Your Journey Blog

Eleven Keys to Have An Explosive Easter - Part 1

"Overall, 31% of active churchgoers said they would definitely invite someone they know who does not usually attend a church to accompany them to a church service on Easter weekend this year."  Barna Group

In light of this research, if you have an average church attendance of 300, I believe that you could easily see 30-50% (100-150) increase at your Easter Service.  But what if you put some effort into it?  What if you spent 3 months planning and preparing your congregation for an explosive and transformational Easter this year?  I really believe that healthy churches can double their average attendance on Easter which will have a residual impact for the rest of the year.

With Easter falling later on the calendar this year, April 24, you have an opportunity to have one of your largest Easter attendances in the history of your church. Here are a few principles that you can apply in planning to have an Explosive Easter this year.

1.  Believe it can happen.

Leading a congregation can be a lonely and discouraging assignment. Helping pastors keep their heads in the game is one of the things I do all the time. It is so easy to get caught up with the negative distractions that ministry brings that we can get our eyes off the thousands of people who are so far from God but really close to us. Jesus said to his distracted disciples, "Don't you have a saying, 'It's still four months until harvest'? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest." (John 4:35)  What do you do as a leader to keep your eyes on the harvest? What do you need to do to keep your staff, leaders' and church's eyes on the harvest? God is at work in your community! Do you believe it? Can you see through the eyes of faith the lives of families and neighbors who can be changed by the power of the gospel?

2. Have a record setting mentality.

What has been the largest Easter Service in the history of your church? What is holding you back to see it happen this year? The previous point deals with your belief in God and His redemptive work in the world. This point deals with your belief in your church, your team and God's work within and through your church. If you don't think it can happen as a leader then you and the church are in trouble. If you don't believe it then no one else will. What is keeping you for setting new Easter attendance record in the life of your church? 

3. Get your key influencers involved.

Getting key influencers involved in the process is vital to building positive momentum. Getting these individuals involved in planning and promoting your service is critical. Filling these individuals excitement about setting a new record and touching lives with the gospel is key, because it will spread infectiously throughout the congregation.

Too many pastors try to carry the load all by themselves, which is an unbiblical notion. Christianity is a team sport. Team building is one of the skills successful pastors need in their tool belts. Learning to pick the right players on your team is crucial. Guiding and leading the team is imperative. I encourage pastors to use short-term task forces with a specific task along with a starting and ending point.  If you build a task force for each of your major outreach initiatives for the Fall, Winter and Spring, your team building skills will improve each time and the impact on your congregation will dramatically improve. HT

4.  Put some effort into planning for before, during and after your Easter service
I call this the "three month rule" which is to begin the detailed planning process at least three months before launch of the outreach campaign.  Here is an overview of what would happen in those three months:

Three D's of Event Planning

• Develop a punch list - generating a complete list of 'to do's' with due dates that that need to be completely to insure a successful event.
• Determine a time line - listing major objectives 3 months before the event and 1 month after the event.
• Delegate assignments to your team - empower your team to own the tasks that need to be completed.
  • Here are the major areas that need to be covered
    • Intercession
    • Communication - Membership Awareness
    • Marketing & Promotion to Community
    • Worship Service Planning & Preparation
    • Follow up & Come back events

  5.  Promote prayer & fasting for friends, neighbors and family.

It is a must to incorporate a church wide prayer project for before and during the campaign. One example: Call the church to "pray for five neighbors, for five minutes a day, for five weeks" before the outreach campaign. Tim Beavis of The Orchard Church in McHenry developed a "Who is my neighbor?" campaign with this concept. Check out the card he used to encourage his church to pray for their neighbors.  You might consider using 2 identical cards in your church, one for the individual to hand in to the church for the prayer team to pray over and the other of the individual to take home with them.  In addition to this you could also call the church to a season of prayer and fasting.

See Part 2

Ignite 2011 - A Converge National Church Planting Conference

IGNITE - Promo from Cornerstone Chandler on Vimeo.

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Foundational Characteristics of Missional Leaders-Part 1

One of my favorite leadership books is "Be, Know, Do: Leadership the Army Way" by Frances Hesselbein and General Eric K. Shinski (USA Ret.) This book takes a close look at the official Army Leadership Manual and applies its principles to the corporate and civic leadership realms. Here is the Army's definition of leadership, "Leadership is influencing people, by providing purpose, direction, and motivation while operating to accomplish the mission and improving the organization". (pg 5) This definition has three words that stand out to me: influencing, operating and improving. Influencing: motivating and loving others in the mission for the mission. Operating: creating plans, developing systems and managing their execution so that the mission is achieved. Improving: adding value to those around you and to the organization for the betterment of the mission.

