ie:missional teaching. glocalizing. living. serving. repenting. incarnating. loving. repeating.

June 8, 2009

Thoughts regarding fallen pastors

Filed under: Bible,Church,Culture,Devotional,Family,God,Gospel,Idolatry,Leadership,Life,Movies,Sex — Tags: , , — Marty Duren @ 3:02 pm

Saw it again last night: a pastor admits to committing adultery, repentant and broken, but out of the ministry nonetheless. I’m not sure that there is anything that weighs on me like hearing that news. This particular pastor led a dynamic church that has seen 100 people saved in the last three weeks, yet he still succumbed to the same temptation that has torn down the mightiest of warriors.

Having been married for more than twenty-five years and having been in the ministry for twenty (next month), I thought it would be appropriate to review some of the things that I think about when I hear such news. These are in no particular order, but should be considered well when desiring to avoid marital infidelity.

1. Get enough rest. Mental and emotional fatigue are open doors to bad decisions, even sinful ones. Many a man “burns the midnight oil” for the kingdom, or so it is supposed, only to find himself in the hotel room or church broom closet with a woman not his wife having lost the will power to say “no,” or even to think it. Pastors, you are not superhuman and while each of us need differing amounts of rest, listen to your body and rest when you need to do so. You cannot push the envelope of energy continually lest you run the risk of mental or physical adultery.

2. Stay true to the Word. This one should be obvious, but there will never come a time that we do not need the Word. Early in ministry we are afraid to even attempt to live without it, but often in later years coasting becomes the norm. “If I can just make it to retirement,” becomes the mantra for too many pastors who’ve long ago lost passion, but are trying to ride out the wave. Don’t become a hireling! The only way to remain a faithful shepherd is to be guided by the Word every step of the way.

3. Be careful. Don’t allow the thirst for adventure to cause you to become careless in how you relate to women. There will never be a time when flirting becomes acceptable or when lingering looks become godly. Internet filters or tracking software (X3 Watch or Covenant Eyes) may be necessary to keep your mind where it needs to be and out of the gutter. Have the TV removed from your hotel room if necessary or at least disconnected from the cable. When your wife says, “Stay away from [a particular woman],” then stay away from her. Somebody else can take her phone calls and do her counseling or she can go to another church.

4. Love your wife always and make love to her as often as possible. Make sure the passion that brought you to marriage does not get swept away in the busyness of life and ministry. When Paul instructed Timothy that a man who ignored the needs of his family is worse than an unbeliever, are we to believe that he was only talking about groceries?

Continue to pursue your wife as if you are still trying to convince her to marry you. Don’t take the attitude of Ward Cleaver: “What’s the use in chasing the bus after I’ve already caught it?” When your kids are young, get them accustomed to early bed times so that you and your wife can spend time together and when they are old, lock them out of the master bedroom for the same reason. Have date nights and don’t apologize or feel guilty.

Keep sex on the leading edge of your marriage. I think we’d be shocked at how many pastor’s wives go to bed with a book because their husband wants to debate online whether or not sex is “gospel-centered.” I think marital sex is God-given, God-blessed and God-expected. Paul wrote to the Corinthians couples that they should only abstain in times of prayer and fasting “with consent” and then resume their normal activity so that Satan did not find a way to tempt them due to a lack of self-control-a lack of self-control that resulted from a lack of sex. I hardly think that once-a-month passion is what he had in mind. Regular sex with one’s spouse is self-control.

If you are a pastor, teacher or evangelist and you travel so much that you have to reintroduce yourself to your wife and children each time you return home and you have such infrequent sex that you have to get the manual out each time, then you are living in a state of foolishness that borders on outright sin before God. Did you miss the part about being tempted for self-control? It amazes me how many guys would pass up a woman in need (with a broken down car, for example) for afraid of “causing a brother to stumble,” but cause their wives to stumble regularly due to the lack of attention and affection shown by her husband.

5. Live your heart. If you are in the middle of a career of ministry and come to the recognition that your passion is no longer for pastoring a local church, then change. A friend and I were discussing this very thing at lunch today. Guys get wiped out, lose their heart, lose their passion and then, it seems, it is easier to commit adultery than to get out. GET OUT OR GET HELP. One or the other. I’m aware that the Bible says, “The gifts and callings of God are without repentance,” but honestly, does that mean a specific job? I could go today and work at Chili’s and still fulfill my life’s calling.

