Me & Mo

Been hanging out with Moses lately in Exodus ... WOW! Good stuff on how Moses' developed as the spiritual leader of God's people.

Here's just a few things that struck me:

--Moses' was discontent with the status quo early on (He killed an Egyptian for mistreating some Hebrew slaves). However, he lacked the maturity and God-given revelation to deal with it appropriately.

I think a good portion of visionary leadership begins with discontentment -- we see things that just are not right and then develop a passion to do something about it. God takes our passion and focuses it with an inspired vision that leads to action.

--When God called Moses to act (Exodus 3), Moses was focused only on himself. His doubts, his weaknesses, and his worries totally drove his conversations with God. God kept reassuring Moses with Himself: "I am who I am."

Whenever my focus on me, there is doubt, fear, and worry. Whenever the focus is on God, there is peace, confidence, and clarity. We have to remember we ain't nothing without God. Where's my focus????

--After all the trouble to call Moses to lead the Hebrews, God still almost killed him. Moses had not circumcised his son in accordance with God's law.

As leaders of God's people, we cannot neglect our own personal walk with God. Many times we focus on who we are leading and forget our own relationship with God. God demands integrity and purity and repentance constantly in order for Him to use us for His purposes.

Shot in the Arm

Just got back from the Churchplanters.com conference in Cumming ... WOW! What a shot in the arm for us at Rock Bridge! I am pumped and excited about getting back to work on the vision & mission we have at RBCC!!
Here's some of the things that are sticking out in my mind right now:

--Be mean about the vision. (Shawn Lovejoy)

--Seek to relate the Gospel to people not just creativity. We relate to people in our culture so we can take them to the Cross. (Ed Setzer)

--God wants our churches to be successful more than we do.
--Value risk taking for the kingdom more than success.
--When was the last time you/we/I took a risk on God. (Dave Ferguson)

--God wants us to live with holy urgency for His mission.
--God is resolved to bring us to a place of trust. (Matt Carter)

--Then Perry Noble spoke from Exodus 33 and challenged us to RELOOK at four things:
1) Our calling: God always calls us to things that are unsafe
2) At our people
3) At our vision
4) At our potential -- Eph. 3:20-21

This conference was a shot in the arm for me. It affirmed a lot of things we are thinking about and things we are doing. I am more excited than EVERY about what God is doing and is ABOUT to do at our church!!

Things that make you go 'hmm'

Here's some great sayings ...

If the goal of getting saved is to go to heaven, then why don't we die once we're saved?
--Because God leaves us here for one purpose: to be salt & light ... to help others come to know Christ!

If God told a church or the church or our church, to do worship in Rap because it would help reach more people for Christ ... would we/you do it?
--After all, it is His church and worship is for Him and as long as He is worshipped in Spirit & Truth He is honored. That means music style is negotiable, not sacred. That means God can be worshipped in a variety of musical styles. That means we can use music as tool BOTH to honor God and CONNECT with disconnected people!!
--(P.S.--God has not asked us to switch to Rap ... that's not the point. The point is are we willing to do whatever it takes to reach people?!?)

The church is a body and every body has a rectum.
--We cannot please everybody and let's face it, not every person belongs at your church or my church. It's okay for them to leave ... it's hard but okay and sometimes necessary.
...Another phrase for this is 'addition by subtraction'

Check your EGO at the door.
Ego = 'edging God out'.
I really do not believe a church can grow or sustain growth if people in the church are interested in control, power, and/or personal advancement. Those things leave no room for the God who wants to fill us with His power & might to do His work for His glory.

You can structure your church for control or growth.
--Hard one for some of us to give up control, especially if you started or helped to start the church.
--If I tried to control everything at Rock Bridge, we'd be running about 400-500 people right now. I think this is a major reason we've hit a plateau at certain points in our history ... I had to grow and change as a leader.

Just One More Mistake (Ha!)

Actually there are a lot more mistakes I've made, but I thought I'd share one more BIG one:

ON YOUR FEET vs. ON YOUR KNEES
In the Navy when doing P.T. (Physical Training) after we'd finished sit-ups or push-ups or something else, they'd yell "On your feet." It signaled the time to move on to the next exercise.
As a pastor/planter/leader I find the desire to get 'on my feet' but the need to stay 'on my knees' in prayer before God.
Being a task-oriented, results driven person ... extended times of prayer have been a hard and difficult discipline that I am still learning.

