Bless Your Pastor

Posted in Learnings on July 10, 2012 by mikekeaton

some say it better than i could ever say it…i thought this was really, really, really, good!!  i admit that i hesitate a bit to share it, because it might be taken wrong, but, i feel compelled to do so.  i think it is a great encouragement to churches everywhere!!  enjoy!!

What our Pastors wish we knew!!

“The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching.” 1 Timothy 5:17 (NIV 1984)

My friend shocked me. She and her husband, a pastor, were not just resigning from their church, they were leaving the ministry all together. “It’s just too much,” she said with tears streaming down her face. “We gave all we could. But there were too many people who felt what we did was never enough.”

My heart sank. Sadly, this pastor and his wife aren’t alone.

According to research 40% of pastors and 47% of spouses are suffering from burnout, frantic schedules, and/or unrealistic expectations.

These numbers are heartbreaking and convicting. I’m passionate about understanding how to love and support those who lead my church. But I have to admit, I’m still learning how to apply the biblical principle of our key verse, 1 Timothy 5:17.

Paul knew that supporting and blessing the pastor was remarkably important when he said these words to Timothy and now to us all.

A wise, incredibly humble Texas pastor once told me, “Some would think double honor sounds excessive, but the reality is no one fully understands the pressures on your pastor at any given time as they carry with them the burdens of many in the congregation quietly and confidentially. This is not work that you can leave at the office, it weighs on you. I believe it is for this reason Paul calls us to double honor.”

So, how do we apply this? Here are some insights shared with me from pastors and their wives all over the country:

Do the basics consistently.
The greatest way to bless your pastor is to be one of those faithful people who attends, serves and gives consistently. This offers such assurance to a pastor and their staff. One of the most well-studied pastors I know on church leadership said, “When people do the regular basics and never make a big deal about it, the other stuff you do for your pastor is so much more meaningful. Some people try to bless their pastor on their terms and they are loud about it. They don’t tithe, but … ‘Hey pastor, you can use our lake house with strings attached.'”

Let’s bless our pastor and his staff with the basics. Give gifts without strings. And don’t toot our horn about doing so.

Let go of the unrealistic expectations.
Almost every pastor addressed the issue of inviting he and his family over for dinner. While it seems like something we’re doing for the pastor, it usually isn’t the gift they need. More than spending time with our family, they need to spend time with theirs. Bless them with gift certificates. Or schedule to drop off a meal — especially during those busy times like Easter and Christmas.

Of course, they’ll have friends where a dinner with that family is completely comfortable and refreshing. Give them the freedom to have close friends and not feel guilty or exclusive in doing so. One pastor’s wife said to me, “I think the thing that discourages me the most is people commenting on my friendships. Using the word clique to describe my friendships, rather than just being happy I have a community, is hurtful.”

Let’s bless our pastor and his family with freedom. They need friends. And it’s okay if we’re not dinner buddies.

Love the pastor’s wife.
Two pastors wrote, “Please give my wife face-to-face affirmation,” and “When my wife hears negative things about the church or me it crushes her.”

Another pastor’s wife gave insight into how to greet her so she doesn’t feel like a heel for not remembering everyone personally. She said, “It’s hard when people say, ‘Do you remember me?’ Instead, introduce yourself and remind me where we’ve met before.”

Let’s commit to our pastor’s wife the gift of kind words. As a woman in ministry, when someone commits to saying kind and affirming things about me, my ministry, and my family, it makes me feel so safe.

Don’t assume other people are encouraging your pastor.
Send notes of encouragement. Write the email telling what a difference that sermon made in your life. Don’t assume they get plenty of positive feedback—usually they don’t.

Let’s commit to not just be someone who appreciates our pastor in our hearts, but let’s let them know over and over.

Keep studying how to bless your pastor.
Become aware of how your pastor best needs to be blessed and step into that role. Make it a family mission to be one of those foundational families at church who stays out of the drama, seeks to give and not take, and stays for the long haul honoring him all the way.

And don’t forget the other pastoral staff members who serve so faithfully as well.

It’s biblical. It’s good. And while I’ve got a long way to go, I’m committed to honoring my pastors with much more intentionality.

Dear Lord, thanks for the gift of my pastor, his wife, his staff, his time. Please show me ways to give them double honor, and help me follow through on it. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

© 2012 by Lysa TerKeurst. All rights reserved. find original post here

Reflect and Respond:

Sit down with the Lord and ask Him to show you a few ways to bless your pastor this week.

