6 Ways Church planting is like School House Romance

1. Awkward - Church planters are so self conscious of how they are perceived. It is like junior high when every part of your body is out of proportion. You are so self conscious.

2. Check the box notes - Remember wanting to find out if that certain someone liked you so you sent a friend to give them a note with the optional check one at the bottom. Churches do this, but our friends are ushers and the note is a guest card.

3. Pick up Lines - Successful church planters have mastered the art of the pick up line. Here are some of my favorites translated for use by church planters...
A. What's your sign .... Translated...What's your church background - this one is a no brainer.
B. What's your major ... Translated.... What's your major... doctrine - helpful in determining soap box issues in prospective members.
C. I lost my number, Can I borrow yours - great for that follow up phone call.
D. Didn't we go to different schools together - Do you know pastor so and so...
E. If I could rearrange the alphabet I'd put U and I together - translated CHCH what's missing? UR.

4. The follow up phone call - In school you always wondered how long after the date to make the phone call, the same is true in church planting. You don't want to come across too eager, but then again, you want to let them know you enjoyed your time together. It should be pointed out that the phone call has two purposes... 1. To test the water of this fledgling relationship and to score a second date. In this case get them to come back.

5. Meeting the Parents - In church world we call this Family day.

6. Going steady - After securing a number of dates...er attendances, the time comes to pop the question. Do you want to join. Basically this is going steady in church lingo.

Then begins the courtship, but that will have to wait for another day...

Swarm Theory and Church

Scientists have been studying swarm theory for many years, and today I came across this article dealing with how they are now applying that same theory to human behavior. I want to ponder some of the conclusions they came to and apply them to our church experience.

1. Harmony – Swarms are such because a group of birds or bees or fish find benefits to harmonious relationships. Church has been likened by some to a herd of porcupines, but Jesus still thinks of us as sheep. I like that.
2. Instant Messaging – Under this heading National Geographic gave three simple rules. (referring to a school of fish)
1. Stick together – I know this because when we would fish for Mahi-Mahi in the Keys growing up, you always left one fish on the line until another was hooked. The school had a no fish left behind policy. I wish our churches would learn that.
2. Avoid collusions – I am sure that in every situation, collusions happen. But they should be avoided at all costs.
3. Swim in the same direction – Kind of a no brainer, but how often do we see churches divided over individuals expressing themselves, rather than expressing Christ. For this purpose we strive to get every newcomer into a 6 week “who we are” class so they can opt in or out.
3. Natural Leadership – Under this photo researchers state that wildebeests “may be able to follow a migration route even if only a few of them know the way, … Never mind that the informed animals aren't trying to lead. The rest follow anyway.”
1. What many believers fail to realize is that they are leading people. Even if they do not try to lead, others take cues from them. Some ways that happens in church may be…

i. Evangelism – You may be the only Bible some people read.

ii. Attitude – Bad attitudes in church are very contagious, by the way, so are good ones.

iii. Worship – One of the best ways to arrive at a place of worship is to realize that others around you are worshipping. I am not saying that we close our eyes and raise our hands for show, but when someone observes it in authenticity, it definitely transfers.

iv. Generosity – Have you ever been to a fundraiser where some guys got into a bidding war over a cake. Duncan Hines box cake sells for $50. Why? Because of natural leadership.

Well, that is all I have time for this morning. I will try to do a few more later this week. I’ve got a high level meeting with some other pastors this AM. We have an 8:30 appointment with God, that I cannot miss.

Exponential Conference

This week I have the privilege to volunteer with my friends at Exponential, the National New Church Conference here in Orlando. I was able to attend last year and it is one of the best conferences out there as far as I am concerned. All of the guys who are speaking this year are on the cutting edge of ministry and are killing some giants. Also, they offer breakout sessions dealing with the dynamics of church planting and basic ministry practices that in my book far exceed the other conferences. I am practical to a fault sometimes, but I look forward to being a part of this conference, and I will blog this week what I am learning.

