Mentoring a few for greater impact

Yesterday I met with a pastor of a new church that is reaching a particular language group. The church was started by a group who came from a mother church 30 miles away. Pastor (we will call him Joe) was asked to lead the group. He has had no training or experience in church planting.

Joe is now coming to one of our Accelerate Coaching Networks for pastors of new churches led by an experienced church planting pastor. We are also trying to hook him up with a national network for their local intensive training.

Joe is frustrated because most of the people are not "catching the vision or involved". I encouraged him to view the people as Jesus modeled. He spoke to the masses. He trained the twelve. And he spent focused time with Peter, James and John. In effect Jesus had three strategies. He gave each group what they needed to help move them to the next level. The majority of his time was not spent with the masses, but with the twelve and specifically with the three.

Who are the three in your church that you are spending time with? How can these people be mentored in their spiritual life and leadership? Did Jesus recruit them into a classroom to lecture them? No he took them with him and modeled life and ministry.

Try this: Line up times when you are meeting with people to: share your faith, follow-up a new believer, encourage a believer in his walk, disciple someone. Then call one of your three and ask them to go with you. They can come along to pray and "catch" ministry concepts and skills. Then you debrief and talk about it - what they saw, what they learned, what we could have done differently, etc. Gradually you have them take the lead in situations while you watch.

What you are doing is mentoring people in the Christian life and ministry and leadership. Instead of "recruiting" people into ministry you are "mentoring" people into ministry.

3 Steps
1. Pray for the right three
2. Pray for and take opportunities to minister to people
3. Invite one of your three to go with you

5 ways for leaders to get out of a funk

5 ways for leaders to get out of a funk

Rick Duncan

How often do you get into a funk?

Recently, I met with a young church planter who said he was in a funk. He has a wonderful family. He's gathering people, watching God change lives, and living out a dream. Yet, in spite of all the great things God is doing in his life, his introverted, melancholic, perfectionist tendencies are being leveraged by the enemy to steal his joy and peace. He's in a funk.

A funk is a dejected, disgusted, disinterested mood. When I am in a funk I am grumpy, disengaged, lethargic, and de-motivated. I am not fun to be around. I throw pity-parties. Not only does the to-do list not get done, it doesn't even get made!

I think funks are inevitable. They are part of fallen humanity. So, we shouldn't be surprised or guilt-ridden when we end up in a funk. But I know that at the root of my funk is my sin. Scripture tells us to rejoice in the Lord always (Philippians 4:4). When my heart is not rejoicing, it's a telltale sign that I have placed someone or something other than Jesus on the throne of my life. Funks flow from idolatry. When I stay in a funk, I am telling a watching world that Jesus is not enough for me. Extended funks are not OK.

Remember that God still loves you when you are in a funk (Ephesians 3:18-19). But also remember that He loves you too much to let you stay there.

In the Bible, we see leaders who got into a funk. One was David. Leadership for David was often hard. "And David was greatly distressed... But David strengthened himself in the LORD his God" (I Samuel 30:6, ESV). The KJV says that he "encouraged himself" in the Lord. Evidently, David was able to de-funk-ify his life.

I want learn more and more how to encourage myself in the Lord - how to de-funk-ify my life. My wife, my family and my friends want me to learn that, too.

So, how do we encourage ourselves and get out of a funk? It helps me to think about a plan of attack in five ways - physically, mentally, emotionally, relationally, and spiritually.

1. Move physically. Go for a walk, a run, or a bike ride. Get outside if you can. Do 10 minutes of push-ups, jumping jacks, and squats. Get to the gym. When you exercise, your brain will release endorphins that will elevate your mood. Or you might want to try something as simple as taking a shower or a bath. Or take a nap. Organize your desk and/or your office. Just change something physically.

2. Stretch mentally. Learn something new. How? Memorize a Bible verse. Learn an inspirational quote. Read a few pages in a book on theology, history, science, nature, technology, or leadership. Share a few things you learn with some friends via a note, a card, Twitter, or Facebook.

3. Grow emotionally. Put on some upbeat, happy music. Make a play list of upbeat music and play it loud. Music has a powerful way to connect us to the good times we're already experienced in the past. Even if you have no reason or don't feel like it, laugh! For 7 seconds. Your emotions will often follow your body’s lead. Smile at the people you see. And watch them smile back. Hang around people that love you or who can make you laugh. Avoid the VDPs in your life (the Very Draining People!). Instead, talk with an encouraging friend who knows how to listen and lift your spirits.

4. Serve relationally. Who (besides you!) is having a hard time? Stop feeling sorry for yourself and lift someone else's spirits. Write a note; send a card; make a call; go out with them for coffee; buy a gift card; or give a generous gift. Just do something to make someone else's day. Or volunteer to do some work with your church or your local charity. If you are married, write a love note to your spouse and mail it.

