Church Planting

Many people ask "why would someone want to plant another church since we have so many churches already?" That is a good question and the sad truth of the matter is 85-90% of the churches in America have stopped growing or have started to decline. Most churches just simply add people who have grown un-happy with their current church instead of growing by un-churched people coming to faith in Jesus. Any person that wants to plant a church today must realize that doing things the way they've always been done isn't going to cut it and being more concerned with maintaining the status quo then reaching new people isn't going to work. Almost every person writing about the church today will tell you that our greatest hope for reaching new people is through church planting because there is a correlation between the excitement of something new and people being willing to reach out to their non-churched friends to invite them to church.

Church planting should happen not because we need just another church but because we need new churches that will reach the people currently un-reached by the existing churches. As long as there are people that haven't been reached by the Gospel we need to try new things that will possibly reach out to them. Below you will see some of my thought on what a new church would look like. These "statements" are continually a work in progress till God calls me to put them in "stone" but I think you would get the general direction I'm heading.

Vision Statement:

“We want to be a church where un-churched people fall in love with Jesus”

Core Values:

Transformational Teaching- We believe that the Holy Spirit transforms lives and chooses to use the Bible as a primary means to accomplish this transformation. We believe we can be creative, innovative, and daring in our presentation but still hold tightly to the never changing truths of Scripture.

Purposeful Prayer- We believe that God wants to hear the prayers of His people and that we should seek for God to move. We believe we need to understand God’s plans are not always our plans therefore we need to accept God’s plan even when we don’t understand it.

Building Bridges- We believe that Jesus sacrifice demands of us to reach out to those who don’t know Him both locally and globally. We believe we must do whatever we can to help people physically and emotionally, but also help them understand their primary need is spiritual and that the answer is found in Jesus Christ.

Radical Relationships- We believe God created humans to live in relationship and not alone. We believe that having radical relationships where you can be real and grow in your faith are essential to being who Jesus called us to be as a church.

Simple Strategy- We believe that keeping what we do simple yet strategic will help everyone maximize their ability to become all that God wants them to become and will help our church reach more people with the life changing message of Jesus.

Doctrinal Statement:

the Scriptures
We believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the verbally inspired word of God, the final authority for faith and life, inerrant in the original writings, infallible, and God-breathed (2 Timothy 3:16, 17; 2 Peter 1:20, 21; Matthew 5:18; John 16:12, 13).

the Godhead
We believe in one Triune God, eternally existing in three persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—co-eternal in being, co-eternal in nature, co-equal in power and glory, having the same attributes and perfections (Deuteronomy 6:4; 2 Corinthians 13:14)

the Person and Work of Christ
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, became man without ceasing to be God, having been conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary in order that He might reveal God and redeem sinful man (John 1:1–2, 14; Luke 1:35). We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished our redemption through His death on the cross as a representative, vicarious, substitutionary sacrifice, and that our justification is made sure by His literal, physical resurrection from the dead (Romans 3:24; 1 Peter 2:24; Ephesians 1:7; 1 Peter 1:3–5). We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ ascended into heaven and is now exalted at the right hand of God where, as our High Priest, He fulfills the ministry as Representative, Intercessor, and Advocate (Acts 1:9, 10; Hebrews 7:25; Hebrews 9:24; Romans 8:34; 1 John 2:1–2). We believe Jesus is coming again to judge the living and the dead (1 Peter 4:5; Romans 14:9; 2 Timothy 4:1).

the Person and Work of The Holy Spirit
We believe that the Holy Spirit is a person who convicts the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment; He is the Supernatural Agent in regeneration, baptizing all believers into the body of Christ, indwelling and sealing them unto the day of redemption (John 16:8–11; 2 Corinthians 3:6; 1 Corinthians 12:12–14; Romans 8:9; Ephesians 5:18).

the Total Depravity of Man
We believe that man was created in the image and likeness of God, but that through Adam’s sin the race fell, inherited a sinful nature, and became alienated from God; man is totally depraved and of himself utterly unable to remedy his lost condition (Genesis 1:26, 27; Romans 3:22, 23; 5:12; Ephesians 2:1–3, 12).

