The Ragamuffin Blog

RHYTHMinTWENTY

Alright, so I am going to put aside the porn talk one more time because there is something I really want to tell you about before it's too late. For the past couple years, I have been a part of something that has profoundly shaped the way that I live, the way that I lead, and the way that I pastor. It is called RHYTHMinTWENTY.

Rhythm is a two year journey with twenty other world changers from around the country to together explore a life of Christ-centered passion, rhythm and influence. It involves some travel once a year and some investment financially, but gentleman, it is well worth the investment. If you don't already know, the stats for your marriage and ministry making it, aren't good. Most setout determined to make it, but very few go the distance. Rhythm will change that. 

It will change the way you lead yourself, your family and others. If you are a young Christian leader, and especially if you are in vocational ministry, you need to consider doing this. For more information, checkout the website. FYI, the cutoff to apply for the next group is a week from today.  

 

Church Planting::Count the Cost

My dad gave this to me a very long time ago. I must admit that for a long time, I really didn't like it. I couldn't appreciate it's drab, almost cynical outlook on the task of church planting. It rubbed my vision and my idealism the wrong way. For my dad, however, I could tell it had become over the years a deep source of solace for him during difficult times; something he returned to regularly, perhaps to remind himself that he wasn't the only one to think and feel many of these things; assuring him perhaps that he wasn't crazy. There were others who had walked a similar road and along the way, had thought and felt many of the same things he had...and amidst it all, stayed faithful, pressing onward.

I couldn't fully appreciate all that this article had to say then. And I'm not sure I can fully appreciate it now, but I am getting there. Church planting is tough. Being the lead guy is tough. Pastoring is tough. Uncertainty is tough. Having a vision so big it terrifies you and no earthly idea how to see it come to fruition is tough. It is a tough road. So future church planters, take the words below seriously. He's not blowing smoke. Church planting is tough, so you'd better know that you know that you know that you're called. Past and current church planters, know that you are not alone and you are not crazy (well, okay, maybe a little bit:).    

"Attn: Future Church Planters -- Count the Cost," by Joe Boyd:

Don't Give Away Leadership Too Early

Photo RT: http://www.behance.net/gallery/Illustration-Mix/1355399

One of the best pieces of advice I ever received was, “Don’t give away leadership too early.” Now I have to admit this was initially a hard truth for me to accept. I mean, shouldn't we strive to see the best in people? Isn't unleashing the potential of others a central part of leading? 

Leading in Layers

I am finding that we leaders often have a tendency to try to get everyone in the same room. We try to get everyone on the team, to catch the vision, to join the conversation, to work on the project. At the very least, it makes things simpler. It shortens communication lines, it lessons the workload of the leader, and if numbers are one of the measuring sticks you use to gauge your success, getting everyone in the same room affords you a visible way to see what kind of progress you are making. It makes us feel good. And as a church planter, I can tell you that this is a constant temptation.

However, although it can be helpful in some respects, striving to get everyone in the same room also creates some problems. This is especially true of anyone working with creatives. Generally, creatives are no more effectively led through mass leadership than they are reached through mass marketing. They can be a unique bunch. And they tend to like it that way. So you can't get too frustrated when your attempts to continually coral them into the same room to have the same conversation about the same things inevitably fails.

The reality is, highly creative or no, some people will need a different environment to thrive in than the one you are currently trying to get them into. Even if you succeed at getting them there, it may squash the very thing you are trying to unleash. 

I am learning that leaders who desire to maximize their influence and effectiveness must learn to lead in layers. This will require embracing the reality that each person you hope to connect to your cause is on a unique journey and in some respect, must be uniquely led. Their unique journey has brought them to this point, and it may need to be no less unique moving forward. This may mean that they may never be in the room that you desire for them to be in right now. The trick, however, is learning to be okay with that and to find the layer that works for them to serve in a meaningful way. If we can learn how to do this, we'll find ourselves connecting people to our cause we'd never imagined and we'll find them serving in ways we could have never dreamed.

Church Planter: The Man, the Message, the Mission

Right now I am reading the book "Church Planter: The Man, the Message, the Mission" by Darrin Patrick, pastor of The Journey in St. Louis. The book is excellent and I can't recommend it highly enough to every man who desires to step up and become a leader in his family and church, and particularly to anyone considering church planting in the future. For more, check out the video below.

