James 3:16

It's good to have ambition, right?

How do you tell (as a pastor or leader) when your ambition is sin?
Here are a few questions to get you started:

1. Do I use ministries to get people done or do I use people to get ministry done?
2. Do I look at other church websites, blogs, etc. in a desire to be more like that church, pastor, ministry etc.
3. Do I expect congratulations for things I do well? Do I feel down when not recognized for something I did well?
4. As an organization, do we hold on to our best people or are our best people departing?
   
5. Am I trying to be like someone else? Am I trying to make my church look like some other church?
   
6. How much time do I spend thinking about the giving levels at my church?
7. Do I really want to grow the church for Christ's sake or is that just what I tell others while I really want to increase the number of potential servers and givers?
8. Do I think more about what Christ is doing in the lives of the members or about what I (we, the "church") could do if we had just a little more (money, attenders, volunteers).
9. Do I really think what members financially give to my church is a good measurement of their commitment (or lack thereof) to Christ or do I just realize the pragmatic reality of our need for cash?
10. Does personally making more money ever come to mind when I think of what my church needs or improvements I would like to see?
11. Do I feel like I don't have enough control over what happens in my church and would I like to have more?
12. Am I a perfectionist?
13. Will I make a course correction if it means personal loss (money, prestige, ideas, control, etc)?
14. Do I use the words, "I, me, my" a lot from the pulpit?
    

Here is a quote from a book by Dan Allender to think about:

If you don't have the capacity to confess; acknowledging in real time how much you mess up, the result will be a workplace that becomes more cowardly and staff members that grow more self-committed, more closed to you and to one another and more manipulative. They will look out for themselves; not for you or the organization or their colleagues.

That's the strange paradox of leading. To the degree that you attempt to hide or dissemble your weakness, the more you will need to control those you lead; the more insecure you will become, the more rigidly you will impose; prompting the ultimate departure of your best people.

Be Afraid

I listen to an absurd number of podcasts.

Recently, a pastor from Acts 29 Network named Darrin Patrick said some things worth thinking about.

He was addressing pastors and leaders at a church-planting conference. His talk was on the topic of being centered on the gospel of Jesus Christ and not centered on buildings, programs, numerical growth and other secondary things that many pastors spend so much time on. He was pressing the importance of confession of sins, faults, frailties and weaknesses and our being able to recognize when we are trying to hide them.

Here are the quotes:

"I am afraid that my gospel proclamation is better than my gospel application"
"I am afraid that my skill growth is outpacing my character growth"
"I am concerned for myself that my pastoral passion is yielding to professionalism"
"I am concerned for you that you will settle for a church instead of a movement"

What are you afraid of?

Where's Waldo?

You've heard of "Where's Waldo?" right? Well, this image is called "Where's The Church?"

Can you see it? If you squint your eyes just right and rotate the image it's easier. Can you see the steeple? How 'bout that small cross on the side wall? The open doors with the pews inside?
Still can't see it?

Well, that's because it isn't there. Furthermore, that's not a church. It may be a building where a local church gathers for some purpose or other, but it is not a church. A church may do some type of ministry in a building like that but it is not a church. Repentance, salvation, the person and work of Christ may be preached in a building like that but it is not a church.

The reason it is not a church is because they are the church. Church is not an it, it's a who. That's right. It turns out that the best place to hide is in plain sight.... Where's the church?

You're looking at it.

No Justification

"If it isn't human, no justification for abortion is necessary. If it is human, no justification is adequate."

Pretty simple thought.

Check out a very insightful interview between Mike Huckabee and Kathy Ireland at the link below.

http://vodpod.com/watch/1528667-kathy-ireland-on-abortion

Opening Thought

Some things are worth thinking deeply about. Maybe that would be better said this way: Many things worth thinking about are worth thinking deeply about.

Thinking in Community is about exactly that. Thinking deeply about things worth thinking about.
But it's more than that. It's thinking together about things worth thinking about.

I have a thought:
Generally speaking, people don't think enough. I mean people don't take the time and spend the energy necessary to really think about things that matter. Personally, I don't want to repeat what others say about important topics for lack of my own thoughts on the subject. I don't want to rely on the opinions of others simply because I haven't formed my own. I don't want to listen to those who are trying to please the maximum number of people, tax payers, voters, party members, church members, club members, etc. with lots of words and little content.

Thought #2:
The reason people don't think, is that they have not been taught to think. I believe thinking carefully is a skill. It can be learned. It can be improved upon. But thinking is hard work. It takes time. It takes effort. It is often not easy. It can even be painful. However, coming to one's own well thought-out conclusion on a given subject is foundational in the pursuit of truth. It's not the only step, but it is an important step.

Let us think together.

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
(2Corinthians 10:5)

God's Pie Video

How big is God's slice of your pie?

Baptism

Before I perform a baptism, I always bring the "baptizees" together to explain to them what they can expect when they come into the water.
The best part of our short visit together is when I ask them two questions:

1. What has brought you to this point in your life?
2. What does being baptized today mean to you?

God is doing powerful things in the lives of His people. Hearing these people talk about the ways God is moving in their lives and drawing them closer to Him is inspiring, to say the least.

Their stories are God's stories.

God loves a generous giver

How's your vocabulary?

Here's a unique way to give. This site will test your vocabulary and teach you new words. As you go through each question, it tracks your progress and takes you to higher or lower levels of English vocabulary depending on how well you know the words.
For each correct answer you give, the site donates 20 grains of rice to the United Nations World Food Program.
Instead of your children playing Webkins, SpongeBob or Dora games online, how about helping them increase their vocabulary and help some needy people in the process!

Check out freerice.com

Ps. See if you can beat me. At the 700 grain donation mark, my level was 38 and my best level was 40.

Click To Give?

One click, no cost giving.
Giving that costs you nothing.

Is this for real?

I don’t know if giving away someone else’s money makes you generous but giving priority to those in need is certainly a virtue.

There are a few websites out there that use your “clicks” to donate money to charity. It costs you nothing because the donation comes from the sponsor of the website.

Cool huh?

20 Tips / Tip 20

Tip 20: Summarize Key Points.

Many people will find it instructive if you can recap some of the more important points from the discussion. The end of the session is a natural time to do this, but it's also helpful to do it at the beginning of a group meeting. (Recapping what the group has learned so far) Summarizing is particularly helpful after discussing an especially important or complicated point. Brief, spoken summaries from the leader enhance learning and retention, so take notes during the discussion and bless the group by emphasizing the essential take-aways.

20 Tips / Tip 19

Tip 19: Use a Board or Easel, if Appropriate.

Tracking on a board, the relevant points that people make is a great way of affirming, echoing, and clarifying what's being said. It will also help you to "connect the dots" more easily. Beyond that, many people will retain more of what's said if they've both heard it and seen it in writing.

20 Tips / Tip 18

Tip 18: Stay With Fruitful Conversation, Even If It's Taking Too Much Time.

For group leaders who are especially time-conscious, it's natural to march through a set of questions and make sure everything gets covered in the time allotted. The best group leaders remain mindful, though, that the real goal of the meeting is transformation, not completion.
Sometimes, a question will stimulate lots of discussion. It will go deep; it will touch a chord; it will create excitement; it will surface pains or misunderstandings that need to be addressed; it will plant the seeds of lasting change for people. Avoid cutting off God's work in these situations. Don't be a slave to a script, insisting on covering all the questions in your time together. Some questions may require twenty minutes, others three minutes. So be flexible and learn to discern when to deviate from your original plan.