from the overflow

It’s interesting that students at Christian colleges and seminaries don’t go to chapel. More to the point, most of them despise chapel. It’s a funny thing really. You would think we would jump on chapel like a soccer mom on a Black Friday TV, but for some reason it’s just not our thing.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not too keen on taking the time out of my schedule to go to chapel unless I have to. As I write this post please understand that I’m not standing on the other side of the room pointing fingers, I’m right in the midst of all the other heathens. As I write post I’m reminded of the tension I feel when it comes to chapel services. Am I less of a Christian because I don’t value chapel?

Probably.

Even when we go to chapel we’re quick to critique things and think of ways we would have done differently. I truly feel bad for campus minsters and chaplains at Christian Colleges and Seminaries. They probably have the toughest audiences of anyone. I imagine that being a campus minister/chaplain of a Christian college or seminary is a lot like being a musician in Nashville. They say Nashville is a hard place for musicians to play because they’re playing for other critical musicians, I think being a campus minister/chaplain has to be a lot like that.

All this being said, the campus ministers/chaplains I’ve had have been amazing, this is not a slight against them. I think this says more about the student/minister than the worship leader.

In a larger sense, ministers (for the most part) aren’t very good at participating in worship services they aren’t leading and aren’t good at being lead in spiritual disciplines. Again, I’m in this boat, but I think our ministries suffer because of this. If we’re not being spiritually led and fed by others, how can we lead and feed our congregations, small groups, students, etc?

The older I get the more I think we can’t, or at least, I can’t.

Youth Ministry guru Duffy Robbins recently wrote a book called Building a Youth Ministry that Builds Disciples. In this book, Robbins talks about ministry “from the overflow” of our personal faith formation. Robbins says our most effective and life changing work in ministry comes from the overflow of personal spiritual lives.

Not from knowledge, not from skill, not from charisma, but from the overflow of our spiritual lives. If our spiritual lives are rich and fruitful then our ministry will most likely follow suit.

I’ve found this to be true in our middle school ministry at FCC. My lessons hit a lot closer to home and are a lot more effective when I’m speaking from personal experience than they are when I’m speaking in generalized truths. We can’t lead people without knowing where we’re headed. We have to be lead and fed before we can feed and lead others.

So we need to get better at going to chapel!

Today, take a second to evaluate your spiritual life. Once you’ve done that, think about the connection between your spiritual life and your ministry. Are they strongly connected?

and we’re back!

It feels like a century since I last sat down to update the daily proffitt. After several months of spotty updating and lackluster posts I decided it was time to step away from the blog, re-evaluate, and store up some new ideas. I wasn’t sure whether or not to kill the blog in October, but after a few months off I’m ready to jump back in.

You’re reading this post on January 1st, but I’m actually writing in December. I want to get a head start on bringing the daily proffitt back up to speed. I’m using December to build a platform from which I can get a jump on 2014. I have some big plans for the coming year and I’m getting started on them early.

So much has happened since October (and before)! Seminary has given me a lot to think about, I’ve learned a lot about ministry through some pretty trying situations, and I’ve learned a lot about myself through Allison and I’s wedding preparation. 2013 has been a great year, and I’m excited for what 2014 has in store. There have been gleaning galore and I look forward to sharing those with you.

I hope you’ll join me on this new chapter of the journey.

If you’re new to the daily proffitt, welcome! I hope you’ll benefit from my reflections on life, ministry, and God’s kingdom (there might be a few soccer posts that slip in as well). If you’re returning to the daily proffitt, welcome back! I look forward to hearing about your stories and experiences as I share mine.

To give you a sneak peek, here are a few things I’m going to be writing about in these first few months back

– ministry from the overflow: the role of personal spiritual formation.
– ministry in the troughs: our lows dictate how high our “highs” can be.
– earning your stripes: the importance of staying put
– discipline: the power of routine
– living a new rhythm: when faith and action collide

Those are a few things I’ll be writing about in January and February. My intention is to offer new content every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I would love for conversations to be started from my writing here so please feel free to comment, or send me an email at thedailyproffitt@gmail.com.

