The Secret to Leading Young People Well

Finding Your Strength And Staying Consistent

SPEAKER_03 0:00

Well, you try to copy and emulate everybody else, and the thing is you're not a 10 everywhere. Right. But you are a 10 somewhere. The law of the harvest is like the harvest is always later, but it's always greater. So time plus consistency equals results. And that that's that's in everything in life. At 19 years old, had a a a moment that uh everything came kind of crashing down. I did believe in Jesus. I believe in God, but I believed that he was distant and not close, and I believed that I couldn't measure up, so I even try. So in a moment of desperation, I'd kind of like it was done. I tried to end my life and I had an encounter with Jesus. The presence of God showed up in that room. People are like, what did he look like? I'm like, I didn't see him. I was on the ground, but well, how do you know it was Jesus? I'm like, well, when the real Jesus shows up, he needs no introduction.

SPEAKER_00 0:41

Remember when I used to train with you? How's your training program going?

SPEAKER_03 0:48

My training program is going good.

SPEAKER_00 0:49

Going good. What kind of supplements are you taking now?

SPEAKER_03 0:53

Uh vitamins and creatine, that's about it. I'm not taking much right now.

SPEAKER_00 0:57

You're not taking too much?

SPEAKER_03 0:58

No, because I just moved to our new house and it's just not really set up like I want it to be.

SPEAKER_00 1:02

How long though did I did we work out? Like there was a little period there where you were kind of my trainer. I was just trying to trying to learn some stuff, you know. But I was I was failing a little bit.

SPEAKER_03 1:16

No, you did just fine.

SPEAKER_00 1:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:18

You did just fine. You did whatever whatever the task was, you did you attacked I got a little jump start.

SPEAKER_00 1:22

You kind of jump started me. Yeah. Which, you know, so but uh you know, we go all the way back to I think I was we were talking about, I think it was like 1999. You and Betsy, y'all were recently married, which I had Betsy on here not too long ago where we just talked about you know platforms and raising up people, and and so you guys got married, and then y'all came to visit for the weekend. And it's just one of these things where God, you know, started stirring something in y'all, and and y'all went back and like fasted and prayed.

SPEAKER_03 2:01

And yeah, because we we at that time were feeling Betsy probably more than me, feeling that God was leading us to something different.

A Crisis Moment And Meeting Jesus

SPEAKER_03 2:10

And we had both moved from Tennessee, uh her from Tennessee and me from Louisiana, and we had met there, and that's where we met you in that church. And so we kind of was like, this is where God's kind of planted us for the time being. And so I was taking that really seriously. Like I'm I'm just kind of person that I whatever the last thing God has asked me to do, I'm gonna do. Um, but we came, she led worship, and you begin to cast a vision that I didn't even really know was out there. I I'd never heard it before. I mean, it sounds funny now, but you're talking about discipleship, and I was like, what's that? There's 12 disciples, you know. So we were in this presence-driven, experiential kind of flow, but we were needing discipline, dis discipleship, we were needing definition. And you begin to speak to all those things, and it just really resonated. Honestly, it messed me up. It really did, because I went in the bathroom and I started crying, and I didn't know why I was crying. But it was something that I'd been longing for in my heart that I didn't know how to put words to.

SPEAKER_01 3:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 3:09

So we went back and then uh I just told Betsy, I'm like, I don't know what our next step is.

SPEAKER_00 3:14

Which y'all were working secular jobs, right? You just you you were you were doing roof or something. She was working as a secretary. Y'all were just starting out, and and you you just you knew you had a call on your life, but you didn't you didn't know how to have that fulfilled and and and what you know, ministry is an apprenticeship model, which honestly I we have people listening to the podcast that are teachers and do business, and a lot of the principles cross-apply. A lot of the things you have natural talents, but really a lot of times the things that that are on the inside of you get pulled out and honed and developed by being with other people. So so yeah, that that's that's how our journey began. You guys moved to where I was pastoring, then you guys went through some training. We began to to to disciple, develop you guys. We had a group of people, and then in 2002, we all moved to to the Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex and uh started Milestone Church. And um, and you were the youth pastor and the janitor, and the setup guy, and whatever it is. The whole, the all of it, all the above. But, you know, it's is it pretty crazy for you now to look back? Because I remember you saying, hey, I'm believing we could have a thousand, you know, thousand youth on Wednesday night. I'm like, I never even heard of that, you know. And so then to think we just had like our super series, so at all our campuses, you know, like 3,000 teenagers meeting on a Wednesday night, and then now our college, which I want to talk to you about, is it kind of crazy to you to see what's happening now?

