Reflection(s)

What a difference a year makes. It just hit me that it was a year ago that we were entering our last week at Real Life. I was spent spiritually, emotionally, and physically spent. As sad as it was to close RL, I don't know how much longer I could have gone on even if we had been more solvent. We took six months and didn't do much of anything church related. We visited around and got to worship with friends that we'd been meaning to catch up with but nothing in terms of playing, teaching, leading, serving. It was a really much needed respite.

Last spring we offered to help a friend that was planting a church in the Findlay area. Originally, we were going to come and help out for the summer. The summer gradually turned into we'll stay till launch next Easter. God has a purpose and a plan in everything. Last month our friend passed away. He was only 54 and had a massive heart attack. While it's been tough for everyone, it's pretty obvious that God called us to 242 Church to help. God knew what was going to happen and he knew he needed us there. We are not called to be at 242 long term. God also had a plan and a man that he wanted to lead that church. Next week we'll get to hear from him (Craig.) We'll pray that his calling to 242 is confirmed by everyone at church.

It's been a weird year. When we closed RL I said that I was done in ministry. I meant it, I really wanted nothing to do with it anymore. I was tired of friends who loved me to my face, but spoke ill of my behind my back. I was tired of the attacks on my family. I was just plain tired. I've often said that I love God but struggled to love his people. If you've ever been in ministry, perhaps you can relate. I told God that if ever wanted me back in ministry that he'd have to come get me because I would not be looking for ministry work.

I believe God has a funny streak about him. We went to 242 just to help out with worship and I was going to coach Scott a little behind the scenes and then we'd walk away. Here I am leading a church again (although just short term.) Over the last 6 months, I have had 6 people call, email, and take me out for coffee asking if I'd be interested in helping out or taking a ministry position with their church. Small group pastor, teaching pastor, lead pastor, worship....all kinds of ministry opportunities. One very large church, and some mid to smaller sized churches...Till now, I have turned them all down and really without much thought or even prayer.....Finally, last week. I said OK God I GET IT.....You want me in ministry.

I know what my calling is. I have for a long time. When the right offer comes along. I will do it....until then I'll follow where he leads. Sometimes, I forget that my life isn't my own. In order to have a life I have to be willing to give it away. If it means taking the kind of crap (yes I just said crap) that comes with ministry I will learn to endure. I am learning that the Apostle Paul said when he said "For me to live is Christ."

It's the opposite

I am sitting here on my couch scanning email after a huge meal (courtesy of Don Pablo's tonight) and was thinking that many Pastors feel like they lead lonely lives. They feel like they have no friends and are all alone.

I have to say for the life of my I can't understand why. I have some great friends at church. Maybe that's one of the things that makes Real Life so special. Our people actually really care about each other. I don't want that to sound like our church is great your church sucks kinda thing. But I have never, ever, been a part of a church where people are better friends. That is awesome.

Are there times that, as a pastor, I stand alone in my burden for the church? Without a doubt, that is something most Pastors experience. We have a burden for our churches and people that people outside of the ministry will probably never know. But, I can call virtually any of the guys from church and hang out over a burger and just be me.

That is a cool thing!

Overflow.

The last few months have been interesting for me. God has been stirring up some stuff in me and I wasn't sure what and why. Over the last week it's kinda hit me that really God is showing me (not that I didn't already know it) that I need to do a better job of staying connected to him as my source and strength. I have been falling into the trap of allowing myself to lean on my strength and understandings instead of being more closely connected to God. For Pastors, this is a tough thing to admit, the notion that we are not as close to God as we ought to be. Shoot, Did I just say that :)

Anyway, over the last few weeks I have been much more intentional about spending time in God's word. Not only does it bless me as I am renewed by God's strength, it blesses those in my care through better teaching and, to be honest more anointed teaching. All ministry really should be the result of an overflow in our lives. When we are so connected to God he is pouring more blessings into our lives than we can contain, or for that matter use we have no choice but to give it away.

