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Unleash Session 2 Notes by Mark Doebler

Session 2 at Unleash is beginning now… and Perry Noble is speaking in this session to the church leadership.  I’ll share his points from this talk via the blog.

To the Pastors:  Aren’t there days that you just want to quit?

Perry told a story that allowed him to address how hard church work, and how discouraging it can be for the leader.  

FOUR QUESTIONS THAT EVERY LEADER NEEDS TO WRESTLE WITH? (from the life of Moses in Exodus 33

1.  Who is with me? - Exodus 33:12

• The average stay of pastors is only 22 months at any given church…. is it possible that some preachers are actually church-hoppers too?  
• Does the church know you’re there… that you belong to them and are committed to them?
• To the Staff:  Satan doesn’t want to split your church.. he wants to split your staff.. and begins when the staff member begins to think about his pastor.. “I do as much as he does”
• • When you think you’re going through spiritual warfare… your pastor is going through the same thing 100-fold.  You have no idea the weight he carries.
  • most pastors carry a weight that you will never understand unless you are a pastor.
  • You need to understand that the pastor is called to lead… Sheep don’t lead the Shepherd…. he has to know that you have his back.  

2.  Am I pleasing You? (We must constantly ask God this question) Exodus 33:13

• If God told you that this Sunday would be your last Sunday what would you preach?  Then go preach it Sunday because it may be your last.  
• Don’t be a prostitute that preaches for a paycheck and please people, but be a minister that pleases God.  
• • DO I UNDERSTAND THAT MINISTRY IS RECEIVED, NOT ACHIEVED?
  • • We try to do way to much on our own rather than receive what God wants to do.
    • God knew every stupid mistake we would make as leaders before we even make it… that’s the mercy of God.
  • AM I PLACING LIMITS ON ME THAT GOD DOESN’T PLACE ON ME?
  • • God often puts his most powerful gifts in his weakest vessels
    • What is the thing in your heart that you won’t speak about because you’re afraid people will think you’re crazy or afraid God might not come through?

3.  Will we see God? Exodus 33:14-17

• Are we creating an environment in church where people can live lives full of sin, come to church, and leave unconvicted and feeling good about themselves?
• Moses told God that he wanted God’s presence over anything else.  
• Do you want attendence or repentence?  It takes a pastor, a leader that will proclaim the Bible as the Word of God without apology.  
• It’s not always a bad thing when people leave your church… especially if they leave because they are offended by the Gospel.  

4.  What’s next? Exodus 33:18

• We don’t want to be a monument, and we don’t want to be a museum… we want to be in motion asking God to show us, what’s next?
• What would happen if the leadership’s sole passion was to get ahold of God and ask him “What’s next?”.  
• What would happen if those in the church would partner with the vision God has planted into the leader to pursue what’s next?
• We would be able to reverse the current trend of the decline of religious affiliation.
• Lord help us to be people that want the ball in order to effect change rather than people who are on the sideline criticizing those are trying to move the ball.  

COACH MARK’S THOUGHTS

Lord, help me to lean more fully into you.  Help me to find peace in the fact that it is YOUR church… and I will never love nor care for the people you have entrusted to my leadership more than you do.  Lord, I want to know more of who you are so that I can know more of what you desire for our church.  Give me the courage to be fearless in following your call on my life.  Help me to never be swayed by the criticism of men, but to rest confidently in who I am in you and what you are calling me to do.  May my leadership flow through your power and your strength and may that allow us, at Second Chance Church, to be a force for you glory in advancing the Kingdom of God.

Unleash Session 1 Notes by Mark Doebler

I had the opportunity to meet Pastor Mark Doebler at the Assessment Center last summer, he and his wife were a part of the team that was prayerfully assessing the candidates which at times was both painful and profitable.  Interestingly enough, our paths cross quite frequently at the Next Steps Coaching Seminar and I have the privilege of considering Pastor Mark as a friend.   Mark is the Pastor of Second Chance Church in Peoria, Illinois and is one of the "manliest" Christ Followers I know. 

Recently New Spring Church hosted a one day conference entitled "Unleash.  Mark was gracious enough to pass along his notes and thoughts and gave me permission to repost them here.  

For more information on Pastor Mark visit his Blog or Second Chance Church.  