If you find yourself in the midst of a career-crisis as a pastor and you, deep down, know that you’ve no more to give as a pastor, then plan an exit strategy and start following it. Read Wild at Heart if you haven’t already.

6. Do not let your church (or religious culture) force you into a way of ministry that destroys your ability to minister to yourself and your family. Every pastor is different in structure, personality and function. As soon as you understand how you function best (early morning, late night, mid-morning) you should organize your schedule around it, then communicate it to your church. If you need to be in the office from 6:00 AM until 2:00 PM, then come in early, leave and go fishing or to the gym or whatever. Or go home and help your wife with dinner; or cook dinner so she can go to the gym. Or vacuum the curtains…I understand that is the sexiest thing a husband can do.

If all of your local associational meetings are at night (y’know, when the wife and kids are home and help is needed) then skip them. I see no biblical admonition to attend, but I see multiple biblical admonitions about being a husband and father. As a pastor you are on call 24/7 and often are doing work related to ministry while at home or up early. Don’t feel guilty about calling another pastor and going to the movie after lunch. He needs it and so do you.

7. How about let’s dispense with all the “rock star” talk? John Piper wrote a book called, “Brothers, We are Not Professionals.” Perhaps someone should write one entitled, “Brothers, We are Not Rock-Stars.” Our current star persona promotion of good speakers, exceptional church planters and mega-church pastors borders on idolatry and calling people “rock star” or something similar does not help. In fact, what we have created and continue to promulgate makes mental or moral failure probable if not inevitable. Jesus said, “He that would be the greatest among you must be the servant of all.” When James and John’s mother wanted to know if her sons were going to be rock-stars in the kingdom, Jesus asked about their ability to endure suffering and sacrifice. I’m sure that ticket sales would drop dramatically if torture were the promoted result.

God has called us to one primary calling and that is to love Him with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength. This can be done from an office or Starbucks, from a house or a boat, from a seminary or an urban center. When we lose that simple focus, rather than following wherever and whenever it leads, then downfall becomes, all too often, the norm.

November 25, 2008

The Church as Missionary: A Global Networking Dialogue

Filed under: Church,God,Gospel,Leadership,Mission,Missional — Tags: , , , , , , — Marty Duren @ 1:00 am

The Church as Missionary: A Global Networking Dialogue
January 12, 13, 2009-St. Louis, MO

The world is changing. Actually, it has already changed several times over in the past decade or two. Technology and globalization are creating quantum change instead of the linear progression of generations past. But, when it comes to the local church and mission, things plod along as they have for decades. Many churches still primarily engage in mission through sending their dollars off to a denominational agency or parachurch ministry while their own people remain passive in the task that God has given them. With the world nearing 7 billion people, the rise of the indigenous Church of the global South, and America emerging as one of the greatest mission fields in the world, we believe that the local church has a more vital role to play now than ever before in proclaiming and living out the gospel, both globally and locally. It seems, though, that few churches really step into the purpose of God in this area. What if local churches networked together to pray and find out where God was working, share opportunities and best practices, and encourage one another along in their God-given task? What if the Church became the missionary, instead of farming out our calling to others? What if we partnered together to directly engage in global missions and domestic church planting?

Some of us believe that this is possible. We believe that God is igniting the local church to step to the forefront of His work in the world. Each local church has gifts, talents, vision, and people who are already engaged in the world around them. Each Christian and church has a God-given purpose to fulfill. What if a network formed that encouraged each participating church in the task of impacting the world globally and locally by maximizing what is already happening the lives of the people in our churches? If churches in the network partnered together to share vision, people, and resources to impact lostness, couldn’t we do far more together as the engaged people of God to transform the world, than we could separately? We’d love to join with some other folks who are thinking about the same things.

On January 12-13 in St. Louis, MO, a group of pastors, leaders, and thinkers, will come together to engage in guided discussion regarding the possibility of networking to specifically engage in global and local mission by putting the local church on the forefront of the task God has given us: discipling nations. Some of us are Southern Baptists. We have our own missions agencies and cooperative giving program. This is not meant to take away from that, but we recognize that just sending money to denominational agencies and passively waiting for them to initiate work will do little to fulfill the Great Commission. Local churches must be engaged in the task in a more direct way. We’re thinking that we would be more effective at that if we partnered with others.

We are specifically inviting you to join a few dozen leaders to engage with this concept and see if God is wanting to link some folks together to help one another become more effective. This is not about starting an organization or collecting money-the last thing we need is more bureaucracy. If this goes well, the local church will be at the forefront and the network will exist in the shadows. We don’t have a name for what we are wanting to do. We might just call it, “that missional thing.” But, we believe that God is up to something and if we can help one another engage the world more effectively, then we will have accomplished our task.

