Rabu, 23 September 2015

7 Natural Barriers to Sustained Church Growth

BARRIERS

7 Natural Barriers to Sustained Church Growth

In church planting, we defied the rules of growth for several years. There are “rules,” which when they happen will naturally stall growth. We were convinced they didn’t apply to us. What we learned is it just takes more time—sometimes.
Recognizing these early and addressing them is key to sustaining growth and momentum.

Here are seven natural barriers to growth:

Facilities:  There is something to the 80 percent rule of capacity. When your attendance in service reaches 80 percent full, you will eventually begin to stall. It’s not immediate, but it is eventual. In church planting, we defied this one for several years. We were convinced it did not apply to us. And it didn’t for a while. I am still convinced it can be addressed without the only solution being building bigger facilities, but leadership must be intentional. One way we addressed it was to use “fullness” as a part of our vision-casting. It works for a time but eventually one of these other barriers begins to occur.
Mindset: When the resistance to change is greater than the need for change, you can expect growth to stall. It doesn’t matter if it’s a church plant or an established church—eventually people get comfortable with the way things are and traditions begin to take shape. When you begin to alter those traditions, some people will naturally resist. To continue to grow, leaders must consistently challenge the norm and encourage healthy change.
Burn-out: It could be volunteer or staff burn-out. In a church plant, after people have spent so much time setting up and tearing down, eventually they grow tired. The key is to find ways to motivate them again or continually add to the volunteer base. And doing both is probably the best option.
Complacency: When people no longer seem to care if growth occurs or not. They may be satisfied or passive, but their attitude is always contagious. This is why leaders must continually cast and recast vision. It’s also why we must continually embrace change, because “new” stirs momentum.
Country Club small group Bible studies: I’ve noticed this one is often overlooked in the established church—especially when church growth has already plateaued. Whenever a group sits together with no new people entering long enough, they become closed to outsiders—even if they think they are not. Newcomers can’t compete with the inside jokes and confidential information the group has already developed together. One way to address this is by continually starting new groups. Some churches “force” or strongly encourage groups to break up and start over with new people.
Leadership void: Continued growth requires new leadership. There will need to be new initiatives, creative ways to do things, and simply replacement of the leaders who move or quit. One key to sustain growth is a successful leadership development program.
Leadership lid: This one is the capacity of the senior leadership. If a leader is controlling, for example, there will be a cap. The church will be defined to the leader’s personal abilities. When leaders realize they have reached their personal lid, they must be humble enough to admit it and seek help from others. Empowering and delegating become even more important. (Of course, they always are important.)
These are some I have observed—and experienced personally. I’m certain there are others. The biggest mistake I see leaders make, and I’ve done this as well, is to deny they are issues. They may be subtle for a time, but if you wait until they are obvious the damage will be much more difficult to address.
Ron Edmondson Ron Edmondson is a pastor and church leader passionate about planting churches, helping established churches thrive, and assisting pastors and those in ministry think through leadership, strategy and life. Ron has over 20 years business experience, mostly as a self-employed business owner, and he's been helping church grow vocationally for over 10 years.
Learn more »

Senin, 07 September 2015

He Must, Therefore He Is


He Must, Therefore He Is

“It pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell.”
COLOSSIANS 1:19

He must increase; therefore, He will increase, and He is increasing. It must be so, therefore it is so. It is so simple. He must increase. Why? Because God has ordained that Christ must have the preeminence in all things. He clearly does not have that preeminence in all things now; and so, He must increase until He does have the preeminence in all things.
This is a Universal Spiritual Principle because it is at work right now. Whether you believe it or not, whether you understand it or not, whether you like it or not; the Bible says it must be, and so it is.
Source: Lord of All by Chip Brogden

How to Simplify Your Life

   
 

FrankViolaBlog - How to Simplify Your Life


Posted: 03 Sep 2015 05:06 AM PDT
UPDATE: Yesterday, Feedburner (the service that emails my blog posts) sent my subscribers an interview that was published a long time ago on this blog. We aren’t sure why this happened, but we didn’t ask them to send it. I don’t know of a way to contact Feedburner to inquire. If this ever happens again (you get a post that was previously published on this blog), it’s a Feedburner glitch. This has only happened twice since 2008, so I trust it’s not going to be common. Now for today’s post.