BUT when I do pray, I know with 100% certainty that God works more in me, around me and through me than when I shorten or cut my prayer time. In other words, results still happen but they are much greater and God-glorifying.

John 3:30

Mistakes I've Made

I just got a shot in my left cheek to help me get over a massive sinus infection ... so with steriods pumping through my blood, I'm going to share some mistakes I've made.

TOO MUCH, TOO FAST
When this happens you run the risk of burning people out, burning yourself out (or your family) or just confusing people.
Lessons learned:
#1--A strong foundation of vision should be laid before an any acceleration of ministry. Part of this vision includes being opportunistic ... that way when you do have to act fast, folks know it is to achieve a great vision = reaching lost people!
#2--Most of the time, less really is more.

POOP OR GET OFF THE TOILET
I know this may appear contradictory ... but sometimes I have delayed making a decision that needed to be made.
Lessons learned:
#1--Always err on the side of action over inaction.
#2--Have a wise process for making decisions (mine includes prayer & godly counsel)

BE OBESSIVE COMPULSIVE
It is true the devil is in the details. Pay attention to EVERYTHING!! When you start seeing problems in 'little' areas, bigger problems are usually right around the corner. It's better to put out a small brush fire than a forest fire!
(Nelson Searcy has a great CD resource called: "OC Church Leaders".

QUIT TRYING TO PLEASE EVERYBODY
Somewhere along the way I thought I would be the one exception that could keep everybody happy. Boy, was I wrong & stupid ... and I've wasted a lot of time trying!
Lessons learned:
#1-Play for the Audience of One.
#2-Cast vision, love people, lead with example, & lead through your legitimizers.
#3-Those that don't get it, don't get it. Lead on & move on.

There's a story behind each of these but hopefully you get the idea.

Isaiah 26:8

This morning I read Isaiah 26:8 and it totally woke me up. The verse says that "your Name and renown are the desire of our hearts."

How often my desire is simply for my own name and my own fame instead of God's. The lure of self and the danger of pride are constant obstacles in my path for intimacy with God.
Ironically, is the fact that when I pursue my own ends and my own agenda with my own strength I lose peace and gain anxiety, I forfeit God's unlimited strength for my limited strength.

Here's some insights into how this plays out for me:

a) The temptation of pride is HIGH for people who work in public (i.e. preach)

b) The need for humility is great because God can only fill & use a person empty of himself.

c) Pastors can be very competitive and comparative.

d) There are really two questions:
--Who really builds a church?
--Who is the church really built for?

e) How I am working to be humble, stay humble and get humble:
i) I pray John 3:30 a lot
ii) Pray more and "work" less = "stress" less and "me" less
iii) Celebrate the successes of other churches and pastors
iv) Pray for other pastors and churches
v) Thank God that He lets me do what I get to do.
vi) I don't have to 'do it' all. (There was a time when I did and thus there is a dangerous tendency to think: "If it is to be, it is up to me.")
vii) Laugh at myself...there is plenty of material!

How Far God Has Brought Us!

Today was another incredible day!! We had TONS of guests, TONS of people, and very FEW seats! It was a record crowd (except for Easter)!!

After church Beth & I were reflecting on how far our church has come since we launched. Here's where we came from:

--We had 1o-year old projector of 500 lumens (that's about like a night light) projecting onto a 6x8 screen. No one could see any of the words.
--We had drums and a keyboard and that was it. No true worship leader. No one with any real experience in a band.
--I had preached only like nine times and never twice in a row. I read through some of my old sermons and think, "What was I thinking?!?!"
--We used no graphics, no banners, no signs, no creative sets, and no drama.
--Our children met in cramped rooms in the back of the theatre with no central heat or air. We had no signs telling parents where to go.
--We had to use the theatre's sound guy who was not happy to be helping us out. Our sound was sorry. I preached a sermon without my mic on. Feedback was the norm.
--Our bulletin looked like it was made out of recycled cardboard. It was dull and boring.
--I knew NO ONE who was planting churches up this way in Northwest Georgia. Everything we did was from scratch and everything we learned was the hard way. We went through the mine field of church planting alone. So many of the church plants that are starting today are years ahead of where we were and that is a huge plus to kingdom growth.
--Our Youth group met in people's houses (until they got tired of us) and then we met in an old pharmacy with one toilet that barely flushed and clogged easily.
--I was the preacher, evangelist, janitor, and secretary. Beth did children, youth, and music. We were burning the candle at both ends.

