ARCHIVES
August 2010
08.31.10
What All Effective Leaders Do... Five Simple Necessities
My definition of a leadership is, "The ability to obtain and retain followers, organizing them, unifying them, and directing them to accomplish a God-given vision.
There are six elements of leadership, each of them easily embraced and vitally important.
Vision… Vision is "a mental image of the final outcome." A leader being able to describe the vision God has given them is necessary for the recruitment of group members as well as the retaining of them. Vision is what gains long-term buy-in and followers will come together over the long haul working together to see the vision become a reality if progress is being made.
Obtaining Followers… Cast the vision, tell them what gifts and abilities you've seen in them, and that you have chosen them out of the crowd to work alongside you. If they seem to be hesitant due to lack of belief in themselves, remind them that you'll be there to help them and if necessary, will make sure they have the training they need.
Retaining Followers… Give them the resources they need to accomplish the work given them. Give them your time and attention away from meetings. Build a friendship with them, not just a working relationship. Honor and/or affirm them when they do well and when they try and fall short help them learn the skills they need to do the work effectively next time.
Organize Followers… Find out and utilize the pre-existing spiritual gifts and the abilities of each person you're leading. They'll do the work well and find fulfillment in it.
Unify Followers… The vision is a unifying factor but to have a healthy unified team… A few ideas… 1) Create social time together by hosting parties, picnics, cookouts, etc… for your team. 2) Gather the team for a creative prayer experience praying specifically for the work you are doing together, 3) Go away on a retreat for brainstorming and/or long-term planning. Be sure to build in play time. 4) Establish traditions like going to a local sports team game annually. 5) When someone has a home project, get the team to come work together on it, 6) Do a mission trip together or simply spend a Saturday working on behalf of the poor together, 7) Celebrate accomplishment. When a major event or work is completed ALWAYS get the group together to celebrate the completion of the work and save evaluation for another time.
Direct Followers… Like a head coach or movie director, remember that you as the key leader are the one individual with the authority and responsibility to see that the vision is known, that co-laborers are obtained, retained, organized, and unified. You must be a proactive leader spearheading a movement, not just managing workers.
08.30.10
Visionaries, God-Inspired Visionaries, and Taking Jesus to Every Street and Cul-de-sac
Throughout Christian history there have been Visionaries and there have been God-Inspired Visionaries. Visionaries are people who dream man-accomplishable dreams. God-Inspired visionaries are leaders who see in their mind's eye God-sized, humongous, unsettling, seemingly unattainable obligations. But unlike your run of the mill visionaries, God-Inspired visionaries are unable to consider that the vision God has given them is unattainable. In fact, when others discourage, discount, or try to dismantle the dream God has given them, they move forward undaunted, like a lion already in full pursuit of her prey completely aware that she will run it down and be successful. I spent the weekend in Tracy, California with some God-Inspired Visionaries.
Church leaders from various denominations, differing doctrinal ideologies, trained in seminaries with contradictory considerations have come together with a God-sized vision, to see 1,000 small groups started and accomplishing biblical community in a town of 80,000. I am dreaming this dream with them. Why? Because the passion of God-sized visionaries spills over on anyone who gets close enough to experience the intensity and intentionality of dreamers of this caliber.
Many senior pastors and small group pastors are simply visionaries. They envision having a healthy small group ministry for their church. They organize for it, build teams made up of individuals from their own congregation to make sure the machine runs smoothly, and get paid to do so. They do what the job description says and the Personnel Committee or Elders celebrate that they have a well-oiled small group machine for their one congregation.
Would it be that more small group pastors and senior pastors could become God-sized Visionaries, willing to join other church leaders to take on the entire community, the community where those far from Christ live, on streets and cul-de-sacs, in towns and villages, and urban areas and rural farmlands?