Today’s world is incredibly complicated. So much so that most of us are seeking ways to simplify our lives amid the blizzard of busyness.
The trick to simplifying your life is to look at what you do in a given month. Then analyze what needs to be done from what can be removed or trimmed back.
As an example, here are five ways that I’ve simplified my life in 2015.
Perhaps some of them will inspire you and ignite your own ideas.
After you going through them, feel free to share how you’ve simplified your life in the comments.
1. I am only speaking in 4 events a year. In the past, I used to accept the majority of the speaking invitations that came my way. So I was on the road at least once a month. Sometimes I would travel twice a month.
A few years ago, however, I became very choosey on which invitations I selected. Traveling so much just wasn’t the best use of my time. So I cut back to only 6 speaking events a year. This made my live appearances more special and valuable.
Next year (2016), I will only travel and speak 4 times.
(That said, if you want to invite me to speak at your event, go to my Speaking page for details.)
2. I will begin blogging once a week. When I became intentional about being a professional blogger, I blogged 5 days a week. Then I dialed it back to 3 days a week. For the past year or so, I’ve posted two days a week. Beginning this October, with a few exceptions, I plan to blog one day a week — every Thursday. Sometimes there might be two back-to-back posts on Thursday. But my main posts on Thursdays will be high-voltage articles. So you’ll want to stay subscribed.
The reason for this is because I’ll be devoting most of my “work” time and energy on my new Mentoring/Connecting project (which will include my new Master Class on God’s Eternal Purpose). I’ll also be using my work time to write new books — I have 6 in the queue right now.
3. I am turning my iPhone off more often. Up until last week, my phone would be on until the battery died. But now, I keep it off much of the day. I’m still connected online throughout the day, but I use a desktop or laptop for that. I use my phone mainly for calls.
4. I stopped using texting for conversations. I never liked using my phone for texting. It can be a time vampire and a productivity interrupter. So when I receive a text, I now ask the person to call or email me.
5. I cut down the podcasts I consume to only one. In addition, the courses I take are from the same person. I find so little out there today that’s unique, creative, and inspiring. It’s virtually all same-ole, same-ole. Since time is a limited resource, I only want to use it for the gold.
How have you simplified your life?
LikeWithBorder
SHARE THIS POST USING THE FACEBOOK LINK BELOW.
Posted: 03 Sep 2015 05:00 AM PDT
00advertise
Today, I interview David Orton on his book, Snakes in the Temple: Unmasking Idolatry in Today’s Church.
Enjoy!