That is the place I want to be. In a place where God is providing me more that I could ever need. The way that happens is when attach ourselves to him. One of the way's I am attaching myself to him is by spending more time in the word. Recently, I started using a new online Bible tool www.youversion.com. It's a cool online Bible with journaling capabilities. It has a ton of Bible versions and its a great way to keep connected to the source. I just added it to my favorites!

One Prayer

I am really getting stoked about One Prayer. I have checked out the messages and they are awesome. Each pastor we are using for the series is different than the next and for that matter different than me. It's going to make for a cool series. We are going to hear the prayer and word of God taught from four unique perspectives in a single month. That never happens at a church.

Over the next week. I am going to be mailing a letter to each home inviting people to personally join the one prayer cause by fasting for one day and participating in a special one time missions project. We'll be supporting three different missions causes. First, we are going to give to David and Billie Blessing. The are missionaries in Africa. We are also going to use our spare change to give to Campus Life. They are getting prepared for a missions trip to the inner city of Chicago. Lastly, we want to support a local Christian camp.

As of today there are over 1100 churches with over 750,000 people taking part in One Prayer. These churches cross every type of denominational and cultural spectrum. This kind of event is rare. I am so glad we get to play a small part in it.

Been Thinking (Scarry I know!)

Many times we in leadership confuse what we like with what God is calling us to do. We tend to to what makes us comfortable, tickles our ears, or makes us feel better about our positions and our place. We often lead from the position that our likes are more godly than other peoples likes, thereby justifying our stance on things. Sometimes, we get wrapped up in the notion that because something blesses me therefore it will bless those in our churches.

The simple fact of the matter is quite often this just isn't true. What blesses me may mean nothing to the people in my church. The things I like might not be liked at all by the people in my church. The things that tickle my ear might really annoy the ears of those in our church. The things that we justify in doing in our churches because they appeal to us aren't really always the things that God is calling us to do.

Here is the rub. Leaders lead. It doesn't matter what the arena or venue. Leaders have a knack for looking at where they are, seeing things from an accurate perspective, and leading where they believe the church or organization needs to go. Leaders, if they are going to be effective, must learn to separate their personal tastes from the needs of their people.

Don Shula was a great football coach, perhaps the best ever. The great thing about Shula was that he didn't have a system. He, unlike most coaches, wasn't tied to anything other than winning. If he had guys that were more skilled in passing the ball his teams became prolific passers (think Dan Marino.) When his players were better runners than passers they did that (think Csonka and the 72 Dolphins.) Leaders lead with what they have and they find a way to get things done plain and simple.

How does all this fit into discussion on church? Leaders lead. We in ministry need to learn to do a better job of putting aside our personal preferences in order to better lead the people God has given us. Sometimes that means playing music that isn't our first choice. Sometimes that means leaving the suit in the closet (were it belongs!) Sometimes that means dropping the old time preacher routine of pacing back and forth while speaking progressively louder. Sometimes that means allowing people to bring some coffee into the holiest of holys (our church sanctuary's!)

Plain and simply put. If you're in ministry and something in your area of ministry isn't clicking maybe it's you :)

I am not saying you need to get out of ministry or run for the hills. What I am saying is maybe you (and all of us for that matter) need to take an honest look at what your doing and ask yourself if it meets the needs of the people I am leading right now. If not, replace it with something that will. Am I saying you need to tickle peoples ears? Not a chance. What I am saying is that packaging is everything. I will never sacrifice what I teach. NEVER. I make no bones about it.

I will however constantly look at the way I teach it and the way I lead. Everyone in ministry and for that matter leadership needs to do that. Part of being a good leader is being willing to change tactics when the time comes. What worked last year may not work next year. The songs that moved the church to tears today might not move the church to tears in a year. It's not that they're bad songs it's that people and times change.

The message doesn't change. Just the way it's presented! Winning doesn't change but sometimes you need a new game plan!

What's going on with me?

Ok....normally I get myself all psyched up for one message series at a time. I haven't even finshed writing all the messages for the iMarriage series (I have written 2 of 4) and had this overwhelming urge to sit down and write my message for our June One Prayer series.

