• I am still dreaming about a church that effectively reaches people far from God!  I am dreaming about reaching those that have never been in church and those that left church years ago for one reason or another!
• I am still dreaming about being a church for those already following Jesus but have grown weary of being a part of churches that have given up on reaching people outside the church and simply keeping those on the inside happy!
• I am still dreaming about reaching thousands and thousands of people and always struggling to keep up with baptizing those who have turned to follow Jesus!
• I am still dreaming about being a church that has to have multiple services on Sunday to accommodate all the people God is reaching through us!
• I am still dreaming about beginning new campuses in nearby communities that need a church passionate about reaching people far from God!
• I am still dreaming about being a church-planting church that is consistently launching new churches locally, nationally and across the globe!
• I am still dreaming about being a pastor of a church that consistently invests into young leaders that plant churches and have impact in communities locally and globally.
• I am still dreaming about being the godly leader and example to a faith community that models leadership, marriage, parenting and godly living God’s way!
• I am still dreaming about being at a location for the long haul for the maximum influence and missional impact!
• I am still dreaming about living for the glory of God and the good of people!

What are you dreaming about?

• It has proven the most effective leadership style.
• It has the danger of becoming leader centered.
• It has the danger of becoming hyper visionary.  Count the cost.

Luke 14:28-32 (NIV)
²⁸ “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it?
²⁹ For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him,
³⁰ saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’
³¹ “Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand?
³² If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace.

• The leader can become autocratic.
• The leader must listen or skilled incompetence will emerge.  Avoid the CEO disease. 

Proverbs 18:13 (NIV)
¹³ He who answers before listening– that is his folly and his shame.
 

• That’s not my responsibility.

Don’t drop the ball by passing to buck.  If a guests ask a question or asks for help, the volunteer needs to find an answer.

• I don’t know.

It is ok to NOT know the answer.  It is NOT ok to leave the guest without an answer.  The job of a volunteer greeter/host is to find the answer.

• No

Here is the deal…..Even if the answer is “no”, don’t give that answer to the guests.  Make sure they are satisfied.

• “They”, “Them”, or “You guys”

When you use these words, it is a reflection of not taking ownership.  We are a team, family, and a community and we are in this together.  Take ownership and satisfy the guests.

• I am just a volunteer

Being a volunteer in the Body of Christ is one of the highest callings that exist in the church.  You are not “just a volunteer” and a guest hearing this will liken it to a worker in a business counting down the minutes until they go home.  Love what you do and reflect your love for what you do with an undying enthusiasm as you greet guests.

One of my new discoveries in the world of leadership is Will Mancini of Auxano.  Auxano is an organization that helps you clarify your vision in a way to communicate with maximum clarity for maximum mobilization. 

In a recent leadership setting Will shared six “Thinkholes” that keep us from discovering our unique calling in ministry and church life.  I will share all of them here and shed some light on them in the next couple of leadership posts. 

Thinkholes:

• Ministry Treadmills
• Competency Trap
• Needs Based Slippery Slope
• Cultural Whirlpool
• Conference Maze
• Denominational Rut

Start identifying some of your “thinkholes”.  What keeps you so busy and distracted that you can’t take the time to discover your unique idea or calling?

Please pray for Dr. Fred Winters family and church.  Dr. Winters was pastor of First Baptist Church of Maryville, Illinois. He was shot and killed this past Sunday morning while preaching. 

You can see coverage of the story at this site, and read more here. 

Mark Driscoll has some interesting questions regarding security in the church in this post.

I can’t help but wonder what Dr. Winters last sermon was about.  I can’t help but think what I would want my last sermon to be.  Look at this interesting post regarding this line of thought. 

Pray for FBC Maryville and the Winters family. 

A special thanks to my friend Steve Whipple and his blog post links.

I think a lot!

First of all, pilots and pastors have in common the objective of transporting people from one place to another.  Pilots transport people from one geographic location to another.  Pastors influence people from this life to the next. 

Captain Sully, piloting USAir flight 1549 had an objective of transporting a plane full of people and his number one objective was to keep the people on the plane safe, but when his flight was at risk, he quickly had to consider not only the safety of the people on board but also the safety of the people outside of the vessel.

Churchplanters/Pastors are also in the business of transporting people, but they too are focused on the welfare of people outside of their community.

Captain Sully found himself and the people on board his aircraft quickly at risk after hitting birds that damaged his engines.  As he navigated his vessel he knew that everyone on board was at risk, but he also knew that his choice of landing would determine the welfare and safety of many people outside of his vessel.  He chose a risky crash landing on the Hudson River to protect those on board and to save those outside the craft.

What a great metaphor of the journey of a planter/pastor!

We must navigate the risky waters of a journey of people on a misson, while at the same time remain focused on the spiritual safety and welfare of the people on the outside of our vessels (church community). 

Other Comparisons:
Pilots/airlines aren’t successful if their vessels are empty.
Planters/Pastors fulfill their mission by transporting people into eternity.  They aren’t successful if people aren’t traveling with them.

Pilots manage high risk with people placing their trust in the pilot’s leadership.
Planters take people on a risky journey, asking people to trust God’s leadership through them.

Pilots that fail to transport the people in their trust to the intended destination are considered failures and likely lose credibility in reaching new people to their business.
Planters that fail to lead those entrusted to their care, will inevitably lose influence with those people on the outside of their organization. 

What Captain Sully was able to do was miraculous!
When Planters and Pastors are able to see their mission successful, it is a miracle of God as well!

I love Churchplanting!

Here are some comparisons and characteristics of “institutions” vs. “movements”:

Movements                                                Institutions
Spirit Leadership                                       Person’s leadership
Aggressive                                                  Conservative
Love                                                            Fear
Active                                                         Passive
Outward                                                     Inward
Future                                                        Past
Influencing                                                Influenced
Crosses Boundaries                                 Guards Boundaries

I want to be a leader of a Movement rather than a keeper of an institution!  I pray that as Church at the Grove moves forward we continue in a spirit of a movement and we resist the DRIFT of institutions!

I’ve been inspired by a group of early-twentieth-century missionaries who became known as “one-way missionaries” because they packed all their earthly belongings into coffins and purchased one-way tickets  when they departed for the mission field.  They knew they’d never return home.  The story is told of one such missionary named A.W. Milne who felt called to a tribe of headhunters in the New Hebrides.  All the other missionaries to this tribe had been martyred, but that didn’t keep Milne from chasing the Wild Goose.  He lived among the tribe for thirty-five years and never returned home.  When the tribe buried him, they wrote the following epitaph on his tombstone:  “When he came there was no light.  When he left there was no darkness.” (Page 149)

What an epitaph!  May we all strive to be a light that pushes back darkness.

I have been thinking about this phrase, “Time Change”.  Can we really change time?  You might think we can change time with Daylight savings time but in reality we cannot actually change time. 

We can only change how efficiently we use time.  I have been thinking about a few verses from Ephesians where we studied from last week.

Ephesians 5:15-17 (NIV)
¹⁵ Be very careful, then, how you live–not as unwise but as wise,
¹⁶ making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.
¹⁷ Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.

We can’t actually change time.  Only God can do that.  But we can change how efficiently we use time.  Let’s use our time wisely and in a way that will glorify HIM!