September 5, 2007
This fall we will relaunch the Creel Coaching lunches with BRANDED, a special lunchtime series featuring special guests, peanut butter & jelly sandwiches and opportunities to connect with other Christian leaders.
With this new format we’ll invite some of our friends to come in to share the stories of how they’re walking in step with God’s vision for their lives. Part encouragement, part equipping and part networking, this should be the best Creel Coaching Series yet.
But perhaps most exciting, we’re featuring a new low price - $0. That’s right, you can enjoy this series for the same price as a drink from the water fountain–assuming of course said water fountain isn’t included in your monthly rent payment or water bill, but is instead paid for by your employer or located in a public venue such as a mall or park.
The series kicks off Thursday, Sept. 20, from 11:30-12:30. Courtney Doctor, a gifted teacher who has just walked in faith to produce a professional DVD for three national speaker’s bureaus, is our first special guest. Courtney loves God’s Word and believes she is called to bring it alive through a speaking/teaching ministry.
Five years ago, Courtney enjoyed a number of engagements across the country before God literally appeared to close the door on her ministry:
“I felt like a horse at the starting gate, chomping at the bit for it to open. At the last minute, the jockey decided to turn back to the stall! I didn’t get it. All I wanted was to serve my King and have my life count for something in His Kingdom. Why was I sidelined? I quickly realized that God is much more concerned with doing something in me than through me and the first has to be prioritized over the second.
“God was in the process of refining, changing, conforming, strengthening, humbling, equipping and stripping me of so many entanglements. His purposes in our lives are always bigger and greater than our own.
“I am so thankful that God does not allow us to be comfortable for long! Not that waiting ever became easy, but it did start to feel safe. After five years of feeling very much reigned in, God used three days to alert me that I was to change direction. He wasn’t changing anything. He knew His plans from before the foundations of the world, but I would have to change course to follow Him.”
Don’t miss the chance to hear Courtney tell her story. We’ll have a full list of guests shortly, so be sure to check back soon!
To register, please contact Todd at 316.612.0300, ext. 14, or use the contact form.
We can’t wait to see you on the 13th!
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May 31, 2007
A recent article from Growing Leaders highlighted a struggle that many youth workers, parents and teachers are experiencing with their GenY students: a severe lack of commitment. Here are some highlights:
This generation of kids talks about changing the world—but they won’t stay committed long enough to even change their campus…Students want to change the world, but before they’re ready to take any action they change their minds instead.
This is the paradox of being part of the Millennial generation. Students have a strong belief that they can transform society, but find it difficult to stick to an idea once the novelty of that idea wears off.
Many of them grew up being affirmed for every step they took, winning trophies, ribbons, prizes and pats on the back for anything—even finishing in 9th place. Parents clapped for everything. Few learned anything about perseverance. If a child failed, parents often swept them away before it could hurt their self-esteem. Unfortunately, life doesn’t work that way. As an adult, work isn’t always that rewarding. Projects can be hard and slow. And when colleagues don’t continue to affirm a commitment, it’s difficult to sustain that commitment.
Convenience has eclipsed commitment. Sticking to what we believe to be right is hard because change is normal today—and because few are able to endure what is inconvenient.
I describe most students today with this phrase: involved but not committed.
In the end, the author gives some suggestions to help draw more commitment from this age:
- Listen to them and affirm their dreams and goals
- Provide them a sense of big-picture purpose as they perform menial tasks
- Give them short-term commitments they can keep, and put wins under their belts
- Offer them realistic steps to their often over-optimistic goals–help them prioritize
- Work with them to focus on one, meaningful objective and pull it off
- Encourage them to simplify their life, and remove some self-imposed pressure
- Discuss personal values with them and help them to become value-driven
So what do you think? Have you experienced a similar lack of commitment from your teens? How do you combat it?
See the full article here.
Posted in Gen Y, Youth ministry No Comments »
April 25, 2007
Jeff Wenzel passed quickly from this earthly life from a form of aggressive brain cancer. Jeff was executive director of Youth Horizons. Jeff was a beloved husband and father. Jeff was high energy. Jeff was a bit random. Jeff was REAL.
