I have written all week about people for whom I am thankful…and encouraged you to do the same…in a week of Thanksgiving.

You can read previous my previous list of people here:

People who helped me professionally…

One Consistent friend…

People who helped me spiritually…

The people I’m most thankful for…

To close out this series, I thought I’d share the team of staff members at Grace Community Church, where I am privileged to serve. Our church is only 5 years old, but has grown rapidly. Most churches our size would have almost twice the number of people employed, but our team works hard, smart, and loves recruiting and working with volunteers. These men and women are some of the brightest people in their fields I have ever known. I know many people in ministry who wonder if it is possible to serve on a healthy team. The answer is, without reservation, yes. These people and their hearts for God and others make that possible.

Here’s a brief rundown of the staff at Grace Community Church:

Adam Bayne – Adam is our Director of Children’s Ministry. Adam is a former elementary school teacher and loves exploring new ways to engage children in worship and learning. He’s the one on staff wired most like me, which is scary, but gives us a special relationship. I believe Adam is honestly one of the most creative children’s ministers in the country.

Michael Bayne – Michael is our Director of Family Ministries. Michael has years of experience in student ministry. He’s a strategic thinker and loves change. He’s a strong relational leader and values the people on his team. Michael invests regularly in family ministry leaders around the country. Michael is a genuine friend and partner in ministry.

Christy Crosby – Christy carries a title of Systems Coordinator. We aren’t sure what they means, but she’s the one who wears many hats and is a trusted team player. She assists me with special projects and she helps our team stay on track and headed in the same direction. Christy never misses details and planning and scheduling are her strengths, which is critical in a highly creative environment.

Karen Grizzard – Karen is Director of Volunteer Placement and Social Media. Karen is one of the more introverted people on our team, but if she can close her door and work on a project, it’s done with excellence. Karen has a huge heart for people, especially hurting women. Karen is team player; consistent to assist all areas of our team when requested.

Melanie Hill – Melanie is Director of Service Programming. She makes sure every Sunday flows smoothly from the first note played to the closing “See you next week”. Melanie is one of the few people I know who equally thinks creatively and organizationally. Melanie’s heart is to minister to young girls and women, so she always looks for opportunities to mentor and disciple.

Rog Hill – Rog is the Director of Serve Ministry. Rog’s strength is in recruiting teams, which is good, because Rog has a huge area to oversee. Our church is so focused on serving our church, community and world. Rog has a heart for at-risk people and challenges us as a church to be reaching hurting people. Rog and I are the same age and can share mid-life experiences with each other.

Anne Loy – Anne works with financials. She is part-time doing a big job, but Anne excels in efficiency and excellence. She seldom makes mistakes and works quickly. Her loyalty and dependability are unquestioned.

Ben Reed – Ben is Director of Community Groups. Ben has become a noted expert in the field of small groups. He consistently invests in other churches and leaders around the country. Ben has a learner trait and is a quick study of new ideas and innovations. Ben has a heart for truth and a mature, calm approach to leadership. Ben leads an extremely large small group ministry with ease, because he loves people and volunteers.

Brandon Reed – Brandon is Director of High School and College Ministry. Brandon loves the Gospel as much as any person I know. He’s passionate about reaching teens and young adults for Christ. He tries to find innovative ways to share truth and strives for excellence in all that he does.

Chad Rowland – Chad is Co-Pastor. When Grace was just a dream God had placed on my heart I knew I didn’t want to do it alone. Chad was whom God led me to and over the years, Chad continues to make my ideas better. Chad has a passion for relationships and is a master of engaging the unchurched community.

Jason Roy – Jason is Worship Pastor and one of the most talented worship leaders I know. Jason has dual full-time roles, leading the band Building 429, in addition to leading worship at Grace. Jason is a critical thinker and always willing to take risks and find ways to make things better. Jason’s work ethic is impeccable.

Katrina Watts – Katrina is Director of Preschool Ministry. Katrina has one of the most caring and genuine hearts I know. She is an organizer and enjoys the hard job of managing a large number of volunteers. She is an influencer of people by her compassion for them personally.

Dennis Weiland – Dennis is the Director of Business Administration. Dennis has been my friend longer than anyone else on the team. Dennis has a methodical, detailed accountant type mindset. He is values-driven, with a deep, heartfelt desire to honor Christ with everything we do as a church. As the senior member of our team, Dennis brings a level of maturity and influence that helps keep a fast-growing, highly creative church grounded.

Dustin York – Dustin has the title of Worship Leader. Dustin is the newest member of our team, but has served with us in a volunteer role for several years. Dustin has skills and education in the recording engineering fields. Dustin is a humble, caring person professing extreme loyalty and dependability. Dustin’s involvement will ensure we can continue to grow in the technical areas of ministry.

