The Best of 2019 by Renovate Resources

Jan/Feb 2020 Vol 7, Issue 1

THE

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Revitalizer A Revitalization Retreat in Every Issue

The Best of

2019

â&#x20AC;&#x153;The only magazine dedicated to Church Revitalization.â&#x20AC;?

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From The Editor Welcome to the Church Revitalizer Magazine: The revitalization of the local church has never been more important than it is right now. We are beginning to see signs similar to that of the church planting movement of the late 90’s and early 2000’s where there was the watering down of the cause by those who wanted to attach their preconceived wagon in an attempt to parley such attachments into chance. The result was the growth of thousands of newly created church planting organizations watering down what was required to start a healthy church plant. As we begin 2020 I am not seeking to be an alarmist but it has crossed my mind that the same thing that happened in church planting might be about to transpire in the field of church revitalization and renewal. Never has there been a greater need to keep the cause of church revitalization and renewal focused on saving declining and dying churches. Church Revitalizer hear me, when we get humble enough, and low enough, and desperate enough, and hungry enough, and concerned enough, and passionate enough, and broken enough, and clean enough, and prayerful enough, then the Lord our God will send us a revival that equals, if not surpasses, the great awakening. There will be a sweeping movement of revitalized churches all across this land. I pray as we begin 2020 for an awakening within all of our souls so that heaven will give us an outpouring, earth-shaking revival in our revitalized churches with a renewed hell defying authority that shouts to the world in which we minister, “God is doing it again!” Give us oh Lord, a flaming challenge to revitalize our churches and begin to save our land. Send the fire I pray! Within this edition we want to look at the best Church Revitalization articles of 2019 in review. Stay connected, more is coming!

Dr. Tom Cheyney is the Founder and Directional Leader of Renovate National Church Revitalization Conference and Executive Editor of the Church Revitalizer.

Contents

How a Negative Culture Hurts Revitalization Efforts Tom Cheyney

p. 10

Effective Leaders: The Jethro Model George Thomasson

p. 14

The Missional X-Factor: Part 2 Ken Priddy

p. 18

The Ghosts of Leaders Past Pete Tackett

The Role of the Senior Pastor Today

p. 21

Bill Tenny-Brittian

p. 24

Also in this issue: Rethinking Past Leadership p. 30 Kenneth Priest

We’re Gonna Die! p. 40 Steve Smith

What Boomers & Xers Must Do Differently to Lead Millennials Bob Whitesel

p. 26

Here Am I, Please, Send Somebody Else! p. 46 Walter Jackson

A Good Start Doesn’t Just Happen p. 48 Bud Brown

Where to Start? p. 42 Rob Hurtgen

Sunday School: Dead or Alive? p. 56 Fred Boone

Jan/Feb | Vol 7, No 1

7 Ways to Beat Discouragement Ron Smith

p. 32

THE LEADERSHIP LINK: The Value of Focus Getting a Great Start Toward Revitalization

Wearing the Right Hat

Tracy Jaggers

J. David Jackson

p. 36

Michael Atherton

p. 65

p. 53

Be Careful What You Ask For p. 60 Jim Grant

8 Things Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve Learned Since Seminary About Church Revitalization p. 74 William Chaney Jr.

The Killing Factor of Distrust p. 76

Expository Preaching Through Books Can Bring Revitalization Evangelism in the Real World

Joel Breidenbaugh

Mark Weible

p. 70

p. 68 The Starting Block p. 78 Chris Irving

Revitalizing Your Ministry: One Decision at a Time p. 82 Rodney Harrison

Leading and Being Liked p. 86 Rob Myers

Steve Sells

THE

CHURCH

Revitalizer Volume 7, No. 1

The Church Revitalizer Is published bi-monthly by Renovate Publishing Group 1906 West Lee Road Orlando, FL 32810 Email: ChurchRevitalizer.guru

PUBLISHER Executive Editor Dr. Tom Cheyney Associate Publisher Mark Weible Associate Publisher Circulation & Marketing Ashleigh Cheyney

The Church Revitalizer Q&A: What is The Church Revitalizers purpose? To help churches that need to be reinvigorated and renewed effectively receive help in issues that revitalizers face everyday. Articles, resources, and information are gathered from authors all over the country who have been through, or may currently be in, the revitalization process and we want to share their knowledge. How can I write for The Church Revitalizer? Contact us at Goba@goba.org How do I get help with subscription issues? Go to churchrevitalizer.guru to renew, order a gift, or resolve any issues. May I reprint articles? Yes, if itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s for church education, for small group purposes, is less than 1,000 copies and is not offered for resale. Please contact us for more information.

Brand Manager Tom Cheyney Magazine Designer & Format Editor Ashleigh Cheyney Director of Advertising Renovate Staff Web Ad Traffic Director Mark Weible For subscription information contact this office at: www.churchrevitalizer.guru/subscriptions. Subscriptions are $19 per year for six issues. Outside the U.S. add $10.00 per year prepaid.

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How a Negative Culture Hurts Revitalization Efforts By Tom Cheyney Visitors to churches in need of revitalization or renewal often speak of the feeling of negativity in the churches culture when they visit and further contributes that sense as to why they choose to not join the church but search for another. The prospects usually enjoyed the preaching by the pastor but were highly turned off by the passivity of the laity. Negativity in a declining church sends the message to potential prospects that the membership simply does not care if they join their church or not. The membership when confronted simply replied that that was the way they were and would always be. It was part of their church culture. The effect that a negative church culture can have can be huge. Often contributing to increased membership turnover and decreased motivation of those who remain to do the work of the ministry. You can have the most godly and dynamic preacher of all time and if the negative culture of the membership is not changed, it paints a sorrowful display of the Lords work to those who could be part of pulling it out of the doldrums. A negative culture will eventually affect your staff, the deacons, Bible Study leaders, worship leaders, and most everything else in the church if you do not address the issue quickly. Many pastors report feeling powerless to the influence of a negative organizational church culture. Pastors attending our Renovate regional conferences were asked if they had the power to create change and many said that they thought they did when they arrived, only to discover later that they did not. If you are pastoring a declining church with a negative culture you might feel like a butterfly blowing in the wind. Your efforts, regardless of how good a church revitalizer you are, may do little to negate the negative influence of the churches culture. In churches like this, a beginning place is to start developing a positive culture within your staff. If your team is not part of the solution to overcome such negativity in the church, they are part of the problem. Often negative church cultures begin with the laity and they quickly discover who on staff is willing to sacrifice their calling in order to be liked by the power brokers. Usually they realize too late that these negative individuals will turn on them when they are no longer needed.

Scripturally Harmful to Others Negative church cultures are usually fueled through gossip, rumor mongers, ridicule of others who are not of the same opinion, seek to harass and humiliate fellow church members or staff, bully those who seek change of negativity, aggressive towards weaker members, wiling to retaliate, and supportive of church cliques.

Here are some examples of negative church cultures which hurt the revitalizations efforts of a church:

Distrusting of Outsiders or Newbies Declining churches with negative cultures are full of an “in crowd” that is distrusting of the “new crowd” or the “at large” crowd. Even fellow members sense the rift that exists in the church because of this distrust. Members in these churches distrust one another, and church staff in general. Individuals with this mentality are continually looking for the perceived injustice and have a we are the victim mentality. They are withdrawn and often dishonest. Adversarial posturing is the norm in these churches.

Unmotivated The members avoid taking initiative and responsibility. There is more of an attitude of blaming others, avoiding doing any work of ministry, procrastinators, and an unwillingness to accept the blame for the negative culture.

Have a Blatant Disregard for Rules Churches with a negative culture have members who actively take advantage of the churches system of operation. They exploit the rules, take unethical shortcuts, and promote sinful corruption in the house of the Lord.

Poor Internal Church Communication A lack of team spirit in the church and ministry teams can be toxic to a church seeking revitalization and renewal. This is why it is no surprise that poor internal communication is an undeniable sign of a negative church culture. If your church desires to overcome this issue, friendliness and being supportive of one another is a critical fulcrum for eliminating sloppy or non-existent communication. When speaking to one another becomes difficult, forced, and un-enjoyable, this is when a problem arises. Micromanagement of Staff by Pastor When under perpetual scrutiny from the pastor, staff of declining churches face the creation of an atmosphere filled with tension. For some reason these pastors believe that such practices help the church keep focused, when in reality all it does is raise a level of pressure that is unhealthy. Ask yourself this question: How many staff have left your church in the last ten years under your ministry? If the number is high, the problem is with you as the leader and your degree of micromanagement you assert on the staff. Micromanagement keeps the staff from taking the risks necessary to bring about renewal. Staff members work better in their area of expertise and often are undermined when a novice offers unwanted advice.

Lack of Commitment Churches that possess a negative culture lack the willingness to share knowledge with others and seek to horde information that should be shared with others. Their lack of commitment to the main vision of the revitalizing church hurts the chances of renewal. They lack the willingness to help others, share resources, help the church get better. They also lack innovation and creativity. Dissatisfied with the New Direction Members within churches that possess a negative culture are often dissatisfied, disappointed, and disgruntled with where the declining church is headed and the future direction of a turned around church. They cite their individual lack of fulfilment stating their low confidence in the direction the church is headed. Their fear of a new thing affects the willingness to allow the Lord to do a new thing. There are many other examples such as fear of change, reluctance to embrace change, and high membership turnover.

Warning Signs of a Negative Church Culture

Beware of the warning signs that demonstrate weather your church has a negative culture or not. Here are the key warning signs:

Hyper-Competition Some degree of competition works well in the church staff when the end goal is the church winning. Evangelism campaigns and Bible Study enlistments are a two examples of where friendly goals advance the church. Unfortunately, when it turns into unfriendly competition is when things can begin to drive wedges between staff members as well as church members. When competition gets too competitive, things can turn south, and fast. Bad Habits Bad habits can often start from the top. If the pastor and deacons have bad habits when it comes to work, they can then bleed over into the staff and volunteers believing that this is the correct way of going about the work of the church. Being late for work for instance tells the other staff that it is alright to lack discipline in this area. Bad habits often come from staff not being managed well. Church Office Gossip Gossip is negative regardless of the environment. When in the churches staff office complex, it can be detrimental to the atmosphere, causing a shift in the culture. Church office gossip can be hurtful, spiteful and leave everyone closed off and guarded. Influencing a negative church culture can be easy when gossip starts with the office staff venting to listening ears. Lack of Empathy When it comes to human interaction, empathy and understanding are imperative. Yet, when it is not there, it can appear to be even more important. Engaging the entire church staff,

as well as having empathy for them and their lives, is fundamental in creating relationships as well as a positive church culture. We all have strengths and weaknesses, so acknowledge that we are all together in this journey. Poor Leadership from the Pastor There is an appropriate standard of conduct for the work of the Lord. When these standards are dismissed, the church culture can become negative quickly. You will not get the best out of others if you, as the leader, are a lazy and poor leader. You must be your best so your staff can be their best. I am sure that there are others that the parameters of this article do not allow me to address, but these are the low hanging fruit. A negative church culture can be an absolute disaster for any church trying to be revitalized. Thankfully, there are often many warning signs to be seen which can prevent you from falling victim to some of the pitfalls of such a negative church culture.

How to Turn Around Your Churches Negative Culture

Now you must assess whether or not your declining church has a negative church culture. Look around. What do you see? Is the staff tired and worn out? When you walk into the room does the fun stop? Does discouragement abound? How many of your church staff, and deacons for that matter, are burnt out? If you see these symptoms in more than one or two staff members or church leaders, then there is a strong chance that a negative church culture may have crept into your ministry. Unhappy staff members do not work together for the betterment of the work. The staff you need to keep will leave you because you have left them already. A negative church culture is a reputation that is hard to shake once you get it. It is vital that you act quickly to turn around the negative church culture before productivity lags and staff, as well as members, start leaving for sunnier shores. Here is a brief checklist to consider: 1. Identify Problem Behaviors of Staff and Leadership Your church culture is unique and when it negative it is on the road to destruction. As a result, there is no one-size-fitsall solution for repairing a damaged work culture. The first step is always to examine your business’s culture to identify your specific challenges. 2. Assess the Churches Support System If your church is opposed to negativity there is nowhere for a negative church culture to flourish. It will not be able to take root. Take away a negative church infrastructure and it has nowhere to go, except perhaps to another church. A positive church culture for revitalization is fostered through the pastor and leaders in a local church.

3. Develop and Plan Your Negative Church Culture Repair Strategy If you understand its destructive nature, you can now strategize your treatment plan to reclaim your church culture for the side of good. And remember that change is hard work, so don’t try to fix everything all at once. Once the wheels of change are in motion, the smaller issues will likely begin to right themselves. 4. Implement Your Plan to Bring about a Positive Culture in the Church As the pastor of the church attempting renewal remember that you have a powerful platform from which to motivate and lead towards positive change. Just realize that you will need to live and model the changes you want to see if anyone is to take those changes seriously. Actions speak louder than words – it is not enough to simply tell people at church that the culture needs to change. Church members will change their behavior only if they see the new behavior as easy, rewarding and normal. Be willing to protect your new church culture. If there are a few casualties along the way, it is a price worth paying. 5. Reflect and Adapt Allow your new plan the needed time to take root. Change in any church takes time. Even more so in revitalization. But, do not expect to get everything perfect right away. After a few months, take stock of where you are. What has changed? What hasn’t? Meet with those influencers that you enlisted to help with your implementation. Reflect with them on how things have gone. Different perspectives can offer useful insight. Assess your progress and adapt your efforts as needed. Be willing to keep asking the questions that matter and change tactics where appropriate. Changing a negative church culture is a huge task but it is one worthy of the church revitalizers effort. Your determination and perseverance will lead you to success. Tom Cheyney is the Founder & Directional Leader of the RENOVATE National Church Revitalization Conference (RenovateConference.org). Some of Tom’s books include: The Church Revitalizer as Change Agent, Slaying the Dragons of Church Revitalization: Dealing with the Critical Issues that are Hurting Your Church; and Church Revitalization in Rural America: Restoring Churches in America’s Heartland. Tom lives in Orlando, Florida with his wife Cheryl and travels all over North America assisting declining churches by bringing revitalization and renewal to the congregations.

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Effective Leaders... The Jethro Model By George Thomasson

ould you agree with me that North America is experiencing a leadership crisis? It is seen at virtually every level of society, the church not being the least obvious. Depending on which research firm you consult, between 65% and 85% of Evangelical churches in America are plateaued or declining. Most of these churches are in serious decline and many in danger of demise. There is no simplistic answer for why this problem exists, but certainly a major contributing factor is ineffective, non-intentional leadership. There are many models we could turn to in order to find help for leaders. I would like to site a favorite of mine – Jethro and Moses. You will remember that according to Exodus 18 Moses found himself in an impossible situation. “And so it was on the next day, that Moses sat to judge the people and the people stood before Moses from morning until evening.” (v. 13) Moses’ father-in-law, Jethro, observed that even though Moses was leading God’s people his leadership was ineffective! “…He said, ‘What is this thing that you are doing for the people? Why do you alone sit, and all the people stand before you from morning until evening?...The thing you are doing is not good. Both you

and these people who are with you will surely wear yourselves out. For this thing is too much for you; you are not able to perform it by yourself.’” (vv. 14, 17b, 18) Jethro then proceeded to share a model for leadership with his son-in-law. He promised Moses that God would bless his efforts and that he would be effective. The “Jethro Model” for leaders is just as relevant today as it was in Moses’ day and it has the potential to produce effectiveness. Too many of us as Christian leaders, whether pastors of existing churches, church planters, or denominational servants, have a tendency to try to do it all ourselves – just like Moses did. What is the result? Burnout! My friend, Dr. Ron Rowe, while serving as Director of Missions of the Jacksonville, Florida Baptist Association, says, “People burn out from doing trivia. Leaders don’t burn out pursuing their great passion.” Moses was busying himself with all of the trivia and minutia and he was headed for burnout. Many of us are as well, unless we change our leadership model. Allow me to highlight five critical components of the “Je-

thro Model” in the hopes that you and I can become more effective leaders. In so doing we should not experience burnout but blessings.

1. Effective Leaders PRAY. “Stand before God for the people, so that you may bring the difficulties to God.” (v. 19b) Jethro suggested first that an effective leader should come before God and give the problems to Him! Do we need to be reminded that this is not our work but it is God’s? Nothing surprises God and He can handle all of our leadership problems. In Matthew 9:35-39 Jesus declared that our major problem in the church is a labor problem. “The harvest truly is plentiful but the labors are few.” What did he suggest as a solution to the labor problem? “Pray, therefore, the Lord of the harvest that he will send forth labors into the harvest.” John Maxwell says that effective leadership rises and falls on influence. There may be some truth to his assertion, but I believe it rises and falls on prayer.

2. Effective Leaders TEACH. “And you shall teach them the statutes and the laws, and show them the way in which they must walk and the work they must do.” (v. 20) I have observed that effective leaders love to teach and impart insights. Their passion is to invest in and develop other leaders. Obviously the foundation for all of this teaching is God’s Word. Jethro made that very clear. It seems as though Jethro outlines teaching in three (3) steps: a. Principles, b. Practices, c. Processes. He instructed Moses to teach the principles, show them the practices, and lay out the processes.

3. Effective Leaders ENLIST. “Moreover you shall select from all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.” (v. 21) Jethro understood that effective leaders will not be threatened by other leaders who may even exceed their skills. Neither can they make decisions based on the approval of others. An effective leader will identify the best candidates for leadership and enlist them on his team.

4. Effective Leaders DELEGATE. “And let them judge the people at all times…every small matter they themselves will judge…they will bear the burden with you.” (v. 22. a,c,d)

As an effective leader, you must see the big picture and break it down into manageable snapshots. Then you can delegate most of the work to the leaders you have prayed for, taught, and enlisted. Someone said that you can only expect what you inspect. So you will need to formulate a simple yet workable system of accountability to inspect the work of your team members. Whatever you do, delegate the work and allow others to share in the blessing of doing meaningful ministry.

