New Year Resolution

Can you believe it's already a new year? The start of a new year always prompts me to "clean house". Don't you love "New Year's Resolutions"? I think the only reason they exist is to teach me how really little self-control I possess. I remember what last year's resolutions were... They're the same as this year's, only with 12 months more guilt tacked on them. These are my standards; study the bible more, pray more, yell at my kids less, more diligence in quiet time, exercise more, less television, better husband, EAT LESS. If I knew these last year (and most years previous) why am I still struggling with them? Paul knew this frustration. He writes in Romans 7:18,19, "I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do--this I keep on doing."

We are all performance driven to a great degree. If you'll notice the adverbs I used in my resolutions; MORE, LESS, BETTER.... they have no measurement, no goal, they just simply reflect the fact that I'm not meeting MY expectations in that area. What that means is that we will never achieve a level that will satisfy us. I will never be perfectly content with my prayer life, my bible study habits, or my girlish figure.

So, what do we do? Should I just altogether abandon trying to do better? 2 Corinthians 5:17 says "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" Part of the package when we accept Christ and receive the Holy Spirit is that we have become a "New Year". Just like we can't go relive 2003 nor can we reverse any of the events that occurred last year, our old nature is gone. Our sinful nature has been buried and the old ways no longer bind us. We have been made NEW.

Why does that sound inconsistent with what I just said about never being good enough to meet my expectations? Because I haven't learned to view myself through the eyes of the one who's judgment counts. Just a few verses after Paul confesses his frustrations he resolves the issue for himself. He writes in Romans 8:1,2, "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death." Jesus isn't condemning you. He isn't even disappointed in you. He knows who you are, where you are, and what you're doing. He is calling you to a holy life, but that is one step at a time, and he has the time (and patience) to lead you there.

That brings up one last point! All of the verses I have shown reflect one thing, that our relationship with Jesus is the only way we have freedom over the old nature. According to Matthew 9:17 "Men don't pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved." What does that mean? It means that all of the changes (new wine) in the world is pointless if it is poured into an old wineskin. The old wineskin represents the person that has not received Christ as their Lord and allowed the Holy Spirit to regenerate their spirit. All change is in vain without Jesus, for you will never earn His approval or acceptance. It is given freely because He loves you without reserve. He made a resolution at the cross on your behalf and he has never wavered.

This is the heart of my New Year's Resolution this year, "Let me know Jesus more and serve Him with diligence and enthusiasm."

Have a great year in Jesus.

Duke

Freedom in Limitations

I know it seems self-evident when you look at things with hindsight but part of the job of leadership is to give people boundaries. Boundaries are what creates safety and freedom.

Freedom? I recently talked with a teenage boy about his lifestyle... drugs and such... in a very introspective moment he said "I wish my Mom would give me some rules because without them I'm trapped in this lifestyle." He had hit on something most people don't understand.... freedom isn't the ability to do anything you want... true freedom is based in security... I am free when I know the boundaries within which I can act in safety.

Have you ever worked at a job where you didn't have any real direction? I had positions where I never got feedback, good or bad! I didn't know if I was doing well or not... I thought I was doing what I should but I could never find out what my supervisors thought. In the end I quit in frustration... always feeling like I needed to look over my shoulder. Between the lack of feedback and my own insecurities I created an environment that I couldn't work under.

In the church we must tell people what is expected... how far they can go and how well they are doing. These simple measure will eliminate most conflicts. My last two church related conflicts occurred solely because the parties involved were never told the boundaries. I recently wrote that "knowing the expectations is our key to unity and peace. We owe it to the volunteers to give detailed guidelines... otherwise we owe them carte blanc access to the hearts and minds of the body because we have given away our right to criticize and direct. "

We have a misconception that putting too many rules on people cripples their creativity. In some ways it may but for the most part the narrowed focus will increase their useful creativity and will inspire by virtue of its directed nature. Give people directions... give them vision... give them purpose... and give them scope. When they know what is expected of them there is almost never a place for conflict and resentment to reside. Conflict is caused by inconsistent or unexpected reactions.

Another cause of conflict comes when we are less than honest. In our attempts to be gentle with people we often fail to actually critique them honestly. When someone is performing in a way that is unsatisfactory or worse, counter to the vision, then leadership owes it to all parties to be direct and honest. People hear what they want to hear and if you mask criticism in too much honey the message is lost. The leader believes correction has been given and the receiver believes they received approval and license.

There is safety and freedom in strong leadership that places clear boundaries and provides true critique.

Naturally Supernatural

Do you ever wonder what is natural and what is spirit... when you have a 'word' for someone... how much is just understanding people and recognizing signs and body language and how much is divine revelation?

It's always left me wondering if I were hearing God or hearing intuition and it bugs me sometimes. Not long ago there were several people gathered around the front of the church for prayer and I eyeballed one couple that I had never met before... and their body language, the way she gripped his arm, communicated a message to me... a very obvious message... so I went up and said "It appears to me that the two of you are dealing with a recently revealed infidelity and you don't know if there's hope for your marriage... if its worth the effort to try to stay together". WOW... they freaked... he couldn't believe I knew and she began sobbing uncontrollably... It was right where they were at... he had confessed less about 2 weeks ago and she was totally broken... and they had told nobody. I ministered to them for an hour. In my wife's opinion (and most anyone else, I suppose) that is a word of knowledge or wisdom... and I honestly don't know if its that or just a natural ability to read people combined with the boldness to act on it.