Salvation
We believe that salvation is the gift of God brought to man by grace and received by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, whose precious blood was shed on Calvary for the forgiveness of our sins (Ephesians 2:8–10; John 1:12; Ephesians 1:7; 1 Peter 1:18–19).

Eternal Security and Assurance of Believers
We believe that all the redeemed, once saved, are kept by God’s power and are thus secure in Christ forever (John 6:37–40; 10:27–30; Romans 8:1, 38, 39; 1 Corinthians 1:4–8; 1 Peter 1:5). We believe that it is the privilege of believers to rejoice in the assurance of their salvation through the testimony of God’s Word, which clearly forbids the use of Christian liberty as an occasion for the flesh (Romans 13:13, 14; Galatians 5:13; Titus 2:11–15).

the Ministry and Spiritual Gifts
We believe that God is sovereign in the bestowing of spiritual gifts. It is, however, the believer’s responsibility to attempt to develop their sovereignly given spiritual gift(s). The baptism of the Holy Spirit occurs at conversion and is the placing of the believer into the Body of Christ. We also believe that particular spiritual gift(s) are neither essential, nor prove the presence of the Holy Spirit, nor are an indication of deep spiritual experience (1 Corinthians 12:7, 11, 13; Ephesians 4:7–8). We believe that God does hear and answer the prayer of faith, in accordance with His own will, for the sick and afflicted (John 15:7; 1 John 5:14, 15). We believe that it is the privilege and responsibility of every believer to minister according to the gift(s) and grace of God that is given to him (Romans 12:1–8; 1 Corinthians 13; 1 Peter 4:10–11).

the Church
We believe that the church, which is the body and espoused bride of Christ, is a spiritual organism made up of all born-again persons (Ephesians 1:22, 23; 5:25–27; 1 Corinthians 12:12–14; 2 Corinthians 11:2). We believe that the establishment and continuance of local churches is clearly taught and defined in the New Testament Scriptures (Acts 14:27; 18:22; 20:17; 1 Timothy 3:1–3; Titus 1:5–11). We believe in the autonomy of the local churches, free of any external authority and control (Acts 13:1–4; 15:19–31; 20:28; Romans 16:1,4; 1 Corinthians 3:9, 16; 1 Corinthians 5:4–7, 13; 1 Peter 5:1–4). We recognize believer’s baptism and the Lord’s supper as scriptural means of testimony for the church (Matthew 28:19, 20; Acts 2:41, 42; Acts 18:8; 1 Corinthians 11:23–26).


If you have further questions or would like for me to email you an informative paper written about church planting please let me know.

Leadership

I've been thinking about this quite a bit and I've come to the conclusion that leaders can really only work successfully for other leaders. I think if your personality is more of a manager you are able to work for a leader or a fellow manager but if you're a leader you'll become frustrated and stifled if you work under a manager. "What does a leader look like?" you might be asking and believe me if you want to know there are a million books out there that talk about it. Here is a list of some qualities I believe a leader has:

A leader...

1. realizes God put them in that place for a specific time and reason
2. realizes they won't be there forever so they look for pass on things to the next generation
3. seeks God's wisdom
4. has a vision for the future
5. isn't afraid to make tough decisions
6. listens to those around him
7. communicates the vision to everyone
8. isn't afraid to take calculated risks
9. will rally people around a big idea
10. is constantly asking questions on how things can be better
11. isn't satisfied
12. loves to see others around him succeed
13. wants to be the go to person
14. takes ownership of the decision
15. is strategic

I'm sure you can think of more and I'd love to hear your thoughts as well!

9 Years Later...

...I'm still thinking about a 5 second statement. In 2000 I was a junior in college and my two roomates and I decided to go play golf. When we got to the course there was a guy who joined up with us to make our foursome. I can't remember what hole it was but sometime into our round the conversation with this guy turned to what I would be doing after college and I told this guy I was going to seminary to study the Bible at the graduate level. I remember asking this new guy if he went to church and if he was a Christian, his response has stuck with me for 9 years. He said "I've tried it and it didn't work for me". Now if I was quick on my feet I would have asked, "what did you expect it to do for you?" but I wasn't so I didn't. Over the years I've thought about this conversation often and wondered how he would have answered my comeback but sadly I think I do know. I think there are probably two things he would have said and both sadden me.

