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Why We Still Do Sunday Night Services

Sunday night services have fallen on hard times.  I can understand why.  Attendance is low.  It’s tiring for pastors & their families, especially for those who have 6 children.

People are busy.  They feel overworked, overcommitted, tired and stressed.  Family time is drained by a million things.  (I know, I know — family time is mostly drained by TV & the internet.  And it’s not like people who stay home from Sunday night are using that time to sit and have quality conversation & fun with their kids.)

Pastors are also tired.  Administration and stresses drain the creativity and energy it takes to draw out Biblical content and present it in fresh, memorable way.  Pastors also complain of not enough family time.  (TV & internet? Hmm.)

People used to “go to church every time the doors were open.”  But that assumption isn’t there any longer, unfortunately even among Christians.

But we still do them at our church.  I’ve had people ask me why, even suggest that we cancel it.  But I haven’t, and I don’t plan to.

Here are 4 reasons why we still do Sunday nights:

1. It gives me freedom to focus on non-core people on Sunday AM.

I have two different audiences with two different needs.  While you don’t have to “dumb down” the Gospel, or the Bible, preaching to an audience of young Christians & biblically illiterate people does require changes in preaching.  You have to think about assumptions, different cultural connection points, different levels of biblical literacy.

2. It gives me a chance to encourage the leadership of the church.

I often talk with pastors frustrated because EVERYONE doesn’t attend on Sunday PM.  I’ll be honest… that’s not the end of the world to me.

It’s no secret that those who come to Sunday PM service are the most committed people you’ve got, at least in terms of faithful attendance.  Board members, musicians, children’s workers, nursery attendants, and more get up from their Sunday afternoon time and have given years to serving faithfully.  What an opportunity to encouage those who make the place run!  As a leader, honestly, if I didn’t have Sunday night to do that, I’d have to create a new venue to do it.

Even though they were present for your Sunday morning service, they were probably serving anyway.  They gave out.  They come into Sunday evening with deflated tires — you are the air compressor.  Pump ’em up.

3. It gives me a chance to develop systematic Bible study content.

Preaching is a lot of work.  It makes sense to figure out how to make some of your work do double duty.

Sometimes, I’ll develop the material, and teach it Sunday nights.  It lets me outline the book, develop the flow of thought and application, locate illustrations, do the background and language studies. Then when I re-preach it on Sunday mornings, I can develop it further, develop graphics, artwork & Powerpoint slides, add another layer of communication smoothness on it.

I don’t feel badly about doing that, and you shouldn’t either, as long as it’s not all the time.  I’ve probably only done it with 5-6 series over the years.  Your core people will not mind, as long as you are serving them well.  They might even enjoy hearing it again, with another layer of polish on it.  Learn this from Top 40 Radio & Christmas music: If the song is good, it’s worth playing again.

4. It gives me a chance to cast vision to the core.

When you’re doing church in a way that people are not used to, communication is crucial.  John Maxwell was right when he said, “People are down on what they’re not up on.”

I realized the potential value of this when I taught a series on the purpose of the church on Sunday nights early on in my ministry.  One of my core people said, after going through a few weeks of inductive study on the purpose of the church, “You know, I am realizing that the church is here for more than just to keep it going and keep the doors open.”

Exactly!  From a leadership standpoint, you can’t put a price tag on that.  And I realized that this was a chance I had to keep communication lines open with people who needed to hear from me outside of the Sunday AM context… to hear that it was going to be OK.  Even though there were people coming that were new, and didn’t hold our values, and didn’t look or talk or smell the same… it was going to be OK!

Crucial for church revitalization.

In my next post, I’m going to talk about ways you can keep Sunday night from being a drag.

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What I Learned from Raising Cane’s

A few months ago, a new chicken place came into our neighborhood.  It was named Raising Cane’s.  Liz and I decided to try it.

In short, we loved it.  It hasn’t replaced Chick-Fil-A, but they are really good at what they do.  And I’m not the only one.  Raising Cane’s was the 4th fastest growing restaurant chain in America in 2015.

I was there some time back for lunch, and got to thinking about what they do right, and why I enjoy it.  I started mulling it over.  Here’s what I learned:

1. Keep it simple.

Cane’s philosophy is clear from the moment you walk in.  “One Love” is their motto.  The One lLve is fresh (never, ever frozen) chicken strips.  They only do one thing.

