I was honored recently to be invited by the Youth Apostles community to speak at one of their regular formation nights. The invitation was extended based on a series of posts I wrote on Inviting the Act of Faith, which was an exploration on my part of how we can invite people to make an explicit decision for Christ in a Catholic context. The talk I presented, which can be viewed on Youtube below, was a summary of that series with practical pointers for how to put it into practice.

What Is a (Mature) Disciple?

"Unless we are making disciples, we are not really evangelizing." This poignant statement was made in a pastoral letter on evangelization recently issued by Bishope Paul Loverde in the Arlington Diocese where I live. It effectively cuts right to the heart of the matter - the goal of evangelization is to make disciples. If we want to learn how to evangelize, we need to learn how to make disciples. And for that to happen, we need to answer the question: what is a disciple?

LeadershipJim SchusterJanuary 9, 2015evangelization, parish culture, planning, process, simple church, vision, page 2Comment

God's Tithe to Ministry Workers

Everyone who works in ministry can relate to that feeling of, "Is this doing any good?" There has always been a certain measure of this in my ministry, but as my wife and I have embraced praying with people more regularly, that feeling has been amplified. After all, we are praying boldly and asking God to do big things. Oftentimes He does right then and there, especially in the area of spiritual healing. But more often we receive a polite and sincere thanks and go our separate ways, being left with that lingering question, "Did it work?"

Evangelization, LeadershipJim SchusterOctober 4, 2014encouragement, evangelization, ministry, prayer, risk, page 2 Comments

When Theology Gets in the Way

Imagine with me a website designer who is courting a potential client. The web designer possesses a certain technical knowledge that allows him to deliver a product, but it would be counterproductive for him to talk about the specifics of CSS or Java coding with his unknowledgeable client. Instead the web designer will discuss how the website will engage with customers better, will be easier to navigate, the potential new audiences reached, and other benefits associated with the new design. His sales pitch, to be effective, must concentrate more on the experiential side of things.

Looking for a Dead Jesus

A major theme in my newly developing vision for ministry is to carry an expectation that God will move in visible and powerful ways, and to invite that movement of God. My own faith was strengthened recently in seeing people receive physical healing, emotional healing, spiritual gifting, and personal words from God in prayer. As I witness more of this, I think, "Man, this is exciting stuff!" This is very quickly followed by, "Why don't we see more of this?" As I pondered this latter question, the story of Mary Magdalene in John 20 came to mind.