85 and Counting!

I can't wait! So far, we have 85 people signed up to get baptized this weekend, and I am sure that number will go higher. We have eight people from one family getting baptized! God is so good. I am so excited that I get to be there to witness this.

Baptizing is one of the greatest blessings a pastor can have. This time, however, I will mostly be on the sidelines. I am sad and excited about that at the same time. It may sound odd, but I have chosen not to be in the water baptizing because of my health. For that I am sad. But I am excited that our newest Pastor Dennis will take my place and be in the water with Pastor Greg baptizing people. I am excited that Dennis will get to enjoy this blessing. He has a great heart and loves people. This will be a special time for him I am sure, and I will enjoy watching that.

As for me, I'll have plenty to do with odds and ends and supporting the Fresh Start table. This is a team effort and it is a huge step in the faith journey of those getting baptized. I hope and pray that our entire church is blessed by this weekend. Everyone has contributed to the growth of these people.

Think about it. Someone invited them. They came and were welcomed. They had a great worship experience and heard the Word of God. They accepted Christ. Our New Believer ministry helped them grow. Our Home Teams help them continue their journey. All the while, their children and youth were being cared for and were learning to love God for themselves. Our office, communications, and tech teams have made resources available to them. Our set-up and tear-down teams created an environment where they could hear the voice of God. Our care teams and other volunteers met their needs and cared for them, as well as equipped them for service. All in all, we all loved them, regardless of their past, their struggles, their appearance, or their means, we all loved them with the love of the Lord. Now they are seeing the fruits of their labors, over 85 getting baptized!

Praise be to the one true, gracious, holy, and loving God!!!

God's Family in Action - A True Story of Love

I want to share a story with you about something that happened in God's family in the past couple of weeks.

I got a frantic email from a friend in the church who does foster care. He had just gotten a call that a young girl and boy were on their way to his home. No advanced warning, just that they were on the way. They were coming with nothing. He was worried about having clothes for them and wanted to know if I knew someone who could help.

I made two phone calls and wow, what an amazing response! Word spread quickly and people were firing detail questions back that I had no idea needed to be answered (that's a man for you!). They wanted to know sizes and if they needed shoes, etc. Within an hour I had clothes with more on the way. Others were waiting on standby with more clothes because we weren't sure how long the kids would be staying and how much would be needed.

I am happy to say that the kids have gone to be with others, and the needs were more than met! One child was so excited and surprised when told that he could keep the clothes.

The family who cared for these kids is new to Palm Valley Church and are so grateful for how the church responded. I assured them that this is how God's family functions. We care for one another and meet needs as they arise and as God provides.

I get teary just thinking about it. I am so proud to be a part of this family. Watching it care for others is such a testimony to the world around us. Palm Valley Church, a big thank you from the family you helped, and from me as one of your pastors. Thank you for being the hands and feet of Jesus! These kids, going through crisis, got to experience the love of Jesus first hand!

Turning Churches - Changing Direction

I was finishing reading Doing Church as a Team by Wayne Cordeiro this morning and one point he made got me thinking. Was was talking about turning churches, or changing direction.

I was thinking that we need to remember that when a church is new, and small, it is easier to turn quickly. Like a speed boat, there isn't much in the water, so it can turn in a short radius. It's also like a recently planted plant. It can be transplanted without too much effort because the roots haven't grown deep or spread to far.

An older church, or larger church, takes more time and effort to turn. Like a large ship may take miles to turn around, or a plant that has had time to develop deep roots, or has spread them wide. More care needs to be taken in making this turn. I'm certainly not saying the turn shouldn't be made! If a turn or change in direction is what's best for the church in better enabling it to accomplish it's vision and purpose, then whatever the cost, it needs to be turned! I'm just saying that you need to remember that it isn't a speedboat any more, and it will take more time and effort to make the change.

Just some thoughts.

Off to Hawaii

It might seem a little odd, but Paige and I are going to Hawaii next week, and that's no the part that I'm most excited about!

For years, I've attended Pastor's conferences and seminars only to come home and try to convey to Paige what I had learned and how I was impacted. This will be the first time in a long while that she will be attending with me and I am so excited! I can't wait for her to share in the experience with me.

