Fasting! I’d rather eat! I really would. I’m just being honest.  Can you relate?  However, lately God has been changing my mind and now my heart about fasting.  I think one of the reasons I dislike it is because I’ve struggled with connecting fasting to the Jesus way.  Jesus clearly tells us not to fast while he is with us.  He also tells us not fast like the religious crowd fast.

Here is what I’ve been hearing over the past few hours when it comes to fasting.  First, I don’t like to fast because I don’t understand it.  Most of my fasting has been about me.  When I make my plans and determine my direction I have been guilty of pulling a fast out of my religious arsenal to get a little spiritual lift.  I have gotten the cart before the horse.   What I hear the Father telling me is I need to fast before I make my plans and determine my steps.  Fasting in this context becomes about listening to God in order that I might hear him and following him in obedience.

Secondly, I think I have disliked fasting because most of my fasting has been characterized by my conversation with God.  I am so busy telling God what to do I fail to hear him tell me what to do.  Jesus also tells us not to pray with vain repetition like the pagan do.  Often my prayers are just that.  This is not to say there isn’t a time for intercession, there certainly is.  A time of fasting can and should be filled with my pleas to our good Father.  At the same time I sense for me my prayers need to be more about being still and hearing what the Father has for me.  God wants to speak into my loud and busy life.  He wants to show me his way.  When I sit before him with my ears and eyes open ready to receive I hear and see him.

When I hear and see him it is then time to break the fast and follow him.  “Father, show me your way!”

What I love about fasting is hearing from the Father!

I took the day off yesterday and spent it in the North Georgia Mountains with one of my favorite girls, my daughter Amanda.  We had a blast.  I thought I would share a couple of pics with you.

One of the bright spots of the church is it can give those who are disconnected from God a safe place to explore, experiment, and experience the Gospel for themselves.  For those trying to find their way to God a shift in their worldview is a painstaking process that takes time.  This complex journey can best happen in the context of a safe place and safe people.   When “followers of Jesus” understand their mission to live like Jesus, love like Jesus, and leave what Jesus left behind (those who live and love like him) the church becomes a powerful force in this process regardless of what form it takes: organized or organic.

At the heart of God’s missional movement are a displaced people with seeking hearts.  God created us as seekers.  People in general are seeking meaning, purpose, and acceptance.  Churches that address these basic issues dot the landscape of North America and are experiencing greater impact.

Meaning

Many of these churches are responding to man’s search for meaning with dogma without being dogmatic.  The core question people are seeking answers for is “Why?”  Historically churches are eager to focus on “what”.  “This is what you should be doing. ”,  ”Don’t ask questions just do what I tell you to do. ” Those who ask questions are viewed with suspicion and seen as non-conformist. Yet at the core of our search is our need to satisfy the “why”.   We see it in our children.  As little toddlers we demand that they respond appropriately and they do.  Their first questions are always “why”?

Creating a culture of fellow strugglers, searchers, and seekers is the first step toward creating a safe place for others to explore, experiment, and experience the gospel.  I still remember the day I stopped having to have all the answers.  A young seeker asked me some profound question that had been asked and answered millions of times.  I don’t even remember the specifics of the question.  I don’t think it mattered.  I simply responded, “I don’t know”.  It changed the relationship forever.  It gave permission for my friend to seek.  I never forget the day I interviewed him in our church.  The last question I asked him was “How would you describe yourself?  A seeker? One who struggles?  Or one who has found? “  I thought he would at least say I’m seeking.  His response was “I’m struggling” at that point the band began to play Show Me the Way.  I’m convinced there are millions of people who are like my friend looking for a place that will accept no only seekers, but strugglers.

Purpose

We must also understand the importance of responding to man’s need for purpose.  Often we hear from those who have followed for a while, they want more “meat” or desire to go “deeper”.  Perhaps what they are articulating is a kind of boredom that comes with life when you lose your way.  And by the way, we who are in the church are just as prone to lose our way as those on the outside.  For years researchers have taunted the church with findings like, “the church is boring”.  Churches that understand the mission of God are responding with purpose.  I just returned from the Middle East with four lay people from our church.  Need I say we are not bored!  People were created for purpose.  Why else would 30 million people respond to a book like The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren?  Churches of all forms must accept God’s call to challenge those who attend, seek, and believe to follow Jesus.  There is nothing boring about following Him.