Instead of asking, “what is your book about,” I’m going to ask the question that’s behind that question. And that unspoken question is, “how are readers going to benefit from reading your book?”
David Orton: The reader will benefit from a “root and branch” exposé of the contemporary church’s hidden idolatry.
The book shows that the enemy of our souls – Satan – finds footholds in the corporate life of the church through the inner life of both people and leaders—this is the root. These idolatrous attitudes, values, and mindsets then play out in how the church does ministry and leadership, how she structures herself—this is the branch.
Through this the reader will not only discover the root causes of the western church’s spiritual malaise, but also find solutions that are not merely cosmetic or exclusively structural—it’s not just a matter of re-jigging how we do church. These solutions are within the grasp of every believer through their own heart response to God. This will then play out with some spiritual authenticity in a complete re-formation of the people of God from the inside out, effecting mindsets and then structures, ultimately leading to the regeneration and renewal of whole cultures and nations.
What does “Snakes in the Temple” mean, exactly?
David Orton: “Snakes in the Temple” is referenced from Ezekiel 8 where the elders of Israel – the leaders of God’s people – had created a completely concealed room within the temple dedicated to the secret worship of snakes and reptiles—and this, while the temple’s ritual continued as normal.
It provides a potent picture of the pseudo-spirituality of the contemporary church. While our programs, services, gatherings, and conferences continue unabated, internally we – as leaders – have bowed to the dominance of created things—of reputation, success, and growth. Like the generation of Christ and the apostles, we have unwittingly established the house of God as the “synagogue of Satan”.
Tell us about the experiences that shaped the insights in the book.
David Orton: After 30 years of ministry and church leadership I was well versed in church life and much of it very positive.
I was converted at the height of the Charismatic Renewal and Jesus Revolution. I was launched in my spiritual journey through a powerful conversion, coming out of the counter-culture of the late 1960s—we were looking for authenticity and social revolution. We were immediately immersed in an experimental movement that sort to reform the church through the restoration of personal shepherding and fathering apostles.
Also integral to the DNA of this movement was an emphasis on God’s will being done on earth. We had a vision of the kingdom of God renovating all spheres of life—of cultural transformation. Strategic to this was a redeemed community demonstrating the wisdom and love of God to the world. For this to happen the church needed to be radically reformed. She needed to be set free from man-made systems that divided her and restored to first century apostolic unity across whole cities. This would demonstrate God’s power and the integrity of the gospel in transforming man, not only individually but also corporately.
So, that was the vision. But as the saying goes, “The devil is in the detail!”
That particular movement – as with so many – contained the seeds of its own destruction. What we saw was that no matter what the structures and systems of church life – whether organizational or organic – the human factor is the same. The apostolic leader we related to was exposed for serial immorality and subtle abuse of power over many years. He was a highly gifted person exercising leadership throughout the Pacific Rim, including Australia and North America. Despite an emphasis on relationship, personal shepherding, and character there was still a subliminal emphasis on hierarchical authority and leadership. This and human weakness played into the movement’s demise.
With this and subsequent pastoral experience in a denominational setting and in pioneering a national citywide pastors prayer movement, focusing on relational unity we had ample first-hand proof that something was radically wrong. Both our pastoral situation and the national movement of pastoral unity hit a wall. Values and leadership conflicts plagued both. I resigned all my leadership roles and involvements. And what we thought might be a 6-month sabbatical became 5 years of cave-time. With the help of “brothers” my reputation was shot both locally in our city and nationally. I was without a job and without friends. Every attempt to extract ourselves from the cave failed.
And so, Jenny – my wife – and I learned to sit before the Lord and to wait. In that time I began to ask, “God, what was that all about?”
And he began to answer, “David, have I changed?” – “No Lord, you haven’t changed” – “David, has human nature changed?” – “No Lord, human nature hasn’t changed” – “Well then, neither has my controversy with my people changed”.
That was the key that unlocked the book.
I began to see that the perennial controversy God had with his Old Testament church was their worship of idols—and so too with his New Testament church, with us!
This was why the pastors’ prayer and unity movement that was making great strides across our nation and many cities of the world hit the wall in the late 1990s. It was why the Shepherding Movement had failed and the Charismatic Renewal and the Prophetic Movement and Apostolic Movement after 40 years had all gone to seed.
God’s people are beholden to institutionalized and thus legitimized idolatries that ultimately resist the move of God. These are false value systems that undergird our traditional denominational divisions, including our congregational and pastoral structures. The book seeks to penetrate these issues and provide a way out.
How is your book different from the many other books on the same subject of critiquing contemporary church practices?
David Orton: While it addresses church practices and structures it shows how these are merely the institutionalized expressions of a private and personal idolatry, particularly in the hearts of its leaders. To tackle “church practices” without first tackling the “inner motivations and values” that created them is self-defeating.
And so, the book is not so much focused on the technology of new church paradigms as it is on the technology of the heart.
Give us two or three insights from the book that would be helpful to Christians.
David Orton:
# 1. Our Working Definition of Idolatry.
For our purpose, we use this working definition of idolatry: Idolatry is the feeling of well-being gained from my relationship to a created thing, either material or non-material.
There is one sure test that exposes our own idolatry. It is this question: “From where do I draw my sense of well-being?”  This means anything has the potential to be an idol – a person, possession, position, or even a perception – our own self-image, or even a thought-process through which we rationalize or justify ourselves. Anything that gives me a sense of identity – a feeling of significance in my world, and therefore, a feeling of power.
# 2. Confusing the Goal with the Prize.
As a spiritual Olympian the apostle declares,
“…one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize….”  (Phil.3: 12-14)
A stirring analogy.  It inspires us to press through our pain to achieve great things for God.
But there is a difference between reaching the goal, and receiving the prize.  Whoever reaches the goal, crossing the finish line as a winner, automatically receives the prize.  As Paul said, “I press on toward the goal to win the prize”. On seeing the prizewinner’s dais it is not a smart athlete who cuts out of the race, thinking, “Wow – the prize, all I have to is cut across the field – and go get it!” And yet, tragically, this is exactly what the church has done.
Let me explain.  Because the Western church has lost sight of the goal, taking short cuts to get the prize, she has been disqualified. Paul warned,  “Run in such a way as to get the prize…so that…you will not be disqualified…” (1 Cor 9:24-27).  In fact, the Western church’s goal has become the prize.
We have replaced Christ as the goal with the prize of missional effectiveness.
# 3. New Paradigms – Old Problems: Pouring Old Wine into New Wineskins.
Jesus said, “You don’t put new wine into old wineskins”. But what we are doing is putting old wine into new wineskins! Let me explain. The issue is one of spirit and structure. The wineskin exists for the wine – not the other way around! Therefore, new wineskins should only be created for new wine – new paradigms, therefore, should come out of a new spirit.  So very simple!  But, we get it all wrong.  We put all our energy into producing new wineskins, new models and new structures. We import the latest church growth and leadership formulas, thinking they will produce the new wine of life and growth when all-the-while, according to Jesus, new structures come out of a new spirit.
We know that new wine is a symbol of the Holy Spirit.  But, what about old wine? Surely it is the opposite – symbolizing the world spirit.
Paul says that, “We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us” (1 Cor 2:12 NIV, emphasis mine).
If drinking the new wine of the Spirit enables us to “understand what God has freely given”, the old wine of the world spirit does the opposite. It numbs our spiritual understanding and highlights only what the world can give. It is an anti-Christ spirit, setting up value systems that displace God, putting confidence only in human ability.
What do you say to people who charge you with hating the church?
David Orton: My love for God and his people is the very thing that constrains me to speak out.
And so, I don’t hate the church, I just hate what we have done to it, in light of her destiny.
My calling and gift to the body is – to the best of my ability – to be true to God, to his nature and character. This demands a measure of prophetic probity. While none of us can claim the stature of a biblical prophet, the fact remains that as a prophet Jeremiah, for example, was to function as an “assayer” of metals, testing the hearts and ways of God’s people. However, the measure is never the arbitrary dictates of any individual – for “no prophecy is of private interpretation” – the touchstone, rather, is God’s own nature revealed in his own word. And so, his word is the prophetic touchstone to which we must return and this demands an interpretative community. I would be worried if I were the lone voice down this line. Nonetheless, the track record of the church’s handling of prophetic voices is not positive. We still have much to learn in this regard.
My burden – and I believe of the Lord – in any prophetic confrontation is unto destiny. I am consumed with a vision of God’s high call upon his people—that they may be a demonstration to the nations of God’s wisdom and ways.
Order Snakes in the Temple on discount
See also Why I Love the Church: In Praise of God’s Eternal Purpose
rethinkingseriessmall
LikeWithBorder
SHARE THIS POST USING THE FACEBOOK LINK BELOW.
Posted: 31 Aug 2015 04:06 AM PDT
I want to meet you in person.
Over the years, I’ve traveled to many states and countries.* So there’s a good chance I’ve already been where you live.
I have one more trip planned this year. And then I’ll be looking at invitations for 2016.
I love meeting my readers in person, whether it’s at a conference, a church where I’m speaking, or just over coffee.
Since we don’t announce my travels publicly, we notify people by email through our Events list.
But there’s a problem. Our Events list is outdated. It’s over 10 years old, and over half the email addresses no longer work.
Therefore, if you’ve not filled out my Events form within the last 6 months, please do so today. We can’t invite you to live events or let you know when I’m in your area unless you do.
When you get to the form, be sure you type your email address in correctly and confirm your sign-up (you’ll get the confirmation email within an hour after you fill out the form).
Fill out the Events Form here then come back and read the rest of this post.
Do you have a sense of humor?
If you have a sense of humor, in the 124th podcast episode, we did something that’s never been attempted before. We let our Unsubscribers call the show and allowed them to speak their minds!
You can listen to this unusual episode here (again, only if you have a keen sense of humor), but make sure you fill out the Events form first if you haven’t done so over the last 6 months.
On Thursday, I’m going to riff on a topic that I believe will benefit you. So stay tuned.
* Places where I’ve traveled – New York * Georgia * Colorado * Tennessee * Kentucky * Washington * Indiana * Illinois * Texas * Ohio * Oregon * DC * Virginia * Pennsylvania * Arizona * California * Nevada * North Carolina * South Carolina * Maine * Utah * Italy * Ireland * Mexico * Canada * Holland * Belgium * Switzerland * Germany * South Africa * South America.
LikeWithBorder