5. Effective Leaders STAY ENGAGED. “Then it will be that every great matter they shall bring to you…so it will be easier for you.” (v. 22 b) I like to categorize my “things to do” list as A, B, or C items. “C” items I can delegate immediately. “B” items I can delegate but with careful explanation and expectation. “A” items can only be done by me. Jethro told Moses to stay engaged with his team members by addressing “every great matter.” These are the items that are top priority and you must give them your best. You should also stay engaged by following up on the work of your team members and being an encourager. Brag on your leaders at every available opportunity. This will motivate them to go the second mile for you. Concluding Thoughts: Jethro was concerned that Moses, the father of his grandchildren, was going to burn himself out and leave his daughter to raise the kids alone. He promised Moses that if he would implement his model for effective leadership two (2) things would result: 1. He would finish well. “If you do this thing, and God so commands you, then you will be able to endure…” (v. 23a). 2. The people would be happy. “And all this people will also go to their place in peace.” (v. 23b) I am certain that we all desire to finish well, serve among happy people, and hear our Lord say, “Well done good and faithful (effective) servant. Enter into your reward.” Consistently following the “Jethro Model” can lead us to this desired end as revitalizers of God’s church. George Thomasson is a native of Arkansas but spent most of his ministry in Florida and Texas. He holds degrees from Palm Beach Atlantic University and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is married to his high school sweetheart, Sandra. They have two grown children, Angie Gould and Greg Thomasson, who blessed them with two grandchildren each. He presently serves as Mobilization Pastor for Christ Place Church in Flowery Branch, Georgia.

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The Missional X-Factor: Part 2 By Ken Priddy In the Missional X-Factor: Part 1, I stressed the importance of skilled pastoral leadership in establishing a church’s Great Commission effectiveness. Three of six Great Commission skills for pastors were identified as Skill 1: Discerning & Developing Vision, Skill 2: Casting Vision & Creating Ownership and Skill 3: Setting Objectives & Establishing Accountability. These three were further contextualized as the three corners of the Missional X-Factor Triangle. Part 2 sets out the remaining three skills, further identifying them as the contents of the triangle (see Figure 1).

Skill 4: Managing Ministry Time

Time is perhaps the only resource that can’t be replenished. Money spent, whether wisely or unwisely, can be replaced by securing more. Leaders lost because they move away, pass away or simply go away, or, hopefully, are sent away to lead in other ministry contexts, can be replaced by developing more. Time, however, once spent, can never be recovered, not even one second. Stewardship of time and strategic use of time, then, demand that time be missionally leveraged if Great Commission ministry is to be effective. We speak of saving time, but, in truth, saving time is impossible. It moves one second, one minute, one hour, one day, one week, one month, one year at a time with unrelenting regularity. Time cannot be saved but can only be invested wisely or spent poorly, never to be recovered or replaced. Scripture

speaks of making the best use of the time, because the days are evil (Ephesians 5:15-17) and making the best use of the time (Colossians 4:5). Many a pastor has lamented to me that there’s just not enough time to get all that is needed, expected or required in ministry done. Since we can’t create more time, we’re left with the reality that we must maximize the skill of better leveraging the time that we do have. Author Steven Griffith, in The Time Cleanse, speaks of time performance over time management per se, observing, “With this way of operating, time becomes a supportive relationship that enables you to bring focus, energy, and attention to what’s most important in your business and life. By doing this, you are mastering time, not living as a victim of time” (p. 27). Consider six elements in your relationship with time: 1. Time Allotment: Quantify the amount of ministry time that you have. Quantify the ministry to be accomplished and plan your time disbursement. 2. Pro-Active Scheduling: Anticipate routine demand and schedule time in advance rather than waiting to react to people and activities as time is demanded of you. 3. One-Touch Filing System: Adopt a filing system for both hard copy and digital copy that permits you to “touch” communications only once.

4. Email & Voice Mail Control & Response: Schedule routine checks throughout the day for reading and responding to incoming communications, thereby limiting interruptions and maintaining focus. 5. Meetings on Purpose: Meetings should have a vital and clearly stated purpose that is communicated in advance with decision-making as the meeting objective. 6. Teaching/Preaching Preparation: Streamline preparation to keep most ministry hours on the field and not in the study. Use your acquired reservoir of Bible and theology and don’t start each teaching/preaching assignment from scratch.

Skill 5: Working with Staff & Leaders

Pastors are typically placed at or near the top of the organizational chart in their respective churches and most certainly serve as positional leaders. However, positional leadership is a poor platform for leading in a church. Rather, leadership in the church must be spiritual leadership and the most important leadership relationships that exist in the church are the relationships of pastors to staff and pastors to leaders. It’s not about pulling rank but is the outcome of true servant leadership emanating from spiritual authority. That begins and grows into Great Commission leadership when a pastor is disciplined and committed to personal spiritual development. A pastor’s first responsibility to staff and leaders is, indeed, his or her own personal spiritual development. As pastors develop spiritually, the impact of the Great Commission in and through them will move the church forward in Great Commission ministry. Grounded in spiritual authority, pastors are equipped and empowered to represent God’s interests properly, biblically, spiritually. With spiritual priorities correctly in place, pastors are able to work with staff and leaders toward spiritual objectives and outcomes that transcend the conventional pastoral patterns of simply managing a church and fulfilling teaching, preaching and caretaking expectations. Pastoral interaction with staff and leaders must include the building of strong relationships and the maintaining of healthy communication. Strong relationships require investment in people, not just in terms of what they do for the church but in terms of who they are and what’s important to them. These investments, though labor intensive at times, pay rich dividends over time. Think of Jesus and His investment in His disciples. Healthy communication should follow two directives: 1. Communicate with candor and. 2. Communicate often. Much of the conflict in a church is the result of poor communication, miscommunication or a lack of communication, and a conflicted church, especially among staff and leaders, cannot effectively reach a lost community. Say what you mean, mean what you say, listen in order to understand and communicate frequently.

Finally, productively working with staff and leaders demands both ministry clarity and role clarity. The Great Commission pastor unifies all ministries around the central core mission of going in the authority of Jesus to make disciples through evangelizing the community and teaching obedience to the commands of Christ. Clearly defined roles among staff and leaders guard against both neglect and redundancy and routine evaluations promote accountability.

Skill 6: Leaving a Gospel Footprint

John 1:14 informs that when Jesus Christ Incarnate came and dwelled among us, He came full of grace and truth. He became a person in order to connect with people, and grace and truth effused from Him in every encounter. Jesus always left a Gospel footprint, an imprint of grace and truth. What imprint are we leaving? What should our imprint be? What do we want it to be? Consider this: The engagement of a pastor in personal outreach and evangelism will influence the corporate outreach and evangelism of a church, positively or negatively. Likewise, the personal discipling of a pastor will influence the corporate discipling of a church, again, positively or negatively. Outreach, evangelism and discipleship must move from inward to outward. These are driven by purpose and passion and not by program management, and they are only effective by a pastor’s intent, not by ministry happenstance. All six skills of the X-52 ministry philosophy and strategy can be learned and practiced with intentional commitment and with the discipline to stay the course. Equipped with these skills and their practice, pastors and other leaders will both model and inspire Great Commission ministry. The lost will be found, the found will be discipled and the discipled will be mobilized to go and make even more disciples, all to the glory of God. As a pastor or leader, bring the X-Factor into your ministry life and leave a Gospel footprint everywhere you go. Ken Priddy (D.Min., Ph.D.) is Founder and Executive Director of the GO Center, a training and consulting ministry committed to church vitalization and revitalization. Ken also directs LEADERTOWN: A Laboratory for Organization & Leadership Development. His thirty-plus year journey in church planting and revitalization has grown into a national presence among evangelical leaders. He’s an effective trainer and consultant, but perhaps his most significant contribution is his extensive development of training curricula. Ken has published several books, most notably The Leadership Ladder: Developing Missional Leaders in the Church, co-authored with Dr. Steve Ogne, and the accompanying Leadership Ladder Workbook.

The Ghosts of Leaders Past 20 16

By Pete Tackett You meet with the group seeking to fill a lead pastor vacancy and they settle in on you as their candidate. In your investigation of the church, you discover it has a roller coaster past of ups and downs, as all churches do if they have been around for any length of time. Chances are even better that if they are looking for a new lead pastor, they are in one of those down cycles. It is rare that pastors leave when things are going great - kind of a greener grass on the other side of the fence thing. Even when the former lead pastor left at a good point, months or years of interim period, if not done right, leaves them in a stagnant or declining state.

or real. If a strong, charismatic or popular leader was moving the church forward and pushing through some opposition to get some things done and then suffers a public moral failure of some kind, leadership gets suspicious of all pastors and feel it is their responsibility to protect the church from it happening again. Sometimes, that failure is not moral, but some key leaders stood with the previous pastor to make some needed changes, buy a piece of property, start a new ministry, or deal with an old issue only to see that pastor quit when the battle gets too hot. Those leaders are often once burned and twice shy and may seek to slow you down.

When you start asking questions, the team appointed to fill this position almost always say some variation of the following. “Our church is primed and ready to go. We know we need to make some changes and it won’t be easy, but we are just looking for the right person to lead us forward.” Most of the time, that is an honest appraisal from their perspective, but once the new leader shows up and starts trying to lead, the brakes go on and life gets tense.

How does the new guy avoid being equated with either of those guys? First, it is especially helpful to know if you have a similar personality and bearing as “that guy.” It seems foolish, but if you are always reminding someone of “that guy,” you are going to need to work hard to distinguish yourself from him in the way he did business. Make sure you are above reproach in your business and personal interactions with church members. Choose your battles carefully on the front end. Over explain yourself. You need to win some smaller battles with your leaders before you try to lead them into a big one so they will know you are going to be there when someone pushes back. Ask yourself how committed you are to seeing this thing through before you start it.

Throughout this edition, there are many articles about what to do when that happens, but it also helps to understand why it happens. All of us know mean-spirited and unregenerate members that have percolated to positions of prominence just because they have been around a long time, but most people that oppose pastoral leadership have some legitimate reason to do so, at least in their own mind. They are not mean and negative just to be that way. There is something in the past that has them on guard against leadership and they feel some responsibility to keep their eye on things. Some churches as a whole take on this demeanor as evidenced by some of the prohibitions and rules in their constitution and bylaws. What are some past events that make a church or a leadership group wary when a revitalizer starts making the tough decisions to move the church forward? I am sure there are many more but here is a partial list of the biggies and how you can avoid a bloodbath when you know they are in play. The low hanging fruit you can watch for and seek to understand is past leadership failures, either perceived

A second area you need to understand carefully is the past leadership models that the church has progressed through. Churches routinely think they want a different model but as several leadership gurus have opined, culture eats strategy/vision for breakfast. A church that has been a patriarchal or family chapel model may find it necessary to change but they don’t know how to follow a different model. Conversely, a church may have progressed through a pastor-led model and encountered a bully, at least in their perception. Other churches adopted a “plurality of leaders” model and had those leaders do something that hurt some of the church members, even though it may have been necessary. Many of the churches I deal with have such a muddied leadership model, it is hard to understand, much less articulate. Into this, the new revitalizing pastor needs to speak softly and lead carefully. If the model is a new one to the church or the team is talking about needing to make a

change in the leadership model or if the revitalizing pastor knows it needs to change and no one else does, the first thing to do is to build relationships with the current leadership. During that time, you are working to see if they can be led to change or if they will need to be replaced. The goal is to help the people see and define the problem and work toward a shared solution. Some will never go with you on that and some battles will have to be fought, but take as many of the current leadership with you as you can. Don’t vilify people who can be won over. Be willing to fight but don’t fight first. Finally, and this is a simple one, you need to know the past leadership language, both good and bad. Francis Chan said some years ago at a conference I attended that you will know people are buying into your leadership when they begin to speak your language. It is a simple point but over time, people start to pick up our language. When a pastorate ends poorly and you come in using some of the same language he did, they are wary, not because they don’t like you but because they have been hurt and much of their pain is held in containers of those words he used and you sound like him. Even simple words like vision, change, purpose, and pastor-led can cause them to think, “Oh, no, here we go again.” Spend some time with your people learning what they loved about former pastors and what they did not love about them. Sometimes you will find that what one group loves about a former pastor another group hates, but you can pick out some key words and phrases to build on as well as some to avoid.

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Revitalizers need to constantly remind themselves that we don’t work in a vacuum. We work in the context of all the leaders who have gone before us. Let’s learn from the past and avoid problems we don’t have to experience. There will be enough problems we do have to face as we lead change in our churches. Pete Tackett is Lead Pastor of Antioch Baptist Church in Johnson City, Tennessee, and a Pastor Connector for the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board. He regularly partners with churches and pastors engaging in revitalization. He is the author of re.Vital.ize: Lessons Learned in a Recovering Church.

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The Role of the Senior Pastor Today By Bill Tenny-Brittian When I stepped into professional church leadership after my ordination, I wasn’t totally clueless. I was green, young, and inexperienced, but I had the basics down on how to lead a church. Sadly, many of my fellow seminarians had and have been ill prepared for the challenges of the church in the twenty-first century. Instead of growing their churches, they were taught to care for their churches. To hold their hands in times of crisis. To marry them, educate them, and bury them. They were taught how to prepare a homiletically and theologically sound sermon in only twenty hours a week. What they weren’t taught was what to do when they faithfully executed their training and as a result their church began to slide into decline while the only increase they experienced was an uptick in both church conflict and irrelevance to the unchurched community.

has been romanticized and twisted to accommodate today’s member-centric image of what a pastor is “supposed” to do. Let’s unpack what a “real” shepherd does when s/he leads a flock of sheep. There were three roles of a shepherd in Jesus’ day. First, the shepherd was responsible to ensure the sheep were in a safe place where they could feed. Second, the shepherd was responsible to ensure the sheep grew and were healthy so that they could reproduce more sheep. And finally, the shepherd was responsible to lead the sheep from one pasture to another so that there was always plenty to eat.

You’re probably familiar with the story. If you’ve not been there yourself, you know colleagues that have been. And so, I’d like to share with you some of the things I’ve learned about the role of a senior pastor in today’s world.

1. The shepherd didn’t feed the sheep – sheep have to feed themselves. The shepherd’s job was to make sure the sheep were in an environment where they could be healthy and where there was plenty of food. 2. Sheep beget sheep, shepherds beget shepherds. It’s the role of the laity to make more disciples. And it’s the role of the pastor to make more leaders. 3. Sheep need to be led from pasture to pasture, they’ve got to be mobile. In changing times, one of the responsibilities of the shepherd is to help the sheep adapt to a changing world. 4. Shepherds protect the flock. That includes not allowing dysfunctional sheep or goats to bully, inhibit, or control the ministry of the church.

There are three key metaphors that lay a solid foundation for the biblical role of the senior pastor: Shepherd, Midwife, and The Way. Each one speaks to a breadth of roles and tasks every effective senior pastor faces.

Shepherd

When Jesus reinstated Peter as the chief leader of the church, he had a conversation that went like this: “Simon, son of John, do you love me? … Take care of my sheep.” (John 21:16) I suspect every pastor on earth is familiar with this verse and with the metaphor of the pastor as a shepherd. The problem is, most of the time the image of the shepherd-pastor

There are some significant implications we can draw from these three key roles … several of which belie what you may have been led to believe about the shepherd-pastor.

The Midwife

Midwives were once the OBGYN’s of the culture. They were the ones called when a woman was ready to give birth. Spiritual midwives step in to help the spiritually pregnant give birth to their spiritual gifts and to their life’s calling. This is one of the key roles of the pastor-midwife… to provide an

environment where followers of Jesus can birth their gift and fulfill their calling. However, that gift and that calling is at the heart of the spiritually pregnant, not at the whim or the needs of the church. The gift and the calling may, or may not, match anything the local church is doing. Second, the spiritual midwife spends the bulk of their time with the spiritually pregnant. They don’t waste time with those who are dysfunctional or controlling and those who have little interest in birthing a healthy ministry. Spiritual midwives listen to these folks once if they discern they’re unhealthy, they stop listening to them and turn their attention back to those who ready and willing to give birth. Third, midwives don’t ask the expectant if they want to give birth. These pastors don’t allow the church to decide whether or not they want to be involved in birthing effective ministries to reach the unreached. The mission to make disciples isn’t an option, any more than birthing a nine-month-old baby in the womb is an option. They give birth or they die. Either the church is birthing mission or it isn’t a church. There are three implications I’ve found in the pastor’s role as a midwife. 1. Pastors spend time with those who serve and with those who want to serve. 2. Pastors are on the lookout for those who are spiritually expectant but do not know it. These are almost always found outside of the church where it’s very easy to be spiritually ripe and unaware that the pain of life could be the pangs of labor. 3. Pastors are spiritual directors, not spiritual controllers. They assist people on their spiritual journeys. The pastor succeeds when others have discovered and implemented the ministry that’s planted within their hearts.

The Way

Before Christians were known as Christians, they were knows as the People of the Way – they weren’t known as People of the book. They weren’t known for their profound knowledge of intricate (and largely irrelevant) theologies. Instead, they were known for the way they behaved, for the way they loved, and for the life choices they made. Neil Cole once commented that church members are educated well beyond their obedience. It was Jesus who said that there were just two “great” commandments and neither of them had anything to do with orthodox beliefs, but down to earth daily practices. The early pagans didn’t know that people were Christians because of what they taught or by the power of their arguments. They knew they were Christians because of the way they lived. Jesus spent the bulk of his waking hours pouring himself into only twelve others. He taught them the concepts. He showed them how to put concepts into actions. He sent them out to practice what they’d learned. And then he received them back to hear the stories of what they’d done.

