Obviously, the challenge as a leader is that you sometimes have to be both. People can only handle so many mandates so use those sparingly. 

2. People embrace leaders who consistently give small doses of meaningful hope. 

While everyone wants the problem to go away, leadership means guiding through not getting out. Keep people focused on progress and hope a little at a time keeps all of us moving forward. 

3. People embrace leaders who strive for clarity in uncertainty. 

Andy Stanley says, “In times of uncertainty clarity will suffice. Leaders, we can be uncertain. We cannot afford to be unclear.” We cannot predict the future, but we can be clear about our present reality and plans.

4. People embrace leaders who choose to communicate nuance over complexity or simplicity.

At multiple times during the pandemic, I chose to go overboard explaining our decisions because I wanted people to know it was complex, and I was thinking through everything. That led people away from me. A 15 minute explanation could have been better served by a 3 minute communication and an invitation to feedback.

5. People embrace leaders who give space for grief.

If everything is not ok, then people don’t have to be ok. Creating opportunity and permission to grieve can allow people to embrace hope. 

6. People embrace leaders who are humans first and leaders second.

Acknowledging one’s own struggle without oozing anxiety is key. You can be confident as a leader and be struggling through the crisis with people. 

               Ask a pastor what their favorite Sunday of the year is, and many of them will say Easter. Pastors love Easter for many reasons. The church is full of life and energy, people show up early to get a good seat, a spirit of joy permeates the place, and, to be honest, our egos get a nice little boost as well. Most importantly, we get to tell the greatest story of all-time: the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.

As a Pastor, I really believe that around 2000 years ago, Jesus of Nazareth walked around on this earth, land and water, healed the sick, taught people in parables, and suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. I believe on a Friday, his lifeless body was put into a tomb, and early on Sunday morning when the women went to the tomb, it was empty. Jesus was not there because he had been resurrected from the dead to show God’s love for people and his power over death. The resurrection is the cornerstone of our faith, and without it then Jesus would have been just another wise teacher and failed messiah.

But this year, Easter will be so different, instead of full churches, pastors will preach in empty sanctuaries, youth rooms, or living rooms. Instead of hearing a room full of people singing “Christ the Lord is Risen Today,” we will be hoping that people are singing it in their living rooms. Instead of people in their Easter finest, with baskets and bonnets and Easter smiles, gathered as friends and families, we will be sharing pictures and virtual hugs on Facebook. And this grieves me. And it grieves all of us.

But for some reason, I couldn’t get 1 Thessalonians 5:18 out of my head where it says, “give thanks in all circumstances.” I remember a sermon one time where the Pastor struggled with this text, because he didn’t want to give thanks for diseases, tragedies, or disasters, but then he noticed that the scripture didn’t actually say, for. It didn’t say give thanks for all circumstances, but in all circumstances. And that’s a big difference, and so today I’m choosing to give thanks in the circumstance with Easter at home. I’m choosing to thank God that for all the seasons that COVID-19 could have occurred and in its disruption and suffering in so many lives, that we have the gift of Easter here in the middle of it to give us hope.

When I think about what the church has to offer our communities during these times, there are many things I think of: providing material relief for families who have lost so much, caring for each other and our physical neighbors, being leaders in following the directions of government, but the most important thing we have to offer people is hope. As fear, stress, and anxiety build and grow, people need hope that their suffering will not only end, but it can actually be redeemed. That, my friends, is what the church has to offer: real, tangible hope.

“Resurrection means that the worst thing is never the last thing.” This quote from Frederick Buechner has resonated with me for years, but it seems particularly powerful this year and this Easter. Because Jesus has conquered death, then our faith teaches us that death is not the end, but resurrection is. Redemption is. So as families face the awful reality of their loved ones suffering and dying, we have hope that those who have faith in Jesus can be raised from the dead as well. And as we face this long, unknown, constantly shifting, international nightmare of COVID-19 during Easter, we can trust that COVID-19 will not get the last word. Healing will. Hope will. And hope has a name: Jesus.

Last year, my dad won his first championship in our league, so he’s our defending champ. We don’t have a trophy yet, though we’ve talked about it for about 6 years. Needless to say the United Methodist Church makes decisions quicker than the CSFA. I’m trying to talk Keith into getting a Fantasy Football Championship Belt, so maybe in my 2019 blog I’ll show you a picture.

We’re a Keeper League, which means you can keep some players from the year before. We keep any 4 players, and I don’t think anyone kept a kicker this year, so obviously we’re improving. We have a new owner named Andy, who’s draft makes me think he’ll be better than the guy he was replacing. In any fantasy league you need at least 20% of them to not know what they are doing, and if you can’t name who they are, then it is probably you. (This is one of my favorite jokes.) Alright without further ado, here’s my Running Blog.