This is not a standard conference or seminar where a lineup of speakers download terabytes of information to process later. Discussion initiators will be brief and on point leading to dialogues directly related to network building. Real value will be added to your ministry objectives and church mission as a result of your participation.

If this resonates with your heart, plan to be in St. Louis so that together we can help one another move our churches to the front line of Kingdom work in this world!

For more information, please leave your email address in the comment section (use this format: name[at]provider[dot]com to avoid spambots). You will be contacted in short order.

Grace and Peace,

Marty Duren, Lead Pastor
New Bethany Baptist Church
Buford, GA

Alan Cross, Pastor
Gateway Baptist Church
Montgomery, AL

November 10, 2008

Remembering Kristallnacht

Filed under: Books,Church,Culture,Economy,History,Leadership,Life,News,Politics — Tags: , , , , , , — Marty Duren @ 2:00 am

Crystal Night. The Night of Broken Glass.

October 1938 saw the forced deportation of thousands of German Jews to the Polish border where some were allowed immigration but many waited. All were uprooted from their homes and dispossessed, many traveled penniless. This deportation was an inevitable result of the cumulative 90 discriminatory, anti-Jewish laws passed in Germany from 1933 to 1935.

Living in Paris was the seventeen year old son of two of the displaced, Herschel Grynszpan. From his sister, who was with their parents, he had received a post card telling him of their plight and asking for any money he could spare. The family had lived in Hanover for twenty seven years. After receiving the post card, Grynszpan purchased a newspaper where he read in graphic detail of the deportations from Germany. On Monday, November 7, he took a loaded pistol to the German embassy where, “in the name of 12,000 persecuted Jews,” he shot Ernst vom Rath, fatally wounding him.

Not wanting to miss a golden opportunity to further their warped agenda, during the night and morning of November 9 and 10, 1938 (seventy years ago today), Nazi goons all over Germany set fire to more than 200 Jewish synagogues and smashed the windows of 7,500 of Jewish owned stores and businesses. One writer called it,

the crowning moment in the wild domestic terror that Germans perpetrated upon Jews.

In villages, towns and cities across Germany, Jewish residents were awakened to the sounds of shattering glass and beaten flesh. Around 100 were killed and some 30,000 taken to concentration camps. A picture from the day shows German citizens lining a street while Nazi policemen march Jewish men toward a transport to Dachau. A Bible twisting sign held in the crowd reads, “Exodus of the Jews.”

It bears remembering that Hitler did not come into power by a coup, but by the will of the people of Germany. Runaway inflation, national shame and the loathed Treaty of Versailles primed the country to listen to the pseudo psychological babblings of the mustachioed madman. The primary motivation that prepared ordinary Germans to accept the leadership of a man who was obviously either crazy, demon possessed or both was not reason; what Hitler believed did not make sense and was against any real science. It was not based on history; Jews had been in Germany, and Europe, for generations. It was not based on parasitism; Jews contributed greatly to the German economy, being hardworking business people.

It was based on fear. German nationalistic pride was in shambles. The German economy was suffering from runaway inflation. The German military forces were supposed to be severely curtailed and military aircraft non-existent. The German people lived in fear of the future and into the leadership void stepped Adolph Hitler, who was welcomed with open arms and admired with open hearts.

About a month ago, we had the opportunity to go to a nearby town and hear a presentation by Holocaust survivor, Eugen Shoenfeld, retired professor from Georgia State University and author of My Reconstructed Life. He recounted his story from the age of 17 when he boarded a crowded train car with scores of other Jews where they rode four days with virtually no food and only a bucket for a toilet. Upon finally arriving at the destination, they began disembarking into two lines at the heads of which stood a man in a leather jacket who was motioning some people to the right and others to the left.

The place was Auschwitz.

The man was Dr. Joseph Mengele.

Many of Schoenfeld’s family were unwittingly condemned on the spot, while he and other family members joined the hundreds of Jews already in laborious, sickening captivity. Schoenfeld lived until he and the remaining survivors were liberated by American soldiers. The irony of being freed by American Lt. Schwartz was not lost on the young man.

Following the story of his life, the retired professor reminded us of the emotion that drove virtually an entire country to support Hitler: fear. He reminded us that fear causes otherwise rational people to do completely irrational things. At that moment in our country, we were just in the beginning of the economic meltdown from the mortgage crisis. Wall Street was in a panic and it seemed that decision after decision was being made as a result of fear, whether a hastily conceived bailout or 401(k) owners selling out stocks and moving into cash. Fear is not a link to wisdom or patience.

