Bill Easums Observations

I was speaking Thursday in Baltimore when i mentioned that there are only four things that grow a church and that I had never seen a church doing these four things that wasn’t growing.  In fact, I challenged them to put those four things in place and if they didnt grow I would give them $10,000.

About that time someone raised their hand and asked, What are the four things.” So I proceeded to share the four things that grow a church.

• You must constantly invite people to Christ and/or your church.
• You must have a system in place to connect with them and cause them to return again and again.
• You must disciple them into followers of Jesus.
• You must send them back out into the community to back yard missionaries.

Sounds simple doesn’t?  But each of these four core processes takes time, energy, and money.  Someone has to make sure they happen every day. Depending on the size of the church it is either the pastor and volunteers or a paid staff person for each process.

But nothing else a church does matters as much as they four things.

Then someone asked “How can we learn more about what these four staff positions look like.”

“Well,” I said.  Our new book on staffing just hit the shelves.  It’s called Effective Staffing for Vital Churches: The Essential Guide to finding and keeping the right people.

You can find the book at Amazon.com or through Baker Books. I think it is one of the best books our group has ever published.

But don’t word for it – read what others are saying about it.

Rick Warren:”This book is a winner.”

Dave Ferguson: “A tremendous help for church leaders”

Darrin Patrick: “I wish I had had this book when I started”

You can also go our website www.effectivestaffing.us to read three chapters from the book and a video on Time Management when you and sign up ‘

We’re here to help you grow your church.

I’m reading a fascinating book, Preaching and Preachers, by Lloyd- Jones.  I must confess I’ve never read anything by him before and that’s a shame.  The book is an excellent read.  His premise is that Preaching is the primary thing a minister does. He gives three reasons: One, because preaching is primary in the New Testament from Jesus to the Acts of the Apostles; Two, because every major revival in Christian history has been accompanied by great preachers; and Three, because man is a rebel against God and needs the salvation that only preaching can bring.

In making his case the author bangs away at the denigration of preaching by relegating it to a back seat to counseling, small homilies, lectures, conversation, and dialogue. The author would have a hard time with the philosophy of the Emergent movement that puts relationships and conversation before the act of preaching.

He goes on to show how the central pulpit has been moved to the side allowing the elements of ritual to move to center stage.  He calls this “an abomination.”

I may not always agree with the author but I have to admit that I agree with his major premise. I’ve seen preaching denigrated over the span of my life time.  Let me give you two reasons for saying this.

First, when I was in college and seminary I was required to take a CPE ( I think that stood for Clinical Pastoral Education)  course but I was never required to take a preaching course.

But there is a more telling reason for agreeing with the author. Over the past 20 years of consulting I’ve sat in hundreds of worship services listening to hundreds of sermons.  I doubt if I’ve heard more than a dozen great preachers. So I think Lloyd-Jones is one to something.

Of course we all know the common antidote that we all joke about -”it’s Saturday and I have to write my sermon.”

Maybe Lloyd-Jones is correct – maybe Christianity is in trouble because preaching is no longer central to the church. There is certainly ample evidence that preaching does not get the attention it should either by the preacher or the person in the pew. Pastors are more likely to get fired over not visiting in the home or being in the office when needed than because they preach bad sermons.

Maybe one of the answers to the decline in Christianity is not the Emergent movement, or organic movement, or any other movement.  Maybe one of the primary solutions is to regain the primary of preaching.

Pastors, it’s time to make your weekly message the most important thing you do during the week and not something you put off till you can find the time.  It’s time to make it the first thing you do each week.

For a long time I’ve taught there are only two critical questions facing humankind:

1. What is it about my relationship to Christ that my neighbor needs to experience;
2. How can I rabidly share that relationship without coming off like a bigot?

Len Sweet and Frank Viola have made a major contribution to these two questions in their book, Jesus Manifesto. It’s a brilliant work of art.

The best way to know to showcase this art is by sharing a few of the quotes that captured my heart.

