November 17, 2014 By Guest Author | 6 Comments

The Driven Leader, Part 1

Today’s guest post is by Pastor Kip McCormick. Kip is the campus pastor for Cornwall Church Skagit Valley in Mt Vernon, Washington—a satellite campus of Cornwall Church in Bellingham, Washington. Kip earned his Master of Divinity degree while running a youth ministry in Seoul, South Korea. Upon retiring from 28 years of service as an active duty colonel in the Army in 2009, Kip continued pastoring youth and men in the United States. He has a passion for God’s Word and recently completed his PhD in biblical studies. Kip combines his experience as a senior officer in the military, former U.S. Military Academy (West Point) instructor, and intelligence professional with his desire to equip and encourage others in their walk with Christ.

If I were to ask you right now to write down some words that describe a leader, you’d probably identify qualities like purposeful, committed, compassionate, confident, goal setter, determined, and vision caster.

Another word that often gets put in the mix is “driven.”

September 29, 2014 By Guest Author | 2 Comments

Natural Theology: Exploring God, Nature, and You

Today’s guest post is by Prayson Daniel. Prayson, who blogs at With All I Am, has been using Faithlife Groups since 2012, and created the Natural Theology group. Prayson is from Tanzania, and he earned his BA at Harvest Bible College. He is currently pursuing his graduate studies at Aalborg University in Denmark. Prayson’s greatest desire is to inspire others to admire God through critical thinking.

There are moments in our lives when we encounter God’s silence. It happened to me in my late teens. As I went through a period of doubt and rebellion, God appeared to be as cold as ice and as far from me as the east is from the west. I doubted revealed theology. I rejected God. I wanted to be the captain of my own soul. As God used famine to bring the prodigal son back to his loving father, he used natural theology to restore the hunger and passion I once had in the presence of his majesty.

September 27, 2014 By Ryan Nelson | 98 Comments

8 Bible Verses about How Big God Is

We use a lot of big words when we talk about God.

Omnipotent. Omnipresent. Omniscient. He is all-powerful, all-present, and all-knowing.

If a word means all encompassing, it’s probably been used to talk about God.

Where do these words come from?

These words express the upper limit of our ability to understand power, wisdom, and time.

When Scripture tells us about the power, wisdom, and eternal nature of God, how else could we describe him?

Here are some of the ways the Bible helps us understand our awe-some God:

1. Isaiah 55:8–9

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (see whole passage).

The Faithlife Study Bible says verse eight is “a direct statement about God’s transcendence. His nature and plan are infinitely beyond human understanding. God is infinitely different from us in His thoughts and ways. Because God is holy (Leviticus 19:2), we are to strive to reach the higher and nobler ideals of his thoughts and ways, as expressed by the command to ‘be holy.'”

With three layers of study notes, the FSB lets us take an even closer look at this passage.

By clicking the plus sign, we can dig into the second layer of notes to read: “The biblical portrait of God develops both transcendent and immanent aspects of His nature. The transcendent nature is not like people and infinitely above people. The immanent nature is intimately present with people and among people. God’s transcendence places Him beyond the limits of time and space. His nature as uncreated and separate from His creation is a fundamental concept distinguishing a biblical understanding of God from other philosophical or religious theories, such as pantheism or monism.”

Sometimes it’s discouraging to recognize that we don’t know what God’s thinking. We don’t have all the answers and we don’t know the plan.

We serve a God that thinks about our lives, our world, and his creation on a completely different level than even the smartest human has the capacity to think. (click to tweet).

A pastor recently shared with me, “When things don’t go our way, we ask ‘Why, God, why?’ What we should be asking is ‘What, God, what?’ What is he trying to show us?”

We can’t possibly hope to understand what God’s thinking, because his thoughts transcend our own. But we can ask him questions and pray that he points us to something we can understand.

2. Isaiah 40:28

Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. (see whole passage).

The FSB says that the phrase “creator of the ends of the earth” points back to Isaiah 40:27.

It states, “The focus on God as Creator and totally ‘other’ than His creation answers the statements of v. 27. Since God’s ways are unknowable, how can they make such a claim?”

