Review - Sifted

Wayne Cordeiro, with the help of a few friends (Francis Chan and Larry Osborne) has just written a marvelous book called "Sifted: Pursuing Growth through Trials, Challenges, and Disappointments". If you are in ministry and haven't faced major challenges, hurts, trials and disappointments, you will. If you have, Sifted will help you process these. If you're in the middle of a season of trials and disappointments, it's a simply must-read. The authors have not only faced their share of trials, but they have helped many other pastors and ministry leaders make it through. The book will be especially encouraging to church planters.

Part one, "Heart Work", describes the process of sifting, why it is virtually inevitable for those who will eventually bear much fruit in ministry, and how to respond when you are being sifted. The writing here is compassionate, warm, challenging, and highly encouraging. Part two, "Home Work" covers some of the key areas we simply cannot ignore - our family, taking care of ourselves, and facing desperate times. You've heard this content before, but it's presented in a fresh and helpful way. Part three, "Hard Work", gives much needed balance in our approach to hard times and tough situations. The veteran authors strongly urge reliance on the Spirit but also note: "We place too much emphasis on spiritual gifts and too little on sweat and gumption." It also discusses the major role sifting plays in character development.

One of my favorite quotes from the book gives a flavor of the tone of the book and the encouragement to be found by those wondering when the pain will end, wondering if they will ever make a difference in the lives of others: "A sifted life is an influential life. Your greatest influence takes place after you have been sifted and have survived... Unsifted Christians won't have as much influence, and that's simply the way God has designed it to be." Do yourself a favor and read "Sifted." At the time of writing this review, it's actually on sale for the Kindle for just $2.99 (along with a few other titles in the Exponential Series). That's just crazy cheap - so go get your copy :)

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book for free from Amazon  for this review as part of their Vine Review Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising".

Made For a Purpose

Do you ever wonder... what am I here for? what should I be doing? what will make me happy? I have, and I at times I still do. I've heard these questions from several friends recently and so it was natural to close out my recent sermon mini-series on stewardship (of opportunities and of finances) with stewardship of talents. But the driving force behind it are these two questions:

What am I here for?
What will make me happy?

The following is not a statement everyone will agreement, but as I see it the Bible teaches that it is impossible to know your true purpose in this life apart from knowing Jesus Christ. It is impossible to find real happiness by pursuing happiness as your main goal. And it is impossible to find the deepest fulfillment in your life apart from serving others. A key reason is that one of our main purposes, something common to all of us, is to have a loving relationship with God. And because He is the one who made us, He gets to decide our specific or unique purpose. We will over time discover it, but not create it. And that purpose involves serving and loving others and modeling Christ's love. That's not in a cookie-cutter way, but in a way that is completely unique to us - at the intersection of our passion, our skills, and someone else's need. In the message we look at passages such as Ephesians 2:8-10, John 15, II Corinthians 8, and Ephesians 4. The bottom line...

We come to discover and life out our unique purpose in life, and find true fulfillment in the process, by serving others according to the unique way God has designed us, our SHAPE. Get to know the One who made you, take steps to understand your SHAPE, and set your heart and hands to serving others as a loving response to what God has done for you. If you have any comments or questions on the sermon, let me know!

How Do Churches Successfully Encourage Growing Disciples?

Greg Hawkins (Executive Pastor of Willow Creek) shares some things via the small group show which they have found in researching how a church can be effective at growing fully devoted followers of Christ.

Five Factors Seen in Churches Doing a Great Job Growing Disciples 

1. They get people moving (on a discipleship journey)
   - Clear first steps, strong intentionality and vision
2. They embed the Bible in everything
3. They create 'owners' in the congregation (volunteerism on steroids)
   - They give away ownership in ministry, with accountability is high on the backside
4. They pastor the local community - ministry is not just within walls of church
   - That includes partnering with other churches, with local government, and
     highly encourage their people to be deployed outside the church in ministry
5. Senior leader and senior leadership team consumed with making disciples

These factors and others are described in more detail in "Move" - a new book from the Reveal study. You can watch this trailer about the book.

Start with the WHY

Mark Howell (my favorite small group blogger) highlighted a TED talk by Simon Sinek called "Start with Why. It's got some great illustrations, and I love these two quotes:

Martin Luther King Jr. said "I have a dream!" not "I have a plan!"

"What you do serves as the proof of what you believe."  (Ironically, this was really the take home lesson in our recent Bible study in James 2 :)

Here is the video for Simon's TED talk:

Review - Radical Together

I received an advanced reading copy of a new book to be released next month (April 19th) -- "Radical Together: Unleashing the People of God for the Purpose of God" by David Platt, published by WaterBrook Multnomah.

Radical Together is in some ways a sequel to Platt's best-selling book, "Radical: Taking Back Your Faith From the American Dream." Radical was an extremely challenging book, asking Christians to turn their backs on lukewarm consumeristic faith and embrace a more radical form of discipleship as Jesus expected from His followers (see my earlier review). Radical Together looks at this challenge to live as Jesus calls us to from a different perspective -- it's about an understanding of the church that embraces true disciples, how churches can help Christ followers live a more radical life. That doesn't mean it's just for pastors; Platt's audience is any Christian who desires to make a Kingdom impact. Whereas Radical looks at radical followers of Christ, Radical Together looks at radical communities of faith.

The Introduction lists the six main ideas around which the book is organized:

1. One of the worst enemies of Christians can be good things in the church.
2. The gospel that saves us from work saves us to work.
3. The Word does the work.
4. Building the right church depends on using all the wrong people.
5. We are living—and longing—for the end of the world.
6. We are selfless followers of a self-centered God.

Overall I enjoyed reading Radical Together (actually, more than the original Radical). It strongly challenges the church and asks a number of thought provoking questions ("What if the Bible is intended not only to dictate our theology but also to determine our methodology?") Chapter 4, The Genius of Wrong, was particularly interesting. It takes the premise that building the right church depends on using all the wrong people. Rather than use an attractional 'invite your friends' approach to evangelism, Brook Hills trains their people to share the gospel. "The reality is that the church will never make disciples according to God's full design until every person in the church sees this command as central for each of us, because his full design is that we all make disciples." No believer is to be on the sidelines of the Kingdom.

A discussion guide will be found in the end of the book (though not present in my pre-release copy). That's a great addition, as I can think of no better way to take in 'Radical Together' than by discussing it within a small group. A quote from the conclusion sums up the purpose of the book nicely: "How can we in the church best unleash the people of God in the Spirit of God with the Word of God for the glory of God in the world?"

