What is True Greatness?

Here are some reflections on true greatness after meditating on Jesus' teaching for His disciples from Mark 10:43-45. So what are some principals of true greatness for leaders?

• To perform humble tasks, out of love and with no need of recognition.
• To always ask the question, "What is best for others?"
• To look for ways to help others reach their full potential.
• To serve, even at the risk of being thought less of by others
• To surround yourself with highly gifted people, with no fear of losing power and no insecurity when their lights shine brighter than your own. 
• The ability to celebrate when others succeed.

This is not how many in our world define greatness. As Christians we mustn't cave, believing that the world's standard of greatness is better than God's. He who longs to be great, must be a servant of all.

A Study in Brokeness

Over the last few days I read Gene Edwards short story, "A Tale of Three Kings" which is a short tale of the three kings Saul, David and Absolom. As a study in brokenness, it helps us to answer the questions, "What do you do when someone throws a spear at you?" For my own benefit, I thought I would document a few of the best quotes below. It's definitely a thought provoking read for those facing a season of brokenness.

• Regarding king David, "God did not have - but wanted very much to have - men and women who would live in pain. God wanted a broken vessel." (12)
• Regarding the school of brokenness, "Because all students in this school must suffer much pain. And as you might guess, it is often the unbroken ruler (whom God sovereignly picks) who metes out the pain. David was once a student in this school, and Saul was God's chosen way to crush David." (15)
• When others throw spears at you you must learn two lessons, "One, never learn anything about the fashionable, easily mastered art of spear throwing. Two, stay out of the company of all spear throwers. And three, keep your mouth tightly closed." (20)
• "King Saul sought to destroy David, but his only success was that he became the instrument of God to put to death the Saul who roamed in the caverns of David's own soul. Yes, David was virtually destroyed in the process, but this had to be. Otherwise the Saul in him would have survived." (24)
• As David hid from Saul's wrath in the dark caves, "everything was being crushed out of him... There in those caves, drowned in the sorrow of his song and in the song of his sorrow, David became the greatest hymn writer and the greatest comforter of broken hearts this world shall ever know." (30)
• After David's season of sorrow, "The truth was that when they did see him, they didn't recognize him. He had changed. His personality, his disposition, his total being had been altered. He talked less. He love God more. He sang differently. They had never heard these songs before. Some were lovely beyond words, but some could freeze the blood in your veins... and so, for the first time, true kingship had its nativity." (33-34)
• "He (God) sometimes gives unworthy vessels a greater portion of power so that others will eventually see the true state of nakedness within that individual... What does this world need: gifted men and women, outwardly empowered? Or individuals who are broken, inwardly transformed?" (42)
• "The passing of time (and the behavior of your leader while that time passes) reveals a great deal about your leader. And the passing of time, and the way you react to that leader - be he David or Saul - reveals a great deal about you." (44)
• Referring to David, "Authority from God is not afraid of challengers, makes no defense, and cares not one whit if it must be dethroned. That was the greatness of the great... of the true king." (48) 
• David regarding his son Absalom's plot to overtake his throne, "Only God knows, and he has not spoken. I did not fight to be king, and I will not fight to remain king... May God come tonight and take the throne... and His anointing from me. I will seek His will, not His power. I repeat, I desire His will more than I desire a position of leadership." (75)
• "The person who wields the rod of God's authority should be the meekest, a broken man, lest his people live in terror." (98)

Summit on Sexual Violence in Churches

On December 13, the Billy Graham Center is hosting the GC2 summit on responding to sexual violence in our churches. You can learn more about this important conference at the following links.

Here is the link to the website where you can learn more about the speakers, schedule and vision.

Here is where you can register.

Update on Relationships and Resources

In my recent monthly email I take some time celebrating a few ways we are working in the FLD (Forest Lakes District) to support planters and multiplication leaders through relational networks and quality resources. The examples are only the "tip of the iceberg" when it comes to how we hope to continue to connect leaders with the encouragement and support required for healthy and effective ministry.

