Category: Church Planting

Before you panic, I am NOT resigning from my role as the Lead Pastor of Renovation Church. Now that I have hopefully alleviated your fear (or disappointed you) – read on!

---

I have been in pastoral ministry for 8 years; for 6 of these years I have been pastoring the same church here in Garretson (first as the Campus Pastor and now as the Lead Pastor). I am currently 26 years old and suffer from chronic acid reflux (multiple times a day), regular insomnia, and elevated blood pressure (and didn’t take any vacation time for all of 2019). For the past three years I have been addressing these issues on the physical side of things by exercising regularly and, just recently, watching my diet in order to lose weight for competitive boxing.

This past Sunday evening – during one of my bouts with insomnia – the Holy Spirit led me to the realization that one of the biggest flaws with my leadership is that of over-functioning. An article by Charles Stone does an excellent job by defining this as:

“The pastor who overfunctions is usually an overachiever who takes ownership and responsibility for the emotional well-being of others, often trying to make up for the perceived deficiency in somebody else’s functioning.”

While explaining the characteristics of this type of pastor, Stone goes onto explain:

“Very hard worker, seldom asks for help, tries too much to help, assumes increasing responsibility for others, tells others what they need to feel/think/do, does for others what they should do for themselves, often demands agreement from others, can foster learned helplessness in others, often highly approval oriented.”

If you know me personally and have seen my leadership, you are likely nodding your head to both of these descriptions. Let me make it clear – I am the only one to blame for the position I am currently in. This is a failure of leadership – I am not a victim. 

Because of my failure of leadership in this particular area, Renovation Church has become too dependent on me. I justified this to myself in the beginning by assuming that as a church planter, I needed to wear many different hats. I realized that this is a bad justification because we are three years into this journey and instead of delegating some of these “hats” I have simply put more on! Below are a few of my weekly tasks/areas I lead on behalf of Renovation Church.

1. Core Areas: These are the areas I am passionate about and believe God has truly called me to do – 

• Preaching/Teaching: My goal is to provide the people of Renovation Church with expository (verse-by-verse) sermons with depth and meat to them. These are generally 40 minute messages that take a significant amount of thinking, researching, and planning. I generally spend anywhere from 15 – 20 hours/week on sermon prep.
• Discipleship: My other passion is 1-on-1 discipleship. I am usually meeting with 5 – 8 people each week for the purpose of discipleship. Each of these meetings last a little over an hour. I love helping people understand how relevant the Bible is for their lives.
• Counseling: I see counseling as a form of discipleship. When people are going through a rough area in their life, I often have the honor of listening to them, praying with them, and doing my best to point them to Jesus. I genuinely enjoy the counseling aspect of ministry – it is what informs much of my preaching.
• Relationships: The other core aspect of my ministry is building relationships with those outside of the church – especially non-Christians. One of the primary ways I do this is by hosting a weekly podcast for Garretson and a few other surrounding towns. These podcast episodes are 20 minutes long but the conversations usually last over an hour as I get an opportunity to enter into people’s lives and hear their stories.

Below are some of the areas I justified to myself by saying I would only lead them for a season. As you can see, they have steadily been increasing:

2. Scheduling: I schedule all of the volunteers for the following areas:

• Children’s Church (including running all the background checks for volunteers)
• Nursery (including running all the background checks for volunteers)
• Coffee Bar
• Ushers
• Greeters
• Sound Team
• Set-Up Team
• Meals (Our monthly breakfasts and any special events such as lunch after outdoor worship services – I schedule and order all the supplies).

3. Administration: I serve as the administrator for many of the background details of the church:

• Social Media
• Marketing
• Web Design
• Updating the website
• Recording & Posting Sermons
• Responding to all phone calls/requests (my personal cell is the church phone)
• Finances (i.e. paying bills – I don’t count/deposit the offering)
• Meetings (I schedule member meetings, create the agendas, record the minutes, and then e-mail the information out to all the members)
• Adding people to Planning Center (the software we use for scheduling volunteers).
• And every other administrative/business task that goes with running a church on the legal/business side of things.

