"Creativity is just connecting things.

When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while. That’s because they were able to connect experiences they’ve had and synthesize new things.

And the reason they were able to do that was that they’ve had more experiences or they have thought more about their experiences than other people.

Unfortunately, that’s too rare a commodity. A lot of people in our industry haven’t had very diverse experiences. So they don’t have enough dots to connect, and they end up with very linear solutions without a broad perspective on the problem.

The broader one’s understanding of the human experience, the better design we will have.”

(Steve Jobs in Wired, February, 1995)

Award-winning reporter and Pulitzer grantee Bob Smietana has a new book coming out that all church leaders need to get their hands on.  Reorganized Religion: The Reshaping of the American Church and Why It Matters is the rare book that I simply could not put down.  

Using his deft writing skills combined with the most recent statistical findings and anecdotes makes for a compelling book that will help church leaders make better decisions and experience fewer regrets.

Divided into three sections, Reorganized Religion opens by reorienting our post-pandemic church reality with Part One: Where We Stand.  These opening chapters are chock full of startling statistics:

• According to Pew Research in late 2021, 3 out of every 10 Americans (29 percent) is a so-called None, someone who claims no religious identity, up from only 16 percent in 2017. (p. XV)
  
  
• The percentage of Christians in America has dropped from 78 percent to 63 percent. (p. XV)
  
  
• Less than half of Americans say they belong to a church, down from 70 percent of Americans in the 1990's, according to the Gallup polling organization. (p. 6)
  
  
• Less than one-third of Americans, when asked, say they have gone to a worship service within the past week. (p. 6)
  
  
• Where congregations still persist despite enormous challenges and an uncertain future is where they offer two key benefits: a sense of community and a sense of mission to rally around. (p. 9)
  
  
• We are living in the early days of what Pew Research has labeled "the Next America" - a new nation that differs substantially from its past in profound ways.

Part Two: Why People Are Leaving shares rich, in-depth stories of real Americans who have survived the tumultuous years of the pandemic only to emerge into a post-Christian America where churches and pastors are viewed through a lens of distrust.

Author Smietana writes, "Many church leaders find themselves in a position of authority, with the ability to make decisions that can change the course of institutions, at exactly the time when titles no longer matter -- and where relationships and influence mean more than authority" (p. 91).  

In my own experience, I can echo this observation and verily testify to the power of influence over title.  After years of evangelical scandals (i.e. Willow Creek, Mars Hill), the 'trust revolution' has touched us all (p.94).  Smietana dives deeper into the troubled waters and the inherent fragility of church leadership models by saying, "A fallen small-church pastor is a problem.  A fallen megachurch pastor is a disaster" (p. 101).

Part Three bravely asks the question, Where Do We Go From Here?  This is where I found the book weaker in prescriptive advice.  While I appreciated the stories of churches merging together and tackling social ills without including political power, I was disappointed that evangelism and church planting were not addressed as part of the American Church's solution for the future.  

One area I did agree with is Smietana's assertion that the future belongs to multiethnic churches, defining as a multiracial congregation as one that includes 20% or more of participants not being part of the dominant racial group in that religious community (p. 197).  America's racial demographics are continuing to thrust us all into the future and the American Church has a lot of ground to make up for (or else fall by the wayside as irrelevant).

In summary, I highly recommend this book.  Reorganized Religion: The Reshaping of the American Church and Why It Matters will challenge your understandings of today's religious landscape while informing you on pathways forward in the age of the Nones.

I was reading a blog by Gordon Hayward, the Boston Celtic who suffered a horrific ankle injury in the opening minutes of his 2017 NBA Opener against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

As he shared his thoughts and feelings in the days after the injury and surgery, this quote leaped out at me:

And then there was the Utah Jazz. I had such a tough decision to leave this summer and yet everyone from ownership, to front office, coaches and all my teammates were immediately there for me. They continue to show that they are first class in every way, and I am so fortunate to have been a part of that organization.

Hayward’s former team was, in his words, first class.
 
It would have been easy for one of his former teammates to tweet something snarky or post something passive-aggressive on Facebook and then ask everyone to share it.

Piling on is the norm for social media.
Our dark side’s seem to revel in kicking people when their down.
The worst offenders at this, in my experience? Christians.
We love to eat our own.
 
Jesus said his disciples would be known by their radical love and honor shown to each other (John 15:12).

All I ever see and hear are stories and examples of Christians taking shots at each other in gossipy conversations and publicly online.
 
If your faith propels you to take shots at other people, you’re doing it wrong.

When church people spend time falsely accusing one another, it frees up Satan to do other work.
 
Christian leaders should be the models of integrity and honor.

We should be praying for, cheering for, and encouraging one another.  We don’t have time for pettiness and “discernment blogs.”

If you get a kick out of accusing other Christians, remind yourself of direct translation of the name ‘Accuser’ in the Bible: Satan.

And if you’re a leader who is on the receiving end of rocks being thrown, understand this truth: If you want God’s power and blessing on your ministry, you must be willing to absorb the pain of others without resentment.

Choose to be First Class.  Don’t let a basketball team out-honor Jesus’ team.

Always take the high road: there’s less traffic and the Master is most honored.

I'M A LITTLE FIRED UP RIGHT NOW.

SOMEONE JUST TOLD ME THEY DIDN'T MAKE AN ASK BECAUSE THEY DIDN'T THINK THE PERSON WOULD GO FOR IT.

IN OTHER WORDS, THEY SAID "NO" FOR THEM.

They "passed" on behalf of the person without even giving them the chance to say "yes."

Let me tell you something...

When it comes to making things happen, everyone has a job.

Your job is to dream audaciously, act courageously and make big asks.

Their job is to say yes or no. And this is their job alone.

Never say no for other people.

Do you know why most church leaders don't lead growing churches?
It's not because they're not capable.
It's not because they don't want to try.

It's because they don't think anyone will buy in to their audacious vision for the future.
They say "no" for the church!

When I planted our church from scratch, I had to get people to buy into the vision and volunteer for an organization that existed only in my head. I had to pull off a miracle with very little money.

So I contacted all the local news stations asking if they would do an interview with me on live television.

Nearly every news producer didn't return my call.  Why would anyone give free, expensive airtime to an unknown, unproven local pastor with no people?

One did.

In what would have cost $35,000 to buy, I received free television airtime to talk about my new church start-up.

Are you kidding me?? That's impossible, right!?
Never Say No for Other People.

In 2018, my wife and I found ourselves with a sudden, unexpected adoption bill well North of $15,000.

We were at the end of our rope.

We had no way to come up with that amount of money in 48 hours.

So I started a spur-of-the-moment telethon online.

Did I know if anyone would tune in?  No.

Would an online audience donate money for our cause?  I had no idea.

Was I assured that all my hard work and sweat and financial asks would result in reaching our goal?  Nope.

But I understood this principle of leadership: provision always follows vision.
Leaders have to jump off the cliff first if they expect others to follow.

For 35 hours live online, I shared my heart, we refused to give up, and we prayed that God would bless our efforts.

The end result?

We raised more than $15,000 in 48 hours from strangers online.

Never Say No for Other People.

You have a decision to make this week.

Big asks are part of leadership.

Will everyone support your crazy, audacious vision or goal?

Probably not.

But we will only ever be spectators of other people's achievements and triumphs if we take on the job of saying "no" for other people!