BUT we had a few things:
--BIG VISION. The Wink Theatre (seats apprx. 1100) was 90% empty which according to experts is a HUGE mistake. But we had a dream to fill-up it with people seeking God and needing Christ.
--LOTS OF LOVE. From Day #1 our Core Group loved people ... whoever came through our doors on any given Sunday was welcomed, accepted, and valued. Love overcomes a ton of the previously mentioned shortcomings.
--A CALLING. On January 12, 2002 God called my wife and I to leave Virginia and return to Dalton to start Rock Bridge. No matter how tough it was or is or will be, I know that we are 100% obedient in following God's call to start RBCC.

A day like today reminds that the journey has BEEN WORTH IT!!

The Play-Action Pass

The play-action pass has got to be one of the greatest plays in football. It works only when a team is patient, disciplined, and understands timing.
(For those who may not know, the play-action pass in football is a pass play that looks like a run so it lures defenders up to play the run, when in reality a pass is coming. When it works the play makes big gains).

For those of us whose team (like UGA) runs the play-action, we understand how frustrating it can be. The Coach calls boring run play after boring run play. The Crowd gets frustrated and maybe even boos. They wonder what he is up to. But the Coach is patient and knows that boring run plays in the 1st quarter will set-up bigger plays (like the play action) in the 2nd and 3rd quarters. The Coach is seeing the big picture ... he understands that football is not just about one play ... but about an entire game.

In leadership, we have our own sort of play-action pass. We do things now that hopefully will pay off later. We are patient now doing things that some people may question, but later will pay off big. As a leader anytime we make decisions today with tomorrow in mind, it is similiar to the play-action pass.

For example, at RBCC we are changing some things today while our church is running 900-1000 to set us up for success when our church is running 1500+. It involves change, patience, and vision but it is worth it.
For example, we are changing our membership class (Inquirer's Lunch) to get people more involved faster. We are restructuring our Children's Check-in because what worked at 500+ is not working now and certainly won't work later. We are revamping all of our hospitality and usher/greeter processes to better greet, direct, seat, and treat the people coming to RBCC who need Jesus. We are retraining and rethinking our small groups to make them easier to get into, improve the overall group experience, and rapidily multiple new groups for new people.
Why?
Because we believe we are in the 1st quarter of an awesome, God-thing. We are thinking about the 2nd quarter and how to get better, how to score more points for the Kingdom of God, and how to be more effective in fulfilling our God-sized vision.

Get 'R Done

Great Elders meeting last night!!
I usually leave those meetings excited and thankful --
Excited about what God is doing and thankful for the collective wisdom those guys have. They have allowed our staff to focus on ministry efforts while they help RBCC navigate through our facility, financial, and other big issues.
We had a great discussion last night about long-range planning for our downtown campus/facilities. I'm pumped, and we all continue to sense God's hand at work @ Rock Bridge.

Two ministry areas we are working hard to put good systems in place are our small groups and our children's ministry. Our facilites create some unique challenges for our children's ministry that we are working to solve through our volunteers, better signs, and clear communications.
Aaron Gable, our Associate Pastor, is working hard and doing a great job getting our small group ministry to the next level and I can't wait to see all God will do once our groups reach flank speed!

I guess after last night's meeting and a great day of meetings with our staff, I felt like we got a lot accomplished. I like getting things done ... and especially for God's purposes!!

New Staff; Expectations

We just called our new Executive/Associate Pastor, Aaron Gable. We're pumped about having someone on staff to oversee small groups and help execute our church's vision! He starts next Tuesday (Oct. 10th)
Aaron blew us away in our discussions with his strategic vision and analytical thought process. I think this hire will help us take things to a new level across the board at RBCC.

I'm busy now thinking of the 10 million things I want to talk to him about. Nelson Searcy at the The Journey Church in New York has a great podcast out on how to bring in new staff. It talks about keeping them challenged, motivated, and busy in the first 90 days.

