by David Hanson | Jan 31, 2014 | The Youth Ministry Blog
Here’s the sad reality… Many Youth Pastors get a bad rap when it comes to being disciplined, organized, and ahead of schedule. But not you. Not this year! Watch this video where I explain three calendars that will make 2014 your most productive year yet.
Get My Ideal Work Week (Excel File).
Thanks Michael Hyatt for the new template!
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David Hanson: Texas native, Texas Tech Red Raider, M.Div. at Truett Seminary, husband to Ashley, father to Ava & Ben, Student Pastor at LifePoint Church in Plano, Tx, table tennis (ping-pong) extraordinaire, addicted to coffee. For anything else…you’ll just have to ask.
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by David Hanson | Jan 29, 2014 | The Youth Ministry Blog
God Inspired Courage
The book of Nehemiah is full of great nuggets on Spiritual leadership. Last week I unpacked how Nehemiah had a tenderness that moved him to action.
Another interesting thing I’ve noticed in the book of Nehemiah is how much prayer is in the book.
2:4 “With a prayer to God in Heaven.”
4:4 “Then I prayed”
4:9 “But we prayed”
9:5 “Then they prayed.”
When you read Nehemiah, you see that these short little prayers come when Nehemiah needs courage. It’s when he’s talking to King Artaxerxes and when there is opposition to the building of the city wall.
To me it reveals not Nehemiah’s super-spirituality. Think about this. Nehemiah must have been the one who retold the story so it could be written down. That means Nehemiah (a governor and reformer) intentionally revealed that he prayed for courage. I respect Nehemiah all the more now that I know that he led the Israelites even when he didn’t have the courage in himself.
Nehemiah knew that his strength to achieve great things came not from his own abilities and vision, but through the power and strength of his God. More than that, Nehemiah demonstrated humility by letting others see his lack of courage.
By turning to God for courage Nehemiah becomes the leader the Israelites need. He rallied the people around God instead of himself and through that the wall was built and the glory of the city was restored.
Many times in ministry we are called to face a challenge that we aren’t up to. I know that I lack courage when I have conflict with someone and I need to address the issue. In those times, Nehemiah begs us turn to God and ask Him for courage.
So what about you? What are you lacking courage to do? Is it a hard conversation or a ministry change? Take time right now to ask God for courage.
Kevin Libick is a Middle School Pastor living in Fort Worth, TX with his wife Kara and her two cats. He is a novice banjo picker and expert Hawaiian food eater. Kevin loves to connect with other youth workers and equip them to live out their calling in God’s Kingdom. Connect with Kevin on Twitter: @kevinlibick
by David Hanson | Jan 28, 2014 | The Youth Ministry Blog
If you are in ministry, you might at times feel tired. I like to think of it as the machine of ministry.
The machine of ministry looks like this:
– You are exhausted mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually most of the time.
– You go through the motions of ministry work.
– Your only concern is the attendance, and you’re not that excited about stories of life-change.
– Worship is hard to get into because you “already know these songs.”
– You compare yourself with other churches and leaders.
– Your appearance gets more attention than your spiritual heart.
I’ve experienced these feeling at times in my own life. How do we avoid falling into a robot of ministry where we lose sight of the sensitivity of God’s Spirit?
– Remember the cross. Preach the gospel to yourself everyday to remember the grace of Jesus and how we do not deserve it.
– Remain teachable. Admit you have not arrived or know all the answers. Just because you have a lot of knowledge or experience doesn’t mean that we stop hungering for more of God.
– Pray for people who need Jesus. One of the sure ways to keep a humble, sensitive heart is to love and pray for people who are far from God.
– Invest in your family. Get your ministry work done at the office and focus on giving your best effort at home. Listen to your spouse and help your children know they are loved. Pray with and for them. Our families help us stay grounded and focus on what really matters.
– Stay dependent. Tell Jesus that you need Him. A lot.
The truth is, Jesus said He would build His church (Matthew 16:18). Men can build buildings and programs, but Jesus is the One who ultimately builds the church. Our role is to be sensitive to how God wants us to serve Him and join what He is doing in ministry. The long-term success of any man of God isn’t simply statistics, but it is being faithful to God’s calling to love Him and love people.
How are you able to stay close to your relationship with Jesus when ministry is so busy?
How do you avoid the machine and remain sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s leading in your life?
Josh is the student pastor at Church @ The Springs in Ocala, Florida
(www.thesprings.net). Josh has served in student ministry for 9+ years and has a passion to lead students to imitate Christ and influence the world! He has a personal blog at
http://joshrobinson.cc
by David Hanson | Jan 21, 2014 | The Youth Ministry Blog
A Tender Heart
Over the holiday break, I read through the book of Nehemiah for the first time in a while. I was struck by the great insights about Spiritual leadership from this great book. For the next few weeks of posts, I’ll be pulling some of these lessons out and seeing what they can teach us today.
The first lesson from learned from Nehemiah is that Spiritual leaders have a tender heart.
As a cupbearer to King Artaxerxes in Persia, Nehemiah had gotten word that the people of Jerusalem were in trouble and that the walls of the city were in shambles. This meant that they were vulnerable to attack. More importantly Jerusalem, the a symbol of Israel’s spiritual condition, was in shambles and God’s glory was at stake.
Nehemiah’s reaction to the news reveals much of his heart.
1:4 “When I heard this, I sat down and wept. In fact, for days I mourned, fasted, and prayed to the God of heaven.” (NLT).
Let me remind you that Nehemiah was a politician. He didn’t even live in Jerusalem. Yet, his heart was stirred to compassion for the city and people he loved. I don’t normally think of politicians as having tender hearts toward the people in their constituency, but Nehemiah displays it immensely.
A tender heart is a necessity for Spiritual leadership. Unless we can sense the pain and brokenness of our people, we cannot speak the truth in love. Leadership without a tender heart leads to indifference. We see those in our care as objects to be used instead of people who need to grow. When we lack tender hearts we put programs and initiatives ahead of people. This doesn’t lead to life change and true Spiritual growth.
I know that I am lacking tenderness when I am short with people, when I blame people and when I stop listening to them. I start getting frustrated with their lack of progress or for taking up too much of my valuable time.
We want the opposite. Tenderness sees the pain and walks with the other person. Tenderness helps us value the other person and makes us want to understand their situation.
Every other lesson we learn from Nehemiah is worthless unless we get this one down. Nehemiah is leading others because he cares for their well being.
Is your heart tender toward those you are leading or is it calloused and indifferent? If it is the latter, then maybe you need to spend some time with Jesus asking for a new heart toward those you are leading. Ask God to create in you a new heart of compassion and tenderness for those you are serving.
Kevin Libick is a Middle School Pastor living in Fort Worth, TX with his wife Kara and her two cats. He is a novice banjo picker and expert Hawaiian food eater. Kevin loves to connect with other youth workers and equip them to live out their calling in God’s Kingdom. Connect with Kevin on Twitter: @kevinlibick
