Ministry 101 - Dead Churches (2)

Why would I begin writing about things I have learned in ministry by writing about dead churches? It's crazy and no one wants to read about that. That is exactly why I'm writing about it. In my years as a ministry consultant, I encountered too many dead and dying churches that no one either realized were in that state, or didn't care. I care. God cares! We should care!

I love church planting. New churches are great. I've had the privilege to be used by God to help start a few churches. I'll write about that later, but new churches are a lot more fun and exciting than dead or dying churches. They are filled with new life. So why shouldn't we let dead or dying churches go and simply start a new church in its place? Sometimes we need to! However, as any church planter will tell you, starting a new church is extremely difficult, and few make it. It makes sense to make every effort to resurrect a dead or dying church instead of starting a new one. But just like church planting isn't for the faint of heart, either is resurrecting churches. So how is it done? Here are a few steps:

1. Pray

2. Pray

3. Pray. I really mean it. The first three steps are to spend a significant amount of time in fervent, concentrated prayer. This isn't just shooting up a "God help this church" prayer, it is spending hours, days, weeks, on your knees, in tears, pleading with God for His direction and power to accomplish His purpose in that place.

4. Cast vision. Every church and everyone in it must understand, and support, the vision that God has given the church. The church exists to fulfill the great commission (make disciples) and the great commandment (love one another). Colossians 1:28 summarizes this in saying that we are to present everyone complete in Christ. The problem with dead and dying churches is that they have forgotten and ceased fulfilling at least one of these two mandates.

5. Love one-another. Often, the beginning of the end starts with disunity and dysfunction. Infighting and dissension kill the ability of a church to reach the lost. It instantly turns the focus inward from outward. While some d&d (dead and dying) churches love each other, most don't! This is the painful part. Sometimes you have to let people go to get healthy. The easy answer is to fire the pastor, but often it is a handful of people (about 5) that are causing the problems. These people may not even be in official leadership roles, but it is clear that they have a great deal of influence over the church.

6. Be strong, for the Lord your God is with you! It takes strength to confront people. It takes conviction to ask someone to leave the church because they are causing dissension, but sometimes it must be done.

7. Love one-another. I'm talking about Biblical love, not an "us four and no more" love. That is selfish love. True love is given to others. Jesus used the parable of the "Good Samaritan" to show how we need to show love beyond those we want to love.

8. Seek out lost people. People in d&d churches don't know or associate with non-believers. They feel that they need to focus on their growth and faith and non-believers pull them away from God. This is plain disobedience to Jesus' command to make disciples (MT 28:18-20). This is disobedience that needs to be confronted. There is great joy in seeing people come to Christ. If you aren't joyful when this happens, you need some spiritual renewal yourself!

9. Find purpose. Every church has a larger, universal purpose, and a specific individual purpose. Each church must prayerfully discover what unique role God has called it to fulfill in its community.

10. If you want to be alive, live like it! In the body, new cells replaced d&d cells. In the church the same should happen. There should be a fresh look, fresh messages, fresh music. I'm saying you have to spend a ton of money, in fact, you don't necessarily have to spend any money at all. It may simply be an attitude change that brings smiles. Get rid of the look and stench of death! Jesus is alive, live like it!

Most people know these things. They aren't new. They aren't profound beyond the fact that they are Biblical and churches should already be incorporating them. The issue is that many churches aren't doing them! Lazy people or weak leaders can paralyze a church. Growing churches require action. If you won't act, stop fooling yourself and get out, seek Christ to fill you, and energize you before re-entering the battlefield.

Isaiah - Chapter 45

God can use anyone! In this chapter He uses Cyrus (the only place a gentile ruler is said to be "annointed" by God) to accomplish His purposes. God will accomplish His purposes with us or without us. He will use whoever is willing.

Later in this chapter he talks about the created taking issue with the creator and how foolish that is. I love verse 24 which says "The Lord is the source of my righteousness and strength." I am created and am nothing that my creator hasn't made me to be. I know that I am a sinner saved my God's amazing grace. It is He who makes me righteous, but I am certainly not on my own! He is my strength, and I know this every day! I simply could not function without His power in my life.

