Sailors, Saints, & Sinners

Decisions That Made a Difference

As we approach our 7-year anniversary at Rock Bridge, I was reflecting on some decisions that we’ve made that I think have made a big, long-term difference in the church we are today and the direction we are headed.

1)  The pastor needs to spend the vast majority of his time in the two areas of message preparation (studying, praying, etc.) AND vision (casting, clarifying, guarding, etc.).

It is so easy to get bogged down on urgent matters and the details that occur daily in the life of a church; however, the long term health of the church comes from a hot from God vision and passionate, Word-centered preaching.  From the beginning our church freed me to focus on these areas and challenged me to grow in them.  To this day, our elders will frequently ask me, “How is your study time?”  They hold me accountable and encourage me to spend my time in these two areas.

2) Tearing down the distinction of “clergy”, avoiding the temptation to let the “staff run everything”, and challenging people to serve, get involved, and take an “owners” interest in the church.

While there are certain matters that the staff has to oversee and be directly involved in, I can honestly say that we’ve made very few decisions where multiple members were not involved and we’ve NEVER done any ministry initiative that has not been highly dependent on volunteers and the support of the congregation.  Volunteers oversee our budget and run our core ministries.  Our elders are all members who give extra time to shepherd the church, help steward resources, and seek God’s wisdom for major decisions.  The result is that I think the people of Rock Bridge have a stake in Rock Bridge.  They care more, give more, and serve more.

Even the questions and criticisms we receive on staff, most of the time are asked because the people of Rock Bridge care and want this church to be the best for Jesus in this community.

3)  We have laid aside personal preferences and egos to change the question from “What do I want from my church?” to “What does Jesus want from HIS church?”

In our core team meetings we had two sayings, “The Bible is our only tradition.” and “Leave your ego at the door (because ego equals “edging God out”).” This attitude allows us to have a lot of clarity when discussing issues because let’s be honest most issues gets discussed from our personal perspectives and prejudices.  When the Bible is the backdrop and humility is the prevalent attitude, God can get a lot of traction from the church.

4)  We’ve never been afraid to fail or afraid to change.

By constantly trying to improve and continually evaluating for effectiveness, things tend to move in the right direction.

Additionally, the “risk” (if you can call it that) of failure is acceptable if it is made trying to reach more people for Christ and radically love people.

5)  We’ve sought to balance the corporate and personal aspects of the church.

As a church grows there are some natural challenges that occur.  You have to add staff.  You have to get more organized.  You have to have policies and procedures.  You have to get multiple phone lines.  You have to expand how you communicate.  In summary, you have to become more “corporate” or business-like in many of your functions.  If you don’t things won’t happen or they won’t happen well.  Acts 6:1-7 is a great example of this dynamic at work.

However, at the same time you have to stay personal with people.  People still want to talk to a “real live” person.  People still need to be visited in the hospital, prayed for, and encouraged.   So as the church grows larger it still has to stay personal.  The church is not trying to be General Electric but a (growing) family of God.

At Rock Bridge, sometimes we’ve failed in this area but it wasn’t for a lack of trying.  We have added some systems and policies that help us operate more efficiently and effectively, but we are always trying to keep things personal, to thank all our volunteers a lot, to care for people in crisis in personal ways, to communicate well, and to really be a spiritual “family” (vs. a business).

This is huge in small towns where some people are suspicious of “big” and worried that they will be forgotten or just a “number”.  At Rock Bridge we did not start out big, we started with 25 adults.  But we started out loving people like Jesus, and as a result we started growing and getting big.  The key is to never quit loving and caring for people as you grow, but to find more effective ways to love and care for more people.  I think we’re working hard to do that!!

