Redemptive Tobacco

A true servants heart

I went to mcdonalds this morning. When I lives in Atl it was a staple for iced tea before church. In the photo is Keith. Keith has a servants heart unlike any I know.

He NEVER let's you clean your table. He ALWAYS gets you a refill, whether you need one or not. He ALWAYS has a smile on his face. ALWAYS.

I pray God's blessing on him. (He just said hello again. ). He exhibits the true servants heart that every Christ Follower should poses.

Obstacles to growth - growth

I have had the privilege over the years to be on staff with a church, plant a church. lead worship at a church and help launch a satellite.  Now that I am in NC, I have the privilege of being around Hope Community Church -- one that has grown to around 5000 -- and exploded the past year.  One thing that I noticed before coming to Hope was that as a church grew, it became more difficult for small groups to grow.  That is a challenge that Hope is having as well.  Think about the obstacles that a "big" church has to overcome...

1.  Many times they can't control the growth of the Sunday "service".  If this is rapid enough, then it becomes the tyranny of the urgent.

2.  As the church reaches a certain number of small groups, it becomes very difficult to effectively monitor and mentor them.

3.  Here is a big one... small group ministry doesn't really work unless small groups multiply.  In a smaller church this isn't as big a deal.  Why?  You still see the people on Sunday or at other events.  At a big church, when you multiply...if feels like you are saying goodbye to people that have become good friends.  If there are multiple services, the people may never see each other in a social context on Sunday morning.

4.  Communication is a huge deal (and struggle) in any church I've been with.  The larger you get, the easier it is for people to wander in and out and not ever know about small groups.  Hope is one of the few churches I've seen that effectively reach the unchurched for Christ.  I'm telling you, a lot of the unchurched don't know what Sunday School is... and definately don't know what a small group is.

I've thought about it a lot, and there aren't easy answers.  I'm working with the Small Group's Pastor at Hope on how you create an effective small groups environment in a big church.  Here are a few thoughts...

1.  You have to decide if you are a church OF small groups or a church WITH small groups.
2.  If one of your primary values is to drive people towards community, then Small Group communication and promotion almost has to go to "overkill" level. 
        ...Make it the first thing a person sees when they come in the door. 
        ...Make it a prominant part of the web presence.
        ...Create an expectation among small group leaders for what this role means.  It is essentially an         undershepherd.  It can't be taken lightly.  That may even mean that groups decrease initially to             acheive this.
3.  Utilize the Web.  I think this one is HUGE.  Social Networking via the web can really help take the "edge" off of the resistance to multiplication.  If people can keep up with each other...even via the web...they don't necessarily feel like they have completely left the relationship.
4.  Along with #3.  In order to make this work, the web presence needs to be such that people want it to be the FIRST thing they go to on the web.  It should be their bookmarked page that automatically opens.  Mine is Facebook (along with YouTube) right now.

Those are ramblings... a mis-mash of thoughts on a topic that I've really only just jumped into thinking about.  I'm interested in hearing how others are doing it.  There is no easy or perfect answer...and I think it will always be a challenge.  However, if the goal is to move people towards community in Christ then we must be contstantly thinking about ways to do this.  Thoughts?

A Smoke on Planting Churches among the 55+ crowd....

Raggamuffin Soul is a blog I like to frequent.  I was just having the same thoughts on how we are missing a huge portion of people when we don't look at planting in unchurched older communities.  I'd encourage everyone to read this article.  Add a comment or two.  It is excellent.

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Ragamuffin Soul »  Before You Know It // It WIll Be Us

Before You Know It // It WIll Be Us
Posted on 06 December 2008
Tags: Culture, Family

pops.jpg

So I had a great conversation with my dad today.
He is 67.
He still preaches almost every Sunday.
He loves the Lord.
But in his latter years of life he wonders…
What about his generation?
Everything is all about reaching the next generation.
And his generation is expected to just go along with the changes that effect him and keep rather silent.
So they do.
Or they don’t.
If they do they smile in the back of the auditorium.
If they don’t they continue to press on in their older churches with less energy to reach their community.
When I hear my dad I hear 2 things…
1. Are there options for him to worship the way that he feels comfortable on a Sunday without being judged by the hipsters and actually being helped by the hipsters.
2. Is there room in our churches for effective strategies to reach the millions of senior citizens as well as the 28 year old male that we obviously program for?

