Evangelism and Evangelism Internship

I will be teaching Evangelism the first semester in the morning session for eSOM as an adjunct instructor of WBC. I am very excited. I have come to accept that as an eikon of God one of my purposes that God has given me and one of the few that ALL Christians share is that I must be evangelistic in life. The main textbook is "The Art of Personal Evangelism" and the second book is by Bill Hybels, "Just Walk Across The Room". I have heard that Bill Hybels book leaves out some important aspects of evangelism. I think

Another class that is complete parallel to this one is the Evangelism Internship that is 3 credits. This will be a great resource as a requirement for eSOM. We will be using our Causes as the main substructure. Currently 6 of our 7 Causes are already intern lead. The only one that isn't lead by an intern is our Special Needs Cause and that is lead by an amazing leader, Alice. Each Cause is evangelistic in it's approach through loving in action selflessly. Each of the leaders organize events for each of the Cause and meet with students at the events. I will be meeting with them in the first session of their Evangelism class to discuss what the internship will consist of and how to build their portfolio that will be required. I will help them figure out how to plan over the year to be building the portfolio. It will be a great semester as an opener.

Finalizing Detail Meeting

I met today with Barb Schulz, the president at Western Bible College, Ray Schulz, her husband and instructor for WBC, and Rick Oller who is a pastor and Dean of Students for WBC. We finalized all the details for this coming spring semester for ESOM.

We got all the classes laid out for the Spring semester '09. Looks like I will be teaching PS213 Evangelism from 830a-12p. The first half hour will be our chapel service. Then from 1-430p will be BI103 Bible Study Methodology, and that will be lead by Rick Oller. These classes will be 7 weeks, then we will start Spring II. The classes will be Acts by Ray Schulz and Synoptic Gospels by Pastor Wendall Clark.

We set up our Orientation night for Thursday, January 8th at 7p where we will have finger food and drinks. I have invited the president, faculty, administrator of WBC, then students and their parents and some RMCC staff. That night the students will fill out all their paperwork and register and begin the future!

Detailing Schedule

This morning I met with Barb the president of WBC and her husband Ray to talk about calsses and the schedule and then Ray wanted to talk with me. I always allow Ray to speak into my life, he is a very smart person with a lot of experience and understanding. I wrote this blog after we met with some of the things Ray said that challenged me.

Barb and I discussed a lot of the details for the different classes I wanted to offer our students to be able to fast track them to get their certification done in their first year. She made a couple phone calls and got a couple intructors lined up. She asked Wendall Clark to teach Spring II Synoptic Gospels, he does a great job with that class. She also got Rick to teach Spring I Bible Study Methodology.

It was a great meeting. There was some talk about creating the ESOM for 'export', build it be able to plant it somewhere and the program to be able to reproduce. They have a couple leads in Florida and Indiana that this could eventually venture. That is VERY exciting.

We have a meeting schedule again for December 4th with Rick Oller, the Dean of Students. Look forward to that meeting.

Personal Investment

I visited my family for Thanksgiving and was talking to my cousin Tyler. I have been on him for the last couple years about the calling of God in his life. He feels called to ministry, mostly worship and singing. From what I have seen and heard he is a great vocalist. He also has some things going on in his life that would be huge for him to get away.

I told him in depth about ESOM and he loved it and felt it would be exactly what he would want and need. Since then he has been praying and seeking God for this next step. He is trying to find an apartment but also a job that can pay for living expenses and ESOM.

I really hope he can make it.

Explaining the Schdule

I got to sit down with Barb from WBC to go over my proposed schedule for ESOM and layout some ground work for the involvement of RMCC and WBC. We got a lot of distance in this meeting and have the basic premise laid out for the schedule.

ESOM Premise:

• 45 hours required for credited classes
• 7 weeks for 3.5 hours each class = 24.5 hours
• 21.5 hours research time and study
• two tracks all year long and two classes per track per semester.
• 8 classes year 1, 9 classes year 2
• a couple internship classes
• each class is 3 credit hours
• 12 hours each semester plus internship credits, 1.5 each semester
• 27 credits each year
• Instructors from WBC and Krisann and Myself so that students would have a wide range of voices
  

Met with Team Church - TMC

Again part of the heart of ESOM is to partner with other churches where we can use our resources to help train and equip leaders and be able to send them back to their church for service. So for their weekend service and mid-week service they will be at their own church then for intern training and schooling they will be at RMCC for training.

