Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Influence Conference Recap

A couple of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to take in the Influence Conference, hosted by the Assemblies of God. The one day event featured the likes of Anne Jackson, Tony Morgan and Jon Acuff. What follows is a summary of the day's speakers.

The conference was designed to help attendees discover different ways of influence. Each speaker had a little Q&A after their speech. The guy who got the best response was Robert Patterson, who co-wrote Leading From the Second Chair. He talked about trying to lead when your boss is a spear-thrower (see: David and King Saul).

His encouragement for people who are having spears thrown at them was to not quit, but to try and find some areas of contentment, and to do their best, commit the issue to God, and try to stick it out. But, ultimately, it may come to you needing to depart the organization.

Acuff is a funny guy. The crowd loved him. And, reminescent of the Catylist fiasco a couple of years ago where Acuff rented a conference room for all of his blog followers to gather but no one showed up, the Influence Conference people assigned him an assistant to help with crowd control during his book signing time. Another lady and I were the only ones there.

Acuff's main theme was getting participants to use humor when they teach, because people typically will gauge a message on the first couple of minutes. If they decide they've heard it before, or know what the speaker will say, they go ahead and mentally "shelve" it. But, humor has a way of keeping people on their toes, and helps prevent tune out.

Tony Morgan talked a lot about being intentional in how we construct our churches. Our vision and mission needs to be clearly defined and easily understandible. We also need to avoid doing a bunch of stuff that takes us away from our mission. He pointed out that a lot of churches like to fill up their time and resources on a bunch of ministries. Those ministries are all valid on their own, but they also drain resources from the vision/mission. His suggestion was to evaluate ministries, and keep those doing well, eliminate those that stink, and look for ways to reorganize those that are marginal. On the marginal ones, he said that sometimes we have to rethink how we do those ministries, because there might be a better way to do them.

He also pointed out that churches who have a lot to offer will tend to not have many takers, but those who limit their offerings will have more "buyers."

Anne Jackson spoke a lot about how we can influence people by being open and honest. Too often we, in church, gloss over our junk, label it as FINE, and try to make it go away. We put on the phony happy face, and pretend all is good. But, when we do that, we eliminate opportunities to "be real" and interactive with non-christians. She said that the broken world needs to hear about our brokenness. Otherwise, they can't relate to what we've found in Jesus. Another memorable quote from her, "We think about the consequences of our actions, but rarely the consequences of concealment."

Scott Wilson from the Oaks church in Texas talked about "what is normal" in the context of the church. Too often, we have equated normalcy in the church to be a lifeless, almost Christless Christianity. He used scripture to illustrate that "normal" for the church is quite abnormal compared to the world.

He said that "normal" is always being amazed, but never surprised (at God's work). We should have higher expectations than just coming together in the church. He defined normal for the church as compassion, evangelism, struggles & miracles. And, he added that our people (in the church) won't know what is normal unless (leaders) tell them & demonstrate it.

At that point, he addressed the struggles we face, and said that God uses those to shape our character. (By the way, Patterson also went down this trail and pointed out that David had to have King Saul go after him in order for David's on version of the tyrant to be destroyed within himself.) Wilson said that the struggles are normal, especially for believers that desire to be filled with the Spirit and power (reference Luke 4-Jesus temptation).

He wrapped it up by talking about church service, and how most times churches will hold community events or service projects where we work in the community, but we ignore the stuff that the community is doing on its own. Their town mayor confronted him on that, and afterward the church developed a plan where they partner with the community. An easy example that he cited might be a fall festival. He said the church fall festival would attract a few thousand people, but the community's festival on the same day would only get a couple hundred people. Now, the church has ditched it's festival, and has provided the city's event with volunteers and resources.

His side-organization, actnormal.org, has developed a program and applications for churches to be able to track their congregational involvement in the community. So, you could go volunteer down at the local homeless shelter on your own, then log your time in the system, and the church gets data on how their people are working with the community.

Monday, September 27, 2010

Monday Ten

1. OK, so last week passed and I didn't get those posts up about the Influence Conference. Life happens. I will effort to get those up this week.

2. I had one of the best Zone 45 classes ever at church this past Saturday night. Two boys asked Jesus into their lives. That totally rocked!!! Way to go God!!!

3. Last week, I felt God prompting me to offer an invitation during my class. I was so pumped going into my class that it was actually hard focusing on the lesson.

