The Source

One Step at a Time

2011-06-13T13:14:00.002-04:00

Today I was reading The Effective Executive by Peter F. Drucker, and I identified with the following story: General Marshall during World War II insisted that a general officer be immediately relieved if found less than outstanding. Marshall flatly refused to listen to the argument: "But we have no replacement." "All that matters," he pointed out, "is that you know that this man is not equal to the task. Where his replacement comes from is the next question." Sometimes we are scared to do the right thing because of the potential consequences. For example, I once had a belligerent teenager serving in our worship arts department when I was a youth pastor in Maryland. After I warned him several times and he still didn't listen, I decided he needed to be let go. But I was scared to do what was right because I didn't know who would replace him. But I concluded (as General Marshall did) that this man was not equal to the task. Where his replacement would come from was the next question. It's scary to do the right thing sometimes, but I have learned that when we do what is right, God honors us, and helps things to work out. If you honor God with your finances, how will you make ends meet? If you take one day a week for a Sabbath's day rest, how will you get done all that needs to get done? If you stand up for what's right at work and get fired, how will you go about getting a new job? These are all the wrong questions. The right question is "What is the right thing to do in this situation?" Once you've determined the right course to take, you act, and leave the rest to God. That's what I did, and let me tell you that God provided us with a new (and much more qualified) volunteer, who served in that role for about three years, and did so with a great attitude. I wonder what I would've missed out on had I decided to let the consequences scare me out of doing what I knew was right. I wonder what you're missing out on right now if you haven't acted on something you know is the right thing to do because you are scared of the consequences. Take one step at a time, and watch what God will do.

Encouragement Part 2

2011-05-16T12:29:00.001-04:00

The Bible says "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up" (Galatians 6:9). And I think one of the biggest causes of becoming weary in our labors for the Lord, is when we think we aren't really making a difference. That's why it's good to have a place to record the stories of life change. It could be an email folder in your inbox, a manilla folder in your filing cabinet, etc. Just make sure you're collecting the thank you notes and praise reports. And when things get tough and you feel worn out, you pull them out and read them. Here's some I'm filing in my email folder that I just received today.

Your prayer, along with the prayers of our growth group have re-shaped our son's life. he has lost his depression and given his life to Christ.
I praise God for this church which has kept me on fire for my savior while going through my freshman year of college. You will be in my prayers during the summer months.
There was a woman at my work who had been giving me a hard time for almost two years. In my heart, I prayed for her and forgave her for what she had been doing. I treated her kindly and fair. Just last week something changed in her heart and she has been very kind and respectful towards me.

There is nothing quite like knowing that lives are changing around you and that you've played a part in it (even in a small way). Nothing will get you motivated and encourage you to keep working than knowing you are making a difference for eternity.

Encouragement

2011-05-16T09:29:00.000-04:00

It is wonderful to be on the receiving end of encouragement. Just this morning I got a text from someone in our church that read "You do such an awesome job bringing the best messages to us!!" I am literally having trouble describing the good it did me to hear those words of encouragement. The best I can do is say it brought me life! It inspired me to keep working hard, it boosted my self-esteem, it gave me energy, it made me happy, I felt appreciated. All that from twelve words of encouragement! Wow, the Bible is right when it says "The tongue has the power of life and death..." (Proverbs 18:21). I hope that each day I can say something to someone else that lifts them up the way I've been lifted up today. Here's a good principle to live by when it comes to encouragement: If you think it, say it. If you think someone looks nice, say so. If you think someone is doing a great job, tell them. As long as it's positive and will build someone up, if you think it, say it.

Why Work?

2011-04-26T16:48:00.003-04:00

Why work? This is a particularly important question to ask in America where the government will pay you for not working. I mean, if you can not work and still get paid, why make the effort to get out of bed and go to work? The Bibles gives us at least five reasons. The first reason is necessity, working to meet our needs. The Bible teaches that we go to work to provide for our needs and the needs of our family. If we are physically capable of working, we aren’t to depend on others to meet our needs, we are to provide for them ourselves. So the first reason to work is to put food on the table, clothes on our backs and a roof over our head. The second reason to work is prosperity, working to build wealth. To be wealthy and to be godly is not contradictory. Some of the most godly people in the Bible were some of the wealthiest people of their day (i.e. Job and Solomon). God is not opposed to us building wealth so long as we realize that to obtain wealth isn’t the highest motivation to go to work. God is concerned that will earn it honestly, give some back to Him regularly, save it steadily, spend it wisely and share it generously. The third reason to work is identity, working to express who God made you to be and what he made you good at. God has given each us special abilities to do certain things well, he’s given each of us different passions in life, different experiences and different personalities. All of these things are indicators of what work God has designed for us to do. And we are happiest when working with who God made us to be and what he made us good at. People who just chase a paycheck are rarely satisfied. You’d be better off doing something you love and something God has made you good at (making a little less) than doing something you hate (making a ton of money). The fourth reason to work is for maturity, working to develop your character. Work is a great place to develop your character. At work you have the opportunity to practice patience, honesty, integrity, fairness, loyalty, as well as many other biblical virtues. Your family is the only other environment where your character will be developed to a greater degree than your work place. So next time you take a job, don’t just ask “How much will I make?” but “What will I become?” The fifth reason to work is for eternity, working to prepare for heaven. Our work in this life is preparation for our work in the life to come. We are saved by grace alone, but the Bible teaches that there’s a direct connection between how we work in this life and the roles and responsibilities and rewards God will give us in the next life. When you realize that your work has eternal ramifications, it’s a little easier to get out of bed in the morning. Work isn’t a curse, but a blessing! It provides our needs, helps us build wealth, gives us the opportunity to express who God made us to be and what he made us good at, it helps us develop our character as well as prepare for our roles and responsibilities in heaven. So when Monday roles around, think about all the good things work does, and be eager to hop out of bed!

Focus on the Good

2011-04-24T20:30:00.002-04:00

I heard a prominent pastor once say that life isn’t best described as hills and valleys, rather railroad tracks. It’s not so much that there are highs and lows in life as much as there are simultaneously good things and bad things happening in your life. I’ve found that to be true in my own life. And in this blog post I want to encourage you to focus on the good. In any situation there are good things to focus on and bad things to focus on. Choose to focus on the good. Today, on Easter Sunday, some truly awesome things happened. We had a brand new record high attendance of 381, we had 21 first time guests (many of whom are completely unchurched and far from God), and 8 salvations. One first time guest told me after service how application the message was and that we’d probably see him again. Someone else wrote me saying “Loved the message this morning!” Yet another person texted me “Thanks so much for that message this morning. Certainly what I needed to get me motivated to go back to work after vacation.” Additionally, we added some really cool lighting elements to our stage that we’ve been wanting to do for a while (progress!). I could go on and on with all the good things that happened today. But you know what, a couple bad things happened today too. And while it’s tempting to focus on the bad things that happened, I’m choosing to focus on the good. I’m going to think about the good stuff. I’m going to talk about the good stuff. I’m going to praise God for the good stuff. I don’t have time to get bogged down in negativity. No matter what we do, some people won’t like it. Not everyone liked some of the things Jesus did and not everyone will like some of the things we do. But there are many who love what we do (particularly those far from God - and that’s who we’re trying to reach). So stay focused on the good God is doing in using us to reach those far from God. Don’t give another thought to complainers, malcontents or the things that didn’t go just right. Look ahead, stay positive and focused on reaching lost people for Jesus.

The Purpose of Rules

2011-03-30T20:45:00.001-04:00

I just finished meeting with my growth group and our discussion reinforced something I've seen in Scripture over and over again. God's rules are for our good. His rules are more about protecting us than limiting us. For example, when someone puts up a fence in the backyard for their dog, it shows they care enough about the dog to keep it safe. The dog might not like the restraints in the same way a driver might not like their seat belt, but consider the alternative. When we realize that rules point us away from danger and show us the route to safety, we'll be much more inclined to follow them. May God give each of us the grace to see that the rules are for our good.

The Kind of Church We Want to Become

2011-03-23T08:40:00.000-04:00

I'm in line along with about fifty other people in front of the Apple Store in Holyoke waiting to purchase the iPad 2. Many of us have been here since 6am or earlier even though the store doesn't open till 9am. It's pretty amazing when you have something that people want so badly they are willing to wait for hours sitting on the dirty mall floor to get it.

Similarly, I know of a church where people wait forty-five minutes just to get out of the parking lot when service lets out because there's thousands trying to leave! And they keep coming back week after week. Why? That church has something people want so badly they are willing to put up with major inconveniences to get it.

Our goal at New Day is to become the kind of place where people will go to great lengths to be a part - where they gladly participate in growth groups, attend on Sunday, give, serve and invite their friends.

Dream Big

2011-03-03T16:48:00.003-05:00

God help me to dream bigger! I thought I was really demonstrating faith by believing God for 500 people by the end of the year. Well today one of my staff told me they were praying for 1,000 people by June!!! God help ME to believe like THAT! While our goals should be out of reach but not out of reality, I still believe we dream too small for serving such a big God. Sometimes we just need to add a zero to whatever we're believing God for. Adding a zero will remind us that we serve a big God, that we must depend on God to see our goals come to pass and that God is the God of the impossible. I'm challenged today to dream BIG!

A Theology of Biblical Hospitality

2011-02-27T13:11:00.005-05:00

I started reading a book today called Beyond the First Visit: The Complete Guide to Connecting Guests to Your Church by Gary L. McIntosh. It's not going to win any awards for shortest book title, but it's a great book. I wanted to record here some of the things that stood out to me:

Growing churches...spend a significant amount of time getting ready for their company - guests.
Research studies completed by Dr. Win Arn and Dr. Charles Arn in the mid-1980's found a direct correlation between friendliness and potential growth. In short, they found that friendly churches had great potential for growth, while less friendly churches had little potential for growth.
Most people think their church is a friendly church. It doesn't matter if the individuals who think that are attending churches in danger of closing, in the midst of twenty-year-long plateaus, or bursting forth in growth. Everyone thinks their church is friendly.
In reality, our church is only friendly to the degree that those visiting our church perceive it to be so. If visitors do not perceive us as friendly, we are not.
Our goal in being welcoming to guests is to reflect the welcoming God we serve. When we are welcoming, we are simply following God's example. When we aren't welcoming, we aren't reflecting God to our guests. Jesus modeled the welcoming nature of God by welcoming people. Luke describes one incident when Jesus tried to get away from the people to rest: "the crowds were aware of this and followed Him; and welcoming them, He began speaking to them about the kingdom of God and curing those who had need of healing" (Luke 9:11). Later, as tax collectors came to Jesus teaching, the Pharisees and scribes criticized him for welcoming sinners (Luke 15:1-2). As God's people, we are to be welcomers just as God is a welcomer.
When we welcome guests, we open the possibility that they will welcome God into their lives.

My prayer is that God will help New Day become the warmest, most friendly and welcoming environment in all the Pioneer Valley and northern Connecticut! Because it's cool and the in thing? No! Because it's biblical and helps us reflect God to our guests.

When a Volunteer Steps Down

2011-02-15T09:15:00.006-05:00

Volunteers step down from their roles of service for a variety of reasons. Sometimes the role they were serving in wasn't a good fit, other times its simply due to an upcoming busy season in life, sometimes its for personal reasons, etc. Regardless the reason, its very important to honor the sacrifice and efforts of the volunteer for the time they were able to give. Sometimes it's easy to focus on the work they will no longer be able to do vs focusing on and celebrating the work they have already done. A church is a non-profit and works primarily though volunteers. That being the case, volunteers will come and go. That's the nature of the beast. Sometimes they will go and never return. Other times they will go and after a bit they will come back. And we never know which it will be. That's why it's so important to never burn any bridges when someone steps down from a volunteer role. We honor what they have done. We thank them for what they have done. We leave the door wide open in case they ever want to return. And we speak highly of what they've contributed thus far and look with hope to their involvement again in the future. Paid staff don't have the luxury of coming and going, but volunteers do. I'm not trying to promote a lack of commitment on a volunteer's part. I'm not saying a volunteer can just show up to teach or serve or sing when they feel like it and you, as a department leader, should just take what you can get. That's not at all what I'm talking about. That's not following through on their commitment when they've agreed to serve. I'd be highly in favor of uninviting such a volunteer from serving if they acted like that. What I'm saying is when someone steps down, you should try not to take it personal, you should realize this is the nature of non-profit work, and you should express gratitude and the utmost appreciation for services rendered. This is New Day way of responding when a volunteer steps down.

Sunday Reflections

2011-02-06T16:36:00.003-05:00

Today was a special day at New Day. Here's some of my reflections:

We took a step of faith in starting a second service and it's already paying off. Last Sunday we had 258 people in our single service. Today we had 128 in our first service and 161 in our second, for a grand total of 289 people. It was insane!
I thank God for the successful transition. I can honestly say that even after all the reading and interviewing me and my team did in investigating how to successfully switch from one to two services, there were still a lot of unanswered questions. But we did what we could and trusted God with the rest. And God came through in providing one thing after another that we needed to make this work.
I'm also very thankful to my staff for all their hard work in preparing for a second service. Each department had to raise new volunteers and make provisions for two services instead of one (i.e. worship in two services, host team in two services, kids workers for two services, collecting the offering for two services, etc.). Everyone stepped up to the plate and knocked it out of the park. I've really got a great team for which I'm very grateful for.
I'm also thankful for the volunteers who made the transition possible. Without the people who stepped up to volunteer, putting their hearts and hands where they were needed most, this wouldn't have been possible.
I can't believe I'm about to write this, but I think very soon we'll be needing to add yet another service! This is a good problem to have and even though it represents untold hard work, I say BRING IT ON! I want to use my life to point as many people as possible to God.
I really think this year is going to be a huge turning point for New Day. As we fill up two services we'll be ready to add a second full time staff member. I can't even tell you how much I'm looking forward to that! It'll be wonderful to have someone else besides me working 40+ hours a week on New Day.
I have a strong inner sense that we're just seeing the tip of the iceberg - that we're just beginning to step in to what God has for us. This makes me celebrate what God is doing today, while looking foward with great anticipation of what he'll do tomorrow (and in thefuture).

What We Can All Learn From Bill Gates

2011-01-31T21:52:00.005-05:00

Today I saw on the news that Bill Gates is giving away another $100 million. Apparently he's donated $100 million more than once!! This time around he's planning to eradicate polio worldwide. I found this interesting because Bill Gates understands the biblical concept of stewardship, whether or not he realizes it. He has leveraged his resources to do the most good he can in the time he's been given. And that's exactly what we're supposed to do as stewards of the time, talent and treasure God has given to us. The goal is to leverage what God has given us in order to make the biggest difference we can for the kingdom of God. What am I doing with my time? How am I using it to advance God's kingdom? What am I doing with the talent God has given me? How am I using the gifts God has given me to advance his kingdom? What am I doing with the treasure God has given me? How am I using my wealth to see God's purposes be accomplished on this earth?

Believe for More

2011-01-28T18:03:00.004-05:00

In 2006 Mark Zuckerberg, CEO and founder of Facebook, turned down an opportunity to sell Facebook to Yahoo for one billion dollars ($1,000,000,000). Against the advice of many people, Mark said no. He was believing for more. He believed Facebook could be bigger than a billion dollars. And he was right! Estimates are that if there were an initial public stock offering today, Facebook would be valued between 35 and 50 billion dollars.

I want to dream BIG when it comes to the things of God. Specifically, when it comes to pointing irreligious people to Jesus. When others have "a billion" mentality, I want to think fifty billion. When others think we've reach the goal, I want to see so much more in the future. I pray God helps me and New Day to have more faith and dream bigger than ever before.

Sunday Reflections

2011-01-23T21:20:00.004-05:00

Today was awesome. Here are some of my reflections on Sunday.

Our worship team is really coming along. Our worship arts director, Lester, is doing a great job, as is our new band leader, Frank Rocca. I wish newcomers could see where we started and where we are now. We have improved sooo much. Don't get me wrong. We still have room to grow, and I anticipate where we'll be a year from now, three years from now, ten years from now, etc. But I'm also celebrating the progress we've made so far. Praise God!
Today we had 240 people at New Day (188 adults and 52 kids). Again, it's amazing to think how far we've come. I remember being so pumped when we finally reached 50 people in total church attendance (adults and kids). Now we have over 50 with just the kids alone!
To my knowledge we have the highest number of people signed up for a growth group that we've ever had (currently 78 with two more weeks of sign ups to go). How amazing would it be to have 100+ people involved weekly in Bible study and prayer... Sign up here.
Our growth group leaders training went awesome. Bethany, our growth group director, did an incredible job preparing our leaders to lead their groups. I got excited all over again for another round of growth groups. It's a great feeling to know you're a part of something that will help people grow spiritually.
I was thinking today how great it is to be a part of something that's alive and growing. We're reaching lost people, we're having a blast doing it, we're making a difference. And I'm so grateful to be a part of something like this.
I'm looking forward with anticipating to our switch to two services (starting Sunday February 6th 2011). We'll have a 9:30am service and an 11:00am service. I feel confident that we'll quickly fill up both services. I think before we know it we'll be trying to figure out what to in order to accommodate the people God continues to send our way.
I'm challenged to dream bigger. We serve a big God and I want to believe for big things in 2011.
I'm grateful for all the volunteers who partner with me and the staff of New Day to make possible what we do each week.

