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Leader Tip of the Month--November

Jason Hayes — 2009-11-05T09:00:52-06:00

Ministry leaders, this month’s leader tip by Jason Hayes deals with our responsibility as Christ-followers to share a complete gospel with the world. Participating in social action without sharing the message of the gospel just isn’t sufficient in terms of bringing people to Jesus. Take a minute to watch this month’s leader tip video blog.

Fall-tastic Ways to Fellowship: 8 ideas for building community this season

staff — 2009-10-20T12:25:51-06:00

Ahh, fall … It’s time to breathe in the crisp air, admire the beautifully changing leaves, and log way too many hours in front of the TV watching college football. But it’s also the perfect season to strengthen the friendships in your young adult community. Check out our staff picks for some fall-tastic ways to fellowship.

Go for a hike. Now’s the perfect time to head outdoors and enjoy God’s breathtaking creation. Before winter sets in, gather your Bible study group to hike the best trails in your area. Invite those new to your group to come along. You’ll be reminded of countless things to thank God for.
Feed your friends—and America. Why not host a dinner party for a good cause? When you do, Macy’s will match all the money your guests donate to Feeding America as a part of the Come+Together campaign. Their goal? To provide 10 million meals for families in need.
Trunk or Treat? Volunteer at your church’s Trunk or Treat or Fall Festival. Offer your trunk, man a candy station, or oversee one of the festive games. It’s a great way to serve your church and meet some new faces in your community.
Find the Great Pumpkin. Head out to a local pumpkin patch to enjoy a hayride, find your way out of the corn maze, and sip on some homemade cider. While you’re there, grab a pumpkin or a potted mum to take to an elderly member of your church or neighborhood.
Indulge your inner Top Chef. Bake some of your favorite yummy treats to deliver to your neighbors. Never met them? Who cares! Nothing says “Nice to meet you” like dessert. Make an extra batch for your coworkers too.
Pack a box … or two … or three. Host an Operation Christmas Child shoebox-packing party—collection season is October and November. Your friends bring shoeboxes and gifts. You provide snacks, music, and the decorating essentials.
Rake some leaves for the elderly in your church or neighborhood. Conquer a block, or thumb through the church directory to compile a list of people to serve. You’ll meet a huge need in their lives. And you’ll have the chance to breathe in some fresh air and get in a workout while you’re at it.
Throw a bonfire/chili cook-off/football tailgate outreach party. These tried and true get-togethers are guaranteed to result in multiple opportunities to mingle around a bonfire, bond over bad ref calls, or share your grandma’s chili recipe—great ways to form instant community.

Young Adult Leader Tip of the Month

Jason Hayes — 2009-10-05T15:00:52-06:00

Welcome to the first installment of our new monthly video blog for leaders featuring Threads’ young adult ministry specialist Jason Hayes. Each month Jason will take a couple of minutes to share leadership advice that will help you take your ministry to the next level.

In today’s blog Jason challenges you to a new way of thinking about how you approach your community of young adults.

Gators, Wildcats, Commodores, and Tigers

Linda Osborne — 2009-09-30T13:41:09-06:00

The air on a college campus just breathes better. There is life and energy, even on a rainy day. I’ve just returned from spending time on 4 campuses where 140,000 university students do life. Baptist Collegiate Ministry and local churches are engaged in reaching and developing students on these campuses.

How about taking a minute to encourage a college student right now … a simple note and Scripture will make such a difference in his or her life.

Go Gators, and Cats, and Dores, and Tigers!

College Leaders: Make Your Presence Known on Campus

Brodie Smith — 2009-09-24T05:00:43-06:00

As college leaders, most of our fall semesters are well underway. We’ve moved the freshmen in (and secretly laughed at all the stuff they expected to cram it into a room roughly the size of a Hummer). We’ve participated in involvement fairs and distributed enough survival packs to feed students well into their Christmas Break. We’ve also hosted our first group gatherings.

The beginning of the fall semester is the most opportune time to reach students on a college campus. And boy do we put a lot of energy and resources into those first few weeks. But once the semester is in full swing, how do we continue to be a visible and welcome presence on campus?

There are countless opportunities to increase both the visibility and viability of our ministries well into the semester. But I’ve found that one of the easiest ways to get to know students on campus is by continuing to give out free stuff.

