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Sixteen Ways We're Preparing for Easter

Easter is the most important day on the church calendar. Not only is it the day Jesus won the victory over death, it’s the day more people become Christians than any other. I want to take full advantage of this once-a-year opportunity. So every year at this time, New Song begins what we call our “ramp-up for Easter.”

1. Launch a new series.

We start by developing the series we want to launch on Easter. For years, I preached a resurrection message and invited people to return for a new series the following week. But CEO’s (“Christmas and Easter Only”) rarely come to church thinking they’ll return anytime soon, so we want to double their incentive by giving them the first helping of what they’ll receive if they come back.

Yes, I’ll explain the resurrection. Yes, I’ll invite people to receive Christ that day. But this year I’ll be doing it in the midst of a message on Heaven is For Real. Todd Burpo has a best-selling book by that title, so people are interested in it. During the four weeks post-Easter, I’ll preach on what heaven will be like and explain how to get there.

2. Give a free book.

Lots of unchurched people think of the church as stingy and irrelevant. I want to break that perception, so every year we give first time guests a free book. In the past we’ve given gift editions of a book I wrote a few years ago called The God Questions. I’ll still offer that book from upfront to anyone who has questions about God,but in our advertisements we’re offering a copy of Burpo’s book, which guests can pick up at our bookstore.

Giving the free gift not only exceeds people’s expectations, it enables us to gather contact information so we can thank them for coming and invite them back.

3. An email note.

In a church our size, it’s easy for guests to feel lost in the crowd. On the day after Easter, I’m going to email them all, asking if there is anything we can pray for. I want guests to know that the church is more than a building they can come to, it’s a family they can belong to. Every guest who responds will be prayed for by our staff on Tuesday morning.

4. A hand-written note.

As the emails go out, I’ll also be hand-writing notes. I want every guest to know that the church is about relationships, not just programs, and that their pastor took time to write them personally. By the time I’m through, my hand will be cramped, and I’ll wonder if it was worth it. The note will give me a chance to ministry personally. While I’m writing, I will pray for each guest by name.

5. A gift in the mail.

Along with my note, I’ll include a coupon for a free pizza. Few guests will expect this. As they open they letter, I’m hoping they’ll hear the Holy Spirit whisper, “Church isn’t what you thought it was. These people love you.”

6. Prayer Cards.

Our best gift to our neighbors is prayer. Starting this weekend I’ll ask our people to fill out Prayer Cards with the names of seven friends they’ll pray for and invite to Easter.

I’ll ask all New Songers to fill out two cards: one to keep,and one to turn in, so I can pray with them for their friends. Nothing tills the soil of a human heart like prayer.

7. Prayer Room.

During the weeks leading up to Easter, we turn our Prayer Room into a war room. Every card that’s turned in will be posted in the Prayer Room. We’ll feature twelve stations and ask people to fill up all twenty-four hours, praying for our community, praying for people’s friends by name, praying for our ministry teams, and other personal and corporate needs. Our Prayer Room serves double duty for us. It lifts our community to the Lord, and it teaches newer believers that it really is possible to pray for an hour at a time and not get bored.

8. Random Acts of Kindness.

Once we’ve begun praying, we want to pile on the love by serving our community in practical ways. Two weeks after we issue Prayer Cards, we put “RAK” (Random Act of Kindness) Cards in our programs, with a list of 150 suggestions of ways you can show tangible love to your neighbors.

One of our suggestions is “Pay for the coffee of the person in line behind you.” One year a New Songer did this, handing a RAK card to a Starbucks attendant. He ask her to give the card to the driver of the car behind him. As he was pulling away, a friend called and asked him to her a coffee, so he pulled back into line. When he got to the attendant, he was handed his same RAK card. – It had traveled through seven cars, each one paying for the person behind them. Jesus was right: give and it will come back to you!

9. Invite cards.

Once we’ve begun tilling the soil of our community with prayers and acts of service, we’ll start inviting people. A personal invitation is always best, so we print business card sized invitations with the times of our Easter services on it. This year’s card will serve as a coupon good for one free copy of Heaven is For Real.

10. Doorhangers.

We also make doorhanger invitations available for those who are willing to walk and pray through their neighborhoods. The doorhanger also serves as a coupon for the Heaven book.

11. Bumper Stickers.

I used to hate bumper stickers. Not anymore. Last year one of my genius staff members discovered a type of bumper sticker that peels off easily without leaving any glue. We purchased enough to give them to our people for the next several years. Their message is simple: “Easter at New Song.”

12. Yard Signs.

A few years ago we bought a batch of yard signs that read “Easter at New Song,” with our phone number on them. They look like realtor’s signs. I ask people to put one in their yard and return it the week after Easter. These are fun. Once they’re up, our office gets calls about the price of the house on such and such street.

13. Holding a Wednesday night service.

Easter is such a strategic opportunity that we don’t want to miss anyone. Some people will go out of town for the weekend. We offer a Wednesday night Easter service to catch them beforehand. People invite friends from work and some of them receive Christ. Even if the crowd is small, it’s worth it.

