On a scale of 1 to 10 (0 being poor and 10 being excellent), how would you rate your church’s effectiveness in the following areas? Remember, answering with a 5 is a cop-out!

• 1. Getting news out about changes or events
  2. Having productive staff meetings
  3. Leading projects either inside or outside the church
  4. Ensuring  that your church can be run effectively in your  absence
  5. Ensuring  that staff meetings  can be run effectively in your  absence

No, we’re not having a split. We’re just living in our reality.

None of these people are leaving because they’re mad. They’re actually quite unhappy they have to leave. But they are all military families and when Uncle Sam says, “Move to Ft. Campbell,” they move to Ft. Campbell. And we lose key leaders who have been integral to our church for years.

In a normal year, 30% of our church moves on and we have to replace them. Key leaders, wonderful servants, prominent givers (in 2011 we lost about 10 of our Top 30 givers).

Of course, what happens at our church is happening at yours, too. It might take a little longer, but whether it’s 30% in one year or 30% in four years, new people have to be brought in. Workers need to be recruited. Leaders must be identified, trained and deployed.

On March 12, we’ll be examining the lessons (good and bad) Spout Springs Church has learned in dealing with this constant churn of people. And you’re invited to join us from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. as Bud Wrenn and I will lead in this voyage of discovery about how you can improve your assimilation process based on what you’ll learn about Spout Springs’ assimilation nightmare.

Please RSVP. Lunch is provided at a cost of $5 per person.

Here is the Amazon product description:

“This is not your typical warm, fuzzy devotional book. Filled with cutting-edge analogies and real-life applications, Transform(180) contains 180 daily readings designed to redirect your spiritual journey and reignite your passion for God.

And with titles like Cranked to Eleven, Faith and Stupidity, Arrogant Butterflies, and The Buffalo Chicken Prayer, you’re sure to have quite a few laughs along the way.”

Accountability Questions:

1.    How often did you meet with God this week?

2.    What has God been saying to you through His Word this week?

3.    What sins in your personal or business life did you experience this week that need confession?

4.    Are you giving to the Lord’s work regularly and proportionately as God has blessed you?  What percentage did you give last month?

5.    What movies did you see this past week?  Do you feel good about viewing these movies?  What about the Internet?  Would you be able to tell your fellow Christians in your church what you have seen without being embarrassed?

6.    How did you influence your marriage and family this week?  How positively?  How negatively?  What could you do to improve?

7.    Did you pray for me/us this week?

8.    What challenges or struggles are weighing on your mind?

9.    What lives did you influence for Christ this week?

10. Did you just lie to me?

Gene Getz

Elders and Leaders, Moody, 2003, p. 274-275.

Want to affair proof your marriage and ministry? Click out this article from Ron Edmondson:

http://bit.ly/t0wguK

Jason looked at us with downcast eyes. He was battling a pornography habit and when his wife found out she was stunned and dismayed. She had sensed something was wrong for a long time but just could not put her finger on it. They had only been married for a few years and to look at them you could foolishly think this would not be a problem for them. She was beautiful with long flowing hair and she had a great body; the kind of looks every young man hopes his wife will have. He thought getting married would be the answer for his years of sexual struggles as a single, but of course it was not. He had not set up adequate structures around him to help him overcome his problem. Now his life, ministry, walk with God, and marriage were hanging in the balance.

Frank, (not his real name either) was a good friend from seminary. He and his wife were in one of our small groups. God blessed him greatly in ministry and his church grew to thousands. Frank never told anyone, but his roaring sex drive and lack of emotional connection with his wife was something he thought he was just going to have to live with. He actually did fine for years, immersed in the busyness of a flourishing ministry. He was sure that infidelity was something that would never happen to him because he was committed to avoiding it and committed to Christ. Besides he had a family with a bunch of great kids he loved with all his heart. But through a series of emails with a female co-worker he let another woman into the hurting emotional part of his life and soon an emotional affair caught him totally by surprise. It was only a matter of time before it became a full-blown affair. In tears my friend told me he has now lost his church, his marriage, and he is retraining for a new career. They are close to bankruptcy and most everything he held dear is gone with his reputation.

“It could never happen to me.” I cannot tell you how many times I’ve heard those words. Committed followers of Christ usually wish they just did not have a strong sex drive, and they try to ignore it and push it under a rug. But ignoring your sex drive is like trying to hold a bunch of Ping-Pong balls under water in a pool. Sooner or later several are going to break loose.

