Yearly Archives: 2013
Improvise, Adapt, Overcome
From a friend’s Email Signature:
“My job is to get things done. If I have the equipment, materials, and manpower to do it fine! If I don’t then I have to improvise, adapt to changing circumstances and overcome the problem to reach the objective.”
Blows a hole in all my excuse making this morning… Love it. And hate it. Such is the challenge of leadership.
Small Groups on Mission Together
Love what one Northshore church is doing to get their small groups On Mission For Others. FBC Mandeville is having each of their Life Groups choose a “NEAR Mission Project” to engage in together. They’ve started a blog to communicate local opportunities for mission. Check it out: http://fbcmandeville.blogspot.com/.
New Testament Discipleship included Relationships built around the Word of God AND the Mission of God (See my related post on Relationships + Mission and the New Old Way of Movement Making).
Imagine the possibilities for your Small Groups or Sunday School classes…
The Church Starts Here Podcast
Enjoyed spending some time with a great friend who’s been bit by the church planting bug. Mike Dean is part of a 
new church in northwest Louisiana and has started a great blog and podcast on church planting called The Church Starts Here. A few weeks ago on the podcast we talked challenges to church planting, changes in terminology, the role of the church planters wife, and more.
Check it out at HERE.
“7 Things to Pray for Your Children” and other links I liked and learned from this week:
From my delicious.com account:
- Seven Things to Pray for Your Children // desiringgod.org parenting, prayer
- 10 Time Management Rules That You Are Breaking // timemanagementninja.com TimeManagement
- 10 Things Your Son Needs From You // allprodad.com Fatherhood, Sons, Dads
- Starting Spiritual Conversations // loganleadership.com evangelism, conversations // “Sometimes people honestly have no idea how to answer a spiritual question. Modeling your own response first makes it easier for them by giving them a category for how to respond.”
- 12 Essentials of Powerful Church Communications // churchplants.com ChurchCommunication
- How to Keep Your Insecurity From Hurting Your Church // pastors.com leadership, insecurity // “Competitiveness, combativeness, and complaining do not have a place in the church of Jesus Christ, especially in the life of a minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”
- Disciple Being or Disciple Making? // loganleadership.com Discipleship // “Disciple-making requires making new disciples. Disciple-being involves only existing disciples.”
- 9 Leadership Acceleration Skills // visionroom.com leadership, personaldevelopment // “bad leaders, average leaders, and even good leaders can change their spots.”
Morning Prayers
Starting the day with surrender… 
- Lord, I exalt You as Lord and Master and King of my life.
- Lord, I place my life at your complete 100% disposal, today and forever.
- Lord, I humble myself under Your might hand (1 Peter 5:7).
- Lord, empty me of myself and fill me with Your Spirit (Ephesians 5:18).
- Lord Jesus, I desire to come after you today, denying myself, taking up my cross and following You (Luke 9:23).
- Lord, I crucify my flesh with its passions and desires (Galatians 5:24).
- Lord, I reckon myself dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus (Romans 6:11).
- Lord, I present my body as a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1) and as an instrument of Your righteousness (Romans 6:13).
- Create in me a pure heart, O God (Psalm 51:10), that I may see You (Matthew 5:8).
- In repentance, I ask for You to cleanse me of all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).
- I cry out for Your wisdom, knowing that my own is insufficient for this day (Proverbs 3:5-7).
- Lord, have your way with me.
- Lord, open my eyes to see where you’re working.
- Lord, give me the courage today & forever to walk through the doors you open.
- Lord, help me see as you see, hear as you hear, and speak as you speak today & forever.
- Lord, rule and reign in and through my life today, as you rule and reign over all creation.
- Lord, take this life for Your good and glory today and forever.
- Lord, I can do nothing apart from you (John 15:5).
- Lord, teach me, use me, change me today and forever.
- Lord, I am Your willing bond-slave (Luke 1:37).
- Lord, give me thick skin and a tender heart.
- Holy Spirit, be my teacher and guide today and forever.