While in prayer, get honest with God. Have you had unfair expectations of your pastor, his wife and family, or his staff? Repent.

Power Verse:
1 Thessalonians 5:12, “Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, to acknowledge those who work hard among you, who care for you in the Lord and who admonish you.” (NIV)

How about you??  Thoughts??

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Does our heart pound hard for God?

Posted in Evangelism, Uncategorized on July 9, 2012 by mikekeaton

“when a congregation’s heart pounds hard for God, we give of ourselves—our time, our resources, our lives—TO LOVE OTHERS“

i recently read this article and it provoked my thoughts profoundly.  i wonder if we, our church, are passionate about reaching those who need to know God more intimately?  i wonder if i am passionate about those who need to be close to God?  it spoke to me, so i thought to share it here in its entirety…how about you?  Are you passionate about those who are lost and need to know and connect God?

When God looks at His bride, the church, He longs for her to have a healthy heartbeat. He wants our hearts to beat with His love for the lost, and He longs for evangelistic passion to flow through our veins. The Maker of heaven and Earth wants to see each and every church alive with love for the lost and engaged in reaching out with the message and grace of Jesus in natural, organic ways.

God wants to draw people into our fellowship with the assurance that they will be embraced by grace and introduced to the Savior, Jesus. But this can happen only when the people in our church are deeply in love with God.

When we are, our heartbeat is strong. When we do not love God, it is difficult for us to love others. As God looks at the spiritual monitor that registers the evangelistic heartbeat of a church, He sees one of several different patterns. What do you think God sees when He looks at your church?

FLATLINE

Some churches have a loud, high drone and a flatline on their heart monitor. There is no love for God, nor is there a relentless love for the lost. These churches are closed off to visitors, their community, and the world. They don’t reach out or train their members to share Jesus’ love.

Prayer for their community is nonexistent. There was a heartbeat at some time in the distant past, but today the church is flatlining.

If this describes your church, don’t lose hope! We believe in a God who can raise the dead. Heaven is watching your church’s heart monitor, and the Spirit of God is always ready to send a pulse of heavenly energy into your congregation’s heart to bring it back to life. God is ready to return your church to her first love, Jesus Christ. And the Holy Spirit is ready to move your church from apathy to passion.

WEAK PULSE

Sometimes when a doctor checks for a pulse, he’ll say, “I have a pulse, but it’s weak.” There is still life in the body, but action needs to be taken quickly to sustain it.

Many churches have a pulse and there is life, but it’s faint. There is love for God and for people, but it is waning.

If this is a picture of your church, be honest and admit it. You might have a map on a wall somewhere with several pins showing where you send money to support missionaries. You might do an event or two each year that “spiritual seekers” are welcome to attend. You might even try to be friendly if a guest or visitor happens to wander into your church on a Sunday morning.

But honestly, your passion for outreach is gone.

Your church lacks a desperate love for God that will drive you into the world with His good news. You are nice to people who visit your church, but you don’t go out of your way to reach those who are far from God. You send money overseas, but you don’t engage the mission field right next door.

If this describes your congregation, you too need to fall in love with God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—all over again. Yes, you still care. You love God, and you love people. But it is time to rehabilitate your congregation’s heart.

You might need to do some spiritual exercise and fortify your heart to make it beat strongly again. The heart is a muscle, and if you use it, it becomes stronger.

Read Page 2 >>

RAPID HEARTBEAT

Sometimes, a heart races wildly. This can be very dangerous, because if a person’s heart pumps too fast for too long, it can lead to cardiac arrest and eventually death.

Some churches’ monitors show that their hearts are beating two or three times faster than a healthy heart. Because these churches love God and want to be faithful to His love for lost people, they launch outreach program after outreach program and initiative after initiative. Church members grow tired and exhausted as the congregation jumps into the latest evangelistic fads.

Outreach is not organic in a church like this. Instead, it feels fabricated and inauthentic. While the motives are right, the practice of outreach is so forced that it fails to bear much fruit. Churches like this often experience frustration when they try lots of programs but never find something that works. They invest lots of money and time, and they genuinely love God, but lost people rarely come to know and embrace Jesus.