5. Soar spiritually. Read some inspiring sections or stories in the Bible that have a track record of lifting your heart. Make a list of 3-5 things (or more) you are grateful for and then thank God for them. Pour out your heart to God. Ask Him to help you get out of your funk. Remember, apart from Christ you can do nothing (John 15:5). Trying to de-funk-ify your life without Jesus is just empty/vain/futile self-help. Jesus can fill you with positive, uplifting thoughts. He can help you give thanks for what you have rather than what you don’t have. If you have Jesus, you have what money can't buy and death can't take away (Ephesians 1:3, II Peter 1:3). He can help you be joyful about what you get to do rather than what you have to do. He is the ultimate attitude-adjuster. Stay connected to Christ.

So, how do you de-funk-ify your life?

9 Ways Leaders can Know if They are Filled with the Holy Spirit

How do leaders know when they are filled with the Spirit?

Rick Duncan

In Acts 1 and 2, there’s a special supernatural power for ministry (particularly in missions and evangelism) that is experienced. Leaders must long for that kind of evidence and pray for supernatural power in ministry.

But I believe that leaders could and should long for evidence of the Spirit’s filling that is much more mundane and routine. Fruitfulness and excellence in daily living is evidence of the Spirit’s fulness in your life. Your family will be much more impressed if you focus on the Spirit’s filling in your daily life than they will be if you focus on the Spirit’s filling in your ministry life. After all, your family is your primary ministry.

Pastor Joe Propri has been at our church to train some of our leaders. Here’s one thing Joe shared that’s been helpful to many of us.

Let’s say that a container – a jar – represents you and what’s in you. We pretty much can handle life well when things are going the way we want them to go. But life isn’t always like that. Life is a series of problems one after another. Things come at us. Things go wrong. There is stress. And pressure. The pressures might be financial. The stress might be a relational struggle with a child or a parent or a friend. The problems might be physical.

Now, the things that go “wrong” tip us over. And what’s in us comes out.

Let’s be honest here. What comes out when your child has a nasty attitude toward you? Or some ministry leader challenges your authority? Or a volunteer gets angry with a decision and confronts you? When things go wrong, what comes out? Often it’s anger. Anxiety. Bitterness. Addictions. Depression. Abuse. And more.

Strange, isn’t it, that those kinds of things come out of us when heaven’s Helper is living in us? Consider what the Bible says that He actually desires to produce within us. Here are the 9 characteristics that the Spirit seeks to produce in leaders’ lives - all day, every day.

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control (Galatians 5:22, 23).

Are these the 9 things that are coming out of you? Whether or not we bear the fruit of the Spirit doesn’t depend on what is going on outside. “But you don’t know my kids, my spouse, my trouble.” Listen, things will go wrong… for everyone! What I must accept and remember is this: My peace and joy have nothing to do with what’s going on outside me! My peace and joy have everything thing to do with who’s filling me!

The Holy Spirit is in me. Pressure and stress and trouble come. I’m tipped over. What comes out when I’m filled with the Spirit? The fruit of the Spirit! Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control come out! We simply have to begin taking responsibility for reactions and responses to the stresses of life.

We need supernatural power to live this Christian life. Try to live this Christian life in your own strength and you’ll fail – miserably. You’ll be miserable and so will everyone else around you. Every day, several times a day, ask for the filling of the Spirit in order to walk by and live according to that filling. Over the years, we’ve many times taught CVCers to develop a habit of praying three things:

Father, search me. (That's seeing our sin.)

Jesus, wash me. (That's forsaking our sin.)

Spirit, fill me. (That's seeking freedom from sin.)

Will you pray those prayers today? The people who are following you need you to be filled with the Spirit. They need to see the 9 proofs that you are filled with the Spirit. All day. Every day.

And by the way, when you focus on being filled in the routine of life, you will be surprised at when and how often the special supernatural power for ministry (particularly in missions and evangelism) will show up.

Yes, God really does change lives!

For multi-site churches, one of the struggles I see campus pastors having is how to connect emotionally with the people at the service. Somehow giving announcements alone does not endure the people to a pastor.

For new church plants and for any church we share what the Bible says but often don't show how these truths have actually affected someones life. And life change is our goal, correct?

I want to suggest adding an element in the service I'll call a "Changed Life Interview" or "God stories". This is a time when the pastor interviews a person in the congregation who has seen God change their life. It could be how they came to Christ, how God intervened in a circumstance, how God answered prayer, how they had the opportunity to share their faith, how they did the godly thing at work and God protected, etc.

A 3-4 minute interview like this helps people:
1. See that God is at work today.
2. Trust God to do it in their life also.
3. Makes us all real, especially as people learn to share from their weakness, not their strength.
4. Connects the pastor with people and changed lives.

Large churches sometimes do this on video so they can edit it and keep it on focus. But a smaller church needs to show itself personal and intimate. This can be very effective. The pastor should coach the interviewee, if possible do a practice interview. When I've done this I get to know the person's story, tell them what questions I am going to ask and coach them on what to talk about.

