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What to Do When You Question Those in Leadership Over You

By
Pat Rowland
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thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

I wasn’t surprised by Lisa’s question, it’s a question I have heard many times. “Is working at the church as wonderful as it is attending here?” I’m a pastor, and all of my years in the workforce have been spent working in growing, healthy churches. I don’t know the “ins and outs” of corporate world or life in the marketplace, but I do know that working in a church isn’t always butterflies, unicorns and whistling while you work. There is more at stake in what we do than a healthy bottom line. Through the work of the Holy Spirit we are part of shaping eternity for men, women and every generation. As leaders, we pour more than our time and talents into this vital work. We give our hearts, because we are driven by compassion for the hurting and lost. And sometimes these passions, emotions and the value of our work can lead to conflict.

I’ve been fortunate to work for really great churches with great leaders, leaders to whom I have great respect and appreciation. However, I haven’t always agreed with them. The challenge for most leaders in the church is that we lead from the middle. Leading from the middle means we are not completely the vision-creators, rather we are the vision-carriers. When everyone on the team is on the same page it can seem like butterflies and unicorns. Hopefully, that is your situation. When there is conflict, a different viewpoint or when you, the vision-carrier, question the vision or the vision-creator…well, it’s more like falling into a pit of snakes and scorpions. What do you do if you’re in that pit? What do you do when you question those in leadership over you?

Respect the position and the person.

You may not agree with them, but you don’t want to disagree with God. He has put him/her in the position of leadership. God has called them to lead the organization and has given them a vision for that ministry. Your role as a staff member is to serve that vision and leader. This isn’t leader worship, it’s respecting the person God has called into that position while honoring God with our worship. We don’t understand the weight and challenges our leader carries, but we can respect them.

There could be a chance God is calling you out of that ministry (we’ll talk about that later). If so, always value the relationship. Remember what is at stake, and no conflict is worth ending a relationship even if this difference leads to you moving on from the organization. While respecting your leader, focus on what only you have been asked to lead.

Focus on areas of influence over areas of concern.

I’m not sure where I first heard this idea. I can’t claim it as my original thought, but it has helped me over the years lead from the middle. As a leader that wants to be involved with and cares about the bigger picture of our organization, I can see things that really do concern me. Even if I don’t see them, there is always someone who wants to point them out. The challenge comes when they are in the areas of the organization that I have no influence over, much less authority. Honestly, there isn’t much I can do about those, so applying any level of energy to them takes energy from my direct responsibilities. Leading well means you focus on the areas you have been directed to lead. Once you’ve led well you can leverage your influence for those areas of concern.

Speak from a place of humility.

Leveraging your influence needs to begin with you speaking from a place of humility. Leaders want to be able to speak from a place of power and influence, but in today’s culture we need to speak first from a place of humility if we ever hope to have influence. Speaking from a place of humility means I seek to understand by asking questions and become a student of the leadership and organization. Speaking from a place of humility means I’m more concerned about your interests than my own (Philippians 2:3-4). Speaking from a place of humility means I seek to serve those God has placed me under and hope that my area of influence can expand. If I’m completely transparent, this is the hardest step for me, but it has taught me the most about leading well. Speaking from a place of humility means I’m willing to admit my failures and change how I respond in the future.

Make a perceptual shift.

This past year, I made a transition from family ministry pastor to executive pastor. Originally, I thought I had a pretty good idea of how our organization operated and roles of other ministries. The last 12 months have been a constant perceptual shift moving from having one slice of the pie that I oversaw to now having to look at the whole pie.

Artist Michael Murphy is known for creating three-dimensional art that at one angle looks as clear as can be. Move to a different angle and none of it makes sense or you see a completely different image. While you might be looking at one particular area, your leader has a much wider view. While speaking from a place of humility, seek to understand how your leader is seeing things. You might possibly be looking at the same image, just from the wrong angle. Maybe you aren’t looking at the same image at all, if so then and only then I would suggest you make a transition.

If necessary, transition.

God has placed your leader in his/her position. Your role is to serve and support his/her vision. If that no longer matches, then in my opinion you need to move on to what God has for you next. Six years ago I found myself in that place. I was serving at a really great church where I loved and respected the leaders. However, a perceptual shift revealed we were seeing things differently. It wasn’t bad, it was just a shift was taking place inside the organization.

Typing these words now makes it sound so simple. There was nothing easy or simple about it. It was hard, humiliating and complex. I didn’t have these steps when I walked through it, but looking back it was a process I attempted to follow. Fast forward six years and I can say it has all worked out well. God knew what He was doing and He used that experience to shape me to be a better leader.

God may not be moving you on…He might be calling you to change your view, respect your leader, refocus on your calling or He may be teaching you a lesson in humility. Moving on can sometimes be the easier answer, but that may not be the right answer. I’m more grateful for the times I didn’t move and the lessons that have taught me to be a better leader.  

This article originally appeared here.

Who Is Setting Your Youth Ministry Standard? Don’t Limit Yourself

By
Todd Jones
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thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

Many people allow their ministry to be limited by the standards set for them and they may not even know it’s happening. We all have students with huge potential who continue to hang out with the wrong crowd and are held back. The same thing happens when it comes to how we do ministry.

We allow our surroundings to set the standard for how we do ministry. Maybe the church you are in has very limited resources, is comfortable with mediocrity, and if you are honest, really doesn’t do ministry well at all. Maybe it is the town you live in. You have a passion to do more, but the status quo for ministry in your town says lazy efforts are enough and you inadvertently slip into running your ministry with the same subpar standards. Maybe it’s the network of other youth workers you meet with. They all do ministry at the same level and without even noticing, you’ve adopted their low standards as your own benchmark for success.

Many times we forget who sets the standard and we compare our efforts in ministry to the standards of those around us. We are limited by following the wrong standard.

There is only one standard that matters and it pushes us to excel.

The only standard that matters is God’s standard. When we refocus on the fact that He is the one we are doing ministry for, it should change the way we do ministry. His standard pushes us toward excellence. Jesus’ focus was always about reaching lost people and ours should be as well. God’s standard is one that is loving and welcoming to all, not just focused on the few that we deem “worthy.” When too often we get stuck forgetting about what He wants and doing ministry according to another standard.

Don’t get caught looking at the size of your church and excusing yourself for not reaching students, or looking at the quality of ministry in your town or network and being satisfied with the quality of your ministry. No matter where you live or what the culture of your city is, there are students who need Jesus and it is your job to reach them. If your ministry is not reaching out and pushing for more, somewhere along the line you settled for the low standard around you. Please don’t get me wrong, it is not about the numbers and I am not saying small youth groups can’t be healthy, but growth is the key. If you are not pushing for more and living according to the standard that truly matters, God’s standard, something isn’t right.

We must work hard to live up to His standard

Are you doing what God called you into ministry to do? Many times the standard around us dictates how hard we are willing to work and push. Ministry is hard work, but too often those in ministry take advantage of their church’s culture and do not put in the hard work they should. It is important and valuable to connect with others in ministry, but we must not allow other people’s “coasting” attitude to become an excuse for not doing what we’ve been called to do.

Love people, respect people, but don’t become other people. Be who God has called you to be. God has gifted you uniquely for a purpose, and even if your gifting doesn’t fit the stereotype around you it can be used in mighty ways. Check out “Breaking the Youth Ministry Box” to learn more about how you don’t have to fit into a box, but rather can use what you are good at to reach students.

Everywhere we look there are standards set for us; don’t allow those standards to overshadow God’s standard for your ministry. Stand out, and excel for Christ!

This article originally appeared here.

How to Launch a Second Worship Service

By
Matt Keller
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thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

How to Launch a Second Worship Service

One of the big questions we are asked all the time in our coaching is: We’re thinking about going to two services—what do you recommend? Should we launch another service? 

Let me start by saying: I love a multi-service reality when it’s done at the right time, for the right reasons and in the right way. Unfortunately, too many churches make the move without the proper forethought or preparation and end up getting less than ideal or desired results.

