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Three Dozen Expressions of God’s Hand in 2012

In 12 hours, 2012 will come to a close. People say we usually overestimate what we can get done in a year and underestimate what we can get done in five. But when I walk through the list of what God did through New Song this year, I can’t help but rejoice: 

In Our Community

1. Every week we did our core work of worship and teaching God’s Word, huddling in small groups, counseling hurting people and marriages, visiting the sick, and praying for one another. 

2. Our Random Act of Kindness Team worked with the Eagle Foundation to provide inexpensive food to families twice a month. 

3. 122 New Song volunteers helped paint and refurbish homes in the Crown Heights neighborhood. 

4. Christine O’Connell and her small group made lunch for the entire Oceanside Police Department to thank them for serving our city.

5. New Song volunteers boxed food at Brother Bennos for needy families twice a month.

6. Jim Melrose and our Edson Range Team discipled over 1,000 Marine recruits. 

7. Julia Mottola and our Trash to Treasure ministry made monthly cash contributions to Solutions for Change, a ministry that helps distressed single mothers. 

8. Bernie Worby and our Solutions for Change Team served warm meals to distressed families twice a month. 

9. Carolyn Worby and our Bread of Life Team fed warm meals and preached at Bread of Life monthly. 

10. Our Food Pantry gave out 10,000 pounds of food to needy Oceansiders. 

11. Our Youth Ministry held Kids Camps for Marine children in six locations on Camp Pendleton. 

12. Mara Stevens and our Blessing Tree donors gave 36 hurting New Song families presents and gift cards for Christmas. 

13. We started our New Song Online Campus during the 9:30 a.m. service. 

14. We saw 1,972 people come to Christ.

 

In Our Building

15. We resurfaced our roof, resealed and restriped our parking lot, recarpeted PromiseLand and the Venue Room, and repainted the exterior. 

16. We held Wow Weekends with Tass Saada and Bethany Hamilton. Between those two weekends, 300 came to Christ. 

17. We hosted local art, cheerleader, karate, and homeowners association groups.

18. We hosted 1,500 Marines for their annual Christmas party.

19. We hosted two Spanish-speaking churches for three months after their building was damaged by fire.

 

Throughout the World

20. While our focus is riveted on North County, God used New Songers to do some pretty impressive things throughout the world as well:

21. At Kids Camp, 350 kids created “Joy Jars” for children with cancer in Orange County.

22. Our Inland Hills Campus sent 14 boxes of supplies to Hurricane Sandy victims. 

23. We assisted churches in Florida, Pennsylvania, Minnesota and California with The Bible Questions Campaign. 

24. FTK and New Song volunteers led 1,500 to Christ in northern Mexico.

25. Over 100 New Song families sponsored Compassion Children in Tegucigalpa, Honduras.

26. Our Inland Hills Campus delivered 450 pounds of clothing to the underprivileged in El Salvador. 

27. Our Seven24 ministry taught English to students in the Czech Republic and saw four come to Christ. 

28. Trash to Treasure fed, clothed and educated 85 children in Liberia, Africa.

29. Edwin and Amy Samson opened an Enrichment Center in the Philippines and are planting a church there. 

30. G Reyes and friends blessed 105 needy families in the Philippines for Christmas. 

31. Sandy Flores rescued trafficked women in Thailand.

32. Five of our members established evangelism ministries in a closed country in East Asia. 

33. Our Youth raised and donated $3,000 to the Children's Hunger Fund. 

34. To Save a Life continued to rescue teens from suicide on every continent. 

35. Eileen Sigler and our Global Media Outreach Online Missionaries discipled over 3,000 new believers around the world.

36. We helped DCPI plant 23,000 churches in 86 countries.

To God be the glory! I’m so grateful I get to be part of a church like this!

Hal

 

If your church would like to join the Bible Reading Revolution by hosting a Bible Questions Campaign, come to www.pastormentor.com.

How to Help Other Churches Reach People for Christ

Pastor, what are your goals for 2013? 

Whatever they are, I’d like to encourage you to include at least one goal that helps other churches. 

Helping other churches is a multiplication strategy. If you can help someone else do what you do well, you’ve doubled your effectiveness. More importantly, Genesis 12 indicates that we are blessed to be a blessing. Helping others has always been God’s intention for his people, particularly for leaders. 

How We Stumbled into Helping

New Song started helping other churches almost by accident. Three years after we launched the church, I had to lay off our entire staff. We were transitioning from the “portable church” stage into a 24/7 lease situation, and it was obvious that we weren’t going to have enough to pay our staff and our lease. So we wrote pink slips which said, “We may not be able to pay your full salary for the next few months, but we’ve always lived by faith and we hope you’ll stay on. We believe God will provide for you until we grow into our increased budget.” 

