Taking personal responsibility

On our recent flight to Austin, Texas to visit our son I read John Maxwell's book High Road Leadership. This is a book I would strongly recommend to anyone in a leadership position. The principles found in this book are pertinent to anyone in a leadership position whether that be in a church, a business, a non-profit or even a family. In one section of the book Maxwell writes about the importance of each person taking responsibility for themselves.

So many want to play the "blame game" and try to focus all their shortcomings onto others. A large section of our population see themselves as victims and spend enormous amounts of time feeling sorry for themselves and waiting for someone to come along and rescue them from their problems. Maxwell had the good fortune to have been raised by parents much like mine. Countless times growing up my parents reminded me that society owed me nothing. If I was to have anything, be anything or accomplish anything it would come because I earned it. It sounds like his parents taught him the same values.

He lists several areas of his life for which he had taken responsibility. Because he has taken personal responsibility in these areas he has enjoyed tremendous success as a speaker, a writer and a leader. I am convinced that anyone who assumes responsibility in these areas will also enjoy far more success in life than those who wait on someone to come in riding a white horse to rescue them. I share them here.

Attitude - Although we cannot control all the events of our lives, we can control our attitude. A positive attitude will defeat a negative one every day.

Time - Each of us are limited to the same number of hours each day. We must be responsible for how we use those hours and avoid distractions by lesser demands on our time.

Priorities - One way to maximize our time is to work as much as possible on the things we have identified as the most important every day. We cannot allow others to determine our priorities.

Potential - Only one person is responsible for your personal growth, and that is you. If you are not growing as an individual it's no one's fault but your own.

Passion - I have attended and benefitted from a number of motivational seminars, but motivation is an inside job. No one can truly motivate another person. The best they can do is to create a climate in which you can motivate yourself. It's up to us to maintain the passion we feel.

Calling - Each of us have unique gifts that are to be used to fulfill the calling God has on our lives. While it is appropriate to seek godly counsel regarding calling, this is something each person must decide for themselves. When we work in the areas for God has created us, we will enjoy much more success.

While the list is Maxwell's, the commentary following each item is mine. Taking responsibility for each of these areas every day is not easy. There are always going to be people who will try to take that responsibility from you. We cannot allow that to happen if we want to be people in leadership.

Christmas trip

Yesterday evening my wife and I returned home from Austin, Texas where we had spent a few days visiting our son and grandson. We don't get to see them as often as we would like, but we always try to make it down there a few days before Christmas. We enjoyed some great Texas bar-b-que at Terry Black's famous bar-b-que restaurant. We go there every time we are in Austin because it is some of the best bar-b-que I've ever eaten. We go shopping and do some other things, but mostly we just hang together as family.

I often think back to previous Christmases when I was younger. Extended families got together which meant there were plenty of cousins to play with. Later, after Faye and I married, we spent part of Christmas Eve with her eight brothers and sisters and all their kids. Her brother had a nice pole barn which we cleaned up and used for the get-together. He and I would go out into the woods and cut down a large cedar tree and take it to the barn. It was so big we had to pull it behind a tractor. When we put it up we tied the top to the rafters to make sure it didn't tip over. Tables were set up, and a big feed was enjoyed by all. Afterwards, there were lot of presents to unwrap. We would then leave there and go to my parents for a much smaller celebration.

I cherish those memories because it's not possible to repeat them today. My wife's remaining siblings got together last Saturday, and my brothers and sisters will get together the Saturday after Christmas. Many members of the family won't attend because they live too far away. Just like our recent trip to Austin, we were not able to see two of our grandchildren because one is in school in Pennsylvania and another one works in Maryland. You adjust, but it's not the same as the memories I have from my childhood.

Life happens, and change is inevitable, but many Christmas traditions remain. Churches will present Christmas programs, choirs will sing anthems, live nativity scenes will demonstrate to the world what that first Christmas might have been like. Churches will see increased attendance this coming Sunday.

But, most important of all, Christmas will happen. We will be reminded that because of this babe born in a manger, there is hope in the world. Despite everything happening, we have hope because the Son of God came to earth as a babe lying in a manger. Joy is available to all who believe in Him despite the junk that may be happening in their lives. Lives can be transformed because because over 2,000 years ago a Jewish child was born in a little, insignificant village in Israel who just happened to be the Son of God.

My prayer for each of you who reads this blog is that you have experienced the transforming power of Jesus Christ in your life. You do not have to live with the guilt you feel over the things you have done wrong in your life. You do not have to live with a fear of death because you do not know what eternity holds. This Christmas season is the perfect time to ask Jesus Christ into your life to be your Lord and Savior. Allow Him to cleanse you of every wrongdoing in your life. Experience the freedom of knowing that your sins are forgiven and the joy that comes knowing that you are part of the family of God. If you do this, I can guarantee this will be the greatest Christmas you will ever experience.  

Top 10 Books for 2024 1-5

 Today I'll share the remainder of my favorite reads for 2024.

5) Ignite by Nelson Searcy. I love Searcy's passion for the church and for people. I have most of his books in my library, and I've heard him present at a leadership conference in which we were both teaching. This is an excellent book for church planters and for pastors serving churches that need to relaunch (like me). He shares the tools he used to grow his new church plant in New York into a strong, vibrant congregation. I first read this book a few years ago, and felt it would be helpful to re-read it as I have begun serving as a pastor of a church that needs to rebuild. I'm putting some of his suggestions in action.

4) Transformational Church by Ed Stetzer and Thom S. Rainer. This is another re-read in 2024. One of the missing components in many churches is discipleship. Evangelism is one side of the Great Commission coin; discipleship is the other side. Churches that see people's lives transformed by the power of God are churches that disciple their members. The authors give many helpful insights on how churches can begin to do that.

3) In Search of a Confident Faith by J. P. Moreland and Klaus Issler. This book has so many highlighted passages, underlined paragraphs and notes written in the margin I hardly know where to start writing about this book. The authors address how to deal with the doubts one may have about God and faith. They point out the differences between distractions of the head and distractions of the heart. They point out how hurts in the past can impact our beliefs now and offer some help to conquer those past hurts. This is a very good book for pastors and lay persons alike. None of us are beyond having periods of doubts in our own lives, and this book can help us address those.

2) Wide Awake by Erwin Raphael McManus. The author challenges us to stop settling in our lives and to begin to live our best lives now. He (like myself) believes that God has an amazing plan for each of our lives. Our lives can never be full until we understand what that purpose is and begin to live it. Each of us had dreams when we were younger, but as we grew up those dreams often faded away. Perhaps we need to reawaken those dreams and dare to become the people God created us to become. This book can help you do that. 

1) The Unstuck Church by Tony Morgan. Drum roll please! This is my favorite book for 2024. It must be because I read it twice in a row, and I've never done that with any book. As a region minister in our denomination for 14 years, most of the churches I worked with were stuck and didn't know what to do to get unstuck. Now that I am a pastor again, I am in a church that is stuck. Every day as I read this book I found things that I can do and things the church can do to get unstuck. The author warns the reader on the back cover that this book will offend you, and he's right. Some of the things he writes hurt, but they need to be said, and we need to listen. If your church is stuck, and research indicates that at least 80 percent of the churches in American are, then you need to read this book.

This is my list for 2024. These books spoke to my heart and were timely for my current situation. I believe they are all worthwhile reads for anyone in church leadership. I will close by mentioning that if you click on the link and order any of these books I may receive a small compensation, but this is not the reason I publish this list each year. I want others to know what I have found helpful to my life and ministry.

Top 10 Books for 2024 6-10

 Regular readers of this blog know that I average reading about 50 books each year. I just finished my 50th book for 2024, so I thought I might as well go ahead and share my top 10 reads for the year. This year I re-read a lot of books I had previously read. I also didn't read as much fiction as I had been reading. After being called to serve as pastor of North Madison Baptist Church I thought I had better retool my pastoral skills! That eliminated the Star Wars books! Anyway, here are my favorite reads 6-10.

10) The Church and the Single Mom by Jennifer Barnes Maggio. I have a burden for the single moms living in our community. According to the past census report, there are 1,700 single-parent homes in our county. I would assume at least 1,500 of them are single-moms. I am encouraging our church to begin a ministry to serve these individuals, and I admitted to them I didn't have a clue how to begin. Reading this book is helping me identify some ways we can begin to serve this population.

9) The Post-Quarantine Church by Thom S. Rainer. This was one of my re-reads. Covid hit most churches hard. People stayed away from church even when it was announced that it was safe to return. Those churches who thought they would return to normal once the pandemic ended were wrong. We now live in a new normal, and only those churches that can adjust to that new normal will thrive. Rainer points out that there are now three groups of people the church must serve: Digital-only who are unable to attend church services, Digitally-transitioning are those who are mostly connected to the church digitally but may attend occasionally; and Dual citizens who are connected to the church both through digital ministries and in person. This is a very good book for pastors and lay leaders to read who want to know how to move forward.

