Our First Public Gathering

Today The Vine had its first public gathering as a church. It was a sweet time of fellowship and worship. Below are a few pictures from the service and below that a video of the event. If you're reading this on Facebook, you can watch the video by clicking here.

Exciting Day at The Vine

Today at The Vine we had our second and final morning gathering with our core team of four families. This evening we followed with our final social and informational meeting for those interested in joining The Vine. Below are a few pics from both events. Next week we will start gathering together on Sunday mornings (location TBA) and we'll be launching our City Groups in September. Things are rolling forward and we're delighted, by God's grace, to be along for the ride. We appreciate your prayers!

New Vine Site

We recently launched our new church website for those in the community of Madison desiring to learn more about The Vine Church. Be sure to take a few minutes to check it out. On it we will be regularly posting information regarding upcoming events related to the church. We are deeply indebted to Dan Van Oss for graciously volunteering his time to design this site for us.

Parkview Commissioning

Parkview Church has been an amazing church home for us over the last eleven years. We have learned so much and grown to love the people as our own family. Though we miss Iowa City and Parkview, we appreciate that they are continuing to play a strategic role in our support and encouragement. The following is the video of of our prayer commissioning in the 3rd service on May 30. Needless to say, this was very meaningful to me and Nate as we prepared to plant The Vine Church. If you don’t see the video below, you can view it here.

Why Plant with the EFCA?

Several weeks ago I wrote a blog post on our Vine Church support site regarding why we are excited to have our church plant in Madison associated with the Evangelical Free Church of America. Yesterday that post was republished as the featured story on the Reach National website of the EFCA. You can read the post here.

Jesus, Leadership, Tri-perspectivalism

A lot of guys these days talk about the offices of Christ as seen in the scriptures and how these offices are reflected in the church. These offices of Christ are prophet, priest, and king. The term for this construct that was coined by theologian John Frame is "tri-perspectivalism." 

This tool has been very helpful in understanding the different styles of leadership within the church. One example in our church planting team (The Vine Church in Madison) is that I am predominately King, Zach prophet, and Nate priest. As with any assessment tool, every individual has a mixture of qualities from the numerous categories. Nonetheless, this can be a helpful tool when it comes to understanding our strengths and weaknesses, as well as surrounding us with people who are complimentary in gift and ability. This is one of the reasons the body of Christ requires a diversity of gifts to be healthy and why the church is best lead by a plurality of elders. 

Here's a helpful chart that clarifies tri-perspectivalism in leadership. Here are some resources from Timmy Brister on the topic.

(HT: JTaylor)

Verizon iPhone

Is Verzon getting the iPhone? I've been asking that question for years. When I become a church planter I will be losing access to our Blackberry Enterprise Server meaning I'm either heading to Google's Droid phone or the iPhone. Here's the latest news which originated from the Wall Street Journal. If this is legit, I'm going to be a very happy camper.



If you are reading this on Facebook, you can watch the Fox Business report here.

10 Things That Drive Me Crazy About Working for a Church

No, this is not my list, but it is Tim Schraeder's list. Tim is a communications guru at Park Church in Chicago. I've worked in churches for a little over 15 years and think he's got some observations worth noting.

Here’s 10 Things That Drive Me Crazy About Working for a Church

1. We are really good at burning people out.

For some reason we feel like working long hours against ridiculous timelines and neglecting our personal lives, health, or families is a good idea… as long as it’s for God.
Not so much.

The average church employee stays at a church for about 2 years before they peace out.

“It doesn’t pay to be a workaholic. Instead of getting more done and being on top of your game, you actually start a chain reaction that results in decreased productivity, poor morale, and lazy decisions." And don’t forget the inevitable crash that’ll hit you soon enough.”

We all need to learn one simple word: NO. Even though something may be for a great cause, it’s not worth losing your soul to make it happen.

2. We focus way too much on what we don’t have.

One of the most common complaints I hear from church staff members has something to do with what they don’t have.

In the Gospel account of the feeding of the 5,000 all they had to start with was 5 loves and 2 fish, but in the end, there was more than enough.

“Constraints are advantages in disguise. Limited resources force you to make do with what you’ve got. There’s no room for waste. And that forces you to be creative.”

Celebrate simplicity. Remember God can take nothing and make it into something.

3. We are afraid of change.

I guarantee we’ve all been a meeting where the phrase, “well we heard people say _____________ about _____________….”

Fill in the blanks… the music was too loud, they didn’t like that message, they don’t like this, they don’t like that…

These conversations usually center on a sensitive topic in the church: change.

And how do we respond? We quickly turn down the volume, change our minds, or reverse a decision.

“Sometimes you need to go ahead with a decision you believe in, even if it’s unpopular… remember negative reactions are almost always louder and more passionate than positive ones… so when people complain… let them know you’re listening. Show them you’re aware of what they’re saying. But explain that you’re going to let it go for awhile and see what happens.”

Give change time and be more concerned with what the voice of God is saying to you and let that influence you more than the voices of other people.