Each of our guys agreed to pray and see what would happen. The next day, my Associate Pastor, Scott Evans, got a call from a church, asking if they could pay him to produce a mailer similar to the ones we had been sending to our neighbors. Another church called the following week. Scott began offering his services to more churches, and eventually Outreach, Inc. was born. Seventeen years later, Outreach has served over 90,000 churches with mailers and other marketing tools because of a pink slip and a nudge from the Lord. 

How to Get Started

1. Find out what God is up to…

The week before churches began to call, Scott and I had read Henry Blackaby’s Experiencing God. Henry’s chief tenant is Find out what God is up to and join him in his work. God is always at work around you. What is he doing in you or through you or around you that might benefit other churches? 

2. Figure out what you do well.

One clue to how you might help is by figuring out what you do better than other churches. We’re all good at something. What’s your strength? 

3. When you solve a problem, share the solution.

If your church has a problem, chances are that others have that same problem. When you develop a solution, share it!

4. Don’t be afraid to share.

Church leaders are sometimes tempted to think they’re in competition with other churches. Not so. Other churches are our teammates. They want to win others to Christ as fervently as we do. 

The competition is the beach, the sports league, the internet and other distractions that keep people from considering church and Jesus on Sunday mornings. There are plenty of unchurched people to go around! 

Sharing has changed our hearts

Over the years, dozens of churches in our area have used Outreach’s postcards, banners, and the tools. Seeing our efforts coupled with theirs has strengthened our bonds. A few years ago, our staff started praying for the other churches in our area during our weekly prayer time. Our standard prayer is, “Lord, everything we want for our church, we ask for theirs as well. Use us together to reach this city.” Last year we decided that, once a quarter, we would divide into teams and visit nearby churches to pray for their pastors in person. This is sometimes a shock for the visited pastor, but I think it’s good for the body of Christ. 

I feel so strongly about this that we started producing campaigns for other churches. It takes more work, but it’s worth it. A few years ago, The God Questions helped a ton of churches reach out. We estimate that over ten thousand people have come to Christ through that one tool. When we did a series on Daniel and the church grew by 18% in ten weeks, we made that available as well. This year we released The Bible Questions for the same reason. Churches are our neighbors. If we really love our neighbors as ourselves, we ought to give them our best tools. 

4. Think like a parachurch

Once upon a time, almost all ministry was done by the church. Then churches got insular and the parachurch grew up to fill the gap. Today, the pendulum is swinging back. Churches are thinking more beyond their walls. 

During the frontier days, a country parson looked around his village and when he found a need, he’d mobilize the community’s resources to meet that need. That’s the spirit I see returning to many church leaders as they pray for the salvation of their communities. 

Hal Seed is the Founding Pastor of New Song Community Church and author of The Bible Questions, The God Questions, Future History, and Jonah. Check out these books, campaigns and other resources at: www.pastormentor.com.

Where to Find The Fuller Christmas Story

This is the time of year when Christians like to read about the birth of their Savior. The hallmark accounts are found in Matthew 1-2 and Luke 1-2. But Christmas passages are found in several other places in Scripture as well.  

If you’re looking for “new” and “fresh” accounts of the incarnation, here are a few you may want to read this season:

The Prince of Peace: Isaiah 9:1-7 

The Virgin-born Child: Isaiah 7:13-16 

The Root of the Tribe of Jesse: Isaiah 11:1-9 

The Birth in Bethlehem: Micah 5:1-4 

The Cosmic Christmas: John 1:1-5 

The Birth of the God-Man: Phil. 2:6-11

The Firstborn of Creation: Col. 1:15-20

These passages remind me that Jesus was so much more than a babe in a manger. He’s...

The Second Person of the Trinity,

The Eternally Pre-existent Son,

The Lord of Creation,

The Firstborn,

The Image of the Invisible God,

The Root of Jesse,

The Branch that Will Bear Fruit,

The Judge Who Strikes the Earth,

Immanuel,

The Word Made Flesh,

God,

The Light that Shines in the Darkness,

The True Light that Gives Light to Every Man,

The One Who Gives Us the Right to Become Children of God,

The Ruler of Israel,

The One Whose Origins are from Ancient Times,

The Shepherd of His Flock,

The Wonderful Counselor,

Mighty God,

Everlasting Father,

Prince of Peace.  

Reading these fuller Christmas stories moves me to worship and bow before him, which is what the Christmas season is all about. Isn’t it?

Hal is the Founding Pastor of New Song Community Church and author of The Bible Questions, The God Questions, Future History, and Jonah. He wrote The Bible Questions to spark a Bible Reading Revolution in our churches and cities. Check out these books and campaign materials at www.pastormentor.com.