9:26- Log onto the Chat room, where there is not much chatting going on.
9:27- Begin researching the 2014 fantasy season.
9:29- My team name was the Trinity Tigers, which represented the church I was at and my last name. But since I’m a Methodist Minister who’s moved I’m realizing my team name is once again obsolete.
9:35- As a Pastor’s Sundays are my long day, so I’m pretty tired. I also participated in the #icebucketchallenge earlier this afternoon, so that was um exciting.
9:40- Five minute countdown and I have no clue what my plan is or who I should draft.
9:42- The Rinky Dinks (and their names is normally quite appropriate) finished 3rd last year. I’m not sure how but they have Manning, Peterson, Demaryius Thomas, and Jimmy Graham as their Keepers.
9:44- Chat Conversation is about the newest member of our league (Andy Henson) and his team name. My dad (his former Pastor) recommends the name Barefoot Wonders because Andy likes to lead worship in his bare feet. No word on whether Andy is wearing shoes for the draft or not.
9:45- It’s showtime. The most exciting 15 minutes of the fantasy football season. My Keepers are Colin Kaepernick, Eddie Lacy, Doug Martin, and Randall Cobb.
9:45- Andrew Luck is off the board and Andy has his QB for the next 10 years. Makes we wonder WHO IN THE WORLD WOULD NOT KEEP ANDREW LUCK IN A KEEPER LEAGUE! I’ll have to figure that out later.
9:47- Kinda hoping that Montee Ball or Julio Jones would slip to me and neither did. Instead I drafted Giovani Bernard and now I have 3 RBs and I only get to start 2 of them. In the 5 minutes before the draft, I decided my strategy was there was only a small number of upper tier RBs remaining, so if I could get one, I could do that and then draft a bunch of WRs.
9:51- My four-year-old son Micah fell asleep on my wife, so I had to take him to his room. When I get back, I only have :46 seconds left to pick, I pick up Michael Crabtree. Just so you know, I’m picking up Sammy Watkins in the next round. (Again this is a Keeper League, so you gotta take some shots on some rookies earlier then you normally would.).
9:52- No chatter on the chat board. Only picks.
9:54- Bishop Sankey had gotten picked. Which if you had told me Bishop Sankey would be talked about this morning, I would have asked what conference he was the bishop of.
9:57- The Rinky Dinks draft Alex Smith about 4 rounds to earlier or the same mistake the 49ers made in 2005.
9:58- Wizards of Windsor pick a Kicker who can’t play the first 4 weeks, and that’s why you never let a computer auto pick for you.
9:59- Rinky Dinks select Eric Decker or the guy who is about to learn how much better Manning made him look. Manning >>>>>> Geno Smith
10:06- No major run on TEs yet, I’m kinda surprised.
10:08- My strategy draft lots of RBs and WRs, and see which ones excel.
10:10- I’m hoping the ESPN fantasy guys are right that Ladarius Green is a huge sleeper, b/c I picked him solely on that advice.
10:14- I draft Ben Tate b/c I’m a big believer in always drafting skill players on the Browns.
10:19- We’ve entered the character portion of the program with Ray Rice and Big Ben going off the board. Hope somebody picks Josh Gordon and Justin Blackmon soon.
10:21- And Andy picks Carlos Hyde ruining my next round pick.
10:24- Actual quote on the chat board, “Alanstown Blues: Crap, I was checking the Tuff Tigers draft results and thought I hadn’t picked a defense yet.”
10:29- Keith(Alanstown Blues) has been utilizing the whole 1:30 that we have per pick, so we have a longer draft, which is great unless you are remarkably sleepy like I am right now.
10:31- And Andy goes again drafting Darren Sproles when he was cued at the top of my draft list.
10:34- Alanstown Blues select Greg Jennings, so I immediately type this, “You can take Jennings out of Green Bay, but you can’t keep Keith from loving him.” Meanwhile he types this concurrently, “Hoping my former favorite Packer bounces back this year.”
10:35- Maniacs pick Josh Gordon, “I may have to change my name to the convicts.”
10:36- I pick the Ravens Defense because I’m a big Harbaugh fan. Harbaugh is one of those words that I don’t ever spell right the first time.
10:38- Watching a Cat video my wife sent me.
10:45- The draft is over, so now it comes time for my annual call to recap the draft with my Dad. This concludes my running blog. Good night and Good luck.

                Muldrow is a unique place. It is one of those places that either take you back in time or is stuck in time depending on your perspective. People ride on horses up and down the highway. The Chamber of Commerce is more about friendships and relationships than businesses and agendas. There are as many people in a parade as there are watching the parade. You can’t talk about anybody, because you are probably talking to their 1^st, 2^nd, or 3^rd cousin. And the two most important entities in the town are the churches and the school. It’s small town USA, and the community of Muldrow is proud of that.