4. We use “let me pray about it” as an excuse to get out of making decisions.

I absolutely believe it’s important to pray about major decisions that impact the life of the Church – we shouldn’t move unless we feel God leading us. But all too often we use the “let me pray about that” card to delay simple decisions.

“Whenever you can, swap “Let’s [pray] about it” for “Let’s decide on it.” Commit to making decisions. You’re as likely to make a great call today as you are tomorrow. Don’t make things worse by overanalyzing and delaying before you even get going.”

Pray about what’s important but don’t sweat the small stuff… just make the call and ask for forgiveness later if need be.

5. We LOVE meetings.

For some reason we love meetings. Planning meetings, prayer meetings, planning meetings for prayer meetings. I feel like we have entirely too many and lose valuable time we could be devoting to things that matter.

“Meetings are toxic. If it only takes seven minutes to meet a meeting’s goal, then that’s all the time you should spend. Don’t stretch seven into thirty. Think about the time you’re actually losing and ask yourself if it’s really worth it."

What’s one meeting you could condense or remove from your schedule? DO IT!

6. We try to do way too much.

Most churches are hyperactive and never sleep. We thrive on activity. The whole “less is more” thing hasn’t sunk in yet.

What if we focused on doing a few things REALLY well l instead of doing a million things half-aced? << that’s my PG version

"Cut your ambition in half. Lots of things get better as they get shorter. Getting to great starts by cutting out stuff that’s merely good.”

What are some good things you’re doing that could be sacrificed for great things that will make a greater impact?

7. We try to be something we’re not.

If I see one more 40somethings pastor dressed in Abercrombie so help me…

Ok, but for real… not just pastors but churches in general tend to have a problem of trying to be something they’re not.

"Don’t be afraid to show your flaws. Imperfections are real and people respond to real. There’s a beauty to imperfection. So talk like you really talk. Reveal things that others are unwilling to discuss. Be upfront about your shortcomings. It’s OK if it’s not perfect. You might not seem professional, but you will seem a lot more genuine.”

BE YOU!

8. We spend too much time looking at other churches.

We spend way too much time looking at what other churches are doing, be it a church across the country or the church across town. It’s great to watch and learn from others’ successes, but if you look at other churches as you competition your focus is waaaay off.

“Focus on competitors too much and you will wind up diluting your own vision. Your chances of coming up with something fresh go way down when you keep feeding your brain other people’s ideas. You become reactionary instead of visionary.”

Your church has a unique and specific role it’s meant to play in the life of your community. If your church ceased to exist, what would people miss? Whatever that is should be where you focus your time and energy.

9. We worry about people leaving.

We’re quick to cater to the needs [or demands] of people who have been around for a while instead of focusing the needs of people who are new.

We should spend more time figuring out how to create a wider front door instead of focusing on how
we can “close the back door”… even if that means losing people who give us a lot of money [there, I said it].

“Scaring away new [people] is worse than losing old [ones]. Make sure you make it easy for [new] people to get on board. That’s where your continued growth potential lies. People and situations change. You can’t be everything to everyone. [Churches] need to be true to a type of [person] than a specific [person] with changing needs.”

10. We don’t feel trusted.

For whatever reason churches tend thrive in a weird culture of mistrust. It’s not or conducive to a positive working environment. Some churches have crazy rules, policies and procedures that create layers of red tape that, while probably well-intentioned, communicate a lack of trust.

“When you treat people like children, you get children’s work. Yet that’s exactly how a lot of companies treat their employees. When everything constantly needs approval, you create a culture of nonthinkers. You create a boss-versus-worker relationship that screams, ‘I don’t trust you.’”

This is one I don’t have a quick answer to but know it’s something I’ve experienced and something I hear about consistently from others who are in the trenches. BUT, I will say working in a church that has a trusting environment, I’ve never felt so empowered to do my job and that has fueled my productivity exponentially.

L.A. Collaboration

Thanks to Kent Keating and Kristen Kufeldt for organizing the L.A. Collaboration concert with Parkview's choir and orchestra. Here's a pic from the event:

For more information on the L.A. Collaboration, check out there website here. Thanks also goes to Duane and Alex. They are talented artists with a great heart to bring quality music to the church.

The Best is Yet to Come

All I can say is my wife REALLY want's an iPad. Not sure what she'll think of the iBoard or iMat.

How Pornography Effects the Brain

I just read this review by Tim Challies on a new book that deals with how pornography effects the brain. It is both terrifying and fascinating. Sexual addiction is epidemic in our culture. We need a wake-up call and this book may help in that endeavor. For the full review go here. Below is a clip:

I read recently of a researcher who wanted to study the effects of pornography on young adult males. He carefully built the structure for the study, determining how he would compare young men who had experienced pornography with a control group comprised of those who had never come into contact it. Tragically this researcher had to cancel his study. He found that he was unable to put together a control group; he could not find young men who had not discovered pornography. The experiment was impossible to conduct.


That is the kind of society we live in today, a society that is absolutely overwhelmed with pornography. The lure of porn is almost irresistible, particularly to young men. If the devil wanted to find a way of destroying young men, of impacting the ability for men to relate properly to women, of disrupting families and hardening hearts, he could hardly do better than this.


