Encouraging Words from Cary Schmidt » teaching

Thoughts On Blogging…

caryschmidt — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 15:35:42 +0000

I’ll never forget the first time I heard the word “blog.” It sounded like my friend burped. And the concept sounded about as stupid. That was years ago, and—well, it is self-evident that the concept caught on, not only for me but for millions of others. We live in a day when everybody and their brother has a blog. And like every other form of media or communication—blogging has its positives and negatives in contributing to daily life on earth.

Some people blog for business reasons. Some blog for family. Some blog for gossip and criticism. Some blog for platform or personal “branding.” For better or worse, blogging is here. And here’s why and how I jumped in:

Reasons I Blog:

1. To Glorify the Lord Jesus—I desire for every single opportunity for ministry and every single word of ministry to honor the Lord Jesus. To me, social networking and blogging are purely and simply ministry opportunities.

2. To Encourage Others—I remember sitting down to think of a name for this blog and immediately thought of “Encouraging Words.” I wanted something “cooler” but came up with nothing but blanks! I am encouraged by reading the blogs of friends, so perhaps I can return the favor. It’s that simple.

3. To Pass Along Helpful Information—A lot of my friends in ministry exchange ideas and questions back and forth. It occurred to me that a blog would be a reasonable place to post such questions/thoughts that might help others in similar situations.

4. To Inform Ministry Friends of Resources—I desired a way to inform friends when our ministry is introducing a new book, curriculum, or resource.

5. To Have a Place to Share Ministry Experiences—My ministry learning curve is still HUGE, I realize that. But I still enjoy posting some learning experiences here that might help someone in ministry who is younger than me.

6. To Protect My Name Online—This is perhaps the last of all reasons, but occasionally I am slandered online. Why should I give Google results to someone who is lying about me?

7. To Grow in Writing—Sitting down to write here, on my personal time, helps me grow, think, and stretch myself. Some people golf. Others boat. Some play the stock market. Everybody has some sort of hobby or interest that helps them disconnect and restore. One of mine is writing.

8. To Communicate with Friends/Family—This was especially helpful when I was battling cancer. Being able to update people easily was a blessing.

9. To Promote Biblical Living—I figure it this way. There are lots of negative, back-biting, mean-spirited Christians online. Why should we let them dominate? For a few minutes a week, I’d like to be an encouraging online voice for those who would like to read.

10. To Promote Biblical Ministry—God still blesses the principles of His Word in ministry, and I enjoy sharing how he’s doing that at our church.

11. To Leave a Life Message Behind–This might sound simplistic, but I don’t expect to live forever. In fact, after this year, I’m just glad to still be here right now. Perhaps the things posted here can outlast me in some way for a good purpose.

NOT Reasons I Blog:

1. I don’t blog to gain a following or readership—I really have no clear strategy for building readership. That’s in God’s hands, and if you show up here on some regular basis, I am grateful!

2. I don’t blog to earn money—lots of bloggers do so for side income. That’s fine. I don’t.

3. I don’t blog to appear to be someone or something I am not—Sometimes this is a matter of the reader’s perception. But just for clarity, I am nothing and Jesus is everything.

4. I don’t blog to pass myself off as an expert—Again, this is a perception thing. There is no area of my life in which I have “arrived” or in which it’s all under control. It’s only by God’s grace that I am ever allowed a voice of any kind. Personal experiences are shared here, not in arrogance or pride, but in a spirit of transparency. I’m just a growing Christian struggling as much as the next guy trying to serve the Lord—nothing more.

5. I don’t blog to strategize my online presence or brand—I hear these terms every now and then, and for some, I guess that’s fine. But I couldn’t care less about my personal “brand”—whatever that is.

6. I don’t blog to promote self or build my own platform—this is another term I hear or see sometimes. Platform might be a great goal for someone in secular work—someone trying to build a public speaking career. For ministry, I think the best platform is “He must increase and I must decrease.”

7. I don’t blog to impress anyone—Again—a perception thing. You could read a post and think, “Who does this guy think he is?” Or you could read it and think, “Well, I’m really glad he shared those thoughts.” It’s sort of up to you, but again for clarity—I am nothing and Jesus is everything. Be impressed with HIM.

How I Blog:

1. On personal time—This is not something I do during “work hours”—my daily efforts to serve the Lord in ministry at my church. It’s a personal hobby that refreshes me and brings some purpose to (and something productive from) my “disconnected” times.

2. As an overflow of my own spiritual growth—A long time ago, God just put on my heart to share stuff He teaches me. I guess that’s a call to preach or teach. I’m not sure. I just know God compels me to transfer His truth to others in a way that makes the light-bulb go on in my own head. Teaching or preaching is a part of that. Writing is too.

