LEAD LIKE DISNEY

Have you ever noticed the difference between Disneyland and Six Flags?  Besides Disney’s obvious obsession with mice, they have distinct differences between pretty much every other theme park you will visit.  My family had recently visited Six Flags during a recent vacation, and the differences became quickly noticeable.   

From Disneyland's inception, Walt Disney placed a great emphasis on customer service.   He was so detailed, you will even find a Mickey Mouse logo on the manhole cover.  You will never find trash in the park, and you constantly and consistently greeted by everyone who works at Disneyland.   At other theme parks you are often greeted by the disdain of employees who seem rather upset that you decided to visit their park.

On our twins’ most recent birthday, we took our whole family to Disneyland in Southern California.   At the gate, the birthday boys were given big buttons saying “it’s my birthday.”  Every person who worked for Disneyland made a point of stopping and wishing them a ‘happy birthday.’  Even during the parade, characters on top of floats, would notice, point out our boys, and wish them a happy birthday.  This was an amazing attention to detail.

It reminded me of a verse that we all know quite well.  It is in Matthew 7:12:

 “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you.”    

It is a simple and well known verse.    Yet how often do we see the world or view the world this way?  In a world focused on the self, this verse serves as a refreshing reminder the Christ called us to put others before ourselves.

Here are some things Disney applies to their parks.  They used the 7 Dwarfs to establish their model:

Be Happy – Make contact with everyone and smile!

Be Sneezy – Greet everyone and be contagious with your attitude.

Don’t Be Bashful – Make a point of connecting with people; do not avoid them.

Be Like Doc – Be a part of the solution, not the problem.  Help solve problems when they arrive.

Don’t be Grumpy – Your body language communicates louder than you think.

Be Sleepy-  Create dreams.  Help students discover their God-given potential.

Don’t be Dopey-  Treat everyone with respect and grace.

How can we apply this to our ministries?  What are we communicating in how we greet others, treat one another, or through our body language and the other non-verbal ways we communicate?  How do your volunteers greet and treat people?  What is your facility say about how you value it and therefore those who would come through your doors?  

Walt Disney paid attention to detail because he valued everyone who would come through his doors.   Let us put value in all that we do so we too communicate to all who walk through our doors that we place great value on them, and in so doing, we gain the opportunity to pour into them and help them become who God created them to be.

Abe Daniel

District Student Ministries Director - NCN Student Ministries

PLIGHT OF THE BIRDS

The bird used the stairs.  I used them too.  The difference between the bird and myself was that I didn’t have wings.  It would have seemed much easier for the bird to flap it wings and quickly escalate the stairs, avoiding the unnecessary hop up each step (I’ve done this as a kid, it’s quite a bit of work.)  I don’t know why it used the stairs, it didn’t need to.  Maybe for the bird hopping up the steps was akin to us flying in a plane.  Maybe the bird had a great fear of stairs and wanted to get over this fear.  Maybe it was taking a break from flapping its wings, or maybe it was injured.   Whatever the reason, it simply struck me as ironic.  He had wings.  He would have made pet birds angry. 

I remember the kid who sat in the back of the room and refused to use his talents because things didn’t go his way.  I remember the girl who sat on the side not even aware of her own beauty because she believed the lies others have told her over and over and over again.  They simply hop up the stairs either unaware or just simply refusing to use the wings that are right there for them to use.  It seems we live in a world of clipped wings.  The reasons are endless but the results end up being the same:  we hop up the stairs. 

For many, they know they have wings, they simply refuse to use them.    It’s too much work.  They don’t like how they look or they don’t want to use them they way others are asking them to, or how they were designed to.  I heard one bird got his wings clipped because it was the latest trend.  The bird kind of regrets that now.  Perhaps they don’t think they will work right, or they are embarrassed to use them.  Maybe that was the bird’s problem.  There were a bunch of people around, and it was too busy worrying about what all the people would think of how he flapped his wings.  One awkward flap and it becomes a bad day.

Others are not even aware of their wings.   I’ve often wondered how many Mozarts we’ve never heard or how many Rembrandts we’ve never seen because they potential artists never knew they had it in them.  How many worship leaders have never led, how many missionaries never leave their homes, or how many preachers never preach a sermon?  How many doctors never heal, or teachers never see the light bulb go on in a child’s eye?  They never knew they had the wings to do it.  No one ever bothered to tell them.

Both are equally frustrating.  How many times have we seen a student’s enormous potential, and they remain blind looking in the mirror.  Or how many times has a student seen it, and the take the path of least resistant or in some cases worst resistance, only to clip themselves through poor decisions, never knowing their full potential. 

As leaders, we must help students discover their wings, and to use them as God intended.  Can you imagine the impact they would make if students truly lived up to their potential?  I think the world would be just as impacted now, as it was 2000 years ago when Jesus took 12 cast offs and made them world changers.  He simply showed them their wings, and what an impact they made. 

The reality is the world is greatly impacted by the missionaries, pastors, teachers, doctors, and laypeople every day many times over who have simply used their wings and trust the Holy Spirit to do the rest.  If we can convey to our students to simply trust God, being willing to grow, and know that our failures are not fatal, there will be no holding them back.  They just need to stretch their wings.

A while back, I sat in a coffee shop and in hopped a bird.  He was pecking the crumbs off the floor.  I sat at the table eating a scone, which was right above him.  He had also hopped in.  A hot warm scone sat right above him, and he was settling for crumbs on a floor.  He and the hopping bird seem to have the same problem.  They didn’t know what they had right in front of them.

