Encouraging Words from Cary Schmidt » local church

Are Revolutionaries Starting to Recant?

caryschmidt — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 14:47:49 +0000

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 statement, that’s not the purpose of this post. I received a very encouraging email from a friend yesterday who pointed me to a blog post of one who, for a long time, was critical of the local church. The post was encouraging on a number of levels:

First, it was an admission of wrong. The sincere-hearted minister honestly admitted that missions and outreach become impossibly limited without the local church. He essentially described the dead-end road he had discovered while in search of authentic ministry, and how it led him to return to a local-church focus. He recanted his previous tone toward the church and stated that he had fallen back in love with the local church!

Second, it was an affirmation of God’s truth and purpose in local-church ministry. On his own journey, this revolutionary had come full circle! I love it! He had left church and gone into a lone-ranger style of ministry, only to find out he had no body of fellowship in which to baptize, disciple, and serve with new Christians. He had discovered, by process, that the local church is still God’s purpose and the fulfillment of Christ’s full mission of life transformation.

Third, it was a validation that local-church ministry works in spite of imperfect local-church members. Some revolutionaries left the local church because they were running from spiritual authority and accountability. But not all. Many left because they were disillusioned—fed up with carnal local-church experiences. They were tired of the game that contemporary churches are playing where Christ is not preeminent, and genuine new life is not found. In knee-jerk reaction fashion, they rejected God’s very design. With sincere motivation, they did the wrong thing. This revolutionary wrote that he now realizes churches of imperfect people are a priceless treasure in God’s eyes!

I was greatly encouraged to read of one revolutionary coming back to a biblical focus for Christ-centered ministry. And I really respected his love and passion for authentic ministry. Local church is God’s plan—we don’t need to revolt, reinvent, or think out of that box. That’s God’s box, and we need to stay in it and work within it. There will always be carnal churches—and there always have been. (Read Revelation 3.) But all over the world today there are growing, Bible-believing, local churches thriving with new life, discipleship, and heart transformation. Barna’s revolutionaries need to see a few healthy churches in action. Many of them would fall back in love with God’s blueprint! There’s nothing like it, and there’s nothing better!

Perhaps the work of God’s Holy Spirit will continue to draw other revolutionaries back to loving the local church the way that Jesus does. Apart from the local church, ministry is crippled. Our best efforts to serve Christ fall far short of the true and lasting life transformation that Christ desires to create through healthy, local-church ministry!

Note: I don’t have permission to repost the article, and I’m not familiar with the man who wrote it or his ministry. I didn’t link to it because I would not want him to think I was being critical of him. I was just really glad to read how God had brought his heart around.

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!

Strengthening Spiritual Decisions

caryschmidt — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 15:31:48 +0000

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” level. Even if a teen struggles with a decision in the few weeks after camp, that doesn’t negate the fact that a long-term value was established. The key is, encourage your teen to take the long-term view that they might not get discouraged with short-term struggles. For example, let’s say a teenager decided to start walking with God personally. We all know that teen will struggle with keeping that decision every single day. But the long-term value of walking with God has been established. If that teen can take the long view, and not get discouraged when a day or two is missed, he might still be walking with God twenty years from now. 2 Peter 3:18 says, “But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” Growth is always a long-term proposition.

Recognize what real spiritual victory looks like—With many of our spiritual struggles, the victory is in the battle—it’s in staying in the fight. For example, just because I decide to have a good spirit towards my parents doesn’t mean I won’t ever have a struggle with them again. It means that I’ve decided to engage in the fight to maintain a good spirit or to restore one when I fail. Staying in the fight is the most important part of long-term victory. Many Christians give up too soon. It is for this reason that 1 Timothy 6:12 says, ”Fight the good fight of faith” and Ephesians 6:13-14 says, “…having done all, to stand. Stand therefore…” Spiritual victory in this life involves staying in the fight no matter what.

Make decisions public and share with family—If you haven’t already, carve out some time to sit down and ask your teenager what God is doing in his life. Too often, parents are convicted by their teen’s decisions and actually criticize them or belittle them. Phrases like, “Well, we’ll see how long that lasts…” or “We’ll see if you really mean it” are discouraging. Sometimes within moments of getting back from a camp or retreat, family members start tearing down what God did in the heart. Hebrews 10:24 teaches us, “And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:” Be thankful if your teenager is taking a higher road than you’re taking. In fact, join them on the journey. You really won’t miss your bad music, rotten TV shows, or bad spirit. Usually teen camp decisions are good for the whole family.

Encourage each other in godly decisions—To make a spiritual decision is to step onto a battlefield. Nobody wants to go to war alone. If someone you love has chosen to fight a spiritual battle, fight with them. Pray, encourage, strengthen, and support them. 1 Peter 1:22 teaches us that we need fervent love in fighting the battle for purity, “Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:”

Renew decisions when you fail—It’s easy to spot failure. Within days of making a decision, often the devil has succeeded at getting us to fail. His ultimate goal is that we might give up. We really only lose when we quit fighting altogether. For this reason, remember the importance of getting back up. Any decision worth making is worth fighting for and worth getting back up for after failure. Proverbs 24:16 challenges us, “For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again…”

I started going to camp when I was 9 years old. For the past 31 years, I’ve been to camp nearly every year. Every year I’ve made decisions. And every year I’ve struggled to keep them. Over three decades, my life is much different than it would have been. The decisions held more than short-term value. The weeks of camp were more than just short-term spiritual pep rallies. They shaped me. They formed my future. They instilled passion. They infused courage to embrace big, direction-setting values. The short-term struggles of whether I kept a decision for a week or two is massively overshadowed by the collective value of deciding many times over to continue doing right and living for God. Each decision was another choice to stay in the fight.