Mentoring is a key role for pastors who are of The Way. Second, we learn more about spiritual leadership by “watching” what Jesus did yesterday than we do by memorizing scripture or by reading other’s interpretations. As helpful as it might be to be able to quote scripture or to immerse ourselves in scholarly studies, pastors on The Way spend time looking at the unvarnished Jesus of the Bible rather than the Jesus of the church or of Sunday School. They learn to emulate Jesus’ words and actions and see how Jesus treated the sinners and how he treated the so-called saints and how he preferred the company of the spiritually curious to the presence of the religious hypocrite. And finally, Jesus never gave anyone a “job” or a “title.” Instead, he mentored, equipped, and invited people to join him in mission and then sent them out on mission. I can see any number of implications in this, but I’ll share just three. 1. Senior pastors spend a large portion of their time studying the Jesus of the scriptures and then conspicuously model how to live life on The Way in the presence of others. They spend more time modeling and mentoring apprentices than they do preparing and leading Bible studies. 2. Senior pastors are passionate about their faith journey and actively invite others to join them in that journey and the journey of the church. 3. Because the faith journey is a community action (there is no Christianity without the church), this means that the church must be a safe place for even the neophyte to travel. Therefore, these pastors ruthlessly root out conflict and deal with the dysfunctional people of the church by either transforming them or showing them to the door, thus making it safe for pre-Christians to explore the faith. The role of the senior pastor today is significantly different than what it once was. In fact, if I could have my way, the word “pastor” would fall from our vocabulary because it is so laden with “pastoral care” kinds of baggage. The metaphors of the Shepherd, the Midwife, and The Way barely scratch the surface of what the lead minister must do in the church today in order to turn the church from its self-destructive ways. However, by understanding these biblical metaphors, you should at least have a foundation on which to build.

Bill Tenny-Brittian is the managing partner of The Effective Church Group. For over thirty years, The Effective Church Group has been equipping churches and church leaders so they can be successful in reaching their mission. He is the co-author of The Role of the Senior Pastor and also teaches Pastoral Leadership for Phillips Seminary with an emphasis on leadership.

What Boomers & Xers Must Do Differently to Lead Millennials By Bob Whitesel I find it refreshing to return full time to my passion of coaching churches on church health and revitalization, after two decades of teaching graduate school and seminary students. But my teaching and consulting worked well together for two important reasons: 1. I became especially attuned to how to lead millennials, because most of my students were in millennial generations (Generations Y & Z). 2. And, I became increasingly aware that older leaders (Boomers and Xers) must change their leadership styles radically to lead millennials, which led to my book “ORGANIX: Signs of Leadership in a Changing Church” (Abingdon Press). You may ask, “Why must I learn to lead millennials, most of my congregants are older?” Though this may be true, you must lead millennial generations in order to create a new lifecycle in church revitalization.

Here are seven ways you must lead millennials differently. Communication systems: In the millennial culture communication is increasingly electronic mediated. Twitter, Facebook, emails, instant messaging, Instagram, and Snapchat are all efficient ways for millennials to get their information. If you’re trying to make them aware of what your church is

doing to reach out, you must communicate through their electronic mediums. Rx: Cross-cultural communication usually begins with oneon-one communication. Have your organization’s leaders each find and begin to mentor a millennial mentee. Ask the millennial to help you communicate to their fellow millennials what you are doing. A standard missiological method is to ask someone from the indigenous culture to help translate your message. They may not actually agree with your message yet, as they translate it they will be learning about it. Reconciliation systems: Millennials have grown up in an age of outrage and cultural fissures. At the same time many want to bridge those divides. The New Testament reminds us the Good News traveled from Jewish believers to Gentile oppressors in a similar time of division and outrage. The Letter to the Romans is an example of the Holy Spirit’s ability to create a unifying Messianic subculture filled with Good News. Among my client and student millennials, I’ve found they want leaders who do not polarize the church, but rather foster a community where dialogue is accompanied by biblical fidelity. Rx: Foster opportunities to dialogue, understand, forgive and reconcile people who have been polarized over differences. Paul said, “…we don’t evaluate people by what they

have or how they look. We looked at the Messiah that way once and got it all wrong… Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it! Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and he has committed to us the word of reconciliation” (2 Cor. 5:16–19). To Paul reconciliation is a dual process: “not evaluating people by what they have or how they look” (v. 16) and “anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it! (v. 17). Supernatural system: The Hebrew word “worship” literally means to come close to God’s feet and kiss them in homage. This is how worship should be measured, not in flow, performance or excellence. And though millennials have many worship styles, most millennials are united in their uncomfortableness with their parents’ quest for worship “excellence.” Rx: The solution is to take the focus away from styles and excellence of worship, and put the emphasis back upon the biblical “purpose of worship.” Worship should be evaluated by how well it brings attendees into what I have called, a “face-to-foot encounter.” Regeneration system: The Good News is news of salvation and change. Most church-es have a weak regeneration system. They often have seen few salvations and few changes in congregants’ attitudes. Because millennials have grown up in such an age of rage, they support organizations that help change people for the better. Millennials must find the church recapturing its rightful place as a place where people and communities are being changed for the better. Rx: This requires praying for and allowing the Holy Spirit to work by liberating people from sins, addictions, abuse, bigotry etc. as well as changing the neighborhoods in which the congregants live. Programs that help people change their lives (e.g. divorce recovery, 12-step addiction recovery programs, grief recovery and most importantly the salvation experience) should be what a church is known for. While researching John Wesley and the power behind his methods, I found a key method was a requirement that every small group regularly help the poor, and so fulfill Matt. 5:16: “Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” Involvement system: Millennials expect to experiment with volunteerism, even before they have expertise. Because millennials have experienced a world of knowledge on handheld devices since they can remember, they learn by experience more than by long training sessions or wordy manuals. Rx: Increase latitude on who gets to volunteer and what responsibilities they are given. This doesn’t mean giving peo-

ple responsibility for which they’re not qualified or suitable, for example I’m not suggesting a non-believer distribute the sacraments, etc. But in other areas millennials can be given opportunities to volunteer, even early on in their spiritual journey. Unified system: Raised in an enraged and divided world, millennials seek a spiritual community that has a higher degree of unity than they have experienced in the world. As Jesus said in John 13:35, “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” Millennials don’t expect the church to be dissonance free, but they do expect it to be more harmonious than what they experience in the world. Rx: Millennials look for a church where conflicted parties sit down and discuss their differences. Conflict resolution theories suggest the first step is to get the divided parties talking directly to one another. The second step is to ensure the leader does not get in the middle. This takes the leader out of being a go-between (who can be blamed by both sides) and gets people connecting directly with one another to understand and grow through face-to-face discussion. Competent system: On the one hand, millennials often focus their churches on a few signature programs that draw people from across a region. On the other hand, Boomers and Xer churches often saturate a narrowly defined community offering a wide variety of programs (often with mixed results). Studies have shown that healthy churches have a specialized ministry competency that is appreciated by the non-churchgoing community. Not surprisingly, millennials have come to expect churches to know what they’re good at doing and to focus their time, talent and treasures toward what God has empowered them to do. Rx: Ask community leaders what your church is known for and which of your programs the community most appreciates. Then with millennial mentees assisting, begin to sketch out what God has uniquely empowered your church to do well and that the community appreciates. Ask your millennials to help you expand on these signature ministries by slowly allocating more time, talent and treasure toward your God-given ministry competency. Find more ideas for church revitalization at: www.7Systems.church Bob Whitesel is an award-winning author/consultant on church health and growth. He has been called “the key spokesperson on change theory in the church today” by a national magazine, co-founded an accredited seminary (Wesley Seminary at IWU) and created one of the nation’s most respected church health and growth consulting firms: ChurchHealth.net

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By Kenneth Priest In pastoral leadership, we often times get stranded using previous strategies and methods. I hear it often in conversations with pastors of declining congregations. “I am doing everything I have done for the past thirty years of my ministry, but it’s just not working this time.” Welcome to church ministry in the digital age! When we rely on past methods, which we had seen achievements from previously, we are stuck with many outdated ideas which might no longer work. We need to rethink our ministry practices. This is not to say what was previously done was wrong, most likely not, especially if you experience a growing church with transformed contagious Christians. However, methods and models of the 1980s are simply irrelevant and out dated. The rethinking needs to do is fully focused on understanding how to contextualize God’s Word and the work of the church in today’s ever changing culture. The issue? Culture shift used to be a ten to twenty year process. Think about, ministry in the 1940s, after WWII, through the early 1960s was quite similar.

Yes, new ministries were developed and campaigns were launched, but all progress within that twenty year time frame was structurally similar. Then we hit the Jesus Movement in the 1970s. This brought around a seeker mindset which stayed through the 1980s. Christendom then moved into a Church Growth mindset out of the seeker movement, which carried us into the late 1990s. During this time, we saw a technological explosion in culture. The 1980s was when we saw personal computing take off. Mainframe computers were out dated and with the 1990s came the widespread use of the internet and personal email. So what does all this have to do with the church and pastoral leadership? Everything. The church is about people, therefore it is about relationships. However, we must begin to think about how we can leverage technology for the purpose of these relationships. As leaders we must rethink our strategies and methods which we have used for years. We must begin to ask, how does this function

in the digital age. Instead of me giving answers or insights fully in this article, let me ask some questions to get you to think on this in your context. First, how is technology used in your community? Do you visit stores, restaurants, or schools? Let me provide some examples of what I see as I travel. Have you been to a Chili’s or an Applebee’s styled restaurant lately? A server takes your order but there is a touchscreen computer on the table to pay your bill when ready. Just indicate on the screen for your bill and slide payment right there. Some of them even have the receipts within to print out. There is no more waiting for the bill to come. Are you in a major market with an airport and have travelers in your church? Though not yet widespread, it is developing. Many airplanes actually have the monitors in the seat back, so you can watch television shows or movies for free. In addition to that, you can order your beverage of choice in the seatback, or even a snack or meal depending on the length of the flight. What’s my point? Technology is changing what we have seen as “service” processes. Our servers in restaurants and flight attendants on planes, are moving to more of an on-demand model. If you want something, ask. They may not be coming around and asking what they can provide. You have to decide to engage to receive service. What about self-checkout at the grocery and hardware stores? This is another way for people to engage with technology and not with person-to-person interface. I am not advocating for the church to not have person-to-person interaction. I am saying that doing church the way you have in the past is not the answer for the future. Rethink Church! The first step in rethinking is determining are you teachable as a leader? Any leader who is not teachable will struggle with revitalization. Are you open to rethinking church? This is not a time to worry if the congregation will go for it, the first step in this process is, will you go for it? Are you curious about what you could do today, different than the past, in order to impact lostness in your context? Do you believe there could be a better answer other than your own? Could there be a better alternative to your way? If you can answer yes to these questions, then you are teachable, therefore you are prepared to move forward.

There are immense challenges to rethinking church. First, we must never waiver on our faithfulness to the inerrancy of God’s Word in all we do. With this as our foundation, we are prepared to step forward into a new way of church. The first step many churches take in being “21st Century” in practice, is livestreaming, or using Facebook Live, for their worship services. We do this to connect with members who are traveling or as a way to reach those who will not come to church, or even a modern day convenience for the sick. When we are truly rethinking church, if we are in a major city where technology is rampant, we must begin thinking about how we can make use of technology in our church for the fulfillment of the Great Commission. This means it must impact our discipleship strategy. Are you offering sermon notes and additional commentary to your church members via digital platforms? If we want to rethink church, we must begin looking at what students advantages are, and start asking, how can we develop a discipleship path with a similar experience? Many schools are providing ipads and notebook computers for students to use during lessons. Online learning is available to all generations. However, when we come to church, we are sitting for a lecture/lesson. We are not engaging children in the same way that they are learning in schools and this is costly. I don’t have all the answers. I am simply asking the question. If we want to impact the culture today, if we are wanting to contextualize God’s Word to the emerging generations, then we have to rethink church. This will only occur when a pastor begins rethinking his past and addressing the church in the 21st century…contextualized for his community.

Kenneth Priest serves as the Director of Convention Strategies for the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention in Grapevine, TX. Kenneth has been leading revitalization endeavors since 2008 with the SBTC. He holds a Doctor of Educational Ministry degree with an emphasis in Church Revitalization from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (MBTS), Kansas City, MO. He serves as an adjunct professor of church revitalization in the doctoral program with MBTS and an adjunct professor of evangelism and church growth with The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, KY. Please contact Kenneth at kpriest@sbtexas.com.

7 Ways to Beat Discouragement By Ron Smith 1. Expose the Lie and the Liar

has been given to Me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations.” How much authority did Jesus have? All. Where did it come from? Heaven and earth. That covers everything. “All authority is given to Me.” Then He says, “Therefore go and make disciples…” Do you see the transference of authority? He says, “I’ve got all authority, therefore you go. Go and make disciples.”

Ephesians 6:16 “In every battle you will need faith as a shield to stop the fiery darts aimed at you by Satan.” It says that Satan is going to have some fiery darts to aim at you particularly as you’re involved in ministry.

Jesus says “I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” That’s strong authority. I don’t understand all of what this scripture talks about, but the Bible says if you are a believer you are given the authority of Christ in spiritual warfare. You have the right to fight back.

Realize that he’s real. 1 Peter 5:8-9 “Be alert, be on watch. Your enemy the devil roams around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Be firm in your faith and resist him because you know that your fellow believers in all the world are going through the same kind of suffering.”

What are some of the fiery darts that Satan throws up against Christians in ministry? Discouragement. Failure. Opposition. Rumors. Put-downs. Misunderstandings. Distractions. Temptation. Low self-esteem. Compromise. Deceptions. Sin. Competition. Fatigue. Illness. Fear. Does Satan ever throw a dart of fear at you? “What do you think you’re doing in ministry? Who do you think you are?” Doubt. Division – Does he ever get Christians working against Christians? Ridicule. Half-truths. Materialism. He’s got quite an arsenal. He’s going to throw these things at you. If you’re going to be effective in ministry, you’ve got to learn how to fight back with faith. Acknowledge the adversary.

2. Recall The Call

Matthew 28:18-19 “All authority in heaven and on earth

3. Defer to the Wisdom of God

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” Proverbs 3:5,6 Trust the God that led you here to be the God who will lead you through. Sometimes we need to listen to our own sermons!

4. Get Back To Your Assignments

Avoid all distractions. This is one thing I think the Lord has taught me and is teaching me over the years. If you’re going to be effective in ministry, and in battle, you’ve got to focus yourself. 2 Timothy 2:3-4 (Living Bible) ”Take your share of suffering as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. Do not let yourself become tied up in worldly affairs for

then you cannot satisfy the One who has enlisted you into His army.” Don’t get distracted. No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs. He wants to please His commanding officer. There are a lot of good things I could be involved in and a lot of ways I could spend my time, but I have one person to please and only one – the Lord Jesus Christ. And if I’m pleasing Him, that is what will count at the end of my life. The question is, what’s distracting you from the ministry?

5. Reach Out

Sometimes you just need someone who understands. The challenge is that many leaders don’t know who to call. You shouldn’t always complain to your members or staff, because they work with you. And seeking affirmation from the people who work for you can be a critical mistake.

place of persistence. Talent will not. Nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not. Unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not. The world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are the overwhelming power.” Leadership Law: Leaders model persistence. They are the last to give up. They are the last to jump ship. They refuse to quit. What does the devil want you to give up? What has he been tempting you to give up on? Reading through the Bible in a year? A career? A dream? A marriage? An idea? A ministry at church?

“The secret of success is to simply outlast your critics.”

When I’m deeply discouraged, I often call a friend who will understand because he has been in a position like mine before. And someone who doesn’t work with me directly so it doesn’t create a funk in the organization. Pray about and pick out the one God leads you to – someone who honors confidence and understands the heart of a person.

6. Get Some Rest

Never underestimate rest. We all need to rest. Learn how to create margins in your life. God always sends an angel of rest. Go back and re-read 1 Kings 19. Rest provides focus, calm, energy, and clarity. All of these things help us hear God’s voice – and not the voice of fear, doubt, hurt, temptation. He ministers to him physically (touch, food, nap), spiritually (dealing with the wrong view of God), and psychologically (listens to him). Sometimes you don’t need a prayer you need a nap.

7. Don’t Quit

When you’re being opposed there are always two oppositions. They want to hinder your work and they want to stop your work. When you know that the opposition’s goal is to get you to quit, what do you do? Don’t quit! You keep on working no matter what. Calvin Coolidge said, “Press on. Nothing can take the

Satan may not get you to commit an immoral sin, but he can get you discouraged! A discouraged Pastor is an ineffective Pastor. That means that we’ve taken our eyes off the Lord and put them on the circumstance. Whenever we give up, the devil wins. One of the fundamental principles of the Christian life is Don’t give up!

Persistence is the ultimate test of leadership. This is the acid test. How do you handle it when the going gets tough? When somebody laughs at you or criticizes you for being a Christian, that may hurt, but it cannot stop you. The secret of success is to simply outlast your critics. How do you get to be an oak tree? An oak tree is just a little nut that refused to give his ground. It doesn’t take a lot of intelligence but if you just hang on you’ll outlast the critics. There is nothing the devil would rather do than stop us and move us into neutral. So, resist discouragement and keep on.

Ron Smith is the Lead Pastor of WaterStone Church in Longwood and serves as Co-Leader of Renovate One Day Training as well as serving on staff of the Renovate Coaching Network. Follow Ron at RonBSmithJr.com for leadership material and sporadic blogs.