Fear, no matter what the “boogie man” behind it, causes people to willingly, and often eagerly, sell their future for a “mess of pottage.” It happens over and over again in our world. Fear of one government causes submission to a war lord. Fear of liberalism causes conservatives to make bad decisions. Fear of another terrorist attack, well, interpret events as you will. Fear war and you vote for Barack Obama. Fear Barack Obama and you vote for anyone else. Regardless of who is president, we can never allow fear to lead us to willingly give up our basic rights. Once given, they are rarely returned. Just ask the Germans. Wearing the cloak of fear, the Reichstag gave unfettered authority to Hitler, making themselves puppets in his dictatorship.

Leadership is forged in time of crisis to be sure, but the hammer of the molding is never fear. Life leadership has to be from faith, wisdom and boldness, never from fear, uncertainty and weakness. If there are any citizens that live free from fear and exhibit the patience to evaluate circumstances based on the truths of God, it ought to be His people. Let it be so.

November 4, 2008

An election day prayer

Filed under: Culture,Economy,Family,Gospel,Leadership,Life,News,Politics,Prayer — Tags: , , , , , , — Marty Duren @ 6:34 am

Father,

On this important day for American society, I pray that we would not forget you. Your word says that you set up kings and you take down kings, so surely that includes our president, whether it be Barack Obama or John McCain.

Father, I pray that we would not forget your kingdom. In a day when fervent patriotism and divided politics carry most every conversation, help your children to remember that we have been called to a higher allegiance and that what happens in America does not equate to what happens in your kingdom. Forgive those of us in the United States that have convinced ourselves that your eternal plans ride on decisions that we make, forgetting that your kingdom was expanding centuries before 1776 and will continue eternally after the last copy of our constitution has disintegrated.

I ask that you would forgive us for making political preferences a basis for fellowship. If you can break down the walls between Jew and Gentile, can we not imagine that you have done so between Democrats and Republicans? Many of us know people who, if they don’t outright despise people who hold to different politics, find it extremely difficult to carry on conversations that don’t degenerate into political wrangling. May we never forget that Jesus set the pattern for us by choosing among his disciples one zealot, whose goal was to extricate Israel from Roman domination, and one tax collector, whose job was in league with the oppressors. Let us love, love all and love well.

Please forgive us for putting our hope in a political party or a president, when our hope should ever and only be in you.

Father I pray for Barack Obama, a man who seems to have no conscience toward the unborn. In his very stance on the abortion issue he betrays himself as a man not of your word, regardless of his claims of salvation. If elected, I pray that he would humble himself under your mighty hand and that you would use him, turning his heart wherever you will.

Father I pray for John McCain, a man who seems to be running on a platform he doesn’t completely believe. I do not believe that he understands the complexities facing our nation and have no hope that he would pick anyone other than “good old boys” to be around him if elected. He has no plan to stop the slaughter of the innocents. If elected, I pray that he would humble himself under your mighty hand and that you would use him, turning his heart wherever you will.

Father, I pray for the mostly unknown others who are on ballots for president across America. It is my earnest prayer that, beginning in this election and at all levels, we would begin to see the end of the two party dominant system that has polarized this country. Allow third, fourth, fifth party candidates and independents to be elected to force more reasonable and workable solutions to the problems we face.

I pray for the salvation of those who are in congress or who will be going there after this election. Place someone around them with the message of the gospel that they might come to know you and govern with wisdom.

Above all, that we your people might demonstrate the righteousness that we have received from you in every conversation we engage. The kingdoms of this world are fallen and corrupt; help us to promote the one, eternal King and the plan that he has instituted.

I ask this in the mighty name of Jesus Christ, your son.

Amen.

August 8, 2008

Attending the Leadership Summit 2008

Filed under: Church,God,Gospel,Justice,Leadership — Tags: , , , — Marty Duren @ 10:17 am

Our staff is attending the Willow Creek Leadership Summit again this year, this time at the satellite location in Norcross, GA.  I have been more excited about this year’s Summit than the last two.  This is probably the 4th or 5th one that I’ve attended.

