T.H.I.N.K. Youth Ministry pt. 1

I did a session on Saturday for Mitosis on How to create and environment for youth and children. In order to build an environment for youth you have got to T.H.I.N.K. Sometimes so little thought actually goes into youth ministry and to make it successful we must T.H.I.N.K. three areas to think:

• T.H.I.N.K. Atmosphere
• T.H.I.N.K. Service
• T.H.I.N.K. Fun

TIME
HEART
INVOLVEMENT
NUMBERS
KULTURE (Spelled it with a K because that's hip and trendy and I needed culture in there)

This is just the intro. I'll be breaking down each of the bullets in my first ever... !!!BLOGERIES!!! That's a blog series.

The Mitosis Superstar Intern/Apprentice of Mitosis is....

Nate Caldwell!!! Nate did an incredible job of not just doing what was asked, but went over and above to clean and tidy areas he had not been asked. He even found a spider and killed it (my hero). We had a sink full of dishes from the lunch yesterday and Nate jumped right in and cleaned the heck out of those pans. It took him several hours and he never stopped or complained, but served the church knowing that his efforts were making a way for others to have their lives changed. Nate your servanthood made a way for many to be reached and that is to your account!!! Great job Nate and thank you for truly serving, not just doing. Way to dive in and do work son!!! You're awesome man of God!

The next time you see any of our interns, give them an incredible compliment for all the hard work they did and all they accomplished for Mitosis.

Mitosis Session Finale - Pastor Jeff

• Told story of how he came to get into racing.
  
• He was working too many hours and was maxed out and Racing gave him margin.
  
• Margin - that little more allowed than what is needed (Websters)
• Reveling the greatest message is taxing, tiring and difficult and the key is having a little bit more than what is needed.
• Jeremiah 29:11 - God whats us to have margin in our life. God doesn't want me broke down and burnt out because of what I do. There is no future for a man or woman of God who burns the candle at both ends. The end is brokenness.
• John 10:10 - Jesus came not so we could have an empty life, but a full life!
• The racing took him to the greatest thrill of his life... Not driving a car, but leading people to Christ and now he wants to spend the rest of his life leading people to Christ.
• He felt like a bad man because he would spend Saturday nights at the race track and not at intercessory prayer.
  
• The enemy will always go after your margin!
• God turned margin into ministry not just on Sat. night, but also on Sunday morning because the more filled up he was because of his margin, the more filled he was to do the task on Sunday morning.
• Couple of years ago he traded in his pit pass for a helmet. The helmet is like margin, it creates space and allows you to hear what is happening around the car. It also allows you
  
• Margin clears the space and gives you more than what is needed. We need that little bit more to be who God has created us to be.
• His message to close the conference is don't go out and buy a race car, but do what God recharges your batteries with.
• "You know how to make a small fortune in racing? Start with a large one" :-)
• Proverbs tells us there's a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death. In our country people are dying from stress, obesity, cardiovascular disease because of a lack of margin.
• He's had an opportunity to so many people to Christ that he has lost count because of the margin (racing).
• In order for people to say that God is truly in this place we need to have enough margin, so that we have a little more than enough.

What an outstanding conference. I cannot wait for the impartation, information and fun that next years conference will bring.

God give us margin!

Q&A With Tony Morgan - impromptu

1. One Pastor would love a copy of the violinist story. Can be found on tonymorganlive.com search Google Joshua Bell.
2. What is the balance between word and relevance? They must be combined in order to bring life change.
   
3. What are the top organizations you follow? Apple, Google, Amazon... Then he asks why and trys to use that in the church
4. How does his church value and utilize volunteers? 2500 or 1/3 of current attendance serves. They streamline it. Come to church, get plugged into a group and serve and that's all they ask of their people.
5. What is the impitus for launching new site or church? They auditorium was filled and they asked whether they should build a bigger city or would it be better to launch a new site. It's cheaper and it accomplishes the same thing.
6. Are they going to simulcast? Everything will be just like the Anderson Campus. Live everything except for the message. That will done via video by whoever is speaking at the main campus.
7. Out of all the methods you've used what is the most effective for reaching the youth? They are trying to figure it out.
   
8. What's your daily schedule? Reads the Word and other books in the morning, Spends most of the day talking to people and will sit down at 5pm to see what he needs to get done. It's through the disciplines in our life that we see real growth.
   

Mitosis Session 3 - Tony Morgan Creating Buzz

Mark 1:40-41 - Buzz happens when peoples lives are changed.

