The enemy of success

One day while I was serving as a Regional Minister in our denomination I was attending our monthly staff meeting. We began to discuss how ministry was changing and the problems many of our pastors were having with those changes. I commented that I felt that I had enjoyed a good 20 year ministry in my previous church, but I was certain that if I returned to pastoral ministry, I could not repeat doing what I had been doing and have a successful ministry. I also shared that I wasn't certain I could make the changes necessary to have an effective ministry in today's climate.

John Maxwell reminds us that "the greatest enemy of tomorrow's success is sometimes today's success." We think we can just keep repeating what has worked in the past or is working now, and it will work in the future. That's not always the case. Ford no longer only offers its cars in black. Families no longer watch television programs in black and white. Things change. People's expectations change. New and better ways of doing things are constantly being developed, and, yes, this even includes the church.

There is nothing especially wrong with traditions unless they block progress. Many churches are driven by their traditions, and any attempt to circumvent the traditions is often met with great resistance. What we forget is that many of our traditions today were challenges to the traditions of the past. Those older traditions had to be replaced by new ways of thinking and acting for the church to move forward in its culture. The same is true for today's church.

One of the great needs of today's church are people who are willing to think outside the box. Instead of just learning what the traditions of a church are we need people who will ask why those traditions exist and do they continue to serve any purpose. Do they help or hinder the church in fulfilling its purpose in today's world? When we find traditions that hinder we then need to have the courage to replace them with new ways of doing things.

I realize how scary that sounds to some people, even leaders. Many pastors like church traditions because they know what's expected of them and they don't have to learn new ways of doing ministry. But, this is not a mindset that leads to successful ministry. This kind of thinking does not lead to changed lives.

Someone once said the seven last words of a dying church are "We've never done it that way before." In 14 years of regional ministry I have seen those words played out in too many churches who would prefer to die than change. We used to hear people say that if something wasn't broken, don't break it. A better saying might be "If it isn't broken, break it, because it will soon be obsolete anyway." Not all traditions need to be discarded, but most churches would be well served to take a look at their traditions and determine if they are helping or hindering your ministry. Boldly replace the ones that hinder ministry and prepare for a greater harvest than your church has perhaps seen in years. 

Don't rest on your success

 I recently read a quote from John Maxwell that said "Don't rest on the best - build on the best." That is a powerful thought for every church leader. Several years ago a small church completed a building project that exceeded what many outside that church thought possible. It was a great accomplishment. At the dedication service they were challenged to celebrate their achievement today, but tomorrow they needed to discern a fresh vision from God. It appears they did not as they have remained stuck ever since. Had they built on the momentum they had from completing the building project there is no telling what else they could have accomplished.

Go into many smaller churches in the area in which I live and you might find a wall covered with pictures from the past of large crowds who attended church homecomings or other special events. One has to wonder how that many people could have fit in that small building. Now, there may be no more than two or three dozen people attending the worship service. Those pictures are a reminder of the glory days of the church. They are something to celebrate, but those days are long past. They are no more than a memory to a handful of people. Rather than building on those best days of the church, they remain stuck in the present circumstances of being in a dying church that long ago ceased to have the impact it once had.

My advice for any church that is stuck and uncertain what to do is to begin seeking a vision from God. From that vision, identify some goals that will help you achieve the vision. If your church has not enjoyed much success lately I encourage you to set some small goals at first. Help the congregation get some wins under their belt. Celebrate those wins! I've often said we Baptists don't celebrate enough. Celebrate, but then begin to set a new goal, one that will stretch you just a little bit more. When that goal is reached, celebrate some more. Continue to repeat the cycle. Suddenly, you will find that you are achieving more than you possibly might have thought possible. Let every victory stretch you and your congregation a little more, and every time you achieve something, build upon that.

Will every goal be reached? No. Will you enjoy success every time you set out to do something? No, and that's OK. I would rather fail occasionally trying to accomplish something for God that sit around doing nothing but complain about how great it was in the "good old days." Failure gives us an opportunity to learn. Just as we should build on our successes, we should also build upon our failures.

I firmly believe that unless a church gives up and decides to remain in the rut, that the best days of every church are yet to be lived. The church belongs to God, and it is the instrument He has chosen to use to further His kingdom here on earth. It might look like the church is in trouble today, but I will tell you that the world has yet to see what God is going to do through His church. If you want your church to be greatly used by God, don't rest on your successes but build upon them. If you do, you will be amazed at how God will use your church.

Our words are powerful

In a lecture a Rabbi asked his audience if they could go 24 hours without saying anything unkind to or about someone. Some admitted they could not. He explained that if he had asked if they could go 24 without drinking alcohol and they could not they would have to admit they were an alcoholic. If they cannot go that long without speaking unkindly about others then they need to admit they cannot control their tongue.

The same is true when we are speaking to ourselves. In fact, some say that the most impactful conversations we have each day are the ones we have with ourselves. When we speak negatively to ourselves about ourselves we begin to believe that those things are true. If you frequently tell yourself that you are a failure, or that you are stupid, or that you can't do anything right or that you don't deserve to be loved, you are going to believe those things about yourselves, and it will be very difficult to rise above those beliefs.

Sometimes we say those things to ourselves because others have spoken them into us. People who were raised in a family that kept saying negative and hurtful things to them grow up often believing such things. They continue replaying that audio loop they were raised with and return to that every time things don't work out the way they had hoped. In time, they may even quit trying to rise above those negative beliefs they have about themselves.