Do you serve on a healthy team? Do the people on your team make you a better person? How? I’d love to hear from you.

Recently I posted a funny video about what it takes to be a church planter. Want a laugh? Watch it HERE. I decided it might be a good idea to share what I really believe is necessary to be a church planter. Church planting is a difficult, but rewarding assignment in ministry. All pastors and planters should operate under a calling of God, but it does appear to me that there are some unique qualifications for church planters.

From experience, here are five characteristics I believe it takes to be an effective church planter:

Love of risk – There is an entrepreneurial heart in most church planters I have met. Church planters love things that are new, changing and growing. They have an entrepreneurial spirit about them, embrace change readily and get bored with status quo. This characteristic can bring it’s own problems, which leads to number two.

Willingness to be patient – Notice I didn’t use the word patience, even though that’s part of the fruit of the spirit all believers should be developing. Effective church planters are willing to be patient for God to do His work. The balance between these first two is a constant challenge, because church planters are wired for growth, but effective church planters develop a good plan, surround themselves with the right people, and then wait as God works.

People who believe in you – Church planting is not to be a lone ranger activity. Without the structure of an established church, church planters must depend on people to help develop ministries and systems. Effective church planters learn to rely on volunteers for success and are willing to share leadership and responsibility with others to plant the church.

Healthy family life – Church planting is a family activity. If a planter wants to be effective, he or she must have a healthy family life. Ministry is tough, so this is true for all ministries, but church planting, because of the unique uncertainties and risks involved, places additional stress on a marriage and family. Effective church planters begin with and maintain a healthy family life.

Close walk with God – Church planting will test a person’s faith many times. Church planting is not always popular in some church communities and can make a planter feel like an outcast in the church community. The risks involved and the waiting process challenge a planter. Church planting, like all ministries, is an act of faith and requires constant communication with God. Effective church planters continue to build and draw upon a strong relationship with Christ throughout the process of planting.

Again, many of these may not be unique to church planters and are possibly shared by others in ministry, even in many secular settings, but my experience as a planter of two churches leads me to believe these are critical needs for a church planter.

Are you a church planter? Have you ever considered church planting? What would you add to my list?

This passage spoke to me this week. Pastor, imagine if God had you stand on the front steps of your church and deliver this message as people entered your church Sunday morning…

This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD : “Stand at the gate of the LORD’s house and there proclaim this message:

” ‘Hear the word of the LORD, all you people of Judah who come through these gates to worship the LORD. This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Reform your ways and your actions, and I will let you live in this place.

Do not trust in deceptive words and say, “This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD!” If you really change your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly, if you do not oppress the alien, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not follow other gods to your own harm, then I will let you live in this place, in the land I gave your forefathers for ever and ever. But look, you are trusting in deceptive words that are worthless.

” ‘Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal and follow other gods you have not known, and then come and stand before me in this house, which bears my Name, and say, “We are safe”-safe to do all these detestable things? Has this house, which bears my Name, become a den of robbers to you?

But I have been watching! declares the LORD. Jeremiah 7:1-11 NIV

How would your people respond to that message?

Recently I read one of these statements of Jesus and I couldn’t go any further in my reading.  I realized in that moment, that although I had read it perhaps hundreds of times, I often take the statement for granted.  It made me think about the many other truths Jesus shared which are life-changing.  I decided to put a list together.  Perhaps some of these will be meaningful to you.  Read through the list…memorize a few of them (you probably already have many of them)…let them soak deep into your heart and mind…then allow God to penetrate your life with truth.

Here are 25 statements of Jesus that will change your life:

“Take heart, I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

“The harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few” (Matthew 9:37)

“Go and learn what this means ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice’” (Matthew 9:13)

“Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven” (Matthew 9:2)

“Ask and it will be given to you…” (Matthew 7:7)

“If the Son has set you free you are free indeed” (John 8:36)

“For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:30)

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9)

“You are the light of the world”  (Matthew 6:14)

“Apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5)

“The greatest among you shall be your servant.” (Matthew 23:11)

“Take heart, it is I.  Do not be afraid.”  (Matthew 14:31)

“I am coming soon” (Revelation 22:7)

“With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”  (Matthew 19:26)

“If you love me you will obey what I command” (John 14:15)

“Your give them something to eat” (Mark 6:37)

“A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit” (Matthew 7:18)

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you” (Acts 1:8)

“This people honors me with their lips but their heart is far from me.” (Mark 7:6)

“You will be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8)

“Do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink…” (Matthew 6:25)

“So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do to them” (Matthew 7:12)

“I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)

“This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”  (John 6:29)

“It is finished.” (John 19:30)

I realize some of these can be misunderstood if out of context, but the fact remains these are things Jesus said and He is Truth, so every word has life-changing value.  I wonder, if we really understood the magnitude of these words of Jesus and believed them, would it change the way we lived our life?