A few characteristics that will be necessary…
- A willingness to go on the adventure of a lifetime
- The courage to discount the dissenters and traditionalists
- An awareness that you will win the war but will be covered with the scars of the battle
- The ability to journey beyond ordinariness and settle in the land of extraordinariness
- A passion so cavernous that you will sacrifice more than those in your circle of relationship believe healthy or right
We can bring Jesus to the world through small groups but only if we can kill our competitive nature, agree that all believers are the church not just those attending my church or those who make up my denomination, embrace a unity of spirit setting aside secondary doctrinal concerns, make Jesus the centerpiece of the message, and become God-sized Visionaries.
I'm praying that there will be more God-sized Visionaries like the senior pastors, small group pastors, and volunteers I spent the weekend with in Tracy, California. Why? What is now "small group ministry" just might become a movement!
08.26.10
10 Questions People Ask Before Committing to a Small Group
During this season of recruiting people to join groups, it's important to realize that some are very hesitant to join a group. If you and your small group leaders can be ready to answer the following questions you have a greater chance of getting the inhibited types to connect with one.
1. How much of my time is this going to take?
2. What are we going to do with our children during meetings?
3. Will there be homework? If so, how much?
4. Am I going to have to talk or can I just sit and listen during meetings?
5. Will I have to pray out loud?
6. Who else is going to be in the group?
7. How much do I have to know about the Bible?
8. How many weeks or months is this group going to last?
9. If I don't like it can I leave without people being angry with me?
10. What are we going to be doing during meetings?
08.25.10
Six Practical Musts for any Small Group Ministry that Flourishes
I continue to hear of churches stating, "Small groups don't work." Reviewing the churches I've worked with I realized there are six consistent musts every church should do if they are going to have an effective small group ministry. Here they are…
Choose the right person to spearhead the small group ministry. The individual spearheading a small group ministry must be a proactive leader! They must be entrepreneurial, systems knowledgeable, strategy driven, with an unapologetically vehement passion for people. At the same time he/she must be able to create a blueprint for the ministry, build the ministry, and rebuild it if necessary while the vehicle is in motion. She/he must be secure enough to build a team that will shore up his/her weaknesses and be courageous enough to move the entire team in the direction the wave of God's work is going, even if it means revisiting the original plan.
Establish the primary principles and practices of your small group ministry. Getting the right principles and practices established is a necessity. Instill these in leaders at all levels of the small group ministry.
Separate from past paradigms and fully embrace small group life. Many people who really want to be great small group leaders are held captive by past experience. They have been Sunday School teachers or been involved with a 12 Step group or have been the leader of an Adult Bible Fellowship. If not well-trained (maybe retrained) they will revert back to that which is most comfortable, the group type they have been in or led in the past.
Don't develop the small group ministry too quickly. Many churches have demanded a small group ministry be birthed and be developing mature believers in just a few months. This is like asking a twenty-five year old woman to give birth to a child and, in two months, make sure that child looks like, acts like, and reproduces like a twenty-five year old woman. This is impossible. Juan Ramon Jimenez once wrote, "The great assassin of life is haste, the desire to reach things before the right time…" Building a foundation for a small group ministry is all about developing leaders and that takes time.
Realize that curriculum is not the key to life-transforming small groups. Discipleship is not knowledge based, it is relationally based. Curriculum is vital to spiritual growth but it is only one tool in the tool box. Churches who simply stick people in a small group as they work through another study will not ultimately make mature disciples. Being with people, doing life with them, journeying together, allowing group members to model the faith for one another, learning to practice the spiritual disciplines, learning to live in community, each group member using the spiritual gifts they have been given, and diving headlong into the processing of God's Words together, etc... are all part of the discipleship journey.
Don't promise those that join a small group that they will find their "friends" in their small group. Friendships are created when people have chemistry with one another and this doesn't always happen in a small group. Announce that the goal of a small group is to make disciples.
08.24.10
Silverdale Baptist Church... Being the Church
Those of you who know me understand what I mean when I speak of a church doing church rather than being the church.
- Churches doing church are made up of people who attend worship services.
