In preparing for the new series we are doing on the Holy Spirit at Cornerstone, I have been busy reading. If you want to learn more about the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives, then check out these great books.
Note: if you are using a feed reader, you will need to click through to my blog to see the books.
I have been meeting with a group of young pastors for the past several days. We are part of a leadership development program called uptick and we are being coached and mentored by a pastor who has a huge heart for helping younger leaders. Our topic this week has been accountability. We all know the importance of friendship and accountability, but why don’t we make it more of a priority in our lives?
A pastor who has struggled with an addiction in his life came and shared with us today. He shared the importance of finding at least one true friend who you can be open and honest with. I don’t know about you, but for me, this thought was scary. Outside of my wife, I really don’t have anyone who I feel I can confide in. That definitely needs to change. I will be praying and working on developing more accountability in my life, and I challenge you to do the same. In Hebrews, we are told we are naked and exposed before God. You can’t hide before God, so why do we try to hide all the problems we face in life?
Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable. Hebrews 4:13 NLT
The following is part of a devotion that Craig Groeschel used at Lifechurch during the Life Development series. I was reminded of it during our talks this week, so I found it on my hard drive and decided to share it here on my blog. Accountability is so important in our life, so let’s commit together to taking it seriously. This is powerful, so read it slowly.
When I was in school, one of the things I often wanted to know about an assignment was if it was going to be graded. If it was, then I’d put more into it. If it wasn’t going to be graded, then I didn’t work as hard.
My life today demonstrates this principle just as much as it did when I was in school.
Accountability closes the gap between intentions and actions.
Most people prefer not to be graded in life. We need to embrace the truth that life is graded. Hebrews 4:13 says that nothing is hidden from God’s sight. At the end of our life on earth, we’ll stand before God and give an account of what we’ve done—or haven’t done—in His name.
There are four common reasons that most people resist accountability:
- We fear failure. If we have accountability, then people will know when we fail.
- We don’t see the value of accountability. We think we can do it on our own, but the truth is, we probably haven’t and won’t.
- We’re rebellious. We don’t like having someone else hold us responsible for our actions.
- We’re full of pride. We think we don’t need others. But we weren’t created to accomplish things alone. God created us to need Him and to need each other.
The Bible teaches us that we must overcome these barriers to accountability. Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 says, “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man that falls and has no one to help him up!” The truth is that it’s very unlikely that you’ll accomplish God’s plan without correction. Isaiah 53:6 says, “We all, like sheep, have gone astray. Each of us has turned to his own way.” We’re prone to wander. We may start strong, but our attention quickly drifts.
I’ve found that I’m easily distracted from God’s plan by many of the cares of the world. That’s why I have people hold me accountable—they help me get back on track. When a rocket launches, headed for the moon, it’s only on track ten percent. Ninety percent of the time adjustments are being made, but in the end, they reach the goal. That’s what accountability does for us. We may start to drift off course, and then someone lovingly comes in to help us adjust. You cannot correct what you are unwilling to confront.
At our First Wednesday Service at Cornerstone last night, Sam shared about Christian leadership. He shared some examples from a blog post by Tony Morgan. I also talked about the importance of leadership development this past Sunday. But you cannot talk about Christian leadership without talking about the character and integrity of the leader. We all have influence, how are we going to use it? Check out these passages that Sam shared last night.
Leadership is less about the words or actions of the leader and more about the character of the leader.
