I performed an informal assessment with a church. I asked them what (if any) threats there were that would keep the church from moving forward. One man responded that he thought the larger churches in their area were a "threat."

First, I acknowledged that it is true that larger churches can provide some services and ministries that a smaller church is not at the point of doing. For example, in my first church, we had families come that had teenagers. We were a small church plant whose oldest children were in fourth grade at the time. We concluded that we were not going to be able to reach or retain families with teens until our children grew to be teens. I helped those families that visited us who had teens to get into a good church down the street. In this way, that church was a partner, not a threat. We kept those folks for the Kingdom, just not in our building.

But I also asked the group the question, "How many people are there in your county?"

The answer for that group was over 350,000. Studies suggest that over 50% of them probably do not have a meaningful relationship to Jesus Christ. That means that there are perhaps 180,000 people near this church who are pre-Christian and need the Gospel. It is also true that there are likely a significant number of people out of that 180,000 who are similar to the people currently in the church (stage of life, age, background, etc) and would be drawn to become part of their church, if it was clear they could meet the Lord in that place. Therefore, you could fill all the large or mega-churches in that area numerous times and still have tens of thousands of people yet to be reached. Other churches are our teammates, not our competition.

How many people are in YOUR county? Perhaps not as many as in that one, but enough that you have an ample group to reach. The greater question is whether or not your church is a place where the presence of the Lord is evident. A second question: What is your church intentionally doing to reach those who are already connected to you through relationships at work, home, etc.?

Posted by Pat Jones at 4:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I am currently in San Francisco at a conference. We attended church at First Baptist Church of San Francisco, which is located directly across the street from the Gay, Lesbian and Transgender Community Center. It also strategically sits on the confluence of five different San Francisco neighborhoods or districts.

I thought of the Revelation where the Lord says to the church at Pergamum:

I know where you live--where Satan has his throne. Yet you remain true to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me, even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your city--where Satan lives (Rev. 2:13, 14).

Ministry in this city is tough.

My heart was deeply stirred by the pastor, Phil Busbee. His has been a difficult road since being in the city. But he has chosen before God to be committed to the vision of speaking blessing to the people in the city and not cursing.

The Church has a poor reputation, not just in San Francisco but all over, when it has been represented by folks who are condemning, critical, and calloused toward people. Phil's church had that reputation and he wanted to see that changed. So he took action.

For example, Pastor Phil went directly to the director of the center across the street and made a deal with him. Expressing their obvious differences and clearly presenting the biblical view of homosexuality, Phil committed to never be condemning of them or their center in any public statements he ever made and asked that they do the same toward the church. He then prayed for the director personally. In tears, the director of the center said that no one had ever prayed such a prayer for healing and blessing for him and he agreed to Pastor Phil's proposal. In fact, that agreement stopped a boycott of the church by a very militant transvestite group.

There are many other stories I could share from this pastor who carries his city on his heart in a powerful way. His approach of speaking blessing (and he defines blessing as praying for the coming of God's Kingdom into the lives of these people) has opened doors to have a major impact on what is going on in the city. A reluctant mayor called him and others for prayer, and opened his office to faith based initiatives. They have seen numerous gay folks saved out of that lifestyle. In a city where 50% of the population changes every five years, they have sent people out with blessing as missionaries to various parts of the world. They do prayer walks through rough neighborhoods, feeding the poor and seeing lives changed.

With so many of our church folks misrepresenting the Lord by having condemning, critical and harsh attitudes, I would remind us what the Lord Himself said in one of the most memorized Scriptures:

For God so loved the world, that He gave His one and only Son; that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved (John 3:16-17).

So we are here, the mouth, hands and feet of Christ, not to condemn, but speak blessing. To see people saved through Christ. If you are not currently doing so, I encourage you to begin speaking blessing into your community, opening honest dialog and care to unsaved, unchurched, sinful people. See what a miraculous door for change in their lives and yours the Lord will open.

Posted by Pat Jones at 5:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

1 Kings 19:3--Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, 4 while he himself went a day's journey into the desert. He came to a broom tree, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. "I have had enough, Lord," he said. "Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors." 5 Then he lay down under the tree and fell asleep.

I'm sure many of you have preached this before. Threat, high-energy encounter, physical exhaustion--together, they add up to depression or even worse, despair. Perhaps a better summary is this: Ministry today is hard. And the further we travel toward the end of time it will increase in its challenges.

