Harvey

Growing up, my family would take frequent trips up into the woods of East Texas. For most of my childhood my granddaddy lived in the Kirbyville, Hemphill area near Lake Toledo Bend. My brother and I loved getting out of the city and going out into the woods. My granddaddy had an old bird dog named Sport and an old chevy truck named Old Blue. There were woods for squirrel hunting, the lake for fishing, pine cones for throwing at each other, and peas for shelling (I hated that job). Needless to say, the only dull moments at my granddaddy's house came at night. I think they went to bed somewhere around 6:00pm and the only thing ever on tv, remember this was pre-cable, was baseball or the news. We played a lot of cards and knee football in the living room.

One of our favorite things to do was to go visit Uncle Harvey. He was actually my great uncle, but everyone just called him Uncle Harvey. His family had kind of disappeared and my granddaddy was left to look out for his brother Harvey. The thing was, Harvey was a hermit. For real! He lived in an old cabin in the woods by himself. As long as you went out there with my granddaddy you were safe. I never tried going out there without him because every time we went, Harvey was sitting at the ragged old screen door that was his front door, with a double barrel shotgun....locked and loaded.

His truck, lawn mowers, air conditioner, garage and everything else within range of the shotgun had been blasted several times. Uncle Harvey had a problem with hallucinating that people were trying to steal his stuff. So I was not about to run the risk of mistaken identity.

Harvey had long gray hair, and a long gray beard and was always wearing some old overa

lls. There was a massive tree in his front yard with vines that had been growing for decades hanging from the top of the tree. My brother and I would climb up in this tree and swing out of it like Tarzan until Harvey started shooting at the people living in the tree that were trying to "get" me and my brother.

As a kid we never thought about it, but Harvey lived a completely lonely, isolated life. Outside of my granddaddy taking him into town occasionally for groceries, he never left his cabin. If he did the tree people would probably steal everything he owned. He had none of life's finer things, and really didn't care for any of it.

I thought of Uncle Harvey the other night at the movies when I saw the trailer for a new movie starring Robert Duvall and Bill Murray titled Get Low. Duvall looks exactly like I remember Uncle Harvey, and it triggered these memories. But as I thought about my old uncle and his reclusive, lonely life, it made me think of the people that I pass daily that are just as lonely.

Even in the midst of all that goes on around them..... loneliness. In spite of millions of people, and the ability to connect with people around the world....loneliness. Many people live in the same, reclusive, lonely place that Harvey lived. They are looking for connection. They desire interaction. They want to be used. They want to know that God created them for a purpose and for a reason. The question is....

What are we doing to put them in the position to find that connection? How are we helping people realize the gifts and abilities that God has given each of us and how those gifts can be used to love and minister to others?

When people feel that there is no place for them, or that they are useless, many of them look to the church for answers and help. Our responsibility is to help them find the path and direction that God has planned out for them, with the gifts that He gave them in the first place. People want to be used and needed. Some are sitting at their door right now guarding everything they have from the tree people. Our challenge is to get them to let down their guard long enough to venture out and put those gifts to use for the Kingdom.

I'm out....

Moving...

What does it take to get kids excited about ministry? It takes them being engaged in ministry. Moving kids into action is where authentic life change will happen for them. We can't ask them to continually sit in class and listen without giving them the opportunity to be the church.

As we lead.... move the kids into action. Take a group to a homeless shelter; help them start a prayer team on their campus; remind them that no can look down on them because of their age (1 Tim.4:12). Move them into action.

They are a generation that wants to make a difference. They are a generation that has to have instant gratification. They seem to be impatient at times. They seem to be disorganized and chaotic. But in many cases...they thrive in that atmosphere. What can we do to harness their energy and abilities? How can we utilize their "everything at their fingertips" world, and mobilize them into community. They, more than any of us, interact with community on a daily basis. They enter into their schools and have the opportunity to reach hundreds daily.