14. Attend multiple services.

To take full advantage of this once-a-year opportunity, we ask everyone to attend more than one service. “This is the most important weekend on God’s calendar, so it ought to be the most important weekend on ours. Bring friends to at least one service, and serve during at least one service,” we say. Some people attend four or five.

15. Training a new team.

The excitement of a big day brings the opportunity to launch new ministry teams. I’ve gone old-school recently. Instead of asking people to raise their hand to receive Christ, I invite them to come forward. This year we’re launching an “Aftercare Team.” Their job will be to begin follow up immediately following decisions at each service.

16. An incentive two weeks later.

During our Easter services we’ll invite people back to meet Bethany Hamilton. Bethany’s movie, Soul Surfer, came out last year. People in our beach culture are dying to meet her. She’ll draw a lot of people to church who wouldn’t normally darken the doors. Some will be Easter returnees. We’re believing that that weekend will be one more step on the fruitful life path of many new believers.

New Song Community Church has led over 11,000 to Christ in the last two decades. Hal’s website, www.pastormentor.com is stocked with resources dedicated to helping pastors reach their communities for Christ. If you’d like to develop a heart for reaching the lost of your community, sign up there for his free, five-week e-course called “Momentum Bootcamp.” Hal is hoping to provoke a Bible-reading revolution this September by providing hundreds of churches with a church-wide campaign called, The Bible Questions. Email him at Hal@pastormentor.com for further information.

Here's the FOREWORD to My Next Book - with thanks to Sergio De La Mora

This coming August, InterVarsity Press will release my newest book, The Bible Questions. I'm praying it introduces thousands who have never read Scripture to the wonders of God's Word, and inspires tens of thousands of believers to develop regular Bible study habits. Today, my friend Sergio De La Mora finished the Foreword to the book. I think I can show it to you without breaking copywrite. So here it is, with deepest thanks to Sergio:

FOREWORD:
On every level of humanity, there is a deep yearning within us. We want to know more than what we can see and understand at face value. And on no other platform do we encounter more questions than in the confines of faith-questions that stem from our profound longing to further grasp what my good friend Hal Seed refers to as "the bigger picture of God and the Bible."

Every one of us seeks answers to the questions that arise from our beliefs. We thirst for understanding, development and maturity . Most people would openly admit that their greatest desire in reading the Bible is not just to know something but to be known by someone. When we admit this, we arrive at a place where answers are found; but more than that, an intimate, fulfilling and lifelong relationship with God is discovered. This process of discovery is the ultimate goal of not just the Bible, but also Hal´s book The Bible Questions .

The Bible Questions is more than simply a reference book or study guide. It´s a deeply thought-provoking and theologically sound manuscript that leads you through a historical journey and helps you discover the tools to answer some of the most poignant and philosophical questions we have asked since the beginning of our existence. The Bible Questions provides the fundamental keys to helping us answer the what, why and how of our own story with God.

Through meticulous detail of historical facts and brilliantly inspired personal insight, Hal invites readers to begin to experience the Bible for themselves and unlock the incredible wisdom and practical knowledge found within. As a pastor and friend, I thank God for Hal´s theological and doctrinal strength and for his commitment to help people think accurately about God.

As you make your way through this book, see it as a journey toward a greater sense of honor and reverence for the authenticity and authority of the Bible. Commit to give your best, and I believe God will give you his best through every revelation in his Word. Begin today to unlock the mysteries of the greatest book in history as you turn the page and answer The Bible Questions.

Come on somebody!

Sergio De La Mora, lead pastor, Cornerstone Church of San Diego, and author, The Heart Revolution

Every Pastor's Top Ten Goals for 2012

Around this time of year, every leader I know is goaded by Isaiah 32:8 - “The noble man makes noble plans and by noble deeds he stands.”

I set my goals for 2012 this week. Some of them are personal, some professional, some physical, some familial. The process got me thinking. Are there some goals every pastor ought to write in stone and just commit to every day?

I think there are.

1. Walk with Jesus.

Easy to write, and tempting to skip. With a pastor’s pace, it’s easy to justify skipping your chair time every morning. But honestly, isn’t walking with Jesus job one?

2. Love your spouse.        

1 Peter 3:7 says, “Husbands, be considerate as you live with your wives… so that nothing will hinder your prayers.” I tell my staff, “If you’re not meeting with Jesus, you won’t have any true power for ministry.” I should add, “And if you’re not loving your husband/wife, you won’t be effective either.”

3. See as many people as possible come to Christ.

There’s always a tension between loving the flock and seeking the lost. In Luke 15, Jesus says that the good shepherd will actually leave his ninety-nine sheep in the open country to go after the lost one.

The problem for pastors is, lost ones don’t make noise. They’re not bleating about better sermons, greater care, or whatever area of ministry is currently under resourced or neglected. Lost ones have only the voice of God whispering in the preacher’s heart, “Come find me.” This is a call we ignore at the peril of others’ eternities.

