Spiritual winters

Much of the US is experiencing record low temperatures, and many parts are getting hit with some serious snow and icy conditions. Winter has definitely arrived. While the more southern states are expected to see more reasonable conditions soon, other areas are going to suffer with more cold weather and wintery conditions. I can remember a time when I enjoyed colder weather and snow, but that was many decades ago! 

Eventually, it will be spring and summer again. The birds will be singing, the sun shining, and the fish will be biting. Maybe I'll even get back on the golf course again. 

But, what do you do when you go through a spiritual winter? How do you hold on to God during those times?

Spiritual winters can come into our lives in many different ways. They can come when we lose someone we loved very much. They can be the result of dreams that we realize will never be fulfilled. Spiritual winters can happen when we lose a job or the doctor calls with lab results you were not expecting or a child takes a different path than you planned. I experienced a spiritual winter after closing a business that caused us serious financial problems. Regardless of the cause, spiritual winters cause us to feel that God is so far away that we're not sure we will ever find Him again.

Various Psalms were written by people going through spiritual winters. They could not find God in the midst of their problems. The books of Lamentations and Ecclesiastes describe spiritual winters. Job is another biblical example of someone experiencing a spiritual winter who wondered where God was in the midst of his trials. When the Israelites were led away into captivity they felt that God was far off and had abandoned them. Spiritual winters are nothing new.

What each of these biblical writers learned, and can teach us, is that God is not far away, and He has not abandoned us in our spiritual winters. He is just as close to us during the valley times in our lives as He is during our mountaintop experiences. Even though we may not feel Him as much as we do in our better times, He is still there.

So, what did they do? They kept seeking God. They continued to pray. They continued to worship, and eventually they came through that wintery time in their lives and experienced victory. That's also how I came through my own winter time. When we are unable to feel God close by it's necessary, by faith, to keep praying, keep worshiping and keep seeking God. It will be an act of faith because, if you are like me and others in the Scriptures, you may not feel His presence during this time, but in His time He will show Himself strong in your life once again.

One essential for a growing church

 As I've mentioned numerous times in this blog, most churches claim they want to grow but few do. The reasons for that lack of growth are many, but in my experience in judicatory ministry the primary reason has to do with the limits they place on their pastors. Every study I've seen has noted that the pastor is a key player in the growth, or lack of growth, in any church. Some pastors couldn't grow a weed in a field of fertilizer, but many are not given the option. I've seen far too many churches say they want to grow but resist anything that might lead to growth if it might upset its current membership.

I am currently re-reading Winning on Purpose by John Edmund Kaiser. After reading the book the first time I wrote in the back of the book "A church committed to growth must have a leader committed to growth, hold that leader accountable for growth, and give that leader the authority to lead." I'm not sure if that is a quote from the book or a summary I made of the book after reading it for the first time, but I believe it is a true statement. 

There are plenty of churches who hold the pastor accountable for growth, and if growth does not occur they are quick to seek new leadership. But, many of these same churches do not give the pastor authority to lead them in ways that could lead to growth.

A pastor friend of mine was serving in one of the fastest growing churches in his community. He had been there for several years faithfully serving that congregation. Serving in a congregationally-led church, he was preparing for an upcoming business meeting where he was going to introduce a couple of proposals that he believed would set the church up for even greater growth. On the night of the meeting he was shocked that his proposals were rejected and even more shocked at the anger his proposals created. As is often typical, only a small percentage of the congregation was present for that meeting, but they were the ones who were threatened by the growth the church was experiencing. My friend was deeply wounded by the response that night and soon resigned from the church. The church's growth stopped and began to decline. Today, it is at half the size it was at the time of that meeting and continuing to decline.

Churches call pastors and tell them they want them to lead, but often fail to let them do so. Everything they do must have board or congregational approval before being implemented. Uninformed board members often balk at proposed changes because "we've never done that here before." Controllers in the church fear their influence will lessen if growth occurs so they oppose any new proposal, and if it is approved they will work to sabotage it.

Because these controllers often have deep roots in the congregation, the churches will often support their objections so as not to offend them. When this happens, the pastor runs into another brick wall and another potential way to grow the church is denied. Some pastors will soon give up and settle for having a maintenance ministry in the church. It doesn't take long before people start wondering why the church isn't growing, and often the fingers begin pointing towards the pastor. Like in sports, if the team isn't winning it's time to replace the coach. Another pastor is brought in, and the cycle repeats itself.