- Churches being the church are made up of passionate followers of Christ who gather together at weekend worship services anticipating God is going to do something outrageous.
- Churches doing church believe the ultimate goal is great programming.
- Churches being the church believe the ultimate goal is to see Christ bring "good news to the poor," "bind up the brokenhearted," "proclaim freedom for the captives," and "release from darkness for the prisoners." (Isaiah 61:1 – 2)
- Churches doing church are led by senior pastors and staff members who have chosen a career.
- Churches being the church are led by senior pastors and staff members who have an intense calling on their lives and sacrifice much to accomplish Kingdom purposes.
- Churches doing church make the scorecard bodies in seats which leads to bigger budgets which ultimately leads to more or bigger buildings.
- Churches being the church make the scorecard lives transformed, more growing disciples, and a realization that God is transforming them.
- Churches doing church pray passively during worship services to complete another requirement in the order of worship.
- Churches being the church cry out to God behalf of one another expecting God to be at work in one another's lives.
- Churches doing church decide who their target audience is and go after the young or the old, the rich or the poor, the blue collar or the white collar. Demographics play an important part in determining how the church functions.
- Churches being the church allow the Spirit of God to be the drawing card and all races and ages and the rich and the poor gather in one accord as equals to celebrate the God who brought them together.
- Churches doing church want a small group ministry for the purpose of keeping people from leaving the church.
- Churches being the church nurture a small group ministry realizing that they are responsible to present every congregant mature in Christ. (Col. 1:28)
Sunday I had the chance to be in a church that I believe is being the church… really. I had the opportunity to share a vision for small groups at Silverdale Baptist Church in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
All three services were nearly full. But it would have made no difference if the worship center had been nearly empty (although it would be hard for a church with the passion of Silverdale to remain small.). The enthusiasm of these people for Jesus and one another opened my tear ducts on more than one occasion. Yes, in all three services.
The choir sang the opening number. This choir, made up of young and old, white and black, svelte and folks like me, a bit more well-rounded (I love to use that term.), not only sang like angels they worshiped their heavenly Father with passion. Eyes were lifted to the heavens, hands were lifted in praise, freedom abounded and it overflowed onto all of us who were listening. They realized God was in the house, that they were humble servants in His presence, and so they sang to Him with all of their hearts.
During the service, not at the end of the service, Senior Pastor Tony Walliser invited the staff (I think some lay leaders joined them.) to come forward. He then welcomed anyone who needed or wanted to pray at the altar. I noticed some individuals coming forward were bypassing the staff members. In moments a staff member had left his/her perch, placed an arm around the lone beggar and called out to God on their behalf.
Between services I met an older gentleman who had been singing in the choir. I noticed him because he seemed to be so different than most men his age. As the choir sang both hands were lifted toward God in heaven. His countenance was beautiful as he seemed to be adoring His Heavenly Father. He told me he had had a stroke and that his entire left side had been paralyzed but that God had worked a miracle on his behalf. Obviously, Silverdale believes God is more than just a concept, that He is a Father who lovers His children and is still doing "immeasurably more than we ask or imagine."
Sunday was definitely not my strongest day. I had taken a fall and my left foot was causing extraordinary pain and was swollen. I had to go without one shoe (looked pretty weird I'm sure) because my foot wouldn't go into the shoe. So… I was distracted at times. At one point I hit my foot on a monitor and made the mistake of announcing, "I'm glad I didn't say the word that came to my mind." Some laughed, I in evaluation cringed. In the last service I showed a video testimony promising I'd tell the rest of the person's story when the video ended… I forgot.
Sunday wasn't my best day as a teacher, preacher, communicator, but it was one of my best Sundays ever. I was so very encouraged to see a church so intently focused on Christ, His power, His love, His willingness to transform and to be with a people who truly are being the church.
Pastor Tony, thank you for allowing me to be with you and your people who are being the church.
