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The Great Divide (in the Church) in 2016, and Why It Still Matters

By
Ed Stetzer
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thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

It’s been 11 months since Donald Trump was elected President of the United States. And even as I reflect on the 2016 election now, I still believe it will be remembered for many reasons, including the fact that it was arguably the most divisive election in recent times. There was a record amount of proverbial mud thrown and threats made. Trump came out of nowhere to beat the seasoned former First Lady, Senator and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

To put it another way, the reality TV star beat the career politician. It was as nasty as that characterization sounds, with Trump personally berating every Republican in the race, and Clinton fighting investigations about her careless handling of classified emails.

But the most damage was probably not inflicted in the political or cultural arenas.

The Great (Church) Divide

When we as Christians in the U.S. look back on the 2016 election, we should take note of the divide it created, or perhaps revealed, in the church. This, I believe, is a divide that is just as strong today. We’ve made little to no progress over the past 11 months.

The division in the churches of America during and after the election was, in many ways, revealing and worth our notice (and conversation). Based on whom a person was supporting or opposing, relationships were ruined, ministry leaders were edged out of positions, and lines were drawn from pulpits and pews.

The problem is not that Christians had differing opinions. That’s part of being human. The problem is that brothers and sisters in Christ used the opportunity to paint each other as racist, uncompassionate, communist, anti-American and non-Christian—all based on whom they were voting for or against. It is one thing to differ and debate cultural issues, and even values, but it is another to judge a person’s standing with God based on which candidate he or she supported.

But, for some, who you voted for determined what kind of person you were. And, that’s not fair in an election where there are at least two very flawed candidates.

In many ways, the division basically ran along party lines. I had hoped that our political landscape would become more diverse with extra parties providing more choices and less chance of breaking into two teams, each fixated on the evil of the other.

But it once again became Republican v. Democrat, or perhaps Conservative v. Liberal. One would say, “I can’t believe you voted for Trump.” Another would say, “I can’t believe you voted for Hillary.” And both would turn to the person who couldn’t bring themselves to vote for either and say, “Your non-vote was a vote for the person I don’t like.”

It seems we cast more blame than light in 2016. And, many people have forgotten that Trump voters are not Trump, and Clinton voters are not Clinton, and thus personally responsible for everything they did or said.

Regretably, it was difficult to take a position on the whole thing without having your Christianity questioned. I personally pray for each president in office. As a social commentator I reflect on whoever is in the Oval Office. I am willing to call them out when I believe they are taking a position that goes against solid human values. I also praise them when they make good decisions. And I do this no matter what party they are in, or whether or not I voted for them.

Yet, I regularly see my faith questioned by people who think telling the truth is betraying their canididate (and, thus, God).

Where Our Values Really Are

Our values as Christians come from a Holy Spirit-led understanding of scripture, not a political platform. Our leader is Christ, not an elected official. Our family is the church, not a political party. We can easily agree with this while reading a blog, but are we living the principle out in the church and public spaces? Is our unity found in our political ideology, or in the faith that has been passed down through the centuries? Is our identity found in who we are in Christ, or is it found in how we pulled the lever for last November?

This is important to remember at all times, but especially in the face of other facts that can easily make us forget the truth of who we are and how we are to interact with each other and the world around us.

There have been more than a few divisions in the church over the last couple of thousand years. In fact, some people only see the church in light of these divisions. They point to our differences and denominational lines and ridicule us because we can’t seem to get along. In some ways, these division, for better or for worse, have defined us. We are in a spiritual battle. Conflict is to be expected.

A decent amount of the New Testament is dedicated to conflict resolution and dealing with issues that divide. So it isn’t that division must destroy us, but rather that we are to overcome with unity. And unity does not mean uniformity.

The church is not marked by the fact that we all vote for the same candidate any more than it is by everyone singing hymns or preaching from the King James Bible. Rather, we are marked by unity in the gospel.

Jesus said, “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love one for another” (John 13:35). He didn’t say that people will know you are my disciples because you are an “always Trumper” or a “never Trumper.” He didn’t suggest that how you vote, or if you vote, was a sign of your relationship with him.

If that wasn’t Christ’s litmus test for his own followers, how can we adopt it in our interactions? If we break fellowship over how we participated in the last election, how can we expect the world to believe us when we tell them about eternal truth?

Fixing Our Eyes on Jesus

Every politician will ultimately let you down at some level. Most end up going back on promises. Many lie without batting an eye.

Jesus never changes. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. Are we willing to burn our faith reputation and relationships over politicians or politics? I hope not.

Now, that does not mean we should not speak on issues of justice. We should—and we can even disagree, as is evidenced by my recent disagreement with fellow Christians around the Kaepernick discussion.

The 2016 election will leave its mark on history. But in the grand scheme of things, it is just another human event. None of the candidates were God in the flesh, lived a sinless life, died an unimaginable death or rose again to secure eternal life.

And, I am afraid that some are making this temporal election their eternal line in the sand, not their more important identity as Christians.

I will write more on this in the coming days, but the Body of Christ is more important than the body politic.

The church was founded by the King of Kings, not a president. So how ironic and sad would it be for us to allow someone we elected to influence our unity? The world is watching. We should not seek in a political candidate that which can only be found in Christ. The nation is divided. And so is the church.

But if we finally lead in the areas of love, unity and reconciliation as Christ calls us to, then the world will see us and consider the person of Jesus whom we reflect.

More on this in the coming days.

This article originally appeared here.

Benefits of Singing the Psalms

By
Jared Olivetti
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thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

Every now and then I get a call or email from my insurance agent. He wants to check in on me, make sure I’m still paying my bills and all that. But what I especially appreciate is he also wants to make sure that we’re taking advantage of the all the benefits of our insurance policies. Turns out you can have something that’s pretty good but not really realize and enjoy all the benefits. So it is with singing Psalms.

To be clear: This is not an air-tight argument for exclusive Psalmody. It’s not really about that at all. It seems to me that when we consider why we ought to sing God’s Word in worship, we tend to spend so much time on debating the question that we neglect the joy and benefits of actually doing so. So let’s skip the exegetical arguments for just today and consider some of the benefits of God’s gift of the Psalms. 

  • Accidental memorization of God’s Word – There are few more effective paths to memorization than singing. And there is nothing more worthy of memorization than God’s Word. Consider how easily we all learn the songs we listen to the most. Singing God’s Word regularly presses it deep into our memory, where it’s always ready to be used by the Holy Spirit. Few things make me happier than to see kids in our church singing Psalms without needing the words. Surely Satan trembles at this.
  • Brutal honesty – As Carl Trueman asked several years ago in The Wages of Spin, “What can miserable Christians sing?” Because it’s inspired by God, the Psalms are able to be far more honest and searching and depressed and discouraged and angry and fearful than anything we would have the guts to write for God on our own. Singing Psalms means that everyone coming to worship will be able to express their heart to God in a way pleasing to Him. Singing Psalms reminds me God isn’t interested in me putting on a happy face and pretending things are fine when they aren’t. He can handle your miserable singing!
  • Tangible unity with the worldwide church – Isn’t it an amazing thing to be at a concert and sing a famous song along with the artist and thousands of fans? It’s a moment of incredibly powerful community. Even better: Every Sunday when we sing Psalms together, we are joining with the church of the past 3,000 years. Although Psalm-singing isn’t the majority practice right now, it certainly has been for most of church history. Singing Psalms is a way to deeply enjoy our Spiritual unity with every saint. Further, by singing Psalms, we’re giving ourselves to the one hymnal the church will ever be able to agree upon— if we’re serious about showing the unity of the people of God, this is one great way!
  • Getting to know Jesus – This one takes the cake. God’s greatest blessing is the sending of His Son to be our Savior and Friend. What a blessing it is to read the gospels, seeing Jesus in action as he teaches and heals and dies and comes to life again! The gospels are the very best biographies ever written. But when we really want to know someone, we desire more than simply knowing about them. When we really want to know someone, we want to hear their thoughts, feel their emotions, get a sense of the deepest things of their heart. If the gospels show us all about Jesus, the Psalms open His heart to us. As Michael Lefebvre makes clear in Singing the Songs of Jesus, the Psalms are primarily Jesus’ songs and secondarily ours. Singing the Psalms is singing the heart poetry of our Savior, getting to know His miseries, joys and faith in the deepest possible way. Singing the Psalms means we don’t just sing to our Savior; we get to sing with Him.

