Brent Parsley's Blog

You are Invited.

It's certainly safe to say that I currently rank in the 97th percentile of the worst blogger type people in the world. I'm ok with that for now. However, I was cruising around these here "interwebs" and happened on this blog that appears to belong to me. So, I thought I would throw a little something up. 

We recently returned from our _tag Fall Retreat. What an incredible time with Jesus and a lot of really incredible and passionate students. I think it probably ranks somewhere in my top 3 retreats with _tag. The whole thing centered around the idea that God has extended to us an Eternal Invitation. It doesn't go away. We should always run to it and never away from it. What's the Invitation to? Best Part. It's not an event, a circumstance, a feeling, an emotion, or anything like that. This Invitation is to a person and His name is Jesus. Just Jesus. Sometimes we do folks a major disservice by preaching Jesus "and".... Come to Jesus "and" you'll get... Come to Jesus "and" He will... Come to Jesus "and" you will... Not interested anymore. 

Let's just come to Jesus. 

We had some kids give their lives to Jesus for the first time, some were baptized in the Holy Spirit. We baptized a whole bunch in water. What a weekend! So I thought I would share some memories and remind you (anyone who might read this) that you are Invited. Let's go. 

Destiny Rescuing Destiny

This is a familiar story on this blog, but God keeps moving it forward. So, I thought I'd post this latest video to share the continued journey. It's really exciting to watch how it keeps spreading. We played this video at the first Desperation Conference in June this Summer. As a result, we ended up taking a spontaneous offering where the conference attendees gave over $16,000 to build another Orphan Home with World Orphans.

The Heartwork Vision keeps moving. American teenagers reaching out to African Orphans. African Orphans reaching back to American teenagers. Destiny rescuing destiny.



Keep watching www.heartwork.tv for more...

_tag's burn:internship

This is a video we put together last week to highlight our burn internship for high school students. They spend 10 hours per week in service, ministry training, and community. It's based on Fall, Spring, and Summer Trimesters so it's easy for students to participate while still being involved in their other important school activities. Burn has been a great program to fulfill Ephesians 4 by equipping young leaders at _tag.

We wanted to highlight the fun and community aspects as we head toward our Summer Trimester. Take a look. It has a 70's Bible School infomercial meets Dharma Initiative vibe. Nice...kind of.

One Community Food Offering was Amazing!

Just a quick post today celebrate the win with all the _tag family. We're currently in the middle of our Thematic Goal: One Friend, One Community, One World. This past Wednesday we challenged our family to bring in 10 meals for families of 4 in our community. In the current economic downturn families are strapped and we wanted to help. _tag showed up in force. Check it.

 
It was an awesome night because of the Offering but also because the Spirit of God showed up in the meeting in a huge way. Students gave their lives to Christ, others were healed, others delivered from junk...it was fantastic! It all made for a huge night for the _tag family.

I'm really proud of all you and so excited about what Jesus is doing with us.

Love you all. See you this Wednesday.
P.S. One World Offering for Widows Homes is coming in a month. : )

One Community Food Offering is almost here!

God is doing cool things with our _tag family. This week we're in the second phase of our One Friend, One Community, One World goals.

This Wednesday only (April 29) we're challenging all of us to bring in at least 10 meals for families of 4. In our current economy we keep hearing about the needs of families, friends, and neighbors in our community. One of those big needs is food. We can do something about that.

So make some sacrifices and bring in your meals to _tag this Wednesday. Be a part of what God is doing with us. Oh, and watch this latest Weblog from Newman. He's trying hard, but sometimes he just doesn't get it quite right.

Give them what they need. Consider what they want.

As a youth pastor I often find myself struggling with the same tensions year after year. Just when I think I have finally got one nailed down it comes back at me again. One such tension I’ve been struggling with this past week involves Culture and Content.

Obviously, any youth pastor worth his salt is going to say that solid content in a meeting or message is most important. However, it can be very easy and quite tempting to prepare a gathering or to write a talk as if the opposite were true. How many times have we asked, “What’s big right now? We could do a sermon series based on American Idol and we’ll talk about how we shouldn’t have any Idols in our lives. Oooohh, that’s good!” Or how about, “Let’s do a series called 24 and we’ll talk about how it’s not good to torture people to extract information that will save the United States of America from certain impending doom!” OK. It’s possible that I’m reaching.

Well, it’s embarrassing to admit it but I’ve been walking this tight rope again this past week. You would think I would have learned my lesson by now. I think my heart is in the right place, but I constantly have to make sure my motives are in the right place as well. It’s so easy to start with culture and inject the Gospel. We’re good at it. We think that will appeal to a broader group of students and that’s good. Right?
But that’s backwards.

Start with the Gospel and think about injecting youth culture.

I like to say it this way, “Give them what they need. Consider what they want.”

