ON OBJECTIVES, GOALS AND ACTION PLANS

“If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time.” That’s an old adage that is as true today as it ever has been. Having been created in God’s image, we need to plan, just like He has planned.

God’s plan is perfect. It is to reveal Himself to us in His Word, redeem us through Christ and guide us by the Holy Spirit, who conforms to His Word.

We, of course, are not perfect. But we should nevertheless plan, or else we plan to fail.

The four main elements of planning are: Objectives; Goals, Action Plans and Evaluation.

Objectives are philosophical or theosophical in nature. They state the reason for being…the purpose of the church. They should be concise statements of why your church exists and its main mission.

Goals are quantitative. They are always expressed in numbers. They are specific plans to achieve the objective.

Your church might want to increase in membership. That is a good thing to want, but it is not a goal. It becomes a goal when it is assigned a number. “We will seek to increase by 10% in membership this year” is a goal. If you have 100 members when you set the goal, by the end of the year you desire to have 110 members. The achievement of the goals is through Action Plans.

Action Plans lay out the specific methods to be used to reach the goal. In order to grow by 10%, your church might set up a regular visitation ministry at a regular time. Perhaps you will use “visitor cards” to develop a prospect list of people to visit. Maybe there is a method more suited to your church and community.

Once a goal is set and steps have been taken to reach the goal, it is time to evaluate progress and achievement.

Evaluation should be done at various times to mark progress toward the goal. It should be honest and precise. From the evaluation would come adjustments that will help speed progress toward the goal.

Virtually all growing churches use this method, either consciously or unconsciously. By being deliberate about objectives, goals, action plans and evaluations, you can better move your church toward where God wants you to be.

IN SEARCH OF EXCELLENCE IN WORSHIP

Let's start off with the recognition of who God is. God it the all-powerful (omnipotent), all knowing (omniscient), all-present (omnipresent) One who is perfect in every respect.

God cannot look upon imperfection, let alone live with it. Therefore, when He looked at us, He saw our foibles, our short-comings and the ugly darkness of our sin. In that sinful state, we had no chance of knowing or of being in fellowship with God.

But when we re in Christ, having repented of sin and trusted in, and only in, the finished work of Christ at the cross of Calvary, God suddenly sees us through Christ as perfect! Our sin is still present, but it is covered by the shed blood of Christ. Salvation is sealed by His resurrection.

So, since God is perfect and holy, and since Christ is living in the hearts of believers in the person of the Holy Spirit, what should be our response to Him in our worship?

In simple terms, we should offer up to Him the only things we have to offer: the sacrifice of ourselves and our sacrifice of praise.

Make no mistake! God is worthy of perfection. Perfection, however, is something we cannot offer back to God (except as previously noted, through Christ). What we can offer is excellence...and we must.

We must also be clear that worship is not about us and it is not for our benefit beyond the benefit we get from worshiping the Creator.

In worship, excellence presents itself in our determination to offer God that best we have and the best we are. As a practical matter, that requires preparation, study, knowledge, leadership and stretching ourselves beyond what we think we can do.

Singers (soloists, groups, ensembles and choirs) must constantly seek to improve their techniques for singing.  They must enlarge their understanding of music and broaden their horizons in music. Theirs is an offering to God in worship designed to inspire hearts and to point the congregation toward Christ.

Instrumentalists must be well practiced and ready to present the beauty of their music to God such that they enhance the abilities of the vocalists, be they praise team members, choir members or members of the congregation. Transitions from key to key should be smooth and appropriate to the music. This should all be worked out before the worship service.

Members of the media team should be considered a vital part of the worship team They should not just know how to move knobs, but should know why, when and how much to move them. They should be dedicated to the cause of worship enhancement.

The layout of the words on the screen should be done in such a way as to help the singers know when a musical phrase starts and stops, where there might be notes held longer than expected, when there are repeats in the song, and so forth..

Ushers make a great contribution to worship by having a great sense of propriety, knowing when it is and is not appropriate to seat people, so as no to disturb worshipers.

Deacons should be present, visible, helpful and ready to assist wherever there is a spiritual need in or among the congregants.

Those taking part in other elements of worship, with testimonies, stories, announcements and so forth should be well versed and trained in what they are to do before taking a step to the platform.

There's more...lots more. The point is that we must not treat worship as if it were some insignificant something. We must realize that it is our offering to God. Which of us believes that we should offer the God of our salvation blemished sacrifices?

Worship must be vibrant, rich and  full. Everything in a worship service must point toward God, His character, His love of His creation and His plan for its redemption through Christ.

SUNDAY SOUNDS OF PRAISE-I've Just Seen Jesus-Sandy Patti & Larnelle Harris

WORSHIPING GOD IN SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH

Worship is an event in which one has a personal encounter with God. Worship can take place at any time and at any place. It can take many forms, one important one of which is corporate worship. Scripture compels us to spend time in both individual and corporate worship.

Corporate worship occurs when two or more people are gathered in the name of Jesus to revere the Father and the Son in the power and awareness of the Holy Spirit.

