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

generational issues

Parent Like the Next Four Generations Matter

Parent Like the Next Four Generations Matter

I think most of us would agree that as kids, the stories from the Old Testament scared us! At least they did for me! Reading those ancient, historic tales kept me up at night. They juiced my imagination and instilled the fear of God in me... literally! In fact, they shaped me into the man and Pastor I am today. 

One story in particular stayed with me. It is so familiar that you might know it yourself: Exodus 20 - the Ten Commandments! Now, you might be thinking that this story does not consist of the battle scenes and death blows like some of the other passages in Exodus. True, but God says something here that frightened me as a kid, and if I am honest, still frightens me today. The author writes in verses 4-5:

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. 

Full House: The Rise of Millennials Living at Home - Infographic

A recent Pew Research analysis found that 21.6 million America’s young people—that’s 36 percent of Millennials (loosely categorized as those between the ages of 18 to 31)—live with their parents at home.

With the highest percentage in at least four decades, the study attributed the rise to three major factors: declining employment, rising college enrollment, and declines in marriage rate.

Click below on the "Read More" button to see the infographic on how the changing trends in our society and economy are changing opportunities for Millennials.

QUESTION: How ought the church respond to the rise of Millennials living at home?