On more than on occasion, someone has approached me after a message and told me that something I said really spoke to them. When they repeat what I said, I realized that I never said that. Maybe it was the Holy Spirit, or maybe they didn’t hear me right.

I’m reminded that we are often not as clear as we think we are. And while it may be said correctly, it’s not effective communication if it’s not received appropriately. Here’s two examples.

We use abstract language that doesn’t have meaning. Instead of saying “We’re in trouble financially” and hoping that people get the hint and give, we should say, “We are $4,000 behind budget for the month and we have these particular expenses coming up.” Instead of saying, “we need kids volunteers,” we should say “we need one person relatively good with computers to work check in from 9:30 – 10:15 on Sunday.” Specific language always connects better than vague comments.

We use language that’s clear to us, but doesn’t have meaning to others. For a while, and for theological reasons, we spoke about membership at Oak Leaf Church as partnership. We’d toss around the partner work with ease, not realizing that most people didn’t know what we were talking about. Now I believe the word partner is a more accurate description of the Biblical idea of membership, but people in Georgia know what membership means. They have a frame of reference. I think the same principle holds true when trying to redefine a church service as an “experience” or a “gathering.” Do people in your context naturally understand those terms? Do you talk about KidZone like people who don’t go to your church know what it is? When it comes to naming things and communicating information, it’s probably better to choose clear over cute.

Running a little special on the blog this week.  If you purchase Docs & Forms (which is basically a collection of every document, form, system and strategy used at Oak Leaf Church) between today and September 12, I’ll give you any other product for free.  Choose from…

• Start Strong:  Curriculum for your a core group or launch team
• Long Live the Sermon:  How to Write a Bible-Based, Gospel-Focused Sermon
• From the Top Down:  My book on Church Planting
• Theology 101:  This is a four part class with a customizable student guide and leaders guide, part of a series of Bible classes
• Start Here: An eight part class with customizable resources for new Christians or those wanting to learn more about Christianity
• Introduction to the Old Testament:  This is a four part class with a customizable student guide and leaders guide, one of the foundational classes at our church.
• Group Leader Training:  Practical training for children, student and adult small group leaders, with customizable materials.

After your purchase, just send me an email and let me know what you’d like for free, and I’ll send you the instant download link.

A team gets hot towards the end of the season and makes an unexpected run into the playoffs.

A series of product launches lead a company into market domination.

A church experiences an unexplained jumps in attendance.

The bell curve of life and leadership is really a series of smaller bell curves.  A little win + a little win + another little win leads to huge momentum.  In Good to Great, Jim Collins calls this the flywheel.  Momentum in church comes from the blessing of the Holy Spirit combined with effective leadership.  It’s hard work, and you usually don’t experience a breakthrough without the build up.

If you look at our attendance trends over the past couple of years, you would notice that attendance often grows and declines with the season.  While there are stand-alone high days (like Easter), and certain spikes or declines attributed to specific events (move to the movie theater or staff member leaving), it’s helpful to look at the year from the perspective of seasons.

Two of our prime growth seasons are the first of the year (January) and back to school (August to Labor Day).  Chances are, your church has a pattern of growth as well.  And if you are smart, you will consider when you kick off a new series or plan a new initiative.

But if you’re smarter, you’ll consider the series or season before the initiative, and the series or season that comes after it as well.  If you’re doing a series on the Gospel, why not lead up to that with an entire series on evangelism or inviting?  Why not use one entire series to leverage the next one?  Instead of just advertising the coming series, let’s connect what’s coming to our people, and inspire them to invite.  Not just with an announcement or a video or by providing an invite card, but with a sermon series designed to communicate the Biblical imperative of evangelism.

And why not plan the series that immediately follows an evangelistic series around Bible reading, prayer, or other next steps? Instead of looking at one series, consider what comes before it and what comes after it.

We get 52 weekends a year to invite people to church services and make a big deal about Jesus, and Labor Day weekend is no different. We were blessed to have our good friend Tony Nolan speaking at all four services (three in Cartersville, one in Canton).

Thirty-five people prayed to receive Christ, came forward, and filled out next step cards! That’s 35 people who are heading to heaven. 35 changed directions. That’s a big, big deal!

Big thanks to all the volunteers who served on this holiday weekend, and to everyone who invited people to church. And a BIG thanks to Tony for allowing God to speak through him and sharing his story. God is up to something at Oak Leaf Church, and it’s an HONOR to be able to join him.

Even though I wasn’t teaching…I didn’t “skip” church…actually, I attended THREE great church services at THREE great churches. Next weekend, we continue the Nehemiah series, and I’ll be back to continue the series. Got some really good stuff coming in the next few weeks.

I once spoke at a week-long camp where the worship leader couldn’t decide if he wanted to play music or be the camp speaker.  I put him on the clock once, and during a five-song set, he talked for a total of 17 minutes.  I told the camp organizers that they could have saved money and had him speak and lead worship.

Most church services already come with a sermon…they don’t need another one.  And when I’m done talking, I don’t need a worship leader to recap my entire message.   I wonder how worship leaders would feel if I picked up a guitar and led a couple more songs after their set.

I am in favor of some explanation during the worship set.  In fact, if you’ve got time for four songs, I would rather worship leaders lead three songs and take a few minutes to share what God is doing in their lives or talk about the meaning of the song.  Some songs are just more powerful and meaningful with explanation, especially if you’re singing a hymn with the word “Ebeneezer” in it.

Worship leaders, if you’re going to intro songs, please bring a little more than “let’s lift our voices,” or “God is good” or “we come together to blah blah blah.”  Don’t talk a lot and say a little.

#1 – Using the bathroom during the sermon.

