He's back! Dan Reiland joins us in episode 91 with a fresh, free-flowing conversation about leadership, self-care, time management, priorities, and other fun stuff. Dan has been a regular on our podcast for over a year now, and we surprised him by asking him to just riff with us about life and leadership, off script and off the cuff. He agreed. The result was an inspiring conversation that will challenge and encourage you!
We have been sitting on this episode for about six weeks. The reason? The sound quality! It was such a good conversation, but the sound quality was not what I usually get from our calls. I wasn't sure if we could use it. Then, I figured it out. I simply filtered the file to sound as though we were all talking on the phone, the telephone. Remember that long word? It is vintage and unique, a masterpiece of recording! (let's make pretend anyway...) Truthfully, it's just fine. You'll enjoy it. The best contribution Dan could ever make to your pastoral ministry, he has already provided. It is in his book titled, Amplified Leadership - Five Practices to Establish Influence, Build People, and Impact Others for a Lifetime. This book will make you a better leader and pastor and builder of others, if you read it and apply it to your ministry life. This is truly a book written and proven in the trenches of ministry. In Dan's church, 12Stone Church, near Atlanta, they use this book to establish leadership philosophy and language. This is the standard by which they talk about leadership, development, and ministry. It's also the standard for how they measure it. If there were a take-away for you, it would be to simply buy this book, study, and practice it. It will work. Enjoy episode 91! This week we talked with Dave Jacobs about being more outward focused as a church. Easy to talk about, but challenging to actually do! We might need to ruffle some feathers in the pews in order to focus more on people in the streets. As we were reflecting on that conversation, we thought – what could we do, as a church, that would surprise our community? We mean a good surprise now, not the usual, “Well, that’s surprising!” of a scandal or split. Usually organizations and businesses look out for their own members’ needs, desires, or demands. Clubs serve their membership, and service companies try to keep their customers happy and coming back. The police and fireman are looking for donations, the youth organizations want sponsors and volunteers, and the fitness centers want more annual memberships.
What Would They Say? What do churches want, from a community’s perspective? How do people in our town or city view us? What would they say? “They want to be left alone.” “They want a lot of property, tax-free.” “They want more land for parking, or parking privileges from their neighbors.” “They want us in the community to be for what they’re for, and against what they’re against.” Churches are usually against homosexuals and same-sex marriages, gambling establishments, bars and nightclubs, gangs and drug dealers, and the overreach of local government. Churches are normally for more donations and charitable giving, more members, volunteers, and baptisms. They want to add services, parking, staff, facilities, and technology. A New Year! Well, we have a new school/church year upon us. What in the world could YOUR church do that would surprise your community – in a very nice way? What could you do that would be counter-intuitive and that would bless your neighbors/community/community leaders? What Do They Need? What are the greatest needs in your community? What do single-parent families need? What do single parents need? What do the children need? What do the teenagers need? What are the greatest needs of the new people moving into your town or city? What do the business owners in your neighborhood need? What do the elderly need in your community? What do the poor or social outcasts need? What do the people in your hospital, retirement center, or long term care facility need? What do the same-sex couples in your town need? What do the alcoholics, drug addicts, prisoners, or homeless people need? The Answers Might Be Your Opportunity! What are the answers to those questions? The answers might provide you an opportunity to surprise your community in a way that spreads the love of Jesus and the message of the Gospel? What could you do this fall and during the coming school/church year that would surprise your community? Talk to your leaders and the people in your church. Have a brainstorming session. Sit and talk around a dinner or lunch. Here’s a thought – go ask them! Elevate the discussion. Find answers. Make a difference. Happy Friday! Next week: Episode 83 – Two Crucial Steps To Breaking Your Pornography Addiction. It was a Monday evening, and I was driving with my family. My mind was a blur. Every ounce of focus and concentration was gone. Inside, I kept saying: “Pull it together, Paul! It’s not that big of a deal. What is wrong with you?” Then the tears started flowing uncontrollably, and they wouldn’t stop until I had cried myself to sleep several hours later. Little did I know that I was just beginning to feel the effects of a full-blown breakdown. My Spiral Downward. Six months before, I was preaching three services every Sunday. I had recently become a police chaplain with our local department. Our church had just opened a coffeehouse in the center of the city, and it was bustling with ministry activity. I also had started a master of divinity program at a local seminary. And did I mention I was married, with two preschool-age sons? In hindsight, I know the Holy