Life-Changing church leadership insights
Friday, June 26, 2009
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Monday, June 22, 2009
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Busy Season
Last week I was busy with church stuff 5 out of 7 nights, today is Father's day, and all next week I'll be out of town training teenagers on how to share the gospel. All that to say, I won't be able to write any new blogs this next week. Instead this week will be reposts, links, and videos.
I'll be back next week!
I'll be back next week!
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Biblical Leadership?
For whatever reason I'm wired to enjoy reading books on leadership, vision casting, and marketing. I just like that stuff. Most of the books I read are also pointed towards church leadership. The problem is that when you compare John Maxwell's 21 laws of leadership (good book I'm not putting down at all) to what scripture requires of it's leaders, the two are quite different.
Consider Paul's requirements for overseers.
When you look at the list, they're almost all character qualities. Really, the only skill requirement is the ability to manage a family. That's drastically different from the lists made in modern leadership books.
I wonder if that goes to show a different in values between us and God. We often value results, growth, and efficiency, but God values character. I don't think there's anything wrong with growing in "leadership skills," but we need to be careful not to confuse biblical leadership and modern leadership skills.
Consider Paul's requirements for overseers.
- 1 Timothy 3
2
When you look at the list, they're almost all character qualities. Really, the only skill requirement is the ability to manage a family. That's drastically different from the lists made in modern leadership books.
I wonder if that goes to show a different in values between us and God. We often value results, growth, and efficiency, but God values character. I don't think there's anything wrong with growing in "leadership skills," but we need to be careful not to confuse biblical leadership and modern leadership skills.
Monday, June 15, 2009
The Church Needs Men: Don't Trust Me?
...others agree.
Western Christianity is in a weird place. On the one hand, we're constantly accused of being man-centered because we don't allow women to be pastors. On the other hand, 60% of church goers are women, and the women often step up to lead more than the men.
A Couple of Different Perspectives
Cody Pope - Dudes
Real Men
Church for Men
Western Christianity is in a weird place. On the one hand, we're constantly accused of being man-centered because we don't allow women to be pastors. On the other hand, 60% of church goers are women, and the women often step up to lead more than the men.
A Couple of Different Perspectives
Cody Pope - Dudes
Real Men
Church for Men
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Setting Yourself Apart As a Leader
Ron Edmondson recently wrote this post on how to set yourself apart as a leader. It's a good read. Here are his four big suggestions.
I would agree that these are things which distinguish one leader from another. However, I view this list more as observations about distinguished leaders rather than instructions on how-to set one's self apart as a leader.
Consider this:
With all that stated, it's not a bad idea to work on areas of weakness, but you can't be something you're not. You can't develop instincts you don't have. Instead of focusing on being mediocre at something you're bad at, focus on being the absolute best at something you're good at.
- (1) Having the right connections and by networking
(2) A great idea and the faith or “guts” to go for it
(3) Working harder and smarter than everyone else
(4)Being at the right place at the right time
I would agree that these are things which distinguish one leader from another. However, I view this list more as observations about distinguished leaders rather than instructions on how-to set one's self apart as a leader.
Consider this:
- (1) Networking
If you're not naturally gifted at networking, you'll waste your time and energy attempting to improve something you're not good at. You should focus that energy into something you are gifted at.
(2) Ideas & Guts
If you're not an idea person, you can't force yourself to have ideas. Likewise, if you don't naturally have guts and tenacity, you'll drain yourself physically and emotionally acting contrary to your nature if you try to be gutsy.
(3) Work Harder and Smarter
People without a natural drive for excellence can put in more effort occasionally, but it isn't sustainable. To consistently work harder and smarter than others, you have to have a natural drive and be a self-motivator.
(4) Right Place, Right Time
On the one hand, this is somewhat an issue of luck (or providence depending on your perspective). On the other hand, it takes a natural instinct to discern when is the right place and the right time. Normally there are plenty of leaders around the right place at the right time, but only one person steps up to the plate with the right idea and the guts to pull it off. Everyone else let's the opportunity pass. The leader who sets himself apart can sense when it's the right place and the right time.
With all that stated, it's not a bad idea to work on areas of weakness, but you can't be something you're not. You can't develop instincts you don't have. Instead of focusing on being mediocre at something you're bad at, focus on being the absolute best at something you're good at.
