Now, however, it’s impossible to ignore what is quickly taking over.  This new urban – the dense and diverse – is transforming and shaping our culture, society and neighborhoods.  As leaders, we’d be foolish to make our mission anything other than the city in its entirety- beautiful parts and complicated. There’s no more looking the other way.

That is why In Plain Sight seeks to develop a holistic strategy for discipling America’s true urban: those in plain sight.

This free resource includes:

• A wholistic strategy for making disciples
• A primer for discipleship in your group of church
• Insights and perspectives that will shake the status quo
• A how-to manual on reaching people you have previously overlooked

Download from Verge Network

Free eBook – In Plain Sight: A Primer For Reclaiming Discipleship In The Local Church, by Pastors.com Staff, is an article from Pastors.com. © 2012 Pastors.com.

Most modern books on leadership, whether Christian or secular, give the same advice – be confident, never admit fear, maintain control and be composed, be convincing and never show weakness. But Jesus had a different style altogether. Instead of leading from a position of strength (lording authority over people), Jesus led from a position of weakness, becoming a servant.

The fact is, everybody has weaknesses. And our weaknesses are multi-faceted. We have physical, intellectual, emotional, and spiritual weaknesses. The question is, what do you do with your weaknesses? While most people deny, defend, or excuse their weaknesses, Christian leaders can embrace them and ask God to use them! When God works through weak people, His power is shown more clearly!

Let me define what I’m talking about when I use the word weakness. I’m not talking about a character flaw that can and should be changed. A weakness is any limitation in my life I inherited or can’t change. How do you lead through weaknesses you didn’t ask for and don’t have the ability to change?

1. I must admit my weaknesses.

In other words, I need to stop pretending to have it all together, stop hoping my weaknesses will go away if I ignore them, and stop making excuses and blaming others, which only hurts my credibility in the end. At Saddleback Church, we only hire staff members who are willing to be honest about their weaknesses. We don’t want the consequences of insecure leaders who infect the staff from within.

2. I must be grateful for my weaknesses.

The limitations God allows in our lives are actually blessings in disguise! Our limitations guarantee that God will show up to help. The also prevent me from becoming arrogant, and nothing will limit my effectiveness in ministry more than arrogance.

I was born with a brain disorder  that makes public speaking excruciatingly painful for me most of the time. My brain overreacts to adrenaline. My vision goes blurry and sometimes everything goes black. Then I get severe headaches and dizziness, hot flashes, and a sense of absolute panic! But I’ve learned that my greatest weakness is also my greatest blessing because God gets the glory for using me anyway.

3. I must openly share my weaknesses.

It’s called being vulnerable. I share my weaknesses by admitting that there are limits to my knowledge, my ability, and my energy. And being open is always risky. There will always be people in your congregation who don’t want you to be human. They’d rather put a halo on you and pretend you are never tempted and that you’re above the crass realities of life.

Refusing to be vulnerable is dishonest and hypocritical, but even worse, it sets up a scenario in which people become disillusioned with Christian leaders when your humanness eventually shows – and it always will.

Why is it so important to reveal your feelings?

• It liberates you from the stress of keeping up a false image.
• Some faults won’t budge until you confess them to others.
• You can’t experience grace without weaknesses and you can’t minister without grace.
• It’s the fastest way to endear yourself to others.
• Honesty supports your credibility, and people only follow leaders they trust.
• It encourages others to throw away their masks.
• It helps your preaching to speak with transparency.

When you share your strengths- you create competition. When you share your weaknesses =  community!  

So what do you share? As you think about how you will relate and communicate to others in the next week, think about how you will share these five things:

• Failures.
• Feelings.
• Faults.
• Frustrations.
• Fears.

Your humanity is actually one of your greatest assets in ministry. To deny your humanity is not only dumb, it decreases your effectiveness. Do you want to be used by God? Do you want his blessing on your ministry? Do you want people to give the glory to God? Walk in total dependence on God!

How to Lead (and Preach) Through Your Weaknesses, by Rick Warren, is an article from Pastors.com. © 2012 Pastors.com.

Though I’ve not been a church consultant for several years, I do seem to see churches through consultant’s eyes. That reality has been especially apparent as I visited many churches during the past seven months. So, even if I am the guest preacher, I enter the church grounds as a guest. I drive my own rental car, and I have to find parking and entrances just like everyone else.

So what I have found these past seven months? I could give you a fairly extensive consultation report about the churches, but I prefer to distill my words into just a few helpful hints. Each of these issues clearly needed addressing in most of the churches I visited.

