Category Archives: Next Gen Ministry

Things I Learned at/from the Dave Ramsey Chapel

Nov 1

Posted by

I spoke today in Nashville, TN at Lampo, headquarters for the Dave Ramsey team. They hold a weekly chapel for the entire team of 300 folks and have super-famous speakers and me come and speak. Prior to speaking I pummeled my long time friend, Dino Evangelista, who leads a team there with organizational culture questions. From the simple, ‘what do people wear to work?’ to the complex ‘what is the strategy of the organization?’. That helped me be a more effective communicator. I think one of the greatest tools a leader possesses is the ability to see, listen and ask good questions. Heres a snapshot of what I learned from watching, listening and asking:

  • The right culture is quickly contagious.
  • Everyone works together when everyone is vested.
  • When the vision is clear everyone is clear on the vision. (that’s so simple but is so true)
  • Rewarding your team not only brings fun, but care which grows trust. (these people freak over November and December)
  • Jon Acuff is as funny and authentic at 7 a.m. at Cracker Barrel as he is before thousands at a conference.
  • The Loveless Cafe has the best fried chicken and biscuits this city boy has ever eaten. That has nothing to do with Dave Ramsey. It’s just good to know should you be traveling to Nashville.
  • God can put you anywhere he wants, when he wants, for whatever purpose he has decided, all for his glory.

Thanks for letting me learn today. Enjoyed every minute. You guys rock.

Posted in Next Gen Ministry

2 Comments

Tags: , , ,

Can You Change Methods to Reach Gen M?

Oct 5

Posted by

(The following is from guest blogger, Kevin Cevallos. Kevin is a senior at the University of Florida.)

The current generation is of mistrust of authority and of forging our own way. Of making decisions based on the cornucopia of information at our fingertips and telling all of our friends what we just did. None of us have ever lost at anything as kids, playing on little leagues that boasted mediocrity or even mere participation. How can adults share Christ with a generation that is clever and resourceful, but completely self-centered and consumed with a false sense of authority?

The simple fact is this: every way that Christianity was shared must be thrown out the window. We will not be found in the middle of a stuffed Sunday revival or a cheesy church retreat. Platitudes scare us into thinking that what we are experiencing isn’t real, and this causes so much tension between the generations today. 

With the changing of our world, active Christian adults should be equipped with the only thing that is going to break our generation out of our facebook-induded coma: real Love and genuine community. We are not a to-do list or a simple random prayer request. We are people that if challenged with the innovation of real love, we will respond. Take away the walls of our technology-drenched lifestyle and bring us down to the basics.  What adults should do is this: take the leap, connect with us on a personal level, show us that you are not just 9-5 worker drones and that feelings like love, compassion, and kindness still exist. This generation jumps on anything that is new and innovative, but what if we showed that Christ’s Love isn’t just a “I’ll pray for you” or a “if its God’s will…” What if any adult that was interacting with a millennial knelt down with them on the spot and prayed with them. Innovating love would change lives.

 Challenge us with community. This generation is about having friends, but how deep do these friendships go? Not very far. The best way to get to a millennial is to be there, with support while also holding us to higher standards. Enabling us to forge the way for others: facilitating us to be leaders. Because reaching our generation isn’t about getting all of us; however, it is about reaching the few that will carry the message out onto the rest of us. We are a self- perpetuating machine, feeding off our own ideas and broadcasting them into ourselves.  Harness us, utilize us, and unleash us with real love and community.

Posted in Next Gen Ministry

Leave a Comment

Tags: , , , ,

See You at the Pole Do’s and Dont’s

Sep 27

Posted by

September 28th is See You at the Pole or the day when students head to their schools to pray around their flagpole. Its simple. Students go to school 45 minutes earlier than first bell and gather with others to pray around their flagpole for: themselves, friends, school, country, world. If you are a student, be a part of the millions that will gather to pray. I was on ReachFM on Tuesday afternoon talking through the do’s and don’ts of See You at the Pole.