Seven Questions for Measuring Your Church's Success

I don’t know where we got the idea that church success should be measured in nickels and noses (or attendance and dollars). I affirm that large numbers in church is better than small and more money for ministry is better than less. But if Jesus’ goal is to build his church, I believe there are better questions than, “How many were here last week? And How much did they give?”  

Here are a few suggestions for better ways to measure great ministry: 

1. Salvations.

How many have come to Christ in our church?

Jesus asked us to make disciples. The first step in that process is moving from unbelief to belief. 

2. Baptisms.

How many have been baptized?

Public proclamation is a great second step of faith. 

3. Faith-sharing.

How many members of our church have shared their faith in the last few years?

The Great Commission was given to all believers, not just pastors and evangelists. The actual work of conversion belongs to God, but he asks every believer to share their faith. 

4. Community transformation.

How have we influenced our city?

This question doesn’t measure qualitative or quantitative growth directly, but caring for the needy and rectifying injustice is an important by-product of a vibrant faith. 

5. Kingdom ministry.

What are we doing to help the wider body of Christ?

During Spurgeon’s ministry, the Metropolitan Tabernacle developed sixty ministries to help other churches and the poor. Life Church’s development of the YouVersion Bible is a modern example. How well are we participating in God’s work outside our church?  

6. Church Planting.

How many new churches have we started or helped start?

The true fruit of an apple tree isn’t an apple. It’s another apple tree. The more apple trees, the more fruit. This is why church planting is the most effective means to reach people for Christ. Ministry is accelerated when it’s multiplied. 

7. Movement Planting.

How are we helping with world-changing movements?

Movements aren’t limited to one church; they spread from one to another. If it’s good to launch a Bible reading movement in your church, isn’t better to launch a Bible reading movement in several churches? Other movements might focus on prayer, fasting, a social cause, or the like. 

Since church planting is the most effective means to reach people for Christ, the ultimate movement is a church planting movement. If planting a church is like adding a second apple tree, developing or supporting a movement of church planting is like adding an entire orchard. 

Hal is the Founding Pastor of New Song Church in Oceanside, CA. New Song has helped launch a church planting movement that has planted 163,000 churches in the past fifteen years. His latest book The Bible Questions is designed to launch a Bible Reading Revolution in our churches and cities. To get the book, or the Campaign Kit, or find out how to participate in the movement, go to www.pastormentor.com.

How to Launch 163,000 Churches

A few months after we started New Song I began to pray about how our little church could play a part in Jesus’ Acts 1:8 vision for the church. How could a young church like ours play a part in reaching our Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the world? Fast forward twenty years and God has done exceedingly abundantly above what we could ask or imagine. By His grace, New Song has played a measurable part in planting 163,000 churches around the world. Those 163,000 churches have seen over 7,000,000 come to Christ. 

The other day I asked myself, “How did this happen?” 

Clearly, it’s a miracle from God. Yet God often orchestrates miracles through the actions of people. So what can church leaders do to increase the potential for ministry miracles? I’ve got seven suggestions for you: 

1. Pray

Work done by the Holy Spirit starts with work done with the Holy Spirit. Prayer is the key to every great work of God. 

About the time I started praying, Paul Becker, one of New Song’s Board members, got a sense that he should expand his ministry of mentoring church planters. Coincidence? I doubt it. 

2. Have a BHAG

Jim Collins coined the term “BHAG” in his book Built to Last. A BHAG is a Big Hairy Audacious Goal. 

As Paul prayed about the expansion of his ministry, he first felt God leading him to impact the planting of a thousand churches in his lifetime. That seemed like a huge goal to us. Then one day, the Lord blew Paul’s vision apart by impressing on him the need to impact the planting of a millions churches instead. 

Paul emailed me to ask if I thought that was crazy. I said,“Of course it is! It’s a BHAG!” Paul picked up a copy of Built to Last and has been working on his God-given BHAG ever since. 

3. Work with others

Paul knew that if he was going to plant a million churches, he was going to need help. No single church can hope to plant a thousand churches, much less a million. So Paul founded an organization dedicated to church planting. It’s called Dynamic Church Planting, International (“DCPI”). 

My associate pastor became chairman of DCPI’s board, and my wife is a board member. Other members of our church volunteer and a few have become support-raising missionaries with DCPI. DCPI has become an organization of church leaders from around the world dedicated to planting churches. We partner with any evangelical willing to make church planting happen. In fact, we are constantly on the look-out for more leaders. We’ve even begun training high school students in how to plant churches. (God is doing incredible things with “Youth Churches” around the world.) 

