Terry Linhart's Blog, page 27

Does your youth ministry encourage students who don’t want to go into ministry?

When we talk about discipleship, how do we describe it?  How do those in youth ministry talk about what it means to follow Jesus faithfully?  We often elevate the apostles’ stories and draw some analogy to the vocational minister or missionary as the ‘ideal’ to follow.  And many of our students may feel they don’t measure up. We champion the short-term mission trip as the ‘ultimate’ thing we do each year.

The problem is:  We’re often silent when it comes to encouraging students toward following Jesus faithfully in a non-ministry vocation. And some pastors haven’t learned how to relate to, connect with, or even minister to men and women who want to live a ‘normal life’ for Jesus.  In fact, the most frequent question I receive about what’s happening at Bethel College, besides how much tuition will be the coming year, is if we have any future pastors or youth workers graduating.  Which we always do.  However, when I share about the college’s growing and dynamic pre-med, international business, theater, nursing or art programs, I find that we pastors don’t know how to respond.  And I’m not sure why.  I recently heard Dr. Jay Kesler, former President of Taylor University and Youth for Christ/USA, introduce a college donor and remark that “we relegate Christian business leaders to the back row of our congregations” even though they are the driving force behind much of our work.

As I listen and read what many of us youth workers share with students, I think many of us in youth ministry also don’ t know what to do with a student who wants to be a businessperson or skilled worker, who is a Christian.  Do we encourage that or try to get them to be a missionary or youth worker like us?  For us, perhaps the call of God into ministry was so strong and important, a move away from ‘secular’ work that we may see business as a vocation less God-honoring?

What do we do in our churches with the guy who has a plumbing business and enjoys his work?  Is he being faithful to God?  Do we encourage our teens to find something they enjoy and do it to the fullest?  Some of the most in-demand jobs in our country are skilled labor jobs. And, to keep it biblical, the New Testament is full of non-apostolic people (in fact most of the early church weren’t apostles or martyrs) who lived faithfully for Christ in their hometown doing regular jobs.  To drive the point home even further, for 18 years of his ‘adult’ life, Jesus looked and acted like a regular carpenter (except that no one could accuse him of sin.  THAT’s pretty irregular).

So, there may be quite a few students in your youth ministry group who feel like they don’t ‘measure up’ to some standard that’s been set. Even though we don’t mean to do this, it’s just part of the hidden curriculum learned by what we choose to focus on  and champion in our teaching.  And it may contribute to why so many students fall away from church once they’re out on their own.

As you shape your youth ministry curriculum for the upcoming year, be sure to encourage all students equally well, no matter their desired future work.

 

 

 

 

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What motivates us? Video from Drive about why we do what we do.

Just ordered Daniel Pink’s book, Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, and am captivated by the implications for leadership, discipleship, and even youth ministry. What incentives do we use in our work and ministry?  What motivates you to do your best work? 

This video is a great summary:

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Living life shrewdly – sometimes you need to move sideways

Sometimes you face an obstacle, a problem that just won’t move. You lean in, push against, pick at the foundation, hit it repeatedly, and try to climb atop it … all with little success.  It remains and seems to grow larger, invigorated by its ability to withstand your best efforts.

These problems can be persons, groups of persons, situations, or circumstances. I’ve had a ‘problem project’ that’s been ongoing for six years and I can’t seem to finish it. A friend of mine faced a challenge from a person who sought to destroy his ministry vision, so he sought wisdom from a godly friend.  The wise friend advised, “It’s crucial that you lay down your front approach to confrontation and learn how to be shrewd …right away.  You’ve approached this challenge head-on, and you’re going to have to sideways.”

Shrewd = Sideways.

So goes the account from my friend and author, Rick Lawrence.  He tells more of it in his latest (and best!) book, Shrewd: Daring to Live the Startling Command of Jesus, a wonderful book that commends Christ-followers to consider what Jesus taught in the parable of the shrewd manager found in Luke 16:1-9.  Rick asks, “Did Jesus really tell a story about a conniving jerk, then urge his followers to think and behave more like, well … this guy?”  (p. 27).