Here’s the dont’s if you missed them:

1. Don’t pray out loud against your math teacher. She might hear you.

2. Don’t forget the hand sanitizer. Think, sweaty palms.

3. Don’t forget to eat breakfast. We don’t want u falling asleep and missing school.

4. Don’t pray that the girl next to you will say yes when you ask her to prom. Dont’ look for true love in the circle of prayer.

5. Don’t Turn your prayer into a Glee moment. Dear Jesus, ‘don’t stop believin’…in us. But, if it does break out then please shoot me the You Tube link.

6. Don’t pray in christian-ese. Use regular language. Nothing freaks out the faculty like saying you hope the blood of the lamb covers your school.

Whats the craziest, funniest thing you’ve seen at See You at the Pole?

Posted in Next Gen Ministry

Leave a Comment

Tags: , ,

Can You Spot the Fake?

Sep 26

Posted by

I took my wife shopping. That’s right. I stepped up… as she used her gift card… that she got for her birthday… from my parents. While we were in a shoe store I noticed a brand called ‘Bobs’ manufactured by Skechers. Bobs, as you can clearly see in the picture below look identical to ‘Toms’ but are vastly different in the mind of anyone under the age of 25. To be honest Bobs are a joke, but not because of the style. They are a joke because of the substance. 

I don’t own a pair of Toms (or Bobs) but know that they come with a no-joke guarantee. For every pair you buy they will give a pair to a needy child. This is why they began the company. It’s an amazing effort to do something great by doing something simple. Sell a shoe. Give a shoe. Give this generation a tag line, and it might be,  ”Millennials: Show us how to do something great by helping us do something simple”. Bobs offers the same deal. For every pair of Bobs you buy they help a needy child through shoe donation. Why did Bobs fail and Toms succeed? Simple. Millennials, the target group, can spot a fake a mile away. Gen X could too. So could the Boomers and the Builders. The Gen M difference is that not only do they spot the fake, they put the fake in the land of the outcast never to be heard from again. Fake products, people, ministries, parents etc… are trust breakers. There is no higher crime to a Gen M than a breach of trust. Don’t believe this is true? Find one Millennial who owns a pair of Bob’s.

Skechers tried to piggy back market an already succesful product. Typical in marketing of many other things. But they missed when they tried to market an already sacred idea. They totally missed the issue of substance. They forgot who they were trying to reach. They tried to make a cheaper product with similar values but instead launched a cheaper product with an inferior ideology. Gen M wants to know not only what you are selling, but, who you are and how your product can help them do great things in simple ways. When you speak, lead or market Gen M always think through this sentence: Can what I’m saying help them change the world?

What shoes are you wearing?

 

Posted in Next Gen Ministry

Leave a Comment

Tags: , , , ,

Remember When MTV Played Music?

Sep 14

Posted by

MTV means Music Television. Shocking, I know. The channel should be called, Not Reality-Reality Television. MTV figured out how to bill for advertising by segmenting their media day into billable hours. Smart and dumb. I think music stirs the soul more than the Jersey Shore. Proof. If I asked you what your top 5 songs were you’d either be the type of person that could list them in a heartbeat or you’d be the type of person that would take a breath, exhale, then slowly list them one by one and then tell me why they made your list. Music memory is powerful. Here’s an experiment. I’ll list 5 songs and you tell me where you were or what you were doing or what memory rushes back to you when you hear:

  1. Under a Blood Red Sky - U2
  2. Skinny Love - Bon Iver
  3. Don’t Stop Believing – Journey
  4. Come Together – The Beatles
  5. Saturday in the Park – Chicago

The power of music is amazing. Flat out dominating. Music can change your attitude. Outlook. Mood. Desire. Appearence…if you work out to music. (I seem to have trouble pacing myself when I run to music using a shuffled playlist. You?) Music impacts us. Why do you think music was ‘invented’?

How do you use music to impact? What role does it play in your every day life?

Posted in Next Gen Ministry

Leave a Comment

Tags: , , , ,

← Older Posts
Newer Posts →
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.