                Last year, the churches and the schools worked together for good. We hosted a Teacher’s vs. Preacher’s Basketball game to help a local family with some significant medical expenses. Literally half the town (1500 people) attended the game to watch a bunch of over-the-hill men play a turnover-fest of a basketball game. (OK, so the preacher’s unofficially ordained Bryant “Big Country” Reeves to help us to victory.) Over $10,000 was raised for the family, and it was a special night doing something that Muldrow can do so well: work together.

                This week we got word that the 10 Commandments that are posted in every room in the school were to be taken down or there would be legal action against the school. The community of Muldrow has held on to the ideal that this town, our town is a Christian community. Now, this threat of the removal of the 10 Commandments threatens our very identity. If we can’t have the 10 Commandments in our schools, what does that say about Muldrow, the city we love?

                The first thing it says is this: We are not a “Christian Community,” a town governed by God and filled with Christians, aka heaven. We are a “Community with Christians,” a town governed by the Law and populated with devoted Christians, nominal Christians, and non-Christians. The reality is this on a Sunday morning only 1 out of every 4 people, 25%, 1 quarter of our town is in church for worship. That is not a “Christian Community,” that is a “Community with Christians.”

                As long as the 10 Commandments are posted in every classroom, we could live with this belief that we are a Christian Community. We could believe that even if someone didn’t go to church, they would still have access to the Word of God. We could believe that most of our town is Christian and those who aren’t in church on Sunday morning just haven’t found the right fit yet. We could believe, as one of my most committed ladies in my church told me that “we shouldn’t have to invite people to church, that they should know they need to be in church.” We can’t believe that anymore.

                The reality is this, Muldrow is filled with people who are hurting and in need of the hope that only God can provide. Pain fills our pews, our classrooms, and our roads. I sit next to them, see them get on the school bus, and wave to them on the roads, but I don’t know their hearts or imagine their pain. As a pastor, I know of people who struggle with alcohol, struggle with depression, and struggle with maintaining their most important relationships, but most people I encounter keep me in the dark about what keeps them up at night.

                So what do we do? Do we fight to keep the 10 Commandments on the walls or do we make sure that God’s laws are written on our hearts and lived out in our lives? Is it more important to wage a legal battle about freedom of religion or is it more important to wage a spiritual battle for the souls of our neighbors. I am proud to be a part of the Muldrow Ministerial Alliance, a group of Christ-centered Pastors and churches who are consumed with working together for worship, service, and fellowship in our community. We are wrestling with this issue, and I stand in agreement with them. It is vitally important that we support our administration and our school board. They have laws that they must follow to run a state and federally supported school. They did not initiate these 10 Commandments to be taken down, but they understand the position that the school is in. There is a school board meeting on Monday night at 6:00 P.M., and we are inviting all our church members to go to support the administration.

 I am encouraged to see our Muldrow students take a personal interest in keeping the 10 Commandments in their schools. Not because I think they have the 10 Commandments memorized, but because in their hearts they believe that God is important. They have a desire to have t-shirts made that represent their faith and their feelings. I’m glad that the Alliance has agreed to help make these shirts and give them to our students to wear on Wednesday May 15^th to school. (If a Muldrow student is interested in a shirt, go to www.muldrowag.org/about) My advice to every student that wears a shirt is to read the shirt and abide by it. The ironic struggle of wearing a 10 Commandments shirt is the danger of making the 10 Commandments an idol. The best definition of an idol I’ve heard comes from Pastor Timothy Keller who defined an idol as “making anything, even a good thing, an ultimate thing.” If you are wearing the shirt and the fighting for the 10 Commandments causes you to look down at someone who is not wearing it or creates a hostile divide among your fellow classmates, please don’t wear it. If you wear the Commandments, then live the Commandments.

It’s critical that we realize that we can’t let the schools do the church’s job. Our school is filled with wonderful Christ-centered teachers, administrators, and staff. Their job is to love these kids and give them the best education. Our teachers have a difficult enough job without giving them the additional personal responsibility of teaching the faith. Teaching the faith is the mission of the church. We must find ways to meet the students in our community where they are, and give them the love of Christ. We must make Christian education a priority both as a church program and as a ministry of parents and guardians.

Most of all, we must learn that Muldrow is a “Christian Community,” but it is a “Community of Christians” with the mission field not in Africa or in China but on Shawntel Smith, Redland Road, and 64B. As I think about the 10 Commandments being taken down in our schools, I’m reminded of the Book of Esther, the only book in the Bible that doesn’t mention God’s name, but just because he is not mentioned does not mean he is absent.  It tells the story of a Jewish woman named Esther who became queen of Persia and thwarted a plan to commit genocide against her people. At the key moment of the story, the wise older Jewish leader named Mordecai encourages Esther to be brave and confront the King of Persia to save her people, while risking her life. He tells her, “For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”  Maybe together, we are here in Muldrow for such a time as this. A time to wake up to the reality of the mission around us to bring Christ to our neighbors and be Christ for our neighborhood. It’s time to be the church.