Getting a Great Start Toward Revitalization By Tracy Jaggers The first thing to ask yourself when you are considering a revitalization process: “Is this the right time to start the process?” The second question should be – “Am I willing to see this through to the end?” That being the premise for the rest of this discussion, we need to determine the healthiest avenue to begin the journey. Revitalization must be clearly defined, repeated until a consensus is reached, and led with a risk-taker’s passion and perseverance. So, when is the healthiest time to begin the process and launch it from a solid platform? Start early in the lifecycle of the church. Do not wait until the church has begun the slippery slide down the right side of the bell curve. It is time to start a renovation event when the church is healthy and flourishing. It is best to begin evaluating and assessing the future of the church, discovering the strategy of the redesign, and bolstering the strengths of the congregation. Start when momentum is increasing, and the morale is high. Too often the church doesn’t think revitalization is necessary until people are rushing out the back door like a herd of water buffalo being pursued by a ravenous lion. Start early. Evaluate often and redesign as often as today’s technology! Start when you are strong, not declining. I was consulting

with a church in Texas that any spectator would consider healthy and thriving. The pastor and staff sensed it was time to see if there was more that the Lord wanted from them and ways they could better serve their community. After presenting the process, we dispersed the surveys and began utilizing observation tools to determine present effectiveness. After performing eleven community interviews, we uncovered only one person who even knew where the church was located within a 3-mile radius. Mind you, this was a fairly-new relocation of a church that ran 700-900 each week. One interview was performed less than two blocks away at the local donut shop where numerous church members picked up donuts each week for small group Bible studies. When the results were presented, the outreach and discipleship pastor wept. Their gospel message had been silenced, and their community care was impeded. I visited that same donut shop several weeks after the observations were presented. I found myself face-toface with the same teenage girl that I had interviewed two months before. She let out a shriek and stated, “I remember you. You’re the one who started all this.” She had remembered our earlier conversation. She informed me that since that dialogue, numerous church members had come into the shop and gave the employees gift cards,

brochures from the church, invited them to the services and to lunch on a Sunday when they weren’t working, and apologized for having been insensitive and uncaring. Every worker in the shop that day could tell me EXACTLY where the church was located and something good about it. The church body decided to redesign and renew their “care-factor,” and it made a memorable impression. Start when you sense you are slowing down. Every church begins as a mission, with a mission! They grow into a mission with a ministry. They impact the community, with their mission and their ministry. But, after years of church busyness, they get distracted and they begin to remember what used to be, instead of envisioning what needs to be and what is to come! It is at this point that the church begins to function more like a museum replete with wonderful exhibits. “Here’s who we used to be.”“Look what we used to do,” or “Let me tell you about our glorious history.” Unless the church returns to the passion of their ministry and the purpose of their mission, they slide headlong into the dead zone – the mausoleum! Lifeless, cold and pointless. Start again at the apex of the bell curve. Determine once again why God planted your group in this location. Research the founding culture and reason for its inception and ask yourself, “Has our community changed? Does our church look like our community? Are we still a relevant instrument for the spread of the Gospel and the advancement of the Kingdom to this community?” If your answer to these questions is a barrier to reaching the people surrounding your location, then it is past time to start a revitalization process. Get to it! Start now! Seek to make an eternal difference, even if the risk is high and the resistance is harsh. Start when there’s still life and hope. A few churches with which I have consulted have little to no critical mass to continue moving forward. A church with 15-20 people who are in a building with significant indebtedness is not likely to be able to sustain the financial pressure of the facility AND the necessity of presenting community-changing ministry. A church in this state of decline is usually a prime candidate for a partnership, a merger, takeover or replant. A plant that is brown and has no nutrients is dead! We must accept this fact; when it’s dead, it’s time to let it die and allow another new plant to grow in its place. It matters not that it looks like the former entity; just that the Great Commandment and the Great Commission are foundational to its birth. Another way to understand this fourth evaluation point is this: Start when you just need a repair and not an overhaul. Redesigning and renewal are much more palatable than a full-blown replant. Plus, the fact that an overhaul is more expensive and time consuming than a simple repair. To add a turbocharger to your prize vehicle is a one to two-day endeavor, but an overhaul can easily be a two to four-week pain, depending on the parts and shop work. It still astounds me that we tend to tread water until a flood occurs. Only then do we get out of our Lazy-Boy. Solomon said to his son, “But you, lazybones, how long will you sleep? When will you wake up? A little extra sleep, a little more slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest—

then poverty will pounce on you like a bandit; scarcity will attack you like an armed robber (Proverbs 6:9-11 NLT).” We cannot be dull in our vision, apathetic in our attitude toward the problem and lazy in our response. Start when you sense a spirit of comfort or complacency. If you and your congregation sense you have arrived, or have attained all that you envisioned, it is the icy start to the slippery slope of ineffectiveness and self-centered ministry. Remain externally-focused and community-minded. Start in prayer. This is the primary starting point, and the source of empowerment for you, for your congregation and for your revitalization process. No prayer, no power! Start with great coaching. Seek out leaders who have been through successful revitalization journeys. It is beneficial to hear from those who have transitioned church renewals or business makeovers. Write down every lesson they learned, apply them to your situation and location, and ask the Lord if these new ideas should find their way into your process. Great coaching often leads to great teams and strong teamwork makes the going much less grueling than doing it all alone. Start when you are rested and healthy. Don’t make major decisions and big audacious plans when you are despondent or suffering burn out! If we are weak, wavering or washed out, we can fail in the starting blocks and never get to run the race at all! “Sleep deprivation has a negative impact on training,” says David Claman, M.D. (director of the University of California-San Francisco Sleep Disorders Center). “The average person needs seven and a half to eight hours of sleep.” This is true of starting a revitalization process. Don’t begin a renewal process when the congregation if weary and grumpy. Get emotionally healthy and happy and the finish line will seem much closer. Start when you still have friends, followers, and fellow workers. Beginning revitalization with an auditorium full of supportive, happy team members is precious. They will be far more productive and enjoyable to work with. If you start with ticked off people, attempting to get them on board with the future vision will be like herding cats. Finally, and most important of all, start with Jesus as the team leader. Join Him in what He wants done and His Spirit will be with you all throughout the course. Start weak, finish fast! Start strong, finish well!

Tracy Jaggers is the Associational Director of Missions of Gateway Baptist Association, Edwardsville, Illinois. He has held the Senior Pastor, Associate Pastor, Minister of Music, Youth Pastor and Minister of Education roles. He is a contributing author for the book entitled, Practical Tools for Reinventing the Dying Church. His website is: www.churchoverhauler.com

Available in Paperback and Kindle on Amazon.com

Does God really set people free? Or are we just talking? Transformational Discipleship was developed to train leaders how to guide both brand-new and longtime believers towards deep spiritual change. This training is foundational for every believer. It guides people who are stuck on their faith journey due to unresolved, often hidden issues in their lives towards true spiritual, emotional and mental freedom through intimacy with God.

“It’s not like anything I have been through before.”

Pastor John Wright, Titusville, FL “This is life transforming. I’m going to teach the socks off this thing.”

Dr. Phil Phillips, Ft. Myers, FL

We’re Gonna Die! By Steve Smith

A scene in the first The Incredibles movie has Helen, alias Elastigirl, and her kids falling into the ocean after their plane is shot down by missiles. Her frightened son, Dash, starts shouting, “We’re gonna die! We’re gonna die!” This same reaction can be found in many churches. Believers in the congregation sense that the worst is happening to them. The outcome of their fear produces a pretty negative culture. In their own way, they begin to chant, “We’re gonna die!” Some living examples where I have seen congregations in the clutches of this kind of negativity include ones that: • Have long experienced no conversions and little growth potential and feel threatened by an attractive, growing church plant down the street. Some of their members have migrated to the newer church. • Sit dazed by the departure of a popular staff pastor who took many families with him. • Swim in over-the-top debt, using most of their monthly church income just to pay the crushing mortgage. • Shrink in size as they grow old together, with no next generation in sight. •Face changes that require people to give up their comfortable way of ‘doing church.’ “We’re gonna die!” They don’t necessarily express it that way. Instead, they may say, “Our church isn’t very spiritual anymore.” Or, “I’m not getting fed.” Or, “We’re wasting church money on something we don’t need.” Or, “Why are we doing things that way? It will never work.” Or more likely, “When we did ______ in the past, it was a sign that we were spiritually alive. So why did we stop?” They complain about the worship style. They complain about the lack of church leadership. They complain about you, the pastor; your faults, which are glaring, and the way you use your time or fail to meet people’s needs. My experience is that negative people are few in number but can feel like a battalion. Their influence can diminish hope in others and distract them from God’s leading. But the bigger issue with which you need to grapple is: Why are they negative? Why do they prefer to be unhappy instead of joining with others in prayer and service to revitalize their congregation? In reality, there are only two reasons why believers become negative.

The first reason is they may be inwardly consumed with their own personal problems. Their brokenness, unresolved conflicts and hurts from the past color their outlook on life in general. Negativity is not just aimed at you or the church, but at everyone in their world—at work and home as well. They don’t know how to surrender their unfinished spiritual business to God so He can free and heal them, so they wallow in their unhappiness and want others to join them. The second reason is they are looking at problems instead of at God. He is able to use them to overcome the challenges before them. But they have stopped trusting Him. Probably it has been some time since they have allowed themselves to be used by Him to advance Jesus’ kingdom. As a result, they complain like the children of Israel in the wilderness, longing for the leeks and onions of Egypt. As a revitalizing pastor, knowing why people become negative gives you the keys to overcoming the pessimistic culture they create. You have to evaluate each person individually, but once you know by which of the two reasons they are stuck, you can pastor them back to a trusting outlook. Here are four steps to take with negative people. 1. Love them. This is not always simple. Their negative rants may have caused you sleepless nights and cost the congregation some members who moved on to a healthier

pursue intimacy with God, knowing Him and His love in a fresh and life-giving way. 3. Affirm truth without conceding the future. Sometimes there is a kernel of truth in their negative talk that you have ignored. Be humble enough to learn from them as well as instruct them. Face it, we pastors are not omniscient. Our ideas can lead to a bad decision that needs to be righted. That does not mean we are wrong on everything or that we need to give up on where we know God wants this congregation to go. Being teachable can deescalate negative talk. Prepare yourself to ask them helpful questions about their unhelpful thoughts, such as: • What is the good that has come out of this situation? • What’s one thing I can do differently the next time to likely have a better outcome? • What’s one thing you think I can learn from this as the church goes forward in its calling to sow the gospel in this community?

church. Remember that these people are the ones that God gave you to pastor. Start by remembering that God loved you first. Maybe you think that He got a bad bargain. If so, that kind of humility can help you understand your role as Jesus’ undershepherd. He loved his sheep. He left the 99 to recover the one. As difficult as negative people can seem, Jesus died for them too. Ask God to make you a channel of His mercy and love to them if you struggle with this. This has to be the first thing you do if you are going to see them abandon their negativity. If you deal with them out of frustration, anger or a desire to see them leave, you will never be able to offer them a way back to spiritual health. 2. Help them see and address what is going on inside them. You cannot just write them off. Nor can you shrink from this aspect of being their pastor. I am coaching someone right now who would rather let the person go out the door than attempt to speak into his life. I remind him that this is what God has him there to do. Are they hurting inside? Or are they focused on the temporal? Either way, you need to help them regain their walk with God. Part of that is helping them explore why they are negative in order to discover the root of their misguided thinking. But more importantly, they need to

4. Point to positive things God is doing in your midst. One of the greatest tools in your toolkit is the dynamic work of God’s Spirit in your congregation. What has God already done to move you back towards being a healthy congregation? Has someone come to faith? Are people growing in grace? Has a problem been overcome? Are people praying with greater faith? If God is at work, then you can confidently remind them that “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:6) God is also doing positive things in their lives, even if they have lost sight of His work in them. Challenge them continually to allow the Spirit to develop gratitude in their lives towards God. Thankfulness is the best way to displace a negative spirit. Churches do die. We have seen in the last several decades thousands of churches close their doors. But death is not a given as long as the people are willing to be used by God and pastors are willing to confront negative people before their unhealthy thinking kills the congregation. Steve Smith is the founder of Church Equippers Ministries, serving churches by training them in transformational discipleship and church systems. He is the author of several books including The Key to Deep Change and The Increasing Capacity Guidebook.

Where to Start? By Rob Hurtgen

tepping into a church revitalization situation can be, well, daunting. Where do you start? What is the first thing you do? The temptation is to put some new paint on the walls, pull out the stained carpet, update the signage and step back and say, “This church is beginning to be revitalized.” That is what I did in my first revitalization work long before I even knew what “church revitalization” was. While those physical changes were needed the church, the ecclesia, the calledout ones, were no more renewed than before we removed the threadbare carpet. Some people were excited that something, anything, was happening. Some were not happy changes were being made at all. However, building changes alone did not bring about the spiritual renewal revitalization requires. My experience forced me to step back and ask the question, “What was necessary for a church to be revitalized?” Through that experience, the Lord opened some opportunities to network with others who were working through the same questions. I was able to receive some formal and informal training and become exposed to some great resources. Allow me to share five insights that I wish I would have known years ago. First, realize that revitalization work must first change the church’s culture. Many churches do not even realize they have a culture. They operate the way they do and assume that every other church does church the same way that they do. The first challenge the revitalizer is going to face is exposing the existing culture and then identifying what must be removed, received, and reformed.

40 42

While each church is unique in the way in which God brings renewal as the lead revitalizer you need a strategy for your church revitalization effort. However, as Peter Drucker is attributed to saying, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” Meaning that no matter how great your revitalization strategy is, culture always wins. As the lead revitalizer your first mission, before any strategic plan for growth, discipleship, and great commission engagement is expressed, is to align the culture of your church with God’s culture for his church. Secondly, to start a church revitalization effort out strong, commit to prayer. As often as we pray for meals, at worship services, in our private devotions, and at public events, prayer is often in last place when it should be in first. If our revitalization efforts are to be healthy, we must commit to fervent prayer. Prayer undergirds everything that revitalizers and church leaders do. Prayer is the spiritual discipline that enables us to abide with Jesus. Prayer is what girds the congregation and at the same time aids in bringing conviction. John Onwuchekwa writes, “Prayer is oxygen for the Christian. It sustains us. So it follows that prayer must be a source of life for any community of Christians. It is to the church what it is to individuals— breathing.” 1 Prayer is critical to change the culture and see the church renew.

1 Matt Smethurst, “20 Quotes from John Onwuchekwa on (Corporate) Prayer,” The Gospel Coalition, September 9, 2018, https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/20-quotes-corporate-prayer/

There are four critical areas of prayer the revitalizer must keep. First, the revitalizer must be on guard to maintain their personal prayer life. The temptation to neglect the discipline of prayer is subtle. Rescheduling time of morning prayer for the afternoon quickly becomes a day of prayer missed. A day missed becomes two. Before long a week, month and prayer become something you talk about but do not do. Schedule a time of prayer and keep the appointment. Second, the revitalizer needs to pray with leaders so that they are seeking the heart of God together. Nothing says more about how much a church loves the Lord than how often its leaders gather together for prayer. Third, regularly pray with the church body. Pray in your worship service for renewal. Gather for prayer meetings and pray. Avoid the temptation to talk about what you want to pray for and get busy and pray. Again Onwuchekwa writes, “[A prayer meeting] is different from praying during corporate worship, but it’s just as necessary. Prayer during corporate worship is the potatoes to the steak of the preached Word. In the prayer meeting, the roles are reversed. Now our prayer with one another becomes the main dish. We care for each other best as we lean on God together.”2 Gather together, dependence upon each other and upon God and pray. Fourth, call for times of prayer during special occasions if you have a particular outreach emphasis, set aside a time of prayer. Call for a session of prayer before your Easter services. Organize the time of prayer around specific categories accompanied with appropriate scripture readings. E.M. Bounds challenges us in writing, “Talking to men for God is a great thing, but talking to God for men is greater still. He will never talk well and with real success to men for God who has not learned well how to talk to God for men.”3 Pray and pray well.

Informally study them as well. Sit down over coffee. Listen to their stories. Find out what brought them to the church. How did they come to know Christ and what ministries are they passionate about? Ask them about their families. Tell them about your own. Proverbs 27:23 says, “Know well the condition of your flocks, and give attention to your herds.” Start your revitalization strategy off strong by knowing your people. Fourth, start your revitalization strategy off strong with preaching. The same charge that Paul delivered to Timothy still stands to all who lead in the church, “I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching” (2 Tim 4:1-2). Devote yourself to the preaching of the word. Commit yourself to the regular preaching of God’s word. In season and out of season. However, do not commit the sin of being boring in preaching. When Nehemiah gathered the people together to rebuild the walls once they completed their work they gathered together to hear from the law as presented by Ezra and the scribes. The first gathered the people together, the second the people before God. The first built a structure the second restored a people. Preach the word. Finally, start your revitalization strategy off strong by committing to having gospel conversations every chance you can. Pray for opportunities to have gospel conversations. Not every gospel conversation will lead someone to Christ but one of them might. Make a personal commitment to have gospel conversations every opportunity you can.

Third, start your revitalization effort out strong by being personal. Spend time formally and informally getting to know your people. Formally know your people by studying them. Informally know your people by spending time with them.

The first revitalization effort I was involved with did not start off strong. At least not as strong as I thought as it could have. Thankfully these practices mentioned above were not wholly absent from the work. There were not fully present either. They were fully engaged before the Lord called my family and me away to another ministry. When we left the church was in a better position for the next season of life and ministry than when we arrived. Strength was gained. These five practices can help your church revitalization start off and continue strong.

Formally study your people by gathering the data about them. Research the census data of your mission field. Know the profile of the people that live in the immediate community around your church. If your congregation members do not live in the same neighborhood where your church building is located, find out why. Take time to dig deep into the history of your church. In doing so, you may find that there is a reason in the church’s past, a hidden sin that must be confessed that may be the root cause of their decline. Formally study your people from an objective perspective.

