This week we started using the resource by this blog titles name by Andy Stanley in our Young Adults small group.
The reason I chose it is because it has a powerful message and great teaching.
Great Teaching: Andy Stanley is one of my favourite speakers. He hits home about a lot of things and is engaging to watch and listen to.
Powerful Message: Its simple there are 5 things that God uses in our lives to grow our faith. If we are aware of them and glean from them we have a good chance to grow deeper in our intimacy with God.
The 5 Things are (All starting with 'P' so its fun and easy to remember):
1.Practical Teaching
-Listening to teaching that points us in the right direction. Not only is it God honouring but practical advice for us to follow
2. Providential Relationship
-People who direct us towards God. Maybe your parents, a colleague or that little old grandma figure who inspires your faith
3. Private Disciplines
- Yep, you guessed it. Bible reading, prayer, fasting, tithing, listening to God's voice, praising him
4.Personal Ministry
-We often like to ignore this one in the church, but we are all called to have a personal ministry. I think it is important to have a ministry you pour into in your church and outside the Church.
5. Pivotal Circumstances
-Some events in life just point us towards Christ more than others. Some of these things are good, but often they seem bad at the moment. Just remember God uses all things for his good. It might not be a good thing, but if we follow His guidance there can be some light at the end of the tunnel.
Cool things to think about. Looking back at your life seeing how God has shaped or begun to shape you.
-Kyle
Showing posts with label Ministry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ministry. Show all posts
Saturday, 19 January 2013
Friday, 5 October 2012
Obesity and Christian Leadership
Pizza nights, Slurpee runs, late night runs to McDonald's, loads of chips and pop.
These sound like some of the awesome things that make a fellowship fun in youth ministry. Donuts, coffee, pie, potlucks, these are the things that make church fellowship excellent.
People bond over food and drinks. Look at your house, people congregate around the kitchen. Look at a party, people are where the food is.
I don't know about you, but I love food. Now I don't think you could call me a true foodie (largely because I'll eat anything from fast food to fancy food) but you can certainly bet that if something delicious is out I'm not far away.
As a youth pastor I am constantly around junk food, and pop. I love the stuff, but I have to resist eating it. This past January I was hit with the harsh reality that I was seriously overweight. I had always known I was a little on the "husky side" but I had pushed beyond that and gone into a category all of its own "obese". Now I hate the word, because many people can't get around it but the fact of the matter is that I hit that level on a medical chart. So I decided I would do something about, I started exercising more and trying to eat better. Since January of last year I have lost 35lbs, slipping back down into the category of "overweight". That isn't crazy fast weight loss, but it is great because I have still been eating what I want( for the most part) and I haven't regained even when my exercise or eating have spun back out of control for a day or week or two.
So why am I talking about this. I am not talking about it because I want praise, I am not talking about it because I think that I have gone from HUGE to tiny. I am talking about it because when I look around at the many youth pastors and church staff I know as a whole, I see a lot of overweight people. We have a calling to work with people, our jobs require us to be at a desk often working, studying, emailing and praying. These are parts of the job that are required, so we can't put them off. But what is going on with our waistlines. Its scary they are ever growing!
I feel like it needs to be said: "Youth workers, Pastors, friends we need to lose some weight". There are a few reasons why I think we need to lose it:
1) We are called to be good stewards in life
This is a stewardship of our ministry, our family life, our money and yes even our own bodies. If we don't take care of our bodies, we are actually hampering our ministry. Whether we like to admit it or not, being overweight will eventually cause what we eat to come back to bite you. (pun intended). We will have health problems directly relating to our eating and body weight.
2) We are examples to those we work with
We are examples to the people we work with. As christian leaders we strive to show good habits of reading scripture, worshipping God, treating people with respect and leading a life of health and balance. But when it comes to the pastors I know, we often have a bit of a problem with eating and self control. If we want to be good examples, we should strive to have balance in every aspect of life.
3) For your Families sake
Do it for your wife, your husband, your kids or your grandchildren. I currently have no kids but I do have a wife and my weight directly affects her. It affects her in my level of energy, since I have been exercising more and eating better I have had more energy to go do fun things with her. And I have even been able to serve her better because I've been cleaning and cooking with some of my spare energy!( I'll tell you that she loves it!)
