exploring the edge...

Ministry fundraising: God's provision for His work and His glory

2011-02-02T12:14:00.001-06:00

Earlier last year I was introduced to the notion that giving should be a transformational (as opposed to merely transactional) relationship. This view of the relationship between donors and beneficiaries holds that both parties should be transformed by the interaction. My exposure to this concept marked the start of an evolution in my overall thinking about fundraising and the sheepish,

Generosity and fear

2010-10-22T15:11:00.001-05:00

A challenge this week, from Andy Stanley: I see two kinds of givers: people who give what’s left over, and people who give off the top and live on what’s left over. The first group isn’t greedy. They just see themselves as responsible for meeting their own needs. And whatever’s left over goes to helping God’s work. The second group sees everything as belonging to God, including the

Be still and know...

2010-06-22T20:54:00.003-05:00

"Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." - Psalm 46:10 This is among the most difficult Biblical commands for a ministry to heed. It is also one of the greatest truths that we can be reminded of. We often find ourselves being busy, and forgetting that He is God. It is for this reason that we intentionally schedule time to pause,

Leadership in Ministry, Part II: Leading as a follower

2010-04-22T14:42:00.002-05:00

NOTE: This post is part of a blog training series on leadership development, originally authored for CTI Music Ministries. Read the series introduction | view the whole series "Leaders can inspire, teach, entertain, and in many other ways shape the framework upon which an adventure can unfold. Within that framework, however, group members must bear much of the responsibility for the quality

Leadership in Ministry, Part I: Christian living vs. Christian leading

2010-04-16T11:32:00.002-05:00

NOTE: This post is part of a blog training series on leadership development, originally authored for CTI Music Ministries. Read the series introduction | view the whole series “If the purpose of ministry is to convince people to live the kind of life Jesus invites us to live, how can the church be built on people who give up living the kind of life Jesus invites us to live?” – John Ortberg

Good leadership vs. Godly leadership

2010-04-08T08:53:00.003-05:00

We must cultivate an others-focused value in ourselves if we want to develop godly leadership. If influence is a measure of our capacity to shape our culture and the people around us, and leadership is a measure of how we use that capacity, then we need one more qualifier in order to determine the overall value of our leadership: We need to know what it is that we should use be using that

Intentionality

2010-04-01T17:53:00.003-05:00

NOTE: This post is part of a blog training series on leadership development, originally authored for CTI Music Ministries. Read the series introduction | view the whole series “Intentionality makes the difference between mere influence and leadership. For our influence to become leadership, we must be intentional about whom we will use it to serve.” You know that one of the two main

You have a decision to make

2010-03-25T10:20:00.005-05:00

NOTE: This post is part of a blog training series on leadership development, originally authored for CTI Music Ministries. Read the series introduction | view the whole series “We are to be shapers of our culture rather than allowing ourselves to be shaped by it.” – Phil Lutz Do you think of yourself as a leader (or potential leader?) Try to get past the general “everyone can make a

A leadership development blog series

2010-03-23T22:28:00.001-05:00

Over the next 5 weeks I will be releasing a series of posts that I have written as part of a leadership development and training curriculum for CTI Music Ministries. Although they have been written specifically for participants in our fulltime ministry program, I believe that they deal with principles that are essential for everyone who professes a desire to be formed in the image of Christ. I

Update on my ministry

2009-11-05T12:02:00.003-06:00

Dear friends,I’m writing to update you on what I’m doing, and to ask for your help in doing it.Last October I began functionally leading CTI Music Ministries as our Executive Vice President during a transition period after our president moved on from the organization. In February of this year, our Board of Directors officially named me as CTI’s Executive Director. I first became involved with

Of aprons and crowns

2009-10-30T10:24:00.003-05:00

"If you approach the world with the apron of a servant, then you are allowed to go places that you can't go if you approach it with the crown of a king." -Jon Foreman, lead singer of Switchfoot, as quoted in the Nov-Dec '09 issue of Relevant wow. Other life and leadership lessons Foreman offers in the same article: "I try to remind myself that I am here to serve people. If they want to