Acceptance

Finally, those who are searching and seeking are looking for acceptance.  They desire to belong.  Yet at the same time the family unit has been fractured by an economic system that drives us from our core families in search of the American Dream.  It doesn’t stop there.  We are isolated by our brokenness.  Sin has fractured our ability and desire to connect, to love and be loved.  We are relational wounded and unsure of how to respond so we take “fight or flight”.  Yet we long for a safe place to dabble once again in relationships.  A place driven by an ideal like “peace on earth” or a mantra like “love one another.”  A place where I can be my self and still be fully loved and accepted.  A place where grace and hope resides and I am received as I am and someone sees a brighter future in me.

Contextualizing the Gospels means responding to these basic needs as the living breathing body of Christ.  When “followers of Jesus” come together to live, love, and leave like Jesus it is a powerful “show of force”.  The enemy is intimidated, but more importantly those who are seeking, searching, and struggling find a safe place and people to explore, experiment, and experience the Good News!

Wow!  I’ve been gone just over a week and its great to be back in the USA!  I spent a week with several friends from our church training house church pastors from the Middle East.  It was amazing.  Here are some of the highlights.

• Spent more time praying then I have in many years. They prayed for about two hours every morning and that was just the beginning.
• Met some of the most amazing young people in my life.  Most of these guys were in there early twenties.
• This group consisted of both men and women.  Just doesn’t seem to be as big of a deal when so much is at stake.
• Met Larry McCrary from UpstreamCollective.com.  God brought us together twenty years ago to plant a church and we are still going strong.  Are we getting older? I feel so young!
• As the week went on the more I laughed and danced!  I think there is an important lesson to learn for this.  I take life way to serious and I let way to many things stress me out.
• I memorized about twenty names that had to be transliterated to an English equivalent.  You can learn names without a name tag, but probably not 2000.  Miracles still happen.  Maybe when you really love someone it becomes easier.
• My heart is ripped out.  Usually I can love and leave.  This time I left my heart.
• The last prayer I offered was from a man who’s wife and three children have been detained for the past three years.  We wepted together, I’m still weeping.
• I’m not completely surprised, but find it interesting that this country is okay with what we could consider cult religions related to Christianity, However, Christianity is definitely a big time threat in this part of the world.
• The way these followers of Jesus are living and loving is having a profound impact in the lives of many in this country.  Many are quick to point out the difference in Christians in the region.
• I meet a young man from Afghanistan who had become a follower of Jesus one week earlier.  He told me his Father would cut his head off if he went back to Afghanistan.  He was so sweet.  It put a different face on the war for me.  I’m still pondering what the Father is saying to me (Show me your way!).
• Many of these followers of Jesus did indeed leave their families to follow him.  Others are experiencing “oikos” conversions.  Their entire households are coming to faith.
• Communication and information in this region is critical.  Too much can cost you your life or freedom.  I decided to take a break from Twitter and Facebook while I was away.  I can’t explain it, but it seems like the right thing to do.  I will continue to blog, but only on things that fit my mission to help others rediscover the simplicity of Jesus and his ways.  I pray this helps.
• I want to be a more humble man.  I have a long way to go.
• My son, my daughter’s fiance, and myself were all in different locations, but the Middle East at the same time.  I long for the time we can be together again as a family.  Until then I will take care of the girls.  I love my family!
• I’m praying for peace on earth and I’m more committed to “peacemaking” then ever.  There are other countries caught in this terrible conflict that we know little about.  Don’t forget northern Africa.

I could go on forever, but its time to jump back in.

The speed of your decision making process has a direct impact on your effectiveness. Therefore, growing churches must work hard to determine how to speed up their decision making-process.  When this happens staff frustrations are avoided or eliminated and churches move fluidly and with impact into our quickly changing world. For this to happen churches need strategic leaders that are gifted at making good decisions, a structure that empowers and enable those leaders to act, and good tactical leaders that are able to manage and implement day-to-day ministry.

Strategic Leaders

Someone has to make decisions at a strategic level.  Strategic decisions include vision, mission, direction, budgets, personnel, planning and goal setting, and evaluation processes.  Make no mistake as a church planter, pastor of small church, or new church you are the strategic leader, tactical leader, janitor, worship programmer, small group leader, grass cutter, assistant to your own self, etc.  However, when your church is made up of you and four or five others you can be all those things.  As your church grows for it to continue to grow you must spend less time working in it and more time working on it.