The question.... what are we doing to empower them? What are we doing to engage them? It's not gonna happen with programming and classrooms.....it's gonna happen when they are challenged to move. Some may choose not to move, but so do some adults. Some may choose to complain. But so do some adults. We can't be afraid to lose some in order to mobilize others.

I love students.... and I'm ready to see them move!

Spring forward!

Spring forward! I don’t even like to think about losing an hour of sleep. What was Ben Franklin thinking when he came up with that idea anyway? But I guess it does have it’s advantages, and once the adjustment has been made it’s not all that bad. It is daylight until 9pm. And for you people that have to have space heaters under your desk and coats at your desk just in case the air conditioner comes on, it signifies warmer days ahead. For a few weeks, those of us with allergies suffer with the hope of summer waiting at the end of our suffering. But year in year out, the change of seasons creates adjustments in routine and we continue to move forward.

What about changes in seasons of ministry? How do we handle that? Our culture is constantly changing. Therefore, how we reach the people in our culture must change too. Students have everything they want at their fingertips. With the advancements in cell phones, game systems, etc...I mean that literally. So what is they want that they don’t have at their fingertips?.... to make a difference in this world. Our students want to leave their mark and know that they did something to help and improve the world around them.

What are we doing to give them that opportunity? In many cases, we’ve followed the model that says create more programs and classes, and that will fix it. That will teach them. Truthfully though, that simply gives them more information that, frankly, most are doing nothing with in the world in which they live daily. We have to move them from a sitting and listening mentality to a doing mentality. When students get involved with doing church, they will get excited about sharing Jesus with the people around them. I don’t know of a kid that gets excited about yet another class. But put them in an atmosphere of serving others, teaching others, working, and doing and watch out. The spiritual growth, and excitement about their relationship with Christ seems to explode and no one around them is safe from the impact.

Let’s work together to give our kids those opportunities. I am not talking about projects, programs, or events. I am talking about consistent service and using the gifts and abilities that God has given them to help draw others to Christ. When it becomes the norm to serve and do rather sit and soak, that’s when explosive spiritual growth will occur. Other students will be drawn in by students that are excited to be a part of something that is impacting the lives of their community. They’re in class 5 days a week anyway.... not much excitement there.

Kids walk out of high school, into the world, and out of church at an alarming rate. Why? I believe it’s, in part, due to not being engaged in ministry. When someone is engaged in doing ministry, and it’s just part of what they know to be ministry, they can do that wherever they are after their days in student ministry are done. When they’ve equated ministry to sitting in a class and being taught, they lose the application aspect and when the opportunity to stop going to class presents itself, they’re out. Understanding how God can use them..... anywhere, anytime, any circumstance helps them understand that their circumstances and environment do not define them, and the God wants to use them for more than just sitting in a chair and listening.

Lamp Stands

For those of you who have read Think Orange, or maybe for those of you who went to the one-day conference with us a couple of weeks ago, some of this may sound familiar. But as I was reading Reggie Joiner's book, Think Orange, in the first few pages I read something that I think we need to chew on a bit as leaders.

In the first chapter of Revelation, John compares the church to a lamp stand. Something I did not know about the lamp stand that intrigued me is that the lamp stand was always placed strategically as to show light onto the loaves of bread known as the "bread of presence." The bread represented God's provision and presence, and the lamp stands job was to cast light on what represented God's goodness and provision.

Wow.... you mean that is the primary job of the church? To cast light onto the table of God's goodness and provision so that the entire world can see God and who He is? It's not about filling our buildings and developing programs? It's not about us?!

Reggie goes on to suggest that perhaps the reason the church has an image problem is because the church has an identity problem. We've forgotten, sometimes, why we exist. You see... we don't exist to shed light on everything that is wrong in the world, or to try and solve and every problem.... we exist to focus our light so that others see who God is.

As we lead our students through this mine field of being a teenager let's remember that we exist primarily to show them God.... to show them the love that He has for them; to show them His provision and goodness. Don't move the lamp stand to illuminate other stuff...... let the lamp stand show light on the one thing that we all have in common....... a desperate need for a loving God.

