Your Journey Blog

Chuck Colson's Memorial Day Thoughts

Church Colson offers a excellent thought for everyone as we enter this Memorial Day Weekend.

Memorial Day is when we honor the men and women of our Armed Services who have made "the supreme sacrifice;" who gave their lives for their country.

Especially these days, when Memorial Day seems nothing more than a time for cookouts and swim parties, we cannot be reminded often enough about how great a debt we owe our war dead.

They gave up their hopes and dreams, families and friends. They submitted themselves to rigorous discipline—something I understand as a former Marine—24-hour a day duty, and placed their lives in great peril. "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends."

Their sacrifice should inspire in us a profound sense of gratitude. Gratitude for the freedoms we enjoy, bought with a price. And that gratitude should compel us to lives of service as well. Serving Christ, our neighbor, and yes, our nation.

I can't help but recall the brilliant film Saving Private Ryan. James Ryan, now in his seventies, has returned with his family to the military cemetery in Normandy. He visits the grave of Captain John Miller, the man who, a half a century before, led the mission to retrieve—to save—Private Ryan. At the end of the mission, Miller was fatally wounded. As he lay dying, his final words to Private Ryan were, "James. Earn this...earn it."

We then see Ryan kneeling at Captain Miller's grave, marked by a cross. Ryan, his voice trembling with emotion, says, "Every day I think about what you said to me that day on the bridge. I tried to live my life the best that I could. I hope that was enough. I hope that, at least in your eyes, I've earned what all of you have done for me."

Red-eyed, Ryan turns to his wife and says, "Tell me I've led a good life...tell me I am a good man."

With great dignity, she says, "You are."

With that, James Ryan salutes the grave of Captain Miller.

I tell this story in greater detail in my book The Good Life, which you can purchase at www.ColsonCenter.org.

You see, Private Ryan, out of gratitude for Captain Miller's sacrifice, did all in his power to live a good life.

And Memorial Day is a great time for each of us to look into the mirror...to examine our own lives. Are we living good lives in gratitude for all those who have sacrificed for us—including our men and women in the military, our families, our friends, and most of all Christ?

Are we, like Ryan, kneeling before the cross—Spielberg, a master cinematographer had to realize the power of this imagery. Are we, out of gratitude, doing our duty for Christ, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, ministering to those in prison, in whatever harvest field to which the Lord has called us?

Examine your life.

And this Memorial Day, at the very least, thank those who have sacrificed for you and those you know who have served in our nation's armed forces. Maybe you'll do what I do when you see a guy or gal in uniform...at the airport, at the store, wherever...walk up to them and thank them for their service.

And then go and remember Whom it is you serve.

Source: www.breakpoint.org

What Can We Learn from Kitchen Nightmares?

My son Dan has introduced me to a very interesting television show called Kitchen Nightmares starring Chef Gordon Ramsey.

Here is the basic premise: Chef Ramsey is invited by a struggling restaurateur to help the turnaround their struggling restaurant. Most of these restaurants are on the brink of bankruptcy...hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt and months from closing.

After watching several episodes I have learned his basic strategy:

1. Address the Leadership Problem.  I am amazed at the defensiveness of these owners. Their uncoachable attitudes. Their unwillingness to change or receive advice from an expert that they brought in to help them.

2. Attack the Quality of Service.  Chef Ramsey inspects the cleanliness of the kitchen, the quality of the food and service.  On every show he gets the owner to personally clean the kitchen.  He addresses attitudes of the service staff. He brings in all fresh food.

3. Fix the Atmosphere.  On every show they completely overhaul the restaurant decor and the first impressions from the community.

4. Make Everything Simpler.  Complexity is the curse of many restaurants.  Too many items on the menu affects the quality of the food. Chief Ramsey brings in a simple menu based around fresh, colorful, easy to make food.

5. Find a Marketable Idea for the Restaurant.  Ramsey goes out in the community to find a marketable idea to create buzz in the community.

6. Create Buzz in the Community.  He gets all of the restaurant staff to go out in the community to serve food at a locally sponsored event. They hand out old fashion fliers. Improve their signage.  They even wear corny tee-shirts.  He invites local celebrities to come to the relaunch; anything that creates a stir in the community and says something new is happening.

7. Relaunch.  All the buzz that is generated is purposefully pointed to a relaunch of the restaurant.  New attitudes, new decor, new menu, new improved service...and that means new customers.

8. Provide Ongoing Coaching.  Sometimes Chef Ramsey will provide a coach/consultant to work with the owner and staff to keep up the quality of service.

