Sometimes you just need results. Sure, once in a while the journey is more important than the destination. But not always.
After spending time looking at the couple dozen schools of ministry on the ELN Programs Page, you might start to wonder: “How will I ever find my way through all these options? There are ELN programs all over the country. Which ones could be right for me?”
Well we’ve created an “Easy Button” for you. It’s actually the “Program Finder,” a simple and quick tool to help you find just the programs that meet your unique needs.
Here are some things to anticipate when using the Program Finder:
It will ask you eight questions about what’s important to you in a school of ministry. Feel free to leave as many blank as you like.
On the left side of the questions, you’ll see the number of programs that are a match with your choices. The more questions you answer, the lower that number will become. If the number ever goes to zero, that means that there aren’t any programs that meet that exact criteria — so you can go back and expand your options if you’d like.
When you click the “Search Programs” button at the bottom, it will display your customized results, showing you only the programs that meet your needs.
You can try this as many times as you’d like, varying your answers to different questions. Who knows what you may discover!
CLICK HERE to try the Program Finder. After using it, come back and post your thoughts below. And if you have any ideas about how we could make this tool better, we’d love to hear.
How does real change happen in our lives? How do we grow, develop, mature and become more like Jesus? In ELN schools of ministry we take an approach that works to impact ALL areas of life ALL at once.
This refers to the fact that students are engaging in life-changing studies, putting what they’re learning into action, all while being mentored by proven ministry leaders. And this is happening simultaneously–often all within hours!
This model of growth has been shown to be powerful and effective…and it just popped up again in a book I’m reading called Change or Die (http://amzn NULL.com/B004Y6MZ54). The author, Alan Deutschman, makes the case that 90% of people never will make the choices necessary to change–even when their health is so bad that their life is on the line. And it doesn’t just have to do with health. It’s just really difficult to grow and make the choices necessary to change.
But that’s not the end of the story. He goes on to report that there are three things people can do that drastically improve their chances of experiencing real, lasting, positive change.
Form a new relationship with a person or community that inspires and sustains hope (HEART).
The new relationship helps you learn and master the habits and skills you need. (HANDS)
The new relationship helps you learn new ways of thinking about your life. (HEAD)
He calls these three keys: new hope, new skills and new thinking. And when all three of those are present in a person’s life, great things can happen.
From my experience, that’s what I see happening around the country in ELN programs…daily. It’s a discipleship and training model that Jesus used and it’s still working today.
Don’t settle for being one of the 90% that ends up never changing, never making the right choices to truly grow. Get into the right relational setting where growth is happening and will spill over onto your life. Maybe an ELN school of ministry could be that place for you.
From the east coast to the west coast, ELN is continuing to expand! It’s all about churches creating new environments for college-age students, places for discipleship and training, where they can actually lead in ministry while they’re learning.
The two newest ELN programs can be found in Marietta, Georgia, and Eureka, California.
In Marietta, on the outskirts of Atlanta, Refuge West Church has launched the Refuge School of Ministry. This church is active in their community, bringing the love of Jesus where it’s needed most. They feed the poor, offer tutoring and training, and have become a “house of healing and restoration” for the broken. We’re excited for this to be the first ELN program in the Southeast District!
On the other side of the country, Faith Center has established Redwood ELN, in northern California. Through a partnership with North Coast Bible Institute, Redwood ELN students gain a solid academic foundation — one that’s transferable to Life Pacific College and elsewhere.
Please take a moment to check out these new ELN programs. And by using the ELN Program Finder, you can answer a few questions and find just the programs that are a match for your needs.
We’re excited to announce the first ELN school of ministry that’s launched in the Northeast District! For the past year, Pastor Brad Keller, and his team from Journey Church (http://www NULL.journeychurchvt NULL.com) in South Royalton, Vermont, have worked to prepare an incredible immersive training environment for young leaders — and this year, the Destiny School of Leadership is opening their doors.
Not only will DSL be welcoming students from the Northeast and other parts of the nation, but Pastor Brad has a passion for young leaders from around the world as well. In speaking about working with international students, Brad commented that, “It has truly brought our leadership team and congregation to another level of excellence in being intentional and impacting.”
Guest blogger, Kelsey McReynolds, is an ELN student at Anthem, in Olympia, WA.
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.”
Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
God doesn’t give us much description of His house. There’s no mention of wall-to-wall carpeting or what the kitchen is like, if there’s a gym nearby or how nice the neighborhood is (although we can guess). But He does give us some revolutionary information; He has a house in heaven, and He’s making space in it for us as His sons and daughters (John 1:12). God’s adoption of us is outrageous and inconceivable; not only does He tell His disciples about His house in this Scripture, but He assures them that He’ll be taking them to it, that there will be enough room, and that although He’ll leave, He’ll be back for them.