Here are Marks Notes and thoughts, enjoy!

Unleash Conference at NewSpring Church is underway, and I want to give you some thoughts about what I’m hearing and what I’m learning  from this.

Perry’s message is based on scripture from 2 Kings chapter 7

*  It’s interesting how God uses people who are falling apart to serve his interests.  These lepers were thinking we’ve got nothing to lose… let’s take a chance.  

1.  ARE WE WILLING TO EMBRACE CHANGE? - 2 Kings 7:3-4

• Perry believes every church could be one or two changes away from doubling in size and scope of ministry… but embracing change is hard.
• Most churches would be far more willing to embrace change if they looked at kingdom issues as valuable as their own money.
• People who are having difficulty hearing the voice of God should be reminded that you will never hear the voice of God clearly if you aren’t willing to embrace some change.  
• Everybody can look at another church and call the change that needs to be made… but can you look at your own church and make the same call?
• The early church in Acts went through constant change:
• • Acts 1:14-15 (small number to begin)
  • Acts 2:41 (numerical changes) 
  • Acts 4:32-37 (financial changes) 
  • Acts 6:1-7 (responsibility changes)
  • Acts 8 (multi-site changes) 

2. ARE WE WILLING TO WORK? - 2 Kings 7:5-7

• To many times we ask for permission, instead of practicing submission to what God is wanting to do.  
• Investigat the obvious
• • Ask yourself… if you weren’t paid or on staff, would you go to one of your church events?
  • Are there ministries in your church that you are manufacturing energy for or is the energy there naturally?
• Ignore the jackass
• • “In Greek, jackass means blogger”… LOL… Perry is talking about ignoring the critic who feels called to set you straight.
  • In church, too many pastors are listening to the jackasses and not focusing on vision.
  • Perry says the jackass in the church is the one who says, “I want to go deeper!”  John Maxwell says that most Christians are educated far beyond the level of obedience.  If you want to talk about depth, let’s look at your tithing records… let’s look at how much worship you engage in during the week… let’s look at how much scripture you have read.

3.  ARE WE READY TO REACH THE WORLD? - 2 Kings 7:8-11

• Four terms causing trouble in the church
• • Contemporary - Our pastor wears a sweater vest and we sing songs that make it sound like he gets his underwear at Victoria’s Secret and pretend that Jesus is our boyfriend instead of our Crucified King.
  • Blended - No one in our church actually possesses a set and will proclaim where we actually stand.  In an effort to keep everyone happy, we reach no one.
  • Missional - No one is showing up, so we sought out a term to make us sound like we’re actually doing something.  
  • Emergent - We’re a bunch of spoiled former church kids who have a problem with authority… including the authority of Scripture.  So we have sided with the Devil, and Hell will be more crowded because of our efforts.  
• God didn’t call our church to condemn the city.. but to reach it.  

Coach Mark’s Thoughts

Every now and then I need to be able to sit and hear messages like this.  Just like anyone else, I need to have the Word of God spoken into my life and my ministry from someone else.  I agree with Perry that the church needs to be about the business of reaching the world… and that means living and dealing with change on a regular basis.  We say on a regular basis at SCC that “We’re going to do something a little different today”.  But even with that, we find ourselves at times settling into routines.  May the Lord help me as a leader to never simply “settle” but to always be ready and willing to move into a new setting or new paradigm… whatever the Lord requires.  

I also agree that the church will be a mess… and we have made peace with that.  Because the very people that Jesus is calling us to reach are messy we should expect no less.  

I also am asking God to help me to stay focused on vision.  There will always be critics… but God is bigger and he is who I will stand before.  On that day, I want to be able to say that I stayed true to the course he set before me and was not side-tracked by someone who “hurt my feelings”.

Book Review- Death By Meeting

I have been sick for the last few days which has allowed me to catch up in two areas of my life:

1. Sleeping and 2. Reading.  I spent most of the day Monday reading Patrick Lencioni's book "Death by Meeting". 

I read a lot of books, which is probably surprising to a lot of people.  I usually have about 5-6 books going at once.  I would not recommend that reading style to anyone, but for me it works and keeps things interesting. I have been meaning to read this book, but had not gotten around to it, so Monday while I was home sick I made some Tea, laid on the couch and dug in! 

