the reluctant leader

Every Nation F.U.E.L. Conf -- Ed Stetzer Quotes

My Baptist friend, Dr Ed Stetzer (Mr Ed as we respectfully call him) spoke to 150 of our Every Nation American pastors, campus missionaries and church planters in Nashville 2 weeks ago. Good conf. Good mssg from Ed.

Here are some Ed quotes from our conf:

It is not one or the other - healthy movements have relational connectedness and missional passion.

Tools not rules – make the tools so good that everyone wants to use them.

Many desire, talk about and pray to be a church planting movement, but few will pay the price to see it happen.

Stop trying to capture the glory of your past and find God’s vision for your future.

And the # 1 Ed quote of the month:

People never change until the pain of staying the same grows greater than the pain of changing.

Click here for Ed's blog about his 10 point "Movemental Christianity" mssg.

Top 10 Reasons People Quit Church

Note to pastors and youth ministers who choose to live in denial: the following stats do not apply to you, only to other churches and other youth groups that are not as spiritual, strategic, relevant, cool, committed or emerging as you are.

The American church loses 70% of its 18 and 22 year olds. That’s scary. Think about your youth group, the teens in your church and in your family - by the time they are 22 years old - 70% will no longer go to church.

There’s a lot of talk about reaching the “un-churched” – but what about the “de-churched” who walked away from the church of their parents? Thousands of young people used to go attend church, but not any more. Why?

According to research in a soon to be released book by Thom Rainer (the Simple Church dude), here are the top 10 reasons young Americans quit church.

10. I was only going to church to please others.

9. I want to spend more time with my friends.

8. I disagreed with the church’s stance on political or social issues.

7. I didn’t feel connected with the people in my church.

6. I became too busy.

5. I moved too far away.

4. My work responsibilities prevented me from attending.

3. I started college and stopped church.

2. Church members seemed too judgmental or hypocritical.

1. I simply wanted a break from church.

The #1 reason young people quit church is tragic – “I wanted a break from church.”
But why? I think maybe #2 causes #1.

Listening Leaders

Red Deer, Alberta, Canada. Half way btw Calgary and Edmonton. Unlikely location for one of Canada’s largest most influential churches.

I have known Word of Life founding pastors Mel & Heather Mullen for about 20 years, and I’ve always been impressed with the youth in their church. Most pastors reach people 10 years older and 10 years younger. Not Mel and Heather. They have always reached their peers, and the generations coming behind them - people 20 and 30 years younger.

Right now as I type this blog on my Air, Mel it talking to about 200 Canadian pastors and church planters, trying to get them to think big. I’m doing the afternoon sessions. As usual, I will talk about discipleship principles and process. The theme of this conference is “MULTIPLY.”

Here’s what Mel just said, that explains why his church has always had a vibrant youth movement. “I walked into a staff meeting 4 years ago and said to my team: ‘I’m no longer asking you to build a church for my generation. From now on, I’m doing church to reach your generation."

Then Mel asked his young leadership team a question that all over-40 leaders need to ask: "What do I need to change about my leadership and this church in order to reach your generation?"

Mel went on to say, "Then they started telling me what I need to change. And they still tell me, everyday. And I’m changing.”

I wish every pastor leader would ask that question, and listen to the answer. Mel and Heather have built a great church because they listen and they change. That’s a good idea for all leaders, no matter what we are leading.

Preaching Tips & Brain Rule #4

Another day, another flight. Nashville to Minneapolis to Calgary. I'm now in Minn, waiting.

Sat next to the Marlboro Man on my flight from Nash to Minn. Since all USA flights are non smoking, this guy had a cup of coffee instead of a cigarette.

He kept on sipping his coffee, but for some reason the coffee  never ran out. Strange. It seemed that very time he put his mouth to the plastic spout on the coffee cup lid, there was MORE coffee in the cup, not less.

Then i figured it out - he was spitting, not sipping.  The Marlboro Man was chewing tobacco. Nashville.

While dodging liquid tobacco, i read an article in the NWA World Traveler magazine called "Our Brains at Work." Interesting. The article summarized a book by molecular biologist, John Medina, about putting our brains to max use at work.

Medina's "Brain Rule #4" is pertinent to preachers and speakers. It says, "We don't pay attention to boring things." I think we all know that. But his next 4 sub points could help our preaching. Here they are with my comments in bold italics:

1. The brain's "attention spotlight" can focus on only one thing at a time: no multitasking.
More evidence for the 1 point mssg.

2. We are better at seeing patterns and abstracting the meaning of an event than we are at recording detail.
Since they can get details from a book or online and no one remembers anyway, we need to focus primarily on ministering to the heart not the head.

3. Emotional arousal helps the brain learn.
Preach mssgs and tell stories that evoke emotion and people will pay attention and remember.

4. Audiences check out after 10 minutes, but you can keep grabbing them back by telling narratives or creating events rich in emotion.
This really made me re-think my outlines. I need to re-start every 10 minutes. That explains a lot.

Gotta to find gate C-12...

Criticizing the Preacher

Sitting in the Jacksonville airport answering emails while I wait on my delayed flight back to Nashville.

Got an email from one of our Filipino preachers, a guy who has recently joined our weekend preaching rotation. (Our church has 64 weekend worship services in 14 Metro Mania locations with around 75 different preachers each month.)

The guy who emailed me is one of our better preachers. He was a bit discouraged because of a professional and persistent sermon critic who seems to analyze and complain about everything he says.

Here’s my 7 point response to my preacher friend:

1.  Welcome to the pulpit!  Too many Christians are called and gifted to complain and criticize preachers.

2. In my opinion your preaching is excellent, anointed, clear, focused, understandable, practical, biblical and Christ-honoring.

3. My wife agrees with point #2.

4. More importantly, your wife agrees with point #2.

5. Remember, you minister to hundreds of people every Sunday. Most love and respect you, and most appreciate your leadership and your preaching.

6. Do not let this affect your preaching. Preach the Word.  Feed the sheep. Don’t respond to your critics from the pulpit. Don’t attempt to pull up the tares, b/c you might uproot some wheat.

7. Forgive and forget.

Here are some more of my thoughts on preaching for preachers.