Rob Hurtgen is the Pastor of First Baptist Church Chillicothe, Missouri. He holds an M.Div from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and is currently pursuing a Doctor of Ministry degree in Church Revitalization from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

2 Ibid. 3 E.M. Bounds, Power Through Prayer, https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/942850.E_M_Bounds

WHY SMALL GROUPS?

From the Old Testament to the New Testament small groups are used in very significant ways. Small Groups have always been part of God’s plan to develop and grow believers. In modern times from Sunday School to the contemporary Small Group movement the churches that embraced small groups in a significant way experienced the most growth in evangelism and discipleship. Small Groups should be a fundamental strategy for every church that seeks to be a Biblically complete church.

OUR VISION – Why We Exist

To see every church develop significant small groups that are healthy and growing.

OUR MISSION – What We Do We come to the church and partner with the pastor and staff to evaluate the current condition of their Small Group Ministry and then develop a custom plan to renovate and reinvigorate their groups. Our plan includes developing comprehensive goals and strategies. We also provide training and custom resources for the churches we serve.

www.DynamicSmallGroups.org

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Here Am I, Please, Send Somebody Else! By Walter Jackson

ou cannot start a strong church revitalization effort until you stop saying, Here am I, please, send somebody else!1 You can start a strong church revitalization effort when you can move on and say, Here am I, Lord, send me. Church revitalizing pastors are dealers in hope. They are humble-high-performing-laser-focused-multitaskers that will simultaneously revitalize a church and city. Are you that pastor? Do you revitalize because you can? What can start a strong church revitalization? CALL Every pastor wants to say, “God, call me if I can be a packed house communicator, a team leader, a big baptizer, a bestselling author, a family rescuer, a global helper, a church builder and a city impactor.” But what happens, when attendance is disappearing? Teams are fighting? Baptisms are dropping? Offerings are shrinking? Writing is nonexistent? Families are on their own? The city is clueless that you are a church? What happens? God calls YOU. When the country is in chaos, everybody has a plan to fix it, but it takes a leader of real understanding to straighten things out-Prov 28: 2 (MSG). God alone can call you and make revitalization work. Here is a tool to help analyze your call: The Church Revitalizer Top Performance Profile Assessment.2 Also, remember to hang on to God’s call; you are going to need it. CHURCH Before you accept a call to lead any church, establish with the elder team or pastor search team that they can have you “25/8,” but that your family is off limits. Establish with them that your family, like their families will only do what is healthy for them in the church. Always take care of your family first-1 Tim 5: 8. Before you accept a call to lead any church, ask the elder or search team to respond to three questions: What do you sense God wants to do next with your church? Why do you sense that I am the person God is calling to lead? Is there anything behind the scenes that needs to be adjusted for church health? 1 Jill Briscoe, Here I Am- Send Aaron, Victor Books, 6th Printing 1980, pg. 32. 2 Tom Cheyney, Michael Sharp and Brian Rutherford, RevitalizerAssesment.com

Listen intently to each of the elders or search team leaders. Then simply tell them who you are and where you will lead if they call you. Here is an example: Establish that you will lead them to do big group worship, small group discipleship and go get more groups with citywide outreach. Agree on God’s new direction so that when the bumpy turbulence of revitalizing begins to take off, the elders or search team leaders can help the church and city progress. CITY Equip the church to share the gospel with the city-Eph 4:12. Kevin Palau in his book Unlikely says, “A successful gospel movement [is] gospel-centered, church-driven, disciple-led and city-focused. [It is] the whole church taking the whole gospel to the whole city that collaborates with city leaders of all sorts to discern the city’s needs and works collaboratively to meet them. People seldom see visible unity, humble leadership and sustained gospel effort [from] a church.”3 Unity is the number one way to reach the city-Jn 13:35. So go. 3 Kevin Palau unlikely, Howard Books, 2015, pgs.143-151.

Coach your team to love one another. Coach them to reach the city with the gospel-Jn 3:16. COMMITMENT When a church accommodates to the truth of secular culture, it will die and the city will never know. Be the church that is committed to the authority of God’s Word and it will be easier for the city to see Jesus-2 Tim 3:16-17. COLLECTIONS People have a subliminal sense about how carefully or carelessly your church accounts for the offerings -1 Jn 4: 1-2. Tell the gospel truth about the offerings and cheerful givers will multiply. You can’t revitalize without trust.. CALM The energy to revitalize does not come from a triple shot of espresso. But God’s Word can be like Coffee For Your Heart that exchanges high church stress with calm:5 Pray without ceasing-1 Thess 5:17. Love and lead without fearing-Ex 14: 14. Rest, workout and celebrate without regretting-3 Jn 2. Revitalizer, God has called you to take care of yourself. Do it. CELEBRATION When God starts sending you that revitalizing feeling, when you sense you have dealt some hope, laser-focused some multitasking, or humbly performed at some high level, CELEBRATE WITH GOD.

COMPASSION My grandmother had been a pastor’s wife for over forty years. One day after I surrendered to God’s call, I went over to her house. As she stood over the stove cooking me some bacon and sunny-side-up eggs, she said one of the most amazing things. With her eyes fixed on the skillet she said, “Love your people, but keep your eyes on the Lord.” She never looked up from that skillet to comment. It would not have mattered. Only after answering God’s call for a few years can you understand every word she said-Prov 31. COACHING Revitalization is a team sport. Let God show you the laity and staffers that are coachable. Coach Dabo Swinney’s Clemson Tigers were behind at halftime in the 2016 National Championship Game. He told his football team in the locker room, We are going to win this game because we love each other.4 4 Clemson won. 4 Dabo Swinney, ESPN National Championship on field postgame interview, University of Phoenix, 2016.

When your team is seeing God’s Spirit moving, people worshipping, baptisms happening, books selling, families uniting, the church revitalizing, or the city changing, CELEBRATE WITH YOUR TEAM. Know your strong start in church revitalization is a blessing to the church and city. And because God called you and your team to move on and say, Here we are Lord, send us, and CELEBRATE WITH YOUR CHURCH AND CITY. 5 Holley Gerth, Coffee For Your Heart, Harvest House Publisher, 2011, pg. 101. Walter Jackson has been pastoring for thirty-three years. As a pastor he has seen God use His people to turn around four churches in Tennessee, Alabama and Florida. His favorite thing about pastoring is that he gets to hang out with people in all kinds of communities and love on all kinds of people. Walter loves speaking the creativity and love of God’s Word into people’s lives. It is his hope that people can feel free to laugh a lot, cry some, and walk out of the church feeling loved by God.

A Good Start Doesn’t Just Happen By Bud Brown

An aspiring sprinter doesn’t casually stroll onto the track, get in the starting blocks, and explode with Usain Bolt’s power and speed when the starter’s pistol fires. The entrepreneur’s business venture starts long before that new boutique’s doors open; she conducts market research, develops and markets her products, sets up and stocks the retail space, and promotes the grand opening. Then her business gets off to a good start. My weight training coach spends significant time teaching me the skills required to master a good start in the deadlift. Once I position my feet properly, apply a firm grip in the right spot, and assume good posture, then I’m ready to lift. Time and again my coach makes minor corrections, shows photographs and slow-motion videos of my technique, and trains me to envision the perfect deadlift. Thanks to him I lift significant weight for a senior citizen without harm or injury. In sports, business, marriage, or life training, discipline, and skill development precede the good start. The same is true of ministry. A good start in church revitalization doesn’t just happen, it is the result of a lot of work. In many ways, training for church revitalization is like training for the deadlift. You have to practice until you master foot placement, grip, posture, and execution. In the process you learn to envision the lift before weight moves off the floor.

Training for the deadlift is like training for church revitalization.

A skilled coach

Life isn’t about just one thing. Neither is church revitalization leadership. There’s no magic formula, no secret sauce, and no silver bullet. But there is one essential component that will make or break getting a good start: the coach. Accomplished revitalization pastors invariably have coaches.1 There are four reasons why. 1. A coach understands your potential and weaknesses. 2. A coach tailors a program suited to your particular needs so you can achieve your potential and avoid injury. 3. A coach sees mistakes you’ll miss and makes adjustments on the spot so you can master leadership skills. 4. A coach motivates and encourages, which spurs us to work harder and achieve more. Action Step: if you don’t have a leadership development coach, find one who knows best ministry and best leadership practices and has a proven track record of developing revitalization pastors.

A solid stance

A good start begins with the feet. My coach pays close at1See Penfold and Malphurs, Re:Vision, p. 95. They discovered that revitalizers are far more likely to work with a coach than maintainers.

tention to and continuously refines my foot placement and balance. He recommends lifting with bare feet to maximize a constant, mindful contact with the floor. He’s taught me that pushing the floor down with my feet translates into greater strength. When I’m anchored to the floor and focused on steady feet, I can lift more. Where do pastors plant their feet to lift and move a stagnant church? The mission of God is the revitalization pastor’s only sure and immovable footing. His plan to restore the creation to blessedness is a major, if not the primary, biblical theme. Scripture’s narrative arc, from the first chapters of Genesis to the last chapters of Revelation, traces this mission. You’re on solid ground when you align your preaching, leadership development, programming, and pastoral care with God’s mission. This positions you to distinguish means (which should evolve) from ends (which do not). Action step: if you can’t explain your church’s mission in a single declarative sentence, do it now. It is the foundation and justification for everything else.

A firm grip

A firm grip is crucial to a good start in lifting the weight off the floor. Grip limits how much you can lift. It doesn’t matter how strong your core, back, and legs are if your hands can’t hold the weight. A strength coach drills you on hand strength, placement, and a grasp that endures for the whole lift. Revitalization pastors have a firm grasp on vision. Turnaround Pastors define vision as a statement about what this church will do to reach that group of people using these resources. Getting off to a good start toward church revitalization is highly unlikely without a firm grip on vision. With it you’ll be able to hang on for the three to five years it takes to move a church off the plateau. 1. It ignites passion in hearts and minds that supports the required changes. 2. It reveals “green shoots” showing the church can still grow. 3. It realigns resources to their highest and best use. 4. It is a logical basis for cutting ineffective programs and saying “no” to opportunities that don’t fit. 5. It focuses everyone on the destination when they grow weary. Action step: if you don’t have a clear, compelling vision that’s specific to your church, work with your coach to develop one. Read Chapter 10 of Malphurs and Penfold, Re:Vision: The Key to Transforming Your Church.

Healthy posture

More than anything else, my weight coach drills his clients on posture. Learning and keeping proper posture is vital to avoiding injury, particularly as weights increase. He insists we master the optimal alignment of back, hips, and knees

before lifting. He constantly reiterates the proper sequence of movements of hips, knees, and back throughout each lift so we don’t hurt ourselves. Pastors must learn to adopt and maintain a healthy posture. This involves keeping a beneficial distance between their emotions and the church’s anxiety. Churches will always resist change, even when they clamor for it, and resistance produces anxiety. It’s hardwired into the human system. Revitalization pastors must learn to self-differentiate. 2This is vital to staying healthy while moving heavyweight congregational resistance. The primary cause of pastoral burnout isn’t hard work or long hours; it is lifting the anxiety that other people are carrying. Pastors must master the alignment of emotional systems — theirs and the church’s. A healthy emotional posture involves standing partly in and partly outside the church. It is staying close to the people, particularly the difficult people, but refusing to “make them feel good.” Action step: if you are unfamiliar with self-differentiation, learn this crucial emotional posture. Read Edwin Friedman’s A Failure of Nerve and Jack Shitama’s Anxious Church, Anxious People. Then, work with your coach to develop a healthy emotional posture. A plan Next week I’ll attempt a new personal best on the deadlift. If I succeed, part of the credit will go to a good training plan. Months of work on grip, footing, posture, and escalating weight will look like nothing more than a single deadlift. But without the plan, the discipline, the coaching, and the skills it wouldn’t happen - ever. It’s a given that plateaued churches must plan for revitalization. Plans evolve as new opportunities and challenges appear. (That’s not an argument against planning, it’s an argument for adaptability.) Action step: with your coach’s guidance, assemble a planning team and get to work. It takes months to draw up a plan people will embrace. Don’t start without one! 2 Self-differentiation is the ability to stay close to people while not reacting to their anxiety. Bud Brown has ministered in a wide variety of settings, from small rural to mid-sized suburban to rapidly growing megachurches. He has trained and mentored international students, intentional interim pastors, doctoral students, and now serves as president of Turnaround Pastors (www.turnaroundpastor.com).

52 46

By J. David Jackson In the earlier years of my life, I had a mentor named Bob Brindle, who taught me much about life and ministry. In the formative days of my ministry, he had me accompany him on visits, to meetings, in planning and decision making, all in hopes of helping me glean experiential wisdom from someone who had been involved in ministry for many, many years. Personally and contextually, it was extremely helpful. Bob would shift from Decision Maker to Encourager to Counselor to Advocate as needed, and it was impressive to watch. He knew how to wear these different “hats” at the appropriate time with the appropriate people, and it made all the difference in the outcomes achieved. If you, as a pastor in a local church revitalization situation, are going to exert the leadership necessary to bring out the desired result necessary—a reversal of the decline and an advance in growth and stability for the future—then you are going to have to master the art of wearing the right hat at the right time, like my mentor Bob. And that will require you to spend a lot of time with your people. First, you have to acknowledge that the hat you need to wear depends on the credibility you have with the person or people you are seeking to lead. And the currency of credibility is trust. Without credibility, there is no trust. Without trust, there is no leadership and without leadership, there will be no change. Many years ago, I was taught that all leaders have four sources for establishing credibility. Positional credibility comes from your title or role in the church or ministry of which you are a part. It is an acknowledged credibility from those both inside and outside the organization. For those on the outside of the organization, this may be able to garner their trust, albeit in a limited fashion, that doesn’t really affect their own behavior. For those inside the organization, this will be enough, as well, but only for the earliest portion of your ministry among the people. If your credibility doesn’t move to an additional source, especially when you begin to suggest changes to their behavior, it will be lost, and your leadership of no effect.

Experiential credibility is the second type leaders will use. This draws from both their education and their lived out competence in the skills needed to lead. It is obviously demonstrated in action over time. It is hard to rush this kind of credibility and the influential impact it can have. Each time you use your education or competence and show your skill in an effective, productive manner, it adds to your credibility. This causes people to trust you more. However, for major change to happen, greater credibility than this is needed. This kind of credibility only moves the head, but not the heart. And for people to follow you into major change, a leader must capture the heart. Relational credibility is the third type needed. This comes from rubbing shoulders with the people you lead, being a servant leader who cares, a person whose walk and talk “match up.” Here is where people discover how genuine you are, and sense how much they mean to you. When you share their passions and dreams, invest in their lives and experiences, comfort their hurts and celebrate their victories, then people really begin to trust you even more. When they believe you will move heaven and earth on their behalf, they will follow you anywhere! But such trust takes time, once again, and is seen in action as you intersect their lives at those oh so important times of significance and of crisis. Miss these opportunities and it will hurt your credibility; be present and it will multiply your credibility, and their trust in you. Finally, there is spiritual credibility. This comes from your walk with the Lord, not just your knowledge of Word of God. It is evidences by others when you speak of God, and for God. People hear the authority of God’s Word and will in your voice and see it in your life, demonstrated by “grace and truth,” because you’ve so obviously been in His presence and sat at His feet. It is palpable, and adds credibility in extreme measures. A warning is needed here, though! If you attempt to maneuver or use spiritual credibility too early or in an inappropriate way to get your desired outcome, or justify your opinion, it will be received as self-righteous, Pharisaical, and judgmental. Relational credibility in most instances has to be established with others before they will recognize spiritual credibility for what it truly is, a heart of passion and obedience for God and His people. Being aware of the source of credibility you have with your people will make a huge difference in when and where you can lead them forward. Let’s face it: most churches want a chaplain, not a change agent. But a chaplain is never going to move them out of the situation they find themselves in, regardless of what church members may think. To earn the right to be a change agent, you will have to establish greater credibility that is demonstrated over time. How do you enhance the credibility you currently have, and build a richer, stronger base of trust for your leadership in the church? You wear the right hat at the right time. Here are nine hats you will need to wear regularly: Listener. To learn what is in the heart and on the minds of

the people, you must listen. Listening will reveal the fears and dreams in a person’s heart, and perhaps the key to unlocking the next level of relationship with them. Encourager. Finding ways to affirm others always builds credibility. Look for the positive and reinforce it. The rule of thumb is no less than two encouragements for every critique. Cheerleader. Remind them they can accomplish what is needed, with God’s guidance. Throughout whatever process or situation they are attempting or find themselves in, cheer them on, like their biggest fan. Advocate. Have their back. This often happens when they are not around. Defend them as needed and use your influence to support them before others. This tells them they believe in you, or at least what God wants to do in and through them, and will likely be reciprocated later. Equipper. Train them as needed, and as they show themselves teachable. This is a primary responsibility for every pastor, but one enhanced by trust as church members are eager to learn from you. Coach. Help them achieve their God-given potential. This requires you know them well, and what God desires in their lives. Acknowledger. Recognize them and celebrate them. Handwritten letters, platform recognition, awards, compliments, phone calls…how you do this will differ from person to person. But the key is to do it; don’t neglect this integral piece of leadership. When you notice and acknowledge the difference people have made, it builds trust and followship. Consistent Example. Like my mentor Bob, show others by example the skills and opportunities for their growth and development as a valued co-laborer in Christ. Spend time with them, and allow them to learn from you by observing your presence and gleaning from your wisdom. Change Agent. Ultimately, this will largely depend on how you’ve worn the other hats, previously mentioned.