Here are several thoughts to make the change:

1. Moving from one service to two services is a major cultural shift for your people and is going to make people nervous.

What we have discovered is that anytime, ANY TIME, a church makes a major cultural shift, it breaks trust with attendees to some degree. It’s not bad; it just is a reality that leaders must not be naïve about.

Here’s how we teach it to pastors: Anytime you make a major cultural shift in your church (add a service, move facilities, etc.), you effectively “spook the sheep.” People get uneasy and are less likely to invite their unsaved, unchurched or dechurched friends. Unconsciously, they’re thinking, “Is this safe?” “Is it going to be the same?” “Is it going to be too big?” etc.

In our experience, it takes between four and six months to regain that trust and for attendance and giving to rebound. We call it “the six-month tail.” Don’t let it throw you if you don’t “double overnight.” You’ll grow, just probably not as quickly as you think you will.

2. The Attend One/Serve One reality Is huge!

One of the greatest advantages to going to a multi-service reality is the Attend One/Serve One culture it can create.

However, this culture is not automatic. Leaders, you have to be intentional to help volunteers and team members understand how it works. The result is it will actually allow more people to serve more consistently and have a greater impact, all the while not missing the main service.

For example, instead of someone serving once a month in the kids’ ministry, they can actually serve every week and still be in service. Relationships to the kids are greater, ministry is greater, connection to the vision is greater! Everybody wins!

3. More people who call your church their church will be able to attend in a weekend.

Another great advantage of a multi-service reality is more of the people who call your church their home will attend on a weekend. For example, if you only have one service and a family in your church is scheduled to have lunch at Grandma’s house, they’ll probably just end up skipping church that week. But if you have an earlier service, they can attend that one and still make it to Grandma’s by noon.

Here are some practicals we recommend for any church going to two services.

1. Create a Bonus Room.

This will be a big benefit for parents and kids in the Attend One/Serve One culture you’re trying to create. This room is for kids whose parents are attending one and serving in one. No matter how great your kids’ ministry is, kids don’t want to go to it twice! If you create a room with some video games and cool stuff where they can hang out, that is reserved ONLY for kids whose parents serve, they’ll love it!

Manning it is easy as well, since you only need it in one service. You just need a fun-loving volunteer who’s willing to hang out with kids! DON’T over-spiritualize this! You’ll end up ruining it for the kids, and the parents will stop serving, thus sabotaging your Attend One/Serve One culture you’re working so hard to create.

2. Move your service time; don’t just add a service time.

A cataclysmic mistake a lot of pastors make is thinking they should or can just “add” a service time rather than making everyone move. For example, if you have one service at 11 a.m., just add a 9 a.m. This is a big mistake because you’re asking everyone to move from what they’re already in routine and used to doing. This does not go well.

Instead, if your one service is at 10:30 a.m., go to 9:30 and 11:15 a.m. or 9 and 11 a.m. And if your service is at 11 a.m., I would still move it, even if it’s just 15 minutes. Make everyone change! Trust me, it’s better.

Side note: From our experience, 9:30 is better than 9, and people don’t fear the noon hour like we might think. Two different times—once in the movie theater days and once in the high school—we went from one service to two and did 9 and 10:45 a.m. We never seemed to be able to get the attendance to even out. They were always a 35/65 split and, at best, 40/60.

Then, in the high school, we finally switched to 9:30 and 11:15 a.m., and it was crazy how they went to 50/50. We marveled at how a 30-minute shift made that big of a difference.

3. Launch with a big “felt needs” series. Pull out all the stops, and get your people excited to buzz it.

Put two invitation cards in the bulletin two weeks before to make it as easy as possible for people to invite their friends to the launch weekend. Post on Facebook, Twitter, etc. Give your people every possible way you can to buzz about it and invite their friends!

4. Cast vision around it.

“At NLC, we’re all about creating space for more lost people to experience God each weekend just like we do.” We use this phrase often: “Every Sunday is somebody’s THAT day.” In other words, every weekend, someone is walking into our church giving God one last shot. This is their THAT day. We want to create space for them to experience God.

5. Use the 70 percent (movie theater-full) idea to appeal to logic.

When you go to a movie, you want the theater to be full, but not too full. Most of us like having an empty seat between us and people we don’t know. The same is true in church. Two services give us the ability to do that.

6. Get buy-in from your key leaders before you make a big announcement.

Have the meetings before the meetings. People are usually down on what they’re not up on. So make sure they’re up on the why behind what you’re doing.

7. Build momentum for the big announcement day as well!

You also have a built-in momentum opportunity by getting people excited about the day you announce it! A lot of churches miss this one. Here’s how it works: “Hey, everyone, in two weeks we’re going to be making an announcement that’s going to change our church forever in a great way! If you’re a part of NLC, then you’ve got to be here on May 12 to hear this announcement.”

You’ll have high attendance come announcement day! And people will be primed for the change when it comes as well!

Today, at Next Level Church, we do way more than two services on the weekend, and each time we’ve added a service, we’ve used these tools. Going from a one-service reality to a two-service reality is one of the best ways to generate momentum, get more people involved in the life of your church, and create space for unchurched people to experience God. Leveraging the tips we’ve talked about will allow you to do it right.

Bible Found in the Rubble of 9/11 Reveals an Amazing Message

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

The smell of a page of the Bible found at Ground Zero, fused to debris from the World Trade Center, is a trigger for photographer Joel Meyerowitz. In addition to bringing back a flood of memories, the smell of concrete dust and singed steel and paper also points to something much more profound than the horrific events of 9/11.

Message from a Bible Found at Ground Zero

Meyerowitz spent nine months at Ground Zero in New York City after the terrorist attacks in 2001 to document the wreckage. As he was sifting through debris one day, a firefighter handed him something that would have a deep impact on anyone who sees it. Meyerowitz received a page of the Bible melted onto a piece of “heart-shaped steel.”

What is most significant about the find, superseding the fact that fragile pieces of paper could survive such a disaster, is the passage of Scripture the Bible was open to. Under the heading Retaliation, Meyerowitz reads from Matthew 5:38-39 where Jesus says, “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also.”

“Out of all the pages of the Bible that it would be open to, that was remarkable,” Meyerowitz says.

That day the Bible was found, Meyerowitz wrapped it in a scarf and put it in his bag. He kept it safe for years in his studio, until he found the right institution to give it to. He gave the Bible to the 9/11 Memorial Museum in 2010.

More than an artifact from a horrible American tragedy, though, Meyerowitz says the story of this Bible is a story of survival, and he hopes that people have a sense of “wonder and awe” when they see it. “It’s going to carry some message about the way the word of the Bible has survived through centuries, through millennia, of history,” he says.

The story of this Bible also points us to hope. As Meyerowitz says, the artifact shows us that “something as fragile as a bunch of pieces of paper in a book could be saved and have survived this incredible tragedy.”

Are You Married to an Introvert?

By
Regi Campbell
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thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

I’m married to an introvert. And I love her with all my heart! But we are as different as night and day.

As I’ve been ‘studying my wife’…trying to be more kind and empathetic, she’s been teaching me some things about introverts. It’s almost like learning a foreign language for me, an extrovert. Here are some of the things I’ve learned to do based on what she’s shown me…

  1. Give privacy – Introverts need time to refuel. Being around people sucks energy out of her, while it pulls energy in for me. I have to back off the social ‘gas pedal’ and give my wife room to breathe. She doesn’t want to be pushed to make a lot of friends; she’s happy with one or two…women with similar interests and values to hers.
  2. Never embarrass – Introverts like to be invisible in public, never the center of attention. And they never want to be reprimanded or interrupted in front of others. If you’re going to teach them something…a skill or a sport or how to dance…you must do it in private.
  3. Slow down – Introverts need time to process things. Let them observe new situations and challenges. Don’t ask them to go first. Ever. When you’re doing something involving them, give them advance warnings. “Hey honey, we’ll need to leave in about 15 minutes.” Surprises are almost never good with an introvert…they need time to think and prepare.