1. Please have plentiful signage on the outside and inside. You can easily forget that we first-time guests don’t have a clue where to park or where to enter. Most of the churches did not help us either. In one church the signage was so bad, I was uncertain if I was still on church property. Take another look at all your signage from the perspective of a first-time guest.
2. Many of your websites are terrible. Please make them user friendly. I want to see the worship times clearly on the home page. I want to be able to find the church’s physical address. I want to know what the church believes. I found out a lot more about potluck meals and senior trips than I did doctrine and worship times. Most of the websites were designed for those who knew a lot about the church.
3. Show me where guests park. I recently humorously chastised a pastor for not having parking spots for guests. He thought he had me when he took me to a place that had 12 guests parking places. I then asked him how a first-time guest would locate these spots. His meager response was telling: “Oh.”
4. Most of us will need to find a restroom. Please make them clear and obvious. Okay, that especially applies to someone my age. It seems like, in many churches, we have hidden restrooms so well that even Indiana Jones couldn’t find them. I am thankful for a church member who gave me clear directions to the restroom; I just wish it had been the men’s room.
5. Show me how to follow along in the Bible. I am the exception among most guests in that I always bring a Bible. But I watch preachers closely as they begin to preach from a particular biblical text. Very few told me to turn to a pew Bible. Some did put the text on the screen; that was helpful. Most made little effort to help guests follow along with the specific passage that was being preached.
6. Help me to know how to connect to a small group. You will likely lose members who attend worship only. You will likely keep those members who are in small groups or Sunday school classes. It’s that important. Since it’s that important, it should be mentioned in every worship service, particularly for first-time guests. It was mentioned in only two worship services of the churches I attended over the past seven months.
7. Help me know how to join the church. As a first time guest, it is not likely I will join the church my first visit. But I do want to know how someone joins the church. I would like to know the process for membership. I only heard that information from one of the churches I visited.

Though I became a bit road weary, I loved my recent excursions to churches ranging from 80 in attendance to megachurches. Indeed, I do love local churches. But many of them could make it a little easier and a little more pleasant next time I visit—or, more importantly, the next time someone from their community visits.

What do you think of my seven hints? Are they helpful? What would you add?

Seven (Hopefully) Helpful Hints after Seven Months of Visiting Churches, by Thom S. Rainer, is an article from Pastors.com. © 2012 Pastors.com.

It is common for all good leaders to feel unready to lead. Moses, Solomon, Jeremiah and Timothy were all reluctant to lead. But as he did for them, God promises to us, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5).

Remember, you don’t have to try to do this alone. Pray right now for God to help you build a healthy leadership team. If you can enlist a co-leader, your experience will be much richer.

This is your chance to involve as many people as you can in building a healthy group. All you have to do is call and ask people to help—you’ll be surprised at the response.

Recruiting A Co-Leader, by Brett Eastman, is an article from Pastors.com. © 2012 Pastors.com.

Join Ron Sylvia, Dave Page and the NEXT Team as they take you from conception . . to launch . .  to leading a new church. Whether you are currently in a church plant, thinking of planting a church, or in need of re-launching a stalled church, this conference is for you. And you will have the opportunity to walk away with $10,000 to help fund your church plant!  Learn more about $10k Giveaway here.

Nuts & Bolts is a no hype, practical How-To event taught by experienced church planters who are in the trenches. You’ll learn how to:

• Recruit a Launch Team
• Cast a Compelling Vision
• Teach for Life Change
• Take Your Personal Leadership to the Next Level
• Raise Financial Resources
• Build the Worship Experience
• Launch Larger Than You Ever Thought Possible
• Capture the Attention of Your Community

The cost is only $59 per person. Lunch, snacks and materials are provided.

For a chance to walk away with $10k to help fund your church plant, here’s what you need to do:

• Register for the Nuts & Bolts Conference in Ocala, FL Aug 27 & 28
• Email your Business Plan aka Master Plan, Church Prospectus here
• Attend the Nuts & Bolts Conference in Ocala, FL.

Business Plans will be reviewed by a team of seasoned church planting leaders who are currently pastoring their own church plant.  Prior to the conference, a planter assessment and StrengthsFinder profile assessment will be required of the final 5.  Qualified applicants will go through an interview process while in Ocala. Check out this sample Business Plan and find more on our Resources page.  But remember, your Church Business Plan should be based on your calling and the vision God has placed in you in the community He has called you to.

*All Business Plans received will be made available to other church planters following the conference to help them through the process.

NEXT Church Planting Network Is Giving Away $10,000, by Pastors.com Staff, is an article from Pastors.com. © 2012 Pastors.com.