The first thing I'm guessing he thought was that if you go to church and you become a "Christian" life will be great. You think at work you'll be promoted and get raises; you think your health will be perfect and nothing bad will appear on those exams; you think your marriage will be great, you'll never fight and have sex every night; and you think your kids will be perfectly behaved and grow up to be successful individuals in life. I'm sure it never crossed his mind that being a Christian doesn't mean those things, in fact it might mean your life appears worse. Right now I'm writing this blog while virtually unemployeed, one of my friends might miscarry a child, another friends husband is in a coma and could possibly die or have his life be totally different when he wakes, my mother has terrible back pain, and thousands if not millions of Christians I don't even know are being persecuted to the point of death. Christianity is not the way to avoid the bad things in life and if you thought that going to church would change that sir I'm sorry we've done or said something to make you think that.

The second thing I'm guessing he might have thought that didn't work for him is that if you go to church and you're a "Christian" you always do, say, and think the right things. So many "church people" have this holier than thou attitude that will turn you off. Sir I'm sorry if we have given you the impression that we're perfect people and then we failed. I'm sorry that I still say, do, and think the wrong things...I'm human just like you and I screw up. If someone gave you the impression that we are perfect I'm sorry.

Being a "Christian" or going to church doesn't mean our lives are all together and it doesn't mean we should think we're perfect, in fact if you're really a "Christian" it should mean the opposite. Sir if you'd really like to know what being a "Christian" can do for you let me tell you. Being a "Christian" means that you realize you are a person that screws up a lot and that even if you don't screw up as much as some you've screwed up enough that God doesn't have the type of relationship with you He wants. If you're a "Christian" you realize that no matter what you do you can't earn God's favor but that you only get it through His grace.

You see sir that by God's grace He decided to send His only Son, Jesus, to this earth to die for us so that if we place our faith in Him we might have an eternal relationship with God the Father. I know this must sound to simple but it wasn't simple on God's behalf, it was very costly. This doesn't mean that life will be perfect and it sure doesn't mean we'll be perfect, but it does mean when we screw up God forgives us because of Jesus. I realize the church and "Christianity" didn't work for you but I'm guessing that is because you expected some genie to grant you wishes and that isn't what God does. God isn't here to make our lives perfect but He wants to make our lives more and more dependent on Him instead of ourselves.

If you've encountered "Christians" that gave you the wrong impression I'm sorry because we shouldn't ever give you the impression living the life of following Jesus is easy, isn't easy but it is worth it because you live everyday forgiven and connected to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit in a way you never could before you placed your life in the hands of Jesus. So sir I ask you that if in the future I screw up I hope you'll realize I'm not perfect but a work in progress daily being shaped by God because of His love and forgiveness.

I wish I could go back in time 9 years to talk with that guy but I can't so all I can do is pray someone else will tell and show him what being a Christian really is because I know that God's love and grace can work for him.

Drive Conference 2009 in Review

Last week I had the opportunity to go to the Drive Conference in Atlanta at North Point Community Church. As I expected Andy Stanley and his team did a great job of providing a 3 day getaway for pastors where they could have fun, learn, network, and have more fun. Any time you go to a conference like this it is really hard to narrow down all that you want to talk about because there was so much good stuff. What I'll try to do here, because I know you don't want to read for days, is to tell you all the titles of the main sessions and the breakout sessions I went to and then tell you a point or two that really stood out. If you have never been to Drive I really encourage you to go next May because it will be a great experience.

Andy Stanley was the speaker for the main sessions and the North Point Staff did all the breakouts.