1. People are not used to a dad watching the kids by himself for a week.

“Oh, you are watching them all by yourself!” “Are you surviving this week?” These are the statements that I have heard this week. If I was mom watching the kids by myself for a week, then they would not garner the sympathy or attention I have because it is expected of moms to be able to raise kids by themselves, but not dads as a general rule.

2. If I didn’t participate in taking care of my boys on a daily basis, then I would have been totally unprepared to do it this week.

Because I have helped get the kids ready for the day, made meals, fed bottles, read stories, and gave baths for the last 3 ½ years this was not as overwhelming as it could have been. The deciding factor for me on when to have kids was this simple fact: I wanted to learn to be a dad before I became a Pastor, so that my pastoral life would adjust to my life as dad and not the other way around. Thus Micah and Kasen did not interrupt my ministry (this week or in general), but sometimes ministry interrupts my time as Dad.

3. I’m grateful for those that have prayed for me.

I know that our families and our church families have been in prayer for me and the boys during this week. I know that God has worked through those prayers giving me patience with the boys and through the kids giving grace to their dad.

4. Putting 2 kids to bed is a workout.

This was my Tuesday night. Put Kasen down for a nap. Start cooking dinner. Eat dinner. Feed Kasen. Don’t do any dishes. Play with boys. Give Kasen bath. Get Kasen in PJs. Get bottle ready for Kasen. Make sure Micah feels loved. Feed Kasen. Rock Kasen. Lay him down and pray he falls asleep (He did). Get bath ready for Micah. Give him bath. Help him brush teeth and go potty. Play in his room. Read stories. Go potty. Tell him a story. Check on Kasen sleeping. Tell story. Go potty again. Give strict orders to lie down, be quiet, and still. Go potty again. Tell story. Threaten toys taken away if he doesn’t lay still. Pump fist when he finally falls asleep. Sit down in chair and look at the mound of dishes and toys scattered across the floor. Call wife and share about our day. Walk past the dishes and step over toys on the way to bed because I’m so exhausted.

5. My church family is awesome.

I know that if I needed someone to watch Micah or Kasen, I could have called 20 people to help me. They give our boys such love. The youth love watching them, and I don’t tell them thank you enough. The ladies in our church are so glad to see Kasen and Micah grow, and I am so thankful. When we have a church activity, all of the adults feel some sort of responsibility to make sure that “our” Micah does mostly what he is supposed to. If you don’t have the love of a church family, I pray that you can find the loving home like we do.

6. I miss my wife.

I miss my wife on many levels. I miss her help, obviously, with raising the boys. There is a reason God desires a husband and a wife to raise a kid because the kids need it, and the parents need each other. Not just to share child-rearing responsibilities, but also to be there in support for one another, to share the joys and the laughs together. To have an adult conversation in the midst of talk about Spiderman house, cries, and potty is a blessing.

7. Continuous sleep is a gift from God.

Kasen has been getting up at 3:00 A.M. or 4:00 A.M. for a bottle. This morning he slept till 7:30. I felt 10,000% better today than I did yesterday.

8. I have tremendous respect for single parents.

My experience is 6 days. Before my wife left, I went to the store and stocked up for the week. I know Heather is coming back soon. I know that if I don’t get all the dishes or laundry done that we can work together to do it. I know my wife will take a night shift soon so I can get the gift of continuous sleep again. Single parents don’t have that luxury. Love the single parents around you, and find ways to serve and love them. Give them grace, from my experience they have to be exhausted, and I always need extra grace when I’m exhausted.

This is not a book review because I’m not the book reviewing type, but I do think great ideas should be shared, so I’ll share some of what the good Bishop writes, and then add my own commentary. Just so you know I read it on my Kindle, so I’ll put the Kindle location on the quote. I highlighted many passages in the book, so this is just the beginning. I hope you enjoy, learn, and get agitated.

The most important appointment a bishop makes is the selection of district superintendents…Nothing moves in the UMC until a DS commits to leading that change.” KL 259-265

I serve on Congregational Development, which oversees, encourages, and funds new church starts. Notice that we do not start new churches. We can’t. It is not a committee’s job to start new churches. It is up to the DS, who may or may not see themselves as Missional leaders to help locate places for new churches and start them.