A simple example is passing out some free breakfast bars early in the morning as students scurry off to early classes. Face it, how many of those students made the effort to wake up in time to grab a decent breakfast before class? Camping out in a busy area of campus to offer free breakfast bars is simple and doesn’t take much time to organize.

But don’t expect students to come running. College students tend to be wary of gimmicks, and they resist the idea of being sucked into anything unexpectedly. Regardless of what you’re giving away, be genuine. Encourage students at the start of their days, and let them know you care about making their moms happy and guaranteeing they have enough energy to get through their early class.

Also, put an emphasis on giving quality, rather than quantity. Even college students have limits to the free things they’ll accept. Budget restrictions may mean giving to fewer people than you hoped, but the students you do meet will find your generosity attractive.

Keep up the “free things” presence on campus when the weather cools off by adding something like hot chocolate to the menu. Not only will you help students stay warm, you’ll also have a couple of extra minutes to interact with them as they wait in line.

Although a breakfast bar and a cup of hot chocolate isn’t a revolutionary idea, the fact that you show up week after week with a smile gives students an opportunity to ask “Why?” and may be all you need to both meet a basic need and allow students on campus to interact with your ministry.

Before you begin, consider that university policies may limit what you can give away. Plan ahead—make sure you’re up to date on the proper procedures, and get approval before you start giving out the freebies. It’ll make your world a lot easier and keep relations with the university running smoothly.

Create your own small way of making a difference. Meet the students on their territory, and do it repeatedly—even weekly—throughout the semester to reassure students that you’re interested in them as individuals, not as bodies to fill the seats at your ministry events.

What are some of the ways your college ministry maintains a consistent presence on campus throughout the semester?

5 Leader FAQs Answered

Jim Johnston — 2009-09-14T18:17:07-06:00

In the past months, many of us at Threads have been rolling around the country going to Connect Conferences and meeting church leaders who are vitally interested in reaching young adults. For those of you who haven’t been able to join us, here are our answers to five of the most frequently asked questions we’ve received.

My church has a Sunday School. Do we need to transition to small groups to be able to reach young adults?

Not necessarily. If you have a Sunday School structure that embraces depth, responsibility, community, and connection, then you probably have something worth keeping and building on to reach young adults. If you have an hour where someone lectures for 45 minutes, takes prayer requests for 15 minutes, doesn’t know the deep needs of anyone in the room, and fails to challenge attendees to ask hard questions about their own spiritual walks, then you probably need to do something differently. Perhaps, you just need to do Sunday School differently and better. Small groups are not the magic elixir that will solve all of the problems of your church. Only by working hard at building biblical community, teaching the Bible with depth, giving your people a God-sized mission, and connecting generations will you make the kind of impact that will reach young adults. You can do that through small groups or Sunday School.
How important is music to reaching young adults?

Having excellent worship experiences through music is important to any generation you want to reach through your church. I don’t think young adults are any exception. But a church that believes having the city’s best worship band is the key to reaching young adults is dead wrong. One person sold out to God, playing an acoustic guitar, sitting on a stool, and leading people to truly worship trumps a great band with great sound that is merely performing music to a crowd—any day, any time. Also, it’s important to know that starting a community young adult worship gathering may be the hardest thing to do in young adult ministry, so my advice is to start with your groups and build out from there.
How can I reach out to all races and cultures of young adults?

My question back is, who are your leaders? If all of your leaders are Caucasian mobile professionals, those are the people your church will reach. If your leaders include people of all races, cultures, and socio-economic groups, then you will reach the same mix of God’s people. But don’t expect to reach a diverse group of people with a less than diverse group of leaders. Invest in young leaders from all nations. You will reach young people from all nations.
What kind of Bible study resources do you recommend for young adult ministry?

(This is not a trick promotional question. We really get this a lot.) 

Ours. We design them specifically for young adults and our churches tell us they’re very good. When we hear they need improvement, we improve them. I think ours are very good and getting even better. Click here for the complete list of Threads studies.