Which of these do you most need to apply to your life today?

There are many others…what would you add to my list?

I was recently asked for any suggestions I have for planting a church in a different community from where you currently live and know. There is a group of 25 plus people who are leaving the comforts of home in California traveling to the state of Idaho to plant a church. I love that kind of faith.

If you don’t know, Grace Community Church is my hometown, so I am very familiar with our community, but I planted a church before this one in a city in which I didn’t know anyone well, so I have some experience in this area. Still, as I thought about these suggestions, I really believe they are shared for any church plant (perhaps even any church.)

Of course, these are given assuming you have a clear calling as to where you are to plant, but here are some of my suggestions for planting a church a another community. There are probably hundreds of others, but these were the first 7 that came to my mind:

Learn the culture – Every city, every village, and every group of people have their own unique identity. What matter’s most? What do they celebrate? Where do people live and play?  What do they do for fun?  What’s their language?  What are the traditions unique to this area?  What history do they value?

Learn the market – Are schools an option for a building? Is the community in a growth mode or a declining mode? What are the major problems, concerns and needs of the community? Who are the leading employers?  What are the demographics?

Learn the competition – Before you get too excited…it’s not other churches. It’s anything that has the people’s attention you are trying to reach besides a church.

Buy Into the Community – Immediately find ways to get personally involved in the community with volunteer investment. That could be through the Chamber of Commerce, schools, festivals, etc.  Give back…believe it or not, that gets attention.

Have a prayer team – There should be a group of people praying for this community, the church plant, and the leaders on a daily basis. Who are those people?

Develop patience - It is harder than you think it will be. It just is. Church planting…really any ministry…takes a tremendous toll on you physically, mentally and even spiritually.

Protect your family – Just as church plants are stressful on the planter, they are equally challenging for the planter’s family. This may be especially true in a relocation, since much of their support system is being replaced. Protect your family by discipling your time and not losing them as your primary focus. As much as possible, involve them in the work so they understand it’s value and get to share in the rewards.

Church planting is tough, but like all actions of faith and obedience, God uses the sacrifices to reach hurting people and change their life for His glory.

Planters, let me hear from you…what would you add to my list?

Gayle Haggard told her humbling story about her husband, Ted Haggard’s moral failure. You probably read about it…( #UnderStatement) If you haven’t, you can read more HERE. Most of us can’t imagine finding out that our husband had a secret life as Ted Haggard had. As a pastor, I can only imagine the trauma that went through his family, his church, and his personal life.

Gayle threw out so much in a short time that I decided rather than do a commentary I would share some of her statement that caught my attention most:

This is my moment to confess aloud to the whole world what I really believe and who I have confidence in…

My relationship with my husband, the church, even my family was at stake, but this is my opportunity to reveal what I really believe.

I was challenged, did I have the courage to do the things Jesus teaches us to do? I really do believe He will never leave us or forsake us… I believe that we do not abandon when the going gets tough. It seems like everybody I counted on was failing me.

God was telling me to love and He was telling me to forgive. The implications would be hard, but I was determined to live out the faith I had claimed to have. What good is forgiveness if you don’t bear with one another and forgive as the Lord forgave us?

I became the “sinner” for staying with my husband by the judgment of the church.

The evidence of our faith is shown by what we do when we face our greatest trials.

A great test of faith is how do we respond when another person sins.

Even though I was shocked at the nature of my husband’s sin, I was not shocked that he sinned.

There is not one city in America where the number of people attending church is increasing.

The church appears to not know how to model what we preach.

The world watches when we have a scandal and wants to see how we respond.

We are no better or no worse than any other human…but we have been redeemed.

I would hope as a church we would be able to grasp the real meaning of the Gospel.

Sharing my story has brought many others to share stories proving to me the church is often not the safe place to share the real struggles of life. (She went on to say the world seems to forgiven easier than the church.)

Gayle offered a sobering reminder to us all of what grace and forgiveness looks like. I plan to buy her book Why I Stayed: The Choices I Made in My Darkest Hour.

What about you? Can you imagine offering the kind of forgiveness Gayle has had to offer her husband? Give me your thoughts.

I get lots of emails asking how we do certain things as a church. I usually figure that when several people are asking the same question that it represents a larger audience wanting to know the same answers. This post is an example of that thought.

Recently I was asked what suggestions I have for a church planning to start meeting in a school facility. Grace Community Church has met in our high school for three years now and it has been a blessing to us and the school, from feedback I have received. Here are 7 suggestions for churches meeting in a school. Most of these are more philosophy than actions, but with them as our paradigm it helps direct our actions.

