Greatest Hits: Year One

Today we celebrate the one year anniversary of the start of this blog, “Moving at the Speed of God.” MSG has been an attempt to do several things: to share some of my story and learning (especially from the Scriptures), to help you see the ministry lessons in real life (often found in sports analogies) and perhaps most of all, to challenge our thinking on church and church planting issues.

We began this blog at our organization’s website, http://bcmd.org/church-multiplication as “David Jackson’s blog” on the Ministry Resources Guide and two weeks later moved it to the current WordPress site. From very humble beginnings (the stats page says we had only 28 “hits” in May last year) to being acknowledged by at least one aggregate SBC blog website as one of the 64 blogs important enough to be included in their March Madness event, my journey with the blog has been exciting and enjoyable. Thanks for your participation and dialogue here with me!

So without further ado, here are the highlights from year one.

Most Viewed Post from “Monday Morning Rewind.” Monday Morning Rewind has been a regular addition for much of the year. It is a weekly post that shares my sermon notes from the previous day’s message.  Take a Look in the Mirror on Matthew 7.1-6 on March 30 from my series on the Sermon on the Mount caught the most interest from visitors.

Most Viewed Post from “Fridays are for Family & Friends.” Another regular week post is my FFF each week. The post on Friday the 13th, Fridays are for Friends & Family 03.13.09 with our BCM/D recruiting video, my daughter’s first sports writing attempt (hockey, no less!) , Dr. Lee’s podcast forecasting the future and church plant Iron Hill in New Castle, Delaware, were highlighted.

Most Viewed Post on a News Item. The inauguration of our new President earlier this year garnered a great deal of attention. However, it was Rick Warren’s involvement, both before the event and as a result of the event, that impacted those who came to my site. Rick Warren’s Invocation at the Inauguration was the most interesting news item I posted for viewers this year.

Most Viewed Post on a Sports Item. Most readers here at MSG know that I’ve a big New England sports fan (Red Sox, Patriots, Celtics). However, it wasn’t any of my articles about these teams that attracted your attention. More than any other, the post about Tim Tebow and the National Collegiate Football Championship Game was read by you.

Most Viewed Post on a Live Blogging Event. BCM/D Annual Meeting: The Pastor’s Conference with Ed Stetzer. Dr. Stetzer attracts a lot of attention whereever he goes to speak. So when he came to our Annual Convention and was the focal speaker at our Pastor’s Conference, my live blogging of that event caused a large spike in viewership both here and at my Twitter account.

Most Viewed Post on Church Planting. The publication of my book PlantLIFE: Principles and Practices in Church Planting by Missional Press received more hits than any other post dealing with church planting all year.  Why Student Ministers Make Good Church Planters is less than a month old post but is a fast-gaining runner-up in this category.

Most Views of Any Post All Year: Surprisingly to me, my 25 Random Things about Me post–essentially just a “cut and paste” job from the Facebook phenomenon last year–has been the most viewed post in the history of MSG!

Most Ignored Post All Year. This post, a very early addition to my blog, reflected on an observation by Alan Hirsch that I actually heard him repeat last week at the Exponential Conference. I have found his thought on this challenging and troubling at the same time. If you missed it, you can read Remove the Queen here.

Most Comments on a Post All Year. There have been a flurry (by MSG standards) of comments to Why Student Ministers Make Good Church Planters since it came out last month. Most of them have been by student ministers actually with some great observations and questions of their own.

Most Searched Item All Year. Ever wonder what people search for on a blog? Well, here they searched primarily for 25 Random Things about Me. Paul Harvey and the rest of the story was a distant second.

Most Referrals to My Blog All Year. Far and away, I received the most referrals (source which led others to this blog) from my Facebook account. But when it comes to other blogs, Wally Yocum’s soundofhearts.blogspot.com has had more visitors click through to my site than any other source.

Most Interesting Notice of My Blog. The inclusion of MSG in the SBC Voices Blog Madness was unexpectedly and humbling. While I am pretty sure I was the last addition to the contest (out of 64 blogs) and I didn’t make it into the second round, I was honored to be included, especially in my first year of posting.

