A Family Has All Generations

January 25, 2018

My values of church health and church growth were shaped at the apex of the church growth movement. I became an informed proponent of the homogeneous reality of church planting and church growth.

I remain convinced that when our Lord instructed us to make disciples of all ta ethne, He was instructing us to penetrate every people group with the Gospel.

People are in the main not wired up to be alone. People group together with people like them or with people who share common interest. That is a fact. It is also a fact that planting the gospel in those identifiable groups of people is a productive evangelism strategy. The scriptures have many examples of people group evangelism. Consider that after his healing, the Gadarene demonaic desired to go with Jesus in the boat. Jesus instructed him to leave the boat and return to his ta ethne, his people group, with the Good News of redemption.

Recently I have begun to separate an evangelism strategy of penetrating people groups with the gospel and planting churches. I have come to understand that a purely homogeneous church is not at all a picture of the kingdom. A purely homogeneous church reflects our human nature to hang with those who are like us and to shun those who are different. Hardly a value to be found in the kingdom of God.

Much to my joy, I am discovering a core value among young pastors/planters to strategically plant multicultural churches. The planting of multicultural churches is a great witness to the community. When a nonbeliever encounters a gospel community that is diverse in ethnicity, they realize there is something different about this group. This is not the normal way people group together. These people are motivated by different values. This is a glimpse of heaven.

Chief among the many things we can identify about the first-century church recorded in the New Testament is the fact that they were a multigenerational church. Paul instructs Timothy concerning his youth and his leadership. He guides young Timothy in the process of correcting the older men. Instructions are given to young women and older women, to young men and older men. Yet in most churches today, especially in most church plants, there are very few older people. In most dying churches there are very few younger people. If the church is a family then like all families it should contain many generations.

A church made of many generations is uncommon and difficult because Satan fully knows the powerful testimony a multigenerational church will have upon a self-centered world. Satan uses all of the weakness of our flesh to work against us as we seek to embrace generations unlike ours. In our human and sinful nature we grow weary with people who see the world, understand technology, make decisions and process information different than we do. It takes work to love and understand each other. It requires that people of all generations have to subordinate their desires for the Glory of God and the advancement of His kingdom. It means we have to think less of ourselves and much more of God and the Gospel. It means we have to live the gospel not just sing about, talk about and read about it. It means that when we battle our flesh and embrace the joy of self-sacrifice for the Kingdom we discover a joy that is far deeper then the joy of having things our own way. But it requires an ongoing battle of our human nature.

How to Stop Being a Hamster in the Ministry Wheel

Greg Stier

January 25, 2018

Have you ever watched a hamster running furiously around the inside of a hamster wheel and wondered, “What is that little guy thinking?” You watch it run and run and run, sometimes with bursts of energy, where you wonder if the hamster actually thinks it is making some kind of progress.

But it goes nowhere.

Sometimes that’s what ministry can feel like.

Like hamsters running on a wheel to nowhere, youth leaders run the cycle of annual priorities (camp, curriculum, rally, curriculum, retreat, curriculum, repeat) without ever asking the question, “Are we getting anywhere?”

Too often the ministry wheel (that annual cycle of the way you’ve always done ministry) can run you, your adult leaders and your teenagers ragged…with little to show for all your efforts.

So how do we escape the hamster wheel? Here are four ways:

1. Take a break long enough to ask the really hard questions.

Get out of the hamster wheel so that you can pray, think and evaluate. Ask yourself hard questions like:

-How spiritually on-fire are my teenagers?

-Are my teenagers accelerating in their faith or just coming to youth group?

-Is my youth group growing because new disciples are being made and multiplied on a consistent basis?

Be brutally honest. Ask God for divine insight.

Consider getting away for a weekend to spend time thinking and praying about this. Read the book of Acts and compare what you read in it with how you are running your youth ministry (or how it is running you!).

2. Re-discover your mission.

We don’t technically need a youth group mission statement because Jesus already gave us the ultimate one in Matthew 28:19-20: “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”

This is what we are called to do, to make and multiply disciples. If your youth group is more defined by meetings than accomplishing this mission then it has been “hamsterized,” institutionalized and needs freed from the ministry wheel.

A few years ago I wrote a book called Gospelize Your Youth Ministry that unpacks how to build a youth ministry that advances the Gospel and makes disciples. It’s all rooted in the 7 values that drove the early church. These same values can drive your ministry too if you get out of the wheel long enough to figure it out.

3. Create a new cycle.

Sometimes we need to break the old cycle and accomplish your mission. If year after year you’ve been doing the same camp, same brand of curriculum, same-old same-old and are getting the same results, it’s time to break the cycle and create a new one.

Everything we do should go through a mission grid. “Is this (camp, conference, curriculum, activity, etc.) going to help us get from here to there?”

At Dare 2 Share we have seen youth leaders who have finally chosen to break the camp cycle and bring their teenagers to Lead THE Cause (our full week intensive training for disciple multiplication). Many of them ask themselves afterward, “Why didn’t I take my teenagers to this earlier?”

The answer is simple. They were stuck on the ministry wheel, going to the same camp year after year because, well, that’s what they’ve always done and that’s where they’ve always gone.

They discover that Lead THE Cause actually helps them not only get off the ministry wheel, but escape the cage altogether. And now they have the beginnings of a youth group that is making progress toward the mission God has put in their hearts!

4. Ask God for his strength to escape the wheel!

Paul tells the Ephesian believers, “Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power” (Ephesians 6:10). This same power is available to you and me. God will give you the strength to escape the ministry wheel if you yield to his indwelling Spirit and take a courageous step of faith.

The collective power of the Trinity is available to you to escape the ministry wheel. Unleash it through faith and escape!

Let’s stop running around in circles. Let’s start accomplishing the mission God has placed in our hearts!

After all, we’re not hamsters! We’re ambassadors of the King!

This article originally appeared here.

4 Elements Your Sunday Services Need

Kevin Lloyd

January 25, 2018

One day I showed up to the gym after work for a normal workout. While I was changing I realized I’d left my gym shoes and socks at home. All I had were the Clark boots and blue and white striped socks I’d been wearing all day.

With all of the ego that only a 39-year-old father of two can have, I pressed on with my workout. I was officially “that guy.” Gym clothes with Clark boots and dress socks.

My fitness attire was on point.

My workout that day was fine, but it wasn’t all that it could have been. There was something missing.

Church services can function the same way. We all know that each of these need the standard things: worship music, inspired preaching and opportunities for people to give. There are additional things we need to pay attention to that can take a service from good to great.

Below are four areas you need to pay attention to this week in your worship services.

Smooth transitions

This may be the thing that requires the most work for your team. You can have quality worship music, killer video content and a moving message; yet rob them all of effectiveness with bad transitions. The last 10 percent of excellence in a worship service comes in the transitions.

