Have a Hard Time Saying No?

Ron Edmondson has a short little post that, if followed, will save a leader much time and heartache. Ron talks about the value of saying no.

Say no when…

• you know it is not going to work…
• you know you can’t support it…
• you know the answer is no…
• you know you don’t have the time…

Take a quick look at the entire post. It’s short and the 60 seconds or so you spend in reading may save you hours in the future.

Link: http://www.ronedmondson.com/2013/04/saying-no-as-a-leader.html

—

photo from Freelance Switch

This post Saying No originated at Rob Westbrook. See more like this at Rob Westbrook - adventures of a mississippi church planter.

This post Welcome to Web Home of Rob Westbrook originated at Rob Westbrook. See more like this at Rob Westbrook - adventures of a mississippi church planter.

We do not have a happy report to give. We’ve not been able to find a suitable candidate for this church, though we have one promising prospect still. We do appreciate all the suggestions from the church members, and we’ve followed up each one with interviews or calling at least three references. The following is our confidential report on the present candidates.

Adam: Good man but problems with his wife. Also one reference told of how he and his wife enjoy walking nude in the woods.

Noah: Former pastorate of 120 years with no converts. Prone to unrealistic building projects.

Abraham: Though the references reported wife-swapping, the facts seem to show he never slept with another man’s wife, but did offer to share his own wife with another man.

Joseph: A big thinker, but a braggart, believes in dream-interpreting and has a prison record.

Moses: A modest and meek man, but poor communicator, even stuttering at times. Sometimes blows his stack and acts rashly. Some say he left an earlier church over a murder charge.

David: The most promising leader of all until we discovered the affair he had with his neighbor’s wife.

Solomon: Great preacher but our parsonage would never hold all those wives.

Elijah: Prone to depression – collapses under pressure.

Elisha: Reported to have lived with a single widow while at his former church.

Hosea: A tender and loving pastor but our people could never handle his wife’s occupation.

Deborah: Female.

Jeremiah: Emotionally unstable, alarmist, negative, always lamenting things, and reported to have taken a long trip to bury his underwear on the bank of a foreign river.

Isaiah: On the fringe? Claims to have seen angels in church. Has trouble with his language.

Jonah: Refused God’s call into ministry until he was forced to obey by getting swallowed up by a great fish. He told us the fish later spit him out on the shore near here. We hung up.

Amos: Too backward and unpolished. With some seminary training he might have promise, but has a hang-up against wealthy people — might fit in better with a poor congregation.

John: Says he is a Baptist, but definitely doesn’t dress like one. Has slept in the outdoors for months on end, has weird diet, and provokes denominational leaders.

Peter: Too blue collar. Has a bad temper — even has been known to curse. Had a big run-in with Paul in Antioch, Aggressive, but a loose cannon.

Paul: Powerful CEO type leader and fascinating preacher. However, short on tact, unforgiving with young ministers, harsh and has been known to preach all night.

Timothy: Too young

Jesus: Has had popular times, but once when his church grew to 5,000 he managed to offend them all and his church dwindled down to 12 people. Seldom stays in one place very long. And of course, he’s single.

Judas: His references are solid. A steady plodder. Conservative. Good connections. Knows how to handle money. We’re inviting him to preach this Sunday. Possibilities here.

This post Pastor Search Committee Report originated at Rob Westbrook. See more like this at Rob Westbrook - adventures of a mississippi church planter.

I thought I’d jump into this weekend’s big sales extravaganza with a sale of my own over at BusyPastorSermons.com. Every book over on that site is available though midnight Monday for 35% off! The prices listed are unchanged, but use the code “CYBERSALE” when you check out and you’ll get 35% off your entire purchase. This discount applies only to the .pdf and .doc formats of my books sold on that website. And don’t forget to enter the code “CYBERSALE” before you checkout. So head over to my Bookstore and get your deals this weekend.

This post All My Books on Sale This Weekend originated at Rob Westbrook. See more like this at Rob Westbrook - adventures of a mississippi church planter.

Nice video from a great series of videos by The One Minute Apologist.

Thanks to Todd Rhodes and the MMI Blog for the heads-up.

This post Is the Trinity Scriptural and Logical? originated at Rob Westbrook. See more like this at Rob Westbrook - adventures of a mississippi church planter.

click for larger view

There’s some big names on this list. There’s books there from Andy Stanley, Haddon Robinson, Randy Alcorn, and Bryan Chapell. I’m elated!

Thanks to everyone who’s helped the Sermon Outlines for Busy Pastors series reach this milestone. I just want to ask you to keep it up! Spread the word about the books to your pastor friends. You guys are great!

Here’s a full page screenshot of Amazon’s Top 20 showing my two books in their Top 20.

This post Sermon Outlines for Busy Pastors: Vol. 1 Cracks Top 10 originated at Rob Westbrook. See more like this at Rob Westbrook - adventures of a mississippi church planter.

Instagram, the hugely popular photography social media app, recently added website profiles for all its users. The page looks pretty nice. Here’s what mine looks like. Find your profile by typing this into your web browser:

http://instagram.com/PUT YOUR INSTAGRAM USERNAME HERE

This post Seen Your Instagram Web Profile Yet? originated at Rob Westbrook. See more like this at Rob Westbrook - adventures of a mississippi church planter.