Most Click Throughs. More people clicked through my site to My Twitter account than any other. When it came to my blogroll, more click throughs went to my wife’s site, Planting Home. Joye also serves our organization as our Church Planters Spouse and Family Coordinator.

Most Click Throughs to a Photo. This one stumps me. Of all the pictures I have posted on my site, the one that has attracted the most hits is this picture from a worship experience last year at the North American Mission Board’s Summer State Leadership Meeting.

Most Click Throughs to a Video. The video which has been viewed the most this year through my site has been Our Mid-Atlantic Church Planting Recruiting Video.

Biggest Surprise of the Year. The top two posts in terms of number of hits dealt with me personally: 25 things and about me. I certainly didn’t expect that! But I guess it goes to show that people are not just interested in other thoughts; they are interested in the person connected to them.

So thanks to all of you who have journeyed here over the past year. You’ve made the adventure more enjoyable and satisfying. Here’s to year number two, with hopes that it will be more meaningful, interactive and engaging for us all.

Monday Morning Rewind: My World, My Mission Field

This week we started a new series of messages focused around the topic of doing our part to take the message of God’s hope and love to a world that desperately needs it. Our focal verse for the series is Acts 1:8, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Yesterday we examined this keynote verse and found this reality: Our Lord has given us (His people) a mandate and a mission field. As a result, we have been invited to join Him in turning His dream (vision) into reality.

So how do we do that? According to the verse, the integral component is the presence of the Holy Spirit in one’s life. Who is the Spirit? He is fully God! He is The Breath of life, the Convictor of sin, the Gifter of believers, the Teacher of all things, the Paraclete who accompanies God’s people, the Sealer for all eternity and the Empowerer of Christ’s followers in life. He comes upon us at the time of salvation and He indwells us from that day forward. We are commanded to be filled with the Spirit but that can only happen when we are yielded and surrendered to Him. The problem is that we human beings “leak!” We can’t rely on our conversion experience or even yesterday’s experience to keep us “filled” as we should be. We must yield our will, our self to His lordship every day in life.

Second, the Spirit’s presence is necessary for His power. The power of God, which He wants us to experience and demonstrate, is not political or societal power…it’s not external power at all! It’s internal, spiritual and in fact, supernatural power that brings transformation to life from the inside out. It shows itself in strength and determination, in faith-filled courage and boldness. It is resurrection power, the same power that raised Jesus from the dead according to Ephesians 1. But here’s the rub: this power is accessed best in a cemetery! Resurrection power is only available to those who are dead! So to experience it, to live it, to show it, we must die to self daily, and be raised to walk in newness of life.

So we have the presence of God and we can access His power; what then is the mission or mandate that Christ gives us? It is to be His witnesses. This word “witnesses” comes from the court of law, as when a witness takes the stand. Then as today such a witness can only share the truth as they understand it and it has to be first-hand, personal knowledge. No hearsay is allowed! Here’s the challenge: Jesus never says we can choose to be a witness. He says we will. Period. The question is whether we will be a good witness for Him or a bad one, whether our lives and words will point people to Him or detract from His message and mission.

Where do we fulfill this mission? In our own worlds. Your “Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and ends of the earth” are the mission fields that God has lain out for you. Personally, this implies a responsibility to be witnesses at home, among your friends and co-workers, in your neighborhood, really anywhere life may take you…even to the ends of the earth! As a church, it means impacting our community, our region, our continent and our world. Wherever we go, we are called by Christ to be on mission for Him.

So, what are YOU going to do about this? I capitalized “you” because this three-letter word appears three times in this one verse–it’s obviously significant for us not to miss that. But do note  this “you” is plural. So while Jesus never expected you or me to be alone in fulfilling this mandate, He did assume that all of us would be a part of carrying it out to completion.

His promise to you and me is this: “I will never leave you or forsake you.” “I will be with you to the end of the age.” While Jesus didn’t give the disciples the answer to the question that prompted these “final words” from Jesus before His ascension, He always promises them–and us–Himself.

You’ve got the Presence; you can access the Power. You’ve received the Mission, and you know the Mission Field. So I ask again: what are You going to do about it?