Influence plus Intention

2009-06-25T11:26:00.000-05:00

(why we must develop Christian leadership and character in young musicians) At the end of May, the year-long stateside ministry program I direct came to a close, and we transitioned to our summer international ministry program. 39 young people will be trained and sent out to share the love of Christ through music and stories of how God has worked in their lives. They will support worldwide

Full Circle: The Church and Completeness of Purpose

2009-02-16T18:12:00.003-06:00

For those of you who never clicked through to the discussion "what is church?" on Jeff Goins' blog, here's how I responded to his question:I envision "the church" as the localized fellowships of Jesus-followers around the world who come together for the purpose of forming each other in the image of Christ, equipping each other for ministry and evangelism, and then returning to the world to live

What is Church?

2008-11-10T08:15:00.001-06:00

I'm inclined to believe that while the people who make up the church may be imperfect, that when we come together in genuine community (whatever that looks like), there is something perfectly beautiful about that, which, I believe, pleases God.-jeff goinsMy friend Jeff is hosting a blog discussion centered around the question: What is "Church"? You are invited to contribute to the discussion on

The absurdity of selfishness

2008-07-31T00:10:00.002-05:00

As I shut off the lights in my house and headed to bed this evening, I was, for reasons I don't understand, overwhelmed by an uncommon sense of gratitude for what I have. I felt strangely free, not to compare my situation in life to anyone else's... to judge what I had or had not by some aggregate of what others have... but for a brief miraculous moment, to see everything as a blessing... a gift

To be a witness...

2008-07-13T10:10:00.010-05:00

You may have either (1) read elsewhere on this blog, or (2) tolerated my incessant ranting in person about my belief that we, as Christians, often tend to focus on the externals of being a living witness as though evangelism were some sort of a formula by which, as long as the net result in our lives is greater than the average level of morality in society, we're doing it right and people will

Forming concrete

2008-06-21T22:44:00.001-05:00

I have a passion to see people embrace ministry and discipleship as a lifestyle. I also have a vision of a church that equips them to do so.I get to live out a little microcosm of this vision each year through my work with CTI Music Ministries. Each August we are joined by about 14 young people who sign on for a year of encouraging the church, challenging Christians to loving action in response

A mobile blog?

2008-06-17T06:36:00.002-05:00

Yes, you're all in trouble now - I can blog from my phone! I've created a separate blog on which to share random pictures and thoughts from daily life - check it out at chrisreed-mobile.blogspot.com. You can still find my more serious thoughts here on "exploring the edge"... on the rare and random occasions when I share them! [edit: once facebook began supporting photo uploads directly

Optimist/Pessimist

2008-05-12T17:11:00.001-05:00

This is apparently a famous saying. I've never heard it before. If it isn't completely true, it's at least something I can appreciate:Pessimists are usually right. Optimists are usually wrong, but most great changes were made by optimists.I don't know what to make of that, other than to chuckle and go... "yeah, probably so."But I doubt the optimists would have survived to make their great

Asthma and Amazing Grace - a "testimony"

2008-04-23T16:34:00.006-05:00

I consider “testimony” to mean a recounting of any time in my life in which I can identify where God’s story has intersected with my own. I therefore have many “testimonies,” because God has made Himself known to me by intersecting the story of my life in many different places, times, and ways. Here is one such story. I’ve been aware of the concept of a loving God since before I can remember.

CTI releases new CD

2008-01-31T18:31:00.000-06:00

You may or may not be aware of the fact that I've hardly left my house in the last two months. The reason for this is because I've been busy producing CTI's new album. The whole thing was tracked, mixed and mastered at my house (which we've affectionately dubbed "studio 14".) We sent the master off for duplication at the beginning of this week. Below is CTI's press release about the new

Everyone’s got an opinion (and I’m getting tired of mine)

2007-10-07T22:03:00.001-05:00

I’d cut myself a little slack if it was at all in my nature to do so. But here’s a problem I’m running up against in my own life: sometimes I’m all talk. By that I don’t mean that I don’t believe what I say, or that, given the opportunity to practice it, I don’t. But I just seem to express a lot of opinions about the way I think things should be without giving people much of a reason to

