Answers for Churches Struggling Financially

Are you tired of being broke as a church? Do you wish you could add that new staff member who could take your church to another level but you can’t afford him/her?

It is time for church leaders to take action to address this issue and ISS is here to help. On April 19th, we are putting on a FREE event in the Charlotte area to help churches FULLY-FUND vision.

There is no cost and no excuses. Our generous partners have under-written the costs for you to come. We have assembled an all-star lineup of some of the nation’s best Christian leaders who will teach from their own experience how to resource highly effective ministry.

Some of the speakers include:

*Perry Noble, NewSpring Church, Anderson, SC - who has seen the amount given per person at NewSpring Church increase by $10 or more each of the last several years.

*Bishop Walter Thomas, New Psalmist Baptist Church, Baltimore, MD - whose church completed a $55 million relocation during the worst economy since the Great Depression.

*Casey Graham, Founder of GivingRocket.com - Has helped thousands of churches increase their operational giving through systematic approaches to growing generosity.

*Mike Madding, The Cove Church, Mooresville, NC - ad over 120 people give their life to Christ during the commitment phase of their capital campaign.

*Claton King, Crossroads Worldwide, evangelist, and campus pastor of Liberty Universtiy

Pastors and church leaders; your church needs you here, your community needs you here, and the Kingdom needs you here.

This one-day experience will change your ministry forever! Space is limited so click HERE to register your team now.

Good vs Great Customer Service

I get my haircut at a popular hair cutting chain. At first I tried them just because of a coupon. Why did I go back? Because they offered something that my old place did not.

It wasn't the scalp massages and steamed towels that did the trick. After all those cost extra so they can only detract from the experience if the towel gets cold to soon or the hair wash is rushed so they can get to more customers.

What did it was the fact that they keep track of what haircut I get. They know the length of the guard and the way they thin it out so it will stand up better. And everyone there has access to the same information so it doesn't matter who I get.

Or does it? You can't replace great customer service. Good customer service is personalized, but the great is personal.

After getting the same girl three times in a row and having the same conversations (what I do etc), I wasn't known. In fact on the fourth visit she asked if I had ever been there before. Despite the fact that I am 6'7 and always have my son with me.

The person who cuts my hair now asks about my family, remembers my kids names and that I opt out of the massage chair during the hair wash because it makes itchy.

There is no substitute for great customer service. Is your church, business, or website personalized to the type of audience or customer you have or is it personal. The good will attract but the great will connect.

Should We Offend People?

       
        In 1 Corinthians 10:32 Paul says, "Don't give offense to Jews or Gentiles or the church of God". We tend to run with verses like this in churches today. We have become an ulta-tolerant society. 


        Often we assume that we already know what the Bible means when it says words like offend. However, we should first ask what Paul meant by offense. Before we do that let's ask what 'we' mean today by offend. The definition of offend is: to Cause to feel upset, annoyed, or resentful. It can also mean: to transgress the moral or divine law. 


        When we say we are offended it means that someone did something we did not like or that we do not think they should do. Occasionally we may use it to talk about how someone morally or ethically wronged us. When the Bible talks about us offending God it is talking about transgressing a moral law. We literally commit offenses against Him.


        However, when the Bible talks about us offending each other it means something entirely different. In the King James Bible we read, "But whoever shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea" (Matthew 18:6). The New International Version captures the meaning of the word better for today. But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea (Matthew 18:6). 


        Why does the NIV have to capture the meaning rather than say offend? It is because what we mean by offend has changed drastically over the years. Webster's Dictionary still shows an old definition for the word but has the word obsolete beside of it. That definition is to cause to sin or fall. This is usually not the case when we "offend" someone today.


        Jesus told us not to judge if we had a plank in our eye, but to first remove it so that we can help our brother. This means that we ARE to confront other believers who are falling into the trap of sin as long as we are not involved in the same things. It is our Christian duty to offend (in todays meaning of the word). And we all probably know some Christians who need to be "offended".

5 Ways to Use Twitter for Ministry

      
        Twitter is a great tool for finding out what is happening right now, but did you know that it can help you in ministry? I am not suggesting that leaders need to jump on every fad and technological wonder that comes along. We do not have to be hip, trendy, or have our finger on the pulse to bring Christ's love to a modern world. As long as people are in sin the Gospel will be relevant. With that being said here are 5 ways that Twitter can benefit your ministry.

        1. Speak into people's lives
         John Maxwell has said, "Leadership is influence." Think about that statement. Abraham, Moses, and Jesus were never crowned earthly kings or elected to public office, yet they lead and people followed. Maybe you tried Twitter out and you had 30 or even 100 followers.  One cannot assume that saying insightful things will automatically lead to a massive following, yet if no one is following we are not leading.
        I use a free service called Tweepi. In Tweepi I can follow the followers of people who are saying things similar to me. For me that is people who speak on leadership, youth ministry, and evangelism. Their followers already have a passion for the things I am passionate about. They are likely to follow me as well. I also use Social Oomph to follow back those that follow me and send a heartfelt generic message to new followers.
        What are you waiting for? Expand your following.

        2. Be Mentored
        Do you have someone whose walk and ministry you admire, but do not personally know them?Twitter is a great way to glean from the wisdom, strategies, and encouragement that they have to offer. It also helps us to see the larger than life Christian personalities as real transparent people.

