Two Lesbians Walk into a Church

Two Lesbians Walk into a Church: John Burke offers an incredible story of grace and a bold reminder that Jesus is never shocked by our sin.

To the Spiritual Dads and Mums

I promised myself that I would not allow my children to encounter the hand of abuse. I would protect them and take care of them. Their heart's condition matters. 

I know what it feels like to be broken on the inside and have a smile on my face; to be quiet and take in the words that were being thrown at me. I know what its like to not be able to speak up lest I be beaten anymore. I know what it feels like to recognize that the people that are meant to protect me and be my hero were just whimps and I was gonna have to figure life out on my own. I have lived in solitude, in a prison of my own and wondered when freedom would truly be mine. I never want anyone to feel what I felt. I never want anyone else to have the scars that I have.  

As I grew older, I understood and decided that to be the bigger person I was going to have to start with forgiveness. If I ever wanted to help someone in a similar situation I would have to be out of it first. 

It took time, and it took effort to forgive those monsters and see them through God's eyes. To be humble and kind with them again, to treat them as humanly as I possibly could. Those things took courage and patience too. Then I started to see a need for mothers and fathers in this world. Every child has a mom and dad as a biological concept but not necessarily in relation. God has given me a heart for children, the ones that grow up in broken homes amongst abusive elders, and the ones that don't know what true love looks or feels like. They have become like my children and I love them like my own. I don't need a lot of convincing to love someone and they don't have to be good for me to love them. After all, Jesus did not come for the perfect, but for the hurting and the lost. 

Everyone that is reading this, you may or may not understand everything I am trying to say but if you are alive, you are alive for a reason. God's NT laws are Love Him and Love His people. It's time you took a stand and loved on someone other than your own flesh and blood. There is a world full of crying and dying children. They could use a hug. I'm sure they would like to be held for a second, to feel your warmth and feel valued. 

How much longer are you just gonna share facebook images of dying naked children? How much longer are you going to tweet and email things on persecuted churches, drug addicted teens, prostitutes? How much longer are you going to sit behind that desk, on that comfortable office chair and on a laptop and think you are doing your part?

Get up and get moving! 

Get gossip out of your homes, churches, offices and start doing something that will make a difference. Get on your knees and pray for someone you don't know. Fast for them. Stand in the gap for them. Encourge your children to become ambassadors for the kingdom. Teach them how to do good. 

Now that you know what are you going to do about it? 

Are you going to sit silently and watch as the world keeps on hurting? We can't save everyone. Let me tell you, you can't save ANYONE. Only Jesus can do that. But if we can help, serve, or empower a lost or broken soul, then we can say, we have started to do our part.

Let me know if you want to know ways of getting involved! Bless you! Shaz

Is the B'day Boy Invited?

We are quickly going through 2011. I am excited about right now and what 2012 will bring!

I love Christmas, I love the merryness of it all. I love being with family and friends. I love having a good christmas meal! It's wonderful and I am all for it.

Keep Alight

I have been in India recently and it has been more amazing than I could have hoped for. In fact I was quite pessimistic about it. But it has turned out to be a very anointed and a time to learn the Word, for new revelation and demonstrating what I was learning.
Its Monsoon season here and it rains like crazy sometimes. So all these bugs decide they have to reside in our house. As soon as the sun sets

6 Common Perceptions of Christians by Dan Kimball

Today's non-Christian 20- and 30-somethings are big fans of Jesus but are less thrilled with His followers and the churches where they worship. Pastor/author Dan Kimball reveals their six most common perceptions of Christians and the Church, what they wish church was like—and why you should be listening to these emerging voices.

Every now and then, we experience an epiphany of some sort that drastically changes our life’s course. For me, it’s an extremely vivid memory of what happened when I took the time to step outside the busyness of ministry and listened to some college students from what was known to be one of the more anti-Christian campuses in California. It was these “pagan” students who gave me such incredible hope for the Church.
I was leading a young adults' ministry we had recently started at the church I was on staff with at the time, and occasionally during worship gatherings, we showed man-on-the-street video interviews to set up the sermon. For an upcoming message series on evangelism, we decided to go to this college campus to interview students and hear firsthand their thoughts about Christianity. We asked two questions: “What do you think of when you hear the name ‘Jesus’?” and “What do you think of when you hear the word ‘Christian’?”
When they answered the first question

4 Things I Want From Those Who Serve With Me by Perry Noble

#1 – Don’t let me be surprised.

