Encouraging Words from Cary Schmidt » uncategorized

Repost: The Right View of Spiritual Leaders…

caryschmidt — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 04:35:54 +0000

There are two very different attitudes towards spiritual leaders. Some Christians seemingly never see anything good, and in fact have given themselves over to criticism and fault-finding. While other Christians opt to be prayerfully and joyfully supportive and encouraging toward leaders. Which position have you taken in life? Just a couple of quick thoughts to challenge your thinking:

1. Spiritual Leaders Need Encouragement and Support—they are just as human as you and I, and they have opted to carry a larger burden in life—the burden of public scrutiny and influence. Influence brings with it both blessings and burdens, but the burdens are greater. A leader’s easiest path would be to leave the podium and re-enter private life away from the scrutiny of others. If you have a leader who has embraced the burden of influence, make that burden lighter by being an encourager.

2. My Spiritual Leaders Have Always Looked Past More Faults in Me Than I Have in Them—critics always miss their own faults because they are so consumed with the faults of others. Encouragers are not blind to the faults of leaders, they just recognize that the ground is level at the cross. I’m grateful that God has filled my years with spiritual leaders and influencers who have been patient with me. They have always put up with more faults in me than I have in them—that’s for sure. Before you get too critical of a leader, take a close look at what your leader has to put up with in you.

3. Anybody Can Find Fault, but Wisdom and Maturity Chooses Encouragement—critics amuse me because they really think that they are the only people who really “get it.” Everybody else is an idiot. They forget that anyone with an IQ of 10 can find a problem or a fault. Faults are everywhere in all of us—welcome to the fallen human race. The only reason anything happens for Christ is that people choose to love each other and labor together in spite of their faults.

4. Whatever You Do, Don’t Join the Dark Side—unmet expectations, unrealistic expectations, or a lack of focus on Christ can lead to deep bitterness. That root of resentment will defile your whole life, rob your joy, and defile others as you share it, gossip about, post about, etc. What a tragic way to live even five minutes of life! Time is too precious to give to such destructive living.

Recently I was reading a biography of a great influencer. The author shared this quote about this spiritual leader who had greatly influenced her. It makes a nice period to the point of this post:

“Keep your eyes only on Jesus. Never, ever, ever eulogize spiritual leaders and put all of your confidence and trust in them. It is so easy to criticize and find flaws in leaders, especially those who are doing the most for God’s kingdom. It is so easy to be critical and judgmental. There can be hurt feelings, disillusionment, and bitter roots that begin to grow. Satan is at the constant ready to infiltrate, weaken, undermine, ridicule, hurt us, and destroy the effectiveness of God’s servants.

I think of the words of the chorus: ‘Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in his wonderful face. And the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace.’ If you are carrying around a grudge or hurt feeling against one of God’s servants, get rid of it. Confess, repent, and change your focus.”

Today—why not live your life with a right spirit—a spirit of support and encouragement toward someone in spiritual leadership!

“Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified, even as it is with you:”
(2 Thessalonians 3:1)

A Collection of Posts About Annual Planning

caryschmidt — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 03:28:15 +0000

Perhaps you’ve come across this blog in the past 12 months. If so, this post is for you. Over the past few years, I’ve written a number of articles about creating an annual planner for life and ministry and about personal productivity. I thought it might be helpful to re-post these with titles, summaries, and links to the original articles. The planner articles also offered a sample planner, which I will be happy to email you. Just shoot me an email and let me know you would like to have a copy.

This is a great time of year to look ahead at the next 12 months and truly seek the Lord and His guidance for what He would accomplish through you. Here are the articles that may help equip you and prepare your for God’s best in the new year:

Thoughts on Planning a New Year—This post was actually written in 2008 and shares 6 compelling reasons to plan ahead.

Contents of a New Year Planner—This post breaks down 9 things you might consider placing into a new year planner.

More on Developing a New Year Planner—This post delves a bit deeper into the thinking behind a planner and how to approach it.

Implementing Your New Year Plan—This post gives some practical thoughts on how to put your plan into practice on a daily basis once it’s created.

7 Ideas for Your Personal Planner System—This post shares some tools that you may find helpful in using your planner system. Since writing it I’ve moved from a leather binder to an iPad, which I wrote about in the post listed below.

iPad, iPhone, Apps and Ideas—This post highlights apps and ideas I’ve found helpful in implementing technology into the flow of daily life.

Three Huge Principles for Personal Productivity—This post shares three big values that I wish I had known much earlier in my ministry life.

Three More Principles for Personal Productivity—More of the same… three more big things of which I constantly need to be reminded.

Making Good Intentions Happen—This post covers the 4 biggest reasons we fail to accomplish our goals.