Don’t be discouraged if you struggle to keep spiritual decisions. Just keep making them. Keep fighting the battle. You can never go wrong making a spiritual decision—even if you make it many times over! Teen camp results should really be measured in decades, not weeks. Maybe you’ve already struggled with a recent decision and the devil has started discouraging you. Now would be a great time to get back up and stay in the fight!

Teen Camp 2010 Recap

caryschmidt — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 00:21:17 +0000

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 array of activities and free-time options for the teens. After several bad experiences with camp facilities, we were thankful for big improvement! In addition to this, our LBC camp staff provided great games and a fun-filled week for every teen!

Second, the main event of teen camp is always the preaching. This year Pastor Kurt Skelly preached to our Senior Highers and Pastor Josh Irmler preached to the Junior Highers. Both men were very biblical, practical, and passionate in their preaching. God used them powerfully! In addition to perhaps thousands of spiritual decisions, God gave us approximately 23 teens who trusted Christ, and another 20 who surrendered to God’s call to full time ministry. It was a delight to see the tender hearts at the invitations. Each night, many teens raised a hand asking for a counselor to pray with them about something specific.

Third, we thank the Lord for a great group! Eight other churches from the southwest joined us for the week. Approximately 420 teens and 80 adults participated in the week, and the entire group had a tremendous spirit. I’m especially thankful for the fellowship the youth pastor’s shared, and the sacrifice our adult leaders displayed as they invested their hearts and influence into the teens. From early morning to late night, God gave each of us many counseling moments to encourage, pray with, and strengthen the young people.

Fourth, I thank the Lord for a week of unforgettable moments and spiritual victories. This article would be much too long if I attempted to recall them all, but here are a few highlights of the week. Dozens of teens who have been hurt or who are bearing burdens made decisions to “overcome the evil with good.” The teens memorized several thousand verses during the week. Our new class of Seniors displayed a tremendous spirit and made many good decisions. The WCBC ladies trio did a great job singing and serving. Youth pastors participated in a round-table idea sharing time for youth ministry. Dozens of former youth group graduates returned to camp as counselors—I’m grateful for their tremendous mentoring and godly examples. Older teens consistently reached out encourage younger teens. Pastor and Mrs. Chappell visited camp on Thursday, spent some time with the kids, and shared a challenge in the evening services. And the week was filled with great laughs and hilarious memories.

The biggest take-away for me was the overwhelming understanding of the enormous burdens that many teens bear. This week we counseled many teens who have indescribable grief unfolding in their lives. A huge percentage of them have faced broken homes, abuse, rejection, desertion, and other painful trials. Our hearts broke as we wept and prayed with these young people. My prayer is that God used the week to encourage them and heal their hurts by His grace.

Looking back, teen camp is an exhausting week, but worth every moment! It’s one of the most critical spiritual weeks of the year. The hundreds of hours of personal counseling, praying, planning, and participation will reap decades of fruit in young lives. Teen Camp produces lasting life change. I can attest to this because of the powerful impact camp had on my own life as a teenager.

If you are a parent, thank you for sending your teenager! Thank you for allowing us to minister to them! It’s a great privilege. Check back this weekend for a short article on how to encourage and strengthen your teenager’s camp decisions.

If you are a youth pastor, we would love to have your group join us next year. Space is limited, so let us know soon if you are interested. We would be happy to provide you with more information. If you are a praying friend, thank you for praying for God to work! He answered prayer! Our hearts are full. God truly blessed teen camp 2010!

Influence vs. Control

caryschmidt — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 17:05:41 +0000

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 actually try to control behavior rather than influence the heart. There are a lot of reasons this well-intentioned approach to ministry is really bad:

God Gave Us Influence not Control—He allows us to influence others, but He reserves the right of control strictly to Himself. In ministry, it is influence that we seek, and only that we might use influence to compel others to live by biblical principles in complete submission to the One who truly does have ultimate control. We don’t have control of others—ever. God does. And He loans us influence—through spiritual means. He commands us to be living examples to others, persuading them, not mandating them, to live godly. (”In meekness instructing them that opposed themselves.” 2 Timothy 2:25) We cannot mandate others to live righteously, but we can persuade them to. We cannot push others to God, but we can lead them to Him.

Control Is a Delusion, Influence Is Real—Even if we fools ourselves into believing we could have control, it’s a myth. We don’t. We never have. We couldn’t. We shouldn’t want to. It is a complete waste of time to grasp for the reigns of someone else’s decisions. And if someone actually gave us control, it would be temporary, fleeting, ultimately failing, and vain. We have enough trouble controlling ourselves, much less others. (1Timothy 4:16, “Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.”)

