The Power of Vision

This graph shows the correlation between the hours of practice that Children were putting in to learn a musical instrument after they had answered the following question. “How long do you see yourself playing your musical instrument for?” The options were, this school year (short-term commitment), throughout school years (medium-term commitment) or for the rest of my life (Long-term commitment).

Then their average hours of weekly practice were recorded. 20 minutes per week (low), 45 minutes per week (medium), and 90 minutes per week (high). Children who saw themselves playing their musical instrument for life were 4 times more likely to practice at a high level than those who only thought they would play for the current school year.

Their vision of doing something for life motivated them to work harder at perfecting the skill.

What vision is driving you to grow personally?

How to Survive the Ministry Part Two

Carrying on from my previous blog here’s part 2.

DO MINISTRY WITH THE RIGHT PEOPLE

Finding the right people to do ministry with, to be on team with, to invest in can be one of the most difficult things for any leader. The difficulty is compounded in volunteer organisations. Some time ago I came across the 3C’s required of potential employees, colleagues etc. They are:

1. CHARACTER: In the ministry we want to work alongside people who just live and act like Christians. This might sound simple but my experience across many churches has been that some people in some scenarios are short on the right stuff. We’re not talking about perfection but we are talking about honesty, integrity, loyalty etc.. The truth is at the start of any relationship you don’t always know the character of a person but you can look at how they are living right now. Do they exhibit Christ-like qualities of submission, repentance, faithfulness, faith, hope, love etc.

2. COMPETENCY: Again this is not rocket science but can the person do the task, are they competent? I love it when someone over-achieves, when a person excels the capabilities I thought they possessed, our belief in people can overlook a simple fact however, that there are some things that some people cannot do and are unwilling to learn. Ask the question!

3. CHEMISTRY: This is so important. Competency can be gained, Character can mature through repentance and submission to God but can you get along and work together. We spend a lot of time working and serving together so we need to get along. This should be a given in Christian ministry but isn’t always. The dream scenario is a person who is friendly, faithful and fruitful. Oh yes and fun, enjoyable to be around!

AXIOMS:
- Value the Praise of a Friend over that of a Fan or even a Peer: ‘Faithful,’ the Bible says, ‘are the wounds of a friend.’
- Have a Long-Term view of Ministry: Most of us overestimate what we can achieve in 1 year but underestimate what we can achieve in 5.
- Keep Prophesying: Keep speaking God’s word over your life and relationships.
- Make it Yours and Pass it on: Be a receiver of truth and revelation and pass it on!

HOW TO SURVIVE THE MINISTRY Part One

Was really privileged to speak today to some Pastors on the subject of how to survive the ministry. I was unsure how to approach the subject but decided to base the talk on 2 Timothy 2:1-7 a very familiar leadership passage and then finish each section with some AXIOMS that are helpful tweet-sized, memorable proverbs. I am going to blog the talk in three parts.

INTRO: This is Paul’s last letter, written to his spiritual son Timothy. Paul is in prison, literally weeks away from being beheaded. Timothy has been in the ministry for 15yrs, he’s in his mid-thirties, burned out, labouring at a difficult time in difficult circumstances. Basically he’s weary… Paul reminds him that his life matters, that what he’s doing is significant and that he’s on a mission from God to bring God’s love to people. This is a Father speaking to a son, “You then my Son,” he begins, this is how you’re going to make it!

BE STRONG: “You then my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.” v1.
People who wilt, crumble, give up, give in don’t make it. To make it, you are going to have to find strength from somewhere. If you’re weak, you are going to have to discover strength. Leaders need strength to deal with sin, with sin in their own lives and the sins that are performed against them. Paul speaks to Timothy about the only way to find the strength necessary for this task, it’s “in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.”

Grace comes in a number of forms, there is saving grace, the unmerited favour and kindness of God. People often think that we are saved by grace and then we must work like mad to pursue and accomplish all that God desires. What we need though is empowering Grace. Paul knew this because he had the revelation from God that, “My grace is sufficient for you.” 2 Corinthians 12:9. Faith requires action but action empowered by the grace of Jesus Christ. Our relationship with Jesus is the key, its the knowing, loving, serving, worshipping and submitting to Jesus that imparts grace and empowers us to lead and serve. There’s enough grace for you and there’s enough grace for me to do what God has called us to do.