Proverbs for Life

As I’ve finished up a study of Proverbs, I’ve noticed some pretty amazing stuff regarding just living life.   When following these things tend to make life simpler and smoother.  These principles are grouped into four (4) main categories …

The Essential Ingredients for Life — these are “gotta have” aspects that we must have in ever-increasing measure

• A healthy view of God — Proverbs calls this the “fear of the Lord” (1:7)
• Integrity (10:9) … it’s important to get there, but get there the right way
• Discipline and the ability to deny immediate pleasure for God’s long-term purpose
• The ability to listen to God
• Wisdom and the desire to learn, grow and be developed
• Love for people & dependability (20:28)

Avoid “stupid” errors – lots of mistakes in life are preventable and avoidable.  Common problems come from these common mistakes

• Laziness (22:13)
• Fighting the wrong battles (26:17)
• Impulsiveness and rushing into big decisions (21:5)
• Speaking too much, speaking too soon, speaking w/o thinking … just speaking in general. (15:1-2; 28)
• Violating your organization or team’s “code” or internal “DNA” … some things are off limits, period (22:28)
• Failure to listen to correction
• Don’t self-promote … self-promotion means it is about us rather than Him!! (25:6,27)

The ability to distinguish between God’s part and our part

• We have to be comfortable with uncertainty while living on earth.  We must know that victory rests with the Lord, knowing that God conceals matters to guard His glory and keep us walking by faith.  However, we can be
  • Clear even in the face of uncertainty … VISION gives this clarity and keeps things (and people) moving forward even when things are cloudy (29:18)
  • Prepared for whatever God might have planned (19:21; 21:29-31)

Making “wise” decisions — decisions determine the paths we take and the paths we take determine the destinations we reach.

• Seek out wise counsel and listen to voices of “correction”
• Scan the horizon for danger and act with boldness when you see it. (27:12)
• Don’t jump to conclusions when making decisions … usually there is more than meets the eye! (25:8)

Always Room to Improve

A big part of me as a person and a leader is to always ask the question, How can we get better? Where is there room for improvement?   These are two questions we’re always asking on staff as we do a weekly review and as we plan ahead.  This keeps us from taking things for granted and getting complacent.

Two areas that have really improved at Rock Bridge over the past few months are our pastoral care ministry and our small group connection process.  Pastoral Care is how we care for and minister to people in crisis.  We have a team of over 100 staff, elders and volunteers that are organized and mobilized.  6 months ago we had just me and some of the our elders … that’s improvement!!

One of our goals for people is to connect them to a small group community.  The process of finding a group that meets when you can meet and fits you can be difficult at best.  In the past couple of months, we’ve “personalized” the process so that anyone who wants to connect in a group will be personally assisted in the process.  Megan Hobby is doing a great job with this!  We’re also working to make our Inquirer’s Dinner a better avenue for people to connect in a group.  However, we’re excited that we’ve seen 200+ people get in a group since last Spring … that’s improvement!

A few weeks we started working on identifying some other areas we need to improve. While the list could be endless, we’ve been focusing a lot of effort on increasing the amount of intentional prayer over our church.  For the past two weeks, I’ve had a group of people meet to pray over me before our services starts and WOW!  Alfred Turley is leading this effort and I think we’ll see God’s favor and glory on us in more amazing ways.

We’re also thinking about how we develop leaders at our church.  We want to make sure we really do equip, empower, and encourage people to lead others and serve God well.  Leadership is one of the “lids” that keeps a church from growing to its potential.  We must keep raising up leaders because the “harvest” is so plentiful!!

Stretching Questions

I think there is nothing like the power of a good question … and sometimes it is revealing to ask, “What am I NOT asking?”  God has used questions to challenge, convict, and comfort me at times.  Here are some questions that have really stretched me, my faith, and my leadership:

• There is a difference between believing in and trusting in God.  Is my relationship with God based on belief or trust?
• What decision have been putting off and why?
• Who do I need to ask forgiveness from?
• If Rock Bridge went away, would it be missed in our community? Why or why not?
• What one thing could I do/we do that costs nothing but a little time and effort, but would yield big results? (So many times we only think of big, costly improvements while ignoring the simple, obvious, and effective things we could do immediately.)
• What is God working on in my life right now?

