shawnlovejoy.com

Programming? or People?

       Everyone is talking these days about the need for CHANGE in the church. I think everyone agrees that across the board, the church must CHANGE in order to influence and impact this world we live in. The GREAT news is, I believe the church in general, across our country, is undergoing VAST change. I really believe we'll all look back 20 years from now and see the first decade of the new millennium as some of the most rapid change in the history of the church!
        But what has really changed?  I'll tell you: PROGRAMMING. We've updated our music; done away with the "pulpit" and the thrones on stage. Many of us have done away with "the choir". We've taken the steeples off our buildings. We've "pimped" out the children's ministry environments. We've moved from Sunday School to Small Groups. We've become "simple churches" and KILLED a lot of the programs we were doing or other churches have done. We've changed the way we dress; and placed coffee bars in the lobby. By the way, I love all of this. But do you recognize anything that's missing? People!
       Many churches, in their desire to be culturally relevant have focused TOO MUCH on programming, at the neglect of focusing on PEOPLE! At the end of the day, I don't believe changes in programming ALONE will change the world! I believe changes in people will change the world! So any idea what we should be focusing on?
       At Mountain Lake these days, we are worrying less and less about shaking up and changing up the PROGRAMMING all the time, and MORE and MORE about how we can better invest in PEOPLE: INSIDE the church and OUTSIDE the church! Jesus said that the world would know we are His disciples, NOT by our programming; but by our love for people!
        Churches, your programming will work most of the time if the people behind the programs are messed up in love with God and each other! God will use your church to reach disconnected people if they know you LOVE them! So stop tinkering with programming and start loving people...and watch God do the rest!

A Great Bible Study Help...

         I'm not into endorsements on my blog, but there is one Bible Study tool I've been using for nearly a decade, that helps me RADICALLY in my understanding of the Bible, AS WELL AS, teaching the Bible. It's a software called Quickverse. I actually prefer the version that came out 2-4 years ago (my version is Quickverse 7.0), over the current versions. They are just more simple.
     First of all, Quickverse helps me because  there is no perfect translation of the Bible. Therefore, when studying the Bible, there are several translations of the Bible I look to. Often times, one translation will reflect the heart of God BETTER than another one; Other times, another translation will be easier to understand. By looking at multiple translations of a Scripture passage,. I am able to better understand the TRUE CONTEXT of what God was really trying to say. With Quickverse, I can glance at MANY multiple translations at the same time! No translation of the Bible is perfect. Check out the multiple translations of Deuteronomy 8:5 about God's discipline (click on it):

 

       If I want to go back to the original languages, Hebrew and Greek, to study a word, I simply CLICK ON IT, and it opens up a window that shows me all the possible word meanings of that word. Today, I did some digging about the word "discipline". IN the King James Version of the Bible, they use the word "chastise" instead of discipline. Hmm...Interesting...Then I looked in the lower left window, Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, and clicked on the "Strong's Number" next to the word discipline, and look what pops up (click on it):

  

       This is just an example of the fact that ANY of us can become Bible experts and Bible teachers, if we're willing to invest in the time and the resources to do so. I also have McArthur's Commentaries, Warren Wiersbe's Commentaries, the Life Application Commentaries, multiple Bible Dictionaries, and other resources at my fingertips in this software. Because I use older software, ALL of this probably cost me $200 over time, as I added more books to my library. For the best prices on Quickverse, BTW, check out christianbook.com. Hope this helps someone!

An Advisory Team? In church?