You can find an excerpt and introduction at the WaterBrook Multnomah website, or you can download chapter one as a PDF. Radical Together will be released on April 19, 2011, on sale at Amazon, Christian Book Distributers and other retailers.

 
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Waterbrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review as part of their Blogging For Books Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising".

Review - Reverse Mentoring

"Reverse Mentoring: How Young Leaders Can Transform the Church and We Should Let Them" by Earl Creps is an eye-opening book that really challenges older leaders (especially ministry leaders) to exercise the humility needed to learn from those who are younger. They are especially good mentors in areas of technology and today's culture. He carefully explains how such reverse mentoring is beneficial to all involved - both the older and younger leader, and to the organization or ministry. Creps style is very straightforward and candid, mixing stories, his experience, and powerful insights on today's culture.

The book has four sections. Part One is "Facing Reality". Identity (I am not cool), Culture (I don't get it), and Ministry (I am not relevant). As a middle-aged leader I knew I wasn't cool, didn't want to admit I didn't get it, and was shocked and dismayed to find out I was seen as irrelevant by younger generations! What a change from older days, where the younger automatically looked up to their elders for their wisdom and experience. After this intro I was very eager to find out what I could do. Part Two is "Cultivating Spirituality". Vision (Seeing beyond ourselves), Wisdom (Knowing beyond our information), Relationship (Befriending beyond our peers). These include some powerful discussions of how we can gain respect and influence in the lives of others... by letting them have a voice in yours. Part Three is "Experiencing Practicality". Evangelism (Learning from Outsiders), Communication (Learning from listeners), Leadership (Learning from followers). The key here is having a humble spirit that is able to learn from anyone and everyone, how to listen better and ask good questions. Part Four is "Developing Reciprocity". Proteges (Developing R-Mentoring relationships), Processes (Embedding R-Mentoring in organizations), Interview (Joel and Rachel mentor Earl and Janet). In this last section he talks about how R-Mentoring is becoming more common in businesses and how to promote a culture that fosters this.

Creps is passionate about reverse mentoring because he believes that younger leaders have the potential to transform the church, and it's important that older leaders not only let them, but encourage them. The vital need in all this is the development of authentic relationships. Unlike days past where leaders would never show weakness, it's so important to be ourselves, sharing both struggles and successes. Friendship, not position, is the core dynamic. Humility is the core attitude. Good questions trump teaching. Either person can initiate the relationship, often simply by asking the other to hang-out together. Reverse Mentoring is a culture, not a system or a program. One interesting suggestion was the use of triads for mentoring relationships. This benefits from having additional interaction between proteges, and further reducing the sense of mentor-mentoree.

Any older (or semi-older) leader who is wondering why they don't seem to have much influence with the younger generation should definitely read Reverse Mentoring.

Ministry Mythbusters

I had the great privilege this morning of sharing the message at Calvary, as Pastor Chuck is away for two weeks. I chose to talk about how God views us volunteers as ministers. Some of the main teaching points were blowing away four myths about ministry.

Ministry Myths

Myth	Truth	Verse(s)
1. Clergy / staff do the ministry. Volunteers help.	We are the ministers. Equippers support us.	Eph 4:11-13
2. I don’t have any gifts. I’m not involved in ministry.	Every believer in Christ has a spiritual gift and a ministry.	I Cor 12:4-11
3. Ministry is what happens inside the church.	Ministry happens everywhere, whenever we serve others.	I Pet 4:10-11
4. Full-time ministry is a special calling reserved for a select few.	We are all called to full-time ministry.	Col 3:17-24;  I Pet 2:9

Why does this matter?

When you see yourself as a full-time minister, as someone who seeks to serve God and love others all at times, in all places, relying on the Holy Spirit… it transforms your life. This is not a call to do more – but to let God do more.

This is being who God wants you to be, and doing what He wants you to do. The cool part? In doing so, you become more you. We no longer merely 'pitch in' out of a sense of duty, nor do we do something natural within our own strength, but we begin to let the Spirit work through us and transform our heart until our ministry becomes a passion.

If you are a follower of Christ, you have been
… uniquely created by God for works of service,
… gifted by the Holy Spirit to serve others,
… given authority by Jesus to minister in His name,
… strategically placed in your current home/job/church.

Will you step up to the call of being a full-time minister, with the ministry of living out Christ in you?


Download the Audio of the sermon as MP3
View or Download a PDF of the sermon slides

Digging Deeper

Today at Calvary Baptist Church our Children's Ministry revealed a huge project they will be undertaking in 2011. We will be partnering with Living Water International to dig a well in Honduras. The kids will be doing a number of projects to raise $5,000 to pull this off, and we're really excited for this opportunity to provide clean drinking water for a village that right now is suffering greatly from the lack of any clean water supply. We're calling this "Dig Deeper in 2011", doing both this well project in combination with a focus on the kids (in partnership with parents) digging deeper in their faith and relationship with Jesus Christ. We've launched a Dig Deeper page on our website and even a new blog by our Families Ministries Director, Amy Anthony.

As cool as this is, it got a bit personal this morning when the family got home from church today after the Dig Deeper project was revealed, and after each kid got a water bottle filled with mud and junk as an object lesson. I asked my three boys what they learned in class today and they mentioned their bottles. I explained that many kids in Honduras have to drink water just like that, and they asked how we could help them. Oh my goodness... for the next full hour they had non-stop questions about wells, water, sickness, Honduras, and how they could make a difference. As we sat at the lunch table we learned all about what the kids there eat (beans, tortillas, bananas, eggs, meat and cheese), how they had to walk two hours just to get their water. We pulled out the globe and hunted down Honduras on the map. We saw that it was almost identical in size to Indiana (both 100,000 sq.km), and even similar populations (8 vs 6.5 million). My wife shared it was the third poorest country in the whole Western Hemisphere (after Haiti and Nicaragua). Each of my sons in turn took their hand and placed it on the globe over Honduras and prayed for the country. One prayed they would be healthy and safe. My oldest prayed they would find a great place to dig a well and that we could raise enough money to help them. My youngest boy prayed that the kids there would stay healthy long enough for us to get the well built and not die first (gasp, that one shocked me). Our boys are very excited that they and other Calvary kids will actually be working this year to save lives of these families in Honduras. I'm definitely excited, and hope you are too!