8) The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership by John C. Maxwell. I have never published my top ten list without at least one book by Maxwell being on the list. He is a must read for anyone in a leadership position. In fact, I have his latest book on my desk which I will start reading next week. I have read the referenced book several times and heard him teach from the book. It has shaped my leadership style more than any other book or class. I only wish the book had been available earlier in my ministry.

7) I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist by Norman Geisler and Frank Turek. This book is not an easy read but one that I found very helpful. It is a book that points out the blind faith that atheists and skeptics must have in order to sustain their rejection of God and shows how reason and logic will always point one to belief in God. I love reading apologetics, and this is one of the best to give you a reason for your faith and give you some tools you can use to share that faith with others.

6) The Deconstruction of Christianity by Alisa Childers and Tim Barnett. Deconstruction is a new term in our postmodern age. It refers to the process by which people walk away from their faith in God. Several well-known Christian authors and musicians have announced in the past few years they no longer believe in God. Countless others have made the same choice. I read this book to help me understand what is happening and to give me some tools to use if someone comes to me saying they are in the process of deconstructing. This book did not disappoint. If you have not known someone yet who is going through deconstruction of their faith, you will. This book can help you work with those individuals.

Tomorrow I'll share the final five books that made my favorite list for the year.

Character trumps vision

 Readers of this blog know that I often write about vision. Vision is the key to any successful endeavor. As a Resource Minister in our region I always began my first meeting with a pastor search team by asking for the vision of the church. Not once in 14 years could any pastor search team tell me their church's vision. I then explained that without a vision how could they know what they needed in their next pastor. If they didn't now where God was leading them, how could they know if the person they might interview was capable of taking them there. A few churches allowed me to help them discern a vison from God, but most just wanted to continue their search for a pastor. Those churches are still wandering around in the wilderness.

Vision is key, but one thing is even more important. That is the character of the leader. As Jon Gordon writes in The Power of Positive Leadership, "You can have the greatest vision and mission statement in the world and be optimistic and positive, but if you are not someone people want to follow, they are not getting on your bus. People follow the leader first and their vision second." John Maxwell says that leaders have to have the heart of the people before they can expect the people to follow them. The leader's character determines whether or not others will follow him or her.

When I began my first pastorate the youth told me they wanted to go to King's Island. When I announced at a business meeting we would be taking the youth to that amusement park it was made very clear that I wasn't taking the kids anywhere. My first business meeting as a new pastor made me think being a pastor might not have been such a great idea! Later that evening one of the lay leaders called and explained the reaction I had received from those attending. There was a history I knew nothing about that triggered the response.

Jump forward about 15 years later. Some of our members were at a piano store and asked me to join them. The store had a sale on an electronic piano that was similar, but a step above the one our pianist had in her home, and it was less expensive than she had paid for hers. I was asked what we had to do to buy the piano, and I explained they all knew the Baptist history. We need to form a committee and let them discuss it for a few months before the church votes. While they knew all that, they also knew the sale ended that day. I explained the other option was that we buy the piano. We did, I put it on my credit card, and it was delivered the following Monday. The church voted to reimburse me for the piano, and there was not a single objection to our buying it.

Why the different reactions? Over the years the congregation got to know my heart. I had earned their trust. They were willing to follow me because they knew I loved that church and would do nothing intentionally to hurt it. It was also important that I had not made the decision to buy the piano alone; the decision was made with three other trusted leaders in the church.

It takes time to model character to a congregation. They have to know first of all that you love them and want only the best for them. Once that is settled, then they become willing to follow your vision. If they determine you do not have their best interest at heart, or if your character is lacking in important areas, they will not follow you.

What to read?

 Anyone who has followed this blog for some time knows that I love to read. My goal is to read 50 books a year, and I am on track to do that again this year. The vast majority of books I read are non-fiction although during the Covid shut-down I started reading non-fiction books as well. Now that I have returned to pastoral ministry my reading is more focused on ministry and theological books. Unfortunately, this presents me with a problem.

I really miss the Lifeway bookstores. The reason I miss them is that I could go in and check out the books before I bought them. Today, I was in Louisville and stopped at a shopping center that has a Barnes and Noble bookstore. At first, I thought they were gone as well as a Whole Foods store was in the building they had previously used. As I drove through the center I realized they had moved into a smaller building on the other side of the center. When I entered I found that their religion section contained mostly popular books and offered nothing related to ministry or theology.

Most of the books I buy now come from Amazon. As I'm reading, I may find a reference to a book that seems like it would be a good one to read. When I order it I am sometimes disappointed. The book may not be what I expected it would be. Sometimes the font is so small or light that I find it difficult to read. Some books are written at such an elementary level that they offer little worthwhile, and others are written for an academic audience that makes me think the author was more interested in impressing people with his or her knowledge of big words than in offering something that would be worthwhile to the average reader. Occasionally, I find that the book is so poorly written or edited that it is almost unreadable. Several books have gone into the trash can after reading just a chapter or two. Having published books myself, I remember my editors insisting that the books were edited properly, clear in what they were saying and readable. I wonder what has changed. Of course, these problems could largely be avoided if it was possible to review the book before purchasing it, but that has become very difficult to do.

This year I have focused on re-reading some of the favorite books in my library. Fortunately, there are many! As I read them I find there are many things written in them I've forgotten or overlooked in my earlier reading. I just finished one published in 1993. It now has much more highlighting and notes written in the margin that it had after my earlier reading. Yes, some of it is outdated, but a lot of it still makes sense in 2024. I found some things I hope to introduce into the church in the coming year.

I know the brick-and-mortar bookstores are unlikely to return, especially the Christian-oriented ones, but I miss them. They provided a service to those of us in ministry that online shopping never will. Their demise is just one more thing that has disappeared from our world that this old man misses.

Finding peace in the ministry

While serving as a Region Minister in our judicatory one of the things that troubled me was the number of pastors in the churches I served who were simply waiting until they reached retirement age. The pressures of ministry had wore them out, and now they were just counting the days until they could retire. Essentially, they had given up on ministry. Some were still serving their congregations well, but others were just going through the motions. Some were obviously battling depression, but none of those pastors were willing to see a doctor and get some help. I felt sorry for the pastors and also for the churches they were serving. Those churches were not getting the kind of pastoral leadership they needed.

I can understand why some pastors feel beat down. They are serving in churches I often referred to as "widow makers." During my time as Region Minister I finally told two churches I would work with them to get healthier, but I would not recommend another pastor to them until they worked through their health issues. Not surprisingly, they were not interested in working on health issues so I never worked with them on finding a new pastor.

Fortunately, most churches are not like that. Often, in those churches, when a pastor feels overwhelmed it is self-inflicted. Most people enter the ministry wanting to impact people's live. Many of us struggle to say no to almost any request. It doesn't take long before our schedules are so full of meeting the needs of others that we have no time for self-care or for meeting the needs of our families. We begin to feel like we are in a vise. The pressure can continue to build until we feel overwhelmed.

So how do we deal with this pressure? What can we do to recapture the joy we first felt when we entered the ministry? We can start by learning to say no to some things. We do not have to touch everything in the church. We do not have to attend every meeting. We do not have to run over to someone's house when their cat stubs it's toe. We can learn that it's OK to let a phone call go to voice mail. We can learn that not everything is an emergency. 

We can learn to own our calendars. I suggest setting aside time each week for personal time. Put it on your calendar. Add some time on your calendar to spend time with your family. Have a date night with your spouse, and put it on your calendar. If someone asks to meet with you during those times just tell them you already have an appointment at that time.

Build margin in your life. If your calendar is packed full you have no time for true emergencies. That adds stress to your life. You can't control when you will need to do a funeral or deal with a crisis in your family or in someone else's family. If you have no margin, you'll be trying to do too many things at the same time. Talk about stressful!

Determine your priorities and work with those as much as possible. If you are responsible for preaching remember that Sunday comes every seven days. You must make that message a priority, and that doesn't happen if you start working on that message on Saturday night. If your church is having a special event that you are required to participate in, start early preparing for that. The week before is not the time to start. I had an instructor in Bible college who had plans drawn up four years in advance for events he was responsible for leading. I'm not suggesting anything that extreme, but I also never saw him stressed about anything. Start early planning those special events and you'll have much less stress.

There's more you can do, but if you'll start with these simple steps, you'll find ministry to be much less stressful.