Backing up to verse 23, when He says that "every knee will bow, and every tongue confess allegiance to my name" He is talking about more than belief. He is talking about being the Lord of the universe. Bowing down means total submission to Him. That is my desire. I want to totally submit and surrender to Him. I know that He is Lord, and that His plans are far superior to my own. I know that He loves me and has a great plan for me. Unfortunately, I get impatient and want do speed up the process. I think I know His plan and act, only to find out that I was wrong. Waiting on God is one of the hardest things for me to grasp and live out.

God is power, and the greatest demonstration of that power is His restraint of that power. He is Lord and could destroy whomever and whatever He chooses, yet He chooses to love us and desires a relationship with us. Because He is Lord, nothing else matters!

Two Minute Tuesday

Two or three times per year we do a big baptism celebration on the patio on campus. This weekend we are setting up a pool to baptize those who are declaring that they are being obedient followers of Christ. Who do you know that hasn't taken that step? Who do you know that needs to see the testimony of others as they take this step?

Are you excited about this weekend? If you aren't, you need to be spending extra time in prayer that God will re-kindle your heart. This is what it's all about! Changed lives! Baptism is the outward evidence of the fact that a person has given their life to Christ. If we can't get excited about that, we have some heart issues that need to be addressed with God.

I have been looking forward to this weekend for months. We're going to have banners and balloons, cameras and video. This is a huge celebration and I hope that the church doesn't just leave after service, but hangs out to celebrate what God is doing in the lives of those who take this step.

It makes me think of a chorus we used to sing:

Get all excited, go tell everybody that Jesus Christ is King!

Are you excited?!

Isaiah - Chapter 42

Verses 18-20 are in your face powerful.

Oh, how deaf and blind you are toward me! Why won't you listen? Why do you refuse to see? Who in all the world is as blind as my own people, my servant? Who is as deaf as my messengers? Who is as blind as my chosen people, the servant of the Lord? You see and understand what is right but refuse to act on it. You hear, but you don't really listen.

As much as God was speaking to Judah and the people of Jerusalem, he is speaking to the church and to Christians today. We see God at work and don't celebrate. We say we trust Him, yet worry ourselves sick. We understand what His Word says, but don't do it.

How many Christians go to church, but don't serve according to their giftedness and don't connect to the church community. We tell God by telling the church that we are too busy for Him that we don't have time for Him. Life is to hectic and we can't commit to anything, yet sign up for all kinds of things in the world (things that aren't necessarily bad, but they are if they prevent you from living the life God intended). Aren't we to serve God every day of our lives, not just a couple of times per month?

Just because I serve God every day doesn't let me off the hook. There are plenty of things times that I miss opportunities to live what God is teaching me. I use the excuse that I'm too busy or that I'm not comfortable doing that just like averyone else does. I work hard at doing more and more things regardless of my comfort level, regardless of my time schedule. The Bible also says to be doers of the Word and not merely hearers only. Every day I want to be more of a doer, how about you?

Ministry 101 - Dead Churches

Contrary to what my heart says, sometimes churches die, and that's not always a bad thing!

First, what is a dead or dying church?
A dead or dying church is one that is no longer fulfilling it's mandate to fulfill the great commission and great commandment (Making fully devoted followers of Christ - see Colossians 1:28- by loving them to Christ)

Second, how do you know a church is dead or dying?
1. There are only occasional visitors. The visitors who come are typically new to the area and found the church in the phone book. If the church has stopped advertising and people have stopped inviting friends, these are clear signs that the church is dead or really close!
2. No one can remember when someone other that a church leader's child accepted Christ or was baptized. This is the point when the "us four and no more" mentality is really evident. Churches often don't even realize that they have hit this stage. A church can have several hundred in attendance and still be dead or dying, the people are typically too self-absorbed to notice.
3. Weekly addendance is completely predictable. Counting isn't necessary, you could use the church almanac to determine within ten what the attendance will be on any given weekend. The variable of ten is nearly always less, not more.
4. No one can remember when the last change occurred or new program launched. There is nothing wrong with consistency, but complacency and staleness are sure signs of death, think rigermortis!
5. The pastor (if there is one) hasn't heard anything new from the Lord about direction or what needs to be taught. This is an indicator that their own spiritual life is dead or dying!

