Philosophy of Ministry

One of the concepts we talked about at the D.Min. residency in Charlotte was developing a philosophy of ministry. That philosophy includes the following:

• Worldview--how do we view the world, what are our philosophical and theological underpinnings?
• Ultimate Purpose--why does our organization exist? The ultimate purpose is shaped dramatically by the worldview.
• Growth Principles--some might review to these as core values. These, too, directly result from worldview.
• Aims--the ultimate purpose and growth principles shape the aims of the organization. What are we going to shoot for in order to reach our ultimate purpose?
• Strategy--How are we going to get there? This is where most people spend their time--the day to day choices about how to reach the aims. The strategy is impacted by the growth principles and the aims.

Here's what's interesting, the author of this concept suggests that board meetings focus on the top four, while staff meetings focus on strategy. The board must own the ultimate purpose, be convinced of the growth principles, and establish the aims of the organization. The staff, then, develops the strategies that are in line with those. Interesting stuff. Trying to flesh it out more.

Daddy Date Night

I try to spend time with each of my three kids on their own. A couple of weeks ago, Grant and I went to a movie together.

A couple of nights ago, Morgan and I had a date. She was so excited. She put on a dress, lip gloss, and a beautiful silver bracelet. She even carried a little purse with her. She picked everything we did:

• Dinner at Fazoli's


• Riding the Carousel at Southridge Mall


• Chocolate dipped in chocolate cones at Dairy Queen


• Snuggling together and watching The Little Mermaid.

Her only other request was that I not fall asleep during the movie--she knows me pretty good. I wonder what Corbin will want to do?

A Day in the Life

I love being a pastor. No two days are really the same. It's full of variety. For example, today I've...

• Prayed and spent time with God
• Led the team meeting where we focused on strategic planning
• Reviewed financial reports
• Developed the sermon idea for Sunday
• Counseled with a person
• Talked with a guy about getting involved in a ministry
• Returned phone calls and answered e-mails
• Booked a missionary for a service in 2009
• Read from the new book Walking with God.

It's a great day. I think we moved the ball down the field.

Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

While I was in Charlotte working on my doctorate, I along with a few others took in a showing of The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian.

I left the theater with two thoughts running through my head.

First, when the army fought for Narnia, they lost. When they fought for Aslan, they won. That speaks to our motive. When we build our Kingdom, we lose. When we build his Kingdom, we win.

It makes us ask the question--for whom are we working? For whose glory are we fighting? For whose name are we charging into battle?

The second idea that struck me had to do with the white witch. Peter almost gave in and brought her back to life, but Edmund put a stop to it.

Edmund was the one to stop it becuase he knew what she really was behind the lure of power. He knew becuase he had gone down that failed road before. God never wastes an experience--good or bad. He used Edmund's horrible experience with the white witch to keep the others from going down the same path.

You might see completely different principles or lessons in the film, but these were two that stood out to me.

Walking with God

I'm reading a great new book by John Eldredge (author of Wild at Heart). It's called Walking with God: Talk to Him. Hear from Him. Really. The book is a powerful and personal journey into how to hear from God.

It's always amazing to me how people don't mind you talking to God, but start getting nervous when God starts to talk to you. Yet, at the heart of our belief about God is that his is the Great Shepherd and the sheep know his voice.

I encourage you to get a copy of the book and the workbook and start listening for that still, small voice. It's an amazing journey.

Living Retro

I'm loving our Retro series--if we could just get rid of that video of the guy in the John Travolta suit! Last week, we took a new look at Psalm 23. This week, it's the most popular verse in the Bible--John 3.16. We're going to try to get fresh insight on the most quoted verse of all time. It's going to be great.

I'm About to Go Nuts

For a boy from Kentucky, I've had about all of the high faluttin' learnin' I can handle. I'm in the second week of my second doctoral residency at Gordon Conwell--Charlotte. Today, we're spending the entire day formulating our proposal for a thesis-project (also known as a dissertation).