A few years ago I had a conversation with my good friend Bil Cornelius pastor of Bay Area Fellowship.  At the time we were pushing 1200 to 1500 in attendance.  My question for him was simple, “How do we break through 1500?”  I remember at the time being surprised by his answer. He response was quick and simple, “Grow the leader grow the church”.  I just stood their waiting for more.  He didn’t relent.

This marked a shift in my thinking as Executive Pastor.  I embrace the fact that my number one responsibility was ensuring that our Lead Pastor was freed up to spend his time growing as a leader.  As the Lead Pastor he has four or five responsibilities. They include:  casting vision, communicating God’s Word, leading the team, and financing the mission.  In order for our church to continue to grow he must spend more and more focus time growing as a leader in each of these areas..  It’s not that our Lead Pastor wasn’t already a great leader, but leadership has to continue to grow and expand with the church.

I realize that most churches are not at 1200 or 1500, but if you are at 120 to 150 the same principle applies.  You have to constantly adjust your leadership and structure to become the strategic leader.  This is not only true for the Lead Pastor, but for an expanding group of strategic leaders that he must take on the journey with him.

Organizational Structure that Empowers

When it comes to organization structures there are more then one way to “skin the cat”.   There seems to be three or four consistent patterns.  They include staff led churches, inside board led, outside board lead, or a combination of the above.  By far the most nibble, efficient, and effective leadership structure is the staff led church.  At the same time each structure in the right context can add value.  Staff lead churches at their best introduces a plurality of elders into the decision making process, maintains healthy relationships with key teams from within, and often have a relationship with some kind of outside board.

At Mountain Lake where I serve we are a staff led church.  There are three elders who meet the Biblical qualifications laid out in Timothy that serve as what we call our Strategic Leadership Team.  They consist of the Lead Pastor, myself as Executive Pastor, and our Associate Pastor.  While our Lead Pastor maintain the right to make the final call it would be totally out of the ordinary for him to make any kind of decision that all three of us did not agree on.  As a strategic decision making team we meet every week for two to three hours without exceptions.  In addition to our rigorous meeting schedule we get offsite at least four to five times a year for an entire day.  We guard our schedules and everything else in our week and year is scheduled around these important times.  As the Strategic Leadership Team we focus our attention on our vision, personnel, and budgets. The higher we can fly when it comes to day-to-day operations and ministry the quicker and more effective our church becomes.

Key Teams within the Church

We have two key volunteer teams within the church that free us up to lead the church and make quick decisions.  At the same time they provide needed accountability within the church.  They are our Financial Team and our Advisory Team.

Financial Team. Our Financial Team is made up of spiritual mature individuals who are wise and skilled when it comes to finances.  As a Strategic Team we develop and implement the financial plans of our church.  As a Financial Team they work closely with us providing good counsel and accountability.  They review our annual budget, they get a financial report every month that details our income and expenditures, and we meet at least six times a year.  This team pays attention to the details and don’t mind asking questions or raising good healthy questions.  We depend on them and are thankful for the role they play in our church.

Advisory Team.  Our Advisory Team consists of a number of individuals who make up a cross section of our church.  The purpose of this team is to give us good godly insight and feedback as it relates to our church.  We listen to these guys, we seek counsel from them, and gather advise from them.  We meet with this team six times a year and they are invaluable as the eyes and ears of our church.

Outside Boards

A common trend for some new and existing churches is an outside board that may consist of a number of key pastors.  While this may work as a temporary solution in a new church setting it’s not my favorite or my recommendation.  My greatest concern is “out-of-sight, out-of-mind”.  I’m concerned that unless the outside board has something at stake there is not a high motivation for staying in touch.  When this happens pastors can end up on an island by themselves with no accountability.

At the same time there is a lot to gain from those outside of your church.  While we have no official board we relate to from without our church, but we have a number of informal mentor churches and leaders we relate to.  We have been greatly affected and help by people like Dan Rieland, Bil Cornelus, Larry Osborne, Dave Ferguson, and many others.  All of these guys have become personal friends with our pastor and Strategic Leadership Team.  I’m not sure what we would do without the friendship and input of guys who are ahead of us in their journey that are constantly helping us speed up our decision making process.  Our pastor has been very intentional about building relationships with these kinds of leaders.  It is part of his commitment to grow as a leader.