Thinking of starting a new church from scratch?

Got the itch to "graduate" from leading the youth group to becoming the lead pastor of your own thing?

Sure, church planting looks hot and sexy on Instagram, but take it from me, there are 5 Reasons Church Planting Will Ruin Your Life...

You will never have all the resources you used to have at your cushy, all-expenses-paid, endowed former established church.  Church planting is like Adulting for Church Leaders: you'll learn very quickly that receipts matter and you'll have to get used to raising cash for your salary and ministry needs.  

The good news?  You're reaching people far from God.  
The bad news?  Baby Christians don't tithe.

There's a reason the Apostle Paul wrote so many fundraising letters (I'm looking at you, 2 Corinthians).  Stop whining and get used to it.

You're a dreamer, like Joseph.  You can pitch a crowd on what could be and what should be with both hands tied behind your back and blindfolded.  Vision is just your thing.

And because you're seeking to persuade people to join your cause, you will be misunderstood.  

Some church people will assume you're in it for the money (*ahem* See #5 above). Others will think you want to become the next attention-starved Celebrity Pastor.

Here's the thing: They won't actually come to you with their "concerns."  Instead of a face-to-face conversation, misunderstandings happen through behind-the-scenes condemnation.  You'll be going through life, doing ministry, minding your own business when WHAM-O! You're socked from the rear by a book-length Facebook post that tags everyone in your church.

Not cool, but it really does happen.  A lot.

Whatever the case, just remember that passive aggressiveness is not a fruit of the Spirit.  Put on that Ephesians 6 Armor and suck it up because being misunderstood sucks.

When you're the only staff member on staff, who can you trust to fill in for you?  

Further, if you really do believe that every Sunday is somebody's first Sunday, do you want their first Sunday to be a JV experience?

You see, it's not that you don't have dedicated, carved out vacation time on the calendar... It's that you are constantly in Vision / Survival Mode and it requires your direct attention.  This makes missing a Sunday nearly impossible.  

Is this healthy?  No, and that is why you will need to really think through a strategy for getting dedicated time off to recharge your batteries.

Just like Shakira's hips, statistics don't lie.  Do you know what percentage of your church start-up will experience turnover two years in?  100%.  That's right, complete turn-over.

Starting a church from scratch requires sacrificial amounts of energy, time, giving, and buy-in.  It will wear on your people over time.

Get ready for experiencing pain.  In fact, your pain threshold is also your leadership lid.  Love people and hold them loosely with open hands.  Bless them on the way out but don't be shocked when they're on their way out.

At the end of the day, Jesus is the Senior Pastor of your church; you're just an undershepherd (see 1 Peter 5).  This means that He is responsible for what happens in your church start-up, not you.  It's His church, not yours.  

And so you can cast your cares on Him because He really, really does care for you.  

Collapsing at Jesus' Feet gets you off your pedestal and into a position of submission.  

Advancing the church on your knees is the best strategy for reaching people far from God.

"You know what intimacy is? It's into-me-you-see.” - Martin de Maat

The original pioneers of improv-comedy in the 1950s included now-famous names like Alan Arkin, Mike Nichols, and a very young Joan Rivers.

A famous story from the annals of Second City recounts how Rivers was once on stage and asked for an audience suggestion for a scene.

When "marriage" was shouted back, Joan initiated the scene by saying, "I want a divorce."

Joan’s on-stage partner said Yes, And to her initiation by saying, “What about the children?” 

Joan shot back, “We don’t have any children!”

Of course, there was a big laugh from the audience, but Rivers' cheap laugh set up her partner—and the scene—for failure.

Her denial of his reality killed the scene and ended the team’s collaboration.

She destroyed more than future possibilities in the scene; Rivers denied and destroyed the trust between partners.

It's time to make a Holy Shift in your leadership through a crucial comedy technique.  I want you to Think Ensemble.

Teamwork makes the dream work. In the comedy world, you are taught to always, always, always make your partner look good. 

It’s not about sharing the spotlight; it is about moving the spotlight completely off of yourself and more brightly onto everyone else on the stage.

It’s the comedic equivalent of valuing community. Improvisation is about serving your partner instead of being out there and showing off.

Have you ever watched an episode of Whose Line Is It Anyway?  Have you noticed how the comics don’t have time to sit down, write out their ideas, memorize lines, re-write lines? It’s because they Start with a Yes and build on the idea by thinking ensemble.

You don’t know what is going to come out of your partner’s mouth—whatever they say in an improv scene instantly becomes the reality of the scene.  Therefore, you want to build a net of trust to leap into—and that trust is knit together by the knowledge that you will always support one another, no matter what.

When you think ensemble, your church will build effective teams, break down silos, and foster creativity. Ensemble gives you an instantaneous advantage with different situations; the outcome isn’t dependent on one lone person. Thinking ensemble strengthens the Body.

Think of an ensemble as a baseball team. You don’t want to load your roster with all sluggers. You need different points of view and complementary strengths. Diversity is the key to thinking ensemble.

The enemies of thinking ensemble are the need to be right, stealing focus, and appearing to be in control.

Jesus’ disciples were always short-circuiting things when they felt the need to be right (Peter), tried stealing the focus (James and John), or were appearing to be in control (Judas the treasurer).

Ensemble is hard, but rewarding. When nobody cares who gets the credit, your team is able to explore and heighten new ideas together.

When you think of winning sports teams, the championship is won not by a single athlete, but by a team of players working together. The burden is shared and the win is shared.

When you think ensemble, you are freed to walk into a meeting and bring a brick, not a cathedral.

Thinking ensemble looks easy on paper but is hard in real life. Why? Because we live in the time of Facebook and Twitter, two mighty platforms that can amplify messages—and amplify grudges—if handled immaturely. And believe me, social media can be like crack for immaturity addicts.

I have a theory: we never really leave middle school. That short season of life where the awkwardness of adolescence collides with our first tastes of personal responsibility follows us through life. Many men are still that boy in the junior high locker room comparing and many women walk through life fearful of others’ opinions. We have the popular kids (Hollywood), the geeks (ComicCon), the need for cooler toys (Amazon), and petty schoolyard fights (political races). We never really leave middle school. Social media simply amplifies our inner middle school angst.

Angry at someone? Technology doesn’t force you to seek reconciliation; you can simply “UnFollow” them. They won’t even know. Facebook has made relationships disposable, just another product to consume and spit out.

That’s why thinking ensemble is so explosive: relationships are vital toward forward progress. When you sign up to be a leader, you signup for conflict. Thinking ensemble directs you to walk toward the people there is conflict with, not away from them (you can’t support someone you’re not talking to).

In the Bible, we read these words about conflict:
"For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” Ephesians 6:12 (ESV)

The Gospel reminds us that we are messy humans who easily fall into sin. Our flesh can sometimes seek to judge before our spirit listens. But Ephesians 6:12 reminds us that if it has flesh and blood, it is not your enemy. If you are holding anger toward someone or unwilling to revisit boundaries you've set up, it's time to wake up to the fact that that person is not your enemy. They are a human being created in the image of God whom Jesus already died for and the Father has already declared to be not guilty.

Reconciliation is not something you can put off. Biblically, it is always for today. As I gently remind our church periodically, the Internet is an online tool for building community, but should never be used for tearing it down.

