Thank you volunteers and LODAC administrators that made this opportunity possible.
Big A Club 2012
An Exit Strategy
Many churches are right in the middle of the Vacation Bible School season. This is the time of year where you may see a sighting of otherwise reserved adults dancing crazy, children making elaborate crafts, or even adults of all ages having fun with children as they learn stories from the Bible. This year we at FBCV asked our Sunday School classes (for the first time ever) to decorate one of twelve different areas that we wanted to have decorated for VBS.
They did a magnificent job, put in many hours making it special, and most paid for the decorations themselves. We had the kids vote on the best area (our reward will be given out this coming Sunday). Many older adults who typically did not participate in VBS, now were able to feel as though they were apart of the outreach effort (and they truly were.) Many wanted to know what the children thought of the huge hanger in the sanctuary, the smoking volcano in the fellowship hall (complete with orange glowing light), or the beautifully painted mountains in the children’s building, etc. . .
Many weeks went into planning the big event, and thousands of dollars were spent making this a very special week. We had many kids who heard about the love of Christ, and we have a list of families to follow up with over the next few weeks.
With all the planning that went into getting ready for the event, and the effort spent during the event, at 12:30 on Thursday (the last day of VBS) I realized that I had forgotten one very important item that should have been on my “to do†list.
1. Have an “Exit Strategy.â€
The old saying, “What goes up, must come down†is very true, especially if it is made of crepe paper, paper plates, and hot glued to the wall. While the church tolerated a massive hanger in the sanctuary, and may have even found it humorous, if it were to stay there very long it would have caused agitation.
The waterfalls in the Sunday School rooms were nice for the children but took up valuable sitting space in already crowded classrooms. So, without any real discussion, the decorations had to come down before Sunday. But by 12:30 the staff of over fifty were down to two, and I realized I had failed to establish a clean up plan. So all day Friday and most of Saturday were spent cleaning it all up.
Many times leaders spend all their time planning the front end of the event, but rarely think it all the way through until the last bag of trash is thrown into the dumpster, and the last chair is put back in place.
2. What you fail to plan, you get to do.
One of a leader’s main tasks it to think. They need to have the ability to sit down and be able to “connect the dots†from one step to another, until all the steps complete a picture of a successful project. Experience allows one to be able to see more details. But, if you fail to spend enough time thinking through the details, then when you realize your mistake (and usually its right in the middle of “craziness†or in my case when everyone had gone home), you are the one who has to do these tasks. Midnight runs to Wal-Mart for cool-aid, stressful conversations with parents who want their children but you can’t find them on your campus, or all day Saturday clean ups are simply no fun at all (especially if you are by yourself). All of these examples could have been prevented if a little better planning had gone into the event.
Some times leaders know these tasks need to be completed and just don’t want to ask someone else to do it. They may feel that others have done so much already and to ask them to do one more thing would be too much. But we have to remember that the church functions as a unit, and shares the load of ministry together. Typically leaders may say something like, “can you help me out by . . . “
But this is really backwards thinking. The project is a church wide push to reach children and families for Christ. It’s not one man’s (or woman’s) personal crusade that they are need to recruit people to help them do. It is an effort that the entire church should do because we all understand the mission and what we are all trying to accomplish for Christ. The Chinese proverb is so true, “many hands makes light work.†When we don’t ask others to do things we rob them of the opportunity to serve Christ and their church, and we get very tired.  Most people are ready to work but just don’t know what needs to be done. Next year, I plan to ask the Sunday School classes to decorate an area, and at the end to carefully take it down as well.
The Leader as the Intent Keeper; Matthew 6:1-4
“Tooting Your Own Horn (or trumpet)â€
Matthew 6:1-4 “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. 2 “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.â€
In this passage from Matthew 6 Jesus continues the Sermon on the Mount. He has already covered material in the Beatitudes, being salt and light, His fulfilling of the Law, anger, lust, divorce, oaths, retaliation, and loving one’s enemies. Now he moves to a discussion of service.
This passage was written to individuals who in their pride want others to notice their practices, and to make people aware of how God desires to reward His children for their behavior. Is it wrong for churches to ‘announce’ that they are doing certain “practices of righteousness?†We have web sites, facebook, signs on our campuses, newsletters, (etc.) that tell of our ministries and how we seek to serve the community – is it wrong to ‘announce’ these things?