Update from Iglesia Bautista El Buen Samaritano

Pastor Rafael writes:

"God bless you, the following is a report of the first service at Iglesia Bautista El Buen Samaritano held on Sunday March 30th 2008, there were 20 persons in attendance."

That is a great first day for a church. I still remember our first day at Cornerstone as we wondered if anyone would show. Grand total on Day one...16. Grand total on day 2,190(6 years later)... 354. God is doing some great things at Cornerstone and has great things in store for el Buen Samaritano too!

If you have friends or neighbors looking for a great Spanish speaking church, Be a Good Samaritan, put them on your donkey and take them to Iglesia Bautista El Buen Samaritano!

Iglesia Bautista El Buen Samaritano

I just got off the phone with Pastor Rafael Riera. They will be starting Sunday services this week at the Beef O'Bradys in Four Corners. I am so impressed with Rafael and his passion and expertise. He has a great plan in place and is already receiving lots of attention from the Spanish speaking community of Four Corners. Their Sunday school will start at 9:30 and Worship is at 10:30 a.m. I am asking all of our Cornerstone people to raise this church and this pastor up in prayer as they launch out this weekend. Also, I want to say how much I appreciate Mary Ann Owens and the team at Beefs for making their restaurant a sanctuary for church planting. It is obvious how much she loves our God.

Insight

See your destination in your mind.
“When you don’t know where you’re going, any road will get you there.”
– White Rabbit

Andy Stanley's 3 keys for Sermoneering

Years ago, Andy Stanley spoke at the C3 conference at Fellowship Church and while I did not attend, I did order the CD's and these three rules for delivering messages have changed the way that we think about sermoneering. I looked for it on the internet, and could not find the outline, so I thought I would post these three key questions we must ask before making any presentation.

1. Is the context appealing
Much has been said recently about contexualization and the need for us to understand that not every program or presentation is universally accepted or for that manner effective. If we are to be missional in our approach, we have to ask ourselves the context question. Is the context in which we plan to speak aiding or detracting for the listener's ability to receive the message. Everything from strange sounds and odors to dirty floors and burned out light bulbs can all detract from our message getting across. Our dress, the use of multimedia all come into play. Is the context appealing for my listener. It too must be mentioned that the context may change as the listener changes. It is also important to note that context does not mean good or bad. The context of Chuck-E-Cheese is a great context for a 5 year old's birthday party and a hospital is a great context for a sick person but neither are great environments for the other. Before we go to speak, we must ask ourselves if the context is appealing.

2. Is the presentation engaging
The first book on preaching taught that attention is something you pay. We need as communicators to understand that it costs our listeners (and readers) time and effort, and if we begin the habit of wasting their time they will begin the habit of going elsewhere. Every message of Christ was engaging, it grabbed the attention of the listeners and left them wanting more, not realizing where the time went. It is a sin to take the most interesting book in history and proceed to bore people with it, but unfortunately we often do. To fight this we must tell stories and interact with the crowd as often as possible. We live in a narrative society and stories engage.

3. Is the content helpful
Andy says in his talk that comedians are engaging, but they are not helpful. Comedians have trained themselves to ride the wave of the crowd and know when it is time to go deeper and when to move on. And although very engaging, comedy is not helpful. Our task as communicators of God's word is to engage the crowd in a conversation that will in the end help them to take spiritual steps. We must always look at it from the critic's phrase "so what's your point!" A great environment and engaging delivery are only as good as the content is helpful.

My Tribe

I got a chance to hang out with my tribe yesterday in St. Pete. Joe Murray, our church planter in Harmony picked me up and we rode together. I am so excited about what God is doing through Joe. It was just 3 years or so ago that we met, and we have become fast friends. We were able to have a part in him starting the First Baptist Church of Harmony and things are really cranking for them. Last Sunday they had 216 in attendance and have several who are ready to be baptized. As Joe is now up and self supporting we will be turning our resources toward starting a church in Tallahassee. This will be an urban ministry in partnership with the Conference on Evangelizing Black America. Sterling Young will be the pastor of the church and he is as sharp as they come. I am looking forward to seeing what God is going to do through Capital City Baptist Church. I also had the opportunity to talk a bit with Dave Janney who is the pastor at Orlando Baptist and heads up our mission focus for World Hope. I look forward to getting to network more with Orlando Baptist and work together through World Hope to see Cornerstone more involved in missions.

