by Clarence E. Stowers | May 26, 2009 | Christian, Christianity, Church Issues, Communication, Conference/Workshops, Current Affairs, Decisions, Empowerment, Leadership, Other Stuff, Politics, Vision
The North American Church is in decline and there are plenty of conferences offering their latest & greatest pitch to stop the church’s decline.
Each year we’re invited to hear “celebrity” pastors share God’s plan for the church and how we ought to adopt it and be large and successful like them. Frankly, I’m surprised that there hasn’t been a venue to really address how and why churches grow. Many pastors & church leaders make their annual pilgrimage to Saddleback, Willowcreek, North Point, Fellowship, New Birth, Greater St. Steven FGBC, The Potter’s House, etc. and come away excited and delusional with unrealistic expectations. Ed Stetzer of Lifeway calls it ministry pornography. According to Ed Stetzer:
“Ministry pornography is an unrealistic expectation of an experience you’re never going to have which distracts you from the real thing.”
God used these churches and their pastors for a specific time and in a specific place. Unfortunately, that experience is rarely duplicated. If you were to take the aforementioned churches and transplant them in other areas, the results would be drastically different. Can you imagine Bill Hybels, Rick Warren, or Andy Stanley leading an inner-city urban church? Or, can you see Bishop T.D. Jakes screaming “Get Ready…Get Ready…Get, Get, Ready” at Saddleback or North Point Church? Simply put, God rarely does the same thing twice.
May I Offer You A Few Suggestions to break your addiction to ministry porn:
- Confess your addiction to ministry pornography & repent!
- Do not attend any conferences for one year
- Get alone with your Bible, pen, & paper and discover God’s purpose for the church (read Matt. 22-37-40; 28:19-20, The Book of Acts)
- Get a demographic breakdown of your community (US Census Bureau or your local Chamber of Commerce).
- After discovering the purpose of the church, write down how your church plans to reach that community (this is the hard part). Make sure it’s less than a paragraph because people don’t like to read long statements.
- Preach/teach a series on God’s vision for the church and how you plan to fulfill it.
- Reorganize your church’s leaders, staff, volunteers, and structure (in that order)
- Evaluate & tweak your plan/strategy
So, what’s your next step? I’d love to hear it!
by Clarence E. Stowers | May 22, 2009 | Current Affairs, Decisions, Empowerment, Other Stuff, Relationships, Success
Everyone has made poor choices or done something in their past that could possibly be coined as “regrettable.” It’s easy to play the blame game, pointing fingers at someone else or circumstances as to why you have stumbled or why your life is difficult. Taking personal ownership that your past actions resulted in bringing about your currently reality is the first step to moving past regrets and moving toward a brighter future.
Here’s what I’d like for you to do:
ACKNOWLEDGE A MISTAKE HAS BEEN MADE
If your past actions or words have harmed another person an apology may be in order. Nobody is perfect and we all make mistakes. Continually berating yourself for past actions is self-defeating. Righting a wrong is not always feasible. If you feel badly about a past action, forgive yourself, others, and let it go and move on!
by Clarence E. Stowers | Apr 27, 2009 | Decisions, Empowerment, Leadership, Other Stuff, Success
Who you’ll be in five years depends on:
- what friends you surround yourself with
- what you read
- what you eat
- what you watch
- what you hear
- what you change
- what you let go
- what you plan for
- what new thing you try
- what new places you go
- what you believe about God
- what you believe about yourself
- what you believe about others
- what you invest your time in
- what you volunteer for
- what skill you’re learning
- what courage you have to make mistakes
- what mistakes you’ll make
- what you’ll learn from your mistakes
So WHAT are you doing today?
by Clarence E. Stowers | Apr 15, 2009 | Church Issues, Communication, Decisions, Empowerment, Money and Finance, Politics, Success, Vision
“It was the best of times, the worst of times…”
The opening sentence of A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens, referring to the time of the French Revolution describes the economic reality of today. The question that’s on everyone’s mind, but, seldom asked is: How are you doing? The answer depends on your individual circumstances, of course – but also on your perspective. The glass is either half full or half empty for many of us today. This morning when I woke up, my first emotion was profound gratitude. Even though my financial worth had been decimated by the events of the last three months, I realized that nothing could touch the things that are most valuable to me.
I also realized that I have a choice: I can focus on what I have lost or I can focus on what I have. I started making a mental list:
- I have my health.
- I have a loving wife, who is also my best friend
- I have three wonderful children. “I am particularly fond of each of them,” as Papa says in The Shack.
- I have several profound friendships that encourage and challenge me.
- I have meaningful work that I would do even if I wasn’t getting paid.
- I have incredibly competent co-workers whom I truly love and respect.
- I have a church that grows dearer to me with each passing year.
- I have a relationship with God that is endlessly fascinating and fulfilling.
And the list goes on. I could name a hundred more things, but you get the idea.
My guess is that the Economic Downturn is going to get worse (I pray I’m wrong) before it gets better. You and I have very little control over what happens in the external environment. But we do have control over what happens inside our hearts. It all depends on our mental focus.
Question:
What do you have that the Economic Downturn can’t touch?
FYI – I want to thank my friends from Facebook for sharing their tips. If you would like to read more, please click here.
by Clarence E. Stowers | Mar 24, 2009 | Empowerment, Leadership, Success
Recently I read an article in Outreach magazine and the feature was an interview with Erwin McManus, pastor of Mosaic in Los Angeles, CA. He said something so profound that literally stopped me in my tracks. He said, “I think a lot of pastors have a dream that matches the life of the pastor who is living the dream they want.” Wow, that statement made me think!
I believe there is a temptation to copy others both professionally and in ministry. (more…)
by Clarence E. Stowers | Feb 4, 2009 | Book Reviews, Communication, Empowerment, Leadership, Success, Vision
With 2009 destined to be a tough year for a lot of people, I thought now would be the perfect time to review Marcus Buckingham's book , The Truth About You which aims to empower you to enjoy higher satisfaction and performance in life and work.
If you are someone who still is not sure what to do with your life, then this is probably a great book for you to pick up. It includes a DVD, the book and a notepad, all of which make for a very interactive experience. If you are already in tune with your strengths and how you want to spend your life, and you are one of the 2 out of 10 people Marcus mentions that get to play to their strengths at work, then there are still some solid nuggets in the book for you as well.
The book discusses how successful people can build their dream jobs. The philosophy of the book revolves around 3 myths that hold you back from building your own dream job.
"Your strengths aren't what you're good at, and your weaknesses aren't what you're bad at."
“When it comes to the job, the 'what' always trumps the 'why' or the 'who'."
“You'll never turn your weaknesses into strengths.”
It also explains the differences in your strengths versus your weaknesses in a way that you probably have not thought about. Ensuing chapters provide 5 pieces of advice (a chapter for each) to stay on your strength path and succeed in both work and life.
In short, if you're really yearning to discover more about your strengths or weaknesses, give this book a try. Pick the book up and read it. Then give it away to a young person preparing for a new career path. And then treat yourself to a new copy.
To read the first 12 pages click “read” on the widget below:
Disclaimer: I was given this book by the publisher, Thomas Nelson, as part of a program for book reviewers, but given no direction to follow nor compensation for this review.