3. About subjects that I face in the trenches of ministry—Someone asked me years ago, “Do you ever see yourself writing full time?” I laughed and said, “What would I write about?” It goes this way—I want to wake up, love my family, serve God, and encourage people every day. From those experience in the trenches of life and ministry, if I learn something or come across something helpful, I want to pass it on to others.

4. In a spirit of friendship, encouragement, and humility—Learning from others goes both directions. I learn from people older and younger than me. I learn from people with more experience and from those with less. Everything shared in this blog is simply offered from a heart that desires to be helpful.

5. In collaboration with daily ministry, not competition with it—I think this one speaks for itself.

6. Typically only publishing a post after I’ve re-edited it multiple times over several days or weeks.

7 . With limited time investment—frankly, I just don’t have a lot of time to do this. My target is a few minutes a week and about one post per week. Sometimes I hit that, sometimes less or more (thanks to reposts!) This is really just an overflow of baseline ministry.

So there you have it—why and how I blog—for what it’s worth.

One day at the judgement seat of Christ, lots of Christians are going to be ashamed of how they gossiped and hurt others through online communication—blogs, tweets, posts, status updates, etc. Lots of people will be embarrassed by the silliness, carnality, and human emotions that they hastily and carelessly threw online. Others will be surprised to discover how carnal and unChristlike their spirit was.

Influence is a stewardship that we should take seriously for Christ. Online and off—determine to steward your influence wisely for the glory and honor of Jesus Christ and for the edification, equipping, and encouragement of anyone gracious enough to stop and read.

Spiritual Weapons for Wayward Kids

caryschmidt — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 06:58:03 +0000

What can you do when your grown children begin to stray spiritually? I’ve seen a lot of parents hurt, mystified, and shaken by sudden and radical spiritual changes in the lives of their adult children. I realize, one day I may be one of them—and so could you.

In these moments, some parents grasp for control—trying to maintain a mythical strangle-hold of childhood authority. This always escalates a situation to become worse and creates greater distance relationally and spiritually. In a wild swing to the other extreme—some parents abandon their post of parental influence. They mentally, emotionally, and spiritually disconnect with an “oh well” resignation, as if there is nothing they can really do. Others respond in anger—returning hurt for hurt.

Recently, Dana and I prayerfully and fearfully sat down with some parents who were facing circumstances in which we all felt powerless. Together, we rediscovered the weapons God had given us to fight battles that are far beyond our human control. And together, we saw God work a miracle. These are the weapons that God gives us all to use against impossible circumstances:

Unconditional Love and Acceptance—regardless what my child does, how my child hurts me, or how far out of bounds my child behaves—I will choose to respond with Christ-like compassion and unconditional love. This is a powerful weapon that speaks to the heart and the conscience. By the way, acceptance of a person does not equal approval of sin.

Godly Grace—regardless of what my child has done, I extend grace—unmerited favor. Just as grace is God’s response to my sin, grace will be my response to my child’s sin. Grace is always undeserved, and is the most powerful resource for creating an environment where repentence and change are possible.

Intercessory Prayer—this weapon brings all the powers of Heaven to work in the situation. It is the single most powerful and yet most neglected response to any strained relationship.

God’s Word—opinions and personal preferences matter little, but the principles of God’s Word are powerful. When battles of the will only escalate a situation, the principles of God’s Word speak to the heart with the potential of lasting life change.

Patient Endurance—change takes time. Repentence is rarely instantaneous. Parents who win these battles never give up (emphasis on NEVER.) They faithfully and persistently use these weapons until the battle is won.

These are weapons of the Spirit. Think about it:

Weapons of flesh will react, weapons of the Spirit will respond.
Weapons of flesh will lash out. Weapons of the Spirit will reach out.
Weapons of flesh desire retribution. Weapons of the Spirit desire reconciliation.
Weapons of flesh will seek control. Weapons of the Spirit will seek influence.
Weapons of flesh will make demands. Weapons of the Spirit will make pleas.
Weapons of flesh will acuse. Weapons of the Spirit will accept.
Weapons of flesh will return hurt. Weapons of the Spirit will return grace.
Weapons of flesh will argue. Weapons of the Spirit will reason.

Here they are again: unconditional love, godly grace, intercessory prayer, God’s Word, and patient endurance.

Take hope, parent! If you are facing impossible circumstances and you feel hopeless and powerless—there is much you can do to fight a spiritual battle for your wayward child! God’s work is not finished in your child’s heart, and God’s Word is still powerful to change lives!

In reality, these weapons are effective in any broken or strained relationship. About the time you think there’s nothing you can do, about the time you want to over-react or fight in the flesh—these are the only weapons that can truly make a difference. May God give us wisdom to fight our relational battles in the wisdom of His Word and the power, and filling of His Holy Spirit.