4. Make everything replicable

If you want to add a church or two (or a ministry or two), to your Great Commission efforts, you can start them intuitively, doing the things you know will work. But if you’re going to multiply churches (or ministries), you’ve got to develop reproducible systems so that others can do what you are doing and get similar results. Early on, Paul asked me to record everything we had done to launch New Song. A few years ago I was blown away to see our original launch timeline on a blackboard in the middle of a rural village church in Africa. The same fundamental principles and processes we used to start New Song Chruch in Oceanside, California were being used by Masai warriors to launch churches in their territories in rural Kenya!

DCPI currently has five week-long training events designed to teach church planters what we know and how to do it themselves:

   1. Church Planting Essentials

   2. Churches Planting Churches

   3. Mentoring Church Planters

   4. Launching Church Planting Movements

   5. Growing New Churches

At each training event dozens of leaders are trained and several of them are certified to train others, using DCPI materials.  

5. Set simple goals

Every year, DCPI’s leadership sets simple goals. The goals revolve around: How many church planters will we train? How many new trainers will we certify? And How many new countries will we train in?  

From surveys, we know that the average trained church planter will plant 2.7 churches in five years and that those churches will lead an average of 46.7 people to Christ. Everything is focused on achieving simple goals which result in kingdom expansion. 

6. Give it away

We have been given freely, so we freely give. All DCPI training is free. This eliminates barriers of who can afford to come, and encourages financial participation by those who see the vision and see that we have no ulterior agenda except to plant to more churches. 

7. Keep doing it

By God’s grace, I’ve had the privilege of watching several kingdom-expanding ministries incubate in our church. (I’ll describe a few more of them in blogs over the next few weeks.) What tends to happen is, miracles develop like snowballs. The longer they roll, the bigger they get. We started by praying we could impact a thousand new churches in our lifetimes. That number seemed impossible at the time. Yet this year, DCPI trainers impacted the planting of twenty-one thousand churches! The key is to continue to roll that snowball down the hill by praying, working with others, and setting simple goals to expand our efforts a little farther every year. 

A million is too small

A few years ago, a numbers guy did some projections and figured out that DCPI was on-pace to reach its million-church goal by 2022. Six months later, God once again blew over Paul’s vision and challenged him to plant five million churches by 2050. Think we’ll make it? Maybe.  

My hope is that the Lord will return before we get there. But in the meantime this colossal vision drives prayer, and partnerships and passionate training throughout the world. 

God gets the credit

You could say that an accomplishment like planting 163,000 churches comes not by might, nor by power, but by the Spirit of the Lord, and I wouldn’t disagree with you. It is all his work. But I think that if you’re going to see the Lord accomplish something great through your ministry, most, if not all, of these seven actions will be involved in the process. 

Pray about it. I believe the Lord is calling today’s church leaders to pray bold prayers, dream big dreams, and take God-sized risks for the fulfilling of his Great Commission in our lifetime. 

Another movement of God?

Hal is the Founding Pastor of New Song Church in Oceanside, CA. He is currently encouraging churches to launch a Bible Reading Revolution in their churches and cities. Find out how to participate at www.pastormentor.com.

6 Rewards for Reading the Bible

 

1. It revives my soul. (Ps. 19:7a)

The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul.

The word “revive” means to “bring back to life,” or to “give new life to.” While reading, meditating, studying and listening to the Word of God, your soul is brought new or further life!

2. It makes me wise. (Ps. 19:7b)

The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple.

This is wisdom in mind, word, and in actions. To be wise is to know the heart and mind of God concerning a matter.

3. It makes me happy. (Ps. 19: 8a)

The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart.

When you take the time to read about the great love God has for you, it changes how you see and feel about your life, the world, and your current situation.   

4. It gives me discernment. (Ps. 19: 8b)

The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes.

As a believer reads the Bible, the Holy Spirit gives him/her illumination and insight.  Sometimes your life will be at a crossroads, where the question is not your obedience, but your direction. God’s Word will give your eyes light to see which path is yours.

5. It warns me. (Ps. 19:11a)

By them is your servant warned…

A child asked, “If God has a purpose for everything, then why did He create poison oak?” His friend answered, “The reason God made poison oak is to teach you that there are certain things we should keep our cotton-pickin’ hands off of.”

6. Obeying it brings great reward. (Ps. 19:11b)

…in keeping them there is great reward.

The word “great” means abundant in quantity and quality. As I said in The Bible Questions, “The purpose of Bible reading is not so you can know more, but so you can grow more.” Only those who know what the Bible says can follow what the Bible teaches. Abundant rewards come to those who live out Scripture.

 

Hal is praying for a Bible Reading Revolution in our country. Find out how to join at www.pastormentor.com.

 

 

 

 

3 Ways to Turn Christmas Visitors into Regular Attenders

Christmas visitors are not like normal visitors. Every year a significant percentage of them will leave your Christmas services with good feelings, but without any thoughts of returning soon. They don’t expect to be back until Easter. How can you change those expectations so they’ll return sooner? 