I'm glad we're on the same team.

Music.....

Music and student ministry go hand in hand. And most of the music that our students listen to is not on KLTY or any other of the Christian radio stations. And as I've stated before, I think that's okay. There is much truth to be learned in the poetry of today's artists. I know, for me, songwriting and music are itches that have to be scratched. Most of us have outlets for stress, anxiety, etc.... music and sports are mine.

Music is just an emotional tool that can communicate feelings and thoughts that resonate with most of us. We remember lyrics and songs and are instantly transported to another day and time when we hear the song on the radio or ipod. The students today are no different and quite possibly more in tune than we were because of the access they have to an entire globe of music.

Well... if music is that big of a part of these kids lives then using it in our ministries becomes crucial to connecting these kids to the message and to other people. The music we use in our services must be engaging and purposeful. I love using our student leaders to help them learn how to engage their peers through the medium of music in order to lead them into the throne room of God.

One of the ways that our kids respond to music is by seeing others engaged and worshipping through music. It helps tremendously when our students see adults engaged in the music of worship. I love being a part of a service where people are singing their praises to God. He hears our heart. And I believe that music was created to soften the heart and open the mind so that we may hear from God through all phases of the worship service.

Take some time to encourage our student worship team and their efforts at leading us in worship each week. Music is a creative outlet that begs to be shared and used. Those who have the ability and talent to play or sing, and choose to use that to lead their peers, need to be encouraged to continue to seek out how to deliver truth through music. Take a look at the article below.....Andy Stanley on Music.

http://www.catalystspace.com/content/read/music_matters_stanley/

Have a great Christmas and a very Happy New Year. And thank you so much for all you do for the students here at Firewheel. I love you guys.

What Are We Doing?

There's a new catch word in the christian world today...... missional. What does that mean? For so many this means going places and doing things for those that are "less fortunate." But is this really what God meant when he said to go and make disciples of all nations?

I've always felt there was more to my calling as a Christ follower than to just go and do. The church I grew up in seemed to be a place where those who were privileged enough to be visited and invited to come back could join and become part of that family. But what about "the family," not just that family. My thoughts were constantly going back to... what about my friends that aren't at this church? I may not have acted on those convictions all the time, but I was always wondering what it would look like for the church to infiltrate the culture around us.

I've been reading the book Missional Renaissance by Reggie McNeal. It has some incredible insight into what it looks like to be the church in our culture. One of the things that has really resonated with me is the statement that "people deserve to be blessed simply because they are people, not just so we can witness to them." Look at that statement. How many times do we "minister" to people with the intent of bringing them into our church family? That is so not Jesus.

God wants relationship with people and He has put us in charge of bringing that message to everyone.... whether they go to our church or not. When he called us to be His messengers, I believe He meant that to be anywhere we go. We have to be engaged in all aspects of life.

Being in student ministry is unique. Our students are influenced by so many people and things. When we cast our nets we have to be ready to catch all kinds of fish. Some will be in great shape, and some may be broken and bruised. But when they get to the place that God has given us to meet, they must feel that they can come there and drop off the baggage they've been left with and leave free. I'm afraid that sometimes we add baggage to their collection by condemning the actions from which they long to be freed. God wants people to come to Him so that He can free them from what hurts.

Jesus left a heavenly home to come to this jacked up world. The world that we jacked up. Don't forget that none of this was in the original plan, God has been in the redemption business for a long time. Each of us have had much to do with messing the place up. Therefore.... each of us have a responsibility to help lead and guide each other. I want a student ministry that resembles the island of misfit toys. None of us could cast the first stone, so why even pick up the rock in the first place.

Loving each other is not an option, it is a command. Sometimes we have to get our hands dirty. There will be kids show up at our building in need of everything but another condemning voice in their lives. Rather than condemn the actions, lets help them find the redemption that God offers and has been offering since the garden. Lead them to Jesus and allow Him to do the cleaning. Being the church... not just doing church..... that's missional.

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