A Bias towards what's next

Think you’ve nailed the way small groups work?  Think your current strategy or system is working as well as it can?  Wait…before you answer, think about this:

Willow Creek

In the early 90s, Willow Creek switched from a thriving discipleship strategy (by many accounts) to a modified meta church model and over the next 10 years became the first mega church in America to have more adults in groups than they had at the weekend services.  Why’d they switch?  The original method was a slow-moving, small group system where they provided intensive and intentional discipleship input in closed groups over a 2 year commitment…and they realized that they were never going to catch the moving train.  How did they know the new strategy would work?  They didn’t.  They had a bias toward what’s next.

Saddleback

In the fall of 2002, Saddleback switched from a very effective small group connection model to an untested small group host strategy (combined with a church-wide campaign).  To fill in a blank, they had grown from about 70o people in groups to about 8000 in groups using the connection strategy over a 4 to 5 year period.  Who could have known that over the last 8 years they’d grow from 800 groups to over 4000 groups?  Who could have known that they’d grow from 8000 in groups to 28000?  No one.  Why’d they switch?  They had a bias toward what’s next.

Why Am I Telling You This?

Why am I telling you this?  Simple.  You must develop a bias toward what’s next.  There is a next thing.  If there weren’t, all of us would have over 100% of our weekend adult attendance in groups.  Saddleback would have already connected the rest of Southern California.  The biggest reason?  We’d have figured out how to connect the widening 60% of adults who are unreachable with the attractional model.

A bias toward what’s next develops an appreciation for careful observation, a curiosity that leads to innovation, and a willingness to experiment for the sake of connecting more people, developing more leaders, and producing more committed disciples.  A bias toward what’s next see the status quo as something to be broken.  A bias toward what’s next is looking for latest learnings.

What’s Your Latest Learning?

Over the next few weeks, I’ve asked a number of the best-known grouplife practitioners to share their latest learnings.  Watch for these posts.  Try some of the things they’re figuring out.  Argue if you want to.  Chime in with your own.  The key really is this.  Although Solomon said “there’s nothing new under the sun,” God, through the prophet Isaiah said,

“See, I am doing a new thing!  Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?” Isaiah 43:19

We are not living in the day when the status quo is a good thing.  At the beginning of the second decade of the 21st century…it is clearly time to develop a bias toward what’s next.

Mark Howell is the founder of SmallGroupResources.net, committed to helping churches launch, build, and sustain healthy small group ministries. He's also the Community Life Pastor at Parkview Christian Church.  Having served as small group pastor at Woodlands Church and Lake Avenue Church, Mark is a seasoned veteran with experience in both the contemporary and the traditional church. In addition, he served as a consultant with Lifetogether and as a host for the Purpose Driven Campaign Coaching programs. You can read Mark's blog at www.markhowelllive.com or follow him on twitter.

Know Your Boundaries in Marriage

Anyone can fall morally

If you think that’s… “something you could NEVER do”  then you are one of those most vulnerable. We have to face the fact we live in a fallen world, and in the wrong place at the wrong time with the right person, we all could make a HUGE mistake.

So here’s the deal. Don’t go there! Set up predetermined boundaries that will allow you to “tap the brakes” before it’s to late.

Some good boundary ideas could be like…

• Other than your spouse, never be alone with someone of the opposite sex.
• Let your spouse read all electronic communications, E-mail, Facebook, Twitter and Texts
• If you are deleting Text msgs…Why? (Smells like trouble)
• Give a friend the password to your accounts, knowing they will check them
• Don’t take a second look! 3-second rule, then don’t look again.
• If you feel your spouse isn’t meeting a need…COMMUNICATE!
• If  a non-spouse says or does something that “attracts you” never speak with that person alone.
• Understand the needs of your spouse (“His needs Her needs” book is a good place to start) and be willing to change and adapt to meet them
• Talk with your spouse DAILY about things that are going on, and how you feel about things
• The above can be exhausting at times, but stick with it. You won’t be sorry

These are just a few, care to add any to the list?