AXIOMS:
- Back Yourself: God has called you by his grace he will equip you. if you’re backing anything back yourself empowered by the grace of Jesus Christ.
- Forgive Every Person Everything Everyday:
- Remember the Word of the Lord: Remind yourself of what God has said, what he has promised to do.
- Find Your Rhythm: Don’t let the rhythm of your life be dictated by others, know your rhythm. I love Rick Warren’s Divert Daily, Withdraw Weekly, Abandon Annually.

Game Day

Here’s a picture of two of the girls that come with Mum & Dad to watch my son Nathan play football.This is how they dress on Game Day.

Just the other day I spoke about Sunday being Game Day for Staff, Leadership and Key volunteers in the life of the Church. It’s obvious that we are not saying that other days don’t matter but rather that the day we gather together as the Church is of great importance.

Here is one of my thoughts on Game day Sunday:

Understanding the Word Church (Ekklesia).
When explaining this word many times we hear people talk about how the etymology of the word means to be ‘called out’. Ek being ‘out of’ and Klesia from Kaleo which means ‘to call’. They will often conclude that the primary idea of the word Church is therefore a called out people and though its is not wrong to say the Church is a called out people this would not be the primary usage. The usage of the word ‘Church’ in New Testament times gives us a more accurate picture. Ekklesia would be synonymous with the Hebrew ‘Kahal’, both words simply meaning an assembly, a gathering. Therefore, anytime the Church is mentioned in the New Testament, the initial image people would have within their minds would be of a gathered people.

When Jesus said, ‘blessed are you Simon for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you but my Father in heaven, and upon this rock I will build my Church.’ In effect he was saying people will gather around this revelation of who I am and I will build an assembly around this revelation of who I am. Sunday is Game day because it’s when the Church gathers!

Miracles for Sale – A response to Derren Brown

Last Night I watched with interest Derren Brown’s TV programme entitled Miracles for Sale in which Derren and his team train Nathan, a Scuba Diving Instructor, to become a faith healer. Brown and his team spent six months putting this show together which culminated with a trip to Texas to hold a faith healing meeting and expose, in the process, healing as a scam. These thoughts are not meant to be exhaustive but I hope they are helpful around some of the topics raised.

1. Teachers are Reminded that we shall be Judged more severely:
James 3:1 Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. The show highlighted a couple of evangelists/faith healers who are well know for their deceptions. Everyone I know would counsel people away from these two men who were highlighted and some of my friends have even written about the errors of miracle water and healing cloths sent to people at a cost. This information from Brown is nothing new although it may well be new for his audience and therefore good expose. Unfortunately, Brown collated together alongside these men some ministers of high reputation, high integrity and high regard. I think particularly of Reinhard Bonnke and so I felt a little saddened that he was included.

Here’s my point, anyone who preaches the good news of Jesus Christ should do so from the foundation of honesty, integrity and purity. Any minister of the gospel must be a person who has the interests of God and God’s people foremost in their thoughts. The Church is all about God and people as we say at CLC.

2. People want to Believe:
Several writers and commentators have today chided people saying, ‘How can they be so gullible?’ etc.. The Bible instructs believers to test the spirits to see whether they are of God and instructs us to look for character and not just gifting. Having said that, we are hardwired to believe, to hope, to trust. Those characteristics often diminish within us as we experience life. Betrayals, lies, disappointments etc. all do their bit to destroy our belief but it still exist within us. At times when people are searching for hope, they want to believe, all they have is faith. This is why teachers are to be judged more severely because people will believe what they say!

3. People can know pain relief through Adrenaline and Emotional highs:
This was a major point in the programme and once again nothing new. That’s why it is important not just to hear the instant testimony in the euphoria of the arena/crowd or service, but the week old testimony, the testimony a month later, the testimony of healing that has stood the test of time. Brown is right to draw this to our attention, not to cause us to have a heightened propensity for doubt but so that we have a heightened expectancy in faith. If God is working the result will last.

4. The Real Does Exist:
God is alive and well and still heals today. What a sweeping statement that there has never been any proof of a recorded miracle. That is such a mind boggling statement that comes from his personal philosophical and scientific position which leaves no room for mystery or the miraculous. If it can’t be explained then it doesn’t exist. Would that we all carried the same measure of faith towards God as Derren does toward his belief. Had Derren taken the time he could of dug a little deeper and found real stories of God healing.

