People of The Second Chance // check this out!

A few years ago at Catalyst I got to hear from 2 guys named Mike Foster and Jud Wilhite and learned about their mission to help people understand and live out the second chances God gives his people. We call that grace. It is messy but so needed. The Catalyst team gave us a book written by Mike and Jud called Deadly Viper Character Assignments (you can only buy it used now, it is a long story!) and the book rocked my world. Mike Foster has founded an organization I would love for you to check out called People of The Second Chance and he has written another book called Gracenomics. The team at POTSC just made this video and you have to check it out. It is just way too funny, GREAT work.

PARENTS: change the plan and enjoy it!

Today was a change of plan day around our house. The snow came down, school got closed, and I rearranged my day to be at home for the morning. The change of plan was perfect because it allowed us to make some memories. As a parent one of the greatest things we can do for our kids is make memories with them AND make them often. I know there is an argument that quality memories are what matter most but I argue that a quantity makes a huge difference also. Why wait till vacation to do some fun stuff with your kids when you can find small ways to connect in the normal flow of life. Kids don't need extravagant they just need us to be present in the moment with them. Sledding today cost nothing for us but a rearranged schedule. I think the memory was worth it. I made a quick video of our morning...check it out!

Top 5 / reasons to rethink mentoring

I am so thankful for the leaders who have mentored me over the years. When I look back on my time in ministry there were so many people who took the time to invest in me and gave me opportunities to lead. I have now learned that mentoring is not an age thing. You don't have to be older to start mentoring. To start the mentoring process you have to look around and invest in the leaders God is placing around you. Here are 5 reasons I think you should be intentional with mentoring...

1. When I think of mentoring I thing of coaching. >> When I mentor someone I build a relationship of significance and I try to pass on what I have learned through ministry and life. That is coaching at its best!
2. When we mentor/coach we set people up to succeed. >> When we mentor we make ourselves available for others. So many times mentors are able to help people see that next step. If nothing else we get to be a voice of encouragement to help others press on.
3. When we mentor someone our past mistakes help future leaders avoid mistakes.
4. When we mentor we connect with model of leadership development that Jesus used. >> yea, this is what Jesus did with those 12 disciples. That was simply mentoring.
5. When I mentor another leader I get to be a small part of the Kingdom of God advancing. >> There is nothing like celebrating a victory with a friend and when it is Kingdom based it gets even better. When my friends succeed I get to be a small part of that through mentoring...I get to be a part of that story.

spiritual ARROGANCE?

Arrogance...that is a strong word and when you talk about spiritual arrogance it goes to an entirely new level. Nothing makes the Christian look less like Christ than arrogance. We are a people who have been blessed with truth. We have been redeemed through Christ. We also never see Jesus modeling arrogance for his followers. Why do we see so much arrogance in the lives of people who claim to follow Christ? I seriously believe it is this arrogance that keeps many from the church today. Arrogance drives people away. Arrogance does not allow questions. Arrogance does not listen. The challenge for leaders today is to confront spiritual arrogance and not be afraid to challenge it. Donald Miller talked about the spiritual arrogance he sees in this generation recently on his blog...(this post caught a ton of flack and is not on the blog anymore, it still appeared in my Google reader, I think Donald nailed it)

But I’ve noticed something. I’ve noticed that a little bit of truth in the hands of the immature turns immediately into a sense of superiority, and usually an attack on whatever position is seen as contradictory.
 
What is really happening here is a young man who is struggling for an identity, to tell the world that he is right and smart, uses some bit of theology as a flag for his identity, skipping the part where the truth about God he has learned humbles him and brings him to his knees, and makes his heart tender and broken for those who are suffering outside the unconditional love of Christ. It’s a disgusting trick, and it isn’t from God.
 
When we are young or immature, right theology makes us feel superior, but when we are older and more mature, a study of theology makes us feel inferior and unworthy, undeserved, and grateful.

one word that could change your family life...

The one word that could change your family life is NO. I'm not talking about saying NO more to your kids, we do that all the time! I am talking about all the other people out there that keep demanding more and more time, attention, and money from your family. This past week we had a NO moment at home. Kozbi's school planned a choir Christmas event and we had gymnastics and basketball practice planned for the girls. We told the school NO and made sure the girls honored their commitments. We could say NO to the school event because as a family we are focusing on basketball and gymnastics and we are very determined to not be the family that does "everything". I think so often families are so scared they are going to miss something that they destroy family life at home to make everyone else happy...make the school happy, the church happy, the coach happy while at the same time robbing our kids of time together. If we never choose to say NO when will we have time to play a board game, shoot basketball, bake a cake, watch a movie, or take a trip together as a family. As a family if you want to say NO more often...

• Decide what is most important // as a family choose what matters most and use that standard as a guide to saying NO.
• It's ok to have NOTHING TO DO when you choose to LEVERAGE TIME with your kids // saying NO is not a excuse for you as a parent to play golf or scrapbook more. It's ok to have nothing on the calendar as long as you build in quality and quantity time with your kids. They need to know we want to spend time with them.
• Saying NO will bring both BALANCE and CONFLICT // just know up front that saying NO will not always be easy for your kids or people around you. Balance comes with a price but in the long run it is worth it!
• Saying NO helps show kids how to manage the demands of life // we have to model wise time management for our kids. Saying NO helps kids understand how to balance the demands of life.
• Our goal is to have a healthy family and marriage NOT please everyone // why make everyone else around you happy at the expense of your relationship with your kids and spouse. Don't trade away your family life for people pleasing.