The picture I see is of a child asking their parent if they can bring a stray dog home. Full of compassion, the parent agrees, and they make up a place for their new family friend. God has endless resources and a heart more full of compassion than any human can manage, so of course He opens His home for us stray souls. Yet instead of being considered dogs, we have been elevated by God as co-heirs in Christ, given the directions to His kingdom, and given a place to stay once we get there!
God promises to never leave us or forsake us (Deuteronomy 31:6) and when Jesus prepares to leave the earth, He assures His disciples that the Holy Spirit will be with them (John 16:7). What human isn’t scared of abandonment and what human wouldn’t be comforted by these promises that He will never depart from us? There are so many times when I haven’t trusted God because I wasn’t firm that He knew what was best for me, whether it was trusting Him with my dreams, my future, or my heart. But He promises that He is trustworthy (Psalm 33:4) and that His promises are true (Joshua 23:14). Yet still sometimes I fear that His place for me isn’t as solid as it sounds. It’s my mission and desire to see the areas where I still haven’t given Him my trust, to ask for open eyes to see the reality of His goodness, and to trust completely that He is with me, preparing my place at His side, even if I can’t see it yet.
In my last two blogs (ONE and TWO) I explored the differences between people who are in “full-time” ministry (those who earn a salary by serving) and “life-long” ministry (those who always serve Jesus with or without a paycheck). You’ve likely picked up on my conviction that ALL Christ-followers are called to life-long ministry. This is based on what Paul tells believers in 1 Corinthians 15:58 (http://www NULL.biblegateway NULL.com/passage/?search=1%20Corinthians%2015:58&version=NIV), as well as other scriptural mandates for believers.
So, you might wonder: Is there really any need for full-time ministers at all? Might it be better if no one received their pay from ministry? Wouldn’t that free up a lot of resource that could be used elsewhere?
Let me pose three reasons why we should be open to some serving in full-time, paid ministry roles.
1. Scripture makes rooms for it. There are several places in the New Testament where clear statements are made about the fact that some will be serving full-time. Here are a few:
Corinthians 9:14 (NIV) “…the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel.”
1 Timothy 5:17 (NLT) “Elders who do their work well should be respected and paid well, especially those who work hard at both preaching and teaching.”
In Matthew 10:8-10, Jesus tells his disciples to go and do ministry, but to bring no money with them. He tells them, “the worker is worth his keep.”
2. Some callings demand it. When God gives some people a clear direction for what they’re to do with their lives, it would be impossible for them to fulfill that on a part-time basis. There are pastors, missionaries, ministry artists, counselors, non-profit leaders and others who know that God’s calling on their lives demands full-time engagement. For some, the full-time part of their calling will be for a specific season, and for others it’s for a lifetime.
3. It’s strategic. Having some people serve in full-time ministry allows for much to be accomplished in a shorter amount of time and often with greater excellence than if all ministries were only being served by volunteers. Think about the illustration of education. If there were no full-time teachers, we’d still find ways for some (hopefully most) to be educated, but there would undoubtedly be huge gaps–some would fall through the holes and receive no teaching at all, others would receive only a partial education, plus the entire process would be super challenging for individuals, families and whole communities/nations. The end result would be that fewer people would have a solid, comprehensive education. This illustration would be the same for science, industry, medicine, construction, etc. And it’s the same in settings of ministry. In order to touch the most people possible with God’s redemptive grace, it’s strategic and helpful to have some serving full-time.
So, do we really need people in full-time ministry? YES! If you feel that God may be tugging your heart toward serving in a full-time role somewhere, go for it! We need you.
In the final blog on this topic we’ll look at how full-time and life-long ministers can work together and how you can begin to define which of these paths may be the right one for you.
In my last blog I talked about the contrast between between full-time and life-long ministry. For some this may seem just like a minor tweak (like how you pronounce “potato”), but I think it’s more than that. “Full-time” has to do with getting a paycheck, while “life-long” has to do with serving Jesus and others no matter how we get a paycheck. Hopefully all full-time ministers are life-long ministers, but all life-long ministers won’t necessarily ever spend time in full-time ministry. Is this making sense?
Let’s throw some additional wood on this fire. Being a life-long minister requires a couple of things:
1. Willingness to ALWAYS and FULLY do the work of the Lord, just as we’re all instructed to do in 1 Corinthians 15:58 (http://www NULL.biblegateway NULL.com/passage/?search=1%20Corinthians%2015:58&version=NIV). Sometimes you may have a clear picture of what you’re to be doing for the Lord at that moment, but much of ministry life just has to do with doing God-stuff (serving, loving, giving, forgiving, teaching…things Jesus did) along the way while you’re living life. Questions: am I willing? Always? Fully?