Why the Holy Spirit in this discussion of New Covenant worship?

Since Jesus Christ’s ascension the Holy Spirit defines the scope of the New Covenant inaugurated by Christ and our participation in that covenant. His indwelling presence, therefore, defines who is a member of Christ’s Church, God’s New Covenant community. He marks those individuals in the New Covenant through faith in Jesus Christ. The indwelling Holy Spirit is its sign and its seal. Corporate worship can only be offered to God by those who have an explicit relationship with God, evidenced by the Spirit’s presence.

A discussion of corporate worship must include the concept that God only accepts worship offered within a New Covenant framework. Any legitimate definition of worship that aspires to be biblical must first acknowledge that worship is defined as a celebration of one’s New Covenant relationship with the Holy Lord God.

New Covenant worship is defined in Scripture and its general format is prescribed therein. It involves prayer, meditation, celebrating the resurrection of Christ, singing and preaching the gospel.

God in his great wisdom has given clear principles and practices to guide the corporate worship of his people.

The principles of corporate worship include:

1. CORPORATE WORSHIP IS TO BE GOD-CENTERED

Worship is not an occasion for us to hear sermons about us, sing songs about us, or focus on how to make ourselves feel happily inspired. Every element of corporate worship should point us toward God.

2. CORPORATE WORSHIP SHOULD BE INTELLIGIBLE

This means that not only is the service conducted in the known language of the hearers, but also that technical doctrinal terms are explained so everyone understands what is being said and sung.

3. CORPORATE WORSHIP IS TO BE SEEKER-SENSIBLE

Notice the use of the word, "sensible," not "sensitive." Because there are non-Christians present in corporate worship meetings, people leading those meetings need to be hospitable to non-Christians. They should be made to feel comfortable. They should feel invited to take part, even though they may not have yet accepted Christ.

4. CORPORATE WORSHIP IS TO BE UNSELFISH

If someone wants to express their personal response to God in a way that draws undue attention to them and distracts from others responding to God, they should do that kind of thing at home in private. The meeting is for corporate response to God, not just individual response

5. CORPORATE WORSHIP IS TO BE ORDERLY

While the Bible does not prescribe or describe any church service order, it is important that such meetings actually function with enough administrative foresight to be useful and not frustrating and distracting for the worshipers. The goal of corporate worship meetings should be excellence before a perfect God. Musicians who cannot keep time, singers who cannot sing, audio speakers with continual feedback and long awkward pauses because no one knows what is happening next are all things that distract people from being able to focus on God and falsely portray God as chaotic.

6. CORPORATE WORSHIP IS TO BE BIBLIO-RELEVANT

Human beings are, as God’s image-bearers, culture makers, receivers, and interpreters. Subsequently, it is nonsensical for Christians to ignore culture or assume Christianity, is in itself, a culture that exists completely separated from the cultures in which the church exists. While recognizing the importance of culture, corporate worship must not mold itself to the culture. It must be theocentric.

The elements of corporate worship include the following:

Prayer (1 Timothy 2:1)
Meditation (I Timothy 4:15)
Reading Scripture (1 Timothy 4:13)
Financial giving (2 Corinthians 8–9)
Singing and music (Colossians 3:16)
Preaching (2 Timothy 4:2)

Corporate prayer should be about praising God, submitting to His will, petitioning for needs according to that will, seeking His guidance, recognizing His protection and then praising Him some more. It should be done in the name of Jesus, although the phrase “in the name of Jesus” should not be thought of as a magic prescription for getting God to give us what we ask for.

Meditation is a time to reflect on the presence of God and to allow Him to engulf us.

Every Sunday worship should be a celebration of the resurrection of Christ because that is the very reason we meet on Sunday.

The music of worship is defined by Scripture as being Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs. The actual style of music is not outlined in the Bible. That said, the music of worship should be familiar enough to the congregation that they can actually participate, otherwise a part of their worship experience is compromised.

After his attempt at philosophy in Athens, Paul let us know that he had learned his lesson. He stated to the Corinthians that he would never preach anything except Christ crucified. And he never did.

We should learn a lesson from Paul (who we often call the greatest missionary ever). We should know beyond any shadow of a doubt that we have only one message: the message of salvation by grace through faith. That should be the theme of every message in every worship service. It is, after all, the theme of the Bible.

Here is a possible layout of a good New Covenant worship service:

Pre-service music

What's Happening in the Family

Call to Worship (by a choir, a speaker or the congregation)

Prayer of Invocation and Submission

Time of Meditation on God

Songs of Worship and Praise (In any order)

       Psalms (Scripture songs)

       Hymns (Songs of a particular structure)

       Spiritual Songs (Such as praise choruses, etc.)

Worship through Giving

Music Lead-in to the Message (choir, soloist or special group)

The Gospel Message

An Invitation to Respond to the Message (with or without singing)

Closing Remarks and Praise Song

Of course this is only a suggestion and could be in a different order, as long as there is order. The Scripture is quite clear that worship is to be an orderly event.