The Big “D”

My trip to Dallas, TX was once again incredible!!  What God is doing in churches from Michigan to Kentucky to Nevada to Utah is absolutely amazing.  This is a God-ripe time to be alive!!  Here’s a couple of highlights:

• Economic Crisis: This got a lot of mileage because of the current trouble in our economy.  But Christianity always shines brightest in crisis.  Here’s an encouraging reality: President-elect Obama raised more money than any presidential candidate ever, including $150 million in October.  People will give to causes they believe in and to big vision.  What cause is greater and what vision is grander than what God is doing to redeem His creation?
• Multi-Site: The opportunities for multi-site church are something more and more churches are seizing and seeing God-sized results.
• Leadership & Structure: The thoughts on leadership were so amazing and insightful.  Everything from developing future leaders to church communications grabbed my attention.

Here’s the bottom line for me Rock Bridge:

We are living in a time of great opportunity for the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  In Esther this was called “for such a time as this.” This time requires us to be motivated by God’s heart, led by His Spirit, and steadfast to His Word.  We cannot allow our fears, selfish preferences, or lack of faith to drown out the call of God upon our lives.  God has promised to “build His church” and we must take Him at His Word  by being faithful to His commands to love, serve, go, shepherd, disciple, pray, bear fruit, and bring the Father glory.  May our hearts be ripe with expectancy over what God desires to do when His people move with Him!!

Elder Selection

When you read the New Testament you see that Paul started a bunch of churches but he always worked to establish elders in the individual churches (Titus 1:5 — “…appoint elders in every town, as I directed you.” ).  Since our beginning in 2002 we have had Elders who along with the staff oversee the direction and resources of the church.  The Elders’ wisdom, prayers, encouragement, and accountability are invaluable to me and to the strategic direction of our church.

All that to say that the time has come for Elder selection at Rock Bridge.  7 of our 11 Elders have terms that expire in December (all seven are eligible to serve another 3-year term).  To be considered for the position of Elder, a person must be nominated by another church member.  So if you would like to nominate someone to be an Elder, please read the qualifications below and prayerfully submit a name to elderselection@rockbridge.cc, along with a brief statement as to why you think they should be considered.

Elder Qualifications:

• Titus 1:5-9
• Been a member of Rock Bridge for at least one-year
• Serve on a ministry team, participate in a small group, tithe
• Be nominated by another church member
• Be willing to serve as an Elder
• Go through a selection process headed by the pastor and other Elders
• Be affirmed by the church

Healthy Tension

I’m learning more and more that certain things have to exist in a healthy tension with one another and that going to far in one direction disrupts the balance needed in an organization (or a life for that matter). 

Grace & Truth:  Jesus modeled this tension perfectly by confronting people with the truth which often made them candidates for His grace.  Paul worked hard to combat the legalism of truth without grace while James worked against the extreme of grace that breeds liberalism in behavior (faith w/o works is dead).

Control & Growth: Rick Warren said that you can either structure a church for control or growth but not both.  I believe many churches are too controlled by man and not by God.  The structure of many churches sets them up so they can’t grow because they cannot make decisions without involving everyone under the sun and cumbersome committees.  Too often the church staff is held responsible for the church’s “success” but not given the authority to take steps toward success.  I guarantee when the first church went from 120 to 3000 people in day there was a lack of ‘man’ control so God could bring growth.  However, having healthy and wise accountability and having enough control so decisions are not made in a vacuum is equally important (see Acts 6:1-7).

Clarity and Certainty:  We would love for things to be certain and for the Bible to address every situation under the sun, but that is not how life works.  Waiting for until you are certain something will work will probably leave you waiting way too long.  I’m learning that the level of certainty surrounding most decisions way less than 100% (which we’d like to have), but that you can be clear in the face of uncertain.   We can’t wait for certainty (which we’ll rarely have) before taking clear action.  We can let the clarity of our values, vision, and God’s Word guide us to take action based on finite information with faith in an infinite God.

Church growth & Church health:  Is it all about the numbers?  Often times our interest is more in the statistics of a church over the spirit in that church.  Numbers and growth are important because they represent souls and people for whom Jesus died for and loves; however, a church can be big but unhealthy. Usually though, health will produce growth. Numbers can be a sign of health but they only tell part of the story.  The question is really what is going to be the bottom line: numbers or health? 

