• Put in more time to spend with your wife and children – Church planting will eat ALL your time if you let it. And it WILL take a lot of time.  So you may have to cut down on golfing or fishing
• Read more than normal – If you’re not a reader now, become one. Read lots of books about lots of things; church planting, theology, business, culture, marriage, etc.  Become a student again.
• Spend time in your plant area – Don’t work from an office. Work at Starbucks, Panera, or a local dive that has wi-fi. Meet people and become known by the people you cross.
• Pray – Duh…but you wouldn’t believe how many times I’ve heard, ” I wish we would had prayed more about that”
• Let a mentor invest in you – Find a pastor that will pour into you that is a little further ahead of you and one that is way further ahead of you.  There are lots of coaching networks out there that can be great for this, but I bet there is pastor near you that wouldn’t mind investing in you.
• Read blogs – There are TONS of blogs devoted to things that will help you in church planting. When I started in church planting, there were not near as many.
• Remain Fluid – When things don’t work out the way you want, be fluid, adjust and devise a new plan around your old plan, but make sure it’s God’s plan.
• Stop spending crazy amounts of time looking for a location. Instead, invest more into your leaders. The location will happen I promise.
• Never forget you’re planting the Gospel, not just a church. You’re planting something for GOD’s Kingdom, not yours

• We’ve now been in our building for almost 5 months. I was only about 70% sure at best this was the right move for out church, but with each day, I’m more and more confident we did the right thing.
• We still have really not advertised yet, and so all the growth we’ve seen from the move has been from personal invites.
• Oak Ridge is one of the HARDEST places to advertise for anything. Only 2 billboards in town, can’t put up street signs because of a city ordinance, and the local media stinks.  It’s tough but we’ve got to figure it out.
• Who out there is doing the best job in a similar situation?  Hook a brother up!
• This past Sunday we saw our highest attendance on a non-holiday weekend!  Yeah…I can get up for that
• The current series, Losing My Religion has been a hot topic series.  It’s started the year off with a bang!
• The next series, Real Marriage based on Mark Driscoll’s book, should be another conversation starter
• To be fair and honest, I wasn’t entirely excited about planting a church in Oak Ridge. But the longer I’m here, the more I love this city for what God sees in it.
• I’m  really excited to see what God is doing in our Ridge Kids and Ridge Students so far this year. Ridge Students has already seen several students accept Christ and Ridge Kids is blowing up in size.  It’s gonna be a crazy year for kids at Ridge Church!
• Speaking of crazy, I told our Ridge Students if they hit a certain number, I’d come lead worship for them. Yikes!  I think they’ll do it
• I’m really looking forward to this year of ministry.  The momentum is swinging and I think we’re picking up steam.
• I’ve heard some great reports of random people in our city talking about what Ridge Church is doing in the community.  I’ll take that buzz all day!
• One simple phrase is helping us tighten up loose screws each week….THAT CAN’T HAPPEN. I strongly encourage you to inject it into your culture as well.  It’s totally transferable

If you live in the Knoxville area, you know that ABC’s Extreme Home Makeover was in town for a week doing a home build for a very deserving family (one we’ve actually been able to partner with in the past through Restoration House).  The media buzz has been amazing and in some ways, almost overwhelming.

Every tweet from local media seemed to be about every tiny detail of the build.  It was really amazing to see so many people volunteer to help and so many people simply just follow the story online or through the local news.  On the surface, Extreme Home Makeover is impacting the life of a family, which I think is awesome.  By the way people responded and followed the story, it’s obvious that people deeply care about impacting the lives of others positively.  Again…AWESOME!

My lovely wife posted this question on Facebook this week….(@Denira)

So I absolutely LOVE the whole extreme makeover thing and love the all the updates. But It has made me wonder what our cities would be like if this many people selflessly gave their time and resources to others on a daily, weekly or even monthly basis? What if the church was the catalyst for this type of project and not a tv show?

BOOM!  I love that!  The local church SHOULD be the catalyst for this type of project!  And, thank Jesus, many churches ARE doing this type of work on a daily basis, impacting the lives of people, every single day, because of the GOSPEL.

See, ultimately, ABC’s Extreme Home Makeover is about making that $$.  And that’s ok.  I get that.  It’s business and ratings.  But the church is about impacting others with the Gospel for the honor and glory of God (or should be).

To me, and maybe I’m biased, but that’s a story that deserves a little more coverage.  It’s sad to think that many churches, who do these types of thing on a daily basis, gets overshadowed completely by a multi-media corporation who comes into town for 7 days with lights, cameras and celebs.

The camera’s aren’t on….the lights aren’t very bright….and we have no celebrities….BUT we have JESUS.

I think that’s a story that should be BLASTED.

No matter how good of a communicator you are, you will lay a big 0le stinky egg on stage one Sunday.  It happened to me this past Sunday.

Or so I thought….

As a pastor/preacher/communicator, I am my own worst critic.  As soon as I step off the stage Sundays, I can usually give you an analysis of how I thought I did.  This past Sunday, even though I loved the topic  and I was really prepared, I felt as though I laid an egg with my message.

As someone who communicates the most important message in the world every week, sucking it up is not what you want to do.

But praise be to God, that it’s not up to you how your message comes across.  That’s the job of the Holy Spirit.

I’m thankful that God still used what I thought was an egg to speak to people.

I’m constantly reminded that JESUS said HE would build HIS Church.  Not me.

Then I’m reminded of this as well...For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. – Matthew 10:20

THANK YOU JESUS

Preach the Gospel to the best of your ability and then get out of the way.  Your egg may not stink as bad as you thought.

Just this week, I get to network with two of my mentors/coaches from Mission Church, a good friend who also happens to be a pastor, and I’ve connected with several guys on Twitter.

