Derwin L. Gray's Blog, page 7

2013 in Review

Courage is often rooted in experiencing God’s past faithfulness.

To move forward in an uncertain, out-of-control, and violent world, we must simultaneously look back to the past to draw courage and strength so we can move forward and lay claim of the destiny God beckons us into.

This blog, in essence, is just that: a look back at 2013.  God was eptastic to Transformation Church in 2013.  His past faithfulness inspires us to face an uncertain tomorrow with courage.

Whether you are a church planter, stay-at-home mom, middle school volleyball coach, or corporate executive, I pray this blog inspires you to be courageous in 2014!

Click the link below to see Transformation Church 2013 in Review:

http://www.transformationchurch.tc/give/annualreport.php

Transformers – Roll out!

Pastor Derwin

Career and Calling – How To Point Your Child In The Right Direction

Parents, have you ever stopped to consider your greatest motivation in guiding your child towards a future career?  Take a few moments and watch this video as Pastor Derwin shares some potentially life changing advice!

“To watch the full sermon click here” – http://transformationchurch.tc/sermons/?sabotaged/by_greed/

 

Stop Making Discipleship So Complicated!

Part I

The goal of “Discipleship” isn’t that complicated.  For real; it’s not!

The reason we make it so complicated is that we don’t believe in the life-transforming power of the Gospel of grace (Acts 20:24), which is called the Gospel of God (Romans 1:1) and the Gospel of the Son (Romans 1:9).

The Gospel, or Good News, is an announcement that Israel’s Messiah (Jesus) has defeated sin, death, and evil through His sinless life, atoning death on the cross, resurrection, and exaltation back into glory to rule the universe at the right hand of His father.

And through Jesus’ epic victory, by grace a new people of God (Church) is formed as they respond in faith to His loving initiatives by the Spirit’s presence and power.

As the new people of God, they are empowered to fulfill their purpose which Jesus communicated:

Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”  Mark 12:29-31 ESV

Jesus, the last Adam, is God the Father’s blueprint of for our lives.  Jesus loved, God, Himself, and others.

Discipleship is the art of fathering, mothering, mentoring, teaching, correcting, and inspiring people in the context of the local church to love in a triune way: We were recreated in Christ to love God, to love ourselves, and to love our neighbors.

Love expresses the totality of God’s will for our lives:

“For when we place our faith in Christ Jesus, there is no benefit in being circumcised or being uncircumcised. What is important is faith expressing itself in love.” Galatians 5:6 NLT

“For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Galatians 5:14 NLT

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love.” Galatians 5:22 ESV

“Let all that you do be done in love.”  1 Corinthians 16:14 ESV

“Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony.” Colossians 3:14 NLT

The goal of discipleship is to partner with God the Holy Spirit to live a life of love and help other live that life as well.  This is how the Gospel of grace brings forth the Kingdom of God in the ordinariness of life.

Marinate on that,

Derwin

What Do You Do When Staff Wants to Leave?

Pastors, what do you do when staff wants to leave and join the staff of another church?

And I’m not talking about the staff you want to leave.

I’m talking about the “star” that really moves the vision of the church further, faster.

Now, let me preface the rest of the blog with this note: I have never had this happen to me, yet.

In one of our Executive Team Meetings, I asked our team, “How would we respond if a staff member believed God was calling them to join another staff?”  I then said:

We have two options: we can lead Transformation Church with a “Generosity” mind-set or a “Scarcity” mind-set.

A Generosity mind-set is established in Ephesians 4:7-16:

Jesus loves His Church
Jesus will provide gifted people for  His Church
Jesus will build His Church
Therefore, when staff feels called to another ministry or another opportunity, we can graciously bless them and help them because the Lord Jesus loves his Church, will provide gifted people for His church, and will build His Church.

This takes faith rooted in Jesus.

A Scarcity mind-set is rooted in a lack of faith in Jesus.

A Sarcity mind-set:

Believes the staff belongs to them.
Believes “their” church is best church and have a “How could anyone leave our church” attitude.
Therefore, leaders manipulate, control, and guilt staff.  A Scarcity mind-set can create a very cult-like environment.

I pray that the words I have written will serve me well when the time comes that I will have to practice what I’ve preached.  I pray that this blogs helps you too.  I know it’s helping the future me.