Tactical Team

With this in mind it is very important that we recruit and enlist, hire and develop a team of pastors or lay people who can manage the tactical end of ministry.  The bottom line is  “If I have to do it for you, I don’t need you.”  Every time a leaders has to slow down and make a tactical decision or take care of some tactical area of our church it has a slowing effect. This is true for our entire Strategic Leadership Team.   Therefore it is important that we spend our time working on the future, clarifying the win, hiring and developing the right team around us, and giving good feedback the team.  The clearer we are, the more our teams feel empowered, the better equipped they are, the quicker we can make decisions at every level.

At Mountain Lake we are very fortunate in that we have the best teams in the world.  Because of this we are able to focus on making strategic decisions and the speed of our church is constantly speeding up.  Speed is essential in our face pace world.

Once again it is important to note that regardless of the size of your organization you can build teams and structures that empower others to act and frees you up to lead.  We are without excuse.  As the leader goes, so does the church.

February 22-23, 2010 conference Registration kicks off Monday 9/21/09 at noon for $72 By 72 Campaign.  That’s right you can sign up for $72 per registration beginning Monday at noon.  Don’t miss this incredible opportunity.  Eight Pre-Session Workshops, Five Main Sessions, and over 40 breakouts.  Join Steven Furtick, Ed Young, Jr, Dave Gibbons, Alan Hirsch, Tony Morgan, Tim Stevens, Larry Osborne, Billy Hornsby, Pete Wilson, and many more.

As your church grow so must you grow as a communicator or might I say as you grow as a communicator so grows your church.  This is in no way to say that improving your communication is a sure way to grow your church. There are many different aspects to growing a healthy missional church.  At the same time improving your communication is one of the keys.  The good news is communication is both a gift and a skill.  You can improve your skill as a communicator.  Here are some of our best practices when it comes to communications.

1.  Listen to great communicators.  If you are tasked with the role of communicator in your church you should have 3 or 4 guys you are listening to all the time.  In choosing these guys pick a variety of communicators for different reason.  Load up your ipod and keep the podcast coming if you want to improve your communication.  At the same time at the end of the day be yourself.

2.  Take regular breaks.  Some communicators feel compelled to preach 50 weeks out of the year.  While some may be able to do this we have found that taking regular breaks is one of the best ways of staying fresh and relevant.  At MLC our lead pastor and communicator, Shawn Lovejoy has preached as little as 60% of the time in a given year.  We recently moved into a new building and with hundreds of new people coming to our church every weekend he has step the teaching percentage up to around 80%.  In addition to this he takes four weeks late spring and the beginning of summer where he is out of the office working on it and vacationing.  Incorporating this kind of regiment into our church calendar has gone a long way toward improving an sharpening his communication skills.

3.  Invest time in preparation.  We do a lot to protect whoever is carrying the ball for the weekend.  Most weeks our weekend communicator will spend 3 to 5 hours every morning preparing for the message.  This includes his day off.  Obviously for some taking a complete day to get away from it can be beneficial, but over all our communicator will spend 18 to 25 hours preparing for one message every week.  You can’t be lazy about communicating and be a good communicator.

4.  Prepare with a team. Each week we begin the teaching process with a team.  Currently there are three primary guys who input the communication prep.  Other teams approach it differently.  Few great communicators go it alone.

5.  Incorporate other discipline into the teaching.  Communicators have to be discipline.  Not simply disciplined about their study habits, that should go unsaid.  They also have to be discipline about their lifestyle.  We have had as many as five weekend services where the same communicated had to communicate on a single weekend.  In the age of multiple services good energy and health is a must.  Guarding your week and weekend when it comes to diet and rest goes a long way.  If you cram your Saturdays full of stuff and fail to get good rest expect your Sunday morning to come across as crammed and cramped.

6.  Get feedback from key people around you.  One of my regular Sunday responsibilities is to evaluate the first message.  I meet the communicator after the first service and give him feedback.  This means I sit in the message and make notes.  Some of the things I’m looking for include:  Was the big idea clear?  Was the message communicated with passion and authority?  Was it free of Christianese?  Was the message relevant?  Did the application move people to a specific response?  Was the message sound as it relates to theology?