SPEAKER_03 4:59

So crazy because when I moved here to Texas, I moved with a duffel bag of clothes and a one-way ticket on a Greyhound bus. Yeah. And I had a radical encounter with Jesus. I felt called to ministry, but I didn't even know what that meant. I had no concept of what that even was. Ministry to me were people who were um come to restaurants on a Sunday, make a mess and leave and say, God. And I was like, I don't, that's not me, God, you know. Um, and so looking back, uh God put a dream in our heart, and it was scary because I had never heard of anything, I might might as well have been 10,000 students. Like that was unheard of.

SPEAKER_01 5:36

Right.

SPEAKER_03 5:36

And we didn't have any reference ability uh to look at social media and other people. So we didn't know what other people were doing. We just knew what what we had. And um to look back and see not just our student ministry, but milestone as a whole in our campuses and walking this property, like every time we're here on a regular basis, it is so surreal because we're walking and living in the fulfillment and promise of what God had done, uh put in our heart so many years ago. Right. And it it's just still mind-blowing. It's just, it's it's hard to fathom, it's hard to understand.

SPEAKER_00 6:09

I still, I still, I come on the property. I still am kind of like, I s it's still kind of overwhelming to me to think about because it, you know, again, yeah, you look back and you you look at all the the, you know, I told the team when we planted the church, I'm like, this is gonna be hard. Yeah, you did. And it was it was good, and it was hard. It was very hard. It's probably one of the hardest things

From Secular Jobs To Church Planting

SPEAKER_00 6:30

you can ever do is start a start a church, right? But I said, though, we are going to get to see a lot of things that we read in the Bible. And and for a lot of people, they never take those steps of faith, so they don't see. I mean, we have seen the faithfulness of God. We have seen God's miraculous power. We have seen people saved and healed, and and and so um a lot of times it takes takes sometimes people to see something by faith, so other people can see something in reality, right? But we all we could see it, but it's still crazy now to see it. Yeah, you know?

SPEAKER_03 7:14

Uh the law of the harvest is like the harvest is always later, but it's always greater. So time plus consistency equals results. And that that's that's in everything in life. That's in working out, that's in whatever it is you do. So just keeping our hands to the plow and encouraging ourselves whenever we were discouraged, and there were a lot of those moments, but just going back to what did God say? Yeah, what has God promised?

SPEAKER_01 7:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 7:37

And and you got to have a picture of a preferable future. Um, the Bible talks about like, you know, people that don't have vision cast-off constraint. And so we always were looking obviously to Jesus, but it was what was he going to do in and through us? And how could we just not get in the way of that and just keep saying yes every day, keep showing up. And the more you keep doing that, you look back and you're like, how did all this happen?

SPEAKER_01 8:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 8:02

It didn't happen overnight. It happened by a group of people who just dared to believe that God would do something with their lives. We're all different. We all come from different backgrounds, different personalities. But what we did was we laid our preferences on the table and we said, you know, it's all for one, one for all. And we would be able to build something better together than we could ever do on our own. Right. And you just keep doing that for a long time and you look up and you see God's faithfulness.

SPEAKER_00 8:24

Yeah. So tell us a little bit, though, about your testimony, just some, some, some port, not a long version, but the kind of shortened version because I think part of you and I were just meeting with uh with the college kid, you know, and you were telling me, man, I got emotional because it reminds me of me. But I think I think a lot of what God's done among young people at Milestone is because you were in a desperate place as a young person and God God came and touched you and changed your whole life. And you look today at, you know, your your marriage and your family, and and now you have a grand grandchild as well, you know. So it's like all of what God's done goes back to a pretty radical moment, right? So tell tell kind of a little little a little version of sort of your testimony.

