Don't Kill them, they are too cute

Growing up in Church there was a lot that I didn't know about how the work got done.
I just thought that like the rest of us we all just showed up and started church and went back home.
But then as I got involved in the work of God I realized that wasn't true. Behind the platform, beyond the classroom, ran little church mice. Most people didn't even know they existed or at least they ignored them. I mean who wants to know you have mice in your church. But they were there making sure that all the little things that most people take for granted got done.
Today, I want to expose a couple of them. Not to trap them, nor kill them, because they are content being in the shadows. But I think its important that you know that they are there.

 James Jackson
Long before many of you have even crawled out of bed on Sunday Morning James is down at the church. He turns your lights on for you to make you feel welcomed. He starts the coffee pots rolling so that you feel more comfortable. He checks the bathrooms out to make sure that you are cared for. His is the first face I see every Sunday and its always with a smile and the smell of coffee.

 Ron Isom
While most people after a service are thinking about Lunch, Ron is thinking about the next week. Ron is the man who puts things together. He works with the Music ministry, He works with the Video Ministry, He works with the Pastor and He makes us all look good. Ron is the face I seek when I want things to happen as he loves this church as much as I.

Be careful with them. Don't trap them by praising them or patting them on the back. They don't want your cheese, but they deserve your appreciation. So the next time you come to church know that they are there, and maybe send up a little prayer of thanks for the church mice of newLife and God will care for them.

A Letter to newLife from P Rob

I have to say, yesterday was exciting, not just for the service that we had, but for what was behind it and so today I want to share some things that made yesterday so special.

1. Generations.
I was amazed at how the different generations worked together to make that service amazing.
The children with their Joy, the Teens with their Energy, the Adults with their support and excitement. While we have a varied age difference in our church, yesterday they worked together to worship God!

2. Love.
Do you realize that every one of the teens on that platform have experienced a true love from their mothers? Most of the testimonies came from children whose parents may not have felt true love from their parents, but in spite of that, have shown great love to their children.
Our teens are secure in their mothers Love and they love you for it. GREAT JOB LADIES!

3. Life.
The whole service was infused by it, but don't take this wrong it wasn't just lively, it was alive. Real people, working together to worship the work of a Real God in Real Life.

I love my Life

This past Monday I met with a couple of Pastor friends for a time of fellowship and encouragement. It is the hope of these meetings that as Pastors we can help each other be better in the work God has called us to. Normally we have a time where we learn from a teaching lesson from a Pastor from outside our group, discuss the lesson, and then pray together, followed by a meal, and a service of some kind.

But you know me, I can't do anything normal and so I put a twist to it.

I opened up to them about our church History, past and present, and asked this question. If you were to come and Pastor this church, what would you do with it. But I didn't get the answers I was hoping for. It wasn't their fault but there were some stumbling blocks they had that kept them from answering correctly.

#1 They didn't want to hurt my Feelings.
These men truly love and care for me and yet they have also felt the pain of truth. So it was hard to be hard when you love someone and know how hard the truth may be. This is especially true for Pastors as every week we are critiqued by people who don't really love us and don't really care about how we feel And so it is hard to be hard when you know its already been hard.



#2 They didn't feel worthy to answer the Questions.
These are not men who Pastor huge churches. They Pastor very similar types and styles of ministries and so they struggled with the fact that they themselves have not figured many of the problems and opportunities that I offered up for their council. Yet what they didn't realize is that I asked them because of their humility and honesty and as very wise men had every ability to really dig deep.


#3 They didn't really know me.
Many of the answers they gave me came with assumptions. They heard what I said but had to answer to what they knew. Not of me, but of themselves and other Pastors who they have dealt with in the past. This was not their fault but it hindered them from answering to my real needs.

Now in the end I gained two HUGE answers from both of them but it took a couple of hours for them to really get into it.

and this made me think. Do all Christians struggle with this? Someone asks us to look into their lives and be honest and we allow stumbling blocks to keep us from truly helping them? I'm not talking about the opinionated idiot who thinks they know the answer to every problem though they themselves are a mess, stay away from this person, but do we hinder each other because of these three things?

If so let me share three things that might help.

If they ask for help, its because their already hurting and they have come to you because they trust you.
If those two men would have told me to do whatever I would have put serious thought into their words and ideas as I desired their honesty even if it hurt me more.

If they ask You its because they see in you something you might not see.
They might see wisdom where you see weakness but they sought you out for a purpose.

If they ask for help and you don't know them well, be careful not to read wrong things into the words of those seeking help. Look beyond your own pain and knowledge of yourself and seek the root of the pain. Most people speak questions from pain not problems as problems are often a result of pain. Ask deeper personal questions so that you get to know them.

