Thom S. Rainer's Blog, page 331

Notable Voices – October 17, 2013

The Tension of Ideology and Progress — Sam Rainer

Great churches balance the tension between ideology and progress. Great leaders uphold ideology and at the same time encourage progress. This balance requires contextualization, discernment, and experimentation.

 

Successfully Embracing Social Media During Sermons — Bryant Taylor

Social media and sermons can sometimes go together like oil and water. However, when integrated in the right way, social media can enhance sermons and their reach like few other tools.

 

10 Differences About Buzzwords and Leadership — Philip Nation

Leadership advice and guidance sometimes can become a lot like cotton candy: all fluff and no substance. Philip examines this issue and shares the difference in some popular leadership buzzwords and actual leadership principles.

 

What I Wish I Had Known or Done — Sam Storms

Sam reflects back on 40 years of ministry with a list of things he wishes he had known earlier.

 

20 Tips For Personal Devotions in the Digital Age — David Murray

Last week, I shared David’s article on 18 obstacles to personal devotions in the digital age. In this post, he lists 20 ways to conquer those obstacles.

 

Thoughts on Firing People in Ministry — Ron Edmondson

Regardless of your profession, firing employees is never an easy task. Ron shares his thoughts on what is a difficult issue for many pastors.

Ten of the Most Common Questions Asked by Pastors

I wish I could respond to every phone call, email, text, Facebook post, Twitter direct message, blogpost comment, and several other forms of communication I receive. Pastors ask me questions, lots of questions. I am both honored and humbled that they would think that I could be a source of information or expertise.

That is why I am frustrated that I get to respond to relatively few of them. Pastors deserve better, and I’m trying to figure out a better way to be more responsive.

Before I give you my idea, let me share with you the most common questions I am asked by pastors. It was a relatively easy exercise to review several weeks of communication and tally the most common questions. Here are the top ten questions in reverse order:

10. How can I get the business and finance training I need to understand that aspect of church life?

9. What should be our church’s first step with a new member or a prospective member?

8. How do I broach the subject about my salary and benefits?

7. What are the most common outreach and evangelism ministries in effective churches?

6. How do I handle a particular conflict in the church?

5. How should I allocate my time as a pastor?

4. How do I balance family time with the demands upon me as a pastor?

3. How are effective churches closing the back door?

2. How can I simplify the busyness in my church?

1. What are the most common discipleship ministries and programs used in effective churches?

Here is my plan. I hope in the next six months to establish on ThomRainer.com a comprehensive question and answer section for pastors. I will need help in two ways. First, I will need help answering the questions. I plan to recruit pastors and other leaders who can provide expertise according to the questions.

Second, I need questions from you. You can start now.

What are some of the questions you would like to see answered? I can almost promise that any reasonable question will be answered. So, what questions do pastors have today?

Eight Ways Leaders Make Themselves Vulnerable to Spiritual Attack

By Chuck Lawless

New Testament writers warn us again and again about the reality of spiritual attack. The apostle Paul, a leader extraordinaire, challenged believers to wear the full armor of God (Eph. 6:11), being ever aware of the enemy’s schemes (2 Cor. 2:11). The leader of the church at Jerusalem, James, called followers of Christ to resist the devil (Jms. 4:7). Peter, the leader among Jesus’ apostles, warned against the adversary who seeks someone to devour like a roaring lion (1 Pet. 5:8). It is no wonder, then, Paul reminded the church to choose leaders who are not set up for the devil’s traps (1 Tim. 3:6-7).

Based on years of my studying spiritual warfare, here are eight ways I’ve seen leaders allow themselves to be vulnerable to the enemy’s arrows:

1. We focus on others, often to the neglect of ourselves. We are caregivers, rightly recognizing our responsibility to watch over the souls of others (Heb. 13:17). As pastors or lay leaders, we want to love people who re hurting, guide young believers, challenge older believers, and influence our community. Ministry, after all, is about others. When we neglect our own spiritual and physical well being in the process, though, we make ourselves susceptible to the enemy.

