Psalm 133
How good and pleasant it is
when God’s people live together in unity!
It is like precious oil poured on the head,
running down on the beard,
running down on Aaron’s beard,
down on the collar of his robe.
It is as if the dew of Hermon
were falling on Mount Zion.
For there the Lord bestows his blessing,
even life forevermore.

Unity is key. So key that God tells us that this is the place that life forever resides. I had never thought about it that significantly before hearing a sermon on it a few weeks ago. Francis Chan took it to another level last night via Youtube:

John 17:21
That all of them may be one,
Father, just as you are in me and I am in you.
May they also be in us
so that the world may believe
that you have sent me.

Jesus wants us to be one JUST AS He and God are one. Not just enough to get along on Sunday. Not just enough to hang out in a small group for six months. JUST AS Jesus and God are one. I need to confess here that I have never had that as a goal in any of my relationships with other Christians.

Jesus tells us that unity is needed SO THAT the world may believe. What?!?! My natural thinking is that a well thought out apologetics outline would help people believe. Maybe if I could perform a miracle some people would believe. What if we had a great band and professional athlete speak to people, that would get them to believe. Jesus doesn’t say that. He says that if we are united together and united with God, then the world will believe.

This gives me hope for the ministry of First Priority. Our bread and butter is uniting the local churches in an area to help students reach students in their school for Jesus Christ. The students do need to preach the gospel each month so those who do not know can hear. But, the thing that will get them there is the unity of believers!

It is counter cultural thinking, but it does make sense. Culture says to put on a show and gather a crowd. Culture is also divided in so many ways today. Let’s unite SO THAT the world may believe.

(See also Romans 14)

With hope,

Brad

We believe that advancing the Kingdom of God means advancing the local church. It is a core of our beliefs for the First Priority family. A very practical way that we express that core value is through our partnership with SLU (Student Leadership University). They believe the same as we do, that the local church and it’s youth ministry is key to seeing the Kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven. So, we utilize the YPS (Youth Pastor Summit) to encourage, equip, and empower youth pastors in our communities. Here is what Phillip Cole (FP Area Director, Shreveport, LA) had to say after taking a group of youth pastors to Dallas this past spring:

“We had the privilege to take local student pastors in the ArkLaTex to a conference in Dallas, Texas at no cost to them or their churches in April of this semester.  Youth pastor summit is a great opportunity for youth pastors to come together, fellowship, be encouraged, and learn new ideas about youth ministry, so we make it a practice to take a group annually.  This year we took a group of 14 youth pastors and had a blast!  We also took in a few rounds of Top Golf and laughed together for hours.  It is a blessing to see the camaraderie among youth pastors in the ArkLaTex!”

Jesus said that He would build his church. By working with SLU, we help to build unity in the youth ministry community because it is what we value. There will be 7 locations for YPS this coming 2017-18 school year; be sure to check them out when they announce dates and locations this fall.

#1 Recognize the physical

When a new leader comes into the First Priority family, one of the first things we have them do is fill out a community diagnostic sheet. This project can be as simple as counting how many churches and schools are in their area. As you get deeper, you begin to learn how many people are going to church and what the students are getting in trouble for in school. It helps to be knowledgeable about your area when you ask people to join a mission with a big vision. With current events being broadcast globally each and every day, it is important to keep up with what and how conversation is effecting people in your community.

#2 Recognize the spiritual

One specific piece of diagnosing your community is not just getting to know about them, but actually getting to know them personally. A united church for the cause of evangelism is a great idea. Most people who work with First Priority would say that it is the best idea on the planet. But, when a community is made up of pastors who each have a different mix of gifting, talents, passion, and call, it is insane to think that they will all jump in with you right away. Those with the gift of evangelism will, but those whose passions are more along the lines of small groups and discipleship will not. That is more than okay, it is healthy for a community to have a mix of spiritual leadership! The evangelists (generally) will jump in and help students share the gospel at school. The discipleship leaders will be way better at follow up five weeks after the student gave his/her life to Christ at Engage Week. Get to know all church leaders to recognize and honor the spiritual gifting God has given to them.

#3 Recognize the mentality

We all live in a community with a culture. Having grown up in NW Iowa in a Dutch Reformed church, I had no idea that the Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 1-10 was not memorized by all high school freshman in all Christian churches everywhere. While my co-workers jealously harass me for this heritage, it has shaped how I think, act, and feel whether I realize it or not. Nashville just went through a huge insurgence of Predator fans (NHL hockey team). It brought to light that Nashville loves Nashville and thinks that everybody loves Nashville as much as Nashville loves Nashville. Living 30 minutes south of Nashville, I get outside of the big city a lot. While Waynesboro (small town TN) thinks Waynesboro is a wonderful place to grow up, they do not feel that many people will move there. This realtor (http://www.webbrealty.net/index.htm) loves the town so much that half of her description of the town is a list of the other towns surrounding it!

By being aware of these 3 tools for church unity, you will increase your capacity for unity.

“Unity in diversity is more beautiful and more powerful than the unity of uniformity. More depth of beauty is felt from a choir that sings in parts than from a choir that sings only in unison.” John Piper

Today we are going to talk about our core value #7: Church

ISM – “The Body of Christ”

We believe that advancing the Kingdom of God means advancing the local church. This includes the foundation of praying for, partnering with and promoting local churches to reach the lost and impact their schools.

