Francis speaking at the RightNow Conference

Last week we were in San Francisco to film teaching with Francis Chan for a new youth Bible study series. You can read more about our Surrender series and Francis’ comments on Osama Bin Laden here. We also just added Francis to our speaking line-up at the November RightNow Conference.  More details soon.

Last spring Francis shocked a lot of people when he resigned from pastoring his church to pursue what God was laying on the heart of his family. Part of that plan was to engage more in what was happening in the church around the world. This past fall Francis spent months traveling with his family throughout several countries in Asia.

Now that he’s back in America we asked him what he learned on his travels …

This email we got from Steve Benke at Jefferson Hills Church has put wind in the sails of our team.  Jefferson Hills is making TRADERS!

Just want to say that the RightNow Church Leadership Development kit is a grand slam for Jefferson Hills!  Thanks for providing such top shelf content and materials for changing the way we do church.  When we saw the quality of the content we realized we couldn’t keep it to just the leaders, so we went church wide.  Here are some of the things we are doing RIGHT NOW!

Sundays, Sep 12 – Oct 3rd; we just finished the series “TRADING IN: the pursuit of the American Dream for a world that desperately needs Jesus.”
Week 1 – Are you worth following?
Week 2 – Trading in Our Wallets
Week 3 – Trading in Our Relationships
Week 4 – Trading in Our Schedules

This series was what we call an INFORMATION series. It says, “This is where we’re going. Got it?”  It gets them ready for what’s next, the MOTIVIATION series.  If you want, you can watch these 4 messages at our website, www.jhchurch.org.

Sundays, Oct 10 – Oct 24th; the series “RIGHT NOW the Mission of the Church Matters” has just begun.  We’re showing the whole Sunday crowd the messages by Francis Chan, Matt Chandler and Mark Batterson as the Sunday sermons.  We explained that these are talks given at a pastors conference>  We explained that this is what pastors talk about when pastors get together, and we think you need to hear it.  I let our people know that I believe that Francis, Matt, and Mark are today’s prophets call us to journey with God just like the prophets Jeremiah, Isaiah, Daniel and others did.  People loved week one from Francis Chan.

We are using 3 Bluefish videos every week of this two-part series to reinforce each weeks messages. One video goes out on Friday through our weekly “In the Loop” email to all our people.  It’s a teaser for what’s coming next.  A second video (usually the fun, humorous video) comes right before the Sunday message. A third video (usually a testimony video) comes right after the Sunday message as a way of saying “here’s what this person did. What are you going to do to trade in?”

Our worship leader, brooke orozco, wrote a song called “Trading it in” specifically for the series. It rocks!  Our crowd loves it!

We love t-shirts at JH, so one of members offered to buy tshirts for everyone at church.  We put the RIGHT NOW logo and message on the tshirts. Youth slingshot tshirts into the crowd to kick off this 2nd part of the series on Oct 10th.  We told people to “trade in” their shirts if the got shot the wrong size.  Tables of shirts were in the lobby so everyone gets a shirt to wear.

Our grand finale is called the NO FEAR FEST on Halloween Sunday.  We are asking our people to make a 14 month No Fear Pledge (Nov 2010-Dec 2011) to the mission of the church, trading in pursuit of the American dream for reaching a world that desperately needs Jesus.  The NO FEAR FEST will also be a Ministry Expo of all our Impact Teams so people can sign up to new involvements in the church.  Each ministry table will have Halloween candy and games for people to enjoy.

Our leaders met last Saturday to go through 2011 annual planning, and creative thinking used the Trading In series as a spring board to what needs to be different in our mission in 2011.  We are adopting the idea of every 5th Sunday of the Month we will go out into the community to be the church. We promoted this new idea of 5th Sundays church is in community during the Trading In series.  We already have 5 people who’ve stepped up to say “I want to be a 5th Sunday leader and take Jefferson Hills into the community!”

Every week of the RIGHTNOW series, we are inserting the downloadable devotions for Francis Chan, Matt Chandler and Mark Batterson into our Sunday handouts as recommended personal/family/connect group devotions for the upcoming weeks.

Staff & Volunteer leaders were given the RIGHTNOW workbooks to work through as we go through the 2 part series.

Those are the many ways we’re using the RightNow materials.  Thank you for making it so easy for us to bring a critical message to our people through an exceptional and very affordable resource!

Steve Benke
Lead Pastor

Most people spend 40-50% of their waking hours at work. It seems critical to address this area as a place where our faith could be expressed in real and tangible ways.

Our ministry has been wrestling with this issue.  We are burdened for the next generation and how they live out their faith and engage in the mission of Jesus.  We love the local church and are saddened by the consumerism that has crept in and by the way people have learned to outsource their faith to the “professional” Christians on staff. We want to unleash our generation to be traders.

We want to help people trade in their pursuit of the me-centered, consumeristic American dream for a world that desperately needs Christ.