Church traditions

 Unless your church is a new church startup, it has a number of traditions that have served it well over the years. Even new churches will sometimes reflect the traditions the new church planter knew in former churches. Some of these traditions serve the church well and should be maintained. Others may need to be replaced if we are to reach a new generation of people.

It's important to remember that church traditions arose because they became convenient ways of doing things when the tradition was started. Chances are, they replaced older traditions that no longer worked well in a new culture. It is even more likely that the new ways of doing things were resisted by some who wanted to continue with their older traditions. Now, the traditions that replaced the older traditions are considered sacrosanct by the current membership despite the fact they are now a hindrance to the church.

Several years ago a rural church discussed paving their parking lot. Some in the church resisted believing that the gravel parking lot was sufficient. The pastor reminded them that before the gravel was added years earlier, the parking lot was dirt. This was fine when many of the members rode buggies and horses to church, but it became a problem when most of the membership started driving cars. Who wanted to get stuck in a muddy church parking lot? Today, the expectations of people, and especially the younger people churches claim to want to reach, expect better facilities. Who wants to walk through a muddy, or snow-covered, church parking lot when they don't have to do? They don't when they shop at their favorite stores. As an added example, the pastor reminded the congregation that it had only been a few decades ago that the church replaced their outhouse with an indoor restroom. He asked if anyone wanted to return to the outhouse. The church voted to blacktop the parking lot. Over the next couple of years it had to add additional parking because their lot had filled up.

What traditions does your church have that no longer add value to the church and may be limiting your growth? I can almost guarantee your church has them. Will it be easy to eliminate them? Probably not, but it will be necessary if you are to reach a new generation of people for Jesus Christ. 

Read through the Bible in 2025

 I want to invite you to read through the Bible with me in 2025. Some years I do this as part of my devotional reading each morning. Most Christians have never read through the Bible in a year and don't believe it is possible. I've done it dozens of times. All a person has to do is read three chapters a day, and by the end of the year you will have read through the entire Bible. I realize that some chapters are rather lengthy, such as Psalm 119, and you may not even read through that chapter in one sitting. But, others Psalms are short, and I will read more than three chapters when I get to them.

One thing I do is to buy a new version of the Bible when I read through the Bible in a year. This has resulted in me having quite a few versions of the Bible in my library, but it gives me a fresh perspective on the Bible as I read through it. I just ordered my new Bible this morning to be sure I have it when January 1 rolls around.

The version I ordered is the ESV which is one of the few newer translations I do not already have in my library. It comes highly recommended by pastors and scholars. Some years I have chosen to not read a translation but a paraphrase simply to read the Scriptures in a different format. One time I chose The Message which was an interesting read that year. I do not study from paraphrases, that is done with translations of the Bible, but occasionally reading paraphrases will give the reader new insights into what the passage is saying.

Some find reading difficult. For those individuals I recommend getting an audio version of the Bible you can listen to. There are many Bible apps available at no cost for your smartphone or iPad you can get and listen to the Scriptures.

This does not take the place of Bible study. You are not engaging in an in-depth study of the Bible; you are reading it. Chances are, you will read passages you've never read before. God may be disturbing. One lady who accepted the challenge told me she wasn't sure she could finish it because of God's actions in some sections of the Old Testament. I encouraged her to continue reading. Other passages you may have read before will give you new insights as you read them again. God will begin to show you things you had never seen before in your previous readings.

I hope you will join me in reading through the Bible in 2025. I believe doing so will help anyone grow in their faith.

 

Are we wasting our time?

 I recently read a blot post written by someone I respect as a Christian leader. He has challenged me for years to think differently about the church. I've quoted him in some of my books. In his blog he stated his belief that 60-70 percent of pastors are wasting their time serving churches that have no chance of long-term survival. He correctly noted that 80-85 percent of churches in America are plateaued or dying, and many of them will not survive. I personally believe that the majority of those churches are dying, not plateaued. He does not believe that most of those churches will survive long term. Unfortunately, I've come to agree with him.

Several years ago when I served on regional staff in our denomination I would not have agreed with him. I was convinced that with the right pastoral leadership almost any church could be turned around. I now realize that, short of a miracle from God, some of these churches had no chance of survival. They had gone too far down the decline side of the bell curve. They had zero interest in outreach or discipleship. Their only goal was survival. Since then, some of those churches have closed their doors while others continue to hang on by a fingernail waiting for the miracle pastor who can save their church.

It hurts me to say this, but perhaps this church leader is right. Maybe a lot of pastors are wasting their time trying to save something that died a long time ago. While pastors spend their days putting out fires and seeking ways to serve their shrinking congregations, multitudes are dying without Christ. The Great Commission and the Great Commandment are ignored while we try to soothe the ruffled feathers of a patriarch in the church. Too many churches are trying to find the funds to remodel their kitchen while they have nothing in the budget for evangelism and discipleship.

My DMin project was coaching bivocational ministers for greater ministry effectiveness. In one coaching session with a pastor he had questions about an upcoming baptism. Since he seemed so concerned about the details I commented that he seemed very nervous about the baptism and asked why. He responded he wanted it to go well because it was the first baptism in that church in 50 years. I had to wonder what the previous pastors had done while serving that church. Perhaps they had wasted their time and the opportunities to present Jesus Christ to their community.

But, here was a young pastor who was not wasting his time. In our next coaching session he reported the baptism went well. After the service, the congregation marched down to a river bordering their town and baptized the person there. The parade of the congregation was noticed by some people in the community who followed them. They were able to hear the pastor explain the purpose and symbolism of baptism and witness the baptism itself. Several people heard the gospel that day without ever attending the church service. I do not know the long-term outcome of that baptism, but this young pastor sowed some powerful evangelistic seeds that day.

The church leader I quoted earlier would have probably looked at that small church that had gone 50 years without a baptism and determined the church had no chance of survival and any pastor who went there was wasting his or her time. Maybe we should not be so quick to judge that, and maybe that's not our call to make. After all, if God calls a person to serve a church He must have a purpose in doing so.

I realize there are some churches that will not survive. Churches close their doors every week. At some point, denominations and church leaders need to allow them to end their ministries and stop artificially propping them up. At the same time, there are some struggling churches who only need a pastor with a God-given vision to turn them around. Such pastors will not be wasting their time serving in that church. It will take time to pass that vision on to the congregation, and it will take time to implement the vision, but it will be time well spent. It will not be wasted.

Bringing a nation back together

 I think most of us will be glad when this election is over. Each election cycle I think it can't get much worse, but then the next election comes, and I realize I was wrong. Neither candidate has taken the high road. Their comments have enflamed a nation already more divided than we have been since the Civil War. After 9-11 it seemed we came together, but that was short-lived. This election has brought out the worst in many of us. Some of the things that have been said on social media about supporters on both sides are unfair and insulting.

In a few days (hopefully) we will know who our next president will be. Both sides are claiming that if the other party loses there will be widespread rioting by its supporters. I hope not, but past events may support those accusations. America is living in a dangerous time. What can the church do? I think at least two things.

One, we need to remind people that regardless of who sits in the White House, God is still on the throne. It is not the elephant or the donkey that will determine the future of this country but the Lamb. I remind people all the time that our nation's salvation will not come from the White House, the State House, or the courthouse but will come from God's house. As citizens of this nation, Christians have a duty to vote for the candidates that best reflect their values and beliefs, but our focus must always be on God. He has the power to turn the hearts of the kings (Pr. 21: 1).

Secondly, the church must begin to work to bring this nation back together. I realize that some churches have done much to enflame the divisions that exist in this country, but that must cease. It's time the church comes together to preach a message of unity and reconciliation. That begins with people being reconciled to God through Jesus Christ and then to be reconciled with one another. This does not mean that people cannot hold different opinions on issues, but it's past time that we stop screaming at one another and begin to debate our differences seeking guidance from God

For this to happen, the church must admit its own sins that have led to the divisions in our nation. Until the church leads the way in this, our nation will never be healed from its divisions (2 Chr. 7: 14). As this verse says, this will require humility on the part of the church, and such humility can be a rare commodity in some churches. Our nation needs to repent, and such repentance must begin in God's house.

The evangelistic church

 Last night I finished reading I Don't Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist. It is, by far, the best book I've read this year. It was fairly heavy reading, and I wanted something perhaps a little lighter. I pulled out a book from my library I had not read in many years titled The Evangelistic Church by John Havlik. It was published in 1976 so I imagine it would not be easy to find a copy. Havlick is a Southern Baptist, and while he expresses his joy in what the churches in his denomination was doing regarding evanglism, he also recognized there were problems. I want to share a paragraph from the introduction. If it was true in 1976, it is even more true today. He wrote

"Some of our churches have settled into a dull routine that is unexciting and unappealing. The joy and celebration over evangelistic victories have been lost in the flat sameness of service after service. Some of our churches (especially in the cities) have not learned how to communicate with a secular society. Some of our churches exist as a well-insulated little pocket of spirituality in the midst of a sea of indifference. The world does not hate us. They do not love us. They do not know we are here."

