For the next few weeks, I’m going to be encouraging dream Saturdays. I have often believed that dreaming is a healthy exercise. I think God encourages big dream.

How can anyone read this verse and not have their imagination do a little stretching?

However, as it is written: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him” 1 Corinthians 2:9

I believe dreams help us heal from negative emotions, stretch our imagination, and encourage us in the midst of difficult times.  Sure dreams alone won’t solve the problems we face, but they may help point us towards a positive direction…and who knows…we may just head our life towards attaining some of them.

So, here’s the deal. I will throw out a dream category and you share your dream with a comment. (I know some of you read these from Facebook and it’s easier to share the comment there, but I hope you’ll take the time to share them on the blog, so those that don’t read via Facebook can read them also.)

This weeks dream stretcher:

If you could visit anywhere in the world, where would you go?

(Keep in mind, this is a dream, so stretch your mind….in dream world there is no limits of finances, time, or physical restraints.)

Share your answer now then check back to see where others are dreaming of visiting.

Yesterday I started a conversation about ministry evaluation. I was making the point that because of the rapid growth we have experienced at Grace Community Church the last 4 and half years, we may not know it if there were problems within our structure. (You can read and discuss the content of that post HERE. You probably need to read that post to understand this one.)

I think where I have landed, at least for now, is that bigger than the issue of evaluation, is the issue of continuance. The fact is that I really do believe growth is occurring in individual lives, not just in the total numbers of people. We are accomplishing our objective to “make growing disciples of Jesus Christ”. I still want to consider ways to validate that belief, and I have some ideas I’m working on there, but the key word for me now is sustainability. I want us to be able to continue doing what we’ve been doing.

This week I emailed the staff this question:

If you were to disappear, how would your ministry continue to thrive at the level it is thriving today, and even improve? What is your plan for sustainment?

My first thoughts are that as the church continues to grow we may need to learn to:

• Delegate faster – To spread the workload
• Broaden our information base – Get more ideas on the table…more thinkers.
• Take even greater risks – in people and resources…
• Prepare more leaders – Through leadership development in the church, not just among the staff.

These are just initial thoughts. It takes me weeks to work through thoughts most times. I will encourage us to discuss these thoughts as a staff in the weeks to come. Thankfully, we have an amazing team of leaders and they are better thinkers than me most days. My personal goal is to see that the energy, vision, and momentum they have brought to our church continues.

What do you think? Do you see the issues here for us as a relatively new, fast-growing organization? I would love your input. What thoughts does yesterday’s and today’s posts trigger about your organization?

How does your church or organization plan for sustainment? Or does it?

We have had rapid growth at Grace Community Church. I am very thankful that God has chosen to share His grace with us for such a time as this. I am in a week of reflection (Read about that HERE) and the thought occurred to me this week: You can cover over a multitude of problems in an organization with enough growth.

For example:

• It’s more difficult to determine if people are moving from visitors to regular attendees, because we have so many new visitors coming every week.
• It’s more difficult to tell if people are connecting to groups and serving, because new people keep coming to join groups, serve, etc.
• It’s more difficult to tell if people are developing in their giving habits, because new people keep arriving that bring new offerings.

I am not saying we have problems in these areas or any area.  I am really saying I don’t know, even though every organization has room for improvement. What I am saying even more is that if there are problems they have most likely been disguised because of the tremendous growth we have experienced. One day the growth may not be as rapid as it is today, and we will need solutions to problems that are uncovered. I am more proactive than that. I would rather uncover the problems that may exist now and find solutions before the problems arise.

I am questioning if there is a need to find ways to evaluate our progress in reaching our core objective, which is ultimately the same as our vision, “to make growing followers of Jesus Christ”. We aren’t looking for just numeric growth, we are striving to produce people that are growing in their passion and walk with Christ.

I realize that any line of thinking that involves evaluation in a spiritual context is controversial at best, but evaluating now may help us continue to grow and stay healthy and enhance the future growth that we experience. I lean towards the thought that the church must be evaluating progress towards objectives, as any healthy organization should do.

For similar thoughts on evaluation in ministry, read HERE and HERE.

What are your thoughts on ministry evaluation? It’s okay to disagree with me. Just share your thoughts. I will share more of mine tomorrow.

If you think evaluating ministry is important, do you have any thoughts on what kinds of things we would measure?

 
This week I have been at Moody Founder’s Week in Chicago. I told my son Nate, who attends Moody, that this would be on my list of conferences while he is in school here. We had been previously, which is one of the reasons he chose the school. This is a true church conference. While it is not my typical conference, I have enjoyed hearing the challenging messages in a more traditional setting.

Getting out of town always provides me with time to develop new thoughts. Often I get into such a routine at home, that I don’t stop to just reflect, ponder, think and dream. I have to be alone, totally removed from my normal comfort zone it seems to really slow down enough to reflect. Yesterday, between sessions, I went for a long run along the Lake Shore Drive. (This is my favorite city in which to run. I posted about that once HERE.) About half way through the run, as I was talking to God, it seemed He impressed on my heart that there are new challenges He wants me to consider.