If we use Matthew 6 as a guiding precept, then the main indicator of transgression is one’s motive. Should the church be driven by the desire to be “rewarded†by God? The word ‘reward’ is used three times in verses one through four and the potential of losing it is based on pride in the individual as they do a particular act of righteousness. It is assumed by the text that God’s reward is something to be sought after.
Motive seems to the determination of reward, but practicing righteousness before other people seems to be unavoidable in many situations. But it is the extra step of drawing attention (blowing a trumpet) to one’s actions for the purpose of being noticed and praised by others that crosses the line.
If you (or a church) do an action to be seen by other people then you lose your reward that would have come from God. If you do an action to be seen by God then there is a reward from God given to you.
The remedy to prideful acts is to “give to the needy†in secret, and don’t let other people know about your giving. The Father sees all things done in secret. Would you give to someone if no one would ever know? How you answer this question helps you determine your motive.
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Guarding Intent
In the Christian life what we do boils down to motive (Why we do what we do). There are many motives (an unhealthy fear of God, pride in having others “see†them, guilt for past actions, self-righteousness and how the service makes you feel, etc.) that are invalid for the Christian to do what they do.
It is easy for a noble endeavor to lose its original intent and degrade into something far less noble. For example, a church starts a Christian school. It’s original purpose and intent was to start a school to change the culture of young people and to give them a Christian worldview.
But as time passed the motive moves toward a desire to generate more than needed revenue. So certain standards are lessened until eventually the original noble objective is lost. The school becomes too focused on attracting more and more students, and in order to do this it lowers its threshold of who can attend and what they do as part of the “Christian†curriculum. The declining school was not actually declining in numbers, but in its impact among the children. While it focused on bigger, newer, and being flashy it became more about being better than the Christian school across the county rather than changing children’s lives. What a tragedy. They had gained the world (and the bragging rights) but had lost the children’s souls.
All Christians and Churches will face moments of when their motives will be tested, and we may need to be brought back from a false trajectory. 1 Peter 1:6-7 “In this [one’s salvation] you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.â€
The trigger for this decline is sin and you can insert a host of different sins; fear, pride, worldliness, a lack of faith . . . and this sin inevitably leads to a loss of purpose.
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The Leader as the Intent Keeper
1. The leader must guard the purpose. When he fails in this task the organization drifts toward decline.
2. The leader must remind the people of the purpose. If we forget why we are doing something, then it becomes much easier to focus our time and precious resources on anything else (other than what’s truly the most important thing). It is mission critical that the leader pound the drum of purpose. Why does the organization exist? Now say it again, and again, and again (ad nauseum).
3. The leader says ‘No†a lot. People will constantly bring ideas of things that could be done by the organization, but the leader has to say no to things that don’t directly line up to the purpose and no to ideas that would take valuable resources away from its ultimate objective.
Whenever there is confusion regarding what the organization is to be about, then there will inevitably be a power clash. The leader must nip any conflicting visions in the bud before they had time to work throughout the organization.
4. The leader has to be a hunter of sacred cows. Once the purpose has been determined, announced, explained then there will begin to develop a distinction between activities that line up with the mission and activities that don’t. These distinct activities that don’t may have been around for a long time, but actually work against the health of the overall organization.
The leader with wisdom, tact, and much prayer must kill the sacred cow. These bovine activities distract and take needed resources and personnel from the ultimate objective. There are not many things harder for a leader to do than to kill something many hold to be “sacred” and a part of their tradition.
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In life it is far easier to decline than to develop. It is easier to tear down than to build. It is easier to maintain than to push the organization forward. Guarding your own motive for Christian service is a hard task, and requires effort. Take time today to evaluate your heart and press on to do great things for the Lord. Just leave the trumpet at home.
Walking the Tight rope of “Kingdom†Work and “Church†Work
In many ways leadership is a balancing act. Some guys do it with flare, others of us are just glad to be hanging on and not have fallen to our death. Some leaders move gracefully and with pizazz, with others it becomes tedious step-by-step events of terror. But in the tightrope of ministry, one must know how far to step, when to bring up topics to discuss, how to deal with “personalities,” and on and on the rope goes in which one must stay balanced.