True, the conference is in Hawaii, and I am sure that we will have a great time. I am not downplaying how much I am looking forward to going to Oahu with Paige, but I am so excited about her going to the conference with my, it wouldn't matter where we were going, even if it were across town. The conference is being let by Wayne Cordeiro, author of the "Divine Mentor." If you haven't read this book, I strongly recommend it.

Most of our staff and their spouses are going, as are several of our legal trustees. It will be a significant event in the life of our church and I am glad that we are sharing it with those who support us and partner with us most.

While we are there, there are a few things we hope to do. We want to see Pearl Harbor and the Arizona. We want to go whale watching. We also want to go snorkeling. We aren't strong swimmers, but we had so much fun when we went to Kona several years ago we are looking forward to doing it again. We also want to take some time to simply relax!

I'll blog about the conference when we return. Please pray that God "disturbs" us and challenges us to new depths in spiritual growth, and new heights in ministry. We're going from Sunday night to Saturday morning. I can't wait!

Ministry 101 - Wineskins

A longtime pastor friend of mine recently asked if I would bring some of my materials from my years of church consulting to work through with his elders. As I thought about it, I told him that I wouldn't use anything from my past, that there is much better resources available now.

I have recently thought more about this. Jesus talked about putting new wine into old wine skins. The church is different today than when I was consulting with churches. Change occurs much more rapidly, or at least it should, and while the purpose remains the same, churches are much more varied in the way they carry it out through individual vision.

Certainly there are leadership principles that transcend time, but tools to implement them and ways to communicate them change.

An example of how things change occurred to me yesterday when I picked up a book I have on the parables and metaphors of Christ. As I began to read it, I realized that this old book (I got from an older pastor's library), was basically written in a different language. It was in English, but not the language we speak today, and certainly not the Bible version I use for reading or for study. I wasn't grasping the message because I was having to concentrate so hard on the language. The message may be terrific, but if our hearers have to reinterpret it in their minds and then re-apply its meaning, so much is lost, and way to much effort has been spent (A lot could be said here about how we present the Gospel today).

I am in a sense, re-learning ministry. There is much that I can apply from the experience of my past, but the tools for today demand willingness to re-learn and to re-apply. Fortunately, there are great speakers and writers today who articulate well the principles for leadership in the church. Some things are still applicable and I love it when I here them again in new forms.

The bottom line is that we must continually learn to apply principles in a changing world. Don't assume what you learned before can be shared in the manner you learned it and that it will be understood. Application is much more important today than theory, but the theory must still be explained so the application will be effective. I'm not saying that we should never read old books, but we need to take full advantage of what is available today!

Ministry 101 - It Really is All About Jesus

As a pastor, it is easy to get caught up in the day to day events of work, and before long it can become just like any other job. This can happen on the weekend too. You can get so focused on what needs to be done that you miss what God is doing. This is especially true if you have ADD and are task oriented, both of which, I am convinced, are very common among pastors.

When you read the title of this post, you probably said something like "DUH!" But before you think the topic is too simple to write about, hang on a minute.

How is your personal devotional life? What book of the Bible are you studying and what are you learning, not just what book are you reading. For me, it is Isaiah chapter 59, and God is showing me that He is always faithful, and that His purposes will be fulfilled with me or without me, and it will go much better for me if it is with me. I am also reading the book "Static" which is challenging the way I think about terms such as Kingdom, Repent, Sin, Salvation. It is taking me back to Scripture which to me is a good book.

How is your spiritual life with you spouse? I have to be honest here and say that that is a weak area in my life, but I have set some goals that will help me grow here. Paige and I have a great marriage, and we both love the Lord. How much better will it be when we are loving Him together more?!

Where are your thoughts most of the day during the week? Are they looking forward to your day off, or on projects outside of the church? I think we all struggle with this at times. We need to make sure that our prayer life challenges us daily to focus on Christ and His purposes for us and the church we serve.

What do you think about on the weekend? Are you thinking about who is playing in the game that afternoon, or what's for lunch, or...? The weekend isn't a time to let down on your prayers, it is the time to crank it up a notch because that is when Satan will attack the hardest. Every pastor, I am sure, has had a day that he just didn't want to get out of bed and do anything, that's just being human. It's in those moments that we draw on Scripture and prayer and rely on God's strength and power. It is usually those days when you can see God work clearly.