4. Last week, I also felt burdened that a lot of the kids in my class didn't know their Bibles very well. I was concerned, too, that some may not even have Bibles. As a result, we gave four new Bibles to kids who needed them. And, we will soon be starting a program to teach the children the books of the Bible, and how to find stuff in them.

5. I volunteer with some of the best people you could find to work with in church.

6. A lot of people are intimidated at the thought of working with kids. I have taught adults and elementary kids. My experience is that the kids are easier to teach. Adults come into classes with a life full of junk. Kids are just kids.

7. I have seen several people volunteer to teach kids, but after a few weeks they give up, thinking that children are too hard to handle in class settings. The truth is that you have to spend time with them before they understand what you expect out of them. Sure, they have their rowdy moments, but that's where you have your bluff moments.

8. Saturday night was the first time I had any children accept Christ in class. I'm hoping this is the beginning of God doing some amazing things.

9. I almost talked myself out of giving an invitation Saturday night. Things weren't going as I had planned during the class, and I was running short on time. But, I knew God wanted the invitation to be offered, so I made time at the end of class. Now, Heaven will have two more occupants.

10. Finally, I heard about a girl who attended our church this past weekend. My understanding is that this was her first visit to any church. After attending her first-grade class, she summed it up by exclaiming, "I love this place!"

Monday, September 20, 2010

Monday Ten

Another great weekend is in the books. Let's review:

1. It's vacation time around the radio station. I'm actually on the job, but last week and this one finds us short on staff.

2. Everyone is needing a break before October. I think we have a big event scheduled for each week in October at the station: Pregnancy Care Center's Walk 4 Life, Mount Vernon's Apple Butter Makin' Days, KWFC Day at the Great Passion Play, and the annual Pastors' Appreciation Luncheon.

3. Over the weekend, I was asked to name one thing that most people don't know about me. I could have easily said that radio people don't make near the money that everyone thinks we do.

4. The one thing I listed is .... Sorry, it's a secret.

5. I don't like making decisions, because it seems lately that every decision I make is a big one. I made another big one at church this past week, but it'll be a good one.

6. I was faced with the option of staying with my kids class and moving to the ushering team. Fortunately, I was able to make a win-win decision. I am keeping my Saturday evening kids class, AND joining the Sunday morning ushering team.

7. I attended a great leadership conference last Thursday, and got to hear from speakers like Anne Jackson, Jon Acuff, Tony Morgan and more. There was plenty of good info pertaining to influence that came from that day.

8. This week, I'll be sharing some of the insights learned from the Influence Conference.

9. Last Wednesday morning, I launched a new men's Bible study group. I'm excited about that.

10. My wife has her birthday next month. She got very excited last week when I told her what we were doing for her special day. Sorry, it's a secret.

Friday, September 17, 2010

What's Your Contingency Plan

The Great Ice Storm of ....

Over the past three or four winters in our area, you can insert the year depending on where you lived when one of the ice storms hit and put people without power and heat for several days. I remember the one that hit my hometown in 2007. We were without electricity for 12 days. Some in our area were without power for three weeks.

Now, ice storms aren't that uncommon in our parts. There is typically the threat of at least one or two every winter. But, those are usually small accumulations. Rarely do we see more than an inch. In 2007, we did...and we weren't prepared.

What followed was a rush on area stores for food supplies, generators, fuel, etc. Quite a few people temporarily vacated their homes (like us) to stay with friends and family who had power.

Ultimately, few people had a backup plan in place. Most developed a plan on the fly.

Now, if another such ice storm hit, many people in our area would have a plan B. A lot of homeowners now own generators, and take ice storm chatter more seriously.

In life, many times we don't have a contingency plan when stuff, either good or bad, happens. Without proper planning, we miss out on the good stuff, because we don't know how to receive it. And, we get hit harder by the bad stuff, because there isn't a plan B.

I was reminded of this yesterday at a conference here in town. The event was just wrapping up when power was cut to the building by a car crash just down the road. The backup plan was made up on the fly.

Proverbs 13:16 talks about how wise people plan ahead. Proverbs 21:5 mentions that good work and proper planning have their advantages.

Plan ahead. Think out the future. Sure, some things cannot be fully prepared for. But, if you do your best to think ahead, you'll have a pretty good idea of what direction to take when disaster does strike.

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

What We're Here For

I was reminded this week of why it is so important to create environments in the church that meet people on their different levels and in ways they can understand.

This reminder came in an email from the woman who leads North Point Church's elementary area, and dealt with the new environment for 4th and 5th graders.