These churches need to love God enough to slow down. If they want to establish an organic culture of outreach, they need to do less to accomplish more. Better yet, they need to channel their energy, time, and resources into a sustainable approach to church-wide evangelism. Whatever the condition of your church’s heart, know that God is ready to increase your love quotient. Evangelism is not a sprint; it’s a marathon. It’s not a fad; it’s the fabric of a healthy church. It’s not a system or a program; it’s the natural fruit of a church that loves God.

GETTING BACK TO YOUR FIRST LOVE

The first and most critical step a church needs to take to move toward healthy outreach is to develop a growing love for God. In the book of Revelation, Jesus says to the church of Ephesus, “Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love.” Whenever our love for God ceases to be first place in our hearts, our vision for reaching out wanes.

Jesus made this clear when He taught his disciples that the first and most important of all the commandments is to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” This is not just our calling as individual followers of Christ; it is also our calling as a church. If we forget our first love, our collective heart will grow cold, and nothing that we do will have the impact we desire.

Loving God does not begin with our own efforts. It is based on the awareness that God was passionately seeking us long before we ever sought Him. In the letter of First John, we find a powerful tutorial on the love of God. We learn, first and foremost, that God is love. Because of His love for us, we can become children of God. The depth of the Father’s love was revealed when He sent His only Son to this Earth to die in our place on the cross for our sins. As we are grounded in God’s love for us and as we learn to walk in this love, we will continue to grow in our love for people and for God.

If your church is struggling to invest in reaching your community and the world, ask yourself this question: are we a church that is on fire with a passion for God? If reaching out to others has been pushed to the back burner (or off the stove entirely), it probably won’t help to add some spice to the meal. You need to start by turning up the heat.

Maybe your church has lost its first love.

Remember, God so loved the world that He gave.

Love gives. And when a congregation’s heart pounds hard for God, we give of ourselves—our time, our resources, our lives—to love others.

This article adapted from Organic Outreach for Churches. by kevin harney…original title of article – how to measure the evangelistic heartbeat or your church

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S.O.A.P. Learnings

Posted in Quiet time learnings on March 27, 2012 by mikekeaton

From Ecclesiastes

I started reading today in the book of the Bible called Ecclesiastes.  I have read it before but it has been a while.  I love the Poetical books (Job-Song of Solomon), especially Psalms and Proverbs.  I like to read what I call “wisdom literature”.  I feel so, let’s just say, ignorant! 🙂   I want to be led by the wisdom of God, so I may lead in my personal life and ministry.  So, therefore, I read wisdom literature…I think, “hey, if the wisest man who has ever lived wrote stuff down, i should probably read it”.

Anyway, I just finished a New Testatment book, (1 & 2 Thessalonians),  so I thought to read Eccclesiastes.  I follow the S.O.A.P. method in my quiet time of reading Scripture.  Here are my learnings from this morning:

S – (scripture) – v. 13-14, 17 – “and I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven.  It is an unhappy business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with.  I have seen everything…and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind”  “and I applied my heart to know wisdom…I perceived that this also is but a striving after wind”

O- (observations) – the writer, Solomon, seems vexed.  He has seen it all and understands everything inside and out b/c he has divine wisdom and acknowledges that all is vanity and a pointless pursuit.  It seems the more you know, the more troubled you are or become.

A- (application) – I must admit, that I dont understand, b/c I thought pursuing wisdom to be a great thing.  In fact, it  is a passion of mine.   But it seems, that maybe that is in error.  I do want to walk in wisdom…Proverbs tells me I am blessed if i do…so, I am uncertain of how to apply these learnings.  At first I think I should stop prusing wisdom maybe its just the order of things…in other words,pursue the Lord, fear Him  & wisdom will result or come later?

P- (prayer) – Lord help me to discern what you are saying to me!  Guide me, lead me…teach me to fear you!

 

I cannot tell you how much I want wisdom.  I cry out for it all the time, just like Proverbs 2 tells me to do.  Maybe I just need to pursue my “wise” Lord!  Then fearing Him will result and then wisdom will come.  Proverbs does say, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

 

I just thought to share this today, myabe it will bless someone or encourage them to read and follow a S.O.A.P method of intaking the word of God.  ??  May we all walk today in close communion with our Lord and Savior and be joyful!! 🙂

Blessings…

mk

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Overcoming insecurities in Leadership

Posted in Uncategorized on December 5, 2011 by mikekeaton

Everyone has them!  Everyone struggles with them!  Insecurities!!  There is not one person that does not have some degree of insecurity.  Some leaders are very inward focused, sheepish, and intimidated by others.  Other leaders are very outward and loud and portray an “I’m large and in charge” persona, either way, the issue is the same….insecurity!

