Is this critical element missing in your preaching?

A mediocre person tells. A good person explains. A superior person demonstrates. A great person inspires others to see for themselves." - Harvey Mackay

I came across this quote the other day, which I quickly put into my most favorite quote folder.  It made me think of the former great football coach of Baylor University, Grant Teaff.  Teaff was an incredible motivator who turned that football program around in the 70’s leading them to the Southwest Conference championship with the miracle on the Brazos in 1974.  His inspiring stories and coaching moves are legendary and considered the key to his greatness as a coach.  I was fortunate to be a student athlete at Baylor when we won the conference.  

One legend was how he used the illustration of eating a worm to inspire his team to victory.  Coach Teaff wanted to emphasize taking care of details so he shared the ice fisherman’s secret to catching fish.  Coach Teaff said the secret was to keep the worms warm.  He explained that the ice fisherman would keep the worms in his mouth until it was time to put them on the hook.  Warm worms attracted the fish and that small step was the difference between catching a lot of fish or coming home without any.  The coach then pulled out a big long earth worm and put it in his mouth, saying the difference between winning and losing was taking care of the small details.  The players went berserk, ran out on to the field and pulled off an incredible upset. 

If I were to give what I thought is the most important thing for a pastor to strive for outside of being Biblically sound, it would be to inspire his flock.  When you prepare a sermon, Bible study, lecture or testimony, think about what you want to accomplish.  Shouldn’t you always have a goal to inspire others to change.  What sets the great preacher apart from the good is inspiration.

When I walk away from a great sermon, I'm motivated to change.  As I thought more about the significance of inspiration, I could see how important it is for all those who want to make a difference in the world.  Whether you are preaching, teaching, coaching or parenting, inspiration is such a critical ingredient to helping others change, and yet so many miss the opportunity.

Preaching today often is either all intellect and no inspiration or all hype and no substance. There is a trend in many churches today to emphasize teaching and imparting information in the name of discipleship. The goal is to dump a lot of information and hope some of it sticks.  The problem is that without inspiring others to own it, apply it, and share it with others, the information is just that.  Inspiration is what separates the mediocre from the superior communicator.   We can criticize the preachers who preach to thousands each week for their lack of deep content but what most every one of them has in common is that they do a great job of inspiring.

Whether you are a preacher, coach, parent, teacher or mentor, to be great, you must consistently inspire others.  Aim to inspire. 
Watch this great film about Grant Teaff and a game in the 1973 season

The Parting of the Black Asphalt

On our recent Peru mission trip God actually provided a miracle right before our eyes to humble me and knock me on the head to remind me of what I preach, that "Missional" is not a strategy, program or type of church, but a mindset, a lifestyle that God has called us to live.

It's easy to be "missional" on a mission trip. We go to share the Gospel and our focus and mindset is on that 24/7 while on the trip. But when we get home our focus returns to the distractions and concerns of the world and sharing the Gospel often takes a backseat. Being "missional" can easily become a one time event.

During our trip to Peru our team was all about being missional, sharing the Gospel in an orphanage, a school, in homes and during worship services every day. We had a packed schedule and I was preaching or sharing three and four times a day. At the end of this incredible trip our team was scheduled to take a trip to Machu Picchu, one of the seven wonders of the world. We all looked forward to the icing on the cake so to speak and took off early on the last day to catch the train that would take us to Machu Picchu.

We had allowed a good 3 hours to make the 2 hour trip. But an hour into the route, we were stopped by road construction. Both lanes were blocked and we were one car in a line of 7 or 8 waiting to go through. After waiting 15 minutes or so, most every one had gotten out of the trucks and cars and were milling around wondering how long it was going to be. Now there were 40 or so vehicles in line waiting.

Our translator, a young Christian Peruvian named Miguel asked me whether I wanted to share the Gospel with the driver of our bus while we waited. I remember thinking, sharing the Gospel was the last thing on my mind at this time. I was worn out from the last five days of sharing and now all my focus was on getting to Machu Picchu. After all, we had invested $2400 on the trip up there. Yes, it cost each person $240 to go see this site and now we were in jeopardy of not making it in time. My mind was focused on this. I didn't want to talk about anything else.