Ministry Design

I've had some interesting conversations with ministry leaders and small group leaders at Calvary about how we do ministry and what we expect of our people. Do we strongly challenge people to become fully devoted followers of Christ? Do we have events with no agenda (or challenge) other than to hope people make a new friend? Do we have high expectations of our volunteer leaders and help them to be more effective in our mission? Do we accept people no matter where they are? The answer to all these is 'Yes!' How we can say yes when these seem to contradict each other is a practical challenge. To explain this I want to unpack a little bit about ministry philosophy and ministry design.

Ministry Philosophy - How we do and think about things

"You are loved. You are are accepted." - God loves everyone, withholding love from no one. And so must we.
"Encouraging the development of fully-devoted followers of Christ." - God accepts us where we are, but loves us enough not to leave us there. The Spirit lovingly and patiently ever calls us to deeper devotion and commitment to God. And so must we.
"Loving relationships" - community is not just a biblical value or a key purpose; Christ-centered relationships are essential to growth and ministry.
"Progressive sanctification." While conversion and justification happen at a point in time, sanctification is a process that takes a lifetime. Jesus' call to his disciples was also progressive. "Come and see", "Come and Follow Me", "Come and Be with Me", "Remain in Me."
"Next step" - we don't expect seekers to behave like believers, nor do we expect new believers to have everything figured out one month after coming to Christ. Our goal is simple - help each person discern and take the next step in (or towards) Christ which the Holy Spirit is leading them to take.
"Authentic Leadership" - we want our leaders to model, not just teach.

Ministry Design - Cultivating Environments for Growth

Because personal growth is an organic and relational process, we can't force things to happen. What we can do is to provide excellent environments which allow for such growth to occur naturally. Crafting such environments is not easy, but intentional thought about the design of ministry activities is important. The key to this is:

Know your Target - Know your Purpose - Know your Desired Outcome

Here is how we look at 'targets' at Calvary: concentric circles of commitment. Community - those outside the church Crowd - those who attend Calvary Congregation - have committed to membership Committed - have committed to growth Core - have committed to serve and share It's important that ministry activities are friendly and appropriate for your primary target.

The goal is for people to take further steps of commitment as they grow in Christ. Is it bad to be part of the crowd? No!! We're delighted to have people coming even occasional as they are exploring the claims of Christ. Is it ok to stay hidden in the crowd for 20 years? Not so much. We want the community to 'come and see' without other expectations. We want occasional attenders in the crowd to come to call Calvary their church family and commit to deeper fellowship. Our hope is that those who are close to Christ will join in His mission and start to build up the body and make disciples themselves. Here's the thing - an activity or environment that is well-designed for one target (or one transition) is likely ill-suited to people at other stages in their walk with Christ.

Let's look at some practical examples:

• Community BBQ

The Community BBQ is what we call a bridge event. Its sole purpose to be a bridge to the community. It shows that Calvary cares about them, cares about being a good neighbor, and likes to have fun. If a person attends a bridge event and leaves thinking "Maybe not all churches are bad." and decides to come check it out sometime, that's a step forward, and a win.

• Small Groups - Fellowship or Discipleship?
  

We have many small groups at Calvary. These are places where people can 'do life together', and encourage each other to grow closer to Christ. Some place a very high value on fellowship, doing things together, and trying to reach out to people on the fringe of the crowd. Others are fairly intense in the devotion to Bible Study. Is it ok for a small group to just be social - get together for lunch and shoot the breeze? No. But the "no" is not because it breaks a small group rule, it's because that doesn't help anyone take a next step in Christ. If the group spends most of the time chatting, but asks questions applying the sermon to their lives for 15 minutes, that might well be an appropriate next step for a group of guys in the "crowd", who have few friends who are strong followers of Christ, and who have never wanted to be in a small group before. A patient small group leader here will focus on "Come and See" and will have to be intentional to keep Christ as central in their time together (both inside and outside the group).

• Men or Women's Ministries
  

The goal of a men's ministry or women's ministry is the same mission as the church - to encourage the development of fully-devoted followers of Christ.  But people are all over the map in terms of their current commitment to Christ and the life of the church. No one event or activity will adequate reach all people. No one event or activity will be 'the next step' for all the women, or all the men. How then do we apply principles of ministry design to pursue our mission and serve our people? By cultivating several environments, each designed to help a target audience to take a next step in Christ. For example:

- Bridge events (fishing trip, ornament exchange) to reach out relationally to friends in the community
- Fellowship-centric activities (casual breakfast, luncheon with a brief message) to allow people already part of the crowd to connect with each other, and develop an interest in joining a group or serving on a team
- Men's small groups or Women's small groups - where people are intentionally encouraged to great understanding of God's word commitment to spiritual growth
- Men's Fraternity or Beth Moore Bible study - more intense groups, though still relationally based, that challenge the committed to greater devotion and their next step
- Service Projects - both as a means to pull-in "hands-on" people to connect relationally with others, as well as to encourage those who love to study the Bible to get outside the church and let their deeds match their words.

That's a lot of activity. Trying to do all of these things is a recipe for burnout! Besides, chances are good that someone excited about in-depth Bible study might be frustrated by a meeting where spiritual growth is lightly referred to for five minutes. Team-based ministry is the answer here. Have a variety of people on your team, with a variety of interests, and work in those areas where you have both passion and skill. It is completely OK to start small, in an area you're excited about. Do the very best you can with that activity, but make sure that you are crystal clear in who you are trying to reach, designing your activity to best meet the needs of that audience, with a clear 'next step' that defines a win for those participating. If there's no one passionate about the activity or event, don't do it! But with everything you do choose to do... Cultivate an environment for growth for the people you seek to serve.


So, ministry leaders... does this make sense? What comments or questions do you have? Is there anything you want to push-back against?

Review - Intentional Church

I dislike buying a book that has no reviews on Amazon, especially when it lacks the 'Search Inside' feature. Invariable when I get one of these, I end up wishing I didn't. Recently I took a chance on a book called "The Intentional Church: Moving From Church Success to Community Transformation" by Randy Pope. It was the first in a long time where I'm glad I did (even though the main content wasn't really what I thought it would be!)

