The Protestant Reformation

ISSUE _ 14 / OCT 2017 _ DEC 2017

BETH BACKES / ED STETZER / SCOTT WILSON / LORI O’DEA

THE P R O T E S TA N T

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Intention Versus Action in Evangelism How Sermon Preparation Can Be Spirit-led and Strategic The Errors in Our Understanding of Discipleship

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HOW TO CONQUER PORN IN THE CHURCH

By Terry Cu-Unjieng

The result is years of bondage. This is how 68

Why 68% of Christian Men Watch Porn

percent of Christian men can love the Lord

with all their heart, but be trapped in sexual bondage. The repeated viewing of porn literally changes the physical structure of their brain.

A PROCESS FOR PASTORS TO USE TO FIGHT PORNOGRAPHY

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re we really supposed to buy into the idea that 68 percent of men in Church watch porn regularly? Could this just be sensational rhetoric? Not according to a national survey among churches. The survey conducted over the past five years revealed that 68 percent of Christian men and 50 percent of pastors view pornography regularly.1 But even more shocking is that 11-17 year-old boys reported being its greatest users. The Church is in the sexual battle of its life. As these boys become adults, the Church will be flooded with porn addicts.

Pastor James Reeves of City On A Hill Church DFW has successfully tackled porn addiction Dr. Ted Roberts, Host of in his church. He warns, the Conquer Series “This problem is going to sweep through the Church like a tsunami wave of destruction and we’re not prepared for it”.

A GRASSROOTS MOVEMENT FOR CHANGE In response to this growing epidemic in the Church, a group of filmmakers created a DVD teaching curriculum on sexual purity called the Conquer Series. The Series is the first of its kind to show men how to retrain a brain that’s hooked on porn, using biblical principles and powerful insights. “The shocking statistics were the game-changer for me,” says director, Jeremy Wiles. “So, we spent two years developing a fivehour discipleship curriculum, interviewing top Christian experts on this subject and shooting battle reenactments to illustrate the war that every man faces with sexual temptation. I wanted to give men proven principles on how to find freedom,” adds Wiles.

The team recruited Dr. Ted Roberts, a former U.S. Marine fighter pilot, to host the Conquer 1. Pure Desire Ministries, “Porn Usage in Evangelical Churches” (2009).

Series. As a former Pastor and head of Pure Desire Ministries, Dr. Roberts has counseled men for over 30 years—mainly dealing with pornography issues. “Our goal with the Conquer Series is to give men a battle plan for purity.

We’ve got a great tool here that will change lives, but we need pastors to partner with us to fight this battle,” Dr. Roberts said.

THE TYPICAL CHURCH APPROACH DOESN’T WORK According to Dr. Roberts, churches often treat this issue as a moral one, but fail to recognize it’s mainly a brain problem, “We tell men to try harder, pray harder, love Jesus more.” Dr. Roberts adds, “But, what starts off as a moral problem, quickly becomes a brain problem.

Telling a man to try harder is only tightening the ‘noose’ of bondage.”

Today, science sheds new light on biblical truth regarding strongholds of the mind and how a person becomes enslaved to sin.

A HIGHJACKED BRAIN Understanding the brain is pivotal. God designed oxytocin as the glue for human bonding.

During a sexual release, oxytocin, along with other neurochemicals, are released and cause us to emotionally bond with our partner.

When you watch porn, powerful neurotransmitters such as dopamine are also released, which bond you to those images. This is why Satan attacks our sexuality so much, because in attacking human sexuality it actually interferes with human bonding.

According to neuropsychologist, Dr. Tim Jennings, “Any type of repetitive behavior will create trails in our brain that are going to fire on an automatic sequence.”

Wiles is confident the Conquer Series will embolden church leaders to tackle the problem by giving them a high-quality video curriculum and study guide that can be used by leaders in small men’s group meetings. “Pornography is a really tough subject for a lot of pastors to openly confront,” said Wiles. “This cinematic series will give them confidence that they can restore men using proven Bible-based principles.”

THE CONQUER SERIES HAS BEEN GETTING A LOT OF POSITIVE FEEDBACK: “We had 110 men go through the series recently. We have seen TREMENDOUS change in the men!” – Paul Leininger

“This series is by far and away the greatest ‘Tool to Conquer’ that I have ever found. We have just successfully completed our first series...Some of the men wanted to start another series right away and there are new men that want to join.”

– Pastor Randy Burt, New Life Church (Assemblies of God)

The Conquer Series is a 6-disc DVD set, which also includes a leader’s DVD. They are currently offering a 14-day money back guarantee, so if you want to see if this is something for you or the men in your church, then here’s a chance to try it risk-free.

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CONTENTS ISSUE _ 14 / OCT 2017 _ DEC 2017

8 If You Ask Me Looking Back, and Moving Forward

10 Get Set Answering the Call to Lead: A Q&A with Beth Backes

12 Like a Leader • Live: The How and Why of Weight Loss • Think: How to Be Your Best When Others Are at Their Worst • Read: Books Worth Highlighting, for You and Your Team • Listen: Enhancing Your Listening Experience with Podcasts and More • Tech: Apps and Tech That Add to Your Life

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22 Playbook • Build: Bridging the Gap: Evaluating the Effectiveness of Your Staff • Know: Intention Versus Action in Evangelism • Invest: Four Ways to Increase Benevolence Effectiveness

32 Perspectives Should Churches Ramp Up or Ramp Down for the Holidays?

34 The Protestant Reformation: Why It Still Matters to Pentecostals Frank D. Macchia explains why Martin Luther’s contribution is of enduring significance to the life of Pentecostals today.

p46

46 How Sermon Preparation Can Be Spirit-led and Strategic Are two approaches to sermon preparation incompatible and opposites? Here’s how Scott Wilson’s church in Red Oak, Texas, brought together the prophetic and the planned.

p54

54 Dangerous Assumptions: The Errors in Our Understanding of Discipleship The chief obstacle to our discipleship efforts, according to Lori O’Dea, stems not from lack of effort, but from a preponderance of assumptions.

So, how do we escape the tidal pull of dangerous assumptions?

p12 p70

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62 Multipliers — Growing God’s Kingdom Together • Messenger of Reconciliation • Planting on Fertile Ground • Raising Up Leaders • From the Church to the Campus

70 Make It Count 8 Keys to Defeating the Inhibitors to Progress

80 The Final Note After 500 Years

MAGAZINE THE SHAPE OF LEADERSHIP

INFLUENCE MAGAZINE 1445 N. Boonville Avenue Springfield, MO 65802-1894 Influence magazine is published by Influence Resources.

Publisher: George O. Wood Executive Director, Influence Resources: Chris Railey Executive Editor: George P. Wood Managing Editor: Rick Knoth Assistant Editor: Christina Quick Senior Editor: John Davidson Contributing Editor: Chris Colvin Designer: Steve Lopez Advertising Coordinator: Ron Kopczick CONTRIBUTORS: Beth Backes, Stephen Blandino, Alex Bryant, Chris Colvin, Ryan Darrow, Jennifer Gale, Dan Hunter, Frank Macchia, Mike McCrary, Lori O’Dea, Rudy Paniagua, Chris Railey, Nate Ruch, Ed Stetzer, George P. Wood, Scott Wilson

SUBSCRIPTIONS: To subscribe, go to influencemagazine.com or call 1.855.642.2011. Individual one-year subscriptions are $15. Bulk one-year subscriptions are $10 per subscription, for a minimum of six or more. For additional subscription rates, contact subscribe@influencemagazine.com.

Please send all other feedback, requests, and questions to feedback@influencemagazine.com.

Copyright © 2017 by The General Council of the Assemblies of God, 1445 N. Boonville Ave., Springfield, MO 65802-1894. Permissions required for reprints. All rights reserved.

All materials published herein including, but not limited to articles, photographs, images, illustrations, are protected by copyright, and owned or controlled

by Influence magazine of The General Council of the Assemblies of God.

EDITORIAL: For info or queries, contact editor@influencemagazine.com.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com. The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

ADVERTISING: Display rates available upon request. Contact advertising@influencemagazine.com. By accepting an advertisement, Influence does not endorse any advertiser or product. We reserve the right to reject advertisements not consistent with the magazine’s objectives.

Influence magazine (ISSN: 2470-6795) is published six times a year, in December, February, April, June, August and October by Influence Resources (1445 N. Boonville Avenue, Springfield, MO 65802-1894).

Periodicals postage paid at Springfield, Missouri, and at other mailing offices. Printed in the U.S.A.

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IF YOU ASK ME

LOOKING BACK, AND MOVING FORWARD have always enjoyed Disney World’s Carousel of Progress. Among the park’s oldest attractions, this ride celebrates human ingenuity and the march toward the future. It was extremely innovative when it debuted at the 1964 World’s Fair, and it was reportedly Walt Disney’s personal favorite of all his attractions.

It may seem dated now (my kids much prefer the Buzz Lightyear ride), but there’s something about it that keeps me coming back. I think it’s mostly nostalgia; it’s something I remember doing as a kid with my parents, and I enjoy revisiting it with my own kids.

It’s also a reminder that progress and innovation are part of our DNA. Progress drives leaders. It is the visible and tangible result of the work we do — including our work within the Church. Evangelism, discipleship, Kingdom expansion, and the overarching missional mandate of God demand forward movement.

We must remain fully present with the people and issues we influence today, while remaining mindful of where we’ve been. Looking back informs our present and future. Yet the greatest amount of our energy must be future-focused. As we lead others in challenging times, here a few ways to keep the carousel of progress moving forward.

1. Create a culture of celebration. My friend Greg Ford pastors One Church near Columbus, Ohio, and one of their traditions is to wear T-shirts on baptism Sundays that say, “We party to remember.”

Where most party to forget, One Church celebrates

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to remember what Jesus has done. I love that! It’s one way Greg and his church create a culture of celebration — for what God did yesterday, what He’s doing today, and what He’s going to do tomorrow. Of all people, followers of Jesus should know how to celebrate and party!

2. Creatively mark memories. In the Old Testament, the people of God routinely laid down stones to mark a moment in time, remember what God had done, and tell a story of the past to shape the future. It literally marked their progress as a people.

It’s important for leaders to pass on stories and traditions of faith from one generation to the next.

3. Commit to forward motion. Disney was a master of innovation. Followers of Jesus Christ should also excel in this area. After all, no work matters more than ours.

Boring is unacceptable, and getting stuck is not optional. Progress requires forward motion and a commitment to the future. For spiritual leaders, that means doing whatever it takes to reach people with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

This issue of Influence magazine provides opportunities for self-reflection and insight for charting a course toward the future. Dr. Frank Macchia looks back at the Protestant Reformation and considers what it means for today’s Church. Scott Wilson discusses the importance of being both prepared and prophetic in preaching — a must-read article for all communicators. Finally, Dr. Lori O’Dea helps us better understand our role in making disciples.

I pray you find this issue of Influence helpful — and your carousel of progress ever moving forward.

Chris Railey, D.Min., is the executive director of Influence Resources and the senior director of leadership and church development ministries for The General Council of the Assemblies of God, U.S.A.

8

GET SET

5 Questions with Beth Backes

change the culture to include both men and women in key leadership positions.

ANSWERING THE CALLTO LEAD

How have you navigated obstacles as a woman in ministry when your options seemed to be limited?

I remember the resistance received when first telling my pastor I wanted to pursue vocational ministry.

Many women experience similar barriers, and it can be discouraging. A wise mentor once told me, “You have a call, not a cause.”

That nugget of truth has kept me focused on pursuing my calling in spite of injustices I face — and there have been many. By staying persistent and focused on my calling, God has a way of opening doors that others have locked.

Over 20 years ago, Beth Backes launched into ministry as an urban church planter in Minneapolis, New York City and Seattle. Today, she serves as the director of pastoral care for the Northwest Ministry Network.

Influence: How are you maximizing your influence through the ministries you lead?

Beth Backes: At the Northwest Ministry Network, I have the opportunity to serve nearly 1,400 ministers and over 340 churches. I also put my years of church planting into practice as I lead the Church Multiplication Network training for all church planters in the Northwest. Saying “yes” to where Jesus has called me has led to unexpected adventures in ministry.

Women represent the fastest-growing demographic of credential holders in the Assemblies of God, yet they remain underrepresented in ministry positions in our churches. How can we change that?

It’s going to take serious teamwork. Our superintendent, Don Ross, accurately describes the situation this way: “The Assemblies of God has constitutional acceptance, yet cultural resistance to women in ministry.”

Male leadership can start by asking themselves: Does my theology come into alignment with my practice regarding women in ministry? If not, what steps can I take to initiate change in my thinking and in my church?

Both men and women need to take responsibility for their role in this issue. Women need to step out and pursue ministry positions instead of passively waiting for men to give them an invitation. Together, we can 10

What are some practical ways male pastors can empower women who are called to ministry?

A nationally known pastor recently admitted that the Church simply isn’t developing women in ministry. It’s the elephant in the room we need to start talking about. Women who sense a call to ministry have the same needs as their male colleagues. They need mentoring, leadership training, and opportunities to put their gifts into practice. This process doesn’t happen by accident, but requires intentionality.

If you are a male pastor with influence, how can you identify and invest in the women called to ministry in your church? Here are three practical ways: Encourage them to attend conferences or pursue a degree, make sure they have a mentor who will challenge them and invite them to preach, and lead in ways that will develop their gifts.

What advice would you give to women who are pursuing a call to ministry?

Change comes from the inside. Have confidence in your calling. Get ordained, pursue higher education, and apply for various leadership positions. Don’t lose hope that God is building a Church where both men and women can flourish. Recent studies show the importance of having women on teams, so have patience and grace with others in the midst of change.

Church leaders are recognizing the value of women in ministry, and our best days are ahead of us, so lead on, my friends!

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LIVE

THE HOW AND WHY OF WEIGHT LOSS A third of U.S. pastors are overweight, but better health is within their reach.

GEORGE PAUL WOOD

2015 study by researchers at Baylor University reported that more than a third of U.S. ministers are obese. I am one of them. I have been so for most of my adult life. At the end of 2016, I weighed 266 pounds, which my doctor said is at least 66 pounds more than I should.

Obesity correlates with any number of health problems. For example, it increases a person’s risk of heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, sleep apnea, depression and osteoarthritis. Plus, it just makes you feel bad about yourself. I know I did.

December 9, 2016, was a significant day for me because that’s when my wife, son and I welcomed our two foster daughters into our forever family. They were 5 and 3 years old, respectively. I was 47.

My wife took me aside that day and said, “I need you to be around a while.”

She wasn’t talking about my fidelity. She was talking about my mortality. Given that obesity increases the risk of bad health and early death, my wife wanted me to get serious about weight loss. She didn’t want to rear our children alone. Talk about a wakeup call!

So, I joined Weight Watchers and started walking.

Ten months later, I’m happy to report that I’m down 30 pounds. I’ve still got 36 to go, but I’m confident that I’ll get there and keep the weight off.

Weight loss is a matter of knowing how and why. The how is easy in theory, though difficult in practice. Eat right and exercise more in a sustainable manner. No fad diets or extreme exercise programs. No quick weightloss schemes. In the race to shed pounds, slow and steady wins. There’s simply no substitute for patience and selfcontrol when you’re trying to get healthy.