I'm often asked why new churches grow when existing churches in the same community do not. This scenario is one I often point to. In new churches, especially non-denominational churches, the pastors are allowed to lead. They set the direction for the church, and the congregation follows. If the pastor consistently leads the church into the weeds, then something needs to be addressed. What is far more likely to happen if the pastor is being led by God, and the church is following his or her lead, is that the church will begin to grow. If the pastor does not have the authority to lead, he or she cannot be held accountable for the lack of growth in a church.

Setting goals for ministry and life

 Several years ago when I served on Region staff our Executive Minister asked each of us to set 3-4 goals for the upcoming year. He would review them with us, and if he agreed to them, those would be what we would focus much of our individual effort on that year. At the end of the year we would review the goals to see what we had accomplished.

This was easy for me because for several years I had been setting goals in all areas in my life: family, finances, ministry, work (I was bivocational.), and self-care. I usually had around 10-12 goals for the year that included both short-term, medium-term and long-term which might stretch out over several years. I also had a daily tracking system to see how I was progressing with the goals.

Every goal must be written down or else it is nothing more than a dream. It has to be a SMART goal: S - Specific, M - Measurable, A - Attainable, R - Realistic, and T - Time-defined. If it doesn't meet each of these qualifications, it's not a good goal. As an example: We will grow our Sunday school program this year is not a good goal. A good goal would be that we will increase our Sunday school attendance by 15 percent by the end of 2024. Now, you have something you can measure and track.

The goal setting program I used was one I learned from attending Zig Ziglar's motivational lectures. He had an additional element to that program which I found very valuable because it helped me take the goal I wanted to achieve to a much deeper level. On my sheet I first listed the goal as a SMART goal and then added the following information.

• My benefits from reaching this goal.
• Major obstacles and mountains to climb to reach this goal.
• Skills or knowledge required to reach this goal.
• Individuals, groups, companies and organizations to work with to reach this goal.
• Plan of action to reach this goal.

By forcing myself to think and write down answers to each of these questions it gave me a solid plan to help me achieve the goal. Studies confirm that persons who have specific goals they are working towards accomplish far more than those who just hope things work out the way they want. When you focus on your goals you become a much more focused individual in every aspect of your life. You might not hit every goal you set (I don't), but you will find you accomplished much more than if you had no goals. I encourage you to think about goals for your life and begin to work towards achieving them. Your church should also be setting specific goals that will make their ministry more effective.

The long-term pastor

 Last week I had to laugh at an email I received. Our Regional Minister sent an email to all of his pastors reminding them of a pastor event being sponsored by our Region. The speaker was going to talk about "How to Stay in Your Church for Thirty Years." My first thought was, "I'm 75 years old. Maybe I should go and see if he knows something I don't know!"

All joking aside, regular readers of this blog know that I am a big advocate of long-term pastorates. One major reason most of our churches struggle today is because the average pastoral tenure is around four years. Research has found that the average pastor's best ministry doesn't begin until he has been at a church for 3-11 years. The smaller the church, the more frequent the pastoral turnover has been, the longer it takes. For me, when I went to Hebron, it took 7 years before I earned the trust of the congregation enough that I was allowed to provide leadership. Do you see the problem with an average of 4 year pastorates?

I spent 20 years serving that rural church as their bivocational pastor. During that time we did things that churches that size shouldn't be able to do. We made mistakes, but we also enjoyed some wonderful times in ministry. When I left there to join the staff in our Region I joked that my greatest fear was that they would now learn that they really hadn't needed me for years. I've told people that my greatest contribution to their success was that I hung around. That stability gave them the confidence to take risks and do ministry.

Let me be very blunt. I do not believe God is so confused that He does not know where His ministers are supposed to serve. How many times have you heard a pastor say, "God has called me to this place," and four years (or less) later announce that "God has called me to accept a call to ________ church." Maybe it's just me, but that sounds like a very confused God. Does God call ministers to serve elsewhere at times? Yes, He does, but for some pastors their ministries are like revolving doors.

Too many ministers never unpack all their boxes. They leave things boxed up because they know they're going to be leaving soon anyway. As a judicatory minister I had pastors call me before their first anniversary in their church asking for my assistance in helping them move. This was not due to problems in the church. They simply wanted to move on to a larger church. I never helped any of them move to another church.

A book that greatly influenced my ministry was The Heart of a Great Pastor by H. B. London, Jr. and Neil Wiseman. I had the privilege of meeting H. B. at a leadership conference where we were both speaking after the book came out. One of the things I've heard H. B. say is if you are serving in a great church it is because someone stayed there to make it a great church, and if you are not serving in a great church perhaps God has called you there for such a time as this to stay and make it a great church. I believe there is a lot of truth in that.