(And, as a pastor, I never clock out – I am always on call).

There’s more I could add but this post is already too long (and you probably get the point). Once again, the reason I am doing all of these things is because I have failed in my leadership, refused to delegate, and exercised an unhealthy control over ministry. In my strive for excellence, I have sinfully hoarded the leadership of Renovation Church to myself – and I am paying the consequences for doing so. Here’s what I have been recognizing with the help of counseling and a few key mentors in my life – the way I have been doing ministry is not sustainable. If I do not make some serious changes to my philosophy of ministry (i.e. learn to trust God more) I will literally sacrifice myself to the false god of ministry success.

Thankfully, God has not allowed my leadership to succeed. It seems that the harder I try to control ministry and the greater “excellence” I provide on a Sunday morning, the less people who have been attending our church. This is a great thing because God has used it to expose idolatry in my heart.

So… what’s the solution?

Honestly, I don’t know for sure. I do know on the basis of the New Testament that a church is healthiest when there are multiple people leading and providing input for the ministry. I also know that my “core” areas that I shared above will be much more effective when I can focus on them entirely and learn to delegate the other areas to those who are gifted and called to lead in them.

So – here’s my resignation – I am resigning from doing all of the scheduling and administration I am currently doing beginning April of 2020. The church belongs to God – not me – and if God does not raise up leaders to take over some of those areas, they will simply get dropped. I am trusting that whatever areas He does not raise up a leader for, it is because that area of ministry is unnecessary in this season. I fully realize this will cause people to (probably) leave our church but I also trust God is in control of all things – including this.

Here are some suggests on how you can help:

If you live in the Garretson area but currently attend a significantly larger church (such as one in Sioux Falls) can I prayerfully ask you to consider joining our team for a season and providing healthy leadership? Please only do this after speaking with and receiving the blessing from your pastor.

If you are part of Renovation Church already, prayerfully consider taking a leadership role in our church. Please do not do this out of a sense of guilt or as an emotional response to this post – instead, seek God’s will and if he so leads you to do so, I am looking for people to step into a leadership role for a 1-year term (so there’s a light at the end of the tunnel if you hate it).

Finally, if you are currently leading an area in our church – thank you so much for your sacrifice and dedication. I do a terrible job at appreciating you for everything you do; I am praying that God raises up more people like you to help carry the weight of the ministry.

 

 

 

I have recently been accepted into the Doctor of Ministry program at Sioux Falls Seminary. Those of you who have been following my blog, you know that I have also recently finished my Master of Divinity through Sioux Falls Seminary (others may be wondering if I will ever be done with school – probably not!)

To help with finances, I will also be working as a Teaching Assistant at the seminary and helping train future pastors  (which I am super excited about!). This will be in addition to my calling as the Lead Pastor of Renovation Church and the host of The Blue Light Podcast in Garretson! (I also occasionally work at Southeast Technical Institute a few days each semester to help out when it is busy).

I wrote this post to give all of you a short update on what is going on in my life. The way a doctorate program works is it is geared around a master project or a master thesis. More than likely, this will be a 100-page scholarly research paper that adds value to the Church. My research will be built around spiritual formation and church leadership – helping pastors find their identity in Christ rather than in the empty success of church attendance, church finances, or other so-called indicators of “success” in ministry.

If I could paint my “ideal” future, it would be teaching theology or spiritual formation at the college/seminary level on a part-time basis while continuing to pastor Renovation Church in Garretson.

Your prayers are much appreciated as I begin this new journey!

 

One of the most difficult and terrifying roles of a pastor is to battle against wolves who seek to infiltrate the church. The Apostle Paul exhorts the elders (pastors) in Ephesus with the following, “For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves.” (Acts 20:29-30)

These “wolves” are false teachers who creep into the church and seek to mislead the people of God with false doctrine.

The short letter of Jude is a warning to all Christians – especially pastors – to “contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints (Jude 1:3).” This small but powerful epistle is a grave warning that false teachers WILL seek to infiltrate our congregations and we must be on our guard against them.