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The why of weight loss is the most important thing, however. It is your motivation for action. It is the new way of thinking that initiates your weight-loss journey and sustains you in that inevitable and frustrating period when the results don’t happen as quickly as you’d like them to.

Motivation can be external or internal, as well as positive or negative. Initially, my motivation was external and negative. I started to diet because my wife was worried about my health. Over time, however, only an internal, positive motivation will keep you going. Why? Because only then do you both own and want a better future for yourself.

It’s one thing for your spouse to say to you, “Honey, I want you to be healthy.”

It’s another thing entirely for you to say to your spouse, “Honey, I want to be healthy.”

Say it with me out loud: I want to be healthy.

If you, like me, are part of that third of American ministers who are obese, will you join me in the journey toward better health by committing to eating right and exercising more in a sustainable manner over the next 12 months?

Do it for yourself — to feel better.

Do it for your family — to enjoy your life with them.

Do it for your congregation — because your example will encourage them to begin making positive changes in their own lives.

Do it for God — because God is glorified when you honor Him with your body (1 Corinthians 6:20).

But whatever you do, get started today!

George P. Wood is executive editor of Influence magazine.

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HOW TO BE YOUR BEST WHEN OTHERS ARE AT THEIR WORST How to arrive on the island of contentment before embarking on the voyage of family chaos.

RYAN DARROW

et’s be honest: Not every family gathering is an exercise in kindness, gentleness and self-control.

Oh, and joy — let’s not forget joy, particularly the “joy” you feel when a kid grabs the remote after the meal and flips on mindless drivel rather than the football game you wanted to see.

Consequently, a typical Thanksgiving or Christmas gathering may leave you more spiritually weary or emotionally drained than refreshed and grateful you made the trip.

A comical yet rhetorical question among psychology professors is, “Why do we teach functional as the norm when most every family is dysfunctional?”

So, when you gather this holiday season, just realize that virtually every family is experiencing some level of discomfort. We can easily imagine the neighbors’ lives are like a Hallmark commercial, when, in reality, most people can relate more to a flawed, stressedout sitcom family.

As a marriage and family therapist, I have the strange privilege of peering behind the illusion of perfection to where the deep secrets of family dysfunction and the pain associated with its presence lurks. I can tell

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you that dysfunction is tenacious, but survivable. But the sad truth is, even the best-laid plans of godly leaders go awry. We end up irritable, passive-aggressive and fighting over the remote to no avail. So, how does a person arrive on the island of contentment before embarking on the voyage of family chaos? To survive the holidays, let me suggest two vital components.

Spiritual Preparation Before you stand in the pulpit, I trust you spend ample time preparing your heart. Why not do the same before spending time with family?

This holiday season, let’s not make the same mistake as King Rehoboam, who ceased his spiritual preparation. The Bible describes it this way: “He did evil because he had not set his heart on seeking the Lord” (2 Chronicles 12:14).

David prepared for his time on the throne in the cave of Adullam. Jesus, our Lord, sought the Father in Gethsemane before He faced the anguish of Golgotha. Likewise, spiritual preparation is the primary component to a joy-filled time with family. A heart overflowing with the love, joy, peace and patience of Jesus comes only through spiritual preparation.

Emotional Preparation In my therapy practice, I come back to this one central truth on an almost weekly basis: You cannot allow others to dictate how you feel. You have the responsibility of caring for your own heart; you cannot rely on others to do this for you. Walking around with your heart in your hand, offering it to others to validate or recognize, is often just a desperate ploy for attention. So, prepare your heart. Take time to play the soccer match that keeps you sane.

Find the closest spa, and treat yourself. Do what is necessary to care for your heart so that it’s not so easily bruised when someone snatches the remote from your turkey-greased fingers.

Dr. Ryan Darrow is lead pastor of Overland Park First Assembly of God in Overland Park, Kansas, and a marriage and family therapist.

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HOW TO LEAD WHEN YOU’RE NOT IN CHARGE Clay Scroggins (Zondervan)

“Influence always outpaces authority,” writes Clay Scroggins.

“And leaders who consistently leverage their authority are far less effective in the long term than leaders who leverage their influence.” Scroggins identifies four behaviors that will help readers leverage their influence: lead yourself, choose positivity, think critically and reject passivity. He also gives sage advice for challenging authority as a second-chair leader, when that becomes necessary. His bottom line advice?

“Practice leading through influence when you’re not in charge. It’s the key to leading well when you are in charge.”

This is an insightful book for second-chair church leaders and young ministers.

BOOKS WORTH HIGHLIGHTING, FOR YOU AND YOUR TEAM

By Influence Magazine

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2

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SHATTERING THE STAINED GLASS CEILING Robyn Wilkerson (Influence Resources)

Women face many obstacles to their spiritual leadership.

Robyn Wilkerson deals with internal obstacles in this book, that is, those self-limiting patterns of thought that keep women from fully embracing what God has called and empowered them to be. “You control your thinking,” writes Wilkerson, “and that shapes the direction of your life.” To help women leaders change their mindset, Wilkerson outlines a coaching strategy based on five leadership attributes: missional, reframing, connecting, engaging and renewing.

This is a good read for women ministers, as well as for male pastors who want to open doors of opportunity for them.

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MERE SEXUALITY Todd A. Wilson (Zondervan)

“Did you know,” Todd Wilson asks, “despite a genuine diversity of views expressed along the way, the church has held to a coherent view of human sexuality for centuries?” With a nod to C.S. Lewis, he calls this view “mere sexuality.” The book touches on “a whole range of biblical, theological, cultural, and practical questions,” including biological sex, gender identity, marriage, celibacy and homosexuality. Throughout, Wilson interacts with the core theological themes of the Bible, including creation, the Incarnation, and eschatology.

The book is written for a popular audience and is an excellent resource for small groups and book clubs.

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F A C E B O O K . C O M / G L O B A L U N I V E R S I T Y

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By Influence Magazine 1

AFTER WORDS c-span.org/podcasts/#afterWords

“Not all readers are leaders,” quipped President Harry S. Truman, “but all leaders are readers.” That’s especially true for pastors whose ministry includes preaching and teaching. It’s a given that pastors need to read Scripture, commentaries and books on theology and ministry. But it’s also a good idea for them to read outside of those topics, taking in biography, history and current events as well. C-SPAN’s long-running After Words series features interviews with the authors of today’s most talked-about nonfiction books.

Episodes drop weekly and run approximately one hour in length, and are available in audio and video formats.

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CBE INTERNATIONAL soundcloud.com/cbe-international

If you believe that “the Bible calls women and men to share authority equally in service and leadership in the home, church, and world,” then you need to listen to CBE International’s channel on SoundCloud. CBE stands for “Christians for Biblical Equality.” The channel features hundreds of hours of top-notch teaching by evangelical scholars and ministers about what the Bible really says about male-female relationships, as well as how to practice and promote that teaching in church and culture. Most of its content began as lectures or breakout sessions at CBE International’s annual conferences.

Recordings are available in audio and video formats.

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COLD CASE CHRISTIANITY coldcasechristianity.com/category/podcasts/

J. Warner Wallace is a cold-case homicide detective. He’s also a Christian apologist, author of Cold Case Christianity, God’s Crime Scene and Forensic Faith. In the Cold Case Christianity podcast, he teaches believers how to develop an “evidential” or “forensic” approach to Christian faith. Episodes drop weekly and run between 30 minutes and an hour. They are available in audio and video formats. Topics include “How to Read and Think More Clearly as a Christian Case Maker,” “Are There Good Reasons to Believe the Resurrection?” and “Are Science and Belief in God Incompatible?”

Final Note: Check out the Influence Podcast, a collection of inspiring and challenging conversations, aimed at empowering the entire spectrum of church leadership. Episodes drop twice weekly and are hosted on alternate days by George P. Wood and John Davidson. Make sure to listen, like, and review the podcast on iTunes!

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Apps and tech that add to your life

By Influence Magazine

FACEBOOK LIVE: BUILDING COMMUNITY AND CONNECTION

In the ever-changing world of social media, it’s a challenge to figure out how to use your church’s limited time and resources. You want to pursue channels that will have the biggest impact with the most number of people. Current social media statistics reveal that 90 percent of smartphone users have Facebook installed on their phones. A staggering 73 percent of Facebook users say they’ve watched a Facebook Live video. [Edison Research, 2017] Facebook Live is a powerful tool that allows any user to stream live video from their smartphone or mobile device directly to their Facebook profile or page. Its raw, unfiltered, unedited quality creates an immediate personal connection with the viewer. Facebook Live gives the church the opportunity to interact directly with its 20

own community at any time as well as the unchurched community.

Live videos require almost no resources to produce other than a smartphone or tablet with a strong mobile data connection or Wi-Fi network. Facebook Live videos include text chat for audience interaction as well as the option to post the video so that it has a life beyond the live broadcast.

Here are five ways your church can start using Facebook Live this week.

1) Service and Event Invites — Every week you have a service and throughout the year you host special events. Either the night before or the morning of your service, jump on Facebook Live and build excitement leading into the event. Highlight some of the amazing things that will be happening and what you’re praying for God to do.

2) Weekly Devotional — You spend lots of time preparing your sermon for Sunday; why not increase its longevity? Get on Facebook Live midweek and do a 5-minute sermon recap. It will keep the sermon fresh in people’s minds and allow you to preach to those who couldn’t make it on Sunday.

3) Capture What’s Happening — Are you having a special water baptism event this Sunday? Is your children’s ministry performing a big event this weekend? Find a good angle to film from and throw it up on Facebook Live. You can watch it again later after the event, and it allows those who couldn’t attend to celebrate with you.

4) Tell A Story — Every church has testimonies of what God is doing. Sometimes it’s easier to get a volunteer or congregant on camera when it’s in the moment, as opposed to a full-on video shoot. Share what God is doing in your life and in the lives of those at your church.

5) Broadcast Services — Livestream your weekly services through Facebook Live. This can look like anything from setting up a phone in the back of the sanctuary to sending your broadcast camera feed into Facebook Live. This gives people the opportunity to tune in even when they couldn’t come to church that week.

These are just a few of the many ways to use Facebook Live to build community and connection with the churched and unchurched in your area.

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DUOLINGO

If you are old school or new school, you will enjoy Evernote’s Penultimate, the best digital handwriting app that combines the power of natural handwriting and sketching into one very cool app.

For individuals who prefer to write out their journal thoughts, class, meeting or sermon notes, rather than keystroke them, Penultimate is the app of choice. It brings the practice of pen and paper writing into a more productive and enjoyable digital experience.

With Penultimate, you can work on any part of your page. The zoom feature allows you to see your work up close, and the app’s Drift feature enables the page to move along with you, automatically adjusting to your work pace.

Penultimate also makes finding your notes easy. All your notes are searchable and automatically sync to a designated Evernote folder. You can browse, insert, delete, duplicate and reorganize pages any way you like.

Penultimate worked closely with Adonit to create the Jot Script Evernote Edition precision-point stylus that makes the digital hand-writing experience what it should be.

Pair Penultimate with Evernote Premium or Evernote Plus for bigger uploads and many other great features. This highly-rated free app is available on your iPhone’s or iPad’s App Store.

PLAYBOOK : BUILD

BRIDGING THE GAP: EVALUATING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF YOUR STAFF Staff evaluations don’t need to be complicated; they just need to be done.

DAN HUNTER

ou’ve felt it, maybe while you were eating in a restaurant, shopping at a store or overseeing someone’s work. We have all experienced it. It’s the gap — the one that exists between someone’s performance and someone else’s expectation of that performance.

In that gap is frustration. And the bigger the gap, the bigger the frustration. It’s the same whether you’re in the marketplace, the corporate world or the church bubble.

Staff members may think they know how they’re doing based on their ideas of their performance. But, if they’re not told how they’re doing based on their leader’s expectation, then, let’s be honest, they don’t really know how they’re doing. That creates a gap of frustration on both sides. The only way to fix it is through communication.

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Staff evaluations are, in their purest form, communication. They provide clear feedback, give improvement direction, celebrate great performance, and set new expectations. But they are essentially just clear communication.

Implementing an evaluation system into the culture of your church staff helps ensure the gap between someone’s performance and someone else’s expectation of that performance is as minimal as possible. Remember that you can’t expect what you don’t inspect. Staff evaluations don’t need to be complicated; they just need to be done.

Evaluation Tools Build ongoing systems into your staff routine.

Consider building the following checkpoints into your calendar.

Plan a monthly alignment. Meet monthly with each staff member to look over his or her job description and evaluate progress.

If you haven’t already done so, group the job descriptions into a few general topics that include all the specific responsibilities under the appropriate topic.

As you walk through each individual topic on the job description, ask for updates, share observations, give direction and offer assistance.

This will serve as consistent realignment for what you expect and what you are asking.

Conduct a biannual grading. Spend this biannual meeting grading job performance and evaluating effectiveness.

Prior to the meeting, ask the staff member to do a self-evaluation by assigning a grade of “A,” “B” or “C” to each topic on his or her job description. “A” means “going above and beyond what is expected.” “B” means “meeting expectations.” “C” means “falling short of expectations.”

Ask the staff member to come prepared to provide a reason for assigning each grade. Let him or her know you will be assigning grades as well. (Come prepared to share your reasons for each grade, too.)

This will serve as a measuring stick for seeing how well your perspectives on performance and expectations match.

Schedule a yearly debrief. Spend this yearly meeting assessing each staff member’s job fit and evaluating his or her leadership.

Prior to your meeting, give the staff member a form to think through and fill out. The form should include a general-purpose statement establishing it as an evaluation of the individual’s current leadership and overall development. It should also include three categories for evaluation: strengths, weaknesses and solutions. Define strengths as, “Areas in which you are doing well as a leader.” Define weaknesses as: “Areas in which you are doing poorly as a leader.” And solutions should answer the question: “How you can enhance your strengths and develop your weaknesses?”

The strengths and weaknesses categories should include three different spaces each for them to respond in detail. The solutions category should have six different spaces for them to respond in detail

Implementing an evaluation system into the culture of your church staff helps ensure the gap between someone’s performance and someone else’s expectation of that performance is as minimal as possible. (three for strengths and three for weaknesses). Come ready to dialogue on the staff member’s written perspective and what you agree on or think differently on in all three categories of the form.

This will serve as a development playbook that will direct each person on how to improve their personal leadership and team fit.

Evaluation Rules Avoid miscommunication and potential problems. Here are five rules to remember.

1. Be honest. Provide the good, the bad, and the ugly, even if it’s uncomfortable.

2. Be realistic. Balance the reality of your church with the dreams of your vision.

3. Be clear. Make sure challenges and goals are specific and measurable versus general and vague.

4. Be inquisitive. Ask for and listen to concerns, struggles, problems, assessments and insights.

5. Be thorough. Come ready, cover everything, and keep detailed records afterward.

Proverbs 11:14 reminds us, “Where there is no guidance the people fall, But in abundance of counselors there is victory” (NASB).

Regardless of how natural this may come to you as a leader, staff evaluations are necessary for both you and them. They will become better as a result. You will become better. And the church will grow.

Dan Hunter is lead executive pastor at Grace Church in Houston.