The class for this group received a little boost earlier this year when the room we use was repainted with a slick color scheme, and dubbed Zone 45. That was nice and all, but the class was still the same as before the change.

Having taught this class for over a year, one of the things I recognized was that the kids leaving 5th grade weren't quite prepared for the 6th grade environment. Fortunately, this month has brought a change that will meet this need.

Zone 45 has moved into a new, bigger room. This room has three, widescreen televisions, video games, fooseball, and a jazzy decorating scheme that sets it apart from any other area in the church. To call it "cool" is an understatement.

More volunteers have joined the classes, making the environment easier to manage and teach. The lessons are still the awesome ones we used before the move, but with more adult help, they are easier to facilitate.

Prior to this latest move, some kids wanted to skip the class and go do something else, something more fun. Now, they can't wait to get to Zone 45. Their excitement for church excites me. Perhaps as they grow older they will remember that church can be an exciting place to be a part of, and will continue to include it in their lives.

Monday, September 13, 2010

Monday Ten

1. Wiring projects are not fun. They're great once they are completed, but today at my employer, we are running audio wire for the third time this summer. It's a long project, and ceiling tiles plus insulation are not fun when they fall on your head.

2. The NFL season is under way. My fantasy football team isn't faring very well for the first week. I need a huge night from San Diego's Phillip Rivers in order to beat my boss in our head-to-head matchup.

3. I love NFL games, but only really if my teams are playing well. The St. Louis Rams showed lots of promise on Sunday. Tonight, we find out if Kansas City can muster some offense.

4. This past weekend was a busy one for me and church.

5. On Saturday night, I taught the 4th and 5th grade kids in our new Zone 45 environment. It was very cool. Plus, I had three other adults with me, so crowd control was easy.

6. I returned Sunday to train as an usher. I'm trying it out for a month to see if it is a good fit.

7. This could be one of the toughest decisions I've ever made about serving in church. I would likely be giving up something I really enjoy for an opportunity I'm not totally sure about. Praying about that one.

8. This Wednesday morning, I start a new men's connect group through our church (North Point). I'm starting with just three guys (myself included). Most guys aren't interested in a Bible study before going to work. Personally, I'd rather do it in the morning instead of using up family time. I think it'll grow with time.

9. I love serving people through my church. Serving through your local church can be one of the most enjoyable opportunites you'll be able to experience. Plus, it can make an eternal difference.

10. People have all sorts of gifts and abilities. If you're a Christian, you should be using them through the work of your local church to serve other people, especially those that don't know Jesus.

Thursday, September 9, 2010

To Burn Or Not To Burn

I've been mulling over the discussions about this Saturday's planned demonstration by a Florida pastor to burn a stack of Korans (equivalent of the Muslim bible). The debate rages across the country and around the world about whether or not the Rev. Terry Jones should go ahead with the book burning as part of the September 11th terror attack remembrance he has dubbed "International Burn A Koran Day."

Political leaders around the world are running scared that Rev. Jones' actions will fuel terrorist actions. Meanwhile, Jones' supporters (at least 14,400 according to his Facebook page) point that the Islamic extremists regularly burn Christian Bibles, and attack both Christians and Jews with a strong desire to blot both from this planet.

So, I figure this discussion needs some no-brainer talk.

1) It has struck me that the political leaders who are afraid of insulting terrorists are reacting very much similar to the way the world did when Hitler was invading European countries. The key word then was Appeasement. The actions of our current set of leaders (and those around the world) remind me of the cowards who let Germany and Italy run amok through Europe, because they were afraid of war.

2) Let's be honest, Islamic terrorists don't need a reason to murder people. They do it for sport, and in the name of their religion. Peaceful Muslims will react much the same way Christians do Bible burnings: get angry, voice their displeasure, and maybe demonstrate a little. But, those who will use this an an excuse for violence never needed it as an excuse. Terrorists kill. That's just what they do.

It's at this point that someone will probably drag out the crusades or the inquisitions as proof that Christianity is a misguided religion that also supports extremist views. The only problem with that argument is that Jesus never taught us to hate our neighbor. The crusades and Spanish inquisition were based on twisted misuses of Scripture. So, to bring that argument is like comparing apples and oranges.

And, going back to #1, a scared bunch of world leaders will only entice terrorists to kill more. The only answer to terrorism is a strong military force.

3) My third point pulls an illustration from Jesus and one from Paul. Paul wrote that everything was permissible for him, but not everything was beneficial. He wrote in regards to eating and drinking, issues some of the early Jewish and Gentile Christians were struggling with. But, I think we can use the point to mention that, even in America where we have the freedom to burn flags, Bibles, etc., not everything is beneficial (or wise).