WOW! I can't say if his words were true in 1976, but they are certainly true in 2024. A few years ago I served as the Transitional Pastor of a church that had served its community for well over 200 years. It had one of the largest buildings in the community. I was amazed at how many people who lived in that community had no idea where the church was located.

I am currently serving a church that will soon celebrate its 175th anniversary. Again, it is one of the largest church buildings in the community and sits just off a major highway in that community. Numerous times I've been asked where the church was located. The community does not know we are here.

I fear that many churches could close their doors tomorrow, and no one in the community could tell the difference. One of the things church leaders should ask is: Is there anything we do that our community could not live without? If the answer is no, that community sees your church as irrelevant, if they even know you exist.

The people in the first century certainly knew the church was there, and this was without large buildings, seminary-trained pastors, professionally-designed ministries, or any of the other things we think are needed today. They saw the church in action, and the Bible tells us the Lord added daily to the church those who were being saved. I don't know about you, but I want to see God add persons being saved daily to the church I serve.

That will require that we take seriously the Great Commission and adopt the attitude that we will do anything except sin to reach unsaved persons for Jesus Christ. This is the mission God has given the church, and if we fail in this mission we will have failed as a church.

The faith that is required to be an atheist

 I don't usually do this, but I have to promote a book I recently promoted:  I Don't Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist. When I wrote about it before I was only on the first chapter, but it was so good I had to encourage you to read it. I'm now half-way through the book, and it keeps getting better. It is the best book on apologetics I have read, and I have a number of them in my shelf.

Books on apologetics are sometimes written for academics and can be difficult for the average person to follow. This book is not like that. It's not a simple, quick read, but it is highly readable. The authors, Norman Geisler and Frank Turek, have written a book that is readable for almost any person. Both are highly respected Christian philosophers who have debated numerous atheists during their careers. The arguments they present in this book are sound and will help anyone defend their faith against the most strident nonbeliever. They also will help answer any questions Christians may have about their faith.

The chapter I am currently reading is discussing miracles. They are specifically addressing David Humes' arguments against the possibility of miracles. With simple logic they are able to shoot holes in his argument and prove the existence of miracles and how those miracles point to the existence of God.

Throughout the book they correctly point out that the arguments nonbelievers have against the existence of God is not based on sound reasoning or logic but on the determination to discount His existence so they can live their lives without any moral restraints. They have to reject all the obvious evidence that God does exist in order to hold on to their belief (hope?) that He does not. There will come a time when they will realize how wrong they were. Of course, the saddest part of their of their refusal to believe in the existence of God will be the multitudes of people they were able to convince their worldview was right.

I plan to do a series of messages in 2025 that will speak to the evidences of the existence of God. This book will be one of my resources for these messages. I wish I had read this book earlier in my ministry, but I'm thankful I found it now. I will say again, I cannot recommend this book more highly.

Church 2024

For decades now some have predicted the end of the church. Such people have evidently never read Jesus' words that the gates of hell will not destroy the church. The church will never die, but we will admit that the church is struggling right now. It is going through a transition that is bringing about changes that many find frightening. These changes threaten how people view the church and have understood it for many years. It is a transition that the church needs and will weed out the pretenders from the true believers.

The Baptist preacher, Vance Havner, once said that many churches start at 11:00 sharp and end at 12:00 dull. Truer words have never been spoken. Worship in too many churches consist of singing a few songs to our hymnbooks and following an order that precludes the Holy Spirit from doing anything. Songs, a couple of prayers and listening to a talking head is not worship. There is little recognition of Almighty God in many of our services. Everything is designed to get everyone out in an hour so as not to interfere with their plans for the remainder of the day. For many church members, attending the service allows them to mark that off their to-do list so they can get on with the important things on their schedules.

Worship is changing in many churches. Hymnbooks are being replaced by more modern music. Organs are being replaced by guitars, drums and other instruments. Worship is becoming more lively. Even traditional Baptists are sometimes seen with their hands in the air worshiping God. (Shocking, I know!) The Holy Spirit is given time and space to move in people's lives, and, as a result, people's lives are being changed. 

Sermons are changing as well. As a younger person I sat in services where a red-faced, sweating preacher stomped and snorted from one side of the pulpit area to the other. I don't remember that he ever said anything especially worthwhile, but he was sincere. Today, as I preach, I tell stories that illustrate what the Bible text is teaching. I'm more of a teacher in the pulpit. I want my listeners to have a better understanding of what the Bible teaches is the way to a rewarding life now and eternal life in the future.

The church is changing in the way it does discipleship as well. While Sunday school classes can still be found, many churches offer small groups and short-term Bible studies in addition to their traditional Sunday school classes. People who attend these additional studies tend to grow more as disciples than those who simply attend whatever is offered on Sunday morning.

I have to admit that I do not know how these changes will eventually impact the church. I wish I was a younger person because I doubt that I will live long enough to see the final result of these changes, but I am excited about the future of the church. The changes will drive out many of the make-believers sitting in our pews today, or it will convert them to true Christianity. Rather than the church dying out, these changes will strengthen it and make it a much more formidable force in the world drawing people into the Kingdom of God.

To those who love the Lord, I say to you, hold on. You're about to have quite a ride, but when you get to the other side you are going to realize it was worth it!

Being in the wrong place

 I can remember as a child watching the Republican national convention when Eisenhower was nominated as their candidate for president. I've been interested in politics ever since. In high school I entertained the idea of going to college to be an attorney which may well have led me into politics. Of course, I never pursued either becoming an attorney or a politician, but I remain interested in the political process. Over the years I have voted for both Democrats and Republicans. I am much more interested in what the person stands for than I am what political party he or she may belong to. With this background, I believe I have earned the right to say that neither of the candidates for president in this election cycle impress me. Both have an amazing capacity to say really stupid things. It's hard for me to believe that neither party has anyone better to represent them, and our country, than these two.

While both have made comments that bother me, no statement concerns me more than Kamala Harris' comment to the individual who shouted out at her meeting, "Jesus is Lord." She responded that they were at the wrong rally in a very flippant manner. She has been under a great deal of criticism for her comment, and some suggest it indicates what her attitude towards Christianity will be if she is elected president.

On the one hand, it is one of the stupidest comments I've ever heard from a candidate of either party. To tell Christians they should not be at a political rally is saying that they and their Christians views are not welcome there. On the other hand, it is possible that this shows the potential attitude that they will have towards Christians if elected to the highest political office in the land. Either way, it sends a message to a large voting block that their beliefs and values do not matter. This is not the way to win election

Of course, she may feel safe in insulting Christians. We are told that a majority of Christians will not vote in this election. If that is true, then insulting Christians may not bother either candidate. But if it is true, this shows a serious disconnect between our responsibilities as citizens of this country. We have a responsibility to vote for those who best reflect our moral values and beliefs.

I will never tell anyone who to vote for in any political race. As a pastor I will only say that we should vote for the persons who best reflect our Christian values and beliefs. As I said earlier, I have voted for both Democrats and Republicans in the past, and I will split my ballot again this year. If you are legally registered to vote, I encourage you to vote this year.  Much depends on it.

Anniversary

 Last week my wife, Faye, and I celebrated our 58th wedding anniversary. Normally, we go to Florida for about 10 days for our anniversary, but with all the problems there this year we decided to stay home. I did miss the ocean and the wonderful, fresh seafood, but we had a good anniversary anyway.

In 58 years you sure get to experience a lot of life. There have been peaks and valleys like all couples have, but the peaks have far outnumbered the valleys. The good news is that during both the peaks and valleys, we were there for each other. There were times we stood alone, but we stood together.

I recently read that the average age for males today who get married is around 30 years of age. For women it is 28. I was 18 and Faye was 19 when we married. By the time we reached today's average age of marriage we had two kids, I had served a tour of duty in the Navy, and we had a decade of marriage behind us. Some said we were too young to get married, and maybe we were, but we loved each other and were committed to each other, so why wait? I'm glad we didn't.

There is no woman I would have wanted for my wife besides Faye. I cannot say enough good things about her, but she has been a constant source of encouragement, support, and dedication throughout our marriage. The crowns she has earned in heaven will lay heavy on her head. I can almost hear God saying to her, "I don't know how you put up with him!"

Our walk with God didn't begin until we had been married for a few years, but it strengthened our marriage even more. I truly do not understand how marriages survive without God at the center of that relationship. I thank God every night for bringing her into my life and for the years we've been together.