Making the Busiest Time of Year the Best Time of Year—if December is already getting the best of you, take a look at a few thoughts that help me and Dana keep our sanity during December.

We have just a few weeks before 2011! Hard to believe! Sometimes God radically changes our plans—but that’s an even better reason to look ahead and make sure your direction and desires are set according to God’s will! God bless your new year!

Overtime Rally with Michael Redd

caryschmidt — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 06:47:20 +0000

God gave us a GREAT weekend—one of the greatest of my life! Here’s the story.

A few months ago, the Lord intersected Pastor Chappell’s path with NBA basketball player Michael Redd (shooting guard for Milwaukee Bucks, NBA Allstar, and Olympic gold medalist.) It was a “chance” meeting at an airport. Michael was sitting reading his Bible, and he and Pastor Chappell were able to share testimonies and strike up conversation about ministry. That led to an invitation for Michael to come and be a part of a student ministry outreach at LBC.

This Saturday was the culmination of many weeks of work and preparation by our youth team. They did a fantastic job! Larry Chappell led the effort, and our entire team labored so fervently for the Lord. We prayed, we invited, we planned, and we eagerly awaited seeing what the Lord had in all of this. The week before the rally, our Senior High teens went to every public school campus in the valley and boldly passed out gospel invitations. Their passion and courage was awesome!

Saturday morning, Lance, Larry, and I picked up Michael Redd and his kind friend, Michael Powell, and enjoyed breakfast together. It was like we had known each other for years. Michael and his friend are two of the most humble, sincere, and passionate Christian men I’ve ever met; and instantly they were an encouragement to our hearts. I was immediately struck by Michael’s genuine walk with God and authentic passion for souls. Over breakfast and throughout the day, he shared story after story of sharing Christ with NBA players, his personal walk with God, his love for his family, and his hunger for God’s Word. Sprinkled throughout were also some interesting NBA/Olympic stories and amazing accomplishments that God has allowed in his career.

Early in the conversation, Michael said, “I’m the least likely candidate! God just raised me up and helped me play better so that I might lift up Christ.” He is genuinely humble about all that God has done. Pretty amazing! In the midst of a personally challenging week for our family, God allowed us to be greatly encouraged by this good man.

At about 10:30am we went over the service cue card and had a word of prayer with Pastor Chappell. The rally began at 11am on Saturday morning, and the spirit of the teens was awesome! The lower floor of our auditorium was filled with 1,400 teenagers—students from our valley and surrounding areas. I would estimate that at least 400 of these were first time guests. It was a joy to see parents bringing their teens, coaches bringing their teams, and LBC teens bringing their friends.

For the first few minutes we had some fun, including a shooting contest, a highlight video of Michael playing ball, some basketball advice from Michael, and then an NBA Q&A featuring questions that the teens submitted. After a special song, Michael shared his testimony and love for Christ. He challenged the kids to come to Christ, to build their lives around the presence of God, and to live holy lives. Their hearts were fixed on his every word.

After the testimony, Evangelist Bryan Samms stood and preached a fantastic gospel message, and then conducted the invitation. Approximately 150 people (teens and adults) walked the aisle, having responded to the call to trust Christ as Saviour. It was just awesome to see God work in hearts. It was an overwhelming joy to see God answer the prayers and bless the labor of our students! Later that evening, we enjoyed great fellowship with our student ministry staff and Michael Redd at Pastor Chappell’s home. The day came to a close with a lot of anticipation for what God would do on Sunday.

On Sunday, God once again blessed Michael’s testimony and the clear gospel preaching of Pastor Chappell as dozens walked the aisle for salvation in the morning services. The day ended with Pastor Chappell preaching one of the best Sunday evening messages I’ve ever heard—challenging the church family to disciple, encourage, and love the new Christians that God brought to Himself this weekend. It was awesome!

At the close of the service, Pastor shared my health diagnosis with the church family—the only “heavy” moment of the weekend. (Bummer) Then, Dana and I were greeted and encouraged by hundreds of our church family members—those we love to serve and serve God with! Our prayers is that we encouraged them as well. We love our church family and do not want our trial to be a burden to them.

As I write this post, my heart is overwhelmed and amazed. God is too good! In the midst of a very strange moment in my life, God just reached out of Heaven and poured out two of the greatest days of ministry and family memories that I have ever experienced! I will never forget this weekend—what God did, how He encouraged our hearts, and how He changed so many lives for all eternity.

I will never forget our students and their courage to reach the lost. I will never forget how our student ministry team stepped up and got the job done administratively! I will never forget Pastor Chappell’s gracious kindness to let me be a part of such ministry opportunities! I will never forget Michael Redd and Michael Powell and their godly encouragement in my heart and to my sons. I will never forget seeing hundreds of people come to Christ in a single weekend. I will never forget God’s overwhelming goodness in the midst of personal uncertainty!

