Brent Parsley's Blog

Welcome to the _tag Leader Blog

Hello Team,

Let me first say how incredibly grateful I am for every one of you and your faithfulness to the Kingdom of God and to _tag students. This year has launched with a great deal of anticipation and I am thrilled about the direction we are headed. Discipleship is strong and I sense a great hunger and excitement in the majority of our students. You are going to have a great year with fruit that remains so look forward to it.

One of the many things I am looking forward to this year is connecting with one another through this _tag Leader Blog. This will be THE place for you to get the latest _tag information, some ministry training, and connection with all that's happening here. So bookmark this page or subscribe to the Feed (if you're savvy) and we'll begin this journey together. This will be one more place for you to get plugged in to _tag Student Ministries. We'll be updating every other week by Thursday at 5pm so you can know when new info will be coming out of the office. I hope this will be a helpful ministry tool that you will take advantage of.

And don't forget our other Leadership Connection opportunities. We meet together each Wednesday at 6:15pm before _tag in the _tag Chapel, and we also have the _tag Leadercast on iTunes.
Just search and you'll get there.

As we continue into this year renewing friendships with _tag family members and building new friendships with new students, here are just a few things to get you started. We like to call them the
4 Big Questions:

1. What's God showing you from His Word?
This is a great question because it will give you insight into the life of a student. If they have some things to discuss, you can talk about that with them knowing that they are reading the Word and actively listening to the Lord. If they have nothing to say, you can encourage them in their devotion to the Lord and talk about the great benefits of that relationship in your life.

2. How can I be a friend to you this week?
This will provide an open door for you to connect. Most likely, they'll look back at you and say, "I have no idea." Don't worry about that. Just let them know that you are available. If they give you an answer, go for it and provide an answer to prayer for them that week.

3. Where is life beating you up?
A question like this will open up doors for you to help them through some of the rough stuff of life that they are facing. Don't push hard on a question like this. It may just take some time. But if they talk with you about a struggle they are in, you will have great opportunity to journey through that together.

4. What's one thing I can pray for you about this week?
Don't ask for a list. Ask for one thing. Then, be faithful to pray with them there in the moment and throughout that week.

Now, a word of caution...
These are strong questions that can open or shut doors of trust for you. So if you're going to ask the question, be prepared to follow up and to do it well. It would be better for you not to ask than to ask and not follow up.

So, take these 4 questions and try one out this week on a student that you have met recently. I believe God will use it to open great doors of ministry for you down the road.

Again, thanks for what you do.
This is going to be such an incredible year.

Until next time,

Brent

Simple simplicity

Simplicity. In my world filled with chaos and complexity, I'm certainly looking to see more of this elusive little idea. For the past 8 years I've filled my schedule and calendar with all kinds of ideas and meetings. Seen many great things through those processes, but I'm ready for some things to change. I want to be more effective. I want to make disciples. I want to do it well.

I went out with Jared (jr high pastor / bow hunter aficionado) the other day. We actually went to discuss one or two things happening in our jr high ministry. We ended up asking and answering some tough and unexpected questions in the 20 minutes that followed. Then, for the next three hours we discussed the implications of all the answers we just found to those questions. We found that by simplifying our lives and ministry we could be much more targeted and intentional in making disciples. It was exhilarating! It seemed as if God might be up to something. I met 2 days later with Glenn (worship guy / management guru / chicken ala king chef) to discuss some of the ideas. Everything lined up perfectly with what God had been showing him and the team he works with about their ministry. The idea? Keep it Simple.

I'm reading a book called "Simple Church" by Thom S. Rainer and Eric Geiger. It's rockin me a bit. I think God's  up to something.  Now, I realize that I've said quite a bit here without saying much of anything. Well, 1. I'm new to the blog world so I'm gonna need some practice. And 2. I'm not ready to unleash some of the stuff I'm working on.

So, for now, if you're reading this. Thanks. Not sure why you did, but that's awfully nice of you.

There's "simply" more to come...