       Within our church structure, one of our Leadership Teams at Mountain Lake, is our Advisory Team, made up of 5 guys and 3 ladies, who represent our church well, in terms of life station and spiritual journey. We have some young and some old; some who have been Christians for a long time; and some just over a year.
       Our Advisory Team does not make ministry decisions or set strategic direction for the church. Our Pastors do that under God's leadership. Our Advisory Team is simply a sounding board for wisdom , advise, and feedback. They also help be the eyes and ears as far as the "vibe" of the congregation currently.We meet with this team every eight weeks and talk to them about some of the issues facing our church and get their feedback about different issues and decisions we're considering.
        Last night, we had an incredible discussion about some of the issues we're facing and decisions we're praying about in our Growth Group Ministry. It was electrifying! It was AMAZING to get their perspective. Sometimes in the meeting I knew what they were going to say. Other times, I was shocked by their responses. but every time, it helped our church by giving us, as the Ministry Leaders, perspective from the people's viewpoint. I can not tell you how many times these types of meetings with groups of people in our church, have saved our BUTTS as Pastors! I can't tell you how many times these meetings have protected our church from making a POOR decision!
       As Pastors, it's so easy to "think" I know what's best for the church without getting counsel or feedback from people in the church. It's so easy to THINK I know what everyone else is thinking or feeling. However, as Pastors, i feel we often get so insulated in our Ivory tower that we lose touch with where the people REALLY are. I feel like every Pastor and Pastoral Leadership team needs a place or a group of people they can trust to bounce ideas off of, and get feedback from, about what's really going on in the church. Or we'll lose touch. Pastors, where's your safe place to "test the waters" and get come feedback and counsel before you get up on the platform with your "Idea of the month?" You'd better talk to some people, first.
       FYI: Here are the current members of our Advisory Team:

Jonathan Griffith

Bill Snyder

Bill Kennedy

Dan Wiggins

Beth Nelson

Missy Bushong

Wendy Poole

Ray Calhoun

THANKS GUYS! YOU HELPED US AGAIN LAST NIGHT! I LOVE YOU GUYS!

      

Starbucks apologizes?...

       I love Starbucks. But this week I had something amazing happen. I had a bad "Starbucks experience." I was actually traveling and pulled into a Starbucks just off the Interstate that still had the "Now Open" banner hanging across the building. I pulled through the drive through, and pulled up to the speaker. The person on the microphone wasn't overly friendly and seemed unsure of themselves; they cut me off before I could finish my coffee order for my friend. Subsequently, he had to get out of the car and go in after receiving his coffee; When I finally pulled up to the window to get our coffees, they literally told me that they had run out of COFFEE but were brewing some more and asked if I could wait five minutes?! Are you kidding me?
       Believe it or not, Starbucks redeemed themselves from all of this with one simple gesture at the end of our visit. They knew they had screwed up. They knew that this had probably been a bad experience for us. So they handed us a card, and this is what it said:

"We apologize if your Starbucks experience was anything but wonderful..."
"The next time we see you, please enjoy a beverage on us. We hope your next visit is better."

       Are you kidding me? Starbucks apologized for the experience I had while at their establishment! they took responsibility. They literally asked for another shot! Man! Do you think the church could learn something else from Starbucks?
       Is is possible in our churches that there might ever be a need to stand up after the service and just be honest by saying: "We apologize if your ____________ (church) experience was anything but wonderful. We weren't hitting on all cylinders today..." Could we just be honest to people about the fact that on some weekends, that the environment,  the friendliness, the children's' workers, the music, the PREACHING is not perfect every week? Can we acknowledge that? Can we ask people to come back even when we didn't knock out of the park? Can we acknowledge the fact that even though the sign indicates "Now Open" many Sundays, that we're not ready for guests? Can we admit our shortcomings? Do we have the courage to just say sometimes: "We apologize. We know everything wasn't perfect. We value you. We want you here. We're glad you came. We hope your next visit is better." What does your church need to apologize for on some weekends?
       Just so you know, this weekend at MLC, our goal is not a "perfect experience". Our goal is to change the way you think about church and lead you to belong in a healthy relationship with God and others and become more like Jesus and Christ." If we do that, it WILL BE perfect! We love you. We value you. We want to help you. We hope every visit gets better: because God is changing your life !
         

Which comes first? Love or Discipline?