Much has been written in recent years about pornography. But new to store shelves is a book that is different from all the others, at least all of the other books targeted at a Christian audience. William Struthers’ Wired for Intimacy looks not primarily to the heart but to the brain. He shows how the male brain is hard-wired for intimacy and relationships and how pornography affects the male brain. He says “Men seem to be wired in such a way that pornography hijacks the proper functioning of their brains and has a long-lasting effect on their thoughts and lives. … When we better understand the devastating spiritual, psychological, social and biological reality of how pornography violates our unique position in God’s creation, we will be better able to minister to hose who have been wounded by it.”

Hip Hop Meets Parkview Church

This last Sunday Parkview's choir and band had the privilege of performing with the Christian Hip Hop artist JSon. This is the second time JSon has been at Parkview in the last few months and I've got to say that this predominately "non-hip" church has been so blessed by his ministry. JSon, and many others in his circle have done such an amazing job at using their cultural expression of art to express Christ centered praise to God with a depth of passion and theological precision that is truly amazing. If you are seeing this on Facebook you can click here to watch the video of his performance.

Open House

We'll be having an open house this Saturday from 1-4 pm. For those of you in the Iowa City area, please be sure to pass this on to anyone you think might be interested in a 5 bedroom ranch in Tiffin. It's been a great place to live and will be a real blessing to whoever buys it. For more information including a video walk-through go here.

Haiti Prayer Guide for Kids and Adults

Follow this link for a prayer guide that guides children and adults in how to pray for those in Haiti. We did the first prayer time from Psalm 123 with the kids. It was a great source of discussion and prayer. Thanks to Christ the King Presbyterian Church in Raleigh, North Carolina for making this resource available.

Planting and The Vine

There isn't a lot of time for blogging these days, but I am going to try to continue putting up occasional posts. Posts related specifically to our new church plant in Madison will go on our church planting blog. Today I shared a quote on that blog from a new book I am reading called The Trellis and the Vine. Go here to read how I feel living a radical life is related to church planting.

Successful Organizations Are Made of Ordinary People

One of the books I am reading as an Acts 29 candidate is called The E Myth by Michael E. Gerber. More than a million copies of this book have been sold to people desiring to learn how to operate and grow a successful business. The book has some good transferable concepts for church leadership. Today the following quote struck me...

The typical owner of a small business prefers highly skilled people because he believes they make his job easier- he can simply leave the work to them. That is, the typical small business owner prefers Management by Abdication to Management by Delegation. Unfortunately the inevitable result of this kind of thinking is that the business also grows to depend on the whims and moods of its people.

If they’re in the mood the job gets done.
If they aren’t, it doesn’t.

In this kind of business, a business that relies on discretion, “How do I motivate people?” becomes the constant question. “How do I keep them in the mood?”

It is literally impossible to produce a consistent result in a business that depends on extraordinary people. No business can do it for long. And no extraordinary business tries to! (Page 101-102)

I think one of Gerber’s points is that we have gone wrong thinking that the way to build a successful organization is with successful people. More than successful people, organizations and businesses need successful systems that can accommodate and empower people with many diverse gifts and many abilities. If the organization is dependent on successful people the success of that organization will lack in consistency because its effectiveness will always fluctuate based upon who is on the team.

The transferable concept for churches is to reconsider how we view leadership and staffing. The temptation of church leaders is to say, all we need is highly talented people and we’ll succeed. I believe Gerber would argue that a room full of highly talented people, with their own dreams and passions, is far less effective than a room full of ordinary people with one shared dream and passion. Is it possible to have a room full of highly talented people who also share one dream and passion? It may be possible, but I think it is extremely rare and difficult to maintain.

Unfortunately we live in a society that gravitates to celebrities. Can you think of any large church that isn’t built off of a personality? John Piper, Tim Keller, Andrew Stanley, Bill Hybels, Rick Warren, and Mark Driscoll are a few of the examples. What happens to most of those churches when the celebrity dies or grows irrelevant? Under those circumstances most of these churches will die or suffer because the celebrity is no longer able to motivate the people and guide the vision.

Would it be possible to build a church whose only celebrity is Jesus? A church whose mission and systems are effective and reproducible on a grand scale? This is certainly a question I long to answer with a “yes”. I think the scriptures have given us this model but our cultural methods and environment often get in the way of this type of church becoming a reality.

Adopted by God

For those unable to attend services last weekend, here is my message from Sunday at Parkview Church entitled, "Adopted by God". It is a teaching based on Ephesians 1:3-14.

Adopted by God from The Vine Church on Vimeo.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Yes, we are going digital for this years Christmas letter. If you have not received this by email, please feel free to click on the following images in order to read through what's been going on in our family over this last year and what some of the exciting things are that lie ahead. Please know that we hope to see many of you over the holidays and really appreciate keeping up with all of you (no matter where you live) via the blog, email, and Facebook. Have a very merry Christmas and a happy new year!

USC's Numer One Fan Jake Olson

USC fan Jake Olson, who lost his eyesight to cancer, has become an inspiration to the USC football team. See the ESPN story here.