I asked one of our Spanish speakers to go ask the man holding the Alto sign how long it would be. He wandered down and came back with not the answer we wanted to hear. He said it will be another hour before anyone can go through. We had already waited over 30 minutes. Another hour meant we would miss the train and there was no other way to get there.

Miguel suggested we should pray as a team. I responded something about it was not up to God but up to the man who was holding the alto sign whether we could go through or not. My spirit was so defeated that I didn't want to pray in a group. I did offer up a half-hearted prayer, "if there is a way you can help us make it through God, please help us!" But now I had little hope of making it through. I couldn't see us making it, short of a miracle.

Miguel ran up to me and suggested that we all gather our passports and tickets to Machu Picchu together and he was going to take them up to the man in charge of the construction to plead to him to let us through. I thought, sure, there are 100 cars and trucks waiting in line and they are going to let the Americans go through because they need to get to Machu Picchu. What are the chances of that? Well it was worth a try. 

Miguel made his way up the 100 yards and then I could see him running back. "Everyone get in the van, they are going to let us through!" Wahoo! We jumped in and made our way out of the line into the opposite lane ahead of the cars. They looked at our passports again and waved us through. Past a tollbooth and then through the construction area where they were pouring new asphalt on the road. Then back over in our lane past the 100 or so cars waiting on the other side to go through.  It was as if God had parted the road construction and we passed through!

I couldn't believe we were allowed through while all the other cars and trucks had to wait. Yes, we made it to the train in time and had a great visit to Machu Picchu.  This was a miracle and God had shown me that He was in charge of all things. Yes, our fate rested on the man who held the alto sign, but I can't help think that God had something to do with changing the road-keepers mind.

I felt like Peter, who denied Christ three times. I had done a wonderful job of sharing the Gospel during our mission but when the mission ended, my missional mindset ended also. I did what so many of us do, compartmentalize my faith. Instead of living for Christ 24-7, I put Him on the shelf when I needed Him most. I missed an opportunity to share Christ, to pray with the team and experience God's power and answer to a prayer.

God reminded me that His mission and purpose in our lives is not a once a year thing, a mission trip or a Sunday morning event. It should be an on-going approach to living. When we are in tune with God on an every moment basis, then we should be able to respond whenever He calls, not just the programed times of our lives.

For some great ideas and practical tips on living missionally, go to

http://www.vergenetwork.org/practical-ways-to-be-missional/

The C.O.R.E. Essentials To A Growing Church

It's been an interesting transition from being on the staff of a church for the past 30 years to life on the outside.  As a chaplain to businesses, and coach to church planters, I am still doing ministry, it's just not within the walls of an established church.  Now I'm the pastor so to speak for a lot of people, many of whom don't go to church.  It's given me the opportunity to ask some why they don't go to church and their answers say a lot about our churches today.  

I've heard everything from the typical answer of "all they want is your money", to "I'm just too worn out from work to go."  But two recent responses got my attention.  One was from a twenty someting male who said his family had moved to San Antonio several months ago and just had not found a church yet.  He was content to watch the services of his former church in Oklahoma on tv.  Another lady in her early thirties said she grew up Catholic and considered herself a believer. She said she would like to go but just didn't want to go to the Catholic Church anymore and considered herself more of a non-denominational type.  Yet she wasn't going to church anywhere.  

Both indicated they would like to find a church but just hadn't been motivated enough to find one on their own.  They both live near many great churches of all styles, sizes and denominations and yet they have not found a church they want to attend.  What is missing here?  I couldn't help thinking that if one person in their life invited them to their church, they would accept the invitation.  

