Mark Batterson has some good thoughts on pastoring and leadership.  Stop looking at the big guys and start shepherding your people.

Behind my desk hangs a large photograph of a cow pasture in Alexandria, Minnesota. That’s where I felt called to full-time ministry during a prayer walk when I was nineteen years old. That’s my burning bush. When I get frustrated or discouraged, I spin my chair and look at that photo. It’s a constant reminder of why I do what I do. It’s also a reminder of who called me. I may get a paycheck from National Community Church, but I work for the King and His Kingdom.

Regardless of church governance, you are not called by a church board, senior pastor, or denominational leader. You are called by God. And for the record, he’s the only one who can un-call you. You can get fired, or get burned, by a human employer, but they cannot un-call you.

Let me share seven hard-lessons I've learned about calling...

1. Live for the Applause of Nail-Scarred Hands.
If you live for popular opinion, you’ll have as many ups and downs as the Dow Jones Industrial average. You can please some of the people all of the time, all of the people some of the time, but you cannot please all the people all the time. Deal with it.

2. Think Long.
If you’re going to dream big you better think long. You also better pray hard. God doesn’t call us to start strong, as much as He calls us to finish well. It’s not about what you’re doing as much as who you’re becoming. Before God can grow a ministry He needs to grow you. So stay humble and stay hungry!

3. Thou Shalt Offend Pharisees.
I believe pastors are called to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. And the second-half of the job description is harder than the first-half. It’s your job to challenge the status quo. If you aren’t being criticized then you probably aren’t doing anything that is truly making a difference. One thing is certain: Jesus didn’t shy away from the Pharisees. Stop and think about it, he could have healed the man with the withered arm on any day of the week but he chose the Sabbath. Why? I think he wanted to confront their hypocrisy. He also knew it would be a lot more fun.

4. Don't Play the Comparison Game.
That’s what got Saul into trouble. He kept a jealous eye on David. If you compare yourself to other leaders, you can always find a favorable or unfavorable comparison. One road leads to jealousy. The other road leads to pride. But both roads lead to a dead-end in ministry.

5. Be Yourself
When I first started out in ministry, I was trying to be a pastor. Now I’m trying to be myself. And there is a world of difference. God gave you a personality! Use it. Use it in your preaching, in your counseling, in your staff meetings. National Community Church has to have one of the highest laugh-per-meeting ratios of any church in the country. Why? Because we don’t hire people who don’t laugh at my jokes! And I’m not kidding. Life is too short and ministry is too hard not to laugh together.

6. Get a Life.
If your sermons are boring, it’s probably because your life is boring. For too many in ministry, church becomes the end-all and be-all. They have no life outside the four ways of the church. My advice? Coach your kid’s team. Get involved in the PTO. Cultivate friendships with people who you do not pastor. Pick up a new hobby. Don’t just get a sermon, get a life!

7. Your Primary Ministry Isn’t to People.
As a priest, your primary ministry is to God. I’ve learned that if I spend too much time with people, I add very little value to their lives. If you try to be all things to all people, you’ll end up being nothing to nobody! Spend more time with God than you do with people—in His word, in His presence. That’s how you stay centered, stay balanced, and stay motivated. That’s also how you decrease so He can increase. And that’s the ultimate objective—to make His name famous, not yours!

I promised seven hard-evened lessons, but let me throw in a bonus.

GOD DOESN’T CALL THE QUALIFIED. HE QUALIFIES THE CALLED.

Please don’t misinterpret what I’m saying. Do your homework! But if you wait until you are ready to pursue God’s calling, you’ll be waiting the rest of your life. Why? Because you’ll never be ready! You’ll never have enough education, enough resources, or enough experience. One of our mantras at NCC is this: Go. Set. Ready. When God gives us a green light, we go for it.

Prior to becoming Lead Pastor of NCC, I had one failed church plant and one summer internship on my resume. That’s it. I was totally under-qualified, but I knew God was calling me. So I answered. But even with seventeen years under my belt, I still feel like a nineteen year-old kid in a cow pasture called by God.

Mark Batterson, New York Times Bestselling Author of The Circle Maker and Lead Pastor of National Community Church in Washington, DC

Do You Feel Tension in the Christian Life?