Missional Fatigue

I read this from Ed Crepes today and thought it applied to us at Cornerstone. What are your thoughts?

When I visit casual contemporary and traditional churches these days I’m meeting what could be called “a new kind of Christian:” believers who used to attend aggressively missional congregations elsewhere in town. Often a thirty-something couple with two or three elementary age children, these transfers sometimes seem motivated to explain to me their presence in more inwardly-focused settings. In the telling of their stories some patterns have emerged...

Stage 1: intense involvement in the start-up or ongoing ministry of a missional congregation (however defined), often as key leaders

Stage 2: weathering the financial emergencies, ministry shortfalls, and discipleship pressures that inevitably accompany this kind of enterprise

Stage 3: realizing that the stress of serving in a climate that one friend of mine called, “a miracle on the verge of a disaster every day” is never going to end

Stage 4: identifying a gracious exit strategy, often explained as the need for better children’s or teen ministry

Stage 5: transitioning to another high-quality church that is more family-focused.

Stage 6: feeling somewhat guilty over abandoning the missional scene to do more conventional church

Dealing with Departures

Today I will be preaching to a group of preachers. It is a bit intimidating for a young pastor to address such a audience, but God's Word will do all the teaching, all I have to do is expose it. As I prayed about what these men need to hear and God laid a burden on my heart about people leaving the churches they pastor. It is an all too common occurrence and painful for anyone trying to build a ministry. After reading scripture on the matter here is what I learned.

1. Many disciples left Jesus - Jn 6

- If many left Christ many will leave you. And when that happens it is natural to withdraw and question even your most loyal followers, but ministry marches on and some faithful will stay true to the vision and some devils will stick around too. Many quit Christ, many will quit you.

2. Godly ministers disagree - Acts 13 & 15

- John Mark wimps out on Paul's first missionary journey and it drives Paul and Barnabas to separate. In the end, ministry goes on and is actually multiplied. When this happens we must guard ourselves from bitterness, and you never know when that John Mark might come in handy. 2 Tim. 4.

3. Fellow laborers will fall - 2 Tim. 4

I think every pastor can identify with Paul when he said "At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me" Ministry can be lonely at times, but we still have His promise to never leave us or forsake us. When Demas fell back into the world's grip Paul had to continue on. The plain truth is that others in ministry will fall away. Their failure cannot determine our faithfulness.

So, what do we do about it?

1. Refuse to fall in love with another man's bride.

- In truth the church is not ours. She belongs to Christ. Too many of us as pastors fall in love with the ministry to the point that we develop an unhealthy relationship.

2. Refuse to be more concerned with who you are losing than who you are winning.

- The temptation of most churches is to chase down absentees and runaways at the expense of those who have never been. Unfortunately when this happens we are usually wasting out time on people who have already decided that our church is not the church for them. We must let them go and take the gospel to the undecided.

3. Refuse to judge the success of ministry based on the number of people in the pew or pennies in the plate.

- When we look at these gauges as soon as the service is over, we are keeping score in the wrong game. A worship service is about worship of God, not worship of numbers. Number are important but they are not primary, and probably not even secondary.

4. Refuse to believe you have the ability to build it or break it.

- Pastor, you did not build the church. Jesus said He did. And if the gates of hell cannot destroy it then neither can you. Stop taking credit for everything both positive and negative.

5. Refuse to change your mission based on who gets on or off the bus.

-Pastoring a church is like driving a bus. Bus drivers do not base their driving on keeping people on the bus. They just drive their route. Along the way people will get on and people will get off, but we must keep driving because that is what we are commissioned to do.

I know that many of those who read the blog are from Cornerstone, and hopefully this will be helpful for you to know. To you church planters and pastors hang in there, and stay focused on your mission!

