Article for Ministers: Sir, Reverend, Would You Have Them Hold the Mayonnaise

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There are times that I really get wrapped up with being important. I mean those times when I am so into the importance thing that the whole world finds it’s orbit around me. I know that you may find that hard to believe, that “importance” could have such a dizzying effect on me but it does.

In fact some time ago, I found myself being very important. Our church was hosting a preaching workshop. Rick Wyser was doing his very good seminar “The Six Should-Be’s of Preaching” and I was feeling particularly important. We had plotted and planned and had all sorts of free books, gadgets, computer programs and all sorts of other things to give out to the participants. Somewhere around fifty ministers came and we were having a tremendous time. Nothing motivates me like talking about becoming a better preacher, so I was definitely enjoying the element.

We started on Friday evening and went long into the night and were to continue the next morning and work through most of the day. There I was in front of all of these ministers opening up the day with prayer and some brief but very important comments. I had on crisp, dry-cleaned clothes and a sparkling new tie and had the look of, well, importance. Right before Brother Wyser came to the platform, I managed to see someone motioning to me in the back of the church and behind the person who was motioning was someone very unimportant-looking. I knew what he wanted and I knew that in my status of current importance that I did not really want to get involved.

However, because of my importance that day, I was chosen to meet a little man who began to germinate the thoughts of what you are now reading. He was dressed in ragged clothes, his shoes were literally coming apart on his feet. He looked as if he hadn’t been near a razor or a tooth-brush in days, who knows, maybe weeks. As I got closer to him, it also became very obvious that he had not been near soap and water in several days either.

I ushered him into the office and honestly I wanted to give him a few dollars and send him on his way. See, I was busy helping Brother Wyser and busy helping other ministers become better preachers, frankly I was very busy being important. However, his story was compelling, in fact so compelling, I shall never forget that day or his story as long as I shall live.

He had a severe speech impediment that made it a little difficult to understand him. He had gotten a job with some Texas boys who had taken him to South Carolina to work at a condo along the beach. He knew how to hang sheet-rock and could paint so that is what they wanted him to do. The key to this whole deal was that the poor fellow was one of those guys that this world is constantly taking advantage of and that is exactly what happened. He had worked for three weeks and only had two-hundred dollars to show for it and then they conveniently left him in a bar in north Georgia drunk as a hoot owl. When he finally had aroused from his drunken stupor all he had was the clothes on his back, the shoes on his feet, and the two-hundred dollars were now gone!

So I began to quiz him on his story. Maybe quiz is not the right word, I began to interrogate this man. His story was so outrageous and I was so busy being important and I needed to get back in there with the action. Where is your car? I don’t have one. How did you get here? I walked. When was the last time you ate? Yesterday morning when I cleaned up some trash in a Burger King parking lot and the manager gave me some biscuits. How long have you been walking/hitchhiking from north Georgia? Four days, please sir, I am not lying to you. I see a fence row that needs cleaning off, can I do that for some money? I need to get back to Texas. How are you going to get there? Well, somebody told me in Georgia and if I could get to Hwy. 84 and follow it, it would take me to Texas.

Up to this point, my importance had been progressively dissipating but now all the importance had been effectively squeezed out of me. I took him to the fellowship hall and loaded him up with a large bag of food from the continental breakfast from our meeting. I noticed that as I walked down the hall that he was literally limping almost to the point of being crippled. I inquired about this and he told me that his feet were blistered so bad that he could not hardly walk and that he was going to rest for the remainder of the day.

I ended up taking him to a motel on Hwy. 84 and putting him in a room and thought to myself how wonderful and how benevolent that I had been on my way back to the church. It took me about twenty minutes and I slid right back into my important mode. I forgot him, until the waitress at Larry’s brought my second run of BBQ chicken around 8:30 P.M. I had been having a great conversation with Brother Wyser and Brother Patterson about. . . . . . you know, preaching and other important stuff,but when I bit into that second run of chicken, the Lord graced my memory with that little guy. I asked Brother Patterson to take care of Brother Wyser that I had something that I needed to take care of. To this point, Brother Wyser nor Brother Patterson even knew about this little guy.

