I will be sharing a brief review of every book I read this year. Hope you enjoy and hope it encourages you to keep reading.
ON BEING A PASTOR – by Derek Prime & Alistair Begg
This is a great book for any pastor, especially for one who is just starting out. It covers many aspects of the pastor’s role and how to do it well. It is a bit dated, yet most of the content still speaks to the pastoral role today. The first chapter is a great discussion on the call to be a pastor, pointing out that the role can be difficult, but very rewarding if this is what God wants you to do. The authors, both pastors with years of experience themselves, then talk about the character of the pastor, his home life, and how to lead a serve a congregation well. The authors both share examples of how they have applied the teaching in many sections of the book. It is good to see the way two different pastors do the work of ministry. A great book for anyone in ministry!
I will be sharing a brief review of every book I read this year. Hope you enjoy and hope it encourages you to keep reading.
THE PASSIONATE CHURCH – by Mike Slaughter
Mike Slaughter draws on his United Methodist heritage and denominational connections to describe what a passionate church looks like. He addresses Four Areas of Focus as highlighted by the United Methodist Church: Developing Principled Christian Leaders, Engaging in Ministry for the Poor, Creating New and Renewed Congregations, and Improving Health. He does a great job of giving good examples for how each of these areas can become a real part of how a church does ministry. He uses examples from his own church in Ginghamsburg as well as from many others. What I love most about this book is the practicality of it. Passionate Church is a few years old now (2008), but the same questions can still be asked of our church and how we are living out our calling in our own communities.
Many issues arise in our world today because of our search for the answer to the question: What is the truth? Theological issues may come about when we search for answers in teachings we have not heard before. Political issues can begin when we as Christians question what our place is in politics or responding to decisions our governments make. Moral and lifestyle issues are often found when the church is unsure how to respond to what is becoming acceptable in the world around us and even in the church that has historically not been accepted. What is the truth?
While there are many today who pretend we can have different truths to guide us, truth doesn’t work that way. If I am driving down the highway and decide that my truth is that I am in England so I will drive on the left-hand side of the yellow line, my truth will be quickly confronted by another truth when the traffic in that lane comes hurtling towards me. That is a silly simple example, but the fact is, what we believe about things makes a difference, and impacts our relationship with others. Truth, as God has laid it out, affects all of us.
As people of God, and as leaders of churches, we need to recognize that our answers need to be found in God’s Word. His Truth must be upheld in our churches. I do understand that sometimes we need to do some work to determine how God’s truth impacts the questions we face. But our answers should be informed by God’s Word – the Bible.
How might we find answers in the Bible?
Read the Bible.
The first priority to actually read the Bible. Read it regularly and search it for answers to your questions.
As you read, ask God, through the Holy Spirit, to give you correct understanding of what you are reading. We recognize that the Bible is more than a story book, though it contains many stories. Whether we are reading biblical stories, or a teaching section, or even some of the poetic books like Psalms and Proverbs, we want God to help us understand what the truth is and how it applies to my life and to the church where I serve as a leader.
Consult with others on difficult passages or topics.
We are blessed to have the results of many experts at our fingertips. We can find commentaries where others have worked through scripture and give their expert opinions. We can make use of tools that help with word studies and guide us through some of the definitions of the original language. We can read books by people who are struggling through some of the same questions we are. We cannot interpret scripture completely on our own, there is importance in reading scripture in community. Whether we agree or disagree, there is benefit in seeing how others have processed biblical truth in light of this topic. I’m presently reading a great book on how to respond biblically to those living a gay lifestyle. There are many other topics that others have been able to work through in more detail than we have so we can learn from them. Just make sure their teaching is arrived at by careful study of scripture.
And one of the simplest ways to consult others is to have conversations with others in your church as you work through scripture to find the answers you need. Find some other believers and read the Bible together. Work through scripture as a leadership team and ask God to guide you to the correct understanding and application.
Do what it says.
The hardest part of allowing the Bible to guide our leadership, is to then do something about what it says. If it means leadership needs to confront false teachers or people living contrary to truth in your church, then do it. If it means changing policies on how volunteers are screened, then change the policies. If it means teaching the church what it means to live out truth and love in light of Gods Word, then teach your church that.
If we are going to allow the Bible a prominent role in church leadership, then we need to make sure we read it regularly. We need to do the work of understanding it clearly, and then we need to follow through on what God is asking us to do as a result.
If we are Christian leaders, whether in the church or elsewhere, our leadership must be informed by the truth of God’s Word.