2. Willingness to continues saying YES to whatever God makes clear that you’re to do. It’s pretty challenging to be a life-long minister when you develop the habit of saying NO to God (or just ignoring his voice altogether). Questions: am I responding positively when God makes it clear what I’m to do? Do I argue, pout, rebel, or do I just dive in and give it my best shot?
Another fascinating thought comes from the back half of 1 Corinthians 15:58…”you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” I see a lot of people who love Jesus, but are spinning their lives away “in vain”. They’re not living fulfilled or fruitful lives. But it doesn’t have to be this way, and committing to life-long ministry is the key. When you live your life understanding that ALL I do is for the Lord, and I’m willing to say YES to whatever he asks of me, here’s the promise: your life will never be in vain. Pretty cool, huh?
Truth in blogging disclaimer: I’m a full-time minister. I get a paycheck to do what I do. But I’m confident that there isn’t enough money to go around to pay every minister of Jesus Christ. And that’s a good thing. There are many life-long ministers who happen to also be firefighters, teachers, mechanics and nurses who are impacting people with God’s grace, people that I’ll never get to meet. That should help make it clearer how God intends to minister to the whole world. It’s not going to happen through professional pastors. It’s going to happen through EVERY believer who understand that they are life-long ministers.
So are professional pastors, missionaries and other full-time ministers even necessary? Great question…we’ll get to that in the next blog.
Maybe you’re one of those people who loves Jesus like crazy, but isn’t really crazy about the idea of “full-time” ministry. You know, “full-time,” as in being a professional pastor, missionary, etc. In fact, many are scared away from all kinds of ministry because they think that God is going to grab them and stick them in a role that they’d hate.
But here are two things that I know are true:
God is good. He’s not interested in making people miserable in order to do his will. Because God is good and because he knows everything about you and me, we can be confident that we can serve him in ways that will FIT with who he created us to be. Read Ephesians 2:10 (http://www NULL.biblegateway NULL.com/passage/?search=eph%202:10&version=NIV) and Matthew 11:28-30 (http://www NULL.biblegateway NULL.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2011:28-30&version=MSG) for more on this.
We are ALL called to do ministry. In 1 Corinthians 15:58 (http://www NULL.biblegateway NULL.com/passage/?search=1%20Cor%2015:58&version=NIV) Paul wrote, “Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” He wasn’t writing to pastors or others who were getting a paycheck from ministry. He was writing to the church, including you and me, reminding us that “the work of the Lord” isn’t optional for Christ followers.
With those things in mind, let me introduce you to an idea that’s bigger than full-time ministry. It’s what I call life-long ministry. This idea flows from the words Paul just used: ALWAYS and FULLY. The “work of the Lord” is what we’re to give ourselves to completely. It’s not about my “job,” it’s about all I give myself to.
People who embrace this idea understand that WHATEVER they do throughout their lifetimes is ministry. It’s all for Jesus. It’s all for his glory. If you’re a firefighter, teacher, mechanic or nurse, it’s because that’s what God designed you for and it’s to be your primary place of ministry. That doesn’t mean you have to constantly be preaching at work, but it does mean that you are an agent of God’s redemptive grace right there in your workplace. Whatever he needs done, you are right there to do it.
The beauty of this is that the local fire department (or school district, auto shop, hospital, etc.) is PAYING YOU to be a minister of Jesus Christ and OPENING DOORS for you to people that most “full-time ministers” will never have opened! Resource and access are two things that help to make life-long ministry so beautiful and so strategic!
Now, some people who are life-long ministers do happen to also be full-time ministers…but just a small percentage of them…and it doesn’t make their ministry any more significant. Paul tells us in Ephesians 4:11-12 (http://www NULL.biblegateway NULL.com/passage/?search=Ephesians%204:11-12&version=NLT) that the job of pastors (and other full-time ministers) is to ensure that the rest of us are equipped to do life-long ministry.
Things to think about…
What have you “given yourself” to? A job, a career, personal goals, the work of the Lord, etc?
If your job hasn’t been a ministry to this point, what could you do to change that?
If you’re in school right now, how could that be your place of ministry?
ELN prepares young leaders for life-long ministry. How are you preparing for “the work of the Lord”?
Tim Mossholder (http://EmergingLeaderNetwork NULL.com) on Training Hotspot
Tim Mossholder (http://EmergingLeaderNetwork NULL.com) on Getting Xtreme
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Sometimes you just need results. Sure, once in a while the journey is more important than the destination. But not always.
