Paul Benger

A conversation for pastors, leaders, creators, entrepreneurs, cultural architects

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Pastor, Creator, Leader, Author, Entrepreneur, Cultural Architect, Leadership Coach

  • 6 Habits Of Growing Churches

    In the March edition of Inc. magazine, Leigh Buchanan interviews Stanford professors Robert Sutton and Huggy Rao about the practices of companies who successfully grow and scale.  You can read the interview HERE. I found their insights quite applicable for some of the things that are needed for churches to grow.

    starbucks-1940x900_34124

    While this is obviously not an exhastive list, the following are 6 Practices Of Growing Churches gleaned from the article:

    1. Growing Churches Focus On Church Health More Than Church Growth 

    Intuitive church leaders know attendance and budget only tell a portion of the story.  Rick Warren introduced us to the concept of church health.  Rick reminded us healthy things grow.  Therefore, focus on church health. Brian Houston from Hillsong Church constantly talks about this in leadership forums. I have personally heard him say this over and over again.

     Rao points out, “When people think of growth, usually they think of anatomy.  How big are the limbs?  But the real thing is physiology.  Is stuff circulating well – the blood and the oxygen?  Even if your anatomy is very developed, your physiology can be bad.”

    2. Growing Churches Demand Excellence 

    Growing churches know the level of excellence must keep pace with the level of numerical growth.  Sutton says,

    “Companies grow well and scale badly when they focus on running up the numbers but not the quality.”

    The law of entropy: Anything left to itself will deteriorate. Everything needs attention.

    3. Growing Churches Are Vigilant About Their Mission, Vision And Core Values 

    As the company grew to over 13,000 stores, Howard Schultz acknowledged the “watering down of the Starbucks experience.”  In contrast, Sutton notes Facebook employees are “internalized in a very deep way what is sacred and taboo at Facebook.  They are not  going to take their eyes off that mindset ball.”  Shawn Lovejoy, Lead Pastor of Mountain Lake Church, says, “You must be mean about the vision.”

    This is the opposite to Marshall Goldsmith’s “what got you here won’t get you there.”

    What got you “here,” after all, includes shared convictions, inviolable standards, even small experiential details like the sound of coffee grinding. Sacrifice those, and you may never get to “there”–or to any “there” that’s a worthwhile destination.

    4. Growing Churches Stop Doing Unproductive Ministries 

    When is the last time you brought about a necessary ending to an unproductive ministry?  When is the last time you killed a golden calf?  Rao notes,

    “If you are getting big, before you add a new meeting, figure out which meeting you can kill.  Before you put in a new rule, see which rule you can kill.”  

    This is simply good stewardship.  Rao goes on,

    “Subtraction is very important because in an overloaded organisation, when you subtract, it is giving a gift.”  

    chapel

    5. Growing Churches Identify And Spotlight Their Most Fruitful People

    Cascading is a term that used when someone in your church is already doing something right.  Effective church leaders identify and release staff and volunteers who cascade and create positive catalytic activity.  These “catalysts” will grow your ministry and make your life easier.  They free you up to focus on only what you can do as a senior leader.  

    Kaaren Hanson, Vice President of Software Design company Intuit, sums it up well when she says,

    ”The way you know you’ve succeeded is to ask yourself, ‘If I stopped putting energy into this, would it continue to go well?’”

    6. Growing Churches Not Only Embrace Change, They Foster It

    Warren said in his Ted Talk,

    “When the speed of change around an organisation is faster than the speed of change within the organisation, the organisation becomes irrelevant.”  

    I spend some time working with Churches who feel like they are stuck. Sometimes these Churches have been the avant garde ones from 20-30 years ago but today they feel stuck. Fast growing churches understand change is their constant companion.  Rao concludes,

     ”With fast growth, the rate of change is phenomenal.”

    Sutton asks a final question, “In the end you have to ask:

    ‘Are we happy living in the world we’ve built?”‘

    If not change it…

  • Stop The Self Deprecation

    This blog post is from Cole Nesmith, I really enjoyed it…

    CHRISTIANS ARE PRETTY GOOD AT SELF DEPRECATING.