Run to Conflict

2011-01-21T08:38:00.005-05:00

If you are a manager and you see a problem within your department (i.e. maybe you have a problem person) run to conflict. Things only get worse, not better - and problems NEVER solve themselves. Last week we had a snow storm and since we had just had a snow storm I decided not to shovel my driveway. Well, after a couple days of driving over that snow, combined with freezing temperatures, my driveway turned into an iceskating rink. Having a wife and two young kids, and being concerned for their safety, I had to start throwing snow salt down, and tried to shovel what I could of the icy driveway. All the snow in front of my trailer had crusted over and it was really hard to shovel. It would've been way easier to just deal with the snow the same day it fell. But I put it off, creating a bigger and more difficult problem to deal with in the long run. The same thing is true of problem people/situations within the department or organization you are leading. So run to conflict. It's unpleasant for sure, but if you don't deal with it, it will only get worse.

God Centered Living

2011-01-21T08:06:00.004-05:00

Numbers 2:1-2 says, "The Lord said to Moses and Aaron: The Israelites are to camp around the tent of meeting..." The tent of meeting was the portable sanctuary of the Israelites while they journeyed in the wilderness on the way to the Promised Land. Some tribes camped on the east side of the Tabernacle (Numbers 2:3), some on the south (Numbers 2:10), some on the west (Numbers 2:18), and some on the north (Numbers 2:25). The point is, God and his Tabernacle were in the center of the camp, just the way it should be.

This morning I'm asking myself: Is God at the center of camp in my life? Is He the focal point of my life, my marriage, my family, my finances? May God help me and you to set up our lives in such a way that God is at the center.

Anti Legalism Not Anti-Law

2011-01-14T07:20:00.006-05:00

Legalism is trying to achieve right standing before God through keeping the rules of the law (the do's and don'ts of the first five books of the Bible). And as Christians, we are anti legalism. We believe we have right standing before God by his grace through our faith in Jesus, not by keeping the rules of the law. Ephesians 2:8-9 says "God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift of God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it." But just because we are anti legalism, doesn't mean we are anti law.

The law of God is a mirror of sorts, showing us our sinful state. Through the mirror of God's law we see that we are sinners and under the curse of the law. But you cannot wash your face with a mirror! Cleansing can only come through the water of God's grace through our faith in Christ. But just because the mirror of God's law cannot cleanse from sin, doesn't mean it's not profitable for other things.

On the contrary, 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." Remember that when Paul wrote this he was thinking of the Old Testament, because at this time the New Testament had not yet been compiled. Based on this verse we see that the law still has value to instruct and inform (instruct us in God's truths and inform us of God's ways). Just because the law cannot help us obtain right standing before God, doesn't mean it has no value at all.

The law was never given as a means of salvation. It was given to reveal sin and show sinners their need for grace and to instruct and inform God's people on what to believe and how to best live their lives. Look at Deuteronomy 6:24, "The Lord commanded us to obey all these decrees and to fear the Lord our God, so that we might always prosper and be kept alive, as is the case today." The law cannot save from sin, but it was given for our prosperity and preservation. Or look at Deuteronomy 10:12-13, "And now, O Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the Lord's commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?" The law can't save from sin, but it was given for our good!

I don't know about you, but I'm not ready to cast off something that was intended for my prosperity, my preservation and for my good! We are not bound to the letter of the law, but as we read the Old Testament we should invite the Holy Spirit to teach us the spirit of the law. Remember, while the law cannot cleanse us of sin, it still has value to instruct and inform.

Here's just one example of what that would look like. Leviticus 13:4 and 13:31 both teach that if an Old Testament Jew had an infectious skin disease, he was to remain outside the camp for seven days. Remember, in those times they were traveling through the desert, so outside the camp simply meant “away from everybody else”. Now obviously, today, if you have some kind of contagious infection, you aren’t legalistically bound to climb up a mountain and live in isolation for seven days away from everyone else. You don’t have to follow the letter of the law. But following the spirit of the law, you might want to stay home from work if you’re sick so that you don’t get others sick. Or if your kids are sick you might want to not bring them to church, so they don’t get the other kids sick.

So in summary...Legalism is trying to earn salvation by keeping the law. As Christians we are anti legalism, because salvation is by grace through faith. But while we are anti legalism, we are not anti law. Just because the law of God cannot obtain us right standing with God, doesn't mean it has no value whatsoever. The law was given for our prosperity, our preservation and our good. When we read it we aren't bound to the letter of the law, but we'd be wise to invite the Holy Spirit to show us the spirit of the law, because the law still has value in instructing us in God's truths and informing us of God's ways. The law can't save us, but that doesn't mean it's not still useful (2 Timothy 3:16-17) for other things.

The Power of Perspective

2010-12-01T10:26:00.005-05:00

If you were standing at the bottom of a skyscraper looking up, the thing would appear huge! And if you were flying at 30,000 feet in an airplane looking down on the skyscraper that same skyscraper would appear very tiny. It all depends on your perspective.

When you are overwhelmed with problems and trouble, what you need is some perspective. I don't know about you, but I have the tendency to feel as though what I'm going through is the end of the world. The truth is: it's not. And nothing can help you realize that more than a healthy dose of perspective. So how do you get perspective? Here's three suggestions:

1) Make a list. I recently made a list all the things that were overwhelming me. By making a list I tend to find that the number of problems really aren't as many as I think. Writing them down helps me to see that. This immediately helps me start feeling better.

2) Focus on someone who is going through more than you are. One time when I was overwhelmed by problems I started thinking about a biography I read by former President George W. Bush. On his list of problems was 9/11, war in Afghanistan, war in Iraq, Hurricane Katrina, the AIDS epidemic, etc. When I compared his list with my list I immediately felt lest stressed.

3) Spend some time in prayer. When we deal with problems on our own, we are at the bottom of the skyscraper looking up at the huge problem. When we pray, we are flying in a plane looking down on a tiny problem. Why? Because when we pray God gives us his perspective. And from where he is sitting all the problems look tiny.

Our problems are often much smaller than we make them out to be. So next time you're feeling overwhelmed, try and get some perspective. It's powerful and I know it will help.

The Lord is With You

2010-11-16T06:28:00.003-05:00

In Genesis 39:20 Joseph's brothers said, "Come now, let's kill him and throw him into one of those cisterns and say that a ferocious animal devoured him..." Later in Genesis 39:26-27 they changed their mind when Judah [one of Joseph's brothers] said "What will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? Come, let's sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him..." Consequently in Genesis 39:1 Joseph is taken down to Egypt and sold as a slave into Potiphar's house.

Sounds like Joseph is cursed, doesn't it? But check out what Genesis 39:2 says: "The Lord was with Joseph..."

After rising to second in command in Potiphar's househould, Joseph is then falsely accused of raping Potiphar's wife. In Genesis 39:17-18 she falsely stated: "That Hebrew slave you brought us came to me to make sport of me. But as soon as I screamed for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house." Consequently, when Potiphar heard the story his wife told him he burned with anger and put Joseph in prison (Genesis 39:19-20).

Again, sounds like Joseph has been abandoned by God, doesn't it? But check out what Genesis 39:20-21 says: "...but while Joseph was in prison, the Lord was with him..."

Later, Pharoah's cupbearer was put in prison. Joseph interprets his dream and tells him he'll soon be restored to his position and Joseph tells him that when he is restored to remember him and do what he can to get him out of the prison. But Genesis 39:23 records "The chief cupbearer, however, did not remember Joseph; he forgot him." So Joseph spent two more years in prison.

Surely God couldn't be with someone who had so many problems, right? But nothing had changed from Genesis 39:2 and 39:20-21. God was still with Joseph! And thirteen years after Joseph was sold as a slave God's plan for Joseph finally came to pass - and Joseph became second in command to Pharoah himself. All Joseph experienced was to get him to the place God always intended for him. If his brothers never sold him he never would've got in Egypt. If Potiphar's wife never falsely accused him he never would've got in the prison. If he was never in the prison he wouldn't have met the cupbearer. And if he never met the cupbearer, the cupbearer couldn't mention Joseph to Pharoah. And in hindsight Joseph saw clearly God's plan, but this wasn't the case during the thirteen years of trial and tribulation. In hindsight we see that the tough spots were God working out his perfect plan for our lives. But while we're in the tough spot, we sometimes feel like God has abandoned us.

But here's the good news if you are a child of God: THE LORD IS WITH YOU!!!

Interview with Rick Warren

2010-11-04T16:47:00.003-04:00

This is an absolutely incredible short interview with Rick Warren, 'Purpose Driven Life ' author and pastor of Saddleback Church in California .In the interview by Paul Bradshaw with Rick Warren, Rick said:

People ask me, What is the purpose of life? And I respond: In a nutshell, life is preparation for eternity. We were not made to last forever, and God wants us to be with Him in Heaven. One day my heart is going to stop, and that will be the end of my body-- but not the end of me. I may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend trillions of years in eternity. This is the warm-up act - the dress rehearsal. God wants us to practice on earth what we will do forever in eternity. We were made by God and for God, and until you figure that out, life isn't going to make sense. Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you're just coming out of one, or you're getting ready to go into another one. The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than your comfort; God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your life happy. We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that's not the goal of life. The goal is to grow in character, in Christ likeness. This past year has been the greatest year of my life but also the toughest, with my wife, Kay, getting cancer. I used to think that life was hills and valleys - you go through a dark time, then you go to the mountaintop, back and forth. I don't believe that anymore. Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it's kind of like two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something good and something bad in your life. No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad that needs to be worked on. And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always something good you can thank God for. You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems. If you focus on your problems, you're going into self-centeredness, which is my problem, my issues, my pain.' But one of the easiest ways to get rid of pain is to get your focus off yourself and onto God and others. We discovered quickly that in spite of the prayers of hundreds of thousands of people, God was not going to heal Kay or make it easy for her- It has been very difficult for her, and yet God has strengthened her character, given her a ministry of helping other people, given her a testimony, drawn her closer to Him and to people. You have to learn to deal with both the good and the bad of life. Actually, sometimes learning to deal with the good is harder. For instance, this past year, all of a sudden, when the book sold 15 million copies, it made me instantly very wealthy. It also brought a lot of notoriety that I had never had to deal with before. I don't think God gives you money or notoriety for your own ego or for you to live a life of ease. So I began to ask God what He wanted me to do with this money, notoriety and influence. He gave me two different passages that helped me decide what to do, II Corinthians 9 and Psalm 72. First, in spite of all the money coming in, we would not change our lifestyle one bit.. We made no major purchases. Second, about midway through last year, I stopped taking a salary from the church. Third, we set up foundations to fund an initiative we call The Peace Plan to plant churches, equip leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, and educate the next generation. Fourth, I added up all that the church had paid me in the 24 years since I started the church, and I gave it all back. It was liberating to be able to serve God for free. We need to ask ourselves: Am I going to live for possessions? Popularity? Am I going to be driven by pressures? Guilt? Bitterness? Materialism? Or am I going to be driven by God's purposes (for my life)? When I get up in the morning, I sit on the side of my bed and say, God, if I don't get anything else done today, I want to know You more and love You better. God didn't put me on earth just to fulfill a to-do list. He's more interested in what I am than what I do. That's why we're called human beings, not human doings.

Happy moments, PRAISE GOD.

Difficult moments, SEEK GOD.

Quiet moments, WORSHIP GOD.

Painful moments, TRUST GOD.

Every moment, THANK GOD..

Five Reasons to Plan In Advance

2010-11-03T09:18:00.005-04:00

"Somebody pays the price for the sermon. The preacher will pay the price of advanced planning or the people will pay the price of wasted time."

Five Reasons to Plan In Advance

1. Stress and anxiety are significantly reduced and you become a better teacher

2. It becomes possible to integrate other areas of your church in with the weekend services when you know what you're preaching on in advance (i.e. preach on the value of small groups prior to growth group sign ups, preach on water baptism prior to scheduled water baptisms, preaching on serving prior to a ministry fair, etc.)

3. You can be more creative with worship and promotion when you know which message series is coming months in advance. Your dance team, drama team and/or worship team can't coordinate complimentary elements to the worship service the night before.

4. Planning in advance helps you to balance your preaching calendar around the five purposes of the church (evangelism, discipleship, worship, fellowship, and ministry). Unless you have an intentional plan to balance your preaching calendar, you'll lean towards the purpose you are most passionate about and place a greater emphasis on that purpose to the neglect of the other purposes.

5. Many churches no longer have a Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night service. Many churches now only have Sunday morning service and then the midweek growth group. Since you're only preaching a maximum of fifty two sermons a year, you have to be strategic with what you preach. This requires advanced planning.

Planning and the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit can direct your preaching calendar just as clearly a year in advance as He can the day before. Saying you don't want to plan in advance because that takes the Holy Spirit out of the equation is often an excuse for laziness. Planning in advance gives the Holy Spirit a greater opportunity to work in your preparation than if you wait till the last minute. Planning in advance is preparing in faith.

Pastoral Care vs Community Care

2010-10-30T15:44:00.003-04:00

I don't like to refer to hospital visits, home visits, or counseling in its various forms as "pastoral care". At New Day we call it "community care". Why? Because "pastoral care" seems to imply that the lead pastor needs to provide all the care for the people in the church. On the other hand, "community care" seems to imply that the church members minister to each other. I'm not saying the lead pastor shouldn't do any pastoral care, just that he shouldn't provide all the pastoral care single-handedly. Here's why...

If the lead pastor tries to handle all the pastoral care himself, then the church can only grow to a certain size. Whenever the pastor reaches the limit of how many people he can personally minister to, the church plateaus at that point. However, if the church is structured so that small group leaders mobilize group members for ministry, there is nothing bottle necking the growth of the church. As the church grows larger in weekend attendance the number of growth groups increases as well. So even though more and more people attend, there are more and more people available to minister to those people.

The "pastoral care" model limits how many people you can reach and take care of. The "community care" model is limitless in how many people you can reach and take care of. To experience growth at your church you don't have to abandon pastoral ministry, but you do have to incorporate a model where 100% of the pastoral ministry doesn't fall at your feet. Make sure the model you are using will facilitate growth instead of restricting growth.

When to Discipline Your Children

2010-10-01T11:41:00.003-04:00

Kristin and I are strong believers in disciplining our children. Why? Because discipline is an act of love. Proverbs 13:24 says "Those who spare the rod of discipline hate their children. Those who love their children care enough to discipline them." And because we love our children we discipline them. With that said, we've never written down on paper (until now) what qualifies as behavior that requires discipline. But today I was listening to an audio resource by Sandra Stanley and she said the three "D's" of disciple are 1) disobedience, 2) disrespect and 3) dishonesty. That is, we need to disciple our children when they are disobedient, disrespectful and dishonest. I've found that very helpful to use as a filter through which to determine what actions or behavior require disciple. I hope you do too!

Requirements for Promotion

2010-09-15T06:16:00.007-04:00

In Nehemiah 7:2, Nehemiah appoints his brother Hanani over Jerusalem once the walls are rebuilt "for he was a faithful man and feared God more than many." Hanani proved himself over time and he had a reputation of a God-fearing man. Consequently, he was promoted. And these two things are exactly what we look for at New Day before promoting someone into a high level of influence within the church (or before hiring someone on staff). We don't just appoint/hire people to influential positions before they've proven themselves in lesser tasks and demonstrated a sincere love for God.

Every single one of our staff (Rachel, Peter, Bethany, Lester, Tracey) volunteered in roles of lesser responsibility before coming on staff. Why? They needed to prove themselves faithful in little before being entrusted with more. This is the bibilical pattern. Luke 16:10 says "Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much."

And each one of our staff (before they became staff) proved their heart for God (and the things of God) through their faithful attendance, through their dedicated service and through through their generous giving. You might ask how their giving proves their heart for God? Matthew 6:21 says "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." There are certain positions of service that are not available to non-givers at New Day. Why? Because we don't want people serving in high levels of influence if we aren't sure their heart is invested in the work we are doing.

So when you're looking to promote one of your volunteers, you have to first ask yourself two questions: 1) Have they been faithful? If they haven't been faithful in little, don't entrust them with more. If they haven't been faithful in little, paying them won't change anything. Don't even consider paying someone if they haven't been faithful. They are not staff material. Past performance is the best indicator of future success. If they haven't done well in the small responsibilities they had, they won't be successful with greater resonsibilities. 2) Do they have a reputation as a God-fearing person? Do they demonstrate the fruit of the Spirit in their life (Galatians 5:22)? Are they kind and patient with others (1 Corinthians 13:1)? Do they faithfully attend church (Hebrews 10:25)? Do they talk about the things of God? Matthew 12:34 says "Out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks." When they talk about the things of God, that's an indicator of what's in their heart. And if they are being hired on staff or put in an influential volunteer role we also must ask "Are they givers TO NEW DAY CHURCH?" Again, someone will develop a heart for whatever they give to. We want peoples hearts to be invested in New Day, so it's not good enough to be a giver - one must be a giver TO NEW DAY CHURCH.