If you are someone who struggles with negative self-talk I encourage you to begin today speaking positive things into your spirit. An excellent place to begin is with Scripture. The Bible tells us we are fearfully and wonderfully made. It reminds us that nothing can separate us from the love of God. We read in Scripture that we are a people chosen by God. There are hundreds of positive affirmations in Scripture that apply to each one of us. Search out those affirmations, and as you read them substitute your name in the Scripture. For instance, "Nothing can separate Dennis from the love of God." Begin each day speaking these biblically positive comments to yourself. Write them on index cards to review during the day, especially when things may not be going well.

If you will do this it can turn your life around and fill you with renewed hope and confidence.

Developing good habits leads to good results

 As 2020 was drawing to a close I encouraged our church to commit to reading through the Bible in 2021. I explained there were several ways to do that and even provided a tract with a reading schedule, that if followed, would allow them to read completely through the Bible in one year. I also explained that I would not be following the tract but would do as I normally did when reading through the Bible; I would read three chapters each morning. That's all it takes to read through the Bible in one year!

Like anything that is done on a consistent basis, there are mornings I am not inspired to read the Bible. Maybe I get up late and feel rushed. Perhaps I didn't sleep well and lack the motivation to read my three chapters. I may wake up with other things on my mind that I want to address first. No matter, I fix my coffee, go into my study, open my Bible and read my three chapters. Then I'm free to do the other things I need to do.

Developing good habits is essential to enjoying any kind of success in life. People have little to no savings because they have not developed the habit of spending less than they make and saving the rest. Many students struggle in school because they've not developed the habit of studying. Some people struggle with job losses because they have not developed the habit of being lifelong learners. Many Christians struggle spiritually because they have not developed the habit of studying the Scriptures. Some business leaders struggle because they have not mastered the habit of being ethical and honest in their business dealings.

It's important to decide what you want from life and identifying the habits you need to develop that will help you achieve and maintain that. When you do identify those habits and begin to practice them, you will find the next challenge is to remain consistent in doing them. It's so easy to compromise on occasion. You know you should go to the gym, but it's raining and you're tired and you need gas in your car and your gray suit is in the cleaners. I know, the gray suit has nothing to do with your decision, but any excuse is as good as any other. Regardless of the reason, you talk yourself out of going to the gym that day which makes it that much easier to not go to the gym on other days.

When I was pursuing my doctorate I was working full-time in ministry and had a family. Although I only had to be on campus one week for each course, they all required a lot of reading. I quickly realized that I could not read what I needed to study without a plan. I took my calendar and blocked off half-days for reading. Basically, I made an appointment with myself to read. Following that reading schedule became an important habit that allowed me to easily complete the required reading for each course.

Again, when you identify the things you need to do to accomplish the goals you have set, you can determine the habits you need to develop to be successful. Faithfully following those habits will lead to your success.

Goals and systems

 Perhaps one of the most powerful thoughts I've read this month comes from a book by James Clear who writes, "You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems." I've always been a big believer in setting goals, and they have helped me accomplish a lot of good things in my life, but the goals only give a person direction. The goals themselves do not accomplish anything. It's the systems we put in place that enable us to accomplish the goal.

For several years I had a goal of writing a book that year, and that goal was realized several times. However, it wasn't in the setting of the goal that enabled the book to be written; it was accomplished because I set systems in place that helped me write and publish the book. I committed a certain number of hours each day to the writing. I focused on doing the research that needed to happen for the book to have integrity. I was in contact with my publisher to keep me on track. Lots of things had to happen in order to have a system in place that would result in the book to be written and published. The goal gave me direction, but the system resulted in the end product.

This is true in all areas of our lives whether we are talking about our families, our careers, our businesses or our churches. Setting goals are important in every area of life, but without having good systems in place our goals will be nothing more than dreams.

As a denominational minister for 14 years I heard many churches tell me they wanted to grow, but when I looked at their systems it was obvious their systems would not lead them to grow. They would remain at a plateau at best and eventually begin to decline. They had no outreach system in place to reach new people outside their church. They had no discipleship system in place to help them grow their current members. They had no budgeting system that directed funds to outreach and growth. They had no youth ministry system in place that would retain and grow the number of youth in the church. They dreamed of growth, but that growth would not occur under their current systems. As I've told many church leaders, your system is perfectly designed for the results you are getting. If you want different results you have to change your systems.

One of the problems in changing systems is the pushback that comes from those who prefer the current system. I've warned churches that if they change their current systems they might lose some of the people they have, and some of these churches have been honest enough to say they don't want that to happen so they keep their systems. They did not want to lose the relationships they had with these individuals in the hopes of reaching new people. I understand that thinking, especially when there are no promises of reaching new people. Furthermore, even if new people are reached, it will probably happen slowly tempting the church to revert back to their old systems that were more comfortable. If the church decided to revert back, that is their decision to make. They just need to be honest enough to admit that growth really isn't a high priority for them.

Set your goals to give yourself direction, but spend more time creating the systems that will help you achieve that goal. It is the systems you establish that will give you success in all your endeavors.

Strategies for dealing with a dead horse

 In a recent Bible study I mentioned  that whipping a dead horse would not make it run any faster. As I said that I was trying to remember this list I had read in John Maxwell's excellent book Failing Forward: Turning Mistakes Into Stepping Stones for Success but was unable to do so. I've since looked it up. Here is his top ten strategies for dealing with a dead horse.