For a leader the overall, big picture, once and done solution for this issue is a leaders call from God!  Either I am secure in the calling He has given me or I am not.  Either I am secure in His choice and will for me or I am not.  Either my success, victory and peace rests in what He desires to do through me or I am not.  If I choose to focus on myself and what I don’t have or do have to be successful the end result is the same…insecurity.  But if I choose to fulfill His focus for me, then there is rest, peace, comfort, success and FREEDOM!!

Ezekiel chapter 2 clearly communicates a call of God on the prophets life.  When we follow these principles from this chapter of Ezekiel’s life, we too can have the FREEDOM to be who God wants us to be by FULFILLING exactly what He has uniquely called each of us to do:

1.  We must be Holy Spirit filled!  God filled Ezekiel and then He spoke to Him telling him what He wanted him to do  (“v.2 and v.4- the Spirit entered into me, and I heard Him, I send you to them and you shall say to them”).  We too must be filled by and with the Spirit of God if we want Him to speak to us and know what step to head in next.

2.  We must not be afraid!   God told Ezekiel to not be afraid of what the people would say or do. (v.6)  He told him to not be afraid of how they think about him or how they might “give him looks”.  God told him they were a rebellious people and because of that Ezekiel should expect them to talk about him and give him dirty looks and ignore him and what God is saying.  Are we any different?  Insecurity is a form of fear.  when we get all uncomfortable and start worrying about what the people are saying or how they are treating us and then we get all discouraged and down, then we are fearing the people more than fearing the God who called us and told us what to say.  Insecurity is a result of trusting in the wrong God, almost idolatry if you will.  The enemy is so deceptive in this way in our lives.  We must not allow the devil to steal anymore of God’s glory and just trust in the Lord, the one who called us and gave us the message we are to share.

3.  We must speak the message! God gave Ezekiel a clear message.  regardless if it was what the people wanted to hear it, Ezekiel was to be faithful to the calling from God.  Here lies great freedom and faith.  freedom, not insecurity, but freedom comes from doing exactly what God has told us to do regardless of what other people say or think.  Our faith grows too, because we are trusting in the Lord and His words and for Him to fulfill them.

4.  We must be paying attention and listening! (v.8) God told Ezekiel to “hear” what He said to Him.  Ministry is busy.  Life is busy.  I am pretty sure that the devil has his hands in this too.  The pastor of the church that helped us get started, Ken Adams, said this…”if the devil can’t make you bad, he will make you busy”.  Busy-ness can be stimulating.  Also, busyness can be satisfying to a leaders pride.  But more often than we’d like to admit…busyness can steal our time from us spending time with the Lord in devotion, study, prayer, simple bible reading, basically, a quiet time!  The most important minutes of a leaders day, are the minutes he/she spends with the Lord talking to Him and “listening” to Him (Bible reading and prayer)!!

When God speaks, we listen, we obey, we say…there is no need to be afraid (insecure) about anything.  The chips have fallen, God’s will be done!! FREEDOM 🙂

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fear is faith’s opposite!

Posted in Quiet time learnings on October 5, 2011 by mikekeaton

Fear is Faith’s opposite!!  I heard this loud and clear recently as I read a book by Bill Johnson that stretched me, called “When Heaven Invades Earth“.   I was reminded of this as a truth of Scripture just this morning.  I had a great time of connecting with the Lord and He really spoke to me.

I was reading Psalm 27 (I love to read at least a Psalm a day), and verse one just jumped off the page…”The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall i fear?  The Lord is the stronghold of my lfe of whom shall I be afraid?  Now, I have read this before but it just spoke to me…the Lord is my stronghold, my light, my salvation…why should I be afraid about anything???

If I’m honest, the times I experience the most fear is when I am trusting in me!  I often get afraid of not being a good leader, not knowing what to do, which direction to head in my own life and family but often in my leading of Jesus’ church…you know, the one He said that He would build…!!  It’s in these times that I experience doubt and a lack of confidence in myself, and rightly so, but the Lord…He is the stronghold, He is my ‘light’ (i always need light and direction), If I am trusting in Him, for what do I need to be afraid!!!

Two verses later (v.3), David says, even if an enemy army camped all around me, my heart will not be afraid, even in the fight he would be confident…not b/c of how great he is but how great “HE” is.