Friday, June 12, 2009
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Questions Churches Should Ask: Do we look like Acts 2 or 1st Corinthians?
The first picture of the early church is found in Acts chapter 2. This was Luke's summary.
Acts 2
42 They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
Now compare that with some of the problems which Paul describes in 1st Corinthians.
Which does your church look like?
Acts 2
42 They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
Now compare that with some of the problems which Paul describes in 1st Corinthians.
- Fighting - Theological differences and fighting (3:3)
- Disorder - Wildly disorderly worship (14)
- Selfishness - Some guy drunk on communion wine (ll:21)
- Conflict - Constant fights over leadership (1:10-13, 3:-5)
- Immorality - Sexual immorality (5:1)
- Divorce - Church members are getting divorced (7:10-11)
- Greed - Members sueing each other (6:1-5)
- Pride - People are arrogant and boastful (3:21, 4:18, 5:6))
Which does your church look like?
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Questions Churches Should Ask: Where is the Money Going?
To give you a little background, the church I started attending when I was 7 had about 200 people. By the time I graduated from high school, it grew to around 3,000 people (maybe more). They've continued to grow over the last 9 years, and they also started a church planting movement (with over 10 plants in the last 5 years). I'm currently a pastor at one of the church plants. I've seen God do some truly incredible things over the last 20 years.
With that stated, I also know how much money it cost to plant our church. I've only been a student ministry pastor for two months, but I've already felt the pull to use money to solve problems. There's constantly the feeling that if only I had more money I could do the work of God.
Oddly enough, I don't need any of those things. I've simply structured my ministry in such a way that success is dependent on having expensive supplies.
I'm not Frank Viola or a hardcore house church advocate, but I think we need to re-think how we're spending money. More importantly, we need to re-think how we think about money. Spiritual problems aren't solved by throwing money at them.
With that stated, I also know how much money it cost to plant our church. I've only been a student ministry pastor for two months, but I've already felt the pull to use money to solve problems. There's constantly the feeling that if only I had more money I could do the work of God.
- I need a better sound system
- I need better facilities
- I need money for events
- I need stage decorations
Oddly enough, I don't need any of those things. I've simply structured my ministry in such a way that success is dependent on having expensive supplies.
I'm not Frank Viola or a hardcore house church advocate, but I think we need to re-think how we're spending money. More importantly, we need to re-think how we think about money. Spiritual problems aren't solved by throwing money at them.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Things Married Men Shouldn't Do With Women Who Aren't Their Wife
A pastor, who has been influential on me, recently resigned from his position at his church after evidence of an affair surfaced. In the past I've normally been embarrassed when I've heard of high profile pastors falling into sin. This time I felt sadness and fear. I believe the man loves Jesus and has a passion for the local church. He's also a sinner capable of doing devastating things...just like me.
The following list is essentially my way of processing this news.
Things Married Men Shouldn't Do With Women Who Aren't Their Wife
1) Hold private conversations with confidential information
2) Ride in a car alone
3) Exchange private emails
4) Hold private online conversations
5) Confide emotionally
6) Confide secrets
7) "Vent" about their wife
8) Meet in private
The following list is essentially my way of processing this news.
Things Married Men Shouldn't Do With Women Who Aren't Their Wife
1) Hold private conversations with confidential information
2) Ride in a car alone
3) Exchange private emails
4) Hold private online conversations
5) Confide emotionally
6) Confide secrets
7) "Vent" about their wife
8) Meet in private
Monday, June 8, 2009
Questions Churches Should Ask: Would Anyone Notice If Your Church Ceased to Exist?
The Evangelical Alliance
recently asked this question in reference to a program they were starting. It's a such a simple sentiment, but it has such profound meaning.
I heard a sermon by the pastor of a church on the University of Texas campus, Denny Henderson, put it this way, "Would the University of Texas mourn if our church shut the doors?"
Consider the words of Peter:
1 Peter 4:10
Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms.
We spend most of our time either catering to our members or pandering to the lost. We don't spend nearly enough time being a true blessing to our community.
In the gospels, Jesus' is constantly seen being a blessing to the people around Him. His blessings came in many forms.
