Last year, Seasons of Life Ministries celebrated 8 years as a public ministry. We faced some of the toughest work in many years: many marriages in great distress, conflicts within regarding short term application of the long term vision, and financial challenges that made us wonder if 2016 would see us walking away from this mission altogether.
In September, we sought outside counsel from an impartial roundtable of “prayed up” believers. Cristine and I presented the ministry’s predicament with all the brutal facts of its then current reality, including the painful 25-30% funding status. Their unanimous responses:
You two are exhausted.
You’ve been faithful with what you’ve been given.
It’s time to bless your family with a steady paycheck.
So, we followed their counsel, sending out Aarron’s resume, interviewing, praying, listening, waiting on God to use someone or some company to bring clarity and peace. Instead, we received a job offer that created nothing but turmoil when it was discussed. We’re so smart it only took us two weeks to figure out it was not only not a God opportunity, it wasn’t even a good opportunity. In the midst of this, we got an invite to present That Day at a church here in Alpharetta. By November, we had presented the best performance yet of our best script yet to a sold out crowd of nearly 300!!! Amazing!
Following this, Aarron picked up some part time work at a local store a mere few minutes away from home and we moved forward as prayerfully and patiently as possible, discipling a limited book of clients, shifting most of them to virtual meetings, reaching out to a very small handful of couples still in distress, and waiting for God’s next move.
In the meantime, we’ve seen a handful of men and women that were in troubled marriages actually walk out the biblical advice we were able to cover with them and appear to be rebuilding their marriages God’s way. Others will still need a whole lot more prayer, because this kind of turnaround doesn’t happen overnight.
After a review of the books at year end, we discovered the numbers we’d given the September roundtable were way off…By year end, God had used dozens of people, families, etc. to fund this ministry to well over 80% of its need. Armed with that information, Aarron began reaching out to his network of contacts with a much clearer vision of what God may be doing with this ministry:
“leading men, women, and couples to overcome barriers to intimacy with Christ”; this time, with greater alignment between vision and strategy.
In a nutshell, we hope with God’s help, to:
engage the eyes and ears our broadest audiences with our shorter, “That Day” script;
translate those to hearts and minds with our Clean Slate (Gospel Driven Productivity Workshop);
encourage hands and feet through one on one discipleship and coaching from there.
Cool News!!!
To that end, we begin a pair of That Day performances on April 16th and 17th that will lead to a three week Clean Slate Workshop series at Greater Heights Baptist Church, here in Cumming. To join us at either, go to www.thatday.info.
We’ll need all available help to make this happen; so, if you feel like you’re particularly gifted with marketing, social media, or just good-old-fashioned prayer, we’d love to invite you to be part of our street team. To lend a heart, hand, or lips, send email to volunteer@seasonsoflifeministries.org. If your gift is giving, we’d like you to know the most challenging months for this ministry are typically May, June, August, and November. So, if you’re a strategic giver – join us anytime, but keep those specific times in mind and prayer. This month, I’d encourage you to pray God keeps us on track with all we have ahead and that He raises up 3 new regular monthly supporters at $50 and $100 each.
Keep our Stay in the Word community in prayer, as well. Though we haven’t been wildly promoting the app, we’re approaching 50-100 users between IOS and Android combined. If you don’t yet have the app, check out what the buzz is all about!
As always, thanks for your prayers, “shares”, and encouragement!
Discipleship is about growing in intimacy with Christ and maturity in the faith, so we know it’s a handcrafted thing vs. something that’s mass produced. Plus, you and I both know that an app isn’t a replacement for intimacy with Christ. So, I was very hesitant to respond to opportunities to create a Seasons of Life Ministries mobile app.Until two things came our way.
Meeting with men, women, and couples, one of the most frequent barriers to intimacy with Christ people tell us they’re struggling with is this: “I haven’t been in the word as much as I should.”
Enter “Back to the Bible”… These guys have made it their mission to get the bible on the “airwaves” ever since there were airwaves. Now that the world is so heavily shifting from radio to internet to mobile, they’ve begun creating private label apps for organizations just like us. Our Stay in the Word app is designed to help people do exactly that – stay engaged with the word of God. All you do is answer a few questions about who you are and what you believe and you’ve created a spiritual profile. From there, SITW will begin sending you biblical content based on this spiritual profile.Take the profile again as often as you like.
Second, our merchant services provider (eChurchGiving/PushPay) gave us the “Get Aligned” app along with our regular monthly service. So, the price was right for both Seasons of Life and for you!
After 8 years, September saw us on the verge of cutting way, wayyy back to part-part-time ministry and me going out and getting a full time job. Some of that is still a possibility; I’ve cut way back on one on one and leaned efforts into maintaining our SOLM apps, That Day rehearsals, and Clean Slate coaching. In the meantime, I’m entertaining a couple of career change ideas that will keep both my family and the ministry afloat. Plot thickens…
Then, THIS happens…
A friend and I were discussing “That Day” and landed on a performance date of Friday, November 13th, here in Alpharetta! For a long time, I’ve been ITCHING to create a compelling, SHORT (90 sec.), trailer video for That Day… So, we did it. And, it… came… out… AWESOME. (see below or click here)
We released the video to YouTube and social media and in just a couple of days, we’re at 100 hits. Now, it typically takes a while (especially when an event is 5 weeks away) for advance ticket sales to gain strong momentum…
Apparently, that’s not the case with “That Day”. God must have a faster plan:
This morning, 30 tickets blew out the door before I could even eat lunch, and a number of people have spoken with me about bringing their small groups to the Midway Community Church event! To GOD be the glory for THAT!!!
What I’m Freaked Out About?