Rick says that Jesus is not asking us to be evil for God’s purposes.  “He’s asking us to watch how shrewd people-even and especially those we’re repelled by-get things done.”  (p. 157)  Rick says the parable describes the Kingdom of God’s “rules of engagement” for those who would follow Him – be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.  Rick defines shrewdness as “understanding how things work, then leveraging that knowledge to apply the right force in the right place at the right time” and innocence as “freedom from guilt of any kind” (p. 31).

Rick admits there’s a fine line between shrewdness and manipulation.  This is where the guidance and direction of the Holy Spirit is crucial and serves as the “fountain of all innocence” (p. 176) so that we are partners with God in our efforts. We don’t have to determine to be good, rather we abide with the One who is good.  Rick wrote a guest blog on this website where he details the the path to shrewd living.

So, our sideways efforts, shrewdness in action, need to be balanced with love (I Corinthians 13).  “If we move with shrewd intent, but do not have love (or innocence) we are no different than the enemies of God, who use the levers of shrewd to manipulate and destroy.”  (p. 165)  So, shrewdness can be life-giving or life-destroying (p. 168), but “freedom from guile is the crucial differentiator between the evil and innocent applications of shrewd” (p. 169).

The book Shrewd is an honest (I want to say ‘earthy’ but that might be misinterpreted) yet biblical discussion of how we can give effort to something and yet faithful to Jesus’ spirit and purposes.  Rick concludes the book with very practical ‘levers’ to employ in our shrewdness. (Check out his blog post for more on that)  The book is rich from cover to cover (you don’t just get the idea in the first four chapters… the best stuff is in the last third!)

So, I emailed Rick about my ‘problem project’ and he offered to talk with me on the phone.  For almost an hour, Rick walked me through his path for shrewd living and I came away with a clear path, a sideways one, where I can give God-honoring effort to the work.

I don’t want to share much more because this is only the top dusty layer.  The bedrock layers are there for you to explore.  It’s one of those rare books that will change how you think about your work and life.  You can check out more about Shrewd at Rick’s website or just order Shrewd: Daring to Live the Startling Command of Jesus from Amazon.

 

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Learning From Serpents: A Guest Post about Shrewd: Daring to Obey the Startling Command of Jesus.

-By Rick Lawrence, author of Shrewd.

Five-or-so years ago I was locked in what felt like an all-out war over a dream that was in danger of dying, because a man who was much shrewder than me was bent on stopping it. One day, in my grief and fear and anger over what was about to happen, I felt God sort of “sit me down” and challenge me—it was clear that my “frontal” way of dealing with this situation was not going to work, and He was asking me if I was going to have the courage to move more shrewdly. In the nicey-nice Christian culture that is promoted and perpetuated in most churches, shrewdness is anathema—worse, it’s entirely off the radar as a spiritual practice.

So, in an uncharacteristic spirit of desperation, I asked God to teach me what I needed to know about shrewdness—and He (of course) brought me to Jesus, the source of all good things. The point of Jesus’ “Parable of the Shrewd Manager” (Luke 16:1-8) is specifically to highlight the behavior of a lazy, lying, good-for-nothing servant who has no qualities we’d want to emulate except for one: his shrewd way of saving himself from the consequences of his terrible behavior. Jesus highlights this anti-role-model for one purpose: “The people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light.” Later, in preparation for sending out His disciples on their first ministry journey without Him, He tells them to take nothing with them (no clothing, money, or “insurance” of any kind)—instead, He tells them they need just two things:

Be as shrewd as a serpent, and
Be as innocent as a dove.

The word He uses here for “serpent” is the same one He uses for Satan. And the word He uses here for “dove” is the same the Bible uses to describe the Holy Spirit. Jesus is telling His disciples to be as shrewd as Satan is, but as innocent as the Holy Spirit is. Shrewdness, then, is a way of living and relating that Jesus first modeled for us, then commanded us to do likewise.