The whole point of corporate worship is to make it easy for congregants to engage in an encounter with God and to celebrate our Lord's resurrection.

It's not about you, it's not about me, it's all about Him.

DO YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS?

One of Jesus' favorite ways of getting His point across to His disciples was to ask them questions that had only one answer. He often asked questions like:

Matthew 5:13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?”

Matthew 5:46 “If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others?”

Matthew 6:25 “Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?

Matthew 6:27 “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?”

Mark 2:9 “Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’?”

Mark 8:23 When he had spit on the man’s eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, “Do you see anything?”

He asked something like 173 questions during His ministry that are recorded in the Bible.

Questions are a very useful way of getting a point (or points) across.

The proper use of questions in a teaching situation is something that has to be learned, especially if class discussion is one of the goals.

If a teacher wishes to encourage discussion via questions, he should begin with questions he knows most of his students know the answer to. There should be several of these types of questions. That will loosen up the audience and get them used to the process.

After the students have responded to five or six questions, they will be ready for slightly more complex questions. Having been loosened up by the first set of questions, they will be more likely to respond.

The final step would be to ask questions that challenge the students' ability to think critically about the subject.

Properly done, preparing for a class in which the teacher seeks discussion takes hours and hours. Anybody who just steps to the front and starts asking deep questions is destined to lead a boring, very unproductive class in which there will be more silence than discussion.

The questions for such a class must be chosen to progress from the simple to the more difficult. The use of questions cannot be seen as an excuse not to properly prepare for the lesson, especially if it is a Bible lesson.

Using questions effectively is a very good, learned technique for teaching.

SUNDAY SOUNDS OF PRAISE-Jesus On the Mainline-Gaither Vocal Band...On the Lighter Side

WHICH COVENANT ARE YOU GOVERNED BY?

The Bible speaks of seven different covenants, four of which (Abrahamic, Palestinian, Mosaic, Davidic) God made with the nation of Israel. Of those four, three are unconditional in nature; that is, regardless of Israel's obedience or disobedience, God still will fulfill these covenants with Israel. One of the covenants, the Mosaic Covenant, is conditional in nature. That is, this covenant will bring either blessing or cursing depending on Israel's obedience or disobedience. Three of the covenants (Adamic, Noahic, New) are made between God and mankind in general, and are not limited to the nation of Israel.

The Adamic Covenant was made by God for mankind in general. (Genesis 3:16-19; 1:26-30 and 3:15).

The Noahic Covenant was between God and mankind through Noah, and portends the coming of a New Covenant in the fullness of time (Genesis chapter 9).

The Abrahamic Covenant was made by God with Abraham for Israel. It applies to Israel and to the descendants of Abraham in particular (Genesis 12:2; 13:16; 17:4 % 5; 12:3; 22:18 and others).

The Palestinian Covenant amplifies the land aspect that was detailed in the Abrahamic Covenant (Deuteronomy 30:1-10).

The Mosaic Covenant was a conditional covenant that either brought God's direct blessing for obedience or God's direct cursing for disobedience upon the nation of Israel (Deuteronomy 11; et al.).

The Davidic Covenant (2 Samuel 7:8-16) amplifies the “seed” aspect of the Abrahamic Covenant. God promised that David's lineage would last forever and that his kingdom would never pass. There will be a time when someone from the line of David will again sit on the throne and rule as king. This future king is Jesus (Luke 1:32-33).

In Jeremiah 31:31-34 we read of a coming New Covenant that will be a covenant not of written Law, but of the heart.

The New Covenant reveals that Jesus, Himself, fulfills the Law on our behalf. Under the New Covenant, both Jews and Gentiles can be free from the rule and the penalty of the Law. Under the New Covenant, we are now given the opportunity to receive salvation as a free gift (Ephesians 2:8-9). As clearly written about by Paul in Romans, Galatians and throughout his epistles, this New Covenant is apart from the Law and is for Jew and Gentile alike.

Sadly, there are people who call themselves Christians who insist on reverting to the Old Covenant(s) for their Christian walk and to “please God.” But Hebrews chapters 6-11 clearly tell us that God is pleased with us when we place our trust in, and only in, the finished work of Christ at the cross of Calvary.

Jesus must be the in-all, of-all, by-all and through-all of everything we are and ever will be. He is the very person of the New Covenant. We cannot serve two masters. We must either live in the Old Covenant or the New Covenant. To try to do both will result in spiritual multiple personality disorder.

In the end, it is Jesus, or nothing at all.

THERE’S SACRIFICE AND THEN THERE’S SACRIFICE

When we try to compare what we do for Jesus to what He did for us at the cross of Calvary, there is no way to compare them. That said, we certainly are asked to make certain sacrifices of our time, talent and money for Him.

The sacrifices we make are proportional to the tasks we commit to.

A deacon is asked to make sacrifices of service. Those sacrifices might take a good deal of time. It takes time to make hospital visits. It takes time to call on new or prospective members. It takes time to minister to church members.