P.S. To Tony, Ken, David, and all of you who make up the staff at Silverdale… If I ever move to Chattanooga, I'm looking forward to you caring for and leading me and my family. Silverdale will be my church.
08.23.10
Small Group Twitter-ers... A Long List
Since diving into the twitter pool my ministry has been greatly enhanced. There are multiple reasons:
- Most of the great small group bloggers tweet each time they post a new blog. I read at least three new articles nearly every day about some aspect of small group ministry.
- Many small group bloggers, when posting a blog, link to other blogs on the same topic. In just a few short minutes I can read four or five posts on the same topic.
- A well-crafted 140 characters can reveal a truth much better than a paragraph can (at least for me). Some small group twitter-ers are masters at reminding me of or revealing some great fact about small group ministry that is enlightening and invigorating.
- Short conversations with other small group pastors take place on the twitter site. There are some small group pastors I've never met but would consider them friends and small group gurus, as I've connected with them through social networking and have learned much from them.
- You can join an organic network of small group pastors and leaders worldwide. I'm hearing from people from various countries who are small group pastors and leaders and learning much from them.
Below you'll find a list of some of the small group pastors that I follow. I'm sure they'd be honored if you followed them too.
@adamworkman
@AlviRadjagukguk
@AlanDanielson
@allenwhite
@ alyssadourte
@armckinley
@bdonahue80
@benreed
@BrettEastman
@carybranscum
@chiapperino
@colonkevin
@CShimanek
@DaveTreat
@DavidBuckner
@DavidBHull
@DavidLermy
@deantwan
@doyleBrookshire
@Eddiecberry
@eddiemosley
@ericdunaway
@gary4n
@gatortodd
@gregmbowman
@heatherzempel
@HerschelT
@Huddude
@ianhkirk
@JBBRAUN
@JillPBCCgroups
@jimbotts
@jimmeldrim @
@joelcomiskey
@johncatkinson
@johnratz
@JoshSurratt
@JulianneAugust
@kedamak
@maclake
@marcharvey
@markchowell
@MattWHarmer
@mbstockdale
@micmac1900
@mscottboren
@nathanayres
@pkspratt
@reid_smith
@RGNeighbour
@RicDiefenderfer
@scottim
@ScottWilliams
@secondchair
@spenceshelton
@SteveGladen
@timweems
@TravisTadema
If you're a small group pastor and are tweeting but not on this list, please let me know via e-mail (rick.howerton@lifeway.com) or by tweeting me at @rickhowerton. I'd love to cross paths with you via Twitter.
08.20.10
Small Group Hairs Worth Splitting V... Praying the List vs. Praying in Faith
Praying the List and Praying in Faith is not the same thing. In fact, many people in groups have begun to believe God doesn't answer prayer because their group has been praying the list rather than praying in faith.
Groups that are praying the list…
- add anyone and anything to the list that comes to mind
- don't pray believing, if the truth were known they pray doubting that God will respond
- spend more time making the list (and telling the stories of those they are adding to the list) than they do praying
- don't understand that they are conversing with God, they are simply completing another requirement on the list of small group meeting expectations
- do not always realize God is much wiser than they and when He doesn't respond as they had expected begin to doubt His love for them
- never find themselves begging God and weeping on behalf of someone else
Groups that are praying in faith…
- find themselves going to God on behalf of the people they know, love, and care deeply about
- pray believing God is going to respond and are anticipating His acting on their behalf
- spend their time crying out to God and are not concerned when the meeting goes long if they sense the overwhelming presence of the Holy Spirit
- understand that they are conversing with Almighty Holy God and come before Him humbly making requests of Him
- realize God is much wiser than they and when He doesn't respond as they had hoped understand His wisdom trumps their longing
- sometimes find themselves begging God and weeping on behalf of someone else
Other Posts in this Series:
Small Group Hairs Worth Splitting I... Recollecting vs. Reminiscing
Small Group Hairs Worth Splitting II... 90 Percent of the Story vs. The Full Story
Small Group Hairs Worth Splitting III... Advice Giving vs. Mining for Wisdom
Small Group Hairs Worth Splitting IV... Accepting Opinion as Truth vs. Seeking God's Truth
08.19.10
Small Group Hairs Worth Splitting IV... Accepting Opinion as Truth vs. Seeking God's Truth
Seeking God's Truth and Accepting Opinion as Truth is not the same thing. In fact, when a small group leader allows "my truth," an individual's choice of what truth is, to trump God's truth, false teaching has just occurred. It is extremely important that small groups, when studying the Bible, be in search of God's perspective.