SPEAKER_03 9:13

So uh constantly being shifted around between two sets of parents. Um from the time I was in fourth grade to the time I graduated high school, I went to a different school every year, and that was because I uh was moving between my mom and my dad. So between Texas, Louisiana, and Florida, I'd always move. And the reason I would because I I was a middle, middle, middle child. And so honestly, I was I would get in trouble a lot. And so my dad was like, you gotta go. And then I would go and live with my mom, and there were no rules, and there were no, and I would I need I was craving structure, and so I would get shipped back off. Um so I really had, I guess, what you would consider an orphan spirit. I didn't feel like I belonged anywhere. I didn't feel like I had a home. And so um anyway, I basically um at 19 years old had a a moment that uh everything came kind of crashing down and tried to end my life one night. And uh I did believe in Jesus. I believed in God, but I believed that he was distant and not close, and I believed that I couldn't measure up, so why even try? So, in a moment of desperation, not trying to cry out for help, I I I I kind of like it was done. I tried to end my life and I had an encounter with Jesus. The presence of God showed up in that room. And you know, when I tell that, people are like, Well, what did he look like? I'm like, I didn't see him. I was on the ground, but well, how do you know it was Jesus? I'm like, well, when the real Jesus shows up, he needs no introduction. I knew I was, I knew immediately what happened. And I felt a hand touch me and and I knew it was Jesus. And you would think in that moment that I would be like, Oh, you're real. Like, this is not a fairy tale, and that's not what happened. I was screaming, I want to die. Where were you when this happened and that happened? And uh, best friend walked in, didn't know I was there, lying on the ground. And uh I look up at him and he's like, Oh my god, thought I OD'd. Uh, I was involved in a lot of things that probably shouldn't have been. And um, and I'm telling him about Jesus showed up and thought it was crazy. So he started calling 911, and I was like, stopped him, and then friends came over. The gist of it is five days later, um, I gave my life to Jesus. Um, one of my friends that was there, he said, Man, my mom's a strong Christian. And I I I said, Can we go talk to her? I didn't I never met this woman before. And so I told her my story, what happened. She believed me. None of my friends believe me. And I said, Ma'am, I don't know who you are, and I don't even know who I am. But if I if you could show me who Jesus is in the Bible, I believe he'll tell me who I am. So for three and a half hours, she sat there and opened the gospels to me, and I still didn't give my life to Jesus that night. I was really counting the cost. I didn't know what that was.

SPEAKER_01 11:42

Right.

SPEAKER_03 11:42

And so I counted the cost, and I'm like, you know, all my decisions and choices have got me what? Heartache, pain, depression, disappointment. And so I gave my life to Jesus, and for three months, all that God spoke to me was move to Texas and reconcile your relationship with your father. I was like, it's not happening. But that's all that God would tell me to do. And I realized if I'm gonna walk with Jesus, I'm gonna have to obey what he asked me to do, even though it's difficult and hard. I didn't, my truck was repossessed because of the drugs and things I was in. So I didn't have a vehicle. I barely had $100 to my name. I w had a friend bring me to Walmart, bought a duffel bag, put my clothes in it, and then he dropped me off at the Greyhound bus station in the morning. And uh I came here scared to death because I didn't know what my future looked like, and I didn't know how facing my father would go. And but I knew I had Jesus. And so I came here and I cried the whole way. It was like 13 hours on a bus. And um, I was scared, but God just began to show up. Yeah, and I didn't have any friends, I didn't know anyone. And uh, so I got a job the next day, and uh I was getting dropped off, and the boss was like, You don't have I told her my story, and she's like, Here's a company vehicle, you can drive that. So it's like God was showing me, just trust me, Tyron. Went and got a gym membership for a year and a half. All I did was go to work, work out, come home, and spend three or four hours in my room trying to figure out who is Jesus. Yeah. And I would read the Bible and I didn't even know what I was reading. I would pray, I didn't know how to pray, and I would tell Jesus, like, I love you, like I'm yours, but this is awkward. I I don't even know what to do. Imagine being in a room with a stranger and you're trying to have a conversation, and after the pleasantries, you don't know what to say.

SPEAKER_01 13:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 13:15

Um, I met a friend. It's a funny story because uh I was at the gym working out, and this guy had a cross necklace on, and I didn't have one Christian friend. Didn't know one Christian my age growing up, um, because I grew up in a small town in South Louisiana, it was predominantly Catholic. So I see this guy and he's working out. I was like, that dude's gotta be a Christian. And I walk up to him, he racks his dumbbells. I said, Hey, bro. And he's like, Yeah, took headphones off. I was like, Are you a Christian? He said, Yeah. I said, Me too, man. And we we had a similar past. And we, it's like God brought us together and we'd be gonna encourage one another. And then we we eventually got uh invited to that church that you would come and preach, Brandy's uncle's church, and that's where we met, and it was just a move of God. And so I came here with nothing, but I had everything. Yeah, and I come from a small town of less than a thousand people, and um, you know, didn't know what I was gonna do with my life. And I look back now and see what God has done. And, you know, it's a phrase that I've you've you've you've told me about, but it's something that I I I believe I embrace is never underestimate what God can do with a fully surrendered heart. And so what I've tried to do all those years uh in student ministry is how can I create environments for young people to really encounter Jesus, encounter authenticity, because that's who I am. That I don't know any other way to lead. I'm not good at a lot of stuff, but I can share what God's done in my life. And we've just been able to create these environments. And yes, in leadership we've grown in and structure and planning and all those things. And I think just you look up one day and you have all the things that you have, and it it's not because I'm great or anything like that, it's just because of God's faithfulness. Keep taking steps.

