I often encourage our staff to volunteer somewhere in our community…

Outside the church…

It could be coaching a ball team…

Serving on a non-profit board…

Picking up trash…

Visiting a nursing home…

Working with a para-church ministry…

Joining a civic group or community leadership program…

I do this personally and believe in it because…

It allows us to get outside the walls of the church…

Actually allows us to meet people…

Be a part of and show support for our community…

Learn more about the people we are trying to reach…

And…

If we are going to ask others to serve…

We need to set an example they can follow…

Some of us get paid to serve in the church…

Where do we volunteer?

Does your staff volunteer in the community in which you live?

Do you agree or disagree?

“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, Luke 10:41 NIV

I’m confident that wasn’t the response Martha was looking for. Didn’t Jesus care that Mary refused to cut the pies or set the table? Couldn’t He see that Martha had so much to do if they were still going to eat by noon? Shouldn’t Jesus have told Mary to get up and get busy?

There was work to be done. If Jesus was going to get His fill of fried chicken, someone had to fry it! Martha was tasked with everything. The Lord was coming to dinner. Didn’t He deserve the best? Poor Martha! Left to do it all!

Do you ever feel like that?

Mary was just ‘hanging out’ with Jesus! Sitting at His feet, listening to His teaching, she had forgotten all about making the iced tea. She was busy, too!

Was Jesus saying that we shouldn’t prepare for our family and friends? Was He saying that we shouldn’t have a complete meal, because we need to invest all our time into meditating on His word? Is He asking Martha not to finish rolling out the biscuits?

Of course not! I’m quite sure Jesus would soon join Martha in the kitchen. He quite possibly might even have whipped up some mashed potatoes and gravy a little later. What Jesus was trying to tell Martha was to slow down and to set her priorities. Maybe they didn’t need to have three choices of vegetables that day, because Jesus was in the house.

If you and I are to mature as followers of God, we must give Jesus the time He deserves. I’m the classic Martha type. If there’s work to be done…I’ll do it. In the process, I’ve often missed some of the best opportunities for time with my Savior.

Are you like me at times?

Has your life become so crowded that you have forsaken your time with Jesus? Maybe you are worried and upset about too many things.

Take a break at the foot of Jesus. Let something go for a minute…even good things…so you can choose what is most important…choose Jesus!

Just curious…are you more like Martha or Mary most days?

Be honest!

I added a new feature to my blog. The “Consulting” tab is now the “Consulting/Speaking” tab. After numerous requests, I decided to periodically update you where I’ll be speaking next.

As a five year old church, with a great staff, and now as an empty-nester, I’ve become more available to invest my energies in other areas of Kingdom-building. Beginning last year, and continuing this year, I’ve been given some great opportunities to speak places other than my responsibilities at Grace Community Church. I see this as an extension of the ministry called has called me to do.

Here is where I’ll be over the next few months:

March 1-8 Parenting Summit (online event)

March 31 Guest lecturer: University of Kentucky ROTC Leadership Program

April 6 Awaken Church, Clarksville, TN

April 27-29  Exponential Conference, Orlando

May 5-7 Medical Leadership Conference, Panama City, FL

August 19-21 Riverpoint Church, Marriage Weekend, Newton, KS

September 21-23 Connected Church Conference, Colorado Springs, CO

I’m also working with some churches over the coming months in a consulting role. You can read more about that above. I chose not to list them in case they want that kept confidential. I’m thankful for the opportunities God is bringing. If I can help your church, ministry, or conference, please let me know.

You can email me at ron.edmondson@gmail.com

BTW, are you attending any conferences this year?  Any chance I’ll be seeing you?

We are working on a redesign of the Grace Community Church website. You can look at our current site HERE. Like my post yesterday, sometimes it’s just time for a change. We realize that as we’ve grown, our site has become bulky, harder to navigate, and needs some attention.

The hardest part is not the design as much as it is choosing the right content.