We only have a few minutes between services so we are hover at about 10,000 feet in this evaluation time, but make quick fixes that improve the overall communication.  On Monday we meet with our Creative Team, Teaching Team, and Strategic Team to evaluate further.  At the same time we are not near as hard on the communicator as we use to be.  We generally try to answer two questions when as it relates to our overall worship service and teaching:  What was helpful?  What needs to be improved?

7.  Preach from the overflow.  Spending time with God, preaching from your own passion and experience, and memorizing your message goes a long way toward allow you to preach from the overflow.  This usually mean you need to have your message written two to three days before you deliver it.  This is easier said then done.  Go  over your message 5 or 6 time out loud before you deliver it.

This is my take on improving your communication, it would be interesting to hear from what others are doing to improve their communication.

This morning Ted Kennedy’s funeral caught my attention.  There is no doubt, despite his flaws just like the rest of us, he was a great man who cared deeply for those who are less fortunate than he or many of us.  I think we can learn alot from him when it comes to caring about those who don’t have the access that many of us do for healthcare, education, security, and a number of other basic human needs.

The thing that most captured my attention was the Priest’s reading of Matthew 25: 31-46.  Most often when I hear this passage of scripture my attention gets lost in my own sense of security.  It’s good to be a sheep.  At the same time if a sheep is characterized by caring for the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick, and those that are incarcerated, what does this say about me?

When was the last time I fed the hungry?  I don’t remember.  When was the last time I gave someone something to drink?  I did lead a group to Africa last year to put a well and irrigation system in a village.  When was the last time I took in a stranger?  My parents taught me not to talk to strangers.  When was the last time I clothed the naked.  I do have a closet full of clothes I’ve been thinking about cleaning out and giving them to an organization that does that kind of stuff.  When was the last time I cared for the sick?  I did go to visit a lady with cancer a couple of weeks ago in the hospital.  I even followed up with a call.  When was the last time I visited someone in prison?  I don’t like prisons.  They make me feel uncomfortable.

To be honest, I would rather attend church on the weekends, get involved with a small group of people who are just like me in that they don’t need a lot of attention, read my Bible, live a moral life, and say my prayers.

For some reason this morning this passage of scripture rocked my world.  I can’t help but hear Jesus’ words in his Sermon on the Mount,  “For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven” Matthew 5:20.  He begins his ministry with these words and then he comes to the end of his ministry with the words, “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me” Matthew 25:45.

What is this righteousness that Jesus is talking about? I have been taught by my brand of religion that when I think of righteousness I most often associate it with morality.  However, this could not be the case for there were none more moral than the Pharisees.  To understand this righteousness that we are told to exceed and even to seek before all other things is a form of justice.  Justice is the proper use of power.  This kind of justice connects with a redemptive imagination for the least of those around and among us.

Jesus is crystal clear in his teaching on the kingdom found in Matthew 25.  This passage represents the ultimate eulogy.  The son of man comes in all of his glory.  All nations are gathered around him.  The people of these nations are divided into two groups.  The nations disappear.  Now there are two people who stand before him.  There are the sheep and the goats.  He invites the sheep into his blessing.  He speaks of their righteousness.  They have clothed the Lord Jesus in his nakedness.  They have visited him in his loneliness.  They have fed our Lord in his hunger.  They have taken care of him in his sickness.  They have acted righteously.  They have sought justice.  They have exercised a proper use of their power by helping those who are powerless.

Those that remain are banished from Jesus and his glory.  He was hungry, naked, sick, imprisoned, and lonely and they took no note.  Those who are banished are not without protest.  When Lord did we not pay attention to you in your need.  Suddenly Jesus’ kingdom is revealed. When you fail to care for the very least among you, you fail to care for me.

How did I miss this?  Jesus couldn’t have been clearer. “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” Matthew 6:33.

Read it for yourself!

When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.  Then the King will say to those on his right, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.” Then the righteous will answer him, “Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?” The King will reply, “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” Then he will say to those on his left, “Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.”  They also will answer, “Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?” He will reply, “I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.” Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life Matthew 25:31-46.

It’s been a week since I last posted.  I have a good one I’m working on called “Make Quick Decisions”.  It addresses creating organizations structures that allow you to make quick decision.  It should go up on Tuesday.

For the past week or so I have been preoccupied with seeing my son off on his next deployment to Afghanistan.  It really bites.  I will probably be preoccupied a lot over the next year.  I did want to introduce you to him by way of post so that you might keep him in your prayers along with the other soldiers.  As he gets settled in I will post more often on him keeping you informed.   When he returns out of

the last 40 months of his life he will have spent 28 of them in Afghanistan.  He is on the frequent flying program with the 82nd Airborne where he serves as a Fire Support Specialist with 4-73 Recon Unit.