SPEAKER_00 14:57

And so I know we're gonna have at the lead to win gathering in January is kind of the first time we're gonna have youth pastors, you know. And I think, I think what you're touching on is because I think, you know, your test is your testimony, your story, God uses it, right? So he's using all that. And I think we try to, we try to like lay out a plan, you know. I mean, obviously we've adapted, but for us, it's really critical to put young people in environments where God is not distant, but to experience him, right? So I mean, we we kind of we built what you might call the, you know, because I think I think people sometimes ask us about youth and students or whatever. It's like, you know, you have a good student pastor, you have a good student program.

SPEAKER_01 15:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:44

But really for us, I would say it's a culture of family that kids are longing for, but it's also an environment where the presence of God and experiencing God is a part of what we very intentionally do, right? And so we move here, we start, you and I are on the streets passing out invite cards. We got a little rented building, you know. What are we doing? Yeah. It's like crazy. Felt so weird. Which I mean, and some of some of our our team and staff now that have major responsibilities here were some of the first kids in our youth group, right, back then. And so you you you specifically, you know, you still are very involved. Like you just spoke at at a lot of the youth services. You helped, you know, coach and develop our our youth team, but you specifically uh for how many years were you like specifically like doing, you know, being the youth pastor, so to speak. 17 years.

SPEAKER_03 16:39

So for 17 years, and then our student pastor Jesse came along and I walked with him for four years before we turned it over to him, and then was a next gen guy for three years, and then you know, started developing some of the other things that we're doing now. But um, yeah, and and when we moved here, like I was the newest guy and I didn't know anybody. And when I I'd been the longest, had the longest tenure of anybody in this area for, you know, so that's not me. That's just people are like, you know, well, did you aspire to be this? Or I was like, why why would I like why would I want to usurp God's plan and process? Like whatever God said to do, I'm gonna keep doing that.

SPEAKER_00 17:20

Right.

SPEAKER_03 17:20

And that now that doesn't mean there weren't times because I I remember a conversation with you and I'm like, I'm 40 years old. I can't be a youth pastor forever. And you're like, who told you that? And I'm like, I don't know, but like it was just honestly, it was just it's tough. Yeah, yeah. The rhythm and it it's the youth ministry is not easy.

SPEAKER_00 17:36

It's not, yeah, it's a lot of energy and and and and you're you you uh obviously stay in shape and you're but it's emotional energy, the capacity, the team, the people you're working with. But I think it's um it is a uniqueness for us that you, you know, we begin to empower younger leaders to lead, but still, still having that stability and that anchor has influenced

How To Build A Student Ministry

SPEAKER_00 18:00

the the young people. And and so what would you say to, you know, um a church or a leader or a minister? It's like like, you know, I was just visiting with the church and they're like, we gotta, we gotta have a good, you know, our youth, you know, there I think everybody today has that a as a topic of conversation. It's like, you know, how what about the next generation? I think, you know, a church can get old really quick. And it's like, are we reaching young people and families? What are some of the elements that you say, if you were sitting down with a pastor, you know, a lot of pastors listen to this podcast. What are what are some key things? I mean, you could probably talk forever about it, but what are some key things if there's a pastor listening or a youth pastor or somebody that that that make for an impactful student ministry?

SPEAKER_03 18:47

I was just with a kid yesterday starting his first ministry job, church of 500, 30 students. He's pumped up, right? He doesn't have a plan. He doesn't know what he's gonna do, right? Yeah. And so, which is great because I didn't know what I thought ministry was preaching and laying hands on people. I was like, I could do that. I didn't know there was all this other stuff to it, right? Uh I would say, um, first and foremost, I think the success uh of our student ministry is because of your heart for young people. If your pastor doesn't really have a heart and a vision to build generationally, um, you're gonna be just spinning your wheels. It doesn't mean you won't have some success, but long-term success comes from a lead pastor who has a vision that this is not just about me, it's about those who uh are coming behind. I I tell everyone, like, if you if you don't know what to do, what I would suggest, even if you do have an idea, sit down with your pastor if you can and say, this year, if there are one, two, three things that we could accomplish that you would consider to be a win, what would they be?

SPEAKER_00 19:50

Yep.

SPEAKER_03 19:50

And whatever he says, that's your target. Yeah. Make that your target. Clarity is your friend.

SPEAKER_01 19:55

Yep.

SPEAKER_03 19:56

Because if you just start trying to build, but you build a different vision, that's division, you're gonna be uh in in opposition with your senior pastor. I would say that is number one. Two, you you you've gotta have some sort of a plan. You've got to have some sort. And so for me, I think of on one side, um, it's being spirit-led and it's being, you know, discerning.