If you’re preaching a series in this strain, please take a moment to comment below and tell us…

• What’s your approach?
• What movies will you address?
• How do you make sure the message is biblically-based?

Feel free to include links to your series on your church webpage or your blog. We’ll put together a follow-up article including the best ideas!

Also, here’s a free resource from LifeChurch.tv Open from their At the Movies 2012.

Now… go!

Open Thread: At the Movies Sermon Series, 2013 Edition, by Brandon Cox, is an article from Pastors.com. © 2012 Pastors.com.

Favorite Tweets from the Week, by Brandon Cox, is an article from Pastors.com. © 2012 Pastors.com.

Let me share with you how I’ve managed to motivate myself. Here are seventeen things you can do to keep yourself motivated.

1. Put your plans on paper.

Write out what you want to accomplish. Spell it out. Dawson Trotman said, ”Thoughts disentangle themselves when they pass through the lips and the fingertips.” If I can say it and I can write it down, then it’s clear. If I haven’t written it down, then it’s vague.

A lot of us go around with anxiety which is this free-floating, vague fear that I’m not getting it all accomplished. Just the very fact of putting it down, a lot of times, gives credence and relief to your mind and you’re able to focus on it.

2. Break big tasks into small steps.

When I’m preparing a sermon, I think, “What do I have to do? I’ve got to collect the verses, study the verses, look for illustrations, think through quotes, organize the presentation.” Think through all the steps. Sermons don’t just fall out automatically. There are some logical things you have to go through.

3. Decide how you want to start

Ask yourself what needs to be done first.

4. Establish checkpoints and check your progress.

Set some deadlines. Write a date on each of the tasks.

5. Know the difference between “I can’t” and “I don’t want to.”

It was Ben Franklin who first said, “There’s no gain without pain.” The secret of success in one sentence: Successful people have developed the habit of doing things unsuccessful people don’t feel like doing.

6. Remind yourself of the benefits of completing the job.

Jesus did this. The Bible says in Hebrews, that Jesus endured the cross because He looked to the joy beyond it. He looked beyond the cross and saw the result of it.

7. Do a small part of it right now.

In other words, Get started. Do a small part of it right now. Don’t stall. Take it a bite at a time and give it five minutes.

8. Be optimistic.

I have found this to be so important in accomplishing large amounts of activities and projects and programs. Optimism creates energy.

9. Establish and action environment.

Clear everything else off your desk except for the task at hand.

17 Tips for Staying Productive In Ministry, by Rick Warren, is an article from Pastors.com. © 2012 Pastors.com.

For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for His name in serving the saints. – Hebrews 6:10

We all want God to fondly remember our efforts.  That is why I love that passage from Hebrews.  And that is why I love serving pastors and church leaders.  God promises us that He will remember the love we show in serving the saints.

As a member of The Rocket Company, the following are 10 ways that I attempt to show love to and serve pastors and church leaders:

1. Start A Conversation – People often come to pastors with suggestions and answers to all their problems.  It is far more productive and disarming to start conversations with church leaders prior to making suggestions.
2. Tell Their Stories – If you are a regular reader of this site, you know how much I love profiling church leaders and telling what God is doing through their lives.  Point to them and promote them.
3. Be A Great Listener – The most underrated skill great leaders have is listening skills.  Pastors love talking about their churches.  Don’t interrupt them.
4. Ask Great Questions – Wisdom is found in great questions, not answers.  One of my favorite questions to ask church leaders is “Pastor, what issues are you currently facing that you are hoping The Rocket Company can be a solution for?”  And then sit back and be a good listener.
5. Put Energy Towards Forward Progress – As churches grow, their problems become more complex.  Think about it.  An amoeba (small, single-cell organism) thinks only of forward progress.  Human beings focus on staying alive.  You have to move church leaders beyond survival, beyond simply meeting budget.  Listen to the church’s mission and vision and then leverage energy towards forward progress.
6. Check Your Personal Motives – Today at www.ChurchLeaders.com, Brian Ormewrote these words: “Much like Judas, hucksters have little — or nothing — invested in the spiritual truths they market, and at the end of the day it’s about the popularity and prosperity — not the prosperity of others, but their own. In reality, the religious huckster is a form of atheism — belittling the powerful message of grace with no real belief in a sovereign God.”
7. Honor Those Who Refer Others – We do a great job of thanking the new pastors and church leaders we serve.  I am about to lead a charge of showing extravagant gratitude to those who refer others.  No one should be more valued than those who invite their friends to church and who refer you business.
8. Understand What The Christian Community Wants And Needs – In the last 10 years alone, we have seen the explosion of church plants, mutli-sites, the birth and death of the emergent church, and the rise of pastors like Perry Noble and Steven Furtick.  The church of Jesus Christ is always moving forward, always advancing, and I must love her enough to grow and change with her while not abandoning my core beliefs.
9. Provide Solutions – After listening to pastors, understanding their needs, and hearing their story, there comes a point in every conversation when I say, “Pastor, based upon what you’re saying, here’s what I think we ought to do.”  I then ask the pastor if I’m on the right track because I could be wrong.  A pastor’s time is too valuable to waste.
10. Bring Closure - Pastors and church leaders do not want to sign up for something that never ends.  Give them a timeline for when they can realistically expect solutions to take place.