We've been blessed with a daughter and a son and several grandchildren. The grandchildren are getting older now which makes me feel even older! What a blessing our children and grandchildren have been! We love them more every day.

We both are looking forward to more years together.

Holding onto things loosely

The Bible does not condemn having material possessions nor does it speak against having wealth. It's OK to possess things as long as we do not allow them to possess us. In Matthew 6 Jesus warns against having all our treasures here on earth where moth, rust and thieves can take them away. It is much better, He tells us, that our treasures are found in heaven where they can never be taken from us. This tells me that, while it's OK to possess things, we need to hold onto them loosely.

As most of you know, I have an auction business. There are few things worse that having an estate auction where family members are fighting over the things that their loved ones left behind. I have witnessed some very ugly behavior between family members over items that two or more of them wanted. At a time when family should be coming together, they are bitterly divided over who should get Mom's cakepan.

Sometimes, problems do not arise between family members but occur because someone has a sentimental value attached to something that is far above market value. An individual once asked me about conducting an auction for her as she was moving to a smaller place in another state after the death of her husband. She took me on a tour of the home and told me the history of every item that would be sold. I knew she felt that each piece was worth far more than what she would get at auction. Finally, after telling me that a chest had belonged to her husband's grandmother, I knew I needed to speak up. I explained that it was a beautiful antique chest, but the fact is that the antique market for furniture is severely depressed. While she had sentimental value to that chest, it did not belong to anyone's else's grandmother and would be sold for a fraction of what she believed it's value was. She decided to use another auctioneer. I was told by someone who attended that auction that her items brought good money, but that she was very upset at the prices.

I tell people that what they sell at auction  may be treasures to them, but to those attending the auction, most of it is simply "stuff." Those attending the auction are looking for bargains. Pieces that are truly valuable will bring good money, but common pieces will not. If I am attending someone's auction and an item goes for more than I think it is worth, I don't buy it because there's a good chance that a similar piece will likely be found at the next auction I attend.

Don't let "stuff" destroy your relationships with family members. Don't hold on too tightly to "stuff." Don't allow "stuff" to come between you and God. I like nice things as much as anyone, but it's all "stuff." I won't take any of it with me when I enter eternity. It's far better to have laid up our true treasures in heaven where we can enjoy them forever.

Do you have enough faith to be an atheist?

 I seldom recommend books before I read the entire book, but I'm going to make an exception. I have started reading I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be An Atheist by Norman Geisler and Frank Turek. If you enjoy apologetics as much as I do, you need to read this book! The information found in this book makes it a must read for anyone who wants to be able to defend their faith when challenged or who have their own doubts about some aspects of Christianity.

The authors begin the book by examining the importance of truth and how absolute truth has taken a hit in our postmodern world. They address some of the early writings of skeptics who deny that absolute truth exists and show why their  beliefs were wrong. In our pluralistic society the demand of many is that we be tolerant of everyone's beliefs. The authors point out how intolerant these people are, especially towards anyone expressing Christian beliefs. For me, that one chapter was worth the cost of the book.

As they go into the next chapter, the authors begin to look at the beginning of our universe. The material they present here is incredible. I have many apologetical books in my library, but this is adding to my knowledge of the cosmological argument for the existence of God more than I would have imagined. The book points out that even many agnostic scientists now acknowledge that the beginning of the universe is more closely related to the biblical account than any other theory that has been advanced.

This is as far as I have read. Future chapters will examine the reality of miracles, the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the problem of evil in the world and much more. I am excited to read what the authors say about these things.

One of the things I appreciate about this book is that, while it covers very important subjects, it is written so that anyone can follow along. Some books written by philosophers and theologians are so academic that they are not very readable to the average person. This book is not like that. At the same time, it is not so simplistic that it offers no meat to the reader. 

If you want a book that will help you defend your faith when challenged, I can not recommend a better book. If you want a book that may help answer some questions you have, this may be the book for you. In case you haven't figured it out yet, I'm pretty excited about this book! I think it should be in every Christian's library.

Has God let you down?

 Some of the saddest people I've met in life believe that God let them down in their time of need. Perhaps they prayed for a loved one to be healed, but no healing took place. Maybe a child of theirs fought addictions, and, despite many prayers, never overcame that addiction. Some who felt they were in a wonderful relationship suddenly learned their spouse was involved in an affair and planning on leaving. How could God let that happen? Others suffered financial reverses making it difficult to enjoy their old age. They had done nothing wrong, but their finances were lost due to the misdeeds of others. In all of these cases it's easy to question God. Where was He? Didn't He care? Why didn't He answer my prayers? It's not fair. The end result of all this is that these people believe God, if He even exists, cannot be trusted.

I've never got that far in my thinking, but there have been times I wondered why God didn't seem to respond as quickly or in the way I thought He should. What I've learned is that God never fails us. Sometimes we are unable to see His working in our lives. Certainly, there are many times He does things differently than we might have preferred. It's easy to forget that in His perfect wisdom He sees things in our future we are unable to see, He doesn't always give us the answer we might want right now because He knows of a better way to respond that will serve us better in the future.

While God will never fail us, others will. The church has failed many people. The church fails us, and we want to blame God. It's not God who failed us; it's the imperfect people who make up the church. I hate to admit that people have left the church because I failed to serve them as I should have. Sometimes I didn't meet their expectations, whether fair or not, and they chose to walk away. Sometimes the church lets people fall through the cracks. We become so busy with "church" things that we fail to see people when they are hurting. Failing to have their hurts recognized, some will decide the church has nothing for them and leave. And, let's admit it, the church doesn't always respond well to folks who don't meet their expectations. I'll never forget the church that fired their pastor, while he was in a hospital bed, because his unwed daughter became pregnant. Yes, churches can be that insensitive, and then they wonder why people leave.

Pastors can also fail you. It seems there have been so many pastors this year removed from ministry because of sexual misconduct. Others fail their congregations by their emotional immaturity or by failing to preach sound doctrine, Some fail due to pure laziness. The list goes on.

God will never fail you, but His church and His church leaders sometimes will. The good news is that for every toxic church and minister there are many who are faithful to serve and to preach the Good News. If a church or minister hurts you, don't lump all churches and ministers together. Find a good one and serve and worship God there.

Pete Rose and the MLB Hall of Fame

 "Charley Hustle" was one of the most exciting players to watch in baseball. He played with a passion not often seen today. He ran out every hit. His head first slides were legendary. It was amazing to see him watch every pitch into the catcher's mitt. He was an integral part of the Cincinnati Reds Big Red Machine. It is unlikely that his record of 4,256 hits will ever be matched. Despite his record achievements in baseball he was banned from the Baseball Hall of Fame for betting on baseball while a player and manager.

He accepted a permanent ban from the Hall in a plea agreement with MLB probably thinking that in time they would reverse the ban. He was wrong. He died without his name being included with the other great baseball players. Since it was a lifetime ban, and he passed away this week, perhaps it is time that he is inducted into the Hall. After all, a lifetime ban should end when a person's life ends, shouldn't it? Perhaps Pete Rose as a person doesn't deserve to be in the Hall of Fame, but his accomplishments certainly do. I doubt there are many saints in the Baseball Hall of Fame. I would imagine that at least a few included in that hall lived questionable personal lives. They are there because of their accomplishments in baseball, not because of their moral purity. Few achieved more than Pete Rose.

I am not for one minute condoning or approving his betting on baseball. I am saying I wish the MLB had seen fit to allow him to be inducted into the Hall of Fame while he was still alive. He gave so much to baseball as a player and manager. He holds so many records and won so many awards, and yet his accomplishments are not recognized in the HOF. I hope MLB will see fit to rectify that now that Pete is gone. How long do you punish a person for a mistake?

Actually, this post is not really about Pete Rose. It's about loving people while they are alive. Having conducted many funerals over the years I am always amazed at the number of people who send flowers to a funeral. How much better might it have been if they had given their flowers to their loved ones while they were still living. People say so many kind and loving words about the deceased; I'm sure they would have loved to have heard those comments while they were living.

I want to kiss my wife every morning and before we go to bed at night. I want to tell her I love her every time I leave the house and many times during the day. I want to tell my children and grandchildren how much I love them. I want to give them special memories that will outlast me. I want those people who are special to me to know how special they are while we both are alive. I want to give my flowers while we are alive.

Do you need to give some flowers this week to someone special in your life? Is there someone you need to show how much you appreciate them? Give those flowers. Speak those words of appreciation, Show them how much you love them.

Worship leader needed

North Madison Baptist Church in Madison, IN is in need of a worship leader. This person needs to be familiar with both traditional and contemporary music, be able to plan and lead worship and have a vital relationship with Jesus Christ. This person will also need to be able to play a musical instrument such as piano or guitar. Due to health reasons we do not have a regular pianist.