Jeff wore no mask. He built no walls. He put on no airs, He played no games. He was REAL.
I don’t recall when we met. We didn’t actually spend that much time together. Yet, I knew Jeff on a deeper level than some people I’ve been around my entire life and I find that compelling.
We spend a significant amount of time talking to our clients about building authentic (REAL) brands and yet we can often neglect our own personal brand.
In honor of our friend, be REAL. Time is fleeting.
Youth Horizons is an organization devoted to serving at-risk kids in and around Wichita. The Strategy Group made the decision in 1997 to come alongside this compelling organization by donating strategic and creative services. Check out their website here.
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April 19, 2007
Hello everyone! I wanted to share this video for everyone who wasn’t able to make it to our session today. We continued our discussion from “In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day” by Mark Batterson. We discussed that playing it safe is risky and this video ties in with that perfectly.
Next week we’ll be discussing the necessity of seizing our opportunities, so I encourage you to seize the opportunity to join us next Thursday at 11:30! See you then!
No kiwis were harmed during the filming of the animation.
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July 24, 2006
This past Thursday we spent an hour discussing burnout and some strategies to help avoid or at least cut down on burnout. Rather than bring in an “expert” to share, we all delved into our experiences and knowledge to arrive at some pretty solid suggestions.
First of all, we need to take time to withdraw and reexamine the core of who we are. When we get wrapped up in our activities, career and responsibilities, it’s easy to lose track of who we really are and where we’re really going. It’s essential to step back, examine those questions and discover if we’re living in accordance to the answers of those questions.
Secondly, we need to recognize that our identity doesn’t come from our job or occupation. We need to find meaning and purpose in the work that God has called us to do rather than focusing solely on our 40-hour work weeks. Many of us are unable to live out our passions and visions through our job, so we must be intentional with the rest of our time to bring about those visions or live out those passions.
Unfortunately we live in a society that respects burnout; if you’re not working hard enough to be burnt out, then something’s wrong! We need to be able to rest and find time to relax even in the midst of our chaos. The time when we can least afford to take a break is probably the best time to do so.
We’re looking forward to this week’s discussion. We’re going to be talking about The Five Dysfunctions of a Team. Come prepared with your team horror or victory stories! See you Thursday!
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July 17, 2006
This past Thursday Chris Ward, student ministries director at Chapel Hill Fellowship, spoke to us about learnability.
To start off, he talked about three different types of learning: fact learning, which is just the basic retention of facts; transformative learning, where something stirs within you, taking time to change you - it’s like marinating steak, with time, you change the nature of the steak, but even after the flavor has changed, it’s still a steak; and emotional learning which is reflected in our circumstances and being able to adapt to our situation.
Here are some high level thoughts from the rest of the talk:
Why learning is vital:
“Is it possible to be a disciple and not be a learner?”
Success demands we are learners because it is a process in which we naturalize certain behaviors, priorities, values and relationships.
Technology has ignited a speedy change in our culture and we need to keep up!
There are some blocks to learning:
The pretender: the art of fashion (appearance); in our effort to appear a certain way, we can often neglect the need to learn. For example, a young individual may pretend to know more than he/she does to appear qualified for promotion.
A disorganized life/out of rhythm.
Being tired or depressed.
Things that create a good learning environment:
Cultivate an attitude of wonder. As children we enter the world naturally curious beings. With time and knowledge, that curiosity is suppressed. We need to embrace and pursue the unknown.
Rhythm of life. Pursue rest, meditation and silence.
Clearly articulate your mission, values and talents and use them as “hooks.” If you know who you are, where you’re going and what you’re good at, you can learn with those ideas firmly planted in your mind. For example, if you desire to be a strong, Christian leader, everything you read could be read with that context.
Practice.
Seek out teachers.
Focus less on restraints and more on possibilities.
Don’t have to hit a homerun every time you get up to bat.
This week, ask yourself these two questions:
What person do you feel most afraid of failing in front of and why?
What person do you feel most comfortable failing in front of and why?
These two questions will help expose those barriers to your learning.
Thanks to everyone who came and we’ll see you Thursday! Come prepared to share your thoughts, experience and wisdom on burnout!
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