The Intentional Church is a practical and well-written guide for church leaders desired to be more effective in developing mature disciples of Christ and impacting their community. The focus is on intentionality - thinking carefully about the elements of effective discipleship and ministry, and creating a reproducible process to help your people grow as followers of Christ. The Intentional Church was originally published as The Prevailing Church. It's been revised and updated, now including a number of examples and insights learned from Randy's experience as senior pastor of Perimeter Church in Duluth, GA. He does a great job of sharing real-world experiences and practical tips without ever making it sound like we should become copies of Perimeter. His goal is to provide a framework for thinking about church leadership without providing a specific model to emulate. Since reviews on this fine book are scarce, I'm going into a little extra detail here than normal...

Table of Contents Introduction: What Will it Take to Be Truly Successful?
1. What Jesus Wants from His Church
2. What Makes a Church Grow? Six Widely Recognized Causes... and a Neglected Seventh Factor
3. Inside the Effective Ministry Plan. i) A God-Honoring Purpose
3. Inside the Effective Ministry Plan. ii) A Faith-Oriented Commitment
5. Inside the Effective Ministry Plan. iii) A God-Given Vision
6. Inside the Effective Ministry Plan. iv) Well-Prioritized Values
7. Inside the Effective Ministry Plan. v) Well-Defined Mission
8. Inside the Mission: Accomplishing Vision
9. Inside the Mission: Making the Mature and Equipped Followers: The TEAMS-based Church
10. Inside the Effective Ministry Plan. vi) Biblically-based Job Descriptions- The Roles of Deacons and Elders
11. Biblically-based Job Descriptions- The Role of the Pastor
12. Biblically-based Job Descriptions- The Role of the Laity
13. Inside the Effective Ministry Plan. vii) Strategically Designed Infrastructure
14. Inside the Effective Ministry Plan. viii) Culturally Relevant Strategy
15. Inside Culturally Relevant Strategies- Four Questions that must not be Overlooked
16. Inside the Effective Ministry Plan. ix) Well-Developed Goals and Plans
17. Inside the Effective Ministry Plan. x) Ongoing Measurement
18. Making the Tough Choices
19. Evangelism: Reaching the Lost in This Generation
20. Life-on-Life Discipleship: God's Model for Life Transformation
Conclusion: For His Gospel, for His Glory

There were a number of great insights throughout the book - I found myself highlighting quite a bit. The presentation is very logical, without being rigid, and not neglecting the pivotal role the Holy Spirit and power of God play in building His church. I saw four themes that came across very strongly in the book: a well thought out framework for strategic planning; a life-on-life approach to disciple-making centered on Truth, Equipping, Accountability, Mission and Supplication (prayer); leadership development; and the importance of the church being both gathered and scattered, reaching in and reaching out. Pope does a great job in providing the 'why' behind the tips he shares for effective ministry. For example, while discussing infrastructure he goes beyond the suggestion of providing large-size, medium-size and small-group structures to talk about the function behind each of these: to allow for celebration, community, education, and pursuit of the great commission. The only thing I felt was missing (given the title of the book) was more discussion on how to become more of an Externally Focused church transforming the community.

There are other excellent books providing frameworks for thinking about church, from a wide variety of perspectives, including The Purpose-Driven Church, Church Unique, and AND: The Gathered and Scattered Church. The Intentional Church is an excellent resource that should appeal to many church leaders - especially those with a desire for more intentional strategic planning, a more relational and focused discipleship process, and/or a desire to be both the church gathered and the church scattered.

Review - The Church of Irresistible Influence

"The truth is finally revealed. Anything done in the name of Christ, in the name of love, is ministry. Anything."  That's a powerful quote that caught my attention from a book called "The Church of Irresistible Influence: Bridge Building Stories to Help Reach Your Community," by Dr. Robert Lewis. The Church of Irresistible Influence is a story-filled book describing the early church's spiritual energy and depth which amazingly transformed the surrounding culture - and encouraging the church to do its best to do nothing less. Lewis shares the story of Fellowship Bible Church in Little Rock, and encourages the use of a bridge metaphor to become a church of " irresistible influence" (or i2). The book has five parts:  i) Spanning the great divide - what will it take to reconnect church and culture;  ii) Designing the Structure - How-to of incarnational bridge building;  iii) Experiencing the Results - true stories of i2 in action;  iv) Expanding the i2 effort - through partnering and leadership development;  v) Anticipating the Future - the Church in the 21st C.

What would it look like if it were more important that our lives were more attractive, rather than our church buildings? Lewis discusses at length the FBC mission statement: "We exist to manifest the reality of Christ to the world by equipping Christians to live lifestyles of spiritual integrity...  i) Passionately committed to Jesus Christ (a heart for God); ii) Biblically measured (everything by the Book); iii) Morally Pure (in a morally compromised age); iv) Family-centered; v) Evangelically bold (willing and confident in sharing one's faith); vi) Socially Responsible (the community around us is our business).  ... and to equip Christians for influential works of service in our community and in the world."

They talk quite practically about "Structure" which is about unleashing people with purpose - this structure must allow for hands-on i2 exposures, personal i2 ministry, strategic i2 investments. FBC's small group structure is designed to counteract getting stuck in our own safe huddles. The SG structure "intentionally processes people toward finding a personal ministry of influence." : They diagram it as: 1) Discovery,  2) Seasons of Life,   3) Common Cause. Discovery is for newcomer orientation, small group training and church membership, lasting 8-10 weeks. The Seasons of Life phase is a 3-year long small group spiritual growth experience emphasizing relationships according to a member's particular life stage. Common Cause is a small group spiritual growth experience emphasizing service to Christ according to a member's gifting and design; the time commitment is year-to-year. A partial list of the Common Causes groups includes CR, Bethany Christian Services, Crisis Pregnancy Center Support, Crown Financial Ministry, Divorce Care and Prevention, Habitat for Humanity, Upward. There are groups centered around the needs in the church, needs in the community, needs around the world.

Chapter 10 talks about the how there is no greater investment than in finding and training the leaders of tomorrow. "So, what kind of church leader should we be seeking to influence? Those who possess the following characteristics: keen intellect, high energy, a track record of leadership accomplishments, spiritual passion and a godly lifestyle, an ability to think conceptually, results-oriented, an ability to work in a team environment, a bent toward idealism. Of these, idealism is perhaps the critical trait."