Spirit was working to get my attention. The first class of my master’s program was on addiction, and Jesus spoke loud and clear to me: I want to deal with your work addiction and perfectionism! I was clueless, however, about what that meant, and I failed to seek out the meaning. Then a particularly frantic season began for me. A family member was in crisis, and I dove in to help. In the midst of that, a 17-year-old teen, whom I had baptized just months earlier, was diagnosed with leukemia. I often spent hours a day with him during his last four months as he fought for life. After his memorial events, I was exhausted. I took a one-month self-imposed sabbatical, believing that would get me out from under the stress I’d been carrying. Not even close. After just one weekend back, I encountered that fateful Monday night. A wise counselor told me that I didn’t get here overnight, and I wasn’t getting out of this overnight, either. So began a long process of God putting the pieces back together. His way. Following are some of the key things I learned during my journey. Four Lessons I Learned 1. God speaks through our bodies and emotions. Imagine my discouragement when diagnosed with clinical depression. Now, envision my hope when I learned that depression is actually a gift from God—it’s a circuit breaker that forces the body to slow down before it starts blowing gaskets. Viewed with the Spirit’s discernment, this painful process can take us to places we would otherwise never go. 2. My spiritual maturity will never outgrow my emotional health. Figuring out why work addiction and perfectionism were issues in my life freed me to grow emotionally in ways for which my spirit was thirsting. God created us with emotions we must learn to express in healthy and life-giving ways that will release our spiritual maturity instead of stunting it. 3. I have my own God-given pace at which I am meant to live life. God designed each of us uniquely. Some people can thrive living life at a fast pace, others cannot. And that’s OK. Even Jesus knew when He needed to withdraw from the crowds; He knew His pace. Live yours! 4. Physical and emotional health go hand-in-hand with spiritual leadership. If your blood pressure is high, there’s a reason for it. If you can’t sleep well, that’s going to catch up with you. If your focus and concentration have run dry, or you find yourself shedding tears for no reason, those are real issues that you shouldn’t simply chalk up to spiritual warfare. Being a healthy leader means walking in health in all areas of life, not just spiritually. Don’t wait until you have a full-blown breakdown. If you need help, reach out for it today.
Someone got me riled up today about church growth. It seems that so much of the leadership and training material available wants to show all of us pastors how to move into the arena of success and blessing. In case you’ve never noticed (psst, I know you have!) ministry is not always about success, growth, coolness, good times, rad (is that still a thing?) music, and the latest technology for worship and church management. Yet, every day as pastors we deal with other struggles, stresses, and challenges. Off the top of my head in about six minutes, I made the following list of topics I think most small church pastors are dealing with every week.
What do you think of this list. What topics would you add to this list?
Again, what do you think of this list? What topics would you add to this list? Do you think this should double as a future podcast episode topic list? Have a wonderful weekend loving and serving God by loving and serving your church family – and guests! This week on the podcast we will talk about:
Jonny and Jeff will talk to John Pletcher, Lead Pastor of Manor Church in Lancaster, PA. Jeff met John at that Super-Secret Pastor’s Retreat in the hills of western Pennsylvania.
One of John’s passions is to help church members see how God wants to use them right where they are, in the workplace, marketplace, business, or factory – to do Kingdom ministry with the people all around them. While John pastors a larger than 200church, he cares deeply for pastors of all size churches, and has developed a resource to help them guide their people through the discovery process. John’s book, Henry’s Glory, has a subtitle that says it all: A Story for Discovering Lasting Significance in Your Daily Work. This book combines a fictitious story, with strong theology, and “end of chapter” small group questions that combine to create transformational teaching. As John and Jeff talked in Pennsylvania, it became clear that John could really help us as 200church pastors. He can help us to empower and equip our people to truly discover that lasting significance right there in their place of employment, where they spend so much time, and have so many relationships. We are so excited to have John join us on Wednesday because all of us pastors need the help! We need our people to join us in ministry to our community. We need workplace missionaries all over our towns and communities! We really believe that our people, the church, deployed at their jobs, are the most overlooked resource we have. Finally, it is our calling, our responsibility as pastors, to equip our people to do the work of the ministry not just in our own church family, but throughout our community. What have you been able to do in your church, to equip, empower, and enable your people to be workplace missionaries? Share your ideas with us in the comments section below! We’ll see you on Wednesday for Episode 74, How To Multiply Workplace Missionaries In Your Small Church.