If you'd like to subscribe to my monthly email, click this link or the image below and select the "subscribe" button in the upper left corner. As always, we appreciate your prayers and support!

Church Planting on the Cheap

I remember the shift of thinking that was required when we planted our church after I had been on staff for 12 years at a large established church. It was a little like moving from the Hilton to Motel 6, from steak to ramen, from Tesla to Prius. Bottom line, I had to learn, like every other church planter, how to "live on the cheap". Here's a short article with some creative cost saving ideas for planters from Linda Bergquist.

(HT: Outreach Magazine)

Guide to the House Church Movement

Here is a simple e-book on the house church movement by Roger Thorman. In it Thorman shares his experience with house churches and then goes on to layout a case for why multiplying house churches is a viable and effective means for church planting and disciple making.



(HT: Simple Church Revolution)

Outreach Basics for Small Towns

Here's some good simple reminders for those of you on mission and planting in rural communities.

• Identify existing relational networks
• Get involved in the school
• Commit to long term consistency

You can read the whole article by Luke Geraty here.

The only thing I would add is, get the book "Small Town Mission" by our own Aaron Morrow.

Your Best Parenting May Not Work

This is a helpful article by Pastor Glen Mills on parenting and why it is that children walk away from the faith. It's an important reminder to us all that God calls us to parent from our knees.

I used to think if Christian parents did everything right, our kids would turn out fine. Now I know that Christian parents will never do everything right. There is no such thing as perfect parenting. And even if we did everything “right,” our kids still may wander away. 

My son Nathan is a twin. We parented him and his sister Emma identically. Our daughter became the model Christian daughter, following our Lord faithfully from a young age. But Nathan rejected God. Watching them grow taught me that I couldn’t take credit for Emma’s salvation. God had ultimately done the work. It took longer to learn that I wasn’t responsible for Nathan walking away.

You can read the rest here at Desiring God's website.

Leadership Challenges in Planting

In this podcast Daniel Im and Todd Adkins discuss the challenges of leadership in the early stages of church planting. Those who have planted know that one of the biggest challenges in a young church is a shortage of good leaders. So how do we solve this problem? On one end of the spectrum some hold off on appointing leaders for too long, which can lead to burnout. On the other end of the spectrum some empower leaders too early, which can harm the long term health of the church.

Daniel and Todd suggest that there are three primary qualities to look for in leaders; character, chemistry and competency. Chemistry represents a shared passion for the values and vision of the church. Competency represents the knowledge and skills needed for effective leadership. They suggest that character and chemistry are essential, but competency can be mitigated in the early months and years of planting.

In light of their recommendation, here are some rules of thumb for leadership in the early years of planting.

1. Adopt a transitional leadership model that will allow you to have flexibility in your leadership standards. In other words, hold off on eldership and other permanent leadership roles until you are ready to empower fully prepared and qualified leaders.
2. Don't compromise on good character and common chemistry. If you settle for less in these areas you will end up producing an unhealthy culture of leadership that works against your vision and leads to mission drift.
3. Have a mechanism in place to develop the competency of early leaders. Competency can be developed, but it requires intentional pathways for learning and growth. 

The Gospel Comes with a House Key

I'm at the end of the audio book The Gospel Comes with a House Key and I can't recommend it enough. Rosaria Butterfield wrote this book to  share how she and her husband sought to live their lives on mission through the vehicle of hospitality. The audiobook is really interesting because Rosaria is the reader, which gives the book a unique personal feel, especially as she sings the Psalms shared in several of her stories. This could be a great tool for giving your people an illustration of how it is biblical hospitality can and should function in the life of the church and the rhythms of the daily life for a Christian.

The Gospel and Our Cities Video

I recently attended the Gospel and Our Cities Conference at Moody Church in Chicago. It was an outstanding conference with amazing content on mission to our cities. You can watch the messages at the following links.