Control Is Lordship, Influence Is Leadership—We blow it when we cross the line of spiritual leadership by seeking control. This is simply lording over God’s heritage, which we are commanded not to do. 1 Peter 5:3, “Neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but being ensamples to the flock.” This phrase being lords over speaks of subjugation, domination, and attempting to control, and God expressly forbid it in spiritual leaders. The word ensamples speaks to influence.

Control Builds Man-Dependence, Influence Builds God-Dependence—If someone actually gave you control of their choices, they become dependent upon you. Wrong answer. They are supposed to be dependent upon God. Spiritual leaders are not called to make decisions for people. We are called to build them in biblical principles that create God-dependence. It’s pretty hard to trust in the Lord with all my heart, if my heart is dependent upon another man. (Proverbs 3:5, “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart…”)

People Resent Control, but Appreciate Influence—Attempting to manipulate the behavior of others, even toward ultimately biblical and good ends, only leads to disenchantment and desertion. A life built upon the control of another human being will ultimately run away from that control in search of a better reason for living. To the contrary, a life surrendered to the control of Almighty God has discovered the ultimate purpose of living!

Control Is for Environments, Influence Is for People—Of course you must control your classroom, your youth activity, your church service. God does commands us to let all things be done decently and in order (1 Corinthians 14:40). Controlled environments allow for healthy ministry and effective influence.

Authentic Ministry Is about Influence—Ministry is about developing a biblical relationship with someone that allows you to bring eternal truth—God’s principles—to bear in their decision making, thinking, behavior, and daily lifestyle. This is influence. It isn’t control. (2 Corinthians 5:11, “Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences.”)

Influence Is Earned not Grasped—If you don’t have influence with someone (if they are unresponsive to your persuasion), you will never gain influence by grasping for control. Seek to love, not control. Seek to persuade—to gain a sphere of influence through a loving relationship—then work within that sphere to enlarge biblical influence and compel that person to live under the Holy Spirit’s control.

Persuade is the biblical word (2 Corinthians 5:11)—in the end, as ministers of Christ, that’s what we are—persuaders. We seek to persuade, through our lives—our words and our actions. We seek to influence others to live by biblical principle under the authority of Almighty God—to give HIM control, not us.

But always use influence biblically. God gives us influence to use for His glory, not for personal agenda. Our influence should direct others to God’s agenda for their lives, not ours. Our influence should direct others to hear and heed the inner work of the Holy Spirit in their lives. Our persuasion must be thoroughly selfless and abundantly biblical.

In speaking with Dr. John Goetsch about this subject he made this statement, “God identifies people as sheep in the Bible. Sheep cannot be driven, but they can be led.” As we lead people, and influence them, we are genuinely building them in Christ. Hence the spiritual decisions they make are not contrived, forced, mandated, or manufactured. They are genuinely produced by the Spirit of God.

The hardest part of ministry is watching people do things and make decisions that you know are harmful to them. God doesn’t give us control of those decisions. But He does allow us influence—the power of persuasion. Seek to influence others with a servant’s heart today.

Actually it’s kind of funny to think that one dumb sheep would attempt to control another dumb sheep. Let’s leave the control part up to God, and do our best to take heed unto ourselves and biblically influence others to do the same.

End Note: Parenting small children would be an obvious exception to these principles, but even then the dependency/control exercised by a parent is with the goal of building influence that will lead them to Christ-dependency and control.

Skeptics, Spectators, and Servants

caryschmidt — Thu, 20 May 2010 04:36:59 +0000

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 Mary outside of town, and “the Jews” have followed her, weeping (John 11:32-33), as she goes to meet Him. Then together they go to Lazarus’ grave, and the Jews follow. In the next few moments an unbelievable miracle occurs—Jesus raises a man from the dead! And in the midst of this amazing event, we see three groups:

First, meet the skeptics (11:46)—amazingly, these were people who, though a man was just raised from the dead, all they could do was run to the pharisees to stir up trouble! When I read that verse, I want to scream at them, “Are you kidding me?! What are you insane?! A man was just resurrected! Are we living on the same planet here?” Plainly, these people were nuts—absolutely disconnected and dysfunctional in every way.

Skeptics. They are everywhere, and no matter what happens, they just can’t accept truth. In modern ministry, these are the people standing in the shadows, arms folded, sporting an obviously cynical attitude—no matter whose life is changing! They are self-appointed, self-righteous cynics who set out in any endeavor to doubt and question the actions and motives of others. They are professional murmurers whose built-in paradigm paints everything in a negative light, regardless of how pure or true it may be. Skeptics never participate in God’s work. They just tag along with those who do, so they can criticize them later.

Second, meet the spectators (11:33, 11:45)—at the same scene were Jews, friends of Mary and Martha, who were not yet followers of Jesus. But they were curious about Him. They followed Mary to meet Him. They watched as He spoke with Mary. They even commented and speculated as to what Jesus was saying and how He was feeling. And a few moments later, they saw the miracle and finally believed!