If you'll make your criteria 1) They must be faithful and 2) They must really love God, you'll make much better promotions.

Why Don't You Have an Altar Call?

2010-09-07T19:41:00.006-04:00

Every so often someone at New Day asks "Why don't you have an altar call?" In this blog I hope to shed some light on why we do the altar call the way we do at New Day.

Let's begin with Scripture. The first thing to understand is that the phrase "altar call" doesn't appear in Scripture. Asking people to come to the front of the church to pray after the message is delivered isn't commanded in Scripture and you're not breaking a command of God if you decide not to do it. As a matter of fact, this practice of calling people to the front to respond to the message only started about 100 years ago. It was not a practice of the church the first nineteen hundred years of the church. Calling people out of their seat and to the front of the church to pray after the messge is a method. A method is a procedure for accomplishing something, which brings me to a question I want you to consider...what is it we are supposed to be accomplishing with our preaching? I have nothing against those who use a traditional altar call, but I will say that the purpose and goal of preaching, according to Scripture, is not to get people to come to the front of the room to pray. The purpose and goal of preaching is Christ-likeness in our character and our conduct. And Christ-likeness comes when we apply God's Word to our lives. And that's why we do "next steps" at New Day instead of a traditional come forward altar call. It all goes back to God's purpose for preaching, God's purpose for human beings, and God's purpose for the Scriptures.

Let's me help you make more sense of this. Proverbs 19:21 says "Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails." This verse shows us that God has a purpose for everything (for you, for me, for everything). And God has a purpose for preaching. What is God's purpose for preaching? Ephesians 4:11-13 says, “(Christ) gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ." The purpose of preaching is Christ-likeness! Colossians 1:28 teaches the same thing. "We preach Christ to each person, using all wisdom to warn and to teach everyone, in order to
bring each one into God’s presence as a mature person in Christ.” Again, the purpose of preaching is Christ-likeness!

Christ-likeness is also God's purpose for human beings. And Christ-likeness is God's purpose for Scripture. Check it out...

What is God's purpose for man? Romans 8:29, "For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brothers." God's purpose for man is very clear: to make us like Jesus. Genesis 1:26 God said "Let us make man in Our image, in Our likeness..." Second Corinthians 3:18 says "...And as the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like Him and reflect His glory even more." First Corinthians 15:49 says "Just as we are now like Adam, the man of the earth, so we will some day be like Christ..." The purpose of man is to become like Jesus. Therefore, the purpose of preaching is to make people like Jesus. The same is true of the Scriptures.

What is the purpose of Scripture? Second Timothy 3:16-17 says, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: THAT the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” The purpose for doctrine, reproof, correction and instruction is so that we might be perfect - like Christ. The purpose of the Bible is to change our character (help us become perfect, mature, complete). And the purpose of the Bible is to change and our conduct (help us do good works). The purpose of Scripture is to help us develop Christ-like character and conduct. The purpose for the Bible is the same as God's purpose for preaching: Christ-likeness!

Having established that Christ-likeness is God's purpose for preaching, for mankind and for Scripture - The question now becomes "How does God make us like Christ?" His purpose and goal is that we become like Christ, but HOW specifically does this happen?

By applying God's Word to our lives! In John 17:17 Jesus prayed “Sanctify them by the truth; Your word is truth.” To sanctify someone is to make them holy (make them like Christ). And how does this happen? Scripture teaches that we are sanctified, made holy, made like Christ, when we apply God's Word to our lives. Information isn't enough. Satan and his demons have knowledge of the Scriptures but they don't apply it to their lives. Application makes all the difference. James 1:24-25 says, “Anyone who listens to the Word but does not DO what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it – he will be blessed in what he does.” Most preaching is producing hearers of the Word. But peoples lives are not changed if they are only informed by but not transformed. And peoples lives are transformed when the word of God is taught in a way that helps people apply what they've learned. Again, that's why we use "next steps" at New Day.

Now let me ask you a question...knowing what you know now about God's purpose for preaching, for mandkind and for the Scriptures (that Christ-likeness is God's goal) - and knowing now that the application of God's Word produces Christ-likeness in the lives of his followers - what seems to YOU to be the most effective method for accomplishing God's purpose? I dare not be so arrogant to say that my "next steps" are better than someone else's "altar call". I just know that I'll give an account to God someday and I've chosen the METHOD that I feel will best accomplish God's goals.

So there you have it - the WHY behind WHAT we do at New Day as it relates to the response portion of the service.

How to Measure Importance

2010-09-03T11:18:00.005-04:00

I was watching a documentary last night called Born Rich and the manager of some upscale New York night club said something very interesting. He explained that when he arrives each night for work he looks at the guest list, figures out who is most important and then seats people accordingly. He wants the wealthy people sitting where everyone can see them so they will inspire the 'common folk' to order expensive bottles of champaign.

This got me thinking...How does the manager determine who is most important? I'm not smart but since this was a documentary on being rich - it didn't take me too long to figure out the answer to my question. According to the manager (and the culture we live in) the more money you have the more important you are. It makes me sad to live in a culture where our importance is determined by how much money and material possessions we have. Thankfully, this is not how God measures importance. When God is measuring importance, he looks at a totally different set of criteria.

1. He looks at the heart.

First Samuel 16:7 says "But the Lord said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart."

2. He looks to see if "love" is the number one characteristic in our life.

First Corinthians 13:1-3 says, "If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Translation: If you don't "love" you're nothing in God's eyes!

3. He looks for a servant.

Matthew 23:11-12 says, The greatest among you will be your servant. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

You might not have money. You might never become rich. You might get turned down if you ever tried to get into one of those fancy night clubs. Our culture may never label you "important". But if you have a pure heart, if you love, and if you serve - you will be very important in God's eyes.

How to Begin Fasting

2010-09-03T07:14:00.005-04:00

When someone first begins lifting weights they shouldn't do anything extreme, rather they should ease into it. When someone begins running for the first time in a while they shouldn't do anything extreme (i.e. run 10 miles), rather they should ease into it (i.e. walk and jog for 1 mile). And what is true of physical fitness is true of spiritual fitness.

As it relates to fasting, skipping an entire meal might be too much too soon. This may be the physical equivalent of lifting too much and running to far when you're just getting into exercise. A better approach might be to start somewhere small and ease into it (i.e. begin fasting snacks or your favorite food). Then, once your "resisting muscles" are built up a bit you can begin fasting other things (i.e. entire meals).

Of all the spiritual disciplines, I am definitely weakest at fasting. But I want to change that, starting today. And I'm going to begin small, and take things from there.

Why You Don't Have More Volunteers

2010-08-26T21:28:00.006-04:00

When you have a volunteer shortage (church wide or in a specific department) I think there are at least three questions you should ask:

1. Are you asking God for volunteers?

If you need more volunteers, the answer begins with prayer. James 4:2 says "You don't have what you want because you don't ask God for it." And Matthew 9:38 says "So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields." Step one is to pray for more volunteers.

2. Are you prepared for the volunteers should God send them your way?

Once you begin praying you need to begin preparing. What does faith look like once you've prayed for God to send you more volunteers? It looks like you writing out clear job descriptions of exactly what you want the people to do that God sends your way. You've got to have a plan of how you'll use the people that God sends to you - cause if you don't use them you lose them. I did an exercise recently, where on the dry erase board in my office I wrote the question: How would I utilize 2 hours of volunteer help a week? How would I utilize 4 hours of volunteer hours a week? How would I use 10 hours of volunteer help a week? How would I use 20 hours of volunteer help a week? How would I use 40 hours of volunteer help a week? I was able to answer the first question (2 hours a week). I could still answer the second question, but it was harder (4 hours a week). And I had no idea how to utilize 10 hours of help a week. Interestingly enough - I have 4 hours of volunteer help a week. This is the law of spiritual preparedness at work - God won't send us more than we are ready for! So...once you pray for more help, it's time to prepare for more help.

3. Are you asking people to serve?

Once you've bathed the need in prayer, and sufficiently prepared, now it's time to make the need known. Once you've prayed and are now ready for the volunteers, now it's time to begin asking people to serve! Some will say yes and others will say no - but don't let that stop you from asking everyone you can think of. Again - some will say yes.

Conclusion

I think that sometimes (not all the time) we don't have the volunteers we need because we begin at question #3 while ignoring questions 1-2. If you currently have a shortage of volunteers in your department, ask yourself...1. Have I prayed about the need? 2. Have I prepared for those I'm believing God to send my way? 3. Am I inviting people to join me on the journey?

Giving Creates Financial Margin

2010-08-26T11:23:00.006-04:00

Giving money away is the number one way to create financial margin. Here’s how. Your lack of margin isn’t really a money issue. It’s a heart issue. Because your heart is materialistic, greedy and selfish - you spend and spend and spend to try and satisfy your insatiable appetite for stuff. And in doing so you use up any financial margin you had - and when this heart issue is really bad it results in negative financial margin (what you may know as debt). It’s a heart issue, not an issue of how much money you make. Now, here’s how giving money away actually helps you to create MORE margin. When you give money away it breaks the power of money in your life. That is, when you give money away God changes your heart. When you give...the GRIP that materialism, greed and selfishness has on you begins to loosen - a little bit at a time. And when you aren’t so materialistic you don’t spend as much on stuff you don’t need. When you aren’t greedy, you don’t have to buy every single thing you lay your eyes on. When you aren’t selfish you don’t need to consume all the money you have to indulge yourself. And in this way you CREATE MORE MARGIN by giving your money away.

Here is something you need to learn about God...Everything he asks us to do IS FOR OUR GOOD. He’s such a loving and caring God and when he tells us to do something it’s because we’ll be better off if we obey. We don’t honor God with our finances because we think we’ll be worse off instead of better off if we follow his ways. We don't obey God by giving to the local church because we mistakenly think that if we do there won't be enough left for me. That’s not true. You want to be in the best financial shape possible? Follow God’s instructions related to money.

Why Do One Prayer?

2010-08-17T21:50:00.006-04:00

New Day recently participated in something called One Prayer. It was absolutely fantastic for so many reasons. If your church has never participated in One Prayer, let me give you several reasons to join in next year:

1. Why not? The Bible says wise people are open to new ideas. In fact they look for them! (paraphrase of Proverbs 18:15)

2. A lot of churches say that one of their core values is to redeem technology. One Prayer is the perfect opportunity to do just that!

3. Participating in One Prayer is practicing good stewardship. Most churches could not afford to pay these amazing communicators as guest speakers. With plane tickets, hotel room, meal per diem and the honorarium it would cost thousands!! Through One Prayer, it's free!

4. It's a step toward answering Jesus' prayers for us in John 17 that his followers would unite and become one.

5. It frees up the lead pastor to work on advancing other important areas of the church (besides sermon development).

6. It gives the people of your church a chance to hear other gifted communicators and be blessed by their messages, while at the same time getting a break from you (this is a good thing from time to time no matter how much the people in the church like hearing their pastor preach).

It Gets Better

2010-08-17T11:03:00.004-04:00

To borrow a phrase from Alanis Morissette, "Isn't it ironic?" Now that New Day is established and doing much better financially than in the beginning, we are able to lease a copier that cuts our costs in HALF (even with the addition of COLOR copies). We desperately needed this kind of deal in the beginning, but in the beginning no one would give us this deal because we didn't produce the kind of volume they needed to make it worth their while. But NOW, when we don't need the great deal as much (don't get me wrong - I'm always looking for a great deal!) they are willing to give it to us. It's funny how things work.

So what's the point of this blog? My point is this...IT GETS BETTER! Are you at the start of a new church, new job, new company, new position, new relationship? I think it's hardest in the beginning. But if you stick with it, overcome some initial hurdles, do things right and try to honor God in all you do, it just gets better and better in every way. So be encouraged. It gets better!

Where Truth is Found

2010-08-16T10:13:00.003-04:00

I once heard Chuck Smith, the founder of Calvary Chapel, say "truth usually lies in the middle of two extremes." And I've found that to be true. For example, today I read a blog entitled "Death of the Five Year Plan" which said it's better to create margin in your finances so that you can respond to whatever opportunities God brings your way vs coming up with five year plans. But shortly after reading the blog post, I read a chapter in a book called MARGIN that said "It is good to have five-year plans, even ten-year plans." These two statements are polar opposite! So which is true? Neither and both! How's that for an answer? The one extreme is to not plan at all. The other extreme is to plan so much there is no wiggle room for God to redirect. The truth is somewhere in the middle of no planning and planning to much. Truth usually lies in the middle of two extremes.

Side note: I know the author of the blog wasn't against making plans (he said so in the blog). I also know that the author of the book isn't against leaving wiggle room for God to redirect (he said so in the book). I don't want to make either of these guys seem like extremists because they're not. I just wanted to illustrate that the truth usually lies in the middle of two extremes.

How to Stay Fresh

2010-08-14T16:18:00.002-04:00

A mentor of mine has a motto: Divert daily, withdraw weekly and abandon annually. If you're going to stay fresh you have to take breaks, you have to rest, you have to do something other than work. And you have to do this daily, weekly and annually. Here's how this fleshes out in my life. Each day no matter how much work I have to do I find time to unwind to an episode or two of my favorite TV show (or maybe end the day with a movie). This helps me mentally disconnect from my work day and relax. Each week I take a day off. When I can, I take two. One day is for rest. The other for taking care of household stuff (i.e. running errands, getting the oil changed, etc). And each year it's important to take some extended time off in the form of a vacation (or a staycation, if money is tight). You might view such breaks as a waste of time. But they are actually very important parts of staying fresh in life and in ministry. If you have a hobby, these are also great times to indulge!

Margin

2010-08-10T16:55:00.005-04:00

I've heard a lot about margin, but I can't say the light bulb went off until today. Why create margin in your life? So you have time for the unexpected! If 100% of your work day is planned out, then you can't respond to the unexpected. And the only thing you can be sure to expect is the unexpected. How can we NOT plan for the unexpected by having 10-20% of our day NOT planned out? That part of the day is reserved FOR the unexpected. Same thing is true in our finances. Why create margin there? So you have money for the unexpected! If 100% of your money is budgeted out, then you can't respond as the Lord prompts you or as unexpected things break. And you can be sure that unexpected expenses will come up. How can we NOT plan for the unexpected by having a reserve, which comes from living BELOW our means? This principle of margin can be applied to every area of our lives.

Is It Too Much to Ask?

2010-08-08T21:10:00.004-04:00

Is it too much to ask for both MORAL and MUSICAL excellence? It seems that churches either have one or the other. But why can't we have both? At New Day my prayer is that we have people with MORAL excellence - that is, they love Jesus more than they love music. But I also pray for MUSICAL excellence - that is, they are capable of rocking the house on their instrument. At some churches the band really loves Jesus but they stink on their instruments. At other churches the musicians are sick on their instruments, but they might not even be able to SPELL Jesus (never mind live like him). I want BOTH. I'm praying for both. I'm believing for both. God, please give us both.

Debt and the Church

2010-08-03T21:21:00.005-04:00

Will New Day save until we have the money we need for the things we need and want to buy? Or will we use debt as a means to get the things we need and want for the ministry? That's the decision I'm facing right now. Below are some of my thoughts after reading the chapter on debt from Money Possessions and Eternity by Randy Alcorn. I'm 100% undecided at this moment (although I'm leaning towards not going into debt).

1. I teach my kids that "money comes from work." I don't teach that "money comes from borrowing." Would going into debt set a bad example for my kids? Is debt our means of short-circuiting the God-created means of acquisition - including work, saving, planning, self-discipline, patience, and waiting for divine provision.

2. I teach my church that "debt is not a sin, but it is usually unwise." Would going into debt set a bad example for my church?

3. As a Christian I believe that where God guides, God provides. If the provision isn't there, is God really guiding? Is not having enough resources to pay cash for what I want God's way of telling me it isn't his will for me to buy it?

4. Debt often results in financial pressures strong enough to break up marriages. Would borrowing create financial pressure of any kind in my life? Stress experts say that the bigger a person's mortgage (or any debt), the bigger the stress. Debt is a serious enemy of mental health.

5. I believe the government should limit spending to available revenues. Is it right to hold New Day Church to a different standard?

6. Proverbs 22:7 says "...the borrower is servant to the lender." And 1 Corinthians 7:23 says "...do not become slaves of men." Do I want to be servant to the bank or servant to the Lord? Do I want to be my creditors slave or Christ's slave?

7. Romans 13:8 says "Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another..." (NASB) Does this verse prohibit debt? The NIV reads "Let no debt remain outstanding..." which allows debt but only under conditions that it be paid off. However, if going into debt is always sin it's difficult to understand why Scripture gives guidelines about lending and even encourages it under certain circumstances. If debt is always sin, then lending is aiding and abetting sin, and God would never encourage it.

8. Because of the interest you pay when you go in debt, if New Day went into debt we would have to pay a certain amount of money in addition to what the items cost. For example, if I wanted to buy $15,000 of equipment valued at $15,000 - but had to pay 15% interest on the loan, then I would be paying an additional $2,250 for the equipment. Am I a good steward when I pay several thousand dollars more than something is worth just so that I can have it before I can afford it?

9. Being a borrower is listed among the curses that would come upon the children of Israel if they disobeyed God (Deuteronomy 28:44-45).

