D6 Conference 2013

I’m so excited about the 2013 edition of the D6 Conference.  This is the 4th year of the conference’s existence and each year has gotten better and better!  This year, there’s a location in Dallas, Texas on September 25-26 and then, (cue fanfare) in Louisville, KY from October 16-18.

One big reason I’m excited about the Louisville location is because of how close the city is to a large percentage of Free Will Baptists.  I hope many of you will make plans to attend! You’ll be so proud (in an appropriate way) of the way your FWB friends at Randall House have organized such a wonderful conference.

You will leave refreshed by the corporate worship and prayer, inspired to be a better follower of Christ and challenged to lead men, women, children and teens to become all the Lord has dreamed for them.

The overall purpose of the D6 Conference is to make the Lord God famous and #1 in our personal lives, our marriages and in the way we raise our children.  You are writing the story of your life each day.  Every battle you fight against yourself can have far reaching effects on the story you write.  Every interaction with your spouse or children is a brick in what can become an amazing household of faith in Christ.

We’re all leaving a legacy for generations to come.  The decisions you make about the Lord and how you’ll live for Him and lead your families to live for Him today will set either a positive example for later generations to follow, or start, or possibly continue a negative cycle of apathy, carelessness, guilt and poor choices.

The D6 Conference isn’t the “magic place” that will solve all of your problems, but will reveal things to you that you will want to apply to your life, your marriage and your family.

Please go to www.d6conference.com/d6days to gain free access to tons of content from the D6 conference.

4 Leadership Phases You Need to Consider

I’ve been thinking a lot about recruiting and staffing of the teams you have to have in place to do kid min better and better.  Shocker, right? A kid’s minister thinking about recruiting and volunteers!  Alert the media.

We’re constantly thinking about the people we need for our team to be complete (or more accurately, completer). There seems to always be another spot to fill, doesn’t there? I’ve been trying to concentrate my efforts and focus on some simple principles that have helped me and might be helpful to you.

We need to be continually growing and moving forward.  Don’t fall prey to the traps of mediocrity and satisfaction with super easy goals. You are a leader! You have been entrusted with providing quality experiences and discipleship and people are looking to you to lead them.  Don’t fail them.  Even when you dont feel like it, actively lead.  Hopefully one or more of these phases of leadership.

Think of these phases as independent leadership actions that all point toward the same result.  You will find times these phases can be implemented during a volunteer training meeting, during a one on one with a leader, or something you demonstrate while teaching kids.

1. Phase 1: Inspire a shared vision. The responsibility for the ministry may very well end with you, but constantly talk about a vision of ministry that is successful because of the combined efforts, prayers and sacrifices of each leader. The “buck stops here” applies in terms of taking on criticism or answering concerns, but you should equip as many people as possible to do the work of the ministry.

2. Phase 2: Equip others to act. Empower your leaders, all of them, to make decisions in their particular place of service.  It’s not healthy, or practical, to try to be the only one giving the yes or no to questions your ministry leaders can answer for you.  The point is to duplicate yourself into your team so the answers they give and the decisions they make mirror what you would.  The more freedom and trust you give to your team the more your leaders will grow.  Growth is good, ya’ll!

3. Model the way to act.  Set the right example for your leaders to follow.  Be present and visible when your volunteers are hard at work. Jump in and work hard with them, even when you’d rather go check on another room or ministry area.  When dealing with a difficult child or parent, keep emotions in check and stay positive.  Each interaction handled correctly in front of a watching volunteer has an impact.  The more things you model the correct handling of, the more leadership credibility you gain.  Leadership is influence, and you are constantly needing to influence your team.

4. Encourage all along the way. Cheer for and thank your team members often.  Write notes and send cards.  Even your most seasoned and skilled team members still need to feel you be appreciative of their efforts.  Compliment team members in front of parents, in the bulletin or program.  Mention volunteers by name when speaking before your leadership boards, deacons and your pastor.  Take all the complaints for yourself but share the glory with everyone! Ministry is hard.  You know that already, and your team members aren’t immune from the difficulties just because they’re volunteers.  In fact, it may be harder on your team members because they have other life responsibilities you don’t have.

Commit yourself to working on these phases of leadership.  Consecrate yourself to the Lord to become the best leader possible, so your ministry to kids is the best it can possibly be.  I’m praying for you!

Kid Ministry Tip of the Day: Handling Challenges Correctly.

Don’t be that guy, or that girl.  What am I talking about, you ask?  I’m talking about the guy or girl in a leadership position out there who totally botches and mishandles a challenge they’re facing in ministry.  Yesterday, I heard a ton of media reports about the now former head basketball coach at Rutgers University.