In modern ministry, these are the people standing on the sidelines without an attitude or negative paradigm. They are intrigued—curious. They are interested in what’s happening. They are still evaluating. They like the excitement of a growing church, a dynamic environment, or an energetic group of joyful people. But they are not participating—yet! (Emphasis on yet.) For now they are just watching. Spectators don’t have any ill-will. They aren’t an enemy. Sometimes they are just a bit fearful or hesitant to take a risk, make the sacrifice, commit to a decision, or really “get involved.”

Spectators are inviting you to convince them—to win them. They are looking for a compelling reason to believe. They are waiting to see if you are for real. And notice that Jesus didn’t chase them off. Quite the opposite. The whole miracle was for these people, that they might believe (11:42). Don’t be a spectator hater. Just patiently help them see and believe. And be patient. Sometimes it takes time.

Finally, meet the servants (11:41)—somebody moved the stone. The Bible says, “they.” I don’t know who “they” were, but I sure like them! They weren’t skeptical, and they weren’t spectating. They were obedient. They stepped up, heard Jesus’ seemingly nonsensical command to “take away the stone,” and they just did what He said! Amazing! What faith. What hearts. What simple, servant-hearted people.

In modern ministry, these are the people fully engaged in the work of God. They are immersed in the ministry, the effort, or the energy in motion—simply because they love the Lord and want to obey Him. They are gladly giving of themselves and willingly expending themselves in faith. They are engaged in serving so that others around them might believe. They are up earlier, awake longer, working harder, and loving every minute of it! They relish not just seeing God work, but actually participating in God’s work! They don’t want to criticize a great work. They refuse to just watch a great work—they have to be in the work! They are addicted to the ministry. (1 Corinthians 16:15)

Simple question—who are you? Are you a skeptic? A spectator? Or a servant? When you are found in the midst of a ministry miracle, which group do you join? Are you standing in the shadows, arms folded, sporting a scowl and eager to run to your lair to pick it apart? Are you watching on the sidelines with curiosity and intrigue, not quite sure you believe? Or are you rolling up your sleeves to join the guys who are moving the stone?

As for me—I don’t want to live my life in the critic’s lair or on the spectator’s sideline. I want God to thrust me into the action of authentic ministry! Let me be one of the guys that moves the stone so that others might see God’s miracles and believe!

Why Ministry127.com?

caryschmidt — Fri, 14 May 2010 23:17:34 +0000

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 just these first two months. And this is just the beginning!

To me, it’s one of the most exciting projects I’ve ever had a part in, and I wanted to share with you the “why.” Why would Pastor Paul Chappell invest the time, the staff, and the resources to create such a website—and then make it FREE? What’s the motive in building a site that isn’t “about our ministry” and isn’t generating income? What’s the point behind Ministry127.com?

The simple answer is that it’s a true reflection of Pastor Chappell’s heart and philosophy of ministry. As long as I’ve known him, he’s a man who avoid politics and stays focused on local church ministry, and equipping others for ministry—soulwinning, discipleship, and service. He’s a man who desires to bring people together around solid biblical values. He’s a man who loves to encourage pastors and church leaders. But beyond that, there are some core values that drove the decision to create Ministry127.com. Here are just a few:

We believe in local church—this site is designed to help facilitate and encourage ministry in local, New Testament churches. Each article and resource is chosen to breathe life and ideas into local churches. And the heart is especially to help and encourage smaller local churches who may have limited staff and resources. We believe in God’s work in your local church.

We believe in the value of encouragement and edification—there’s plenty of carnality and bad attitudes among Christian leaders today, and for those genuinely desiring to serve God, that carnality can be discouraging. And for some reason, the internet became the default parking place for much of that carnality. We felt it appropriate and biblical to launch an entire site committed to the purpose of encouragement and edification.

We believe in the principle of synergy—independent Baptist churches have a lot of success stories happening all over the country. Many of our leaders are being greatly used of God, but often out of the “limelight”—their stories are not heard the way they should be! Our prayer is that Ministry127 will bring great content from many dynamic voices that others may benefit from what God is doing in many places.

We believe in the value of ministry resources—we’ve experienced first hand how difficult it is to find trustworthy resources and fresh ideas for ministry. What better way to share ideas and glean from ministry successes than a website like Ministry127? Whether it’s a sermon idea, a graphic, a video, or a challenging article—we believe there is great value in the things we’re adding to this site.

Bottom line—Pastor Chappell really has a heart to help equip and encourage spiritual leaders in the ministry. Pure and simple, Ministry127.com is an online outpouring of that heart. As God has blessed our local churches, we desire to bring those blessings to a table where others can use them as well. To that end, we sincerely pray that Ministry127 will be a destination for your team for years to come—a place where you can find encouraging friendships, trustworthy ideas, and powerful resources for your local church.

Three Lost Boys and a Local Church

caryschmidt — Mon, 10 May 2010 13:30:36 +0000

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 scene is a microcosm of their lives—two frustrated adults, groping for truth and direction, fighting for a young marriage and children, and three boys romping through childhood, unaware of how desperately their family needs a miracle. The family has rarely attended church, but they are looking for something. And they hope that church will lead them to help. Apart from a miracle, this family has little hope.