How do you remember meetings and appointments you have scheduled? As church leaders, we are often busy enough with our own families and work lives that we can easily forget some of our responsibilities at church. We have many options available to us if we want to keep track of our schedules. We can go old-school with a day timer or paper calendar. We can use calendars on our phones and computers. We can set alarms that remind us of an upcoming event. The problem is, these are no good unless you actually use them.
I recently talked with a church board who had just about missed planning a tradition in their church. Every Father’s Day, people would bring pies to share after church. This was tradition. Someone always reminded people and made sure it happened.
This year, personnel had changed and no one remembered until the Friday before the special day. As a result, a few people were scrambling the day before to make sure everything was in place. If this event had gotten on the right calendar, it may have caused a lot less stress.
So what can we do? And what needs scheduling? Here are a few thoughts on scheduling and setting reminders ahead of time.
Choose a system of scheduling that works for you.
It doesn’t matter which system you use, the important thing is to choose one that you will continually use. Don’t use more than one system because then something is likely to fall through the cracks.
Chart everything.
For me, I put everything on my calendar in my phone. When I say everything, I mean everything. All meetings are written there, whether board meetings, or board responsibilities. For bigger events, you may want to break down deadlines for parts of it to be done by earlier dates.
Set reminder alarms
Often, I not only put the event at the correct date and time, I also put an alarm to remind me ahead of time so I can make sure I will be prepared and on time.
Scheduling helps planning
Marking everything on your calendar allows you to also plan ahead for preparation time. Because I know of events far in advance, I know when to delegate certain aspects to other volunteers on my team. And of course, scheduling helps reduce conflicts because you know not to plan another event at the same time.
Your calendar helps you say no
One value of charting everything on the same calendar is that you can see when you are getting overwhelmed and need to say no to something. If you don’t have everything – your work schedule and personal life – on your personal calendar, you may not realize how busy you are with both parts of your life at the same time. You do not need to feel guilty because you know you do not have time to take on anything else.
Watching your activities helps you see where you spend your time
We are not always aware of how we are spending our time. We get caught up in doing what needs to be done. When you look at your calendar and see that you are spending a large portion of your time doing things that have nothing to do with your vision, you need to adjust your activities. If you notice that an overwhelming amount of time is spent on work, and you are missing out on family time, you need to adjust your schedule.
Setting reminders of appointments and meetings and events can help you be more prepared for them, as well as help you see where you need to adjust your priorities.
I will be sharing a brief review of every book I read this year. Hope you enjoy and hope it encourages you to keep reading.
LEADING WITH A LIMP – by Dan B. Allender, PhD.
Allender states this as his core assumption for the book: “To the degree you face and name and deal with your failures as a leader, to that same extent you will create an environment conducive to growing and retaining productive and committed colleagues.” If you try to hide your failures as a leader, you will need to be more controlling of others around you. He says that in God’s leadership model, “He calls us to brokenness, not performance; to relationships, not commotion; to grace, not success.” While leaders often feel compelled to show they know everything and are definitely the right people for the job, they would be better off admitting their weaknesses since everybody else can see them anyway, and work more on a good relationship with people than just trying to get the most out of them for the task at hand. Allender offers this great quote as he talks about the difficulty of being a leader and casting vision. “One can speak of vision and mission, calling and opportunity until the cows come home, but when the day ends, most people want nothing more demanding than some television and a few uncomplicated laughs.” He speaks honestly of the hard work of being a leader while giving hope from God’s perspective. A great leadership book that makes one think.
As people who love God and want to serve Him, can we actually hear him? Can we have clear direction as we make decisions and lead a church?
God spoke with people in the stories of the Bible. In Genesis 3 the Bible describes a conversation between Adam and Eve and God. It tells us that God came and spent time with them in the Garden of Eden. Many times, prophets in the Bible spoke what they knew were the words of God. And others accepted their words as from God. People like Abraham and God had conversations about how many children he would have. God spoke to Moses from the burning bush. Sometimes God sent his angels as messengers, as seen when Gabriel visited Mary. God spoke through dreams and visions, as he did when warning the Magi not to return to King Herod after visiting Jesus. When people in the Bible heard God speak to them, they were confident that it was Him and clear about what He was saying to them.
God clearly spoke through His Son. John 1 tells us that Jesus was and is the Word from God. He is the expression of all God is. But Jesus also spoke with his disciples about many things. He taught with authority – so much so that people wondered where he got his authority. Jesus’ disciples had intimate conversations with Jesus dealing with everyday life like paying taxes, or dealing with the fact that he would have to die and rise again. He spoke to the two on the road to Emmaus, in Luke 24. Even though those who heard from Jesus were sometimes unsure what Jesus meant when he spoke, they clearly heard him, and had the privilege of asking questions to clarify what He meant.
