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Quotable Tuesday

March 23, 2010 in church philosophy and methods, quotable Tuesday, quotes with 1 Comment

I am going to try something on Tuesdays starting today.  I love to read.  With my reading I come across a lot of good quotes that motivate, inspire and convict me to serve Jesus better and to love people more.  I want to pass some of those along here on my blog.  I tend to share these quotes, and many more on Twitter if you want to follow.  I hope they will motivate, inspire and convict you as well.

This first quote I read on Scott Hodge’s blog a couple years ago.  It inspired me to continue charting a course that I felt God wanted me to be on in ministry.

“Until you get your focus OFF of the people who are disgruntled, unhappy, unsupportive, and resistant to the direction God has called you to go, and ONTO those who are excited, supportive and on board, you will NEVER gain momentum and see a new culture created in your church.”

What are your thoughts about this?

Just because you do it, does not mean you should!

February 16, 2010 in change, church philosophy and methods, growth with 1 Comment

Many times churches get this idea that being busy and starting more things is the same as being a success.  It is easy to think that the more ministries you start, the better the church must be doing.  But here is the deal, more things going on is NOT the goal.  The goal should be to see lives changed.  You could be a church of 50 or 500, and have 25 different ministries, but if it is not producing life change in people, you are not being effective or successful.  Here are a few more thoughts:

  • If the ministries you are doing now are not producing any life change in people, you need to get rid of it.
  • If starting a new ministry means another job for an already stressed out, overloaded staff member, you probably do not need it.
  • If your idea of growth is doing something else, and not spiritual maturity in people, you likely do not need to do anything else.
  • If you think that keeping your people busy is more important than letting them get out into the world to make a difference and have influence, you do not need another ministry.
  • If you have to get up and beg people to attend a ministry event every time you have it, you do not need it because it must not be producing life change in people, or they would come.
  • If you have to guilt people into doing something, you do not need to do it.  It obviously is not an effective means to life change for your people.
  • Just because the church down the street does it, does not mean you need to do it.
  • Just because you have always done it, does not mean you should still be doing it.

So, what are your thoughts?  Do you think less is more or more is more?

One Of My Favorite Quotes

December 8, 2009 in change, church philosophy and methods, leadership, the church with 1 Comment

I was going through my Evernote notebook clips last night and came across a quote that I found on a blog a couple of years ago:

“The greatest opposition to what God is doing today comes from those who were on the cutting edge of what God was doing yesterday.”
- R.T. Kendall, pastor of Westminster Chapel

This had two implications for me:

  1. A lot of the people that I was taught to revere and respect as I was growing up were actually fairly progressive in their approach to ministry (for their time). What they did may not be considered progressive today, but it was then!  In fact, today most churches have been there and done the things that were considered progressive back then.
  2. I am still just under 40, but I never want to be the opposition to God’s moving in this (or any) generation.  Who has the right to say that God was done working in the 50′s. 60′s or 70′s?  Who has the right to say that the 90′s Praise and Worship music was the ultimate sound that God wanted.  None of us do.  We need to allow God to work today just as He did in those decades.  Creativity did not reach its pinnacle. Evangelism and preaching did not reach its final end.  Things continue to progress. Things continue to change.  They will until Christ returns.  In fact, we will even sing a “New Song” in heaven.  Some of you will not like that song either!

Does This "Church Math "Add Up For You?

December 2, 2009 in church philosophy and methods, leadership, the church with 0 Comments

Read this post at Tony Morgan’s blog.  I am still processing through some of it, but I found it to be very, very accurate.  What are your thoughts on it?

more staff = fewer volunteers

lack of planning = financial challenges

more meetings = less ministry

unclear vision = packed ministry calendar

packed ministry calendar = volunteer burnout

same methods = same results

Read more of them on Tony’s blog. Good thoughts or not?  What do you think?

Disturbing…

October 17, 2009 in change, church philosophy and methods, the church with 0 Comments

All I know is that I get sick of hearing and seeing stuff like this.  I wish I could apologize to the community this church is located in…

Comments?

Catalyst Take-Aways #4

October 16, 2009 in change, church philosophy and methods, Conference, leadership, the church with 0 Comments

Ctlyst

Take-away #4 from Chuck Swindoll

“Tradition is the living faith of those dead passed down.  Traditionalism is the dead faith of those still living.”

(Yes, another one from Chuck Swindoll!  I have one more from him, as he is such a well of wisdom!)

My thoughts:

  • I think too many people buck tradition because it is tradition and no other reason.  I used to work for a pastor that said,  “tradition is good, if it is good tradition.”
  • I also think too many people hold on to tradition just because it is tradition.  Not all tradition is good.  Just because it was done does not mean it should still be done.
  • When your focus is on Jesus, and helping people take steps towards Jesus, you will hold on to some tradition.  Even if you are a progressive, contemporary church, you will still have some tradition, and you will create your own tradition.  That is not a bad thing.
  • The difference between tradition and traditionalism is where it lies in your worship.
  • Tradition is good when it is used as part of your worship.  Traditionalism is taking tradition and making it the object of your worship.
  • Is does not matter if you use hymns or contemporary music, whether you dress in a suit and tie or wear blue jeans; both extremes can be a focus of traditionalism.
  • The key: Keep your eyes on Jesus and be who God called you to be.  Realize that there are differences.  Learn to celebrate the differences and be glad that those differences allow us to reach different people. And remember, God is the focus of our worship.
  • Use tradition to worship Him, but do not let it become the focus or our worship and turn in to traditionalism.

