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Greatest Joys of Pastoring

By
Chuck Lawless
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thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

In my Southeastern Seminary class this semester, “Pastoral Ministry and Leadership,” I required students to interview a pastor who has served more than 10 years in ministry. One of the questions was about their greatest joys in ministry. Here are some of the findings from this group of pastors:

  1. Seeing people come to know Jesus. No pastor can adequately describe the excitement when a lost person is redeemed through the grace of God. That’s one of the times that ministry is completely worth it.
  2. Seeing people “get it.” There’s nothing quite like it when laypersons genuinely connect with the gospel and their eyes light up with excitement. Every pastor loves it when that happens.
  3. Sending out workers. These pastors were excited when they could raise up and send out the next generation of church planters, pastors and missionaries—even when doing so meant they sent out their best.
  4. Seeing radical transformation of lives. That includes things like breaking sin patterns, healing broken homes, restoring fractured relationships and overcoming struggles. When transformation brings joy to others, pastors rejoice, too.
  5. Experiencing church change. Because these pastors have been in ministry for more than a decade, some have been in the same church for some time—and they’ve seen their church overcome much to move forward. They’ve seen congregational miracles take place.
  6. Watching members grow up—literally and spiritually. When you’ve served one congregation for years, you get to baptize kids who grow up, marry and then have kids you help dedicate to the Lord. Nobody else has that kind of privileged access to others’ lives.
  7. Preaching the Word. It can be a heavy task, but something happens when the “preaching bug” bites you. The fire seldom goes out, even when ministry is hard. Even the pastor who has been wounded deeply often still loves to preach the Word.

Come back tomorrow, when I’ll let you know what these pastors said have been their greatest frustrations. You might be surprised.

And, pastors, what are your greatest joys?

This article originally appeared here.

3 Ways to Make Your Students Into Evangelists

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

“A farmer went out to sow his seed…”  Luke 8:5

For decades youth leaders have been like farmers. They chuck the seeds of the Gospel in youth group, during outreach meetings, and at camps, retreats and mission trips. This is the way it has been since youth ministry sprung into being.

And praise God for youth leader/farmers who have faithfully sown Gospel seeds all these years. Millions have come to Christ as a result!

But there is a better way.

It’s not a newer way but the ancient way. It’s the way Jesus trained his disciples. And it is powerfully demonstrated in the first few verses of Luke 8, 9 and 10.

In Luke 8:1 Jesus was the primary seed chucker and the 12 watched him sow Gospel seeds from village to village: “After this, Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The Twelve were with him…”

In Luke 9:1,2 the disciples were the primary seed chuckers and Jesus watched them sow: “When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.“

In Luke 10:1 72 other disciples were the primary seed chuckers and Jesus and the 12 apostles were, most likely, watching, coaching and encouraging them as they did, “After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go.”

It started in Luke 8 with Jesus doing the primary work of evangelism. Soon the primary outreach work had transferred to his closest disciples. And soon after that his followers were training other disciples. 

Jesus had moved from just chucking seeds to training farmers (the 12) and soon he was building greenhouses (building a ministry model that multiplied both seeds and seed chuckers.)

Let me ask a simple youth ministry question: Are you stuck as the primary Gospel seed chucker in your youth ministry? If your primary outreach strategy depends on you giving the Gospel during outreach meetings then you are stuck in Luke 8:1. 

Don’t get me wrong, it’s good to give the Gospel (and not just at outreach meetings but in other meetings as well!). After all, Jesus didn’t stop giving the Gospel after Luke 8. He still preached the Good News, but his primary strategy moved from him (chucking seeds) to them (disciples chucking seeds) to it (building a greenhouse ministry that naturally multiplied seeds and seed chuckers, i.e., the 72.)

How can you make the transition from being the only seed chucker to being a farm club for farmers and a greenhouse builder? Here are three keys:

1.  Make sure you are modeling how to live out evangelism in front of your teenagers.

Jesus lived on mission and his disciples saw it. From engaging the woman at the well (John 4:4-42), Jesus was always ready to engage in a Gospel conversation. And his disciples watched him do this again and again and again.

Are you exemplifying what it means to live a life on mission for Jesus? Are you living out a lifestyle of evangelism that your teenagers see and can model? Like Jesus said in Luke 6:40, “No student is above their teacher but everyone who is fully trained will be like their teacher.“

For help in sharing your faith check out this four-minute video we put together at Dare 2 Share to give you a crash course in effective evangelism:

2.  Inspire, equip and unleash your teenagers to share the Gospel.

Just like Jesus sent his “youth group” on mission, we must do the same. We must inspire them to share the Good News of Jesus. Then we need to equip them how to share it in a clear and effective way. And, finally, we must unleash them to do it!

This is where many seed chucking classes often fail. If we teach them how to share the Gospel but never actually take them out to chuck seeds, they never really learn. Another way to put it is inspiration plus information minus activation equals frustration.

A super simple way to get your teenagers activated in evangelism is Dare 2 Share Live coming up on September 23. On this powerful day of outreach we will inspire teenagers to chuck Gospel seeds, train them how and then unleash them to do some actual sowing! Find the closest host site near you and bring your teenagers to get activated as seed chuckers along with tens of thousands of other teenagers across the nation!

3.  Turn your youth ministry into a greenhouse where the multiplication of disciples occurs organically. 

In 2013 Dare 2 Share commissioned a research project. In it we discovered seven common values in every youth ministry that was seeing 25 percent new conversion growth on an annual basis. This means that these youth ministries were growing as a result of new disciples being made and multiplied. In a sense they, like Jesus in Luke 8, 9 and 10, were going from one to 12 to 72.

I cross checked these values with the book of Acts and was blown away by how often these seven values appeared. These values became the basis of my book Gospelize Your Youth Ministry and they are the centerpiece of all of our greenhouse building strategies.

If you want to turn your youth room into a greenhouse for making and multiplying disciples, get the book and go to gospeladvancing.com to take a diagnostic to see how strong your youth ministry is in each of these values. There are also free training videos you can watch on this site that will help you and your team build a great greenhouse!

It’s always time to chuck gospel seeds. But it’s also time to raise up young farmers and build effective greenhouses. Let’s get at it! And let us help you!

This article originally appeared here.

Mark Zuckerberg on Small Groups and Facebook’s Future

By
Andrew Mason
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thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

In a recent interview with WIRED*, Mark Zuckerberg, CEO and cofounder of Facebook, shared that small group ministry is a model he considers when he looks to the future of his social media website. It’s an intriguing comment from the marketplace and it’s loaded with transferable insights for disciple makers. I think it’s important for me to note that Jesus’ way doesn’t require validation from the secular space, but in certain instances it should reinforce what we already know to be true.

In this particular interview, Mark Zuckerberg is quoted as saying, “When I started Facebook, the mission of connecting people wasn’t a controversial thing.” In recent times, Facebook has unintentionally become a contentious experience for some as they are confronted with their friends’ subjective opinions about politics, social issues and news stories. What started out as a digital space for people to connect has morphed into an intense debate forum with differing levels of credible information. The article says it like this…

“As [Mark] has repeatedly said…he believes his platform brings people together—despite the sea of evidence that in its stated mission to “connect the world” Facebook may be helping to tear it apart.”

His problem is a similar one that most churches face: How do we get people connected to each other in such a way that is meaningful and adds value to their lives?

The article goes on to share the following…

“After spending a decade portraying Facebook as a service for connecting friends and family, Zuckerberg’s grand vision is now to build technology that creates far bigger and more complex communities. ‘Humanity has always pushed to come together in greater numbers to accomplish better things and improve our lives individually in ways we couldn’t in smaller groups,’ he tells me. If your News Feed now feels like a tiny town, Zuckerberg seems to want to build cities. Or at least churches.

In our conversation, he says his model for an online community might look something like Saddleback, the evangelical Southern California megachurch led by pastor Rick Warren. It’s a surprising example from a man who seems steeped in the liberal pluralism of Silicon Valley. But the key for Zuckerberg is that Warren built a community in which tens of thousands of people gather under a capable leader’s guidance, but also divide themselves into smaller groups by interest, affinity and aspirations.

In Zuckerberg’s new vision for Facebook, leaders in the mold of Warren will have tools to guide and shape the more complex communities they’re trying to create. At the same time, the smaller groups within those communities will provide places to connect in more intimate ways, while also feeding the larger whole. ‘Just like becoming friends with people on Facebook can strengthen real-world relationships, there is no reason to believe that building communities on Facebook and the Internet can’t also strengthen real-world communities,’ he says.”

Interesting, to say the least. For me, I take away Seven Small Group Lessons from Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook.

1. Biblical community provides a treasure of ideas for creating deeper connection. In this article, we see Facebook (a social media Goliath) looking to a model of biblical community (small groups at Saddleback Church) for lessons on connection.

This should encourage us to dive deeper into the way of Jesus with his 12 apostles. We should continue to dissect the secrets of the first-century church and go all in with our discoveries.

2. Smaller groups create opportunity for more intimacy and relationship compared to the crowd. The article states that smaller groups within those communities will provide places to connect in more intimate ways. A large gathering produces relational lids. People need less-complicated settings to lower their guard and bond socially.