Please use the bathroom or get a drink of water before the service!  I don’t know why, but more people in our services are getting up in the middle of the message to go to the restroom.  Seriously, I’ve never been in the middle of delivering a sermon and had to walk off the stage to use the restroom.  I need you to be an adult about this and figure it out.   Someone got up in a recent service to go try and get more coffee. That just baffles me.

Not only is that extremely rude to the person preaching the Word of God, it’s distracting to everyone in your vicinity, people who are trying to focus on the message.

I’m directing the ushers to save seats in the back of the room for those who get up.  This includes, kids, teenagers and adults…once the sermon starts…nobody should be moving. If you have a kid in the service that needs to use the restroom and you get up,  you’re going to need to watch the rest of the message on the TV monitors upstairs.

Glad that’s off my chest.

My friend Vince recently launched a church in Las Vegas, one of the most unreached cities in the world, and he’s doing a great job. Verve is flat out reaching people for Jesus and Vince is a great leader.

You have the opportunity to learn from Vince and Verve in an event they are hosting called Vault. It’s a church planting lab where you will learn how to start a church that will actually reach lost people. It’s October 18-20 and it is only $100.  You might even win that back at a Blackjack table.  I am going to this event, not as a speaker, but as an attender.  I think you should go too.

Church planters are generally known more for their passion than for their professionalism, but a dose of class isn’t a bad thing. Here are a few tips on how you can stay classy.

• Don’t preach the same sermon series as a church in your area, unless it’s organized and planned.  Either  you or the other church will look like thieves.
• Don’t put road signs in front of another church or at a place where the church meets. It looks like you’re competing.
• Don’t put your church road signs right next to other church road signs.  Again, it appears to people in the community that you’re competing.
• If you are inspired by a design idea, get permission to use it and then change the colors, fonts or wording.
• Don’t use phrases like “not your grandmas church” or “the way church should be” – that’s mildly insulting to lots of great churches.
• Tuck in your shirt from time to time.  Grown ups and professionals will take you a little more seriously.
• If you’re going to visit a church and want a tour, let someone know you’re coming in advance.  We love meeting church planters and will give you a personal guide.
• Don’t ask for discounts on everything.  Grace is free, but some things cost money.

What would you add to this list?  How can we do a better job of being classy?

I borrowed an idea from my friend Tadd Grandstaff and put a new display in our lobby this weekend.  We have three main volunteer areas in our church (family ministry, guest services, and production) and we created small cards for five different volunteer areas in each ministry.  The card has a short description of the opportunity and contact information.  If someone is interested, they can just grab a card, and a bunch of people did that over the weekend.  Here’s a picture of the simple wall display (metal to match the look of our building; simple clips to hold the cards), and a closer look at three of the fifteen cards.

We all have dreams, but every now and then, God plants a vision form something in our hearts.  After four months of waiting on the Lord, fasting, and praying for an opportunity, Nehemiah asks permission of the King to travel more than 750 miles from Susa to Jerusalem to rebuild the walls of the city, walls that had been broken down for more than 140 years.

When he arrives, he inspects the damage. Jim Collins says that leaders have to confront the brutal facts.  If you want your marriage to get better, then you need to be honest about how bad things really are.  If you want your kids to be better, then be honest and don’t make excuses for their behavior.  Many people swimming in debt don’t even know how much they really owe.  If we don’t understand the depths of our own sin, then we will not fully appreciate the grace of God.

Next, he inspires the people. “Come, let us build the wall of Jerusalem,” he says to people who had been living amid the rubble for the last several years.  He tells the people that he hand of God was upon Him, and they respond.  This wasn’t just a good idea, it was a God idea.

Finally, He organizes the work. Chapter 3 is a long list of names, a fairly boring list of people and where they worked on the wall.  Might even make you really wonder if all the Bible is the inspired Word of God.  I’m reminded of several things.

• GOD USES PEOPLE TO ACCOMPLISH HIS PURPOSE. The creator of the universe could have easily spoken these walls into existence.  But instead, God chose to raise up a leader named Nehemiah and a bunch of people to do the work.I don’t have to serve…I get to serve.  God has granted us an incredible OPPORTUNITY to be a part of His work.  Stop acting like you’re doing God a favor and start being grateful that He is willing to used a jacked up person like you.
• GOD WANTS YOU TO USE YOUR GIFTS. Goldsmiths, blacksmiths, woodworkers are put to work in areas that match their gifts.   The same things that make someone successful in teaching, business, etc. can make a difference in advancing the Kingdom of God. I Corinthians 12 says that the Holy Sprit gives every Christian a gift “for the common good.”  Ephesians 4:12 says that people have gifts “for the building up of the body of Christ.”
• PEOPLE WORKED ON THE PART OF THE WALL CLOSEST TO THEIR HOUSE. What do you care about?  Or what frustrates you?  Parents of teenagers ought to get involved with student ministry.  Parents of preschoolers should contribute to family ministry programming.  If you care about something deeply, then don’t just complain…get involved.
• LEADING MEANS SERVING. D.L. Moody said, “There are many who are willing to do great things for the Lord, but few of us are willing to do little things.”  If you want to play in the band, try serving on the production.  If you want to teach on a big stage, try leading a small group.  If you want to be on an important team, set up chairs on the weekend.
• THERE IS NO MENIAL WORK WHEN YOU ARE WORKING FOR THE LORD. Doors, gates, rocks doesn’t sound like ministry, it sounds like construction.  I know you’re tempted to think that some work is spiritual and other work isn’t, but that’s not what the Bible teaches. Colossians 3:23 says “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men…” When we do things “unto the Lord,” then it’s sacred work.  Don’t ever say you’re “just” a volunteer, and don’t give into the notion that your “secular” job isn’t ministry.