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PLAYBOOK : KNOW

INTENTION VERSUS ACTION IN EVANGELISM Here are three ways to turn your intention to action in your daily life.

ED STETZER

here is an undeniable resurgence of a missionary mentality in many churches. But thinking is not the same as doing — and some recent statistics from the Billy Graham Center for Evangelism, the Assemblies of God, and 10 other partner denominations show disparities between prayer and personal evangelism with pastors in small churches.

The first statistic is the act of prayer for nonbelievers. Nearly all (96 percent) of the most evangelistic pastors of small churches pray for unbelievers by name, where 90 percent of the least evangelistic pastors make that a weekly practice. The statistics are high, even for the least evangelistic pastors.

The second statistic is the action of evangelism toward nonbelievers. Both the pastors of the least evangelistic churches (87 percent) and the pastors of the most evangelistic churches (65 percent) pray more than they share, but the gap is far more evident among the least evangelistic.

Don’t miss the difference between how many of the least evangelistic pastors pray for the lost (90 percent) and how many share their faith with the lost (65 percent). The intention is there, but the action isn’t matching up. In other words, just about everyone is praying, but not everyone is sharing.

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The Frightful Condition of Prayer Without Action “He told them, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field’” (Luke 10:2).

HOW OFTEN DO YOU PERSONALLY PRAY FOR NONBELIEVERS BY NAME? (WEEKLY) Most-evangelistic small churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96% Least-evangelistic small churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90% HOW OFTEN DO YOU PERSONALLY SHARE YOUR FAITH WITH THE UNCHURCHED? (WEEKLY) Most-evangelistic small churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87% Least-evangelistic small churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65%

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PLAYBOOK : KNOW

It’s undeniable that Jesus loved to pray. He models the importance of prayer throughout His life. He sees the plentiful harvest waiting for laborers in Luke 10 and first urges the disciples to pray.

But prayer without action is as effective as filling up a car’s gas tank only to park it in the garage and never drive it. There are sincere pastors who love Jesus and pray earnestly for the harvest and yet utterly fail at leading their congregations to loving and reaching their neighbors for Jesus. I’ve seen it up close and from afar, and if you’ve been in any denomination for long, you know this is the norm rather than the exception. Why? Part of the answer is fear. Since the Garden of Eden, Satan has used fear as a motivator for evil action or evil inaction. He tempted Eve with the fear of missing out when he said: “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:5). Perhaps fear silenced Adam as his wife faced the greatest battle of her life. Today, fear is still at work, paralyzing the church into inaction.

Fear makes it easier to pray in a closed church prayer meeting with friends than to knock on a neighbor’s door and invite them over for coffee.

Fear convinces pastors to believe the lie that more activity in the church is better than reaching out to serve those outside the church on a consistent basis.

Fear says, “Evangelism is for the super pastor,” and, “I just don’t have the time.”

This fear drives pastors to walk the road of best intentions, and we all have heard about where that leads. C.S. Lewis describes it this way in The Screwtape Letters: “Indeed the safest road to Hell is the gradual one — the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.”

This is the state of a church pastor who prays with fervent intention yet doesn’t act. It’s a quiet, declining road as a leader surrenders his or her neighborhood and community over to hell and all its power.

The Difference Action Makes “Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves” (Luke 10:3).

A powerful correlation exists between Jesus’ prayers 26

Prayer without action is as effective as filling up a car’s gas tank only to park it in the garage and never drive it. and His actions. After He prays, things happen. Jesus commands the 72 to go, sending them on a journey where they knock on doors, heal the sick, and proclaim the kingdom of God. We must do the same. Intention must lead to action, and it starts with us.

Here are three ways to turn your intention to action in your daily life: 1. Consistently host a community event at your house.

2. Spend time intentionally going and meeting people where they live, work, study or play.

3. Weave the truth of the gospel through as many conversations as you can, seeing yourself as a translator of Jesus into the lives of others.

Jesus backs up His prayers with action. It took planning, training, modeling and preparation, and then it culminated in decisive action. This is the result His disciples reported just a few verses later: “The seventytwo returned with joy and said, ‘Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name’” (Luke 10:17).

Pastor, the only way your church will overcome the gates of hell in your community is if you act on your evangelistic intentions. This is the difference between death and life, between effectiveness and apathy, between advancing the gospel and letting Satan seduce the people God has called you to reach.

You must lead the charge! You must model the change!

As you speak the gospel to the world outside your door, your church will follow. Don’t stop praying. Just make sure you also start going.

Ed Stetzer, Ph.D., is the Billy Graham chair of church, mission and evangelism at Wheaton (Illinois) College and serves as executive director of the Billy Graham Center for Evangelism.

HEALTH RESTORED. HOPE SUSTAINED. When a severe drought hit Vanuatu, an Assemblies of God missionary and the local church had CompassionLink teach local Christians to drill water wells. This team of Christian drillers are now invited into villages where the gospel was never allowed.

Everywhere they go, they make friends with the villagers and share the love of Jesus.

We are actively linking hands with missionaries and national churches to create healthy communities through training in:

• Community Development • Spiritual Care • Clean Water • Health Initiatives

• Income Generation • Disability Care

Learn more about how we create healthy communities and how you can get involved at compassionlink.org.

PLAYBOOK : INVEST

FOUR WAYS TO INCREASE BENEVOLENCE EFFECTIVENESS In the spirit of being benevolent, we can become blind to how our helping might be hurting. Here are four ways to increase benevolence effectiveness.

MIKE MCCRARY

elping the poor requires more than just good intentions. Often we try to fix poverty with material things alone and forget that material poverty is just a symptom of poverty. Therein lies the problem in many of our attempts to help the poor. Most of us would define poverty as a lack of material things, such as money, food and shelter.

But the reality of poverty is more nuanced.

In the spirit of being benevolent, we can become blind to how our helping might actually be hurting. So, let’s walk through four ways to increase benevolence effectiveness.

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Think Theologically Remember that God made all people in His image, with inherent dignity, and that we all need the reconciling work of Christ in our lives.

God calls every disciple of Christ to respect the life and dignity of every human being. Even when people deny the dignity of others, we must still recognize that their dignity is a gift from God, and is not something a person can earn or lose through economic status.

It’s too easy to become innocently arrogant when we minister to the poor, by comparing their lives to ours.

I served for 11 years at a church in Springfield, Missouri, that resided in one of the most economically challenged zones of the city. Several years ago, we developed an outreach ministry that went door-to-door within a one-mile radius of the church every month.

I’ll never forget the day I approached the front door of one of the homes in our neighborhood. As I walked up, I noticed trash strewn across the front yard and broken-down vehicles in the driveway. I had been to

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PLAYBOOK : INVEST

Mistaken understandings of poverty lead to counterproductive efforts to help the poor. the house before, but I had never met the homeowners.

I knocked on the door, and, for the first time, a woman answered. I introduced myself and offered her and her family food, lawn care, home repairs and prayer — as I did for every house.

As I finished, the woman’s response caught me offguard: “You’ve been coming here for months. Why? I don’t need your help. I have plenty of food. I like living here. Stop offering to mow my lawn. Help someone else.

Please don’t come back!”

It was not until later that I understood how I had offended this woman and how our church’s benevolence ministries had gone wrong. I had offered her material things but failed to give her dignity.

This account, and others, forced our church to reconsider how we ministered. We learned that misunderstandings of poverty lead to counterproductive efforts to help the poor. Using what we learned, we took time to restructure our neighborhood ministries, and our outreach efforts enjoyed tremendous growth as a result.

Distinguish Between Relief, Rehabilitation and Development In When Helping Hurts, Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert outline three stages of helping the poor: relief, rehabilitation and development. Relief is what people need right after a crisis, when they are incapable of providing for themselves. Rehabilitation is the process of restoring people and communities to precrisis conditions. At the end of the spectrum, you have development: a long-term venture concerned with walking with the poor, and helping them steward what they have.

Failure to diagnose the stage of ministry that a community needs results in minimal success. Say that it’s Christmastime for a community in the rehabilitation phase. They are still struggling, but they are not in crisis.

When Christmas rolls around, your church organizes a toy drive. But, instead of collecting toys and handing them to the children yourself, why not make a toy store 30

where parents can shop for their children? Then the parents can provide for their children directly, which reinforces the desire to continue improving, builds dignity, and develops relationships.

Partner with Other Groups and Ministries Partnering with other churches, groups or local agencies can have a multiplying effect on the community.

For years, our church coordinated its own Thanksgiving meal distribution for families in need during the holidays, where we would typically distribute 200 meals a year. A few years ago, we partnered with another local group with a similar mission to feed the hungry. Our combined resources and efforts resulted in delivering over 1,200 meals in the first year.

Recognize other groups, partner with like-minded ministries, and mobilize the gifts God has already placed in communities and individuals, empowering the poor to improve their own circumstances.

This does not mean we will never bring in outside resources or do things ourselves, but we will only do so in a way that complements, rather than undermines, local assets.

Give More Than Handouts Giving handouts can be a dangerous and vicious cycle, increasing the pride of the giver and the shame of the recipient without ever addressing the roots of poverty. We need to teach our people to walk with the poor in humble relationships rather than providing temporary handouts.

Look for opportunities to form lasting relationships with low-income people, rather than looking for onetime interactions. I found the adage “never do for someone what they can do for themselves” a helpful guideline.

Ministering to the poor is tough work that requires thoughtfulness in our approach. These ideas should prompt us to reevaluate how much our efforts are helping the poor in the long run, and how we can adapt to help more effectively. We must work to help the poor, not with the goal of making them like us, but to help them realize who they are in the image of God. Mike McCrary, D.Min., is director of funding for the Church Multiplication Network at the General Council of the Assemblies of God in Springfield, Missouri.

ISSUE _ 14 / OCT 2017 _ DEC 2017

BETH BACKES / ED STETZER / SCOTT WILSON / LORI O’DEA

THE P R O T E S TA N T

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Intention Versus Action in Evangelism How Sermon Preparation Can Be Spirit-led and Strategic The Errors in Our Understanding of Discipleship

PERSPECTIVES

Should Churches Ramp Up or What is the meaning of the holidays in your church? When you approach your annual calendar, does the month of December fill you with good cheer, or does your staff share a combined cold sweat knowing that longer hours are on the horizon? Maybe you see it

as a time to ramp up involvement, or perhaps your church is better suited to ramp down at the end of the year.

In more traditional churches that follow a liturgical calendar, there is a natural ebb and flow to the yearlong life of the church. But for

RAMP UP utside of Easter, Christmas is the most-attended service of the year. The holidays attract guests; that’s just the way it is. Church attendance on Christmas Day is a time-honored tradition for many Americans. Why wouldn’t we want to capitalize on that?

Prioritizing the holidays sends the right message to your staff, your church and your community. With visitors from out of town and new guests who are looking for a church home, lots of people will hear the gospel and experience your vision. Putting your best foot forward will require a full-court press. That’s why I always think it’s better to ramp up at the holidays rather than taking a break.

A great December could lead to higher attendance in January, a time when some churches see a decline in numbers. When you go all in at the holidays, it can lead to repeat visitors. Plus, those who made a fresh commitment

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to follow Christ will want to start their discipleship journey in the new year. Ramping up for Christmas can mean avoiding lagging attendance in January.

When you do ramp up and get more of the staff involved, you can maximize on some great opportunities. Leverage your community’s school break with a Christmas movie night or children’s activities during the day, which may help working parents. The holidays are also a perfect time to do charity drives, like Toys for Tots, that tell your city you’re serious about meeting their needs, both tangible

and spiritual. But to do these things with excellence, you need adequate staffing.

Your staff needs to know that family is important.

They shouldn’t have to decide between optimizing service opportunities and spending time with relatives. However, they should also understand the importance of fulfilling the mission and vision you’ve carefully laid out for them. What better time to celebrate with all hands on deck than at Jesus’ birthday?

I understand the need to give your staff a much-needed rest. And I’m not suggesting that no one can take a Sunday off. But as a leader, you must decide which times of the year and spaces on the calendar are the most important for reaching your community for Christ. We all need a vacation now and then, but vision never takes a holiday.

Ramping up at the end of the calendar year can set you on the right path for the next year.

ONE ONE ISSUE. ISSUE. TWO TWO PERSPECTIVES. PERSPECTIVES.

Ramp Down for the Holidays? non-liturgical expressions of faith, that pace is often manufactured. While some churches go all out with charity drives and office parties, other churches don’t.

Should churches be gearing up for more services, events and outreach during the holiday

months? Or should they downshift into a more relaxed schedule of events? Both sides of this question have their pluses and minuses. In this issue’s Perspectives, we’ll look at both sides of this argument so you can decide what’s best for you.

RAMP DOWN ’ve long believed and lived my ministry by the motto of “people over programs.” That’s no more evident than at the holidays.

Thanksgiving, Christmas and the New Year are when we spend more time with family.

Kids gather with their parents, brothers and sisters get together, and grandmothers and grandfathers visit their youngest loved ones. Why should the church stand in the way of that? By ramping down at the holidays, you’ll be ensuring that everyone has the chance to celebrate family the way they want to celebrate.

Ministry jobs often require a more transient lifestyle. Many pastors find themselves moving far away from home to accept a position. What better time to go back home than during the holidays? And slowing down at the holidays sends a positive message to your community and all those watching. You’re telling them that you care about families, starting with your own.

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By overscheduling and overstaffing at the holidays, you end up cluttering everyone’s calendar. And the benefits are usually minimal. The expected attendance increase at Christmas is generally from out-oftown guests or family who already have a church home. It’s important to approach any ministry opportunity with excellence, but if the cost is separation from family and a more hectic month, is it worth it?

Take the chance to think outside

the box to maximize the holidays and respect your staff. Have you ever considered an online service?

Streaming a service online on Christmas Day is a great way to stay connected with your church and still allow them to spend quality time with family at their own pace. Also, it requires only a scaled-down staff to pull off. Or maybe you can plan a holiday service earlier in the month or partner with other churches in the area for a combined service, sharing resources and staff.

No one can run at full speed the whole year. When do you plan to take a break? View a ramped-down holiday schedule as a reward to your staff, a gift for the hard work they’ve done all year. It will also be a way to respect your members’ time and schedules when they already have so much going on, from office parties and family in town to the feeling that they’re missing out if they don’t add just one more event.

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MARTIN LUTHER’S CONTRIBUTION IS OF ENDURING SIGNIFICANCE TO THE LIFE OF P E N T E C O S TA L CHURCHES. H E R E ’S W H Y.

FRANK D. MACCHIA

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Out FEATURE

from he date was October 31, 1517. An unknown monk and university professor approached the door of the Castle Church in the small town of Wittenberg, Germany. His purpose? To post provocative theses for debate — 95 of them, to be exact.

This is what scholars did in those days. They posted theses in public to provoke debate. And the door of the church was not an unusual place to post them. Thus, the occasion of posting these theses would not have attracted any attention. Most of those witnessing it would not have given it a second thought. Martin Luther could not have possibly known that this seemingly uneventful occasion would eventually lead to a momentous change in the course of Church history.

The invention of the printing press 77 years earlier allowed people to reproduce and disseminate Luther’s Theses. His words captured the attention of many, including Church authorities, who joined in publically opposing him.

Luther remarked much later in his life: “I would never have thought that such a storm would rise from Rome over one simple scrap of paper.”

