Communicorps

Preaching Ideas in Home Depot (and Other Places)

2011-11-12T21:55:00.000-08:00

As a creative support for our pastor and other church staff, part of my job is to generate ideas for various ministries, emphases and sermon series. So in my work I’m known as one of the “creative guys”. In this role I’m often asked where I get my ideas. My standard reply is “Home Depot”, which usually gets me an odd stare. So let me share a little on finding great ideas, but from a pastoral perspective.

What is an idea? As a pastor seeking preaching and ministry ideas, you first have to understand exactly what an idea is. The best definition I’ve come across is that an idea is the combination of two or more existing elements in a new, often unexpected way. Ideas, then, are born of the familiar, but in some way offer a new connection.

Steve Jobs at Apple combined a hard drive from a computer and a Walkman radio and made the iPod. Neither music on the computer or a portable music device were new ideas—it was the combination of the two that spawned the idea of digital music players. So where do these to or more existing elements come from? This is where Home Depot enters the picture.

What are the raw materials? Raw materials for ideas come from the input we have every day. What we read, what we see on television, the conversations we have, observations in our workplace, schools, stores, neighborhoods. I get lots of thoughts walking through Home Depot. There are lots of products that I have no idea what they do, but they look interesting. The plumbing aisle is particularly attractive, filled with lots of pipes and tubes and fittings that get me thinking, “How in the world is this thing supposed to function?”

In order to cook a meal you have to have the ingredients. In order to incubate an idea, you must have raw materials. Best advice for pastor in getting raw materials? First, read, voraciously and regularly. Not only the Bible and theology books, but magazines, newspapers and online. I know of no prominent pastor who is not also an avid reader. Second, observe. Look at life as an opportunity to learn. An interesting exercise is to enter any interaction with the thought, “How could this visit (or shopping trip, or errand, or whatever) help me in my preaching?” Make your mind a sponge and it will soak up more than you could ever imagine.

How are new ideas born? New ideas are born after a period of incubation. Basically once you have all these thoughts, observations, words and facts in your mind, they all need to roll around up there for a while to mature. It’s like cooking a stew. The longer and slower it cooks the better the result. The best idea people aren’t on the clock when it comes to inspiration. They have good ideas because they spend time collecting raw materials and then allow those thoughts to incubate. Often my ideas combine elements I first observed months, even years ago.

As a pastor, you must allow yourself time to think, time to rest and time to focus. Ideas will not incubate as well if your mind is filled with constant noise. A quick tip—take 10-15 minutes each day to be in a silent room without companions or distractions. Sound like your time alone with God? Guess what—that’s actually a great incubation time for ideas. But don’t let idea needs distract your time with God—they’ll incubate on their own in your subconscious. Concentrate on Him instead.

Are you creative? Another question I get often is what type of person is creative? My answer is that everyone is creative, but in different ways. Creativity in a practical sense is being able to generate alternatives, choices. You could do it this way, or this way, or that way. Most of us are good at that. As a pastor, you are creative. People who sense they are not creative are most likely not living a lifestyle that allows them to soak up raw input and incubate thoughts in the minds. If you don’t read, don’t observe and don’t find silent moments in your day, guess what? You’re not going to have many ideas, and you’ll not feel very creative.

Creativity in many ways, then, is not a talent, but a skill. Artistic creativity is a little different. An artist, a musician, those folks have some innate abilities specific to those arts, just like you might be gifted at public speaking and teaching. But the practical creativity I am talking about—the ability to take a ministry focus and think of ideas to bring it to life—that’s more of a skill. So soak up input, read everything you can get your hands on, find some incubation time and watch your creative capacity improve.

The Role of Prayer in Preaching

2011-11-05T21:52:00.000-07:00

Pastors pray and ask others to pray for their preaching. A pastor and a sermon saturated in prayer are better than talent and a golden word processor absent a daily and intimate communication with God. We must ask God’s guidance in our preparation, God’s Spirit in our delivery and God’s presence and conviction on the listener. And we must ask the listener to pray for the preacher, and for himself. Prayer should be, must be, everywhere in our preaching.

E.M. Bounds (1835-1913) was a chaplain and later pastor who filled his life with prayer. Every morning from 4:00 until 7:00 a.m. he prayed. He wrote several books on prayer and when he prayed publicly he was renowned for the power and authority of his prayers. Bounds wrote, "Light praying will make light preaching. Prayer makes preaching strong [the God who answers prayer does this]… and makes it stick."

We often talk of aspects of sermons while leaving out the central element of prayer. We’ll talk about the content and its accuracy, its delivery and rhythm, and the balance of revelation and application for a given teaching. Yet without prayer, preaching is really just talking.

George Truett (1867-1944), who was pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas for 46 years, prayed each evening from 7:00 p.m. to midnight. A passionate evangelist, he prayed to Christ that he would be used to win others for Him and prayed for the most as well. He kept notebooks with the names of people he prayed for and spoke often in his messages of his prayers.

How is your own prayer life? Do you spend time daily with God in prayer? Is it a passing moment, between waking and breakfast, or in the tired part of the evening before bed? Is prayer a priority in your day? Great praying preachers spend a hour or more in prayer daily, shunning the television and their iPod in favor of time alone with the Almighty.

There is little training on the vital link between prayer and preaching. The book Power Through Prayer by E.M. Bounds is one of the greatest written works on prayer available to pastors today. Bounds consistently uses the word “saturated” to describe the prayer of a pastor. A church, a life, a sermon and a leader saturated in prayer.

Dr. Alvin VanderGriend, author of several excellent books on prayer, says of the pastor and prayer, “By prayer, we invite the Holy Spirit to touch our hearts and lives, to impress us with the truths of a passage. The sermon needs to be born of prayer and bathed in prayer. The Holy Spirit knows the needs of my listeners, and He will reveal to me the things that they need to hear. Then when we deliver the sermon, the Holy Spirit comes in response to our prayerful invitation and anoints us with power and freedom.”

Did you know that the Bible is, in fact, about 10% prayer? The Bible is filled with ideas and promises we can claim in prayer. The prominence of prayer in Scripture cannot be reminds us that God desires this daily, constant, intimate contact between Himself and His children. Today, resolve to make prayer a priority in your life and in your teaching.

The Pulpit and Halloween

2011-10-29T21:53:00.000-07:00

With the commercialization of Christian holidays like Christmas and Easter, you’d think non-Christian holidays would be easy to skip. But dates like Valentine’s Day and Halloween unfortunately demand some treatment by the church. Either we ignore them, embrace them or sidestep them, but that decision will have a consequence no matter which path we choose as church leaders.

Halloween looks like it would be a slam dunk. Ghosts, zombies and the occult, pagan origins and an evening of pranks. Obviously the church should not only distance herself from Halloween, we should send flyers condemning it. Except, we have in many cases dozens of families with children who are going to participate, going to dress up and are going door to door to get their annual fill of candy. And moms and dads who don’t want to be the only house in the neighborhood with their lights off in protest, are going to make the requisite trip to Wal-Mart for a few bags of goodies and stand at the foyer to hand them out to trick-or-treaters. So, what’s a pastor to do?

Condemning Halloween from the pulpit is a futile exercise, much like Don Quixote and his windmills. Instead, use the Halloween as an opportunity for education. Give the church some background on the origins and talk about how the holiday is viewed from a Christian perspective. Families in this instance, often seeing “no harm” in the activities, will decide for themselves what is appropriate. Arming them with knowledge is the most practical way to assist in the process.

Many churches embrace Halloween in a fashion with a “Fall Festival” or “Trunk or Treat” or other similar event held at the church to draw in area families. The outreach aspects of these events can be tremendous. I live in the Atlanta metro area and several larger churches do these events and welcome literally thousands of guests to their campuses. This is a great opportunity to show the church’s ministries for preschoolers and children, as well as sports and recreational ministries. All of these can draw in new families to experience what your church has to offer.

Okay, so “Fall Festival” is a thinly-disguised veil for “Halloween night at the church”. But the point is that the church does not circle the wagons around a losing issue with families, nor does it ignore the night entirely. Instead, a “Fall Festival” tries to make lemonade from lemons. From the pulpit, an educational approach and a focus toward community outreach compliments this view.

Our church also provides a resource page on their website for families to get more information about Halloween, and to make their own determination for what to teach their children and how to approach the holiday in their own home. Click here for Cross Pointe Church’s Halloween resource page, and feel free to copy or link to it for your own church’s website or emails.

Teaching to Re-Teach

2011-10-22T21:51:00.000-07:00

A few years ago, someone asked me if I knew the main reason to take notes during a sermon. "To help me remember the teaching," I readily replied. After all, note-taking is a proven method to retain what we have heard. "No," was his reply. "That's true, but there's a deeper reason and a far more important reason."

He went on to explain to me that if the note-taking ended with me, then their value for the Kingdom was severely limited. "The reason you take notes and listen intently to a sermon," he said, "Is so that you can re-teach those biblical principles to someone else. It's a discipling tool. Those notes are not primarily for you."

That thought was brand new to me--and as the truth of that statement began to sink in, I nodded my head while at the same time my stomach knotted. I looked down at my Bible, and like most regulars at my church, scattered between its pages, and tucked in the front and back covers, were several--actually dozens--of sermon note pages that I had dutifully filled out, wrote feverishly on, and had used in my own personal study and time with God. I began to think, "Have I ever stopped and shared any of this information with my friends, my family--anyone?"

Well, sure, in the context of living out what I had learned. But honestly I just had not taken those messages and thought of them as a discipling tool--beyond myself, that is. The sermons I heard were great tools in my own personal spiritual growth, but I had not used them with intention to grow those whom I discipled.

What would happen if we encouraged those who were listening to our preaching to not just fill in the blanks and underline Scripture references? Instead, what we we taught them to view the sermon time not as a time of consumption of teaching, but of training to disciple? Those notes, and our listening, would then take on a completely different flavor, as our attention was finely tuned to a word from God that we had to not only internalize, but understand in such a way as to be able to pass it on to someone else.

That's just what I have begun doing with my own listening and note-taking when I receiving preaching. Often, the preaching is not geared to this thinking. And so it my encouragement to fellow teachers to look at their preaching not only as opportunities to share important teaching with their congregations, but to also train their congregations in discipling others.

Only minor adjustments in most cases are necessary. Look for opportunities in your sermon planning to infuse your messages with key statements that encourage re-teaching. "When you share this point with your neighbor or co-worker..." or "This is a great point to pass along to your friends when they ask questions about your faith..." are the kinds of statements that help a congregation understand that their listening has purpose beyond their own lives. Additionally, be diligent in your personal and staff communications to encourage passing along biblical teaching.

Finally, think not only of your message application with respect to those listening to the sermon, but those beyond the room. Is the application re-teachable? Can the listener involve others or be accountable to others as they live out what God's Word commands? From your message, can they easily re-communicate the key points and application to others?

This kind of sermon planning and preparation can be more challenging, but its reward can be multiplied may fold. Just think about the many listeners to your messages, who, like me, carry those notes home and keep them tucked in the covers of their Bibles. How much more effective would they be if we encouraged them to pull them out and pass them on, regularly and readily, to others?

Tips for Teaching on Stewardship

2011-10-15T21:50:00.000-07:00

Stewardship is the root canal of sermon topics. Every pastor dreads it, yet know that it is necessary, even essential, to teach foundational truth regarding stewardship in our overly-materialistic culture. In recent months the topic has taken on significance in many churches as economic conditions weigh on congregations. Many pastors have been caught flat-footed with tithes and offerings diminishing as unemployment rises. How do you approach stewardship in a meaningful, practical and impactful way to grow your congregation’s understanding of it?

Understand its importance. The Bible contains more than 2,300 verses related to money and possessions. In fact, God’s Word speaks about money more than faith, more than prayer, more than heaven and hell. God’s teaching on money is clear and confronts the reader when considering how we steward our resources. Do not apologize for teaching on stewardship. If it is that important to God, then it has much weight and importance for us. Conversely, many pastors owe their congregations an apology for failing to teach it.

Teach it intentionally. Simply put, stewardship enables the ministry of the church in a resource-driven culture. Conducting our lives in the context of the gospel costs money. A Christ-follower must have a mindset that constantly examines his wealth and asks, “How am I stewarding this for God’s glory?”

And using the word “wealth” is intentional. The average Christian in North America makes over $42,000, which puts you in the top 2.5% of all wage-earners worldwide. If you have a roof over your head, food more than once a day, clean water and clothes, then you are rich by the world’s standards. When we intentionally help our congregation step back and see the big picture in terms of world resources, we can begin to teach how stewarding our enormous wealth is of paramount importance.

Teach it regularly. Do not wait until a financial crisis to teach on stewardship. Plug it in to your teaching schedule. Don’t hide it on an “off week” like Memorial Day Weekend or Spring Break. Find a time that makes sense for your congregation and make it front-and-center. Like your church’s mission/vision and the Gospel, teaching on stewardship should surface regularly in your schedule.

Teaching also means giving regular examples of how financial resources are being used in your church. When you share ministry stories, reflect on youth camp, enjoy a great choir praise time, or dedicate preschool children, remind the church that their financial gifts enable these various ministries. They helped buy the airline tickets for the mission trips, funded the music for the choir, provided Bible learning activities for the preschoolers and supplemented the cost of youth going to camp. Connect the dots between funds and what they are being used for, and do this regularly.

Model it. You cannot take your church where you yourself are not doing—especially in the area of financial accountability. If you are not a practicing steward, get that straight before telling your congregation how to manage their possessions. Too many pastors are one paycheck from being underwater in their bills, yet don’t seek help in the area of managing their finances. Don’t be afraid to go to a good financial planner and get advice—you probably have one or two on your stewardship committee or deacon body.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, some pastors also have to ask themselves, “Is my lifestyle reflective of humility and putting my possessions toward the Kingdom first?” Your car, house, wardrobe, jewelry—are these things in your own life sending a Christ-centered message to those around you?

There’s a thought circulating around church circles that “People don’t give to need, they give to vision.” Well, that’s just not true. People give for many reasons. People do indeed give to vision. But they also give to need. And they give out of obedience as mature believers. And they give out of love for the pastor or a staff member. And sometimes they give because of the pastor’s example. Do not let your own bad stewardship habits give your congregation an excuse to do the same.

Ask and hold accountable. Finally, as a God-ordained leader, you need to be willing to ask people to give to their church body in support of the ministry. There is a percentage of your congregation that doesn’t give because they are never asked. Clearly the biblical example of giving in the New Testament was generous and beyond the tithe (Acts 2:42-27). Accountability is important to growing believers in their stewardship. Most churches send out giving statements every few months to contributors for tax purposes. Have you ever thought about sending out statements to those who give nothing, remind them gently that stewardship is a part of the life of every believer?

Here’s a list of great books to get your sermon study on stewardship started:

Craig Blomberg, Neither Poverty Nor Riches: A Biblical Theology of Possessions
Randy Alcorn, Money, Possessions, and Eternity
Randy Alcorn, The Treasure Principle
Tim Keller, Counterfeit Gods
Tim Keller, Ministries of Mercy
John MacArthur, Whose Money Is It, Anyway? A Biblical Guide to Using God’s Wealth
Ben Witherington, Jesus and Money: A Guide for Times of Financial Crisis
Ron sider, Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger
Wesley Willmer, A Revolution in Generosity
Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert, When Helping Hurts: Alleviating Poverty Without Hurting the Poor... and Ourselves
Gordon Fee, The Disease of the Health and Wealth Gospels
D.R. McConnell, A Different Gospel: Biblical and Historical Insights into the Word of Faith Movement

5 Ways to Promote Your Message Series

2011-10-08T21:57:00.000-07:00

Promo cards. Create promotional postcards to hand out and mail, several weeks in advance of the message series. Insert a promo card in each weekend bulletin, and encourage your congregation to hand the card to a friend and invite them to worship. Have ushers hand a card to each person as they leave the building. Send promo cards home with Mother’s Day Out children, or in conjunction with other ministry programming.

Mailouts. Despite the proliferation of online media, mailings are still quite effective in building the name of your church in the community. If you have the resources, mail promotional postcards to people in your area. Concentrate on the 5-mile radius around your church.

From the pulpit. Mention upcoming messages and series at the beginning or end of your sermon. Talk about your studies and your excitement about future opportunities to teach. Dangle a carrot of intrigue by sharing an interesting illustration or tidbit about what’s coming. Never underestimate the pulpit as a powerful promotional tool.

Social media. Make sure you’re pressing the message series on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Google+ or other social media outlets. Over 60% of North Americans are involved in social media at least once a week, and many will read and pass on your posts. Remember social media posts should be personal and interesting versus primarily promotional—like mentioning the message series in a conversation.

Mobilize small groups. Your Sunday School or small groups are great promotional avenues. Ask them to adopt a neighborhood or ethnic/demographic group to invite to the message series. Hold a prayerwalking Saturday where small group members pray through neighborhoods and place promotional flyers or doorhangers at each home (remember, don’t actually place promotional materials inside mailboxes—that’s illegal). You’ll be amazed at how praying for neighborhoods builds a burden for personal evangelism in the hearts of your congregation.

5 Ways to Dissect a Scripture Verse

2011-09-18T17:32:00.000-07:00

The Author. Whowrote the passage? What is his background and upbringing? What was his job ormission? Where did he live, what was his family like, what do we know of hislife outside of what he wrote in the Bible? What were his personalcircumstances at the time he wrote the book? How might these things influencehis writing?

The Time. Whenwas the passage written? What were the social, economic and political issues ofthe time? How were people governed? How did they express their faith? What werethe social customs of the period? How do these things help us understand theauthor’s original meaning and intent?

The Language.Pull out the Greek and Hebrew dictionaries. Look at each word and its originalmeaning. Look at verbs, adverbs and their tenses. Is there anything about theoriginal language that was lost in translation? How does knowing the originalwriting enrich the study of the passage? Is there culture of the time reflectedin the text? Look at how the Word is translated in various reputabletranslations: NASB, NIV, ESV, KJV. Then look at paraphrased translations forhints at putting the verse in today’s language.

The Context. Whatabout the passages just before or after what you are studying? Does the Biblebook itself have a broader theme that is reflected in this particular passage?What was the purpose of this particular book or chapter? What precept or characteristic is Godcommunicating through the particular actions, teaching or story being told?

The Meaning.Finally, what does the verse actually mean? Note that the vast majority of thetime the verse means what it says. Ifthe Bible says, “Do this,” it means do it. If it says, “This displeases God,then it does.” Be careful not to layerextra meanings on instructions, commands or examples unless there is clearevidence for taking that liberty.

Why Series Teaching Is Effective

2011-09-11T11:00:00.000-07:00

In recent years, sermon series have become the standardmethod of preparation and teaching for many North American pastors. This styleof teaching—several messages over 3-6 weeks on a common topic, theme or Biblebook—has both cultural and practical foundations. Much of the content onPastors Edge is offered in series format. Here are a few of the reasons whyseries teaching is effective.