A small group leader accepting opinion as truth…
- utilizes a worldview other than a biblical worldview as a starting point for the conversation
- doesn't realize the importance of knowing the context of a passage when studying it
- doesn't realize the responsibility of guiding the group to search for absolute truth
- doesn't know what absolute truth is or hasn't yet embraced absolute truth as reality
- allows the final word of the conversation to be someone's opinion of truth rather than ending the conversation by proclaiming God's truth as the final word
- does not realize a red flag has been raised when phrases like, "my opinion concerning what this means is," or "my experience would lead me to believe…" or "a friend of mine once told me that…" or "with what we know because of psychology and/or philosophy and/or science God that can't mean that…" etc…
A group leader seeking God's truth…
- utilizes a biblical worldview as the starting point for the conversation
- prepares and knows the context of the passage being studied before arriving at the small group meeting
- understands their role and the responsibility of guiding the group to find God's absolute truth
- knows what absolute truth is and has embraced absolute truth as reality
- is careful to be certain that the final word of the conversation is God's truth, not someone's opinion, as whatever is left hanging is perceived as what most believe the leader is embracing
- allows honest conversation but knows a red flag has been raised when phrases like "my opinion concerning what this means is," or "my experience would lead me to believe…" or "a friend of mine once told me that…" or "with what we know because of psychology and/or philosophy and/or science the Bible can't mean that…" or "the world has changed so much since the Bible was written so we have to be sure we filter what it means to us today…," etc… are verbalized.
Other Posts in this series:
Small Group Hairs Worth Splitting I... Recollecting vs. Reminiscing
Small Group Hairs Worth Splitting II... 90 percent of the Story vs. The Full Story
Small Group Hairs Worth Splitting III... Advice Giving vs. Mining for Wisdom
08.18.10
Small Group Hairs Worth Splitting III... Advice Giving vs. Mining for Wisdom
Advice Giving and Mining for Wisdom are not even close to being the same thing. When someone in a small group asks for help in making a decision, be certain group leaders know the difference.
Advice Giving happens when someone asks for counsel…
- and a group member gives their opinion concerning what the asker should do
- and a group member voices a cliché to give guidance
- and a group member tells them what someone once told them to do in the same situation
- then tells the group what they think they are going to do but no one speaks. The silence infers that the person has made the right decision.
Mining for Wisdom happens when someone asks for counsel…
- and a group member suggests the group spend time searching God's Word to help the asker find out what is the right thing to do
- and group members quote passages of Scripture relating to their situation
- and no specific direction is found in Scripture so the group agrees to pray with the asker asking God to give guidance to the asker
- and someone who has already lived through the same situation tells them how God guided them to the right decision and what the outcome of doing what He requested was
- then tells the group what they think they are going to do but the group suggests the group join them in spending time in God's Word as well as prayer so that the person does what is right and good in God's eyes.
It is important that group leaders know the difference between advice giving and mining for wisdom because when a group mines for wisdom…
- group members learn to use their Bible's to understand and deal with everyday life experiences
- group members begin to realize that God's advice is the only perfect advice
- group members begin to realize that God's Word speaks to almost every situation someone finds themselves in
- group members embrace prayer on behalf of one another
- group members begin to hold to the fact that prayer is both talking and listening
- a group moves closer to being a community when the group members seek God on behalf of someone else in the group
Other Posts in this Series:
Small Group Hairs Worth Splitting II… 90% of the story vs. the Full Story
08.17.10
Small Group Hairs Worth Splitting II... 90 percent of the story vs. the Full Story
Hearing 90% of someone's story and hearing 100% of the story is not the same thing.