While I am still young I can't help but think of the long term, I hope to be a healthy and active grandparent one day. I look at my grandfather and because of obesity we never went out and did much together. But when I look at my wife's one set of grandparents they are in their 80's and go hiking weekly and we go sailing together often during the summer. It is truly a joy that I hope to be able to experience when I am in my 80's.
If I don't take care of myself now though, I certainly won't have the health and fitness to be able to go for fun trips with my grand kids when they are in their 20's.
I think we should start a challenge amongst the Christian Leadership network for weight loss. Let's get the ball rolling.
-Kyle
These sound like some of the awesome things that make a fellowship fun in youth ministry. Donuts, coffee, pie, potlucks, these are the things that make church fellowship excellent.
 | |
| Looks gross, but we've all had those weeks |
I don't know about you, but I love food. Now I don't think you could call me a true foodie (largely because I'll eat anything from fast food to fancy food) but you can certainly bet that if something delicious is out I'm not far away.
As a youth pastor I am constantly around junk food, and pop. I love the stuff, but I have to resist eating it. This past January I was hit with the harsh reality that I was seriously overweight. I had always known I was a little on the "husky side" but I had pushed beyond that and gone into a category all of its own "obese". Now I hate the word, because many people can't get around it but the fact of the matter is that I hit that level on a medical chart. So I decided I would do something about, I started exercising more and trying to eat better. Since January of last year I have lost 35lbs, slipping back down into the category of "overweight". That isn't crazy fast weight loss, but it is great because I have still been eating what I want( for the most part) and I haven't regained even when my exercise or eating have spun back out of control for a day or week or two.
So why am I talking about this. I am not talking about it because I want praise, I am not talking about it because I think that I have gone from HUGE to tiny. I am talking about it because when I look around at the many youth pastors and church staff I know as a whole, I see a lot of overweight people. We have a calling to work with people, our jobs require us to be at a desk often working, studying, emailing and praying. These are parts of the job that are required, so we can't put them off. But what is going on with our waistlines. Its scary they are ever growing!
I feel like it needs to be said: "Youth workers, Pastors, friends we need to lose some weight". There are a few reasons why I think we need to lose it:
1) We are called to be good stewards in life
This is a stewardship of our ministry, our family life, our money and yes even our own bodies. If we don't take care of our bodies, we are actually hampering our ministry. Whether we like to admit it or not, being overweight will eventually cause what we eat to come back to bite you. (pun intended). We will have health problems directly relating to our eating and body weight.
2) We are examples to those we work with
We are examples to the people we work with. As christian leaders we strive to show good habits of reading scripture, worshipping God, treating people with respect and leading a life of health and balance. But when it comes to the pastors I know, we often have a bit of a problem with eating and self control. If we want to be good examples, we should strive to have balance in every aspect of life.
3) For your Families sake
Do it for your wife, your husband, your kids or your grandchildren. I currently have no kids but I do have a wife and my weight directly affects her. It affects her in my level of energy, since I have been exercising more and eating better I have had more energy to go do fun things with her. And I have even been able to serve her better because I've been cleaning and cooking with some of my spare energy!( I'll tell you that she loves it!)
While I am still young I can't help but think of the long term, I hope to be a healthy and active grandparent one day. I look at my grandfather and because of obesity we never went out and did much together. But when I look at my wife's one set of grandparents they are in their 80's and go hiking weekly and we go sailing together often during the summer. It is truly a joy that I hope to be able to experience when I am in my 80's.
If I don't take care of myself now though, I certainly won't have the health and fitness to be able to go for fun trips with my grand kids when they are in their 20's.
I think we should start a challenge amongst the Christian Leadership network for weight loss. Let's get the ball rolling.
-Kyle
Monday, 10 September 2012
Whats Star Trek has taught me about Ministry
Now I am more of a Star Wars guy but I do love me some good Star Trek too! Lately, Amy and I have been working our way through the Star Trek movies (Thank you Netflix)
I started to think about what benefits/skills the Captains would bring to Ministry.
Captain James T. Kirk:
GO with the feeling inside- While Kirk went with his gut reaction, we have the Holy Spirit to guide us, and if we were smart we'd listen to it.Keep a diverse team- Spock, McCoy, Uhura, Scott and Sulu. This is a team that is made up of people with different strengths and weaknesses. In ministry we often try to do everything on our own, but the fact is we all have weaknesses. We need to find people to work with who can fit within our weak spots and we need to let them shine.