Culture. Culturally,the fast-paced life and media-saturated environment of North America makesseries teaching a sensible way to promote sermons, capture attention, add toretention and create a sense of theme or purpose. With the busy-ness of life,today we often think of “regular attenders” as churchgoers who attend at leasttwice a month—but they’re still missing half of the teaching! The shortmonth-long teaching series works well in our haphazard North American culture.

Continuity. Seriesteaching brings continuity to those who don’t attend each and every week.Further, it gives them a reason to avoid a weekend absence—they’ll miss a keysection of the current series. Studies have shown that series teaching has somepositive impact on member attendance in churches. Familiarity with the subjectmatter ahead of time gives the congregation a level of comfort and openness inpreparing to hear God’s Word.

Compelling. Theme-basedteaching can be creative and compelling by tackling an intriguing topic,capitalizing on a current issue or walking through a section of the Bible in asystematic and artful way. Congregations look forward to a series in a way thatis different than just knowing the Pastor will be preaching from somewhere inthe Bible.

Course. Seriesteaching allows the Pastor to a course for the church through his teaching. IfGod is calling him to move the church in a certain direction, the variousseries can addresses specific teaching needs. Moving a staff-driven church to aservant-driven church, for instance, may call for a series on serving Christ.Or moving a church to more missional involvement may call for a series onsharing your faith, or going to the nations.

Creative Elements for Those of Us Who Don’t Have Million Dollar Budgets

2011-09-04T14:17:00.000-07:00

Ever attend a pastoral or creative conference for ministers?Lately I’ve found they all have a few video screens, robotic lights andinteresting sets and stages. I start to add up the money on graphics, videocontent and high-end production and I’m often left wondering how the simplesermon can communicate anymore. By their very use in these contexts, we’rebeing told, unconsciously, that many of these trappings are needed, evennecessary, to connect with a congregation in today’s culture.

Let me suggest instead a few creative ideas for those of uswho don’t have all the bells and whistles. Bells and whistles have their place,certainly. Let’s not begrudge those who are blessed with those resources. Butlet’s not take pity on ourselves because we don’t have the same. Instead, useone or more of these elements to make your message just as captivating andimpactful.

The metaphor. Afantastic oral teaching tool to employ is the simple metaphor. The format of ametaphor is simple: xxx is likeyyy. “Is like” are the key words for thetool. Metaphors are great word pictures, or images you can use to explaindifficult concepts. Jesus used many metaphors in His teaching: “The kingdom ofheaven is like…” is a great example.

The object. Manysermons benefit from the inclusion of a simple physical object to demonstrateor illustrate a point. Preaching on servanthood? Bring a “foot washing” bowlwhen you talk of Jesus washing His disciples’ feet. Preaching on abiding inChrist? Bring a vine with grapes on it as you talk about what it means to bearfruit for Christ. Objects can both fascinate and captivate thelistener—especially if the use of an object is unusual or unexpected.

The person. Youmay not have a drama team or video ministry, but a live person is always atremendous creative element for any service. Someone recounting how they cameto Christ, or the story of a difficult situation they went through, aretremendously compelling. Stories also have the advantage, unlike theinterpretation of Scripture, to be based on experience that is difficult toargue. A listener may not agree with the conclusions of a person’s testimony,but they must acknowledge that the person themself believes their experience tobe true.

The application.Putting a message into practice is a great opportunity to connect thecongregation not only to living the Christian life, but also to the ministriesof your church. When teaching, look for natural connections between theteaching and ministry opportunities like community service, counseling,ministry to widows and orphans, feeding or clothing the needy, or otheraction-based ministries. Have leaders for the ministry you are connecting tothe message available after the service to plug people in.

The surprise. Youdon’t need a big budget to be surprising in your teaching. Surprise is adramatic device that gets attention simply because it is unexpected. It can bestartling, interesting or delightful. Ask yourself as you prepare yourteaching, “What is something that illustrates this message that I would notnormally do, or am not known for?” I’ve seen preachers end their message bysinging a hymn with applicable lyrics; or when talking about living life in a “bubble”,give out little bottles of bubbles and have the congregation fill the sanctuarywith them; or when talking about stewardship, put a $1 bill in every bulletinand ask people how they could multiply it for Christ in the coming week. Thereare many surprising options available if you are willing to consider goingoutside the box a little bit.

Why Pictures of Your Food Do Not Interest Me

2011-07-11T16:40:00.000-07:00

Fellow social media users--Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin and the like--please let me take just a brief moment to explain something. My interest in you and your life is twofold. First, as a friend, I enjoy knowing about you and your family and what is happening in your life. Second, as a Christ-follower, I often pray for and encourage whenever possible my Facebook and Twitter friends.

When I see you going through a challenge or receiving a great blessing or having a family moment, I praise God with you, or I join you in prayer during that tough moment. So I truly enjoy social media, because it helps me stay connected to so many people I both know closely, or have met along the way.

I've also met some people through social media that I would not have connected to otherwise. All of these reasons are among those that make social media, for me, a great asset to my life and also give me the ability to share my life, thoughts, and family with others each day.

Which brings me to this: Unless it is the most extraordinary meal ever--and I mean EVER, I just cannot for the life of me figure out why people continue to take pictures of their food and post them online. If I have seen one filet mignon with truffle oil smothered in lobster sauce on a bed of risotto, I have seen them all. Even the pet pictures are at least somewhat interesting--most of them at least get an "awe, how cute" vibe in my mind.

But another plate of food? Seriously!? That is supposed to be interesting in any way, shape or form? If Chef Gordon Ramsey is not holding the plate, balancing on a unicycle with a million dollars in cash in the other hand and you in the background, I just don't see how a picture of your food is of any interest to anybody. It's nice I'm sure, but by the time I saw it, you've eaten it, and it's probably not healthy anyway if it so enamored you that you pulled out a camera to take a picture of it. So it's a glob of proteins being digested in your stomach and squeezing it's way down into your large intestine. Yuck!

I love you all, which is why I make this sincere, earnest and heartfelt plea to cease taking photos of your food and posting them online. It's destroying the internet! Oh, the humanity!

Social Media Communication Rises Beyond Website Use

2011-06-23T21:04:00.000-07:00

It's official--social media now dominates the web, as actual website use is now on the decline. I chuckle a little as I think of all the folks who have tried to sell me on $50,000 church website renovations over the last few years. I can see this already in my own church fellowship as Facebook and Twitter interaction is on the rise, while website use remains flat.

So what does this mean for how North American churches communicate? Well, get on Facebook and Twitter right now, for one. Here again there's a relatively inexpensive means to connect with a large percentage of your congregation that many churches simple are not taking advantage of. Secondly, remember that even though social media use is on the rise, many people do not connect to their social media pages daily--so your church must be current and repetitive in keeping people up-to-date through these mediums. There are tons of great tools to make this easier--I use Hootsuite, but there are many others as well.

Appreciating Your Pastor

2011-02-13T15:00:00.000-08:00

Ran across this site the other day and thought it was both powerful and practical. How many of us stop to appreciate the Pastor of our church on a regular basis? Well, my-pastor.com has a ton of great resources for making your Pastor feel loved and appreciated. Sometimes simple gestures of kindness can make all the difference in the life of a man who has a lot of responsibility on his shoulders.

Free Church Accounting

2011-02-06T15:00:00.000-08:00

Ran across this site that I thought had a ton of useful information on finances and the church. FreeChurchAccounting.com explains the differences between church and other non-profit accounting, with a bent toward smaller churches that might not have a full-time financial staff person and consequently find themselves at the end of many questions as to the various legalities and process of church accounting.

Then there's free stuff like how to set up payroll, free spreadsheets, etc. All in all a very useful site.

Ornaments 4 Adoption

2010-11-24T00:13:00.000-08:00

My wife and I are currently working and saving toward adopting another child from China. This year we're selling homemade Christmas ornaments. Visit our website, ornaments4adoption.org, to see how you can participate. This is a ministry within our own family that we are blessed to be able to participate in--your help is greatly appreciated.

Guide to Family Worship

2010-10-20T21:19:00.000-07:00

Just finished a new section on our church website on Family Worship. Thanks to the fine folks at The Church at Brook Hills for their materials on the subject and permission to borrow and adjust. Hope this is really useful to our own church folks in getting this going in our homes.

Meant to Be

2010-10-09T22:23:00.000-07:00

A little video I put together for my wife Keri's recent Bible study teaching session on adoption featuring--who else?--our own daughter, Eden Hope. Hard to believe it's been 3 years since China.

Asian Lantern Design

2010-10-09T13:08:00.000-07:00

Here's another design from our church's fall Rise to the Occasion emphasis. In this case, there's a dinner event for the existing themed focus, and the dinner has a separate Asian theme to it. So, I decided to design some Asian style lanterns that are printed on semi-translucent paper and folded, then a candle is placed in the middle. I placed the Rise to the Occasion logo in the center of the decidedly Chinese-style design. Had to make them about 7 inches on a side, rather large, to ensure the candle didn't have a chance to get to close to the print when in use.

Rise to the Occasion

2010-10-02T13:07:00.000-07:00

This logo I recently completed for our church's fall emphasis, which includes a message series, prayer and devotional component and a capital campaign. The idea was to mimic the nation of Israel looking into the Promise Land, with the image of modern believers looking over our city. I used the badge look to represent permanence or stability, and the art-deco rays to indicate promise and optimism.

Simply Love Logo

2010-08-25T20:13:00.000-07:00

Just completed a logo for our Simply Love community day event at Cross Pointe Church. Like the concept of hands of service, various colors representing ethnicities and the hearts integrated into the design.

Are We Lovin' God's Word?

2010-07-05T09:00:00.000-07:00

The Bible continues to be a popularly-purchased book in the United States. Every year, millions of Bibles are printed in this country. Researcher George Gallup points out that so many Bibles have been printed in the United States "that even rough estimates of the total number published to date do not exist."¹ Recent research has also produced information about Bible ownership, reading, study, and knowledge.

Bible Ownership. 92% of households in America own at least one copy. Of those households that own a Bible, the average number of Bibles is three. This includes not only the homes of practicing Christians but hundreds of thousands of atheists as well.²

Bible Reading. In a poll taken by the Gallup Organization in October, 2000, 59% of Americans reported that they read the Bible at least occasionally. This is down from 73% in the 1980s. The percentage of Americans who read the Bible at least once a week is 37%. This is down slightly from 40% in 1990.³ According to the Barna Research Group, those who read the Bible regularly spend about 52 minutes a week in the scriptures.⁴ Barna, "The Bible," data is from 1997. Women (42%) are more likely than men (32%) to have read the Bible in the past week. What version do people prefer? As of 1997, those who read the Bible preferred the King James Version to the New International Version by a 5 to 1 margin.⁵

Bible Study. Only one in seven Americans report an involvement that goes beyond just reading the Bible. Fourteen percent of Americans currently belong to a Bible study group.⁶ This is down a full one-third from 1990 when 21% said they were involved in a Bible study group.⁷

Bible Knowledge. According to Gallup, "Despite the impressive statistics concerning Bible reading and study, it is apparent that ignorance about its contents is widespread."⁸Evidence for this conclusion:

	Only half of adults interviewed nationwide could name any of the four Gospels of the New Testament.
	Just 37% of those interviewed could name all four Gospels.
	Only 42% of adults were able to name as many as five of the Ten Commandments correctly.
	Seven in ten (70%) were able to name the town where Jesus was born, but just 42% could identify him as the person who delivered the Sermon on the Mount.⁹

Researcher George Barna has also documented the lack of Bible knowledge in the United States:
	38% of Americans believe the entire Bible was written several decades after Jesus' death and resurrection (While this is true of the New Testament, the entire Old Testament was written hundreds of years before the birth of Jesus Christ).
	12% of adults believe that Noah's wife was Joan of Arc.
	49% believe that the Bible teaches that money is the root of all evil. (The love of money is said to be the root of all types of evil).
	75% believe that the Bible teaches that God helps those who help themselves.¹⁰

George Lindbeck, Yale theologian, has commented on the decreasing knowledge of scripture: "When I first arrived at Yale, even those who came from nonreligious backgrounds knew the Bible better than most of those now who come from churchgoing families."¹¹
Recent research highlights the decreasing influence of the Bible in the United States and the importance of serious Bible study by Christians. As our society becomes increasingly pluralistic and subjective in its worldview, the more important it will be for Christians to know and study their Bibles. Only by doing so can we intelligently present a biblical worldview to those who know so little of the Word that is able to save their souls.

1 George Gallup, Jr., The Role of the Bible in American Society (Princeton: The Princeton ReligionResearch Center, 1990)

2 Barna Research Online, "The Bible," www.barna.org. This information is based on 1993 figures.
3 Alec Gallup and Wendy W. Simmons, "Six in Ten Americans Read Bible at Least Occasionally," TheGallup Organization, www.gallup.com, October 20, 2000.
4 Barna, "The Bible," data is from 1997.
5 Ibid., data is from 2001.
6 Gallup, "Six in Ten Americans Read Bible at Least Occasionally,"
7 Gallup, The Role of the Bible in American Society, 17.
8 Ibid.
9 Ibid.
10 Barna, "The Bible," The information is from the years 1994, 1997, 1994, and 2000 respectively.
11 George A. Lindbeck, "The Church’s Mission to a Postmodern Culture," Postmodern Theology: ChristianFaith in a Pluralist World (San Francisco: Harper & Row Publishers, 1989) 45.

Change in the IT Landscape

2010-06-28T12:00:00.000-07:00

For nearly all of the 20 years that I've been managing IT within organizations, I've been primarily concerned with desktop computers and servers, networks, and databases. That is, the majority of the time has been supporting people's computers on their desktops (or laptops), and the software needed to run them. The work that got done on computes happened at the office, in front of one, which was hooked to a server in a locked room down the hall.

Now that is changing, and rapidly. I think this is mainly driven by Apple and their iPhone and iPad, which has ushered in a wave a mobile computing and mobile apps unlike anything in the last 20 years. Suddenly it's not about what you can do on your desktop anymore, but rather, how mobile and convenient you can make IT for the end user. And then you add to that the proliferation of cloud-based services and social media. I mean, could anyone imagine even 5 years ago that my own church's primarily weekly communications with a majority of members would be Twitter and Facebook?

Even the web itself has shifted from a centralized site-based mentality to a universe of services and functions interacting and floating among one another. It's crazy cool and moving very quickly.

Then yesterday I read it for the first time and I was shocked: Microsoft, could they collapse completely within a few years? This isn't some backwoods Apple-fanboy blogger--this is Forbes magazine! The article talked about the fact that the dominant player in computing for three decades did not, in fact, have their act together at all in the mobile, web or tablet spaces--and the jump-ship rate is accelerating rapidly away from Windows desktops.

Now, frankly, this is really good news for churches, because much of the stuff we need to communicate well with is online, and cheap or free, and widely available and used, and just fantastically great compared to what we used to pay for. I've talked to churches that have spent $75,000 developing their websites. That used to sound like good stewardship, even a few years ago, when you were throwing all of your communications eggs in the web basket. It's cheap even when compared to insanely expensive newsletters and mailouts--I used to spend $50,000 a year on newsletters. Wow.

Today, though, a $75,000 website is just a terribly stupid move for a church. A combination of Wordpress, Facebook, Twitter, Hootsuite and a few other cheap or free online tools, a little work by a graphic artist and a good webservant to keep up the content and you're there--for a lot, lot less. The hard thinking today, I believe, is figuring out where our congregation is, and how to best get information into their hands. That means lesser dependence by our staffs on their desktops, and more on their phones and the web--and the same thing for our church members.

I think this season of change in IT will not settle out for a few more years yet, but it's becoming very clear where things are headed, and that probably means the server room down the hall will get smaller, the desks will have less computers on them, and we'll be supporting ministry IT in the pre-heaven cloud more and more.

Uncorporate Thinking

2010-06-22T17:00:00.000-07:00

One thing I've been pondering lately is the proliferation of corporate thinking in the North American church. If you wanna be heard in a staff meeting, talk about what Steve Jobs or some other hotshot CEO is doing, or the latest corporate leadership book, or a great story of a corporate turnaround--and then relate that, somehow, to the church and ministry.

It just comes off as irrelevant to me. Certainly the church in many cases is an organization, and no doubt we should operate those areas in terms of facility and resources and dollars smartly, but act like a corporation? Really? You know, if God called our church to give everything we had away to the poor, that would absolutely be in keeping with the New Testament, but would be completely stupid when we think of ourselves as a company. I mean, c'mon, what about reserves, and capital improvements and staffing?

So the question I ask myself is, where do we draw the line between the corporation and the church? What is smart ministry, and what is secularism pervading our leadership? I think the line has been blurred by well-meaning "corporate Christians" looking to improve the performance of their congregations in the same way they improve the performances of their business organizations. Before we push ourselves to be business-savvy, we need to push ourselves to be Bible-literate and biblically-engaged. Jesus was not the first Christian CEO. Businesses are not what we should model the church on.

That's just dangerous thinking that leads the church down a tangent that looks pretty good but leads away from our Acts 2 roots.

Five Ways to Infuse God’s Word in Your Facebook and Twitter Posts

2010-06-02T18:02:00.000-07:00

Facebook status updates and Twitter posts have proven to be an interesting way to stay connected to friends and associates on a regular basis. Sometimes I will post a personal story, photo or observation, but many times I post quotes or Scriptures. These short sentence-updates are great ways to not only stay in touch but to infuse Christ in a continuous online conversation.

Social media is first and foremost an outlet for conversation. I’m a firm believer that many of our conversations should be spiritual conversations. It’s how to bring our faith into our daily lives and begin to share it with those around us. Here are five suggestions for how to do this:

Quote the Word. Just stick a Bible verse in as a status update or tweet. One you studied that day, or one that you are grappling with or recently learned. God’s Word promises it will not return void—there’s nothing wrong with keying a Scripture here and there as the Lord leads.

Paraphrase the Word or Give an Observation. I’ve received a lot of tweets from guys like Rick Warren and Ed Stetzer that do this very effectively. Essentially, tell the Scripture in your own words, and then cite the reference. For example, “God wants us to reach the world. See Matthew 28:19-20” This also has the advantage of helping you to learn the Word, as re-stating it helps you commit it to memory.

Quote a Missionary or Long-Dead Preacher. People who have served Christ in the world either on mission or through a lifetime in preaching are often sources of great wisdom that is completely in-line with Scripture. I often cite quotes in my posts because I want to say something of value versus “I’m at Starbucks”. For example, “The first duty of the gospel preacher is to declare God's law and to show the nature of sin. --Martin Luther”

Why long-dead guys? Well, frankly, I find their speech more interesting and their zeal more evident in their words. Frankly I find that these quotes are often quite memorable and both reveal the character of their source along with their commitment to Christ.

Pray Through Scripture. Often Facebook and Twitter are places where fellow believers request prayer. I get quote a few posts requesting prayer for family, friends, situations and opportunities. A great way to pray is through Scripture. For example, “God, stand by our church and give us strength as we proclaim the Gospel so that all the world may hear it, just as you did in 2 Timothy 4:17.”