Here’s to a new year!

humble punch to the face

Last week was an interesting week. It was one of those weeks where I couldn’t have gotten everything done without God’s help and a dash of a miracle. There was so much to do and, I don’t know how, but somehow Friday came and it all got done.

Little things like that are proof a living and working God.

But in the midst of the week I got punched in the face. I didn’t actually get punched in the face, but the realization I had felt like a punch in the face. Last week I realized I had thrown humility out the window. Somehow, I had gotten so caught up in my own crap that I forgot to take the needs of others into consideration. I was so focused on what I needed to accomplish and what I thought was best that I neglected to care for the people around me.

I got myself in a whole lot of trouble and, in hindsight, added a whole lot of unnecessary stress.

I learned last week that we’re wired to think of others before we think of ourselves. Even when we have a hundred things on our task list and even when deadlines are looming – we can never go wrong with putting others first. It still doesn’t make logical sense to me. My natural inclination is to believe that I have to look out for myself if I want to succeed, but I think there’s are reasons why Jesus says that loving our neighbors as ourselves is one of the greatest commandments:

It gives us perspective

When we put others before ourselves we’re reminded that the world doesn’t revolve around us. Putting others before ourselves teaches us that we’re not alone in this world and that we need other people. It’s too easy to put ourselves on an island and fall into the trap of believing that the world revolves around us. When we think of others before ourselves that misconception begins to melt away.

Our needs are met

I don’t know how it works, but it seems that our needs are met through caring for the needs of others. If we stop long enough to get beyond ourselves and serve others we might just find that God cares for our needs in different ways. We’re meant to live life with open hands and when we do our needs are met. When we don’t, we find that life is a lot harder on our own.

We begin to rely on God and not ourselves

Everyone is busy. Everyone has tasks that need to be accomplished and deadlines that need to be met. Sometimes the weight of the world can weigh on us so much that we don’t leave room for God. Slowly, we stop leaving room for God anywhere in our lives and are left trying to figure out things on our own. We start relying on ourselves.

When we start intentionally thinking of others first we open up room for God to work in our lives and we realize that we can’t journey through this life alone. We quickly find that God is the source of everything we need and our perspective is transformed.

These are things I learned through last week’s craziness, but that doesn’t mean they’re realized in my life yet. Those closest to me can tell you that I’ve got a long way to go. Thankfully we’re not expected to have arrived, we’re expected to continue growing and maturing :).

This week, may we start putting others before ourselves and may we begin to see God working in and through our lives in greater ways than we ever thought possible.

where i’m headed

On Monday I wrote about where I’ve been this summer while I haven’t been blogging and today I want to talk about where I’m going as the fall rapidly approaches. I also said in Monday’s post that these updates are a means of getting me back in the swing of blogging after being away for so long – so they’re a little different than my usual subjects.

The fall is going to be an exciting time for me. There are a few things happening I’m not at liberty to talk about right now, but one of the biggest highlights of the fall is that I will be going back to graduate school. After thinking about it and talking about it with Allison a lot, we decided that now was the best time to go back to school. I’m nervous and slightly apprehensive, but I think now is the time to further my education if I’m going to.

I’ve known for a while that I would be going back to school in the fall, but it didn’t hit me until a recent trip to Target. As I walked through Target I noticed all the “back to school” stations covered with pens, notebooks, crayons, and binders. With every passing school supply island I began to feel an anxious feeling creep over me. For two years these back to school kiosks were nothing to me, but this year their return signaled the arrival of a new era.

This fall brings with it new challenges and new commitments. Some of these challenges are exciting while others will test the depths of my passion. Some of these commitments are life changing and some of them will impact the next five years of my life. One thing is for sure – life is about to change in some drastic ways and I can’t wait to see how God is going to work. These challenges and commitments are going to force me to evaluate my passions and will draw me into the land of editing.

