Thom S. Rainer's Blog, page 273

Notable Voices: April 4, 2015

Three Non-Negotiables This Easter — Craig Thompson

This will be a big weekend for most churches across the world. In the end, however, there are three things that are essential this Easter Sunday when your pews and chairs will be filled with so many unchurched and dechurched visitors.

 

The Story Behind The Song “I Stand In Awe” — Mark Altrogge

This week on the podcast, Keith Getty shared a few stories behind the songs he has written. In this post, Mark shares the story behind his song and a second verse that focuses on the Easter event.

 

How to Battle the Church’s Pornography Problem — David Platt

In this excerpt from his new book, Counter Culture, David shares how the battle against pornography in the church is should be an intentional one based on the beauty of the gospel and an overwhelming delight in God.

 

5 Reasons “Inactive Church Member” is an Oxymoron — Aaron Earls

Aaron reiterates a concept I shared in my book I Am a Church Member and shares five benefits to believers that can only come from being an active member of a local body of believers.

 

5 Quick Resume Tips For Your Job Search — Caroline Carthey

These tips apply for anyone looking for a job in church or a secular vocation. Most of them seem like common sense, but there is a reason articles like this have to be written.

 

The Privilege of the Pastor’s Wife — Tim Challies

Tim and his wife, Aileen, share their thoughts on why it should be counted a privilege to be a pastor’s wife.

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Church Membership Renewal, A New Trend – Rainer on Leadership #112

Podcast Episode #112

SUBSCRIBE: iTunes • RSS • Stitcher • TuneIn Radio

Recently on the blog, I wrote about the emerging trend of annual renewal of church membership. While most churches are not ready for such a change, many are moving forward with this trend and have seen—in many cases—positive results. The churches who execute this process well often see growth in giving, attendance, ministry, and missions. So today on the podcast, we look at this trend and explain why it’s working for so many churches.

Some highlights from today’s episode include:

Church membership renewal goes contrary to where most churches are headed.
Most churches do not change well.
Incremental change is necessary to lead big changes in the church.
Younger churches accept change easier than established churches because the historical barriers just don’t exist.
It takes most pastors at least five years to build enough trust in a church in order to make significant changes.
Accountability is key, more than anything else, on the issue of follow-up.

The 10 aspects of annual church membership renewal we covered were:

The early signs are that this practice can be a healthy move for a church.
Proceed with great caution. Most churches are not ready for annual membership renewal.
Incrementalism is necessary in most churches.
Membership classes are key.
Do not proceed with this process until you have seen it in other churches.
Communication is vital.
Younger churches tend to handle this change better than older churches.
Longer-tenured pastors are typically more able to lead this change.
Expect opposition. Annual membership presents significant change in most churches.
Follow-up is crucial.

Episode Sponsor

Vanderbloemen Search Group is the premier pastor search firm dedicated to helping churches and ministries build great teams. They’ve helped hundreds of churches just like yours find their church staff and are uniquely geared to help you discern who God is calling to lead your church. Find out more about Vanderbloemen Search Group by visiting WeStaffTheChurch.com.

Feedback

If you have a question you would like answered on the show, fill out the form on the podcast page here at ThomRainer.com. If we use your question, you’ll receive a free copy of Autopsy of a Deceased Church.

Resources

Renewing Membership in Your Church – Video Series with Ryan Whitley
CrossPoint Church – Trussville, AL
Leading Change
How Churches Count Attendance

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11 Reasons Pastors Struggle on Easter

By Chuck Lawless

This coming Sunday is Easter Sunday, a day to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. Church buildings will likely be more full than all other Sundays of the year. Songs of resurrection will ring out. Congregations will gather in their finest clothes to worship, often followed by a special Sunday lunch.