I would highly recommend "Death by Meeting" to anyone who leads or facilitates meetings. Personally I have been a part of dreadful meetings ( the ones that were drawn out, off focus, and lead to more frustration than solutions) and have experienced great meetings (the ones where we focus on opportunities, overcome opposition, make decisions, and are generally exciting).  As a leader I want to do everything in my power to make sure that we have good meetings here at Meadowland Church and I think the tips and principles Lencioni offers in this book will really help take our daily, weekly, and monthly meetings to a "Whole Notha Level". 

Here is the kicker and for me the real eye opener.  The resolution to have better meeting is not to meet less, or have less meetings.  In fact it is the opposite, if you want to make your meetings better, you need to have more meetings, improve your communication, and get more information and ideas! 

If you are currently experiencing bad meetings or want to take your meetings to the next level I would highly recommend picking this book up (CLICK HERE).  If you are not leading the meetings you could always buy the book and leave it on your bosses desk, it is kind of like the gift that keeps on giving!!

Sunday in Review: 3.8.09

Sunday was another great day at Meadowland Church!  Here are some of the highlights: 

- We moved back into the auditorium this week after being in the cafeteria for a month.  Interestingly enough, I kind of missed the cafeteria. 

- We had a great time of Worship lead by our Worship Team this Sunday.  There is nothing better than being together with God's people and worshiping our Savior! 

- This Sunday was week #4 in our series "The Lost Art of Loving".  Pastor Gary "brought it" with his message - "Love is Sensible".  If you missed it our would like to hear it again CLICK HERE .

- Drew did announcements this week since I was sick.  He did a great job, and I think I may have the Elders do announcements more often, it is great seeing them up on stage!!

- Sunday was daylight saving time and we all lost an hour of sleep. 

- Our numbers were down a little on Sunday, but I think that was mostly due to the time change!

-  Our Set Up Team Rocks!  These guys and gals (Paige- here is your shout out) got up early, already being short of an hour of sleep, unloaded the trailer in the cold rain, and transformed a High School into a church and they did it with a smile on their faces!  You all Rock!! 

- I came down with a nasty cold, and was not feeling well at all on Sunday.  I did not get to connect with a whole lot of people and did not want to spread the disease!! Our Greeter team did a great job, thank you Team!! 

-Next week we continue on in our Study of 1 Corinthians 13- "Love Thinks of Others"!

Questions or Testimonies?

Hello Everyone!

If you have questions about the series we are going through, or have a question about something you are wrestling through, please feel to e-mail me and then I will answer the question (withholding your name) here on the blog.  Odds are if you have a question, there are others out their wondering the same thing!

Also, if you have a testimony about something that is going on in your life or would like to share a "Holy Moment" send it my way, and I will share it here on the blog! 

Life is a Journey, Lets Walk Together!

Adam

Sunday in Review: 3.1.09

Sunday was another great day at Meadowland Church!  

Here are the Highlights: 

- It was cold on Sunday morning, but that did not keep our set up team from doing a stellar job of getting us all set up. 

- I am amazed each week at how quickly a High School Cafeteria becomes a Sanctuary!

-  Our Worship Team is my favorite band, they are talented Christ Followers who beautifully lead us into the presence of the Lord each week through song, scripture, and praise. You guys and gals rock!!

- We celebrated Founders Week this Sunday.  We looked at how God has taken us as a church from a dream and a vision, used faithful, committed people like Richard and Carolyn Wollard and their family to plant this church, and celebrated all that God has done in us and through us as a church.  As we enter into this new chapter of Meadowland Church, the question is - "How will you go down in the history books of Meadowland Church?" 

- We celebrated Communion Together!

- We took a look at the life of Joseph of Cyprus - better known as Barnabas, the Son of Encouragement.  You can hear the message online - HERE -  "Love Builds Others Up!"

- It was a hard weekend for Audrey and I.  Our 2 year old Cocker Spaniel (GUS) was hit by a car on Friday night and he had to be put down.  So we were up late Friday, Saturday was a bummer, and it was really hard to mentally prepare for Sunday on Saturday Night.  

- After service there was a great spread of food, and I personally had a great time connecting with our friends and family, while also having the opportunity to make some new friends after church.