If someone has come to you and asked for help, they trust you, believe in you, and need you.
Be honest, humble and get to know them and you will be helpful.

and if your asking, be honest, humble, and helpful by hearing what they say, accepting what you've done or need to do, and that time you spend will be helpful.

It took them awhile but they were, and I am thankful.

Have a Great Day

A Letter to newLife from Pastor Andy

Yesterday was an exciting day for me and I want to share that with you.

During worship rehearsal worship broke out, especially among our teens.
and I learned that they are.......
       Trusting God
       Loving God
       Serving God

.......because they want to, not because they have to.

And all of this without fancy Teen Group Activities and thousands of dollars poured into them. All of this without Teen Camps and Teen Trips. What's the key?

Simple.

We involve them in the work of God.
We want them to know that this is their church. Not their parents church, but their   church and so we open up opportunities for them to be a part if they so desire.

We engage them in the witnesses of God.
We surround them with MANY of our BEST believers. Not just a few dedicated workers (i.e. teen leaders) but dedicated believers. Parents and Family and Leaders and Lovers of God. We want them exposed to as many solid believers as we can.

We expose them to the ways of God.
We don't do all the work for them but expose them to how God really works by sharing our lives with them. We share our Failures, our Foolishness, and the loss from Faithlessness. In doing so they see God's amazing Grace and identify it with a real face. Ours.

Now I realize that many teens want a church youth group to be filled with activities that are nothing but fun without faith, but the real ones, are looking for something deeper, something less empty. And their finding it at newLife.

You know You've done well when.............

Your Son Shares His Father Song with You.

Summer Help

I am currently preparing for our Summer Series and was wondering, "what question would you love to hear answered in a sermon?"
I think that would make for an awesome series of messages as we answer questions that people want answers for.

I will wait for your reply.

Have an Awesome day
P Rob

Something I want you to read today

Seven Common Traits of Breakout Churches

By Thom Rainer

I have been a student of American churches for thirty years. That statement really means two things: I’m old, and I’m a slow learner.

In those thirty years, one of my most fascinating learning ventures has been the discovery of breakout churches. Simply defined, a breakout church is a congregation that has experienced at least five years of decline followed by at least five years of growth. While numerical growth is not the inerrant barometer for church health, we researchers must use numerical gauges for much of our objective data.

The Common Factor

As my research team began sorting and analyzing the data of some 50,000 churches, we found a common factor in many of the breakout churches: the breakout took place when the church got a new pastor. While that finding is helpful from a research perspective, it’s not very helpful to many churches. And it’s certainly not helpful to the pastors of struggling churches.

So our research took a new twist. We only looked at churches that experienced breakouts without changing pastors. I was encouraged by our findings.

The Seven Traits

The breakout churches, almost without exception had seven common characteristics. Though I list them numerically here, for sequential purposes, I am not assigning priority by the rankings.

1. The pastor had a “wake-up” call. He stopped denying that his church had a challenge. He became determined, in God’s power, to lead the church to growth and greater health. He would no longer be satisfied with mediocrity in God’s church.
2. The church, under the pastor’s new leadership, developed clarity in its purpose. Most of the churches were previously activity focused. They were busy with the “what” without addressing the “why.”
3. The pastor began assembling the right team for a new era of leadership. That team would include either paid staff or unpaid laypersons.
4. The pastor developed a spirit of tenacity. He knew that the turnaround would not take place overnight. He followed a prayerful plan for the long haul.
5. One of the early moves in these churches was to focus more ministries outwardly. The wake-up call noted above included an awareness that most of the ministries of the church were for the comfort and desires of the members. The leaders began to change that reality.
6. The pastor and other leaders in the breakout churches had deep biblical faithfulness. They saw their mission emanating from God and written in His Word. That faithfulness was the push that moved them forward even in the midst of challenging times and potential discouragement.
7. The pastor invested more time in the preaching ministry. He realized the centrality of the preached Word, and gave it more time and emphasis than any point previously.

The Hope Present in These Churches

Our quest to discover breakout churches that did not change pastors became an exercise in hope for our research team. We first saw how many leaders transitioned from a lackadaisical attitude to one of enthusiasm and possibility. Some of the leaders told us that their change was more dramatic. They described it as moving from hopelessness to great hope.

Of course, the other great encouragement in this project was discovering the story of entire congregations moving from a inwardly-focused lethargy to an outwardly-focused Great Commission mindset. By the time our research team saw these churches in the “after” mode, we found it hard to fathom they were once lifeless and discouraged.

If I found a single message in the scope of this research, it is simple but profound lesson for churches and their leaders: Don’t ever assume that your congregation has little or no hope. We found that many of these churches were once in despair, and many members confessed they had no hope. Then the breakout came. Then God showed He was wasn’t done with their church.

That story could very well be the story yet to be told of your church.