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A Morning with Jim Cymbala

On Friday I had the opportunity to join a group of church leaders to spend a few hours with Pastor Jim Cymbala from the Brooklyn Tabernacle.  His book Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire was really influential in the formation of Church of the King.

Pastor Cymbala said several things that were really challenging.  Here are a few thoughts that stood out to me.

• One sure way to grieve God is acting like a minister. God never uses actors. The Holy Spirit is gentle like a dove, and He will withdraw as soon as he sees something that's not real.
• Prayer is the engine that drives the church.
• He rejoices in and appreciates seasons of financial difficulty. When finances are tight it keeps us trusting God.
• When a professional golfer struggles, the first thing a coach will check is his grip. It seems so basic, but we never get past fundamentals. If your ministry feels like it's stalled, go back to the fundamentals of prayer and the Word.
• There's an important difference between Pentecostal sub-culture and New Testament Pentecostalism.
• We like to quote the past and predict the future, but we must care about what is, or isn't happening right now.
• Be careful that you don't have a vision for your church that is different than Jesus' vision for the church. If we all read the same New Testament, we all have a similar vision.
• Most ministers read the Bible looking for ammunition to affirm what they already believe. Instead, we should open Scripture with an open mind.
• Concerning church government--all forms work and all forms don't work. The difference is God. When he is present in the lives of the leaders there is health.
• The Holy Spirit is a person. He doesn't just fill you. He controls you.

You Can Be a Counselor

I've had so many counseling opportunities during the past few weeks.  I don't do a lot of official counseling for the church, since we have leaders who are better at it than I am.  But I do share life with our leaders, and sometimes life gets hard.

Just thought I'd share a few simple "counseling tips" to help you be a great friend.  After all, counseling is not a "pastor thing."  It's a "friend thing."  If you'll put these principles into practice when a friend is hurting you can really make a difference.

Don't be a problem solver.  Be a listener.  This one's first on the list for a reason.  Listen to obtain all the facts, but do more than that.  Listen to hear your friend's heart.  If you do, you'll find it easier to move into this second principle.

Empathize with your friend.  Don't just gather information.  Share the burden.  Jesus is great at this, so you can lean on Him for help.

Bring truth.  Pain always distorts reality.  If your friend is hurting, they're probably not seeing their situation objectively.  This is where you come in.  Speak the truth in love.  And it's even better if you can show them their situation in the context of Scripture.

Help them set some goals.  What practical action step are they committed to do next?  If they don't want to set any goals it may be because they don't really want to be healed.  If that's the case, you're better off knowing earlier rather than later.  And here's why...

Don't enable dysfunction.  It's good to help your friend feel better, but expect more.  Believe for them to experience victorious healing.  Don't just give someone a shoulder to cry on if they've decided to make the same destructive choices over and over and over.

Follow up.  Seriously, we really underestimate the importance of this one.  Don't assume that your conversation fixed all their problems.  I know you're good--but you're not THAT good!  Wait a day and send them an encouraging email.  Give them a follow up call.  Get together again in a week.  Find some practical ways to serve them.  Provide some accountability.  Keep fighting with them.  There's nothing worse than unloading your heart on someone who's forgotten about it a few days later.

Pray.  Pray again.  Then pray some more.  Jesus is the Healer, and You're going to need Him to do what you can't do.

A Word to Pastors: Joyfully Prepare to do it Again

I had several conversations after my message yesterday that reminded me of the burdens people carry into our "family gatherings" each weekend.  Maybe it was the topic that inspired more of them to surface (God as Father), but I was reminded of how necessary it is for me to decrease so that Jesus can increase.  So many people need deep healing.

The local church is a hospital for broken people, and every Sunday a unique mixture of them file in.  Seekers.  Mourners.  Doubters.  Others.  Some are expecting an encounter with God.  Some don't have the faith to expect anymore.  Some are afraid to expect because hope has been overloaded by disappointment.  Not everyone wants the same thing.  But everyone needs it--a transformational encounter with the God of all comfort.

Pastors, I don't you think you should feel pressured by this thought.  After all, it's not in your power to heal anyone.  But you should be carrying a burden.