Today I met with Dave Beach, the lead pastor at Tempe Metropolitan Church. He has a college aged guy named Jonathan that will be leading their youth. We met with him to discuss his future involvement in ESOM. We laid out the guidelines and expectations for being in one church for service and leading and in another church for school and leadership training.

He agreed and is planning on attending.

The Good & Bad

Today Pastor Jeff and myself went to the District Office to meet with Barb to discuss details about the School of Ministry and partnering with WBC. It appeared to be bad news. Barb had received a letter from another Assemblies of God college that WBC credits were not transferable. So we looked at a few options if this were the case. We figured we could make special arrangements with particular universities to accept WBC credits then let our ESOM students that if they wanted to persue their degree after completing ESOM they would have a certain few schools they could attend that wouldtransfer their credits. We decided to wait on confirmation for a couple weeks and Barb would do some research to see what was the case.

On Jeff's end, he was excited to see Barb's willingness to partner with us. We left feeling positive about he whole thing but a little nervous about the transfer of credits issue.

This was also the week I began a series on for Causes. the theme is: 'As eikons we are created to love in action in truth." This last Wednesday is called, "What's Your Cause". I encouraged students to ask themselves what is there purpose in life and to figure out what is their cause to impact people by meeting their needs. Next week We will be laying out six Causes that we are offering so that kids can sign up for and be a part of. The are all on our youth website here. They are:

• Displaced (Homless)
• iCare (Hospital/Shut in visitation)
• Street Team (Advertising)
• Rush (We go to a park or mall and do pools and questionnaires that lead to conversation about God)
• Campus Resource (Where we partner with schools to offer our help as a resource to them)
• Go Green (Where we pick up trash and clean neighborhoods or parks)
  

Adjunct Instructor Resumes

I met with Barb at the District Office today to go over some more details about ESOM and WBC partnering together. They have a board meeting coming up the next week on Monday the 6th. So I gave her Krisann's and my resume to take to the board meeting to accept us as adjunct instructors. I shared with her a little more of the dream of ESOM and what makes us so different than any other School of Ministry out there. We definitely are different, and not to make any other SOM out there feel less than us, but also to be honest we offer a much better solution than what 'most' can offer.

Krisann Was Asked to Be On The Board of WBC

This week is District Council and I am getting Ordained which is such an awesome opportunity and the fact that I am dedicating my life to the call that God has placed over my life. District Council is always a great week, great services and a great time to see all my friends.

Barb, the President of Western Bible College approached me and said that she would be asking Krisann to be on the board of WBC. I felt elated that Barb thought of Krisann for that position. How exciting for Krisann. I must admit I was a little jealous but hey, she deserves it, she is awesome.

Approved as Adjunct Instructors

Kirsann was asked to sit on the board of directors for Western Bible College in March of '08. Since then she has started and is in the process of finishing all her paperwork to begin her Graduate program at Ottawa University to get her Masters in Psychology/Counseling. She was accepted as an adjunct instructor at WBC in April.

I will be starting my Graduate program either at AGTS or Southeastern University to get my Masters of Ministerial Leadership in the fall of '09. I was also accepted as an adjunct instructor for WBC and now am able to teach for the ESOM.

We are excited to be part of a the team of WBC and to be able to lead the eikon School of Ministry. We look forward to our life involved with academia and hope to build a long tenure as instructors. Until we finish our Masters degrees we can only teach Associate level classes. Once we receive our Masters then we can teach bachelors level classes.

What a great future ahead!