We don’t know what God is thinking, so how can we say that he’s not thinking about us? (click to tweet).

3. Job 26:14

Behold, these are but the outskirts of his ways, and how small a whisper do we hear of him! But the thunder of his power who can understand? (see whole passage).

In the first layer of the FSB we read, “These mighty acts of God give only a glimpse of His power. Here, Job’s description of God’s majestic power anticipates God’s speech in chapter 38.”

The FSB also comments on the phrase, “how small a whisper,” stating, “The mighty thunder and wind is only a whisper to God. This description again anticipates God’s response in chapter 38, where God speaks from a whirlwind. Elsewhere, God speaks in a whisper (1 Kings 19:11–13).”

Read chapter 38 to see God’s powerful response to Job.

4. Psalm 147:5

Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure. (see whole passage).

A.W. Tozer says, “Because God knows all things perfectly, he knows no thing better than any other thing, but all things equally well. He never discovers anything, he is never surprised, never amazed.” (click to tweet).

“Beyond measure” is a tough concept to grasp. In The Heavens: Intimate Moments with Your Majestic God, Kevin Hartnett grapples with what understanding beyond measure looks like:

“Indeed, through His own gracious revelation of Himself, we can understand God in part, but we can never fully comprehend Him, or even a single one of His qualities. There will always be more of His wisdom to understand, more of His power, more of His holiness, more of His love. We will never fathom Him, and we will never tire of Him. Through all eternity, we will look upon Him and marvel at the endlessly creative, wonderfully gracious, uniquely righteous, timelessly beautiful, unsearchably glorious, infinitely loving Maker and Ruler of all.”

5. Psalm 8:3–4

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? (see whole passage).

At first glance, this verse may appear to dismiss God’s concern for our lives—but with the help of the FSB, we see that is clearly not the case.

Check out what the FSB says about the phrase, “that you think of him”:

“The psalmist marvels that God—the supreme Creator—involves Himself with humanity. Job uses a similar phrase but with a different emphasis. Instead of wondering at God’s care, Job—in the midst of his suffering—wishes God would leave him alone (Job 7:17–21).”

The FSB also discusses the phrase “your fingers”:

“The finger of God symbolizes His power: Pharaoh’s magicians attributed the third plague to the finger of God (Exodus 8:19); the finger of God wrote the Law on stone tablets (Exodus 31:18; Deuteronomy 9:10); in the New Testament, Jesus cast out demons by the finger of God (Luke 11:20).”

When we look at the work of God’s fingers, our lives seem far less significant—and that makes his deep concern for our lives that much more meaningful.

Consider the next verse, in light of the works of “the fingers of God.”

6. Luke 12:7

Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, you are of more value than many sparrows. (see whole passage).

Dale C. Allison Jr. says, “Throughout the Scriptures God is held up as one who can count the humanly uncountable: clouds, sand, streams, the length of heaven, stars, etc. Faith does not make clear all mysteries, but it is consoling to believe that a loving God knows the answers.”

In What Jesus Demands from the World, John Piper elaborates on the verse, “In other words, the suffering you may undergo in speaking the truth is not because God is disinterested in you or unfamiliar with your plight. He is close enough to separate one hair from another and give each one a number. Fear not; he is close. He is interested; he cares. Be of good courage, and speak the truth whatever the cost.”

7. Jeremiah 1:5

Before I formed you in the womb I knew you. And before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations. (see whole passage).

The FSB has a lot to say on this one verse. In the second layer of notes on “before you were born” it remarks:

“The Apostle Paul seems to have applied this aspect of Jeremiah’s ministry to himself in Galatians 1:14–16. Paul’s rationale in doing so appears to be based on Jeremiah’s reputation as a prophet ‘to the nations’ and reflected in his calling ‘from the womb.’ Paul makes an implicit comparison between himself and Jeremiah as a means to legitimize his own qualifications as an apostle to the Gentiles.”

God had a purpose and a plan for Jeremiah before he was even born. But that doesn’t mean Jeremiah knew his purpose—he tried to convince God he had the wrong guy (Jeremiah 1:6).

Don’t be discouraged when you don’t know God’s plan. God knows where you’re going, and he knows what you need to get there (Jeremiah 1:7–9).