What else would you add to the list? What benefits has God given you through the singing of His Word?

This article originally appeared here.

The Joy of Discovering Sin

By
Alastair Sterne
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thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

Have you ever had caramel salted ice cream that is “sinfully delicious”? Or have you ever had chocolate fudge peanut butter brownies with a jar of cream cheese icing on the side that are “so good they’re sinful”? There’s something tasty about sin. Now I’m not suggesting there’s anything implicitly sinful about good ice cream or brownies. However, advertisers often tap into a deeply embedded belief of our culture: If it’s really good it’s probably sinful. Why is that? It’s possibly the result of some caricatures of God—the grouchy old man in the sky whose only delight is being a buzzkill. “If it’s really good and delightful, God is probably against it,” or so the thinking goes. However, there is a more probable explanation for why we’ve connected sin with delight and pleasure: because we know that sin is tasty. Otherwise, we wouldn’t find it tempting whatsoever.

There are little pleasures and indulgences that cause our senses to heighten momentarily. The lingering eyes. Dwelling in the spite. Flirting “harmlessly.” Finding the “loophole.” Getting in the last word. The “maybe I shouldn’t have said that to him, but it felt good to get it off my chest” comments. Just. One. More. Episode. Whatever it may be, in most situations we don’t do these things because they immediately make us feel bad. We do these things because they give us a buzz. They immediately gratify. Our neurons fire up and our pleasure centers get activated. We like it. And just as we enjoy our little sins, we find “joy” in indulging in the big ones.

For example, you have an affair because of the allure of someone new, something more fulfilling, etc. It’s likely your conscience might catch up with you, you might even feel bad about the betrayal (you might not), but you do it anyway because the alternative feels good. Or, maybe you find a way to cheat on an exam. Why? Not because deception itself feels good (although it might), but the illusion of a passing grade gratifies you.

Over time we might start to feel guilty about some of these smaller sins or bigger sins. But without the help of the Spirit of God, our guilt won’t help us much. In fact, St. Paul writes to the Corinthians “worldly grief produces death” (2 Corinthians 7:10). There’s no life in feeling bad as an end. There’s no life in trying harder and maybe even amending our ways by our own power. But why? Because even if we grow in this one area, we will discover yet another area to grieve in our lives.

You see when we see sin, we can start thinking to ourselves, “Oh, no. Not again. What’s wrong with me?” We move toward shame. But this only further illuminates the nature of sin. As St. Augustine taught, we are “curved in” on ourselves. We sin, we acknowledge it and feel guilty, but then we keep looking at ourselves and our sin. We might begin to focus on changing our behaviour or amending our ways—but we are still navel gazing. What’s the sin in that? Pride. If sin is illuminated in our lives, if we can actually identify it for what it is, it’s a gift from God. But we shouldn’t underestimate our ability to take good gifts and break them.

How do you prepare to confess your sins to God? When you screw up, when you know you’ve done wrong, what do you do? Do you ever sit in it? Do you consciously or subconsciously feel bad enough, long enough, until the feeling subsides? What’s the result? We feel we have earned the right to now ask for forgiveness. Do you see? This isn’t grace, this isn’t mercy—it’s a prideful attempt to first deserve and then extract forgiveness from God, the same forgiveness he has been offering to us all the while.

But as St. Paul also says to the Corinthians, “godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret” (2 Corinthians 7:10). The true joy in discovering our sin is that each time God illuminates sin in our lives, each time we feel the sting of conviction, the pain of grief over what we’ve done, it’s an opportunity for joy. Yes, it’s an opportunity to rejoice. The feeling might not be pleasant, in fact, conviction rarely is—however, the grief God produces leads to life and salvation.

When that persistent and irritating sin or that newly discovered dimension of shortcomings appears, it’s a sparkling new opportunity to encounter grace all over again. That is the joy of discovering sin. We never move beyond our need for grace and we never move into a reality where grace is not offered in a meaningful way. When God gives you eyes to see your life from his perspective, thank him for it. When you see your own brokenness, rejoice—because God is also offering you more grace.

Reflecting upon The Fall of Humanity in Genesis 3, St. Augustine penned a phrase in latin, “Felix culpa.” It is most often translated as “happy fault.” We should not misunderstand the intent of this phrase: it’s not fortunate that humanity disobeyed God or fortunate that we sin. But what is fortunate or happy is that even when we are at fault and even when we fall, God offers us grace. This idea—Felix culpa—is a concept that has captured minds throughout the ages: Thomas Aquinas, Ambrose and even the modern philosopher Alvin Plantinga. Artists have been inspired by this concept too. For example, The Roman Catholic liturgy for the Easter Vigil contains the lyric, “O happy fault that merited such and so great a Redeemer” (which Audrey Assad re-interpreted in her beautiful song Fortunate Fall). King’s Kaleidoscope also released a song called Felix Culpa. They translated it as “fortunate fall.” The chorus of their song contains the beautiful truth:

A fortunate fall,
my sins are stories of grace to recall
A fortunate fall,
I glory in my sins forgiven.

This article originally appeared here.

Ousted Activist: Jerry Falwell Jr. ‘afraid of free speech’

By
Megan Briggs
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thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

On Monday evening, October 30, 2017, Jonathan Martin was escorted off Liberty University’s campus in Lynchburg, Virginia by armed police officers. Martin cites his criticism of the university’s president Jerry Falwell Jr. as the reason for his ousting.

“This was evidently in response to my strong criticism of Jerry Falwell Jr.’s alignment not only with the darkest contours of Trumpism, but expressly with Steve Bannon & the alt-right he represents,” Martin wrote in a post about the incident on his Facebook page.

On Friday, October 27, 2017, Martin criticized Falwell, Jr.’s decision to be interviewed by Breitbart News. He also criticized Falwell’s positioning with former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon on his crusade to rid Washington of “fake Republicans.”

Martin came to the Liberty University (LU) campus to attend a JOHNNYSWIM concert Monday evening. He was also planning on “a time of prayer tomorrow morning [Tuesday] to seek divine guidance as to what faithful, humble-but-clear Christian resistance might look like.” Martin was invited backstage by members of JOHNNYSWIM when he was confronted by campus police, according to The News & Advance. Martin says he was escorted out of the green room, served papers and had his picture taken. Finally, the campus police told him he “would be immediately arrested” if he returned.

Getting personal in his Facebook post, Martin asks “What precisely is Jerry Falwell Jr. afraid of? He openly encourages students to carry weapons, but is afraid of public prayer from Christians who openly embrace nonviolence.”

Speaking to the News & Advance on the phone, Falwell attributed security concerns for the decision to remove Martin. Falwell explained the campus police’s attention was drawn to a potential protest involving Martin through his social media posts. “Our tradition has been to not allow uninvited protests,” Falwell said.

Falwell didn’t hesitate to lob his own criticism at Martin, telling the newspaper, “He wanted to showboat; he wanted to get some attention.” Falwell accused Martin of being intolerant of evangelicals who support President Trump, which Falwell has done from the beginning of Trump’s election campaign last year.

On Tuesday afternoon, the university posted the following statement to its Facebook page, explaining the reasoning behind Martin’s removal.

However, lest you think this is a petty conflict between the high-profile Falwell and a disgruntled outsider, Martin is no stranger to the evangelical church that Falwell exercises influence over. Martin served as a founding pastor of Renovatus Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, and as a teaching pastor of Sanctuary Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He is also an author, and has written a handful of books, including How to Survive a Shipwreck.

Despite the turmoil involving Martin, 15 students showed up to pray at the previously scheduled meeting for Tuesday, October 31, 2017. According to student Alexander Forbes, the group was monitored by several LU police officers.

 

The Unintended Consequences of the Reformation

By
Megan Briggs
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thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

As the Protestant church celebrates the 500 year anniversary of the Reformation, we can’t help but analyze the consequences of this historic act. Martin Luther had no way of knowing the ripple effect his act of defiance toward the Catholic Church would have—not only in the Christian world but also in broader western culture.

For better or worse, Luther set into motion a move of individualism that would grow to shape the nature of western Christian thought and worship. When Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door at Wittenberg, the western church (and consequently the worldwide church) would never be the same.

And it’s not just the church that has felt the impact of those hammer raps. One could easily argue that Luther’s act paved the way for successive revolutions large and small alike. Things from America’s break from the English monarchy to the church’s modern practice of reading Scripture outside the context of a faith community can potentially be traced back to Luther. In fact, a recent CNN article makes a case for ideas such as democracy and capitalism stemming from Luther’s boldness.