Sharing the Vision With WBC President

I met with Barb Schulz tonight and it was an awesome meeting. I don't think it could have gone better. I felt like it was very professional and I fell that Barb and myself are definitely on the same page. I laid out the vision for eikon School of Ministry (ESOM) and explained to her all the deatils of it. I also shared my heart about how so many SOM's offer Berean classes and I did not want that to be my option. As a matter of fact if that was my only option I would not conduct this School of Ministry. In no offense to Berean, I feel that is not at the highest level to offer and if I can't offer a higher level of learning I would skip it. I have had several friends that have gotten their degrees through Berean and they don't seem to posses the depth of bible knowledge nor have they learned the ethics of ministry. Those are the biggest two that I have seen them lack in. I wanted to offer something that coverd those areas. That is where WBC comes in.

Barb loved the idea and we will begin moving forward this year to work out all the deatils. Both of us thought that this fall would be to soon. I told her that we would target for the spring of 2009. We have more meetings planned to go over all the details.

CD 106 – Developing the Financial Core (Financial)

CD 106 – Developing the Financial Core (Financial)

Course Description:
CD 106 introduces you finances, as it applies to your personal life and ministry as well as learning the worship practice of tithing. You will learn ways to save money, build budgets and ways to pay off debt. In a ministry setting you will learn how to build a budget, raise funds and learn about record keeping and accountability.

(All Core Development is Copyrighted material, the use of any material without consent is strictly prohibited)

Pre-requisite Requirement:
CD 101
CD 102
CD 103
CD 104
CD 105

By the end of the course, you will be able to:

1. Systematically explain the reasoning and benefits of tithing.
2. Provide a savings plan with 5, 10, and 20 year goals w/ a retirement plan.
3. Successfully build a personal budget for living.
4. Know and use practical fund raising methods.
5. Handle church money with honesty and integrity, knowing the proper ways of recording managing it.
6. Know the risks and liability when handling money and having accountable practices in place for personal and church protection.

See All Core Developments:
CD 101
CD 102
CD 103
CD 104
CD 105
CD 106

CD 105 – Developing the Core of Relating (Social)

CD 105 – Developing the Core of Relating (Social)

Course Description:
CD 105 introduces you to understanding leadership principles and learning to relate well to others. Through leadership principles you will learn to gain influence as a leader. You will also be learning several conflict resolution and mediation styles. You as a student will also learn a staple of ethics and principles for living, this is a moral philosophy and not rules.

(All Core Development is Copyrighted material, the use of any material without consent is strictly prohibited)

Pre-requisite Required:
CD 101
CD 102
CD 103
CD 104

By the end of the course, you will be able to:

1. Perform the duties of a leader.
2. Describe several leadership styles with examples of leaders.
3. Lead people with conflict through different conflict resolution styles.
4. Lead people with conflict through a mediation process.
5. Understand ethical choices as a leader and individual.

See All Core Developments:
CD 101
CD 102
CD 103
CD 104
CD 105
CD 106

CD 104 – Developing the Sensual Core(Sexual)

CD 104 – Developing the Sensual Core(Sexual)

Course Description:
CD 104 introduces the students to the sensual core. They will learn healthy boundaries and safe levels in three main areas. These areas are dating, relationships, and sex. The students will learn much of their own desires and strengths as well as learning how to navigate life in a healthy manner with integrity and accountability.

(All Core Development is Copyrighted material, the use of any material without consent is strictly prohibited)

Pre-requisite Requirement:
CD 101
CD 102
CD 103

By the end of the course, you will be able to:

1. Identify healthy boundaries in friendships and relationships.
2. See their own strengths and weaknesses and be able to protect themselves in their weaknesses.
3. Apply safety boundaries within their life with integrity and accountability.
4. Have an accountability plan and partner for their emotional needs.

See All Core Developments:
CD 101
CD 102
CD 103
CD 104
CD 105
CD 106

CD 103 – Developing the Pneuma Core (Spiritual)

CD 103 – Developing the Pneuma Core (Spiritual)

Course Description:
CD 103 introduces you to the spiritual being of who you are and who you are meant to be. You will discover your own spiritual existence with God and how it relates to others. You will experience different techniques fo how to grow your relationship with God as well as gain a more richer understanding of who God is.

(All Core Development is Copyrighted material, the use of any material without consent is strictly prohibited)

Pre-requisite Requirements:
CD 101
CD 102

By the end of the course, you will be able to:

1. Have a deeper walk with God.
2. Understand many ways to grow in your own relationship with God.
3. Understand who God is, while gaining a new perspective of how he relates to your life.
4. Teach and equip others in their spiritual walk to help them have a deeper encounter with the living God.

