HIFIOY #5

Just getting back from Christmas vacation in Florida (holla), I thought I would finish up my little series of things that just don't sit right with me in the church world. I have talked about giving, and changing vision and the like, this morning I would like to touch on a subject, that I have seen over and over again. This mentality that the people in the church have regarding the paid staff in their church. It seems that once a church hires someone, that gives them the right to step back out of ministry all together and let the paid gun do everything. Now as much as I have seen this I have also seen it not work just as much.
Lets paint the picture: Church needs help...church hires a person who they think will help them reach the next level, church steps back and allows the new man to practically do every aspect of ministry by themselves, church starts to decline, church fires hired man because of poor numbers and offering, church rebuilds on it own, people come back into the ministry picture, church hires another ace and the circle slide (choir reference) continues.
Now personally I have a big problem with this...is this what the church is called to do? I do believe we are to seek and save the lost. But this seems to get lost in the aforementioned slide. After the people of the church have stepped back out of service to let the ace minister do everything there feelings get hurt, or they "wouldn't have done it like that", or your changing things way to fast around here, and the lost souls of our communities and the good name of the church get lost in the revolving slide.

A little side note, I know what the Bible says about double honor, and we shouldn't muzzle the ox, but I have had a problem for a long time now taking money from the church doing what I do. A lot of times the salary of the minister (s) hamstrings the work, the reach, message of the church. And why should I be the burden of a body of believers that is struggling to get by. In first Corinthians Paul knows he is due compensation...buts opts not to take it. This has intrigued me for some time now. If there is anyone who deserves monetary compensation it is the Apostle Paul. I really understand what Paul is saying in these passages (1 Cor. 9), he has the right but does not use the right. Where there ministers in the first century that were being 100% compensated for there work in the church? or did everyone combine the workload, and the money, and the resources. Has the Ministry become something it was never intended to be?
This is my struggle at this very moment in my career. I have been in places in my Ministerial career that I wondered if I was going to get paid. That is not fair to the church, and it is not fair to the "Minister".

If Ministerial salaries were done away with it might just level the playing field and help to stop the slide. Please tell me what you think.

R

HIFIOY # 4

Next on the list is why it seems that the Church always gets the short end of the stick when it comes to finances. I have been in smaller churches, church plants, larger churches the story is the same; the Lord's work is third at best when it comes to me and my money. The Lord will get his when I, and the gov, and my car, my house, my kids first get there's. We are never going to be the church the Lord wants us to be unless He gets first run in our lives. This means in every area of our lives, not just Sunday's but a 24/365 approach. This is how the first century church did it, they made the church their lives, this is what we are missing out of in the 21st century.

Time and time again I have seen churches just eek by, and accomplish nothing in the process. I believe it is a heart thing, that people when they take the plunge, not all aspects of there lives take the plunge as well. This is why some of our churches are struggling with trying to keep the boat afloat. I have had experience of actually getting to the point of having to close down a church because things got that bad. But if we were all 100% sold out, I believe it would have been a different story.

We want programs, we want facilities, we want staff, but are we willing to take the time and energy, and money it will take to put these things in place. I do believe that some churches out their..."play church", oops I said it. We see the budgeting process and find out that the leaders themselves are not sold out as they should be. Scripture aside, our thinking should be that what has been given to us....it is not ours, it is His. Money, family, stuff...it is all His. When we learn this then the Lord will get the first place He deserves in our lives.

Tell me what you think?

R

HIFIOY #3

So one thing that has really put me over the edge sometimes is this disconnect people have with there "church life" and what I would like to call there "real life". I have seen it time and time again that the church in peoples life seems to be just tolerated and not really engaged. Things, stuff, people, family, activities all take precedent over the local body of Christ. And as a result, the body is suffering and there is a glut of apathetic Christians on our hands.
In our state that we find ourselves we see that the church in a lot of cases does not get fifth place in a lot of peoples heart let alone first place. We seem to have a ton of "once a month er, dollar givers filling the roles of our churches. Which when we really look at it, we see the trickle down effect this has on our Youth and Children ministries. How in the world can you program for apathetic people.

The people are not involved in church like they use to be. Is is the people or is the Church? When this question was asked "when do you read your bible?" the answer was, "I read my bible in church." This clearly points to the "real world" vs. "Church world" problem I have faced and battled for what seems to be a long time now. I do "churchy" things when I am at church.....the one Sunday I go.

