#1 - Don’t say “we will never do BLANK.” BECAUSE…you probably will!
#2 - There is not a formula for growing a church.
#3 - God loves HIS church WAY more than I do.
#4 - I should spend way less time focusing on being “right” and way more time on being faithful.
#5 - Comparing Osceola Assembly to other churches will either lead to pride or feeling like a failure…I need to desperately seek Jesus consistently to see who HE has called us to be.
#6 - I should learn from everyone…despite theological differences.
#7 - Don’t yell at the entire church just because 10 or less people are mad at you.
#8 - Those who you think will always be with you won’t always be with you.
#9 - I don’t always have the best ideas.
#10 - Excellence can never be compromised just because you don’t want to hurt someone’s feelings.
#11 - Only a pastor can really understand a pastor.
#12 - People will always misunderstand you…don’t waste a lot of time trying to explain yourself.
#13 - Leadership is as easy as listening to God.
#14 - The fights, the sleepless nights, the critics, the spiritual warfare, the long meetings, the frustration…IT’S ALL WORTH IT! When lives get changed…it’s worth it. When hell becomes less crowded…it’s worth it. When repentance takes place…it’s worth it! When marriages are restored…it’s worth it. IT IS SO WORTH everything we go through!!! SO…don’t EVER give up–EVER!!!
Those are some of the things I wished I would have known.
Friday, January 30, 2009
4 Stages I've Gone Through
#1 - I Want To See God Do Something Great.
Even before I came to Osceola Assembly as pastor I really did believe in my heart that God wanted to do something amazing here. SO…I began to pray, to beg God to do some great things. I really did believe that if anything significant was going to happen then He was going to do it and that all I had to do was pray really hard.
#2 - I Want To Do Something Great.
One of the most dangerous things God can give someone is success…I found that out the hard way (and it's a lesson I'm still learning.
I did it all–leading worship, membership class, follow up, powerpoint–EVERYTHING. And…as the church began to experience some growth I began to depend less on God and more on myself. I actually began thinking that God needed me…and that without me the church simply would not be successful.
I still do more than I should, but less than I used to.......and I'm continuing to seek God's leading for people to step in to fill some of the roles I'm filling.......and He's doing it!
#3 - I Want Us To Do Something Great.
I am all about the team…and I LOVE the team of people I work with. Over time I have learned (and am still learning) to delegate tasks that I used to be really involved in and watch people who are way more skilled than me take ministry to levels that they never could have achieved under my leadership.
BUT…once again this was not the picture of what God wanted our church to become. YES…teamwork does make the dream work. YES…a healthy team IS essential to a healthy church. YES…God has surrounded me with incredible people…BUT…at the end of the day 2 Cornithians 4:1 is true of every one of us…and we can do some great things…but if we focus on making plans minus the power of God…then all we do is make a bunch of noise that doesn’t really amount to anything for the next generation.
#4 - I Want God To Do Something Great Through Us.
This ministry isn’t about me…it’s about Jesus!
This ministry isn’t about our staff…it’s about Jesus! John 3:30 is our obsession.
We know that if God isn’t involved in this church…we’re done! We can’t accomplish ANYTHING of eternal significance without Him!
We are more desperate for HIS PRESENCE than we are CULTURAL RELEVANCE!
And we would much rather see REPENTANCE from our people than RECOGNITION from
other churches. AND we know that those things ONLY happen through the power of God.
BUT…we also know that God’s power isn’t an excuse for laziness. God gave Nehemiah a vision to build the wall…but Nehemiah actually had to get his hands dirty to accomplish the work. YES…God did it…THROUGH the willingness of Nehemiah.
God told Joshua that he was going to posses the land…but then Joshua had to go and fight for it. God “didn’t do it all,” but rather worked through a man who believed God was big enough to fulfill His promises through the faithfulness of effort and hard work.
We want to see God work…we beg Him for it…but then we are passionate enough about it to NOT be passive and let things happen…but rather to move in obedience as He leads, knowing that as long as we listen to Him we can NEVER go wrong!
Even before I came to Osceola Assembly as pastor I really did believe in my heart that God wanted to do something amazing here. SO…I began to pray, to beg God to do some great things. I really did believe that if anything significant was going to happen then He was going to do it and that all I had to do was pray really hard.
#2 - I Want To Do Something Great.
One of the most dangerous things God can give someone is success…I found that out the hard way (and it's a lesson I'm still learning.
I did it all–leading worship, membership class, follow up, powerpoint–EVERYTHING. And…as the church began to experience some growth I began to depend less on God and more on myself. I actually began thinking that God needed me…and that without me the church simply would not be successful.
I still do more than I should, but less than I used to.......and I'm continuing to seek God's leading for people to step in to fill some of the roles I'm filling.......and He's doing it!
#3 - I Want Us To Do Something Great.
I am all about the team…and I LOVE the team of people I work with. Over time I have learned (and am still learning) to delegate tasks that I used to be really involved in and watch people who are way more skilled than me take ministry to levels that they never could have achieved under my leadership.
BUT…once again this was not the picture of what God wanted our church to become. YES…teamwork does make the dream work. YES…a healthy team IS essential to a healthy church. YES…God has surrounded me with incredible people…BUT…at the end of the day 2 Cornithians 4:1 is true of every one of us…and we can do some great things…but if we focus on making plans minus the power of God…then all we do is make a bunch of noise that doesn’t really amount to anything for the next generation.
#4 - I Want God To Do Something Great Through Us.