Third, what do you do with a dead church?
1. Sometimes, you have to let it die! In fact, sometimes you have to gracefully help it through the process. A church that has been around forever and has not responded to change in its community may have nothing left but a few elderly Christians who love the Lord, put don't have the ability to impact their community for Christ. Don't disrespect that they have been faithful in their lives and their leadership didn't lead. If the bills are paid, let them continue. A great transition would be to help them see the need to reach their changed community and actually start a new church in that place.

2. Sometimes there is so much disfuntion and the stench of death is so overwhelming that disbanding the church and selling the property is the best thing that could happen. I know of one church who had so much infighting that they never noticed that the culture around them had completely changed (including the language of the people). Mercifully, they were dibanded and the property sold to a new church that was reaching the community.

3. Sometimes, a dying church can be resurrected! God has the power over life and death, even for churches. He can resurrect a dying church. It may take a great change of heart in the people and perhaps even a change of leadership (I'm not just talking about the pastor!), but churches can change. For a church to change from near death to strength, it takes reliance on God's power (which the church probably hasn't done in some time, so it will be a paradigm shift). I'll write more about resurrecting a dying church soon.

Before I Forget

I lost a lot of memory when I had my stroke a few years ago. Some things are lost forever, while others sporadically appear in my mind where I have to struggle to piece them together. As these memories come, and before I forget others, I want to make sure that I write down some of the things that I have learned about ministry over the years. While so much is new in ministry, and I am loving learning all over again, there are principles and experiences that last. I'll call these posts "Ministry 101". They will mostly be thoughts I learned inthe trenches, not from seminary, but there may be principles that still apply from school, but not many (at least from a strategic perspective).

House Update

Here are a few more pictures of the house. Enjoy, we are!


The pavestone walkway is done.


A look at the finished product (except for landscaping - where to start?)


Josh and I put together the new BBQ. Five burners, plus the infrared rotisserie burner. It will cook a lot of burgers and dogs (along with the really good stuff). We've already used it several times (We grill year around, rain or shine at our house). It really cooks well!


My nephew (and buddy) Kameron (I can't believe how fast he's growing up!) had to help clean-up when he saw trash. I wish he would come over and take care of the trash all the time!

Joy

I woke up this morning (way too early) thinking about joy. In spite of the doom and gloom in our world today, in spite of the physical struggles, the financial turmoil, and the upside down times we are living in, joy should fill our hearts! Sound crazy?

In Isaiah 40:31 God promises that if we wait on Him, He will provide strength and endurance.
In John 10:10 Jesus tells us that He came to give us life to max.
In Philippians 4:4 Paul tells us to always be joyful in the Lord and to rejoice always.
In James 1:2 James tells us to that trouble is an opportunity for Joy

I believe that there is a difference between joy and happiness. To me, joy is a heart condition and happiness is an emotion. I can have a joyful spirit as I cry in pain. I can be joyful in the midst of crisis. Happiness comes and goes, but joy is much deeper and lasts forever. I will choose joy over happiness because true joy comes from my relationship with our God who loves me and cares for me. He has a plan, even in crisis, and His plan is always best for me even when it doesn't seem like it at the time.

I think that's the key to the series we are doing right now. The answer to uncertainty is finding joy in Christ. You can be happy for a time without Him, but you will have joy forever with Him. Do you choose happiness or joy?

Two Minute Tuesday - New Believers

It's all about relationships and connecting people with others!

No matter what programs we have, and no matter what resources we have available, all that matters is that we encourage people to take the next step in their faith journey! The way that needs to happen is through relationships.

I can't bear the thought of a stillborn child. I did a funeral for a family who endured this pain. There isn't anything harder than being with someone who has just lost a child. That image carries over in my mind to those who accept Christ and become a part of his family. They are adopted as his children. If they don't begin to grow and get connected with other believers who can walk along side them, they are most likely to fall away, stillborn.

Ministry to new believers is imperative! We must do everything we can to encourage these newborns to grow. That happens through relationships. As we interact with, care for, and encourage new believers, more of them will take the next steps and begin growing in Christ. The alternative is unnacceptable!