25 Ways for Men to Be Servant Leaders… and other links I liked and learned from this week:
From my delicious.com account:
- The Real Definition of a Gospel-Centered Leader – excerpt from the book Creature of the Word by Matt Chandler, Eric Geiger, & Josh Patterson – churchleaders.com leadership
- EntreLeadership by Dave Ramsey Kindle Edition just $1.99
- Leaders of Courageous Character: Why They’re Needed but Lacking– With Four Ways to Be One – edstetzer.com leadership, Courage
- 25 Ways for Men to be Servant Leaders – by Micah Carter, from the Men’s Fraternity Study Bible – hcsb.org Men, husbands, family
- The Science Behind Coffee and Why it’s Actually Good for Your Health – lifehacker.com – “Coffee isn’t just warm and energizing, it may also be extremely good for you. In recent years, scientists have studied the effects of coffee on various aspects of health and their results have been nothing short of amazing.”
- “Offering to Others the New Life He Has Given Me” – Great testimony of life change from NOBTS student Shaun Grunblatt – unlimitedpartnerships.org “Before receiving Christ at the age of twenty seven, my life had been devastated by the effects of my sin and foolish choices. I lost everything to drugs and alcohol. Then through a series of tragedies, I came to a place of humble brokenness before the Lord.”
- A Letter to the Church, from a Pastor – What’s your pastor thinking? ronedmondson.com pastors
- 10 Reasons Dads Should Have Date Night With Their Daughters – playgrounddad.com parenting, Daughters
Gospel: God Gets Explicit
Explicit lyrics in the 80’s, brought on the Parental Advisory labels for cassettes and then CD’s in the 90’s. So, I’ve always considered the word
explicit to mean naughty. Then while reading Matt Chandler’s 2012 book Explicit Gospel, I used my handy “look up in dictionary” feature on the Mac toolbar and learned the definition had little to do with potty words. Explicit is defined as “stated clearly and in detail, leaving no room for confusion or doubt.” That’s actually a great adjective for the message of God. Though there is a lot of confusion about what Christianity, religion, the Gospel is all about (see my last post), God has laid it out where anyone can grasp his desire. So in an effort to be explicit this morning, here’s a few of my fav verses, definitions, links and resources to remove doubt and confusion and state it clearly and in detail. I’ll be adding to this post over the next few weeks as our church studies the Explicit Gospel. Get to know the Gospel!!!
- 1 Corinthians 15:1-8 – “Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel… that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures…”
- John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
- Romans 6:23 – “the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
- Ephesians 2:1, 4-5 – “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins… But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved”
Definitions:
- Gospel comes from the word “Evangel” which means Good News. “Evangel” was news of a great historical event that changed the listeners condition and required response. So the gospel is news of what God has done to accomplish salvation through Jesus Christ in history.
- Martin Luther: “The gospel is a story about Christ, God’s and David’s son, who died and was raised, and is established as Lord. This is the gospel in a nutshell.”
- Tim Keller: “Through the person and work of Jesus Christ, God fully accomplishes salvation for us, rescuing us from judgment for sin into fellowship with him, and then restores the creation in which we can enjoy our new life together with him forever.”
- John Piper: “The Gospel is the good news of our final and full enjoyment of the glory of God in the face of Christ.”
- Ed Stetzer: “The gospel is the good news that God, who is more holy than we can imagine, looked upon with compassion, people, who are more sinful than we would possibly admit, and sent Jesus into history to establish his Kingdom and reconcile people and the world to himself. Jesus, whose love is more extravagant than we can measure, came to sacrificially die for us so that, by His death and resurrection, we might gain through His grace what the Bible defines as new and eternal life.”
- Tullian Tchividjian: ”The Gospel is the the good news that in and through Christ’s life, death, and resurrection, God makes all things new.”
Links:
Gospel? Ain’t Nobody Got Time for That!
Though some churches are growing, we live in a day of declining church attendance. And beyond the pragmatistic solutions that we have to offer and conference about, we also must connect the dots to the reality that people are turning to other things for good news (substance, pleasure, people, false religions, etc.) and YEP, they’re saying to our Gospel, “Ain’t nobody got time for that!” Now, there are eternal consequences to this. Devastating. Eternal. Consequences. Why and how MUST be priorities for Christians and churches concerned about the Gospel, the Great Commission, the glory of God, the lives and souls of people.