Artie Davis wears a lot of hats and leads a lot of people. He's Pastor at Cornerstone Community Churchin Orangeburg, SC. He heads the Comb Network and the Sticks Conference. He speaks and writes about leadership, ministry, church-planting, and cultural diversity in the church. You can find his blog atArtieDavis.com or catch him on Twitter @artiedavis.

DISCERNING GOD’S CALL ON MY LIFE

"THE FACTS OF THE MATTER"

"A weekly letter of encouragement to business and professional men and women"

Good Morning!

DISCERNING GOD’S  CALL ON MY LIFE

Discerning the will and calling of God on our lives can be one of the most challenging areas in the life of a believer.  I remember having lunch with a highly respected pastor who confided that he was struggling with discerning the will of God. I remember thinking, “Good grief, if he has these questions, where does that leave me?”

Consider St. Paul’s strong emphasis on knowing the will of God:  “Look carefully then how you walk! Live purposefully and worthily and accurately, not as the unwise and witless, but as wise (sensible, intelligent people), Making the very most of the time [buying up each opportunity], because the days are evil. Therefore do not be vague and thoughtless and foolish, but understanding and firmly grasping what the will of the Lord is.”  (Eph. 5:14-17 – Amp.)

Below are some questions that may help you clarify God’s will and calling for your life: +

1.       What do I want to accomplish with my life? (See Jn. 4:34; 17:4; Act. 20:24; 2 Tim. 4:7,8)
2.       What are my spiritual gifts, natural talents, learned abilities?  (See Rom. 12:6-8; I Cor. 12:1-11, 28-31; 14:1-40; I Pet. 4:10, 11).
3.       What are my limitations, weaknesses, needs and issues?  (See Rom. 12:3; I Cor. 15:10)
4.       What is my capacity in terms of work, time, emotional and physical health?
5.       What phase of ministering to others am I most interested in? 
6.       What results has God given in my past ministry to people?  What results is God giving in my preset ministry to others?
7.       What ministry skills and training do I have?  To do what?
8.       What ministry needs exist in my context which I can meet?
9.       What are my personal development needs?  And how do I plan to address them?
10.   What indications do I have from God regarding His specific leading and call?

·         Past history of fruitful ministries.

·         Promises/verses or passages from the Word of God.

·         Peace of heart.

·         Where to minister; to whom; with whom.

11.   What burden or passion do I have for serving God?  To what? To whom? When?
12.   What affirmations do I have from others regarding their assessment of my areas of strength or specialty?
13.   What can hinder me from responding positively to God’s personal call on my life?
14.   With all that’s been happening in my life, how is God defining ministry for me?

+ Adapted from NavNews “What is your personal call?” - A newsletter of the Navigators Singapore – 12/02/2007

This week may you experience His grace, peace and protection! 

R. Dwight Hill 

Facts of the Matter © 2000 - 2011 R. Dwight Hill - www.factsofthematter.org - Unlimited permission to copy without altering text or profiteering is hereby granted subject to inclusion of this copyright notice.

“WE ARE THE LETTER”

August 17, 2011

"THE FACTS OF THE MATTER"

"A weekly letter of encouragement to business and professional men and women"

Good Morning!

“WE ARE THE LETTER”

“Your very lives are a letter that anyone can read by just looking at you. Christ himself wrote it—not with ink, but with God's living Spirit; not chiseled into stone, but carved into human lives…” (2 Cor. 3:2, 3 – Selected)

Jesus understood the power of example in influencing people.  In fact, he keyed off of the example of his heavenly Father: "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.” (Jn. 5:19) (See Jn. 5:30; 14:24)

Jesus used the power of example to shape his disciples’ lives.  One study reveals that 80% of his three years of ministry was given to influencing them. The night before the cross he washed their feet, concluding with this powerful challenge: “I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.”  (Jn. 13:15)  

Would the fact that 10 out of the 12 disciples were martyred for going to the ends of the earth proclaiming Jesus as the Messiah suggest that he had shaped their lives by his example?