I know this post is a little vague and doesn’t offer a lot of details. Stay tuned for the next few weeks as these details start to come into focus and shed some light on all that’s coming my way in the fall.

what a summer

I never thought this summer would be as crazy as it has been. I knew there were a few trips and events planned, but I thought there would be plenty of time for planning, hanging out with students, and reading Relevant Magazine’s suggested summer reading list. Boy was I wrong, this summer has been filled to the brim with all of kinds things that have kept me going since May 27th.

If you’ve visited The Daily Proffitt before you know that I used to spend a lot of time here. For over a year I blogged 5-6 times a week about everything from my ministry learnings to the music discoveries that made an impact on me. It was very rare for me to miss a day blogging, but over the past few months I’ve posted hardly anything.

The longer one waits, the harder it is to get back into the rhythm of doing something. I find this true even today as I’ve thought about this post 20 times but haven’t sat down to hammer it out until now. The longer I go without blogging the harder it seems to be to sit down and put a post together. The same thing happened to me when I tried Power90 last year… weird.

So to get me back into the swing of things I’ve decided to do an update post of sorts. This isn’t the normal direction of the daily proffitt, but my hope is that this will springboard me into a series of new posts. Without further ado, this is what I’ve been up to since I’ve been away from the blogosphere.

3 Weddings

This summer I’ve been fortunate enough to be in the bridal party of two weddings and celebrate with another couple. It’s a been a blessing and I’ve learned so much about marriage from the ministers who presided. The first was in Texas, the second in Kentucky, and the third was just across this hill in North Carolina. I’m excited for these couples and I can’t wait to see their relationships blossom and grow in the coming months and years. Through these weddings I’ve met some really awesome people, made new and unforgettable stories, and learned I’m ready to marry my lady love.

A mission trip

This summer I lead a group of 19 students and leaders on a mission trip to Cincinnati, Ohio. It was a great experience and I’m looking forward to next year’s trip. I learned so much from the people we worked with and was blessed by the amount of work and focus our students had throughout the course of the week.

A week of church camp

In March I was asked to lead a week of church camp at Appalachian Christian Camp (Camp ACC). I was nervous as our team prepared, but the week went really well. It was a lot of fun to lead a group of 7th-9th grade students in worship, games, and craziness. I’m looking forward to doing this again next year.

Learning to editing

This summer I’ve also been making the transition from the land of learning to the land of editing. Jon Acuff’s newest book, Start, helped me understand how to move from the land of learning (discovering various passions) to the land of editing (narrowing those down to one or two things to build on).  I know Allison is excited for this one. I go all in when I’m passionate about something and for the past few years I’ve been passionate about a lot of different things, but this summer I’ve edited my list down to two things: ministry and soccer. You’ll be hearing a lot about the former here and can check out my thoughts about the latter by clicking here. I still enjoy other things, but our world is too vast to chase everything under the sun. I’ve tried and it left me exhausted and uncertain.

So that’s where I’ve been. Tomorrow, as another warmup post, I’ll tell you about where I’m going this fall.

Stay tuned!

learning from the wreckage

It’s interesting how a post that’s been on the back burner for so long can take on a whole different meaning by the time it gets published. I started this post over 2 months ago, but since then it’s content has completely changed. The big idea is the same, but the ideals changed after a 5 day trip to Texas for my co-worker and friend’s wedding. The realizations I made on that trip really wrecked my perspective and made me more aware of some big things I needed to come to terms with.

My life was wrecked for the better of course, but it got me thinking about how I do things. I think we all need moments that wreck us because it’s through this wreckage that we learn a lot about ourselves, where we’re headed, and sometimes (if we’re lucky) how to get from point A to point B. It wrecked me in a few really big ways:

1: It made me realize how much work I have to do.
It’s easy to slip into complacency and start to buy into the lie that we have it all together. I’ve been buying into this lie for a while, but as i watched one of my best friends prepare for his wedding I realized that I’ve got a lot to work on. Since then I’ve been convicted about things I’ve been okay with for far too long and I’ve spent the past several days praying for God to renovate my heart and make me new again.

