There are few people who truly LOVE change. But, if you’re walking a church through a major transition, then you likely get excited about change. The reality is that you have to love change to survive the transition!

Here’s the point….You will love change, need change and be the catalyst for change. A majority of the people around you will NOT! They will think you’re radical, crazy, impetuous and even ungodly! Seriously, being the catalyst for change in a transitioning church can make you appear to many as the enemy.

WHY???? Aren’t you there to help the church gain health and momentum? Aren’t you supposed to be the shepherd to protect? The answer is YES! But, people love to be comfortable and change is not comfortable. As a result, people react. Some will react with quiet and gentle replies, some with anger and rage and some by simply abandoning the ship!

The truth is, when you experience these things it can be tough; it can be demoralizing! But, you need to realize that you are not unique or alone. I heard Pastor Mark Driscoll, share a statistic that stuck with me. He said when you start a new church, or even transition an existing church, that within 6 months 50% of the original people will leave. In the following 12-18 months 90% the remaining pool of original members will also leave. That means that within 2 years if you started with a core of 100 people, only 5-10 will remain as the church develops and changes! It’s not rare, it’s fact! I can attest, although I fought against it, that this is a very reliable fact!

The reality is that I spent too much time and too much effort in my own strength to combat people leaving. I tried to stand against the critics. I tried to convince people they would be happy if they would “wait and see”. I tried to “sweet talk” the remaining peopel every time their friends would leave. WHAT A WASTE OF TIME, ENERGY, EFFORT, RESOURCES AND WORDS!!!!

The reality is that God has a plan, God has reason and God is in control when people leave, when they criticize and when they abandon the ship. You are not in control as the pastor, GOD IS IN CONTROL! You’re job is to trust that, call people to follow Him and trust that He knows what He is doing! As Paul says in 1 Corithians 11:1 tell you church to “follow me as I follow Christ!”

Don’t take it personally when people don’t see your vision. Don’t take it personally when people try to discredit you. Don’t take it personally when people call you crazy, stupid or evil. Don’t take it personally when they run away from what God is doing…..They are running from the thing God has called you to, the thing God is doing! Just be sure you are following Jesus’ call in your life and you will have security in that statement

Like Moses rescuing the Israelites, your moves may be radical and extreme. But, Moses was able to keep moving because He was following God’s instruction and God’s call. Be sure you have a call, and be diligent to follow God’s instruction and not your own ambition.

If it’s not 100% about Jesus, you will never survive the transition!

Let me say this…..The journey, or process, of transitioning a church is not for the faint of heart. This process is grueling, tough, trying and long. But, rest assured, that if God has made your calling clear, the results are incredibly rewarding and exhilarating! So…..Let me begin.

In June of 2008 I came to serve with a church in Kingsport, TN, called Grace Place. At the time the church was 6 months old. The church was the product of another church’s split. This is never a good foundation to build a church. This means the church started from selfish reasons and NOT because someone had a calling to birth a new movement for the Gospel. Secondly, the founding pastor had some deep moral issues that would soon become evident.

The church started with about 1100 people. In late June 2008, shortly after my arrival, we would discover that the founding pastor had been living a lifestyle of “morale failure”. The church suffered in HUGE ways as a result of this truth coming to light. The church promptly grew to about 500 people from the original 1100.

During the next six months there would be a mass exodus of people. Why? Because of the poor foundation that the church was built on, the leadership and congregation were highly unhealthy and unstable. It was a “congregational lead church”, which is FAR from a Biblical church! For 6 months there would be a vicious and heart-wrenching power struggle between those who wanted a healthy, Biblical church and those who wanted to maintain the origins of such a broken church.

I found myself caught in the middle. My wife and I came to Kingsport, a place we knew for years God had called us to be, in order to be faithful to God’s design for our lives. We knew something wasn’t right in the church, but knew it was of no matter, because God had called us to something greater that He had in store. I came as the youth pastor, but my role quickly changed…..I was the pastor.

I considered MANY times closing the doors and calling it quits. Something that any leader in the midst of transition and change will want to do. But, DO NOT GIVE UP! After a LONG 6 months there were enough people who wanted to see a change, that God was able to start the true transition. In January 2009, Grace Place was laid to rest and Grace Church came into existence. We had a new name, new governance and a new vision. It was then we saw our selves grow from about 500 to about 150 people! But, the groundwork was laid and the hard work would now begin.

The past 18 months have actually been the hardest. I was the ONLY staff member for the first 18 months, and that was not easy. But, about 3 months ago I found myself in a place where I could finally say, we are truly different church. We are seeing lives changed, a community impacted and a dream becoming reality. As of now we have nearly tripled in size since January of 2009.