1. Buy a stronger whip.
2. Change riders.
3. Appoint a committee to study the horse.
4. Appoint a team to revive the horse.
5. Send out a memo declaring the horse isn't really dead.
6. Hire an expensive consultant to find "the real problem."
7. Harness several dead horses together for increased speed and efficiency.
8. Rewrite the standard definition of live horse.
9. Declare the horse to be better, faster, and cheaper when dead.
10. Promote the dead horse to a supervisory position.

What do I mean when I refer to a dead horse? It's any program or ministry in the church that has stopped producing results. Strategies that used to be effective are too often continued even though everyone knows they stopped being effective a long time ago. I suppose we continue doing them because it's what we know. Reluctant to make changes we remain stuck in ruts that lead to nowhere.

How many of these approaches have you seen churches do when dealing with a dead horse? I suppose I've seen just about all of them in one church or another. Sometimes churches even seem to follow them in order like a check-list. If number one doesn't work, let's try number two, and right on down the line. By the time we get to number ten a lot of time has passed by, and the church has even deeper problems.

When the horse is dead the only sensible thing to do is dismount. Rather than spending a lot of time trying to revive the dead horse find one that wants to run. In other words, begin to identify new programs, ministries and ways of doing things that make sense and produces results. It may mean that your church's structure will need to be overhauled. Years ago I read something that has stuck with me: Your system is perfectly designed for the results you are getting. It's true in business; it's true in families, and it's true in churches. Some of us have systems in place that cannot help but fail to produce positive results.

Of course, I realize that some of these dead horses are considered untouchable in some churches. When that is the case, any attempt to change one of these programs or ministries will be met with a huge outcry, "It won't be church without . . . ." At that point, if I may be allowed to change animals, the dead horse is now a sacred cow. Interestingly enough, I am getting ready to read Sacred Cows Make Gourmet Burgers: Ministry Anytime, Anywhere, By Anyone by Bill Easum. I may be able to share some ideas about how to deal with sacred cows in a few weeks.

Leading the team

 For a number of years I coached baseball in our parks department leagues. The leagues had rules that ensured that every child played in each game that I thought was fair to everyone involved. At the start of each season I had a meeting with the parents of my players and went over the rules and my expectations of the players. One of the things I explained to the parents was that I would ensure each player got to play in the game according to the rules that were in place, but I would not guarantee that every player played an equal amount of time in the games. While I wanted to be fair to each player I also had a responsibility to another group, and that was the team itself. I had to coach in a way that gave the team the opportunity to win the game. Having that meeting before the season caused me to have fewer parent problems during the season than some of the other coaches had. Occasionally, there would be an issue with a parent, but I would remind them of the earlier meeting. Only once or twice did a parent remove their child from the team I was coaching.

My last year of coaching a parent came to me after the season ended thanking me for coaching his son. I had him every year on my team, and until the last year he didn't play a lot. But, he kept getting better, and the last year he became a starter. The father told me how fairly his son had been treated and how much he had developed through the practices we had over the year.

Those in leadership positions at every level face the same thing, and this is true of church leaders as well. We cannot ignore the needs of individuals while at the same time we have to remember our greater responsibility is to the organization. Colin Sewell, the owner of several auto dealerships, has said, "Leaders have to make the best decisions for the largest group of people. Therefore leaders give up the right to cater to an individual if it hurts the team or the organization."

Most pastors tend to be people pleasers, so this can be difficult, but it doesn't make it any less true. Too often, churches give veto power to an individual or small group of individuals even if most of the church agrees with the direction in which the church wants to go. This is hurtful to the church and, more importantly, the work of the Kingdom of God. What is best for the team, whether that is a church, a business or an organization, must take priority over individuals.

When I worked in denominational ministry a lady called one time complaining about how the pastor of her church dressed on Sundays. She felt he should wear a suit and tie, but she said he dressed more like he was going to the golf course than to church. I asked if the rest of the church felt as she did, and she admitted most of the church had no problem with his dress, but it prevented her from being able to worship God. She wanted to know what she should do. I told her she probably needed to find another church where the pastor dressed according to her expectations. That was not the answer she expected!

In an old Star Trek movie Spock has a line with which he was forever associated. He entered a nuclear reactor to shut it down before it exploded and was dying as a result. When asked why he did so he responded, "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few." Leaders need to be reminded of this truth and not allow a handful of controllers to prevent the church from moving forward. We have a responsibility to meet the needs of the individuals but not at the expense of the team. I know from experience how difficult this can be at times, but no one said leadership was easy.

Know thyself

 The Greek philosopher Socrates said, "Know thyself." It's good advice, and it's one of the most difficult things we will ever do. It's not easy to look deep within ourselves to really know who we are and what we believe. Most of us can provide an outward show of what we believe people want us to be, but to look within ourselves and see what's really happening down in the depths of our being isn't as easy.

To know ourselves is to look at those values that make us who we are. These values drive our behavior affecting not only our own lives but also the lives of those around us. Too often, persons in leadership positions in business, politics and even in the church have done great harm to many by proclaiming one set of values and living another. Were these people intentionally pretending to be something they were not, or were they so self-unaware that they didn't know who they really were? There's probably some of both in play. Some are frauds who have mastered the art of fooling people. Others have simply not taken the time to really examine what drives them.