 

A Pastor's Response to Healthcare Reform

Like many Americans, I anxiously watched last night as Congress officially passed a bill that will overhaul the American health care system and cost an estimated $1 trillion dollars over the next ten years. As someone who is neither Republican nor Democrat, I found myself wrestling with a number of mixed feelings about this monumental event and naturally wondered what it might mean for my wife and I and our two girls in the future. I even wondered what it would mean for their kids someday.

I was unprepared, however, for the cyber onslaught that has since been unleashed by so many well intentioned, but justifiably angry republican Christians. I understand why many are upset. I share many of their concerns. But what struck me most was not their feelings of frustration or their disagreement with this huge decision that will directly affect most of our lives, but their use of spiritual and even Christian language to support and defend their political position.

That bothers me.

Perhaps we’d do well to keep in mind that God used Joseph to institute a highly controlled, big government program in Egypt to save the lives of thousands upon thousands. I’m not suggesting a direct parallel or that Obama is God’s instrument in a similar way today. But I am suggesting that we get honest about the fact that our cherished red-white-and-blue democracy is not a biblical mandate for governing a nation (or a church, for that matter). Be careful not to blur the lines between religion and politics, it is a lethal combination.

I think we would do well to hold in tension two realities: 1, it is not outside the realm of possibility that in the future God could choose to use something as bureaucratic and self-serving as big government to bring about good, just as he did in Joseph’s time. I am NOT suggesting that this is what is happening right now. But I can promise you that God is far more concerned with the health and survival of the poor and suffering than the taxation of America’s middle class (which by the way, represents one of the wealthiest segments of people on earth). Even if God has had nothing to do with the happenings in DC, that will always remain true. And although I personally probably wouldn’t have voted for this bill and am more than a little anxious about what all this might mean in the future, I rejoice over what this could mean for those who could not otherwise afford healthcare, particularly the urban poor and terminally ill.

2, more importantly, we need to turn to the wisdom of the scriptures that urges us over and over to not put our trust in those who hold power. Consider the words of Psalm 118:8-9: “It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes.” If you find yourself either suddenly inspired with great hope for the future or outraged that this could happen in our nation, you may be placing too much hope in the wrong thing. Jesus is the one and only true hope for humanity, the only one that will never fail us.  

I’ll admit that this whole thing scares me too. I worry about what it might mean over the next twenty years for our country and for my family. I worry about what it might mean for my kids and theirs. But God is bigger than governments and he has promised to never leave us nor forsake us. No matter what the future holds, He will always take care of us. And you know, perhaps it isn't such a bad thing for us to be reminded every now and then that we really aren't as in control of our lives as we'd like to think we are.  

My last word is for the leaders out there.

Last night I hopped online to find a frenzy of angry tweets and facebook statuses from pastors and spiritual leaders all over the country. Friends, please remember that your influence is no small thing. As leaders, your words are like a virus. For better or worse, they affect everyone around you. In times of anxiety and crisis, that influence multiplies as others look to you for clarity and direction. My question to you is this: what are you spreading? Are you acting as a voice of love and hope in this time of monumental change in which many are anxious and afraid? Or in your venting are you unintentionally spreading anger and cynicism to those around you, adding to their fear and unsettledness?

I urge you, my friends, to choose hope. Not hope in government or politicians or your own fiscal outlook for 2011 and beyond, but hope in Jesus. Look for your peace there. And help those around you to do the same. 

Mosaic Lincoln & Kingdom Mindedness

A few months ago I was having a conversation with a good friend of mine who is a pastor and church planter in the Midwest. The church he pastors is just a few years old and they are still getting their feet under them in a lot of ways. They've been back and forth between multiple locations, weathered seasons of low numbers and inconsistent giving, had to fire multiple staff under difficult circumstances, in addition to all of the normal obstacles that come with starting a new church. In spite of all that, however, this last year they selflessly stepped out in great faith and planted another church in the same city. 

Not only did they commit finances and people to the church, but they were instrumental in getting a property donated to the church by their denomination (one they technically had first dibs on). As a church, they cast vision for the new plant in their Sunday gatherings, culminating in a Sunday in which they commissioned everyone who was leaving to be a part of the new plant. That Sunday, my good friend got up before his church - the one he had watched grow over the previous several years from just an audacious dream in his heart to the community he now saw before him, a church he had led through thick and thin, one he had sacrificed so much for - and with conviction he looked into the eyes of close friends, many of which he had personally counseled and said, "Alright, whose going?!"