2. We replace spiritual disciplines with ministry activity. Church leaders can always find something else to do. There are always others to reach and many to train. Hospitalized church members beckon. Broken marriages need counseling. So many are the ministry hours we put in that we’re tempted to remind others of our sacrifice. Too little time is left for personal spiritual disciplines—and the enemy’s target is on our back.

3. We do ministry in our own power. Sometimes we go through the motions of ministry. We’ve been trained. We’ve read the books. Perhaps we have years of experience. We know how to do ministry, so we just do it with little praying and less dependence—and few people recognize we lack the power of God. In this case, we’re not only vulnerable to attack; we’re already losing the battle.

4. We think failure will never happen to us. I know few leaders who readily admit their susceptibility to falling. After all, leaders don’t become leaders by being weak. They are focused on the vision. They are committed. Their conviction inspires others. As leaders, we should indeed strive for these characteristics. When our confidence overshadows our recognition of the enemy’s schemes, though, we may be in trouble.

5. We ignore our “little” sins. I realize, of course, that no sin is inconsequential. Sometimes, however, we give ourselves “professional permission” to cross the line into sin.

“That joke really isn’t that bad.”

“It’s not possible to find a movie without some immorality.”

“It’s no big deal if I tell a white lie.”

When we, in the paraphrased words of Charles Spurgeon, venture into sin where we think the stream is shallow, we soon find ourselves drowning in the enemy’s waters.

6. We see people as the enemy. To be honest, church people are often problematic. In fact, they’re not unlike believers in the New Testament. They want the best seats in the kingdom. They argue over who has the greatest gifts. Church folks are at times cliquish and divisive. Sometimes, they ignore leaders God has given them. When we see “flesh and blood” as the enemy, though, we open ourselves to the principalities and powers who are the real enemy (Eph. 6:12).

7. We minister in the secret places of others’ lives. Ministry is often confessional and personal—intimate, actually. The counseling room is especially private, where sins are admitted and secrets are revealed. Vulnerability abounds there, including ours. We are the representatives of God, often deeply respected and sometimes admired by those to whom we minister. The setting is ripe for the enemy’s arrows of pride, immorality, and even more hiddenness.

8. We have few real friends. Leaders of God’s church intellectually know the significance of the Body of Christ, but we too seldom build strong friendships within that Body. Unspoken jealousies among leaders hinder personal connections. Fear of embarrassment keeps us from being honest about our own struggles. We become loners even while we preach relationships and unity – and we thus fight spiritual battles alone. That kind of vulnerability can lead to disaster.

If you are a church leader, I challenge you to take this step: forward this blogpost to five believers, and ask them to pray for you. Get real about the enemy, and close the door to his victories.

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.

Seven Reasons Your Church Needs to Go on a Diet

Most churches—more than eight out of ten—are busy. Too busy. These churches need to slim down their plethora of programs, activities, and ministries. They need to go a busyness diet.

Unfortunately, many church leaders equate activities with godliness or ministry fruitfulness. For certain, churches must have some clear plan of discipleship for their members. Sadly, some of the busiest churches actually diminish discipleship fruitfulness. And ceasing certain activities in the church can be extremely hard. You can run into sacred cows and favored ministries. Still, most churches should pursue a busyness diet for at least seven reasons.

Excessive activities can actually preclude members from growing spiritually. I actually interviewed one church member who said he didn’t have time to read his Bible. He was worn out almost every day from church activities.
A church that is too busy rarely evaluates the effectiveness of its activities. Leaders often erroneously presume that the busyness is a sign of fruitfulness.
Activity-focused churches are often inwardly focused. Those ministries are typically for the members and are rarely evangelistic or community focused.
A busy church can hurt families. Many churches have different activities for children, students, and adults on multiple days of the week. Family members rarely have time together.
Activity-focused churches can cause member burnout. When a member burns out, he or she then drops out.
It is difficult for a church to do a few things well when it does too many things. Quantity thus replaces quality, and the most vital ministries suffer.
Busy churches often lack vision clarity. Because these churches are going in so many directions, members are confused about the priorities and vision of the church.