So Many Christian Infants

2007-10-06T09:49:00.000-05:00

Another recent article challenging the church to action among it's own (translated "discipleship" or "spiritual formation.")This one's by Gordon MacDonald. He's asking the question:"Why are we so good at leading people to faith and so bad at prodding them to maturity?"So Many Christian Infants

Escape from Consumer Church

2007-09-22T14:59:00.000-05:00

My friend Paul just pointed me to this article. It says a lot of what I have wanted to express, so I'll let it speak for me until I have time to come back to this subject:Escape from Consumer Church

Awaken

2007-09-15T10:57:00.003-05:00

As our CTI teams travel around the US this year, they’re engaging their audiences with this theme of awakening, which is an exhortation to us, the church, to awaken in passion to our responsibility and privilege of taking the Spirit of God that lives in us to the world. The following is the text of an address that I gave in a chapel service at Northwestern College on September 14, 2007 while

What is church/the church/a church?

2007-09-01T10:21:00.001-05:00

I've been consumed with this subject for a while now, and have been formulating and sketching through my thoughts, intending to eventually work them out here as I have other streams of consciousness in the past. Look for that in October, which is currently calendared as the next chance I have to breathe.I'm reading through Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell right now (thanks, Miles) and have tripped

The way of love - Part the last: Practical steps towards resolution

2007-07-15T18:21:00.002-05:00

A relevant and timely excerpt from Dallas Willard’s “The Great Omission”:We should not only want to be merciful, kind, unassuming, and patient persons but also be making plans to become so. We are to find out, that is, what prevents and what promotes mercifulness and kindness and patience in our soul, and we are to remove hindrances to them as much as possible, carefully substituting that which

The way of love - Part V: You've read this before...

2007-07-11T17:37:00.003-05:00

I’ve long suspected (and preached) that the evidence of spiritual fruit in a life lies in the pursuit of something higher than the fruit itself. I've been pointed again and again to the spiritual disciplines – not as legalistic ways to live my life, but as ways to increase my sensitivity to the Spirit and natural ability to be intimate with my Creator. Love, in the Christian context, should be

The way of love - Part IV: Turning the corner

2007-07-08T16:19:00.000-05:00

I had a chance to visit with an old friend last night. I’ve known him for about 7 years. He moved away about 8 months ago, but is back in town visiting this week. He brought up the fact that I haven’t blogged recently. He said “for a while there, you were writing your heart out, and then… nothing.”There are two main reasons for this. The first is that my busiest season of the year runs from

Mission trip to Mexico

2007-05-09T11:51:00.000-05:00

Recently at CTI we announced confirmation of our short-term ministry locations for this summer - one of which is to Guadalajara, Mexico, in partnership with Youth With a Mission there. This particular program has a special place in my heart since I led our pioneer team there in 2003. I shared the following thoughts with our staff and team members when I announced confirmation of our 2007 team:

The way of love - Part III: The very nature of God

2007-05-05T13:20:00.000-05:00

If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not

The way of love - Part II: The measure of meaninglessness

2007-04-25T18:09:00.003-05:00

I Corinthians 13 is an all-too familiar passage on love. It therefore takes some effort to hear these words in the context Paul used as he was writing them to the Corinthians: that of spiritual gifts. After going back and re-reading the chapter with this context as my focus, I can mentally insert two sub-headings into Paul’s words. In the first three verses, we read about the futility of

The way of love - Part I: Bankrupt

2007-04-22T21:14:00.002-05:00

I’m currently working out a stream of consciousness dealing with a subject that I’m not an expert in: love. Not romantic love, (which I’m also not an expert in,) but the kind of love which the apostle Paul referred to as “the most excellent way.” He described it as greater than both faith and hope (see I Corinthians 13.) I’ve written before about the connection between love and character traits