So with a full stomach and a very troubled soul, I went to this little guy’s room. The last time I had seen him had been around 9:30 that morning and it was now working toward 10:00 PM. He opened the door to my loud knock. He appeared almost fearful to me. Now as I think in retrospect he probably thought that I was coming to throw him out or take him downtown to the police station or some such as that. I asked him brusquely, “do you have any food left?” “No sir, I don’t. I ate the last of it around 2 o’clock.” “Are you hungry?” “Yes, sir, I am.” “I am going to Burger King to get you a Whopper Value Meal,” I said. I turned and started for my car and had gone no more than ten feet when I heard his voice again. “Sir, Reverend, would you please tell them to hold the mayonnaise?” I could not answer, I could only nod. I got in my car and he left the door open and watched me drive out of the parking lot and watched me go on down the rode.

The next twenty minutes or so as I drove to BK the Lord gave me a whole lot of insight into some things. Not an audible voice, but I heard the Lord as plain as day, tell me, “That is how you look to me when you get busy being important.” He reminded me of all the times at the great conferences that I asked Him for all the big stuff. Use me Lord to do the big stuff, the powerful things, the glamorous things, the high visibility things, let the miracles fall off of me, let my name be on the lips of all far and wide, please make me important, and by the way, God, can you hold the mayonnaise?

Where did I get that attitude from? From all of that blarney that I had been feeding my mind over the last several years, this leadership book, that time-management program, this self-development seminar, and on and on, ad nauseum. Now understand with me that I feel very strongly about all of these areas and some of the personal and professional development that has occurred within my own life could never have come to pass had I not known about the “how-to’s” and “what-for’s” of leadership development, goal-setting, and raw, rigorous discipline.

But there is something that is lost when our lives become dictated by the Covey “Habit’s.” We have a tendency to lose touch with humanity and the hurts, stresses, anxieties, and pressures that they battle with day-in and day-out. When we lose touch with those pressures that come from the pews, we become empire builders instead of kingdom builders. When I get busy intersecting flights, reserving hotel rooms, planning events, and just being important, I lose touch with what God wants for my life.

God does not want me to be important, He wants me to do His will and His will is never a mystery. His will is to do the best serving where I am when the need arises. Importance will rob you of a miracle. One of the most notable examples of this is Namaan. He almost did not get his healing because he was too important to dip in the muddy Jordan. I wonder how many miracles that I have circumvented miracles in my own life by being important.

Importance is summed up at the Last Supper when the Lord knelt down, girded with a towel, and washed all of the disciples feet. Maybe I had known it but somehow it had escaped me for all of these years that Jesus washed the feet of Judas before the supper ever began. He washed the man’s feet who was going to betray him. That is what importance really is. It is serving the Judas Kiss. It is serving the betrayer. It is ministering to the deserter.

Michael Card has a song entitled The Basin and the Towel. It goes like this:

An upstairs room, a parable is just about to come alive,

And while they bicker about whose best,

With a painful glance He’ll silently rise,

Their Savior Servant must show them how,

By the will of the water and the tenderness of the towel.

And the call is to community,

The impoverished power that sets the soul free,

In humility to take the vow,

That day after day,

We must take up the basin and the towel.

In any ordinary place or any ordinary day,

The parable can live again,

When one kneel and one will yield,

Our Savior Servant must show us how,

By the will of the water and the tenderness of the towel.

And the space between ourselves sometimes is more than the distance between the stars

By the fragile bridge of the servant’s bow,

We take up the basin and the towel.

And the call is to community,

The impoverished power that sets the soul free,

In humility to take the vow,

That day after day,

We must take up the basin and the towel.

When we bow to the basin and the towel, importance has a way of being totally removed from our lives. Servants are not very important. Servants have no rights. Servants move at the command and the whims of the master. Servants have no personal agendas they focus on the mission which supercede any personal agenda.

When we do the small things for the Lord, we advance the Kingdom. The whole attitude of importance revolts against the idea of doing something “hidden” in the Kingdom. Yet, when we fill this role of washing dirty feet, great power, great humility, great purpose slowly seeps into our lives. Increasingly, I am becoming convinced that spiritual greatness comes from serving and with heightening anonymity. Through the continual denial of the flesh, which is a monumental challenge in itself, and through the pouring out of ourselves into the lives of others with no expectations from those actions, that greatness does indeed seep into our lives. Therefore, live out and flesh out this principle of the basin and the towel because in doing so it strangles the very thin veneer of importance.