If something goes wrong, if a mistake has been made or if we have dropped the ball then the last thing I want to do is find out about what has happened “through the grapevine.” And…I don’t want half of the story either. (Many times just half of the story is told in order to “protect” the leader…when actually quite the opposite is true. “Protection” is knowing all of the facts…ALL of them.)

Tell me the truth…always.

(AND…leaders, it is up to you to create this type of environment.

If you have a nasty habit of “shooting the messenger” then it is quite likely that you do not know the whole story in regards to what is happening in your organization.)

#2 – Don’t let me

Check Your Church's Health with These Six Questions by Tony Morgan

Part of what I do when I start a church consulting engagement is make sure all the critical pieces for a healthy ministry are present. Secondly, I ask questions and review communications and practices to see what elements get the most focus.

I believe a healthy organization includes all six of these elements:

      

•Purpose – This is the mission of the organization. Though all the other elements are required for a healthy organization, a clear purpose is

Now Is Not Normal- Plan For The Future

What do Major League farm systems and worship ministries have in common? For both to be successful over an extended period of time they have to be future minded. Creating a Culture of Crucial (a culture where people KNOW they are valued and crucial to the success of the whole) means putting people first. Of course we should always be aware of positions and roles that need to be fulfilled, but we should never see people as a set of skills. People are PEOPLE!
Another way that we can create a culture where people are truly valued is to make every

John Maxwell on the Hardest Thing in Leadership by Ron Edmondson

Whenever a discussion about leadership comes up in conversation, someone is always going to bring up the name John Maxwell.Maxwell, who is a trained and experienced pastor who passionately loves Christ and Kingdom work, has also greatly impacted the secular world with his leadership principles.
John has sold more than 18 million books and has trained more than 5 million leaders around the world with his non-profit organization called EQUIP. His latest book, Everyone Communicates Few Connect, shares

10 Keys to a Smart Staffing Strategy by Tony Morgan

I get to spend a lot of time with churches, either consulting related to staffing and structure or helping churches with searches for senior-level leaders. It’s been a long time since I shared some of the philosophies that shape how I coach leaders about church staffing, so I thought I’d give you a quick refresher. Here are…

10 Keys to a Smart Staffing Strategy

1. Think strategy before staffing structure. What’s your discipleship strategy? How do you help people who are new to your church become fully devoted followers of Christ? How do you reach people outside the faith and outside the church? Build your staffing structure around that strategy.
2. Hire ministry leaders rather

Francis Chan on Erasing Hell

Worth Watching. Francis Chan on why We Can't Afford to Get Hell Wrong. His new book coming out soon is called Erasing Hell and his thoughts are very interesting. Check it!

Restore Passion to Your Preaching: Three Essential Steps by Ken Davis

Many of my friends have confessed that occasionally they lose the passion in their preaching. In fact, most preachers have experienced this at least once in their ministry. Though few openly admit this, it is a secret that can't be hidden, because its symptoms eventually diminish the power of a pastor's preaching.

I remember reading several years ago about the account of a man who sat listening to a sermon, uneasy about the emotions he was feeling. The worship experience had been excellent; the sermon was well thought out, understandable and even applicable. Yet, as he listened, the man felt an unshakable sense of boredom. Where did it come from? He wondered why he felt no enthusiasm about the challenge of this message. It was well into the sermon when suddenly it dawned on him: He was bored because the pastor was bored—with another Sunday morning that demanded another 20-minute message delivered out of duty and without passion.
If you have lost the passion in your preaching, or if