When hearing 90% of the story…
- you'll hear what is comfortable to the story teller
- you'll hear what was funny or factual
- you'll hear the part of the story that will not make anyone angry or disappoint anyone
- you'll hear the part of the story that will not open the door for the group to create any expectations of the story telling group member
When hearing the full story…
- you'll hear the parts of the story that are uncomfortable for the story teller to tell
- you'll hear the part of the story that birthed the inner tension, anger, disappointment, or scars that were created at the time the event happened
- you'll hear the part of the story that might anger other group members or cause someone to be disappointed in the story teller
- you'll hear the part of the story that will open the door for the group to create expectations of the story telling group member, expectations to deal with a broken relationship, overcome their judgmental attitude, wrestle with their perspective concerning the issue that created the tension, etc…
It is important that small group leaders realize the difference between hearing 90% of the story and hearing 100% of the story because, when a group member voices 90% of the story, the small group leader may be able to get them to share the last 10%. When someone tells 100% of the story, it is then that the leader of the group can lead the members of the group to help the story-telling group member gain right perspective of the experience, take responsibility for their part of the conflict (if it was a conflictual situation between them and someone else), and work in tandem with God to heal a scarred heart.
Small Group Hairs Worth Splitting I... Recollecting vs. Reminiscing
08.16.10
Small Group Hairs Worth Splitting I... Recollecting vs. Reminiscing
There is a difference between recollecting and reminiscing. It is very important that small group leaders know the difference.
When someone is recollecting they…
- remember and regurgitate facts
- speak of the location of the event, how many people were there, who was there, what the group did, etc…
- show little emotion as listing facts doesn't evoke emotional triggers
- will seldom lead to discussing heart issues, seeking out emotional scars that need healing, relationships that need mending, burdens that group members need to help carry, or transformational moments worth celebrating
When someone is reminiscing they…
- recall experiences that engage the heart and flow from the heart
- speak of the feelings they experienced, the emotions they expressed, and the outcomes of doing so
- exhibit emotions as heart issues connect deeply with the inner person and as the individual relives the experience. Oftentimes the emotion expressed when reliving the experience is the emotion they couldn't express due to the setting where the situation occurred.
- is probably open to discussing heart issues, seeking out emotional scars that need healing, relationships that need mending, burdens that group members need to help carry, or transformational moments worth celebrating
It is important that small group leaders realize the difference between Recollecting and Reminiscing because, when someone is recollecting a small group leader may be able to move recollecting to reminiscing. And when someone is reminiscing the small group leader has a great opportunity to guide the individual into a transformational moment.
08.12.10
What to Do Moments after the Small Group Meeting Ends... 8 Questions to Ask Yourself
Too often, when the small group meeting has ended we breathe a sigh of relief and get TiVo rockin' and rollin'. Rather than catching up on your missed show immediately, if you'll take five minutes to answer 8 questions you may see transformation in group member's lives like you never have before. The evaluation that takes place moments after the meeting ends may be the most important thing we do. It will tell us how we can engage with group members so that ultimate transformation occurs. I have found that answering a few probing questions is essential. I hope the list below will serve you well.
- Is there someone to pray for?
- Is there someone needing counsel?
- Is there someone to encourage?
- Is there someone to hold accountable?
- Is there something to celebrate with someone?
- Is there a need to be met?
- Is there a leadership call to make?
- Is there a conflict to be resolved?
08.11.10
Before the Small Group Meeting... Evaluate
When coming into a small group meeting, remember that you are shepherding individuals, not just hosting a bible study. When leading the meeting you want to be certain that you don't miss a transformational moment. If you have taken the time to evaluate the situation of each group member you are much more apt to realize why they are responding the way they are to the biblical idea that has been unveiled or the prayer requests they are making.