Verse Card Maker

Jacob Vanhorn just Facebook'd about the verse card maker and I've got to say, it's a pretty sweet tool for scripture memory. What a slick way to make a very nice set of scripture memory cards at the click of the button.

iPhone Orchestra

Wired Magazine features a student orchestra from Michigan (below) playing an entire song called "Drone" on their iPhones. I know some of you who own the iPhone have a love/hate relationship, but it's pretty cool how this little piece of technology is getting such unusual and creative use. Perhaps I'll be sporting one of these in 6 months or so.

Calvin's Commentaries and Institutes

Check out this great deal from CBD. $99.99 for Calvin's commentaries and institutes which would typically cost $1100. If you like the idea of having some great commentaries on hand, this is a hard deal to pass up!

Global Missions Conference Reflections

Parkview recently finished its Missions Conference with guest speaker Carl Medearis. Often times missions speakers have the reputation of being boring. This was definitely not the case with Carl Medearis. He managed to not only challenge our biblical understanding of mission but he did it in a way that showed these principles happening in real life. Here are a few of my reflections on the time:

1. Christianity is a term that no longer represents what is true and good about the community of faith. The term Christianity has gotten a bad rap in most part because of those who have done horrible things in the name of Christianity. Because of this, it is most winsome to no longer make that the banner under which we associate. This is why many on the front lines of missions (both locally and globally) use the term Christ follower (or Jesus follower).
   
2. Most Muslims are good and loving people. We must come to terms with the fact that our stereotype for followers of Islam is based on a small minority of hyper-fundamentalists. We can’t let ourselves get swept up in the conspiracy theories that paralyze us with fear in our relationships with Muslim people. They need Jesus and are willing to learn about him, as long as it isn’t flown under the misunderstood banner of “Christianity” (which to them is as much a cultural identity as it is a religious identity).
3. Sharing about Jesus doesn’t require one to have an answer to every question. Let’s face it, none of us has all the answers. Why is it then that Christ followers believe the only way to share their faith is to do so in a combative manner? Sure we are to be ready to give an answer for the hope we have in Jesus (1 Peter 3:15) but we are to do so with gentleness and respect. This means it’s ok to answer hard questions with, “I don’t know.” The question that really needs to be answered is, “Who is Jesus?” It is in searching for that answer that people will find life.
4. Biblical evangelism happens best in the context of followers of Jesus living with and loving lost people. We have been tricked to believe that evangelism can be boiled down to a slick brochure and polished presentation. It sounds like a great idea, but is it truly Biblical? Are there any examples of this kind of evangelism in the scriptures? The reality is that some plant, some water, but God gives the growth (1 Cor 3). If this is true, then like Jesus we need to see every encounter as an opportunity to share some truth that will help those we love step closer to the kingdom of God. Of course, we must preach the Gospel, but when we see it as our responsibility to plant, reap, and grow in 5 minutes with full-color gospel-track, we’re missing the point.
   

Well, there are more reflections I could share, but you get the point. If you want to learn more about Carl Medearis and his ministry you can go to his website here.

Use What Works for Church Communication

As the old analogy goes, it's always best to pour sidewalks after the paths are worn. At Parkview we're finding this is often the best way to learn how to communicate with people. For example, let's face it, more and more people are on Facebook. So what do you do? Pay for mediocre version of a "Christian" Facebook service? There my be important reasons to join Christian web services, but more often than not your best move is to try and harness the communication mediums that are already in place and filled with your people. This is why Parkview now has a Facebook page...

And why my new church plant The Vine also has a Facebook page...

For project management here is a private blog set-up on blogger that is being used by our building committee at Parkview...

And here is one we use in the arts ministry...

Park Church is known for it's progressive use of technology for communication. Here is a video posted by Tim Schraeder that Park recently used in their church service allowing people to sign-up instantaneously for church texting notifications.



Bottom line, if you want to connect and communicate with people, do your best to use what's already working.

2 Pillars Church in Lincoln, Nebraska

My seminary friend Todd Bumgarner is preparing to plant 2 Pillars Church, an Acts 29 church in Lincoln, Nebraska. You can check out his blog here and video below. Lincoln is actually where I was born, so I'm glad to see the A29 vision coming to this part of Husker land.


2 Pillars Church Vision Video from Todd Bumgarner on Vimeo.

Chandler: Belong to Become

The following notes came from the RightNow conference presently going on in Dallas, Texas. Matt Chandler is the Lead Pastor of the The Village Church in the Dallas, Texas area. The following is a break-out session he presented on some of the challenges that exist in reaching 20-somethings. After discussing the problem, he went on to unpack some of the solutions from scripture. Unfortunately, I was unable to record most of the references because he moved too quickly. Despite this, you can get the gist of his talk below.

Introduction

There are two needs within the 20-something culture...

DESIRE TO CONNECT: In 20-somethings there is a struggle for authentic community. Social networking has only served to intensify this problem. We know people but only know them in a shallow way. 20-somethings need to belong to a community.

