Thom S. Rainer's Blog, page 352

Rainer on Leadership: Ten Ways Ordinary People Became Good Leaders

Podcast Episode #001

Subscribe via iTunes

On this debut episode of Rainer on Leadership, I discussed a recent blog series (part one • part two) on “Ten Ways Ordinary People Become Good Leaders.” Here are the ten traits:

They determine that their integrity would not be compromised.
They work hard.
They take responsibility for themselves.
They are decisive.
They read a lot.
They have genuine humility.
They seek mentors.
They avoid ruts.
They have a sense of humor.
They are goal setters.

Episode Sponsor

At MinistryGrid.com you’ll find more than 1,000 video sessions on topics, ranging from parking ministry to polity, with more added continually. You can even upload your own content, turn off unwanted content, and put your church’s own logo and colors on the site. An intuitive learning management system makes assigning courses and tracking progress a snap. It’s training made simple. For more information and to get three months free, visit ministrygrid.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 autographed copy of the new book I Am a Church Member.

Resources Mentioned in this Episode

Mentor: How Along-the-Way Discipleship Will Change Your Life by Chuck Lawless
Profitable Growth is Everyone’s Business: 10 Tools You Can Use Monday Morning by Ram Charan
Simple Church:Returning to God’s Process for Making Disciples by Thom S. Rainer and Eric Geiger
Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap… and Others Don’t by Jim Collins
The Essential Drucker: The Best Sixty Years of Peter Drucker’s Essential Writings on Management by Peter F. Drucker

Friday is for Freebies: I Am a Church Member

This Friday I’m giving away five autographed copies of my new book I Am a Church Member.

Based on an idea originally taken from this blog, I Am a Church Member discusses the attitudes and responsibilities of church members. I address in detail what congregations should really be focusing on—praying for church leaders, being a functioning member, treasuring church membership, and more.

Six chapters with these titles include study questions to guide the discussion:

I Will Be a Unifying Church Member
I Will Not Let the Church Be About My Preferences and Desires
I Will Pray for My Church Leaders
I Will Lead My Family to Be Healthy Church Members
I Will Be a Functioning Member
I Will Treasure Church Membership as a Gift

To enter the giveaway, briefly share the process of how someone joins your church.

The deadline to enter is midnight CDT this Saturday. We will draw five winners (one book per winner) from the entries on Monday morning.

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

Notable Voices – April 18, 2013

Fifteen Days in Rome: How the Pope Was Picked — Wall Street Journal

Last month’s election of a Jorge Mario Bergoglio as Pope was a surprise for many religious pundits. This article from the Wall Street Journal sheds light on the fascinating inner workings of the selection process as well as the true humility of Pope Francis.

 

George Beverly Shea, 1909-2013 — Ray Ortlund

We lost a legend when George Beverly Shea passed away earlier this week. Ray Ortlund provides a stirring tribute.

 

The Problem with “Mental Illness” — David Murray

There is much discussion about mental illness and the church in the wake of the recent death of Rick Warren’s son, Matthew. David shares some details on what mental illness is—and what it is not.

 

The Shadow of Secularization and the New Dawn of the Church — Micah Fries

Micha shares why encroaching secularization may, in fact, lead to the dawn of a new era for the church, an era in which the church may actually prosper and grow like it hasn’t in America for quite some time.

 

Four Suggestions for Parenting Sent Kids — Jason Dukes

Jason provides four suggestions for how our homes can become gospel environments where confession, reconciliation, restoration, and growth can reside.

 

Adoption: A Real Question Many Have — Jason Helopoulos

An adoption movement is stirring in the church in America. As it grows more prospective adoptive parents are asking “Will I love these children as ‘my own?’”

How Loud Should Our Church Music Be?

By Jordan Richmond

If you have any semblance of modern, band-driven worship, I guarantee you’ve had complaints about volume. I had a guy who would stick toilet paper in his ears every week and obnoxiously pace the foyer during the music set.

Conventional wisdom tells us that more volume equals more energy. After all people don’t want to hear themselves sing right?

