Category Archives: Ministry
On Fruitful Ministry to the Poor
[New Audio] is up at Northshorebaptists.net from our most recent Compassion Network Meeting. Randy Poole from Mississippi River Ministries explores the subject of poverty and understanding different economic worldview’s in the context of ministry. Get the audio on Itunes or at our website.
Here’s a few big takeaways from part 1:
- Fruitful ministry to the poor happens when we see them as God sees them and understand how they see themselves.
- Every economic worldview has good and destructive things within them.
- The church typically doesn’t reach out to the rich b/c we think we have nothing to offer them. And we don’t reach out to the poor b/c they have nothing to offer us.
- Evangelicalism is a middle-class phenomenon and we’ve made ministry about moving people from poverty to the middle class.
Check out the audio. It will make you think about your churches ministry to people at the different income levels.
How to BLESS someone
Most people want to make a difference in the world. Ability, time, and permission is often in question among us church goers. How can I be a blessing to those around me? Here’s a simple strategy that anybody can implement. I heard this last week during the Verge Conference from Dave Ferguson. BLESS:
B – Begin w/prayer.
Pray for opportunities and open doors. Pray for the heart of God for those around you.
L – Listen.
If we’re willing to listen, people will tell us their needs, hurts, desires, questions.
E – Eat.
Build relationships. Do coffee or lunch. Invite someone over for dinner.
S – Serve.
When we listen and build relationships with people we will know what they need and can serve them.
S – Story.
It’s incomplete without sharing the story of Christ. His is the story promised to bring blessing to every nation.
What if you committed to do at least one of these each day? Just one. If so, you’d find yourself on the way to making a difference from where you are.
Core Practices of Sent Living
We are saved to be sent into the world (John 17:18; 20:21; Romans 10:14-15). Unlike my email “DRAFT” box which is full of messages that are SAVED BUT NOT SENT, God desires that we live out our faith. How do I live sent? The past two months Bridge Church has studied the Core Practices of Jesus’ life and those closest too him. We’ve asked the question, “What DID Jesus Do?” Here’s the Core Practices of Sent Living and some of the resources we’ve gathered as we’ve journeyed through this series:
1) LISTEN TO GOD. Do I have a regular time I spend with God? Jesus spent much time away from the crowds connecting with the Father. If He prioritized it, how much more should I? Check out the booklet How to Get a Grip on the Bible for tips on starting a daily time with God.
2) BE INTENTIONAL W/PEOPLE. Do you see people as distractions or as people that God loves? Do others know you care about them? Jesus was always close to people who needed him. The Message Paraphrase of John 1:14, says “the Word became flesh and blood and moved into the neighborhood.” Are you intentional in your service and sharing with those closest to you? Here’s a booklet with over 100 ideas for Incarnational Living.
3) PUT YOUR FAITH IN ACTION. How are you serving others with your life? Can people see God working in and through your life? Jesus responded to the needs of people with compassion & urgency. 40 times in the Gospel of Mark the word “IMMEDIATELY” is related to Jesus’ ministry. What do you do IMMEDIATELY? SHAPEforMinistry on learning your SHAPE for ministry and consider getting involved in a church in a way that God has SHAPEd you.
4) GIVE IT AWAY. Do you live with generosity from your checkbook to your words? Do you live with open hand or closed fist? Jesus held nothing back for the needs of people, even when it meant giving his very life (Philippians 2:5-9).
5) TELL THE STORY. Can you share your testimony? Can you share the Gospel with others? Jesus shared the message simply everywhere he went. Check out http://www.WhatIValueMost.com for a great resource on sharing your testimony with others.
6) GO VIRAL. Do you have a desire to see the message spread and how are you using your relational influence to do that? Jesus started a movement not an institution. How are you extending the SPREAD of the Gospel from where you are? Check out this article on Utilizing Social Networking for Ministry for some tips on using your web influence.
7) LIVE SENT. What is God doing in the world? One answer: SENDING. God saw our deepest needs and SENT Christ (1 John 4:9-10). And today, he sees the needs of your neighborhood, work place, community and He has SENT you. Are you practicing SENT living?
Check out all the messages from this series and their intro vids here.
Saved, but NOT Sent
I’ve been pretty good at keeping up with email for most of my digital life, but lately my “Draft” box is filling up. That means I’ve started an email to you but I got distracted before I was able to complete it. If you’re waiting on an email from me, SORRY! These messages are SAVED, but NOT SENT.