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How to Build a Morning Routine – Part 2

How I Capture the Most Important Part of the Day

There isn’t one “right” morning routine.  It’s built on your values and realities.  My reality is self-employed (pastor) and 6 kids.  Yours might look totally different.  But for some ideas and encouragement, here’s a walkthru of my morning routine, from start to finish, with tips of what makes it work better for me.

If you want to read the first post I wrote on this, you’ll need to go here: How to Build a Morning Routine In 7 Steps.

First 90: Getting Started Right

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10 Ways Evernote Is Making Pastoring Easier For Me

I am loving Evernote.  I had an account with Evernote for a couple years, but I confess I didn’t see the benefits & uses at the time, so I didn’t start using it. Then I read a post by Michael Hyatt on how he uses Evernote, and it opened my eyes to the possibilities. Since then, Evernote has become one of my absolute favorite tools.

It’s really useful on on a personal level — I keep my budget there, gift lists, etc. But in this post, I’ll talk about how I’m using it professionally in my ministry work. Here’s what I’m doing with it, and how it’s making my life easier as a pastor:

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The Easiest Way to Continuously Improve Your Outreach

I once heard John C. Maxwell tell a story of a man who was angry at being passed over for a promotion.  “They can’t do that — I have 20 years experience!” he grouched.  “No you don’t!” Maxwell retorted. “You have one year of experience 20 times!”

Team brainstorming over their mission with coffee

If you have been in church work for long, you know: Repetition doesn’t mean improvement.  You can do something 20 times and not really be any better at it on the 20th than you were last time.  Is there a way to change that?  Is there a way to make sure you always improve, and next year really is BETTER than last?

Yes!  Follow these steps and your Christmas and Easter outreaches will improve year-over-year!

There’s only one thing you need to do, and do it early, while it’s still fresh:  Get people together… make lists.  Done right, this is REALLY FUN.  I have a blast with it every year.

I’ve heard it called in the business world AAR’s (After Action Reports).  I’ve heard it called “doing a post-mortem.”  (Hope your Christmas service wasn’t that bad!)  Whatever you call it, here’s HOW you do it:

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Books I Am Most Excited to Read This Year

Want to read more books in 2016?  Here’s a little tip from Michael Hyatt — Don’t feel pressure to finish: “Here’s publishing’s dirty little secret: most books are not worth finishing. Most books could be cut in half and you wouldn’t miss a thing. The key is to read as long as you are interested and then stop.”

Several books last year I read, but didn’t finish — on purpose.  But there are some books that I want to finish.  Here are a few books I started and want to finish this year:

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5 Reasons You Should Plan Sermons In Advance

There’s a running joke among preachers, where sermons are referred to as “Saturday Night Specials.”  It’s one of those jokes with an element of truth.  Every small church pastor knows the feeling of a busy week of ministry, outside jobs, counseling, maintenance — and an emergency crash sermon prep session on Saturday night.  (Or Sunday morning!)

I know the stress & pain in that.  Recently, I’ve had to a few times, with our 6th baby arriving in September.

But for some, it’s a distressing, stress-filled, regular occurrence.

Often, it’s just a function of life.  But for some guys, it goes deeper — down to a fundamental doubt about whether it’s really a good thing to prep sermons in advance.

Here are 5 reasons why you should plan your sermons in advance:

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Top 5 Posts from the Last Year

Looking back over last year, here are the 5 posts that most resonated with my readers.

5. How to Build a Morning Routine in 7 Steps

Most of the pastors who shared in my survey a couple months ago said they were most frustrated with issues related to time & time management.  It’s no surprise that this one wound up in the top 5.  Few things are more important to time management than how we use our fragile mornings.  Take a few minutes & check it out.  It’s worth the read, especially here at the first of the year.

4. How I Completely Blew A Big Outreach Event

I learned something from this post.  People like to read about my failures.  Learn from my problem, and gather the information you need to follow up well with your guests.

2-3. On Kim Davis, Gay Marriage & Hypocrisy & On Gay Marriage and the Church’s Response

Written & posted in the aftermath of the Supreme Court decision re-defining marriage, these two posts were viewed often and shared in those few days as Christians tried to cope with the realities of the new world we are entering.  I hope these two columns will be an encouragement.

1. Why Your Pastor Is Tempted to Quit

I said at the time on Facebook, that this might be the most important thing I’ve ever written.  I still think that’s true.  Share this with your church family, and let it spark a conversation about pastoral burnout in your ministry context.  Don’t suffer alone & feel like it’s “part of the sacrifice.”  Read this and share your thoughts with me.