SPEAKER_01 20:17

Right.

SPEAKER_03 20:17

But on the other side, it's leadership and a plan and having targets.

SPEAKER_01 20:21

Right.

SPEAKER_03 20:21

So I think you can start with a simple plan and have the big rocks be vision from your pastor. Now, if you are a senior pastor out there and you're like, well, that's why I hired this guy, I would just maybe encourage you. Um, man, you don't have to have the whole plan for your youth pastor, but he needs help.

SPEAKER_00 20:39

They need help. Send him to our deal in January. Yeah. I mean, the pastor should come or you guys should do it together. Like we were always evaluating it together, talking about it. And sometimes those targets would shift a little bit depending on the season that we were in.

SPEAKER_03 20:54

Yep. And sometimes I would come up with a plan and I would lay it before you and you would say that you're focused on the wrong thing. And I never took it as correction. I took it as clarity. I was like, thank you. Because I'm just trying to win.

SPEAKER_01 21:08

Right.

SPEAKER_03 21:08

I just want to win. I and I think for student pastors too, uh, senior pastors need to help student pastors learn how to find their voice. Right. And and that takes time. Right. But you try to copy and emulate everybody else. And the thing is, you're not a 10 everywhere, right? But you are a 10 somewhere. So how can you take what God has wired you and your experiences and and and the vision of the house and let that come through where you kids kids know if you're fake. Yeah. They know if you're trying real hard. And that brings you.

SPEAKER_00 21:40

That's why youth pastors are some of the best communicators, because if you can communicate to that audience, then you you're really good because they don't, they, they don't, they don't really fake it very well.

SPEAKER_03 21:49

So I would just say sit with your pastor, pastors, yeah, think about like what are some couple of things that this is what I want to see. It could be a problem you want to address. It could be, hey, Want to change the culture, whatever it is, like just give them some targets.

SPEAKER_00 22:04

So we build, we build kind of a roadmap. I mean, we're a we're a Wednesday night youth service, you know. So so in our campuses, you have junior high and high school, and then you know, at at Keller, and as our our group got bigger, we split to high school, junior high. So we're gonna we're gonna even have somewhat of a rhythm, the same way the church has a message map on what we're taking them through and when. We've mentioned super series, so we have a couple of times a year that are really kind of outreach, invite, food, kids. And then we had for years, we had a spring retreat and then an in town fall kind of disciple now. It becomes a little bit harder to scale that when you get bigger, but we still have this big spring retreat that's called Battle of the Sexes, built around, you know, sex, dating, all of these things that are very important to parents. Camp is a big deal to us. We're still, you know, we're even working through that now with the numbers that we're seeing, the volume, but it at as as many kids as we can expose to like experiences, right? Again, if if there's if if if we we're a camp people because we all got impacted in these settings, but if we needed to get away from the noise, then how much more does this group? So I think thinking about what settings are you putting in place where kids can encounter God, experience God. Um, and so so so so we've we've kind of built along. That then leads to it wasn't just about our student ministry. We were always doing summer internships and and and apprenticing things. And so one of our things is this summer, summer internship, what we call NGSL, you know, that's a next gen student leadership where we select kids that apply. They get to spend time with us, very intentional thing. Um, summer staff, intern. We kind of have this a lot of different layers of the ways we get some of our kids that go off to college,

Creating Environments For Encounter And Growth

SPEAKER_00 24:00

come back, work with us in the summer. We're we're just continuing to kind of have this pipeline farming deal of young people. But then in 2020, we started Milestone College. So we we have Milestone College in uh partnership with Orr Roberts University. Um, and so we we they carry kind of the accreditation partnership side, and then we have these students here with us. Uh, we have our largest incoming cohort of kids coming up. We have 43 kids, we're approaching a hundred students. Um, and you were doing youth ministry, then we start stepping into this college, we kind of get it going, and then a few years ago, I was like, You're in. You're in. Like you're stepping in. And I think I think one of the reasons was somebody told me is like, well, you have Tyron who's built your next gen culture. And I know, you know, you wasn't exactly like a lot of things with God, you know, you weren't like, oh, I'm gonna be running a college. Right. What you really understand is there's the academic portion, and we have an academic dean and and teachers and ORU partners, but what you real real need is the culture and the environment that you're providing for these students. And so, you know, what we we just had a deal last night with our uh legacy group in our church and and had some some great some just some great you know interactions, but what would you say, what have you learned leading the college? What do you think, where do you what do you think um, you know, at milestone college, what what are some things that we're growing in? Where are some things we're going? What do you what are you enjoying about this new place?

