Christ Following, culture, life, ministry
I want more!
I want more than surface, more than artsy, and more than self promotion wrapped in “ministry”.
I want more than book deals, recording contracts, Dove Awards, the CBA, and Jesus used to push a product.
I want more than Christian culture, trite blog posts, music recommendations, and to stop being told whats “relevant” because it’s not!
I want more than an impotent, powerless American church that measures success by numbers and name recognition.
I want more than cloning dressed up like discipleship and concerts dressed up like worship.
I want more than rock stars, more than celebri-preachers and all of those who want to be like them.
I want more than green rooms, name dropping, and reserved seating.
I want more than a slick communicator in hundred dollar jeans telling me how to live a balanced life because I don’t want to live a balanced life!
I want to be totally sold out and spent for Jesus.
I want to live in humility and servanthood.
I want to see God’s power healing the sick, saving the lost, and delivering the oppressed.
I want to see a generation on their faces, worshiping a holy God, even when there is no music, no lights, and no stage.
I want the church to be a lighthouse where the lost, abused, broken, and bound can find mercy, freedom, and forgiveness.
I want to swim in the deep end. I want to be provoked to give more, pray more, discover more, and experience beautiful intimacy with our Savior.
I want to see our resources poured into things that will have eternal significance, to be Roaring Lambs, salt and light, and agents of change.
I want something real.
I want more!
Leadership, ministry
I started in full time ministry 15 years ago. It was a really exciting time for me. I remember setting up my first office. The church I worked in was very small and couldn’t afford a decent desk for me so I refinished an old oak army desk a friend gave me. I loved the fact that I got paid to do what I love but I wasn’t prepared to face some of the difficulties that come along with the occupation. In fact, six people left the church in my first month there because they didn’t like me. Here are a few things I wish I would have been told. Maybe they’ll help you if your in the beginning phases of your ministry.
You’re going to fail. Not every idea you have is going to be a success. You’re going to fall on your butt. Get used to it.
Not everyone is going to like you. It’s true, you’re going to rub some people the wrong way. Some people won’t be able to stand looking at you. You’re working with people now and not every personality meshes well with every other personality.
You’re going to struggle with pride. I’m not sure what it is, but it only takes a little bit of momentum before many ministers are drinking their own cool aid and taking on a rock star attitude. Pride will be one of your worst enemies.
You’re going to make some big sacrifices. As hard as you try to protect your family, there will be seasons when you miss having dinner with them. If you have dreams of owning a big house and a boat, don’t count on it. You might as well get used to feeling lonely a lot too. Believe me, there will be times when you YEARN for a “normal life”.
However…
Your ministry will have a profound impact on people. Testimonies are going to come out of the times you allowed God to pour you out and lives are going to change.
You’re going to develop some incredible relationships. As you work to develop your leadership team, you’ll become like family as you pray, plan, work, and bleed together.
You’ll experience God’s mercy as He humbles you time after time. You will learn that, without God’s help, your ministry is useless and it will draw you into a beautiful relationship with Him.
You will love what you do. Seriously, you’re going to have the time of your life! You’ll find that it charges you. Your passion will grow as you see lives changed. The fruit produced from your labor will be worth it!
What are some things you wish you would have been told when starting in ministry?
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ministry, Uncategorized
Risk is… risky. How’s that for profound? We like sure things. When we invest out time, money, and energy into something we want to KNOW it’s going to succeed. It’s heartbreaking to put yourself out there, pour yourself into a project, or invest your life into something just to have it fail. I know. I’ve been there. In 1999 I sold most of what I owned, packed up my family, and moved to Ireland to plant a church. You know what happened? It was an epic failure… More on that later, but let’s take a deeper look at this thing we call risk.
Look at the great successes in our world and in scripture. Esther’s role in the deliverance of her people, Moses and the Israelites at the bank of the Red Sea, David standing up against Goliath. How about William Wilberforce against the slave trade, The Pilgrims coming to America, or any of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. Today, we only read their stories from this side of their struggle. We hear about the victory. But to them, in that moment of engaging in a mission, they had no idea how things would turn out. They were risking everything with no promise of success. I’m so grateful they decided to risk it all!
I want to share a couple of things I’ve learned when it comes to risk:
If you want to do anything of significance, it’s going to require risk. From planting a church, to establishing new relationships, to reaching the lost, or helping the poor. From writing that book, to interviewing for that job, or preaching for the first time it all requires risk. There’s a chance for failure and we have to be willing to live with that because the moment we decide to stop taking risks we lose all potential for doing anything great.
All risk in God’s economy is worth taking. This one is tough, especially in a culture that worships security. We want to know that, whatever risks we take, we’ll still be able to live at the “standard of living” we are currently living at. I think, as Christians, we should be far more concerned with our standard of dying than our standard of living. We’ve been fed the gospel of success for so long that the idea of a venture not turning out as we hoped leaves us feeling disenchanted and hopeless. The truth is this: when we take a risk for the sake of Christ, whether we fail or succeed, it was totally worth taking.
1st Corinthians 15:58 says, “So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.”
NOTHING you do for the Lord is ever useless! What an amazingly comforting word! That means my failure to plant a church in Ireland was not useless. Something came out of it even if I never saw it. And truth be told, I don’t regret doing it. I risked, and I lost, but I also gained, and I’m sure there were people who were blessed along the way.
So go ahead and take that risk! Focus more on obeying God’s call and less on what-ifs. “be strong and unmovable”. Whatever the outcome, it will have been worth it!
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ministry, The Church
I was listening to a message recently that listed the top four reasons people give for not going to church. They are as follows:
Services are boring
The people are unfriendly
They just care about money
The questionable safety of their children
I know I’ve felt all four of those things at one time or another, but I still love church.
Do you think those reasons are valid? Can you think of any other reasons why people don’t like to go to church? Feel free to list them in the comments.
But hold on! Not so fast! It’s no good listing faults if you can’t suggest any solutions. What are some realistic things the church can do to remove these excuses? Let’s hear your best ideas!
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Ireland, ministry
For years I’ve been selling bags on eBay to raise money for Irish missions. (Check out my Irish Missions page). I’m not sure why I chose military inspired messenger bags and back packs to sell. Maybe because I like to read and I like something sturdy to carry my books around in. Maybe it’s because Jack Bauer uses one of these sweet bags. Maybe it’s because bags are “one size fits all” so I don’t have to deal with accepting very many returns on eBay.
Whatever the case, I really want to give a messenger bag to one of my cool blog readers. (That’s you. You’re cool!) Why? I’m hoping that whenever you use your cool new messenger bag, you’ll be reminded to pray for a move of God in Ireland.
So what do you have to do? Just post a comment on this post and tell me what you’d use it for. School? Work? Books? Your laptop? The other thing you’ll have to do is click that little retweet button on the left and tell your friends. That’s it! At the end of the week, my seven year old son will randomly pick a winner from the comments section and I will reveal the name of that person in a blog post with instructions on how to claim your new bag. If you’re worried that you’re going to miss the post that reveals the winner, there’s a subscription link at the bottom of this post. (Or click the RSS button at the top of the page.)
Here’s a picture of that awesome bag. Don’t forget to pray for Ireland!
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I have come to really like Twitter. So much so that I have to tell myself to take a break once in a while so that I can get something done. Twitter levels the playing field and allows anyone to share what’s on their mind or what they’re doing. It’s a great way to extend your ministry, bless others, and create connections.