The head of the Hospitality Committee will have to spend time training Greeters, Kitchen workers and other jobs related to hospitality.

Choir members have to commit to rehearsals and to faithfulness. They may be asked to provide music for special events or for other organizations. That would require more sacrifice than the usual 2 0r 3 hours per week.

It is reasonable for churches to expect members of each group to give the time needed to that group to accomplish the tasks assigned to that group.

There is a limit to what churches should expect from members, however. It must be kept in mind that church members might have family obligations, work obligations and other activities that prohibit them from committing a more than a reasonable amount of time, talent and money to church tasks and activities.

While sacrifice for the Lord is certainly a lofty (and essential) idea, churches must never demand so much of their members’ time, talent and money that their other life obligations are harmed. Families have been destroyed, relationships dissolved and friendships shattered because too much was expected from one person. Surely that would never be sanctioned by our Lord.

There is an old saying that says, “You can be so Heavenly minded that you’re no earthly good.” While that might not be “good theology,” it does serve to warn us not to demand so much of our church members as to adversely affect their joy of serving the Lord.

As we all know, in most churches about 20% of the people do 90% of the work. With that in mind, how do we conduct ministry when our “human resources” are so low?

The answer to that question is not unrelated to budget needs. If there is no money to do a certain thing, that certain thing just isn't done. In the same way, if the “human resources” are not available to accomplish a task, that task needs to be “taken off of the table” until the “human resources” are available.

That requires the establishing of and commitment to priorities.

The sacrifice people make should be instituted and directed by the Holy Spirit, not by men...not even church men.

The Holy spirit gives spiritual gifts to people when they are saved. They, in turn, must seek His leadership as to how to use and implement those gifts.

THE ESSENCE OF LEADERSHIP – Part 4

A leader knows his audience.

Some groups, by virtue of their background and training, are more sophisticated than others. Some groups are diverse.

Each type of group requires a different leadership technique.

The more sophisticated the group, the more likely they are to have certain words and phrases that are specific to their profession.

Doctors, for instance, would have a different vocabulary set from lawyers. Retirees may use language differently from young family oriented workers. Musicians have a language all their own.

In church, the language required might be different for those who are young in Christ from those who have been Christians for a long time and know the “Christian lingo.”

On a developmental level, younger people have different leadership requirements from older people and children have still different needs.

The more you know about your audience, the easier it will be for you to provide the leadership they need.

CHURCH ADMINISTRATION 101

Administration is the process or activity of running an organization. It includes: management, governance, and direction. Administration is the performance or management of an entity’s operations. Most importantly, it is the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal

In the church, and according to the Bible, the gift of administration is the God-given ability to give direction and make decisions on behalf of others that result in efficient operation and accomplishment of goals.

Administration includes the ability to organize people, things, information, finances, etc.

The mark of an administrator is the ability to accomplish things in a "fitting and orderly way" (1 Corinthians 14:40).

Administrators often have a keen eye for detail. They may also possess the natural talents of organization, observing and using details, problem solving, and reasoning.

Jesus organized His ministry by choosing his inner circle of three disciples (Mark 9:2), appointing the twelve (Mark 3:13-14), and sending out the seventy two by two (Luke 10:1). Joseph (Genesis 41:41-57; 47:13-26), Jethro (Exodus 18), and Titus (Titus 1:5) all demonstrate the gift of administration.

Here are six questions you can ask yourself to determine whether you have the gift of administration:

1. Can you bring order out of chaos?

2. When things are poorly organized do you get frustrated and want to help fix things?

3. Do you naturally organize your life, schedule, finances, priorities, etc.?

4. Do you become energized working on tasks and projects?

5. Do things like efficiency and promptness matter more to you than most people?

6. Do things like spreadsheets, budgets, organizational charts and software, files, highlighters, and label makers make you happy?

If you can answer “Yes” to all of these questions, you have the gift of administration.

Few pastors have this gift. In a small church, the pastor might have to be the administrator. In a successful, growing church, a minister called the Church Administrator is needed.
When the church calls a Church Administrator, it relieves the pastor of the burden of doing things he may not be equipped to do, such as getting things properly organized, following through on projects and decisions in a meaningful way, etc.

One of the hardest things for some pastors to do is to let go of the reigns of administration and to turn them over to someone else. But doing so will enable him to devote himself to the Biblical mandate to feed the sheep, pray, preach the gospel and edify the saints.

In some churches, the administrator has become nothing more than a financial secretary. That is to the detriment of the church. Attention to finances is certainly an important part of the Church Administrator’s role, but the ministry includes far more than that.

Once the church leadership has determined the direction the church is to go, it becomes the task of the Church Administrator to take the lead in organizing and implementing plans to move the church in that direction. The Church Administrator will make the contacts, organize the plan, put the plan in motion and communicate the plan to the staff and the church.

A good Church Administrator does not run the church, but he DOES make the church run.

LET DEACONS DEAC

Diakonos is the Greek word used in the New Testament to refer to deacons. The word means “servant.” A servant is someone who does something for someone else.