John Piper writes in Brothers, We Are Not Professionals:

We pastors are being killed by the professionalizing of the pastoral ministry. The mentality of the professional is not the mentality of the prophet. It is not the mentality of the slave of Christ. Professionalism has nothing to do with the essence and the heart of the Christian ministry. The more professional we long to be, the more spiritual death we will leave in our wake. For there is no professional childlikeness (Matt. 18:3); there is no professional tenderheartedness (Eph. 4:32); there is no professional panting after God (Psalm 42:1).

But our first business is to pant after God in prayer. Our business is to weep over our sins (James 4:9). Is there professional weeping? Our business is to strain forward to the holiness of Christ and the prize of the upward call of God (Php. 3:14); to pummel our bodies and subdue them lest we be cast away (1 Cor. 9:27); to deny ourselves and take up the blood spattered cross daily (Luke 9:23). How do you carry a cross professionally? . . . .

I trust that you take this in the spirit by which I have tried to write this. We still need discipline, we must have vision, we will fail if we do not plan, and we must continue to lead, but there must in all of this be ministries marked by utter dependence on God. The Kingdom of God is not advanced with importance nor professionalism but rather with humility.

Trying to Decrease. . .

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How To C.R.A.F.T. A Message

C – collect & categorize

Eccl. 12:9 (NLT) Because the Teacher was wise … He collected proverbs and classified them …
Collect Bible verses, quotes, articles, books, sermon tapes, illustrations, etc. – even years in advance!
Categorize them in a filing system – put something away each day

R – research & reflect

Eccl. 12: 9 (NASB) The Preacher … pondered and searched out …
Research is studying with my mind; reflection is listening with my heart (meditation).

A – apply & arrange

Eccl. 12:11 (NLT) A wise teacher’s words spur students to action and emphasize important truths.
Each sermon should answer three important questions:

                    o What?
                    o So what?
                    o Now what?

Arrange your sermon in an outline:

Keep it SIMPLE.
Haddon Robinson: “Television has destroyed linear thinking”

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How To C.R.A.F.T. A Message

C – collect & categorize

Eccl. 12:9 (NLT) Because the Teacher was wise … He collected proverbs and classified them …
Collect Bible verses, quotes, articles, books, sermon tapes, illustrations, etc. – even years in advance!
Categorize them in a filing system – put something away each day

R – research & reflect

Eccl. 12: 9 (NASB) The Preacher … pondered and searched out …
Research is studying with my mind; reflection is listening with my heart (meditation).

A – apply & arrange

Eccl. 12:11 (NLT) A wise teacher’s words spur students to action and emphasize important truths.
Each sermon should answer three important questions:

                    o What?
                    o So what?
                    o Now what?

Arrange your sermon in an outline:

Keep it SIMPLE.
Haddon Robinson: “Television has destroyed linear thinking”

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Good Is The Enemy Of Great!

I love adventure. I like eating at restaurants that I’ve never eaten at before. I like going places I’ve never been before. I will often take a wrong road intentionally just to see what is there that I’ve been missing. I want to see countries, I’ve never seen before. I want to enjoy what is just ahead.

I want to enjoy some things in the spirit realm too. I look into the Bible and I see the Christians in the New Testament having an all night prayer meeting for Peter. The miracle to me was not Peter getting loosed from prison. The miracle to me was a body of believers putting their agendas, and personal motives aside long enough to agree that something had to be done about Peter’s condition.

In his book Good to Great, Jim Collins states "Good to Great companies do not focus on what to do to become great; they focus equally on what not to do and what to stop doing." We are too often seeking the next gimmick or program that will take us to where we’re desiring to go in terms of church growth or revival. The problem with that, is we start new things constantly but never do perfect them, only to go on to start something else without burying what we just gave up on.

As a result of that, we have our interests and labors so divided that many of our churches are dysfunctional with regards to evangelism, instead of being the driving evangelistic force that our Lord desires us to be.

There are a few things we can stop doing that would bring us closer to having Great evangelistic moves instead of simply good moves. I believe we would go from having good church to having Great church if we would stop trying to entertain one another. Are we hung up on trying to entertain the crowd instead of entertaining the presence of the Lord.