South of Tulsa is the growing suburb of Glenpool, OK. Since Glenpool is a more affordable suburb there are many young families moving into the community and some significant shopping centers also being built. What wasn’t being built there? A Methodist Church. Not because we were blind to it. (Cong. Development talked about it for at least 8 years!), but because we weren’t willing to risk it. The previous DS had tried to find a mother church, but no churches stepped up unfortunately, and while this DS did many wonderful things, a new church was not started until this annual conference (at least 3 years too late, but finally) when a new DS made it his priority to start one even without a mother church. He did in his first year what the previous DS did not do in 6. A DS has responsibility to not just maintain existing churches, but to be a catalyst for Missional change. On the subject of new church starts, I believe that each of our 12 DS should be able to answer the following questions: what people groups are not being reached in your district and where are the top 3 potential places for a new church start. And be able to co-dream, vision, and lead how these people will be reached.

Many Boards of Ordained Ministry (BOOM) lack the boldness and the creativity of the Holy Spirit and the clarity of commitment to the mission of the church, preferring to approve clones of themselves rather than to take a risk on more creative candidates. In order to keep a system static, select people who follow instructions, preserve rigid rules, keep information sharing to a minimum, and develop a clergy selection system that privileges experience and credentials over God-given talent and sacrifices creativity for conformity. KL 564

I’ve got a good friend, who when he gets ordained I will consider it one of my greatest accomplishments. I’m the annoying friend who reminds him about BOOM meeting, paper due dates, and other responsibilities so he can get ordained. He is a tremendous, spiritual leader and a visionary pastor and preacher, but he’s not a paperwork guy. I hope that if he didn’t have me around he would still follow through with ordination, but I know it would be more difficult for him. I think the BOOM in Oklahoma is flexible and my experience has been very positive, but I think how the BOOM manages the tension between creativity and conformity in the discernment of someone’s call is critical.

Bishops make poor decisions in the sending of pastors because of three deficiencies: lack of accurate information, lack of creativity, and lack of courage. It is our responsibility to know pastors and churches down deep. It’s the Holy Spirit’s responsibility to give us the guts to act upon that knowledge. KL 661

When bishops are asked to appoint clergy by criteria other than effectiveness in leading a congregation, we get the lousy results we deserve. KL 667

From what I experienced, the authority of bishops to appoint pastors is rarely abused and too modestly used. I was constrained, not by the structures in the Discipline, but rather by my own lack of courage, creativity, and innate clerical desire to please. KL 733

Our job, thank goodness, is not to make the pastors’ marriages turn out right, or to force their children to behave, or even to help them find happiness and contentment in ministry. We must believe that all these worthy concerns are fruit of a life that is lived in service to the mission of Christ. KL 757

The most important work of the Bishop and the DS (collectively called the cabinet) is appointment making. This uniquely Methodist phenomenon makes fascinating gossip and jealous pastors who watch with envious eyes as someone else gets the appointment that they thought they deserved. One of my friends in OK has recently received an appointment in another conference. He is 30 years old working as an associate at a large church, and he received the largest appointment in another conference: a growing church in a suburb averaging around 500 on a Sunday morning. My first thought when I heard that, “I bet there are a lot of clergy in that conference who don’t like him already.” My second thought was, “could something like that happen to me?” My third thought was, “I sure am happy for him.”

Let me announce my perspective/bias. This is probably going to come across as arrogant, and I do not intend for it to be so. I think this is probably what many young clergy think and ask when we have confidence in the gifts God has given us and the call He has placed on us. I am a young clergy who I believe I have been incredibly well equipped for ministry. I learned much as my experience as a PK. I received great formal educations at Oklahoma City University and Asbury Seminary, and I been informally educated by many who have mentored my faith and leadership in our denomination. I have been successful in my two years in pastoral ministry, a very short sample size. (Trinity UMC has grown from 71 to 109 in my 2 years including many new members. On a budget of around $160,000 we have paid over $110,000 on our debt of $150,000, and I believe we are just getting started reaching out to our community.) While I don’t know what they are, I believe God has gifted me and has a grand plan for me. My question and bias is this, “Will I have to wait my turn and slowly ‘climb the ladder? Or will the cabinet be bold and creative when God calls them to make an appointment that fits my God-given gifts and abilities, even if that means that I leap over other clergy who have served in the system faithfully?”

That’s why what Bishop Willimon said resonated so much with me. Appointment-making is not about career advancement but kingdom advancement. As long as the Methodist church is more concerned about the former (Shoot, I care about my own career advancement!) than the latter, then we will continue to decline, suffer, and lose some of our best leaders to other denominations (see Groschel, Craig), conferences, or sadly even professions. When clergy submit to the authority of the bishop and cabinet, our only true hope is not that they know us, but that they listen to the Holy Spirit who knows us better than anyone else truly can. If that appointment makes other clergy jealous, so be it. If that appointment scares me to death, so be it. If that appointment is a community I’ve never heard of, so be it. As long as there is confidence that the Spirit leads the appointment-making and not a list of salaries or average attendances, so be it or as we in the church like to say: Amen.

