Tired today. We’ve been dealing with a family that has seen death strike quickly. Six weeks ago this lady was healthy, vibrant, a runner, swimmer, servant at church and in the community. At 46 she is gone because of cancer. Just a few days before prayed with another family that lost their 70 something year old mother.

It is both invigorating to be part of the care team and draining at the same time. We were up with them until 2 a.m. one night and a couple of nights later at the home at 4 a.m. after her death. I don’t recover from these things like I used to. But I wouldn’t miss being with a family that is struggling with life and death issues.

If you are a lead pastor you should have a staff of people or at least a volunteer team that can walk with a family through tragedies such as these. The more you are tied to being “THE” caretaker you will have a difficult time growing a large church. Rick Warren used to tell people “when you see me at the hospital, you know your time is about up.” As the church grows the ministers that minister to that person, the ministry in which they are serving, or the small group to which they belong should take the lead. The lead pastor should be about leading and caring for staff and elders and leaders of major ministries. That doesn’t mean the lead pastor doesn’t care. It simply means that the people who know you best care for you. I’d much rather have someone who KNOWS me do my funeral than someone who just knows me by sight.

If the church is to be the church then those who know the people best need to be the responders. We have a great gentleman in our church that just loves people. He sent a message to us in the midst of this families crisis and offered his services to go with pastors or others when a death or other tragedy happens in a families life. This ladies and gentlemen is the church being the church.  Educate people to be the church. When it works its an amazing thing.

19 – 10????????

Gotta have better pitching tonite.

What a game last night in the College World Series! Georgia has had some pretty spectacular comebacks this entire series, but last night was the best. And now I learn from todays AJC that Mark Richt is from Omaha so it’s must be a lucky sign! Knocked off #1, #4, Stanford and one more to finish off Fresno(way). GO DAWGS!

The sixth characteristic of a healthy church: HOLISTIC SMALL GROUPS. I was consulting with a church one time that told me they didn’t have small groups. Almost every church has some type of small group, sunday school, small groups in homes, ladies bible studies, men’s groups, youth groups, children’s groups, etc, etc.

Holistic Small Groups are structured for: worship, service, care, spiritual growth, releasing of gifts, raising up new leaders, application of spiritual truth, and to accomplish assigned tasks. Small groups can come in many forms but need to be tied to your core values. Don’t waste your time developing and maintaining groups that aren’t meeting the mission and vision that God has given you.

I think that small groups are a great proving grounds for future leaders. Small group leaders need to be in agreement with your vision and mission, agree with the philosophy and theology of the church, and a positive influence over others. Train leaders to handle difficult people, group dynamics, how to reach out to others, and basic teaching technics. Constantly encourage and exhort them. People in small groups will stick around and help build a church. Engage people!

I don’t know who said that church work was supposed to slow down in the summer but they obviously didn’t work at WRC or the other churches I have worked for. Anyway.

The 5th characteristic of a healthy church is INSPIRING WORSHIP. You’ve probably heard about the church that started at 11 0′clock sharp and ended at noon dull. Way too many churches fit that description.

Worship should happen first in your personal life. That doesn’t mean you sit and sing out of the hymnal . But you should have a regular time that you meet with God and expect God to meet with you. You should also be leading your people to do the same.

Worship also happens corporately, but if you haven’t met Him personally don’t expect much corporately. When planning a corporate service be creative. For the vast majority of services I can tell you what they are doing by looking at the clock on Sunday morning. That is true even in contemporary churches. Don’t be afraid to mix it up. Include art, dance, smells, banners, and different music. Read the Bible, Pray more. Stir your people up sometimes.

If you are really interested in how you are doing get an unbelieving friend (you do have some don’t you?) to come and tell you about their experience.

Here is what Schwartz says about Vital Worship: alive to the presence of God; culturally appropriate; worship is modeled by leaders; clear theme and purpose; effective transitions and flow; maximum participation; and meaningful to regular attenders and newcomers. How ya doing? Did your people meet with God this week?

FUNCTIONAL STRUCTURES. Andy Stanley at Catalyst last year addressed some of these issues in relation to Systems. Every church has a structure. Some good, some not so good. If your structures are such that they bog you down in minute activity then you need to look at change.

Good structures should be measured by your Values, Vision, Mission, and ultimately the Outcomes you hope to achieve. If a program or ministry is not meeting these criteria then you need to reconsider what you are doing.

Structure is a constant process of evaluating, planning, and implementing systems you need to add or subtract. Think in terms of being able to REMOVE things that are not producing the results you wanted. PRUNING and refining to other programs that may meet your criteria. Finally RESHAPING, making a good program or team better.