As usual, Bill Hybels set the tempo with fantanstic talk on the process of making decisions as leaders, called “The High Drama of Decision Making.”  Hybels rarely misses in this venue and my guess is that most of the narrow minded people who’ve consistently criticized him over the years have failed to actually listen to the man share his passion.  There is no way that a person with a focused mind and open ears can hear Bill Hybels speak and not be moved by his passion for the lost, for the glory of God and for the local church.

Hybels outline began with the “4 Usual Questions” which are:  1.  What does the Bible say?  2.  What have others leaders said?  3.  Go to your own PG&E Vault (the Pain of past decisions, the Gain of past decisions, the Experiences of past decisions)  4.  Is there a prompting of the Holy Spirit in the decision?

The rest of the talk was a portion of Hybels’ new book, <i>Axioms</i>, a collection of his own leadership wisdom.  One that was most important, especially for pastoral teams is “Promote a clash of ideas.” Do <b>not</b> try to reach a consensus as quick as you can.  The best ideas happen when lots of ideas have been discussed.

Hybels also spoke of the study done at Willow Creek that resulted in some massive changes in structure and programming.  This <i>Reveal</i> study cause much accusation and celebration from Willow Creek’s detractors last year when released as it showed that not as much spiritual growth had taken place at Willow as the leadership team had wanted.  <i>Reveal</i> helped them to reformulate and redefine what needed to happen to actually get spiritual growth to another level.  We are going to use a form of it at New Bethany sometime in the next 6 months.  I’m persuaded that the reason more churches don’t do a similar evaluation is the fragile ego of the Lead Pastor could not take it.

The second speaker yesterday was Gary Haugen of the International Justice Mission, an organization that exists to bring  the goodness of God to those who are in some form of enslavement in our world today, an estimated 27 million people.  I was absolutely shaken to the core by the video footage of forced child prostitution in Asia yet moved to the core with the footage of them being released, some 24 from one dungeon.  To hear of one 16 year old Indian girl who was led to another city on false pretenses only to be drugged and forced into prostitution where she was raped 20-30 times a day, 7 days a week for her entire imprisonment was almost more than I could stand.  I was ready to pack a suitcase, some brass knuckles and firearms and volunteer for a mission trip.

Haugen’s definition of <i>injustice</i> is revealing:  the abuse of power to take from people the good things that God has given to them.  When viewed in that light, it is no wonder that God was so consistently stirred up about injustice in Israel.  If we don’t take victims of that abuse the living example of the goodness of God, are they really going to see it through the Red Cross or the Red Crescent.  Haugen’s first point, Leadership that matters to God is leadership in areas that matter to God, should be enough to get the people of God involved in justice issues.  I can’t wait to encourage out budget team to transfer some budget funds to support IJM.

More updates later.

May 19, 2008

Out of the Ashes-A Way Forward, Part 1

Filed under: Church,Communication,Culture,Gospel,Leadership,Mission,Missional — Tags: , , , , — Marty Duren @ 9:27 am

Well, you don’t know what we can find
Why don’t you come with me little girl on a magic carpet ride?
Steppenwolf

In this series thus far, I’ve attempted to demonstrate the reasons why I believe bureaucratic denominationalism in America is on a decline that will not reverse and will end with the disintegration of the structures that we know. For the purpose of clarification, let me say that I am not opposed to the efforts of denominations to bring the gospel of Jesus Christ to the world. Without a doubt, some major denominations have in the past been very effective at those attempts, but, owing to changes in our world, have lost the ability that they need to continue any semblance of that same effectiveness in the future. For that reason they will continue to decline. Therefore, my remarks have not to do with “saving” any denomination and should not be taken in the context of denominational renewal.

In this post and the next few, I will posit a way forward in the Post-Denominational era. Note that it is “a” way forward, not “the” way forward, as I make no claim of exclusivity of ideas since multiple sources have influenced my thinking. With that foundation I offer the following thoughts.

1. Fluidity is stability.
The problem with bureaucracy is that it is inherently inflexible. The multi-layered construction can only be supported by the rigidity of a virtually inflexible skeleton. The larger the organization the more complex, almost without fail, its inner workings. In fact, the exceptions become the examples of how things should work, but most companies cannot make make the recalibrations necessary to achieve the kind of flexibility that everyone agrees would be better for both the company and it customers.

Though the actual definition of bureaucracy refers to a system of government in which the most important decisions are made by employees rather than elected officials, the dysfunction of a preponderance of those systems has virtually made it a synonym for an organization marked by inefficiency and waste, while bureaucrat equals a person who is completely unqualified for the position held and whose decision making is marked by incompetence. (The truth of that is seen with the popularity of Dilbert and The Office.)