Here is an axiom to live by: if you ever feel wronged by someone (a fellow Christ follower, a church staff member, a pastor, etc.), posting your grievance online is never the correct course of action. In fact, if someone is willing to attack another person through a blog hiding behind flickering pixels but refuses to meet with them in person, we have a word for that: coward.

EDITOR’S NOTE: 

This has been an excerpt from my book, Holy Shift. 

Holy Shift is about unleashing contagious enthusiasm on church leadership teams; equipping leaders to leverage laughter and passion; and creating sustainable momentum in reaching younger crowds for Christ.

Order copies for your team now on Amazon or ChurchLeaders.com.

This past April, I won a pair of concert tickets to see Micky Dolenz Celebrates The Monkees. 

I promptly asked my Mom to be my date for the evening in Akron, Ohio.

Life got in the way and I never got around to sharing this concert review.

So with my apologies, here is what transpired.

I have attended TEN concerts with either the full Monkees playing or solo concerts from the likes of Davy Jones and Micky Dolenz.  

I even was at one of Michael Nesmith's final appearances in Detroit last November, just a few short weeks before his passing in December.

From the moment Micky Dolenz took the stage and deftly crooned the lyrics about that last train heading toward Clarksville, the entire audience was smitten.  

Micky has never sounded better live and he was even singing the songs in their original pitch -- remarkable for a man touring in his 70's!

Micky's personal stories from The Monkees run in the late 1960's were engaging and entertaining as he took the audience through the greatest hits catalogue and then some.

What I found remarkable were the never-before-seen photos and film from Dolenz's private archive of that time in his life.  

I did my best to capture them in total in the bootleg concert videos below.

Being the last Monkee standing, Micky did a wonderful job of spotlighting each of his fallen comrades through special film shorts.  

Though the four Monkees were originally actors hired for a t.v. show, you could tell that their lives had been magically been woven together over a half century of enduring entertainment by the way Dolenz honored Nesmith, Tork, and Jones.

Micky's band was equally fantastic, the highlights being Richard Dort killing it on drums, Wayne Avers on lead guitar and musical guitar, plus Dolenz's precious sister Coco on back-up vocals.

Micky Dolenz continues to crank out new solo projects while also holding the torch for The Monkees.  

In fact, he'll be here in Michigan in a few weeks for an event (I've put in an interview request to his management, no response yet.  Micky, if you see this, could we make this happen... please?).

And we'll all continue cheering so long as Dolenz keeps monkeeing around.

How many people are content to live within the sound of church or chapel bell, but never step foot inside of a church to hear the Gospel message?

Or, how many are content to live within the sound of church bells and attend, but never take the Gospel to heart or share Jesus Christ with others?

They haven’t counted the cost of discipleship, but C. T. Studd did and he chose a life of hardship and sacrifice, because of His commitment to Jesus Christ.

And when others questioned him about the decisions he was making for the sake of the Gospel, he could only reply with these words:

"If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for Him.” –C. T. Studd

Although salvation through Jesus Christ is a free gift from God given to us by grace (Ephesians 2:8-9), it was not without cost to Him.

To be a disciple of Jesus Christ, one must realize the cost of His sacrifice and respond with a commitment to follow Him wholeheartedly; without reservation and whatever the cost.

Additionally, we should want more than to live within the sound of church bells, and be actively involved in helping to fulfill Jesus’ Great Commission.

To do so we have to daily surrender ourselves to Him. As a result, we give up our own way of living and submit to His will and rule in our lives:

• Romans 12:1 says, “And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice--the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.” (NLT)
  
  
• Mark 8:34-37 says, “Then, calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, 'If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?'” (NLT)

Great missionaries like C. T. Studd, Hudson Taylor, Jim Elliot and so many more were not
content to merely live within the sound of church bells. They gave their lives, and left their
homes and families, to be used by the Lord to spread the Gospel.

We also shouldn’t be content to just live within the sound of church bells. We like them, should be passionate about spreading the Gospel; and endure hardship and danger if necessary, so people would be rescued from going to hell. If we can’t, then we should at least support the work of missionaries prayerfully and financially.

As Christians, we can follow in the steps of these great men of faith, by surrendering our lives to the Lord Jesus Christ, seeking His will, and living by faith and trusting in Him.

John 12:24-26 says, “I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat is planted in the soil and dies, it remains alone. But its death will produce many new kernels—a plentiful harvest of new lives.   Those who love their life in this world will lose it. Those who care nothing for their life in this world will keep it for eternity. Anyone who wants to serve me must follow me, because my servants must be where I am. And the Father will honor anyone who serves me.” (NLT)

This famous quote from the poem, “Only One Life, Twill Soon Be Past” by C.T Studd, is a sober reminder of the brevity of life and that only what’s done for Christ has eternal value:

"Only one life, ’twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last." – C. T. Studd

14 years ago today, my Grandfather spent 5 minutes one-on-one with then-President George W. Bush.  

Set aside your politics for a moment, because this is just a neat, purely American story about my Grandpa Storey.

My Grandpa Roy Storey didn't take his freedom for granted.  He sacrificed a lot to immigrate to the U.S. from India with our family in the 1950's.

14 years ago today, this elderly man who came to the free world met the leader of the free world.
 
My Grandpa Roy was personally honored by the 43rd President of the United States, George W. Bush.  
 
It's breathtaking for our family that the President spent 5 personal minutes with my Grandpa (all captured by television crews below), tenderly holding his hand, thanking him for his volunteer service, and then motioning over my aunts to join them beside Air Force One.

Original newspaper report from Peoria Journal Star:

When Roy Storey got a call from Washington, D.C., telling him he was going to meet the president of the United States, the Peorian hung up the phone.

"I thought it was the telemarketer," he said with a laugh. "She called back immediately. She said, 'Mr. Storey, I don't want to take your money.'"

The mistake was understandable, and the 85-year-old was elated to learn that President George W. Bush will present him with the President's Volunteer Service Award as he arrives in Peoria on Friday.

"To me it's a big honor," Storey said Wednesday. "It's sort of a surprise - I'm just an old guy, going on with my daily work."

During his six years volunteering with the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP), "Grandpa Roy," as he's known by students, tries to instill some parental guidance in children who he said have grown up in hard times, much like him.

His earliest memories are of growing up in an orphanage in a little village in the foothills of the Himalayas.

He recalls being beaten by teachers during his time in the orphanage and said he had a very poor education. Through all the hardships, however, he kept his quick wit and work ethic.

"Those values I try to teach the students," he said. "I tell them my stories, I share with them. I'm a very strict mentor."

Storey's tutored more than 100 students a year at three Peoria District 150 schools, Von Steuben, Glen Oak and Hines elementary schools. He teaches reading and math to the 5- and 6-year-olds four days a week and said he's thinking of adding more schools.

"I like to keep busy," he said, adding he can't wait for school to start again.

In addition to the tutoring, he also reads to children at local libraries and has visited area nursing homes.

"It's about trying to make a difference in people's lives," he said. "That's my aim in life."

The president will present the national award during his trip to Peoria for a fundraiser for state Rep. Aaron Schock, R-Peoria, who is running for the 18th Congressional District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. Bush has met with more than 650 volunteers since March 2002 as he travels throughout the United States.

In addition to that award, the Illinois Humanities Council, a not-for-profit educational organization, awarded Storey with the Studs Terkel Humanities Service Award for his work with RSVP.