My friend and mentor, Bob, taught me a lot of things about ministry, for sure. But perhaps none of them were as important as wearing the right hat at the right time. For revitalization to take place in your churches, the people must buy into you, the leader. And that will happen when they experience you as trustworthy and credible to them. J. David Jackson serves in New England and is the author of the book ReNEW: Traveling the Forgotten Path, which addresses the elements necessary for credible pastoral leadership in revitalizing a church. It can be found at amazon.com. Jackson can be reached at drjdavidjackson@gmail.com.

The local church is the only organization that can facilitate eternal hope, lasting change, and total transformation in the lives of people and communities everywhere. Even so, todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s local churches are often in desperate need of renewal and revitalization themselves. In The Revitalized Church, Pastor Michael Atherton uses his firsthand experiences to show how a local church community can once again become vibrant. The Revitalized Church shares Athertonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s eighteen-month journey merging two church communities with a common vision and discusses the challenges and the victories he encountered. In addition, he examines the key biblical leadership principles that were used to help sustain the church community.

DYNAMIC Small Groups

Sunday School: Dead or Alive? By Fred Boone The 21st Century came in with great uncertainty and fear. The Year 2000 problem, also known as the Y2K problem, the Millennium bug, the Y2K bug, the Y2K glitch, or Y2K, was a class of computer bugs related to the formatting and storage of calendar data for dates beginning in the year 2000.1 Many were certain that the world would come to an end. Others thought the Y2K bug would shut down computers and everything related to computers i.e. the electrical grid, communications, satellites in space, even microwave ovens would shut down. The fear was wide spread and there were even people building Y2K resistant shelters. As we now know, none of the fears came true. But it is amazing to think that in a time when so many advances had taken place the world could be frozen in place fearing something that no one knew for certain would take place. It is true that each century brings new challenges and opportunities and many things change in society but the truth is the needs of man have not changed. Since Adam and Eve sinned in the garden man has been in a fallen state and needed a savior. This need has never changed over the centuries. But today God has commissioned the church to be the bearer of the good news, the Gospel. The question is: How shall 1 Wikipedia, Year 2000 problem

the church carry out this mandate? In the early 1800’s the church discovered a strategy called Sunday School. In the 20th century Southern Baptist developed Sunday School into an evangelistic Bible teaching force that led Southern Baptist into being the largest protestant denomination in the world. But many Sunday Schools lost their vision and tradition overtook purpose. Today in the 21st century there are churches seeing great success in their Sunday School. What makes the difference? Clarity of purpose and vision of the pastor have led to effective Sunday Schools that are once again evangelistic in mission and driven to teaching the Bible with the goal of making multiplying disciples. The key difference in growing, alive Sunday Schools and dying, declining Sunday Schools is simple - “Clarity of Purpose”.

Five Best Practices

The growing Sunday School has settled the question of why do they exist and how will they carry out their mission. Most growing Sunday Schools have discovered five best practices. These are the things they focus on and set goals to achieve. These practices are measurable and attainable. What’s so interesting about these practices is that any church can do them. It has nothing to do with

location or size. Churches in large metropolitan areas are seeing success and smaller churches in rural settings have seen success. The practices are not dependent on many factors only the clear vision of the leadership and their commitment to execute the practices.

their permission. These churches have enrollment goals that they keep before their church and talk about often. Enrollment after all is “people” and when a church sets reaching people for Christ as the goal the Lord seems to bless that church.

Practice One, Workers: “A worker is any individual that is prayerfully recruited and trained to staff the Sunday School.” Carefully recruited and trained leaders will make an effective organization with a stellar team that is equipped to carry out the assigned task. The most effective leaders are those that understand their calling and see themselves as servants of the Lord. Most churches never give enough attention to the worker - member ratio. In other words, most don’t understand how many workers you need in relation to the number of members that are enrolled in a class. Examples of the ratios needed would be one worker to four enrolled in the preschool, one to six in the children’s classes and one to twelve in the youth. The Sunday School that makes recruiting workers a priority and makes sure every department and class is staffed as necessary to accomplish their goals will see more success.

Practice Four, New Units (Classes): “A Unit is a Teaching Unit – in the youth and adult areas, the teaching unit is usually called a class, but in the children and preschool areas, the teaching unit is sometimes termed a department. A teaching unit is a group of pupils and a teacher.” The church with a growing Sunday School understands that new classes grow faster, win more people to Christ, provide more workers and encourage constant growth. The new classes often produce spiritual growth. They certainly create a sense of excitement and accomplishment. Practice Five, Outreach: “An organized effort to go outside the walls of the church to share the gospel and enroll people in Sunday School. It is the Great Commission in action.” Outreach is the intentional strategy to follow-up on prospects and new visitors to the church. The Sunday School that ignores outreach is not only unhealthy, it is at best on life support. There is no way that a church can fulfill the Great Commission while ignoring outreach. Health Sunday Schools are focused on reaching the unreached. They are looking at maintaining a balance between outreach and ministry.

Practice Two, Prospects: “A Prospect is anyone that you know general information about and your Sunday School could minister to.” The Sunday School that values prospects and understands that this represents future growth will be far ahead of every other Sunday School. Summary of Several Surveys: 1. When prospects equal one-half of enrollment, a church can grow about 25%. 2. When prospects equal the enrollment a church can grow about 50%. 3. When prospects equal two times the enrollment a church can grow about 100%. As you can see from these surveys the growing Sunday School values and makes building a prospect list a priority. Practice Three, Enrollment: “Enrollment is the process of registering a prospect as a member of a Sunday School class. Sunday School Enrollment is the ‘welcome mat’ for an outsider to become an insider in a class.” The Sunday School Enrollment is the most important number a Sunday School keeps. Sunday School enrollment is their best Evangelistic indicator. Consider these incredible facts about enrollment: For every two enrolled, one will attend. One out of three lost people enrolled will be saved. One out of 250 will be saved outside the Sunday School. This makes enrollment the most powerful evangelistic tool we have ever seen, yet most churches have ignored this strategy. The growing Sunday School has a policy to Practice Open Enrollment: Enroll Anyone, Anyplace, Anytime who is not enrolled in another Sunday School with

Three Benefits

The church that will prioritize the work of the Sunday School will experience three key benefits to the overall work of the church. First, they will see continuity in mission and function. The church will be on the same page because the vast majority of the church will be exercising their gifts through the Sunday School. This will result in a new excitement about the singular mission of the church and how everyone plays a part in its accomplishment. Second, the Sunday School provides for real community within the church. Community is a group of people with common characteristics and interest within a larger group (the total church). Third, connection - every class provides a place for people to make personal connections and to develop truly personal fellowship opportunities. Yes, the Focused Sunday School is Alive and Well! Fred Boone is the Executive Pastor and LIFE Groups Pastor of First Baptist Church of Mount Dora, Florida.

REVITALIZATION ISN'T EASY. BUT IT'S ABOUT TO GET A WHOLE LOT CLEARER...

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Be Careful What You Ask For By Jim Grant

In Exodus 2:23-25, we find that the people of Israel are lamenting under the burden of Egyptian slavery. Verse 23 says they sighed and cried out to the LORD. Israel cries out for help from the Lord and God hears their prayers. Verse 25 indicates that the prayers reached God and He took notice of them. This is a great affirmation that when the people of God pray, God hears our petitions. I would imagine they asked in deep sorrow to be delivered out of the bondage of slavery. We don’t know exactly the verbiage, but we can ascertain they wanted out of the current lot in which they found themselves. When we pray, scripture affirms that God will act – James 4:1-3 tells us we have not because we ask not; again Matthew 7 instructs us to keep asking, seeking and knocking. So, it is incumbent upon us to pray to God and let Him answer according to His perfect wisdom and will. Too many of my own prayers in the past have been loaded with my agenda. I wanted what I wanted. My prayers were meant to persuade God to see things my way. When the Father in Heaven didn’t answer in the way I thought He should, I grumbled and complained like a little child that was told no. Israel asked for deliverance, God already had His man in Moses on the backside of the desert. Moses through his own sin wound up herding sheep with his father-in-law Jethro. We must remember before the burning bush event, God had spared Moses at

birth, then provided for him in the house of Pharaoh. In those years [40] he had access to every subject available at the time. Moses was schooled in leadership, warfare, and combat tactics. Surely the Egyptians thought Moses was going to one day be their leader. Moses was afforded everything needed to become the leader Israel asked for and provided to them by the LORD. Sure, Moses was reluctant to go, but God had His plan, and Man for the occasion. Well, the first attempt at leading the people was met with negative results. Instead of a quick deliverance, Pharaoh increased Israel’s labors. “You have made us odious in Pharaoh’s sight.” I wonder how many leaders/pastors have tried to be obedient to what God has prepared them for, only to be rejected? Surely, we respond the way Moses did – he questions God’s plan. We often look at the ten plagues as God’s way of getting Pharaoh to let Israel go; but I think it was also to get Israel to the point of being willing to go. For hundreds of years this nomadic people had been urban dwellers. There was comfort in being settled on one location. God needed Israel to become sheep again – ready to graze in new pastures. We know the story; the last plague brings Pharaoh down and he charges Israel to leave. He relents the decision, and then chases after Israel. Moses leads

the people according to God’s prompting – only to find that they are trapped at the Red Sea, and Pharaoh is approaching. The people asked for a leader, but at every turn they rebelled and questioned his decision and Israel is ready to go back at the first sign of difficulty. Many churches call a pastor, commission him to lead them, then when he tries, they balk at his leadership. If I am Moses, I begin to wonder as well about the plan of God. Here is the difficulty – the Pew is doubting, and now the Pulpit is questioning too. If we were to read through the book of Exodus, we would notice that every time a difficult situation comes up – the people grumble and want to go back to Egypt. But this is what they prayed for – someone to deliver them, and now that they are out of Egypt, they want to go back because they don’t like what God’s leader is doing. Over and over, Israel acts like the stubborn, stiffnecked sheep they are so often described to be. People complain when their comfort is jeopardized. Israel complained about water, food, and anything else that went against their idea of what should happen. Churches need leadership. If the church could do what was necessary, they wouldn’t need a Shepherd/Leader/Pastor. Pastor Search Teams are notorious for looking for the perfect pastor to lead them. Except when the man that God has been preparing for the task gets on board, then the people rebel against what needs to be done. When we look at revitalization, the same attitude prevails. People didn’t want a leader, they just wanted comfort. Too often congregations think the Pastor/Leader is called to do the will of the people; wrong, he is there to do the will of God. You may even ask, aren’t they the same thing – Not even close! People and Congregations are not committed to their leaders – now this should go without saying, but there is the necessity to be a leader that can be followed. It is difficult to be the leader in a place where people do not want to follow. In Revitalization work there is always the potential for a volatile atmosphere of conflict, especially if the Church is not on board with the necessary chang-

es. Too often a Church is willing to circumvent the full revitalization process when they obtain some sort of return to status quo from their crisis. When Churches do not get their way, too often the first suggestion is to change the leadership; when in fact the problem is the church. In Exodus 32 we have the story of the “Golden Calf” idolatry. Moses has gone to meet with the LORD on Mt. Sinai; gone for 40 days, the people look to replace him. How soon people forget who is in charge. Israel wanted a leader so they picked one. Aaron is the chosen leader of the people and he is their leader because he looks to satisfy them. A lesson in crowd control gone bad! In the absence of leadership, leadership steps forward, even if it is bad leadership. It is amazing that while the Man of God is in audience with the LORD, the people are impatient. Instead of praying and lifting their leader Moses up in prayer, they quickly replaced him. Aaron gave them what they wanted – that is not a character trait of a leader. Tom Landry was a great leader of men. He was able to get men to do what they knew they should do, but were unwilling to do, and Tom was able to get more out of the men then what even they thought was possible. Moses was God’s man for the people of Israel; yet they rejected him and caused great anxiety and stress on him. Israel was always meant to go to the Promised Land. When they had come to the brink of entering (thanks to Moses’ leadership) they balked at the opportunity. It is a difficult position to be in as a leader – prepared, called by God, and in place of service to accomplish the task before him and to find out people didn’t want what God wanted, they didn’t really want a leader – just their own comfort. Jim Grant is the Executive Director of the Galveston Baptist Association. He is an Air Force veteran, retiring with twenty-five years of service. His extensive travels allowed him the unique opportunity to serve in a full spectrum of churches with various styles and ranges of spiritual health. He has a master of divinity degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, and a Doctorate of Ministry degree from Midwestern Baptist Theological seminary with a concentration on Church Revitalization.

The Leadership Link:

A Leader Worth Following By Michael Atherton As I talk to my children about leadership, a statement that I regularly make to them is: “everyone is a leader, but not every leader is worth following.” When reduced to its most basic tenet, leadership is simply one’s ability to influence another. Sometimes a leader is found in a one-on-one engagement. At other times, a leader is engaging a large group. Regardless of the size of one’s leadership arena, what makes that leader a leader is the influence that one exerts over the others. A leader’s influence can impact a follower’s actions, thoughts, feelings, attitudes, speech, or perspective.

tive leader, but ultimately, the congregation decides such a leader is undesirable. Why? If we are honest, for as much as pastors may be guilty of leaving churches prematurely and using one position to gain the next position, the reality is that many churches go through leaders at a very fast pace. Sometimes the leadership personality of the pastor and the ministry personality of the church are simply not a good match. But, I suspect that every person who reads this article has either seen or experienced a premature separation from a church for reasons less than honorable. Why?

“Everyone is a leader, but not every leader is worth following.”

I can scarcely think of a single organization that isn’t interested in finding the very best leadership. Schools want great leaders, governments want great leaders, businesses want great leaders, and churches want great leaders. Corporate America seems consumed with leadership competency and efficiency. Better leadership will inevitably render effective personnel management, clearer vision, more productivity, better time management, happier customers, and increased revenue. All of these results positives, and therefore it makes sense to invest time and money in leadership development. But, in the church, sometimes a various curious development emerges. There are times when a local church body will find or develop a strong and effec-

Though it is often unfair and usually unreasonable, there are times that church bodies just want to be left alone. They can’t say it out loud, but they don’t want to grow. They don’t want to be challenged. They don’t want to add new ministries. The thought of new people threatens the status quo. When a new pastor comes in and helps to lead the church to move forward, the only way to preserve the status quo is to make it so unbearable for the pastor that he eventually leaves on his own. But, if that won’t work, then eventually those who hold seats of power step in and take care of matters themselves. What’s worse is that this cycle can happen every 18 to 36 months, over and over again. Who loses? The church family, the pastor, the pastor’s family, the reputation of the church, and ultimately the Kingdom of God.

Friend, I wish there were an ironclad theory that we could apply that would help churches break this unhealthy cycle. If that principle or theory exists, I certainly have not found it. When we find ourselves in a situation like this, though there may not be an all-encompassing antidote, there are principles that can help us weather the difficulty in the hope of seeing the rainbow after the storm. Situations like these can be helped by: 1. Develop a strong pulpit ministry. The pulpit is the rudder of the ship. The single greatest tool in church revitalization is a strong pulpit ministry. 2. Develop a strong heart of prayer. Beyond giving prayer a cursory nod of approval, when you are in a church where pastoral leadership is undercut at every turn, it is time to lead the church to her knees. Why? Because ultimately, in situations like these, God has to capture the hearts of the people. Give God space to work. 3. Crystallize God’s mission for the church. The church does not need another man-made vision. Seek God’s face and receive from Him what He desires for His Church. Remember this is not your church. It is God’s Church. He gets to decide the direction of His Church. I am not saying that everybody wants to embrace God’s vision. But, I am telling you, fighting for your vision isn’t worth it. Embrace God’s vision and allow Him to fight the battle. 4. Develop the discipline of patience. Sometimes we get in revitalization environments and feel we need to fix every ill in the first 12 months. Most people can only handle so much change at one time. When leading through a revitalization effort, you need to plan on a minimum of 1000 days and often it is much longer. If you are unwilling to give that much time to this effort, then don’t start on the journey. 5. Shepherd the people. The people of God, in Scripture, are often pictured as sheep. Sheep need a shepherd; one who will provide protection, nourishment, rest, and guidance. Shepherds are committed to the sheep, love the sheep, and have a special devotion to the sheep. Don’t be a hired hand! Ultimately, what is the greatest thing you can do as it relates to your leadership within an unhealthy church? Be a leader who is worth following! I recently

returned from Israel, after helping to lead a group of folk who were touring the Holy Land. One stop on our teaching tour is EnGedi. EnGedi is a special oasis out in the middle of a dry and barren desert. The significance of this pocket of paradise amidst a desolate land is tremendous. Most notably, EnGedi was the location that David and his mighty men hid when Saul was pursuing him. Scripture says in (1 Samuel 24:3) that Saul went into a cave in Engedi to relieve himself. It just so happened that this cave was the same cave that David and his men were hiding in. David got so close to Saul that he was able to cut a piece of Saul’s robe. David’s men were urging David to kill Saul. This was David’s chance…he could have, once-and-for-all, put an end to Saul. But, David revered Saul; not because Saul had earned such reverence, but because he was God’s man and David revered God. Many times people question why David was known as a man after God’s own heart, given he made numerous mistakes of monumental proportion. It is a fair inquiry. But, I am convinced David was a man after God’s own heart and arguably one of the Bible’s strongest leaders because of scenes like Engedi. There, David proved himself to be a leader who was worth following. He didn’t do what was popular, but he did what was right. In those situations where you have little control over the people around you and how they will react to your leadership, remember this: when you are a leader who is worth following, through the movement of God in the hearts of His people, folks will eventually start following. It may take time and will certainly prove difficult. But, stay the course and trust that God has a plan even when you may not understand the plan yet. Michael Atherton has served as the Senior Pastor of First Baptist Church of O’Fallon, O’Fallon, MO for 15 years. Leading a church in a church merger, he has learned firsthand the challenges of a revitalizer. Mike is the author of The Revitalized Church. Mike leads a Mentored Master of Divinity program at Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary and is past President of the Colorado Baptist Convention.