10. Nehemiah 5:3-5 describes being in debt as NOT a good thing. In a time of famine, the ultimate act of despair was to mortgage fields, vineyards and homes. Should such things take place under normal circumstances? According to the Bible, is debt reserved for desperate situations or everyday use?

11. The Old Testament shows a strong connection between debtors and slaves. Both debts and slavery were canceled in the year of Jubilee. More often than not, the person was a slave because he was a debtor (Deuteronomy 15:2,12). Unable to pay back debts, he was sold into slavery.

12. In the Year of Jubilee debts were cancelled. If debts were a good thing, why would God establish a time where people could become debt free? I don't know that this means debt is always wrong, but I do think it at the least puts debt in a negative light (in my opinion).

13. Is the money I will be obligated to repay, and the bondage it will create, worth the value I'll receive by getting the money or possessions now?

14. Is debt a vicious cycle? Once I pay off the debt, what new needs and wants will I have? Having used debt to get what I need and want for the church, will I be tempted to use debt again as a means to get what I want? Would this violate the principle from Nehemiah that debt is for dire circumstances?

15. Do we believe God knows best what our needs are? Debt spends money we don't have. So isn't our decision to go into debt proof that we believe we need more than God has given us?

16. If we don't have the resources to buy something, and if we feel such need for it that we're borrowing to get it, are we saying God has failed to meet our needs? Is going into debt saying "God has failed to provide for our needs, so I'll just take matters into my own hands"?

17. Is debt presuming upon the future finances of the church? It's one thing to trust God to provide for our present needs (Matthew 6:33). It's another to presume upon him by dictating (via a decision to incur debt) the terms of his future provision. Is going into debt an act of faith or presumption?

18. Is debt our way of getting around depending on God?

19. James 4:14 warns that we cannot know what will happen tomorrow. And if we don't know and cannot control all that the future holds, how can we be sure that we can pay off new debts? We can be certain that God will provide for our basic material needs if we seek first his kingdom (Matthew 6:25-34), but where does the Bible promise that God will provide for all the debts we incur through our own impatience or presumption?

20. Scripture mentions three major building programs. Each was financed directly by up-front giving. There were no tabernacle bonds, no borrowing, no pledges - just straightforward giving. People gave more than enough and had to be restrained from giving to the tabernacle (Exodus 36:6-7). In each of these three building projects (the tabernacle, the temple, the rebuilding of the temple) the work didn't begin until it was obvious that the project could be completed without borrowing.

21. In Luke 14:28-30 it wouldn't be a stretch to say that Jesus taught that a project should only be undertaken with the certainty of having sufficient funds for completion (i.e. Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it?).

22. In the Old Testament building projects, future ministry was paid for with present money. But churches that borrow pay for present ministry with future money. Which philosophy is God in favor of?

23. Would NOT borrowing create a greater dependence on God and allow God to show his faithfulness to our church?

24. If we sang hymns at New Day (we usually don't) would we be able to sing this one if we went into debt: "All I have needed Thy hand hath provided - Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!"

25. Does debt tempt us and allow us to pursue what God hasn't provided and doesn't intend for us?

I don't have answers to all these questions, but I'll be thinking about and praying for insight as to the best path for New Day to take. Debt or no debt? Any thoughts? Please pass them along!

Why Not Start a Church?

2010-07-23T08:42:00.006-04:00

I gave a talk yesterday on why we should start more churches (based off Ed Stetzer's Planting Missional Churches). Included in my talk were reasons we DON'T start new churches. I'm posting my notes below.

After seeing what the Bible says about church planting, you might be thinking “Man, why doesn’t everybody church plant! This is clearly what God wanted!” Here’s a couple reasons why new churches aren’t started.

1. Because people don't realize that new churches are statistically most effective in evangelism.

Bruce McNichol did some research on the age of a church and their effectiveness in evangelism and found the following...

Churches under 3 years of age win an average of 10 people to Christ per year for every hundred church members.
Churches 3-15 years of age win an average of 5 people per year for every hundred church members.
Churches over 15 years of age win an average of 3 people per year for every hundred church members.

2. Because people don't realize there is room for more new churches in their area.

It may actually be harder for a seminarian to start a church for the following reason: A seminarian often has accumulated so much debt they can’t take the low salary that often comes with just starting out in a church plant. And I’m not even saying they wouldn’t be willing to take the low salary - a lot of times they simply can’t (because they need enough to support their families and pay down their student loans).
A friend of mine just graduated from seminary out in Springfield MO and he’s not even sure he can afford to go into ministry. He’s considered working a secular job just to pay down his debt. Most churches don’t pay extra for education. They pay for experience and for skills that allow you to be efficient and effective at your work. Therefore, it’s not only the church planter who starts off with a low salary.
Some denominational leaders or church leaders often consider pastoral candidates without seminary training to be ineligible or unprepared to plant new churches. This bias limits your options, increases your costs, and certainly isn’t in line with Scripture (i.e. Jesus didn’t overlook Peter just because he didn’t have seminary training - and Peter started a church that began with 3,000 and then continued to grow from there). This professional-church syndrome hurts church planting.

3. Because some are afraid to trust ordinary people to lead a church plant.

Ed Stetzer, in his book Planting Missional Churches, refers to “Professional-Church Syndrome.” This refers to the notion that all churches must have seminary-trained pastors to be legitimate. However, while education is important, years of academic training are not necessary to start a church.
It may actually be harder for a seminarian to start a church for the following reason: A seminarian often has accumulated so much debt they can’t take the low salary that often comes with just starting out in a church plant. And I’m not even saying they wouldn’t be willing to take the low salary - a lot of times they simply can’t (because they need enough to support their families and pay down their student loans).
A friend of mine just graduated from seminary out in Springfield MO and he’s not even sure he can afford to go into ministry. He’s considered working a secular job just to pay down his debt. Most churches don’t pay extra for education. They pay for experience and for skills that allow you to be efficient and effective at your work. Therefore, it’s not only the church planter who starts off with a low salary.
Some denominational leaders or church leaders often consider pastoral candidates without seminary training to be ineligible or unprepared to plant new churches. This bias limits your options, increases your costs, and certainly isn’t in line with Scripture (i.e. Jesus didn’t overlook Peter just because he didn’t have seminary training - and Peter started a church that began with 3,000 and then continued to grow from there). This professional-church syndrome hurts church planting.

4. Some people think it's better to invest in dying churches versus investing in starting new ones.

Because it’s easier to give birth than to raise the dead!
Some authorities argue that changing a rigid, tradition-bound congregation is almost impossible.
In the same way that sometimes it’s more cost-effective to purchase a new vehicle, rather than pouring more and more money into an old one to keep it running like new - it’s sometimes more cost-effective to start a new church rather than pouring more and more time and money into trying to fix an old one.
Fact: Church revitalization does not happen much. It does happen sometimes, but not much.
Recent studies show that nine of ten people who are told by doctors to “change or die” cannot do so. In other words, they are told to stop smoking, lose weight, or quit drinking in order to survive, and nine of ten die rather than change. Churches are similar; they often choose their traditions over their future. But some can and do change.
I personally believe we need both revitalization of dying churches and the start of healthy brand new churches, while giving a larger percentage of money and attention to the latter (to church planting).

5. Because some people are still living under the delusion that America is still a Christian nation.

While North American Christians have access to abundant resources of information (i.e. Larry Burkett for financial information, James Dobson for advice on raising children, Third Day for Christian music, Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins for Christian fiction), the unchurched people in North America remain generally untouched by this evangelical subculture and live in darkness because we aren’t drawing them in with a culturally relevant gospel witness.
Unchurched North Americans no longer have a biblical worldview or understanding. Their religious ideas tend to be distorted reflections of biblical truth. In other words, secular people may be familiar with certain religious terminology or ideas, but their familiarity is often a distortion of its original meaning.

According to George G. Hunter, one of the country’s foremost experts on evangelism and church growth...
The U.S. is the largest mission field in the Western hemisphere.
The U.S. is the fifth largest mission field on earth.

Why Start a New Church?

2010-07-23T08:17:00.007-04:00

Yesterday I gave a talk on reasons to start a church. I thought I'd post my notes here. This is roughly based off a section in Ed Stetzer's Planting Missional Churches.

1. John 20:21, Jesus explained, As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”

Jesus said “As the Father has sent me...” How did the Father send Jesus? He sent Jesus “to seek and save what was lost” (Luke 19:10). And we are sent in the same manner as Jesus - to seek and save the lost. We are to pick up Jesus’ earthly work and continue doing it.
This sending statement doesn’t apply just to the disciples. If we consider the Bible a living document with relevance to God’s people through the ages - Jesus’ words apply to both those who originally heard them and to us!
God sent Jesus to start a church! Matthew 16:18, “Now I say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.”
We should start new churches because Jesus is sending us as the Father sent Him. And Jesus was sent to start a church.

2. Matthew 28:18-20, Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. ¹⁹Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations,baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. ²⁰Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

In this passage Jesus gave the task of world evangelization to his disciples - both then and now. That is, we are to take the gospel to every nation - what missiologists now call every people group and population segment.
You see - the Great Commission IS church planting! The Great Commission instructs us to 1) make disciples, 2) baptize those disciples, and 3) teach those disciples. All three of these things are tasks and functions of the church. Do you get what I’m saying. The Great Commission IS church planting! Disciples are made in the church, people are baptized in the church, people are taught the Word of God in the church. The Great Commission IS church planting.

Here’s an interesting thought...

The best indication of what Jesus meant when he gave the Great Commission can be found in how the first hearers responded. Let that sink it. The best indication of what Jesus meant when he gave the Great Commission can be found in how the first hearers responded.
The apostles heard the Great Commission and as they had opportunity on the Day of Pentecost, the preached the gospel and formed a church with the converts - all 3,000 of them!
The new converts started house church after house church to do their part in fulfilling the Great commission...In Acts 5:28 the high priest said to the apostles “Didn’t we tell you never again to teach in Jesus’ name? Instead, you have filled all Jerusalem with your teaching about him...” Christianity spread through church planting. Remember Saul (before he became Paul)? What did he do? He went from place to place trying to put Christians in prison. Wait. Why did he have to travel? Because the church spread out through church planting.
The persecuted church left Jerusalem and began doing the same thing they were doing back in Jerusalem - they started churches! In Acts 8 I think God allowed the persecution that broke out against the church because he knew that his Great Commission would be fulfilled through it. Look what happened! Acts 8:1 says that because of the persecution all the believers (by this time there were 5,000 men not including the women and children - Acts 4:4) left Jerusalem except for the apostles. And what did they do as they spread out over the regions of Judea and Samaria? Acts 8:4 says that the believers who were scattered preached the Good News about Jesus wherever they went. We know that Philip started a church in Samaria and others did the same in the regions they settled into.
The apostle Paul, once converted, dedicated his life to fulfilling the Great Commission. And what did that look like for him? He went around starting churches. They are the same churches we read about now in the book of Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Thessalonians, etc.
Again - how do we know that the Great Commission is a call to church planting? Because the best indication of what Jesus meant when he gave the Great Commission can be found in how the first hearers responded. And the apostles, the new converts of the early church, the persecuted church in Jerusalem and the apostle Paul ALL responded to the Great Commission by going out and starting churches!

3. Luke 24:47, Jesus told his disciples to preach "repentance and forgiveness of sins...to all nations."

This is great church planting advice. This is how you start a church. You go among the lost, you reach out with love to the lost and you preach repentance and forgiveness of sins. This is the biblical model.
When Peter finished preaching on the Day of Pentecost Acts 2:37-38 records that Peter’s words pierced their hearts, and they said to him and to the other apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?” ³⁸Peter replied, “Each of you must repent...for the forgiveness of your sins.
Jesus knew that as we reached out to “all nations” we’d have to use different methods to reach different people. That is - every church will look a little different because different methods are required to reach different people groups (i.e. you wouldn’t use the same methods in a retirement community that you might use with twenty somethings). But he wanted us to remember that even though we’d be using different methods to reach different people, the message must always be the same (i.e. There is peace with God through Jesus Christ - turn away from your sins and turn toward God and receive forgiveness of sins).

4. Acts 1:8, You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

Why start new churches? Because Jesus intended from the beginning that his message spread out.
This final sending statement of Jesus provides the geography of church planting. We are to start in one place, and then expand out. This is impossible to do without the start of new churches. People will only drive so far to come to your church. At some point you need to start a new church so that people can become active members of your congregation. The statistics show that people who live a certain number of minutes and miles from your church are less likely to serve at and invite their friends to your church.
Today we could think of Jerusalem as our community, Judea as our state, Samaria as our continent, and the utter most parts of the earth as other continents that are not our own. However you slice it and dice it, the church is to continue to expand. This is done through church planting.
Interesting side note: Many churches take the gospel to the ends of the earth through their mission work, while forgetting about Judea (their state) and Samaria (their continent). That is, they are all for helping God’s Word spread abroad, but do very little to help it spread at home.

The Big Ask

2010-07-17T15:20:00.006-04:00

If you are going to be successful in church planting, you can't be afraid to make what I call "the big ask" of people. That is, you can't be afraid to ask people to make huge sacrifices and join what you're doing.

One of my favorite "big ask" examples comes from Acts 16:1-5. "Paul went first to Derbe and then to Lystra, where there was a young disciple named Timothy. His mother was a Jewish believer, but his father was a Greek. Timothy was well thought of by the believers in Lystra & Iconium, so Paul wanted him to join them on their journey. In deference to the Jews of the area, he arranged for Timothy to be circumcised before they left, for everyone knew that his father was a Greek. Then they went from town to town, instructing the believers to follow the decisions made by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem. So the churches were strengthened in their faith and grew larger every day."

If we want to do well in church planting we must...

1. Always be on the look out for good people to join your team. Paul was like a kingdom talent scout. He was always looking for good people to join him on his journey. Interesting to note that it was Timothy's reputation that made Paul want him on his team. Timothy was proven over time (after all - that's the only way to get a reputation for something). We should also be on the look out for people with solid reputations to join our work.

2. When you've found the right person extend a formal invitation. The text says that Paul wanted Timothy to join him on his journey, and apparently Paul extended an invitation. The Bible says in James that we have not because we ask not. I wonder how many things we don't have in our ministry simply because we haven't asked for it? Seeing a good potential worker isn't enough. We have to extend a formal invitation for them to join.

3. Don't be afraid to ask people to make huge sacrifices. What sacrifice did Paul have to ask Timothy to make? How about circumcision! Timothy wasn't a newborn you know! Paul asked Timothy to cut off a part of his....umm...you know. Believe me - I feel as funny typing that as you probably feel reading it - but that's what the Bible says. Talk about the ultimate "big ask"! And just think...sometimes we don't want to ask someone for help because they will have to give up one hour of their time! We have something to learn from Paul's example.

In starting New Day I've had to make many big asks. The first one was to my wife (i.e. Would you be willing to sell our house and most of our wordly possessions, relocate even further from your family to MA, leave the students that you love so much, and start a church from scratch?). Once we moved to MA I had to make more big asks. For example, I had to make big asks of financial investors - the result of which was raising over $100,000 in our first year. After that I had to ask volunteers within the church to serve so we could fulfill our mission. While we have several paid positions NOW, that wasn't the case THEN. I had to ask people to serve for FREE in the beginning.

Now I want to note that not everyone I asked said yes. I asked one church for $15,000 and to become our mother church. They said no. I asked this one guy to help us on the guitar and he said no (this was when we had zero musicians on our worship team - so it was more of a disappoint than you might think). I asked yet another guy to help us by leading our worship time and he said no. I even talked with someone about selling the home they just bought to join me in the work! I also asked two friends from college to move to MA and be a part of the church. What's my point? Not everyone will say yes and that's ok. In one or two of the incidents I just mentioned I don't think it was God's will for the person to say yes so I'm glad it didn't work. But just because some will say no is no reason to stop asking big! Some will say yes!

I pray that God helps me see just how important kingdom work is. I pray he helps me to have the perspective that the best thing someone could do with their life is to give it whole heartedly to God. If God helps me maintain that perspective, I think I'll be able to continue to make big asks so that God's kingdom can continue to move forward. Cause that's what happens when we make the big ask. God's kingdom moves forward.

4. When you make big asks, you get big results. The Bible says that as Paul and Timothy went from town to town, instructing the believers to follow the decisions made by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem...the churches were strengthened in their faith and grew larger every day." In other words - the experienced both spiritual and numerical growth!

If we make big asks, I think we'll see the same. So what big ask do you need to make? Maybe you need to make it with one of your volunteers? Maybe you need to make it of yourself? I challenge you to not be afraid! After all, is our work worth it or not?

I say it is!

Why Good Enough is Good Enough

2010-07-15T16:39:00.004-04:00

Here's a great article by Rick Warren that I had to pass along.

A survey done last year, with the United States already deep into the current recession, showed that churches and nonprofits were increasingly turning to volunteers to help them do more for less. According to J. David Schmidt & Associates, 1 in 5 churches and nonprofits had increased their volunteer use to offset the economic downturn.

Unfortunately, many churches have set the bar so high striving for ministry excellence that they can’t find volunteers to step up. Some churches have fostered this myth by making “excellence” an idol, which makes people of average talent hesitant to get involved. Many Christians never serve because they fear they aren’t good enough to do so. They believe the lie that serving God is only for superstars.