RSVP is a program for residents older than 55 to share their skills and life experiences through volunteer service.

Storey said his three daughters are also proud of his upcoming presidential recognition. Two will be joining him for the honor.

"I have to behave myself," said the self-proclaimed prankster.

Pausing long enough to get out a burst of laughter, he added, "I will."

One of my heroes of the faith is the little-known missionary William Borden.

William Borden’s funeral took place at The Moody Church in Chicago.

During my college years, I discovered the beauty of the gospel while attending The Moody Church.

Here's something my team filmed a few years back on location.

I will be a live guest on Daily Faith TV next Tuesday, July 12th at 11am EST.  

I'll be sharing about what God is doing at the church I love plus talking a bit about my book, Holy Shift.  

Hope you can tune in and watch live!

I am currently deep into the process of my doctoral studies through Rawlings School of Divinity at Liberty University.  My experience thus far has been fantastic and I have learned so much not only about my cognate of Evangelism & Church Planting, but more importantly I've learned so much about myself.

The focus now in this later track of my cognate is to complete 4 research projects that become part of my eventual portfolio and dissertation for defense next Spring.

For what it's worth, my first project is now complete and I was humbled to receive a perfect score from my professor.  I'm sharing my Culmination Paper and Video below to help prospective doctoral students get a window into the process.  Enjoy!

Culmination Phase for Micro-Project I
Instructional Video
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the completion of
DMIN 851 - D02

Micro-Project I: Biblical Precedence
by Jonathan D. Herron, MA
Saginaw, Michigan June 2022


Justification

The problem I seek to resolve is that Life Church does not have a clear plan for leveraging what it learned during the pandemic to come back stronger.

Pre-pandemic, Life Church was on a rollercoaster ride of robust momentum and positive Kingdom advancement in the Great Lakes Bay Region of Michigan. In the Fall of 2019, Life Church was recognized as the 11th Fastest Growing Church in America.¹ We never saw it coming: when COVID shut-downs were put into effect overnight, Life Church experienced an immediate and sharp downturn that has lasted for nearly two years. Engagement, attendance, giving, outreach and baptism metrics are all down in Life Church's post-pandemic era. Nearly every key volunteer and high-impact donor disappeared, leaving Life Church in an emaciated state.

Reemerging from the pandemic shut-down has been slow and tedious at best. A lack of resources combined by a lack of volunteers has resulted in stalled-out momentum. Further, an abrupt church division has compounded the complexities of moving forward and coming back stronger.

This Micro-Project is undertaken with the belief that as challenging as this experience has been, in Christ the best is yet to come! God promises through the prophet Jeremiah, "I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you. Again I will build you, and you shall be built..." (Jeremiah 31:3-4, ESV).

To that end, the research will focus on leveraging what we have learned during this protracted shut-down and lingering pandemic experience in order to come back stronger going forward. Embracing both physical worship gatherings with new digital tools, the research explore new methodologies (or rediscovering old ones) for advancing the gospel. The need for reaching the lost at any cost has not changed. The eternal destiny of men are continually at stake! However, Jesus' words in Matthew 9:37 have never rung more truer: "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few."


Peer Review

A fellow classmate agreed with the great challenge facing Life Church by writing, “You seemed to hit this one on the head. This concern is a wave running through the kingdom at large. It would be fair to say all ministries impacted by the shutdown have had some kinds of lasting negative effects... Take note of the disturbed metrics in your ministry, study them and build your strategy around getting back to normal gradually.”

This point of view is helpful when undertaking research such as this which contains a deeply personal connection to the researcher. Normalizing the pandemic experience allows one to move past self-pity and begin assessing reality as the new baseline. Comparing pre and post- pandemic metrics allows for ascertaining just how far off-track the church has gone. Numbers don’t lie; pure data will pierce through anecdotal evidence like a surgical tool deftly bringing wounding before there can be healing.

The peer continued offering feedback that was helpful: “We are designed to be the body and we must function as such. This means all should get back on their post and serve in their Spirit-given capacity (1 Corinthians 12:1-12, 1 Peter 4:10). I would also suggest meeting with the leadership to design a creative way to communicate these truths so the church can have an effective return to impacting the world. Jonathan, maybe a virtual workshop to cast vision and set visual goals which will encourage them to see their part and participate. Take all you have learned and delegate to those who will embrace truth what can be done even without full participation. Pour out of yourself the rich wisdom and revelations you have acquired during this unprecedented time.”

This feedback helped to crystallize thoughts on how one might remedy the situation through an Instructional Video. By confronting the negatives that the organization does have control over, it gives the church a sense of ownership and new groove to move forward upon.

Post-production on the Instructional Video, input was solicited from Dr. Dennis Wilhite of Liberty University. While he found the video to contain a a great message and professional delivery, his advice was, “Draw a very clear connection between your product and the problem statement. That will help you tie this together with the rest of your micro projects as a solution to that problem.”

To that end, the goal of this first Micro-Project is to identify and analyze the five areas that can derail a church, preventing unified forward progress. Getting all church members on the exact same page is paramount in regaining footing and beginning to move back toward an outreach focus through evangelistic methods.


Implementation

At the macro-level, the audience for this Instructional Video is church leaders (universal). The problem facing Life Church is also being faced by other churches post-pandemic: “Willow Creek Church is about half of the size we were before COVID, which is right in line with the churches across the country. But as you can see, and as you can imagine, that has fiscal
impactions.”²

At the micro-level, this video is intended for the leaders and volunteers of Life Church who have experienced the past two years of pandemic disruption. Building team unity within the church is paramount to the plan for coming back stronger.

In particular, an Instructional Video makes the intended outcome clear and reproducible for all audiences. Since it is published on an online YouTube channel, this Instructional Video is accessible for all audiences, regardless of one’s time constraints or geographical location. This allows the video’s instructions to be shared with the intended audience without restraints.

The lesson is How to Identify the Five Enemies of Unity on a Team. The identified points are (1) poor communication, (2) lack of one clear vision, (3) gossip, (4) unresolved disagreements, and (5) sanctioned incompetence. These five points prevent Life Church from having a clear plan for leveraging what was learned during the pandemic in order to come back stronger. Additionally, these five points apply to all churches who desire to move forward post- pandemic.

The video instructs leaders — be they paid staff members, volunteers, or lay workers — how to identify these five points on their ministry teams and how to disarm them in a gospel- honoring fashion. This is necessary so that ministry teams facilitate healthy communication and cooperation together. Disruptions that are left unattended will simply lead to divisions in the church, stalling forward movement and progress in the church’s mission.

When a church is able to identify potential weaknesses and unify around how they will address potential hurdles, robust unity is established. When a church is unified, it is unstoppable. For example, the Scriptures record that at one time in the ancient past, all people had one language and common speech (Genesis 11:1). As a result, the LORD said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them” (Genesis 11:6, NIV). Where there is unified language, there is a unity among God’s people, the church.

The earliest moments of the Christian Church recorded in Acts 2 shares again how unified language is paramount in moving forward on mission: “Utterly amazed, they asked, ‘Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language?” (Acts 2:7). Again, the paradigm being emphasized is that unified language in a church leads to unity among God’s people. This is why this lesson is necessary for Life Church as well as a wider church leadership audience.