A couple of weeks ago I went over with our current team what I expect of a Rock Bridge staff member:
1) Lead a spiritually surrendered life.
2) Follow-through and follow-up.
3) Communicate! Communicate! Communicate!
4) Lead with enthusiasm
5) Value the team
6) Be ready for Staff Meetings
7) Build ministry teams ... multiple yourself.
8) Think ahead, plan ahead, & pray ahead.
9) MBWA: Management By Walking Around (get out and about: the church, with your ministry team, and in the community)
10) Remember the following: If you make a mistake, admit it quickly and move on! Don't let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do!

Matthew 18:15-17 (You better know it!!)

I am person who absolutely hates confrontation. It is one of my greatest weaknesses as a leader/pastor/planter. However, it is one of the most necessary things for a leader (especially in the local church) to practice. Thankfully, the Bible has something to say about how it should be done (see Matthew 18:15-17)
I would highly recommend all pastors, planters, leaders, staffs, etc. study this passage in Matthew 18 because without a doubt YOU WILL HAVE TO DO THIS! As planters we hate to confront because we are desperate for people and we don't want anyone to get upset.
However, it is inevitable. I've done things to upset people who have left our church while others have followed Matthew 18 to confront me ... I prefer the hard conversation & confrontation with someone rather than have someone leave who never speaks to me about it.
People have done things to hurt me or the church and sometimes I've done nothing hoping it will go away and the result is usually 2-fold: #1--I feel bitterness and anger grow in me (not good and they block the Spirit) and #2--The situation does not go away but grows (not good because it hurts the church).

So here's some practical commentary based on our experiences the past four years regarding Matthew 18:

1) People have to be taught and encouraged to do this. We aren't taught this. This isn't modeled. We're taught to get upset and leave or sweep it under the rug. If small groups and other teams don't practice this, they will eventually crumble do to lack of openness ... and you're not really open until you can openly discuss differences.

2) A lot of times people will want to tell the pastor/leader they have a problem with someone in the church or with a staff member. Encourage them to pray and speak directly to the person, rather than let you handle the 'dirty work'. Matthew 18:15 is pretty clear -- they go and discuss it in person individually first.

3) For pastors/planters: I don't think we are supposed to go around doing all the confronting. We've got to pick and choose our battles and not expend leadership capital on every little rumor, incident, issue, or situation that pops up. However, other leaders, staff, etc. need to be willing to not let 'bad stuff' hang around. Deal with it in love and deal with it quickly! (Trust me ... I've dealt with things in anger and dealt with things with delay and both are bad). This is a strong reason for pastors/planters to have some type of advisory board or Elders or leadership team (preferably lay people) -- people that have the vision, are loyal, and are willing to protect the church, the staff, and their integrity. This group will have the pastor's/planter's back and you can trust them to handle situations AND to confront you when needed (and let's face it we all need it every now and then).

4) For churches: what does taking an issue to the church look like for your church? Does that mean a called business meeting? Does that mean you as the Pastor deal with it? An advisory board? Elder Board? Deacons? A special team?
I don't think it matters so long as you have a plan, a process, and a commitment to follow Matthew 18:15-17.

What God Has Taught Me

Sometimes I struggle between differentiating who I am in Christ with who I am as a Pastor. For example, studying for a sermon and praying for my church DOES NOT COUNT as my personal Quiet Time. I will be a Christian long after I retire from being a Pastor.

However, I can say that God has taught me SO MUCH about Himself during the past 4 years that He has let me pastor Rock Bridge. Here's some of the things I have learned or am still learning (these are in no particular order):