Ask Questions That Require Scriptural Answers. Start a spiritual conversation when the opportunity arises. This doesn’t have to be forced or concocted. I start with two premises: that I do not know all of the Bible, and that others in my social media know parts that I may not. Pose questions that let others dig into the word to provide the answer. For example, “Praying for my friend leaving for college soon. Anyone have some Scriptures I can share with him as an encouragement?” or “Have a friend serving right now in Iraq. Suggestions for Bible verses I can share to help them through loneliness?”

Charles Ledbetter on The Nature of Innovation

2010-05-31T20:45:00.000-07:00

Bring on the Learning Revolution!

2010-05-26T19:03:00.000-07:00

Another brilliant lecture by Sir Ken Robinson on the nature of creativity and the revolution required in North American education. So much of this applies to how we disciple programatically/systematically within the church.

Leading the Church Through Suffering

2010-05-20T12:10:00.001-07:00

A great video message by Matt Chandler on suffering.

T4G 2010 -- Session 8 -- Matt Chandler from Together for the Gospel (T4G) on Vimeo.

Impact the World

2010-05-13T10:29:00.000-07:00

A great video clip from Pastor David Platt on Jesus clear command for all believers to impact the world for the Gospel.

Impact the World from David Platt on Vimeo.

Church Promotional Tips

2010-04-29T20:31:00.001-07:00

I put these on our own church website for staff consumption, but I think they can bear fruit in any ministry environment.

Our Primary Promo Resource is People (the Church)
We do not have the resources to "advertise" our way to involvement and growth. We live in an area with a reach of nearly 1 million people in our Sunday driving radius. Marketers and companies are spending millions on these people--we may have a few hundred, or a few thousand dollars for an event at most. The best way to get the word out is to inform your people--those involved in your ministry--and encourage them to share with their friends and neighbors. If your people do not know what is happening and are not engaged in promoting the event/ministry, the promotion will likely be mediocre or ineffective.

Make Every Word Count
Say less. Don't use five words when three will do. Talk and write in sound-bites. Keep it simple. If you can't explain it simply and briefly, it may fly right by a majority of people. Think like a highway billboard--the maximum number of words you can read driving by at 70 MPH is just five. Can you communicate your ministry in five words or less?

Start Early and Build
Think ahead and start promotion early. Maybe email your folks first, then the bulletin and website, then social networking, then brochure, then display and signup--let the promotion have a beginning, middle and climax. Give yourself room to "up the effort" if early results are poor. People always wait until the last minute? Give them a reason to sign up early, if possible.

Grass Roots Seriously Works
Buttons, cheesy T-shirts, giveaways, door to door, flyers on cars (with permission), signs in yards--yeah, that stuff really works. People are more accepting of promotional messages that appear to come from trustworthy individuals than big ad agencies. And sometimes wacky and fun just work too. Remember the "John 3:16" guy in the rainbow wig at the football games--big impact, and how much do you think that cost?

Conservative Beats Edgy--Every Time
Looking for "edgy" promotion--something provacative and "in the now"? Guess what--statistics show that "edgy" rarely works better than conservative design and promotion. Edgy promotion only attracts edgy people, but repulses conservatives. Conservative design and promotion attracts the majority, and often is also accepted by the "edgy" crowd. This is true all the way down into the youth demographic. Concentrate less on being provacative than being clear, concise and accurate.

Go Where You Ask Others to Trod
If you promote something but aren't involved in it personally, that communicates volumes. Don't manage from a respectable distance--get involved in what you are promoting and your passion for that ministry or event will do as much for your promotion as any other element.

Use Scripture Whenever Possible
Scripture does and will speak on its own for your event or ministry. You can absolutely never go wrong by tying scripture into your promotion. God does and will bless the use of the Word throughout the church and her activities. The Word itself says it will draw men toward Christ. Trust the Word, use the Word, believe the Word.

Pray Continually
The idea that "if we plan it, they will come" is simply wrong. Pray prior to finalizing your event or ministry. Ask God for His direction--don't give it your own direction and then "ask God to bless it". Pray expecting God to do great things. Pray as if the event depended on prayer. It does.

Be Your Own Billboard
Every leader needs a little sense of self-promotion. Talk up your event to those around you. Constantly give out details. Let people know what God is doing and how He is moving through your ministry. Don't assume that "everyone knows"--they likely don't. Nothing draws involvement like a passionate and upbeat leader--their words are like fly-paper.

Pictures Inspire

2010-04-26T17:50:00.000-07:00

I love photographs--really good ones. The kinds that make you think, "How in the world did they get that shot?" I've bookmarked tons of photo sites online--mostly individual photographers who have galleries of their work to peruse. There are some amazingly talented people out there who really do inspire and inform through their images.

There's a special place in my mind for photos of nature. They reveal the grandness and majesty of God. Here's a site I've perused lately that I really enjoy.

Becoming a Better Designer

2010-04-13T23:27:00.000-07:00

Here's a great list from a few years back on sharpening your design skills. Of course, I'm going to add "dig deep into God's Word" to the list as the #0 item. Thoughtful and practical suggestions, though.

The Gospel Demands Radical Commitment

2010-04-09T20:19:00.000-07:00

Birmingham Pastor David Platt in a brief message segment that led up to his soon-to-be-released book, Radical (Reclaiming Your Faith from the American Dream).

What the Gospel Demands- Radical from Life Bible Study on Vimeo.

How to Start a Movement

2010-04-07T20:20:00.000-07:00

Interesting talking from TED on how to create a moment. I love the thought that the real momentum of a movement isn't the first person, the "lone nut" out leading, but in the first person who has the guts to follow him/her.

Social Media Best Practices for Ministry

2010-03-31T22:17:00.000-07:00

As social media sites like Facebook and Twitter become engrained into the fabric of ministry communications, some useful practices bubble to the surface. These communication means are here to stay, and should be used carefully and intentionally for practical results. However, one of the worst things you can do in a public forum is to jump in headstrong and stand on your soapbox before studying and gaining and understanding of the medium and your audience in that specific space. Keep in mind:

Objective. Each social media forum has a slightly different structure that dictates the type of information shared and hence the objective of being in that arena. Facebook is “person”-based, with each page representing and individual, and a “news feed” feature providing a real-time stream of activities of those connected to you. This is a place to micro-communicate ideas like what the church is doing, specific needs, and individual theological, inspirational or spiritual thoughts.

Twitter, on the other hand, is designed for individual ideas in the moment. The simplicity of Twitter is more limiting, but the ability to post multiple thoughts and ideas within a few hours is more readily available.
In both of these social media spaces, clearly understand your objective, which is to be a valuable voice in a much larger conversation. And as in any conversation with multiple thoughts and viewpoints, the church’s input in the social media space should be to provoke thought, inspire action or encourage others. Social media is not largely a one-on-one medium—it’s more like being in a living room with a group of loosely connected people. You will likely not be successful posting “The Four Spiritual Laws” in this environment. Instead, ask “Why is my church a part of this conversation?”

Content. More than any other aspect, the quality of content you place on social media networks will determine how well and how often you interact with those connected to you (individually) and your church. As you post, ask yourself “How will this information serve my audience?” This is especially important in light of the church’s mission and purpose and the Gospel. Inside jokes, overly-political or personal thoughts and useless information lack “staying power”. Your church’s involvement in social media should speak well of the God you serve. In social media arenas, interesting and useful thoughts thrive, while useless information and those who post it quickly find their reach and influence in decline.

Consistency. Hand-in-hand with the quality of your content is the consistency with which you are involved, post and interact with your social media audience. These sites are liberally littered with individuals and organizations that started out with daily or hourly updates and stopped after about a week—six months ago. Social media forums by their very nature demand consistent interaction at least on a daily basis. If you cannot commit to this level of consistency, it may do more damage than good to pursue social media as a communications outlet for your church. Consistency also builds interest and increases your audience over time.

Face-to-Face. Social media is a personal realm of communication versus a broadcast means. Understand that even though you are posting messages to an audience, you are speaking directly to individuals. As you participate and write, ask yourself, “Would I be comfortable saying this directly, face-to-face, to another person?” Your responses and interactions will also be to individuals. Take great care to talk with your connections versus broadcasting to them.

Don’t just promote. Those who study social media indicate that content from any organization—not just churches—must be more than promotional in order to be effective. Posts promoting this ministry, that sermon series or a certain event are fine, but must be mixed with non-promotional content, or you risk coming off as no more than a promotional mouthpiece. For the church, consider posting scripture, quotes from your Pastor or other ministry staff, and opportunities for ministry both within your fellowship and your surrounding community. Use your social media outlets to do more than promote. Also inform, educate, inspire and encourage.

Watch and adapt. Remember Frienster? It was a social media outlet that came and went a few years back. Now it’s dead and buried. Myspace is another social media network that appears to have peaked. Facebook seems to be the medium of the moment for the broad majority, especially those over age 25, with Twitter capturing the interest of the next generation. Even at this writing there are a dozen more social media outlets that are vying for attention. It’s a foregone conclusion that five years from now, the landscape of social media will have changed tremendously. At the same time the church is adopting and participating in social media, it’s important to also be on the lookout for where the conversation is moving, and be ready to participate in that space as the landscape changes.

Family Fun Day Designs

2010-03-20T21:52:00.000-07:00

Just finished designs and website for our church's upcoming "Family Fun Day" outreach event, to be held in a local park in April. Really enjoyed the simple and colorful design here, and it was a winner the first go-around--absolutely no changes given. Another example I think of how simple, traditional and friendly design just wins out. One thing I worked on with this particular event is showing diversity of families in the photos and images on the website, to accurately reflect the makeup of the neighborhood. Praying we have an impactful weekend for Christ through this community event.

Easter Promotion Goes Asian

2010-03-19T08:35:00.000-07:00

Our church's Easter series for 2010 is entitled "The Warrior", and traces Jesus' story from Genesis 3 through the cross and resurrection and then to His ultimate victory in Revelation. For the theme, the Creative Team at our church centered on an Asian design that emphasized the idea of an ancient, storied warrior. Interestingly this is much the thought of who the Messiah would be in Jesus' day--but oh how very different Christ was than the "triumphant king" everyone was expecting.

The photo included here is of a "pagoda" design I constructed for a lobby display to promote the series. Generally pagodas are used as religious buildings in the Taoist or Buddhist faiths, though the English term is not specifically religious, referring to a multi-level Asian building. You can see the challenge here of making something thematic, but at the same time not drawing specific attention to a belief culture that is opposed to ours. Much of the look of a true pagoda had to be removed--including colors, designs, symbols and shapes--in order to avoid anything that would be contrary to Christian beliefs.

I think I like the irony of the design. One challenge was to find Asian artwork that was not overtly religious when presented. Our community north of Atlanta has a 10% Asian population and I am sensitive to communicating our church and the Gospel accurately to this group. The series runs March 28 through April 11, with Easter Sunday sandwiched in between. Prayerful this emphasis will point many toward Christ.

"Yours" Video Just Keeps Going

2010-03-17T21:40:00.000-07:00

Got another email from someone this week that was really touched by a video entitled "Yours' that I did several years ago. I'm just humbled that this little video piece I did for a worship service a few years back just continues to have a life of its own. I did the version before Steven Curtis Chapman lost his child and added a verse to the song, but I think the version still speaks to the core of all creation, circumstance and community belonging to God.

New Message Series Graphics for "Lovesick"

2010-03-17T21:35:00.000-07:00

Just finished the designs for a new message series focusing on God's Word for single and married relationships. We are calling the series "Lovesick". We've been seeing a higher rate of marital issues lately--many couples really struggling. As we have been praying God has led us toward this series to address what the Word says about marriage, the role of husbands and wives, divorce and even dating. Think it is really going to be a powerfully practical series. Begins April 18, 2010 at Cross Pointe.

Interesting Lecture by James Cameron

2010-03-15T22:43:00.000-07:00

Fascinating background from James Cameron on how he grew up and got interested in movies.

Has the Church "Maxed Out" on Creative Ideas?

2010-03-06T20:07:00.000-08:00

I was working on a number of designs this weekend for various ministry projects. As I was working, I was struck by the thought that, though these designs were hopefully fresh and interesting, I wasn't really reinventing the wheel here. In fact, it is far more important that the crux of what is accomplished through these ministries in solid biblical teaching and execution of key ministry goals of the church.

Which led me to think, "Is a completely new idea really even needed here?" Sure, there's the "grab the attention" factor. But frankly, does that really work as good as we would like to think it does? I'm constantly struck by seeing smaller churches that use awful looking media and yet their ministries are exploding off the charts. It's the Holy Spirit that's doing the work, of course, not the media.

I'm just beginning to think that the truly original, creative, "never been done before" thinking might need to take a back seat for a long while. In its place, let's continue to do clean, professional-looking and healthy design that communicates well. But let's not jump into the boat that says it's gotta be revolutionary or its not the best we can do. The Bible itself is revolutionary--what can I really add there? I mean, really?

I want my design in the church to be compelling and literate. Just not necessarily provocative and edgy. I don't have to think up a new metaphor for every ministry opportunity that comes along. Sometimes it's okay to call it just "Youth Camp" or "Missions Day" or "Teaching Series on Matthew". I'm concerned that I'm overhyping and overtheming and missing the very best part--seeing God at work through simple, straightforward, Gospel-drive and compassionate ministries. And they don't necessarily have to have a groundbreaking logo.

Anybody else getting over the whole church creative push thing?

Social Media and the Church

2010-02-27T19:39:00.000-08:00

I'm working on a new series of articles and resources for Communicorps.org on social media and the church. Here's some writing I ran across online that explores this concept. I'm convinced that the relatively young arena of social media is really transforming how we communicate and connect as individuals, and that the church in North America must understand and be a part of this cultural phenomenon, even though it is not yet solidified in the national consciousness.

The Irrelevant Pursuit of Relevance

2010-01-30T18:16:00.000-08:00

Great article from Neue Quarterly on the pursuit of relevance by the church. A great quote by writer Josh Loveless: "The church's pursuit of relevance communicates and assumes that we're following culture, even church culture, rather than shaping it." I also love his idea of becoming people "wired to take countercultural approaches to ministry." Read When Does Relevance Become Irrelevant?

Common Typography Mistakes

2010-01-01T10:33:00.000-08:00

Even in the age of the internet, printed media and typography are still important. An understanding of basic typographic principles will help you communicate more clearly through both your content and its underlying design. Found this great blog post on common typographic mistakes.

Christians, Start Your Photocopiers

2009-12-20T17:58:00.000-08:00

Great article in USA Today from December 18, 2009 on the $4.6 billion North American Christians spend on the "copycat" logo industry. It's truly embarrassing that the church cannot seem to unhook ourselves from copying cultural and marketing references. We so cheapen our faith and message when we begin to believe that we must "latch on" to the world's best messages and methodologies in order to somehow make ourselves relevant.

The Word is relevant. God is relevant. And God and His Word are big enough and important enough that we should be putting in the effort to communicate original thoughts to a lost and dying world.

Four Podcasts I Highly Recommend

2009-12-12T20:00:00.000-08:00

Beyond my own church's Pastor and teaching (podcast link), I would highly recommend four teachers and their messages to you:

David Platt, Church at Brook Hills, Birmingham, AL
Matt Chandler, The Village Church, Flower Mound, TX
John Piper, Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis, MN
Francis Chan, Cornerstone Church, Simi Valley, CA

These are the folks in my iPhone/iPod on the road and at the office with the headphones on from time to time. I've found them all to be biblical, foundational and radical as well as practical.

Will We Die In Our Religion or Die In Our Devotion?

2009-12-11T07:20:00.000-08:00

Powerful message from Dr. David Platt at the 2009 Southern Baptist Convention Pastor's Conference. About 30 minutes in 4 parts, but worth it...

FrankenDesign

2009-12-05T20:16:00.000-08:00

An interesting article from a while back in Collide magazine that I ran across recently dubbed the term "FrankenDesign" to describe the odd mix of copying/lifting ideas and brands from the culture and trying to repurpose them for the church. I continue to move away from this concept (copying) believing that our message is too important, the Bible too trustworthy and Christ too much above this approach to think that this is smart and/or a workable approach. This simply isn't bringing our best to the table, in my opinion.

Talking to the De-Churched

2009-11-28T18:58:00.000-08:00

A great clip I caught recently from Matt Chandler on the "de-churched" versus the "un-churched". In the "Bible belt" of the South, I think perhaps our focus should be more toward reaching these individuals as opposed to those who may have no experience with God whatsoever. I believe the former--those who have some experience with the church but have since run from it--is by far the most common.

Ornaments for Orphans

2009-11-28T18:50:00.000-08:00

My wife and I just mailed our adoption application to begin the process of seeking an orphan child from the country of Uganda. We had a tremendous adoption experience in China in 2007 (read about it here), and now believe the Lord is calling us to adopt again.

This time around we're seeking to raise some of the necessary funds through various means versus going into debt for the adoption. One way we have thought to raise money is by selling Christmas ornaments. You can visit our Ornaments for Orphans page on Communicorps.org and purchase an ornament if you would like to join us in this endeavor.

Whether you purchase an ornament or not, we covet your prayers throughout the process as we also are now praying for the little one or ones that God is preparing for us even now.

Interesting Talk on Sound

2009-10-28T20:38:00.001-07:00

Found another great TED talk--this one just 5 minutes--on how sounds affect us. Fascinating application I think to worship and teaching.

Communion Graphic Design

2009-10-28T20:34:00.001-07:00

A graphic I recently completed for our upcoming Communion service. I like the soft layered look, but moreso because I often think of a red/dark color scheme for Communion--sort of centering on the "blood of Christ", wine, cup, etc. Here the green and blue add a very different look to a traditional concept.

Adventure Class Concept

2009-10-28T20:33:00.000-07:00

A graphic logo update I just completed for our Children's Ministry "Adventure Class" (for kids interested and asking questions about faith and Christ).

A Picture Is Worth...

2009-10-19T20:01:00.000-07:00

Friend Day 2009

2009-10-18T21:13:00.001-07:00

Click here to view these pictures larger

Web Design Resource

2009-10-18T17:04:00.000-07:00

I find a large portion of effective communication for the North American church is now focused on the web and social media. I've found a ton of help and resources online. This one, For Web Designers, is one of my favorites. Great links to a ton of helpful info on design, scripting, CSS, site features, third-party services and add-ons and more. Interestingly, as my websites get more complex, I find the actual cost is going down and the work involved in implementing new features is lesser than it was in the last few years.

Mission Statements a Miss

2009-10-17T16:07:00.000-07:00

Just read a great article in Fast Company entitled "How to Write a Mission Statement That Isn't Dumb". A lot of application for churches here. Key thought is the a mission statement should be oriented around action, versus sentiment or philosphy. Are we calling people to know something, or rather to do something?

Wake Up Church

2009-10-13T20:21:00.000-07:00

Caught this video on YouTube--a compilation of several pastors. I don't recognize any of them myself, but man, what they are saying is true. May we not be guilty of watering down what we believe and twisting Truth into a consumer product. Powerful stuff...