You need to consider the lighting as people are walking off and on stage. Does it continue the ambiance or do I see musicians fumbling around with instruments? At the end of a sermon do you really need the keyboard player playing funeral home music or can you wait and play music with energy? Should a worship leader end a powerful set by saying an emotionless, “You may be seated,” or should they allow that moment to breathe? Does the person doing announcements have the communication skill to transition a very felt moment into what’s next in just one sentence? Transitions always happen; good transitions always happen on purpose.

Offering at the End

We receive our offering at the end of our worship service. Churches who don’t are short sighted. From a financial standpoint, people give more at the end rather than in the middle. Why? Because you’ve given God room to touch their lives and they may contribute financially in response to that.

Another key here is to receive your first-time guest cards during the offering. By this point you’ve given a guest the entire service to fill it out. If they were hesitant to give you their information when service started, you’ve had time to build trust with them by the end. Moving offering to the end of our service resulted in giving, guest cards and overall connections to the church increasing exponentially. Worship services serve people connecting to your church, not vice versa.

Relational Connections for Those Who Receive Christ

Churches can automate more than ever. Giving, follow up, connections and more can be accomplished via digital platforms. While I support and utilize all of those things, you need to focus on a relational connection for at least one area on Sundays. My church is working toward doing this with individuals who receive Christ.

At the end of our service, during our offering time, we will communicate to anyone who prayed to receive Christ to text the phrase “IHAVEDECIDED” to a number on the screen. They will receive an automated response with several instructions. The top of the list will direct them to go to the front of our auditorium when service is dismissed. There a team of trained volunteers will engage this person in a one-on-one conversation about their conversion experience. While we can’t offer personal connection around every area, we can offer it around one.

Digital Giving Options

Fifty to sixty percent of my church’s income is collected digitally. Not using this platform means you are missing dollars. We use online giving, kiosk giving and text to give. For all of our digital giving we use a company called SecureGive. While all of the platforms are crucial, at least offer one. People do not carry cash or checks anymore; a kiosk in your lobby allows that person to donate and communicates to a younger audience that you understand their world.

A hidden gem of the digital generosity platform is what we call Scheduled Giving. Each May we re-introduce the equivalent of automated bill pay. People simply sign up to have their donations automatically drafted from their accounts. If you’re worried about that seeming unspiritual, get over it. Faithfulness is spiritual; feelings are not. By not offering scheduled giving I would guess you have people miss their tithe at least twice a year. So you are leading them to be unfaithful, robbing your church of needed resources and doing that in the name of how something feels. Don’t fall victim to that.

Hone in on these four elements over the next several months and watch your worship experiences go from “something’s missing” to “something extra.”

This article originally appeared here.

What Does Your Worship Say About God?

Mark Altrogge

January 25, 2018

If an outsider came into your Sunday meeting and observed you worshiping, what would he conclude you think about God?

Does your expression of worship say how great and glorious, delightful and exciting you think God is? Does your worship say you’ve found God to be faithful and good, loving and satisfying? Would an outsider conclude you believe God to be real and present?

Or does your worship say you find God about as exciting as an exam on protein chains (maybe you bio majors would get excited about this—I wouldn’t). Do you sing with all the enthusiasm of someone who has just been asked to shovel two tons of manure? Does your worship say you believe God is distant and uncaring?

What does our worship say about what God did for us? Do we sing like those who have been redeemed eternally from the wrath of God? Like those who have been seated with Christ in heavenly places? Like those who are grateful to have every sin wiped away? Do we rejoice like those who have the king of the universe living inside them?

We should worship God expressively, not for a show or to impress others, but as a way of saying to him how much we love him. That we consider him to be infinitely great and glorious and majestic. That we consider him to be praiseworthy.

Worship is primarily an issue of the heart. So someone could worship God wholeheartedly and not show it on the outside. But I like what I once heard John Piper say—worship begins in the heart but should not stay there. It should be expressed.

Our glad hearts should overflow with thanks for all God did for us in Christ. Hey, Jesus DIED for us. He was tortured, spit on, mocked, pierced, so that we could be with and enjoy God for ever and ever. Essentially, Jesus went to hell so that we don’t have to. Isn’t that worth getting excited about?

We should worship like rich people! Because we are. We’ve been given every spiritual blessing in Christ! We should sing with more enthusiasm than if we just found out we won the lottery.

We should sing like those who know God is working all things for good in our lives. Like those who are being transformed into the very image of Christ. Like those who will worship around the throne for eternity.

God has designed us to express delight in things excellent and beautiful. We gush when we see a glorious sunset. We clap and shout at Coldplay concerts and Steeler games (well, maybe not if you’re a Cleveland Browns fan). We give standing ovations for outstanding accomplishments. Our cheers show what we think of that diving catch or that guitar solo.

Again, our worship isn’t some kind of performance we put on for others. Our worship is for God. But it says something about what we think about him.

This Sunday let’s show God what we think of him and sing the roofs off our church buildings.

A Second-Century Writer Shows Us How to Engage Culture

Phil Cooke

January 25, 2018

The thing I love about reading is that you never know where you’ll find creative advice. I was reading recently about the Christian writer and theologian Tatian, who was a Syrian who lived in the second century. He was born in Assyria (Mesopotamia), and as an adult he journeyed to Rome, where he first discovered Christianity. He was shocked at the pagan cults he witnessed throughout the city and as a result, began reflecting on religious issues. During his investigation, he read the Old Testament, and the more he read, the more he realized just how unreasonable paganism was. As a result, he decided to become a Christian.

In reading Tatian’s “Address to the Greeks” written about AD 170, the story of his conversion was so compelling that I immediately thought it a model for how we can engage the secular culture of today—2,000 years after Tatian. Here’s his story:

“I withdrew myself and sought best how to discover the truth. While I was earnestly employed in this matter, I happened to light upon certain ‘barbaric’ (i.e., non-Greek) writings, too old to be compared with the opinions of the Greeks and too divine to be compared with their error. I found myself convinced by these writings, because of the unpretentious cast of the language, the unstudied character of the writers, the ready comprehension of the making of the universe, the foreknowledge of things to come, the excellence of the precepts and the placing of all things under the rule of one principle. My soul being thus taught by God, I understood that the pagan writings led to condemnation, whereas these put an end to the slavery that is in the world, rescuing us from many rulers, yes, from ten thousand tyrants. These writings do not indeed give us something which we had not received before but rather something which we had indeed received but were prevented by error from making our own.”

Let’s review his revelation reading the Old Testament scriptures and consider how we could use the same ideas to engage today’s culture. He became convinced of the reality of the Christian faith because of:

1) The unpretentious language – He was a learned man, but wasn’t moved by an overly academic approach. He was moved by the sincere and unpretentious attitude of the scripture.
2) Unstudied character of the writers – God didn’t choose the most brilliant to write the Old Testament, he chose the most willing.
3) The ready comprehension of the universe – The gospel is a unified vision of how and why we exist.
4) The foreknowledge of things to come – the Bible didn’t leave us hanging. It points to a greater future.
5) The excellence of the precepts – He couldn’t argue with the logic and excellence of the Bible’s principles.
6) It placed everything under one principle – There’s that unified vision once again. Remember, the Old Testament he was reading was pointing to Jesus.