Throughout my life I have witnessed several notable miracles. I can’t said loads, I wished I could say more. I have seen lots of healings, but miracles just a few. I can’t deny them or explain them other than the supernatural intervention of God. Like the healing of Arthritis after suffering for 20 years and the Doctors giving the all clear. The boy in a coma who came out after several weeks and when he saw me months later said it was your voice I heard telling me to live and not die, the exact words I had prayed over him once in his presence then for about the next five days away from him. The improved hearing of an elderly man in the church I attended as a teenager, who didn’t use his hearing aid afterwards.

Recently, I have witnessed two notable miracles of healing. The first following the visit of Dr William Kumuyi to New Life Christian Fellowship in Lincoln. Dr Kumuyi prayed a simple prayer at the end of his sermon for people to know healing. The following day a man was due to the hospital for a check up on his eyes. The consultant as he checked the man’s eyes stepped back and said, ‘Oh, I’ve never seen that before.’ The man thought he was going to give him some bad news but the reverse was true. A cataract that had been present on previous visits had totally disappeared. The consultant said, ‘That just doesn’t happen, cataracts just don’t disappear.’

Below I have included the testimony from Sue Jackson a member of our church who has recently experienced a notable healing. This extract is from the report she sent to the minister who prayed over her.

About 8 years ago I had a back injury which resulted 4 years later in loss of sensation down my right leg. Weeks later I underwent major back surgery and had most of one disc removed and disection of the spongey stuff between another disc. Thankfully the op was a great success. I believe that this in inself was a miracle as God provided the means for me to have this done privately which meant I could return to work within 3 months.
At the time of my op the Surgeon told me that due to the incision I would lose the curve at the base of my back. Some people find it comes back days or within 4 weeks of surgery. Mine didn’t and I was told that it wouldn’t. I didn’t mind too much, it didn’t impact the use of my back, it just left me with a ‘manly’ straight back!
Over the last 6 months or so I have found myself in pain and impaired movement again, to the extent where I have had to roll out of bed and have struggled to bend down with ease.
On the evening of the Healing meeting I struggled to reach down to my handbag while I was sitting down. I’m on the Welcome Team and had no thought that I would be there for God’s plan that night for ME to be healed. I had come to make others feel welcome! I love that God is always one step ahead and His plans are far bigger than ours!
I felt immense peace during the worship and then moreso when I was standing at the front of church. You said that we didn’t need to ask God as He already had it to give. That spoke right into my heart so clearly. I prayed that God would touch me in whatever way He knew best and that I was ready to take hold of whatever He had to give me. I found myself standing evenly on both feet, usually to ease the pain and pressure I balance my weight by leaning more on one foot or the other. I then felt a sensation like warm water running down my lower back. I knew that God had touched me. I was far less stiff and was painfree.
As I was driving home I played Dave Bell’s CD and thanked God as the words “Heal me and I shall be healed” hit me hard. Father God you say the word and it is! You are awesome! As I drove the 10 mins home I felt myself sitting up very straight. I ran a bath when I got home and again I found myself sitting up very straight. No pain. Amazing!
Even better……next morning I was getting dressed and as I stood in front of the mirror I turned and saw a curve, yes, a womanly back!!! The curve has no relation to back function except it looks better! God cares about the detail and He knew that it had bothered me post-op. He gave me my healing AND the curve because His love is complete and immense!
Weeks on and I’m very good. Two weeks ago I completed a 9 mile walk and could have done it again right after.
Next week I’m walking 45 miles over 5 days for the A21 Campaign and City Hearts, Sheffield.
In July I’m off on a walking holiday….90 miles in 5 days!

I’m so grateful for God’s grace and faithfulness in my life…

Sue has since completed the 45 miles in 5 days something she would not have been able to do 3 months ago. When I spoke to her about including this testimony in the blog and I talked about how some people can know pain relief in the moment through adrenaline etc. she said, “I would have had to have had a lot of adrenaline for it to last this long.”

5. Airplanes Crash:
Air travel, so I’m told, is the safest form of travel in the world. That said, Airplanes crash and you hear about the ones that do. I think the same is true of ministers. The vast, 99.9%, majority of Pastors and Ministers live has pure, godly men who seek little more than the blessing of God’s people and the purposes of God to be fulfilled. Few are doing what they do for financial gain, although the Bible does say they should be well looked after financially, they are doing it with a sense of purpose and call. That said, some crash and its often those we hear of. Airplanes crash but I’m planning to fly on 10 this year.

In summary, lets heighten our expectation for the miraculous. Let’s believe God for more of the real and live in honesty, integrity and purity. Let’s test the Spirits but refuse cynicism and negativity in the process.