A long time ago, back when riding mechanical bulls was the thing, Miriam shocked our friends when she suggested we find one and give it a try. I was stunned! An hour later, we were in huge place near Conyers, Georgia. It looked exactly like Gilley’s from Urban Cowboy. Of course, three of us (all extroverts) were ready to jump in line and go for it. Miriam? Not so fast! I thought she was going to chicken out, but really, she was just processing. She watched the people who rode…watched their every move. She was learning while we were all talking trash and laughing it up. When it came my turn, I was off the bull in about two seconds. (I walked funny for two weeks!) But Miriam, my introvert wife, rode the bull at a higher speed than me and never got dumped!

I no longer try to change my introvert wife into an extrovert. In fact, maybe the reason we’re the happiest we’ve been in our 48 years is that I longer try to change her at all! 

Scripture: In the same way, you husbands must give honor to your wives. Treat your wife with understanding as you live together. She may be weaker than you are, but she is your equal partner in God’s gift of new life. Treat her as you should so your prayers will not be hindered. (1 Peter 3:7)

Mentor Tip: What Radical Husbands Do is a book to consider for the marriage module if you’ve got guys who want to improve (or save) their marriages but don’t know what to do.

This article originally appeared here.

Mark Batterson: 17 Tips for High-Impact Leaders

By
Mark Batterson
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thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

As we approach our annual planning retreat and evaluation season, I feel like it’s time for me to do a self-evaluation.

17 Tips for High-Impact Leaders

1. Tough decisions only get tougher.

You are only one decision away from a totally different life. I believe that. One change in diet or exercise can radically change your health status. One change in spiritual disciplines can open up new dimensions of grace and power. One change in a relationship can lead to intimacy. What do you need to stop doing or start doing? Your destiny isn’t a mystery—your destiny is the cumulative decisions you make. What tough decision do you need to make? What are you waiting for?

2. Negativity is cancer. Kill it or it will kill you.

I am wide open to rebuke. Constructive criticism is the avenue to excellence. But I have zero tolerance for negativity. How do you stop negativity? Positivity. One of the ways we do that at NCC is sharing wins before every meeting. It reminds us God is moving, and we get to be part of it. Sharing wins creates positive energy, and it’s positivity that gives us the energy we need to deal with negativity. Don’t let one staff member, one board member, or one small-group member hijack what God has called you to captain.

3. No Margin = No Vision.

If you try to be all things to all people, you’ll become nothing to nobody. I have focus days and meetings days. I meet with people on my meeting days. I meet with God on my focus days. I need days where there is nothing on my agenda so I can read or write, dream or rest. The lack of margin will kill your creativity. If you don’t control your calendar, your calendar will control you. It starts with establishing boundaries. Then you need to guard against the Messiah complex. You can’t save everybody. In fact, you can’t save anybody. You aren’t doing anybody any favors if you make yourself available to everybody all the time. Take a break. Take a day off. Take a vacation. Take a sabbatical.

4. If you listen to God, people will listen to you.

People don’t need a word from me—they need a word from God. I want my messages to have a prophetic edge to them, and that happens when I get into the presence of God. The presence of God is where problems are solved and dreams are conceived. Get in the presence of God. At the end of the day, I am nothing without God’s anointing. I need to keep an ear tuned to the people, but more importantly, I need to keep an ear tuned to the still, small voice of the Holy Spirit.

5. Don’t let your budget determine your vision.

Too often, we allow our budget to determine our vision instead of allowing vision to determine our budget. That doesn’t mean you hire lots of staff you’ll need to fire. It doesn’t mean you let expenses get out of control. It does mean that you hold tenaciously to this simple truth: when God gives a vision, He makes provision. You need to budget in a way that gives God the room to do miracles. And make doubly sure that you have vision beyond your resources.

6. Everything is an experiment.

One of the greatest dangers we face as leaders is inattentional blindness. We stop noticing our environment. When that happens, we lose creativity, we lose excellence. You’ve got to make some mistakes! You’ve got to take some risks. Over time, there is a cognitive shift from right brain to left brain: We stop doing ministry out of imagination and start doing it out of memory. Do something different. After all, if you want God to do something new, then you can’t keep doing the same old thing.

7. If your life is interesting, your messages will be interesting.

The reason why many of our messages lack impact is that they aren’t interesting, and they aren’t interesting because we’re not interesting. Get a life! You need a life outside of church. Go on an adventure. Take up a hobby. Learn something new.

8. Don’t just dream big. Think long.

We tend to overestimate what we can accomplish in two years, but we underestimate what we can accomplish in 10 years. Zoom out. Your mantra shouldn’t be “as soon as possible.” It should be “as long as it takes.” Your vision isn’t just too small. It’s too short.

Andrew Stoecklein: This Is Why We Can Grieve With Hope

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

The life of Pastor Andrew Stoecklein was remembered Saturday, September 8, 2018 at Cal Baptist University in Riverside, California. There is only one way to summarize the message of the funeral: There is reason to grieve, but also reason to hope.

The Stoecklein family clung to the phrase “God’s got this” as their patriarch, David Stoecklein, passed away from leukemia three short years ago. Now, as they said goodbye to Andrew, the Stoecklein’s oldest son, they are clinging to it still.

The service included memories of Andrew, his favorite worship songs, and a whole lot of encouragement.

The Most Powerful Moment of the Andrew Stoecklein Funeral

Arguably the most powerful moment of the service was spoken by Andrew himself. A clip was shown of him preaching at Inland Hills Church, the church his father and mother founded in Chino Hills, California. Andrew was speaking about the passage 1 Thessalonians 4:13, which reads:

And now, dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope.

Andrew explains that the writers of the letter want people to know that they don’t have to grieve as if there is no hope. He said the verse was comforting to him when his father passed away. Now, others in his family are drawing comfort from it. You can watch the powerful clip below (watch 50:55-52:20)

Members of Andrew’s immediate family shared about who he was and what he meant to them. They painted a picture of a loving older brother, a devoted husband and father, a loyal son, and more than anything, a gifted man with so much potential. Andrew’s younger brother summed up their feelings standing there before hundreds people who either knew Andrew personally or had only just learned about him. “We stand up here broken, but we still say God’s got this,” Austin Stoecklein said.

Family Members Addressed Andrew’s Mental Illness

Andrew’s suicide attempt took them all by surprise. Andrew’s mother, Carol, used the phrase “so sudden” repeatedly. Kayla, Andrew’s wife, wrote in a blog post “It all happened so fast. You were just diagnosed in April with Depression and in August you are gone? We didn’t have enough time!”

In the service, Kayla appealed to those struggling with mental illness to talk to someone about it.

“If there is one encouragement I can leave you with today it’s don’t give up. If you are struggling, tell someone, tell them everything, don’t worry about them judging you for it. The enemy wants you to feel isolated, the enemy wants you to feel unloved and worthless. I am here to tell you that you are loved and valued more than you could ever imagine and God has a great plan for your life no matter who you are, no matter your past, God’s Got you, God’s Got This, and God can do impossible things,” Kayla said.

“I am so proud of him,” Carol said when it was her turn to speak. And, she emphasized, she will continue being proud of him in so many ways. She, too, talked about the illness that was “so sudden, so excruciating, so permanent.” Carol believes they could have found a solution for Andrew’s depression if they had had more time. “We feel like we could have figured it out; we could have got there, and yet this happened,” she said.

There are so many different kinds of mental illness, she pointed out. There is much we don’t know and it is “so overwhelming and so confusing.” Then she appealed to the church when she said, “We need to work on this more together.”

The “Statement on Social Justice and the Gospel” Stirs Up Controversy and Conversation

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

The release and subsequent signing by almost 5,000 people of the Statement on Social Justice and the Gospel spurs “productive conversation,” according to an article from the Baptist Press. The statement emanates from 14 male pastors who met at a coffee shop in Dallas, Texas, “having all expressed our growing concern with much that was taking place within evangelical circles under the banner of ‘Social Justice.’”

