Lining Up with God's Vision for Us

In my last blog entry, "Ramblings", I mentioned that I had been reading a book over the last couple of weeks (I’m a slow reader) that has gotten me to really think, concerning me as a pastor, my church, and the church in general. The book is called “Comeback Churches” by Ed Stetzer and Mike Dodson. The authors looked at over 300 churches that had become stagnant in their growth or were declining and what it was that brought about a turn around in their situations. The book is geared more towards pastors (and church leaders), which is why it has been a challenging, inspiring, and convicting read for me.

The authors analyzed the pastor's approach to ministry in these churches and found a number of things that contributed to the turn around in their churches (trust me, I am taking what they said about the pastor to heart). As best as I can, here are some of the things they found about pastors/leaders of comeback churches - churches that have and are experiencing renewal, revitalization, and growth. They:

• were committed to Christ
• strongly believed in and lead by example in the area of missions/evangelism/outreach
  
• were willing to acknowledge that their church was "stuck in the muck" of stagnation or decline
• recognized that the congregation must be part of the turnaround
  
• distinguished between obvious symptoms and underlying problems
• were proactive and intentional in their planning
• shared in ministry - involved others
  
• delegated non-ministry tasks to others
  
• intentionally planned spending their time doing "people stuff" (visitation, staff management, mentoring, leadership training, counseling)
• had a clear vision on the purpose of the church and shared that vision with others often
• were patient with the process - stagnation and decline in the church took time, change will too
• helped their people grow in love for their community and the lost through preaching, teaching, and prayer, turning the church focus outward
  
• led their churches to pray, pray, pray and then act on those prayers
• set goals to their vision - planning
  

There is, of course, more, and each of these areas are dealt with using examples, suggestions, statistics and good old fashion experiential insight. You can probably see why I feel very challenged by what I have been reading!

Then the authors looked at the churches themselves (the congregations/members) and it was very interesting what they found, as well. Comeback churches:

• think and live missions/evangelism/outreach
• took prayer seriously
• had an attitude of servanthood
• cared more about their communities that their personal preferences
• valued worship and their presence in the worship opportunities
• were willing to incorporate a more contemporary than traditional style of worship (the vast majority of churches went to blended or contemporary styles, leaning more towards the contemporary but not forsaking creeds and liturgy)
  
• emphasized a celebrative and orderly approach to worship that was both informal and expressive
• lifted up biblical preaching and held to biblical principles
• tried to involve all members in ministry and new people is small groups
• didn’t just lead people to make decisions to accept Christ; they engaged them in discipleship
  

There is much more that is addressed but I think you can get the idea.

As I have been reading this book, I have been asking myself a number of questions about both myself and the church where I pastor, and even about churches I have been part of throughout my adult life. I've wondered how we/they are measuring up in these and the other areas addressed in the book. Although I feel positive about the direction I and my church have begun to head, I realize that there is still much more work that must be done. In fact, it is work that is never done but progress must be continuing.

Another book that I read some time ago that had just as much impact on my approach on ministry and how the church functions is by Kent Hunter, "Discover Your Windows". He looks at the windows through which we see the world and see the church and how that "view" impacts us. How biblical is our worldview? He looks at 10 "windows" and how they relate to how we view, approach, and act as the church.

Let me simply list each of the windows that serve as the chapter titles and their subtitle:

1. The window of purpose - your purpose determines your mission
2. The window of comfort - your comfort determines your sacrifice
3. The window of image - your image determines your impact
4. The window of priorities - your desires determine your priorities
5. The window of stewardship - your blessings determine your giving
6. The window of financing - your abundance determines your possibilities
7. The window of change - your past determines your future
8. The window of leadership - your pastor determines your potential
9. The window of teamwork - your giftedness determines your involvement
10. The window of attitude - the power of God determines your attitude

As I read through this book I was forced to address some, OK, many of my preconceived ideas about the church and my role, both as a member and a pastor, in it. And yes, I have had to make some adjustments and reframing in my philosophy and approach to ministry. But as I have, I have felt that I have become a better pastor - or, if not better, certainly more open to the leading of the Spirit and a better understanding of the purpose and call of the Church and the Christian.

I have decided that my church will begin a study of "Discover Your Windows" on Wednesday nights. I expect the discussions to be interesting, insightful, and even intense because making adjustments and reframing with what you believe isn't an easy thing.

I think it would do every church a whole lot of good if they took a serious look at these books. I think what they hold before us can change the direction the church is heading, which has been stagnation and decline.

Ramblings

My mind is in a very wandering mode this evening. I want to write, have had things I've wanted to write down but it's been difficult to get them in order and to keep focused.

I went with the youth of my church to Columbia, SC for the concert Winter Jam that consisted of about 6 Christian bands: one I don't remember, Mandisa, Newsong, Skillett, Barlowgirl, and MercyMe. 15,000 people were there, mostly under the age of 25. Truly felt like the odd man out, as I sat and watched these kids/young adults dance, sing, and worship. It was a great night, except I lost my hearing about half way through when Skillett took the stage. Straight hard metal rock. If you've seen the film "Spinal Tap" you might remember the scene where the group is talking about their sound system and how all the other groups turn up their sound to 10 but they can do them one better because all their equipment can go to 11! Well, I believe all the groups had their volumes up to 11. However, MercyMe actually turned it down a notch or two. They said that about 1000 kids accepted Christ for the first time that night!

I have read many books on church growth and about changing the direction of a church. I have often found them discouraging, beyond my abilities, or I was unable to connect with what they were saying. A few weeks ago I picked up yet another book about church revitalization, with some apprehension, entitled "Comeback Churches," by Ed Stetzer. I have been very surprised. I have found it very insightful, challenging, and inspiring. It is a book that should be read by every pastor and even church leaders. The author(s) looked at 300 plus churches that had stagnated in their church growth or that were dying (or almost dead) and what they did to turn around and grow again. They first looked at "comeback" leaders/pastors and what their role is in the process and then at the church itself and what was done in attitude, outlook, and outreach to turn things around. What they find is quite an eye opener.