The church will celebrate its 175th anniversary in November of this year, but we are basically in a restart mode. Like many churches, our attendance has not recovered since Covid. I served as the Transitional Pastor of the church for about a year before accepting the position as pastor about two months ago. I am convinced that God has great things in store for this church so this is an opportunity for someone to be part of building something great for the Kingdom of God.

If you believe God is leading you to serve as our worship leader, please respond to this post. I would be glad to meet you and share my dreams and thoughts about the future of this church. 

Dealing with doubt

 Even the strongest of Christians may have times of doubt. Billy Graham tells the story of a period in his life when he began to question some things he was preaching. At a conference he was asked to lead early in his ministry he walked into the woods near the conference center and began to ask God if the Bible was really true. After a period of time he rose to his feet absolutely convinced that the Bible was true, his faith was true and his calling was to preach the truth. Perhaps his most famous line after that experience was "The Bible says...."

Studies find that nearly 60 percent of young people leave the Christian faith after their 15th birthday. A number of reasons have been identified, but one of the major ones is that no one is willing to answer their questions. They may have serious questions and doubts about Christianity, but they find their church is not a safe place to ask those questions or express their doubts. One 17-year-old girl told me that was the case in her youth group. She asks a lot of tough questions and spends much time reading her Bible, but she said when she asks questions in the youth group she is either ignored or given simplistic answers that really do not answer her questions. Unfortunately, this is too often the case.

Churches must be a safe place for people to ask their questions. No person should be made to feel ashamed for expressing doubts about their faith or for asking questions. In fact, questions should be encouraged for they show the person is thinking critically about Christianity, and answering the questions may help them solidify their faith.

There are two warnings when we attempt to answer people's questions or address their doubts. One, we don't want to make up answers when we don't know the answer. Young people are especially tuned to such answers and can see through them. It's far better to admit that we don't know and we will attempt to find the answer and respond to them at that time. There will also be some questions we will never be able to answer, and we need to honestly admit that. Here is where the faith factor of Christianity comes into play. But, we don't want to fall back on that response too often. There may well be an answer to the question that we can find with a little research.

The other warning is that we need to understand the purpose of the question. As someone has said, behind every question is a questioner. We need to know the questioner so we can understand what is behind the question. If a six-year-old child asks, "Who made God?" that is a much different question than if it is asked by a university biology professor. In the first case, the child is probably asking out of genuine interest. In the second case, the question may well be asked as a challenge to Christianity or being asked because the professor is honestly seeking God and needs answers to some of his questions. Our answer would be the same in both cases but would need to be framed differently. It's important to know the questioner and the reason behind the question before answering.

Jesus asked a lot of questions, and He was not afraid of questions. We need to be like Him. Don't be afraid of questions but respond to them truthfully, biblically and with grace.

Ministry challenges today

In 2021 I published an e-book titled Is Your Church Ready for Ministry in the Coming Decade? It had been a few years since I had published a book, and I didn't realize how much the publishing world had changed. It was nearly impossible to find a publisher willing to look at any book that did not come to them from an agent, and it seemed many agents were more interested in the author's social media followers than in the content of a book. I finally gave up and released it as an e-book with Amazon. Of course, the problem with that is that same year 2.3 million self-published e-books hit the market. It's easy for these books to get lost in the shear volume of available books.

I wrote this book because pastors and churches are facing new challenges as our society continues to change. Ministry today is much different than when I first began as pastor in 1981. While there is nothing new under the sun, the issues people now face are much more in the open than they were in the recent past. The church is constantly being challenged to address issues that previous generations of pastors never had to face. If we are to speak a word of hope to our culture we must understand these challenges and think about how to best address them.

The book contains chapters on several of the bigger challenges facing today's church. Issues such as racial reconciliation, mental illness, poverty, addictions, suicide, sexual issues and many more are included in the book. I tried to bring some of the latest studies into the discussion of each topic and show how the church can speak to the issues lovingly and, at the same time, be true to what Scripture teaches.

I seldom promote my books on this blog because that is not the purpose of this site. However, like I said earlier, so many e-books are published each year they can easily get lost in the crowd. This book sells for only $6.95 and is available on your Kindle devices. If you think it might be helpful to your ministry you can find it here. Thank you.

Why do people attend a church for the first time?

 Sam Rainer recently shared on his Facebook page research done by Church Answers to determine what would be a reason someone would begin to attend church regularly. It mostly goes along with previous studies done over the past few years.

    To grow spiritually                    32%

    Someone invited me                  22%

    God told me to go                      20%

    Spouse wants me to go              17%

    Other                                          16%

    Life crisis                                    16%

    Family connection                      15%

    To meet new friends                    13%

    Preaching quality                        10%

    Good music I like                        10%

    Programming for children            7%

Notice that the bottom three are often the things churches think will draw in new people. What their study found was that these things may cause transfer growth from other churches, but are not the primary attractions for unchurched people.

Another question asked in the research was why people attended the church they currently attend, and the number one response was because someone invited them (41%). Other studies consistently find that the ones most effective in inviting others to attend church is not the pastor, but friends and family of the one being invited.

When I served as a Resource Minister I often heard complaints that the church wasn't growing, and the pastor was usually the one blamed. I heard it so often that I finally began to push back and ask the one complaining how many people he or she had brought into the church. The answer I usually received was...none. As I pointed out to one person, their pastor had been at the church for two years; they had been members there for three decades and yet not one person attended that church because they had invited them. Our meeting ended rather quickly at that point!

Church growth is the responsibility of every member. I am not familiar with a single study that does not find that a large proportion of people would attend a church if someone they knew and trusted invited them. We can, and should, do everything we can to make the church attractive to first-time guests, but if we expect them to show up we have to invite them. There's nothing wrong with having a first-rate youth and children's ministry. There's nothing wrong with having a worship service that will allow people to experience God. Certainly, our preaching should be theologically sound and relevant to the needs of people, always pointing them to Jesus Christ. But, if we are not inviting people to our churches, none of these things will matter.

Who will you invite to your next service?

Questions from yesterday's blog

There were some good questions raised after yesterday's blog appeared about my meeting with a church to help them transition from having a fully-funded pastor to a bivocational one. Let me try to respond to a couple of those questions.

One person asked if a current fully-funded pastor can remain as pastor if the church does transition to having a bivocational pastor. This is the plan of the church I met with Monday evening. Much of this depends on the pastor and the congregation. In some ways, this pastor will have an advantage as he has been at the church for some time and has developed a lot of trust with the congregation. If the church called a new pastor, it would take some time for this trust to develop. I have found that trust is a key element in a church that is required to make anything change possible. This pastor is willing to go bivocational, and I believe has already found another job. From his comments he also seems aware of some of the challenges he will face. I am hopeful that it works out well for him, his family and the church.

There are other times when such a transition will require calling a new person. I have met with fully-funded pastors who resented being asked by the church if they would consider going bivocational. Such people will not transition into that role well. Some felt bivocational ministry was beneath them. Others believed they did not go through seminary to become a part-time pastor (their words). With such negative attitudes, it's unlikely that they will transition into a bivocational role. In such cases, it's probably best if they move on and the church seek a bivocational minister to lead them.

A second question asked was about some of the hardest changes the church should expect. Two immediately come to mind. One is that the church may feel like they have failed and develop a poor self-image of themselves. Many smaller churches, especially those that were once larger ones, can develop serious self-esteem issues. They may feel God has abandoned them, wonder what they have done wrong, begin to blame pastors or others for the decline and struggle to see anything in their future. It's important that pastors of smaller churches address self-esteem issues with their congregations and help them get some wins under their best so they can begin to feel better about themselves.

A second challenge will be managing the expectations of the congregation. There will be some in the congregation who will still expect the same level of ministry from the pastor as he or she provided when they were fully-funded. That's why I emphasized to the church I met with that they would have to communicate over and over again to the congregation what the church now expected from their bivocational pastor and to protect him if persons began to demand more. As I told them, my experience has been that if those expectations are not controlled that the transition to bivocational ministry failed in every situation in which it was tried.

The transition to bivocational ministry

Last night I was privileged to meet with a church and pastor who are transitioning to bivocational ministry. To my knowledge, this church has always been served by a fully-funded pastor so this is a major transition for them. The pastor is agreeable to the change, and, I believe, has already found other employment. I was asked to come in and discuss what the transition will look like and what problems to avoid. I was very impressed with the questions people asked and the desire of the church to be fair to the pastor and his family.

One of the things I explained to them is that bivocational ministry was the norm for most Baptist and Methodist churches until the 1950s. As people moved west their pastors were typically store keepers, teachers, farmers and others who were not usually trained in theology or ministry but who had a heart for ministry and felt a calling to serve their community. In the 1950s denominations began to move towards a more professional ministry, and churches began to seek a fully-funded, seminary educated pastor to serve their churches.