Ignite Vision in Your Students

caryschmidt — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 03:43:47 +0000

If there’s one thing that modern culture, technology, and the evolutionary world view have killed in even our Christian teenagers, it’s a life vision. Today, we desperately need an army of student ministry leaders to awaken vision in the hearts of young people. While some teens have some small form of vision for their future, most do not, and those that do usually shoot way low! Most don’t see at all beyond their XBox, iPod, and Facebook page. The result? Lethargy. Apathy. Deadness. A “what’s the point?” perspective on life. The thought process is something like this, “If nobody else believes in me or cares about my future, why should I? Pass the remote control!” As a student ministry leader, I believe God has called me to help young hearts break out of that mentally oppressive enclosure. Let me try to picture for you what I’m talking about.

This past week in Sunday School we were studying lesson five of the Discover Your Destiny series—”What About My Plans?” Historically I start this class by asking individual teens to share their plans and dreams. “What are your hopes for after high school?” We go around the room and kids hesitantly say everything from, “I”m planning to go to Bible college and serve God with my life” to “I’m planning on joining the military and then going into law enforcement.”

One of the exciting aspects of this class is simply taking a moment to “affirm” the amazing potential and future greatness in their lives. This past week, as I looked into the eyes of greatness to be, I was overwhelmed with their potential, but also with the fact that they probably struggle to believe that God really has a great plan for them! One young lady said, “I want to be an elementary teacher.” My heart soared when imagining what a great teacher she would be—and I told her so. “You would make the most incredible 3rd grade teacher, and school with you would be hilariously awesome!” One young man hesitantly said, “I would like to be a pastor.” My heart again raced with excitement as I imagined what a great pastor he could actually be! I told him so, “You would be a fantastic pastor, and I know God would use you to grow and encourage people!” Then something amazing happened.

The class was silent. (Pretty amazing if you know this class!) Riveted. Every eye and every ear attuned. Every single person in the room was dialed in to what was happening. And the kids I was affirming seemed to soak it up. I could tell this was a “God-moment.” I could tell whatever was happening was of the Lord. The Holy Spirit seemed to say, “These kids live in a world that works in excess to kill these dreams and visions. They live in a culture that views them as a marketing group and only wants to lull them into nothingness. They are ignited when someone actually stops and sees real vision and potential in them!” Then He said to me, “One of your responsibilities is to help awaken them to my vision for their future!” “Yes, Lord… Here am I… send ME!”

I made a decision after class. As long as God gives me breath and energy to serve young people, I want to stay captivated by His vision for each of their lives! And I want to communicate that passion to every young life that I can! Yes, I want them to love God. Yes, I want them to develop a real faith. Yes, I want them to live to honor the Lord. But right up there with all these things, I want to transfer a fiery, energetic vision to their hearts. I want God to use me to help them see the potential He has placed into their lives, to surrender that potential, develop it, and then use it for Him. I want to be a tipping point in their lives. I want their futures to be different because God gave me a moment with them. I want to be a catalyst for their future greatness for God. I want them to look back to my time with them and say, “That was one guy who helped me see that God has something special for me!”

The purpose of this post is simply to remind student ministry leaders of two things. First, your students need you to be passionate about their future. Your students are very capable of engaging with a significant vision for life, but they need you to be the catalyst—start the fire! In fact, without even realizing it, they are starving for this type of visionary leadership. Their hearts crave and long for someone to step in and capture their hearts for a fresh, compelling vision. They long for something to awaken them from their stupor and to call them to eternal significance. Like starving refugees, they devour attention that affirms their potential and helps them see beyond the mundane, digital babysitting components of their lives. They respond with vibrance and eagerness when they interact with someone who genuinely believes in them as amazing individuals.

Second, your calling is bigger than program. Your ministry isn’t the sum total of fundraisers, an activity schedule, broken down buses, corny jokes, and a short Bible lesson on Sundays. Don’t let the repetitive nature or the mundane details of your everyday existence in youth ministry cause you to lose sight of the bigger picture. The kids within your influence are growing up very rapidly! Before you know it, your time with them—your opportunity to significantly influence them—will come to an end. You have a huge mission and a short moment to make it happen. Lift your eyes to their future and help them see what God has in mind! It’s one of the most significant things you can do!

So go for it. Think beyond your next youth activity. Get outside of your program world. Don’t get too zoned in on the few scorners or rebels. Stop worrying about being accepted or cool to the teens. And whatever you do, DON’T look at or become enamored with the contemporary youth ministry models of the evangelical movement unless you are writing a term paper on colossal failure!

Instead, get alone with God and let Him re-ignite your heart for what the kids in your youth group could become. Let God show you future pastors, teachers, leaders, parents, missionaries, etc. And then start telling them about it. Affirm them! Call them to the highest pursuit of life! Believe in them and in God’s heart for them! Be consumed with drawing their hearts into God’s vision through His Word! You will be amazed at how they will grow into the vision and beyond it in the years to come.