God spoke in and still speaks through scripture. 1 Peter 1: 20-21 says, “Above all, you must realize that no prophecy in Scripture ever came from the prophet’s own understanding, or from human initiative. No, those prophets were moved by the Holy Spirit, and they spoke from God.” The scriptures are God’s words to us. 2 Timothy 3: 16-17 record Paul’s words to Timothy on the value and purpose of the Scriptures in people’s lives: all Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and learn what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.” The scriptures are God’s words of guidance in our lives so we know how to live a life that honours Him. As God speaks in Scripture, we can clearly hear his direction for how to live our lives.
Sometimes God combines a few ways of speaking to give clear direction. A good example is the story of Philip leading the Ethiopian eunuch to Christ in Acts 8. First, an angel told Philip in verse 26, ‘” Go south down the desert road that runs from Jerusalem to Gaza.” So, he did. He started travelling down the road until he came upon this man sitting in his carriage. Verse 29 says, “The Holy Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and walk along beside the carriage.’” Philip did. He heard the man reading scripture so he asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” The man did not and invited Philip into the carriage to sit with him and explain it. In the end, the man wanted to be baptized as he accepted he Good News of Jesus.
In this case, God spoke through an angel, through the Holy Spirit, through Philips willingness to enter into a conversation with the man, and through the scriptures – all to get the right person to talk with this man and explain salvation to him!
Philip clearly heard he was to go on that road, then clearly heard he was to go up to the chariot. But then, no one told him to enter into a conversation. He saw this as the next right thing to do. As the man asked questions, Philip explained scripture for him to understand and respond to.
I believe we serve the same God who will speak to us and direct us as we listen to him, though it doesn’t always seem as clear as we wish. God can and still occasionally speaks through angels. God can and does speak through the Holy Spirit. This may be an “out loud” voice or it may be strong sense that you need to do something. Sometimes we get this sense we are to call someone or visit someone and perhaps after responding, we see that God was setting that up. God can, and still does, speak through scripture. There are times when a certain verse jumps out at you as you are reading, and you know that was God’s encouragement for you. Sometimes, God will use a verse to clearly direct you.
God continues to speak in various ways. I have had God clearly direct me through seeing certain signs on trucks. He used these signs as a reminder of something I had written in my prayer journal, and he showed me the answer. I have had God speak through thoughts or feelings I was supposed to do something. I have heard God through the words others spoke. I have “heard” God speak through pictures he has given me in my mind. And many times God has spoken to me as I read the Bible, His Word to us.
God wants to speak to us. I am convinced of that. I also believe that God does not want us to be confused. We need to expect God to speak, and then respond as we believe we should. And if it is not clear, then ask him for clarity. Look to scripture to speak. Even ask God to speak through other wise people around you. Believe that God is interested in you and wants to speak. Keep listening.
I love preaching. I love opening a passage of scripture, expounding on it, and seeing eyes opened and hearts encouraged. The natural tendency is to make the sermon a monologue. Often this serves just fine, but I think it can be enhanced visually.
Personal Sermon Notes
Sermon outlines or notes pages can be included in bulletins or handouts that each person receives as they arrive at church. Adding visual aids in these notes can provide an additional way the congregation follows along with the sermon.
Slides accompanying the sermon
In addition to outlines for each person, slides can be used to highlight a point you are making or a scripture you are referring to.
As a visual person, I appreciate seeing slides that go beyond the text that the pastor is saying, and include relevant images or other visual aids. For example, when quoting a person, include their photo. A sermon illustration could be accompanied by a picture of what is being referenced. If you are speaking on the Lord being our shepherd you could have a picture or brief video clip of a shepherd working with his sheep.
Props
While pictures are useful, the real thing can be even better. Some sermons make it easy to bring in a prop. An easy example could be pointing to a cross already in your church when you are preaching about Christ’s death. Communion includes props which Jesus instituted: the bread and juice. A sermon from Matthew 7:3-5 about the person with a log in their eye pointing out a speck in another’s eye would be a great time to bring in a 2 X 4 and a little sliver and visually show people the absurdity of that action. A sermon on reaching the world for Christ might be a time to bring in a large world map or globe to point out some of the least reached areas of the world.
Models
This past Sunday I asked my wife, and she agreed, to be a model for me. I am preaching through Colossians, and we were in chapter 3 where Paul writes to the church in Colossae about how to dress as a believer. He specifically talks about “getting rid”, and “putting off”, and “stripping away” certain things. Then he twice says “clothe yourself with” something.