    We value it as some sort of symbol for holiness. I suppose the idea is taken from the likes of Paul who makes statements about his suffering being gainful. But we take these words of a man living boldly in the face of persecution and distort them to be a prescription for how we should live. We misunderstand Paul’s ability to find life despite his hellish circumstances and, instead, view painful circumstances as a virtue.

    But you and I live in a relatively peaceful and painless world in relation to the lives of Paul and the other New Testament martyrs. And so, in the void of actual persecution, we begin to falsely persecute ourselves through self-deprication and manufactured flagellation. But,

    Self-deprication is not holy. It demeans the creative work of God.

    Every time you or I say “Eh, I’m nothing,” we discount the powerful work of God in creating humanity in his own image and giving us thoughts, dreams, hopes and passions. To declare one’s self as nothing is to deny the image of God within us. When we deprecate self, we deprecate God. We call God a liar and tell him that his declaration of “it is very good” was – in fact – very wrong.

    And often, the concept of individual nothingness is followed by identifying statements like “I’m just a filthy sinner.” And – we find in statements like these – that we not only neglect the image of God within. We actually deny the redemptive work of Jesus.

    Viewing self as nothing negates the saving work of Christ on the cross.

    We know that – in Christ – we are no longer slaves but sons. We are not under the yoke of the slavery of sin and death. Rather, we have been set free from the law of sin and death. We are not lowly sinners. We are purified, holy, perfect and blameless. We have been made heirs to the promise of the kingdom of heaven on earth.
    Not only has Christ redeemed the life of the individual, he has commissioned us into being ambassadors of reconciliation to all the universe. We have not only been saved FROM the curse of sin. We have been saved TO a life beyond what we could have ever asked for. Thus,

    Stepping into Christ causes one to value his life all the more. 

    The truth is, If it was all about God, you wouldn’t be here. But you are. 

    God has chosen to create you. He knew you in your mother’s womb. He knows the hairs on your head, and he calls you valuable. He calls you son. He calls you daughter. He calls you friend. And not only has he chosen to create you, he’s chosen to commission you. He’s entrusted the keys to heaven to you and has empowered you with the Holy Spirit to unleash heaven on earth. That doesn’t mean turning off your brain and heart only to become a dreamless, idealess robot.

    God wants you to have original thought. He wants you to have creative ideas. He wants to accomplish his agenda in tandem with you. 

    Your dreams, gifts, talents and passions aren’t in conflict with the mission of God. Rather, he wants to highlight and elevate the gifts He’s placed inside you as he’s unfolding his plans with you. He hasn’t given you the ability to have dreams and creative thought only to set you on a course of passionless angst for the duration of your days.
    No. He was intentional in crafting you with certain abilities and experiences so that you might step into accomplishing that which only you can accomplish the way only you can accomplish it. You are not replaceable.

    No one can do what you’ve been created to do. No one can play the role you’ve been created to play. You have a unique purpose, and God is pleased to have you contribute your uniqueness to the canvas of the universe. That’s the nature of co-labouring.

    Co-labouring with Christ means valuing your unique contribution and stewarding it well. 

    It’s time we stop telling God that we’re nothing and begin aligning ourselves with how he sees us and who he says we are. It’s time we shift our view from lowly sinner to redeemed heir. God so longs to reignite the spirit of dreaming within us. His plans are unfolding, and he’s given us the opportunity to uniquely contribute to that process of redemption and reconciliation.

    The simple fact that you are here means you have a purpose. God’s pursuit for you shows that you’re valuable.Christ’s sacrifice for you says that you’re worth something.

    Open your hands. Live surrendered. Be willing to do anything and go anywhere at any moment. But don’t mistake that posture for the idea that God has asked you to stop dreaming. Instead, dream all the more, and watch in amazement as God expands those dreams to become more than you could have ever imagined.