General Conference 2012 is currently going on, and as a 28 year-old commissioned elder in the Oklahoma Conference, I have been following General Conference largely from twitter via #gc2012. This is, of course, not the best way to follow General Conference. I don’t see the delegates talking, I’m not in the conversations, and I don’t experience the worship services. I read updates, opinions, and immediate reactions to events that happen that I don’t fully understand. (i.e. anything to do with Roberts Rules of Order, I don’t fully understand.) My experience of General Conference has largely been through a medium that lends itself to snarkiness and sarcasm instead of constructive criticism. Also the folks that are on twitter are overwhelming Americans, overwhelming white, and mostly young: characteristics that also define me.

As I read these tweets from people like me, I couldn’t help but think about one of my son’s favorite movies The Lion King and the song, “I Just Can’t Wait to be King.”

I’m gonna be the mane event

Like no king was before

I’m brushing up on looking down

I’m working on my roar

No one saying do this

No one saying be there

No one saying stop that

Free to run around all day

Free to do it all my way!

Young United Methodist clergy seem to be working on our roar. We want to be heard (important) and listened to (more important), and when we don’t feel we are heard, we will roar louder and longer by tweeting and retweeting. We just can’t wait to be Kings and Queens of Methodism or #Superbishop, when we can be free to do it all our way. Now I get it, there are issues that are incredibly important to me that affect me and other youth adults and changes I want to see, but the danger is that it becomes less about holy conversation and more about unholy entitlement. Simply because I am a young clergy or young adult (an endangered species in our denomination), you must listen to me is dangerous. Just as it is dangerous to take the advice of a retired clergy member, even if they were ineffective their last 20 years in ministry, simply because they have been there before.

So the question is how we can be listened to without merely “working on our roar.” You ready for this. Seriously, this is profound. Wait for it… Jesus and The Parable of the Talents to be more precise in Matthew 25. If you are reading this you probably know the story, so let me summarize. Master gives one slave 5 talents, another 2 talents, and another 1 talent. The one who got 5 made 5 more talents, the one who got 2 talents made 2 more, and the 1 who got 1 talent and buried it. The Master aka Jesus (sorry for the spoiler) tells the first 2 servants, “Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.”

If we want to be leaders in the denomination that we love, it is not about taking leadership that is “ours,” it is about being leaders that earn influence in the lives of others. If I want others to listen to me, then I must sincerely listen to others, but most importantly I need to be faithful to where God has led me to be. For me that means being a leader as the Pastor at Trinity UMC serving Muldrow and Roland, OK. Am I passionate about things in the local church that I am in the global church? Do I make disciples who transform the world? Am I innovative in ministry? Do I listen to the wisdom of others? Do I encourage others in their faith? Does my ministry bear fruit?

It continues in being a leader at a district and conference level. Do I go to committee meetings and speak up as I feel led in those? Do I initiate relationship with clergy that are around me regardless of their age or theological persuasion? Do I care about conference ministries and not just when I am headed on vacation and need someone to preach? Do I follow through with the commitments I make to my fellow clergy and home conference?

If I/We are faithful in these ways, then I believe that we will not just be heard because we are noisy, but we will be listened to because we are respected. We will not take leadership from the grasp of another, but we will be given leadership willingly by those who have faithfully served before us. We will not be Kings, but servants of the King of Kings.

1. Don’t trust Dick Vitale or Bob Knight for that matter.  They get paid to talk, not think.

2. Vegas knows more than you do. What 5-12 game has the lowest spread? Is there an 8-9 match that has a larger spread? Listen to them. There is a reason their lights are so bright, and their buildings so big.

3. Only once have all four number 1 seeds made the Final Four. Don’t put all four no. 1 seeds in the Final Four.  It will not happen this year.

4. A 16 has never beaten a 1.  There is a reason they are a 16 seed.

5. A 15 rarely beats a 2.  Don’t pick this unless you feel lucky or your alma-mater is playing.

6. A 14 or a 13 beats a 3 or a 4 seed practically ever year.  Take a shot with one of these, because if you get it right you are a genius or at least you can claim to be.

7. A 12 will beat a 5, maybe 2 of them.  Pick one maybe two and feel good about your chances.

8. I hate the 6-11 game, because 6 seeds can made a deep run, they have enough talent, but they are inconsistent or else they would be a higher seed.  At least one 6 seed will made it to the Sweet Sixteen.  At least one 6 seed will lose in the opening round.  Good luck.

9. Both the 7-10 games and the 8-9 games are toss ups.  Never refer to a 9 beating an 8 an upset.  It isn’t an upset.  They are the same caliber of team.  The only people who call them an upsets are “experts” who are too chicken to pick an actual upset.  A 10 over a 7 just barely qualifies for an upset, you cannot brag about your 10 seed beating a 7 seed as your upset special.

10. At least one 1 seed will not made it to the Elite Eight, yet all the reporters will be shocked when this happens, you should not be.

