A prayer for the nation

This morning during my prayer time I prayed for America and for the leadership of our President and Congress. I asked God to guide them in decisions that would honor Him and bless our nation. As I have said before, God doesn't ride on Air Force One. There is One higher than the President, Supreme Court judges, and members of Congress, and He has the power to send a spiritual revival to our nation that would turn us upside down. He has the power to bless or curse any nation (Dt. 30: 19). However, He also gives us the power to choose which we will receive (Dt.30: 15-17).

The problems of our nation today are many. We are in two wars, our economy is in shambles, millions of people have lost their jobs and their homes, every day there is a new report of a government, business, or religious leader who has failed in his leadership responsibilities, and violence continues to escalate throughout our land. Isn't it ironic that a report was issued last week that showed that the number of people who are involved in religious activities has declined to its lowest level in our nation's history? I would suggest that our problems are not the economic problems and the others mentioned above; these are simply symptoms of our real problem. Our real problem is that we have turned away from God over the past 5 decades, and we are now reaping the fruit of that choice. When we chose to remove God from the public arena we chose the curse God warned us about in Deuteronomy.

Although I pray regularly for our President and other government leaders, they cannot bring us out of this mess. Political decisions cannot solve a spiritual crisis. Our economy is in shambles because we have turned our back on God. Haggai 1:6 reads, "You have planted much, but have harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it." As you continue reading this little Old Testament book God explains this has occurred because the people had turned their backs on Him. We can identify the same reason for all the other problems our nation faces.

We cannot look to political answers to solve these problems. The only solution is a spiritual revival in this nation that restores God to His rightful place. The liberals, the atheists, and the persons of other religions will oppose this solution, but spiritual renewal doesn't depend upon them. Spiritual renewal comes from God and the ACLU, Nancy Pelosi, Barney Frank, and the leaders of every non-Christian religion cannot stop it. Only you and I can prevent such a revival from occurring.

2 Chronicles 7:14 says, "If My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land." It is the people of God who must humble themselves and seek God, not the unbelievers, that will bring spiritual renewal and healing for our nation. Every pastor needs to be challenging his or her congregation to begin repenting of their sins and to seek spiritual renewal in their lives. Renewal will begin in the life of the individual, spread to the church, then to the community, and finally across the nation, but it must begin in the life of the individual. Without turning this nation back to God we will not ultimately survive, and such turning must be the result of a spiritual revival.

What congregations want

In the past eight years I've had the opportunity to assist a number of churches in my Area as they sought new pastoral leadership. One of my first questions to them is "What do you want or need in your next pastor?" Almost always I am told they want a pastor who can grow their church, reach out to the youth in the community, and help them become a strong, healthy church. That's what they say, but then I have the search committee distribute a survey to the congregation that will identify the ministry giftedness they believe their next pastor will need. Virtually every time they identify gifts and skills that are designed to maintain the church as it is. They may claim they want a pastor who can grow the church, but the reality is they do not want that growth to come at the expense of the current membership. They want a pastor who will maintain their current status quo. It is not surprising that I recently ran across this assessment of a research into what churches want from their pastor.

"What the churches want in a minister is essentially a successful salesman for their enterprise. A striking feature of the analysis of the ministerial qualifications desired, is the virtual absence from them of any doctrinal specifications. Still more significant is the fact that the actual demand for ministers virtually assumes the maintenance of the status quo. It is leadership in things as they are, an adaptability to conditions as they stand, rather than innovative or prophetic leadership that is demanded."

This report does not surprise me at all. What does surprise me is that it was written in 1935! Is it any wonder the church today is in the shape it is when the church has spent the last 74 years looking for pastoral leadership who will not rock the boat, introduce any changes, or do anything that will threaten the current status of the church? Oh yeah, plus the churches are not concerned about doctrinal integrity either, so we should not be surprised at the lack of biblical and doctrinal knowledge of those within the churches. They don't want to hear that stuff; they just want a pastor to keep things as they are and tend to their personal needs.

Is this the church Jesus Christ died for? We must find ways to help churches demand more from their pastors, and we must do a better job of preparing ministers to provide more. Maintenance ministry is killing our churches and destroying any opportunity we may have to influence our world for Jesus Christ. Pastor, what will be the legacy you leave behind when you leave your current position? What will your legacy be when you finish your life? Lay leaders, what legacy are you creating in your church? What needs to change?