The outline of this lesson is as follows:

(1) Poor Communication: We understand that people are busy and have lives outside of Sunday mornings (jobs, kids, etc.). Therefore we will choose to over-communicate and make our expectations for each other clear.

(2) One Clear Vision: Everybody has an idea or an agenda for what they want for and from their church. However, to be effective, we must all agree upon on clear vision to be working towards for the future. Unambiguous vision-casting must come from the leader.

(3) Gossip: Sharing something negative with someone who has no power to fix it is defined as gossip. We are choosing to not engage in this activity. Instead, when faced with a negative, we will share it up the chain of command in order to fix it and move forward together.

(4) Unresolved Disagreements: If and when problems arise, we will address them openly and honestly (Matthew 18). We will not allow little problems to fester into becoming bigger problems.

(5) Sanctioned Incompetence: We will set the bar and guard the bar. If someone is missing the mark on our team, we will lovingly address it and not allow it to continue lowering performance and morale.

This Micro-Project will begin to tackle the stated problem in a linear and logical format. The audiences will receive instruction utilizing technology and humor to inspire a better course of action going forward. Because this is being shared on YouTube, there will be no restrictions in the audience accessing the information. As a result, Life Church will be able to move forward post-pandemic and build a stronger future together.

The Instructional Video was filmed inside Life Church’s Saginaw Campus with the main stage used as the backdrop. This environment allowed the production to have total control over
the atmosphere with no surprises while filming. Backlighting the main stage created a visual pop to the presenter situated front and center on the floor in front of the stage.

Appropriate stage lighting was leveraged and utilized to highlight the presenter and provide undistracting excellence when the video is viewed by an audience. The video was filmed with a single digital camera and one high-end microphone to ensure a professional recording was captured. Digital graphics for lower thirds were inserted during the post- production editing process to enhance the video’s teaching. Additionally, an up tempo yet non- distracting background soundtrack was added during post-production to add a professional touch and flavor to the video. In so doing, future viewers will be engaged while being instructed by the content of the presenter.

As this video was filmed in one take, the script was of paramount value. The following are the main elements presented for a successful Instructional Video on promoting team unity at Life Church.

The opening of the video must always grab the viewers’ attention and engage their curiosity. If the goal is for volunteers to want to take notes on the content, getting to the point quickly is of great importance to the presenter, in addition to their on-screen charisma and speaking pace:

Today we want to help you go further faster by sharing with you The Five Enemies of Unity. You're serving in the church and there are guests coming in the door, the Enemy will try to
disrupt what God is starting. So get a notebook, write these down, and tweet them out: The Five Enemies of Unity.

As can be seen, there is not a lot of fluff in the opening of the video. Engaging the viewer with a clear objective and a promised pay-off leads to a successful video. Teaching on unity could come across as boring or dry, so keeping the energy going is the key.

The first point is Poor Communication. By clearly identifying the problem, the presenter was able to pivot toward a non-intuitive solution for going forward. Further, this first point is strengthened by connecting its usage to a popular movie that is known by the viewers. When a viewer later watches the mentioned movie on a streaming service, it will give the Instructional Video a connecting point into the viewer’s daily life outside of church:

The first is Poor Communication. You're a leader. You set the bar, you guard the bar and you want to be accused of over communicating, not under communicating. People in our church are busy. Newsflash: they have a life outside of Sunday morning! They have jobs, kids stress finances. So worrying about when to get to a church program or when to show up to serve is not at the top of their A-1 Party List.

We want to over communicate, because poor communication causes disunity and we want people united on fire ready to go. We choose to over communicate just like McDonald's. Here's what you need to do: hop on Netflix. You need to see the movie The Founder starring Michael Keaton. Keaton was nominated for an Academy Award. It's all about the true story of Ray Kroc, who revolutionized fast food through McDonald’s. Ray Kroc’s philosophy was this: People forget stuff, vision leaks, and so McDonald's knows that they have to get their Golden Arches in front of your face seven times before you remember that you're hungry for a Big Mac.

We need to communicate something seven times before it gets into somebody's noggin. We will utilize texting, Facebook, our website, the bully pulpit, and one-on-one phone calls. We don't want to be accused of poor communication; that’s an enemy of unity. Over communicate!

The second point involves clarity of the church’s mission. When a church is speaking with one heart and mind, they can be used mightily by God.³ Having a common language creates unity and cuts through any clutter clouding someone’s mind:

The second enemy of unity in a church is Lack of One Clear Vision. Every single time someone walks through the doors of our church, they have an agenda. They have their own idea of what your church should look like. We want our vision for our church to outpace their agenda. If they bring in their agenda and they don't understand that our church is united under one clear vision, that's a recipe for doom.

To counteract this, we need to be sharing the vision unambiguously and unapologetically at least once every four Sundays. When you are blue in the face sharing the vision and heartbeat and passion of the church, the people in the pew are just starting to catch the vision. So we want to have a clear vision and communicate it well so that we can attack disunity.

The third point zeroes in on a common disruptor of trust and unity: gossip. The presenter defined and demonstrated what gossip is and how it can cause problems within the organization. These demonstrations educate the viewer and protect against gossip in the future:

The third enemy of unity in any organization or church is one word: Gossip. We want you to be a champion at our church. Stand before your team say, “Hey guys, guess what? We have a
no gossip policy in this church.”⁴

Gossip is when you share something negative with somebody who has no power to fix it. So if I go up to Randy and say, “Randy, I can't stand it when Tim sings that way on Sundays.” That's gossip, because I'm sharing something negative with Randy and poor Randy he can't fix the problem.

If I share something negative up the chain of commands, that's not gossip. That's an example of a volunteer taking responsibility for my church. When we see something that's wrong or when we don't understand something, pass it up the chain of command. Share your negative up to a leader who can help you can fix it. Don't share it down. The number one weapon for
disrupting a movement of God is gossip in the church.⁵

The fourth point identifies the need for resolving any lingering disagreement within the church. By bringing peace to any outstanding situations, conflict resolution will serve to create an atmosphere of trust so that the church can move forward unencumbered:

The fourth enemy of unity is Unresolved Disagreements. We have a whole chapter in the Scriptures (Matthew 18) with Jesus instructing one to go to the person you have a beef with.⁶ We see more warnings in Ephesians when Paul says to avoid going to sleep angry, for you leave the door open for the Enemy to slip in.⁷ Go to the person pick up the phone, buy them some Starbucks and get it in the open and move forward together.

The final point examined in the video is Sanctioned Incompetence. Allowing chronic mistakes to continue and fester will eventually cause a team disruption:

The fifth enemy of unity in your church is Sanctioned Incompetence. If someone is continually dropping the ball, help them in an appropriate way. Don't allow incompetence to continue at the staff or volunteer level because if you lower the bar, everybody else is going to start going to a lower bar. If you raise the bar and guard the bar, you will help raise the leadership temperature in the church.

Sanctioned incompetence is when someone keeps blowing it or there's a miscue on your tech team or there's a volunteer not following a policy and it continues over time. The most loving thing you can do is to shepherd that person: “Hey, you may not realize it, but we have a policy for this. So you may not realize this but but you're dropping the ball here. Let me help you with a solution.”

When the organization wins, and when people see that you care about excellence in detail in the Sunday morning worship environments, people are going to roll out the red carpet to invite their friends, and serve more because excellence honors God and inspires people. Don't settle for sanctioned incompetence. Do the hard work, pick up the phone and meet with that person to fix the problem.