Chapter 11 was quite interesting, talking about developing a community strategy. Phase One: Community Research.  Phase Two: Focus Group Feedback (panels of 22 community and social service leaders, to interact with the results of the findings from phase one).  Phase Three: Survey of Churches. In their area, race and education remain the dominant issues. Eight others were identified: affordable housing, domestic violence, health-care access, youth in poverty, substance abuse, elderly issues, transportation, economics/employment. The ended up with the following recommendations after the survey:  i) churches participating in the survey should focus as much as possible with their internal ministries on areas of need; ii) churches should focus on existing programs in the community that are doing a good job at meeting needs rather than start something new; iii) churches should look for creative ways to work together; iv) churches should look to partner with other organizations in the community that are effectively meeting priority needs and which are consistent with the mission of the church;  v) churches should be actively pursuing racial reconciliation.

Overall, The Church of Irresistible Influence is a good read. At times it provides great stories and useful principles, while at other times it feels a little too much like a canned model of things that might work great for them but not for us (I don't think this is their intention!)  If you want to have a greater influence in the community, personally or for your church, it's worth checking out.

Review - Sticky Teams

"Sticky Teams: Keeping your Leadership Team and Staff on the Same Page" by Larry Osborne, is a book I received as part of a blog tour hosted by Engaging Church. They will be linking to reviews like these coming out this week.

Sticky Teams is not just about the importance of unity on a team, but really an excellent book about finding and keeping unity of purpose and vision among all the key components of a healthy church - the pastor and the church board, developing a unified staff, and how a pastor can promote the unity of the congregation. The principles in the book are of benefit to church staff members, ministry leaders, or those preparing for serving in ministry, but the target audience is really senior pastors. The reason is simple enough; you need the senior pastor leading the charge of developing this kind of unity among the church's leadership teams and congregation.

The book starts out making a strong case for unity - and the need to be very intentional in pursuing this. Part One focuses on landmines and roadblocks, and how things can easily go wrong with boards or with staff. It also talks about the double-edged sword of growth and what a game changer it is for the dynamics of leadership teams. Part Two is about getting everyone on the same page, with a practical focus on equipping others for ministry. Part Three is about communication, keeping everyone on the same page. The book concludes with a helpful set of discussion questions. The ideas and potential for discussion here are strong enough that our staff is starting to read this together. We'll also be discussing our "plumb-lines", the core values that guide how we do ministry and set priorities.

I enjoyed this book much more than Osborne's earlier book "Sticky Church" (which I thought overstressed the idea that sermon-based small groups are a key to unity in the church). Some of my favorite quotes and ideas from the "Sticky Teams" book:

• "Jesus predicted growth but prayed for unity." (p21)
• "Friends tend to give each other the benefit of the doubt, while strangers are cautious and suspicious. Friends debate. Strangers argue." (p31)
• Very important to have right people on the bus, board and staff members who are actual leaders and not "representatives". (p51)
• "Good" isn't good enough! If you can't find the best person, leave the spot open.
• Six counter-intuitive principles of leadership (p73) 1. Ignore weaknesses, 2. Surveys are a waste of time, 3. Seek permission, not buy-in, 4. Let squeaky wheels squeak, 5. Let dying programs die, 6. Plan in pencil.
• As a church grows, the role of the staff must change: shift from generalists to specialists; doing to empowering; "my" silo to "our" church (p108)
• Make it special time not something tacked on: staff and board training should not be ten minutes carved out of a broader meeting, but something intentional and distinct. (p132)
• For training leaders, the process and just getting people talking together is more important than the curriculum -- it's about dialoging and working through the implications of ideas and principles (p134)

If you're a pastor who is new in your position, tired of battling things out with the board, or hoping to prevent trouble with staff, "Sticky Teams" is a must-read. You can check out a sample chapter of Sticky Teams or buy the book at Amazon or other retailers.

Review - AND blog tour

Today kicks off a blog tour for a new book by Hugh Halter and Matt Smay - "AND: The Gathered and Scattered Church." I was pleased to get a free review copy, as this book discusses an issue that is important to us at Calvary Baptist Church - what are the benefits of an attractional approach (draw people into the church to hear the gospel, find fellowship and build them up as disciples) versus a missional/incarnational approach (sending our people out into the lives of others directly to witness and grow as disciples). Pastor Chuck has maintained that it's Both-And; they're both useful. Yet if you listen to sermons or read 90-99% of books and blogs, they're diametrically opposed and you can't possibly do both well. Finally, a book that tries to bridge the gap and speak from a Both-And perspective??!

The introduction and first chapter talk about what the world needs from a church, and what God is doing through His church, how He and the church are 'beautifully sent' on mission. Chapter Two was for me the most powerful chapter in the book "Starting the AND... wherever you are". They jumped right in with discussion that target readers would need to know - how can you take a church that is strongly attractional, perhaps even inward focused, and help its people better understand what it means to live missionally and to see new avenues for ministry outside the walls of the church. It had some great discussion about how you can reach the same essential core of incarnational communities coming either from a gathered perspective or from a scattered perspective. Those coming from a gathered church might well consider a pilot group of about 10% of the church (a tithe of members) to receive training and support on developing incarnational communities.

One of the tough challenges in the book is really understanding what Halter means by the term 'Incarnational Community'. Is it a small group living missionally, a community ministry team, a home cell group, or something else? Is it something we've seen in a larger church, or something altogether different? I was somewhat disappointed to see this was not covered well in the book - rather the authors referenced their previous book, Tangible Kingdom, and a resource called the TK Primer for those who want to develop such communities. It makes sense from their perspective to do this and not waste time repeating material already available. Yet it is so central to their AND thesis that skimping here didn't help their cause. (It didn't help either that the Amazon reviews on Tangible Kingdom were downright scary, almost to the point of calling it heretical?!) After reading the book I saw an online article by Halter entitled What is incarnational community? which helps answer this key question.

Chapters 3 and 4 talk about something working against the church (consumerism) and something that done well is essential for the church (spiritual formation, but something broader than traditional spiritual disciplines).

Chapter 5 is where things started to go downhill fast for me, and I never saw a hoped-for recovery. Its goal was to discuss the tremendous harmony of gathered and scattered, but the authors get caught up in two scholarly terms coined by Ralph Winter - sodalic and modalic, how there is a need both for outreaching missionary activities and groups, and nurturing and support for those on the inside. Before this the books' style had been easy to read, stressing story and clarity. It's not that material was too hard to understand, but the stark contrast in style and approach were jarring.