So I’m putting an end to the struggle one more time this week and simply following what I sense God is whispering to me. Don’t start with the big cultural draw and try to fit in what God wants to say. Start with what God is saying and then consider if adding some youth culture will be beneficial. Often, it’s not.

As it turns out Jesus is always enough all by Himself. He is exactly what they need.

Welcome back to the Heartwork Mission.

This week at _tag we launched our latest thematic goal in full force. We spent the last two months of our new season just talking about Jesus. It's been so great! And somewhere along the way, when you keep talking about Jesus, something happens. You just can't keep talking without doing.t

That's where we are.

We've launched our new initiative and can't wait to tell the stories of what Jesus is doing. This is where we're going over the next few months. We simply call it Heartwork.

The Heartwork Mission has 3 big ideas:

One Friend: Expose One Friend to Jesus.
Our goal is to share 1,000 stories of lives around us touched by the Gospel of Jesus. We all know people that need to know Jesus. We do know Him. It's time to introduce Him.

One Community: Gather 10 meals for families in need.
We're challenging every member of _tag to gather 10 meals for a family of four. The current need is great in our community and we want to help. So we're partnering with the Salvation Army to do just that.

One World: Build 5 homes for widowed mothers in Uganda.
Partnering with some incredible people on the ground in Uganda, we're going to build 5 homes for widows and their children.These homes will also serve as ministry centers in that community for churches to gather for small groups and discipleship.

We will run with this Vision through the end of May. Excitement is already off the charts. I can't wait to watch Jesus at work through our family.

Heartwork is here. I hope you will be too.

That's How Winning is Done.

Last week I found myself re-watching the movie, Rocky Balboa. Yes, this was my second viewing of the film, and yes, I did do it on purpose. I’m not talking about the train wreck we all know as Rocky V with Tommy Gunn and the street fight. I’m talking about the very last Rocky movie. In one of my favorite scenes Rocky delivers a powerful Father / Son talk in which he says, “Life’s not about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward…That’s how winning is done!” That idea sums up the entire, incredible (Rocky V excluded) Rocky story. And I think youth pastors can learn something from the Italian Stallion.

We know a little bit about endurance around here at New LIfe. The past two years have been chock full of struggles and difficulties. But we are still here outlasting the trials. One of the reasons we have done so is found in 1 Samuel Chapter 30.

David is at the lowest of the low. He has the promise to be King one day, but he is living far away from that promise in the enemy’s territory. It doesn’t get much worse. Or does it? Through a series of events David and his men actually end up losing their town, their livestock, and their wives and children. OK. That has to be the bottom. Or does it? Next, his faithful army decides that they should probably stone him for his excellent decision-making skills. OK. Bottom achieved. 

We may not all have first hand knowledge of this type of difficult situation, but we all know how it feels. Whether we have lived through losing it all or just feel like we have, it is easy to quickly identify with David. But the end of verse 6 uncovers the key that kept David and keeps guys like Rocky and me moving forward.

BUT David found strength in the LORD his God.

Where do you go when it seems you have lost it all? It’s an important question because the place you run to determines the outcome of the circumstances you face.

There is a place you can reside where you won’t be governed by life’s circumstances.
Look at some of the great leaders through history and you will catch a glimpse of what that means. Peek into the persecuted church and you’ll see it. Examine the stories of martyrs for Jesus and you’ll discover it. They lived above the fray with a strength that doesn’t come from this world. It resides solely in the LORD. Yes, circumstances hit  hard and you feel them. But they won’t knock you out.

Our perspective of our circumstances cannot determine our level of faith.
Our belief in God must determine the level of our faith.
David found strength in the LORD his God.

David had a personal responsibility to act. He moved forward into the LORD. But it was God who strengthened him. There are a few specific things that David did to find that strength that we can all learn from. That’s for another day and another post.

For today, where are you running? Strength exists. The LORD your God wants to give it to you. Run to Him until you get it.

That’s how winning is done.

The Heartwork:Uganda Timeline

This was perhaps THE highlight of 2008 and certainly ranks among the top 5 ministry experiences for me in my 33 years thus far. I've written a little bit about it previously, but I wanted to share the timeline and story with a little more detail. We recently showed this at _tag to update students and to celebrate what God is doing through them. I followed up on the video with pics and stories of each of the 3 Orphan Homes. It was such a great night. Hope it's an encouragement to you.

Give young people something missional. Give them something to do. Show them something that matters. Present a Jesus type challenge. They will rise to meet it. I've watched it over and over.

Hope you dig the video.

A little (and I mean, very little) reflection on Baptism.

This week at _tag we're planning on Baptizing those who want to make a profession of their faith. This is great physical representation of a spiritual reality of young men and young women making Jesus Lord of every part of their lives. We're really looking forward to it.

If you want to join in make sure you grab a permission slip, get it signed, and bring it with you to Room 162 at 6:30. We'll get you prepped and ready.

In the meantime, listen to Jared's latest Weblog on Baptism. That Jared is a Weblogging maniac.