Jesus told us to go and make disciples. He didn't tell us to go and make converts. There's a difference, and that difference is in connecting people with others. It's all about relationships. It always has been. How are you showing that you care?

Isaiah - Hezekiah was an Idiot!

On his deathbed (Chapter 38), Hezekiah prays and God gives him 15 more years to live. That was pretty cool! The coolest part was God turning back time as a sign of His promise. Hezekiah's poem is thought proviking. I love verse 16, "Lord, your discipline is good, for it leads to life and health." God's discipline is painful, but it has a purpose!

In chapter 39, the Babalonians come for a visit and Hezekiah shows them everthing he has. Everything of value and every weapon. Doh! I think the issue was his claim that he owned them, not God. God owns everything, we are merely stewards. Also, this is a common enemy, even though there was a time of peace, why would you show them everything? They knew what defense Hezekiah had, and knew to make sure that when they plundered Jerusalem they got everything of value.

When he learned that because of his stupidity, his children would be taken captive, Hezekiah threw them under the bus. What a loving father! God gave him a 15 year extension and his response is that at least there would be peace during his lifetime. It's not my problem what happens after I die.

It makes me think about what legacy or mess I will live my boys after I am gone. I need to have my house in order so that they don't have to deal with needless stuff. I want to leave them a legacy of hope and promise, not one of loose ends that they must deal with.

Isaiah - God is in Control

I just finished Isaiah chapter 37 in my devotions and the message is so timely. Jerusalem is about to be attacked by the Assyrian king, but his taunting, arrogance, and blasphemy against God goes to far. God makes clear that it is He who is in control of all things, even the past victories of the Assyrian army.

I was asked in the Fresh Start Class this weekend if God planned for Jesus to die on the cross before He made the world. What a great question! My thought is yes and no. He certainly knew that He would need to send Jesus to die on the cross, but I don't think that He created the world planning to do that. It was something that He needed to do because of man's sin. The fact that He created the world and man knowing that one day He would have to send Jesus is amazing!

As we continue the series on UnCertainty, it is clear that God is in control. He knows what will happen, and knows that His plan will be fulfilled. It's up to us to get on board with His plan or fight it. Fighting God's plan is always a losing proposition, just ask the Assyrian king. Oh, wait, he's dead. God isn't! He is alive, and in control. It may not seem like it sometimes, but He is, and after storms pass, we can look back and see how He has directed things so that His plan will be fulfilled and so He will be glorified.

Isaiah - Taunting

In the NFL taunting is a penalty. In water cooler talk, it's expected. I love to root for my teams (Go USC Trojans! Go Angels! Go Diamondbacks (I can have an American and National League team - if they play each other, I'm rooting for the Angels)! Go Anaheim Ducks (Yes, I root for the Coyotes when I'm at a game if they aren't playing the Ducks)! Go Phoenix Suns! Sorry, no clear favorite NFL team, though I mostly root for the Colts - I like Payton Manning - and Bengals - I like Carsen Palmer, and I root for anyone playing against the Raiders!) and degrade all others.

In my study of Isaiah, chapter 36 records the taunt of the Assyrian king as he prepared to go up against Judah. What a great taunt! He nailed them on everthing including saying that no one else's god could save them, why did Judah think that their God would save them. He even told them that God was behind him. He said that they would be so hungry and thirsty that they would "eat their own dung and drink thier own urine." That's extreme! The people were in despair. They felt defeated just hearing the taunt. That's effective use of language!

I can't wait to see what happens next :-)! Will Judah's God show up? Stay tuned!

Two Minute Tuesday

Do you get excited when people make a decision to follow Christ? Do you want people to grow in their faith? Do you enjoy talking to people and hearing their life change stories? If you answered yes to any of these questions, we want to encourage you to consider becoming part of the Fresh Start Team. You don’t have to be a Bible expert, just someone who likes to see God change people’s lives!

The Fresh Start Team encourages new and returning believers to take the next steps in their spiritual growth journey.

The Fresh Start Team greets new and returning believers at the Fresh Start table and then periodically contacts them during the next ninety days to encourage them as they take the next steps in their relationship with Jesus Christ.