In Shrewd: Daring to Live the Startling Command of Jesus, I describe “shrewd” as a way of thinking and acting that Jesus long ago urged His followers to use in their uprising against the powers and ‘spiritual forces of wickedness’ of this world. Shrewd people—and Jesus is the Exemplar—first study how things work, and then leverage that knowledge to tip the balance in a favored direction. Shrewdness is the expert application of leverage—“the right force at the right time in the right place”—as The Way Things Work author David Macaulay observes. Jesus is perpetually taking what His enemies intend for evil and morphing it into good—He uses their destructive momentum against them, like a martial artist. Most Christians have a negative reaction to the word “shrewd,” but Jesus not only exemplified this way of relating to others in His redemptive mission on earth, He gave us a mandate to grow much, much more adept in our practice of it.

Because I’ve had scores of conversations with people, both young and old, about the mechanics of “innocent shrewdness,” I know people of all ages have experienced repeated failure in their frontal, conventional approaches to problems and challenges in their life. They’re frustrated and lost. And when I simply walk them through a Jesus-centered process of thinking and acting more shrewdly, it’s like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz moving from her flat, black-and-white world into the 3-D colors of Oz. The process, simply, looks like this:

• Answer the question: “What do I really want?” Jesus habitually asked an irritating question of people with obvious needs who approached Him for help: “What do you want?” (e.g., Matt. 20:32; Mark 6:22; Mark 10:36; Mark 10:51; Luke 18:41). We must know what we really want before we can truly ask in faith.

• Answer the question: “Is my ‘want’ born out of innocence? Would I feel just fine asking Jesus for this ‘want’ if I was face-to-face with Him?”

• Answer the question: “How does this (person, organization, or process) work?” Shrewd living always starts with understanding how things work—so spend five minutes brainstorming (either alone or with someone you trust) an answer to this question.

• Based on your understanding of how things work, spend five minutes brainstorming a point of leverage to go after with a “sideways” approach. Sideways means the leverage comes from an unexpected direction—you find “sideways” by experimenting with approaches that carry the force to move the situation.

• Now, try one of your options and debrief the results with someone you trust. Decide whether to continue with that option or whether to try a new approach.

• Repeat steps #3, #4, and #5 in a continuous loop—until you’ve landed on “the right force at the right time in the right place.”

 

Rick Lawrence is the author of dozens of books, including Shrewd: Daring to Live the Startling Command of Jesus and Sifted: God’s Scandalous Response to Satan’s Outrageous Demand (shrewdbook.com and siftedbook.com). He’s has been editor of Group Magazine for 25 years and is the co-leader of the Simply Youth Ministry Conference. Rick is a church leader, consultant to national research organizations and a frequent conference and workshop speaker. He and his family live in Colorado.

The post Learning From Serpents: A Guest Post about Shrewd: Daring to Obey the Startling Command of Jesus. appeared first on Terry Linhart.

Last day to win a free copy of Rick Lawrence’s forthcoming book, SHREWD

Thanks to the generosity of David C. Cook Publishing and Rick Lawrence, I am able to give away a free copy of Rick’s book (it comes out August 1st1), SHREWD.  I have read this book two times already and it has changed the way I think about my work and life. In the book Rick examines Luke 16 and the parable of the conniving manager… and then tells his disciples (and us) to emulate him!  It’s arguably the parable with a command that is least preached about in churches today.

Rick says, “The point of Jesus’ “Parable of the Shrewd Manager” (Luke 16:1-8) is specifically to highlight the behavior of a lazy, lying, good-for-nothing servant who has no qualities we’d want to emulate except for one: his shrewd way of saving himself from the consequences of his terrible behavior.”

So, trust me… you will want to read this book. Here’s how it will work:

You must have an iPhone or iPad.
Leave a comment below regarding the teaching in youth ministry.  (if you could leave a contact Email using [at] that’d be helpful, but not necessary).
… and you’re entered!!!!
The winner will then be notified on Monday, July 30th.