10 Warning Signs that You Might Not Be a Healthy Leader by Perry Noble

Pastor/church leader…you have GOT to get healthy…emotionally, physically, and spiritually.  I will say that the overwhelming reason that many churches are not healthy is that the leaders in the church are not healthy.  What are some signs that you are not healthy?
#1 – You cannot remember the last time you clearly heard the Word of God speak to you about an issue in your own life.
#2 – You no longer use the Bible to learn more about Jesus and hear His voice…you are simply using it to find your next sermon.
#3 – You actually begin to hate and despise the people in your church (who, by the way, are the very people you are called to love)!
#4 – You spend more time on the cell phone and computer when you are at home than you do with your own family.
#5 – You are so obsessed with pleasing people and putting out fires that listening to God and doing what He says is no longer the goal of your life and ministry.
#6 – You often dream of being in another church…thinking that if you were somewhere else, you would have no problems.
#7 – You are spending time building up people of the opposite sex and having intimate conversations with them that SHOULD be taking place with your spouse.
#8 – You are often overwhelmed with feelings of intense sadness, and you don’t know why.
#9 – You can’t sleep.
#10 – You keep telling yourself (and your family) that one day everything is going to slow down.
I could go on and on…but seriously…if any of these stuck out to you, then PLEASE, do whatever it takes to get healthy.  Call a friend, get a counselor…take a day to just get away from your normal routine and spend time with the Lord.
The church needs devoted, passionate, and HEALTHY leaders!

ALL COPYRIGHT BELONGS TO CHURCH LEADERS AND PERRY NOBLE.

Why We Need to Throw Out the Term "Good Christian" by Francis Chan

I think it's time we stop asking ourselves the question: "Am I a good Christian?" We live in a time when the term "Christian" has been so diluted that millions of immoral but nice people genuinely consider themselves "good Christians." We have reduced the idea of a good Christian to someone who believes in Jesus, loves his or her family, and attends church regularly. Others will label you a good Christian even though your life has no semblance to the way Christ spent His days on earth. Perhaps we should start asking the question: "Am I a good Christ?" In other words, do I look anything like Jesus? This question never even entered my mind until a friend of mine made a passing comment to me one day.

Dan is a long time friend of mine. In fact, he's the pastor who performed my wedding. He was talking to me about a pastor named Von. Von has been working with youth in the San Diego area for decades. Many of his students have gone on to become amazing missionaries and powerful servants of God. Dan described a trip to Tijuana, Mexico, with Pastor Von. (Von has been ministering to the poor in the dumps of Tijuana for years.) Dan didn't speak of the awful living conditions of those who made their homes amidst the rubbish. What impacted Dan the most was the relationship he saw between Von and the people of this community. He spoke of the compassion, sacrifice, and love that he witnessed in Von's words and actions as he held these malnourished and un-bathed children. Then he made the statement that sent me reeling:

"The day I spent with Von was the closest thing I've ever experienced to walking with Jesus."

Dan explained that the whole experience was so eerie because he kept thinking to himself: "If Jesus were still walking on Earth in the flesh, this is what it would feel like to walk alongside of Him!" After that discussion, I kept wondering if anyone had ever said that about me-"The day I spent with Francis was the closest thing I've ever experienced to walking with Jesus." The answer was an obvious "no." Would any honest person say that about you?

What bothered me was not that I hadn't "arrived," but that I wasn't even heading in the right direction. I hadn't made it my goal to resemble Christ. I wasn't striving to become the kind of person who could be mistaken for Jesus Christ. Isn't it ironic that a man can be known as a successful pastor, speaker, and CHRISTian even if his life doesn't resemble Christ's?

1 John 2:6 "Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did."

When John made that statement, he wasn't speaking about how to be a church leader or even how to be a "good" Christian. He merely stated that anyone who calls himself Christian must live like Jesus did. So how did Jesus live? You could make a list of character traits to compare yourself to, but it would be far more beneficial to simply read through one of the Gospels. After you get a bird's-eye view of the life of Christ, do the same with your own. Are you comfortable with the similarities and differences?

It's easy to get caught up in the pursuit of "success" as American churchgoers define it. The thought of being well known and respected is alluring. There have been times when I've been caught up in the fun of popularity. I've even mistaken it for success. Biblically, however, success is when our lives parallel Christ's. Truth is there are many good Christs that you'll never read about in a magazine. They are walking as Jesus walked, but they are too focused and humble to pursue their own recognition.

May we make it our goal to someday have someone say of us: "The day/hour/15 minutes I spent with ______ was the closest thing I've ever experienced to walking with Jesus."

As Christians in America, we often complain about how antagonistic people are toward Christ. Personally, I'm not sure that Americans are really rejecting Christ. Maybe they just haven't seen Him.