What values should we be looking for. John Maxwell, in his book The 5 Levels of Leadership: Proven Steps to Maximize Your Potential share three key areas: ethical values, relational values and success values. Ethical values are concerned with doing the right thing for the right reason. It's possible to do the right thing for the wrong reason. For instance, one can befriend someone with the long-range plan of taking advantage of them later. Being ethical means that we always strive to do the right things for the right reasons.

Relational values are focused on building trust and respect with other people. This involves doing what you say you are going to do, treating people with respect and dignity, and going the extra mile to serve them well.

Success values ensures that you set goals that are worthy of spending your life pursuing. There's nothing worse than climbing the ladder of success and finding out at the top that it was leaning against the wrong building. How do you measure true success in your life? The answer to that question will tell you much about your values.

To know yourself is the beginning of wisdom and is essential to enjoying true success in life. It's hard work, and it's not something you can do once and then ignore. It's important to re-examine yourself from time to time to make sure you are still on the right track with your values.

Speak into the lives of others

Author Mark Sanborn has said, "Great leaders help people have a larger vision of themselves." One of the most important things we can do is to speak into the lives of other people words that will help them elevate their self-confidence and belief in their God-given gifts and abilities.

Several years ago I was assisting a church with their pastor search. This was a very strong church whose previous pastor had served there for over two decades. They were having a lot of trouble finding the person they believed God had prepared for them. One day I thought of a pastor serving a church not that far from the one seeking a new pastor. He had not expressed interest in leaving his church although I knew he was struggling with their unwillingness to do much despite his best leadership efforts.

I called this pastor and asked his permission to submit his name to this church. Like Moses, he kept telling me all the reasons he couldn't possibly become the pastor of that church. I kept telling him that I believed he was ready to serve that church, and I was convinced he would do a good job. He kept disagreeing with me. Finally, I asked him to do two things: He and his wife should pray about this, and I asked him to contact another minister whose opinion I knew he respected and ask him if he believed this pastor was ready to serve this larger church. A few days later he called and told me he had done both things I asked, and if I still believed he could do a good job in that church he would give me permission to give his name to the search team. He continues to serve that church well today. All he needed was someone to help him develop a larger vision of himself than he had.

As the pastor of a small, rural church I often told our congregation how much I believed in them. I told them that I believed in them more than some of them believed in themselves, and I would regularly challenge our church to stretch ourselves more than some felt comfortable. Because the church had struggled for years prior to my going there the first few challenges were rather small, but as the congregation successfully completed those challenges, the next ones became larger. Our congregation did some amazing things during my time there, and it was all because they began to see a larger vision of themselves. I believe they began to see themselves as God sees them.

Many people go through life beaten down by people who speak doubt and discouragement into them. Eventually, when you hear those negative messages often enough you begin to believe them, and soon a never-ending loop of self-doubt begins to run through your mind. This makes it hard for someone to accomplish much of value or to even see the use in trying to do anything.

Each of us needs people in our lives who will speak words of power and victory into our lives. We need to know people believe in us and want to see us succeed. Each of us also needs to be persons who are speaking such words into the lives of others. We may turn around the life of someone by the positive words we speak to them. At the very least, we may change someone's day just by letting them know we believe in them and so does God. Look for ways to speak these words to someone today.

Start the new year off with a good book

In my last two posts of 2019 I shared my favorite ten books for the year. For the past several years I've averaged reading 50 books a year although the number was less in 2019. Some have asked how I can read so many books in a year. In fact, someone recently told me they have not read that many in their entire lives.

First, there are many people who read far more than one book a week. Last week I saw one person post the list of books he had read in 2019. He had read 65. One well-known leader claims to read 125 or more books a year. The voracious reading habits of such people as Warren Buffett, Mark Cuban, Bill Gates and others are well-documented.

Secondly, I have always loved reading. We didn't have a lot of books in our home growing up, but my mother made sure I went to the public library as often as I wanted. As a young child I probably read as many books as I do now. I read Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn numerous times and all of the Hardy Boys mystery books. Every week we went to the library where I would turn in the books I had read that week and pick up more. I do not know anything a parent can do to better prepare their children for life than to instill in them a love of reading.

For years I've shared my top 10 books on FB, but what about the ones I don't list. Some may wonder about those books. Virtually all of them are non-fiction. I seldom read more than one or two, if that many, fiction books a year. Most of them are ministry, business, leadership or theology books. These are the things that most interest me so I concentrate on learning more about them. Occasionally, I will throw in a book that is related to history or military or a biographical look of someone I want to know more about.

As I start a new decade I am reading Jesus Drives Me Crazy!: Lose Your Mind, Find Your Soul by Leonard Sweet and Connecting: Healing Ourselves and Our Relationships by Larry Crabb. Both of these are re-reads that have been sitting in my library since I last read them a few years ago. Jesus Drives Me Crazy is my devotional reading right now. In Sweet's unique style he reminds us of how the wisdom of Jesus seems crazy to the way normal people think and live, and yet it is living according to this wisdom where true life is found.

Crabb is a well-known therapist whose book challenges Christians to form healing communities to bring about true healing for hurting people. He writes, "We have made a terrible mistake! For most of this century we have wrongly defined soul wounds as psychological disorders and delegated their treatment to trained specialists. Damaged psyches aren't the problem. The problem is disconnected souls. What we need is connection! What we need is a healing community!"