Link: Rethinking the Baptism of the Holy Spirit

This post Frank Viola on the Baptism of the Holy Spirit originated at Rob Westbrook. See more like this at Rob Westbrook - adventures of a mississippi church planter.

Sermon Outlines for Busy Pastors: Volume 3 released today and I’m excited! You can read all the details about the latest volume in the Sermon Outlines for Busy Pastors series here, but here’s a quick rundown.

This book is the “sermon series” edition. There’s 6 sermon series.(You can see the complete listing of Sermon titles and Scripture references at the bottom of this post.)

• Series 1: Fresh, 8 sermons. A great way to help you and your church get a FRESH start as a new year begins.
• Series 2: Rooted, 15 sermons. Covers the basic doctrines of our faith, leading our people to becoming ROOTED in the faith.
• Series 3: Great Commission, 5 sermons. Drawn from Matthew 28:16-20.
• Series 4: Church Revolution, 7 sermons. How do we begin and sustain a change in our churches? How do we move from uprising to revolution?
• Series 5: Harvest, 3 sermons. For a lead up to an evangelistic event at your church.
• Series 6: The Disciple, 11 sermons. This series begins with “What is a Christian?”, and continues through basic discipleship.
• 4 other sermon outlines: one each for a communion service, a baby dedication, a complete wedding ceremony, and a funeral message.

The book is available now for your Kindle or Kindle app at Amazon here: Sermon Outlines for Busy Pastors: Volume 3.

Here’s a complete listing of the sermon titles and Scripture References for Sermon Outlines for Busy Pastors: Volume 3:

1. Fresh – Mark 1:16-20
2. Fresh – Worship – Isaiah 1:12-17
3. Fresh – The Word – Acts 18:9-10
4. Fresh – Courage – Joshua 1:1-9
5. Fresh – Mission – Matthew 28:19-20
6. Fresh – Perspective – 2 Kings 6:13-17
7. Fresh – Church – Matthew 16:18
8. Fresh – Gospel – 1 Corinthians 15:1-4
9. Rooted – The Bible – 2 Timothy 3:16-17
10. Rooted – What is God Like? – Genesis 1:1
11. Rooted – The Trinity – Deuteronomy 4:35
12. Rooted – Prayer – Matthew 6:8
13. Rooted – Angels, Demons, Spiritual Warfare – 2 Kings 6:15-17
14. Rooted – Baptism and Communion – Acts 10:47-48
15. Rooted – Sin – Isaiah 59:1-8
16. Rooted – Jesus Christ – Matthew 1:18
17. Rooted – Resurrection and Ascension – 1 Corinthians 15:13-19
18. Rooted – Becoming a Christian – 2 Thessalonians 2:14
19. Rooted – Sanctification, Perseverance, Assurance – Romans 6:18
20. Rooted – Death – Romans 8:1
21. Rooted – When Jesus Returns – John 14:1-3
22. Rooted – The Final Judgement – Romans 2:5
23. Rooted – Heaven – John 14:1-3
24. Great Commission – Our Commission – Matthew 28:16-20
25. Great Commission – Why Go? – Matthew 28:16-20
26. Great Commission – Where Do We Go? – Matthew 28:16-20
27. Great Commission – How We Make Disciples – Matthew 28:16-20
28. Great Commission – In Practice – Matthew 28:16-20
29. Church Revolution – Uprising or Revolution? – John 6:67-68
30. Church Revolution – Revolution Heart – Luke 10:25-37
31. Church Revolution – Don’t Waste Your Life – Romans 6:13
32. Church Revolution – Called to Revolution – Genesis 12:1-4
33. Church Revolution – Revolution Boot Camp – Romans 12:2
34. Church Revolution – Take Up the Cross – Luke 9:21-26
35. Church Revolution – Finale – Luke 10:25-37
36. Harvest – Sent to Harvest – Luke 10:1-2
37. Harvest – Sowing the Seeds – Mark 4:26-29
38. Harvest – What It’s Really All About – Revelation 7:9-10
39. Disciple – What is a Christian? – Acts 11:19-26
40. Disciple – What is a Disciple? – Luke 9:23-24
41. Disciple – Become a Disciple – Matthew 4:18-22
42. Disciple – Abide – John 15:1-5
43. Disciple – The Practical Stuff – Luke 9:23
44. Disciple – The Word – John 8:31-32
45. Disciple – Prayer – John 15:7
46. Disciple – Fellowship – John 13:34-35
47. Disciple – Witness – John 15:8
48. Disciple – Service – John 15:13
49. Disciple – Making Disciples – Matthew 28:18-20
50. Communion – So What? – 1 Corinthians 15:12-19
51. Baby Dedication – Psalm 127:3
52. A Wedding Ceremony – Genesis 2:21-24
53. A Funeral Message – Psalm 116:15

This post Volume 3 of Sermon Outlines Released originated at Rob Westbrook. See more like this at Rob Westbrook - adventures of a mississippi church planter.

Link to book: Disciples Who Make Disciples: Turning Your Church Into a Multiplying Movement

This post New Free Disciple Making Resource originated at Rob Westbrook. See more like this at Rob Westbrook - adventures of a mississippi church planter.