See All Core Developments:
CD 101
CD 102
CD 103
CD 104
CD 105
CD 106

CD 102 – Developing the Internal Core (Emotional)

CD 102 – Developing the Internal Core (Emotional)
6 Weeks

Course Description:
CD 102 introduces the student to the knowledge and understanding of the internal core. In this course they might possibly deal with past hurts, pains, joys, failures, successes in a way to bring clarity to your life. You will discover much of who they are and why they are the way they are. As a student, they will learn a number of methods of how to be emotionally healthy as well as learn safe techniques in remaining emotionally healthy throughout their life.

(All Core Development is Copyrighted material, the use of any material without consent is strictly prohibited)

Pre-requisite Requirements:
CD 101

By the end of the course, they will be able to:

1. Understand the principles of emotional health.
2. Show growth in personal emotional health.
3. Be able to show examples of how pain in the past has led to the person they are today.
4. Explain how attachment issues lead to emotional depravity and bankruptcy.
5. Be able to approach life with a new gained perspective of who they are as an individual.

See All Core Developments:
CD 101
CD 102
CD 103
CD 104
CD 105
CD 106

CD 101 – Developing the Core of Origins (Family)

CD 101 – Developing the Core of Origins (Family)
6 weeks

Course Description:
CD 101 introduces the student to understand who they are and more focused; the origin of who they are. This course will help them identify themself through looking at the family portrait and how they fit in that picture. They will learn several types of family styles and have a greater understanding of how effective parenting works.

No pre-requisites required.

By the end of the course, you will be able to:

1. Identify several types of family styles.
2. Present your own family style in a clear concise form.
3. Understand your own identity and recognize how that is created through your family.
4. Recognize the family styles in families that you are around.

(All Core Development is Copyrighted material, the use of any material without consent is strictly prohibited)

See All Core Developments:
CD 101
CD 102
CD 103
CD 104
CD 105
CD 106

Q & A with Pastor Shaun about
eikon School Of Ministry.

Where is ESOM located?
What is ESOM?
Why start another School of Ministry? Aren't there already over 300 SOM's in the country?
Most SOM's do not offer adequate academics, so why not just end SOM's and send students with a calling to the big bible colleges?
What about you? What formal training did you have?
Explain in just a few lines what ESOM is.
ESOM is for anyone that is called into ministry or to be a part of ministry, how so?
Why did you decide to team up with WBC?
What is Core Development?
Why is Core Development important in maturing into adulthood?
Explain how the interns work in "hands on" ministry.
How do you involve other church's leaders for training? Wouldn't pastors be afraid of losing their leaders?

Q: Where is ESOM located?
A: It is located at Red Mountain Christian Center, in the beautiful city of Mesa, 20 minutes east of SkyHarbor Airport in Phoenix. The address is:

740 N. Power Rd.
Mesa, AZ 85205

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Q: What is ESOM?
A: ESOM stands for eikon School of Ministry. eikon means that we are created in the image of God. Our goal is to train for ministry by taking part in the study of the Bible and pastorate; all with a hands on approach while using Biblical principles to teach life application. ESOM offers a wide range of benefits and is designed to be one of the top SOM's in the country.
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Q:Why start another School of Ministry? Aren't there already over 300 SOM's in the country?
A: There are currently over 300 and most (and I use the term "most" very carfeully) of them have lowered standards of academia and ethics. This reputation made me nervous to call it a SOM, but there are not many other options for a title. Do you have any new ideas on what to call it?
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Q: Nope, sorry. Again, why another SOM?
A: The general consensus is that "most" SOM's are just really an extensive and glorified discipleship program. I love what they can offer an individual, such as dedicating 9 months or even 18 months of their life solely to God, no dating, and a high level of accountability. These things are great, but some of it can seem watered down, not really appearing like an education that is worthy of college credits. A common theme I have seen is that some typically sell out on one or more areas, leaving other crucial aspects lacking. We have several non-negotiables; Academics/Hands-on Ministry/Devotion/Dedication are amongst the most important.
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Q: If most SOM's don't offer adequate academics then why not just end SOM's and send students with a calling to the big bible colleges?
A: The truth is that many kids need a college experience, i.e. dorm life, getting away from home and family, spreading their wings. But there are a few reasons 'not' to send them to the big bible colleges. My big hang ups come from what many of the students who have come back from college are saying and there seems to be a common thread.

