Yeah it has been like 5 months since I last wrote….I guess I don’t have a lot to say. No that isn’t it, I just have been busy, and lazy…mainly lazy.

So I have taken over the youth now (previous youth guy has made the big move to become a Senior Pastor at another church) at Crossroads church and in the past month we have made a lot of changes. We changed the youth group name to CRY Out (CrossRoads Youth), we painted the youth room, renamed the band to “Unashamed” and started a teaching series called “Experiencing Jesus.”

We have also changed our philosophy in regards to “doing” youth group. My team (team awesome) and I really want the youth to take ownership of their youth group. We desire to see the seniors and upper classman lead and through this they will be preparing themselves for the next stage of life. Does anyone else think we do not do enough challenging of the youth to lead?

We are also setting the bar high for those who are thinking of doing ministry as a career. We are asking them to lead the worship time, teach (as requested), lead Bible studies, and be on the committees that decided the future events. After all it is their youth group…right?

So Big Jon, Andy, Asian, and T-Grizel step up as this is your time!!

1 Corinthians 3:5-10a

What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building. By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it.

Lately I have been thinking a lot about church growth. One of the areas I was most interested in studying during seminary was the organization know as the “Church.” I loved studying and reading how different churches got their start and sustained their growth. I found it fascinating how many of these churches started with a few people meeting in someone’s basement and now X years later they are ministering to thousands of people each week and touching lives all over the world. Subsequently, I also found it beneficial reading about churches that “failed.” (These stories are obviously harder to find because nobody wants to buy a book about a church that didn’t succeed.) However, we can learn a lot not only from our own mistakes, but also others’.

When reading about these churches I wasn’t just looking for a nice “pick me up” story that would make me feel good and inspire to be just like Pastor (insert name here) or Church (insert name here). I was looking for common denominators. I was (and still am) convinced there has to be things in common with churches that make it and those that do not. Now obviously I don’t have all the answers nor do I have a formula for a church to succeed based off of my research, but I am convinced of two things. First, churches that have kingdom success have a clear VISION. (Flip side is true for those churches that ended up closing shop.) Secondly, a passive approach to outreach doesn’t work.

The passage above I believe supports my conclusions. “The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor.” The phrase “have one purpose” tells me Paul and Apollos had a clear vision they were working toward. They weren’t just aimlessly spreading the Gospel. No, they had one purpose in mind. One vision they were working toward. They knew what they were doing but more importantly they knew why they were doing it.

“I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.” Notice it doesn’t say they just sat back, prayed, and had faith God would cause their ministry to grow. Paul and Apollos had an active approach to reaching their target market. Now it is clear that God made it grow and God deserves all the credit, so I am not arguing that if we just try harder we will be successful. What I am arguing is that God wants us to work toward advancing the kingdom. He wants us to take an intentional and an active approach to outreach.

Ultimately I am pleading for us to have a clear vision. What do we want to accomplish in 3 months, 1 year, and 5 years? And I am convinced we will never achieve our vision with a passive approach to outreach.

I said to them, “You see the bad situation we are in, that Jerusalem is desolate and its gates are burned by fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem so that we will no longer be in disgrace”…Then they said, “Let us arise and build.” So they put their hands to good work. (Nehemiah 2:17,18b)

I have always enjoyed the book of Nehemiah because of the amazing leadership lessons we can learn. Without rehashing the entire book, Nehemiah worked for King Artaxerxeas as his cupbearer and was one of the King’s most trusted men. One day Nehemiah was given the green light by the King to return to Jerusalem to try to assist those who were living in this desolate city. Nehemiah had a heart for his fellow Jews and desired to see them taken care of properly. Upon arriving at the city he observed that the wall had been torn down and the gates had been burned. Nehemiah toured the city for 3 days presumably praying and asking God for wisdom on how to rebuild this city. Then Nehemiah acted by providing the people of Jerusalem with a vision to rebuild the walls and the city. He said to them “Come, let US rebuild the wall…” They responded with “Let US arise and build.” After many years and much opposition the wall was complete and the people of Jerusalem had their city back.

So you may be asking “What is the big deal Mike?” Let’s look at this from a church leadership angle.

1) Nehemiah had proven himself trustworthy. (Kings Cupbearer)

2) Nehemiah was commissioned by the King to go.

3) Nehemiah waited on the Lord and assessed the situation.

4) Nehemiah set forth a vision that inspired his followers.

5) Nehemiah worked as a team with his people to complete the vision.

We as leaders should take note of this wise man.

1) People who want to lead must be trustworthy. People will not follow you if they don’t trust you.

2) They must be recognized by others leaders. You cannot commission yourself as a leader. Others must see this in you and confirm what you believe God has called you to.

3) Leaders must look, listen, feel, ask, and pray over church situation before they try to change it. Don’t try to overhaul a church or ministry in your first week. Assess the situation and go from there.

4) Vision, Vision, Vision. You absolutely 100% must have a vision for the areas you are leading. Remember “without vision people perish.”

5) Build teams. Lone Ranger ministry doesn’t work. You are not a superhero so check your pride at the door and get help. People who have ownership in the decision making process will care about the outcome.

One of the things that most impressed me about Jesus was the way he did ministry. Here was God in the flesh that created this world and had the power to destroy it at any moment, yet he surrounded Himself with 12 unqualified men. Jesus put these men around Him for a variety of reasons, but one them, in my opinion, was to model how we should do ministry. Jesus did ministry as a team. Sure He was the leader and it was His plan they were carrying out, but He was not a dictator. He was leader who empowered people to impact the lives of those around them.

In my limited ability I desire to lead as Jesus led. I desire work and operate with a team around me. I believe this is the most effective and Biblical way to “do” ministry. As a result my ministry is made up of those who want to connect to Christ together. So invite you to come be part of the team, as we look to impact our communities.