“The best way to combat conflict is to preach the unspeakable riches of Christ.”
“Jesus is seldom the main course (Speaking of most Christians).”
“Our goal is not to imitate Christ but to acknowledge that he dwells in us.”
“It’s not what Jesus would do but what is Christ doing through me.”
“Christlikeness is too small and cheap a dream.”
“The gospel is not the imitation of Christ; it is the impartation and implantation of Christ.”
“”Follow me’ is what separated Jesus from the other world religions.”
“Jesus did not come to make bad people good. He came to make dead people live.”
“Jesus Christ has never been a social activist or a moral philosopher. To pitch Him that way is to drain His glory and dilute His excellence.”
“We must never avoid social issues. But the distinctive mark of a Christian is that you don’t begin with a social or moral issue.”
“Jesus is never a cause.”
“But the social and political reform of the world through the powers that be has never been the agenda of the body of Christ.”
“We have too many people loving justice when they should be loving mercy – and doing justice.”
“Jesus was not known for His love of justice but for His love of mercy.”
“We would be wise to remember that the best we can do is change the world; only Jesus can save the world.”
“Our ‘hunger for justice’ is best turned into a hunger for the Just One, and going deeper in Him and in relationship with others.”

I could go on but you get the picture- the gospel is not about causes or imitating Christ or even being like Christ.  The gospel is about falling in love with the crucified beauty and glory of Christ in such a way that he lives in us. It’s not a matter of imitation- Christ actually lives in us- that is the hope of glory. It’s one thing to be on a crusade or to beat the drum of a cause or even to be in ministry because of some ill-founded belief that a cause is worth giving one’s life for; it’s a far different thing to give ones life to a love that is profound that it consumes the self with the presence of Christ.

This is a excellent book that could change the hearts of even the most calcified church member.

Bill Easum
www.churchconsultations.com
easum@aol.com

I just returned from speaking to the Presbyterian Church of Canada.  While I was there I learned from one of the bookseller that my book, A Second Resurrection, made the best seller list of www.Amazon.ca.

This is good and bad news.  Good that this book is selling; bad that so many churches are in such trouble that they would feel the need to read this book.

The essence of the book is that we are beyond reformation, revitalization, and renewal in 85% of established churches and are in need of resurrection. You can’t revitalize a dead corpse and most of our places called church are really more like hospices or hospitals, both of which are needed for those ill and dying but certainly aren’t what God intended when God said, “Go make disciples of all people groups.”

I pray that God will use the book to resurrection enough churches to make a difference in the Kingdom.

God bless those pastor who have the courage to try to raise the dead.

Bill Easum
www.churchconsultations.com
easum@aol.com

Sometimes I go several months before running into what I consider to be “great books.” Then out of the blue, several such books will fill my “to do” pile. I thought I would share a few of the books that I read this month I consider to be great books.

Untamed, by Alan and Deb Hirsch, may go down as a raw classic in how to change our domesticated view of Jesus.

And, by Hugh Halter and Matt Smay is a long over-due missional directed book showing us one way to bring together all the various church models on behalf of the Kingdom.

Exponential, by Dave and Jon Ferguson, not only tells the story of Christian Community Church and the pilgrimage of Troy McMahon, but it also lays out the principles for starting a church planting movement.

Viral Church, by Ed Stetzer and Warren Bird, has to be one of my all time favorites because it lays out the potential for church planting movement in such simple terms that even I can get it. It’s message is “multiply everything.” Told you it was simple, but another classic.

Trust Agents, by Brogan and Smith, is a secular book showing how to build influence  and improve your reputation on the web.

It’s not many a two week period when I run across this many books of this calibur. I hope you can grap a copy of each and devour them

I wish this had been Alan’s first book. It would have eliminated some of people’s misunderstanding of his message- namely did he believe at all in the institutional church. After reading this book there is no doubt- he does believe in the institutional church, just not as most institutional churches live out their faith.

This book destroys any sentimental, sterile, sweet, nice, domesticated view of Jesus and the church.  He challenges most of the practices of modern day Christians and congregation. He re-introduces us to the wild, untamed, radical Jesus we all are suppose to be like. He and his wife challenge us to live a reckless life worth telling stories about. They ask us to “abandon the domesticated faith of suburban consumer Churchianity in order to live a life of risk for the love of a savior….”

This book will rock the very core of a safe, consumer oriented faith. If you can read this book without feeling uncomfortable and moved to make some changes in your life and ministry something is radically wrong with you.

Grab a copy now and watch it change your life.

Bill Easum
www.churchconsultations.com
easum@aol.com