So my class reunion is coming up soon. It is awesome that that it is the weekend before a wedding in Virginia I am going to so I will be in town. Couple of my closest friends are getting married September 20th. The reunion is the weekend before. When I got the invite there was a site we could go to and it had some pictures. Thought I would share one of me, as well as one I carry with me to show people for shock factor. So enjoy a laugh at my expense.
We did a series called “Talking Donkeys” in Truth Student Ministries. It was all about hard to believe stories in the Bible. We did Balaam’s Talking Donkey, The Floating Ax Head, and the story of Dry Bones.This is how we opened our service for the Dry Bones story. I think it helped bring home the idea of bones rising up from the dead. We used a mix between video and drama for this. Truth Student Ministries does Thriller from Tim Lemons on Vimeo.
At the end of Craig’s Message he read this prayer and it was awesome! This is only part of it, I found it here.
May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers, half truths, and superficial relationships, so that you may live deep within your heart.
May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that you may work for justice, freedom and peace.
May God bless you with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, and war, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and to turn their pain in to joy.
And may God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in this world, so that you can do what others claim cannot be done.
She is speaking with such passion and excitement it is amazing!
One act of obedience at a time. She had no idea what she was getting into
We are a bunch of “Grace Junkies” but we don’t extend it to ex-cons
David was a murderer - but we don’t call him a murderer
Haven’t received one single return to prison stat
98% employment rate
5 guys making over $100,000 after prison
70% are donors back to P.E.P. they teach these people who have been takers their whole life and have turned them into donors
Wow had to stop taking notes and just pay attention. I’ll post notes later from my friend Everett!
Favorite part - a guy who just got out of jail 4 hours ago quoted Jesus, “those who have been forgiven much will love much!” then he said, “I have a lot of love!”
How many of you have been to a church and it was dead? They didn’t have… IT
What about going to a place where you felt God and knew they had… IT?
Started in a two car garage students met in closet… Every week students came out of the closet
They didn’t have the stuff that most people think we need to have a church.
Every week people came to know God and invited their friends because they didn’t have the stuff they thought they needed… they had what they needed… The Spir-IT!
It’s something more than just the Spirit - to say the people who don’t have it don’t have the spirit would be insulting
New York Campus has seen %145 increase in a year - the campus he attends is the only one that has decreased = %3
What is it? The answer is = don’t know
God makes IT happen. We can’t create it, we can’t reproduce it, we can’t manufacture it, it can’t be taught, but it can be caught, it’s not a model, it’s not emergent, purpose driven, seeker sensitive, it is usually brought by more than one person, but usually one person can kill it
You could say, “IT Happens!” but often it doesn’t
Good news = if you don’t have it, doesn’t mean you can’t find it
Bad news = if you have it, you may not keep it
Acts 2:42-47 -
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. 44All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. 46Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
Four qualities that are most often there when IT is present:
Laser Focus - most people today said more ministries/events is better. I believe better ministries is better. Jim Collins asked, “what can you be the very best at?” In order to reach people that no one is reaching, you’ll have to do things that no one else is doing. But to do things that no one else is doing, you can’t do what everyone else is doing! Planned abandonment!
Started examining ministries. Concert ministries was just entertaining other churches people. Don’t do
Cut all but 5 things. Worship, Small groups, kids ministry, student ministry, missions.
What are you doing that you need to STOP doing.
They see opportunities where others see obstacles
You have everything that you need to do all that God wants you to do.
You don’t have what you want or what they think they need, you have what you and they need
What if I said you need to raise 100,000 dollars by Friday? Couldn’t do it. What if I said you have to raise 100,000 for a shot for child otherwise they will die? YEP! Overcome the obstacle!
He often provides where God doesn’t provide. They had to see something they couldn’t see.
What is God trying to show you through your greatest limitation?
They are willing to fail
Failure is not an option… I agree, “It’s a necessity!”
Peter couldn’t have done what he did if he hadn’t failed! He failed walking on water, he failed by denying Him, but he succeeded feeding his sheep! 3,000 were saved!
They failed starting two campuses in Phoenix and ended up having to merge them
There are two steps to failure.
The Mule - shook of the dirt, the dirt started piling up at his feet and he started stepping up. SHAKE IT OFF! STEP IT UP!
What has God called you to do that you are afraid to attempt? When are you going to do it?
They are led by people who have IT!
You need to have IT for your ministry to have IT!
Before long ministry started to kill IT! It became less about building his kingdom and more about building my church. I started preaching messages that would bring people in instead of pleasing to God
I tried to be Rick Warren - but I’m accidental. I tried to be Joel Osteen - but I’m not that happy!
When you have IT in you, it starts coming out, and other people with IT will come to you
We start to try to acquire the things we don’t need to have IT
God showed me I had became a full time pastor and a part time follower of Christ! DANG!
I stopped reading other books, and started just reading the Bible. I went to another country and held a baby that would probably die after I left. I started fasting again!
Let God break your heart again!
If you read this say a prayer for Mike. A guy Craig has been ministering to for 4 years and still hasn’t accepted Christ!
If you don’t have it what are you going to do to get it?
WOW! Go here and buy his message if you are a church leader. It should be up here later.
1 John 4:7 - Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.
We have to abide in something besides us
What’s love got to do with it - Tina Turner was a prophet
I’m black in case you can’t tell - some of you may be watching this in black n white. I’m the black side
I’m not gonna say God told me cause you think they’re crazy so I’m gonna say, “I think I heard”
1 john 4:15 - If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God.
sometimes the best thing we can do as leaders is say my bad like Jonah did
I’m not a meteorologist but they say a storm happens when high pressure hits low pressure
When God’s high pressure hits our low pressure - storms happen
The church is the only institution that can say we only cater to those who look like us - that’s our low pressure
1 John 4:17 - In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him.
I’m tired of grown men having lil before their name. Lil wayne, etc.