 

 

I look forward to sharing more with you in 2016.  Here’s some of what’s coming up:

  • The Easiest Way to Do Strategic Planning for Your Church
  • Top 10 Tech Tools & Apps Making My Life Easier Right Now
  • 10 Ways I’m Using Evernote to Make Pastoring Easier
  • The Porn In Your Church & What To Do About It
  • Ways to Keep Pornography from Infecting Your Home
  • What I Wish My Pastor Knew About Pornography
  • How to Start a Food Pantry
  • 3 Bad Reasons to Start a Food Pantry At Your Church
  • New Feature: Sermon Thursdays

WOULD YOU DO ME A FAVOR?

Would you click here and take a 3-question survey about what you’d most like to read in 2016?  Answering will enter you in a drawing for a $10 Amazon gift card!

Thanks!

Look forward to serving you this year!

 

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Books I Read in 2015

And what I thought of each...

“Leaders are readers.  When you stop reading, you stop leading.”  I’ve heard that from many leaders over the years, and I agree.  My goal for the first couple years of my time pastoring in OKC was to read 40 books per year.  Reading is a key measure of your personal growth.  But it’s not the only one… I took some years during the growth of my family from zero kids to six kids and read very little.  Those years were about growing in character, growing in servanthood toward my family, not so much growing in other kinds of knowledge.

I don’t pretend to have a perfect reading list.  I doubt it would work perfectly for you.  I probably should read more of this or less of that.  But I try to avoid “shoulds” in my reading.  I don’t have a lot of time to read, and I’m often interrupted, so I can’t go too deep.  So I read:

  • what is helpful to me
  • what is in line with my strengths
  • what I enjoy

So here’s my reading list from this past year:

Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking By Malcolm Gladwell

The premise of Blink is that we all make snap decisions, gut-level decisions — and research shows that those decisions tend to be as accurate or more accurate than our thought-through decisions.  So, how can we capture and improve the power of our quick decisions?  (4/5 stars)

Habit Stacking: 97 Small Life Changes that Take 5 Minutes or Less by S.J. Scott

A very helpful little Kindle book, which really served as my introduction to morning and evening routines.  The idea: It takes virtually no willpower to brush your teeth… because it’s a habit. What if we could stack together a bundle of quick habits that you know would change your life? Then, he gives 97 ideas, categorized by life area.  (4/5 stars)

Attitude 101: What Every Leader Needs to Know by John Maxwell

Short read, worthwhile introduction to recognizing negative attitudes in yourself, and directions on how to change and improve them. Anything by John Maxwell is worth   (4/5 stars)

Soul Keeping by John Ortberg

John Ortberg’s writing is really wonderful.  He’s thought-provoking & eye-opening.  In the process, he creates a hunger in me to act, to grow, to know God better… and that’s valuable.  (4.5/5 stars)

Living Courageously: You Can Face Anything, Just Do It Afraid by Joyce Meyer

Some have accused Joyce Meyer of being a proponent of “name it and claim it.”  This book doesn’t fall under that category, outside of a few places where that influence could be seen.  I found the book to be helpful, & biblically focused.  (4/5 stars)

The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis

Classic book on temptation and spiritual warfare.  If you can read Lewis without laughing with delight, I am sorry for you.  (5/5 stars)

Church History in Plain Language by Bruce L. Shelley

An excellent overview of the progression of the church from the apostles to nearly the present day.  There is nothing like church history to lend perspective to struggles & controversies in the present day.  I listened to an audiobook version in the mornings while doing my morning routine.

Seven Men: And the Secret of Their Greatness by Eric Metaxas

Excellent short biographies of 7 great men, drawing lessons from their lives.  The book (as the title suggests) is somewhat thematic.  Its’ treatment of each man has to do mostly with how they used (or refused) power & thus expanded their influence through serving.  Metaxas’ writing & research is excellent. (5/5 Stars)

Getting Things Done by David Allen

There isn’t any finer book on workflow management than this one.  In fact, this is the 3rd time I’ve read it.  You can’t manage time, only action.  You can’t manage action if you don’t define what the next action is, and capture everything in a trusted system. This book shows you how to do it.  (5/5 Stars)