That’s the conclusion I’ve reached after revisiting what the Bible has to say about leadership within the Church. For example, we can look at a handful of passages and come to this “job description” for leaders:
- Encourage others. (Romans 14:19)
- Set an example with your speech, life and faith. (I Timothy 4:12)
- Remain pure. (I Timothy 4:12)
- Embrace humility and gentleness. (Ephesians 4:2)
- Promote peace and unity. (Ephesians 4:3)
- Avoid arguments and quarreling. (2 Timothy 2:24)
- Gently instruct others. (2 Timothy 2:25)
- Maintain emotional control. (Titus 2:6)
- Demonstrate integrity in your actions and speech. (Titus 2:7-8)
- Live your life above reproach. (I Timothy 3:2)
We’re taking the next two days to spend time with the youth. We’ll be having fun, but I will also be teaching during the retreat. Our retreat will be in Charlotte, where we will be going to the National Whitewater Center and Carowinds. We are planning on making some changes to the way we do youth ministry and this retreat will help nail down some of those changes. Pray for us that we will have a safe trip and that God will use this time to shape our ministry into what He wants it to be.
photo by Ben Ehmke
I’ve been thinking about the many teenagers that I have spent time with over the past 13 years of youth ministry. Some of the teens have really excelled in life and faith, while others have struggled. While thinking about the teens who have done well, one characteristic seemed to be consistent: An attitude of service…
Some teens just naturally go out of their way to help. They want to do everything they can to serve others. I’ve seen them reach out to others who are hurting, I’ve seen them help me around the church, and I’ve seen them minister on mission trips. But how do you teach service? I know we can model it, I know we can teach and preach the life of Jesus, and I know we can give them experiences to practice it, but it still seems that so many teens don’t understand the importance of service.
I’m concerned when I look at the youth of our church (and even my own children) and see selfish attitudes and desires. I think that our children and teens should naturally help others without being asked. They should see a need and respond to it. We should have high expectations when it comes to serving others.
It is a daily process to die to yourself and put others first, and I hope and pray that as a pastor and father, I can teach and model what it is like to be a follower of Christ. But I would love to hear your ideas on how to teach our children and youth how to be servants. Join in the comments below and share your thoughts.
Our study through the book Crazy Love has been great. It has generated good discussion and it has made us think. This week was no different. I’ll just jump right in and say it, Chapter 5 of Crazy Love is controversial. The title of the chapter is serving leftovers to a holy God. In Chapter 4, Chan gives us a description of a lukewarm Christian. That lays the groundwork for the theme of this chapter. Let’s look at some of the statements from this chapter
After starting the discussion, everyone jumped right in with their thoughts. The basic feeling of the group was one of dejection. It does make you realize how far we are from Biblical Christianity. But honestly, this chapter left most people in our group more confused than challenged. In our discussion, I think we zeroed in what was troubling us. In chapter 4, we learned the characteristics of a lukewarm Christian. Many of these characteristics are outward actions. But the true test of whether you are lukewarm is not your outward actions, but the condition of your heart. I think this is where the book could have been clearer. It is very easy to read this chapter and come away with a “works-based” mentality to your salvation. That it’s all about what you do for God, and that if you don’t do enough then you’re in danger of God spitting you out like the passage in Revelation 3 that this chapter is based on. Chan does talk about grace, but only after he makes some pretty strong statements.
When you surrender your life to Christ, you have to completely trust Jesus. That’s faith, being sure of what you hope for and certain of what you can’t see. But you will still have times in your life when you struggle and you don’t stay as close to God as you know you should. It doesn’t mean that you lose your salvation, but it does mean you miss out on God’s blessing in your life. I fully agree with Chan that God wants your full commitment. I don’t believe you can truly come to Christ ‘half-heartedly.’ Don’t get me wrong here, I really love this book. But we have to focus on the condition of our hearts if we truly want to change our behavior. This chapter makes you take 2 Corinthians 13:5 and put it into practice, and that is a very good thing. We should be challenged to examine our faith, and we should be challenged to love God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength.
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I came across this definition of a disciple from the book, InnovateChurch and I really like it.
A disciple is a person who has trusted Christ for salvation and has surrendered completely to Him. He or she is committed to practicing the spiritual disciplines in community and developing to their full potential for Christ and His mission.
It establishes that you are indeed a follower of Christ, that you have a personal responsibility to be transformed, and that you have a personal responsibility to join the mission of Christ in making other disciples. To see the characteristics of a disciple, see my previous post about making disciples.