We have it all backwards. We think if we sing good enough. We think if the choir ever gets it all together we will really have great church. We think if we hit the right note. We think if we gesture correctly as we sing. We think that somehow the crowd will be impressed enough to give their hearts and lives to Jesus Christ.

We can’t sing good enough to give someone salvation. You can’t sing good enough to heal a broken body. You can’t sing good enough to give deliverance to a drug addict. You can’t sing or play or act good enough to save even one person’s soul, so why don’t we just entertain the Lord with our worship? It might be that we could draw his presence closer with our sincerity and hunger to worship him. If He came closer, there is no telling what could happen.

We don’t have Great church because we have been satisfied with good church. We don’t have Great worship services, because we are satisfied with good worship services. We don’t have Great results from our evangelist labors, because we are satisfied with good results.

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Good Is The Enemy Of Great!

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Momentum - Allowing God To Move Consistently

This series of articles are dedicated to those individuals who would struggle to maintain the momentum of God's workings in the church.

Definition
Latin centum, movement, from *movimentum, from mov re, to move. See meu - in Indo-European Roots

a property of a moving body that the body has by virtue of its mass and motion and that is equal to the product of the body's mass and velocity; broadly : a property of a moving body that determines the length of time required to bring it to rest when under the action of a constant force

n 1: an impelling force or strength; "the car's momentum carried it off the road" [syn: impulse] 2: the product of a body's mass and its velocity; "the momentum of the particles was deduced from meteoritic velocities"

Momentum is very hard to create. The larger the object, the harder it is to move. Depending on how much energy is needed to move it and the amount of time that energy can be applied decides how much momentum can be generated.

Building momentum in the church is not easy.

It takes:

Commitment
Sacrifice
A constant Investment Of Time
An Endless Amount Of Energy

Once momentum is established in a given ministry or area of the church, it is of utmost necessity to maintain that momentum.

If that momentum is lost or diminished, it is not easily regained. In fact it often takes more energy and time to create the momentum a second time. This is due to human nature and the fact that people are not easily convinced of something after it has proven unsuccessful the first time.

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Momentum - Allowing God To Move Consistently

This series of articles are dedicated to those individuals who would struggle to maintain the momentum of God's workings in the church.

Definition
Latin centum, movement, from *movimentum, from mov re, to move. See meu - in Indo-European Roots

Building momentum in the church is not easy.

It takes:

Commitment
Sacrifice
A constant Investment Of Time
An Endless Amount Of Energy

Once momentum is established in a given ministry or area of the church, it is of utmost necessity to maintain that momentum.

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What to do When People Don't Worship

Although we put so much effort into preparing for our worship services with music practices and prayer meetings, there are some in our churches that we know are not going to worship. It doesn't matter how wonderful the music sounds or how exciting the service may be, some people just aren't going to be involved at all in worship. The Spirit can be so powerful and the anointing be so strong and there are people whose lives are clearly being changed, yet there will be that select few who are content sitting in their seats doing nothing. What do we do when people don't worship? How do we get those people to worship?

Teach on worship.

Colossians 3:16:

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

Teach on worship in your bible studies. Have lessons on worship during Sunday School. Teach on worship during your mid-week services. Show what can happen when everyone is with one accord and in one place doing the same thing. (Acts 2) There are many passages in Scripture that teach on worship. Some people may not worship because they really don’t know how to worship. Maybe they are new to church and do not feel comfortable outwardly expressing themselves yet. Maybe they really don't know what worship is or how to demonstrate it. It is our responsibility to teach on these things. We can't expect these people to worship if we haven't first taught them what worship is and how to worship.

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What to do When People Don't Worship

Teach on worship.

Colossians 3:16:

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

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How to Prepare a Message

- C.S. Lewis: “Don’t just tell people how to feel, describe in such a way that people feel it themselves.”

As ministers it is our God-called duty to "Feed the sheep” (John 21:15-17). Notice the Scripture reads "feed" not "beat." To do this we must deliver a message that we not only prayed and fasted over, but one that has been studied and well-prepared. Here are a few suggestions to help ensure a properly prepared message:

1. Prayerfully choose a (singular) topic. First, ask God to attend His Word — to pursue and own it to the hearts and minds of His people. Pray also that He will use it to move and shape the preacher himself. Then pick one topic. Often, preachers try to cover too many topics in one sermon, leaving the listener confused. Stay with your main subject and try not to chase too many rabbits. When you stray, it’s difficult to get back on point.