DESIRE TO GROW SPIRITUALLY: 20-somethings are hungry for spiritual depth and are frustrated that they can’t get it. In the end they don’t exactly know where to find it. Because of this they are prone to religious fads and drawn to creative oration that is often times void of truth.

We must look to the scriptures to see how to meet these desires. Chandler contends that 20-somethings are struggling because their view of church has been formed by culture and not-so-good teaching. Our modern church environment of web churches, trendy churches, etc... is feeding into the problem. We must teach the truth in order to counter this.

Genesis 1-2

God said it was not good for man to be alone so God created community. God was saying I am not “into” people existing in isolation, I am into them having relationship with others. Because of sin we not only need to be reconciled to God but also to one another.

On the other side of the Exodus (Israel’s escape from slavery in Egypt) the people of Israel were given the law. Those laws were not only to restore relationship with God, but were also to help people relate to one another. Those laws instructed on civil issues like "don’t covet", "don’t commit adultery", etc... The bulk of the law is relationally based. God was using the law to encourage restoration both in his relationship to his people and in their relationship with one another.

What does the church do?

The church has a calling from the Bible to:

• Worship God
• Nurture and disciple believers
• Minister to the world (evangelism/mercy)
• Work at keeping the previous three purposes in balance

What makes the church the church?

1. It is a place where the Word is rightly preached.
2. It is a place where the sacraments are rightly administered.

Chandler explained that the enforcing of church discipline (i.e. disciplining those who are sinning in very significant ways) is not in the list because, in the early church, discipline was exercised by removing people from participating in the sacraments. The “right administration” of the table is referencing the exercise of discipline. 

Chandler then went through numerous scripture references showing how the Bible commands the church to exercise leadership and submission. A few references included:

• Hebrews 13:17 - Obey your leaders and submit to them....
• 1 Timothy 5:17 - Let the elders who serve well be served a double blessing...

We are all called by God’s Word to submit to the authority and leadership of the elders within our local church. Chandler developed this further by reading and teaching from 1 Peter 5:1-11 and 1 Corinthians 5:1-2.

How can you hold someone to account if they don’t belong?

Chandler went on to emphasize the importance of calling people to membership in the local church and the importance of people being under authority. 

As a side note Matt mentioned that unbelievers (i.e. people who don’t follow Christ) at his church are able to participate in everything the local church does, with the exception of The Lord’s Table (I’m pretty sure leadership positions in the church would also be excluded). His point being that they welcome unbelievers to participate fully in the community of faith. He wrapped up this segment emphasizing that people have lost their communal soul so we, as leaders in the church, have a responsibility to emphasize the need for belonging. The following are three Biblical reasons to belong.



Three Reasons To Belong To a Church

• Obedience
• Safety / Encouragement
• Purpose and Growth

Three Words

The following three words capture an important calling for every person within the local church. Members in the church must:

• Belong
• Believe
• Support

If you belong, believe, but don’t support (submit) you are a rebel.
If you belong and support, but don’t believe you are not a believer.
If you believe and support, but don’t belong you are a consumer.

Hundreds and thousands of books have been written on engaging lost people but very few have been written on ecclesiology (how the church is to function in a Biblical sense). Genuine community reveals where there is sin in your life that you didn’t know existed. Being in authentic community is an important part of our spiritual health and relational flourishing.

Barna: Six Leadership Checkpoints

The following thoughts came from the RightNow conference presently going on in Dallas, Texas. George Barna is the director of the Barna Group, the leading research organization focused upon the intersection of faith and culture. This is the second of two posts from his session on leadership. There are some really great nuggets in here for leaders of all kinds. This talk is based upon a new book coming out called Master Leaders which highlights his findings after interviewing some of the nations most successful leaders.

Six Leadership Checkpoints

1. Leaders can strategically change reality, but they cannot intentionally change people. Leaders must understand they can’t change anyone unless that person has the will to change within themselves.

Once a person reaches the age of 13 they change very little. This is why Barna contends that the most important ministry we have is the ministry to children and young people. By 13 their morals, values, beliefs, and world views are already well formed. Those will only change slightly over the course of their life. What you believe by the age of 13 is likely what you will die believing.

• Pre-teen: Experimentation and establishment
• Teen: Refinement and application
• Adult: Consistency and transmission
• Senior: Re-evaluation and finality

We assume we can reshape the raw talent of people, but we are setting them up for failure. We need to take stock of the people who we work with and work to accentuate their strengths, not to try and reshape them into something they are not. We can then move them into a team of leaders and help them achieve success in that setting.

2. Nobody is the “complete leadership package” so it’s important to work in a leadership team.

We often try to be sole-practitioners. At some point we will hopefully wake-up to our need for others to get the job done. A team ALWAYS out performs an individual. Leaders have a tendency to overestimate their abilities. Humility is one of the most difficult character traits to find among Christian leaders. Arrogance will ultimately undermine a leader.

Use diagnostic tools to learn the strengths of your team. Strength-finder tools helps you to learn how to build on your strengths. The Christian leader profile by the Barna group will help you to determine what is your primary aptitude as a leader. The key is to blend all four aptitudes in your leadership team.