And yet, for some pastors Easter Sunday is a difficult day. I know, because I’ve been there. Here’s why this day can be a struggle – and why pastors need our prayers this weekend:

The day is often overwhelmingly busy. From early morning preparation to events throughout the day, pastors are on the go throughout the day. Some churches add services for this special day. For some pastors, the day is so full that they have little time to focus on their own personal worship.
The pressure to “do well” is increased. The crowd is bigger, but many are giving the church only this one opportunity to grab their attention. No church leader wants to mess up on Easter Sunday. Consequently, every small issue – each off note, every stumbled-over word, every unintended delay – gets magnified.
Finding a unique approach to the Easter story is not easy. The story itself is enough, of course, but some pastors sense a need to present the story in a fresh and enlightening way. The task of finding that “new approach” when everyone else is preaching on the same topic can be stressful.
Pastors see members they haven’t seen since last Easter. On one hand, that’s good news. Pastors are typically glad to see members return, hoping they will recommit themselves to faithfulness this year. On the other hand, pastors often end the day wondering why they can’t reach those same folks the rest of the year.
Pastors see “lostness” come in the door . . . and leave unchanged. Yes, pastors trust the Word of God will do its work. Yes, they know that planting a seed is a first step toward others being converted. It’s still agonizing, though, when they see non-believers walk in the door and out the door on Easter with no obvious response to the gospel.
Pastors get a glimpse of what the church could be . . . but typically isn’t. Parking lot attendants are ready, and they even arrive early. Greeters are well dressed and easily identified. The best musicians and singers are enlisted. The sermon is well rehearsed. The church gives its best for this one day – but then returns to mediocrity the following week. That’s frustrating.
Pastors often judge their own sermons more critically on Easter. Many of us review our sermons after each worship service. We think through how we might have re-worded that point, changed that illustration, or clarified that application. That critique is sometimes more intense on Easter Sunday, as no pastor wants to have missed the opportunity to proclaim the gospel clearly and boldly.
Pastors brag about Easter attendance. It happens – pastors excited about Easter attendance often make sure others know about their successes during the weeks following the holiday. Unhealthy, even ungodly, competition develops. Nobody wants to play the game, but few people want to lose the game, either.
Attendance expectations may not be met. To be honest, I always had an Easter Sunday attendance goal in my mind when I served as a pastor. Even when I fought hard to stop worrying about numbers, my mind still went there. Too often I became discouraged because the actual attendance did not meet my goals.
Monday morning letdown can follow Easter. For weeks, a pastor’s energy is devoted to preparing for Easter Sunday. Teams get ready so the church operates as a well-oiled machine on this one Sunday. Everyone is focused, committed – and a bit relieved when it’s all over. Monday morning means a return to the routine.
Some pastors have no resurrection joy themselves. For some, ministry is hard. They serve one church while seeking the next one. Their marriages may be struggling, or their children are wayward. They must proclaim the hope of resurrection when their own hope is dying. Easter Sunday then becomes a chore to endure rather than a day to celebrate.

If you are a pastor, direct your members to this post and ask them to pray for you. As a layperson, invite other church members to join you in prayer. Pray that Easter will be powerful for your pastor this year.

Chuck Lawless currently serves as Professor of Evangelism and Missions and Dean of Graduate Studies at Southeastern Seminary. You can connect with Dr. Lawless on both Twitter and Facebook.

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Nine Ways to Deal with Church Bullies

In my post on Monday, I dealt with the traits of church bullies. I now move from descriptive to prescriptive. How do we deal with church bullies? What can we do to prevent such bullying? Here are nine of my suggestions:

Fight bullying with the power of prayer. The most common targets of church bullies are the pastor and church staff. I encourage everyone in vocational ministry to ask humbly for people to pray for them daily. In two of the churches where I served as pastor, I had as many as 100 or more people committed to pray for me daily. They typically prayed for me for only two or three minutes each day at noon. Their intercessory prayers for me were brief, but they were powerful!
Seek to have an Acts 6 group in the church. I am specifically referring to the manner in which the Jerusalem church dealt with murmuring and complaining. They appointed a group to take care of the widows who were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. The seven who were appointed to the task were thus not only to do that ministry, but they were also to preserve the unity of the church. Churches need either informal or formal groups that see their ministry as dealing with conflict, complaints, and dissension so that unity is preserved.
Have a high expectation church. I have addressed the issues of high expectation churches and low expectation churches many times on this blog. Higher expectation churches tend to be more unified, more Great Commission focused, more biblically defined, and more servant oriented. Stated simply, high expectation churches don’t offer an environment conducive to bullying.
Encourage members to speak and stand up to church bullies. Bullying thrives in a church where the majority remains in silent fear of church bullies. Bullies tend to back down when confronted by strong people in the church. We just need more strong people in the church.
Make certain the polity of the church does not become a useful instrument to church bullies. Many churches have ambiguous structures and lines of accountability. Polity is weak and ill-defined. Bullies take advantage of the ambiguity and interpret things according to their nefarious needs.
Be willing to exercise church discipline. Church discipline is a forgotten essential of many churches. Bullies need to know there are consequences for their actions, and church discipline may be one of them.
Have a healthy process to put the best-qualified persons in positions of leadership in the church. Bullies often are able to push around less qualified people who have found themselves in positions of leadership. There should be a spiritually and strategically designed process to choose and recruit people for key leadership positions.
Have a healthy process to hire church staff. For example, an egregious mistake would be the church’s hiring of a senior staff member without the enthusiastic support of the pastor. If the pastor and new staff member do not have good chemistry, a church bully can quickly pit one against the other. A unified church staff is a major roadblock for a church bully.
Encourage a celebratory environment in the church. Joyous churches deter bullies. They like somber and divided churches.