SPEAKER_03 25:46

I will say it's it's a lot of the same things that I was doing. Here's what's wild is like I saw the writing on the wall. Like I knew you were gonna ask me to do it. And what's what's crazy is like 17 years of student ministry, I was like, man, I I need a break. And I got a little break. And then after about a year, I was like, what am I doing with my life type thing, right? And so when you asked me to do it, I was I was afraid. I was scared because I didn't think I could hit that gear again. What happens if it's not successful? Um what what what have they done? Why don't they get in there and build it? You know, see all the things I had to work through that for a couple days, and then I was like, okay, God, this is what you're asking me to do. What I realized was it's the same students, they're just a little bit older. Yeah, different place in life, not not that far ahead. Right. And um, you know, we've been raising up young leaders for so many years, and it's just doing the a lot of the same things that we've always done, right? But it's just putting a structure to it. Right, you know, and so um, this is a really anxious generation. They're worried about what their next step is, and all, you know, what if I don't have a job laid out? I'm like, look, your responsibility is to steward whatever's in your hand to keep saying yes and be faithful with the little, and God will give you more over time. And so we're we're teaching them, you know, leadership principles, we're teaching obviously building a strong uh spiritual foundation, and they they they help run a lot of things around here. Yeah, they're involved in so many ministry opportunities. So whether they go to the marketplace, whether they go in ministry, right? They've learned how to lead people, build teams, uh, they've learned how to solve problems, they've got in the game. And so that it doesn't matter what they're going to do, they're equipped for life.

SPEAKER_01 27:27

Right.

SPEAKER_03 27:27

Um, because uh they got a degree, they have leadership uh that's that's inside of them that's been built, and and and we've modeled that. And then they love Jesus and love his church. So they're gonna be equipped. Um, and so I I think I look at it now, it's like it's building the whole person. Yeah, it's it's building not just academically, that's important, but it's their leadership, but that's not the and all to be all, it's their spiritual life as well.

SPEAKER_00 27:50

But really, when you look back, you know, like like the the business manager, CFO of Milestone was one of the first four kids. Our online campus pastor is one of the first students here. You know, some of our, some of our, you know, so we've been a place where we train up, equip, disciple. You know, we we have this value of family. Really, Milestone College just became a way for us to facilitate what we already do and really offer, as you said, a more holistic, you know, and so I think some some people ask, why would a church have a college? And you find out that the majority of the original colleges were actually based in, you know, a church-centric model with the pastor being kind of the dean. So it's not as odd as we might think. Um, but what you're really, you know, you were just mentioning, you know, what are your strengths, right? So we're not gonna win at, you know, NCAA football and and all of these other things, though we're developing more with student life, and we've got, we just introduced last night a building for our college and some things that we're believing for. But at the end of the day, what we offer is we're gonna give you everything we've got, and you're gonna get to be in a a formational and highly um practically using leadership. I think I think a lot of people talk about leadership, but like if you a local church, come get you some, you know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_01 29:23

That is true.

SPEAKER_00 29:24

That is true. I mean, it's raw. We work with volunteers, you know, you got to be resourceful. So there's we and we really I don't I I would say something we enjoy. Like I just had a whole group of them come into our senior meeting talking about the weekend planning. Like we enjoy working with them. Like we we don't I've really recently learned this even coaching people, not everybody works well with young people. Like they they they talk down to them or they're you know, when I when I went to school, it was uphill in the snow, you know. Like I think they can tell if you really honor them or you value them. Like we we bet on, you know, and and and why and and we're raising them up for a purpose. Like, I believe, you know, you look at this this last graduating class, a lot of them we've deployed into ministry opportunities. We opened two new campuses last fall, right? We it took us 20-something years to build 2,500 seats. We opened almost 2,500 seats in one month last fall, and it starts getting real because what Jesus said is true.

SPEAKER_03 30:26

What do you got? Who's on who's on deck? Who's on deck? Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 30:29

Do you have a leader? Who can the two new campuses opened up on Wednesday night, and the two guys leading those youth groups both came up through the student ministry, right? Yeah and I mean, I think about Dalen. Uh he haslit, like he got saved here, his family got saved here. They they both went to milestone college. Yep. Luca happens to be your, he married your daughter, happens to be his son-in-law. You didn't know that was gonna happen, but he he's he spoke the first night and had 700-something kids.

SPEAKER_03 30:59

I was just like, bro, you you have no clue. Yeah, it's a it took like 12 years.