There is nothing in life as wonderful as serving God! To God be the glory for His marvelous works at Lancaster Baptist Church this weekend! Thank you for praying that God would bless our open house weekend.

Announcing the SM127 Podcast for Students

caryschmidt — Sun, 26 Sep 2010 00:22:22 +0000

We are excited to announce a new podcast flowing from the ministry of Lancaster Baptist Church—SM127 Podcast, which simply stands for Student Ministry!

This podcast will be a part of the free Ministry127.com family of resources and will be for teens. It will feature messages from our ministry events for teenagers—West Coast Baptist Teen Camps, Youth Conferences, Winter Retreats, Chapels, and regular Student Bible Studies. It’s a place where teens can subscribe to regularly keep in touch with sound biblical preaching.

To subscribe to the SM127 Podcast, simply click here: http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/sm127/id388432069

Be sure to share this information with young adults that might benefit from hearing these messages! Pray that God will use this podcast to encourage young people to live for Christ.

Spiritual Leadership Conference 2010

caryschmidt — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 23:13:27 +0000

Spiritual Leadership Conference 2010 wrapped up last night. God gave us a fantastic week. Today, in the midst of decompressing, I couldn’t help but sit down and journal some of the highlights of the week for me. Here’s what God used to impact me the most:

1. The Preaching. Every single message was a grand-slam home run! Dr. Chappell, Dr. Norris, Dr. Davison, Dr. Sisk all preached with power. In my life, God most used Dr. Sisk’s message last night—He must increase and I must decrease. He concluded the message with this question: “What’s growing in your life?” He then said, “If you are getting bigger and bigger, then Jesus is getting smaller. But if you are getting smaller and smaller, then Jesus will get bigger.”

2. The Testimonies and Programs. Throughout the week we heard stories of the ministry of the Holy Spirit—from Monday night’s video “Walking with Giants” (from Dr. Bobby Roberson) to Wednesday’s individual salvation stories and then the video highlighting growing ministries around the world. Each story challenged me in a unique way. I’m eternally grateful for every person who was willing to give a testimony or be a part of a video.

3. The Friends and Fellowship. My greatest friends are other servants of God who are fully engaged in the work of Christ. For that reason, we don’t often get to spend a lot of time together. It was truly awesome this week to rub elbows with so many great servants of God from so many places. I believe the fellowship of this week was a taste of Heaven. We weren’t gathered this week around a college, a personality, a fellowship, or a political position. We were gathered around biblical principles and a common passion to serve Christ with purity. There wasn’t the slightest spirit of competition or comparison! I believe that pleased the Lord. This made for an incomparable spirit and unforgettable encouragement. It was just awesome to see and spend time with so many amazing people.

4. The Team of Servants. I could never be worthy to serve with the incredible people on our team. All week I watched our staff, our church family, our teens, and our in-town college students give of themselves and expend themselves in ways that are noble beyond words. Teams of people worked through the night preparing facilities, videos, technical systems, etc. The music team labored for hundreds of hours on songs, narrations, and rehearsals. The publications team prepared resources, lugged boxes of books all over campus, stayed late processing orders, etc. The tech team recorded, edited and posted 125 sessions, worked tirelessly on livestream details, and supported an entire campus with sound, light, and projection. This is the tip of the iceberg. God’s people are amazing! It is a privilege beyond words to serve on this team and with this church family.

It is our desire to share Spiritual Leadership Conference with people who couldn’t attend. I’m posting several links below that will help you access videos, audio, photos, and resources that were available at the conference. I pray these things will be a blessing.

Free audio downloads of the entire conference—as a gift to you, the entire conference, including the outline notebook, can be downloaded free of charge at www.strivingtogether.com. Pastor Chappell’s sessions will be produced into Spiritual Leadership Podcasts in the coming months. You can find out more about the podcasts at www.ministry127.com.

Videos from the conference and of main services—several videos are already available. These take longer to upload, but you can view each service and video at this link in the coming few days. Feel free to download the videos and use them in your own ministry.

Photos of the conference—this is a collection of shots taken during the week.

New Striving Together Publications resources introduced—this is a complete list of the new resources available at the conference.

Registration for the 25th anniversary conference 2011—this link will let you get the best seats and early registration benefits for next year’s conference.

25th Anniversary Alaska Cruise—this link will help you contact Templeton Tours to get more information about the 25th anniversary Alaska Cruise, August of 2011. If you are a pastor, consider becoming a co-host. This simply means you desire to bring a group, and in doing so, you can earn free passage on the cruise. If you are a church member, consider sending your pastor on this trip of a life time! If you have question, please feel free to contact my office at 661-946-4663.