Effects of the Protestant Reformation

While we have Luther to thank for key tenets of our faith like Sola Scriptura and justification by faith alone, I can’t help but think about what we left behind. In our haste to pull away from corruption and misguided theology, did we leave behind some good things? I’d like to propose a bit of a reformation of the Reformation (or rather, what has grown out of the Reformation). As we remember the incredible gift given to us by Luther, can we also consider the need to continue to reform as we prepare to be Jesus’s pure and spotless bride?

An Emphasis on Literalism over Symbolism

Before Luther, Scripture had not been translated into the common language yet. To an uneducated population—very few of which could even read their mother tongue—Latin was quite the stretch. Which is why educated priests were commissioned to teach people the Scripture. This is also why (to this day) when you go to a Catholic service, you will see the stations of the cross, meant to teach people about the story of Jesus and the incredible sacrifice he made for us. You may also see stained glass windows with depictions of stories in Scripture. You will also likely sing hymns that are oriented around Scriptural truths or stories from the Bible. These traditions are all rooted in the task of teaching illiterate people the principles of Scripture.

Then there is the ceremony of mass, which is highly symbolic in and of itself. As Father Augustine Tran explains on the Catholic Exchange, even the appearance of the altar is steeped in meaning:

We begin with the altar, which represents the body of Christ. The white cloth that covers the altar is Christ’s burial garment. When the priest kisses the altar, he is kissing Christ faithfully in contradiction to the kiss of Judas. The altar is a very strong symbol of the meal aspect of the Mass, because the Mass is a sacrificial meal as the Last Supper was. But the altar also looks like a tomb because it holds the relic of a saint. The ancient Christians celebrated Mass over the tombs of the Saints and martyrs to unite themselves with them, to ask for their intercessions, that they too would be just as faithful as the Saints and martyrs had been. That tradition continues today by putting small relics of Saints into our altars.

From the order of the service to the repeated rituals utilized, every service is designed to remind the participant of the sacrifice Jesus made for him or her. The atmosphere created in this kind of service is highly contemplative.

However, in the Protestant tradition, there is not as much emphasis on symbolism. Instead, the highlight of the Protestant service is the sermon, a literal experience of Scripture compared to a symbolic one that seems to envelop the whole service and allows for reflection. Intentional or not, a traditional Protestant service is concerned more with the cognitive and literal understanding of the gospel and Scripture.

Perhaps this more literal service was a byproduct of the fact that the Protestant tradition grew up with increasing access to personal copies of the Bible in the common language. Whereas the Catholic church did not develop with this luxury, the Protestant church did.

The Emphasis on the Individual Versus the Community

Another unintended consequence of the Reformation is the emphasis on the individual and what he or she decides to be true. Of course, we can appreciate Luther “going rogue” to address the abuses of the Catholic church and its leaders. His was essentially a one-man revolution against the establishment, and we can appreciate why he did it—especially after trying to articulate his concerns in a more collaborative way.

However, one has to wonder how we would be worshipping today had the Catholic church chosen to address Luther’s concerns. Within the context of community, the Reformation potentially could have produced a healthier, more unified church with the richness of symbolic tradition and empowerment by the Scripture and the promptings of the Holy Spirit.

A Parent’s Response to Disney’s Andi Mack

By
Justyn Smith
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thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

The Walt Disney Company recently announced that one of their most popular shows, Andi Mack, will include a storyline in which one of its main characters discovers he is gay. In the season premiere, a middle school boy named Cyrus finds he has romantic feelings for a male friend named Jonah. Over the next several episodes he will come to terms with the idea that he is gay.

It’s not surprising that a mainstream television show for children would feature such a storyline. Our culture has stated that there is nothing wrong with being gay, and if there is nothing wrong with being gay then, of course, there’s nothing wrong with finally having a gay character. Nor am I surprised that Disney would choose this path. The Walt Disney Company is not a Christian company; we can’t expect them to produce content that aligns with a Christian worldview.

On the other hand, as one of the leaders in entertainment, Disney’s reach and ability to mold culture is unprecedented. We should be aware of the messages they put out, as they will certainly help shape the beliefs and convictions of the young people watching. As a Christian and father of six children, it bothers me that Disney would send this message to young children who are searching for truth and still building the foundation of their values.

So, as Christians, what action do we take?

Personally, my younger kids won’t be watching this program, as this is far from what I want them exposed to. I would encourage any Christian family to think twice before allowing their children to watch Andi Mack. At some point, as a Christian parent, you’ll have to make decisions that build the strongest foundation possible for your children, and that will probably include choosing to go against the tide of culture and refusing to participate. This might be a good time to talk to your kids about your standards and why you, as a family, make different choices than common in our culture.

Alternately, if your children have been watching it, and you choose to allow it, use it as a starting point for good discussion. After all, gender identity challenges in the media will only get more common. We do need to be talking to our kids about this reality. A program like this, viewed together with your kids when they’re mature enough to discuss it, could be a great way to start a conversation. Answer your kids’ questions. What does the Bible say about gender and sexuality? Why is it important? But also, how are we to treat those who are different than we are? How can we show love to people who disagree with our views?

Disney still produces content that is good, so I don’t think we need to throw the baby out with the bathwater. It’s certainly possible to take the good and leave the questionable, we just need to be aware of what our children are watching and the messages that come with those shows.

For resources on talking to your kids about gender and sexuality…

Living in a Gray World: A Christian Teen’s Guide to Understanding Homosexuality by Preston Sprinkle

God’s Design for Sex Series, 4 Books: Stan Jones, Brenna Jones

I would love your thoughts.

This article originally appeared here.

Is Your Ministry Position a Perfect Fit?

By
Michael Adler
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thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

Several years ago, I had a church search committee member call me to come to work for them. This gentleman was the second caller of two from the same place. Both were charged with the mission of convincing me to make a career move. While it was an honor to be sought after, I knew it was best to come to closure quickly on a request like this. I have found that to have a divided mind in this line of work makes an already consuming job become completely suffocating. Before even considering what kind of carrot is being dangled in front of my face, I need to ask myself a few fundamental questions: Do I feel a sense of closure where I am currently serving? Have I done all that God intends for me to do in the fellowship where I work? Have I learned from the Lord all that I am supposed to learn while in this place?

Back to the phone calls. We exchanged tidbits about each other’s locations. I conveyed that I felt extremely blessed to do what I do for a living and to be able to do it where I currently serve. In his persistence, the man on the other end of the phone tried to steer the conversation toward a more undesirable view of where I currently serve, hoping to make the grass even greener on his side of the fence. He started the sparring with budget questions, then on to fellow staff members, then to another oft-used weapon, musical styles. After several rounds of good conversation and my not surrendering my corner, he jabbed with this question, “Well, is the place where you are now serving what you would consider a perfect fit?”

I immediately replied with a resounding, “No.” Do you know the feeling you get when you know you are definitely in the spirit? My response must have been one of those rare moments. I know that in the flesh, my soulish man would have at least considered the question a little bit longer before answering. But I knew that this was a God-kind of answer and I’d like to show you why.

Eugene Peterson creates a perfect commentary on service by highlighting Romans 12 in his paraphrase, The Message:

“So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him.”

No Such Thing as Perfect

So, should our vocational goal in ministry be to find “the perfect fit”? If it is, then when the dating (search committee) relationship begins, there probably should be some sort of prenuptial agreement so that both parties have the option to move on to other relationships should there prove to be “irreconcilable differences.” I think about my friend and former college roommate John Lindstrom. He and his family live in Papua New Guinea in very primitive accommodations and work as Bible translators for Wycliffe. I wonder what he’d say about our struggles for power, platform and recognition. I also wonder about my grandparents, immigrants from Switzerland who gave their lives in service with the Salvation Army. I doubt that the question “What’s my package?” ever came up with them when the prospect of a new place of service emerged.

Don’t misread my rantings. Everyone still looks over the fence at other ministries. I look at management structure and style, physical plant, staff makeup, demographics and anything else that happens to pop up on the screen of envy or discontent. But when the Holy Spirit is in control, I know that God gave me the gifts that I have in order that I would give them back to Him and His children; in whatever conditions may come with the territory.