Jesus loves His Church. Trust Him to provide and build His Church.

Marinate on that,

Pastor Derwin

How To Identify When You’ve Been Sabotaged by Traditional Family Values

“Traditional family values” is a phrase we often hear, and many aspire to have such values. But what happens when we start to believe that our identity and happiness are determined by those values? We’re actually setting ourselves up to be sabotaged.  Watch as Pastor Derwin explains.

“To watch the full sermon click here” - http://transformationchurch.tc/sermons/?sabotaged/by_family_love/

Three Ways to Spice Up Your Love Life

Our culture teaches us to idolize sex and romance and ultimately, the idolization of erotic love will sabotage a marriage.  If you’re looking for a way to “spice things up” with your spouse, take just a moment and watch this video!

“To watch the full sermon click here!” - http://www.transformationchurch.tc/sermons/?sabotaged/by_erotic_love/

When the American Dream Disappoints

The American Dream, it’s something we’ve all heard about.  For some, it’s something that we feel we’re all entitled to.  But what happens when you wake up from the American Dream and you’re sorely disappointed? Watch as Pastor Derwin explains!

Pastors, We Can Learn Something Valuable from Carlos Santana

“It got to the point where I really thought that death would be sweeter than pain. But each time I would go light up a candle, and I’m still hearing all this inner stuff, a thousand voices screaming at you, accusing you, like, ‘You’re the lowest, you’re not worthy of anything or anyone around you.’”[1]

These are the words of 10-time Grammy Award winner Carlos Santana, the brilliant musician who pioneered the fusion of Latin American music with Rock. He is one of the greatest guitarists of all time.

Despite Santana’s success, he heard “a thousand voices screaming” at him that he was “the lowest” and that he was not “worthy of anything or anyone.”

Sadly, I think many pastors feel this way and live with great inner turmoil and insecurity.  Perhaps this is why:[2]

1,700 pastors leave the pastorate every single month
80% of pastors and 84% of their spouses feel unqualified and discouraged as role of pastors
70% of pastors constantly fight depression
70% say they have a lower self-image now than when they first started
70% do not have someone they consider a close friend

As an elder/pastor myself, I long for people to know Jesus and experience His grace just as I have.  But the reality is this, entering into God’s Kingdom happens in an instant; but growing as a beloved child of God takes a lifetime.  And I think it’s here where the breakdown occurs.

We discover that God loves us, but we think we have to keep His love through our performance. Instead of being honest about our brokenness, we hide in and behind the “work of the ministry” and neglect the work and ministry Jesus wants to do in our hearts.

Simply put, we are looking for affirmation.  We are looking God to say, “Son, I love you.  And I’m proud of you simply because you are my son.”

As pastors, secretly and sometimes not so secretly, we long for affirmation through ministry success. This leads to all types of sin and disfigurement of the soul.

Carlos Santana found his affirmation.  We would be wise to marinate on his words:

“But then I would look at a picture of Jesus and say, ‘Help me,’ and then, very clearly, inwardly, I would hear this one voice that’s softer and louder than all the others, and it would say, ‘I am sitting next to you. Isn’t that enough?’ Once I heard that voice, something would shift, and I’d be able to find joy again. . . .”[3]

Elder/pastor, Jesus is enough. You have all the affirmation you will need “in” Christ. Let Ephesians 1:3-6 (NLT) melt into your heart, let these words fill your inner emptiness.

“All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son.”

You are BLESSED in Christ (Eph. 1:3)

You are UNITED to Christ. What’s true of Jesus is now true of you because you are in Him (Eph.1:3)

You are God’s ADOPTED and BELOVED child in Christ (Eph. 1:4-5)

You are CHOSEN in Christ (Eph. 1:4)

You are HOLY and FAULTLESS in God’s sight in Christ (Eph. 1:4)

You bring God the Father PLEASURE because you are in Christ (Eph. 1:5)

Elder/pastor, so now praise God because you belong to Jesus. Jesus is your affirmation, not pastoral success or failure.

We can only silence the thousand inner voices by listening to the ONE voice that says, “Son (Daughter), I love you.  I’m proud of you because you are in Jesus.”

If you like this blog, check out – http://www.derwinlgray.com/pastor-heres-screw-life/

Marinate on that,

Pastor Derwin

[1] http://www.christianpost.com/news/car...