2: It made me realize I’m an adult.
Watching my friend get married made me realize I’ve made the transition into adulthood. I think part of me has sensed that I was getting close to adulthood, but his wedding week was the first time I had actually felt it. With this realization I feel like I need to take things to the next level – from finances to personal relationships (more on these in the coming days).

3. This life is a lot bigger than me. 

Over the course of the weekend we had several opportunities to share stories and learn the stories of others. As I listened to some really cool stories and shared some of my own I realized that life is a lot bigger than me. I’m not sure if I really know how to fully articulate this one just yet, but I will say I was reminded over the course of the trip that this life isn’t about me.

I’ve been thinking and working through these “wreckage” gleanings for a few weeks now. As I work through them I’ve made a lot of positive changes to how I live and love. It’s been an awesome transition.

Have you been wrecked recently? Did you learn anything from it?

follow me?

It seems like the past few weeks have been unusually packed with opportunities to hear from church leaders. From church planting to practical preaching, I’ve been blessed to hear from the likes of Francis Chan, Jim Putnam, Jon Acuff, Donald Miller and a slew of others. And the best part? I was able to hear from all of these guys for free! It’s cool to see how many free resources are out there for ministers and leaders who embrace lifelong learning. If you’re willing to look, you’ll find quite a few all throughout the year.

As I write this post, the words of Francis Chan are on my mind. During one of his sessions at this year’s exponential conference he said something that really challenged my perspective on discipleship. During his session he said that discipleship is saying to others, “Join me on this journey as I learn how to follow Jesus more faithfully. ”

When he said those words I realized I suck at discipleship. I suck at it because:

1) I don’t think I’m a great example of someone who’s on a journey toward becoming a more faithful follower of Jesus, and 2) I’ve always viewed discipleship as a mechanical process.

During his talk I realized that I’ve over complicated the discipleship process and tried to formalize it into process of steps and check boxes. In doing this I’ve lost sight of the very heart of discipleship, which is doing everything I can to follow Jesus’ example and invite others to do the same.

Jesus didn’t live a nice and neat life and his disciples didn’t follow a 12 step program to become better disciples. They became closer followers of Jesus through shared experiences with him. Their lives were transformed by their interactions with him and the miracles he performed in their lives and in the lives of others.

Discipleship, at its very core, seems to be a lot more about stories than processes. People can follow a 12 step process and forget what they learned as soon as they’ve finished, but you won’t soon forget the story about how God transformed your best friend, parent, or coworker’s life. Stories stick with you a lot longer than action steps.

Discipleship is about stories not mechanics, and now I’ve realized this I’m hoping to apply it in my own life and in my ministry to our students.

Do you find in your own ministry (professional or otherwise) that lasting discipleship is shaped by stories and experiences or mechanical processes?

where am i?

I was a little worried when I ordered Jon Acuff’s new book that it wouldn’t apply to me. After all, since the release of Quitter I’ve started a blog, entered full-time ministry and planning to go back to school in the fall. I feel like I’ve come a long way since I first cracked open the pages of Quitter, but I’m glad I was wrong. I’m a few chapters in and already gleaning a lot of really great things from the pages of Start. I can’t wait to share those gleanings here on the blog.

In the early pages Jon Acuff says something I’ve never considered. He says, “Before you start you need to first ask the question, ‘Where am I?’ You have to take into account where you are as you think about where you’re going.” These few sentences have me asking the question, “Where am I?”

This is such a great question because it’s the most effective wake up call I’ve ever received. I’ve been pursuing my dream of full-time, professional ministry for almost two years now, but there always been this feeling like something was holding me back. I could never put my finger on what it was, but I knew something was keeping me from achieving as much as I could.

When I slow down and recognize where I’m at as well as where I want to go, I become acutely aware of the things that are holding me back. I become aware of the habits I need to break, the habits I need to form, and what barriers are keeping me from God’s greater plan. As Acuff points out, when you recognize where you are the present becomes a platform to jump from not a weight holding you down.

God has a greater plan for our lives and is asking us to simply start. Recognizing where we are and using it as a platform to jump from is the best place to start.