If you do these 10 things, you will be a person who shows pastors and church leaders love and serves them well.

10 Ways To Show Love To Pastors And Church Leaders, by Brian K. Dodd, is an article from Pastors.com. © 2012 Pastors.com.

Download from Exponential

Free eBook – Say No to Discipleship?!?, by Pastors.com Staff, is an article from Pastors.com. © 2012 Pastors.com.

How do you build a muscle? You build it by using it. Similarly, you need to build the servant’s heart by working it.

One way to do this is by rotating leadership. Think about the gifts and abilities of your group members. At the end of your meeting, ask him or her if they’d be willing to facilitate your next meeting. Point them to all the leader helps and reassure them that it’s just for one meeting.

Another thing you can do to develop a servant’s heart in each group member is to take on a group service project. Your pastor is probably up to his eyeballs in responsibilities. Your group can exercise a servant heart by volunteering to do something to help out the church. Just phone the church office and find out if there’s something you can do for him for a couple of hours on a Saturday. You’ll have a great time, it will draw your group together, and your heart muscles will be a little stronger.

Remember, the more your group sees you relate to them out of a servant’s heart, the more they’ll want to do the same. Don’t worry about being the perfect leader this week. Just look for ways you can serve and love your people, and believe that they can grow as servants of God.

The Bible says God gives grace to the humble; as you go before him in humility and seek his guidance for this meeting, you can be confident of receiving his grace.

Give Your Servant’s Heart A Workout, by Brett Eastman, is an article from Pastors.com. © 2012 Pastors.com.

Watch and listen as Pastor Kerry Shook, from Fellowship of the Woodlands, interviews Nick Vujicic, a man born without arms or legs. You are loved, even in your pain!

Pastor Kerry Shook Interviews Nick Vujicic, by Pastors.com Staff, is an article from Pastors.com. © 2012 Pastors.com.

Quite honestly, the phrase “passionless pastor” is an oxymoron to me. The phrase is incongruent and contradictory. How in the world can a God-called pastor lack passion in his life?

Our Lord had passion. He was driven with an intense desire to redeem people from their sins. Even the last week of His life is referred to as “Passion Week.” Those final days were filled with joyous passion as the people threw their palm branches and blankets before Him as He rode down the Palm Sunday pathway. The people were filled with tears as He prayed over the city of Jerusalem. These days were even comprised of immense and intense emotion as He became so disturbed by the marketing and commerce that occurred in the Temple.

From the humility He showed by washing the feet of His followers, to His last supper with them, to falling on His knees in prayer in Gethsemane, to His betrayal by one of His followers, to the injustice of His trials, to the denial by one of His beloved true disciples, to the loneliness of His last hours, to the ruthless scourging moments before His walk to the cross, to the nails driven into His hands and feet, to His desire to win the thief on the cross, to becoming the sin of the entire world, to His separation from His Father, and to His final breath, our Lord Jesus exuded passion. He could not have accomplished His life purpose without passion. Neither can you.

I am amazed at the lack of passion

Sometimes when I listen to a pastor of a ministry or a church stand before a group and try to move them towards a worthy goal, I am amazed at their lack of passion. I often think to myself,“Do they really think people will be moved by their life and words — which appear to be so passionless?” A major part of leadership is rallying people toward a better future. The role of a spiritual leader is to rally people toward fulfilling what they believe is God’s will for their life and church. Pastor, whether you lead a student group of 25 people, a worship service of 100 people, a Bible Study for 10 people that want to help you plant a church in your city, or teach before a classroom of students, or preach before thousands, you will not move or keep one person without passion.

Pastors Should Be Most Passionate About

1: Their personal walk with Jesus Christ

Since Christ saved you by His grace from your sin, He desires greatly for you to now grow in His grace. This cannot be done without a devotional life built rock-solid upon pouring the Word of God in your life daily. This will not be done without prayer becoming one of your major priorities in your life and ministry. A pastor who is passionless is usually a pastor who is not having an intimate, consistent, devoted time with God daily. I have found in my life and leadership, that the greater my devotional life is, the more intensely passionate my leadership becomes.

