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Effectively Marketing Small Groups

Getting the news out about your groups

Great marketing has the power to move us and to change our routines.  Starbucks Coffee did this by marketing a new way of life thereby changing millions of American’s morning routine.  Starbucks made coffee drinking and going to coffee shops a lifestyle.

At the heart of it, marketing, especially church marketing, is about changing habits and replacing them with new ones.  And that is very spiritual.  Often church leaders shy away from marketing, thinking that it is less spiritual.  Often it is believed church events and activities should simply be announced.  Sometimes marketing is even perceived as manipulative.  But really marketing is about influencing the use of resources and personal habits and that is leadership.

So how do we effectively market small groups in a church?  First, it starts with an understanding that it is not so much about the individual small groups, the current group season, it is about the long view about becoming a culture.  Companies like Apple and Starbucks have a well understood culture and while they take risks, their risks fit who they are and their overall brand message.  Yes, we aren’t companies, but we have an even higher responsibility to keep the message clear and influence our church and community to take steps to grow in faith.  But that won’t happen if the message is unclear, if the immediate is the only focus, and if there is no longview for outcomes.  The first step in effectively marketing small groups is to know why you do them and what exactly you hope they accomplish.  This seems intuitive but churches have a variety of answers to those questions and if why and what aren’t clearly defined marketing the message of how, small groups will never be clear.

Once you are clear about that, there are some tips which will help you in your effort to market small groups.

  • Take Advantage of Natural Season.  In every culture there are natural seasons in which lend themselves to beginnings.  The contexts in which I currently minister much of life revolves around school calendars.  That means the fall is a prime time where families are thinking about commitments, calendars and the coming school year.  This is often when they are making their decisions about how they hope to spend their time over the next several months.  What they can invest time in and what they won’t be able to.  This is a time that must be leveraged for small groups.  Otherwise, time has often already been allowed to other areas and families simply don’t have the margin to join groups, no matter how great of an idea it might seem.
  • Potential Seasons to Leverage
    1. Fall – Beginning of School
    2. New Year – New Resolutions and New Beginnings
    3. Easter – Thinking about Spiritual Matters Again
    4. Seasons of Transition
    5. When People Newly Connect with Your Church
    6. When Individuals and Families Take Steps of Further Connecting
  • Share Stories.  People want to be part of something.  There are far too many things that simply occupy our time.  But just as Starbucks created a coffee shop culture where many Americans began to see themselves as coffee shop people, stories of small group life help individuals begin to see themselves as part of one.  Sharing Stories helps people see themselves in other’s stories.
  • Normalize It.  Make Small Groups part of the language of your church.  Encourage small group leaders and members to talk about their groups and group life.  You want people not in groups to feel like they’re missing out, like it is odd to be here and not be in a group.
  • Preach It!  Obviously, going back to the previous point, it can’t be truly normalized without being preached on Sundays.  It helps to have the senior pastor share stories from their small group experiences.
  • Consistently Communicate the Message.  While leveraging seasons is super important, consistency in your messaging is also vitally important.  Small Groups shouldn’t just be talked about a few times a year.  The message of groups should be layered in at different levels throughout the year.

The key is understanding your message and keeping that message in front of your church.  Capitalize on seasons with the message of groups using stories to connect.  With consistency over time you can create a culture of community in your church.

Posted by JW Hilliard on December 20, 2016 in Small Group Ideas, Small Group Leadership, Small Group Strategy

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25 Maximums to Help You Plan

If you review these maximums consistently, I’m sure you will live a life that matters.

I suggest that you use these maximums as your personal checklist. Check them periodically to see the items you need to improve, and make a personal commitment to apply them. Over time, you can measure your progress in applying these. If they are consequently applied it will result in a life that matters.

So here are the 25 maximums to help you live a life that matters:

1.    Discover what matters to you – Plan it
Success overall has less to do with finding the best idea, organizational structure, or life model, than with discovering what matters to you. A Christ centered life is the best place to start.

2.    Have the courage to do what matters – Make changes
You create enduring success not because you are perfect or lucky but because you have the courage to do what matters to you.

3.    Don’t strictly rely on others’ approval – Please the Lord first
Successful people don’t rely on the approval of everyone to pursue their cause or calling. They are more emotionally committed to doing what they love than being loved by others. We do need godly counselors but not the opinion of people who have little wisdom or care for us.

4.    Redefine success – A godly life that makes an impact
The real definition of success is a life and work that bring personal fulfillment and lasting relationships and makes a difference in the world in which they live.

5.    Don’t chase money and recognition – Seek the Kingdom of God
Money and recognition are just outcomes of passionately working often on an entirely different objective that is often a personal cause or calling.

6.    Recognize signs of passion – Use your passion to bless others
Achievers become lovers of an idea they are passionate about for years and years. They lose track of the passage of time while doing it. In a real sense, it’s something that they’d be willing to do for free, for its own sake. This may be something you will regret if you don’t pursue it at least a little bit.

7.    Worry more about being what you love – Fear God more than man
Most of us worry more about being loved than being what we love. Being a people pleaser causes drift.

8.    Check regularly whether you’re on the right track – Search me Oh God.
Planning always takes periodic adjustments to get you where you want to be.  Don’t be afraid to tweak your plan from time to time.

9.    Find your mission in life – What is your part in His plan?
To find your mission in life is to discover the intersection between your heart’s deep gladness and the Lord’s perfect plan.

