An article worth reading

Don’t know this pastor or his church, but I agree with him on this

Simple Church (part 3)

Notes from Chapters Three & Four:

Spiritual growth is a process. It always has been. Thus, it would make sense for church leaders to design their churches around the process of spiritual growth (p. 59).

They are talking about a design for discipleship. A design of church ministry. How a church is designed and structured so people can be transformed by God’s grace (p. 59).

In First Corinthians 3 believers are called God’s children (v. 1), God’s field (v. 9), God’s building (v. 9). Children, fields and buildings grow in process. Not only do simple church leaders understand that spiritual transformation is a process, but they also respond to this reality (p. 60).

What is the definition of a Simple Church? A simple church is a congregation designed around a straightforward and strategic process that moves people through the stages of spiritual growth (p.60).

There is a highly significant relationship between a simple church design and the growth and vitality of a local church. A simple church strategy is effective (p. 67).

The leadership and the church are clear about the process (clarity) and are committed to executing it. The process flows logically (movement) and is implemented in each area of the church (alignment). The church abandons everything that is not in the process (focus) (p. 68).

Clarity – Movement – Alignment – Focus (p. 68ff)

Clarity is the ability of the process to be communicated and understood by the people…it eliminates confusion (p. 70).

Movement is the sequential steps in the process that cause people to move to greater areas of commitment…it is about assimilation (p. 72). Movement is how someone is handed off from one level of commitment to a greater level of commitment (p.73).

Alignment is the arrangement of all ministries and staff around the same simple process (p. 74).

Focus is the commitment to abandon everything that falls outside of the simple ministry process (p. 76).

While movement is the most difficult simple church element to understand, focus is the most difficult to implement (p. 76).

The last half of the book will deal with these four steps.

In chapter four, the authors give us some real life examples. One I found particularly interesting involved the content of the adult Bible fellowships coinciding with the message in the worship service. The pastor writes what he calls “coordinates” each week that supplement his message. The Bible fellowship leaders use these coordinates as curriculum. The pastor is able to invite the people at the worship service to attend a Bible fellowship “to get more information and go deeper.” (p.89)

“Bible fellowship” or small groups are offered on Sunday Morning, Wednesday nights, and in homes during the week (p. 95).

An example of a simple process is (1) come to a worship service, (2) be in a small group, and (3) serve in a ministry (p.95).

Simple churches reject the menu philosophy of ministry that encourages church leaders to offer huge menus of programs. The authors believe ministry is done poorly in most churches. It is impossible to do things with excellence when energy and attention are divided. These churches have an inability to focus (p. 103).

Book Giveaway

http://www.credomag.com/2011/11/28/this-weeks-book-giveaways-christmas-from-crossway/

Simple Church (part 2)

Simple Church

Notes from Chapter Two:

Before I came to Community Bible Church I took a couple of classes at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY. One of my professors was Thom Rainer, one of the authors of this book. “Simple Church” was conceived out of a study of Southern Baptist Church (SBC) health. It was expanded to non-SBC churches, but you can definitely detect the SBC influence. Many SBC congregations are bogged down with committees. They have a committee on committees. They have a large menu of program options. In many cases this gets in the way of actually making disciples.

In that respect, I came away from reading this book slightly encouraged. I don’t believe our congregation has a complex process. I’m not sure we need to streamline. My concern is we don’t a process at all.

A process is not about “programs.” Programs are not ends in themselves. They are to be used as tools to move people toward spiritual maturity (p.42).

Programs were made for man, not man for programs. If the goal is to keep certain things going, the church is in trouble. The end result must always be about people. Programs should only be tools (p. 43).

I believe in preaching. I believe that the gathering of the church should be centered on the Word of God. The main Sunday morning preaching service is the heart of worship. The question is however, is that alone enough to produce spiritually mature disciples?

No it is not. It takes a process that begins on Sunday morning, but that doesn’t end there. The goal is to move people from stage to stage so people naturally progress through the process of spiritual transformation.