2: Their calling to the ministry of the Gospel

Most pastors have lost the thrill of their calling into the ministry of the Gospel. We can blame our circumstances or the churches we have served through the years for dampening our passion, but if we have lost some of our passion, it is ultimately on us. Our passion should not come from the praise of men, but from the God of Heaven who chose us to give our life to the ministry of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We have forgotten the humility of asking, “Why me, Lord?” and exchanged it with the pride of declaring, “I deserve more.”

When a pastor is more passionate about his golf game than he is about God Himself, he needs to resign. When a pastor is more passionate about his favorite sports team than he is about the message he is going to preach on Sunday, then he needs to resign. When a pastor is more passionate about the numbers in his retirement account than he is about the number of people his church is reaching and discipling for Christ, then he needs to resign. When a pastor is more moved by planning something for himself than he is about planning for his church, then he needs to resign. A pastor without passion cannot and will not lead the church effectively.

3: Their opportunity to see lives changed

Just think about this pastor, you have the privilege to give everyday of your life to seeing the lives of people changed. One can touch a life by selling them some kind of apparel to wear. One can affect a person’s day by giving them food to eat. Another can alter a person’s future by teaching them about economics. But pastor, you can see a life changed today and forever when you lead someone into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Realize that God has let you give every waking hour of your life to leading a ministry or an entire church towards the common goal of sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with every person in the world and to making disciples of all the nations.

If this does not fire you up, light your jets, and help you get up each morning with a greater passion, then it is time to rethink your life, reignite your walk, and renew your calling. Get away one day. Draw aside to Jesus. Confess where you are. Open God’s Word. Lay before Him. Open your spiritual ears. Plead for a Word. Journal your thoughts. Act on His Word. Return with a resolve. Share with others what God has said.

Pastors and Their Passion, by Ronnie Floyd, is an article from Pastors.com. © 2012 Pastors.com.

1. Working the foyer before and after the services (I worked that foyer like a politician running for office!)

2. The thrill and nervousness of having to come up with fresh sermons every week.

3. Awkward side hugs (actually I don’t miss those!)

4. Delegating the tough counseling situations to the elder who was giving me the hardest time

5. My mom yelling answers to my rhetorical questions right in the middle of my sermons.

6. Seeing people put their faith in Jesus every week during the services.

7. Working on staff with life-long friends.

8. The people: watching them go from new convert to disciple to disciple multiplier over the course of time.

9. Being a pastor that FULLY supports the youth ministry.

10. Sunday afternoon naps (it was my ritual after preaching 3 services!)

Would I ever go back to being a preaching pastor? No. To be honest I was way better at the preaching part than the pastoring part. But, preaching at Grace Church this weekend brought back some good memories of helping to lay the foundation for what is a great church today. I’m thrilled that Rick is doing such a great job as preaching pastor at Grace. He’s good at both parts (preaching and pastoring.)

As for me? I’ll stick to energizing a generation to evangelizing their world through Dare 2 Share. Unfortunately that still comes with awkward side hugs!

Viva LA Cause!

10 Things I Miss About Being a Pastor, by Greg Stier, is an article from Pastors.com. © 2012 Pastors.com.

I’ve said many times that unconnected people are one tough thing away from not being at your church. Loss of a job.  Divorce or separation.  A devastating diagnosis.  A child in trouble.

Here are 5 more things you need to know about connecting unconnected people:

1. Unconnected people have different appetites and rarely respond to menu items that appeal to the core and committed.  If you’re finding it hard to connect beyond the usual suspects, you might need to take a careful look at the topics of studies you’re offering.  See also, How to Choose Curriculum That Launches Groups and Does Your Topic Connect with Your True Customer.
2. Unconnected people are wary of long commitments.  When you promote a short-term study that’s 13 weeks (Financial Peace, Experiencing God, some Beth Moore studies), you need to know that unconnected people hear “lifetime commitment.”  What’s the right length?  I’ve found that 6 weeks is just about ideal.  Lyman Coleman has said many times that 6 weeks is short enough to commit to and long enough to help people begin to feel connected.  Lyman’s right.
3. Unconnected people respond to test-drives and putting toes-in-the-water.  In addition to offering shorter short-term opportunities, making it clear that it’s “just a test-drive” helps unconnected people feel more comfortable putting their toe in the water.  If they know they can have a taste and opt out if it’s not for them, they’ll be much more likely to give it a try.  Language is so important.  The power of the right words cannot be overstated.
4. Unconnected people connect easiest when the first step out of the auditorium is familiar.  Listen to very many new attendees at your church and you’ll often learn that just getting up the nerve to come to a weekend service was a real challenge.  I’ve talked with many who’ve told me they drove by many times before they ever pulled into the parking lot.  I’ve had a number tell me they made it to the parking lot more than once and couldn’t get out of their cars.  Want these same people to join a small group?  Better give them a way to attend an on-campus study or small group connection as their first step.  See also, How to Calm an Unconnected Person’s Second Greatest Fear.
5. Unconnected people attend less frequently than connected people.  Have a connecting opportunity coming up?  If you want unconnected people to hear about it, you better keep in mind that promoting the event several weeks in a row is essential.  See also,Why You Must Make the HOST Ask Several Weeks in a Row.

