they are good at and what they are not.  For me the important thing is they discover how God uniquely uses them in the lives of other people.  This is vital.
3. Internships are about exposure.  They are about gaining exposure to different facets of the ministry and the church.  In other words, making sure they get the bigger picture of the ministry and church.  Way too often interns get stuck in a particular area of ministry, become a specialist in that area, but end up losing out on the bigger picture.
4. Internships are about formulating a philosophy.  It’s about helping someone know understand what we do, why we do it, and how we go about it.  But even more than that it’s helping someone develop their own philosophy of ministry…even if it disagrees with ours.
5. Internships are about development.  It’s about developing the whole person, in every aspect of life.  Internships also need to have measurements in all areas, where the intern is assessed.  For some this might be formal, for others not at all.  But the measurement of development is important.