Again, 2 verses later, (v.5), David says, He will hide me, cover me, and lift me up.  He has great confidence in the Lord, what faith!

At the end of the Psalm, he simply says, “I believe“…, he makes the choice to believe, or exercise faith.  His faith overcomes his fear, b/c his faith is in who God is and what God has done and will do.

I saw this illustrated for me through the faith of a single mom.  (God is so good to teach us His truth through “live” examples).  I received an email from a single mom who said her son’s visa request to go on a year long mission trip to another country was rejected.  The challenging and scary part of this is that her son already left and was in the other country.  I tried to encourage her to trust in the Lord who already knew about these things and will use this to strengthen her faith…(I was thinking I was helping her out….ha!), she told me, “I believe that God has already worked this out”!!!!!   BOOM!!!  what faith, not fear, but faith because, the Lord is our stronghold, our light, our salvation…why fear?  why trust ourselves or anyone else, like a clerk in a visa office or whoever might work there…trust in the Lord and faith will overcome fear!!!

so simple right!?  yes.  the devil and his cohorts are stealing and robbing so many of us of our joy and freedom to live by faith, by distracting and deceiving us to focus on ourselves or someone/something else.  Fear is one of Satan’s biggest strategies and prisons.

Choose to believe!!!  We have the Lord!!!  why should we fear?

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How do we fulfill our Vision?

Posted in Leadership on September 27, 2011 by mikekeaton

Vision is a “seeing” word or idea.  When people talk about their vision, they refer to what they see in their minds eye.  I read an author who said, “vision is a “what if” look at a preferred future”.  Well, what we see as a preferred future for our church is our vision.  Our church’s vision is:   “A fully devoted follower of Jesus, not living for their self, but daily as a missionary for God’s Kingdom”.  

I find in my own leadership that much of my frustration is a result of a lack of production of the vision.  Well, I found this article today and thought it was a good learning to share on how vision gets done.  I think you will find it enjoyable and thoughtful.  I especially liked the quote at the end so much that I wrote it on my white board in my office.  I am encouraged to always think about the next step in fulfilling our vision as a result of this article….”what’s the plan”, “yes, but how”?

Enjoy…. (you can read below or just click here)

What Kills VISION?

Posted on Sep 24, 2011

For the better part of the past 2 decades (maybe longer), the term “VISION” has been a popular buzz word in business and our churches.  It is not uncommon to pick up a book, blog, seminary outline, magazine and so on and see phrases like:

  • – What is your vision?
  • – Align your vision
  • – Visionary Leader(ship)
  • – Cast your vision
  • – With out vision, people will perish
  • -No vision, no leadership

I did a quick search on Amazon for “Books on Vision”…it reported almost 61,000…and I have read and learned a lot from many of these.

I then did a Google search for “Visionary Leadership”…it returned 166,000,000 results…that is right, MILLION

One last search was for “Quotes about Vision”…and it returned 260,000,000.  WOW.  Can imagine how many twitter posts I could get from all of these websites.

As we would all agree, there is absolutely no shortage of resources and opinions on vision and how important it is.  And I agree that vision is critical to not only our organizations, but in our personal lives as well.  I believe that without vision, leadership is handcuffed….and that without vision, people roam aimlessly throughout life.

So what “kills” vision?  What impedes vision?  What derails it?

The answer is actually very simple – THE LACK OF EXECUTION, ACTION AND IMPLEMENTATION

 

During my search of “vision” on the internet, I found a great quote that drives this home:

“Vision animates, inspires, transforms purpose into action.” – Warren Bennis

Have you ever been in a high level brainstorming session when the “vision” is so thick you could cut it with a knife?   The emotions are running high.. the excitement is palpable…questions like “Can you imagine if…” are being thrown around…the whiteboard is covered with 10 different colors and there are Post-it Notes spewed all over the walls.  You know what I am talking about….you have been there.

Vision is cast. Vision is set.  The Vision has been communicated. The troops are rallied.

So…what happened? Why did our vision not become reality?  Why do we have unfulfilled expectations? We could sit and develop a list of the “reasons” why (like money, time, etc), but the short answer is that the vision was not implemented.

According to Dictionary.com, the definition of “implement” as a verb is:

  • 1. to fulfill; perform; carry out:
  • 2. to put into effect according to or by means of a definite plan or procedure.