Church bullying is more widespread than we often like to admit. I hope these nine suggestions can help keep the bullies out of your church. Let me hear from you.

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Easter and Hymns with Keith Getty – Rainer on Leadership #111

Podcast Episode #111

SUBSCRIBE: iTunes • RSS • Stitcher • TuneIn Radio

This week, we welcome back a great friend of the podcast, Keith Getty. Fourteen years ago this Easter, In Christ Alone was debuted at an event in England. Now it is one of the most sung hymns not just on Easter, but every Sunday throughout the year. Keith stopped by to talk Easter, composing, hymns, and what’s up next for the Gettys. As an extra bonus, we’ve included free chord chart downloads of a collection of Getty hymns as well as a raw cut of their latest hymn below.

Some highlights from today’s episode include:

We have to sing of Christ’s death and resurrection because in many ways, that’s all we have (Gal 6:14).
Use Easter as a chance to sing great songs about the Cross and resurrection.
Each Sunday of the year, our songs should be shaped by the gospel—not just on Easter.
Great hymns sings simply. Like you’ve sung them all your life.
The challenge as a songwriter is to create something beautifully unique yet theologically rich.
For some, this weekend will be their only connection with the gospel this year.

In this episode, Keith listed his top five Easter hymns:

Jesus Christ Is Risen Today
To Thine Be the Glory
Crown Him with Many Crowns
When I Survey the Wondrous Cross
What Wondrous Love Is This

Episode Sponsor

Vanderbloemen Search Group is the premier pastor search firm dedicated to helping churches and ministries build great teams. They’ve helped hundreds of churches just like yours find their church staff and are uniquely geared to help you discern who God is calling to lead your church. Find out more about Vanderbloemen Search Group by visiting WeStaffTheChurch.com.

Feedback

If you have a question you would like answered on the show, fill out the form on the podcast page here at ThomRainer.com. If we use your question, you’ll receive a free copy of Autopsy of a Deceased Church.

Resources

The Getty Collection – Music charts courtesy lifewayworship.com and includes:

In Christ Alone
My Soul Longs for the Lord
My Worth Is Not in What I Own
The Communion Hymn
The Power of the Cross
See What a Morning
Christ Is Risen He Is Risen Indeed


My Soul Longs for the Lord

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Nine Traits of Church Bullies

Church bullies are common in many churches. They wreak havoc and create dissension. They typically must have an “enemy” in the church, because they aren’t happy unless they are fighting a battle. They tend to maneuver to get an official leadership position in the church, such as chairman of the elders or deacons or treasurer. But they may have bully power without any official position.

Church bullies have always been around. But they seem to be doing their work more furiously today than in recent history. Perhaps this look at nine traits of church bullies can help us recognize them before they do too much damage.

They do not recognize themselves as bullies. To the contrary, they see themselves as necessary heroes sent to save the church from her own self.
They have personal and self-serving agendas. They have determined what “their” church should look like. Any person or ministry or program that is contrary to their perceived ideal church must be eliminated.
They seek to form power alliances with weak members in the church. They will pester and convince groups, committees, and persons to be their allies in their cause. Weaker church staff members and church members will succumb to their forceful personalities.
They tend to have intense and emotional personalities. These bullies use the intensity of their personalities to get their way.
They are famous for saying “people are saying.” They love to gather tidbits of information and shape it to their own agendas. See my previous post on this one item.
They find their greatest opportunities in low expectation churches. Many of the church members have an entitlement view of church membership. They seek to get their own needs and preferences fulfilled. They, therefore, won’t trouble themselves to confront and deal with church bullies. That leads to the next issue, which is a consequence of this point
They are allowed to bully because church members will not stand up to them. I have spoken with pastors and church staff who have been attacked by church bullies. While the bully brings them great pain, they have even greater hurt because most of the church members stood silent and let it happen.
They create chaos and wreak havoc. A church bully always has his next mission. While he or she may take a brief break from one bullying mission to the next, they are not content unless they are exerting the full force of their manipulative behavior.
They often move to other churches after they have done their damage. Whether they are forced out or simply get bored, they will move to other churches with the same bullying mission. Some bullies have wreaked havoc in three or more churches.