I also like our Life Connections studies and our LifeWay Women’s resources.
What are some examples of effective outreach approaches for young adults?
- The Walk, a collegiate ministry of Sevier Heights Baptist Church in Knoxville, Tenn., offers college freshmen the opportunity to have their clothes washed and delivered back to them in their dorms.
- Connect 3 on 3 Ministries helps churches host a community basketball tournament that reaches young adults. Sports events of all kinds will help you reach into the unchurched and de-churched world.
- We talk about these folks a lot, but Kairos Nashville, Brentwood Baptist Church, Mike Glenn, Cathy Patterson, and Michael Boggs do it right. What they do is hard to do with excellence, but God gives them the ability to do an amazing community worship gathering that reaches young adults who need Christ. Check out Mike’s book In Real Time to learn even more.

Send your questions to jim.johnston@lifeway.com.

What Does “Missional” Mean?

staff — 2009-09-10T09:00:34-06:00

It doesn’t take you long to encounter the word “missional” as you examine the current landscape of Christian ministry and thought. It seems everywhere you turn, someone is talking about missional living, missional churches, or missional strategies. It seems the wave of missional activity is flooding our churches, seminaries, bookstores, and more.

And while many affirm this term, others remain unclear as to exactly what “missional” means. Intentionally or unintentionally, the word has been confused, overused, and sometimes completely distorted.

Alan Hirsch, a leading missional author and strategist, says, “a working definition of missional church is that it [is] a community of God’s people that defines itself, and organizes its life around, its real purpose of being an agent of God’s mission to the world. In other words, the Church’s true and authentic organizing principle is mission. When the church is in mission, it is the true Church. The Church itself is not only a product of that mission, but is obligated and destined to extend it by whatever means possible. The mission of God flows directly through every believer and every community of faith that adheres to Jesus. To obstruct this is to block God’s purposes in and through his people.”

And while this definition provided by Hirsch does provide an excellent summation, some may find Hirsch’s explanation of the origin of missional ministry more helpful.

Hirsch states, “The phrase ‘missional’ and ‘missional church’ originated in the work of a group of North America practitioners, missiologists and theorists … who came together to try and work out some of the implications of the work of that remarkable missionary thinker Lesslie Newbigin. It was Newbigin who, after returning from a lifetime of work in India as a missionary, saw how pagan Western civilization really was. He began to articulate the view that we need to see the Western world as a mission field, and that we as God’s people in this context, needed to adopt a missionary stance in relation to our culture. Just as we would in India for instance. His work captured the imagination of a church in crisis and declined and shaped the thinking of generations.”¹

Alan Hirsch, “A Working Definition of Missional Church,” [online] 11 July 2007 [cited 1 June 2008]. Available from the Internet: www.theforgottenways.org. ↩

Editor’s Note: This article was taken from Context: Engaging the Young Adults of Your Community. Context is a practical manual built as a desk reference tool for leaders in young adult ministry.

Searching for Balance

Jason Hayes — 2009-08-27T15:39:24-06:00

The idea of finding balance seems really important to me these days. I certainly haven’t achieved it yet. For that matter, I’m not sure I will ever find complete balance in my life. However, I’m working hard at it and really making steps toward improvement.

Balance seems to be something we all strive for but have a difficult time achieving. Below are my notes from a conference session in which I spoke about this difficult topic. As you can see, I tried to come at this from both a practical and spiritual angle. I hope you find them helpful. Please comment and add any thoughts or other helpful steps toward maintaining balance.

Practically Maintaining the Balance

Accept the pressure as a sign of vitality.

This is a matter of perspective. Rather than viewing the tension created by competing demands on our time as a problem, we can view it as a sign of vitality in our lives. The only people completely free from stress are the dead. Combine commitments when possible. By combining commitments, it’s possible that rather than competing against each other, our various responsibilities can actually complement one another.

Be accountable to others.

By being open and accountable, we can let others help us recognize when we’ve become out of balance. People who know us well and observe our lives on a regular basis can usually tell us when we’re getting out of balance better than we can for ourselves.

Schedule personal appointments with your family.

You get the necessary things done at work probably because, for the most part, you’ve scheduled them. You know what time you’re supposed to be there, what time your deadlines are due, and when your appointments are. A real secret in living the balanced life as God has planned is to schedule the other areas of your life too.

Place emphasis on the highest priorities.