Here at Palm Valley Church, the next steps for new believers are:
- Attending the Fresh Start Class
- Being baptized
- Joining a New Believer’s Growth Group

A Fresh Start Coach:
- Is continually growing in Christ
- Serves God by serving others
- Is connected in a Home Team
- Has made Palm Valley their church home
- Is a ministry volunteer

To observe the Team in action, please contact Paul Lewis, Pastor to New Believers at 623-536-2106 or plewis@palmvalley.org.

Baptism Miracle!

If anyone wonders if God still does miracles today, check out this post by Tony Morgan about what happened at NewSpring Church in Anderson S.C.

http://www.tonymorganlive.com/tony_morgan_one_of_the_si/2007/09/559-people-bapt.html

We'll be having baptisms on the patio after each service at Palm Valley on September 29th and 30th. To sign up, or if you have questions, you can get connected at www.palmvalley.org

Praise God!

Raiders - Calling Your Shot

What if, when Babe Ruth called the famous home run shot he hit a pop fly instead. That's what happened today. We're all excited that the football season is here, and like many misguided fans Greg was rooting for his Raiders. He even went so far as to say that he would be blogging about their undefeated season after they won today. Sorry Greg, you popped it up and you are out! I'm sure he'll get plenty of emails :-).

The Raiders lost; against the Lions. Instead of having an undefeated season so far, we can instead say that they haven't won a game all year! Maybe the Raiderettes should play, they might have better luck.

If you're going to call your shot, you gotta be able to deliver! Don't build you house on sand.

New Believer Growth Group

It was just a year ago that we launched our first New Believer Growth Group. It was a large group and it was fun. The hard thing about leading a group like that is that after the six weeks you have to send them on to the next step in their spiritual growth journey.

Through this past year we have led several groups. It's great to see many of those people connected, growing, and serving Jesus! Paige and I have had the privilege of having these people in our home.

This Sunday we are launching a new group. Actually, Larry and Trish are launching a new group and I couldn't be happier. They are wonderful servants of our Lord and have invested heavily into the lives of new believers here at Palm Valley Church. They have co-led groups with me and then taken the groups on to help them grow with other materials. They have also discovered how hard it is to "graduate" people out of their groups.

The group starting this week will be a bit different in that we are doing it on the church campus instead of in the home. It is a grand experiment of sorts. What we lose in hospititality we hope to gain in people being able to come without childcare being an issue. We constantly have had people who could not come because they couldn't find childcare. Our goal in doing the class at church is to meed that need. I'll let you know how it goes!

Join me in praying for Larry and Trish and the new believers who come to the study!

Do You Care?

As a follower of Christ, do you care if others become followers of Christ too? Think about it before you answer! If you answer yes, what are you doing to show that you care?

In Colossians 1:28 it says that we are to present everyone complete in Christ. This isn't just inviting people to church. It isn't just leading them to Christ. It includes making sure that they grow in their faith. It truly is leading people to become fully devoted followers of Christ.

What is a fully devoted follower? It is someone who has a releationship with Christ, is growing personally in their relationship with Him, is living more and more for Christ in their thoughts and behaviors, and is leading others to do the same.

There's a lot of verses that support all of this, but basically it comes down to fulfilling the great commision, through the great commandment. It is living as a follower of Christ and leading others in their journey to live as followers of Christ through love and compassion.

Isaiah - Wicked Rebels

In my journey through Isaiah, I was looking at 31:6 which says, "Therefore, my people, though you are such wicked rebels, come and return to the Lord."

God has amazing patience!

First, He is talking about His people, not those who don't follow Him. These are people who love God and believe in Him. These are people who have received His blessing in their lives.

Second, the phrase, "such wicked rebels" is such a powerful description of our stance before God. Paul was talking about this when he said that he did the very things he hated. He was talking about self control in regards to sin and habits. Here God is hitting us with the truth of our sin. It is rebellion against God, no matter how small or how large. Even as Christ's followers we are wicked rebels. This is a reminder that we need God's grace continually, not just at the moment of salvation. This is a reminder that we must constantly seek His forgiveness and life changing power even though we have received Christ in our lives.