Most of the churches that are near bible colleges have so many students involved their personal internships and leadership you have got to have connections or really have game to get involved. For the student who is shy or not comfortable being pushy may not be able to get involved in the local church. The other big issue is when they come home they are ready to take on the world but their schooling hasn't taught them that getting a job is difficult and takes discipline. It seems like college sets the student up so high that when they hit ground back at home they have a hard time adjusting and some never make it into a church setting as a career, many go into teaching in schools, etc. The other main thing is the cost. Many students graduate with this giant loan looming over their head, so it forces them to seek a job that 'pays the bills' instead of starting small and working in ministry learning and growing from the bottom up.
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Q: What about you? What formal training did you have and are you one of the "many"?
A: No I'm not. I am fortunate enough to have attended Western Bible College in Arizona. It was local so I didn't have to leave the state, especially since I was already married and owned a house. I believe in WBC and see it as MUCH more than some local pastors. I have heard the word on the street is that some pastors see it as a glorified Sunday School, they need to speak to a graduate that attended their like myself. I went there for six years...
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Q: Six years?!?
A: Yeah I stopped 3/4 of the way through to focus on ministry and to allow my wife to finish her degree first, then I finished up two years later. But I believe that WBC is a very good school. The classes are small so there is plenty of 1 on 1 attention from the instructors. There is ample conversation and discussion, even some good healthy debates. Almost all the instructors are current pastors so their life application to school material is recent and fresh, that is HUGE for students. And of course I would be amiss if I were not to mention the cost. Don't get me wrong but I HATE the cost of most Bible colleges. People graduate and get into ministry making $20-30k a year and are expected to pay off a $40k school loan. That is not good, nor is it good for the schools to be teaching that type of poor stewardship principle. I graduated from WBC with ZERO debt. The cost is about $10 per credit hour different than most Community Colleges. You pay as you go, as a matter of fact you don't get your grades unless you are paid in full. That is a great stewardship principle for young graduates! That same principle applies here at ESOM, we want to practice good stewardship and instill good habits with money.
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Q: Okay so back to ESOM, explain in just a few lines what ESOM is then we can go into detail.
A: ESOM is a program in which EVERY students that has a call on their life; from full-time to part-time ministry, or even helping in ministry should upon graduating High School consider. Every pastor that has students called into minstry that wants to keep them involved in their local church should look at enrolling them here, we both win out. They will be enrolled with ESOM taking 8 classes (WBC credits) per year at Red Mountain Christian Center as well as working as interns in the eikon student ministries, and they will also take 6 classes called Core Development on top of their college classes, that I developed. They are huge for the developmental stages of adulthood. Then all the students are actively working 'in' ministry. This is a requirement. What we do different is students from other churches can attend our SOM while serving at their church.
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Q: You said that ESOM is for anyone that is called into ministry or to be a part of ministry, how so?
A: Well the Core Development should be something every person takes, it sets them up to be successful in life, have good balance and a good perspective. For the person who is called into full/part-time ministry, it is a no-brainer. They need biblical education. Better than just education, is the hands on 'experience' they will receive in their two years at ESOM. For the person who may go on to work in the secular field as a teacher, fire fighter, retail, etc. they still could use the schooling immensely. They, at some point, may be involved in their local church teaching/preaching, etc. and even for their workplace. They will have learned so many life skills taught with the bible as their basis. Once they finish our program they can continue in their education for whatever degree they so choose.
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Q: Why did you decide to team up with WBC?
A: Well I look at it as more than just teaming up with them, it is a partnership. The strength to it is we both benefit. They now will enroll many more students because of our ability to market and use our resources of ministry. They have won because we become a satellite campus for WBC that is an open campus so that any other people taking classes through WBC could attend one of our classes. We loved the idea because that offers more voices and discussions that help one learn more. We win because we have a physical and local school. I encourage our students to be taking extra classes in the evening or summer that is not part of our program that works toward their degree. Once we have housing it will benefit both WBC and ESOM because we can host students from out of state that WBC would not have been able to because they do not have housing. I believe in WBC and want to see it grow and expand and become a very successful school. I graduated their and loved it.
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Q: What is Core Development?
A: See Core Development.
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Q: Why is Core Development important in maturing into adulthood?
A: When I sat down with Pastor Ryan, licensed counselor, he said if our life was a table the six areas of Core Development (he called them the six pillars of life) would be the legs. Each one of the Cores are vital for us to maintain and balance healthy life. Because it deals with every area of our life in this process there will be healing and release as well as personal discovery and personal learning that will happen.
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Q: Explain how the interns work in "hands on" ministry.
A: In many ways. First is in our youth services. In our JRHi service they literally run the entire service from overseeing worship, to service order, games, prayer and then on a rotation for preaching. On our mid-week service, eikonLIVE, they lead worship, do announcements, and run our Twitter side notes. Each intern is also over a specific Cause. The event calendar is laid out with me and the interns. Our Winter Retreat is ran by the interns and I speak and help out in what ever ways I can. They truly are responsible for running most of the ministry. Don't ever tell them this but there are more of them than me, if they overthrew me they would probably do a better job than me, there is power in secrecy, ;).
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Q: How do you involve other church's leaders for training? Isn't it tough for the pastor to be afraid you might try to 'steal' their leaders?
A: The truth is we could absolutely use this selfishly but that is not what God has called me to do. Tim Black, our District Youth Director challenged us to double our youth ministries in Arizona by 2015. The best way is going to all the churches that don't have youth ministries and beginning a youth ministry. But also helping the current groups grow. My heart and soul is kingdom minded. To be honest I don't want their leaders or interns, I want to take them and pour into them and send them back to make the 2015 vision grow to completion. One of the rules for a cross-over student is they will not be allowed to attend ANY of our services or events without prior verbal consent between me and their leader/pastor. We want to be completely accountable to our team player churches and pastors. Our goal in this is to strengthen the church at large, not just ours.
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Core Development Creation