Hello my name is Joel and it is my first time

While on vacation I attended my sister-in-law Michele's church in Athens GA. I was reminded of how terrible that it is visiting church for the first time. Now, don't take anything I say as a commentary on this particular church. My only goal here is to think through what it is like for our first timers. I often try to put myself in the shoes of our guests, and we go overboard trying to best handle our guests. However, there is no better way to put on the shoes of a guest than actually being a guest. So here goes...

1. I got there early... much time to find the back row, but also stood out. In hindsight, I would have wanted to come late and leave early.

2. The people were friendly, and the pastors shook my hands and talked to me. I know that if it had not happened I would have been bothered, but even that made me feel uncomfortable.

3. Interviews - I hate job interviews, and small talk can really turn into one if it goes to long. One thing that I will take away is to not grill the guests on where they are from and what they are doing in town. I have a tendency to do that, and last night I did not like it when I had to explain myself to everyone.

4. the gauntlet - I know pastors are supposed to guard the door on the way out of church, but I caught myself slipping behind pastor #2 without really wanting to interact. I am sure that he would have shaken my hand and thanked me for coming, but I avoided him. I really don't know my psyche on that, but nevertheless I did it. I am not proud of what I did either.

5. I did not know the program - I know we curse the bulletin checklist of what happens next, but I found myself wanting to know more of what is going to happen next. How long will it be, what should I expect etc.

6. A few last thoughts. It would have been even more awkward if I had been alone and not with family. At least I had someone to talk to. Also, I knew the songs, they were country and old school, but I knew most of them from my childhood and that probably made it more comfortable. Also, I knew what to expect as far as the general beliefs and practice of that particular tribe of Baptist. Not knowing the culture would have been a killer.

All in all, I gained a greater respect for those who venture to church for the first time. I was reminded that it is not easy, and that it takes a lot to get me to go to a church where I know I will feel like I did last night. I also know that the more I attended that church the more comfortable I would feel. I don't know that I can criticize anything that they did, other than have me raise my hand as a guest; that we don't do. Even then, I am going to rethink how we treat our guests and how we can do a better job of removing any obstacle to them getting in and worshipping God.

Something Old, Something New

I was reading some C.S. Lewis yesterday and he made a very insightful statement about what we read. It is his opinion that we balance our reading by reading as much of the classic/older works as we do the latest and greatest. This is wisdom that many of us (church planters & pastors) need to hear even if we fail to heed it. Classic books on belief and practice are classic because they have stood the test of time. Most of us are futurists and we try to understand our culture and how to best do ministry here and now. Unfortunately some of the latest books have yet to be defined as either classics or fads. The difficulty is that we will not know until the theories have been tested and tried. A balanced approach will help us be more effective and more discerning of the books that we do read. And, I have the wisdom of the classic author C.S. Lewis to thank.

Heckler or Helper

Have you ever gone to a ball game and sat next to a "Big Fan?" I mean the kind who is always yelling as if among the 30,000 other people, their voice would stand out. From time to time in ministry we all will be cheered and jeered, and sometimes it is hard to know one from the other. When that happens, I must ask myself a few questions.

1. Is the person in the stands or on the field?

- A team mate or coach is more likely to give helpful comments than some drunk guy in the bleachers who is just sitting there seeking entertainment. In ministry when I get recommendations from the stands more often than not, it is from those who are not part of the game, though they may care about the wins and losses of the team, they usually do not contribute to the victory. Anyone in professional sports can tell you that they, in order to be effective, must drown out the fans. Don't believe it when they praise you, and don't listen to their criticism.

2. Do they know the why?

- Ignorance is not always bliss. Sometimes people on the field will make changes that the people in the stands do not agree with. It is important, especially in leadership that you make the best call for the team, in spite of the misunderstandings. When a manager calls a pitcher from the bullpen, it is not a lightweight decision. He has been watching all of the pitchers practice throughout the week, he has read the Dr.'s reports and has been scouting the opponent. He is the best one to make the call because it is his job. They plumber in the stands can read the sport's page and think he knows best, but in reality hindsight is 20/20 and for leaders we deal in the now. In addition, it is not his responsibility to answer all the whys. Often we are tempted to answer all the critics, and as this is sometimes necessary, it is always distracting and the team always suffers.