You may have heard it said, “If it can’t be done with excellence, don’t do it.” Well, Jesus never said that! The truth is, almost everything we do is done poorly when we first start doing it—that’s how we learn.

In fact, the Bible says, “If you wait for perfect conditions, you will never get anything done” (Ecclesiastes 11:4 NLT). That perfectly describes many churches today.

Yet, our growth at Saddleback has happened because we hold to the “good enough” principle,” which allows far more people to get involved. We simplify everything and accept less than perfect performance in order to mobilize more people. It doesn’t have to be perfect for God to use and bless it.Some churches hold up such a standard of excellence that they basically say to volunteers, “If you’re not a professional, you don’t need to apply, because we only want the very best.” That creates a congregation of passive spectators.

At Saddleback we would rather involve thousands of regular folks in ministry than have a perfect church run by a few elites. We’d like to be a model for other churches, so we aim for average people doing average activities in order to get extraordinary results. That’s how the typical McDonalds succeeds while being staffed by high school students. The system works; it doesn’t require unusual talent.

In fact the good-enough principle was the concept behind our P.E.A.C.E. Plan, too: “Ordinary people doing what Jesus did, wherever they are.” If we’re going to defeat the giants of spiritual emptiness, corrupt leadership, extreme poverty, pandemic disease, and rampant illiteracy, it won’t happen by just mobilizing the superstars and experts in those fields. There’s just not enough. We’ve got to mobilize everyone.

That’s why good enough beats ministry excellence – hands down!

"We simplify everything and accept less than perfect performance in order to mobilize more people. It doesn't have to be perfect for God to use and bless it. " ~Rick Warren

Growth Groups and Spiritual Growth

2010-07-15T11:07:00.006-04:00

I've been pondering the question: Do growth groups truly result in spiritual growth? After giving it some thought, here's my test that will help me (and you) answer the question.

If you hadn't joined a growth group would you have done the following on your own over the past 10-12 weeks?

1. Met together with 10-15 other people once a week to discuss Biblical concepts and pray? Yes or no?

2. Worked through a biblically based cirriculum (i.e. book or DVD)? Yes or no?

3. Got together with 10-15 other people and reached out to the community showing God's love in a practical way through a servant evangelism project? Yes or no?

4. Served at church for setup & teardown once a month? Yes or no?

5. Learned the needs of 10-15 other people in the church and faithfully prayed for them throughout the week? Yes or no?

6. Met together with 10-15 other people from church and had a party? Yes or no?

7. Met someone new from church? Yes or no?

If you answered "no" to ANY of those questions, then you grew spiritually as a result of being a part of a growth group.

1. Proverbs 27:17 says, As iron sharpens iron so one person sharpens another. When we rub shoulders with other believers we are spiritually "sharpened".

2. Psalm 119:109 says, How can a young person keep his way pure? By living according to God's Word. When we study the Bible (and biblical principles) it helps us stay pure.

3. John 1:1 says, The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. That is to say - Jesus left heaven and came to us. He reached out to us with his love. When you reach out in love to others with a servant evangelism project you are following in the footsteps of Jesus.

4. Mark 10:45 says, Jesus came to serve, not to be served. When we volunteer for setup and teardown we are following in the footsteps of Jesus.

5. First Thessalonians 5:17 says, Pray continually. When we meet with our groups and take up the prayer requests - we all have something to pray about!

6. Acts 2:42 teaches that the 1st century church (the first church ever) devoted themselves to four things: 1) the apostles teaching (the Scriptures), 2) fellowship, 3) the breaking of bread (sharing communion meals with one another) and 4) prayer. When we have a party together at the end of each semester we are fulfilling the biblical purpose of "fellowship".

7. Galatians 6:10 refers to the church as a family. Can you imagine having a brother or sister in your biological family and not introducing yourself and learning their name? It's just as crazy in the body of Christ to not be continually meeting your new brothers and sisters in the Lord!

We set up growth groups at New Day to help you fulfill the teachings of Scripture. And when you do that you GROW SPIRITUALLY!

So now let me pose the question I was asking myself TO YOU. Do growth groups help people grow spiritually? Leave a comment and let me know what you think.

The Benefit of Teamwork

2010-06-24T09:51:00.003-04:00

The purpose of teamwork is synergy. Synergy is the state in which the output is greater than the sum of the inputs. One plus one equals three, four, even five! Here's an example...In the 1885 world series of mule team competition, held in Chicago, the winning team pulled 9,000 pounds, the second place team a little less. Someone suggested that they see what the two teams could do together. The result was 30,000 pounds, much more than the sum of their separate loads. Or take geese for example...The design of their classic V formation is such that the whole flock gains 71% greater flying range than if each bird flew alone.

The acronym is true. T.E.A.M. stands for Together Everyone Accomplishes More!

What Sin Really Costs

2010-06-21T12:13:00.003-04:00

The other day I was pulled over for speeding and I got a $240 ticket. Like everyone who gets a ticket - I don't think I was going as fast as the officer said I was, etc. But let's leave that aside for a minute. I'm appealing the ticket, but if I am charged with the moving violation it won't cost me $240. It will cost me closer to $840. How you might ask? When you get a ticket and it goes on your record your insurance goes up about $100 a year for six years! That's right. Six years! Not months. Years!

Now lets look at the payoff for speeding...If you speed a considerable amount over the speed limit for like three hours you might save 30 minutes (if you're lucky). That's not that great. Now lets look at what you'll pay for speeding...If you get caught and get a ticket you'll have to pay $28 for every minute you sped ($840 - the total cost of the ticket - divided by 30 minutes - the time you saved by speeding = $28 fine per minute you sped). Even a quick analysis like this shows that speeding is NOT WORTH IT!

And the same is true OF SIN. It's not worth it. The payoff is little (i.e. whatever pleasure you derived from your sin), but what you pay is great (i.e. the consequences). Like a speeding ticket - there is a hidden price tag that Satan loves to hide from us. The price is never $240, it's always $840.

Creation Testifies of a Creator

2010-06-21T10:35:00.007-04:00

I recently went to Ogunquit Maine and while I was there Kristin and I did some sight seeing along the coast. At one point I came across the rocks in the photo to the right. I don't know how well you can see the rock formations in the picture - but someone clearly piled a couple of the rocks on top of each other and made a little monument - a "I was here" memento.

I couldn't help but think, when I looked at the rocks, that SOMEONE was behind the rock monument. There wasn't a doubt in my mind that SOMEONE put the rocks one on top of the other. Intuitively I knew that it wasn't an accident. The waves didn't come crashing in and assemble the rocks like that. SOMEONE created that monument.

Here's a principle I derived from this rock example. Where there's CREATION there's a CREATOR. I think one of the biggest testiments to the fact that God is real is the earth we live on! If it defies common sense that six rocks came together, like in the picture above, ALL ON THEIR OWN - then how much MORE SO does it DEFY common sense to think that the earth just came together all on it's own? I mean have you ever seen Planet Earth or Life (by BBC Earth)? Our world is amazingly complex!

Romans 1:19-20 teaches that knowledge of God is available to all...THROUGH CREATION. We have no excuse for not believing in God. THROUGH CREATION he has made it abundantly clear that he exisits. Where there's CREATION there's a CREATOR. One commentary I read said "The witness to God in nature is so clear and so constant that ignoring it is indefensible." And I agree. It makes me sad - but it's true. We will have NO EXCUSE for not believing in God when we someday stand before him.

Every Job is Important

2010-06-21T10:26:00.003-04:00

Every serving position at New Day is important. Not all roles are prominent, but every role is important. I never want anyone at our church to underestimate the importance of their role. Every job is important. To help that truth sink into your heart I want to share the following story...

Years ago two teenage boys came to an evangelistic meeting that was meeting in a tent. They tried to get in but it was packed out. It was wall to wall people. These two teenage boys couldn’t get in to hear the speaker. But there was an observant usher and he saw these teenage boys trying to get in and he said “Let me help you, fellows.” He took these two teenagers and personally escorted them down to the front row and got them a seat. One of those two boys was Billy Graham. That night when Billy Graham gave his life to Christ it set him on a course for ministering the rest of his life and the world was changed.

Sometimes we think the role we play at the church isn't as important as another role. But we can't think that way! Every role is important. We never know the impact we'll have on all eternity when we serve faithfully - even in roles that don't seem as significant as others.

The Purpose of Spiritual Disciplines

2010-06-10T09:30:00.004-04:00

My growth group is studying through The Life You've Always Wanted by John Ortberg, who's a teaching pastor at Willow Creek Community Church. And in this book the author has presented a familiar truth in a fresh way. Let me pass it along...

Spiritual disciples are to life what practice is to an athlete. An athlete practices so that he can perform during the game. If his practice doesn't help him peform better in the game then what's the use? Similarly, a Christian practices spiritual disciplines (such as prayer, Bible reading, church going, giving, etc.) in order to love God and people better. If the practice of those disciplines aren't resulting in more love for God expressed through loving actions towards others, then what's the use? The disciplines are a means to an end, not an end in and of themselves.

Yet, some so called "Christians" are the crankiest, judgmental, condesending people around. This should NOT be so. So what if they go to church, read their Bible, give in the offering, etc. If they don't show their love to God by demostrating loving actions towards others, they've really missed the point.

Spiritual maturity is measured by God by how much we love him and others. Our love for God should always be expressed through loving actions towards others. Specifically, God measures our spirituality by how 1) kind and 2) patient we are with others. Because love is both patient and kind (I Corinthians 13:1).

So I think we all need to ask ourselves: Are the spiritual disciplines I'm practicing resulting in me being more loving to God and to others? As a result of my spiritual disciplines am I growing in my patience and kindness towards others? If the answer of either of these questions is "no" then you need to ask yourself "What will I do about this?"

Bring Solutions Not Problems

2010-06-03T14:49:00.004-04:00

When you run into a problem within your department and have to bring the problem to your supervisor be sure to bring solutions along with your problems. Here's how:

1. Pray

The book of James says that God will give us wisdom if we ask without doubting (James 1:5). Don't let prayer be a last resort. Turn to the Throne before you turn to the phone!

2. Consider past experience

Ask yourself "Have we ever done it this way before? And if so, how did it go?" Use past experience to guide you as to what you should do in this instance. There are two ways to learn: from your own experience or from the experience of others. Either way, try and use past experience to guide you in your present dilemma.

3. Refer to books that might speak to the issue

Are there any resources that you've read or need to read or listen to that might speak to the issue at hand?

4. Call or email an expert (or the closest to an expert you can find)

Is there someone at a church larger than ours that uses a similar model of ministry who could give you some wise counsel by email? Is there an expert in the field you need advice on that you could call? Ask yourself "Who can I turn to to get information BEFORE I bring this to my supervisor?"

When you present the problem be sure to present along with it a couple possible solutions. Pastor Steven Furtick was right when he tweeted: "Here's the key to becoming irreplaceably valuable in any organization. In 4 words: Bring solutions, not problems."

Prayer Busters

2010-05-20T13:20:00.003-04:00

We've been studying through Bill Hybel's book Too Busy Not to Pray and here's some notes on common prayer busters.

What do we do when Matthew 7:7-8 doesn't seem to be working? Matthew 7:7-8 says "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door with be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened." What what about when you've been asking, seeking and knocking to no avail?

If you got in your car on day and it didn't start you would try to identify the problem. First you might check the battery. Second, you might test the alternator. Third, you might test the fuses. Usually, the problem is one of those three things. Similarly, when our prayers don't seem to be heard or answered, we want to identify the problem. Here's some common reasons our prayers go unanswered.

1. Wrong Requests

In Matthew 20:20-23 James and John ask Jesus for the best seats in his Kingdom. Jesus denies their request because their request was selfish. In Luke 9:51 after the Samaritans deny Jesus and his disciples passage through Samaria James and John ask if Jesus wants them to call down fire from heaven to the destroy the village. Jesus both denied their request and rebuked them for asking such a thing. You see, sometimes God denies our request because we ask wrong. God loves us too much to grant wrong requests. In order to avoid asking wrong, here's some questions to ask of yourself before you ask God for what you want: 1. If God granted this request, would it bring glory to him? 2. Would it advance his kingdom? 3. Would it help people? 4. Would it help me grow spiritually? By asking these questions of ourselves we can filter out wrong requests.

2. Wrong Time

Kids hate hearing the words "not yet". You start off on a long journey and your kid asks "Are we there yet?" to which you respond "not yet". Your kids wanted to open their presents before Christmas to which you respond "not yet". Your daughter wants to start wearing making up and shave her legs at four years of age, to which you respond "not yet". Well, inside each one of us is a kid who hates hearing "not yet" from God. But in the same way that parents know best, so God knows best. We might not understand his reasons, but its then that we should remember Isaiah 55:8-9, "My thoughts are not your thoughts says the Lord, neither are your ways my ways. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." We are creatures, and God is the Creator. Only He knows what timing is best.

3. Something could be wrong in our lives.

Pretend you left for a two week vacation and forgot to ask someone to mow your lawn while you were gone and that when you returned, you realized your little lawnmower wasn't powerful enough to cut your grass, which is now nine inches tall! It's then that you remember your neighbor has offered for you to borrow his industrial strength John Deere riding lawnmower anytime you want. You decide to take him up on his offer. Walking over to his house his dog run ups and start barking and nipping at your ankles (like he always does). Getting frustrated and nearly tripping over the dog you finally decide to give it a swift kick...That's when you look up to see your neighbor standing at his front door (he saw you coming and came out to welcome you home from your trip). He's not happy. Now let me ask you something...Is this a good time to make requests and ask favors of your neighbor? Or is there something you need to do first (i.e. like ask forgiveness!)?

In the same way, when we have offended God by sinning or doing something we know we shouldn't, it will hinder our prayers. This leads me to prayer buster number one.

1. Unconfessed Sin

Unconfessed sin cuts off our communication with God. Isaiah 59:2, Your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear. If you have unconfessed sin in your life, don't waste your breath praying unless it's a prayer of confession.

2. Prayerlessness

A second common prayer buster is prayerlessness. Some people have the motto: "When all else fails, pray." That's a terrible motto to have! When we work, we work; when we pray, God works. Don't substitute prayer for worry. Don't neglect prayer and instead try and work yourself to death to solve the problem apart from God. Don't decide to just go without instead of praying! James says "you have not because you ask not."

3. Unresolved relational conflict

There's no point in praying if we're engaged in ongoing conflict with a family member, coworker, neighbor or friend. Matthew 5:23-24 says, "If you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift." This concept of our prayers being hindered by relational conflict is also taught in I Peter 3:7 which says: "Husbands are to be considerate and respectful to thier wives so that nothing will hinder their prayers."

What do I do if I've tried to resolve the conflict but the other person won't make peace? Then you're off the hook! Romans 12:18 says, "If it is possible, as far as depends on you, live at peace with everyone." It says "If it is possible..." which means that sometimes it is not. All we can do is try our best to resolve the conflict. As long as do our part, our prayers won't be hindered.

4. Inadequate faith

When we pray we need to ask in faith. James 1:5-8 says, "If any of you is lacking in wisdom, ask God, who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and it will be give to you. But ask in faith, never doubting, for the one who doubts is like the wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind; for the doubter, being double-minded and unstable in every way, must not expect to receive anything from the Lord." When you pray you need to truly believe that God is willing to hear and help you, and able to do anything, change anyone and intervene in any circumstance. So what do you do if you don't have adequate faith? You read the Scriptures! Romans 10:17 says "Faith comes from hearing and hearing by the word of the God." Before you pray it might be helpful to review the passages of Scripture where God parts the Red Sea, helps the Israel's break down the walls of Jericho, helps David defeat Goliath, helps Gideon defeat an army of 132,000 with only 300 men, etc. As you read how God is willing and capable of doing the impossible, your faith will grow. And you'll believe God for whatever it is you're praying about.

How to Prevent Staff Burnout in Ministry

2010-05-19T14:44:00.005-04:00

Today I was on a tele-coaching Q&A with Nelson Searcy and I asked him what he does to prevent his staff from burning out. With our volunteers we rotate people one month on then one month off. That's our strategy to not burnout our volunteers but currently we don't have any strategy to not burnout our paid staff. And since I love my staff and don't want them to get burned out I asked Nelson how I go about doing that. I was suprised at his answer. Here's what he said:

It is not the lead pastor's responsibility to prevent burnout among the paid staff. Paid staff get burned out for two primary reasons: 1) they are not taking a Sabbath's day rest and 2) they are not recruiting more volunteers for their department.

I thought that was very interesting advice. The more I thought about it the more I realized how true it was. God's burnout prevention plan for paid staff (and everyone else) is the Sabbath's Day rest (Exodus 20:8-10). If you're feeling burned out you may want to ask yourself "Am I honoring God by taking a Sabbath's Day rest?" The next question you may want to ask yourself if you're feeling worn out, burnt out, stressed, overwhelmed, etc. is "Have I faithfully spent time each week trying to recruit volunteers?" If there's slack there's lack. This means that if there's a lack of volunteers there's been slack in the amount of time spent recruiting volunteers. And if you're short on help this could be why you're stressed out and burnt out.