So what’s the perfect volume? In this case, Disney has the answer. Disney seems to have a knack for managing expectations and providing the best user experience on the planet. They can teach us a thing or two about worship. So during my last visit to Disney World I decided to conduct an experiment. Every show I attended I would take out my iPhone and fire up the RTA Lite app. This handy (and free) little tool let’s me measure the decibel level at certain frequencies. I can see the level of the bass, mids, and trebles. The results shocked me.

Decibel Level - At every show and concert, the average level was about 75 db. That’s pretty soft—about the same as a dial tone with the phone up to your ear. Occasionally it might pop up to 85 db (city traffic), but not much more (hearing damage occurs at 90-95 db with sustained exposure). It was amazing how an explosion or kick drum had incredible intensity when everything else was at a pleasant level.
Frequencies - The frequency spectrum was linear (as opposed to flat or the typical “smiley face” with enhanced lows and highs, and reduced mids). Bass was the loudest, and it would evenly taper off as it headed toward the higher frequencies. So the sound I heard was ultimately smooth. It had impact when it needed to, and was never shrill or brassy.
Other Factors - Admittedly the shows I attended were family friendly—inviting young and old. EPCOT did have more concert/dance adult-oriented venues later in the evening. These were significantly louder (too loud for my taste). Also, every Disney venue featured Meyer arrays and trained sound men, so the end product was excellent.

So what did I learn from Disney?

I observed everyone, babies to grandmas, enjoying their experience. They participated. I also realized that sound is something we cannot escape. We cannot turn off our ears. We can look at something else if a light is too bright, but we cannot divert our hearing.

I attended a church service that weekend and felt almost assaulted by the sound (around 90-95 db). Admittedly I’ve subjected my church to that numerous times and wondered why they didn’t participate as actively. By all means pump the volume for youth groups. But for the large corporate service featuring all age groups (or children’s worship), it might be a good idea to bring the volume down.

More volume does not necessarily equal more energy. It insults your listeners, and robs you of the head room you need to emphasize dynamics and impacts when you need to. Turn it down. Smooth it out.

How loud is your church? Would you respond differently if the volume were different?

Jordan Richmond is the worship pastor of Cayman Islands Baptist Church in beautiful Grand Cayman. He has also served local churches in Florida and Kentucky.

Ten Simple Strategies for Prayer

By Chuck Lawless

I know very few people who don’t struggle with prayer. We know we should pray, but doing so consistently and fervently is not easy. Most of our praying is reactionary – that is, in response to a problem – rather than proactive, lifestyle praying.

Sometimes we try to fix this problem by seeking to become a prayer warrior overnight. That approach seldom works, and we get discouraged. A better approach is to build your prayer life one step at a time. Here are some simple strategies for increasing your prayer:

Establish some prayer “triggers.” Associate prayer with some daily activities, and then develop prayer patterns. For example, you might pray before you turn the ignition on your car. Pray as you cook a meal, clean a room, or walk on the treadmill. Let the “trigger” do what it’s intended to do: direct you toward prayer.
Use the church bulletin or calendar as a prayer guide. Find the list of scheduled events for the week, and pray for each day’s activities. If the young people are meeting on Tuesday night, pray for them. If the praise team practices on Monday, intercede for them on Monday. Let the bulletin or calendar information guide your daily praying.
Develop a “Focus on the Family” prayer strategy. Each week, focus on a different family in the church. Find out what prayer needs they have, and pray for them. Your small group might use this strategy to make certain every family receives prayer throughout the year. If so, be sure to pray for inactive families as well – only through prayer might they return.
Follow the ACTS paradigm. This strategy was the first one I learned decades ago, and it is still an effective one. Build a prayer list based on Adoration (praising God for who He is), Confession (admitting sin), Thanksgiving (expressing gratitude) and Supplication (praying for others). The intentionality of this strategy will help you stay focused during prayer.
Use a “Focused ACTS” strategy for one week. Use ACTS on Monday, but then focus daily on only one component during the rest of the week. On Tuesday, adore God throughout the day. On Wednesday, ask God to bring to light all of your sin so you might confess it. Thursday is for thanksgiving, and Friday is for praying for others.
Do “drive by” praying. Use your time in the car to pray. Watch for church buildings, and pray for the pastors of those congregations. Intercede for children and teachers as you drive past a school. If you pass a “For Sale” sign in your neighborhood, pray for that family. Pray for your coworkers as you park each morning.
Set some “prayer power points.” A prayer power point is a set time each day when you stop to pray. I find it best to set the alarm on my watch, and that reminder calls me away from my desk to pray. Just a few minutes set aside for prayer help me to re-focus for the rest of the day.
Pray the “Model Prayer” of Matthew 6:9-13 daily. I would not want this strategy to become routine and repetitious, but Jesus taught us to pray this prayer. Start each day with this prayer. Pause long enough to meditate on each phrase. Let the words become a genuine conversation with God.
Pray as you read the news. Whether you read the newspaper or read online, use the news to direct your praying. Intercede for countries in war. Pray for families affected by crime or natural disasters. Ask God to guide government leaders. Pray for missionaries in each country in the news.
Send an email prayer to someone each day. Take ten minutes, pray for someone else, and send a written prayer to that person. This strategy doesn’t take long, and just a few sentences of prayer will encourage somebody unexpectedly.