But what a scrap of paper it was! Luther’s major goal in the 95 Theses was to reform the sale of indulgences and correct the theological assumptions that accompanied how the Church practiced this sale at the time. Indulgences were part of the larger doctrine of penance. The Church of Luther’s day had gradually begun to shift the emphasis of its message from what God did to save humanity through Christ to what we should do to convert and to strive for godliness to escape the fires of judgment. With this change, the Church elevated the importance of penance.

Penance consisted of contrition of heart, confession and a penitential act. Within this third category (penitential acts), the Church allowed ecclesiastical authorities to award an “indulgence” to penitent sinners, which involved the lessening of the temporal punishment the Church imposed for sin. The intent was not to justify anyone before God or secure eternal salvation. Church officials could award an indulgence in response to different acts they considered worthy of recognition.

When the Church started offering indulgences for 36

LUTHER’S ACT OF POSTING

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therei sale, however, some made exaggerated claims about their effect in delivering people or their loved ones from purgatory. Luther observed that many among the uneducated population believed indulgences could in fact secure salvation. Their sale detracted attention from the need for true repentance and faith for salvation. It led people to think that salvation was available for purchase and that the basis for its magnanimous blessings were the merits of the saints. Such ideas could have crowded out the gospel itself. Greedy for financial gain, those who sold indulgences sometimes spent more time doing this than preaching the gospel.

Luther’s responses in his theses were to the point.

In thesis after thesis, Luther directed the attention of the Church from tradition to the authority of God’s Word, from the purchase of indulgences to true repentance, and from human merit to the abundant adequacy of God’s grace for salvation. Most striking in this regard was thesis No. 62: “The true treasure of the church is the most holy gospel of the glory and grace of God.” Though Luther’s Theses were provocative and bold for their time, his thoughts were only present there in seminal form. In 1520, he released a few essays that allowed him to bring to full expression his key ideas.

The problems he confronted in those writings went beyond indulgences. His purpose was to clarify the very foundations of the Church’s faith. What were his central ideas?

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Solus Christus First, Luther trumpeted the biblical idea that Christ alone (solus Christus) won salvation for us. In his Lectures on Galatians, Luther remarked, “There is nothing under the sun that counts for righteousness except Christ alone.”

All our self-generated righteousness falls short of divine glory, for we are sinners (Romans 3:23). In Three Treatises, Luther wrote concerning our recognition of ourselves as sinners: “When you have learned this you will know that you need Christ, who suffered and rose again for you so that, if you believe in him you may through this faith become a new man in so far as your sins are forgiven and you are justified by the merits of another, namely, of Christ alone.”

In Christ, God’s Son became human so that through His life, death and resurrection, humanity could gain reconciliation to God. Luther was thus adamant that Christ alone is the mediator of salvation for humanity (1 Timothy 2:5).

In saying “Christ alone,” Luther pointed to the only source of salvation there is: God’s self-giving to us in Christ. Since salvation comes only in God’s self-giving to us, only the divine Son of God through the Spirit can mediate salvation. In saying this, Luther directed his guns against the idea that both Christ and the Church mediate salvation. No, Christ alone is the mediator of grace, the foundation of the Christian life (1 Corinthians 3:11).

The Church does indeed play an instrumental role in facilitating our encounter with Christ in the power of the Spirit. But Luther was quick to point out that the Church’s proclamation of the Word of God and observance of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are essentially acts of Christ in His own self-giving to us as the sole mediator between God and humanity. Such things are ultimately not in our hands, but in Christ’s.

Luther quipped in Three Treatises, for example, that the priests are not the “lords” of Baptism or of the Lord’s Supper, but mere servants, duty bound to administer these ordinances as Christ wills and in service to Him. As Luther wrote of the Church: “The church has no power to make new divine promises of grace … since the church is under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. For the church was born by the word of promise through faith, and by this same word is nourished and preserved.”

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Sola Gratia From this chief idea of Christ alone, Luther proceeded by noting that salvation is by grace alone (sola gratia). That some rejected as heresy the idea that in all we do “only pure grace alone counts before God” baffled Luther (from Luther’s Spirituality). How else can it be? All that we have comes from the goodness and mercy of God (James 1:17).

Under the banner of “grace alone,” salvation through “Christ alone” exists within a larger framework — namely, a gracious God who loves humanity and acts to save them for no other reason than undeserved love or favor.

Luther was well acquainted with the image of the wrathful God sometimes highlighted in the popular culture of his time. He himself wrestled with this onesided image of God. The harder he sought to please this God through his own accomplishments, the more he felt under divine wrath, and the more uncertain his status with God seemed to be.

In Lectures on Galatians, Luther wrote of his early years as a monk: “When I was a monk, I made a great effort to live according to the requirements of the monastic rule. I made a practice of confessing and reciting all my sins, but always with prior contrition; I went to confession frequently, and I performed the assigned penances faithfully. Nevertheless, my conscience could never achieve certainty but was always in doubt.”

Amid this turmoil, Luther discovered that the grace of God alone is the foundation of salvation. His response was exuberant. He was able to see every good thing as a gift from God. He was able to read the entire Bible in an entirely new light. He wrote, “Here I felt that I was altogether born again and had entered paradise itself through open gates. There a totally other face of the entire scripture showed itself to me” (from Luther’s Works, Vol. 31).

Luther never doubted the reality of divine wrath for those who continue to oppose God’s grace. But he found in the good news of the gospel a God whose essence is love (1 John 4:9), who wills to save and not to condemn (2 Peter 3:9). The Cross became in Luther’s thinking the place where God most profoundly revealed His heart. In the face of Jesus Christ, he found the mirror image of a loving Father, and proceeding through Christ toward us, an offer of new life in the Spirit that seeks to take up humanity into the divine embrace. The principle of “grace alone” means that there is no possibility for 38

F A I T H I S A L WAY S W E A K TO AN EXTENT AND IS U T T E R LY D E P E N D E N T O N G O D ’ S G R A C E T O S U S TA I N I T. T H E R E F O R M AT I O N B A N N E R OF “GRACE ALONE” CAN REMIND US OF SUCH TRUTHS.

humanity to save itself. One cannot meet God partway or do anything that would make one worthy of salvation. Every single step one takes toward God is possible only by the grace of God manifested in Christ and bestowed by the Holy Spirit. Salvation, therefore, is not by grace and works, but simply by grace. Ephesians 2:8–9 is quite clear in this regard: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God — not by works, so that no one can boast.”

This is not to say that works are unimportant to the flourishing of the Christian life. Works are indeed vital as the goal or purpose of the grace bestowed upon us. In Three Treatises, Luther wrote movingly that just as the Heavenly Father has freely come to our aid in Christ “we also ought freely to help our neighbor through our body and its works, and each one should become as it were a Christ to the other that we may be Christs to one another and Christ may be the same in all, that is, that we may be truly Christians.”

God saves us so that our lives may bear fruit and become a source of blessing to others: “For we are

God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10). We do good works, but only because we are God’s handiwork. Though good works are a vital part of the Christian life, we receive salvation by grace alone.

Sola Fide Luther proceeded from there to stress that salvation comes through faith alone (sola fide). In saying “faith alone,” Luther understood the longer formula of “by grace through faith alone.” “Grace alone” is the foundation of the “faith alone.” This foundation of grace is necessary to avoid turning human faith into a new means of attaining salvation through human effort.

God’s Word sparks and sustains faith in our hearts (Romans 10:17). God accepts our faith as the means of receiving Christ purely by grace. Faith may waver, but the deeper basis of salvation is God’s grace alone. In fact, faith by nature does not trust in our accomplishments when it comes to salvation, but only in what God has done to save us.

So, as with grace, we receive salvation through faith and not works. Luther was fond of highlighting the Bible teaching that faith rather than works justifies believers (places them in right relation with God). “To the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness” (Romans 4:5). Though works are vital to faith as a living reality (James 2:26), the faith that saves us trusts only in God for salvation.

Indeed, as James affirms: “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created” (James 1:17–18). James is thus fully aware that salvation comes only by the grace of God. When James speaks of becoming righteous through faith and works (James 2:21–24), he speaks of the works of faith, and not of works that presume to earn salvation. He speaks of faith in action. The righteousness or justification of which he speaks in this context is thus not acceptance from God, but rather the vindication of faith as authentic, as a lived reality, for faith without works is dead (James 2:26).

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Sola Scriptura Luther received resistance from Church authorities for his “Christ alone, grace alone, faith alone” message. A lot was at stake for them. The Church used its imagined role as mediator of salvation to bolster its power in the world. It’s easy to see how Church authorities could feel threatened by Luther’s shifting the power to save from the hands of Church authorities to the hands of Christ alone, by grace through faith alone. To justify his resistance to these authorities, Luther included in his message the idea that the supreme standard for truth in the churches does not reside in the bishops or in tradition, but rather in Scripture alone (sola scriptura). When asked to recant his writings at his trial in 1521, Luther refused, adding famously, “I am bound by the scriptures I have quoted and my conscience is captive to the Word of God.” This is not to say that church leaders or tradition cannot illuminate the Scriptures for us. But the Scriptures for Luther are foundationally self-interpreting.

One interprets Scripture by the standard of Scripture’s own overarching gospel, the gospel of Christ.

Subsequent tradition has value only in helping us understand that gospel, and it’s important to measure all such tradition by that standard. Though faithful tradition has existed throughout the centuries as vital to the Church’s witness, only the Scripture is the chief authority in the churches, the supreme measure of our faith and practice (2 Timothy 3:15–16). While the Spirit can speak to us through prophetic messages and other spiritual gifts, only the Scripture is the privileged voice of the Spirit in the churches. We must test or evaluate the traditions or the prophecies to see whether they are true. But the Scripture is always true, the standard by which we test everything else.

Significance of the Reformation Today This isn’t an attempt to glorify Luther, for he had feet of clay, as does every servant of God. Neither do we intend to overestimate his role in our reflection on the significance of the Reformation for our time. Luther’s act of posting his 95 Theses 500 years ago is merely symbolic of the drive for reform that has characterized the Church from its inception. And, of course, the Reformation was larger and more diverse than the Lutheran Movement. Reformed, Anabaptist, and 40

P E N T E C O S TA L S S O U G H T TO PROMOTE THE EXPERIENCE OF GRACE IN THE MIDST OF A N O V E R LY I N T E L L E C T U A L U N D E R S TA N D I N G O F F A I T H A S A M E R E C O N F E S S I O N A L S TA N C E .

Anglican leaders contributed to the onset of the Protestant Movement as well. Still, Luther’s contribution is of enduring significance for any assessment of the significance of the Protestant Movement for church life today. What is this significance? Why should we celebrate Luther’s act of posting 95 Theses 500 years ago?

In discussing the significance of the Reformation for our churches, it is important to recognize that our context was different from Luther’s. The Reformers sought to discover the objective and certain foundation for faith in the midst of the uncertainties of Christian piety. Pentecostals sought instead to promote the experience of grace in the midst of an overly intellectual understanding of faith as a mere confessional stance. For example, Aimee Semple McPherson wrote that we should not merely confess or profess the God of Pentecost, but we should also possess His nature and presence deep in our souls.

Yet, we should not exaggerate the difference. The Reformers also viewed faith as a living participation in Christ, and the Pentecostals accented a new appreciation of the gospel of Christ in all its fullness.

It is thus not surprising that Pentecostals have always viewed the Reformation as a valued renewal movement connected to the revivals of later generations.

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TO THE FULL SIGNIFICANCE OF A LIFE FOUNDED ON CHRIST ALONE. For example, McPherson wrote of how the ongoing restoration of spiritual life in the Church involved the message of Martin Luther. When Luther grasped the powerful victory of salvation through Christ, it was as if “a great light fell from heaven.” Through his message, “life again began to surge through the trunk and limbs of the tree.” McPherson continued by showing gratitude to William Booth of the Salvation Army and John Wesley for their emphasis on consecration and holiness. Lastly, the experience of Spirit baptism, especially as signified in gifts like speaking in tongues, caused the spiritual restoration of the church to flourish.

It is, therefore, important to explore the significance of the Reformation for today’s churches. A few points are worth highlighting. First, our efforts to

lift up the abundance of life in the Spirit have sometimes neglected the significance of Christ alone as the standard of spiritual experience. Rather than interpreting the fullness of the Spirit in accordance with the example of the crucified Christ, as the fullness of self-giving love, we have sometimes looked to cultural standards of prosperity and material abundance to describe the flourishing of life in the Spirit. Here is where our Reformation heritage can help us by pointing us to the full significance of a life founded on Christ alone. Rather than conforming to this world, we must welcome transformation by a Christlike renewal of our minds (Romans 12:2).

Second, we often stress the need to believe more strongly and to live godlier lives. This emphasis is all well and good. But it is also necessary to recognize that

F I V E N O T E W O RT H Y B O O K S O N L U T H E R A N D T H E R E F O R M AT I O N Roland H. Bainton, Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther (Abingdon Press, 2013). Here I Stand is a

timeless classic on Luther, a good place to start.

Timothy George, Theology of the Reformers (B&H Academic, 2013).

Theology of the Reformers is great place to start on the larger theology of the Reformers.

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Lyndal Roper, Martin Luther: Renegade and Prophet (Random House, 2017). Renegade and

Prophet is a more up to date and massive treatment of Luther’s life and thought.

Scott Hendrix, Martin Luther: Visionary Reformer (Yale University Press, 2017). Visionary

Reformer is a more recent and

noteworthy treatment of Luther’s life and thought.

Michael Reeves, The Unquenchable Flame: Discovering the Heart of the Reformation (B&H Academic, 2010). The Unquenchable

Flame is a fine treatment of the theology of the Reformers, a good follow-up to Timothy George’s book mentioned above.

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our acceptance from God does not rest on the quality of our spiritual progress. It rests on what Christ has done for us. Moreover, though we have a responsibility to seek God passionately, spiritual progress does not rest primarily in our hands. God is the One who enables us. Faith is always weak to an extent and is utterly dependent on God’s grace to sustain it. The Reformation banner of “grace alone” can remind us of such truths.

Lastly, the enduring power of the Protestant Reformation lies in its call to all churches to return to the Scripture time and again to hear its gospel anew. Pentecostals have always sought revival by insisting that churches return to the biblical text with fresh ears to hear the biblical story once again. In doing this, we have revealed a dependence on our Protestant heritage. The Reformation stood for the principle of a Church under constant reformation (semper reformanda). Our favored term is revival. But both terms point essentially to the same practice of opening the Scripture time and again and asking Christ to speak to us afresh so that we can repent, believe and obey with renewed commitment and fresh power.

There are times in the life of churches when hearing the voice of Christ through this sacred text in the power of the Spirit becomes urgent. This need could arise because of doctrinal error or unfaithful church practices. It could also be a consequence of spiritual or moral laxity. The Pentecostal Movement sought to hear the gospel with fresh power at the turn of the 20th century. The Reformation still matters because the enduring significance of our Movement will depend on whether we continue to listen.

Frank D. Macchia, D. Theology, D.D., is professor of theology at Vanguard University in Costa Mesa, California.