3. What's their motivation

- I once went to a game and sat in foul ball territory. As there were not many people in the stands that day, I felt I had a good chance to catch the elusive foul ball that we all dream about. Unfortunately, I found myself wishing that my team would hit foul balls just so that I could get what I wanted. Forget what was best for the team, forget that it counts as a strike, I wanted a souvenir and was willing to cheer against my team in order to get it. In ministry everyone you serve will have needs. They will all want you the lead pastor to meet those needs. Just as I would want the top surgeons performing my operation. Understanding that, there will be times when people want you to take your eye off the ball and give them what they want. In the end however, they often go away disappointed because the team lost....Oh, and by the way, someone else caught the foul ball.

4. Who do I play for?

- In most cities the fans believe that they own the team. Baltimore realized only too late when their Colts moved to Indianapolis in the middle of the night on March 29, 1984. As leaders, we must realize that the fans think that they own us, that we work for them. In reality ministry is not to people but to God. We are God's servants and as soon as we replace Him and start serving people we are in trouble.

5. Know your role

- Ball players and coaches are very important to the community where they work. Charity functions, and sick children, and ribbon cutting, and so on always "need" their support. In ministry it is key to know your role. There is always someone who needs to learn something, the key to effectiveness is to lead leaders and not followers. Jesus often taught the multitudes, he even paused to heal the sick, but in truth he spent the vast, and I mean vast majority of his time coaching the twelve. He understood the ministry multiplication and that if he was going to accomplish His father's will that he could not heal everyone. If they were all healed, then who would have Peter and John healed? Know that your role is to raise up leaders, who can multiply ministry.

6. Teach them their role

In high school I started for JV and Varsity basketball in my 10th grade year. It was all good until we changed schools in my Junior year and I did not even make the team. Even though I did not make the team, I still wanted to have a part, so a group of us guys got together and formed a club/group called the 6th man. We dressed in all black, and made it our goal to disrupt the other team as much as possible. We saw that both teams had specified people to be cheer leaders, but we were counter opts. We would do everything we could to subvert the success of our opponents. As leaders we need to help the fan in the crowd to find a way to get in the game. It is not okay for the average church member or attender to cheer from the sidelines, they must get in the game. We must help them turn their energies on the opponent, and off our team.

Sermon Series Structure Strategy

Some of us had a discussion the other night and out of it I realized that most people who are "regulars" of CBC and you church planters who read this blog might benefit from pulling back the curtain a bit as to how we strategically plan our messages. It is not by accident, and much planning and thought, go into when how and why a message series, or study is preached. For those of you who believe that pre-planning is the enemy of the Holy Spirit, I say that He knows this year what we need to preach next year. Don't use the Holy Spirit's leading as an excuse to procrastinate or fail to plan altogether. Enough ranting, here is the process....

1. Pray - "All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable." Seek God's face and specifically ask him to burden you with a message that people desperately need to hear.

2. Plow - read, read, read, read, read, read, read, read, rest, read, read, read, read, read.

3. Plan - "Look to the fields for they are white already to harvest." Why did Jesus say this? Because he had prayed, and plowed, planned and planted. The woman of Samaria was the reason. Now he drew the attention of the disciples to the harvest. It was no accident that the city was coming to hear Him. He planned it that way.

• Know the season - Different seasons are more effective for different crops. The heat and rain storms of the summer combine to make some great watermelons. In message preparation, we see Four distinct harvest seasons in our community. By that I mean times that we can draw people from the community into Cornerstone for one service. Those times are: 1. Christmas 2. Easter 3. Back to School 4. Harvest (All Saints Day for those of you boycotting Halloween.) Knowing this, our message calendar revolves around these seasons. For instance prior to those seasons we teach evangelism and missions. We want to call attention to the fields as Jesus did. After that season, we teach a shallow end (seeker sensitive) message series. These are meant to serve as a easy first few steps for newcomers to get acclimated to church. Topics might include money, marriage, or parenting. Know the season!