The Instructional Video finishes with a brief recap of the material covered, in bullet- point form. This allows the viewer to double-check their notes as the video is brought to a conclusion. Once completed, church volunteers will feel better equipped to promote radical unity and overcome possible disruptions that may come their way.

The Instructional Video will become a valuable tool for the future of our church. It is with great enthusiasm that we pressed forward in making this video a reality for future distribution. The Instructional Video is available to view online. The video length is nine minutes, thirty-six seconds and it was filmed entirely at Life Church in Saginaw, Michigan.

The purpose of the Instructional Video was two-fold: to bring unity among the members of Life Church Michigan while also providing a reusable digital resource for church leaders who face the problem of creating unity within their teams. By teaching the five enemies of unity, the purpose of the video was fulfilled for future audiences to digest.
 
The video was filmed in one take using a digital camera and microphone system. The back-drop is the main stage of Life Church and included use of professional stage lighting with illuminated accenting effects. A light hazer helped to grab the lighting on camera and give a professional touch to the visuals.

Cue cards were utilized in delivering the teaching content. This allowed the presenter to be at ease in delivering his lines. Additionally, eye contact was maintained with the camera, giving the at-home audience a natural, familiar connection with the presenter.

In terms of actual content, the script created and used was as follows:

“Hey gang, Jonathan Herron here from the Saginaw Campus of Life Church Michigan in the high five state. When a leader gets better, everyone gets better. Today we want to help you go further, faster by sharing with you the Five Enemies of Unity.

If you're leading a church, there's people coming in, and the Enemy wants to disrupt what God is starting. Get a notebook, write these down, tweet them out: the Five Enemies of Unity.
The first is this Poor Communication. Listen, you're the leader. You set the bar, you guard the bar and you want to be accused of over communicating, not under communicating. Why? Because the people in your church are busy. Newsflash: they have a life outside of Sunday morning! They have jobs, kids, stress, and finances. Worrying about when to get to a church program or when to show up to serve is not at the top of their A-1 Party List.

You want to over communicate, because poor communication causes disunity and you
want people united on fire ready to go. So you over communicate just like McDonald's. Here's what you need to do: hop on Netflix. You need to see the movie The Founder starring Michael Keaton; he was nominated for an Academy Award. It's all about the true story of Ray Kroc, who revolutionized fast food through McDonald’s. Ray Kroc’s philosophy was this: people forget stuff and vision leaks. McDonald's knows that they have to get their golden arches in front of your face seven times before you remember that you're hungry for a Big Mac.

Church leaders need to communicate something seven times before it gets into somebody's noggin. Utilize text, Facebook, website, the bully pulpit, one-on-one phone calls; pick up the phone and hustle, make that call! Don't be accused of poor communication; that's an enemy of unity. Over communicate!

Here's the second enemy of unity in a church: Lack of One Clear Vision. Every single time someone walks through the doors of your church, they have an agenda. They have their own idea of what your church should look like and how it should function. You want your vision and your agenda for your church to outpace their agenda, because if they bring in their agenda and their vision and they don't understand that your church is united under one clear vision, that's a recipe for Doom. You’re going to have disunity! You're gonna have little pockets of power popping up.

Pastor, you need to be sharing the vision unambiguously and unapologetically at least once every four Sundays. Until you are blue in the face sharing the vision and heartbeat and passion of your church, the people in the pew are just starting to catch the vision. So have a clear vision, communicate it well so that you can attack disunity.

The third enemy of unity in any organization or church is one word: gossip. You want to be a champion at your church. Stand before your staff stand before your church this Sunday and say, ‘Hey guys, guess what? We have a no gossip policy in this church!’

Gossip is when you share something negative with somebody who has no power to fix it. So if I go up to Randy and say, ‘Randy, I can't stand it when Tim sings that way on Sundays,’ that's gossip. I'm sharing something negative with Randy and poor old Randy can't fix the problem.

Now if I share something negative up the chain of commands, that's not gossip. That's taking responsibility for my church. So you want to encourage your folks that when they see something that's wrong or that when they don't understand something, pass it up the chain of command, share your negative up to a leader who can help you can fix it. Don't share it down.
Sharing down is gossip and listen, Satan's tools and tactics have not changed in 2000 years of church history. The number one weapon for disrupting a movement of God is gossip in the church. The leader needs to take charge and be unapologetic. Define gossip to the entire community and then guard it.

Here we go with number four, the fourth enemy of unity: Unresolved Disagreements. We have a whole chapter in the Scriptures on this: Matthew 18. Jesus says go to the person you have a beef with! We have some more warnings in Ephesians when Paul says, ‘Don't go to sleep angry; you leave the door open for the enemy to slip in.’ And yet you and me just love to not deal with conflict.

Unresolved disagreements will cause disunity in your church. When you signed up for leadership, you signed up for conflict. Nobody enjoys having a confrontation. But counselors will tell you and psychologists will tell you the healthiest thing you can do in a relationship is to go to the person humbly, privately, and quickly and say, ‘I don't understand this or I see you saying this. Maybe I'm not hearing it correctly. Can you help me?’ That's Matthew 18. That's the beauty of the gospel.

When you go to the person, get it out in the open and resolve it, your relationship actually grows stronger with two people going through a disagreement and reconciling. There's bonding, there's glue in that relationship. So don't allow unresolved disagreements to fester at the staff level or with volunteers or with folks in your church. Go to the person, pick up the phone, buy them some Starbucks and get it in the open and move forward together.

All right, I'm proud of you for sticking with me. We've gone through four of the five enemies of unity. Here's the last one drumroll please. The fifth enemy of unity in your church is Sanctioned Incompetence. Everybody in your staff, your volunteers, they will go crazy if someone is continually dropping the ball and you - the leader - don’t call them out. Call them out in an appropriate way. Don't be like, ‘Hey, bozo, you're a jerk.’ No, love them, shepherd them, but don't allow incompetence to continue at the staff or volunteer level.

If you lower the bar, everybody else is going to start going to a lower bar, but if you raise the bar and guard the bar, that raises the leadership temperature in your church. Sanctioned incompetence is when someone keeps blowing it or there's a miscue on your tech team or there's a volunteer not following a policy and it continues over time. People look at the leader. They're waiting for you to intervene because - guess what? - you’re the leader.

So don't settle for sanctioned incompetence. The most loving thing you can do is to shepherd that person, help them see, ‘Hey, you may not realize it, but we have a policy for this. So you may not realize this but but you're dropping the ball here. Let me help you with a solution.’
When they when the organization wins, and when people see that you care about excellence in detail in the Sunday morning worship environments, people are going to roll out the red carpet invite their friends, and serve more because excellence honors God and inspires people. So don't settle for sanctioned incompetence. Do the hard work, pick up the phone, meet with that person and fix the problem.

Let's review the Five Enemies of Unity for your church: number one, Poor Communication. Be accused of over communicating! Number two: Lack of One Clear Vision. You're the leader. You're the visionary, make it plain like Habakkuk. Number three, Gossip. If you declare that this is a gossip-free zone at your church, people will love you. I promise. Number four: Unresolved Disagreements. Don't pull a Paul and Barnabus over John Mark. Come together like the Beatles, link arms and move forward. And the fifth enemy of unity is Sanctioned Incompetence. Is Forrest Gump on your staff team? Identify the mess, provide solutions and move forward.