It has been awesome to see God do things that were FAR beyond my imagination. My grandmother shared with me in June of 2008 that I should never let Ephesians 3:20-21 be far from my mind. I never have! She was praying that over my life and our church. Well, I can say today, that her prophetic word was powerful!

In the next few days and weeks I want to share with you the greatest lessons I learned in hopes you will be inspired and encouraged. If you are walking through transition in your church, you can survive and you can make it. I want to use what God has taught me to help you follow through in God’s calling for your life and ministry.

If you are walking through transition, let me know who you are and how I can encourage you!

I wanted to take a few moments and share about a few great pastors that inspire me, teach me and challenge me to grow, lead and most importantly…LOVE JESUS! (You Can Click their names to learn more…)

Rick White, Lead Pastor of The Peoples Church in Franklin, TN

Dave Anderson, Lead Pastor of CrossPoint Church in Decatur, AL

Greg Surratt, Lead Pastor of Seacoast Church in Charleston, SC

Perry Noble, Lead Pastor fo NewSpring Church in Anderson, SC

Steven Furtick, Lead Pastor of Elevation Church in Charlotte, NC

Ron Edmondson, Lead Pastor of Grace Community in Clarksville, TN

You should definitely check these guys out….Some you may know and others you may not!

Who do you learn from?

I have begun to realize how flippantly we use this word….What song comes to mind when you see this picture?  …..Hopelessly Devoted to You. It’s a song we sing with tons of energy, but no thought for the meaning of the lyrics!

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE HOPELESSLY DEVOTED TO ANYTHING?????

The dictionary definition is to have “ardent and selfless dedication to something or someone”. The key in this definition is the word SELFLESS….That is one of the most contrary things to human nature. But, when we are truly, selflessly dedicated; the object of our devotion has our full attention. This is the very thing that God desires most from us…..Let me say that one more time….This is the very thing that God desires most from us.

How do I know? It’s the very words of Jesus….I figure if Jesus says it’s most important for us, than it must be. Just take a look here at Matthew 22:35-38

35 And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him.36 Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?37 And he said to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.38 This is the great and first commandment.

The reality is, we all have something that has the majority of our dedication and attention. Until we identify what that is, we can never surrender that part of our lives to Jesus. This is probably one of the toughest realities we have as followers of Jesus….We struggle to be honest with ourselves, that something other than Jesus has our devotion!

STOP, THINK……WHAT IS IT THAT HAS YOU HOPELESSLY DEVOTED?

Like the photo below, these men celebrate and use each others successes to continue to build and grow their own leadership where they are specifically gifted. (Although we all know Steve Jobs is the real genius!)

I truly believe that if we cannot celebrate the success of others, it leads to our downfall as leaders. As a leader, when we downplay the success and talent of others, it creates and nurtures a sense of pride and bitterness in our hearts. When that happens, those sins spread like an aggressive cancer throughout the entirety of our lives! It ultimately destroys our effectiveness, our integrity, our humility and our acknowledgement of God’s ability to work through the people around us. We begin to see others as less than the masterpiece God created. That effects our worship of God!!!

When we begin to verbalize the our critical thoughts, attitudes and perceptions….We are no longer leading others well. We begin to lead others in a pattern of bitterness and pride….Why? Because, how we live, is how we lead!

If you watch, in 1 Samuel, how Saul lets bitterness and pride destroy him, you can watch a downfall in his leadership….In this story I want to be Jonathan. He was an heir to the throne and royalty, while David was a poor, shepherd boy. Even knowing David would inherit the throne and take his place in that royal line, Jonathan loved David, celebrated with David and was a man of integrity. Better to have integrity like Jonathan, than a royal position like Saul’s seasoned with bitterness and pride!

Jonathan had more influence and weight in the life of David, than the very king David would soon replace.

Position does not makes us effective leaders….The ability to celebrate and encourage the success of others makes us GREAT LEADERS!

How do you celebrate the success of others?

Here’s the answer I believe…..

Our Wives!!!!

After 8 years of marriage, and 13 years with the love of my life I have learned…..the single greatest investment in relationships you can make in this life is with your WIFE….You heard me correct. That is the most important relationship you have as a man. God designed it that way…..Seriously! If we look at the book of Genesis, the book where we see God’s original design for the everything….We see God design and custom craft that very relationship.

God has created all of the world, including Adam. But, he noticed after Adam had worked through naming ALL of creation there was no helper, or mate, found suitable for him. So God made Adam sleep….He took a literal piece of Adam and crafted a custom made, perfect mate for him named Eve. (Read Genesis 2)

God designed for us, husband and wife to be one….Not only do we become “one flesh” through marriage, but we were literally formed from one flesh! So….Don’t you think it is the greatest investment you can make as a man?