I personally have found this advice to be very insightful and hope it serves to prevent the staff of New Day from burning out. Are you doing ministry in the way it needs to be done to GO THE DISTANCE, to be on staff LONG TERM. If you're not taking the Sabbath Day's rest and if you're not recruiting volunteers you're NOT on the road to being a long-term staff member (cause you'll get burned out and quit along the way). My prayer is that all New Day staff make the Sabbath Day's rest a priority, spend time each week recruiting volunteers, and continually grow spiritually and professionally so that you'll be around for a long time! :)

Pray Like Jesus

2010-05-11T10:10:00.003-04:00

I've been reading a great book by Bill Hybel's called Too Busy Not to Pray and here's some thoughts I wanted to pass along on prayer.

Says the doctor to his overweight patient: "What fits your busy schedule better, exercising one hour a day or being dead 24 hours a day?" Prayer, like being healthy, requires a price to pay. Our spirit, like our boy, has requirements for health and growth. Some people don't want to pay the price of developing good physical habits so they end up paying the much higher price of disease or death. The same is true spiritually. When we don't pay the price of taking time to pray, we end up paying the much higher price of spiritual disease or spiritual death.

So it's important that we learn to pray. As air is to our physical body, so prayer is to our spirit. So how then do we pray? Jesus disciples asked the same question about 2,000 years ago. Jesus' disciples asked him "Would you teach us to pray?" (Luke 11:1). And in response Jesus said:

When you pray, don't be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicy on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I tell you the truth, that is all the reward they will ever get. But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you. When you pray, don't babble on and on as the people of other religions do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again. Don't be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him! (Matthew 6:5-8)

[Instead] Pray like this: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. May your kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us today the food we need, and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us. And don't let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one. (Matthew 6:9-13)

In these passages we learn from Jesus how to pray.

1. We're to pray regularly. Jesus said, "When you pray...," not "If you pray..." (Matthew 6:5). Many Christians claim they don't have time to pray but it's amazing to see what things they DO make time for (i.e. watching TV for hours a day). If it's important to you, you'll make time for it. People who are serious about something always make room for it in their schedules.

2. We're to pray privately. God isn't impressed with public displays of piety and he doesn't want us to be distracted. That's why Jesus instructs us "When you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private" (Matthew 6:5).

3. We're to pray sincerely. God isn't interested in formulas. He wants to hear what's on our hearts. Matthew 6:7, "...don't babble on and on as people of other religions do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again." The danger is citing formula prayers is that we remove our mind from the prayer. God wants our minds engaged. If our minds aren't engaged, it's not sincere.

4. We're to pray specifically. Jesus gave us what we call The Lord's Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13) to use as a model.

As we pray we want to make sure our prayers are balanced. A body building is careful to work out all 13 major muscle groups. And in the same way, we need to be careful to balance our prayers. Here's an acronymn you can use to help you balance your prayers. If you aren't intentional about balancing your prayers, then about 99% will be shopping list requests. And as we're about to learn "requests" are only 1 of 4 parts to balanced prayer.

A.C.T.S. Acronymn

"A" stands for ADORATION. Matthew 6:9, Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. We ought to start our prayers with adoration. Why? Because when we praise God we shift our focus from the mountain of a problem in front of us to the Mountain Mover.

"C" stands for CONFESSION. Matthew 6:12, Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. We ought to spend a part of our prayer time confessing our sins. Get specific with God. Tell him exactly what you've done. This will sting a little (but it's supposed to). This "sting" of confession will help us to avoid sin in the future.

"T" stands for THANKSGIVING. I Thessalonians 5:18, Give thanks always for this is God's will for you. Just as a parent enjoys hearing one of his children say "thanks", so our heavenly Father enjoys hearing us say "thanks." God expects an attitude of gratitude from us. He has blessed us with salvation, as well as many other blessings. And we should thank Him regularly for his blessings, as well as for answered prayer.

"S" stands for SUPPLICATION (a fancy word for "requests"). Matthew 6:11, Give us today our daily bread. While this traditionally makes us 99% of most peoples prayers, it should only be ONE PART of your prayer time. This is where we ask God for the things we need and the things we're concerned about. You may even want to create categories to pray about (i.e. family, church family, lost people, yourself).

Mountain Moving Prayer

2010-05-05T10:57:00.004-04:00

Here's an excerpt from Bill Hybel's book Too Busy Not to Pray that I really liked and wanted to pass along.

How do you pray a prayer so filled with faith that it can move a mountain? By shifting your focus from the size of your mountain to the sufficiency of the Mountain Mover and then stepping forward in obedience.

While the Israelites were on the edge of the Promised Land, twleve spies go out to survey it. Numbers 13 tells us that ten come back saying, "You wouldn't believe the size of the cities, the armies, the giants! We'd better look somewhere else." Two come back saying, "The God who is faithful promised he would give us the land, so let's go in his strength." Ten looked at the size of the mountain and fell back; only two looked at the sufficiency of the Mountain Mover and wanted to move forward.

Or again...Israel's warriors are standing on a hill overlooking a battlefield, and the Philistine champion Goliath swaggers out to frighten them. First Samuel 17 says that the warriors declare, "We're not going down there to fight him. He's nine feet tall. Look at his armor! Look at his spear! I don't want that thing in my ribs." But the adolescent shepherd David comes out, surveys the field and says, "Look at the size of our God. Let me go!"

We all have our mountains to face. And if we focus on the mountain we will not respond in faith but in fear. However, if we focus on the Mountain Mover we will not respond in fear but in faith. May God help us all do the latter and not the former!

Jump Starting Your Prayer Life

2010-05-04T11:46:00.003-04:00

I've been reading a book by Bill Hybels called Too Busy Not to Pray and I want to pass along some of my learnings. There are three truths you need to know in order to jump start your prayer life.

1. Prayer Makes a Tangible Difference

If we don't believe that prayer makes any difference we certainly won't spend time praying. The opposite is also true! In Exodus 17:8-13 Moses learned that prayer makes a difference. In this story the Israelites (the good guys) were fighting the Amalekites (the bad guys). When Moses lifted his hands in prayer to heaven the Israelites would have the upper hand. When he ceased to lift his hands in prayer the Amalekites began to win. So Moses got some help and continued to lift his hands in prayer - and consequently the Israelites won the battle. From this event Moses learned the same thing we need to learn...prayer makes a tangible difference in our lives! It actually changes things! We've got to believe this is we're going to pray.

2. God is Willing to Hear You and Help You

Some people think the biggest challenge in prayer is getting God to listen to them in the first place. Then they mistakenly think the second biggest challenge is getting God to unlock his bag of blessings that he doesn't want to share. Nothing could be further from the truth! God is willing to both hear and help you. How do I know? Because of Luke 18:2-5. In this story there's a widow with no connections appealing to a judge with no convictions (he's corrupt). Since the judge won't grant her justice she comes up with the strategy to annoy him until he gives in. And it works! The judge finally grants her justice. Some people mistakenly think this story is allegory (where the judge stands for God, the widow represent us, and the moral of the story is that God wil help us if we annoy him enough times with our problems). What many people don't understand is that this isn't allegory, it's a study in contrast. Here's the deal. We are not like the widow (we're not abandoned; we are God's adopted children, Jesus' brothers and sisters. We are in God's family and we matter to him). God is not like the judge (the judge was crooked, unfair, disrespectful, uncaring and preoccupied with personal matters - that's the polar opposite of the God we serve!). The point then is that if an egotistical judge was willing to hear from a widow of no status...how much more will our loving heavenly Father listen to his children - who he loved so much that he sent Jesus to die for them? God is willing to hear from you and to help you!

3. God is Able to Do Anything, Change Anyone, Intervene in any circumstance.

Until we believe truth #3 we won't pray about our deepest needs and pressing problems. Fortunately we have the Scriptures which teach us that nothing is to hard for God. He can do anything! In Exodus 14 & Joshua 3 he parted seas and rivers. In Exodus 16 & John 6 God dropped food from heaven and multiplied fish & bread. In Mark 4 Jesus calmed the storm for his disciples at sea. In Joshua 10 God extended the hours of daylight so Israel's troops could be victorious. In Exodus 17 God brought water from a rock! Get the picture yet? God can do anything! He can also change anyone. In Acts 9:1-31 God turned the fanatical persecutor Saul into a globe-trotting apostle. And in Acts 2 we see that Peter, once unable to stand up to a servant girl, bravely confronting thousands of people with the truth of the gospel. You see, God can change anyone! Finally, the Bible also shows us that God can intervene in any circumstance. In Acts 12 the apostle Peter (the guy we just mentioned) was sentenced to be executed (as had James). So the church prayed for God to intervene. And in response to their prayers, God sent an angel to the prison to release Peter. The church was so shocked when Peter arrived at the door of the house they were praying in - that they initially wouldn't let him in because they didn't believe it was him! I guess that even though they were praying for God to intervene they didn't really believe he would! Well through this experience God taught them the same thing he wants to teach us: that He can intervene in any circumstance!

If your prayer life is hanging on by a thread, why not remind yourself of these three truths once a day for a whole week. I'll guarantee it will change your prayer life.

Interview Effectively

2010-03-22T10:02:00.002-04:00

I'm reading a book called Hire and Keep the Best People by Brian Tracy. Here's a few things that stood out to me from chapter five:

Write out a logical sequence for the interview. The first questions are aimed at getting information about the WORK EXPERIENCE of the candidate as it applies to the job under consideration. Then ask questions to ascertain the SKILL LEVEL of the candidate. Then you'll want to know what his or her CAREER ASPIRATIONS are with regard to this job and your company. Finally, you want to know about his or her work HABITS and attitudes toward this job and toward his or her future.
Start the interview by putting the candidate at ease and helping him or her to relax. Tell the candidate that this is just an "exploratory interview" and that your mutual goal is to see if what you are offering and what the candidate is looking for are the same thing.
Here is another rule: "Don't start selling until you have decided to buy." In other words, resist the temptation to begin the interview by telling the candidate what a great job is being offered and what a great company you have before you have concluded that this is the kind of person you want to hire in the first place.
The key to good interviewing is for you to ask good questions and then listen carefully and patiently to the answers. Use open ended questions that begin with the words who, how, why, when, where and what to elicit as much information as possible.
Remember that the person who asks questions has control of the interview. Be sure that is you. The more a person talks, the better feeling you will get about whether or not he or she is a good candidate for the job. You don't learn anything when you are talking about yourself, the company, or the job.

SWAN FORMULA by John Swan says that the four ingredients you are looking for are: Smart, Work Hard, Ambitious, and Nice

SMART: IQ alone will account for fully 72% of a person's ability to do the job. Perhaps the simplest way for you to assess intelligence is to listen to the number and type of questions that he/she asks. Intelligent people are usually curious and continually ask you about yourself and the company.
WORK HARD: You don't want a person who is intelligen, ambitious, nice and lazy. A good question to ask is, "How would you feel about working evenings or weekends if there was an important job that had to be done on a tight schedule?"
AMBITIOUS: A good question to ask to check for ambition is, "Where would you ideally like to be in your career in three to five years?"
NICE: An optomistic person is generally warm and friendly throughout the interview. A pleasant personality is perhaps as important as any other quality you can find in a good job candidate.

OTHER QUALITIES TO LOOK FOR

Look for achievement. The only real predictor of future performance is past performance.
Listen for intelligent questions. Ask, "What questions do you have about the company or the job?" A good candidate will probably have a list of questions written out.
Look for a sense of urgency. A good question you can ask to test for a sense of urgency is, "If we were to offer you this job, how soon would you be prepared to start?" The right candidate will want to start as soon as possible.

Remember, fast personnel decisions are almost invariably wrong personnel decisions. Proceed slowly. Be patient.

Cast a Wide Net

2010-03-22T09:47:00.004-04:00

I'm reading a book called Hire and Keep the Best People by Brian Tracy. Here's a few things that stood out to me from chapter four:

Recruiting and hiring is an ongoing responsibility of management. Every day managers must be looking for new people.
A lack of talented people is the only real constraint on your ability to get more and better results.
The first place to look is within your own company. Conduct an internal search before you consider going outside. Other sources of job candidates are as follows: your personal contacts, executive recruiters and placement agencies, newspaper ads (Sunday employment section is best), the Internet, local community colleges (ask to speak to the placement officer).
Circulate the written job description throughout your company and tell everyone that you are looking for someone who fits this description. You could even offer your staff a cash bonus reward for finding someone. This will actually SAVE you money because you won't have spend larger amounts of money on advertising and placement fees.
Recruiting should not be left till the last minute. It is an activity that you should get started on immediately, preferably well in advance of when a particular person or skill will be required.

For Our Good

2010-03-19T08:15:00.005-04:00

God's laws are for our good. Or as Moses put it - "for our own prosperity and well-being." Deuteronomy 6:24, "...the Lord our God commanded us to obey all these laws and to fear him for our own prosperity and well-being..." (also see Deuteronomy 10:12-13). This means that God's commands are for our good! Yet often times we have this weird mentality that God is keeping us from good things when he forbids us to do something. Nothing could be further from the truth! Jesus came to give us a rich and satisfying life (John 10:10, NLT). And as we obey God's commands we get to experience that rich and satisfying life (I know I have!).

Let me illustrate. Pretend one of your young children has a plastic bag over their head. As a loving parent you would take the plastic bag away. The baby might cry and scream and beg for it back, but you still won't allow it. Why? Because as a loving parent you know what is best for your baby and won't allow them to engage in activities that are dangerous. As a loving parent you only want GOOD THINGS for your kids.

Similarly, God only wants good things for HIS KIDS (us!). And when he forbids something it's for our good! We may cry and scream and not understand why whatever it is that we want is forbidden. But that's like a baby not understanding why a parent took away the plastic bag. We are children and can't see things from our heavenly Father's perspective. If we could, we'd see what he sees - DANGER, TROUBLE, TURMOIL. And we'd stay away. This is where faith comes in to play. We have to TRUST God that if he says something is bad for us - IT IS (even if we don't understand).

Again, God's law are FOR OUR GOOD! :)

Hiring: Write Out the Job Description

2010-03-17T22:16:00.002-04:00

I'm re-reading a book by Brian Tracy called Hire and Keep the Best People. Here's a couple highlights from chapter three:

Write Out the Job Description

Something amazing happens between your head and your hand when you write a list of all the qualities that the ideal job candidate would have.
Practice idealization for the purpose of this exercise. Imagine that you could write a description of the perfect person and hand it over to a special service, and the service would deliver that person to you, exactly to your specifications.
Write the job description by making a list of every task the individual will be doing from the time he or she starts in the morning until the time he or she finishes in the evening. What will the candidate be expected to do?
List every function and responsibility that the individual will have to fulfill to do the job properly.
Once you have a description of the ideal candidate and a clear description of everything that the candidate will be expected to do, set priorities on both lists. Decide what is more important and what is less important to success in the position. Use a simple scoring method of one (low priority) to ten (high priority) for each item.
The clearer you are about your priorities for the job and the ideal person you are seeking, in advance, the more competently you can interview and the better hiring decision you will make.
Think about the people with whom the person will be working. This is as important as any other factor. Everyone has to fit into a team of some kind, and it is absolutely essential that whomever you hire gets along well with his or her coworkers and is accepted by them. A mistake in this area alone can be fatal to the selection process.
A positive, optimistic, and open-minded attitude is best. As a rule, you should refuse to hire negative or unhappy people, no matter how good they might be technically. They almost always become the cause and source of most of your problems in the workplace.

Hiring: Think Through the Job

2010-03-17T22:04:00.003-04:00

I'm re-reading a book by Brian Tracy called Hire and Keep the Best People. Here's a couple highlights from chapter two:

Think Through the Job

Before you begin your search for new employees, take sufficient time to think through the job carefully.
Think through the exact output responsibilities of the job. Think in terms of measurable results that are clear and objective.
Any job description has three parts: 1) There are the results expected of that position. You must be absolutely clear about these. 2) There are the skills necessary to achieve those results. What are they? 3) There are the personality characteristics of the ideal person for the job (i.e. someone who is honest, positive, hardworking, energetic, focused, and open minded) and how well he or she will fit in with the rest of the team.
Hire people for what they have already done successfully rather than for what they think they can do if given a chance on your payroll.

Hiring: Make Selection Your Top Priority

2010-03-17T16:48:00.006-04:00

I'm re-reading a book by Brian Tracy called Hire and Keep the Best People. Here's a couple highlights from chapter one:

Make Selection Your Top Priority

Nothing is more important to your future than your ability to select the right people to work with you to make that future a reality.
Fully 95 percent of the success of any enterprise is determined by the people chosen to work in that enterprise in the first place. If you get this right, everything else will usually work out all right as well. If you select the wrong people, nothing else will work.
Hire slowly and fire fast. Take your time to make the right decision prior to hiring in the first place.
Hiring is an art. It cannot be rushed. You must take your time if you really want to hire well. Fast hiring decisions usually turn out to be wrong hiring decisions. The basic principle of going slow whenever you can is solid and irrefutable. It will greatly increase your overall success rate in hiring.
The very best companies and the best managers have the best selection processes.
Sometimes the best hiring decision you ever make is the one you decide not to make in the first place.

