I remember it well… and I should. It was a “not-so-hot” August Saturday. The grass was green and the trees where beautiful. I remember waking up that morning and thinking to myself… “Self… this is a day you will never forget.” (Is it weird that I talk to myself?) The date was August 14th, 2004… the day I got married. I had been looking forward to that day for a long time… and I still look back at that day and how most everything in my life change.

You could probably call that day one of the most monumental days in my life. I’ve had a few others (not all as significant, but many very memorable), and I’m sure you have too. All I have to do is mention a date and you can not only connect the event to that day, but also where you were and what you were doing. How about 9/11/2001? What about 11/22/1963? or even 8/16/1977?

We all have those times in our lives that we realize, this is big… This is a day to remember… They happen to us individually. They happen to us as a nation. And they also happen to us as a church.

I believe that today is one of those days for our congregation. One of the monumental days that will affect who we are as a group of God-fearing people. For over seven years, this congregation has been missing a part of our identity. We have been lacking a piece of the puzzle, and today… that changes. Today we are recognizing shepherds of this flock.

I do not look down upon these past seven years (much like I do not look down upon my single years). It is more so that I look with great hope and expectation for the future. Things are going to be different… and I believe in a wonderful way.

God has been working on us to bring us to this point. We have been praying for guidance and His will. And today I believe we honor God’s plan for His church by recognizing our shepherds.

May God bless this day.

In Sunday morning Bible class for the past several weeks we have been studying the qualities of a Christian leader. We have been striving to understand what scripture says about leadership and even how Christ himself led.

Now, I have several books on leadership in on my bookshelves, all of which are describing different ways, methods, or practices that I need to do in order to be a better leader. Some of these ideas are rooted in scripture, others are taken from the business world… But all of which when understood and used properly aid one in their leadership abilities.

After reading a few of these books, I felt I had become somewhat of (dare I say) an expert on the subject of leadership. I knew the theories, ideas, and possibilities of leading people. But there was a problem, just because I knew all of that “stuff” did not mean I was a great leader.

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For the past several weeks I have been entrenched in a study of Biblical leadership. The reason… my home church is preparing to study the service of an elder and what qualities he should have. All of this in hopes to recognize a few men of God to shepherd this flock.

One of the books that I went to re-read in preparation for this process was Lynn Anderson’s “They Smell Like Sheep”. First of all I have to say that this book is an absolutely wonderful work on this topic. Not only does Anderson deal with many “key issues” for appointing elders, but he also encourages any Christian leader to follow the biblical model of leadership.

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[All state] commercials have been really easy to spot over the past year. A “roughed up” man calling himself “Mayhem” poses as different scenarios in which you might need insurance. But recently, State Farm put out a commercial in which neither of these characters showed up. In fact there is no talking… just scenes unfolding before you and a simple song playing… The theme song from Cheers, “Where Everybody Knows Your Name.”

I am blessed to be part of a good church family, no doubt. I know I have only been with this congregation for a year and a half, so I might be missing something… but I’m pretty sure this is a good congregation. There are plenty “encouragers”, others that “get stuff done”, not to mention most (if not all) can cook.

There is one distinct personality that we are missing. One that is most every congregation I have be a part of… the “Constant Complainer”. This person usually sees complaining as “their spiritual gift.” Either that, or they are working on a merit badge of being the “most contrary”.

To those who find themselves in that category, this excerpt is for you. It is taken from Jon Acuff’s book “Stuff Christians Like.” Here it is…

If you want to become a professional church grumbler, not just some amateur occasionally throwing rocks at the worship service, minister, or other attributes of the church, there’s one key phrase you need to know:

“I’m not being fed.”

This simple complaint – the teaching is lacking, the sermons are thin, the worship music is not uplifting enough, or a million other things that people find inadequate – is the official complaint of church grumblers the world over. If we could figure out a way to monetize it, we could permanently end world poverty. Forget cold fusion; if we could generate energy every time someone says this phrase, we’d be able to break our dependence on foreign oil in about four minutes.

It’s such a perfect thing to say because it deflects any attention away from me, while at the same time creating false humility and making me seem spiritually mature and advanced. “It’s not you, it’s me. I just want to learn. I’m admitting that I am incomplete. I’m hungry for deep, real spiritual teaching. I’m humbly confessing that I’m not getting enough out of church. Please help me get the rich faith-building experiences that I so desperately need.”

Just be careful who you say this to. [Preachers] are starting to get wily. When people tell my friend, “I’m not being fed,” he replies, “I’m perfectly happy to spoon feed my one-year-old. But if I’m still spoon-feeding him when he’s five, we’ve got an problem. Here’s a fork. Feed yourself.”

So, how about you? Have you been weaned off the bottle, or do we need to put all the meat in a blender for you to “take it in better”?

I believe that when you worship, you get out what you put into it (and often so much more). So, what are you putting in to the church?

This week I ran across two quotes that struck me. Both deal with seeds and the idea of garden…

Have  you ever heard of a numbering system loving referred to as a “preacher’s count”? This is a numbering of people where a preacher looks out into a vast auditorium, effectively counts how many people are in attendance, and then adds 10% for good measure. Or maybe he just rounds up to the nearest 10, 50, or 100. Regardless, it is always thought that a “preacher’s count” is a high estimate.

We all have probably ran across someone who employs this method of counting, but my question is why? Why do we preachers (and others that just want to sound righteous) round up the counting?

I think the simple answer to this is ego. We want to sound more effective. We tie our value to the amount we are overseeing. We convince ourselves that we have more clout and will receive more respect if we round up the number we have led to Christ this year from 12 to 20… or how many our in our congregation from 410 to “about 500″.

I guess this is where this quote struck me. I have to consciously make it a point not to get caught up in the numbers game. You see, sometimes I get it in my head that I am responsible for the growing of a soul (or a tree for that matter). But Paul in 1 Corinthians 3:6 points to this truth saying… “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow.”

God is the only one who can be credited for the growth. But he recruits us to help with the planting, the watering, and sometimes even taking care of the weeds. This leads to the second quote I ran across…

We don’t normally buy 2 Liter bottles of Coke for our family. Instead, we purchase the cans. Why? Well, we are not in the habit of drinking too much Coke, we like it occasionally. The problem with the bottle is that before we can finish all 2 liters it has gone flat. We end up throwing away the last portion that has “gone bad.” I would rather have a smaller quantity that has better quality.

I would say that the same principle could (and even should) apply in our churches. I believe that too many times when we pray for our churches to grow, we mean numerically. Maybe we should pray for more spiritual growth with the ones we’ve got. Who knows, maybe God will provide the growth in both areas.

I pray we remember our job is to plant and water.