For anyone who has struggled with the tension of salvation started but not complete in this life.
Guest Blogger: Jason Helopoulos

The Christian life can feel schizophrenic. It isn’t hard to recognize that there are numerous tensions filling the Christian life. Some find this exhilarating. However, many of us find that these tensions are a cause of discouragement, despair, hopelessness, and depression. We look at our lives and they are not what we want them to be. We see that:

• We are set free from sin yet continue to yield to it (Rom. 6:2; Rom. 7:19)
• We are saints yet sinners (1 Cor. 1:2; 1 John 1:8)
• We have peace yet are to strive for peace (Eph. 2:14; Col. 3:15)
• We have been saved yet are to work out our salvation with fear and trembling (Eph. 2:8; Phil. 2:12)
• We are beautiful yet wretched (Song of Sol. 4:1; Rom. 7:24)
• We have been given rest yet are to labor to enter that rest (Matt. 11:28; Heb. 4:11)
• We are forgiven yet continue to need to confess sin (Col. 3:13; 1 John 1:9)
• We know the love of Christ yet this love surpasses our knowledge (Ps. 89:1; Eph. 3:19)
• We have died to sin yet must continue to flee from it (Rom. 6:2; 1 Cor. 6:18)
• We are new yet we are not what we shall be (John 3:3; 1 John 3:2)
• We have seen Him yet have not seen him (Eph. 1:18; 1 Pet. 1:8)
• We have all knowledge yet are to increase in knowing Him (1 John 2:20; 2 Pet. 3:18)
• We are a new creation yet battle the old self (2 Cor. 5:17; Rom. 6:6)
• We have joy yet we are commanded to rejoice (Gal. 5:22; Phil. 4:4)
• We have been set free yet are slaves (Rom. 6:18; Rom. 6:22)
• We are fallen creatures and yet sons of God (Rom. 3:12; Gal. 4:6)

These tensions are real. However, this isn’t because Christianity is schizophrenic. These are good and necessary tensions; and they shouldn’t lead to discouragement, despair, hopelessness, or depression. If you are experiencing these tensions of the Christian life, there is a reason: you are a pilgrim on the way. In fact, you are only a sojourner in this land with eyes that have been set upon the “celestial city.” As Christians, we are caught in the in-between.  As has become a common refrain (and Jesus alludes to in His high priestly prayer), “We are in this world, but not of this world.” We have one foot on earth and one firmly anchored in heaven.

When we begin to fully understand that we are but pilgrims in this world, these tensions become avenues of sweetness rather than despair. Ultimately, they point us to what we shall be some day.

As 1 John 3:2 says, “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see Him as He is.” On that day all the tensions in our lives will finally cease. The sinner will fully be transformed into a saint, our peace will be complete, our love will be perfected, sin will no longer be at hand, and our faith shall be sight. And how do we know that this day will be a reality? Surely, some of the greatest signs are the tensions we experience in the present. We are enjoying an appetizer of the benefits of eternity now. The eschaton has broken in.

The positive side of these tensions are a bright neon flashing promise that this future day shall come. Rather than lead us to despair, these tensions should lead us to hope. Come quickly Lord Jesus.

THE CORNERSTONE OF WINSTON CHURCHILL’S TIME MANAGEMENT

A helpful article by Matt Perlman.

It is fascinating that when you study the most effective individuals throughout history, you see the same theme coming back again and again in how each of them managed their time. The key was focus and concentration on a few very significant priorities, always keeping in mind what is centrally important at the moment (that is, what’s best next).

We see this especially in Winston Churchill. Here’s how Steven Hayward very effectively summarizes Churchill’s approach in Churchill on Leadership: Executive Success in the Face of Adversity:

Despite his wide-ranging attention and interests, he always kept in mind what was centrally important to the moment. He was always able to focus his full concentration on the immediate task at hand, and he sent clear signals to his subordinates when an inquiry or directive was of special importance. “When his mind was occupied with any particular problem,” Sir Ian Jacob wrote, “it was relentlessly focused upon it and would not be turned aside.” Ultimately this served as thecornerstone of his time-management system. 

….His general method of work…was to concentrate his personal attention on the two or three things that mattered most at any given moment, and to give to each of these all the time and attention that it merited.

This is the same observation Peter Drucker made about effective executives in the midst of his 50 years of observing them: “Effective executives put first things first, and do one thing at a time.” That’s the key.