Catalyst Take-Aways #3

October 15, 2009 in change, church philosophy and methods, commitment and surrender, Conference, leadership with 0 Comments

Ctlyst

Take-away #3 from Chuck Swindoll

“When God wants to do an impossible task, He takes an impossible person and crushes them. Leave room in your life for the crushing”

  • If this is true, then I should welcome the valleys and struggles in my life as opportunities for spiritual growth.
  • It is easy to plan everything so well that we forget to include God and His plan in things. We plan for all kinds of success, but very rarely plan for tough times.  They will come!
  • With this take-away in mind, Chuck also said, “Brokenness and failure are necessary.”  That hurts to hear.  That is not what I want. It is not really what anyone wants.  But we grow more in the hard times than we do the good times.  The good times show us how good we can be.  The times of brokenness allow us to see how good God can be.
  • This also reminds us that God’s way is better than our way.  Our way would be easy, God’s way is never always easy, and often causes great pain.
  • Chuck also said, “It is painful to obey.  You will be giving up your way for the cross.” Man, that is tough to hear, and harder to practice!

Catalyst Take-Aways #2

October 14, 2009 in change, church philosophy and methods, Conference, contentment, leadership, the church with 3 Comments

Ctlyst

Take-away #2 from Rob Bell

“When you live a life of obedience to God, you will not want anybody else’s life“

  • If I am obeying God, and walking the the path that he has set before me, I will not want anyone else’s life.  I will be satisfied knowing that I am doing all that God has called me to do, whether it is in a church of 50 or 5000.
  • When I am living a life of obedience, I will be satisfied with what God has called me to do, and therefore I will not question the motives or seek to criticize someone else for what they are doing in their church or ministry.  I will be content, knowing that God has placed me where I am.
  • Because I will be content, and because I will not criticize other people’s ministries to try and minimize their success (and God’s blessing) and lift up my ministry, I can celebrate with others when they achieve great things for God, and be happy that the Kingdom is being enlarged through their work (and God’s blessing!).
  • This frees me up to be who I am, who God created me to be, and keeps me from trying to be someone else just because of their size and influence.
  • This also will give me a team mentality.  The church down the street is NOT my competition in any way. If they are preaching the Gospel, they are my team mate, and as such, I will do whatever I can to help them reach people as well.

Catalyst Take-Aways #1

October 13, 2009 in change, church philosophy and methods, Conference with 1 Comment

Ctlyst

I spent last week with some of the pastoral staff at the Catalyst Conference in Atlanta. I have wanted to attend this conference for quite some time, so it was a a blessing to be able to go and learn from so many leaders.  There were many things that struck a cord with me while I was there, so, I thought I would take this week and go over some of the take-aways I had from this meeting.

Take-away #1 from Andy Stanley

“God wants us to be more interested in making His mark than our mark”

  • It is easy to get caught up in trying to build something for our sake rather than God’s sake.  In fact, when we get caught up in building rather than obeying we are missing out on God’s best for our lives and for our church. It is God that builds the church, we are just to walk in obedience to Him as we serve.
  • We should not be concerned about if God is on our side, but rather that we are on God’s side, because His is the only one that matters.
  • Living to make my mark is too small of a thing to give my life to, but God’s mark is worth giving my life to.  No matter how great I am (or think I am), it is but a drop in the bucket compared to the greatness of God!
  • God takes full responsibility for a life wholly devoted to Him.  What a great thought!

I would love to hear some of the take-aways that you got from Catalyst if you attended!  Leave a comment and share!

National Worship Leaders Conference Recap

July 30, 2009 in church philosophy and methods, Communion, conferences, leadership, Worship with 1 Comment

Picture 1

It has almost been one week since the conference ended, so I thought I would share a few quick thoughts about the National Worship Leader Conference.  Overall, I was very impressed with the conference, but let me give a few more detailed remarks.

  • The church that we met at, Church of the Resurrection, was an excellent host.  The facilities were awesome, and the staff that kept them maintained and clean after such an event did a fantastic job!  I cannot wait to go back next year!
  • The organization of the conference was also tops! They moved us along smoothly from one event to the other.
  • The sessions that they offered were very diverse.  Everything from churches using the web to songwriting to rehearsing your band.  All the sessions I attended were very well done!
  • The opportunity to be up close to the artist was also a great treat!  Many times artists that tour are very hands off, but Paul Baloche, Vicky Beeching, Laura Story, Tommy Walker and many others were walking the halls and chatting with people like they were old friends (and I am sure that some were).  I appreciate it when people are real and approachable like that.
  • Something else about the artists that thrilled me was the fact that most of them were involved in local church ministries.  They may tour some, but when they are home, they are leading worship and involved.  I love that!  That makes what they do on stage much more effective in my book!
  • I enjoyed being able to worship with worshipers! I imagine that it was just a taste of what heaven will be like! People singing their guts out in praise to the King of Kings! No folded arms saying, “I dare you to move me!”  It was awesome!  There was no arguing about song selection or volume or who got to do what… no one cared, we were there to worship!
  • It was also a great treat to meet many people that I know only by being connected through the web.  I have met many people through facebook and Twitter, but to get to meet them in person was awesome!  It was great to meet and spend time with Gary Durbin, Fred McKinnon, John Saddington, Rich Kirkpatrick, Kim Bontrager, Ben Abu Saada, Wisdom Moon, Jonathan Riggs, Jim Drake, Chris Gambill, Nick Arbuckle and many others.

I would encourage those who are on the fence about attending this conference that it is well worth the money to attend. It will recharge your spirit for leading God’s people in worship! It is good to connect with other worship leaders and to hear their stories.  Hope to see you next year!

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