This coach was fired today after a controversy erupted around him regarding his treatment of the players on his ball team. Apparently, he has had a long running issue with controlling his temper when it comes to leading his team’s practices.  Video became available of his outbursts and quickly spread all over the internet. In a matter of hours it seemed, this story was at the forefront of all media, with the Today Show and Good Morning America running pieces about it.

His employer, Rutgers University in New Jersey rightly decided to fire the coach yesterday morning.  One kid’s ministry tip comes from the way the coach acted: NEVER EVER put your hands on a kid or student who has been entrusted to you by your church and the kid’s parents.

However, the bigger tip for me and you comes from the way this terrible situation was botched and fumbled by the Rutgers administration.  See, this problem with the coach has been known for some time.  A former Rutgers athletic department official reported this issue almost a year ago.  Very little was done as a result. A decision was made to fine and suspend the coach for three games, and the athletic director commented that he wanted to try to rehabilitate the coach, but very little else was done.

Trust me: if you haven’t already seen the video, there is no way this coach should have been allowed to keep his job.  Many of the clips shown all across the country on various media outlets were the ones Rutgers officials were shown.

I don’t know why the AD and college president made the decision they made, but it was an unfortunate choice for them.  They are being blasted for allowing this to continue after they had seen the coaches behavior.  There is no excuse for his behavior.  College basketball players may be tall and strong, but they’re still young kids, even though an 18 year old is considered an adult.  Their parents entrusted this coach to lead their sons and work with their sons.  They allow the coach to travel with them and spend hour upon hour together.

The coach abused their trust in him.  The college abused the trust they had placed in them as an institution.  There is a lot of reason to believe from media reports they just didn’t want to have to deal with the consequences of this scandal brewing in their own gymnasium. I feel certain if they could do things over again, they might choose a different handling of this challenge.

I see a similarity between this situation and our ministries to kids.  Parents trust us to lead and teach their kids like the parents of ball players trusted this coach and university.  We must never do anything to betray their trust. 

To ensure this never happens, you’ve got to be ready and willing to take challenges head-on and deal with them correctly.  It’s never fun, and we shouldn’t look forward to them, but when they hit, we’ve got to be ready.

Here are some tips that are on my mind today to hopefully help you be prepared to handle challenges correctly.

1. Handle challenges by keeping the circle of knowledge as small as possible. If the issue affects no one else besides the person involved, keep the circle of trust to the two of you (add one other trusted coworker or pastor if your dealing with someone of the opposite gender) and address the issue directly. The more people that know about the issue, the greater the possibility it will become an even bigger challenge.

2. Assume the issue will likely become known at some point. This is one of the key failures of the Rutgers officials.  They either believed the video would never surface or seriously underestimated how bad the videos looked.  Either way, they weren’t prepared for what happened when others became aware of the problem.  In your church, stories, rumors, lies, truths and mixtures of all four can be passed around remarkably fast.  If something potentially controversial is taking place, you want to be the one that releases it to the people it will matter to most.  For example, if your nursery has had an outbreak of Hand, Foot and Mouth disease, you should be proactive to report it and explain what it is and how you are planning to deal with it.

3. Be Relentlessly Committed to Protecting Children.  You don’t have time to think about how you will deal with an issue regarding the treatment of children in your ministry. Unfortunately, there are going to be instances when you are told about a ministry volunteer who is a little too hands on in their discipline. The moment someone makes you aware of a problem, you need to act as quickly as possible.  You need to immediately ask for a meeting with the person and find out what’s happening.  You may find yourself in a position  where you have to fire a volunteer who has been working with kids for so long, his or her former students now have kids.  This stinks, but you have to do everything you can to protect children.

4. Document everything. Send yourself and a trusted person email reports of what has happened and how you’re dealing with it.  Save all communications with the person or persons in question.  Eliminate as much hearsay and he said/she said by keeping meticulous records regarding these situations.

5. Remember the right decision may cause pain, but will always lead to better things. If it’s the right thing to do, do it and lead your ministry through it.  Deal with the issue correctly and as soon as possible.  Only bad things come from waiting and allowing the issue to continue.

What do you think? Add in your suggestions for handling challenges in the comments below!