In the Scripture, the deacon’s job was to take the pressure of day-to-day ministry off of the pastor so he could devote himself to preaching and praying. Deacons, then, are to consider themselves the pastor’s right hand men.

In far too many churches, deacons see themselves as administrators. They think they are to be in charge of the church’s business needs. While deacons might be asked to do some administrative work, administration should be low on the list of things the deacons should involve themselves in. The job of administration should be left to the trustees or to a person called as the church administration.

Deacons should visit hospitals on behalf of the pastor. They should call on visitors as soon as possible after their visit to the church. Deacons should visit the homes of members in need and prospects in the community.

They should promote and support the ministries of the church. Their most important ministry should be that of evangelism. Every deacon should be take part in personal evangelism.

The ordination of a person to the office of deacon should not take place until he has committed himself to each of the above functions. What any individual deacon might do beyond those duties should be left to the church to decide.

Let’s get back to the Biblical definition of the office of deacon. It is better than the re-definitions so many churches have invoked.

SUNDAY SOUNDS OF PRAISE-On My Knees-Jaci Velasquez

THE ESSENCE OF LEADERSHIP – Part 3

One can be a born leader, but more often leadership is learned. Two more important characteristics of a good leader are speaking clearly and using proper grammar.

Speaking clearly requires the effective use of consonants. Vowels give beauty to words, but consonants give them meaning (with the exception of single vowel words such as “I”). The larger the group being led, the more important it is to emphasize the consonant sounds. They tend to get lost as they are absorbed by the physical characteristics of the room.

The reason good grammar is important is that it helps ensure good communication. Words have meaning and proper sentence structure conveys their meanings well

The most common mistakes in sentence structure are the failure to make subjects and predicates agree and the use of prepositional phrases as subjects of a sentence.

The subject and the predicate of a sentence must agree in Voice, Mood, Tense, Person and Number. If this relationship is violated, some pretty strange results occur.

Using prepositional phrases as subjects can be confusing, too. This often occurs when the word, “I,” is used instead of, “me,” in a prepositional phrase. “He gave the books to John and I” is wrong. “To” is a preposition and requires the objective case. The correct way to say it would be “He gave the books to John and me.”

Some leaders seem to think that the use of “I” is more polite. It isn't. It is easy to test the sentence by taking out the first person mentioned. “He gave the books to (I, me).” The sentence should read, “He gave the books to me.” So, the correct way to express the thought is, “He gave the books to John and me.”

Now, if John and I gave the books to him, “John and I” becomes the subject of the sentence and “I” is correct. The sentence should read, “John and I gave the books to him.”

Another common mistake is to use “their” instead of “his” or “her.” “Their” is plural possessive, that is, it refers to more than one. The use of “their” as singular has come about as a result of political correctness and the so called, women’s liberation movement.

A good leader will learn how to use grammar to his best advantage.

THE WIDOW AND THE RICH YOUNG RULER

Jesus was addressing the Pharisees about their attitudes toward giving. He had told them, in essence, that their giving was useless because their motives were impure. They sought self-recognition for their giving and thus would receive recognition for their giving and nothing more. Their standing in the Kingdom of God would not be increased one iota.

To drive His point home, Jesus referred to a widow who humbly gave her resources to the Lord.

Jesus did not say to the Pharisees, “Look. There is a woman who quietly has given 10% of all she has. She is to be commended.” Instead He said, “Look. There is a woman who has quietly given all she has. Her reward will be much more than yours.”

On another occasion a rich young ruler came to Jesus asking what he had to do to be saved. Jesus asked him what he had already done. Being a good Jew, the man bragged about his giving of his tithe, his adherence to the Law of Moses and his great religiousosity.  

Jesus said to him, “Being a good Jew, you would certainly be expected to have done those things. One thing you lack. You must sell 10% of all you have and give it to the poor, then follow me.”

Actually, Jesus did not say that to him. What He did say was, “…One thing you lack. Go and sell ALL that you have and give it to the poor. Then come follow me.”

Jesus was introducing the New Covenant concept of giving, which had nothing to do with the Old Covenant requirements. This new concept was to give everything. That’s right…all of it.

Does that mean for every dollar you earn you should give one dollar to the church?

No. As with everything else He said (as in the Beatitudes, for instance), He made giving a matter of the heart and the attitude.

Later, Paul would tell the Corinthians that they should “…give as they were led by the Holy Spirit to give.” 

That might be 7%, 10%, or 60%. The idea is that under the New Covenant giving has become a relational issue, not a legal one.

In the first place, there is nothing under the New Covenant about the church being the storehouse for giving. Nothing. The storehouse idea comes from Malachi. From that book, many have concluded that the church is equivalent to the storehouse. Of course there is absolutely no Biblical basis for that connection. That’s just vain imagination.

The failure of the church to recognize, realize and teach this truth has led to astonishing and unnecessary financial hardship. Many have tried to stand with one foot in the New Covenant while trying to stay firmly entrenched in the Old Covenant, especially when it comes to giving.