Where are you right now? What has God given you a passion for? What’s keeping you from starting?

adapt

After a week of routine setting I’ve learned two things:

1) It’s a lot harder than great uncle Ed makes it look.

2) You have to be willing to adapt.

Reflecting on this past week has helped me realize that I can’t keep a regular routine because I’m unwilling to adapt. I sit down at my computer and come up with some high ideal and expect to mold my entire life around it. I come up with a high ideal and try to implement it without ever testing in the trenches.

And you know how long that lasts?

A couple of days at best.

If we want to succeed we have to be willing to adapt. We can come up with high ideals to get us started, but if we’re not willing to adapt we’ll fail pretty quickly.

It’s a lot like running, you approach an incline a lot differently than a straight shot. If you try to sprint up a hill you won’t make it very far and if you set a slow pace on a straight shot you’ll lag behind. It’s all about adapting to the terrain in front of you.

This week I learned that I can give it my all and sprint from Monday through Wednesday, but if I don’t slow down on Thursday I’ll burn out before 5. I also learned that how I spend my time on Sunday will drastically effect how my week starts and ultimately turns out. If I kill myself on Sunday I’ll struggle the rest of the week, but if I slow down and take Sunday in stride the week will be a lot more focused and productive.

Knowing that I have to adapt, here’s how I’ve planned this week.

I’m going to front load my week so that Thursday is spent tying up loose ends. Ideally, I’m going to get lessons finished, run through my call/email list, and plan all my meetings. That way, I can spend Thursday in long-term planning, processing, professional development, and doing the details.

On the blogging front I’m  going to get titles and topics wrapped up on Sunday before you ever read this post. I won’t get all my posts done, but there will be 5-7 drafts ready to be worked on. If I can get the details down it will make it a lot easier to tackle the posts themselves.

Aspiration for the week: Read 1 chapter from a book a day.

So that’s my routine and how I’ve tailored it after week 1.

Do you find that you have to adapt your routine for it to last long term?

like an obstacle course

It feels really good to be working on a blog post two days in a row! It’s been a while since I’ve had this sort of rhythm and I’m hoping to keep this trend going. I’m on day 2 of my attempt to cultivate an Uncle Ed sort of daily routine. Day 1 went really well! It was nice to leave work not only feeling like I had gotten a lot done, but also having a full time management sheet that documented how I spent my day. Maybe now I won’t have such a hard time explaining to people what I do all day…

I noticed it a little bit yesterday, but I’m noticing it even more today – time management is a lot like an obstacle course. From social media to emails and the incidentals that pop up unexpectedly, it seems as though there’s something lurking around every corner trying to knock us out of our routines. Maybe this is just ministry, but if we’re not careful we can spend entire days getting knocked around by unexpected obstacles.

These obstacles might not all be bad. Maybe it’s a family in a crisis situation who needs help,  or maybe it’s a side project someone else on staff would like your help with. Good or bad, if we’re not prepared to tackle obstacles you can bet they’ll tackle us. We can’t get rid of obstacles and distractions, it would be foolish to think we could. It seems that success comes not from removing obstacles but rather from navigating them well.

It’s all in learning what we need to tackle right away and what we need to stop and spend some time trying to figure out. As I write this post I’m thinking of the Wipeout obstacle courses. I don’t follow Wipeout regularly, but I do know that you don’t tackle all the obstacles the same way. It’s better to tackle some obstacles quicker while it’s better to take a moment and size others up. If we approach incidentals and distractions in this way I think we’ll find that we’re a lot more effective and get a lot more done.

For me, issues dealing directly with students are ones I try to tackle quickly. I might not come up with a quick solution, but these take precedence over lesson writing and trip planning. Issues that don’t deal directly with students are ones I tackle as time opens up. I’m starting to allot a designated amount of time to emails and social media; if I don’t get it all done in one day, it rolls over to the next day. It might seem important to tackle these things quickly, but rarely does anyone notice when I respond later versus responding immediately.

These are some ways I’m trying to become a more faithful steward of my minutes. I would like to hear from some of you battle worn ministry veterans out there, what are some successful approaches you’ve taken to time management?