Church bullying is epidemic in many of our congregations. They must be stopped. In my article on Wednesday, I deal with the topic of preventing church bullying. In the meantime, let me hear from you.

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Pray for Eastwood Baptist Church

Location: Bowling Green, Kentucky

Pastors: Thomas James (lead pastor) & Ben Simpson (south campus pastor)

Weekly Worship: 9:30 & 11:00 AM, Central – East campus; 10:30 AM, Central – South Campus.

Fast Facts: Eastwood launched a second campus four years ago celebrated the completion of a new permanent building for it with a ribbon cutting on March 18, 2015. This week on Palm Sunday, they move into that facility. Their South Campus opens it’s doors for the first time today. Please pray that this new campus would be used to reached even more people with the gospel.

Website: EastwoodBC.org

“Pray for . . .” is the Sunday blog series at ThomRainer.com. We encourage you to pray for these churches noted every Sunday. Please feel free to comment that you are praying as well.

If you would like to have your church featured in the “Pray for…” series, fill out this information form..

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Notable Voices: March 28, 2015

5 Best Practices for Handling Other Ministry Income — Art Rainer

In this excerpt from his new book, Art shares the best practices for handling outside income as a minister.

 

25 Random Pieces of Advice for Leaders in Their 20s, 30s or 40s — Carey Nieuwhof

This advice is applicable whether you are involved in ministry or not. While they are all great advice, #20 really stands out.

 

10 Pointers for Untrained Preachers — Peter Mead

In this two part series, Peter shares tips for both trained and untrained preachers.

 

4 Foolproof Ways to Alienate Visitors to Your Website  — Rachel Blom

I’ve talked quite a bit about church websites. And while those continue to need improvement, pastor blogs, ministry sites, and other sites need work as well. Rachel shares four major areas that can drive people away form any site.

 

Four Problems With Church Planting — Darryl Dash

Before you think this article is slamming church planting, please note that it’s written by a planter. Who better to know the problematic areas than someone who has lived through them.

 

All the One Another Commands in the New Testament — Jeffrey Kranz

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Overcoming the 12 Most Frequent Burdens Pastors Face – Rainer on Leadership #110

Podcast Episode #110

SUBSCRIBE: iTunes • RSS • Stitcher • TuneIn Radio

Today on the podcast, we cover a recent post from Chuck Lawless on pastoral burdens.

Some highlights from today’s episode include:

70% of churches in America are declining.
Many times pastors determine their self-worth by how their church is doing numerically.
Pastors are often unfairly blamed for the moral failure of a staff member.
It’s hard for pastors to have friends in the church because friends are perceived as favorites.
The “arms race” regarding church facilities over the past few decades has been counterproductive in many ways.
Overcoming burdens in ministry and life heavily depends on where your focus lies—on Christ or on something lesser.

The 12 most frequent burdens pastors face are:

Declining church growth.
Losing the support of friends.
Grieving a fall.
Sensing that the sermon went nowhere.
Losing vision.
Being lonely.
Dealing with unsupportive staff.
Remembering failures.
Dealing with death recurrently.
Facing personal jealousies.
Balancing family and ministry priorities.
Responding to criticism.

Episode Sponsor

Vanderbloemen Search Group is the premier pastor search firm dedicated to helping churches and ministries build great teams. They’ve helped hundreds of churches just like yours find their church staff and are uniquely geared to help you discern who God is calling to lead your church. Find out more about Vanderbloemen Search Group by visiting WeStaffTheChurch.com.

Feedback

If you have a question you would like answered on the show, fill out the form on the podcast page here at ThomRainer.com. If we use your question, you’ll receive a free copy of Autopsy of a Deceased Church.