8. Deuteronomy 10:17

For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and does not take a bribe. (see whole passage).

In Immersion Bible Studies: Deuteronomy, Jack A. Keller says, “The supreme God who is ‘God of all gods’ and ‘Lord of all lords’ has a special interest in the way the community treats its most vulnerable members: widows, orphans, and resident aliens (10:17–19).”

The more we recognize how powerful and mighty God is, the more incredible it is that he cares for us personally.

Keep reading about God’s omniscience in this reflection on Psalm 139.

***

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July 31, 2014 By Ryan Nelson | 120 Comments

10 Things Every Youth Leader Should Know

A lot of Christians think they aren’t cut out for youth ministry. But if you love Jesus and you care about kids, everything else falls into place.

In my five years working with middle school students I’ve met multiple 80 year olds who are incredible youth leaders—and it’s not for their spunky personalities and crazy dance skills. They love Jesus and they love kids. When you boil it down, that’s what really matters.

If you start with Jesus, all of the intricacies of youth leading should align conceptually, biblically, and practically. You should be able to trace everything back to Jesus.

Here are ten things every youth leader should know:

1. Have a purpose for everything

Let’s be honest. From the outside looking in, there’s a lot of weird stuff that happens at youth groups. Beach ball ballet, cricket-spitting contests, fruit baseball, and an endless list of games, skits, and programs that don’t seem in any way connected to sharing the gospel.

But if you know the purpose behind each component, then even the goofy and weird parts make sense.

Some games give lonely, left out, or neglected kids the chance to be noticed, cheered, and celebrated. Other games force kids to work together—regardless of who they’re friends with at school.

Wacky leader skits can create laughter, break down walls, and show kids that there is a childlike joy in everyone. For leaders, those same activities can offer an opportunity to step out of their own comfort zone and put kids before themselves.

I’ve worked with leaders who refused to put themselves in front of kids and be goofy alongside them because “it wasn’t their gifting.” It’s definitely important to recognize what you’re good at and what you’re not good at (so you know how you’re best suited to serve your team), but if we understand the why behind each aspect of youth group, it becomes a lot less about us and a lot more about the kids, Jesus, and the ways we let God use us.

2. Humble yourself

The more cool, holy, or amazing you present yourself as, the more distant kids will feel from you.

You’re also the person who happens to be proclaiming the gospel and sharing about Jesus—do the math.

Leaders should show kids that Jesus meets them right where they are, loves them as they are, and desires to be a part of their lives right now—not once they become as cool, holy, and amazing as their leaders.

*When Kids Hurt* is a great resource to help you navigate the adolescent world.

You were a kid once. If you’re made of flesh and blood, you probably sinned once, too. It’s not always best to share all the details of your sin without a relational foundation, but the more vulnerable you are with kids, the more likely they are to share the sin in their lives too. If we hide, so do they.

Humility isn’t just important for our relationships with kids. If you serve in a youth ministry, chances are good that you work with a team of volunteers.

Serving in ministry together is a surprisingly dangerous opportunity for selfishness to creep into our lives. It’s easy to feel like by being on the team we are fulfilling our duties, checking the box, or doing our time. But if you’ve committed to being a part of the team, share the load. Don’t dump everything onto one person—especially not the person giving the message. If someone else on your team is directly communicating the gospel, help that leader give kids their best by allowing them to focus on preparing their message.

3. Seek the kids in the corners

No matter how awesome your youth group is, there will always be kids in the corners. The ones who show up because their parents made them come, or a cute boy or girl is there too. They think the games are dumb and the leaders are weird. Or maybe they just want everyone else to think they’re too cool to be there. Either way, God has brought them to your youth group, and he’s entrusted them to you for an hour or two each week.

Sometimes kids genuinely aren’t interested in what’s going on, and you can’t and shouldn’t force them to join in. But sometimes kids stand in the corners to see if anyone will notice.

If a kid without friends comes to youth group, where he/she doesn’t have friends, how do you make the body of Christ look different than school? Involve them. Love them. Imitate God’s relentless pursuit of their hearts.