Remember, you won’t become a prayer warrior overnight . . . but start somewhere. Becoming a furnace of prayer begins with just a spark.

What other prayer strategies have you used?

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.

Eight Most Frequent Preaching Distractions

Most pastors preach or speak in a public forum 150 to 200 times a year. Many do more than that. Over time these preachers have the ability to discern if the congregation or audience is following them or if their minds are in another world.

Preachers are also too familiar with distractions. While it’s the way of life of someone who gets in front of people to speak, it is no less annoying.

I asked a number of pastors to share with me the most frequent distractions they experience while preaching. Here are there responses in order of frequency. I also took a representative quote from one of the respondents for each item.

People walking around. “It happens every time someone walks in the service or leaves the service while I’m preaching. All heads turn to see the movement. I might as well be speaking an alien language while the person is moving. No one is paying attention to me.”
People talking to each other. “It’s obvious they’re not listening to me if they are talking to each other. And it really gets me when they put their hand in front of their mouths, as if they can cover up the fact that they are talking.”
People looking at their watches. “Yep, I know it’s been a bad or long sermon or both when people can’t wait to get out. The ‘watch watching’ is the key indicator.”
People yawning. “So I worked on this sermon 15 hours and this guy can’t stop yawning. Maybe he was up all night, but I would rather him stay home and sleep.”
People frowning. “I always wonder if they are ticked off at me or my sermon. Maybe they had a bad day with their spouse. Maybe their team lost last night, but I can’t help but take it personally.”
People sleeping. “There is a deacon in my church whose favorite nap time is while I’m preaching. It doesn’t help that his wife gives him the elbow about ten times each sermon.”
People texting. “You might be able to argue that they are taking electronic notes, but I know better. Some of the young people in our church can’t go ten minutes without texting someone.”
Cell phones ringing. “We ask for all phones to be silenced before the service begins, so it’s not as bad as it used to be. But I did a funeral one time and the deceased’s son’s phone rang. He actually started talking to his hunting buddy while I continued my message.”

Dishonorable mention (others noted by preachers): sneezing; coughing; clearing the throat; picking the nose; flatulence.

What other distractions would you add? What do you think about this list?

Pray for First Southern Baptist Church

Location: Camden, Ohio

Pastor: Dr. Greg F. Jackson

Worship Time: 10:30 AM (Eastern Time)

Fast Facts: Dr. Jackson is in his 20th year serving a church that is 60 years old. His ministry focus is to lead this church to be an Acts 1:8 church by sharing the gospel first at home and ultimately throughout the world. Pray for Dr. Jackson as he leads First Southern Baptist Church to be an outwardly focused church and a corner of hope in Camden, Ohio. He also asks that you pray for revival services that will be held April 21-23 with guest speaker, David Burton, and guest music leader, Dwayne Lee.

Website: www.camdencornerofhope.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 your church to be featured in “Pray for . . .” contact Steve Drake, director of pastoral relations, at Steve.Drake@LifeWay.com.

