Here’s an e-mail I got from one of our Church Doctors, Dr. Barry Kolb in Texarkana, Texas. (You can tell by reading it that Barry is not our Southern Baptist Church Doctor, but one of our Lutheran Church Doctors!):

If you had purchased $1,000 of AIG stock one year ago, you would have $42 left.

With Lehman, you would have $6.60 left.

With Fannie or Freddie, you would have less than $5 left.

But if you had purchased $1,000 worth of beer one year ago, drank all of the beer, then turned in the cans for the aluminum recycling REFUND, you would have had $214.

Based on the above, the best current investment advice is to drink heavily and recycle.

It’s called the 401-Keg…..

While it is funny, the information about our investments is no laughing matter, is it? However, the economic meltdown of America, now traveling around the world in domino effect, is bringing one of the greatest opportunities the church has had in at least sixty years. When people are in crisis, they are more receptive. When they have lost hope, it is time to share with them the eternal, changeless, priceless hope we have in Jesus Christ. If your church is tight on money, it’s not time to cut back. Don’t cut back! Go to your people and do what Malachi 3 tells you: Test God who lives in your people. Ask them to step up in these hard times and support your church. Ask them to increase their giving. If that makes no sense in this economy, you are not thinking about the miracle in the power of God. It’s not supposed to make sense, it’s God, not us. That’s the message our people need to hear. Why do they need to step up their giving? Because right now your church needs to step up it’s outreach. That takes money. We are challenging people more than ever right now to step up their support for our ministry so we can encourage and help churches to step up. Why? Because in a crisis like this, there has never been a better opportunity. We can laugh at the jokes, cry about the realities, but we ought to be as excited as ever as Christians to reach our communities for Jesus Christ. This is a perfect storm for people to know about the love, grace, and the power in Jesus. Step up!

We’re consulting a church where the music director was a former professional musician, who toured and gave concerts. He has been a director of music for this church for several years. In our interview during the onsite consultation, he was asked, “What is the difference between performance and worship?” His response was fascinating! He said, “I’ve performed for thirty years. What is the difference between performance and worship? Actually, not much. You have to keep the attention of the people in the same way. The only difference, with performance, it’s all about you, the entertainer. In worship, it’s not about you, it’s about God. But otherwise, all the challenges and dynamics are precisely the same. You have to hold their attention.”

Sometimes we’re gun shy to talk about worship leading as performance. But from this performer’s perspective, he spoke, in a positive way, about keeping the audience engaged. I wonder what it would do in worship if every worship leader took the audience as seriously as do performers.

I was recently meeting with a small church (about 18 people) who were passionate about reaching their community. Their passion led to an incredible action. They contacted a larger church and asked them, “What would happen if we turned our facilities over to you so you could start another church here?”

As I was talking with them, one gentleman kept asking, “You have seen the facilities of the larger church, do you think they will be warm to our facilities?” The more I thought about it, I realized he was asking the right question but directing it to the wrong audience.

It really doesn’t matter if the large church is warm to their facility. What matters is this: What do the people they are trying to reach think about their facilities? Do guests refer to the children’s ministry area as “the dungeon?” If so, at the very least you will want to consider a significant face lift. However, effectively addressing this issue will more than likely require a major renovation/addition, or complete relocation.

Facilities are one of the most significant challenges facing churches wanting to reach a post-Christian culture. To a culture that views the church as irrelevant, many church buildings scream “dated.” In other words, the style and architecture of your church facilities may be one of the most compelling reasons people decide to drive past you rather than visit you. The children and youth facilities–or lack thereof–may be the very thing that keeps people from coming back a second time.

The dilemma: Facilities are expensive. They also have a large amount of emotional attachment of the members of the church.

When it comes down to it, facilities are the measuring stick of our willingness to reach people. Just about every church will tell you they want to reach lost people. Most of them, however, are not willing to pay the price to grow.

The next time you sit down to have serious discussions about how much money to spend on improving your church facilities, ask yourself this question: how much is a soul worth?

Does the following sound familiar?

“You know your leadership or church has more potential than you are experiencing but there are things that consistently get in the way. You pray, you strategize, you involve others, you make plans, you go to seminars, and you do your best to execute, but it could be better and you know it. You feel that there’s something else needed, but you just can’t put your finger on it.”

Believe it or not, the feelings expressed above are common for anyone who is trying to be the best they can be in their field. It’s not just a pastoral, ministry or church frustration; it is a common feeling.