Bureaucracies develop as a result of a search for organization and distribution of responsibilities in a time of expected or actual growth and/or expansion. Once reaching a critical mass, however, they begin to repeat the very issues the multiple layers were instituted to solve. In a flat world, rigidity is not stability; it is death.

Going forward, the only stability that an organization can seek is fluidity because that is what it will take to remain in existence. The ever increasing flow of information in our age is almost beyond comprehending, bringing us to the point of needing to make accurate snap judgments (what Gladwell calls the “blink”), while advances in technology have made it possible for immediate communication between decision makers. Entities that have structured themselves for fluid decision making will be seen as the ones upon whom you can depend. An example:

Envision a denominational entity that has resources for a project in Boston or Bangladesh and there is a church (or small network of churches) that has resources for mission projects. The denominational structure has been created for the purpose of providing stability, while the network has been created to bypass bureaucratic inefficiency by enabling quick decision making. The request works its way up the denominational structure, through levels one, two, three, etc and finally back to someone who has the authority to either “okay” or “veto” to the proposal. The M on the field has spent an interminable amount of time waiting. Could be weeks, could be months and could end just as unfunded as when it was first proposed.

On the other hand, a request goes to a church or network of churches that have already committed to Bangladesh or Boston as a place of specific ministry. The request comes to them, it is affirmed for the M (there doesn’t have to be much home base discussion because the M is trusted to make the decisions; that’s why there is a relationship with them in the first place). Within a week or two, the money is wired and the project has begun.

When the M has another need, who do you think he/she will go to first? The second group, of course. Fluidity necessitates that enough trust is placed with the M that requests made on the field are not second guessed by people an ocean and half a continent away.

Consider partnerships at the local church level as well.

A local school needs supplies for a project that the district cannot afford. A creative teacher suggests contacting a couple of churches for help. Church A receives the request, funnels it to the pastor who brings it before the deacons who then take it before the Finance Committee who have a couple of questions, so it goes back to the deacons who have a few more questions for the pastor, ad infinitum, ad nauseam.

The pastor of Church B send it to the Community Missions Leader who, knowing that the function of his/her team is to create or find partnerships, fires off an email to the team with a 48 hour response time, gets approval, calls the principal of the school and takes a check by three days later. Again, when the next need comes, the school will call Church B without a second thought.

The reason that fluidity is stability is because the fluidity of the church or network of churches provides the stability needed for the person in need for the ministry to continue in a timely fashion, while the “stability” of the b’cracy provides only uncertainty for the person waiting. The provider of blessing needs to be fluid so that the need of blessing can actually receive it.

Next up: The network is the organism.

March 6, 2008

Pastors and Deacons

Filed under: Church,Communication,God,Leadership,Mission,Podcasts — Marty Duren @ 11:24 am

I am under no illusion about my preaching prowess, so I do not post this because I think I am the second coming of (fill in the name of your favorite speaker here), but because the subject matter is of vital importance to small to medium churches all over.

This past Sunday, I preached on the subject of “New Testament Church Leadership,” which was an overview of the offices of pastor and deacon. If you think it might be beneficial to you or someone you know, you can listen to the podcast here. If you get insomnia, you can download or subscribe to my other podcasts at newbethany.org/podcasts.

October 16, 2007

The Atlanta Falcons…

Filed under: Leadership — Marty Duren @ 10:00 am

are a train wreck.

I watched the Falcons last night on MNF just to see what would happen. It hurt. I actually feel sorry for those guys as players and as people. Taking the field week after week after week with virtually no chance of winning must be extremely disheartening. As I watched and contemplated the year to date for this team, some leadership thoughts came to mind.

Let’s assume for a moment (using Jim Collins’ analogy) that owner, GM and head coach are the right people on the bus and that they are in the right seats. At this moment, it would be hard to imagine it any other way: Arthur Blank owns the bus, GM Rich McKay was hand picked by the owner to drive the bus and head coach Bobby Patrino was hand picked by the owner and GM to sit in that assigned seat. Let’s further assume that the entire coaching staff (at least for this year) are supposed to be on the bus and are in their proper seats.

That only leaves the players (sorry, trainers and ball boys). The well chronicled woes of Michael Vick vacated the team of its star player, main draw, primary source of excitement and center of coaching plans. Imagine New England without Brady or the Colts without Manning, mere days from the start of the season, with only a journeyman backup and you get the idea. Then your most athletic back-up (DJ Shockley) is gone for the season with an injury leaving a fifth string as third string. In addition, the offensive line has suffered injuries, the secondary is typically porous and players have become mouthy about the coaches and each other. Sigh. Where to start?

