November 2007

As a pastor and church planter I’m constantly looking for better ways to utilize my time.  Since there are no time clocks to punch and I am my only overseer, I’m probably tougher on myself on my use of time than I would be with an employee.  I keep a pretty wore out day planner and I combine both my personal and work calendars in it.  I like what Trapper Woods espouses in his book “Forget the 7 habits and Break all the Rules”.  Essentially, he says because we have to be flexible in both areas, we need to think of our days as fixed amounts of time that cannot be expanded and then, find the best balance of how we fill the amount of time we are given.  Also, he points to the fact that technology now blurs what is set apart as “work” time and what is considered “family” time and that each is different for each person.  In short, we need to make the most of the time we are given.  He then gives several helpful ways to account for our time.

I mention this because two excellent blog posts came across my desk today.  The first is from author Seth Godin.  His post: “(Are you) Getting in your way?” discusses our execution strategy and applies to everyone but has something to say to us as church leaders.  One quote:

“So, as a percentage of the time you spend at work, what percent would
you say qualifies as “marketing”? I’m going to count educating
yourself, networking, creating products, creating media, spending
money, building networks of sneezers, inventing great stuff, executing
great stuff, motivating front-line people and telling stories.”

I like this quote.  To me, it says: “How much of my time am I thinking about reaching others with the gospel message?”  Granted sermon preparation is the number one priority as set apart in the book of Acts.  But after that, where is my time going with people?  Am I building a network of “sneezers” as Godin asks?  By that, he’s speaking of “contagion” which means spreading the “germ” of the gospel.  Am I building a network of outreach to increase opportunities to share the gospel?  I think sometimes as church leaders, we get this turned around.  We think it’s our sole responsibility to be the lead evangelist when the bible tells us to train others for the work of ministry.  That doesn’t mean not doing it but it does beg the question “Am I building others to do this too?”  That’s the crux of Godin’s thought.  Using our time wisely.  Unless you want to be up at all hours of the day and night doing work that others could and should be doing, you need to be utilizing your time in “motivating front line people” as Godin states, building your network of evangelists to take your message, GOD’S message, out into the marketplace!

That ties in with second blog post.  On “lifehack.org”, Steve Pavlina writes about how to “Set an appointment with yourself”.  Among the questions to ask yourself during this appointment?

1. What are the results I’m getting in the different areas of my life?
2. What mistakes am I making frequently?
3. What do I need to stop?
4. What extra energy/money/time do I have to invest?
5. Where would that investment create the best returns?

We can again think in terms of the ministry here.  Have we analyzed our results lately?  Are they what we want both in our personal growth and in the development of our church?  What mistakes are we making then that we need to correct?  He then touches on time in numbers 4 and 5.  Again, ask yourself how you are wisely spending your time?  Are there things you are doing now that others could do to free you up to focus on the more important aspects of your main task?

So much of this advice applies to us if we take the time to prayerfully consider it.  Many times, pastors will turn up their noses at this type of information because it’s not “spiritual”.  It didn’t come from some great Christian author so why consider it?  The fact is, while we are not in the business world, conducting and managing ourselves as professionals honors God.  If we can glean the items that WILL work in our context, we can benefit greatly from them.  Consider that as you look at these articles and see how you can better use your time.  Can you free up some hours by better training and delegation?  If you can, how can you now use those free hours to extend and expand the vision for the church’s ministry?

One of my favorite authors is blogging now.  Michael Quicke, author of 360 degree preaching and 360 degree leadership, is now online.  You can catch his thought by visiting here:

http://michaelquicke.blogspot.com/

I’m looking forward to reading his thoughts.  His series on Trinitarian preaching in the last few “Preaching” magazines was good stuff too.

Today kicks off the holiday shopping season.  “Black Friday” as it is known will generate a ton of revenue for the retail industry as shoppers busily hop from place to place to find that special sale item that they just will not be able to find for the next month (or at least, that’s what the retailers tell you.)

Every year I’m amazed to watch people line the doorways of places like Target, Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Sears, etc.. by 5am or some other crazy time just so they can buy a TV for $50 (or some other similar “draw” item.)  Last year when the Sony Play Station 3 video game system was released, some poor guy got his bell rung (literally) when the mob trying to get into the store ran him into a light pole.  He needed surgery on his jaw just so he could be normal again.  I blogged about it a year ago and still am amazed at the lengths people will go to to acquire a “thing”.  I refuse to participate in such utter mayhem.  I guess if it’s your cup of tea and you enjoy climbing over people to get that “Dancing Elmo” doll sitting in the frozen food section because some other person had it fall out of their cart so be it.  As for me, I slept up until my regular time this morning, did some work on my weekend message, brewed up a cup of genuine Peet’s coffee, and finished reading my news online moments ago.  The kids would like to go out and shop a bit for Mom today since she’s working so perhaps we’ll do that later today.  I don’t mind going out in mid-day or even early evening after the madness has settled but still, I try not to buy into the madness and overspend.  There’s no sense buying it all on sale anyway if you’re going to pay credit card interest on your purchase right?  The interest will eat up any savings you made by buying it today.

