Right On The Money

Ben Arment had a great post about how selfish, small minded Christians can kill a church. Read and laugh HERE.

If you’re offended by the list, maybe it’s time to read some Scripture and remember what Jesus has called us to do: reach this world for Him!

Thankful For Great Leaders

Last night we had a meeting of our Legal Trustees. I was dead tired before the meeting, but honestly felt refreshed by the end of it. How many pastors can say that about a leadership meeting?

I love meeting with these guys because they’ve fully grasped the vision of of Palm Valley Church. They see their role as supporting me and the staff as we lead the church. Now get this; this does not mean that they are “yes men” who simply rubber stamp our decisions.

These guys are spiritually mature, and they bring a ton of leadership experience and giftedness to the table. They ask me the tough questions, they ensure that we’re being the best stewards possible of every dollar given, and they help me look forward to prepare for what God might be doing next.

Pastors: 2 warnings regarding choosing your leadership/deacon/trustee/elder (whatever you call it) team…

First, don’t be afraid to have a team around you, and that will even ask you the tough questions. Many church planters I talk to are afraid of this step in a churches growth. I need support. I need help. I need prayer. I need accountability. So do you. Don’t cheat your church of this because you’re afraid of giving up control, being turned on, etc… However you (yes, the pastor should set the structure biblically) structure your leadership, get help.

Second, be very careful about who’s on this team. Make sure they’re people who love the Lord, love you, and have shown faithfulness to the church through tough times. Don’t put anybody in leadership until they’re been through some rough stuff with you. Why? Anybody can hang with you when the time’s are good, character is revealed in the hard times. Be very slow to add people to this team. Make sure they’re committed to the long haul, and make sure they’re willing to do and say the tough things.

In closing, I’m thankful for the men God has brought around me to support my leadership of Palm Valley Church. Nobody will ever know the tough decisions they’ve made, and the issues they’ve handled. Thanks guys for walking the walk with me!

Super Bowl Thoughts

Glad to see the Colts win, I was rooting for them. I’m a big fan of the way they’ve conducted themselves the past few years; both in victory and defeat. It’s also good to know the Raiders are on the clock with the first pick in the NFL draft.

It was very cool to see Lovie Smith and Tony Dungy, two class act coaches lead their teams. Much was made of them being the first african-american coaches to oppose each other. It’s a step forward, and hopefully now we can look at coaches (and each other) as simply being human beings without having to slap a lable on them.

It was also awesome to hear both coaches proclaim their faith in Christ; including Dungy declaring his faith during the trophy presentation. Congrats to both coaches; I’m proud to call them brothers in Christ.

What Lead Pastors Need To Know About Student Ministries

I took our Student Ministries team out to lunch today just to hear what’s going on in their world. As a former youth pastor (who wanted to do youth work forever) I have a huge heart for what’s happening to the teenagers in our culture. It was cool to hear the exciting vision our team has for reaching young people in our community for Christ!

If you’re a lead pastor, here’s a few important things you need to know about your youth pastor, and how to encourage them…

1) Treat them as valuable team members. Your youth team are not “pastors in training”, or “future ministers”; they are on the cutting edge of your church reaching your community for Christ. Our youth pastors are leaders in every area of our church. They teach in “big service”, participate on the creative team, teach classes, etc. When I was a youth pastor it bothered me that people often treated me like I was a junior pastor; I’ll never do that to our guys.

2) Learn from them. Youth pastors are incredibly creative. They have to be to communicate with teens every week. Our youth team speaks to 200 teens on a weekend; they can teach us a lot about how to transcend culture to communicate the gospel. I learned a great deal today talking with our team; they know what they’re doing!

3) Pay them a good salary so that they can live in the community. Invest in developing them. Give them resources. Believe in their ministry. Many great youth pastors have to move on in ministry because they can’t afford to feed their families. It’s a shame that some of the best and brightest are lost because churches don’t have a vision for this vital ministry. I’d rather have my kids in a ministry that’s led by a professional (even though he costs us more) than someone who has no clue what he’s doing.

4) Have their back. Your team is going to make decisions and sometimes those decisions will be wrong. When parents are hacked at your youth leader, make sure you defend him. Don’t leave him hanging out to dry because it’s easier than you as the leader stepping up. I’m sick of wimpy pastors who are too afraid of people to say the tough things when they’re attacking staff. I learned in youth ministry that parents will always be upset about something. I want my guys and gals to know I’ve got their back.

Obviously you have to evaluate and grow through those times, but make sure you don’t burn your team in the process. Defend them publicly and correct them privately. Think about how you’d want to be treated.

5) This is key: recognize them when they do things well, not just when something is broken or a parent is upset. Pastors, understand that stuf is going to get broken; windows, chairs, arms, etc.. it’s the price of being dangerous. I once threw an all-nighter where 13 teens received Christ as their Savior, but all I heard about from church leadership was how ticked they were that we put a hole in the wall of the worship center.