We begin at the position around which the entire team rotates: quarterback. Joey Harrington is the perfect person to be in the slot for which he was hired–backup quarterback. Whenever Vick lost a shoe, got the wind knocked out of him or was beating a dog otherwise unavailable for a play or two, Harrington would come in and take a snap, hand the ball off to someone and return to the sideline to collect his check. I believe that Harrington is the right player, but he’s in the wrong seat. The problem is that he was forced into that seat when Vick jumped off the bus and then was run over by it. History informs us that Harrington is not a big time winning quarterback in this league, but when you have no options, you go with the option you have.

The running backs are also an issue for the Falcons. Warrick Dunn has dropped from over a hundred yards a game to 50 or so (I didn’t look it up) while 2nd year gazelle, Jerious Norwood, still averages about 5,000 yards per rush. I think that one of the problems is that the Falcons have changed their blocking scheme from smaller more mobile linemen to larger slower guys, who are supposed to be able to protect a less mobile, non-Vick quarterback, but Dunn is a small, stop and go runner who can’t really plow up behind a bunch of big butts for yardage. Norwood is on the bus, probably for a long while (unless he’s traded to move up in the draft, more to come) but they don’t have any idea what seat to put him in.

Every receiver the Falcons have are in the wrong seats–they should be defensive backs because they specialize in knocking balls to the turf. In defense of Michael Vick’s often poor passer rating and having watched the guy pretty consistently during his career, for every pass he threw that was completely uncatchable, two hit Roddy White, Peerless Price, Michael Jenkins or Alge Crumpler right in the chest or hands and were dropped. This year, Joey Harrington is suffering the same fate with passes being dropped at least twice a game, sometimes five or six times. Without a doubt, this is collectively the worst receiving corp to ever take the field in an NFL game. Most of them need to be thrown off the bus entirely. Less expensive guys can drop the ball with regularity. I’ll do it for $10k a game and save them all kinds of money.

I don’t have time to go through the defense, but suffice it to say that a few guys are in the right seats, but continuity and injury continue to be problems.

Now, as this bus is traveling the season’s road, there are certain considerations: First, what do you do if you are in the last year of a contract? Do you play as hard as you can to try and hit the jackpot as a free agent?

Second, what if you are in the middle of a contract? Do you play as hard as you can, risking injury, during a year that is and most likely will continue to be a disaster?

Third, will there be an effort to “give away the season” in order to secure the #1 pick and hope to get Brian Brohm from Louisville, who would doubtless be the choice of the head coach? Do you trade away one future (Norwood) to pin hopes on another (Brohm or Colt McCoy)?

Fourth, do you give rookies playing time at the expense of the veterans who know their shot at winning the big one has been put off for at least one more year and are already voicing the strain?

Fifth, how do you motivate guys to take the field and give their all in a season like this? If there are no incentives in the contracts, is it likely that they will continue to play hard?

October 6, 2007

The Local Church Engaging Unreached Peoples

Filed under: Leadership,Mission — Marty Duren @ 7:33 am

Over the last couple of days I’ve been at the Catalyst Conference held at the Gwinnett Arena just a few miles from my home. It was good to see Kevin Bussey and Chuck Bryce both of blogging fame and reconnect with some pastors and friends who I had not seen in a while. The conference, IMO, was good but not outstanding. It seemed that the speakers were given less time than in years past and many of the speakers were repeats from Q that I had attended earlier this year.

Yesterday, there was luncheon hosted by the International Mission Board of the SBC. I was able to see some old friends, folks that I met during my earlier travels to the trustee meetings. Our staff was blessed to sit with an M from Barcelona and hear just a bit of his story. We also got to know the co-pastor and two members from Grace Community Church in Clarksville, TN.

The meeting was hosted by the multi-talented and apparently multi-purpose Ed Stetzer whose topic was “Speaking in Tongues.” Since we were not all SBCers in the room (at least I don’t think we all were), I thought we might see a demonstration, but no. His subject, of course, was that some from every nation, tribe, tongue and people were going to bring praise to God in eternity and what were we doing about it??

He quoted an estimate that 3,000 additional missionaries (I assume from any and all denoms) could engage all the remaining unreached peoples in the world. This is thrilling, but is it the answer? Following the conference, it dawned on me that my denomination has more than 3,200 church in Georgia alone. The national structure of the Southern Baptist Convention has more than 45,000 churches. Unless my math deceives me (and that is a distinct possibility), that is 15 local, SBC-related bodies of Christ for every UPG left on the planet.