In our Lenten study called The Explicit Gospel, our church is currently focusing on What is the Gospel? How do we make it part of everyday life?
How do we share it in relevant ways to our friends? How do we allow the Gospel to influence how we do church? prepare for the future? etc.
There are good reasons to point to for the answer to the question, “Why are people turning to other things for Good News?” Why do p
1. It’s Spiritual. The Bible actually says that many people will not get it. Some people will never have time for that! That’s why Jesus often concluded truth statements with the phrase, “He who has ears to hear let him hear” (Matthew 11:15, Mark 4:9, Luke 8:8) knowing that some would not be able to comprehend the spiritual truth and respond to it. In the Parable of the Sower found in Matthew 13, Mark 4, and Luke 8, Jesus predicted that only one in four people that hear the word will respond with fruitfulness. The spiritual obstacles of Satan, suffering, and stuff can get in the way of us understanding and responding to the Gospel. See also 2 Corinthians 4:4.eople not have time for the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Here’s a few:
2. Compelling Counterfeits. Counterfeit Gospels scatter the landscape and many of them are compelling. A counterfeit gospel is anything that adds to or takes away from the Gospel or from Jesus’ work of defeating sin at the cross and death at the tomb. It’s + or – Jesus. Anything that we count on for hope, peace, salvation, security, significance outside of Jesus is a counterfeit. These can be substance, pleasure, possessions, people, or almost anything our heart goes after. It can also be something good. A compelling counterfeit can be found in church every Sunday with people who are trusting Jesus AND their religious activity to bring them salvation. The true Gospel is Jesus + or – nothing.
3. Failure to Communicate. We can’t blame ourselves for the Spiritual realities and counterfeits around us, but God put communication of the Gospel right on our to do list (Matthew 28:18-20, Acts 1:8, Romans 10:14-17). The Apostle Paul asks the obvious and challenging questions in Romans 10:14-15, “how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent?” God’s plan for getting the Gospel to those around us is US. It’s our job to communicate it every way we can. We must be committed to telling, churches must be committed to sending. And we must be committed to living out the Gospel everyday. This includes applying the Gospel to our own lives as well. Our actions MUST line up with our message. Someone quipped about Christians, “Your actions speak so loudly that I can’t hear what you’re saying.” And “If it weren’t for Christians, there’d be more of us.” How are we communicating the Gospel must be a constant question?
Next, we’ll look at answers to the question, What is the Gospel? and What does it have to do with my everyday life?
Join Bridge Church on Sunday’s at the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Maritime Museum in Madisonville as we continue this series and together seek to live out the Gospel In Christ, On Mission, 4 Others.
“Why Nice People Kill Churches” and other links I liked and learned from this week
From my delicious.com account:
1. Epic Quotes on Discipleship & Influence from Prof Howard Hendricks (1924-2013) willmancini.com quotes, howardhendricks, discipleship
- You can impress from a distance, but you can only impact up close.
- You teach what you know, but you reproduce what you are.
- Dusty Bibles lead to dirty lives.
2. Don’t Waste Your Wedding – Great Ideas for making your wedding distinctly Christian. catherinestrodeparks.com weddingplanning
3. 7 Common Energy and Time Wasters for Leaders ronedmondson.com TimeManagement, Leadership
4. The Fine Art of Delegation [Podcast] michaelhyatt.com delegation, Leadership
- Imperative #1: Admit that working non-stop is unsustainable.
- Imperative #2: Understand your unique calling
- Imperative #3: Select qualified leaders to assist you
- Imperative #4: Give these leaders responsibility and authority
- Imperative #5: Only do those things which others cannot do.
5. The Latest Pornography Statistics – Covenant Eyes Annual Report for 2013. covenanteyes.com Porn
6. Why Nice People Kill Churches paulalexanderblog.com Leadership, staff
“when being nice begins to trump being honest because you don’t want to experience the discomfort of a difficult conversation, that’s not nice…that’s selfish.”
7. Startling Facts: An Up Close Look at Church Attendance in America churchleaders.com churchgrowth, churchdecline
- Less than 20% of Americans regularly attend church.
- American church attendance is steadily declining.
- Mid-sized churches are shrinking; only the smallest and largest are growing.