Church Marketing?

2009-10-13T20:13:00.000-07:00

Read an interesting post on "Christian marketing" that I think gets it pretty close to dead-on. The church must move beyond marketing philosophy if it is to regain its effectiveness. We all want Seth Godin's "Purple Cow" of a church--well, just live the gospel and that's gonna be amazingly, attention-attracting radical.

Killing Creativity

2009-10-08T20:06:00.000-07:00

Dr. Ken Robinson gave a fascinating talk about creativity in education that really made me think:

Conservative Design Wins

2009-09-12T19:59:00.001-07:00

Just read a great article on FastCompany.com regarding conservative versus "edgy" web design. The conclusion is simply that conservative, simple and straightforward design wins, hands-down, every time, in terms of its raw drawing power and ability to help someone through a website and encourage repeat visits.

I see many web designers and design firms pushing the boundaries of graphic arts for their clients, I think to the client's detriment. Interestingly I met with someone this week who had been working with a web designer on their non-profit organization's site, and pulled the plug in the middle of the project because the design firm absolutely failed to achieve their objectives. One part of the conversation moved toward design, which the person told me was more "edgy" and esoteric.

Look folks, take simple communications tools like a telephone or a typewriter. You can monkey with the styling and the look quite a bit, but at the core, a phone has to have a standard keypad, and a typewriter has to have a QWERTY layout--you risk killing all sense of function for a device when you start tampering with its core identity. Yes, absolutely this philosophy does translate to websites. People expect to see words like "welcome", "schedule", "contact us" and "about us" when they go to your website menu. They don't want a laundry list of odd terms that they have to decipher.

For a church, a website must be very simple, straightfoward and easy to use and navigate. This translates to "welcoming" or "inviting" in the personal sense. So many church websites are very difficult to interact with. Worse, they go down this road of trying to intelligently present their mission and vision before someone has the chance to even step in their electronic "front door" and find stuff they need to know to connect with the congregation.

About 10 years ago I read a survey by the Barna organization that indicated the top three things guests look for on a church's home page: (1) schedule, (2) how to get to the church and (3) information about the Pastor. Yet so many churches bury this vital, key information a few clicks down in the site. It's no different than putting those telephone keys under a little plastic lid that you have to raise each time before you dial. Who would want to mess with a key function like that? Well, we do it all the time on church websites.

Rethink the function of your church site. Make it painstakingly easy and simple to navigate. Use regular words instead of vague phrases. Use one word instead of two. Embrace radical adherence to usability first. Forget edgy. "Edgy" people use conservatively designed sites all the time. Conservative people hardly ever hit edgy sites, though. Why divide your audience when you could grow it instead?

Radical Lives

2009-08-28T19:23:00.000-07:00

Just finished reading Francis Chan's book "Crazy Love". Excellent book and a great example of a recent trend I see that redefines the Christian life as truly radical. I say redefines because I think for some time mainstream churches in North America have basically defined the faith as a series of gradual, self-improvement steps over time.

Yet, as Chan's book reinforces, and as the Bible challenges, being a Christ-follower is a rapid, wholehearted and radical departure from the status quo. The fact is that although it would be nice to believe that most Christians are pursuing a radical Christ-life, it just isn't so. In Christ's own time, the masses who followed Him eventually fell away, leaving only 12--11 if you figure Judas also left Jesus.

The problem is that I have a tendency to put myself among the 12. Really, it is more likely given my lifestyle I would be among the masses. Do I really understand the deep, wholehearted, reckess and unimaginable sacrifice that was behind those words, "Follow me" (Matthew 4:19)? Praying this week for a lack of caution and a rise of devotion when it comes to fully and immediately following the example and commands of Christ.

Equipping for Communications

2009-08-26T20:12:00.000-07:00

Working this week on defining volunteer roles and equipping possibilities within communications ministry at the church where I serve. Tremendous potential here--and the biggest challenge thus far is putting my role and the role of others in communications ministry in the context of reproducible roles.

At a planning retreat this week our leadership talked about apprenticeships and other possibilities for equipping lay leadership within each ministry area. I'm more convinced than ever that this is a key role for the future of communications ministry. Far too often, churches outsource some of these key communications tasks to third parties, versus building up leadership within the church to use their talents, gifts and abilities to serve these crucial areas.

The sacred cow here is my role and other staff roles, that far too often derive their value from task completion versus lay development. I'm far too guilty of this year after year. The hurdle I'm praying through is taking decisions I make, and reforming that role into one that can be accomplished by a lay leader. Beginning to define those values and principles that area crucial for a volunteer to understand in each area and how those can be lived out as the training and equipping process begins to happen.

A Snail's Pace

2009-08-22T10:40:00.000-07:00

The pastor of my church here in Atlanta is teaching a series on becoming a "fisher of men" (Mark 1, Matthew 4). I was re-reading the scripture associated with the series yesterday and noticed something interesting in both instances where Jesus' calling of His first disciples was recounted.

They left everything and followed Christ "immediately". The word immediately appears in both recorded Gospel records, in Matthew more than once. Flipping over to Acts to review the conversion of Paul the Apostle again I see the word immediately--as soon as Paul's conversion is complete he immediately began preaching the gospel.

I think the North American church has this idea that there has to be this long "preparation" phase after someone comes to know the Lord between then and when they can begin sharing the gospel. I hard the phrase "fully devoted follower of Christ" occasionally, and it seems to point to this "delay"--an educational process that is vague but is somehow seen as necessary before we "get out there and get to it."

I think based on the Bible that just the opposite must be true. Let's get out there and do it, right now, today, immediately. I connected with three people in the past 24 hours who need Christ--a visitor at the office, a man in a nearby neighborhood who is going through a divorce, and a neighbor. No preparation time or educational process is really needed to reach out to them, and I took the opportunity to do so in all three cases. It doesn't have to be complicated, fleshed-out and neat and clean. Christ commands it, so let's do it "immediately".

In ministry too, I see myself operating many times at a snail's pace. And this is a point of prayer and conviction as to the best methodology. To some extent I want to "bring people alongside" as Christ works on me and adjusts me according to His purposes. At the same time, how hard can I turn the rudder in a ministry area? Should I adjust in a way that helps people hang on, or just realize that some will fall off the boat?

Christ Himself kinda answers this in that He invested heavily in just a few men, and most of the multitudes left Him in the end. At the same time, there are people I am entrusted with who claim to be believers, and so I think perhaps there's some great responsibility to bring fellow Christ-followers from milk to meat. I want to accelerate change in my own life, and consequently in the areas of ministry which I serve. How much of a turn is too much at one time? Is there such a thing as too much acceleration or change toward the clear calling and commands of Christ?

Diving Board Theology

2009-07-22T19:42:00.000-07:00

I've found myself reading and re-reading many books lately in preparation for and in support of my role in ministry at Cross Pointe Church. Interestingly I can put them into two categories.

The first, and this is generally true of older books, are solid, theologically-driven works designed to help a person understand more fully the Word and apply it in ministry and life. I'm enjoying books by J.I. Packer, A.W. Tozer, John Piper and C.S. Lewis. Besides most of these guys going by their initials for some odd reason, the common theme seems to be an indictment to a degree of straying from basic biblical principles. So I'm convicted as I read these to keep to the basics. Know God more, obey the Word more fully and connect with others to serve and to share the Gospel.

The second batch of books is what I am going to refer to as "diving board theology". I'm not going to mention authors or titles, but there are tons of these, mostly in the "church growth" arena, that really disturb me. The story is largely the same: The author chooses a verse or two from Scripture, which he or she mentions before page 10, and then "dives off" into their own thoughts and ideas, never to return to the Word again throughout the book.

It's not an exaggeration. I just read one book that advertised it was specifically for helping churches "become more devoted to the Christ" and yet not one Word Christ uttered was included. Amazing. Another one bragged that it was a mix of "biblical wisdom and practical business know-how". I'm not sure what that means, or if it's even possible.

In the first batch of books I found much to know about God, understand and apply more fully. In the second batch I found a lot of advice--most of it I would say is "good" advice, but little advancement in my knowledge of how to more fully impact today's world with the timelessness of Scripture. If our North American Christian leaders, as a group, are not going to go to God's Word as a constant and solid foundation for leadership advice, are they really leading? Frankly I've gone from a little bit of outrage to downright disappointment. Some of these guys are on the national stage and have a tremendous forum--and spend 120 pages talking about themselves.

What this is teaching me is three-fold. First, hang on to the old guys and the earlier works--there's much wisdom and biblical teaching there. Second, look carefully at the current crop of leaders and what they are writing in light of the Word before accepting "advice" as "admonition" from the Lord. Lastly, in my own work, websites and forums where I have a voice, I need to be careful that I am speaking out of God's Word and relying heavily on my own flawed experience. It's a lot to swallow.

The Balance Between People and the Word

2009-07-07T13:38:00.000-07:00

Increasingly I find my thoughts related to creative support in ministry centering on the balance between what we do to garner the attention of people versus clearly showing them the Word. Thematically I look toward things that might visually or kinetically reinforce a message, but these are often people-centric ideas—graphics, slogans and the like. On the other hand, I sometimes find ideas that are Word-centric may look less "exciting" but will, in fact, remind people more of the Word as a result.

I don't think these two things need to be mutually exclusive. I think it's possible to be very creative and original and yet focus on the Word as the end result. Perhaps I am leaning a bit more right now in the direction of creativity for the sake of the audience (people). I'm interested in learning from others how to best temper that with a more concentrated effort toward creativity for the sake of the Word.

Cross Pointe Church, Duluth, Georgia

2009-06-19T22:40:00.000-07:00

Last month, after much prayer and consultation with friends, my wife and others, I accepted the role of Communications Director at Cross Pointe Church in Duluth, Georgia, just north of Atlanta. We put our house up for sale in Birmingham, Alabama, and arranged with the church to stay in our current role until our house sold. In the current economic climate, we believed this would take some time, and so we continued to seek the Lord's will and pray for the church, our place in ministry personally and as a family, and other goals we have for the coming years, like adopting additional orphan children.

Well, our house was under contract within 17 days. God willing, we will close on our home next week and move to Atlanta a day or two after. It is somewhat a bittersweet move for us, because we love our friends, our family and our church in Birmingham. Life is very good here and there is no compelling reason to move, other than following God's open door for our family, and a role which we believe He has called us to.

More than anything right now I find myself constantly praying, "Lord, what is it you want to accomplish through me at this place?" I have a skill set and a few things I believe I should be doing with respect to this particular role. But I am constantly checking myself to ensure I'm holding the role with an open hand. I am listing for God's voice and I am intent on not letting my personal preferences or "grand design" to create noise in my head that will grow my ego and take me from God's purpose and plan.

I don't want to get caught up in something new. I earnestly want to get caught up in something old, very basic, and very biblical. I struggle with the balance between people's wants and expectations, and God's commands and mandates. Often these things are not in sync. My prayer is, God, please allow these things to be in sync in my life and with those I will be serving alongside at Cross Pointe. Please God, let this be your communications ministry. I'm just one voice in it--and I hope my voice is merely and reflection and amplification of your Word.

I'm sure this role will spark many additional posts. Interestingly this week I've been asked by serveral churches for advice on communications roles. So I'd like to turn it around and ask for your advice if you serve in communications. What can I learn from you that will help me serve in this role in the local church?

A Picture Is Worth...

2009-06-11T00:24:00.000-07:00

Life, to a large degree, is a matter of perspective.

Hunger for Civility

2009-05-27T20:19:00.000-07:00

I've been working and traveling a bit this month and I have been struck by something which I believe many churches and Christians are missing in terms of a practical way to connect with those who are far from God. There's a simple, polite civility that seems to have disappeared largely from the North American landscape. As the economy grows more grim and the prevailing attitude of "what's in it for me" grows more each day, it seems that anyone not completely absorbed with themselves and their own wants, needs and desires is, well--extraordinary.

I think there's a hunger for civility, self-LESS-ness, and genuine concern and servanthood toward fellowman. I know this is true in the business world--just today I spoke with a customer of the company I work with who was dissatisfied with his experience. He was flabbergasted that I not only took time to call and listen to his issue, but also work it out personally. And this same hunger is also present in the personal realm. I'm struck by the stark contrast in things so simple as Facebook posts--most of the ones I read tout what's going on in "my life and world". But a few--the ones I really notice, honestly--focus on helping and serving others.

I think most of us would want to think that the United States is known for its selflessness and servanthood worldwide--that we're a people with a heritage of civility and concern for our fellow man. I think we'd also have to admit that those days are waining. Worse, though, is that I believe we think of civility as a patriotic or nationalistic incliniation before we think of it as a Christian one. Jesus Himself "did not come to be served, but to serve..." and yet I think the call to a life of servanthood is largely lost on today's much smaller churched population.

If these last few weeks have taught me anything, it's that a little civility, selflessness, servanthood and desire to make something better for someone elsse without motive for myself is seen as simply extraordinary these days. That's sad, because it's telling as to how far our nation is removed from the virtues of our father's generation. And it's also an opportunity--because frankly, these days a little civility will go a long way.

A Picture Is Worth...

2009-04-26T18:19:00.001-07:00

A Picture Is Worth...

2009-04-19T21:04:00.001-07:00

A Picture Is Worth...

2009-04-12T19:17:00.000-07:00

When I started in a creative field many years ago, it was an axiom in my mind as I dreamed and submitted ideas for consideration that "anything is possible". Now, older and I hope a little bit wiser, I've amended that statement to be, "Anything is possible, but not everything is advisable". Case in point:

The Power of God's Word

2009-04-07T21:19:00.000-07:00

One of the great failures of modern church communication is how little faith in and understanding we have of the power of God's Word. The Bible is often viewed as an ancient book of ciphers, which "professional ministers" must work to make understandable through clever themes, sermon series, gimmicks and simplistic translations. The reality is that the Bible is understandable, factual, historical, readable, organized and, most of all, truthful. But those are just my adjectives--the Word itself has so many more.

We must know the Word in order to believe that it is complete and capable, in and of itself, of helping man to understand God's nature and plan, and giving him a more thorough understanding of the gospel and our responsibilities as Christ-followers. Often, I see churches flounder around with weak teaching because leaders simply won't wrap their minds and hearts up in the Word and then stand on it confidently.

Psalm 119 is known as the longest chapter in the Bible. But do you know what the Psalm is talking about? It is one of the most beautiful and passionate passages on the power, authority and rewards of God's Word. You might know a key verse, Psalm 119:105--"Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." Consider now, these other verses and aspects of God's Word as you read the entirety of Psalm 119:

Those who walk in the way of God's Word:

Are blessed (Psalm 119:1)
Are blameless (Psalm 119:1, 119:80)
Do no unrightousness (Psalm 119:3)
Are not ashamed (Psalm 119:4, 119:46, 119:80, 119:116)
Give thanks (Psalm 119:7)
Are pure (Psalm 119:9)
Resist sin (Psalm 119:11, 119:101, 119:133)
Rejoice in the Word (Psalm 119:14, 119:162)
Are revived (Psalm 119:25)
Are strengthened (Psalm 119:28)
Walk at liberty (Psalm 119:45)
Lift up their hands to the Word (Psalm 119:47)
Are comforted (Psalm 119:52, 119:76)
Stand in awe of God's Word (Psalm 119:161)
Have great peace (Psalm 119:165)
Do not stumble (Psalm 119:165)

God Word is:

Ordained (Psalm 119:4)
Settled in heaven (119:89)
Light (Psalm 119:105, 119:130)
Filled with wonderful things (Psalm 119:18)
A counselor (Psalm 119:24)
Faithful (Psalm 119:30, 119:86, 119:138)
A comfort in our affliction (Psalm 119:50)
A song that we sing (Psalm 119:54, 119:172)
More valuable than gold and silver (Psalm 119:72, 119:127)
Sweeter than honey (Psalm 119:103)
The joy of our hearts (Psalm 119:111)
Wonderful (Psalm 119:129)
Is righteous and upright (Psalm 119:137-138, 119:144, 119:172)
Pure (Psalm 119:140)
Truth (Psalm 119:142, 119:151, 119:160)
Everlasting (Psalm 119:152, 119:160)

Instructions to us regarding God's Word:

Walk in the Word (Psalm 119:1, 119:3, 119:35, 119:45)
Observe the Word (Psalm 119:2, 119:22, 119:34, 119:69, 119:115, 119:145)
Long for the Word at all times (Psalm 119:20, 119:40, 119:82, 119:123, 119:131, 119:174)
Obey the Word (Psalm 119:112)
Love His commands (Psalm 119:47, 119:48, 119:97, 119:113, 119:119, 119:127, 119:140, 119:159, 119:163, 119:167)
Meditate on the Word (Psalm 119:15, 119:23, 119:27, 119:48, 119:78, 119:97, 119:99, 119:148)
Keep the Word (Psalm 119:5, 119:8, 119:9, 119:17, 119:44, 119:55, 119:57, 119:67, 119:106, 119:134, 119:146, 119:167-168)
Look on the Word (Psalm 119:5)
Give thanks for the Word (Psalm 119:7)
Do not wander from the Word (Psalm 119:10, 119:102, 119:157)
Treasure the Word (Psalm 119:11)
Tell of the Word (Psalm 119:13)
Delight in the Word (Psalm 119:16, 119:24, 119:35, 119:47. 119:70, 119:77, 119:143, 119:174)
Do not forget the Word (Psalm 119:16, 119:52, 119:83, 119:93, 119:109, 119:141, 119:153, 119:176)
Cling to the Word (Psalm 119:31)
Trust in the Word (Psalm 119:42)
Wait for the Word (Psalm 119:43, 119:74, 119:81, 119:114, 119:147)
Believe in the Word (Psalm 119:66)
Fear the Word (Psalm 119:120)

God uses His Word to:

Rebuke the arrogant (Psalm 119:21)
Revive the hearts of His followers (Psalm 119:25, 119:37, 119:40, 119:50, 119:93, 119:107, 119:149, 119:154, 119:156)
Enlarge our hearts (Psalm 119:32)
Teach us (Psalm 119:33, 119:171)
Give us understanding (Psalm 119:34, 119:73, 119:104, 119:125, 119:130, 119:144, 119:169)
Produce reverence in His followers (Psalm 119:38)
Bring salvation (119:41)
Cause indignation in His followers for those do not keep His Word (Psalm 119:53, 119:158)
Deals with us according to it (Psalm 119:65)
Teach discernment and knowledge (Psalm 119:66)
To establish the earth and make itstand (Psalm 119:90)
Make us wiser then our enemies (Psalm 119:98)
Give insight (Psalm 119:99)
Sustain us (Psalm 119:116)
Reject those who wander from it (Psalm 119:118)
Establish our footsteps (give us direction) (Psalm 119:133)
Deliver us (Psalm 119:170)

The picture of the Psalmist is one who is deeply devoted to God's Word--depending on it with desperation--trusting it, clinging to it, waiting on it, believing it, looking to it, keeping it, loving it, delighting in it. What a powerful reminder that the core of our beliefs and teaching is God's Word. I wonder if we would only believe more fully that the Bible is what we say it is--and that its words are true--how that would affect our churches and leadership.