Incidentally, I believe this describes many of us Christians in today’s Western church. We have been SAVED by God and put ourselves into the DRAFT box of church membership, but we’ve not seen the opportunities or necessity to be SENT by God into the world to used BY Him and FOR Him. Many Christians today are SAVED, but NOT SENT.
SENT is a key word in the Story of God. By nature God is a SENDER:
- He SENT Abraham away from Ur to find a promised land
- He SENT Joseph to Egypt to save his family from famine
- He SENT Moses to Egypt to rescue the Hebrews from slavery
- He SENT Judges to Israel to fend off enemies before the days of the Kings.
- He SENT Prophets to call the people to repentance and lead the people during the exile.
AND THE CLIMACTIC MOMENT:
- He SENT Jesus to die for the sins of the world and defeat sin and death through the resurrection.
- Luke 4:18, “He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind…”
- John 17:3, “this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have SENT.”
- 1 John 4:9, “In this is the love of God was made manifest among us, that God SENT his only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him.”
And He’s continued SENDING:
- He SENT the Holy Spirit to empower the church for ministry and multiplication.
- He SENT the Apostles to start a Gospel movement around the known world. Apostle actually means “sent one”
And continue through 1,000’s of years of Church History and you’ll find yourself in a long list of people that God desires to be SENT into this world for His Glory.
We are SAVED TO BE SENT into the world for His glory.
- John 17:18, “As you SENT me into the world, so I have SENT them into the world.”
- John 20:21, “As the Father has SENT me, even so I am SENDING you.”
- Romans 10:14-15, “How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard?t And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are SENT?”
So God sees the needs of the world and His response – HE SENT YOU AND I. We are God’s response.
So are you living SENT? or are you content with SITTING and watching others? Is your church a SENDING church or a SITTING church?
This weekend Bridge Church finished up a series of messages called Core (get the series and their Intro Videos here). It’s all about SENT Living and this week’s message we’ll talk about some practical ways to Live Sent.
What are some ways that you’ve know people to Live Sent? How have you lived sent in your world? What are the implications of being SENT by God on our daily lives?
A great book on Sent Living is entitled Live Sent by my good friend Jason Dukes. Check out info and some of my big take away’s from the book here.
Viral Faith
“Pray that the Master’s Word will simply take off and race through the country to a groundswell of response” http://bible.us/2Thess3.1.MSG
And that’s exactly what it did in the early days of the New Testament Church. But today we face slow declines. We bemoan the loss of Biblical values in the culture and it’s hard to see churches struggle to survive. But the worst part is that the message no longer races through the country, person to person, house to house, village to village, country to country.
Yesterday at Bridge Church we talked about how to have viral faith as part of our Core Practices message series. We know about 
viral things mainly from our favorite Youtube Videos that have been passed around through our social networks and email inboxes. Seth Godin mentions 4 things that have to be present for some content to go viral. His list is instructive in relation to the spread of the Gospel:
1. The content has to be understood. Recently our Association partnered with the LA Baptist Convention on a first of its kind opinion poll related to Northshore residents views on religion and church. One of the questions was: “How can a person become a Christian.” Over 80% could not explain how to become a Christian in the estimation of the operator. But interestingly enough only 31% of self-identified Southern Baptist, 34% of non-denominational, 8% of charismatics, 15% of Methodists could give a clear answer. Good question: Do I understand the gospel and can I explain it in a way that others can understand and can pass along?
2. There has to be a desire for others to know about it. We tend to pass on and create buzz about what is important to us. Today, church leaders are in the buzz creating business, but usually it’s creating buzz about programs that will keep us coming to church. There’s little desire to see the Gospel set people free around us. It was Charles Spurgeon who said, “Have you no wish for others to be saved? Then you are not saved yourself. Be sure of that.” Do I have a desire for others to know Christ? As a church leader is there a growing desire in my church for others to know?
3. There’s a belief that passing it on has personal and corporate benefits. What’s the benefits to spreading the Gospel? We have to look deeper than the skin and we have to be willing to look to others. There’s great benefit to obeying Jesus, like his promised presence with us and eternal reward for faithfulness (Matthew 28:19-20, John 14:21 & 23). And there’s the benefit to society of a message that can transform people and cultures. In our concern to fit church into people’s schedule and keep them coming through tangible earthly benefits, have we lost the viral advantage of eternal benefits and an other’s centered perspective on life (Philippians 2:3-4).