This meeting followed a series of blog posts from John MacArthur. MacArthur’s latest concern is to call out the increasingly popular “social justice” gospel as a dangerous false doctrine. He writes, “It’s my conviction that much of the rhetoric about this latest issue poses a more imminent and dangerous threat to the clarity and centrality of the gospel than any other recent controversy evangelicals have engaged in.”

The statement makes 14 affirmations and denials, encompassing topics such as Scripture’s inerrancy, justice, sexuality and marriage, complementarianism, race/ethnicity, heresy, culture, and racism.

Tom Ascol, the author of the statement and pastor of Grace Baptist Church in Cape Coral, Florida, writes that the statement is intended to “provoke the kind of brotherly dialogue that can promote unity in the gospel.”

Voices for the Statement on Social Justice and the Gospel

For those signees in support of the statement, one of the most compelling reasons they give is to protect the orthodoxy of Christianity. Their claim is that the statement affirms and upholds the truth of Scripture on all these issues.

Phil Johnson, executive director of Grace to You, writes in “A Gospel Issue?”:

“Social justice” (as that expression is used in the secular world or defined by practically any honest dictionary) isn’t really even a biblical theme. Nothing borrowed from worldly discourse should ever become a major theme in the message we proclaim to the world—not philosophy, politics, pop culture, or anything similar. Make any such topic a major theme alongside the simple gospel message and you are going against the strategy of the apostle Paul, who wrote, “I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2).

Twitter is aflame with comments such as these:

Sarah Kerby (@sarahjkerby) agrees. She tweets: The #statementonsocialjustice summarizes the very basics of the Christian faith & how those biblically play out in our current lives. If that is controversial for you, Christian, then you need to read the Bible again & take a very close look at yourself. You’re missing something.

And Jeff Jones (@jefffones) tweeted this: =The #StatementonSocialJustice warns against confusing good and proper Gospel applications with the Gospel itself: “implications and applications of the gospel…though legitimate and important in their own right, are not definitional components of the gospel”

52 Years After the First, Luis Palau Festival Counts 18,000 Confessions

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

In 1966 in Bogota, Columbia, Luis Palau led his first outdoor crusade. This year, 52 years later, Palau’s son, Andrew, led the ministry back to Bogata to facilitate another crusade. Seven days and 18,000 confessions of faith later, it is apparent the nation of Colombia was eager to respond to the gospel message.

This Luis Palau Festival Was Significant for Many Reasons

While Luis Palau was hoping to join Andrew in Bogota, after being diagnosed with cancer earlier this year, he chose to be cautious and did not attend. “Bogotá is going through a cold state right now. It’s 9,000 feet high, and not good for someone whose immune system is weak,” Palau explained to his followers in a Facebook video. And although he expressed his grief in not being able to celebrate the harvest there in person and reminisce with friends about the past crusade, he said, “The Lord is there—that’s what really counts.”

The event was also significant for Andrew, who was actually born in Colombia in 1966 during the first campaign. In preparing for the event, Andrew shared the excitement of the local church was evident and “expectations are sky high.”

One event in the week-long crusade was held in the historic Plaza de Bolívar, which is one of the most significant cultural and political locations in the nation. The square is bordered by the Palace of Justice, the National Capitol, the Primary Cathedral of Bogota and the mayor’s office. Historically, the square has been host to protests, markets, public discourse, and even bullfights. In 1966, Colombia was going through intense political upheaval. As the Luis Palau Association (LPA) returned to the very same spot 52 years later, the country is a little more stable, but the stability did not quell the response to a message of hope and peace found in Jesus Christ.

This year’s campaign included four big festivals with an evangelistic focus, outreaches in prisons, universities, and neighborhoods, and evangelism training for thousands of believers. The campaign was well-advertised via television and radio ads that ran in July and August. According to LPA’s website, street teams started outreach efforts in June, leading up to the week-long campaign in August.

At an outreach event to prisoners, at least 70 prisoners made confessions of faith. On LPA’s Facebook page, they also reported that after the program, Andrew baptized five of the inmates in the yard, in front of everyone.

There was a strong emphasis on partnering with the local church for the campaign. According to NRB.org, more than 850 churches worked together to organize and facilitate the evangelism training sessions, public events, and outreach efforts to business and civic leaders, women, and prisoners. According to LPA’s estimates, more than 200,000 people in Colombia were reached. Perhaps the effort that will bear the most fruit in the nation, though, is the 11,000 local believers who were trained in evangelism.

In addition to the people who were reached in person, the festivals were also broadcast throughout Latin America by Enlace, a television network. International radio partners also broadcast the events. LPA says a Facebook live feed of the festivals reached more than 550,000 people all around the world.

Andrew’s mother, Patricia (Pat), traveled with him to Bogota to greet the crowd on behalf of her husband, Luis. In an update on LPA’s website, Kevin Palau wrote that while in Colombia Pat became ill. She was admitted to the hospital after returning to the United States and was diagnosed with pneumonia. As of August 30, Kevin reported she is back home and on the mend, but still has a “long haul” to recovery and asked for prayers.

In a video shared at the final festival in Bogota, Andrew described the campaign as a “great expression of unity, and the results [are what] God promises: richness, refreshment, and eternal life.”

My Security Training Didn’t Prepare Me For This…But My Ministry Training Did

By
Craig Cable
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thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

The first Sunday I served on the security team at church I had an interesting encounter.
Late-comers were straggling through the lobby as usual when I noticed a visitor. He was holding a large metal coffee mug and looked disoriented. I didn’t recognize him, so I assumed he was new and probably lost. When I walked up and introduced myself, I realized that he was three sheets to the wind and his “coffee mug” was serving as a beer stein.
Hmmm…what to do?

My Security Training Didn’t Prepare Me for This

I was new to my church’s security team, but I wasn’t a novice. As a military veteran with specialized training in firearms, tactical communication, and trauma response, I was well equipped to protect. My training, for instance, taught me to mitigate the risk of having an inebriated and unpredictable stranger in the service by immediately removing him. But the more I engaged this person in a conversation, the more that response felt disconnected with the mission of my church.

I realized in that moment that I needed a new paradigm for my security training—one that placed ministry at the heart of every encounter.

A Ministry-Approach to Security Is Different. Here’s How…

Ministry and security can often seem incompatible. One conjures up feelings of love, acceptance, welcoming, and relationship. The other conveys feelings of fear, doubt, suspicion, and maybe even violence.
But what if we changed how we approach security within the church? What if church security:
• Was a welcoming presence instead of an intimidating show of force
• Managed gates that open for strangers and newcomers rather than building walls to keep “outsiders” out
• Led with compassion and empathy versus suspicion and fear
• Was committed to seeing the whole person instead of only looking for the threat

We Need to Rethink the Way We’re Doing Security at Church

Because church requires this unique ministry approach, I think church leaders make a mistake believing they can be hands-off with security. The purpose of your security presence must be in keeping with the mission of your church, not as a satellite effort orbiting around the perimeter.

Likewise, I think security teams make a mistake believing they can “hand off” ministry moments to pastors, prayer team members, and the like. Security team members are ministers—often serving on the front line as the first point of contact. It’s our job to welcome people on their best days…and their worst days. It’s messy business, but ministry always is.

Security IS Ministry

Ministry and security can work together at your church. One step toward partnering the two is the Safe and Secure Church kit. In partnership with Brotherhood Mutual Insurance Company, this kit provides workbooks and comprehensive video training on how to practice security from a heart of ministry. Find more details and free samples here.

My encounter with the drunken parishioner was the first of countless ministry moments I’ve experienced as a security member at my church. Every new encounter is a chance for me to stand in the gap as protector AND servant and do my part to advance the church’s mission: to bring people—all people—closer to Jesus.