Think of what could be accomplished for the Lord if we adopted His approach to giving; that is: giving in direct obedience to His leadership through the Holy Spirit. He, after all, knows what He is doing.

Churches need to wake up and teach this New Covenant concept to its existing member and steep new Christians in it as well.

How many of the ills besetting the church would be rectified if we were not too afraid to do things His way?

THE ESSENCE OF LEADERSHIP – Part 2

The second rule of leadership is to set a good time example.

Leaders who expect their charges to be at a certain place at a certain time should plan their own schedule in such a way as to be at the location far enough ahead of time to be ready for the arrival of the first “leadee,” even if he is an early arriver.

Having a written outline of specific activities at specific times will help the leader stay on schedule and will honor the class members’ time and effort. That goes for both preparation and presentation. It sets a good example.

Someone once said, “Prior preparation prevents poor, pitiful performance.”

Being well prepared, organized and on time sets a good example and gives the leader credibility. Those he leads will know he knows what he is doing and that he respects them as valuable members of the team. It also gives him confidence in himself.

Keeping on schedule, while being flexible enough to make time adjustments, means the event being led will likely end on time and will go smoothly. That sets a good example. A good leader never confuses flexibility with disorganization.

One can be a born leader, but more often leadership is learned. Learning to set a good example with time is one characteristic of a good leader.

THE STATE OF THE UNION

Take a half-cup of horseradish, a half-cup of strawberry jam, a half-cup of smashed boiled eggs and a half-cup milk  and put it in a bowl. Stir it well.

There, you have unity! It's horrible, but it's unity.

There is a false concept of unity floating around in the Christian world. It is a concept that purports that if we can all just meet together in one place, youth, young adults, median adults and older adults, we'll see the unity the Bible talks about in I Corinthians 12:12-31.

Only that is a gross misapplication of the passage. Gross!

The correct application is that we are many different parts, each doing its own thing but moving in the same direction and cooperating together to maintain the life of the body.

(For purposes of this article, the terms Children, Youth, Young Adults, Median Adults and Mature Adults will refer to the names of specific departments/divisions in churches that are designed to impart Biblical knowledge and growth.)

You will notice that the Children's Departments are usually not included in this false concept of unity. That is because children are developmentally in a different place from Youth and Adults.

It turns out that Youth, Young Adults, Median Adults and Older Adults are also in different stages of development and their spiritual walk, too. They are different spiritually, mentally, psychologically and sociologically. They require different approaches to teaching and learning.

While a sophomoric skit might catch the attention of and teach something to Youth, its meaning will be totally lost on Mature Adults. In addition, it will likely bore them to tears. That is not a result of some evil intrusion of disunity, it is because of the vast developmental differences between Youth and Mature Adults.

Introducing an activity designed to mix the group into one great fellowship of love will fall flat. That's because some Youth are too shy to expose themselves in such a way, while some Adults and Mature Adults are too intimidated by Youth. It's just a bad mix.

Watch what happens when the crowd is allowed to freely select a place to sit. Each group will spontaneously sit with the group most like itself. That is a sociological fact, and it is almost impossible to overcome with plastic ideology.

That there are divisions in the church by age is not to conclude that there is a spiritual division in the Body of Christ. It is to recognize that there are real differences among its people.

Let's create a little analogy.Remember at the beginning we considered horseradish, strawberry jam, boiled eggs and milk.

Let the Youth be analogous to the strawberry jam. They are sweet and malleable and a great ingredient.

Let the Young adults be analogous to the milk. They are nutritious, but not fully mature in Christ.

Then let the Median Adults be analogous to the eggs, full of nutrition and tasty.

That leaves the Mature Adults. Let them be analogous to horseradish. They are full flavored, but a bit strong and sometimes overpowering.

Mixing them all together in a learning situation is not really a good idea. They have vastly different learning needs and characteristics. A better idea is to tailor learning to each target group. They might be all learning the same Scripture passages and spiritual truths, but are learning them in a way that is compatible with their life-styles, learning patterns and abilities.

While the idea of bringing people of all ages together in the name of unity might sound idealistically exciting, as a practical matter, it just doesn't do the job.

Churches have known this for a long time. That is why they do what’s called, “Grouping and Grading.” That is how they reach all age groups on their own levels.

This is a wheel that does not need reinventing.

THE ESSENCE OF LEADERSHIP – Part 1

This begins a series on church leadership. It is not a comprehensive series. It is intended to lay out the basic principles of leadership. The posts will be generally short and succinct.

The first rule of leadership is to know who you are to lead.

In churches, leaders must realize that they deal with people. People are fallible. People are at various stages of development, physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.

Paul wrote to the Corinthians that he had to address them as infants, feeding them spiritual milk, because they were not mature enough to receive the weightier matters of the Lord.

Sometimes leaders make the mistake of trying to lead people from a lofty position, expecting them to know more than they know and to be ready for more than they are ready for.

A leader just out of seminary or college might think that his new charges are ready for seminary or college level material when in fact they are not even ready for high school level material.