For the past several years we have seen this shift back to a renewed interest in finding bivocational ministers. There are several reasons for this. There are fewer fully-funded pastors available who are willing to serve in traditional churches. Many churches have shrunk in size since Covid. More and more people find the church irrelevant to their lives and simply no longer attend. A growing number of people claim to be spiritual but are not interested in Christianity. The list goes on, but the bottom line is that many churches are seeing fewer people which also translates into reduced financial support, and this often drives the move towards bivocational ministers.

I explained to this church that the transition will not be an easy one as some people will continue to have expectations of the pastor that he or she can no longer meet with a second job. The pastor relations committee will have to have his back when these complaints arise. There will need to be many conversations with the congregation about what his new responsibilities will look like, and lay leaders will need to fill the gap in the things he can no longer do. This can be a time of growth for this congregation, or any who makes this transition, but only if everyone steps up and uses their gifts to serve the congregation and the community.

Everyone present understood there will be growing pains during this change. It appears there is good trust between the pastor and congregation which will help, but all the planning in the world won't eliminate every problem. There will be times when it's necessary to renegotiate the expectations for both the church and the pastor, but I believe this church has the maturity to do that well. I pray this will be a successful transition.

Fallen ministers

 This morning I read about another ministry leader who had resigned from ministry due to immoral behavior. It seems that few weeks go by that we do not read of a similar instance, many of them pastors and ministry leaders of megachurches. However, the problem is not limited to the leadership of large churches. I have known several pastors of smaller churches, some of them friends of mine, who have experienced similar failures.

I write this blog not to condemn these leaders, but to remind each of us that anytime a person goes into the ministry he or she has a target on their backs. Satan knows if he can ruin the reputation of a ministry leader he can do great damage to the church, to the family of the fallen leader and to the unchurched world who concludes that such leaders cannot be trusted.

Several years ago the Catholic church was under attack for the actions of some of its church leaders. I remember at the time a Protestant leader warning against believing it was only the Catholic church that had such problems with their leaders. He predicted we would soon hear of similar failures within the Protestant churches as well. His prophecy has proven true.

It is a mistake for anyone to think they are above moral failure. Such failures usually do not happen overnight. They are the result of a series of actions on our part and those of others. No doubt some in ministry would be considered sexual predators using their position to lure people into sexual activities. However, I believe that most immoral behavior occurs over a period of time as pastors become more isolated from others and have little accountability in their lives. 

Ministry leaders must protect themselves from such failures in their lives. Mike Pence was criticized as Vice President because he would not be along with a woman who was not his wife. He was following a rule Billy Graham followed many years ago. That rule protected both men from even the hint of sexual scandal, and is a rule I have followed for much of my ministry. Isn't it interesting that those who issued such criticisms against both men have not found it necessary to criticize entertainers, politicians and others who have multiple affairs?

Social media is an area where we must be very careful. I once read that Facebook was the number one cause of divorce today as old flames met each other online and began communicating. It's very important that we are careful about what we say in a text message as it is easy to  be misunderstood even if we didn't mean anything inappropriate. My phone is always available for my wife to look at, and I often just leave it on the counter even when I go out.

As important as it is for ministry leaders to have guidelines in place for their relationships with others, it is equally important that persons in the church pray for their leaders. Remember that Satan would like nothing more than to destroy your pastor. Keep him or her in your prayers that they will be recognize any attack he might send against them and that they will be able to resist every attack.

Using volunteers in ministry

Some pastors struggle giving away ministry. That struggle may come because people in his or her church don't want the responsibility. They believe that ministry belongs to the pastor. He or she is the one "hired" to do the ministry. Their only responsibility is to sit back, support the church with their tithes and evaluate how well the pastor is doing what he or she is supposed to do. If this describes your church, you are in a very dysfunctional church. Unfortunately, this mindset probably exists because former pastors taught the church to think this way. Dr. Phil reminds us that we teach people how to treat us.

Many pastors struggle to give away ministry because they want to be needed. In fact, they need to be needed. Their ego requires it. It's what they've been trained to do, and some believe that no one can do ministry better then they can, at least not a volunteer. This is a very short-sighted, and unbiblical, approach to ministry.

In the Bible we see Jesus consistently giving away ministry to His disciples. I'm sure you would agree that He certainly could have done it better, but He also knew that to deprive the disciples of the opportunity to minister would have also deprived them of opportunities to grow. Sometimes they got it wrong, but even those were growing opportunities. As they served others with His guidance, they grew in their ability to minister. Later, when Jesus was gone, they became known as the people who turned the world upside down.

Isn't it interesting that in Acts 6 we find the disciples following Jesus' example. They gave away part of their ministry to those we often now refer to as deacons in the church. The apostles recognized that they could not do it all so they chose others to be responsible for some aspects of the ministry. Later, as the church grew they appointed pastors and elders to serve the churches in various locations. As more and more people were involved in hands-on ministry, the church continued to grow.

John Maxwell has said that one is too small a number for greatness. If you want your church to have a great ministry in your community, it takes more than the pastor doing ministry. His or her role is to equip the saints to do the work of ministry. The more people in a congregation who recognize their responsibility to do ministry, the more the church can grow and influence their community.

Don't be afraid to give away ministry. It's not your ministry anyway; it's God's. Jesus wasn't afraid to give God's ministry to volunteers. Be like Jesus! 

Life-Long learning

 In a survey I did in 2004 among bivocational pastors in the American Baptist Churches, USA I learned that there were a variety of educational backgrounds. Some had a college education, usually in the secular field in which they worked, a few had master's degrees and even fewer had doctorates. Many had no education beyond high school. That was my category when I began as a bivocational pastor.

Every so often in this blog I have an article about life-long learning because I believe it is essential for bivocational and fully-funded pastors as well. Even though I now have a masters degree and a doctorate, I do not necessarily believe they are required for ministry. But, even with such degrees I am convinced that every minister must be committed to life-long ministry.

Our world is constantly changing, and if a minister does not keep up with those changes he or she will soon find themselves irrelevant to the culture they are trying to reach. Exegeting Scripture is important, but so is exegeting our culture. I began my pastoral ministry in 1981, but if I was to try to repeat what I did then now my ministry would be mostly ineffective. Our world has changed, and our ministries must change as well if we hope to reach this current culture.

Please don't misunderstand. Our message does not change, but our methods must change. Some churches and denominations have decided they must become "woke" if they are going to be relevant to our culture. These churches and denominations are rapidly shrinking in size because they have abandoned the Word of God and substitutes the accepted politically correct views found in today's culture. I predict they will continue to decline until they no longer exist. God will write "Ichabod" (the glory of God has departed), and they will one day fade from existence.

Our methods of sharing the gospel must change. There was a time in my ministry when it was acceptable to go door to door inviting people to church. People today consider that an interruption. Quite honestly, so do I. I don't like people I don't know ringing my doorbell trying to sell me something I don't want. There was a time when churches held one or two revivals every year. The problem was few people after the 1960s ever got "revived." Churches still had their revival meetings because that was all they knew to do. Today, most churches understand such meetings are largely ineffective.

I could go on about the changes that have taken place since I began my ministry, but if we don't learn what doesn't work we will keep doing things that are not productive. Life-long learning is essential if we are to understand our generation.

I urge each reader to commit to being a life-long learner. Attend conferences. Read books. Find a mentor or coach who can help challenge you and answer your questions. Believe me, it will make a difference in your ministry.

Leadership is key

I written repeatedly in this blog that everything rises and falls on leadership. It's true in the business world, it's true in families, it's true in personal achievements and it is certainty true in churches. Every success can be traced back to good leadership; every failure is the result of poor leadership. I wrote an e-book  a few several years ago called Mistakes: Avoiding the Wrong Decisions that Will Close Your Small Business. A friend who read it said I was too hard on myself, but I don't think so. I was solely responsible for the decisions that caused our business to fail.

Success in any endeavor is directly related to the ability of the leader. That small business I managed failed due to many reasons, but the primary one was my failure as a leader. Churches succeed or fail as a direct result of the leadership of the pastor and lay leaders the church has selected. That may sound harsh, but it is true. If the leadership does not possess a fresh vision from God about the future ministry of the church and lead the church to fulfill that vision, the church will fail.

As a regional minister in our denomination I saw too many pastors simply going through the motions hoping to survive to retirement. It's not that they were doing anything wrong; they simply were not doing enough things right. Some were in difficult churches that refused to move forward, and they had grown weary in trying to move them. I compare such churches to a rope, and everyone knows how difficult it is to try to push a rope. These pastors have given up and just want to hang on until they can retire. I can understand their frustration, but it's a shame regardless.