5 Important Questions to Ask Yourself When Making a Decision in Your Life

By
Ronnie Floyd
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thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

When you make a decision in your life, how do you know it is the right thing to do?

Quick decision making often results in poor decision making. Conversely, long and drawn out decision making can paralyze your life as well as others who look to you for leadership. Is there a way to know we are making the right decisions in life?

Preparation is really one of the important things about decision making. I believe that when you passionately walk with God daily, it prepares you for decision making. The power of Christ will see you through every decision you make.

Ask yourself:

Question #1: Do I have a word from God’s Word about this decision?

When the trucking magnate J.B. Hunt was alive, he used to read the Bible through about once every 18-20 months. As a former truck driver who founded the powerful company J.B. Hunt Transport, he would tell me as his pastor and friend that the Bible was his roadmap for life. As he read it, God would make clear to him where he needed to go and what he needed to do.

The Bible is the GPS for your life. You do not have to walk in the darkness of decision making. Psalm 119:105 says, “Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light on my path.” God’s Word always shows us God’s way! Be confident, the Holy Spirit never leads you away from God’s Word. Some decisions you do not even need to pray about because the answers are already clear in God’s Word.

Therefore, get a word from God’s Word and stand upon it.

Question #2: What would Jesus want me to do?

The life of Jesus Christ always sheds light on your decision making. Jesus brings clarity. Through the lens of His gospel story, the will of Jesus becomes crystal clear. Stop and ask yourself: What would Jesus want me to do?

If the decision represents His character, then it is probably right; if not, it is wrong. Call upon Jesus to bring clarity in your decision making.

Question #3: Have I valued what others have told me?

Receiving counsel from godly and holy people can help confirm a decision or lead you to question a decision you are about to make. Godly counsel can help you if you are willing to listen to it. Ungodly counsel will never help you.

Therefore, seek only the counsel of people who are mature in the Lord, walk in His Word daily, are prayer warriors and have a proven life of healthy decision making.

Question #4: Have I saturated this decision in prayer?

Go to God in prayer before you go to anyone else about it. Then, when you receive godly counsel from others, you will be more in-tune spiritually to hear it. Then take their counsel to God in prayer because ultimately, God must lead you regardless of the counsel you have received from others.

Pour your heart out to God in prayer. Plead before Him, asking Him for a word from God. Commit to honor Jesus through it all.

Question #5: Am I willing to trust the Lord through it all?

Is this really your prayer? May His Kingdom come and may His will be done on earth in our decision making, even as it is being done right now in heaven!

We must pray believing this and be more than willing to walk away, trusting the Lord with whatever occurs.

If the door closes or it becomes more than obvious it is not right when you hoped it would have been, refuse to ask why, resenting the decision and becoming discouraged.

God knows what is best for us even when we do not know what is best for ourselves.

I thank God He has not answered every prayer in my life like I thought He should have! My shortsightedness and selfishness would have limited God’s work in and through me.

When we really understand the words from Jesus below, we will trust the Lord Jesus through all of our decision making. Jesus said in Revelation 3:7, “Thus says the Holy One, the true one, the one who has the key of David, who opens and no one will close, and who closes and no one opens.”

Jesus opens doors in your life that no one can close.

Jesus closes doors in your life that no one can open.

Yes, you can trust Jesus in your decision making.

This article originally appeared here.

6 Ways to Prevent Vision Drift in Your Church

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

Your most important job as a church leader isn’t to hire and fire. It isn’t to manage a budget. It isn’t to mentor younger leaders. It’s not even to preach.

All of those tasks are important. They’re part of what you do as a church leader.

But your main job as a leader is to remind your congregation continually of your church’s vision. Everything else you can delegate. You can’t delegate vision.

Proverbs says, “Without a vision, the people perish.” You have a lot riding on the vision you communicate to your church.

Communicating vision gets harder and harder—and much more important—as your church grows.

I saw this firsthand at Saddleback. If you’ve heard the story of Saddleback, you know I shared a vision for the future of the church during our trial run, a week before our official launch.

At first, it was relatively easy to keep the church focused on the vision. When we were small, the only people who came were non-Christians. They had zero expectations about what church should be like. All they knew was Saddleback. We didn’t have a children’s ministry, a youth ministry or a music ministry. The people who wanted all of those programs went somewhere else. Those who came to Saddleback largely followed the vision we set in that initial service.

But the larger we grew, the more people came from other churches. Growth alone doesn’t solve a church’s problems. It just changes them. All of those people brought their baggage with them from their old churches. I started hearing on a regular basis, “We did it like this at my old church.”

At that point, I had to become very intentional about how I communicated the vision.

Yes, you should do a vision message (or even better, a series of messages) once a year. But that shouldn’t be all your church hears about your church’s vision. If I had only communicated the church’s vision annually, we’d be a different church today. Churches need more than just a once-a-year infusion of vision. They need constant reminders about what the church is all about.

When you don’t regularly refocus your church around a shared vision, you’ll slowly find your church experiencing vision drift. You may have, at one time, shared a compelling vision with your congregation that everyone rallied around. But as other people came on board, your church incorporated other elements into the original vision. It doesn’t take long before the vision becomes unrecognizable from the original.

That’s why your number one job as a leader is to communicate the vision of your ministry. Whether you’re the senior leader who must communicate your vision to the entire church or a leader of a specific ministry who must regularly keep that ministry’s vision in front of the people, vision-casting is your most important responsibility.

Because organizations, churches included, naturally experience vision drift, the best leaders aren’t necessarily the most charismatic. The best leaders are the ones who keep organizations moving forward together toward the mission.

Over the past 38 years at Saddleback, I’ve leaned on some specific methods to keep the vision in front of our church family. Here are six of the most important.

1. Scripture

Your church needs to realize that its vision doesn’t come from your whims. It’s centered on what the Bible teaches about the church. Every part of your church’s vision needs to be supported by Scriptures that explain and illustrate your reason for doing it. Let people see how blessed they are to have the church, the body of Christ. Help your members to develop a high respect for the family of God—and his purposes for the church.

2. Application Steps 

Part of reminding your congregation about the church’s vision is to continually put before them the activities that will help the church achieve the vision. If part of your vision is to help people build meaningful relationships in your church, remind your people of the vision as you encourage them to get involved in small groups. If part of your vision is to be involved in local and global missions, regularly communicate opportunities for them to participate in missions.

3. Symbols

Some say 65 percent of people are visual learners. It could even be higher than that. Regardless, people need visual representations of your vision to help them grasp it. Symbols can paint powerful pictures that words alone can’t do.

At Saddleback, we’ve used a diamond shape and a series of concentric circles to describe the church’s vision and purposes. I’ve seen other churches use racetracks, mountains, rivers and soccer fields. Each of these communicated the vision of the church within a specific context of ministry.

4. Slogans 

People will remember slogans long after they’ve forgotten your sermons. Many key events in history have hinged on a slogan: Remember the Alamo! Sink the Bismarck! I shall return! Give me liberty or give me death! History proves that a simple slogan, repeatedly shared with conviction, can motivate people to do things they would normally never do—even to give up their lives on a battlefield.

We’ve used dozens of slogans at Saddleback to help communicate the church’s vision (such as “every member is a minister” and “all leaders are learners”). Take some time to go through your vision with an eye for easy-to-communicate slogans that describe parts of your vision.

5. Stories

Jesus frequently used stories to help people relate to his vision. Stories help people personalize and dramatize your vision. I try to regularly include testimonies (delivered in person and through letters) from people who are regularly living out the vision and purposes of the church. Those illustrations help people at our church understand what it looks like to demonstrate Saddleback’s vision. It also makes heroes out of the people who do the work of the church. People tend to do whatever is rewarded. Brag on your church’s heroes. Tell their stories.

6. Specifics

Provide concrete actions that explain how you’ll achieve your vision. Plan programs around it. Hire staff around it. Remember that nothing becomes dynamic until it becomes specific. When a vision is vague, it holds no attraction. The more specific your church’s vision is, the more it will grab attention and attract commitment.