The greatest influencers of my past were people who joyfully and abundantly helped me see and believe in God’s vision for my life. I had many such mentors. And along the way, I had some discouragers too—even a few in spiritual leadership. To this day, I remember the influencers and thank God for the vision they helped me embrace. And I remember the discouragers and regret that they missed their moment to stir and challenge me as a young person.

Today, personally, my greatest heroes in the ministry are the young people who grew up in our youth group and are now serving God with their lives. I stand in awe of them. I’m humbled to call them friends. They are truly greatness personified. They are all over the place doing amazing things for God, and I am one “lucky puppy” to have been granted just a moment with them along their journey to greatness. My influence on them was only one of many and was brief. But in that moment, I know I gave my best to helping them see God’s vision for their future! God give me more moments like those for Your glory!

In everything you do, and in every way possible, determine to challenge every young person you influence to the highest vision of life—the vision of living out the adventure we call “the perfect will of God”! There is no better life, and there is no better reason to be in student ministry!

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.

Ministry Idea: 3 Questions

caryschmidt — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 21:32:16 +0000

Are you looking for a good way to get to know your students or those to whom you minister? Here’s a quick and simple way to get a glimpse into the heart and cause someone to think more deeply.

This past week, in our 12th grade Sunday school class and at our Single Life retreat, we did a short assignment that really helped me understand where the students are in their hearts and on their spiritual journeys. It’s an easy exercise, but informative, and it causes someone to pause and take inventory spiritually.

We handed out a blank sheet of paper in class and asked each student to answer the following three questions:

1. What has God been teaching me lately? Step back and survey the things you’ve heard from God’s Word, the choices you’ve made, and the circumstances you’re facing and simply ask, “What is God saying to me in all of this?” Anybody with even a slightly sensitive heart will be able to answer this question in a matter of moments. This is always a very valuable thought process. Take it a step further and ask, “How are you responding? Are you doing anything with what God is saying to you?”

2. What are my goals for the next 12 months? Fast forward the DVD of your life to 12 months from now. What would you like to see accomplished? What is your vision (the less tangible direction) and what are your goals (the tangible steps to achieve your vision)? I asked them to list three to five things they would like to see happen on a practical level in the coming year.

3. What are my dreams for the next 5 to 10 years? Ten years from now, where would you like to be and what would you like to be doing? What has God placed on your heart as a long-term direction. God’s will is a good start, but dig deeper. What do you hope God’s will includes?

The practical uses of this simple exercise are many. First, these are great questions to ask yourself, your spouse, or your family. Second, they work well in a variety of ministry contexts where you are trying to understand the hearts and desires of people. I have greatly enjoyed reading what our 12th graders and singles wrote down on their pages, and I have a much better understanding of how to pray for them in the coming months.

As a follow up for the seniors, I wrote them a letter and returned their pages to them. I also sent it to their parents with an encouraging letter. Then I typed up their goals and placed it into my files where I can pray for them over the year.

I’ve been a bit buried lately and haven’t been able to write many blog posts, but hopefully this simple thought will prove to be helpful to you. God bless!

The Precious Pauses of Parenthood…

caryschmidt — Thu, 06 May 2010 22:37:28 +0000

Learning to seize the teaching moments that may never return…

On a breakfast date this past week, Haylee asked me, “Why did you choose to like Mommy instead of another girl?”

Wow! What a cool question! And what a wide open door. That’s like someone asking a Christian “Why did you choose Christianity over all the other religions!” It was a golden opportunity to paint a portrait in her young mind of what qualities are truly, deeply attractive.

At the very instant she asked the question, the Holy Spirit immediately began to prompt me to not miss this teaching moment. And so, asking for wisdom, I began the list, teaching her along the way:

She was godly—she loved the Lord, walked with Him, and had a very good testimony with her friends and family. She wasn’t worldly in her dress, music, or lifestyle.

She honored her parents—she was very close to her daddy and loved her family. They were her best friends, and I never saw her disobey or dishonor her parents.

She obeyed her teachers—she had a submissive spirit to those who were her authorities at home, school, and church.

She was meek and quiet—just as God teaches that beauty should first be about a meek and quiet spirit, she wasn’t always trying to be the center of attention. She didn’t flirt with boys and try to be accepted by people.

She wasn’t rebellious—she didn’t have a reputation for breaking rules, defying authorities, of having a bad attitude like so many young ladies.

Following this, we had a talk about what real beauty is and isn’t, and why. And since then, we’ve had several really good conversations with about a hundred follow-up questions from her inquisitive mind. That single moment, along with a few other events that the Lord arranged that week, brought about some of the most significant conversations I’ve had with her.

How often do we miss teaching moments with our kids? For me—probably far too many! We get busy. We’re on our phones, answering emails, sending texts, processing information, and making plans—too often at the detriment of a precious pause when an innocent heart would have asked a searching question. The moments are doors into their thinking, their reasoning, their hearts. If we miss them or ignore them, our kids get the message—I’m not interested in you. Then these moments go away and our kids take their questions elsewhere and find deception rather than answers.

