Student Ministry

I am very thankful for our Student Ministry here at NewPointe. I picked up Sarah our daughter and two of her friends who meet on a regular basis with her small group. There are about 6 girls around the ages of 13 to 15. You see it is not only true for us adults but for our youth. Life change best happens in small groups.

What excites me, is that there is an adult woman who has influence in my daughter’s life who is encouraging her to do what I would want her to do. That is priceless in my mind.

Here is what is being re-enforced on a continually basis through her small group ….

· Authentic Faith : God can be trusted : He will do what he has promised.
· Spiritual Disciplines : When you see as God sees you will do as God says.
· Moral Boundaries : Purity paves the way to intimacy
· Healthy Friendships : Your friends will determine the direction and quality of your life
· Wise Choices : Choosing not between wrong & right, but what is wise.
· Ultimate Authority : Maximum freedom is found under God authority.
· Others first: Consider others first.

Wow! It takes time to make sure she gets to their meeting place, but it is worth it….
Thanks Dave, and all who are serving and influencing the world through Student Ministry.

Barry's Truth

I was listening to Sports Talk Show. They were talking about the Barry Bonds saga. He was recently indicted by the Feds and could possibility serve up to 30 years in prison though it is very very doubtful that this maximum penalty would happen.

Here is the unique spin on this one though. Barry testified before the Grand Jury and was given a pardon on everything, as long as he was honest. So he could have told them that he did steroids etc…… and would not have gone to prison. It looks like at this point at least that he chose to lie under oath about whether or not he took steroids.

And so this week’s indictment wasn’t about taking steroids – it was about lying. In essence, they were saying that the cover up is worse than the crime, so to speak.

It’s a new version of a similar story, of those that covered their mistakes, and how the cover-up was worse than the actual wrong deed:

• Scooter Libby
• Richard Nixon
• Martha Stewart
• Bill Clinton

What could cause us to cover up something that in return would bring greater consequences than the actual wrong? Pride. Not willing to admit that I did wrong.

Here is good counsel:

Proverbs 28:13 tells us: “He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.”

When we have done wrong – the best way to handle it is to Admit it, Renounce it, and ask for forgiveness.

Consequences are unavoidable – even for home run kings.

It's worth it.

Our son Caleb is in the process of learning how to drive. He’s required to have 50 hours behind the wheel of a car before he can move on to another level of Driver’s Training.

This is really going to be a huge difference maker for my wife Patty and me when Caleb gets his license to drive. If you have children you no doubt have felt like a taxi driver. It seems like there are a lot of places kids need to be ( maybe it is better to say want to be ) . It will be great to have Caleb being able to drive himself to events, go to the grocery store, and even sometimes take his younger brothers and sister to an event. The good news is he will love doing it.

But you know what? I am having to invest time in him. Like I said, he has to have 50 hours behind the wheel before he can move on to Drivers Training School. I am reminding myself of the rewards of him getting his license though. This keeps me focused and willing to invest the time with him, not to mention to see him take another step in becoming an adult.

One of the reasons I’ve heard of people not mentoring or apprenticing is “I don’t have the time.” I am afraid that the reality is that we just see the immediate and loose sight of the rewards that come with someone else being able to do what you are capable of …. It’s worth the time.

In addition to the time investment, I also have to coach him continually. There are things he doesn’t know, things he is not paying attention to, things that might surprise him etc….. I have to continually give him feed back on how he is doing, and on what he needs to be doing.

I thought to myself, Caleb has to be coachable; he has to have some tough skin and be open to constructive criticism etc….. If not he might cause an accident. Even more important there will be a day he will have other passengers in the car with him. So he can’t take things personally. He must understand that he needs to be in a learning mode, not a defensive mode.

I always have to encourage him. I point out things that he has done right, things that he is now doing that he wasn’t earlier, that I am proved of him, while at the same time, continue to correct and coach him.

It is taking up my time right now. Some times I don’t feel like taking the time to go driving with him, or explaining certain situations, or why this needs to happen or why you can’t do this. But I have to keep my eye on the reward of the investment I am making.

So it is with mentoring and coaching. There is something that both sides must give – time, willingness to be coached, etc. But isn’t this worth it?

Revealed

Reveal is a new book out by some staff members of Willowcreek Community Church. I haven’t read it cover to cover but have read parts and comments about it. It is causing a lot of stir among different people.

The Book basically summarizes surveys taken by churches to find out where people are spiritually. Willowcreek Community Church was one of them. They were disturbed to find out that many of the people who called Willow their home were not maturing as Willow would want a disciple to. And this finding launched them into a deep time of introspection which is causing them to conclude that they missed it.

And interestingly, this debate, and this survey is resulting in two sides being formed around this issue of discipleship and growth.

Those who never wanted the “church” to change are filled with the thought “I was right” “I told you so.” One of them is Bob Burney. Here is part of one of his quotes about Willow:

“The size of the crowd rather than the depth of the heart determined success. If the crowd was large then surely God was blessing the ministry. Churches were built by demographic studies, professional strategists, marketing research, meeting “felt needs” and sermons consistent with these techniques. We were told that preaching was out, relevance was in. Doctrine didn’t matter nearly as much as innovation. If it wasn’t “cutting edge” and consumer friendly it was doomed. The mention of sin, salvation and sanctification were taboo and replaced by Starbucks, strategy and sensitivity.”