The authors clearly believe in the value of small groups. People who attend worship services are encouraged to move to a small group. From small groups people should be challenged to serve on a team that reaches out to others. This is what they mean by a simple process.

Simple Church

In the beginning of 2011 we announced that the church leadership was going to begin a yearlong process of evaluating how Community Bible Church (hereafter CBC) functioned. I called it “The Year of the Church” and took our text from First Timothy 3:15. “…so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth.”

Starting in January and ending right before Easter, I preached through the book of First Timothy, which I consider to be a policy manual for the local church. This sermon series was titled “Life in the Father’s Household.” You can listen to it here

In our board meetings we began the time consuming and slow moving conversation about how we do things, why we do them, how should we do them and can we do them better. Progress has been snail pace at best. However my sermon series on Sanctification came as a result as was the just completed membership class. This is a conversation that will continue on into 2012.

One of the things we did as a deacon board was read a book together. This Saturday morning we are meeting to begin our discussion of it and hopefully eventually our implementation.
I am going to be sharing my thoughts about the book on my blog. You are welcome to follow along. I hope you do. This is the first installment. More will be forthcoming.

Simple Church: Returning to God’s process for making disciples
© 2011 by Thom S. Rainer and Eric Geiger
Published by B&H Publishing Group
281 pages

This book was originally published in 2006. This paperback edition has been updated with a new final chapter on what the authors have learned since the book was first released.

Many churches have “business meetings.” If the church was really a business what business is it in? If the business had a product, what would the product be? The church is in the disciple making business. Our product is a disciple. We want fully functioning followers of Christ. These followers or disciples aren’t made, they are grown. They are produced by spiritual transformation, or in other words the process of progressive sanctification. The church is to be assisting people in their spiritual growth.

The authors define a simple church as “a congregation designed around a straightforward and strategic process that moves people through the stages of spiritual growth” (p. 186).

In this book the authors are encouraging us to design a process for discipleship. The key word of this book is “process.” Simple only comes into play because a complicated or complex process does not produce the desired result. The book follows the old adage “keep it simple stupid.”

To have a simple church, leaders must ensure that everything their church does fits together to produce life change. They must design a simple process that pulls everything together, a simple process that moves people toward spiritual maturity (p. 26).

Only God is the producer of growth. The church is one of His tools in this growth process. The church is to move people toward spiritual maturity.

The authors have varied ministry experience, including pastoring and teaching. They are also researchers. This book is based upon their research of “vibrant” churches compared to churches that are struggling. Churches without a process or with a complicated process for making disciples are floundering (p. 14).

Simple churches have realized this. Because they are consumed with the call to make disciples, they have implemented a simple design for church ministry. They have designed a simple process to reach and mature people. Thus, these churches are getting people’s attention and commitment (p. 15).

Many churches know what they should be doing but struggle with the how. There is not a clear process in place that streamlines the ministry and keeps everybody on the same page (p.22).

There is a big difference between simple and easy. Simple is basic, uncomplicated and fundamental. Easy is effortless. Ministry will never be easy (p. 16).

As church members and especially leaders, can we clearly articulate how someone at CBC moves from being a new Christian to becoming a mature follow of Christ? Do we have a process? Is it simple enough to be understood and communicated?

Book giveaway

http://www.credomag.com/2/post/2011/09/more-awesome-book-giveaways.html

August Book Giveaway from Christian Focus

http://blog.christianfocus.com/index.php/2011/08/29/august-book-giveaway-the-trials-of-theology/#comment-2314

Review of You Can Change

You Can Change: God’s Transforming Power for Our Sinful Behavior and Negative Emotions
©2010 by Tim Chester
Published by Crossway
192 pages

What is sanctification? How does it work? Is it past, present or future? Is it all of God or all on me? Do I let go and let God? Or do I roll up my sleeves, grit my teeth and discipline myself to holiness? Tim Chester has done a great service to any Christian who struggles with these issues. This is an easy to read, yet detailed explanation of how change works in a Christian’s life. It is doctrinal and practical. I highly recommend it for any believer who wants to see real change take place in his or her life.