Friday is for Friends and Family 04.24.09

This week’s FFF is a video montage of activity from the past week. I just returned from the Exponential National New Church Conference in Orlando. Here’s the moment that has captured the most attention–apart from the actual messages–in the entire conference. Francis Chan, who was the last speaker on Thursday, was “creatively introduced” by MC Eric Bramlett of Community Christian Church. Watch here to see what all the buzz has been about.

While I was in Orlando, two huge items in pop culture dominated the airwaves and the Internet. One was the interview question asked of Miss California in the Miss USA pageant last weekend. If somehow you’ve had your head in the sand this week and missed the question and her response, you can watch it here:

Some, including Ms. Prejean think that her answer cost her the Miss USA title. Regardless, it made news and the public debate that ensued has caused many to seek interviews with her. In these interviews she has shared that the reason for her answer has to do with her own faith in Jesus Christ. Two such interviews are posted here. The first is a brief excerpt from the interview with Matt Lauer of NBC’s Today Show. You can see it by clicking this link.

The second interview is with Sean Hannity. You can watch it below.

Another item that has caught the public’s fancy this week has been the explosion of interest in Susan Boyle on Britain’s Got Talent. Her remarkable performance on the show a couple of weeks ago made waves, but even more remarkable is the attention it’s received on YouTube. The video of her performance now boasts almost 43 million viewers! The video can’t be embedded (the below is just a picture to let you know what’s at the following link); you can view it by going to YouTube by clicking here.

Most of us have already seen the above. Perhaps though you missed Jimmy Fallon (late night show on NBC) and his take on it. In case you failed to see his comedic response to Ms. Boyle, you can find it here. Again it can’t be embedded (below is once again just a picture), but you can check it out by clicking here. Just a heads up for you if you watch this: the sound quality is very poor at the beginning, but it improves as the video progresses.

Fallon was the star of one of my personal favorite movies of all time, Fever Pitch…not because of its acting genius or plot development. The only reason to love this movie is that it’s all about the Boston Red Sox and their remarkable run to the 2004 World Series Championship. Fallon had the avid, obsessive Red Sox fan down to a “t.” Tonight, their rivalry with the New York Yankees resumes for the first time in 2009, and the parody site Boston Dirt Dogs has posted a video to set the stage for the battle to once again be renewed. Enjoy the video and even more the games between the Red Sox and the Yankees of what’s arguably the best rivalry in all of sports.

Exponential ‘09 – Day Four

Thursday brought an end to the Exponential Conference for 2009. My colleague, Rolando Castro (check out his blog in Spanish here) and I had an early departure (and unfortunately missed the final plenary session with Francis Chan). However, we were able to hear Neil Cole talk about “Planting with a Movement Ethos” before we left.

And were we glad we did! Cole is another of my church planting heroes and he did not disappoint. He taught us math, biology and ecclesiology, all in one hour.

First the math. He reminded us that many people talking about multiplying churches, but in reality they’re really only adding. “You can’t get multiplication answers from addition equations,” he said. In fact, he went on to say that if you don’t have a strategy for 100,000,000 people then your system is built for addition, not multiplication! “We think that if we just hit the addition symbol on our calculators harder or more often, it will start multiplying. No, we have to move to the multiplication sign…more of the same just results in more of the same.”

Cole went on to say that a multiplying movement is not one-generational, the gathering of Christians from other churches to form new ones or centralized leadership development to send off planters. Rather, in a movement each church must be self-perpetuating (healthy and living without external resourcing). It is also self-propagating (reproducing naturally, spontaneously). This happens biologically for living organisms at the cell level. Thus in churches reproduction goes from the micro (cell) to the macro (movements).

He concluded with his “Movement to Monument: How to Move from Inspiration to Institutionalization in 10 Easy Steps,” as he parodied what we’d been hearing all week. Here are the 10 steps:

• Move from biblical priorities to non-biblical ones (i.e., methods, models, traditions, rules, etc. as though these were sacred
• Move from leadership to management (treat people as people, not as things)
• Move from volunteers to employees (hire staff and put pressure on income resources)
• Move from proactive to protective ( establish programs and policies to protect the organization)
• Move from aggressive mission to accumulation of assets (replace risk-taking with resources)
• Move from servant leadership to leaders who are served (people who don’t want change and are motivated to keep it from happening)
• Move from presence of Christ to policies and procedures (we’ve always done it that way before)
• Move from the margins to the mainstreams (conventional thinking not innovative)
• Move from organic growth to organizational growth (from multiplication to addition)
• Move from a flat structure to a fat structure (hierarchical and top down)

He concluded by reminding us that the only way to heal all our diseases in church life is through DEATH. Death will kill every disease! Only then can it have life, resurrection life, that Jesus alone can give. For without a theology of death, we have no gospel, no resurrection, no power and no life.