2. Research your topic. Again, begin with prayer as you study. Fervently seek the Lord for knowledge and an understanding of the Word. Moses prayed, "I beseech thee, shew me thy glory" (Exodus 33:18). And Eli instructed Samuel to say, "Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth" (1Samuel 3:9). Then take time to research and study your subject matter. The Scriptures admonish us to: “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth" (2 Timothy 2:15). G. Campbell Morgan said that before he preached from a passage of Scripture he read that entire book 50 times.

3. Prayerfully form an outline and prepare your approach. Every sermon is prepared differently. Some messages are better written out and some need bullet points, while others need only the verses jotted down. However, to effectively deliver a message one should include:

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How to Prepare a Message

- C.S. Lewis: “Don’t just tell people how to feel, describe in such a way that people feel it themselves.”

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The Dangers of Liberty

John 8:31-36
31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
33 They answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?
34 Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.
35 And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever.
36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

Liberty, Liberation: Freedom from physical, political, and spiritual oppression.

One of the dominant themes of the Old Testament is that Yahweh is the God who liberated the Israelites from their bondage in Egypt. (Passover)
In the New Testament, God is the one who liberates people from bondage to sin through Jesus Christ. (Cross)

Freedom: The ability to be and do what one wants instead of being controlled by another.

We are able to choose our actions and attitudes, our responses to others and to God.
In another sense, we cannot be and do what we want because we are not independent of others or God.
The Bible constantly affirms that the kind of freedom all persons have is the kind of freedom that slaves have.

Romans 1:1 Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God,

Jude 1:1 Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called:

Colossians 4:12 Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always labouring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.

Deuteronomy 34:5 So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD.
(Moses = Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Kings, Chronicles, Psalms)

2 Timothy 2:24 And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient,

2 Peter 1:1 Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ:

James 1:1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.
(Moses = Chronicles, Nehemiah, Daniel, Hebrews, Revelation)

Slaves on drugs

Slaves on opiates are oblivious to their carnal situation.
Karl Marx declared that religion is the opiate of the masses.
I believe that Paul taught that opiates are the religion of the masses:
(Opiates = Ambitions, Hobbies, Obsessions)

[ read more...]

The Dangers of Liberty

Liberty, Liberation: Freedom from physical, political, and spiritual oppression.

One of the dominant themes of the Old Testament is that Yahweh is the God who liberated the Israelites from their bondage in Egypt. (Passover)
In the New Testament, God is the one who liberates people from bondage to sin through Jesus Christ. (Cross)

Freedom: The ability to be and do what one wants instead of being controlled by another.

We are able to choose our actions and attitudes, our responses to others and to God.
In another sense, we cannot be and do what we want because we are not independent of others or God.
The Bible constantly affirms that the kind of freedom all persons have is the kind of freedom that slaves have.

Romans 1:1 Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God,

Jude 1:1 Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called:

Colossians 4:12 Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always labouring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.

Deuteronomy 34:5 So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD.
(Moses = Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Kings, Chronicles, Psalms)

2 Timothy 2:24 And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient,

2 Peter 1:1 Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ:

James 1:1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.
(Moses = Chronicles, Nehemiah, Daniel, Hebrews, Revelation)

Slaves on drugs

Slaves on opiates are oblivious to their carnal situation.
Karl Marx declared that religion is the opiate of the masses.
I believe that Paul taught that opiates are the religion of the masses:
(Opiates = Ambitions, Hobbies, Obsessions)

[ read more...]

Is Your Plan For Church Growth Working?

Five ways to know whether or not your plan is working.

First let me establish what growth is; Growth takes place when a sinner is converted into God's Kingdom. Transferring members is recycled growth. Growth takes place when the church goes out into the harvest field (world/community) to gather the harvest (sinners).

The church is not of the world but we are the "'light of the world." We have been placed here to do the work of the Kingdom. Jesus called us a city set on a hill and the salt of the earth. We have been placed in this world to let Jesus Christ shine through us;

John 9:5

5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.

Matt 5:14-16

14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.