What are you thoughts on the 65 year old generation?
Because before you know it…
It will be us.

Los

Knowing How to Light Up a Website

Here is a great article on incorporating technology into churches and how many times churches spend too much money when they can build it for a lot less.  I'm hoping churches like New Spring will "open source" their sources and tricks for the rest of us.

Joshua Blankenship | Blog » WorkSmarterNotHarder

WorkSmarterNotHarder

While stopping to get a healthy sausage biscuit at a local fast food place on the way to work yesterday, I noticed some construction guys working on the roof of (yet another) new fast food place next door. These guys were obviously students of the WorkSmarterNotHarder school of thought, passing metal roof panels from the ground to the 2nd story roof using a pair of vice grips tied to a rope. No ladder, no scaffold, no up and down, no huge crew. Just two guys using simple tools in straight-forward, creative ways.

At NewSpring, we’re working on a couple of large-ish web projects right now; one of them is specifically stretching our team into areas of experimentation and non-knowledge. For a particular aspect of the live streaming video components, we’ve been told everything from “$80k to set-up the infrastructure” to “that’ll be ballpark $1.2mil.” Ouch. But as we’ve been gathering info from various (really, really) nice people, it turns out we can do most of what we want to do with open source and relatively-inexpensive hardware/software.

By doing this we save money and time, which makes us more nimble and able to change directions quickly. We opt for straight-forward accessible tools, not out-of-reach technology. We use a small team to pull off big ideas by leveraging existing knowledge, technology and friends. Sometimes I feel like our whole web strategy is built with vice grips and square knots, but I’m ok with that.

Timebomb by Beck

This is a great song, and since my blog is called Redemptive Tobacco and since my posts are called "smokes", I had to include it.  Not only is it a great tune, but it references cigarettes.  Not sure what the gerbils are for though.  Any thoughts?

Knowing How to Light Up a Website

Here is a great article on incorporating technology into churches and how many times churches spend too much money when they can build it for a lot less.  I'm hoping churches like New Spring will "open source" their sources and tricks for the rest of us.

Joshua Blankenship | Blog » WorkSmarterNotHarder

WorkSmarterNotHarder

While stopping to get a healthy sausage biscuit at a local fast food place on the way to work yesterday, I noticed some construction guys working on the roof of (yet another) new fast food place next door. These guys were obviously students of the WorkSmarterNotHarder school of thought, passing metal roof panels from the ground to the 2nd story roof using a pair of vice grips tied to a rope. No ladder, no scaffold, no up and down, no huge crew. Just two guys using simple tools in straight-forward, creative ways.

At NewSpring, we’re working on a couple of large-ish web projects right now; one of them is specifically stretching our team into areas of experimentation and non-knowledge. For a particular aspect of the live streaming video components, we’ve been told everything from “$80k to set-up the infrastructure” to “that’ll be ballpark $1.2mil.” Ouch. But as we’ve been gathering info from various (really, really) nice people, it turns out we can do most of what we want to do with open source and relatively-inexpensive hardware/software.

By doing this we save money and time, which makes us more nimble and able to change directions quickly. We opt for straight-forward accessible tools, not out-of-reach technology. We use a small team to pull off big ideas by leveraging existing knowledge, technology and friends. Sometimes I feel like our whole web strategy is built with vice grips and square knots, but I’m ok with that.

24 Redemption: A Review

Jack is back, so my wife is happy.  I couldn't pass up the opportunity to write a little smoke on the show since it had "redemption" in the name.  It is getting a lot of buzz on twitter, so I had to get more than just my two "tweets" in.  I thought the show was great, but I almost wish they had waited.  It felt like hour one of a new series and it did 3 things...

1.  It made me realize that two months is a LONG time.  A very long time in 24 "years".  Ugggg.
2.  It made me sad that there is NO WAY to ever do justice to a 24 movie.  Each hour would be about 5 minutes...just wouldn't work.  Last night was 2 hours and it was hard enough to get all the content and nuances in that 24 is so good at.
3.  It got me a little peeved when I realized that Almeda was going to be a bad guy.  It is one thing to have a guy turn that you don't know and appears to be good at the beginning of the season.  However, Tony was one of my favorite characters and I don't want to see him go all Bizzaro on the show.  The equivalent to me would be Chloe being some kind of double agent after all this time.