5 Things You Need to Know About Connecting Unconnected People, by Mark Howell, is an article from Pastors.com. © 2012 Pastors.com.

I think there are a lot of misconceptions about introverts in ministry. I don’t think it’s impossible to be an introvert and also a really good pastor. In fact, I believe we need introverts. Not only are they good thinkers, but they are really good connectors too. While extroverts can seem to be the most exciting person at a party, sometimes introverts have an ability to connect with a person one-on-one that an extrovert lacks.

So how does an introvert manage his life as a pastor?

First, you have to understand yourself.

I had to realize I was an introvert before I could do anything about it. It’s been a process of self-discovery for me to develop a system and strategy that works. That process doesn’t always go seamlessly, but pastors who don’t know their own tendencies run a high risk of burning out.

If you don’t know your social tendencies there are many personality tests that can point you in the right direction. Take these tests and use the information to help guide you in the way you do your job, not to tell you what job you have to do.

You don’t have to quit your job just because you’re an introvert!

Second, set good expectations of yourself as an introvert.

Be open with your staff, and even your congregation, about this part of you. Explain that you care about people but need time by yourself. Educate them. Also, ask people who work with or near you: Are you an introvert or an extrovert? Share about yourself and learn about others. Start the conversations.

This will help you set good boundaries with each other, and good boundaries establish strong partnerships.

Finally, organize your own social calendar.

You cannot be all things to all people, or you will be nothing to anybody. Even if you are an extrovert, the same is true. You have to be realistic about your practical needs and do what you can to meet those needs. Here are some really practical things I’ve done.

Schedule down-time for yourself on trips.

There are often people who want to meet with me in other cities. I like to honor their requests, but my travel schedule is also demanding. I have to take good care of myself, or I will get sick or depressed.

Take an extrovert with you to meetings.

I started doing this years ago so that I’m not the one primarily responsible for driving the conversation. When the pressure is off, it actually makes it easier to contribute my ideas. This is all part of building a teamof people who help cover my weaknesses.

Plan days and times during your work week to be by yourself and think or study.

These are the practical steps you have to take to care for yourself so that you can continue your ministry.

Finally, connecting with people is a skill. And like any skill, this is a skill you can learn.

Are you an introvert or an extrovert?

Help! I’m an Introvert… And a Pastor, by Justin Lathrop, is an article from Pastors.com. © 2012 Pastors.com.

I held my daughters a little closer and prayed for Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight (names matter– they are real people, not objects).

A Global Reality for Millions

I cannot help thinking about the fact that this is, well, a horrible reality for several other families across the world. Yes, it is unusual that a man kidnapped and help hostage in this manner in a major American city, but kidnapping and sexual slavery is not unheard of– it is shockingly common around the world.

You just don’t hear about it because it is done as a business and not as a news story playing out on global television. But sexual slavery is a very real occurrence every day– and it is not what many people think. And, though trafficking may not have been involved here, it is deeply connected to such crimes globally.

As the FBI explains,

Many people probably remember popular movies and television shows depicting pimps as dressing flashy and driving large fancy cars. More important, the women–adults–consensually and voluntarily engaged in the business of prostitution without complaint. This characterization is extremely inaccurate, nothing more than fiction. In reality, the pimp traffics young women (and sometimes men) completely against their will by force or threat of force; this is human sex trafficking.

Let’s consider some stats and solutions.

What are the Facts?

First, some stats about this horrible reality.

Millions of men and women are enslaved around the world. Many experience sexual victimization as part of that enslavement.

Millions.

Exact numbers are hard to pin down. (which makes sense, since traffickers do not want people to know.) However, it would not be unreasonable to say that millions of people are trapped in sexual slavery right now– and many millions more are slaves.