These two must represent so many others who are open to going, yet never make that first step because there is not a compelling enough motivation to go.  Thinking about what gets people to church and what keeps them going, I've listed what I believe are the C.O.R.E. essentials, to a growing church.  At Grace Point, these are our "values", but they are the essentials that motivate a member to go and become involved in church.  

COMMITMENT TO A HIGHER CAUSE...Commitment to Christ, longing to connect and commit to something bigger than oneself is a reason many look to the church. Therefore, the key to motivating any new attender or believer to making the church part of their life is to clearly communicate what it means to be a committed follower of Christ in an inspirational way on a consistent basis.  If you can help a seeker or new believer to grasp that they are created with a purpose given from God and have been equipped with tools to accomplish that purpose (spiritual gifts and Holy Spirit), and can best accomplish that with and through the church, then you'll be much more inclined to get a long term commitment. A pastor must inspire on a consistent basis!

OWNERSHIP...If people want to be part of something significant and to use their gifts, then we must have a way to assimilate them into ministry quickly.  If one has no ownership in the church they attend, no part in the ministry, if all one does is attend, then he or she is more likely to stop coming when anything displeases them.  The failure of a pastor and staff to equip the saints for ministry is one of the biggest reasons a church does not grow.  If your church has no way of recruiting, training and assimilating new people into ministry, you'll have a difficult time getting anyone to stay.  How does your church assimilate the flock into ministry?

RELATIONSHIP...Many people join churches and most stay because of relationships.  It is critical that newcomers get connected into a life group or ministry team as soon as possible.  It's also critical that you consistently communicate, teach, train and inspire your members to be relationally evangelistic.  One of our greatest needs is to be relationally connected and yet today more people complain about how isolated they are.  Many come to church and feel even more isolated in the midst of tons of people. This is just wrong. How do you facilitate relationships within your church?   

ENCOURAGEMENT... People want to feel encouraged when they leave church.  If the message is not uplifting, motivating and inspiring, then you'll have a difficult time getting any newcomers to return. There is nothing more encouraging than the message of the Gospel so it shouldn't be difficult to communicate it in a way that people will want to hear again and again.  And encouragement does not start and end with the pastor.  If the members don't encourage others especially the newcomers, not many will want to return.  How well do you and your members do on the encouragement scale?

There are numerous reasons why people go to church and why they don't.  But if your church fails in any one of these four areas, the chances of growing diminish quickly.  

Lessons learned from the San Antonio Spurs

NBA big men learn much at School of Duncan
http://blog.mysanantonio.com/spursnation/2013/03/17/nba-big-men-learn-much-at-school-of-duncan/

This excellent article on Tim Duncan reminds us that our legacy and positive reputation consists of much more than our job performance. Tim takes time during the summer to work out and mentor young NBA and college players and then maintains that mentorship throughout the season. 

We have that example in the Bible as we see Barnabas mentoring Paul and Paul taking Timothy under his wings.  Even in ministry, mentoring another believer is usually not in our job description but it is our duty as a follower of Christ. I found it interesting that for Tim, mentoring others is just a part of who he is, not some organized program imposed on him.  Tim also has no qualms about helping the opposition.  This tells us a lot about the character and values of the Big Fundamental. 

Some other benefits:

Obviously the young players profit.  

The mentor grows also. The best way to learn is to teach.  

The disciple learns the importance of mentorship.

The mentor gains respect among his or her peers. 

The Kingdom is advanced

What other value do you see from mentoring?

Who are you mentoring?

The Art of Discipleship

I was watching the Verge conference when one of the speakers reminded us that discipleship was more about imitation than information.  She explained that we in western culture tend to view discipleship as passing down information to a disciple instead of modeling our lives.  The art of discipleship according to Jesus was living, eating, and ministering together, not just passing along information.  

Today we default to sharing information because it is much easier to teach a Bible study than to take the time to model the life that you want your disciple to emulate.  And when we do imitate our mentors, the things we end up copying are usually not the most important characteristics of a believer. Instead of learning the daily routines of spiritual disciplines and reproducing the idea of service and dying to self, we mimic the outward appearances.  We think we are modeling by learning the motions in worship, how to "speak" the language of a true believer and how to look like one.  You find yourself surrounded by others who dress alike, worship, speak, pray and preach the same way. We feel comfortable in these surroundings but is this really the way it should be, the means to grow in Christ?


