Preston Mitchell's Blog

Some Students Get It

Have you ever taught or preached and you wondered if anyone was listening?  That happens to me when I speak to students.  I look out over a sea of glazed over eyes, I hear stories about what some of the kids are doing, or I see their Facebook pages...and I wonder.  This week, I had a God-ordained confirmation that some of them get it. 

We received an email from a freshman student who had never been involved in our student program.  She sent a note telling us that she told her volleyball coach that she was done.  She was missing out on her church stuff, and playing volleyball was not worth it.  I almost cried.  She is crazy for the local church as Ed Young would say.  You have to be a little crazy to stand up to a coach.  She was there Wednesday night.

Another student stopped by to see me this week to tell me that God was working in their life to a point that they felt called into ministry.  We talked about how this student's morals and purity had caused them to lose friends.  But this kid didn't let peer pressure cave them into trying to be politically and popularly (may not be a word) correct.  I almost cried a second time (for those of you who don't know me, I've only cried maybe 4 times in my life - twice at the end of Field of Dreams).  This student is crazy for the Lord.

It is so easy for me to worry about the students who have bolted or made student ministry about 10th on their list of priorities.  I need to stay focused on the ones who show great promise.  I still love every student we have walk through the doors, but there are a few.....

....who get it!

Allaso Ranch

One of the most exciting and significant things we have done at Fellowship Church is to build Allaso Ranch.  This is unlike any summer camp you have seen.  In fact, it is more of a resort than a camp.  It is a miracle that we have the land for the Ranch, but it's even a greater miracle how God moves in the lives of the people who come to the Ranch.  We have thousands of children and students go through Allaso Ranch every summer where they hear and respond to the gospel. Allaso has become on of my favorite get-away places.

Not only have we discovered the power of bringing people to a beautiful and secluded place to worship God, but other churches are doing it as well.  Mark Morgan, our Director, tells me that more and more churches are booking the Ranch for mens and women's ministries, student weekend retreats, business functions, athletic camps, and the list goes on and on. 

Check out www.allasoranch.com and view some of the photos!  You can also find out more information about booking Allaso for your event.  Or simply call the office at 972-471-5700 and ask for Allaso Ranch. If you are interested in taking a tour of the facility, call to set up an appointment.  Once you stay at Allaso, you will never use another retreat center or camp. 

Parenting Thoughts

A couple of days ago, I was talking to my 24-year old daughter who has been married for about 6 months.  She teaches 2nd grade and has a crazy class -  a lot of kids who are out of control.  She told me she was afraid to have kids because they may turn out crazy.  She said, "I want my kids to turn out like me, Mallory and Cameron (my other two kids)."  I about dropped the phone on that one.  This coming from a girl who told me I didn't have a clue about life a couple of years ago.  But now she sees how important parenting is and she realizes she isn't ready for it. 

It makes me laugh when I see couples teaching parenting classes who are still trying to learn parenting skills.  Every church should make a rule - no one can teach parenting until we see how their kids turn out.  Dedo and I finally taught a "parenting teenagers" class last year.  I wanted to make sure that none of our kids were serving time in prison.  I feel like I have some credibility now.

You're never sure how your kids are going to turn out.  I recommend you don't make any promises when your kid is 6 months old.  I have met kids from the stongest Christian homes who have turned their back on their family and God. Ultimately, they make the decisions that impact their lives - you don't.  So give yourselves a massive break and parent the best you can. 

We aren't perfect and our kids aren't perfect.  I told Whitney that the key to parenting was to keep children grounded in church and disiplined when necessary.  All the other parenting stuff isn't that important.  You do those two things and you have a good chance at turning out some great kids.

We got lucky.  All three of our kids are wonderful adults who are contributing to their communities and churches.  Our daughters married solid guys and Cameron dates a great girl.  I thank God that He gave Dedo and I the patience and love to survive parenting. 

Now, bring on the grandchildren!

Ed and Lisa on The Colbert Report Monday Night

Isn't it interesting to see what happens when you mention sex and church in the same sentence?  Such was the case when the media heard about Ed's challenge to Fellowship Church to have 7 days of sex with their spouse.  When NBC, CBS, ABC and Fox heard about that, they almost imploded.  The media went into a feeding frenzy.  Ed was contacted and interviewed by almost every major news outlet in the country and across the world.  The media could not grasp the Biblical command to practice sex God's way.  They are okay with having 7 days of sex with anyone other than your spouse, but with your spouse...no way.