10.    Find place for your multiple passions – Plug into church and society
You do need to find a place for everything that is meaningful to you. When you exclude all other things except a single focus for your life, there is a danger that you might find it impossible to locate the real treasure.

11.    Experiment with your other passions – Seek, ask and knock
Carve out a little time each week to experiment in some way with one of your other passions.

12.    Never retire from what you love – You are always valuable unless you quit
Godly passions create meaning in our lives. It usually builds a legacy and memories.

13.    Be yourself – Live your unique God plan
You shouldn’t hijack someone else’s life plan system. Seek your plan by prayer.

14.    Do what matters despite popularity or political correctness – Go what is right before God
Doing things despite the political correctness of the path is the price of admission to almost every enduring life of lasting impact. Do what is right not what is popular or politically correct.

15.    Have passion, determination, and skill – Be diligent
Life takes passion, determination, and skill. You can’t skip any of those three and expect to enjoy success that lasts.

16.    Be greedy to acquire knowledge for your dream – Seek wisdom
If you should be greedy about anything, it should be about acquiring “intellectual capital” for your dream. Get wisdom and knowledge.

17.    Recognize when to move – Seek the Spirit’s guidance
When you find that striving for excellence is unreachable or joyless, you may need to move onto something else.  Fundamental things like marriage we should fight for but insignificant things can be left behind.

18.    Have the right attitude toward difficulties – Rely on the Lord
Having many difficulties perfects the person; having no difficulties ruins the person. Embrace difficulties with a plan and a passion to change one’s self.

19.    Make failure your friend – Learn in humility
Many highly accomplished people described themselves as so proficient at making mistakes that, if you didn’t know better, you might think they were losers. Enduringly successful people harvest failure. They become more resolute after losing a battle they believe in because they learn from the loss. Losers call it failure; winners call it learning.

20.    Always make new mistakes – Don’t be hearers only but doers
When you make mistakes, just be sure to make new ones. A plan helps avoid old mistakes.

21.    Have a prepared mind – Gentile as doves but shrewd as serpents
Only a prepared mind and open heart prevails. Being prepared give you a high degree of success.

22.    Have clear goals – Consider the ants
The godly use planning and goals – often big goals – to put themselves into a opportune position.

23.    Have explorer mentality – Don’t be an old wine skin
Be adventurous without ignoring the roadmap. Allow a little sightseeing on the way.

24.    Surround yourself with “godly producers” – Seek Godly counselors
Successful people spent the largest percentage of their time tracking down, surrounding themselves with, and developing the people who are “godly producers”.

25.    Get the inconsistent stuff out – Lose the meaningless
Alignment requires that you get out of your life all the stuff that is inconsistent with your passions and goal. That includes people, places, activities, and things. Choose wisely.

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A Critical Look at Common Atheist Talking Points

Atheist blogger Kevin Davis attended a Lifetree Café gathering at a Lutheran church where the topic of discussion was atheism.  Davis was annoyed by something:

The next discussion question: What is the attraction to atheism?  This one bothered me. I took the opportunity to clear up some misconceptions.  Atheism isn’t something people get recruited into or attracted to from an ideological perspective.  It has no dogma or doctrine.  Atheism is a conclusion based on a lack of evidence.  No one decides to become an atheist because it’s glamorous.  Why would you willingly join a minority position that is attached to an unshakable stigma and is legally discriminated against?  We’re not “giving up on God” or “angry at God” or any of those other assertions. We simply used critical thinking to come to the conclusion that the supernatural folklore of millennia ago is unfounded and archaic.  

This is a very common self-serving talking point among the atheist activists and I find it to be highly inaccurate.

First, when Davis insists it is the mere use of critical thinking that leads to atheism, he paints a picture where it is atheists alone who have a special talent for such thinking.  For it is clearly implied that those of us who are Christians lack this skill, otherwise, why are we still Christians?  The problem for Davis is that there are many Christians who use critical thinking to reach the conclusion that Christianity is likely to be true.  This means that since critical thinking can lead to two opposite conclusions, the mere use of critical thinking is insufficient at explaining why people become atheists.

Of course, at this point, the atheist is likely to double down on that self-serving self image, arguing that critical thinking skills are not involved in anyone becoming a Christian because if critical thinking skills were involved, the person would reach the conclusion of atheism.   And round and round it would go.  So let’s use some critical thinking skills to analyze Davis’s talking point.

I took the opportunity to clear up some misconceptions.  Atheism isn’t something people get recruited into or attracted to from an ideological perspective.  

This is simply false.  There is clearly a distinct evangelistic dimension to the New Atheism movement.  Consider just some of the evidence (off the top of my head):

  • Atheist activist Richard Carrier has said , “My objective is to make more atheists. I am an evangelist for atheism.”
  • Atheist activist Peter Boghossian wrote a book, popular among the atheists, entitled, “A Manual for Creating Atheists” and Carrier taught on online course around it: “Boghossian proposes a particular approach to one-on-one atheist evangelism that is science-and-experience based, and valuable to learn. If you have friends, family members, colleagues, whom you want to escape religion, and improve their standards of belief-formation, this course is for you. If you want to make more atheists through one-on-one interaction with anyone (people you meet on the street, at events, while manning an “Ask an Atheist” booth, anywhere), his book is a must-read, and definitely worth taking a course on, even if you don’t agree with everything it says.”
  • American Atheists are putting up billboards around the country trying to attract people to atheism:

The billboard features a mother looking over her daughter’s shoulder as she reads a text from a friend who asks her if she’s going to church this Christmas. Her response? “Lol. No way. I don’t believe that stuff anymore.”  This isn’t the only design American Atheists is using this year.