In the meantime, if you like 24, you need to check out the show My Own Worst Enemy.  It is a great new show with a fascinating premise.  Think Jack with two personalities that didn't know each other existed.  And wouldn't cha know it, I now see the series is canceled.  Oh well, I liked it.

Redemption Stories: Lydia Baker and Reality Ministries

Beauty of the Spirit, by Lydia Baker

When God laid it on my heart to start Beauty of the Spirit, my goal to design a program that provided Christ-centered knowledge and awareness to young women struggling with self-image and identity. I created a curriculum with a foundation in Christ's Word that would address the issues that women and girls face every day. I have been employed with the local government for four and a half years now. Though there are many wonderful programs through the City that serve our youth, there is nothing like programs that give youth and opportunity to learn about and experience Christ's love, peace of mind, and well-being.

Not knowing how I would implement the Beauty of the Spirit curriculum that I had written, I began working with a group of girls as the Community Relations Coordinator with the City of Durham. I created an alternative curriculum for this group because there was a limited amount of content that I was allowed to share with them.

Great Review / Words from Steve McKoy at Reformissionary

I ran into this post by Steve McKoy and thought you all might like it.  It is the second book by Allender that has been put in front of me in the past 10 hours.  I'm expecting #3 (the "sign") to come tomorrow.  I believe I have also seen some of his stuff reviewed at tallskinnykiwi, but don't quote me on that.

Chief-Sinner Leaders

Paul calls leaders not merely to be humble and self-effacing but to be desperate and honest.  It is not enough to be self-revealing, authentic, and transparent.  Our calling goes far beyond that.  We are called to be reluctant, limping, chief-sinner leaders, and even more, to be stories.  The word that Paul uses is that a leader is to be an 'example,' but what that implies is more than a figure on a flannel board.  He calls us to be a living portrayal of the very gospel we beseech others to believe.  And that requires a leader to see himself as being equally prone to deceive as he is to tell the truth, to manipulate as he is to bless, to cower as he is to be bold.  A leader is both a hero and a fool, a saint and a felon.

We are both and to pretend otherwise is to be disingenuous.  The leader who fails to face [his] darkness must live with fear and hypocrisy.  The result will be a defensiveness that places saving face and controlling others as higher goods than blessing others and doing good work.  Clearly, the biblical model of leadership is odd, inverted, and deeply troubling.  It is so troubling that most churches, seminaries, and other religious organizations would never hire a 'chief sinner.'  The only one who thinks to do so is God.

Dan Allender in Leading With A Limp, p 57.

Steve McCoy at 01:05 PM in Books, Leadership, Pastoring, Spirit & Truth, The Gospel | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)

Technorati Tags: smoke, blog post, redemptive tobacco, tallskinnykiwi, steve mckoy, reformissionary, missional, limp, dan allender, leading with a limp, book review, great read

Paul calls leaders not merely to be humble and self-effacing but to be desperate and honest.  It is not enough to be self-revealing, authentic, and transparent.  Our calling goes far beyond that.  We are called to be reluctant, limping, chief-sinner leaders, and even more, to be stories.  The word that Paul uses is that a leader is to be an 'example,' but what that implies is more than a figure on a flannel board.  He calls us to be a living portrayal of the very gospel we beseech others to believe.  And that requires a leader to see himself as being equally prone to deceive as he is to tell the truth, to manipulate as he is to bless, to cower as he is to be bold.  A leader is both a hero and a fool, a saint and a felon.

We are both and to pretend otherwise is to be disingenuous.  The leader who fails to face [his] darkness must live with fear and hypocrisy.  The result will be a defensiveness that places saving face and controlling others as higher goods than blessing others and doing good work.  Clearly, the biblical model of leadership is odd, inverted, and deeply troubling.  It is so troubling that most churches, seminaries, and other religious organizations would never hire a 'chief sinner.'  The only one who thinks to do so is God.

Dan Allender in Leading With A Limp, p 57.

Quote for the Day

“The cost for the recipient of God’s grace is nothing - and no price could be higher for arrogant people to pay.”

- Dan Allender, as quoted in Gospel Transformation