4. Raise godly children.

The legacy of a great pastor can be a group of wonderful people serving God. The legacy of a great parent is children who grow up to exceed them in ministry. If you have to choose, pick the parent role over the pastor role.

5. Take care of your temple.

Time with Jesus gives you spiritual energy. Exercise and eating right gives you physical energy, as well as longevity of days. For years I admitted that my sweet tooth had control of me. On March 31 this year I decided that if the fruit of the Spirit is self-control, I didn’t need to let my palate be my guide so I gave up sweets altogether. It’s one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. There is not a single day I wake up wishing I had had some pie or cookies the night before.

6. Increase your skills.

Readers are leaders, so I set a goal of reading at least twenty-four book each year.  Every year I hire a new ministry mentor. Twice a year I attend a conference. Every week I watch a great preacher via videocast. (I used to listen to podcasts. Seeing the preacher’s face, posture, and the arrangement of the room help me.)

7. Expand your world.

I’ve discovered I can see things more clearly at a distance. Therefore, getting out of town several times a year helps my leadership. A few years ago Lori and I visited friends in Quebec, Canada. They have history there! Seeing a different culture always stimulates my vision about what God may want to do in Oceanside. For this reason, I try to take an international trip every year. Every pastor should get far away from their city at least on an annual basis.

8. Avoid sin.

David had it right when he said, “If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened” (Ps. 66:18). God’s blessing to me and progress through me is hindered because of my folly.  I want his best. Sin, by its very definition, is not God’s best for me. The more I say “no” to sin and “yes” to God, the more he is able to use me.

9. Inspire your staff and board.

I am clearly dependent on the people around me. The better they work, the better the work. One of my top priorities is to train, inspire, and encourage my inner circle fervently and strategically. I meet with my staff weekly, Board monthly, and take both of them on semi-annual retreats where I pour into them through Bible study, worship, planning and prayer.

10. Feed your people.

I’m currently reading, Spurgeon: Prince of Preachers. That man changed a whole city by the power of his preaching! Technology and the “cool” factor can seduce us into devoting undue time to the production side of the church service. Leave that to others. The pastor’s greatest moment is the preaching of the Word. When it’s preached with power, lives are changed. Spurgeon believed there was a difference between the written Word and the spoken Word. He said, “I was convicted by the one, but converted by the other.” I’m become increasingly convinced this must be the Senior or Teaching Pastor’s weekly obsession.

That’s my list. What did I miss?  

As part of my ministry to pastors, I've developed a ten-week self-study course called, Momentum Bootcamp. The course is designed to help you grow your church by deepening your heart for the lost and increase your effective at reaching people in your community. You can enroll (free) at www.pastormentor.com. 

4 Reasons I Don't Pray

I hang out with enough Christian leaders to know that prayer is a challenge for just about every serious believer. Few of us pray as long or as fervently as we wish we did.

The truth is, prayer is the most important action we can take in just about any situation. Satan knows this. Which is why there is a spiritual battle that goes on in our minds regarding the very subject of prayer. The battle rages in our minds, and if we’re not careful, we can succumb to wrong and terrible thinking when it comes to prayer. I know because I’ve done it personally.

The four reasons I don’t pray:

1. I believe prayer doesn’t work.

Sometimes when I think about praying, this little thought flashes through my mind, “Prayer won’t help because God doesn’t respond very often.” If I’m not careful, that little lie can keep me from the most important activity of my day.

2. I don’t believe prayer is an effective use of my time.

At other times, a second thought comes to me. “Reading that article or making that phone call will reap you immediate benefits. Prayer won’t.” Again, a lie. But that’s all Satan has to throw at me, so he throws it even though even he knows it isn’t true.

3. God is usually silent when I pray.

At still other times I think, “Why should I pray? I won’t hear from God.” What could be farther from the truth? Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice.”

4. I’m lazy.

Of all the reasons not to pray, this is the only one that’s true. When I choose not to pray it’s because prayer is work. It requires mental concentration, and I don’t feel like concentrating.

The first three reasons I don’t pray are lies from the pit of hell.

Prayer does work.

Ps. 17:6 says, “I call on you, O God, for you will answer me.” Jesus said, “Everyone who asks receives.” (Luke 11:10). As a father, I respond to every request my children make of me and I respond with whatever is best for them. God does too! He loves to answer your prayers.

Prayer is an effective use of my time.

Every moment spent with my wife may not be productive, but without those moments our relationship would diminish. Time spent with God is never wasted time. Quite the opposite: time spent with God is incredibly valuable for your life now and your life in eternity, as well as for the granting of the requests you bring him.

God is never silent.

Sometimes I don’t hear him. Usually that’s because I’m not listening, or because (like a child) I refuse to hear what he’s saying. Sometimes when I’m praying, a thought will come to me that’s a bit off-topic. Often that off-topic thought is a whisper from God. More and more these days I’m trying to spend the day with the Lord. So, if I get an off-topic thought during my prayer time, I’ll jump up and act on it or write it down to act on later. Then, I get back to my conversation with the Lord. Just like when I’m meeting with my staff. Sometimes we’ll come up with an idea that needs to be acted on or written down, but our meeting continues. We act on the idea and keep on talking.

