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Right here, right now
About 9 minutes ago Jamie Doyle posted this tweet:
“has it occurred to anyone that CM is about the here and now as well as the future?” dilantin no prescription target=”_blank”>Jamie Doyle
I love thinking about the future, I love to speculate where our culture is going, where the challenges and opportunities will be.
I know of a lot of futurists whose immense intellect is focused on what might be. But I don’t just want to be so caught up in the future that I miss the present… today… the now.
In fact my new question for you and leaders I might meet is not “what is the future of children’s ministry?”, but “what is the now of children’s ministry?”.
Hi, I’m Dave and I’m a nowist.
Hmm.
I think the now is whatever we have in our hands and using it to draw kids an families from wherever they are closer to Jesus.
I guess we can get caught up with what we will do in the future and how we will get what we need to do it. There is actually an urgency for this mission of ours that we cant wait till we’ve got it all together.
Sarah,
Thanks for Dropping by. I was thinking about NZ and getting excited about my visit in April!
Dave
Yea it’s getting close! Cant wait to have you over here!
Not to be a contrarian but I think most kids pastors focus to much on the now. They lose sight of the future. There are so many details that can drown out the clearness and direction that God is calling you to. I would say what is the Now of CM (nowist) that will get you Where God is calling you (futureist).
Hey Dave! I appreciate the topic.
I teach a workshop on goalsetting which builds on the realities of the now with a view toward the future. So, a long-term goal is measured by short-term objectives, thereby impacting the now. Typically done in 3 month intervals, the short-term objectives build toward the long-term (1-5 years), and can be adjusted as needed so that things remain fluid.
Personally, I think that many plataeued and declining churches make one of two major errors: 1. Flapping about with the winds of the latest trends with little or no sense of their immediate context and needs; or 2. Hunkering down into a long-term rigity, doing the same thing the same way for better or for worse, and wondering why the results don’t improve.
I think the future and the now, along with a sense of rootedness in history, are all important and shouldn’t be seen as mutually exclusive.
SAM: You contrarian you… maybe it’s just me being a dreamer and existing in the future.
GLEN: You are right, it’s not either/or but and/also!
I do meet a lot of pastors who are waiting for the bigger budget, or the one more staff member to start doing what they dream of. What I never want to lose sight of is that the best is yet to come but I have only have today!
Hey David,
I was scouring your blog and came across my tweet – thanks for the mention. The point in the tweet was exactly what I typed – just thought I would clear that up for the other commenteers (not that anyone is discussing this at this point… i just wanted to participate.)
Game on!
I’ve never been called a commenteer before. I rather like it!
It’s almost like a Disney Imagineer!
Well now that puts on the pressure for any future comments Glen!
Dave
Glen is not just a commenteer – he’s a blogateer (I make it up as I go).