FOR THE NEXTGEN x FUTURE OF THE CHURCH • Pastor | @RiverValleyMN • Global NextGen Ambassador | @OneHopeMinistry • Global NextGen Lead | @Empowered21
MPLS
Joined April 2009
- Tweets6.5K
- Following2.1K
- Followers3.5K
- Likes2.9K
Pinned Tweet
LEADERS: Your ability to LEAD ministry is wrapped up in your ability to RECEIVE ministry. You're never too big to let others pour into you.
Terry Parkman retweeted
@terryparkman first book Future Church releases October 7!
Future Church is a call to build what is next! Not by clinging to the past, but by stepping into the future God is creating. It is about conviction over convenience, discipleship over crowds, and the presence of God over performance.
Preorder today and get early access to a free chapter plus exclusive bonus content. Available everywhere books are sold, including Amazon, Walmart and Barnes & Noble.
FOUR WAYS TO STAY FAITHFUL WHERE GOD HAS PLANTED YOU…
1. SPEAK WHAT YOU KNOW TO BE TRUE
It's so easy to live from a place of doubt and restlessness and forget the truth about where God has placed you. Recall the truth, speak it out, and live from that place.
2. KILL YOUR ADDICTION TO "LEVELS"
People are crazy addicted to the next level. We talk about it, strive for it, and once we get it we immediately leave it to get to the next one. The problem with this is that if we don't take full advantage of the level we are on, and grow from what it has to offer, the level after will ever be ours.
3. EMPOWER OTHERS
Ephesians 4 talks about how we are called to "equip the saints to do the work of the ministry." That means you don't get your "Well done, good and faithful servant" for DOING ministry. You get it for DISPENSING ministry.
4. DIAL UP YOUR DILIGENCE
Maybe your restlessness has more to do with your lack of diligence than it does moving on. Proverbs 21 says that the plans of the diligent prosper. The cheat code to winning in ministry is diligence. Taking your intentionality and diligence to another level will stabilize you and make successful the work of your hands.
DISRUPTION DEMANDS PIONEERS 🗣️
Gen Z/Alpha has been disrupted!
Disruption takes a left turn by literally uprooting and changing how we think, behave, do business, learn and go about our day-to-day.
This isn't interruption, this is disruption.
Think Amazon with online shopping, Netflix with DVD to home and then streaming, Uber with ride sharing...everyone is affected!
GOD HAS ALWAYS DISRUPTED CULTURE
Look at Scripture and you will see that God is always involved in disruption.
Noah and the flood.
Abraham and his family.
Babylon exiling Israel.
Jesus Christ.
The Holy Spirit in Acts 2.
He grabs culture, disrupts it, and puts men and women of God in place to lead the change that comes after.
God will inspire you!
He will give you new dreams, visions and innovations that nobody else has ever come up with when it comes to engaging this generation.
I believe that you have gotten ideas, God-inspired thoughts, that no one around you has ever done. And you have questioned whether or not it's God. You've looked to others, you've scrolled through Instagram, you've talked to other pastors to see if they're feeling the same thing you are. You're in essence asking the world for confirmation of what God has put in your heart. But…
You do not need confirmation for what God has given you a conviction to do!
The world is seeking relevancy in the Church, praying for God to intervene. The answer to those prayers lies in the next generation of leaders!
👉🏼 TRUTHS EVERY NEXTGEN LEADER NEEDS TO UNDERSTAND ABOUT VISION
1. Never throw away the vision God gives you just because it doesn't play out how you think it should. We are stewards of God's vision, not owners of our own, and we should never throw it away or give up on it.
2. God will always place His vision above your personal ceiling, and it will require a personal breakthrough of your limitations to get it.
3. Vision never stands stil; it is always moving forward because the kingdom of Heaven is constantly advancing.
4. If you are u sure what your next vision step is, then grow and stay obedient at your current step until He tells you.
5. As the leader, our role is to take the vision, communicate it, and empower others to run with it.
Culture is important, but it's also contextual.