Activity is the enemy of adoration

2007-04-18T17:50:00.001-05:00

"The divine priority is worship first, service second… Service flows out of worship. Service as a substitute for worship is idolatry. Activity is the enemy of adoration.” … “One grave temptation we all face is to run around answering calls to service without ministering to the Lord himself."-Richard Foster on the discipline of worship in Celebration of Discipline

The essence of testimony (or "Why I blog")

2007-04-08T10:08:00.001-05:00

I process by writing, and I learn and grow by processing. Funny though… I’m not, and never have been, a journaler, in the traditional sense. The biggest reason I don’t journal is that I can’t stand the thought of a written record of how stupid I once was! So now, instead of writing those things on paper, I publish them on the web (wait, what?????) I hardly understand it myself, but like I

God is not interested in your spiritual life

2007-04-04T09:26:00.000-05:00

Too often people think about their 'spiritual lives' as just one more aspect of their existence, alongside and largely separate from their 'financial lives' or their 'vocational lives.' Periodically they may try to 'get their spiritual lives together' by praying more regularly or trying to master another spiritual discipline. It is the religious equivalent of going on a diet or trying to stick

The problem with making Jesus "cool"

2007-03-28T20:50:00.000-05:00

Conventional wisdom says teens don't like church because they find it boring. So they must be lured in with entertainment. So claims a recent article in Leadership Journal. And those of us in youth ministry have responded... often shying away from discipleship and truth in favor of making Jesus "cool."The result of this trend, according to sources documented in the article:Many teens are now

Exploring the Edge - my story

2007-03-26T00:01:00.002-05:00

In our young minds, the mile-long path down the cliffs between the campsite and the shore was much too far to walk. There had to be a quicker way, so my brother and I set out to find it. In truth, it would have taken less than twenty minutes to hike the trail, but thirty minutes after wandering off into the bush, our thoughts had wandered off of our original mission of finding a shortcut to the

Information vs. Transformation

2007-03-25T00:16:00.001-05:00

Pastor Phil (of my church in Willmar) has, at least twice that I'm aware of, used this phrase as one of his sermon outline fill-in-the-blanks:Has my spiritual journey been more about information than transformation?I cut that out of my outline one Sunday and taped it to a cabinet door in my kitchen, because it is probably one of the best admonitions that I, personally, can read each day.For an

How did I hide the blogger navbar?

2007-03-22T18:43:00.000-05:00

Derya's WebResource.axd: How to hide the Blogger nav bar?pure genius.

Sharing our faith for our own gain

2007-03-22T16:39:00.001-05:00

I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a fuller understanding of every good thing we have in Christ. -Philemon vs. 6 When I read Philemon this week, something in that verse stood out to me as curious: Paul wasn’t praying that others would gain a fuller understanding because of Philemon’s sharing… he was praying that Philemon would gain a fuller

Mysteries

2007-03-08T12:32:00.000-06:00

Important as it is that we recognize God working in us, I would yet warn against a too-great preoccupation with the thought. It is a sure road to sterile passivity. God will not hold us responsible to understand the mysteries of election, predestination and the devine sovereignty. The best and safest ways to deal with these truths is to raise our eyes to God and in deepest reverence say,

Legalism vs. Life by the Spirit

2007-02-02T13:25:00.001-06:00

The entire book of Galatians appears to be Paul on a rant. Clearly, he's very passionate about the one consistent subject he seems to be addressing (legalism.) At last, in Chapter 5, we get to see what Paul presents as the juxtaposition to legalism: freedom in Christ. After one of the funniest passages in Scripture (where Paul reveals his true colors in cynically expressing his wish for a "

The kind of life Jesus invites us to live...

2007-01-25T12:09:00.001-06:00

Food for thought from John Ortberg:I remember a church-planting consultant who warned a group of us that we would need to pay the price if we wanted a successful church plant. We'd have to do whatever it took: let our marriages suffer, put our children on hold.But it seemed to me then, and it does now, that this cannot be the way God intended ministry. If the purpose of ministry is to convince

Acts 17-20- Outward focused, and so much more.