I hear this sometimes in the voices of our pastors. Cluster meetings turn into gripe sessions--no joy, no victory, no God-sightings. Gossip, critical spirits, and defensiveness seem to reign. Where is God in this? Where is a sovereign view that says that even if everything is falling down around me, yet I will praise Him (Habakkuk 3:16-19)? Where is the rejoicing when the way is rough because of the spiritual character that is produced at such times (James 1)? Where is the focus on the “audience of one” concept that says even if everyone in my church is against me, I will take my stand because I know the Lord will cause me to stand (Ephesians 6:10ff; Ezekiel)?

If you are at such a point in your life that you talk about the great truths of God in your sermons or teaching times but are not living it daily, you are hindering the work of God in your church. If the joy of the Lord is no longer your strength, if most of your reflections on ministry are based on human assessment rather than spiritual discernment, then a shallow, carnal atmosphere will exist in your ministry.

As a fellow traveler who has experienced the challenges of ministry like you and has had times of tiredness, sometimes dangerous tiredness, I ask you to consider this:

1. Be honest with yourself about your condition. While we all need a safe place to unload our frustrations and hurts, we must find a place to do so with someone who will help us put them into a "God-perspective" and not just commiserate.

2. If you are so tired you don't want to go on, take a break. Take at least a two-week vacation or even speak to your leadership about a sabbatical or leave of absence. Better to invest in an extended break than to struggle to function in this state. And the church and world will continue to function while you are gone. What would they do if you dropped dead?

3. Is it time to consider what aspect of ministry does excite you and get yourself in the position of serving in that capacity, even if it means moving to an associate role? Or is it time to reconsider whether you belong in professional ministry?

4. Do you, or you and your spouse, need to see a competent Christian counselor to walk through an assessment of what kind of toll the challenges you have faced have had on you?

5. Do you need to take a short retreat and allow God to ask you some tough questions, like "Why are you here?" How long has it been since you’ve heard the still, small voice?

My greatest concern is that in our pastorates and among our lay leaders there are nice people who may have success in business or other endeavors but have little or no spiritual vitality to their lives. And it is creating shallow, carnal, contentious church cultures. I ask again, where is God in the midst of all of this? Who is asking what He wants? Who is longing to hear His voice? Who is speaking daily of His great mercies and has a hopeful spirit because this same God who raised our Lord Jesus from the dead has promised to work in us today? Who is so saturated with the Scriptures that when they talk they speak the very word of God?

2 Chronicles 16:9--For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.

We will never develop spiritual ministries until the Scriptures are our source of study, wisdom, and life, and the audience we live before consists of the Lord alone.

Posted by Pat Jones at 3:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I have just returned from a brief vacation. My wife EJ and I flew to San Antonio, Texas with our daughter and her family. We spent about a day and a half touring the Alamo and the River Walk. We ate in some fine establishments and I was able to locate several excellent ice cream shops, which is always a priority for me.

We then rented a car and drove northwest of San Antonio to Whitetail Junction Ranch. We spent several days with my nephew, niece, their spouses, plus two great-nieces and one great-nephew and their spouses. We had a nice little family reunion.

Now the reason I’m telling you all of this is to say that the deer are doing wonderfully on the ranch. After purchasing a ranch populated with sickly deer, my nephew intentionally bred strong young bucks to improve the DNA of the herd. Last year one of them topped out at about 280 pounds. I don’t know exactly what the B & C score was, but it was high. So the DNA change is working. As I drove my little four-wheel cart around to look at the animals, I was again amazed at how much has been accomplished in such a short time.

If you are wondering what I am talking about, I talked about “the DNA of the herd” in my post on March 29:

We are in need of locating a few, really sharp young pastors who can help us change our leadership DNA. Do you know any student that is currently in a seminary anywhere? Could you give me the person's name and where he is attending school? I really want to begin building a list of strong potential "young bucks" to change the genetic DNA of our herd. You can send directly to me by email.

Or you can listen to the Podcast of my talk to the youth pastors earlier this year from Daytona Beach, Fla. Many have already heard me tell the story of the ranch and changing the DNA of the herd.
The moral of the story is this: I believe that just like a sickly herd of deer is changed by bringing in new bucks, in the same way we must change the DNA of our leadership. Many of you have heard me say this before. Nothing new. But I wanted you to be aware that after my latest trip to the ranch, I am as firmly dedicated to this task as ever.

