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...

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.

The 7th was Epic! The 14th is on the way...

Last Wednesday night _tag gathered in the Theater at New Life to Launch a new season as a family. Teenagers from our church and city in Grades 7 - 12 gathered together to worship, pray, study the Scriptures, and meet with Jesus. It was nothing short of Epic! What made it so epic? I'd like to point to the the fun stuff we were able to do that night. I'd like to point to the massive curtain drop at the beginning. I'd like to point to the overall vibe created that night. I'd like to point to the number of people that joined us in our Vision. I'd like to point to the BPS appearance. Certainly, all those things were great, but they weren't the reason _tag's re-launch was so incredible. The truth is it was an epic night because it was a packed house of teenagers focused on the simple but awesome Truth of Jesus.

I like all the other stuff. I think utilizing some of the language and media of our culture has some value. (And anytime you get a BPS concert for free, you should certainly take advantage of it). But it all pales in comparison to knowing "Jesus Christ and Him crucified." (1 Corinthians 2:2) As we enter this new season together we are renewing our focus on the Truth of who Jesus is, what He has done, and why that matters for us. This journey promises to be an epic one. I can't wait.

So the 7th blew away our expectations in every way. But I'll tell you what's better than that. The 14th is on the way. The 7th was only the beginning. See you there.

If you're looking to join the _tag Vision for 09 you can jump on tagonline.tv, check out the rest of my blog here, or just show up at _tag. You won't regret it.

Rise to the Challenge

There's no doubt that Student Ministry can be challenging at times. It will challenge your body with lack of sleep, it will challenge your self-esteem with comments about how "uncool" you can be from time to time, and it will challenge your intellect and your spirit with big questions about a life lived wholeheartedly for Jesus.

I had an interesting conversation with one of our team last night about this very idea. She was feeling challenged by the Senior Girls in her Connect Group. They are dealing with all the serious issues of life and carrying around some baggage from decisions they have made as well as from decisions others around them have made. As they fight through it all, they are responding with strength and grace as they trust God to walk them through. All this resulted in this member of our team asking the question, "How do I rise to the challenge when they are challenging me so much? And what do I say to help them when I don't seem to have the answers?"

Those questions reminded me of a big idea for Student Ministry.

Student Ministry is primarily about modeling.

My sermons aren't what they remember (shocking, I know) and your devos aren't necessarily what they remember (though I know they are full of earth shattering revelation). They remember your life. They remember sitting around coffee shops talking about Jesus. They remember the crazy, fun things you guys all did together and then told them, "Don't tell Pastor Brent how crazy that was!" They remember watching you live your life wholeheartedly for God. That means you don't have to worry about being intellectually deep and insightful every moment you are with them. Don't misunderstand. You do need to be ready to have some of the answers, you do need to be consistent in your quiet time so you can talk big ideas with them from a Biblical worldview, and you do need to work through those big conversations about life when they arise.

But, more than that, you need to show them how to live strong for Jesus in every area of life every day. They'll remember that more than anything. So let me recommend a few things as you journey through your ministry today.

Challenge them to fast regularly with you.

Challenge them to read through a book of the Bible with you.

Challenge them to pray every day.

Challenge them to worship with you during services.

Challenge them to write down a Life Mission Statement and share it together.

Challenge them to read a great book with you.

Challenge them to chuck the cell phone, ipod, computer, and TV for a weekend

Challenge them to adopt a child from Compassion International.

Challenge them to research and pray for a specific country this month. 

Challenges like these don't require you any prep time and they don't require you to have the answers.

They require you to do them yourself, stay disciplined, hold one another accountable, and share what God is doing as you do them together.

Don't fall into the trap of being the "all-knowing Youth Leader". That's too much pressure. Challenge them to genuinely live their lives for Jesus like you live your life for Him. You'll find that both you and the students you lead will rise to the challenges together. And God will do some great things.

Thank you for what you do.

Brent

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...