In Jude 1:12-13, the Holy Spirit through Jude gives us four descriptions of these false teachers:

1. They Promise Life but Lead to Death.
Jude writes that false teachers are, “clouds without water, carried about by the winds.” This condemnation is two-fold. First, clouds in the first century often brought the promise of rain during a drought. Likewise, false teachers give the appearance of godliness, wisdom, and sound teaching but there is no true life found in their teaching. Instead of building up the Body of Christ, false teachers use flattery to build their own platforms and draw believers away from the Church.

Second, Jude’s statement that they are “carried about by the winds” means that the false teachers are driven by their own appetites and fleshly desires. They refuse to submit their teaching to the Bible or their authority to a local church; instead, they drift from church to church and are carried along by the false “spirits” of this world.

2. They Appear to be Alive but are Dead.
The second description Jude gives for these false teachers is that they are, “late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots.” From a distance, it is difficult to discern whether a tree is alive or dead. As you get closer to the tree, it becomes apparent that it has no fruit and the root system has been removed from the ground. In the same way, from a distance, false teacher appear to be spiritually alive and worth following. Upon closer inspection, it will become apparent that the false teacher does not display the fruit of the Spirit, is spiritually dead, and has been removed from the root of Christ.

3. They Boast In Their Shame.
Third, Jude writes that these false teachers are, “raging waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame.” During a storm or a strong wind, waves create foam on the surface of the water for all to see. In the same way, false teachers boast in their shame rather than pursuing holiness. They refer to evil behaviors as good and call good behaviors evil. False teachers applaud and accept such sinful behavior as abortion, homosexual activity, sex outside of marriage, divorce, gossip, and various other sins. In the process, they confuse genuine believers and cause divisions in the church.

4. They Refuse Stability and Community.
Fourth, Jude describes these false teachers as, “wandering stars for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.” Once again, this has two implications. First, as I mentioned in the first point, false teachers do not submit to church authority or commit themselves to a local church. Instead, they wander from fellowship to fellowship – often avoiding the accountability and discipline of a church body.

Second, just like a shooting star, the teaching of a false teacher is short-lived. It seems remarkable when it comes forth but under closer examination and through a length of time, it quickly dissipates. This has proven true for all of the ancient heresies throughout church history and will continue to be true for all “new” teachings. As a rule of thumb, if a person claims to have a “new” revelation from God, run as far as you can!

---

What are some other descriptions you would add for false teachers? I’d love to hear and learn from you. Please leave a comment and share your thoughts! 

 

 

I just finished listening to an excellent message from Kent Hughes, the author of Liberating Ministry from the Success Syndrome. According to Hughes, many pastors and ministry leaders feel like failures because they are measuring success according to the metrics of this world rather than according to Scripture. With this premise, he gives the audience seven “pillars” of a successful ministry.

Once a month I schedule a personal retreat for a full day. I use this day to reflect on the ministry God has given me and to examine how I am doing in light of His calling. My goal for these days is to repent of sin and resolve, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to conduct myself in a manner worth of the Gospel of Christ (Philippians 1:27).

My next retreat day is tomorrow so I wanted to use these pillars as a guide to ask myself some hard questions. Below are the questions I am going to wrestle with and I hope they challenge you in your own unique context:

Pillar #1: God measures success by faithfulness to His Word.
Q: In what ways have I devalued the authority of Scripture in my life and ministry?
Q: Is there a command from Scripture which I am failing to be obedient to out of fear of offending or upsetting someone in my congregation?
Q: Am I regularly studying and meditating on the Bible? 

Pillar #2: God measures success by serving Him with a foot-washing heart.
Q: In what ways do I need to repent of a domineering leadership style so that I may embrace being a servant? 
Q: Is there a duty in my personal life or ministry that I am avoiding because I feel as if it is “below me”? 
Q: What are some specific ways I can serve the Church God has placed me over as a shepherd?  

Pillar #3: God measures success by loving Him with all one’s heart and soul.
Q: Is my ministry flowing from a deep love for God or an unhealthy need for human recognition? 
Q: Is God’s love evident in the way I speak to and treat those closest to me – especially Ashley and Ava? 
Q: What changes is the Holy Spirit asking me to make to my schedule so that I can pursue my relationship with God above all else? 