3. The larger crowd needs the smaller groups as a sustaining force. “The smaller groups within those communities will provide places to connect in more intimate ways, while also feeding the larger whole.” The stronger the infrastructure, the stronger the movement can become. The masses can be mobilized with more health and strength if they are supported by united communities. The macro needs the micro.

I believe this also speaks to the scalability of small groups. Small groups are a sustaining force to the larger movement because they can continue to develop in proportion to the whole.

4. The smaller groups allow people to gather in ways that are not possible in the crowd. “The key for Zuckerberg is that Warren built a community in which tens of thousands of people gather under a capable leader’s guidance, but also divide themselves into smaller groups by interest, affinity and aspirations.” It’s difficult to dialogue around a certain focus with a large number of people because eventually, there are specifics that aren’t relevant to the whole. The smaller context, however, allows for an exchange of ideas and a development of understanding through sharing.

After teaching the multitudes, Jesus always took his small group to a deeper level (Mark 4:1).

5. Community is a healing balm to the wounds of division. As Facebook attempts to counter the polarization of their experience, they are looking to smaller groups as a setting for people to find greater encouragement and solidarity.

As the church, we are reminded that relational settings can be safe spaces for broken hearts to mend. Community is a place of nourishment and nurturing.

6. The focus of building spiritual communities can strengthen real-world communities. Zuckerberg says, “Just like becoming friends with people on Facebook can strengthen real-world relationships, there is no reason to believe that building communities on Facebook and the Internet can’t also strengthen real-world communities.” The real fruit of church life is when things go off script. A crisis can’t be programmed, but when it happens it’s a window to evaluate spiritual maturity. If Mark Zuckerberg believes digital communities can spill over into real-world communities, the question for us becomes, “Do we believe Jesus’ model can do the same?”

Do we believe intentional community can produce organic community when spontaneous needs arise? Do we believe Christian community can overflow into the unbelieving community?

 7. The church should be as fascinated and curious about biblical community as Facebook is. If a billion dollar, for-profit entity is working on a network of small communities based off of Jesus’ model, shouldn’t the church be doing the same, if not more? Shouldn’t we be mining strategies and data because we are hungrier for souls than a tech company is for money? If Jesus’ model is a good fit for a business, it’s a no-brainer to think it would be the perfect approach to build the Kingdom.

It’s great to see biblical community influencing the direction of social media. I’m excited to see it continue to influence trends in the church for the next decade and beyond. You could say that small groups are going viral.

This article originally appeared here.

10 Unfair Expectations of Pastors Wives

By
Thom Rainer
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thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

The pastor’s wife in many churches carries heavy burdens.

Sometimes they are impossible expectations.

To be fair, this post could refer to any church staff person, male or female, so it could be called ministers’ spouses. For simplicity, and because I primarily hear from this group of people, I refer to them as pastors’ wives.

So what are some of these unfair expectations? Here are the top 10 expectations imposed upon these ladies.

  1. “I am expected to attend every function at the church.” One wife told us that church members resent it when she is seen doing anything outside the church.
  2. “Many church members expect me to know everything that is happening in the church.” In other words, they should know everything their pastor/husband knows.
  3. “We have several church members who feel free to complain to me about my husband.” So her church has several members who are lacking in emotional intelligence.
  4. “Church members utilize me as a de facto assistant to my husband, giving me messages for him.” One wife shared with us that she received 11 messages to give to her husband after a specific worship service.
  5. “I am still amazed how many church members expect me to function as an employee of the church.” Some are expected to lead music or play piano. Others are expected to act in a specific ministry employee role such as student or children’s director.
  6. “Some of the members expect our children to be perfect and act perfect.” One wife explained that she and her husband were new to a church when a church member confronted them about their misbehaving children. Their outlandish sin was running in the church after a worship service.
  7. “I am always supposed to be perfectly made up and dressed when I leave the house.” A church member expressed her dismay to a pastor’s wife who ran into a grocery store without makeup. You can’t make this stuff up.
  8. “I have no freedom at our church to be anything but perfectly emotionally composed.” This story really got to me. A deacon chastised a pastor’s wife for shedding tears at church four days after her dad died.
  9. “I think some of our church members expect my family to take a vow of poverty.” She was specifically referring to the criticism she received for purchasing a six-year-old minivan after her third child was born.
  10. “So many church members expect me to be their best friend.” And obviously a pastor’s wife can’t be the best friend to everyone, so she disappoints or angers others.

These are some of the comments we have received at this blog over the years from pastors’ wives. And it seems as though these trials are more gender biased. For example, the husband of a children’s minister commented that he rarely has the pressure and expectations that he sees imposed upon female spouses.

But more than other staff positions, the pastor is naturally the focus of attention and, often, criticism.

And the pastor’s family, by extension, becomes the focus of unfair and unreasonable expectations.

This article originally appeared here.

The Prayer That Changed My Life

By
Lisa Bevere
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thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

There was a time as a young Christian, I would have argued with you about the purpose of trials. I believed if you were living according to the Word, nothing bad could happen to you. This thinking was naïve at best. I was young and foolish and indoctrinated with something that would not weather the test of time.

I thought the teaching was deep when in reality, it only prepared me for life in the shallows. And I knew I didn’t want to stay there. If you are anything like me, you want to experience all that God has for you—and that means leaving the shallows and getting deeply rooted in God’s Word.

Everything we need for life and godliness is truly found in the Word of God, but it is the trials of life that drive us to our knees so that this truth can be worked in and through our lives. In this posture, the Word of God is no longer read as suggestions for life’s best practices but as the very words of life.

It was a short and confusing season in my life, mainly because I preferred pretending and burying things. I was young and newly saved and newly married and the turning of my soil had yet to begin. There were just a few scratches on the surface. I remember when it all changed. I was deep into a time of intimate worship and prayer. I foolishly imagined that because I was sitting in the front row of a church as a newly minted pastor’s wife that only a few things needed to be addressed in my life. In full confidence, I invited God to excavate my life. Twenty-four hours hadn’t passed before I was regretting my choice of words.

Dear Heavenly Father…did I say excavate? Can I take it back? That was but a passionate moment filled with poor word choices. What I meant to say was landscape and accessorize my life.

He did not allow the retraction. He wanted to do something deeper in my life, and excavation had been a Spirit-led word choice. To excavate means “to dig out and remove.” When I asked God to excavate my heart, it was like I handed Him a shovel, and asked him to dig out and remove anything in there that doesn’t belong. Like so many Christians, I lived with deep longings and shallow prayers.

Before this dangerous moment in worship, my prayer times had left me feeling empty. The words I whispered were not a catalyst in my life, because I was still praying out of duty rather than devotion. I prayed how I had heard others pray. Yes, I had been told that prayer was simply talking to God, but I couldn’t help imagining myself in a throne room surrounded by angelic beings who listened in and found my puny words ridiculous.

Because of this mindset, I didn’t know how to frame my prayers with words that could harness the tempest of raw desperation raging within me. Neither did I know what to do with my desperate, aching hunger for something more.

Since then, I have learned that God will use trials to deepen my prayers. Before I gave God permission to (cringe) excavate my life, I didn’t know how to allow God to work something deeper within me. Any difficulty or trial was immediately bound! Rather than assail the trial, I was binding myself to my old habit patterns and captivity. If they persisted, I ran. If running didn’t work, then I hid in the hope of wishing them away.

The irony is that it was these very trials that God used to mature and grow me up in my faith. Hardships have the power to transform us from who we are into who we long to be. So, don’t run from them. Embrace them, and press into how God may be excavating the soil of your heart through them.

Dear one, don’t be afraid of the deep work God wants to do in your heart. It may not always be pleasant, but in the end, it will always be worth it. God is standing by with a shovel in hand. If you want to stop playing around on the surface and let Him birth a lasting change in the depths of who you are, give Him permission to start digging…and then brace yourself.

This article originally appeared here.

The Peculiar Advantage the Chinese Have in Missions Work

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

In June, two Chinese nationals were kidnapped and killed by the Islamic State (IS) in Pakistan. Conservative Muslim Pakistan is familiar with Chinese workers living in their midst; however, it is not as familiar with Chinese Christian missionaries—which is what these two victims were.

In fact, not even the Chinese government is familiar with the clandestine activities of the missionaries who call China home.

The Underground Church in China Is Sending Missionaries Abroad

Missionaries to Pakistan

Meng Lisi and Li Zinging were in Quetta, Pakistan, when they were kidnapped. The city is temporarily home to numerous Chinese workers who are there to work in the region on a “new Silk Road” project to connect Asia and Europe, according to BBC News. However, Meng and Li were there under the guise of teaching Mandarin.

Li’s mother, Mrs. Liu, is questioning the Chinese government’s response to her son’s kidnapping. She asks why Beijing didn’t ask the Pakistani government to hold off an attack on IS-held territory south of Quetta when they knew Li and Meng were in IS’s possession. Instead of answering her questions, however, authorities are now investigating the family. Mrs. Liu is also a Christian who belongs to a house church in China.

