It Multiplied

As the campus pastor of a fairly new campus, one of the things I am constantly watching is the growth of our congregation. Some may say that it's not about the numbers, that we shouldn't be so concerned with numbers. The way I see it, numbers is one way we can measure what's going on. If we hold steady, then are we really making any progress? But if numbers are increasing, then something is happening. It just can't stop there. Are the individuals joining our church growing spiritually? Are they developing into fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ?

As I was reading in the book of Acts the other day, I came across this verse

“So the church...had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit it multiplied.” - Acts 9:31

I started to think about what was going on here. I began to realize a couple of things about growing a church. Church growth is not something that happens because of me or you. We can plan, we can put systems in place, we can put guest parking signs in the parking lot and flags by the road. These things in and of themselves will not cause a church to grow.

According to Acts 9:31, (and I realize that the Bible has more to say about church growth than just this one verse) there are two things that we can learn about church growth:

1) Walk in the fear of the Lord -

What is the fear of the Lord? Simply put, it means that you have a holy reverence for God. All respect and honor and glory to goes God, in everything you do. Philippians 4:8 says “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” 1 Peter 1:14-15 says “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct.”

We must learn to walk in the fear of the Lord - in other words, live like a follower of Jesus Christ...don’t be a wimpy Christian.

Here's a practical example. What do you do when an inappropriate scene comes on during a movie or a TV show? Do you "grin and bear it"? Or do you grab the remote and skip it? Have you ever had the nerve to stand up and walk out of a movie? Wimpy Christians try to pretend nothing happened. Those who walk in the fear of the Lord will take radical steps to eliminate any appearance of evil.

I'm not talking about being legalistic. I'm talking about honoring and glorifying my Creator in everything that I do and say. Walk in the fear of the Lord - live like a follower of Jesus Christ...don’t be a wimpy Christian.

Acts 9:31 goes on to say

2) Walk in the comfort of the Holy Spirit -

What comes to your mind when you read that word "comfort"? Sit back, relax? Enjoy your stay? A nice day at the beach with an ice cold pina colada? We seem to have this idea that God has called us to a life of comfort. The comfort of the Holy Spirit has nothing to do with you feeling comfortable about your life or your circumstance. Acts 1:8 says “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

The comfort of the Holy Spirit means that while we are doing what we are supposed to be doing, we can move forward boldly, with strength and courage, leaning on, dependant on, the power of the Holy Spirit working in and through us. Phil. 4:13 says “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” Jesus promised in Luke 12:11-12 “And when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”

We must learn to walk in the comfort of the Holy Spirit. Jesus’ last words to his disciples before he left this earth were “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20)

We want our church to grow. We want to see people’s lives transformed. We want to see people who are living far from God come into a life changing and eternal relationship with God through Jesus Christ. That is why we exist as a church!
If we want to see that happen, then it starts with each one of us. It starts with you. It starts with me. Walk in the fear of the Lord. Walk in the comfort of the Holy Spirit.
Then - and only then - will the flags, the signs, the music, the preaching make any difference.

What You Need to Know...

When I went to seminary, for so called "pastoral training," they taught me how to prepare a sermon. I learned how to dissect the Greek and Hebrew languages. I learned how to logically argue for and defend the Christian faith. I learned a lot about cults and world religions. But to be honest, I don't remember learning anything about how to console a family who is grieving over the death of a child. I was never taught what to say to someone lying on their deathbed. I never learned anything about hiring and firing church staff. Seminary didn't teach me anything about managing a church budget.

It's no secret that we have been walking through some pretty tough times as a church body at Southbrook Church. It's been a rough couple of months. I've been meeting for hours on end, discussing everything from church structure to budget cuts. I've seen and learned a lot about leadership and church business. Oh - and I did get to do a little bit of real ministry in the midst of all that! We baptized 4 people last Sunday! We saw 4 people accept Christ the week before! In the midst of the storm amazing things continue to happen.