Now I have stated the problem, I can see only one real solution. It has to be Discipleship. Just saying the word makes me cringe. I know what that means. It means long-term investment into someones life. It does not always work, it is not pretty or showy, but I truly believe it is the answer. This is whole Jesus did it, this is how Paul did it...why have we changed? True Discipleship takes a long time, it is a slow process. Churches don't want to hear "not pretty", "slow process", they want big and bad and numbers. Discipleship is behind the scenes, it is not glossy on stage, forefront type of stuff. This has only been made new and fresh in my life just recently. I had the opportunity to fill in preach while the Senior Minister was gone. After my time was finished a man came up to me and said lets do lunch. We did and he confessed to a problem, we prayed and we have touched base consistently every week for about 6 months now. We have shared common interests, music, books, family events. And only after this block of time, I have seen the guy explode in the church. He is serving, he is hungry, he had transformed right before my eyes from disconnected to engaged.

Discipleship will not attract numbers, it might even push the ones you have to fall away. Maybe smaller is better?

Lets talk,

R

HIFIOY # 2

So in my long life as a "YOUTH MINISTER" I have seen time and time again what I would like to call the (BANE) of the located Youth Ministry. It seems to be at epidemic levels, this mentality that the Youth Ministry can fix my kid when I don't have anything spiritually to do with my child, when I don't read the bible in front of my child, when I am afraid to allow my child to see me pray, and when my church attendance and church giving are at anemic levels. But this new stud Youth Minister can fix lil Billy I know it.
Well I am here to tell you not so much. The time that the Youth Minister and the church for that matter have with your child is very small as compared to the time that you the parents have with them. The child is always going to take the lead of the parents. Your child is the way he/she is because of the example you have set for them. If you don't take time and read the bible...they are not going to read the bible, if you don't make church a priority...they are not going to allow the church to have priority in there lives. A good youth ministry will only start to see fruit three to five years down the road. There is no quick fix in the youth ministry, it takes time, and relationships, and time. All three of these components you the parent already possess. Make the most of the time you already have and read the bible with lil billy. It will make the world of difference. The youth ministry and the church should be the nice side dishes not the main course. The parents should be the meat, the children should come first to the parents and then enhance what the parents are already saying by attending youth ministry and the local church. We want lil billy to be on a good ball team and go to a good school and make lots of money, but do we really have lil billy's best interest at heart. Priorites need to be shifted...then lil billy will be the all around good Christian with the parents leading the way and the church and the youth ministry having there back the whole time.

Lets talk
R

HIFIOY # 1

Aside from being in the ministry for almost twenty I also fancy myself somewhat of Church Consultant. At the end of my last ministry in St. Petersburg Florida in which I was actually part of a church closing, I was able to be trained and certified as a Church Consultant as a part of my severance. Throughout the years I have always been interested in Church growth/health and have collected bulletins and newsletters, by-laws, mission statements and the like. What I have found to be true in several areas of the country is that we expect great things from our ministries and are dishearten when things don't pan out like we dreamt they would. This got me wondering and excited to do little investigation. What I have found out is that Church's keep doing church like we have always done it and every single time expect some sort of grandiose outcome. Allow me elaborate, what I am talking about we really don't change out methodology we just play at it. The Bible is the same yesterday as well as today, our methods should be allowed to be changed, tweaked, removed, or morphed into whatever will further the message we are preaching and teaching. NOTHING should be sacred except the word of God.

How we "do" church is not how they "did" church in the first century. The movement survived and thrived for more than three hundred years with meeting in homes and the everyone is a minister mentality. During this time in the Church's history it took over the known world. But as we have allowed man initiated thoughts, doctrine, methods and practices to take precedence and become something they are not, it has and will continue to hamstring the local body of believers.

Don't get me wrong "traditions" are good as long as they find there beginnings in the Word. When a "tradition" becomes a pet like or dislike it removes God from equation and puts us on very dangerous ground. When we find ourselves out of bounds like this, we are nothing more than a social club gathering around a buffet.

Lets talk, R

Have I Figured it Out Yet?

I have had the privilege to be involved in full-time church work for almost twenty years. In those years I have been a youth minister, associate minister, music/youth minister and now I find myself mulling over the Senior ministry or the main preacher/teacher of a congregation. I have come up with a list of five things that I would like feed back on. I would like to discuss these items one at a time, but for starters here is my list of issues that really just wear me out in the ministry.

1. Trying to do the same thing all the time expecting different results.
2. Let the youth minister fix my kid.
3. The disconnect with church life and my "real" life.
4. Church work always getting the short end of the stick financially.
5. Letting or allowing the paid staff to take the lead on everything....should we or should'nt we.

Let's talk, R