Years later Peter wrote about Jesus’ example: “…Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.” (I Pet. 2:21)  He also wrote instructions to wives on how, through the power of example, to influence their deviant husbands: 

“Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives. Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight.” (1 Pet. 3:1-4)

Edmund Burke wrote, “People will learn at the school of example and they will learn at none other.”

Think about how St. Paul forcefully shaped Timothy’s life by the power of his example: “You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance….And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.”  (2 Tim. 3:10a; 2:2)

Paul wrote to the Philippians about the importance of example:  “Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you.”  (Phil. 3:17) The word pattern here means a proto type; a model.  (See Phil. 4:9; I Cor. 4:16; 11:1; 1Thes. 1:6; 2Thes. 3:7,9; Heb. 13:7.)

QUESTION: Are you able with a clear conscience to say to the people whom you are seeking to influence, “Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me--put it into practice…”? (Phil. 4:9a) Is your life in fact a “pattern” that others can observe and emulate toward becoming more Christ like?

This week may you experience His grace, peace and protection!

R. Dwight Hill

Facts of the Matter © 2000 - 2011 R. Dwight Hill - www.factsofthematter.org - Unlimited permission to copy without altering text or profiteering is hereby granted subject to inclusion of this copyright notice.

When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?” (Psa. 11:3)

"THE FACTS OF THE MATTER"

"A weekly letter of encouragement to business and professional men and women"

Good Morning!

“When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?” (Psa. 11:3)

You and I are observing the erosion of the foundations of our civilization; a corrosion that threatens the very basis of the good life we have so enjoyed. Dostoevsky once wrote that if God did not exist, everything would be permitted. As you look around, it seems that much of our Western world has lost the awareness that God exists, and thus believes that anything is permitted. It often appears that the only spirit that we recognize is our own.

St. Paul, in looking out over the people of his age made this disturbing parallel observation: “…In the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power…” (2 Tim. 3:1b-5a).

C. S. Lewis in his book, The Abolition of Man viewed Western civilization’s disintegration with ever increasing catastrophic consequences. “We are in the process of losing our humanity. It happens that men and women who once were human are simply no longer so. They have become nothing but minds and matter, brains and bodies, computers and consumers, calculators and copulates, constructers and cloners, who believe that they are free and powerful but in fact are being destroyed by the very ‘Nature’ that they wish to conquer as they are enslaved to an oligarchy of ‘Conditioners’ who are themselves enslaved and destroyed by their insane strivings to defile, design, manage, and manipulate a world and a humanity bereft of the God who boundlessly loves them.” 1

As we experience this tsunami that is sweeping away our spiritual foundations, consider the following injunctions from the Scriptures for us to hold steady:

· "You shall not follow the masses in doing evil…” (Ex. 23:2a).

· “…You shall not learn to imitate the detestable things of those nations [around you]” (Deut. 18:9b).

· “Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mould…” (Rom. 12:2a – Philips Trans.).

· “…Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God (Jms. 4:4b).”

· “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance” (I Pet. 1:14).

· “Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world” (I Jn. 2:15, 16).

QUESTION: Are you more than hungry for God? Starving? When the prodigal son was hungry, he went to feed on the husks. But when he was starving, he went to his father. So, my friend, let me ask you, are you hard after God, or just dabbling at it? I hope it is the former, because only that kind of desperate passion for God will keep you and me from succumbing to the crumbling spiritual foundations that surround us.

1 (First Things, Page 72, December 2007)

This week may you experience His grace, peace and protection!


R. Dwight Hill


Facts of the Matter © 2000 - 2011 R. Dwight Hill - www.factsofthematter.org - Unlimited permission to copy without altering text or profiteering is hereby granted subject to inclusion of this copyright notice.