Inspired

October 27, 2011 in Work Camp, Youth Ministry with Comments Off

I trying to finish up some prep work on a meeting I have scheduled for tomorrow. I’m still the Direct of Arlington Work Camp and we are gearing up for another great year!

We are meeting for the second annual Plan and Pray Event for Work Camp 2012. The hope for tomorrow is for us to DREAM BIG for next summer’s camp week.

I was looking for some inspiration for the meeting and came across this great video entitled, “People Are Awesome.”

Absolutely love it!!!

(If you can’t view the video, click HERE)

I love videos like this because they get my heart pumping and open my eyes to all sorts of possibilities. Sure we won’t even try to remotely pull off any of those stunts (Unfortunately, Youth Ministry Interns won’t agree to sign liability waivers. Bummer.) but just watching these stunts gets me super excited and focused on bringing my A game to the creative meeting.

When it comes to a creative meeting, you’ve got to get fired up! The thing I love about the Plan and Pray Event is that this will mark the official beginning to our camp. The ideas and plans that we initiate tomorrow will start taking shape and culminate in a great experience for students and adults next summer.

Keep us in your prayers tomorrow as we start planning and preparing for Work Camp 2012.

I can’t wait!

Reading to Lead

October 20, 2011 in Best Practices, Resources, What I'm Reading with Comments Off

This is the 1,001 post for Kicking at the Darkness! To celebrate this milestone I want to pay tribute to the many great blogs and authors that I read each and every day.

I read quite a bit. I strongly believe that Leaders are Readers so I try and dedicate some part of each day to intentional reading and learning. Throughout the day I find time to read from a variety of sources- books, newspapers, blogs, magazines/journals, Twitter and Facebook.

Every day I have the opportunity to become a better leader. I have access to some of the greatest leaders in the world through blogs, Twitter, and publishing. You do too. Don’t miss an opportunity to learn by reading.

Here are a few of my favorites. Take some time today to invest in your leadership! Trust me: the ROI is crazy high!

Leadership
Michael Hyatt
 Seth Godin
Jon Acuff
Brad Lomenick
 Catalyst Space
One Question with Ken Coleman
 Tim Schrader
 Fast Company
 Books @ Leadership Network

Christian Ministry
Mark Batterson
 Perry Noble
 Mike Breen
 Tony Morgan
 Neue
Leading Smart
Pastors.com
WithoutWax.tv
Don Miller

Family
Orange Parents
Doug Fields

News
Drudge Report
 Mediaite
USA Today
 Dallas News

Fun
Stuff Christians Like
 Bryan Allain
 U2 Sermons
@U2

Magazines/Journals
Leadership
Entertainment Weekly
 Neue
Relevant
Wired

Twitter
@stevenfurtick
 @andystanley
 @RevRunWisdom
 @MaxLucado
 @JonAcuff

Current Books
Community by Brad House
Engage by Nelson Searcy
The King Jesus Gospel by Scot McKnight
Good to Great by Jim Collins (reread)
Nearing Home: Life, Faith and Finishing Well by Billy Graham

Never Enough

October 19, 2011 in Ethos, Leadership with Comments Off

Bring it everyday.

Dave Ramsey said that from the stage at Catalyst 2 weeks ago and I have refused to let that out of my head. I’ve scribbled it in my journal. I’ve written it with a Sharpie on colorful Post-it notes. I’ve hash-tagged it in several texts and tweets. I love the motivation and clarity that phrase has given me.

We all need reminders and calls to persevere and endure all that life throws at us. Left to yourself, you’re prone to give up and lay low. How do I know that about you?

I’m the exact same way. I need a phrase or a song or a verse or a challenge to remind me to keep pressing forward, to keep working hard. I don’t want to bring it every once in a while. I don’t want to  bring it whenever it is convenient. That’s not for me.

I want to bring it everyday.

I hope the following video can inspire you today. It is a video put together for the basketball team for Harding University, my alma mater.

Whatever you are doing today, whoever you do it for… Don’t quit. Keep up the fight. Press on. Bring it. Everyday.

New Focus

October 11, 2011 in Leadership with Comments Off

In an effort to clarify and draw into focus exactly what I hope to accomplish with this blog I’ve come up with a new description I want to share with you.

If you spend any amount of time reading this blog- THANK YOU! I appreciate you more than you know.

The best way that I can continue to thank you for reading and coming back is to step up my game, give you some razzamatazz, and deliver to you some great content that will be meaningful to you. So, I’m clearing away some clutter and narrowing my focus to laser intensity.