  • 7 Changes Driven By Church Growth

    Last monday I posted on 8 Reasons Most Churches Are Below 200. It drew lots of interest and comments from all around the world. One of the main reasons for posting was to raise the leadership awareness that as Churches grow our leadership style changes and grows too.

    Tim Keller says, “Every church has a culture that goes with its size and which must be accepted.”

    At different stages of growth and development within a Church the culture shifts and that is often seen in the changes that happen within the way the church is led. The acceptance of these shifts so often determines whether a church can successfully transition to another size.  So… today I thought I might mention 7 of those changes:

    1. You move from managing workers, to leading managers, to leading leaders:

    As a church grows it requires leaders to represent and lead various constituencies within the church. Leaders begin to be empowered by the church’s board/senior leaders to make decisions and plans for their sphere. Leaders are now not chosen because of their length of involvement or personality but on the basis of skill and giftedness too.

    2. Focus shifts from a survival-in-the-present mode to a success-in-the-future mode.

    Vision begins to drive the agenda more intentionally and powerfully. Whereas in the past the leadership team was consistently focussed upon the day to day running of the Church it is now focussed on creating a healthy environment that can deliver the future vision. Other leaders are required to pick up the day to day essentials.

    3. Expectations move from informal to formal:

    Churches often begin relatively unstructured but for a wide variety of reasons this changes as Churches grow. Some of the changes may include the establishing of boards, changing the Church’s legal status, modifying the leadership structure etc.. Good structure is both safeguarding and releasing. Structure creates culture…

    4. You move from making decisions by general consensus to a handful of people making decisions.

    This point is linked with 3 above and in my observations has been one of the most difficult changes for people to grasp. Growth requires a faster pace. However we have to have safeguards included and so getting this right becomes very important. Failure to do so can lead to a lot of frustration.

    Empowerment is the key issue here. The staff team has to be empowered, key volunteers have to be empowered. One of my observations is that some leaders think they are empowering people by delegating tasks but that is just work distribution. True empowerment happens when responsibility is given to those being empowered.

    5. People’s roles move from general responsibility to specialised responsibility.

    As a Church begins and at a certain size people take on several areas of responsibility and often function as generalists. If the Pareto Principle is right then at this stage the 20% is just a few people and the few people end up working across several areas of Church life. As the Church grows individuals begin to specialise in areas where their gifts lie and the Church begins to discover the possibility and benefit of people serving and focusing on their strengths.

    6. The senior leaders shift their focus from being primarily caregivers to making sure people are being cared for by raising up leaders.

    Leadership development becomes the most important task of Senior Leaders and training people in how to care for one another is essential. This does not mean that the Senior Leader(s) care less for the people but that they realise they will need an effective and efficient team to be able to care well for everyone as the Church grows.

    Leaders and leadership are mission critical and any senior leader knows that their number one task is to ensure there is no lack of resources in this area.

    7. The senior leader shifts from working in the organisation to working on the organisation.

    The Senior Leaders role becomes increasingly focussed as the Church grows. They realised they cannot do everything or even everything that they used to do but that their priorities lie in ensuring the Church has a clear mission, vision and strategy. Their focus becomes about ensuring the progress is in line with the organisations values and that the culture being established is one that is desired.

    The leader becomes preoccupied with getting the right people in the right places.

    For further reading I thoroughly recommend this article by Tim Keller on Leadership And Church Size Dynamics

     

    twitter: @paulbenger
    facebook: facebook.com/paulbenger
    church: lifechurch.org.uk

  • You Are What You Tweet

    I have adapted what follows from an article I read called How To Manage Your online Persona. I have included the authors names at the bottom as much of the material comes from them. There’s no doubt about it, this matters more than it did one year ago and in one years time it will matter even more and so I thought it worth some thought.

    Thanks to the overwhelming influence of the internet, everybody in 2014 is now growing up in the public eye. It’s such a seismic change that it’s hard to believe that this is still a relatively recent phenomenon–YouTube is only 9 years old, while Facebook just celebrated its 10th anniversary.