Scene two—moments later, out of exasperation, dad whips the car into the driveway of the closest church—”Fine then, we’ll just go here.,” he spouts. Here could have been anywhere—but for the Divine providence of God. Here happened to be a healthy, local, independent Baptist church. And while mom and dad are still fussing with each other, the three boys bound into the lobby and down the center aisle to find a seat close to the front. Congregational singing is in progress, and Mom and Dad are appalled to see that their boys have gone rogue and now they must follow. A discerning Christian quickly vacates her second row seat for the visiting family, and seconds later all five are aligned and alert “in spitting distance” of the pulpit. Mom and Dad are embarrassed, but the boys are just glad to have a good view!

Scene three—a strong biblical message has been preached by a spirit-filled preacher. Heads are bowed and eyes are closed. An invitation song is being sung. Three lost, little boys stand quietly, wide-eyed, and alone on the second row. Dad and Mom have tearfully stepped out to speak with the pastor. They are taken to a room with a counselor where Dad recommits his life to Jesus and Mom accepts Him as Saviour. The three boys are waiting with an elderly lady on the second row who graciously gives them candy and tells them, “Mommy and Daddy will be done in a moment.” But the boys are in no hurry, because after all, they are eating candy.

Fast forward five days. The young family has now attended six nights of church in a row—due to the fact that Sunday morning began a revival meeting and the boys wanted to return every night to hear the children’s stories. It is now Friday night. The oldest boy has trusted Christ as his Saviour. The two younger will soon follow. And every night of the week, this searching young family has been welcomed, loved, and nurtured in something foreign to their home—the love of Jesus Christ.

Scene four—six months have passed. Life for this young family has changed dramatically. Attending three services each week, all five are growing in the Word, developing strong relationships, and being discipled by a patient pastor and compassionate church family. The three little boys now have a home that is being built upon Christ, and a daddy and mommy that are discovering biblical principles of marriage and family life.

Scene five—a year has passed. Dad and Mom have been enlisted as youth workers. A loving youth pastor has led them through a training course. They have adopted a new standard of living that they might be a godly example to the youth of the church. The training provided more than well-trained youth workers. It provided a Biblical frame-work that Dad and Mom adopted at home as well. The principles proved effective with their own three sons. And in short order, Dad is selected to teach the Sr. High teen class. As a result, he becomes an avid Bible student. What he learns, he lives. What he lives, he begins to pass on to three sets of eyes watching ever so carefully.

Pause button, please. Hold the still frame in your mind. The story continues, but we will stop here for it is much too long. The little boys all grow up to love and serve God. Daddy and Mommy stay together and become happy Grammy and Grandpa to fourteen third-generation Christians. It’s a wonderful story, really. But before we walk away, we must consider—what principles are at play in this plot?

First, Jesus Loves, Died for, and Works through Local Church Ministry. A faithful pastor who preaches the Word, a supportive staff who share in the work, a unified church family, growing, serving, loving, and laboring together—these elements, when functioning optimally by their biblical pattern, form a God-empowered force for astounding life-change. The pattern never fails. It works by the anointing grace of Almighty God. He loves this entity. He blesses this formula. And miracles can still happen in the lives of daddies, mommies, and mop-headed little boys because of this wonderful institution called the local church.

Second, Jesus Added an Imperfect You to an Imperfect Church Family as a Part of His Perfect Plan. Some would argue today that the church is a failed entity—a flawed proposition. And they attempt a convincing argument. They point out ineffective churches and failed movements. They rehearse the failures of past church leaders. They share their own personal scars and wounds inflicted by fractured church families and carnal Christians. But in every case, it was not God’s model that was flawed. God’s pattern still works beautifully when Spirit-filled Christians allow it!

Every member of every local church is broken—human—frailty personified. Yet it is not the humans that make it work! It is the supernatural hand of Christ being expressed through the frailty of human flesh—this is what makes the miracles! The model still works if we will allow the Holy Spirit to produce it through us.

Third, When You Embrace Your Local Church, Everybody Wins. Jesus placed you in His church for a purpose. Perhaps you were the usher who handed the little boys their bulletin as they blew past you. Perhaps you were the singer who first drew this family’s attention to Christ’s love. Perhaps you were the janitor who prepared the room or the sound man who checked the microphones. Perhaps you were the preacher who prepared the message or the vigilant church member who gave up her seat. Perhaps you were the children’s teacher who so captivatingly told the stories, or the elderly lady who obeyed the Holy Spirit and remembered the candy! Perhaps you were the youth leader who trained or the summer intern who demonstrated the joy of Christianity. Perhaps you were the faithful tither, the prayer warrior, or the behind-the-scenes servant. Whoever you are in the story, you are vital.

Because you serve, everybody wins. You win because you get to invest your abilities and resources into something eternally valuable. Your family wins because you all get to grow and serve God together. Your whole family gets to develop life-long relationships in an abundantly, joyful place. Your church family wins because the work of God goes forward through your faithful service and sacrifice. Your community wins because the love of Christ is personified—you become the heart and hands of Jesus changing your city. And best of all—little, lost boys and their parents win because their lives are forever transformed through the amazing love of Christ. The local church gives a kind of love that isn’t found in any other place on Earth!