• 75-80% of people attend church for the first time because they were personally invited.
• We as churches are always marketing because we want the Gospel spread.
• The reality is most people will walk through the doors of the church because someone they knows life was changed.
• Amazon.com takes their marketing dollars into improving their service because customers will tell other potential customers about their experience.
• 3 ?'s that need to be answered:

1. Who are we trying to reach?
2. Are we getting their attention?
3. Are they hearing our message?

• Who are we trying to reach? At New Spring (his church) they reach red necks :-). His pastor cannot go feminine or incredibly scholarly because it's the NASCAR crowd. He said this with tongue in cheek :-).
• What will they think of next principle. Keep people talking and asking what will they think of next week at...
  
• The most impacting churches out there do not add programs to make themselves more relevant or effective, but they rather find what is effective and stay focused on that.
• We give people too many choices and when that happens they shut down.
• "If you try to make everybody happy you have to be willing to embrace mediocrity!" WOW, what a quote.
• Are you getting their attention? You need three things: Relevant topics, Strategic themes and Biblical truth. This is a great filter for message every message series.
  
• Without all three you you don't capture their attention (no relevant topic), it doesn't connect (no strategic theme), LOL someone (in the crowd) said that it's like Oprah when you have a Relevant topic and Strategic theme, but no Biblical theme.
• Are they hearing your message?
• We're sharing the greatest story ever told and we assume ordinary people will recognize the power of the message.
• If the best musician can play on the nicest instrument and play some of the greatest music ever written and people don't connect then surely the best communicators can share the greatest story in the nicest facilities and the message not connect or be heard. (He used a story of Joshua Bell playing in a Washington D.C. metro stop and only few people stopping to listen and is drawing a parallel with our context and how we do our services.)
• People outside the church know us more for what we are against than what we are for.
• People didn't stop to listen to the violinist because they were busy and had other things on their minds.
• We are competing against careers, pillow, recreation... not against the church down the street.
• Some people didn't listen not because they didn't have the capacity for beauty, but because it was irrelevant.
  
• Are we stopping to help them get the healing they need rather than giving them the truth they think they need?
• Romans 10:14
  
• Is it possible to preach the Gospel message and not be heard?
• If people don't come to faith is it just noise?
• If Lives aren't transformed, does the message even matter?
• Creating Buzz is not about slick marketing or gimmicks, but rather lives being changed forever by the message of the cross.

Absolutely outstanding session! Get the CD/DVD through the bookstore when they come available it will be worth the investment.

Mitosis Session 1 - Pastor Frank

Pastor Frank's first session was incredible. If you could not be there buy the DVD or CD when it comes out, it will be worth it to hear.

One of the greatest quotes was "bad leaders take simple ideas and make them complex, good good leaders take complex ideas and make them simple!!!"

Here are the 10 Non negotibles of a Church Builder:

1. Build from the Word of God to the Word of God.
2. Fulfill the purpose of God as stated in scripture.
3. Grow people in the Kingdom of God - Make sure they are saved, water baptized, filled with the Spirit, that they do devotions.
4. Minister from a core of integrity at all times.
5. Raise up another generation of leaders. Reproduce yourself by reproducing leaders. He shared a story about their school of voice and instrument and how they have a Jr. High band that plays for their main service and tears it up! Ownership means giving them the best spots.
6. Honor the local church above all else: Ephesians 5:25, Acts 2:42, 1 Corinthians 3:16-17
7. Keep a heart and eye for the nations. They have sent out 50 full time missionaries in the last five years!
8. Love and reach the poor, the outcast and the broken. They giveaway more food than any other religious or non-religious non-profit organization in Oregon. That's amazing!
9. Serve your city and region with wisdom and compassion. They repair high schools, teach ESL classes etc...
10. Length of Service. Every second of your service should be quality no matter the length. Give every moment God's best!

His message for the night session was incredible too and I will post some notes and thoughts a little later.

Work Party tomorrow at 3

We are doing GRID 29:11-clean-for-Mitosis work party tomorrow at 3pm. If you are interested and come help meet me in the foyer tomorrow at 3! See you soon!

Don't forget to sign up!

Here's the promo video for this weeks Mitosis Conference. You can get signed up and get more information here. Even if you can't make the whole thing make sure to come Friday night!

Mitosis

This conference is a MUST attend. It is going to be incredible. I cannot wait for the impartation that will come from the high caliber leaders that will be speaking at it. Get signed up today at www.mitosisconference.com. Here is the graphic, I'll upload the promo video as soon as I get it.