Being a Christian in China is a hard thing, especially now, when it appears Beijing has ramped up its opposition to the house church movement and Christians in general.

Bob Fu, leader of the watchdog group China Aid, says the crack down on Christians is coming straight from the very top of the government: President Xi Jinping himself. According to Fu, “He has been worse than any leader since Chairman Mao.”

The Chinese Advantage

Yet the crack down apparently has not deterred the underground church from sending missionaries to other countries—including ones as volatile as Pakistan. In fact, the historic persecution and consequent move of the church “underground” in China might actually point to an unintended blessing for Chinese missionaries.

Pastor Danny Lee says Chinese missionaries have little trouble getting into nations some western missionaries have difficulty reaching. Places like Iraq, Iran and Pakistan. “They let them straight through. The last thing they would think [a Chinese person could be] is a missionary,” Lee told BBC News. Lee is the director of Back to Jerusalem (BTJ) in the United Kingdom. BTJ began in the 1920s out of a vision of Chinese Christians to “evangelize the unreached peoples from eastern provinces of China, westwards towards Jerusalem.”

Missionaries to Iraq

The South China Morning Post recently brought attention to a Chinese missionary couple living in Iraq who have been there for over a year. “Michael” and “Christy” (names are changed for security reasons) live in northern Iraq in a guarded compound for women and children who have fled IS. In this area affected by war and terrorism, Michael says, “I actually feel safer here [than in China].”

As the article explains, it’s hard to know how many Chinese missionaries are working overseas, as they “often pose as businessmen or teachers for travel purposes.” However, academics and house church leaders estimate there could be as many as 2,000.

According to Christy, what she and her husband are doing is not rare. “There are many [other mainland Chinese Christians] out there who love Christ relentlessly and dedicate their lives to God’s kingdom.”

Michael and Christy are working with Yazidi refugees who have been displaced by IS. The couple is helping widows make a living by sewing garments and they also give English lessons to local children, many of whom are orphans or the children of single mothers.

While Christians will recognize Michael and Christy’s work as being inspired by James 1:27, Michael says they are really careful to respect the Yazidi culture and not to preach openly to them. Rather, their approach is one of planting seeds and demonstrating their faith through living among and helping the people—something they are doubtless used to doing in their home country.

It’s Still Dangerous—But Perhaps Chinese Christians Are Better Prepared Than Most

As Li and Meng’s story highlights, Chinese missionaries do face danger abroad, even if they some nations are easy for them to enter. Many people question the Chinese government’s desire to protect its citizens abroad—especially if it is discovered they are there for missions work. Following the incident with Li and Meng in Pakistan, officials there have tightened control on the visas they offer Chinese nationals. They have since sent 11 people home who were identified as missionaries.

“In China, our faith has been heavily suppressed,” Michael says. “When faith is hard-earned, it is more genuine and sincere.” It makes one wonder: Perhaps the Chinese government has inadvertently groomed the underground church to be really effective missionaries.

Efrem Smith: Being God’s Reconcilers in a Volatile Mission Field

By
Jason Daye
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thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

Efrem Smith serves as teaching pastor at Bayside Church in Sacremento, California. For four years, Efrem lead World Impact, a missions organization committed to church-planting in inner cities. His experience in ministry is seasoned and diverse, having held different pastoral roles in the local church. Efrem is also the author of several books, including Killing Us Softly: Reborn in the Upside Down Image of God.

Key Questions:

Do you think we have a harder struggle with dying to self today than we did in the past?

How do we live as citizens of the Kingdom here and now?

As a pastor at an urban, multi-ethnic church, what have you learned about racial reconciliation?

Key Quotes:

“As a teaching pastor at an urban, multi-racial, multi-ethnic church…I have significant concern about how Christians participate in the Great Commission within a mission field that is urban, very diverse, but also deeply divided.”

“Ultimately the church should be an outpost—an embassy—of the Kingdom of God.”

“We have to challenge, lovingly, folks in the church to remember that our citizenship in the Kingdom of God actually supersedes even our citizenship in the United States of America.”

“Even in a nation like the United States where we can worship freely…we can still become enslaved, held captive, to institutions and ideologies and even good economic frameworks like free enterprise and capitalism.”

“To understand the cross-cultural Christ is to understand Christ as a liberator. One who offers liberation to all people, whether they’re enslaved to government systems, economic systems, social structures like race and ethnicity, whether we’re held captive to brokenness, arrogance, neglect, pride.”

“Christ is this counter-cultural liberator who steps into an upside-down world to set us upright.”

“As a pastor, I can’t lead people to places I haven’t gone or I don’t revisit on a regular basis.”

“We have to be careful that the pulpit, that the platform that we’ve been given to preach and teach, doesn’t just become a platform of negative commentary on how sinful the world is, how bad things are, how upside down things are. We have to use…these opportunities to point to God’s goodness, God’s work, God’s justice.”

“If I just hung around other black urban pastors, it would stretch me, I would grow from that, but it’s still not going to give me the broader Kingdom breath and blessing of saying ‘I fellowship with Hispanic, and white, and Asia, and multi-ethnic, and suburban, and small town pastors.’ I think it improves my preaching, my leading, my serving, my understanding of God’s word.”

“If the kids in the public schools are not at grade-level in reading and math by the third or fifth grade, there is a high probability that they will be incarcerated.”

“God’s cosmic, huge agenda is too big for me to tackle alone. I need to be a part of a larger family, a larger body.”

“The heritage of the church and the future of the church is about being connected to a bigger family and bigger agenda than any one church can tackle on its own.”

“I think one of the ways that the church will be a more transformative force in our nation and in the world is being open to the ways in which God wants to lead our churches to look more like heaven. To be a sneak preview of a multitude of every nation, tribe, and language.”

Mentioned in the Show:

6 Ways to Teach Your Kids the Bible

By
Jon Nielson
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thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

I’m a father of three young kids and if you’re like me, you also want to teach your kids the Bible. I can’t think of many things more important for them than regular exposure to the living Word of God. If you’re a Christian parent of young children, I assume you share the same conviction: Your kids need to hear from God, and you long for them to listen carefully to his good Word.

But it’s hard. Life is busy, kids are lively and reading the Bible often struggles to compete with the Disney channel, Legos and the newest phone app.

Here are six tips my wife and I have found helpful in our rhythm of Bible reading with our young kids (currently 6, 5 and 3).

1. Pick a regular time and place for Bible reading. 

In general, children tend to love a routine—a regular, anticipated time with Mom and/or Dad associated with a particular activity. Sporadic and random Bible reading may not engage your children in the same way a regular, planned, prioritized “special” time will.

In our home, we’ve chosen the chunk of time before bed for Bible reading. Our two older children know that, in the 15 to 20 minutes before bed, we’re going to gather in their room to read a Bible story, discuss it together and pray. They’ve come to look forward to it, and it’s become as regular and natural a process as brushing their teeth. It may even help them sleep better, as many bedtime routines seem to.

2. Read short chunks. 

Some of us will have to guard against being overly ambitious in the beginning. Since we believe in the power of God’s Word, we want our children exposed to as much of it as possible. So we read two full chapters from Genesis each night. Needless to say, a 5-year-old’s eyes will probably start to glaze over.

I encourage you to pick manageable passages, chosen based on thoughtful criteria. You may decide to begin in Genesis, and move through the Bible sequentially. The key is to not rush it, and to think ahead of time about the right “chunks” for each day.

3. Stop to explain and gauge comprehension.

Even if the passage for the day is only one chapter, that can be a lot for a young child to absorb if read all at once. It’s incredibly important to stop often along the way, explain things, ask questions to gauge comprehension, and ensure your kids are following along and grasping what the passage is saying.

4. Think of age-appropriate questions for discussion.

This aspect has become my children’s favorite part of our nightly time together in God’s Word. I’ve begun thinking of a few basic questions for each of them that will help them do three things with the passage we’ve read: (1) solidify their comprehension of the passage, (2) connect it to the Bible’s overall story, and (3) apply it to their lives.

When you ask simple questions, you’re doing much more than “quizzing” them to ensure they were paying attention. You are actually leading them, interactively, in a time of interpreting and applying God’s Word. And you are preparing them to engage the Scriptures directly on their own in the years to come.

5. Connect each passage to Jesus.

Jesus makes an amazing—even shocking—statement to the Pharisees in John 5: “You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life. But it is they that bear witness about me.” He is saying, in no uncertain terms, that the Scriptures are centered around him—his incarnation, his life, his teaching, his death, his resurrection, his return.

What does this mean for daily Bible reading with our kids? It means if we’re trying to help them understand any part of the biblical storyline, we must give them a sense of how that part connects to the major character—and great climax—of that big story.

6. Let Bible reading lead to prayer.

Listening to kids who are learning to pray can be humorous. If yours are anything like mine, their prayers can be hilarious in their simplicity and self-focus. God has heard prayers in our home for dogs, movies, imaginary people and, of course, coveted toys.