Suppose a music director stepped to the podium expecting that all of his newly enlisted choir members could read music at an advanced level, gave them a complex score and then a downbeat. The result would likely be chaos, and the music disharmonious. It would also lead to discouragement and defection.

It would be far better for the director to present to the choir music that was understood and within the abilities of the “lowest common denominator” choir member. Then the opportunity for growth ensues.

With a long range plan, based on the gradual raising of the understanding of the members, the director would eventually be able to lead the choir in more complex pieces. The result will be a more beautiful and meaningful sound when the downbeat is given.

On the other hand, if the director had a group of accomplished musicians, he would take a different approach, presenting them with challenging music right away.

It all has to do with knowing your target audience. Leaders would do well to understand their charges before attempting to take them on the journey God has laid out for them.

SUNDAY SOUNDS OF PRAISE-Declare His Glory-Prestonwood Baptist Church Choir

GOD SAID WHAT?

I know of a church that has been around for quite some time. It is a Southern Baptist (at least in name) church and has had its ups and downs over the years.

It had been a fairly solid, if somewhat stagnant church for a number of years when, by virtue of some astounding church politics, and, of course, God's leadership, the pastor was "encouraged" to resign and the minister of music deftly moved into the pastorship. He had "heard God's call" to be the pastor and the church fell for it, thinking they could save the expense of bringing in an "outsider."

The minister of music was one of the best singers I have known, and a great organizer of the arts, including music, theater and drama. But he was not pastor material from the get-go.

By the time he finished his reign, the church had dwindled to around 85 worshipers on Sunday mornings and they were subjected to irrational, poorly prepared, heretical sermons. They finally firmly invited him to respond to God's leadership out of the church.

Just before they collapsed, the church called a man who really did turn things around. They wen from 85 or so in worship, to almost 700! They had to have several worship services and still were about to run out of room.

Here's where things got ecclesiastically crazy.

The pastor "heard the word from God" that the church was supposed to build a new auditorium, one that would accommodate the crowd for some years.

They held a series of fund raising meetings culminating in a great "prove the greatness of the Lord" banquet. Unfortunately, the amount raised fell well short of the amount needed to build.

I guess God had made a mistake.

But not to worry. A church of another denomination in the area that had a large facility wanted to build a larger building and put their facility on the market.

Suddenly, God told the pastor of the Southern Baptist church that they were to buy the larger facility and rent, lease or sell the smaller complex to some other church or churches.

They moved to the larger campus and things went well for a while.

Suddenly, they got so big that they couldn't fit everybody in and had to go to two services, one "traditional" and one "contemporary."

God then "told" the pastor that He would saturate the community with the Southern Baptist church and that they should begin holding services in the old facility, since it did not sell.

So, God basically led the pastor to send the "traditional" worship service to the old campus so we would become "one church, two locations."

Time after time God raised the hopes of the congregation with the hope of receiving financing to support the old facilities. God supposedly sent people with offers to buy the old buildings

Those fell through and things looked bleak.

Then a secular group came along and made an offer on the old property. The offer was low, but it was better than anything on the table. God "told" the pastor to recombine the two congregations and give up the old facility.

God also told the pastor that the format for the newly combined congregation should be something called, "convergent" worship, a style of worship that needed more than a little explanation.

(I'm not sure why any form of worship should be so complex as to need a definition and explanation, but so be it.)

Then, things went a bit south. The sale of the old property proved more complex than had been imagined and the expected revenue from it a bit slow in coming.

In the midst of all of this, God led the church to make other "political" decisions designed to make things economically satisfying and to tickle the fancy of a long established and influential family in the church (one that had been involved in the "calling" of the minister of music into the pastorate...see above).

The point of this discourse is to say that either God is pretty whimsical in His leadership or the pastor, and others who heard His voice, didn't really hear Him.

If the leadership of the church claimed to have heard God's voice, and actually did, then God is capricious and does not know what He is doing.

If they did not hear God's voice, as they claimed they did, how can they be trusted when they say they heard God's voice?

The Bible warns against "vain imaginations." (Romans 1:21[Greek: dialogisoms - reasoning in the mind]; Luke 1:51 [Greek: dianoia - mind or understanding); 2 Corinthians 10:5 [Greek: logismos - reasoning in speech).

Sometimes we imagine something in our minds and conclude that since we are Christians and had the thought, it must be God speaking to us.

The church of which I am speaking has been losing a good many people who have been faithful through the years of stumbling but have just "had it up to here" with the goings on.

That's sad. The leadership has taken the attitude that those leaving must be "unspiritual," and that the church will be better off for having "culled" them from the ranks.

What the leadership can't seem to grasp is that we live in a real (if fallen) world and that our churches are filled with people. They seem to think if they just get rid of the people they will be OK.

The job of the leaders is to equip the saints for acts of service, to lead them in such a way as to make it easy for them to focus on and worship God and to help them celebrate the resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

The elements of worship are clearly laid out in the Bible. The focus of the church is clearly laid out in the Bible (see 1 Corinthians 2:2).