Individuals and sports teams have long enjoyed the benefit of having a coach. Solid coaching takes what you have and helps you make it better. A good coach does not change the basic ingredients of a person or organization, but they enhance the strengths already evident in individuals and helps the group of people blend into a team for maximum effectiveness.

Even the best performers benefit from personal coaching. Pastors and church leaders are beginning to see the same value for their own ministry effectiveness. Knowing what to do is important. Doing it to your best is the difference between being good and being great!

Some wonder what a coach does? Here’s a couple of things that a coach is not.

• Coaching is not therapy or counseling. A counselor tends to focus on feelings related to past events and helps the client in processing those feelings to a place of closure.
• Coaching is not consulting. A consultant offers their skills to diagnose the situation and offers recommendations to the client to consider. Coaching is an extension of the consulting process, but is not simply more consulting.
• Coaching is not mentoring. A mentor passes along knowledge, experiences, and skills from their own journey as a model for the client to learn from. A mentor is often someone who is older and further along in their personal journey.

There is great value for pastors and churches through the coaching process. The next time you wonder who to call for advice, consider calling on a Ministry Coach.

last blog I wrote about man’s efforts to contain the movement of God. Throughout history, man made systems have been put into place and the impact of the Gospel has been limited. However, as Jesus illustrated in the teaching of old and new wine skins, The movement of God can not be contained in a man-made system.

The church in America today, as a whole, is very much “old wine skin.” Many have become so tightly structured they are no longer pliable. As a result, the movement of Christianity has been limited in our nation. A word of caution for the establishment church: the sounds of wine skins breaking are on the horizon.
Several weeks ago I had the privilege of attending a new student/parent orientation weekend at a Christian College. The weekend closed with a chapel service. Not surprising it was very contemporary and very well done. What got my attention were the students. It was a great joy to participate in worship with them in their heart language.

I could fill volumes in an attempt to describe the experience. Actually words would fail to capture the moment. However, I do know their worship was sincere, it was passionate, it was powerful, and it was impossible to contain.

Fast forward to college graduation. These students are the church of right now and they are the generation to which we will hand the baton of leadership. If existing, establishment-minded churches think these students will quietly conform into a containment system, think again!

The church is facing a “spiritual containment breach”. Will it be met with rigid opposition or mission minded effort. The next few decades will be very interesting. They will also have be significantly instrumental in shaping the spiritual condition of our nation in the second half of the 21st Century. From what I see, there are some revival-minded hands ready to move forward

From the moment Jesus established the movement we now call the church, man has been trying to contain the momentum. Historically, as the church has seen great spiritual victory, it is not long before man makes an attempt to control or manage the growth.

Around the turn of the 20th century (1900’s) many denominations, including the one to which I belong, decided they were growing faster than they could manage. Sadly, they made a cognitive decision to limit growth. Evangelism resources were intentionally redirected toward structures and systems - a course of events we are paying dearly for today.

Oddly enough, Jesus instructed us not to build containment systems. Furthermore, he let us know that man made containment systems would be breached. When he talked about new wine bursting old wine skins, he was teaching the people of a coming movement that could not be contained in their man made religious system. He was issuing a “spiritual flood warning.” He was letting them know of an impending containment breach that would cause a spiritual flood to spread throughout the entire world.

Today the spiritual climate of our nation is suffering because it has been contained for a long time in a man made system. 60 to 80 percent of the churches in America are in a state of plateau or decline and America has become the third largest mission field on the planet.

It’s a funny thing; man made containment systems. When you build a system to contain the natural flow of water, the surrounding areas dry up and become parched. Spiritually the same thing has happened in America. We have created man made worship cultures that serve to contain God in a human system. All the while the surrounding spiritual climate has dried up and become parched.

So, is there a spiritual containment breach on our horizon? Well, if what I experienced this past weekend on the campus of a Christian University is any indication, the answer is yes!

The nature of this experience is the focus of my next blog.

In the Spring quarter 2008, I taught a course for Fuller Seminary of Northern California on Church Management. The course title is a bit misleading. It was not just about the nuts and bolts of congregational ministry, but a philosophy of ministry that makes a local church “work.”

Beyond a local church providing a “chaplaincy ministry” to an ever-aging congregation (what we see in the majority of mainline churches today), there are attractional, engaged and emerging churches. Presently, the church where I am the senior leader is attempting all three models simultaneously.