Answer: You can’t. Only God can change a human heart. 

But you can help that heart change.  

1. Make a good first impression.

Whether they know it or not, visitors want to be greeted, directed, seated, and treated.  

First impressions are critical. Some years ago, I experienced a pastor’s greatest nightmare: I got to church without my notes! I jumped back in the car, dashed home for my sermon, and arrived back as the service was starting.  

As I scrambled out of the car, Brooks Bodie came up to me with a warm smile and said, “Welcome to New Song!"

Brooks had been greeting guests for years, but I was always inside before he got started. As I ambled for the entrance door, I thought to myself, “I would want to be part of this church even if I weren’t on staff!” 

Greeting:

New Song’s goal is to have every guest greeted five times on their way in and three on their way out. If your church is smaller, you can scale that accordingly.  

Directing:

Last week I asked a Wal-Mart clerk where I could find a particular item. She surprised me by walking me to the exact aisle. That left me with such a good impression that I’m now telling you about it.  

Visitors want to know three locations: Where are the children’s rooms? Where are the bathrooms? And where is the auditorium? Good signage can help with this, but nothing beats a smile, a handshake, and an offer to show me where I need to go. This is especially true of a Christmas guest, who may not have been in a church building in a long time.  

Seating:

Walking into a church auditorium can feel awkward. A sparsely populated room makes me feel self-conscious. A densely populated one makes it hard to find a seat. Both problems are diminished by the help of a friendly usher who suggests a particular seat or section and walks me there.  

Treating:

Last impressions are as important as first impressions. We offer every first time guest a copy of The God Questions, Gift Edition as our way of saying, “Thank you for coming.” It’s a small gift book, available at http://www.pastormentor.com/html/the_god_questions_-_gift_edition.html. It reads quickly and provides simple answers to the five major questions people have about God.  

Most weekends, we put the books by the entrance door or offer them at our Information Counter. But on Christmas Eve, I stand at the front of the church and offer to sign the gift page and for all guests. This gives me a chance to say a personal word to everyone willing to come up after the service. 

2. Invite them to Christ.

The one force that can change a person’s mind about church attendance is the Holy Spirit. I believe every church should present an invitation to Christ at every Christmas, Easter, and funeral service.  

Many churches miss this opportunity. Your Christmas visitors expect you to talk about Jesus. So explain how Jesus wants to have a relationship with them, and spell out the benefits they’ll receive from bowing down to him (salvation, forgiveness, peace, etc.). This can be scary the first time you try it, but the rewards of seeing someone come to Christ will quickly convince you to be bold every chance you get! 

3. Contact them afterwards.

During every service, we ask everyone to fill out a Connection Card. I email all guests within 48 hours. A member of our First Impressions Team calls them. Two days later, I send a hand-written note. The note tells them what we’ll be covering the next weekend, and includes a second gift: a coupon for the movie To Save a Life, which they can redeem next time they’re in church.

Last Christmas, a young Marine named George received Christ in one of our services. George responded to my email by saying that he wanted to sing in church soon. I’m hesitant to put an unknown artist on our stage. I thanked him and told him one of our Worship Pastors would be in touch. 

To my surprise, George sang the next weekend, and he was good! George sang a song he had written on Christmas Eve, after receiving Christ. His wife had miscarried a few weeks earlier. They came to church desperate, and God met them here. What a Christmas gift!

Pastors, I’m praying you have many Georges in your church this Christmas!

New Song has seen 1,800 come to Christ this year, and is praying for more this Christmas. Hal is praying for a Bible Reading Revolution in our country. Check out The Bible Questions at www.pastormentor.com.

3 Ways a Church Can Change the World

You’ve heard it said “We over-estimate what can get done in one year and under-estimate what’s possible in five.” We celebrated New Song’s 20th Anniversary last month, and when we tabulated all that had happened, I was shocked. I now know it really is possible to change the world. In fact, I think I've had a front-row seat in watching it happen: 

• We’ve planted 163,000 churches worldwide, leading over 7,000,000 to Christ.
• We’ve helped 90,000 American churches to reach their communities for Christ.
• We’ve helped 2,400 churches in 17 countries with database management systems.
• Over the last twenty years, we’ve seen 12,923 people pray to receive Christ here.
• Over the last seven years, we’ve seen gang violence in our city decrease by 35%.
• Over the last four years, we’ve fed, clothed and educated 85 children in Africa, and 100 in Honduras.
• Over the last three years, we’ve helped prevent a suicide a day.  

A friend asked me how this all happened. My initial answer was, "God did it." That was too spiritual for him, so this is my attempt to "quantify a miracle," if that’s even possible.  