This morning I resonated with something Wayne Cordeiro wrote in his book, Leading on Empty.  Pastoring is like giving birth on Sunday, only to find out on Monday morning that you're pregnant again.

Pastor, I'm praying for you today.  May you carry the burden well.  Feel it deeply enough that your preaching is infused with compassion.  But share it with God so that you can do it again next week--with joy.

The CIA at COTK

I just finished a meeting with our four CIA interns (children in action).  Four of our fourth and fifth graders are serving in a summer long internship here at the church. 

I'm really proud of JT for putting this thing together so well.  The kids are at the church four days a week, three hours a day, doing just about everything you can imagine:

• Planning lessons
• Writing skits
• Filing music
• Organizing the children's ministry database
• Organizing storage closets
• Planning outreach events
• They even designed and setup their own CIA Headquarters (a room downstairs). 

I get to spend about fifteen minutes with them every Thursday to talk about ministry.  Today I told them that while I did four internships before I started our church, I didn't do my first one until my first year of college.  That means that all four of them are way ahead of me.

I also told JT earlier this week that she is now a master of delegation.  Keeping four kids busy four days a week...not bad:)

I love the fact that our leaders work so hard at discipleship.  These kids are getting a first class ministry experience before they even start junior high.

Counting my Blessings

This morning I spent some time reflecting on the honor that I have to lead Church of the King.  Here are ten things I feel so grateful for.

• The call of God: I don't deserve it.
• Encouraging dreamers: I regularly counsel people who are thinking about the future.
• Changed Lives: So many disciples in our church are being transformed.
• Pastoral care: It's an honor to love people through tragedy.
• Building leaders: God has blessed us with some of the best, and I believe in them.
• The power of the Holy Spirit: So humbling to be a channel He moves through.
• Preaching the Word: Probably my greatest joy as a pastor.
• Planting churches: It's in my blood.
• Introducing the lost to Jesus: Still nothing else like it.
• A God-sized vision: Blessing a city.  The whole city!

How has God called you to serve, and what do you love about it?  I hope you know the thrill of waking up every morning to the tune of mission.

Inquisitive Little Minds

Kim Burton, one of the leaders in our church, teaches fourth grade at Hanley Academy in Hamtramck. She was selected by the school to help organize career day, and invited me to speak in five classes about what I do as a pastor. I felt so grateful to see Kim serving in her missional environment.

And the kids were a riot:)

Figuring out how to explain my job to a fourth grader is one of the most helpful exercises I've done in awhile. I talked about various aspects of pastoral ministry, but landed on one big idea. I help people have a clear concept of God. As we go through life, our view of God tends to become blurry. I help people clear away the cobwebs to see who God is.

My favorite part of the day was definitely the questions. So random. So unique. The questions were less theological, but interesting nonetheless. Here's one memorable exchange from Kim's class.

Curious Fourth Grader: What do you do with your church at night?

Me: What do you mean?

Curious Fourth Grader: Do you have security guards who watch the building?

Me: No, we just lock the doors. That usually works pretty well.

Another Curious Fourth Grader: What if someone breaks through the window?

Me: Then we have insurance. Any more questions?

Weekend Reflections

Wow!  Trying to catch my breath today from an AMAZING weekend.  Here are some highlights:

• Had a blast on Good Friday with some of our leaders by attending the U2Charist at Real Church.  I'm really proud of my friend Chilly and his team.  Real Church has grown by almost 50% just this year!
• Four was a great number for us yesterday.  We had four people baptized and another four people make commitments to Christ!  New life on Resurrection Sunday!
• Yesterday we had the largest children's attendance on a Sunday in the history of our church.  47 kids packed into the kid's services as JT and her team introduced Epic and the time machine.
• Tal, Glenn and the guys worked around the clock to prepare Guest Central for the launch of our new guest reception.  We knocked out a wall and some office space to open up a new area just off the lobby.  I loved having a dedicated area for Leah and I to connect with so many guests after the services.
• I was really proud of all our ministry teams who put in so much extra in order to pull together the two services.  We needed both of them and our leaders made it happen!
• We kicked off the Epic series.  Can't wait to see what God does this Spring!
• Enjoyed sharing my first Easter with my bride as a married man!  She was all over the place yesterday, launching the guest reception, helping me open both services, and even working in the nursery during the first service.  What did I ever do without this girl?
• I'm gearing up for a great week, including a visit from this guy and this guy on Thursday.