Other cities across the nation are getting another billboard that puts a political spin on the holiday by modifying President-Elect Donald Trump’s famous campaign slogan: “MAKE CHRISTMAS GREAT AGAIN,” followed by “Skip Church!”

  • Here’s an atheist activist whose video (promoted by Dawkins’ webpage) is entitled, How to Convert a Christian to Atheism

  • New Atheist authors often brag about the email they get telling them how their atheist book converted people to atheism.

I’ll stop.

Suffice it to say that there is a distinct evangelistic dimension to the atheist movement that seeks to convert people into atheism.

Next claim from Davis:

It has no dogma or doctrine.  Atheism is a conclusion based on a lack of evidence. 

Davis insists there is no dogma or doctrine to atheism and immediately proceeds to list it. The whole notion that atheism is simply a conclusion based on a lack of evidence is the dogma/doctrine of modern day atheism.  Let’s consider the evidence to support my claim.

First, the dogmatic nature of this position is evident to anyone who has actually argued with an atheist.  After arguing with hundreds of atheists, I have yet to encounter one who will not back off the extreme nature of this dogmatic posture.  That is, I cannot find an atheist who argues as follows:

I agree there is some evidence for theism, enough such that theism can be considered a reasonable position.  However, I find this evidence to be unconvincing and weak, thus I remain an atheist.

Instead, I have reliably discovered, time after time after time, that atheists cling to the “there is no, NO, NO(!) evidence for the existence of God” dogma.

The extreme, dogmatic nature of this doctrine shows itself in how the atheist movement portrays religious people as delusional, mentally ill, stupid, and/or dishonest.  You can only view theists in such a way if a) you perceive yourself as having superior thinking skills that b) discover there is NO evidence for the existence of God.  It’s so obvious that only the delusional and mentally ill would dare disagree with you.

Second, Davis wrote something else that undercuts his position:

On to the next topic. We’re starting to get into the nitty gritty now. We were provided the definition of atheism — a lack of belief in a deity and lack of belief in anything supernatural.  I’d go with the former and drop the latter.  Atheism doesn’t reject supernatural concepts by definition; it just refers to the lack of belief in gods.  While it’s true most atheists reject all supernatural ideas, some do believe in ghosts or spirits or other supernatural concepts not related to gods.

He is correct in noting there are many atheists who believe in ghosts, spirits, and other supernatural concepts.  In addition, some believe in UFOs and various conspiracy theories.  Thus, while we are told that atheists, as a group, reject belief in God because of critical thinking and a lack of evidence, there are many who believe in ghosts, spirits, along with other supernatural and paranormal phenomenon, ……because of the same critical thinking and consideration of evidence?  Look, if the atheist is going to posture as a member of a group devoted to critical thinking and evidence, that message is contradicted when you also admit the existence of ghost-believing fellow atheists.

Third, and perhaps most damaging, is that while atheists believe their atheism stems from a consideration which finds no evidence for God, it turns out the “no evidence” position is not rooted in critical thinking.  How can we tell?  Simply ask the atheist to explain what type of data they would count as evidence for God.  What type of data would cause them to merely suspect God might exist?  If you do that, you will find that the vast majority of atheists struggle mightily with this simple question (that stems from a position of critical thinking).  After all, how can anyone claim there is no evidence of X is they don’t have the foggiest idea of what would even count for X?  Such a person is admitting they are intellectually blind when it comes to the consideration of X.  If you are sure there is no evidence for X when you have no idea what evidence for X would look like, you are being classicly dogmatic.

If the atheist does answer the question, you will find that the vast majority of them will demand some type of demonstration/event for which no natural explanation is possible.  Put simply, they need some type of miracle.  Yet if one were to argue that God exists because there is something that cannot be explained by natural causes, this would be shot down as the illegitimate appeal to the “God of the Gaps.”  So it’s “Heads I win, Tails you lose.”  Only miracles can count as evidence for God, but holding up miracles as evidence of God is the “God of the Gaps” fallacy.  What guides this heads I win, tail you lose approach is a strict adherence to dogma: there is no evidence, and can be no evidence, for God.

The “no evidence” position of modern day atheism is not rooted in careful analysis guided by critical thinking.  It is more of a slogan and rallying cry that is rooted in shallow thinking.

Finally, Davis claims:

No one decides to become an atheist because it’s glamorous.  Why would you willingly join a minority position that is attached to an unshakable stigma and is legally discriminated against?  

I’m not buying this one, as Davis seems to think we still live in the 1950s.  In 2016, it’s considered cool, edgy, and hip to be an atheist.  It’s supposed to mean you are smart, you stand out, you are different, you think for yourself, you love science.  In fact, it’s so cool and edgy that you can hang out with others online and mock the religious kooks.

There are plenty of reasons to become an atheist that have nothing to do with some well-developed critical thinking skill set.  After all, how else do you explain the fact that so many atheists have so much trouble with critical thinking?

Originally posted here

 

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This Church Experienced a Failed Campus Launch and Wants to Share How You Can Learn from It.

We told you at the beginning of June that we were going to try to talk you out of going multisite before you’re ready.

In our conversations about what to share with you during this series, we started thinking, “Wouldn’t it be helpful if a church that had actually had a bad experience with multisite would be willing to share their story so other pastors could learn from it?”