How awesome would it be if we could capture every teaching opportunity and use these real life situations to drive vital biblical principles deep into the hearts of our children?!

Do you have a daughter? Has it ever occurred to you that, if her relationship is good with you, she’s going to want to know what made Mommy attractive to you, so she can be attractive to you as well? And in turn, she will be attractive to a godly man like you in her future. What a powerful picture of the development of a young girl’s heart for her Heavenly Father, her father, and eventually her husband! I sure love the way God put life together!

As a result of recent conversations that Haylee and I have had, our hearts are closer than they’ve ever been. She’s whole. She’s at peace. She knows things are good between her and Daddy and that just makes life better! I can even see it on her face when she looks at me. What power we hold as parents to bring our children’s hearts into a stability and rest.

Ask God to give you wisdom to see the teaching moments this week, and to know what to say when they come around. Your heart and your child’s heart will never be the same!

Lord, please help us not to miss these precious pauses of parenthood…

Why Use Sunday School Curriculum?

caryschmidt — Sat, 01 May 2010 15:15:41 +0000

Are there some really compelling reasons to use Sunday School curriculum? We believe YES! For nearly two and a half decades, God has developed strong Christians at Lancaster Baptist Church, and a huge part of that process is the Adult Bible Class Ministry and curriculum. Several years ago, through Striving Together Publications, we made a serious commitment to produce curriculum for local church ministry. Here’s why:

1. Equip the Teacher—while many are gifted at assimilating material into memorable outlines and thought flow, many are not. There’s nothing worse than listening to good Bible material put through an “impossible to follow” thought flow! Most lay teachers and many full-time workers appreciate having a basic outline of biblical material to use as a launching pad—a starting point and guideline. Guaranteed—providing a solid series of outlines for your teachers is an investment that will reap a huge harvest in your adult class ministry.

2. Engage the Students—when you place a student book into the hands of your class, you say something very valuable! You say, “We are interested in making a serious investment into your spiritual growth.” You say, “Take this class seriously!” You say, “Come back next week for the next lesson in this series.” You say, “We are preparing every week to build your Christian life.” These are powerful messages that make the minor cost of a student book well worth it!

3. Establish Commitment—using a series of lessons builds continuity from week to week that encourages students to commit to a class. It lets them know they are missing something if they don’t return. This is effective for regular attenders as well as first-time visitors. Think of the impact on a visitor when they walk into a class, receive a warm welcome, and are then handed a student book for the present series.

4. Encourage Follow Up Study—using the student books provides the class members with a weekly assignment including review questions for discussion or personal devotions. This also provides the teacher some thoughts for opening discussion each week and reviewing the previous lesson.

5. Enable a Journey of Spiritual Growth—using student books gives each class member a growing library that chronicles their own growth. Let’s face it, weekly photocopies end up in the trash. But nobody throws away a student book! They will save them and be able to look back over them in the years to come. That’s valuable.

In spite of these great reasons, many still wrestle with three common obstacles to using curriculum. Let’s examine them:

What about cost? The most common question I receive about Striving Together curriculum is “can we photocopy the lesson for our students?” The answer is always “No.” Why?

First, it’s just a bad practice. The students will throw away the photocopies. They won’t save them. So your time, your money, your copier is all wasted—bad stewardship.

Secondly, we couldn’t continue providing curriculum if that practice continued. I know that’s basic, but true.

Thirdly, we believe strongly in the value of a student guide—it is much greater than the cost. Striving Together student guides can be purchased for as little as $2 and $3. That’s unheard of in Christian publishing! In fact, you probably can’t even photocopy them for that price once you add up the paper, time, labor, and copier costs. On top of that, the five point list above is worth far more than a few dollars in the life of every growing Christian.

Do the students really use it? The simple answer is, “yes and no.” Most do, some don’t. Frankly, you’ll probably never get an entire class to use the student books in their entirety. The point is, many will! And many others will use them partially. The class may require some reminding. You may end up providing replacements for a few lost books along the way. You may have folks who miss a few lessons. But ultimately, most of your class will use the books and benefit from them. And over time, you will build the habit and expectation into the DNA of your Sunday School. And that’s worth working toward.

Is it really that effective? Yes. Look at the five things above and ask yourself if you would like to see these things in your adult and youth classes. Sunday school curriculum will improve your teachers and engage your students at a whole new level. It’s an investment you can’t afford not to make!

Publishing curriculum is no small commitment. Every new publication takes a year or more of development, and all Striving Together curriculum is often designed to provide the teacher with more material than can be taught in 13 weeks. That’s on purpose! We want to provide plenty of good content in every resource. But, even with good curriculum available there are many churches that can’t seem to get over the hurdle of the investment. The sooner you get over that hurdle, the sooner the investment will start to pay back on multiple levels.