I had my wife put on an old T-shirt over her clothes. Then, after reading the scripture, invited people from the congregation to shout out all the things that were of the old life and were to be put off. As they listed the items from the scripture, I had preprinted words and phrases that I taped to this T-shirt. When they were all taped onto her T-shirt I reminded them that verse 5 talks about “putting to death” the things of the old life. So I picked up a pair of scissors and cut the shirt off of her and through it on the ground. That has now been put to death.
Then I had her put on a suit jacket of mine. Now we continued in the scripture and as they called out the things that we are to “clothe” ourselves with, I taped those words and phrases onto the suit jacket. Once she was wearing all the good things, I had her walk around as if she was a runway model, displaying all the things Paul was telling us to “put on”. I concluded by pointing out how Paul finishes that section by telling us to do all we do for the glory of God. The New Living Translation says we are to be good representatives of Christ in all we do. We are like a model, continually displaying what a Christian should be like. I pointed out that this was not “Dress to Impress”, but “Dress to Express”. We are to put on the things of Christ to show the world what Christ is like.
Look for ways to occasionally bring in a visual to aid your sermon. There will definitely be some who appreciate your efforts.
I will be sharing a brief review of every book I read this year. Hope you enjoy and hope it encourages you to keep reading.
SHARING THE GOSPEL WITH EASE: How the love of Christ can flow naturally from your life – by Thom Rainer
In Sharing the Gospel with Ease, Thom Rainer explains how sharing the gospel should be a natural experience for a follower of Christ. He reminds us of our calling in the Great Commission from Matthew 28 and our encouragement and empowerment in Acts 1. Thom points out that many of us use excuses for not sharing the gospel. We complain about having no time. But the average Christian is also apathetic about the gospel. We say that we realize unbelievers will miss out on heaven and end up in hell, but we don’t seem to care enough to do it. Thom Rainer encourages us to allow it to be a natural part of our life. And to pray that God would guide us and open doors for us to share. A good little book.
Every organization and every church benefits from having a clear vision describing their purpose and how they will focus their efforts. A vision helps determine if certain programs in the church will be helpful or not. If something does not help move the vision forward, then it is wasted effort or worse – detrimental to your organization or church. Develop a clear vision to give direction to all you do.
Realistically, the vision creating process takes time. Those involved need to be able to mull over different ideas in order to come up with the best ones. Most people in volunteer board/committee roles do not have the same time to commit to this process as those leading it, so we have to go slower than we think we should. It is no use pushing ahead if that means we lose people along the way. Consider those on your team and provide appropriate time and space they need to work alongside you as you lead the process.
Time and patience also are needed as we pray about the vision. Our church is currently doing 40 Days of Prayer and Fasting, with part of that time specifically focused on asking God for vision and direction for the church. This is best done over time too. Don’t think one short prayer will be enough. The more time we spend in conversation with God, the more likely we will hear clearly from Him. As we patiently take our time, we will be better off in the end.
As I work with my church to create our vision, we started with identifying three core values. This took time, too. We gathered for one six-hour session with this outcome. While there was a lot of conversation around the whole process that will continue to contribute to the vision, our end result was three core values. Since then, we had a second five-hour session where we now came up with a possible two-word mission statement. Again, there was a lot of conversation that will continue to speak into the ongoing vision discussion, but didn’t result in a finished vision.
All of that to say, it takes time, patience, and a lot of conversation to come up with a meaningful vision to give direction to the leadership team and the church as a whole.
Our next step is to share with the congregation what we have come up with so far, inviting them to speak into the process and tell us how what we have so far connects or doesn’t connect with them.
Some leaders say that good vision creating can take months if not years. My contract with them will be ending in a few months, so we are trying to get to a point where they can easily continue to build on the work being done now with the next pastor. So we are working on this with purpose, but patience. We want to keep the vision work moving along, but not rush it and miss out on important conversations along the way. Hopefully we will determine a vision with enough clarity to guide us in creating a practical strategy for how to work toward accomplishing this vision.
Take time for the important work of vision defining so that everyone knows exactly what you are committed to doing and how you will do it. Ask God to walk with you in the whole process so your end product is a vision that reveals God’s heart and resonates with the church. And then, as you begin to work out the vision, you will all be on the same page and moving ahead together.
I will be sharing a brief review of every book I read this year. Hope you enjoy and hope it encourages you to keep reading.
THE POSTMODERN PILGRIM’S PROGRESS by Kyle Mann and Joel Berry
Mann and Berry write a funny and entertaining allegory of the Christian life. It is a light read with a powerful reminder of how we get sidetracked with many varieties of ways we live our Christian lives. They do a good job reminding us of the main purpose of the Christian life, to keep on going forward in the journey toward a true relationship with the King!
Elevate with Andy 