Wow.

A few thoughts on the week from my perspective. First, it was well worth the effort to be at the conference. The networking was great and the challenges on point. But the presence of God was all over this place and that was renewing and energizing. Second, it was great to see the older guys handing off the baton to the younger guys. They recognized and acknowledged several times that the leaders of the next generation of church planting (movements?) were probably in the room as they spoke. And they challenged them personally as well as professionally. Third, the excitement and passion for planting is incredibly high. These young adults are focused, intent and determined to make a difference for Jesus Christ.

Thank you Exponential! To all of you who had a part in making it a reality, well done. You hit a home run that I believe will serve the Kingdom well in the years to come. For the presentations and other information on this conference go to their website by clicking here. If certain items are not posted there, some of the actual speakers probably posted their notes on their own sites/blogs, so you might want to hunt around for them too. But it will be worth it; the content was rich, the people excited and the Spirit was moving in Orlando this week.

And in 2010, Lord willing, I’ll see you there again…

Exponential ‘09 – Day Three

Day three at Exponential ‘09 got off to a smashing start. Craig Groeschel highlighted both the first plenary session and my morning breakout in the reproducing movements track. Groeschel, as you probably know, is planter/pastor of LifeChurch.tv, one of the most innovative and impacting churches in North America.

Before Groeschel spoke in the morning plenary session, Mark Choi, a church planter in New York City and former staff leader at Onnuri Church in Seoul, Korea, spoke about the vision of this Korean church. In twenty-four years, it has grown from 12 families to over 53,000 members. The keys to that incredible growth, according to Choi, are the emphasis upon quiet time, one-to-one discipleship and small group involvement. In addition, Choi acknowledges that the church is “doing” church in innovative ways that causes their worship experiences to attract many new and younger people to the Lord.

Groeschel was “assigned” the topic of “Leading a Church Planting Movement.” While stating he felt inadequate to speak to such a topic, he made several observations. First, a movement will never be safe, predictable and clean. In fact, he insists that the church must become dangerous once again, like it was in the first century. He warned planters against simply inviting people to Christ through a “better life;” rather, he said, preach a dangerous, reckless, die-to-yourself message.

Second, he noted that a movement will never be about your church, but rather, about His kingdom. The movement has to be bigger than you, because it’s a team effort. Thus, we must have a kingdom mentality.

Third, you will not lead a movement based upon the old metrics of success. Rather, the scorecard has changed, he noted. One measurement he stressed was how many lost, unreached people still remain in our communities. He reminded planters that their identity is not wrapped up in the numbers of their church. He said, “Don’t blame yourself for the declines [in attendance], because if you do, you’ll be tempted to take credit for the increases.”

In his breakout session, he posited a theory for those of us considering movements and how they take off. Every movement started when somebody asked an outlandish “what if” question. He gave several examples (Luther, Martin Luther King, Jr., Hybels, Wesley, Bono, etc.) and then suggested that this at least in part is why LifeChurch has been successful. They’ve asked and believed the “what if” questions.

He made three points. If you Lead a Movement you will have to see what others don’t see. Second, you will have to do what others won’t do. Finally, you will have to hurt like others don’t hurt. He challenged the crowd to do the same, and concluded by asking “Why not you? Why not now?” He was, in a word, incredible.

After lunch, Bob Roberts highlighted the plenary session. He was preceded by Eddy Love from Indonesia who spoke of the P.E.A.C.E. strategy they have used to great success. This acronym stands for purpose, empowering community, achieving maturity, Christ-centered living and Equipping. These, he said, were the keys to their growth.