4. Share the joy of the gospel

The gospel isn’t boring. A lot of kids think it is, because their only exposure to it is from reading a translation of a 2,000-year-old book, or listening to messages crafted for adults. Jim Rayburn, founder of Young Life (a youth ministry designed for kids who don’t go to church), once said “It’s a sin to bore a kid with the gospel.” Whether or not you agree with Rayburn, Christians can’t overlook the potential damage of presenting the most exciting truth in the history of the world as stale, old, and irrelevant. The Bible is living and active (Hebrews 4:12), and there are countless ways to show kids that the life and truth it contains is applicable to their lives today.

5. Know your kids

Knowing your kids means more than just knowing who they are. It means knowing how they will respond to different situations, and preparing your events with them in mind.

Some kids love being the center of attention, and some kids fall apart when you put them in front of a group. It’s important to give kids equal opportunity to shine, but the risk of humiliating a kid or making them feel alone and outcast is not worth the potential reward of making them feel adored.

If a kid is checking out your youth group for the first time and you’ve never had any interaction with them, you might want to be careful about throwing them into a game that requires them to be outgoing and comfortable in front of everyone.

It’s also important to know where your kids are at spiritually. This doesn’t mean you should ask every kid who comes through the door, “Do you believe in Jesus?” Those conversations should happen, but not before you develop a relationship with them and earn the right to ask those deeply intimate questions.

There are countless reasons why a kid might walk in through the doors of your youth ministry, and a lot of them aren’t Jesus (at least, not from the kid’s perspective). Over-spiritualizing a kid’s experience can actually prevent them from having a spiritual experience. St. Francis of Assisi is often attributed with saying, “Preach the gospel always, and if necessary, use words.” Youth ministry is an excellent context to practice reflecting Christ through the way you love and live.

6. Don’t embarrass kids*

Kids live in constant fear of humiliation. The last place they should have to live out their worst nightmares is at youth group—where they are also learning that they are loved and valued by God.

*See #5 and #1. If you know a kid well enough and you’re confident that their class-clown spirit will allow them to embrace and appreciate the experience, and the embarrassment serves a purpose, mild embarrassment may be acceptable.

7. Meet parents

You could be the nicest, most caring and trustworthy person on the planet, but if parents don’t know you, how can you expect them to trust you with their kids?

Building a relationship with parents is especially important for middle school and elementary school ministries, where kids are fully dependent on their parents to even be able to show up at your events. Sometimes meeting parents is effortless because they actively seek out the leaders who work with their kids. Other times, meeting parents takes work.

Even if they don’t care who you are or who their kids hang out with, it will always be worth it to you in your ministry to get to know the people who have raised the kids God has placed at your feet. When kids leave, walk them out to whoever picks them up. Better yet, offer to give them a ride, and use it as an opportunity to introduce yourself to their parents. Don’t let the inside of the church be the only place your life overlaps with your kids’.

8. Put your relationship with Jesus first

This may seem selfish in a way, but the reality is, the more we put Jesus first, the more we love those around us. When you put your relationship with Jesus first, the purpose and significance of everything you do and say to others is amplified, not reduced.

Phrases like, “You can only lead someone as far as you’ve gone” may be cliché, but they still carry weight. If you aren’t pursuing your own relationship with Jesus, how can you honestly encourage kids that it’s important to their faith? If you aren’t reading your Bible, praying, and surrounding yourself with Christians who are wiser than yourself, you aren’t offering your best to your ministry, your kids, or God. These are your tools of the trade, and if you aren’t using your tools, how can you do your job?

9. Honor your commitment

Hopefully getting involved with a youth group wasn’t just a passing fancy you had in church one day. Stepping into ministry of any kind is something that should be prayerfully considered, discussed with God and with wise people in your life, and surrounded with spiritual preparation.

If you’ve committed to leading kids at your church or through another ministry, honor God, your kids, and the leaders on your team by being trustworthy, accountable, and invested in the work you are doing together.

Today’s kids have been dubbed “the fatherless generation.” Youth leaders can’t abandon them too. Leaving ministry should be considered just as carefully and prayerfully as entering it.