If we continually focus on who Jesus is, and the many reasons He came, it is much easier to live every moment serving Him. The tasks are purpose driven (not just a book title!) and God will bless you! Of course it also means that Satan will attack harder in a greater variety of ways, but the Holy Spirit will empower you to overcome!

It really is all about Jesus. We must expend every effort to grow in Him and encourage others to grow in Him as well. We live this out by loving others, especially the unlovely, and encouraging others to love as well.

Ministry 101 - Beware the Migratory Flock!

I'm sure it is more noticeable in small towns, but beware the migratory flock! I remember in my first full-time ministry, we lived in a small town. I saw this phenomenon cycle through our church a couple of times while I was there. There was a group of about 50 who moved from church to church. In churches running 100 to 200, this is a big swing! If you've been in ministry for a while, you know what I'm talking about.

The migratory flock is a group of "well meaning Christians" who begin attending a church because "the Holy Spirit is present here." It begins with one or two, then they begin coming in groups. You get so excited to see that God is growing the church as numbers begin to swell. It lasts anywhere from several weeks to a few months, but eventually it ends.

These people come and praise what God is doing. Some may begin to serve, and some may give. Until... something happens. You can't put a finger on what it is, but usually it is when the unspoken leader is offended by something said, or doesn't like the way something is being done. It may be because you won't do what they want.

As quickly as they came, they are gone. They move together to another church in the community where the "Holy Spirit is present." They have apparently determined that the Holy Spirit is no longer at the church you are at. Don't worry, if you are there long enough they (presumably because of the Holy Spirit) will be back. When they leave, they usually leave a damaged church in their wake. In the time that it takes a church to recover from their impact is usually how long it takes for the Holy Spirit to make His rounds to the various churches in the community.

Sound crazy? It's not. I've seen it with my own eyes. If you don't recognize it when it hits your church, you may get caught in the wake of damage left behind.

How do you prevent it from happening where you are?
1. Pray constantly that you will be led by the Holy Spirit.
2. Stay Biblical. Don't get caught in the hype of the moment or by current fads.
3. Start people who come from other churches out serving in simple areas like greeting. If they are willing to serve anywhere, in any situation, and stick with it, you'll see their heart. If they want to be in leadership right away and are unwilling to serve where needed, or want to put conditions on their service, you'll know there is a problem.
4. Don't make large changes in leadership positions all at once. This is one reason annual elections for all the leadership in the church is a bad idea.
5. Pray constantly for God's protection and wisdom. Discernment is a great tool here!
6. It's God's church! It is the bride of Christ! Care for it and defend it from predators (In God's strength!).
7. Love the people. If you focus on the numbers without caring for the people the numbers represent, you'll get blindsided!
8. Talk with other pastors in your community. Isolation is a welcome mat for disaster.
9. They are harder to spot in large churches, but if you are communicating with others and within your own team, you will learn who the leaders are and can watch for them.
10. Focus on people who don't know Jesus instead of the already churched! Healthy, effective churches tend minimize the stay or even repel these people. Besides, if you are reaching the lost and raising leaders from within, you won't "need" what these people "bring" to the church.

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.

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).

Ministry to New Believers - Change

This week I was going to write about the materials we use at Palm Valley Church to minister to new believers. Well, it's Thursday night at 10:30pm and I'm just now getting a chance to write. Hopefully, I'll write about materials next week, which will most likely be on Tuesday or Wednesday.

A much bigger topic to address this week is change. That's one reason I am so far behind this week. Change isn't necessarily a bad or good thing, it just is. In this case, the change is very good! Palm Valley Church is adding a service on Sunday mornings. Times will be 8:30, 10:00, and 11:30. I met this week with the ministry lead team for Fresh Start. We'll begin the new service on Easter Sunday. How cool is that, that we will make room for more people who don't know Jesus on the day we celebrate the reason we're making room, because Jesus Christ is risen!

There are plenty of logistical issues that need to be addressed, and a lot of recruiting. We need people to step up and step into minstry.

On Easter we are also beginning our Seize the Moment campaign to stretch the faith of our community and to begin the building process on phase 1 of the new PVC campus.

Once we figure out how we will adapt to the changes with our coaches, I'll share that info.