Roberts, who’s been cited many times on my blog, talked about the lessons on movements he’s learned from the church around the world. First, the Gospel is about the Kingdom of God, not just salvation. Otherwise we can grow megachurches and not see any change in our communities. Second, the focus has to be on the disciple, not the preacher. The disciple is the key to reproduction. Third, society is the focal point, and the church results from that focus. Fourth, all religions are all places, which makes for a naked public square and thoughtful communication. Faith is no longer bounded by geography but are still threatened by people who challenge our culture.

Roberts continued. Fifth, knowing other religions isn’t just for experts but for everyone who would communicate who Jesus is. Sixth, risk in seen in life and death, not in nickels and noses. In fact, he suggested that most Americans are shallow risk-takers. “God has called you to more than a little megachurch.” Seventh, never, never, never vilify another religion; he noted, Paul didn’t use this approach in Acts 17.

Unfortunately, Roberts ran out of time and couldn’t complete his message. He informed us that it would be posted on his blog. It is now up and can be found by clicking here.

The final session of the day for me and my colleague Rolando addressed the issue of strategizing a movement. Geoff Surratt from Seacoast Community Church and Billy Hornsby of the ARC (Association of Related Churches) talked about how their vision led to the organization which has now planted 104 churches since 2001. It is truly growing exponentially. In a nutshell, ARC has produced a “big tent” organization that enables churches to “buy in” to a process and family that will in turn discover, equip, resource and multiply plants across North America. The plants are funded and then they help fund future plants in turn. This is a key to exponential growth: you have to have a way to re-coop money from the plants themselves to fund the next generation of plants.

I intend to study ARC and its processes in more detail. Possibly in the future, I’ll have more to say about how and why this organization is starting churches so well.

Tomorrow, will be a short one for us, as we travel home. However, I’ll have a few thoughts about our morning session and some closing observations. Check back here on Friday for those thoughts.

Exponential ‘09 – Day Two

Day two at the Conference and it was reported that there were over 3,000 people (mostly planters and planter facilitators) present for the training event.

Rolando and I completed the “pre-intensive” track dealing with “Church Planting for Idiots” this morning with John Burke, author of No Perfect People Allowed, followed in the final morning hour by Vince Antonucci, formerly of Forefront Church in Virginia Beach (he recently moved to Las Vegas to start another church). John, who is the founding pastor and planter of Gateway in Austin, Texas, did a masterful job in talking about leadership decisions that are necessary in a church planting setting. He reminded everybody present that leaders know to ask the right questions, so he guided us through a series of questions that planters must answer to be effective. They included context questions, vision questions, leading through teaching questions, strategy questions and multiplication questions. (If you’re interested in the entire list, comment on this blog and I’ll email them to you.) He stated that the top two keys to being successful as a planter were first, you must lead and second, you must persevere.

Vince Antonucci, who spoke the first afternoon about keeping evangelism in the DNA of your new church plant, turned our attention to the worship experience for the final hour of the morning. He listed several principles that planters need to apply in their worship to be effective. Among them were the following:

• The Unfolding Arms principle: think about how you can keep people far from God from feeling defensive
• The Guest for Dinner principle: treat these people like you would guests invited over to your home
• The Joe DiMaggio principle: remember that every weekend somebody is there for the very first time and act accordingly, and
• The Check Your Influences principle: when seeking people far from God, your influences should be places that have them in mind (typically not churches, but Starbucks, Chuck E. Cheese, etc.).

There were other principles too (again, leave a comment if you want the whole list). Vince did an outstanding job, and left me wanting to learn more.

The afternoon began the first plenary session of the main conference. True North, a worship band from Long Island, New York led us, along with the Urban Poets dance troupe from Mosaic in Los Angeles. Both were outstanding. Tim Keller spoke to us by video about his church planting experience, warning us not to neglect our families for our ministry through a powerful illustration. Then he told us that we can’t avoid planting churches if we read the book of Acts; it’s a required response.

Erwin McManus was the main plenary speaker and he challenged us from Acts 17 to recognize that the “art of movement” requires us to move from our first spaces (Paul talks about the synagogue = church facilities) where we are comfortable, to second spaces (Paul goes to the marketplace), where we can re-engage the culture. In fact, he told us that we can be doing tremendous work in the first space with lots of people, but NEVER even impact the second space at all!