New Friend & Kind Words

Last week at the Launch Conference I met some great church planters. I love planters because they are on the cutting edge of faith. I believe there’s no riskier endeavor (from experience) that starting a church from scratch. I love hanging out with these guys for 2 reasons…

1. I’m committed to helping them. We’ve learned a lot at PVC, and I want to share our experiences to benefit other churches.
2. They keep me fresh. These guys are risk takers; they challenge me to stay hungry and uncomfortable!

One of the great guys I met this week was Jimmy Britt. We had just a few moments together, but he seemed very genuine. He shared that he’s friends with Gary, so I instantly liked him Jimmy had some kind words about me and Palm Valley on his blog (read here)…

Jimmy, I’m no big dog, but it was great to meet you! Next time our paths cross I’d love to spend some time talking over mcnuggets!

For Church Planters

As I’ve talked about, church planters are heroes to me. Having planted a church and pastored it for 6 years, I get all that’s involved. It’s my desire that as Palm Valley continues to grow and develop, we will develop a coaching network for church planters; to help them along the way.

Early this week I went to the Launch conference hosted by Nelson Searcy and Kerrick Thomas of Jouney New York. Nelson is a systems genius and has a huge heart for the Kingdom. These guys are flat out getting it done in Manhattan. You can get all of their resources here.

If you’re a church planter do yourself a huge favor and get familiar with Nelson and his coaching team. They have, in my opinon, the best system for helping you to launch a church and do it well.

As a church of 2,000 the systems they talked about were a huge challenge to me about how we function. The reminded me how I always want to be hungry for every person who doesn’t know Christ, and living daily with a desparation to reach people for Christ.

Field Trip

Today I went on a class field trip with my 1st grade son. Wow, I’m tired tonight

I had a blast hanging out with my son, and seeing him interact with his “posse” on their turf. I was assigned 5 kids, and we had a great time together. We went to the Heard museum. I was reminded how creative and curious children are. I need to have those attitudes!

To other pastors, here’s a leadership tip: one of my core values is to honor my family; I really didn’t have the time this week to take a day off to chaperone a school field trip; but it was a chance to practice a core value and place my family over my job. It means I’ll be working late tonight on some things, but it was worth it.

In ministry, the demands never stop, and the larger your church grows, the greater the demands. It’s tempting for pastors to sacrifice their families on the altar of minstry; don’t do it. Honor the Lord by living by your priorities, not the demands and expectations others place on you. The Lord will honor you in return; I guarantee it!

Staff Vision

Yesterday I spent the morning with all of our staff, sharing my heart with them and the vision I had for 2007 (I’ll be sharing this with the church body beginning next weekend). It was an awesome time together, and reminded me how much I love and appreciate each of the team members God has brought together.

If you attend Palm Valley Church, I hope you realize how fortunate we are to have such a great staff. I challenge you to pray for us daily, we need it. Also, I encourage you to write a note to a staff member who has ministered to you; they rarely get the thanks they deserve.

For the curious, here’s the 10 challenges I gave to our staff; and asked them to make these values a priority for 2007…

1) Work with passion

2) Lead with integrity

3) Develop and unleash leaders

4) Cast vision regularly& creatively

5) Honor your family

6) Take care of the temple

7) Communicate clearly and generously

Protect the unity & vision of Palm Valley Church

9) Run strong

10) Have fun!

Anger & MLK

Today I was thinking about Martin Luther King, and I realized “there’s a guy who had anger, and used his anger as a fuel for passion to make a difference”.

You see, most of the time we get angry about stuff, but we’re not willing to do anything about it. So, we sit angrily and complain about the way things should be, and the anger inside of us just grows. In the end, we’re no help to anyone, and nobody wants to be around us because we’re so bitter.

Unfortunately, a lot of Christians are the same way. They’re sit and complain about the world, their life, the music in church; whatever. However, they’re unwilling to use that passion to fuel themselves to make a dfiference. Bottom line, we’re often too self-centered or lazy to bother to get out and make a difference.

Martin Luther King was angry about a just cause. African Americans were begin oppressed and mistreated because of color (I hope that makes you angry too!), and it was wrong. He knew things needed to change, and he was willing to put himself on the line to change it. He led a revolution because he was angry about the right things, and did something about it.

This week at Palm Valley I’m talking about how to “be angry, and not sin”. In essence, to flip that anger into fuel to change the world by getting involved in what Christ is doing; building His Kingdom. So I challenge you today, if you’re angry; pray about it, pray for whoever it is, and then go do something to improve the situation.

Children’s Ministry Rocks

A huge shout out to the leaders and volunteers who serve in our children’s ministry. It takes literally hundreds of people each week to make it happen, but you do it with style. From the incredible set-up, to the preparation, the passion for kids, to the follow-up, you all make a huge difference in the lives of kids!

On a personal note, thanks! Today, you made a huge difference in the lives of my own children. My two grade school boys talked the whole way home, and over lunch, about what they learned at KidZone today. It impacted their life. It solidified their faith. You helped them grow today, and made Jesus (and His Word) more real in their life. As a dad, I can’t thank you enough!

If you’re looking for a place to impact people’s lives at Palm Valley, I can’t think of a better place that our children’s ministry. Dave Ellis is building an incredible team, and they’re impacting hundreds of kids every week!