Tag Archives: Reggie Joiner
We are stewards of timeless truths
Posted on 24. Jan, 2012 by Kenny.
On more than one occasion, I heard Reggie say this line last week at the Orange Tour.
We are stewards of timeless truths.
What I think is interesting is that I often hear people complain about Orange curriculum Usually I hear people complaining from the point of view that there isn’t enough Bible in it. The funny thing is that I have people on my own staff who at times complain that the curriculum is too church. Honestly, there’s no such thing as a perfect curriculum and that alone isn’t reason enough to go out and start writing your own.
Curriculum was made to be tweaked… especially when they give it to you in editable digital form, right? Whether your curriculum comes from a virtue perspective or a chronological spin through the scriptures, the foundation doesn’t change that scripture is the basis for all things taught. If we don’t connect kids and students to the life-changing power of the scripture, we’re sunk. We may explore how the scripture can transform us to lead self-controlled lives or how certain events in the Old Testament teach us about what God wants to do in our lives right now. The bottom line is about how scripture connects to our lives.
In ministry, we have to understand that we are stewards of timeless truths. Every one of us. Leaders, small group leaders, hosts and story tellers. We steward these timeless truths and it is so important that we convey these truths accurately and responsibly. Too many times in my ministry have I heard a leader butcher the telling of a biblical truth, either in delivery or in content. We need not forget about James 3:1.
Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.
We are stewards of timeless truths and we must never take this responsibility lightly.
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Orange is almost here!
Posted on 15. Mar, 2011 by Kenny.
Believe it or not, Orange will be here in a little over a month. Can you believe that? I know that some of you out there haven’t decided yet whether you’re going to attend or not. Well, I’d really like to encourage you to consider joining me in Atlanta this year. Right now is still a good time to register. Airfare is still inexpensive, hotels aren’t all booked up, and you can still get a discount on registration. So, go over and register today people.
Need more convincing. Head over to the Orange Tour Online and watch some content from the most recent Orange Tour. If you’re totally unfamiliar with the Orange Strategy, watch the first video. Incredible. If you want to see an incredibly different approach to college ministry that actually matters to kid’s pastors, watch the third video. It blew my mind.
Again, click here to register for the Orange Conference!
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Orange Tour Live: TODAY!
Posted on 15. Feb, 2011 by Kenny.
I said this last week, but in case you forgot, the Orange Tour Live is today at 1:00 PM EST. Let me break this down for you in case you’re a dummy like me (I told my team and subsequently my volunteers, that that since it was starting at 1:00 PM EST, it would be starting here in Texas at 2:00 PM EST).
- If you live in EST, it’s 1:00 PM
- If you live in CST, it’s 12:00 PM
- If you live in MST, it’s 11:00 PM
- If you life in PST, it’s 10:00 AM
Usually I’m good with all the time change stuff, but I wasn’t with this one.
Orange Tour Live is going to be a rebroadcast of the Orange Tour that happend this Fall and Winter. It was an incredible and powerful presentation. I’ve heard that it will be in a fun web-based broadcast, so it’s not going to be just someone pressing play on a DVD in Atlanta. I heard a rumor that Matt McKee is involved (please oh please, I hope he’s wearing those white pants).
So, join me and the gazillions of others who will be watching the Orange Tour today at 1, 12, 11 or 10!
Click here to join the Orange Tour
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Orange Tour 2011 Notes: College Ministry
Posted on 09. Feb, 2011 by Kenny.
The last session of the Orange tour was totally unexpected. Reggie warned everyone that he wasn’t offering solutions, but simply beginning a conversation. He also encouraged us to stay engaged because he was going to talk about something that most of us in the room thought little about, College Ministry. He shared an interesting statistic from Lifeway.
Of 23-30 year olds who stayed in the church during ages 18-23, only 6% are not currently still in church. (This is probably not exact wording)
Studies have shown that the year after graduation, a significant majority of kids who have been involved in church all their lives “check out” of church, many to never really come back. However, the Lifeway study above shows that if we can get them to stick with it for those critical college years, they’re most likely to make a life-long commitment to a local church. We all know that this isn’t just about attending a church, but if they’re in church, it’s more likely that they have a relationship with Christ.
So, Reggie suggested that the church has been programed to draw a finish line at the end of the 12th grade. The problem though is that we’re abandoning our kids when the stakes are the highest. The solution might be to move the finish line out an additional four years. We’ve invested in these kids for YEARS and taking care of them during their college years is about protecting that investment and ensuring that what’s been put into them comes to maturity.