    Facebook marked their anniversary in a way that really brought home this point. The social-networking giant surprised all its long-time users with special personalized Facebook videos, which captured the high points of users’ Facebook posts over the years.

    Whether you gave the move a thumbs up or thumbs down, there’s no denying that watching your own Facebook film makes you keenly aware that people who barely know you are now able to track your life as closely as you do–and make their own conclusions about you as a result.

    When we watch celebrities grow up on the public stage, we inevitably end up making lasting judgments about them as people. Justin Timberlake ends up being admired for his class, professionalism, and talent, while Justin Bieber is condemned for his public rudeness and repeated run-ins with the law. Those long-term verdicts are very hard to shake.

    That can’t help but be a huge issue when it comes to your own persona. Through Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other online sites, it’s not just friends and family that are able to track your highs and lows over the years. Current and potential professional power players also have access to your life story, just as if you were one of the Justins. And some even demand that you perform online at a certain level if you want to be a part of their organizations; one company actually advertised for salespeople who had a Klout score above 35!

    As The New Yorker put it in their 2013 article, “You Are What You Tweet.”

    The article suggests that what we present online is presumed to meaningfully represent who we are. So when we post baby pictures on Facebook, we’re presenting ourselves as proud parents. And when we flaunt our extravagant vacation photos, we’re attesting to the value we place in luxury.

    So, how do you make sure you’re more Timberlake than Bieber? How do you create a timeline that draws an audience and impresses potential clients? Here are a few important tips to take on board whenever you’re posting online:

    Make Social Media A Must

    For those of you who believe you don’t need a strong online presence to be successful, we’d like to quote Tom Peters, the man who coined the term “personal branding.” Peters wrote in 2004,

    “When I first wrote about [personal branding] in the summer of 1997, it was cool. But now it’s necessary. Ain’t no choice, bro.”

    Even though he said that before social media had really made its mark, it’s now truer than ever.

    A recent study shows that 78% of those who did business through social media outperformed those who didn’t.

    When you’re trying to build your network or close a sale, there is no question that people will look to Google, as well as social media sites, to find out if you’re trustworthy and have a good reputation. That’s why you always need to keep your awards, accomplishments, and current activities up-to-date across the board.

    Be More than a Marketer

    In movies and scripted TV shows, the main character’s backstory will make all the difference as to whether or not viewers like what they’re watching. For instance, Walter White was a murderous drug dealer on the hit show Breaking Bad. We never would have engaged with him if he hadn’t been diagnosed with terminal cancer on the very first episode and began his criminal efforts to provide for his family.

    So what’s your backstory? Do you regularly post photos and videos of your family activities? Do you talk about your interests and your passions? Would someone “like” your Facebook movie? Hopefully, the answer to all those questions is “yes.” Strive to be more than your business in your virtual life–because people get people, and if they get you, they’ll probably buy from you.

    Stand Out and Stand Tall

    Think about the people you like to track on social media. Now go one step further and think about why you like to check out their posts and statuses. Is it because they’re funny? Are they always doing interesting things? Do they consistently share important information that you feel is useful? Do you relate to them somehow? The odds are it’s a combination of a few of the factors.

    With all that in mind, seek ways to showcase your personality as well as your expertise in unique and engaging ways that will attract social media users. Find ways to do something daily that your followers can look forward to. For example, one of our clients posts an outrageous photo on Facebook every morning and relates it back to his business. It’s easy to do–and it always draws a crowd.

    Participate and Pitch in

    Finally, remember that it’s called social media–in other words, this isn’t supposed to be a one-way conversation with you talking and everybody else listening.To really improve your social media engagement levels, you need to listen to others and contribute to conversations when you have something to offer, whether it’s just a witty remark or a substantive contribution that demonstrates your expertise.

    The more you connect, the more people will engage with you. Their friends will, in turn, be exposed to your influence and possibly become one of your followers as well.

    In 2014, your social media activities should be as much of a daily business must as answering important emails or returning calls.