The State Department puts out a helpful document each year and cited a number of 4.5 million people, mainly women and children, trapped in sexual slavery. (The report is worth your time.)

So, as we think of the horror of Cleveland, let it cause you to act to defend girls in Colombia as well.

And in Moldova.

And Thailand.

And more…

What Can We Do?

Second, here are some ways you can help.

a. Advocate that law enforcement recognize that most prostitutes are the victims and the traffickers and John’s are the real criminals.

b. Stand up against porn. It dehumanizes and objectifies women– as objects are to be used, making sex trafficking more acceptable.

c. Educate yourself and your church. On the Sunday I preached at ChangePoint Church in Alaska, their women’s pastor announced she was joining the governor’s task force on human trafficking. ChangePoint is involved and educating their church– you can as well.

d. Get active in movements that are already engaged including sexual trafficing:
– International Justice Mission
– End it movement (recently profiled on CNN).

The horror those three girls faced in Cleveland is faced by MILLIONS young girls (and boys) around the world. They are just not yet rescued– and are still alone and often feeling without hope.

Three Girls In Cleveland… And Millions Worldwide, by Ed Stetzer, is an article from Pastors.com. © 2012 Pastors.com.

In Mark 3:13-19, Jesus is followed by a large crowd of people all vying for his attention. The Bible says that He healed many, before eventually pushing away from the crowd. (That’s right, even Jesus got away to rest occasionally).

While heading up the mountain to get away, Jesus does something interesting:

And he went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him. And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach and have authority to cast out demons. He appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder); Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

Here is the point in Christ’s ministry where He separated the twelve from the rest of the crowd. He called them out to be His “small group.” They would spend concentrated time together training and preparing for ministry.
Put another way, Jesus started His own clique. There, I said it. But before you call me a heretic, let’s define “clique.”

Usually we use the word “clique” with a negative connotation. But a clique is simply a group of people who spend time together.

Cliques, like most other things, can be good or bad. Cliques that are inward focused and never reach out to others are bad –especially when they consider themselves superior to others. Those kind of cliques deny the biblical concepts of unity in Christ.

But cliques which use their special fellowship as a launching pad for ministering to others (the way Jesus did with the twelve) are a great tool for the kingdom.

Imagine if Jesus had tried to give personal ministry training to each one of the hundreds who were following Him at this point. It would have been as chaotic as an elementary school trying to teach 100 students together at the same time instead of breaking them into classes.

Thank goodness Jesus doesn’t expect a handful of staff members to disciple hundreds at the same time. Instead, He gave us a clear pattern to follow as we fulfill the Great Commission: Reach a few in order to reach the world.

That’s the advantage of small groups. Just like Jesus, we are pulling people out of the crowd to practice ministering together and multiplying disciples around the world, then sending them out to start new “kingdom cliques” to do the same!

Small Groups and the Value of Good Cliques, by Scott Attebery, is an article from Pastors.com. © 2012 Pastors.com.

Rick Warren and Choco de Jesus Already Confirmed as Speakers

Register Now

On the heels of Exponential ’13 in Orlando selling out and drawing 5,300 leaders on site and 40,000 to the live Exponential ’13 Webcast, Exponential has announced plans for an Exponential West 2013 this October. The conference will be hosted by Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., Oct. 7-10, and like the recent Orlando event will focus on discipleship.

For the last several years, Exponential has been asked to bring the annual event held in Orlando each April to the West Coast. However, Exponential leaders have been deliberately slow and cautious to expand, not wanting to lose one of the conference’s unique distinctives—a family reunion-like, highly relational environment fueled by the energy of more than 5,000 entrepreneurial church planters gathered together in one place.

“Overwhelmingly, the feedback we get from different leaders is that there’s not another experience like Exponential where the speakers are so accessible, just hanging out with everyone,” Exponential Director Todd Wilson says. “Where else can you walk up to Rick Warren at a picnic table and have a conversation? We have been very careful to not lose that dynamic. We’re now confident we won’t.”

Wilson points to the intersection of several variables indicating that the time is now right to expand to the West.

“With selling out the Orlando conference two months early combined with the tremendous response to the solid discipleship content on the webcast, we had to come face to face with the fact that we have a demand for more people wanting to come than we can handle.

“We thought if there was a time we could try piloting something in the West—where we could take content people have a hunger for and instantly have critical mass that allows us to keep that relational dynamic–it was now.”                                                                    

Wilson draws the parallel to Exponential’s focus on reproduction and multiplication of churches and leaders. “We realize that when we reproduce to another Exponential, we reproduce who we are,” he explains. “And we don’t want to lose those positive things—the family reunion feeling and the energy of 5,000 planters. So we’ve been really careful about adding another conference until we were certain we could multiply with that dynamic. Ultimately, the customer for us is the church planting leader that we want to help accelerate. And we believe there is a large customer base in the West that we should be serving.”

