Against The Flow

As part of the IgniteUs process that Hillcrest Baptist (the church I pastor) is going through, a recommended book is Leading Turnaround Teams by Gene Wood and Daniel Harkavy. The book is a follow-up to Leading Turnaround Churches. In the introduction of the book, the point is made that the local church must have a clear direction/purpose and thus only one leader. That is not often the case in the church. Most churches are going in multiple directions with no clear direction and no single leader, but groups of leaders and opinion makers.

On that line of thinking I thought the following excerpt from the book would be helpful:
“You know, if you were to go out in your back yard, and your dog had two head, you’d shoot that thing. That’s no dog–it’s a monster.”

As best I can see, everything God created has only one head. Why should the church be any different?

Leaders must do what only the leader can effectively do.
Just a thought.

Today was a great day. Got up early went to church to study. Walked to church to find my home church Pastor sitting in the parking lot. WC Wallace, Baptized me, ordained me, but most important, he has been a great model as a pastor and friend. The church had a surprise Pastor appreciation (So that’s why WC was in the parking lot) we had a great Church-wide Thanksgiving Celebration. No Services on Sunday evening, but got to go to Newspring in Anderson, SC. Heard a great example of Principle Preaching. Principle taken from 1 Sam. 24:1-4. It was great. Take the principle out of the story of King Saul going to the bathroom, while David and his men are hiding in the back, and then apply the “timeless” principle to dating and marriage decisions. To hear the message go to www.newspring.cc Thumbs up to Perry Noble.

You need to read Purple Cow: transform your business by being remarkable.
Seth Godin is the author and has great insight on the changing face of business and marketing.
Now this book is dedicated to the business world, but the principles are transferable to the church. On page 38, he discusses cheating, not as you would normally think of cheating, but in a new market business sense. As you look at the following, ask yourself a question, Are you, as a witness for Jesus or is the Church cheating? We should be!

· JetBlue Airways is cheating. Their low-cost structure, underused airports, and young, non-union staff gives them an unfair advantage.
· Starbucks is cheating. They invented the coffee bar phenomenon, and now whenever we think coffee, we think Starbucks.
· Amazon.com is cheating. They learned from the mistakes of the first-generation portals and they don’t carry the baggage of their peers.
· Wendy’s is cheating. Their flexibility allows them to introduce half a dozen salad-based entrees, capturing a big chunk of the adult market.
· HBO is cheating. Because they have to program original shows only one night a week, HBO can focus and invest and cream the networks.

None of these companies are using the old-fashioned advertising-based techniques to win. To their entrenched (but nervous) competitors, these companies appear to be cheating because they’re not playing by the rules.

As believers and Churches we need to quit playing by the rules of the 1950s and start CHEATING!!

Why aren’t you cheating?

Rereading a book from a couple of years ago entitled “Getting Real: An Interactive Guide to relational Ministry,” The following is a quote from the introduction that sets the tone for the rest of the book and is a challenge to the church that is to become what church should be.

“I simply say, the cross must be raised again at the center of the marketplace as well as on the steeple of the church. I am claiming that Jesus was not crucified in a cathedral between two candles, but on a cross between two thieves; on the town garbage heap, at a crossroads so cosmopolitan that they had to write His title in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek. At the kind of place where cynics talk smut, and thieves curse, and soldiers gamble, because that is where he died and that is what He died about and that is where churchmen ought to be and what churchmen should be about.”

Stop with the excuses!

“God is not limited by our environment, our family background, or present circumstances. God is only limited by our faith!”

-Joel Olsteen quote from “the best life now”