John Fenn, Self-centered/Righteous? #4 (Giving Tzedakah)

Hi all,
I've been talking about tzedakah, often translated as 'righteousness' in our Bibles, and how tzedakah in Hebrew culture and the Bible is both vertical AND horizontal. Tzedakah states for a person to be right with God vertically he must also be right with his fellow man 'horizontally'.  
 
Giving and tzedakah
The word tzedakah means righteousness, but it so emphasizes the horizontal it is often translated as almsgiving, giving, or charity. Such is the importance of righteousness, that it also means 'giving to others'.
 
Think of that contrast for a minute - we've been taught in traditional church that righteousness means 'right standing with God', but the very word of tzedakah means 'giving to others' which is a natural part of the flow from a person in right standing with the Father. 
 
Contrast why people give money, skills, talent, resources
In modern church culture people sometimes give to get - whether 100 fold return or trying to bribe or manipulate God as a means of meeting their need. Sometimes people give to remind Him they have a need and it is urgent. We've been told to "plant a seed, give to get, and God will help, you bet."
 
Relatively rare is the person who gives purely out of love of God and appreciation for the work of ministry someone is doing, with no return expected. That is where the true blessing is. The Rabbi's noted the same human nature in their day, and stated the most pure form of giving is to help bury the dead, for that is the one way of giving there is guaranteed no way for a person to get something back from them, lol. I prefer to say "giving is its own reward".
 
In tzedakah giving is a natural outflow of our right standing before God as a way of life, not an event. In Jesus' day it was taught that people who received alms - the lepers, the lame, the blind, the widows, the Levite's and priests - were expected to take from what they received and give part of it to someone else in need, so the cycle of giving and receiving in Israel never stopped, but made a big circle.
 
The tithe of the Old Testament was actually in 4 parts over the course of 6 out of 7 years: First fruits, First tithe, Tithe of the tithe, and Second tithe. There were no tithes given in year 7.
 
In years 1, 2, 4, 5, the Second tithe was taken to Jerusalem and offered to the Lord in the temple, and then taken back and eaten by the people who brought it, in a big party inviting all the poor, immigrants, Levite's, and priests to come and eat*. On years 3 and 6 that Second tithe didn't get taken to the temple, but stayed within the community, the party being for the local people only. Deuteronomy 14:22-29, 15:1-11
 
The First fruits once offered to the Lord in the temple went for the priest's consumption, and the first tithe went to them and the rest of the Levites. Then the Levites gave their tithe from that to the priests, and their second tithe was then given to the people. The priests and Levites were considered to be on the same level as the poor as they weren't allowed to own businesses and could therefore expect support from the people they served, but they also tithed on the tithes they received, back to the people - so you see it all moved in a big circle back to the people.
 
That means tithing and giving was never to support a huge structure and bureaucracy, but has always been for the direct support of God's people, including ministers.  
 