Note one misunderstanding we can fall into, however, about what it means to focus on a few core priorities. It doesn’t mean that you are getting less done and doing fewer things overall. Rather, it means you are doing more things overall. That’s why you do one thing at a time — precisely because you have so many things that need to be done. Hence, you focus on one thing at a time because “doing one thing at a time means doing it fast. The more one can concentrate time, effort, and resources, the greater the number and diversity of tasks one can actually perform” (Drucker, The Effective Executive).

So the key is you identify that which is centrally important, and work on that all the way until it’s done. Then you work on the next thing of central importance until it is done. And so forth. (And, of course, above all of these and governing the choices you make about what to do next are just a few, overall, chief goals for the current quarter or year or season.) Drucker summarizes this well:

Effective executives know that they have to get many things done — and done effectively. Therefore, they concentrate — their own time and energy as well as that of their organization — on doing one thing at a time, and on doing first things first.

The Biggest Challenge Facing the Church Today

The Biggest Challenge Facing the Church Today | Paul David Tripp from Austin Stone Counseling Center on Vimeo.

Free eBook! Led: Going With The Spirit

Jesus’ last promise was a lasting one–power from the Spirit to effectively reach people through a clear witness (Acts 1:8). This offer is not just for extroverts or cool churches. Every disciple and church can exponentially increase their impact when they understand and prioritize “Spirit-led” ministry. In this eBook, pastor and author Larry Walkemeyer explores Gal. 5:25: “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. “Going” with the gospel is good. “Going” with the gospel, led by the Spirit, is far better, he writes, asserting that Christians are often unproductive in evangelism because they are unresponsive to the Spirit. Through insightful, scriptural teaching and relevant true stories, Led imparts vital principles of “tuning into the Spirit”; opening doors for the gospel through Spirit-led prayer; journeying through each day with “two ears open”; and stepping out in “power beyond our own.” Walkemeyer invites us into the gospel adventures of living “led.”

Key highlights:

• Inspiring real-life stories of how individuals and churches (including introverted people and churches) have engaged the Spirit to be more effective and in some cases, bold, witnesses to the gospel in both word and actions
• What we can do to become “leadable” for the sake of reaching those without Christ
• Why some of our lack of effectiveness in winning the world is due to trying hard without praying hard, being creative without being truly compassionate and reaching out in self-reliance instead of Spirit empowerment
• Four sequential kinds of power the Spirit imparts to disciples and churches serious about being reaching others who don’t have Christ
• Biblical and modern-day examples of how Spirit-led prayer unlocks deadbolted doors for the spread of the gospel
• Five guideposts for hearing the Spirit’s voice throughout the day as we seek to be witnesses to His gospel
• How we can live out the promised “power to witness” of Acts 1:8
• Seven ways we can ask the Spirit to empower us to step out in “power beyond our own”

Download here.

Building A Thriving, Productive Culture in Your Church

From Pastors.com.

You’ve heard it said that culture starts at the top and works it’s way down. I couldn’t agree more. And yet, after years of working with and around pastors, listening to their greatest concerns, I know it’s easy to get stuck feeling disappointed about culture, without really understanding what you can do to change it.

“The church just isn’t very generous.”

“Nobody ever wants to volunteer.”

“People are flaky—I never know if they’re going to show up on Sunday.”

Is it possible the culture of your church reflects the culture of your heart? Is it possible to turn the misdirected ship around?

How can you build a thriving, productive culture in your church?

Focus on the positive.

This is one of the most difficult things to do, not just as a pastor, but as a human. It comes so much more naturally to see what needs to be fixed, and focus your attention there. But just as with anything, focusing on the negative makes you miss the positive and invites more of the negative to exist.

Tell your congregation, or your team, what you love about them, what you think they do really well. Focus on how you can leverage these strengths, and grow them.

Chances are, as you focus on the positive traits, they’ll begin to overshadow the not-so-positive ones.

Encourage more than correct.

There are definitely moments when your entire group, or certain people in it, need to be corrected: when there is a serious moral issue, or when a particular conflict or topic is distracting you from the mission and vision God has given you.

But encourage more than you correct.

Think of how Paul writes the letters to the Corinthians or Ephesians. He always starts with “grace,” “peace,” and thankfulness for the ability to serve that particular group of people.

By the time he gets to the issues he needs to correct, he’s already put some encouraging words “in the bank” to strengthen the relationship.

Model your words after his.

Focus on the positive, speak it out loud, and when needed, you’ll have gained the relationship capitol to speak the truth in love.