    JW Dicks (@jwdicks) and Nick Nanton (@nicknanton) are best-selling authors who consult for small- and medium-size businesses on how to build their business through personality-driven marketing, personal-brand positioning, guaranteed media, and mining hidden business assets. 

  • 8 Reasons Most Churches Are Below 200

    church attendance

    While social media, and even traditional media, are still preoccupied with megachurches and multisite churches, the reality is that most churches in North America & Britain are quite small. The Barna group pegs the average Protestant church size in America at 89 adults, in the UK average attendance is 84 (inc children see chart at bottom of post). Sixty percent of protestant churches have less than 100 adults in attendance. Only 2 percent have over 1000 adults attending.

    Please understand, there’s nothing wrong with being a small church. I just know that almost every small church leader I speak to wants his or her church to  grow.

    So why is it that most churches never break the 200 attendance mark?

    They organise, behave, lead and manage like a small organisation.

    There’s a world of difference between how you organise a corner store and how you organise a larger supermarket. In a corner store, Mom and Pop run everything. Want to talk to the CEO? She’s stocking shelves. Want to see the Director of Marketing? He’s at the cash register. Mom and Pop do everything, and they organise their business to stay small. Which is fine if you’re Mom and Pop and you don’t want to grow.

    But you can’t run a supermarket that way. You organise differently. You govern differently. There’s a produce manager, and people who only stock shelves. There’s a floor manager, shift manager, general manager and so much more. So what’s the translation to church world?

    Here are eight reasons why churches who want to grow end up staying small:

    1. The Pastor is the Primary Caregiver.

    Honestly, if you just push past this one issue, you will have made a ton of progress. When the pastor has to visit every sick person, do every wedding and  funeral, and make regular house calls, he or she becomes incapable of doing other things. That model just doesn’t scale. If you’re good at it, you’ll grow the church to 200 people and then disappoint people when you can’t get to every event any more. Or you’ll just burn out. It creates false expectations and so many people get hurt in the process.

    The answer, by the way, is to teach people to care for each other in groups.

    2. The Leaders Lack a Strategy. 

    Many churches today are clear on mission and vision. What many lack is a widely shared and agreed upon strategy. Your vision and mission answers the why and what of your organisation. Your strategy answers how. And how is critical. Spend time working through your strategy. Be clear on how you will accomplish your mission and don’t rest until the mission, vision and strategy reside in every single volunteer and leader.

    At Christian Life Church our Mission is Clear:

    Building relevant contemporary churches
    Reaching people with the message of Jesus
    Equipping them to live successful Christian lives

    3. True Leaders aren’t Leading. 

    In every church, there are people who hold the position of leadership and then there are people who are truly leaders (who may not hold any position in your church). Release people who hold titles, but aren’t advancing the mission, and hand the job over to real leaders. Look for people who have a track record of handling responsibility in other areas of life and give them the job of leading the church into the future with you.

    When you actually have leaders leading, it will make a huge difference.

    4. Volunteers are Unempowered

    Sure, small churches may not have the budget to hire other staff, but you have people. Once you have identified true leaders, and once you’re clear on your mission, vision and strategy, you need to release people to accomplish them. Try to do it all yourself and you will burn out, leave or simply be ineffective.  Empower volunteers around an aligned strategy and you will likely begin to see progress.

    5. The Management Team Micromanages. 

    If you need permission every time you need to buy paper towels or repaint an office, you have a governance issue. Most boards or management teams who micromanage do so because that’s where most people simply default. You need a board who guards the mission and vision and empowers the team to accomplish it and then gets out of the way.

    6. Too Many Meetings. 

    I know churches with 50 people in attendance. Who have a bunch of elders and the church leadership is in evening meetings two to three times a week. Why on earth would a church that small need to meet that often?

    If you’re going to meet, meet on purpose for the future. Use meetings for vision and reorganisation. Free up your time so you and your team can accomplish something significant.