Chapter 6 was one I looked forward to since getting excited in chapter two. It was called "Morph: Transitioning from Gathered to Gathered AND Scattered." It implicitly spoke as if you were the senior pastor of the church, and described the need to assess your gifting, calling, along with the capacity of your congregation. This was followed by a caution to be careful about the rate of change. And then... the chapter was over. Maybe this was a bad expectation on my part, I was sorely hoping this chapter was the one referenced on page 86: "In a later chapter we will unpack a process that every church can use that will move people from consumers to contributors, from fans to faithful followers, and from adherents to apprentices." I had been so pumped when I read that quote, yet after finishing chapter six it felt like they didn't come close to delivering on that promise.

Chapter 7 found me scratching my head completely. Had I misunderstood the whole aim of the book?? It was a discussion aimed at house churches and other missional communities committed to being scattered and incarnational, and discussed the question of if it was in any way useful to even gather at all in some kind of larger church service (!?) I started to reread the back cover and press info to find out if they were truly trying to propose a harmonious blend of mega-church style incarnational approaches and house-church style incarnational approaches, or were they trying to address the latter community and persuade them that it's ok to actually meet as a larger body without becoming a dead institution. The positive quotes on the back cover are from pioneers in the area of house churches and organic community; nothing said by mega-church pastors?

Chapter 8 tried to pull things together and encourage the reader to think about leaving a legacy, living as if you're really dying. It was inspirational but did not address the concerns developed in reading the previous three chapters.

I would have love to have seen more about the practical issues surrounding the tension between gathered and scattered - where does doctrinal instruction occur? is it really best for younger children and adults struggling with life issues and sin to sit together in the same group discussing the Bible? are teens hanging out with their folks at that time too? how are overseas missions to be supported? why wouldn't it be best to have a large audience being taught by a superbly gifted teacher? how does one learn how to face life-stage issues?

My conclusion after reading the book? No pun intended, but I can truly say that BOTH: I was highly disappointed with the book AND you should definitely read it if you have any kind of interest whatsoever in bridging the gap or resolving the tension between attractional/gathering and incarnational/scattering approaches to ministry, discipleship and evangelism. How can I say that? (Besides the fact that I may not be the target reader for the book?) Because I'm completely convinced, like I think Halter and Smay are, that both gathering as a large community and loving one another inside the family of God (modality), and living out our faith missionally in the lives of those around us far outside the walls of the church (sodality), are extremely important - and these together reflect the Great Commandment and the Great Commission - we cannot neglect either. The other reason it's important to read this book is because there isn't much out there that tries to bridge the gap. In addition, there is some really excellent material despite the flaws in the book. The book would still be worth getting if you only read the first two chapters. Finally, my disappointment may well be due to wrong expectations or high hopes going in to the book.

AND: The Gathered and Scattered Church is available at Amazon and other retailers.

Be Intentional With How You Use Your Time

I was sharing with a friend this week that I didn't have any classes this semester, which meant a bonus 12 or so hours per week for other things. What had I been doing with this for the last 3 weeks? Umm.... has it been three weeks? I don't really know. It's so easy for time to slip through our fingers. We don't consciously choose to waste time, but if we're not intentional with how we use it, we will waste it or let someone else decide how we use it.

Similarly, I asked a number of people what was preventing them from doing the things they feel are important? The answer, for 90%, was "time!" A rare few were more candid in their answers - "selfishness", "poor time management" or "my priorities don't align with my values." They're all the same issue, viewed from a different angle. We tend to waste a lot of time doing things that are not-important or simply not the top priorities compared to what we say we value.

To be more intentional about the use of your time is a great goal. How do we do this? I'm not always the best at this, but here are some thoughts...

1. We have to know what is most important to us if our use of time is to reflect our values
2. Stuff happens, other people need things of us. We must create margin in our lives, not merely for the sake of rest (which is good!) but to make sure that important things don't get squeezed out when pressure increases.
3. Schedule the things that are important to you. Whether that is time with friends, reading the Bible, or enough sleep, if we don't make time for things that don't scream for our attention, they will be neglected.
4. Look more to multi-purpose than multi-task. To multi-task is to spread your focus over two or more tasks at nearly the same time, delaying how long it takes to finish each one and possibly reducing the quality. To multi-purpose is to be intentional about doings things that are important to you at the same time you are doing something you must do. Finding it hard to find time to build relationships and serve in ministry? Do ministry alongside other people and build relationships as you serve. Tough to find time to disciple others and read the Bible? Talk about what you're both learning from your quiet times when you meet instead of adding a second curriculum. No time to serve in the community and spend time with family? Do community projects that involve the family, and do it together.
5. Consider how you are spending your time. If you've ever made up a budget, you were probably shocked to see where your money was really going. Do a budget with your time, and see how you're spending the 168 hours in your week. How does that stack up with the half-dozen life priorities you say you have?
6. Outsource what you don't do well. At home, on the job, at church... don't do something that someone else can do nearly as well. Sometimes you just have to say no! 
7. Do not - no matter what you do - neglect rest and time to relax. Even God the Father and Son observed time to rest and enjoy creation one day a week. Seriously, is your work more important than theirs?! 

There's no way any of us will ever have more than 24 hours in a day, but each of us can be more intentional about doing the things that are most important to us - ideally right alongside the very things we feel we have to do.

Looking Back, Looking Forward at Calvary

Last Sunday we had a Leader Lunch where we celebrated what's been going on at Calvary and talked about our vision of the future. Pastor Chuck led this but it was encouraging to see the level of energy and sharing among our small group and ministry leaders. There's been a lot of great stuff going on - here's what people shared:

Our Community BBQ and Trunk or Treat were huge, and let us just have a fun time together with our neighbors and friends. Our Summer Camp also went very well, with a record number of kids participating. If you look out back you'll see grass flourishes where once weeds reigned, preparing for a number of soccer fields that will be used by the community. The modular building is also getting a huge facelift so we'll have more space, and the Connection Center is seeing constant use. We saw one of our own head for the mission field to care for the medical needs of hurting people who need to know God loves them; nationally, more people were involved in missions trips (e.g. New Orleans' Katrina victims); locally we've launched a new Servanthood Saturday ministry which has got people joining hands with others here in town who are giving food to those in need. This year the Hunt family joined us and have been a great blessing in worship. About ten new small groups have formed, and existing ones have been helping people connect and grow. Most recently we finished a series on Life's Healing Choices which has helped many people, and we've just launched a powerful "Celebrate Recovery" ministry that has huge potential to transform lives!