If we’re honest, though, our children’s prayers often are really just “kid versions” of our own. We can easily resort to praying only for our needs and wants, rather than spending time praising and adoring God, and asking for his Spirit’s work in the lives of others. One way to grow in our prayer lives, then, is to intentionally tether our prayers to our reading. We can help our kids “talk back” to God daily, based on the ways he’s speaking to them through the Scriptures.

Parents, press on. Daily, prayer-fueled exposure to the Word of God is the best gift we can ever give our kids.

This article originally appeared here.

Why Using “I, Me, Myself” Pronouns in Worship Is Biblical

By
Phil Christensen
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thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

I was trying to get my guitar back into its stand when a fellow named Pastor Ron approached me anxiously.

“Phil,” he was saying, “I can finally put it into words.”

I looked at him blankly.

“I can explain it now,” he continued. “The problem I have with contemporary worship. I figured it out while you were playing.”

As a worship leader, this isn’t the response I generally hope for.

I wasn’t surprised, though. This was a pastor’s retreat, and some of these men were hostile toward new music. I’d accepted an invitation to lead their worship in hopes of providing them a positive experience; our little team had woven several favorite old hymns and a few well-known worship songs into what I thought was a very nice tapestry of praise.

Apparently, it hadn’t worked for Pastor Ron.

The clipboard in his left hand had tally marks next to the words: “I,” “my,” “me” and “mine.”

“I couldn’t believe the sheer number of personal pronouns in those songs,” he explained, “so I started counting them. One chorus alone of that Vineyard thing used the word ‘I’ six times!”

“OK,” I responded slowly, “let me get this straight: During worship, you were sitting with a clipboard counting personal pronouns.”

“That’s right,” he said. “It’s evidence that you’ve embraced a man-centered Gospel. Our ministries need to return to the God-centered truths of the great hymns.”

Ron was a well-trained, spiritual guy, and I was familiar with his ministry. A bi-vocational pastor, he worked hard to support his church, but it was dying a little more each week. I desperately desired to see that little dry place become a fountain of Living Water.

Behind all the bluster, he did, too.

I was looking at Pastor Ron, but inside I was looking to Jesus. I prayed quickly, and it went something like this: “Lord—please fill my mouth with wisdom. Give me the answer that will touch Pastor Ron’s heart.”

In faith, I exhaled and started moving my lips.

“Ron, you’re right,” I heard myself say calmly. “Today’s praise song writers have picked up some really bad habits.”

I had his attention, but both of us were wondering where I was going with this.

“To be fair, though,” I went on, “today’s psalmists have picked up those bad habits from the only biblical role model they have. King David had to write his songs without the help of our good theologians.”

It was Pastor Ron’s turn to look bewildered and I plowed ahead.

“Take Psalm 18, for example,” I continued. Reciting that beautiful passage from a submerged memory, I emphasized the appropriate words:

I love You, O LORD, my strength.

The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,

My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge;

My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised,

And I am saved from my enemies.

“In only three verses, David uses 14 personal pronouns,” I said. “As long as song writers keep depending on biblical role models, they’ll continue to make the same kinds of mistakes.”

I had nothing more to say, and the two of us stood over my guitar in an awkward silence that seemed to go on for about a week.

Pastor Ron finally broke the hush.

“That’s a pretty good answer,” he said simply, and the silence returned as we both recognized God’s presence in the moment. As it turned out, Ron and I went on to become friends; he supported renewal and encouraged me in many ways.

It’s humbling when the Glorious, Almighty God uses us to speak truth to each other.

That day, though, I drove home in wonder, pondering a mystery: God allows—actually calls—us to attach our personal pronouns to His greatness. It doesn’t diminish His glory one little bit when I declare Him as my strength, my rock, my fortress, my deliverer, my God…

…and the One in whom I take refuge.

In fact, I’ve come to believe that’s when He’s most glorified.

This article originally appeared here.

How to Make Teenagers Care About Their Faith

By
Andy Blanks
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thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

We were wrapping up the Q&A session at the end of a workshop I lead on how some of the main cultural trends impact teenagers’ spiritual growth. There were about a hundred youth workers in the room and the questions throughout the workshop had been excellent. This was a sharp group of folks. As the session began to wrap up, an older gentleman raised his hand and asked a question about teens and faith.

“In your opinion, how do we make teenagers care about their faith?”

Well, then.

Teens and Faith

The question struck me as significant. I chuckled a bit when the man asked it. At first-blush, it was agonizingly misguided. How do we make teenagers care? Part of me wanted to say that I’m not sure I want to be in the business of making anyone care about anything. When it comes to caring, I’d prefer that people want to care!

And yet, in other ways, this question about teens and faith may very well be THE question. I imagine his question was born out of a history of investing himself in the spiritual growth of students. There was a good chance that he had watched over the years as some students did indeed come to care about their faith, thriving as a result. I can also imagine he has watched with frustration, and maybe sadness, as other teenagers failed to embrace the importance of their faith.

And so, I interpreted his question like this: “What can we do, as youth workers, to lead teenagers to understand that their faith, their identity as Christ-followers, is of primary importance?”

Truth be told, it started a lively discussion in the room, one that had to be cut short because we simply ran out of time. But I thought about his question, and the response it created in the room, for a few days afterward. While I don’t know that I’m smart enough to come up with a comprehensive, bullet-proof answer, I did think of a few essential principles that need to be in place for teenagers to see their faith as important.

Their parents must view faith as important.

One of the major takeaways from the National Study on Youth and Religion was that parents are the key influencers of their children’s faith. In her book Almost Christian, Dr. Kenda Dean showed that teenagers more or less imitate their parents’ faith. If their parents have a weak faith, this is the brand of faith most likely to be modeled by teenagers. If parents view faith as important, it is likely that their teenagers will as well. Of course, we know that teenagers who don’t have parents who are Christ-followers can still live active faith lives. But having faith viewed as important in the home is vital for the transference of a faith that is valued.

They must know God and be invested in knowing Him more.

I tell our students this all the time: We can’t follow someone we don’t know. For faith to be important, teenagers have to understand their identity as Christ-followers as something beyond mere morality, or what some folks call “cultural Christianity.” They can’t see “Christian” as just another label applied in describing them. Faith that matters is faith that flows out of a close proximity to Christ. Reading the Bible. Actively praying. Speaking and doing the Gospel. These are actions that both precipitate and perpetuate a faith that is valued.

They must grasp the enormity of our rebellion and the truth about lostness.

In our culture, this is growing more tricky. In a world that doesn’t see God’s character or His Word as standards, our sinfulness (defined as any deviation from these standards) is becoming a concept that is more difficult to grasp. And yet, for their faith to matter, I think teenagers have to come to grips with what sin is and what it does to the relationship between God and people. And they have to care about a world separated from God as a result of its sin. If we can help in leading students to see beyond a myopic, narrowly focused view of their worlds, we can begin to show them how important faith truly is.

Certainly there are more aspects of helping our students live a faith that matters. But these were three essentials I think are in place in the lives of those teenagers whom I know care about their faith.

How would you answer the question about teens and faith?

What concepts do you think are vital to students caring about their faith?

(This article originally appeared on the site Youth Ministry Roundtable.)

Ten Myths Pastors Believe About Prayer (Part 2)

By
Daniel Henderson
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thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

In a follow up from Part 1, Daniel Henderson offers five more myths about leading in prayer and how to faithfully combat these natural errors.

Myth #6: Because it is prayer, my methods will always be effective.

Some may assume that a desire to produce a prayer-oriented church means that anything done to pursue this goal will work. Any kind of prayer will work, some think, since it is prayer the church is trying to improve. Just because you have your eyes on the finish line does not mean that anything you do will get you there. Like Jesus pointed out with the pagans, making repetitious phrases in a pious fashion will not achieve much of anything. Likewise, as a pastor, you need to make sure your methods in desiring to cultivate a praying church are realistic and sound.

I really believe in learning how to lead biblically-balanced prayer meetings. What I mean by “biblically-balanced” is that everyone present understands the concepts of prayer found in Scripture. An example of a prayer meeting that is not biblically-balanced is if the pastor says something like, “Let’s all just pray as we feel led.” This is a scary concept. The pastor assumes everyone even understands the leadership of the Spirit, and that they will indeed be led by him instead of their heartburn or their financial crisis.

I’ve heard people say, “My theory when I go to prayer meetings is to get my issues on the table before anybody else prays because if I don’t hurry up, I won’t get a word in edgewise.” What is prayer, a competition among the churchgoers to get their voice heard? People simply want to have time to talk because everybody likes to talk.

Conversely, the best prayer meetings are the ones that start in the Word of God. Every Sunday morning I lead a prayer meeting at 6:15 a.m. While this is very early, I feel this works for everyone. We just go through the Psalms in order one at a time. Then I ask a simple question: What does this Psalm tell you about God and his character? We do not get into hypothetical or technical matters; we simply worship God based on what the Psalm says. For the next fifteen minutes, we do not ask God anything. We just give him what he is worthy of receiving: attention and praise.