And perhaps most important:
7) Pagan writings led to condemnation, but Christian writings put an end to the slavery that is in the world. – There’s little else that needs to be said about that.

Think about each of these principles as you prepare sermons, write books, produce films and create other projects that engage today’s culture with the gospel. Are you pointing them to the same signposts that Tatian saw back in 170 AD?

After 2,000 years, I’m not sure there’s a better model for presenting the truth of the Christian message to nonbelievers.

What do you think?

This article originally appeared here.

Four Ways Pastors Can Lead Their Congregations by Example

Josh Presley

January 25, 2018

I used to think that pastors were pretty much sinless. Jesus certainly must have woken them up in the morning, made them coffee and then carried them to the shower on a cloud. And as faulty as this perception was when I was growing up, it’s unbelievable how many pastors (myself included) still want to put on a face of near perfection. So many pastors have told me that I should never show my brokenness to the people I was leading.

So, should pastors be able to share their brokenness with others? The Bible is clear on this. Yes. We are broken and shouldn’t pretend that we aren’t. The question is, how can pastors and church leaders address our own brokenness in ways that exalt Christ, demonstrate the power of the Gospel and strengthen the mission of the church? Here are four truths God has made clear.

We must have real relationships.

Leadership can be a very lonely place. I hear from many pastors, and especially lead pastors, that they feel alone at the top. It’s sometimes way too easy to for us to go at it alone without the messiness of real relationships, so we push people away. Obviously, I see the tendency of others to push us away, but I wonder how many pastors allow it to happen all to easily. By pushing others away or allowing them to push us away, we suffer from loneliness among many other things. You certainly need to be careful about who you invite into your circle, but don’t stop until you and your wife have developed accountability with people who can be trusted with who you really are: broken people in need of daily grace.

We need other seasoned pastors to speak the truth to us.

One of the key relationships that will be helpful is an accountable relationship with another seasoned pastor. If you don’t yet have one, pray that God will give you an opportunity to find a seasoned pastor who will take you under their wing. They have the experience and wisdom that you don’t have yet and will be able to guide you in places that they have already traveled. Just be certain they are practicing the same biblical openness and accountability in their church that you’re trying to establish in yours.

Give others permission to be real with their brokenness.

Odds are, others think that you are perfect just like I did with my pastors. They probably think that you don’t struggle with sin like they do, so it’s healthy to show them they’re wrong. Do this with wisdom of course, but let them see your struggles and invite them to be open as well. This begins with the faithful preaching of God’s Word. As you humbly preach and lead, your continued need for the Gospel should shine through and thus create a culture of dependency on Christ and on each other for our sanctification.

Create a culture where pastors need the gospel, too.

I think many times we slip into the trap of believing that the Gospel is just for lost people; this couldn’t be further from the truth. If you are going to create a culture where it’s OK to experience brokenness in community, then you will need to create a culture where the Gospel is an everyday necessity. The Holy Spirit will continue to convict Christians of their sin and when He does, what will we do with it?

Without a culture of daily need for the Gospel, the tendency will either be legalism or license. People will either see their actions as sufficient and try to earn God’s favor, or mark it off as cheap grace. Either is a mockery of Christ’s work on the Cross. The goal would be to train people to see their sin, turn from it and take opportunity to worship the Savior who paid for freedom from it. When people start being real with the fact that they have issues, they will need to be reminded again and again that they have been forgiven and have been given a grace-filled way out of bondage.

Openness and accountability are imperative to pastoral spiritual growth. As we continue to repent, to believe the Gospel again and again, and invite real relationships with others, we’ll be on the path for a long but great road of ministry. And, this is will prove to be a lasting example to our congregations.

This article originally appeared here.

How to Structure a Sticky Sermon

Brandon Kelley

January 24, 2018

If your sermon isn’t sticky, it won’t stay with those who hear it. If your sermon isn’t sticky, it’ll bounce off them and be lost forever.

Crafting a sermon that is memorable involves utilizing some vital ingredients. Those are:

It solves a problem
It’s true
It’s helpful
It’s focused
It’s action-oriented

In order to craft a sticky sermon or a sermon that is memorable, you have to structure your message in a way that naturally includes these five vital ingredients. The following sermon structure will make your next sermon sticky. It will stick with your congregation because it naturally includes each vital ingredient of a sticky sermon.

How to Structure a Sticky Sermon

Engage

Begin your sermon with a story, an interesting fact, a provocative quote. Don’t just start your sermon slow, but say something that will get people to look at you and pay attention to what you’re saying. You have a very limited time to engage your listeners so that they will stick with you throughout the message. Think long and hard about how you can do your best to get their attention.

Tension

From engage, you need to move to tension. What you’re doing here is bringing up some kind of problem. If you engage the congregation with something related to life as a single person, you should create tension around being single. It’s important to do your best to make sure what you say in engage is related to your message as a whole. This will naturally allow you to create tension. The tension you create should make people lean in and give them an opportunity to anticipate the tension being resolved.

This is the time where people realize how your message will be helpful to them. An easy way to start is to engage and create tension around felt needs. From there you can move to the next section which will strive to resolve the tension. It’s important to note that you shouldn’t strive to resolve the tension so quickly. Be sure to be patient in resolving the tension.

Truth

Once you have engaged the congregation and presented some kind of tension, you can now go to God’s word in order to resolve the tension. This is where you set the context for the text at hand and where you walk through the text and teach the congregation what it says. Don’t rush through this. Make sure you make God’s truth the center of your message.

Happening in conjunction with truth is the next section. It should happen naturally as you are teaching through Scripture and come to a point after you teach through Scripture.

Special Needs Ministry First-Year Goals

Amy Fenton Lee

January 24, 2018

In 2013 Mount Paran Church (Atlanta, Georgia) created a staff position to oversee special needs inclusion for all of its family ministry environments. Jillian Palmiotto, a former special education teacher and longtime children’s ministry volunteer, became the church’s first Family Ministry Special Needs Ministry Coordinator. A couple of weeks ago the newly named “Unlimited” Special Needs Ministry opened a sensory room. The room serves as a wonderful alternative environment for students who can benefit from the space during any part of their church experience. I was thrilled to be part of the room’s inaugural Sunday and loved meeting the students, families and volunteers involved in the ministry. The staff at Mount Paran did a great job designing the new room and extra kudos goes to Jillian’s husband, who created the brilliant sensory wall.

I met Jillian after she had been on the job only a couple of weeks at Mount Paran. She mentioned a timeline she had just drafted, outlining goals for the ministry’s first year. Jillian is a girl after my own heart! Of course I begged her to share the planning document here. Like many of you, Jillian is navigating new territory, figuring out her own job responsibilities on a daily basis. Now, inching toward the end of one year on the job, Jillian points out that many goals from the original outline (shown below) have changed or moved into the ministry’s second year. As many of you already know, flexibility is arguably the most important attribute of a special needs ministry leader.