The book will be delivered via BookShout.com, a simple process that will require you to create a spam-free account with this innovative website.  But, you’ll then have access to Rick’s notes about the book, which you’ll receive access to on August 1st.  Once you’re in the book, you can create their own notes by highlighting text and typing what you have to say—it looks and works a lot like highlighting text on an iPad or iPhone. You can also download an app for their iPhone or iPad to make it easier to access BookShout quickly.

The deadline for entries is tonight at midnight!  So, be sure to comment today and get in the drawing that I’ll do tomorrow.

You’ll be glad you did.

Free.

Book.

 

 

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Easy way to win a free copy of Rick Lawrence’s forthcoming book, SHREWD

Thanks to the generosity of David C. Cook Publishing and Rick Lawrence, I am able to give away a free copy of Rick’s book (it comes out August 1st1), SHREWD.  I have read this book two times already and it has changed the way I think about my work and life. In the book Rick examines Luke 16 and the parable of the conniving manager… and then tells his disciples (and us) to emulate him!  It’s arguably the parable with a command that is least preached about in churches today.

Rick says, “The point of Jesus’ “Parable of the Shrewd Manager” (Luke 16:1-8) is specifically to highlight the behavior of a lazy, lying, good-for-nothing servant who has no qualities we’d want to emulate except for one: his shrewd way of saving himself from the consequences of his terrible behavior.”

So, trust me… you will want to read this book. Here’s how it will work:

You must have an iPhone or iPad.
Leave a comment below regarding the teaching in youth ministry.  (if you could leave a contact Email using [at] that’d be helpful, but not necessary).
… and you’re entered!!!!
The winner will then be notified on Monday, July 30th.

The book will be delivered via BookShout.com, a simple process that will require you to create a spam-free account with this innovative website.  But, you’ll then have access to Rick’s notes about the book, which you’ll receive access to on August 1st.  Once you’re in the book, you can create their own notes by highlighting text and typing what you have to say—it looks and works a lot like highlighting text on an iPad or iPhone. You can also download an app for their iPhone or iPad to make it easier to access BookShout quickly.

The deadline for entries is midnight (EST) this Sunday, July 29th.  We will have a random draw in the morning on Monday, July 30th and announce the winner here.

 

 

The post Easy way to win a free copy of Rick Lawrence’s forthcoming book, SHREWD appeared first on Terry Linhart.

Win a free copy (for iPad or iPhone) of Rick Lawrence’s forthcoming book, SHREWD

Thanks to the generosity of David C. Cook Publishing and Rick Lawrence, I am able to give away a free copy of Rick’s book (it comes out August 1st1), SHREWD.  I have read this book two times already and it has changed the way I think about my work and life. In the book Rick examines Luke 16 and the parable of the conniving manager… and then tells his disciples (and us) to emulate him!  It’s arguably the parable with a command that is least preached about in churches today.

Rick says, “The point of Jesus’ “Parable of the Shrewd Manager” (Luke 16:1-8) is specifically to highlight the behavior of a lazy, lying, good-for-nothing servant who has no qualities we’d want to emulate except for one: his shrewd way of saving himself from the consequences of his terrible behavior.”

So, trust me… you will want to read this book. Here’s how it will work:

You must have an iPhone or iPad.
Promote my blog here by referencing one of my blog posts on your blog or Facebook page.  Hey, you’ve got to do something to earn the chance, don’ you? 
Provide a web link to your promotion of my blog in a comment for this blog post. And include an Email or way I can contact you for notification.  If you supply an Email in your comment, use [at] in it.
… and you’re entered!!!!
The winner will then be notified and I will send his/her info to Rick.

The book will be delivered via BookShout.com, a simple process that will require you to create a spam-free account with this innovative website.  But, you’ll then have access to Rick’s notes about the book, which you’ll receive access to on August 1st.  Once you’re in the book, you can create their own notes by highlighting text and typing what you have to say—it looks and works a lot like highlighting text on an iPad or iPhone. You can also download an app for their iPhone or iPad to make it easier to access BookShout quickly.