Try this exercise. List every ministry, program, or class that your church offers in a year. If the list is exceedingly long, see if just a few can be eliminated without much pain. Then, before you add anything else to the activities of your church, make a commitment to eliminate two existing activities.

Admittedly, busyness diets are not always easy or pleasant. But they can make the difference between a busy church and a fruitful church.

Pray for Fairview Church

Location: Lebanon, Tennessee

Pastor: Jonathan Akin

Worship Time: 8:15 and 10:45 AM Central Time

Fast Facts: Located 30 miles east of Nashville, Fairview Church takes the great commission seriously. The church is taking the love of Christ outside its doors locally, nationally, and globally.

Locally

Fairview is engaged locally with several groups, including: the county schools’ ESL (English as a Second Language) families, a ministry to low-income families at a local campground, and the community youth football league which practices on their property.

Nationally

Fairview also has developed relationships with a national church plant in Denver, Colorado.

Globally

The church has developed mission partnerships with pastors in Mexico and Central Asia. These partnerships are taking the gospel to two unreached people groups.

Please pray for the pastor and others as they train men and women for missions and ministry. In addition, pray for a team of seven people going to Mexico October 5-12 to engage the unreached Mixteco people there. Also pray for upcoming outreach opportunities within the local community this month.

Website: www.fchope.com

“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, download this information form and return it to the address on the form.

Two Grandsons: A Story of Death, Life, and Family

On October 10, we welcomed Joshua William Rainer into the world. He is my seventh grandchild. I am blessed beyond measure. I already love him so much.

I know you have come to expect my articles to deal primarily with issues in the local church. So forgive me for taking a different and personal path this time. I think you will soon understand why.

A Grandson in Heaven

I told the story of the life and death of William Thomas Rainer in a post some time ago. You heard about the courage and testimony of his parents, Jess and Rachel Rainer.

While all of my grandchildren have a special place in my heart, Will is the grandchild who carries both my name (Thomas) and his dad’s name (Jess William Rainer).  When Will died, I was amazed to see the depth of grief apparent in both of his uncles, Sam Rainer and Art Rainer. You see, my three sons love their families intensely, and they love each other as well.

A Grandson with Us

My oldest son, Sam, and his wife Erin welcomed their daughter, Bren, into the world a year ago. Had Bren not been a girl, the boy would have been named Jess, in honor of Sam’s youngest brother.

Now we have a fourth grandson, Joshua William Rainer. Note the middle name. Joshua’s parents made the decision to name their son after our grandson who died, Will, as well as Will’s dad.

I know these names are confusing, so let me simplify them. Jess lost a son. Both of his brothers chose to name their sons after Jess or his deceased son. Their love for their brother is so great that they wanted his family name to be a part of their families.

The Joy of Family

As I sat in the hospital room holding Joshua, I marveled at this gift of life. I dreamed and wondered how God would use him. I began to pray for him at that very moment. I prayed for his salvation. I prayed for his health. And I prayed that, if God so willed it, he would one day have a godly wife.

And then I heard Joshua’s dad, Art, speaking. I heard him tell how Joshua William Rainer was named for Art’s brother and for his nephew who is in heaven. I marveled again at how much my three sons love each other.

You see, like you, I’m a pretty busy person. And you who are pastors especially feel the constant demands upon your time.  But at that moment I got it. There will always be tasks to accomplish and others to see. But family is what really matters. Family is where our true legacies are formed. Family is where our joy is found.

There will be a day so very soon when no one will remember the tasks we had to accomplish at that very moment to the neglect of our families. But your son will never forget your playing ball with him. Your daughter will never forget those daddy-daughter dates that shaped her for a lifetime.