38 Results of Being an Evil Leader

Brian Dodd

January 24, 2018

Does it sometimes feel like the good guys never win? Do you ever wonder why the evil leader, the crooked or those with lack of integrity seem to always come out on top? We all do from time-to-time.

If you are currently feeling this way, I want to point you to the greatest leadership book ever written, the Bible. It has much to say on this topic.

The Bible on Being an Evil Leader

Next time you become envious of the success of wicked leadership, remember these 38 Results of Being an Evil Leader and be encouraged.

Proverbs 10 with supporting verses

Evil Leadership Is Sin – 16 “The wage of the righteous leads to life, the gain of the wicked to sin.”
The Hearts of Evil Leaders Are of Little Worth – 20 “The tongue of the righteous is choice silver; the heart of the wicked is of little worth.”
Evil Leaders Lack Sense – 21 “The lips of the righteous feed many, but fools die for lack of sense.
Evil Leaders’ Fears Will Come True – 24 “What the wicked dreads will come upon him, but the desire of the righteous will be granted.”
Evil Leaders Do Not Survive Hard Times – 25 ^“When the tempest passes, the wicked is no more, but the righteous is established forever.”
Evil Leaders Have Shorter Lives – 27 “The fear of the Lord prolongs life, but the years of the wicked will be short.”
Evil Leaders Will Lose All Joy – 28^“The hope of the righteous brings joy, but the expectation of the wicked will perish.”
The Lord Destroys Evil Leaders – 29^“The way of the Lord is a stronghold to the blameless, but destruction to evildoers.”
Evil Leaders Never Win in the Long Run – 30^“The righteous will never be removed, but the wicked will not dwell in the land.”
The Words of Evil Leaders Are Foolishness – 31^“The mouth of the righteous brings forth wisdom, but the perverse tongue will be cut off.”
The Words of Evil Leaders Are Unacceptable – 32^“The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable, but the mouth of the wicked, what is perverse.”

Proverbs 11 with supporting verses

Evil Leaders Do Not Survive God’s Wrath – 4 “Riches do not profit in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death.”
Evil Leaders Fail Because of Their Own Wickedness – 5^“The righteousness of the blameless keeps his way straight, but the wicked falls by his own wickedness.”
Evil Leaders Are Held Hostage by Their Own Lust – 6^“The righteousness of the upright delivers them, but the treacherous are taken captive by their lust.”
Evil Leaders Die With No Hope – 7^“When the wicked dies, his hope will perish,
and the expectation of wealth perishes too.”
Evil Leaders Walk Right Into Trouble – 8^“The righteous is delivered from trouble,
and the wicked walks into it instead.”
Evil Leaders Destroy Even Their Friends With Their Words – 9^“With his mouth the godless man would destroy his neighbor, but by knowledge the righteous are delivered.”
Everyone Rejoices When Evil Leaders Are Removed – 10^“When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices, and when the wicked perish there are shouts of gladness.”
Evil Leaders Take Down Entire Cities – 11^“By the blessing of the upright a city is exalted, but by the mouth of the wicked it is overthrown.”
Evil Leaders Eventually Lose All Their Wealth – 18 “The wicked earns deceptive wages, but one who sows righteousness gets a sure reward.”
Evil Leaders Pursue Evil and Die – 19^“Whoever is steadfast in righteousness will live, but he who pursues evil will die.”
Evil Leaders Are an Abomination to the Lord – 20^“Those of crooked heart are an abomination to the Lord, but those of blameless ways are his delight.”
Evil Leaders Will Not Go Unpunished – 21^“Be assured, an evil person will not go unpunished, but the offspring of the righteous will be delivered.”
Evil Leadership Never Ends Well – 23 “The desire of the righteous ends only in good, the expectation of the wicked in wrath.”
Evil Comes Back to Evil Leaders – 27 “Whoever diligently seeks good seeks favor, but evil comes to him who searches for it.”
Evil Leaders Will Be Repaid for Their Wickedness – 31 “If the righteous is repaid on earth, how much more the wicked and the sinner!”

Proverbs 12 with supporting verses

The Lord Condemns Evil Leaders – 2 “A good man obtains favor from the Lord, but a man of evil devices he condemns.”
Evil Leaders Are Unstable – 3^“No one is established by wickedness, but the root of the righteous will never be moved.
The Advice of Evil Leaders Is Deceitful – 5 “The thoughts of the righteous are just; the counsels of the wicked are deceitful.”
Evil Leaders Plan Harm for Others – 6^“The words of the wicked lie in wait for blood, but the mouth of the upright delivers them.”
Evil Leaders Are Overthrown and Are No More – 7^“The wicked are overthrown and are no more, but the house of the righteous will stand.”
Evil Leaders Are Cruel – 10 “Whoever is righteous has regard for the life of his beast,
but the mercy of the wicked is cruel.
Evil Leaders Want What Other Wicked Leaders Have – 12 “Whoever is wicked covets the spoil of evildoers, but the root of the righteous bears fruit.”
Evil Leaders Are Ensnared by Their Own Words – 13^“An evil man is ensnared by the transgression of his lips, but the righteous escapes from trouble.”
Evil Leaders Devise Evil – 20 “Deceit is in the heart of those who devise evil, but those who plan peace have joy.”
The Lives of Evil Leaders Are Filled With Trouble – 21^“No ill befalls the righteous, but the wicked are filled with trouble.”
Evil Leaders Lead Their Friends Astray – 26 “One who is righteous is a guide to his neighbor, but the way of the wicked leads them astray.”
Evil Leadership Ends in Death – 28 “In the path of righteousness is life, and in its pathway there is no death.

I want to conclude this post with a rhetorical question. Would you rather be a righteous leader who seeks after Jesus Christ or an evil leader?

This article on the qualities of an evil leader originally appeared here.

7 Areas in Ministry Life That Require Flexibility

Annie B Garman

January 24, 2018

Recently, a church planter’s wife asked me for advice on her situation. I didn’t really premeditate my answer; it just came barreling out.

“Be flexible or die…those are your options.”

Her eyes got big, and so did mine. The advice was a strong blow to me, too.

But, if anyone is looking for a more thought-out word from a pastor’s wife today, this might be it.

If we are going to survive the tumultuous waters of ministry, we will have to be flexible.

According to Google, the definition of flexibility is “the quality of bending easily without breaking.” To be honest, this word hurts my stomach right now. Growing up, I took pride in the range of motion in my joints. I stretched constantly and could bend in any direction. But recently, I tore the cartilage in my hip joint which has robbed me of all flexibility. I’m in pain just watching my daughters during their gymnastics classes.

Each group of joints in our body have different levels of extensibility. We may be flexible in our hamstrings allowing us to touch our toes but not in our quadriceps which affects our posture. See, you might think of yourself as flexible, but this isn’t really an all-or-nothing issue.

Let’s think about the different areas where we, as ministry wives, need to stretch in order to develop flexibility:

1. We must be flexible about scheduling. When something comes up that is unplanned (and it will), are we willing to let our preferences go? Or will we hold on with white knuckles or learn to trust God with every moment?