4. It can be spread affordably. Here’s a product that’s free and can be spread for absolutely free if so desired. It’s free to us and free to spread, but a high price was paid for us to have the opportunity to know and make it known. Jesus paid it all. Our cost now: people’s opinions of us – “I don’t want people to think I’m a fanatic”, time – “I’m just so busy”, concern for others – “That’s their problem, not mine.” Small prices to pay comparatively.
This week I’ll be sharing some practical ways to go Viral with your faith.
Riding a Dead Horse
Remembered and shared this a few times over the past month while working on Associational Church Revi Strategies. I think I heard it first from one of John Maxwell’s Enjoy Tapes back in the 90’s. It’s passed around a lot. I guess because it’s so true. Got any dead horses around?
25 Ways to Ride a Dead Horse
The tribal wisdom of the Dakota Indians—passed on from generation to generation—says that when you discover that you are riding a dead horse, the best strategy is to dismount.
Modern churches, however, have found a whole range of far more advanced strategies to use, such as:
- Buying a stronger whip.
- Changing riders.
- Declaring, “God told us to ride this horse.”
- Appointing a committee to study the horse.
- Threatening the horse with termination.
- Proclaiming, “This is the way we’ve always ridden this horse.”
- Develop a training session to improve our riding ability.
- Reminding ourselves that other churches ride this same kind of horse.
- Determining that riders who don’t stay on dead horses are lazy, lack drive, and have no ambition – then replacing them.
- Lowering the standards so that dead horses can be included.
- Reclassifying the horse as “living-impaired.”
- Hiring an outside consultant to advise on how to better ride the horse.
- Harnessing several dead horses together to increase the speed.
- Confessing boldy, “This horse is not dead, but alive!”
- Providing additional funding and/or training to increase the dead horse’s performance.
- Riding the dead horse “outside the box.”
- Get the horse a Web site.
- Killing all the other horses so the dead one doesn’t stand out.
- Taking a positive outlook – pronouncing that the dead horse doesn’t have to be fed, it is less costly, carries lower overhead, and therefore contributes substantially more to the bottom line of the church’s budget than do some other horses.
- Rewriting the expected performance requirements for all horses.
- Promoting the dead horse to a supervisory position.
- Name the dead horse, “paradigm shift,” and keep riding it.
- Riding the dead horse “smarter, not harder.”
- Stating that other horses reflect compromise and are not from God.
- Remembering all the good times you had while riding that horse.
On Church Buildings and Portable Church
Great thoughts from Geoff Surratt on the Problems w/Church Buildings & why/how to make portable church 
sustainable. Our church has been portable since inception in 2009. There are limitations, but Surratt does a great job demonstrating that the grass is not always greener on the side of having a permanent building. I learned this the hard way when our first church plant moved from being portable and meeting in an unairconditioned fire station to owning our own property. The building sucked much of the energy out of community ministries but we had air conditioning. Interestingly enough, 6 months later, many of our leaders were saying, “I wish we were back in the fire station.” Below is a synopsis of Surratt’s comments. All the posts are well worth reading for church planters and those thinking of multiplying through multi-site:
I agree with Surratt: “Church buildings are not evil, obviously most churches have had them for the past 1700 years. But if we are going to really make a dent in reaching lost people I think we are going to have to literally think outside the box.”
Part 1: What a Building Won’t Do
- First, a building won’t make you a real church. I’m sure you realize that the Christian church built few, if any, buildings before 300 AD.
- a building doesn’t validate a church, the anointing of the Holy Spirit validates a church.
- if you have a leadership development problem, a discipleship problem or a volunteer recruitment problem now, you will still have those challenges once you have a building. If people aren’t growing at your church now they still won’t be growing when you put a permanent roof over their heads.
Part 2: The Hidden Costs
- Buildings Attract Christians – If your target audience is now sitting in someone else’s pew, then a new building is just the bait to lure them in. If you really are after the unchurched, a building might not have the impact you think it will have.
- Buildings Eat 24/7 – When you get a permanent facility you won’t have to set up and tear down any more, but you will have to pour endless amounts of cash into the care and feeding of your new money pit.
- Buildings Modify Vision – Once you have a permanent location the vision of your church will be greatly impacted by your building. A lot of what you do will be guided by paying for your box, filling up your box and expanding your box.
Part 3: 8 Ways to Make Portable Sustainable
- Realize you have meeting space now
- Lease an office space with a small to medium size meeting room
- Have multiple teams for set up and tear down
- Select the right team leaders
- Honor the setup and tear down teams
- Build community into the teams
- Create a path for advancement
- Hire the setup/tear down crew
And interestingly enough, 62% of residents in our community recently said in a professional opinion poll that they would be ok with attending church in a school, movie theater or other public building.