The overwhelming majority of churches around the world are like these struggling restaurants. 

Here are a few reflective questions as we continue our focus on Church Health this month.

• What attitudes are keeping you, as the spiritual leader, from moving your church forward?
• Do you really know the quality of service you are bringing to your people?
• What does the physical atmosphere of your location say to members, new visitors and your community?
• What could you do to simplify the focus of your church?
• When is the last time you asked your community what it needs and how could your church help in meeting that need?
• What type of buzz is being generated by your church?
• Do you have the strength to pull off a relaunch of the church's mission and vision?
• Are you open to having a consultant or coach work with you?

Do you want help in seeing your church nightmare become a sweet dream? We would love to help you. Contact Converge MidAmerica

It is Good to Laugh at Ourselves!

"Sunday's Coming" Movie Trailer from North Point Media on Vimeo.

Measuring the Quality of a Church's Health

Pastor do you really know the quality of your church's health?

Here are a few questions to ponder as we seek to create an awareness of Church Health during the month of May.

• How do you measure the attitudes, feelings and perceptions of the key influencers in your church?
• How do you discover the elephant in the room in a healthy and meaningful way?
• How do you discover little issues before they become huge problems?

Peoples real attitudes, feelings and perspectives are hard to determine at times especially in a church. So how do you get below the surface of what people are thinking and expecting in your community of faith?

In my 23 years of ministry the best tool out there for doing this is Natural Church Development Survey.  In 1995 our six year old church plant participated in a global research project conducted by Christian Schwarz.

The study examined 1,000 churches in 32 countries from 5 continents. A total of 4.2 million pieces of data were collected and thoroughly analyzed using approved methods from social science. The research followed stringent scientific procedures assuring the accuracy of the results (The best book to read to get an overview of the process is The ABC's of Natural Church Development).

The research results confirm what many leaders have known intuitively -- healthy churches are growing churches, making more and better disciples in loving obedience to Christ. Eight essential qualities were identified, which can be measured quantitatively:

• Empowering leadership
• Gift-oriented ministry
• Passionate spirituality
• Functional structures
• Inspiring worship
• Holistic small groups
• Need-oriented evangelism
• Loving relationship

In my coaching of pastors and churches I encourage them to look at these qualities as systems or processes in the life of the church. At anytime in the life of a church it will have a weak system that needs to be addressed, fixed or developed further.  NCD helps the church pin point that system which needs to be developed. In reality it is a self-diagnosis conducted by the 30 key influencers in the church.  The results reflect want the church is really thinking about the health of its systems.  This is invaluable information for a pastor.

This is why I encourage churches to embrace the concept of the church health rhythm where you are addressing underlining attitudes, feelings and expectations on an annual basis by working the Natural Church Development process in your church.

We at Converge MidAmerica would love to assist your church on this journey to health and missional fruitfulness. 

May is Church Health Month!

One question I hear a lot from pastors and church planters is, “How can we get our church growing again?” And yet, theologically, this is not the right question, because Jesus said, “I will build my church.” (Matthew 16: 18) Jesus says that he has come to seek and to save the lost. He says the Father is drawing people to himself. (John 6:44) He says the Holy Spirit is convicting mankind. (John 16: 8-11) God is at work all around us and because of this the best question to be asking is, “How are we hindering God’s redemptive power throughout our church?” or “How do we get into the flow of God’s redemptive work?” or “Why would God trust our church with 500 new converts?”

I believe that in taking a close look at your churches health and growth systems is key for it to be missionally engaged in God's redemptive work in the world. I am convinced that if every church big or small would once a year take survey of the 30 key players and influencers in it is church it would help them make the necessary adjustments, tweeks and changes to be missionally engaged. 

Inlight of this conviction I am declaring May for our 180 churches in Converge MidAmerica along with our other strategic partners and friends Church Health Month.

One of the eight systems for leading a missional church is a church health system. This system measures not only the quantiative growth of a church but also the qualitative health of a local church.  The quantiative growth is build around key numbers and there percentages.

• New visitor ratio: How many new visitors do you need in an average month to grow your church?
• Baptism Ratio:  What is the a healthy percentage between average worship attendance and number of baptisms annually?
• Giving Ratio:  What is the healthy dollar amount given per person on a average Sunday?
• Serving Ratio:  What is a healthy percentage of average attenders and those engage in a ministry
• Small Group Ratio: What is a healthy percentage of those attending on an average weekend and those engaged in a small group?
• Membership Ratio:  What is a health percentage of those attending on an average weekend and those who are committed members
• Leadership Ratio:  How many new leaders are added to your leadership community annually?