This ministry isn’t about me…it’s about Jesus!
This ministry isn’t about our staff…it’s about Jesus! John 3:30 is our obsession.
We know that if God isn’t involved in this church…we’re done! We can’t accomplish ANYTHING of eternal significance without Him!
We are more desperate for HIS PRESENCE than we are CULTURAL RELEVANCE!
And we would much rather see REPENTANCE from our people than RECOGNITION from
other churches. AND we know that those things ONLY happen through the power of God.
BUT…we also know that God’s power isn’t an excuse for laziness. God gave Nehemiah a vision to build the wall…but Nehemiah actually had to get his hands dirty to accomplish the work. YES…God did it…THROUGH the willingness of Nehemiah.
God told Joshua that he was going to posses the land…but then Joshua had to go and fight for it. God “didn’t do it all,” but rather worked through a man who believed God was big enough to fulfill His promises through the faithfulness of effort and hard work.
We want to see God work…we beg Him for it…but then we are passionate enough about it to NOT be passive and let things happen…but rather to move in obedience as He leads, knowing that as long as we listen to Him we can NEVER go wrong!
The Dangerous Church in 2010
(Thanks to Ed Stetzer for these.....)
IN CULTURE
The dangerous church over the next few years will have seized economic opportunity. If the current trends continue, some church workers will lose their jobs, and churches will lose money. But more people will come to Christ because in a bad economy they seek God more.
The dangerous church will address sexual brokenness. Homosexuality is an issue that the church must address in the next decade. Most churches don’t know how to address sexual issues of homosexuality, marriage, and other sexual issues in a biblical way.
The dangerous church will wrestle through the issue of gender inclusion. Can women be pastors?
The dangerous church will face increasing intolerance.
IN THINKING & METHODS
The dangerous church will have navigated the post-seeker movement.
The dangerous church will have found new ways to reach people for the world.
The dangerous church will have regained confidence in the Gospel. They will have clarity and biblical discernment.
The dangerous church will have addressed evangelical confusion. Evangelicalism is a broad term, a broad label.
The dangerous church will have rethought discipleship. Many churches are not making disciples well. Only 16% of Protestant church goers read their Bible daily.
The dangerous church will have worked through denominational catharsis.
The dangerous church will learn how to network will other churches. Networking should be more than interacting with clones of your church.
The dangerous church will innovate.
IN CULTURE
The dangerous church over the next few years will have seized economic opportunity. If the current trends continue, some church workers will lose their jobs, and churches will lose money. But more people will come to Christ because in a bad economy they seek God more.
The dangerous church will address sexual brokenness. Homosexuality is an issue that the church must address in the next decade. Most churches don’t know how to address sexual issues of homosexuality, marriage, and other sexual issues in a biblical way.
The dangerous church will wrestle through the issue of gender inclusion. Can women be pastors?
The dangerous church will face increasing intolerance.
IN THINKING & METHODS
The dangerous church will have navigated the post-seeker movement.
The dangerous church will have found new ways to reach people for the world.
The dangerous church will have regained confidence in the Gospel. They will have clarity and biblical discernment.
The dangerous church will have addressed evangelical confusion. Evangelicalism is a broad term, a broad label.
The dangerous church will have rethought discipleship. Many churches are not making disciples well. Only 16% of Protestant church goers read their Bible daily.
The dangerous church will have worked through denominational catharsis.
The dangerous church will learn how to network will other churches. Networking should be more than interacting with clones of your church.
The dangerous church will innovate.
One Share of Coca-Cola
If you purchased one share of Coca-Cola when it went public in 1919, how much do you think it would worth today?
Hold that question.
One piece of the vision for Osceola Assembly is for everyone to be a shareholder in what God is going to do. Part of that, however, means investing financially in the Kingdom through giving. (Yeah, I'm preaching to the choir, but this is a message we can't leave behind just because the economy stinks right now.)
I like to think of giving as buying stock in the kingdom. And the truth is that those kingdom shares will earn compound interest for eternity. Talk about a Return on Investment (ROI). Eternal dividends!
Check this out: If you purchased one share of Coca-Cola stock in 1919, and simply held that one share, by the year 2000 it would have split into 4608 shares. And that original $40 investment, if you kept reinvesting the dividends, would have been worth $7 million. To further your pain, if your great-great grandparents had purchased one of Asa Candler's original shares in 1892, that $100 investment would be worth $7.34 billion.
Here's the bottom line: we'll never regret one ounce of energy, one second of time, or one penny of money invested in the kingdom of God.
Hold that question.
One piece of the vision for Osceola Assembly is for everyone to be a shareholder in what God is going to do. Part of that, however, means investing financially in the Kingdom through giving. (Yeah, I'm preaching to the choir, but this is a message we can't leave behind just because the economy stinks right now.)
I like to think of giving as buying stock in the kingdom. And the truth is that those kingdom shares will earn compound interest for eternity. Talk about a Return on Investment (ROI). Eternal dividends!
Check this out: If you purchased one share of Coca-Cola stock in 1919, and simply held that one share, by the year 2000 it would have split into 4608 shares. And that original $40 investment, if you kept reinvesting the dividends, would have been worth $7 million. To further your pain, if your great-great grandparents had purchased one of Asa Candler's original shares in 1892, that $100 investment would be worth $7.34 billion.
Here's the bottom line: we'll never regret one ounce of energy, one second of time, or one penny of money invested in the kingdom of God.
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