SPEAKER_00 31:07

I mean, there's I mean, it's just crazy. So we preach this whole thing of we're gonna let our you know, our ceiling be their floor, and you start saying that, and one day you look up and that's really what's happening, you know. But maybe somebody out there, you know, that that they they have, I think we have a business degree, and we we truly believe that what we're gonna do if a student comes to Milestone College is give them our best and they're gonna be more equipped for whatever God calls them to. But we obviously do have a bent toward ministry leadership, but maybe somebody out there has someone they're kind of struggling or they're stalled out, or you know, how what what would so what would you say if you were sitting with a student right now? Why would you want to come to Milestone College? Why, why, what what is Milestone College? What who are these people? Why would you want to come here? What do we what do we have some uniqueness in in what we have to offer to that student?

SPEAKER_03 32:06

I I would say it's the the the opportunity that we do have, because we cannot compete with Baylor and AM and all the, you know, uh thing. We don't have all the the Greek life and the sporting stuff and events and all those things, but what we do have, we can maximize. And and uh we're gonna build young people in the areas of life that matter the most.

SPEAKER_01 32:27

Right.

SPEAKER_03 32:27

And and that is your people skills, that's your leadership

Milestone College And Hands On Leadership

SPEAKER_03 32:30

skills, that's your team building skills, that is your your walk with Jesus, that is how to be a self-feeder, that's how to be able to serve other people. Obviously, you're getting your degree. Um, but if you look at it, after you, after you, many, many people, not saying you couldn't go to a regular university and get some of these things, but you'd have to go to multiple different places to get them.

SPEAKER_01 32:50

Right.

SPEAKER_03 32:50

It's all kind of here. So if you're like, man, I I don't want to waste this season. I want to grow intentionally. We have a kid named Logan, um, and he's kind of sorting out if he's called or not, right? But he's like, I'm like, Logan, you could have played football, D1 football. Like, why are you here? And he's like, Because I know that these four years is an investment in my life. I want to grow in my walk with Jesus. I see what's happening around here, and that doesn't just happen by chance. I want to grow as a leader, and uh obviously I want to get my degree. And so if I have a degree, if I grow spiritually and if I grow as a leader, I know I can be successful. So he's here. And it's kids like that, yeah, um like Logan, who see, I I want whatever's happening around here, I've I've had glimpses of it because I've been a part of our student ministry. I want to be in it, I want to be immersed in it. And so I would say if you're a parent or if you're a young person, um, and why would you choose milestone college? It would be for those reasons. We're gonna develop your student and not just academically, but in areas that really matter. Right. How to be a good employee, how to be a good teammate, how to solve problems, how to stand on your own two feet. Whenever you're facing pressure, what do I do with that? How to have your identity rooted in Christ and walk by faith, all those things they're gonna get here.

SPEAKER_00 34:10

So it's a four-year accredited degree, and we also like to tell parents that like your first couple of years, you're gonna finish basics. And so we also have said to some students coming a year or two, they're not sure, working on basics, but maybe, maybe they want to be an architect and it'd be better to go to another. So we we look at the value of helping bring definition and clarity to the calling and the purpose of that student because that's what we do every day. Specifically for ministry students, though, ministry is an apprenticeship, right? Like you learn it from the context that you're doing it. And the danger of going to get ministry training, and we're not putting that down. I think whatever, anyone who's trying to move the ball forward, we're on the same team. But if you go and then you're you're there learning conceptually, but you're not connected. You know, so again, when I teach in the college, I preach this weekend. Like I'm here pastoring people, come with me, come to my meeting. When I had them come, we weren't talking about a theoretical Sunday service. We pulled the actual uh Easter service up there and let them, you know, so so I think, you know, getting the chance to not I think ministry big ministry danger is a lot of head knowledge and a lot of theory, but you're not actually very capable at a at impacting people and lives and building teams and and and and so you just know a bunch, but nobody really cares about what you know. Right. Right. So I think that hands-on engagement, them getting I I would say to a student, probably one of the most valuable things you get is coming to our staff meetings on a consistent basis. You know, I mean uh an actual you know, real life, right? It's like the difference in studying business or going to the staff meeting at that business every week, like is I mean, you not that you don't need to study, right? You're gonna learn a lot by being in the actual working environment. That's true. And the exposure we're able to give them to these students, and then we also have students that excel and we have an ambassador program, and we're able to take these kids and give them exposure to environments, people, some of the people in our church outside our church that get to come in and pour into them. I think they they leave with a a pretty holistic deposit into their lives, and and it's really something we're passionate about. I mean, it's really it's crazy again. That's what we talked about from the beginning, right? Like like we started milestone with the vision, what if one day we could raise up a generation of of Christian leaders that would go further than us and and and impact the world, you know? And uh we just had we just had our graduation, we just had several events, and I want to tell you, man, I'm really excited. Uh just you know, you said it last night, right? Like we just you just be faithful, you know. Like what was it you were saying that you just see God, I I sense a momentum, I guess, of what God's doing.

