Ideas for and from leaders, pastors, and creatives
I always struggled with the sound guy who “was never being fed” in church. I always wanted to say (and probably actually did a couple times) “suck it up man and grow up… learn to feed yourself.” But now I’m beginning to wonder if we don’t owe sound guys everywhere at least a little bit of an apology.
This year is pretty interesting for churches in that both Christmas and New Year’s Day fall on a Sunday. For a pastor this could mean a hard few weeks with dipping attendance and finances, or a pastor could see this as a unique opportunity to impact his or her community. How you think and prepare for those two Sundays could make a big difference in the life of your church and for your finances. Here are just a few ideas that could help you maximize your ministry reach for those two Sundays.
Burning Platform
When talking to people about your vision you have to realize that you’re not communicating in a vacuum. There are all sorts of “visions” out there that people are encountering every week. So what helps make sure your vision cuts through the clutter?
As a leader here’s a question you should start with to determine the impact potential of your message: What happens if you don’t do your vision? What happens if you don’t build that building, start that organization, or launch that program? Really, what’s the worst-case scenario?
Yesterday I was amazed to find out that you could watch a live stream from a helicopter following a tornado ripping across Oklahoma. It was heartbreaking to watch the tornado flatten houses, and to see people crawling out of their demolished homes. (You can be a part of the relief efforts through http://love417.com/ or http://www.convoyofhope.org/)
One of the big topics today is the issue of reconciling suffering with faith and Christianity. With the recent disasters that we’ve witnessed around the world, people are wrestling with a lot of questions of faith in the midst of all the storms.
