As most of your know, I write for a blog regarding Church REPlanting entitled REPlant, primarily for pastors taking over small churches that need complete makeovers.  I have been writing a series of articles entitled "Sniffing Out Your Achans" that I think are relevant to ministry leaders in our house. Our next several posts will be links to the articles at that site. Enjoy. Feel free to comment there.

To visit this third article focused on How To Avoid Someone Else's Achans In Your Leadership, click here.

As most of your know, I write for a blog regarding Church REPlanting entitled REPlant, primarily for pastors taking over small churches that need complete makeovers.  I have been writing a series of articles entitled "Sniffing Out Your Achans" that I think are relevant to ministry leaders in our house. Our next several posts will be links to the articles at that site. Enjoy. Feel free to comment there.

To visit this second article focused on How Achans End Up In Leadership, click here.

As most of your know, I write for a blog regarding Church REPlanting entitled REPlant, primarily for pastors taking over small churches that need complete makeovers.  I have been writing a series of articles entitled "Sniffing Out Your Achans" that I think are relevant to ministry leaders in our house. Our next several posts will be links to the articles at that site. Enjoy. Feel free to comment there.

To visit the introductory article, click here.

I recently visited several area church's weekend gatherings - it was a valuable recon mission that allowed me to experience how other families operate, get new ideas, and recognize our areas of strength and weakness. As a result, I want to give out some KUDOS to various areas of our church teams and family. I don't want any of my comments to come across as critical, haughty, judgemental, etc. All of the churches I visited were much bigger than TFH and doing a great job. I would say that all of them are doing at least an A- job in their form and function. I was appreciative of the solid work they are doing. With that in mind, the KUDOS and comments I make from this point on are not meant to be critical, but intended to encourage a job well done in our House based on our value system. 

KUDOS to those who lead, teach, preach and speak in our gatherings. We have made the decsion, regardless of the theme for the day, to be sure to make Jesus visible, part of the discussion, and the primary reason for everything we go on to suggest or discuss.

In visiting other churches, I was glad to hear about Jesus. In one church, He was the focus of the welcoming verse to the entire congregation. The pastor mentioned Him several times in the sermon. In the second church, he was affirmed to be God in one of the songs, and mentioned during the sermon. In the third church, he was affirmed in several of the songs, and the pastor spoke about the journey of Jesus to Jerusalem.

Unfortunately, each visit was like jumping in to a half read book. I understood the chapter we were in, but was not able to figure out on my own that the book was ultimately about our need to follow Jesus, because He is God, and that His expectation for everyone present was to either make the initial decision or continue on in the journey. At no time was I encouraged to make a decision to follow him. While that might have been emphasized the week before in all three churches, I think we need to continue to strengthen our message so that people can experience this weeks chapter while understanding the book is all about Jesus. Let's talk about marriage, but in the context of following Jesus. Let's talk about parenting, but in the context of following Jesus.

Jesus is our primary message and everything else must flow from that river of truth.

I recently visited several area church's weekend gatherings - it was a valuable recon mission that allowed me to experience how other families operate, get new ideas, and recognize our areas of strength and weakness. As a result, I want to give out some KUDOS to various areas of our church teams and family. I don't want any of my comments to come across as critical, haughty, judgemental, etc. All of the churches I visited were much bigger than TFH and doing a great job. I would say that all of them are doing at least an A- job in their form and function. I was appreciative of the solid work they are doing. With that in mind, the KUDOS and comments I make from this point on are not meant to be critical, but intended to encourage a job well done in our House based on our value system. 

KUDOS to the entire TFH Family for the enthusiasm (root word - full of God) in our gatherings. All of the services I was in were well presented, but there is something to be said about God's people plugging their cord into God's electrical outlet and experiencing some energy!!! I experienced 1) a gathering that was like attending a Student Drivers Ed class...more enthusiasm about what what happens after class than what's happening in class 2) a gathering where the crowd was excited to watch those on the platform do their thing and 3) a gathering where everything was so smooth and business like that it became very mechanical and task oriented.

None of this is critical, and much of it is admittedly preferential in regards to style. But our gatherings need to include meaning interaction with the God of the Universe that transcends the words on the screen or the presentation of a speaker, and when it happens, everyone in the room knows it. It needs to happen as we interact. It needs to happen when we worship. It needs to happen as we listen to and respond to the Word! I love that the enthusiasm for these things is sincere and visible in most of our gatherings. I love the audible praise, the ridiculously energetic clapping, the comments during the preaching. It is a sincere expression of your passion for the things of God, and it's infectious.

Much of that personality is attributable to years of hard work by Pastor Nathan, our worship team and those who lead our gatherings. You've been well educated and our leaders show up with game! Thank God for good leaders!

One area that we need to work on with our expression has to do with where and when we sit. In 2 of the 3 service I attended, people arrived early for a good seat and a genuine desire to sit in the front. It was as if it was General Admission at Qwest Field and people wanted to be near the action, so they got there early for the good seats. For whatever reason, many of us have decided that the back of the room is a better fit. We use all sorts of excuses like crying babies, bladder infections or an allergies to the pulpit, but it does become a family statement that I don't think we intend to make. If you have a baby, sit toward the front, but just near the isle. The extra two steps it takes to get out of the room won't make a different. We all celebrate with you that God has blessed you with a baby and that the one crying is not ours :-) If you are on a ministry team, don't sit in the back, sit toward the front but in the isle area. After all, the people who need the back seats the most are visitors, and they can't access them with you barricaded in them!!! Time to step it up and sit closer.

On the issue of time... its one of those things than some of us need to work on. All of us are late from time to time, but if  you are consistently late, you are making a statement that you probably don't intend. Besides that, you've missed the opportunity to greet family members and guest for that key 15 minutes prior to the service. Make it your intention to be on location 10-15 minutes before we begin. iIt communicates enthusiasm... and I know that you are enthused!