 

JeffManessJeff Maness, senior pastor at Element Church in Cheyenne, Wyoming and author of Because You’re Called: Three Words That Will Change Your Life, graciously agreed to write about his church’s experience. Element is a church averaging 1,500 people each weekend and has a vision to plant campuses throughout the state of Wyoming. The church has been named one of the Fastest Growing Churches in North America by Outreach Magazine.

I’ll let him tell you their multisite story.

The first time we launched a campus we were just over three years old and averaging 855 people for the year. At that time we had three Sunday morning services, and we were bursting at the seams in the last two. We knew we needed more space, but we didn’t feel doing another service at a non-optimal seating time would help us with our space issues.

As we fasted, prayed and discussed among our leadership, it seemed as if God was opening up the opportunity to start another campus on the other end of town (a 15 minute drive). Looking back, the need for another campus, and even the open door from God to attempt it were obvious. We weren’t going to reach more people in our current situation, and we didn’t have any red flags or closed doors to seeking this new opportunity.

The vision from the get-go was, ‘More space to reach more people in the most affordable way.’

But we made some mistakes and learned some key lessons along the way that I think other pastors can learn from.

1) We offered live preaching on launch Sunday at the new campus.

To attract people to the campus, we had decided not to announce where I would be preaching live on Sundays. The only guaranteed live preaching service was the 8:30am service at our Broadcast Campus. We would record that service, and then either use the video at our South Campus or I would preach live at the South Campus and we would show video at our 10:00 and 11:30am services at our Broadcast Campus. This was a fatal flaw in our planning.  

Because we wanted to launch well, I preached live at the South Campus on opening weekend. It was the very next week, when we showed video, that people started asking when I was going to be back live again.

2) The campuses were too close in proximity.

While Cheyenne is the largest city in Wyoming, it is very small by national comparison at around 60,000 people. We placed our campus about as far away from the Broadcast Campus as we could, but it was a portable location in a high school that just couldn’t compete with the amenities that our permanent Broadcast Campus had.

We had many dedicated, hard-working volunteers and core people committed to the campus, but when people could just attend the permanent location with much better facilities for their children and for themselves, it was a no-brainer where they were going to attend. It required no more time for most people to get to the permanent location as it did to get to the portable one.

3) We set up our campus pastor to fail.

We placed a volunteer leader as the ‘campus pastor’ and really set him up to fail. The amount of oversight, leadership, pastoral care and vision-casting needed for a second site was more than we were ready for, and much more than we should of placed on a volunteer.

4) Our staff were stretched thin and lost focus.

Just adding one more campus stole a lot of ministry energy. Now our worship guy wasn’t just planning a team for one campus, but for two. Same for our kids pastor, our tech director and so on.

We didn’t go out and hire a bunch of new people to run the campus. We were relying on the people currently on the team to get it done. That takes its toll. It wasn’t too long into the campus and you could see the energy level draining from our team. You could tell it was becoming a chore to keep the campus open.

5) The physical, emotional, relational and financial strain on your church from launching just one site is more than I could possibly have imagined.

I feel like launching a campus was harder on me as a leader than starting a church. It’s just a different beast.

6) We didn’t fully consider our other options.

We eventually added a Sunday evening service that I wish we would have tried before a campus. It has far exceeded the reach of the campus while it was open, and it gave us the space we needed to get us to our remodel and expansion.

In fact, after our remodel, our Sunday evening service became such a viable option for us that we kept it, even though we didn’t really need it any longer. Funny thing is, we are back in the same boat again now. We have maxed out our optimal seating times in our expanded facility and are looking to add an additional service instead of launching a campus.

7) We finally closed the doors.

As energy waned, I think we even began to neglect the needs of the campus, which was in decline, so we could focus on the needs at the Broadcast Campus, because that is where all the excitement and energy still was. You could feel it among the volunteers and the whole congregation as well. Everyone wanted the South Campus to succeed, but it was literally sucking the life out of our ministry. We went into the campus with tons of momentum, and this launch all but stopped that momentum dead in its tracks.

It was confirmation when we decided to close the campus that I don’t think we had even one person object.

The one place we did win during this season was in volunteer recruitment. We have people now, who are high-level volunteers, that started serving because we were launching a campus. We had to recruit, raise and release volunteers across all levels of our ministry in order to get this thing off the ground. From parking to the team that packed everything in and out, it was a massive volunteer recruitment tool. Nothing motivates people more than vision.

 

Originally posted here

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16 Tips for Getting 90 Percent of Your Work Done Before Lunch

Don’t have enough time in a day? Follow these tips to get majority of your work done in the morning.
By Neil Patel

Imagine this.

By the time lunch rolls around, you push back from your desk with a satisfied sigh, saunter off to your car, and drive off to have a leisurely, stress-free lunch, daydreaming about the 18 holes that you’re going to play for the rest of the day.

This can be for real.

You can get 90 percent or more of your work done in the morning. Around the time people are groping for the next shot of caffeine, you’re shutting down your Macbook and chilling out.

How do you do this? I’m going to give you 16 amazing productivity tips, but first let me set the stage:

  • First, I’m defining work as stuff that you do–important stuff. Ideally, meetings can be shoved out of the picture.
  • Second, this approach is built on the Pareto principle. The Pareto principle states that 80 percent of your results come from 20 percen of your efforts. Getting your work done in the morning means that you can take a leaner approach to the important tasks–a smart approach.

1. Schedule your day the night before.

Every day, you should list all your tasks and when you’re going to do them the following day. You will not be productive unless you plan out everything you’re going to do the next morning.

Quick tip: Don’t schedule too much. Keep your to-do schedule light to actually accomplish real work.