“I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Matthew 16:18-19

Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. Acts 20:28

And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. Hebrews 10:24-25

Save the Date

Make plans now to attend the First Priority National Fall Conference October 16th-18th

Fall Conference 2017 will be located at the Forrest Hills Resort in Dahlonega, GA October 16th-18th. Forrest Hills Resort is located between the picturesque town of Dahlonega and the beautiful Amicalola Falls.

For more information about Forrest Hills Resort you can visit their website here. The address is: 135 Forrest Hills Road Dahlonega GA 30533

Registration details coming soon!

Because it gets FP to where we want to go.

By having people around him (I called it a band of brothers in the previous posts this month) and policies and procedures in place, Joel Rowland has set up ministry that will be successful for years to come. Here is a representation from one of the clubs there recently:

Riverwood Middle School completed Engage Week on a high note this week. 89 students gathered in the gym for Bojangles, giveaways, and most importantly, to hear the good news of Jesus! 12 students responded, 8 recommitted, and many more want to become student leaders. It was a great day!

What has made this club so successful this year? Why do so many students want to attend First Priority each week to hear about Jesus? I believe the results can be attributed to our incredible student leaders who have spent the last few months inviting their friends and embracing the truth that they are missionaries to their school. One of our favorite hashtags is #studentsreachstudents because it is true!

Focus. Commitment. Diligence. They do not happen on their own. Nor can we commit to them on our own. We need to band together to stay focused on making ‘The Hope of Christ in Every Student’ a reality!

As we continue to talk through our Core Value of Excellence this month, I wanted to share a story of our success of having a high standard of excellence. So first, definitions:

What is excellence? the quality of being outstanding or extremely good.
What is success? the accomplishment of an aim or purpose.

So the question could become, what do we need to excel at in order to succeed? I am choosing student leadership as the focus for today and want you to watch this video of a student leader sharing her story on her own Youtube channel:

This is success for us. We have given a Christian student an opportunity to develop as a leader, to be used by God, and to follow him in mission. #excellence #success

Have a story of success you’d like to share? Share your story on our Facebook page @fpofamerica.

With HOPE,
Brad

I’ve been there.

I’ve done that.

What have I done? I’ve made silly mistakes. I didn’t take the time to proofread a blog and posted it with three typos. I made an assumption and didn’t check which Decatur I was to go to and, well… went to the wrong one!

Why did I do that? Was I lazy? Was I simply in a hurry? I do not remember (or at least claim that right now… Ha!). What I do know is that what I did was not excellent. It also did not bring glory to God nor honor to me. Many of my co-workers still have not let me live down driving to Decatur, IL instead of Decatur, AL. IT. IS. ONE. LETTER. that will haunt me for the rest of this side of eternity.

God created me in his image. He created our world with excellence and precision and calls me to live the same in bringing glory to His name. Sometimes I lean back on faith as being good enough. I’ll never forget the season of life when God brought 2 Peter 1 to light for me:

For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.

2 Peter 1:5-10

God wants me to have faith. He also wants me to add to my faith so that I live a life of quality and excellence. What is God calling you to do with excellence today? Over the next few weeks during the month of May, we are going to spend a few moments talking through the First Priority core value of Excellence. I look forward to our interactions!

If you have spent any amount of time around First Priority, you know that we still believe the Local Church is the hope of the world! Our call as a ministry is to wave that banner high in Middle Tennessee and unite the local churches in a community to Pray, Participate and Provide for a gospel movement on their school campus.

So far this school year we have seen over 2,500 adults and students gather on their campus to Pray for the school year ahead. On these 130 school campuses we heard parents cry out for safety on their child’s campus. We heard students standing in the gap not only for their peers, but also for their teachers and principals. Most of all we heard the Church unite in one voice and ask Jesus to reveal himself to many this school year.

These times of prayer have been crucial as our team leads HOPE campus trainings across 7 counties in Middle Tennessee. To our great joy, close to 500 student and adult leaders are gathering so they can Participate in this gospel movement at their school. Whether you are a teacher serving as the FAC Sponsor to keep the schools FP Club legal, or you are the Campus Coach who is equipping the students to lead their club each week, we are so honored by your participation this school year.

Steve Cherrico, FP Nashville
Executive Director

You have heard the whisper: bring Jesus to the school down the street. You know the obstacles: separation of church and state. You know the stories: students do not have hope and are hurting. You know how to get started: draw a circle around the school down the street and pray.

I understand your first question, “What if nothing happens? And I do not hear anything? And I find no direction?” There is a lot of ‘logic’ that goes into the first moments of circle making prayer. That is why it is important to jump in with both feet. Be confident that God is behind the whisper you’ve heard. Mark Batterson lists out five areas that he worked through in drawing his first circle.

1. Promises in Scripture
2. Impossible situations
3. Impossible people
4. Goals
5. Pieces of property

With First Priority, it is obvious that we circle property for the sake of reaching the people who walk inside that circle everyday. The top four of Mark’s list can help direct your prayers for that circle. Maybe the principal has been stiff arming the church (historically) and will not willingly let you in the building. Maybe there has been a string of suicides by students in that school and you need to pray scripture over them. You know your area, the people who lead in the school system, and the whisper you heard when God told you to reach out to the school. It is now time to draw your circle around the school. Pray. Do not move. Listen. I feel the same way you do about this. Mark Batterson himself states it well, “Under-qualified and overwhelmed” with the opportunity.

Check out The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson for more insights to this topic. Don’t have the book? I’d like the opportunity to send you a copy. Let me know.

“Lord, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds Lord. Repeat them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy.”
Habakkuk 3:2