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T H R E E M A J O R T R E AT I S E S The year was 1520. Three years had passed since Luther posted his 95 Theses, and his struggle with church authorities was at its height. In this year, he wrote three crucial essays that allowed him to sharpen his criticism of the Church and propose reforms.

An Open Letter to the Christian Nobility of the German Nation Concerning the Reform of the Christian Estate

Luther opposes here the authority of the papacy over state authorities. He seeks to convince the wealthy German nobility to break free of church control. The doctrine of the Church and the state as two separate “kingdoms” under Christ is based in this essay.

The Babylonian Captivity of the Church

Luther challenges here the presumption of the clergy that the sacraments are under their power to distribute as they wish and for their benefit. Luther stressed instead that in the Lord’s Supper Christ is freely present to all who receive Him in faith.

The Freedom of a Christian

Luther takes the opportunity in this essay to offer a positive expression of Reformation faith, highlighting the doctrine of justification by grace through faith alone.

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How Sermon Preparation Can Be Spirit-Led and Strategic ARE TWO APPROACHES TO SERMON PREPARATION INCOMPATIBLE AND OPPOSITES? HERE’S HOW ONE CHURCH BROUGHT TOGETHER THE PROPHETIC AND THE PLANNED. SCOTT WILSON

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’m familiar with two opposite approaches pastors use to prepare their messages.

My dad wanted to preach what God told him to preach. Every day during the week, he prayed and read the Bible, and he was open to the thoughts God brought to mind. Then, he got up at five on Sunday morning and pulled out a clean sheet of paper.

He thought of everything God had put on his heart all week, and he put his sermon together. When I got older and started preparing my own messages, his method struck me as too unplanned, too spontaneous.

I asked, “Dad, I don’t understand. Why don’t you do more preparation before Sunday morning?”

His eyes got wide, and he told me, with passion in his voice, “Son, I want to cook up the message God gives me and serve it to ’em hot! Nobody wants to eat cold, canned food, and they sure don’t want to hear cold, canned sermons!”

In contrast, I’ve seen many younger pastors carefully construct their sermons weeks or even months before delivering them. This gives them a sense of direction, and it takes a lot of pressure off because they know what they’re going to say and when they’re going to say it. They certainly don’t think they’re not being spiritual. They believe God can clearly lead them long before they preach these sermons.

Often, the two approaches seem like incompatible opposites. Instead, I think it’s much better to see careful planning and Spirit-prompted sensitivity as two wings of a plane. It takes both for the plane to fly. We can plan and pray; we can be strategic and prophetic.

We can project how we meet the needs of people in our community and allow the Spirit to lead.

Several years ago, I attended a conference at Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Illinois, and heard, for the first time, someone describe what he called the natural “seasons” in a church’s calendar. The speaker explained that when you understand the seasons, you can plan events and the preaching schedule to fit the needs of the community. This insight has shaped my conception of planning for our church since that day. Careful analysis and planning, then, is one wing of the plane.

The other wing is sensitivity to the Spirit of God, trusting Him to prompt and lead, challenge existing assumptions, drive the truth of the Word deep into 48

It’s much better to see careful planning and Spirit-prompted sensitivity as two wings of a plane. It takes both for the plane to fly. our hearts, and empower us to speak with His voice and authority.

In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul quoted Isaiah and then made an application: “‘What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived’ — the things God has prepared for those who love him — these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit” (1 Corinthians 2:9–10).

That means that God doesn’t want me to put messages together based on what I see other churches doing or what I hear other pastors preaching. He wants me to pray and allow the Holy Spirit to reveal the fresh and timely message He has for our church and community. So, without the wing of the Spirit’s vital involvement, the plane will crash and burn.

This is how God has led me to value both wings on our plane.

One Wing: Planning for the Seasons When I walked out of the conference near Chicago, I began structuring our church calendar around the obvious seasons in the lives of people in our community. We looked at the needs, desires and stresses people experience at different times of the year.

For our audience, the center of the target is parents in their 30s who are busy raising their children and who often feel enormous financial and relational demands. We certainly want to inspire and motivate every person, young and old, but young families are at the heart of our strategy and our message. As we reflected on what’s going on in people’s lives at different times of the year, we identified four distinct seasons. These seasons don’t restrict our messages and methods, but we’re wise to be aware of what’s going on during each one of them. The first three seasons are

times of harvest, and the fourth is a time for sowing and cultivating God’s people so they’ll be ready for the next cycle of harvest.

The first season is September to Thanksgiving.

Our community (like most others) revolves around the school year, so our year begins right after Labor Day. At that point, the atmosphere in the city is electric, full of anticipation, which makes it a perfect time to launch a new series and invite people to come. I clearly remember last year a mom telling me about her hopes

Annual Season Series Cycle

and wishes, as well as her concerns and worries, for her kids as they prepared to head into a new school year.

She concluded her thoughts with, “I told my husband, ‘We’ve got to get this family in church when school starts. We need to get some Jesus in these kids.’”

We launch the year with two separate series. Each series is about six weeks long, targeting Primary Newcomers — first-time visitors to the church. The question that frequently comes up with this approach is, “How does developing a series that focuses on new people serve the regular attender?”

I understand that it seems counterintuitive, but I’ve found this approach to be a potent catalyst for the growth of any believer. After all, the gospel is the power of God for those who believe (Romans 1:16; 1 Corinthians 1:18). The message that God loves, forgives, heals, and restores is good news for the sinner, the seeker and the saint. And at the end of the day, we all deal with many of the same life issues. Whether I’m preaching about marriage, stress, health or work-life balance, Christians and non-Christians alike can relate (though people who know Jesus are certainly in a better place to navigate the challenges of living in a fallen world).

I’ve also realized from my own life that I grow more in discipleship when unsaved people ask questions about the Bible that make me think, seek God and search the Scriptures. I pray more, asking God for wisdom on how to present my testimony and reach the 49

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Primary Newcomer Profile Personal (Physical, Intellectual, Emotional, Spiritual)

• • • •

Family

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Vocational

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Church

Community

High stress Tired Nominal God thoughts Letting themselves go physically

Wife making life decisions Kid’s activities More roommates Happy kids — be better than we had • Helicopter parents • Cash poor — struggling High demand Lots of hours — accomplished Bring it home Little college White Collar/Blue Collar mindset (low white)

• Optional & down on the list • Church wound • Religious — rules and regulations • Denominationalism • Like the slowness • Schools important • It’s about what I get, not give

lost. Interacting with people who don’t know Christ — people who are struggling with heavy burdens of guilt, fear and addiction — makes me more aware of the devastating effects of sin and the spiritual battle that is raging all around me every day. This kind of dynamic drives me to my knees and causes me to draw closer to Christ and grow in Him like never before.

The second season is after Thanksgiving to Christmas Eve. Our Christmas Eve service is one of the highlights of the year. The blend of tradition and creativity, plus the inherent hope of Christmas, makes this the most attractive time for our people to invite their friends to come. The series we preach during 50

these weeks focuses on the wonder of the Incarnation and the matchless love of God — and we pull out all the stops for Christmas Eve and encourage everyone in our church to bring people with them.

The third season is January to Easter. Every person expects the beginning of the calendar year to kick off something new. They make resolutions about all kinds of things: diet, exercise, church, smoking, drinking, spending, saving, staying away from social media, not speeding, etc. The hope of change is the theme of this season. We have two series, each again about six weeks long, to inspire people to look to God for real and lasting change. And then, of course, we focus the next series on the Cross and the Resurrection at Easter as the ultimate source of life change. We end every service in the series before Easter having people pray and strategize about those they are going to bring with them on Easter weekend.

The fourth season is after Easter to the end of summer. In the weeks after Easter, many people are preoccupied with graduation, finishing school and preparing for summer vacations, weddings and countless other activities.

We don’t try to compete with all the things pulling at people’s time, energy and attention. Instead of this being a season of harvest, we invest our energies in plowing and sowing truths about the character of God and the nature of spiritual life in the church. During the six weeks after Easter, we recast the vision, mission and goals of the church for the coming year, and we clearly outline the resources we’ll need to accomplish these goals. The sermon series addresses the heart of generosity and encourages people to give out of deep appreciation for all God has given them — especially His grace. We ask people to make a commitment to give for the upcoming year, and we celebrate their radical selflessness. This enables us to set our annual budget.

In June and July, we focus on the church’s vision and the power of serving to change lives. We applaud every person who has served in the past year, and we invite people to explore opportunities for the coming year. Many stay in their current roles, but others want to try something new. As we enlist and begin to train those who serve, we point them to the importance of the new season that’s coming up in a few weeks.

Their eager and effective service will have a powerful

impact on the families who come for the first time.

In August, our emphasis is always on getting people into a small group. Strong, supportive communities are the backbone of the church. We enlist new group leaders to prepare to meet and invite new people to their groups in September when the small group season starts. We host a Small Group Connection for people in our church who aren’t yet in a group and want to join. This emphasis tells our people that groups aren’t an ancillary ministry at The Oaks; they’re central to the vibrant life of our church.

The Other Wing: Listening to the Voice of God The seasons of our church’s life give me a framework to understand the needs of people so we can meet those needs more effectively, but that’s not enough.

My job is to hear the voice of God and preach only and always what He gives me to share.

In a concentrated time during May each year, I ask God to show me what people are dealing with in our community and church family, and I trust Him to give me clear direction about the topics for the series in each of the seasons of the coming year. In May of this year, I spent many hours each day for several days listening to the voice of the Spirit regarding our upcoming year. I asked God to remind me of the concerns people had shared with me, and I asked Him to put particular biblical insights on my heart. In all this reflection, I’m trying to acquire a necessary but elusive skill: I’m learning to be quiet and listen to God’s voice and hear what He has to say about the issues facing our people.

When I believe I’ve heard from God, I have no pretenses that I’ve heard everything. I have a series of planning days with my teaching and programming teams, and I ask them to come “prayed up” and ready to share what they’ve been hearing from the Lord.

As we talk about each series, they bring fresh, Spiritprompted ideas. Our collaboration fills in lots of holes in my thinking, praying and planning. It’s powerful when I’m not the only one hearing from God. Paul reminded the Corinthians, “For we know in part and we prophesy in part” (1 Corinthians 13:9).

That’s humbling and true. And only a chapter later, he explained, “What then shall we say, brothers and sisters? When you come together, each of you has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. Everything must be done so that the church may be built up” (1 Corinthians 14:26).

It’s not all up to me. Everyone on the team plays a vital role so our church will be built up. They’re not in the meeting to be cheerleaders for my ideas.

They’re vital contributors to shape each series, service and sermon. When everyone is engaged, they bring their unique contributions, and then they can let their creativity fly. They write songs, create videos, and produce art and literature to make worship as God-drenched and powerful as possible so the entire service is a unified message.

Taking Flight Finding the right balance has been an ongoing process. I admit, our planning process used to consist of everyone going online and searching for message 51

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series from big churches across the nation. Then we’d adopt and adapt their concepts to make them our own.

We no longer do that. At a crucial point, God told me, “Those are the messages I’ve given them, not you. If you’ll listen to Me, I’ll tell you what I want to say to My people at The Oaks.”

Of course, we’re open to inspiration and instruction from other leaders. We give credit when we get ideas or quotes from another ministry, and we occasionally recommend books. But other pastors’ messages are no longer our primary resource. Our own study, reflection and prayer connect us to God’s mind and heart.

After we listen to the Lord and feel clearly led about the year and each series, we kick into a different gear to prepare each week. I come to our team on Tuesdays with my thoughts for the message for the next Sunday, and we bathe these ideas in prayer. We focus on the message God is putting on our hearts for that week. I get feedback and input from the team, and each person crafts his or her unique contribution to the worship service so it all fits together.

I spend Wednesday praying and outlining the sermon in detail. Later in the day, I send my notes to our team for more feedback so I can tweak anything that needs work. On Thursday, I write out the manuscript and send it out again to the team for their input. I memorize it and speak it to several people who haven’t been part of the planning, praying and preparation to see how it strikes them. Their feedback often helps me fine-tune (or scrap) a point or two.

We are always open to what God wants to do in the worship service. We prepare carefully, but we know God sometimes has other plans. We schedule the service to last an hour and 15 minutes, but in case God wants to do something we haven’t planned, we leave 10 minutes open. We’ve had song leaders spontaneously sing an additional song or someone share a timely prophetic message; there have even been mid-service altar responses for healing and deliverance.

Several years ago, God showed me that I was too self-reliant and too scripted — and trying to be too cool. I hadn’t made room for Him in our services. In my book, Clear the Stage, I tell the story of how God broke me and then rebuilt me as a pastor. Now, like 52

Jesus, I only want to say what the Father tells me to say (John 12:49) and do what I see the Father doing (John 5:19). I made a vow to our church to never say anything God hasn’t given me to say.

The Holy Spirit leads me strategically as I pray and plan, and He also leads me spontaneously at every point in the process — including when I’m on the stage in the middle of a service. I’m fully committed to Spirit-led analysis of the needs of people, Spiritled planning to meet those needs, Spirit-led preparation to be as clear as we can be, and Spirit-led worship that brings people into the presence of their gracious and mighty God. That, I believe, is the power of being Spirit-led spontaneously in the middle of the service and strategically three months before.

Bringing together the Spirit-led and the strategic wasn’t something our church arrived at overnight. It’s a journey we’ve been on for years — and a vision we’re still pursuing. What about you? Which side do you tend to lean toward when it comes to message preparation? Do you tend to get your messages together on Saturday night or several weeks ahead? Do you think you need to change anything about how you are planning your preaching calendar? Do you know the natural seasons for your community and church? If so, what is God wanting you to preach in this season and in the approaching seasons?

I encourage you to consider prayerfully these questions with your team. Just think what could happen if everyone were working together for the same goal: to be Spirit-led and Spirit-prepared every single Sunday.

Scott Wilson is senior pastor of The Oaks Fellowship (AG) in Red Oak, Texas.

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DANGEROUS ASSUMPTIONS:

The Errors in Our Understanding of Discipleship THE CHIEF OBSTACLE TO OUR DISCIPLESHIP EFFORTS STEMS NOT FROM LACK OF EFFORT, BUT FROM A PREPONDERANCE OF ASSUMPTIONS. SO, HOW DO WE ESCAPE THE TIDAL PULL OF DANGEROUS ASSUMPTIONS? LORI O’DEA

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o you want to get well?”

It seems like an odd question, given the setting: Bethesda, a place known for healing. Disabled people surround Jesus, and He is talking to a man who has been an invalid for 38 years. Of course he wants to get well! Or does he?

This John 5 teaching moment involves much more than the lame man’s questionable character. It tells us that Jesus understood the problem of making assumptions, so He refused to do it.

He asked. He still did not receive a clear answer, but He apparently heard enough to indicate an affirmative response.

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That is a good picture of the minefield of contemporary discipleship. People don’t know what they don’t know. Their answer to the question, “Do you want to get well?” may be a clear “Yes!” But the real reply to, “Do you want to give up this habit?” or, “Do you want to swallow your pride to ask for help learning to pray?” may be more complicated, excuse-filled or negative.

Does this change our mission? No. We disciple anyway. But it will change our approach. We have to take responsibility for weeding out our assumptions, so we can present the clearest path to maturity to those we disciple.

Making Disciples Is the Mission “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19–20).

