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3 things I’ve learned about preaching (pt.1)…

I have been preaching now in churches for close to 15 years. Preaching is a spiritual gift. I believe God gave me the gift of speaking. However,  it’s been a gift that I have needed to fan into flame over the years.  I’ve learned a TON about preaching and its place in my life and the church. Above all, I’ve learned three primary things about preaching:

1. Preaching is not the most important gift. 

We know this, don’t we? God tells us through His Word that all spiritual gifts are NOT equal. Some are more important than others (see 1, 2 Corinthians, among other letters). The apostle Paul actually said that LOVE was the most important gift. I was hanging out with a Pastor who pastors a church near a seminary in Kentucky, and he said.  to me: “The problem with so many of these seminary students is that they love to teach, but they do NOT love people.” WOW. What a tragedy. Someone’s gotten it backwards. I would love to say that my testimony would be that I love people BETTER than I preach. If that is said about me, I am getting it right! 

Pastors, I know of GREAT churches who have average communicators, and I know of non growing churches who have GREAT preachers. However, I do NOT know of any GREAT churches where the Pastor is not a gifted leader who loves people well, especially, his staff and leaders. Pastors, preaching is not the most important gift. Love is. If people know you love them, they will listen to you. If you just love to preach and are looking for a platform to preach, don’t become a Sr. Pastor. Pastors: as the chief overseers, our primary responsibility is to care the flock of God entrusted to us ( 1 Peter 5:2). Preaching IS one way we do that. It simply should NOT be the ONLY way!

I work HARD at preaching. Harder than just about anyone I know. Preaching is one of the most important things I do. But I’ve learned it’s not the MOST important.  Loving leadership is.

The primary role of a shepherd is to be out in front of the sheep leading them.  The sheep can not follow a shepherd if he is not out in front of them and close enough to hear his voice? For many of us, even if we are out front, many of us are too far out in front trying to change the world, that we leave our sheep behind! God forbid!

Pastors, are you out in front of the sheep? Are you leading?

Are you modeling the way? If so, have you gotten so far AHEAD of your sheep that they aren’t listening any more?

Are you loving the sheep? Caring for the flock? OTHER THAN preaching?

I’ll share about the  two other things I’ve learned about preaching next. Stay tuned.

Sunday reflex 11-29-09…

Well, it was Thanksgiving weekend, and kids have been out of school since Friday before last, so I didn’t know what to expect this weekend at mountain Lake…but it was awesome! We actually had a great attendance for a Holiday weekend! I really do believe that people wanted to come BACK for Pt. II of our “When God is NOT Great” series, based on the obscure book of Habakkuk.

Here are a few reflections on the weekend:

• Austin Sisk was back from Australia and led us in worship. Good job, Austin! You are so talented! God is going to do great things through YOU in the future!
• Todd Nichols, our Worship Pastor, got a well deserved Sunday off!
• James Rodder, our Creative Arts Director did a great job running the weekend, in terms of worship.
• MANY people have told me how God is using this series in a timely way in their lives!
• We watched a POWERFUL “suicidal thoughts” clip from Patch Adams. I had forgotten about that clip. Whoa.
• Here are a few snippets from yesterday’s msg:
  • “It’s harder to sit at the table and pray ‘God is great; God is good’ when there’s no bread in the bank and no guarantee of future food!”
  • When questioned about His greatness, God responded once again by saying: “I AM Great; because I always keep my promises.”
  • “But these things I plan won’t happen right away. Slowly, steadily, surely, the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled. If it seems slow, wait patiently, for it will surely take place. It will not be delayed.” Habakkuk 2:3 (NLT)
  • “As for God, his way is perfect. All the LORD’S promises prove true.” Psalm 18:30 (NLT)
  • “So many of us are so concerned with obeying God’s commands; but it’s just important to Him that we believe His promises!”
  • “When we’re questioning and arguing with God, so many times, he just whispers to us: ‘Have I ever lied to you?’ And the answer is ALWAYS. ‘No’.
• We began our “Care for Kids” emphasis. Ornaments were placed on the tree that addressed a needy child’s wish list  regarding Christmas. We asked everyone to raid the four Christmas trees, take home ornaments, and bring back the gift listed on the ornament BACK unwrapped and place under the tree; God’s people stepped up AGAIN! THANKS MOUNTAIN LAKE!
• We announced our “Simply Christmas Offering” we’ll all be participating in the week of December 20. This offering is a special offering that allows us to prioritize Jesus in our giving this Christmas; allows our church to continue to be the light in our community and world the way He wants us to; and 10% of this offering specifically goes to fund our Benevolence Ministry! I’ve had some questions about the logistics of this offering. I’m going to try to  address some of the questions in a video blog later today.
• We baptized 4 more people on Thanksgiving weekend! WOW! Two of them were Dave and Jean Maryanski. Dave plays in the band and Dave and Jean are in MY Growth Group!  Made this Sunday even MORE special for me!
• It was a GREAT day at Mountain Lake. I am sensing His presence every week these days!