I wonder if it was the same bird.  

Scott Tuttle

Operations and Events Director - NCN Student Ministries

AS SEEN ON TV...

Television is a driving factor in today’s culture. It has more influence than anything we have ever seen, to the actors, sports players, and politicians it is a constant flow of social media being watched and influencing billions. 

66% of children (ages 10 to 16) surveyed, say that TV influences their peer’s. This is an alarming stat and the worst part is, its not coming from an over protective parent or a grandma who is not in tuned with today's youth; these are members of the Mosaic generation. Pre-teens and teens admitting and know the influence a square box has on the minds and hearts of kids today. 62% say that sex on TV shows and movies influences kids to have sex when they are too young! 

The “box” has become a very familiar friend to 99% of the homes in America, the results…number of hours per day that TV is on in an average U.S. home: 6 hours, 47 minutes, percentage of Americans that regularly watch television while eating dinner: 66, number of hours of TV watched annually by Americans: 250 billion 

Our family time is being sucked away by adopted parents (Television). I understand it is easier and at times more relaxing but Satan has used it to slowly sneak into the homes and hearts of your students. This is something we can’t just look past, it must be addressed.  

The average child will watch 8,000 murders on TV before finishing elementary school. By age eighteen, the average American has seen 200,000 acts of violence on TV, including 40,000 murders. If your eyes are the gateway to your soul and if what the bible says in Matthew 6:22 "The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light” is true, then we are in trouble.

John Zick - Youth Culture Specialist

NCN Student Ministries

LEADING THROUGH CULTURE

If you turn on the television, surf the internet, or read the latest magazine, you will find yourself inundated with massive amounts of information and new ideas.  Some of these ideas are the latest trends in media or style.  Other ideas might be a fresh perspective on leadership and ministry.   However, much of what we are seeing and much of what students are being told in various ways, are ideas that are working to shift, shape, and change the foundational aspects of our culture, often in contrast to Biblical truth.  Our responsibility as leaders is to decipher truth from fiction, using scripture as our framework to knowing fact from fiction.  We must be the vanguard of truth and ideas, leading students through the malaise of ideas that come at them from every direction.

In the letter of Colossians, we see Paul writing to a young church that was facing temptation and false ideas from outside influences that were looking to persuade them.  As I read the issues that this young church was dealing with, I couldn’t help but notice how similar these circumstances are to what our students face regularly on their campus, through media, and other influences.  Outside influences were looking to shape and challenge the truth this young church had learned.

What can we do as leaders to help our students:

Learn.  We must know fact from fiction.  As leaders we first must learn before we can teach.  We must do the hard work of exegeting culture to better understand what is being communicated to our students. Many other ideas are at work to influence the minds and hearts of our students.  We must be knowledgeable so that we can be equipped.

Teach.   Leaders teach, instruct, and direct students to a better understand of truth.  Once we have learned and gained understanding of our culture and what students will face, we can better equip our students to navigate their culture and help them hold on to the truth as they face a myriad of ideas.

Prepare.  Our greatest gift to students is teaching them to be knowledgeable, not only with information, but how to be able to give an account for what they believe.    It is not enough to give them information and expect them to regurgitate it, they must learn to think things through and come to a thoughtful understanding of the truth, which will equip them to respond intelligently and clearly.

Pray.  Our greatest asset is our knees.  Our ability to pray for our students will have an eternal impact as they face many forces looking to influence them and sway them in many different directions.

We have all been down the road of adolescence, a world full of questions, with what seem at times, so few answers.  Their lives are like a ship at sea, being tossed all around, and we can serve as the anchor and navigator in the ups and downs of their young lives. 

Let us continue to teach them, prepare them, and pray for them as we commit to do and learn all we can to equip them to be ready to give account for their faith and for truth.  In doing this they will become who God created them to be.

Abe Daniel

NCN Student Ministries Director

CHURCH IMPACT

Fifty-three percent of U.S. adults view the presence of a church as a “very” positive addition to the community. 25% call it “somewhat” positive. Only 2 percent see it as a “very” negative thing and 3 percent saying “somewhat” negative. 

            Even among atheists and agnostics only 14 percent held a negative view of religious institutions, with the majority maintaining neutrality.

             

Most people see the church as a resource to the poor, 29 percent acknowledge the role of Christians in assisting the needy, disabled and homeless. 12 percent say they expect spiritual teachings and direction from churches, 13 percent call for services for youth, families and the elderly, and 14 percent want a church to cultivate biblical values in their community. Finally 10 percent felt churches have a responsibility to provide support groups, counseling and recovery programs.

            The people recognize the church presence in its community but should we stop there? Recognition, I don’t believe is enough. The church needs to be seen as the beckon of light for all people, not just the building but we the people who make up the church. Are we as Christians living the life worthy of this great calling we have?

 A recent study was done that ranked the top ten most influential men in history. Jesus was number 3, as the article gave a reason behind every person they said Jesus would have been number one for sure but the way his followers portray him looks nothing like the legacy he tried to leave behind.

Its easy to be “the church” within the four walls but that is not the point, our community’s needs to start seeing the fruits of the spirit in us which in turn will point them to the glorious cross.  We are the church, and we are on the right path but we cannot relent till everyone has had a chance to experience the amazing love we get every signal day.  Lets be the church to a hurting and dying community of people who are just waiting for their chance to encounter God!

 

Sources :Barna surveyed, neue magazine 

John Zick  -  Youth Culture Specialist

NCN Student Ministries Office