Nothing!

Have a great day.

As usual WRC shined today. The Resnik funeral was completed this morning. Paul did a great job. The family was phenomenal in their comments. Geoff told about how Cari led him (raised a Jew) to Christ. What a testimony of God’s grace in this family. We need 100’s more like the Resnik family.

Two comments. One of the funeral directors last night said to me he appreciated working with WRC because we made it so easy. Creating a straight path for people in the community to have a great experience is something that every church should learn, whether you are hosting a graduation or a funeral, do it well. Brian says to us as a staff as much as possible our response to “can we do something” should be ”yes.” People you serve will remember and they will come back when they have a need.

Geoff expressed his appreciation for what the church has done. I told Geoff that’s the way church is supposed to be. Walking with each other, supporting one another, and making sure when one has a need it is met to the best of our ability. I think there was a church in the book of Acts of which everyone in the town said, “See how they love one another.” That’s church. Do it.

Tired today. We’ve been dealing with a family that has seen death strike quickly. Six weeks ago this lady was healthy, vibrant, a runner, swimmer, servant at church and in the community. At 46 she is gone because of cancer. Just a few days before prayed with another family that lost their 70 something year old mother.

It is both invigorating to be part of the care team and draining at the same time. We were up with them until 2 a.m. one night and a couple of nights later at the home at 4 a.m. after her death. I don’t recover from these things like I used to. But I wouldn’t miss being with a family that is struggling with life and death issues.

If you are a lead pastor you should have a staff of people or at least a volunteer team that can walk with a family through tragedies such as these. The more you are tied to being “THE” caretaker you will have a difficult time growing a large church. Rick Warren used to tell people “when you see me at the hospital, you know your time is about up.” As the church grows the ministers that minister to that person, the ministry in which they are serving, or the small group to which they belong should take the lead. The lead pastor should be about leading and caring for staff and elders and leaders of major ministries. That doesn’t mean the lead pastor doesn’t care. It simply means that the people who know you best care for you. I’d much rather have someone who KNOWS me do my funeral than someone who just knows me by sight.

If the church is to be the church then those who know the people best need to be the responders. We have a great gentleman in our church that just loves people. He sent a message to us in the midst of this families crisis and offered his services to go with pastors or others when a death or other tragedy happens in a families life. This ladies and gentlemen is the church being the church.  Educate people to be the church. When it works its an amazing thing.

I’m not combining the last two topics because they are less important, but because honestly I’m bored with the topic and want to move on. Now if you would like for me to address these with you or a leadership team sometime…I’m available.

The last two characteristics of a healthy church: NEED ORIENTED EVANGELISM AND LOVING RELATIONSHIPS.  I’ll address evangelism first.

I remember the day as a child that we would hang a sign out in front of our church in Smyrna and announce a revival. The church would hire some pompador wearing, red faced, slobbering guy who would scream and try to scare everyone about hell and we’d call that evangelism. Then there were the days of the Four Spiritual Laws and my I share with you.

I am sure there is still a place for both of these methods, but I think if you want to make a difference you will meet people where they are at their point of need. I think most people today have no understanding that they are going to hell because they think it is about their works and they feel pretty good about themselves when they compare themselves to say Saddam Hussein, Hitler, or Jeffrey Dahlmer. So how do you create a need. I think it begins with SERVICE. Serve them, they’ll wonder why. That opens the door to the gospel. I had a friend that told me, “I want to preach and make them feel so good they wonder why it feels so bad on Monday.” Find a way to serve the people in your community and people will beat down the door to find out why. Then tell them about Jesus.

Finally, LOVING RELATIONSHIPS. This is not about hugging each other at church. It’s about doing life together. When was the last time you ate with a family from the church not someone you were kin to. It’s about bringing food in crisis. It’s about childcare when a couple needs to get away. It’s about the willingness to say “hey, I’m hurting, can you pray for me.” And then helping.

Are you healthy?

number 2 we try harder!

19 - 10????????

Gotta have better pitching tonite.

What a game last night in the College World Series! Georgia has had some pretty spectacular comebacks this entire series, but last night was the best. And now I learn from todays AJC that Mark Richt is from Omaha so it’s must be a lucky sign! Knocked off #1, #4, Stanford and one more to finish off Fresno(way). GO DAWGS!

The sixth characteristic of a healthy church: HOLISTIC SMALL GROUPS. I was consulting with a church one time that told me they didn’t have small groups. Almost every church has some type of small group, sunday school, small groups in homes, ladies bible studies, men’s groups, youth groups, children’s groups, etc, etc.

Holistic Small Groups are structured for: worship, service, care, spiritual growth, releasing of gifts, raising up new leaders, application of spiritual truth, and to accomplish assigned tasks. Small groups can come in many forms but need to be tied to your core values. Don’t waste your time developing and maintaining groups that aren’t meeting the mission and vision that God has given you.

I think that small groups are a great proving grounds for future leaders. Small group leaders need to be in agreement with your vision and mission, agree with the philosophy and theology of the church, and a positive influence over others. Train leaders to handle difficult people, group dynamics, how to reach out to others, and basic teaching technics. Constantly encourage and exhort them. People in small groups will stick around and help build a church. Engage people!

I don’t know who said that church work was supposed to slow down in the summer but they obviously didn’t work at WRC or the other churches I have worked for. Anyway.

The 5th characteristic of a healthy church is INSPIRING WORSHIP. You’ve probably heard about the church that started at 11 0′clock sharp and ended at noon dull. Way too many churches fit that description.

Worship should happen first in your personal life. That doesn’t mean you sit and sing out of the hymnal . But you should have a regular time that you meet with God and expect God to meet with you. You should also be leading your people to do the same.

Worship also happens corporately, but if you haven’t met Him personally don’t expect much corporately. When planning a corporate service be creative. For the vast majority of services I can tell you what they are doing by looking at the clock on Sunday morning. That is true even in contemporary churches. Don’t be afraid to mix it up. Include art, dance, smells, banners, and different music. Read the Bible, Pray more. Stir your people up sometimes.

If you are really interested in how you are doing get an unbelieving friend (you do have some don’t you?) to come and tell you about their experience.

Here is what Schwartz says about Vital Worship: alive to the presence of God; culturally appropriate; worship is modeled by leaders; clear theme and purpose; effective transitions and flow; maximum participation; and meaningful to regular attenders and newcomers. How ya doing? Did your people meet with God this week?

FUNCTIONAL STRUCTURES. Andy Stanley at Catalyst last year addressed some of these issues in relation to Systems. Every church has a structure. Some good, some not so good. If your structures are such that they bog you down in minute activity then you need to look at change.

Good structures should be measured by your Values, Vision, Mission, and ultimately the Outcomes you hope to achieve. If a program or ministry is not meeting these criteria then you need to reconsider what you are doing.

Structure is a constant process of evaluating, planning, and implementing systems you need to add or subtract. Think in terms of being able to REMOVE things that are not producing the results you wanted. PRUNING and refining to other programs that may meet your criteria. Finally RESHAPING, making a good program or team better.

 Ken Hemphill wrote a book several years ago, The Bonzai Theory of Church Growth. In the book he describes how a professional can take a normal tree and reduce it to a small pot. The tree may be dozens of years old and even producing fruit but be contained in the same pot it began in. I am afraid that a lot of church plants are like the Bonzai Tree, the structures are keeping you small. Get out of the pot. Develop structures that take you to the next level. You might even want a professional consultant help you look at your systems to help you determine what is keeping you small. Grow up and out!