I want to talk with God all day long. After all, he’s always talking to me. God is a communicating God. He has been in perpetual conversation, Father to Son to Holy Spirit, for all of eternity. I want to get in on that conversation as much and as often as possible. The ideal is to begin my day in prayer and then keep the conversation going all day long.

So then, the truth is, the reason I don’t pray, or don’t pray more, or don’t pray more fervently is because I’m lazy. I will be effective in prayer if I walk in righteousness (Ps. 66:18) and I present my requests to the Lord (Phil. 4:6).

So why should I pray?
For the reasons above, and for these three more:

1. Because the Lord loves to hear the sound of my voice.

Like Solomon with his lover, God loves to be with me. No sound in the universe is sweeter to him than the sound of my words directed towards him.

2. Prayer changes me.

As I speak with the Lord, my perspective changes. I see things with better, more righteous eyes. And my motives change. I want to do better things with better intentions. And my backbone strengthens. I do God’s will with deeper conviction, and I resist sin with greater resolve.

3. Without God’s assistance, no other activity accomplishes anything of lasting worth.

Jesus said, “No branch can bear fruit by itself… Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.” So what’s the point of doing anything if I’m not doing it with Jesus?

Prayer is work. And you and I were created to work hard. Let’s get at it!

Seven Benefits of Hosting a High-Profile Guest Speaker

Last weekend, New Song hosted Scott Rigsby for what we call a “Wow Weekend.” Scott is a paraplegic triathlete – the only double amputee to complete the Hawaiian Iron Man competition. Scott did some things for us that we couldn’t have done for ourselves. His unique story of perseverance in the midst of pain gripped our members. And his coming attracted 300 guests, many of whom wouldn’t have otherwise darkened the doors of a church.

Are high profile guests worth the time and money?

Only if you value lost people. (Or rejuvenating lapsed attenders. Or motivating your people to become inviters.)

Craig Groeshel has taught us that to reach people no one else is reaching, you have to do things no one else is doing. Scott helped us do that, and more.

The Benefits of a High-Profile Guest:

1. A high-profile guest can create a heightened incentive for your members to invite friends.

A week before Scott’s visit, many New Songers passed out invitations to their co-workers. Crossing that work-religion barrier can be awkward. The heightened incentive of hearing an athletes’ tale can help overcome the barrier. A lady who works at a gym invited her entire staff. A cross country coach invited his whole team. A swimmer emailed every swim coach in the area.

I invited my barber. I’d invited her a dozen times before, but she always said her schedule wouldn’t allow it. Two weeks ago she mentioned she was thinking about training for a triathlon. As soon as my haircut was finished, I went out to my car and brought her an invitation. She not only came, she brought her mother with her. They both told me they’d be back next week!

During our Saturday night service, I sat next to a family of five who had been invited by one of our vocalists. During our prayer time, the motherwent forward and wept openly in the arms of our prayer partner. Afterwards she told me she was born and raised in Ireland, and had never experienced a church service like this. Her three teenagers all met our Youth Pastor. The whole family promised to return next weekend.

2. A high-profile guest can create a specific time to invite.

Every core member of your church would love to have a guest with them every weekend. But it’s easy to think, “This isn’t the right time, I’ll invite them next week - or the week after that, or the week after that.” With a guest speaker, they’re only with you one time. If you miss the opportunity, it’ll never return. Your church members know that. A special guest provides the “This is the day!” motivation to make the invitation your people intend to make every week.

3. A high-profile guest can create a focused time to invite.

During some stages of life, peer pressure can be a terrible thing. But when it comes to motivating us to do the right thing, peer pressure can be used by God. A nudge from the Holy Spirit, coupled with some positive peer pressure is what convinced the children of Israel to cross the Jordan. That same combination can spur a church to great things.

During the weeks leading up to our Wow Weekend, a common question was, “Who are you invited to hear Scott Rigsby?” God was at work, and so were his people. A side benefit was that several New Songers who had never before invited a friend to church invited someone to this event. Hopefully they’ll
continue to the habit.

4. A high-profile guest can create an excuse to upgrade your systems.

One of the best ways to get your house cleaned is to decide to host a party. Knowing you’ll have guests, the whole family works extra hard to clean their rooms and tidy the common spaces. The same can be true when you know you’re hosting a large group of guests in your church.

New Song has a lot of military members. They tend to be reassigned every few years. So every fall we need to recruit a boatload of servants. In the weeks leading up to Rigsby, we re-staffed our usher core, invited new faces onto our PromiseLand team, and relaunched a badly-needed parking lot ministry.

5. A high-profile guest can create a leveraged opportunity to return.

Now that we have people’s attention, we have a small window to keep it. So next weekend we’re hitting a high-felt-need topic: reducing debt. Dave Ramsay’s materials have helped New Songers reduce thousands of dollars of debt, so we’re showing Dave’s “Basic Money Makeover” during the services next weekend. After Dave’s sermon, we’ll invite people to join a Finance Peace group for the next 13 weeks. (For those who may be worried about us, we’ll return to exegetical Scripture studies by the end of the month. I’ll be teaching a nine week series through the book of Nehemiah for the rest of the fall season.)