Strangely, I’ve never heard that from Willow, and I don’t hear it now. What I hear is that they have felt that they fished for people instead of teaching them to fish for themselves. Willowcreek has probably seen more people come to faith in the last 20 years than any other church in America. I am not talking about people leaving one church and going to another but people coming into a personal relationship with Christ for the first time in their life.

Here is my take on it……. Willow found itself in a similar situation as IBM …. They had an amazing run but were not willing to continue to change ……

Willowcreek has influenced me personally, along with what we do as a Church, for which I will always be grateful. It has never been my desire for us to be like Willowcreek. Like any other model or example, we try to learn principles and apply those which will help us fulfill our vision of leading people into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ.

To look at them and say “I told you so.”, that is simply ignorant and naive. Maybe this realization will lead them to change a method, but we can never forget the good that has been catalyzed from Willow’s influence.

Here are a few things that we at NewPointe link directly to Willow – things that I am really grateful for. Because of Willow, and a few other churches influence, that is why . . .:

• As a pastor/staff (we ) I am responsible to you, not for you in the area of spiritual growth. It is my responsibility to sow the seed, teach and challenge you, but you have to make the decision to grow. Matthew 13:18-23
• Our mission to lead people into Intimacy with God, Involvement in community and Influence the world.
• One of our values is to create Effective & Engaging Environments that are conducive for the Holy Spirit to speak to people.
• It is not our ultimate goal to meet your needs, but to help you take your next step in your relationship with Jesus Christ.
• Our goal is to have every one in a small group, where they can wrestle with the truth, and align themselves with God’s Word.

See, it’s easy to take cheap shots at Willow, but before we shoot from our hips, we must realize that leading people into a growing relationship with Christ is the hardest challenge in the world. Most people desire the benefits of Christlikeness, but truly few people are willing to pay the price to be Christ like. This can be difficult and tiring stuff.

I for one am thankful for pioneers like Willow.

Life Lessons from Rick Pitino

I had an opportunity to hear Rick Pitino (Louisville Basketball Coach) speak Monday. I have been a UK Basketball fan every since I went to basketball camp there during my high school days. I was excited to hear him speak, and he didn’t disappoint me.

Pitino said “To be a successful person, you must be passionate, you must be hungry and you must be driven. Then you must take four key steps:”

1. You have to have a work ethic that’s second to none.
2. You must set demanding goals.
3. You have to practice and execute.
4. And you have to be able to accept feedback. His definition of feedback is the willingness to be coached.

He mentioned that staying positive and surrounding oneself with positive people is extremely important. He will not allow a player to be negative on his team. He said that he will try to correct and train his players in being positive, but if that fails he will ask him to transfer. He said that being negative is too contiguous and will always impact the rest of the team. Always. It affects your mood when you are surrounded by cynicism and negativity .

Here are some other thoughts:

• The reason why he left University of Kentucky was not the ten reasons he gave at the time. He said he lied. He really left because of the 50 million dollar contract. He said that he made the wrong decision for the wrong reasons. He ended up resigning though he still had 23 million left on the contract he could have collected. I think there is a lesson here.
  “It takes no talent to be a critic; we can all be critics. It takes talent to impact the lives of people. It takes talent to make others feel better. It takes talent to be extraordinary all the time.”
• Communication is the ability to listen four times to the amount you speak.”
  Failure is fertilizer. There will always be losses. Learn from them.
• Arrogance is deadly. That is why Harvard isn’t ranked #1 as a business school. The students come out with an attitude of being better than everyone else.
• Pitino’s outlook on life changed when his best friend, who happened to be his brother was killed on 9/11. He said that life is about making a difference and an impact in people’s lives. The way in which he chooses to do this, is to focus on the positive. So when you see someone doing something that is good, tell them.
• Pitino recommended a book called “Precious Present.” The main idea is that who you are in the present is what’s important and who you are is precious. “It’s about a unique gift of who we are and where we are today.”

Excellent lessons that challenged me to live and think differently.

They Pick Up Everything

I was talking David & Brooke D’Angelo, and interacting with their two year old son Nico yesterday. We were talking about sports. David said, tell Dwight who your favorite football team is , Nico said the “Steelers” … then David went on to say who is your favorite college basketball team, Nico said the “Tar Heels”

As I drove home I thought about the amazing impact that we have on our children. We train them in the way in which we want them to go and how we want them to think – whether we realize this or not …

This is true with my own boys. They love Ohio State, the Cleveland Indians etc… . They root for them all the time. Why? Because of their Dad’s love for these teams ….. We don’t force them to like these teams, but we buy them hats, t-shirts, sweat shirts, etc… with the team’s logo… to ingrain in them this strong love we have developed for these teams. They wear them often and with pride.

And it hit me. This isn’t the only thing that they pick up from us. In fact – they pick up everything that we are modeling, from the way we talk, to the way that we treat other people. (we wish it was just the sports teams we love)

Here’s the hard question: are we as strategic in developing their love for things that are more impacting than our favorite sports team?

• A love for Christ
• Respect for women
• Desire for ethics
• A heart for the lost
• Recognition of the authority of God’s Word
• Passion for ministry
• Compassion for the poor
• Generous spirit of giving

Maybe we have ( I include myself in this ) failed. As I look around it seems that we have a lot of passion for others things that are fun but less significant .

Just a thought.

What passions are you nurturing in your kids?