[2] http://www.pastoralcareinc.com/statis...

[3] Same as above

Pastor, Here’s How Not To Screw Up Your Life

Dear Elder/Pastor,

I’m concerned about you. I’m concerned about me.

It seems that just about every month I hear stories of elders/pastors who disqualify themselves because of:

Having an emotional affair with a staff member;

Engaging in adultery;

Struggling with various forms of addiction (porn, drugs, alcohol);

Egotistical, pride-filled leadership;

Greed;

And, spiritual burnout.

As leaders, when we implode and explode; our families, those we serve in the local church, and most importantly, the beautiful Name of Jesus, is ravaged.

Why do we implode and explode? And what can we do to not just survive being an elder/pastor, but thrive and embody 1Timothy 3:1-7?

I offer the following advice first and foremost to myself. I offer it not as an expert, but simply as a brother who loves Jesus, loves you, and loves the local churches we serve.

UNCEASING WORSHIP:

Do you remember when you first met Jesus and the wind of His glorious grace swept you off your feet and you couldn’t believe you were forgiven?

Do you remember when Jesus first whispered into your ear, “I love you?  You belong to my Papa now.”

Do you remember when following Jesus was not about church attendance, budgets, signing book deals, hiring church staff, or polishing your preaching skills?

Do you remember when EVERYTHING was worth-less than Jesus? (Philippians 3:7-10)

Elder/pastor, this is where we must abide, in the unfailing, life-giving grace and love of King Jesus. Our ministry is the overflow of His ministry of grace to us (Ephesians 3:16-21).

We must not buy the lie that we can find greater joy and satisfaction from something or someone more than we can find it in Jesus.  He is our supreme pleasure.

 

IDENTIFY YOUR IDOLS

While preaching at Saddleback Church, Pastor Rick Warren, one of my mentors, gave me some rich words of advice when he told me, “Derwin, three things destroy pastors; money, sex, and power.”  (See my Saddleback Sermon here: http://www.saddleback.com/mc/m/9e685/)

He said, “I sold enough books with Purpose Drive Life to buy an island. But I wear a $14.00 watch and drive a 15 year-old pickup truck.”

Elder/pastor, what are your idols? What are my idols?

If it’s money, be generous and live to standards of the people in your congregation. Poverty and prosperity theology is sin.

If it’s power, make sure you have real accountability to protect you and the church from you.

Be a servant-leader. Some pastors love preaching to people more than they actually love people.  This is a great sin.

If it’s sex, don’t hire a smoking-hot female executive assistant that you spend a lot of time with. That’s just DUMB.  Don’t meet alone with someone of the opposite sex. If you have same-sex attraction, be wise in creating boundaries that protect you from yourself.

Spiritual formation, or Christian maturity, is a process, kind of like being in the Holy Spirit’s spiritual crockpot. We can’t microwave maturity. It’s often painful. I recommend having mentors to guide you in issues of the soul. Professional counseling is a wise investment too.

Here’s the point, the Gospel of grace calms our hearts and gives us the freedom to be secure enough to be vulnerable and transparent about our idols. In our weakness we are made strong.

YOU ARE THE CEO OF YOUR OWN HEALTH

I heard Pastor Eugene Chu drop this spiritual gem, “Pastor, you are the CEO of your own spiritual health.”

Our physical and spiritual health is the engine of our souls. Exercise keeps us sharp mentally, boosts our energy and reduces the chances of getting a life-threatening disease.  (http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/exercise/HQ01676).

Here are 8 Spiritual Rhythms of Grace that I practice to grow and stay spiritually fit. Also my book Limitless Life: You Are More Than Your Past When God Holds Your Future really ministered to my soul.

Elder/Pastor, I pray this blog helps you and me to be faithful.  I love you.  And I am cheering you on!

Marinate on that,

Pastor Derwin

We Can’t Outgive God

At Transformation Church, one of our values is “Generosity” which means we are committed by the Spirit’s enabling power to be financially generous. We truly believe that we can’t outgive God. A God so generous that He gave us the greatest gift of all, Jesus! This past weekend we were able to give financial gifts to Indian Land Elementary School and Kershaw Correctional Institution, and it was AWESOME! Take a couple of moments to watch.