I hesitate to confess this, but I believe that those of us in the music ministry have a more difficult time than any other ministerial area in separating personal preference from the needs of the entire body. We have chosen a career path that postures us as leaders who express themselves through the arts, and most generally, enjoy a platform that allows that sort of expression. But the arts have an element of subjectivity that runs through them that is virtually nonexistent in other areas. When someone expresses an opinion about musical preferences or likes and dislikes, how often is it based on a chart or graph or the latest statistics? Rarely ever, I would guess. Musical expression is so much about the heart and emotions and feelings. Along the same line of thought, when a music minister is asked to make a philosophical or stylistic change in their format, up go the hackles of personal preference. We take the latest format change personally because it is our art and an extension of who we are. Here is where our wanderlust kicks in and we decide that there must be a place where we can do it all. But this is an opportunity to allow God to mature us. Here is where that “perfect fit” philosophy can change seats with a new line of thought…“the right fit.”

Finding the Right Fit

Realistically, our congregation’s musical tastes are as diverse as the number of radio stations on the dial. Within that mix dwells our own preferences as well as the God-given responsibility of bringing them all together on Sunday in one united chorus of praise. Giving up our musical rights for the good of the body becomes remarkably liberating when we see our vocational position as a calling of service and sacrifice. There are few things more rewarding than to hear a 73-year-old woman come to me and tell me that she’s been “doing church” all of her life, and has just now caught on to the fact that God is her audience when she sings. That didn’t happen from her singing the latest latest Christian radio station hit. It came from steadily and deliberately including her and her generation, along with all of the other demographic groups in your congregation, in a worship format that continues its metamorphosis with each new trend. More often than not, it won’t be my preferences that fill the worship list, although something in there ought to really stimulate me as well. But, “the right fit” means that though your current location may not be Musical Mecca, it is where your gifts were meant to be used for that time with those people.

When you gave your life to the work of the ministry, you didn’t do it committing to ultimate personal and musical fulfillment. You came committing to Jesus and His work. The sense of fulfillment that follows a sacrificial, wholehearted ministry life is leagues deeper than hitting the latest musical lick. (Don’t get me wrong, I love hitting the latest musical lick, too.)

Too often we mentally create this dream church environment and set sail on a vocational trek searching for our own artistic Avalon. I’m seeing it now, two entities running in slow motion toward each other ready to embark on a long journey of bliss and beauty. Your gifts match their desires; you’d prefer to have three days off instead of one or two; they insist on it. You golf, so do they. You don’t like asparagus, their church constitution has banned it. This is not reality.

My wife and I have served in the music ministry in three different churches as well as several national ministries. Each of those areas was unique and had its own personality. Most often the character of the ministry was built around the personality of the particular leader in charge. Each leader had a style, philosophy and method of doing things that distinguished him from the others. Of course, we experienced a weeding out process prior to coming to land in these ministries. We said no to several places where we would have been in a theological environment that didn’t fit with our background and preferences. We said “No” to some that were not going the philosophical direction we were going in ministry. And yes, some said no to us for similar reasons. But once we all agreed that this is where we were going, the very first thing we did was to ask the Lord to show us favor with His people. Without exception we have had rich, meaningful times in each place of service. And yes, we’ve also had frustrating, de-motivating and discouraging times in those same places. Had any one of those places been the perfect fit, shouldn’t we have remained there for life? Or, instead should we go ready to serve and submit ourselves to whomever God has placed at the helm?

Feeling Used

I had one of our talented choir members call me a few days ago and describe the situation he was finding himself in as an interim minister of music at a neighboring church. He’s been looking for a place to serve full-time and this seemed like the right spot. The church he was serving was searching for the full-time man and initially asked him to come “on a trial basis.” After several months of hard work and good results he learned that the church was “also looking at other candidates,” but wondered if he might stay on until they made a final decision on who to hire.

He moaned about feeling “used.” I thought about that word and wondered out loud to him if being “used” is not such a bad thing after all. The fit may not have been perfect, but he was still the man privileged to lead that congregation before the Lord every Sunday until they made a final decision. He could drone on with his negative “I’ve been used” mantra, or determine to bless the Lord for the opportunity to be “used” to his glory.

Someone recently remarked about a fellow colleague, “He stays put just long enough to realize that his boss is human too. Then he sends out the resumes.” What does that say to those to whom we minister? Are we going to stand shoulder to shoulder with them until our life gets a little inconvenienced and then pack our gig bag and move on?

I’ve been reading a book, The Authoritative Life of William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army. My family roots being from the Salvation Army, I am especially interested in this man’s legacy. His biography has reminded me what sacrifice really means. Here is an excerpt from his diary:

“I felt that I wanted, in place of a life of self-indulgence, to which I was yielding myself, a happy, conscious sense that I was pleasing God, living right and spending all my powers to get others into such a life.”

A perfect fit comes when we are walking with the Lord and having fellowship with him and using our gifts to his glory. We won’t always have the greenest grass on our side of the fence. Some other guy will always have something we’d like. But I want to be found with William Booth’s “happy, conscious sense” that I am pleasing God; not just through great worship experiences, but through my heart.

This article originally appeared here.

Enjoy Leadership by Keeping Your Relationship With God Fresh

By
Rick Warren
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thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

As Saddleback Church continues in our 40 Days of Prayer campaign, I’m mindful of the fact that a lot of leaders around the world might not be in the best place, spiritually, to lead a church in such an intense prayer effort. If you want to lead your church effectively through a campaign, you need to be keeping your own relationship with God fresh.

It’s way too easy to just go through the motions instead of basing your ministry on a growing relationship with Christ. In fact, your ministry will have no impact if you’re not developing a more intimate relationship with Christ.

Philippians 3:10 says, “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death” (NIV). The word “know” in this verse speaks of a deeply intimate relationship, like the relationship a husband and wife have with each another. Part of what kept Paul joyful in spite of being imprisoned as he wrote the book of Philippians was his intimate relationship with Christ.

Here are three big ways you can do the same…

1. Spend Time With God

Are you spending more and more time with God? When we get busy in ministry, we often let our time with God suffer. But we must guard our time with God.

Serving God without spending time with him is fruitless. The more time you spend with Christ, the better you know him—and the more joyful your ministry will be.

2. Talk With God Continually

Having a more consistent quiet time is a start, but you also build a more intimate relationship with God by constantly talking to him.

My prayers don’t always sound very spiritual, but I talk to God all the time. I can be going through a fast-food drive-through and say, “God, I’m really glad to get this taco. I’m hungry!” The key is, keep talking to God.

And don’t get hung up on the details of your prayer life either—like when, where and how long you prayed. When you do, you substitute a ritual or rule for a relationship. Those rituals won’t bring you joy. Only a growing relationship with Jesus will.

3. Trust Wholeheartedly in God

God wants you to learn to trust him. That’s often why he allows problems to creep into your life. Through those problems he can demonstrate his reliability—and your trust in him will grow.

And your relationship with him will grow in the process. Take a look at any struggles you’ve been going through recently. How is God trying to get you to trust him more? Those problems can be a door to an even more intimate relationship with God.

Paul tells us in Philippians 3 what his number one goal in life was. He doesn’t point to rewards in Heaven, the accolades of others, or even planting churches or winning people to Christ. He says, “My number one purpose in life is to know Christ.”

And Paul wrote that at the end of his life. Didn’t he know God? Of course. But he wanted to know him better. He never stopped hungering for God.

And neither should we. Our joy in ministry depends upon it.

This article originally appeared here.

Pastors Need Healing Too!

By
Heath Carlton
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thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

“Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed” (James 5:16a ESV). For many years I struggled with this verse as I taught or preached through the book of James—probably five or six times as a pastor. At one point I wondered if James was saying that we should have open, public confession times in our worship services as a church. That might draw a crowd, for sure—like people who go to NASCAR races hoping to see enormous wrecks! I’d heard stories of churches that tried it, but most were about public confession times that had gone wrong—very wrong. I decided that’s not what James meant.

What James does mean is this: One of the greatest experiences you can have of God’s love and care for you is what takes place when you are willing to open your life to someone else in the Body of Christ that you know you can trust. As you mutually remove your masks and confess your sins and struggles to each other and pray for each other, you will experience tremendous spiritual healing that results in freedom and peace. You become a conduit through whom the other person experiences the assurance of God’s love, grace and forgiveness—and you experience it through that person!

There’s no doubt: That’s the kind of Christ-centered, grace-driven, redemptive community God is calling us to be! Not private. We need one another. We are all to serve as visible, tangible expressions of God’s love and care to one another.

