Category Archives: Spiritual Leadership

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What is Blue Zone Ministry?

Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. – Mark 1:35

Blue Zone is the category of Full Spectrum Ministry that brings life to all the rest. Sadly, Blue Zone (rest and retreat) is the type of ministry that leaders neglect the most. 

blue zone ministry, full spectrum youth ministry

Photo by Matt Gross on Unslpash

The consequence of neglecting our need to retreat from the busyness of life is painful. Leaders who don’t develop a regular rhythm of rest and retreat suffer from emotional, spiritual, and physical burnout. They lose their ability to share grace and truth with the people around them. 

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Time to Get Creative! Share the Gospel (Orange Zone)

Imagine traveling to a place where you did not speak the language spoken there. What would you do to communicate so that you could be understood correctly? How would you connect with people? What strategies would you use to learn? You would not be able to simply speak your known language and expect people to understand you. This scenario would require you to
get creative!
Sharing the Gospel can be like cross-cultural travel into someone else’s life. Young people who are curious about Jesus, but do not know Him yet may not be able to fully understand the miraculous work on the cross in the language that Christians are used to. Youth leaders must be creative in communicating the Gospel in a way that young people can connect to and understand.
orange zone - creatively share the gospel
The orange zone of Full Spectrum Youth Ministry is representative of proclaiming the Gospel to those who are curious about following Jesus. Orange is in the middle of the color spectrum and this color symbolizes creativity. To inspire some creativity, let’s look at some ways Jesus communicated with others.
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MOSES OFFERS A REMEDY FOR LEADER FATIGUE | NUMBERS 11

In the closing hours of our four-day retreat with three youth pastors in Asia, the Lord led us to a devotion in the book of Numbers…

Moses was at a point of extreme fatigue in his ministry (like many youth leaders I know). Frustrated and burdened by all of the people looking to him for leadership, he realizes he is in over his head and beyond his abilities. So he cries out to God for help. At wits-end and discouraged from the pressure, God responds to Moses. But he doesn’t answer his prayer the way he was expecting.

leader fatigue

Equipping leaders

Moses just wanted some pots of meat to quell the people’s hunger. God would later provide the meat, but not without offering Moses some more important provision. Instead of meat, God provides Moses with more leaders to shepherd Israel. Seventy to be exact. Seventy spirit-filled leaders would help solve this leadership crisis:

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DISCIPLESHIP FROM ROOT TO FRUIT | JOHN 15:1-17

A believer may pass through much affliction, and yet secure very little blessing from it all. Abiding in Christ is the secret of securing all that the Father meant the [discipline] to bring us.
 – Andrew Murray
It’s so easy to complicate discipleship in our age of information and to-do lists. Yet even if we might be complicating discipleship toward more “doing” than “being” in Christ, we can rest assured that Jesus will prune us to become fruitful again. If you feel scattered and distracted as I often do, maybe these words spoken by God to Ezekiel will bring you some comfort and nourishment to your discipleship this week:
And he said to me, ‘Son of man, feed your belly with this scroll that I give you and fill your stomach with it.’ Then I ate it, and it was in my mouth as sweet as honey. – Ezekiel 3:3
discipleship root to fruit
It’s no wonder that what grounds us the most in our walk with God is simply to mediate (or eat in the case of Ezekiel) whole chunks of Scripture. Scripture is the sap that our tired branches need for revival.
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4 Things College & High School Campuses Need

If you are a college student, student ministry leader, or parent of a college student I want you to read this post. College is a window of opportunity. With just a bit of intentionality your college ministry experience could be the difference between a bowl of oatmeal and a Belgian waffle with strawberries and whipping cream. Our college campuses are of course intensely secular places, but there’s really nothing new about that. Followers of Jesus have always been on the outside, a little strange in comparison to the dominant culture. Yet one thing that does seem different today on college campuses is the scale of erosion in the soil of Christian community.

CSU college students

The concern is that without context, it is hard for a young believer to grow and progress in Christ. Without an adequate alternative culture of Jesus-loving friends around you, there is a good chance you will be impacted more by the dominant culture around you, rather than you impacting it. Context to live out our faith is absolutely crucial.

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21 Reasons Why People Don’t Listen When You Speak

Do you ever wonder, are people really listening when I speak? People may look like they are listening, but how do you know if you are actually impacting them? Afterall, the goal of speaking is not to just get people to sit still until you are finished talking. You want to impact them and help them grow.

How to get people to listen to you when you speak

You want to serve people in some way through your speaking.  I’m still processing each one of the bullet points I’m about to share. I hope I never stop growing, and if I ever do, anyone please hit me over the head with a bag of nickles and remind me to keep improving!

HERE ARE 21 STUMBLING BLOCKS THAT MIGHT KEEP PEOPLE FROM LISTENING TO YOU WHEN YOU SPEAK

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The Freedom of Finding Your Soul’s Deepest Desires

solitude on a mountain

Years ago one of my good friends, Howard Baker (who is now the professor of Christian Formation at Denver Seminary), led me through what he called an “Adventure in Prayer.” It was a time of spiritual direction to slow me down and experience Jesus’ love for me in a time, as a leader, that I was being tempted a lot by performance and achievement. Howard’s guidance through Scripture nurtured my soul. He pointed me toward some passages that continue to bring life and more life as I consider them (Psalm 63, 23; Isaiah 55; Psalm 139; Isaiah 43; Hosea 11:1-4).

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SPIRITUAL LEADERSHIP REFLECTIONS FROM TOLKIEN’S “RIVENDELL”

Spiritual Leadership in RivendellThe Hobbit is a Window into a Spiritual Leadership Reality.

Reading the Hobbit makes me tired. It is one battle after another… with seemingly little respite. Yet the story Tolkien portrays is one of inexperienced and fearful hobbits becoming courageous champions of a cause that they believed would save the world. With a little vision and encouragement from Gandalf, they were on their way, not knowing what would happen to them. Tolkien’s story is full of lessons on spiritual leadership.

Similar to Gandalf’s conversation with Frodo, when Jesus took his young disciples up on a mountain before he ascended to heaven, he also made his mission intent clear… that although they may be afraid and the world seemed like a field too big to plant the seeds of the Gospel (see Matthew 28:19-20), he was sending them anyway… ready or not. He knew they would become courageous as they went. And so they did.