Free Staff Meeting

August 11, 2011 in Vision and Leadership with 3 Comments

So… I’m about to share something with you I probably never should. 

That being said… if you want to do it, too… feel free to claim it… use it… don’t feel the need to give me credit for it!

I was in a tough place. I was leading a team that was having trouble living in reality. So many people were so mad at each other that no one was dealing with their part in the mess. We were in a vicious cycle… non-stop loop of the “Blame Game.”

So… this is what I did.

I’m not saying this was a good idea.

I’m not saying this is even ethical.

I’m definitely not saying this is Biblical.

But… this is what I did.

Continue Reading…

Either-Or or Both-And

August 4, 2011 in Vision and Leadership with 3 Comments

I often find myself defending North Point.

It’s not that I feel the need to…but people, when the see the size, have a lot of questions.

I get this question from them all the time.

“If you are so “into” reaching the lost, how do you find time to equip the saints?”

And, when I’m not “on my game” I fall into that trap.

The problem is that the premise of the question is that you can do EITHER one OR the other.

That’s a bad premise.

Continue Reading…

Announcing My Fall Coaching Group

August 2, 2011 in Leading yourself with 0 Comments

When we were trying to name this blog, and pick a Twitter name for that matter, we ran into the common problems.

My first though was “Ministry Machine” but wise people talked me out of that.  It was too specific, too long of a name for twitter, and just kind of dumb to be honest.

A friend of mine asked me this question.

“What is your favorite title ever?”

About that time we had an intern who had been a swimmer for me years before.  While everyone else called me “Shef”…she still called me “Coach.”

The staff thought it was funny and cute.  I loved it.

It took me back to summer mornings on the pool deck watching the kids work hard and get better.  It took me back to swim meets where our work was put to the test.  It took me back to putting my arm around a kid who had a bad day and celebrating with others who had just done what they never thought they could do.

Her “nickname” for me made me realize the answer to my friends question.

I loved the idea of being the “Coach.”

And the name for the blog was available.  So, that’s what we did.

Since then I have been under some pressure to start a Coaching Group.

I started this summer with 6 guys and I’ve got to tell you…I love it.  I look forward to our Fridays together and catching up with our 1-on-1 phone calls.

I will be starting our next Coaching Group this Fall.

If you’re interested in joining this CoachShef Coaching Group, please click HERE

Thanks so much for all your support and encouragement.

I’ll be back Thursday with some more content.

Pressing Pause

July 28, 2011 in Leading yourself with 1 Comment

We were having a great discussion last week in my Coaching Group.

We were talking about Henry Cloud’s book, Integrity.  In it, Cloud describes the Observing Ego as “our ability to monitor our own thoughts, behaviours attitudes, feelings, abilities, choices, values, desires, talents and the like.“  He goes on to tell us that the mature among us are those who can self-observe and self-correct…ourselves.

Makes total sense when you think about it…doesn’t it?  In fact, I think there is some Biblical evidence to this whole idea.

Romans 7:15 is a very interesting verse.

“I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. (NIV)

If you look at it carefully you understand Paul has multiple personalities  here.  There is the Paul that wants to do the right thing.  There is the Paul that does the wrong thing.  And then there is the Paul who is watching the whole thing go down…from the inside.

I know it sounds a bit crazy.  But, Isn’t that how we all are? 

Continue Reading…

Our Lost Children

July 26, 2011 in Vision and Leadership with 4 Comments

The craziest thing happened the other day. If you don’t work in Family Ministry, you might not understand how “crazy”… how “incredible” … how “awesome” it actually was. And, to be honest, if I just lived in a bubble, I wouldn’t realize how unique it was. But the truth is I don’t live in a bubble. I talk to youth folks from other churches all the time. I hear what many of them deal with and I’m aware that I work in a unique place.

I’ll save you the details, but it basically comes down to this:

In our 2012 calendaring meeting, the ideal weekend for Walking Wisely Weekend (our version of a Disciple-Now-type weekend) landed head to head with a major event for the married adults in our church. There was no way for these events to happen at the same time. One of us was going to have to give.  And one of us did:

The leadership of the married adult ministry felt it was more important for the students to have that weekend… so they moved their event!

Some of you don’t think that is a big deal… some of you – those who have been in these meetings at other churches – just fell out of their chair!

At our church, there is simply a STRONG desire by the whole staff to reach the next generation. Now, this is not totally unique to North Point Ministries. I’ve seen this play out in a few other other churches. They are just few and far between.

I was asked the other day just what it is that drives that sort of attitude.  I think I’ve figured out the thing these churches with this attitude all have in common:

They are churches led by groups of people passionate about REACHING people… not KEEPING people.

You might ask, “What does that have to do with student ministry?” and I would respond with this:

At the end of the day, these churches know this truth – a truth that eludes many people, I think -

The largest group of “unreached” people in our church every Sunday are the children that look at us from our own back seats.

Did you ever think of it that way?

I don’t want to get into a theological debate on the “age of accountability” or any of that.

BUT, no matter where you stand on that, this belief remains for most of us evangelicals. We believe there must come a time when a child, knowingly and purposefully, must make the choice themselves to become a follower of Jesus Christ. And many of our kids have not crossed that line. As a guy who works with middle schoolers, I’m often amazed by stories of kids who have been in church all their lives and just now decided to make their faith their own.

And yet… in most churches across the country… a student or children’s event would never push an adult event to another weekend… or out of a space for that matter. (“That’s where the ladies’ Sunday School group has been meeting for 25 years, for goodness sake!”)

Why do you think that is? How do we lose touch? Why don’t we see our own kids as those who need to be reached?

 

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