So…when a Vision fails, it boils down to the required actions were not completed.  The action items were not fulfilled.  There was not a plan to follow.  People did not take responsibility.  There was not a system or procedures to follow to accomplish the tasks.

For those of you who know me well, you know I love to brainstorm and have vision casting meetings.  I thrive on asking “What Box” and not just trying to think outside someone else’s box.  But…I am also an anal retentive, process drive fool.  I am always trying to put means/methods/structure around the vision and the goals because I have been privy to far too many great visions that never went anywhere.  They did not take flight and soar due to a lack of vision or a lack of excitement…but rather of a lack of implementation.

My point?

Vision casting and vision thinking is great…we need as much of it as we can muster.  But…if the vision is to become reality, you must have a plan to implement it.  “Vision” is the feel good part…”Implementation” is the Git ‘R Done part.

Both are necessary.

“Vision without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare.” – Japanese Proverb

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Back to the Future!!!!

Posted in Uncategorized on September 21, 2011 by mikekeaton

This is not my post, but i thought it was excellent and something i have been screaming about at our church for some time.  many disagree with me and i feel like its a fight, but they truly dont understand the true mission and purpose of why the church exists.

The article is pt. 1 of 2 from a guy named Mike Breen.  I got to hear Mike Breen of 3DM a few weeks ago and it really encouraged me to renew my efforts to lead our church -Back to the Future – ha, no really, going back to the original mission of our church IS the future of our church!!

enjoy the article titled: why the missional church will fail (there will be a link to pt 2 at the bottom)

…It’s time we start being brutally honest about the missional movement that has emerged in the last 10-15 years: Chances are better than not it’s going to fail.

That may seem cynical, but I’m being realistic. There is a reason so many movements in the Western church have failed in the past century: They are a car without an engine. A missional church or a missional community or a missional small group is the new car that everyone is talking about right now, but no matter how beautiful or shiny the vehicle, without an engine, it won’t go anywhere.

So what is the engine of the church? Discipleship. I’ve said it many times: If you make disciples, you will always get the church. But if you try to build the church, you will rarely get disciples.

If you’re good at making disciples, you’ll get more leaders than you’ll know what to do with. If you make disciples like Jesus made them, you’ll see people come to faith who didn’t know Him. If you disciple people well, you will always get the missional thing. Always.

We took 30 days and examined the Twitter conversations happening. We discovered there are between 100-150 times as many people talking about mission as there are discipleship (to be clear, that’s a 100:1). We are a group of people addicted to and obsessed with the work of the Kingdom, with little to no idea how to be with the King. As Skye Jethani wrote in his Out of Ur post a little while back “Has Mission become an Idol?”:

Many church leaders unknowingly replace the transcendent vitality of a life with God for the ego satisfaction they derive from a life for God.

Look, I’m not criticizing the people who are passionate about mission…I am one of those people. I was one of the people pioneering Missional Communities in the 1980′s and have been doing it ever since. This is my camp, my tribe, my people. But it has to be said: God did not design us to do Kingdom mission outside of the scope of intentional, biblical discipleship and if we don’t see that, we’re fooling ourselves. Mission is under the umbrella of discipleship as it is one of the many things that Jesus taught his disciples to do well. But it wasn’t done in a vacuum outside of knowing God and being shaped by that relationship, where a constant refinement of their character was happening alongside of their continued skill development (which included mission).

The truth about discipleship is that it’s never hip and it’s never in style…it’s the call to come and die; a “long obedience in the same direction.” While the “missional” conversation is imbued with the energy and vitality that comes with kingdom work, it seems to be missing some of the hallmark reality that those of us who have lived it over time have come to expect: Mission is messy. It’s humbling. There’s often no glory in it. It’s for the long haul. And it’s completely unsustainable without discipleship.

This is the crux of it: The reason the missional movement may fail is because most people/communities in the Western church are pretty bad at making disciples. Without a plan for making disciples (and a plan that works), any missional thing you launch will be completely unsustainable. Think about it this way:Sending people out to do mission is to send them out to a war zone. Discipleship is not only the boot camp to train them for the front lines, but the hospital when they get wounded and the off-duty time they need to rest and recuperate. When we don’t disciple people the way Jesus and the New Testament talked about, we are sending them out without armor, weapons or training. This is mass carnage waiting to happen. How can we be surprised that people burn out, quit and never want to return to the missional life (or the church)? How can we not expect people will feel used and abused?