1) The Bible is awesome! Don't underestimate or neglect it's power OR potential to bring life change in you and in others.
2) Pray first, last, and always. Pray about anything and everything.
3) God's grace really, really is AMAZING.
4) Never take your spouse or family for granted. They are one of the main ways God can speak to us, bless us, help us, shape us, etc. They are a gift from God.
5) God's presence is more important than human skill, creativity, eloquence, fancy facilities, cool graphics, awesome music, or anything else.
6) The devil can make a minority seem like a majority.
7) Get to know the 3rd Person of the Trinity ... there's a reason He's called the "Helper" and "Counselor"
8) God is in control ... always.
9) Satan can really use Christians to discourage Christians ... mainly through that organ called "The tongue"
10) God can really use Christians to encourage Christians ... mainly through that organ called "The tongue"
11) Only God can save someone.
12) God wants to bless the church.
13) People (including me) do stupid things ... love them anyway.
14) Knowing WHO you are and who you ARE NOT are two good things to know.
15) It's not about me.
16) Is it about church growth or kingdom growth??
17) God loves sinners (I know that's basic John 3:16 stuff but how quickly I forget!)
18) People are hungry for Jesus.
19) Many times the question is not, "What is God's will?" but "When is it God's will?" -- Wait on the Lord.
20) The enemy is not other churches.
21) It's still not about me.

Adding Staff

Recently the CEO of the largest floorcovering maker in the world (Shaw Industries) announced his retirement. He built a company from the ground up to make over $5 billion in profits annually. His influence in Dalton and big business is huge. The compliments and praises are being given to him and rightly so. However, I heard something about him that I'm taking to heart as we are in the middle of adding a new staff person. Someone said that Mr. Shaw may not have been the smartest person in the carpet industry, but he had that person working for him.

So as our church prayerfully seeks God's man to be our executive pastor/discipleship guru ... I am asking God to bring someone here that is strong in areas where I am weak, someone who is smart in areas that I am dumb, someone who can add a dynamic to our team and church that might be missing with our current staff and help us take things to the next level.

All this forces me to be brutally honest with myself and humble enough to acknowledge where I am weak (and the list seems to grow the more I think about it). It also forces me to look hard at where Rock Bridge is not measuring up and to ask God where we need to work harder and get better.

So it is not just as simple as finding someone who meshes with our team, buys into our vision, agrees with our philosophy/strategy ... it is also finding that someone who has gifts and a perspective that we don't have but need to continue reaching people and turning them into passionate Christ-followers. Needless to say, I am praying a lot these days!!

Lead through your Legitimizers

One of the intangible factors in the success of a church is leadership. We all spend countless hours planning creatively, preparing messages, working on worship sets, designing graphics, doing outreach, etc. However, the glue that holds it all together, focuses everything, and moves the troops together is leadership. It might even explain why two organizations who do basically the same things have different results.

As the planter, pastor, and chief communicator God expects us to lead and the church will naturally look to us to lead them forward. However, when leadership is absent a vacuum develops and someone(s) will eventually rush in to fill that vacuum ... often times in an ungodly, prideful, controlling kind of way.
The leadership baton is in our hands and it is up to us to use it for the glory of God. I tell our staff and ministry team leaders all the time, "Everything rises or falls on leadership."

Here's something about leadership that I have learned. As planters/pastors/leaders we want people to follow us and sometimes it is easy to take the "I'm the pastor and you're not so you better just get onboard" approach. We don't want to have to explain ourselves, do the work of casting vision with clarity and passion, or be questioned by the guy who seems born to play Devil's Advocate (and yes, you do need that guy on your team).
Now, I've played the "I'm the pastor and you're not." card a few times and you will have to do that sometimes to certain people. But I think there is a better way.

John Maxwell calls it "leading through your legitimizers." There will always be (or should always be) some folks in your church/organization that have your back, believe in you, practice loyalty, love you enough to tell you you are wrong, and will be right beside you as you lead the church to take the next hill.

When you sense the Lord leading you/your church to do something 'BIG' then get these folks together and share your heart. Get them onboard with you and then when you communicate the next 'BIG' thing to the whole church ... your legitimizers are in the crowd nodding, saying 'amen ... let's go with this'. They help answer questions when your folks get together for lunch after church, they explain things in small groups, they spread the 'vision' on a grass roots level.

Another reason why this is so important. There will come a time in your church when you won't know everybody but you need everybody to get onboard. Most likely, the vast majority of people in your church will know at least one of your legitimizers and can be brought onboard through them.

Last thought on this ... the more people who can articulate your church's vision with passion, clarity, and conviction ... the better your church will be. As your organization grows you won't be able to go to every meeting, lead every Bible study, handle all the financial stuff ... but you'll want people to do those things that know your heart and support the vision 110%.