How do you invest? How do you build that relationship?

1. Thank God EVERY DAY for your wife!!!! (No matter if it is a good or bad day!)

2. Make it a priority to worship God together (Make your primary pursuit of God a joint effort!)

3. Make sure your wife takes priority over ALL relationships, even your kids! (Notice that God called creation perfect before kids even entered the picture…..God knew kids were an added blessing, but not the completion of creation! It was complete when man and woman were together!)

4. Constantly encourage your wife…Let her know she is amazing!

5. Make every provision to ensure her health, physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually…..spare not cost, effort and time in ALL of these areas.

6. Give her the best of your life, your time, your creativity and your passion

If you do these things….I can assure you that your relationship will grow, flourish and bring satisfaction to your life. That’s the way God designed it.

How do you invest in your relationship with your wife?

Well, we equate the idea of anticipation as a sort of retrospect to our childhood. We eagerly anticipated Christmas morning when we opened gifts. We anticipated our birthdays, the bell ringing at the end of school and the desserts that often follow a big meal. They were are all a desire on our part to receive what we know is expected. (that’s ANTICIPATION!) We, especially as kids, didn’t always know what was coming. But, we knew something was coming and we would spend all of our energy and time consumed with the preparation, both physical and mental, for the arrival of those very things.

As we grow older and more accustomed to those events, we tend to anticipate less and less. I’m not really sure why? I know for me the gifts, the desserts and the reprieve from daily responsibilities have actually gotten better with time. But, my anticipation seems to have wained in the last decade or two. The more I think about it, it baffles me. I receive better gifts now, such as my Wii 2 years ago compared to my Speak & Spell 25 years ago. Desserts, well, let’s just say what I am able to get for myself versus the selection I had as a kid are far different and much better. Any reprieve from work far outweighs the reprieve I had while in school. They have gotten better, and I have become, more or less, unimpressed. Really seems crazy to me!

The same seems to apply to our Spiritual lives. We have those initial experiences with God that build us up. We start our jourey with a daily anticipation of, “What will God do today?” The emotional highs we experience when we first discover Jesus, or when we see Jesus do something GOD-SIZED in our lives leaves us exhilarated. But, in time our excitement and anticipation goes away. We now longer ask “what is God going to do today” and ask “Is god going to do anything at all?” Amazing that we say we serve a God who never changes, and somehow we push off this change of heart on God. We begin to assume God has changed His mode of operation or care for us. When, in reality, it is us that has changed. What has changed????

ANTICIPATION…..That is what has changed. We have lost what I stated earlier, “We didn’t always know what was coming. But, we knew something was coming and we would spend all of our energy and time consumed with the preparation, both physical and mental, for the arrival of those very things.” We need that back!

When we stop anticipating God to do something GOD-SIZED, we miss what He is doing. It’s not that He stops working, it’s that we have stopped paying attention. When that happens we no longer see our amazing God working in amazing ways….That is what leads to our feeling as though our Spiritual lives have become less than incredible.

Jesus, himself, called his followers to live in anticipation. In Luke 24:49 and Acts 1:5 we see where Jesus says to his core followers to anticipate the next level that God promised. These guys had seen Jesus turn water to wine, feed 500 with a sack lunch, heal the sick and blond and even raise the dead. But, Jesus Himself said there was more to come. He called his followers to anticipate the coming of the Holy Spirit who was greater still. He called them to wait with aniticipation of the power they would receive from “on high”.

Here’s the kicker….They did! They waited, they anticipated, and God showed up BIG TIME. He showed up in such a way in Acts 2:2-6 that an entire city full of people from all over the known world stopped and payed attention. When God showed up that day, THOUSANDS discovered Jesus!

When we anticipate God to show up and make a GOD-SIZED impact in our world…We will get the chance to watch God do things that will blow our minds. God will continually do those things in our lives, every day. God does tings we can’t imagine! If you don’t believe me read Ephesians 3:20-21 or 1 Corinthians 2:9…..Not even our imaginations can handle what God has planned for us!

So, are you living in anticipation of what God is gonna do??????

But, underneath, there is a stronger theme that speaks more loudly than anything. It is something that, even more today, I realize is the very heart beat of becoming a great man, great father, great husband, great leader, great thinker and great pastor……It’s the investment of a wiser, more seasoned man in my life. It is the investment of another man’s very being into my life. Not just someone’s investment, but also my willingness to learn, grow and be stretched in the process.