I love that. It is such a bold testimony of what it means to have a "Kingdom" mindset. Rather than seek to have the biggest steeple in town or to protect what momentum he had been able to build so far (and through much struggle, I might add), this pastor held what had been given him with an open hand. He understands that its not his church, its Christ's church. And he boldly showed that he is committed more to the movement of Jesus, the Capital "C" Church at work in his city, than to his own little "c" church. It makes me proud to call this pastor my friend.  

But it cost them. It cost them big. That Sunday they watched a lot of great families leave to be a part of the church plant, families they didn't anticipate losing. They lost leaders, lovers of people, people who got the vision, and consistent givers. To make matters worse, shortly after sending those families off, the church encountered a crisis when the new building they had been preparing to move into and rent gathering and office space from was suddenly foreclosed on just weeks before they were to move in. They suddenly found themselves in crisis mode, and shorthanded. 

In the long run, I have no doubt that God will honor their sacrifice and faithfulness. But in the short run, their commitment to being about the Kingdom and not just "their" little church cost them. It cost them money, leaders, resources, volunteers, momentum and relationships, to name a few. It is certainly easy to see why many churches cling tight to what they have rather than multiplying God's work through church planting. But to those who get it, the risk is well worth it.

I share it for a couple reasons. 1, to praise my friend David and his church for leading the way in faith and generosity. Your story is testimony to how extraordinary you truly are. Your city is better for it, the Church is better for it, and so are the many leaders who will follow in your footsteps. 

Number 2, I share it because Mosaic Lincoln is committed to this kind of Kingdom mindedness. Sometimes new churches give off the vibe that they think they are THE answer for most everything. That's not us. We recognize that we are only a single expression of the church, one that some will love, and others will not. And that's okay. Our goal is not to try to be all things to all people, but rather to be faithful to who we believe God has called us to reach. 

You see, we are convinced that Lincoln doesn't need a new church, but many new churches to reach the many different kinds of people represented throughout the Lincoln area. So Mosaic Lincoln is not the end, it is only the beginning. From Day 1, 10% of our total budget is set aside for future church plants. And we are committed to equipping and sending out people to plant churches in Lincoln and beyond. After all, it's not about us. It's about seeing a movement of God's grace unleashed in the city of Lincoln!

This Too Shall Pass

A message for anyone and everyone who has ever felt so overwhelmed by life that you wondered whether you could go on. For all of you leaders and pastors who feel beaten and bloodied after brutal elder meetings, ongoing conflict, endless crises, bad press, budget cuts, personal critics, ministry haters, botched sermons and Sunday morning miscues. I know it feels like the end of the world right now, but just remember...

Calling vs Choice in Church Planting

The first time I journeyed down the church planting road I kept coming across something I found to be quite obnoxious. Everywhere I turned – every organization, every denomination and every mentor that had been down this road before kept asking me about my “call.”

“Are you called to plant this church? When were you called? How were you called? Are you sure you’re called?”

It was obnoxious. What was this “call” that everyone was talking about and why were they making it into such a big deal? I mean, I thought I was called. I had been journeying with Christ for some time, loved people and ministry and felt like this was what I was supposed to do next.

But even so, just the idea that someone might count me as disqualified because I couldn’t recall some supernatural moment in which God said, “Therefore goeth Aaron to Toledo and planteth a church” really irked me.

Why couldn’t someone just choose to create something as beautiful and redemptive as a new Christ-centered, missional community with their lives? Wouldn’t God honor that? After all, isn’t this sort of thing precisely what he has called all of us to be a part of? Then why the insistence on something that at best seems, well, optional?

Well, I didn’t really get it back then but I think I am beginning to understand. You see, I continued down that road and low and behold things got hard. Actually, that is an understatement. The experience included some of the darkest months of my life personally, emotionally and spiritually. It was the hardest thing I've ever had to go through. And I'd say it's just been in the past 18 months that I've finally got the pieces of my soul all put back together. It was a tough road, one in which I regularly struggled with feelings of deep anxiety, insecurity, loneliness and a powerful undercurrent of doubt.

That was a few years ago.

This time, however, the journey has been completely different. Unlike the first time, my calling isn’t a fuzzy ambiguous sense but a clear and undeniable call to Lincoln at this time. (I’d love to share more about this but that will have wait until another day.) And can I tell you something? It really makes all of the difference. Although the road will no doubt be difficult, this time around I journey it without any anxiety. No fear. No hesitations. Complete security in Christ. And that undercurrent of doubt? It has been transformed into a powerful movement of hope and promise.