Happy week after Easter!  Let's make it a memorable one:)

The Sound of Sandals

This past Sunday I continued a series of sermons based on Paul's description of spiritual warfare in Ephesians 6.  This past weekend I focused on the armor of God.  And I was personally encouraged by some fresh insight about the soldier's sandals.

...as shoes for your feet, the readiness given by the gospel of peace (v.15).

Shoes are critical because our feet carry us into battle.  Which is an interesting point because it reminds us that the armor is not designed so that we can just stand back and take the enemy's blows.  The shield, the helmet, the sword, the belt, the breastplate; they're all necessary because we're advancing.  We're ready.  Ready to march into battle. 

You might remember Jesus promising that the gates of hell would not prevail against his church.  Don't forget that gates don't move.  They're defensive by nature; simply designed to keep one thing out and another thing in.

So Jesus says that Satan's gates will not hold the church out or his prisoners in.  Jesus' incarnation was an invasion.  And the launch of his church guaranteed that the mission would go on.

It's the picture of attack that makes me appreciative for the nature of the sandals.  They are labeled "peace." 

There are two things that I really want.  First, I want to build a home that's filled with love, joy, and peace.  (Doesn't that list sound familiar)?  Second, I want to join the front lines of the church's advance every morning.  In other words, I want to enjoy life, but I don't want to go AWOL to make it happen.

Those two desires might seem like they contradict.  After all, what about battle fatigue?  Isn't that why most Christians who obssess with spiritual warfare depressed all the time?  Anxious?  Overwhelmed?

But like Jesus, we are the wise warriors who know when to strategically break from battle in order to connect with the Father.  As a result, we love life and fight for it at the same time.  We enjoy our families and defend our homes at the same time. 

We invade, and then we sleep.

Can you hear the sound of sandals?  Can you hear the sound of laughter?  They're coming from the same direction.

No Place Like Home

It seems Jesus keeps prompting me to think about our church through the lens of family.

Last night I had dinner at PF Changs.  Wow.  Changs spicy chicken does not disappoint:)  Toward the end of the meal I asked our waiter how long he'd been working at the restaraunt.  He said two years, and then he added that PF Changs was the best company he'd ever worked for.  I asked him why.  He said that his managers and co-workers felt like family.  His reason: they all go out after work together to drink.

If our church can't beat that then we ought to sell our building, sleep until noon on Sundays, and then watch the Lions lose in our pajamas.

But we can. 

I know we can. 

I'm sure that Dustin's answer to my question had deeper implications then drinking.  Those after-hour trips to the bar are meeting a profound need in him.  It's a place where he's accepted, where he feels that he belongs.  For Dustin, the bar feels like home. 

That might strike you as odd.  You might want to point out that a bar is not a home, that it's actually a long ways away from home.  And I would tend to agree.  But that's probably because you and I have been blessed with a better definition of family.  What about the young men and women in our city like Dustin, who long for family yet have to settle for a few drinks with some friends.  Will we give them a better option?  Will we give them a better definition?

I know of a great church plant that meets in Dustin's neighborhood and I invited him to check it out.  I told him the church shared his dream.  They are trying to build a family.  And for a moment his eyes lit up. 

A church can be a family? 

I don't think the thought had ever crossed his mind.

Phone Calls for Jesus

Cheryl Floyd is my hero for the day!

I've been sitting in my office listening to her talk on the phone for the past three hours!  She's working her way down the phone numbers in our database, inviting people to church this weekend.  And she's not just leaving messages.  She's asking people about their lives and encouraging them.  For someone like me who can't talk on the phone more than five minutes without beginning to multi-task this is simply amazing.

I remember when I first met Cheryl.  She came to our office hoping to sell us a copy machine.  And she did.  Then she came to church and the rest is history!  It's been great to see her grow into a woman who loves Jesus and lives to serve His church.

By the way, I wonder if people sit outside my office listening to me talk on the phone:)