LOL

Do you know that LOL is now an official word?!  It’s true: as of March of this year, LOL can be found in the Oxford English Dictionary.  We use it all the time in our texts and emails and social media:  we’re ‘laughing out loud.’  But of course, the person to whom we are writing it can’t hear us laughing or share our laughter with us, because we’re not actually together.

I’d like to propose another meaning for LOL, a way to describe the Defining Practice we call the With-Me Principle.  LOL means Life on Life.  Our lives as followers of Jesus are not meant to take place in isolation or even in the artificial kind of community we experience on Facebook.  Our lives as disciples are meant to be lived Life on Life.  Jesus' life on my life, my life on your life, your life on my life, and our lives on the lives of those in our communities and even the world.  Our God is the ‘with us’ God, and He created us to live a ‘with me’ life:  to experience deep communion with God and deep community with one another.  It’s LOL:  Life on Life.

So who are the people you have invited to be with you?  Who do you LOL with?  Are you in a small group or a one on one or two accountability group?  Maybe the Ministry Team in which you serve is intentionally working the ‘with me’ principle into what they do.  Whatever you do and in whatever setting—home, work, neighborhood, or church—make sure you LOL a lot!  Invite someone to be with you, to share life on life experiences together.  Not only will you grow and learn together, but I’m sure there will be lots of LOL, too!

With joy,

Kathi Busch

Alone?

Pastors, especially “solo pastors,” are familiar with the word and practice of “alone.”  Yet there are few things that are less consistent with the gospel, and few things, if changed, can affect a greater positive benefit immediately than to repent of the practice of alone.

What is this guy talking about?  Pastors often function as lone rangers.  We go to conferences, meetings, seminars, hospitals, pastoral visits…we have been trained to do it alone, even convinced there is no way else to do it.  But to reiterate, this is questionable biblical practice. Howeve a change of one’s pattern of behavior can begin to pay immediate benefits to enhance the development of leaders in a local congregation.

Biblical?  More than likely, if you are familiar with the Acts 16:5 Initiative materials and the efforts of Vital Churches Institute, you’ve heard of the “with me” principle.  Just a few illustrations:

“For he and all who were with him [Jesus] were amazed at the catch of fish that they had taken…”--Luke 5:9 NRSV

“ Soon afterwards [Jesus] went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. The twelve were with him…”—Luke 8:1

“Only Luke is with me [Paul]. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful in my ministry.”—2 Timothy 4:11

As a rule Jesus, and certainly the Apostle Paul, did very few things alone.  They had people with them, and they were intentional about it.  Yet for many pastors, this requires a significant change in our modus operandi.  Yes, it requires some planning, but mostly it requires a deliberate intentionality as in, “I will no longer go it alone.  I will plan and be intentional about having people with me.”  After all, it’s biblical.

But, here’s the bonus, imagine going to a training event, a leadership event, and you have one or more people along with you; they witness the same content that you hear, and it inspires them, motivates them to get on with it.  You did nothing but have them “with you,” but in doing so, you have convinced them, “sold them.”  You become a leadership genius.

All it takes is your resolve to repent of the lone ranger mentality, and increasingly commit to go throughout your ministry life “with.”  We know it; we know the “with me” principle.  No leadership in “alone.”  So today, start doing it “with.”

Joyfully - Dale Patterson

With Me

Recently, I went to the home of a long-lived parishioner who had died.  I was going to meet with his family to plan the memorial service.  As I walked in the door, a boy came running up to me and said, “Who are you?”

I introduced myself and asked him what his name was.  “David.”  

“Oh!” I said, “My husband’s name is David.  I really like that name.”  

I found out that this David was one of the deceased’s great-grandchildren, and that he was eleven.  He had a beaming smile and a tender warmth about him.

After the memorial service, as the post-service luncheon was going on, I heard one of our church leaders come into the church office calling out, “Rev. Anne, there’s someone here to see you.”  

Yep, you guessed it.  David.

                  

David comfortably sat down on a chair in my office and proceeded to tell me that he could help me quiet down the children who were running around the church.  I got up with David, and we went out to investigate.  Turned out there were no children, but a couple of the members of the family were loading up the arrangements of flowers.  I asked if David and I could help carry some of the arrangements, and we were welcomed into the activity.

                  

Just before the gospel writer, Mark, names the twelve disciples, he says this: 

“Jesus settled on twelve, and designated them apostles. The plan was that they would be with him, and he would send them out…” (3:14 from The Message)

The plan was that they would be with him…

Jesus knew the importance and value of ministry as it was to be lived with his disciples.  Of course, there were moments when he went off to pray by himself, but his disciples were usually not too far away.   Most of Jesus’ ministry was lived with his disciples close at hand.