Vision drift is natural. Do nothing and your church will drift from the vision, no matter how compelling it is. If you don’t purposefully and consistently refocus your church around a singular vision, your church will become something quite different.

Lean on these six strategies to communicate your church’s vision to the congregation. Be creative. Add to these ideas. Do whatever it takes to focus your people around a shared biblical vision. That’s what true leadership is all about.

This article originally appeared here.

How Following Leaders You Admire Is Messing You Up

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

You and I live in a strange time.

It’s never been easier to closely follow and admire people you don’t know, and never will know.

When you were a kid, you maybe had a poster of some celebrity in your room, or you read about them in a magazine or saw them on TV. Occasionally (and I do mean occasionally) you got a glimpse into their personal life.

Today, thanks to the Internet and social media, you can now follow any leader’s every move and almost know more details about their life than they do.

Which has created this weird issue that plagues most of us: We imagine everyone else’s life to be easier and better than ours.

After all, we tend to post our best stuff online, which creates the strange phenomenon Steven Furtick summarized when he said that we compare our behind-the-scenes to everyone else’s highlight reel.

As a result, we think:

Well I’m sure Andy Stanley never deals with that. 

Or Craig Groeschel never has moments where he doubts. He’s just always at the gym crushing it.

Or I’ll bet Patrick Lencioni never struggles leading his company. (On that note, stay tuned for my interview with him this fall. It’s so refreshing.)

Of course, when you think that, it’s pretty clear you’ve never read the first section of Deep and Wide (Andy’s story of his relationship with his dad), or Sam Chand’s Leadership Pain where Craig Groeschel writes about an excruciating season in his life.

You know what’s probably more true, though? You have read those stories…and you’ve either forgotten them or dismissed them.

Here’s why: Someone else’s success makes you discount their struggles. And your struggles makes you discount your success.

So why does this matter?

Because way more is at stake than you think. It may run as deeply as life and death. And I’m trying not to overstate things here.

Recently I wrote pretty openly about one of the most difficult periods in my leadership, during which I struggled with suicidal thoughts during a dark season.

I wrote the post in response to the suicide of a young pastor who lost his battle to anxiety and depression. I included the picture of him and his family in that post. Again…looking at their picture you’d think “I’m sure they don’t have any issues.”

Since that post on leadership and suicide a few days ago, I’ve literally heard from hundreds of leaders who are letting me know that they’re struggling with far more than they’ve admitted publicly.

How wrong we can be to think that everyone else has it together and we don’t.

Here are three insights about how following leaders you admire is messing you up, and what to do about it.

1. UNDERSTAND…THERE ARE NO EXCEPTIONS

So those top leaders you admire who you think have no struggles? They have them.

After getting a degree in history, living for five decades, leading for almost 25 years, and after interviewing over 200 top leaders for my leadership podcast, I can pretty much guarantee you that there’s not a single leader who hasn’t had to overcome personal struggles.

Often the best leaders have had to overcome many.

When I was starting out in leadership, I used to think that some people were successful because they simply didn’t have any struggles. I now realize that’s not true at all. The reason most leaders are successful is that they learned how to overcome their struggles.

They had the same challenges you and I do. They just figured out how to move through them.

Which makes their leadership even more noteworthy.

As Winston Churchill (who had to overcome an enormous amount of adversity) famously said, success is moving from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.

Knowing that there are no exceptions to the struggle helps me continue to persevere. I hope it helps you too.

2. HUMBLE YOUR TALK

There’s a constant temptation in leadership to project an image that’s not accurate.

Don’t give in to that temptation.

And while you shouldn’t air all your dirty laundry in public (there are counselors and an inner circle for that), there needs to be a congruency between your public talk and your private walk.

Don’t let your public talk lie about your private walk.

So what happens when you are relentlessly committed to making sure your talk matches your walk? I’ll tell you what happens: You change your walk.

Every time I line up my public talk to match my private walk, it makes my private walk better. Words have that kind of power if they’re honest. The shame and humiliation of admitting who you really are to people you respect and admire will motivate a big shift in behavior.

If you simply make your talk match your walk, the gap between who you are and who you want to be becomes smaller almost instantly.

When it’s just too embarrassing to tell the truth, you make the truth better.

After all, of all the lies we tell, the lies we tell ourselves are the deadliest.

One of the best things you can do to overcome the gap between who you are and who you pretend to be is to humble your talk and accelerate your walk.

The Thing That Is So Much Greater Than Music

By
Bob Kauflin
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thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

This past May, our youngest child, McKenzie, graduated from Boyce College with a degree in biblical studies, focusing on music and worship. After four and a half years of study, persistence, practice and dependence on God’s grace, she finally joined the ranks of those who have a college degree.

In her final semester, she had to give a senior recital. Thanks to the excellent instruction from her voice teacher, Chandi Plummer, McKenzie has expanded her vocal range significantly, grown in knowing how to care for her voice, and become much more effective at communicating emotion and dynamics when she sings. All those aspects were on full display as she sang through her program of different languages (English, French, German and Italian) and styles (classical, romantic, jazz standards and contemporary worship songs).

Sometimes a Light Surprises

I was thoroughly enjoying the artistry of the evening when she came to the “worship song” part of the program. One of those songs was Rita Springer’s “I Have to Believe,” a song that unabashedly proclaims faith in God’s promises in the midst of darkness and pain. McKenzie’s singing was heartfelt, skillful and moving.

But in the middle of the fourth verse, powerful music was overshadowed by a more powerful Savior:

I have to sing praise when the hour is midnight
He unlocks these chains that bind up my soul
My sin and my shame
He has forgiven and made me whole

In a clarifying, surprising moment, the truth of those words for McKenzie’s own life overwhelmed her. Her eyes filled up with tears. She stopped singing. We waited.

Eventually she recovered and was able to finish her program.

What happened? I think it was an example of what I often remind myself when music affects me in a significant way: Music is great. Jesus is greater.

Music Is Great

Music is a gift from God that benefits people of different cultures in countless ways. It expresses emotions that we sometimes can’t find the words for. It can amplify the impact of words we sing. Music can lift our spirits, motivate us to exert greater effort, draw our hearts toward transcendent beauty, deepen our sense of community, and give us one voice as we pursue a common cause.

Music can do amazing things. I’ve been involved with music for over 50 years and made a living from it for more than 40. A Beethoven sonata can bring me to tears. The opening of Aaron Copland’s “Appalachian Spring” is indescribably peaceful. I’ve enjoyed songs from specific soundtracks over 1,000 times. The number of creative bands, singer-songwriters and individual musicians that I enjoy are too many to list here. I marvel that music continues to move me the way it does.

In fact, for people who don’t worship the true God, music can seem like a good replacement. In his 1994 commencement speech to the Berklee College of Music, Sting said, “If ever I’m asked if I’m religious I always reply, ‘Yes, I’m a devout musician.’ Music puts me in touch with something beyond the intellect, something otherworldly, something sacred.”

Jesus is greater

Sting was on the right path. But he didn’t quite reach the destination. Music is a wonderful tool. But it makes a terrible god.

Yes, music is great. But there’s something greater than the gift of music. The Giver himself.

Here’s how C.S. Lewis put it in this oft-quoted paragraph from The Weight of Glory:

“The books or the music in which we thought the beauty was located will betray us if we trust to them; it was not in them, it only came through them, and what came through them was longing. These things—the beauty, the memory of our own past—are good images of what we really desire; but if they are mistaken for the thing itself, they turn into dumb idols, breaking the hearts of their worshippers. For they are not the thing itself; they are only the scent of a flower we have not found, the echo of a tune we have not heard, news from a country we have never yet visited.”

When McKenzie broke down in the middle of singing, no one muttered in disgust. Nobody wondered why she couldn’t hold it together. No one complained that her artistry suffered. We simply saw more clearly that the transforming effect of God’s grace in Christ transcends the effect of music. We saw the Giver through the gift.