Didn't Jesus teach that it was not about the outward appearance but about the heart? Yet, as humans we so often imitate the wrong things, defaulting to the conduct and not the essence of the life of a believer.  Focusing on the outward appearances takes our eyes off of the real stuff of the life of a follower of Christ and on to actions that should not necessarily be copied.  

You see this occur in churches that become cookie-cutter images of other churches. Pastors preach exactly like the pastors of the church they grew up in or the ones they have watched on TV.  They have the same accent, the same mannerisms, and often the same sermons. For years the church taught that if you didn't worship our way, look a certain way, worship this way, you weren't a real Christian.  

Yet, shouldn't your setting, culture, abilities and unique calling as a believer, pastor or church determine your style and strategy. What you should be reproducing is your foundational theology, values, spiritual disciplines and the heart of how you live and go about the ministry. The form of how we do ministry should not be confined to just how we've always done it in the past. The Apostle Paul said "I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some."  We need sound theology wrapped in new ideas and ways to reach people based on the culture of those we seek to reach. We don't need cookie cutter churches and Christians who look and sound alike and hang out only with people who look just like them.  

One of the pastors that I am coaching had an "aha" moment when he realized that the model he was trying to follow taught by his church planting organization wouldn't work in the inner city where he was planting.  He had become frustrated trying to follow a model that is great for a church plant in the suburbs where there are a lot of new homeowners and affluent believers looking for a church but doesn't fit so well when you plant in the inner city and reach mostly unbelievers.  He realized that his context required a unique strategy and he was "freed" to be different. He could take away basic principles but didn't have to follow the exact form.   

We often can limit our own potential when we compare ourselves with others and try to emulate the wrong characteristics.  Whether you are a believer searching for your God-given calling, or a pastor seeking to find God's direction for your church, seek to be unique.  Draw from others the more meaningful things but also develop your own style.

• What aspects of the life of your mentor do you imitate?  
• Is your life worth imitating, the true and important things?  
• What exactly is it that you are passing on to your disciples?  
• Do you feel free to be different as a Christian in the way you dress, worship and minister or do you feel bound by a standard imposed by the church or by other Christians?

Who's Driving The Bus?

One of the greatest dangers in church planting is having your vision co-opted by someone or some other organization. What starts out as a wonderful God given vision, one that fueled your passion and ignited your desire to plant, suddenly is hijacked.  You wake up one day and realize there is someone else driving the bus!  It can happen in a number of ways and most often is a slow process, like the thief who steals from your bank account little by little so you don't notice until you wake up one day and there is little to nothing left.  

In the early 90's I helped start a Metro Bible study in Austin, Texas while I was the Singles Minister at Hyde Park Baptist Church.  I recruited a young man named Todd Phillips to lead the singles weeknight event and speak each week.  Todd was a new believer with an incredible contagious passion for God and a talented and charismatic speaker. Because he was single, he easily connected with other singles and did an incredible job of leading and growing this weeknight ministry from 12 people to over 700 college and single adults in just 3 years. 

The Bible study started out as a vision to reach the lost and unchurched single adult population of Austin.  We called it "a singles sort of get-together thing" and encouraged believers to bring their friends who were not believers to the weeknight event.  The music was upbeat, with secular cover tunes and current contemporary Christian songs and Todd's messages were always relevant, topical and evangelistic.  We emphasized that this was not "a church", and it's purpose was to be a doorway for seekers to be led to Christ and into the local church. We taught that it was the responsibility of the believers who came and brought their non-Christian friends to disciple them and get them into church.   