With less than 300 seats at this venue, I’m a bit freaked out that this performance will sell out pretty quickly. So, I’m giving all of you a heads up – if you’re planning to come and don’t buy a block of tickets next week, CALL ME or shoot me an email to let me know to protect your seats. Some of this is out of my control and if you’ve got unchurched (or even churched) friends that you want to bring to see Dan Matthewson’s wild story, I don’t want them to miss out.
What You Need to Do (in No Particular Order):
Decide to be an organizer – organize a group to come see the show. (Hey, you did this for the game last week, give it a try for something about Jesus, mkay?)
Share the video with your friends, coworkers, staff, small group, etc.
In our household, I’m the numbers guy – “Guardian of the Financial Spreadsheet”. So, when change comes along, I tend to be the most emotionally impacted by the ramifications: need new tires, classroom supplies, low on peas and coffee, torn dress shirt – you get the point. I’m responsible to calculate the need, lead in prayer for provision, and trust God with His reply and timing.
What’s More Important, Time or Money?
After over 6 years in “ministry as usual”, shifting the balance of what the ministry does on a day to day basis doesn’t only impact my financial spreadsheet – it impacts my calendar, dramatically. Most often, change requires both time and money. When the ministry has most often run “short” financially, it’s hard for me to decide if I’m more “nervous” about the investment of time or the investment of money. Ever been there?
What’s Different?
Seasons of Life has almost always been a “free service” ministry – there’s only a few things we’ve ever charged money for, and discipleship has never been one of them. It’s always been (and will probably always be) foreign to us to sit down with someone(s), listen to them, point them to scriptural truth, pray for and with them, and then say “Ok, that’ll be x dollars.” However, four wise men in my life have recently (in the same 10 to 14 days, wow!) counseled me, without my asking them, to amp up two existing programs that we do charge for, and focus attention on them: That Day and “Clean Slate“.
The “Now”:
I’m freshly encouraged by the registration numbers in for our April 18th “Clean Slate” workshop. But, this is a small, “pilot episode” and it will be a while before the ministry begins to see a sustainable financial impact from this emphasis on bible-based productivity coaching. I have opened up for promotion 8 dates in this year’s calendar for potential “That Day” performances and will begin marketing this more actively this month. Again, this leaves a gap between the ministry’s current financial situation and a more sustainable future. Including first quarter shortfall and current April needs, we’re less than $11K away from everything being “current” come April 30. This includes staff salary, replacement printer drum & toner, email marketing fees, and support for a couple of local “Speak Life” families in immediate need.
The Match
We currently have a $4,000 pledge in the mix. If we receive donations and pledges meeting that by Tuesday, 4/15, we’ll receive all of that match. That means, to move April forward, I’ve got to ask any and everyone to help us bridge the gap with donations or pledges by then. Please, help out in any way – individually, as families, businesses, or small groups – to make this happen. We’re super grateful for the work God has put before us and very grateful for everyone who continues to support discipleship, Speak Life, Clean Slate, and That Day. Equally, help us connect people with programs by sharing the links for “That Day” and “Clean Slate” with people you know who could benefit from either.
To Help Directly
Please consider using your online banking service’s automatic bill pay to support – it’s usually free for you and for us. See our support page for details on that and consult your bank’s online banking page to set it up as either one time or regular monthly or quarterly giving. Otherwise, you can also use our online support page to give securely via debit/credit card. If you’d like to pledge toward our matching gift, simply email us at support@seasonsoflifeministries.org and let us know your intent. Thanks, SO much for your support!!!
For years, we’ve been meeting in coffee shops, greasy spoons, and across living room coffee tables with men, women, and couples who are either troubled in their walk with Christ or just seeking to avoid getting off track in their walk. And, wherever two men, two women, or two couples have been confronted with the truth of God’s word, life change has happened.
Small groups work. So does discipleship. So, why would we ever consider stepping out of our “sweet spot”?We’re not.
The Shift?
But, for the past few years, and more specifically the past few months, we’ve felt a nudge to spend a little more time outside of discipleship in order to lead more and new people into more discipleship. We know the value of one on one, but Aarron has also been accused of being very effective in the area of large group speaking, seminars, and performing. Recently, four completely unrelated sources of wise counsel have said the same 3 things:
You’ve already been doing “x” & “y”, too.
You’re really good at “x” & “y”.
Have you considered spending more time doing “x” & “y”?
Meet “X” & “Y”
So, we’re really excited to announce we’re shifting more effort into two existing programs and will be spending as much time as God affords us to reach the lost, the found, and the lost-and-found with them. “That Day”, a one man show about rewards at the judgment seat of Christ has already entertained, informed, and challenged hundreds of men and women in the Metro Atlanta area. We’re making 8 dates available on my calendar for performances through the end of 2014. (Email us for the dates, but think May, June, September and October) In addition, Clean Slate is a bible centered productivity workshop that brings clarity to the confusion and clutter that often attack us on the way to getting things done. We’ve compiled a ton of effective and useful information and presenting it in a half day workshop at the Hyatt Place on Windward Parkway on April 18th from 9 to 2.
How You Can Benefit
Both “That Day” and the Clean Slate Workshop bring their own kingdom value to the table – fun, educational, challenging, and so on.You can benefit from them by attending either, but we need your help with making at least one of those happen:
That Day – Right now we need your help introducing Aarron to pastors, business and bible study leaders, and retreat coordinators. Ask them what they believe about the judgment seat of Christ and invite them to reach out to aarron@seasonsoflifeministries.org to dive deeper into how That Day can witness to those they serve.
Clean Slate – Registration is now open online. Walk in registration is $125 for the day, but there’s a $40 early bird registration discount up until April 14th. Please, read up on it, look for our upcoming promo video, and share this link with a friend, coworker, colleague, or boss. (This week, we’ll extend an additional $10 off registration to our newsletter readers. Register with this link by Friday, April 10!)