The best teams:

• are small in number (4-6)
• spend time together, know each other well
• lean on their captain (the internal motivator for the group)
• have a shared vision, values, passion
• have vulnerability and communicate well
• are people who strive to empower people to achieve the vision
  

3. One of the most under valued and least common skills among leaders is listening.

• Ken Blanchard, “When we try to lead, we need to lead with our ears... You cannot listen effectively unless you are willing to have your mind changed.”
• If you want to solve problems you’ve got to listen. Many leaders think leadership is telling other people what to do instead of gathering as much intelligence as possible for the people with whom we work. Consistently listening shows our humility and respect for others.
• Lou Holtz said, “I never learned anything by talking.”
• Bad listening leads to bad leadership. Not listening undermines creativity and destroys enthusiasm. We need to listen, think, and then decide.
• Can you repeat back to others their message so that you can seek clarification? Do you see the value their message has for your goals? Do the people who work with you feel safe about telling you what is on their mind?
  

4. Leaders must master conflict and confrontation.

John Townsend, “conflict is simply one of the realities of leadership... every leader must assume it will occur and be prepared for it.”

We cannot avoid conflict so we must expect, accept, and address. We must normalize it as a reality we will experience.

Some action points when dealing with conflict:

• Seize the initiative: Be the one that gets the ball rolling when you see it.
• Do your homework: Know the facts on all sides.
• Position yourself as a friend, not a foe to those involved. Avoid the fight or flight syndrome. The brain is always trying to determine if what it is encountering is friend or foe material. You need to avoid putting people into an adversarial position. When threatened we go into defensive mode.
• Ask clarifying questions and listen to what is said. Be open to having your mind changed.
• Seek a win-win outcome for everyone. Sometimes you need to create conflict in order to root out bad behavior or get people moving.

Paraphrase from Erwin McManus, “Everywhere Paul went he found danger. Those places were probably safe before he got there. Sometimes leadership requires you to bring danger with you.”
People will not always appreciate good leadership because it is a little bit dangerous?

5. Success is helping people achieve their potential.

Barna found that most pastors have the following specific ways they gauge success. Our studies show these are the prominent standards:

1. How many people attend the service
2. How much money has been raised
3. How many programs do we have
4. How many people are on our payroll
5. How much square feet of facility we have built

What’s wrong with this? Jesus didn’t die for any of these things! Why are these the ways we measure success? You get what you measure!!!! If these are the things we measure, then this is what we get. We get these things and wonder why our people are indistinguishable from anyone else.

Lou Holtz: He didn’t measure his success by his win-loss record. He measured success by how his players achieved greatness. Too many leaders try to be well liked. You need to push other people toward greatness because you believe others are capable of greatness.

Great leadership is not synonymous with popularity. A great leader motivates people to change the world. Vision is about change and people hate to change.

Never ask those following you to do what you are unwilling to do.

Lou Holtz: The most important thing you can do is help people see how it is in their best interest to reach the goal you are putting before them.

6. Do not accept a leadership position unless you are ready to pay a stiff price. The more significant the outcome you seek to achieve, the more substantial the price you can expect to pay.

Great leaders want the world to be right and operate at its highest level. To do this you will experience harsh criticism and face pressure. What is pressure? Pressure is having to make a decision that matters when you are not ready to do so. Pressure is very valuable for a leader because it purifies you and prepares you for a higher level of performance.

Foundations:

• God: You only lead because you believe God called you to lead. If God hasn’t called you, don’t do it.
• Convictions: Refuse to compromise those convictions. Be up front about what you stand for and let the chips fall where they may.
• Family and close friends: Rely upon the help and encouragement of those close to you.
  

Concluding Comments:

People need to be lead. It’s not a job, it’s a calling. Your task is to commit your life, and other’s lives, toward a vision. The only vision worth committing your life to is one from God.

Barna: Seven Reasons the Church Needs Great Leaders

The following thoughts came from the RightNow conference presently going on in Dallas, Texas. George Barna is the director of the Barna Group, the leading research organization focused upon the intersection of faith and culture. This is the first of two posts from his session on leadership. I am not taking time in these posts to critique his presentation. Though there are a few concerns I have with his presentation, the statistics and conclusions do offer some very helpful information on the topic of leadership.

Seven Reason the Church Needs Great Leaders

1. The more selfish our society becomes the more critical it is to have godly leadership. We are getting more selfish as a culture. We need leaders who can motivate us to get our eyes off ourselves and onto other more significant causes.
2. The more choices we have, without a Biblical worldview, the more confused our priorities become. Research shows that less than 1 our of every 5 adults and less than 1 out of every 20 teenagers posses a Biblical worldview. 
3. In a time of rapid cultural changes the rules are different, the competition stiffer, the stakes higher, the opportunities greater. These realities necessitate superior leadership to guide us forward.
4. Recent poor decisions and behavior by high-profile leaders have ushered in an era of criticism, skepticism, and mistrust requiring a new generation of wise godly leaders to restore public trust and confidence. 
5. In a culture that rejects moral and spiritual truth, the result is confusion, stress, distraction, busyness, and chaos. The antidote is focused leaders who can make sense of reality, provide vision, and deliver direction to make that vision a reality.
6. Our culture has adopted a hyper individualism that undermines community and personal relationships raising the need for an emphasis upon team-based leadership. Those who are most successful in leadership operate in team-oriented leadership environments.
7. Churches have given lip service to leadership but suffer from a paucity (meaning insufficient amount or scarcity) of genuine leaders who are guiding people toward true Christ-like transformation. Fewer than 1 out of every 5 senior pastors in protestant churches can be identified as leaders. Less than 2% posses a vision from God for the future of the church they lead.
   

