AlanDanielson.tv

This is a repost from my old blog.

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Seth Godin is a genius when it comes to leadership and marketing.  His blog is one of my favorites to read.  Here’s an excerpt from one of his blog posts that speaks powerfully to small groups:

“There’s a story in the bible with very specific instructions for building an ark. Included in the instructions is a call for using tanned dolphin leather…Why encourage people who might travel 100 miles over their entire lifetime to undertake a quest to find, capture, kill, skin and eventually tan a dolphin? It was the quest that mattered. Having a community-based quest means that there’s less room for whining, for infighting and for dissolution. Having a mission not only points everyone in the same direction, it also creates motion. And motion in any direction is often better than no motion at all.”

To read Seth’s entire post click here.

It’s amazing the unifying effect that a common purpose and mission has on a group.  If you want your group to really connect, then get outside the living room and make a difference in the community at large!

What’s your “dolphin leather”?  What “mission” unites your group?

I ‘m writing this post at 11:00 pm and the rest of the family is sound asleep.  I did this because I knew it would be quiet.  Sometimes quiet is a life-theme that I need to return to.
God says in Psalm 46:10, “Be still, and know that I am God!” (NIV)  Frankly, I’ve been busy and my life has been loud lately.  I was starting to feel a bit disconnected from my Heavenly Father, so I’ve been doing a lot of praying and listening.  I find that when I cut out the noise of life I’m much more able to hear God’s still small voice and it draws me closer to Him.

So my challenge for you today is to turn off the TV, the Radio, your phone, your computer (as I’m going to do in a moment) and listen.  Drive in silence…listen to God.  Work in silence…listen to God.  Take a walk in silence…listen to God.

When life is quiet you’ll hear His voice, and His voice is sweet.

Recently I was asked, “What do you think is the most important issue facing the church today?” My answer is not about politics, drugs, teenage sex, or pop culture. My answer is simply one word: Change.

For every generation in the church the issue is the same. The world around us changes quickly and people in the secular culture adapt to those changes quickly. However, churches are notoriously resistant to change. Every new generation thinks the one before it is too stuck in their “style” of church, and they’re right.

The church must not change for change’s sake (As I already mentioned, I made that mistake already), but I believe the church must always be looking to the horizon for new ways to improve ministry and evangelism. Often this means looking to the youth ministry and adopting some of their methods. It means leveraging technology for ministry. It means sacrificing the idols of comfort, preference, and tradition (even new traditions). It means always seeking to be relevant to the culture while never compromising the truth.

The mission of the church will never change, but our methods must! Again, change is not done for change’s sake, it is done for the sake of our mission. Historically when we find churches not fulfilling their mission, it’s because their methods stopped changing. This occurs when a method becomes a tradition and the tradition eventually becomes an idol. Every church (even today’s most contemporary churches) must face the altar of sacrifice and ask themselves this all important question: “Am I willing to give up my preferred way of doing things in order to reach more people?” It’s vital that we remember when we stop changing, we stop.

My greatest obstacle in ministry is myself.  At times, I’ve let ego get in the way of trusting God, so I’m done.  It’s easy to get a big head when you’re a leader.  It’s easy to listen closely to your fans and try to tune out your critics.   Insanely, it’s also easy to pay too much attention to the critics and let them shape your ego.  The times I’ve done that, I let my self esteem fall far too low.   It’s in those times that I let my self pity get in the way of trusting God.  Everything I’ve described here is the result of trying to please others and myself and that’s just dysfunctional, so I’m done.  I’m done with that kind of life.

The phrase, “I live to please an audience of One” is a great way to describe the life in Christ…at least the way it should be.  The key to fullness in the Christian life and in ministry is tunnel vision.  We must focus continually on one person and one person only:  Jesus.

When my life is over people won’t remember my sermons, they won’t remember my published work, they won’t remember my blog posts.  What they’ll remember is the Jesus-mark I left behind.  By living to please people and myself I’ll leave a black eye on Jesus’ and His church.  By living to please only Jesus, I’ll bring glory to him and be a person who leaves a beautiful legacy behind.