Yesterday I received an email from a member of our church. Her mother is days from leaving this earth and going to be with Jesus. She asked if Pastor Rob could come and see her and visit with her. Now, Pastor Rob doesn't do a lot of hospital visits. It's not that he doesn't love people, it's that with a church this size he could never do it all. That's why we hire other pastors. That's why we train LifeGroup leaders. The Bible teaches that we are all ministers. It's not the pastor's job to visit everyone, it's the pastor's job to train believers to care for one another.

But this was different. And Pastor Rob felt like he needed to go. I had the privilege of going along. As soon as we walked in the room, her eyes lit up. And then I got to see a side of my pastor that many people never see. Pastor Rob pulled up a chair, opened his Bible, took her hand, and with a deep sense of love a caring he read Psalm 23 to her. He looked into her eyes and encouraged here. Then he prayed for peace.

Why am I writing this? I don't know. Maybe, in the midst of all the junk that is going on I want people to see what I saw. I want you to know that you have a lead pastor who cares deeply about the people in this church. I want you to know that he is a man called by God to lead this church who wants nothing more than to see people's lives transformed by the power of Jesus Christ.

Monroe Campus - Some Thoughts

It's been one year since Pastor Rob twisted my arm and made me take on the campus pastor job in Monroe. And I haven't regretted it for one minute! I have to say I wasn't to sure about this whole campus pastor thing. I can also say we still have a lot of figuring out to do. We are exploring new territory. And we are seeing God use the people at Southbrook in amazing ways.

I meet once a month with our ministry team leaders. We don't have any paid staff at the Monroe campus yet (besides me). But we have some super-committed volunteers, and as far as I am concerned, they are staff. At our last staff meeting, about a month ago, we were debriefing a joint baptism service we had attended with Weddington. Everyone of these staff volunteers came from Weddington originally. I was pumped when I heard some of their comments! "Monroe is becoming it's own church." "We didn't really know anyone at the Weddington campus." "Weddington didn't feel like our church home anymore." Understand this - none of these comments were meant to be derogatory, they simply drove home the fact that these volunteers believe in and love what we are doing in Monroe. Southbrook Monroe is developing its own personality. It's awesome to watch.

I look forward with anticipation to the next thing God does with us.

But You're So Busy...

"But you're so busy..." That's what I often hear from people. "I wanted to email you, or talk to you, but I know how busy you are, so I decided not to bother you."

I've heard this one enough that I thought it would be good to set the record straight. Yes, I am busy. But that is not the point. We are all busy. Here's my take - you are my job. You are my responsibility. When God called me into the ministry, He called me to care for people. I can't care for people if I am not in relationship with people. Jesus was busy. So busy that the disciples forbade the little children from coming to see Him. But what did Jesus do? He said "Let them come! I always have time for these." Now I'm not saying you are little children...my point is this: it doesn't matter how busy you think I am, I will make time for you.

So yes - I'm busy. But don't let that stop you from asking that question, or making that phone call. I will make time for you.

Are You Replicating?

One of the things I've learned over the last several years while on staff at Southbrook Church is that I cannot do everything that my job requires of me.  My best work happens when I have someone who buys in and takes ownership alongside of me.  Things work out much better if I can let go and transfer ownership of something to someone who wants to run with it.

It's not always easy.  I like things done a certain way.  You might call me a perfectionist (you wouldn't be the first).  And when someone doesn't do something the way I invisioned, the tendency is to pull it back, to correct the 'mistakes', and make sure it gets done 'properly'.

This weekend in our pre-service meeting I challenged everyone to try something in the next couple of weeks.  We always complain that we are short on volunteers.  There are so many people sitting while so few are doing the work.  How do we get people to move from their seats and start serving?  So I challenged everyone.  Identify one person who is not currently serving.  Introduce yourself and ask them to join you in your ministry.  Do not plug them into an 'empty slot'.  Do not ask them to serve in your ministry.  Ask them if they would simply join you, follow you around, and help you out with whatever it is you are doing.  

There are several reasons why people don't get involved in church ministry (at any level).  They may feel like they are not needed.  After all everything seems to be working just fine.  They may be afraid that they have nothing to offer, they aren't good enough to do what needs to be done, they are inadequate for the job.  Ot maybe they don't know how to get involved.  My goal is to remove all of these fears and excuses.  If you are already serving, invite someone to see what you do for a couple of weeks.