Resources

10 Things You Shouldn’t Say to a Pastor Right After the Sermon
The Most Frequent Burdens Pastors Face
The Most Frequent Burdens Church Staff Face
Pastors Today

The post Overcoming the 12 Most Frequent Burdens Pastors Face – Rainer on Leadership #110 appeared first on ThomRainer.com.

Beware of Greatness

By Chuck Lawless

Get the picture. A distraught father whose son was possessed by a demon brought his boy to Jesus’ disciples (Mark 9:14-29). Under the demon’s influence, the son often threw himself into fire or water to destroy himself. From his childhood he had been in this condition, and nothing was changing. We have to believe the father had sought for years to find any solution to his boy’s tragic condition. Any caring father would have done the same.

The father must have heard that Jesus (and apparently his disciples) had power to heal. In desperation, he brought his son to Jesus’ disciples – and the tragic words of a defeated father speaking to Jesus echo loudly from the pages of the Scripture: “So I asked Your disciples to drive it out, but they couldn’t.”

“But they couldn’t.” It is hard to find more tragic words about God’s followers when hurting people turn to them for help. God’s power was available to the disciples, but they somehow missed it. They had previously dealt successfully with demons (Mark 6:12-13), but not this time. In fact, his disciples were both faithless (v. 19) and prayerless (v. 29) even as they confronted the spirit that controlled the man’s son. We can only hope that Jesus’ words – “You unbelieving generation! How long will I be with you? How long must I put up with you?” — pierced them, but the evidence suggests otherwise.

Sometime later, Jesus retreated with his disciples and taught them about his coming betrayal, death, and resurrection (Mark 9:30-32). Perhaps not surprisingly, the disciples did not fully understand what he was teaching. He had previously predicted his death and resurrection (Mark 8:31-33), and Peter had aggressively rebuked him for such teaching. Their leader didn’t “get it” before, and now the whole group still didn’t fully get it.

Here’s what is amazing, though. In the very next passage, these same disciples were debating over who was the greatest:

“When He was in the house, He asked them, ‘What were you arguing about on the way?’ But they were silent, because on the way they had been arguing with one another about who was the greatest.” (Mark 9:33-34)

Say what? The disciples likely were clinging to a hope that Jesus would be a political king offering them a cabinet seat, but their misunderstanding only magnifies their arrogance. Cast out a demon? They couldn’t do it. Comprehend Jesus’ teaching about his death? They failed. Understand the nature of Jesus’ kingdom? Not yet. Willingly follow Christ’s model of service? Not even close.

And these men were arguing over who is the greatest in a kingdom they didn’t even understand? Yep.

Let’s not kid ourselves, though. We are not always that much different. Sometimes we love our positions of power in the church even when we know we lack the power of God in our own lives. We strive for teaching positions without recognizing our own unwillingness to learn. Lesson after repeated lesson, we still don’t get it. Our pride keeps us from admitting our lack of understanding even while our powerlessness keeps us from being effective. In all of our supposed greatness, God help us if we come face-to-face with a boy possessed by a demon.

Look then at the striking contrast Jesus next paints. Over against his arrogant, failing disciples is Jesus lovingly taking a child into his arms (Mark 9:35-36). To understand this picture, we need to know that first-century little ones were deemed less than full persons, given no status or rights. While often portrayed as innocent, they were also considered weak, vulnerable, and dependent. No wonder, then, that Jesus’ disciples at times tried to drive bothersome children from their Master’s presence (Mark 10:13).

Jesus’ illustrations utilizing children, though, were twofold. First, his followers are to willingly welcome those who are like children – those who are weak, needy, dependent, and helpless (Mark 9:37). The world may cast them aside, but Christ-followers cannot.

Second, Jesus’ followers are to be like children (Mark 10:13-16). With the simple humility and unwavering faith of a child, we come to him as helpless little ones trusting him for life.

God’s children—including leaders—are needy people who welcome other needy people. In his work, rank and prominence carry no weight. When we get that right, we’ll recognize that “greatness” no longer matters.

Adapted from Chuck Lawless, Nobodies for Jesus (2014, Rainer Publishing)

Chuck Lawless currently serves as Professor of Evangelism and Missions and Dean of Graduate Studies at Southeastern Seminary. You can connect with Dr. Lawless on both Twitter and Facebook.

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