How do we - something?
create areas where different backgrounds can come together
Making and maintaining good soil is necessary to grow flowers
What kind of soil do people need to grow
1 cor 3:6-9 - 6I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. 7So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 8The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. 9For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.
We have a job - to create the right soil that encourages growth
Are you willing to get your hands dirty?
How many sexually active drunk atheist do you have in your church?
Does the soil your creating allow for questions and struggles?
1 cor 12:27 - Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.
Matthew 9:11-13 - When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and ’sinners’?”12On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’[a] For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Who did Jesus come for? Messy, dirty people. Who should we be for? Messy, dirty people.
Am I leading more like Jesus or the pharisees
How do we lead with a soil that creates growth?
Acceptance - come like you are.
create an environment that sees people for who they could be, not who they are
Jesus sees dirty people as who they could be, Pharisees see them as dirty
Acts 15:10-11, 19
What barriers are there to grace - acts 17 - Paul turned their idol worship to God worship
two questions i get asked the most: How do you feel about gays? How do you feel about other religions
In every culture there are barriers to grace
Authentic confessing community
James 5:16 - Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.
We can live for real not pretending to be better than we are.
If we live this way, others will begin to live this way and we will become healing agents for each other
What if we invite people and they never change? Then you’ll be like Jesus - he invited Judas and he never changed
Constant Connection to God’s Spirit
John 15:5 - I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
Romans 8:4-5 - n order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit. 5Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.
It’s simple - Stay connected = spiritual growth
Set your watch to have an alarm go off every 60 minutes to remind you to connect with God through out the day
So much of leadership is making decisions, decisions that have very high stakes
Do you have a system/framework that helps you arrive at a decision?
1st question usually asked - does the Bible say anything about this?
2nd question - are there any advisors - prov 11:14
3rd - PG&E question
what have you learned from the Pain of past decisions
what have you learned from the Gain of past decisions
what have you learned from the Experience of past decisions
We must journal so we can add to our vault of wisdom along our life
4th - Prompting of the Holy Spirit? - Rom 8:6 - The mind of sinful man[a] is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace
Results of Decision
If decision comes out poorly who do you blame? nobody. you take responsibility. you don’t point fingers, play the victim
Staying clear about the poor decisions is what makes the lessons clear for the future, if you stay fuzzy in poor decisions, the lesson will be fuzzy.
If decision comes out well who do you thank? God, Experience, Holy Spirit!
That was an intro. Now here we go
Lincoln said “the best way to (deal with someone who has wronged me)destroy my enemy is to turn him into my friend”
Anytime someone wrongs you and you feel like you want to get revenge on them - think about that quote and turn them into your friend
Bob someone from Motorola, “Create motion for motions sake” Action is better than in action. - hmm… not sure I agree with that will have to work through that
Collin Powell - Powell principles:
Promote a clash of ideas
Check your egos at the door
Reward your best performers, get rid of your non-performers
Bill Hybel’s Axioms - he realized he had 76 axioms
Vision Leaks - I used to be in internal anguish for months because people would forget the vision they all stood and cheered for 3 months earlier. Because of life - their vision leaks!
Get the right people around the table - I believe God wants every church on planet earth to succeed. I believe God will pour out his wisdom on those who lead. My job as senior leader to invite the right people and bolt the door and work out the plan. DO YOU BELIEVE HE STILL LOVES YOU AND WILL HELP YOU? The people on that table are going to feed off you and your convictions
Facts are your friends - Made a big investment in a tool called Reveal. As brutal as church facts can be, they are still your friends.
1st circle - Explorers
Cross
2nd circle - res
3rd circle - growing - growing people ask God to bless their program
4th circle - Christ Centered - my life is in your hands and I will do what you want
When something feels funky… Engage - don’t believe the lie that problems go away if unattended. In church work - unattended problems grow fangs and prowl around.
Knew there was a problem in group life - hosted a chat (expected a friendly, sit by the fire talk. Instead the people were ticked off and wanted answers.
Sometimes we need to ask for a mulligan - we need to call a foul - the benefit of a deep christian community - hopefully grace would be extended
Take a flier - take a calculated risk once in a while
staff came to me and said we want to take a flier with a global hunger campaign - result would be feeding 10,000 kids
The people of the church ate beans and rice for 5 days so they could understand what it’s like to live like the poor
Every church needs a flier every now and then - something that takes their breath away
God rock our world - they will never experience that if you don’t take some fliers
This is Church - Had a busy day one day where the whole day was planned in 15 minutes. Got a call from a guy whose son just went to jail and needed to talk. While talking to him and ministering to this person through love I said, “This is Church” Not all the infrastructure and meetings I had planned at church office. Acts 2:46 - 46Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts,
Everyone else is putting this on their blog, so maybe I should too!
Allthough I am on staff @
The Met the thoughts/views/opinions expressed on this site are my own, and in no way reflect the views of The Met or its staff.
IT!
Efrem Smith
Blog/Tim Lemons
Myspace/timlemons
Facebook/Tim Lemons
Last.fm/timlem
Digg/timlem
Flickr/timlemons
Linkedin/Tim Lemons
Twitter/timlem
YouTube/timlem
Pownce/Tim Lemons
GMail/Tim Lemons
Recent Comments