Try to be COMPLETELY honest with yourself right now. Is the following true of you?

You passionately love Jesus, but you don't really want to be like Him. You admire His humility, but you don't want to be THAT humble. You think it's beautiful that He washed the feet of the disciples, but that's not exactly the direction your life is headed. You're thankful He was spit upon and abused, but you would never let that happen to you. You praise Him for loving you enough to suffer during His whole time on Earth, but you're going to do everything within your power to make sure you enjoy your time down here.

In short: You think He's a great Savior, but not a great role model.

The American church has abandoned the most simple and obvious truth of what it means to follow Jesus: You actually follow His pattern of life. I pray for those who read this article- that we don't become cynical or negative toward the church. Instead, let's make a personal decision to stop talking so much and begin living like Jesus. Then we can say as the Apostle Paul, "Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ." (1 Corinthians 11:1) My guess is that you've never had someone say that to you, and you've never said it to anyone else. Why Not? 

ALL COPYRIGHT BELONGS TO CHURCH LEADERS AND THE CATALYST AND FRANCIS CHAN. 

Francis Chan is an author and church leader, formerly the pastor of Cornerstorne Church in Simi Valley, California. Chan has authored two books, Crazy Love & Forgotten God. He is also the founder of Eternity Bible College and sits on the board of directors of Children's Hunger Fund and World Impact. Francis lives in California with his wife, Lisa, and their four children
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5 Warning Signs You Have a Vision Gap by Tony Morgan

If you’ve been to London, you’re very likely familiar with “the Tube.” The Tube is what they call their subway system. Wherever you travel using the subway in London, you’re always told to “Mind the gap.” You hear that phrase on the loudspeakers. You see that phrase plastered throughout the subways. You won’t be in London very long before you’re aware of the warning to “Mind the gap.”
When you’re traveling in London, “the gap” refers to the space between the subway platform and the train. As you’re stepping out the train, there’s a caution to mind the gap between the train and the platform. It would be a bad day if you fell in the gap.
That word picture struck a chord with me, because I think there’s a gap that exists in churches today as well. In recent months, I’ve been warning church leaders to “Mind the gap.” There’s a gap between the vision and the people who are waiting to execute the vision. Unfortunately, leaders with big vision tend to ignore the gap. They buy into the myth that if people unify behind a clear vision, the ministry will succeed. Let me explain why that type of thinking may lead to you getting stuck.
Today, it’s not uncommon for churches to have vision statements. Knowing the importance of unifying behind a clear vision, leaders have gone through many conversations and exercises to develop the church’s vision statement. Let’s look at an example. Let’s assume our church’s vision statement is: “Love God. Love people. Change a community.” That’s a very compelling vision.
With their new vision statement completed, leaders will preach messages and create campaigns to gain support of the new vision. If the leader is effective in vision casting and has built trust, people will rally behind the vision and the leader. The vision statement may end up on the Web site, in the weekly bulletin, on the walls of the church facilities. In fact, if the communications and vision casting strategy is executed effectively, it’s possible for everyone in the church to know and embrace the vision of the church.
That’s the problem. It’s possible for everyone to know the vision and still not have any clue what they’re supposed to do to help make the vision become reality. The problem is that church leaders have failed to “mind the gap.” For churches, the gap is that space between vision and execution that generates results. The gap includes the specific strategies and systems that are established to accomplish the vision. Visually, it may look like this:

Vision + [Strategies & Systems] + Execution = Results

When there’s a strategies and systems gap, churches end up just “doing church” — they do what churches have always done. They may have a unique vision statement from the church down the street, but they end up employing the same methods as the church down the street. They do that because no one took the time to figure out what strategies and systems would be required to accomplish the vision. That’s how churches end up doing the same things churches have always done but hoping for different results.
Here are some warning signs that your ministry may not be minding the gap:

• Since you haven’t clarified your strategies and systems, the loudest person decides what does or doesn’t happen in your church.
• You lose great staff and lay leaders to other churches or community organizations because you’ve not empowered them with clear strategies and systems.
• Because there’s a gap, good people with good hearts will try to fill the gap. They’ll start to develop their own strategies and systems to accomplish your vision. Eventually, you’ll have many people pulling in many directions, and that will create division and, ultimately, split churches.
• When you haven’t clarified strategies and systems, more meetings are required. Every time an issue pops up, you have to reinvent the wheel. People who crave power love this because there are more meetings to make decisions. People who crave ministry impact leave the church.
• Your giving plateaus or declines. People will give to vision when they know specifically how the vision is going to be accomplished. People do not give to a vision statement.

