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

Culture

Do Your Students Really Feel Ashamed for Doubting?

Do Your Students Really Feel Ashamed for Doubting?

In the not so distant past, one of the dominant discussions permeating throughout student ministry consisted of the tension between doubt and shame. Does the church bestow shame - either implicitly or explicitly - upon students who doubt?

Perhaps, among certain cultures, certain geographical locations, certain groups of people who interpret Scripture a particular way, certain networks and denominations of churches - perhaps - but I believe that this paradigm of discipleship is fading fast into the distant background. 

2 Thoughts on Isolation from Elijah

2 Thoughts on Isolation from Elijah

One of the recurring themes that I hear in my conversations with teenagers is the feeling of isolation because of what they believe. 

This past Winter, I led two retreats to winter camp with my middle and high school students, respectively, and spoke at another one. In all, I encountered several hundred students and adult leaders from my own church, along with several dozen others. In general, students and leaders from varying socio-economic, geographical, and denominational bounds all admitted to feeling isolated from the culture, friendships, and in some cases, even family because of their faith. One of my own adult leaders who leads in the high school ministry told me that this issue permeates nearly all of her conversation with students and ought to be something that we explicitly address during our program. 

Is Doubt a Healthy Catalyst for Faith Formation?

Is Doubt a Healthy Catalyst for Faith Formation?

While I attended seminary at Princeton, a new wave of research began surfacing that asked the question: "Is Doubt a Healthy Catalyst for Faith Formation?"

For some, this was a welcomed question that allowed discussion on a crucial topic. It is a daily issue for those of us who serve in professional ministry, especially with adolescents and young adults. I even know older adults with much more life experience and a deep faith, however, who still wrestle with thoughts of doubt. 

I would go so far to surmise that all people to some extent wrestle with doubt regarding matters of faith, such as the existence of God, the means of salvation, and the redemption of all things. It is a very real part of our human existence. Even the father in the Book of Mark chapter 9 exclaims, "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!"

No doubt that doubt is real. 

Yet, I want to pose the question: Is doubt healthy for faith formation?

Is Your Response to Christian Practices Harming the Faith of Others?

Is Your Response to Christian Practices Harming the Faith of Others?

I grew up in West Virginia, and for everyone else who did not, then you missed out. 

West Virginia - or "Almost Heaven" as we like to call it - regards certain characteristics about life as most desirable, such as honesty, pride in one's family and country, integrity, hard work, and a simple, straightforward way of life. My culture engrained these values in me, and it seems no matter where I go, gratefully, each one follows me there. 

My childhood culture also embedded other values within me that bear roots deep down, namely in my faith and spirituality. 

Our Culture Needs a New Apologetic

Our Culture Needs a New Apologetic

Perhaps instead of defending our faith to a culture that already could careless about it, we need to begin a new conversation. 

It is no secret  - or at least it should not be - that American culture has moved past a Christendom mindset of culture into a post-Christian (or some would even argue pre-Christian, depending on the context.) If these words are new you to you, then Google "Christendom" and Post-Christian" to learn more about it. Several theologians and philosophers have written valuable articles for the church on this topic since the 1970s - nearly 40 years ago!

A Day in the Life of a Mobile Teen

A Day in the Life of a Mobile Teen

I dig infographics, and I love sharing some of the more interesting ones with you. For the parents, leaders, volunteers, caring adults, and even students (yes, you!) who peruse my blog, take a look below at what some of the latest research shows takes place technologically over the course of 1 day in the life of a mobile teen!

The most interesting fact that I read on this graphic:

"On average, heavy texters have more close friends and family than teens who do not text."

WOW! This alone both blows my mind and gives me reason to pause and rethink my approach (and judgment of) to texting. 

QUESTION: What factoid on this graphic blew your mind? What kind of action does this graphic spurn you on to do?

Great Leaders Eat Last

Great Leaders Eat Last

A couple of weeks ago, my great friends Benjamin Kerns and Jeremy Zach turned me onto a book recently published by Simon Sinek called Leaders Eat Last. 

Before I bought the book, however, they forwarded onto me this video that I embedded below. 5 minutes into it I paused it, grabbed a notepad, and filled 3 pages front and back with note and insights. The concepts of this video and book fundamentally change the way that I lead. 

Sinek's fundamental thesis supposes what it would look like when we examine the traits of strong leadership through an biological, anthropological lens. His findings may surprise you. It turns out that the most affective leaders may not always be the Alpha-type.