Everyone needs to set up a strong defense for his or her life and marriage. Some may think you are legalistic, but there is a difference between having strong convictions for yourself and assuming you can set those same standards for everyone. Common sense protections like not having lunch alone with someone of the opposite sex or not visiting someone alone at their home should be basic guidelines for everyone in ministry. On the other hand, avoiding the opposite sex like they all have the plague is demeaning and unbiblical.

Of course none of this is a new problem. The Apostle Paul addressed this situation with the Corinthians. This is the offense side of the equation. Paul says that because of all the temptations and sexual immorality in society that it is best that men and women be married and effectively meet each other’s sexual needs in the context of that one man, one woman covenant relationship. The stronger the emotional and sexual bond between a husband and wife the greater the protection there is against sexual indiscretions.

Being very intentional in setting up a strong defense, and being even more intentional in building a strong marriage, is something every follower of Christ must do. If they do not, they leave themselves wide open to the attacks of the enemy. The problem is that in our fast paced society most Christians, and most Christian leaders, do not take the time or effort to make this the priority it needs to be. And unfortunately we see the results of broken marriages and ministries all around us. As a leader, take some time this season to focus on creating a solid defense and an awesome offense in the sexual area of your life.

Now, though, there is a new book out that seems like it was written for me and pastors like me.  Preaching in Plenty and in Want from Judson Press is about the relationship of preaching and the economy.  This is an extremely practical, user-friendly book.  It will help you address quite possibly the most pressing issue faced by most of the people who come to your church (or at least the perceived most pressing issue if we would  agree that sin is at the core the actual most pressing issue).

I encourage you to check it out.  Click here learn more and/or purchase from Judson Press.

Now, reading this post, and then checking out the book, you’ll note that the author, Matthew Tennant, has my last name.  He is my brother.  But, I wouldn’t ask you to go buy his book just because I want him to be successful.  I might do that on my facebook page, but not in the Innovative Church Community.  I respect this community too much to use it as a personal forum.  No, there’s one reason I am recommending this book.  I truly  believe your preaching-teaching will benefit.

Here’s a link for an endorsement from someone who does not know Matt at all, and it simply recommending the book on its own merit.

Read Preaching in Plenty and in Want and let me know how you are preaching with relation to the economy.

Why a Healthy Sex Life Makes You A Better Leader

As I listened to them talk among themselves, I began to try to think of a way to summarize what they were trying to say.  All of a sudden it hit me – and so I blurted it out, without much thought.  ‘ACCOUNTABILITY WITHOUT EMPOWERMENT EQUALS MISERY!’  They stopped in mid-conversation, and said to me, ‘Say that again….’ And so I did, and wrote it up on my trusty whiteboard:  ‘ACCOUNTABILITY WITHOUT EMPOWERMENT EQUALS MISERY!’

“That’s it!” they said.  I was able to capture what I heard them say in just five simple words.  The framework formed, they were able to move forward into a productive conversation around the issues they were facing – an organizational culture that expects so much from them and their people, but one in which the ‘company’ (the leadership) doesn’t know how to give those employees what they need in return.

The fact is – it wasn’t like my statement was so revolutionary in nature (although the human ego in me would have liked to think it was…).  It was simply a statement of fact, I believe, for humanity in general.  I believe that just about all REASONABLE people would be negatively challenged in an organizational culture like this.  As a matter of fact, I had heard this same thing from numerous clients, in varying sectors – churches included!

These same points apply in churches to our volunteer leaders – and to professional staff.  The major difference with volunteers especially is that they are more likely than company employees to bail out on healthy organizational situations, simply because they, unlike those employees, don’t receive a literal paycheck from the church.  Often, they are gone long before leaders even have a clue about their unhappiness or unfulfilledness (or whatever other word you may want to make up to describe this).

So on November 14, join us as we will look at the meanings of each of these words – ‘ACCOUNTABILITY WITHOUT EMPOWERMENT EQUALS MISERY!’ – and the concepts behind them.  We will work together to give you some really tangible takeaways that we guarantee will help you with communication with your church’s staff- professional and volunteers, and with knowing how to lead them to turn the statement around to something like ‘ACCOUNTABILTY PLUS EMPOWERMENT EQUALS FULFILLMENT!’