But as a pastor/minister, you may be thinking what I thought for the longest time. “All that is well and good for the community of the laity, but not for me. As a pastor, I just can’t take that risk!” I feared it. That’s a fear that comes naturally for pastors and can take a variety of forms. We fear confession could tarnish an image we want to pridefully protect. We fear that confessing to anyone else but God will let others down. We fear confession could lead to problems with church leadership, which, very unfortunately, can still be the case with unsafe churches out there.

And so, it wasn’t until I ventured out, during a huge storm in my life, to walk through a Celebrate Recovery 12-Step Study with a group of fellow pastors (what became Celebrating Pastors in Recovery) that I got to personally experience what I had been preaching and teaching all those years: the truth of James 5:16. As we made ourselves more and more vulnerable to one another, we gave the Holy Spirit more and more room to work in our hearts. The deeper our confession, the deeper our healing became.

Pastors truly can experience the healing grace of the Body of Christ with one another.

This article originally appeared here.

Young Husband: It Might Not Be Her; It Might Be Her Situation

By
Gary Thomas
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thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

Christian husband, listen up. Preachers and teachers on marriage (and I have been among them) often warn young moms about being moms first and wives second. It’s certainly a dangerous and ever-present temptation that deserves attention. But this post is for the young husbands who have their own temptation—expecting their wives to be more than any one woman could possibly be while raising their kids.

Something for the Christian Husband to Consider

One August morning in Houston I waited just a little too long to go out for a run. The sun was unmerciful, and all the shade was gone. My pace slowed, and I even had to walk. I thought I could power through the run as planned but it was stupid not to shorten it before turning around, and I paid the price for my stubbornness.

About a mile and a half from home, I noticed the distinctive bounce of my wife as she pedaled her bike my way. She had a towel and a bottle of electrolyte-laced water. “They said on the news that it was dangerously hot and humid today and I thought you should have been home by now so I figured I better go find you.”

I fell in love with my wife all over again. She is the best.

But she’s also an empty nester.

When she was a homeschooling mom of three, I don’t think, number one, she would have had time to watch the news in the morning. Number two, I don’t think it’s likely she would have noticed I had left, as she would be trying to keep child number one from ripping up her assignment, child number two from throwing a ball through the window, and child number three from having a diaper accident. Not to mention keeping our dog Amber from eating somebody’s shoe.

I suspect, as a young Christian husband 15 years ago, had we lived in Houston and I had gone out for a run, I’d limp home, my wife would see me dripping sweat on the floor, and she might say, “You went for a run? In this? Are you crazy?”

As an empty nester, I now get all her care. There’s a lot of it, but it’s just…different when it’s not divided among four people. There’s just me now. We don’t even have a dog anymore.

Young Christian husband, please give your wife a break. Try to understand. She wants to be a world-class wife—most women do. But when she’s got a job, kids, a pet and a house, never forget that there’s only one of her and about 10 of them (if you add everything together).

Yes, she should be a wife first. But you’ve got to do your part with understanding. I wish I had been more empathetic as a younger husband. Back then, I could occasionally be resentful. Lisa would freely admit there were seasons when she was definitely a mom first.  I thought the problem was her, but now I’d tell my younger self that the problem was really her situation. “Give it time, Gary,” I’d say. “Let her work this out. By the way, some amazing years are coming.”

If your wife really cares for your kids, she’s a caring person. When the kids are gone, all that care will be poured out on you. If you leave her now, she’s likely to end up with someone else and then her care will be poured out on that person. You’ll have endured the years in which she was stretched the most, only to miss the years when she could focus on you and love you the most.

It’s not a coincidence that I wrote Sacred Marriage about embracing the difficulties and challenges of marriage when I was in my late 30s, and now, in my 50s, I’m writing about building a marriage based on cherishing each other.

Same wife, but a different life.

The Idol That’s Eating Away at Your Church: Part 2

By
Steve Hoppe
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thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

Read part 1 here.

Three Test Questions

How do you know if you’re approaching food in an unhealthy manner? How do you know if it’s an idol? Here are three very practical test questions:

1.    Does food control your mind?

Are you constantly thinking about food? Are you spending an unhealthy amount of time planning meals? Do you look forward to eating way too much? Or, on the flipside, do you dread eating? Do you become anxious if you’re forced to eat—at a dinner party, for example? Do you create complex plans to avoid meals? If food rules your mind, it rules you. And it’s an idol.

2.    Are you using food to get something else?

Perhaps you’re eating excessively to feel a sense of comfort. Perhaps you’re using food to ease the pain of a recent breakup. Perhaps you’re cutting calories to lose weight so you’ll gain approval in the eyes of others. Perhaps you’re depriving yourself to feel a sense of control over your chaotic life. If you’re using food to give you something only Christ can give, it’s an idol.

3.    Do you talk about food way too much?

We will talk most about what we treasure most (Matthew 12 v 34). Is food your go-to conversation piece? Are you constantly recapping your meals to your friends? Do you speak with more passion about your favorite dessert than you do about Jesus? If so, it’s probably an idol.

If you’re using food to give you something only Christ can give, it’s an idol.

Good News

If you find yourself idolizing food, I have good news for you. You can open up about it. The church is—or at least should be—the place to admit it. Talk to your pastor about your struggles with food. Talk to a trusted Christian counselor. Talk to a Christian friend. You can be honest with yourself and with others about your food struggles. They probably struggle too.

But most importantly, if you’re idolizing food, there is hope. You can find both forgiveness and freedom in one place. You can find them in the Bread of Life—Jesus Christ (John 6 v 35). And I promise you—he’s infinitely better than food. He’s God. He can feed your soul in a way food never could. And should you choose to feast on him, you’ll never go hungry again.

Steve Hoppe’s new book, Sipping Saltwater: How to Find Lasting Satisfaction in a World of Thirst, explores how Christians can view things like food not as gods, but as gifts from God.

This article originally appeared on thegoodbook.co.uk. Steve Hoppe is the author of Sipping Saltwater: How to Find Lasting Satisfaction in a World of Thirst.

Why Run-Throughs Matter

By
Don Chapman
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thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

Those of us forging ahead into the 21st century of worship face challenges never before imagined! Gone are the days of throwing together a few hymns mere minutes before the service, then waving our arms as we lead the congregation behind the pulpit.

Those of us involved in contemporary worship (especially worship leaders in smaller churches who end up doing…everything) must coordinate a complex sequence of events—lyrics projection, praise band dynamics, song selection, vocal mix, video, sound and lighting—and we must blend these events into a smooth worship flow. With so much going on each Sunday morning, run-throughs are critical.

This simple rule saved me much pain and sorrow: We must run through our entire praise set at least one time prior to the service.

If we don’t run through every lyrics slide, one will turn up missing or misspelled during the service. The problem is caught in the run-through.

If we don’t run through the entire track, a horrible glitch will erupt in the middle of the performance. (Ever see that old VH1 special where Milli Vanilli’s track got stuck, repeated a phrase over and over, and the embarrassed duo ran off the stage?)

If we don’t run through tricky song transitions we’ll cause a musical train wreck and disrupt worship.

If we don’t run through…you get the idea. I know run throughs are sometimes hard or nearly impossible to squeeze in, but insist upon it.

As I found out later in my worship career as I transitioned from music director at a smaller church to a keyboardist in a larger church, the megachurches had this figured out from the get-go. Any church with a top-notch sound you’d envy doesn’t necessarily have the best players in town—they have the most well-rehearsed. Some megas I’ve played at actually have two complete run-throughs every Sunday morning—they’ll start with a short rehearsal/warm up followed by an informal music-only run-through, then after a short break they’ll have a full run-through with music/sound/tech.

Bottom Line: Complete run-throughs will drastically improve the flow of your service and the emotional well-being of your praise team.

This article originally appeared here.

Dear John…Who’s More Popular Now?

By
Greg Laurie
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thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

When the Beatles were at the very peak of their popularity, John Lennon made a very controversial statement in an interview with the Evening Standard, a British publication. Picked up by the American press, it caused a lot of people to get very angry at this band from England. Lennon said, “Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I needn’t argue with that; I’m right and I will be proved right. We’re more popular than Jesus now: I don’t know which will go first—rock ‘n’ roll or Christianity.”

Who’s more popular now? The Beatles have long since broken up, but Jesus is more popular than ever. When a 2013 Time magazine article listed the 100 most significant figures in world history, Jesus was in the No. 1 spot.