In tribute to John MacArthur

A chance encounter on the Ohio Turnpike changed my life. I was a student at an Independent Fundamental Baptist (hereafter referred to as IFB) college. I was raised in an IFB King James Only church. The sermons I grew up with were sermons of the “pick any verse to prove your point” variety. The sermons usually ended up at the same destination. Don’t smoke, don’t drink, don’t chew or go with girls who do. Witness more, give more, dress more (modestly). Women shouldn’t wear pants; men should cut their hair. We believed we were the only ones who lived right, loved God and believed the Bible (the King James Bible).

Although there was the occasional hypocrite, we sincerely did want to live right, love God and believe the Bible. Our pastor was a good man, my hero. He taught me to follow the Word of God. I am a pastor today because of him. I am the type of pastor I am today though, because of John MacArthur.

On Sunday, June 5th, 2011, John MacArthur accomplished something that is extremely rare in a preaching ministry. He finished preaching through the entire New Testament, verse by verse. A process he began in 1969. On top of this, he did it as pastor of the same congregation for all 42 years!

I will never forget that day in late 1979 or early 1980 driving back to college. Instead of listening to my CB radio (my handle was “silverfish” because I drove a silver pinto and my teenage nickname was fish, short for fish-lips), I was channel surfing. A Christian radio station came in loud and clear. A man was preaching. I had never heard of him, but more importantly I had never heard preaching like that. It was like water to a thirsty fish. He was preaching through the Bible verse by verse and wasn’t pulling any punches. He didn’t share stories, tell jokes or go off on rabbit trails. His love for the Lord and respect for His Word were evident. The half hour broadcast was over way too soon. I wanted more, needed more. I took note of the program “Word of Grace” (it later became “Grace to You”). As soon as I got back to school I wrote a letter to this radio “pastor-teacher” thanking him for his ministry.

Much to my surprise I received a thank you and a study guide. Not the slick study guides of today. They looked like the church printed them in-house. The pages were cut in half and hole punched with a simple card stock cover with one color printing. Simple in design, rich in content. Eventually I received another. Then another. To this day I have them all. Over time they became more professional looking. The Grace Community Church (“Word of Grace Communications”) was no longer the printer, now Grace to You published them and eventually Moody Press. The study guides were bound instead of stapled and the covers were printed in color. By now I was in the ministry, teaching weekly (or should I say weakly). I poured over these notes. They began to affect my teaching. I didn’t (and still don’t) preach directly from them, but they changed my approach to studying and preaching the Word. I didn’t know it, but I was becoming an expository preacher, in fact I had never heard the phrase. God in his grace began to encourage me through the appreciation of those who had to listen to me.

Over the years I have listened to hundreds of John MacArthur sermons (first preaching tapes, then CDs and now on-line). I have read dozens of his books. I have grown immensely from his teaching ministry and it has impacted the way I do many things in ministry. Thank you John MacArthur and a radio station I only heard once.

Review of Written in Tears

Written in Tears: A Grieving Father’s Journey Through Psalm 103
©2010 by Luke Veldt
Discovery House Publishers
ebook

I have finally finished my first Kindle ebook. I don’t know how many pages the printed book is, because page numbers don’t relate to the Kindle edition. For a great review of this very heart touching book see here. I recommend this book, but my review is about the ebook experience.

As I am writing this you can get a brand new print edition of this book for $6.09 ($4.57 used). The Kindle edition costs $6.99. At that price I would rather have the print edition. In fact until Kindle prices fall dramatically, I would always prefer the book in print. I realize that eventually the reading populace will be brought up on ebooks and that they will not suffer the withdraw from having an actual book in hand. (Yes I know that one day the “virtual” book will be considered the “actual” book, but not thank God in my lifetime.) Apparently you can bookmark your ebook and highlight a passage, but I didn’t. I couldn’t. It isn’t the same. If I had read the print edition I could at this very moment thumb through it and point to you passages that struck me. I can right now walk over to my book shelves and pull off any number of books and immediately turn to passages that impacted me as I read them. I cannot take you to the ebook and do that. I have finished reading it, but it is not a part of me.