Young leaders today assimilate another culture (ethnic, church, corporate, etc.) thinking that by simply emulating it, they will find significance.
This couldn't be further from the truth!
Because if you choose culture over Christ, culture will always let you down!
As believers, our significance is found in Jesus first, in the body of Christ He has called us to second, and then in the culture created as a result third. Confuse the order of these and you might find yourself a clout-chasing personality and not a people-serving minister.
Terry Parkman retweeted
With a 1AM hearing, the MN Senate voted to attack religious freedom in MN. There is no exception for religious schools or faith groups to hold to their beliefs when it comes to gender.
Let me be clear, this is an attack on the first amendment and a hostile act to people of faith. (Christians, Muslims & Jewish faiths all spoke in favor of a religious exemption.)
1- We will defy this vote believing it is unconstitutional. Sadly we will have to challenge this in court, all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary.
2- Democrats have clearly shown a hostility to people of faith that believe in basic biology and hold deeply held religious beliefs. As we pursue freedom of religion we (people of faith) will now have to work united to defeat any and all Democrats in MN to simply restore moderation to MN. The Giant has awakened.
3- How does this ruling really have any bearing on freedom of religion? This ruling states in effect that Christians are wrong to believe basic biology and what their religion teaches. The following theological issues are affected.
A- The Creation account of male and female.
B- The words of Jesus saying God created them “male and female”.
C- Romans 12:1 (which deals with body/mind conflict)
D- Salvation’s effects on the Body, Soul and Spirit.
E- Mentoring ministries in the church as described in Titus 2
F- The body of our Lord and Savior and His glorified body after the Resurrection.
G- The glorified bodies of the believers.
H- The qualification of church leaders and ministers.
In effect, the Democrat controlled House and Senate in MN (Along with the Democrat Governor.) has created a new religion, a progressive religion that has deemed Christianity incompatible with the State of MN. I will be speaking about this in the future but their decision is a hostile act to ALL people of faith in MN.
4- We as Christians will self examine and we will be hospitable to people we disagree with. We will help those who desire a pathway to wholeness and be fellow Minnesotan respecting peoples religious and internal beliefs. We will not force our beliefs on anyone but allow the Freedom of Religion including the freedom to not be religious.
This IS the time that The Church must join with other faith groups and defend our rights. Let me be clear, the Church is not getting political, politics has become religious! If we don’t stand up now, when will we stand up?
Pray! Let your voice be heard! Stand up, don’t hide and be ready to “face the lions den” if necessary. This is no longer a hypothetical, it is a current reality of a law created to trap and prosecute people of faith.
God help us!
In a post-Christian and post-truth era, culture can often reflect a false reality. The Church must help frame reality and truth!
As a result, there will be resistance to culture, especially in the church.
The question we need to be asking is not “how do we resist culture,” but “How can we
redeem culture?”
Jeremiah 29 gives us a map to do three things...
- Integrate (v. 5)
- Increase (v. 6)
- Pray (v.7)
We know that Jesus didn't try to attack the world system, but instead redeemed it. And He will do it as He always has, through submission, surrender and sacrifice.
So what's our response?
It's not attacking, controlling or ignoring culture as some in the Church would prefer.
It's redemption.
And that means that, as believers, we can't bury our heads in the sand when change happens. Instead, we must be fruitfully present in the midst of our ever-changing world.
Don't allow your addiction to clarity to become the enemy of faith.
Clarity is a gift. It helps us to cast vision further, cut through layers of complexity, and rewards us with confidence and assurance of the future. Unfortunately, to have clarity also means that there is less of a need for faith.
If you have clarity, you don't need faith. I would argue that if you have vision and 100% clarity on every part of it, it isn't vision based on God. It's ambition based on personal resources.
Without faith, it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). Since that is true, why would God give you 100% clarity along with vision?
The reality is that vision comes with a clarity-limitation built in. Your vision from God may come with 60% clarity, other times 20%, sometimes with none. If that's the case then the space not occupied by clarity must be filled in with faith.