Jesus was popular in the first century as well, especially after he raised Lazarus from the dead. The name of Jesus was on everyone’s lips. Wherever he went, crowds of people thronged him.

Matthew 12 says that large crowds gathered to him, so he got into a boat and sat down because the crowd was standing on the beach. In effect, he needed a floating pulpit to get a little distance from the crowd. We read in Luke 12 that so many thousands of people gathered to hear Jesus that they were stepping on each other.

Jesus was very popular. But the same people who were singing his praises later shouted for his crucifixion. That is because they never really understood his real mission.

Even his own hand-picked disciples didn’t fully get it until he died and rose from the dead. But there was one exception. I would like to say it was Peter, James and John, the three Christ would take with him on certain occasions. But it wasn’t. Nor was it any other of the disciples that Jesus handpicked. In fact, it wasn’t a man at all. It was a woman with greater spiritual insight than those who effectively spent every waking hour of their lives with Jesus for some three extended years.

Who was the woman that seemed to get what all the guys missed? Her name was Mary, and she was the sister of Martha and Lazarus. It’s worth noting that every time we read of her, she is at the feet of Jesus. Maybe that’s why she had such great insight.

On one occasion when Jesus showed up at her house with the disciples, Martha was getting a little frustrated because she needed some help in the kitchen. She was frantically making the meal while Mary was sitting at the feet of Jesus. Martha came out and demanded that her sister come help her. But Jesus said to Martha, “You are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her” (Luke 10:41–42 NIV). Jesus was saying. “Martha, listen. I appreciate the awesome food. But actually Mary is right in being here. She has chosen the one thing that really matters, which actually is better.”

Mary seemed to grasp an essential truth that was largely missed by the others. It was that Jesus had come to die. She had a unique understanding as to who he was and why he came. And because of this, she went on to bring the most incredible, valuable gift she could. Jesus was so moved by her sacrificial act that he commended her and said it would be a memorial that never would be forgotten.

So what did Mary do that so impressed Jesus? Did she deliver an amazing sermon? No. Did she pray an incredible prayer of faith? Actually, no. What she did was not very practical at all, really. You could even say it was somewhat impractical. But it was very heartfelt.

We read about it in John’s gospel: “Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. … Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair” (John 12: 1, 3 NIV).

There’s a good possibility that this bottle of perfume was a family heirloom. It was valued at $25,000–$30,000. Now, it would make sense if she had put a few drops on his feet. A little goes a long way. But Mary took the whole bottle and poured it on his feet. It was an act of complete devotion and adoration.

Judas Iscariot, a man who knew the price of everything and the value of nothing, instantly calculated how much of a waste it was. But it wasn’t about perfume at all; it was about sacrifice. Mary brought the most valuable possession she owned and gave it to Jesus.

We are living in a time and nation in which a lot of monuments are being torn down. But this is one monument that never will be torn down. It’s memorialized in time by Jesus himself. Jesus said that wherever the gospel is preached, the story of what this woman did would be told. This was a big deal to Jesus, and therefore it should be a big deal to us.

Maybe one of the reasons we don’t see the work of God on quite the same scale as the early church saw it is because these first-century believers had a sense of abandon about them. God would tell Philip go to the desert and wait for further direction, and he would do it. God would tell Peter to take a disabled man by the hand and pull him to his feet, and Peter would go for it. They took risks. They bet the farm on stuff. And God blessed them as a result. They simply were in love with Jesus.

I would rather try and fail in my attempt to bring glory to God than to never try anything at all—and even worse, to criticize others who try.

In Mark’s account of the same story, Jesus said, “She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial” (Mark 14:8 NIV). Mary did what she could. And the more we know of what Jesus did for us, the more we will want to do for him.

Nothing is ever wasted when it is done with the right motive for the glory of God. You can’t do everything. But we all can do something. We all need to do what we can, when we can do it.

This article originally appeared here.

One Non-Negotiable Key to Small Group Growth

By
Joel Comiskey
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thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

Persistence. Determination. Pressing on. Successful cell church ministry is like running a marathon and not a 50-yard dash. The race requires persistence. Many begin well but don’t finish. The difference? Persistence.

Often pastors become excited about cell ministry because of the large cell churches around the world. They dream about being the next David Cho and seeing their church grow as large as Yoido Full Gospel Church. And yes, church growth is wonderful when God gives it. The problem is that often pastors take short-cuts to obtain that growth. They copy other churches, seminars or books that promise quick growth or the latest anointing.

These instant growth schemes remind me of the difference between a tomato plant and a coconut tree. The tomato plant grows quickly and provides immediate results, but it dies at the end of one year and needs to be replanted. The coconut tree, on the other hand, is planted only once, but it lasts for a lifetime. Persistence in cell ministry that comes from belief in biblical values is like planting a coconut tree. Taking short-cuts might bring immediate results but the fruit won’t last. Are you planting a coconut tree or a tomato plant?

I know one pastor who is struggling right now in cell ministry. Some members are leaving because of the demands of cell life. But this pastor has a bedrock conviction that what he is doing is biblical. He persists because he wants to make disciples and not just hearers. In fact, he’s focused on future generations, so he’s developing children and youth cells. This pastor is planting a coconut tree. He has a dream and is willing to persist until he sees the reality.

Colin Powell, the famous U.S. general, once said, ” A dream doesn’t become reality through magic, it takes sweat, determination and hard work.” All pastors and churches fail at times, but those who succeed keep moving forward.

As I do seminars around the world, I like to give the illustration of Mario Vega handing out plaques for those who had led a cell for 25 years or more. For those who received the plaques that evening (and I happened to be present), cell ministry was a lifestyle. For these people, it would be very hard not to lead a cell group.

Don’t give up. Persistence and determination are the ingredients for cell church victory over time. You will see the breakthrough. The best is yet to come-if you persist. Let’s talk about persistence in October. We’ll cover:

  • October 01-07. Cell ministry as a lifestyle. The journey might start because of the great examples of growing worldwide cell church but it will only continue due to heartfelt convictions based on the biblical foundations.
  • October 08-14. Failure is the backdoor to success. Many, many have tried cell church and stopped. Often the reason is because they viewed cell church as a quick growth strategy and not as a long-term lifestyle based on biblical convictions. The key is learning from mistakes and not giving up.
  • October 15-21. Counting the cost. Asking members to take the extra time to be in a cell group, equipping and possible coaching is a big commitment. It will take time to make this a lifestyle, especially when “the church down the street” only asks people to come to an incredible service. The good news is that faithful persistence will eventually lead to lifestyle.
  • October 22-28. Keeping leaders refreshed and pressing forward. Leaders get tired. How can they remain on the cutting edge? Many cell churches hold conference, reward cell leaders, and budget monies for materials and coaching. We’ll look at how to keep leaders and supervisors moving forward.
  • October 29-November 04. The Best is yet to come. Through patient persistence in developing disciples, God gives the results and the fruit becomes manifest to everyone. The great cell church examples around the world didn’t happen overnight. Their persistence eventually paid off.

Feel free to share your journey about persistence in cell ministry here.

This article originally appeared here.

5 Fall Festival Follow-Up Ideas to Reach Your Guests

By
Dale Hudson
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thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

Churches across the country are hosting fall festivals this time of year. In most churches, one of the goals of the event is to reach unchurched families in the community. What are your fall festival follow-up ideas to bring guests back?

Fall festival is definitely a great time to connect with unchurched families. With the right advertising (which includes print, social media, invite cards for your regular attendees, community papers, etc.) you can see lots of families walk on your church property for the first time. And check out this article for 100 fall festival ideas.

But the big question is always: HOW DO WE SEE GUESTS RETURN FOR A CHURCH SERVICE AND EVENTUALLY BECOME A PART OF OUR CHURCH FAMILY?

Let’s look at five effective ways for fall festival follow-up.

Fall Festival Follow-Up Idea #1. Get their contact information. 

It’s hard to follow up with guests if you don’t have their information. Here are some ways to do this.

  • Have people register for a free gift that they receive right on the spot. It might be something as simple as a full-size candy bar for their kids. With all the mini-candy bars being passed out, you’d be surprised how many people will give you their contact info just to get a large candy bar for their child.
    • Have a drawing for one or more nice gifts that evening. Things like a TV,  family movie tickets, gift certificate for a restaurant, tickets to a local family entertainment place like mini-golf, an amusement park, etc. Set it up so families can enter their information online with their smart phone or a standard paper form or both.