                  
That plan of Jesus’ is one we can embrace as well.  When is the last time you invited someone to be with you in your ministry or your life?  There are many ways to engage in this form of ministry.  Here are some examples: invite someone to lunch with you after church on Sunday, invite someone to join you in reading a book of the Bible and discussing it, invite someone to go to see a movie with you, invite someone at your office to church and offer to pick them up, invite someone to make a hospital or nursing home visit with you, or invite someone to go with you to a ballgame.  The opportunities are endless!  However, it is easy to keep such a full schedule that we forget to take the time to think and act upon bringing others along with us. 

                  
When I was a girl, I got to go to dinner with my Dad alone once every three months.  The reason it was every three months is because my two sisters got the other two months.  It was a way my father took me along with him.  I always felt very special when it was my turn.

                  
We never know how God will use us as we bring people alongside us in ministry.  Although brief, my interactions with David came at an important time when his great-grandfather had died.  I believe even the smallest of tasks, like carrying out flower arrangements after a service, can be used by God for building relationships with others.

In Christ’s Service - Anne Clifton Hébert 

Reflections From an Acts 16:5 Pastor - Part 1

Fifteen years ago Thomas Presbyterian Church was a midsized congregation, settled into the countryside of southwestern Pennsylvania.  This group of social friends had fun together, worshiped together and had begun stretching into missional outreach. Since then we have become a Christ-centered, disciple-making, welcoming, and mission focused congregation. From 1996 to 2006, we grew from 240 members to 398, and our annual income grew from under $100,000 to over $240,000. An ambitious building expansion and renovation project was also completed. We developed new ministries and added part time staff to not only bring growth but to provide for the spiritual needs of those God added to our faith family.

When the Acts 16:5 opportunity was presented to Thomas Church, we were at the tail end of a 2 year visioning process and at the beginning of a three year "all hell breaking loose" era.  The time to make deep systematic changes coming out of Acts 16:5 materials coincided with a volcano of deep conflict boiling over within Thomas’ leadership core.   The source of the conflict was totally unrelated to the Acts 16:5 process or materials. Instead, like most congregational conflict, the underlining issues were around who held power and influence. More about this dynamic in part two of this article.

  

There were several transformational changes already happening that Acts 16:5 affirmed and expanded.

1.     We moved from "committees" to "Planning Teams"...85% of them have developed their own Vision statement, Goals, and Team member "job" /ministry descriptions

2.     The "With- me" principle birthed a whole new set of Christian Education leaders (With-me principle based on Mark 3:14)

3.     We launched four rounds of startups for new small groups

4.     We "blessed" a long standing ministry to senior adults and "added" a new ministry....{the former has since ceased while the latter continues}

5.     VBS is seen and planned as a major outreach to the community and not just providing for our own kids.

6.     We have strengthened our "communal" ministry by a layered approach to caring for the needs of our congregational by implementing or using:  Small groups, Deacons, Stephen Ministers, Prayer Chain, Healing services, Pastoral care.}  An article describing these layered ministries is published regularly, so people can see where help is available.

The Thomas' Acts 16:5 Vision Team not only faithfully participated in the training seminars but also worked to make Stan's teaching materials work for Thomas. 

The Presbytery Clergy Support groups were especially helpful to me in changing established congregational norms in a way that honored both Christ and the traditions of Thomas Church.  My colleagues asked excellent questions that helped me clarify my goals and they held me accountable to follow through on my established next steps. 

In Christ - Reverend Linda Jaberg

Tomorrow read Part 2 – Emerging from a Leadership Meltdown

A Discipleship Tool

For a number of years I’ve known of Greg Ogden’s book, Discipleship Essentials, but until last year, I had never used it.  It consists of 25 chapters on the basics of living the Christian faith.  Each chapter is a mix of Scripture and readings on the given topic with study questions included.  Scripture memory is also a part of each week’s lesson.

The content is solid but the real impact of the book comes by following Greg’s pattern for its use.  He suggests the book be used in a group of three, and then following the example of Jesus who invested his life in a few others, when the group of three finishes the study, they are each charged to find two others to begin their own group of three.  So, by the second year nine are involved in the study, the next year, twenty-seven, and so on.

A year ago, I started the study with two other men—one person who was mature believer, and another who was relatively new to the faith.  We met once a week for 90 minutes unless one of us was out of town.  I was amazed at how rich our fellowship was week-after-week!  By the end of the year we had become close friends united in a growing faith.  But more importantly, both men by year’s end were eager to start their own group of three.  So, this year we have three groups of three using Ogden’s study, and two other groups of three women each preparing to launch.  We’re discovering these studies are a wonderful complement to our existing small group ministry.

If you are longing for a tool to help your people develop a heart to come alongside each other with a common aim of growing in faithfulness to Jesus Christ, take a look at Discipleship Essentials. 

With Joy - Steve Ebling