The deadline for entries is midnight (EST) this Thursday, July 26th.  I’ll draw in the morning on Friday, July 27th and announce the winner here.

 

 

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Your best work isn’t usually done at the last minute

Unless you’re Elton John (who wrote most of his hits within 30 minutes’ time), it’s unlikely that you actually do your best work at the last minute.  Elton wasn’t even writing tunes last-minute, he was just quick.  But, many of usthinkthat we do our best work last minute. I hear it often at the college form students.  Rarely does it show up in their writing or projects. Sure, they get the work done and get a decent grade, but the level of work doesn’t cause me to pause in appreciation.

What is happening, rather, is that the deadline pressure helps them (and you/me) produce adrenaline.  We’ve developed the habit of requiring it to get work done, which means that the deadline pressure aids us in pumping this powerful drug into our bodies.  We don’t really do our ‘best work’ under pressure of the deadline.  We get work done, but it’s not our best.  As I mentioned recently, it’s not the kind of ‘art’ that people read or encounter and respond, “How did you think of that?”

Think of your best ‘work’ ever.  What characterized the way you created or developed it?

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We Need Your Artistry

Most of us have read and heard Seth Godin talk about our work as ‘making art.’ To be honest, I am not sure I quite understood what he meant until recently when I heard Ryan Yazel speak.  Ryan shared how in high school he used to ‘draw’ a house on his Texas Instruments TI-83 Plus Graphing Calculator.  Classmates were amazed and asked, “How did you draw that?”

Ryan them compared his dot matrix creations to moments when we encounter true art. We don’t ask how they were created, we ask, “How did you think of that?” Art takes us somewhere beyond mechanistic manufacturing.  We feel differently, we are challenged in new ways, and we for a moment in time see life differently.

I was a music composition major in college.  But a terrible pianist.  I usually wrote music that I couldn’t play, mathematical elements and short phrases pieced together to fulfill the assignment.

The best song I ever wrote I first sang. It’s true.  I was in the dorm shower and began singing a melody line over and over. I quickly dressed and went down to the dorm’s piano and sketched out an ‘art song‘ titled “Love is Not Time’s Fool.”  An adaptation to Shakespeare’s Sonnet No. 116, it was sung at our wedding two year’s later by our good friend, Sheri Dewald Mellema.  And it was art.

We need your artistry.

Feed the artist in you.

We spend our time on trivia, headlines, video games, and reality shows that aren’t artistry in anyway.  Rare is the movie, TV show, book or song that causes us to say, “How did you think of that?”   We are in a society that teaches us to produce, but it’s not art.  Artistry takes time to develop, nurture, and percolate.  It’s not microwave, but rather steeps in cultivated thinking, sauteed by exposure to other art that leads us toward that different thinking. In school, we learn to ‘get the grade’ without writing the paper or making the presentation that causes others to marvel,”How did you think of that?”

We need your artistry. If you’re not challenging yourself to think new and creative thoughts, challenging your mind to grow no matter your age, we may not get to see it.  And that would be a shame.

 

 

Masters of Ministries degree for youth workers at Bethel College (Indiana)

Looking for something more than a certificate for your next youth ministry degree? Do you value gaining depth in biblical theology, Christian apologetics, and pastoral counseling to round out your studies?  Does the option to have your degree delivered online or in convenient 3-day seminars make it more attractive?  And, when you showed up in South Bend, would you love the option of hanging out on Notre Dame’s campus, one of the worlds’ most prestigous colleges with a world-class library?

Then, you will want to strongly consider taking the Master of Ministries degree from Bethel College.

We’ve designed it with today’s Christian youth worker in mind:  Not just ‘how to’ but foundational courses that will inform a lifetime of wise leadership, biblical teaching, and ministry that makes a difference in the 21st century.

And, with more courses heading online, you’ll only have to make a few trips to campus for the 3-day intensives.

If you have questions, you can leave them here or you can contact the graduate studies office.

Flights in and out of South Bend are cheap, so don’t let distance be a barrier.