I’ve included a couple of pics for you to get to know him a little.  They are: 1) He is somewhere in Eastern Afghanistan at about 11,000 feet.  His previous deployment was in the east on the Pakistan border.  This deployment is in the west on the Iranian border.  He will be in the wild west of Afghanistan.

2) In this picture he is on his Harley Deuce.  It’s a sweet bike that’s lean and fast.  One of the things we do together is cruise on our bikes.  In the meantime I will have keep both of them going.  I can’t wait to get him home where we can cruise the North Georgia mountains once again.  He has two bikes, but I’m assigned with the task of selling one and helping him find a bass boat for when he returns.  I love it that he knows how to have fun and enjoy life.  He is teaching me a lot.

3)  The best for last! He and Kristina decided to tie the knot before he went back. Here they are on the beach following their vows.  I’ve never seen two people so compatible and so in love.  It’s really neat seeing how they relate.  I can’t wait until they are together again.

Every Sunday I walk the halls of Mountain Lake Church (MLC) greeting people and paying close attention to our systems that result in people either having a positive or a negative experience. At MLC we are constantly telling people that we will change the way they think about church. We do this so we might ultimately change the way they think about Jesus. Paying attention to our systems is an important part of this process. Why? Because your church can only care for people to the extent your systems can handle them.

Put yourself in the place of someone who is disconnected from Christ and the church for a moment. You are attending for the first time in years. You turn right heading toward the campus a few minutes before the service. Parking is unclear and a bit congested. It takes you several uncomfortable minutes to figure it out and find a parking place. Next you are a bit confused about where to enter the building and what to do with your two preschoolers. You find someone wondering the halls that might be a Children’s teacher. They are obviously rushed, but they help somewhat. While you are getting your child checked-in you hear the band crank up, you’re late. You drop the kids off. One is crying the others okay. You find the auditorium and enter in. It’s dark so it takes a moment to adjust your eyes. People are standing and singing which intensifies your search for a seat. You finally settle on one in the front row, you make your way up right as the lights come up. You are late for the service, a little frazzled, but at least you made it. About that time a script comes up on the corner of the worship screen, “Will the parent of child #438 please see their child’s teacher immediately”. You look at your handwritten sticker, it looks like 488, no it’s 438. It’s your child. Thirty minutes after you arrive, you are headed home. You think, “Maybe I will try it again in a few weeks…maybe not.”

That’s why every weekend I make my way around the halls, poking my head inside classrooms, and making sure I sit through at least one of our services. People matter! Often we have only one shot with someone who is far from God and who happened to decide to give church and give God one more chance that day. That’s why every Monday our team gathers for what we call a “Blocking and Tackling” meeting. We don’t always get it right, but we are constantly working on it and committed to being a place where people can belong in a healthy relationship with God and others and become more like Jesus.

Here are a few questions every church planter and pastor should ask each week:
1. Could people get on and off our campus with ease?
2. Once they were on our campus was it clear where to park and enter?
3. Were they greeted warmly and were first time guest put at ease quickly?
4. Did we provide a warm, safe, and efficient system for checking in their children?
5. Were parents and children greeted and helped in the children’s area?
6. Was the transition to the Adult Worship environment warm, friendly and clear?
7. Were they able to find a good seat with relative ease?
8. Did they connect with the worship experience and message? Was it a positive experience for them?
9. Did we give them some next steps to take?
10. Did we follow up with them in an appropriate way?
11. Did they have an opportunity to connect with people and with God?

Good healthy systems allow us to care for the people God sends our way. Paying attention to the details and consistently working on them allows us to create a place where people can experience, explore, and experiment with faith. In a post-Christian world this kind of environment can be key for those who are far from God and have little or no Christian memory. Over and over again we connect with people who have never attended a church beyond a wedding to those who haven’t been in years. More importantly we are seeing them come, have the way they think about church changed, and ultimately the way they think about Christ changed. It doesn’t end here. We are seeing people belong in healthy relationships with God and others and become more like Jesus. Lives are being changed. It’s amazing!

Our weekend experience may not be where it ends, but it’s certainly has a large part to do with where it begins.