When the pastor first came, he was determined that these two elements would be the hub of everything the church did.

Like Ephesus, the church has lost its first love: the gospel of the New Covenant.

It has decided to try to become contemporary and to try to become like a Bible school, Bible collage or a Seminary, forgetting that it is filled with regular people, who are from different backgrounds and are at different levels of spiritual development.

As one friend of mine once said, "It's not the land, it's the man," meaning that the main problem is not the church membership (church members are what they always have been and always will be), it is the focus and direction of the leaders.

Maybe they will hear God's real voice before it is too late.

WHICH PEOPLE?

Israel today

The other day I heard a pastor with little imagination try to concoct an Independence Day message using 2 Chronicles 7:14. It reads:  "If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land."

Let me be clear. God DID say that.

The problem with using it as an Independence Day message is that it has absolutely nothing to do with the United States of America, her independence or anything else related to her. Neither is it some lofty principle to be applied any way we see fit.

To many preachers that doesn't matter at all. It sounds good and that's all that matters. Their attitude is that the passage "fits" so it must be applicable and it gives me something to say that sounds Biblical. Well, it doesn't fit and it's not Biblical.

It is true that most pastors, indeed most people, have heard it applied that way, but that does not make it a proper application.

"Well I was always taught that was what it meant." Well, what you were always taught was wrong.

"Well I wish it would be applicable like that."

I doesn't matter what you wish. That is an improper application of the verse.

"Well, it really sounds good."

That is the worse reason of all to try to force it to be applicable to the United States of America or to "God's people" in general.

The verse is part of a promise from God to Solomon that if Israel would fulfill those requirements, they would  have peace in the land that God had given them.

They did not keep their end of the bargain, and thus did not have peace and their land was not healed.

To examine the proper application of that passage, let's begin with Israel, God's peoples' name.

The name "Israel" is a Hebrew word  יִשְׂרָאֵל 

That literally means,  "He has striven with God," sometimes: "Triumphant with God", "who prevails with God"

The "el" in Israel means "God."   Commentators differ on the original literal meaning. Some say the name comes from the verb śarar ("to rule, be strong, have authority over"), thereby making the name mean "God rules" or "God judges". Other possible meanings include "the prince of God" (from the King James Version) or "El fights/struggles". "The Jewish Study Bible" of Oxford University Press says on page 68 "The scientific etymology of Israel is uncertain, a good guess being '[The God] El rules.'"

Israel was (and is) known as "the people of God."

The passage was addressed to Israel, and not to "God's people" in general. It was a specific promise, to a specific people at a specific time.

It was true then, and it is true now, that if Israel would humble themselves, pray, seek God's face and turn from their wicked ways, He will hear from heaven and will heal their land, which is in great need of healing. But Israel has refused to do those things and they still have bitter strife in their land, from without and from within.

First, let's be certain we understand that we are not "called by God's name." We are not called "Yahwehians" or Godians, or StrugglewithGodians. We are called Christians. That is not God's name. It is a name given to us in derision, but which we adopted with joy.

Having said that, let's examine the principles in the verses that ARE applicable to us.

The passage says, "... will humble themselves..."

The ultimate act of humility is to recognize the sin in our lives. In Romans 3:23 we read that "...all have sinned and come short of the Glory of God." That includes us, personally. The wages of that sin is eternal separation from God, that is: death.

The Holy Spirit of God must convict us of our sin in order for us to humble ourselves. If we have never been humbled to the point of seeing the horror of our sin, we cannot be saved from it.

Then the passage says, "...and pray..." Prayer is the "mechanism" by which we communicate with God, find our His will for us and commit ourselves to that will. Before we can be saved, we must pray a prayer of submission and acceptance.

Next the verses say, "...seek my face..." At some point we must understand that the only one who can save us is God, in His grace, through Christ. We must seek Him. When we seek Him, He will find us.

Following that, the passage says, "...turn from their wicked ways..." That is repentance. Without repentance, we cannot be saved. That concept is not preached as fervently as it used to be. It is nevertheless a requirement for salvation. (Luke 13:3: "...except ye repent, ye will all perish;" Acts 17:30 "...all people everywhere to repent;" 2 Corinthians 7:10 "...Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation.")

What we DO have in 2 Chronicles 7:14 is a beautiful Old Covenant picture of the requirements of the New Covenant to become Children of God.

It does not apply to the United States as a nation, but it does apply to individual citizens of the U.S. If we all confessed our sins, repented and accepted Christ as our Savior, there sure would be a lot of problems that disappeared.

We need to start teaching, in our churches, Christian colleges and universities, Bible colleges, and seminaries that the Bible must be interpreted in terms of the context of the word used, the verse used, the chapter it's in, the book it is in the Covenant that applies (New or Old) and the Bible as a whole. We must begin teaching that the Bible is God's revelation of His character, His love of His creation and His plan for its redemption.

CELEBRATING OUR INDEPENDENCE-Recommend Watching Full Screen