A Picture Is Worth...

2009-04-05T21:49:00.001-07:00

What designers say to instill confidence from their coworkers...

A Picture Is Worth...

2009-04-04T13:49:00.000-07:00

Easter at The Church at Brook Hills

2009-04-02T21:28:00.001-07:00

Here's a link (click the graphic) to the promotional page for Easter for the church I am a member of--The Church at Brook Hills in Birmingham, AL. The Pastor is doing a Friday night 6-hour study on the cross on April 10, followed by a biblical Easter message on April 12.

If you are in the Birmingham area, please drop me a comment--I would love for you to attend the service as my guest if you do not have a church home.

Church Budget Woes

2009-03-31T21:28:00.000-07:00

Lately I've made the state of the church in the U.S. a matter of prayer, more so than in the past. I've begun to hear some really frightening stories during the economic downturn of churches that are really at the end of their financial rope. Today I was discussing with a friend the fact that one very large local church I know of has laid off a portion of their workforce. I've also been reading online about other churches that are facing difficult financial times.

A few years ago when I was serving in one particular church, we had to cut our budget. The Pastor had resigned and during the interim period there was an attendance downturn. So, after the fact, I wrote an article about it and posted it on communicorps.org. Well, over the last six months, that article and a subsequent one on budget issues have been read more than any other pages on the site.

It's a little disconcerting, as I certainly don't have a lot to say on how to budget in the church. So, more than anything I've been praying for godly leaders to seek wisdom, spend wisely and cut prudently and in line with scripture. Interestingly, I think that year of budget cuts a while back was a good thing--it certainly taught me that there were many "essentials" that were actually "wants" versus "needs" in our budget. I hope these challenges in stewardship will drive church leaders to their knees in prayer and to the Word for direction... They may discover, as I did, that the core responsibilities of the church and accomplishing Her purpose on earth actually costs much less than we think.

How To Begin Unbranding the Church

2009-03-31T14:17:00.000-07:00

If we have fallen into the branding-marketing mindset within the church, how to we begin to unravel these threads to reveal our true mission and purpose? Furthermore, what is the role of these media and marketing tools in the church if we are willing to finally step away from the damaging marketing mindset? Let me suggest four foundational thoughts:

Stop trying to attract and keep an audience. Church growth strategy, which in North America has become a cottage industry, is centered on attracting a larger audience by programming to meet the needs of prospective attendees. Inevitably a church that focuses on attracting and keeping an audience will fashion a faith out of answers and convenience versus truth and obedience.

An unbranded church seeks to be the church as in the Acts 2 example, dedicated to worship, the fellowship, service, prayer and scripture. Do not let your eyes leave the mission--the size of the audience will take care of itself. Practical steps:

Make sure, above all other commitments, you are engaged personally and collectively in core disciplines outlined in Acts 2 daily. You cannot lead people where you are not yourself going.
Stop setting any goals or marks based on numerical attendance or growth.

Find your church's identity solely in Christ. Many North American churches spend time and money crafting an image of the congregation and its mission for the primary benefit of the surrounding unchurched community. This methodology is useful for selling them used cars, but will not impact generations for Christ locally or globally. Worse, it can lead to a church whose identity is found in their mission statement or vision or a set of goals or causes. All of these can change over time and thus cannot form a solid foundation for the church.

Instead, seek Christ, personally and as a congregation. Study Christ, pray to Christ, act like Christ, obey the commands of Christ, and seek to know as much about Christ as you possibly can. The identity of church will never be more powerful, more unique, more radical, more zealous or more memorable than when people see Christ when they look at you and the members of your congregation. Practical steps:

Disciple a group through a study of the Gospels. Pay special attention to the example of Christ. As you study, ask yourself "What is Christ modeling here or commanding there?" Live that out in your own life.
Drop anything from your mission or vision that won't matter in 100 years. Forget trends, demographics, economics, patterns of growth or decline, current issues and events, technologies or media. You don't need nimble, infinitely-flexible methodologies that allow you to "turn on a dime." In Christ, you're an eternal being who is not on the clock. Think beyond next week. Think beyond your lifetime.

Know God's Word, really. An appalling lack of basic Bible knowledge I believe is the single most important factor in the overall decline of the North American evangelical church. Many view the Word as an "instruction book"--a life encyclopedia that gives answers to some issues but leaves others open to interpretation.

The Bible is, in fact, God's story about Himself, His creation, His nature and purposes and His plan. It was not written so that we could apply God's moral code to facets of our lives. It was given to us so that we could know more about God. And though many of us profess to live by its teachings, we scarcely know it or understand it, much less believe it enough to stake our lives on it. We must elevate scripture in our lives individually and submit ourselves to its ultimate authority. Practical steps:

Devote ample time to study the Bible every day. Cease any other activities that prevent you from doing this, including family and ministry commitments. If we are truly and wholly devoted to Christ, time in His Word will be the absolute most important thing in our lives, before all other interests and relationships, without exception.
Memorize scripture, in large blocks if possible. Right now millions of Muslim children are engaged in the systematic memorization of the Koran. If we believe our Bible contains God's Words and is our ultimate authority, then we must saturate our minds with it.
Continually teach, model and program in the church organization based soley on the scripture. Don't let any church program or activity interfere with Bible study.

Quit searching for relevance and connection. God's Word and the church are never irrelevant. God never fails to connect with people. We do not need to add anything to what God has already given us in some vain effort to make Him more attractive. Stop pursuing a voice for the church in whatever culture you live in. We must follow God's Word like our lives depend on it, and sacrifice our dreams, desires, possessions, families and careers to obey Christ above all else. That kind of church will be so radical, so different, it will get all the attention it wants, and likely some that it doesn't.

Don't assume that the unchurched want you to solve their problems, give them a vision for a bright future, or share God's perspective on the story of the month. They only hunger for two things: meaning (why are they here) and truth (how they can know the answer to the meaning question is real). Answer those two questions and all others will be of lesser value. Practical steps:

Study the church in Acts 2 and strive to be more like its example. Simplify wherever possible.
Don't program based on cultural phenomenon or media trends. Take what you are learning in the Word and re-teach that. Don't worry about how "in tune" your Bible study topic is with the latest fad.
Serve the poor in your own community and around the world. Don't put all your effort into seeking out your social and economic peers. Put your time and resources toward those less fortunate, and challenge your peers to do the same.

Risen EKG (Easter Intro Video)

2009-03-25T22:40:00.000-07:00

This video was designed for the opening of our church's Easter services, meant to show Jesus' final hours on earth, His death and His resurrection. I used an idea I have seen several times, which is a heartbeat and EKG display, intermixed with video clips and scripture. Ultimately, this video was not used as-is, but served as more of an inspiration as it was edited to fit better with the musical portion of the service. You might have to turn the volume waaaay up on your computer to hear the deep "heartbeat" soundtrack".

The Dangers, Results, and History of Decisional Regeneration

2009-03-25T21:22:00.000-07:00

I found this is an interesting and instructional segment on "decisional regeneration", which is a very common practice in churches today. Though I do know deeply passionate believers who "prayed to receive Christ" at some point in their lives, I also agree with the video's assertion that we often lack an emphasis on repentance and surrender to Christ and His Lordship in our preaching. Food for thought...

The Power of Storytelling

2009-03-25T21:13:00.000-07:00

Storytelling is a means of sharing what God is doing through the lives fellow Christ-followers in your community and around the world. Knowing how to write or tell a compelling story is a fantastically useful skill for ministry. The great thing about a true story is that it relates an experience. Unlike doctrine or beliefs, experience cannot be argued against or debated. It is history. It happened. There's no denying it--and that makes for a powerful testimony.
A well crafted story usually follows some general principles...

Three acts. A common and effective way to organize a story is in three "acts," or sections. The most obvious example of this structure is movies, which are usually done in three acts. Act 1 is devoted to "setting up" the situation or conflict. Act 2 is devoted to developing the characters. Act 3 resolves the situation. Sometimes in movies, acts 1 and 2 are reversed, with character development occurring first. I've also heard storytelling described as "movements," like in a symphony. Though stories can be further subdivided into sections, a three-part design is a great place to start.

A good story has a beginning, middle and an end. In a ministry story, this three-act structure can often be obtained by using the story to answer three questions: (1) What were the circumstances before God intervened? (2) What did God do? (3) What were the results? These three questions can form the basis of many testimonies.

Keep it simple. When writing, avoid unnecessary words and sentences. When speaking, avoid unnecessary tangents or exposition. Ask yourself, "Is this sentence or paragraph moving the story along? Is it important?" Avoid extraneous detail. Write like you would talk if telling the story aloud--people are usually more efficient with their words in speaking than in writing.

Add detail to action and emotion. Some writers spend pages describing places and people--the physical features. That's fine in a novel where the reader will spend a great deal of time there. In a short testimony or story, the point is to get to the point. Concentrate instead on feeling, emotion and action. What happened? How did that make you feel or react? How would other people react in the same situation, and was your reaction different? Why? When you tell your story, emphasize the emotions you felt at various points along the way. People readily identify with love, hate, anger, jealousy, envy, joy, humor--anything they are capable of feeling.

Conflict or tension can make stories more interesting. In ministry, the tendency is to always put a positive spin on things. Life isn't always a bed of roses, and what makes the stories of life interesting are the situations or conflicts we find ourselves in. If you've been through a tough time, it's easy to say, "I trusted God" after the fact. But if you had doubts during the ordeal, expressing them now is important. It's relevant because others have doubts. The people who hear your story are asking themselves, "What would I have done?" Don't be afraid to express conflict or tension when telling the story.

Simple storytelling techniques you can use. There are three easy ways to enhance any story. The first is "back story," which is telling the background elements--what led up to the situation? What about their past made those involved act as they did? Back story develops the characters more fully, allowing the listener or reader to learn what they are all about. Make sure your back story information is relevant to your story's point. Let the back story indicate where you came from, so you can better explain where you've gone to.

A second element used by storytellers is "foreshadowing," or hinting at things to come. "When this happened, little did I know it would be important later on," is an example of foreshadowing. Foreshadowing is a great device for piquing the interest of the reader or listener. Their curiosity is heightened as they try to determine in their mind what might happen next.

Finally, use the element of "surprise." Did your story take an unexpected turn, or have a twist that nobody saw coming? "When all of a sudden..." or "I had no idea..." are great devices in storytelling. Life is full of the unexpected, and surprise has a way of engaging and delighting a listener or reader.

A story must have a purpose. Every story had a purpose. Let your story's point be one that is well-made. What can be gained from the experience? What did you win or lose? What did you learn? How was your life affected? How can this experience be applied to others? A story without a purpose is just entertainment. You can use devices to make a store more engaging, but you must begin with a purpose so that the story itself has merit, beyond the dramatic conventions.

Who gets the credit? Finally, a story of God's intervention or activity in someone's life must give credit to Whom credit is due. The point of a Christian testimony is not for people to know more about the storyteller. It's for people to know more about God. Is your story about being forgiven, or about God's forgiveness? Is it about your surrender to Christ, or about His sacrifice and Lordship? Let your story focus on what God did and Who God is versus details about yourself.

A group of facts or a paragraph of opinion is seldom as compelling and captivating as a well-crafted story--one that involves the reader or listener emotionally. Storytelling is and art, but it does not have to be complicated. Any good story is simply a thoughtful and planned presentation, a deliberate act of adding flair and drama, using age-old devices to enhance the moment.

Churchy Clichés... and What They Really Mean

2009-03-23T21:21:00.000-07:00

Why can't we as the church communicate more clearly and without rhetoric and clichés? The North American evangelical culture is filled with "churchy" clichés--words and phrases we use to describe the church and ministry. The net result is that we stereotype ourselves with these catchphrases, and end up turning off the very people we want to engage. Worse, the more I hear these, the more convinced I am that we cheapen our faith and our God when we dip into our "church speak".

I wrote an article for my website explaining some more common "churchy clichés". There's plenty of sarcasm in the article, but I hope it is somewhat thought-provoking in terms of the language so many of us, including me, have used regularly within our walls.

Please read Churchy Clichés... and What They Really Mean.

How to Communicate Disagreement in the Church

2009-03-23T21:15:00.000-07:00

Every church of every size will have disagreements among its members, on everything from budget issues to blue jeans in worship. How should church communicators view these disagreements, and more importantly, how should church leaders handle disagreement as an ongoing ministry challenge?

The Word says "unity". A myth of those who may foster dissent in the church is that disagreement is just a part of life, both inside the church as well as outside. That is an unbiblical view. Throughout the New Testament we see many examples and commands related to unity in the body of Christ.

In Ephesians 4:1-13 we are told to "walk in a manner worthy of our calling" and to "maintain the unity of the Spirit".
In 1 Peter 3:8 we are commanded to "have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind".
Philippians 1:27: Paul says to "behave as citizens worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel".
Philippians 2:2 says to be "of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind".

Clearly we are to be like-minded, unified, working toward a common purpose and goal. Unity is the model and the standard, not the exception. The New Testament example is a church that outsiders looked at with awe in part because they were of one mind at at peace with one another. Does this sound like your church?

The "authenticity" argument. A second myth related to disagreement in the church is that we are not being truthful, authentic believers if we lock our jaws and smile through our anger or dissent--that unity for the sake of appearance comes off as "holier than thou" to non-believers. We can adopt an attitude of "righteous disagreement" and place our argument or viewpoint ahead of other concerns.

Here we are faced with the heart of the matter, because the authenticity question causes us to ask, "What image are we trying to protect?" Are we most concerned with our personal image or our local body's image in the eyes of non-believers? Or, should our concerns about what people might think of us bow to a much greater concern: what will they think of our God? "Authenticity" is one of those vague churchy words on which we can place great emphasis, but without biblical foundation, and worse, a re-ordering of priorites that does not solve anything.

We carry Christ's reputation. Hebrews 13 is a tremendous instructional passage on the focus and unity of the church. The chapter ends with a reminder that our work is chiefly for the glory of God on earth, and that Christ's work in us is to bring Himself ultimate glory through our actions. When we look at dissent and disagreement, we must ask, "Whose reputation will be damaged by improper handling of this issue?' Often our own reputations are of no concern to one party or the other. But if both parties call themselves followers of Chist, then ultimately it must be Christ's reputation that we guard first, above our own issues and interests.

If, then, there is disunity in our church, our goal must not be to "take a vote, majority rules" or for a leader to declare "my way or the highway". Rather, we must work to restore unity in the body to accomplish the purpose and mission of the church. This is done for the sake of Christ's reputation in the world. If non-believers see us arguing among ourselves, then forget what they think of us--what must they think of Christ? Can we not solve our issues in a way that promotes unity and glorifies Christ, so that even in our disagreements others will see His presence in us? That is a tall order, and one in which most of us, including myself, fall far short of the standard.

Which brings us to communication. The task of leading the body through these issues is ultimately for church leaders. In church disagreements, unity is the standard and Christ's reputation is to be protected. Biblical principles follow here as well--we should go to a person one-on-one to work out differences. Failing that, we should go with a brother or sister in Christ. Failing that, deacons, elders or leaders should take up the issue. That's the simple biblical model for conflict resolution and the escalation of authority in the church. But for the purpose of this webiste, how should church communicators act or react in the face of disagreement? A few suggestions:

We do not air our disagreements in public. In the age of the internet, email and instant blogs on every topic imaginable, it's terribly easy to build a forum for dissent or debate in a public place, accessible to everyone. Over the years, in arguments from leadership style to worship songs to budget battles, I have seen church members who would never speak up to anyone within the walls of the church start online campaigns outside the church in an effort to influence decision making. In a few cases I've watched in horror as another church's internal issue played out on local television news.

This is absolutely wrong, and I believe is actually creating dissensions and factions, acts of the sinful nature described in Galatians 5:20. Such activity has no place in the body. If faced with this dilemma, I would encourage church leaders to approach the party biblically and try to resolve the issue privately. Failing that, however, they should in some cases be cast out of the church, if we are to follow what the New Testament teaches about such sin as being typical of those who are not believers.

The internet is an inappropriate forum for disagreement in the church. I have seen church controversies in the United States play out on blogs and websites. People in the church and outside the church take one side or the other and battle it out in postings, Bible references in hand. Who does this glorify? I would not even dare apply the adjective "well meaning" to these people. They are embarrassing themselves, their church and their God. By New Testament standards, any forum that does not bring God glory in its use for a significant disagreement in the church body is simply unbiblical.

Create forums for discourse and discussion. Sometimes dissent or disagreement comes when there is no clear avenue for expressing a viewpoint. Don't assume that people with a grievance will simply call the chuch office and make an appointment with the appropriate staff member. I have seen this often in church business meetings, which are called for one specific purpose, but end up being an open mic night to talk about anything of concern to the membership because it's the only time many believe they are given a forum for discussion.

I've concluded many statements or write-ups on decisions at churches over the years with a phrase like, "If you have questions or concerns, please call or email...". This simple addition creates a clear avenue for making a point. Discussion and Q&A forums can also be helpful--I've seen these done on a per-ministry basis versus churchwide to limit topics. Here again, I think that a personal forum as opposed to an electronic one is important. Emails and blog postings are not appropriate forums to take up a discourse on disagreements within the church. People say things with more fervor (even hatred) in an email than they would ever express in person--and this often clouds the real issue and creates additional issues in the process.

Keep church matters to the church, and personal matters personal. Issues of doctrine, preaching and teaching, dissemination of budget funds, strategy and direction--disagreement on these issues affect the body of Christ and should be dealt with biblically, and by church leaders in an organized manner. I am always willing to talk with and open the Word to study and learn from another believer who may take issue with me on a point of theology or interpretation of scripture. These disagreements can be healthy.

However, I've often been called upon to "settle an issue" between two Christian brothers, only to find neither has approached the other to reconcile the situation. So I'm asked to become "The People's Court" for the argument. In this case, I always point the person back to the Word, and suggest my role is moot until they first attempt to work it out with their neighbor. If I am asked to go with a brother to mediate in a conflict with another believer after their own effort has failed, my role then becomes reconciler--how can we biblically settle the issue so that all parties are reconciled to one another in the body at the conclusion? Anything less than this result is not biblical. We are one in the body of Christ--it simply is not acceptable to "go our separate ways" as a solution.

What do we say? Ultimately, any time the church must officially comment on a controversial issue (within the body), or announce a decision that may generate dissent within the church, I think, "What can I say here that will glorify Christ?" Sometimes, that means saying less instead of more. Most of the time it means providing an avenue for follow up and comment.

Disagreement is inevitable. But we must not succomb to unchurched means of settling our differences. And we must keep in mind at all times that we are representing not ourselves or our own viewpoint, but our God to those around us and those outside the church. If we do not ask "What will people think of Christ as a result of this conflict?" during the process of discussion and reconciliation, we are quite simply asking the wrong question.