Much has been made of the journey to faith, particularly in an increasingly post-Christian culture, but not nearly enough about the journey to discipleship that follows. Our discipleship systems, if they exist at all, tend to focus on participation and completion, rather than transformation and transfer.

We cannot consider people mature disciples until they understand, embody and replicate the life of Christ. That’s a tall order. It is not a completely linear process, nor one that reaches completion this side of heaven. So, we never stop being disciples or making disciples.

Cries of “foul” on the evangelical church’s discipleship efforts arise from the too-limited focus on decisions indicated by raised hands, corporate prayers and impromptu baptisms, with little or no expectation of changed lives. If perpetually incomplete tasks annoy us as spouses, parents or employers, imagine how the Father views the neglected mission of making disciples.

To be fair, the chief obstacle to our discipleship efforts stems not from lack of effort, but more from a preponderance of assumptions. Identifying assumptions will help the Church become more effective in its mission.

Common Assumptions in Discipleship That it’s happening at all. Like the much-maligned participation trophies of the millennial generation, participation in discipleship classes, without 56

Finding effective means of discipleship may be a moving target in contemporary culture, but it is necessary. expectation and accountability for growth, constitutes a tragic waste at best, an ill-conceived con at worst. If we lead people to believe that sitting through a class satisfies all that’s required of them, we do more harm than good.

That it’s automatic. Unlike biological growth that happens automatically and somewhat predictably under healthy conditions, spiritual growth does not work the same way. Someone can receive Christ as Savior and progress no further in their faith journey. It is not likely, however, that such a person would remain in the faith. Shallow or nonexistent roots spell death.

That it’s optional. In his article, Rethinking Evangelism, the late philosopher Dallas Willard said it well: “The leading assumption in the American church is that you can be a Christian but not a disciple. That has placed a tremendous burden on a mass of Christians who are not disciples. We tell them to come to church, participate in our programs and give money. But we see a church that knows nothing of commitment. We have settled for the marginal, and so we carry this awful burden of trying to motivate people to do what they don’t want to do.”

That it’s a function of feeding. This assumption overestimates the influence of church attendance.

It supposes that people who are in church will know and grow, regardless of whether they encounter any systematic catechism or meaningful involvement in fellowship or ministry. Ignore for a moment the trend toward increasingly sporadic attendance, and notice the problem inherent in expecting fruit from any living organism capable only of consumption.

That it’s not a function of feeding. At the risk of speaking out of both sides of the mouth, being in a church, versus not being in one at all, offers tremendous discipleship advantages.

A recent Barna study showed a drastic difference between churchgoing Christians and those who claim to love Jesus but not His bride. Not surprisingly, the former were about twice as likely to believe and practice personal evangelism. And the de-churched were half as likely to read the Bible. So much for self-feeding! Check the same stats in a year or two, and any similarities between the two groups will likely disintegrate further.

That people understand something the first time. Not everyone learns in the same way or at the same pace. Sometimes people need to hear something multiple times before the information becomes personally relevant.

I remember watching a man’s face light up with wonder and joy at the concept of accountability one day after the lead pastor preached about it. I was grateful for his enthusiastic response but wondered, Why did he not grasp this truth the previous three times I taught it in our small group leaders’ training?

There may be a strong case for the importance of repetition in learning, but nothing trumps the personal need for sharpening a person’s ability to hear what the Spirit is saying.

That grace doesn’t require change. Cheap grace has plagued the Church for all of its existence. Unmerited favor is not synonymous with a free pass. Biblical grace is not at odds with the transformation that accompanies the process of becoming a new creation.

It does not oppose the authority of Scripture or the expectation of obedience to Jesus’ commands.

When an elder once suggested that we greenlight a new small group leader entangled in addiction because we were “a church of grace,” I knew we had some work to do. Grace does not hide sin; it rolls up its sleeves and says, “Let’s work on this.” Grace holds wide the door for the Holy Spirit to enter and transform, not for the enemy to come and go as he pleases!

That there is a common starting place. Obviously, people come to Jesus from all different backgrounds.

Their common ground may be a culture of scriptural illiteracy coupled with secularism. But we often start talking to people as if they hold a biblical worldview on social, financial and moral issues. We cannot assume that salvation instantly imparts a biblical worldview or that everyone believes in the authority of Scripture.

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That discipleship has no time limits. Yes, discipleship is a process that will consume the span of our earthly lives. But a lack of growth, stalled development or perpetually bad behavior defy the limits of healthy discipleship. Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse said in an interview, “Adolescence should be term-limited. If it becomes a destination, it becomes a trap.”

Sasse was addressing the condition of young adulthood today, but the principle applies well to discipleship. Certain things should be term-limited (e.g., bad habits or the lack of good ones), lest we grow comfortable with low — or worse yet, false — standards.

That we’re ever finished. Christ is the benchmark for spiritual maturity (Ephesians 4:13). Our doctrine of sanctification acknowledges both the instantaneous and progressive realities of spiritual growth.

We must be careful not to communicate discipleship as a closed curriculum of educational classes or a limited set of events (salvation, water baptism, Spirit baptism). Of course, we can’t reduce the Christian life to “do more” or “try harder,” either. But we can stop setting the bar so low that people fail to see a need to reach higher.

The Danger of Assumption: Mission Failure While the list of dangerous assumptions could go on, the list of their possible outcomes is relatively short.

The bottom line is complete mission failure.

There is no half-measure or partial success. If we don’t make disciples, we fail to do what Christ commissioned us to accomplish. We fail Him. We fail unbelievers who don’t hear, Christians who become disillusioned because their faith doesn’t bring transformation, and pastors who become punching bags for untransformed, don’t-know-any-better believers. And we contribute to the growing population of “nones” (those with no religious identity) and the de-churched, nominal Christians.

Finding effective means of discipleship may be a moving target in contemporary culture, but it is necessary. Our credibility as stewards of every resource is in question if we use them solely for the front-end of the mission. Our guilt as creators of both vulnerable and ineffective believers is assured. And worst of all, we build a Church that does not live up to its calling.

Pastor and author James Emery White writes, 58

“There is something more profound than a developed soul. There is something more influential than a Christian mind. There is something more compelling than a call. This great enterprise gathers these elements together and places them in a context of such cosmic significance that Jesus declared it would be ‘so expansive with energy that not even the gates of hell will be able to keep it out’ (Matthew 16:18, The Message). He was referring to the Church.”

Assumption Antidotes So, other than a relentless questioning of everything we have ever done before (a practice that puts us at risk of a fate worse than the problem, namely paralysis), how do we escape the tidal pull of dangerous assumptions?

Start with the Spirit. The baptism in the Holy Spirit requires no discipleship. On the upside, you can receive the gift of the Spirit without achieving tenure or any other man-made construct. The downside? A person can become active in Pentecostal Christianity without developing as a follower of Christ. We have all seen tongue-talking, prophecy-spouting people who resembled the “father below” (to borrow from C.S. Lewis) more than the Savior above.

If we introduce new believers to the Holy Spirit first — before prayer, Bible reading, quiet times, tithing, church ordinances, gift inventories and evangelism, everything except salvation through Christ — perhaps we could do away with people’s erroneous views of the Spirit as an end, rather than a beginning! The Holy Spirit serves as counselor, revealer of truth, convicter of sins, and transformer of spirit. To embark on the journey of discipleship without His fullness is foolish on every level.

Be the Church. The Church that Christ envisioned. The Church that shines an irresistible light.

The Church that loves. The Church that serves. The Church that sounds a clear warning. The Church

Our discipleship systems, if they exist at all, tend to focus on participation and completion, rather than transformation and transfer. that welcomes the Holy Spirit. The Church that connects people to God — Father, Son and Holy Spirit — for life!

We can teach all the “I Love My Church” sermon series that we want (and I have). We can park in Ephesians in our preaching for years on end. We can show the indefensibility of the position that “Church is not necessary for a believer.” Some people still would not get the theology of the importance of the Church (or, as has been stated more simply, “The Church is God’s Plan A, and there is no Plan B!”). But they cannot deny

His living presence or the power of the Spirit. Disciples who remain hungry to learn and grow invite and embody God’s presence.

Add a stronger safety net — to filter out the assumptions, correct the errors, eliminate waste, and introduce better methods. Discipleship requires continuous evaluation. Subject matter remains constant to an extent, though there will always be a need for interaction with current events. But the delivery systems require our regular atten-tion, in much the same way our vehicles do. Evaluation should examine

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growth in areas like freedoms gained (e.g., from anger), character development and willingness to attempt new things for the Lord, as well as traditional markers like attendance, tithing and ministry involvement.

Mix it up. Discipleship cannot be confined to a particular class, or time, or even means (teaching or preaching only). We have to build intentional encounters with discipleship opportunities into our churches, as well as our people.

Teach biblical confrontation skills. As long as believers are afraid and ill-equipped to speak the truth in love, they will be ineffective disciple makers. We need to introduce the biblical motivation of Ephesians 4 (spiritual maturity of the individual and the Church) and the biblical methodologies of Matthew 18 (stages of confrontation) and Galatians 6 (the practice of admonition).

Empower mature saints. Too many believers occupy the bench in our churches. We need to encourage, equip and loose mature saints to actively, intentionally disciples younger believers. The older teaching the younger is too often an incidental occurrence.

Ask; don’t assume. The credentialing process requires a face-to-face interview. The testimony portion is always a joy to hear, while the questioning can feel awkward. We ask questions anyway. The things that do not find their way into everyday conversation can and will find their way into real life. Better to ask the question in an awkward conversation than to pick up the pieces of an assumption exposed.

We cannot consider passivity a viable option for any part of the Church’s mission.

The Most Dangerous Assumption The most dangerous assumption is this: that disciples are born. They are not! Disciples are made. And

Lori O’Dea, D.Min.,

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discipleship, of some sort, happens constantly. If intentional Christian discipleship wavers, the world’s influence will fill that vacuum. We cannot consider passivity a viable option for any part of the Church’s mission.

Leaders who embrace the entirety of the Great Commission — not stopping with evangelism, but pressing on to make disciples — will discover greater satisfaction in ministry. In addition to avoiding the previously mentioned failures and experiencing the great joy of pleasing the Lord, there would be the one accomplishment that lights up all of us: they get it!

They really get it!

is lead pastor of New Life Assembly of God in Grand Ledge, Michigan.

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MULTIPLIER

GROWING GOD’S KINGDOM TOGETHER How four leaders from diverse communities are leaning in and leveraging their gifts and abilities for God’s kingdom. he Church is strengthened by our differences. When a variety of people with different backgrounds and gifts from different walks of life get together, God can do amazing things. It takes humility and vision to lead wherever God calls, and these multipliers are proving what that leadership looks like.

Pastor Alex Bryant understands the challenges of connecting with diverse groups of people. As an African-American, he’s seen firsthand the effects of racism.

And with family members serving in law enforcement, he’s sensitive to both sides of the issue. The recent tensions in race relations could have driven him to lose hope. Instead, he’s become a role model of positivity. Deciding that we don’t have to choose sides in the debate, he posted a thought-provoking video online that has gone viral, with millions of views and shares.

Rudy Paniagua is working to grow diverse churches in the So Cal Network as the director of Hispanic church planting. He loves to mentor and teach young church planters who are ready to affect whole communities, not just congregations. This type of effective leadership takes missional thinking and action, but it also requires a willingness from parent churches to step out of their comfort zones and reach out to people with different backgrounds and stories.

Nate Ruch is creating discipleship pathways through community. When God’s people live life together, it is often transformational. As senior pastor of Emmanuel Christian Center in Spring Lake Park, Minnesota, he’s helping lead that kind of transformation. Taking a cue

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from his years in student ministry, he’s creating a system of connect groups that aims to get every person who walks through the door into a spiritual community. It’s not just about numbering the people, but about throwing a net of care and discipleship over the flock with which God has entrusted him.

Jennifer Gale gained a lot of skills and experiences during her years in church ministry, and now she’s using them at the University of Valley Forge. Narrowing her focus to college students has not narrowed her passion to watch lives change all around her. As the vice president of student life, she has the chance to see tomorrow’s leaders step up today. As she walks through difficult and challenging but also life-directing decisions with young people, she has seen the power that developing a relationship with Jesus Christ can have.

When we come together with our differences, God unites us in community. The spiritual relationship we have with Jesus is the fuel that creates disciples all over the world. Instead of avoiding the struggles that come from a diverse community, great leaders lean into them and leverage them for God’s kingdom.

Chris Colvin is a contributing editor to Influence magazine and specializes in sermon research for pastors and churches. He lives in Springfield, Missouri, with his wife and two children.

MESSENGER OF RECONCILIATION A Q & A W I T H A L E X B R YA N T

Alex Bryant is executive pastor of New Life Church (AG) in Oak Grove, Missouri. In July 2016, Bryant posted a video on YouTube in response to recent racial tensions in America. The video, “I Have No Words, but I Can’t Be Silent,” quickly went viral and has garnered over 34 million views to date.

Influence: What prompted you to make this video?

Alex Bryant: I had taken my oldest son to the doctor, and while waiting I felt God tell me specifically to make this video. In my life, there have only been a few times I absolutely knew God was talking to me, and this was one of them. When I got home, I went to my study and started writing. I told my wife what I wanted to say, and

she thought the kids should be involved too. It really only took one take from start to finish, and then I put it online.

I have been engaging on social media for a long time now, and I really love to make videos and share them with my friends. I made this video on the day after police officers were shot in Dallas. I’m an AfricanAmerican, and I’ve experienced what I feel is police profiling before. But with close friends and family in law enforcement, I think I have a different perspective, and I wanted to share it.

Was your goal for the video to go viral and be seen by so many people?

Absolutely not. I’m already very active on social media, so I didn’t have a goal. I was just doing what God told me to do. When we saw that the video had over 18,000 views and 50 shares within an hour, I was amazed!

I like to get people thinking. That’s what it will take for real racial reconciliation to happen. It’s so polarizing! Do we really need to pick a side? I wanted people to know that they don’t have to. I also wanted to get people talking, and I think that’s happened as well.

What has been the typical response to your video?

Very positive, really. I’ve had over 6,000 personal emails from all over the world. Some of them said, “Thank you! You said exactly what I was thinking and feeling.”

There were also some negative emails. But most people understood what I was getting at, that this isn’t a black and white issue but a sin issue. We wrestle not against flesh and blood. When the enemy stirs up emotions to get us to go after each other, we have to remember we’re all struggling with sin. So, let’s stop struggling with each other.

What lessons have you learned from this experience that you’d like to share with others?

I learned that I can be a mouthpiece of God if I’m willing and obedient. This was so effortless and easy because I knew it was God leading me to do it. When you’re following God’s plan, you’ll just know it.

People are looking for some positive role models, and they are looking for messages of hope. So be hopeful and positive. I surely don’t want to mess up the message by being a messy messenger.

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PLANTING ON FERTILE GROUND Rudy Paniagua is the director of Hispanic church planting for the SoCal Network (AG). He is planting on fertile ground, with 20 churches already planted this year under his leadership and another 10 in the pipeline.

udy Paniagua is no stranger to church planting. Three years ago, he launched Vida Church (AG) in La Puente, California, and, after early God-given success, was approached to teach other pastors how to plant missional churches.

“It was a hard decision,” Paniagua says.

