August 2004

Free Online Training Designed Especially for Church Volunteers

Recently in a men’s small group, we were talking about James 5:16, which says in part, “confess your sins to each other and pray for each other.” A very stimulating question was posed: “How many of you—if you committed the most heinous sin—have a Christian friend in your life (another man) to whom you could confess your sin openly and honestly?” While all present indicated a deep desire for such a relationship, less than 20 percent of us present had such a relationship in place and functioning. I honestly believe that we—and those around us—Christians and non-Christians—are desperate for authentic heart connection and community. Why? Because God made us ALL with the legitimate need for community and heart connection with Him and others—but relatively few of us have actually experienced it.

To find out exactly how a lack of heart connection may be killing you and those around you—and what you can do about it—take the next eight minutes to read “Created for Connection” in this summer edition of Cadre Connection.

[  View Website Version ]

Once I joined three pastor friends for a twenty-six hour drive to and from a leadership conference (talk about carving out time for community and heart connection). Along the way, one of my pastor friends looked at me and said, “OK Allison, what is your definition of community?” Without flinching, I said three words: “Naked and unashamed.” My three pastor friends grew curiously quiet as they pondered my strange definition of community—and then they became somewhat distressed as they pondered the fact that they all would be staying in the same hotel room with me later that night. So I had to explain.

Searching for Edenic Paradise
I believe a significant part of the Edenic paradise Adam and Eve experienced before sin entered the world was the authentic community and heart connection they experienced with God and each other. Indeed, the only thing that was “not good” in God’s estimation of his creation before the fall was that man was alone (Genesis 2:18)—and God quickly took care of Adam’s aloneness problem by bringing him into community and heart connection with Eve! (Check out Adam’s very happy response to God’s creation of Eve in Genesis 2:23.) It is interesting to note that the Bible seems to go out of the way to mention to us that Adam and Eve were “naked and unashamed” (Genesis 2:25). But I don’t believe that this is merely a reference to their physical condition only—though I find that also very interesting. I believe they were also emotionally and spiritually naked and unashamed—before God and each other—because they knew they were loved unconditionally—by God and each other—for who they were.

Paradise Lost… Sought… but Not Found
Notice what Adam and Eve did after they sinned? They covered themselves! Ever since then, I believe that everyone of us have been on a search to find that slice of paradise where we can know and experience the unconditional love of God and people. However, many are searching for community and heart connection in the wrong places! Many Christians and non-Christians are seeking authentic community and heart connection in the counterfeit community of partying, pseudo-friendships, sex, money, work, entertainment, recreation, and even religion. These things pull on our need to be in community… but those of us who have been there and done that know that—while we had some temporary fun—we did not come out on the other side of these experiences with authentic community. That is, we weren’t loved and accepted for who we really are—but instead, we were loved for what we appeared to be, or we were loved for what we had, or we were loved for what we did! It was all conditional. We did NOT experience real heart connection and authentic community—that emotional and spiritual state of being “naked and unashamed.” Instead, we found ourselves clothed in lies and full of shame! Consequently, many have written off the hope of connecting with the hearts of others and have unfortunately settled for the disconnected life. And it is killing us in more ways than most of us can imagine!

The Lack of Heart Connection Is Killing Us—Literally!
How has this lack of authentic biblical community and heart connection with God and people affected us? In his very stimulating book, Making Room for Life: Trading Chaotic Lifestyles for Connected Relationships, Randy Frazee extensively refers to an article by Dr. Paul J. Rosch titled, “Social Support: The Supreme Stress Stopper,” originally published in Health and Stress: The Newsletter of The American Institute of Stress. In his article, Dr. Rosch shares these insightful bits of scientific research that correlate our need for heart connection with others and the quality of our physical health:

• A California study that involved seven thousand men and women found that after nine years those with the fewest social ties were twice as likely to die as those with the strongest social ties.

• A Swedish study reported that middle-aged men who had recently endured high levels of emotional stress but had little emotional support were three times more likely to die over the next seven years as those with close personal ties.

• In another study, careful research was conducted on 232 patients who had undergone cardiac surgery. Of these patients, twenty-one died within six months. Two significant mortality predictors that emerged from this study were 1) a “lack of participation in social or community groups,” and, 2) “the absence of strength and comfort from religion.”