Conducting a Parent Meeting about Driving Faith At Home

The vision of our ministries should be to partner with parents, not to be the answer and authority in all things relating to spiritual matters. The Bible makes it clear, the home is the best place for spiritual development and our church tries to equip parents by having parent meetings. I really, REALLY need to work on having more regular parent meetings, but I wanted to simply share my approach to how to handle these meetings with parents. You don’t want them to disintegrate into a gripe sessions about kids, culture, the church or you, so make sure you have a full plan for every minute you set aside for the meeting. There are so many variables involved in our churches. Each situation is as diverse as the people that make it up. However, I believe there are some common practices you can use to be set up for a successful meeting that leaves you feeling like you’ve accomplished something and parents feeling empowered and supported.

1. Choose to be positive. We all have “life” happening in our churches and we may be frustrated inside with the lack of parental involvement in our ministry, but save those potentially negative feelings for a ministry buddy who you can vent to without damaging your credibility with your church.

2. When you meet, if your meeting is designed to inform, inspire, encourage, or other wise equip your parents base everything on Scripture. God’s Word should be our standard and guide. Depend on it, base your decisions upon it. Cite the Scriptural support for the information you are hoping to deliver.

3. Deliver the info with passion and confidence. Be prepared and present the information to the level of the person you think needs the information the most. Aim for the people who are young in their faith, or young as parents. Don’t assume anyone knows about the information your sharing. Present it like it’s new for everyone.

4. Realize there are committed parents who are already discipling their kids in a biblical way. They’re the ones who actually put the take home paper on the fridge instead of leaving them in the floorboard of the car. These parents are the ones who are already tracking with what Deuteronomy 6 commands and are trying. According to some Barna research, this group will comprise less than 20% of your parents. Be careful to avoid putting them on a pedestal as someone who is having some success. This may make them feel awkward around the other parents. Parents who know they should do more may actually resent the fact they are being singled out for praise. Quietly connect families doing the right things to other families that are interested in doing those things.

5. Finally, offer something practical for parents to use that very day with their kids. Perhaps it’s a website with faith building activities like the Splink from D6family.com, or a simple plan for a family worship session with scriptures and a song or two already picked out for them to do. I always try to make sure there are actionable things for people to respond to.

Partnering with parents is easy to talk about, but definitely takes effort. I want to do better, and hopefully these suggestions will help you as they have served our church well.

Talking with Your Kids About Tragedy

Like many people across the United States and the world, my heart has been broken by the tragedy that struck Newtown, Connecticut on Friday, December 15. The sheer magnitude of this awful act of pure evil is almost too much to think about. I can’t stop thinking about, however. I imagine many other parents are wondering how to handle talking about this and other tragic events that may occur. Here are some suggestions that may assist you.
1.Decide how much your kids NEED to know. Many school aged kids will hear about the tragedy in CT because of it involving the deaths of children their age and the fact it happened at school. Kids they know may be talking about it. Hopefully, their teachers and administrators will not. Kids who are school age may need to know the basic facts of the event, but be diligent to protect them from the horror of details that will only make it more likely they develop major feelings of fear. Limit your own intake of the news regarding this event to times your kids will not be around. Obviously, the older your kids are, the more information they can handle. We don’t need to hide our kids from all exposure to the negative things of the world, but we do need to make sure we protect them from knowing too much at too young an age.
2. Be honest about your feelings. If you decide to have a conversation with your kids about a tragic event, let them know how you are feeling. If you are sad, tell them so. If you can’t quite figure out how you’re feeling, that’s ok too. Tell your kids it’s okay to be sad, confused or even angry that the tragedy has occurred. It’s important for you to work through your feelings without the pressure of having to know exactly how you feel within a day, week or even a month. Your kids need to have the same opportunity. Let them know they can talk to you about anything they have fears or concerns about.
3. Express positive things to them. Let your kids know how much you love them. Hug them. Write them a note describing something you think is special about them. Also let them know they are safe. Encourage them by letting know you will always love and protect them as long as you live.
4. Remember God is Sovereign. Sovereign mean authority. God is in charge of all things and He is watching over us at every moment. Even though God is in charge, He allows humans the free will to make whatever choices we want, even if they are bad ones. The fact the school shootings in Newtown, CT took place might cause kids to worry that God isn’t able to keep us safe. Show them Psalm 103:19 from the Bible that says, “The Lord has established His throne in the heavens, and His kingdom rules over all.” Also, using the fingers on your hand, teach them what Hebrews 13:5b says about God’s presence. Using one finger for each word show them “He will never leave you.” Keep your faith in God strong; your kids will follow where you lead.
5. Pray with them. This is something we need to be doing each day with our kids, but it’s even more important we do so in the midst of a tragedy. Prayer keeps us connected to our Heavenly Father and is a reminder we are unable to support ourselves on our own strength. What should you pray for? In this event, pray for the families who lost loved ones at the school that day. Pray also for the teachers and administrators left behind to pick up the pieces. Pray for the kids in the school who may have avoided physical harm, but will suffer emotionally from the trauma for many days to come.