The Key to Godly Living

2010-03-17T04:14:00.005-04:00

Why use up valuable time each day reading your Bible and praying? The apostle Peter gives us a great answer in 2 Peter 1:3, "As we know Jesus better, his divine power gives us everything we need for living a godly life." This verse teaches that as we spend time with God through Bible reading and prayer, God's divine power comes into our lives, and this is the power we need for living a godly life. This verse helps me know what to do when I'm losing the battle against temptation. Spend more time getting to know Jesus better! The more time I spend in prayer and Bible reading the more power is released to help me live a godly life. Temptation can be resisted, but it comes at a price. The price is taking time each day to know Jesus better. James 4:6 teaches that God gives us more and more strength to stand against evil desires. And that strength comes as spend time getting to know Jesus through Bible reading and prayer.

My Testimony

2010-03-16T11:25:00.005-04:00

Imagine this...You're sipping a soda at a restaurant with a friend who doesn't know God yet, and you finally get your chance...your friend asks you why you've dedicated your life to God. Maybe he/she didn't word it like that, but that was the essence of their question...Wouldn't it be terrible if God provided you with an awesome opportunity to share your faith and you blew it because you couldn't clearly and succinctly articulate WHY you've dedicated your life to God? That would be horrible to me! That's why I've come up with a little acronymn that will help me do just that - succinctly share with others why I've dedicated my life to God. It's a work in progress so please feel free to leave comments that could help me improve it. Thanks!

TESTIMONY

T: I’ve been Totally forgiven (It brings me great joy to know that if I were to die this very instant I have peace with God through the forgiveness of sins Jesus offers).

E: I’ve been Enlightened on how to best live my life (I have principles, directions, guidelines for living my life).

S: I have a Source of power to live right (Freedom isn’t doing anything you want; it’s knowing the good you ought to do and having the power to do it).

T: I have Tranquility on the inside/in my soul (I have peace because no matter what I’m going through God is working in my situation for my ultimate good. Like the Psalmist I can say: I will lie down in peace and sleep [even during a difficult situation], Psalm 4:8.

I: I have a strong sense of self-worth because God paid Jesus for me (I’d feel great if someone valued my life at $1,000,000 – how much more so when God values my life at the price of his Son Jesus, who he sent to die in my place for my sins).

M: I have Motivation to get up every day because I have a purpose to live for (I exist to bring God pleasure in the way I live and to help to expand his kingdom). That brings meaning to my life.

O: I like the Outcome of my decisions (The Bible says you reap what you sow. And while I haven’t been perfect by any means, I’ve tried hard to follow God’s ways and have reaped the benefits of doing so in my relationships, my finances and my friendships.)

N: No fear of death (I know death is not a period, just a comma. And I know I’m going to heaven.)

Y: The same benefits God offers to me he offers to YOU, and to everyone.

Rough Around the Edges

2010-03-10T09:51:00.004-05:00

People who aren't saved yet, or people that just got saved, can be very rough around the edges (to say the least!). How do we, as Christ followers, who are farther along in our spiritual development, respond to such people? I suggest we respond to them as Jesus would.

Here's an excerpt from a book by Bill Hybels called Just Walk Across the Room that speaks to this issue:

Jesus was fierce in his determination to look past ill-timed comments and inappropriate actions. He dreamed about what could happen in a person's life if God's power were released in them - and so he pushed through people's fear and sin, and he kept including people, loving people, and lifting people up to their fullest potential.

As you view people through this lens - you have new eyes to see things as Jesus saw them. You allow peope's foibles and failings and faults to fall away, instead seeing them in their potential, Spirit-infused state. You see filthy-mouthed, party-loving, woman-chasing Joe (or whoever), and you say, "What would Joe - even a guy like Joe - be like if God ruled and reigned in his heart? Joe would be incredible if Christ invaded his world!" You start dreaming of that day, in fact. You begin picturing him in his redeemed state. Your love for him grows and grows as you move toward him, engaging in the good, the bad, and the ugly of his life. You find yourself craving oportunities to be around people just like him - people who are on prayer away from becoming your eternal brothers and sisters.

Problem or Opportunity?

2010-03-10T07:54:00.003-05:00

Sometimes our greatest opportunities in life are disguised as our greatest problems.

For example, I recently visited LifeChurch.tv - the nation's 2nd largest church with a weekly attendance of around 30,000! Know how they got that big? It started with a problem! LifeChurch.tv had merged with another church in the area and Craig, the lead pastor was preaching at his church, then traveling across town to preach at the other church. Well, when his wife had her 5th baby late Saturday night Craig had to call both churches and say "I won't be there to preach!" After some discussion about what to do, someone had the bright idea to simply show the video from Saturday night's service. The story goes that no one quite knew when to stop the video recording so they just let it play right through the altar call time. And when they did people raised their hands to indicate their desire to be saved - just like they did when Craig preached live! THAT'S when the light bulb went off...Why not do this every Sunday? And why do it more than one location? The rest is history! What initially looked like a huge problem was actually a huge opportunity!

Or take another example. When new management took over at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, where New Day met in 2009, we were basically getting forced out (i.e. they stopped listening to our set up instructions, they moved us constantly with no prior notice, they tried to jack up the prices on us considerably, etc.). This appeared to be a HUGE problem. They wanted us out! Where would we go! We knew of no other options! This place was in a great location, had great parking, was affordable, had Sunday morning availability, every knew where it was, etc. This appeared to be a big problem. But in the end, it was actually a HUGE opportunity! Through this problem, we ended up looking for a new place to meet, and now we rent out space at The Basketball Hall of Fame! Now we're in a multi-million dollar facility that is even more centrally located, has more parking, has more seating, is still very affordable, etc. And this new facility even comes with storage, which is every church planters dream come true!

Again, our biggest opportunities are often disguised as our biggest problems. So look for the opportunity in your situation! Have you lost a job? Look for the opportunity! Maybe there's a better one out there for you! Maybe this is your chance to buy the company! Who knows? Whatever the situation, look for the opportunity in the problem!

Help People See the Larger Picture

2010-01-28T20:05:00.005-05:00

It's hard to have volunteers serve willingly and with a good attitude if you don't help them see the larger picture. When they're arriving at 4pm on Saturday to set up for church, they're not just setting up equipment...they're preparing for lives to be changed. When they volunteer in the kids ministry, they're not just babysitting kids...they're introducing kids to Jesus (some for the first time)! It's easy for our volunteers to focus on WHAT THEY'RE DOING instead of WHAT IS RESULTING FROM WHAT THEY'RE DOING. If they're going to stay motivated you've got to help them see and focus on the larger picture.

Let me illustrate with a story I read from John C. Maxwell's Developing the Leader Within You:

During World War II, parachutes were being constructed by the thousands. From the workers' point of view, the job was tedious. It involved crouching over a sewing machine eight to ten hours a day and stitching endless lengths of colorless fabric. The result was a formless heap of cloth. But every morning the workers were told that each stitch was part of a lifesaving operation. They were asked to think as they sewed that each parachute might be the one worn by their husbands, their brothers, their sons. Although the work was hard and the hours long, the women and the men on the home front understood their contribution to the larger picture.

As leaders we've got to help people see the larger picture. Everyone who volunteers at New Day is ultimately partnering with us to lead people to become mature followers of Jesus.

Why Ask "Why?"

2010-01-16T15:23:00.005-05:00

In John Maxwell's book Developing the Leader Within You, we learn the importance of asking the question "Why?" within our organizations.

The British have always been good with the patronage system. John F. Barker in Roll Call tells the story that for more than twenty years, for no apparent reason, an attendant stood the foot of the stairway leading to the House of Commons. At last someone checked adn discovered that the job had been held in the attendant's family for three generations. It seems it originated when the stairs were painted and the current attendant's grandfather was assigned the tastk of warning people not to step on the wet paint. One British newsman, told of the situation, commented, "The paint dried up but not the job."

Like Father Like Son

2010-01-09T09:56:00.002-05:00

Whether we like it or not our kids will repeat some of the behavior they see modeled in our lives. Take Abraham for example: In Genesis 12 and in Genesis 20 Abraham moved to a new land and told the people living there that Sarah (his wife) was actually his sister. He did so because his wife was very beautful and he was afraid the people of the land would kill him to get her for themselves. So he lied. Well fast forward a few years to Genesis 26 and you find Abraham's son Isaac doing the same thing (after his father has already died). He moves to a new land and tells the people living there that Rebekah (his wife) was actually his sister. He did so because his wife was very beautiful and he was afraid the people of the land would kill him to get her for themselves. So he lied. Like father, like son.

Here's my point. Our kids will model our behavior. They will follow what they SEE, not what they HEAR. We can tell them over an over about how to live, but they will do as we DO, not as we SAY. Since we know ahead of time that our kids will repeat behavior they see from our lives - let's choose to model behavior worth repeating. Let's choose to live godly lives in front of our kids. With God's help this is possible.

Highlights of 2009

2009-12-31T17:34:00.002-05:00

I'm sure I'm gonna forget about 1,000+ memories worth writing down but here are a few highlights from 2009 that stand out to me. If you remember something worth while please leave a comment!

We moved to Sunday mornings (from Friday nights) and we moved to the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Enfield, CT from the Longmeadow Community House in Longmeadow, MA.
My longtime friend Scott Steglinski came to New Day for the first time on Easter Sunday and got saved and then later water baptized.
New Day had our first water baptism (Neil Butler) on January 4th (we went on to baptize 17 others throughout the year).
We broke 100 (total attendance) for 1st time Aug 16th and broke 100 (adults only) on Oct 4th.
We baptized 6 people at once on Dec 13th.
My old buddy from high school James Stephenson came to New Day for the first time, got saved and got water baptized shortly after.
My brother Tony started coming to New Day cosistently and joined a growth group too.
New Day started growth groups in Oct and had 69 of 75 sign up (our average adult attendance at the time was 75).
I hired Rachel Axtmann as kid's director, Peter as financial organizer, Bethany Souza as growth group director, then Danielle Ramirez as administrative assistant.

Declaration of Faith

2009-12-27T21:29:00.004-05:00

The Bible gives several examples of people's "declarations of faith." Luke 23:39 records the declaration of faith of one of the criminals that hung next to Jesus when he was crucified.

³⁹One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: "Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us!" ⁴⁰But the other criminal rebuked him. "Don't you fear God," he said, "since you are under the same sentence? ⁴¹We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong." ⁴²Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." ⁴³Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."

Daniel 3:28-29 records Nebuchadnezzar's declaration of faith once Shadrach, Meschach and Abednego were rescued from the fiery furnace.

²⁸ Then Nebuchadnezzar said, "Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants! They trusted in him and defied the king's command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God. ²⁹ Therefore I decree that the people of any nation or language who say anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego be cut into pieces and their houses be turned into piles of rubble, for no other god can save in this way."

John 20:26-28 records Doubting Thomas' declaration of faith.

²⁶A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" ²⁷Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe." ²⁸Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!"

Well yesterday I had the privilege of hearing my daughter's first declaration of faith. Here's what happened. Ally got Disney's Snow White DVD for Christmas and yesterday Kristin was looking for it so they could watch it together. Well after looking around for quite some time (and after Kristin got very frustrated) we still could not find this DVD. I joined the search and we turned over every item in our house. We looked upstairs, downstairs, we lifted the couches, turned over the cushions, etc. etc. Finally, in frustration we all sat down and Kristin suggested we pray and ask Jesus to help us find the DVD. Allyson prayed something like this: "Dear Jesus, please help us to find the movie. Amen." No joke - immediately after we prayed we got back up to keep looking for the DVD trusting by faith that God would help us find it when Kristin saw it hanging inbetween the tree branches of our Christmas tree (one of the kids had shoved it in the tree). Allyson in near disbelief shouted "Jesus IS real!!!" She was beside herself with excitement. It was such a special moment. And THAT was Ally's declaration of faith.

All of us at some point in our spiritual journey need to make our own "declaration of faith." There's no right or wrong way to do it. I love that the criminal on the cross next to Jesus simply said "Remember me" and Jesus responded "Today you'll be with me in paradise." It's not in the words we say but the sincerity of our hearts. When was YOUR declaration of faith? If you haven't made one, I'd encourage you to do so right now!

My Week Dec 7 - Dec 13, 2009

2009-12-06T15:42:00.000-05:00

Scheduling Questions

1. When will I meet with God?

2. When is date night?

3. When is family day/day off?

4. When will I exercise?

5. When will I work on my sermon this week?

6. When will I work "ON" the church (vs. working "IN" the church) by completing assignments for my senior pastor coaching network?

7. When will I recruit volunteers/helpers?

8. When are my meetings this week?

9. How will I invest in/equip my staff/high capacity volunteers this week?

10. How will I build relationship with someone who isn't saved?

11. What can my admin assistant work on this week?

I will meet with God each morning first thing. I will exercise Monday, Wednesday, Friday 5:30am-6:30am

Monday: staff meeting 10:30am-11:3am (assign chapter 3 as professional development reading), lunch with James 12pm, growth group meeting 2pm, date night 7pm

Tuesday: prep for moving to BBall HOF (ask about water baptisms at Hilton Hotel next door to BBall HOF, design new invite cards, schedule walk through for Saturday, compile commitment card data, order new signage, purchase storage units from ATC & light trees too, etc.), prep for new series: order programs & design invite cards/post cards

Wednesday: sermon prep (all day), doctor’s appointment 2:30pm

Thursday: coaching network (complete assignments: read Go Big, read Before You Step On Stage, listen to preaching calendar audio resource)

Friday: day off (family day)

Saturday: prep for annual business meeting, finish what’s left from work week, working with Brian Nicks

Sunday: we having church! leave house at 7am, get home 12:45pm, plan out upcoming work week

Missing My Kids

2009-11-21T10:26:00.004-05:00

My kids are away in VA right now. It's been like 3 days or something and I totally miss them. Specifically, I miss talking to them. I love hearing their little voices and discovering what's on their minds, etc.

And this got me thinking about how God must feel when some of his kids are away (i.e. they are prayerless, backslidden, etc.) I'm sure that He misses us terribly when we don't pray or when we drift away from Him.

When I do see my kids I can't wait to give them gifts and take them out to eat and do fun stuff with them. I wonder what God is waiting to do with those who return to him? I'll bet he has blessings in store. In the story of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15:11-32, the father was overjoyed when his son returned home. And I know that God feels the same way when we return to him.

Is it time to return to God? Is it time to come home to a church family? Is it time to give your life back to Jesus?

My Week Nov 16 - Nov 22

2009-11-16T07:55:00.004-05:00

Scheduling Questions

1. When will I meet with God?

2. When is date night?

3. When is family day/day off?

4. When will I exercise?

5. When will I work on my sermon this week?

6. When will I work "ON" the church (vs. working "IN" the church) by completing assignments for my senior pastor coaching network?

7. When will I recruit volunteers/helpers?

8. When are my meetings this week?

9. How will I invest in/equip my staff/high capacity volunteers this week?

10. How will I build relationship with someone who isn't saved?

I will meet with God each morning first thing. I will exercise M, W, F from 5:30am to 6pm

Monday: prep for staff meeting, staff meeting @ 11am (have staff begin reading one chapter a week of Developing the Leader Within You by John Maxwell), work on "to do's" from staff meeting, growth group meeting @ 3pm, training Danielle (new admin assistant) @ 7pm

Tuesday: work on finding new meeing space for church, tentatively having lunch with new person from church @ 12pm, continue working on finding new meeting space, growth group @ 7pm

Wednesday: sermon prep all day (for this week's message), date night

Thursday: work on senior pastor coaching network assignments (listen to The Big Day audio resource, prep for special Christmas offering), senior pastor coaching network call @ 4pm

Friday: sermon prep for upcoming week's message (I'm taking some vacation days Thanksgiving week so I've got to work ahead)

Saturday: day off (Kristin and the kids will be out of town so I'm going to work Friday and take Saturday off instead this week)

Sunday: we having church!

Perfect Conditions

2009-11-16T07:08:00.003-05:00

Ecclesiastes 11:4 says "If you wait for perfect conditions, you will never get anything done."

I remember when we started New Day Church we couldn't find a space to meet on Sunday morning, which is what we originally wanted. And since a nearby church was just about to start a Saturday evening service, we decided to start meeting on Friday nights. In retrospect that's probably the worst possible time we could've chose to meet. But again, Sunday morning wasn't an option for us when we first started. It's not that no spots were available, it's that we couldn't afford to meet in any of those spots. But we didn't let that stop us. We prayerfully chose March 21st 2008 as our first meeting and said that even if we had to meet in someone's living room we would have our first meeting at that time. We didn't wait around for perfect conditions to start. As grateful as I am for our first meeting location (the Longmeadow Community House), it was a terrible place to meet for church. It was built back in the day before microphones were used so it naturally amplifies everything. This is a nightmare for a modern day church with a band, etc. Everything echoed so bad you could practically come back Saturday morning and hear Friday's worship and message still bouncing off those high ceilings. And talk about less than ideal conditions for our kids meeting space. They met right behind the adults with only a thin wall separating us from them. In addition to the terrible acoustics, we had to compete with all the noise the kids were making as they had a blast in kids church! Those were crazy times. But we didn't let that stop us. And when we first started we only had 2 people on the worship team. That's hard to believe now since we currently enjoy three drummers, several bass guitarists, several acoustic/electric guitarists, lots of talented vocalists, etc. But we started with two singers and NO musicians. Those were not perfect conditions for leading the kind of worship I had in mind. I could go on forever. I still often work in my unfinished basement which gets cold in the winter. When that happens I have to come work upstairs which is hard because I have two young kids and my house isn't big and it's easy to hear them playing and talking while I'm trying to work. My point is this: If we had waited for perfect conditions, we'd still be waiting. But instead, after starting from scratch with only 6 people inititally, we now have over 100 meeting regularly (and on Sunday morning now! Praise the Lord!)