Communication Uncompromised

2009-03-23T15:42:00.000-07:00

If we are to effectively communicate the message of the church--Jesus Christ and His gospel--what elements are absolutely essential? What must we be focusing on, and not leaving out, in order that those both within and outside the church have a clear understanding of our preaching and teaching in Jesus' name?

Scripture. We must align to God's Word. Our communications must continually focus on the Word. We must not strain and stretch in order to "make the Word relevant". The Word is relevant. The Word is cool. The Word is amazing, authoritative, powerful, truthful, consistent, cohesive, intriguing and foundational. The Word is right, just and eternal. The Word is worthy of our trust and stewardship.

Church communication that does not center on the Word, but refers to it only in passing, is weak, uneducated and unpersuasive. People long for truth, boundaries, solid beliefs and strong convictions--the Word speaks these things like no other book in the world. It is the means by which God chose to give us His revelation, teaching, instruction, rebuke, correction and training. Move beyond a "theme verse" or "reference" and make the Word a consistent and central element in your church's communication.

Surrender. In coming to Christ we do not "make Jesus Lord" (He is already Lord) or "invite Him into our hearts" (a phrase found nowhere in scripture). Christianity is not a commitment to Christ. It is a complete surrender of ourselves to Him. Not only our "religious life", but our whole being. Our heart, family, resources, job, dreams, desires, relationships, ambitions, goals--everything that makes us who we are--are given over to Christ without reservation. We do this regardless of the consequences, knowing that gaining Christ is worth more than anything this world has to offer.

That sounds biblical and a little idealistic--but frankly our communcation in the church lacks idealism. If we communicate Christ as "a part of our lives", then we will encourage people only to manage Christ versus serve him devotedly and wholeheartedly. If, instead, we emphasize that to trust Christ is to surrender to Him, we put Christianity on a different level. Fewer people will accept such a surrender--but their impact will be far greater than a lukewarm mass. Let your communication challenge people toward complete surrender to Christ.

Sacrifice. A great fallacy of modern church communication is that Christ and material blessing go hand-in-hand. We don't come to Christ to get our "best life now". We come to Christ to get Christ. Throughout the New Testament we see that Christians make great sacrifices personally and as a group to see the mission of Jesus carried out in their homes, their cities and arount the world.

Christians model Christ with their lives (Christian means "little Christ"). Christ Himself lived a sacrificial life that ultimately resulted in our salvation--and the Gospels are filled with His expectation of sacrifice by His followers (John 15:13, Mark 10:45). New Testament believers were not growing richer and happier on earth. They were giving their possessions away and subjected to harsh and difficult persecution.

Our communication, then, to be in line with the example of scripture, must include the element of sacrifice. This is most evident when we emphasize not the blessings and desires of this life, but the eternal nature of God and His promise for the life to come. Perhaps this attitude and teaching is best summed up in John 16:33: "These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world."

Service. A Christ-follower who is not serving is like a ship on dry land. Not only is he not accomplishing his purpose, he is literally wasting away. Through service a Christian realizes his potential in Christ. The command to serve is found throughout the New Testament (Galatians 5:13, Ephesians 6:7, Romans 7:6, John 12:26, Mark 8:34).

God provides our resources, talents and abilities so that His name might be proclaimed both here and among all nations (Psalm 67:1-2). Our wealth, then, is not for our sake, but to serve Him. This is because God's world does not revolve around us. God's world revolves around God--His purposes, His commands, His Word, His plan.

The greatest weakness in church communication with respect to service is that we do not consistently teach that all believers are to serve Christ wholeheartedly, all of the time. Service is often presented as an "add on" once a believer reaches a certain "point of maturity" in their faith. This is not a biblical viewpoint--but one sometimes fostered by the thinking that "service" is a spiritual gift not given to all believers (Romans 12:6-8)--and it is true that some possess a gifteness to serve others that is more pronounced. Instead, in light of the larger example and context of the whole of the New Testament, our attitude should be like that found in Galatians 5:13: "You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature ; rather, serve one another in love."

Significance. Do not make the mistake of thinking that those outside the church are looking to Christ and Christians primarily to find a better life, to solve their problems, to understand the past and future, or to enlarge their wealth or friendships. Religion at its core is man's search for meaning--significance. People want to know their life has a purpose.

If we communicate that the church or Jesus will "fix up" a person's life, we are selling a lie, and worse we are minimizing Christ in the process (Romans 1:22-25). If, however, we communicate that Christ brings both meaning and purpose to a life, then we are aligning with scripture and engaging in a promise in God that is true no matter how one is equipped to serve Christ and sacrifice for Christ.

The beginning and ending of the gospel is Christ. The story of the Bible and of all creation is centered on God's glory--His great pleasure in Himself and His own craftsmanship and purposes. As communicators in the church, our greatest message with respect to the world in which we live is to tell others of our place in it. We are answering the question, "What does your life really mean?" The answer to that is found only in Christ. In Him we find eternal significance and earthly purpose. Why would we reach for greatness on the earth, or preach of happiness now, when this life is but a vapor and our future is all of God for all of eternity?

Technology Thoughts, Part 2

2009-03-19T21:51:00.000-07:00

Mike Shaw has some interesting additional thoughts on technology beyond what I wrote on databases in the church. His thoughts are not specific to the church organization, but I think they readily apply to the use of technology in the church. One interesting point Mike makes that I completely agree with:

"Good software doesn’t require alot of training. The web is a huge example of this. The most successful sites are those that are easy to use. Ease of use almost always gets whacked in demos. It may be easy to find the buttons, and the page may look pretty, but how easy is it to write a report? How easy is it to find data?"

Check out his blog at www.mikeshaw.net.

Please Stop Talking About Branding

2009-03-19T21:46:00.000-07:00

There's so much talk these days about "branding" in the North American evangelical church. The look, language and the target audience seems to be at the forefront of discussion by nearly every growing congregation. "Who we are" to the lost community is the roundtable discussion of the day. The dry definition of a brand is the symbolic embodiment of all information connected to a company, product or service--basically the sum total of what an audience thinks and feels about an organization.

Applied to the church, it's wrong, and it's dangerous. Why? On two levels, branding and the church are on a collision course with God's Word. That might sound extreme, but hey, it's my website. Frankly, as I examine scripture, over and over again the Bible details God's simple and always-successful plan for being and growing His church, and it has absolutely nothing to do with branding. When we focus on the Bible, we find a simple process in the book of Acts for how the church should work. In the briefest terms, it should be devoted to learning the Word of God, fellowship (ministry), breaking of bread (the Lord's Supper, which is identified with worship) and prayer (Acts 2:42-47). The passage concludes that "...God added daily to their number," indicating that the growth of the church comes not from our effort, but from God. When taken in the context of scripture, here's where I think branding in general misses the mark for the church:

We are focusing on something other than God and His Word. A brand, by its very definition, is based on the thoughts and feelings of people, which are not concrete and reliable and can shift and change in time. In fact a brand is our "total impression." Ours--that is, from a human and frankly often flawed perspective.

As believers we have God's Word, which is fully reliable and unfailing. The decision many churches today face is this: Do we expend time, energy, money and effort to mold in our own eyes a concrete vision and mission for the church to a unique demographic, using certain styles and preferences to draw a segment of the lost population to the church ("branding"), or do we simply follow Acts 2:42 and see what God does with it?

That sounds oversimplified, but it is certainly not. A church that is committed first to obedience to God's Word will not require a complex brand identity for success. In fact, the Bible confirms in Acts that God is waiting to bless these obedient churches who just obey His Word--no more, no less. There are literally thousands of American of churches today looking to something, anything in terms of making a mark besides simply knowing and obeying God's Word. To those who say this view is naive or can't be done, or does not take into account the media-savvy society in which we live, I respond, "Have you even tried it?"

We are not taking the mark of Christ. When we attempt to "brand" our church to some target audience, demographic or ministry component, we are simply not attaching ourselves centrally to the image of Christ. Some would argue that a brand could contain elements of this identity with Christ, but that identity will in its truest form always point exclusively to Christ. A marketing brand will always relate most closely to a group of people. So we can become known by something other than our devotion to Christ. Listen to what Paul says in 2 Thessalonians:

...we constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith. We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

2 Thessalonians 1:11-12

The problem with not focusing on Christ being "glorified in us" is that it sets up a situation where someone or something other than God is celebrated. Make no mistake, God is out for His own glory. Our desire should be first to glorify Him. God spells out that obedience to His Word and molding ourselves into the image of Christ are the means to experience God's glory among a church family.

So if there is to be any kind of "brand" within the church, it should be only a reflection of Christ. That is, when people see my church, they should not necessary see relevance to themselves, or programs that meet their needs--rather, they should see Christ honored and glorified by those who are a part of it. This flies in the face of today's catering-driven evangelism, which often relies on marketing to draw a crowd and programs to keep them. Instead let's remember that Christ said that He would draw men to Himself.

The creep. Branding as a marketing tool as crept into the church for about the last two decades, and now finds itself at the forefront of discussion. But honestly, this an unbiblical concept. What we think and feel about the church is irrelevant, and crafting the image of the church in this way takes the focus off of Christ and on to catering to a demographic. I have yet to find a church with a strong "brand" that immediately points me to Christ. I see a lot of brands that communicate "young," "urban," "relational," "relevant," or "today," but not one that points me to the image of Christ I see so clearly in scripture. Branding is helping the church creep farther away from the Bible's core teaching on the function and methods of the body of Christ.

Oh, and don't forget about... Perhaps the biggest think-fog caused by the branding movement is that many churches in the pursuit of successful marketing overlook the work of the Holy Spirit. God Himself is opening people's hearts through His Spirit daily. Is there an eternal entity working in the heart of anyone you know of that is drawing them toward Coca-Cola, or a new Dell computer, or that fabulous Mustang convertible? Branding in the marketplace helps to generate feelings that lead to purchases. But feelings can be misleading.

In the church, we do not want to generate emotional responses. Instead our desire is to help solidify beliefs that become unwavering with time and experience. We want people to commit to follow Christ even when it gets hard. We want people to understand that the Bible teaches that some suffering is often involved in the Christian life and that God's glory is shown in our sacrifice (remember, "take up your cross and follow Me"?). Brand identity may leave you feeling happy about spending more than you have for a HDTV, but does it really have a shot at generating the kind of devotion that God calls us to?

Do you begin to see why branding as a concept misses some core elements of what makes the church what it is? Branding is about crafting an image. The church is about being the body of Christ. If you commit to spend as much time in God's Word understanding His plan for the church as you will likely need to spend coming up with a marketing "brand" for your congregation, you'll find the former far outstrips the latter in effectiveness. Let your response to the "branding" question be this: "We are imitators of Jesus Christ."

The Truth Is In the Data

2009-03-18T17:07:00.000-07:00

Several years ago I undertook a major overhaul of a churchwide database--the hardware and software required to keep up with our membership, attendance, contributions and other info--for the congregation I served at the time. During this transition, we paused to reflect and quantify what, exactly, we wanted to be able to use our database for, and how we would go about organizing the system to achieve those goals. These insights were helpful and formed the basis of our ongoing database philosophy.

A database is only as good as the data. Like many churches, we held on to all our data. And I mean all our data! We had one-time guests on file going back 15 years. In a church with some 8,000 active members, attenders and guests, our database had 26,000+ records, the majority of which had not been touched in years. Our first step was to determine criteria for keeping someone in the database. We determined that we needed at least a full name, address, one piece of additional contact information (phone or email), birthdate and an activity (attendance, contribution, contact) within the last 18 months to justify keeping someone on file. Any record that did not fit that criteria was discarded--for us, some 18,000 in all.

I would recommend to you that if you are frustrated with your database system or consider it largely ineffective, you first look at the data and determine whether it is useful or not. The purging of bad data should be scheduled regularly--once a year, for us, from now on. Now some might argue, why throw all those "people" away? Don't we bear some responsibility for determining their spiritual condition. Yes, we did. We did for 15 years and accomplished nothing. In some cases, you need to start fresh if you're going to accomplish anything useful with your data for the Kingdom.

Next, we determined that putting new data into the system should be a staff-level task. While some systems available these days allow for lay involvement in this process (like entering attendance over the internet), we found numerous mistakes made even by those who were adept with the system, but nevertheless did not put as much emphasis on proper data entry as we required. In the end, it cost us far more time to correct data errors than it did to simply enter the data ourselves at the staff level. Though I am an advocate for lay access and involvement in the upkeep and use of the church database, I still believe that new data entry is best accomplished by qualified staff persons.

A database system is only as good as those who know the system. A second issue we had in our database makeover was training--most of our staff did not know the system. Prior to our database makeover, no formal training had been held by the church on the database software in more than three years. This lack of training at all levels--ministerial to secretaries--led to great frustration with our system, and resulted in “data cliques” throughout the church (see details below).

Our training was threefold. First, we had basic training offered for all staff. Secondly, we had advanced training on the “back end” of the system for our data processing staff. Finally, several staff members were trained at the “instructor” level, allowing them to, in turn, train other staff and new staff, as well as lay leaders and participants, as required for the future. During the basic training, we emphasized the requirement for all data to be input into the system so that we had an accurate representation of the ongoing ministry of the church.

A database must minimize data cliques. Data cliques are little reservoirs of data, like an Excel Spreadsheet or email list, kept by a single staff member out of convenience and not shared with anybody. The problem with a data clique is that the information is inaccessible to the majority of church leaders, and is not standardized in our system. It means our main database does not give us a completely true picture of our church. For instance, if a staff member finds it “too difficult” to put guest records into the system each week, they may instead choose to converse with these guests by simply adding their email addresses to their email application, forgoing our guest tracking altogether.

That works fine for the guest's interaction with that staff member, but the church as a whole does not know those guests even exist, or when they came, or how to get in touch with them, or if they have any ministry needs that are not being met. Worse still, what if that staff member transitions to another position or even off the church staff altogether? All connection to that guest or attender is lost. Data cliques do not allow us to use our database to enable the church--a body of believers--to build relationships with individuals, versus individual relationships with other individuals. This connection--church body-to-person--is essential to the effectiveness of the church in reaching and interacting with people at all levels.

A database report is only useful if it's timely and accurate. The ultimate goal of any database is to manipulate and report on the data. For us, the ability to output the data quickly and in usable forms was paramount. Reporting from our database is used for three tasks primarily: (1) Contact with members, attenders and guests through mailing lists, emails, mail merges and so forth, (2) Attendance and trend reporting for staff accountability, ministry to absentees and guests and space planning, and (3) Management of contribution data for budgeting, accounting and the contributor’s tax purposes. In these three areas, the goal is simple: a truthful representation of the church’s activities.

Through the years I’ve heard and used the phrase "ministry numbers." Often there is in the North American church the temptation to "puff up" the actual attendance, number of guests or other data out of a desire for success or growth, even jealousy. I've been there when 125 in attendance was reported as "almost 200" or "several hundred." Ministry can be challenging, and I have found an unwritten but often seen practice of being intentionally optimistic about data in the church to the point of lying. This is surprisingly common in churches of all sizes.

A database, properly managed, presents the truth. And that's ultimately what matters, because we cannot effectively plan ministries, devote resources and become accountable to follow up without a baseline of truth in our data.

Our stewardship of data is both a priority and private. Finally, just as a Communications Ministry is a steward of information, a database manager is a steward of data. Good stewardship of data for us is measured first in our use of the information. Too often churches collect attendance data, contribution data, ministry activity data, and do nothing with it. It sits in their computers and but for a contribution report at the end of the year and occasional emailings does little or nothing.

As church leaders we must look at the value of this information for follow up and ministry. I can know today, for instance, how many Bible study members have not been present at church for the last three weeks. Now, what can I do with that information? Most churches do nothing with it. But doing something with it should be a priority.

I would suggest sending all those folks an email letting them know we miss them and giving contact information if they have ministry needs. I would also contact each class leader, giving them a list for follow up as well. I would perhaps even see if a trend was developing among absentees by getting a report of absences year-over-year for that particular season, or looking at data on those who had left the church in the last five years for reasons other than an out-of-town move, and find how many absences preceded their departure. Any and all of these options do more than make the data mean something. These actions are taken when we view the data as a tool to improve our ministries and impact people. It is, in essence, good stewardship of the database.

Finally, we must value the privacy of our data. The personal information of our membership must be guarded--more so now in the age of identity theft. Ten years ago, church members would not mind if you gave out their phone number to someone who called the church trying to contact them. Today that is not the case. The privacy of other data related to an individual, including their attendance information, must be stewarded properly.

A database that is accurate, discreet and diligently maintained becomes more than a collection of words and numbers in a computer. It is a fantastic tool for ministry that we can use daily to touch lives and minister to people in an effective manner.

A Picture Is Worth...

2009-03-12T22:26:00.001-07:00

Ran across this today and thought I would pass it along. Simple and creative.

Techniques of Innovation

2009-03-11T14:44:00.000-07:00

Innovation also helps us fashion original and interesting presentations for existing ideas and ministries. Through innovation we can help to renew interest, spark involvement and simplify complex and broad-based ideas. There are several tools we use to accomplish innovative ministry communication.

Themeing. A theme is an implicit or recurring thought. By applying an overall theme or motif to a ministry, we can communicate several things at once--with information working on one level and theme working on another. I have used themes extensively in children's, youth and summer programs.

Metaphors. A metaphor is using one thing to represent another. It allows us to present a complex ministry idea in a simple manner. Jesus used metaphors throughout His teaching because it allowed Him to share God-sized thoughts in a way that the average person could understand.

Throughout Matthew 13, Jesus compares "the Kingdom of Heaven" to "a mustard seed," "a treasure hidden in a field," and "a net cast into the sea." The average person in Jesus' time did not have an understanding of the Kingdom of Heaven that He was speaking of. But they could understand a mustard seed, or a treasure hidden in a field, or a net cast into the sea. These are metaphors that Jesus used to relate an important truth.

Counter-programming. Another innovative way of presenting ministry is counter-programming--doing just the opposite of what is expected. Jesus was the Master of counter-programming. He never did what people expected. They called Him a king--He called Himself the Prince of Peace. They tried to get him to stone a woman who had sinned--He told them whoever is without sin should cast the first stone. Many times the Bible leads us to discover something in ministry that will appear as counter-programming. Often the Bible leads us in a direction that is opposite of the marketplace and external influences. Counter-programming is innovation that simply says, "We don't play by the world's rules."

Refreshing. Innovation can also occur by simply refreshing, or revitalizing, an existing ministry. This could be something as simple as a new logo or graphic. It may be a different phrase or keyword that becomes associated with that ministry. Refreshing never involves radical changes to the structure or work of the ministry--just a simple updating to something that is already working well. Through refreshing, people are encouraged to "take another look" at an area they may have overlooked before.