When I first began the intern program and when ESOM was still in it's dreaming/creation process I had come up with a few areas that I wanted every student that was an intern to go through. I had brainstormed some topics and was really seeking God about what it needs to look like.

I met with Ryan Darrow, a pastor on staff who is a licensed counselor in Arizona, to discuss the basic human attributes from a psychological point of view. He looked at what I had put together and thought it was great. He then explained the "Six Pillars of Life." He said if your life was a table they would be the six legs. They are:

• Spiritual
• Emotional
• Sexual
• Financial
• Social
• Family

I looked these and studied their attributes for a while until God gave me a clearer direction for it. I named it Core Development. I recognized that these six attributes are the core of every human as they grow and mature. I also realized that if people were strong in these areas then they would be a strong adult in all areas and be able to manage life much better. So I called it Core Development.

So I began looking at each topic and found a better order in which to offer them, so that they had a natural process of growth, it is:

1. Family - Knowing who you are by where you came from.
2. Emotional - Now this is who you are.
3. Spiritual - Who does God say you are about what you think about yourself.
   
4. Sexual - How who you are explains much about your sexuality.
5. Social - All the previous step explains your social disposition.
6. Financial - How to be a responsible adult financially.

I renamed the Core Development classes to:

1. Developing the Core of Origins - CD101
2. Developing the Internal Core - CD102
3. Developing the Pneuma Core - CD103
4. Developing the Sensual Core - CD104
5. Developing the Core of Relating - CD105
6. Developing the Financial Core - CD106

I then began creating each one as a class that would range from 4 to 6 weeks in length. I built a syllabus for each of them with books to read and weekly one-page journals and a final paper that is typically a 5 page report on the subject. Each class would include different forms of learning like lecture, guest lecture, class discussion, group projects, electronic discussion through forums/emails/instant messaging, and also conference calls.

See All Core Developments:
CD 101
CD 102
CD 103
CD 104
CD 105
CD 106