Blogs | Inspiratie voor je jeugdwerk - LEF. “Kleine groepen zijn te klein.” Dat schreven we eerder op deze site. In de kerk werken we te vaak met te kleine groepen. En verwachten we de verkeerde dingen van die kleine groepen. Het gevolg: de groepen die we maakten voor groei verhinderen juist die groei. De groepen die we maakten om missionair te zijn trekken weinig nieuwe mensen. De diensten die we hielden voor diepgang in geloof worden slechts geconsumeerd. De vorige blog ging daarover: de grootte van de groep is belangrijk omdat verschillende groepsgroottes een verschillend doel dienen. Maar eerst even samenvattend Socioloog Joseph Myers schreef in het boek ‘The Search to Belong’ dat de grootte van een groep bepaalt waar de groep het meest geschikt voor is. De 4 groepsgroottes zijn: Niet lukken Voorbeeld: Intieme ruimte Geert: “Waar ik aan moest denken was voorbede. "Ik werd meegetrokken in het avontuur dat hij aanging in het bidden voor zijn buurman.
Voorbeeld: Persoonlijke ruimte "Op een gegeven moment gebeurde dat ook. A Face-to-Face Request Is 34 Times More Successful than an Email. Executive Summary A new study finds that people tend to overestimate the power of their persuasiveness via text-based communication, and underestimate the power of their persuasiveness via face-to-face communication. In one experiment, 45 participants were instructed to ask 10 strangers to complete a survey. Half the participants made the request over email, and half made it face-to-face. Participants who made requests over email felt just as confident about the effectiveness of their requests as those who made their requests face-to-face, and yet the face-to-face requests were 34 times more effective than the emailed ones. Imagine you need people to donate to a cause you care about. Despite the reach of email, asking in person is the significantly more effective approach; you need to ask six people in person to equal the power of a 200-recipient email blast.
In one study, we had 45 participants ask 450 strangers (10 strangers each) to complete a brief survey. A Face-to-Face Request Is 34 Times More Successful than an Email. How to Stay Motivated in Fundraising. Three Reasons why You'll Never be Fully Funded. When Conflict Hits Your Ministry. Church has always been a necessary mystery for me—necessary because Jesus made it so clear that being the church is key to being a Christ-follower.
It’s an essential part of the restoration we each need and long for. For me, “church” is a commandment I may not fully understand but yet choose to obey. Something happens when I worship, listen to a sermon, study the Bible, and pray in the presence of others: I feel a profound centering at my core. I am not alone. I can journey on in the company of brothers and sisters who “get” it. But it’s also been at church that I’ve learned how cruel, ignorant, and political Christ-followers can be. However, I couldn’t fly under the radar for the years I served as an administrative pastor at my downtown Toronto church. But as I launched into full-time ministry, my distaste for office politics soon turned into a keen sense of grief when I realized that some members of the church’s leadership team behaved the same way my ad agency bosses and peers had.
How to Spot an Immature Prophet and What To Do About It. This is the second in a series of articles on recognizing immaturity in fivefold ministry and what to do about it. If you have no idea what fivefold ministry is, check out Alan Hirsch’s brief descriptions here, or JR Woodward’s video introduction here. Missional church planting isn’t easy. You’re trying to grow something from the ground up in a healthy way, but the vagaries of people’s schedules and commitments makes it difficult to gain momentum and critical mass.
That’s why it’s so tempting to release gifted people into leadership too soon. If a competent leader comes along, it’s easy to just let them “go for it” without really evaluating their character. Unless we also have a way of evaluating how mature these gifted people are, we are asking for trouble. Why? One of the most devastating mistakes we can make as church planters is to assume that giftedness is the same thing as maturity. So how can we avoid this scenario? I talked about apostles last time. You Might Be a Prophet If… 1. 2. Shifting the Priorities of Church Leaders. By Neil Cole Jesus defined success differently. For Him, success could be summed up in three words: Faithfulness (Matt 25:21; Heb 11:6) fruitfulness (John 15:8) and finishing well (Matt 25:21; 2 Tim. 4:6-8).
If these three things are what Jesus is looking for to determine our success then perhaps our priorities should reflect them. Christian leaders put so much emphasis on tasks at the expense of relationships, but actually, it is our relationships that will ultimately reveal our success or lack thereof. The diagram below reflects a variety of roles that a typical Christian leader can feel obliged to fill. At the top of the chart are the roles and at the bottom are the numbers of people he or she can expect to influence in each of those roles. As you look at the circles above imagine them on a potter’s wheel spinning fast.
