September 24, 2009 • 2:32 pm
This is part 5 of my top 5 church planting lessons. This one is all too real to me. I have had to learn this lesson the hard way. Our vision for Relevant Church came to us over 5 years ago and we are now on the starting line of our launch.
The greatest thing that I have learned is that God will do things in His time, not mine. This does not only apply to church planting, but to everything in our lives. I had to release my time table to Him and allow God to work the process. This was not an easy thing to do since I like to be the one driving, but what I have come to learn is that when He is driving, I always get to where I need to be.
Are you waiting for something? Does it feel like God is taking His sweet old time? Just know that God is never late and never early, He is always right on time.
Filed under: Church Planting, Leadership, My Journal , Church Planting, Patience, relevant church
September 16, 2009 • 8:57 am
Over the last year and a half that we have been in the process of planting Relevant Church, I have understood that it takes stepping out and taking risks. By nature I am not a risk taker. I like to calculate the costs and make sure everything is in place. But sometimes God calls us to step out and take a risk for Him. Understand that the risk is not something that will harm us, but stretch us in our faith.
I have seen this in our dealing with the financial piece of planting this church. We have had to take risks and purchase items that were necessary only to see God provide something on the other side. A risk may also be bringing in a leader that may not be real proven, but someone you feel God has called to do the work.
All risk taking should be giant leaps of faith. Don’t step out in your own thinking and take a risk, step out in the calling of God and take a step of faith. It may stretch you, but that is what God is in the business of doing with us.
Filed under: Church Planting, Leadership , Church Planting, relevant church, risk taking
September 5, 2009 • 1:29 pm
Here is the third part of a top 5 list of lessons I have learned planting a church. For those that need a review…
#1. Church planting takes a calling.
#2 Church planting takes time.
#3 – Church planting takes God.
Now I know that most of you might think “well, isn’t that obvious?” But the reality of it is, God must be at every turn you make. I have seen this at work in the last few months especially. God has to be in the big things as well as the small things. I have often seen myself focusing on the tasks that need to be done and pulling God in on the big stuff. The one lesson that I take away from this is that God cares so much about the vision He has given me, that He wants to be involved in the smallest details of the work. To be truthful, it is His plan and we are the workers He has chosen to complete it. So the plans and details all come from Him anyway.
Don’t lose sight of the “plan maker”.
Filed under: Church Planting, Leadership, My Journal , Church Planting, God, Relevant Chruch
September 4, 2009 • 4:03 pm
Yesterday, I started my post on the top 5 things that I have learned planting Relevant Church.
Let’s review..
#1. – Church planting takes a calling.
And now #2 – Church planting takes time!
Now I know, everything takes time. But what I have learned is that planting a church takes an extraordinary amount of time. As a lead pastor your time is spent casting vision (the fun part), designing budgets, raising funds, recruiting a team, and the list continues. What I have learned is that if I don’t prioritize my time, then the things that suffer are usually my family and walk with God. Too many times have I found myself replacing the “being” with the “doing”. As a church planter it is vital that my walk with God stays the priority. The reality is, there is stuff that needs to get done. Learn to prioritize and delegate. The key to longevity.
Filed under: Church Planting, Leadership, My Journal , Church Planting, God, relevant church
September 3, 2009 • 4:02 pm
Over the next several days I am going to post my top 5 things that I have learned as I have been on the journey of planting Relevant Church. Now let me say that this is not in any particular order, nor is it an all encompassing list. There has been a ton of things that I have learned along the way, and there is a ton that I still need to learn. So, for the first installment…
#1. – Church planting takes a calling.
Not everyone is called to be a church planter. 6 years ago I would have said that I was not one of them. Hearing the call from God, we pursued the calling. Along the way there have been detours, bumps, and distractions that have caused us to go back to the calling that God gave to us. Knowing that we were called and given an assignment, gave us the foundation and the faith to keep moving forward. I really believe that if you are called to plant a church, God will give you the strength to go through anything. Know this, church planting is not for the faint of heart. It is hard, grueling, stressful, but very exciting and rewarding.
Stay tuned for the rest of the list.
Filed under: Church Planting, Leadership, My Journal , Church Planting, relevant church
I just started a new book and study entitled “Lead Like Jesus” you can check out the study here. As a pastor I know that one of the most important things is to love the people. Jesus gives us a great example in the life that He led on earth. He was the forerunner and model for servant leadership.