In the last mail I received in 2019 came The Infinite Game by Simon Sinek. In this book the author asks, How do you win a game that has no end? Baseball has nine innings; basketball is played in two halves; football games last four quarters. There are a set number of players that can be on each team. The way one scores is clearly laid out in the rules. At the end of the game the team that scores the most points wins.

However, life isn't like that. Businesses, organizations, families and churches play an infinite game with no defined end point. While the organization may enjoy successes along the way, the game never ends. Sinek claims that one of the reasons many organizations struggle is because their leaders are playing an infinite game with a finite mindset. He seeks to change that mindset in this book. I have already started reading it and finding it an excellent read.

Several times in my life I have read through the Bible in a year. This year I decided to read through the New Testament. I usually read a different version each time, and this year I decided to use The Message.

What books are you planning to read in this new year? Pick some good ones because they have the power to change your life.

The importance of church leadership

Throughout my three-and-a-half decades of ministry I have noticed that leadership is lacking in many churches. Pastors are often content to manage their churches, not lead them. Those who do attempt to provide some leadership often lead by consensus. It's like the politician who has to check with the latest polls before taking a stand on an issue.

A politician was once asked his opinion on a certain issue. He responded that some of his friends were for it and some were opposed to it. He was asked again his opinion, and he replied that he agreed with his friends. Sounds like what happens in many of our churches.

Many, many times I've written in this blog that everything rises and falls on leadership. No organization, including churches, can rise higher than its leadership. When the pastor is a leader he or she will attract other leaders. Leaders are drawn to other leaders.

Go to some larger church's websites and look at the pictures of the staff serving that church. Don't limit yourself to just the well-known churches led by celebrity pastors. Pick an state and a denomination and begin to click on the websites listed there. I did this earlier in the week and was amazed at how often the larger churches had a staff that appeared to be sharp and on top of their ministries. I realize you can't tell much from looking at pictures, and some of these people may have been dumber than a bowl of soup, but as I read their bios I doubt that was the case. My first thought was the senior pastor must be a good leader or there would not be so many other leaders willing to serve those churches. It didn't surprise me that these were some of the largest churches in their communities.

Pastoral ministry is challenging, and when the pastor seeks to lead the church rather than merely manage the machinery, it can become even tougher. Many pastors have the scars to prove how challenging leading can be, but they can also point to great successes that occurred because they dared to lead. Jesus never promised that following Him would be easy. In fact, He consistently taught just the opposite. For those of us in leadership, it can be even more challenging, but lead we must.

Are you leading your church into the future God desires for it, or are you willing to manage it until you can move on to another church? Our churches are crying out for leadership even if they don't know it. Give them the leadership they need.

Action, not mere words, are needed

I did not watch the State of the Union address this week. In fact, I stopped watching them several years ago. It has been reduced to political theater with both parties inviting spectators that might embarrass the other side, the president's party applauding every few moments while the other party sits on their hands, and a lot of words that seldom are translated into action. Personally, when the Speaker refused to allow the STOU to be delivered in the House chambers during the government shutdown, I was hoping the president would deliver it from the Oval Office. Then he would have been speaking to the people without the political spectacle. I would have watched it if that had occurred because it would have seemed to have more meaning.

During the SOTU, and most political speeches, many words are spoken. What one needs to check out is what happens when the cameras stop rolling. Is there actually any action taken on anything that was said? The president called for unity. Will that happen? Can that happen? I would say not as long as both parties refuse to yield on anything substantial, and it doesn't appear that is going to occur.

The president talked about the dignity of every person, including the unborn. He asked Congress to pass a bill that would ban late-term abortions. This excited his political base, but will this translate into any action? From past experience, and the response of the Democrats in the House, it's unlikely. More talk, no action, and this action on many of the issues facing the nation continues to bring harm.

Of course, this isn't much different that what occurs in many churches. Churches talk a lot about growing, but many of them will oppose anything that is new that might lead to growth. There is much talk about evangelism, and little evangelism actually taking place. There are many sermons on the importance of prayer, but few in the church pray with any consistency, and if the church even still has a prayer service during the week it will be the poorest attended service in the church. The church talks a lot about the importance of making disciples, but few have any idea of what a disciple might look like nor do they have plans for how to help people grow into discipleship.

Talk is cheap in the political and church arenas. It's easy to say the words that will fire up the base, but it's much more difficult to put those words into action. There are always those who prefer the status quo because that is where they are the most comfortable. If nothing is done, nothing changes. Everything continues as before, but in time everything becomes less effective, less relevant, and less likely to address the changes occurring in our world.

Anyone who attempts to actually do something will have their critics, but again, their words are cheap and meaningless. When Nehemiah was rebuilding the walls around Jerusalem he had his vocal critics who tried to discourage the people and halt the work. He refused to listen to them, and he refused to allow them to stop the work.

Ann Coulter, once a strong supporter of President Trump, has become just as vocal in her current criticism. Some have suggested that if she feels she could do better she should run for the office. Recently, she told Bill Maher there's not a chance she would run. Of course not. If she was elected then she would have to do something besides offering her trade-mark flamethrower criticisms. She well knows that it's much easier to criticize, to offer up talk, than to actually accomplish something. Unfortunately, talk alone doesn't bring about the changes we need in our churches and our nation.

A new year, a new start

Let me begin by wishing my readers a Happy New Year. For some of you, you were probably glad to see 2018 end. You think that the new year will have to be better! Overall, our family had a good 2018, but we are praying for an even better 2019 as well.