6. A high-profile guest can motivate drop-outs to return.

Unique guests will not only draw newcomers to your church, they can help draw back lapsed attenders. From time to time, fringe members can get distracted and stop coming. Last weekend I saw several smiling faces I hadn’t seen in weeks.

7. A high-profile guest can increase people’s love for you.

After each service I had core members and regular attenders say to me, “Pastor, thank you for bringing Scott here today. He was just what I needed.” A key component of a shepherd’s job is to feed his/her sheep. Occasionally that’s best done by offering them an alternative voice. By God’s grace I don’t have the story Scott Rigsby has, so I can’t offer the kind of encouragement he did.

High-profile guests can be overused. But utilized during a few key times of the year, they can bring a breath of fresh air and a boost of attendees who would never otherwise be exposed to the church and the gospel. Finding the right speakers for your congregation take a little effort, and finding the money to cover the expenses of invitations and an honorarium can be a challenge. But the challenge is well worth
it.

Recovering From the Post-Easter Blues

Every pastor I know gets a little depressed (or a lot depressed) on the days following Easter. It’s natural. Easter is our Super Bowl. We pour our lives into preaching, touching and responding to people, surviving the week on less sleep and more adrenaline than we should. Easter comes and attendance peaks. Then it falls again. Hopefully not to its old level, but we were secretly hoping that ALL our guests would return. When they don’t, well, we’re human, and we get disappointed.

How do you resurrect yourself up from the Post-Easter Blues?

There are a number of ways you might try. Here’s one I don’t suggest: Take a Vacation

Some pastors plan a vacation for the week after Easter. Why not? We’ve worked hard, we’ve earned it. – And if we’re out of town, we won’t have to see the inevitable empty seats the following Sunday.

The problem with is, all our volunteers are exhausted too. If they follow our example, no one will be around the following weekend, and whatever inertia was generated by a great Easter experience will lost by the abdication of the leader at the critical moment.

The Critical Moment for Leadership

The most critical time for leadership isn’t on the mountaintop, it’s in the valley. A leader’s finest moments come when the troops are down, not up. Picture Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings when the hordes of Mordor are surrounding his men. He shouts, “Someday the strength of men may fail, but it is not this day!” Or Coach Boone in Remember the Titans, when the boys are being ripped apart by racial tension. He leads them on a pre-dawn run through Gettysburg. Great leaders rise up when momentum is waning. For that reason, the Sunday after Easter may be the most important day of the year for the pastor to preach a great sermon.

A second approach to your post-Easter discouragement is to think rationally about what’s happened. (1) You are tired because you worked hard. This is how life works. And (2) attendance will be down because your once-a-year attenders all showed up for Easter. They won’t be back next weekend. Nor will your once-a-month, twice-a-month, or twice-a-year attenders. They haven’t left you; they’re just following their normal patterns.

Don’t allow others’ lukewarm attitudes to quench your fire for God. Instead, leverage the pain you feel to motivate a solution. Thinking rationally, what would it take to inspire those people to return the following Sunday?

Here are a few suggestions:

1. Get excited.

You’ve heard the adage, “The speed of the leader, the speed of the team.” If you are not excited about next weekend, nobody else will be either. But if you are over-the-top energized about what’s coming, your excitement will infect others. So, what type of sermon series would really excite you? Better, what type of series would excite you and the people you’re trying to get to return?

2. Launch a Great, Relevant Series

Almost everyone wants help with their family or marriage. Those two subjects are a universal draw. Another relevant topic is purpose. Rick Warren sold more books with this subject than any piece of literature short of the Bible. A matter that’s on everyone’s mind these days is The End Times. With turbulence in the Middle East and earthquakes in the Pacific Rim, everyone wants to know if we’re approaching the end of the world.

As you advertise the series, generate a sense of urgency by impressing on everyone how relevant/important/life-changing the next Sunday’s message will be. If this feels like manipulation to you, find a different topic or rewrite your opening message. The Bible contains the most relevant/important/life-changing material in all of history. Use it that way.

3. Offer an Incentive to Return

This year we decided to get creative about motivating our newcomers to return. Some might question this concept, but God motives us to get out of bed every day with the offer of sunlight and food and meaningful labor. Esther motivated Xerxes to return the following evening by offering a banquet.  Most of what we do in life is because of some sort of incentive.

For years New Song has offered a free lunch to newcomers on the Sunday following Easter. This year we’re letting them know that if they fill out their Connection Card, we’ll mail them a ticket which could win them an iPad if they’re present at the lunch. Will it bring them back? We’ll find out soon.