Discipleship is the process churches use to make disciples. Here is the book’s definition of discipleship.
Discipleship is the process of guiding individual disciples to grow in spiritual maturity and to discover and use their gifts, talents, and abilities in fulfillment of Christ’s mission.
Are you a disciple? And is your church making disciples?
We had another great meeting last week. Chapter 4 of Crazy Love makes you think. It is convicting and encouraging at the same time. The chapter is a profile of a lukewarm Christian, and Chan challenges you to examine your own life to see if you are hot, cold, or lukewarm.
Here are some characteristics of a lukewarm Christian:
2 Corinthians 13:5 tells us that we must examine ourselves to determine if we are in the faith. This chapter challenges you to do exactly that. Examine yourselves. Make sure that you know without a doubt that you are saved. None of us are perfect, in fact we are far from it, but we must desire to be hot for Christ, and not be content with being lukewarm.
In reading this chapter, my mind kept going back to a video that I saw of John Piper discussing the prosperity gospel that is so prevalent in the church today. Do we love God because He is all we need, or do we love God because of all the stuff that we have. Too many churches have distorted and perverted the gospel message to be all about the stuff in our live instead of being about an all-loving and all-powerful God. This is a powerful and even shocking video to listen to, but it makes you answer the question, “Is God enough?”
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I’m a little late getting this posted from last week, but it’s better late than never. I hope everyone is enjoying the book and reading through chapter 4 getting ready for this week’s group. We had a great time discussing chapter 3 last week, and I wanted to share some of the quotes that stuck with me. Understanding the crazy love that God has for us is so important.
Here are the quotes that really stood out to me:
What are your thoughts on this chapter? What spoke to your heart? I pray that we will all learn how to love God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength.
Posts in this series:
I hope everyone is having a great week enjoying the snow. Our life group at Cornerstone is currently studying through book, Crazy Love by Francis Chan. Each week, I will be recapping our previous meeting and talking about the current chapter we are reading. This week’s assignment is to read chapter 2 and come prepared to discuss it Friday night. Join in with your comments below. The discussion is open to those who are not in our life group as well.
We had a great meeting last week, plenty of people and plenty of discussions. We even got to see the newest addition to our group, 2 week old baby Caleb. This book is already making us think. The first chapter establishes a proper perspective of God. When you recognize God for His holiness and power, it changes your perspective on how to live. When we stop praying out of routine, and start praying out of love and a desire to spend time with our Father, we will hear from God clearly and regularly.
I really enjoyed reading the 2nd chapter. When I initially read the book, this was the chapter that really grabbed my attention and got me interested in the book. It’s one of those tough messages that we need to hear. The chapter starts out by reminding us that we could die any minute, and it goes on to remind us that our life is completely about the story of God. It reminded me of the opening quote from Rick Warren’s, The Purpose Driven Life …
It’s not about you. The purpose of your life is far greater than your own personal fulfillment, your peace of mind, or even your happiness. It’s far greater than your family, your career, or even your wildest dreams and ambitions. If you want to know why you were placed on this planet, you must begin with God.
In James 4:13-14, we see that our life is short, that life is brief, and that it is up to us to make the most of it for God. On page 42, Chan gives us definitions for stress and worry. “Worry implies that we don’t quite trust that God is big enough, or powerful enough, or loving enough to take care of what’s happening in our lives. Stress says that the things we are involved in are important enough to merit our impatience, our lack of grace towrard others, or out tight grip of control.” When I read that, it really convicted me of how much I worry and stress about things that aren’t important in life. I also connected with the analogy that compared our life to a movie about God. Our role is an extra in the story and we only appear for a split-second. We are not the star! So why do we live our lives as if we are the center of the whole universe? The chapter ends with a simple quote, “Friends, we need to stop living selfish lives, forgetful of our God.”
Let me challenge you this week to slow down and look at the big picture. Realize that you were created for God, and that he deserves our obedience and love. Let me know your thougths in the comments below. Also, here is the video overview from chapter 2. You can find more information at the website for Crazy Love.