On the other side of this discussion was a thoughtful post made by Dustin Wax at Lifehack.org.  Read his comments about “Teaching Kids Charity and Clarity” on his site.  It’s one of the best articles I’ve read on this topic in a long, long time.  Teaching kids to be sensible, giving, and learning good organizational skills in the process is a three-pronged vision of success!  Perhaps if we made this ritual an annual rite of passage, we wouldn’t have the excessiveness that so permeates the real joy of celebrating the holiday.

Have a happy Black Friday!  I’m going back for a second cup of coffee.

“Pastor, we need to leave because we just feel we’re not being fed anymore.”  That probably is the most overused statement in the modern day church today would you not agree?  I’ve been convicted in this “feeding” thought after reading “The Divine Mentor” by Wayne Cordeiro.  I remember a time when I was told in one week that the message I preached on Sunday was “too deep” for one family while another told me the very same week that the message was “too shallow”.  Say what?  I also remember when I used to take this personally but now, I realize it’s normal and depending on the side of the fence you’re on, one response or the other will suffice when leaving a church.

In 2008, our church is going to increase its emphasis on “self feeding”.  I’ve been reading other blogs regarding Cordeiro’s book and the challenge it lays out and see a similar trend developing.  Pastor Phil Print has put together a couple of posts on this topic, including one you can read by clicking here.  Bob Franquiz also did a nice job reviewing this book as well.  If you’d like to check out the first few pages of the book, you can read the introduction at Crosswalk’s “First Chapters” site.

Teaching people of the importance of reading their bibles DAILY isn’t a popular idea for sure.  Oh, we give it lip service in our messages don’t we?  We sprinkle in thoughts while we speak about “taking the time to listen to God every day” and “praying every day” but do we really follow up on it?  Even in a traditional Sunday School or modern small group program do we hold folks accountable for their devotions?  One part in Cordeiro’s book that got my attention was a story he shared about a staffer at his church announcing that he was leaving because he wasn’t being fed anymore.  This was someone on staff!  Cordeiro quickly countered by asking the man about his devotions and when silence was the only reply, Cordeiro willingly accepted the man’s resignation.  This is the type of accountability we need at our churches today.  People who daily meet with God will willingly put selfish desires away and much of the pettiness that we see in our churches that have conflict would be decreased dramatically.  That is not to say that we would be conflict free.  Not at all.  But increased unity would bring about quicker resolution and a peaceful congregation would be the result.

The ideal would be to have everyone involved in a daily time of devotions.  Obviously, that will not happen but we have to strive to make it a part of the church culture and stress it every time someone asks.  Part of our follow up and welcoming procedure at our church is going to include some type of encouragement to get started journaling and reading the bible daily.  It’s still in the works for us as to what that’s going to look like. I know this.  It’s not going to have to be complex.  It’s pretty simple right?  We just want to stress to our people that “self-feeding” is the only way to develop spiritual strength.  All of the other ministries of the church will flow from daily time with our Lord.

More thoughts later..

Wayne Cordeiro’s latest book, “The Divine Mentor” is a great book on how to establish the regular habit of bible reading and journaling.  Sharing his own story of burnout and nearly leaving the ministry, Cordeiro establishes his own need as a pastor for not only regularly reading the bible but also journaling his thoughts and response to what he has read.  In today’s “give it to me right now” culture, the words of this book will both challenge and convict those who’ve been looking for the easy way to spiritual growth.  The truth is, there isn’t one.  If there was, everyone would benefit.  It’s only by sitting at the feet of Jesus every day that one can begin to attain the “mind of Christ” and allow the Holy Spirit to continually sanctify us.

Cordeiro shares his church’s popular S.O.A.P. acronym for bible devotions.  Scripture, Observation, Application, and Prayer are the foundation for this daily habit.  I’ve used this style for a while now since visiting a friend of mine’s church who uses the Life Journals Cordeiro produces and sells them to their attenders.  I picked one up to check it out and really enjoyed the simplistic yet effective nature of the journal.  Even a brand new Christian can follow along in the journal and have success in their devotions.

Cordeiro advises his readers to sit at the feet of the true mentors of our spiritual walk; those whose stories are shared in the pages of scripture.  He then asks that we allow the “Divine Mentor”, the Holy Spirit, to illuminate the pages of the Bible for us.  His message is a refreshing drink in a cesspool of books that seek only to improve our attitudes without connecting those thoughts with the only book that will help us in the long term, the Holy Bible. 

Cordeiro concludes his book with a Q & A chapter on how to effectively master the techniques he shares throughout it’s pages.  I was able to read it in pieces over a period of five days and looked forward to the insights shared by this very successful church planter and pastor.  I am going to recommend it to my church family and it’s thoughts have triggered a conviction of my own to focus on the book’s principles as a way of getting more families in the Word of God on a regular basis.

I would highly recommend “The Divine Mentor” to my readers and would love your thoughts on it when you’re finished with it!

