Tag Archives: local church

Are Revolutionaries Starting to Recant?

By caryschmidt | July 27, 2010

It’s no secret that in the past few years, George Barna and people like him have given up on the local church (the flawed model they invented) and have documented a revolution of people leaving the organized church to simply go and be the church. While there are a lot of biblical problems with this [...]

Posted in ministry & outreach | Also tagged biblical living, church staff, ministry | 1 Comment

Spiritual Leadership Conference 2010

By caryschmidt | July 15, 2010

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 [...]

Posted in ministry & outreach, uncategorized | Also tagged church staff, leadership, ministry, striving together | 3 Comments

Strengthening Spiritual Decisions

By caryschmidt | July 8, 2010

As promised, here are a few short thoughts about how to respond to your teenager after teen camp, especially in regards to their spiritual decisions.
Begin with the long-term perspective—Our view of spiritual decisions is often just too short. Every good decision of life begins with short-term challenges, but also bears long-term results at a “core-values” [...]

Posted in student ministry | Also tagged family, parenting, student ministry, teen life | 3 Comments

Teen Camp 2010 Recap

By caryschmidt | July 2, 2010

Today we completed a wonderful week of teen camp. Here’s a short recap.
First, we were able to return to Pine Summit Camp in Big Bear, California. Operationally, this was the best week of camp we’ve ever had. The good team at Pine Summit served our group well with great food, tremendous facilities, and a wide [...]

Posted in ministry & outreach, student ministry | Also tagged student ministry, teen life | 2 Comments

Influence vs. Control

By caryschmidt | June 3, 2010

Sometimes we get mixed up in ministry. We forget that our responsibility is not control it is influence. God never gave us control of people, their lifestyles, or their choices. He created free will, and gives each individual responsibility for their choices. I fear, out of good intentions, some spiritual leaders cross the line and [...]

Posted in leadership | Also tagged biblical living, counseling, danger, leadership, ministry | 3 Comments

Skeptics, Spectators, and Servants

By caryschmidt | May 19, 2010

In John 11, the amazing story of the raising of Lazarus unfolds. Not long ago, I was studying this passage and it occurred to me that there were three distinct groups of people at this resurrection, and those groups are still pretty much “alive and kicking” in today’s local churches.
Picture the scene—Jesus has waited for [...]

Posted in christian life, ministry & outreach | Also tagged biblical living, devotional thoughts, leadership, ministry, team | 1 Comment

Why Ministry127.com?

By caryschmidt | May 14, 2010

Two months ago, we launched a new website—Ministry127.com. It has had a wonderful start. Friends and co-laborers from all over the world have written and expressed appreciation for the site and the resources it contains. Contributors have continually sent in submissions that are practical and helpful. The site has been overwhelmingly received and used in [...]

Posted in books and resources | Also tagged church staff, leadership, media & tech, ministry, music, podcast, team, technology | Leave a comment

Three Lost Boys and a Local Church

By caryschmidt | May 10, 2010

A Story of the Power of Local Church Ministry
Opening scene—a young family of five is running late to church on a Sunday morning. Three lost, long-haired, little boys (all younger than seven years) sit quietly in the back seat of the car, while a frustrated mom and dad debate over “why” they are late. The [...]

Posted in family, ministry & outreach | Also tagged biblical living, devotional thoughts, family | 3 Comments

New Data on Church Drop-Outs

By caryschmidt | April 29, 2010

USAToday featured an article today that stated 72% of 18-29 year olds say they are more “spiritual” than religious. You can read the original article here, and it’s filled with plenty of discouraging data. But I wanted to draw out two positives that jumped off the page at me. These two things greatly encouraged my [...]

Posted in student ministry | Also tagged adolescence, ministry, student ministry, teen life | 1 Comment

Why Young People Stay Faithful

By caryschmidt | April 19, 2010

Have you ever wondered what contributes to young people staying faithful to the things of God, while others wander away? What contributes t0 two kids in the same local church, hearing the same preaching, ultimately going dramatically different directions? Ultimately, it’s free will—everybody makes their own decisions. But what influences those decisions?
One of our youth [...]

Posted in family, student ministry | Also tagged adolescence, biblical living, family, parenting, student ministry, teaching, teen life | 1 Comment

The Hidden Values of Preparation

By caryschmidt | April 14, 2010

Have you ever conducted an event that was ill-prepared? Have you ever been disorganized or caught off guard in some ministry environment? There’s nothing worse than being thrown off balance by a lack of preparation.
I could fill the pages of a book with tough lessons learned through a lack of preparation. Even after years of [...]

Posted in leadership, productivity | Also tagged leadership, ministry, organization, productivity, teaching | 1 Comment

Do Big Events Really Count?

By caryschmidt | April 12, 2010

We just completed two huge events in our ministry—Easter weekend and West Coast Baptist Youth Conference. After many months of diligent prayer and preparation by a large team, God gave us a great week of decisions for Christ and personal life-change. Over the course of both events we had at least 200 people trust Christ [...]

Posted in ministry & outreach, student ministry | Also tagged adolescence, student ministry, teen life | Leave a comment

Re-Igniting Apathetic Teens

By caryschmidt | April 1, 2010

Recently, a youth pastor asked about some thoughts on how to respond if the youth group is apathetic. My first thought was, we live in a spiritually apathetic world—apathy toward spiritual things is rampant, even among Christians. It’s nothing new, and as long as we serve in ministry, we will be fighting apathy. It’s what [...]

Posted in student ministry | Also tagged ministry, student ministry, teen life | Leave a comment

Introducing Ministry127.com

By caryschmidt | March 29, 2010

For many years, God has placed a passion on Dr. Paul Chappell’s heart for independent Baptist leaders to strive together for the faith of the Gospel (Philippians 1:27.) In that spirit, our team has been working for months on a new resource website called Ministry127.com (based upon Philippians 1:27.)
Just as the annual Spiritual Leadership Conference brings [...]

Posted in books and resources | Also tagged church staff, leadership, ministry, podcast | 1 Comment

The Forgotten Side of Submission

By caryschmidt | March 23, 2010

Not long ago, my wife and I were faced with a really difficult decision. We were faced with two very important schedule conflicts and there was no way we could fulfill both. For several days we worked the situation over in our minds and in talking together. No matter what we chose, something very important [...]