When I retired I was responsible for 133 churches. A few of those pastors simply had little leadership ability, and didn't want any. They had been trained to manage churches and were quite content to do so. They possessed little vision for ministry and had no idea where God wanted to lead their churches. They simply followed what they had been taught in seminary. Manage the system, keep everyone happy and be willing to move every 3-4 years. If it sounds like I'm being harsh, perhaps I am, but I am sharing what I've seen in many pastors.

I have three degrees. I am not against education as some claim, but I am against the management of churches instruction that is taught in too many seminaries. Pastors are not called to manage churches; we are called to lead them in ministry. The fact that the majority of our churches are declining should point out that failure of our educational system for pastors. We need leaders; not managers. We need men and women who are not interested in climbing the ministerial ladder to bigger churches but are interested in pursuing God's will for their churches.

Let me say this as kindly as possible. If your church is stuck, it is because your church is being led by managers, not leaders. You need someone who will help you get unstuck. You need a leader who has a vision from God about where your church is to go and the courage to help you go there. Without such a leader, you will remain stuck and of limited use to the kingdom of God. 

Knowing God

 How well do you know God? Can you describe His attributes? Perhaps more importantly, do you know what His attributes mean to you? On September 8 we will begin a new series of messages at North Madison Baptist Church to help answer some of those questions.

Numerous studies over the past several years has shown that many Christians have a very incomplete understanding of God. Many Christians cannot answer even basic questions related to biblical teaching, and many struggle to explain the nature of God to others. As a result, many Christians have a very shallow faith and are unwilling to attempt to share their faith with others.

In this six-week series starting September 8 we will explore some of the attributes of God. Obviously, we cannot cover all His attributes in only six weeks, but this will be a start. Not only will we explain particular attributes, we will show what those attributes mean to us. For example, one of His attributes we will examine is his omniscience. This means He knows all things, but what does that mean for us? Actually, as I will point out in the message, it offers us hope and comfort, but it also serves as a warning.

We are making the start of this series a Big Event and asking our members to invite their unchurched friends to attend our worship service during this series. Each person or family who attends on September 8 will receive a copy of the excellent book In Search of Christ by Lee Strobel. Strobel wrote this book after his wife became a Christian. As an atheist he wanted to find evidence that Christianity was not true. He was an award-winning journalist at the time and felt his skills in journalism would lead him to the truth. It did, but it wasn't the truth he sought. After interviewing people about the claims of Christianity he discovered that the evidence was overwhelming that Christianity was true and became a Christian. He is now a teaching pastor at Saddleback Church. It is an excellent book for anyone wanting to honestly explore the claims of Christianity.

We want to help people want to help people experience a meaningful, life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ. We want to help people grow in this faith, and this series of messages on the attributes of God is just one step in this process. Please mark your calendars for the six weeks starting with September 8 and plan on joining us for these special messages. Our worship service begins at 10:30.

When Life Knocks You Down

 Nobody goes through life without getting knocked down a few times. Financial reversals hit. A simple medical test reveals some potential problems that require further testing. Relationships fail when someone you loved walks out. Companies downsize and you're no longer needed. Sometimes it seems like we get knocked down by one thing, and by the time we get back up, something else knocks us off our feet. I know I've been knocked down more than once. But, there is something else I know.

God has always been there to help pick me up. Sometimes I stayed down longer than necessary, but that was a choice I made. There's been times I was ready to give up, but He wouldn't let me. I'm thankful for that. A passage of Scripture has become my personal mantra. Jesus said, "I'll never leave you nor forsake you." I have repeated that to myself many, many times when I've been going through difficult times. Believing that to be true has been the one thing that has brought me through some tough times.

I recently read about a one-legged skier competing in the Paralympics. She was competing against another one-legged skier who fell down during her run. The second skier was confident she would win until she also fell. The other person took the gold. When the silver medalist was told the other person was a faster skier she responded, "No. She just got up faster than I did."

Victory in life comes to those who get up quickly when they get knocked down. It's easy to have a pity party when life knocks you down, but that doesn't gain a person anything. Few people want to come to your pity party, but when you get back up and continue to live life to the fullest, people will cheer.

Three things have helped me when I've been knocked down. One, is the promise I mentioned earlier. I know God will never abandon me. The second thing is the church. Some people today think the church is irrelevant, but I have found in my seven decades of life that it is one of the most relevant things I've ever known. The third is my wife of almost 58 years. She has been my greatest cheerleader.

I would love to tell you how God can help when life knocks you down. Contact me.

Evangelicals on the decline

 There have been several reports lately about the decline in numbers of evangelicals. This should not be a surprise! Mainline Christians and denominations have been in decline for many years, and now this decline is impacting evangelical churches. The Southern Baptist Convention has been reporting fewer baptisms for a few years now, and I'm not aware of any evangelical denomination that has seen an increase in baptisms or church growth.

What we are seeing is an increase in new churches, many of which are not connected to any denomination. Just yesterday I saw a new church that was meeting in a rented facility just a few blocks from my home. Another newer church in our community has just completed a very nice worship facility just outside the city. In the building where I have my auction center there are currently two churches meeting on Sundays on opposite ends of the building. There have been several new churches started in our small community in the past few years, and I know of only one affiliated with any national organization. It is a Calvary Chapel church. I doubt that many of the persons attending these churches identity as evangelical Christians. If someone asked, they would probably just say they are Christians.

There are numerous reasons why such churches are being started, but one of the reasons goes back to my post of yesterday. Most traditional churches do a poor job of reaching out or appealing to young adults, and these are the ones these newer churches seem to be reaching. Lately, I've been watching a lot of praise and worship videos on YouTube. The venues are filled with young adults worshiping God. Many of them have uplifted hands, they are dancing and jumping, laughing as they worship. Where are they on Sunday mornings? Most are not in our more traditional churches. These young people will pay $50.00-$200.00 a ticket to attend one of these praise events, but many will not be found in our traditional, evangelical churches on Sunday morning. It might be easy to criticize them or question their faith, but it might be time to question ourselves. What is it that keeps them from our churches? Why do many of them find the newer churches so attractive?

I know these are difficult questions, but how long will we continue to kick this can down the road? As I've written before, if our traditional churches are not going to do what it requires to reach our current generation, God will raise up churches that will. It appears He is doing just that.

Six religious types

 I recently mentioned a book I was reading called Souls in Transition by Christian Smith and Patricia Snell. It is not a fast read as it describes an ongoing study of teens and young adults and their religious beliefs and practices. There are a lot of statistics, but there are also numerous stories that bring life to those figures. It is an excellent book for anyone working with young adults or churches wanting to reach persons 18-23.

The authors have identified six different types of young adults when it comes to religion and spiritualty. I believe they describe people of all age groups and found the chapter very interesting. You'll have to read the descriptions for yourself, but the types are

• Committed Traditionalists
• Selective Adherents
• Spiritually Open
• Religiously Indifferent
• Religiously Disconnected 
• Irreligious

There is no majority type in this list. The two largest minority types are the Selective Adherent and the Religiously Indifferent. Except for the first group, the remaining groups simply give little, if any, thought to Christianity or religion. This is one reason it is so hard to reach this age group. Christianity and the church is seldom even on their radar screen. There is too much else to do that seems more pressing. Some admit when they get married or older they may give more thought to faith issues and the church. However, by then their secular worldviews may prevent that from happening.

Why have persons in this age group developed such a disinterest in religion? There are many reasons, but I think one is that many were never exposed to religious teaching when they were younger. My parents took me to church almost every Sunday. I attended Sunday school, Vacation Bible School, morning worship service, and, often, the evening services. We went to revival meetings. As a teen I began to drift away from that, and as a young adult the age of this study had mostly abandoned the church and the teachings I had learned as a child. However, those teachings didn't leave me. In my later 20s I came to realize how much I needed God in my life and returned to Him and my earlier faith.

Unfortunately, many Boomer parents (my cohort) didn't take their children to church. They were not exposed to the teachings I learned as a child. Most haven't walked away from their faith; they never had a faith to begin with. I knew what I needed to return to; they don't know where to go when life starts crushing them.

It will take very intentional actions on the part of a church to reach this age group. Simply doing what the church has always done in the past probably won't get the job accomplished. I'm not sure many churches will be willing to give up their traditional practices in hopes of reaching an age group that shows little interest in God or Christianity. Perhaps that is why God is raising up so many new churches. They don't have to worry about traditions. They can simply do whatever they need to do to reach an age group that most of our churches are not reaching. If your church wants to reach this age group it will have to decide what it is willing to do to make that happen. As one pastor has said, their church will do anything except sin to reach new people for Jesus Christ.