 

Time For a Check-up

Well friends, I write this as I sit I the doctor’s office for a check-up and physical exam. I don’t particularly enjoy going to the doctor. Like many people, I pretty much only go to the doctor when I’m sick or hurting. I feel perfectly fine and dandy today. I’ve lost weight in the last couple of years and am making exercise a pretty regular part of my days.

I’m here because we all need to have periodic check ups to make sure there isn’t something changing that will lead to decreased health and wellness. I’m going to have things checked on today that haven’t been checked on before and have other things checked that I try to keep an eye on already.

Having a physical checkup at the doctor reminds me of the need for regular checkups in other parts of our lives too. We need to step back and really evaluate our life and priorities. For example, how’s your Bible reading and study going? How’s your prayer life? Is there anything present in your life that is threatening your commitment to keep the Lord on the throne of your life?

We can run through these questions pretty quickly and may have a tendency to not be totally honest with ourselves. I think we need someone to play the role of the doctor in our personal lives. We need someone we trust to ask us hard questions and to pry for more info where they see reason for concern. Do you have someone like that? I’m thankful for several people who play that role in my life.

I feel healthy in all areas of my life but I need the check-up…in every way possible. An honest check-up will help us improve and make us happier and more effective in living our lives for Jesus.

God Reigns

No matter who you voted for, or whom you wanted to win the presidential election, I hope you will decide today to remember our God reigns. Don’t be bitter about what happened if your man lost. Don’t be overly jubilant if your man won. Remember God is sovereign. God Almighty has the authority and the power to do anything He wants. His plans for us are still on-track. Loving God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength has nothing to do with who sits in the White House.  God knew who would win long ago.
Here’s something to focus on to help you remember this truth:

1 The Lord reigns; let the peoples tremble!
He sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake!
2 The Lord is great in Zion;
he is exalted over all the peoples.

Nothing can thwart God’s power or His plan. We need to remember that, and decide to continue trusting Him, no matter what happens, or who wins an election. God bless you!

Everyone Matters, or No One Matters

 

To be perfectly honest, the title of this post comes from a fiction book about a homicide detective.  At least, that’s the first place I read it.  That thought, presented in a fiction work, has stayed with me.  It has surfaced with me again in the past few weeks as the horror of the Penn State situation has played itself out in the media.  I have been bottling up my thoughts about this situation, but today I feel I have to get this out of my brain, and I believe the Lord has helped me work through this in a way that will be a blessing to my life and the ministry I try to do in my fleshly, broken ways.

I am not going to provide a timeline or running account of everything that has happened.  I can’t do it.  It sickens me.  The chief perpetrator has been found guilty and his victims have seen him receive a measure of justice.  That a trusted adult would do those things at all is awful and sick.  The lives that rascal has injured through his inappropriate honestly angers me.  I’d like to punch him.  (ya’ll pray for me) I hope this is understood correctly, but that this could have been done by a single person operating in secret is not surprising to me.  We live in a sick and broken world.  Each of us are born sinners and have within us a “want to” to do wrong.  Unfortunately, that’s not the end of the story.

As it turned out the head coach, Joe Paterno and other Penn State officials knew about this sick man’s problems and didn’t do what was necessary to protect the most vulnerable people in this world: kids.  The Freeh report outlined a series of mistakes in which these men looked the other way, covered up and ignored the abuse being done to children in their very midst.  The report concluded the only action ever taken by these men was to ensure that the abuse didn’t happen on university property.  All of this was done to protect the image and power of the football program.  I love football, but it appalls me to know that children were sexually abused by a university coach and nothing was done to stop him because of how it could damage the football program.

Joe Paterno has been known as a great football coach, but an even greater man who influenced young men to be the best people they could be.  Despite the people who had positive experiences with this coach, I submit that he has failed and will be remembered for this failure.  Unless every person matters, no one matters.  Those kids abused by the Jerry Sandusky should have had a advocate in head coach Joe Paterno.  He should have done everything in his power to remove this monster and protect these poor kids.  You can’t pick and choose who is worth defending.  You can’t place a program in front of people.  I have learned this lesson working in children’s ministry, but never before has it been so clear.  The program at Penn State was valued more than people.