Listen, gang, I am proud of you. I'm excited about what God is going to do in you and through you. I would love to share more with you online. Thank you.”

Analysis of the Micro-Project

Having concluded the post-production phase of the Instructional Video, it is now worth looking back at the entirety of the project to identify the good, the bad, and what was learned during the Micro-Project I process. This will allow for future growth and sharpening of one’s tool set in ministry endeavors that might later present themselves worth pursuing.

To be sure, following a process of identifying the problem, choosing a project solution, and then writing (and rewriting) a script was a great exercise in details and clearly presenting one’s thoughts. The scattering of the congregation during the initial pandemic disruption multiplied by an inner church division all revealed the need to creatively yet unambiguously tackle church unity. This video’s use of fast-cut edits and robust lower thirds certainly keeps the audience’s attention so that the information can be imparted in a useful fashion.

The script-writing process took quite a bit of time in order to nail down key ideas and provide clarity to the presenter’s thoughts. In the end, the first person narrative was edited in such a way as to sound very natural and slightly casual during delivery.

The actual post-production work with motion graphic creation, computer animations, and editing took a much longer amount of time than was anticipated. As nice as modern computers are, one quickly discovers that the computer’s process of actually compiling and rendering terabytes of animation graphics slows down a computer’s performance.

Keeping the video content to just under ten minutes was also a goal of the presenter, based on the strict time limit of eighteen minutes by the popular TED Talks web videos. TED often asks speakers to present for three, five, or nine minutes within their platform. The maximum length of a TED Talk is eighteen minutes.⁸ This makes the Instructional Video perfectly attuned for an audience’s intuitive viewing experience.

The balance of information combined with an air of whimsy was also important in creating a fast-pitch tone that resonates with audiences. The video appears to successfully navigate both wings of the proverbial airplane by being both blunt in the approach while also maintaining a tongue-in-cheek flavor.

The Instructional Video was eventually shown on a Sunday morning to the Life Church congregation. While church attendees have grown accustomed to the high level of artistry and commitment poured into the weekly worship experience, this video in particular resonated with the church body by boldly identifying and providing robust forward-moving steps in the area of church unity. The content combined with the visuals was embraced enthusiastically by a wide margin, with no negative feedback provided.

By providing an online outlet to make this video available anywhere at anytime, it was also discovered that church members on their own freely shared this video with other church leaders in order to encourage and equip the Church at large. This signaled a win from the Micro-Project’s initial formative stage: making an Instructional Video that would help not just Life Church, but church leaders elsewhere facing similar challenges. Knowing this video is equipping and edifying others feels very gratifying.

To that end, this Micro-Project has been a greatly beneficial learning experience. By conceiving, articulating, scripting, and producing an Instructional Video to begin solving a real- world ministry problem, the theoretical world of academia has collided with the urgent needs for a solution at Life Church. One cannot help but be thankful for being placed into a solution- producing endeavor and creating a Micro-Project that will continue to advance Kingdom causes in the days ahead.

----

¹ “Make ‘Em Laugh: Life Church Michigan,” Outreach Magazine, accessed June 19, 2022, https:// outreachmagazine.com/ideas/church-profiles/45642-make-em-laugh-life-church-michigan.html.

² “Willow Creek announces staff cuts as pandemic ravages giving, church attendance,” The Christian Post, accessed May 21, 2022, https://www.christianpost.com/news/willow-creek-announces-staff-cuts- due-to-pandemic.html.

³ Acts 4:32

⁴ Ramsey Solutions, “Gossip is Poison to Your Team,” accessed May 29, 2022. https:// www.ramseysolutions.com/ business/gossip-is-poison-to-your-team.

⁵ Ephesians 4:29

⁶ Matthew 18:15-17

⁷ Ephesians 4:26-27

⁸ TED: Ideas Worth Spreading, “Organize a Local TEDx Event,” accessed May 29, 2022. https:// www.ted.com/participate/organize-a-local-tedx-event/tedx-organizer-guide/speakers-program/event- program#:~:text=Talks may be no longer,how much time they have.

Today I officiated the funeral of a 27-yr-old and her unborn son.

Life is so fragile and short. 

Hug, don’t hate.

Choose grace over gossip.

God doesn’t bless grudges, He blesses when we try to reconcile together.  

Isaiah 40.

Pray for God to give you a white-hot vision; a picture of what the future COULD be and SHOULD be.

THE THREE STRUGGLES OF PASTORS
- by Chad Graves -

In the last week I have had meetings with multiple pastors. It has been a reminder and an eye-opener. Pastors all over the country are dealing with intense stress. Recently, 3 different churches asked me if I knew of anyone I would recommend as a possible candidate for them. Many churches are without pastors.
 
I will repost something I worked on a couple of years ago below. Pastors, if you are reading this, I hope this is helpful to know you are not alone.

Pastors tend to have three struggles:

• The struggle with people. 
• The struggle with self. 
• The struggle with God.

These three struggles and how you respond to them will determine the length of your tenure.
 
The average tenure for a pastor is just around 3 years at a local church. The average tenure of a man’s pastoral ministry is ten years according to some research.

I have been interviewing pastors and studying what a pastoral tenure looks like over the years. These Interviews range from pastors who have been in ministry 37 years to men who have burned out to fresh new pastors in their first years.

 
I think these are common stages in most pastorates:

The Honeymoon Question:
Can you believe we get to do this?

The Titus 1:5 Question:
How am I going to address issues?

The Loss of Innocence Question:
How can God bless such brokenness?

The Harvest Question:
Will success or failure become my identity?

The Team Building Question:
Who will be invited to the table?

The Crisis of Self Question:
What do I do when I am at the end of myself?

The Decision Question:
Will I Keep Doing this?

The Boredom Question:
Is this it?

The Emptiness Question:
Why has this become so painful to do?

The Sustained Question:
Will I be faithful?

The Mentoring Question:
Will I leverage my influence?

The Legacy Stage Question:
Will I finish well?

Well I hope this helps. I love pastors.  
May God help them as they faithfully continue.

Sunday morning's event is free and open to public
by Jon Becker, for the Midland Daily News  |  May 19, 2022

MIDLAND — Baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and … church? Yes, you read that right. America’s pastime is not normally associated with passionate preaching, live bands and a worship service, but that’s exactly what’s going on Sunday, May 22 at Dow Diamond.

Life Church, a Great Lakes Loons 2022 partner, is holding its weekly church service at the Loons' home stadium beginning at 11 a.m. The event is free and open to the public.

The nondenominational church likes to get creative in its approach to inspiring people to become engaged in their faith.

“We believe that faith is a journey, not a guilt trip,” said Jonathan Herron, founding pastor of the nine-year-old church. “We take our faith seriously but don’t take ourselves too seriously.”

Since Life Church is sponsoring Faith & Family Nights throughout the Loons’ 2022 season, “We thought it would be fun to actually hold a church service along the first base line,” Herron said. “We’re always brainstorming for new ideas for engaging our community at Life Church. We love bringing families together.”

Minor League Baseball is noted for its family-friendly game experiences. The Loons, who hosted their second School Kids Day of the year on Tuesday, are all in for a Sunday sermon at the ballpark.