New series beginning Sunday Dec 13th…

Sunday December 13

Sunday December 20

Thurs. December 24

Christmas Eve Service Times: 3:00 4:30  6:00

Get here at 3!!!

The Iron Bowl Matters...

Alabama leaves field victorious after 2009 Iron Bowl

A lot to be thankful for…

This morning I made a list of things I’m thankful to God for. Here’s what I wrote:

Father I’m thankful for:

• Your Son Jesus Christ, the best thing that’s ever happened to me.
• Forgiving me of my sin
• Leading my life
• My call into vocational ministry
• My wife  Tricia, who:
  • Loves Jesus with all her heart
  • Is willing to sacrifice anything to see God’s mission fulfilled thru us.
  • Is my biggest cheerleader and best friend.
  • Is HOT!
  • Is my right hand  ministry partner!
• My three kids:
  • Hannah: who loves Jesus well and has a great ear for music!
  • Madison: My biggest helper and cuddler.
  • Paul: who loves Video games and comic books as much as I do!
• Parents who always believed in me, pushed me, and cheered me on.
• For a Dad who’s never been afraid to hug me and tells me he loves me every time I talk to him.
• For a church that is reaching so many people disconnected from Jesus Christ!
• For a church that loves my family and me well!
• My favorite Growth Group of all time RIGHT NOW: The Brambletts, McClures, Orzechs, Maryanski’s, Massey’s, Bushong’s, Landreth’s, & Smith’s.
• Your daily provision in my life. 
• The best Ministry team in the world.
• The world’s best ministry assistant: Marie Lindelli.
• The wisdom to lead during these unique days.
• Teaching me contentment more each day.
• churchplanters.com, and the ability to influence pastors and ministry leaders all over the world.
• The mentors you’ve placed in my life over the years.
• My home.
• America. I love this country. Help us return to You.
• Christmas Songs.
• College Football. My second passion in life.

“When God is not great” Pt. 1…

The messages are always here, but I just wanted to make sure no one missed this one.  Get still. Allow God to speak to you!

Are you a cookie cutter church?

As churches, we don’t create the vision for our churches. We discover it. From God.  As church leaders, to discover  God’s vision, however, means we have to search and listen for God’s clear voice regarding His distinct vision for the church we lead.  This is why, by the way, I get a little concerned by some of the current trends I see among many new churches in ripping THEIR vision statements off other church’s websites or trendy pastors’ blog sites!

I have seen too many “cookie cutter” vision statements lately on new church plants’ websites and blogs.  You know what a cookie cutter does, right? A cookie cutter makes the next cookie look just like the last one. That works well for Christmas cookies, but not well for church planting! Church planter: Does your church look just like every other church plant? If so, why are you planting it?  Why not just join theirs? 

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not against Pastors learning from one another and even rubbing off on one another.  My fear is simply that many of us are not willing to do the “hard  work” these days of being still and patient for long enough to receive God’s vision for our churches!  If we’re getting our vision for our church from another church, then we’re getting it from the wrong place! Visions come from God, not another church!

Many of us as Pastors could use this Holiday Season to get away from the busyness and the grind (and even our people) for a little while to GET WITH GOD and DISCOVER HIS UNIQUE VISION FOR OUR CHURCH!  While we cut cookies this year, let’s commit NOT to be a cookie cutter church this next year!

By the way, Will Mancini, author of Church Unique will be speaking at our  churchplanters.com conference  Feb 22-23: “Velocity”. He’ll be talking about HOW we as a church can discover, communicate, and implement the unique vision God wants us to have. Get registered now!