Sunday school curriculum is a great way to take your adult and youth classes to the next level. Visit strivingtogether.com to get started with one of our newest curriculums this week!

What are your thoughts about the power of a good curriculum in your Sunday school ministry?

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 to 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)

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 lets 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!

Five Values of Successful Homeschooling

Cary Schmidt — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 14:04:00 +0000

Educating Your Children with a Winning Philosophy

Recently I had the privilege of meeting with a wonderful group of families in our church that homeschool their children. I fully believe in the value of traditional, Christian education and schooling, but I also have respect for Christian parents who, out of necessity or by preference, choose to homeschool. I shared with these families a short list of values that I’ve seen in successful homeschool families.

This list flows from family counsel, studying the home, and seeing both the blessings and pitfalls of homeschooling. I’ve known many success stories in homeschooling, and in every case, the family had these five basic values in place:

1. The Value of Biblical Curriculum—Successful homeschooling places a premium on the selection of curriculum. When it comes to the choice of either saving a few dollars or having a truly biblical curriculum, these families place a high value on a biblical education. In addition to this, they select Christian curriculum carefully. Not all “Christian” curriculums are the same. In fact several are just plain dangerous.

Selling Christian curriculum can be big business, and wise families ask the Lord for discernment to see beyond the sales pitch and really inspect the biblical validity of the philosophy and approach that a particular publisher takes. Some providers go to unbiblical extremes to build a loyal customer base—including driving a wedge between the family and other biblical institutions.

2.The Value of the Local the Church—Successful homeschool families always place a high value on the local church, in keeping with the clear, New Testament pattern. A few curriculum and resource providers in the homeschool movement are clearly anti-local church. For some, this sentiment is an over-reaction to the failure of the contemporary church. For others, it flows more from their own past family relationships. For some it’s an inner rebellion and aversion to authentic, biblical structure and authority. Often it is due to fear and over-protectionism. (Becoming reclusive from God’s institution isn’t protective for our children, it’s harmful.) Wherever the withdrawal originates, this anti-local local church philosophy is purely unscriptural and therefore, dangerous to the family.

Sometimes this is referred to as a “home-church” philosophy. While there’s certainly nothing wrong with having a church in a home (as churches began in the New Testament), the modern-day typical “home-church” is somewhat morphed and mutated from the New Testament pattern.

Biblical churches have pastoral leadership, structure, order, giving, Biblical preaching and teaching, and authentic outreach ministry. They have pastors, deacons, new life, and missions efforts. But the “home church” philosophy tends to be, more or less, a few families gathering for loose-knit fellowship. It’s more exclusionary and reclusive. The daily operation, outreach, ministry, and administration of an effective local church is quite different.

Here’s the core point—successful homeschool families understand God’s structure of authority and submit to it. These parents don’t demand submission from their children while simultaneously rebelling against God themselves. They place themselves under God’s authority and model the submissive hearts they teach. In addition, they don’t redefine church according to their own terms—like meeting with a few families to play soccer once a week. If I despise God’s biblical authority in my life—church and pastor—I’m teaching my children to eventually cast off authority themselves.

Finally, these families place para-church organizations in proper perspective. They don’t allow curriculum or resource providers to usurp the local church and their commitment to gathering, growing, serving, giving, and participating with a local, called out assembly. I’ve seen God bless this commitment over and over.

3. The Value of Avoiding “Extreme Family Exclusivity”—Sometimes it is born out of fear—fear of exposing our kids to the “outside world.” Other times it is born out of pride—refusing to recognize that God has ordained other institutions to cooperate with the home in spiritual development and support. Some fringes of the homeschool movement tend toward reclusive family tendencies—withdrawing from church-family and biblical support relationships or structure.

As a “grown-up” child, I will be forever grateful for parents who kept my heart tender towards the lost, toward a godly pastor, and towards other growing Christian homes that weren’t “just like us.” In addition, they helped us to refrain from being judgmental or arrogant towards the lost or those who were growing in grace in our church family.

The successful homeschool stories that I have witnessed have always maintained a strong social and relational connection with healthy influences. They teach their children to avoid “peer dependence” while still meeting the need for peer interaction. They make sure their family is participating in the great work of the gospel with a vibrant church family. These parents have helped their children have a heart for the lost world, not to merely withdraw from it. As one friend of mine said—these families are not just cursing the darkness—they are punching holes in it with the light!

4. The Value of a Structured Format—Every parent is gifted by God to train up their child, but many struggle with the academic and structural side of daily education. Homeschooling is a huge commitment on the part of parents. It requires the shouldering of a massive schedule and academic responsibility, in addition to the already overwhelming responsibilities of nurturing and parenting our children and managing the household.

I have counseled families who, not long into the effort, find that they are falling behind. On occasion I’ve had moms or dads admit to being a year or more behind in their child’s education. Homeschooling is a serious commitment to a disciplined regimen—a structured schedule and format. We can’t afford to allow our children’s education slip because of a lack of discipline or academic training.