4. Create a Follow-Up Event

Two weeks after Easter we’re offering additional incentives to return. We’re holding a special Family Experience for parents and kids. We’re starting Dave Ramsay’s Financial Peace University. We’re launching a Date-Night Marriage Experience. And, we’ll be using my book Future History (http://www.pastormentor.com/html/future_history__book.html) for a study of the end times. You may already have similar events coming up that just need a little advertising. If not, I’m guessing you can generate one or two fairly quickly.

Solutions like these will diminish the post-Easter attendance slump, but let’s face it: no matter what the attendance, you’re still going to be tired. How do you fight the desire to curl up in a ball from sheer exhaustion?

To a certain extent, you don’t. The Sabbath was made for man, and unless you put your pants on differently than the rest of us, you will need to rest. I plan to get a little extra sleep after Easter, but from experience I know that sleep alone does not refresh my soul. So years ago I looked at the life of Elijah to find out how to cure physical and spiritual exhaustion. What I found has helped me ever since.

Three Ways to Speed Recovery from Easter

After climbing Mt. Carmel, Elijah prayed down fire from heaven, executed hundreds of false prophets, prayed again until rain fell, then outran a chariot before taking a forty-day walk. Even with the eleven services we’ll be doing this year, my spiritual and physical workload doesn’t come close to matching Elijah’s. If he could recover from his massive exertion, I can too.

What did Elijah do to recover? Well, first, he slept. That’s on my checklist. Then, three things happened to him that enabled him to continue in ministry.

Elijah had a thing about mountains. After expending energy on Mt. Carmel, he recovered energy on Mt. Horeb.

1. Expose Yourself to God’s Power

While Elijah is standing on the mountain, God sends a wind, an earthquake, and a firestorm to rouse him. The Prophet may have been drowsy, but those forces roused him quickly!

In what ways to you experience God’s power?

I get energized by listening to Christian leaders teach on vision and leadership. I’ve never done drugs, but for me, listening to Bill Hybels speak on leadership feels a lot like what I imagine to be a drug-induced high. Bill’s opening talks at the Leadership Summit remind me of why I’m on this planet and why I signed up to plant a church. So every year I buy the Summit DVDs.  Andy Stanley and Craig Groeschel have a similar effect on me, so I buy the Catalyst DVDs too.

On Monday and Tuesday after Easter, I’ll watch a few of those messages. And my sense of purpose, hope and energy will elevate.

2. Expose Yourself to God’s Whisper

After his wind, earthquake and fire, Elijah experienced the still small voice of God. The Lord whispered to him, “What are you doing here Elijah?” which initiated an intimate conversation.

I have a chair I love to reflect in. After watching a leadership message, I’ll meet with God in that chair, where more often than not, the Lord brings me to a place of green pastures and restores my soul.

3. Expose Yourself to God’s New Directions

After the whisper, God gave Elijah a new assignment. For three years the Prophet had been focusing on one event: the defeat of Baal worship. Part of his depression came from having no more big event to look forward to.

Pastor, you’re a leader, and leaders need directives and directions on ministries to launch, people to pour into and new hills-to-take. Once the Easter challenge is behind you, listen to God for His next assignment – and don’t settle for something like taking up tennis, or joining a bird-watching society. Listen for how He wants you to build His Kingdom, and then gear up and got after it as He leads. For me, that means sitting in my chair with a journal in my hand, saying, “Speak Lord, your servant is listening.”

These three steps (exposure to God’s power, God’s whisper, and God’s new direction) may look different for you than they do for me. But they restored Elijah to ministry and I believe they will help speed your recover too. We are in this contest for life, so let’s run with endurance the race marked out for us!

Why I'm Changing My Easter Plans

Last week my friend Scott Evans came to me with an idea that has changed my Easter plans.

As President of Outreach, Inc., Scott keeps his hand on the pulse of our society better than anyone I know. He asked me a simple question over lunch: “Hal, Outreach is thinking about creating an invitation card to an “End Times” series for churches after Easter. Do you think this would be useful to New Song?”

As we talked about the earthquakes in Japan and revolutions in the Middle East, it occurred to me that we’ve been selling an increased number of Future History books lately. (Future History is my book on Daniel and End Times Prophecy.) I should have spotted the trend myself: people are thinking about the end times!

Easter is the biggest event on our church calendar. Tons of guests visit us, and we try to encourage them to return by launching a need-oriented sermon series the following week. Up to the minute Scott mentioned end times, we’d been planning a marriage series. With his one question, he changed our direction.

Now I’ll be preaching how “When the time had fully come, God sent forth His Son” (Galatians 4:4) and ending with a forecast that, once the time had fully come, the time of the Gentiles had begun. Romans 11:25 speaks of a transition that will take place, when “the full number of the Gentiles has come in.” What will that time look like?  A lot like the time we’re in! Before I close, I’ll invite our guests back to find out more about the end times.

I believe we are in one of those “chiros moments” when people will listen to God’s Word to find out their immediate and future destiny. So we’ll be changing our series. The day after Easter, we’ll mail an invitation to our neighborhoods, inviting them to come find out about the end times. Pray with me that many eternities are changed as a result of our change in plans.

