ChurchPlanters.com "Giving You Permission"

You can't have it both ways...

One of the things you might want to consider doing is blogging as a means for communciating vision to your church body...here is a blog that Shawn posted earlier today....for this one and others go to www.shawnlovejoy.com.

I love Chic-fil-A sandwiches...But I have a dilemma every time I order from there. I LOVE the fried chicken sandwiches. HOWEVER, I love the char-grilled sandwiches! They taste great and they are better for you! Do you know what would make my life easier? If Chic-fil-A would come out with a half fried, half char-grilled sandwich. the reality? I'll never get it both ways.
    I'm convinced that's what most Christians want out of a church.  I've never met a Christian that SAID they wanted the church to be all about them. Every Christian I have ever met have SAID they want the church to reach out to people disconnected from Christ. However, do you know what I've found?  Most churches want to reach the unchurched as long as they don't have to get uncomfortable doing it! Most Christians want to unconsciusly focus the ministry and philosophy of the church in such a way that it feels comfortable to them and what they are used to, while attempting to reach the unchurched. But you can't have it both ways!
   I am convinced that a church will make all of the Christians (the ones already going to Heaven) comfortable, or it will make a conscious choice to make people disconnected from Christ (the ones that aren't going to Heaven) comfortable. I'm convinced a church can't have it both ways!
    Just so you're following me, Mountain Lake has chosen the latter. We have chosen to design our church so that it is comfortable to people who don't go to church. If there is any group we can not allow to make  uncomfortable, it's those that  don't know Christ!
     Does that mean the church shouldn't care about what Christians think? No. Does that mean that a church should not be concreted with developing Christians into fully devoted followers of Christ? No. It just means that a church can NOT choose to make Christians comfortable in their worship services and programming, and still reach the unchurched.  You can not have it both ways!
       If you want to know WHY Mountain Lake Church is designed the way it is, it's not so we can call ourselves cool, contemporary, or do praise and worship music. It's because we want to make our church easily acceptable, non-threatening, and yes, comfortable to the unchurched! Because w know we can't have it both ways!
         Are you uncomfortable at times at our church? Do the messages seem to focus more on the disconnected than the connected at church? If so, then you have probably found a church that makes God's heart beat fast! Here's what He said:   "What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? 13And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off."  Matthew 18:12-13 (NIV)
     Make the decision today that you are going to be a part of a church that makes you uncomfortable, so you can be a part of a movement that goes after lost sheep and impacts the eternal destinies of people!...Shawn

Hanging Out

I hung out with some great guys this week in St. Louis. I always enjoying hanging with church planters that are getting it done. Here are just a few I got to hang out with: Darrin Patrick, Lead Pastor of The Journey in St. Louis; Ron Sylvia pastors The Springs in Ocala, FL; Daniel Montgomery is the missional pastor of Sojourn Community Church in Louisville; Devin Hudson is Lead Pastor of Grace Point Church in Vegas; Rob Turner leads Apex Community Church in Dayton, OH. These guys are awesome and they “get it” when it comes to reaching disconnected people! Check them out and learn from them…while you are at it register for our ChurchPlanters.com Conference before the end of the year to get the $99.00 early bird special...shawn

 

Getting Out of the Rut

I just got back from the Multi-site Practicum hosted by Community Christian Church in Naperville,
Indiana. Dave and John Ferguson, and the rest of the team were so helpful to us and God used them to give us the courage to shake up our current staff BIGTIME. I was just reminded that I can do 6 months of thinking in two days when I get outside of the “rut” of daily ministry, become teachable, and learn things from other Pastors. One of the mistakes I often see church planters make is after getting, launched, they get so busy planting the church, they don’t get out side of themselves and their church plant to learn with others and TRAVEL with their tram. Conferences are valuable not only for their content, but just for the time they provide to get away with some of our team. Book your team to go somewhere today… ONE GREAT OPTION IS OUR UPCOMING CHURCHPLANTERS.COM CONFERENCE! See you there…Shawn

 

Be Yourself

Being a church planter is the hardest job there is. I don’t care what else you do, or have done, church planting is the hardest thing ever! The biggest lie I ever believed from the pit of Hell is the idea that 6 years later and hundreds and hundreds of changed lives later, that things would be easier.

One of the toughest parts of church planting is realizing that people come to your church and leave your church because of you. Did you catch that? So part of the church planting process involves coming to peace with who you are and who God created you to be; To embrace what God has uniquely gifted you to do; and conversely not to do! To embrace the fact that you are NOT Andy Stanley, Rob Bell, Ed Young, or Bill Hybels (Does anyone still want to be Bill?).

I think I am coming to that place. A place where I am comfortable being the person God created me to be. I also thank that the closer I get to that place, the more people are drawn to the church I lead. I ran across a Scripture recently that could change your life in regards to this issue.

 2 Timothy 4:5 (NKJV) ⁵But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

 Paul said: “Timothy, fulfill YOUR ministry. NOT someone else’s; your own.” The only one we are responsible to is God! As church planters, we’ve GOT to come to a point where the ONLY person we’re trying to please is God. Could that be the X factor for church planting success? Maybe…Shawn