Leadership development

How many readers have a personal growth plan? What about a personal ministry plan or a personal vision statement? Many of us are willing to go through life without any intentional plan to grow or develop as leaders. We may read an occasional book or attend a workshop, but most of us don't even do that. We claim we're too busy. I'm not sure we can ever be too busy to grow to our full potential, and without a plan for such growth it will not happen. Let me encourage you to develop each of these plans.

Start by listing 6-7 things you want to do to grow as a person. These should include growing as a husband/wife, a parent, a minister, a leader, etc. List 6-7 areas of growth you would like to experience in 2009. Then select one or two that you will specifically focus on.

You identify your personal ministry plan by first identifying two of your primary spiritual gifts and deciding what ministry areas you can use those gifts in. Write down both the gifts and specific ministry areas in which those gifts can be used.

By using each of the first two items you can write out your personal vision statement. "I will bring glory to God by __________________________."

Now, how do you need to grow to accomplish these plans? Just writing them down isn't enough. You have to intentionally do something to accomplish them. Are there workshops or classes you can take to achieve your plans? Who will serve as your accountability partner to help you stay focused on your plans? If you have created these three plans and answered the questions in this paragraph you have done more to experience personal growth than at least 90% of pastors.

One more question...what could happen in your church if you led each of your lay leaders to go through this same process?

At school again

This week I am back at school taking my last DMin class. With a class in January and another one this week I have been covered up trying to complete all my assignments as well as trying to serve my churches. I'm behind on my assignments, but I'm working hard to catch up. The best news is that this is my last class! Once I complete the assignments for the class I can focus my attention on the thesis. The subject for my thesis has been approved, and I have started coaching those individuals who volunteered for the project. One of my goals for 2009 is to complete everything by the end of 2009 and graduate in May 2010.

My class this week is "Developing Leaders." It's been a great class so far, and we're only completed the second day. So few church leaders have any intentional plan to develop leaders in their churches. Most of us operate like I did during most of my pastoral ministry. We think if we are faithful in preaching and teaching that leaders will just naturally develop. Leadership is more caught than taught. It is only when we are personally investing our lives in potential leaders than we can expect to develop leaders, and only when we are developing leaders are we preparing our churches for growth.

One of the questions we've been asked this week is, "Are you a leader if you are not developing leaders?" Our class was divided on that question. I would be interested in hearing your response to this question.

New book

I apologize for not writing lately. I finished a class the first week of January and have another class in early March. I have a LOT of post-class work to do for the January class and quite a bit of pre-class work to accomplish for the March class, so I've been squeezed the past few weeks. The good news is that the March class is my last one.

The better news is that my DMin thesis has been approved. I will research and write on "Coaching Bivocational Ministers for Greater Ministry Effectiveness." Believing it would probably be approved I began doing a little work on it last fall when things were a little slow. My goal is to finish this degree by the end of the year.

The best news is that my latest book, Intentional Ministry in a Not-So-Mega Church: Becoming a Missional Community, came from the printers earlier this week and should arrive in bookstores soon. Amazon.com has had it available for pre-sale for the past few weeks. I am already scheduled to lead one workshop that is based on this book, and other organizations have contacted me looking for dates when I might be able to meet with their church leaders as well. I am excited about this book because it challenges smaller and bivocational churches to begin looking at themselves in some new ways and to realize that God has so much more for them than many of them are now experiencing. I pray you will find the book helpful to your ministry.

Boundaries

I just finished reading Boundaries by Drs. Henry Cloud and John Townsend. It was one of the required readings for my DMin class. As I read the book I kept thinking about the boundary issues many bivocational pastors have with their churches. Unfortunately, too many churches think their pastor is at their every beck and call. So many people want something from the pastor, and it all seems to come at the same time. It's no wonder many pastors feel like a stray dog at a whistler's convention. We as ministers may complain about this, but few of us do anything about it for fear of offending someone. So who actually pays for this lack of boundaries in a pastor's life? Usually, the pastor and/or family. And who is really the person at fault for this situation? I tend to agree with Dr. Phil on this one when he says that we teach people how to treat us. If that is true, then we are the ones really at fault because we've taught our church members to treat us in a way that does not respect our boundaries. What are some of the ways we do this?