    7. Too Many Events and Programmes that Lead Nowhere. 

    Activity does not equal accomplishment. Just because you’re busy doesn’t mean you’re being effective. If you check into most small churches, there are a lot of programs that accomplish little and lead nowhere. Stop them. Yes, people will be mad. Even have the courage to cut some good programs. Good is the enemy of great. Then go out and do a few great things.

    8. The Pastor Suffers from a Desire to Please Everybody.

    Many pastors I know are people-pleasers by nature. Go see a counselor. Get on your knees. Do whatever you need to do to get over the fear of disappointing people. Courageous leadership is like courageous parenting. Don’t do what your kids want you to do; do what you believe is best for them in the end. Eventually, many of them will thank you.

    UK Church Attendance:

    The number of churches by denomination with the average size of their congregation are as follows:

      • There are 16,247 Anglican churches in England, with an average congregation size of 54.
      • 5,999 Methodist churches with an average congregation size of 48.
      • 3,656 R. Catholic churches – average congregation 244
      • 2,386 Baptist churches – average congregation 107
      • 2,281 independent churches – average congregation 84
      • 2,227 Pentecostal churches – average congregation 129
      • 1,470 URC churches – average congregation 48
      • 1,307 ‘new’ churches – average congregation 140
      • 317 Orthodox churches – average congregation 81
      • and 1,611 churches of other descriptions with an average congregation of 63.

    Adapted from a post on careynieuwhof.com

  • How to Coach: Ask These 5 Questions And Listen!

    coach

    I think the leadership world knows that coaching is in. When it comes to developing and empowering leaders nothing is has powerful as a great coach who knows their craft.

    One of the biggest mistakes we make when it comes to coaching is our mental model. We think that coaching means me (the expert) telling you (because of my vast experience) how to do something. That isn’t coaching. It might be teaching, training or instruction but it isn’t coaching.

    When It Comes to Coaching Relationship Is The Key:

    I’ll try to develop this point in other posts at a later date. Relationships are built via conversation and interaction. That is true also of a coaching relationship. So here are 5 Questions that I have called:

    The Coaching Conversation

    1. How Are You Doing? Now Listen…
    2. What Are You Celebrating, Where Are You Winning? Now Listen…
    3. What Challenges Are You Facing? Now Listen…
    4. What Are You Doing About Your Challenges? Now Listen and don’t be tempted to fix it for them. Hard I know but essential.
    5. How Can I Help? Now Listen…

    Remember Coaching is About Them.

    It’s about their development and to develop people need more than just cognitive or practical theory we need emotional, imaginational buy-in and the only way that is possible is to give opportunity for the imagination of people to light up. Trust me, try this conversation it will help…

  • 7 Ways The Leader Sets The Bar

    image

    The leader sets the bar for the organization.

    If you are a leader of an organization then you have the awesome responsibility of establishing the parameters by which your organization will be successful.

    Now, as I feel the need in every post like this, Jesus sets the bar. Period. He is our standard. But, it would be foolish to ignore the fact that God allows people to lead, even in the church. And, as Christian leaders, we set the bar in our church for many of the things that happen in the church.

    A mentor of mine always says, “Everything rises and falls on leadership”. He didn’t make up the saying, but he’s learned in his 70+ years experience how true a statement it is. Are you leading with the idea that you are setting the bar for the people you are trying to lead?

    Here are 7 ways the leader sets the bar:

    Vision casting

    The God-given vision to the people is primarily communicated by the senior leader. Others will only take it as serious as you do. Keeping it ever before the people primarily is in your hands.

    Character

    The moral value of the church and staff follows closely behind its senior leadership. Our example is Jesus, and none of us fully live out that standard, but the quality of the church’s character — in every major area of life — will mirror closely to the depth of the leader’s character.

    Team spirit

    If the leader isn’t a cheerleader for the team, they’ll seldom be any cheerleaders on the team. Energy and enthusiasm is often directly proportional to the attitude of the leader.

    Generosity

    No church — and no organization for that matter — will be more generous than that of its most senior leadership. There may be individuals who are generous, but as a whole people follow the example of leadership in this area as much or more than any other.

