Missioneeds

I know I already posted today, but I was reading my friend Travis'blog and he mentioned a site developed by Cody Thomas that helps churches get rid of stuff that they have outgrown and helps church plants get stuff free/cheap that they really need. The site is called Missioneeds If you are a church pastor that has a closet full of cool stuff that a church plant could use, but you have upgraded to the newest and best, then check out Cody's site!

Marketing

Is marketing a bad term when it comes to the church? I don't think so. It does depend on what we are marketing. Are we trying to just make a big name for ourselves, or are we making a big name for Jesus? If the former is true, then you may as well just join any club and make a name for yourself. If the latter is true, then we should be shouting from the rooftops that Jesus is Lord! Advertising and Marketing can be as simple as telling a friend about Jesus over coffee. No matter how technologically advanced our world gets, it still takes one on one interaction with people most of the time to lead someone to Jesus! If computers could do it, the whole world would have been won for Christ by now. We must be His marketers here on earth. As we go and make disciples we are helping people become more like Christ. That makes Christian our brand name, our tribe, our corporate identity. Have fun marketing!

Crazy in love?

So, if you are a pastor or leader, and you are trying to figure out why someone else's ministry seems to be doing better than yours, ask your self: "Am I crazy in love with Jesus?" You know the kind of in love I mean. You can't wait to see Him, You can't wait to read His letter to you, You can't keep yourself from talking about Him to your friends, family, total strangers, because you are so completely head over heals in love with Him that it is impossible to think of a subject you would rather think about or talk about or dream about than Jesus Christ your Lord and Savior. If you can say that about yourself without any hesitation (and you aren't lying...which would be some kind of weird, given the topic) then you are where God wants you even if your ministry doesn't seem to be heading for mega-church status anytime soon. People who are crazy in love with Jesus are contagious! If you aren't, find someone who is and work with them. If I am right, and it is contagious, then you will soon catch it! People who are 100% sold out for God are awesome witnesses! So get a little Crazy in Love!

Planning Events

Part of my job is planning events. I can't say that I enjoy all aspects of the job, but I do enjoy seeing it all come together and seeing all the volunteers and workers who make it happen. The end product is always fun, but it made me think about God working in our lives. He knows what He wants in the plan for our lives, but sometimes there are some details that have to be ironed out before we can get on with the big picture stuff. Just like trying to track down generators for a bunch of inflatables for a kids fun day at the park, God works on the "little sin" in our lives that could cause the whole thing not to work if it isn't fixed. So, when we find ourselves in the middle of God's fixing time instead of the big event time, count it all joy that He is working in our life at all!

State of the Union

Last night, President Obama addressed both houses of Congress and the American people. After that, Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana gave the republican rebuttal. In this crazy world we live in, God is still in control! No political party or great leader can defeat the King of Kings and Lord of Lords! We as Christians are not struggling against flesh and blood but against the princes and powers of darkness. With God, all things are possible! Don't let fear of the current economy and wars and rumors of wars get you down!

Floating Axe Heads...

I am really feeling like a spiritual wimp today. As I continue to read through 2 Kings, I am in awe of the miracles that God did through His prophets! Jesus told us that if we have faith the size of a mustard seed, we could move mountains. These Old Testament prophets had a faith that I have never experienced. It is easy to pray for someone to be healed of a cold, and if they feel better, great! As a child I remember seeing a real healing miracle. My babysitter had fallen off her barrel racing horse and dislocated her elbow...which she had done many times. It swelled up quite large. In front of my eyes, as men prayed for her, the swelling shrunk down and her elbow went back into place and she was completely healed! There was no trick photography or fancy shouting, just a group of guys from the church that both she and I went to began to pray for a young lady in pain and God chose to intervene. What I learned this morning as I read is that God doesn't only care about our health or the big government stuff. He also cared about a man who lost a borrowed axe head in the water. He didn't have the money to replace the axe head I am sure, so God saw fit to allow that axe head to float! Wow! I pray that God will allow me to have the faith that flowed through Elijah and Elisha!