• We answer the telephone during our family meal time or while we are spending some time with our families. Most homes have an answering machine or voice mail, and if your home doesn't it's about time to invest in one. Let the machine take the calls while you're involved with your family. You can return the calls later.
• We don't advocate for a fair salary and benefit package. I know how difficult this is, but we cannot expect our churches to provide a decent salary and benefit package if we don't even ask for it. At the very least we can let our churches know what it costs to maintain our families.
• We accept responsibility for tasks that are not ours. Someone in the church accepts a position in the church but doesn't fulfill the tasks of the position, so we follow along behind them and make sure those tasks gets done. Too many pastors are dusting the church furniture, picking up loose bulletins, mowing the grass, and making sure all the lights are out after everyone else leaves on Sunday.
• We refuse to take our vacations and days off, and if we do take them we allow people to contact us during those times. I heard of a pastor this week who was on vacation last week and called a church leader every day he was away to find out how things were going.
• We allow others in the church to voice their expectations for how our children and spouse should fit in the life of the church. Some in our women's mission circle didn't like it when I told them my wife would not serve as president of their organization nor would she take certain roles in the church. This was her wishes, but I made sure the right people understood she would not take certain roles in the church just because I was the pastor. I protected both our children in the same way when they were younger. Some pastors don't, and their families resent being expected to do certain things because they are part of the pastor's family.

I could continue to list more examples, but I hope you get the picture. If persons in the church consistently violate boundaries in your life and that of your family members it is because you have taught them it is OK to do so. If that is the case, today is the day to begin to set new boundaries and teach them to the congregation. Some won't like them, but that is their problem. I realize this may get you in trouble in some churches, but that is only because people have never been taught to respect the boundaries of a pastor, and they are not going to learn any younger! I do think you owe it to yourself and to your family to try to help the congregation learn the importance of respecting the boundaries you and your family have established, and if they won't learn this it may be time to begin asking God to open up new opportunities of ministry.

A new president

I'm sure most of you saw at least some of yesterday's inaugaration. How could you help it? It was on just about every channel for most of the day. It was a pretty impressive way to welcome a new president.

In my six decades I have never seen the excitement over a new president as we have seen since President Obama was elected. I have never seen a man generate so much hope and expectation as he has. Maybe people have struggled for so long with financial difficulties and with the wars that the election of anyone new would have generated a spirit of hope, however I doubt that such hope would have been generated if Senator McCain had won the election. Maybe it's because this nation has just elected its first African-American to the highest office of the land. Maybe it's simply that President Obama generates that kind of hope through his presence and message. Whatever the source, this nation desperately needed a fresh shot of hope that things could improve. Reagan brought that with him when he was elected, and now Obama has done the same thing, and I hope it means that we as a nation have at least began to turn the corner.

Of course, not everyone is happy Obama was elected. I have seen some very hateful statements about him. I was reading comments on a Fox news article on their web site yesterday, and it was unbelievable what a few people were saying. No one should believe that this election proves that racism is no longer a problem in this country.

A moment of confession, I was one of millions of Americans who did not vote for President Obama. I did not believe he was prepared to be president, and many of his views are opposite of mine. I must also admit that I did not believe the Republicans offered a great alternative, but McCain's platform more closely represented my own views. Regardless of whom I voted for, I am excited about the hope and anticipation that many in our nation feel right now, and I pray that hope is fulfilled by the actions and decisions of our new president and his leadership.

As Christians we have two responsibilities regarding our leaders. We are responsible to pray for them and to hold them accountable when they make decisions we believe are irresponsible and unbiblical. It does not matter what political party you are affiliated with or who you voted for. We are mandated to pray for those in leadership over us, and I will pray for President Obama every day he is in office. I will pray for his safety and I will pray that God would give him wisdom to lead this country. Likewise, I will pray for Congress that they would also guide this country with godly wisdom. Because I voted I also have the right to hold our elected officials responsible if they make decisions I believe are not healthy for our nation, and I will do that as well.

One other thing I would remind my readers, God does not fly on Air Force One. President Obama is the leader of this nation, but there is One above him who ultimately holds this nation in His hand. The decisions made by our president and other elected officials may have tremendous impact on our nation and the world, but God is the one who has the power to turn this nation around to its former greatness. Yes, we need responsible laws and direction, but even more we need a spiritual revival that would turn America back to God. Such revival will not come from Washington, but must begin in the churches throughout this nation. Only as our churches begin to experience true revival can it begin to spread out to our communities and across this nation.

Friends, pray for our new president and congress, and pray that God would pour out His Spirit upon this nation and bring a revival that would turn us back to Him. That is the real source of hope for our nation.