North Point's iBand...why? because we can!

You have to take a few minutes and check out this opener the team at North Point did as they launched their Christmas series. You may watch it and wonder why any church would do this in a service! The truth is that creativity and fun are a big deal and we need so much more of it in our church context. Thanks for NP team for sharing this moment. Great idea...check it out!

What does our team at GCC value?

It has been fun to watch our staff grow here at Grace Community Church. We have worked hard to bring people onto the team who will help our ministries advance. Staff is always added to help make ministry dreams become a reality with the help of our amazing volunteers here at GCC. We are in a partnership with our volunteers. We believe our volunteers are as called to ministry as any of us on staff and we work hard to link arms as we serve together.

Last week we spend some time in our staff meeting asking this question. What does a staff member of GCC need to look like? I loved some of these responses. Our people form our leadership culture! What are the values of people who work here...check out some of the responses and we started by saying we must always be people passionate for Jesus and dedicated to our families, check out these other values we want to characterize our team...

• motivated
• they have a servant's heart
• trustworthy
• team player
• warrior spirit
• enduring
• flexible
• people of integrity
• grace giving
• healthy (emotionally spiritually and physically)
• authentic
• forward thinking
• have a desire for excellence
• accessible
• ability to say NO
• fun

Top 5 / reason to involve your FAMILY in your ministry

I had the chance to hear Phil Fulmer, former Tennessee Volunteer football coach, speak a month ago. One of the questions he was asked was why he always had one of his daughters by his side after every game. Coach Fulmer said he wanted his girls to feel a part of the program, to understand what their dad was doing during the season, and to understand the responsibility their dad had in leading the program. Chelsea and I have always tried to involve our kids in our student ministry for many of the same reasons. Here are our TOP 5 reasons we choose to involve or entire family in the ministries we lead...

1. Relationships > we want to expose our kids to leaders who will model what following Christ looks like. Our kids have known amazing student leaders like Patrick Willis, Nate Edmondson, Chelsea Henderson, and Emily Eayre (and so many more I just can't name all of ya). Our kids have also been loved on by our great volunteer teams and staff. Their lives are better because of those relationships.
2. Responsibility > we want our kids to understand what dad does at work and how mom supports and advances that mission. When your kids see that they matter most AND you also have a important job they understand the sacrifice when it's work time or travel time.
3. Priority > we want our kids to know what matters...serving is a huge part of our life. If we are going to live life as a family we want them to know the church matters, serving God matters, and that we would do this for FREE. We just happen to get paid to do it!
4. They understand US better > as our kids have been AROUND our ministry environments they have seen us in our element. They have seen us lead, laugh, and cry as we have served. I just think they understand who we are better.
5. Life change > over the years our kids are able to see life change first hand. They get to see that Jesus actually does change lives. We hope our kids get to experience the power of God not just hear about it.

RECYCLE...your Bible // Dec. 5 @ Grace Community Church

This Sunday is our first (re)Word Sunday at GCC. We are asking people to bring their unused Bibles to church so we can distribute them to people who need a copy! We want to RECYCLE BIBLES. We encounter people all the time who don't have a Bible and many of us have copies we are not using anymore. Maybe we are not using them because we have versions on our phones or Kindles. Maybe we have a new version we like more. Maybe we have Bibles that were a gift that we are never going to use. If that is you, then join us Sunday as we recycle our unused Bibles and get them to people who need a copy. All you need to do Sunday is bring them to the 8:30, 10. or 11:30 service at GCC and drop them off. We will do the rest!

make some MISTAKES...

It is impossible to grow the organization you lead if you never make mistakes. When I talk about mistakes I am not talking about character issues! There is no personal growth to be gained from telling a lie, stealing, or taking a character shortcut. The kind of mistakes I am talking about are mistakes that happen when try something new, restructure, or experiment with a new strategy. If you are not failing you are not trying. If you run a mistake free ministry then I know you are too safe for innovation to happen. Some of our greatest "wins" have come from our team being willing to take a chance. Many times we experienced mistakes in the middle of advancing toward the "win" but the mistakes were necessary pain along the road of forward progress. When we first launched Relevant Student Ministry we were small...I mean really small. We had nothing to loose so we had the freedom to reinvent and re imagine what could be. Being small gives you the flexibility to create a culture of risk. Being small allows you to lay the foundation of mistake making....risk taking...experimentation with your leadership team. If you're the leader then you have to give your team the encouragement to take some big risks and make some mistakes. You also have to help your team learn from your mistakes and get better. Do you want to reach people no one else is reaching? Do you want to try new strategies to help people grow in their faith? Do you want to grow? It will only come through taking a risk and being willing to make a few mistakes. Go for it, make some mistakes!