Jesus Christ is still pleased to work through faithful, imperfect church families for His perfect purposes. The local church is it! It’s the place. It’s the plan. It’s the one entity on the planet established by God where His miracles continue to unfold—one heart at a time. I love the local church! I pray you will too. Wherever this article finds you, turn your heart toward Christ by finding the local church where He desires to implant you. Immerse your heart wholly into that church. Invest into that church. Love and encourage others in that church. Support and pray for the pastor of that church. Get involved in serving in that church. Put your abilities, gifts, and resources to work in that which God says He loves—in that which Christ purchased on the cross. You will not find a better investment of your life, your time, your energy, your money, your talents, or your resources. This is the pinnacle of perfect investment opportunities—an investment into that which changes hearts.

How do I know? Why do I so confidently assert that the local church is God’s plan for bringing searching hearts to Christ? How can I so passionately believe in the miracle of life-change through the local church? Because I was there.

The miracle happened to me. For I was the oldest of the three boys—who are no longer lost.

New Data on Church Drop-Outs

caryschmidt — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 13:00:06 +0000

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 heart in youth ministry!

The first starts with a negative—70% of young adults who call themselves Christians actually stop attending church between the ages of 18 and 23. But here’s the positive. Before they turn 30, 66% of these young adults return to church. WOW! There’s a lot of bad news there, but what a huge reason to NEVER give up on someone! 66% of the young adults who stop attending your church will someday return. Have you loved them enough to leave the door open so they could return?

The second positive is this—15% who call themselves Christians are actively passionate and committed to their faith. Why do I love this statistic? Because I would gladly give a lifetime of effort to see 15% of those to whom I minister actually be passionately engaged in living their faith on a regular basis—walking with God, sharing Christ, and serving the Lord. I wish the number was higher—and in our ministry it has been. But what a great reason to keep pressing on in ministry—if only for the 15% who will truly be impacted!

Incidentally, the survey was taken among a broad cross-section of “Christians.” In our local church, over the past 20 years, we’ve actually seen the statistic dramatically differ. About 75-80% of the young people who grew up at Lancaster Baptist Church have stayed faithful to the Lord into their 20’s and 30’s. And yes, many of those who fall away for a time eventually return to their faith.

Honestly, I don’t know that the Apostle Paul’s ministry statistics would have been any better. People have been faking their faith and falling away from Christ for a long time! Don’t stop fighting the fight for higher statistics, but don’t forget, we don’t serve statistics. We serve God, and the fruit is the product of His Holy Spirit. Many who fall away will someday come back! And there’s always at least a remnant of those who are truly “unfeigned” in their faith.

Why Young People Stay Faithful

caryschmidt — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 13:30:56 +0000

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 group graduates, Josh Tanner, just began serving the Lord in youth ministry. Josh recently emailed me, asking what I would place on a list of “things that help young people stay faithful.” My quick reply was simply “a good relationship with godly parents,” but then I asked him to send me his list. I was curious what he considered to be the factors that kept him faithful since his childhood.

To put it simply—he nailed it! Josh sent me a strong list of ten things that contributed to his spiritual course. Here’s the list:

1. Parents—faithful parents who lived the Christian life, not perfectly, but genuinely.

2. Pastor—a great relationship with a faithful pastor. These first two trump all the rest!

3. Youth Pastor—someone to come along, teach the Bible, and encourage the first two relationships.

4. Godly Relationships (friends, peers, dating, mentors, friends’ parents)—choosing right influences and good crowds.

5. Involvement in church functions, events and work around the church—making church life a priority, and letting fun, social life, and friends revolve around spiritual things.

6. Seeing and experiencing the joy that comes from serving in ministry—acting out your faith by getting involved in ministering to others.

7. Seeing miracles and seeing God do amazing things—being a part of a dynamic local church where God is at work.

8. Seeing and realizing the need—taking eyes off of self and looking around long enough to see that God wants you to make a difference in someone else’s life.

9. God’s grace—the supernatural working of God developing desires and direction in life—probably a result of the prayers flowing from points one and two!

10. Relationship with God (devotions, prayer, prayer meetings, etc.)—the outflow of a real personal walk with Christ. At some point, Josh made his walk with God real and personal.

The first two on the list are the foundation. Everything else can be built on those two. If you’re wondering what factors help a teen choose to stay faithful to God, I believe this list states it well! May God bless you in the work of establishing young hearts in the faith of Christ!

Thanks, Josh, for sharing your heart in this list!

The Hidden Values of Preparation

caryschmidt — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 15:06:45 +0000

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 learning the hard way, I still get bit by this at times.

There’s a side of preparation we don’t usually think of—benefits that are not readily apparent. Whether you are leading a church service, a youth activity, or a Sunday School class—your preparation produces something in the group you lead. These are what I would call the “hidden values” of preparation:

Everybody values the event or environment more—when somebody arrives at your environment and finds things ready, their respect and value for what is happening skyrockets. If you want people to value the Bible lesson, then have the room perfectly prepared. If you want someone to respect teen camp, then have the buses filled with gas and ready to go. If you want someone to value the church service, have the outline well-prepared and the music well-rehearsed. Flying by “a wing and a prayer” is always obvious—and it causes people to naturally lower their value of that specific environment.

Everybody has higher expectations—because good preparation raises everybody’s value, it also raises expectations. When people arrive at a well-prepared ministry environment, they naturally expect more, anticipate more, and raise their level of awareness. And when it comes to teaching or preaching, that’s a GREAT thing!

