How will your church know it’s time for a change?

Rick Warren has written a great article on being properly structured for change, but it's not the type of structure you normally think about in leadership. It is based on a deep relationship with God. Click the link to read the article from his website Pastors.com.
How will your church know it’s time for a change? - Ministry Toolbox - Pastors

Why Men Hate Going to Church

I just finished reading this book. Very interesting. Here are some of the points author David Murrow makes:

He says that the current culture of "church" is not conducive to men. He sees the church valuing safety over risk, stability over change, preservation over expansion, and predictability over adventure. Murrow correctly observes that the Christan life is a matter of following Jesus. He says, "Fishermen dropped nets full of fish to follow Him, but today's' church can't convince men to drop their remote controls for a couple of hours a week". Following Jesus is a quest and might very well be what Jesus meant when He said that He came so we may have an abundant life.

Is the church challenging men (& women) to take risks? Is the church embracing change or trying to stop it? Are members challenging each other? There is a great story in Matthew 25 where the Master praises two servants who took a risk and invested their assets to produce more while the one who played it safe is cursed.

The early church grew in its first three hundred years because men and women were being persecuted for their faith (for taking a risk). The Anabaptist movement was all about taking risks against the established state church (and many of them died as well).

Does the church today have a big enough God-vision that men and women are willing to die for? Or have we domesticated them by sitting in a mauve pew and teaching them to behave for an hour a week? Murrow says that men are not able to check their testosterone at the church door which is why John Eldredge's book, "Wild at Heart" is so popular among male Christians. It reminds us that every man wants to live (& die) for something greater than himself. It's OK to want to seek greatness. Jesus promised His disciples that they would do even greater things because of the Holy Spirit, but it's not done through self-promotion. Instead, it is accomplished through self-sacrifice.

Murrow says, "Jesus had a vision. He called it the kingdom of God. It was huge. It involved nothing less than a re-creation of the world, one person at a time. And we are His partners in this task. This vision was the focus of His entire life. This vision is what kept Him focused on His mission. It was the reason He lived and died. If men don't have a vision of what God is doing in a church, they will not invest themselves. They want a cause, not another club."

I believe this is why it is not so important to "go" to church as it is to "Be" the church. What an adventure!

Prayer for Leroy

The preacher said, "Anyone with 'special needs' who wants to be prayed over, come forward to the altar."

With that, Leroy got in line and when it was his turn, the preacher asked, "Leroy, what do you want me to pray about for you?"

Leroy replied, "Preacher, I need you to pray for help with my hearing." The preacher put his hands over Leroy's ears, and prayed and prayed and prayed. He prayed a "blue streak" for Leroy, and after awhile the whole congregation joined in with great enthusiasm.

When the preacher finally had prayed all he could pray, he removed his hands, dried the sweat on his brow, and said, "Leroy, tell the congregation, how is your hearing?"

Leroy answered, "I don't know. It ain't 'til next week."

God-focused Worship

Does our worship service lead people to an encounter with Christ and the Holy Spirit? Think about why we do what we do in worship. Do we worship the way we do because it is how we have always done it? Do we worship the way we do because it is what we are best at? Do we worship the way we do because it makes certain members of the church happy?

Many people want a tangible, transforming encounter with God but never found it in worship, because worship has been focused on everything but that transforming encounter. If we don’t offer people a venue through which they can access the spiritual, they will gladly find some other venue and substitute the pursuits and pleasures of the world.

The church has to adapt its worship because our culture doesn’t recognize the value of worship when done as it was in generations past. Each generation is different in what it resonates with because over time the culture changes. Ultimately, the problem isn't that each generation keeps changing. The problem is that as time passes congregations and their leaders forget to keep the focus of worship on the encounter with the Holy. They forget that unless people sense that they have had an encounter with Christ, an experience of the Spirit and that through worship they are increasingly established in the Creator, then worship is no longer God-focused.

Do people encounter the Holy in our worship services? The challenge in restoring the Holy to worship is to recognize that different people experience the Holy in different ways. Churches cannot account for every difference, but they can become sensitive to these differences and adapt to them.

Article adapted from "Why Do We Worship the Way We Have Always Worshiped When People Keep Changing?" by N. Graham Standish. http://www.alban.org/conversation.aspx?id=9140

Faithfulness, not Success

This is something I forwarded to my pastor friends. Thought I would include it here. It comes from a book entitled, "Confessions of an Insignificant Pastor" by W. Mark Elliott.

“God has called us to faithfulness not success. If we will be faithful, hang on to God, and keep doing our best in God's strength then God will take care of any success we may enjoy. Not quitting gives God the chance to show up in times of weakness and display His strength, wisdom, and love in our lives and ministries. Not quitting means God has to show up. We become a trophy of His grace shed abroad in our lives. If you decide to refuse to quit no matter what...then that is a decision you don't even have to entertain unless you get a "thus sayeth the Lord.? That frees you up to keep putting one foot in front of another for another day and to find your source of strength outside yourself. Remember: the battle doesn't belong to you but to the Lord.”

What I Can Control

There is a story in the Old Testament about the prophet Samuel who anoints Saul the first king of Israel. King Saul is leading his nation in battle against the Philistines. God was directing Saul through the prophet Samuel.

Samuel instructed Saul to go on ahead of him to Micmash and wait. Samuel would join him in seven days to offer a burnt offering to the Lord. If you know the story, you know that pressure from the Philistines begins to build as they prepare for battle. The people of Israel are fearful and start to scatter. What is Saul to do? Where is Samuel? It has now been seven days!

Finally, King Saul, fearing the impending attack, took it upon himself to offer the burnt offering. At that very moment, guess who finally shows up? Samuel, and he isn't pleased. In fact he tells Saul that the kingship will be taken away and given to someone else. Indeed it was.

King Saul believed he needed to take control of the situation. He took matters into his own hands. In this case it was because of fear and impatience.

I have this tendency to want to control situations and people. From this story it shows me that the need comes from fear (of what others might say if not done a certain way) and impatience (what is taking so long? Let's Get 'R' Done). As a pastor this can be very tempting but I think I am finally learning that the only thing I can control is myself. In fact, that is a fruit of the Spirit (self-control). I cannot control what people say or the decisions they make. I cannot control who comes to a worship service or not. I cannot control who gets upset or their feelings hurt because of something someone else said or did. I cannot control what others think or say about me.

I can only control myself and how I respond to certain things. There is a great amount of freedom in that. I'm finding that when I begin to control things, it is because I am not trusting God to act in His time.

Here is a prayer from author Mark Elliott that I need to pray often:

Heavenly Father,
I am weak but you are strong. I am inconsistent but you never change. I am a sinner and you are my righteousness. I'm all about the destination but you are all about the journey. You have called me and are faithful to fulfill your ministry call and spiritual development in me. Therefore, I give you my sin, struggles, weaknesses, problems, and fears. I lay them at your feet. I am weary and heavily burdened. I come to you for rest, refreshing, and renewal. Give me a fresh measure of your joy that is my inner strength. I thank you God that your mercies for me are new every morning. I choose today to walk in your renewable strength, powerful presence, and jubilant joy. Thank you Jesus for being my all-in-all whenever I feel so down-and-out. The battle around me belongs to you so each day I gratefully deliver them in prayer to your capable hands. Thanks you for taking such good care of all that could burden me. Amen

Should Christians Tithe?

Mark Driscoll (pastor of Mars Hill Church) does a good job of answering this age-old question. If you have 4 minutes, watch this video...