Success stories always include parents who were passionately committed to providing their children with the very best education possible—and that always includes a structured schedule and the daily discipline of school routines.

5. The Value of Family Balance—This final value speaks to the opposite extreme of the previous. While some families struggle to establish the discipline and routines necessary to stay on schedule, others can go overboard on rigidity. It really depends upon your nature. But some parents would tend to err to the side of over-structuring and bringing all of family life into some sort of system and order. This can be overwhelming to a child.

All of our homes need the balance of rules with relationships. Our kids need time with us outside of a routine. They need to laugh, play, connect heart-t0-heart, and experience our genuine warmth and compassion as parents. That’s hard to experience while sitting in a school desk. And as a parent it can be difficult to balance the role of school instructor or administrator, with the role of parent.

The success stories always include parents who wisely struck the balance with the help of the Holy Spirit. Remember there is something far more important than your child’s education (as vital as that is!) Their relationship with you and ultimately with God trumps everything else! Through all of the efforts to give them a solid education, be sure that the relationship—heart to heart—is healthy and growing.

Every now and then, break protocol and be a parent. Fall in love with your kids and meet the needs of their heart as well as their minds.

In conclusion, again, I believe wholly in the value of traditional Christian education. Whenever possible, a godly team of teachers in the right Christian school environment is a powerful compliment to the Christian home and local church. However, for many families, Christian school is just not an option for a variety of reasons. When these parents courageously shoulder the responsibility of education rather than taking the easier paths of public options, I respect their choice.

I pray that these values will be strong in your home and will help your family to be one of God’s great success stories!

Great Books for Christian Parents

Cary Schmidt — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 14:31:42 +0000

Frequently someone asks what books I would recommend on youth ministry or parenting. They are generally the same books. While there are some good books on youth ministry, the most helpful to youth ministry are those on the family. Whether you are a parent or a youth pastor, I would urge you to read everything you can on biblical parenting and working with young hearts. Over the years, these are a few books that have been profoundly helpful to me as a parent and youth pastor. I encourage you to read and pass along the information found in these books:

Shepherding a Child’s Heart by Tedd Tripp—This is probably the best book I’ve ever read on parenting and deserves to be read by parents every couple of years, no matter the age of your children. Portions of this book deal with infancy, childhood, and then teen years, but the entire book teaches a parent how to focus on the heart and not merely the behavior. The strength of this book is that it is thoroughly biblical and that it gives parents a clear understanding of the vital biblical principles that pertain to parenting.

Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters by Meg Meeker—This book was given to me by a pastor friend and it deeply challenged me in my relationship with my daughter. Meg Meeker is a physician and the book, though Judeo-Christian in value, is primarily written from the experiences that Mrs. Meeker has had in dealing with families from the view of her medical practice. Every man with a daughter should read this book. It substantiates the principles of Scripture with the real-life experiences of a family physician.

Parenting by the Book by John Rosemond—I purchased this book a few years ago and worked through it in my personal time. The message of the book is that parenting by the Bible still works. The most powerful aspect of this book, in my life, was Rosemond’s explanation of authority and biblical discipline. He explains “the rod” of authority in a way that powerfully impacted me permanently in my own home. He also does a great job in dealing with heart transformation versus mere behavior modification. There were many portions of this book that I underlined, came back to, and shared with my wife.

Parenting Today’s Adolescent by Dennis Rainey—This book has been a standard in my library as a reference for teen parents for years. The book opens with much practical wisdom and then explores the traps of the teen years. As a youth pastor and parent, every page of this book resonated in my heart with wisdom and truth. One of the best aspects of this book is that it helps the parent lead the teen to develop personal convictions! This vital dynamic of training is absent in many Christian homes today.

As with most books but the Bible, I would give a disclaimer that I could not endorse everything about these books or the authors listed. I encourage the reader to read with Holy Spirit led discernment and biblical wisdom. But generally these books deal with vital parenting issues biblically and practically. I pray they will be helpful tools to your home and ministry.

Andrew Murray on Trials

caryschmidt — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 20:30:27 +0000

This quote about trials from Andrew Murray found its way to me through Dr. Mark Rasmussen. Perhaps it will encourage you!

“First, He brought me here. It is by His will I am in this strait place: in that fact I will rest.”
“Next, He will keep me here in His love, and give me grace to behave as His child.”
“Then, He will make the trial a blessing, teaching me the lessons He intends me to learn, and working in me the grace He means to bestow.”
“Last, in His good time He can bring me out again—how and when He knows.”

“Let me say I am here,
1) By God’s appointment;
2) In His keeping;
3) Under His training;
4) For His time.”

