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

sin

Seeing Red: Getting Unstuck from Anger

Seeing Red: Getting Unstuck from Anger

I delivered this sermon yesterday at my church, Hillside Church of Marin, and a few people who heard request that I post the transcript on my blog, along with the audio on my Talks Page. I have edited the script on this post from the original content that I delivered yesterday. 

Personally, of all the issues that can stick people's boots in the mudflats of sin, this one in particular has trapped me over and over again. If you feel stuck in your anger today, then I pray that you may find healing by the power of the Holy Spirit. Surrender. Confess. Repent. Put up your hands, and let the Savior of the World find you, pick you up, and set your feet on a path toward freedom and health! 

May this sermon bless and encourage you today!

Because of His Great Love for Us!

Because of His Great Love for Us!

A couple of weeks ago, I offered a sermon at my church within a series on Paul's letter to the church in Ephesus. Even though my previous posts reference sermons on chapters 1 and 4, I want to make chapter 2 available for you also. Truly, chapter is the Gospel. It is the Good News of hope and reconciliation for our sin and transgression. 

During this Thanksgiving week, I feel grateful that because of God's great love for us, we no longer face the wrath of God and consequence of death for our sin and transgression. May know that good news awaits for those who believe because God's great love for you!

Read my sermon below, titled: "Because of His Great Love for Us!"

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?

Don't Worry, Monday's Here!

Don't Worry, Monday's Here!

During the Easter season, I heard a seminary professor once say: "We live in an in-between time — between despair and hope — between the Resurrection of Jesus and the Return of Jesus - between the inauguration of the Kingdom of God and the final redemption of all things."

In other words, my professor wanted us to know that we live in the promise of redemption, but not yet in the fulfillment of it.

And I absolutely agree!

I see a world famished with sin, groaning in pain.