The leader must weave through obstacles and must constantly keep multiple things in mind. As one progresses through the years these balancing movements become reflexive and intuitive. So with age comes wisdom, and when you see someone about to make a misstep you cringe and yell “stop, you’re going to fall,†and you pray there’s a net.
But all leaders must fall off the wire, it’s how one learns the intuitive feeling of balance and if your lucky gain the flair of showmanship. But tightrope walking begins only inches off the ground, and with experience moves heavenward. So fall from this height are for more forgiving when you are getting started, rather than falls from the “Big Top.”
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Tension
Like the tension in the wire, the leader in ministry needs two anchored ends to support him in his dramatic walk along the rope. The first anchor is outreach, evangelism, and ministry. For our discussion I categorize these purposes of the church as “kingdom” work. The second anchor is discipleship, fellowship, and worship, and we will call these three “church” work.Â
If there is too much of an angle on either side, then the tightrope walker too easily slides down the steep angle and falls. If there is too much slack in the rope where either side gives way, then the walker does not have the support needed to make the walk. Both are needed equally, both must be securely anchored, and both must be of equal level (i.e. importance) in the life of the church.
Fellowship balanced with Outreach.
Worship balanced with Missions.
Discipleship is balanced with Ministry.
All things balanced with Love.
If you focus too much on missions, then people could begin to feel out of touch with the church body as a whole. The church will begin to say things like, “Why are we trying help all these people (over there) when there are people needing help right her in our own church body?”
This is not an “either/or” situation, it is a “both/and” situation, and both need to be balanced. If the church is not reaching out, and it over emphasizes fellowship, then it easily becomes inward focused and selfish. Marble columns go up everywhere in the cathedral while the nations are ignorant of Christ. Volunteers become scarce as everyone has “stuff they need to do.â€
When missions is overly pushed then people are left feeling used and neglected. Those that are faithful, hardworking volunteers get burned out and the volunteer base shrinks to nothing. If we think of “missions†as seeking to reach a certain people group, or changing how you do things in order to reach people (i.e. immersion in a different culture), then it is not too difficult to find a church that has changed everything to reach lost people with their church services. If missions is overly emphasized, then the services resemble rock concerts, the preaching becomes “talks†with little Bible content, and the most important person in the room is the guest and not God. All of this is done for the purpose of making the lost culture to feel “more at home.â€
If worship is overly emphasized then the service changes little over the years. There is no thought (or very little) to guests and they are left feeling like “outsiders†who don’t speak the foreign language of church (bulletin, atonement, right hand of fellowship, reading music, finding books in the Bible in seconds, etc.). The lost world must make a huge effort to overcome these obstacles in order to climb into congregations. Worship tends to focus more on tradition than making changes to stay “culturally relevant.â€
Lastly, when discipleship is overly emphasized then people learn a lot about God and His Word, but do very little of the things He commands His followers to do (sharing the gospel, feeding the poor, helping the widow, giving our coats to those without one, etc.) They tend to stay in classrooms and argue over doctrine, while they do little with the doctrine.
When ministry is overemphasized soldiers are ill equipped to do ministry. Like a soldier handed a rifle with no instructions, dangerous doctrine, sinful solutions to problems, and bad application of Scripture are not very far away. When churches focus little on equipping and are heavy on ministry then you better keep your head down because they know little of the Evil One’s schemes nor the Creator’s Plan for them and the world.
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When a church is able to find the balance between “kingdom†and “church†work, then they grow in knowledge and life experiences. Their assumed doctrine is challenged and made more concrete through encountering a lost world. Their hidden sins are brought to the surface and dealt with through being held accountable by fellow believers. Their spiritual gifts are exercised in service to the Lord, so they feel more satisfied and content with life. New friendships are made (outreach) and old ones are deepened (fellowship). Ultimately God uses one’s faithfulness to His plan (church and kingdom work) to make the Christian (and then the church) more like Christ. To be out of balance, with any of these purposes, leads to a person being damaged and the church misses it’s calling.
Farming and the Gospel; Mark 4:1-20
During the long, hot, summer days of my childhood I would stay with my Grandfather while my parents worked. Every year he would roll out the old Farm All tractor that looked like it rolled off Noah’s Ark; it was the kind with the crank on the front. We would then plant a three or four acre garden. The tractor had a mechanism that seed could be loaded into and we planted corn, okra, cucumbers, squash, etc.