This isn’t about “a” college ministry. Small groups, bands, relevant teachers and social events. It’s about seeking out college students and investing in them during these critical years. It’s about every leader taking ownership of this need, investing in a student. Your ability to appeal to college students isn’t as important as your ability to be authentic with a young adult. This is a an issue where everyone needs to be be “in.” Maybe it’s 12th grade small group leaders continuing to reach out to the kids they led in High School even though they may have scattered across the US.
Whatever happens, we have to be more intentional about this problem. For the past few years, I’ve had a soap box where I’ve suggested that most Children’s Ministries are measuring success the wrong way. Rather than judge success in how many kids we have attending this years as opposed to last year, we should be measuring if the kids we had in 5th grade 13 years ago are still following Christ. Yeah, it’s probably near to impossible to measure, but permanent life change is what we’re after, not a bigger crowd. Until we figure this out, how to help kids grow up into adults who love and follow Christ with all their hearts, we’re just fooling ourselves into feeling good about temporary (and potentially meaningless) successes.
So, what do you think?
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Freshly squeezed orange
Posted on 21. Jan, 2011 by Kenny.
Well, yesterday I got to enjoy the Orange One Day event in DFW, Texas. Hands down, it was the best one yet.
I’ve got a little advice for you.
- Do whatever you can do attend the Orange Conference. It’s an incredible conference for you and your team. Click here to register.
- Make plans to attend an Orange One Day event. Period.
What if there isn’t an Orange One Day near me?
Buy a plane ticket, fly there and go. It’s only $55 or so and your expenses shouldn’t be too bad for a quick one day thing. Do it!
Here’s why I like the Orange One Day event so much. It’s like extra pulpy orange juice… like there’s a lot of meaty flavor in it. No, even better, it’s like Orange Juice concentrate. It’s super strong. Seriously, I love the Orange Conference. It’s a great conference with a lot of voices with many experiences. Every speaker is not going to speak on the Orange Strategy specifically, but it does all fit within the context. However, the Orange One Day is super large does of the Orange strategy given to you directly by Reggie Joiner, Sue Miller and Carey Nieuwhof.
If you didn’t hit the Orange Tour this year, you’ve probably missed your chance. Their last stop is in Orlando next week. However, I’d highly encourage you to make one of the tour stops next year. It’s very different from the Orange Conference, but such a powerful experience. I’m fortunate that the tour is close enough, I could bring a bunch of my volunteer leaders as well as my staff.
Next week I’ll blog from my notes, so many great things I look forward to sharing.
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Parents in Transition
Posted on 15. Nov, 2010 by Reggie Joiner.
Time flies fast from elementary to college age, so get ready to change your parenting habits. Every child seems to move in warp speed toward the teenage years.
I was caught by surprise when a new declaration of personal independence was automatically assumed the day my son got his driver’s license. It was as though I represented an oppressive and extremely unfair regime whenever I tried to enforce any rule. (Whenever I said no to one of my teenage daughters, she would go to her bedroom, close the door and play Britney Spears’ “Overprotected†over and over again for over an hour, loud enough for me and the whole house to hear.) I have to admit, it was difficult for me to transition from parenting children to parenting teenagers. I had worked with teenagers all of my life, but I had never actually had any living in my home. I am still a recovering parent of teens, but here are a few things I have recognized about this chapter of parenting:
It’s a complicated time.
While your children are transitioning from being dependent to independent, you are transitioning as a parent from having authority to leveraging your influence. You can’t parent them the same way you did when they were in elementary school.
It’s an urgent time.
Face it. You know a window is closing fast. Ready or not, in a few short years your children will be leaving home. You are running out of time, and it is easy to feel a little panicked. Everything seems to matter more (grades, decisions, relationships.) And to make matters worse, everything costs more too. Have I mentioned the price of college these days? Feeling better?
Keep fighting for your teenager’s emotional health by investing in relational time with them. Especially during this uncertain season, they need a positive relationship with you more than you or they may realize. Here are a few things to remember that might help you make the time you spend with your teenager more meaningful:
• Find a common activity you can both enjoy.
Go to favorite restaurant, movie, or concert. Discover a hobby or a type of recreation you can do together. Find common interests. It only takes a few.
• Make sure there is no agenda.
They will see right through a masked motive and interpret your effort to hang out as manipulation. Don’t forget. This is about building your relationship. So don’t use this time to deal with issues. Guard the fun.
• Keep it outside the house.
You probably already spend most of your time together in your home. It can be full of duties, responsibilities, and distractions, so get out and do something that is a contrast to your normal routine.
• Do it without friends.
Anyone you add to your time will drastically change the dynamic. Give your teenager individual and undivided attention, without your friends or their friends, and even without siblings.
• Mutually agree to turn off cell phones.