Keep learning: If there was anything Kirk did really well, is he learned from others so he could adapt and be flexible. We need to do this in ministry to keep fresh, otherwise we become stale and less effective.
Captain Jean Luc Picard:
Have your priorities in order: Picard always put his crew or the people he was helping before himself. He also made sure to always complete his prime directive of every mission. There is an order of who we need to take care of: Our families and ourselves then others- if we don't take care of ourselves we will be useless to work with anyone else.Ask for help: One thing Picard did well was ask for help. When he knew he was beat he would get help. We need to do the same thing in ministry. Sometimes we need to get ideas from other people, sometimes we just need help getting a task done. No matter what you need help with, make sure you ask.
What are some leadership lessons you have learned?
-Kyle
Friday, 6 July 2012
VBS- Chaotic purpose
Vacation Bible School is a funny thing: its a week long of insanity in the hopes that you can turn and point some kids towards Christ.
Someone recently asked me why as a youth pastor do I get involved with VBS? I am not working with teens, I am working with kids up to my ministry's age group:
These are a few of the reasons I believe I should do it as a youth worker:
1. Anything to further the cause of Christ is worth my time.
- While there are many opportunities to share the love of God that I have to turn down, this is an easy one where I have little prep and I can make a big difference in a lot of lives.
2. It gives a good example of devotion to the cause and volunteering for my students.
- Students don't want to be just kicked out the door and hear about how serving the church makes a difference. They want to see it tangibly, and this is a way I can show them that I value it in my own life.
3. Its a great time to hang out with my students and work alongside them.
- Some of the greatest bonding experiences I have had with students are during periods of work. It puts you on a level playing field with students and helps to foster a great relationship.
4. Its good for my students to see I don't have to be in the spotlight.
-Youth workers are often in the spotlight, and we often enjoy it. By just helping out and not being in a "show" role, we show that ministry and life is about a team not about ourselves.
5. This is a great opportunity for me to meet kids who will be coming into our ministry
- Many churches rarely have age groups mix. I often don't get to meet kids who are not yet in grades 8 and up. By helping out with VBS kids who will be moving into my ministry in a year or two get to see my face and become familiar with me. While I likely won't remember them all, I will be a friendly face who they can connect with to help their transition.
So if you have time this year and its not to late at your church get involved. See where you can help out; you don't have to run the show; just enjoy the ride.
Someone recently asked me why as a youth pastor do I get involved with VBS? I am not working with teens, I am working with kids up to my ministry's age group:
These are a few of the reasons I believe I should do it as a youth worker:
1. Anything to further the cause of Christ is worth my time.
- While there are many opportunities to share the love of God that I have to turn down, this is an easy one where I have little prep and I can make a big difference in a lot of lives.
2. It gives a good example of devotion to the cause and volunteering for my students.
- Students don't want to be just kicked out the door and hear about how serving the church makes a difference. They want to see it tangibly, and this is a way I can show them that I value it in my own life.
3. Its a great time to hang out with my students and work alongside them.
- Some of the greatest bonding experiences I have had with students are during periods of work. It puts you on a level playing field with students and helps to foster a great relationship.
4. Its good for my students to see I don't have to be in the spotlight.
-Youth workers are often in the spotlight, and we often enjoy it. By just helping out and not being in a "show" role, we show that ministry and life is about a team not about ourselves.
5. This is a great opportunity for me to meet kids who will be coming into our ministry
- Many churches rarely have age groups mix. I often don't get to meet kids who are not yet in grades 8 and up. By helping out with VBS kids who will be moving into my ministry in a year or two get to see my face and become familiar with me. While I likely won't remember them all, I will be a friendly face who they can connect with to help their transition.
So if you have time this year and its not to late at your church get involved. See where you can help out; you don't have to run the show; just enjoy the ride.
Tuesday, 12 June 2012
It's been a while
SO I seem to have taken a bit of a Hiatus from blogging. I have no intentions of quitting, so where did I go you may ask?