Whether healing the sick or helping some friends throw a good party, Jesus was a blessing to the people around Him.
Would anyone notice if your church ceased to exist?
Would the community mourn if it shut its' doors?
Are you a blessing to your community?
recently asked this question in reference to a program they were starting. It's a such a simple sentiment, but it has such profound meaning.
I heard a sermon by the pastor of a church on the University of Texas campus, Denny Henderson, put it this way, "Would the University of Texas mourn if our church shut the doors?"
Consider the words of Peter:
1 Peter 4:10
Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms.
We spend most of our time either catering to our members or pandering to the lost. We don't spend nearly enough time being a true blessing to our community.
In the gospels, Jesus' is constantly seen being a blessing to the people around Him. His blessings came in many forms.
- Turing water into wine
- Giving a blind man site
- Healing a paralytic
- Feeding hungry families
Whether healing the sick or helping some friends throw a good party, Jesus was a blessing to the people around Him.
Would anyone notice if your church ceased to exist?
Would the community mourn if it shut its' doors?
Are you a blessing to your community?
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Who Needs Pastor Conferences? Advance 09 is Online
Before the conference was even over, mp3s of the talks started to appear online, and now you can find all of the talks at this link.
Advance09 Session Mp3s
On a different...
One of the elders from my church went to Advance09, and he pointed something interesting about Matt Chandler's talk. At the beginning of his talk, he proclaims, "I don't think I'm going to say anything you haven't heard." It's very important to note that two weeks before the conference I wrote a blog post called, "They've said it before."
Now I suspect what happened is that Matt Chandler was searching the web for other pastors with the Chandler name. He came across my blog, and decided to paraphrase my work during his talk. If he wasn't a Chandler, I'd probably be bothered by it.
Advance09 Session Mp3s
On a different...
One of the elders from my church went to Advance09, and he pointed something interesting about Matt Chandler's talk. At the beginning of his talk, he proclaims, "I don't think I'm going to say anything you haven't heard." It's very important to note that two weeks before the conference I wrote a blog post called, "They've said it before."
Now I suspect what happened is that Matt Chandler was searching the web for other pastors with the Chandler name. He came across my blog, and decided to paraphrase my work during his talk. If he wasn't a Chandler, I'd probably be bothered by it.
Saturday, June 6, 2009
10 Reasons Not to Invite People to Follow Christ at Your Church
I found these convicting as a both a full-time minister and as a follower of Christ. The blog is written for church leaders and preachers, but most of these apply to all of us who have insecurities about sharing the gospel and inviting people to church.
Craig Groeschel's 10 Reasons Not to Invite People to Follow Christ at Your Church
Craig Groeschel's 10 Reasons Not to Invite People to Follow Christ at Your Church
Friday, June 5, 2009
Leaders are Not Normal Part I
Tony Morgan writes on what makes leaders different from everyone else. Check it out here.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Student Ministry 101: In order to have a different result you need a different approach
I stole this quote from a Craig Groeschel talk on sex. It's a great principle which could revolutionize the way people approach ministry.
Statically, the church in America is in decline. Depending on who you trust, studies show somewhere between 60% and 90% of churched teenagers fall away from the faith after high school. Something is very wrong with the way we've been approaching ministry.
Insanity has been defined this way...
Doing the same thing but expecting a different result
How many churches fall into that category? If your ministry doesn't like the result you're getting, you need a new approach.
About five years ago I was interning at a church. The student pastor came to the conclusion we were producing a bunch of students with lots of knowledge on a variety of subjects, little knowledge of scripture, and little drive to serve. Every ministry we were doing was pretty much doing the same thing. So we stopped doing small groups. We canceled our Sunday night service, and we changed the focus of Sunday mornings. We shifted our focus to small groups on Sunday morning, and we started a service based ministry on Sunday nights. By making the shift we created an environment where students were both learning the Word and doing the Word.
If you don't like your current results, change your approach.
If you don't like the results of local churches, don't copy their approach.
Statically, the church in America is in decline. Depending on who you trust, studies show somewhere between 60% and 90% of churched teenagers fall away from the faith after high school. Something is very wrong with the way we've been approaching ministry.