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We had our first life group study tonight for Crazy Love. We had quite a few people who were unable to attend so I decided to post the videos here and also to use this as an online discussion group each week. Our assignment for next week is to read through the first chapter. You can add comments below if you have questions or if you would just like to share your thoughts. Think of this as a group discussion that continues throughout the week. I’ll add my comments on the chapter as I read through it again. And here’s the cool part, it’s open for anyone to add comments, even if you aren’t in our life group. If you’re adventurous, then you can check out an online book discussion with plenty of comments and discussion about the first two chapters of the book at this site.
Here are the videos we showed tonight. They give you a glimpse of what the book is about and who Francis Chan is. We had a great discussion time and I’m excited about the next 10 weeks. Also, our group will continue to meet at 7pm each Friday night. Join in on the discussion. Watch all 4 videos in the playlist below.
Posts in this series:
Every church must answer the question, “what is our purpose?” The Great Commission is very clear that our purpose is to make disciples. When we start to define what a disciple is, we typically use words like a student, an apprentice, or a follower. But the word also carries the connotation that the knowledge gained is being taught and passed on to others. The next question then is naturally, “what does a disciple look like?” Once you answer these questions, then you can start designing systems and processes to ensure that you are following the Great Commission. We are not called to just fill up the seats, we must make sure that people are coming to Jesus and growing in their faith. In the book innovatechurch, 10 characteristics of a disciple are described from scripture.
Principles that define a disciple
After looking at this list, let me ask you two questions. How are you doing personally as a disciple? And how is your church doing? It can be tough to measure your effectiveness at making disciples. The typical metrics of church attendance, giving, and professions of faith aren’t clear indicators that you are doing a good job. We must take the time to ensure that our teachings, processes, and vision are actually accomplishing our goal of making disciples. It’s hard to quantify life change, but that is exactly what we must strive to do. If you are a pastor, let me challenge you to spend time looking at these characteristics of a disciple. Then look at the ministries and programs within your church. Is there a clear connection between the two? If not, you know where you need to start: Matthew 28:18-20
I just finished reading innovatechurch, innovative leadership for the next generation church, by Jonathan Falwell. If you haven’t heard, God is doing some amazing things at Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, Virginia. This book is a collaborative effort from the leadership of Thomas Road and Liberty University. I have taken several seminary classes from Liberty, so I like to keep up with what is happening there. Since the death of Jerry Falwell, the church has experienced tremendous growth, building on the framework and structure and leadership that he provided. His son Jonathan is now pastor at Thomas Road.
The church is indeed doing some innovative things, but the book is more about not losing sight of the gospel message in the effort to be innovative. Thomas Road is a great example that you can still reach your community with a church that has traditional elements in the service. I think many pastors get caught up in the contemporary and modern style of worship and church, and forget that much of the country, especially in the south, has grown up around church. We must find ways to connect the truth of the message to the culture that we live in. As pastors, the most important thing for us is to discover God’s vision for our leadership and church. We need revelation, not imitation. Thomas Road has done a great job of keeping their church relevant to their culture without compromising their vision.
The book is separated into 8 different areas of innovation:
There are many great leadership lessons throughout the book. I can highly recommend reading it. There was only one section that I struggled with. In the section on culture, everything was based on being politically involved through government and through the legal system. My idea of influencing culture comes not through the political process, but through the lives of people living out the Gospel. What Thomas Road is doing through their service groups in the community is a great example of being a positive influence on culture. I have said it before, but we should be known for our love, not for what we are against. The church for far too long has delegated it’s responsibility to change culture to politicians and lawyers. I think we should follow the example of Jesus and engage culture by actually taking the gospel message to them.
Again, overall this is an excellent book. It challenged me in how we are doing some things at Cornerstone. I especially liked the chapters on discipleship and church planting. This book was a great read, considering how the culture of Lynchburg and our city are so similar.
Cornerstone Sermons