Ecclesiastes 11:4 says "If you wait for perfect conditions, you will never get anything done." How can you apply this verse to your own life?

Missing Out

2009-11-13T08:07:00.005-05:00

Yesterday at Costco Kristin bought some Pop Tarts for the kids. I happen to know that Pop Tarts are delicious when they're toasted, but when I went to toast Ally's Pop Tart she said she wanted it not toasted. I said "Ally, these are really good toasted." But she said "no". I said "Ally, you've never had them toasted. How do you know you won't like it?" She still said "no". So I bent over and said "Ally, I'm your dad and I love you. I only want good things for you. I've had Pop Tarts toasted and they are delicious. I really think you'll like it if you give it a try." Guess what she said? Still a "no".

This got me thinking. How many good things do we miss out on when we say "no" to God? We say "no" because we don't trust God. Ally has every reason to trust me but for some reason she didn't. And in the same way, we have every reason to trust God but for some reason at times we don't. And what happens when we don't trust God? WE MISS OUT!

I personally want to get to the place where if God says "do it" I trust him enough to obey. My challenge will be to realize the truth: that God's way is always better than our way, just as a toasted pop tart (in my opinion) is always better than a non-toasted pop tart.

Know that even if you've been saying "no" to God for quite some time, it's never to late to start saying "yes." As I was writing this blog Ally came over to me with a change of heart. I stopped writing, toasted her pop tart, gave it to her and then heard her say "Mmmm, this is good Daddy."

I think everyone who says "yes" to God has a similar experience. All I can say is "Try it!"

My Week Nov 9 - Nov 15

2009-11-09T06:55:00.003-05:00

Scheduling Questions

1. When will I meet with God?

2. When is date night?

3. When is family day/day off?

4. When will I exercise?

5. When will I work on my sermon this week?

6. When will I work "ON" the church (vs. working "IN" the church) by completing assignments for my senior pastor coaching network?

7. When will I recruit volunteers/helpers?

8. When are my meetings this week?

9. How will I invest in/equip my staff/high capacity volunteers this week?

10. How will I build relationship with someone who isn't saved?

I will meet with God each morning first thing. I will exercise M, W, F from 5:30am to 6pm

Monday: "Focus" meeting for growth groups 9-11am, investigate Verizon's Droid, rest of work day off (I've worked 40 hours in the last three days), wedding meeting at 7pm with Laura & Sonny

Tuesday: complete coaching network assignments (prep for Christmas offering, get Christmas offering envelopes printed), meet with Mass Mutual Center rep again, Q&A for coaching network at 2pm, get acquanted with local Christian counseling services, growth group at 7pm

Wednesday: volunteering at Veteran's Day outreach all day, date night

Thursday: sermon prep all day, send out weekly church email

Friday: day off/family day

Saturday: wedding (vow renewals) for Peter & Krista Hallock

Sunday: we havin' church!

My Week Nov 2-8 2009

2009-11-02T08:08:00.004-05:00

Scheduling Questions

1. When will I meet with God?

2. When is date night?

3. When is family day/day off?

4. When will I work on my sermon this week?

5. When will I work "ON" the church (vs. working "IN" the church) by completing assignments for my senior pastor coaching network?

6. When will I recruit volunteers/helpers?

7. When are my meetings this week?

8. How will I invest in/equip my staff/high capacity volunteers this week?

I will meet with God daily for Bible reading and prayer.

Monday: staff meeting at 11am (walk through potential new meeting space), lunch with Kurtis at 1pm, order books for paid staff (Developing the Leader Within You) from Amazon, recruit greeters, order new A-frame signs

Tuesday: sermon prep all day

Wednesday: family day/day off

Thursday: breakfast with Andrew at 6am, work on senior pastor coaching network assignments all day (read Ignite, Prep for Christmas offering, order new offering envelopes

Friday: work on finding new facility (all day)

Saturday: 1/2 day of whatever is left unfinished from work week and for Sunday

Sunday: we havin' church! :)

My Week October 19-25

2009-10-15T16:41:00.006-04:00

Scheduling Questions:

1. When will I meet with God?

2. When is date night?

3. When is my day off (family day)?

4. When will I work on my sermon this week?

5. When will I "work ON" the church by completing assignments in my senior pastor coaching network?

6. When will I work on developing growth groups this week?

7. When do I have meetings this week?

8. Who do I need to connect with this week?

I will meet with God daily for prayer and Bible reading.

Monday: staff meeting @ 11am, growth group meeting @ 3pm, date night

Tuesday: look for new meeting spaces, growth group @ 7pm

Wednesday: sermon prep

Thursday: work on coaching network assignments (read Ignite by Nelson Searcy & listen to audio resources)

Friday: Day off (family day)

Saturday: 1/2 day of whatever is left

Sunday: church

Delegation

2009-10-13T13:21:00.007-04:00

Why is delegation an important topic to learn about? Because effective delegation: increases job performance, relieves job burnout, decreases workloads, builds teamwork, alleviates stress, allows you to get more done, etc.

I just finished a great little book called If You Want It Done Right, You Don't Have to Do It Yourself! by Donna M. Genett, Ph.D. Here's a summary of what I've learned.

1. Effective delegation requires advanced preparation. BEFORE you meet with someone to delegate responsibilities you must think through 1) what you want done, 2) how you want it done, 3) when you want it done, 4) as well as what authority you're willing to give to the person doing the assignment

2. Then you must clearly define and describe each task you delegate to your staff. You need to be specific and ask for the instructions to be repeated back to ensure he/she fully understands what is expected.

3. Then you need to clearly define the time frame within which the task must be completed. Your staff can't turn something in "late" if YOU never gave them a deadline.

4. Next, you must define the level of authority your staff has to complete the task. Do they have the authority to only recommend what should be done (i.e. research options and propose the best alternative)? Do they have the authority to inform and initiate (i.e. research and select the best course of action; inform me why it is best; and then initiate the selection)? Or do they have the authority to act (i.e. full authority to act with respect to the task or project)? Your staff can't step outside the bounds of their authority if you haven't explained the boundaries to them.

5. When a task or project becomes larger and more complex, it's important to build in checkpoints. They help you make sure things are going in the right direction. The checkpoints should be close together in the beginning of the project. Later, after the person demonstrates competence and shows he or she is headed down the right track, the checkpoints can be spaced further apart. That way, you don't let a lot of time go by during which the project is invisible to you. If things get off track, you can catch them before they get serious.

6. Conclude the delegation process with a debriefing session to discuss: 1) what went well, 2) what could have been improved, and 3) what has been learned. Both the delegator and the delgatee should share their answers to these questions.

Note: these points can be applied upward, when receiving a project, as well as downward, when delegating one. If you aren't given clear instructions on a project your boss delegates to you - go ahead and ask for 1) the desired results for the project, 2) the time frame for completion, 3) your level of authority, and 4) when you'll meet along the way to make sure you're on track.

My First Growth Group

2009-10-07T07:58:00.003-04:00

History was made last night. I led my first New Day Growth Group. When we started the church, I said that someday I wanted to have growth groups. However, being the great man of faith I am (sarcasm), I never imagined we'd be up and running so soon.

Our mission is to lead people to become mature followers of Jesus. We define M.A.T.U.R.E. as someone who is "M" making spiritual progress, "A" attending church, "T" tithing, "U" utilizing their gifts in the context of New Day Church, "R" reaching out by inviting people to church, "E" every week. And our groups help people become mature. You make spiritual progress as you study the Bible with others each week. By building relationships with people in your group you're encouraged to attend New Day more faithfully. When you are a part of a group you are encouraged to know that others are giving of their financialy resources toward the work of God - not just you. Each group has to serve together so that covers the "U" in "M.A.T.U.R.E." And each group must reach out and do a servant evangelism project together once a semester so that covers "R".

People really seemed to like being at group. At a Growth Group you get to meet new people, eat delicious food, have fun, hear other peoples story, and grow spiritually. Groups are great! I really enjoyed meeting last night. It's kind of funny that we call them groups, because we really could call them "parties". When you have 15 people over your house - it's a party!

We had 69 people sign up to participate in a growth group. Last month our average adult attendance was 76 so that's about 90% of our average adult attendance signed up for groups. A lot of growth group books say you're doing good if you have like 30% so this is just wonderful.

Bethany & Gerson have been a HUGE catalyst for groups getting started at New Day. I remember when I first met them how they said "we're looking for a church with small groups." They have been the ones working with me for about 6 months planning out this first semester of groups. And they've done a great job!

I absolutely love the fact that New Day now offers church on Sunday and then groups on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Five out of the the seven days of the week, there's a New Day service or group. I love it! That makes me feel so good. Sunday may be over, my group may have already met - but there's two more meeting tonight, and then another meeting on Thursday. This is just fantastic. I look forward to the day when New Day offers something every single day of the week!

Well, that was all over the place I know. But I just wanted to record something about the first week of New Day Growth Groups. This is history in the making for our church and I'm very excited about it!

FEARLESS (preview)

2009-09-28T10:15:00.005-04:00

Here's a sneak peak at the new series we're about to dive into THIS SUNDAY. Don't be AFRAID to drop by!

Each sunrise seems to bring fresh reasons for fear. They're talking layoffs at work, slowdowns in the economy, flare-ups in the Middle East, turnovers at headquarters, downturns in the housing market, upswings in global warming. The plague of our day, terrorism, begins with the word terror. Fear, it seems, has taken up a hundred-year lease on the building next door and set up shop. Oversized and rude, fear herds us into a prison and slams the doors. Wouldn't it be great to walk out?

Imagine your life wholly untouched by anxiety. What if faith, not fear, was your default reaction to threats? If you could hover a fear magnet over your head and extract every last shaving of dread, insecurity, and doubt, what would remain? Envision the day when you can trust more and fear less. Can you imagine your life without fear?

My Week Sept 28 - October 4

2009-09-28T08:53:00.005-04:00

Planning an effective week begins with asking the right questions...

Scheduling Questions:

1. When will I meet with God?

2. When is date night?

3. When is my day off (family day)?

3. When will I exercise?

4. When will I work on my sermon this week?

5. When will I "work ON" the church by completing assignments in my senior pastor coaching network?

6. When will I work on developing growth groups this week?

7. When do I have meetings this week?

8. Who do I need to connect with this week?

I will meet with God from 6-7am Monday - Thursday. I will read my Bible and pray Friday (during kids nap time), Saturday 6:30-7am, Sunday 5:30-6am.

Monday: sermon prep, lunch meeting with Brendan, growth group meeting with Bethany & Gerson 2-5pm, date night

Tuesday: staff meeting, sermon prep, design/assemble mass mailer for new series

Wednesday: find a new meeting location, lunch meeting with Sean (to discuss finding new facility)

Thursday: work on coaching network assignments, dinner with Steve & Ashley,

Friday: day off (family day)

Saturday: organize trailer and van contents for most efficient set up & tear down

Sunday: 7am - leave house for set up, 10:30am - service, 12:45pm - leave hotel, 1-3pm, follow up with 1st time guests from service, edit podcast, post podcast, etc.

Miss Church

2009-09-24T09:22:00.008-04:00

I read a great blog post this morning by Mark Batterson (he's the guy in the photo and the pastor of National Community Church in Washington DC). I want to re-post part of it here:

"I've always wanted to pastor a church that people love so much that when they miss church they actually miss church. I don't want people to feel bad about missing church because they didn't do their "religious duty." I want them to feel bad because they actually missed out on what God is doing and saying. I want them to feel bad because there is no place they'd rather be and nothing they'd rather do more than go to church. I know I'm stretching the meaning of the word "church." The church is not a building. In fact, you can't go to church because you are the church. But I mean "church" in the sense of corporate gatherings of Christ followers. I think it ought to be the most exciting, most enjoyable, most challenging, most convicting, and most affirming hour of the week."

I (Mike) couldn't agree more!

Tips for Sermon Prep

2009-09-23T17:55:00.012-04:00

I revisited a book today that I read a while back called Communicating for a Change by Andy Stanley and Lane Jones. Here are some things that really stood out to me. I want to record them so I can refer back to them quickly without having to re-read the whole book again.

Begin your message preparation by asking the right questions:

1. What do they (the people in your church) need to know?

2. Why do they need to know it?

3. What do they need to do?

4. Why do they need to do it?

ME, WE, GOD, YOU, WE message outline:

ME is about finding common ground with THEM (your audience).
When handled correctly, an audience finds themselves shaking their heads in agreement and thinking "Me too."
In this section of the message look for an opportunity to insert your personal struggles with the topic of the day.
Go out of your way to lay your humanity and frailty out on the front of the stage.

Having made it clear to our audience that we are wrestling with a particular tension, the next step is to broaden our tension so as to include everybody listening.
Don't transition from WE to the next section until you feel like you have created a tension that your audience is dying for you to resolve.
Whenever you communicate, your first responsibility is to pose a question your audience wants answered, create a tension they need resolved, or point to a mystery they have been unable to solve.
Your introduction may be the most important part of your message. It is the equivalent to a railroad conductor yelling, "All aboard!" If you launch into your message before you do one of those three things, chances are, you will leave them standing at the station.

GOD

The goal here is to resolve the tension, or at least some of it, by pointing people to God's thoughts on the subject at hand.
Use transition sentences like 1) Well, the good news is, we are not the first people to struggle with this. The people in Jesus' day did as well. Turn with me to...", or 2) The good news is that we are not the first group to have doubts about God's goodness, King David did as well. Turn with me to...", or 3) God must have known we would struggle with this because Jesus addressed this very issue one afternoon on His way to..."

YOU

This is typically the application section of the message, where you tell the people what to do with what they have heard.
This is where we answer the questions "So what?" and "Now what?"
Challenge people with little steps in the right direction vs. huge steps that they probably will not do.
Address both unbelievers and believers in this section (the application will be different depending on which category they fit into).

WE is usually about vision casting.
It is the point in the message when you paint a verbal picture of what could be and should be.
In this closing moment you call upon your audience to imagine what the church, the community, families, maybe even the world would be like if Christians everywhere embraced what you taught on that day.
This is where you dream out loud on behalf of your church.

If you struggle with effective communication or just want to improve your communication skills, why not try and apply some of these things to your message this week? What have you got to lose?

Spiritual Maturity Test

2009-09-23T11:21:00.003-04:00

I believe the Scriptures show that God measures our spiritual maturity in part by how much we love other people.

Check out these verses and let it remind you how important it is that our faith in God results in love for people.

John 13:34, love each other
John 15:12, love each other in the same way I have loved you
John 15:17, this is my command - love each other
Romans 12:10, love each other, take delight in honoring each other
1 Thessalonians 3:12, may your love for one another and for all people grow and overflow
1 Thessalonians 4:9, love each other
Hebrews 13:1, keep on loving each other as brothers and sisters
1 Peter 1:22, show sincere love to each other...love each other deeply with all your heart
1 Peter 4:8, most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other
1 John 3:18, lets not merely say we love each other, let us show it by our actions
1 John 4:11, since God loved us so much, we surely ought to love each other
1 John 4:12, no one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us (people get a glimpse of God and what he is like through our loving actions)
2 John 5, we should love one another

Why not make it your goal today to let your love for God be demonstrated through your loving actions towards others?

Biblical Giving

2009-09-22T10:37:00.006-04:00

At New Day we believe biblical giving is systematic, proportional and sacrificial. We talk about money at New Day because stewardship is part of discipleship. And our mission involves making disciples. Check out the explanations given by Aubrey Malphurs and Steve Stroope in their book "Money Matters for Church".

Systematic

It's systematic in that we want our people to decide how often they're going to give and then to give, without the church always having to plead for it. In the same way that they pay their mortgage, rent and car loan on a regular basis, they should give faithfully and regularly to the church. In other words, biblical giving is consistent giving. If people are paid once a month, we suggest that they give once a month; if they are paid weekly, they could give weekly, as the Lord blesses them. The important point isn't so much when to give but that giving should be a regular habit. That way, we don't have to waste precious time in a worship service pleading for funds that our people should be giving on a regular basis without being asked.

Proportional

Proportional giving teaches that if God has blessed you with much financially, then you should give much financially. If he's just blessed you a little financially, then you should just give a little. And if God has not blessed you financially at all, then you're of the hook!

Sacrificial

Biblical giving is sacrificial. It should change your lifestyle. If we give a convenient gift that can be given without much thought - without any prayer - if we can reach into our wallet or purse or write a check and it doesn't really change anything in terms of our values or our lifestyle, then it doesn't meet the criteria of being sacrificial.