He Wins, She Wins by Willard F. Harley Jr

Good book on negotiation in marriage.  Teaches couples to strive for “the policy of enthusiastic agreement” and banish the idea of one partner’s continual self-sacrifice.  (I listened to the audio version.)  (4/5 Stars) (For a 5 star book by Harley, read “His Needs, Her Needs.” )

Healing for Damaged Emotions by David Seamands

Seamands’ classic treatment of healing for emotional damage is powerful, and worth the read even if you don’t feel particularly “damaged.”  His treatment of inferiority, depression and especially perfectionism is powerful.  If you are a pastor, you should read this, and then preach it.  I preached 6-7 messages in a Sunday PM series using the content from this book, to the benefit of my congregation.  (5/5 Stars – at this time, on sale for $.1.99 on Kindle!)

Draw the Circle: A 40 Day Prayer Devotional by Mark Batterson

I was not a huge fan of “The Circle Maker” by Batterson.  However, I truly enjoyed this 40 day Devotional.  I bought copies for our whole church, and we did the 40 days together.  We are reaping spiritual benefits still.  Batterson knows how to turn a phrase, and make it memorable.  The writing is quite good, and the stories and content are inspiring and worthwhile. (5/5 Stars)

Mini Habits: Smaller Habits, Bigger Results by Stephen Guise

Helpful little book on creating new habits in your life.  Your natural resistance to forming a new habit can be overcome by making the habit “stupid small,” like 1 pushup… which makes it easier to actually DO, and therefore do faithfully. (available only on Kindle) (4/5 Stars)

Launch by Jeff Walker

An interesting and easy read on internet marketing, presenting a sales process for knowledge & information products on the Web.  I enjoyed it, and it’s immensely helpful.  However, it only applies to you if you run a blog or are in sales or marketing of some sort.  (4/5 Stars)

Writing Habit Mastery by S.J. Scott

I wanted to write more regularly on my blog.  So I bought a book from a guy that I already knew was helpful.  What I have come to expect from S.J. Scott’s writing is pure helpfulness in specific areas, with manageable length.  Extremely actionable directions for those who are motivated to grow in writing faithfulness. (Kindle Version) (4/5 stars)

Evernote Essentials by Brett Kelly

If you really want to use Evernote for all it’s worth, you will need a guide to learn everything it can do.  Evernote Essentials is an effective guide.  I read only about half of this one, since I had learned what I needed to know.  I may go back and finish it up someday, when I want to go up another level as an Evernote Ninja. (3.5/5 stars)

The Complete Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by A. Conan Doyle

The classic.  If you don’t have some recreational reading on your list, you should.  And if you don’t enjoy Watson & Holmes, I pity you.  (5/5 stars)

How to Tell A Story by Donald Miller

Technically, an e-book, which I read on Kindle. No hard copies available.  I am interested in becoming a better storyteller, not just for illustrations or “Johnny and Susie stories” but to help me be able to weave people’s lives into the story of the gospel. Miller teaches mostly on the movement & elements of story, rather than speaking techniques.  (3/5 stars)

Shave 10 Hours off Your Work Week by Michael Hyatt

PDF book by Michael Hyatt.  I enjoy and am helped by most of what Michael writes.  This one was no exception. Helpful tips to reframe your work in your mind, and streamline your workflow to consolidate what you do.  (3.5/5 stars)

The Virtual Assistant Solution by Michael Hyatt

This book enabled me to process the idea of a secretary or administrative assistant.  It’s cheap ($2.99 on Kindle only), and focuses more on how you can coordinate with a “virtual” assistant instead of a secretary.  I wound up going with a part-time secretary, but this book helped me process through it. (3.5/5 stars)

Books I read to my kids 2014-15:

I try to read to my children several nights per week.  They have started looking forward to it as a highlight of their day.  The following books are the ones we’ve read over the past 1.5 years, all of which they enjoyed immensely.

Anne of Green Gables

Huckleberry Finn

Rush Revere & the American Revolution

The Chronicles of Narnia (The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, Prince Caspian, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, The Silver Chair, The Magician’s Nephew, The Horse and His Boy, the Last Battle)

 

So what books have you read this year?  Which was your favorite?

 

 

 

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Who Is This Baby?

Why Christmas Changes Everything...

In a few days, you’ll gather with family, enjoy old traditions, play special music, and celebrate the birth of a peasant baby born 2,000 years ago in an obscure village in a backwater province in a foriegn country.