10. Get a mentor

One of the biggest dangers facing people in ministry is burnout. It’s easy to be excited about something when you first get going, but after a couple years, or a decade, how do you stay excited? And more importantly, how do you draw from your experience while still treating each experience and each kid as something entirely new and wonderful?

The key is having a mentor.

If you are constantly pouring into the lives of kids and nobody is pouring into you, sooner or later you’re going to feel empty. Whether that mentor is a pastor, a more experienced leader, or a wise friend from church, you need somebody who can offer you fresh perspective, hold you accountable, pray for you, love you, and inspire you to keep going (Hebrews 10:24).

What else do you think youth leaders should know? Tell us in the comments!

* * *

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July 11, 2014 By Guest Author | 6 Comments

Overcoming Weapons of Mass Distraction

Today’s guest post is by Daniel Henderson, a senior pastor for over two decades, who brought prayer-based revitalization to several mega-churches. Today he’s dedicating his full-time efforts to help church leaders and congregations across the country experience renewal and turn-around. Henderson is the president of Strategic Renewal, which exists to ignite personal renewal, congregational revival, and leadership restoration for Christ’s glory. He also serves as the national director of The 6:4 Fellowship, which calls pastors back to the supreme New Testament ministry priorities, as seen in Acts 6:4.

“Satan is always launching weapons of mass distraction against me.” This heartfelt confession by a pastor friend from his pulpit captured my heart. Like this despondent leader, many pastors are crumbling under the weight of unprecedented and innumerable distractions. I often remind pastors at our leadership conferences that the devil does not have to destroy us; he simply has to distract us.

May 2, 2014 By Ryan Nelson | 49 Comments

5 Ways to Empower Homeless People

Homelessness is one of the most widely recognized faces of poverty. Wherever you live and whatever your socioeconomic status, chances are you’ve encountered homeless people. Maybe you avoid them out of fear that someone desperate enough to ask a stranger for help might also be desperate enough to take advantage of you.

But if you want to do more than say “God bless” or “good luck” (James 2:14–17), here are some practical ways you can make an impact on the life of a homeless person:

1. Feed them

Matthew 25:35, Isaiah 58:10
Buying food for someone who needs it is great, it’s easy, and it’s not as risky as giving someone a handful of cash—you know your money is putting food in someone’s stomach. When you’re busy, it’s easy to feel like you don’t have time to help someone. But setting aside as little as 15 minutes to eat with someone does so much more than handing out a sandwich. If you’re spending all day holding a sign to ask complete strangers for help while most of them try not to make eye contact, you aren’t just missing the things on the sign: you’re equally depraved of human contact. (Click to share) When you’re lonely, a meal with a stranger is still better than yet another meal alone. Kind words mean more with a meal, and a meal means more with kind words.

2. Clothe them

Luke 3:11, Matthew 25:36
Imagine how hard it would be to apply for a job or housing when you’ve been living on the streets with a single set of clothes. You’re so filthy that no one wants to shake your hand, let alone live or work alongside you. And even if they’re willing, it takes a very strong person to overcome the social shame that our materialistic, appearance-oriented culture makes these people experience. In a small way, taking someone to pick clothes that not only fit them, but that they can comfortably present themselves in, humanizes them. You could also treat them to a haircut, or something else that reminds them how good it feels to be able to take care of your body. By helping someone look their best, you give them a fighting chance to present themselves in a professional setting.

3. Find work

1 Thessalonians 4:11–12, Proverbs 14:23
There are a lot of resources available to the homeless through public goods, charities, and ministries. But without access to information—who, what, where, when, how—many homeless people remain detached from the opportunities available to them. You could point them to some of these services. Or, you could play a more personal role in helping someone get back on their feet. Set aside some time to help them find nearby places that are hiring. Again, this is more helpful if you are willing to spend time with the person. You could come up with a generic list of positions and places close by using a service like Craigslist, but if you dedicate some time to getting to know the person and talking to them about their skills and experience, you can help them find the jobs they have the best chance at landing. By teaching someone how they could be valuable to a potential employer, you help them feel valued as a person. And God values them, so we should too (John 13:35, 1 John 4:8, John 3:16).