• Know your field - Different fields have different soil makeup. A good farmer will tailor his nutrients (fertilizer) and crops to the makeup to his field. For this analogy the field is the community. What are the specific needs facing the people of Four Corners. It is my experience that there is little soil differentiation between the community in the church and the community outside of the church. Thus a message for the un-churched is just as applicable to the un-un-churched. Take these things into consideration. What are their hurts, what are their temptations, what are their needs. Get out there and talk to people in your community and you will know what their needs are. Know your field!


• Know your crop - Do you remember the line in Planes Trains and Automobiles where Steve Martin yells at John Candy "when you tell a story, have a point!" What is the point (crop) that you are trying to get. When considering a message series, know your goals. Preaching is not teaching. Teaching conveys knowledge, preaching is designed to change beliefs or behaviors. What are the incorrect beliefs that I need to address? What behaviors are not being lived out in our church that I can speak to? What needs to happen as a result of this series.

For example, let me pull back the curtain a little more on the series structure for 2007....

Christmas 2006 - Harvest

January/February - Money Talks - 5 talks on money without asking for any. This was by design shallow end series, as a post harvest series for the Christmas newcomers. For those of you who may not know... we taught giving in our small groups during this time. But really addressed a need that people in our community identified with.

February/March - The WORLD series - A series on missions. This was designed to help our people prepare their hearts for the upcoming Easter harvest.

April/May - The 5 Love Languages - Another series designed to get people into the habit of attending church. This is a shameless attempt to let people test drive church attendance after coming from the first time on Easter. We usually will pass out invitations for this type series.

June/July - Building Life in Disney's World - This is a series through the book of Ephesians. It is specifically designed to address needs in the field. Ephesus was a city that is much like our own. Paul really addresses some of our same issues that we face here.

July/August - Conversations -To address questions and respond to the people of Cornerstone. To dialogue with them in a sporadic series that is disconnected on purpose. Many will be vacationing and it is a great time to address some issues.

August/September - Kidz Rule - This is a parenting series that is designed to help parents perform a hostile takeover and kick Jr. out of the corner office. Again this is a harvest series.

September/October - Disciple - To teach spiritual disciplines. I am still working on this, but it will most likely be a study through James, or one of the gospels. This will strengthen us for the upcoming Harvest.

I don't have the November & December planned out but I know that November will be about evangelism, and December is again Harvest. Also, we strategically will plan outreach events to go along with each harvest. All in all, for better or worse, this is how we do it. I am not saying that it is the only way, but how God has led our pastoral leadership team to plan for the harvest. Also, It is important to remember that our worship service is just the front door ministry of our church. It is designed to meet people where they are and walk alongside people into a small group.

Please feel free to email me if you have questions or comments.

Communication

Communication is vital to any relationship. Especially church. In leading a relatively new work things can change at the drop of a hat. But the communication I refer to is more vision casting. It is helping people to know where we are going, and how we will get there. I had the opportunity to sit down with some people this week and one on one, sharpen their vision for why we do, what we do. Every time I get this opportunity to explain and re-prove the vision of our church, fears are aleeved, and faith is increased. God is doing some amazing things at Cornerstone right now. Most of it is behind the scenes, and as a result, some are a little wary of where we are headed, they see change and are afraid. But once they see what God is doing, they will know that God is in this thing.