I have taken a bit of a break in order to focus on my ministry and a few other projects. Over the past month and a half I have hired an intern, run a retreat for my grade 8-10's and started working towards my Masters in Seminary. It has been crazy but a lot has been coming out of it (hopefully I will slowly catch up with the blogging)
Today I submitted my first assignment on my long journey towards my masters. It is a basic class for Seminary students, but has demanded much of my time otherwise.
But to the ministry- how have I been focusing on it.
Well first of all I have decided to hire an intern. She has been great, but it has added a workload of its own to the mix. I am hopefully pouring into her to train her to be a better person, and to thrive in her future workplace.
Secondly, I have spent a few weeks prepping for the next school year. While I have my summer planned out, I am working towards planning out the school year: events, speaking, retreats the whole 9 yards. This is my first year of doing everything a year ahead, which means like anything that you do for the first time it took me a while. I had a bank of events and topics to talk on, but I wanted to orchestrate them to maximize the impact of our ministry. Its a big deal and I have been convicted that I need to be a better steward with my time and my effectiveness. Not that I wasn't effective, there are just areas that need to be improved upon.
Thats my update for now, I hope to jump into writing more ministry blogs ASAP. Until then GOD BLESS
I have taken a bit of a break in order to focus on my ministry and a few other projects. Over the past month and a half I have hired an intern, run a retreat for my grade 8-10's and started working towards my Masters in Seminary. It has been crazy but a lot has been coming out of it (hopefully I will slowly catch up with the blogging)
Today I submitted my first assignment on my long journey towards my masters. It is a basic class for Seminary students, but has demanded much of my time otherwise.
But to the ministry- how have I been focusing on it.
Well first of all I have decided to hire an intern. She has been great, but it has added a workload of its own to the mix. I am hopefully pouring into her to train her to be a better person, and to thrive in her future workplace.
Secondly, I have spent a few weeks prepping for the next school year. While I have my summer planned out, I am working towards planning out the school year: events, speaking, retreats the whole 9 yards. This is my first year of doing everything a year ahead, which means like anything that you do for the first time it took me a while. I had a bank of events and topics to talk on, but I wanted to orchestrate them to maximize the impact of our ministry. Its a big deal and I have been convicted that I need to be a better steward with my time and my effectiveness. Not that I wasn't effective, there are just areas that need to be improved upon.
Thats my update for now, I hope to jump into writing more ministry blogs ASAP. Until then GOD BLESS
Wednesday, 9 May 2012
Taking the heat
There is a funny thing about working in Ministry; your social life is your work life.
I live and breathe my church. I love the people I work with and work for. Some of the families I work with are also my friends. The young adult small group I lead is a portion of my friends network.
Its really a fun thing until it gets tough.
The past couple of weeks I have taken some heat from a couple of parents. Some are justified and make good points, others make good points in a bad way, a few others make points that are misguided, and a few even still just take shots for no reason at all.
When these things come down the pipe; which they are bound to do because I work in ministry; I have to be prepared. I need to have people in my life who are outside the church and my ministry. I need to have people I can go to and hash things out with. Friends who will tell me I am wrong when I am wrong. But Friends who will back me up, or encourage me when I feel down.
Last night was great. I went to a friends birthday dinner and rock climb. We sat out on a rock face and ate some burgers and did a climb each. It was really fun to be with them. I got to decompress and be myself without having to worry about the things on my mind from the church.
Everyone needs that, you may not need many friends in life. But a few friends in different places that you can turn to, sure is a big help.
I live and breathe my church. I love the people I work with and work for. Some of the families I work with are also my friends. The young adult small group I lead is a portion of my friends network.
Its really a fun thing until it gets tough.
The past couple of weeks I have taken some heat from a couple of parents. Some are justified and make good points, others make good points in a bad way, a few others make points that are misguided, and a few even still just take shots for no reason at all.
When these things come down the pipe; which they are bound to do because I work in ministry; I have to be prepared. I need to have people in my life who are outside the church and my ministry. I need to have people I can go to and hash things out with. Friends who will tell me I am wrong when I am wrong. But Friends who will back me up, or encourage me when I feel down.
Last night was great. I went to a friends birthday dinner and rock climb. We sat out on a rock face and ate some burgers and did a climb each. It was really fun to be with them. I got to decompress and be myself without having to worry about the things on my mind from the church.
Everyone needs that, you may not need many friends in life. But a few friends in different places that you can turn to, sure is a big help.
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