[youversion]Matthew 20:25-28[/youversion] states that Jesus came into this world to serve and not to be served. What a powerful statement!
How are you being a servant in the areas that you lead?
What will you do today to model your leadership style after Jesus?
Filed under: Leadership , God, Jesus, Leadership, Relevant Church Charlotte
Craig Groeschel from Lifechurch.tv posted this blog about small groups. I am a firm believer in doing small groups in a church and this post is a great reminder on what not to do.
Tons of churches have attempted small groups only to abort shortly after takeoff. I’ll share the top 10 ways to ensure the failure of your group.
Today we’ll cover the first 5 and finish the others tomorrow.
1. Make sure the senior pastor isn’t in a group. If small groups aren’t modeled by the pastor, they won’t have much of a chance for success. (Amy and I host two small groups in our home.)
2. Make sure the senior pastor doesn’t talk about small groups. If small groups don’t ever find their way into a sermon, it will help reduce the likelihood of success.
3. Make sure small groups are not staffed or resourced properly. To guarantee your groups fail, don’t staff them, buy them curriculum, announce them, or get your best volunteers involved.
4. Make sure small group leaders aren’t trained. When you do get some small group leaders, don’t train them. Let them figure it out on their own.
5. Make sure the church doesn’t address childcare needs. Pretend like all small groups don’t have any child care needs. Don’t open the church one or two nights a week to provide child care. Don’t pay for childcare like I’ve heard North Point does. Ignore childcare needs completely.
Have you seen churches that are handling these issues effectively? If so, how?
Filed under: Leadership, Uncategorized , craig groeschel, lifechurch.tv, ministry, Relevant Church Charlotte, Religion, Small groups
February 20, 2009 • 11:50 am
I am currently reading Andy Stanley’s book 7 Practices of Effective Ministry, and I just came across something that made me think. It was his idea of running “programs” or creating “steps” for ministry.
How many churches out there are measuring themselves on the amount of programs they are running? Are you too busy with the calendar that you are missing the mark of effective ministry? Andy states that many “churches have a reputation of doing ministry without an end in mind”. Having the goal in mind makes all the difference in effective ministry.
Being a church planter, I have read many books and studied many ways to do church. The one thing that I have concluded is that ministry is about being focused on what God called you to do. There are a ton of “good” things out there to do, but there are a few “God” things that each church is supposed to do. We can get wrapped up in doing the “good” things and miss the “God” things.
I am challenged to make sure that we are focused on what God is calling us to do.
How about you? Are there some things that need to be pruned at your church? Are there some things that need more focused attention? The process of focused ministry can be challenging if you are a well established church, but the effectivness that can come out of it can be greatly rewarding.
Filed under: Church Planting, Leadership , andy stanley, church, effective ministry, Leadership, ministry, Religion
January 1, 2009 • 3:59 pm
This post was inspired after I read a twitter post that lead me to Chris Brogan’s blog “Your 3 Goals for 2009″
If you want to try the process, it works something like this: think of how you want to be successful in 2009. Then, try to think in even broader terms. Extrapolate on the broader terms, and find one word to hang the idea on. Chris Brogan.
Below are my 3 goal words for 2009.
Lead – This year I want to learn how to become a better leader of myself and others. I want to lead in a way that glorifies God and it helps others strive toward God. Every day I want to see opportunities to lead with excellence. Maxwell says that everything rises and falls on leadership. So knowing this, how I lead my family, myself and the church God has for us is critical. It is up to me to become a better leader.
Build – This year I want to be a builder not a destroyer. I want to build relationships with others that I do not know, cultivate my relationship with my wife and children. I want to build my confidence in what God has called me to do. Every day I want to look for opportunities to build people up. I am a pessimist by nature so in 2009 I am going to work hard on pressing back the pessimistic nature and learn how to be an encourager. This won’t be easy, but it will stretch me.
Grow – This year I want to grow in several ways. First I want to grow my walk with God. I blogged about becoming a student of the word and that is just want I want to do. I want see my walk with Him stretched and grown to another level. I am sad to say that in 2008 I became lackadaisical in my reading and prayer life. I also want to grow in knowledge this year. I want to learn and try new things. I want to expand my views and knowledge of the things that affect me.
How about you. What are your 3 goal words.
Filed under: Leadership, My Journal, Uncategorized , 2009, goals, Leadership, New Year, relationships, Relevant Church Charlotte
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