Most important, if people are sitting on the sidelines and aren’t engaged in ministry, that’s a loud warning that you need to mind the gap. People may have bought fully into your vision. They may be willing to invest their time to execute the vision. They may just be completely clueless as to what they’re supposed to do.
In his book The E-Myth Revisited, Michael Gerber said it this way:

“What makes people work is an idea worth working for along with a clear understanding of what needs to be done.”

You help people get a clear understanding of what needs to be done by minding the gap. You have to establish the specific strategy to accomplish the vision. And you need to establish the systems for executing that strategy. The systems make it possible for you to empower leaders and mobilize people. Without systems, you have to stay involved in every task and every decision.
So I already know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking: “This is a great business philosophy, but it has no place in a church. It’s not biblical.” In addition to minding the gap, I guess I can also read minds. We’ll cover biblical examples of ministry strategies and systems in the next article.
For those of you who have experienced “the gap,” what are some other warnings signs for us to consider?

ALL COPYRIGHT BELONGS TO CHURCH LEADERS AND TONY MORGAN.

How to Lead All the Time Without Leading All the Time by Artie Davis

Know what it feels like to pull someone else? I mean really carry the load? Like pulling someone in a wagon, carrying a load up a hill. That’s what leadership is. It’s carrying the load of vision and the pace.
We formed “PaceLines” when I was into cycling. Those are lines where you form a single line and “Draft” off one another. In other words, the leader in the front pulls the line by taking on most of the wind resistance. Those behind the leader have to work 30% less to keep up.
When the leader gets tired, they simply “peel off” and fall to the back of the line. Then, the next rider pulls until tired. This process is repeated until the original leader makes it back to the front again.
You can’t pull the pack all the time. If you try, you will burn out, and all the energy stored up by those behind you makes them restless. As the leader tires and becomes unwilling to allow someone else to lead, the pack loses time and wastes talent and resources.
The wise leader trains his team well, so he has the ability to rest when necessary. Here are some ideas to help accomplish that:

• Give young leaders small projects so they know how to carry the full load
• Make organization-wide campaigns, and let another take the lead
• Turn meetings over to other leaders to help others follow someone else
• Make another leader the point man for a season
• Form a leadership team on a project and rotate the leaders

As a leader, you must know when to “peel off” and rest. But your organization can’t fall apart while you are resting. So you must plan and equip your team for your seasons of rest. If done properly, you will be amazed at how much your team does with out you.
Are you ready to peel off? Can you?

ALL COPYRIGHT BELONGS TO CHURCH LEADERS AND ARTIE DAVIS

What makes a great leader by Charles Lee

Leadership is often defined as influence.

In my opinion, everyone possesses the ability to “influence” or lead others in the general sense of the word, but not everyone is a leader (i.e., someone who functions in a publicly recognized role of guiding or influencing others). I have worked with several people who influence the lives of many people but didn’t function well once given a key role of leadership in an organization and/or company.
The reality is that leadership in a formal sense requires a certain set of perspectives, values, and praxis that very few are able to carry out well. Over the years, I’ve had the privilege of working with some phenomenal leaders that are literally changing the landscape of our world. Here are a few insights I’ve picked up about what it takes to become a great leader:

• Pain Frames Purpose – Great leaders do not run away from pain, but rather, recognize that pain is what truly forms and informs their life purposes. It is not to say that they are sadistically seeking pain. Passion for one’s purpose is often fueled in part by one’s pain and suffering. Passion by definition is not only a reference to fervor but also the willingness to work with pain.
• Collaboration is Necessary for Creative Innovation – Leaders recognize that they cannot and will not do it alone. Every great endeavor needs a team or community to help it flourish. Great leaders move from simply wanting collaboration to needing it. In addition, they welcome voices from unrelated fields to spark creativity and refinement of purpose.
• Courage Guides Decisions – Great leaders are marked by their courage in decision making. They rarely lean towards the popular vote. Courage implies that there is often a deep presence of fear and obstacles. Courage is the ability to move forward in the presence of fear.
• Compassionate Justice Provides Perspective – No matter how tough a great leader may appear, deep inside they all care about the people they lead. Compassionate justice is a reference to a work that seeks to make things right with a posture of real care. Great leaders are leading because they feel they can change the environment or direction of something that could be better. People ultimately “follow” a leader because they sense that they have their best interest in mind, even if it means that they go against the grain.
• Focus of Implementation – Great leaders don’t just talk; they do. They realize the hard work is in the implementation of their vision and courage. They don’t make excuses nor choose to sit on their ideas. They simply move forward and figure things out along the way. Great leaders are focused on implementing better. They're not satisfied with a 30,000 feet view. They also want to see what’s right in front of them. The focus is not just greater vision but greater action.

Living life as a leader is a noble pursuit. It takes a special person to move beyond the romanticized benefits of its role.
Are you a leader? If so, our world needs you at your best!

ALL COPYRIGHT BELONGS TO CHURCH LEADERS AND CHARLES LEE.

Church Branding or Marketing? What's the Difference? by Maurilio Amorim

If “marketing” was the church’s buzzword for the ‘90s, “branding” is definitely the new, upstart concept when it comes to communications these days. So what makes the new millennium’s branding better than last century’s marketing strategy? A lot, if we understand the differences between them.

Branding and marketing both aim at communicating a product, an institution, even a person to a particular audience. This whole process happens solely in the mind. In this case, perception is reality—for good or bad. Most of what marketing does is build a brand—create a favorable reality in the minds of our target audience. A marketing campaign’s effectiveness is measured in months, but a brand’s strength is calculated in years, even decades. Each marketing effort should help define, position, and strengthen the brand.

Recently, the Old Spice campaign featuring Isaiah Mustafa has sold a lot of deodorant to men who want to be more like Isaiah and to wives who wished their husbands looked like Isiah. The once tired, old man brand got a new face, new energy, and lots of new sales through a shift in brand positioning.

So what about the church? How should we view the branding dilemma? First of all, we must remember that as far as the church is concerned, marketing is simply communication. Jesus commanded us in Luke 14:23 to go into the highways and lanes and “compel” them to come in. And for marketing to build a brand, it must be deliberate, systematic, and consistent.

Deliberate. Before we can begin to build a brand, we must know our branding statement and position. “We are a church; that’s our position,” you might argue. But within the category of churches, yours should have its own identity, calling, niche, passion, or however you want to define your uniqueness. That’s a deliberate message you need to continue to share, and it should always come through in your communication strategy.

Systematic. I was fortunate to be in on the birth and growth of a church that reached megachurch status in a very short period of time. Our brand statement was, “Real Hope for Real People in the Real World.” And boy, did we keep it real! The way we used music, graphic arts, and language reflected a church very much in tune with popular culture. We wanted to keep it real, and we did. “The church for people who don’t like church,” some would say. That was our brand. We drove home the message online, on every direct mail piece, radio and television spot. And it worked.

Consistent. “We tried this before; it didn’t work.” These are the famous last seven words of the dying church. You must be consistent with the message and with your efforts to continue to reach your community for Christ. Your strategy might change from one medium to another, but your consistency in message and focus should reinforce your brand. A strong visual logo is always a good way to build your brand. Lakewood Church in Houston, TX, does a great job with branding. At every opportunity, Lakewood lets you know that, “We believe in you!” Don’t give up after a few tries. Consistency pays dividends in the long run. Be patient, stick with it, and you will see results.

As you help your church through communication issues, remember to make sure you have a compelling brand statement that will be part of your marketing strategy for a long time. A good brand statement will add value to the reader and give him or her a new incentive to visit your church: “We believe in you.” Build that brand every chance you have: bulletins, letterhead, business cards, Web sites, billboards, radio spots, television spots, etc. Remember that you cannot over use your brand statement. You might be sick of it after a few years, but to some, it will be a new revelation. You know you’re doing a good job when you hear someone new to the church repeat it back to you. Oh, that’s always music to my years.