An interview format keeps the pastor "in control of the time and stops rambling". This is a way to interview missionaries also and youth coming back from a retreat where God worked or people who did a service project in the community where a God impact happened, etc.

The result will be people excited about how God changes lives and will encourage steps of faith by others.

Thoughts on Incrementalism and Growth Engines

During McLean Bible Church’s period of fast growth in the 90's, we saw both incrementalism and growth engines as essential to growth.

Jim Collins said that the difference between the top companies and the second rated companies is that the top companies did it a little better. John Maxwell encouraged incremental improvements and we continually looked for ways to do it better.

But to achieve the great growth we went past "incrementalism" and "doublementalism" (thinking bigger) to growth engines. We saw over time 7 growth engines - new ministries initiatives that opened new doors of ministry impact and propelled us to the next level. In reality we didn't understand them as growth engines till we were at number 5. As John Maxwell said, "It's amazing what you can accomplish when you have momentum on your side."

Actually we never set growth goals. We never discussed numbers in staff meetings. We just kept the vision before the people, focused ministry around reaching and assimilating new people, hired entrepreneurs, empowered people to accomplish their dream, and created an atmosphere that allowed it to flourish. And as the saying goes, "Leaving the results up to God."

Ambassadors can make a difference at your church

Often when I visit churches I stand around and see if anyone reaches out to me. I can learn a lot about their friendliness to guests. Rarely do I have someone talk to me. Which is sad. Yes, I do brush my teeth. But Sunday was different. I visited Community Church north of Baltimore. A man named Rick Szalecki saw me and came over to say Hi. We talked awhile and then he invited me to sit with him.

I've often encouraged churches to develop a team that one church calls Ambassadors. Ambassadors are floating greeters. They are highly relational people that walk around and look for people who need someone to talk to them. They may often be the only personal contact a new person has at the church and be the difference in whether they choose to come back. They can also multiply their efforts by then introducing the new person to another member who they know would make the new person comfortable.

Job Description: Watch, Meet, Assist, Introduce

District Church is raising up interns for city impact

Aaron and Amy Graham started District Church 2 years ago. Read about their vision for impacting the city.

It was two years ago that we began meeting and praying in our home as we were in the process of starting the church. We wrote down the vision we believed God gave to us, “To be a multiplying network of neighborhood churches that exists for Christ and the renewal of our city.” We believed that God called us to this city for a purpose. To build roots and seek the peace of the city in a way that lifts up the name of Christ. We knew that we wanted it to start in Columbia Heights but not end here. We knew that cities don’t change at once but rather one neighborhood at a time. We began to dream: what if we were able to plant a church and start an urban ministry in every neighborhood throughout the city? We could have the strength of a large church but the flexibility and community of a small church. As we began to pursue this and ask ourselves what would it take to begin to make steps toward this huge vision, it all came down to one thing; leadership. Everything rises and falls on the quality of leadership. We began casting a vision for a Leadership Residency program that would help train people who are called to plant a church or start an urban ministry. It would not an internship, which is only meant to gain experience in a field, but rather like a medical residency. We thought if the medical profession requires 3+ years of a residency to work on bodies than we should at least require a year residency to train people to work on souls! Justin Fung was our first leadership resident and he was ordained in November, and is now serving as Associate Pastor here! Blythe Scott is our second leadership resident and is focused on the urban ministry component! Leadership Residents are asked to raise their own support. It’s a way to test one’s calling; much like ours has been tested over the years! But we as the church have wanted to do our part as well. Since housing is the most expensive part of everyone’s budget in this city (it was over 50% of our budget when we moved here), we began to dream about being able to provide housing for leadership residents. So we began praying that God would literally give us a house. This was a bold prayer to pray at the beginning as a house church of 20 people in the midst of a high priced housing market during an economic downturn, but we prayed. Deep down I was thinking that this would be 5-10 years down the road. Well, I'm excited to share that God has provided! We have a house! An anonymous donor loaned us the money to purchase the house and retain it for at least the next five years! It will be used for some meetings and hospitality space for some church gatherings, but the main goal is to make sure we are providing a good pipeline of leaders for the vision God is birthing in our community to make disciples and truly be a church for the city. The house is at 741 Fairmont St NW, just a block south of where we live, and very close to many others in the church. It gets me fired up to share this because I am reminded that our God is on the move! Our leadership community and several small groups have been praying for this. It is such an affirmation from God about the calling we have as a church. This city is full of people with good ideas. Lots of people that move here have good intentions to make a difference in our city and world. But we are not just looking for good ideas, we are looking for people who are called and have a burden. By purchasing this house we are saying to ourselves as a church that we value leadership at our very core. That making disciples who make disciples is the very essence of our mission. I can’t wait to have you visit the house, but more importantly experience what God is doing here. If you have some candidates for our leadership residency who are called to ministry in the city, send them our way! With love, P.S. If you missed our broader prayer update from yesterday, you can view that here.