Do you see a common theme that shows up over and over in this list? More of what we're doing and celebrating is externally focused, as we seek more and more to share God's love in both word and deed by caring about our friends, family, and neighbors who haven't experienced the blessing of being a part of the Calvary family. What's great is that this external focus is increasing -- here are some of the ideas tossed around in thinking about our vision for what could be in the next 1-5 years:

Hundreds (thousands?) of people making use of soccer fields, a gymnasium/community life center, food pantry; new ministries that are a safe and helpful place for people (like us) facing issues in their marriage, with addiction or hurts, finances, or counseling needs; greater involvement in missions foreign and domestic, and community service; partnering with schools to fill the gaps caused by ongoing cutbacks; identifying and supporting members who are already sharing love and serving those in the community.

Remember, these are dreams, not promises, but they're good dreams! :)  If you're part of the Calvary family, rejoice with us and consider how you can help these things come to be. (Got other dreams, speak up!) If you're a community member, let us know how the church can be a positive influence and meet needs here. Far-away friends and ministry leaders, please pray for us as we seek to be more relational, transformational, and missional.

Review - Why Work? Called to Make a Difference

You have to like a book whose title is "Why Work?"  More specifically, Why Work? Called to Make a Difference is an outstanding book which meets the authors' goal to help the reader `better understand and fulfill your calling from God to make a difference in the marketplace through your work. It will heighten your awareness of why you work - a reason far greater than merely supplying your financial needs.' Nancy and Harold Olsen do a great job at tearing down the artificial wall between "sacred" and "secular", between ministry that goes on within church walls and ministry that occurs in all areas of the marketplace.

The book covers three topics particularly well: validating the call that most Christians have towards ministry and building the Kingdom outside of the church; helping pastors and ministers within the church to equip and empower these workplace ministers; and helping individual Christians develop a vision and practical plan for ministry in (and transformation of) the workplace.

Why Work clarifies that each of us has several "callings" in the world (in families, in society, in our church, and in our work). It's important to recognize that God has uniquely made us and gifted us for service. A few of my favorite quotes: `Instead of focusing on finding the "perfect" job, focus on identifying the passions God has given you', `God uses the workplace to transform your character', and the definition of a workplace ministers as `leaders who are called and anointed by God to serve in their workplace with the purpose of transforming people and their environment for the Kingdom.'

I particularly liked the chapters which sought to make practical the biblical principles of workplace ministry - how workplace and church ministers can work together, how to equip and support workplace ministers, and a lucid approach for developing a vision and action plan for carrying out your own ministry in the workplace. The writing is very clear, and the formatting of the book makes the key points jump out for the reader. I highly recommend "Why Work? Called to Make a Difference" to Christians passionate about serving God in their workplace, and to pastors and church leaders with a desire to see a far greater impact for the Kingdom of God within their city.

Making school, family and ministry work

After recently posting about my studies at Rockbridge Seminary on my blog and over at the Swerve blog at lifechurch.tv, I got an excellent question from Jonathan H - "How have you handled scheduling time around family, work, and ministry?" It's so important to think about that when considering any kind of back-to-school situation, so I thought I would share how that's been working for me so far.

Obviously, before going back to school I wasn't sitting around with an excess of free time, looking around for something to fill it. Instead, I was sensing in my heart that there was so much more God wanted to teach me, and in particular wanted my life to be less about me and more about others. I was involved in a lot of little things, all seemingly disconnected, without having much of an impact in any one area. So I needed to get a better handle on why I am here, get training on how to be a better leader, and get a deeper understanding of God's mission in this world. Together, those pointed me to considering seminary. Practically speaking, my job, marriage, four young kids, and a desire to stay active in the church and community where I'm located but some extreme restrictions on what that education would have to look like. I was so glad to find out about Rockbridge right at that point, as it was everything I was looking for. (Others with different needs or priorities may well find other choices more suited for them; I'm not trying to over emphasize one school :)

The program there is really meant to integrate closely with your existing life and schedule. Here's basically how things have played out for me, and how I've made things work...

• I'm a night owl. Instead of goofing off and watching TV from 11pm to 2am while the family is asleep, I now "go to class" without taking away from family time.
• I was already a heavy reader. Now instead of picking up random books that strike my fancy I have a well thought out reading and learning plan and get to discuss and internalize what I read.
• I love to discuss things, both theory and practice, so the chance to have deep interaction with other students online via forums was something I loved. It's so enjoyable for me it's just not a burden.
• At lunch time I'll now often stay in and heat up a frozen healthy choice meal and work on my written assignments / papers.
• Each class requires time with a mentor. Usually that's with my pastor or other ministry leader, and the class provides focus and a number of interesting things to discuss. Again, it's not taking more time, it's providing focus. My pastor has been hugely supportive of this, which is very important.
• A key thing I happen to like about Rockbridge's Master of Ministry Leadership Program is it's practical emphasis on ministry. There are a number of projects you need to do for the course, and they highly encourage when possible to do things that are actual value in your church or ministry. This is a huge time-saver (avoiding doing double the work) and applies what I'm learning to what I'm doing - win-win!
• I have had to push myself to learn better time management skills. I've found some ideas in Getting Things Done, Michael Hyatt's blog, and an app called Toodledo to be extremely helpful. This has really helped me to stop dropping the ball in important but not urgent areas of life and ministry.
• I've dropped out of a few activities that I didn't need to be doing. Not much, but a few. Getting to play the "I'm enrolled in an online Master's program and need to pull back a bit" can be nice.
• To some degree I can adjust the overall pace and how much I'm spending per year by whether I take classes back-to-back or with a break in between. I'm mostly plowing ahead, but other classmates are taking advantage of that flexibility.
• The kids think it's kind of cool that dad at his age is going back to school and has to do homework. Sometimes on Saturday morning we let mom go and play tennis, and all hang out on the coach and read our school books. It's fun to answer questions like "what are you learning?" with something like "Right now I'm learning how to talk about problems when we feel hurt rather than ignore them. Do you ever feel better by talking through problems you're facing?"  When an adults asks that question they get a much more boring "We're doing a TKI assessment for conflict resolution styles."
• Work has been a challenge at times. I'm fortunate to be at a place that is very flexible. I've not been able to put in as long hours as last year, but I'm more focused on getting the most important things done and keeping clients happy. For better or worse the economic downturn has given us a few less projects. While I hope that turns around soon, I'm making the best of that situation right now.