In Acts 2 through 6 we see people giving among themselves and to leadership to the point there were no needs in their midst, similar to the above - everyone who came up short on their obligations had their needs met by others - but when the church moved out of homes and into the auditorium in the 300's AD, it turned the relationships with people into relationships with buildings and programs.
 
Accountability therefore in the auditorium is measured by attendance, giving, and volunteering, while accountability in the healthy, family based churches that meet in homes, is as Jesus stated - if your brother has an issue with you, go to him and settle it. It is that simple, but requires maturity and love of all.
 
Understanding tithing and tzedakah
Unfortunately in some streams of the faith tithing has been given equal importance or even greater than water and Holy Spirit baptisms and the Lord's Supper. God relates to us through the blood of Jesus, not our bank accounts. You aren't cursed at giving 9.99% and suddenly become blessed at 10.01%.
 
The tithe isn't even taught in the New Testament letters because the NT was written by apostles doing home church and writing to people in home church, therefore giving all they had as needs arose governed by love and respect was how they lived. Christ is in you, so you and He have to get together and decide how you are to give money and to whom; resources, talents, skills, time, and to whom. You and He get together. The NT is all about Christ in you, the hope of glory. So talk to Him about it.
 
It is very clear that givers, those who give as a matter of lifestyle as a natural outflow of their tzedakah - righteousness - are blessed with what is, having lived in it for decades, a covering of protection and timing that non-givers don't have. When you live a lifestyle of tzedakah you'll find you'll give way more than 10% and not even keep track - because it is your lifestyle!
 
Jesus said those who give will have it given back to them*, and Paul said givers 'have all grace abound' in their lives, and have their giving multiplied*. Besides all that, Paul said it is right that if ministers share spiritual things which are the highest truths, then those who receive those truths should give back (lower creation) material things*. Luke 6:38, II Corinthians 9:8-11, I Corinthians 9:7-14.
 
In my "Through Jewish Eyes" series I even mention a term used by the Lord in Isaiah 40:1-3 that is directly connected to tzedakah as it relates to giving to others: "Comfort, comfort to my people says the Lord. Speak words of comfort to Jerusalem and announce to her that her warfare is finished, that her iniquity is pardoned: For she has received of the Lord's hand double for her sins. The voice of one who cries in the wilderness; Prepare the way of the Lord..."
 
To our ears, not understanding tzedakah as it relates to giving, speaking comfort to Jerusalem because she has received double for her sins because her iniquity is pardoned, is not understood.
 
The custom of righteousness being demonstrated by giving is seen in 'receiving double'. If a person was bankrupt before the year of release, they would write down on papyrus all their debts with a total amount, and tack that paper to their front door or gate in the hopes someone with one of the tithes mentioned above, would take some or all of their tithe and pay off their debts. If they did so they doubled up the paper and sealed it with their seal, marking the debt paid in full. It was called 'receiving double' for their debts. 
 
What the Lord says in Isaiah 40:2 is to speak comforting words to Jerusalem because her iniquity has been pardoned, because she has received of the Lord's hand 'double' for her sins. He is the Person who gave of His own resources to pay their debt, directly linking righteousness to giving.
 
He paid out of His own 'pocket' so to speak, our debts. Not because He wanted something, not because He had needs, but because He IS righteous, and that is why He gave. Vertical and horizontal.
 
In this series I've explained why it is impossible for a true disciple, not just a believer, but a disciple, to be continually self-focused, self-centered. To be righteous before God one must also be righteous within relationships with others. It is by our love they will know us. That isn't love held silently and secretly in our hearts for others, but love demonstrated to others. That is tzedakah - righteousness.
 
New series next week...until then...blessings!
John Fenn
www.cwowi.org and email me at cwowi@aol.com
 
 
 
New CD/MP3 Series
 
Based on a 50 minute visitation with the Lord and unlocking key elements in the Word, this teaching totally upended all John thought he knew about holiness, and it changed his life. Most people think holiness is a sect involving long hair and dresses, no make up, and a generally bland life, but in fact it is simple and core to our being. Rather than rules and regulations, understanding holiness is actually the key to walking in love and learning to live from the inside out. (2 cd/MP3, $12/set or MP3 $10)