11. At least one 2 seed will not make it to the Sweet Sixteen, yet again all the reporters will be shocked when this happens, you should not be.

12. In looking for an upset, never pick a lower seeded team that plays the same style as a higher seeded team.  What makes us think that a  full court press fast break team with marginal athletes beat one with stellar athletes.

13. Teams that play defense tend to win more games.   Especially look for defensive-minded teams playing not-so-defensive-minded teams.  It’s pretty simple but we forget about this.

14. Guard play wins in the tourney.  It is not that post players are not important, just that guards are more important.

15. If you pick a team to go to the Final Four, they need to have at least one player who will go to the NBA.

16. At least 3 of the Final Four teams will be top 3 seeds in their regions, and a top 3 seed will win the National Championship.

17. Find yourself a Cinderella and dance with her to the Sweet 16, take a 10 seed or a 12 seed to win their first 2 games, it makes the tourney more fun.  There seem to be two or three double digit seeds that make it to the Sweet 16 every year.

18. Location, location, location.  Is there a team that is playing 30 miles from home against a team that is playing 3000 miles from home.  Advantage closer team.  Especially pay attention to lower seeds that are significantly closer than their opponents.

19. Experience matters.  Looking for an upset special?  Try going with a team that has been to the Big Dance recently or has an experienced ball club.

20. Balance your head and your heart in choosing winners.   However, you know more about the teams you watch, use that knowledge, and you will also enjoy watching the game more if you pick your favorite team to win.

21. Pick a whole bracket on what you hope to have happen that way if everything works out, you can brag about your great bracket.

22. Don’t let your bracket ruin March Madness for you.  If your bracket is busted, get over it.  It doesn’t mean you are dumb, it means that March Madness is well, madness.

                So, why do we give up something for Lent? So, we can practice the principle of fasting. Fasting is about abstaining from something for a certain amount of time. This practice of self-denial forms us and teaches us and forms us as Christian disciples, and it reminds us of Jesus’ command in Luke 9:23, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.” Denying ourselves is essential to following Jesus. And thus the point of any fast is Christ-following.  Let me say that again, the reason we fast from anything is so that we can be more Christ-like.

                The Christian principle for fasting is this: We give up something, so we can be like someone: Christ. So, before asking the question, “What to give up for Lent?” We should ask the question, where do I need to be more Christ-like? If we need to be more Christ-like in the words we say to others, then we should give up cussing or gossiping. If we need to be more Christ-like in how we take care of our body, then we should give up pop, dessert, or even add exercise. If we need to be more Christ-like in how we spend our free-time, then we should give up SportsCenter or Social Media. If we need to be more Christ-like with our money, then we should spend less on ourselves and give more to others. If we need to be more Christ-like and less selfish, then we should practice fasting once a week, so we can focus on Christ meeting our needs instead of us meeting our wants.

The hope from giving up something for Lent is that it changes us after Easter. We realize how we didn’t need to spend that much time on Facebook, buy that many clothes, or talk about other people, and we don’t return to the same people as we were before Ash Wednesday. So, before you merely give up something for Lent, spend some time in prayer asking God how you need to be more Christ-like and then be prepared to be transformed by the Holy Spirit.

More Facts: In Oklahoma since 1968, 24 churches have been chartered and 3 more are in the process of being planted.  So, less than 1 a year.  The population in Oklahoma in 1970 was 2,559,463, while the population in Oklahoma in 2010 is 3,751,351.  So for the 1.2 million new people in Oklahoma, we have 27 new United Methodist churches[1] for them.[2] These 22 charted churches (2 have since folded) include 7 of the 25 largest churches in the conference and represent an average worship attendance of 6300.  Even the great success of our new church starts has not created a UM church planting movement in Oklahoma.

Church planting should not just be to places that have received population growth (though that is incredibly important and more on that later), but it should be about going to where unchurched people are and being a church for them.  In my church setting, a church that averages about 100 located between 2 bedroom communities of Fort Smith, there are about 8000 people in a five mile radius, about 2000 of them are currently unchurched and about 1000 of those people identify themselves as Methodists. Is our church reaching these people?  Yes, we are a growing church, and I believe we have a lot to offer them, but I look at a non-denominatonal church plant in one of the communities that is 3 years old and averages well over 300 people, and I wonder could a Methodist church plant have reached them as well?  Since 1968 in Oklahoma, the Ardmore, Lawton, McAlester, Muskogee, and Stillwater districts have not had a new church successfully charter and continue existing.  The Bartlesville, Clinton, Enid, Lawton, and Woodward districts have each had 1 church successfully charter.  9 of our 12 districts have basically been non-existent in planting churches in the last 43 years![3]  Only the Tulsa District and the North and South Oklahoma City districts have planted multiple churches since 1968.