Vision from God is not designed to give you 100% clarity because God wants you to exercise faith.
So take the limited clarity you do have, infuse it with faith, and move!
3 things strong servant leaders should prioritize…
1. DISPENSING MINISTRY OVER DOING MINISTRY!
It's easy to feel fully satisfied doing the work of ministry. We feel accomplished, and that we have taken the vision God has given us and seen it through. And this is good! But if you're called to ministry, you are called to equip others to do it!
Ephesians 411-12 tells us we are called to “equip the saints for the work of the ministry.” That means, as leaders, we don't get our “well done, good and faithful servant” for doing ministry; we get it for dispensing ministry!
2. ACTIVATE THE CALLING OF THOSE YOU LEAD
People aren't called to serve in the ministry you lead to watch you do it. They are called because they feel that they can fulfill the call of God on their lives by being a part of it! Make your ministry a place where all involved have room to fulfill their calling, not just your calling.
3. MAKE ROOM FOR MORE AT THE TABLE
There's always room for more at the table. However, to make room at the table, you also have to make more room for other members of the body of Christ. We often build tables for people who look, act, and think the way we do about ministry. But, if you're going to make more room, you have to acknowledge the gifting God has placed in the body of Christ. Otherwise, your ministry will remain one-dimensional.
What the devil can't take from you, he will convince you to give up!
He will diminish the worth of it to make you think it's no big deal, therefore pulling you away from your calling and forcing you into a tasteless life of quiet complacency.
THE OTHER SIDE OF THE COIN 🪙
There are many leaders in Christian culture who have gone from “Here I am Lord, send me,” to “Here I am Lord, send me...as long as it fits in my 8-hour workday and my perceived rhythms of rest”
Perhaps our current need for unrealistic amounts of rest has more to do with a lack of personal balance and misplaced priorities than it does with the demand of our schedules.
Don’t let the idolatry of rest cause you to miss out on being used by God this year!
FIVE BIBLICAL DECLARATIONS NEXTGEN LEADERS SHOULD SPEAK OVER THEMSELVES
1. I HAVE ALL I NEED TO OVERCOME!
"Greater is He who is in you than He who is in the world."
1 John 4:4
2. I DON'T NEED CLARITY, I NEED FAITH!
"And without faith, it is impossible to please Him, for the one who comes to God must believe that He exists and that He proves to be One who rewards those who seek Him."
Hebrews 11:6
3. I WILL SHOW UP TO EVERYTHING GOD
PLACES BEFORE ME!
"Lazy hands make for nothing, but diligent hands prosper."
Proverbs 10:4
4. GOD'S KINGDOM IS MY FIRST PRIORITY, NOT A MEANS TO AN END!
"But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."
Matthew 6:33
5. GOD SENT ME!
"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
Acts 1:8
🚩 10 RED FLAGS that help you to know if you're out of alignment in your walk with God…
1. Things that should bother you don't bother you anymore.
2. Sarcasm and cynicism are on the increase in your life.
3. Culture defines your thought process more than the Word.
4. You laugh at jokes or lines of thought that grieve the Holy Spirit.
5. You forget to pray for the people you're called to.
6. Your family becomes a means to an end.
7. Your devotional life is reduced to a task list that needs to be checked off, and your interests are invested in.
8. Your name and your rights are paramount over Christ.
9. Competition and comparison run rampant in your life.
10. Co-laboring with others in the body of Christ is nonexistent.
Terry Parkman retweeted
Team work makes the dream work 😊👍🏼
@laylanahavandi @TerryParkman @sharonjoywitton @E21NextGen @empowered21
Pray prayers that you fully intend to follow up on with your behavior. If you pray it, then show you believe it by the way that you live.
What the devil can’t take from you he will convince you to give up. He will diminish the worth of it to make you think it’s no big deal, thereby pulling you away from your calling and forcing you into a tasteless life of quiet complacency.
The next generation will be ready for the baton way before you're done with it. Hand it to them when they're ready.