Andrew Murray

New Curriculum—Salt and Light!

caryschmidt — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 01:03:40 +0000

Striving Together Publications is excited to announce the soon availability (Feb. 12) of this new adult curriculum from Dr. Mark Rasmussen! This 13 lesson series was over two years in development, and I’m extremely happy with the finished product. Dr. Rasmussen is one of the greatest Christian educators alive today, and you will find this resource helpful for both adults and teens in your church!

The study features a close examination of 13 metaphors for the Christian life—sheep, soldier, runner, salt, light, etc. It’s just a great study, and your church family will benefit from it.

The resource comes with a teacher guide and a student guide. Why? The teacher’s guide includes all the teaching material, illustrations, scripture references, and lesson details. The student guide features the blank outline, scripture references, lesson summary, and then a follow up study guide for each lesson. The student guides are extremely affordable and well worth the investment.

Why use the student guide?

Many churches ask students to invest the few dollars for the cost of their own work book, others simply give this to the students as a gift. It helps in a number of ways:

It encourages students to take the material more seriously.
It helps them follow the lesson, take notes, and further internalize the material.
It says to the students that Sunday School is a serious investment of heart and time.
It gives the student a process of application after the lesson.
It gives students a personal record of the series and their own spiritual growth to refer back to in years to come.

Presently Striving Together Publications offers fourteen adult curriculums (many which are adaptable for teens), and three teen curriculums. Additional teen and children’s curriculum are in development.

You Are What You Listen To (Part 1)

caryschmidt — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 16:49:44 +0000

You’ve heard the statement “you are what you eat.” And, physically this is true—your body and health are merely products of what you digest. But rarely do we make the same connection to our spiritual lives. In other words, “you are what you listen to.”

Have you ever considered that your musical listening habits have a direct correlation to your spiritual condition and direction in life? Music is a powerful influence that helps to create a direction and then feeds that direction at the same time. It shapes emotions and attitudes that become desires and decisions, which ultimately become destiny.

In this article I’d like to briefly explore the principles that make music such a powerful force in our lives, and then challenge you to apply them to your own listening choices.

Does God Have His Way in Your Music?

It should be the life goal of every Christian to have a thoroughly biblical worldview—a truthful, God-centered perspective in every area of life. No area of life should be exempt from biblical principles and the glory of God.

And yet, so often we compartmentalize our relationship with God. We reserve for Him that which is convenient, but we rationalize personal allowances—for instance in our entertainment, our dress, our personal pleasures of living—and yes, in our music.

As sure as God wants you to have a biblical worldview in broader areas, so He desires that His principles permeate every area of life. With this in mind, consider this simple question: Does God have His way in my music? Is He truly God of what I listen to?

God tells us in Isaiah 46:9 “…I am God and there is none else….” For instance, with my children, I am Dad, and there is none else. And I’m always Dad, not just sometimes. I’m Dad in every area, not just a few. I’m Dad—period. My children don’t negotiate with my right to be Dad—when I’m Dad and when I’m not. For instance: “Dad, when it comes to paying bills and buying school clothes—you got it! You’re Dad. But when it comes to my grades—you’re not Dad.” No, I’m always Dad. There’s no compartmentalizing in this relationship.

The fact is, God is God! He’s not only God when I have a lot of prayer requests. He’s God when I put in my ear-buds. And He has a lot to say about my music, my song, my meditations, and even my ears! Here are just a few examples:

Psalm 78:1, “Give ear, O my people, to my law: incline your ears to the words of my mouth.” (incline means to spread out toward…)

Psalm 19:14, “Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.”

Psalm 119:97, “O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day.”

With this foundational understanding of God’s rightful preeminence, I would like to give you three compelling reasons to honor God through your music:

Music Influences Your Flesh (Your Body)

God’s Word has much to say about our flesh and how we are to manage it. Throughout Scripture we are commanded to reign in our flesh and to bring it into subjection to the Holy Spirit of God. Here are a few examples:

1 Corinthians 9:27, “But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.”

Romans 8:13, “For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.”

Romans 6:6, “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.”

Romans 6:12, “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.”

These verses are relevant to music because there is a physical component to music called rhythm which produces physical responses in our flesh. Rhythm was designed to give structure and direction to the music, but the world and the flesh always accentuate and distort rhythm. And there are most definitely rhythms that provoke and enlarge carnal, physical impulses.

Cutting right to the point—if you desire a Spirit-led life you should listen to music that is not dominated by rhythm. A Spirit-led life and rhythm-dominated music are in conflict with one another.

On the other hand, a Spirit-led life is greatly facilitated by Spirit-led music. The Lord makes this connection very clear in Ephesians 5:18-19 where he ties a Spirit-filled life to Spirit-led music, “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;”

The great struggle of the Christian life is the “flesh against the spirit.” Our flesh continues to rise up and desires control. Have you ever considered that your music will either be a facilitator of the Spirit or a facilitator of your flesh?

In part two of this article, we’ll explore two more principles—stay tuned. To read more on the subject of music, you might consider the book Music Matters from Striving Together Publications.