I want to leave a mark that builds the reputation of Jesus, so I’m done.  I’m done living for others.  I’m done living for me.  Instead I’m focusing everything on ONLY Jesus.  Every day I must rededicate myself to this task.  Each day I must resolve to live ONLY for Him.  After all, when it’s all said and done, nothing else matters.

Last weekend my pastor at LifeChurch.tv preached a great message about the book of Hosea.  It reminded me of a short film called “Oversold”.  A good friend of mine named David Cowan and his business partner Paul Morrell produced this incredible film which is a modern retelling of the story of Hosea who married a prostitute.

The film stars Crissy Moran (pictured), a former porn star who became a follower of Christ.  Some people are not comfortable with the film because it stars someone who used to make her living in the sex industry; many of them even look down on the film.  I’m not one of those people.  Frankly, I’m thrilled that Crissy knows Jesus and is doing her best to honor Him with her new life.

My thoughts on the film are simple:  See it.  It’s artfully produced, well written, and creatively thought out. The acting is kinda iffy in parts, but all-in-all it’s definitely worth seeing.

David and Paul have also produced a 4 week small group curriculum that accompanies the film.  Through the curriculum you’ll learn more about God’s unconditional love and His unbelievable grace.  The curriculum is right for any group!

Let me encourage you to download the movie from iTunes and to purchase the small group curriculum.  The proceeds benefit Crissy’s ministry and they’ll also help fund future projects like “Oversold”.

For film info and the iTunes download click here http://www.oversoldthemovie.com/.

For the small group curriculum click here http://www.oversoldthestudy.com/

A little boy was in the post office with his dad and he saw pictures on the wall of wanted criminals. Curiously he asked his dad, “Who are the people in these pictures?”

His Father replied, “They are people who are wanted for committing crimes.”

“So they’re bad people?” the boy inquired.

Dad said, “Yes they’re very bad people.”

Matter-of-factly the little boy then said, “The police should’ve kept ‘em when they took their pictures.”

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Momentum is like a criminal. It’s easier to keep it when you’ve got it.

Everyone works hard to create momentum in their career, family, and finances. Yet momentum often seems to stall. Every time this happens it’s much harder to get things going again.

So how do we keep momentum going?

• Love Jesus more than you love results.
• Love Jesus more than programs.
• Love people unconditionally.
• Read God’s word even when you don’t feel like it.
• Confess your sins immediately to God and to others.
• Have REAL accountability.
• Know your place (your best is like dirty rags to God). You have no excuse or reason to be arrogant.
• Never think you deserve more or better than you have.
• Be thankful for everything…always.
• Keep doing what has worked well, but do it better.
• Keep suffering in perspective (you are fellowshipping with Jesus in his suffering).
• Learn.
• Read.
• Listen.
• Pay Attention.
• Forgive.
• Trust God, your family, and your team.
• Fast.
• Weep.
• Pray.

Alway’s remember momentum is easer to keep than to build, so keep it while you’ve got it!

ig·nor·ar·ro·gance: [ ig-ner-ar-uh-guhns] –noun– offensive display of superiority or self-importance due to one’s lack of knowledge, learning, information, etc.

This is a word I made up to describe those who are cluelessly cocky.   Ever met those people?  You know the ones who come off as overly confident when they ought to know better.  Ignorarrogant people aren’t being intentionally evil, they’re often just unaware.

I hope I don’t sound arrogant saying this, but I’m an authority on the subject of ignorarrogance.  Why?  Because I’ve spent plenty of my life being the chief offender.  As a leader I strive to be confident and to exude confidence.  Yet no matter how hard I try to be humbly-confident I sometimes say the wrong thing and come off as a know-it-all-jerk.  I’m not being intentionally evil, I’m often just unaware.

I mastered ignorarrogance when I was in my early 20’s and God has been working it out of my character ever since.  His cure:   learning.  The more I learn the more I see how blind I’ve been and how to avoid old mistakes.  Also, the more I learn the more I realize how little I know.  Learning is empowering while also being humbling.   It has the duel effect of creating competence with unpretentiousness.

So how do we tell the difference between ignorarrogance and plain-old-arrogance?  Here’s my take:

• Arrogance is being 90% right and 100% certain.
• Ignorarrogance is being 90% oblivious and 100% certain.