Taking this to the next level, Jesus told us to love our neighbor as ourselves. He also told us to go into the world and share His message with all peoples. By his planned actions, the Rev. Jones will be forfeiting any chance to ever love or minister to Muslims. He will be building a steel wall between himself and them that will nearly impossible to break down.

In addition, part of loving your neighbor as yourself has to do with respect. The Islamic extremists have no respect for Christianity. Jesus taught that the best way to lead people to Him would be by loving and respecting people (opposite of the world system).

As such, the Rev. Jones should fore go his book burning and just have a prayer time...and maybe some fried chicken.

UPDATE: The pastor late this afternoon decided to call off his demonstration after Christian leaders urged him to do so. Good move.

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Hypocrites: Part 2 of 2

Yesterday, I wrote about how we Christians should be in agreement with those who don't believe in Jesus that many times Christians (correction, all the time) are hypocritical.

That being said, let's be realistic about one thing. The people criticizing Christianity for its hypocrites have also likely never read the Bible. If they had, they would realize the truth that we all have fallen short of God's standard (Jesus for those who didn't read yesterday's post).

Instead of getting defensive, I suggested yesterday that we need to be in agreement. Christians are hypocrites. Even our best actions can't close the gap between us and Jehovah (God for those of you new to the blog). Jesus is what is required to do that.

Now, keeping in mind that people who don't believe in Jesus have likely never read the Bible, or at least the great majority of it, we need to counter their belief that Christians are hypocrites by living a lifestyle that defuses those claims.

Romans 12 is a great study on how this works. The Apostile Paul, who wrote Romans, starts out by telling us to let God transform our way of thinking, and acting. Then, Paul gives us some easy examples of what this "alternative lifestyle" looks like.

He tells us to not pretend that we love people, which is what a lot of Christians in America are accused of doing. Instead, he says we should REALLY love them.

Hate the stuff in this world that is wrong and cling to what is right. Human trafficking, poverty, disease, abuse, murder, illiteracy, homelessness, etc. This is another area where the Church in America has taken a big hit. For too long, we have turned a blind eye while the world has suffered. We've ignored the poor, the widowed and the orphaned. And, I think it's because we forgot how to care for them. Over time, the Church stopped teaching believers to not just hate the wrongs, but then to do something about them.

Verse 11 is especially pointed at the American Church today, because we have grown lazy in our relationship with God. We've been conditioned over the past 50 years that the spiritual care of our neighbors is the hired pastor, and not our own duty. And, our church services have gradually become dull, boring and indifferent. All of which violate the commands of this verse.

The rest of the chapter fills in a lot more of this discussion, and you seriously need to read it rather than wait for some blogger to write about it. Romans 12 is truely an application chapter.

But, before we leave our discussion on the Christian hypocrite, Romans 12 gives us a couple of words of advice to help diffuse the hypocrite claim. Doing these two things will truely set you apart from the crowd, and your non-believing friends will take notice, and want to know what's inside of you.

  • Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable.
  • And, Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Hypocrites: Part 1 of 2

If you have ever tried to talk to someone about becoming a follower of Jesus, you've no doubt heard the line about Christians being hypocrites.

One of the biggest arguments against Christianity is that people who call themselves Christ-followers are very hypocritical. In other words, the argument is that Christians say they believe the Bible and Jesus, but don't live a lifestyle that follows those teachings.

For the next couple of days, I'm going to tackle this topic. Today, I want to speak to the Christian that encounters this line in their discussions. The natural tendency is to defend and protect. In other words, we like to point out that not every person who says they believe in Jesus is a devil in sheeps clothing.

But, I think that is the wrong approach. You see, the truth is that we actually ARE wicked by our very nature. The truth is that each one of us who calls ourselves Christian is hypocritical. The Bible says that ALL have sinned and fallen short of God's standard. God's standard is Jesus. When you look at perfection, it is Jesus. Not a single person on this globe (or off it) can match God's glorious standard.

Isaiah 64:6 says that we miss God's standard so badly that even our good works, the things that we conclude are righteous are filthy rags when compared to God's standard. Translation: Our best behavior, which by far surpasses our bad behavior, is still not good enough to close the gap that sin creates between God and ourselves.

Fortunately, God sent Jesus, and as Romans 3:21-22 point out, Jesus closes that gap. God made the way for man to be reconciled to Him, and that way is Jesus.