Actions that Change the World:

1. Thinking entrepreneurially.

A church planter's resources are always limited, and always limitless. We've never had the money necessary to do world-changing ministry. But the task is so urgent, we can't afford to let money hold us back. So we look for ways to start and sustain ministries like a new business-owner would look to start and sustain his or her business.  

Seventeen years ago we set the goal of impacting the planting of 1,000 churches. Few churches could do that alone, so Paul Becker raised support, started a mission and began partnering with every orthodox Christian group on the planet. Today he has over 10,000 leaders training church planters in 86 countries of the world. (Our goal now is five million churches – so if you’re reading this, we want to partner with you!) 

Fifteen years ago we discovered that mailing postcard invitations was effective in reaching our neighbors. So Scott Evans started offering to help other churches do the same. To date, the organization he started has helped 90,000 local churches with a half a billion mailers.

Ten years ago we couldn't afford to purchase a database to keep New Song's records. So Chris Fowler and Free Grafton built a database from scratch. They started offering it to other churches. So far, 2,400 of them have benefitted. 

Seven years ago, Roy Vallez got a heart to reach gang members. He started hanging out with them, playing football and feeding them pizza. He's earned their trust, leading them to Christ, placing them in educational programs, and bringing others in the city together. As a result, gang violence has decreased. 

Five years ago, San Diego was hit with major fires. The relief center near us was overwhelmed, so we offered to house evacuees in our building. We had no food to feed them, no beds to sleep them, and no money to pay for all the repairs we'd need to make once the disaster was over. We called on 125 local churches and businesses and for help. At the end of the week, we had fed and clothed 790 evacuees, led 94 of them to Christ, and our congressman wrote us a personal check to cover the repairs to our building. 

Right now, we're trying to figure out how to put a New Song location in all sixteen quadrants of our city. We don't know how yet, but we believe it must be done. So we're thinking entrepreneurially again.

2. Setting leaders free.

Four years ago, Steve Foster (our Executive Pastor) and Jim Britts (our Next Generation Pastor) came to me with the idea of creating a movie to reach teens. The theme was teen suicide, and the goal was to stop it. God had clearly put this idea in their hearts. Who was I to withhold the church’s support? So in 2010, we produced To Save A Life. So far, the movie has saved hundreds of teens in dozens of countries.  Jim put prodigious amounts of time into the movie, for over a year. Steve Foster decided he could have a greater impact making more movies and  leading more outreach efforts. He no longer works for us.  

Paul Becker was one of our Board Members. Now he's the President of Dynamic Church Planting International. Scott Evans was our Associate Pastor. Now he's CEO of Outreach, Inc. Free Grafton was our Music Pastor. He now owns Church Community Builders Online. If you don't think losing those guys was painful, try giving birth with no epidural! But how dare we hold on, when the Great Commission is so great? I've actually come to believe that part of my ministry is supporting and blowing on others' kingdom visions. I'm cheering on five new kingdom-initiatives developing in our church right now. 

3. Staying long term.

Some pastors are catalytic. They like to start things and move on. I've learned that if I can start new things or help others start new things, I can be catalytic and stay. For most pastors, staying is better. Trust is built over time. Understanding a city takes time. Lessons are learned over time. Most pastors hit their stride around year ten and become city-statesmen around year twenty.  

Lori and I once visited Ireland. One of its downtown churches has been around almost since the days of St. Patrick. It's full of monuments and tombs. One of the church’s walls had plaques and dates of their pastors going back several hundred years. As I read down the wall, I came across a pastor who had come to the church at age 44 and left at age 86. (I assume his reason for leaving was death, but the plaque didn’t say.) This guy had led his church for 42 years!  

Whenever I think of quitting or moving on, I think of that guy. Four decades. Half his life. I hope to interview him in heaven one day. I'll bet he can tell a story or two about changing the world. 

Hal is Founding Pastor of New Song Community Church in Oceanside, CA. His most recent book, The Bible Questions is designed to launch a Bible reading revolution in your church and city. The book, and other resources, can be found at www.pastormentor.com.

 

Reading the Prophetic Books Can Be as Easy as Tying Your Shoe

Seven Steps to Understanding the Prophetic Books of the Bible 

Of all the caregivers in my life, it was my grandmother who taught me how to tie my shoes. I was four years old. I don’t know why this memory has stayed with me all these years, but it’s still a vivid one.

I didn’t want to learn to tie my shoes. I had two older sisters and a mother who would do it for me. Tying my shoes was complicated. It required concentration, and “fine motor skills.” What four year old boy wants to develop “fine motor skills”? As far as I was concerned, I never needed those. 