        3. Reach the Hurting
        Jesus spent a great deal of his time on Earth with those that were hurting. Did you know that the search bar in Twitter is not just for finding people? You can search any word or phrase and it will find every recent Tweet with that word or phrase in it. Talk about a missionary opportunity. You can be as specific as you want. Who is using the following phrases right now?--I hate my life, I am hopeless, No one likes me. There are many hopeless and helpless people on Twitter that you can reply to without even following. Wow! What a difference a few purposeful internet evangelists could make.

        4. Be Social but not Unguarded 
        It seems that in a lot of ways Facebook has become the modern Christian's gossip tool of choice. This all takes place under the guise of concern and prayer requests. Twitter is a micro-blogging service. There is a sharing of information, but not too much information. For instance, users only share a brief bio and Tweets are limited to 140 characters (120 if you want anyone to retweet what you have to say). You can Tweet from your phone or computer without having to get too sucked into the time consuming and at times matchmaking, home-wrecking world of popular social networks (a tip for Facebook: give your spouse your password or share an account).

        5. Get Prayer Quick
        Whether it is for a service or in the wake of a recent death, Twitter can get the prayer ball rolling. A lot of churches have a prayer phone tree. Imagine one that goes around the world. I was recently about to speak at an event when I Tweeted that I needed prayer and was preaching at 2pm. I immediately had a reply on my phone of a man in the U.K. wanting to know what time that would be in the his time zone. I am bad at math so I told him 30 minutes from now. There is also a husband and wife in California that actively pray for my Student Ministry in North Carolina. I have never met them, but they are part of the Body of Christ.

        There are many other reasons to add Twitter to your ministry repertoire, but I hope this list helps you think through your online strategy.

What the Church Should Learn from Blockbuster's Demise

     I was recently in a comic book store with some teens from my youth group, when I found an audio cassette tape from Return of the Jedi. I announced my find. One of the girls said "Whats that?" I responded, "You have never heard of Return of the Jedi?" But to my shock she was talking about the cassette tape. When did I get so old?

     We will soon be able to add video rental stores to the list of things we know about that make us sound old. If Movie Gallery liquidating its assets wasn't enough, Blockbuster is also calling it quits. Ouch! I remember how cool they used to be. You could find anything there. They even outlasted the great switch from VHS to DVD, while smaller chains went under while trying to resist.

     The digital revolution, however, has dealt Blockbuster a knockout blow. Netflix and Redbox have all but put a stamp of irrelevance on the former movie giant's forehead. Their jump to on demand viewing and express kiosks came too little too late. You will still see their name on the Blockbuster Express kiosks since their partner, NCR, has unlimited rights to use the name of the soon to be nonexistent company.

    This trend is oddly reminiscent of the church. I sometimes feel old when I see a church that once was vibrant and alive dwindling away into obscurity. But a church is not dead when it closes its doors forever. No, it happens long before that.

     It starts when we become irrelevant to the culture of a generation that needs Christ just as bad as the last one did. The mindset that killed Blockbuster is one embraced by many churches. "It worked once, then it may work again" becomes the mantra of a church on its way out. We need to constantly evaluate what we are doing and how we present the gospel to the world. We would study a foreign culture before going to the mission field (as Paul did in Athens); it is time we studied ours.

     Is Blockbuster's fall tragic, or is it positive? After all, we can still rent movies (easier in fact). The barriers are being removed. In the same way, the closing of outdated (often legalistic) churches remove barriers that prevent this generation from even darkening the door. Our God is still being praised, and that will never change.

     It's time to decide if we will remain relevant and make the necessary changes--even if they are uncomfortable--to affect this culture for Him.

10 Ways to Be More Effective as a Leader

      Here are a few things I have learned about leadership from being in ministry for the past ten years. These are not all new concepts and any truth that has been gleaned from life and/or experience was true before me. I pray this list helps you think through who you are as a leader. We can all grow as a leader whether we own; a company, lead a Boy Scout troop, teach a Sunday school class, or parent a child.


  1. Always model loyalty: Have the back of those in authority over you and your followers will have
      yours.
  2. Do not criticize an individual in front of others (even constructively). Do it in private and you will
      gain appreciation rather than resentment.
  3. When a staff member or volunteer is having a crisis write it down, commit it to prayer, and ask
      about it periodically. This communicates that you care.
  4. Do not micromanage: If you believe that your organization would be better if you could only clone
      yourself then perhaps leadership is not for you. Leadership is about empowering people. If you
      can't trust your people to run with an idea then they either need training or replacing.
  5. Notice exceptional achievement:  If a job is well done do not miss an opportunity to let the
      individual know. This simple accolade will hopefully lead to a trend in a higher quality of work.
  6. Admit your own mistakes. Others already see them anyway and it will help them appreciate and
      relate to you.
  7. Pray for your staff or volunteers daily.
  8. Explain your vision: If your vision is unclear to your followers then it will only be rooted in your
      mind but never gain legs in the real world.
  9.  Public appreciation for staff or volunteers: Never underestimate the benefit of this small gesture.
10. Pull up the anchor: Occasionally you will have to let someone go because they are holding your
      organization back. Do this with kindness but do it nonetheless. Do not put it off. Your
      effectiveness be limited until you do. Leaders must make the tough decisions.

     What principles are missing? What would you add to this list. Leave a comment and pass this article on to those it may benefit. I look forward to gleaning from what you have learned as I continue to grow as a leader.