The new year is always exciting for me because I see in it the opportunities for new beginnings. I start off the year with a fresh, clean calendar on my desk ready to be filled with exciting opportunities. And that is what a new year brings: new opportunities. 365 of them in fact.

I do not make New Year's resolutions. I prefer setting goals, written goals, to help make me more accountable than resolutions. One of my goals this year is to focus more study time on theology. Some might argue that everything a minister studies is theological. That may or may not be true, but we seldom focus our attention on theology itself. It seems I am especially drawn to studying systematic theology. The good news is I have shelves of theology books to read so I don't have to buy new ones unless I run across something I simply must read!

Last year I did not play one round of golf due to my busy schedule. When my schedule eased up a little, I broke a bone in my right foot and still couldn't play. I don't intend to let that happen again this year. Not only do I plan to play golf, but I want to take my wife fishing this year, another thing we didn't do last year due to our schedules. There's not a lot of great places to fish near us, but at least we can drown some worms and relax.

In the past I would set 8-10 goals for the year, and I would work very hard to accomplish each of them. I'm at the stage of my life when I don't need to set that many goals. I want just enough to stay productive and be a good steward of the life God has given me but not so many that every moment is taken up with things I must do.

There is one more thing I still hope to accomplish this year: publish another book. My regular publisher has decided to not publish this one due to a severe cut-back in the number of books they now publish, so I have to find another publisher. I have a proposal ready to go out in today's mail to a new publisher. Pray for me as I think this book will be very helpful to smaller churches and those who lead them.

Good intentions

I just finished re-reading a book, Take the Stairs: 7 Steps to Achieving True Success by Rory Vaden that I would recommend to anyone involved in ministry. So many ministers complain about how things are not what they should be in the church but few do more than complain. Many never take any action to change things, and if they do they often run into opposition. It becomes easy to decide to sit back and do nothing but hope that someday, somehow, things will change, That is the escalator approach that the author warns against. Although taking the escalator might be easier, it often leads to compromise and mediocrity.

This is a book I read when it first came out, and decided it was time to read it again. Even though it had a lot of highlights in it, I was surprised at how many new ones I made as I re-read it. New thoughts jumped out at me in my second time through the book which confirmed I was wise to pick it up for a second reading.

Vaden talks about how often fear keeps us from doing what we know we should do. That has certainly been true in my life at times, and I'm confident it's been true for you as well. Fear tells us we can not succeed so we don't even try. The author told a powerful story about a woman who was so fearful of heights and enclosed spaces that she was willing to die in an apartment fire rather than escape. A firefighter found her, and when she resisted his efforts to lead her to safety, he kept telling her to "Do it scared." That later became the keywords that helped her make better choices in her life.

Sometimes in ministry, and in all leadership positions, we need to do things scared. It's true that we don't know the outcome of our efforts, but if we never put forth the effort nothing will change. Is the status quo really better than the possibility we might fail?

Another point he brought out is that we are much more likely to act our way into healthy thinking than we are to think our way to healthy acting. I've read that elsewhere, and it makes a lot of sense. It becomes too easy to just keep thinking about how we can do things differently but never move beyond the thinking phase. Nothing really happens until we take action. Just like nobody believed it was possible to run a mile in under four minutes until somebody did it, taking action has the power to change the way we, and others, think about what's possible.

It's a good book, and I do recommend it.

How to help people move forward

The past couple of weeks have been quite busy, and I haven't had time to post anything. However, I read something last night that I felt I had to share. One of the books I'm currently reading is Take the Stairs: 7 Steps to Achieving True Success by Rory Vaden. This is a book I first read a couple of years ago and decided it was time to re-read it. The statement I want to share is

Keep in mind there are three ways to get people to take action. The first is to ask them to do it. The second is to force them to do it. And the third is to help them recognize for themselves why it's in their best interest to take a certain course of action.

Which of the three do you think is most effective? Of course, it's the third option. No one ever rejects their own ideas! If you ask someone to do something they may refuse. If you try to force them they may resent it. But, if they recognize for themselves that it is in their best interest they will do everything possible to accomplish the action.

Anyone who serves in ministry or another helping profession has had those persons who remained stuck in unhealthy practices. You can ask them to change, you can even penalize them if they don't change, and you may or may not see change. The key is to help people convince themselves the change will benefit them.

This even applies to the way we do evangelism in the 21st century. In the past we would ask people to invite Jesus Christ into their lives. Sometimes we would try to force them by warning them of eternal punishment if they didn't. Neither approach is very effective today. Perhaps it would be more effective to point out how becoming a Christian is a reasonable decision to make, how it improves one's life now and prepares us for eternity.

Blaise Paschal was a 17th-century mathematician who was also a committed Christian. He argued that if there was even a 50 percent chance that Christianity was true then it was reasonable for one to become a Christian. The reasons for this is that if Christianity is true then you have everything to gain by accepting Christ into your life, and if it is false you will have lost virtually nothing by becoming a Christian. This has become known as Paschal's Wager. I recently preached a message built around the Wager and finished it by telling the congregation that I have bet everything on the fact that Christianity is true and inviting them to do the same.

Top 10 books of 2017 I

One of my goals for every year is to read 50 books. This year I missed it by three. Each year at this time I like to share my 10 favorite books from that year's reading. Today and tomorrow I will share that list. You will note that several of them are books on apologetics. That has been a focus of mine for the past few years, and 2017 was no exception. In today's post I'll mention five of the books and share the other five tomorrow. They are in no particular order.