2. We must be flexible about family time. Yes, we schedule Thursday night as “family night.” But if “X-Y-Z” comes up, couldn’t we as easily protect a Sunday night?

3. We must be flexible in our expectations of others. We have both legitimate and illegitimate expectations of the people around us. While we may argue about which category it falls into, we can all agree that people will sometimes fail us. So, how will we respond? We’ve got to stretch far enough to reach grace.

A Biblical Theology of Church Discipline

Bobby Jamieson

January 24, 2018

To some Christians, church discipline seems to contradict the whole shape of the Bible’s story. Isn’t the gospel all about Jesus welcoming tax collectors and sinners? Aren’t we turning back the clock and putting believers back under the law if we start excluding people from the church for certain sins?

In this piece I want to uproot that intuition as gently and fully as I can, by showing how God’s discipline of his people is an integral part of the Bible’s entire storyline, from Eden to the new creation. We will consider this story in six steps, and close with three conclusions.

1. EDEN AND POINTS EAST

In the beginning, God’s people were right where God wanted them, and were just what God wanted them to be. God created Adam and Eve. He brought her to him and united them. He put them in the garden he had made for them. He walked with them and talked with them face to face (Gen 1:26–28; 2:4–25).

But it didn’t last. Adam and Eve sinned, and God imposed on them a capital sentence and banished them. He drove them away east, out of his garden and away from his presence (Gen 3:1–24).

East of Eden, all of humanity sank so deep into sin that God destroyed the entire race by flood, save only one family (Gen 6–8). After the flood and humanity’s new beginning, humanity’s collective pride vaulted so high that God scrambled their tongues and scattered them over the earth (Gen 10–11).

2. DISCIPLINE IN THE DESERT

To begin to set things right, God called Abram. God covenanted to him a nation and a name, promising to bless all nations through him (Gen 12:1–3). And God kept his promises, though not always in the most obvious ways. He did grant Abram offspring and multiply those offspring, warranting Abram’s new name, Abraham (Gen 17:5). But then he sent those offspring famine, and then to Egypt, and finally let them slip into slavery. At this point, they’d been so fruitful and multiplied so greatly that they filled the land (Exod 1:7).

When God freed Abraham’s offspring from slavery, he judged their captors with unremitting strictness. He plagued their land, executed their firstborn and drowned their army (Exod 3–14). But then God’s people themselves needed discipline. Despite the staggering works God performed before their eyes, they disbelieved and complained. They refused to trust that the God who broke their chains could fill their stomachs (Exod 16–17; Num 11). They refused to trust that the God who bested Pharaoh could handle the enemies before them (Num 14).

So God taught them and rebuked them. He provided for them and punished them. He gave them bread that would spoil if hoarded, so they would learn to trust him for daily bread (Exod 16:13–30). He condemned that generation to die in the wilderness, allowing only their children to enter the Promised Land—the very children the Israelites thought God couldn’t protect from their enemies (Num 14:13–38).

On the cusp of the Promised Land, Moses summed up the lessons they were meant to draw from this divine discipline in the Exodus and the desert:

You shall therefore love the Lord your God and keep his charge, his statutes, his rules, and his commandments always. And consider today (since I am not speaking to your children who have not known or seen it), consider the discipline of the Lord your God, his greatness, his mighty hand and his outstretched arm, his signs and his deeds that he did in Egypt to Pharaoh the king of Egypt and to all his land, and what he did to the army of Egypt, to their horses and to their chariots, how he made the water of the Red Sea flow over them as they pursued after you, and how the Lord has destroyed them to this day, and what he did to you in the wilderness, until you came to this place, and what he did to Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, son of Reuben, how the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households, their tents, and every living thing that followed them, in the midst of all Israel. For your eyes have seen all the great work of the Lord that he did. (Deut 11:1–7)

God disciplined both Egypt and Israel, but note the difference: God’s discipline for Egypt resulted in their destruction; his discipline for Israel resulted in their instruction. God punished individuals in Israel to purge evil from Israel. God also punished the whole people, but through that discipline he taught them to trust and obey. God spoke to them his ten commandments to “discipline” them, to conform their lives to his will (Deut 4:36). He tested them in the wilderness, providing for them as only he could, so they would trust only in him (Deut 8:1–4). The lesson? “Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, the Lord your God disciplines you” (Deut 8:5).

God disciplines his people so that they learn not to rely on themselves and run after other gods, but to seek all and find all in him.

Why You Should Make a “To Not Do” List

Brian Jones

January 24, 2018

Bob Goff says he makes it a habit to quit something every Thursday. I think Senior Pastors would benefit from doing this annually.

There are two things I know for certain about people like you and me:

We routinely do things that self-sabotage our health, emotional well-being and ministry effectiveness.
We know these things exist, but don’t address them, because we refuse to take time to catch our breath, prayerfully write them down, then drive a stake in the ground and say, “NO MORE.”

Last week I finally made time.

Below is my 2018 “To NOT Do” list.

It’s all the things I’m NOT proud of that I did in 2017.

I’ve asked each of my staff members to create a similar list and bring it to an upcoming staff meeting. We’ll share our lists with each other, then pray for strength to leave our self-sabotaging behaviors behind for good.

I want to encourage you to do this with your staff, and then if you’re willing, share your list on social media. If you do, please tag me.

To make going public easier, I’ll go first…

Brian Jones’ 2018 “To NOT Do” List

I will not allow myself to emotionally eat when I’m under extraordinary amounts of pressure like I did in 2017. I will pre-plan healthy eating options and healthy ways to blow off steam other than eating food, watching television or surfing the web.
I will not allow myself to view my ministry here as “my” ministry. As the church gets larger, I will work harder to make sure my wife serves alongside me and has ample opportunities to express her giftedness.
I will not allow day-to-day matters to keep me from planning the most compelling sermon series possible. Plutarch noted that Spartan mothers used to tell their sons, “Come back with your shield—or on it,” as they went off to war. Because preaching is more important than everything else I do, combined, I will go off-site to engage in advanced study with the same warrior-like intensity and valor.
I will not allow C leaders to pressure me into meeting with them during the week when I have more important priorities to accomplish. I will learn to say no to C leaders so I can say yes to developing the A leaders who will love and lead them.
I will not give out my cell phone number and private email address to people who shouldn’t have them. I will risk looking like I don’t care so I can avoid being pulled in 50 directions.
I will not ignore planning my week’s top five to six priorities on Sunday afternoon. I will not allow myself to push them aside when “more important” matters arise. I will make a note of these new issues and incorporate them into next week’s focus.
I will not sacrifice theological integrity to grow this church. I will not play to the theological bottom line, no matter how much pressure I feel as the church grows. I will keep 1 Timothy 4:16 before me at all times.
I will not allow myself to ignore preaching on hard things for fear that people will leave. I will trust that winnowing the presence of people offended by the gospel will only make us stronger. “The weight of this sad time we must obey. Speak what we feel, not what we ought to say.” – King Lear, Act 5, Scene 3.
I will not accept mediocre sermon content from myself when I know I’m capable of preaching excellent sermons every week. I will prepare for each Sunday like it is Christmas Eve or Easter because, for someone far from God, it is.
I will not work on Fridays and Saturdays. I will trust that consistently working 60 hours a week Sunday through Thursday will be sufficient to ignite long-term kingdom impact.
I will not allow myself to not have a life. I will “pick my head up” from the heat of battle each day and relax, be the kind of friend that others wish they had, and enjoy the journey more.
I will not allow myself to keep unproductive staff on the team because I’m always thinking “I can fix them.” I will remind myself that keeping people who shouldn’t be on the team not only hurts the church, and our staff, but most importantly, them.
I will not allow myself to ignore holding three to four Leadership Evangelism meetings a week with the 100 most influential leaders in our region. I will play the long game by investing now in non-Christian leaders who won’t impact our church for five to 15 years. I will remind myself how easy it is to ignore the Sauls around me, not realizing they are Pauls in the making.