Take a few minutes before each meeting and ask the following questions concerning each group member. Doing this will pay huge transformational dividends.
- What's life like at home?
- What's life like at work?
- How are the key relationships this group member is involved with?
- What desire is not coming to fruition?
- What tough questions is God forcing this person to wrestle with?
- What failure has entered this person's world this week?
- What expectations has God placed on this person he/she needs to realize and be willing to do?
- What past experience is the enemy using to hold this person captive?
08.10.10
Small Group Digizine @ smallgroups.com... Too Cool and Amazingly Informative
I continue to be astounded by the number of websites that are available to help all of us with our group ministry. Sometimes I come across one that is cool, more than amazing and very informative. And when cool, amazing, and informative all come together in one package, I'm checking that page out on a consistent basis.
Smallgroups.com has just launched her own Small Group Digizine. I had never heard the term Digizine but after checking it out… I'm hooked. Click the link below and see for yourself. This is some kinda cool and amazingly informative.
08.09.10
What the Evangelical Small Group World can Learn from Anne Rice
This week, Anne Rice, author of 28 books including Interview with a Vampire, one of the best-selling novels of all time announced, "For those who care, and I understand if you don't: Today I quit being a Christian. I'm out." Before you declare her once again an atheist, an ideology she once embraced but set aside in 1998 but then returned to the Catholic Church, read another statement made this week, "I remain committed to Christ as always but not to being 'Christian' or to being part of Christianity. It's simply impossible for me to 'belong' to this quarrelsome, hostile, disputatious, and deservedly infamous group. For ten years, I've tried. I've failed. I'm an outsider. My conscience will allow nothing else." She goes on to cite her reasons for exiting the church, "In the name of Christ, I refuse to be anti-gay. I refuse to be anti-feminist. I refuse to be anti-artificial birth control. I refuse to be anti-Democrat. I refuse to be anti-secular humanism. I refuse to be anti-science. I refuse to be anti-life. In the name of Christ, I quit Christianity and being Christian. Amen."
Anne's statements reveal what many people's perception of today's church is.
- She is made up of a quarrelsome people.
- She is hostile to those whose moral values differ from her own.
- She is prone to argue and debate.
- She is an infamous group having a poor reputation with those outside of her ranks.
- Due to the reputation noted in the four points above many people's conscience will not allow them to continue to be associated with her.
Anne's statements also unmask some misunderstandings concerning those who are being the church as Jesus designed her to be.
- The church is not anti-Democrat (although I must confess, way too many followers of Christ equate being a Christian with being a Republican). She does find it her obligation to be a conscience to the community and will contradict either party when they espouse legislation contradicting God's expectations found in the Bible.
- The church is not anti-women. She embraces gender equality and the roles of each gender as they believe God designed them to be.
- The church is not anti-artificial birth. In fact, most denominations have no regulations against artificial birth control.
- The church is not anti-gay. She loves those who are gay and is willing to walk alongside anyone held captive by any sin as they journey towards freedom from that sin. Jesus-like followers of Christ embrace meaningful relationship with those who are living a gay lifestyle even if they are not striving to find the freedom Christ offers.
- The church is anti-secular humanism as secular humanism is a world-view that contradicts a biblical world-view. A biblical world-view is God's design so that humankind can be reunited with Him and so that humankind can exist in a safe environment as laws are built around the values found in the bible, values unveiled by God for the benefit of all people.
- The church is not anti-science as science proves the existence of God.
- The church is not anti-life, in fact she is pro-life for the unborn, for those who are in the process of dying, and exists so that everyone on planet earth has an opportunity to experience eternal life.
What Anne Rice is Telling the Evangelical Small Group World:
- Welcome those far from God into your inner circle/small group/home. While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew's house, many tax collectors and "sinners" came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'?" On hearing this, Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." Matthew 9:10-13
- When inviting not-yet-followers-of Christ to your group, welcome them into your home to discuss spiritual matters, don't mention the name of your church or that your church sponsors the group.