2006-10-26T11:44:00.000-05:00

I'm reading through Acts along with the fulltimers (see CTImusic.org if you have no idea what I'm talking about.) I've just returned from being on the road with each team for a week. Much of what we discussed while I was out was the concept of turning the corner from an inward-focus to an outward focus.I finished our reading for this week on the plane ride home. Below are some of the

Acts 8: Discipleship and the Big Bang theory

2006-10-04T18:46:00.000-05:00

Two main things jump out at me when I read the first 17 verses of Acts Chapter 8.The first is how God used a severe adversity in the life-cycle of the early church for immeasurable good:"On that day a great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria."(contextual note: I'm having a hard time finding exact

Destinations

2006-10-02T00:40:00.000-05:00

"Everyone ends up somewhere in life.A few people end up somewhere on purpose."-from Visioneering by Andy StanleyI've recently realized that this statement has a great deal of significance for me. I am not content to end up somewhere and soak my purpose out of what happened along the way. I want the somewhere I'm going to be the purpose.This is why I work in ministry. There's nothing wrong or

Proving Ground

2006-09-29T12:05:00.000-05:00

Is all really said and done as memories fadeand all you were all about goes on without youlike a distant parade?Will now be an empty time?Will passions grow coolas all that reminds you of...just leaves you longing for, wishing toabandon where you are, get up and run awaywhere no one else can see,and you can be alone with all the things you've knownand all you hoped to be?It's hard just to carry

Acts 1-2: Groundhog Day?

2006-09-26T17:55:00.000-05:00

As I read the first two chapters of Acts, I notice a few things that lead me to believe that many of the issues we face today are not a whole lot different than what the early believers faced.To be sure, there were differences (after all, we're not in danger of being used as torches in Nero's garden) but the basic human condition seems to have been the same: "Save yourselves from this corrupt

Seasons change

2006-09-25T11:09:00.000-05:00

So much change seems to happen at the same time here. The fulltimers left this weekend, concurrent with the official start to fall. And here in Minnesota, the actual weather seems to pay attention to what the weather man says it should be like. Temps have dropped suddenly this past week.Went to the Calvin's yesterday afternoon to do some late-season wakeboarding. The outdoor temp was probably

Missing the point

2006-09-23T10:57:00.000-05:00

Erwin McManus was approached after preaching one Sunday morning by someone who took issue with a point he had made in his sermon."Are you saying that only Christians go to heaven?" the aggrieved party demanded."Of course not." McManus replied. "Christians need to come to Jesus just like everyone else."

They're Off!

2006-09-23T10:42:00.000-05:00

[note- this post originally appeared on my Xanga blog. Clicking the link will take you to the original article, which will allow you to read the original comments]...the fulltimers, that is. The teams left for fall tour today! They're so ready! I mean, they still have stuff to learn, but there's a point at which talking about things just isn't effective anymore before you have an experience

If you haven't already discovered them...

2006-09-18T14:52:00.000-05:00

[note- this post originally appeared on my Xanga blog. Clicking the link will take you to the original article, which will allow you to read the original comments]...the promised blogs for this year's fulltime teams are live. And as I mentioned earlier, I want to invite you all to participate.Check them out from CTI's website- follow the obvious paths to the FT pages. They're hosted through

"Debris! We have debris!"

2006-09-18T09:52:00.000-05:00

[note- this post originally appeared on my Xanga blog. Clicking the link will take you to the original article, which will allow you to read the original comments]Currently WatchingTwisterBy Helen Hunt, Bill Paxton, Cary Elwes, Jami Gertz, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Lois Smith, Alan Ruck, Sean Whalen, Scott Thomson, Todd Field, Joey Slotnick, Wendle Josepher, Jeremy Davies, Zach

Speak of the devil...

2006-09-12T20:38:00.000-05:00

In comparing two preachers who preached on hell, a listener said: "The one preached about hell as though he were glad some of us were going there. But the other preached as though the thought that anyone might go there was breaking his heart."-A stinging observation made by Gordon MacDonald in his Leadership Journal column

Following God in neutral...