But what does that look like to be a trader for the business person who goes to work everyday? Business touches virtually every person on planet earth everyday. Many pastors are limited in their exposure to the business community.   Six hundred thousand pastors and those in full-time ministry cannot personally take the gospel to every corner of our country or the world.

Believers in business have the rare privilege of being invited into places that ministers can’t go.  Business people are in the board meetings, at the conferences, on the sales floor and in the training classes.

So why don’t more business people feel empowered and unleashed to see their work as an opportunity for ministry?

1. we have compartmentalized our lives into the sacred  … and the secular
2. there is a misconception that the fullest and highest way to serve Christ is full time ministry
3. many believers who work in “regular jobs” feel less spiritual because they have chosen a “lesser” path than a missionary or pastor
4. business people are torn between investing time in their business and investing time in the church’s programs
5. believers who have been effective ministers in and through their jobs are not validated and encouraged for their efforts by their church
6. the Christian heroes or stars of our day are mostly those individuals who serve in full time Christian ministry (pastors, authors, musicians …)

What am I missing?  I want to learn from pastors and business people in order to understand how our ministry can serve both as we all seek to bring the Gospel to those who haven’t heard.

The earthquake in Haiti caught the entire world’s attention.  Ben and Katie moved down to Haiti weeks before the earthquake to be teachers.  Like so many in Haiti, their lives changed that day …

This is another one of the stories we featured on a recent youth Bible study called Made to Make a Difference with teaching from Max Lucado.

Sponsoring basically means we make a financial gift each month that goes towards the physical and spiritual well-being of these kids.  It’s been a great way to introduce a global perspective to my kids.

I’ll never forget 4 years ago when we first began sponsoring Gabriel.  I had visited the orphanage in Sudan where Gabriel lives.  I don’t know for certain, but there’s a good chance that Gabriel’s parents are no longer living.  When Gabriel’s picture and bio arrived I sat down with 3-year-old Abby and told her about him.  Somehow even at age 3 Abby knew to ask where his parents were.  I didn’t want to come out and say “they are dead” so I just said they weren’t around. Very instinctively she asked me, “are they dead?” Tough conversation … but a great way to help Abby and my other kids get some insight into the rest of the world.

Without fail every night before bed at least one of my kids prays for Daniela, Gabriel and Asly.

I love this story our Bluefish TV team found about a teenager who is sponsoring a child through Compassion.  Sometimes we can think that teens are so self-focused that they would never make a monthly sacrifice to donate money like this. Casey was inspired at a conference my friend Mark Matlock does called Planet Wisdom and I think her story is amazing.

Casey’s story is part of a powerful new series we just released called Made to Make a Difference featuring teaching from Max Lucado.

Ultimately Gary’s book offers hope and it’s worth the read. Gary is the President and CEO of a human rights agency called International Justice Mission.The issues of human rights, slavery and trafficking are difficult ones to address.  It typically involves government interaction and legal action.  Anyone aware of these issues is upset and unsettled … but few know if or how they can actually help.

Our team discovered the story of 17-year-old Zach Hunter. He was confronted with the truth about modern day slavery and decided to take action.  His Loose Change to Loosen Chains campaign has inspired thousands of students and adults to step up and take action.  Zach’s story is featured in a new youth Bible study series called Made to Make a Difference with teaching from Max Lucado.

I think a lot of people get stuck when trying to figure out how to make a difference.  There are so many options that our best intentions lead to inactivity.

That’s why I love this story about an easy way for youth groups to take action.  One weekend can be eye-opening and life-changing for the students. World Vision provides all the tools and ideas for putting on your own 30 Hour Famine.

As a group sits in a living room or a classroom and watches a Bluefish TV resource … we’ve heard over and over that the stories sparked great discussion.  Sometimes to be authentic we have to capture tough stories that don’t have a resolution.  The stories can be painful to watch, but our hope is that the viewers will connect with a story on screen and begin opening up about their own struggles and challenges.

After producing so many stories that create more questions than answers, our team had a lot of fun capturing 12 hope-filled stories for our recent release called Made to Make a Difference featuring teaching from Max Lucado.  For me one of the most moving stories was Jeremie.  His family has gone through a lot … but his willingness to help others through Habitat for Humanity is inspiring.

I am an introvert.

I have a busy life with three young kids.

My gifts are more leadership and administrative.

A few years ago I heard about this kid named Austin Gutwein who was having a big impact through basketball.  Recently our Bluefish TV team spent time with Austin to hear more of his story.  It’s absolutely inspiring.

Here’s a kid who followed the model of a Good Samaritan … he saw a need, felt compassion, moved towards the need and took action.  Austin has now authored a book, traveled across the country on the Revolve tour and raised over $1,000,000 through Hopes of Hope.  And I don’t think he has his driver’s license yet!

Check out more inspiring stories on our new youth Bible Study called Made to Make a Difference featuring Max Lucado.