 

Reaching Those We Haven't Reached Before

I’m sure I’m not the only pastor who’s been rocked by Craig Groeschel’s famous statement that, “If you want to reach people you’re not currently reaching you’re going to have to do things you’re not currently doing.” That idea has pushed me to do some things that, well, I had never considered doing before.

A few months ago the thought came to me that most unchurched and dechurched people have an image of church services being dull and boring. We probably haven’t reached many people with that mindset, so I decided to do something that might get their attention: I hired a comedian… to preach for me.

The Funniest Church Service Ever

We billed the services as, “The Funniest Church Service Ever.” We empowered our people with invitations, put a big banner out front and prayed that the disenfranchised would come. My prayer was, “Lord, draw some people who never thought they’d come to church.”

I know, it’s written somewhere that comedians and preaching don’t mix.  

But testimonies and church services go quite well together.

So I asked our comedian to share some of his personal experiences (i.e., testimony), along with a biblical message, and it worked better than I had hoped. By God’s grace, we touched 500 people that we had never touched before. And a surprisingly large number of them returned the following weekend and are becoming part of the church.

Drawing Outside the Lines

Yes, we drew a line that deviated slightly from “the box.” That’s what we intended to do, because we wanted to reach some people that we hadn’t reached before.

Yes, we took some criticism from members that felt we crossed a line.

And yes, I suppose I’ll get several critical comments from pastors reading this.

But I decided a long time ago I was willing to do anything short of sin to reach people for Christ. And it looks like somewhere around 50 eternities have been changed as a result of our funny church service.

An Easy Invitation

The truth about me is, I work fairly hard at inviting friends and neighbors to church, and most of them turn me down regularly. I discovered that inviting them to hear a comedian at church was easier than almost any other invitation I’ve given. Over breakfast one morning, I invited three men to attend. All of them agreed. One of them was our city’s former mayor - who thanked me profusely (with a big smile on his face) after the service.

The Power of Laughter

Ecclesiastes says that there is a time to mourn and a time to laugh. We do a lot of mourning in church. Proverbs 17:22 says that, “A cheerful heart is good medicine.” I got to experience that upclose and personal that weekend.

Dozens of people reported how healed they felt as a result of laughing together. A lady told me she enjoyed it so much, she stayed for a second service. – I wish I could say that happens when I preach!

 A few days afterwards, an older gentleman emailed me so say that he hadn’t been to a church in years. The one-two emotional punch of laughter from our speaker combined with a personal touch during our prayer partner time so moved him that he’s decided to continue attending. His note concluded with, “I was at the point of suicide more than once… I hope this encourages you in your efforts to reach the wounded.”

 Risk

I am learning that there’s a close relationship between faith and risk. This one seems to have paid off for us. It may not work for everyone. Maybe our next outside-the-box venture won’t turn out as well for us. But as for me and my church, I hope we’ll continue to find ways to draw our boundaries wider, in order to reach previously unreached segments of our city.

What risks have you taken that have paid off for the gospel? I'd love to hear about them.

Bad News/Good News

It will soon be official. In less than three days, the 2010 calendar will be in the drawer and we will have entered into the second decade of the 21st century.

Economically, this decade was a bust. Stock values ended the decade almost where they began.  While our population has grown by 27,000,000, the number of employed Americans is virtually unchanged. And adjusted for inflation, the average American earns 5% less than 10 years ago. 

The good news is that America has never had two down decades in a row, so this one ought to be better. (Though I'm not making any predictions.)

Physically, a decade ago we were downsizing our military because of peace. Few of us had heard of the Taliban, even less of Al Qaeda and Osama Bin Laden. Today, members of our own church are in a fistfight on the ground in the country of Afghanistan, and we're all wondering just how close Iran is to having a nuclear weapon, and what that might mean to Israel and end times prophecies.

The good news is, the Bible predicted that there would be a rise in wars and earthquakes before the return of Christ. So who knows, we might be getting close!

Spiritually, to God's sorrow, millions died this decade without knowing Christ. And 1,700,000 Christians were martyred.

The good news is, Christianity (in all its expressions) is growing by 8.9% annually, worldwide. At the current rate, every person on the planet will be a Christ-follower by 2032. And here at New Song, we've helped by training 100,000 church planters through DCPI throughout the world, and seen 6,100 receive Christ locally.

My friend Walt Wilson (president of Global Media Outreach) tells me that 85% of the world now has access to the worldwide web either by computer or mobile phone, and that the whole world will be connected by 2015. Jesus predicted that his gospel would be preached in the whole world and then the end would come. So we may be entering the most strategic period in human history!

Personally, I'm listening for God's voice and hearing him call his church to a greater focus and intensity level. The people of this world need Jesus, and our chances may soon be passing away. I'm praying that 50% of the city I serve comes to Christ before my death, or his return. It may be soon, so we must pray, sacrifice and engage! May this new decade begin a whole new era of fervency for Christ. Amen?

