This weekend we are taking 20 leaders from our youth ministry up to Winterpark for an amazing weekend of leadership training! I'm SOOO pumped for it. God is going to do amazing things with our youth ministry and it starts and ends with our leadership. So, I'm so excited that we can all come together for a weekend and talk about where God has us and where He is taking us.
I absolutely love the leaders we have and their doing spectacular things in our youth ministry, but after this weekend is through, I know we are going to PUMP UP THE VOLUME!

I am absolutely amazed by our students! We just came back from Fine Arts 2010. This was a competition event put on by our AG district where students can compete in all sorts of ways. Our students blew me away with the level of talent that they have. God is so amazing and I can see Him working in our student's lives. From Siana's dance to Mason's drum solo to the large human video group, I was so proud. GREAT JOB GUYS! YOU ALL ROCK!


Ryan Sharp

"I got my finger on the trigger, but I don't know who to trust."

That's how you write a song.

Springsteen isn't trying to impress you with his writing, but trying to bring you into a conversation. That's why I believe this is one of the greatest anti-war songs ever written. It's so good, you may not even realize its anti-war, and thats exactly why it's so effective.

By assuming the point of view of a soldier, Bruce creates a statement without marginalizing anyone in the process. Instead of nailing people in the face with an opinion, he paints pictures that require the listener to ask questions. I'm sure Bruce hopes these questions will lead you to his same conclusions, but he leaves it up to you.

Springsteen certainly isn't the originator of this approach. Neither is Dylan or even Shakespeare. King David uses it in his most famous Psalm "23", where he assumes the role of a sheep. And as a communicator, Jesus applied it almost exclusively (Mathew 13:34).

So take a tip from Jesus, and Springsteen: Tell a story. If people are smart, they'll get it, and I think people are smarter than we give them credit for. Don't you?

Inquiring Minds

I know you're out there readers. I really want to know what you think about these questions that will be talked about in Grace's new series called Inquiring Minds.


Post a reply to this blog and let me know your thoughts about one or more of these questions.
I'll post my opinions later.

THANKS,
Ryan

Passion on Purpose

As I figure this ministry thing out I realize I'll never stop figuring it out. To quote an old saying..."The more I know the more I know I don't know." I'm so grateful that God's grace is so vibrant. He allows us to figure it out step by step.

Today I was wondering why so many ministers get burned out and quit the ministry. Here's the two main reasons why I believe ministers get sick of it.

1. The Sabbath was created for US. It's not supposed to be some religious act we do out of fear, but its simply a gift. God has given us the gift of a Sabbath day. It should be a discipline to take a Sabbath (if not a full day, five hours) to recharge physically and mentally.

2. We should deploy passion on purpose NOT passion for passion's sake. This means we need to figure out what the priorities are and carry out those tasks with intense passion so that the passion is put to good use. This way, not only will the job get done more effectively, but we will be able to see progress and be encouraged.

CROSSpoint update

Sorry for not blogging much. Actually...sorry for not blogging AT ALL. But, that'll change.

God is doing incredible things in the hearts of Grace's middle school students. They're realizing more and more each day that they need to take the responsibility of their relationship with God in their own hands. We just started an exciting new series on the weekends called Mimic. We started out tonights message by playing a mime game that they loved. Anyway, this week is all about mimicking the attitude of Christ as He took on the responsibility of His call at the age of 12 by ministering in the temple! Our middle school students were amazed to find out that this is the ONLY account recorded in the Bible of Jesus' childhood and that He was THEIR AGE in this story.

After the service an amazing student approached me and told me how he's been ministering in his school. He explained how he wants to do it more so he wanted me to pray for him to gain the courage and strength to live for God as a testimony in his school. WOW! God is incredibly working in this 12 year old's life!

SOMETHING NEW: From now on, every weekend the middle school student will receive a take home card to think about how they personally are applying the message to their life and a Devo To-Go (three five minute devotionals recorded on CD) to use as a tool in their spiritual journey.