So, that’s my list.

What’s yours?

This article originally appeared here.

The Statistics You Need to Know if You Work with Gen Z

Bob Ditmer

January 24, 2018

New research shows church leaders who work with youth have a real challenge on their hands. A Barna study released this month shows atheism has doubled among Generation Z, those born between 1999 and 2015.

The percentage of teens who identify as atheists is double that of the general population (13 percent vs. 6 percent of all adults). The proportion that identifies as Christian likewise drops from generation to generation. Three out of four Boomers are Protestant or Catholic Christians, while just three in five 13- to 18-year-olds say they are some kind of Christian.

The reasons for their disbelief are similar to older generations with one significant difference; Gen Z nonbelieving teens, along with young adults, are more likely than older Americans to say the problem of evil and suffering is a deal breaker for them. It appears that today’s youth, like so many throughout history, struggle to find a compelling argument for the existence of both evil and a good and loving God.

A Pew study from last year found one of the reasons for the growing number of religiously unaffiliated adults in America was “too many Christians doing un-Christian things.” But Gen Z nonbelievers appear less likely to cite Christians’ hypocrisy as a significant barrier—but just as likely to say they have personally had a bad experience with Christians or a church.

The Barna researchers also found teens overall are somewhat less inclined than adults to strongly agree that “religious people are judgmental” (17 percent vs. 24 percent of all adults).

Truth and relativism are also changing among Gen Z. More than one-third believe it is not possible to know for sure if God is real, compared to 32 percent of all adults. Teens who do believe one can know God exists are less likely than adults to say they are very convinced that is true compared to adults. For many teens, truth seems relative at best and, at worst, altogether unknowable.

Their lack of confidence is on pace with the broader culture’s all-out embrace of relativism. More than half of all Americans, both teens (58 percent) and adults (62 percent), agree with the statement “Many religions can lead to eternal life; there is no ‘one true religion.’”

The findings also suggest that Gen Z is willing to accept something as true if the person espousing the position is sincere. In line with that thinking, they are much less inclined than older adults (especially Boomers, 85 percent) to agree that “a person can be wrong about something that they sincerely believe in” (66 percent).

The Potential Danger in Your Small Group

Bob Ditmer

January 24, 2018

Every church wants a healthy small group system but as the old adage reminds us, be careful what you wish for.

Small groups, typically five to 15 people meeting regularly in a home, help members connect relationally and grow in discipleship. To help the system flourish, many churches have hired small group directors, highlighted groups in sermons, and promoted groups in their ministry strategy.

While the concept is biblically based and highly desired, there are some concerns that should also be considered.

Chuck Lawless has written about 6 problems that can come from small groups:

1. Unclear purpose.
2. Bad leading and/or teaching.
3. Little or no Scripture.
4. Unfriendly members.
5. Not expecting guests.
6. Gossip sessions.

Sam Alberry, an editor for The Gospel Coalition and a pastor based in the United Kingdom, adds one more; a danger that small group members will make their faction the locus of group life replacing the corporate worship of Sunday morning. He outlines his concerns in this YouTube video that’s titled, “What Could Be Dangerous about My Small Group?”

He warns small groups have the potential to become a church within a church and its members apathetic to the larger church and its mission.

Alberry says small groups that separate in that way miss out on the whole range of gifts from the body not present in a smaller group, they don’t take part in church-wide discipline, vision and leadership, and become less diverse by missing out on the full range of people, ages and backgrounds found in the church at large.

When that happens, Alberry laments, members of the small group only receive a partial blessing that was intended to come from church experience.

Small group ministry is powerful and necessary. Some growth and areas of discipleship can only happen in smaller settings, but Alberry warns us not to let small groups supersede the Sunday gathering no matter the advantages.

How Worship Leaders Make the Most of Their Talent

Bob Ditmer

January 24, 2018

So you want to be a worship leader? Or maybe you already are and want to be better. What skills and qualities do worship leaders need to cultivate?

Some might think musical ability is the defining attribute of a successful worship leader but the hard truth is that talent will only get you so far. At some point, your natural abilities won’t sustain the mounting pressures of leadership. And without the ever-deepening formation of godly character, a leader’s greatest strengths actually become his greatest weaknesses. Therefore the church needs character-first worship leaders.

The pursuit of godly character begins with a love for Jesus. Worship leaders need to think about this.

Are you loving Jesus or loving worship?

Does your passion for worship outshine your passion for Jesus?

Does your love for worship artists take the place of your love for the Son of God?

The passion is Jesus. The reason is Jesus. The meaning is Jesus. The heart of it all is Jesus.

Non-Negotiables for Worship Leaders

There are some practical steps that can be taken to remove the focus from performance to worship.

You are not the center.
You make Jesus the center.
Your priority is helping the congregation sing with faith.
You support your pastor.
You choose songs that are full of truth.
You use musicians who are gifted and have soft hearts toward Jesus.
You tailor the keys and arrangements of songs to serve the people in the room.
Your family comes first.
You’re never alone with someone of the opposite sex who isn’t your spouse.
You won’t ever compromise numbers 1-9.

There are probably a few points in the above list that need some work. Here are 5 disciplines that will help you improve your serve:

Memorize Scripture – Knowing songs is a great first step. But knowing Scripture will make you a worshiper. It gives you understanding into who God is, what He’s done and how He moves. It provides context to the gathering of God’s people.
Get to Know People – Well, depending on the size of your church, you may or may not get to know everyone. But you need to hang out with more than just your friends. You need to sit and listen to the heart of the 85-year-old woman who doesn’t like your music. You need to hang out with the student who sits outside the sanctuary during worship. You need a heart for people. Without a heart for people, you’ll hate to lead worship. You’ll enjoy it for a season but will dry up when you realize it is ALL about loving people.
Study Preaching & Communication – Most of what makes a worship leader effective in leading a room is what happens in between the lyrics. It’s what happens in between the songs. That’s where trust is formed, connection is built. Good preachers are constantly refining their delivery and studying ways to deliver unchanging truth in a way that connects with a changing audience. The combination of delivering truth and public speaking is an incredible skill for a worship leader to develop.
Going Deep & Shallow – Wait, what? Yes, that’s right. Deep & shallow. As a worship leader, you need to go deep with God. You should be a student of the glory of God—reading theology books, pressing in, pursuing more of Jesus. But that doesn’t mean you have to wear sackcloth & ashes, open up the service levitating, and speak in hushed tones all the time. You need to relate to people. You need to meet people on their level and take them with you. It’s not enough to just have your “worship time.” Smile, relax and take people with you.
Share the Stage – Some of us need to stop grasping the platform so tightly. We’ve found our identity on stage and have a deep-seated fear of letting it go. At any moment, all of us need to ask, what if I was no longer here? Would the ministry continue? What if I worked behind the scenes, equipping others to lead? Would I be OK with that?