For all of you who work behind the scenes here at Meadowland that make our ministry possible, thank you so much!  

Sunday in Review: 2.15.09

 Last Sunday we kicked off our new series, "The Lost Art of Loving - a 10 weeks series in 1 Corinthians 13 that will refresh your love for God and revolutionize your relationships with your spouse, children, neighbors etc.

We had a great Sunday, here are some Highlights:

- The set up team did a fantastic job.  They are doing double duty right now with us meeting in the cafeteria.  They make 2 trips on Sunday mornings so we can sit in the nice padded blue chairs.

- The Worship was great.  I thought the worship team did a fantastic job of leading us into the presence of the Lord.

- Pastor Gary kicked off the series with his message - "What's Love Got to Do with it ?"

- We got to meet some new friends on Sunday morning - I love meeting new people.

- Rainbow Kids had Parent's Day on Sunday morning, and they had a great turn out and very positive feedback.

- Pastor Gary left us with the challenge to read 1 Corinthians 13 and replace the word love with Jesus and praise Him as we study that passage.  Then we are supposed to replace the word love with our name for a "gut check".

Sunday in Review: 2.8.09

Sunday was another great day at Meadowland Church.  The weather was BEA-utiful, and made the set up run a little smoother.  It is easier to set things up when you can fee your hands!!  Pastor Gary lead us through his message "Being a Difference Maker" which was a great reminder that God created us to make a difference in the lives of those around us.  You can hear the message online at www.meadowlandchurch.org !!

Here are the Highlights:

- It was a warm February morning!

- The set up team did a stellar job.  I am always amazed at how fast we can turn a school into a sanctuary!

- The Worship Team lead us into the presence of the Lord through Praise and Worship! 

- We got to meet some new folks on Sunday, that is one of my favorite parts!!

- I left my lights on, which resulted in the battery dying.  Here is the kicker, the Expedition has a keypad on the drivers door, and usually on Sunday I leave the keys in the car so I do not loose them.  So not only was my battery dead, my keys were locked inside!!

- We had the Annual Ministry Celebration on Sunday.  We had a huge turn out, it was a great atmosphere, lots of energy, and we got both items on the agenda affirmed by our amazing Members.  We also heard some great testimonies from our ministry leaders.

- At 4:00 pm I was the Associate Pastor @ Meadowland and when the meeting was over I was Affirmed as the new Lead Pastor at Meadowland.  I Praise the Lord for that, and am excited to be on the Journey with our family at Meadowland.

- After the Annual Meeting we had the Banquet- our monthly potluck and game night.  The food was great, and the fellowship was even better!!

All in all it was a Historic Day! God is doing an amazing work at Meadowland Church and their are no better opportunities than the one's we have right now!!

Answer to the Question - Can I Be Generous if I do not Tithe?

Last Sunday (1.25.08) I preached the 4th installment of our Financial Peace series. In our time together we studied Proverbs 11 and         2 Corinthians Chapters 8 & 9 in a message called "Investing in High Yield Returns".  If you missed it and would like to hear it, you can listen on Meadowland's Website.

Proverbs 11: 24-26 says:

One man gives freely, yet gains even more; 
another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty.

 A generous man will prosper; 
he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.

People curse the man who hoards grain, but blessing crowns him who is willing to sell.

In the message I made the comment - "You cannot be generous if you do not tithe".  I have received a couple of requests to explain that, and one request was specifically wanted me to blog on the subject, so here we are!

Being Generous is defined as - liberal in giving, openhanded.

So the answer to the questions - "Can I be Generous if I do not tithe" is............NO!

Here is why:

God asks us for our "first-fruits":

One of the major themes in the book of Malachi is that the people of God are robbing God.  Malachi, who is a prophet is told by God to send God's people a message and one of the major themes of the message is The Lord is not happy with the way His people are handling their money.

Malachi 3:8 - "Yet you rob me. "But you ask, 'How do we rob you?' In tithes and offerings."

God makes it pretty clear here that when God's people withhold their tithes and offerings they essentially are robbing from God.  Don't be mad at me, I did not write this stuff, it is God's Word!

God goes on to say in Malachi 3:9 that "the whole nation is under a curse" because of their theft.