Kicking at the Darkness is about my experiences and focuses on what I’m learning in relation to leadership as a young minister, husband, and father. I write for other young leaders to help encourage and equip them to live lives of significance and impact.

There you go. That’s the new focus of Kicking at the Darkness.

Welcome to the adventure.

Present at Catalyst 2011

October 10, 2011 in Conference, Discipleship, Leadership, Ministry, Mission, Remarkable, Resources with Comments Off

I just returned from my 9th Catalyst Conference in Atlanta. Hands down, this is always my favorite weekend of the year. It is an opportunity to hear new voices, reflect on my calling, and cast vision for the future. This year was no different except…

Now I’m no longer the youth minister but now I’m the team leader. I’m the senior person on staff. I’m responsible for other leaders and volunteers now. The game changed since last October. It’s a freeing, scary, awesome, terrifying place to be. I am loving it.

What I love about Catalyst is that I don’t return with a series of new plans or programs that I’m ready to implement this Wednesday. Catalyst isn’t the kind of conference where you change everything about your ministry and programs 10 minutes after stepping off the plane back home.

Catalyst is a slow burn. The thoughts, concepts, challenges, and exhortations go to work in your own heart and mind first. Then, over time the things I have heard in October will begin to guide and change my approach or thinking. The change has to start within me as the leader.

Here are a few of the thoughts or concepts that are currently marinating in my soul from this weekend. I don’t know what they all mean for my context right now but I’m trusting that God will use them to make a big change in me so I can lead where I am more effectively.

  • Don’t be fair, be engaged. – Andy Stanley
  • Go deep rather than wide. Go long-term rather than short-term. Go time, not just money. – Andy Stanley
  • Life is people. – Jim Collins
  • 3 Behaviors that allow leaders to thrive: 1) Fanatical Discipline, 2) Empirical Creativity, 3) Productive Paranoia – Jim Collins
  • The Signature of mediocrity is not an unwillingness to change, innovate, or grow; it’s chronic inconsistency. – Jim Collins
  • Fire Bullets, then Cannonballs. – Jim Collins
  • What is my “20 Mile March“?
  • Learn to marry creativity with discipline so that disciple amplifies creativity. – Jim Collins
  • We live in a world that is holding on for dear life to straws. – Joel Houston
  • An incredible team in a culture of excellence matters. – Dave Ramsey
  • Bring it everyday. – Dave Ramsey
  • Readdress your calling everyday. – Dave Ramsey
  • “If I could get a transcript of your prayers over the last month, what would be the one thing you kept praying for?” – Francis Chan
  • We make the things we are afraid of functional gods that we worship. – Mark Driscoll
  • Fear makes us false prophets. We predict a future that will never happen and cause ourselves fear, stress, and anxiety over these things that will never happen.- Mark Driscoll
  • Fear is vision without hope. – Mark Driscoll
  • FEAR NOT! Fear not, your Daddy is with you. – Mark Driscoll
  • Hatred of injustice is not the same thing as a love for everyday people. – Cornel West
  • Love is about going on the offensive. – Cornel West
  • We are who we are because somebody loved us. – Cornel West
  • Messiahs are crucified; prophets are assassinated. – Cornel West
  • Be intentional about pouring into those leaders that are coming behind you. It’s not about filling their cup. It is about emptying yours. – Andy Stanley
  • MEDs- Model, Explain, Demonstrate – Andy Stanley
  • Success is ultimately measured by whether or not you leave your responsibilities in capable hands. – Andy Stanley
  • Let’s hand the church better off than it was handed to us… to those who can do it better than us. – Andy Stanley

These are just a few examples of the leadership challenges and questions that are currently running laps around my head and heart. I walked away from Catalyst 2011 just like every other year thinking:

I am so blessed and honored to have experienced what I just experienced. Thank you Father for the Catalyst Team and for all that they do.

It is my prayer that God will give me the wisdom I need to do something with what I heard and experienced.

See you in Dallas, Catalyst Team!

 

 

 

Axiom 2: Family First

October 5, 2011 in Ethos, Leadership Axioms, My Wife Rules with Comments Off

It has been a pretty crazy week around the Felker household. Our son came down with the stomach bug late last week. My wife got it in the wee small hours on Sunday. I thought I could escape the plague but I was infected and early Monday morning I was down for the count. The only thing I could do on Monday was lay still and hug my pillow. I absolutely hate being sick.