There is a fourfold pattern of prayer based on the Lord’s Prayer I like to use: upward, downward, inward, and outward. … Finally, there is the outward focus of readiness for the battle ahead, paralleled by the conclusion of the Lord’s Prayer: “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil…”

There are various places for many types of prayer in the church. Sometimes requests are needed to bring everyone up to speed. Small groups can work, and so can everyone at once. Sometimes I advise everyone to pray aloud at the same time, which is quite interesting to witness.

Continue

Beyond Celebrity Pastors: Why Your Leadership Influence Matters Now

By
Eugene Cho
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thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

How do you define a successful church?

How do we measure success as a pastor?

I’ve come to realize that part of my calling as a pastor and leader is to be an encouragement to other pastors—but especially to those that don’t “measure up” to how we in the church subculture often directly or indirectly elevate stories of successful pastors—a.k.a. ‘celebrity pastors.’

This post isn’t a criticism of celebrity pastors. Hardly at all. Instead, it’s a post to accentuate the importance of all those who serve and lead in the church—but especially those pastors you’ll never hear of, those that are not part of the preaching circuit, those that don’t have publishing deals, etc.

I am not a successful pastor. I don’t pastor a megachurch or a large church. I don’t facilitate astronomical budgets, earn a huge salary, travel with huge entourages, fly on private jets and have thousands upon thousands of sermon subscribers.


But nevertheless, I have influence.
We all do.

I’m simply trying to be faithful to the things, to the people, to the city, to the convictions and to the Kingdom work that God has placed before me.

I want to be faithful.

That is all, and that in itself is so important.

Our church recently hosted our Annual Meeting where I shared my Lead Pastor Report. In addition, we published our Annual Report, shared some major changes and possibilities, and also shared and explained all of our financial reports. While there are mentions of numbers, budgets and such, what I was most encouraged by was our pursuit to be faithful to the things that God has placed upon the hearts of our church.

I invite you to take a few minutes to read through our Annual Report. I share it in hopes that it might encourage some of you. My intent isn’t to be boastful but rather to convey a sense of deep profound joy in knowing that God is working amongst our church—even our little church.

Why is this important?

Well, perhaps, it’s because some of us might struggle with pastor envy—or more appropriately—celebrity pastor envy. Let’s be honest: We’re often comparing sizes. Yes, I just went there.

But we do. Pastors and leaders are no different, and for many of us, we simply don’t measure up. Don’t be obsessed with measuring up to measurements. Measure up to faithfulness.

You matter. Your leadership matters. Your influence matters. Your church matters.

While you and I will never make any list of “the most influential” or “the fastest growing” or “the largest” or “the baddest” or “the whatever”…

We still matter. Our leadership and ministry matters. Let’s be faithful.

Speaking of success, many of us have love affairs with “success,” which is why we can so easily fall susceptible to a spiral of insecurity.

If we’re honest—no matter who we are and whatever discipline of work we’re involved with—we have some perception of success. That in itself isn’t bad, but what if our perception of success becomes like a love affair? An obsession of value and self-worth?

That would be dangerous. Borderline idolatrous.

When we’re immature

…when our rootedness is not in the Gospel of Christ, then it leads us into dangerous and lonely places—where we find ourselves constantly comparing or seeking the approval and affirmation of others or via:

  • budgets
  • attendance
  • size
  • buildings
  • # of followers, readers, etc.

Trust me… When our sense of calling and security is guided by such things, they will never satisfy you.

It’s never enough. Never.
You want more…

because your soul is satisfied by lists, praise, adoration and, ultimately, a worldly sense of success.

Hear this well:

You don’t have to be “the most influential” in the nation. Just seek to be the most influential and loving pastor and leader to the church you’re called to. That will not likely get you on any special lists, but you’ll serve your people well. You’ll be faithful to your flock and calling.

Metrics have their place. But don’t get lorded over by numbers and metrics. Numbers don’t guide us. Rather, the Holy Spirit is our guide. Be faithful.

I think Mother Theresa said it so well:

“God does not call us to be successful, but God calls us to be faithful.”

Ten Biblical Truths a Lot of God’s People Don’t Really Believe

By
Joe McKeever
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thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

From the beginning, the Lord’s people talk a better game than we live.

So many biblical truths look good on paper and sound great when we’re spouting them. And yet, judging by the way we live, the Lord’s people probably do not believe the following…

One. God sends the pastor to the church. 

Churches survey their congregation to find the kind of pastor everyone wants in the next guy. People lobby for a candidate they like and rally against one they don’t. And they vote on the recommendation of their committee. And after he arrives, when some turn against him, they send him on his way.

Do we really believe God sends pastors to churches? They are God’s undershepherds (see I Peter 5:1-4) and appointed by the Holy Spirit as overseers of the church (Acts 20:28).

Two. God hears our prayers, cares for our needs and answers our prayers.

In the typical congregation, what percentage of the people are serious about their prayer life?

If we believed that God hears, cares, and answers, we would be praying over every detail of our lives. “Pray without ceasing” (I Thessalonians 5:17) would define our very existence.

Three. It is more blessed to give than to receive.

God wants His people to be givers, generous in every area of life. As a member of the church, He wants us to be sacrificial givers (see I Corinthians 8:1ff).

Think how hard it is to get God’s people to turn loose of the almighty dollar. I know pastors who no longer preach on giving because they cannot take the criticism (Acts 20:35, Luke 6:38, and Matthew 6:19-20).

Four. We will stand before the Lord and give account of all we have done.

If we believed that, imagine how differently we would live. A lot of church leaders would deal with their pastors a lot more carefully than they do now. The tyrants who rule their churches clearly do not know, believe or care that they will be brought into judgement for their actions (see Matthew 12:36, Romans 14:12 and I Peter 4:5.)

Five. God’s people are to obey their leaders.

The very idea, I can hear some saying. Even if they know Hebrews 13:17, they conveniently ignore it. They do so to their own detriment.

The fact is our members obey their leaders so long as they agree with them. But let the leader ask of them something they don’t want to do, and they bail out.

Six. Pastors will give account to the Lord for their members.

That’s Hebrews 13:17 also. If pastors genuinely believed they would be called to account for every member, they would do a lot of things differently. They would work at knowing each person, would be monitoring the spiritual development of each member, and planning ways to grow disciples and put them to work. They would develop accountability methodologies, mentoring programs and such. And I guarantee you, most would be hoping for smaller congregations.

Seven. Whoever would be great, let him be the servant.

Jesus said a ton of things about service, including, “I am among you as One who serves.” He said the path to greatness is through service. And He said it’s the way of the unsaved world to want to dominate people and lord it over them. And yet, only a tiny fraction of His people believe that. We still want to be elected to leadership positions without having to do the hard work of serving. And when we do elect people to serve—we call them deacons—in most cases, they quickly grow bored serving and want to rule and start giving the pastors headaches (see Luke 22:24ff).

Eight. Turn the other cheek. Go the second mile. And unrealistic stuff like that.

Jesus didn’t hesitate to lay down rules that (ahem) real-world people scoff at. Such as turning the other cheek when someone hits you, giving them your shirt when they steal your coat, loving your enemies. That’s all found in Luke 6:27ff and several other places.

That’s for the super spiritual, the typical church member insists. And since I could never be super spiritual, I’m going to retaliate when someone does me wrong. In so doing, our role model becomes more Clint Eastwood (“Go ahead; make my day!”) than the Man of Galilee (“Father, forgive them; they know not what they do”).

Nine. Rather than taking one another to court, God’s people should endure wrong.

It says it right there in I Corinthians 6:7. “But I have my rights,” insists the church member. Clearly, the honor of Christ and the glory of God matter far less than getting even with someone who has done us wrong.

Ten. Worship is about God, about bringing ourselves and our offerings to Him, and not about us.

The deacon prays before the sermon, “Lord, help us get something out of this service today.” After church, people heading to the parking lot remark on whether they “got anything out of that.” One church member was heard to say, “A 20 minute sermon? For that, I got dressed up and drove 15 miles?”

Our people seem not to have a clue that worship is about the Lord and not them. They actually do believe that it’s to meet their needs, to give them warm feelings inside, and to prepare them for the week ahead. Yet, there is not a single word in Scripture to indicate this.

Want a text? Try the entire 150 Psalms for starters. But start with Psalm 96:8, “Ascribe to the Lord the glory of His name; bring an offering and come into His court.”

The point being…

We have so far to go to become Christlike, spiritual, scriptural and mature.

The person Christ is making us into is light years beyond the carnal, immature, self-centered persons we are at this moment.

The first step toward becoming what God wants us to be is acknowledging how far short we fall. I fear we are more like the Pharisee of Luke 18:9-14 whose prayer was thanking the Lord for all the achievements he had accomplished, when we should pray like the publican who said, “God, be merciful to me the sinner.”

Start there. Lord, your ways are not mine, and I say that to my shame. As the heavens are higher than the earth, your ways are beyond mine (Isaiah 55).

And then, “Help me, Lord. Show me. Search me and try me” (Psalm 139).

This article originally appeared here.

The Current American Tension and 4 Opportunities for the Church

By
Carey Nieuwhof
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thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

You don’t need to be anything more than a casual observer of American (and Western) culture to know that something significant is happening.