Everybody responds at a higher level—people behave differently in a well-prepared environment than in a poorly prepared one. Put a group in a well-prepared environment and they will more naturally come to order, respond to leadership, listen with the heart, and interact well. Take the same group and place them in a poorly prepared environment and you will have a tough time getting the group to focus and respond. You may even have a tough time bringing the group to order at all.

Everybody benefits from added value—the bottom line, a well-prepared event or environment delivers more. Because of preparation, you put more time into the study, more thought into the decor, more effort into the creative dynamics. Because of early preparation, you had more time to make the whole event or service a better experience. As a result, people walk away with much more!

This works with children at home—children tend to feel more agitated in a home that is disorderly, but they behave better in a well-kept home.

This works with teens—young people intuitively sense if something is well-prepared, so they listen better, expect more, and have higher respect for what’s happening.

This works at work—team members are more productive and better co-laborers when they have decent work environments and the right equipment.

This works at church—an entire congregation is more receptive to teaching and preaching when the rest of the service, including the bulletins and pre-service set up, is well-prepared and in order before they arrive.

This past week I had one of those “well duh!” moments. For years our youth conference has had open seating with the doors opening an hour before service, at which time there’s a mad rush for seats. Some months ago we began wrestling with what to do and decided to reserve seating for every group. It took a lot of logistical work to make it happen, but every conference delegate was assigned a seat at registration. I was shocked by the results.

People arrived at a reasonable time, rather than an hour early. They arrived in a relaxed state of mind, went to their seats, and were able to enjoy the prelims without frenzy or frustration. As a result, the entire congregation was calm, responsive, and orderly throughout the entire week! It was like someone had literally zapped the stress and tension from the room. The excitement was still there, minus the negative experience of scrounging for seats. This one decision of preparation impacted the entire conference!

When you go to the extra effort of preparation, everybody wins!

For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee: (Titus 1:5)

Do Big Events Really Count?

caryschmidt — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 14:51:07 +0000

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 as their personal Saviour, and another 200+ teenagers surrendered their lives to serve Jesus Christ.

The Devil’s advocate might wonder, “Are these decisions real?” “Do they last, or are they just made in the emotion of a moment?” Are they truly the work of God or are they just hype—merely the results of a pepped up crowd in an energized environment? I’ve heard my share of cynical questions over the years, and I’ve even wrestled personally with doing my best to make sure the events we host are conducted in the power of the Spirit of God and not just merely hyped up.

But to really get to the heart of the answer, all I need to do is think of my own testimony. Saved at age seven, I was privileged to be a part of exciting, big events all through my childhood and teen years—junior camps, teen camps, youth conferences, revivals, pastors’ conferences, etc. And when I think back to those years, it’s easy to see that truly—they counted! Having been saved now for 34 years and serving the Lord for 20 years, I can say that every single event played a significant role in leading me to this point in my life.

How? Here are seven ways that big spiritual events made a difference in my life:

1. They served as mile markers on a spiritual journey—in the big picture of my life, God used these events to produce spiritual progress and reaffirm spiritual decisions. They were like road-signs on a long journey that reminded me I had come a good distance and I was still headed the right direction.

2. They reminded me of others who believed what I believed—each event placed me in the path of guest speakers, other churches, and other spiritual leaders who believed the same Word of God that I believed. They reminded me in a big way that I was not alone!

3. They served as focused times of revival—no doubt, the focused prayer, the preaching, and the tender expectation of my heart in these seasons brought about wonderful times of revival and spiritual renewal. Each event was like a fresh gust of wind in the sails of my life to keep me heading God’s direction.

4. They served as course correctors—often God used the preaching and teaching at these events to bring about correction and reproof. I can recall many moments at invitations in dealing with bad attitudes and sin struggles. These events were critical in keeping me engaged in the battle against sin.

5. They served as course reinforcers—often God used these events to stir up something He had already done in my life. Though I had already surrendered to serve Him, each event stirred up the gift and reinforced God’s call and direction for my life.

6. They provided awesome, wholesome spiritual memories—amazingly, to this day, when I look back on these events, they still bring a smile to my heart! I will never forget both the fun and the spiritual memories that such times provided. Young people enjoy energy—they are drawn to high energy events—and these spiritual events leave an eternal good memory.

7. They jump-started my personal walk with Christ—without fail, the result of every single event was an increased desire to walk with the Lord personally. Each camp and conference served to ignite my love for the Lord and revitalize my personal walk with him each day.

So, in case you’re wondering—YES—I believe big events count in a major way! I thank the Lord for how He used big events to strengthen my heart for Him. And I praise the Lord for the wonderful response He gave us this week in thousands of hearts because of the diligent labor of so many people!

Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands. (2 Timothy 1:6)

Re-Igniting Apathetic Teens

caryschmidt — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 13:30:35 +0000

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 we are called to do.

With that in mind, here’s a few ways to actively engage against an apathetic spirit in your youth group:

1. Pray—Pray personally and ask God to reveal any apathy in your own life. Then have prayer meetings, etc. and claim God’s power to do a work that human efforts cannot do.

