Wow.  Willow Creek Community Church reports that Gene Appel and Randy Frazee have resigned Willow and will be serving as Sr Pastors in other churches.  Hybels will assume the role of Lead Pastor at Willow.  I am sure it is a bit of a hit to Willow, but let’s pray for a great transition all around and that the kingdom overall would grow because of these changes.

Read about the whole deal here.

Author, musician, worship leader, theologian, and cultural diva Sally Morgenthaler recently sat down with Alan Roxburgh at the Allelon Institute and discussed the role of worship and the church.

Sally is a friend and a solid leader.  I have had the privilege of talking through life and leadership with Sally and I always come away thinking (1) this lady is solid and (2) she makes my head swim.

Grab a cup of Starbucks and enjoy this video interview.

Thanks again Sally!

Dave Ferguson is the Lead Pastor of Community Christian Church in Chicago, co-author of The Big Idea, and Head Honcho of The NewThings Network.  Dave lives and breathes Christ and the multi-site church.  Next time you see him, ask about reaching a billion people for Christ.  A billion?  Man, I love God-sized dreams! 

I recently asked Dave a couple of my favorite questions.

Scot:   If you were to do it all over again, what would you do differently?

Dave: Do different?  Lots..but here are a couple

1. Make sure that I had a whole team of church planters and campus pastors on my team so I could start reproducing campuses, churches within the first 18 months.
2. Raise more money.
3. Spend more time in prayer listening to God.

Scot:  What would you do the same?

Dave:  Ok, here goes.  Here are the things I would do the same…

1. I would stay committed to the mission of Jesus through church planting and reproducing churches.
2. I would accomplish the mission though a group of people who love each other and understand what it means to be a community.
3. I would be understand the mission of Jesus to include my family and being committed to them.

For more info, drop in and check out Dave’s blog.  You’ll be glad you did.  Thanks Dave!

Rick Newman brings us our number three thing we could learn from Bruce:  Share the credit.

There’s been a lot of hype about Springsteen reuniting with his famed E Street Band for the first full tour since 2003, but come on — Springsteen, the man, is the draw, pure and simple. Still, this is one maestro who spreads the glory across the stage. Not once during the show does a spotlight shine on Springsteen alone. He continually calls out "Steve," "Clarence" and the other band members. And when they bow at the end, they bow together.                          - Rick Newman, US News and World Report

It is a picture I still have in my mind. We were in the throws of a full-on E street experience with sold out crowd in Chicago. The band was lighting it up Jersey- style. The crowd was singing along and the focus was not directly on the Boss man.   Bruce walked over to long-time friend, Clarence.  (Note to all Boss newbies:  Clarence blows the sax for the man.  And he is baaaaaaad).  He stood beside Clarence and together they looked at the crowd.  He reached down and grabbed Clarence’s hand and together they silently stared at the crowd.  It was a brief moment that spoke volumes to me.  A simple holding of hands that said "Can you believe this?  Can you believe that we get to do this together?  Don’t forget this moment we have.  How lucky are we?"

It may have been the best part of the show for me.  Springsteen doing his genuine best to share the limelight.  We could learn a thing or two from that.

Any way that you cut it, church leadership is a team effort.  If you think you are in it alone, you are wrong.  If you think you can handle it alone, you are wronger :>

How can we share the credit?  We need to realize . . .

1. God gets the credit for this gig.  I realize that is the cliche thing to say, but it had better be true.  God gets pretty worked up when other people take the glory away from him.  It’s a dangerous place to be.  A couple years ago I was pulling into our church parking lot.  I looked at our large building and thought of our extensive ministries.  I slowed the car and quickened my pride.  I started to recount all the hard work, long hours, planning, and loss of sleep that had brought us to where we were.  My pride got the best of me.  I was proud for what I was part of building.  At that moment I sensed the spirit of God say to me "Scot, what has happened here has been because of my hand. If you start to take credit for it, I will begin to remove my blessing."  Gulp.  Check please.
2. We need to operate as a team.  I get a little sideways when I hear Pastor’s talk about "their church."  Or something that "they" did.  We can operate as a CEO who thinks that the church world revolves around us, or we can wake up and realize that this kingdom thing is based on many people doing many thing.
3. Leaders take the blame, share the fame.  My Dad once said "When something goes wrong, you take the blame.  You say "I."  When something goes right, you share the fame, you say "We.""  Smart man.
4. Life was meant to be lived together.  I would much rather gather my team around me and celebrate a job well done than drive home alone and tell myself how good I am.  When people compliment me, I state the dead-on truth:  "We have a great team, I am glad to be a part of it." 

There are unsung hero’s on your staff.  There are people on your team who deserve some recognition.  Share the love.  Spread around the credit.  Don’t be afraid to grab a few hands, take a look at the landscape, and say "Can you believe this?" 

And when you bow, bow together.

