CHURCH PLANTING LESSON #24:  You'll always want to Re-preach your last sermon(s). I always want a another chance.   Nearly without fail, I want to re-preach every sermon that I preach, right after I preach it.   At times, this desire overwhelms me seconds after I'm done.  Other times, it results days, or even weeks later, usually after I've read a Scripture, a book, or come across some other idea that would have been "perfect" or at least "better."  Alas, there are always the things I wish I would have said, things I wish I hadn't of said, things I forget to say, and things that I simply butchered when I said them. The truth is, there will always be different ways to preach the same text.  God's Word is a living mountain that is never fully mined of all of its nuggets.  I trust that the Holy Spirits is powerful enough [...]

LESSON #23:  When People Leave I never get used to people leaving our church.  In this consumeristic, serve me, feed me, meet my needs society, it is not uncommon to see people come and go in a church.   Connecting with a church for many is like dating without an intention to commit--just looking for a good time.  They're trying to find the perfect ideal mate that looks right, sounds right, and makes me feel good while requiring nothing of them they don't "feel" like giving.  That is why fewer and fewer people are actually getting married to the church. So, every time a "new" person dares to enter our doors for the first time (usually after hearing how good a "date" we had with one of their friends), its difficult not to feel as if you're being interviewed and evaluated like a first date.  For a pastor, there can be [...]

Church Planting Lesson #24:  Stop being the victim. Below is a post that a friend of a friend put somewhere in cyberspace.  I wanted to write a blog about the same thing, but she said it much better than I ever could: Have you been wronged? Have you been abused? Mistreated? Unloved? Have you been cheated? Lied to? Deceived? Have you been the victim of injustice? Unjust laws? Unjust authority? Was your mother cruel? Your father absent? Were you improperly educated? Improperly socialized? Improperly moralized? Did someone do something to hurt you? Maybe even intentionally? Well, join the club. Everyone I have ever known has been hurt in some way by other people. Everyone I have ever known has been, at one point in time, the victim of some type of injustice. Do you know the difference between the people who succeed in life and those who wallow in failure [...]

Church Planting Lesson #23:  Everyone has their own fighting style In the final letter before his death, Paul wrote to young pastor Timothy.  These words represent some of his most important thoughts as his impending death causes him to reflect on the last 30+ years of suffering for Jesus. In 2Timothy 2.3-7 he writes: Share in suffering as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.  No solider gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him.  An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules.  It is the hard working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops.  Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything. The passage gives us three images to consider, a soldier, an athlete, and a farmer.  In the past, I have often viewed these images somewhat narrowly, [...]

LESSON #22:  Preaching Bad Sermons I preached a bad sermon this past Sunday.  It wasn’t the first, it won’t be the last.  No, I didn’t preach heresy or accidentally let an f-bomb slip; I simply didn’t say what I wanted to say and realized it the moment I finished. When we first planted the church, I regularly experienced a Sunday afternoon depression.  Immediately following the sermon, my mind would be filled with all of the things should have said, shouldn’t have said, or should have said differently.  It didn’t matter if people criticized or cried in response.  Silence only confirmed my “sucky” suspicions and compliments were perceived as sympathetic pity.  Meanwhile, my  mind, heart, and body would be filled with an overwhelming sense of discouragement as I replayed the prophetic monstrosity over and over again in my head.  I had this same experience Sunday, and I hated it. And while [...]

LESSON #21:  You will want to feel discontent and threatened...so don't. I have always liked the passage in John 3.  Up until this point, John the Baptist has been the only good preacher in town.  And though he is fully aware of his role as the "voice in the wilderness", his disciples have other ideas.  When Jesus eventually shows up and begins his ministry, John's disciples are a bit confused--even threatened--because the crowds seem to be gravitating toward the new show in town: John 3.26-30 26 And they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, he who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you bore witness—look, he is baptizing, and all are going to him.” 27 John answered, “A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven. 28 You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I have [...]

LESSON #19:  Know why you're doing it. We must always check our motivations for serving.   When you first begin as a church planter, it's much easier to talk about pure motivations than it is to actually maintain them.   The planter has an opportunity to pass or fail the "trial of motivation" every Sunday morning.  Even if the planter claims not to care how many people show up, or that anyone said anything about his sermon afterward, or that he hasn't seen a "decision for Jesus" for a while...he's lying.  Every gathering is an opportunity to feel good or bad about himself, to boast in what he is doing or in what Jesus has already done. Attitudes reveal motivations. When a Sunday morning, Bible Study, or similar gathering does not go as expected ("they" don't show up, "they" don't respond, "they" don't sacrifice) you will be tempted to self-pity, self-righteousness, or [...]