Moral Apologetics for Contemporary Christians by Mark Coppenger. The author is a professor of Christian Apologetics at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Christianity has no shortage of critics in today's times. This book pushes back at those critics to demonstrate the moral superiority of Christian belief.

Goliath Must Fall by Louis Giglio. We all face giants in our lives that rob us of the life God desires for us to enjoy. Giglio reminds us that defeating those giants requires us to keep our eyes on Jesus.

The Time Keeper by Mitch Albon. I seldom read novels, but two of them made my top 10 list this year. I found this book told a fascinating tale of a man condemned to spend his time in a cave for centuries listening to voices asking for more time. His involvement with two individuals led to him saving their lives and his as well.

The Noticer by Andy Andrews. This is the other novel I found fascinating. It involves the story of an old drifter who notices things that others do not. As he shares his "perspective" on what is going on in people's lives they find the hope they need to turn their lives around.

Deep and Wide: Creating Churches Unchurched People Love to Attend by Andy Stanley. Personally, I'm not comfortable with everything Stanley writes in this book, but that's the problem isn't it? We think it's all about us, and it's not. Perhaps one reason more of our churches are not reaching the unchurched is that we are not willing to give up our comfort level. This book will challenge you.

zig ziglar

My daughter called yesterday saying she had gone online to buy something from Zig Ziglar's company when a screen popped up on her computer stating that it would have been Ziglar's 91st birthday, and to celebrate they had all his merchandise 50% off. She called knowing I am a big fan of Zig Ziglar.

Several years ago Ziglar was one of several motivational speakers touring the country and speaking at various cities. Nearly every year I would get tickets for myself and our daughter to attend. His presentation was usually the longest and the best of any of the speakers. I heard him so many times I knew most of his stories before he would tell them.

During that time I purchased a number of items including a three-volume cassette series on success and goal setting. For four years I purchased his planner and used it to not only track my goals but to track my time. I literally recorded everything I did during those four years in 15 minute segments in that planner. It changed my life, and I became much more focused and goal oriented. Don't tell me you don't have time to do the things you claim are most important until you have tracked how you actually spend your time. Chances are, you have plenty of time to do those things that are truly important.

Ziglar was not always the success he was when I first began to hear him speak. In fact, he was very honest about how many different endeavors he was involved in before finally realizing success in sales and motivational speaking. I'm sure much of his wisdom was gained during those difficult years.

What endeared me to him was the way he shared his presentations. He was full of energy as he told story after story to drive home his points. He could relate to anyone and seemed genuinely interested in everyone he met. I bought the higher priced tickets that offered a number of perks at these events which included having a pre-conference breakfast with Zig Ziglar. He would be standing at the door of the dining hall to shake hands with everyone who entered. He didn't have to do that, but he was determined to make everyone feel welcomed.

Another thing I appreciated was his faith in God. He was very open about his faith and how it impacted his life. One of his most powerful books was Confessions of a Grieving Christian in which he told how he dealt with the loss of his oldest daughter after a lengthy illness. Of course, he credited the Lord with his ability to get through that painful period.

Few people have impacted my life more than Zig Ziglar. His books are well worth reading, and I have recommended his goal setting program to hundreds of people.

Suggested books

Every year about this time I share a mid-season report of some of the books I've read this year. Today, I want to list five of the books I've read so far this year. They are not listed in any specific order but are books that have impacted my life and ministry. If you are looking for some reading to help you grow as an individual and a Christian, I would recommend these to you.

Grace Is Greater: God's Plan to Overcome Your Past, Redeem Your Pain, and Rewrite Your Story by Kyle Idleman. The author is currently the teaching pastor at Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, KY, the fifth largest church in America. I recently read this book as part of my morning devotions. Idleman points out that God's grace is far greater than anything you have done or experienced. Sometimes those of us who have been Christians for a number of years forget just how powerful God's grace is. This book helped me rediscover that.

Relativism: Feet Firmly Planted in Mid-Air by Francis J. Beckwith and Gregory Koukl. Beckwith is a professor of philosoply and Koukl is head of an organization dedicated to training Christian thinkers. This book is an excellent resource for anyone wanting to better defend their Christian beliefs. Their primary focus is on moral relativism, the belief that there are no absolute moral absolutes but everyone must be free to choose for themselves right and wrong. They powerfully demonstrate how dangerous such beliefs are when carried out to their logical conclusion. They write

For to deny the existence of universally objective moral distinctions, one must admit that Mother Teresa was no more or less moral than Adolf Hitler, that torturing three-year-olds for fun is neither good nor evil, that giving 10 percent of one's financial surplus to an invalid is neither praiseworthy nor condemnable, that raping a woman is neither right nor wrong, and that providing food and shelter for one's spouse and children is neither a good thing nor a bad thing.

And this is just in the introduction! Although moral relativism may be the mantra of our society today, it is an evil philosophy that is doing great damage. This book will help the reader address such a worldview when it is encountered.

Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal Newport. Too many of us try to multitask in order to accomplish more. We believe if we can do several things at one time we will get more of our work done faster. I've certainly thought that in past years. Newport shows how such work is often shallow and actually leads to us accomplishing less. He writes, "To produce at your peak level you need to work for extended periods with full concentration on a single task free from distraction. Put another way, the type of work that optimizes your performance is deep work." He then goes on to demonstrate how to shift from shallow work to deep work. This book is not written for ministers, but I found a lot in it that certainly transfers to what we do.