Leaders who perform well on the outside tasks get the most accolades and affirmations. Follow Jesus to True Success This was Jesus’ pattern; he fulfilled all the roles. 3 Key Shifts that Could Change the Face of ... As a small child I remember tagging along with my mom to women's ministry meetings to spend the morning in the church basement making quilts and knitting baby items for missionaries across the world. When this work was done, the women of mixed ages would gather around the table enjoying warm pieces of apple cake as they packed the items, sealing each box with brown packing tape and prayer. Sister Ella, the women's ministry leader, would paint a picture with her words, asking God to bless and protect the families, using the items to bring a bit of joy and helping them extend their reach. Sister Ella wasn't an eloquent prayer leader, but her simple words and heartfelt tears made an impression on my young heart.
I wasn't even sure what a missionary was, but I knew they must be doing something important and that they were loved. Women's ministry has come a long way. Women's ministry has come a long way. Are Bible studies bad? Are retreats a waste of time? Amanda Palmer: The art of asking. 4 Myths That Are Getting in the Way of Your... Because of the nature of my role at 4word (a ministry to professional women), I spend a lot of time speaking to women about their calling. What I’ve discovered over the years is that many women have an incredibly difficult time discerning what that calling is.
For these struggling women, certain myths about calling are getting in the way of discovering what God truly has for them. In order to move forward in one’s calling, it’s important to identify and remove those myths from the discernment process. If you’re feeling lost trying to discern God’s calling for your life, consider these myths that may be tripping you up.
Myth #1: It’s About You The process of discovering your calling may necessitate some serious self-reflection, but make no mistake: It’s not really about you. To discern what God’s will may be, you do need to look inward. Myth #2: If It’s Uncomfortable, It Can’t Be Your Calling Figuring out your calling isn’t an instant ticket to a smooth life and career. On Being Matt Chandler's Roommate | For The Church. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. —James 3:14 This is a story about two young men who were friends, roommates, and pastors. In other words, this is a story about jealousy. In the mid-90s, I was a student at Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, Texas. I was a successful student with a successful grade point average. My sophomore year a student transferred in who captured the attention and imagination of much of the student body.
His name was Matt Chandler. Matt had a natural ease about him. Our junior year, we decided to rent an apartment together. It was an idyllic time. There are three small-ish Christian universities in Abilene. I hoped they would choose me. Instead, they chose Matt. And that’s when the jealousy began. The weekly Bible study swelled in attendance to approximately 2,000 students—in Abilene!
I was amazed at God’s blessing on Matt’s life. And I badly wanted it for myself. I told him I was jealous of him. The Future of Women's Ministry. I can remember the days of my grandmother's women's ministry. The church divided up the women into groups of eight to ten called "Circles. " Each group was named after a woman in the Bible. My grandmother was in Sarah Circle #3.
They met biweekly for Bible study and dessert. If one of the women was sick the week that they were meeting, they would meet in the sick woman's home to provide extra anointing and prayer. On that day, of course, the sick woman would run around her home getting it ready for guests. We may laugh, but are we much different? Are we stuck doing the same old things because we have always done them that way? But there is hope. 1.
The younger women in our churches have ideas, thoughts, and suggestions. 2. Nothing is worse than someone asking for your opinion and then not really listening or taking it into consideration. 3. Invite interested women to be part of your women's ministry leadership team and allow them to be part of the decision-making process. Mommy Versus Ministry? When I was a young mom, I vividly remember how all-consuming mothering was. Being home with my children was exactly where God had placed me, yet at the same time I knew that he was calling me to more. But ministry outside of the home can feel . . . well, impossible to a mom who can barely find time to take a shower! My friend Rachel, mom to eight-month-old daughter Reagan, puts it like this: "I haven't left the house since Monday.
It's Thursday. Being a mom definitely affects how and when you can serve, but it doesn't have to keep you from ministry altogether. Being a mom definitely affects how and when you can serve, but it doesn't have to keep you from ministry altogether. Start small This season of life is all about small—small clothes, small toys, small people. Set realistic expectations This season of life is overwhelming. 10 Difficult Truths About Ministry I Wish I Knew When I Started. These truths aren’t easy to accept, but they would have saved me nights of doubting and frustrations due to unmet (and unrealistic) expectations. Five years ago, I left a career as an engineer to serve the local church full-time. The first day, I walked into the church building giddy, like a school girl who just saw the finest dude ever.
I think I skipped twice, then I noticed the lady cleaning the church building staring at me. Awkward. I was so excited. The honeymoon lasted like three months. Five years later, I still wonder why pastors are closed up in an office all day, but I love local church ministry. The path to this point wasn’t easy (the path moving forward won’t be easy either).
Here we go! 1.) Two weeks before transitioning into full-time ministry, I went through the darkest time of my life. Here’s what I wish I knew before I got into ministry … while Satan targets everyone, he especially targets church leaders. Coincidence?