Third, we need to continually "come and return to the Lord." The only way a wicked rebel stands a chance is by the grace of God. He continually calls into relationship with Him. His desire is for us to walk in His holiness. The only way wicked rebels are changed into holy children of God is through the grace of Jesus. We need to come and return to the Lord every moment of every day. As the Bible says, we need to take every thought and action and make them captive and subservient to the righteousness of God.

Fourth, this is a constant process. We can't think that because someone has chosen Christ that He has made them perfect. He has forgiven our sins, and made us holy in His eyes, but we still struggle with the flesh. We still face the challenges of life and our selfish desires. We need to:

1. Spend time in His Word
2. Spend time talking with Him in prayer
3. Spend time listening to Him
4. Spend time with other believers who will encourage and challenge us
5. Spend time serving Him in every area of our lives - be wise stewards of our time, talent, and treasure
6. Spend time bringing others to Him and helping them grow in their faith

The bottom line, is that we need to spend time with God, seeking after Him, and seeking to fulfill His will in our lives.

Baggage / Isaiah

I am combining thoughts today because they connect well. In my daily devotions I have been studying through Isaiah. It's taking me a while because I am taking more time to meditate on what God is teaching me through it. In chapter 29 verse 13 God says, "These people say they are mine. They honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far away." This is such a powerful verse and cause for much meditation. I want to honor God with my heart and then my lips will automatically follow.

This weekend we wrapped up the "Baggage" series at Palm Valley Church. I thought I was doing well letting go of my own baggage during the series. That was, until this weekend. Actually, my struggle began before this weekend and came to a head Saturday night. Wow, I didn't see this one coming, but the Holy Spirit felt that it was time for me to confront this issue in my life.

On Saturday, Paige's family gathered in Prescott to spend some time together. Paige's brother Scott, his wife Amberly, and their kids Judah and Josiah were at the family camp at UCYC. Scott and Amberly were speaking (They're great if you've never heard them). They live in Bakersfield so we don't get to see them often. We all decided to drive up for the day to see them and spend some family time.

Here was my dilemma. We have Saturday set-up and Saturday night service. It wasn't a huge problem to miss set-up, James and Johnny do a great job and I knew that they could get by without me just fine. I still felt guilty. My plan was to drive up early and then be home before serve. Then I was encouraged to take Saturday night off as well to spend more time with family. I needed to think on that a while, but I wasn't sure why. Not that I didn't want to spend the time, but I felt that I needed to be at church. The issue wasn't church per se, it was the baggage that was hiding beneath the surface that was about to rear it's ugly head.

As the time for services to begin drew nearer, the knot in my stomach grew tighter. What's the big deal? Then it hit me, a big piece of baggage that I had suppressed, guilt! I wasn't doing anything wrong, in fact, spending time with family is so right. The Holy Spirit had to show me. From when I was young, and especially during my High School years once I was driving and dating, it was impressed upon me not only a work ethic, and a workaholic lifestyle, but a "be there always" mindset. If there was work to be done, you need to be there to do it. Often, as I planned to go out I was hit with, "go ahead, but I'll be here working because their is so much to do." Many times I cancelled my plans to work instead. When I went out anyway, I felt guilty and more guilt was added when I got home or into work the next day.

I had to deal with the workaholic part several years ago when God shut me down physically. I still have that tendency, and though I don't do it physically, my mind is often working on things when I should be focused elsewhere. Now this! The guilt for not being there when there was work to be done and others were picking up the slack because I was gone, hanging out, doing nothing.

I have had to pray through this the past couple of days, and am in the process of wrestling with the issues involved. As soon as we get rid of one issue, the Holy Spirit shows us another. On the one hand, I am glad that I am continually being molded and growing into the image of the Savior, but on the other, I wish I could cruise sometimes, just being satisfied with where I am for a while. I know that satisfaction is what Isaiah is writing about, because there is no satisfaction apart from God. I want to know Him more and more and for Him to permeate my life more fully every day. I want my heart to be close to Him. It's been a great series, and since pastor's have baggage too, it's been good to get rid of more of mine! My prayer is that as the Holy Spirit shows me more, I will trust Him to take it from me. That's what Jesus paid for!