Field of Blog

Complaints- how to survive

If you are a leader, on any level, people will misunderstand you.  They will have their own thoughts on what you should and shouldn’t do.  When you go against what they want, they may complain.  Hopefully any complaints made will be directly to you, but chances are that they will be made to other people.  Here are some ways to survive when you find out someone is talking negatively about you:

• Be honest with yourself.  Remember how many people you have talked negatively about.  This will help you remember that although it is painful to receive, you have been the sender too many times to hold a grudge.  This should help you to stop talking about others.
• Be even more honest with yourself.  Is their any validity to the complaint?  Even if you disagree, see if there is anyway you can use this information to grow in anyway (sometimes you can’t, but we need to try.)
• Be confident.  God called you to lead whatever you are leading.  You are the person God created to lead what you are leading!  There is great strength in that. 
• Wait.  If you feel like you need to address the situation, cool your jets.  Don’t be defensive.  Care more about the person you are talking to than defending yourself.  Christ does that constantly for us, we are too be Christlike.  I wish I could say “don’t take it personally” but I always take it personally.  I invest so much into what I do, that it is apart of me.  I take it personally, but it doesn’t mean I have to react to a negative in a negative way.
• Read James 1

James 1:1-2
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds,
³because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.

D-Now 2009

Church @ the movies

Can you believe that a church’s student ministry skipped Sunday night service to go to a movie that was rated PG-13?

Believe it, ’cause we did just that. We did it to fulfill several of the purposes the youth ministry at Pleasant View strives to meet. I know, it isn’t the traditional thing to do. I know it could possibly cause some people to be upset, but let me explain.

1. We are trying to encourage our students to attend our Sunday morning worship services and or Sunday School. Only around 50% of our Students attend a Sunday Service.  To increase the chances that these student will continue attending church after High School, we must get them connected and involved with our church beyond the youth ministry.  That connection usually starts through Sunday School and Sunday morning worship services.   I have decided to occasionally have surprise trips or discounted trips for students who attend our Sunday morning services. I know it sounds like a gimmick, and I guess it is. My prayer is that our students will see Sunday services have practical rewards, and hopefully will recognize there are heavenly rewards that are much more valuable!

2. We saw the new movie The Blind Side. You can read about it online. It was a great movie with an amazing message. It was based on a true story. It was rated PG-13. It had some drug references (from the life the young man in the film left.) It had a few curse words, which I don’t like at all, but I don’t think it detracted from the powerful message.

3. We had a total of 24 people who went (4 adults, 20 youth.) After the movie we went back to the bus and had a great time of discussion and devotion about the movie. We weren’t in the walls of a church, but we had a great 10 minute worship service after watching a 2 hour illustration. It was powerful.

4. We had 2 first time visitors on the trip (outreach.) We also had great fellowship (Inreach.) It was a great night.

I want to know your thoughts. If you went on the trip, please share the experience. If you are just reading, let me know what you think. Please be honest. Is this a good idea? Why or Why not?

Asher Josiah

I want to thank all of you who have been praying for Asher.  We wanted to share with you all exactly what is going on with him.  After seeing two different pediatrician cardiologist’s we are confident he is in no immediete danger.  We just have to keep a close eye on his heart as he grows to make sure that the problem doesn’t get more severe.

Asher was born with an aortic valve that has only two flaps (leaflets) — not three.   The aortic Valve should look like a peace sign, Asher’s looks more like a fishes mouth.   Having a bicuspid aortic valve requires regular evaluation by a physician to watch for signs of valve malfunction.  Just around 1% of people are born with this.  In Asher’s case it is a bit more problematic because he has  aortic stenosis (thickening of the Aortic valve leaflets.)  The stenosis simply means that the two leaflets aren’t opening and closing as well as our awesome cardiologist would like.