SPEAKER_03 37:19

There is there I without even really uh trying, we've always raised up young people, but it feels like I I've I personally felt the other day, I was like, it don't it almost feels like God saying, because you have continually done this over and over, and that you put a tin over everybody's head and you invest you guys, we're kind of all or nothing people. We're gonna give you everything we got no matter who you are or whatever. Um, God is just accelerating it and He's sending us young leaders, and I'm like, they're just coming from all over the place. Yeah, I'm on phone calls all the time. I'm I'm meeting with people all the time, and I'm just out fishing. And I'm just like, I don't know. I mean, I'm gonna go try to meet with anybody I can. And I'm amazed by the quality and the this the level of students that God's sending us. I mean, every everybody's important, um, you know, but it's just like it's just coming seemingly out of nowhere, but it's it it didn't just happen.

SPEAKER_01 38:12

Right.

SPEAKER_03 38:12

It's it's we've always done it. It's just accelerating. And I feel like for where we're going as a church and planning multiple campuses, it's it's just God's timing.

SPEAKER_00 38:22

Right, right. Yeah. It's it's always and it's always about the leaders, right? Like it's not everybody thinks it's about resources, buildings, money, those things are important, but it's always about the leaders. So if a youth pastor wanted to, you know, or a pastor wanted to come with their youth pastor or send their youth pastor, then that's at leadtowin.com. And so we have that every January. You can reach out to our team. We're gonna be getting more information about that. What if somebody has a student or a friend or knows somebody and they wanted to hear about, because we have Milestone College. We also have a paid residency program where

Developing Leaders And Next Steps

SPEAKER_00 39:00

we have people from around the nation apply to say, I want to come learn ministry, I want to come be with you. So we have applicants for that. Where do you find out about Milestone College or the residency program?

SPEAKER_03 39:10

Yeah, I mean, you can either just go to our social page, you know, Milestone College, or you can go to milestonecollege.org, find that out, and go to milestonechurch.com, we're we're on there as well. So it's pretty easy to find. Um, and I would I personally would love to have a conversation. Anybody wants to have a conversation um because we're in the we're in the leadership business, you know. So Jesus, Jesus, you know, said to pray for labors for the harvest field. And so um, you know, at one point um you're just wanting money to pay people and and you got a vision, but then it's like we need leaders to execute, and that's the name of the game is leadership. And so I would say to a a pastor, a church, uh, a youth pastor, whoever, just start developing the people that God's placed in front of you. Yes, you know, because the truth is when you saw Betsy, and you saw more in Betsy probably than me, but I was a project, and it's okay. Um, but but just your investment in me and in Betsy, and then in return, us just doing the same thing with young leaders. Um, you look up one day and uh you you have all these young leaders, and it's just because you were faithful with the few that God gave you. Exactly. You know?

SPEAKER_01 40:18

Yep.

SPEAKER_03 40:19

And so um I would even at our lead to win uh, you know, event that we do with with what we're gonna do with student pastors is really help them how to think and how to build and how to build a strategy. And I would say I would caution people from adopting models and just trying to go, if I do X and I get this and it doesn't work that way, you gotta you're looking for how to think. You're looking for like what what are ways to build in my context and how do I uh incrementally apply those? And so we loved, I just sat on the uh upstairs, uh, you know, in in your in your conference room with those uh that guy that's gonna be a youth pastor, and I just laid out his first year. Like, I'm not saying do this, I'm saying here's how you think. Right, right. Here's here here here's what you need to think and how here's the big components. And he was just like, how did I was like, uh a lot of time. I didn't start like a lot of time.

SPEAKER_00 41:12

I'm gonna tell you, we want this to be a place where, you know, youth pastors are coming, getting encouraged, getting, I mean, we we want to give away what God's given to us. So I'm excited about that in January. So I would just encourage people to spread the word. It's a free event, so we want to we would give it all away. So that's another thing. So we'd love to have people. So we're gonna keep marching forward, keep pouring into young people, seeing God do amazing things. I want to say thank you for checking out this episode of the Lead to Win podcast. I want you to know that I love and my team loves getting this kind of content into your life so it can help you lead and win at what matters most. So I'd love for you to do me a favor like, comment, especially subscribe if you would, so that we can make sure that we're able to get to you some of the things that are gonna help you lead to win.