2. Clean your office the night before.

Clutter in your office creates distractions. A sticky note on your desk that says “Call Bob ASAP!” can throw off your whole day.

Showing up to work in a spic-and-span environment helps you to think clearer and work harder.

3. Wake up at an ungodly hour.

To really get stuff done, you’ve got to get up in time to make it happen.

I recommend anytime from 5:30 to 6:30 a.m. If your morning routine takes a little longer, bump your wake-up time back a little more.

Obviously, you’ll need to adjust your bedtime accordingly.

4. Exercise.

Scientific evidence shows that morning exercise can make us think better, work better, and become more productive.

Harvard’s John Ratey is the author of Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain. He writes that exercise is essential for reaching “high-performance levels in intellectually demanding jobs.”

A quick jog or 30-minute yoga session can prepare you for a powerful session of getting stuff done.

5. Stick to your schedule.

Don’t let yourself veer off the course that you’ve mapped out. You have a limited amount of time. Don’t ruin the schedule.

Take your schedule, allow it guide you, and you’ll be able to accomplish more.

6. Give yourself 20 minutes to reach flow.

Flow is when you’re in the zone. This happens when you are completely absorbed in your activity, singlemindedly accomplishing things at a high level and rapid pace.

It takes some time to reach flow, so if you don’t feel productive or engaged in your work, just give it some time.

7. Make 60-second decisions.

Decision making is a time-draining vortex. When you’re faced with a decision in the course of your work, give yourself a one-minute limit. Your decision will be just as good, but it will take less time.

8. Wear headphones.

Headphones can shut out distractions and keep you focused. Harvard Business Review advises workers to put on their headphones to be more productive.

9. Do the toughest tasks first.

Mark Twain wrote, “If you eat a frog first thing in the morning that will probably be the worst thing you do all day.” Brian Tracy turned this statement into an entire principal (and even wrote a book on it)–“Eat that frog!”

If you get your biggest and ugliest task done first, the rest of the day will be massively productive.

10. Do your writing early on.

Writing is one of the most mentally demanding tasks. However, writing also has the power of focusing your brain and improving your productivity. Do you writing early in the day, and you’ll improve both the quality of your writing and the rest of your day.

11. Don’t commute.

If you typically have a lengthy work commute, do everything you can to avoid it

It’s not just wasted time that you want to guard against. It’s the mental havoc. A commute is one of the most stressful parts of the day. Starting your workday with that level of stress can completely ruin your productivity.

Don’t even commute to Starbucks. (Have Starbucks bring it to you instead.)

12. Don’t hold meetings (even over the phone).

If you’ve been in business for very long, you know that most meetings are a waste of time. Avoid meetings if at all possible.

13. Don’t check your email first thing.

The electronic communication pipeline can be as destructive as meetings. Sure, you need to deal with email. It’s important, but don’t let it swallow your day by starting out with it.

14. Stick to a routine.

If you do something repeatedly, you’ll be able to do it better and faster each time. Once you find a routine, stick with it. Your routine is the ramp to your productivity.

15. Make yourself comfortable.

Do whatever you need to do to position yourself for success. If that means showering, shaving, eating breakfast, journaling, meditating, feeding the dog, opening the blinds–do it. When you accomplish these preparatory tasks, you are creating an environment that will make you more productive.

16. Reward yourself at a certain time.

Set the clock–a countdown timer if you have to. At a certain point, you’re going to stop. So, stop.

Break out the kazoos, throw some confetti, and do your happy dance. It’s time to reward yourself.

Apply and get more done!

For those of us who possess unstoppable energy and an internal drive to get even more done, we don’t have to quit in the mornings. If work makes you happy and fulfilled, keep going.

Getting 90 percent of your work done in the morning just means that you might get more than 100 percent of your work done every day.

Sounds good to me.

 

Originally posted here

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Good leaders practice making good decisions

Decisions.

How we make them is a hallmark between pastors who are naturally hardwired by God to lead declining churches to renewal (roughly 15 percent of those in ministry) and their ministry colleagues who aren’t similarly wired.

Contrary to what we expected, our research revealed that rapid fire decision makers are generally poorer at leading church turnarounds. In contrast, the most effective renewal leaders are those who are slow, thoughtful and collaborative decision makers.

Fortunately, pastors can learn to be more effective decision makers. We’ve developed a variety of techniques that we impart in our mentoring relationships. Here are two; one helps the “ready, fire, aim!” crowd work more deliberately, the other insures that impulsive decision makers bring others along with them.

Rule of 3

This simple exercise not only requires greater deliberation, it also boosts creativity by requiring you to think of multiple options before settling on a decision. It’s a simple exercise.

  • At the top of a blank sheet of paper, write down the decision that needs to be made. Include a few details highlighting the nature of the problem. Underneath that write out how you’ve solve this problem (or seen others solve it) in the past.
  • Draw a vertical line down the center of the page
  • In the left-hand column write out what you’re leaning toward for this decision.
  • In the right-hand column list at least three new options, all of which are outside your “tried and true” zone.
  • Pray over this for several days.
  • Consult with your mentor or coach to discuss the options.

Decision alignment

Impulsive pastors tend to make decisions without giving careful thought to who will be affected. It’s easy for a pastor, particularly the solo pastor of a small church, to turn someone else’s work upside down by making rapid decisions. (Could this be one reason why the snap decision makers tend to pastor stagnant churches?)

Fortunately, this is also easily fixed.