Having left behind the proverbial American dream to start Vida Church, he faced the possibility of moving on from another dream.

“The most difficult part was leaving a loving church family behind,” Paniagua says.

But now, as the director of Hispanic church planting for the SoCal Network, he sees God’s hand in every step he’s taken. This year he has seen 20 churches planted, and another 10 are already in the pipeline for 2018 and beyond. The difference has been the focus on missional-driven rather than program-driven systems for church planting.

“Missional-driven really just means that they understand the needs of the community and how they can reach them,” Paniagua says. “When we meet with a potential church planter, we ask them to first do some research and ask some questions of the people in the community. First, do you attend a church, and why or why not? Next, what are the needs in the community as you see them? And finally, what would attract you to a church and make you want to attend?”

Next, church planters are instructed to meet with the local city council to get a full picture of the needs right in their own backyard.

“This uncovers not only the physical and spiritual needs of the community, but reveals what the Holy Spirit is already doing there,” Paniagua says.

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These foundational steps are vital to Hispanic church planting. For years, Hispanic churches have failed to produce new churches and leaders, Paniagua says. He explains that many pastors feel like they can’t afford to raise up leaders and watch them leave.

“But they really can’t afford not to,” Paniagua says.

“Because once they invest in the kingdom of God, that’s when the parent church really sees growth.”

Currently there are 100 Hispanic churches in the SoCal Network, more than 20 percent of its total churches. And the number is growing.

Paniagua points to an important factor contributing to this growth: “We value the Hispanic pastor.”

Each Hispanic church planter goes through a fivemonth training process that includes monthly meetings where they discuss the needs of their community, how they are shaping the vision and values of their congregation, and how to obtain resources and manage money.

“The goal is to have a relevant church,” Paniagua says. “We want to help them plant a church for the 21st century and beyond.”

Not only does the SoCal Network provide spiritual and leadership mentoring, but it also helps financially — whether by connecting planters with an existing church that can help parent them or by offering scholarships to help offset the cost of training, books and immediate needs.

“We are committed to resourcing, encouraging and mentoring them each step of the way,” Paniagua says.

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RAISING UP LEADERS Nate Ruch has been lead pastor of Emmanuel Christian Center (AG) in Spring Lake Park, Minnesota, for four years, but his connections go back even further. t was at Emmanuel Christian Center that Nate Ruch had his first taste of ministry as an intern, then as a youth pastor, before finishing his schooling at Assemblies of God Theological Seminary in Springfield, Missouri, and taking a position at North Central University in Minneapolis.

But his desire to prepare future leaders and create better pathways for discipleship led him back to Emmanuel, where he serves as just the third pastor in the church’s long history. That desire goes all the way

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back to a moment as a youth pastor when God spoke clearly to him.

“God said to me, ‘Don’t ask for any more students until you take care of the ones I’ve given you,’” Ruch says. “I thought, How can I take care of everyone by myself?”

He began to recruit and assign leaders to groups of students, with each leader checking in on their students’ spiritual and social growth.

“I had to raise up spiritual leaders who could reproduce what I was doing, instead of just recruiting volunteers to be bouncers for our youth services,” Ruch says.

And the plan worked! Within a short time, the youth group grew to over 800 students.

“Leadership is the mechanism to oversee the work of ministry in the church,” Ruch says.

Ruch has come to realize that, rather than trying to meet the needs of every single member and attendee, true leaders find ways to replicate themselves among the flock to take care of more people on a more personal level.

Ruch decided to institute Connect Groups at Emmanuel to reproduce the results he saw in the student ministry for the whole church. Now, groups meet all over the city, with hosts acting as spiritual leaders.

They live life with others, getting to know them and checking in on them spiritually. Whenever a member needs help, the most natural response is to call his or her Connect Group leader rather than the church office.

The net that’s being cast over Emmanuel doesn’t begin with a Connect Group, though.

“My goal is that everyone who comes to Emmanuel goes through our Starting Point class,” Ruch says.

Starting Point is a three-week rotating class that introduces the theology and mission of the church, helps people find and live out their spiritual gifts and then connects them with a service opportunity. In fact, many times the people who attend a Starting Point class together end up forming their own Connect Group.

Success is only one factor in why Ruch is creating this discipleship pathway. It’s not only effective, but it’s also biblical.

“Our ultimate goal is to get people into a spiritual community in the context of relationships,” Ruch says.

“We want to see everyone become a leader. That’s the footsteps of Jesus.”

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FROM THE CHURCH TO THE CAMPUS As vice president of student life at the University of Valley Forge in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, Jennifer Gale’s focus is on developing leaders all around her.

ennifer Gale has a front-row seat to what God is doing in students’ lives. She gets to be personally involved in their big decisions and help guide them in God’s call — a call to a great future. Though she’s been at Valley Forge for six years, she started forming her perspective on the leaders of tomorrow many years ago.

“I remember being a new Christian, sitting in chapel at North Central University and hearing a representative from the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary say that he had a scholarship for someone in the room,” Gale recalls. “I never thought that would be me. But God told me to apply, so I did.”

Gale did receive that scholarship, and while at AGTS, she became a credentialed minister and spent the next 10 years on staff at Evangel Temple Assembly of God in Springfield, Missouri.

That time in traditional church ministry prepared her for her current role at Valley Forge.

“As a minister, I was helping all age groups, walking through life with them,” Gale says.

Now, her window is narrowed to college students, but it’s still the same approach.

“I’m still walking with these young people through their journey in life,” Gale says. “And that includes inside as well as outside of the classroom, in chapel, orientation, athletics and clubs. Basically, where they’re doing life, we’re there to walk with them.”

The stated mission of the University of Valley Forge is “to prepare individuals for a life of service and leadership in the church and in the world.”

The faculty and staff do that by developing disciples of Christ, spiritual leaders for the future.

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“That filters through everything we do here,” Gale says. “Everybody has different gifts and talents. I’m really amazed at how eager they are to get involved.”

Valley Forge does not assume a one-size-fits-all approach to involvement. The school has developed different levels for enlisting and empowering Christian leaders, guiding them in their specific calling, in the church and beyond.

“We’re looking for young people who have a sense of God’s call on their life, whether it’s in ministry or not,” says Gale, whose ministry experience helps her in a unique way when leading college students.

“In ministry, we encounter a lot of things with people,” Gale says. “I didn’t realize how broken people are and what kind of challenges they face. But I believe God brings up the brokenness and issues in our lives so that they can be taken care of.”

Leadership development is a direct outcome of relationships, and especially our relationship with God. As Gale puts it, “Spiritual leadership flows from a person’s personal relationship with Jesus Christ. So, we need to make sure our students understand the importance of that relationship.”

That same lesson applies to multipliers in all situations.

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AN EIGHT-WEEK STUDY FOR LEADERSHIP TEAMS

Week after week, you invest time and energy into making every Sunday count. But you also have to think about staff meetings, board meetings, and meetings with key volunteers and other church leaders.

Juggling so many meetings can seem overwhelming, especially as you think about developing the leaders around you. Effective leaders are continually looking for great leadership content they can use to develop and mentor other leaders. Make It Count is a powerful, little tool to help you accomplish just that.

Each Make It Count lesson is easily adaptable for individual or group discussion, allowing for personal application and reflection among your ministry leaders and lead volunteers. The lessons are useful as devotionals in board and staff meetings and in departmental meetings with your lead volunteers.

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Studying and growing together is key to building strong and healthy relationships with your team members, and it is a necessary component to building growing, flourishing churches. These lessons can help you make each moment count as you lead and develop the leaders around you.

The following eight, easy-to-use lessons on defeating the inhibitors to progress are written by Stephen Blandino, lead pastor of 7 City Church in Fort Worth, Texas (7citychurch.com). He planted 7 City Church in 2012 in a thriving cultural arts district near downtown Fort Worth. Stephen blogs regularly at stephenblandino.com and is the author of several books, including Do Good Works, Creating Your Church’s Culture and GO! Starting a Personal Growth Revolution.

8 KEYS TO DEFEATING THE INHIBITORS TO PROGRESS STEPHEN BLANDINO

rogress is important in the work of the church. Some leaders cringe when they hear “progress” statements like that because the lack of forward momentum in the congregation they lead leaves them feeling dissatisfied. Others interpret progress statements as nothing more than shallow attempts to grow bigger without growing deeper. Still others feel overwhelmed by the pace and problems that come with the speed of progress they are experiencing.

Regardless of where you find yourself on the spectrum of progress, God does want us to move forward in the work of His kingdom. Our best days aren’t behind us. He hasn’t called us to coast into retirement. We can’t abandon God’s vision for reaching people who are outside of a relationship with Christ. Leaders must lead. And when there are inhibitors to progress, we must identify those inhibitors and take the necessary steps to lead the church forward.

Many inhibitors to progress exist, and there is no way to address all of them here. Instead, we will focus on eight common inhibitors that appear in the organizational side of churches: unclear vision, irrelevant strategies, ineffective execution, broken systems, stifled innovation, disengaged teams, unnecessary bureaucracy and widespread disunity. We’ll explore each inhibitor, and then take some practical steps to replace them with healthy practices.

These eight lessons are practical, and they will help your team and church move forward. But first, I want to ask you — the leader — a personal question: Are you the inhibitor to progress? The next eight lessons will be useless if you’re unwilling to change yourself or address the gaps in your own leadership.

So, before we get started, do some introspection. Ask God to soften your heart and give you courage to look in the mirror and face the brutal facts.

You might even admit to your team that you know you need to make some changes. Your willingness to have the conversation and engage in these lessons together will reveal the depth of your desire for change. God is for you, and He is for the church He’s called you to lead.

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Editor’s Note We are pleased to make available the Make It Count Discussion Guide in a downloadable PDF, available through the “Downloads” button on Influencemagazine.com. Each lesson in the PDF Make It Count Discussion Guide is divided into a Leaders’ page and Team Member’s page. The Leaders’ page corresponds exactly to the material in the print issue of this magazine.

Print multiple copies of the PDF Discussion Guide for all your ministry leaders and the team members they lead in your church or organization.

Key words and concepts are underlined in each lesson on the Leaders’ page. These underlined words and concepts correspond to the blank spaces found on the team member lesson pages. Team members can fill in the blanks as you progress through each lesson.

We trust these lessons will help you make each moment count as you lead and develop the leaders around you.

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8 KEYS TO DEFEATING THE INHIBITORS TO PROGRESS

Unclear Vision

Assess: On a scale from 1 to 10, how would you rank the clarity of your church’s or ministry’s vision?

Insights and Ideas ision is essential to progress in any church or ministry. Without it, decisions are V made, money is spent, and strategies are developed that thrust the church in opposing directions. Without vision, you’ll wander to your next destination … it just won’t be a preferred destination.

The first inhibitor to making progress is unclear vision. You can’t get “there” when you don’t know what “there” looks like. And if you do know what it looks like, you won’t reach it without casting a clear vision to the teams who can make it happen. Signs of unclear vision typically show up in three forms.

Borrowed vision. This happens when a leader steals someone else’s vision to make it his or her own. Something about the vision resonates with the leader’s heart, or the vision just looks cool. This is an easy way to capture a vision, but when the going gets tough, the leader is likely to abandon the vision for the path of least resistance.

Self-imposed vision. This comes into play when a leader dreams up his or her own vision without seeking God for His vision. This often happens when the leader is impatient, under pressure or in a season of transition.

Fuzzy vision. This is the result of leaders not taking enough time to see the vision clearly.

They might get a brief glimpse, but the vision lacks detail. The unintended consequence is that leaders jump sporadically from one vision to the next.

Proverbs 29:18 says, “Where there is no revelation, people cast off restraint; but blessed is the one who heeds wisdom’s instruction.”

To begin making progress, and to focus the energies of your team, vision must come into focus. This process always requires a season of prayer and reflective thinking.

Reflect and Discuss 1. What is our vision as a church?

2. Do any of the three signs of unclear vision describe our church’s vision?

3. What steps do we need take to gain clarity of our vision in the next 30 days?

Apply Progress can only happen when the vision is clear. If the vision for your church, or ministry, is unclear, take three steps.

First, set aside concentrated time to pray. You’re not searching for a self-imposed vision, but rather a God-inspired vision.

Second, ask questions that will reveal the greatest needs in your community. God has placed you where you are for a reason. Gaining awareness of the city or community God has called you to serve may actually give you glimpses of God’s vision for your church.

Third, hone your insights into a clear and compelling vision statement. Depending on your situation, this process may need to happen with a variety of key staff members or leaders.

During this vision formation process, resist the temptation to view future vision through the lens of current programs. And if you lead a department of the church, let the church’s vision guide your area of responsibility. Alignment is critical for the church to gain forward momentum.

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Irrelevant Strategies

Team Review: What progress have you made to clarify your church’s or ministry’s vision?

What needs to happen to finalize this process?

Assess: What is one strategy that is helping you clearly achieve your church’s vision?

Insights and Ideas ometimes a leader can have a clear vision but lack the strategies to achieve the vision.

S Other times, strategies do exist, but they are severely outdated or ineffective.

Irrelevant strategies is the second inhibitor to progress. These strategies were probably relevant at some point in your church’s history, and likely carry some emotional attachment. The best step you can take is to conduct an audit to determine the overall effectiveness of each strategy. Four questions are critical in this process.

1. Is the strategy’s original purpose being fulfilled? We usually start a strategy or program to meet a specific need. Unfortunately, we rarely evaluate the strategy against its intended purpose. If people show up, we consider it a success. But if the strategy isn’t accomplishing its intended purpose, it may be doing nothing more than duplicating efforts or draining resources.

2. Does the strategy work with its intended audience? We live in a rapidly changing culture, which means what worked 10, five or even two years ago may no longer work. The real test is whether the strategy is relevant to the audience you are trying to reach today.

Understanding your audience (not just who you’re keeping, but who you’re trying to reach) is imperative in this process.

3. Is the strategy sustainable in its current design? Some strategies require a great deal of time, energy, money or volunteers. This may work in a smaller environment, but as a church grows, these strategies may not be sustainable.

Simply put: You may be able to accomplish better results with less time, energy and money — and fewer people. Don’t be afraid to overhaul or completely eliminate unsustainable strategies.

4. Does the strategy scale? Some strategies work great when your church has 100 people, but they no longer work (or work far less effectively) when your church grows to several hundred, or several thousand. There’s nothing wrong with retiring strategies when your church outgrows them. That’s actually a good thing. Embrace it.

Proverbs 15:22 says, “Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.”

Strategy evaluation needs to happen with the people who can provide the most insightful perspectives. Welcome their counsel and advice.

Reflect and Discuss 1. What are all of the strategies, ministries or programs your church currently offers?

2. With each of your strategies, can you answer an emphatic “yes” to the four questions above?

3. What changes could improve the effectiveness of each of your strategies?

Apply Answering the four questions above for each of your strategies could take a considerable amount of time. Rather than tackling every strategy or program, start with three.

Once you identify the weaknesses with each strategy, develop a plan to make necessary changes and improvements. Be sure each strategy aligns with your vision and passes each of the four strategy questions.

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Ineffective Execution

Team Review: What changes to our strategies have we made, or are we making, to improve effectiveness and ensure alignment with our vision?

Assess: What is our biggest challenge when acting on new ideas?