Will you help us? Add a comment to this post with what you look for in a church website.

To fuel your thoughts, I should tell you that our church is designed, as many newer church plants, to reach people who are disconnected from church. Our community is a military town and a fast growing city, so there are lots of “prospects” for our church and we’ve learned the website is a front door to the church. Therefore, we want a website designed so that people looking for the right church for them or their family or if they are new to the area get the answers they need and hopefully choose to visit.

With that information, here are some questions you can help answer:

• What do you look for in a church website?
• What are the two or three most important sections of a church website?
• What information MUST be there?
• What in a church website causes you to NOT want to attend the church?
• Do you use a church’s website or their Facebook page more often?
• If you were new to a city, what search terms would you enter into Google to look for a church?
• Do you want pictures or just text?
• Do you want a website to answer all your questions, or simply peak your interest?
• What features of a church website make it great?

Obviously you don’t have to answer all these questions, but your input is helpful to shape our thoughts.

I suspect your answers may help a few other churches too….

So comment now…Help us all make better church websites…

I need your help. If you regularly read this blog I’d love to hear from you. Even if you’ve never commented before, consider doing so on this post.

I’ve been active online for over 15 years now and I see what I do here as an extension of my calling in ministry  I’m consistently encouraged by the professionals…bloggers, pastor friends and book publishers…to define my life focus. Supposedly if I do I can write a book about it. Currently I simply post what’s most current on my mind or heart, usually involving leadership, church, or family issues, but I always want to improve.

I can look at the analytics of the posts I write, but honestly they don’t tell me much, as there doesn’t seem to be a pattern to any certain theme of posts I write and page views.

So, I need your help. Could you answer a few questions for me?…You don’t have to answer all of them…just allow them to fuel your thoughts…

• Why do you read my blog?
• What subjects of posts do you enjoy most?
• What brings you back to this blog?
• What would you miss if it disappeared?
• Topically speaking, would you say is my greater strength and focus?

I’m not asking for pats on the back. I’m asking you to help me further define my voice, my ministry focus and this blog. I want to write what people want to read…and if there is a book out there…who knows?

Thank you in advance.

We recently sold our house and purchased a new condo.  It’s been over 10 years since we made a real estate transaction, so this was quite an experience.  Apparently much has changed in the housing market, since we were last participants. (Understatement!)  We learned that purchasing any real estate is more difficult now.  We learned that purchasing a new condo can be especially difficult.  Along the way, we continued to hear from real estate agents, bankers, attorneys and appraisers that the amount of regulations added to real estate transactions has tremendously increased the potential for difficulty in the process.

My question: Has the government overreacted to correct a problem…to the point that they have made it unnecessarily difficult to purchase a new home?  Could this be one of the reasons for a continuous sagging real estate market?

I realize there was a problem…banks were giving loans they shouldn’t have given….something needed to be done…but the problem wasn’t as much in my city.

I wonder though, if this reaction…or overreaction…isn’t representative of what we do as churches, organizations, and individuals.

Sometimes one person is the problem, so we create a policy that impacts everyone. One department may be the problem, but we change the rules for everyone.  Often there is one complaint raised, so we change our structure to appease an individual.  Sometimes we have a couple of bad months…or even one unusual Sunday…and we react…or overreact…like the trend is permanent.  Our children make one mistake and we react like it’s who they are…rather than like it’s a mistake…one they can learn from…

Have you ever overreacted to correct a problem?  Do you have any examples to share with me of when you’ve seen this?  When is a time we tend to overreact in the church or as individuals?

(I realize some will be far more schooled on the housing issue than I am, so feel free to educate me.  I simply know what I experienced and what I was told along the way.)

Winners announced:

@Vikkihuisman

@josephthompson3

@Jessica_Journey

@TammyN4As

Congrats!