So I think I am beginning to understand why a specific calling is so very important to a work as trying and unpromising as church planting. There’s just too much common sense that must be completely and regularly ignored. If you do it without a clear call, then you are just crazy. If you do it with a clear call, then you are obedient…and crazy.   

Ok, so going back to our original question: do you need to be “called” in some extraordinary transcending way to plant a church? Technically, although some would disagree with me, I have to say “no.” We all make a number of choices each day to either honor Christ or deny him, to serve our own purposes or to serve God's purposes in this world. Some of those choices are small and some of those big, but more often than not it still comes down to our choosing whether we will honor or dishonor God with our actions.

But that being said, planting a church is not just one choice, but tens of thousands of hard choices, often under hard conditions. It is extraordinarily difficult. It involves lots of heartache, lots of trials, lots of failure and it can be very lonely at times. Every church planter will tell you he has days when he seriously doubts whether this thing is ever going to work. I mean, statistics show that 85% of church plants fail in the first 5 years. There are a lot of good and talented men and women represented in that 85%! But it takes far more than talent and good intentions to plant a church.

And when the going gets tough (which is often), when those you have loved and invested so many months and years in decide to up and leave to go to the church on the other side of town with the new worship center, when all funds are gone and you are trying to figure out how your family is going to survive, when you feel like there is no possible way you can succeed and that for all practical purposes you are alone most days in this thing, you had better be either clearly called or be the most faithfully stubborn S.O.B. to walk God’s green earth. (In concrete terms, this means you do not have a history of flakiness, half-hearted committment, bailing on projects/people or rarely finishing what you start, but rather, you have a history of seeing things through to completion, resiliency in face of adversity and steadfast commitment.)

If that's you and other seasoned leaders have affirmed your leadership and are encouraging you to plant, then I say go for it! But if not, wait for the calling.

Our Greatest Work in Divine Movement

Our journey in planting a church in Lincoln, NE continues – and what an exciting journey it is turning out to be! Things are beginning to fall into place, God is stirring powerfully within us, preparing us for what is ahead, answering huge prayers, new possibilities are opening up, new people are joining us, new challenges are presenting themselves and God has been teaching us so much along the way.

In all of this, God has been teaching us one great truth that towers above the rest: There is simply no substitute for prayer.

I am learning that it is not only on one’s knees that great dreams are birthed, but it is in that place of submission and intercession that great dreams are also carried out to fulfillment. It is on our knees that great dreams become more than just dreams.

I know if we’re honest, most of us really don’t like that answer. Some have undoubtedly exited this post already to go find something more exciting and pragmatic. Leaders are doers. It’s just a part of who we are. But here’s the deal, if you insist on always doing at the expense of praying, you can count on your church being a truer reflection of what you can do rather than of what God can do. 

Think about it. When we work hard, cast compelling vision, make strategic plans based on our goals, create programs and initiatives to move us to where we need to go, steward our leadership well in seeing plans executed, goals accomplished and vision carried out (all good things by the way), but we fail to fall on our faces before God, who do you think typically gets the praise when things go well? You got it: leadership. When we refuse to pray, we unknowingly put ourselves in a position where we can now potentially take the glory for ourselves. Perhaps this is in part why God loves to display his strength in our weakness. We all need the reminding from time to time.

As we move forward in planting Mosaic-Lincoln, it has been incredible to see God begin to answer prayers in huge and unexpected ways. Some of the things that have happened in the last several months can only be explained by divine orchestration. Some of the things He is calling us to in the future can only be accomplished through divine intervention. Honestly, these things are terrifying...but they keep us on our knees. And I am finding that that is exactly where God desires for us to be – crying out to him on behalf of the city of Lincoln.    

You see, I am learning that when we lay our lives down at the feet of Jesus – when we surrender our hopes, our dreams, our plans, our successes and failures and all of the junk we’ve accumulated along the way – when we give it all up and begin to ask God for the things he desires, God loves to deliver.

When we begin to cry out to God for lives to be changed by the gospel, for captives to be freed from the addictions that enslave them, for the poor to be raised up from the ashes, for the broken to be put back together, for justice to reign, for new life to be breathed into our neighborhoods, for a movement of God’s grace to sweep through our cities, there is nothing that God delights in more than to say, “Yes.” But it all starts right here. On our knees. In prayer.