But one weekend while my parents were away, my grandmother shamed me into learning this ancient skill. “Your mother shouldn’t have to do this for you every day. You should learn to do this for yourself.” 

“I don’t want to learn to do this for myself.” 

“But once you learn, you won’t have to wait for anyone to come and help you. And you’ll be able to go outside whenever you want.” 

I could think of a lot of excuses, but I knew she would eventually wear me down. So I relented. I learned to make the half-knot, and the little rabbit ear, then wrap the one around the other, pull it through, cinch it up, stand up and go play. (Like you, this whole process is so natural to me now that I have to think seriously about it in order to even describe the steps involved.)  

A lot of Christians I know have this kind of attitude towards the Bible’s prophetic literature. Prophetic literature can be complicated. It requires concentration. You might have to acquire a new skill in order to master it, so why bother? After all, there are enough other books of the Bible to read. 

Might as Well Relent

Eighteen of the Bible’s sixty-six books are prophetic literature. (The final seventeen books of the Old Testament, and the book of Revelation in the New Testament.) If you’re going to read everything God has written to you in the Bible, eventually you’re going to have to wade into these deep, rich, and sometimes confusing books. Remember, All Scripture is God-breathed and useful… (2 Timothy 3:16). 

Why They Are Hard to Understand

The prophets lived in a different times and cultures, with different figures of speech. Imagine someone 2,000 years from now trying to figure out what we mean when we say, “What’s Up?” Or “Text me.” We all know what 9/11 was. We know the Lakers, Chargers, and Padres. But 2,000 years from now, people will need a commentary to decipher what we were talking about. 

Yet the prophets spoke to people who had the same struggles with their families and enemies and finances, sin, and relationship to God that you have today. They spoke for the same God about the same world, offering timeless warnings and solutions that change your life, if you will take the time to understand them. 

Seven Steps to Understanding the Prophets

It takes seven steps to tie your shoe. (Count ‘em a few paragraphs up from here if you don’t believe me.) At some point you had to learn these steps. Once you did, it was worth it for the rest of your life. Let me teach you to read prophecy in seven simple steps as well. 

1. Get some background

The first step to reading any prophetic book is to get some background. Who wrote the book? Why? When? To whom? What were the problems they were facing? How is the book structured? What can I expect to learn from it? 

To answer those questions, you can turn to one of four sources. If you’ve got a Study Bible, turn to the first page of whatever book you’re about to read and you’ll find great information there. (For Study Bible recommendations, see chapter 19 of The Bible Questions.)   

A Bible Handbook will also give you this information. My favorite is Bruce Wilkinson’s Talk Thru the Bible. Gordon Fee’s How to Read the Bible Book by Book is also excellent. A Bible Dictionary can also give you background. As can a Bible Encyclopedia. 

Your church library may have some of these resources. You can also find older versions of each of these online, for free. (Once a copyright expires, the contents become public domain.) Google “Bible Dictionary.” Or, explore Blueletterbible.com. Or, can get an App called, “Bible360” that has excellent Bible tools that come right on your phone. 

Getting background is like looking through a book’s table of contents. It helps you understand what you’re about to read. 

2. Pray for understanding

Whenever I open the Bible, I ask the Holy Spirit to speak to me. When God was trying to communicate with Samuel, Samuel prayed, “Speak Lord, your servant is listening” (1 Sam. 3:10). I usually say, “Lord, I’d like to hear from you just now. Please direct my thoughts.” 

3. Read the passage

Tackle the first unit of thought. Every time your Bible has a sub-heading, that’s where a unit of thought begins and end. If you’re reading Malachi, you immediately find out that the book is an “oracle” (Mal. 1:1). In paragraph 2 you’ll encounter your first question: Why would God love Jacob and hate Esau? (In fact, is it really possible for God to hate anyone?)  

4. Consult a commentary

A commentary is a book written by an expert. There are three types of commentaries: exegetical, expositional, and devotional. Exegetical commentaries focus on the grammar and language of the text. They’re usually academic, so they may over the head of first-time prophecy readers. Expositional commentaries are usually written by pastors who have preached through the book. They have easy to follow outlines and illustrations. Devotional commentaries focus more on reflection and application of the text. You’ll figure out which you have in your hand almost immediately. BUT, your initial questions are pretty straight-forward. “What’s an oracle?” and “Why would God hate Esau?”) All three types should give you an answer to this.  

Like Bible dictionaries, your church library may have some, and older ones are available online if you’ll Google them. Blueletterbible.com has a bunch.  

5. Make some observations

With the help of your commentary, you’re now ready to make some observations. Answer the six question words (who, what, when, where, how, and why) and write down what you see. For more on this, read chapter 16 of The Bible Questions. 