Six Critical Issues to Prevent Church Members from Dropping Out

Gary McIntosh and Charles Arn recently released a delightful new book, What Every Pastor Should Know. I love the data and research in the book. One of my favorite sections dealt with retention of members. Two of the most critical findings were:

Of all the members who drop out of church, 82 percent leave in the first year of their membership. Retention efforts are thus critical in the first twelve months after a member joins a church.
The pattern of dropout is not random. Most leave close to their six-month tenure or close to their twelve-month tenure. So church members seem to give new churches a “test” at both six months and twelve months. If the church passes the test at six months, the member will stay for another six months. If the church passes the test at the one-year mark, the member is likely assimilated into the church.

The first “test” consists of three questions. Though the church member may not ask these questions specifically, he or she is evaluating three critical issues to determine if it’s time to move or stay. These are the issues around the six-month point.

Have I made friends in this church? New members who remained active in the church made an average of seven new friends in these first six months. The drop-outs had an average of less than two friends.
Is there a place in the church where I fit? Critically important to this question is whether or not the new member is in a group or class.
Does this church really want me? Are the members still as friendly as they were when I first joined? Am I being invited or encouraged to participate in ministries in the church?

Assuming the new member feels good about these first three questions, he or she is likely to stay another six months or so. At roughly the twelve-month point, the new member then evaluates the church on three more issues.

Are my new friends as good as my old friends? The members begin to assess the quality of their relationships.
Does the group meet my needs? By the time the new member has been involved in a group for more than six months, he or she is asking if the investment of time in the group is really worth it.
Is my contribution important? Everyone wants to be a part of something significant, something greater than themselves. Church members join a church with those expectations. Near the end of the first year, they begin to evaluate that issue and their contributions to the overall mission of church.

Though there are no great surprises in these six issues, what is new in the study by McIntosh and Arn is the timing issue. Most of those who will drop out will do so before the end of their first year. And at six months and twelve months respectively, new members will intuitively ask themselves six questions. How they respond to those questions ultimately determines if they will stay or leave.

How do you evaluate these six questions? What can your church do to prevent members from dropping out?

Friday Is for Freebies: The KJV Study Bible

My giveaway this Friday is a King James Version Study Bible.

2011 marked the 400th anniversary of the King James Version of the Bible, a landmark that gained worldwide media attention and researched estimates that more than one billion copies of KJV editions have been sold to date. Indeed, the beloved, historically rich rendering of Scripture is an ongoing favorite among Bible readers. This new KJV Study Bible features 15,000 study notes, 141 photos, 62 timelines, 59 maps, 40-page concordance, 20 articles and essays, 16 illustrations and reconstructions, 15 charts, and a helpful glossary of 17th century expressions relative to the KJV’s signature phrasing. Other details of the KJV Study Bible include a two-column text setting, center-column cross references, the words of Christ in red, one- and three- year Bible reading plans, a notes section, four-color presentation page, and two-piece die-cut gift box.

To enter the giveaway, tell us if you listen to podcasts and, if so, which ones.

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 – April 11, 2013

Are You Ready to Be a Leader? — Ron Edmondson

If you’ve ever wondered if you are ready for a leadership position, Ron provides a short test to determine your readiness.

 

Johns Hopkins’s and Planned Parenthood’s Troubling Extremism — George F. Will

George Will exposes the double standards for student groups at Johns Hopkins and the faulty logic applied under the guise of consumer rights by Planned Parenthood.

 

Steve Jobs and the Goal of Preaching — Matt McCullough

Matt applies Steve Jobs’ principle of “exposing and then meeting needs and desires that customers didn’t realize they had” to preaching.

 

Going to Pastor an Established Church? — Darryl Dash

Most churches are established. Many pastors are not. That can easily make for an imbalanced equation in the local church. Darryl provides some insight on how to adapt to pastoring an established church.

 

5 Ways to Avoid the Drain of Busyness — Trevin Wax

In any vocation, you have a certain capacity of what you as an employee can accomplish. Trevin shares some tips on how to recognize your capacity and fill it with meaningful work, not busyness.

 

The Bottom Line of Christian Ministry — H.B. Charles Jr.

Higher membership, larger offerings, are often seen as measuring sticks in ministry. But they are meaningless if in the end you are not pleasing God with your ministry.