Reaching Families During Busy Sports Schedules

By
Joy Feemster
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thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

A common complaint among children’s pastors and leaders these days is that they are losing families to sports that, unlike in the past, are now played on Sunday. The soccer fields and baseball diamonds are full of kids playing sports during times that they might formerly have spent in Sunday school or worship services.

Worse, it’s not just the kids who are playing that are missing church, it’s the parents, plus siblings, and even grandparents, as well. If you have a number of kids in your church playing in Sunday leagues, it can have a significant impact on attendance.

So what should we do in response to this dilemma? What are some ideas that work, and what are responses that are counterproductive? I honestly don’t have all the answers to this problem, but here are a few ideas and strategies:

• Making parents feel guilty is probably not a good idea, and it may even drive them farther away from church.

• Don’t make the kids feel bad for wanting to play sports. They’re kids! They just want to play—and they don’t create the schedules.

• Don’t bemoan the loss of your sports kids in front of the other kids. They are just as important, and may wonder what they’re missing!

• Whether it’s Sunday school, children’s church or other activities, make it memorable and fun. Let the buzz from other kids make the sports kids wonder what they are missing.

• Go where they are. Eric Hamp, now senior pastor at New Beginnings International Church in Fort Worth, Texas, speaking at INCM’s Children’s Pastors Conference, talked about how they would go out to the soccer fields with bottles of water with their church name on them and give them away, and do t-shirt cannons at halftime. They spent time engaging with the parents and other kids in the stands. (I’m not sure how often they did this—but if you did it a couple of times a season, it would certainly create goodwill for the church.)

• Let the kids know you miss them, and continue to invite them to other ministry events.

• Praise parents for their faithfulness who continue to bring their children to church.

• Start a non-Sunday sports league in your area, if there is not one. Upward Sports, among others, has leagues that have devotions at half-time, no games or practice on Sunday, and an emphasis on good sportsmanship.

• Be there for the parents and kids when they need you, whether they are in church or not. If you hear of a need in one of your families, respond to it. They’ll know you care and support them.

• Pray for them, above all. Whether present or absent, pray for your kids and their families.

I would love to know your ideas or strategies that have worked for your ministry. Please comment below and let’s all learn from each other!  

Blessing of the Backpacks

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

Are you looking for a back-to-school lesson for your Children’s Ministry? One fun way to get kids back into the swing of things is by doing a “Blessing of the Backpacks.” This special blessing is typically done the Sunday before school starts. Kids bring their backpacks to church and during the service the pastor asks the kids to come forward with their backpacks and he or she says a special blessing over them.

One year I wanted to do something a little more than just saying a blessing over them. So, I decided we would tie the “Armor of God” in with our Blessing of the Backpacks.

During Large Group Worship in Kidz Church, we learned about the Armor of God found in Ephesians 6:10-18. We explained each piece of armor and what it meant. After this, we dispersed the small groups to different stations where they actually made some of the armor pieces. Other pieces of the armor they brought from home. Here is what we did:

Belt of Truth

Cut banner paper long enough to fit around their waist. Write “Truth” really big on front and then have kids color and decorate their belts. Put the belt around kids using tape or a stapler.

Breastplate of Righteousness

Each child brought their backpack from home. They placed their backpack on the front of their body to act as their breastplate.

Shoes of Peace

Each child was given two peace signs made out of cardstock. They decorated their peace signs then tied them around their ankles using yarn.

Shield of Faith  

We pre-cut shields out of poster board. Each child took a shield and wrote “Shield of Faith” really big in the middle. They could also decorate these if they wanted.

Helmet of Salvation

Kids were asked to bring their bicycle helmets to church. They took a piece of duct tape and wrote “Salvation” on it and put it on the front of their helmet.

Sword of the Spirit

Have kids bring their own Bible from home to carry with them, or give them one from the church to carry. God’s Word is their Sword of the Spirit.

Each child then put on all their armor and entered the Sanctuary where our pastor prayed a special blessing over them. The kids looked awesome! It was cool to see so many kids standing at the front of the church with their full armor on. They were equipped and ready for all that the school year would bring.

I’m praying that each of the children in your church and in your family puts on their armor of God as they begin a new school year.

“Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.”  Ephesians 6:11

This article originally appeared here.

Rise Up: Choosing Faith Over Fear in Christian Ministry

 

Don’t miss Vanessa Myers’ new book Rise Up: Choosing Faith Over Fear in Christian Ministry. 

Suicide, Depression and Pastors: One Way Church Members Can Help

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

The suicide death of a young pastor is being felt throughout the world. Andrew Stoecklein, lead pastor of Inland Hills Church in California, left behind his wife, Kayla, and three young sons.

I am the father of three sons. I cannot look at a photo of the young family without getting tears in my eyes.

Please Hear Me Well

This post is not about suicide prevention. More able persons have written volumes on the topic. It is not about the Stoecklein family, though their story prompted this post.

I am writing this article because I want to have a frank conversation with congregational members around the world. I want you to hear me clearly. I want to offer one way you can help.

The Struggles of Pastors

Most pastors are not suicidal. But most pastors do struggle. They lead churches in a culture that is not friendly to their calling. Three-fourths of them lead churches that are struggling by almost any measure or metric. Many pastors are on the precipice of quitting, and most church members have no idea of their inner turmoil.

In the midst of these cultural and congregational challenges, these pastors see a decided shift among the members. Their commitment level is low, and their frequency of attendance is decreasing. Many of the members are in the congregation to get their personal preferences fulfilled. And if you mess with their preferred worship style, order of worship, time of worship, color of carpet or any facet of the church facility, they will let you know. Their trinitarian priority is me, myself and I.

These pastors have been stabbed in the front by church members and stabbed in the back by other staff. They love their church members; but they are deeply hurt when that love is returned with cynicism, criticism and apathy.

One Way to Help

Yet, these pastors tell us, the greatest pain is not the criticism and cynicism by some of the members. The greatest pain is when the “good members” remain silent, when they do nothing to come to the aid and defense of their pastors. The good members don’t want to rock the boat. They don’t want to incur the wrath of the pastor attackers. They think they are maintaining unity. Instead they are tearing down their pastor with their malignant silence. Their efforts to maintain peace sow the greatest seeds of destruction.

The one thing you can do as a church member is to stand up for your pastor in the midst of the ongoing and vociferous criticism. Speak up; don’t shut up. Let the ill-intending critics and cynics know you support your pastor, you love your pastor, and you are there for your pastor.

I know. Pastors aren’t perfect. There is no need to comment to me about that obvious reality. But in the labor pool of church members, we have an overflow of critics and an acute shortage of courageous encouragers.

Your pastor can withstand the barbs and insults and tepid commitment of most church members. That is the world pastors have sadly come to expect. But your pastors can only withstand them if they know they have some vocal and visible advocates and encouragers.

Please stand up. Please speak up.

It may be the single greatest difference maker in your pastor’s ministry.

This article originally appeared here.

What Type of Preacher Are You, Really?

By
Danny Parmelee
-
thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

What type of preacher are you? Our personality types, experiences and values all tend to shape the type of preacher we are. At the risk of oversimplifying our complex personalities, let me suggest three main preaching styles (and you could argue leadership styles as well); Prophet, Priest and King. Becoming aware of our proclivity toward one of these can help us know our strengths but also keep the church we lead balanced. Have you ever met someone that was so strong in one area but were deficient in the other areas?  For example, if someone is only Prophet they can have a tendency to have a harsh edge or only speak to the mind. There is not doubt that we all need a kick in the pants sometimes but when you get kicked every single weekend it can be counter productive. Or, if someone’s preaching style is so heavily weighted towards Priest, they are so good at pulling the heart strings but may skip over some of the “in your face” chastisement that is needed. Or what about the King? You know, the one that is talking about the vision of the church every single Sunday and somehow missing the individual lives that make up the church.