This is not a new struggle for me... I have asked this question many times throughout the course of my ministry. The Lord did make it pretty clear to me a few years ago to not attribute to my own wisdom the gifts he gives me but I obviously haven't completely resolved the issue. I am still reluctant to uncategorically call what happened that night an exercise of the gifts of the spirit because it seemed like such a natural understanding. Maybe that's what John Wimber used to call "Naturally Supernatural".

There are good reasons I believe for some caution. If you have been around groups like the Vineyard where personal prophecy and words of knowledge are prevalent then you have certainly encountered many well-meaning but utterly ridiculous "Thus saith the Lord" moments. There are several spiritual no-no's that I really work to avoid. My least favorite one is the 'generic word'. I was praying for a lady a few days ago and another person joined me to minister to the woman. They began to pray things like "You struggle with self-esteem issues and God wants to show you his love". Although the truth of the message that God wants to show his love is undisputable the "revelation" of a woman with low self-esteem is kind of like shooting a shotgun into a birdcage. You're not likely going to miss! Statistically low self-esteem is the major issue in almost every woman's life. You could do the same with men by having a word that they "struggle with a pure mind".... duh!!! That type of 'word' amounts to manipulation and I hate it with a passion.

I'm rambling now, but this brings up a point. God does not reveal his power to people who are not put at risk if he fails to move. That sounds pretty dogmatic, I know, but what I mean is that if you are not willing to step out on a limb and risk failure you are not likely to hear many real words of knowledge from the Spirit... and "self-esteem" or "pure mind" words are not usually risky... the corollary then is that they are not likely real words from the Spirit but are more likely a projection of the person praying's own battles. We assume that what we struggle with is likely everyone else's struggle and it works its way out in our prayers.

One of the other things I try to avoid is giving a statement a "The Lord Says..." prefix. Some people we minister to can distinguish on their own what is and isn't from God... but many can't... and we tread dangerous territory when we attribute words coming from our mouth to divine authority. If we "know in part and prophesy in part" (1cor 13:9) then it's obvious that what comes out our mouth is filtered by our own mind, experience and interpretation. Then it seems much more prudent to deliver a word with something like "It appears to me "... or "I believe the Lord may have shown me...." This type of delivery leaves people an option of receiving or rejecting the word as divine and anything less than that is manipulative. It is not our job to coerce a response... only to deliver a message.

While I'm on the subject... the types of words we should be offering...1 Cor. 14:3 says words are for strengthening, encouragement and comfort. The beauty of this is that anyone is free to offer words that strengthen, encourage and comfort. Is my word from God? Run it through this filter... then, even if its totally a product of your own imaginings then the worst that can happen is that it encourages... now that's user friendly prophecy.

We are not free to give words of instruction under normal circumstances. I see many people give what is probably a true word to someone then proceed to undermine it by offering interpretations and directions that are not inspired. My very first experience with a word of knowledge was in a small group. I proceeded to tell someone of the word I felt like God had given me for them and I then began to elaborate on it with an interpretation that was neither inspired nor uplifting. One of the leaders in the room gently took me aside after the meeting and said, "Only speak what the Father is speaking" (John 5:19). He continued "We are safe if we deliver a true message but we have to learn to stop where the message stops".

I will write more later on other filters to use for discerning the prophetic.

I would be interested in hearing from you about your own experiences or rules you minister by... and your own interpretations of my personal struggles with attribution of giftings.

A Reader Responds...

I was reading your latest blogs and remembered a conversation my wife and I had after the concert last Sunday. She mentioned how Ben, Lori and their group were playing with passion. You could sense it in their songs and see it in their faces. Maybe that's what you and Jerry were blogging about... the difference between musician-ing and minister-ing. But how do you infuse it into your team members? If we love singing to Jesus, why don't we reflect it more?

Reply from Duke........
I would add that Ben & Lori were definitely 'musician-ing' as well. Their sound was excellent and their music was tight and well rehearsed. It is in addition to that exellence that we can add that they were passionate. A passionate BAD musician wouldn't do much for you...

To your point, though, it is kind of sad when the band members appear to be unmoved or untouched by the music that they're playing. Sometimes it is simply boredom... we have ('we' meaning leaders) asked them to play some pretty lame stuff from time to time and its hard for anyone to get passionate over some of our songs. But even with songs that can invoke passion... it all starts with leadership. The leader must 'act' passionate. Ok, there, I said it... 'ACT'... There is a time when we all feel less exhuberent than we would like and we can 'act' enthusiastic... You can create an atmosphere of passion by 'acting' with passion. Do the things you normally do but do them passionately. I hear leaders often say "but, that's not me... not who I am naturally" and I say... so what... I think its Dale Carnegie who says "If you act enthusiastic then you'll be enthusiastic". That's very true... your emotions will follow your actions and your actions will follow your decisions. Decide to act and your feelings will follow... if you act passionate even when you don't feel particularly passionate your actions will bring the emotions into line. And, better yet, those you lead will also see their emotions coming into line with yours.
Another thing... don't 'direct' things so tightly that your band isn't allowed to be expressive. If you make your vision or goal for the particular service known and give them some ownership for it then they become more integrated into it... not just a 'musician'... they get to be a 'minister'.