The goal though is to eventually get to the third spaces…for us this is a place we can’t go at all until we are invited or given permission (Paul: “then they took him…”) Here we can impact those beyond our typical reach as the Spirit of God works on them. BUT McManus issued a warning for us: “In any movement, when you create a place for people in the third space, you will lose your place in the first space.” He challenged us to be willing to do that in a powerful appeal. It was, for me, the best message of the day.

After the plenary session ended, I moved into the “Reproducing Movements” track for the breakout times. The first breakout was led by Dave Ferguson, President of Exponential this year and a planter, author and leader of the New Thing Network. He spoke on “Dreaming of a Movement” and outlined through his research and study the “Five Essentials of What I Know So Far about Movements:”

• They all have apostolic leadership. Thus, we need to be uncovering and acknowledging these leaders, and allowing them to lead through their gifting.
• They have a shared dream. All movements capture the heart with a vision of what God wants to do.
• The Gospel of Jesus. This is the core essential, foundational to changed lives among those in the movement.
• Genuine community. The cause creates community, not visa versa.
• Rapid reproduction. New churches start new churches quickly, and they generationally reproduce exponentially.

Ferguson acknowledged his limitations at the beginning (“what I know so far”), but in my opinion fell short of what is necessary to see a movement take place. I will talk about this in a subsequent blog post.

Finally, we ended the day in a second breakout session, led by Alan Hirsch, who talked about the concept of “communitas” which he believes is essential for a movement to happen. This concept takes the idea of community and wraps it around a mission or purpose, born out of pain or a crisis. This bond–going through the experience together–provides a level of intimacy and community that is unable to be experienced apart from the pain. I’ve heard (and read) Hirsch talk about this many times. He’s on point, and was thought-provoking and insightful once again as he applied this reality to the art of movements.

So on we go…day three will feature Craig Groeschel and Bob Roberts, among others. Check back tomorrow on the details of what they shared.

Exponential ‘09 – Day One

I arrived in Orlando Monday morning with my compatriot, Rolando, for the first of four days gathering with a few thousand of the best and brightest church planting leaders from around America. Yes, there are others here too, from the far reaches of the globe, especially since the theme for the week is “The Art of Reproducing Movements.”

We spent much of the day in sessions called “The Idiot’s Guide to Church Planting.” (I know, it seems like type-casting, but I actually chose this track…it seems appropriate.) Led by Vince Antonucci and some administrative experts that have worked the details of church planting in other Virginia settings, the group shared basics essential to effective church planting. It was basically a “basics 101″ type course. Vince did a great job telling his story and focused on how to make sure that evangelism is built into the DNA of every church plant. This is a much needed subject, and in fact, he also seems concerned that so many churches are being started in America and yet, less people are involved in church that a decade ago. His interpretation (and I agree) is that new churches are mostly just reaching other “churched” people who are changing churches, instead of reaching lost people without Jesus–an unfortunate and usually unintended result.

The last two hours of training yesterday were “what” and “how to” details to basic church planting preparation and implementation. Personally, I found it boring and unnecessary, but it may be my experience and perspective speaking. For many who were taking lots of notes, it was obviously helpful.

Last night, Rolando and I went to a dinner meeting hosted by the Upstream Collective, a European church planting initiative. Ed Stetzer and Alan Hirsch were the guests and answered questions that the crowd of 100 or so had submitted previously. Most dealt with missiology, multi-site and missional church (more about this is a subsequent blog post). They were very thought-provoking and challenged a lot of assumptions dealing with church planting models and philosophical underpinnings that are commonly used in America today. It was well worth the investment of time and energy.

Tuesday promises more of the same, with John Burke, Erwin McManus and others on the docket for the sessions ahead. More from Orlando soon…

Fridays are for Friends & Family 04.17.09

Welcome to another edition of FFF! The week has been a big one in the Jackson household as we celebrated Easter as a family last Sunday and have our daughter, who is a student in Vancouver, British Columbia, arriving home for a visit tomorrow. We are so excited to see her. Today she is interviewing with the Vancouver (Winter) Olympic Committee for a journalism job (who knows what that might entail). If you are interested in visiting Vancouver during the Olympics in February 2010, then click on this link for the official site. And if you get there, say ‘hi’ to Sarah for me, will you?