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Evangelism in the Real World By Mark Weible While speaking to a group of pastors in Jacksonville, I asked this question, “What is the Golden Rule of evangelism?” No one in the room answered. Perhaps, they had never been asked that question before and were expecting some clever answer from me. I simply shared Matthew 7:12 with them: So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. I reminded the group that there is only one Golden Rule (the one that Jesus gave us) that we apply in any situation; including evangelism. So, we could say that the Golden Rule of evangelism is this: Evangelize others in the way that you would want to be evangelized. If you were spiritually lost, hurting, afraid and alone, how would you want someone to share the life transforming message of the gospel with you? Would you prefer to hear it from a complete stranger while you are walking to your car with coffee, keys, and briefcase

in hand? Would you want to hear it from someone randomly knocking at your door while you are watching a nail-biting game on TV? Or, would you prefer to hear the gospel from someone who has been spending time with you, listening to you, empathizing with you, and showing kindness toward you? Would you be more responsive to a loving friend or relative who knows you well and who’s advice you trust because they have lived the kind of life that you wish you had? I know that I would rather hear the gospel, and would be more likely to respond positively to the message, if it can from someone like that. In fact, I did hear it that way. I first heard the gospel from my Dad. For me to follow the Golden Rule of evangelism is to develop loving, serving relationships with people so that as they are hearing the gospel and they are seeing it lived out in front of them. I like to describe it in reverse like this: • Evangelize those that you love • Love those that you serve • Serve those that you know • Get to know those that you don’t

The Golden Rule of evangelism is the Golden Rule. Should there be any other? There are thousands of people who live near you and the place where your church gathers for worship who want to be reached with the gospel. However, not everyone knows that they want to be reached and not everyone wants to be reached. A pastor once described it this way: • There are some who want to be reached, • Some who don’t know they want to be reached, • And still others, because of their hardness of heart, who don’t want to be reached at all. In my book, Fishing On The Other Side, I deal with the first-two categories. I am not interested in trying to reach people who don’t want to be reached. Yes, God can change their hardened hearts and if you have a relationship with someone who does not want to be reached; my advice is to continue to be Jesus to them and pray earnestly for them. However, I want to encourage you to find and reach out to people who know that they want to be reached and people who don’t know that they want to be reached.

conversation (45%) than those who don’t have such questions (20%). www.Barna.com Those who don’t know that they want to be reached are not hostile to the gospel, they just don’t know that they need the gospel. They may pay attention to the prompting of the Holy Spirit, but they have not yet connected their inner longing for Jesus. These are the ones that I refer to in the book as people who are not searching for a church, but are looking for something that they didn’t know a church had to offer. In other words, they may be looking to fill a non-spiritual need in their lives such as day care for their children or simply the need to connect with other people. They may do internet searches for childcare centers or things to do near them. A church with a properly optimized website may show up in such search results if they offer what these people are looking for. However, even those who don’t know that they want to be reached are more likely to come to faith in Christ through observation and conversation. Observation of the lives of friends and relatives who have been living out their faith and conversations with people who are, “... prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have” (I Peter 3:15). When we engage people through conversation and observation, we are meeting them where they are instead of expecting them to come to us. This is how we “fish on the other side of the boat” resulting in more effective evangelism in the real world.

“People who know that they want to be reached are open to the gospel and are waiting for someone to introduce them to Christ.”

People who know that they want to be reached are open to the gospel and are waiting for someone to introduce them to Christ. They are more likely to seek out a church to visit than the people in the other two categories. That is why it is important that Christian churches maintain a visible presence in their communities, both online and offline. However, they are most likely to respond to the gospel in the context of a relationship with someone who is already a follower of Jesus. George Barna, who has done a significant amount of research in this area breaks it down like this:

Looking at the data, among all non-Christians and lapsed Christians, three in ten (30%) say they prefer a “casual, one-on-one conversation.” But the percentage is higher among those for whom spirituality is significant (40%) than among those for whom it is not (27%). Similarly, non-Christians and lapsed Christians who agree strongly that they have unanswered spiritual questions are more likely to say they prefer one-on-one

Mark Weible serves as the Church Planting Director of the Greater Orlando Baptist Association and the strategic Director of the Renovate National Church Revitalization Conference. Mark has a wealth of experience as a church planter and local church coach. Mark is passionate about church multiplication, renewal, planting, and coaching.

Expository Preaching Through Books Can Bring Revitalization By Joel Breidenbaugh Imagine yourself sitting in your office or in your dining room on a Saturday evening, wondering what you are going to preach the next morning. Charles Spurgeon regularly wrote his Sunday morning sermons on Saturday evenings, but we are not Charles Spurgeon. For some of you, such a scenario on Saturday evenings isn’t too difficult to imagine because it is part of your normal routine. My very first ministry setting was as an associate pastor/ youth minister in a small-town church in the deep south. On multiple occasions, I made the 42-mile one-way trip on a Friday night and stayed the weekend with a couple of different church families. Several of those stay-overs were at my pastor’s home. I witnessed his enormous heart for people: carrying the needy a meal, making hospital visits and phone calls, even on a Saturday, which was supposed to be his day off. But the most important thing he did was write his Sunday morning message on Saturday afternoon. In his recliner. In front of the television. With a football game on. Needless to say his sermons were not very deep and often lacking in helpful application. People loved the pastor for his care but they were bored to tears during his messages. From my ministry at that church, I learned one way not to prepare a sermon!

Handling Criticism to Expository Preaching

Now that I’ve been a preaching pastor for

nearly twenty years, I have made it a practice to preach sermons which both explained the text well and applied the text to my hearers. I have found comfort in preaching through books of the Bible, not having to worry about what to preach each week. Even while doing this, however, I have listened to critics wonder why I preached through Joshua or Revelation or the Song of Solomon. They never said the following words vocally, but they were really complaining about why God included certain books in the Bible. One lady told me, “We don’t need to hear sermons on sex!” An elderly man complained, “Why are you preaching on the end times when we aren’t even sure what will happen?” How do you respond to such questions and grumblings? Do you give in to their demands and preach only what they want to hear? Do you give them input on your future sermon series? Do you resort to topical preaching so you can hit a different issue each week?

Read Between the Lines

Let me encourage you to make a twofold response. First, read between the lines of their murmuring. You may be spending too much time in the details of the passage and failing to apply it helpfully. I really believe the best expository preaching is that which explains and applies a biblical text to an audience under the

power of the Holy Spirit. Some of us preachers get so caught up in what the text is saying, we fail to make some suggestions in the application. Other times we offer application which speaks to our stage of life but not the various stages of life in our congregation. I have been guilty of that and have had to stop and listen to an age group and some of their life challenges. Your preaching improves when you can reach different generations and ethnic groups.

Reasons to Practice Expository Preaching

Second, though you may need to “read between the lines” to consider what they are really getting at, do not fall to the temptation to stop preaching expositionally through books of the Bible. The reasons expository preaching is so foundational are numerous, including the following: The Apostle Paul instructed Timothy and future preachers to preach expositionally when he said, “Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching” (1 Timothy 4:13, ESV). When you read a book, you don’t start in the middle and jump around several other places, unless you are reading an encyclopedia or dictionary! The natural way to read a book is to start at the beginning. That is how Scripture was read in the Early Church. Moreover, exhortation refers to encouragement and is one of the chief ways to apply the Scripture. Finally, teaching is the word for doctrine. It refers to explaining what the Scriptures mean. Thus, Paul advocates what we call expository preaching—explaining and applying a biblical text to an audience (it also should come under the power of the Spirit, cf. 4:14, but that is an article for another time). Another reason for expository preaching through books of the Bible is because God gave us His Word in smaller, individual books for the purpose of understanding and applying them. Paul wrote, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16). The same word for “teaching” or “doctrine” from 1 Timothy 4:13 occurs here. The other three expressions—reproof, correction, training—are ways we apply a biblical text. Therefore, God has given us the Scriptures as books to be explained and applied. While other reasons could be given for expository preaching,1 for the sake of space, let me offer one more 1 For additional reasons why expository preaching is of such value, see Joel Breidenbaugh, Preaching for Bodybuilding: Integrating Doctrine and Expository Preaching for the 21st Century (Orlando: Renovate Publishing, 2016), 176-179.

reason: expository preaching allows God to speak through the preaching event. Whereas topical, thematic and textual preaching all depend a good deal on the preacher’s own creativity and hermeneutical gymnastics, expository preaching puts the Lord at front and center, because it forces the preacher to preach the biblical text in context. The greatest need people have outside of salvation is to hear from God and expository preaching allows His supernatural voice to be heard most clearly. Now, I am not suggesting God is in every illustration and statement of application we use. But He does speak through His Word and He speaks clearest when it is read in context, the way He gave it to us. Expository preaching, more than any other form of preaching, puts God’s message above the messenger.

Expository Preaching Can Bring Life to the Dead

I list these reasons to persuade you about the value of expository preaching through books of the Bible. When you allow God to speak through the Scriptures, He has a way of bringing life to that which is dead from His spoken Word. He did it in the Valley of the Dry Bones (Ezekiel 37) and He can do it in a dead or dying church. Expository preaching, more than any other form of preaching, permits God to speak His Word to His people so that they truly come alive!

Conclusion

As I close, I have a confession to make: I have found myself typing part of my sermon from my recliner in front of the television. But before you cast me into the pit of hypocrisy, let me explain. I do that when I see something which can make a good illustration for my sermon. I have discovered if I don’t write it down when I think of it, I will almost always forget it. The rest of my sermon preparation is done at a desk or a table, where I can write down thoughts, make notes on outlines and the like. May your preparation dig deep into the Word of God as you focus on explaining and applying the text for the sole purpose of letting God speak through His Word to His people. That kind of preaching can bring new life to your preaching and your church.

Joel Breidenbaugh PhD, is the Lead Pastor of Gospel Centered Church in Apopka, Florida, and is an Assistant Professor of Homiletics for Liberty University John W. Rawlings School of Divinity.

8 Things I’ve Learned Since Seminary About Church Revitalization By William Chaney Jr. Over these last 32 years, I have learned several things about revitalization, including the truth about church revitalization. When I was a student at Candler School of Theology, we talked about pastoral care, church administration, starting new churches, church history, and preaching, but not this topic. Yet, except for both of the new churches that I was privileged to start, my entire pastoral history has centered on church revitalization. What I have learned that they don’t teach in seminary: 8. There is no such thing as revitalization. Many things that initially contributed to growth, including cultural norms, socio-economic conditions, and the population in the neighborhood, no longer exist. The new focus should be on churches rediscovering their mission, reengaging their mission field, and refocusing their resources to support the mission. This kind of shift is real “church revitalization” because it is about God’s mission and not a revival of the past. 7. Intercultural competence is essential. The people groups in our neighborhoods have significantly changed since I began in ministry. There is no longer one dominant culture that pervades over all people groups. To reach people who are far from God and who now live in our neighborhoods will require pastors and leaders to have a missionary mindset. 6. When a church has been in decline for several years, they first must complete all stages of grief before beginning a plan to engage the future. The emotional toll on a congregation to experience the church being vibrant and healthy to each week wondering who will show up is significant. Allowing the church to grieve before moving forward will save pastors lots of frustration. 5. Rediscovering, reengaging and refocusing a congregation is equivalent to rewriting the DNA of the congregation. The expectation that a new pastor with new ideas for church revitalization is the solution for a congregation is unrealistic. As leaders, pastors will need to have measurable goals that can be tracked to show the congregation the progress that is taking place over time. 4. Leading a congregation through the process of rediscovering, reengaging, and refocusing should not be influenced by the pastor alone. Pastors need a team of five to seven influential and confident men and women who look at the ministry context, ministry action plan and implement the changes strategically as a team.

3. Not every church can remission, reengage, or refocus. For these congregations, they may need to consider three Kingdom-minded strategies that are difficult to entertain. • Elijah/ Elisha Transfer – This is when an existing church realizes that on their own, they can’t return to health. They choose to give their assets, building, and control over to a new church who is on a mission and can benefit from the church’s assets for evangelistic work. The existing church closes, and the new church emerges after several months. • Adoption - This is when the existing church and a new church partner to take on the identity of the new church over time. There is a time of shared leadership and a predetermined time to hand over the leadership and branding to the new congregation. • Vital Merger – This is when two church agree that their missions align with each other and that both will eventually close without significant change. Both churches sell their properties, release their pastors, and agree on a new pastor to lead them into a new ministry context. 2. Having the right coach is critical - A Ministry Leadership Coach is better than a consultant for many reasons. With years of successful experience, a coach can guide pastors and church leaders to unlock valuable insight. This process and the coach will help churches develop long-term and short-term goals, balance relationships, and reflect theologically. As a result, congregations will be equipped to develop a strategy that fits the ministry context and mission field where they are serving. 1. Prayer is the most critical component of a church rediscovering, reengaging, and refocusing on their mission. Do not trust that a golden nugget such as a great book on strategy, church consultant, ministry coach, webinar, podcast, or conference will get the church unstuck, renewed, revitalized, and healthy. I respect all of the different approaches, but unless there is prayer movement within the church, no strategy, consultant, coach, book, or podcast will do much good. William T. Chaney Jr. has been coaching senior pastors, pastoral staff, new church pastors, and lay leaders since 2005. William is an International Federation Associate Certified Coach, a CliftonStrengths Certified Coach, CliftonStrengths Discovery Course Trainer, Employee Engagement Consultant, and a DISC facilitator. William has served in full time ministry for 25 years.

Let’s Cover the Land in

Thank You Jesus Signs! How it all started...

In 2016, a young teenager named Lucas Hunt prayed for help to display Easter signs in his hometown of Asheboro, NC. Also, he prayed that these efforts would have a giant impact on the Kingdom. A few weeks later a board member at his church, Connie Frazier, sought the Lord’s direction concerning an Easter project for their congregation. Lucas and Connie were unaware of each other’s prayers and desires. Then, God spoke very clearly to Connie instructing her to design a Thank You Jesus yard sign that would be distributed nationwide. Thank You Jesus signs were embraced and the wave of gratitude took hold. Lucas’ prayers and vision, support from Lucas’ parents and Connie’s design and business background led to the creation of the Thank You Jesus signs. This project, with its roots in a small rural church, has turned into a 501(C)3 that receives royalties from the artwork to invest in sharing the Gospel. The investments include grants to spiritual non-profit organizations that seek to share God’s love and the many reasons why we Thank Jesus. Over 250,000 signs have been sold along with car magnets, gar den flags and bracelets. Hundreds of people have been led by the Lord to purchase and display the signs as a ministry of sharing God’s goodness through Jesus Christ. Become part of the Thank You Jesus movement as it spreads throughout the country!

t r a p e m Becof the o T!

N E M E V MO

www.thankyoujesussigns.com

The Killing Factor of Distrust By Steve Sells In my many years of training Pastor Search Teams the number one prerequisite that has been voiced by the people is “any prospective pastor must be a good leader.” Furthermore, that is the first thing on the list of any advertisement for a pastor… “Candidate must be a GOOD leader.” What I have found, however, is that every search team member and every church member has a different idea about what GOOD leadership really is. It is also quite evident that when these churches acquire a good leader that they sometimes do not recognize it because of personal bias and opinion. They want a good leader until they get one. It seems that many churches have a problem with leadership because of past instances that have caused distrust to enter the equation. Many of the churches that I deal with as a church revitalizer struggle with the issue of trust because of some real or perceived failure on the part of a past pastor. Those failures can range from something minor to very severe, but they always “stick in the craw” of the people and it becomes difficult for the

congregation to trust pastoral leadership again. I have been working with a church for eleven months that had two consecutive bad experiences with pastoral leadership and the trust level was almost nonexistent. This church had been a stable church for decades. It had been a thriving and growing church that experienced a wonderful fellowship. The pastor had been an excellent leader. It was when he left after a very long tenure that the church lost its direction. In their search for a new pastor, some very bad mistakes were made. They never effectively checked out the pastor they called, and he turned out to be a disaster for the church. His leadership style, if he had one, was much like a dictator. He changed things just to make changes. Much of what he did was done to rid the church of any past influence the previous pastor had left behind. He completely dismantled the existing church to place his signature on the church’s existence. His signature turned out to be three years of disharmony, deceit, and strife.

Through a series of very traumatic events the church asked him to resign but he refused saying that it was his church and he was “going nowhere.” Of course, things escalated, and they asked him to leave again. That is when the congregation found that he had been trying to change all their incorporation documents to give him sole authority over finances, property and programs. The church finally had to take legal action against the pastor and, as a result, a mediator was assigned by the courts to mediate the situation. In the process, several disturbing facts came out and he quickly resigned and went down the road about two miles and started another church. He took 200 people with him leaving the affected church with half the congregation it had before the conflict. Of course, this left the church in a precarious financial situation and, tragically, initiated a mindset of distrust that became ingrained in the congregation. When the church finally got through that traumatic experience, they began to search for another pastor. They found the man they thought was God’s man for their church. He began his work without any controversy or strife but not long into his ministry, a few untrusting people rose up and decided he had to go. These few did not speak for the entire congregation, but they could not get past the distrust that had resulted from the previous pastor and his lack of leadership. It wasn’t long until this pastor had enough and left on his own without being forced out. As a result, the church split again and left 60 people to carry on the work of a church that eight years prior had been averaging 425 in attendance. I received a call from the leadership of the church to ask me to work with them as a church revitalizer. Immediately, I realized that the issue of distrust was killing the church. So, I began a process to help them work through their concerns and attitudes. It was a difficult task to lead people to trust leadership after previous leaders had created such havoc in the church. The fact is that good leadership is necessary for a healthy church, but trustworthy leadership is an absolute must for the long-term health of a church. Good leadership will make or break a church, but trustworthy leadership will determine life or death in the church. Congregations must understand that trustworthiness is developed through everyday interaction with people. That involves how the pastor interacts with the people and how they interact with him. This determines the health of the church. How conflict is handled and how the leader responds to adversity will help develop trust on the part of the congregation. Leading as a trustworthy leader is a day to day matter in the small things as well as the important things. What leaders must remember is that they will not be the last leader the church ever has.