Over all, Spiritual Leadership Conference 2010 was a life changing time in my life, and I pray, in many others. We thank God for allowing us to be a part of such a wonderful event! To all who came—thank you for coming! It was awesome to fellowship with you. To all who helped—thank you for serving the Lord with us! It was certainly a week to remember forever!

The Road to Adulthood Gets Longer

caryschmidt — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 17:52:24 +0000

New Data on the Growing Distance Between Youth and Adulthood

The New York Times ran a fascinating article yesterday entitled “The Long Road to Adulthood Is Growing Even Longer” by Patricia Cohen. The article reinforces a growing body of research, much of which I wrote about in Life Quest: Braving Adulthood with Biblical Passion. The point is, the twenty and thirty-something generations are increasingly choosing to postpone the decisions and responsibilities of adult life, choosing rather to stay in a perpetual state of limbo—between youth and adulthood. They are taking longer to finished education, begin a family, and become independent.

The most interesting stats in the article were as follows: The median age for marriage is now 27 for men, 26 for women. It was 23 in 1980. Today, 40% of all births are to unwed mothers. That’s a massive shift from 28% in 1990. Parents are now spending more on their kids in their twenties than when they were teens. The average parent spends 10% of their income on their “twenty-something” children. One fourth of 25-year-old men live at home with their parents. That’s up from less than one eighth in 1970.

The article emphasized that marriage and parenthood are now viewed as lifestyle choices rather than a normal part of adulthood. The last statement of the article said that our thought that people enter adulthood in their late teens and early twenties is an “archaic idea.”

Biblically, I believe we should do everything within our power to encourage young adults to resist a trend toward immaturity and irresponsibility. Avoiding responsibility is destructive to life. Practically speaking, however, this trend is a reality in today’s culture, and it’s not all spiritually driven. There are many societal forces that make the transition to adulthood more difficult than it has ever been. The cost of living, the expense of a college education, the information age, and the economic challenges of our day all tend toward the postponement of adulthood.

If you are reaching young adults with the Gospel, this is their reality. This is their “normal.” On one hand we should encourage Christian young adults to resist the trends, but in a very real sense the world in which they live and work thinks very differently. When we reach young adults with the Gospel, their social and cultural philosophies are already deeply ingrained with this thinking.

From my perspective the dangerous aspects of the trends are not necessarily that more young adults are single, living at home, taking longer to be educated, or still having financial help. But rather it is the “why” behind these decisions. In some ways, these things may be unavoidable in today’s climate, and driven by circumstances beyond our control. God’s call and purpose may not always include a spouse, a family, a place of your own, or early financial independence. The real danger lies in avoiding purpose, responsibility, and direction. The real loss is when young adults waste a decade or two in folly rather than focusing on living God’s will and fulfilling His call.

Let’s face it, apart from Christ, secular adulthood, with its wreckage and hopelessness, is less than inviting. It’s something to avoid as long as possible. It’s much more attractive and appealing to stay uncommitted and indecisive—unfettered by adulthood’s weighty responsibilities. I would be indecisive too if so many of my options appeared to lead to hopelessness!

In today’s climate, more young adults simply don’t like their odds when they look at the generation who has gone before them. Too many adult decisions obviously result in failure and despair—so it appears easier not to make them. Many are simply choosing the path that appears to have the least risk, and avoiding the vulnerability that big commitments bring.

The painkillers of life are also attractive—alcohol, drugs, partying, illicit sex, etc. All of these things provide a temporary escape from the steady, dull ache of a meaningless life. Life in Christ is quite the contrary. It is purposeful, joy-filled, and abundant. Life in Christ is not something to escape from, curse about, dread, or avoid.

This past week at a College and Career fellowship we had a lengthy group discussion about the ridicule that Christians receive from co-workers for the things they don’t do—like cursing, drinking, drugs, parties, and sex. I said to the group, “No wonder the world needs these things. I would too if I wasn’t saved! Without Christ, life would be worth cursing about. Life would plainly stink! Life without Christ would require some painkillers and escape. Alcohol, sex, drugs, and parties would be the only hope for temporary relief from the pointlessness and emptiness. What a joy it is to know Christ, to know abundant life. Because of Him, I don’t need to escape my life.”

What does the research show us? Hope for the Gospel! It shows us that young adults are searching for answers in a world that provides none. This is a fantastic platform for the God’s Word! Twenty-somethings and thirty-somethings are prime candidates for the hope, joy, and success that Christ can bring!

As for Christians, we may not be able to rush their education, speed up their dating, or move them quickly to financial independence. But we can challenge them biblically to embrace God’s call and to live purposefully, responsibly, and passionately for Him. That commitment will rightfully lead to all the other right commitments in God’s time.

Note: The article also had some interesting links to research related to transitioning into adulthood, and some links to related articles that would be helpful to someone in young adult ministry.