    Completing goals and objectives

    The leader doesn’t complete all the tasks — and shouldn’t — but ultimately the leader sets the bar on whether goals and objectives are met. Complacency prevails where the leader doesn’t set measurable progress as a value and ensure systems are in place to meet them.

    Creativity

    The leader doesn’t have to be the most creative person — seldom is — but the team will be no more creative than the leader allows. A leader that stifles idea generation puts a lid on creativity and eventually curtails growth and change.

    Pace

    The speed of change and the speed of work on a team is set by the leader. If the leader moves too slow — so moves the team. If the leader moves too fast — the team will do likewise.

    Team members will seldom outperform the bar their leader sets for them. Consequently, and why this is so important a discussion, an organization will normally cease to grow beyond the bar of the leader.

    This post came from ronedmondson.com

  • Staying Sane In A Busy World

    I’m a busy person. I interact with busy people all the time. Chances are, you’re a busy person (which is why you’re not even reading this introduction…you’re already skimming my four points below). Busyness is just in the air in our society. Not many of us like it, but few of us have managed to escape it. Busyness isn’t just uncomfortable; it can be dangerous.

    There are few things as potentially damaging. Blaise Pascal once noted, busyness sends more people to hell than unbelief.

    Here’s the thing. I DO like being busy. I’m not sure I agree with yer man Blaise. In fact, I would go so far as to say we are meant to be busy, meant to be productive, designed to be fruitful. I do however think that we are not meant to be overwhelmed by busyness. Our lives should have a full but easy and simple rhythm that allows us to live on purpose, achieving much and at the same time fully enjoying life. Here are four things that will help us

    Sleep

    Psalm 127:2 says, “It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.”

    “Sleep,” a friend of mine once said, “is an act of faith.”

    It is not your busyness that indicates closeness to God, but your ability to rest in the midst of a restless culture. Many times, our inability to sleep comes from the myth that we need to hold everything together. We need to learn that while we are sleeping, God is at work.

    A lack of sleep doesn’t just lead to physical problems; it quickly fosters a spirit of cynicism that ruins our spiritual life. It’s no good burning the candle at both ends if it sours our view of God, deprives us of our joy, and ends our life prematurely. It’s no good burning the candle and being crabbie with the kids. They deserve the best of us. Someone once said, “Sometimes the most holy thing you can do is to just take a nap.”

    Refuse to worry about tomorrow.

    This one comes directly from Jesus:

    “Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.” (Matt. 6:34, NIV). I used to find this verse a little odd. “

    Tomorrow is worrying about itself, Jesus? Well, that’s exactly what I was worried about!” But what Jesus is saying is that he’ll be with us tomorrow just like he’s with us today. The Israelites in the wilderness were only given manna for one day, to teach them that God would provide for their tomorrows. And he’s still trying to teach us the same lesson.

    Create some margin.

    You’ve heard of the “big rocks” and “sand” metaphor. Fill a jar with rocks and the sand will fill in to the cracks. Start with the sand and you’ll never be able to fit the rocks in, too. It’s a simple metaphor, but it’s still an insightful one: prioritize the “big rocks” of your life, and allow yourself margin for the “sand.”

    Stress and busyness in our lives can come from doing too many things. But often they are the result of leaving no margin between the various items on our calendar. Rhythm and margin are essential to maintaining our sanity. To summarise: ensure that you have time for the “big rocks” of your life, and keep the peripheral items peripheral. You need to take control of your calendar, because if you don’t, someone will take control of it for you.

    Here’s a tip I learned from The Storyline Productivity Schedule that I thoroughly recommend. Don’t do emails first thing each day, because if you do you are on someone else’s schedule and not yours

    Observe the Sabbath Rhythm.

    Now let’s be clear, I don’t mean let’s become Jewish, but let’s keep the pattern of rest and recreation (re creation). That’s why I love Sundays. We can be absent from work, be re-created physically through rest and be re-created spiritually through Worship and Submission to the Word of God and be re-created emotionally through the community of family and church. I have tried to practice something I heard Rick Warren say on this subject some years ago.