- The increase in churches thr0ugh planting and multiplication is only 1/4 what’s needed to keep up with population growth.
Marriage Policy Triage
I’m blessed to be part of a great student & church network called Unlimited Partnerships at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Each month 
we meet for collaboration, learning, fellowship, encouragement, etc. UP also seeks to provide links to quality mentors for students serving in churches as well as help with resourcing their jobs in church plants or churches that can’t afford staff. For more info, check out UnlimitedPartnerships.org.
Yesterday we met and discussed what’s sure to become a huge issue in the next 10 years: All things Marriage & Sexuality. Here’s a brief recap of our meeting:
Dr. Ken Schroeder, Pastor of FBC Mandeville, shared with us about Prepare & Enrich. P & E is a great pre-marital assessment tool for couples that helps them get to know strengths & weaknesses & gives counselors & pastors a base line for how to prepare the couple for Christian Marriage. Check out www.prepare-enrich.net for more info & training opportunities.
Whatever you use, have a plan to prepare couples for the big day & success till death do us part. I’ve never had the chance to get trained in Prepare & Enrich, so I use Dennis Rainey’s book Preparing for Marriage as a baseline for pre-marital preparation.
We discussed some of the Must Have’s for Church Marriage Policies unrelated to building use:- Counseling Sessions / A Plan for Preparation for Christian Marriage- To see the plan for the wedding, so that songs utilized concur with the message of Christ in the wedding.
- Counseling Sessions / A Plan for Preparation for Christian Marriage- To see the plan for the wedding, so that songs utilized concur with the message of Christ in the wedding.
- A wedding coordinator may be required as well.
- Some Pastors require Covenant Marriage as state laws allow.
- Marriage policies should define marriage. Here’s the link to a Baptist Press article concerning the need for Updated Marriage Policies with the reality of cultural shifts on this issue. It’s only a matter of time before some Church get sued and/or makes news for refusing a same-sex ceremony. It’s already happened to a nice Christian baker.
Issues: Should I do the wedding? Check out the Joe McKeever’s recent article that deals with these issues & more HERE. Dr. Joe says doing weddings is a faith endeavor because you never know which ones will make it and which won’t. Many weddings I’ve performed exceeded my expectations, while some surprised me with great disfunction. Making the decision to perform a wedding or not can be difficult. As I struggled through these issues as a young pastor I settled on what I wanted to do & here’s my language to prospective couples: “I don’t just do weddings, but I will help you prepare for Christian Marriage. Is that what you want?” If yes, & 90% of the time it is, then I have an opportunity to describe what that looks like & what preparing for that will look like. But here’s some issues our network discussed yesterday in this regard:
– Cohabitation. It’s becoming more and more common. Consensus: each situation should be taken separately. When I was struggling through this question as a young pastor, I wrote a series of blog post working out my position. Find them here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3. Some of the links are no longer good, b/c it’s 6 years old, but feel free to use or improve upon what you can.
– Same-Sex Marriage – Church policy should clearly define marriage by your convictions.
– Undocumented Immigrants – Question to consider: Is having their marriage recognized by the state as important as having them right before God?
– Non-Believers – Each situation should be taken separately.
Ideas for Discipleship in a Culture of Cohabitation, Divorce, etc.
– Celebrate Marriage by celebrating anniversaries, weddings, etc.
– Utilize Marriage studies
– Utilize Marriage retreats
– Incarnate at Bridal Showers, presenting a path to Christian Marriage.
– Consider a Free Wedding Weekend. Here’s a link to one a friend of mine is a part of. CLICK HERE for a few links in Outreach Mag concerning this innovation.
Books & Resources Mentioned by our students & pastors:
- Love & Respect
- Sacred Marriage
- Saving Your Marriage Before It Starts
- Date Your Wife by Justin Buzzard
- Mingling of Souls by Matt Chandler
- Song of Solomon by Tommy Nelson
- Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers
- Preparing for Marriage by Dennis Rainey, et al.
- For Wedding Ceremony preparation, Jim Henry’s Pastors Wedding Manual is great.
Our next meeting will be March 25th. Let me know if you have anything to add or subtract. Or if you’d like to be part of our network.
Lane Corley 