This week on the podcast we talk with Dan Reiland about starting smart as a young leader. This episode is intentionally tilted toward YOUNG PASTORS with leadership lessons on beginning well in ministry. Jonny and I share lessons on either end of our conversation with Dan, and Dan himself shares six things that he believes young pastors need to remember to start smart in ministry.
This is a great episode to share with the young pastors or leaders in your life or ministry. This is information to help them start well in their 200church.
Here are the six suggestions from Dan about starting smart:
Today we are going to send you away… far, far away to read a post by Jonny Craig! Jonny is featured this week on Pastors.com with an article he wrote titled: 5 Things I’ve Learned as a Young Pastor in a Small Church. We know you will enjoy this article and pick up a few ideas for yourself as you manage being a pastor and a human… at the same time! Jonny represents the best of the millennial generation of church leaders, who are coming of age at what is perhaps the most exciting time to be alive in the history of the world! His ideas, perspectives, and viewpoints are often different than my own (Jeff’s) and mine are different from his. But as we work together, and openly share our hearts and minds on all kinds of different issues in life, ministry, and the society we live in – we make each other better. We learn from each other.
Boomer and millennials make great partners! If you are one or the other, look for a great partner in the other generation – he or she is out there. These two generations complement and complete each other. The Boomers bring experience, passion, maturity, and wisdom – and the millennials bring energy, optimism, creativity, cutting edge perspectives, and a seamless connection to our current society. The boomers know what worked once, and the millennials know what doesn’t work anymore. Together they make a great team to brainstorm news ways to move forward, and to discover what will work for today! No matter your age, you should head on over to Pastors.com for some millennial ministry perspectives that are sure to challenge you! Jonny's article on Pastors.com - 5 Things I’ve Learned as a Young Pastor in a Small Church.
EPISODE OUTLINE
In Episode 54 we talk about being wired in certain ways for ministry. We unpack three areas of “wiring”:
We talk about the difficulty we had in creating this particular episode. We had a very busy week, filled with unexpected events, and did not have much time to invest in preparation. ADDITIONAL COMMENTS We do not say this on the podcast, so we will say it now – we were able to navigate the past week because we have been preparing well and praying much. We had already committed our weekend plan to God, and had spent a lot of time preparing well for the weekend of ministry. Most of it did not go according to our plans, but we knew that God was answering our prayers for the weekend in his own way, so it was easy to roll with his punches! We think that all of life should be preparation for ministry, and that if we are walking close to the LORD, he will accomplish his will in us and through us, even if it doesn’t look like our plans. So this episode is for YOU! We hope that you are encouraged and challenged by two guys who are doing what you’re doing – ministry in a 200church. We aren’t perfect, but we depend on the God of the universe – so we’re covered, and so are you! IMPORTANT NOTE: As you listen to this episode, it might sound like we are questioning your call to your church, that we are saying to leave your church if you are not a fit, if you're not wired for it. No, No, No. We want to send the message that long term pastorates are the best for churches. BUT... If you find that in all three areas that we talk about, you are dramatically wired differently, and not for your current context - then you should seriously question whether or not you might better serve the Kingdom in a different ministry location. That transition might take a month or two years, God can handle it. If you are just wired differently in only one of the areas, and it's just a moderate difference, then you just need to consider how you might mitigate the difficulties in that area. Perhaps you need to get advice or counsel on how to handle that area in your context/culture. This is likely simply an opportunity for growth. If you are dying on the vine - get help, get counsel, get advice, and if you need to - get out! So, that is your PASTORAL WARNING as you prepare to listen to this episode. We think after all the bluster... you'll like it! :) We also mentioned resources, websites, and people. So… here are links to resources we mentioned in Episode 54: Dave Jackson’s School of Podcasting site/podcast John Lee Dumas – Entrepreneur on Fire site/podcast Dan Reiland – Regular Guest on 200churches Podcast Karl Vaters – Regular Guest on 200churches Podcast Dave Jacobs – Pastor Coach & Regular 200churches Guest Expository Preaching – Haddon Robinson Communicating For A Change – Andy Stanley There’s a boy in my church, I’ll call him Bobby, who was born in the fall of 2003. That would make him just over ten years old. Bobby is a great young man, articulate, smart, and very happy to follow Jesus. I came to this church in January of 2004. Bobby was just a couple months old. I first saw him in his car seat, all bundled up against the subzero weather we had that January. I am the only pastor Bobby has ever had.
