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Archive for December, 2008
January Proflections
I saw someone proflecting (projecting ahead as opposed to reflecting on the past) their next week recently on their blog (can’t remember who, anybody know who does this?). As I look at the first 31 days of ’09 I get angry with myself for poor planning.
My assistant I sat down Monday to look at January, so I thought I would proflect here as well.
January 4-10 – Executive Ministry Team Mtg., Corrie and I find out the sex of our 3rd child, Church Development Mtg, Cooper’s drum concert at his preschool
January 11-17 – Church Communications Mtg, Knoxville Winterfest Steering Committee Mtg (Cleveland, TN), Coaching Network, SM Leader’s Retreat (Fri-Sun)
January 18-24 – Executive Ministry Team Mtg., 1st HS Parent Mtg.
January 25-31 – 2nd HS Parent Mtg., No. GA “Big Mac” Mentoring Mtg, Uruguay National Youth Camp (Montevideo, Uruaguay)
Plus we have 4 Sundays and 4 Wednesdays, our weekly Student Ministry Staff meeting, weekly Creative Team, and all of the other routine stuff.
Lord, please forgive me for being a poor steward of my time.
Corrie, Cooper, and Branson, daddy really is sorry for these next few weeks. It’s all his fault, he’ll try to do better with his planning, and he’ll try to “be with you” every chance he has to actually be with you.
December 23, 2008Videocoaching.org
I write occasionally over at ForwardLeadership with my dad, brother, and a few leaders that we’ve invited to help “challenge the process” of leadership. Most of our topics are ministry related, and a good number of them, though not all, deal with issues specific to the denomination we minister in.
We are in the process of unveiling what has been called, by some, a “revolutionary” idea. Videocoaching.org will unite leaders and learners through web-based video. It will help ease the burden of learning for the budget restrained leader who can’t make some of the conferences, and allow some forward thinking leaders the opportunity to share. We already have an incredible lineup of coaches preparing videos on a number of practical leadership topics for the local church, and the list is literally growing daily.
We are anticipating an early March ’09 launch, but you can visit the site now to sign up for email updates as the development process moves forward. This will include some prelaunch videos, beta testing, coach unveilings, information gathering (who do want to hear from, what do you want to discuss, etc), and more.
Since the majority of my readers are involved in Student Ministry on some level, what are some topics that you would like to see included through VideoCoaching.org?
December 22, 2008Am I buying what I’m selling?
While working on the January series for our HS ministry I was confronted with the fact that I might be selling goods I’m not willing to buy. Our series on community will lead to the kick off our new home based small groups. For 4 weeks we are looking at the various benefits, byproducts, stumbling blocks, and joys to sharing life with others in community…
But I’m not in a small group. I’m also not leading one of these groups this spring, for a variety of reasons.
Am I liar, or am I overthinking it?
What are the things you sell to those in your ministry or organization that you don’t do/use yourself?
December 22, 2008Mobile Porn
As youth leaders we have to value or role as shepherds. One of the most vital roles of the shepherd is to help the sheep steer clear of danger on their journey.
As I read this article on the use of cell phones and other mobile devices to access and share porn, I was confronted by the reality of this old danger in new clothes.
Look at these stats from the article:
20% of teenagers say they’ve sent (or posted) naked or semi-naked photos or videos of themselves, mostly to be “fun or flirtatious,” (33% of 20-26 year olds have done the same)
33% of teenage boys say they’ve seen nude or semi-nude images sent to someone else (about 25% of teenage girls have done the same)
39% of teenagers say they’ve sent suggestive text messages (59% of those ages 20-26 admit to it as well)
48% of teens have received sexually suggestive text messages (64% of young adults also have)
There are some possible actions for us to take, but what else can we/should we do?
December 19, 2008Do you feel neglected?
My blogging has been very slow lately. Sorry about that. I refuse to feel the condemnation that I feel like I’m supposed to feel.
The pace of life has been quickening. Blogging is just one of the things that has been pushed to the side for right now. I have some things cued up to post the next several days, and then maybe we’ll be back to normal.
For the time being I have been updating my Twitter. If you’d like to follow me there, click HERE.
December 18, 2008