Insights and Ideas aking action is critical to forward progress. You can have the most inspiring vision, a T rock-solid plan, and an excited team, but if you can’t execute, it’s like having a party without anything to celebrate.

Execution is essential if you want to move beyond your current reality. Dealing with ineffective execution — the third inhibitor to progress — is imperative if you want to turn ideas and strategies into tangible results.

Throughout his letter, James continually emphasized the importance of taking action.

James said, “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says” (1:22). He further exhorted Christians with these words: “faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead” (2:17), and “If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them” (4:17).

Action is critical to our faith. In the same way, action is paramount to turning God-given vision into reality.

The key to effective execution is to move your strategies forward with a simple execution question: Who will do what by when?

The who is responsible for driving the strategy to completion. Without a clear who, everybody’s job becomes nobody’s job. Somebody has to own it. The assigned owner should have the ability, resources and time to complete the task.

The what is the specific goal you’re trying to reach. It might be described as a strategy, action step, task or game plan. The what tells the who what to do. The what should be described as a S.M.A.R.T. goal: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-Bound.

The when provides a deadline for the who to complete the what. The when brings accountability to the execution of a strategy. Without accountability, action is delayed, and excuses become the norm.

When you ask, “Who will do what by when?” you provide an actionable framework to deliver results. You move from talking to actually getting things done. And if somebody drops the ball, you have a way to identify performance gaps and ensure accountability for each member of the team.

Reflect and Discuss 1. Why is execution so difficult for so many teams today?

2. Which of the three ingredients in the execution question (who, what, when) is most often missing when you’re trying to make progress?

3. What would it look like to implement the execution question in your ministry?

Apply Use the execution question — “Who will do what by when?” — to begin implementing action steps for your goals, strategies or ministry tasks. Begin with a single goal or strategy.

State it clearly, and determine who is responsible for each step in the process. Assign a deadline for each step, and then monitor progress every seven days. This process will ensure continued forward movement, and when you encounter delays or setbacks, it will help you stay focused.

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Broken Systems

Team Review: What steps have you taken to implement the execution question: “Who will do what by when?”

Assess: What systems in your church are most important? Why? Insights and Ideas very church has certain systems to help them deliver effective ministry and produce a E healthier culture. You might have a system for visitor follow-up, hiring staff, preparing sermons, communicating to teams, planning events or a hundred other tasks.

When these systems are broken, everything feels harder, less efficient and more frustrating. Broken systems, the fourth inhibitor to progress, create organizational drag.

Healthy systems, on the other hand, relieve pressure and provide a smoother process that delivers consistent results. Author and pastor Nelson Searcy offers this memorable definition of a good SYSTEM: Saves You Stress, Time, Energy and Money.

No one wants to take on more stress, squander precious time, or invest more energy and money in cumbersome activities with marginal results. A good system will help you get there. Systems have a broad impact in your church, from staff, to volunteers, to guests. How? Leaders create systems. Systems shape team member behaviors. Team member behaviors shape guest experiences. Guest experiences impact the growth of your church.

For example, let’s say you create a visitor follow-up system. If the system includes lots of tedious steps, unnecessary paperwork or overbearing expectations, that system will negatively impact your team — both the staff and volunteers. When your team has to work in an inefficient or ineffective system, it will undoubtedly affect their attitudes. Poor attitudes will then produce poor guest experiences, which will impact the growth of the church. To develop a good system, ask yourself these systems-improving questions: • What are we trying to accomplish, and what system is missing or broken that we need to accomplish this goal?

• Who should participate in this discussion?

• What are the most effective steps (from start to end) we need to include in the system to accomplish the task?

• How can we deliver these steps more efficiently and with the least amount of frustration (for the staff, volunteers and guests)?

• Who will create and implement each step in the system?

• How and when will we evaluate the new system to ensure it is saving us stress, time, energy and money?

Systems can sound boring and unspiritual, but they are critical if a church is to effectively steward its resources to accomplish its mission.

Reflect and Discuss 1. What systems are broken in our church, and which system should we address first?

2. What stress, frustrations or inefficiencies is this broken system causing for our staff, volunteers or guests?

3. On a scale from 1 to 10, how efficient is this system in its use of time, energy and money?

Apply Identify a system in your church that needs immediate attention. Then, answer the six systems-improving questions so that the system can operate with a high level of effectiveness and efficiency. While it may take several weeks, or even months, continue this process until you’ve addressed every broken system in your church.

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Stifled Innovation

Team Review: Which system are you working on to improve its effectiveness and efficiency? What next step do you need to take in this process?

Assess: On a scale from 1 to 10, how welcome is innovative thinking in your church?

Insights and Ideas ir Ken Robinson, an international leader in the development of education, creativity S and innovation, once said, “If you’re not prepared to be wrong, you’ll never come up with anything original.”

Interestingly, there are two opposing forces at work in this statement: a desire for originality and an assurance that we won’t fail. In other words, we want safe innovation.

Innovation means doing something new, creative or original, which implies that innovation comes with risk. Therefore, safe innovation doesn’t exist. To innovate requires a willingness to change and a posture that’s OK with getting it wrong. That’s where churches stumble. If we’re scared of failure, we won’t make changes. If we don’t make changes, we’ll never innovate the future.

Stifled innovation is the fifth inhibitor to progress. It keeps churches from moving forward with the mission God entrusts. There are two primary ways churches stifle innovation.

The first is valuing methods over mission. If leaders aren’t careful, they’ll fall in love with a method more than the mission. When you love a method, ministry or strategy, you tend to keep doing more of it, even when it no longer works. But if you never update the ministry, or you never improve the strategy, or you never innovate new methodologies, eventually you’ll stop fulfilling your mission.

The second is silencing innovative people. Some people are naturally wired to dream and create. Others are naturally wired to manage and administrate. Churches need both.

The managers and administrators help the church implement systems (which we discussed in our last lesson). Dreamers and creators help the church stay relevant and forward-focused. When the managers silence the dreamers, the dreamers find a new place to dream. Churches must develop a healthy tension between systems in the present and innovation for the future.

God is the Creator, and He created us in His image. He created us to create. When we stifle innovation in our churches, we inhibit not only the forward mission of the Church, but we inhibit the creative image God imprinted on each one of us.

Reflect and Discuss 1. How prone is your church to gravitating toward “safe innovation”?

2. Is your church more inclined to value its methods or its mission? Why? 3. What needs more attention at this season in the life of your church: systems or innovation? How can you keep these in balance in the future?

Apply Have an open and honest conversation among your team about how to cultivate a healthier culture of innovation.

Start with three questions: 1. What’s our most common response to new ideas, and why?

2. What ground rules should we establish to ensure new ideas gain a fair hearing? 3. How should we reward innovation?

Next, identify one area of the church that needs fresh innovation, and begin dreaming as a team about the possibilities.

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Disengaged Teams

Team Review: What changes have you made to cultivate a more innovative culture within your team?

Assess: What do you think it would look like for your team to fully engage?

Insights and Ideas uilding a fully engaged team is essential to the long-term health of the church, and it’s B critical to progress.

In his book, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, author and consultant Patrick Lencioni describes this dynamic. The five dysfunctions include: Absence of trust. When trust is missing, major cracks exist in the foundation of team relationships and engagement. Building and restoring trust will require considerable face-to-face time, dialogue and understanding one another’s strengths and weaknesses.

Fear of conflict. When we fear conflict, we don’t voice our ideas or insights, ultimately leading to little buy-in to the church’s direction. Teams must be willing, and have permission, to engage in healthy conflict by challenging ideas and seeking the best solutions.

This process requires an understanding of conflict styles as well as clear ground rules for engaging in conflict.

Lack of commitment. When teams can engage in healthy conflict, they will eventually identify and commit to a specific strategy. The entire team must adopt a disagree-and-commit mentality. This allows team members to have initial disagreements in the process of healthy conflict, but then commit to align fully regardless of those initial disagreements.

Avoidance of accountability. People don’t want to be held accountable to strategies they don’t believe in. That’s why it’s important for teams to engage in healthy conflict, so they can ultimately achieve broad-based commitment to the church’s direction. Once a team commits to a strategy, it will provide a clear goal to which it can hold everyone accountable. It’s important to communicate the goal, next steps, deadlines and expected behaviors.

Inattention to results. When team members can avoid accountability, the natural outcome is inattention to results. However, with buy-in and commitment, accountability is the natural next step, thus providing a way to measure results and progress with each team member. Reward team members based on the team’s goals and overall success.

Each dysfunction builds on another. When team members are void of trust — lacking vulnerability with one another — they will fear conflict. This fear of conflict keeps the team from engaging in the healthy debate of ideas. As a result, because no one voices (or hears) opinions, team members lack commitment to proposed ideas or solutions. This lack of buyin causes the team to avoid accountability. In the end, there’s an inattention to results. In other words, nothing gets done because the team has disengaged.

Reflect and Discuss 1. How would you describe the trust level within your team right now? Has trust been violated in any way? If so, what needs to happen to restore trust?

2. Which of the five dysfunctions does your team struggle with the most? Why? 3. What steps should your team take to improve health and cultivate greater engagement?

Apply Develop a plan to overcome the five dysfunctions of a team. You might choose to read Lencioni’s book together, and then discuss healthy next steps. You can have the greatest strategies in the world, but with a disengaged team, you’ll never realize the progress that is possible.

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Unnecessary Bureaucracy Team Review: What practical steps are you taking to improve the engagement level of your team?

Assess: What comes to mind when you hear the word “bureaucracy”?

Insights and Ideas very program, service or strategy begins as a solution to a problem. But, over time, it’s E easy to let the preservation of the program circumvent the reason the program started in the first place. When this happens, bureaucracy hijacks the keys to progress.

Management legend Peter Drucker made an astute observation about this deadly temptation in nonprofits. He writes: “Nonprofits are prone to become inward-looking. People are so convinced that they are doing the right thing, and are so committed to their cause, that they see the institution as an end in itself. But that’s a bureaucracy. Soon people in the organization no longer ask: Does it service our mission? They ask: Does it fit our rules? And that not only inhibits performance, it destroys vision and dedication.”

So, how do you keep bureaucracy and self-preservation from derailing your church and inhibiting progress? Here are three steps to consider.

Keep the rulebook slim, and let trust win the day. Some people love policies more than they love people. Learn to deal with the person who messed up rather than penalizing everybody else with policies that act like a set of handcuffs. When you insist on integrity and willingly trust people, you can keep the rulebook slim.

Make processes simple. When processes are cumbersome and complicated, frustration quickly builds. Learn to simplify your process by reducing paperwork, changing idea-killing cultures and eliminating steps that don’t reflect common sense. Systems, processes and policies should serve people, not the other way around. Bureaucracy will grow roots in your church when people are bound to progress-inhibiting policies.

Don’t over-manage your team. This is tough if you’re a perfectionist. But, if you constantly over-manage the people you lead, you’ll drive your best talent out of the organization. Hire competent staff, provide them with coaching and training, release them to be self-directed learners, set clear expectations, and equip and empower them with the tools, resources and authority they need to succeed.

Bureaucracy is almost always a sign of impending decline or even death. Work hard to develop a flexible, empowering and life-giving culture.

Reflect and Discuss 1. In what ways are we allowing bureaucracy to creep into our culture?

2. In what areas have we overcomplicated processes, systems or policies?

3. What would it look like to create a more empowering culture?

Apply Identify the areas of your church where bureaucracy has a license to rule.

To improve that area of ministry, ask yourself three questions: 1. Which systems, processes or policies in this ministry should we streamline or change? 2. How can we introduce the concept of healthy conflict to discover new ideas and bring needed improvement?

3. What can we do to empower more people to lead and serve?

Churches will naturally gravitate toward bureaucracy. As leaders, it’s critical that we create and cultivate a healthy culture that doesn’t inhibit progress.

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Widespread Disunity

Team Review: What steps have you taken to eliminate any signs of bureaucracy in your church?

Assess: Why is disunity so destructive in a church or on a team?

Insights and Ideas othing will inhibit progress like disunity. In fact, if left unchecked, disunity will comN pletely destroy families, teams and even an entire church.

The apostle Paul exhorted the church in Ephesus with these words: “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:2–3).

Leaders carry the greatest responsibility for protecting unity in the church. Leaders set the tone, model the behavior, and establish the systems and norms that define what is and is not acceptable. Protecting unity in the church begins by identifying the most common causes of disunity.

Unclear vision. When the vision isn’t clear, people create their own. Churches can’t move in six different directions. There must be one unifying vision that aligns people, energy and resources for maximum impact.

Leading change unwisely. Sometimes we are so anxious to run toward the vision that we make abrupt, disruptive and unwise changes. We don’t take the necessary time to listen, welcome input and cultivate buy-in. Other times, we present change in a demanding tone that leaves people feeling ignored, disrespected or downright angry. When this happens, our change efforts turn into disruptive disunity.

Gossip. Proverbs 16:28 says, “A perverse person stirs up conflict, and a gossip separates close friends.”

Leaders are the greatest influence in any culture; therefore, leaders must model trustworthy behavior that is void of gossip, slander or any kind of divisive talk. Furthermore, leaders must address gossip, especially when it’s dividing the church.

Poor communication. Proverbs 18:2 says, “Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions.”

Good communication is a two-way street. When communication is lopsided or unclear, people feel confused and unheard. The inevitable result is disunity.

Disloyalty. Pastor Andy Stanley once said, “Loyalty publicly earns leverage privately.”

In other words, when team members are loyal to their leaders in public settings, their leaders are more likely to listen to their ideas and differences of opinion. It’s OK to have a different point of view, but it’s not OK to let those differences drive a wedge between leaders, team members or the congregation. .

Reflect and Discuss 1. Where is our church most vulnerable to disunity?

2. How can our church leaders better model a spirit of unity and protect the unity of the church?

3. Which of the five common causes of disunity is our team’s or church’s biggest challenge?

What steps can you take to change this?

Apply One of the greatest ways to cultivate unity as a team is to pray together. Spend some time praying with each other and for each other. Then, spend time in a relaxed environment, building closer friendships. Commit to one another, not to gossip. Instead, exhibit behavior that unifies the team and the church.

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THE FINAL NOTE

Global Population

100%

Global Christian**

32%

After 500 Years* Five hundred years after the Protestant Reformation, what percentage of the world is Protestant? Pentecostal/Charismatic? Assemblies of God? Here are the mid-2017 figures from the Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Hamilton, Massachusetts, together with Assemblies of God World Fellowship statistics.

Total Pentecostal/ Charismatic***

9%

“You don’t measure yourself by your success, but you measure yourself against the unfinished task.”

Total Protestant

7%

— Loren Triplett, former AGWM executive director

Protestant Pentecostal/ Charismatic

2%

Assemblies of God World Fellowship

1% 7.515 billion

2.371 billion

669 million

559 million

170 million

68.5 million

*Source: worldchristiandatabase.org **Consisting of Roman Catholics, Protestants (including Anglicans), Independents, Orthodox, Unaffilliated Christians, Evangelicals, and Pentecostals/Charismatics ***Consisting of Roman Catholic and non-Protestant Charismatics, denominational Pentecostals, independent Pentecostals/Charismatics, and Protestant Charismatics in non-Pentecostal denominations

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