So what exactly does all of this mean?  You know I am not a doctor, and I am not too bright, but I have really tried to learn from our amazing cardiologist.   Here is my best explanation:

The Aortic Valve is one of the valves in the heart.   Asher’s isn’t formed correctly and it doesn’t open and close exactly the way it should.  This sounds crazy scary, but  there is some good news.  Right now all this is causing is for the pressure in one chamber of his heart to increase because the blood can’t pump out the aortic valve as fast as the heart wants it to.    The blood is still flowing, it is just causing the pressure in that one area to increase.  Right now, even though the blood pressure in that one is higher than the rest of his body, it is still with-in the safe parameters/limits of his heart.  Which means, he is fine.

So where do we go from here?  Well, right now we will visit the cardiologist monthly to make sure as Asher grows and his heart grows, the problem doesn’t increase in severity.  There are several treatment options if the problem does get worse.

There were a few hours where we really weren’t sure what was wrong, we just knew something was wrong.  As you can imagine we were scared to death.   We believe that the prayers that were prayed and are being prayed made a huge impact on Asher’s health and the anxiety levels of his mom and me.  We simply praise God for Asher and helping us through this journey that started on Monday.  Next week I hope to post everyday on different things God showed us/me through this week.

Special thanks goes to our cardiologists, and our pediatrician in Mt. Vernon (Dr. Callie Shaffer) who is on Maternity leave herself.  She learned of our situation and called us and answered so many questions that our Doctor in Campbellsville did not.    Dr. Shaffer was and is an answer to prayer.

Thanks again for all of the concerns and prayers. Your prayers mattered in this situation. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you.

Serve Him First

I am currently going through a Bible Study plan to read the Bible in 90 Days.  Although it has been an adjustment, I am really enjoying it.  As  I was reading through Genesis something caught my attention that  I hadn’t noticed.  In Genesis 40, the King’s baker and cupbearer are sent to prison.  They have some dreams, but don’t know what they mean.  Joseph was in prison too (for a crime he didn’t commit) and he was able to tell them what the meaning of their dreams.  The cupbearer told Joseph his dream, and Joseph let him know that things were going to be good.  Then the baker saw that his ally got a favorable interpretation he told his dream to Joseph.  Bad news for the baker.  Joseph told him he would be killed, and he was executed.

The Cupbearer was freed and forgot about Joseph.  That is , until Pharoah had a dream and he wanted to know what it meant (2 years later I might add.)  So the cupbearer tells pharaoh about Joseph.  Joseph not only Interprets pharoah’s dream, but pharaoh put Joseph into a position of extremely high authority.  A position where he is able to literally serve, protect, and save  all of the people in the land by preparing for a  great famine.

Did you catch it?  Joseph served 2 ordinary guys, and it ended there.  When Joseph served someone with alot of power and authority, it enabled him to serve thousands of people.  Who has more power and authority than our God?  Noone does.  If we serve God first in everything we do, He will allow us to serve many more people than if we simply try to serve them ourselves(without serving Him first.)

Serve God first, and be ready for whomever he puts in your path.

Little things make a big difference

http://blogsouthwest.com/blog/the-rest-of-the-story

Nice Surprise

I really like it when parents stop by my office to hang out.  Sometimes it is just to chill, sometimes it is to tell me cool stuff, and sometimes it is to vent/share concerns.

Yesterday a parent came in and we chatted a while, then they told me the reason for the visit.  When I decided to not go to a normal camp, but do our own mission trip they weren’t happy.    They didn’t think it was a good idea.  They though it was a mistake.

To be honest, I questioned the decison myself over and over and over, but I was confident that God was leading us in that direction.

As the conversation continued, the parent looked at me in the eye and let me know that we made the right decision.  The parent was clear that they never publicly denounced their negative feelings, but that they just wanted to tell me that we did the right thing for our students.

Wow.  If you read this (parent who stopped by) thank you a hundred times.  It was a bit of encouragement that came at a great time.

For everyone else- this visit took some courage and boldness.    May I live and lead with courage and boldness like this person does.

“your ministry is perfectly designed to achieve the results you are currently getting.” andy stanley

The results that are happening in your life are the result of  the way things in your life are designed. If you don’t like the results you are getting in your life, your job, your ministry, or any other area of your life you can:
A. Find great excuses to why things aren’t going the way you had hoped.
B. Find a person to blame (it is the American way.)
C. Change the design flaws that are causing unwanted results.

9 Minutes- worth it.