For now, I'm taking a couple of days off between major projects. Far too many pastors are lost to burnout. I'm glad that getting away is a priority for our staff. We need to rest, play, re-energize often! With the health issues I face, I need to make sure that I don't get overly fatigued. I have felt that this past week, so it's a really good time to take a break. Compared to others of our staff, my job is cake! I'm so glad to see others getting away! We encourage our volunteers to take time as well. We want people to work hard, but we don't want to burn people out and lose htem to the kingdom. So, watch yourself and take breaks when needed, then dive back in and charge ahead.

Deployment

I was reading some of my favorite blogs the other day (Like Tony Morgan, Gary Lamb, Greg Rohlinger, Perry Noble) and was challenged, as I often am, to think more deeply about ministry. I take the whole issue of calling very seriously. I believe that when you are called to a church you need to stay there, through thick and thin, until God releases you or calls you to another church. In the blogs I was reading (I think it was Tony's) he was talking about being re-deployed to another church. That got me thinking about the parallel between calling in ministry and deployment in the military (makes me think of the old song "Onward Christian Soldiers").

I think the parallel is perfect. In fact, I don't think it's a parallel, I think it is the same thing. God deploys us to a "theater" or mission field. A church is an outpost in that field. It is a place for soldiers to be equipped to go out into that field and confront the enemy. Lest we forget who we are fighting, it's the evil one, not the people! I'm glad that I'm currently deployed at Palm valley Church. The mission field around us is growing rapidly. The battle is truly being fought in the trenches. Christians in the marketplace here are working hard to reach their family, friends, and co-workers with the truth of Jesus Christ. It is so great to see lives changed on a regular basis. I hope God never re-deploys me to another place, but if he does, I'll gladly go, because a soldier doesn't question his commander, he obeys orders. My commander is God and it's a true joy to serve Him.

Sometimes when things get hard at a church people leave. When they are offended, they leave. When things don't go as they think they should, they leave (or stay and complain). If you are deployed by God to serve Him in a particular place, you need to serve Him with gladness in that place until He either sends you elsewhere or releases you to leave. When this happens, it should be through much prayer and counsel from other mature believers, not personal choice or opinion. We do things sometimes at PVC that I don't like. I hope we always do. I know that sounds odd, but I know I'm not the audience we are trying to reach. There is a great deal that I do like, but when there is something I don't, I just remember that it's all about Him and keep on serving. I hope that's your attitude. In the heat of battle, things will be done, or said, that will offend you. Get over it and keep on serving!

It's Easy to be a Pastor

If you're a pastor, read to the end before you freak out! A friend of mine, who is hoping to be in full time ministry at some point said that being a pastor is easy. He didn't mean it the way it sounds, and after the week we all had at PVC it was pretty commical to hear that comment yesterday.

As pastors, we've heard the people who think that we only work on Sunday morning and have plenty of time during the week to play golf, help people move, or go change someones flat tire. I actually do have it pretty easy, compared to some of our staff members. I only wear a few hats and because of my health, I get a fair amount of downtime. I see how hard our staff works and the long ours they put in. I pray often that they will be protected from burnout and attacks from the evil one. I spent time with a family in mourning and did a memorial service on Thursday and some of our staff were helping kids and teachers in crisis in our community after a horrific event took the lives of the parents of four kids who were very involved in our community. Easy? Not hardly!

As to the comment, I know what my friend meant. I've said it too. I've been there, wishing I could be back in full time ministry. For those who work a full time job, and then volunteer counless hours at church, looking at the prospect of full time ministry does sound easy. From that perspective it seems to be! I greatly appreciate the volunteers that I serve with. They work hard during the week and then work hard for Christ on the weekend. That's not easy, and I am amazed sometimes at the effort of some that I know (which makes it more disappointing to see people who can but aren't serving).

I love the fact that my job and my service are connected and that I only have one focus instead of two or three. Yes, he is right in saying that being a pastor is easy in that respect, and I thank God every day that I have the opportunity to serve Him as my job. No, the job itself isn't easy. Few worthy endeavors are easy! I'm not saying it's more difficult than another job, it's all relative. All jobs have good points and bad. Easy parts and hard parts. That's why God gives us all different gifts, so that we can each do something different to make the world work. There are other jobs that I think look easy, but I know from friends that do them, that there are hard parts to them.

I love being a pastor with the easy stuff and the hard stuff. I believe that I am doing what God wants me to do. Is it easy? Yes! And, No!