How to Set Up Your Office

The What's Best Next blog recently completed a series on how to set up your office to maximize productivity. These posts provide some interesting information. Though I don't think I'll EVER be this organized, these tips can certainly help things run smoother at the office.

How to Set Up Your Desk: An Introduction

How to Set Up Your Desk: Basic Principles

Excursus: Against Desk Hotels

The Four Ways to Configure a Desk

Where to Put Your Desk

What to Put on Your Desktop and How to Use It 

What to Put in Your Desk Drawers and How to Use Them

The Rest of the Room: How to Set Up Your Office

A New Look

I finally bit the bullet and adapted a new look for the blog. The old template was very outdated and unable to accommodate the functionality of the new blogger updates. Blog readers shouldn't have any troubles with the change, but do let me know if it causes any problems.

Women Are Less Happy

Albert Mohler wrote some interesting reflections here on the latest time magazine feature which focused in particular on the failures of the modern feminist movement. Despite the advances feminism has made in gender equality within academia and the work force, men are now more happy and women less. I don't share this article because I want to start a debate on the interpretation of these results, so please don’t follow this with volatile comments in that regard, but I do want to make one observation.

The gospel of Jesus Christ is the only force capable of giving true meaning and purpose to humanity. People are quick to blame Christianity for the historic sins of racism, sexism, and all forms of prejudice, but the movements they are criticizing were errant aberrations of true Biblical Christianity. The reality is that Jesus ushered in an understanding of equality that was socially radical in a day where racism and sexism was at a fever pitch. The gospel was and is the grand equalizer, giving value and purpose to people of every race and gender. This is what Paul is referring to in Galatians 3:27-29:

For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.

My point here IS NOT to argue for an egalitarian view of gender. I am a complimentarian and believe the scriptures celebrate the uniqueness of men and women both in the family and the church. The purpose of this post IS to challenge us to recognize that true human dignity requires us to recognize the “imagio dei”, the understanding that we were all made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27).

This image of God was marred by sin (Romans 3:23). This is where the beauty of the gospel is so powerfully understood. The dividing wall of hostility between us and God (and between one another) was abolished by Christ (Ephesians 2:13-15). Our sense of worth and purpose can be strengthened by social and political movements, but it will only be truly fulfilled and fully understood through the gospel of Jesus Christ. This gospel is the true and lasting force for equality and happiness.

Participation in Worship

The programming team at Parkview recently developed a list of Biblical values for community worship. We are now taking turns as a team writing weekly devotionals on those areas that we use for our weekly team meetings and rehearsals. Below is the devotional I just wrote for our teams on the issue of participation in worship.

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QUESTION: Why do you think the participation of God’s people in community worship is an important practice within the Christian church?

As we read the Old and New Testament it becomes obvious that our heritage of faith is one that highly values participation in worship. Read through the following segments which examine community worship throughout the historic Biblical narrative.


1. Following the Exodus and the crossing of the Red Sea, Moses and the people broke out in song.

Exodus 15:1-2 - Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the LORD, saying, “I will sing to the LORD, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea. The LORD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him.”

2. In the Psalms (the liturgy book of Israel) the people are encouraged to clap, shout, and sing in praise to God.

Psalm 47:1-2, 6-7 - Clap your hands, all peoples! Shout to God with loud songs of joy! For the LORD, the Most High, is to be feared, a great king over all the earth...Sing praises to God, sing praises! Sing praises to our King, sing praises! For God is the King of all the earth; sing praises with a psalm!

3. In the Gospels we see that Jesus finished the passover celebration by singing a song with his disciples.


Matthew 26:30 - And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

4. In the Epistles (letters) we see Paul commanding the early church to sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.

Ephesians 5:18-21 - And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Colossians 3:16 - Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

5. In the prophetic book of Revelation we get a glimpse at the moments preceding the judgement of Christ when all creation is gathered around God’s throne, worshiping He and the Lamb (Jesus).

Revelation 5:13 - And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, "To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!

It would be wrong to assume that there are not acceptable individual worship expressions in the Bible like believers baptism, the preaching of the word, and the sharing of testimonies. Despite this, even in these elements we must recognize that they can only be exercised and fully experienced within the context of community.

The following are a few examples of “participation killers” in worship.