Take ownership for the culture.

This is the hardest part to accept for most leaders because, no matter how many mistakes you’ve made, the negative culture it isn’t all your fault. You can’t control people. You can’t predict how they will act.

But, while it isn’t your fault, it is your responsibility. God has entrusted this community to you and asked you to care for his flock.

If you don’t take ownership to change the culture, who will?

Taking ownership means you must quit complaining about what’s wrong. Complaining is a waste of time and energy. Instead, seek solutions. Implement them. Teach people. Change yourself. The negative culture is not all your fault, but over time the attitude of those who are following you will be a reflection of how you’re leading.

How and where do you want to lead? Be intentional to take people there.

Pray and ask for wisdom.

If you aren’t sure what you’re doing or where you’re going, don’t worry. If you can’t pinpoint the exact problem, or you can, but you aren’t sure how to solve it, you’re in good company. Every person God has ever used for his purposes throughout history has felt completely out of his or her element at some point.

God’s calling should be humbling.

Thankfully, the Bible says (James 1:5) that if you lack wisdom, all you have to do is ask God, and he will give it to you. That’s all you have to do—ask!

Don’t neglect this simple, but completely vital aspect to creating a God-honoring culture at your church. God himself. Pray and ask for wisdom, and then lead boldly knowing he’s taking you exactly where you ought to go.

photo credit: swanksalot

Donald Miller’s prescription for spiritual suicide

This guy, Denny Burk, is spot on.  There is so much bad teaching, if you can really call it that, that freely rolls of the lips of misguided, at the least or deceived at the worst, professing Christians.

I just read a rather stunning admission from Donald Miller. In a short blog post, he says that his learning style is not conducive for learning in traditional worship services. He doesn’t “connect” with God in singing praises or in listening to the preached word. On the contrary, he feels most connected to God when he is working to “build his company.” As a result of all this, he makes this confession:

So, do I attend church? Not often, to be honest. Like I said, it’s not how I learn. But I also believe the church is all around us, not to be confined by a specific tribe. I’m fine with where I’ve landed and finally experiencing some forward momentum in my faith. I worship God every day through my work. It’s a blast.

I don’t know what else to say except that this is profoundly disappointing. Not only that, it’s also dangerous. It’s a recipe for spiritual suicide. I am not denying that people have different learning styles. I am denying that different learning styles in any way trump what God has said to us about His church. The scripture is very clear that the local church is the matrix for Christian discipleship. In short, you cannot be a follower of Jesus and be indifferent about the church.

It is very clear that Miller’s view of the church differs markedly from what we find in scripture. For him, the church is not defined by the preaching of the word and the right administration of the ordinances (e.g., Acts 2:42). Instead, the church is amorphous, “all around us, not to be confined by a specific tribe.” How different this is from the way that the Bible speaks of the church as local bodies of believers “who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 1:2). God is omnipresent, but the church is not. If you are not with a gathered community, you are not at church—despite Miller’s claim that the church is “all around us.”

But more than that, Miller’s aversion to gathering with God’s people goes directly against explicit commands and exemplars in scripture:

“And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.” -Hebrews 10:25

“Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” -Ephesians 5:19-20

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.” -Colossians 3:16

The New Testament pattern for gathered worship seems to involve a meeting on the first day of the week—Sunday (e.g., Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 16:2; Rev. 1:10). It involves the people of God coming together to enjoy the apostle’s teaching, fellowship, prayer, and the breaking of bread (Acts 2:42). Gathering with God’s people like this isn’t an optional add-on to following Christ. It is part and parcel of being a disciple. To neglect this is to deny the faith altogether. In fact, John describes apostates as those who stop gathering with God’s people:

“They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, in order that it might be shown that they all are not of us.” -1 John 2:19

In other words, faithfulness to Christ is not defined by personal piety alone. It is defined in part by persevering in and among God’s people in the church. To walk away from the church is to walk away from Christ.

So yes, I find this statement by Donald Miller to be quite stunning. God has given us everything we need for life and godliness, and a big part of that provision is the fellowship of the church (2 Pet. 1:3). No individual is the pillar and foundation of the truth. Only the church carries that distinction (1 Tim. 3:15). Miller would have you think that neglecting the church is but one of many ways to follow Christ, depending on your learning style. Nothing could be further from the truth, and nothing could be more dangerous to your soul.