Toning. Toning is similar to refreshing, but this process involves changing the overall tone, or "flavor" of the promotion of an existing ministry in order to capture additional attention and involvement. The most commonplace example of toning is a Pastor's Sunday messages. While a sermon ministry is consistent in terms of time and place each week, the content of the message changes constantly. Consequently the tone of the promotion will change as well. A series on the family, a sermon about the War on Terrorism, a message from the book of Romans--all will have a different tone in our promotional efforts.

Serendipity. We can't discount what the world calls "the happy accident" and what we call "God pulling it all together." Serendipity occurs when several ministries just "fit together" without any pre-planning at all. This happens frequently. I remember an occasion when I worked on several events planned separately for Mother's Day, including special music for worship, a baby dedication time and activities in a children's ministry. Though not planned together, they complemented each other in a serendipitous way, making the day "fit together" in a meaningful way for families. We shouldn't be surprised, because if God's people are earnestly seeking His will and are in His service, then serendipity will indeed occur.

How to Apply Scripture Properly to the Promotion of the Church

2009-03-07T20:19:00.000-08:00

The very center of everything that we know about God is His Word. The Bible is God's story of His creation and our part in it. Through His Word, God reveals some things about Himself, tells us about our position and purpose in His creation, and details how we might interact with Him, past, present and future. A Christ-follower believes the Bible was authored by God working through men over a long period, is complete in all respects, and is without error.

The Bible, then, as the central teaching and knowledge element of our faith, plays a role in every area of the church and her ministries, including promotion and communications. Our application of the Word in the practical day-to-day aspects of ministry will say much about how we perceive its importance and interpret its teachings. How, then, should we present and apply God's Word in church communications?

Study. You will not be able to use the Word properly if you are not studying the Word regularly. I'm constantly amazed that many church staff and lay leaders spend very little concentrated time in the Word daily, or even weekly. I would recommend at least an hour daily in Bible study as a great start. Whenever I meet a great Bible teacher or preacher, I ask how much time they spend in the Word preparing to teach or preach. Usually it's 30-40 hours a week--one hour for each minute they are teaching. The value of studying the Word cannot be overestimated.

Begin. Start your promotional or communications effort with the Word and in the Word. Far too often we come up with a great plan or idea, a theme, series or event, and then two hours into planning, after we've "roughed in" all the major stuff, we obligingly open our Bibles to "look up" a verse that fits. I know this happens all the time, because I get emails from communications staffers at churches nearly every week that start out, "I'm looking for a verse to go with this thing we're doing..." We have our plan, we just need God to bless it now.

Flip this scenario and instead plant your communication efforts solidly in the Word. Let the Word drive not only the direction and teaching in your church, but how you communicate that teaching. Let scripture be the central element that you want people to grasp. Ask of a passage, "How can we best present this verse, accurately and in context, so that people will know it and apply it consistently and with great enthusiasm?"

Frame. The great temptation, and most unfortunate form of miscommunication in the North American evangelical church today, is taking scripture out of context. When we lift a verse or passage in the Bible to use in our promotion and theming, without framing it properly within its given context, we are mis-quoting God and misdirecting people. I'm especially sensitive to flipping among various translations to "find one that fits" a given situation--this is simply wrong.

I'm a great believer in the average person's capacity to "get it" when it comes to God if we are honest and straightforward with our use of scripture. People don't need "The Message" in order to understand the Bible. We do them a disservice if we dumb-down what we are saying because it doesn't sound good or make sense in a particular context. Helping others know and understand the Word is part of the job of a church communicator. If it looks hard, then dig in and think it through instead of citing a vague reference. Nobody said the Bible would be easy--and "making it easy" does not necessarily lead to a result that Christ would intend or bless.

Focus. The focus of God's Word is not us. The focus of God's Word is God. We live in a "me"-centric culture, so it's natural to put out messages that focus on us and try to attach a scripture to it. If we look at the Bible with an eye first to "how this applies to us," we'll find ourselves stretching to answer the question at times. Instead, focus on "what is revealed about God in this verse?"

Our goal in using scripture in promotion is not initially to help people apply it to their lives. It's to help them know more about God. Knowing more about God leads us to application--actions and changes in our lives as we conform more to the image of Christ. When we focus on God, then people leave our worship services, our Bible classes, our events and programs knowing more about God. If we focus on applying the Bible to our lives, we leave these same activities focused on ourselves. Which of these two methods, do you think, will most help people grow in the knowledge and image of Christ?

Separate. As a promotional element, I believe scripture is best separated from our themes and embellishments. I tend to not "lift a phrase" from scripture and make it a theme, though occasionally I will use a single word from the Bible as a theme. I always want to place a complete verse with that theme by way of foundation and explanation.

Separating scripture does two things. First, it gives it greater weight and importance. It lets the reader or viewer know that we have respect for the Word and want them to have respect for it as well. It is set apart, Holy, spoken by God, revered and we treat it as such. Second, it allows the reader to take in the scripture without it being clouded or overshadowed by something we've created. Sometimes church program and event themes and promotion seem to almost shout over the top of scripture--"Hey, look at me! I'm a cool graphic! I look like the latest Abercrombie ad!"

Believe. God says His Word will not return void (Isaiah 55:11). I honestly don't think most church leaders believe this. God will use His Word to draw people to Himself, to instruct in righteousness, to discipline, and to correct (2 Timothy 3:16). The Word existed before us (John 1:1) and is not dependent upon men to "make it work".

Frankly, the more I study the Word, the more I realize why we don't believe it--it's utterly fantastic, filled with radical statements and commands. We tell people that an all-powerful God sent His Sopn to earth, allowed people to kill Him, that He rose from the dead, and because of this, we can know God, be called His sons, and be heirs to heaven when we die? Really, that just sounds crazy to some people when you say it. But it comes down to this: do we really believe This Book, the Bible? Do we honestly, at our core, think this is the Truth?

Trust the Word. Believe that it is actually what God said. Believe that everything happened just as the Bible said, and that everything will happen just as the Bible says. Believe that Jesus is Who He says He is--the way, the truth and the life--and that "no one comes to the Father but though [Him]". Believe that if science or philosophy or talk shows say otherwise, then they are in disagreement with the very foundation of our faith, and they are simply misguided and wrong.

If you have faith in Christ, then likewise have faith in His Word--they are one in the same. Treat them as such, and you'll find scripture taking a more prominent, effective and trustworthy role in your promotional efforts. The Word is not a tack-on, a collection of ancient teachings we must somehow "make relevant" today. The Bible is the jumping-off point for every facet of our faith, and we do it a disservice when we fail to trust in God to bless His Word as He said He would.

What Is the Goal of Church Promotion?

2009-03-05T22:18:00.000-08:00

In promoting herself, the church is first acting in obedience to Christ to make disciples, to tell others about Christ and to serve the world. What then is the goal of promotion in relation to these activities? We must know our goal if we are to be effective in using our resources to promote the church.

First, realize that the goal of promotion is not to grow the church. More specifically, pushing for numerical growth for the church through promotion is unbiblical. In Acts 2:42-27 we see the function of the early church and can use that as a clear example of Christ's intent for our role in the world today. They worshipped, the had fellowship with one another, they prayed, they served each other and they met the needs of those around them. This passage ends with an amazing statement: "...and God added to their number..."

As we understand from scripture that it was God who grew their number, we must realize that growth, in and of itself, was not the church's goal--it was a byproduct. If it were a goal, then God could have clearly stated it, as He did in Genesis ("be fruitful and multiply") or Acts could have delineated their growth activities.

In our culture we have flipped this upside down and made the byproduct of growth the goal. Other activities of the church are then altered to serve that goal. It's like a farmer trying to make sunlight. He has all of these other aspects of farming over which he has control--soil, seeds, irrigation, pest control, crop rotation--and yet he puts his energy into the one thing he cannot control. In the church, when we pursue growth, we are placing our aim on the one thing that God tells us He will provide, instead of concentrating on the other aspects of ministry to which He has commanded us to partake in.

The result is that we will adjust and change our worship, or ministries and our activities as a church to suit our tastes, our agendas and our schedules. So, in an effort to bring more people in, we focus on what we want, because those we want to reach, we reason, are largely like us. In the end, a church that pursues growth will end up with a room full of marginally-committed people worshipping themselves.

The goal of promoting the church is to inform and inspire believers and non-believers toward Christ and obedience to His commands, using various forms of media. Promotion, then, takes a back seat to the core functions of the church as we see modeled in Acts 2. It is a supporting element--a set of tools and strategies we use within our media-rich culture. As we use media tools, we do so in the context of a biblical model, and focused on biblical goals:

We want people to know God's Word, and to see their lives in relationship to it. The church revolves around God's Word--our knowledge of it and obedience to it are a core function of the ministry of the organized church. Promotional avenues and media can help us learn God's Word, share God's Word and obey His Word in a variety of ways, from print media to video to websites to social media and more. Creative support too can help make God's Word come alive as we organize and theme our teaching to be more impactful and communicate across multiple media.

We want our congregation to be informed as to the opportunities for service available to them. Promotion especially helps us here, in that our culture is very fast-paced. Even modest-sized churches require some degree of media to help their membership keep up with what is available to them as a part of the church organization. And here again the ability to organize communication across multiple media means that opportunities are communicated in various ways--print, online, fax, video, word-of-mouth--consistently and in a timely manner.

We want the chuch to be equipped with tools to share the gospel, locally and globally. Most of the time when we talk about tools to share our faith, we are thinking of media tools. These are often difficult to produce on our own--but a communications ministry can provide practical help to believers in sharing their faith. It might be as simple as a printed tract, or an emailable event invitation, or as complex as translating and disseminating Bible teaching materials in multiple languages around the world.

Bible-Driven Versus Market-Driven Churches

2009-03-02T23:16:00.000-08:00

The church that aligns itself with God's Word and focuses on reproducing the image and character of Christ through its body of believers will always prevail. The church that focuses on interpreting scripture to be practical and relevant to the masses, even with the best of intentions, and using the tools of marketing to attract a crowd, will ultimately fail. The reasons for this are simple: God commands us to align with His Word. His means and methods are sure and strong and have not changed through the ages, and God never promises to bless our intentions, only His plan.

The North American evangelical church movement has largely embraced marketing as a key element in its growth strategy. Marketing has no business in the church. Let me be clear when I say this, because although in Communications Ministry we use many of the tools of marketing--print media, video, websites, blogs, displays, press releases, etc.--the foundational elements of the typical marketing strategy simply do not translate to the core purpose for which the church was founded, nor the commands and clear direction laid out for the church in the New Testament.

Many will take issue with these statements. Yet we can already see the result of marketing strategy in the North American evangelical church. We have bigger and bigger congregations of largely nominal believers. They come to a place called the church to share an experience that they evaluate against their own needs and desires as a part of their lives. Their commitment is shallow, their Bible knowledge is spotty and theologically unsound, and the teaching they receive is aimed at improving their already-in-the-top-5%-of-the-world lives versus calling them to sacrifice their lives to a larger purpose. I've been from Acts to Revelation, and this is not a picture of the church God intended.

I call this current breed of the North American church "market driven." We have embraced a hybrid kind of church that mixes New Testament faith with the latest trends in marketing under the mantra of "the message never changes but the methods must change." It is a statement I myself have uttered many times in the past. Unfortunately it is not true. Neither the means nor the methods involved in being the church in today's world have changed from their first-century roots. That statement has led us to a kind of church that looks quite a bit more like the world than its ancient predecessors.

Market-driven churches tend to be campus-centric. The market-driven church, because it attempts to bring people to a place for worship and ministry, often focuses on its campus as the primary center for activity. Much of the effort and resources of the church are focused on the campus, and even multiple campuses. Though our talk is often about being "in the world" and interacting with our communities, campus-centric ministries are most often about providing an alternative to the world.

Alternative sports programs, alternative music, alternative entertainment, even alternative coffee bars, alternative bookstores, alternative preschool and children’s activities--and the list goes on. Instead of pushing believers into the world to influence, say, a community sports program, we will build a gym and invite the community to come to our church to experience our brand of Christian sports.

The fallacy of this strategy is that while it may appear outwardly successful the church becomes known primarily as a place, versus a people. If you were to ask someone where you church is located, would the response be an address, or "our church is located everywhere in our community because our people are everywhere?" Even multi-campus churches can fall into the campus-centric mold when they do nothing to foster the ministries of the church outside their multiple physical locations.

Market-driven churches tend to focus on the quality of the experience. A market-driven church's campus-centric design means the hours spent at the church building become very important. Work often centers on maximizing the quality of the experience. Great sound and lighting and video, comfortable seating, ample wayfinding, tightly integrated programming in multiple media.

Now, none of these things are bad in-and-of themselves. I'm for all of them in moderation and we look for ways to maximize these things in our own congregation. But we must realize that the quality of the "church experience"--typically the weekend services and activities--are really not a good benchmark to gauge the effectiveness of the church.

We often talk about the fact that we don't want to judge ourselves on "how many people are coming, but rather on how many people we are sending out into the world." Yet our whole system of operation often focuses on managing those who are coming, and paying nominal if any attention to those we are sending out. We cannot allow the quality of the experience on the weekends be our driver for evaluation. Instead, we must evaluate how effective we are at sending people into the world.

Market-driven churches have no influence in the world. If a market-driven church were to disappear from the face of the earth today, the question is, who would really miss it? When Christ commands believers to "make disciples of all nations," He is linking every believer to a mission that is both local and global in nature. Market-driven churches will most often push world influence into a small corner called "missions" which is promoted as the life calling of a zealous few. The result is churches who may have some influence in their own communities, but little if any influence in the world.

Believers in these churches think they are making a difference in the world, but little knowledge of the world in terms of geography, politics or events. Worse, we have equated world involvement to a check we might write once a year for a missions offering. The Word is clear--we are to impact the nations, each and every one of us. Very few, if any, market-driven church have any real influence in the world for one reason--their resources (money, people) are going into their "primary market," which is their own backyard. Would you church be willing to sacrifice a third of its budget to worldwide efforts knowing you'd never see the results on your own campus, and it may even lead to sacrificing needs on your own campus?

Market-driven churches accept nominal commitment to vague ideals. Nominal commitment is a tremendous problem in the North American evangelical church. The New Testament calls believers to a radical Christ-centered life that looks nothing like the world. The market-driven church not only conforms to a worldly image primarily by teaching in a response mode to world-driven problems. Our culture is divorced, in debt and unhappy, so the church's response is to teach on family values, managing money and finding fulfillment.

What that does is set up the church to be a life-improvement facility. Again, this does not align with Scripture, which is calling us to a deeply sacrificial and Christ-centered life, one which will not run at the first sign of trouble. Did you ever wonder why Jesus did not say to take up our Cadiallac Escalades and follow Him? He constantly warned us of persecution, told us the world would hate us and hate Him and hate His Word. So the question becomes, are we primarily trying to meet people's needs or fulfill the mission of Christ in the church? The answer is a both-and approach--yes, we want to love people and meet them where they are. At the same time, we do not exist primarily to meet their needs, but to engage them to sacrifice their lives to meet Christ's mission for His church.

A market-driven church's message is devoid of this level of commitment, because it doesn't play well in Peoria. Worse, we can often come up with value and vision statements that, in an effort to attract an audience, seek to raise up the level of importance of the believer in the whole equation at the detriment to raising up Christ. We will talk about excellence, inclusiveness, teamwork, peacemaking, forgiveness--all in the guise of being more Christlike--but the reason behind this is often to get buy-in from the audience versus align ourselves to Christ. The test for your mission statement: if people in this country were being killed for their faith in Christ (that's reality in about 60 nations around the world, by the way), would your congregation's commitment to the church hold up?

Market-driven churches tend to be personality-driven. Campus-centric design also dictates that the church has a "draw" for weekend services. The largest churches are known for their preachers and teachers. I have worked at a large churches and this is a tremendous challenge for them. The danger in personality-driven churches is that the teacher becomes an "endorser" much like a celebrity spokesperson. We like him and so we buy into the message because of our favorable response to an individual. It eventually makes what the teacher says about the Word of God more important than the Word of God.

Don't believe me? Okay, take any "name" you want to in the North American church who is leading a large congregation. Now, tell me about the core ministry philosophy of that church apart from the leader. Or here's an even harder exercise: take any large church's "mission statement" and back it up with scripture. You're gonna say, "That's not really a fair question." Well, it's a tough one and I daresay one that we need to be asking if we are truly about pointing people to the Word and to Christ versus our own agendas.

Market-driven churches ultimately will not survive. Sadly, though the era of the mega-church is upon us and we see some very large crowds walking into these buildings, they only remind me that we are repeating the mistakes of the continent to our east. Europe’s cathedrals are the worship centers of the last two centuries, and they now stand empty and completely ineffective at reaching that continent for Christ.

They serve as a powerful reminder of our future. The last 200 years saw the greatest thrust in construction of these mega-churches of the past as smaller village congregations "consolidated" into these beautiful campus-centric cathedrals, built at great cost. In fact, in many cases the cost was so great that the church resorted to selling alms to cover the cost--they sacrificed their commitment to the Word of God and sold "forgiveness" of sins in order to get their buildings completed.

Once the catherals were done, the church and its leaders spent most of their time inside them, admiring the workmanship. Outside, the needs of the world grew and literally passed them by. By the early 1900s the church is Europe was stagnent, ineffective and dying.

I have never served a church that sat less than 1,800 people its worship center. I pray we do not repeat the mistakes of the last two centuries. I pray we are not to be found sitting in our cathedrals of sound, lighting and video systems and children's play areas, segregating ourselves from the very world we say we want to reach. I pray that our church will be among the ones that shed the market-driven philosophies of the last 20 years and re-embrace the Christ of the cross. I pray that we will be a church where people will not remember our name, or our slogan or logo, or even where exactly we are located. I do pray that people will remember us only because they remember what Christ has done through us, and that all the credit will be His and not ours.

Irreverent, Silly Myths

2009-02-28T09:29:00.000-08:00

A great video clip I ran across from pastor Matt Chandler that illustrates the failure of communications ministry in recent years...

Is Copying The World Really Creativity for Worship and Teaching?

2009-02-25T22:10:00.000-08:00

In the Christian community in North America we have all seen it done and if we are in communications for the church we've likely done it. I've done it myself in the past. There's a hit TV show, a catch-phrase, a cultural phenomenon, and we decide to latch on to it, lift the concept, and apply it to our next sermon series or church program. We end up with a plethora of familiar names and looks, all in the hope of someone "connecting more" with an audience or potential guests.

The tough questions looking at this practice: Is this really creative? Is this really useful? Is this really connecting? I'm certain many ministry creatives are going to disagree with me on this one, but I believe the answers here are all no. Let me break it down a little:

Is this really creative? Frankly, I just don't support copyright theft, even of a friendly nature. No monetary harm is being done here, and the owners of these copyrights aren't complaining, but I don't think anyone would condone stealing outright something that belonged to someone else, even though that's really the heart of what is being done here--regardless of the motive. To those who would steal (and use the word "borrow from") these copyrighted works: it is stealing, it is sinful and it is wrong.