Will there be opposition? I would be greatly surprised if there wasn’t. Will many desire that we just let well enough alone? I imagine that will be true. But my question is, are we “good enough”? When it comes to our leadership, I’d say no! Now don’t get me wrong. We have some excellent leaders who are doing an effective job leading. My point is that we just need more of them. I want to find more new leaders while at the same time try to create a desire in many of our churches for something more, something better when it comes to ministry, so that when we find the “bucks with new DNA” we will have situations in which they can reproduce.

I would imagine that we have some churches that really don’t want to change, or don’t want to see growth if it means change. Maybe only a few will really have the “stomach” to make the necessary changes to become effective again. I say “again” because most churches at one time in their history were probably somewhat effective. Some may want to be effective again and some may not. But I will say this to our churches: if there are any out there who really want to become effective in their ministry and are willing to make the necessary changes, call me!

“Effectiveness” can mean different things to different people. What it means to me is a church that will do whatever is necessary to fulfill the Great Commission by seeing everyone become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ. I suppose a church could be “effective” doing a lot of different things. But if people aren’t becoming fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ, then all the effectiveness is just so much busyness. If people aren’t becoming fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ, we almost forfeit the right to have the name “Church” on our sign. Without that happening, whatever else we do is just a social club of good works.

So, the deer are still growing on the ranch in Texas, and my dream for a new DNA within the “ranch” of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ is still burning hot in my soul.

Posted by Ron Ramsey at 10:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I've been working hard at perceiving things as Jesus would. The disciples saw a sinful woman at the well. Jesus saw a person reaching out for help. Jesus observed how hard the Pharisees worked to get their "converts", even going overseas to make like-minded legalists. But He told His disicples to open their eyes to see the multitude of people around them who were ripe for the picking, wanted to be a part of an eternal harvest. He told of a man who worked hard to build barns that benefitted himself, but was not concerned about eternal things.

A study is currently being done as a part of a doctoral thesis. It will give us insights into the statistics we have reported over the past ten years. What will we do with what we find?

Pam and I visited with the final three members of a church that voted to close. We will sell the building and reinvest the funds in other ways. While I shared their grief over the finality of it all, I also grieved over the reality that the Great Commission played no part in the later years of this church.

In contrast to this, I received news this week that a church that has been in decline reached and assimilated over a dozen people in the last months. Another church that had several people leave and faced some financial struggles had a greater than average attendance and third largest offering of the year. A newly assigned pastor is trusting the Lord for great healing and growth in his church. Several of our churches have shown good health in NCD surveys. These are blessings.

So when Jesus looks across the landscape we call the UB church, what does He see?

Posted by Pat Jones at 1:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I was recently asked by the Admissions and Theater departments of Huntington University to sit in on a dress rehearsal of their 2006 Summer Tour production of Godspell. You could probably join me in reciting the words to many of the songs that were popularized by this musical when it was first produced in the '70's. (Day by Day, Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord, et. al).

Once again I was struck with the remarkable way this story presents the philosophical, social and relational trends of sinful human beings through the centuries . Then it highlights Jesus speaking truth into those trends through the Sermon on the Mount and familiar parables. The play's dialog and songs are firmly based in Scripture. What makes this even more striking is to realize that the creator of Godspell is not a believer.

This is a high energy, fun theatrical presentation of the powerful Gospel of our Lord. Dance, lighting, varied musical instruments, humor, sarcasm, and simple props force us as the audience to see and hear ourselves and our condition. We are then hit with the high calling and demand of Jesus to live above it all through Him.

Director Dave Shamburger, his wife Kristi (Choreographer) and Mike Burnett (chairman of the Department and in charge of Lighting and Scenic Design) have done a marvelous job preparing this talented troupe to make this a quality production. You will not be disappointed iif you invite your unsaved friends to it.

This is a great opportunity to reach into the lives of our pre-Christian, unbelieving friends with a high-quality, Scripturally sound presentation of the Gospel. It gives a foundation for further dialog with your friends about the Gospel, and just may serve as the bridge to see them come to faith in Christ.

I recommend it to you. And if you are not yet on the schedule, call Jeremy Rufener at the University (260-224-3290) and see if they could possibly squeeze you in at this late date.

Posted by Pat Jones at 3:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)