Over time however our vision began to drift.  The longer we existed the more the Christians complained that the music was not worshipful enough and the messages were not deep enough.  There was this constant whine of "we want deeper Bible study" and many stopped bringing their unchurched friends and they formed cliques from their own church. The longer we met the harder it was to stay the course.   What had been a dynamic weeknight event in which non-beleivers could hear the Gospel in a relevant way, became a club for different church groups of youth, college students and singles.  Eventually it stopped growing and was terminated because it was not doing what it was first created to do.

Looking back now I can see how our vision was hijacked.  Our initial team of leaders understood the vision but as I delegated and handed the leadership over to others, the vision became less clear.  Todd began another Metro in San Antonio and so he brought on others to take on the leadership roles as Todd focused more on the speaking.  As he did, it was easier for the vision to drift.  As the organization grew we failed to hold to the original vision and this great outreach event eventually morphed into an alternative weeknight church meeting.    

There will always be those in your ministry and those from outside who will be licking their chops to steal your vision and replace it with theirs.  Sometimes its an elder, or it could be your most faithful member, biggest giver or even your wife!   When you have a good thing going, there will be a line of people vying for an ear from you to sell you their vision.  If God has given you a clear direction and purpose, you must stay the course!  

What are some ways that you have used to stay on course and keep others from hijacking your vision?  What would you add to the list below.

• Have a clear purpose and vision which communicates not just a slogan but really why you exist. 
• Over communicate it.  Say it so often your people get sick of hearing it.  And make sure they know it.
• Teach it often and illustrate with examples.  Celebrate those who get it and apply it.
• Eliminate anything that does not fit in with your purpose and vision.  
• When training new leaders, make sure they not only know and embrace the vision but embody it!
• Resist the voices and whine of others and the temptation to switch course.
• Trust God!

Have you ever been a part of an organization, business or church which has had its vision hijacked?

What other suggestions do you have to keep a pastor or leader on course?

Before you make any resolutions, find your one thing.

City Slickers is one of the great comedies of the early 90's and one of the most memorable scenes is when Curley (Jack Palance) explains to Mitch (Billy Crystal) what the secret to life was.  He tells Crystal it is this one thing. Watch the scene

That one thing is purpose. And Curley was right, a life lived without purpose is unfulfilling and meaningless.  So before you make any resolutions for 2013, make sure you have a purpose statement and that your resolutions help you fulfill that purpose.  

 I exist to...(purpose statement), therefore I must...(resolutions)

Don't take only Curley's word for it.  God believes in it's importance also. Look at how God instructed the Israelites after they were set free from Egypt.  In Deuteronomy 6:5, God gives the Israelites their purpose statement, their one thing through Moses.

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

Notice that God not only gives them their purpose, but instructs them to make this statement a prominent part of their daily lives by placing it in significant places, including on their bodies.  God wanted this statement of purpose to be everywhere they looked so they would be reminded of their purpose constantly.  Jesus reminded the Pharisee of this purpose when asked what was the greatest commandment in Matt. 22:36.

I recall when I worked for a radio station in Austin, I walked in on a Jewish co-worker one morning. He had a small box tied on his forehead attached with leather cords around his head.  He explained that this was called a phylactery, a small box in which was placed scripture from Deuteronomy 6.  Jews still take the words in Deuteronomy literally and wear them on their left arm and head.

Moses reminds the Israelites at the end of the 6th chapter that they had once been slaves in Egypt but now they are free and because of that freedom, they now had a new purpose that comes from God.  This is the picture of what he wants to do for us also when we exchange our lives for Christ.  Let us take that purpose and make our one thing so that we will always be reminded to live out that purpose.  Having our family purpose statement prominently placed helps our children to know what their purpose is and that it comes from God.  

What is your one thing?  Your purpose statement?  Does it come from God?  Is it uniquely you?  Is it placed in prominent locations so that you know it by heart and can tell anyone who asks you that I exist to...

God has given us a great model in helping us to define our one thing. So, before you make any resolutions, find your one thing and live it!  

For more on the importance of purpose go to:  

The Power of Purpose