  • Look at what’s on your calendar for the next quarter.
  • List what decisions you need to make over that quarter.
  • Reverse engineer those decisions to see who will be affected by them. (Don’t stop with just one name; more often than not multiple people are touched by a given decision).
  • Set appointments in your calendar for when, where, and how you’ll discuss these decisions with each person who will be affected. Jot a few notes about what you plan to say about those decisions.
  • Confirm those appointments by phone or email. Drop a “reminder” so that you’ll be reminded a few days ahead of time so you can review your notes and be ready for a thoughtful discussion that brings each person into the process.

“Ready, fire, aim” isn’t just a bad idea. It’s ineffective leadership. By practicing the rule of 3 and decision alignment, you’ll be well on your way to becoming a thoughtful, innovative and collaborative decision maker. And those are the ones who lead churches in renewal.

 

Originally Posted Here

 

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Those Pre-Christian Deities Aren’t Much Like Jesus After All

J. Warner Wallace is a Cold-Case Detective, a Christian Case Maker, and the author of Cold-Case Christianity, Cold-Case Christianity for Kids, and God’s Crime Scene.

 

I’ve written about how we, as Christians, ought to respond to the claim that Jesus is simply a fictional re-creation of prior “dying-and-rising” god mythologies. The first step in assessing the evidence requires us to closely examine attributes of the mythological character offered in comparison to Jesus. It turns out that pre-Christian mythologies are far less similar to the story of Jesus than critics claim. When I first began to examine all the alleged similarities, I found that one pre-Christian deity seemed to be most similar to Jesus. When “Jesus Mythers” begin to make their case, they inevitably offer Mithras as their case in point. For this reason, I think it’s fair to examine Mithras in an effort to understand how skeptics construct their arguments related to Jesus and ancient mythologies.

There are two distinct (and non-continuous) traditions related to Mithras, one coming out of the areas of India and Iran, centuries prior to the birth of Jesus, and another developed in Roman times concurrent with the Christian era. Many experts have struggled to try to connect these as one continuous tradition, and in so doing, have distorted or misinterpreted the basic elements of the tradition and mythology. There is no surviving Mithraic scripture; most of what is known about Mithras comes from statues and murals that have no captions, or from the writings of ancient Christians who described Mithraic rituals many years after the arrival of Jesus. The vast majority of scholarly work on this mythological character is pure speculation. Given that foundation, let’s take a look at some of the alleged similarities between Mithras and Jesus:

Claim: Mithras was born of a virgin on December 25th, in a cave, attended by shepherds
Truth: Mithras was actually born out of solid rock, leaving a cave. He was not born of a virgin (unless you consider the rock mountain to have been a virgin). His birth was celebrated on December 25th, but both Mithras worshippers and the earliest Christians borrowed this celebration from earlier winter solstice celebrations. The earliest version of the Mithras narrative that includes shepherds appears one hundred years after the appearance of the New Testament; it is far more likely Mithraism borrowed the shepherds from Christianity than the other way around.

Claim: Mithras was considered a great traveling teacher and master
Truth: There is nothing in the Mithras tradition that indicates he was a teacher of any kind, but he could have been considered a master of sorts. But why would we expect any deity to be anything less than a great teacher and master?

Claim: Mithras had 12 companions or disciples
Truth: There is no evidence for any of this in the traditions of Iran or Rome. It is possible that the idea that Mithras had 12 disciples came from a mural in which Mithras is surrounded by twelve signs and personages of the Zodiac (two of whom are the moon and the sun), but even this imagery is post-Christian.

Claim: Mithras promised his followers immortality
Truth: While there is little evidence for this, it is certainly reasonable to think that Mithras did offer immortality, although this is not uncommon for any god of mythology.

Claim: Mithras performed miracles
Truth: This claim is true, but what mythological god didn’t perform miracles?

Claim: Mithras sacrificed himself for world peace
Truth: There is little or no evidence that any of this is true. The closest Mithraic narrative is a story in which Mithras killed a threatening bull in a heroic deed.

Claim: Mithras was buried in a tomb and after three days rose again, and Mithras was celebrated each year at the time of His resurrection (later to become Easter)
Truth: There is nothing in the Mithras tradition that indicates he ever even died, let alone was buried or resurrected. Tertullian, the ancient Christian Case Maker, did write about Mithraic believers re-enacting resurrection scenes, but he wrote about this occurring well after New Testament times. This again appears to be another example of Mithras followers borrowing from Christianity (in the Roman version of the Mithraic religion).

Claim: Mithras was called “the Good Shepherd”, and was identified with both the Lamb and the Lion
Truth: There is no evidence that Mithras was ever called “the Good Shepherd” or identified with a lamb, but Since Mithras was a sun-god, there was an association with Leo (the House of the Sun in Babylonian astrology), so one might say that he was associated with a Lion. But once again, all of this evidence is post New Testament, and cannot, therefore, have been borrowed by Christianity.

Claim: Mithras was considered to be the “Way, the Truth and the Light,” and the “Logos,” “Redeemer,” “Savior” and “Messiah.”
Truth: Based on the researched, historic record of the Mithraic tradition, none of these terms have ever been applied to Mithras deity with the exception of “mediator”. But this term was used in a way that was very different from the way that it is used in the Christian tradition. Mithras was not the mediator between God and man but the mediator between the good and evil gods of Zoroaster.

Claim: Mithras celebrated Sunday as His sacred day (also known as the “Lord’s Day,”)
Truth: This tradition of celebrating Sunday is only true of the later Roman Mithras followers; it is a tradition that dates to post-Christian times. Once again, it is more likely to have been borrowed from Christianity than the other way around.