Grow volunteers – Being in a borrowed facility forces the church to rely on lots of volunteer labor to set up and tear down each week. This can be stressful on people, but it also creates an opportunity to raise up new volunteer leadership. Our church would never happen without the countless hours of donated time, but in the process volunteers have sharpened their leadership skills and realized the joy of investing in God’s Kingdom and seeing the results it brings.

Love the school – We support the school we are in more than just on Sunday morning. We support their activities, we attend their ballgames, and we try to meet needs the school has as we are made aware of them.

Realize it’s not a rental situation – You may be paying rent, but more than renting a space you are borrowing a facility that has another intended purpose. We realize that the school building’s primary purpose is to educate children during the week. We know we are an added burden to the facility. We see it as a win/win for our school, but we don’t take it for granted that we are secondary in importance at the school.

Be a blessing – At the end of our time in the school, whenever that may come, our goal is that we will actually be missed by the school…and not just for the money we bring to the table. We have as a goal to be a blessing to the school. With that as a goal and mindset, it forces us to find ways to help the school outside of the money we pay for usage.

Don’t interrupt school – We respect the facility as a place for education and we never try to use our influence at the school to trump a school activity. We know we are a secondary use and so we gladly bow out if a school situation arises. Our school doesn’t do much on Sundays, and if it did that may create problems, but the few times there has been a Sunday conflict we have tried to be accommodating to the school’s needs more than our own. We would rather be inconvenienced than for them to be because of us.

View your money as a contribution - It changes the perspective of our staff and key leaders when we see our money going to make the education process better, not just as a rental line item on our income statement. Schools are always struggling to fund adequate resources and we think our money helps. That makes writing checks so much more pleasant!

Acknowledge critical players – The relationships you have with school officials is critical to making any agreement work. There are some people who make meeting in a school a positive or negative experience. That may include school district officials, the school administration, teachers, and custodians. We especially are sensitive to the teachers who teach in areas where we meet in the school, because we realize we are sharing space with them. Our experience is that the custodian plays a large role in our success in the school, so we try to respect and show appreciation to them.

Have you been a part of a church meeting in a school? What did you do to make the arrangement work?

Recently I had the awesome opportunity to hang out with Artie Davis. I knew Artie from online, but had never met him personally.  Artie is one of those people who invests in everyone he meets.  I instantly felt love and warmth from Artie and I believe we have started a long-term friendship as pastors.

I was especially interested in a couple projects Artie has going.  One in particular is The Sticks Conference. I had seen Tweets of this conference, but really didn’t completely understand it until we talked.  Knowing the vision of this conference, I want to make sure my readers know about it.  If you are doing church in a small town…pay attention!

Here’s a conversation I had with Artie Davis about The Sticks Conference:

What is The Sticks Conference?

It is a gathering “movement” committed to bringing leaders and pastors together that do ministry in smaller towns. The Sticks Conference is the national gathering where these incredible, unsung hero’s have open access to other leaders and the opportunity to learn from the successes and failures of the other small community leaders.

Are there special considerations for churches in smaller communities to consider?

Absolutely!  Unlike larger metropolitan areas, every smaller community has it’s own “culture.” There are truly as unique as DNA. No two are the same. Some principles can be transferred, but methodology must be relevant to that communities uniqueness.

Who should attend this conference?

Every leader, pastor, minister, lay leader, church planters & wanna be leaders who have a heart to reach their town for Jesus!

When and where is it and how does someone register?

It’s November 9-10 at Cornerstone Community Church.  You can get more details at thesticks.tv

Thanks Artie!  Again, if you are attempting to minister to people in smaller cities, this conference is tailored just for you.  You will not want to miss this conference. Artie and his team are going to invest in you and make your ministry better.

Did you know a cow with a name produces more milk than a cow without one?

I saw it recently in a Southwest Airline “Spirit” magazine.

So I tested the theory. You can view that video here:

The experiment was part of my message yesterday on why we do community groups as a part of our strategy at Grace Community Church. To see the whole message and understand how it fits, watch this video:

Casey Graham and Joe Sangl have become good friends. Casey and Joe share several things in common with each other. They are both incredibly high-energy, they are both funny (or think they are) and, most importantly, they both share a heart to help churches and people live in financial freedom. Specifically for the church, their desire is for churches to be able to fully fund the vision God has given the church.

As writers of the new book, “Funded and Free”, Casey and Joe combine their practical experience serving on church staffs with their most current experience helping churches and individuals across the nation achieve financial success. In this easy-to-read, practical and concise book, Casey and Joe help us understand the obstacles churches face and how to deal appropriately with finances and debt. Every church leader needs to read this book.

Check out the FUNDED AND FREE website where you can buy 5 copies for $50. This low-cost investment will promote lasting Kingdom rewards. Let your finance team, leadership team, or staff read this book together and get your church headed in a more positive direction financially.

Just curious, how is your church fairing financially in this current economy? Could you use some help?