There’s a story from World War II where The Red (Russian) Army sent wave after wave of untrained, practically weaponless soldiers into the thick of the German front. They were slaughtered in droves. Why did they do this? Because they knew that eventually the German soldiers would run out of ammunition, creating an opportunity for the Red Army to send in their best soldiers to finish them off. The first wave of untrained soldiers were the best way of exhausting ammunition, leaving their enemy vulnerable. While this isn’t a perfect analogy, I sense this is a bit like the missional movement right now. We are sending bright-eyed civilians into the battle where the fighting is fiercest without the equipping they need, not just to survive, but to fight well and advance the Kingdom of their dad, the King.

The missional movement will fail because, by-and-large, we are having a discussion about mission devoid of discipleship. Unless we start having more discussion about discipleship and how we make missionaries out of disciples, this movement will stall and fade. Any discussion about mission must begin with discipleship. If your church community is not yet competent at making disciples who can make disciples, please don’t send your members out on mission until you have a growing sense of confidence in your ability to train, equip and disciple them.

Here are some questions I have leaders I’m working with ask regularly:

  • Am I a disciple?
  • Do I know how to disciple people who can then disciple people who then disciple people, etc? (i.e. does my discipleship plan work?)
  • Does our discipleship plan naturally lead all disciples to become missionaries? (not just the elite, Delta-seal missional ninjas)
click here for part 2

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Overcoming discouragement and disappointment in ministry

Posted in Learnings on August 26, 2011 by mikekeaton

Ministry is the weirdest emotional roller coaster ride!!  There are so many encouraging days and times and also many discouraging days and times.  My experience teaches me that both of those can happen in the same day!!   Weird!!

I was reading this morning in Proverbs, Psalms and Hebrews, which is the track I have been on lately.  Psalm 147 spoke to me about this disappointment issue.  Verse 10-11 say, “His delight is not in the strength of the horse, nor his pleasure in the legs of man, but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear “him”, in those who hope in his steadfast love” (emphasis mine).

this idea of trusting in the Lord and focusing on Him is not new to any follower of Jesus and me especially.  it seems that this is a reoccurring learning of mine.  Since it reoccurs, i must not be “learning it” – 🙂  Just yesterday Psalm 146 said, “blessed is the man whose hope is the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth the sea and all that is in them…who keeps faith forever”.

Keeping Faith Forever, Hoping in the Lord, Fearing Him, & Hoping in His steadfast love…these are the keys to overcoming disappointment…discouragement  and other weird days of ministry.  God doesn’t trust in the power of horses nor in the abilities of men/women.  So, why should I?  But I must admit, I do…I do trust in people’s ability and the power of “things”, “events”, “a message series”, etc .  Consequently, they let me down and I get disappointed and then discouraged, then I cant help but wonder and ask sometimes…”what’s wrong with everybody”, and of course that kind of thinking takes me down a road that is not good, at all!

And as long as I do this, I will continue to experience more disappointment, more discouragement, and more weird days of ministry. Overcoming this is found in this phrase….”blessed [not disappointed and discouraged] is the man whose hope is in the Lord his God”

Not a new idea, right?  How many times have we heard someone tell us, “trust in the Lord”, how many times have we heard God’s Word tell us the same?!  If that is not enough motivation, maybe this truth is…the kind of person the Lord takes pleasure in….is the one who Fears Him, who hopes in His love.

Everything always comes back to this foundational truth…pursuing the Lord, seeking HIM, is always, always better!!!

Feeling Better already!!!  🙂

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What you do today, impacts what will take place in your future!!

Posted in Learnings on April 29, 2011 by mikekeaton

“But have you not heard? I decided this long ago. Long ago I planned it, and now I am making it happen…” 

-Isa 37:26

I read these verses this morning in my quiet time.  I am reading through Isaiah using the S.O.A.P bible study method.  I encourage you to try it.  Anyway, I was reading through chapters 36-38 today, about Hezekiah and God spoke to me again about the importance of what I do today.

I say again because the last 2 days I have been at the Orange Conference and yesterday God whispered into my ear these same words.  There was a speaker in one of the main sessions talking about “life in the between” which had to do with the wilderness experiences of life like the children of Israel between Egypt and Canaan.  It was powerful in my heart and mind even though I am not sure why, b/c I don’t think of myself as being “between” anything but maybe I am and don’t realize it.