6. Develop some interpretations

An interpretation is a timeless principle. What is this prophet saying or teaching or warning against that is as true today as it was in his day? Write these down. (For more, consult chapter 17 of The Bible Questions.) 

7. Apply the principles

Now that you’ve seen what God is saying to you, what are you going to do about it? Life transformation is the reason you read the Bible, so what will you do with what you’ve learned? The final step in tying your shoe is go out and play. Application is the go out and play step. 

These are the seven steps. Tomorrow, repeat them through the second unit of thought in the book. Repeat them daily until you’ve finished.Then move to one of the history or poetry or epistolary books of the Bible for a change of pace before heading into your next prophet.

Ten Things the Bible Will Do For You

I've been helped by a lot of books in my lifetime. The Bible has helped me more than any other book -  by several orders of magnitude. Here's what the Bible claims it will do for you:

1. It will inspire you.

When I read the story of David killing his giant enemy with nothing but five stones and a sling, I start to think that maybe I can conquer the giants in my life.  When I read the story of Daniel rising to become Prime Minister of a large foreign country, I think maybe I can do a little more than I am right now. 

When I read about Moses’ delivering two million people from slavery, Esther preventing the genocide of her people, Elijah calling out the prophets of Baal, Ruth’s unswerving loyalty to her mother-in-law, Stephen standing up to the Sanhedrin, Paul facing beatings and imprisonment and Jesus going to the Cross on behalf of the sin of the world, I’m inspired. My dreams get bigger, my determination gets stronger, and my adrenaline flows like Rocky Balboa yelling, “Yo Adrian!”

2. It will speak the truth to you and about you.

Hebrews 4:12 says, “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”

Sometimes when I read the Bible, God’s Spirit whispers, “The truth about you is, you’re shallow.” Or, “You’re lazy.” Or, “You like to take shortcuts.” The Spirit convicts me that I can be better. 

3. It will teach you.

Paul says, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17). I call this passage, “The 2 Timothy Road” because it follows the pattern of a person getting onto a road and then running off of it and getting steered back onto it again. 

The Bible teaches me the way to live. In effect, it says, “This is the road. Walk on it.”  

4. It will rebuke you.

Inevitably, when I wander off the road, the Bible rebukes me. It says, “Hey! You’re off the road.”

5. It will correct you.

Once it has my attention, the Bible lovingly corrects me, whispering, “This is the way to get back on the road.”

6. It will train you.

And, once I’m back on the road, the Bible trains me in how to stay on the road. 

7. It will increase your I.Q.

Psalm 119:98-99 promises that reading the Bible will make you wiser than your enemies and give you more insight than your teachers. That’s worth the investment of a few minutes a day, isn’t it? 

8. It will prolong your life.

Deuteronomy 32:47 says that by taking God’s words into my heart I will, “live long.” That’s definitely worth the investment of a few minutes a day! 

9. It will transform you.

Romans 12:2 says “…be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” The Greek word, “transform” is our word, “metamorphosis.” Caterpillars metamorphose into butterflies. When I read the Bible, it changes me from one thing into something better. 

The average American is exposed to around 5,000 messages per day. Most of those are designed to make you a better consumer. God’s will is that we become increasingly good givers and lovers, not buyers and wearers. Every message I hear, see or experience changes me in some small way. I want to expose myself to messages that change me for the better. That means messages from the Bible! 

10. It will make me prosperous and successful.

The promise of Joshua 1:8 is prosperity and success to those who read, think about, talk about, and do what the Bible says: “Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.” People spend a lot of time trying to get ahead in this world. The Bible indicates that the best (and maybe the easiest) way to get ahead is to read the Bible day and night. 

Thomas Jefferson once said “…the studious perusal of the sacred volume will make better homes, better citizens, better fathers and better husbands.” 

If that’s true, then why don’t we “studiously peruse the sacred volume” more? 

In my experience, there are four reasons:

1. We think we’re too busy.

Somehow we think there are better ways to invest our time than learning from what God has to say to us in his word.

2. We’re proud.

We think we don’t need God’s advice and perspective. We shelve the Bible and relegate it to religious times, rather than absorbing it in our everyday lives.

3. We don’t really want to change.

Change can be stretching. Sometimes we’d rather stay in the muck-hole we’re in than climb to better, safer, more pleasant heights.

4. The Devil doesn’t want us to.

The Devil knows that the Bible can do all the things we’ve listed here, and he’d rather anything happen to you than you experience the growth and blessings of God. The minute who determine to sit down with your Bible, he will distract you, woo you away, make you false promises, and do anything else to keep you from reading God’s Word. 

Jesus said, “Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). If we want to be fed in a healthy way, we’ve got to be absorbing the words of God. The more often we read, the more steadily we grow. Period.

That pretty much settles it, don’t you agree?