In times of high demand on our energy, emphasis is best placed on activities of the highest priority; lesser priorities may have to be allowed to slide. For example, even though ______ is important, when time is at a premium, tough choices have to be made, and I have to decide that time spent with my family is more important than _______.

Give up perfectionism.

The habit of perfectionism is time consuming and can be counterproductive. Rather than steal time from other commitments to cross every t and dot every i in a particular job, work as hard as you can in the time available and then move on.

Work faithfully at your job.

You are serving God and not men (Colossians 3:23). But with that said, people are watching. For better or worse, much of their impression of Christianity and/ or ministers will be based on the quality of your work and of your relationship with them.

Delegate.

There are men and women who work no more than a 40-hour week and never take a briefcase home. Then there are others who work a 60-hour week and always take a briefcase home. Studies say there is no difference, and a large part of the secret lies in delegation.

Just say no!

The more responsibility you have, the more you will be asked to do. This applies at work, home, and church. Set priorities and then say no when necessary. You may disappoint people: your supervisor, your friends, and possibly even your church. But if you don’t say no, you won’t survive.

Spiritually Maintaining the Balance

Christ is Lord of all.

Be cautious in compartmentalizing your life into individualized categories (i.e. ministry, family, etc.). Your personal life needs to impact your public ministry and vice versa. In addition, your family needs to be involved in your ministry. The more you strive to integrate your “life categories,” the less tension there is between them.

God is sovereign.

He is the one who will ultimately determine our survival and success at work. Being egocentric, we can think that if we just work those few extra hours and get that extra project done, we will survive or even succeed. It is liberating to know that all this is in God’s hands.

Prayer.

Every person inevitably encounters problems and frustrations. We need to pray and depend on God, using the problem as an opportunity to grow closer to God and see Him work. God can increase our efficiency at work to free up adequate time and energy for ministry and family.

Be wise as serpents.

Gain wisdom on topics such as time management, mentoring, and delegation. Look to both Christian and secular books. Many of the principles in secular books can be adapted to help us further the kingdom.

Take the long view.

Look at life through the wide lens.

Resources Used For This Session:

Balancing Church, Family, and Career: Lay leaders explain how they maintain that essential but elusive equilibrium by Larry K. Weeden
Balancing Work, Leisure and Faith: Practical prescriptions for getting balance and avoiding extremes by Timothy Smith
Balancing Act by Ross McKenzie

This article was originally published on 10/18/2007.

Discipleship: The New Evangelism

Michael Kelley — 2009-08-20T17:54:31-06:00

The Roman Road. F.A.I.T.H. Four Spiritual Laws. The bridge illustration. These are all names of good, useful tools for evangelism, and I’m sure you can add to the list. The goal of each is to introduce someone to a relationship with Jesus Christ in a simple, straight-forward way. And they have worked well. Really, really, well. The question is not whether or not they have worked, but are these the best models for evangelism in today’s culture?

It’s worth asking the question because things, they are a-changin’. The postmodern mind-set is one of exploration, journeying, and mystery. It craves depth in all aspects of life, whether in relationships, experiences, or faith. So given that is true, is there a new way to be engaging in evangelism that connects specifically to a mind-set like this?

It’s also worth asking the question because back when we were doing the research project that would eventually lead to the formation of Threads, a question was asked to those both inside and outside of churches, both believers and non-believers. The question was simple but has big implications. The question was about depth in Bible study and whether it was appealing or not.

Now before we talk about the answer, consider some of the assumptions that led to the seeker-sensitive model of church that was visible throughout the country just 20 years ago. The assumption was that people needed to be introduced to the concept of faith at a church. So any attempt to go too deep would inevitably scare people off. They were, after all, just “seekers”—those coming to try out religion and faith and see what it’s all about. The goal was simply to get them to come back again and then eventually move them from that introductory phase into a real discipleship phase. That, too, was effective. At least it was then.

But now? The answer to the little question revealed that an overwhelming number of believers wanted depth in their times of study. It showed a dissatisfaction with easy and pat answers, and a desire to really study and wrestle with God’s Word and its implications for life. The surprising thing was that the number of non-Christian respondents was nearly identical to the number of Christian respondents in terms of who wanted that depth. Both non-Christians and Christians wanted depth in Bible study.

Really?

Really.