Thankfully, this bug was only a 24hr things and so we are all on the mend. However, this family fight against the stomach virus really threw me off my schedule. I lost a whole day at work and had things pretty booked on Tuesday so I was unable to post my second installment in the Leadership Axioms series. So, with that said, let’s talk about this week’s Leadership Axiom.

I want to live and die by this week’s axiom. I have tried to make this belief a core part of who I am and I have said this statement for so long that have forgotten where and when I first heard it. I didn’t coin this phrase but I wouldn’t care if it were inscribed on my tombstone. For me, as a minister, this should be no pithy, quaint saying. This is life and death stuff we are talking about here.

Are you ready? Here it is…

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I refuse to sacrifice my family on the alter of ministry.

No question. This is one of the most important things I can do to succeed and to guarantee that I leave a legacy of faith and not a hollow, charred out crater of a life with collateral damage strewn from here to kingdom come.

Too much? I don’t think so.

I’ve heard too many stories. Seen too much hurt.

Nothing- and I mean NOTHING- is more important to me than my wife and my son. If I don’t get MY FAMILY right, I really don’t believe I can get anything right.

I’m not perfect. If I don’t stay on top of my schedule it can quickly squeeze out any and every good intention that I have. Here are a few things I try to do to make sure that I am putting my family first.

  • Calendar- As best as I can, I do not make definitive plans with a meeting (in the evening) or weekend event without first consulting Sandy and synching our calendars. We share an iTunes account so we can see each others calendar changes and appointments on our iPhones. This isn’t fool proof but it is a great way to defer to one another. For weekend things, Sandy gets first dibs at me. In fact, there is something coming up in the next few weekends that I’ll have to skip out a little early on because we are going to the pumpkin patch. No way I am missing that!
  • Schedule-Free Night(s)- Last year, we had at least two week nights where I did not have a regularly scheduled event in the evenings. We essentially had Monday and Thursday nights to ourselves. This meant that we could spend quality and quantity time with each other on a consistent basis. If I needed to go to a game or meet with someone or do something that I needed to do for ministry there was some margin. Things are a bit different this season. We still have our Monday nights but I am teaching Financial Peace on Thursdays until December. The decision to teach was made jointly by Sandy and I with the understanding that we would have to be extra intentional about protecting our family time on Mondays. Our Saturdays have opened up quite a bit this season so there have been plenty of opportunities to catch up on together time (too cute?).
  • Communication- As you can see in the last to sections, Sandy and I try to constantly communicate with one another. Communicating dates and times are important but what we strive to do is communicate expectations. The goal is honesty with one another. “I need more time here.” “Can you help me with this?” “I really need this to happen?” “Is it ok if we…” Marriage and Ministry cannot coexist without clear communication and a willingness to be open about expectations and needs. My default is to keep working.
  • Team Work- This may not work as well with everyone but… When it comes to ministry, we are a team. We go together and we work well together (painting a room together is another story though!). We worked together at a school right out of college, we worked together in youth ministry, and now we are trying to see what working together in this new role looks like. I love that in my ministry, my wife can take part and that she has the freedom to have her own ministry. We really strive to be a team in the best sense of the word. In running, they say that a way to improve and to reach new levels of success is to have a partner to pace with. We are that partner for one another.
  • Improvement- I do not want to come across as though I have learned the secret to protecting my family and my schedule. I am way too young to have it all figured out. Everything is a work in progress. My ideal would be that once a week we could sit down over coffee with pen and calendars in hand and map out the perfect week. I would love to do that!!! That’s the goal I want to work towards but we are a long way off. I am missing those Thursday night right now- but we both feel that offering FPU is something we can and should make time for. At the end of this season we will readjust and see what is needed. In fact, these conversations have already begun.

The only secrets I have learned are that I must embrace the truth that MY FAMILY COMES FIRST and that we must be FANATICAL about finding ways to make that truth a reality.

I ask that you pray for us that we will continue to choose to make our family a priority and I challenge you to embrace the best way to ensure that you leave a legacy of faith for everyone that you minister to. There is life in this statement. There is ultimately freedom in this statement. Don’t be another burnout. Don’t let you family be another statistic.

Say it loud. Say it proud.

“I refuse to sacrifice my family on the alter of ministry!”

Convert Life to Truth

September 30, 2011 in Discipleship, Faith in Action, Preaching, Unremarkable with Comments Off

“I once heard a preacher who sorely tempted me to say I would go to church no more.