A creative team, church or otherwise, needs to actually be creative. That means original work from original ideas. This kind of plagiarism is just plain lazy. I wholeheartedly believe that God, being creative (world, universe, etc.) and having created us in His image, has endowed His body, the church, with enough creative capacity to do something completely original, every time such material needs to be generated.

Is this really useful? Though the thinking involved in these themeing most often to grab attention from a potential audience, what is really being done is to align the church's ministries and teachings with elements of the secular culture. I have an iPod just like everyone else, but seeing "iPray", "iCulture", "iLive" and "iServe" at different churches doesn't remind me at all of those ministries--it reminds me of Apple Inc.

It points to a common misunderstanding of these branding elements actually work--brands cannot be "lifted" or "repurposed". Instead of the idea being an "entry point" where the worshiper or student begins to align the secular theme with what they are learning in the Bible, they instead align the Word to the secular theme. This is because the secular brand began with the stronger perception in their mind, prior to being exposed to a supposed biblical application. We grab these themes thinking we can make people associate the theme with our teaching. But, because the theme has a stronger image in their minds from the start, they associate with the theme first, and not with our teaching.

For instance, let's take a series I saw a while ago on sexuality in the Bible called "Bringing Sexy Back" that a church somewhere in the United States was promoting. Obviously the thinking here was to give the series a cool name, based on a popular Justin Timberlake song. The mistake is that people's initial perception of the information is going to be based on their perception of the song, not the Word. The church wanted the song name to get people's attention, but the song brand carries its baggage into the thinking of the audience. Have you listened to the lyrics of "Bringing Sexy Back?" I would not play it in my church at any point--but use of the theme constitutes an endorsement of the message and brand of the song.

I think some folks would try to argue this as a harmless cultural reference. The reality is, any cultural reference is going to carry some level of perception with it, and strong brands carry strong perceptions. There is simply no such thing as a harmless cultural reference. If you are not completely aligned with that cultural reference, then it's best to leave it outside the church entirely.

What if you put a picture of, say, Donald Trump, on a wall in your worship center. You never talked about it, never made a direct reference to Trump or his TV show "The Apprentice". Instead you taught about biblical values with respect to finances and work, and were consistent in calling people to service and sacrifice with respect to their relationship with Christ. But there on the wall sits Donald. Is it safe to assume people are going to ask questions? What does the picture really mean? Why is it there? Do we endorse The Donald? Exactly the same thing happens when we reference secular culture in our themeing. Every cultural reference brings baggage with it.

Is this really connecting? Perhaps the broader question here is, what are we trying to accomplish by stealing from cultural themes? Do we somehow believe that this makes the church "more attractive" or "more inviting" to a guest? If the theme attacks a major common issue, there may be some element of interest generated. But is "iPray" any more effective than a series called "How to Talk to God?" I think you'd be hard-pressed to make that argument. We have so bought in to the lie that we have to impress our audience with our cultural prowess to even get the opportunity to share the Word with them. It just is not so. God's Word does not return void--the Word is enough, and God is enough of a draw in and of Himself. If we don't believe that the we have much bigger issues than bad themeing.

Then there's just the "cheese" factor of this. C'mon, are we ourselves not looking at these things thinking, "Is that the best we can do?" If we are thinking that, then our audience is too. Frankly, if I'm doing a prayer series, I don't want worshipers at my church thinking or linking Apple Inc. to our teaching on prayer by name association with "iPray". I want them coming and expecting a word from God and leaving with their attention focused on prayer. The very fact that we are copying, and everyone knows we are copying, diminishes people's perception of the value of our own teaching, and that we think it unimportant enough to be creatively lazy.

Stolen cultural themes do not help people connect. They turn them off more than anything. Thankfully what I see more and more today are original ideas in the church. They are just as creative--more-so, really, because they are grounded in the Word first, and communicate their intent without trying to rest on the good vibrations of a hit television show, song, celebrity or other marketplace element. I am preaching to myself here too because I've stolen some themed elements from the culture in the past--and besides being wrong, I can honestly say looking back that they simply were not impactful. Certainly less-so than those areas where I chose to do the work of being completely original.

My God is worthy of all glory, honor and praise. He is the Creator, Sustainer, Author and Finisher. His very presence binds the universe together, His thoughts keep the earth moving, the stars in place, my very life and breath in motion. The thought of God brings awe, fear and reverence to my mind now, and more-so each day as I learn just a little bit more about His character, His Word and His plan. He deserves nothing less from me, from His church, and from our creative efforts than something worthy of His name.

Serving Christ Faithfully

2009-02-23T22:35:00.000-08:00

Ran across a great article on serving Christ recently. This quote really hit home:

"To say that we are serving Jesus without being actively engaged in serving others is empty mysticism. We cannot serve Christ without serving His Church. We cannot serve Christ and not serve 'the least of these.' We cannot serve Christ without 'receiving a prophet' in Christ's name. We cannot serve Christ and not give a "cup of cold water" in Jesus' name."

The author brought some added clarity to the biblical reasoning I've prayed over this past year that the church must move its promotion into realms of service to see it be truly effective. I encourage you to read the whole thing if you have time.

Five "Ministry Words" I'm Trying to Avoid

2009-02-23T20:31:00.000-08:00

I believe that the words we choose are important to clear communication. Culturally, common phrases build up over time and we often don't understand their original meaning. We begin to use them without regard to whether or not they are really helping us say what we want to say. Here are a few words that I think have been overused or misused in recent years, and that I'm trying to avoid altogether in my own life and in the ministries in which I serve:

Relevant. Often we hear phrases like, "Making the church more relevant" or "the Bible more relevant" or "Christ more relevant" to people today. We ask about our message, means and methods being relevant. And we fear irrelevance. While it's true that the church really can focus on irrelevant issues, most of the time the conversation on relevance centers on the perception of our own importance within our culture.

The truth is that Christ is always relevant, the Word never changes and is always relevant and the relevance of our faith and beliefs is not dependent on the reactions of the non-Christian world. When we begin to pursue relevance, our focus in essence becomes the world instead of Christ.

Feel. We are a culture led by our feelings. When it comes to most issues, especially religious ones, we ask ourselves how we feel about this or that. How do you feel about Christ? About His Word? About obedience and surrender to Him? Don't agree with something in the Bible--well, how do you feel about that? How did the worship music or the sermon this Sunday make you feel? Many of us make many decisions based on our feelings.

Really, the word we should be using here is belief. Fundamentally, following Christ is a belief in Him--faith in someone we can't see physically, but trust implicitly. Feelings come and go, and put the focus on ourselves. Beliefs are foundational, and cause us to act in one way or another, even risk or sacrifice based on those understandings.

Blessing. The idea that a relationship with Christ and material blessings go hand-in-hand is pervasive in the North American church. We have largely equated the word "blessing" with the word "stuff", where we define what stuff we consider a blessing. God's promises to believers include many blessings--and these are all good things.

But we must realize the full breadth, depth and power of God extends to the blessings He gives--and that material blessings--stuff--is just an infinitesimal portion of the full blessings He pours out on those who "love Him and are called according to His purpose." Blessings, then, could take the shape of many things we might initially perceive as negative--losing a job, losing a loved one, getting into an argument, being forced to work with or be neighbors with someone we don't like, moving to someplace new, downsizing--there are negative aspects to all of these. But if over time we see God has placed us in circumstances not to our liking to accomplish His purpose in us, are these not indeed blessings?

Let's pray for and be ready for the blessings of God in our lives as His followers. But, let's not have an expectation that those look or are received in a certain way--or we'll likely be disappointed. And let's not preach or teaching "blessings" in a material sense at all--it will only confuse people and raise their expectations for something that goes far beyond what they could possibly imagine.

Commitment. This is a vague and lackluster word that we often use to define a relationship with Christ. Many people are commited to Christ. Then again, many are committed to their friends and families, football teams, jobs, dreams, desires and ambitions. The chief problems with the word commitment as applied to Christ is that man's definition has various levels or degrees, and a commitment can be broken.

Instead, I would use the word "covenant" or "surrender" in talking about a relationship to Christ. I think it's important to accurately portray life in Christ as irreversible--a total sell-out to Jesus that includes our families, resources, hopes, dreams, ambitions, desires--everything that makes us who we are. One of the greatest failures of the modern church is tolerance of halfhearted faith. I think those who are simply committed to Christ are those He talks about in Matthew 7:22-23. Our perception of commitment today is often one of convenience and self-interest. We need better language to describe the inseparable, sacrificial bond of a life devoted to Christ.

Growth. In the North American culture, this word in the church is nearly always associated with numerical increase. We have become growth oriented--there is an entire church growth culture with growth seminars, growth strategies and growth consultants. If we're not growing (enlarging), we are told, then we are dying.

Non-numerical growth--such as growing in the knowledge of and obedience to Christ--is a foundational element of church ministry. However, I would use words like maturity, disciple-making and obedience instead of "growth" to more accurately define these aspects of the Christian life. Numerical growth is really a byproduct of the true misson and purpose of the church (Act 2:42-27) and provided by God as an outgrowth of our submission to Him and the Word in our lives individually and collectively.

I believe strongly that these words are overused and misused in ministry. So I've taken the liberty of removing them from my website as much as possible. My recommendation with respect to our language in the church today is simple--watch what we say. Make sure that our church culture doesn't seep into our speech and writing in such a way as to confuse or mislead those we are trying to reach or disciple.

The Danger of Comparison Thinking... Biggest, Fastest, Etc.

2009-02-23T07:34:00.000-08:00

In North American Christian church leadership circles, in the last several years we've begun circulating lists of the "front runners" in several areas. There's a 100 largest churches list, a fastest-growing churches list, a biggest-turnaround list, a biggest financial giving list, and more.

In principle, the idea behind these lists is to identify the churches who have been most successful in ministry, and encourage other congregations and leaders to learn from their innovation and example to see similar results in their own churches. I want to tell you, this whole thinking is flat wrong and unbiblical. It's what I choose to call "comparison ministry", and the result is not building up the church, but rather, destroying it.

The warning of the Apostle Paul in Galatians 5:26 to "not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another" comes to mind. Anytime we gather a list, we're in effect creating a comparison. So what, exactly, do these lists compare, and is it healthy?

Growth comparison supplants God's goals with our own. If we compare the "fastest growing churches," and seek to learn from one another in order to effect that specific goal--growing faster--then we have, in effect, supplanted God's goal for the church with our own. Where in Scripture are we told to grow the church faster? And by what measure? Whether by people count or dollar count, we are making these counts the goal versus God's commands.

Self-centered thinking. The desire of the church as a whole is to become individually and as a body more and more like Christ. Comparing ourselves to one another, we instead begin to desire to become more like our "successful" sister congregation that just moved to three worship services or five campuses. These are the unhealthy comparisons that Paul talks about in Galatians 6:4--a self-centeredness where we esteem ourselves because of our supposed accomplishments or consider ourselves not successful because we have not attained a man-derived goal someone making a list determined was somehow an important measure.

Where's the other lists? What about the 100 churches that serve others the most? The 100 churches that look the most like Christ? The 100 churches that best bear one another's burdens (Ephesians 6:2), that confront one another in love (Ephesians 6:1), that share their resources most generously (Ephesians 6:6) or that are the most selfless (Ephesians 6:9-10).

These churches are out there, working and serving humbly, representing Christ and the cause of Christ effectively, and doing what Christ commanded without recognition. I wish, if we are going to make lists, that we'd make a list of these churches, because they'll help me understand in practical ways how I can be more like Christ in these areas and as a part of my local church, help our congregation as a whole conform more closely to His image.

Let's not segregate ourselves from one another. If we are, indeed, all the Body of Christ as His Church, then these lists, these comparisons, are really meaningless. The fact is, a church that is growing the fastest needs to also be looking at how they can best bear the burdens of the church that is shrinking the most. And the church that has the most resources must be the one that gives to the church that has the least. These are not tasks and teaching that are best accomplished by having a bunch of "best of" lists.

A fastest growing church that allows other congregations to whither while sitting in self-centered "growth system" that lets them ride a wave of success is, in essence, failing. By men's standards they are succeeding. But by God's commands, they are missing the point. Let's not take our eyes off of Christ. As we strive to become more completely like Him, we will begin to understand that comparison thinking in ministry has no place.

Crosswinds Foundation

2009-02-22T16:35:00.001-08:00

One thing I think is tremendously lacking in the North American church is education in God's Word, and how what we believe impacts our interaction with our own culture. It's really easy to go astray, even in the church, chasing tangents rather than doing the work Christ has commanded us to accomplish. My pastor often says, "Our temptation is to do everything except the one thing that Christ told us to do."

A good friend, Bob Waldrep, recently began a ministry called the Crosswinds Foundation, which is an organization that is designed specifically to educate believers in this gray area of faith and culture. I'd encourage reading Bob's articles on the Crosswinds blog... it's tremendously insightful.

Let Us Remember

2009-02-22T16:31:00.000-08:00

A great friend of mine, Daniel Phillips, who is a tremendously talented photographer, created a site containing exhibits of pictures from his missions and travels around the world. Especially impactful are his pictures and stories from Sudan. If you have a moment, I highly recommend visiting this powerful presentation in pictures and words. The site is called Let Us Remember, and is located at www.letusremember.org.

Communicorps.org Is Back

2009-02-22T16:29:00.000-08:00

After a little more than a year offline, and a lot of prayer, writing, re-writing and deletions, Communicorps.org is back online. I hope and pray this resource will assist churches in North America and elsewhere to more effectively communicate the gospel, with intention and creatively.

The Myth of Biblical Irrelevance

2009-02-01T13:16:00.000-08:00

I tend to be an anti-trend guy. So when I see a trend, be it in ministry or elsewhere, my first inclination is to question it. One trend I've seen in the North American evangelical church is a recurring desire to strive for "biblical relevance." That is, to make sure that the Bible's teaching is relevant to people's lives today, be it through themed sermon series, or Bible studies that address specific topics or just practical 1-2-3-step application.

Now, this entire trend, to me, presupposes that the Bible itself can be irrelevant or has become irrelevant over the years. That's a myth that simply does not hold up to scrutiny by anyone who is a student of the Word. Worse, it puts people's needs (relevance) ahead of God's commands (the Word) in the approach that most churches take to "keeping it relevant." The Bible is simply, always, without a doubt or necessary explanation, relevant, all the time, period. Remember:
The Word is foundational. A core belief of the North American evangelical church is the authorship, authencity and completeness of the Word of God. In other words, church leaders will tell you that they believe the Bible is true, accurate, complete and given by God to man. If we believe that to be true, then we are standing on the Bible as a foundational authority for life. We'll get ourselves into trouble quickly if we begin to calculate which commands and accounts in the Bible "most apply" to us versus others. It's all applicable. It's all there for a reason. If we do not start with this foundation, anything else we do is necessarily questionable because our foundation is questionable.

The Word is timeless. The is probably the biggest argument pertaining to God's Word--"Well, it was written thousands of years ago, and some of it is just not applicable to today--or at least it has to be interpreted so that modern man can understand it." Well, if we accept the Word as foundational and as God's inspired work, then in order to hold the opinion that the Word must somehow be brought "up to date" we must suppose that God is stupid. I mean, really, He gave us this book but it just has not kept up with the times? If God is God, then He is perfect, omniscient and omnipresent. It would therefore be impossible for Him to be God and to give us something incomplete or inadquate.

In reality, God's Word is timeless when you begin to consider its teachings. Often we would take Scripture out of context to prove it has lost relevance. "Well, what about those versus where people get stoned as punishment for offering an unworthy sacrifice?" Yeah, we no longer stone people. But the point of the passage in context may be more about unworthy sacrifices than about stoning people. It's important that we do not mislabel the Bible as an "out of touch" work by trying to apply it before we understand the context in which it was written. It was recorded during a certain time period, and to try to interpet its teachings without understanding the time period is why we often try to dismiss parts of it as irrelevant.

The Word is cross-cultural. One thing I've observed about the Word in my travels abroad recently is that it is cross-cultural. That is, it translates into any language and culture. There's no other book I am aware of that has this ability--to be understandable and applicable in any culture anywhere. It was so interesting to me when in Latin America, for instance, to be able to relate to others through Bible stories and teaching even though I did not know more than a few words of Spanish. Yet those I was with knew and understood the same Bible teaching that I did. You simply cannot make this kind of observation about any other book.

The Word is about God. The clincher when it comes to understanding the timeless relevance of God's Word is to know that the Bible was not written as an instruction book for man. I've often heard the Bible referred to as "God's instruction book for life." That's simply not at all what the Bible is. The Bible is about God, and it was written by God to teach men about Himself. It is everything we need to know about God right now while we live on the earth, but not a complete book of knowledge about everything that is God. When we refer to it as an "instruction book" for man, it makes us the object or center of the Bible's purpose and not God.

So, it does not have every specific answer to every question, nor is its purpose to help us live our lives better. The Bible is here for us to know God better, and to know how to become more like Him. Often church leaders try to make the Bible into a practical "here's a verse for today" reference for our lives. That misses the point of the Bible entirely by making our lives the focus.

Consider when you approach the Bible that it is God's way of teaching you about Himself.
Instead of wondering "What verse is applicable in this situation," think about what you can learn about God's character through a given situation. Remember that old phrase, "What would Jesus do?" The truth is, most people don't have a clue what Jesus would do most of the time because they've spent their time in the Word consumed with applying Christ's instructions versus studying His life. Relevance as a goal moves us to do actions to affect our lives versus know Christ to affect our whole being.

When you stop making relevance a goal in Bible study, you can begin to know God more through His Word and apply it as it was mean tot be applied. Not as a "how to" book for living, but as a "who is" book about God. Relevance is a word that would have us believe we must adjust, change, modernize or interpret the Bible in such a way as to "shoehorn" it in to our lives. Really, the opposite is true. Our lives must adjust and align with God's Word, so that we can become more like Him. If we believe that, then the Bible is and has always been the most relevant piece of language we possess.

Running for the Top 100 Lists...

2009-01-20T14:26:00.000-08:00

My pastor made some great observations last week that really resonated with me. Why is there a fascination about the "Top 100 fastest growing churches" or the "100 biggest churches" or the "100 mega-this churches"? It seems that mainstream evangelical churches are now trapped in this vein of seeing who is biggest, best, brightest, in order to follow their lead in some way, and it just comes off as prideful.

For instance, why is there no "Top 100 servant-minded churches" or "Top 100 churches who give to the poor" or "Top 100 churches who serve the sick and helpless"? Obviously those congregations exist, but we refuse to be measured in that way, and instead make our size the primary observable measure of success. Funny thing is, I can't find anywhere in Scripture where "making disciples of all nations" (Matthew 28:19-20) correlates to growth in terms of size. A church of five people who are discipling five more people is probably closer to following God's plan for the church than most evangelical churches in the U.S. today.

The message of Galatians 6:1-5 was quite clear: we must not measure ourselves against one another as believers, and by this artificial competition create an environment where pride in our own accomplishments outweighs our desire to be more like Christ. If someone has a list of the "100 most Christ-like churches" please let me know.