What's really cool is they are still calling.  Ed and Lisa will appear on The Colbert Report on Monday night, January 26, at 10:30 PM CST on Comedy Central.  Ed is also in the middle of writing a book about sex and marriage based on his 7 day challenge.  It will be out soon.

The church needs to do a better job of teaching about sex.  We also need to start teaching earlier.  I believe that students as young as 4th and 5th grade should be taught about Biblical sex.  That's the age when students get into masturbation, oral sex and inappropriate touching.  By the time they reach middle school, they have heard it all.

If you are interested in picking up a copy of Ed's' series Leaving Lust Vegas, simply go to our resource site at www.creativepastors.com.  To find out what's happening at our Creative Church Conference in February, go to www.creativechurchconference.com. 

Don't forget to watch Ed and Lisa Monday night!

Husband Failure

I have the most incredible wife in the world.  She married the most inept husband in the world-me.  We've been married 28 years and there is one thing that causes major tension in our marriage.  Dedo still thinks I can fix stuff, even though I haven't fixed anything in 2+ decades.  The other night, she told me that my son's shower knob needed to be fixed.  I wandered up there, took a close look and quickly decided we needed to hire a plumber to fix it.  The next day, she fixed it in about 5 minutes.  She tightened a screw with one of those things that's not a screwdriver.  I don't know what it is called and I didn't even know we had such a thing.

I do not have the gift of house labor.  In fact, I hate it.  I can speak in front of a lot of people, and I am fine. Ask me to get a screwdriver and I want to run out of the house in utter panic.  The older I get, the less I do around the house.  And the madder my wife gets.  It's something that we probably should seek counseling for, but our front door lock is broken and we can't get out of the house. 

Creative Church Conference 2009

I remember the first Creative Church Conference we hosted at Fellowship Church.  It was 1997 and we were still meeting in a high school.  We had the conference in the office complex where we started the church. Our goal was to show what God could do in churches of any circumstance or size as long as the people followed His vision. We talked about creativity, cultural relevance and leading in the local church.  We talked about things that were never talked about at conferences - the ups and the downs and the highs and lows of leading in the local church.

Twelve years later, that goal has not changed.  There are a lot of leadership conferences, church-planting conferences and worship conferences you can choose from - and they are great conferences.  But there are very few that concentrate on the local church.  If you come to C3, you wil experience a passion and joy for the local church that may be ebbing in your life.  You will hear speakers who tell the truth in a powerful and relevant way.  You can show your staff and church leaders how God can take a church in an office complex and grow it into a world wide ministry with hard work, discernment and leadership.

If you haven't signed up, your time is running out.  The conference is Feb. 18-20 at our Grapevine campus.  Go to www.creativechurchconference.com to register.  To hear from our speakers, log into Ed's blog at www.edyoungblog.com.  If you are a student pastor, there will be time for your group to hang out with me and the student staff at Fellowship Church.  It is going to be an unbelievable time!

See you here in just a few weeks.

Student Pastors - It Is Time to Revolt!

This weekend is our senior high Winter Retreat at Fellowship Church.  As I call students to invite them to come, I hear the usual excuses that all student pastors hear; "I can't go because of cheerleading competition, volleyball/basketball practice, theatre, dance...the list goes on and on.  As I listened to Chris King teach on living the reckless Christian life last night at The Mix, it hit me!  We need to empower and encourage students to be reckless:  say no to coaches, teachers, sponsors, the band, etc...

We told our students that if they were truly going to live a reckless life, they needed to take back control of their schedule and tell the creators of extra-cirricular activities to take a hike.  If a student is that talented, the coaches will treat them with kid gloves because they need them to win.  If a student isn't that good, it is time to find out the truth now.  I understand that students make a committment when they choose activities.  But fearing the wrath of the coach if they miss one practice because they want to go to a church function is crazy.  Our kids (and their parents) are imprisoned by a culture that throws out words like "scholarship, starting lineup, the pros..."  Give me a massive break.  Most students will not be doing this stuff when they graduate from high school.  Crazy parents is another blog I need to write. I asked for one cheerleader, one drill team member, one theatre student, one volleyball player to be reckless this week and challenge the coaches by saying "I won't be there, I am going to Winter Retreat!"