This is where this gets really interesting, God is so serious about this that He actually tells his people to test him on this.  He says you want to see how much I care about this, TEST ME ON IT!! 

"Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this says the Lord Almighty and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it" - Malachi 3:10

So here is God's thought process here -

Bring your 10% tithe, as an act of worship and I will bless you!

Withhold your 10% tithe, as an act of robbing God and not be blessed......may even be cursed!

Does this Old Testament Scripture really apply in 2009?

Short answer: Absolutely

Jesus himself spoke on this issue. In Matthew 22:21 Jesus says"Give to Caesar what is Caesars (taxes) and, give to God what is God's (tithe). In Mark 12:41-44 we see people who are bring their tithes and offering to the temple.  Upon a poor widow giving only a fraction of a penny, Jesus commends her to His disciples saying - "I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but see, out of her poverty, put in everything - all she had to live on."

No New Testament scripture ever says that is is ok to stop tithing.  In fact the scriptures in the New Testament reinforce what the Old Testament Scriptures say about this issue.

So what does Tithing have to do with Generosity?

When you and I tithe we are not being generous, we are being obedient.  If you told you son or daughter to be home at 11:30 pm and they showed up on time, you would not say "How generous of you to be home at the right time, thank you". 

 If your daughter showed up at 12:30 being an hour late you would not say "Because of your lack of generosity this evening you are grounded."  We have either said the words or heard them from our parents - "Because of your disobedience, you are grounded".

It is no different when it comes to money.  God tell us to give 10% back to him and when we do this we are being obedient. 

So when you and I tithe, we have honored God with our tithe, we have been obedient - being Generous is all about what I do with the 90% that is left over!

$0 tithe + Sponsoring a Compassion Child = Robbing God

$0 tithe + Helping out someone in need = Still Robbing God

10% tithe + Sponsoring a Compassion Child = Generosity

10% tithe + Helping out Someone in Need = Generosity

Putting God and our Money in the Right Place

Deuteronomy 14:23 says the purpose of tithing is to teach you to put God first in your life. For many  of us, our tithing habits really become a question of what do I really believe:

Do I really believe God can provide for me?

Do I really believe God cares about my financial habits?

Do I really believe God will bless me if I tithe?

Jesus says where our treasure is, there are hearts will also be! 

If your God is "The God of Money" than tithing makes zero sense.  Why give away the very thing you spend your time and energy chasing after?

If your God is The God of the Bible than tithing makes perfect sense!  I would rather be dirt poor and be blessed by God than have all the money in the world and not receive God's favor.

So the question really is - Who is your God and are you being obedient to Him?

The Trials of Ted Haggard

We recently switched our television provider in an effort to spend less in our budget. In the process of switching providers we were offered HBO for 3 months for free, which is pretty cool because I would never pay for it - so we will enjoy free movies (I am hoping to see some boxing) for three months and then be done with it.

Last night as I was flipping through the channels I came across a show on HBO called "The Trials of Ted Haggard" and was intrigued, so Audrey and I sat down together and checked it out.  Now I have to admit, at first I was a bit skeptical, and I was not sure what we were in store for, but this show/documentary had my attention. 

As I watched the show, my heart really broke for Ted. While thousands of people may have seen him as a "Super Pastor" at one point, the man on my tv was a broken person, who has deep struggles with sin, and has fallen hard, and if this were not enough - all of this has taken place publicly with coverage of every national news station.

One thing that keeps coming to my mind, even today as  write this is:

"This could easily be you or me".

Besides being a Pastor at an enormous church and being the face of the National Association of Evangelicals, Ted Haggard is no different than you and I.  He is a man, trying to follow after God, and in the process dealt with repeated temptation and made some really bad choices that lead to sin in his life that he kept hidden - and sin did what it always does - it lead to destruction, spiritual death, controversy, and hurt.  Ted is an easy target because he was a leader, and scripture says that leaders need to be above reproach (1 Tim 3:2), they are held to a high standard and are judges more strictly (James 3:1).  The entire time I watched this documentary, I realized there was a struggle battling in my heart and mind:  1.  I could judge Ted or 2. I could see Ted for who he is, and try to learn from him.  I chose #2 and here are some things I learned or was reminded of from Ted last night, that would probably benefit all of us as believers.