15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.

16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

John 17:6-19

14 I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.

16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

18 As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.

19 And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.

Jesus is interested in Kingdom growth (converted sinners). His plan is that all would come to repentance, this is the will of God. True growth is not budgets and buildings, but it is souls added to the kingdom. Every church must have a plan to add souls to the kingdom. If you do not plan for this to happen then it is not going to happen. Some plans succeed, others fail. The question is, do you have a plan, and is your plan working?

[ read more...]

Is Your Plan For Church Growth Working?

Five ways to know whether or not your plan is working.

John 9:5

5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.

Matt 5:14-16

14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.

15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.

16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

John 17:6-19

14 I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.

16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

18 As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.

19 And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.

[ read more...]

How to Lead a Spirit-filled Worship Service

John 4:23
But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.

There are many worship services going on today but too many lack Holy Ghost (Holy Spirit) involvement. The only way to lead a Spirit-filled worship service is if those doing the leading are filled with the Spirit. Sounds basic I know, but it really is the answer to leading a true Holy Ghost inspired worship service. Those who are involved need to have a true love for worshipping God and they need to express that while leading. The musicians, singers and anyone on the platform leading worship should be full of the Holy Ghost themselves (John 20:22).

Lead by example! When you are singing songs about worship and you yourself are not worshipping, you are sending the wrong message. As "worship leaders" we should be leaders of worship. To lead someone is to show someone the way. While leading worship, one should not feel constrained or bound by anything. Outward demonstrative worship requires us doing just that…demonstrating worship! Whatever the Lord impresses on your heart to do while leading, you should do without hesitation.

2 Corinthians 3:17
Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

liberty- freedom from control, interference, obligation, restriction, hampering conditions, etc.; power or right of doing, thinking, speaking, etc., according to choice.

Pray to be sensitive to the Lord's leading. The Lord knows in each and every service, where He wants to take the congregation. If we limit Him by not leading the way we are supposed to lead, the service goes in the wrong direction. We should pray every service to be sensitive to His voice and that He would show us what He would have us do in that service. Worship is not something we do for anyone else but for our Creator. Worship is something that does not require the attention or approval of anyone else but our Lord and Savior! We were created to worship Him. He doesn't make or force us to do it, it is something He wants us to do from the bottom of our hearts. He gives us the choice to worship Him or to not worship Him.

[ read more...]

How to Lead a Spirit-filled Worship Service

John 4:23
But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.

2 Corinthians 3:17
Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

liberty- freedom from control, interference, obligation, restriction, hampering conditions, etc.; power or right of doing, thinking, speaking, etc., according to choice.

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How To Increase Giving In Your Church - Part 1

In his book "How To Increase Giving In Your Church", George Barna gives several key principles for effective stewardship. Our challenge is to create an enviroment and facilitate a mind-set in which people want to donate money to the church for the right reasons. The following are some guidelines toward achieving that outcome.

You are raising money for Life Transformation, not Organizational Survival. Your objective must be to advance the cause of ministry, not to perpetuate the survival of an institution. God can make great things happen in people's lives without an organization through which such ministry happens. Focus on the essential: Seeing lives changed for the glory and purposes of God.

People give to people and causes, not to institutions or programs. If you want to inspire people to become good stewards, help them see themselves as ministers. Their giving is a means of using their resources for the very reason they exist: to know, and serve God with all their hearts, minds, souls and strength. Encourage people to give to the church because it provides opportunities and means of helping people.

Repeat donors must be both inspired and persuaded. Great fund-raisers know how to identify the soft spot that inspires people to give generously. Eliciting such support is more than just finding a "hot button"; it initials penetrating both the head and the heart of the donor. Your goal should be to create a stewardship mind-set. You do not want to have to start from scratch every time you need money; you want to build on a foundation you have worked hard to develop, one that is based on trust, integrity and mutual benefit.

There is no substitute for absolute integrity. None! Honesty, transparency, accessibility - these are the characteristics on which a great stewardship campaign - and genuine, life changing ministry - are based. Integrity is not something to be fooled with. lose it and you will pay a major price for an extended period. Once the people's trust has been violated, the relationship cannot be restored until many years have passed and the donors who were hurt by the infraction are gone. Ministries cannot outlast that era.

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