There are many towns in Oklahoma that are growing significantly.  Here is the list of Oklahoma communities with more than 3000 people who have grown 20% or more since 2000 and the respective increase of the worship attendance at the United Methodist Church in their community[4] in that time.[5]

• Blanchard 172.4% town growth, 25% church increase
• Jenks 77.1% town growth, -46% church decrease
• Piedmont UMC 56.8% town growth, 57.38% church increase
• Bixby 56.6% town growth, 3% church decrease
• Owasso 56.3% town growth, 27.49% church increase
• Hinton 46.9% town growth, -50% church decrease
• Mannford 46.8% town growth, -46% church decrease
• Newcastle 41.4% town growth, -11.3% decrease
• Tuttle 40.2% town growth, -12% church decrease
• Coweta 39.3% town growth, -34% church decrease
• Hominy 38.0% town growth, -32% church decrease
• Collinsville 27.5% town growth, 12.75% church increase
• Skiatook 37.1% town growth, 8.33% church increase
• Moore 33.9% town growth, 9% church increase
• Glenpool 33.1% town growth, no Methodist Church,
• Mustang 32.2% town growth, 5% church increase
• Broken Arrow 32% town growth 15% church increase
• Catoosa 31.2% town growth 30% church increase

I am not trying to be critical of any particular church or pastor.[6]  Only trying to show that even in our fast growing communities, our United Methodist churches are for the most part not keeping up with the growth in our communities.  Can churches do better to meet the needs of their growing communities? Sure they can.  However, our connectional nature should help us see that each particular church is not called to reach every person or people group in a community. And if the existing church is not willing to do what is needed to reach the new people in their community, then they should partner with the Conference to help plant a church in their own community.

At the risk of boring you with more facts, here is another list I have compiled.  These are the cities in Oklahoma with over 15,000 people and the number of Methodist churches for the people in the communities and the people per church number to help identify what communities could use a new United Methodist Church.[7]

• Oklahoma City-38 churches for 579,999 people= 1 church for 15,263 people
• Tulsa- 28 churches for 391,906=  1 church for every 13,996 people
• Norman-4 churches for 110,925= 1 church for every 27,732 people
• Broken Arrow 4 churches for 98,850= 1 church for every24,712 people
• Lawton-8 churches for 96,867= 1 church for every 12,108 people
• Edmond-6 churches for 81,405= 1 church for every 13,567 people
• Moore-3 churches for 55,081= 1 church for every 18,360 people
• Midwest City-3 churches for 54,371= 1 church for every 18123 people
• Enid-6 churches for 49,379= 1 church for every 8229 people
• Stillwater-3 churches for 45,688= 1 church for every 15,229 people
• Muskogee- 6 churches for 39,223= 1 church for every 6537 people
• Bartlesville- 4 churches for 35,750= 1 church for every 8937 people
• Shawnee- 5 churches for 29,857= 1 church for every 5871 people
• Owasso-1 church for 28,915
• Ponca City-4 churches for 25,387= 1 church for every 6346 people
• Ardmore-3 churches for 24,283= 1 church for every 8094 people
• Duncan-4 churches for 23,432= 1 church for every 5858 people
• Yukon- 2 churches for 22,709= 1 church for every 11354 people
• Del City-2 churches for 21,332= 1 church for every 10,666 people
• Bixby-1 church for 20,884
• Sapulpa-1 church for 20,544
• Altus-3 churches for 19,051= 1 church for every 6350 people
• Bethany-1 church for 19,051
• Sand Springs-1 church for 18,906
• Claremore-1 church for 18,581
• McAlester-2 churches for 18,383= 1 church for every 9191 people
• Mustang-1 church for 17,395
• Jenks-1 church for 16,924
• Ada-2 churches for 16,810= 1 church for every 8405 people
• El Reno-2 churches for 16,749= 1 church for every 8374 people
• Chickasha-1 church for 16,036
• Durant-1 church for 15,856
• Tahlequah-1 church for 15,753

Just by looking at this list, I see many, many places where the Methodist church could go to where the people are especially Norman, Broken Arrow, Moore[8], Midwest City, Owasso[9], Bixby, and Sapulpa whose Methodist churches have just 1 church for over 20,000 people.  In addition, these are the largest communities with no United Methodist Church: Glenpool 10,808, Slaughterville 4137, and Park Hill 3909.  So, there are 10 possible places where churches could be planted, but there are more.

What do I recommend? One, every D.S. should identify two potential communities in their district that could be best served by a new church start. Currently, we have the funding to plant one church a year in the conference that should be increased to at least two churches a year. We need to continue to identify potential church planters and train them to plant churches. In communities where we are not quite ready to plant a new church, congregations should look at starting a worship service that will reach a different demographic than what they are currently reaching. Most importantly, existing churches need to not fear the competition of a new church in their community, but instead embrace the enhancement of the Kingdom of God through new churches.