In future posts we will be providing answers for these questions.

The qualitative health of a local church is measured through the attitudes, feelings and perspectives towards people, programs and the progress of the church.  The Natural Church Development Survey is one of the best ways to get to bottom of these issues in a productive manner.

• Empowering Leadership
• Gift-based Ministry
• Passionate Spirituality
• Effective Structures
• Holistic Small Groups
• Need-oriented Evangelism
• Loving Relationships
• Inspiring Worship

We are encouraging all of our churches to establish an annual church health rhythm.  The more churches we can get involved in looking at qualitative and quantitative growth issues that more focus we can be in providing resources, coaching groups, seminars and workshops.

What does a church health rhythm cycle look like?

Phase 1- Prepare & Take Surveys (Sometime during the months of May-June).

Phase 2 – Analyze Results (During the months of June-July)

Phase 3 – Develop Ministry Plan (During the months of July-August)

Phase 4 – Kick off, implement and monitor (Kick off in September and push hard to April)

Phase 5 – Evaluate with through surveys and repeat process (During May – June)

All the research has reveal that establishing a church health rhythm is critical for both the qualitative and quantitative growth of a local church.  Christian Schwarz researched over 50,000 churches and has discovered that churches who repeated this cycle for three years experience these four realities.

1. Each quality characteristic averaged a 6% increase.
2. They have increased their worship attendance by 51%.
3. Transfer growth decreased and conversion growth increased.
4. The work-load of the pastor decreased because they learn how to delegate and empower others.

What do you want your church to look like in the next three years?  Join us on the journey towards health and missional impact by contact the Converge MidAmerica Ministry Center

Improve Your Preaching a 100% - Must See!

Gospel-Driven Church Vlog 3 - A New Product to Revolutionize Your Preaching from Jared Wilson on Vimeo.

Spiritual Warfare: Lies, Half Truths & Unreliable Perspectives

This week we continue to answer the following question: How does God’s enemy come after His people and His leaders for the sole purpose of distracting, disrupting and derailing them from being involved in God's great mission?

As we survey Pauline literature we will discover fourteen tactical strategies that the enemy will use to come after God's people along with specific antidotes in addressing that problem.  See the introduction to this series to receive an overview of this subject.

8. Lies, Half Truths & Unreliable Perspectives

Text: Ephesians 6:10-20 - Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.

 

Problem: "Satan uses lies or half-truths to trick believers and give unreliable perspectives on their lives and situations."  (J. Robert Clinton)

• Satan uses lack of righteousness (on-going unrighteous things in a believer’s life) as an inroad into their life.
• Satan uses lack of presentation of testimony in a believer’s life to weaken that believer’s stand.
• Satan causes a believer to doubt God (character, dealings, truth, etc).
• Satan robs believers from the impact of salvation in their lives.
• Satan keeps believers from using the Word of God in their lives and in combating his tactics.
• Satan keeps believers from praying in the Spirit as they confront him in his tactics.
• Satan keeps people from being alert to his tactics and from discerning his involvement.

Antidotes: See the imperatives in Ephesians 6:10-20. (J. Robert Clinton)

• Be strong in the Lord - vs 10
• Put on the full armor of God - vs 11, 13
• Stand firm - vs 14
• Take up the shield of faith - vs 17
• Be alert - vs 18
• Keep on praying - vs 18

Reflective Questions:

• If Satan were to attack your life what area would he go after?
• If Satan were to attack your church what segment of the church would try to penetrate?
• What half-truths has Satan used to attack your church?
• What lies has Satan uses to attack your church?
• What false or unreliable perspectives has Satan used to attack your church? 
• What unconfessed sin exists both individually and corporately in your church?
• How are you educating your church and church leadership on the tactics of our enemy?
• How is the gospel playing a transformative affect on the lives of new and old believers? (Titus 2:11-14)

Prayer: Father in heaven, help us to be lovers of the truth, to live in the strength of the Lord and to actively put on the armour of God.  Father, teach us how to stand firm by daily applying the truth of God into our lives, by embracing the righteousness of God in our hearts and by being ready to engage in spiritual conversations at a moments notice. Righteous Father, teach us how to take up the shield of faith so that we can be ready defend the attacks of the enemy. Holy Father, teach how to use Your Word as a sword to defeat personal assaults of the devil. Loving Father, just as you have stood with the saints of the past, we know that you are standing with us and for that we give thanks, in the Name of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Next Week: Closed Doors

To view the entire series of posts on Spiritual Warfare