Someone to thank God for

With Veteran’s Day just a few days behind us, a friend sent me this article from the wife of a soldier. Many of us are aware of the price paid by those who serve in our armed forces. If you’ve never thought about the price paid by the SPOUSES of members of the armed forces, I encourage you to read this and take a minute to thank God for them:

 It was just another harried Wednesday afternoon trip to the commissary (grocery store on military bases). My husband was off teaching young men to fly. My daughters were going about their daily activities knowing I would return to them at the appointed time, bearing, among other things, their favorite fruit snacks, frozen pizza, and all the little extras that never had to be written down on a grocery list. My grocery list, by the way, was in my 16-month-old daughter's mouth, and I was lamenting the fact that the next four aisles of needed items would wait while extracting the last of my list from my daughter's mouth, when I nearly ran over an old man.

 This man clearly had no appreciation for the fact that I had 45 minutes left to finish the grocery shopping, pick up my 4-year old from tumbling class, and get to school, where my 12-year-old and her carpool mates would be waiting.

 I knew men didn't belong in a commissary, and this old guy was no exception. He stood in front of the soap selection staring blankly, as if he'd never had to choose a bar of soap in his life. I was ready to bark an order at him when I realized there was a tear on his face.

 Instantly, this grocery aisle roadblock transformed into a human..."Can I help you find something?" I asked. He hesitated, and then told me he was looking for soap.

 "Any one in particular?" I continued.

 "Well, I'm trying to find my wife's brand of soap." I started to loan him my cell phone to call her when he said, "She died a year ago, and I just want to smell her again."

 Chills ran down my spine. I don't think the 22,000-pound Mother of all Bombs could have had the same impact. As tears welled up in my eyes, my half-eaten grocery list didn't seem so important. Neither did fruit snacks or frozen pizza.

 I spent the remainder of my time in the commissary that day listening to a man tell the story of how important his wife was to him -- how she took care of their children while he served our country. A retired, decorated World War II pilot who flew missions to protect Americans still needed the protection of a woman who served him at home.

 My life was forever changed that day. Every time my husband works too late or leaves before the crack of dawn, I try to remember the sense of importance I felt that day in the commissary.

 Some times the monotony of laundry, housecleaning, grocery shopping, and taxi driving leaves military wives feeling empty -- the kind of emptiness that is rarely fulfilled when our husbands come home and don't want to or can't talk about work.

 We need to be reminded, at times; of the important role we fill for our family and for our country. Over the years, I've talked a lot about military spouses...how special they are and the price they pay for freedom too. The funny thing is; most military spouses don't consider themselves different from other spouses. They do what they have to do, bound together not by blood or merely friendship, but with a shared spirit whose origin is in the very essence of what love truly is. Is there truly a difference? I think there is. You have to decide for yourself...

 Other spouses get married and look forward to building equity in a home and putting down family roots. Military spouses get married and know they'll live in base housing or rent, and their roots must be short so they can be transplanted frequently.

 Other spouses decorate a home with flair and personality that will last a lifetime. Military spouses decorate a home with flare tempered with the knowledge that no two base houses have the same size windows or same size rooms.

 Curtains have to be flexible and multiple sets are a plus. Furniture must fit like puzzle pieces.

 Other spouses have living rooms that are immaculate and seldom used. Military spouses have immaculate living room/dining room combos. The coffee table got a scratch or two moving from Germany, but it still looks pretty good.

 Other spouses say goodbye to their spouse for a business trip and know they won't see them for a week. They are lonely, but can survive. Military spouses say good-bye to their deploying spouse and know they won't see them for months, or a year, or longer. They are lonely, but will survive.

 Other spouses, when a washer hose blows off, call Maytag and then write a check out for having the hose reconnected. Military spouses have to cut the water off and fix it themselves.

 Other spouses get used to saying "hello" to friends they see all the time. Military spouses get used to saying "goodbye" to friends made the last two years.

 Other spouses worry about whether their child will be class president next year. Military spouses worry about whether their child will be accepted in yet another school next year and whether that school will be the worst in the city...again.

 Other spouses can count on spouse participation in special events...birthdays, anniversaries, concerts, football games, graduation, and even the birth of a child. Military spouses only count on each other; because they realize that the flag has to come first if freedom is to survive. It has to be that way.

 Other spouses put up yellow ribbons when the troops are imperiled across the globe and take them down when the troops come home. Military spouses wear yellow ribbons around their hearts and they never go away.

 Other spouses worry about being late for mom's Thanksgiving dinner. Military spouses worry about getting back from Japan in time for dad's funeral.

 The television program showing an elderly lady putting a card down in front of a long, black wall that has names on it touches other spouses. The card simply says, "Happy Birthday, Sweetheart. You would have been sixty today." A military spouse is the lady with the card, and the wall is the Vietnam Memorial.

 I would NEVER say military spouses are better than other spouses. But I will say there is a difference. I will say, without hesitation, that military spouses pay just as high a price for freedom as do their active duty husbands and wives.

 Perhaps the price they pay is even higher. Dying in service to our country isn't near as hard as loving someone who has died in service to our country, and having to live without them.

 God bless our military spouses for all they freely give.