I'd recommend that every planter/pastor spend some time each week with a leader or potential leader in your church who isn't on staff (and they don't necessarily have to do anything other than come to your church). Ask them questions and tell them what's going on. Tell them how they can support God's work.

We can't forget to run with the baton of leadership in the church ... it's just too important.

Recharged

The wife and I have just returned from several days of vacation down at Clark Hill Lake near Lincolnton, GA. Great time for some much needed rest. After conducting 2 funerals for 2 friends in their early 30s I was emotionally and mentally drained.

One of the mistakes I think I made in the first 2 years was not taking enough time off. Jim Akins of West Ridge told me that planters should preach the first 6 months after launch and then take at least one Sunday off per quarter ... I should have listened.
Sometimes we think things won't get done or done right without us there. However, our folks always step up, people get saved, and make spiritual decisions without me there!! Plus, when I do return I am better able to serve and lead the church than before.

So now that we're back in the saddle, we're getting excited about the Fall. We're planning on launching a 2nd Sunday am service after Labor Day, we've got some potential facility improvements to seize, and we're praying about adding a staff member to be sort of an Executive Pastor with a focus on overseeing our small groups/assimilation/connection processes -- similiar to Kerrick Thomas' role at The Journey in NYC.
For more info. on the Executive Pastor role, check out this site.

Structure: Yea or Nay

I just want to comment on my friend Gary Lamb's latest blog entry about how and when to structure a new church plant. Gary's got a great point and I agree with his insight into the need for a new plant to be able to act, react, and move quickly.

Because of my military background I thought/assumed that we needed to be structured from Day One. So we put a lot of time into Bylaws, Elders, our Finance Team, and getting a couple of small groups going. I will say for us it worked not because of the structure but because of the people we placed inside of the structure. Being from my hometown I personally knew ALL of the people I was asking to serve in these areas and I had known some of them for years -- I knew they were loyal, and I knew they bought into our vision 100%. So I don't think our structure slowed us down BUT it had the potential to do so.
Having that structure in place did free me up to work ON the church vice work IN the church.

So I would agree with Gary NOT to structure unless you are 100% sure of the people that will work your structure. That advice holds true whether you structure at Day One or Year Three ... know and trust the people inside whatever structure the Lord leads you to establish and they must be as committed to the vision as you are!!

The one area I do wish we had spent more time training, vision casting, and leading was in our small groups. I think small groups need structure from Day One but probally more than structure they need support from the Planter in the pulpit. There is not a better way to build vision into your people and encourage your people to develop godly habits/disciplines than talking about those things in the message. Two areas I did not/do not talk about enough are finances and small groups ... we struggle there a lot. I do talk a ton about baptism/membership and we've got a lot of members and have baptized a lot of folks in 3 1/2 years...go figure.

Sunday Morning Insight

Sunday I did something a little different. Instead of staying down front (at the 'altar' area) after worship, I went out to the main entrance/exit to shake hands and greet people that I usually don't get to see.

The scary and awesome thing was I only knew about 1 out of 7 people leaving our church!!
That's scary because:
--we have a lot of people I don't 'know' about coming to our church ... are they getting connected? have we followed up with them? what next step do they need to take spiritually?

That's awesome because:
--we are having a lot of non-members coming to our church during the summer when a lot of our members take off on vacation, the lake, camps, etc.

I think church has to be the coolest thing in the world!!

Tunnel of Chaos

Again, I'm excited to be blogging ... great staff meeting today as we began to make some plans for the Fall. Summer in Dalton, Georgia has typically slown down numerical growth in attendance but not necessarily the number of visitors ... so it does give us a window of opportunity to plan ahead.

We turn four after Labor Day and we're thinking about creating some strategic chaos around here with a campaign called "Re-Launch" ... the basic idea would be to re-launch Rock Bridge just like we did 4 years ago ... complete blitz package in the community. And we'd use this to start our second service, maybe with a different worship style?!? This would really challenge our members to invite, pray, serve, and give to what God is doing AND wants to do. I think just going through this excitingly chaotic time would benefit our church and at least raise the "evangelism" temperature in our folks. I agree with Mark Driscoll that "chaos and crisis can be leveraged for a church's benefit." (See Confessions of a Reformission Rev.)

We're still working on the details ... but God is revealing some God-sized goals and vision!!

Ya'll have a great one!