While I didn’t have a clue what this could mean at this point in our conversation, here is the prayer I prayed (as best as I can remember praying while running):

“God, I don’t want to possess a man-made vision…mine or anyone else’s. I don’t want a hand-me-down version of Your plan…I want to hear from You…I want Your vision…Your presence…Your glory. Protect my heart from wandering or being attracted to anything less than 100% of Your will… God, as You lead me, I will follow…”

It was a great heart check. The rest of the day I spent trying to unpack some of where I sense Him encouraging me to go and do. I don’t have all the answers, and from experience I may not for weeks, but I’m starting to understand some things. A couple thoughts relative to Grace Community Church I will actually share over the next couple days on this blog.  More than anything, however, I am committed to following His heart. That’s always proven to be a good thing in my life!

How do you get your heart on track with God? Do you do it with people or away from people?  Where do you go to do your best reflecting.

Please share your thoughts here for all readers to enjoy.

If you serve on a well-organized team, then your role is vital to the success of the organization’s mission. If you do not pull your own weight, the entire team suffers because of it, and ultimately the entire organization suffers. Healthy teams are dependent on every member of the team.

For example, Ben Reed is director of our small group ministry at Grace Community Church. His position is critical to realizing the vision of Grace, which is to “make growing followers of Jesus Christ”. The church’s strategy for accomplishing the vision is three-fold. We attempt to attract people to a weekly worship service gathering, then connect them to a small group for Bible study and fellowship, and finally to send them out to serve others. Ben Reed is responsible for implementing the second part of that strategy. If he doesn’t do his job well, the entire vision is in jeopardy. (Thankfully, he’s doing an excellent job!)

Frankly, if you are part of a team and your role is not critical to its success, you are most likely just an expense and not an asset, and you are either bored or lazy, depending on your work ethic. Are you honestly doing your part well?  Would your team agree?

Think for just a moment…if you don’t do your part well, what hole will it leave in the organization? What changes do you need to make in the way you are performing your work to become critical to your organization?

On a similar note, do you feel you serve on a healthy team?

Carlos Whittaker is one of the most creative and inspiring leaders in today’s church culture. Carlos also has one of the most read blogs among Christians. Carlos is an architect of visions and his current work is with the launch this Spring of Soul City Church in Chicago. (I wrote about Soul City’s Jarrett Stevens HERE.) You can follow LosWhit on Twitter HERE. His newest musical work has been at the top of iTunes since it was released a week ago. Listen and buy HERE.

Here are 10 questions with Carlos Whittaker.

1. When you were growing up, is this what you thought you would be doing vocationally? If not, what did you want to do?

Nope, wanted to play for the Falcons baby!

2. What’s the most different job you’ve had from what you are doing now and how did that job help you with what you are doing now?

I was a roller skate prepare man, Patience.

3. Who is one person, besides Christ, who most helped to shape your leadership and how did they help you?

-My dad, he’s my dad!

4. Besides the Bible, what is one book that has most helped to shape your thought process in life and ministry?

- Crucial Conversations… It was a hard read. Very boring, but has changed me and how I speak to people.

5. What are three words other people would use to describe your work style/ethic?

-Creative, last minute, intense

6. What is your greatest strength in leadership?

-I can connect to people

7. What is your greatest weakness in leadership?

-procrastination.

8. What is the hardest thing you have to do in leadership?

Say no

9. What is one misconception about your position you think people in your church may have?

That we are perfect

10. If you could give one piece of advice to young leaders from what you’ve learned by experience, what would it be?

Don’t try to imitate another leader style, as much as finding your true leadership style.

Thanks again for following these interviews. Comments are appreciated and will keep me searching for more.

 
Marriage is the bringing together of two very different people in the attempt at creating what the Bible calls “one flesh”. There in, however, lies the challenge that keeps many marriages from thriving.

If you are a parent of multiple children, then you know how different your children are, even when raised in the same house with the same parents. How much more so the blending of two people from different family backgrounds and life experiences, that also happens to be anatomically different. Marriage is tough many times because of those differences.

One very simple practice (at least in theory) that will dramatically improve the communication and working relationship between a couple, is when the man and woman begin to give credit for who the other person is, who they are wired to be.  When the differences are understood and valued rather than criticized and battled, the marriage is strengthened rather than hindered by those differences.

One example in my marriage is that I will never be as deeply emotional about life as Cheryl is. I can wish that I were, Cheryl can pray that I will be, but most likely Cheryl is always going to be the more emotional one of us. In the same way, Cheryl will most likely never see life from the rational perspective that I see it. I can get frustrated about it, try to force reality on her, but when she is emotional about an issue, she is not likely to see the black and white of life that I see. While this is challenging in building the relationship and often causes conflict, if we allow those differences to balance us rather than separate us, the differences have proven countless times to be a blessing to our marriage.

This does not mean that the person, for instance, that is intentionally hurtful should continue to be hurtful without attempting to change, but it does mean that the core being of who we are should be taken into consideration in building a healthy relationship. When differences are appreciated rather than fought against, it improves communication, limits tension, and strengthens the relationship. You will likely spend a lifetime together continuing to explore differences…make the journey fun rather than disruptive.

What are some ways you and your spouse are different? What are some ways you can make those differences work for your marriage rather than against it?

Share some of what you’ve learned here so we can learn from your experience.