Am I getting ahead of myself or what? Sometimes God just hits you and boom it all comes out. Which is not how he normally leads me in message prep. Usually I feel lead towards certain topics so I start gathering information and seeing what is out there that has already been written and said by people that are much better communicators that I am. As I am reading, God will reveal to me what to keep, what to ditch, and what to add to what I have found. Today was one of those days were it just all came out just sitting down with my computer and Bible and allowing GOd to speak........The good the bad and the ugly.

Sad thing is....quite often the best messages are a little ugly and you really don't want to know what we go through in putting them together. Quite often they are very painful for us pastors. We are reopening old wounds for ourselves and knowing many times we are going to open the wounds of others. Sometimes though, that's what it takes to bring healing for us and for you guys.

The Beginning of the END!

I knew I'd hook ya with the title!

Ok, so this week we are closing out our series based on 6 of Jesus most famous miracles. As we are learning our obedience to what God is asking of us is a huge thing. We have found plenty of examples of God providing for his people upon their obedience.

I thought I would take a few minutes and lay out some of the things God is hitting me with.

1. I need to be more intentional about my personal growth as a Pastor and Leader. I run in stages where I get focused about growing but God is challenging me to spend more time regularly growing.
2. I need to be more intentional about my quiet time with Him. I've been pretty busy lately and God's been hitting me with the notion of I am leaning too much on my strengths, talents, and abilities and that I am not sold out enough to his. This is hitting me pretty hard right now and it's something I need to deal with, in that respect most people in ministry need to deal with on a regular basis.
3. I need to be more intentional about my alone time with my wife. It seems like we are always together and that is a good thing. The problem is much of what we do together is ministry related. We and by we I mean I, need to schedule more time where the phones are turned off and we are doing more couple stuff.
4. I need to be more intentional about forming better quality relationships with the people at church. I have a few close friends and I need to do a better job getting outside of that circle. Or better said, I need to expand that circle of friendships making more room for the awesome people God has brought into Real Life.

So that's me....what is God asking you to do at this point in your life?

Things pastors just don't want to admit

There are some things in life that people in ministry just don't want to admit. I'll give you my top 5

5. Pastors like to please people.
Sometimes we do that by doing things we know we shouldn't do because it doesn't fit into what God is calling us to do and be as a church. We know better but sometimes we cave. It always hurts us more in the long run but do it anyway.

4. We want to be friends with you.
Really we do, but remember friendship is a give and take thing. We have a hard time being our real selves if you are going to treat us like a pastor when we are just hanging out. If you want to be our friend then be one. Quit trying to act perfect. Trust me, we know that your not and neither are we. We have hang ups and things that we are working on too. If you really want to be our friend you won't judge us on the stuff we are working on. It's called grace. We extend it to you, if you want to be our friends extend it to us.

3. Sometimes we question.
That's right. We don't always have the answers to everything. We wish we did but we can't answer everything. The best we can say is that we trust God and we'll seek him for an answer.

2. We work too hard.
Sometimes we put way to much time into our church and into our ministry. Often that is at the expense of our family. Believe it or not, pastors burn out at a very high rate. Ministry is a difficult job. We will lose many more battles than we will win. Most people never see the pain we see and most people never feel the hurt we feel. If you want to help see #4 be a real friend and support us.

1. We think more money is a solution.
This one really hurts but it's true. We get caught in the trap thinking if we only had more cash we could do XYZ. It should never come to that but it does. Remember we are people too. Many of us dream big and then start fretting about how we are going to pay for it. Instead we need to dream big and wait on God.

I'd love to hear your comments. Feel free to post them for our discussion!

Was out doing some blog reading and this posting came up on Perry Nobles Blog. It was so good I wanted to share it with all my friends and family. In case you ever wondered when I personally need your prayer the most.

So HERE GOES....

When To Pray For Your Pastor

I’ve had four conversations in the past several weeks where someone has said to me, “Perry, my family and I pray for you and your family everyday.”

Let me be very clear…there is almost NOTHING ELSE I would rather hear from a Springers (attender/member of NewSpring) mouth than that! It always blows me away that people would think enough of me, Lucretia and Charisse to talk to the Creator of the Universe on our behalf.