Taking Pascal's Wager: Faith, Evidence and the Abundant Life by Michael Rota. Essentially, the Blaise Pascal Wager, as it came to be known, stated that if one accepted Christianity as true and learned at the end of his life that it wasn't, that he had not lost anything. On the other hand, if one rejected Christianity and came to the end of his life and learned that it was true, he has lost everything. Another way of looking at it is that if it is even 50 percent possible that Christianity is true it is rational for one to commit to living such a life. Rota builds on this argument and presents a powerful argument that Christianity is true. I will warn you...this is not a quick read, but it is a very worthwhile read. The book stretched me at times, and I grew as a result.


Designed to Lead: The Church and Leadership Development by Eric Geiger and Kevin Peck. Churches are called to do many things. One of them is to develop leaders, and it is in this task that too many churches fail. Leadership development requires intentionality and a commitment to the task. The authors insist, "Developing leaders must be a burning passion, a non-negotiable part of the vision of a local church and her leaders, or it will never become a reality." They go on to share several ways churches can go about leadership development.

It's always a dangerous thing to recommend a book because each of us have different needs and different books speak to different needs. Still, these are some books that I would certainly recommend to anyone in church leadership or anyone wanting to grow in their faith. Happy reading!

Success is just around the corner

Why does one marriage work out while another one ends in divorce? Why does one small business succeed and another one down the road closes its doors within months after opening? Why do some churches seem to attract people to Christ while others struggle to keep their doors open? Why do some teams seem to always be ranked near the top and others rarely have winning seasons? We could ask similar questions of every endeavor known to man, but the fact is that some have found the secret to success, if it may be called a secret, and others seem unable to recognize what it takes to succeed.

A few months ago I read a very insightful book about success called Take the Stairs: 7 Steps to Achieving True Success by Rory Vaden. One of the reasons I enjoyed the book is because Vaden doesn't pretend there are secrets to success. In fact, he insists throughout the book that success is hard work, and that is a fact that many in our society today have either forgotten or want to pretend it isn't true. He writes

"The vast majority of Western societies have adopted an 'escalator mentality' - one that says getting what we want shouldn't require much work, and that there are always shortcuts in business and in life." There are no shortcuts to success. There is no easy way to the top. Most of us will find that finding success is more like climbing stairs than riding an escalator.

He goes on to write that, "There is one thing that all successful people have in common: Successful people have all had to do things they didn't feel like doing in order to get where they are."

We've all heard the saying: No pain, no gain. Well, this is certainly true when we think of success. It's true whether you are considering how to have a better marriage, a more profitable business, or a growing church. All require a lot of hard work, and there will be times when you find yourself doing things you would prefer to not do in order to enjoy the results you are seeking.

Many decide the hard work isn't worth it. They prefer to take the easy way out and seek a new spouse, a new career, or a different church. Surely, they think, the reason the current situation isn't working out is because they chose the wrong spouse, the wrong career, or the wrong church, and all their problems will be over once they correct their mistake. WRONG!

Running from one spouse to the next isn't going to solve your marriage problems. Jumping from one company to another probably won't be the solution. Church leaders who go from one church to another certain that this one will be the perfect church for them soon come face-to-face with the reality that there are no perfect churches. Success comes to those who are willing to work hard to make their current situation the right one.

Vaden points out in his book that success is often just beyond the point you feel like quitting. It's often just around the corner. I wonder if there will come a time in eternity where we will discover how many times we were inches from the goal line of success only to walk away defeated. One more play would have put us over, but instead we gave up.

It's almost always too soon to give up. When you feel that you've done everything you know to do, think of something else to try. Ask to see someone else's playbook. There's lot of things you can still try to do to succeed. Isn't success worth at least one more effort on your part?

The person across the table is not your enemy

I recently finished reading Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It by Chris Voss. The author is a former FBI hostage negotiator and now owns a consulting business that trains Fortune 500 companies through complex negotiations and has taught negotiation at several leading business schools and universities. There is much in this book that church leaders can learn that will benefit them the next time conflict occurs in their church.

One of the lessons I found very helpful is that the person across the table is never the problem. The issue is the problem. The person across the table is actually your partner in trying to resolve the issue.

If we could learn this we could avoid much of the anger and the other negative emotions that too often occur in church conflicts. Too many church conflicts force people to choose sides and to look at the other side as the enemy. When this happens the church loses. No matter how the issue is resolved, the church loses when its members begin to see one another as the enemy.

Another valuable lesson I learned is that it's OK to say no. Too often we avoid saying no to something that we are certain will damage what we're trying to do to avoid conflict. We've also been taught that in negotiations we want to try to get the other person to say yes to everything we ask. If you doubt that, listen to the questions you're asked the next time a telemarketer calls. Every question is designed to get a positive response from you. They do this in order to get you to give them the big yes when they try to sell you their product or service.

Voss insists that saying no actually starts the negotiation rather than ending it. In fact, he even recommends helping the other side feel comfortable saying no to reduce barriers and allow more effective negotiation.

A word of warning...this book does contain some language. There's not much, but if you find that offensive you may as well not read the book. But, I do believe there are some real helps in this book for the Christian leader who will face conflict at some time in his or her ministry (and that's all of us!). You'll also find some advice you can use the next time you buy a car or make any other large purchase!