If you want it to grow get the atmosphere right.

Ignore the atmosphere at your peril. Have you ever been to someone’s home, you know, just dropped in and whoa it hit you, toxicity. Let me ask you these questions, “Did you want to stay? Did you feel awkward?” I know the answers are No and Yes. We don’t like being around negative atmospheres, negative things never grow over the long term. So if you want the church to grow, the ministry you lead within the church to grow, your connect group to grow, you’d better give some attention to the atmosphere.

There’s some practical things you can do, some questions you can ask:

1. What’s the environment like? The environment needs to reflect the event. Is it clean/tidy. It doesn’t have to be 5 star luxury but inviting would be good. How does it smell? Have you considered the lighting, you don’t need a take that light show especially for a connect group but is it constant with friendly, welcoming etc..

2. What’s playing? Music is a great aid to atmosphere. It should’t be dominant as people arrive but needs to be at a level to create mood.

3. What’s the welcome like? Pay attention to hello’s and goodbyes, this is very important! You want to people to feel welcome, tell them its great to see them! Let them know how good it was to spend time with them as they leave! Church is all about God & People, God will take care of his part, we can take care of the people!

OK that’s the easy stuff, the physical environment but here’s some real atmosphere killers that you’ve got to make sure don’t give a stale feeling to your group. A persons receptivity to the things of God can be hindered by an encounter with the following.

- A Miserable Face. Smile more, you and I can’t help the face we’ve been given we can determine what picture that face presents.

- A critical spirit. Loads of negativity in a room kills the atmosphere, everyone wants to get out quickly, everyone feels awkward. Don’t let negative people dominate.

- Anger. Did you have an argument before the connect group arrived? Deal with it, don’t let it affect people, forgive, get over it, people’s lives depend on it. You think nobody knows, truth is, everybody knows!

- Heaviness. Sometimes God moves by his Spirit and it can be very sobering, weighty, but in my experience when it’s God it is life giving. However, heaviness caused by our trying to go deep, or getting condemning is not life giving. The atmosphere needs to be fun, vibrant, faith-filled, real, relational not heavy man!

So the number one thing you should consider when preparing any event from a Sunday Service, to Tuesday’s connect group is the atmosphere. Will it help or hinder what God wants to achieve? Set it so it helps. Remember, “It’s God who gives the increase,” but we sow and water.

If you’re a leader in CLC and want more help with this for you’re event/ministry, talk to me…

Love

Paul

LESSONS FROM REX

“The local church is the hope of the world and its future lies in the hands of its leaders” – Bill Hybels

Over the last 2 years I’ve got into NFL (American Football) and started to support the New York Jets. At present Rex Ryan is their head coach and I recently saw a broadcast of one of his team talks that was full of lessons for us.

I think we can learn from lots of sources about leadership and NFL teams have some synergy with church because teams are large with players taking responsibility for different disciplines. In NFL you actually have an offense, a defense, a kicking team and a special team.

Anyway here’s what Rex said, “I believe in our team, I believe we are the best team in the league.” “This team however, is only going so far if I’m the only guy that leads, We wont win guys if its all about me, if I’m the only leader.” Rex was addressing a loss and some bad preparation for the game by the defense. “Let’s make sure we play this weekend like the New York Jets.”

Three things from Rex’s speech that inspire me.

1. I Believe in Our Church.
I think Christian Life Church is amazing, I think the vision we have is awesome and the things we long to achieve are both God-given and awe inspiring. I totally believe in this church!

2. The Church is going nowhere if I’m the only guy that leads.
Thankfully that’s not true of us we have many taking positions of leadership, but the principle is that we need leadership throughout the church and leadership that grows, develops, believes in the church like I do, is passionate and leadership that produces other leaders too. I’m so glad the days of church being a one-man band have gone, I love seeing others growing and functioning in what God has given them to do.

3. Let’s make sure we do Church like CLC.
Rex was annoyed because the defense had not prepared properly for the game they lost. There’s a CLC way that we do things, I’m not saying its the right way, just that its right for us. I’m not saying its the only way, just that its the way for us. The culture of faith-hope-love should run throughout everything we do. The values of excellence, teamwork, Spirit and Word are crucial to our success. Filling every activity, programme, preparation time etc. with prayer is crucial. It shows humility, its leaders saying, we need you God, we want you God, we are thirsty for more from you.

Let’s do Church like CLC