Charlottesville, Ferguson, Baltimore and a host of other cities that have seen events that symbolize the problems this generation is struggling with will, sadly, likely give way to a list of more cities and events yet to come. Terror attacks in North America and a host of global cities seem to happen weekly. In addition, the current political division is as bad as it’s been in a long time.

The violence, destruction and tension have become so normal that we no longer even post the “Pray For [Insert City Here]” graphics that used to earnestly spring up on social media whenever a new crisis emerged. There are just too many, and we’ve become too numb.

Add some unbelievable political tension into the mix, and most of us don’t know how to respond. Even as someone who lives north of the U.S. border, has a great affection for the U.S. and has many friends in America, we all feel the tension to one extent or another and are living through it.

No church in Canada or anywhere in the West can pretend we’re not living in an age of heightened tension.

So how do we respond to the situation we’re in? While some in our culture believe the church is part of the problem, I believe it’s key to the solution.

Jesus is the love we keep missing as human beings. He is who we all really long for, and in Christ, we find our unity.

So how does the church better function as part of the solution rather than as part of the problem?

Here are four ways Christians and the church can bring hope to the increasingly fragile culture around us.

1. Be a Confessor in a Culture of Blame

It’s so easy to point the finger at someone else. This is true in human relationships (think about your marriage), but it’s also true culturally.

So when any kind of tension arises, ask yourself what you own before asking anyone else what they own.

Violence begins in our hearts before it ever hits the street. A nation and the world become divided because our hearts are divided.

Too often Christians focus on what we can’t change and ignore what we can.

All of this is what confession is designed to root out.

Imagine what would happen if Christians owned the racism, sexism and other isms that live in our hearts. Imagine what might happen if we confessed that we have not adequately loved people who are different than us.

Maybe true prayers of confession are rare in church  (they are usually either rote or non-existent) because they’re rare in leaders.

It’s so easy to believe you’re right and everyone else is wrong. There’s a sense in which that’s normal. I hope you believe you’re right about what matters most, otherwise, why do you hold your conviction?

But…you are not always right. And you don’t hold a monopoly on truth. Your perspective and mine are flawed. None of us loves perfectly or deeply enough.

When you confess that you’re part of the problem, the solution becomes clearer. You will never address the wrong you don’t confess.

2. Foster Conversation in a Culture That Shouts

Thanks to social media, everybody has a platform. A ridiculous amount of people use theirs to shout rather than to listen.

Just check your feed at any given moment, and it’s likely crammed with everything from people WHO SPEAK IN ALL CAPS to links denouncing the other side (whoever that other side is) to proclaiming how they’ve figured out what all the dumb people haven’t.

This translates into real life too. Conversations seem to be devolving into an exchange of monologues between two people who don’t seem terribly interested in each other.

People appear to be talking at each other as much as they’re talking with each other. I’ll share my opinions and then you can share your opinions. That’s not conversation.

You know what’s missing in the current culture?

Well, a bunch of things.

Listening

Thoughtfulness

Humility

Kindness

Openness

Genuine, authentic conversation features all of those elements and more.

When was the last time you had a genuine conversation with someone who doesn’t share your values? By that, I mean an exchange where you listened as much as you spoke? Tried to understand more than you tried to be understood? Cared about them as much as you ever cared about your point of view?

That’s what conversation is. And conversation is an endangered species in our current culture.

Love listens. So should Christians.

Continue

Following Jesus Is a Different Kind of Safe

By
Melissa Edgington
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thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

Dear Adelade, Sawyer and Emerald,

The other day I received an email from some company or other, asking me to help promote a new children’s book. The book is about Jesus, whom I love. It is meant to teach children that Jesus is their friend and that He will always watch over them and keep them safe.

But, I couldn’t do it.

I couldn’t help spread a message to kids and their parents that as long as we follow Jesus we will not be put in dangerous situations. That bad things won’t happen to us. I can’t even pretend at bedtime, when you get philosophical in your pjs and your fresh-from-the-bath wet hair, that I am certain we will all live to be ripe old ages. Or that nothing like sickness or poverty or mental illness or emotional pain will ever touch us. I can’t lie to you with any kind of believe-ability about the kinds of horrors that are in our world, even about what you could see on the Internet in five minutes that could change the whole trajectory of your life. There are life-altering moments going on all over this world as I write this. Devastation is real and it’s powerful and it’s prevalent in this dark place.

Christians are not immune to the horrors, kids. We are not always safe in a world of natural disasters and man-crafted disasters and the heartache that comes from them. Jesus never promised us that He would make sure that physical pain and suffering and death wouldn’t plague us while we are on this earth. In fact, He promised the exact opposite. “In this world you will have trouble,” He said plainly to His disciples. And, scripture and tradition tell us that eventually all but John would go on to die for their belief in Him, one by one—stoned, beheaded, speared, crucified.

You have been in the hospitals. In the funeral homes. You have watched grieving families wail together. You have seen the nursing homes, filled with the sick and the frail, those bent by old age, those who don’t ever seem to smile anymore, staring blankly at some invisible mark on the floor. You have seen Christian people suffer. And, you know that heartbreak comes to each of us in different ways at different times. There is no guarantee against pain and catastrophe.

But, you don’t have to despair, little ones. When Jesus told His followers that they would have trouble in this world, He also told them this: “But, take heart. For I have overcome the world.”

Following Jesus is a different kind of safe.

It is knowing that we don’t have to fear people or illnesses or death. It is knowing that even when we are suffering, when we are dying, when we’re in unreal pain, when we’re struggling just to get up in the morning and put one foot in front of the other, we are still in His hand. It is realizing that nothing in this wide world can separate us from the love of Christ. It is seeing first-hand that His way is the way that protects our hearts the best. And, it is knowing that even when our hearts get shattered into a million pieces, when all is lost and there is no hope in anything that any human being can offer us, Christ is enough. And, He is forever. And He is in control.

When it hurts, we can trust Him. When a dark cloud seems to be settling over us, we can believe in His goodness. When we are standing next to a precious one’s grave, we can take comfort in His purposes. When we are facing certain death, we can know a deep peace that is a mystery to those who don’t know Him.

You may one day be staring down some terrifying circumstance. You will face trouble in this life. Your bodies are frail, and life is short. But, you are not bound by these bodies.

There are plenty of ways to die. But, there is only one way to live.

You see, kids, knowing Jesus is the only safety there is. He is the only way. The only truth. The only life. He will never leave you or forget you or decide He doesn’t want you. And, your precious, unique, fearfully and wonderfully made selves—your souls—can never be harmed while you are in His care. And, you are always, always in His care.

So, I guess the writer of the children’s book wasn’t completely wrong when she said that Jesus will always watch over you and keep you safe. But, it’s a different kind of safe. And, it’s the only kind that really matters to eternity.

I pray you live long and joyful lives on this earth and that you love Jesus more and know Him more with every passing year. But, when you face trouble, when you are standing at the foot of a mountain that makes you weak in the knees, when you are trembling from the inside out, remember that no matter what happens in this life, you are completely safe in the hand of Jesus Christ. Live with peace and joy. Take heart. He has overcome the world.

I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. John 16:33

Neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:39

My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. John 10:27-28

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6

This article originally appeared here.

24 Preaching Secrets from 5 of the Best Preachers in North America

By
Christine Yount Jones
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thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

If you’re a church pastor, you want the preaching secrets from experts because the art of preaching is something you work to perfect each week. And as with any art, you can always learn from master artists—those who’ve worked for years to preach life-changing and God-honoring sermons.

In this article, churchleaders.com pulled together some of the best preaching secrets from Bill Hybels, Derwin Gray, Carey Neiuwhof, Andy Stanley and Wayne Cordeiro.

Preaching Secrets from Bill Hybels

Bill Hybels is founder and senior pastor of Willow Creek Community Church with more than 25,000 in attendance. In his article “6 Surefire Ways to Improve Your Preaching,” Hybels gives these six tips for preaching.

Listen to great preaching and teaching.

Most of us have two or three communicators who really inspire us…instead of listening to them casually, listen to them with your work gloves on.

Understand the dynamic of urgency.

If preaching is done right, you live with a text or topic for a week and it builds steam in your spirit. You’re thinking about it, talking to people about it and asking that God will anoint it. So by the time you’re ready to preach, this subject is the most urgent item in your spirit. If you’ve prepared properly, there is an urgency coming out of you that’s not manufactured. That becomes compelling communication.

Strive for clarity.

When I coach our teachers around here, I always ask them two questions. “What do you want them to know? What do you want them to do?” If they can’t answer those two questions immediately, I say, “You’re ill prepared. Don’t inflict that message on our people.”

Perspire during sermon preparation.

Most of our preaching would improve greatly if we would discipline ourselves to put one more hour into it. Many preachers don’t believe work enters into the equation of great preaching. But you don’t become good at anything unless you’ve paid the perspiration price. You’ve just got to pay it. And when you discover how much you have to pay for the acceptable quality level, then that price must become the “given” in your schedule.

Evaluate your preaching.