To register for Exponential West 2013, click here.

Additionally, Saddleback Church Pastor Rick Warren, part of the Exponential team and longtime friend of Exponential, graciously offered to host Exponential West at Saddleback—a venue large enough to comfortably accommodate the conference. Warren has been a longtime supporter of Exponential and church planting, speaking and leading Bible studies at the annual conference and spending time throughout the week talking with church planters.

Warren, who planted Saddleback 33 years ago, affirms the need for church planting and the demand for an Exponential West.

“Peter Wagner said it many years ago, but I’ve believed it for 30 years: The most effective way to fulfill the Great Commission is the planting of new churches,” Warren says. “Exponential has met a need in our nation for a gathering place where all the streams of church planting can come together and learn from each other. For years I’ve watched Exponential grow and because I have a heart for church planting, I’ve always been a believer in it.

“We see a tremendous need for an Exponential conference on the West Coast. The timing is right, and I couldn’t be more excited for Saddleback to host Exponential West in October.“

Leadership Network CEO Dave Travis agrees the time is right to multiply: “Exponential has picked the right time to support the church planting/reproductive church movement on the West Coast,” Travis says. “This makes access and networking much easier for those that can’t come to Orlando each year. This is a great experience for church planters, reproducing churches and other church leaders to be with the best.”

Wilson adds: “We anticipate there will be a significant number of people who went to Orlando and came back saying, ‘I wish I had brought my spouse, or my staff,” he says. “Plus, we heard from enough planters who wanted to go to Orlando but couldn’t—either because we were sold out or just the costs of traveling across the country—that we feel we can reproduce this dynamic.”

Exponential West will feature programming consistent with the recent Orlando conference, offering the DiscipleShift theme based on the five shifts in the new book DiscipleShift by Jim Putman (with Robert Coleman and Bobby Harrington). The October conference will include pre-conference intensives, a wide selection of workshop breakout sessions led by more than 75 speakers, and 10 sessions with more than 25 national leaders.

Already, more than half of the speakers who participated in Orlando have already confirmed their participation for Exponential West 2013. To fill the remaining slots, Exponential plans to inject new voices. An exciting speaker lineup is currently being planned with Rick Warren and New Life Covenant Ministries Senior Pastor Choco De Jesus (recently named one of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People) already confirmed. The full speaker lineup will be announced in the coming weeks.

Exponential is offering a similar pricing structure to the previous conference’s registration rates. For a limited time, anyone can register for $99 and receive a free registration for their spouse. Registration rates will continue to increase over the next six months.

Exponential West will offer sponsor opportunities as well. For sponsor information, contact Terri Saliba at terri@exponential.org.

Register for Exponential West here.

Exponential Is Coming to the West Coast with Saddleback Church as Host, by Pastors.com Staff, is an article from Pastors.com. © 2012 Pastors.com.

Core Values

The story of Jehu in 2 Kings 10 came in front of me recently, and reading it again, several things really struck me.

Jehu...found Jehonadab…coming to meet him. He greeted him and then asked, “Is your heart one with mine?

#1 Unity

We can’t accomplish the mission God has given us (Help People Find, Follow and Be-Like Jesus), if there is division in the ranks. Without unity, you will be thrown back two steps for every one you think you’ve made.

#2 Team

It is,” Jehonadab replied. Jehu said, “If it is, give me your hand.” So he gave him his hand, and Jehu pulled him up into the chariot with him.

There is always two parts to a team. We must be willing to take a hand of those we’re running with, and offer a hand as well.

A true team that are owning the mission and vision of your church will not play “turf wars.” If they do…You aren’t casting the vision well enough in the context of how each part is vital to accomplishing the whole.

#3 Passion

Then he said, “Come with me and see my zeal for the Lord!”

As a key leader, it’s vital you own the entire vision, and spread that ownership like a flame among others. We have to live it everyday!

Our passion is our fire, it may be larger on some days than others, but it must always be burning. You can have the greatest vision and the greatest team, but without passion the vision will die a quick death.

Are these values a part of what your church truly believes and practices? It doesn’t matter how you state them, but if these values aren’t practiced, your church will suffer harm from the inside out.

Three Essential Core Values for Every Church, by Artie Davis, is an article from Pastors.com. © 2012 Pastors.com.