Fall Festival Follow-Up Idea #2. Start an engaging weekend series in close proximity to your Fall Festival. 

Use a relevant topic like a marriage series, parenting series, how to survive the stresses of life, big questions people ask about God series, etc.

You can also start a fun, relevant engaging series for kids. Here are some series ideas at this link. If you get the kids excited about coming back, you’ll be able to get their parents to come as well. Kids don’t drive themselves to church.

Get information into guest families’ hands about the upcoming series. You can do this by email, text, a letter, postcard mailing, etc. You can also include a coupon the guests can bring back for a free gift they can receive at the weekend service.

Fall Festival Follow-Up Idea #3. Have your Fall Festival as part of your weekend services. 

Many churches engage guests in their weekend services right up front by having the event as part of their weekend services. This can be very effective. I know several churches that do this and their fall festival weekend services end up being their most attended of the entire year.

One way to do this is by having the event right after your weekend service. I know one church that makes one of the doors coming out of their auditorium the entrance door into their fall festival. Families first attend a short, relevant, engaging service and then enter the fall festival through that auditorium exit door.

Fall Festival Follow-Up Idea #4. Add them to your mailing list for big events.

While the goal is to see families come back immediately and attend a weekend service, the reality is that will not be the case for some families. But don’t give up on them. Add them to your mailing list for future big events. The more times you can get them to return, even if it’s just for another big event, the more opportunities you have to see them come to a weekend service.

Fall Festival Follow-Up Idea #5. Take a family photo for them.

There’s several ways you can approach this. It starts with having family photo spots set up at clearly marked, key locations.

You can have a backdrop at the photo spot that has your church’s name, website or a hashtag on it. 

You can also provide props that families can hold for their picture such as an empty picture frame, pumpkins, funny hats, etc. These props are another great place to put your church’s name, web address, a hashtag, etc.

One approach is to have someone there to take the family’s photo with their own phone. The good part about this is the family will then put the picture on social media and people will see the information about your church on the backdrop or props they are holding. This has the potential to go to hundreds or even thousands of people as families tweet, Facebook, Instagram, etc. their pictures out.

Another approach is to have a professional photographer there to take their picture. Offer to print out and frame a 8″ x 10″ picture of the family that they can pick up at a weekend service.

If you really want to leverage this, you could do both—let them take their own photo and offer them a professional printed and framed photo.

Be intentional about following up with families and a year from now you’ll have stories to tell about people who were reached and are now part of your church family.

Your turn. The floor is yours. What are some other ideas for fall festival follow-up?

This article about fall festival follow-up ideas originally appeared here.

8 Key First Impressions at Your Church

By
Dan Reiland
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thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

The first 10 seconds matter, and in the first 10 minutes decisions are being made.

For example, when I walk into a hotel, a concert venue or a retail store, within seconds the first things I encounter have made an impression on me. Either positive or negative.

I’ve walked into restaurants that were so bad, I literally froze in the doorway and said to my wife, Patti, “We are not eating here.” We were really hungry, but we left!

In contrast, I recently walked into an incredible hotel. It was stunning, and within minutes I told Patti, I’m not sure we’re ever going home!

Your church creates the same effect. One way or the other. Your guests make lightning-fast decisions about your church. No church is perfect, we are all working on stuff, but we can’t afford to mess up on the first impression.

If your first impression is positive, you gain instant grace for any other element of your church overall that needs improvement.

If your first impression is negative, it is far more difficult for a guest to overlook any less than inspiring element of your church.

Eight Key First Impressions:

1) Clearly marked street signs directing where to turn into your church.

Not every church comes with several police officers and a couple of hundred orange cones to make plain where to turn in from the main road. Even with sophisticated GPS apps like WAZE, that final turn is often the most confusing. Make sure it’s marked and easy to see.

2) Friendly parking lot attendants.

I’ve pulled into churches on vacation or places I’ve consulted, and it seemed like the parking lot attendants were angry with me. Hey, I’ve never been there and don’t know where to go! At other churches, they seemed bored. But the ones I love have me smiling before I get out of my car! They are waving, saying good morning, directing, some even wearing giant Mickey Mouse hands! I instantly think…“I like this place!”

3) Well maintained landscaping and buildings.

Everyone notices when they drive onto a property and see a professionally maintained look. It signals that you care and subtly hints toward a good experience inside. You don’t have to spend a fortune; you may even have professionals in your church that will offer you a discount to take good care of your property.

4) Warm and engaging greeters and ushers.

Your greeters and ushers are of utmost importance. They are among the first smiles and personal conversations once a guest is out of their car. World-class hospitality is essential. A bored, untrained or distracted greeter might ensure your guest does not return. An usher who is talking to his or her buddies and doesn’t make eye contact can sour a guest’s experience. Nothing is too small to pay attention to.

5) Clear and informative interior signage.

The larger the church building, the more critical the signage is, but even in small churches clear signage is vital! For example, clear signage to the bathrooms can make a guest feel at ease rather than frustrated! Clear signage to the nursery is also a top priority.

6) A clean and well-staffed nursery.

For any family that has infants or toddlers, this is mission-critical. If your nursery doesn’t seem safe or clean, they will not likely trust their child to your care. And more importantly, they may not return.

7) Worship service starts on time.

Americans in general are time conscious. Perhaps we shouldn’t be clock watchers, but it’s part of our culture. When you start late, or your service runs over, that feels disrespectful. It communicates that the church’s agenda is more important than your guest’s plans for the rest of the day.

8) Elements of surprise and delight!

The first-time guests were seated, and the husband asked for a blanket for his wife. An unusual request, but the usher learned that his wife was undergoing chemotherapy and felt cold nearly all the time. The church didn’t have blankets, but the usher said, “I’ll get one right away.” He ran to his car and got a blanket from his trunk and gave it to the guest with cancer. This couple still attends that church!

Surprise and delight might not be that dramatic, but notice how simple it was. It can be humor during the service, or maybe a small gift like chocolate for first-time guests. Don’t underestimate the positive impact of surprise and delight!

This article originally appeared here.

The Right Decision Is Better Than a Quick Decision

By
Brandon Cox
-
thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

If you aspire to lead an organization with greater confidence, you’ve no doubt felt the pressure to be the bold decision maker—the one out front ready to charge into the fray.

The problem is, sometimes we charge ahead, ignoring the pitfalls, traps and perils in our pathway, and it doesn’t end well. We can wind up crashing and burning, and hurting other people in the process.

When I first started watching The Apprentice years ago, I was impressed with Donald Trump’s ability to make a decision very quickly and execute it confidently (think, “You’re fired!”). And now that he’s the leader of the free world, the very trait I thought reflected good leadership scares me a bit.

It takes humility to slow down, listen and view a situation from multiple angles.

I’ve had to come to a place of acceptance about my own leadership speed. I used to spend a lot of emotional energy wishing I could be the quick decision maker. But I’m learning, sometimes the hard way, that I really need to put thought and prayer into my decisions before executing.

Things work out better when I’m willing to slow down. Why?

  • Slowing down allows me to clear my head.
  • Slowing down lets me involve and empower other people.
  • Slowing down reduces risk by getting more of the facts.

Remember the story of Sully, the pilot who landed the plane in the Hudson River, saving the lives of all on board? I watched the movie depiction of the events in which Sully was played by Tom Hanks. What the public never really knew was just how close Sully came to getting in serious trouble over the incident because leaders with the National Transportation Safety Board were fairly convinced he should have been able to make it to a runway at a nearby airport instead of landing in the river.

Sully spoke up for himself and reminded the board that he was human, and therefore required a little more time than a computer simulation to make a decision in a moment of crisis. When the simulation was adjusted to reflect the human element, Sully was vindicated. Landing in the Hudson was indeed the only viable option to save the lives of all on board the aircraft.

Obviously there will be moments when decisions are rushed because an opportunity may pass quickly or a crisis is imminent. But those circumstances are the exception, not the norm.

How do you slow down while retaining the confidence of those you are leading? You remind them that you’re taking your time with the decision because you understand the gravity of leadership.

As the leader, you’re responsible for the lives of the people on board, so it’s worth it to wait for clarity.

It’s always better to make the right decision rather than a quick one.

This article originally appeared here.