Then as the weeks passed, little green sprigs would pop from beneath the soil, getting taller, taller and taller. Then there would be a blossom of various colors, and eventually vegetables. The wonderful part of the summer was when we would walk through the rows of plants and there beneath a leaf would be a mature okra, or among a tall stalk an ear of sweet corn – we would carry buckets full of vegetables to the house to be cleaned, stored for the winter, but best of all – to be enjoyed for dinner.
Being a farmer is hard work. It requires an enduring work ethic, many hours of sweat, and the ability to solve problems. But most importantly, being a farmer requires patience. What if the second day my grandfather would have looked out over the freshly plowed and planted field and yelled, “Where are my vegetables?â€Â “I quit farming.â€Â Many Christians after trying to reach their neighbors, family or community for Christ just quit simply because it is a difficult task.
You can go to the frozen section of the grocery store, or even better go to a restaurant and order vegetables – but someone else raised them – you are enjoying food someone else raised. Being apart of a church is not about eating the fruits of someone else’s labor – it’s about all of us being in the field and together reaping a harvest.
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The Work of the Farmer
In Mark 4, Jesus’ parable is taking us into this world of agriculture when he says “A farmer went out to sow his seed.â€Â Life is too short not to have ever sat around a table, feeling exhausted from a hard day in the sun, and sinking your teeth into a delicious ear of corn, or fried okra, or steamed cabbage that you grew. Christ calls us to not only plant a crop of seeds in the field, but to stay around long enough, and to stick with it long enough to see the harvest mature.
Before you die, I want you to have a story of how you were apart of seeing a person receive the seed of the gospel, and you worked with them long enough to see them blossom into a mature reproducing Christian.  Not that you stood at a distance and watched, or heard others tell their story – but you were the farmer who sowed the seed, you were the one who worked with the plant until it was mature. I want you to have enjoyed the banquet at the table.  I want you to see the vision God has for your life.
I. Farming is Hard Work (vv. 1-4a)
Mark 4:1-4a “Again Jesus began to teach by the lake. The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water’s edge. 2He taught them many things by parables, and in his teaching said: 3“Listen!. 4As he was scattering the seed,“
Among the many things that he taught using stories or parables the writer of this gospel selects one about a farmer who went out to sow seeds. In Matthew 4:17 Jesus said, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.â€Â Just as there is an urgency to go fishing as fisher’s of men, there is also an urgency to scatter the seed of the gospel.
“A farmer went out to sow his seed†– First, recognize that the farmer is actually in the field, sowing seed. He is willing to work for the harvest. Before the farmer can ever know what his harvest will look like, he has to first step foot into the field. He has to trust that by doing the work of casting seed, he will have food to eat in the weeks to come.  There is no harvest, if you don’t step foot in the field.
There has only been one time in my life when someone came up to me and asked, “Are you a Christian?†and I said yes, and we went on to discuss salvation and the things of God. All the other years and millions of other people that pass me every day, require that I initiate contact with them. We must be willing to “go” and plant the seeds (Matthew 28).
II.     Not All Soils Are the Same (vv. 4b-9) Â
“some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. 8Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, multiplying thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times.” 9Then Jesus said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.“
Jesus describes how four different types of people respond when the gospel is shared with them. All four responses are different.
 1.        Hard Soil – “some fell along the path and the birds came and ate it up†Farmers and travelers walked in between fields by traveling along paths that zigzag across the landscape. Because of this traffic the ground became very hard. The seed never was able to penetrate because of the hardness of the path, and birds came and ate the exposed seed.
Jesus explains this verse by saying in verse 15, “15Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them.â€Â Because of the hardness of their hearts, Satan is able to take it away as soon as it is sown. This is why prayer is so important – we must pray that people hearts will be softened and prepared for the seed of the gospel. This person will just outright turn you away.
2.        Rocky Soil – “5Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.” – There are some who apparently receive Christ, they seem to be growing in their faith. On the outside there are all the signs of a healthy plant, it was growing quickly – there was a promise of a fruitful harvest – but when things heated up, or there was some difficulty, their faith died.
Jesus explains this verse when he says “16Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. 17But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.”