In a nutshell, it's taken a huge increase in focus and paying close attention to not let school interfere with work or family, and making sure it integrates with ministry rather than competes with it. How about you readers who are going back to school? How are you making it work?

I'm getting Less Clutter

Not only Less Clutter. But Less Noise too! Are the kids heading to the grandparents for the summer?

Nope, even better, I won a book!?  (Don't laugh at the even better part, I kinda like to read!)
Kem Meyer, Communications Director at Granger Community Church, just had a 'blog tour' to get the word out about her new book "Less Clutter. Less Noise." This book is about using simple strategies to get your word out, reducing the clutter and noise. With lots of stories and tips, it's a great book for those wanting to improve their communication skills. 27 blogs participated, each asking a question for Kem to answer, and giving away a free copy of the book. I went to make a comment or two, but found the answers too interesting and I kept following the tour. In the end, I found several new blogs to follow, and made connections with some neat people.

I won a free copy of the book on Adam Mashni's blog. Adam is the Associate High School Director at NorthRidge Church in Plymouth, Michigan. He loves helping teenagers find truth in a world where they’re surrounded by uncertainty. Thanks Adam!!

I also won a free copy from Kim Bontrager's blog. Kim is the worship leader at First Mennonite Brethren Church in Wichita, Kansas. She's also a mom, a wife, and a creative person with a great heart to love and serve God in a number of ways. I knew of another creative leader/mom/communicator who would benefit from Kem's book, and Kim graciously offered to pass on that giveaway copy to her. Thanks Kim!!

Then something else cool happened. On Faye Bryant's blog the winner was Chris Hill. Chris is the iCampus pastor for The Ridge Community Church. Chris has a passion to help people connect with Jesus Christ, build real community in a virtual world, and help other people to grow and make a difference. Well, he practices what he preaches, and shot me an email offering to send me the book when he was finished reading it! I told him that was no longer necessary, but that his gesture (along with the whole blog tour) has really shown me that 'online community' is not an oxymoron. Bloggers are not just people who vent their opinions and tear down other people, they can really have a heart to work together, share thoughts and resources, and grow together as we serve the same Lord.

I followed along the blog tour looking for information, and instead found some great people, and some wisdom. So thanks to all who participated, bloggers and commenters alike, and to Kem for pushing hard to get all that writing done in a single day!

Four Defense Mechanisms We Use

I'm currently taking a class on building effective ministry teams at Rockbridge Seminary, and this week we're looking at building collaboration and trust. Handling disagreement well is a crucial factor for effective teams, both at work and in ministry settings.

Herrington, Bonem and Furr have written an excellent book called "Leading Congregational Change" In the chapter on Enabling Team Learning they discuss 'defensive routines' which "keep the team from fully and openly exploring an issue." They give four of the most common as:

1. The logical put-down - a strongly analytical person may imply that everyone would see if their way if only they could just think clearly and logically.
2. Passionate discourse - when a persuader uses force of personality and persistence to convince the group to accept his point.
3. Peace-keeping - a conflict avoider tries to keep the group from expressing honest (and sometimes passionate) differences of opinion.
4. Hurt-feelings - a silent person refuses to acknowledge hurt feelings, and shuts down, disengaging from the dialogue.

These defensive routines undermine the team's ability to work together effectively and to learn. Effective leaders work with the team to identify these routines, and help people modify counter-productive behavior. They also model more effective behavior and keep the dialogue alive when others try to curtail it, or derail it.

As I thought about this lesson, the Bible verse on not letting the sun go down on your anger came to mind (Eph 4:26). Looking at the context of this verse, the whole chapter 4 is so applicable to these defensive routines, and team effectiveness. The theme of the chapter is unity in the body of Christ. The same unity we sometimes confuse with artificial harmony, a mere absence of visible conflict. We're called to be humble, gentle, patient, bearing with one another in love (4:2), making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. BUT (vs 7) each one of us is different, with different gifts, for different purposes. Different service in service of the same One, for the purpose of building up the body until that day when we all reach unity in the faith and in knowledge of the Son. As we do this, speaking the truth in love (vs 15) we grow up. Therefore (vs 25) each of us must put off falsehood, speak truthfully, and in our anger do not sin. Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry. How often do we let conflicts fester sometimes? Days, months, years?

The passage continues, Ephesians 4:29 - "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it might benefit those who listen." If that verse were applied consistently we would not see much of these defensive routines. Steamrolling by persuasion isn't according to the needs of others. A logical put-down may be speaking the truth but not in love. Shutting down in anger ignores verse 26 to address hurt and anger without delay. Peacekeeping is strong on love but weak on truth, and weak on allowing the body to be built up.

It's fairly easy to spot defensive routines when other people use them? Sad to say, I know I use all four from time to time. How about you, what defensive routine do you use?

Service and Secrecy

The way up? It's the way down.

"Jesus took a towel and a basin and  redefined greatness." -Richard Foster, "Celebration of Discipline"

Service - it's not just a spiritual discipline, but a way of life, a view of life that demonstrates you love God and you love people. As a practice it can help with devotion and with humility. It's the intentional practice of serving others, even through the most menial of tasks, with an attitude like you're serving our Lord Himself, and doing it in His name and for His glory. "Whatever you do, whether in word in in deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him" (Col 3:17). The discipline of service helps us avoid arrogance, helps us appreciate those who serve us, in addition to giving a tangible benefit to those we serve.

A highly related spiritual discipline is that of secrecy. It goes hand and glove with service, as secrecy is an intentional disdain of recognition for a good you've done. Secrecy allows us to love others in a more genuine way, unconcerned with whether they notice or love us back. It also helps keep us free from becoming a people-pleaser, and codependency on the praise of others. The attitude is what is important here - you wouldn't go and lie to deny that you did the act, but you simply do it with an attitude that our love for God and others doesn't depend on getting a 'Thank you'.

This week I and some friends are exploring these and other spiritual disciplines. Some practical examples of service and secrecy include: cleaning a toilet while praying and praising God, cleaning up the floor or highway when no one is around, making an anonymous gift, or simply changing your attitude in doing something you normally do where you choose not to be concerned with whether or not you are thanked. I must say, it makes a huge difference in your heart and for your sense of self-importance when you do things like this and turn them into a devotion time serving and praising God Himself.

For more info on the spiritual disciplines of service and secrecy, see Donald Whitney's "Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life", Richard Foster's "Celebration of Discipline", or articles at The Reading Room at The Water's Edge.