If I have developed at all as a communicator in the last 25 years, much of it comes from request evaluations after every single talk I give. Every time I give a message at Willow, I have half a dozen people who will evaluate it… What worked well? What needed to be improved?

Live in union with Jesus.

Live in such vital union with Jesus Christ that his power and his might flow through your preaching.

Preaching Secrets From Derwin L. Gray

Derwin L. Gray is a former professional football player in the NFL and the founding and lead Pastor of Transformation Church in South Carolina. In the article “I Prepare My Sermons by Dancing,” Gray reveals his six secrets to a perfectly choreographed sermon.

Pray before preaching.

When we pray before preaching we’re saying to Jesus, “I need a revelation of You and I need Your power for my life and the lives of the people I’m preaching to.”

Make your preaching Christo-centric.

If we don’t preach Christo-centrically, the hearer of the sermon might conclude that Jesus exists to help them fulfill their dreams, instead of being agents that co-labor with Him so His dream—the Kingdom of God—can become a life-giving reality here on earth. Or we become moralistic preachers.

Know the content of Scripture and the context of the culture.

It’s not enough to know the content of Scripture, we also need to know the people we’re preaching to and the culture they’re situated in. The gospel never, ever, ever changes, but the culture does. Therefore, we must be like an artist and paint a picture of Jesus and His redemptive work that hearers can see, feel and respond to.

Answer these three questions.

After I’ve done my exegetical, Christo-centric work, I ask myself three questions. Click here for Gray’s three questions.

Keep it simple.

Preachers, remember that less is more. Focus your sermons on one big idea or theme. At the end my sermons, I have what I call a “Soul-tattoo.” This is the one big idea that I want people to take home and do something with.

Let your sermon be an act of worship.

Finally, I pray that my preaching flows of out Jesus’ transformative work in my own life. I pray my preaching is an act of worship in response to His wonder-inspiring grace.

Ten Myths Pastors Believe About Prayer (Part 1)

By
Daniel Henderson
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In essence, myths are false beliefs. Myths range from a belief in the flatness of the earth to one’s insistence that he is a worthless human being. Over the centuries, various people have believed such lies, or myths, to their own embarrassment or even their own destruction.

The apostle Paul predicted that in the latter days people would turn aside from truth and believe in myths. This is why he urges in 2 Corinthians 10:5 that we bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.

All pastors need to make this the purpose of their minds, because they are not immune to myths, either. Unfortunately, in prayer ministry over the years I have found some false beliefs that exist among pastors about prayer and about prayer ministry. However, it is my hope that, in discussing these myths, we together can dispel some of them. If they can be dispelled, I believe significant progress can be made in the arena of prayer.

Myth #1: The people in my church know how to pray.

This is a particularly dangerous myth. This myth says that a pastor does not need to teach his people how to pray because the Holy Spirit does that. Some may even say prayer comes intuitively and does not really need to be learned or taught. The foundational thought is that a pastor’s time and resources would ultimately be better spent elsewhere, like in the teaching the Word.

But let us take this same line of thought with the ministry of the Word. A pastor can say that he does not need to teach his people the Word because the Holy Spirit teaches them. It is true that the Holy Spirit teaches the Word, but he uses the context of the church and pastoral leadership to do that. It is much the same with prayer. We learn to pray by praying with others together.

It is interesting to note that the only recorded instance in the Gospels of the disciples asking Jesus to teach them to do something was their request, “Lord, teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1, NKJV).

It is my opinion that most of the people in our churches really don’t know how to pray. They have not taken Jesus’ example seriously, and they have misinterpreted Scripture. Instead, many have turned prayer into an emotional vent, or a gossip session, or simply just telling God our laundry list of wants.

I also think that there are people sitting in our pews that are dying to know how to pray but with no one to show them how to pray by praying with them. I am fully convinced that the only way you learn to pray is by praying. The best way you learn to pray is by praying with others who have maybe prayed a little more than you have. Clearly there is a lot of learning that is to take place if effective prayer is to be the norm in our churches again. Fortunately, we can help each other in this goal because we’re always being mentored when we pray together.

Even if it were true that a pastor and his people already know how to pray, loads of statistics suggest that they simply don’t pray much at all. Research by Peter Wagner indicates that the average pastor in America spends less than thirty minutes a day in prayer. Other recent research from Denver Seminary professor Bruce Demarest puts this estimate at approximately seven minutes per day, with the average Christian spending five minutes per day in prayer. In addition, Jonathan Graff, editor of Pray Magazine, notes that, at best, 5 percent of churches have a significant mobilized prayer ministry. When was the last time you got together spontaneously with your Christian friends and just prayed?

Again, I think many pastors assume that their people already know how to pray and that teaching them to pray is superfluous. Prayer is just instinctive because everybody prays, they may say. Yes, everyone like a child to its parent knows how to cry out to God, but if you look at a biblical definition of what prayer is (fundamentally depending on God) and the way it ought to be impacting our lives, the fact of the matter is that the people of the church largely don’t know how to pray.

Paul himself said in Romans 8:26, “Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” This doesn’t mean the believer passively lets the Holy Spirit do everything for him. He must learn to pray himself, and the way to do that is from other believers. Of course, this verse uses all plural pronouns, which means this concept was conveyed to the Roman church en masse. Clearly, Jesus and Paul refute the notion that Christians know how to pray on their own.

Here’s an instance of how true prayer can change a church and community.  

Continue

No Revival Without Evangelism

By
Bob Bakke
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The preaching of the gospel was at the heart of the Great Awakenings. There can be evangelism without revival, but there is no true revival that does not result in evangelism. The reason for this is that revival results in both the reawakening of Christians who have grown cold and the awakening of dead souls (evangelism).

The Second Great Awakening in the United States is a prime example of how evangelism and revival happen simultaneously. It began among the Presbyterians in the eastern states, in the late 1700s and early 1800s. The traditions of the time included making a big deal about the taking of communion, which was typically celebrated once a year. But their special communion gatherings lasted three to five days!

Multiple churches would come together on a Friday to hear preparatory sermons that would last all day. Then on Saturday, there would be an examination of each congregant by the pastors. Every person would be asked, “What is your relationship with God like? Where are you going in your relationship with God? Tell me about the spiritual disciplines in your home. What Scriptures are you reading?” There would also be retesting of their knowledge of the catechism. Then, in the evening, there would be more preaching of the gospel, and strong appeals for people to be reconciled to God.

Assuming they passed these examinations, people were allowed to take communion on Sunday. So there were preparatory hurdles to cross to even get to the table of the Lord. After receiving communion on Sunday, Monday would be a day of thanking God for His great mercies, thanking Him for those who had communed at the table, and thanking Him for the beauty of the church.

Hundreds, sometimes thousands, would participate in these sacrament occasions. And this model became the ignition point of the Second Great Awakening, because it was here that the first revival fires broke out. The power of these revivals further encouraged the pattern of prolonged gathering for prayer, examining the soul, preaching the gospel, taking communion, great celebrations of grace, and seeking after God for a greater work of His Spirit.

During this period, another phenomenon was happening in America. People were leaving the East Coast in a great southern and westward expansion. For example, in the 10 years between 1790 and 1800, the state of Kentucky grew from 70,000 people to 220,000. But there were no churches or organized religion, and a state of chaos and lawlessness characterized the region.

But a minister named David Caldwell, a protégé of Jonathan Edwards and one who had been part of the Presbyterian sacraments in the east during the great moves of the Spirit there, set up a training center for preachers in the Carolinas called the Log College. He began mentoring 50 or 60 men a year, and he taught them about the outpourings of God’s Spirit.

These “Log College men” placed a great emphasis on the enthusiastic preaching of the gospel, and as they spread out to preach and plant churches, pockets of revival began breaking out throughout the greater Greensboro area. And then five men trained by David Caldwell, called the “Five Wild Men of the Cumberland,” began to exercise a powerful ministry in Tennessee, Kentucky and out on the western frontier. They planted churches and focused on evangelizing these areas.

Continue

5 Best TED Talks for Your Marriage

By
Corey Allan
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These are the best Ted Talks for your marriage.

In today’s world there are many resources that will help your marriage. I’m biased, but Simple Marriage and Sexy Marriage Radio are among the best. But there are also so many of the best TED talks worth your time.

In no particular order here are the five best Ted Talks for marriage:

Best Ted Talks #1: Yann Dall’Aglio’s “Love—you’re doing it wrong.”

Dall’Aglio, a French philosopher and author, says love is the desire of being desired. But in a world that often favors the self over others, how can people find the tenderness and connection they crave?

It may be easier than you think: “For a couple who is no longer sustained, supported by the constraints of tradition, I believe that self-mockery is one of the best means for the relationship to endure,” he says.

In this surprisingly convincing talk, Dall’Aglio explains how acknowledging our uselessness could be the key to sustaining healthy relationships. This TED Talk is in French, with English subtitles.

Best Ted Talks #2: Esther Perel’s “The secret to desire in a long-term relationship.”

Perel also conducts research around the world on how couples can cultivate long-term sexual relationships. She says in her TED Talk that sustaining desire in a committed relationship comes down to reconciling our need for security and our need for adventure into one relationship.