BALANCE IN SERMON PREP: 

In no way am I suggesting that every person should strive to be 33 percent Prophet, 33 percent Priest and 33 percent King every weekend. However, being aware of where you are naturally drawn will help you to craft better sermons and even be more faithful to the text you are preaching. During your sermon preparation you may want to ask if you are reading the text objectively or through your preference. This is also important on a larger scale. As you plan out your sermon series for the year, make sure that you are covering multiples genres or topics. Let’s say you are going to do selections from the gospels, will you include the interactions Jesus has of both grace AND confrontation? Will you only choose epistles because they tend to have more of the imperative commands or will you also include going through poetic books like Psalms. If it’s a year of growth and “taking the hill” for the church, will you also include topics on rest, prayer, humility?

ADVANTAGE OF TEAM TEACHING:

This is where a teaching team can be a huge plus. When you recognize that you have different people on your preaching team they can be put in positions that align with their gifts. Oftentimes the lead pastor is the main visionary of the church. If his bent is toward King preaching then make sure he has the opportunity to preach those passages. If someone on the team is high in Priestly preaching then make sure he gets to preach the passages dealing with sexual sin, abuse, broken relationships, etc. Lastly, when its time to shake things up and wake the church up, who on the team is naturally wired with that Prophetic edge. These are fun discussions to have when you are part of a team. Think of it as an opportunity to steward who God has brought around the table to deliver His Word.

These are meant to be a bit exaggerated to help make a point and just reflect on who you are. I give you 100 percent permission to laugh as you read through them.

Prophet
Key words:? Truth, Knowledge, Repent, Sin, Discipleship, Challenge Righteousness…
Favorite Old Testament Passage: ?Deuteronomy 11
Favorite New Testament Passage: ?James
What you want people to say about you*: ? He/She is smart, convicting, personally righteous
What response you want from your hearers:? I’m going to change this in my life
Favorite Gesture: ?Finger Pointed

Priest
Key words:? Love, Grace, Forgive, Community, Hope, Heal…
Favorite Old Testament Passage:  Psalm 103:8
Favorite New Testament Passage: ?2 Corinthians 5:16-19
What you want people to say about you*: ?He/She is funny, nice, loving, approachable
What response you want from your hearers: ?I love God more now
Favorite Gesture: ?Sitting on stool

King:
Key words:? Kingdom, Grow, Vision Expand, Leadership, Gifts, Serve, Evangelism,
Favorite Old Testament Passage: ?Nehemiah
Favorite New Testament Passage: ?Acts 2:47
What you want people to say about you*: ?He/She is a great leader, visionary, respected, powerful
What response you want from your hearers: ?I’m going to DO something
Favorite Gesture: ?Arms fully extended and slightly raised

*understand the sinful/flesh side is exposed here.

  1. How would you apportion your preaching style using these three categories?
  2. Have someone else fill in what they think you are
  3. If you are on a preaching team do this exercise together.

This article originally appeared here.

Rick Warren: How to Prepare for a Spiritual Growth Campaign

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

One of the most powerful tools God has used to grow Saddleback Church in profound ways over the last several decades has been the spiritual growth campaign.

We usually move through seven or eight major sermon series per year, which gives us the chance to cover all five of the purposes of God for the church. Typically, two of those series are what we refer to as spiritual growth campaigns.

These campaigns have been responsible for thousands of baptisms and tens of thousands of spiritual decisions, as well as major waves of growth for our church.

One of our campaigns always happens in the spring while the second is in the fall, when people are finding their routines and starting to re-engage after summer vacation season has ended.

The end of summer, for us, is always a season of preparation for the fall campaign.

1. Identify the areas of growth your church needs most.

In a season of prayer and reflection, look back on the series you’ve preached in the last couple of years and identify areas that might have been neglected or opportunities that need a fresh focus.

We’ve dedicated campaigns to going deeper into the Word, stretching our faith in daring ways, experiencing renewal through prayer, and of course, living purpose driven lives.

2. Mobilize the whole congregation to pray.

While you’re still a couple of months away from the start of the campaign, share your vision for the upcoming season with the core leaders and volunteers of your church and challenge them to begin to pray for renewal and growth during the campaign.

Closer to the launch of the campaign, lead the entire body to be praying earnestly for God’s Spirit to move through the campaign. Absolutely nothing is more vital to a successful campaign than depending entirely on God’s power through prayer.

3. Recruit and train potential small group hosts.

When it comes to small groups, we don’t look for expert leaders or Bible scholars. Instead, we look for people willing to do four things:

  • Have a heart for people
  • Open their homes
  • Serve a snack
  • Turn on a video

We produce a video-based small group study for everyone to use, which keeps the entire congregation on track together and makes it easier for people to begin hosting their own groups.

Just before the campaign begins, we host a gathering for potential new group hosts for a night of training and inspiration, which gives another opportunity to share the vision for the campaign with key leaders.

4. Plan the series with your creative team.

The more advanced notice your team has about the messages in the series, the better they can plan for high-impact services.

If you’re sharing stories of life change during the series, you can interview people and edit their videos in advance. If you’re going to utilize creative visuals, you can work ahead and get materials ready in advance. Your worship leaders may even want to write or find songs to support the theme of the campaign.

It’s never too early to start getting ready for the fall, and the downtime of summer affords a little extra preparation time for the wave of growth that the fall season can bring.

This article originally appeared here.

7 Ways to Honor Your Pastor’s Spouse

By
Ron Edmondson
-
thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

One of the toughest jobs in the church is being the spouse of a pastor. It has been called the loneliest job in the church. Here are ways to honor your pastor’s spouse.

No doubt I had one of the best pastor’s wives in Cheryl. By trade, Cheryl is an accountant, an excellent mom and wife, but the demands on her as my wife were some of the most overwhelming to her in the 16 years I served in the pastorate.

Still, she always handled her role with grace and a smile. And, if you knew her, with a hug. (In full disclosure, Sunday was actually Cheryl’s favorite day of the week and she has grieved the absence of her role.)

In this post, I want to help churches know how to honor and protect your pastor’s spouse.

Thankfully, we were mostly in a good church environments, as far as the way our staff and spouses are treated. Plus, we came out of the business world into ministry. We were older and more seasoned by life, so we’ve always approached things differently. We protected our personal time more. We knew we had to, because the church wouldn’t.

I know, however, because of my work with pastors that many pastors’ spouses are facing burnout, a sense of loneliness, and some even struggle to come to church. This should not be.

I will speak from my perspective, as having a pastor’s wife, but these would also apply if the pastor or minister was a female.

Seven ways to honor your pastor’s spouse:

Do not put too many expectations on her.

Regardless of the church size, she cannot be everywhere, at everything, and know everyone’s name and family situation and still carry out her role in her family. She simply can’t. Don’t expect her to be super-human.

Do not expect her to oppose her husband.

She will be protective of her spouse. (Hopefully, you understand as you would equally protect your spouse.) If you bad mouth her husband she’s likely to respond in a way you don’t want her to, but should expect her to. Don’t put her in a situation of having to defend her spouse. That’s never a fair predicament and causes unhealthy tensions.

Protect her from gossip.

Check your motives in what you share with her. Don’t share what you don’t have permission to share. Don’t pit her in the middle of drama. She likely does not need to know the “prayer concerns,” which are really just shared as a way of spreading rumors.

Help her protect family time.

The pastor is pulled in many directions. The family understands the nature of the job. Life doesn’t happen on a schedule. But, in reality, there are often unreasonable demands on the pastor and they always impact the family. If you can, limit your demands to normal working hours for the church and the pastor. Send an email rather than calling at home if it’s not an immediate concern. It will help the pastor have a family life.

Include her without placing demands or expectations on her.

That’s the delicate balance. The pastor’s wife is often one of the loneliest women in the church. She rarely knows whom to trust and often is excluded from times, which are “just for fun.”

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