Many pastors will retire after 30 years in ministry, look back and realize they never had a 30-year ministry, they had ten 3-year ministries, none of which accomplished much. What a sad realization that will be. We often hear, bloom where you are planted. I think this is good advice for those of us called to ministry.

Growth for the pastor

 Churches that grow are led by growing pastors. Several years ago I was a member of an organization that included a retired 91-year-old pastor. An event was scheduled for a certain date, and this gentleman said he could not be there that evening. That was the evening his class for learning Spanish met. Imagine...an individual that age deciding to learn a new language. It was no wonder his church grew under his leadership. I'm not sure I want to take on the challenge of learning a new language, but any week I don't learn something new I can apply to my life or my ministry I consider a wasted week. Ministers cannot expect their churches and the people within those churches to grow if they are not personally growing themselves.

In my book The Bivocational Pastor I include several areas in which I believe pastors must continue to grow in order to be effective. The first, and perhaps the most important, is in the area of relational skills. Much of what we do is based on relationships. I believe it was John Maxwell who said that before people will follow us they must know our hearts. They must know that we care for them as persons and not as a means to climb the ministerial ladder. I have served one church for 20 years as their pastor and three churches as their transitional pastor, and I can honestly say that I loved the people in each of those churches. I believe they loved me back (at least most of them!).

It might surprise some people but I am essentially an introvert. I can blend into the wallpaper with the best of them. I've learned to step out of my comfort zone to build relationships with people. I enjoy those relationships, but that is not how I am naturally wired. I have grown in that area. I tell pastors if they cannot build good relationships with the people in their churches they will never enjoy ministry. The good news is anyone can grow in that area.

The second area in which we need to grow is in our leadership. Yes, I know some churches will not let their pastors lead, and if I found myself in such a church I would immediately leave. Most churches do want their pastors to lead them, and many are hungry for such leadership. Recent studies have found that many pastors lack good leadership skills. It has been asked if leaders are born or made, and the answer is yes. I've never met a leader who wasn't born, and anyone can grow in his or her leadership abilities. I have shelves full of leadership books that have helped me grow in this area. I've attended numerous leadership conferences that helped as well. Pastors must continually grow in this area if they want to be effective.

Communication is another skill we need to develop. When I began my ministry I lacked a seminary education and experience. I was as green as I could be. After I was at the church for several months one of our deacons, on his way out of the service, told me I was starting to become a decent preacher. Because I knew he didn't say anything he didn't mean I accepted the compliment gladly! We can always become more effective communicators from the pulpit. Again, reading books on preaching, listening to preaching podcasts from some of the great preachers, and watching them on YouTube can all help any preacher grow in this area.

Of course, communication is also important away from the pulpit. We need to communicate our thoughts and dreams to our leadership, to the congregation, and to those outside the church. We need to communicate clearly so that we are understood. For years, I have had a simple rule: I am 100% responsible for the message heard by the other person. If they misunderstood me, it's my fault, not theirs.

One final skill in which we need to grow is in the area of conflict management and resolution. As pastors, we will experience conflict. At least, we will if we attempt to do anything. How we manage that conflict will determine how successful we will be in that church. If we manage it well we will earn the trust of the congregation. If we fail to handle it well, we run the risk of splitting the church. Back in the 1980s I attended a three-day conference on conflict management and resolution. Quite frankly, I learned that I handled conflict about as poorly as could be done. I had to learn better ways to deal with conflict, and over the years I think I've improved in that area. I doubt I'm the only one who needs to grow in this skill.

Whether or not you grow as a minister will determine what your ministry will look like when you retire. It will determine on the effectiveness of your ministry where you currently serve. I encourage you to take an honest look at your ministry skills and see if any of them need improvement. If so. find ways this year to grow in that area of ministry.

Why no revival?

 Nearly one year ago revival broke out on the campus of Asbury University. People came from around the world to witness this amazing event. The media was there to record the revival. I spoke with people who went there who talked about the feeling one had as soon as they entered the university campus, even before they attended one of the services. The revival spread to other university campuses as students from those universities went to Asbury and then returned to their own campus taking the revival with them. Many prayed that this would be the beginning of a nation-wide revival. Now, eleven months later, nothing.

We hear nothing about revival. Nothing has been changed. Evil continues to dominate the world. The church continues to be powerless to address that evil. Christianity continues to be under increasing attack around the world including the US. Churches continue to decline both in numbers and influence. Were lives changed during the Asbury revival? No doubt they were. Did good things happen because of that revival? Absolutely. But, the sense of revival did not last and our nation and churches continue their downward spiral. Why?