I think that means a lot of things. I think it means that people are out there looking for real answers, not easy ones. I think people want to see that men and women of faith struggle with questions, too, and I think it means people are looking for a belief system that actually has something to say. I think it also means, however, that people are looking for a belief system that demands something. They’re looking for something challenging. They’re looking for something that will engage their whole person—body, mind, and spirit. I think they’re saying that they don’t want Christians to try and “back-door” the gospel to them; say what it is, and be upfront about it. It’s a complete life commitment, and something worth giving your whole life toward.

That sounds a lot like discipleship to me. Could it be that evangelism and discipleship are trending together in the future? That’s not to minimize the need for the moment of truth, when a person steps from being an unbeliever to believer, because there is still the profound need for that. But maybe it does beg the question as to whether we need to have “seeker-sensitive” worship experiences and classes, or is the best evangelism to show people the gospel lived out and engaged in worship and study?

This article was originally published on 10/23/2008.

Wear Out Your Welcome

Heather Zempel — 2009-08-13T15:22:56-06:00

My husband and I have officially worn out our welcome. The “welcome” word on our doormat, that is.

A few weeks ago, Ryan noted that the welcome mat at our front door was faded and shredded. You couldn’t even read any of the various multi-lingual “welcomes” that once covered it. As usual, our perspectives on this mundane domestic development were about as distant as the loyalties of Red Sox and Yankees fans or the political views of Mary Matalin and James Carville.

My immediate reaction: That’s terrible, we need a new one! Our house is a mess!

Ryan’s immediate reaction: That’s awesome, we’ve invested our resources well! Our house is always full of people!

It’s not often that I like Ryan’s perspective better, but in this instance, I’m willing to part with my opinion.

It’s true. We have worn out our welcome. And I think that’s awesome. Here’s what I’m learning: Discipleship and hospitality are closely connected. When I hear the word “hospitality,” I tend to think of teacups and doilies and good manners and well-set tables. And while those domestic niceties are certainly a dimension of hospitality, the teachings of Scripture are forcing me to re-evaluate and re-imagine the role of hospitality in our lives. Hospitality in its most raw biblical sense is not about well ordered tables but about well ordered hearts. It’s about being on the front lines of advancing God’s kingdom, saving lives, and creating safe and sacred places in the midst of uncertain situations. It’s about bringing salvation to people in need.

A prostitute across enemy lines, Rahab dared to give room and board to the Israelite spies. The Good Samaritan defied cultural stereotypes to stop for a man in need. Ananias sought out the murderer Saul (who happened to have a warrant for Ananias’ arrest) to disciple him in his first steps as a Christ-follower.

In every situation, the practice of hospitality brought the presence, power, and protection of God because one person had the guts to welcome strangers, enemies, and chaos into their lives.

I can’t think of a better way to describe ministry in today’s culture. Young adults are craving connections to one another, to meaning, and to a God who seems distant and hard to understand. If we want to pass the baton of faith to the next generation, we must learn the craft of creating safe places to pass on a dangerous message, to turn chaos into community, and to bring healing to messy wounds. And it begins by opening our door.

In Paul’s first letter to the young pastor Timothy, he gave instructions concerning the challenge and process of establishing leaders for the church. One of the traits Paul required for leadership was hospitality. Given the biblical context, I don’t think Paul was looking for “nice” men here. He wasn’t looking for men with culinary abilities, domestic skills, and subscriptions to Southern Living; rather he was looking for men who were willing to take the lead in embracing uncertainty, taking risks, and welcoming strangers for the purpose of letting God’s power and presence invade the lives of others.

What if we practiced this kind of hospitality in our small groups? What if we practiced it in our individual lives? It doesn’t require a lot of preparation and a copy of Emily Post’s etiquette book. One of my most meaningful conversations with a small group member happened recently as she sat on the floor of my bedroom while I packed for a trip. It’s really more about our hearts than our tables being set for guests.

If you are a small group leader, disciple-maker, mentor, pastor, then here’s my challenge to you today: Invite people into life with Christ by inviting them into your life, and invite them into your life by inviting them into your home. For dinner. Dessert. Games. Movies. To help you pack for your trip. Don’t just invite them in when the house is prepared for guests. Invite them in when it bears the marks of life. Wear out your welcome.