Attractional churches want to remove barriers for people who are seeking to know God and be a part of a Christian community. People are attracted by a particular style of worship that appeals to them (be it contemporary or traditional), programs that suit their needs, and pastoral care to help them through the transitions and difficulties of life. The danger in attractional churches is they can set up a “client-service provider” model, in which people are attracted to the church based on “what it does for them.” These types of churches are usually focused on connecting people to God (”Up”).

Engaged churches specialize in vital friendships and spiritual growth. These churches are good at small groups and connecting people to one another. They set out a clear “pathway” for people to take forward steps in their becoming more faithful followers of Jesus. These churches provide people with more of a “depth” experience, connecting hearts and minds. The danger in engaged churches is that they can become inwardly focused. The warmth and supportĀ of extended Christian family is the dominate characteristic (”In”).

Wanting a church that fits into the rhythm of their lives and making a difference in the world is what people are looking for in emerging churches. Those who are attempting a new way of “doing” church are not just outside of the box; they don’t want boxes at all. These churches are about Jesus, not religion. They refuse to falsely divide their lives into “secular and sacred.” The danger in emerging churches is that traditional Christian orthodoxy may be trumped by one’s own experience. These are usually “missional communities” that want to take the body of Christ into the world (”Out”).

Attractional churches may have a 15-20 year lifespan as aging baby boomers continue to want a church that meets their needs. Engaged churches will be the dominant model for the next generation, giving them the extended family they felt was lacking in the younger years. There is no way to tell if emerging churches are going to take root and thrive, but they do appear to be much like the New Testament church we read about in Acts.

We want to allow these three models to exist side-by-side, recognizing the Spirit is still using all three types of churches to fulfill the Great Commission - “going and making disciples of Jesus Christ.” We have to be continually committed to listening for and hearing God’s voice, primarily through prayer and Scripture, to guide us into the future. It is an exciting time to be the church!

It happened during an interview for a diagnostic consultation.

I was interviewing a public elementary school teacher who had recently been given an open door to ask how many students in her class had heard of Jesus. Of the 30 students in her class only 10 raised their hand. 20 of the 30 students in her classroom had never heard of Jesus!

Does this surprise you? It shouldn’t. Church growth professionals have been teaching for some time now that America has become the third largest mission field in the world. This is based on the sheer number of people who by self-declaration have no affiliation with Christianity. The almost 67% of this teacher’s classroom who had not heard of Jesus is statistically in line with the numbers we pulled for the county in which our client church - and this elementary school - are located.

With that said, however, the numbers are inconsequential. What really matters is what the numbers represent.

The lesson learned from this teacher’s experience puts every Christian on notice. Behind the numbers live real people. Real people who matter to God. Real people for whom Jesus died. Real people whom Jesus has charged every Christian with the responsibility to reach.

For this teacher it goes beyond the numbers. For her, every number has a name and a face. Who are the names and faces that make up your numbers?

We know, in an emerging culture, people are less institutional-oriented and more relational-oriented. They are more interactive and more engaging. So what can your church do to enhance this?

I’m working with a church today that has a nice sanctuary that has been historically set up with chairs, but in more of a classroom-type of setup. A few weeks ago, someone got the idea to bring the altar down into the middle and move the chairs around and put them in groups, like pods. The pastor even joked about it by calling it an i-pod, a-pod, tri-pod, etc. What we heard from some of the younger members of the church was this: it seemed more interactive, more engaging. This is something new: even the arrangement of the church furniture in worship can improve the interactive atmosphere and help post-modern, young adults feel more at home.

Many people get upset when new, young families come in with kids, start worshipping at the church, but don’t always know how to act–at least in the eyes of the old guard (seasoned Christians). Instead of focusing on the thrilling reality that the church is actually reaching these people, people get hung up that these families don’t know how to act. I liken it to getting mad at a baby because it soils its diaper. It is kind of idiotic, when you think about it. Baby Christians don’t know how to act or, don’t act the same way as other people think they should. We tolerate our babies when they come into our families because we love them. Why don’t we tolerate these babies in Christ, even if they are new Christians who come disguised as 80-years-old–and don’t know how to act?

The truth is, mission is messy. It’s always messy and it’s always chaotic. The New Testament church was in total chaos. It would out of control–humanly speaking. It was not, however, out of the control of the Holy Spirit! The truth is, if we are going to see massive growth of the Christian Movement, we are going to have to live with the mess. It’s probably not what you want to hear, but it’s a fact!