On Wednesdays SPIN and CROSSpoint both do the same series but directed at different age groups. We are on a series called The Invisibles. In this series, we walk through the fact that, as Romans puts it, when we were utterly helpless God died for us. So, He saw us. We no longer have to remain invisible anymore. This Wednesday we'll say that since we were seen by God we need to reach out and "see" others. There are people in our youth ministry that are invisible to us and just as Jesus was so good at SEEING PEOPLE we should also get good at seeing people.

One more thing...

I got a text from one of my students last monday saying how excited he was cause he just witnessed to his friends at Chipotle after school! He said he never knew it could feel like such a high and he's hooked! This excited and energized me like none other. Its amazing to me to see spiritual formation happen right before my eyes. Its just a testimony to how miraculous our Almighty God really is.

Ryan Sharp

FOCUS

What if the focus of the church was not to get the criers to cry harder, the jumpers to jump higher, and the shouters to shout louder? But, what if it were to get the unbelievers to see the love of Christ.

I had the privilege of playing keyboard for a worship leader at a worship conference in the mountains near Estes Park, Colorado. When we walked into the church building we were immediately hit by this "Christian pop star" mentality. The workers of the church building had marked our seats signifying it was saved for us with water bottles already perched on the chairs. Skipping over many details of odd infatuation over the band, the service began and the worship leader started singing. As soon as the music began the entire church rushed to the back of this church in a frenzy. I naturally looked back to see what was the issue. Each person started grabbing various colors of flags and banners from a bin full of these. A little old woman made her way to the back only to find that no flags were left. So, she proceeded to grab the American flag that was on display by the front door and began waving it over the crowd. This being a little humorous, I bowed my head so no one could see my smile. When I looked up though, I saw something that was not humorous at all. I saw these visitors, probably first time guests (about four of them) pointing and laughing at the ridiculous display of flags that most could easily be discerned as more of a show than a true expression of worship to God.

The display continued throughout worship. When it finally came time for a message to be delivered, a man known only as "The Prophet" emerged and began to speak. One by one people jumped up out of their seats making their way up to the platform. Each of them laying down money at his feat. Then in a loud voice he proclaimed, "keep it coming." More and more cash piled up like a mountain of greed reaching just below his knees. At this point in the service I was sitting in the furthest right of our designated seats. This was right in front of the visitors I had mentioned. With my peripherals I glanced at them to see their reaction. It's hard to even express what horror I could tell they were experiencing on paper. Wide eyed and open mouthed the four of them looking about the auditorium in disbelief. I shared their dismay as I looked at the expressive "prophet". But, it hardly ended there.

We, the band, were called back up for the closing altar time so the man known only as "The Prophet" could pray for anyone who willed him to. Again, these visitors were laughing and snickering at the man that was quite literally pushing each person he prayed for to the floor as if the power of God moved through him to cause them to be slain in the Spirit. To go into further detail about the demeanor of this "prophet", if people resisted his push on the forehead, he would say in the microphone a "bad" prophesy about them. "You have hidden sin that needs to be dealt with. Only then, will God reign blessings on you," he proclaimed. Chuckles came from the visitors' seats behind where my seat was. At that time, what looked like church elders or high-ranking officials in this specific church building came down the aisle toward the visitors in the seats behind me. Each of them grabbed the arm of a specific visitor. It was easy to tell that this was a planned out mission for these "spiritual giants". They then proceeded to drag the visitor up the aisle toward the altar. As the three men visitors and one woman visitor was standing in the center-right of the altar a group formed around them with the soul purpose of making them slain in the Spirit. As "The Profit" stood with his hand stretched toward the gathering circle they all began to lay their hands on each of their foreheads swaying them too and fro. The visitors' eyes were all open and looking around in terror and disbelief. It looked like a spiritual middle school and that church was the spiritual bully picking on the new kid. The bullies' fervor ran out and one by one they gave up (much to the relief of these visitors). I never got a chance to speak to them after the service because of their rapid pace out the door. But, I can guarantee this, that they will forever have a sour spot toward the Kingdom of God. So I'll say it again.

What if the focus of the church was not to get the criers to cry harder, the jumpers to jump higher, and the shouters to shout louder? But, what if it were to get the unbelievers to see the love of Christ.

We need to focus on what is truly important and what is our God-given mandate.