2006-09-03T08:30:00.000-05:00

"We have put so much emphasis on avoiding evil that we have become virtually blind to the endless opportunities for doing good. We have defined holiness by what we separate ourselves from, rather than what we give ourselves to. I am convinced the great tragedy is not the sins we commit, but the life we fail to live. You cannot follow God in neutral. God has created you to do something."-Erwin

Fruit

2006-09-02T17:41:00.000-05:00

this post originaly appeared on my Xanga site on June 20, 2006. Currently ListeningNothing Is SoundBy SwitchfootThe Shadow Proves the Sunshine As a Christian, I'm quite sure I spend a lot of time trying to grow the fruit while spending relatively little time focusing on the tree.Know what I mean? Trying to be "good" rather than allowing good to be

Thank you, Mr. LaHaye...

2006-07-29T09:34:00.000-05:00

[note- this post originally appeared on my Xanga blog. Clicking the link will take you to the original article, which will allow you to read the original comments]Okay, I'm officially going out on a limb.I'm really heartbroken about the conflict in the Middle East. I'm heartbroken because tremendously inhumane acts are being committed and the US is refusing to step in. I'm most heartbroken of

Part The Last: Vision

2006-07-07T11:21:00.000-05:00

[note- this post originally appeared on my Xanga blog. Clicking the link will take you to the original article, which will allow you to read the original comments]Currently ReadingVisioneering : God's Blueprint for Developing and Maintaining Personal VisionBy Andy Stanleysee relatedIn his book Visioneering, Andy Stanley examines the story of Nehemiah, who set himself apart for the

Part V of VI: Set Apart

2006-07-04T12:10:00.004-05:00

[note- this post originally appeared on my Xanga blog. Clicking the link will take you to the original article, which will allow you to read the original comments] Just as creativity blossoms when focused by limitation, and water becomes power under constraint, so I believe that our expectations of having an experience of significant spiritual formation can realized through our commitment to be

Part IV of VI: Relevance

2006-06-30T18:24:00.001-05:00

[note- this post originally appeared on my Xanga blog. Clicking the link will take you to the original article, which will allow you to read the original comments] Currently Reading In the Name of Jesus : Reflections on Christian Leadership By Henri J. Nouwen see related What is it about submitting to a structured pursuit of personal spiritual disciplines as an integral part of a

Part III of VI: Discipline

2006-06-28T13:43:00.001-05:00

[note- this post originally appeared on my Xanga blog. Clicking the link will take you to the original article, which will allow you to read the original comments] I am persuaded that most CTI fulltimers come into the ministry wanting and expecting to experience significant personal spiritual growth. I know I did. Most of us said as much on our applications: Q: What do you expect to receive

Part II of VI: Free Will

2006-06-26T09:25:00.000-05:00

[note- this post originally appeared on my Xanga blog. Clicking the link will take you to the original article, which will allow you to read the original comments]I think one of our biggest issues with structure is this whole generational/cultural hangup on authenticity. I know that the quest for the ultimate in authenticity and relevance has often hindered me from just doing something because

Part I of VI: Focus

2006-06-23T22:05:00.000-05:00

[note- this post originally appeared on my Xanga blog. Clicking the link will take you to the original article, which will allow you to read the original comments]moving as though fast was too slowthe chick cranked loud her radioand crashed into a bus full of screaming dancers Ever played with one of those magnetic poetry sets? We have a “rock star” themed edition on the fridge at

Serving Notice

2006-06-22T14:56:00.000-05:00

[note- this post originally appeared on my Xanga blog. Clicking the link will take you to the original article, which will allow you to read the original comments]I'm going to be posting a multi-part exposition of my thoughts on the concepts of being set apart, living in the structure of spiritual disciplines, and the impact of those and other concepts on our ability to exercise the free will

Donald Miller on culture and the church

2006-06-17T22:47:00.000-05:00

Currently ReadingBlue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian SpiritualityBy Donald Millersee related[originaly posted on my Xanga blog]A friend of mine, a young pastor who recently started a church, talks to me from time to time about the new face of church in America - about the postmodern church. He says the new church will be different from the old one, that we will be