I am looking forward to seeing what happens next!

Sent

Think about this quote:

"Any church that does not affect real change in its community, country, and the world is severly neglecting its true purpose."

Read it again. Do you agree? Do you really believe that if a church is not having a life changing effect outside her own walls, that she is neglecting her true purpose? I think these words are pretty convicting. I think you would do well to take these words to heart.

What is the purpose of the church? In order to understand the purpose of the church, we must understand the mission of the one who sent the church. The church is not a country club. The church is not a social gathering. The church is a group of Christ followers who have been sent by God on a mission - His mission. And what is that mission? To make disciples of all men (and women). God sent the church to accomplish His mission. The purpose of the church is to fulfill that mission.

Now, read the quote again: "Any church that does not affect real change in its community, country, and the world is severly neglecting its true purpose."

If the church is going to fulfill her mission, she must be about the business of life change.

Are you part of a local church? Is your church doing anything outside its own walls? Are you involved in the community, in the world, going about the mission of God - making disciples, affecting life change in the world around you?

The Familiar Road

Have you ever thought to yourself, "You know, I think I'm going to change _____ tomorrow." And then tomorrow comes, and you end up doing the same ole thing, no change happens.

As I left the house this morning, I thought I would drive to work a different way, just for a change of scenery. There are about 4 different ways I can drive, all about the same distance. But, for some strange reason, I ended up driving the same ole familiar way. I didn't deviate from the norm. I failed to make a simple change.

Often in life we discover things that need to be changed. Sin, or bad habits, creep in and we get so used to them they hardly seem to bother us. But we know they need to go. We know that we need to change certain behaviors. We say "Today I change. Today I will avoid ______." And then before we know it, we are still behaving the same way. For some reason, we just like the way things are.

Paul complained in Romans 7:18-19 "And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can't. I want to do what is good, but I don't. I don't want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway."

He describes so well the battle each one of us deals with daily. So what do we do? I know I need to change. I want to do the right thing. What do I do? One of the keys is found in Romans 12:2. Again Paul, the same one struggling with bad behavior says this:

"Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect."

We must allow God to transform our behavior. Admit your problem to Him, daily. Give it back to him, daily. Read His Word and pray, daily. As His words begin to sink into your heart and mind, He will begin to transform you in ways you cannot even imagine.

DNA

I have three children. Each of them has my DNA. They have inherited certain things from me. When each of them was born, people would try to figure who they looked like, me or their mother. "Oh, he has your nose," or "Look, she has her mother's ears." This always irritated me a bit - why couldn't they just be who they were, having their own noses and ears? Why did they have to have mine?

Another thing that irritated me was when some would say "There's no denying him, he is definitely yours!" Did they think I was wanting to deny my own children? Whatever, back to the point. The thing is, because my children have my DNA, they automatically assume similarities to me.

Check out 1 Corinthians 4:16 - "I urge you then, be imitators of me." Paul, the one sent by God to preach the message of Jesus Christ, is writing this letter to the Christians in Corinth. He is in the middle of telling them how far off track they are in their Christianity. And he follows that up with "be imitators of me." In order to understand what Paul means, we have to make a distinction. Paul doesn't want the Corinthians to become carbon copies of himself. He doesn't ask them to duplicate himself. He says "imitate me." In other words, take my DNA, learn from me, and act like me. You be you, but live as I live, love as I love, and serve as I serve.

I can't expect my kids to become carbon copies of me. (What a scary world this would be if they did!) I do know that their behavior is learned from watching me. Some of their personality traits are inherited from me (like my good looks and great sense of humor, for example). I must strive to be a model for my children to follow. Paul was a model for his spiritual children, the Christians at Corinth.

Why was Paul a good model to follow? Because Paul was imitating Jesus Christ. Paul's life goal was to become like Jesus Christ. And so should our's be! Everyday we should be striving to be more like our Lord and Savior - Jesus Christ.

Are you imitating Christ? Follow Him, learn from Him, and live like Him.