4. Speak up for them

Proverbs 31:8
There are lots of ways that we can speak up for the impoverished. On a purely practical level, writing is a powerful way that we can help empower the homeless. One of the greatest deterrents from employment is poor résumés and cover letters. Even among those who aren’t homeless, sloppy résumés and cover letters, or canned applications that aren’t relevant are some of the biggest problems people have when they apply for work. Even if you aren’t the best writer or you haven’t perfected your own résumé, chances are you can still help someone who needs it. And the more time you spend getting to know them, the better you’ll be at helping them present themselves and eventually provide for themselves.

5. Help them stay busy

Proverbs 19:15, 1 Thessalonians 5:14, Ephesians 5:15–16
Imagine that you are completely dependent on others, and that you have an infinite supply of time to stand by yourself, waiting for help. A homeless man named Tucker once told me, “The worst part is being alone with your thoughts. You fight with yourself and your head tells you that you suck. You’re nothing. Worthless.” As a stream of happy, busy people drive by without so much as a second glance, that internal battle is constantly fueled by external circumstances. How do you pass the time when you have too much of it? What are some healthy ways to kill time that you could share with someone? For me, it’s books. And I’m a firm believer that people who “don’t like books” just haven’t found the right one yet. But there are so many blessings we take for granted every day that we can share with our homeless neighbors: music, conversations, Scripture, board games, and more.

Rules of engagement:

Before you mentally commit to helping someone, there are a few things you should keep in mind. However you plan to help someone, be flexible. Remember that the people you are talking to have lives. They have things they care about and priorities. You don’t know how you can help someone the most until you know what they need the most help with. Have a plan, but be prepared to improvise and adapt.

How are you serving the homeless around you? Tell us in the comments!

And if you want to learn more about how to engage poverty in the world around you, check out some of these great resources:

November 6, 2013 By Guest Author | 6 Comments

The 3 Keys to Internet Purity

Tools like Faithlife.com, a digital home for your faith community, and the Faithlife Study Bible harness technology to grow your faith. But for every edifying use of technology, a sinister one can also be found. This guest post by Luke Gilkerson, general editor of Covenant Eyes’ Breaking Free Blog, addresses some of the keys to Internet purity. Gilkerson is also the author of several books on Internet purity.

Somewhere in the world right now, a mother is discovering that her 14-year-old son has been looking at porn online for three years, and she was totally unaware up until now.

Somewhere else a man sits quietly in his home, engaging in a three-hour porn binge while his family is sleeping.

In another place, a single 25-year-old woman is clicking back and forth between porn videos and anonymous erotic chat sessions.

Next door, a pastor is sitting up late with his laptop, with his mouse arrow hovering over the words “I am at least 18 years old,” praying to God he will have the strength to resist the urge.

These are the kinds of stories I hear every day where I work at Covenant Eyes. Men and women call us day in and day out asking the same question: how can I resist temptation online?

October 4, 2013 By Guest Author | 7 Comments

Loving the Sexually Broken Woman

Today’s guest post by author, speaker, and blogger, Jessica Harris, bravely addresses topics that, despite being taboo, affect many women and girls. You can read more from her at BeggarsDaughter.com.

In case the popularity of 50 Shades of Grey and Magic Mike hadn’t clued you in, sexually explicit material is becoming increasingly popular among women—yes, even women in the church. As a former porn addict myself, I can speak to the lure of pornography and erotica (like 50 Shades), and also to the painful silence among Christians.

I know, it’s an uncomfortable and daunting subject. How do we minister to a people group essentially in hiding? How do we extend grace for a problem we don’t fully understand? How do we address such a sensitive topic and love those trapped in it?

August 21, 2013 By Guest Author | 9 Comments

What God Meant: “Be Subject to the Governing Authorities”

We’re launching a new series of posts titled “What God Meant,” in which we will invite expert guest writers to explain some of the most commonly misunderstood scriptural passages. I invited Jesse Wisnewski, content strategist at TheResurgence.com, to kick things off with a look at Romans 13:1.

Which one word that best describes the relationship between Christianity and the state?

Is it “influence”?

What about “redeem”?

Or how about “ignore”?

All of these are excellent suggestions and carried out by various Christians around the world, but there is one word that best answers this question: “submit”.