So what does a missional leader look like in a local church? Here are the first two of four qualities of those leaders who are seeking to align themselves and their churches with God's mission.

1. They are passionate followers of Christ.

Their leadership flows out of their relationship with Jesus and his missional call on their lives. Jesus said, "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing". (John 15:5 NIV) Cultivating spiritual intimacy is essential for leaders to live a vibrant missional lifestyle. For the leader to hear and obey God they must first love God.

As a new believer I read a lengthy biography of George Mueller written by A.T. Peirson. George Mueller lived during the 19th century. He was a rebellious young man who came to faith in Christ at the age of 20 and shook up the world with his humble faith and his passionate devotion for God. Four things that motivated me out of that biography were:

1. God uses broken vessels. George Mueller wasted the first twenty years of his life in hellish activity and God redeemed his life for his great cause.
2. God's plans are different than ours. He wanted to be an overseas missionary but God kept him at home to be a missionary to orphans. I found it quite interesting that he was a great supporter and friend of J. Hudson Taylor.
3. His persistent and argumentative prayer life: A.T. Peirson writes: "This method of holy argument-- ordering our cause before God, as an advocate would plead before a judge". George Muller was such a passionate follower that he wrestled with God on the behalf of those he was trying to reach and serve. This lesson brought such freedom to my prayer life.
4. His spiritual habits inspired and still inspire me. His primary spiritual habit was to read his Bible on his knees and pray his way through every word. A.T. Peirson writes,"The passion of George Mueller's soul was to know fully the secrets of prevailing with God and with man. George Whitefield's life drove home the truth that God alone could create in him a holy earnestness to win souls and qualify him for such divine work by imparting a compassion for the lost that should become an absorbing passion for their salvation. And let this be carefully marked as another secret of this life of service-- he now began himself to read the word of God upon his knees, and often found for hours great blessing in such meditation and prayer over a single psalm or chapter."

Missional leaders are passionate followers of Christ. They embrace their brokenness. They are wholly dependent on God to work through them. Their intimacy with God is unfettered and their spiritual habits are a lifeline that keeps them connected to the Lord of the Harvest.

2. They inspire others to worship God.

Missional leaders understand that the goal of their lives is to glorify God, to spread his fame and to lead others to worship God personally and corporately. Worship in its base form is simply putting God first in your life. The Apostle Paul appealed to the Christians living in Rome, "Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, this is your spiritual act of worship". (Romans 12:1 NIV) Missional leaders understand that worship is primarily a lifestyle, a series of intentional decisions one makes to allow God to have first priority in their lives.

They inspire others by pointing to Jesus and unashamedly calling other to acknowledge that Jesus Christ in the only Savior and risen Lord. In their own worshipping lifestyle they model what it means to put Jesus first in their day, their decisions, in their finances and their relationships. In their leadership they guide the church corporately to become a worshipping community by designing and executing a well thought out spiritual formation process and by creating culturally relevant worship services that touch the human heart, lift them into the presence of God, thus bringing God honor and glory. In their preaching they help people transcend their ordinary routines and transform their minds as they seek to live a worshipping lifestyle.

Join me next time as I finish up with the final two Foundational Characteristics of Missional Leaders.

Excerpt from NextSteps for Leading a Missional Church

Five Essentials for an Annual Spiritual Growth Plan

Woody Allen once said, “If you want to make God laugh, tell him about your plans.”  I find this both humorous and sad. Humorous in a pessimistic way but sad in a spiritually shallow way.  What would God's reaction be towards the goals and plans we have set out for our lives?

In order to develop a solid spiritual growth plan we must recognize the essential ingredients for such a plan. As I toured the wisdom literature of scripture I discovered some great truths for developing a solid biblical plan for spiritual growth.

1. Our plans must be God centered.

"Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and he will establish your plans." Proverbs 16:3

Our plans come out of our relationship with God.  When God redeemed us it meant he bought us back at a great price - the death of His own Son, Jesus.  So our lives are not our own.  Doing our own thing leads to estrangement from God, but seeking God's ways leads to great intimacy and awareness of God in all we do. Solomon wrote, "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding." (Proverbs 9:10)  The key to living life skillfully and with perspective comes out of our relationship with God.