Let’s assume for a moment that NO more M’s are sent through agencies, but instead, churches large and small partner together in groups of fifteen (“pods”) to adopt and engage these peoples. Let’s assume that agencies are willing to spend some of their manpower on training these churches in missiological principles that better prepare them for engagement. Let’s assume that these churches restructure their giving to create the UPG as a level one priority, even if it means cutting the fat from the denom portion of their annual budgets. Let’s assume that some M’s on the field become the hands and feet of this “Pod” of churches who commit to send teams regularly until a viable church planting movement happens, or until viable “church at Jerusalem” is begun.

There are enough churches in Georgia to engage all the remaining UPG’s. There are enough in the southeast to engage them multiple times over. Why are we waiting for another 3,000 people to commit full time?

August 1, 2007

Brazil, Part 3

Filed under: Gospel,Leadership,Mission — Marty Duren @ 7:27 am

Without a doubt, one of the most exciting, passionate-for-the-kingdom churches I have ever attended is First Baptist Church of Campo Grande, Brazil. Located in the western state of Mato Grasso du Sol (South Mato Grosso, which borders both Paraguay and Bolivia), Campo Grande is a bustling city of 7-800,000. Near the city center is the campus of FBC, led by Senior Pastor, Gilson Breder.

Breder, pastor for the past 16 years, is a 54 year old with enough energy to power most of the city. He has both vision and passion to reach the lost in their city (primarily through cell groups), to plant churches and to send out missionaries, all of which they have done and are doing. My primary reason for going was to learn about their cell group ministry, but I received so much more.

Eight years ago, one of the pastoral staff, Pastor Leo, was burdened that the church could do a more effective job of evangelism and ministry if it moved to a cell group model. Beginning with a single cell group of leaders the church now fields 160 groups each week with a goal to begin 95 or so new groups within the next year. If there is one word that pervades the cell ministry it is multiplication-everyone talks about it. They truly understand that expanding the number of groups gives the most people ministry opportunities and creates more relational opportunities for evangelism. From 42 year old mission pastor Djalma Alberquerque to 29 year old cell leader Andrea to 23 year old leadership supervisor Yuri Breder to 18 year old cell leader Marissa, everyone knows that multiplying their group is the best opportunity to reach the teeming masses of Campo Grande.

Another thing that I learned is that at least one Brazilian church has learned to implement leadership principles while many American Christians are still debating whether business principles have any place in church. FBC Campo Grande is a leadership training machine. The leadership conference that was part of the weekend was attended (on average) by more than 10% of the normal attendance. Each of their 160 cell groups has an assistant leader that is being prepared to lead a group.

In the music ministry, multiplication is also a core value. Of the 5 or so sessions of the leadership conference, they never had the same praise team singers or band members twice. Not twice in a row, but twice! And, though the majority of attendees and participants are young and single, the entirety of the conference was attended by one particular lady who appeared to be in her 60’s along with her mother who was 92.

Prayer times both in cell groups and in the normal “worship service” are marked by passionate beseeching with tears flowing easily and pervasively across the room or auditorium. When I compare the many rote prayers of North American believers (often my own), I can see why God is so busy south of the equator. If you ever get a chance to visit FBC, I would encourage you to spend your annual convention money to go.

One story: The first time on the campus, I noticed a hippie-looking guy sitting outside the door selling trinkets (bracelets and anklets) that he had made. I thought, “That’s pretty cool that they allow him to do that and don’t run him off or call security on him.”

The next day we drove by and Pastor Gilson excitedly exclaimed over his shoulder, “Did you see the hippie?!” “Yes,” we responded. “He’s a believer in Jesus and a member of our church!” Sure enough, I was able to locate him in the crowd each session for the rest of the weekend. Later, they enlarged on the story. When “the hippie” got saved, the members of the church tried to get him job training and help him move up the ladder of social and economic productivity. His response was, “I could do that. But, if I do I will lose contact with my people. If I don’t reach them, who will?” His goal now is to go back and finish high school, then go to seminary and prepare to be a missionary in his culture.

Yes, Todd and I bought a bunch of stuff from him!

I thank God for the opportunity for this trip and for making provision for me to be able to go. I trust that our church will be able to implement some of the principles that were passed along and gain the passion for the lost that so many people at FBC Campo Grande have in their lives.

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