Photo by luiginter

In part 3 of the Springsteen series, we explore another thought from Rick Newman and US News and World Report. Rick’s third observation from the Boss is that he gives the people what they want. Here are Rick’s own words:

Experiments get a more welcome reception when mingled with something familiar. Throughout the show, Springsteen deftly blended unembellished hits such as “Badlands” and “Born to Run,” performed pretty much the way everybody knows them, with darker, topical music; after appeasing his conscience, he quickly reverted to happier songs such as “The Promised Land” (irony intended, I presume) and “Dancing in the Dark.” The result: His message of protest got across without turning anybody off.

I know what you are thinking here. “The church can’t give people what they want. We would compromise or values and morals.” Hmmm, not sure I buy into that objection. To me, it is an issue of relevance.

Someone once said that “The church has historically been answering the questions that nobody is asking.”

Ouch.

Jesus always looked beyond the obvious. He looked into the lives of people. What were they struggling with? What were the things locking them up? What were their dreams?

Somewhere along the way we have to be able to answer the question of what people are looking for. Every year the people of exchange volunteer to work one of the biggest musical event in town. Bluesfest draws people from all over the Midwest. Several thousands come to enjoy some good blues with some great friends. Last year I stood in the middle of the crowd and again had to ask myself:

Is the church being relevant? Are we addressing the questions that these people are struggling with? Is the song we are singing familiar to people outside of Christ?

I never want to stop asking those question. As a church, we better wrestle with it. I am not asking that we compromise the message or the values. I am asking that we look at the questions that people are asking and begin to address those in relevant ways. Jesus did it, why should we do any different?

The heart of Christ beats for those who have yet to know him. Find out what they are asking and you have an inroad to the familiar in their life.

Photo by Sister 72

But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.  - Heb 3:13

Sin is deceitful.  It lies to me.  Makes me think that I will be better off.  Fills a void that I have.  It encourages me and makes me feel important.  Could it really be that a simple act of encouragement could knock the legs out from under sin?

Imagine a church that is so encouraging that sin gets beat down hard.  Imagine a city where encouragement reigns and darkness is suppressed. Imagine a world where the wealthy are encouraged and the poor are encouraged.  

Shouldn’t the church be the most encouraging place on the planet?

Maybe it is time for a revolution of encouragement.

Who will you encourage today?

———

Photo by More than Corn Here.

Dr. Wayne Cordeiro, Sr Pastor of New Hope Christian Fellowship in Oahu, cranks it out again.

Pastor Wayne authors Mentoring Leaders, a blog for church leaders.  In Cordeiro-esque  fashion, he keeps the articles brief and packed with goodness (like a power-bar for leadership).

Check it out.  You’ll be glad you did.

Thanks Wayne!!

Thanks once again to Rick Newman from U.S. News & World Report for the article on what the Boss can teach CEOs. Crossing it over from Business to church leadership, we explore Rick’s #2 observation: Innovate. In Rick’s own words,

Springsteen’s knack for turning old material into something completely new seems like a magic touch compared with all the lame efforts to create hip, modern variations of old TV shows or movies. Instead of copying success, he creates it all over again.

Can somebody testify? I must admit, when my pal Glen Baldwin offered to take me to my first Springsteen concert a few years ago, I figured I would be watching a washed up old man playing the same tunes for the millionth time so he could get enough money to pay his back taxes (tip of the hat to Willie).

I was wrong. Dead wrong.

The reason people flock to a Springsteen show is that you never know what this cat will do, but you know this: he takes old tunes and makes them new. Brand new.

Read the rest of this entry »

Alright. I am pretty fired up. In the past few weeks I have heard comments from people that get me amped. They all say it in different ways, but it goes something like this:

I am working a ton of hours each week. I have not had a day off since I don’t know when, and I can’t remember my last vacation.

Usually it is said with some pride. “Good-on-me for the hard work. I’m getting it done.” Am I supposed to respond with a pat on the back or some kind of heroic award? Hello McFly, we are killing ourselves. Some of us have jobs that own us. This is not how life was meant to be lived. Don’t get me wrong, I believe that it is a gift of God to enjoy work (Ecclesiastes 3:13), but this is out of control.

Don’t believe me? Get ready to be rocked.

Pastor Darrin Patrick from The Journey in St Louis offers the following statistics, which he gathered from such organizations as Barna, Maranatha Life and Focus on the Family. The following stats concern Pastors:

Read the rest of this entry »

Here is an overview of the Worship Leading Essentials articles:

1. Setting the Base
2. Letting Go
3. Teamwork
4. Putting Together a Song List
5. Spiritual Leadership
6. Skill or Spiritual Maturity?
7. Selecting Musicians
8. Song Transitions
9. Band Conflict
10. Dealing with Criticism
11. Setting Monitors
12. Stage Presence
13. The Art of Invisibility
14. Leading Rehearsals
15. Band or Rotating Musicians?
16. Going from Band to Pool
17. Limit the Gear
18. Rest
19. Life Long Learner
20. It’s Not About the Music