I love kids and always try to develop a personal relationship with the kids at our church. I want them to know some things:
Bobby is the kid who comes to my mind whenever I consider my commitment to my pastoral ministry here. Bobby has only known one pastor – his whole life. If I just stay eight more years Bobby can graduate having experienced one pastor and one church, for his entire childhood and teen years! Bobby will understand that the church, the body of Christ, is real, true, important, vital, and genuine. If I can stay for at least eight more years, and Bobby’s parents continue at our church, Bobby will get to experience something precious few experience – church stability. A church literally living out the love and mission of the body of Christ is so important for a kid to actually believe. It’s important because a kid’s understanding, what is weaved into the fabric of his soul, is what the adults in his life live. They won’t learn from what we tell them – they’ll learn what we live. Pastor, it’s important, that ministry you’re serving in today. And it’s not just important to the Bobby’s of your church – it’s important to all of the people in your church. The average church member, kid or adult, has to switch out pastors 2-5 times if they stay in a church for more than ten years. Pastoral turnover is bad for churches. A recent study found that while long term pastorates do not guarantee a church will grow, short term pastorates (less than four years) absolutely do guarantee that a church will NOT grow. We are not just talking about numbers growth here, but I believe this also relates to the personal spiritual growth of the people as well. Bobby will not grow as much spiritually if he has three or four different pastors before he is eighteen years old. His church certainly won’t grow. Pastor, what did you commit to when God called you into ministry? Personal happiness? A nice part of the country? Having the mall just five minutes away? A warm climate? Or did you commit to people, and to the Gospel? Did you enter pastoral ministry because God looked at you and said – “here is someone who will shepherd my sheep. Here is someone who will look at the crowds and will, like me, be moved with compassion for them. Here is someone who will feed, and not abandon, the flock.”? What’s grinding on you Pastor? What’s making you want to leave? What are you committed to – the idea of ministry, the place where you minister, or the people to whom you minister? Does God really want you to leave them? Only you can answer that question. Make sure you have the right answer.
Our gratitude goes to Dave Jackson, from the School of Podcasting, who took the time to talk with two podcasting newbies and offered encouragement, support, and affirmation. We only include a third of our conversation with Dave, which lasted almost an hour and a half. Dave spent the time to get to know us, coach us by giving us some podcasting tips, and just generally converse on small church ministry, life, and all things podcasting.
This is a very fun conversation that we think will encourage you in your life and ministry. He offers a critical analysis of the difference between his large church and small church experiences - so we say - "let's learn from what he says and seek to be better pastors, period." His evaluations really apply to churches of all sizes as we seek to love people, connect them to God, and graft them into Kingdom community. Thanks Dave, for being a real friend to so many in the podcasting and Christian communities. You can also find Dave at www.feedingmyfaith.org as he shares his spiritual journey with his listeners on the Feeding My Faith Podcast. Here is the latest episode of Feeding My Faith at the time of this posting. And... you can find him as the co-host, with Ray Ortega, on The Podcaster's Roundtable, a video and audio podcast where Ray and Dave are normally joined by Daniel J. Lewis from The Audacity to Podcast, as well as one or two other Roundtable podcasters they invite to talk with them. Here is their Podcaster's Roundtable YouTube Channel with all of their video shows. Episode Note: Jonny was late joining Dave and I in our conversation, so I, as usual, mock him just a bit when he shows up. The real story is that he was being a good husband and father while Dave and I were shirking our responsibilities! :) |
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