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Monthly Archives: June 2012

Where The Rubber Meets The Road

27 Jun

“I’ve never met a mature Christian, only maturing Christians.” -Bill Hanks

Jesus gave his followers a mission that he expected each of us to take seriously and to accomplish:

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” Matthew 28:19-20a

With the mission our Lord has given us in mind, here are a few practical thoughts on discipleship:

1. Discipleship is where the “rubber meets the road” for a Christian.

2. Discipleship is what Pastors and church leaders must ALWAYS see as the goal and focus of the churches they lead.

3. Discipleship is a process that must be intentional, life giving and transforming.

4. Discipleship is not a class or book or agreeing to a set of beliefs, but rather a lifelong journey, walking side-by-side with other Christians and allowing the Holy Spirit to change and transform us into who God has truly created us to be.

5. Discipleship happens best in the local church with other committed Christ-followers “doing life” together.

Many of these thoughts flow from evaluating how well we are making disciples at VALLEY Christian Church. We’re discovering simple and practical ways to become more effective in our transformational discipleship journey together. I can’t wait to share what we’re learning with the whole VALLEY Family at the end of this summer.

Oh, did I mention, discipleship is EXCITING!

 
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Posted by on June 27, 2012 in Leadership, Preaching, relationships, Staff

 

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Time to Make That Change

22 Jun

Change is never easy for people. However, a good leader knows that change is in incredible tool to increase Kingdom fruit and effectiveness (see John 15:2). Previous blog posts have explained the behind the scenes reorganization we’re going through at VALLEY Christian Church this summer (HERE). As we’re beginning to make some prayerful, God given, conclusions about the future direction of our church (for the next five years), the time now starts to communicate changes to all the leadership and ultimately, the whole church family. In my opinion, this is where many leaders/pastors make huge mistakes and actually jeopardize their future plans before they even get off the ground. Here is an approach for communicating change that I learned several years ago. It has helped me immensely in leading through changing times.

1. Meet with smaller groups of influencers first (and walk them through steps 2-5).

2. Explain the current ministry system

3. Explain the challenges the current ministry system creates

4. Explain your vision for where you want to take the ministry and how the new ministry system will make that vision a reality.

5. Explain the advantages of the approach.

Take this approach about 20x with smaller groups of people before ever thinking about sharing the changes with the whole church. By using this approach, when the time comes to “go public” with the new plans, about 80% of the church will already be on-board, nodding their heads and ready to start!

 
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Posted by on June 22, 2012 in Church Growth, Coaching, Leadership, Staff

 

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Shepherd or Hireling?

21 Jun

Thursdays are meeting days for the staff of VALLEY Christian Church. It’s the day we spend about 3-4 hours in planning and strategizing each week. Today was one of those amazing days. I find my heart so thankful for the team of pastors in our church. Their heart for Jesus and for his people is truly humbling to witness.

After our meetings, I’ve been able to spend some time reflecting and listening to some other Christian leaders discuss the difference between a shepherd or a hireling in the church (read some for yourself HERE, HERE, and HERE). Listening to these leaders has brought me back once again to the heart of the men and women on staff that are truly SHEPHERDS at VALLEY!

Thanks so much, Susie, Josh, Nnamdi, Karen and Bob (Tommy and Jasmine too). You each bless and enrich my life every day as we serve Christ side-by-side.

 
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Posted by on June 21, 2012 in Church Growth, Leadership, relationships, Staff

 

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The Best Book I’ve Read In The Last 10 Years

18 Jun

It’s been said, “If you want to be a leader, you’ve got to be a reader”. That being said, The Explicit Gospel is the best book I’ve read in the last 10 years (and I read 10-15 a year). Matt Chandler does an excellent job instructing and reminding Christians what the Gospel is really all about. I highly recommend The Explicit Gospel for every Christian and especially every pastor in America!

 
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Posted by on June 18, 2012 in culture, Leadership, Preaching, Staff

 

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It’s All About Asking The Right Questions

13 Jun

In a previous post (see it HERE), I mentioned the reorganization we are currently walking through as a staff. During the time spent preparing myself for the reorg, I’ve found a lot of wisdom from other pastors across the country talking about the need for leaders to ask the right questions of their church leadership and staff.

Here are a few of the most thought provoking questions that I’ve found are helping me direct the church at this time:

1. What’s in decline?

2. Where are we manufacturing energy?

3. What are our underlying faulty assumptions about the way we do ministry?

4. What would a great leader do if facing this decision?

5. What do we need to stop doing?

Not real profound stuff, but very profitable to wrestle through with your staff and leadership team. Maybe it’s time to start asking the right questions for you too.

 
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Posted by on June 13, 2012 in Church Growth, Leadership, Staff

 

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What Every Pastor Must Do

06 Jun

(This post is just too good to not pass on. Whether you’re a pastor or passionate Follower of Christ, we all need this reminder! Thanks James MacDonald for fanning the flames! -GW)

I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the word! —2 Timothy 4:1-2

That is the compelling urgency for every minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And it’s the call upon every follower of Jesus Christ. . .

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Posted by on June 6, 2012 in Church Growth, Leadership, Preaching

 

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Change Ahead

04 Jun

“If someone with fresh eyes were to come into this organization (church), with no emotional attachment, but they’re committed to the Great Commission and they’re committed to leading people into a growing relationship with Christ and committed to reaching unchurched people, what would they change?” -Andy Stanley

I recently heard Andy Stanley ask this thought-provoking question. The staff at VALLEY Christian Church and I have been wrestling with the answers to this question for weeks now, and we are moving toward a complete, top to bottom, reorganization of our church. We’re doing this NOT because things are plateaued or in decline, but because the church is healthier and growing faster than ever before. That is why it is precisely the right time to make these changes. Five years ago, we reorganized, and the church has practically doubled in size since. Over the last five years we have added new staff and new ministries to how the church functioned in the summer of 2007.

Churches (just like any organization) become more and more complex and inefficient over time (no matter what size they are). They get into ruts and ways of doing ministry and lose sight of the clear mission and purpose of the church. It is for this reason, because things are going so well, that we need to put everything we’re doing under a microscope, ask some really hard question and discover the good things we are doing that are keeping us from the GREAT things we should be doing!

I’ve spent the month of May preparing myself for leading the staff, then our leadership and finally our church family through these wonderful and significant changes that will allow us to reach more unchurched people and make more mature followers of Christ. Personally, I’ve never been more excited about what God is doing at VALLEY, and that’s saying a lot after 22 years as a pastor there! Over the next few posts, it’s my hope to share more about the process we are on and some of the conclusions we arrive at. In the meantime, any and all prayers on our behalf are greatly appreciated. One thing for sure, following Christ is NEVER boring!

 
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Posted by on June 4, 2012 in Church Growth, Leadership, Staff

 

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