Old Testament Faith

We as a church often skim over the Old Testament, some churches even claim to be a "New Testament Church". Every time I read through the book of 2 Kings, the first few chapters make me take inventory of my faith. If it has been a while, the stories in those chapters include Elijah calling down fire from heaven to burn up the captain and his company of 50 men who were sent by the king to get him. Not just once, but twice! The third captain comes with his 50 men and begs Elijah to spare his life! 51 tough, battle trained men are scared to death to take on one prophet in a garment maid of hair! Then in the next chapter, after Elijah gets taken to heaven in a chariot of fire, Elisha is walking along when some teens make fun of his bald head. He cursed them and "two bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the youths." When is the last time you heard the pastor of 1st church of your town call down fire from heaven to burn up the people who disagreed with what God had called him to preach? I can see the headlines now. "Sheriff's entire force wiped out" followed by an article describing what happened while they were trying to enforce a law against preaching in public. Anyway, just my thoughts for the day. Have a great one!

Thank You

I just finished reading something by Andy Stanley. It mentioned the importance of remembering to say Thank You to those in our organizations. When people don't feel appreciated, they quickly become disgruntled. Whether you are a Pastor leading a church or a CEO or any other kind of leader, you have people who do stuff in your organization. A simple recognition of what they have done is a great free way to encourage them and others around them. Rather than reinvent the wheel, here is what Andy said:
Two Simple Words
The appropriate response to that kind of generosity is to say thank you. You can't possibly pay for the hundreds of hours volunteers give you, and you can't give the hours back. So as simple and trite as it may seem, it really is the only fitting response.

Four Ways For Sure
Obviously there's more to expressing gratitude than a quick thanks. People have a sincerity meter that registers empty thanks a mile away. Here are four things to keep in mind when communicating the appreciation you really feel.

Be specific. When you say thank you, include details. There is a huge difference between saying thanks and saying thanks followed by a detailed description of what you caught, saw, or are aware the other person was doing.

Be public. Over the years we have learned the value of story telling--the value of spending a few minutes in front of your leaders telling success stories that communicate vision, but more importantly, express gratitude. Public gratitude expresses a high level of value and can result in an even higher level of loyalty.

Be aware. You have to develop a mindset that looks for behavior to reward. Listen for stories two or three levels away in your organization and call or write to say thank you. Even though you didn't observe the act, you communicate, "I didn't see it, but somebody else saw it and they are talking about it. What you did is significant."

Be honest. Don't say you liked something you didn't. Remember, what gets rewarded gets repeated. Also, don't attribute something to someone that she didn't really do. Rather than being encouraging and motivating, you're communicating that you really weren't paying attention. So when you say thank you, be honest and don't overdo it.

To read the whole original post, click here.

Church Publishing

Ok, pastors, if you are wanting to publish a book or booklet for your congregation and you want it to look like a real publication and not something you printed off your office copier I found a site for self publishing that seems easy to work with. www.lulu.com is a site where you can upload your book and then print as few or as many copies as you want. Printing only one copy of course is more expensive, but really not bad. A 100 page,perfect bound, paperback was about $6.50 or so. Anyway, just a heads up for you who want to publish something quickly and cheaply.

Tribes

Just finished reading Seth Godin's book Tribes. If you have an idea, but don't know how to go about creating a buzz about it or getting it going. I highly recommend this book. It is not a how-to book, but it is very much an inspirational book that will have you thinking outside the box, or maybe throwing out the box by the time you are done. Taking risks is what has made this country great! Seth's book is a great challenge to get back up and take a few of those risks that you may have been wanting to take but are to intimidated by fear of others reactions to get up and make happen. Enjoy reading it! If you want to check out his writing style, I have his blog link over in the blogs I like section. Have a great day!
PS. It is short and only takes about one evening to read.

Something Different

Ok, so normally my blog stays clear of politics. Today however, I noticed something odd. For some reason, I read CNN's list of unemployment rates by state from highest to lowest. I saw that Michigan's 9.6% rate is only slightly worse than my home state of South Carolina's 8.4% But then I decided to check something out. The lowest 5 unemployment rate states voted republican in the last election. Meaning, the people who know how to keep jobs and help people stay employed voted against our current president. In contrast, out of the 8 worst states for unemployment, 7 of them voted for Obama. One may have nothing to do with the other, but I thought it was interesting that while we try to figure out this economy problem and find ways to find jobs, we have turned to the man elected by those who quite obviously don't have a clue when it comes to job creation and maintaining an employed citizenry.