There will be a time when a new leader will come on the scene and how the present leader leads will determine the effectiveness of the next. A trustworthy leader does not lead because of position but because of their day to day actions as a leader. It is what the leader does as well as who he is that makes him trustworthy in the eyes of the congregation. Being a better, more trustworthy leader does not just happen in the leader’s life. It is something the leader must work on every day as they lead out of purpose and not just personal feelings. Tenure as a pastor does not necessarily make him a better leader, it just makes him more of a fixture. The right actions and attitudes make the leader a great and more trustworthy leader. A trustworthy leader will always realize that credibility is a result of character. The story I just related to you was a story of a man’s broken character and how it affected a congregation for years after his demise. There are far too many stories like that in our churches. Stories of pastors falling to sins of immorality and ungodliness that leave the church in shambles, not trusting any future leader because of the failure of a past leader. To have trustworthiness in the church, the pastor and people must always pursue holiness and Godliness in their private and public living. There can be no substitute. When a pastor is called to a church he must lead with uprightness, trustworthiness, and love for the church and the church must respond with support; putting aside past hurts and disappointments. Too many churches find themselves in chaos because of untrustworthy leadership and untrusting congregations. The untrustworthiness of one pastor can cause a church to falter and fall for decades and sometimes will end in death because of the actions of one leader who could not be trusted. Any pastor who leads without the trust of his congregation will fail and the congregation will fail as well. In closing I remind the reader of John Maxwell’s famous statement, “Everything rises and falls on leadership.” I would only slightly change that statement and take it a step further to say, “Everything rises and falls, in the church, on trustworthy, Godly leadership.”

Steve Sells is the president and CEO of Operation Transformation church revitalization ministry in Salisbury, North Carolina. Steve has served in ministry for 43 years in North Carolina and Georgia. Dr. Sells is the co-author of the book With Greater Power. He seeks to help churches of all sizes experience new health and growth.

The Starting Block By Chris Irving You must watch the video of Texas high school sprinter Matthew Boling of Strake Jesuit College Prep in Houston run the 100 meter event from April 27th. Maybe you watched it on Facebook or Twitter. He’s been nicknamed “White Lightning” by Twittersphere. Matthew ran the 100 meter sprint in 9.98 seconds which is the fastest time ever by an American under twenty years old. Matthew is only eighteen years old. Recently, I sat with a high school track coach and asked him if he had heard about this kid in Houston. He said he had watched the video. Jay offered his opinion and said, “Chris, the scary thing is, he didn’t come out of the blocks clean. If he’d had a good start, his time would’ve been much faster.” Good starts are obviously important in a race, but even more important is a good start in church revitalization.

Know the Course

Your church must know the race course. Matthew knew he had to run 100 meter and no further. This was not a 400 meter race in which he just ran 100 meter and quit. Course layout determined the distance he ran. God planned for the church to accompany His mission. Let us remember when talking about a good start, the reason you and I are even in the race to begin with. The mission of God is to restore people back to Himself. John 3:16 is very clear about His mission. The purpose of the church is no different than God’s mission. The church does not have a mission, rather, as Ed Stetzer says, “the mission has a church.” That mission is to make God known to the nations through Jesus Christ. Remembering the mission is essential to a good start. Starting a race without knowing the race course is ridiculous.

Think about this…if you began a race thinking you were running 100m, but the race was actually a 5K, you would be in trouble. The body can be trained to run short bursts. We call this anaerobic exercise. Physiologically the body is not able to sustain the sprint great distances because the body is unable to supply enough oxygen to the heart and muscle groups required to sprint. Church revitalization is not a sprint, but rather a marathon. Physiologically the body can be trained to run greater distances at a slower pace in which the body is conditioned to supply ample oxygen to the heart and muscle groups. This is the more natural tendency for church revitalization. But even in a marathon, a good start is essential. Training is a necessity and you can receive training through the Renovate Church Conference regional events this year. Keep a sharp eye out for these upcoming dates and locations. I am leading my people through the book of Exodus. Thinking about a good start, Moses certainly did not have one in his leadership journey. Over time though, the Lord used Moses to free Israel from Egypt. Here are three truths Exodus taught me regarding church revitalization and leadership.

Start with God’s power. (Exodus 17:8-16)

A healthy church must rely on God’s power. In Exodus 17, the Israelites are beyond Egypt but you might remember they faced a new opponent in the Amalekites. This is the first time opposition arose from someone not Egyptian. They needed God’s help. In the story, when Moses held up his staff, the Israelites prevailed. When his arms grew tired and he lowered the staff, the Amalekites prevailed over Israel. So it is within the Church. You and I must rely

and depend on God’s power. First and foremost, you must look to the head of the church, Jesus Christ. He promised the Father would send a Helper. Jesus told the disciples in Luke 24 to stay put until they received power from on high. The start of the church was marked by the arrival of God’s power in the Holy Spirit. A simple way to find out if you are operating under God’s power is to ask yourself this question, “If God removed Himself from the church and ministry I lead, would I know it?” If the answer is “no,” or “I’m not sure,” then you are not relying on God’s power by looking to Christ. Church, you and I must depend on God’s power. His power alone will change how you worship, how you serve, how you lead, and your attitude toward one another. My good friend Dr. Jim Grant once told me, “As long as they looked at the staff, they fought a battle they could not lose. But when they looked away, they fought a battle they could not win.” AMEN! Paul worshiped with the Ephesians when he wrote, “Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us.” Ephesians 3:20. Start with God’s power!

Proclaim a Clear Gospel Witness (Exodus 18:1-12)

In the Exodus story, chapter 18 relays a story where Jethro arrives with Moses’ family. He hears of God’s work in releasing the people from Egypt. The Lord works a conversion in Jethro’s life in this moment from being a priest of Midianite gods, to a worshiper of the LORD. That is quite a life-changing event. A healthy church must present a clear gospel witness. I have been told I preach the gospel too much. I do not know how to respond other than that I am convinced that some in the church still need to hear it and the world is certainly in need of it as well. I am also one who needs to hear it consistently! It does my soul good to remember the great work of God in salvation. The Gospel changes lives as the story of Jesus is recounted over and over. John 6:40 says, “This is the will of my Father: that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” You might question some days what the will of God is for your life or your church…well…Jesus made it pretty clear in John 6:40. This is the race marked before the church. Proclaim the Gospel and make disciples. If is the will of God, then it must be a vital component for the church to bear witness to the work of God through the Gospel! I once heard Dr. Barry McCarty preach at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary a sermon entitled, “The Gospel is the Change that Changes Everything.” Pretty much sums up the road marked before us. After you start with God’s power, keep a clear gospel witness.

Sustain a Good Start with Shared Ministry (Exodus 18:13-26)

During Jethro’s visit with Moses, he notices an unhealthy leadership practice. He points out to Moses the practice of judging, teaching, and leading the people on his own

is not healthy nor is it a sustainable method of leadership. Jethro proposed a method of shared leadership and responsibility. If Moses had ignored his father-in-law’s advice, the consequences would have been catastrophic for Moses and Israel. But Moses listens and divides the people into smaller manageable groups. The danger was Moses wearing out while at the same time wearing out his people. He is trying to run a marathon like a sprinter running a 100m sprint. It just was not sustainable. But a good start will lead you to a sustainable future if you can plan to grow and train leadership. This is the guiding coalition of like-minded Christians who are invested in the work of revitalization. This is very similar to Acts 6 when the Apostles could no longer meet the needs of the church so they elected men who could help serve while they focused on their calling to the word and prayer. The Apostles, and eventually the Elders and the Deacons, were joined together serving the mission of God. We still practice this ministry concept today. It isn’t healthy for just a few to share the burdens of ministry in the church. The Church is composed of people who are gifted by the Holy Spirit to carry out the ministry of the church. Moses was carrying the load by himself and Jethro pointed out that was not healthy. Now, we Texans, especially Aggies, like to think we are self-made folks and we do not take kindly to asking other people for help. But the mindset is not a Biblical concept. The New Testament church established a system of ministry helpers because the Apostles could not lead effectively by themselves. Just as Moses was corrected by his Gentile father-in-law which helped prepare the people to receive the Law from God, we need to remember the biblical concept of “every-member ministry.” Every-member is a runner in the race. Provide not only for yourself a great start, but set them up for success for God’s glory as well. I am praying you will come out of the starting blocks well and run the revitalizing race so that you win the prize! “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and do not rely on your own understanding; in all your ways know Him, and He will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5-6 Chris Irving is the Lead Pastor of the First Baptist Church of Gonzales, TX. Chris has served in ministry for 15 years in Texas. He led a small rural church to revitalization and is currently involved in the revitalization process of First Baptist Gonzales. Dr. Irving aims to help pastors equip the lay leadership of the church to serve in ministry. He and his wife, Amber have been married for 14 years and have six children.

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Revitalizing Your Ministry: One Decision at a Time By Rodney Harrison The decisions you make impact every area of life. As a rural church planter with limited means, I undertook a habit of prayer prior to purchase. When my wife and I took our monthly shopping trip to Grand Forks, North Dakota, it was astonishing how many times I picked something up at the store, only to put it back on the shelf following a quick, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Lord, is this a wise purchaseâ&#x20AC;? prayer. Later, the practice of prayer prior to was applied to other areas of life and ministry with fruitful results. In the book of Esther, the decision-making model utilized by the Persian leaders differs greatly from that of the stories protagonists, as seen in the following chart:

As a young pastor, I was told, “Never resign on a Monday.” Depending on your personality type, Sunday might be the most emotionally draining day of the week. Not only is the pastor relationally surrounded by people each Sunday, preaching itself is both exhilarating and exhausting. For most pastors, Sunday is a anything but a “day of rest.” Preaching, people, potlucks and prayer meetings fill the day. As Adrian Roger’s so rightly said, “If Satan can’t make you bad, he’ll make you busy.” Add in an antagonists whose comment yet stings and the stage is set for an emotional, knee-jerk decision on Monday. Church leaders also need to be aware of the danger of decisions made from a lack of information. Just as Haman told the king a half-truth (similar to Ananias and Sapphira), it is tempting to make decisions quickly rather than once one is fully informed. A co-worker once purchased a new Honda Civic over a Honda Accord (the car she really wanted) because it was $2000 less. However, at the time, the Civic was the most stolen car in America, which meant higher insurance rates were more than the purchase price savings during a five-year period of ownership. Leaders who blindly accept the lowest bid, by hearing just one side of a matter or failing to count the cost prior to making a decision, fall into this trap of failing to get all of the facts. Fortunately, casting lots is no longer in vogue. Nevertheless, pastors and church leaders are not immune to using bad methods in their decision making. We would all frown upon a pastoral search committee that looked at the stature of a candidate rather than his character. And yet, I have frequently worked with pastors and church leaders who assumed “school teachers” make good Bible teachers and “bankers” are qualified to be church treasurers. In the same way, we err if we default to our favorite commentary or Christian blogger instead of Scripture when studying.

In my mind, the most tragic verse in Esther is found in 3:15, “The king and Haman sat down to drink, while the city of Susa was in confusion.” Bad decisions give birth to confusion. A few years ago, a pastor friend received a sizable cash Christmas gift from a member. Rather than use the money to pay down his student debt--a common complaint and sermon illustration--he purchased a big-screen television set so he could “have the church men over for the Super Bowl.” The congregation and donor were perplexed over this decision. Later that month he canceled the evening service on Super Bowl Sunday, a unilateral decision that circumvented for established calendaring process. This is an example of how bad decisions are often not immediately recognized and can snowball if left unsettled. Take a moment to reflect on the chart provided. Would your church and family say your decision-making process is more like Haman and King Ahasuerus or Mordecai and Esther?

Dr. Rodney Harrison provides oversight to Midwestern’s doctoral programs, extensions, online programs and accreditation. He came to Midwestern following a fruitful ministry in church planting and missions in California, the Dakotas, and Minnesota. Prior to coming to Midwestern, he was New Church Extension Associate for the California Southern Baptist Convention. Rodney is the author of four books and has written material for LifeWay Christian Resources, The Revitalizer, and several academic journals.

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By Rob Myers In 1994 Kevin Costner played the part of Wyatt Earp, that legendary lawman who cleaned up the frontier cities of Dodge and Tombstone. Costner was at the peak of his career and gave a new slant to the life of Wyatt Earp that I had not heard of before. The Wyatt Earp I had grown up with as a child was played on TV once a week and the main character had a very controlled and moral outlook and he was portrayed as the good guy. Costner, who helped direct the movie, must have really done his background research on Wyatt Earp, because when I checked the story out on the Internet, Costner’s version was much more accurate than my whitewashed early 1960s version. Wyatt’s family had been killed and he was on a desperate mission to find happiness and fulfillment. He hooked up with his brothers, went out west, and became a gambler. The gambling led to the opportunity to own a saloon and there he lived a life of debauchery. He was known for running fair games and of course shooting anyone who cheated. His control of the gambling hall led him, by default, to be selected as the deputy marshal of the area. He took it upon himself to clean up the town and take on a group of ruffians known as the Cowboys. They had a habit of starting fights in town, getting drunk, and shooting at the businesses. There was an interesting moment in the movie when the Cowboys were trying to give retribution for the shootout. Ben was trying to convince Wyatt that he needed to be a more sensible and sensitive man and that he needed to think twice before he drew his gun on someone. Now in the most iconic part of the story, Wyatt turned to Ben and said, “Ben, you know what your problem is? Your problem is that you’re affable. You want people to like you. And someday that will cause you to get killed.” When I was a young pastor, my wife always warned me that I wanted people to like me. It was important to me to get along with others. I gave them affection, love, and guidance, and I expected them to give me love and affection back. My first few churches were my learning churches. I had started a church in Northern Virginia by Dulles airport and was asked by that association to merge them with the church on the other side of town in Alexandria. I made a foolish move accepting the associational director’s invitation. My church planting corps was now traveling forty miles to go to church. If you’ve ever lived in Northern Virginia that’s not much. So the little church of forty-five immediately

grew to over 100 and continued growing rapidly for the next year. By the second year we had filled up the little sanctuary to its maximum capacity of 260 people. I thought everything was going great because I liked all those people, and I was foolish enough to think that they liked me. One night the chairman of the deacons invited me over for dinner with my wife. He served us steak and baked potatoes and I was on cloud nine thinking that these people really loved me as I loved them. At the end of the evening the chairman of the deacons said in a newly found solemn voice, “Rob, you’ve done a great job and our building is now full. We’ve had a meeting with the deacons and we have decided that you do not need to place any more emphasis on getting more people into the church. We are satisfied with where you are right now and we just need to maintain this.” I could not believe my ears and I said to them, “Are we not a great commission church? Are we not called to go into all the world and preach the good news of Jesus and into the harvest fields?” They told me, in response, “Rob you’re just too evan-

promise to God that I would never allow a small group of people to cause me, as a shepherd, to leave my flock. After that I had a hard time getting a job, for as you know, it’s easier to get a job while you have a job then to get a job when you have resigned without a place to go. The people in the church were not good references for my resume and for years did everything they could to do damage to my name. In the past forty years, this is one lesson I learned and did not need to repeat. The Lord spoke to me and reminded me, “How many people stuck with me while I was dying on the cross? …Did I not say to the people, father forgive them for they know not what they do? Do you think that I did not know that they were going to do that?” (The quotes are to show when Jesus spoke to my heart) I had to toughen up. I don’t need anyone to love me in order for me to love them. A few years ago, I heard John Maxwell say this and thought it might be encouraging: People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered— love them anyway. If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives—do good anyway. If you’re successful, you’ll win false friends and true enemies—succeed anyway. The good you do today will perhaps be forgotten tomorrow—do good anyway. Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable—be honest and frank anyway. The biggest man with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest man with the smallest mind— think big anyway. People favor underdogs but follow only hot dogs—fight for a few underdogs anyway. What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight—build anyway. gelical, we just need you to pastor who we’ve got now.” People really need help but may attack you if you help I responded to them, “Did not Paul tell young Timothy them—help them anyway. as a pastor that he was to do the work of an evangelist?” Yet, that did not seem to matter to them and the tension rose in the room. I was told by the deacons, that I was either to do what they said, or they would Rob Myers is the Pastor leave the church in protest with their offerings and of Miami Baptist Church tithes. We left the meeting completely upset and dis- a turn around church loillusioned. The group became more vicious and vocal cated in the multi-lingual community in South Floriabout the attendance on Sunday mornings. da. Rob has been in minisI called up a friend and a mentor of mine, who worked try for more than 39 years. with me in church planting training back in Texas. He He has been in church proceeded to give me some of the worst advice I have planting and pastoral leadever received and I took it in wholeheartedly. He said, ership for 36 of those years, which includes 15 years “Rob, God made you a lover not a fighter. You need to as the Senior Pastor of Miami Baptist Church. His is resign and get out of there.” Within days I tendered my Adjunct Professor of Indiana Wesleyan University and resignation to the deacon body. It was a lose-lose sit- President of Baptist World Charities. Rob has an earned uation, but I was the biggest loser. My weakness was Doctorate in Ministry Leadership from John Wesley wanting people to like me. I was affable. The Holy Spir- University, a M.Div. from Southwestern Seminary and it convicted my heart at that moment and I made a a B.A. From Palm Beach Atlantic University.

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