Anyway, one of the things he said was the things you do as a 20 year old help determine what kind of 40 year old you will be and the things you do as a 40 year old have determining impacts on what kind of 60 year old you will be.  This spoke to me.

Then I read this in Isaiah this morning, “But have you not heard? I decided this long ago. Long ago I planned it, and now I am making it happen…”  as you read the story in ch. 38 of Hezekiah’s pride and taking ownership of what God did, Isaiah announces a judgment on him that will affect his future, especially his children and the Kingdom, negatively!!  Sad thing is that God had just blessed him by adding 15 years to his life and just prior to that promised He was going to destroy the Assyrians b/c He had planned to do so long before then.

I know this is all kind of jumbled but I can’t get away from how God spoke to me through this.  it takes me back to the whole sowing and reaping principle.  Also, it reminds me of what James talks about when he says, that “when sin conceives it brings forth death.  In other words, what i do today, impacts what will take place in my future.  If I sin, then it will have consequences.  So many people live for today, do what they want, like divorce their spouses because they think the grass will be greener on the other side, or eat that second plate of food or dessert, or put that purchase on a credit card, but we all need to realize that what we do today, impacts what will take place in our future, our family’s future and the Kingdom of God.

I don’t want to be like King Hezekiah, who was blessed by God (Assyrian destruction determined beforehand), answered Hezekiah’s prayers (added 15 years to his life and healed him), but in just one…simple…act of pride…negatively affected his future, his family’s and the Kingdoms!  Wow!

I pray, that I will sow seeds of justice and righteousness that will produce a harvest of justice and righteousness that will honor the name of the Lord…for His Name’s Sake!!

mk

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“Listen to me…!!!”

Posted in Discipleship, Uncategorized on April 13, 2011 by mikekeaton

“Listen to me, listen, and pay close attention” -Isaiah 28:23

I wonder how many times the Lord has to ask us, or in this case, order us to listen to Him for us to do so?  I am studying through Isaiah and was reading chapter 28 this morning and that question came to mind.  How many times does He have to tell us?  or ask us?

The Lord wants His people to follow Him and pursue Him.  He teaches us through His word…the same chapter, verses 10 and 13 both teach that the Lord tells us everything we need to know, He spells out His message to us, one line at a time, only if we would just listen!!

Many today say they are A.D.D and have difficulty focusing and reading!  I dont want to judge and they probably are, but are we A. D. D. because we have too much going on?  are we just too busy? too distracted?

We live in the most technically advanced culture ever and yet we are the most biblically illiterate.  How can this be?  why do so many “good christians” not read their bibles?  why do we not “listen” to our Master, our Lord?  How is it we can find time to “not miss an episode” of our favorite TV show in real time or with our DVR’s but we cant seem to be disciplined enough to sit at the feet of Holy Spirit and let Him “guide us into all truth” (Jn. 16:13)

I dont want to sound judgmental or make anyone feel guilty but followers of Jesus not being in the Word is something that bothers me terribly.  i wonder… has 2 Timothy 4:4 come true in our lifetime?

The discipline of purposeful pursuit through Bible intake is so simple to correct.  But we must be motivated by our desire to see the Lord, connect to Him, hear Him, draw near to Him, not just duty or obligation, that is not sustainable, we must be in a pursuit of love and sense our need for Him.

How?  once your motivation is what it ought to be, the mechanics well, its simple and it can be easy.

Read the Proverb chapter that is the same as the calendar date (April 12=chapter12), then do that same thing everyday and repeat it every month.  in a year, you will have read the book of Proverbs 12x and gained a ton of wisdom for everyday life from the wisest man who ever lived.  anyone need some wisdom by which to live?

Another idea is to systematically read through the Psalms.  Any plan is a good plan.  at our core, we are worshippers of God.  why not daily read the journal of one of history’s greatest worshippers?

Any “Bible reading plan” is good to follow and the internet is full of options.  you can even get the bible on your phone with an app and reading plans so you can access it at any time.

one last idea, pick a book of the bible and read one chapter a day and journal some notes following this plan using the acrostic S. O. A. P. (S=write one verse of scripture that jumps out to you; O=write one observation about that verse or the chapter; A=write one application to your life; P=write one simple prayer based on how God speaks to you)

i hope these things help you get motivated to “Listen to me, listen and pay close attention…the Lord will spell out His message [to you] one line at a time, a little here and a little there”

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