Main Session "Leading in Uncertain Times"
* You need to respond to uncertainty with clarity & flexibility
* Plans can change, but the vision must remain the same
* Die on the hill of vision, but not plans

"Connecting Adults into Small Groups"
* provide multiple ways for people to take the next step of getting assimilated
* realize the joining a small group requires committment and some people just aren't ready for that yet
* make the process easy

"Developing Group Leaders Who Lead Well: What Every Leader Needs"
* simplicity allows for focus, and focus allows for excellence
* clarity prevents frustration & self-defining
* does your training effectively address the needs of your leaders?
* support your leaders
* when you trust your system you can trust your leaders

"Teaching That Sticks"
* you must raise a felt need in the audience
* ask yourself, "what is so important about what I'm about to say?"
* pick 1 point and build everything around it
* the point should be well-crafted, memorable, and as short as possible

Main Session "Listening, Learning, and Leading"
* creativity is intelligence having fun
* leadership is not about making decisions on your own, its about owning decisions once they are made
* the responsibility of the leader is not to make all the decisions, the responsibility of the leader is to ensure that all the decisions made are good ones
* you are probably not the smartest person in your organization, you are just the leader
* leaders are attracted to environments where their ideas and opinions are heard
* leaders who refuse to listen will eventually be surrounded by people who have nothing important to say
* create a system that allows you to get the brightest and most strategic-minded people to the decision-making table and don't just allow seniority to determine structure
* fair ended in Eden, shoot for right

"Putting A Creative Idea to Work"
* the right people are the foundation of a successful creative process
* what is success for your environment?
* define your audience
* don't kill a bad idea too soon
* you have to have permission to fail
* give creative people room to fly but build in accountability

Main Session "Making Vision Stick"
* vision must be transferable
* state it simply- the larger your vision and the more people you want to understand it the simpler it must be
* cast it convincingly- position and present your vision as the solution to a problem that must be addressed immediately
* repeat it regularly- at least twice a year cast vision
* celebrate it systematicly
* embrace it personally & publicly- tie vision into everything & by everyone
* vision requires constant care & attention


As you can see there was a lot to take away from this great conference and I only wish I could have attended more breakout sessions because I didn't even get to go to a lot of other great ones. If you haven't spent much time seeing what North Point is doing to fulfill their vision of "creating a church that unchurched people want to go to" I encourage you too.
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Opportunities

You know it is a tricky thing when you're a "professional" Christian. When I worked for an auto insurance company I got to be around a lot of people that weren't Christians, when I worked for the cell phone company I was around a lot of people that weren't Christians, when I worked on staff at a church I WASN'T around a lot of people that aren't Christians, and now while I'm working in retail sales I'm once again around people that need to know what a relationship with Jesus is all about. It is crazy that when you are a "professional" Christian you seem to be involved in missions more. One of the things I tried to do my last few months when I was on staff at a church was put myself into places where I'll be around non-Christians. One of the main things I did was join a public basketball league in the town where I live. When you are a pastor you have to make a concerted effort to put yourself into situations where you'll meet non-Christians and be available to what God might do. If we expect for God to do something in this world we can't just sit around and hope God will bring them into our church doors. My challenge to all pastors and to myself when I go back on staff at a church is to put myself into situations where God can use me to show people His love and grace.

Reality Check

This weekend we celebrate the death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We celebrate the hope that we find in Him both in life and death. This Good Friday wasn't so good for one of my childhood friends. Early Friday morning my friend learned that her husband was in a terrible accident and could die at any moment. My friend is eight months pregnant with their first child and just the thought of her losing her husband so early in life and with so much to look forward to is almost too much to handle. Her husband is currently in a coma and on life support but his vitals have improved greatly over the last 48 hours.

It is events like this that should and do cause you to stop and think, they make you appreciate what you have in life...health, family, friends. Hundreds of people are praying around the clock for my friend and her husband and we all believe that God has the power to heal but we just don't know if He will. On this Resurrection day we thank God for our many blessing and mostly the hope that we have in life or death because of what Christ has done.

Winds of Change

The Maddness of March is almost over as we enter April and the Final Four is this weekend. April is also an exciting time for Amanda & I because I'm talking with six churches right now and half of those six are getting very close to making a decision. Amanda & I are so excited to find out what God has next for us and it has been so exciting to talk with these churches. These six churches are located all over the country and range from 300 to 3000 in weekly attendence but it is amazing to see what God is doing all over this country. Change can be tough but I believe God uses it to mold us and make us strong so I look forward to whatever this next change will bring for us because we know God is faithful.