    Divert Daily, Withdraw Weekly and Abandon Annually

    Adapted from a post by JD GREEAR

  • 40 Days That Changed Everything

    On Easter Sunday 20.4.14 we are launching a brand new sermon series called:

    40 Days That Changed Everything

    It’s about the 40 days between the Resurrection and the Ascension of Jesus. For 5 weeks we will be looking into the post-resurrection appearances and how Jesus’ teaching and interaction with the disciples literally changed everything.

    After his suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave MANY convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke to them about the Kingdom of God – Acts 1:3-4

    These 40 days have proved to be world changing and over the last 2000 years their impact has changed the lives of billions of people. I’m certain as you join this conversation your life will also be changed by the fact that Jesus is Alive.

    We look forward to seeing you. Sundays 9:15 | 10:45 | 6:30 (except Easter Day 10:45 | 6:30 only)

    Christian Life Church
    Britannia Road (Storforth Lane)
    Chesterfield
    S43 3QD

    01246 768677

  • 4 Essentials For Staying Relevant

    This Sunday a visitor to Church asked me this question.

    How come this church is so alive and vibrant? I visit so many Churches were there’s no life, there are no young people, why is this church so different?

    I’m not sure I answered the question very well., after all, I think it needs a long answer and not a three minute foyer chat. It did make me think a little though and reflect on the fact that relevance is part of our mission statement, stated here. Building RELEVANT contemporary Churches, reaching people with the message of Jesus and equipping them to live successful Christian lives.

    Then earlier today I read this from Great Leaders Serve on exactly the same subject and I thought I’d share it with you.

    I had two experiences Saturday that reminded me of a little discussed responsibility of leaders – maintain relevance.

    We must not only work to stay relevant ourselves, we must help the brands and organizations we serve maintain relevance in a changing world.

    I stopped by our local Honey Baked Ham store to pick up some smoked turkey for sandwiches. When I arrived, I noticed three employees and no customers. I made a comment about the long line the last time I visited. The man behind the counter said, “It must have been during the holidays.” Then he went on to say, “However the holidays weren’t really that busy either.” When I asked why, he said, “Our customers are dying, and young people don’t eat with us.” Wow!

    Image

    Within 10 minutes, I was on the phone with my wife talking about what I might pick up for lunch. She suggested a fantastic local restaurant; I thought it was a great idea. However, I couldn’t go there – they don’t take credit cards — bizarre behavior in 2014. Since I had neither cash nor check, I went somewhere else.

    I don’t know if you think these stories are connected or not. They are for me. Both raise questions of relevance. The first is certainly infinitely harder to solve than the second – to challenge and change the eating habits of a generation is not the same as making the decision to accept credit cards. However, the leadership in both these businesses needs to crack the relevance code or get left behind.

    Brands and organizations that stand the test of time do many things well. Chief among them, they maintain relevance. How do they do it? It’s complicated. Here are a few of the essential ingredients.

    Leadership.

    Are you surprised? Brands and organizations don’t drift towards relevance, they drift towards irrelevance. Leaders put relevance on the agenda and lead the charge.

    Listening.

    I don’t know how any organization can stay relevant without listening. Proactive, intentional, systematic, active listening is required. Customers, vendors, competitors and the industry can provide clues to relevance if we’re really listening.

    Learning.

    I love the idea that learning hasn’t taken place until behavior changes. If we listen well and don’t act on what we’ve heard, have we really learned anything? I say we haven’t.

    Courage.

    If we listen well and discover something we need to change to gain relevance and aren’t willing to change it, we’ve learned nothing, nor have we made any progress. To make the changes needed to maintain relevance will require courage – the courage to break with tradition, the courage to try something new, the courage to take a risk.

    I’m not sure when I’ll go back to the Honey Baked Ham store – I hope they’ll still be there at Thanksgiving.