ALL COPYRIGHT BELONGS TO CHURCH LEADERS AND MAURILIO AMORIM

4 Reasons to Expand (Even When You Shouldn't) by Jamie Munson

God has been very gracious to Mars Hill Church. We’ve seen a lot of converts, a lot of growth, and a lot of evidence that Jesus is alive. It feels somewhat ridiculous to talk about the case for church growth because we’ve had nothing to do with it.
Just because it’s God at work and not us, however, doesn’t mean that growth is always easy. It requires perseverance because the future is uncertain, people resist change, and the temptation to rest on the status quo is strong.
In the face of a struggling economy, a divided leadership, a lack of generosity—whatever your church is going through—here are four reasons to pursue and pray for expansion anyway:
1) Jesus will build his church.
Jesus has more for his church. That’s why we’re still here. He promised to build the church (Matt. 16:18), and we must trust that he will. This requires acting on God’s calling even if you don't always know exactly how things are going to play out. Jesus often asks his disciples to trust him, even when the plan seems obscure—or downright impossible (Luke 9:10–17).
2) The opposite of growth is death.
The living grow; the dying do not. A church need not add to its numbers in astronomical proportions, but if nobody is showing up, chances are nobody is meeting Jesus, which is the whole point. Also, spiritual growth is inextricably linked to numerical growth (though it’s not always an exponential relationship); if people are truly growing in their faith, they will give, they will serve, they will invite their friends, they will tell people about Jesus, they will live on mission—all of which leads to some level of numerical growth as God works through his people.
3) We want the church to mature.
We all have a tendency to cling to our lives, our money, and our time as if we were somehow entitled to it in the first place, as if it were not a gift from God to be used for his glory. Large visions and large projects require large faith, large giving, and large amounts of volunteers to own the mission. It should be somewhat difficult and painful because it should be a sacrifice. Through sacrifice, God destroys our selfish ways and teaches us to treasure Jesus above our comfort and our self-sufficiency.
4) More people need Jesus.
Our plans ultimately rest in God’s hands (Prov. 16:9), but our ultimate objective is clear: more disciples and more churches so that more people can meet Jesus (Matt. 28:19; Acts 1:8).
Please pray for healthy growth (and the necessary pruning) in Jesus’ church throughout the world.

ALL COPYRIGHT BELONGS TO CHURCH LEADERS, THE RESURGENCE, AND JAMIE MUNSON.

10 Tips on Handling Conflict by Rod Edmondson

In every life situation involving people, whether among family, friends, or co-workers, there will be potential for conflict.  In fact, if relationships are normal, conflict is inevitable.  It seems to reason then that learning to deal with conflict successfully should be our goal, especially those of us who desire to lead organizations.
Here are 10 tips for more effective handling of conflict in your life:

1. Understand the battle.  What is the real source of the conflict?  Make sure you are addressing with the real issue.
2. Find the right time and place to confront the conflict.  When emotions are high is not good timing for dealing with conflict.  Personal conflict should not be handled in public.
3. Examine yourself first.  Sometimes, the issue is personal to you, and you are only blaming others for your problem.
4. Consider the other side of the conflict.  Put yourself in the other person’s shoes and consider their viewpoint in the conflict.
5. Do not overreact to the issue or overload on emotion.  Stick to the issue at hand.
6. Do not dance around or sugarcoat the issue or disguise it in false kindness.  Sometimes, we fail to address the conflict because we are afraid of how the other person may respond or we are afraid of hurting feelings.  The avoidance usually will cause more conflict eventually.
7. Do not allow the small disagreements to become big disagreements without confronting them along the way.  Minor conflict is always easier to handle than major conflict.
8. Be firm but gentle.  Learn the balance between the two.
9. Work towards a solution.  Never waste conflict, but use it to make the organization and relationships better.  The best-case scenario is a win-win situation, but ultimately, the conflict needs to be resolved with the right solution.
10. Grant forgiveness easily and do not hold a grudge or seek revenge.  Healthy teams handle conflict and allow it to make the organization stronger.

Those are my suggestions.  How do you handle conflict?

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Ron Edmondson is a pastor and church leader passionate about planting churches, helping established churches thrive, and assisting pastors and those in ministry think through leadership, strategy and life. Ron has over 20 years business experience, mostly as a self-employed business owner, and he's been in full-time ministry for over 8 years

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