Record and Share Your Sermon With This Simple Process

By
Joe Hoagland
-
thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

Recording and sharing sermons on the church website is not a new concept, but for many of us in smaller churches the concept and process can seem daunting. Today, I want to show you an extremely easy way to record and share your sermon this week with this simple process.

First, you are going to need an adequate video camera. The great thing about today’s smartphones is most of us have one built right into something we use every day. If you have an iPhone or a recent Android phone, most likely you are going to have something that records video well. The drawback to smartphone recording is your audio is going to suffer. For many congregations they take care of this issue by having a dedicated camera or cameras that plug directly into the soundboard for optimum audio, but this might not be an option for you.

This is where the Zoom Q4n Handy Video Recorder can come in for you. My church currently uses one for sermon recording and many other uses. Here is a quick example of the camera’s quality with a member of our ministry staff:

As you can see the Zoom produces nice video for $250, but what I have been blown away by so far is the audio quality. Check out this sample of the Q4n handling a full orchestra:

Along with the camera, invest in a quality tripod and SD card and recruit someone to hit “record” when you go up to preach. You can then just upload the raw file to your website or Facebook page or even do some light editing in iMovie or Windows Movie Maker.

Here is the simple process in a nutshell if you use the Zoom Q4n:

First you will install the SD card, then mount the camera on a tripod, find the best distance to get a good view of the preacher, recruit someone to push record when you start preaching, push record again when you are done, take the SD card out and put it into your computer or hook up the camera to your computer with the included USB cable, upload the file to your website, Facebook page or video site such as Youtube or Vimeo.

There you go! You could start this this week and have a quality video of every sermon for people checking out your church to watch and those who want to rewatch or might have missed service.

What’s Your Process Like?

This article originally appeared here.

How to Win the Battle for Your Christian Mind

By
Jeff Myers
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thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

The battle for your Christian mind is a battle of ideas. As ministry leaders, we need to constantly remind those we teach that mindless Christianity does not please Jesus. We need to stay focused on sharpening our worldview. Why? Because we live in a time of war. There are no soldiers in this battle. There are no landing craft, no bombers flying in formation, no artillery emplacements. Yet attacks occur every minute of every day.

Ideas are thoughts and suggestions about what we ought to do. Our ideas largely determine our understanding of life’s meaning and guide us in the way we live. Everyone forms ideas about questions such as:

  • Am I loved? If I were to disappear, would anyone miss me?
  • Why do I hurt? Bad things have happened to me. Can I overcome them and find joy?
  • Does my life have meaning? Is it possible for me to find direction in life?
  • Why can’t we just get along? What will it take for us to stop fighting and find harmony?
  • Is there any hope for the world? So many things seem to be going wrong. Are we doomed?
  • Is God even relevant? Does God get involved with the details of my life?

 

The set of ideas that we form in answer to these questions is called a worldview. A worldview monitors the ideas we are exposed to and isolates the ones that appear to be destructive. But it’s possible to have a worldview that is porous, letting through some of the most damaging ideas. Or a worldview might be skewed in some way, welcoming ideas bent on doing us harm.

We can develop a worldview that gives us something to live by—and something to live for. A worldview also helps us ward off bad ideas that make us miserable. It functions like as an immune system for ideas. This is important because bad viruses can’t be conquered with good viruses. There is no “good” cold that combats the virus that causes a bad cold. Preachers and politicians and philosophers can’t live out our worldviews for us. It’s time for each of us to step up.

My life revolves around boosting the power of good ideas and blunting the effects of bad ones. Through a program called The Summit, I help prepare people of all ages to strengthen their Christian worldview and become leaders. Once my students tune in to the world of ideas, they can see the way that bad ideas fill their hearts and minds with wrong answers to questions to life’s biggest questions. In the end, most of them learn to trust what God has revealed about himself, the world, and humanity. I have seen it change thousands of lives.

Long experience shows me that our deepest heart questions revolve around love, hurt, meaning, peace, and hope. Here’s a simple set of “declarations of freedom”—six truths that release us from the grip of idea viruses that intend to do us harm. These declarations help us get a proper view of the world and for the world and resist the bad ideas trying to penetrate our defenses:

  • I am loved. Deep, unconditional love exists, and I can have it.
  • My suffering will be overcome. Hurt will not win. Indeed, it already has lost.
  • I have an incredible calling. My life has meaning. I bear God’s image.
  • I am meant for community. I can overcome conflict and live at peace with those around me.
  • There is hope for the world. I am not doomed. What is right and just and true will win.
  • God is relevant. God is real and the Bible is true. His love is unconditional.

 

These declarations of freedom are not just positive self-talk. They have deep roots in the teachings of Jesus and his culture. Nor are they theological platitudes. They’re very practical and livable. That’s the good news.

But the bad news is that these declarations are under attack. Bad ideas flood our minds and hearts every day, trying to convince us that love isn’t real, that suffering is meaningless, that our lives have no purpose, that we are all alone, and that despair is our lot. Bad ideas are on the attack. We need a strong worldview to keep them at bay.

True Christianity is not mindless. We need to strengthen our minds and have the mind of Christ. (1 Corinthians 2:16).

 

This is an adapted excerpt from Dr. Jeff Myers’ new book, The Secret Battle of Ideas about God. To read chapter 1, click here. To continue reading about how the Christian worldview stands apart from false world views in answering life’s biggest questions and how you can bring this to your church or home, download sample materials or purchase at secretbattlebook.com.

Listen to the ChurchLeaders podcast with Dr. Jeff Myers.

5 Ways to Use Social Media When You’re Not Doing Promotions

By
Kem Meyer
-
thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

Too often, institutions behave as if communications is synonymous with promotions. Promotions is one, singular layer of a communications strategy, but it is not an interchangeable word for communication.

As part of that bad definition, many churches and businesses treat their social media as a one-dimensional, broadcast tool. “Give it to the communications or marketing guy. They run our social media.”

Take a look at your social media, do all links point back to you? If so, you’re doing it wrong.   

It might help you find your center by revisiting the definition of social:

adjective so·cial \′sō-shəl\
: relating to or involving activities in which people spend time talking to each other or doing enjoyable things with each other
: liking to be with and talk to people : happy to be with people
: of or relating to people or society in general

Aja Frost, a staff writer for HubSpot, recently broke down some social media inspiration for EVERY team in an organization. It’s not a tool just for the “marketing” department—it belongs to everyone. Some examples she shared:

  • Engineering. Share product updates and behind the scenes “how it’s made” content. Get “techie” about stuff other “techies” can geek out over.
  • Design. Share design-centric articles, use as a social recruiting tool for other designers and join a larger conversation about design.
  • PR and customer support. Build relationships with influencers, monitor social conversations around your brand, invite product recommendations and respond to complaints or suggestions promptly. Demonstrate care and honesty with no strings attached.
  • Sales. Browse social media accounts of your customers and prospects to see what “a day in the life” might look like for them, share testimonials, give special access to events get in touch with what your customers are in touch with.
  • CEOS. Share random thoughts, cool articles, company updates to build trust and loyalty by showing human side of leadership.

It’s worth asking: What does it look like to increase the quality of your “social” by decreasing the volume of your “promotions”?

  1. Switzerland gives their Twitter account to a different resident every week.
    If you really want to know what matters to a specific audience, give them the mic and see what they talk about.
  2. A third grade teacher asked her students to complete this sentence anonymously: “I wish my teacher knew…”
    Create a feedback mechanism to get honest, vulnerable input about real-life dreams, hurts, desires.
  3. IKEA gave away the chance to win furniture any time someone tagged one of their showroom photos. If they were the first to tag it, they won the entire showroom.
    Incentivize participation; make it worth their while.
  4. Online clothing retailer Threadless lets customers vote on the next shirt to be printed.
    Let people be part of a process. Trust me, they want to participate.
  5. Guy Kawasaki let his audience compete to design his next book cover.
    Co-creation activates different talents in your audience you may not even know are there.

If you put your mind to it, what value could you provide beyond your next event promotion, photo of stage lighting or series graphic? Think of different departments and give them permission to find new ways to nurture their niche. Here are just a couple of starter ideas.

  1. Children’s and family ministry. Share articles with parenting tips for sticky situations, dinner table conversation life hacks and funny “things kids say” quotes from the weekend.
  2. Care & counseling. Recommend books, authors and experts you trust for general advice. Link to support groups for complicated life circumstances; even if those groups are not in your church.

Take it from here, social butterfly.

This article originally appeared here.

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