How do we do this? You have to watch to find out.

Best Ted Talks #3: Brené Brown’s “The power of vulnerability.”

Brown, a research professor at the University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work, studies how humans empathize, belong and love, and her approach to embracing vulnerability and loving whole-heartedly could fundamentally change the way you live, love, work and parent.

“When we work from a place, I believe, that says, ‘I’m enough,’ then we stop screaming and start listening, we’re kinder and gentler to the people around us, and we’re kinder and gentler to ourselves,” she says.

Continue

29 Mistakes Churches Make With Money

By
Tony Morgan
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To wrap up this series on churches and money, I recently connected with my team at The Unstuck Group to find out what they’ve observed with money mistakes. My plan was to write a “Top 10” list, but the hits kept coming.

Here are 29 mistakes we’ve found churches make with money:

  1. Budgeting on faith rather than past performance. Faith budgets usually lead to frustration when the giving doesn’t come in and budget cuts are the last resort. We’d much rather see a church budget based on previous giving trends.
  2. Taking on too much debt. We’ve seen churches take on debt as much as six times their annual giving. The mortgage payments left very little room for paying staff and expanding ministry. Any level of debt below two times annual giving is usually manageable. Any debt over three times annual giving raises a red flag.
  3. Teaching on money in single messages rather than in a series. We find that churches experience a sustained increase in giving when they teach a series of combined messages rather than teaching the same number of messages individually throughout the year.
  4. Not knowing the names of your top contributors. I’ll never understand why pastors are willing to acknowledge the people who contribute their time and talents, but they’re not willing to acknowledge those who contribute their treasure. You need to know and cultivate those relationships, too.
  5. Paying too many people too little money. We’ve seen time and time again that the churches that get this right are the ones who hire higher-capacity leaders who get more ministry done by building teams and raising up new leaders. With higher-capacity leaders, the church needs fewer staff. With fewer staff, those who are hired can be paid more.
  6. Living “paycheck to paycheck” without cash reserves. We encourage churches to have six to eight weeks in cash reserves. This helps during the ups and downs of a typical ministry cycle, especially during the common drop in summer attendance and giving. It also buys the church time if there’s a crisis, economic or otherwise, to make adjustments.
  7. Saving too much money. On the other hand, we’ve also seen churches hoard their money. We’ve seen churches with more than a year of cash sitting in the bank with no plans to invest it for Kingdom impact. What may feel like wise financial planning could actually be poor Kingdom stewardship of God’s resources.
  8. Never talking about money. You have to talk about money if you’re going to teach the truth of Scripture. Jesus taught about money. The Gospels are filled with references to topics related to money. If you avoid talking about money, then you’re avoiding a critical piece of what it means to become a fully devoted follower of Jesus.
  9. Not providing a next step beyond the weekend service. It’s a fallacy to think that everyone’s spiritual and life questions will be addressed in a Sunday sermon. In every area of spiritual growth, there needs to be a next step beyond the weekend for discipleship. In the area of finances, that next step may mean financial coaching, small groups dedicated to this topic or online resources to help people experience financial freedom.
  10. Making desperate pleas for money. Though never talking about money is a big mistake, only talking about money when you’re desperate is a bigger mistake. This is why it’s smarter to have an intentional, regular plan to teach on this topic and then to provide ongoing transparency to your leaders and your church.
  11. Not establishing healthy financial controls. Without controls, you might as well just hand the money that faithful people have contributed to the evil people who exist in this world. I’ve heard too many stories of churches that didn’t have appropriate internal controls in place, and then people inside the church ended up stealing from the ministry. Ask an accountant who audits churches to help you put some basic protections in place.
  12. Letting the budget drive the ministry strategy. The ministry strategy should, instead, drive the budget. This can’t happen unless the church has clarified its vision for the future and its strategy for seeing that vision accomplished. We recommend an annual planning retreat prior to the budget process to prioritize initiatives that will drive financial objectives.
  13. Not conducting background checks on people who handle money. We would never allow anyone who ministers to kids or students to serve without a background check, and we should never allow anyone to handle money without one either. (Remember, it’s listed here because we’ve seen it happen…on multiple occasions.)
  14. Abdicating responsibility for monitoring financial health. Senior pastors, we’re talking to you. You can’t delegate financial management to a person or a committee and think you’re off the hook. You are still the chief financial officer of the ministry. Ultimately, you are the person who needs to champion financial health if your church is going to experience ministry health.
  15. Allowing multiple options for designated giving. When this happens, people give to their favorite little pet projects, which opens up the possibility that core ministry areas of the church could end up underfunded. No one wants to give to the electric bill, but it’s pretty important that the lights come on Sunday morning in the sanctuary. Ideally, you’ll have one fund that will support all ministries of the church.
  16. Not making it easy to give electronically. Come on! It’s 2017! Most people don’t pay for anything with cash or checks today. You need to make it easy and convenient for people to contribute with credit cards using their mobile phones and through your website.
  17. Lack of a strategy to cultivate high-capacity contributors. You need to be intentional in these relationships so that your first conversation isn’t the one when you are asking for a significant contribution to a critical ministry initiative. I can assure you that your “competitors” for charitable donations have the strategy and the people specifically employed to develop relationships with the people who have the potential to give the most to your church.
  18. Not paying bills on time. You would think that a church would have integrity when it comes to paying bills on time. In our experience, though, it’s not uncommon for one in 10 churches we serve to be behind in their payments. Let’s pray it’s just a systems issue rather than a lack of follow through to a commitment made.
  19. Sharing the numbers without sharing the stories. I’m a numbers junkie, but I know most people are not. For normal people, numbers do not communicate vision. Stories, though, can be very powerful. They help people see how their financial contributions are directly impacting people’s lives. You can never tell too many stories.
  20. Not saying “thank you.” Again, this is typically a reflection of a broken system. I refuse to believe churches are ungrateful for the financial sacrifices that people are making. This is just a reminder that we need to make sure a “thank you” goes out, at a minimum, after the first time someone gives to the church or after someone makes a significant financial contribution.
  21. Monitoring giving by the week rather than monthly trends. People don’t generally get paid every week, so there’s always going to be ups and downs from week to week. Attendance patterns typically shift with the seasons, so there will be ups and downs from month to month. Instead, monitor giving in this period to the same period last year and the years before. Is it increasing, decreasing or plateaued? Monitor those trends.
  22. Failing to include generosity principles in the discipleship path. “Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be” (Matthew 6:21, NLT). If you want people to experience a heart change, you have to help them grow in their understanding of stewardship generosity. If they’re still wanting to control their money, God is not in control of their heart.
  23. Avoiding transparency. Celebrate with your church when God provides financial resources to accomplish the mission and vision. Inform your church when the financial resources aren’t keeping pace. It’s not necessary for the congregation to know how every nickel and dime is spent. That’s the job of an accountant or auditor. The church should have a general understanding, though, of how their financial contributions are being used.
  24. Letting the treasurer or finance committee control where money is spent. The treasurer or finance committee should only be responsible for systems and controls for managing money that facilitates ministry. They should not be the ultimate decision-makers on how money gets spent. That’s the responsibility of the senior pastor and the leadership team.
  25. Not establishing purchasing guidelines. Without purchasing guidelines, every purchasing decision has to rise to the top of the organization for final approval. Instead, establish guidelines so that purchases under a predetermined amount that are within the previously approved budget can be made as needed. The Texas Baptist General Convention has provided sample purchasing guidelines within this financial policies and procedures document.
  26. Not creating financial margin in the budget. If you only budget 90 percent of what you anticipate receiving, as an example, you will lack financial margin for unanticipated opportunities or emergencies that present themselves during the year. By the way, there will always be unanticipated expenditures. This is particularly important for the church that hasn’t been diligent in maintaining a healthy level of cash reserves.
  27. Allowing individual ministry areas to do fundraising. We once worked with a church that required every ministry area to raise funds for their entire annual budget. Every ministry team was competing to raise money from people inside and outside the church. As a result, very little ministry was actually happening. The better strategy is to encourage your church to give to one ministry fund and then develop one budget to support every ministry team.
  28. Letting big givers dictate vision and ministry strategy. I’ve lived this. It’s not easy. The biggest donor (by far) in the church left the church because he didn’t agree with the ministry philosophy of the church. In the end, you need to stay focused on the mission, vision and strategy God has called you to pursue. He builds the church, and he will provide the financial resources needed to see his church thrive.
  29. Failing to pursue a big vision. People don’t invest in small visions. And they certainly don’t invest in organizations that don’t have any vision. People won’t give to a budget either. They will invest in a big vision especially when that vision is focused on helping people experience a transformed life in Jesus Christ. Find that big vision. Cast it often. Then invite people to join you in seeing that vision become reality.

I covered a lot of ground in that list. For those of you who made it to the end, I hope this is an encouragement for you to continue to be wise stewards of the financial resources God provides to our churches. I’m grateful for God’s provision and I’m praying you continue to be blessed with the resources needed to accomplish his vision.

This article originally appeared here.

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