I know there are people from other churches who read this site and I would strongly encourage you to pray for your pastor…when are the three times he needs it the most?

#1 - Sunday Night/Monday Morning

If a pastor EVER feels like giving up–it’s either on Sunday night or Monday morning.

I would say that 99% of the worlds population doesn’t really have a clue as to what pastors endure emotionally, physically and spiritually.

• If they are going to be under a heavy spiritual attack…it’s usually during this time.
• If they are going to have a sleepless night, even though they are exhausted–it will be on Sunday night.
• If they are going to battle discouragement…it will be on Sunday night.

Trust me on this folks…I am saying what most pastors won’t tell you (either because of insecurity or some sort of Messiah complex!)

When a pastor preaches a message he has SEVERAL adrenalin rushes–ever had one of those? Sure you have! Let’s say you are riding down the road in a car and another car runs a stop sigh and you manage to avoid a collision by mere inches.

BAM…you get an adrenalin rush that studies show it takes between four to six hours to recover from.

NOW–take under consideration that most pastors in today’s world preach more than one sermon per Sunday…and with the shots of adrenalin the body produces to keep the dude going…it completely kicks his butt–I promise. That is why it is so essential to lift him up during this time–he feels like a used washed cloth!

#2 - On Saturday Nights

If I am going to have a sleepless night, other than Sunday night–it’s Saturday.

Pastors have a hard time shutting their minds off on Saturday night–we think about the message, the music, who is and is not going to be there…and about one million other things. We can literally drive ourselves crazy.

ALSO…for me personally, if I am going to have any sort of nightmare–it’s usually on Saturday night. Oh yeah…PLEASE don’t just pray for him…but his entire family as well!!! There needs to be complete peace in and on the pastor’s house the night before church…and I believe that this comes through people passionately praying to God on his behalf.

#3 - Anytime The Holy Spirit Brings Him To Mind

If you are riding down the road and your pastors name pops into your mind…pray for him. It really is that simple.

If you are in your living room and watching television and his name pops in your mind…pray for him.

If you are riding down the road and you see a dead squirrel splatted all over the place and your pastors name pops in your mind…PRAY FOR YOURSELF, you have issues!!!

The Holy Spirit knows when people need prayer…and I can’t tell you the number of times He’s brought someone’s name to my mind, I’ve prayed for them and then later found out that at the exact time I prayed for them was at a time when God was doing some serious work in their lives.

Prayer works…thanks to all of you who pray for Lucretia, Charisse and myself…you will never know how much we appreciate it.

Real Leadership

I was thinking about real leadership today. Real leadership is never given or taken it's always earned. When I was a kid I was in the Army, and there is one principle of leadership I learned that has stuck with me over the years. In the service you have to do things that are not always pleasant. I remember one time we had to walk 18 miles (ok, it wasn't uphill both ways.) The thing that made the walk tolerable was that our officers were right there walking beside us. They were carrying the same loads we were carrying. They were living out leadership not just talking about it. Long after we had reached our destination and us working folk were done for the day and free to relax, they were still working!

How is that a lesson in leadership. Simple! Never ask someone to do something that you're not willing to do first. Think about that one for a sec. Way to often people aspire to leadership because they think they can teach, sing, play an instrument, balance a checkbook, create a killer power point presentation, or whatever else they happen to be good at.

Real leadership is all about being a servant first. Are there times when leaders need to delegate? Without a doubt. In fact, I need to learn to delegate more so that I can be more effective but sometimes leadership means cleaning bathrooms, hauling equipment, listening to a story you've already heard, or holding a hand. Jesus was a great model of how a leader should think. His response about being put on a pedestal might surprise some. He told people that he came to serve them not to be served.

If you think you are being called into leadership that's awesome! Start by serving were you are. Use the gifts and talents God has given you to be a blessing to others. If you are called and have the ability to lead people will notice and people will follow.

Way to often us church types think leadership relieves of our duties to serve others. The reality is real leadership requires more humility, sacrifice, and service than just being a part of something. Much like the officers I saw living out leadership in the military we need more people willing to become servant-leaders.