Before you start labelling someone arrogant you should ask if they are rudely confident or if they just don’t know any better. Then you’ll know better how to help them.

Waiting is a pain.  No human has a natural tendency for enjoying waiting.  Some people are better at it than others, but none of us truly likes it.  Most of us would agree that the three hardest words in the English language are, “Wait and see”.  Yup, waiting is a pain.

We especially dislike waiting when we are hoping for God to make some great breakthrough.  We long for something to change.  We hope for answers to prayers.  We look forward with expectation.  Yet time feels like it’s standing still for us.  Did I mention that waiting is a pain?

My pastor, Craig Groeschel, preached a message last week in which he spoke about waiting.  He said something along the lines of “While you’re waiting…wait”.  Then he went on to talk about waiting tables.  Waiting tables is serving.  The message was clear: While you wait, serve.  Wow!

God doesn’t put us in a waiting room with nothing to do but play with our smart phones or read magazines like Doctors do.  God’s waiting room is life.  It’s a place where we are surrounded by people who long to be loved.  It’s an active waiting room with PLENTY to do, and it’s fulfilling!

I’m still in a season of waiting but Craig’s message has helped me reevaluate how I see this season.  I see the people I’m serving and realize that this time of waiting is not wasted.  It’s a time of very real ministry to the people God has placed in my life.  I’ve also noticed some opportunities to serve that I missed.  Yikes!  I need to make that right.

Are you waiting?  If so, wait…serve…reach out in love…make a positive mark in someone’s life.  Then you’ll see that waiting isn’t a pain after all!

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“…the Son of Man did not come to be waited upon, but to wait upon others, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”            ~Mattew 20:28 (New Alan Version)

Yesterday I received an email from a small group pastor about curriculum and courses for new believers.  I can’t count how many times people have asked me about this same subject, so I thought it was time to write a post about it.

The problem is usually put to me this way:  ”We’re a fast growing church with a TON of new Christ-Followers and we don’t know what to do with them.  What’s the best material out there for new believers?”

In my opinion, the two best are “Christianity Explored” and “Alpha”. You can find them here:

Christianity Explored
Alpha

Both of these focus on getting mature, new, and non Christians together to explore the foundations of the faith.

That said, I have three important suggestions regarding new believer classes:

1. Get Your Sr. Pastor’s Support. Your Sr. Pastor needs to be the voice of this ministry. If he doesn’t talk about it from the stage OFTEN (weekly would be great), it will never take off.
2. Pick a Curriculum and Stick With it! Whatever you start with will probably not get you the results you were looking for but that’s not unusual.  Most fast growing churches are fast paced and used to seeing immediate and explosive results.  Keep in mind that spiritual growth is almost never immediate or explosive!  It will probably take 12 to 18 months for you to figure out a rhythm and system that really workds for the new believers in your church. Be patient and give it the appropriate time.  Then you’ll see success.
3. Find Passionate Volunteers. There are people in your church who have a heart for new believers. Get them involved. Delegate responsibility and authority to run the class. DON’T abdicate though. The worst thing to do is hand it off and assume it’s done.  Be involved, but don’t micro-manage

This week I’m celebrating one year since I started my blog and I thought I’d write about the things people Google that lead them to my site.

Most Common Search Terms/Phrases that lead to my blog:

• Alan Danielson
• Heather Zempel Sacred Roads
• Sticky Church
• I feel guilty
• I feel like giving up

All of these are common, but by far the search that gets people to my blog the most is, “How to kick someone out of your group”.  You can see the results of that search here.

I wrote about this subject last year and I’ll say the same thing today that I said then:  Don’t kick people out of your group.  God brought them to your group for a reason.  That reason is probably to help YOU grow.  If you want to kick someone out of your small group, it’s probably more your issue than theirs.  I know this because I’ve been there…too often.  Whenever I’m frustrated with someone in my group I find that I’m the one who needs to grow and change.

Ask God to help you grow through your relationship problems rather than asking God to just remove them.  Remember, there are no short cuts to spiritual and personal growth.