2. Teach and Preach the Bible—Ask God to ignite a fire in yourself for the Word of God and for passionately teaching and preaching in practical ways that make sense to teens. The Bible is a living book. It changes the heart. I’ve seen spiritually apathetic teens come to life when the Bible comes alive within them.

3. Personal Ministry—Launch a massive effort of personal ministry to every teen. Take them out to lunch or soulwinning, have them to your home, invest personal time. Do everything you can to build personal, mentoring relationships.

4. Give More Time to the Softest Teens—Give the most spiritually hungry teens more time and energy. Focus on the ones that are earnestly desiring to grow. It’s easy to focus on the hardest hearts, while the softest hearts are ignored. Don’t make that mistake.

5. Encourage the Family—Sometimes apathy abounds in the whole family. Try to work through the parents to strengthen the home. If you can get parents to seriously pray with their kids on a regular basis, your group will be dramatically different!

6. Provide Service Opportunities—Teens need to see beyond themselves. Try to find ways to help them serve God and give themselves to others. Their faith will become real and vibrant when they begin living it out in service to others.

7. Plan Times of Revival—A retreat, a camp, a conference, a revival—these are times when God can do something special through extended preaching and spiritual focus.

8. Uplift the Spiritual—Call attention to the good. When the teens show spiritual growth, magnify it publicly. Have them share a testimony, recognize them some how. What you praise is what others will aim for.

9. Be Patient—Spiritual apathy doesn’t change over night. It take months, maybe years, to see the seeds you plant begin to have a harvest. Your goal should be sustained spiritual direction, not a flash-in-the-pan revival that doesn’t last. Recognize small victories, and keep pressing forward through doubt and resistance.

10. Exemplify a passionate, joyful, spiritual life—Your example in displaying the right life is huge. The teens are all watching you and waiting to see if you are for real. If your life is consistent, your passion real, and your ministry genuine; God will give you fruit for your labor.

“And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” Galatians 6:9

Introducing Ministry127.com

caryschmidt — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 19:02:07 +0000

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 leaders together for mutual edification, even so, our prayer is that Ministry127.com will be a Spiritual Leadership Conference every day—online!

This site brings together a dynamic and diverse group of like-minded independent Baptist contributors—men and women who are leading the way in fruitful, local church ministry. And we’ve labored to build a strong initial library of resources—from ministry articles, to sermon helps, sermon outlines, videos, illustrations, powerpoint slides, podcasts, and more. It provides resources for:

Pastors and Church Staff Members
Deacons and Lay Leaders
Parents and Families
Sunday School Teachers
Youth Workers
Christian Educators
And Many Others…

Click the photo above to visit this exciting new site. Read the welcome post, watch the tutorial video—and then be sure to use the resources!

Everything on the site is FREE, so be sure to tell others who could benefit as well!

Finally—much thanks to a team of about 20 people who have labored in addition to their normal work responsibilities to bring this site and it’s wealth of content into being over the past 8 months. They’ve done a marvelous job and we sincerely pray it will bless your work.

The Forgotten Side of Submission

caryschmidt — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 15:14:56 +0000

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 in our lives would lose. It was literally a choice between a rock and a hard place.

So we did what most sane people do in situations like this—we decided not to decide. We procrastinated. We put the decision off for as long as we possibly could. No matter how we viewed our options, we always ended with, “well, we have a few more days before we have to decide, so let’s pray about it.”

Though we tried to ignore it, the dreadful moment came. A decision was required. Time had run out. We had talked and prayed. I had repeatedly asked the Lord for wisdom in making the right call, and now it had to be made.

This was one of those situations where I knew I needed to make the tough call. So, in a “trying-to-exude-confidence” moment, I turned to Dana and said, “I want you to trust me on this one.” (Like I knew what I was doing.) I continued, “There isn’t an easy answer on this, so just let me make the call, and let’s trust the Lord that it’s right.”

This was a gut-wrenching choice, and Dana had especially been wrestling with doing the right thing. But in that moment, she was relieved. Even before she knew the decision, she was relieved to put the pressure on my shoulders—or blame, if I was wrong. She was happy to rest in letting me be responsible for the decision. After explaining my decision and why I believed it was right, she gave me a doubting glance, but then said, “OK.” The peace that came over her was noticeable!

I took note of the relief and rest that she experienced. I couldn’t help but think, that’s why the Lord tells a wife to submit to her husband. Submission brings relief from the struggle, freedom from the strain, and escape from the pressure of difficult choices. Submission places the burden of responsibility on the shoulders of an appropriate authority, and let’s the heart rest.

So often we hear teaching on submission that makes it sound so difficult and self-denying—and some times it is. But perhaps even more often, submission brings peace and rest. It allows a restless, struggling soul to find safety and solace in the protective hedge of biblical authority.

The next time you mention or teach on submission, don’t forget the blessing of the forgotten side of submission—the rest and peace that comes with it.

Update: Since the original post, some folks have asked for “the rest of the story”—was it the right decision? The answer—yes. God gave both of us peace that we were doing the right thing, and indeed, it turned out that way. Had we done anything else, we would have regretted it. We are thankful that our Heavenly Father guides us in such difficult moments!