“Faith and Fellowship Nights has been a staple at the ballpark for well over 10 years,” said Tyler Kring, the Loons’ assistant general manager of business development. “Faith is part of the journey for many of our players. We’re excited to be partnering with Life Church this season.”

The church’s house band, Kingdom Sound, will lead modern worship songs outdoors, followed by Pastor Herron sharing scripture from atop the first base dugout. The pastor also plans to interview some current Loons players about their faith journeys.

“Through this event, we hope to engage more Midland and Sanford area households as we gather a core group to launch our Midland campus this September,” Herron explained. “The plan is to become one church in two locations. We’ll have worship Sundays at 9:30 a.m. via Northwood University’s Griswold Theater, followed by worship at our Saginaw campus at 11:15 a.m.”

Michaela Yenior, of Midland, attended her first Life Church service about a year and a half ago and was quickly captivated.

“They’re on to something here,” Yenior remembers thinking. She added of Sunday's plans, “This event is really exciting and works within the scope of Life Church’s mission: reach the lost at any cost. The church is willing to think outside of the box.”

“We’re kind of known for doing things big,” said Herron, noting the church’s annual Easter Egg Helicopter Drop as proof positive that Life Church will pull out any and all stops to advance its mission.

“Pastor Herron is an incredible guy,” said Life Church parishioner Arnel Hipolito. “He’s selfless. The church has been through some ups and downs, but he’s kept going forward. He’s done a lot of outreach in the community. It’ll be interesting to hear him preach gospel from the dugout. He’s a passionate, fired-up guy, but it’s his leadership acumen that really stands out.”

Hipolito, also of Midland, plays drums and guitar in Kingdom Sounds. He played at Dow Diamond a couple of times last year and really enjoyed the experience.

“It was hot and a lot of work, but fun,” he said. “You’re outside and you’re watching baseball. Who doesn’t enjoy watching baseball?”

On another occasion, the Greater Midland Tennis Center (where Hipolito works) treated a group of its employees to a Loons game.

“It’s great family entertainment,” Hipolito said.

Sunday will mark Life Church’s first foray into serving the Lord at Dow Diamond, so Herron is unsure how many people will show. However, “According to our Facebook Page, over 300 people have indicated that they are planning on coming.”

“Hopefully, we’ll get enough people to reopen our Midland location,” Yenior said.

Life Church in Midland closed during the pandemic. This Sunday’s morning event is part of the plan to relaunch Life Church’s Midland campus this fall, Herron said.

Herron encourages people to invite neighbors and friends for church at the ballpark and to then to stick around and purchase tickets for the ballgame that follows. At 1:05 p.m. Sunday, the Loons will conclude a six-game home series against the Lansing Lugnuts.

I’m not concerned about being criticized for taking risks to reach people far from God.  I’m concerned about not being criticized.

Recently I was invited to teach a breakout session at a conference in Chicago based on my book, Holy Shift.  The topic was so popular among church leaders that we ran out of seats!

I had fun sharing my journey in comedy and ministry, the unique story God is writing at Life Church Michigan, and equipping church leaders in my jam-packed breakout with comedy tools that will help them reach more people far from God.

Because I love church leaders and I want to see you go further, faster, here is the full video as a free resource to your team!

Are you ready to climb the mountain again?

Maybe you've set goals for yourself or your business. Maybe you've decided to take a risk.

Whatever it may be, I know this much to be true: with a little hard work and consistency, anyone has the ability to build something good.

But what does it take to build something GREAT?
 
1. A PACE THAT WILL LAST A LONG TIME
I recently heard this quote about money that has stuck with me: “Money is like water, without boundaries, it will go anywhere.” This is true about your finances but also your TIME!

• Can you keep up with the current pace you're living? 
• BUILDING SOMETHING GREAT requires telling your time where to go.
  
  

2. AN OBSESSION WITH IMPROVEMENT
If you are only obsessed with perfection, you are always going to be frustrated and short with people. If you are obsessed with improvement, you will make small improvements that lead to big change.

• Wanting to improve is a sign of wisdom.
• If you correct a fool, they will get defensive. If you correct someone wise, it will be met with gratitude.
• BUILDING SOMETHING GREAT includes welcoming correction that allows us to improve.
  
  

3. A COMMITMENT TO ADDRESS WHAT NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED
A team that is dysfunctional will avoid conflict at all costs.

• Great teams address things! It is impossible to be great without honesty. 
• This doesn't mean you need to go out and look for conflict --- but you have to have the backbone and emotional maturity to deal with conflict in a productive way. 
• BUILDING SOMETHING GREAT demands having difficult conversations.
  
  

4. A SACRIFICE TODAY FOR WHAT YOU WANT TOMORROW
This means doing things I don’t WANT to now, so that I can do what I want LATER.

• Greatness will require more from you than others. 
• Greatness is on the other side of your decision to sacrifice today. 
• BUILDING SOMETHING GREAT means making calculated sacrifices with the end goal in mind.
  
  

5. A PROTECTION OF WHAT AND WHO YOU VALUE
Protection of your calling and your relationships requires both great discretion and stewardship.

• Loyalty is not proven in your presence, but your absence.
• BUILDING SOMETHING GREAT means protecting the important things.
  
  

6. A LOVE FOR THE JOURNEY
I enjoy what I do because PEOPLE are what excite me!!  It's not about stats or reports (although those are necessary) it's about peoples journey. You can't quantify that. What excites you? What fuels you to be great?

• The journey gets fun when you LOVE what you do.
• BUILDING SOMETHING GREAT includes enjoying the process
  
  

YOU are called to be GREAT. The greatest day to start is today. 

A video-blog on my doctoral journey thus far.

Marines get stuff done.
They face impossible missions yet always prevail.
 
2 Timothy 2:1-6 tells leaders to think like a Marine.
 
During a recent Leadership Coaching Session, I shared 8 Leadership Lessons from the Marine Corp: Common Sense Principles for Success.

I hope these 8 Leadership Lessons encourage you and your team to fearlessly lead your church to grow!

We had a BLAST throwing this free, fun family event last weekend at Life Church!

Over the years, we've discovered that this annual event not only brings people together and builds trust with our community, but also it serves as a faith catalyst for many households.

Your church can throw a huge, free party for families that will:

● Get them on your campus for the first time

● Allow guests to have fun at church (while seeing that Christians aren’t weird!)

● Create a powerful, lasting memory in their minds.

We often think about what our team owes us -- what we expect from them.

But there are four things we owe them, as well:

1) GRACE: Not expecting them to be perfect.

2) HONESTY: Shooting straight and being transparent.

3) PROPER PLACEMENT: A place where they can thrive.

4) PRAYER: This opens our hearts to them and provides wisdom and insight to love them.

Are you an inspirational leader?
There are three steps you can take right now to become more inspirational: 
 
#1 = Lead with the why
People need to know the purpose behind the work. Particularly over the past few years, team members have determined that they want to give their lives to something that matters.
 
#2 = Celebrate progress
Look back. Make sure everyone on the team knows that you see what they’ve done well. 
It’s easy to point out flaws (and, for certain, we should coach our team and help make everyone better at what they do), but true leadership entails so much more.
 
#3 = Encourage the team
That is, breathe life into them. Be the wind in their sails. 
Remind them that you are for them— both personally and professionally.