Pillar #4: God measures success by believing/having faith in the God who is.
Q: In what ways have I foolishly tried to re-create God according to my image and imagination? 
Q: Is there a promise from God which I am struggling to believe? If so, what steps can I take to find help and counsel? 
Q: Do I honestly have an accurate view of God as He has been revealed in Jesus Christ? 

Pillar #5: God measures success by praying with the passion of Jesus Christ. 
Q: What demands on my time have I allowed to push away the regular discipline of prayer?
Q: What people or organization is God laying on my heart this month to spend extra time in prayer for? 
Q: What are some steps I can take to strengthen my prayer life? 

Pillar #6: God measures success by living a holy life in a pornographic world.
Q: In what ways have I allowed my mind/heart to be seduced by lust?
Q: What does regular repentance and freedom look like in the area of sexual lust?
Q: Have I been meeting regularly with (and being honest with) my accountability partner – especially in regards to lust? 

Pillar #7: God measures success by having an attitude that sees “the stars through the bars” and by rejoicing in the elevation of others.
Q: Have I been jealous of the success of other pastors and churches? If so, what is the root cause of this jealousy?
Q: How have I allowed pride to express itself in my life – both in the forms of arrogance and self-pity?
Q: How is God calling me to submit my attitude to that of Jesus as recorded in Philippians 2:1-11?

---

I hope these questions both challenge you and encourage you. If you are not in the habit of taking a 1-day retreat every month, you should try it. This is vital for all of us who are Christians – regardless of the vocation God has called us to. 

This past Sunday I had the honor of teaching through John 17:6-19 at Renovation Church. This is the most powerful, beautiful, and magnificent prayers ever recorded in human history for it is prayed by God Himself – the Lord Jesus Christ.

The last question I challenged my congregation to consider was this:

Q: Am I Mission-Focused or Inward-Focused?

This question flows out of what Jesus says in John 17:18 – “As you sent me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.”

As Christians, we are called to be “sent ones.” We are sent by Jesus into our homes, workplaces, and communities in order to share the message of John 3:16 with every possible person.

I want you to think of two bodies of water: a swamp and a river.

“Swamp” Christianity:
A swamp is created when a body of water remains stagnant. Since there is no fresh water flowing into the body, a swamp will often produce harmful bacteria that threatens to kill anyone who enters into the body of water.

That’s a picture of most churches in the United States.

Many Churches (which are made up by individual Christians) have become so inward-focused that they have lost sight of the mission given by Jesus and the lost outside of their doors. These churches spend numerous hours arguing about carpet color, remodeling their organ, and fundraising for the building they can’t afford (among many other things) – All the while forgetting that our mission as a Church and as Christians is to seek and save the lost and make disciples! (see Luke 19:10 & Matt. 28:19-20).

Why is it that, for the majority of churches (especially in small towns), if you do not dress a certain way or use the right language, you are excluded from the gathering? Why is it that churches are more obsessed with maintaining their denominational heritage rather than preaching Christ-crucified and seeking to share the incredible message of the Gospel with lost people? Why is it that, for many pastors, they put the same amount of passion into their preaching as I do when I’m reading cooking directions? (i.e. none!)

I would argue it is because we have forgotten our mission. We have allowed buildings, budgets, music, and various other (good) things distract us from the main thing – making disciples.

“River” Christianity:
A river on the other hand is a stream of ever-flowing water that is continually being funneled to give life to other bodies of water. This is a picture of the Church I believe Jesus is calling us to. I do not think it’s a coincidence that He promises to all of us in John 7:38, “The one who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, will have streams of living water flow from deep within him.”

What if we began to recognize that our churches exist for those not yet there? What if the purpose of our Sunday morning gatherings was to faithfully teach verse-by-verse through the Bible so that the people of the Church would be built up and empowered to share the incredible message of the Gospel with their friends (and enemies)? What if pastors actually proclaimed messages filled with passion because we have the most INCREDIBLE good news to share with a hurting world?