Thoughts? Follow-up questions? Ideas or experiences on portable church?
The Great TRANSFER GROWTH Boogie Monster, part 2
Many church leaders are afraid of church multiplication because of the Great Transfer Growth Boogie Monster that will jump out and get us if we plant new churches. We tend to assume that ALL new churches just take members from existing churches. In my previous post, I talked about why this is wrong/bad strategy and I shared some of Dr. JD Payne’s great challenge to church planters to not settle for transfer growth over reaching the unchurched. (Read all the Ethical Guidelines for Church Planters here.)
Now, a few questions for pastors and ministry leaders on the other side of this, who are poopooing on the whole notion of church planting and off campus multiplication in fear of the great Transfer Growth Boogie Monster.
- Are you practicing what you’re crying out against? When I share with other ministry leaders some of JD Payne’s principles and my own process for those who may be wanting to transfer membership, most admit that they don’t do that themselves, pointing out that there is just no time. So time is better spent talking down the planting of new churches and making unfounded accusations about church planters who are seeking the good of the city? If you gladly shake the hands with a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy toward transfer members, you should not use that as a reason against church planting.
- Is your fear of people leaving your church really just insecurity about your own ministry? If we believe in the sovereignty of God and his placing of people in the body as He sees fit, and if we are properly discipling people to understand who they are in Christ and their place in the body, what’s to fear? Unless we’re really just appealing to people’s consumeristic tendencies ourselves in order to “get some butts in the seats” (Whoopie Goldberg in Sister Act). There will always be a better show come to town to draw consumeristic attenders. Building ministries with robust disciple making instead of a great and attractive show may mean slower growth at first, but greater commitment to the church family on mission together.
- Is the thought of people leaving your church scarier than people spending eternity in hell? Most pastors today will admit that there are population segments in their community that they cannot and will not reach. And at the same time, not lend support to the planting of new churches to reach those people. Are we content to leave significant numbers of people without a contextually appropriate gospel witness because of fear our numbers may dip?
Transfer growth is not best for the kingdom, but the real boogie moster for us is the growing number of unchurched
Americans and those leaving the church and never coming back. We need church planters and healthy churches that will focus on making disciples through on and off campus multiplication.
We could head off transfer growth and grow the Kingdom through an effective SENDING/MULTIPLICATION strategy. That’s for a future post.
Check out Part 1 of The Great Transfer Growth Boogie Monster. Also check out my post entitled Commitment, Honor, & Transfer Growth which deals with ethical guidelines for ministry leaders to consider.
The Great TRANSFER GROWTH Boogie Monster
An assumption of many pastors about church planting in North America is that new churches just draw people from other churches. Underlying that assumption is the fear that the new church in town is going to do harm to my success and take “MY people.” So, as a strategist I seem to spend a lot of my time talking to Pastors about the potential negative impact of church planting on their church and the SCARY notion that the transfer growth boogie monster will jump out of the closet and get us all if we plant new churches.
And, unfortunately, some church plants have earned this reputation, proving this assumption true, and done harm to church multiplication efforts in several ways. To that I say: SHAME ON THEM!!!
Church planting is about evangelism that leads to a new church, NOT let’s create a better experience than all the other churches and “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” when their members pile up in our chairs and put their money in our plate. I heard of one church recently that had “lost” 800 people to a new church with a livelier experience on Sunday morning creating a financial hardship for the church. I heard of another church that intentionally targeted people from other churches because they were people of influence in the community and “God wants our church to be filled with influencers.”
JD Payne has written a great piece called Ethical Guidelines for Church Planters and challenges church planters to “not prioritize transfer growth by designing ministries that will primarily attract believers” and to “have a systematic plan to respond to the transfers who want to become part of the new church.” Here’s some of Payne’s comments:
On planting as Kingdom expansion not just church growth:
Church planting is not about attracting a crowd or launching a worship service, but rather it is about the advancement of the Kingdom as unbelievers become followers of the living God through local expressions of the Body of Christ. Though crowd attraction and starting a new worship service are not necessarily bad things, their manifestations, however, do not necessarily mean the Kingdom has advanced. In many cases, such events actually attract large numbers of Kingdom Citizens. For church planters to settle for large numbers of transfer growth is not the way of the Apostolic Church.