This week the NBA playoffs begin. My team, the defending champion Boston Celtics, look like they’re in for a very difficult time. KG (Kevin Garnett) has been injured and may not play, and now today is was reported that their general manager, Danny Ainge, has had a heart attack. In light of these things, I thought it might be of interest to post this video comparing your worship experience to an NBA game. Check it out:

Do you live where people are moving? or are they moving away? The Pew Research Center has data that shows where people are headed in these current days. You can check it out, along with a lot of other social and demographic trends at their website by clicking here.

Our current President is the first in many years without a “home” pastor he calls his own. The New York Times among others has been wondering who our leader turns to these days for spiritual counsel and direction? They recently ran an article which suggests President Obama turns to five different pastors when he’s looking for guidance. You can check it out here.

Next week I’ll be on the road at “Exponential 09,” the national Church Planting Conference.” The website for the event is here. It’s going to be great to hear some of the leaders in church planting and to check up with many friends and colleagues. Will you be there? If you are and you want to hook up, drop me a line.

Until next week…

Why Student Ministers Make Good Church Planters

Yesterday, a student minister called me and expressed his interest in planting a church. He was hungry and interested, so we talked for a while. When I hung up the phone I was excited about the possibilities but I was a long way from being surprised. It happens to me virtually all the time.

A friend on staff with me here, Maina whose ministry is with student pastors, he and I laugh about it frequently. He prepares them and I recruit them. Actually, I often times don’t even have to recruit them; Maina just comes and tells me they want to talk to me about church planting.

Why? Student ministers make good church planters. That probably doesn’t surprise you, either, at least if you’ve thought about it before now. Some of the best and brightest over the years (Bill Hybels, Andy Stanley, Dan Kimball, to name just a few) served as student/youth pastors before they became church planters. It’s as natural a progression as day to night.

Here are some reasons that seem obvious to me:

They are innovative, out of the box thinkers. Student ministers embrace new paradigms, create new things, are always trying something new. Whether it’s an event or a process, they embrace the need to be creative (often “cool”), attract attention, engage people and share the Good News in unique, unconventional ways. It is this relevance to real life that connects with students in fresh ways; it is the same relevance that appeals to unchurched people in church plants.

They are doers. Student ministers are action-oriented, largely because their students are. Active lifestyles require getting out of the building and living among the people they are seeking to serve through incarnational means. They teach as much by modeling and in on-the-job ways, as they do in the classroom. This interaction with others in their world appeals to the students they reach and it affords them credibility as they seek to minister to them in Jesus’ name. The same is true of church planters, who are trying to intersect the lives of the unchurched in “the real world.”

They care a lot about people and especially those without Jesus. Student ministers are most often people who are passionate about people! They are usually extroverts and social-types who love to hang out with youth on their own terms. As a result they are often good listeners and can network newcomers into the fabric of community life that makes everyone involved feel comfortable. They advocate, encourage and nurture these young lives in ways that cause them to flourish; this brings immense satisfaction to the minister, too. They realize that students live in a world that is constantly engaging the lost and unchurched. Their hope is that they can equip them to see the needs and live a life that attracts others to Christ as well. The world of church planting requires people-loving leaders, too, since this element–the relational–is one of its greatest advantages in its early years over all other churches.

They believe in possibilities. They are risk-taking, faith-walking, potential-seeing individuals who are always living in the tension of the present and the future. They believe NOTHING is impossible with God, and they seek to pass on that kind of value and belief to those with whom they serve. They’re not afraid for an event to fail, if it was well-intentioned because they know that such failure is born of risk that is necessary to make the eventual difference in the lives of those they have yet to reach. This vision fuels their heart as they seek to follow Christ and brings others along with them. Just like planters they expect great things from God and are willing to attempt great things for God.

They love living in chaos…and making sense of it all. Student pastors are thrust into the world of teenagers…and that’s about as chaotic as it can possibly get! They thrive in that environment, find energy there that pulls them forward in ministry and enables them to help others find enough order and meaning to embrace the journey of life–all without sapping the fun and excitement out of it! That’s attractive in and of itself and encourages many to check out “this Jesus thing” for themselves. Church planters do the same, living in chaos while helping others find the adventure for which they were created. In fact, one great “chaos” experience feeds the next, and so on.