I think we would experience Word-centered, Christ-exalting, and Spirit-empowered revival.

Remember, the church is made up of individuals so let me pose the same question to you. Reader, are you mission-focused or inward-focused? God does not exist for your comfort, YOU exist for His glory. He has given you a mission of making disciples who make disciples. Are you doing that? Or are you distracted by (good) things that do not matter in eternity?

Friends, let’s reject the “swamp” mentality and seek to be rivers through whom the Holy Spirit flows into our homes, workplaces, and communities for the glory of God.

(If you do not have a church you are a part of, I will be preaching on the last section of Jesus’ prayer – John 17:20-26 – this Sunday. We meet on Sunday at 10am at the Garretson School and I’d be honored to have YOU as my guest.) 

At a large church conference I attended a few years ago, one of the megachurch pastors explained to the audience the importance of vision. As a means of discerning who should be on staff, he explained that he will invite his staff members over to his home for leadership training and will purposely keep them up late into the night so that they aren’t as guarded in what they say. According to this leader, as soon as he sees one sign of disloyalty to his “vision” for the church, the staff member will be fired immediately.

I don’t know about you but that sounds like a cult, not a church.

This pastor (as well as virtually every other vision-casting book I have read) justifies this approach by claiming Proverbs 29:18 says, “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” They then conclude that the “vision” being spoken of is a well-thought out plan that steers the direction of an organization.

Yeah, that’s a great point except that’s not what Proverbs 29:18 says in it’s context.

It’s frustrating to me when pastors of all people exploit the Scriptures to back up their ideas. Proverbs 29:18 says (In the KJV since that is how all these books quote it) – “Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.” Anyone who understands the English language is able to discern that the “vision” is referring to the clear revelation God has given His people through His word (i.e. the law). Not the vision of a charismatic human leader trying to create momentum for his church.

As a church planter, many of the leadership books I read urge me to cast vision for my church. Generally, this consists of listening to God in a subjective way to receive a specific vision for the church, create a plan to implement this vision, and then motivate the people of the church to support the vision. These books usually explain that if someone does not support the “vision” God has given me as the Lead Pastor, that person needs to leave and find a different church.

All of these teachings seem to be rooted in Scripture. The authors usually cite the famous leaders of our faith: Moses, David, Nehemiah, the Prophets – among others. One of the things I have noticed is that these books rarely spend any time focusing on New Testament leaders because the process of one man receiving a vision from God for a large group of people is seemingly absent from the pages of the New Testament.

Why the difference?

Answer: The Holy Spirit.

Sound doctrine matters and here’s why – Moses, David, Nehemiah, and the Prophets are not first and foremost examples for modern pastors to follow. Instead, they are shadows that point us to the Great Shepherd of the Church – the Lord Jesus Christ. The only one with authority to cast an unbending vision for the life of your church is Jesus Himself and He has done this in the Great Commission (see Matthew 28). When we foolishly lift pastors up and put them on a pedestal as the one who receives vision from God in a Moses-like way, we commit a grave sin against the priesthood of all believers.

For those of us in the Church, there is only one priest that stands between God and man – the Lord Jesus Christ. As a pastor, I do not have an elevated standing before God to receive a special vision for my church nor do I have inherent authority to motivate (or manipulate) the congregation to get on board with MY vision. I often tell Renovation Church that the only authority I have as a pastor is derived from when I accurately and faithfully expound the Scriptures.

But here’s the thing – I actually DO think it is important for a church to have a strong vision. Our vision must be rooted in the Great Commission and explain how we are going to fulfill this commission in our local community. The more Biblical way of accomplishing this is not putting the burden of “vision casting” on a charismatic leader. Instead, the members of the Church who are filled with the Holy Spirit should each play a role in discerning the vision God is giving the church while making sure it is rooted in the Scriptures and the historic Christian faith.

Karl Vater, in his excellent blog for small church leaders, explains a much more attractive alternative, “Shouldn’t part of that preparation include inspiring them (congregation) to hear from God for a vision for their own life and ministry? But how can they dream their own dreams if they’re constantly pushed to give time and money to support the pastor’s vision instead?”