I have four copies of a book to give away today. The Missional Mom: Living with Purpose at Home & in the World, affirms Christian mothers who desire to not only to build their homes in a Christ-like way, but engage the world with their skills, abilities, and interests.  It won’t minimize the importance of a woman’s role in her home but it will encourage her to not ignore the stirrings God has planted within her to extend her influence.  (Check out more of The Missional Mom online HERE.)

The Amazon review states “We all must seek to be missional in our life journey.  The evangelical subculture in recent years has tended to reduce the domain of the Christian mom to that inside the walls of her house.  Moms today, however, are artfully, passionately, sometimes messily, juggling multiple callings and demonstrating in their modern day contexts how they are emulating the woman of noble character in Proverbs 31. Today’s moms bring a full range of personal and professional context, whether they are homemakers, full-time in the marketplace, or somewhere in between.”

Have I peaked your interest with this book?  Grab a copy of the The Missional Mom.  I’ll be giving away four (4) copies of this book tomorrow.

Here’s what you need to do:

• Comment on this post with your name and/or Twitter name.
• RT this post on Twitter
• Answer this question: My mom worked outside the home when I was growing up…Yes or No?

I’ll choose four (4) random winners tomorrow based on the total number of comments received.

I’m in Chicago this week.  What a week to come to Moody Founder’s Week!  I’ve been numerous times before, but this is a unique week.

Each service is different than what I experience each Sunday now, serving in a more contemporary setting, but I love the Bible teaching and even the traditional worship.  This conference is especially appealing to me these days, because I have a son who attends Moody Bible College.  Nate is a sophomore here and studying to be a pastor.  I love attending the events this week with him.

This week is unusual also, because I’m getting to experience the blizzard of 2011.  It’s been an amazing day watching the city prepare, then watching the storm arrive.  Many restaurants are closed, people are stranded on the roads for hours, and the visibility is near zero.  I’ve never experienced a “whiteout” before now.  Sadly, even as I type this, there are people calling into news programs who are stuck on Lake Shore Drive. Schools are closed tomorrow for the first time since 1999.

I’m safe in a hotel, and I’ve stocked up on some food to get me through a while, but pray for this city.  It is snowing 2 to 3 inches per hour and supposed to snow throughout the night.  It’s lightening and thundering, which seems weird during a snowstorm. They are comparing this storm to the storm of 1967. They have said this storm could be one of the top 3 or 4 snow storms in all history for the Chicago area. Wow! I’m concerned for people, but the adventuresome side of me is glad I’m here.

Are you ready for Summer?  Do you have a snow/blizzard story to share?

The first sermon of the new year at Grace Community Church was a difficult one, because I encouraged our people to let go of some of the burdens they had been carrying in 2010. We wanted to start 2011 with a clean slate and make it a better year. I challenged people to write the one issue they wanted to leave behind on an index card. We captured those, and though they didn’t have names on them, we recorded the general issue to see what people in our church were dealing with this year. For me personally this is helping to shape the way I preach.

Here is a graph of the over 1,000 cards we collected:

You can view the sermon from that day here:

What would you have written on that card? Does this graph represent some of your struggles?

I am frequently asked when is the right time to leave a leadership position.  I once wrote 8 Ways to Know It’s Time to Quit.  It’s still one of my most requested blog topics.  This is a hard decision for many leaders.  Thankfully, there are still leaders with a sense of loyalty, who want to do the right thing, and they simply do not know how or when they should leave.

I love hearing how one leader’s tenure carried the organization from infancy to maturity….

I am always impressed to hear of a long term pastorate…

The healthiest way, organizationally speaking, is to have a long-term leader, one who goes through seasons with the organizations, who carries the vision forward over a long span of time.

It should be noted, however, that sometimes a leader is just for a season….

• Some leaders get things started…
• Some leaders guide the organization through transition…
• Some leaders only handle the tough times…
• Some leaders help organizations start again…
• Some leaders close things out graciously….

And then they move on…

If a leader does what he or she has been called to do, there is no shame in doing ONLY what the leader was called to do…

Have you ever been the leader for a season?

What other example would you list?