A snow-storm was falling around us.

The snow-storm was real, the preacher merely spectral, and the eye felt the sad contrast in looking at him, and then out of the window behind him into the beautiful meteor of the snow.

He had lived in vain. He had not one word intimating that he had laughed or wept, was married or in love, had been commended, or cheated, or chagrined. If he had ever lived and acted, we were none the wiser for it. The capital secret of his profession, namely, to convert life into truth, he had not learned.

Not one fact in all his experience had he yet imported into his doctrine. This man had ploughed and planted and talked and bought and sold; he had read books; he had eaten and drunken; his head aches, his heart throbs; he smiles and suffers; yet was there not a surmise, a hint, in all the discourse, that he had ever lived at all.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

RWE delivered this story 173 years ago and in some churches the problem still remains.

Preacher, if the people who gather to hear you connect their lives to the Way, the Truth, and the LIFE see that there is NO LIFE within you- don’t be surprised when they don’t come back. If you cannot convert LIFE- your relationship to Jesus- to TRUTH- that a relationship with Jesus is real and vibrant and life transforming and to be lived out- then sleep in this Sunday. Do not bother delivering that sermon you pulled out of your filing cabinet this week.

When I step into the pulpit each Sunday or when I stand beside my table to teach class or when I open up the Word over a cup of coffee with a friend the whole point is to connect our lives to the life of Jesus.

In the Incarnation, Jesus became flesh and bone, blood and sinew. He was real. His words were alive. He is still real. His words are still alive.

In John 15:5-8, Jesus gives us the key to converting life to truth. He says to us, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”

If you want people to be moved by the Son of God you’ve got to let them know that he moves you. If you want to see others transformed by Jesus Christ, than they have to know that he radically transforms you.

Otherwise, you might persuade them to skip out or check out… Permanently.

This Sunday, make sure you connect Life to Truth.

Change Equation

September 27, 2011 in Leadership, Leadership Axioms with Comments Off

Yesterday I teased a new weekly feature here for the blog where I plan on writing about some of my favorite Leadership Axioms that have impacted me personally and professionally over the years. I define a Leadership Axiom as a short, concise phrase that conveys a leadership truth or principle. These axioms also need to be memorable and applicable to everyone. The first Leadership Axiom comes from Pastor Mark Batterson from National Community Church in Waschington, DC.

Pastor Mark believes that from time to time a leader and/or the leadership team should get away from the hustle and bustle of day-to-day ministry for a time of reevaluation. In fact, if it is possible step away from the office, get out, and get away. Or as he says it:

Change of Pace + Change of Place = Change of Perspective


photo

What a great equation! I love it because I have benefitted from it time and time again. Without fail when I unplug from my normal surroundings and schedule I see a huge benefit all the way around. Getting outside of the normal routine does wonders for my creativity, my focus, and my productivity.

Examples of how I put this axiom to work:

  • Going to the coffeehouse. As you can see from the picture above, I never go to the coffeehouse alone. Sometimes, I just have to get away from my email, Twitter, and phone calls to spend sometime reading or taking notes. I strap on my headphones and start up my study playlist and get to work. 30 minutes in a coffeehouse equals at least 1 hour of uninterrupted focus.
  • Attending conferences. Attending conferences offer both a change of pace and a change of place. Next Wednesday, we are piling into Edna, the church van, and hitting up the Catalyst Conference in sunny Atlanta, GA- or the ATL as I like to call it. This will be my 9th Catalyst ATL appearance and my first as a lead minister. The normal routine will be thrown out the window in order to make room for a couple of days of being challenged and pushed with new ideas and fresh thoughts. Love, love, love it!
  • Longer lunches. Much like my coffeehouse trips, I never go to lunch empty handed. I always take a book or my Moleskine with me to capture new thoughts and notes. Sometimes I just need to sit with my thoughts and big ole soda to get unstuck or experience a creative break through.
  • Bookstore Crawl. Remember Borders Bookstores? (Too soon?) I get some of my best ideas while “wandering” up and down the aisles of my local bookstore. The pictures on the covers, the titles, philosophies, display stands, you name it feed my creative juices and help me clarify my thoughts.
  • Retreats Nothing helps you change your perspective like getting away from it all on an extended retreat. I am actually working on scheduling some time away before the end of the year. In fact, in the next 3-6 months, it is my hope that I can take a personal retreat, a ministry staff retreat, and a church leadership team retreat. These don’t need to be a week long excursions into the woods where you forage for berries armed with only a flashlight and your Bible. You just need to get away for a set period of time (usually 24-48hrs), unplug your phone, and spend an extended period of time focused on listening to God. That’s it.