Please slow down and give your families the time they deserve. See them as the gift they are. See them as the joy they are.

And may I be so presumptuous to ask you to pray for my new grandson, Joshua William Rainer? Would you pray for his life, both temporal and eternal?

I love him so much.

I love my family so much.

Identifying and Overcoming Pastoral Burnout – Rainer on Leadership #026

Podcast Episode #026

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I’ve been concerned about pastoral burnout for many years. I’ve seen it happen to too many pastors during my ministry. Because of this, I’ve been able to identify seven root causes for burnout as it relates to the pastor.

The 24/7 mentality.
Conflict.
Expectations.
Unwillingness to let go.
No friends.
Not suited for some tasks.
No life outside the church.

In this episode we address these seven areas and ways to overcome the issues as to avoid pastoral burnout.

Episode Sponsor

This week’s podcast is brought to you by Pastors Today. This weekly newsletter provides pastors with resources and information from around the web written specifically for pastors. For more information and to subscribe, visit LifeWay.com/pastors.

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 autographed copy of I Am a Church Member.

Resources

I Am a Church Member
Eight Areas Where Many Ministers Are Unprepared for Ministry
How Many Hours Must a Pastor Work to Satisfy the Congregation?

Friday Is for Freebies: Three Top Business Books

In Monday’s post, I wrote about three business books I regularly recommend to pastors. Today, I’m giving away a set of those three books.

First is The Effective Executive by Peter Drucker. The measure of the executive, Drucker reminds readers, is the ability to “get the right things done.” This usually involves doing what other people have overlooked as well as avoiding what is unproductive. Intelligence, imagination, and knowledge may all be wasted in an executive job without the acquired habits of mind that mold them into results.

Drucker identifies five practices essential to business effectiveness that can, and must, be learned:

Managing time
Choosing what to contribute to the organization
Knowing where and how to mobilize strength for best effect
Setting the right priorities
Knitting all of them together with effective decision-making

Ranging widely through the annals of business and government, Drucker demonstrates the distinctive skill of the executive and offers fresh insights into old and seemingly obvious business situations.

Also included is Jim Collins’ book Good to Great. Using tough benchmarks, Collins and his research team identified a set of elite companies that made the leap to great results and sustained those results for at least fifteen years. How great? After the leap, the good-to-great companies generated cumulative stock returns that beat the general stock market by an average of seven times in fifteen years, better than twice the results delivered by a composite index of the world’s greatest companies, including Coca-Cola, Intel, General Electric, and Merck.

The research team contrasted the good-to-great companies with a carefully selected set of comparison companies that failed to make the leap from good to great. What was different? Why did one set of companies become truly great performers while the other set remained only good? Over five years, the team analyzed the histories of all twenty-eight companies in the study. After sifting through mountains of data and thousands of pages of interviews, Collins and his crew discovered the key determinants of greatness — why some companies make the leap and others don’t.

The final book included is Leading Change by John P. Kotter. Kotter’s now-legendary eight-step process for managing change with positive results has become the foundation for leaders and organizations across the globe. By outlining the process every organization must go through to achieve its goals, and by identifying where and how even top performers derail during the change process, Kotter provides a practical resource for leaders and managers charged with making change initiatives work. Leading Change is widely recognized as his seminal work and is an important precursor to his newer ideas on acceleration published in Harvard Business Review.

To be eligible to win, answer the following question:

In your opinion, who is the best leader alive today??

The deadline to enter is midnight CDT this Saturday.  We will draw one winner from the entries on Monday morning.

By entering, you acknowledge and accept the terms of the promotion.

Notable Voices – October 10, 2013

Leading on the Emotional Plateau — Sam Rainer

Pastoring a church comes with plenty of highs and lows. It also comes with extended periods of time on emotional plateaus. Sam shares three things leaders can do while leading on the plateau.

