Frodo: I wish the ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened.
Gandalf: So do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us. There are other forces at work in this world Frodo, besides the will of evil. Bilbo was meant to find the Ring. In which case, you were also meant to have it. And that is an encouraging thought. ”

I say this quote over at Michael Hyatt’s Blog it was really cool. I was really thinking about this and it seemed to be something that really struck a nerve in my current season of life. Here are some of the thoughts i got out of this quote.

1. With Frodo’s comment I have been there. Don’t tell anyone but there are times that I wish I was not called into ministry. I know that seems crazy, but really ministry sometimes gets rough. I wish it was all altars, and parties but sadly sometimes it gets messy.

2. There are other forces at work in this world Frodo, besides the will of evil–As pastors we sometimes feel the Fact that Satan is in this world, but we forget most the time that God is doing something too. Jer. 29:11

3. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us–This is the challenge I have been feeling for awhile. So I have been focusing on making sure I am doing the best with the time.

So what does this Quote speak to you? Let me know…

I saw this video and it spoke to me as i am looking to make some changes to our worship team. I think this is a great training that I could use for the team but also with the youth.

What do you think? How would you use this…

Really I thought this was creative and it made me laugh!

I was informed the other day that I was accepted to take part in reviewing Mark Battersons new book coming out 1.1.10. (I encourage you to pre-order this book you can do it at AMAZON or BARNES & NOBLE) I am really excited to do this as I have loved his previous 2 books (In a Pit with a Lion on a Snow Day & Wild Goose Chase) and think Mark is an upcoming voice to this generation. So be watching the blog for my review. I should get the book in the next week or so.

So I would like to say thank you Mark and Team for letting me take part!

Man this video just went into the Guinness book of World Records for the most watched AD in History. There is nothing Naive about that, other then buying bottled water. Way to go Evian.

I have been striving to learn about ministry through my current situation. I ran across this blog post my Perry Noble about 10 things he believes about your ministry. I read it and it was spot on..and really encouraged me. I have enclosed a few points that really spoke to me…

#1 – God’s heart is not for you to fail and/or drop out!
#5 – God cares more about your character than He does your churches numerical growth.
#7 – We should fear becoming IMPOTENT (having the equipment but lacking the passion to perform, via Bishop TD Jakes) way more than we fear becoming IRRELEVANT.

These points really spoke to me and in a weird way challenged me to pursue God in spite of my circumstances.

1. Often in ministry things get wild and most begin to lose heart and walk away from ministry. I know many pastors that have walked away and I have even thought about walking away because a 9-5 looks really nice sometimes. In those times I need to remember that God loves me and and has a plan for me.

5. This point really speaks to Gods love. He desires for me to be a man of character that is not swayed with success. My life should be a process of growing closer to God and not specify growing the church.

7.This one scares me because I could see this happening the more I begin to fit the common church model we have here in america. Because overall we have the tools but lost the passion because for the most part we are tired of fighting church people to fulfill Gods call.

You can check out the whole post here.

I would love to hear which which ones spoke to you?

A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they will never sit in.”— Greek Proverb

I saw this quote last week and it made me think more then normal. The reason is that in youth ministry we always have ebbs and flows. We have a group of students that come through our ministry that do everything. But what happens when they leave, for the most part we have a season that is plagued with a void of leadership. What if we trained students to invest in younger students even if they never see the results.

Right know in our student ministry we just went to a middle school and high school ministries. With that we have begun to mirror or student leadership teams in both middle school and high school. Our goal is to limit the leadership voids that come from time to time as we focus on one group and in turn focus on creating a process that has a continued flow of leaders being developed.

I would love to know what you think of this quote? Also what are you doing in your ministry to have people leave a legacy? LEave a comment and let me know…

I saw the Quote Here...

The other day I was reading this post by a pastor I follow, Brad Copper. The Blog was short but has got me thinking about myself. It was based on the quote;

Champions are not born in the ring, that’s just where they are recognized. -Unknown

This got me thinking about my current position in ministry. So far over the last year and half it has been really hard, and it is easy to look at others and see where they are and wish i was that person. That is ok but in that moment i am not seeing their time in their own hard situations. I personally struggle with the grass always being greener on the other side, but through this quote i am seeing that who i am is being formed in the hard times. This is hard for me but I am learning to trust in God’s timing and trust in my calling.

How about you? What situation are you dreading but know it will straighten you to become who God desires you to be?

Thanks Brad for the Quote it challenged me.

My parents went to Granger until they moved this past year. I love the heart of what they do and how they are reaching people for the Lord. Personally i also think they have 2 of the best speakers i have ever heard Mark Beeson and Rob Wagner. The other day I saw this video that showed what they are doing for this upcoming Christmas season for a teaching series at Granger Community Church.

Each weekend in December we will be leveraging the topics in Dickens’ classic The Christmas Carol. We’ll consider recovery from our past, making a difference in the present, and deciding on a purposeful future. It all builds to our own Granger version of The Christmas Carol production in six different services on Christmas Eve. (Excerpt from Tim Stevens Blog)

This is a great way to reach people with the truth of the gospel and share the gospel to people that need to hear it. What do you think? Would this work at your church?

I am really excited about this one. I saw the magazine “Collide” and was interested in learning more about it, so i signed up here for a free trial issue (Trial). It was really easy to sign up for a free issue in January, but was also told i could look at the current issue’s Digital copy. This was really great because that is the subscription i would get anyway. Below is the prices for a years subscription.

1yr=6 issues Mailed: $16 dollars
1yr=6 issues Digital: $8 dollars

I would encourage you to sign and and see what Collide is all about. While you are there sign to follow there feed for updates during issues.

Well for the last few months i have given up reading as it seems I have no time to read. But recently i have decided that for the sake of who I am i need to read agian. Someone very close to me told me that “Leaders are Readers”. I know it was not his thought, but he was kind enough to share it with me. So throughout the holiday season I am going to attack this small list of books.

1. Soul Revolution: John Burke
2. Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire: Jim Cymbala
3. Middle School Ministry-a comprehensive guide to working with early adolescents: Mark O
4. The Four Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive: Patrick Lencioni
5. The Principle of the Path: Andy Stanley
6. Winning with People: John Maxwell

I will be posting my reviews as i read them, so be watching the site for them.

I would love to here from you… What books are you reading? How do you pick the books that you read?