• The American Institute of Stress cites a report that the level of a person’s social activity can predict cardiac mortality as strongly as elevated cholesterol and serum lipid patterns.

• According to Rosch, “social isolation contributes to illness and death as much as smoking.” (Frazee aptly writes on this point, “So if you feel you must smoke, for goodness sake, don’t do it alone!”)

My heart resonates with Frazee’s concluding declaration: “Here is scientific verification that God created us with a connection requirement.”

So What?
OK. The Bible teaches it (Genesis 2:18). Most of us say we want it. Those around us desperately need it. Science verifies it. But are most of us REALLY living in such a way that we deftly connect with the hearts of those in our relational sphere of influence? I think not.

“Love Me First… THEN I Will Love You Back”
What do most of us do? Instead of initiating a heart connection with those in our lives, most of us sit back and wait for others to love us first. I’m guilty of this… big time. For most of my adult life, I just sat back and waited for the people in my life to love me before I would express love back to them. I’m forty-one years old now, and I have come to the conclusion that life is way too short to sit around waiting for people to love me! I’m not going to do that anymore! Like Jesus, who dignified everyone he met by loving them extravagantly, I am learning to take the initiative in communicating my love to those around me—whether they bother to return that love or not!

Getting Radical About Heart Connection
How serious am I about initiating love to those in my relational sphere of influence? So much so that I even initiate showing love to my mother-in-law! And I’ve grown to love her so much that I have started to call her, “My little angel” ….because she is always up in the air harping about something! (Before I get any notes from any of you about me picking on my mother-in-law, I want you to know she gave me permission to use that joke.) Don’t miss my point here: Because I have trusted Jesus as my Savior, I have experienced an amazing love from God—and this love is so fulfilling and powerful that it has set me free to love others whether or not they bother to communicate love back to me! Now my life’s daily goal (though I am not always successful) is to let the love of God fill my heart—and then to let that love spill over into the lives of those around me. I believe that in the deepest part of our hearts we ALL yearn to experience authentic heart connection with God and others.

Getting Beyond Knowledge to the Application of Knowledge!
We KNOW in our heads the importance of connecting with the heart. We are starving for this. However, FEW of us really live our daily lives seeking to intentionally and proactively connect with the hearts of those people in our immediate world. The truth is that the overwhelming majority of us, relationally speaking, are a mile wide and an inch deep. We have accepted the cultural norm of crowded loneliness. That is, we know many people but none of them very deeply. We are busy in many relationships, but very few of us—my educated guess is less than 20 percent of us reading this article— have the depth of community and heart connection with other people the Bible talks much about. Yet, God created us for connection! Do you really want to go to your grave never having lived in heart-connected community with other people—as God intended?

Think about it. Is deep, authentic heart connection with God AND people your reality? Why or why not? Be honest.

What Would Happen If YOU Became an Expert at Connecting with the Heart?
What would your life and the lives of those in your relational sphere of influence (think of both Christians and non-Christians here) be like if—instead of waiting for people to love you first—YOU intentionally and proactively became an expert at loving others. How might God be able to use you if you trained yourself to really connect with the hearts of the people in your relational sphere of influence? What exactly do you need to do to become an expert at connecting with the hearts of the people in your world?

Stay Tuned for “Created for Connection—Part 2” for "Five Great Ways to Connect with the Heart"

To respond to this article, please send e-mail to:  bill@cadreministries.com

Heart Connecting Resources:
One Another Devotional Guide

1. Explores twenty-five “one another” verses for connecting with the hearts of those in your relational sphere of influence:



 http://www.cadreministries.com/store/books.html#1another

2. Youth Group Trust Builders by Denny Rydberg



  http://www.cadreministries.com/store/books.html#trust

Cadre’s NEW Evangelism Training:
Impacting Your World—Jesus-Style

God wants to use YOU to make a difference for HIM in YOUR WORLD!

But where do you start?

You start right where you are. You bloom where God has planted you.