This is why I waited on the IPhone. Google’s app is an open code that will be available on many platforms and services. This will be free and I can’t wait for the next few months or year or so to pass before getting this!

Does having a building make a difference when establishing a church?  A recent article by a well-known church planter posed that very question.  To say the least, his comments left me a bit confused…To wit:

If you are truly trying to reach unchurched people with everything that is in you, it doesn’t matter if you have a building or not. Unchurched people do NOT care about buildings, they care about the fact that they had their lives changed.

In a perfect world, these types of observations make sense.  In mine, they do not.  We’ve met in a school for 18 months now after having met in a building (a very small one) that we sold in order to grow.  In my experience, I’ve met with families who’ve told me it DOES make a difference.  Yes they crave life change but they also crave security and once they see you have a building, it tends to legitimitize what you are doing.  Another quote:

I’ve heard the argument that people burn out being portabe. The truth is that church planters burn out being portable and therefore their people follow the leadership and they burn out on being portable. If your people are burning out on being portable than you have a vision issue. When people understand the vision and buy into the vision, they don’t mind being portable as long as the vision is being fulfilled.

What can I say here other than this statement is just not true.  For this person to make such a blanket statement assumes much from the many church planters I’ve cried tears with to see their vision blossom into reality.  Can we burn out?  Surely but it doesn’t have to be a vision issue.  Sometimes, people just get tired of the endless setup and teardown routine that takes hours!  Some of the churches I see in the blogging world build extensive sets and make huge productions out of their stage presence, including the church whose pastor wrote this.  I’m not knocking it nor am I against it but if the statement I quoted earlier is true; that unchurched people only care if their lives are being changed, then the extravagance at which many go through to make an impression is merely show because the unchurched don’t care about such things…It’s only window dressing.  They only care about their lives being changed right?  Do you see how this contradicts itself?

The second part of his comment, that the pastor may have a vision issue, does have some merit but it’s not true in all cases.  Many times, volunteers just wear out.  I know from experience it’s hard to keep going when there’s no end in sight.  Yes, the vision of changed lives is beautiful and meaningful but if it’s all you have…Many of your best volunteers will still burn out.  It’s not a vision issue with the pastor…It’s the reality that people arrive hours before the service, are wore out just sitting and trying to enjoy worship knowing that in an hour or so (a few more if you’re having two services) they will be at it again putting it all away.  It can sometimes be overwhelming to even the most blessed leader…Just ask Moses!  One final thought:

I will even venture to say that those who were NOT growing before moving into a building that started growing after moving into a building are simply experiencing “church hopper” growth. Those that were growing before moving into a building will continue to grow in a building but they would have grown no matter what.

I would venture to say there is some truth in that statement but a mission church inside a school (or movie theater, etc.) attracts far more church hoppers than those in a building.  Why do I says that?  Because I’ve seen more folks try to get in on the “ground floor” of new church startups figuring they can grow with the work.  Once they see the commitment and amount of work required for such an endeavor, they will either stay for a season and move on or they will just leave immediately.  Well known church planter and author Steve Sjogren calls these people “scaffolding people” because they are there in the early construction stages of a church but just as actual scaffolding goes down once the building is being completed, so these people leave as the church grows.

His article concludes with a rundown of some very successful (by the world’s standards) church plants that are portable.  I’m not saying these aren’t solid churches but I’ve not been in any of them so it’s unfair for me to say.  What I will say is that just because the handful of churches he mentions are large in size, doesn’t necessarily make them healthy and even if they are, it’s not a sign that they have it figured out and the struggling church of less than 100 that’s portable doesn’t.  That was the impression this article left on me.  That may not have been the author’s intention but it was how I perceived it.

More to come later…..

Why do some people make the issue of the Holy Spirit so hard to understand?  I’m finishing up a series of messages on the Trinity and my final sermon is on this very issue.  It seems so many not in church see the Holy Spirit as some entity that swoops down on a person and makes them talk funny and do silly things.  This view is so accepted (or a variations of it are) that many churches and their pastors don’t even talk about this wonderful third person of the trinity and what it is he really does.

Jesus promised his disciples that the spirit would come and lead them in all truth.  He said this to them just prior to his crucifixion so they would not feel abandoned.  The spirit itself descended on Jesus at his baptism and predicated the beginning of Jesus’ earthly ministry.  It must be important to us today right?

Quite simply, the Holy Spirit guides me daily.  In my spiritual formation, he illuminates biblical truth and speaks to me in the still small voice that spoke to Elijah when he was taken up on a mountain by God to hear him speak.  Many of us are like Elijah and want to hear God in the fire, earthquake, or heavy winds.  Many of us will not slow down and tune our ears to the quiet.  I’ve never spoken in tongues, never been caught thrashing on the floor (except when falling over my son’s skateboard), and never made it a point of contention with others.  Everyone’s relationship with the spirit is unique.  One thing I do know though is that the spirit will bring attention to the redemptive work of Jesus Christ and NOT to the person.  That is how I differentiate between the charlatans and the real Christ followers.

What does the Holy Spirit mean to you?  How do you connect with Him in your own life?