So I’m not surprised when student ministers expresss interest in church planting. In fact, I’ve come to expect it. In fact my personal experience tells me that experiential they are typically better prepared for it than seminary students who’ve never done youth work before.

Monday Morning Rewind: Overcoming the Storms of Life

Jesus concludes the Sermon on the Mount with a challenge to his hearers (Matthew 7:24-29). In a chapter that has focused on “tests”–self-exams and evaluations regarding the behavior and results that we see in others’ lives–he finishes it all by saying that the ultimate test for each of us deals with the foundation we lay in life. In so doing He brings us full-circle, back to the issue of character which is at the heart of the matter for the follower of Christ. He reminds us that in the final analysis, God will be the Evaluator of whether or not we’ve “heard and put into practice” the things Jesus teaches.

Three truths are taught here. First, Jesus tells us that everybody in this world is building their lives on some foundation. This foundation is the basis for the way we “build our house,” which influences our values, our worldview, our decisions and our behavior. Some people build on the foundation of “fame;” others build on the foundation of “money.” Some individuals lay a foundation of “power or pleasure;” still others, “philanthropy or spirituality.” The options, in a sense, seem myriad; however, Jesus suggests that in reality they are only two–sand or rock. He clearly states that the difference between being wise and being foolish is the choice we make here. He goes on to state that ALL OF THE ABOVE options are like sand–even though they may be good or well-intentioned–they will not survive because the foundation is not solid and will not last in a world of change. Only one option–hearing AND putting into practice the words of Jesus–is the wise option, the one He says will last because it is built upon the rock.

Second, notice that Jesus acknowledges that for all of us there are times in life that will attempt to “wash away” your house. These storms–when the rains falls, the streams rise and the winds blow and beat upon our house–these storms are common to ALL PEOPLE ALIVE on the planet. No one is exempt, for it “rains on the just and the unjust.” Everybody will face storms that are not of our doing or within our control. What will make or break your survival, your ability to overcome the storms when they hit, is your preparation for it by having taken the time and trouble to lay that proper foundation. So don’t be surprised by the storms; they’re guaranteed for us all. Instead, be ready for them when they come.

Finally, Jesus says that the key to overcoming these storms–the evidence of being “wise” in God’s eyes–is that you “hear and put into practice” what Jesus has taught. He indicates this is the only “right” solution if you want to do more than just survive the storms, but rather, to thrive in the “house” that you’re building in this life.

So, it appears to beg the question: what are these words from Jesus that we are to hear and put into practice? The answer could be the entirety of what He says here in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), or the entirety of His ministry as a whole (the four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John). In a nutshell, Jesus suggests in this sermon that the key to it all is to make sure that our “righteousness exceeds that of the Pharisees and teachers of the law…” (5:20). Many of us read that and think there’s no way I can be more righteous that the religious leaders of Jesus’ day. Many of us don’t even want to try! But hear Jesus, please: He rails against the “religious leaders” for just that reason–their “righteousness” is a ritual, an act, a religion if you will. And Jesus did not come to this earth to start another religion! He came to show you and me that the kind of righteousness that exceeds religion is a kind of righteousness built on a relationship with the living God and  based on what Christ has done for us at the cross of Calvary.

What’s this got to do with Easter, you ask? Well, I’ll tell you. If you and I put into practice what Jesus taught, then we will have taken what Christ has done at the cross and the empty tomb and “made it our own.” We will have applied its reality to our lives. That starts when we take Jesus’ original message “Repent and believe the Good News!” to heart. We turn away from our sin and run into the arms of Jesus; we put our faith in Him and what happened in the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ years ago for you and me.

It’s never enough to simply hear what Jesus says…it’s not about information. It’s not even enough to understand what He says…comprehension will not make us right with God. Only when we are willing to apply and implement His teachings in our own life will we be aligned with His will and the power of His resurrection, and THAT’S what makes the difference!

Have you made that commitment? Have you crossed from information to transformation? from knowledge to obedience? from death to life? His resurrection is the GUARANTEE that you can rise too! So, get ready, be prepared to overcome the storms in life. Build upon the foundation of Jesus, our Rock and our Redeemer.

He IS risen; He is risen indeed!!!