Why? What is so special about this day?

It all hinges on who you think Jesus was. This year, as you peek into the manger, consider this question: Who is this Jesus?

S.M. Lockridge says it this way:
The Bible says my King is the King of the Jews
He’s the king of Israel
He’s the king of righteousness
He’s the King of Heaven
He’s the King of Glory
He’s the King of Kings
And he’s the Lord of Lords.

Jesus is the loftiest idea in literature,
The highest personality in philosophy.
The fundamental doctrine of true theology.
He’s the only one qualified to be an all-sufficient Savior.

Paul said it like this:
Colossians 1:15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
16 For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.
17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.
19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him,
20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. (NIV)

John Piper puts it this way:
“If you took all the greatest thinkers of every country and every century and put them in a room with Jesus, they would shut their mouths and listen to the greatness of His wisdom.
All the generals would listen to His strategy.
All the greatest musicians would listen to his music theory and His performance on every instrument.
There is nothing that Jesus cannot do a thousand times better than the person you admire most in any area of human endeavor under the sun.”

Here’s how I would say it:

If you put together the entire knowledge of the internet, you have not begun to scratch the surface of his knowledge.

He knows right now, whether you stand or sit, whether you itch or hunger or thirst, and what you thought of 30 seconds ago… and what you will think of 30 minutes from now.

If you could harness the spy satellites from every country and place, he would see more, see further and sooner.

If you could tap every phone and hear every conversation, and see every email, you would still not know as much about what is going on in this world as He does.

The greatest of marksmen cannot be so accurate as He.
If you put him against the military, you cannot imagine the carnage he would inflict on them, and never get a scratch.
Against the best of the weapons, he cannot lose.
If you were to put him against the special ops forces of every country, they would find that there was more power in his word than in all their training.
If you put him in a room with Navy’s new laser gun, he would dwarf its power.
If you pitted him against all the atomic arsenals of the world, what is that against the One who created the atom & knows all of its secrets?

Yet he doesn’t need to use this power… for though mans power can end a life, it has never created life in the priciest of laboratories. But He has; in fact, He is life itself. Man’s power can change a mind, but it has never changed a heart — but he can, and he has… and he does.

If you were in his care, you would be safer with him than with the best security team ever assembled. No lock is safer, no security system more unbeatable, no self-defense course or method as unstoppable.

If you collected diamonds and gold from every country and piled them in a warehouse, he would be richer. In fact, he would own them all, no matter whose name was on the title.

He is everything any boy ever loved in any superhero. He is everything any little girl ever longed for in a handsome prince. He can seem to be late, then swoop in, defeat the enemy and leave their schemes in ruins, save the princess, and ride away into the sunset without breaking a sweat.

He is everything good you have ever seen in a person, everything admirable and strong. He is all the things you ever loved in a man or a woman, all the good and kind and beautiful, with none of the scars of sin.

He is all the wise and powerful, with none of the corruption and lies.
He cannot be voted out, term limited, or deposed.
No coup will ever threaten his righteous reign.
No traitor will ever escape his wrath, and no whistleblower can ever call him to fault.
The Scriptures say it this way, “Of His government and kingdom there shall be no end…”

To know him is to be as wise as Solomon, as rich as Bill Gates, as powerful as all the presidents and prime ministers and dictators combined.

Light is not the fastest human thing… thought is. Thought can travel anywhere in the blink of an eye. But if you let your thoughts race from here to the furthest reaches of the galaxy, you would find that he was already there. Then if your thoughts raced back to the people you love and care for, you would find he was already beside them, before you decided to think of them.

He is faster than the fastest, higher than the highest, greater than the great…

But this Jesus who is unlike anything that has ever existed, is completely and utterly other, and holy, and separate, and above all things…

Became a baby.

A baby!

And they laid him in a feed box for cattle!

And smelly shepherds were his welcoming party.

He was…
“The eternal one, living in a moment of time.
The Omnipresence corralled in a feed box.
The Omnipotent in a helpless infant who could not raise His head.
The Omniscience confined in a baby who would not say a word.
The Christ who created galaxies, in a cave.
For when God would draw near to a cold, cruel, sinful, suffering humanity, he placed a baby in a manger in Bethlehem.”
[adapted from The Wesleyan Bible Commentary, 1986. p. 221]

Let it drive you wild…
let it drive you tears…
let it drive you to awe, wonder, and to worship.

Merry Christmas.