 Ken Hemphill wrote a book several years ago, The Bonzai Theory of Church Growth. In the book he describes how a professional can take a normal tree and reduce it to a small pot. The tree may be dozens of years old and even producing fruit but be contained in the same pot it began in. I am afraid that a lot of church plants are like the Bonzai Tree, the structures are keeping you small. Get out of the pot. Develop structures that take you to the next level. You might even want a professional consultant help you look at your systems to help you determine what is keeping you small. Grow up and out! 

PASSIONATE SPIRITUALITY! Loving God with your whole heart, mind, and soul. I think that every church, whether true or not, believes they are spiritual. But this is not about corporate worship. It is personal. How do your people connect to God and do it with PASSION?

This characteristic is about the fruits of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, gentleness, kindness, and self control. This is born out of a daily walk with God. Not legalism, but relationship. The desire to spend time learning about my relationship with the Father. The desire to see Him answer my prayer and see His mighty hand at work in my life and in the lives of those around me.

Gordon MacDonald, “Monday Morning Restoration” says there are seven deadly siphons from your passion: 1. Words without Action; 2. Busyness without Purpose; 3. Calendars without Sabbath; 4. Relationships without Mutual Nourishment; 5. Pastoral Personality without Self Examination; 6. Natural Giftedness without Spiritual Power; and 7. Enormous Theology without Adequate Spirituality. What’s robbing you or your people today?

We start churches and hope they are healthy. The first sign of a healthy church is EMPOWERING LEADERS. One of the things you should notice is that the ADJECTIVE (for you that went to school in Alabama an adjective is a descriptive word). All churches have leaders. Not all churches and pastors empower their leaders.

The second sign of a healthy church: GIFT ORIENTED MINISTRY. Every church does some type of ministry. Even if it is too its own members. But I’ve been a part of a lot of churches that guilt people into service instead of allowing people to find their spiritual gifts and serve in their natural capacity. Now, is there a time when someone has to step up and work in the nursery and change diapers for a new congregation with few servants. Yes. But if you are constantly finding yourself begging people to do ministry, I personally would question whether those ministries are what you need to focus on at this moment.

Since God builds the body and it is His body do we believe that He provides for its growth needs. Leaders for programs we need to grow. Leaders to sustain the movement of the body. In the early days of a church plant and if your church is struggling perhaps it is because the church is program heavy and people are serving or have served too long outside of their giftedness.

Help people find their place of giftedness. It will make a difference in the health of the body.

And by the way: How ’bout them DAWGS in the College World Series!

Thanks for the good thoughts about the toothache. Surgery Friday…aaarrrggghhh!

But that puts me in the thoughts of what is a healthy church. We plant churches because it is the most effective evangelism strategy there is. The second reason is that there are so few healthy churches. The reason we do training is to try to bring a semblance of health to the churches that we help get started.

So what is a healthy church. Christian Schwartz, a German theologian did a comprehensive study that has been helpful. Over the next few days I would like to share some of his findings. It’s not new but still useful…

The first characteristic of a healthy church is EMPOWERING LEADERSHIP. This means that the pastor empowers people to do the work of the ministry. Amazing Paul got it right 2000 years ago.

The first step in that process is your own spiritual vitality. You’ve got to keep yourself fresh. Take time off. Spend time in prayer and study. Retreat and renew. Secondly is that you need a mentor. I’ve talked about mentors before, so I won’t expound. Get one. The third thing is modeling. You need to be able to say like Paul, see what I’m doing, you do these things.

Then to empower leaders: Choose the right person. Equip them. Coach them. Hold them accountable.  Develop systems that make them successful.

I’ve said it to a lot of church planters. Your church will grow to the extent that the pastor is able to empower leaders to do the work of the ministry. Ask yourself where your church is stuck. I hope it’s not at the end of your leadership.

Tomorrow: Gift Oriented Ministry.

I have only had one cavity in my entire life. It abscessed and the dentist jerked it out. I think I was about 12 years old. The last week my teeth have been killing me. I am on some major pain relievers right now. Anyway the dentist said it’s not my teeth. It is my gums (more money). Just by looking at me or my mouth you would never know I am experiencing any difficulty (except for the glazed gaze from the drugs).

That’s the way a lot of people handle problems in the church, if you can’t see it, it ain’t there (I know ain’t ain’t a word ). Sometimes when you ignore difficulty you end up having to have surgery . Anyway the deal is, deal with problems before they cause so much pain that it requires surgery. That is true in your body and in the body of Christ.