On the dangers of transfer growth to the church planting initiative:
Even for the church planters who are doing everything possible to discourage transfer growth, they will encounter it. Particularly in the North American context, members of other churches will be interested in the new work. Some of these brothers and sisters will have a genuine desire to serve in a new work. Others, however, will be of the massive consumerist crowd looking for the most novel thing in town. These “new-experience Christians” will remain as long as their desires are met. Like parasites on a living organism, they participate to take, until they get their fill or until something else comes along to satisfy their desires. Rather, than understanding who they are in Christ, and their place in the work of the ministry (Eph 4:12), they believe that following Christ is an individualistic, self-gratifying, desire-meeting experience void of biblical koinonia.
On the ethics of transfer growth:
Regardless of the motivation behind any local church members wanting to be a part of the new work, it is unethical for a church planting team (and the new churches) to receive them as members without regard for their local church family in which they are presently involved in a covenant relationship.
What process should be in place? Payne says the church planter should find out what evangelical church the person is a member of and why they desire to leave that fellowship. Second, contact that pastor to inquire why they would want to leave. Third, only allow them to join after discouraging them from leaving their church and asking them to get the pastors blessing that this move is a prompting from God. I’ve added a third question to my on process: “Have you made pledges to that church?” When churches are in capital campaigns, etc. they ask people to make pledges and this is seen as a spiritual commitment. So we challenge people to fulfill their pledge or be released from it. See Ecclesiastes 5:5.
Dr. Payne’s concerns for a code of ethics for church planters are worth noting:
In the face of great spiritual opposition and ministerial challenges, church planters are many times faced with the temptation to accomplish something good for the Kingdom at the sacrifice of something great for the Kingdom. Faced with funding resources that diminish over time, lack of receptivity of people to the Gospel, the pressures to start a worship service and produce certain numbers at a worship gathering, many times leads missionaries down a path that deviates from biblically based and missiological guided church multiplication strategies.
…such as settling for and designing ministries to attract Christians and not penetrate the majority of unreached people in North America and beyond.
In Part two, I’ll ask a few question of pastors and ministry leaders on the other side of this, who are poopooing on the whole notion of church planting and multiplication in fear of the great Transfer Growth Boogie Monster.
Also check out the post entitled Commitment, Honor, & Transfer Growth that spells out a few ethical guidelines for ministry leaders to consider.
Dealing w/Difficult People
Seems like I’m talking about this more and more lately with people of my generation or younger. Maybe it’s b/c we played inside looking at a screen more than outside resolving conflict on the sandlot. Or maybe it’s b/c the boomer generation tended to sweep things under the rug, so we never saw conflict resolution handled well. Or maybe it’s b/c we’re the sitcom generation and everything supposed to work itself out in 30 minutes or less and if it doesn’t we’re not sure what to do. Or maybe it’s b/c we’re the “pretense” generation, obsessed with everyone liking our pages, our ideas, and our way of life and we have trouble when they don’t. Whatever the case, relationships can be difficult. It helps me to remember a couple of things:
- To someone I am a difficult person. Why? It may be that I’m misunderstood or I’m having a bad day or my personality rubs you the wrong way. But we tend to give ourselves the benefit of the doubt, credit for our intensions, and many chances. Do we do that for others? Remember, the merciful will be shown mercy (Matthew 5:7; James 2:13). I love this scene from the movie Fireproof which reminds us that our relationship with others tends to show us a pic of our relationship with God. The cross was necessary b/c we were enemies of and unable to relate to God. He had mercy, grace, and He made a way. So should we.
- Hurting People, Hurt People, and are more easily Hurt by People. When we’re hard to live with, it’s usually something deeper. We’re living out of our pain. (James 4:1-3). Don’t fight back at first instinct. Pray for the person, look for opportunities to address the why behind their issues. Don’t pile on the pain for you or them. And when someone irks you or hurts you, don’t point a finger automatically. Ask, “Is there something in me that’s making this appear worse in my eyes than it really is?”
Here’s a few of my favorite books that help us think through relationships, especially difficult ones:
- Fool-Proofing Your Life: How to Deal Effectively with the Impossible People in Your Life by Jan Silvious.
- Friends, Foes, and Fools by James Merrit.
- Safe People: How to Find Relationships that are Good for You and Avoid Those that Aren’t by Henry Cloud and John Townsend.
- Romans 12 is the one stop shop for relational help. Read it, apply it, enjoy life.
Lane Corley 