It is reasonable that ancient people groups, thinking about the world around them and the existence of God, would assign certain characteristics to God, and it’s also reasonable that many of these groups might begin to imagine God with some measure of accuracy. But when you take the time to investigate the initial claims of those who say Jesus is similar to some ancient mythological god, you’ll quickly discover that those pre-Christian deities aren’t much like Jesus after all.

For more information related to Mithras:
The Origins of the Mithraic Mysteries (Cosmology and Salvation in the Ancient World) by David Ulansey (Oxford University Press, 1989), Mithras, the Secret God by M. J. Vermaseren (Barnes and Noble Publishers, 1963), and Mithraic Studies (Proceedings of the First International Congress of Mithraic Studies – 2 Volumes) edited by John R Hinnells (Manchester University Press, 1975).

 

Originally posted here

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10 Warning Signs a Servant Leader Has Become the ‘King’ of His Kingdom

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“Here are some signs that a leader has become the “king.”

As Christian leaders, we are called to serve others even as we’re completely reliant on God. Too often, though, a leader who was once a servant wrongly transitions into being the king of his own kingdom. Here are some signs that a leader has become the “king”:

1. Even if he invites discussion from church leaders, he does not change his mind. The “discussion” is in name only, as his decisions are already made.

2. He sees everyone else as expendable. If he’s worried about church members leaving, you’d never know it. In fact, he can usually hyper-spiritualize the reasons that others leave.

3. He is seldom, if ever, wrong. Kings somehow convince themselves that nobody can do things as well as they can. Everybody else still has something to learn.

4. Staff members tend to stay for only a short time. Kings are good at recruiting strong staff members, but not so good at keeping the best of them. Kings want dependents more than co-laborers.

5. He seldom allows others to preach. The pulpit becomes his platform, and he rarely gives up that position, even for a single Sunday. He’s most unwilling to share that space with gifted speakers he might perceive as more gifted than he.

6. He treats others as “subjects.” That is, people become a means to an end: tools to help him build his kingdom more than brothers and sisters in Christ.

7. He demands unquestioned loyalty. Even the slightest sign of disagreement is considered rebellion.

8. He expands his kingdom broadly, but not deeply. After all, deeply-developed kingdoms require serious discipleship—and genuine disciples would recognize the problem with a king’s leadership style.

9. Often, those who know him best question his spirituality. That’s not a surprise, though. Kings depend on themselves, not God.

10. He does not consider leadership succession. He might talk about retirement at some point, but it’s often just talk. Kings don’t give up their position easily.

Lest we judge the “king” leader too seriously, though, all of us are susceptible to moving in this unhealthy direction. Pride is always a temptation for Christian leaders.

Originally posted here

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Preparing a Three minute Testimony

Easy Steps to Give Your Testimony

The Reason  In 1 Peter 3:15, we are called to “…sanctify (set apart) the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear…”

One of the most effective ways to be ready to give that defense is to be prepared ahead of time in case someone asks you why your life is different than theirs or what makes you different than others they know or in case God just brings someone who needs to hear.

You may have heard it said that you are a living letter for Jesus, a letter written not with ink and paper buy crafted by the Holy Spirit on the pages of your heart and life, (2 Cor 3:3) and your letter may be all of the Gospel that someone may ever read.  Sometimes you share by your everyday life and sometimes with words!  The three minute testimony has much benefit.

The three minute idea causes thoughts to be concise and keeps in mind the listener and how long they might be attentive and it helps in leaving out things that are not critical to your story.

The Purpose In preparing a brief and precise account of your own personal story of conversion and why you have hope, you have the help you need to simply and clearly share the interesting details of how, when and why you gave your life to Christ.  This serves as a “door opener,” not to be used to “convince” someone they need Jesus, but a means of getting people interested in thinking about Jesus and creating an openness to talking about Him after hearing what He’s done for us.

A Biblical Example In Acts 25 and 26 we find the Apostle Paul being brought before King Agrippa and the king said to Paul, “You are permitted to speak for yourself.”  As Paul spoke, his words were simple, logical and clear indicating his life before he met Christ, how he met Christ and what his life was like after Christ.  He stood there to give a defense of the hope that was in him.  His account of his conversion takes about three minutes to read aloud. You might read this account and use it as a guide for writing your own account of things.

The Contents – there are four main parts to your three minute testimony

1st Minute – Before meeting Jesus – a brief general statement of what your life was like before you met Jesus.  These are general facts; no gross details necessary. I was addicted, I was an alcoholic, etc; these actions stemming from deep inner unmet needs.  Things like – no purpose, no friends, feeling unloved, loneliness, meaninglessness to life, fear.

2nd Minute – How you met Jesus – this is where you would state the events and circumstances that brought about your conversion; the steps you took, a verse of Scripture that hit home, if something miraculous happened or perhaps the answered prayer. Paul’s witnessing of the brilliant light while traveling is an example of that.

You would want to include the gospel here – all have sinned, sin’s penalty, Jesus paid that penalty, must receive Jesus.

3rd Minute – After meeting Jesus – again a brief description of how your life has changed, what a difference He has made in your life, how He has filled the deep needs you had prior to becoming a Christian. Perhaps how you’ve found purpose in life in living for Jesus, and how you’d never change or go back to the old way of life.  You might share how life isn’t perfect and never will be, and there are difficulties – like Paul experienced, but instead of bitterness there is joy, instead of emptiness there is life, instead of fear there is peace, but that there are no regrets for having made this decision.  Most importantly that you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you know that you have eternal life.

