Month: September 2005 (page 3 of 4)

One of my favorite bloggers is Tony Morgan, one of the Simply Strategic Guys (along with Tim Stevens). I benefit from Tony’s blog, because I benefit from Tony and Tim’s books.

The latest in the Simply Strategic series is Simply Strategic Growth: Attracting a Crowd to Your Church. As part of a new project I’m involved in, I had to read the book and create a one-page list of the “Top Ten Things I Learned.” The book is chock-full of great stuff…it’s hard to narrow it down to ten.

So, here are the Top Ten (+ 1) things that jumped out at me from this reading…

• �The secret to growing your church is to help the people who are already there discover and begin using their gifts.� (From #69, p. 158)
• The Tunnel of Conflict: You must confront, address, and resolve the issues of conflict in order to move past them to real intimacy and effectiveness. (From #73, pp. 166-167)
• The goal is to help people experience biblical community and authentic relationships � not necessarily to get everyone in a small group. Small groups are one tool for accomplishing this goal. (From #77, p. 175)
• Focus on the vision God has given you � not on trying to �win back� those who have left, for whatever reason. (From #78, pp. 176-177)
• �Give up to go up.� Your preferences are not the most important factors in fulfilling God�s mission for you church. Leave the non-essentials to focus on what is most valuable and productive. (From #83, pp. 186-187)
• Be strategic in making announcements. (From #11, pp. 34-35)
• Start acting bigger than you are. Ask �What would we do as a church twice our size that we aren�t doing now?� Then begin doing those things. (From #23, p. 62)
• Prepare for Christmas in September. Decide early on what�s going to happen in the weekend services, so your team(s) can work together to accomplish it with excellence. (From #40, pp. 97-99)
• �It�s all about the numbers.� By counting, we determine whether we are gaining or losing ground in accomplishing our mission. (From #46, p. 111)
• Paint a picture for growth. Define what you want to do with a well-defined and clearly stated vision. (From #47, pp. 112-113)
• Don�t hoard good ideas. There is something your church is doing really well. Capitalize on it and figure out a way to help other churches become better at the same thing. (From #99, pp. 221-222)

Thanks, Tony and Tim!

Another church “homecoming” celebration. Another “excellent” motivational sermon, challenging another stagnant church to “make its future better/brighter/bigger than its past.

It was probably the 97,454th such challenge to a church pondering its current stagnation and/or decline. It got rave reviews, just like the 97,453 before it.

The preacher was congratulated. The people were charged up. They all went and ate a huge “covered-dish” meal, reminisced, got re-acquainted with those who’ve moved away, made empty promises to keep in touch, cleaned up the tables, and patted themselves on the back.

And returned quickly to normal. (Remember what ol’ Vance Havner said about “normal” as it relates to the church?)

Seems that “better future” thing is a common theme. We do stuff like using windshields and rear-view mirrors as illustrations. We tell stories about how God is not finished with _______ Church yet. We proclaim that the future is where we’re going to spend the rest of our lives.

And we go right on, slogging it out, while the future loses its identity in the drudgery of today’s normal. Why?

Because, for all our rhetoric, for all our nifty illustrations, for all our challenging stories, we forget the most important thing: the YBH Factor.

Popularized by Rick Warren, the YBH Factor simply means…

Yes, But How?

YBH is the notation that Rick Warren often placed in the margins of his Bible, while he listened to preachers, most likely preaching that “better future” sermon, about what we “ought to do.” And it led him to concentrate on practical application in his own messages.

Somebody needs to push for the YBH Factor in re-focusing stagnant, declining, and dying churches. There are a lot of us out here who know what we ought to do. But how to do it is another thing entirely. Somebody needs to stop yapping/blogging/preaching about it and do it.

This may be my favorite of all the Windham Hill CDs I have (except the Christmas/Winter Solstice ones). Everything on the disc is perfect for a Sunday night unwind, but I’m especially partial to the slightly melancholy pieces by Gabriel Faur�. Henry Butler’s solo piano rendition of Faur�’s Au Bord de l’Eau is worth the price of the entire CD.

Some of those goodies that I found en route to somewhere else…

• The CEO next door
• Religious activity without real transformation: when your church isn’t working

Though I feel afraid of territory unknown,
I know that I can say that I do not stand alone;
For Jesus, You have promised your presence in my heart�
I cannot see the ending but it�s here that I must start.

And all I know is You have called me,
And that I will follow is all I can say.
I will go where You will send me,
And Your fire lights my way

What lies across the waves may cause my heart to fear;
Will I survive the day; must I leave what’s known and dear?
A ship that’s in the harbour is still and safe from harm,
But it was not built to be there, it was made for wind and storm.

-Ian White, �All I Know,� from the CD Encounter: Live at Usher Hall

Yep! You read that right…George W. Bush, Causer of All Things Bad in the Whole Wide World, is sending another storm to the coast of the United States! It is, after all, all the President’s fault, right?

Dang! With all the power and abilities he has…oh, never mind!

(Tongue removed from cheek…)

Everyone’s favorite Canadian has this poignant post about a local church that had once thrived in his neighborhood…

…when we moved in six years ago, you couldn’t get near the church. It was thriving and was doing all sorts of crazy servant evangelism things that our neighborhood loved and people responded too. Later on and a couple priests later, it was dead and for the life of me, I can’t even remember the name of the place.

I probably shouldn’t even do this, because it’ll just make Gary Lamb’s head swell even more, but you can hear “The Gary” in all his glory over at BloggingChurch.com.

OK, just to keep him humble, you can see what “The One and Only Gary Lamb” looks like while you’re listening to him by mashing here, here, here, and here…

Seriously, Gary’s a good friend, who gives way more than he takes. He encourages me every time we get together. And he’s doing a great work leading Ridge Stone Church.

(Now if he’d only get his facts straight about who turned him on to blogging and who put him in touch with Terry Storch, he’d be better!)

In fact, it was pretty dang ugly! But at least, it wasn’t FSWho? having last-minute field goal problems against Miami. It was the other way around!

Said Coach Bobby Bowden…

We finally stole one from them like they’ve been stealing them from us. It’s about time.

Note to Coach Bowden: I love ya, man, and I guess I’ll always be a Seminole fan at heart, but it just may not be a real good idea to put “stole” and “stealing” as a good thing in the same sentence when you’re talking about your team. Just a thought, Coach, based on past history. They don’t call ’em “CrimiNoles” for nothing, you know.