When someone invests in us, we need to offer 100% willingness to learn and grow. We need to take the risk of allowing someone to help coach, mentor and shape our lives. We NEED a man who is willing to invest in us, teach us and shape us in order to become better men. It’s a messy process and requires ots of hard work and dedication, on both ends! As a husband, father, pastor and follower of Jesus that man must be 100% in love with Jesus and willing to work hard. (Or, as one who would invest in others I have to have the willingness to work hard for someone else!)

When we have those men in our lives, they inspire us to become passionate about the life that God has given to us.

I read through 2 Timothy 1:3-14….This is a POWERFUL passage that comes from Paul to Timothy as his mentor. How awesome it must have been for Timothy to read these words from his coach/mentor!

It leaves me desiring 2 things….
1. That a great man, husband, father and leader would be invested in me like Paul was invested in Timothy
2. That I would also be invested in the same way in someone else.

The culmination of “Dead Poets Society” speaks loudly of the value of investing our heart and soul into others. It produces passion, conviction and determination to become better men, husbands, fathers and leaders. Take a few minutes to watch the final 5 minutes…..You’ll notice the response of and to men who are invested and those who are not!

Who is invested in you? Who have you invested in?

Why? Because if we know, we have some sense of control. As if by knowing we can live with confidence, and we can plan out each step to go where God would have us go. 

The reality is that God has no obligation, and rarely chooses to let us in on the plans that stretch any further than the moment you are living in RIGHT NOW. Our primary purpose is to love God and be loved by God. God wants to transform our lives. Here are some scriptures that help me when considering God’s will…..

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Romans 12:2 ESV……..We can’t truly Figure out God’s will until we have allowed Him to transform our lives. Have you allowed Him to transform you?

“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” Matthew 6:34 ESV…….The reality is that we, too often, waste time on the things we have no guarantee of……..TOMORROW. We are only guaranteed today. Focus on what is in front of you. Where you are right now is where God knew you would be. Make the most of that. Do the very thing He has called you to do right now. Investing in now and doing it to honor God is the best way to invest in the plans God has for your life in every day that lies ahead.

“Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand.” Proverbs 19:21 ESV……We can plan all we want. At the end of the day, God will work with or in spite of us to accomplish His purposes. Trust that God is in control and that He will take care of the future. Don’t carry the burden of shaping the future, it’s not your burden to carry! 

As a pastor, my primary goal & desire is to honor God by making the most of the moments and influence of today. I have no guarantee of tomorrow. As much as I dream of the future of Grace Church, God has a bigger plan. If I steward well the moments He gives me today, he will entrust more to me tomorrow! I want to maximize every day in hopes of a greater future for the Gospel! That’s what I believe God wants from those of us who choose to follow Him! 

On Sunday the BIG GIVE culminated with an epic give-away. We gave away a car, a cruise, beach vacations, a new driveway, spa treatments, massage, 1 yr of free oil changes, photo shoot with a renowned photographer, meals at many restaurants, tattoos and so much more. The best part is that the majority of gift recipients were first timers at Grace Church, including the lady that received the car!

The gifts were free, no stings attached! Just like the Gospel. 100% free, all you had to do is accept. There were 212 first timers to Grace who were able to hear that message of hope. THE GREATEST PART OF THE WEEKEND WAS THAT 19 PEOPLE DISCOVERED JESUS!!!!!! We define that as a WIN for the Kingdom. This coming weekend we will be celebrating that in grand style!

God has been so good to us at Grace Church. I am humbled and honored to be able to pastor a great church who has a desire to see people meet Jesus. This weekend gave us a chance to show that we mean what we say when we say: “We will do whatever it takes to make an impact in the City of Kingsport for Jesus.”

The best way to sum it up comes from a guy who is part of Grace Church……..

“Think of all that has happened during this past 3 weeks that most likely contributed to this………..  Here are some of them.

1 Prayer and obedience to the Holy Spirit.
2 Michael’s Vision, promotion and effort.
3 Staff and Leadership buy-in, support and commitment to the Vision.
4 Church buy-in, support and commitment to the Vision. ………………………

If anyone complains about these 3 weeks, they have missed the message, the whole point, why we did it, the bottom line:  19 people who accepted Christ.  That is why we do the things we do at Grace Church.

Could we have done it better? No!  Not that one.  That was God’s plan..He was/is in control…not us.  He knew the 19 people who needed Him.  Why would we want to change that one?

Could we improve on the next one? Of course.  It hasn’t happened yet.  We can do our best at planning…but God is still in control and it will never be exactly like we want it or think it will or should be. That is a good thing!  Enjoy the journey! We must continue to allow the Holy Spirit to lead us in all we do.” AMEN…….

What will you do to impact your city?