The Forever Word in a Fading World
Dr. Charlie Dates

The Current State of North American Churches
Panel Discussion

North American Mission: Outward Move Pt 1
Timothy Keller

North American Mission: Outward Move Pt 2
Timothy Keller

Love of Neighbor and the Race-Transcending Gospel
Trillia Newbell

Liberating Church Planting
Robert Guerrero

Emerging Challenges in Today's Urban Context
Carl Ellis

Emotionally Healthy Leaders
Peter Scazzero

Good Leaders Catch the Wind

Click below to see my October update for the Multiplication Ministry in the Forest Lakes District!

Church Multiplication Sunday

Here's a video that was used to promote our recent invitation to prayer for the multiplication of churches in the Evangelical Free Church of America. Many of the churches in this video are part of the Forest Lakes District. Thankful for all God is doing in this association of churches!

Church Multiplication Sunday – Full Promo from EFCA on Vimeo.

Weakness Has Its Benefits

A great post by Ray Ortlund on weakness...

“Wherever God’s people have been truly humbled before him, and have been brought deeply to feel their own impotence, and have been willing to be used as mere instruments, and to let him have all the glory, there you will find that a rich blessing has usually been bestowed.”

William B. Sprague, Lectures on Revivals of Religion (Edinburgh, 1978), page 113.

Ben Reynolds, our music leader at Immanuel Nashville, wasn’t there in the early days.  But he said to me not long ago, “Ray, my impression of the original core group at Immanuel is that you guys were so wounded and exhausted and hurting that no one in the group even had the emotional energy for selfish agendas.”  I said, yes, that was probably true.  Then Ben added, “And I think the Lord looked down on that and said, ‘Well, there’s a church I can use.'”  Apparently, yes.

(HT: Ray Ortlund)

P0rnography's Effect on Marriage Rates

An interesting article here citing the potential effect p0rnography is having on the decline in marriage rates. I think we're just scratching the surface when it comes to the problems this issue will cause in the lives of future generations. 

How to Create a Spark for Multiplication

What does it look like to have a multiplication minded church? I highly recommend the e-book Spark by Todd Wilson as an important book for pastors and painters that answers this question with clarity. I believe the e-book is free when you register at the Exponential website by following this link.

Avoiding the Anti-Elder

I don't think I'm exaggerating to say that many churches and church plants implode because leaders are too hasty or reckless in the appointment and empowerment of the wrong leaders. Just because someone is passionate about the matters of mission, shares your vision for church, or has experience as a business leader does not make them a good candidate for eldership or any other form of leadership. Here's a good article from Challies on the anti-elder and how to identify them. A fresh take on the Biblical qualifications.

5 Ways to Be a Church Planting Church

It is so important for new church plants to work hard maintaining this kind of DNA for church planting. Existing church plants can take several years transitioning their church toward these practices. Below are a few ways to be a church planting church. You can read the whole article here. 

1. Talk About Being a Church-Planting Church

2. Save for a Future Church Plant

3. Adopt a Church Planter in Another Country

4. Support and Partner with a Local Church Plant

5. Partner with a Network or a Denomination’s Church Planting Efforts

What Is Your Purpose?

As with all illustrations, this does breakdown at some point, but this is an interesting way to understand purpose. Though not all are "paid" for their purpose, the aspiration to align these four broader categories in order to live in a purposeful way could be helpful.

Reflections on the Mars Hill Culture

As a former leader in Mars Hill Church Dave Kraft has some reflections here on what went wrong that lead to its recent demise and how we as pastors and planters can avoid some of these similar pitfalls in our leadership. Here's a good summary of his advice.

As l live my own life as a leader and as I coach other leaders, I am much more aware of doing what I can to make sure there is:

• Good and genuine accountability, coupled with vulnerability and transparency.
• A clear value in keeping short accounts, with sin being quickly confessed and owned.
• An attitude of being teachable and open to new ideas and ways of thinking.
• A culture of pacing that is realistic and sustainable, resulting in good morale and joy.