Weddings

fredschmitt — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 17:14:16 +0000

I was reminded about how cool weddings can be this weekend. Similar to my own ‘special day’, the wedding was for some very close friends of mine (Devin and Leah, pictured),and I knew deeply of their story and how their love for one another came to be. The theme of their wedding was “Story”, and it is the beautiful description of the journey that brings two lives together.

A character that wants something and overcomes conflict to get it.

This is how author Donald Miller defines story. Truly think about weddings today, not as an institution, but as the cimax of the story. The marriage, then is the day-to-day growth of a new life (a new story being written).

The next time you find yourself at a wedding, perhaps your own, don’t merely observe the wedding…embrace the story. The two lives being joined to make one new life is an incredible reminder of the relationship God wants to have with us.

Devin, Leah… Congrats!

Criticism

drew — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 16:53:59 +0000

Let’s be honest. This can be one of the worst parts of being in ministry. Right or wrong, constructive or not, everyone has an opinion. And because you are in the spot light (being on staff), everyone shares that opinion in some way, shape or form.

The questions is …how do we respond to it?

Here’s a couple of things I normally do when faced with criticism

Get some space and pray about it. Whenever I react in the moment, nothing good normally happens. I take it in. And then process it later, when I’m out of the situation. The biggest part of processing it, is praying about it and letting God speak to me on it.
Seek out advice of leadership/mentor/someone who’s opinion you respect. Often we can’t see the validity of a criticism. Often there is none. But I need someone outside of the situation to give me an unbiased reaction.
Love the one criticizing. I don’t do this well at all. But I think the principle is sound. I’ve found that often criticism comes out when people are dealing with issues and just need to unleash on someone. Once again we’re public figures, and easy targets. But those moments are often the times when we can do true ministering.

What do you do to handle criticism?

so you couldn’t make it to Catalyst?

drew — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 19:16:03 +0000

Ya me either…But all is not lost. There’s a few places you can check out what’s going down in the ATL without paying the money. First you’d want to check out Catalyst Backstage. There you’ll find a list of all the bloggers (and links to their blogs) covering Catalyst as well as a live video feed (starting tomorrow, Thursday) where you can see all the happenings.

Over at Out of Ur they’ve been posting about the pre-conference labs and sessions. A post of note was Mark Batterson’s lab on the condition of our heart, as it relates to ministry. The line that’s been bouncing around in my head since yesterday is…

Am I performing my ministry as a monument to myself? Or to show the greatness of God?

Media & Ministry

fredschmitt — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 16:19:56 +0000

I love doing ministry and trying to connect people to the message of God. I love media and all the ways that it is becoming easier to be creative! (Am I using this post to just talk about things I love?)

When I heard about Collide Magazine, a periodical about Media and the Church, I became instantly giddy and signed us up for a subscription. Their tagline encompasses each issue:

Where media and the Church converge

This last issue featured “Story” and how media helps tell our faith stories and help communicate the greatest story of all time in God’s redemption project for all mankind!

Each issue comes stocked with links to resources around the web that will provide plenty of inspiration to get the creative juices flowing.

From your experiences, do you think that media is now an essiential part of the Church?

How are churches embracing this? Are they?

100 words on Catalyst 09

fredschmitt — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 19:00:40 +0000

It’s special week for the Catalyst Conference as they celebrate their tenth year! This year’s accent is: “On Your Mark” Leaders are marked by moments, and Catalyst has been creating unforgettable moments that spark movents around the globe. Catalyst is a multi-day conference that demands action from it’s participants!

We attended Catalyst06. Practitioners of Youth Ministry is an example of action marked by the moments we took in at Catalyst.

We exist to refresh youth ministers with a network of ideas, resources, and encouragement.

We are interested in ministry for the long-haul. Thanks Catalyst!

Share your Catalyst story with us…