---

What say you? Do you disagree with me and think the New Testament describes the practice of one person receiving a special vision for the entire community of faith? Or do you see other ways we can more faithfully practice the art of vision-casting that empowers the entire church? Please leave a comment as I’d love to hear from you!

 

 

Frustration is what happens when reality does not meet our expectations. All of us relate to this experience.

For some people it is the search for a job. You remember complaining about your old job but any job is better than no job. You have filled out countless applications, wrote cover letters, and even followed up with the hiring manager. Yet it seems as if your search is hopeless… you still have not found employment and are deeply anxious about the bills that continue to pile up.

For many it is the search for a spouse. Singleness is (wrongly) viewed by many people – especially Christians – as a second-class life. You understand what it’s like to go home each day and not have another person to talk through the events of the day with. At times you are overwhelmed with loneliness… at other times you are filled with anger – towards God, life, and circumstances.

For some couples, it is the expectation of having a baby. You got married and began dreaming about your first child – even picking out a room in the home for the nursery. Yet, after years of trying to have children, you are unable to conceive. Frustration is an understatement.

Still for others it’s a marriage that is falling apart… a child that has strayed from the faith… or dreams/career plans that failed to pan out.

This is an emotion and reality I have been wrestling with lately. It’s almost been a year since we launched Renovation Church. My honest expectation is that after a year we would have 80 – 100 people in attendance and the financial means to hire full-time staff.

It seems like the opposite happened. I do not know all the reasons but many people have left our church in the past year – some for good reasons… some for reasons I do not even know. It seems that the momentum and excitement that was with us in the beginning has stalled.

Here is a thought that has continually resurfaced as I have preached through the Gospel of John for the past year:

Jesus was crucified for not meeting expectations.

When Jesus arrived on the scene and many people concluded he was the long-awaited Messiah, they expected Jesus to be a military hero. They believed the Messiah would come, overthrow the Roman Empire, and set up an earthly kingdom that would bring about unparalleled prosperity.

Instead, they got a leader who had no interest in an earthly kingdom. They got a leader who constantly talked about dying and ended up being crucified at the age of 33. The religious leaders shouted, “Crucify him” because He did not meet their expectations.

We still crucify Jesus for not meeting our expectations. When a church doesn’t grow, we blame Jesus. When our marriage suffers, we blame Jesus. When we can’t find a spouse, we blame Jesus.

What if the greatest gift Jesus could give us is more of Himself? What if the Giver is far more desirable than the gifts and one of the ways he shows this to us is by stripping away the very things we thought would bring us happiness?

So what am I doing to drum up momentum in my church? Am I starting a brand new sermon series? Am I going to begin a building campaign? Am I going to try to hire more staff?

No.

I am going to faithfully follow Jesus in the way of the cross. Success in the Kingdom of God is defined by faithfulness, not Sunday morning attendance.

So what about you? Are you feeling frustrated today? How might God be using your frustrations to bring about greater holiness in your life and draw you closer to Him?

Friends, I do not know the answer to your frustration. What I do know is that God is good, God is present, and God loves you. Draw near to him today and He will draw near to you. 

If there was a guy named Jesus who really lived on this earth and really did all the miracles that people claim… how come he was abandoned by his disciples and died with almost no followers?

This is the question I wrestled with this morning as we continued our Gospel of John series from John 12:37-50. I pray this message encourages you in your faith and challenges you to make the Scriptures a priority in your life.

(If you are reading this in your e-mail you will have to go to the actual page to watch the video.) 

This past Sunday I had the honor of preaching on John 12:20-36 at Renovation Church. In this passage Jesus makes the remarkable claim that the hour for him to be glorified is now here. In the minds of many people in the first century, this means that Jesus was getting ready to overthrow the Roman government and set up a Jewish theocracy on earth. Yet Jesus goes on to explain that his glory is displayed in his humiliating death on a cross.

In this message, I wrestle with the implications this has for our lives today. I pray this message strengthens you in your faith and challenges you to take discipleship seriously.

(If you are reading this in your e-mail you will have to go to the actual page to see the sermon video)