What's crazy about it is this--I really am doing this. I've dreamed about getting a doctorate since going to college. And, it's really hapening. I'm so thankful to our church, our network, and my family for all of their support in earning this degree. It wouldn't be possible without them. After this year, there is one more residency and then the implementation of the project and the writing of the dissertation.

Courses have been great and so practical this time around--I have over 20 pages of typed notes from the classes so far--not counting handouts.

D.Min. Thesis Ideas

I'm working today on developing ideas for my thesis. The thesis has to include 1) A proposal, 2) Biblical Review, 3) Literature Review, 4) Implementation, and 5) Evaluation. So, with that in mind, here are my thesis ideas:

1. Facilitating a Life Giving Leadership Development Culture at CLA
2. Equipping Elected Presbyteries to Think and Act with a Life Giving Leadership Bias
3. Implementing Mechanisms for Surfacing Organizational Doubt in order to positively move the Organization to the Next Phase of Development.

I need to know by Tuesday so I can get it on record and move into what is called D.Min. candidacy. As a D.Min. candidate, I will have one more residency plus the thesis to complete before earning the Doctor of Ministry degree.

Doctor of Ministry (D.Min) Progress

I'm in class right now at Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary in Charlotte, North Carolina as we discuss how worldview influences ultimate purpose, which combine to influence the aims, which along with growth principle influence strategy (vision) of the organization or church.

Christian Life Assembly's ultimate purpose is to transform people into life giving followers of Jesus.

The big question then is what does a life giving follower of Jesus look like? How do we partner with the Holy Spirit to transform people into that picture? Great questions.

Sweet Magnolias

I woke up and walked over to the guest services center for breakfast at the hotel here in Charlotte for my D.Min. residency. As I walked I smelled a scent I had not smelled for a while--magnolia! It smells great and reminds me that I'm in the South--though we didn't have many Magnolia trees in Kentucky. I'm going to leave an hour early for class today even though mapquest says it's only 15 minutes. I don't want a repeat of the two hours late that happened last year in Boston.

Is it really that easy?

There is an interesting quote about building a team at the end of Patrick Lencioni's book, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team. He writes, "As much information as is contained here, the reality remains that teamwork ultimately comes down to practicing a small set of principles over a long period of time. Success is not a matter of mastering subtle, sophisticated theory, but rather of embracing common sense with uncommon levels of discipline and persistence."

How much of life or ministry is like teamwork--practicing a small set of principles over a long period of time? Embracing common sense with uncommon levels of discipline and persistence?

Great Friday Afternoon

Took Friday afternoon off. It was a great time. I beat Grant 22-20 at XBox College Football. He was Texas. I was Kentucky. That's the only time Kentucky is going to beat Texas in football.

Then, we all went to Jordan Creek Mall and took in a movie--Nim's Island. Morgan and I shared M and M's. It was great to sit beside her because it was a movie about a father and daughter.

Next, we went to Barnes and Noble. Each of the kids got a new book--Angelina Ballerina, Magic Tree House, and a Ted Dekker novel. Amberly and I wanted a book about 500 places to take your kids before they grow up, but decided to check it out at amazon, instead.

After that, food court. Wendy's. Chick-fil-a.

Tomorrow...chocolate chip pancakes. Nothing better.

What's It Mean to Trust?

If I trust you, what does that mean? What does it mean for you to trust me? Here's a great definition of trust from The Five Dysfunctions of a Team:

• Trust is the confidence among team members that their peers' intentions are good and that there is no reason to be protective or careful around the group. In essence, team members must get comfortable being vulnerable around each other.

I trust you when I don't have to be protective or careful around you. I trust you when I know you're looking out for me--even when I'm not in the room.

New Message Series

We just wrapped up a creative meeting where we planned out the message series from now through September. Here's what we're looking at:

• Urban Legends: Debunking Spiritual Myths (We're going to look at four urban legends and find out if they are fact or fiction.)
• Irresistible (This is the summer message series based on Colossians. We'll re-discover the Irresistible Jesus and learn how to become a church of irresistible influence.)
• Unstoppable (This four-part message series is set for August as we seek to become an unstoppable force for good in our city. This will lead up to our 14th anniversary and our launch of a second service.)