- Be careful to speak more of Jesus than you do your church. Those far from God or those who have been spiritually abused by the church will shut down the conversation if they think you represent the organized church.
- Utilize the spiritual gifts of both men and women in group life. Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. 1 Peter 4:10
- Exhibit humility and think more highly of others than yourself when hosting a conversational Bible study. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Philip. 2:3-4
- Don't allow foolish debates during group gatherings. "Don't have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels." 2 Tim. 2:23
- Don't allow discussions on political matters during group gatherings.
08.06.10
Five Things Every Small Group Member Needs from every other Small Group Member
Every Small Group Member deserves to know that their co-Small Group Members…
- view themselves as fellow and equal journiers longing to know God really and are committed to building a micro-Christian community together
- will utilize the spiritual gifts, learned abilities, and resources they have been given on behalf of one another
- are committed to the weekly small group meeting where we learn from one another, pray for one another, and see God work miracles when "two or three are gathered." (Matt. 18:20)
- will hold them accountable to do the spiritual disciplines as they birth spiritual maturity in us
- purposefully and passionately direct one another to God and His Words found in the Bible when concluding how to deal with a difficult life issue, make a major decision, or determine the rightness or wrongness of a moral dilemma
08.05.10
Five Things Every Small Group Member Needs from their Small Group Leader
Every Small Group Member needs to know that their Small Group Leader…
- loves the Lord their God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love's their neighbor as they love themselves (Mark 12:30 – 31)
- understands that life is messy and that the leader will leverage the synergy of the group to help carry the load and remind the struggling group member of the hope that is in them in the messy times
- is espousing and instilling a biblical world-view
- is available as a sounding board and willing to give wise counsel when requested
- will make sure that no known financial, emotional, or spiritual need will be glossed over but that the group leader will coalesce the spiritual gifts, abilities, and resources of the group members to meet those needs
08.04.10
Five Things Every Small Group Leader Needs from their Coach
Every Small Group Leader needs to know that their Coach…
- is their confidant, co-laborer, and friend
- is available and honored to answer practical questions about small group leadership
- is praying for them daily and proves so my connecting with the small group leader periodically via phone or face-to-face so they can hear that prayer
- understands that the small group leaders they are responsible for need one another, can learn from one another, and become better by being together, so they welcome them into their home from time to time to discuss group life, encourage one another, and celebrate what God is doing in each of their groups
- is willing to come to the group meeting and speak into the conversation when the small group leader has been unable to resolve conflict, a doctrinal discussion has become a foolish and divisive debate, when the group is in rebellion and unwilling to consider multiplication, etc…
08.03.10
Five Things Every Coach Needs from Their Small Group Pastor
Every Small Group Coach needs to know that their Small Group Pastor…
- believes wholeheartedly that life-change takes place best in small groups
- trusts them as leaders of leaders and is training them to be just that
- sees them as the key link to small group leaders and so, when considering making change in the ministry, will first engage the coaches, gather their opinions and wise counsel, and utilize that information in the decision-making process
- has the answers to and/or is willing to give them the resources that answer the questions small group leaders are asking them
- can and will be available to step into the mayhem when a small group has an issue that the small group leader and the coach have already tried to resolve but were unable to resolve
08.02.10
Five Things Every Small Group Pastor Needs From Their Senior Pastor
Every Small Group Pastor needs to know that their Senior Pastor…
- believes so strongly that small groups are vital to the church's goal of transformed lives that small groups is included as one of the church's core values
- will be her/his advocate to the Finance Team so that there is adequate budget monies for the training and equipping of the small group coaches, leaders, and all other players on the small group team
- requires every staff member to be in a small group and is encouraging those in the ministry they lead to be in one too
- is in or leading a small group and talking about it when teaching and preaching
- will consistently (at least every 30 days) remind those who are attending the worship gathering that it is vital that they join a small group and how to do so