1.It is possible to be a "Christian Leader" and be deep in Sin. 

This is not something I recommend or am an advocate for but it struck me.  Ted was a sought after Pastor who was a leader of leaders and  Pastored a large growing church in Colorado.  Now we have to see the whole picture, like Ted, any Pastor who has deep, hidden, habitual sin will not stay in leadership very long because sin always leads to death and it always catches up with you.  I though this was a strong, sober reminder to all of us who are Pastors or in Christian Leadership to take daily spiritual inventories of our lives and to make serious adjustments in our lives when needed.

2. Accountability is a Must!!      

There were at least three times in this episode that Ted mentioned that he never confessed his struggles or sin with anyone because he was terrified that people would betray him, write him off, and exile him from the church.  He followed up this statement saying something to the effect of "Look where I am now" - I took that as, Look where that got me!  As I listened to Ted talk about his fear of accountability or authentic discussion with others about his spiritual health, I felt really sad for him.  Scripture says that we are to "confess our sins to one another and pray for one another so that we may be healed" (James 5:16).  Accountability is a must for us as believers, especially as leaders! So the question is: "Do you have someone in your life that you can be open and authentic with about your struggles? "

3.Every time you are tempted there is more at stake than what you think.   

Matthew 4 recounts Satan going toe to toe with Jesus, in an effort to trip him up and cause him to sin.  I think it is important to note that Satan "the tempter" would have pulled out his best tricks, and would have brought his "A Game" when trying to tempt Jesus.  Essentially Satan trys to tempt Jesus in 3 ways ( I personally think Satan uses these same temptations with us):

1.  To fulfill a real need the wrong way. (Turn Stone into Bread - Matthew 4:3-4)

2. To try and leverage God  (Jump from the temple- Matthew 4:5-7)

3. To do the right thing the wrong way (Worship Satan - Matthew 4:8-10)

Here is the thing, there is always more at stake when we are tempted.  There was more at stake then Jesus getting food, proving to people that He is who He says He is, and ultimately being the Ruler of the Heavens and the Earth.  If Jesus would have fallen into any of these temptations, He could not have been the Perfect, Sinless, Savior.  For you and I, that means every time Jesus was tempted our salvation was at stake!!

As a husband, father, and pastor it just killed me that Ted's wife, his children, and his church all had to suffer and pay the consequences of a decision they never made!! Innocent people get hurt when we make sinful choices.  So to all of you who have spouses, children, or people under your authority, remember - Your Choices do not just effect you!

3.  Those who are Forgiven need to Forgive !  

 In Matthew 18:35 and in Matthew 6:14-15, Jesus makes a strong point - If you forgive others, you will be forgiven. If you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.  I think Jesus makes such a strong point about this because when we chose not to forgive something we are doing the complete opposite of what Jesus did for us.  In fact not forgiving someone is opposite to Christ.  I am not saying Ted should be handed back the keys to the church and be instantly reinstated as a Pastor.  I personally think it is healthy and wise for him to go through the reconciliation process and not be in ministry.  Ted has caused deep hurt, betrayed people's trust, lived a doubled life, and the list goes on.........but I am wondering how many people out there have said "Ted, I forgive You". 

Lets make this a little more personal, do you have someone in your life that you need to forgive?  Is there someone in your life you need to ask to forgive you?  It blows my mind when I run in to Christians who want the Full Forgiving Bail Out Package of Christ, but are unwilling to forgive others. It actually terrifies me, because of what Jesus says about being unwilling to forgive!!

In Closing.......

Personally, if I was Ted Haggard I would probably stay off the Internet.  There are entire websites dedicated to his demise.  But Ted, in case you are out there and you Google search your name, I want to thank you for your willingness to be open with us in this documentary.  My heart really goes out to you and your family, and I say this with all seriousness I am praying for you.  Just know not everyone out there hates you, in fact I would publicly like to say - I forgive you and wish the best for you.  If you are ever in the Chicago area, hit me up I would love to take you out to lunch and learn more from you!!

For the rest of us, be on alert and guard your hearts for the "days are evil" and the "Tempter" delights when he can trip us up and enslave us with sin in our lives!!