The final quality that will be needed is authority. The old adage “authority is earned, not given” is true. So here are a few suggestions to help you gain the influence you’ll need to lead your team:

Developing authority in prayer
Memorizing God’s word
Singing to the Lord
Knowing God
Spending time in the unseen
Praying without ceasing
Loving your enemies

Developing skills, characteristics and influence will enhance your worship ministry and put you in a position to be mightily used by God.

Postliberal Theologian George Lindbeck Dies at 94

Bob Ditmer

January 24, 2018

George Lindbeck, one of the most influential Protestant theologians of recent decades, died on January 8 at age 94 in Florida.

Lindbeck’s influential 1984 book, The Nature of Doctrine: Religion and Theology in a Postliberal Age, established a theology that rejected modern liberal Protestant thinking that defined religious truth by common personal experiences, and instead proposed a “cultural-linguistic” approach that saw the creeds and practices of faith communities as the basis for religious understanding.

George Sumner, writing of Lindbeck’s death for The Covenant, described postliberalism this way:

“Whatever else postliberalism is, it was meant to be an apologetic help to be a credal or mere Christian in our age. That is what George was and what he wanted to promote. Furthermore, it was a deeply missionary-influenced theory. He once said that he grew up in a non-Christian milieu in which the reality of the spiritual world was not in question, within which the mission station was a distinct cultural-linguistic world.”

Lindbeck grew up in China, where his parents were missionaries. He said in a 2006 Christian Century interview that knowing people who were formed by both Christianity and Confucianism gave him the convictions “that the communal shapes us more than we shape ourselves” and that “human basics are everywhere and always pretty much the same.”

Lindbeck was committed to church unity and ecumenical dialogue, particularly between Lutherans and Roman Catholics. He was a “delegate observer” to the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s. He also worked on the Joint Commission between the Vatican and Lutheran World Federation from 1968 to 1987.

Lindbeck taught at Yale from 1951 until his retirement in 1993. One of his students, Cyril O’Regan, wrote of his classroom demeanor as contemplative.

“What was astonishing and appalling at once was his economy of speech. There were words; it was just that they were remarkably few. There were pauses that never seemed to end, which with anyone else would have caused alarm, but in the oddest way they allowed you to feel safe. What defined Mr. Lindbeck as a theologian was what defined him as a person: deep listening that was a pondering and a questioning.”

George Lindbeck is survived by his wife, Violette, and daughter Kristen.

Ryan Wakefield: Planning for Ongoing Discipleship, Not the Next Big Event

Jason Daye

January 24, 2018

Ryan Wakefield has many years of experience working in the trenches with the local church. Ryan graduated from Evangel University with a major in Biblical Studies and a minor in Marketing. He also received his Masters Degree at Evangel in Organizational Leadership and is a licensed minister with the Assemblies of God. Ryan is the co-founder of ChurchMarketingUniversity.com and the Director of Social Church.

Key Questions for Ryan Wakefield:

Why do we need to rethink Easter?

Why is there tension between a big celebration, like Easter, and creating disciples?

What are some practical ways to get people to come back after Easter?

Key Quotes from Ryan Wakefield:

“The vast amount of churches have trouble getting visitors back after a big event like Christmas or Easter.”

“The biblical mandate is not the big event, it’s ongoing discipleship.”

“Easter is like the Super Bowl for the church…..our Super Bowl should be people coming back.”

“When you start to plan Easter, start your planning after Easter and work back.”

“When you go to a movie they spend the first ten minutes telling you why you should come back with their previews. We should be like that.”

“If you can get the kids excited and men excited….you have a great shot at getting them back.”

“If you don’t have a way of getting contact information from visitors you aren’t starting a relationship.”

“Marketing is starting new relationships. That’s why it’s one of the most important things we can do in ministry.”

“If you want effective follow-up and assimilation after a big event you really need a six to eight week strategy with multiple touch points along the way.”

“This type of change doesn’t happen overnight. Our resource gives a church team a chance to talk about common ideas and start shifting to a much more effective approach.”

[SUBSCRIBE] For more ChurchLeaders podcasts click here!

Links Mentioned by Ryan Wakefield in the Show:

Rethinking Easter

Facebook Church Marketers Group

Save the Children Office in Afghanistan Attacked by Terrorists

Megan Briggs

January 24, 2018

The Save the Children office in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, has fallen prey to gunmen.

The London, England-based humanitarian aid organization issued a statement in the early hours of Wednesday, January 24, 2018, stating their office was attacked starting at 9 a.m. local time in Jalalabad. Several hours later, Save the Children issued another statement giving an update with the information they have so far.

“Save the Children can confirm that the security incident affecting our office in Jalalabad, Afghanistan is still ongoing. Our primary concern remains to secure the safety of all of our staff. In response to this all of our programmes across Afghanistan have been temporarily suspended and our offices are closed. Afghanistan is one of the most difficult places in the world to be a child and for humanitarian workers to operate in. Our humanitarian work in Afghanistan reaches almost 1.4 million children. We remain committed to resuming our operations and lifesaving work as quickly as possible, as soon as we can be assured that it is safe to do so.”

An updated statement on the incident in Jalalabad #Afghanisatan #Savethechildren #Jalalabad pic.twitter.com/yaftLOh7dU

— Save the Children (@save_children) January 24, 2018

According to the Islamic State’s Amaq news agency, that organization has claimed responsibility for the attacks.

The attack was initiated by a suicide bomber who detonated a bomb outside the building. According to a witness, afterward gunfire ensued and the gunmen entered the building. According to Attaullah Khogyani, a spokesman for the governor of Nangarhar Province in Afghanistan, one person has been killed and some 20 more wounded. Later reports indicate three people have now been killed.

There are a couple schools in proximity to Save the Children’s office, and children and their parents could be seen fleeing the area after the attack started. Police special forces arrived and tried to aid security officers already at the scene, but a full eight hours after the attack started, gunshots were still being heard. Khogyani said the governor’s office believes there were four attackers, and that two have been killed.

This story is breaking and will be updated as details are released.

The Second Renaissance; Is the Church Ready?

