where they are

Today I’m thinking about incarnational ministry. For the longest time I had no idea what that phrase meant. Honestly, it wasn’t until my senior year of college that I could tell you the definition of “incarnation” without having to think about it for a minute. It’s one of those church words I don’t think many people us outside of talking about Jesus. It’s a great word to pull out if you want to make people think you’re a deep theologian though. Give it a try sometimes.

Incarnation just means “in the flesh.” It’s used to talk about Jesus as he was God in human form. Jesus was God “in the flesh”, or God “incarnate” if you’re looking impress the women at church. Really, I can’t help but think of a nice juicy steak when I hear the word.

When we talk about this we’re normally talking about how awesome it is that God loved us so much that he came down and lived as one of us to teach us the way back to his Kingdom. Today, I want you to think of “where the people are” when you think of the word “incarnational.” Incarnational ministry is ministry alongside the people in your youth group or congregation. It’s a participation in their rhythms outside the walls of the church.

Incarnational ministry is ministry that is out “where the people are.” Incarnational ministry takes us outside the walls of the church and into the world around us. It takes us beyond church programming and into people’s homes, into sporting events, and into people’s “normal” rhythms. In youth ministry, this looks like coaching sports, spending time with families during the week, attending recitals, plays, etc. Incarnational ministry gets us out of our church bubble and makes us better ministers and communicators.

I spend a lot of time with other ministers, reading ministry books, and doing ministry things. But while I’m doing that, people are living lives where they aren’t thinking about theology and aren’t reading Karl Barth or Francis Chan. If I minister from my ministry bubble I won’t connect with anyone except for the 1% of super Christians that are probably better people than me anyway. But, if I’m out of my bubble and in other people’s bubbles throughout the week then I know the things they’re thinking about and the questions they’re asking. I’m able to speak into their situations and lives.

To be successful ministers we have to be incarnational ministers. We have to be where the people in our congregations are. Our ministries, our teaching, and our congregational culture will be a lot more relevant if we break out of our bubbles and into the bubbles of our people. I can’t tell you how much I’ve learned this year and how much better I can connect with our students because of incarnational ministry.

If you’re in professional ministry – get outside the walls of the church. If you aren’t a minister. Invite your pastor into your bubble.

What are your thoughts on incarnational ministry?

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!

back to school

Cars are such a cool invention. I’m writing this post from the rooftop restaurant of my hotel in Charleston, South Carolina, but tonight I will be sitting in my first class at Emmanuel Christian Seminary in Johnson City, Tennessee. It’s crazy to think about; after two years off I’m heading back to school.

I’ve talked about it a lot on The Daily Proffitt, but it always seemed like such a distant idea. Now that it’s here I’m not sure how I feel about it. Maybe it’s the mixed emotions of seeing my fiancé off to her first day of work, or the amount of reading I don’t have finished, but I’m filled with a lot of uncertainty.

I’m ready to work hard and I feel I’m ready to go back, but there’s still some hesitancy. I know this will be a place of humbling and a place that’s going to stretch me in a lot of uncomfortable ways. I know there will be a lot of late nights and early mornings. I also know I’m not taking this journey alone – so that’s good.

If you’re the praying type – please send a little prayer my way at 6pm Eastern Time.

The feelings I’m feeling are a great reminder that chasing our dreams isn’t always easy and doesn’t always feel good. I love ministry and I want to do it for a really long time. On my path to awesome seminary is a key ingredient. It’s not always going to feel awesome, but it’s something that has to be done.

On a side note, Charleston is one of the most beautiful cities I’ve ever seen. I’m not a world traveler, but I would definitely recommend Charleston. The food is great, the beach is awesome, and the scenery is unparalleled. If you need somewhere to visit before starting a major life transition this is the place to do it. I feel a lot more at ease than I would otherwise.

So here’s going back to school! For your viewing pleasure, I offer you a clip from the critically acclaimed movie Billy Madison – enjoy.

nostalgia and roots

Last night I did something I haven’t done in a long time. After visiting with my parents I decided to take a drive down memory lane – quite literally. For over an hour I drove around  my “old stomping grounds” reflecting on where I came from, how I got to where I am, and where I’m going. It was a great time of reflection and I’m convinced that everyone should take some time every now and again to revisit their roots and give in to a small amount of nostalgia. It’s a practice I’m sure to repeat and it’s something I think you should try as well. Why? Because:

It humbles us.

My drive last night humbled me. I never would have thought I would be where I am 7-8 years ago when I was in high school.  While I drove down those country roads I reflected on this great adventure God has sent me on and I was consumed with extreme gratitude. I could never have written the life story God has been writing over the past several years on my own. That’s humbling and I find I’m a lot more appreciative of where I’m at after visiting where I’m from.

It refocuses us.

Our daily lives are loud. In the middle of the daily grind everything seems pressing and there are a thousand things vying for the top spot in our lives. But everything changes when we take a step back and look at our life from a different angle. Last night I realized  I’ve been chasing after a whole lot of stuff that seems important in the midst of the daily grind, but isn’t really at all important. My priorities looked a lot different in the context of a country summer night than they do in the midst of the hustle bustle of daily life.

Life gets loud and it’s easy to lose sight of where we’ve come from and where we’re going. As you grow, don’t forget where you’re from and how far God has brought you.

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?

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?

not so busy after all

There are a lot of really good things happening in my life right now. My relationship with Allison seems to be at an all-time high point, work is going well, and I’m preparing to go back to school in the fall. A new chapter is starting and I’m very excited.

This new chapter is going to be awesome, but it’s going to require A LOT more work and focus than I’ve grown accustomed to over the past two years. Life has been busy with work and commitments, but it’s going to be a lot harder to to balance to school on top of work and the cultivation of a healthy relationship. If I want to be successful I’m going to have to develop a better routine. I’m going to have to be a lot more conservative with my minutes.

Recently, I read a post by a fellow Milligan alum that reminded me of a Dave Ramsey principle I think will be helpful as I work on my time management.One of Ramsey’s challenges to readers is to know where every one of their dollars is going. When you keep closer tabs on your money, you start wasting less. I can say this practice works! I’ve been working from a budget since November and have had a lot of success.

I think this same principle can be applied to time management. When I start to keep closer tabs on my minutes, I’ll start wasting less of them.

When I start keeping tabs on where my minutes are going I think I’ll find I waste a lot of them.

When I start keeping tabs on where my minutes are going I think I’ll find I’m not really as busy as it sometimes feels.

If we started tracking where our time goes I think we would start to realize that time isn’t the problem it’s how we spend it. We can’t truly say we’re overworked if we waste 30 minutes of our work day on social media or an hour in casual conversation with co-workers. Don’t think I’m trying to talk about other people here – these are two things that I find myself doing sometimes!

So I’m going to start keeping track of how I spend my time. As I prepare to go back to school I think it’s going to be imperative for me to keep closer tabs on my time spending. One way I’m going to work on this is by starting a regular routine – you’ll hear more about that in my lunch time post.

How do you spend your time? Do you use any sort of time management software?