       I speak to church and ministry leaders a lot about the need for DISCIPLINE in our lives. Without discipline as a leader, we will be ineffective and lack the moral authority we need to lead the people that God has entrusted to us. However, I heard Matt Chandler, Pastor of Village Church, say something GREAT recently that's been one of his beliefs and prayers for a long time. And I totally agree with him!
        Matt has said that we must understand that Discipline can't produce love, but love almost always produces discipline. In other words, gritting our teeth and promising God and ourselves that we'll do better is NOT the answer. The truth is, we can not MUSTER UP discipline. Discipline is a spiritual product of our love relationship with God. The fruits of the Spirit are just that: fruits of the Spirit! To possess more discipline in our lives, we don't need to try harder. We need to love more passionately. God, through His relationship with us can produce IN US, the discipline we need to be and do what He wants us to be and do! Do you need to change? Then you need to love! And allow God to love you. THAT'S the path to change!

Raising Evangelsitic Risk...

        In a conversation recently with one of my heroes, Bill Hybels, of Willow Creek Church, Bill mentioned that one of Willow's new goals was "raising evangelistic risk." When I heard this phrase, my skin crawled! I got goose bumps all over! I thought: "That's it! That's what I believe God wants for the church! He wants us to take greater risks (than we're currently taking) to reach people far from God!
        What does that look like? I don't know. But now at Mountain  Lake, I believe God wants us to dream about "raising evangelistic risk" in our context. What are some risks we could take that could potentially reap a greater harvest than we're experiencing now? What does it look like to raise evangelistic risk: In our worship services? In our Children's ministry? In our Student Ministry? I don't know. We've got more questions than answers; but at least we're asking the question. What kinds of risks are you taking to introduce people to Jesus? 

When God is loud...

       Sometimes I like to say that "God is loud" in my life. Sometimes I feel Him speaking to me more than others. Given, it's probably NOT because God is speaking more. It's probably because sometimes I listen more than others. One of the times when God always seems to be the "loudest" in my life is actually while I'm AWAY from the church. Whether I'm on vacation, or speaking at an conference, etc., I really believe that through a change of pace and getting OUT of the daily schedule and grind, it opens up my sense more clearly to hear from God. When is God the loudest in your life?

Church Planter needs ride...

  Our newest church planting resident, Will Henderson, who happens to be from AUSTRALIA needs an automobile by July-August when he joins our team. This car could be donated to Mountain Lake Church and would be a great tax deduction. If you have a lead, email me at slovejoy@mountainlakechurch.
  

Church Planter's Coaching Network...

 

      Today I get to spend time with 12 of the sharpest church planters around through our monthly Coaching Network sponsored buy  Mountain Lake and churchplanters.com. I love hanging out with these guys, being a source of encouragement, and challenging them a bit...OK...A LOT! I love watching pastors grow and become everything God wants them to be. It's so much fun! If you're a church planter and do not have a coaching or strategic mentoring relationship with other pastors, get connected now! You will drown without coaching and mentoring! For more info about becoming part of our coaching network, click here.

Church Planting Practicum...

      

 MY favorite event we sponsor at Mountain Lake each year through churchplanters.com is not our conference, believe it or not. The weakness of church conferences is that they allow you to get all "messed up for Jesus" but don't allow any margin to process and apply what you've heard while you're there.
        That's why my favorite church planting event is our PRACTICUMS, where we require church planting teams to come, sit around a table with each other,  and learn and work together on their processes, systems, and ministries in their churches. We spend some brief time discussing and highlighting each of our best Practices, and then we facilitate lively discussions, brainstorming, and planning among the church planting teams. The reason I love the practicum more than anything else is because it allows the church planting team to APPLY EVERYTHING while they're still on site! I also love to be able to provide more personal time with each church planting team. I love walking around to the various teams and "livening" up the discussion, answering questions, as well as asking them. Our next practicum is being held July 28-29, and space is limited to 10 church planting teams. Get your  team here!