Make at least part of your time a no-electronic zone. Phones have a way of distracting you from meaningful and engaging dialogue.
• Put it on the schedule (but not on a Friday).
Be sensitive to how a teenager wants to organize his or her life. Discover the rhythm that exists in their schedule and agree with them on the best times to hang out.
• Stay flexible (and be willing to reschedule frequently).
A teenager’s world is always changing. They could feel trapped if you are rigid about your scheduled time with them. Don’t let your time with them become a competition with their other interests and priorities. Avoid making them choose between you and something else they really want to do.
• Remember your goal is not to change them.
Avoid getting into conversations where you are trying to correct or improve a behavior. Save those conversations for another time. You can shut down a positive experience if you try to leverage it to fix something.
• Keep working at it.
Learning to communicate with those you love can be awkward at times. Strive to ask the right kind of questions and listen more than you talk. You are not trying to become your teen’s best friend, but you are laying an important foundation for the kind of friendship you want to enjoy with them during their adult years.
• Use it as an opportunity to give your teenager approval.
I’m amazed at how many adults left home without ever really feeling like their parents believed in them. Look for numerous opportunities to encourage their specific strengths and skills.
Having fun and spending quality time together is increasingly important as your relationship with your child changes. This week, find out what kind of activities your teenager likes, and schedule some intentional time together when you can simply enjoy being together.
And if you have other tips you’ve discovered about spending time with a teenage son or daughter, please post them in the comments so we can all learn from our shared experiences.
Reggie Joiner writes more at http://orangeparents.org and http://orangeleaders.com and that you can follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/reggiejoiner.
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ReThink ReInvents Family Times
Posted on 20. Jul, 2010 by Kenny.
I must say that I’m very excited about Cue Box, a new resource coming soon from reThink that ties directly into 252Basics. For years reThink has offered virtue packs through Family Times that tied into the monthly virtue. Don’t get me wrong, these are great resources. However, we couldn’t ever really get a lot of momentum behind them. The parents who used them like them, but few committed to using them regularly.
Cue Box is a reinvention of the Family Times virtue packs. The big change is that it’s DVD and Kid driven. Rather than going the route of offering a resource to parents that they “should” use, Cue Box offers a resource that basically does the same thing but because it is Kid-driven, the kids are pushing their parents toward getting it and using it.
Who knows how successful it will be? It probably depends on how you promote it among your parents and how readily available you make it. From what I’ve seen, the production value seems high (personally I think it’s on a significantly higher level than any of their other video content) and I can’t imagine that the content is anything less than excellent.
Click here to visit Studio252.tv and learn more about Cue Box. This resource begins with September’s virtue, so you don’t want to miss your opportunity to get in on the ground floor.
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#Orange10 Day 3: Parenting beyond your capacity
Posted on 03. May, 2010 by Kenny.
Don’t judge the rest of this post by my next statement. This breakout was a commercial for the new book, “Parenting beyond your capacity.” However, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. This book is going to be a powerful new resource for parents and I think a lot of people are going to be really excited about it. So, this was an opportunity to hear from the authors about why they wrote this resource . Here are a few of my take-aways.- Widen the circle
- Imagine the end
- Fight for the heart
- Create a rhythm
- Make it personal
- 75% of parents have attended a church in the last 24 months.
- 25% of families have both mom and dad living at home.
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Drinking from a fire hydrant
Posted on 30. Apr, 2010 by Kenny.
So, Orange 2010 is officially over now. Unfortunately, I’m not even done blogging my experiences from the first day. More than any other year, Orange has been like drinking from a fire hydrant. Creative ideas and challenges from breakouts. Powerful message content from the main stage. Incredible people to meet and talk to in the hallways. Early mornings and late nights hanging out with staff and friends. On top of all of this, my brain is running at 100 MPH thinking about all the things I’ve learned and want to process.
That’s why I’m about two days behind.
Don’t worry, I’ll catch up. I’m not going home until Monday morning, so I should wrap up all my Orange posts before Monday morning. However, I’m sure you’ll be reading Orange inspired thoughts from me in the near and distant future.
My hat is off to the reThink group for another amazing conference (and I don’t even wear hats). It was that good!
If you didn’t come in 2010, make plans to come next year. Hey look, you can even register here.
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#Orange10 Conference contest #3
Posted on 30. Apr, 2010 by Kenny.
Today’s Orange Leaders Challenge:
List the top FIVE reasons you will be back for Orange ’11. Post your reasons to return on the Orange Leaders blog at www.orangeleaders.com.
One winner, chosen at random, will receive FIVE tickets to Orange ’11!
Go to www.orangeleaders.com for details!
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