Orange
Ryan Reed
You Gotta Make It to OC17

One of the most important events on my annual professional calendar is the Orange Conference.

Why Orange? In sum, when it comes to a student ministry curriculum, I have not found one as powerful, versatile, comprehensive, and intentional as Orange. It cares for the middle school student just as much as the elderly aunt who takes care of him. Orange seeks to equip the entire family, not just the teenage kid, for both individual and familial faith. That simple.

As a user since 2011, I've continually been sold by how well it prepares me to share the Gospel with teenagers and build parent partnerships for faithful ministry in the home. 

You Gotta Make It to OC17
Leadership
Ryan Reed
The Important Role of Self Awareness in ...

This post originally appeared on the Orange Leaders Blog on June 22, 2016. 

What is the toughest question you’ve ever had to answer, and who asked it?

Given that somehow you made your way to this exceptional community called Orange Leaders, I automatically know a few things about you:

The Important Role of Self Awareness in Leadership
Leadership
Ryan Reed
Key Ingredients for a Thriving Ministry Recipe

Not long ago my wife introduced me to the best show on television... Chopped. I love it. Hands down noting beats it. A simple show in concept: four chefs compete against one another using a basket of mystery ingredients - yet so captivating!

Why? Because the ingredients equalize the playing field. Whether the chef be a novice out of culinary a school or a multi-restaurant owner veteran, each chef receives the ingredients at the same time and must respond to them. 

The ingredients are the star of the show. They call out the character of the chef. Not the other way around. It's the ingredients that define the path.

Key Ingredients for a Thriving Ministry Recipe
Church
Ryan Reed
May the Real Me Meet the Real You

Said C.S. Lewis, "The prayer that precedes all prayers is may the real me meet the real you." 

A great friend of mine from college once shared this quote with me. He and I served in Young Life together, leading high school students toward a growing relationship with Jesus. I can recall that he ended nearly every one of his ministry talks with this quote just prior to closing in prayer:

"May the real me meet the real you."

I probably listened to him share this quote with me dozens of times. I think I also used it. But quite honestly, I don't think I understood the meaning behind it until much later in life. Intellectually I understood it. It's simple in structure, but truly profound in its meaning. 

Perhaps I missed it time after time because inherent within this quote lays an assumption that you know the real you. 

May the Real Me Meet the Real You
Orange
Ryan Reed
Rethink Leadership Conference Day 2 #OC16 #RL16

CAREY NIEUWHOF INTERVIEW WITH JON ACUFF

Know your message enough to find the direction, but leave it open enough to let the Holy Spirit inspire new content. 

For humor, build the island, but then make sure that you make a sturdy bridge to and from the island. Satire is about an idea, but mockery is about an individual. We are not called to mockery.

Put handles on ideas so that we can carry them forward. We have enough ideas. Put a handle on them.  

Rethink Leadership Conference Day 2 #OC16 #RL16

Personal

On Life and Blogging II

On Life and Blogging II

Let me reacquaint myself. I used to send you blog posts on ministry and culture... that is, until my family and I moved to Miami and welcomed a brand new baby boy into our family. 

As you can imagine, life turned upside down for my family and me in all the best ways. Almost a year ago today, I received a call, asking me to interview for a new role in a new city. That same week, my wife discovered that she was pregnant!

Within a month, we waved goodbye to the only city our marriage ever knew, welcomed our first born, and made the closest friends of our life. We set out on a new adventure, beckoning us to a greater calling than we could imagine!

Giving Thanks with a Full Heart

Giving Thanks with a Full Heart

I began this post a few days ago, but between cross country flights, reconnecting with my in-laws, filling up on wonderful food, and then eating leftovers of wonderful food, I still want to post my thanks and gratitude before we move too far away from Thanksgiving:

First and foremost, I am so grateful - everyday... every moment of the day - for the grace, forgiveness, and salvation afforded to us by our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I cannot imagine my life without him; although, I can remember well when I chose a life apart from him. It is by the grace of God every day that I can love God well, love others, and know that I am loved. Praise God for what he did for every single one of us on the cross and resurrection!

Are You Heeding this Advice?

Are You Heeding this Advice?

In a coffee shop last week with my great friend and ministry colleague, Curtis Zackery, he shared a quote with me that I want to pass onto you. 

It certainly gave me reason to pause and think about the value of friendship in my personal life, the nature of it, and our proclivity to abandon it for the '2-foot ladder' (see Lecrae, "Fear) up which all of us so long to climb! 

C.S. Lewis says of friendship:

9 Habits to Make Your Devotional Life Come Alive!

9 Habits to Make Your Devotional Life Come Alive!

If you read this title and immediately felt a twinge in your gut, then you are in good company. Keeping a consistent, thriving devotional life has been one of the most difficult spiritual disciplines for me to cultivate, and I suspect the same is true for you. 

A number of factors have contributed to my lackluster performance on this front, including:

Timing - I allow other well-meaning events take charge of my schedule

Priorities - I place a greater emphasis upon other activities that take my attention away from faith.

Desire - May I admit that sometimes I just don't feel like it? Are you with me?

I am constantly convicted and reminded by a quote from Oswald Chambers that reads, "The greatest enemy of the life of faith in God is not sin, but the good which is not good enough." This characterizes so much of how I used to life out my faith, including my devotional life. 

The Most Important Talk I Heard at the Leadership Summit

The Most Important Talk I Heard at the Leadership Summit

I can sum up Bill Hybels' talk at the Global Leadership Summit in 2 words: Longevity Wins.

Hybels offered the first talk at the Summit, and even if I paid the full price just to hear his talk, it would have been worth it. 

I want to share with you the most important axiom that I heard him say, along with my notes for you to read. 

I'm Out of Here... Just for a Week!

A few days ago, my wife, daughter, and I arrived in Miami to visit old friends and family. Great visit! It is always wonderful when we reconnect with both sides of our family who live up and down the East Coast, along with our friends spread across the country. Our visits with them always remind us of the good things of life!

Currently, we are awaiting departure for a week of no internet, no phone, no cable, no email, and no fast food :). Nothing except my family and the ocean. Pray for us as my family enjoys the fun and love of sharing life together during our Sabbath rest. You can also pray for me personally that I go undefeated in Banagrams.

God moved in the lives of those who participated in my mission trip to Mexico last week. I have outlined a couple more articles about this trip that I was hoping to post before my departure today. Unfortunately, I did not complete them in time. I will be looking forward to posting them during the week of August 3.

May God continue to provide and use the people of La Mision. May God continue to transform the lives of the students, families, and community at Hillside Church.

Prayers on you!

In My Absence

In My Absence

This summer has felt more like a dream than reality.

It began with a notice on our apartment door one evening in the beginning of June, stating that my family had 60 days to vacate our apartment due to luxury renovations. Yikes!

First thought, "Bummer!" Our home since the beginning of our marriage... laughs, love, conflict, a little girl, so many memories over with a simple two sentence notification. Ten days later, we moved everything into storage and became a family without an address.

I'm 30 - Bueno to a New Era!

I'm 30 - Bueno to a New Era!

Today, I turn 30!

According to Jeffrey Arnett in his book Emerging Adulthood, I am officially an adult. And for all intents and purposes, I agree. 

I can recall a conversation with my former Lead Pastor about an issue that I dealt with a couple of years ago concerning a parent and a student. I learned during this conversation the difference between how people often perceive folks in their 20's versus people in their 30's.