2. Our plans must be aligned with God's purposes.

"Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails." Proverbs 19:21

What is God's purpose?  Where do we find His marching orders for our lives? 

Solomon concluded it this way, "Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind." Ecclesiastes 12:13

“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.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: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:29-31

When we think of purpose we must take a close look at the Great Commission passages, Matthew 28:16-20; Mark 16:15 ; Luke 24:46-49; John 20:21 and Acts 1:8.  It is here we discover the marching orders of Jesus.  He calls us to be a part of his great redemptive purpose. Recent surveys have revealed that 60-70% of those who call themselves followers of Jesus don't think they need to be engaged in evangelistic activities.

We are called to love God and others within His mission.  This is why I love the missional language and why I have infused the concept of Living Missionally into my writings.

3.  An honest assessment must take place.

"For your ways are in full view of the LORD, and he examines all your paths." Proverbs 5:21

"Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways." Proverbs 4:26

"Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the LORD."  Lamentations 3:40

When I developed the Spiritual Journey Guide I wanted to provide a picture of what it meant to be a  spiritually mature follower of Jesus. If leaders don't define spiritual maturity in their churches the definition will always drift to "Who has the most bible knowledge?"  Now bible knowledge is important, we need to know the commands of Jesus in order to obey them, but bible knowledge without transformation will always lead to Pharisaical Christianity.

This is where the concept of living missionally was developed for me. I believe the goal of every follower of Jesus is to love God and to love others, all within the context of God's redemptive mission.  I've narrowed down six areas of life that help us evaluate how well we are living within God's mission.

• Craves intimacy with God through spiritual disciplines - Devotional Life (Mark 12:29-31)
• Shares their faith effectively with others - Evangelism (Philemon 6)
• Mentoring others spiritually - Discipleship  (Matthew 28:19-20)
• Gives generously - Stewardship (II Corinthians 8:7)
• Serves in their community - Servanthood & Compassion (Mark 10:45)
• Understands the centrality of the gospel - Character Transformation  (Titus 2:11-14)

By assessing your spiritual life around these six areas you can easily develop a focused spiritual growth plan that seeks to fully or more fully work out these areas in your life and relationships.

4.  Wise mentors need to be secured.

"Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed." Proverbs 15:22

"Plans are established by seeking advice..." Proverbs 20:18

The craze for personal coaching and mentoring really stems from the fact that we have moved from the Information Age to an Age of Implementation. We are so overwhelmed every day with the barrage of information that we struggle with applying it into our lives. This is where a mature wise mentor or experienced coach comes into play to provide accountability, encouragement, and insight while helping you grow in your spiritual your life.

5.  Work out your plan diligently but not hastily.

"The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty." Proverbs 21:5

Have you ever responded emotionally to a situation and made a reckless commitment?  Solomon's advice is that we don't want to just jump into something but we want to thoughtfully develop a spiritual plan by seriously considering and reflecting on points 1-4.  I strongly encourage people to put their plan in writing because you need to think it, then ink it, if you are going to achieve it. 

For instance, my January goals all have to do with recharging and expanding my devotional habits.  Last year I focused my goals around the discipline of fasting. I read two books on fasting which took my practice of fasting to a whole new level. I practiced several types of fasts throughout the year. I wrote a devotional guide on fasting and recruited over 100 people to join me for a 31-Day Daniel Fast.

This year my focus for January is on my prayer life.  Focusing on upgrading my daily prayer rhythms, expanding intercessory practices, reinstalling my monthly prayer retreats, finding a prayer partner for accountability and reading a devotional on prayer that will expand, inspire and challenge my prayer life. This month I am reading Prayer A Holy Occupation by Oswald Chambers.

You can use this monthly goal setting process to work through each of the six areas that will move you toward a more effective and fulfilling missional lifestyle.

• Craves Intimacy with God through spiritual disciplines - Devotional Life (Mark 12:29-31)
• Shares their faith effectively with others - Evangelism (Philemon 6)
• Mentoring others spiritually - Discipleship  (Matthew 28:19-20)
• Gives generously - Stewardship (II Corinthians 8:7)
• Serves in their community - Servanthood (Mark 10:45)
• Understands the centrality of the gospel - Character Transformation  (Titus 2:11-14)

All of us need a plan because there is no arrival point as long as we are traveling in this world, there will always be areas of growth needed. The Apostle Peter wrote,  "Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen."  II Peter 3:17-18