God has my mind spinning

I am currently reading a number of books all at the same time. I don't know how it happened other than I was given two, one by a friend and another at a conference, one I had ordered finally arrived, one I loaned out came back, and the one I was already reading. All in all it is a bit confusing, but my mind is spinning. I am so aware that God is doing something exciting at Cornerstone. He is really at work in my heart in the area of church planting and Four Corners. Alan Hirsch gives this quote in The Forgotten Ways. "on one occasion some youth ministry specialists I work with identified in an hour 50 easily discernible youth subcultures." (jocks, nerds, grease heads, goths, skaters, surfers, preps, geeks, good Ol boys, punks, etc.)
Wow! As I look at our area of Four Corners, I see the same thing. This really is a metropolitan suburb. What normally exists in the inner city, we, because of Disney, have in our subdivision. What does a church look like that is made up of so many discernible subcultures. Can they co-exist in one church? What about blending them into one service, is it possible? If it is possible would it be effective or too schizophrenic? What then are our options, what must we do to reach each of these cultures? I know that if I started a church to the jocks, that the nerds would not come, and vice-versa. The goths and the preps are the same. In fact, I can't see effectively reaching them all corporately, unless we strive to reach them all individually. On their cultural playing field. Let me give you some of the subcultures that I see in Four Corners. 1. Young families 2. Retired Seniors from the North 3. Single Adults 4. Southern Gospelers 4. Spanish 5. Islanders 6. Black American 7. Haitian 8. Asian 9. Arabic 10. British. Now I don't know that they cannot co-exist, but I do know that for the most part they don't. If you take EPCOT as our consummate example. There is one park, centered around one lake. There are many countries, but each one has borders, They have their own food, their own architecture, their own music. Is it possible that this is what our church should look like, One church, one Savior, but various services to each subculture? It is my prayer that God will give me insight into how to reach His people here in Four Corners, no matter what side of the lake they are on.

Gimp

A little note for you photo manipulation types out there (you know who you are.) This week I have been test driving a new release of the Gimp program. It seems to do all that Photoshop can do without the $650.00 price tag. It does have a learning curve and is still a bit awkward, as all freeware is, but there is no way I am going to pay
$650, no matter how user friendly it is.

Monday Meeting Download

What a great day off. We went to Joe Murray's meeting today and heard two outstanding messages from Russell Johnson at IBB in Miami and Mike Stancil from Calvary Baptist in Taylorville IL.

Russell Said:

We have to decide if we are going to have a espresso or decaf church. Too often we settle for a decaf ministry when God has called us to ministry through His power.
1. Focus on being the church not building the church. Eph. 4:1-3
2. Focus on what unites us, not what divides us. Eph. 4:4-6
3. Focus on equipping others instead of personally doing ministry. Eph. 4:11-12
4. Focus on maturity, not micromanaging people's lives. Eph. 4:13-14
5. Focus on relationships more than programs. Eph. 4:15
6. Focus on the church as an organism, not an organization. Eph. 4:16

Mike said:
We got into this business (ministry) for Pentecost, but we usually get out over the cost.
God has called us to supernatural ministry. Most of us settle for being less than a superhero.
Timothy was a screwed up pastor.
1. He was young - I Tim 4:12
2. He was sick - I Tim 5:23
3. He wanted to bolt - I Tim 1:3
4. He had settled - II Tim 1:6
5. He was timid - II Tim 1:7
6. He was ashamed - II Tim 1:8, 12, 16

Therefore:
1. Stir it up - II Tim 2:6;
2. Preach it - II Tim 4:2
3. Speak Up - II Tim 2:3

Don't back up, don't shut up, don't give up.

Because:

You never see kids playing Clark Kent, but sometimes you do see pastors.

Be a super hero!

Monday Meetings

Just to backstage you a bit. Today Gabe, Chuck Stephens, and I are going over to Church @ Harmony for a meeting with Joe Murray. He is our church planter on the other side of Kissimmee and is doing a fantastic job. There will be about 40-50 other pastors from around the state, meeting for the purpose of duplicating ministries like Joe's in other new towns. It should be fun. Also, on Wednesday we meet for a lunch with the guys from ReproducingChurches.com. The reproducing churches network consists of churches that are new, and have a DNA to birth a new church built right in. It is really cool to be able to meet with so many other churches that are doing the same thing we are and to encourage one another to make babies (Churches that is)! I say that with a little tongue in cheek, but in truth it is God's design that all churches give birth. It is not enough for us to just send $50 to support someone Else's baby. We must reproduce or we stand in opposition to God's plan.

Disney and the church...

I sat next to Gary Lamb, pastor of Ridge Stone Church last week at a blogger's round table at the National New Church Conference. His church is on fire and it was cool to meet him. He took his family to Disney and came back with this to say.