Enter the Worship Circle

I wanted to share this past weekend's concert experience because I plan to springboard off of this event for the next few discussions and I don't want you to be lost.

This past weekend we hosted a concert by Ben & Lori Kennedy. The Kennedy's are part of the "Worship Circle" group that puts out the "Enter the Worship Circle" CD's. The concert was one of the more ambitious endeavors our church has taken on since I've been here, and it was a real experiment in organization and motivation. We had a relatively short notice from the time we confirmed the concert date... only about 3 weeks to promote and prepare.

Since the target audience for Worship Circle tends to be College aged young adults I recruited this age group's assistance right from the start. They jumped in with both feet and handled the vast majority of the publicity and promotion... putting nearly 100 posters up in coffee houses, bookstores, restaurants, etc. They arranged local radio spots including an on air interview with the artist a few days preceding the concert.

Others really got involved as the momentum began to build toward the concert. Some of our members volunteered to update our cafe and have it fully operational for the evening concert... others handled registration tables and music tables. The result was that we truly were able to put our best foot forward. The event drew between 250 and 300 people... many of whom had never been in our church before.

The concert itself was awesome... Ben & Lori and their band led with a powerful acoustic alternative style heavy on percussion. The stage lights we brought in and the subwoofer we rented gave the feel of a large concert. Most of the young people in attendance were totally involved... dancing and celebrating throughout. The energy and the passion was thick... like you were surrounded by it.

Now, a few days later, my preoccupation is to tap into the momentum created and not let this become a one-time high but to see what we can take from it for the future. I will be interested in your input as I discuss some of these things.

Observations from a Reader

Duke, as I was reading your blogs, I feel the Lord showed me something. It's really no big deal, but it might shed some light on a "problem" we sometimes have as far as being spiritually ready on Sunday morning when we are ministering in music. I think, I know me, I go to church on that particular morning, not as a minister, but as a MUSICIAN. I'm acting like a musician, thinking like a musician, and getting prepared to perform as a musican, not as a MINISTER. If we can make that transition, after all these years, and try to THINK like a minister of the Gospel, which we are, and not as a musician, I think it would make a big difference. Just a thought..................Jerry


Reply from Duke........
I think you're exactly right...
Think about what we practice... music... production...
All of those things are important and we have to focus on them... but we should also practice the presence of God and the art of preparation. We don't prepare spiritually very well. As a preacher I would never have considered stepping on the platform without preparing myself spiritually, emotionally... nor would I have preached without rehearsing my message to some degree... but with music its easy to think I can "wing it"... Step up, show me a chord chart, and lets go... but your observation is correct, we are ministers before we are musicians... or at least we are both integrated into one function... music minister... and both aspects must be consciously nurtured.
Good thoughts....

Small Churches

I ministered this weekend in a small church in central Louisiana. How small? Sunday morning there were a dozen people in service. What struck me about the group, however, was not how small they were... but how serious they were about quality. This small group had a church building in which they had spent some time and money on presentation. Their outside facade was clean and inviting, giving the appearance of a more expensive facility... their foyer was beautiful... the sanctuary was small but well done... nice chairs... neat, clean... stage was well done... sound was good. Obviously these descriptions are somewhat relative to the church size and style but it was impressive for that body in that community.

I have been in so many small churches (and have pastored a few) where the lack of size seemed to give an excuse for sloppiness. I mean, if we're just a big (or small) happy family then we don't really have to focus on things like preparation, childcare, nice chairs, trimmed stages, quality lighting, starting time... since we all know each other we don't 'put on airs' and try to impress. We don't try to be something we're not.

The fact is that we will almost guarantee our church will remain small by adopting this type of attitude. There are, of course, many reasons a church doesn't grow... but chief among those reasons is the lack of expectation or commitment to growth... and that is going to be reflected in the way you prepare yourself and your church for newcomers.

I am a firm believer that you get a vision of the kind of church you want to be... or, better yet, that God wants you to be... and then you begin to act like that kind of church. If that means you're to be a small body that ministers to a finite group then start doing that. If you see a large body impacting the community in grand ways... then begin doing the things you see in that vision. Expectations for growth facilitate growth... do the things from the beginning that you want to be doing in the end. If you see 500 people with a powerful children's ministry then you need to start focusing on children's ministry while you're still 50 people. If ministry to the poor is a major piece of your plan then you need to start ministry to the poor the day you open your doors. It may not have the full scope you want to get to but you must begin building it into the DNA of your church.

I even believe that a church that believes in planting other churches needs to plan to do so even when they themselves aren't fully planted... it begins creating an expectation... this is what we do and its not so much at our convenience as it is our commitment to the ideal.