It doesn’t matter what area of ministry you are in; volunteer, ministry leader, or pastor, never underestimate the power and benefits of networking with other leaders in the church.

7 or 8 years ago, this was pretty difficult to do, and in a lot of ways, just wasn’t happening as often.  But today, I see a landscape that is more about advancing God’s Kingdom than our own kingdoms.

So if you’re in the ministry in any way, take some time today to reach out to someone else to connect and network with.  It’ll be well worth your time and effort to do so.

Today I noticed that a search to my blog was “pastor’s wives that don’t want to do it anymore.”

Don’t quit.  Don’t give up.  Hold on.

I don’t know if you found this blog because you want to quit and you want out of the ministry.  Can I just be honest and tell you that I feel you?  Can I be honest and tell you that my wife (@denira) has felt the same way at times?

I’m convinced that the very hardest job in the church is the job of the wife married to the lead pastor.  It’s not easy.

I believe there are things that churches, it’s members and pastors (me included) can do to make the job a little easier and more enjoyable…

• During pastor appreciation month, honor the wife and the pastor’s family.  They are the real warriors
• Send a note to let the pastor’s wife know you’re praying for her and her family.  Then actually DO IT
• Don’t get your underpants in a wad when the pastor’s wife doesn’t show up at your bible study, event or social gathering.  It’s quite possible her schedule is already overbooked
• If the pastor’s wife isn’t serving in the kids ministry, that’s OK. Her main ministry is to her family.  You can find a kids volunteer but the pastor can’t find another family.
• She didn’t talk to you on Sunday?  It’s OK.  She doesn’t hate you
• Pastor….do a better job of protecting her feelings, time, and boundaries (I’ve failed miserably at this one in the past and still struggle with it at times).

If you’re not or have never been the wife of a pastor, you have no idea.  As the husband of a pastor’s wife, I don’t fully have a clue in many ways.  But what we can all understand is the job is tough and we can all (myself especially) do whatever it takes, to make it any tougher.

Pastor wives, hang in there.  I encourage you to contact my wife on Twitter, @denira, and she would be glad to get you connected to a network of other pastor wives around the country that can pour into you.

I want this year to different.  So, I’m already compiling a list of books that I want to read, and as others come available, I’ll pick those up as well.  Some of these are older, but they’re still good.

You can see and keep up with my list

• Real Marriage | Mark and Grace Driscoll  |  I’m currently reading this one, but since I’ll finish it 2012, it counts.  So far, it’s excellent.
• For The City | Darrin Patrick and Matt Carter |  Also currently reading this one and almost done.  One of my all time favorite books ever.  So inspired
• Church Planter | Darrin Patrick
• On Church Leadership | Mark Driscoll
• Great By Choice | Jim Collins
• Onward | Howard Schultz
• Through My Eyes | Tim Tebow and Nathan Whitaker
• Jesus + Nothing = Everything | Tullian Tchividjian
• Barefoot Church: Serving the Least in a Consumer Culture | Brandon Hatmaker
• The Circle Maker | Mark Batterson

I’m sure there will be others that will move to the top of  the list later in the year as well as older books I have in my library already.

Consequently, I spent the next 2 years church hopping, ducking my calling, and being uncommitted to serving the God that never left me.  I felt a lot like Jonah.  Ultimately, the running and ducking part was my doing and my choice.  I avoided the call that God placed on my life from years earlier.  And that, according to scripture, is not good.

1 Timothy 4:14-16….Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you.15 Practice these things, immerse yourself in them,t so that all may see your progress.16 Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.

First, this doesn’t say my salvation depends on my preaching and teaching.  That only depends on my redemption in Jesus.  But what it does say is that my decision to run didn’t just affect me, but it inadvertently effected others that should had heard the Gospel from my mouth and life, yet I kept it from them.

If God has called you, you’ve heard that call yet you still run from that calling, whatever it may be, let me encourage to stop running and practice it and persist in it.  There’s an impact to be made with you at the epicenter.

Here are a few of my favorite things from 2011…

• Favorite moment: The birth of our daughter, Emersyn Grace in May of 2011
• Runner up moment: The opening day of our new facility at Ridge Church
• Favorite book I read in 2011:  For The City by Darren Patrick and Matt Carter
• Favorite new artist in 2011: Toss up…Skrillex and Arrows to Athens
• Favorite movie seen in 2011: It’s Kind of a Funny Story (hey..I saw it in 2011 ok)
• Favorite new TV series in 2011:  The Walking Dead
• Favorite new app: Toss up…GoodReader and Flipboard for iPad

Ok, so that’s not a lot of stuff, but it’s a little something.  I could do exhaustive list, but who really wants to read that?  I’m looking forward to 2012!

I’m going to do my best to refrain from making this a rant, but there is one thing lately that really has me chapped.  Let me tell you what drives me nuts; “believers” that it make it their mission to bash the local church or organized church and hide behind the line, “this is not the church of the book of Acts.”  That was 33 AD and this is 2011…IT’S GOING TO HAVE A DIFFERENT SKIN ON IT NOW.  

Here are a few of my favorites….

” I don’t tithe to the church.  It’s not biblical to give to a church.  Besides, all they do is waste the money instead of helping people.”

” I don’t go to church because I don’t think that we are supposed to have churches.  Jesus met in the fields and where ever He was.  He never went to church.”

” Churches focus too much on buildings and make it a performance instead of real worship.  So I don’t go.  I worship at home.”

Seriously.   Stop it.  

You’re not helping anyone to the cross.  You’re causing division.  Stop hiding behind Facebook, Twitter, and your blog.  Read the scriptures.  Get the truth.

How bout this… shh…. be the Gospel, be part of the solution and not part of the division.