1. When songs are pitched so high that people can’t sing because it’s out of their range.
2. When too many elements in the service involve people observing and not participating.
3. When the singers and musicians embellish to the point that they are hard to follow.
4. When the content of songs or teaching are overly complex or theological to the point that people don’t understand what is being said. (the same problem can happen when songs are too simple and overly repetitive)
   
5. When external elements draw attention away from God and community.... like volume that is too soft or loud, intelligent lights that are too active, or people on stage who are too charismatic or stoic.

QUESTION: Can you think of any other “participation killers” that are not listed? Think specifically of “participation killers” in your own area of worship ministry.

Prioritizing participation requires worship planners and leaders to become students of their congregation, not because they are trying to meet felt needs in a consumer sense, but because they want to plan songs and other worship elements that aid people in participation. Often times this means the hip new song won’t be a good fit for our church. Once we recognize the priority of participation in worship, it will make saying no to some things and yes to others a whole lot easier. It will also remind us that, whether we play an instrument or sing, what we are doing must enable and encourage all our people to participate in worship.

Support Site for Our Church Plant

Thanks to the generous volunteerism of Dan Van Oss, our support website for our church plant in Madison is now off the ground. It will be getting some more tweaks over the next few weeks, but it is now functional. Feel free to check it out at www.thevinemadison.info.



You can also join our fan page on Facebook by searching "The Vine Church". In case you are wondering, the support site is specifically for those who are willing to pray, provide, and participate. The blog on that site will be a source for regular progress reports and prayer requests. We will be having another website dedicated for those within the Madison community that is being designed by a generous friend of Zach's in New Mexico. That site will likely be operational in mid to late November.

Google Wave, The Future?

Google thinks they've created the next "wave" in electronic communication. Pretty crazy the level of integration going on with this thing. Is this the next step from email? Looks pretty convincing.



(HT: Dodson)

Being a Servant Leader

I am presently reading “The Heart of Evangelism” by Jerram Barrs, one of my professors at Covenant Seminary (see link in my “currently reading” tab on my blog). Here is a very stirring quote from the book that is an outstanding exhortation to any leader in the church. Certainly this principle would also apply to leaders in any organization or business.

I regularly tell our seminary students that if I happen to visit the church in which one of them serves, I will not ask first, “Is this man a good preacher?” Rather, first of all I will ask the secretaries, office staff, janitors, and cleaners what it is like to work for this pastor. I will ask, “What kind of man is he? Is he a servant? Is he demanding and harsh, or his he patient, kind, and forbearing as a man in authority?” One of our graduates may preach great sermons, but if he is a pain to work for, then you know he will cause major problems in any congregation. Leaders in the church are required by Scripture to set an example in the areas of love, kindness, gentleness, patience, and forbearance before they are appointed to preach, teach, and rule. If we obediently require these attitudes and character traits of our leaders, what will our “new community” look like?

I pray this quote is a good gut-check for those of you in leadership. This is something we should expect of ourselves and those we appoint to positions of leadership. These qualities give credibility to the messages we preach and help others to see what loving community can and should be like within the community of faith.

Limits of Creativity

Bob Kauflin just posted this video on his blog from the Worship God 09 conference, which I so happened to attend. Here we see he and C.J. Mehaney responding to a question on the role of creativity in worship. Undoubtedly, some in the creative arts ministry world will struggle with some of the sound bytes from this clip. It helps to listen to it all the way through before judging. There are certainly some very helpful nuggets worth taking to heart. It does really concern me how we are tempted to see creativity as an end and not a means to something greater. Undoubtedly, we must be creative, but it must be for the purpose of powerfully communicating a greater message that leads people to both participate in worship (in a congregational sense) and in mission (in a global sense).



If you are reading this on Facebook and can't see the video link, you can go here to view the video.

Driscoll on Nightline

I just got done watching Mark Driscoll, Lead Pastor of Mars Hill Church and President of the Acts 29 Network, featured in the 10 Commandments series on ABC’s Nightline. I’ve got to say that he and ABC did a fantastic job covering the issue of idols in our culture. Without a doubt idolatry is a central issue in the scriptures. To whom does our allegiance lie? Celebrities or our creator? Self or Jesus?

Here’s some info on tonight's feature segment. When the full video comes available, I’ll be sure to post it. Thanks goes to ABC for doing a great job keeping the story the story!

Adoption Conference

Be sure to check out my buddy Zach's live-blogging of the Together for Adoption conference going on in right now. You can actually watch it live at the conference website and view extra video segments and written summaries at Zach's blog here.

Family Fall Retreat

To all of my Parkview Church peeps, I'll be speaking at the upcoming Family Fall Retreat on October 24-25. We've been to the retreat ever since it started a few years ago. It is always a great time for family togetherness and fun. You can read more about it at Parkview's website. Below is a brief summary:

Join us for Parkview's 3rd Family Fall Retreat, October 24-25. Check out these photos from last year. This retreat is for families of all ages. We are designing this weekend to be a time where families are strengthened and individuals are challenged. Students whose families are unable to come are strongly encouraged to attend. Only individuals 6th grade and up may attend this retreat without parents. Tribal Games are group games with two families and a few individuals on each team. There will be fun games & competitions throughout the retreat to create unity & to have fun! Enjoy family activities for all ages!