What would happen if every Student Pastor in America showed up at school board meetings or team meetings and threw down the gauntlet?  Let them know that they are treading on serious ground by making students choose between God's plan and their plan.  We need to tell school districts that most homework is ridiculous.  If teachers weren't so lazy from 8-3:30pm, there would be no need for homework.  We need to encourage parents to be strong and decisive in cutting out activities that interfer with church.

I am going to revolt!  I just need to think about it some more.  Who's in?

"Bidness Plan" as we say in Texas!

We had our first staff meeting of the new year today.  It was intense, fun, crazy, productive and we had food.  You can't have a better staff meeting than that.  We had a lot to talk about during the meeting, but Ed said something that most pastor's don't ever think about. 

He said, "if a business person can understand your church budget and expenses, you are not doing what God has called you to do."  In other words, churches don't budget and spend money like a business does.  Most business people, especially the ones who serve as deacons and elders, check their intellect in at the financial meeting door and become "church idiots."  What Ed means by his statement is important for pastors and church leaders to understand.  Sometimes God calls us to spend a lot of money on something that doesn't make much sense. Even in a tough economic time.  A business person would put a stop on the project or idea because in their world, the expenditure doesn't make "financial sense."  Since when did God's plan and purposes have to make sense to us - the puny human being? 

God doesn't operate on the Dow Jones or Chase Bank business model.  If He did, the church would be in the same shape as the econony.  When God calls for us to build, start programs, feed the hungry, or reach people, it doesn't matter how much it costs or if we have adequate funds "in the bank."  We do it, even if we don't have the money budgeted.  Now, we can't be stupid with our money. We are accountable for money, but we cannot let money affect a God-ordained plan. 

Business men and women - Your job is to support the vision of the pastor and help him/her to attain the money needed to implement God's plan.  If you stop God's plan because of "business sense," you better duck!  So many churches are sitting and doing nothing because their hands are tied by the business brainiacs. 

Of course, my wife does all our financial stuff, so what do I know about business?

Senior High Retreat at Allaso Ranch

This weekend, we are hosting a winter retreat for our high school students at Allaso Ranch (www.allasoranch.com).  We should have about 125 students go to the reatreat.  There is nothing like taking students out of town to a secluded place where they can focus on their relationship with God.  Being a high school student today has to be one of the toughest challenges they face.  They are bombarded by a secular culture that lives by the relativism creed.  Many of their parents are not connected to a personal relationship with God.  They are trying to figure out the next step - what ever that may be.  The decisions they make today are the ones that affect their lives forever.  

Chris King, our senior high pastor is going to talk about the power of One!  Our band will lead worship which is awesome.  We will have a lot of time for games and competitions, hanging by the fire and eating some of the best food in the history of church camp.  Pray for our weekend as we reach out to many different students.  

I am looking forward to getting to know some of the students better than I do now.  We have some sharp kids at The Mix.  I am praying that as God reveals Himself, students will be receptive to making Him Lord and Saviour. If you are a high school student living in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, you are invited to go.  Call 972-471-5700 or go to www.fellowshipchurch.com/students.  Come be a part of an intense experience.

We are loading the hot chocolate and smores...

Why Not Me?

I am happy 2009 is finally here because 2008 was a bad year for me personally.  I had four surgeries (including a kidney/pancreas transplant), two daughters get married, 40% loss in net worth ( because of the weddings) and a crummy Cowboy season. 

I am like so many people who ask "why me" when difficulties hit.  Whether it is sickness, marriage, parenting, financies or whatever, we start looking for someone to blame when we ask "why me?"  Most of the time, we blame God for the bad times and take credit for the good times.

The question for 2009 should be "why not me?" Stop blaming other people in your life.  If we are walking in step with the Saviour, we have nothing to fear.  Our focus should be "why not me" because we have a God who will expand our perseverance (James 1:2-3) to be able to handle anything that comes our way.  Pastors, ask yourself "why not me?'  Tackle what you fear.

Why not change something in the church?  Why not release some employees who are "why me" people and hire some "why not me" staff?  Why not challenge people to bring the tithe even though the economy is down?  Why not stand up to the status quo in your community?   We don't because we are afraid of the ripple of negativity and the back talk of backstabbers.  So we cower in the corner and shiver "why me" God?

My prayer this year is "why not me."  Who better to share the gospel than me?  Cod created and called you and me to be a "why not" people. No one else can do what we can do.  Join me and let's do some things that we didn't think possible.  With the power and perseverance of God, nothing can stand in our way.