Back in 1959 Leonard Ravenhill wrote a great little book titled Why Revival Tarries. His words were indeed prophetic. He listed several reasons why revival tarries.

• Evangelism has become commercialized.
• The Gospel has been cheapened and replaced with an "easy-believe-ism" that demands nothing.
• We are careless of those who come to the altar to repent.
• We are fearful of preaching the Gospel as we do not want to offend anyone.
• We lack urgency in prayer.
• We steal the glory that belongs to God and boast of what wonderful things we have done.

What Ravenhill wrote in 1959 is even more true today. Churches are more interested in survival than in reaching the lost. We are more interested in being "woke" than in being biblical. We are afraid of offending anyone so we do and say nothing. In many churches, prayer is talked about more than actually done. The altar call is neglected in many churches, and why not? Their little 10 minute sermonette is unlikely to stir anyone to feel convicted of their sins anyway. Seldom does a week go by without the report of another church leader who has been removed from ministry for misconduct.

The world looks at the church and laughs. It mocks those who do attempt to stand for biblical truth, so we withdraw into our "sanctuaries" and try to not attract too much notice. After all, we do not want to risk our 501c3 status. Besides, we have enough to do to try to satisfy the members of our country club churches. One group wants the pastor to wear a suit and tie when he preaches while others want him in jeans and a t-shirt. One group demands contemporary worship while another group gets upset if the songs they sing are not in the hymn books. Heaven help someone who might sit in a member's pew since they've owned that spot for 50 years! (I actually know a judicatory minister who was asked to move twice when he visited a church because he was in someone's seat! Imagine if that had been someone who was seeking God in his life.) With all this going on, and more, we don't have time to be concerned about the lost or about seeking God for revival. It's all we can do to put out the fires in our churches.

Revival will never happen until the church once again becomes the church of Jesus Christ. Until we are unashamed and unafraid to stand for the truth of the Word of God we will never see lasting revival. Until we once again become houses of prayer revival will not come. Until we understand our mandate to reach a lost world for Jesus Christ there will never be true revival. Until God's people seek to grow in faith and holiness there can be no revival. Revival must begin first in the church before it can spread to the nation. May each of us seek revival in our own lives so the church can be revived which can then begin to spread across our nation.

Church growth obstacles

One of my favorite DMin classes was taught by Elmer Towns, co-founder of Liberty University. It was a class on growing a church in the 21st century. He was talking about barriers to church growth and the walls that churches build that often keep people out. He went around the room and asked each student to tell how high the walls were around their church from 1-10. Each student had to answer. He then challenged us to tear down the walls and use them to build bridges into the community. Ten years later I still remember that illustration.

One reason new churches grow is that they have not had time to build walls around their churches. They have not constructed barriers to keep people out. Traditional churches often have barriers, usually not intentional, but very effective in keeping new people out. What are some of these barriers?

• A church-club atmosphere. Existing churches often seem more like a club rather than a worship center to outsiders. Membership has its privileges, its perks. Everyone is comfortable with the status-quo. Since outsiders can upset the status-quo they are often made to feel unwelcome. The primary way these churches gain new members is from the people born into existing families.
• Generational differences. it is not uncommon for a family business to close after the third generation assumes control. The generation that started the business had a passion to create something that would endure and make a difference. The next generation often shares much of that passion, but that same passion is frequently lost by the third generation. This generation may simply go through the motions, but by this time the business is in trouble. All of this is also true of churches. The founding generation of the church was driven by passion, but later generations lack the same passion and the church-club model takes over.
• Priesthood of believers is lost. The Bible is clear that everyone has been given spiritual gifts to be used in ministry. It is also clear that each of us have been called into a ministry using those same gifts. However, too many in the church look at the pastor as the hired-gun who is supposed to perform the ministry while the persons in the pew evaluate his or her effectiveness.
• Resistance to change. You knew I would get to this sooner or later, didn't you?  As I tell churches, if you could grow by doing what you've been doing you would already be growing. If you are not growing then you need to change something. But, change is risky. It's scary, and some churches are highly resistant to change. Those churches will eventually die. They may have the resources to survive for a long time, but this is nothing but life support. Their ministry has ended.

We could list more, but this is enough to consider for now. Do you recognize any of these at work in your church? These barriers are keeping people from God as well as from your church. They need to be dismantled so the unchurched can begin to feel comfortable in our churches and respond to the challenge to receive Jesus Christ into their lives.

In 1987 President Reagan challenged Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall. Two years later the wall was removed. We must tear down the walls our churches have erected if we are serious about wanting to reach people for the Kingdom of God.