Bob Ditmer

January 23, 2018

A lot of people are writing these days about the “Second Renaissance,” one driven by technology.

The events that have occurred over the course of the 20th century and continue to occur through the 21st century are events that have transpired within a lifetime but will impact the World for lifetimes to come.

Is there little doubt the church will be affected as well?

Consider the changes that have occurred in a relatively short period of time; there are over four billion smartphones in the world today, and the world is in the hands of the user. With this device, you can see and be seen, hear and be heard, and exchange prayer requests, anxieties, jokes, and tears with anyone, anywhere, at anytime. The world is indeed a global village.

Dr. Rocco Leonard Martino, writing for Aleteia goes so far as to say “the Gutenberg Press was the parent of the Renaissance age, the smartphone will be the parent of the emerging “Second Renaissance,” which will be a Renaissance driven by technology.

He gives several reasons. First, he believes that in less than five years everyone on the planet will be connected to each other. This will create demands for products and services well beyond our current productions.

Second, further advances in medical technology may signal the eradication of cancer, with tech research utilizing agents that will stimulate the immune system to kill the disease—something that’s already happening in some areas of medicine.

Third, Artificial Intelligence will continue to bring about robots, driverless cars, teaching machines, consumer services and even long-distance medical diagnostics.

How does the church figure into this Second Renaissance?

Jeff Forrest, the IT Director at New Life Church in Colorado Springs has some thoughts on the predictions.

He sees many churches embracing the new technological world but won’t go so far as to liken it to the creation of the creation of the Gutenberg press as this author does? He told MinistryTech.com:

“The Gutenberg press was the genesis of the information age and we have reached a saturation level with information in the last few years but I do agree that we are now at the beginning of a second Renaissance. Technology that allows us to process that information better is now in its infancy but it is eventually going to free up time for everyone. My hope is that we use that increase in time for lasting creative endeavors rather than amusement and distraction.

What does Forrest see on the horizon for the church in this technological age?

“Technology has always freed up time for activities besides physical labor. It will be interesting to see if the Church can fill that time with Holy Spirit led pursuits that benefit us all. Spiritual needs will still exist and likely intensify in “rich” countries and we need to be prepared to meet those needs.

I don’t think augmented reality or VR will be very impactful to the Church. I remember when Life Church began a Second Life online campus and someone ran around the “church” with a naked avatar. There will be churches that do it as a form of outreach. Spiritual truths can be conveyed through technology (Gutenberg as an example), but when you are in the hospital you need a physical being to experience community and love.”

Whatever comes of this “Second Renaissance” will be exciting and in many cases unforeseen. But it will also be fascinating to see how the church uses the tools to further the gospel.

https://aleteia.org/2018/01/02/technology-in-2018-dont-fear-the-second-renaissance/#.Wkuzc8FNZlM.twitter

https://medium.com/the-mission/welcome-to-the-second-renaissance-654b3739640a

The Emotionally Anxious Leader: 8 Signs

Charles Stone

January 23, 2018

My dad was an electrical engineer and filled his shop in our basement with the most amazing gizmos. Transistors, capacitors, transformers, electrical tools and every conceivable gadget lined the shelves and entertained me for hours. My favorite gadget was a neon sign transformer. A transformer is a device that either steps up or steps down current. The metal green box in a yard down your street or the cylindrical container on a telephone pole near your house is a transformer that steps down high-voltage power to 220 volts that comes into your house. So what does a transformer have to to with an emotionally anxious leader? Read on.

With my dad’s neon sign transformer, I made what is called a Jacob’s ladder. I attached two three-foot wires to the leads on each side, and bent the wires into a V. When I plugged it in, a multi-thousand volt spark started at the bottom of the V and arced to the top. In this case, the transformer stepped up the household current to over two thousand volts. My Jacob’s ladder created lots of really cool sparks that appealed to my geekish interests. And I got shocked by it only once.

A leader is like a transformer. By his responses, he can either defuse an emotional setting like a heated board meeting or can act like a step-up transformer by reacting and increasing anxiety, thus causing lots of not-so-cool sparks, as we leaders often do. Through a calm presence with emotional people, a leader can act like an emotional step-down transformer, decreasing the group’s anxiety by letting it pass through him without getting zapped.

Sometimes as leaders, however, we can characterize emotionality and anxiety one-dimensionally as defensiveness. But chronic anxiety, the low level anxiety we seem to never shake, fuels emotionality and shows up in eight ways that I call “the eight F;s of chronic anxiety.” It manifests itself differently in different people. As you read the list below, consider which F tempts you the most.

Fight: emotionally reacting and becoming defensive (how we usually describe emotionality)
Flee: emotionally or physically cutting off from others in anxious situations
Freeze: not knowing what to do, thus not taking a position; offering no opinion and/or staying neutral when you should take a position
Fuse: losing your identity by glomming on to others’ wants and desires, compromising convictions, seeking unity at all costs and/or trying to force everybody to be one big, happy family
Fixate: easily getting triangled into unhealthy relationships and conflict
Fix: overperforming to fix somebody else’s problems or doing for others what they should do for themselves
Flounder: becoming passive, underperforming or giving up
Feed/fornicate/finances: inappropriately yielding to base impulses by turning to food, illicit sex/pornography or inappropriate use of money

When we are tempted to deal with our anxiety with one of the eight F’s, we must look to Jesus.

Jesus experienced the full range of human emotions. He wept when he heard that Lazarus had died. He became angry at the temple money changers. He felt a heavy heart in the garden of Gethsemane. Yet his behavior reflected anything but anxious reactivity.

Jesus’ response to his enemies throughout his trial and crucifixion, as 1 Peter 2: 23 illustrates, continues to amaze me.

“When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.”

Every time I recall this verse, I stand in awe. Although Jesus possessed God’s power to destroy his detractors, he didn’t. Rather, he leaned into his heavenly Father to respond appropriately to hardship. Likewise, as we lean into our heavenly Father, he gives us what we need to say no to reactivity and dealing with our anxiety in unhealthy and sinful ways.

The Bible tells us that the Lord has given us everything we need to live a godly life. Second Peter 1:3 is so powerful as it encourages us with these words.

“His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.”

God has crafted our bodies and brains, our souls and minds, and our regenerated hearts with the capability to cool our emotions in the midst of emotionality. Acting calmly when tempted to do otherwise glorifies him.

What has helped you deal with anxiety that ministry often brings?

Used by permission. Stone, Charles (2014-01-01). People-Pleasing Pastors: Avoiding the Pitfalls of Approval-Motivated Leadership (Kindle Locations 2415-2432). InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition.

How to Structure a Sticky Sermon

Engage

Tension

Truth

The Bible on Being an Evil Leader

Proverbs 10 with supporting verses

Proverbs 11 with supporting verses

Proverbs 12 with supporting verses

Brian Jones’ 2018 “To NOT Do” List

Non-Negotiables for Worship Leaders

Key Questions for Ryan Wakefield:

Key Quotes from Ryan Wakefield:

Links Mentioned by Ryan Wakefield in the Show:

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