Call to Action – Ask them to take some form of action with you, perhaps it’s to attend church with you.  You might even agree to pick them up and take them with you or meet them there.  You might ask them how you might pray with them and even better ask them if they would pray with you to accept Jesus.

The Prayer God, I confess that I am a sinner, I am in need of a Savior, forgive me for my sins, come into my heart and fill me with Your Holy Spirit.

Helpful Hints to Writing

Pray that the Holy Spirit will guide you as you compile your testimony.

It’s not necessary to memorize the whole thing word for word, but perhaps memorizing key words and their order so your account is fluid and transitional.

Keep within the three minute time limit

Boldly speak about Jesus because He is the most important element of your testimony.

You might consider beginning your testimony with an attention getting sentence or story.

Be positive all the way through your account from beginning to the end and perhaps include the humorous too.

Be accurate – edit and rewrite if necessary.

 

The C.S. Lewis Institute offers the following tips for writing your three minute testimony.

 

  1. Make it sound conversational. Avoid literary sounding statements. Use informal language.
  1. Share about what happened to you, don’t preach about what should happen to them. Say “I” and “me,” not “you.” This helps keep the testimony warm and personal.
  1. Avoid religious words, phrases, and jargon.

Don’t assume the listener knows what you mean by terms such as sin, accepted Christ, or even Christian.

  1. Generalize so more people can identify with your story. Don’t name specific churches, denominations, or groups. Avoid using dates and ages.
  1. Include some humor and human interest.

When a person smiles or laughs, it reduces tension. Humor is disarming and increases attention.

  1. One or two word pictures increase interest.

Don’t just say, “Bill shared the gospel with me.” You might briefly describe the setting so a person listening can visualize it.

  1. Explain how Christ met or is meeting your deep inner needs, but do not communicate that all your struggles and problems ended at conversion.
  1. Sound adult, not juvenile. Reflect an adult point of view even if you were converted at an early age.
  1. Avoid dogmatic and mystical statements that skeptics can question, such as, “I prayed and God gave me a job,” or “God said to me.”
  1. Simplify—reduce “clutter.”

 

Remember that it is a privilege and an honor to share the things that Jesus has done for you with someone, to make the defense and give an account for your hope and faith.  This is the work that God’s words goes forth to accomplish and doesn’t come back void in its mission.

Remember too that the accuser of the brethren – Satan – has been cast down and, “They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.” Revelation 12:10-11

 

 

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10 Ways to Create More Margin in Your Time

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“How do you fit more into an already busy schedule?”

How do you fit more into an already busy schedule?

Isn’t this a great question?

Because, aren’t you being asked to do so all the time? Isn’t your standard reply to the question “how are you?”—BUSY? Aren’t we all?

How do you create more margin in your schedule—to do the things you want to do and the things you need to do?

 

Here are a 10 tips to help create more time margin:

Start your day with God.

Of course a pastor would say this, but it is amazing if I start the day talking to God about my day how much better my day flows. If I ask God for margin in my time and to help me complete my “to do” list, He actually seems to listen and help me. (Try it!)

Prioritize your life.

It is important to have a life purpose. What do you value most? Without knowing this we find ourselves chasing after many things that have little value. Have you discovered why you are here and what God has most for you in life and in this season of life? If not, start here.

Make sure your priorities line up with your desires.

This sounds like a contradiction in terms, but it is not. Many times, we say our purpose is one thing, but what we actually do is something entirely different. This is often because people are going to do what people want to do. We may need to ask God to change our heart and plant in us His desires.

Stop unnecessary time-wasters.

If you “veg” out every night on three-plus hours of television or browsing Facebook, don’t be surprised you didn’t get to spend a lot of quality time with your children or friends. Most of us form bad habits or have unorganized methods of doing something that waste bulks of our time. Make a list of what you spend the most time doing and see if there are places you can cut. (I suspect there will be.)

Work smarter.

I can’t imagine being successful and leading a team without some system of calendaring your week or keeping a planner, yet I know so many pastors and other ministers who simply handle things as they come up rather than work with a plan. The benefit of organization is that you can do what you need to do more efficiently and faster and be more productive. Give a shoutout to the checklist people!

Schedule times to organize.

This is so important, but most people don’t do it. Spending an hour or two actually planning the week will make the whole week more productive. Usually for me this is the first part of my week. If I know where I’m headed and my work space is organized for efficiency, it’s much easier to get everything done and still handle distractions, which are sure to come.

Do the most necessary things first.

You may have tried the A/B/C list of scheduling priorities. It doesn’t matter what system you use, but the important thing is you have one and use it to help your rate of completion. (And, this may be rest, it might be family or it could be the project you have to complete today.)

Don’t say yes to everything.

Be picky with your time allotment based again on your end priorities and goals.

Schedule down time.

Especially when my boys were younger, I would write on my calendar time for them. This may sound mechanical, but it allows you to be there and keeps things and others from filling up your schedule. (I still schedule this time for Cheryl—and, it sounds counterproductive, but we get away even more frequently during busier seasons.)

Evaluate your schedule often.

Plans should not be implemented and then ignored. Develop your plan to create margin in your life, then periodically review the plan to see how you are doing and what needs to be changed.

For some people just reading this is laborsome. I especially encourage those of you geared this way to push through the difficult part of this and give it a try. You will be surprised what a positive difference it will have on your life.

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