There you go. If you purchase a cd set of a recent message series, you can e-mail tamra@lifenow.org. You can pick up a copy of Jesus 1.0, The Greatest Comeback Ever, Fusion, and so much more.

Bored.com

Did you know there's a website called www.bored.com. If you have absolutely nothing to do, you can go there and waste plenty of time. Let me give you a three more time wasters:

1. Worry.
2. Fear.
3. Comparison.

Seven Temptations Pastors Face

Perry Noble, a pastor from Anderson, South Carolina, posted these six temptations at http://www.perrynoble.com/:

1. Selling out God's vision in exchange for a paycheck.
2. Trying to please everyone.
3. Thinking that working harder will solve the problem.
4. Sacrificing their family.
5. Not delegating their weaknesses.
6. Avoiding conflict.
7. Not spending personal time with God.

At different points over the almost 14 years at Christian Life Assembly, I've battled all of these temptations--never at the same time, but at different points. The temptation to please everyone was great at the beginning. Back then, we were just looking for bodies to fill the seats and help unload the van. During the building project, the temptation was to sacrifice family time. Interesting stuff.

Five Marketing Mistakes Churches Make

According to Tony Morgan in Outreach magazine, there are five common marketing mistakes made by churches:

1. Promoting your church instead of generating a response.
2. Making a promise you can't keep.
3. Trying to be all things to all people.
4. Thinking other churches are your competition.
5. Promoting programs that compete with one another.

To read the complete article, go to http://outreachmagazine.com/library/webexclusives/ND07webexTonyMorgan.asp

3 C's of Hiring

We're currently looking to add an administrative assistant to the team. As we do, we look at three specific qualifications:

• Character. That's the first step in any hire, especially in a Christian organization. Now, character includes integrity, but is more than that. Character is the ability to meet the demands of reality. Does the person have the character to meet the real demands of the position.
• Chemistry. Does the person fit the team? Do they fit the environment? Are the in agreement with the vision and even more the values of the team?
• Competency. Can the person complete the tasks needed. Beyond that, do they have the competencies of a learn because the tasks to be completed five years from now will be radically different than those of today.

Style and Substance

I've been thinking about worship style and substance. It seems to me that there are a variety of worship styles--liturgical, contemporary, emerging, acoustic, electric, and urban. What I'm wandering is if we mistake the style for the substance. If we don't like the style, do we say that there's no substance there.

For a long time, I've been a proponent of identical services. Tomorrow, we'll have 9 AM and 11 AM. They'll be identical in style and substance. What I'm wandering is this--could they be different styles and have the same substance.

By substance, I mean more than just depth. Here's a definition of substance: that of which a thing consists; physical matter or material. By mistaking style for substance, I mean that we think a service has to have the same style or it cannot possess the same substance.

Here's the question: Could a church offer three services with different styles (say, acoustic, liturgical, and electric-guitar driven), but have the same substance in each--passion for worship, captured hearts, and the presence of God?

If the answer is no then critics are right to suggest that the DNA of the church is split into by the various styles because they have different substance.

If the answer is yes then the critics are wrong. The services could be very different styles and have the same substance--flowing from the DNA of a church bent on worship.

Just some thoughts.

Add Some SOAP to Your Devotions

Here's a four-step plan for your devotion time:

• Scripture. Develop a reading plan for the Scripture. If you don't have a plan you'll fly between the gospel, Proverbs, and Psalms. A plan gets you to all the Bible--in a year, two years, it doesn't matter.
• Observe. In a journal, write down what you observe happening in the Scripture you're reading. Who? What? Where? When? How? Why?
• Application. What is God saying to me through this passage?
• Personal Prayer. What do I need to say to God because of this passage?