Insanity has been defined this way...
Doing the same thing but expecting a different result
How many churches fall into that category? If your ministry doesn't like the result you're getting, you need a new approach.
About five years ago I was interning at a church. The student pastor came to the conclusion we were producing a bunch of students with lots of knowledge on a variety of subjects, little knowledge of scripture, and little drive to serve. Every ministry we were doing was pretty much doing the same thing. So we stopped doing small groups. We canceled our Sunday night service, and we changed the focus of Sunday mornings. We shifted our focus to small groups on Sunday morning, and we started a service based ministry on Sunday nights. By making the shift we created an environment where students were both learning the Word and doing the Word.
If you don't like your current results, change your approach.
If you don't like the results of local churches, don't copy their approach.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Student Ministry 101: Expect Nothing, Get Nothing
People rise to the level of expectation.
We naturally drift towards whatever is most comfortable, but we're also often motivated by a challenge.
I serve at a church plant which meets in a school. A few months back we completely removed our Sunday more high school class, and we told our students we expect them to serve. At the same time, we started a new worship service on Monday nights. It is heavy on setup and tear down. The first couple of weeks it required a lot of me, but literally within a few weeks, a group of guys started to show up to help setup and tear down. We created a culture where we were very clearly that we expect high school students to serve, and they did.
- If you treat them like animals, they'll act like animals
- If you don't ask them to serve, they won't
- If all you ask is that they show up to be entertained, don't be surprised when that's all you get
We naturally drift towards whatever is most comfortable, but we're also often motivated by a challenge.
I serve at a church plant which meets in a school. A few months back we completely removed our Sunday more high school class, and we told our students we expect them to serve. At the same time, we started a new worship service on Monday nights. It is heavy on setup and tear down. The first couple of weeks it required a lot of me, but literally within a few weeks, a group of guys started to show up to help setup and tear down. We created a culture where we were very clearly that we expect high school students to serve, and they did.
- If you expect them to serve, some will serve
- If you expect them to help setup and tear down, they will setup and tear down
- If you expect them to lead, some will lead
Monday, June 1, 2009
Student Ministry 101: Sheltering Doesn't Work
If student ministry means pulling all the good kids together and keeping them away from the bad kids and make sure they're having fun...count me out. Building a Christian sub-culture which is "cool" will never stop kids from sinning.
The reason is simple. Sin isn't a bad thing which isn't something outside of us which we need to keep out. It's something which is inside of us which we need a Savior to rescue us from.
Jeremiah 17:9
The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?
Your students need a new heart, not sheltering. They need a Savior, not walls. All walls do is keep students from spreading the gospel. It makes them weird and disconnected from the people they need to love, bless, and share the gospel with.
Yesterday I heard a pastor named Denny Henderson compare this kind of thinking with the peanut table in school cafeterias. Schools have a special table for students with severe allergies. They sit there to keep away from the evil, deadly peanuts. So often we treat church and especially youth group like that. We gather all the good kids together to keep them away from all the evil nutty people of the world.
If that's youth ministry, I need to quite right now.
The greatest spiritual threat we face is our sin nature, and no amount of sheltering will ever protect you from it.
- Christian school won't stop them from sinning
- Christian music won't stop them from sinning
- Youth Group events won't stop them from sinning
- Christian knock-offs of Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, and Myspace won't stop them from sining
- Keeping all the bad kids away won't stop them from sinning
The reason is simple. Sin isn't a bad thing which isn't something outside of us which we need to keep out. It's something which is inside of us which we need a Savior to rescue us from.
Jeremiah 17:9
The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?
Your students need a new heart, not sheltering. They need a Savior, not walls. All walls do is keep students from spreading the gospel. It makes them weird and disconnected from the people they need to love, bless, and share the gospel with.
Yesterday I heard a pastor named Denny Henderson compare this kind of thinking with the peanut table in school cafeterias. Schools have a special table for students with severe allergies. They sit there to keep away from the evil, deadly peanuts. So often we treat church and especially youth group like that. We gather all the good kids together to keep them away from all the evil nutty people of the world.
If that's youth ministry, I need to quite right now.
The greatest spiritual threat we face is our sin nature, and no amount of sheltering will ever protect you from it.
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