In the Impacting Your World—Jesus-Style training workshop, you will learn a biblical process for impacting your world like Jesus. You will leave the workshop equipped and encouraged to impact your world Jesus-style by learning to:

1. Intercede
“For God so love the world….” It was God’s heart of love for us that drove him to intercede for us. When our hearts are filled with God’s love for others, we too will want to learn how to intercede for those who do not yet know Christ personally. Since impacting your world requires the power of the Holy Spirit—and is not about mere human technique or skills alone—you must learn to connect with the heart of God via prayer for those He has placed in your relational sphere of influence. In this first session, we will pray (not just talk about prayer)—and experience how prayer unleashes God’s power in the lives of those in our relational sphere of influence.

2. Invest
“For God so love the world that he gave….” The natural result of connecting with God’s heart through prayer is a desire to invest in a relationship with people who do not yet know Jesus as Savior—to love people with God’s love. In this session we study how Jesus invested in the lives of those around him who did not yet have a relationship with God. You will learn the Zacchaeus Principle. You will explore eight reasons why Christians tend not to invest in relationships with non-Christians. Finally, you will learn five great ways to relationally invest in and connect with the hearts of those people God has placed in your world.

3. Intersect
“For God so love the world that he gave his only begotten son…” How do you intersect God with those in your relational sphere of influence? It all depends on where people are in their spiritual journey. In this session you will study how Jesus intersected God's truth with the real world of the woman at the well—and then apply intersecting-truths you learn from Jesus to the lives of those in your relational sphere of influence.

4. Invite
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosever believeth in should not perish but have everlasting life.” In this final session you will learn, practice, and begin to master a very fun and effective way to share the gospel—and invite those in your relational sphere of influence to accept Jesus Christ as Savior. When you leave you will be able to share the Gospel clearly and effectively.

Check out these pictures from Cadre's new evangelism training workshop--Impacting Your World--Jesus-style--in Astoria, IL--along with a few pictures of our training ministry with about 75 high school students to be summer missionaries with CEF this summer... the pictures say it all!
http://homepage.mac.com/billc323/PhotoAlbum10.html

For more information on this NEW training, please contact:
info@cadreministries.com

Meet Sam Thompson >>
An Awesome Volunteer at Neighborhood Alliance Church in Longwood, FL:

Laura Wampach, Junior High Youth Director of Neighborhood Alliance Church (pictured with Sam above) write, "Sam and his wife Ann Thompson come alongside church volunteers and students in a unique way—by providing textbooks for visually-impaired Bible college students, as well as audio journals and resources to make God’s Word accessible to people with disabilities. Sam, who completed Bible college and graduate school as a visually-impaired student, draws on his own experience and compassion to help people with similar challenges to be equipped and encouraged in ministry through Clearer Vision Ministries. Sam and Ann are also awesome volunteers with the youth ministry at Neighborhood Alliance Church in Longwood, FL, where they devote time each week to caring for students, working with the worship team and teaching high schoolers."

You can find out more about Sam and Ann’s ministry of encouragement and resourcing for people with disabilities at:

  http://www.clearervisionministries.org

This Fall—Get ENCOURAGED, EQUIPPED, and ENERGIZED!
Cadre's Fall Training Festival

WHERE: Peoria, IL
WHEN: Saturday, September 25th, 8:30 AM-12:45 PM.
One day. Three great training workshops. You choose.

Register now--space is limited.

  http://www.cadreinternational.com/training/festival.php  
  http://www.cadreministries.com/store/fest1.php

For more information hosting or participating in a Cadre training workshop, contact info@cadreministries.com

For Cadre training resources, visit: http://www.cadreministries.com/store

In the spirit of Ephesians 4:11-12, it is Cadre's passion to bring glory to God by assisting local churches in becoming the best volunteer training "cadres" in the world.

Cadre is a not-for-profit ministry [501(c)(3)] that exists to make you wildly successful at becoming what God has called you to become as you serve others in your local church and community. We serve as support-based, God-dependent missionaries to come alongside volunteers and those who care for volunteers in the church (globally) to help accomplish their God-given mission. Eph. 4:10-17

We provide free monthly online training for volunteers in the church (Cadre Connection), for volunteer Jr. High Youthworkers (Batteries Included), and for Student Leaders (Spiritual Caffeine). Visit www.cadreministries.com to preview our recent free training or to sign up to receive training in your email-box monthly.

For more information about bringing a certified Cadre trainer to coach and train the volunteer teachers, leaders, and youth workers in your church, contact info@cadreministries.com

For Cadre training sources visit http://www.cadreministries.com/store