Archive for the ‘great commandments’ Category
Connecting with Sujo John
I had the joy of being part of a tele-conference tonight with evangelist Sujo John. Sujo’s testimony and ministry of preaching God’s Word and story of creative redemption in the Grace of Jesus Christ is captivating and glorifying to God.
I have never been a big fan of the “tele-conference” idea – I’ve been part of several from tech/ministry related organizations and companies. I think every time I felt like the whole purpose was just to sell me a product or a higher level of service.
Tonight’s conference call was different. First, it was a sacrifice. I’m in the Arbuckle mountains of southern Oklahoma and our evening service began right about the time the call was scheduled for tonight. Second, it was prayer driven, God focused, and Kingdom inspired. Each part of the conversation which had folks on it from all across the U.S. was covered in prayer and honest concern for the proliferation of the Gospel.
Finally, it was unique. There was no sales pitch, no “5 easy steps” – it was an honest presentation of the amazing work Sujo is doing in countries many of us could only dream of even visiting. The audience he commands in these nations is impressive but the message he unabashedly shares with them and the lives changed he sees can only come from the blessing of God on someone’s life.
I get a big smile on my face every time I read an update about where Sujo’s been or a crusade he’s lead that saw Muslim background people come to know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Inside my chest a feeling wells up like we might actually win this battle when I hear of people who boldly proclaim Jesus as Lord and Savior – the only final solution to humanity’s despair.
Take a moment to check out my friend Sujo John’s website – you will be blessed by his testimony and the continued blessing God has upon his ministry of taking grace to those who are desperately in need it.
Ignoring your Sanballat
Let me start by saying today was an amazing day in our church services. We had so many commitment cards turned in that my inbox is overflowing.
I met a previously unchurched couple that said they were challenged by what I had to say, but that they’d like to hear more.
By the end of the late service I’ve been awake 6 hours, preached twice, and had so many mini-conversations my head is spinning.
Needless to say I was walking tall with a positive feeling that our team’s work, diligence, and prayer had been rewarded with the good morning.
It was quickly deflated by a couple of critics that haven’t yet caught the vision we’ve cast over the past two years of becoming an externally focused church.
Both issues were but minutiae when compared to reaching folks for the cause of Christ. Both issues fall into the “sin of preferences” category…’nuff said.
Unfortunately in spite of all God accomplished today, I walked away tonight feeling pretty bummed out. (my fault)
Then Seth Godin helped adjust my attitude with a good thought that jarred my memory of Nehemiah’s critic Sanballat.
In a nutshell: Nehemiah was in tears for Jerusalem and decided to do something bold about the problem (rebuild the wall). Because Sanballat feared he would lose personal power he ridiculed Nehemiah’s efforts. Nehemiah prevailed. God prevailed.
Back to Seth, he wrote in today’s post “Ignore your critics” -
- Critics are never going to be happy with you.
- You might bore them by bowing to their demands, but then
- They’ll just go find someone else to criticize.
Solution: Ignore them. Ignore your fans too – because they have an aversion to change as well.
Pay attention to your “sneezers” – people who tell others.
Contextually it would be to ignore both critics and fans and instead focus your efforts on equipping those who are engaging others for Jesus Christ.
Listen to the doers of the Word, not the hearers only.
It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s…. SUPER-PASTOR!
One of the most tempting pitfalls I’ve experienced in pastoral ministry is the temptation to do everything myself.
It really massages the ego to feel “needed” and that everything in your ministry would fall apart if you were gone for even a mere second.
Unfortunately, while this feeling may last for the moment in the long run it leads to burn-out and ineffective ministry when the pastor becomes chaplain.
Having served in both positions: chaplain and pastor – I can affirm that a local church pastor only serving as chaplain falls short of God’s ideal for a pastor.
Aubrey Malphurs wrote an interesting article on this subject titled, “The Expectations to do Member Visitation.” I invite you to read his well thought out explanation of the role that pastors are desperately needed to fill today.
His thoughts spurred my own thinking and encouraged me once again that even when others try to derail you – perseverance is needed to follow what God’s call is on your life.
“And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ” - Ephesians 4:11-12 ESV
My Core Values
I recently finished Aubrey Malphurs’ Values-Driven Leadership: Discovering and Developing Your Core Values for Ministry.
Malphurs’ contention is that as long as the organization and the leader are out of sync in core values, neither will be happy. How many times have we seen this play out in churches, businesses, denominations, or even families?
In the appendix Malphurs offers some tools to evaluate your own core values and then to survey ministry leaders or even an entire congregation. I took the self-assessment and the results came out like this:
My Core Values:
- People matter to God
- Evangelism
- Strong families
- Creativity and innovation
- Godly servant leadership
I wasn’t really suprised by the assessment tool’s conclusions about my primary motivations, passions, and “heart” in ministry. These are the thoughts that bounce around in my mind when I wake up in the morning and look at my ugly mug in the mirror. They’re still with me when the sugar plums start dancing in my head.
Like unrelenting characters in a play with no intermission they push and prod me to action. Sometimes they argue with each other and vie for more attention, but most of the time they try to unite my momentum in one direction to achieve a unified purpose, outlined in Matthew 22:37-39.
You’re allowed up to 12 values, but I think the core is probably less than 5. My final tally was:
Clark’s 12 Core Values Identifed by Malphur’s Survey Tool:
- People matter to God
- Evangelism
- Strong families
- Creativity and innovation
- Godly servant leadership
- Social justice
- Cultural relevance
- Praise and worship
- Discipleship
- Bible centered preaching/teaching
- World Missions
- A grace-orientation to life
What are your core values? Wondering what’s driving you and why your church is frustrating you? You need to read this book – it answered 9 years of frustration for me in about 2 hours of study!
About
Clark Frailey is a husband, father, and Lead Pastor of Coffee Creek Baptist Church in Edmond, Oklahoma.
clarkfrailey.com