Change of Pace + Change of Place = Change of Perspective

I’d encourage you to incorporate this great Leadership Axiom into your routine and it is my hope that you will benefit from this truth as much as I have.

Next week’s axiom will be about Vision. You won’t want to miss this one.

Truth Bombs

September 26, 2011 in Leadership, Leadership Axioms, Personal Leadership, Resources with Comments Off

Leadership Axioms are short, concise phrases that convey a leadership truth or principle. Over the years I have collected quite a few of these little sayings and tried to incorporate these concepts into my leadership philosophy and practice. Often times I wish that I had come up with some of these myself. After talking with a friend about some of these Leadership Axioms, I’ve decided to write about a few of the ones that I have benefited from the most. It is my hope that these leadership concepts will help you as you lead yourself and the people God has entrusted into your care.

There are 2 great things about Leadership Axioms:

First, they are short and memorable. In his book, Axiom: Powerful Leadership Proverbs, Bill Hybels compares these short statements on leadership to many of the proverbs found within scripture in that they can serve up “a truckload of weighty wisdom in bite-size chunks.” If something is going to make it’s way into my busy schedule it has to be short, sweet, and deliver maximum life-change goodness. Leadership Axioms fit that bill.

Secondly, these truths are transferable. You don’t have to lead 1000 people or work in a mega-church to learn from and incorporate these truths into your leadership. They work because they are true not because you have a huge budget or a giant platform. That’s the great thing about values and principles- everyone can afford them.

To kick off this series, I’ve chosen one of my favorite Leadership Axioms from Pastor Mark Batterson. I’ll be posting these on Tuesdays from now on so please check back tomorrow for the Greatest Leadership Equation Ever. (Math and Leadership rarely overlap so this axiom is extra special.)

What are some of your favorite Leadership sayings or truths? Join the conversation on Facebook or Twitter.

Plan Your Work

September 19, 2011 in Best Practices, Personal Leadership, Planning, Prayer, Preaching with Comments Off

I had a fabulous weekend at the Austin City Limits Music Festival. ACL celebrated it’s 1oth Anniversary in style with big name artists like Coldplay, Kanye, Stevie Wonder, My Morning Jacket, and Arcade Fire. I got to see some of my favorites too including Ray Lamontagne, Brandi Carlile, Cee Lo Green, Iron & Wine, and, a new favorite, Ryan Bingham and the Dead Horses. I had a blast and I hope I can attend this festival again.

The festival gave me an opportunity to relax and rest but it also gave me a chance to get some planning done. I spent most of Saturday and Sunday planning out my preaching calendar. I already have everything laid out through the end of the year but after this weekend I have the next 10 months of my preaching calendar planned out. For me, this is huge and very exciting.

I believe that planning ahead is a great way to trust in the Spirit and allow him to move  through the entire process from prayer to planning to study to execution. Over the last few weeks, I’ve been listening to God, praying, and asking for wisdom in planning this calendar and I feel like God blessed me this weekend as he helped me put it all together.

Here are 4 Reasons I Am Preparing My Preaching Calendar Months in Advance:

1) Planning ahead simply helps give me DEPTH in my preaching through advanced studying and preparation.

2) Planning ahead aids in giving the Spirit room to help me share the message of Jesus more CREATIVELY. (Note: I believe that it is next to impossible to go deep and/or be creative at the last minute.)

3) Planning ahead makes sure that I am being faithful to the WHOLE of SCRIPTURE and not simply preaching on the flavor (issue) of the month.

4) Planning ahead helps me ENLIST HELP in gathering resources, help, buy-in, prayers, and fuels an excitement among the leadership about what God will be saying to us. (I would like to see us move to sermon based small groups in 2012. To do this, you need help from other leaders and those leaders need material and time to pray, plan, and prepare.)

Are all of these series set in stone and immovable? No way! Will some of these series change or be scrapped? Maybe. What if God calls you to speak on something else? I’ll submit willingly and gladly!

I started planning out my teaching series about 4-5 years ago and it has helped make all the difference in the way I pray, plan, study, and prepare my lessons. Less pressure and more reliance on God to help and guide me means more encouragement and focus on what he has called me to do. That is a great place to be!

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