Another book along the same lines that I read a couple of years ago was "Discover Your Windows: Lining Up with God's Vision." It is another book that I found very helpful. In fact, at the church I pastored in Birmingham (Lee's Chapel) we had the congregation read the book and then discussed on Wednesday nights. I believe it was instrumental to turning that church's thinking and direction around. Whereas I think every pastor and church leader should read "Comeback Churches," I think every member should read "Discover Your Windows."

I've been doing a series of Sunday messages on the Holy Spirit at my church. Started a few weeks ago - not sure how long I will go but I have found it not only challenging to my own life but have found the church very responsive as well. I haven't had a Sunday go by during the series that I haven't had someone tell me that what they heard was new to them. And what it has be asking is, when it comes to the things of the Holy Spirit (doctrine, experience), I wonder if we in the UMC are really making Him know as we should through our preaching and teaching. How can we expect God to use His church if we aren't open to the power of the Spirit and how can we be open if it's not be preached?

Just some thoughts running around my head...

Infection

I'm sitting on the couch this evening, listening/watching an old Genesis concert that I recorded on VH1Classic and downloading programs on my computer. My computer isn't the same computer that I was familiar with. It had a crises!

I know went the crises began - January 15 around 4:00 PM. I had received an email from someone I though I knew (I didn't) to go to a website and watch this hilarious video. I went to it and as I clicked on the video to start, a window popped up and then disappeared. I thought little of it until, after a few minutes, I started to get pop-ups every few minutes. I realized that I had gotten some type of ad-ware or spy-ware so I ran a program to get rid of it. It didn't. then I ran a virus scan and I realized I had some type of Trojan virus. So I had the anti-virus program take care of it. It didn't. For several days I kept working on the problem. Then my anti-virus program wouldn't work. My computer started to act up, sluggish, doing weird stuff. And pop-ups - they kept coming and some of them weren't what I would want popping up on a preacher's computer - they weren't pornographic but still rather risqué. I was worried about whether my computer would work for Sunday (1/27) (power point). It did, thankfully.

Anyway, that Sunday evening I purchased another type of anti-virus/spyware-adware/registry repair program. Ran it and I was thrilled because it was working. I was amazed at how many Trojan and worm viruses I had. Then my computer froze on me so I had to shut it off and restart it but wouldn't restart. I kept getting a blue screen that told me I had a fatal error and a bunch of other stuff. So, that Monday, I took it to the computer hospital. Five days and $187 later, I had it in my lap. I turned it on and there it was, a different computer than the one I once had. Thank the Lord they were able to back up my hard drive, reinstall Windows and get rid of all the viruses.

All this got me thinking about sin. You know, it really doesn't take much sin to get us messed up. We may think we can handle stuff - things we know aren't good for us but we rationalize our behaviors or choices. But the "little sins" have a way of moving us to other types of "little sins" that eventually join forces and we have lost our selves to the control of sin.

I spent the day today at a conference on sexual ethics and boundaries. Again, this was driven home for me, how easy it is to get pulled away from what we know is right and proper to giving into behavior that is hurtful, to ourselves, to our family, to the person/people involved, and the church. "Little sins" are really good at causing us to come up with rationalizations for our behaviors. With the letter "A" being a walk of commitment to Christ and holiness and "Z" being walking in the total opposite direction, it's easy to rationalize our choices as "well, I'm still closer to "A" than to "Z". The interesting thing is, if we're not moving towards "A" then we're moving toward "Z".

I've heard people say, "I'm a sinner saved by grace" but I'm not sure they really believe they're really "sinners." Think about it - most of us haven't committed a bank robbery or raped a person or molested a child or beat our spouses or killed a person - we've just told lies, had lustful thoughts, "borrowed" stuff from work, been hateful to someone, been unforgiving, had racist feelings, gossiped...shall I go on? Remember what Jesus said about some of this? "You know the next commandment pretty well, too: 'Don't go to bed with another's spouse.' But don't think you've preserved your virtue simply by staying out of bed. Your heart can be corrupted by lust even quicker than your body. Those leering looks you think nobody notices—they also corrupt." (Matthew 5:27-28, MSG) I think it's a pretty safe bet that his statement here can and should be applied to my incomplete list of "little sins." I haven't found any lists in God's Word that says, "these are the big sins and over here, these are the little sins. Don't do the biggies but the littles are OK." I know there isn't those type of lists because I've looked. The only lists I've found have them all listed together as...SINS.

All these thoughts because I went someplace that I wasn't sure about to see something I wasn't sure about from someone who wasn't who I thought he was that ended up crashing my computer. Which I know, from the experience of my own life and the lives of some people I have been acquainted with, is what happens to us when we try to dance on the edge of sin - we will eventually crash - but even before we do, we're infected and things start to slowly get messed up inside of us.

I am a sinner saved by grace. I couldn't do it myself - I just messed things up all the more. But Christ, well, he has an amazing way of fixing us up, working on our infections, pop-ups, and crashes.

I think it appropriate to close these thoughts by encouraging you to turn to the thoughts from the Apostle Paul on the subject. He spends the first 8 chapters talking about much the same thing. Those chapters have a way of turning me back towards "A" and away from "Z." Of course, the whole book is worth a good read.

It happens so regularly that it's predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. I truly delight in God's commands, but it's pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge.
I've tried everything and nothing helps. I'm at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn't that the real question?
The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different.

Roman 7:21-25 (MSG)