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7 Ways Fraternity Life Shaped Me For Ministry (Guest Post)

By Business, Church, Culture, Leadership

Recently I had the opportunity to meet with a group of my Sigma Chi fraternity brothers from college. Some of them I have seen, but not really connected with in twenty years. It was fun, good to remember old times, and reminded me that they had made positive impacts on my life. I was a crazy college student sometimes, but the experience has since been used for good many times.

Right after that hang out time, I Tweeted that I should write a post about what I learned in my fraternity days that helped prepare me for ministry. I got lots of reaction, but one in particular appeared to be it’s own post.

Ky Bishop is currently Pastor Of Ministries at Woodlands Church in Houston Texas where Kerry Shook is Senior Pastor. He’s been married 25 years to Terri and they have 3 sons ranging from 16 to 20 years of age. Ky lists his fraternity experience as Delta Tau Delta – UTA – 81

Here are 7 ways Ky’s fraternity experience prepared him for ministry:

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November 16, 2010
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10 Tweets that Didn’t Make the Cut

By Culture, Funny

Contrary to popular opinion I don’t Tweet everything I think about. I’m a random thinker, so there are many times I think of something, but decide, for whatever reason, it’s not Tweet-worthy.

Don’t believe me? I decided to capture a list of times I decided not to tweet something over a couple days. (That’s another value of Evernote. Read my post about it HERE and never lose an idea…or a Tweet!)

Here are 10 tweets that didn’t make the cut, followed in parenthesis by an explanation of why I didn’t send it:

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November 13, 2010
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Friday Discussion: Do Opposites Attract?

By Culture, Funny, Marriage

This Friday discussion originates from a discussion we had in my community group meeting this week. Our topic was marriage and in almost every couple, the husband and wife were extremely different in how they approach situations. It wasn’t a strictly male/female discussion. The males and females were split on some of these issues. It was just that two people wired completely different had married one another. I do know from a counseling standpoint that these difference also cause conflict, but is it who we are attracted to…those that will naturally conflict with our personalities?

So today, share your opinion: Do opposites attract?

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November 5, 2010
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The Summit, by Eric Alexander: A Book To Challenge and Inspire

By Christians, Culture, Encouragement, Faith, Fear, God, Life Plan, Vision

What are you afraid of?

Do you have a dream you haven’t tackled out of fear?

Have you allowed your weaknesses, even your disabilities to hold you back from all God would have for you?

If the answer to any of these questions is yes, then you MUST read this book.

The Summit, by Eric Alexander, retells the story of Eric’s powerful story and his unique life journey of guiding people with disabilities to the most perilous places of the world, including Mount Everest’s first blind ascent. In The Summit: Faith Beyond Everest’s Death Zone you will follow in their historic footsteps, and learn about faith, trust, prayer, depending on God, as well as the perseverance needed during these climbs and in your own life. Be inspired and motivated by Eric’s insight, not simply to survive but to thrive every day in God’s grace.

You can even read the first two chapters free HERE. Can’t pass that up!

Be inspired, be challenged, be moved…Read this book!

(Watch this video for more inspiration!)

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November 4, 2010
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Don’t Shy Away from the Word Balance

By Business, Children, Christians, Culture, Encouragement, Family, Leadership, Life Plan

Over the years, I’ve heard differing opinions on the use of the word balance. I’ve learned there are many who actually hate the use of the word. For example, some say the life of a Christian is never balanced because God wants all of our lives. I couldn’t agree more. Others say it’s impossible to balance between work and home because one of them deserves our greatest energy (our home), and yet the two extremes will always compete for our best time and energy. I completely agree. In those contexts, I agree balance should not be our goal. We should prioritize our life around the extremes of life, ensuring that those things we value most receive our greatest attention.

Balance, however, doesn’t always mean things are equal. I prefer to use the term balance to…

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November 4, 2010
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Friday Discussion: The Christian’s Role in Politics

By Change, Christians, Culture

Thanks for being a part of Friday discussion. You can now check out the past Friday discussions in a newly created category HERE. Continue to add your thoughts on those subjects.

For today, let’s discuss politics. You aren’t afraid of that, are you?

So let me jump in quick: I grew up in a church environment where to be a “good Christian” you had to belong to the “right” party. It was an easy decision who to vote for, because most everyone around me, or at least the vocal crowd, were Republicans. And, you weren’t just any Republican, you were a very conservative, James Dobson Republican. I’m not trying to be offensive, but that was the environment in which I lived.

In my church today, and among many of the younger generation with whom I minister, that seems to have changed. They seem far less concerned about parties (much as they are far less concerned about denominations), than they are about causes and issues.

Do you see a change? Let’s discuss politics today. Consider these specific questions.

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October 29, 2010
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7 Emotions from the Male’s Side of Infertility

By Children, Culture, Encouragement, Family, Parenting

Cheryl and I have often said that one of the greatest trials we have walked through in ministry with people is the hidden pain of infertility. Every time we celebrate the birth of someone’s child we also know of a couple who can’t seem to get pregnant or have recently had a miscarriage. (I wrote about the pain of the childless in a previous post HERE.) Many reading this post will have walked through this pain personally.

One aspect of this which I may have overlooked is the man’s side of this issue. I knew men struggled with infertility also, but I am not sure I realized the extent of it. Recently I was talking to a man who shared his hidden pain during he and his wife’s time of infertility. It opened my eyes to the man’s perspective.

When a couple is battling infertility here are 7 emotions the man often feels:

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October 28, 2010
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7 Phrases We Should Never Use to Start a Sentence

By Culture, Encouragement, Family

In years of doing ministry, through personal experience, and by living life with others, I’ve learned a few things not to say. I’ve seen well-meaning people make proclamations they can’t keep. What I’ve come to realize is that life has a way of throwing us surprises, so we should be proactive in guarding our heart and life.

With that in mind, I would be careful starting a sentence with the following phrases:

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October 26, 2010
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Addressing a Porn Generation

By Christians, Culture, Encouragement, Youth

When I was a teenager, if I wanted to view porn, I would have had to find a magazine. Honestly, even though I may have wanted to, I never had or found a stash. I knew everyone where I might have bought some and if my friends had their own stash of pictures, they never shared them with me.

I did a little babysitting as a teenager in addition to my grocery store work and I did manage to find some magazines at one of the houses where I worked late one night. Those images are still with me today. As much as pornography was probably a part of my generation, it wasn’t that accessible to me.

My boys have grown up in a different generation….

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October 26, 2010
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