The reason it never reached maturity was it did not have a deep root system – the person never had a saving faith in Christ (there was no root). There are some who apparently receive Christ but they never had a saving faith and when the heat comes, they deny their faith because it is just too hard, too hot, too much trouble.
The next time you encounter hardship for the name of Christ, thank God for it – because through this time you are confirming your salvation by your dependence and enduring under it for Christ.
3.       Thorny Soil – ” 7Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain .” – others who have heard the gospel, take this seed and it even begins to grow in their lives, but they are surrounded by things that choke it out.
Jesus explains these verses in (v. 18) when he says, “18Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; 19but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.â€
There are three things given that cause the plant to become unfruitful: (1) “worries of this life†– they are so worried and preoccupied with their own lives that they simply don’t have time for anyone else, including Christ.  (2) “the deceitfulness of wealth†– This is a group of people that are more concerned about money and are distracted from their purpose of producing a crop.  (3) “the desire for other things†– these people want the gospel, salvation, while at the same time having the world. Later Jesus says in Luke 16:13 “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.â€
“Things†are getting in the way of being a fruitful plant.  There are only so many hours in a day, and this person has decided to dedicate all of them to “things†and not a lost world. Even those that worked with Paul fell away because they became distracted by the “things of this life.†2 Timothy 4:9-10 “Please come as soon as you can. Demas has deserted me because he loves the things of this life and has gone to Thessalonica.â€
 4.        Good Soil – 8Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, multiplying thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times. Jesus again explains this verse (v. 20) when he says, “20Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—thirty, sixty or even a hundred times what was sown.â€
The seed that landed in good soil, or a heart who becomes a genuine disciple is portrayed by Christ as growing, being healthy, and producing a crop. One seed has turned into 30, 60, or even 100s.  One person becomes a believer and when their time on earth is done they leave behind a multiplication of believers. Not simply a one to one ratio, but many.
III.      Farmers Face Disappointment
When you look at Joshua, chapter 1 , it describes the conquest of Canaan, it starts off like this: “As I was with Moses, so I’ll be with thee. Be strong and of a good courage. And as I’ve promised my servant Moses, I give unto you the land of the Hittites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, and the Girgashites.â€
Then that [third] verse says: “And wherever—every place where your feet trod, that have I given to you.â€Â God gave to Israel that holy land. But they had to fight for it every inch of the way. Every place they placed their foot was a battle. It is much easier, just to stop and stay where you are. Are we willing to rally, and fight for every step you take to reach others for Christ? Those that fight in war get hurt.
There is no harvest without hard work, but there is also no harvest without disappointment. For this farmer he lost three out of every four plants. That’s three disappointments to every one success. How do you keep casting seed, knowing that every three seeds you cast will not make it? Because of the one that does.
A boy and his grandfather were walking along the sea shore and the early morning tide had pushed millions of starfish on the shore for miles. The boy began to throw the starfish into the sea and after a while the Grandfather said, “boy there’s millions of them, you can’t save them all – what does it matter?â€Â The boy responded back, “it matters to this one.â€[1]
I believe that Jesus gave us this passage of the different types of soils so that we won’t get completely depressed. This passage gives me hope that all our effort, all our time, and resources aren’t wasted. Many people believe that unless you have taken a person through a tract, the four spiritual laws, or checked the salvation box – then you haven’t been faithful in evangelism.
On some occasions, the Spirit wants me to be an opener. I have a hoe and I’m supposed to break up the hard ground of their heart. There may be another person who comes and plants the seed. Another time the Spirit may want me to water the seed, and on another occasion I have the privilege of walking them across the salvation line – but only because dozens of others have gotten them that far.
In the years that I have been pastoring I have seen what I sometimes call to myself the “Fool’s Walk.â€Â Sometime earlier in the week, they had invited someone to come to church and they said that they would be there. So there they stands in the lobby, waiting, for the person to drive up. The service begins and the pacing begins—back and fourth, five minutes go by, and then ten – the person never shows.
I have played the fool, and if you are faithful in inviting people, you will play the fool too. Paul tells us to “do the work of evangelism†– because it is hard work. It is hard to put your heart out there. You offer grace and love – and they give rejection. Know this – there is a person out there whose heart is the good soil and if we keep playing the fool long enough we will reap a harvest.
[1] This illustration is not original to me, but I am not sure where it originated.
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