Monthly Archives: June 2008

Encouragement for us

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I love these words from St. Paul to the church in Rome, “I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong – that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith” (Romans 1:11-12)

This should be normal in the church. The pastor invests his life into people and encourages them as they develop and grow. As they grow they reciprocate and pass on this encouragement.

Quite frankly, I believe the church should be the most encouraging place in the whole world!

We are a group of people who openly acknowledge our brokenness but embrace hope and love as we develop spiritual, emotional, relational, financial, etc. health! We acknowledge our various, unhealthy life patterns, but we are not disheartened by them! We are encouraged to press on as we see our friends and family developing into men and women who act more and more like our Leader (Jesus). We keep leaning into this new way of life, encouraged by each other and enabled by the power we receive from God.

An exciting part of ministry for me is seeing people’s lives change as they commit to following the teachings of Christ, and embrace the life of faith. But perhaps even more exciting than that is watching them reach a point where they are no longer an “encouragement sponge” but begin evolving into an “encouragement bucket” pouring out encouragement into other people’s lives!

So in the spirit of encouragement I pray for you today that you will:

  • Experience laughter that takes your breath away
  • Receive a hug from a friend or a family member
  • Tangibly know the deep love of God for you
  • Encourage someone today with a word or an action

Listen to 7 Practices of Effective Ministry

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One of the best books I’ve read on strategic ministry in the local church is 7 Practices of Effective Ministry by Andy Stanley, Reggie Joiner, and Lane Jones. These guys, from Northpoint Church, outline seven best practices for ministry:

  1. Clarify the win
  2. Think steps, not programs
  3. Narrow the focus
  4. Think less for more
  5. Listen to outsiders
  6. Replace yourself
  7. Work on it

Now you can listen to Andy and the guys discuss these best practices on a series of podcasts right here!

Helping people get connected in your church

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Nelson Searcy has some of the best info regarding how to assimilate people into the church. He presents his entire system in his book Fusion.

For the last week he has been answering some “how-to” questions regarding the process they use at Journey Church.

This is must read stuff for any pastor/staff interested in turning visitors into participators…

The Q and a link to the A

  1. “What do you say to get people to fill out their Connection Cards?” Click here for the answer.
  2. Do You Do A Newcomer’s Reception? Click here for the answer.
  3. Do guests have to hand their Connection Cards in to someone in exchange for the free gift? Click here for the answer.
  4. How do you measure your Connection Card completion rate? Click here for the answer.
  5. How do you get both a husband and wife to fill out a Connection Card? Click here for the answer.

Wrapping up our coaching network

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Today is the last time our coaching network will meet.

Over the last six months a group of 10-12 church planters have sat around a table once per month and talked about “The Best Practices”:

  • Being mean about the vision
  • Financing the mission
  • Thinking team
  • Rethinking discipleship
  • Nurturing vitality

These coaching sessions have been insightful and provided a great opportunity to network with other leaders in the field. If you are in ministry and have not been through a coaching network, you need to reconsider that decision! Let me encourage you to check out what churchplanters.com is offering! You can check out their coaching network here.

Here’s to a great group of guys who are in the trenches of ministry!

House hunting – day seven

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It’s official! We now have an address and a bank account in Ohio!

Our final day of a seven day house hunting venture went like this:

  • Lunch with some friends @ drumroll please… Skyline Chili! People tell me I’ll soon grow weary of this delightful fare… I think not.
  • We looked one more time at the house we’ve been leaning towards for the last few days and then we made the call… “We want to rent this house.” We signed the papers, wrote the check, and sighed a BIG breath of relief! We now have a place to hang the proverbial hat!
  • We opened a bank account complete with our new mailing address!

At this point we’re planning on moving on the first week of July to this our new home…

As we drove around town today and interacted with so many different people I kept thinking… I can’t wait to get on the ground! I can’t wait to start meeting people and building the church! I can’t wait to begin making a new life here in the land where we will live until we die! I can’t wait to begin building relationships with people that we will love and grow with! I can’t wait to begin serving God and sharing His love with the good people… my people… the people of Warren County and beyond… those people who have yet to discover the wonderful life that Christ has promised to give! I can’t wait…

House hunting – day six

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Today we worshiped together as a family at Center Pointe church pastored by Ray Brock. It was great to sing worship songs with “The Ladies.” These guys literally have “Walls Down Church” “Paul and Sherri Peterson and their girls” and “Rindy Walton and her sons” written on the wall of their church to remind them to pray for us! This moves me deeply!

It was great to take a break from the rush of things and refocus on why we’re doing what we’re doing. Ray and the team from Center Pointe are doing a good job of connecting with people who are unchurched and often far from God.

After church we went and looked at two more houses. I think we know what we’re going to do. More to come in the next two days.

We watched as Rindy made her decision about where to live. What a great moment! By the way, you really need to read Rindy’s post about her church planting journey – read it here.

I was able sit in on Center Pointe’s small group training tonight. It’s always great to see how different churches approach small groups.

We have decided to stay one more day to make the decision on our housing arrangements, sign the necessary papers, open a bank account, and have lunch with some friends.

House hunting – day five

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Today (Saturday) we started our day off @ Chick-Fil-A with our friends Ben & Amy.

We went on a house-viewing rampage and looked at seven more places. Quite frankly we’re tired of looking at “places” and ready to find a home!

We broke the day up with some ice cream from United Dairy Farmers! This was a HUGE hit with “The Ladies”.

We had supper at Gold Star Chili and wrapped up the evening with our friends and hosts for these last few days… Ray Brock and family.

House hunting – day four

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Today we didn’t look at any houses… any human houses that is.

Some friends of ours from New York were in the area and we spent the day with them… at the zoo.

Quite frankly this day off served several purposes:

  1. We needed to focus on “The Ladies” for a while. These last few days have been crazy for them. They’ve been stuck in a van for hours on end with very little positive attention paid to them. In other words, they’ve heard a disproportionate number of “No’s”, “Not nows”, and “Be quiets”. They’ve slept in strange quarters, met and left friends, and seen very little of mom and dad. It was time to invest time and love into their little lives. It was a day well spent.
  2. We needed to get away from the pressure of “having to nail this thing down by this weekend.” This day away allowed us to refresh and rethink some options. It was a day well spent.
  3. We needed to spend time with our friends. Ten years from now we won’t remember the houses we looked at but we will remember the day we spent at the zoo with our friends, their kids and our kids. It was a day well spent.

Yesterday Rindy and one of her guys rolled into town to start doing the same thing… looking for a house.

A word about faith:

Looking for a house without a guaranteed income is a paradox: on the one hand there is fear that says, “What if I don’t have any money when it comes time to pay the mortgage/rent?” while on the other hand there is confidence that says, “My Father has called us to this. Therefore we will have what we need.”

Here’s where we’re at: our fear drives us to seek wisdom, and our confidence drives us to action.

Our fear does not stop us, it only makes us wiser in our confident action.

There are days when I tell Sherri, “I’m not sure I ever want to live like this again.” But then I turn right around and say, “Honestly I’m not sure that I don’t want to live like this, because it’s amazing to watch God provide in the most unusual and exciting ways!”

Anyhow, that’s what it’s like on this leg of the church planting journey.