Timely Words

Last week at Staff Retreat Jason Wilson, the Executive Pastor of NewSpring Church spoke to our team.  His words and message were so timely and on the mark.  Here are the highlights …

Based on 2 Timothy 1:7

1) God has given us a spirit of power–

• Easy to forget God’s power
• There is power in submission
  • Change is okay: it happens and it has to happen for the church to grow
  • Don’t be married to a title, office, or a position
• As a church staff, it is a privilege to be part of God’s salvation process.
  • We get to help people see Jesus correctly
• Don’t be afraid to try new things or even to fail … not failing, not trying hard enough
• Don’t be afraid to lead … have power!
  • God’s vision is not cloudy or unclear — be clear!

 2)  Spirit of self-discipline:

• Be an example of a Christ-follower; model church membership to the congregation
• Is your heart connected to the vision?
• Must manage your schedule well
  • Nobody knows where you are spiritually but you — take responsibility!
  • Neglect can set in
• Honor God with your body

3) Spirit of Love

• Your responsibility to love the church.
• Ministries must work together; vision of the church comes before vision for a ministry department
• The church cannot do everything
  • Put aside personal preferences
  • Do less for more impact
  • Organizations get more complex as they grow and with the passage of time; have to fight to stay focused on what matters
• Love your calling
  • Never say, “That’s not my job.”
  • People are our job.
  • Ask yourself, “What did I accomplish for Jesus today with the “spirit” He has given me?”
• Have each other’s backs … be loyal to each other.
  • Don’t let doubt fester
  • If you are in the presence of criticism or gossip or negative talk about the church or another staff member and you do nothing, then you are a product of dissension.
  • Keep short accounts.
  • The staff’s job is to love their pastor (then why did they put me into a wall at Andretti racing??)

Great Week

This past week I was in Dallas, TX for a Leadership Network event called Next Generation Leadership Community. It was one of the best things I have attended as a pastor.  The people in that room were amazing and I learned so much.  The 3 mentor pastors really spoke into my heart for 2 days and I am pumped that I get to do this 3 more times in the next year!!

One area I am working on in my leadership growth is trying to be around other pastors … kind of an “iron sharpens iron” thing.  But the neat thing is it is not all about pastoring and leadership … it is about personal health, your walk with God, and being a “whole” person.  Awesome stuff!!

We’ve got Staff Retreat this week and I’m PUMPED to hang out with our team.  We’ll work, pray, AND have some fun!

Stretching the Staff

I’ve been blogging about our staff right now and how we’re being challenged and stretched.  While this is uncomfortable, it is healthy.  It’s like changing your work out routine — you have to change it to stimulate new growth and bust through plateaus.  Otherwise, you’ll be doing the same weight, the same number of times for an indefinite period of time.  When you vary your work out, the next day your muscles are screaming at you but you know that the temporary pain will bring long-term gain. 

This is where our staff is.  We got pretty good at leading a church in one location with about 1000+ people.  Now the dynamic has changed: two locations with more people.  Our workout has to change.  We’ve got to grow as a staff.  Here’s some things that are “stretching” us right now:

• Giving up control and learning to delegate.  In the military, we called it “delegating authority, but never responsibility“.  That is a tension that has to be mastered as a leader.
• Recruiting and developing volunteers who share the vision, values, and DNA of the way we do things at RBCC.
• Being a “team first” staff that can conflict in a healthy way for the good of the team.
• Doing “less” for “more” impact.  I do less as a pastor/leader now than when the church first started.  This doesn’t mean I have more time on my hands, but it does mean that my time is more focused.  When we first started RBCC, I was like a 75-watt light bulb; now, I try to be more like a laser. 
• Putting people (including ourselves) in the right position.  Part of our staff reorganization is putting people in the right position.  It’s like a football coach deciding that someone should play defensive back instead of wide receiver.
• Prayer - we must spend more time in prayer, allowing God to mold, stretch, and grow us.