 

Three Lessons for Cross-Cultural Evangelism — John Folmar

In the past, cross-cultural evangelism was mostly a focus of those headed overseas. But as our country has become more and more diverse, it’s something those of us in America need to be more familiar with and better equipped at.

 

New Pastor Advice — Jason Helopoulos

Dozens of blog posts could be written on what one should do as a new pastor. But Jason’s advice is probably the best a new pastor could follow: Start slow.

 

5 Questions To Ask Your Spouse Every Week — Mike Mobley

A healthy relationship with your spouse requires good communication. For those of you who are married, weekly—or maybe even daily—conversations like Mike outlines would be beneficial.

 

18 Obstacles to Personal Devotions in the Digital Age — David Murray

Bible reading and prayer have become somewhat difficult to maintain in the digital age. David lists some of the obstacles we face in trying to make prayer and Bible reading a regular part of our lives.

 

How 6 Faithful, But Not-Famous Pastors Prepare Their Sermons — Eric McKiddie

Last week, Eric shared how long a few well-known pastors spent in sermon prep. This week, he asks six not-as-famous pastors the same question.

Top 25 Leadership Quotes

I love rankings and polls. I especially enjoy them during college football season as hundreds of so-called pundits tell us who the best teams in America are. Of all the college football polls, the Coaches Poll and the Associated Press Poll are the most widely read among them. Each of those polls ranks 25 teams each week during the season. In that spirit, I am ranking my top 25 leadership quotes.

I made the decision not to include quotes from the Bible. Jesus, Paul, and Proverbs would have dominated the list. Here are my top 25 quotes, at least for now.

The nation will find it very hard to look up to the leaders who are keeping their ears to the ground. —Sir Winston Churchill
Leadership is lifting a person’s vision to high sights, the raising of a person’s performance to a higher standard, the building of a personality beyond its normal limitations. —Peter Drucker
The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between, the leader is a servant. —Max DePree
Anyone can hold the helm when the sea is calm. —Publilius Syrus
He who has never learned to obey cannot be a good commander. —Aristotle
No man will make a great leader who wants to do it all himself, or to get all the credit for doing it. —Andrew Carnegie
A true leader has the confidence to stand alone, the courage to make tough decisions, and the compassion to listen to the needs of others. He does not set out to be a leader, but becomes one by the equality of his actions and the integrity of his intent. —Douglas MacArthur
In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock. —Thomas Jefferson
Leaders aren’t born; they are made. And they are made just like anything else, through hard work. And that’s the price we’ll have to pay to achieve that goal, or any goal. —Vince Lombardi
If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader. —John Quincy Adams
No man is good enough to govern another man without that other’s consent. —Abraham Lincoln
We live in a society obsessed with public opinion. But leadership has never been about popularity. —Marco Rubio
Whatever you are, be a good one. —Abraham Lincoln
To have long term success as a coach or in any position of leadership, you have to be obsessed in some way. —Pat Riley
Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality. —Warren Bennis
The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it. —Theodore Roosevelt
Leaders think and talk about the solutions. Followers think and talk about the problems. —Brian Tracy
Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity. —General George Patton
A man who wants to lead the orchestra must turn his back on the crowd. —Max Lucado
I cannot give you the formula for success, but I can give you the formula for failure, which is: Try to please everybody. —Herbert Swope
You manage things; you lead people. —Rear Admiral Grace Murray Hopper
Leadership is a potent combination of strategy and character. But if you must be without one, be without the strategy. —Norman Schwarzkopf
Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other. —John F. Kennedy
The growth and development of people is the highest calling of leadership. —Harvey Firestone
Outstanding leaders go out of their way to boost the self-esteem of their personnel. If people believe in themselves, it’s amazing what they can accomplish. —Sam Walton

What do you think of my list? I think I missed a few good ones by Margaret Thatcher. I’ll probably add her quotes in the future. What would you add?