The leader that could have made the difference, didnt.  WHat was so important to Joe Paterno, helping shape young lives went off the rails.  Paterno ignored the most victimized people he ever had the chance to serve.  A strong leader knows that everyone matters.  As I write, Joe Paterno’s legacy has turned 180 degrees from where it should have been. His statue outside the football stadium has been taken down, his football program fined ($60 million) and over 100 wins taken away.  I feel bad for him, but our bad choices follow us and will have consequences.  He made the decision to put the program first and decided that someone didn’t matter enough to act when he was needed.

If you are a leader (and we all are) remember this: Everyone Matters, or No One Matters.  Don’t fall into this trap in any of your relationships at church, work or school.  People are more important that programs.

I am writing this post to my Free Will Baptist friends.  Let this post be a reminder of how not to handle sticky situations we find ourselves or our churches. The tragedy at Penn State could happen in many places, and could involve a variety of inappropriate behaviors and other negative events.  Decide right NOW that you will always put people first, especially children.

Do We Trust One Another?

With the convention just a few days away and the discussion continuing here on the internet between some, I have a question to pose:  Do we trust one another?  If we have a problem as I have suggested with Give & Take, why is that?  Are we simply too selfish to let someone else have their own way without letting them know we are in disagreement with them?  I don’t think so, or at least I don’t think it’s true all the time.  I think one of our root issues that is dividing our denomination along these perceived battle lines is the issue of trust.

We shouldn’t have a blind trust of anyone but the Lord and His Word.  When it comes to our Heavenly Father and the Bible, there can be no hesitation, no holding back because of a lack of faith.  He is the only One worthy of total trust.  However, in our humanity (oh, the humanity), and I am the humanlyest (yes I made that word up) human out there, we need to verify some things before we can trust someone.  We think we don’t have an endless supply of trust to work with, so we spend it wisely.  We place it on the relationships we develop and in people with whom we associate most.

I would say because of our divide along traditional/progressive lines, we have very little opportunity to be in a place where we can develop a relationship with new people.  We won’t trust them until we know them, but we wont allow ourselves the time and effort to seek to know them.  Anything worthwhile takes some concerted, intentional and consistent effort. I would like to believe the potential for our denominational influence in a world dying and going to hell without Jesus is enough of a reason for us to make a better effort.

This won’t happen next week in Memphis, but it can start there.  When you see someone, you’ve never met, extend your hand and trust them to put theirs out to you.  That’s the first step! As you shake hands and exchange names (in case you’re not a name tag reader) know this about 99.9% of the people you will meet attending the FWB National Convention:

1. They believe in the Bible as God’s Holy Word, complete and without error. They may use a different version from you, but they KNOW God’s Word is true.

2. They believe in the virgin birth of Jesus, God’s Son.

3. They believe in God’s redemptive plan for all of us broken and sinful people.

4. They believe that lost people need to know Jesus.

5. They believe Jesus is preparing a home in Heaven for those who believe in Him.

6. They Jesus will one day return and take us to that home. There may be differences of opinion about just when that will happen, but we all agree Jesus is coming soon, maybe even while we’re all in Memphis.

7. They believe God’s plan is the best plan for anyone to follow.

I believe we can put a little trust out there for the people we don’t know, and this incomplete list is the reason why. We have so much in common, we must begin to trust our leaders, pastors, teachers and congregations to work out how to best spread the Gospel in their particular part of the planet.

So, will you put your trust out there? Even if you’ve been burned before, do you believe God would have you continue to distrust as a first reaction?

Give & Take For the Glory of God

The purpose of this post is to call for unity among every kind of person among Free Will Baptists.  It’s a challenge to me and to you to live unselfishly, engaging in an ongoing practice of Giving and Taking for the Glory of God in this world.  My prayer is that anyone who reads this will receive it in that spirit.

When I was growing up in Arkansas, I always wanted my way. Don’t get me wrong; my parents taught me about selfishness.  I just didn’t want to let someone else have there way.  I wanted to pick the game, I wanted to go first, I wanted to choose the television show,  ME, Me, Me. Occasionally, my friends got tired of my selfishness and would just go home. Even if I let them go first, they had to do it my way.  I didn’t care enough to change anything.  Even as I became an adult, I still struggled with selfishness and a me-first attitude.  I can remember one, hmmm, fateful day, when I had been married to my lovely and wonderful wife Katie for about three months.  She had spent her day teaching sixth graders at Pleasant View Christian School (Go Warriors) and I had been to class at FWBBC and to work.  Katie has been an incredible cook all along the way, and that night was no exception: she had prepared a wonderful meal, which I enjoyed wholeheartedly.

After the meal, I wanted to go watch something on television, so I just got up from the table and went and began relaxing, leaving all the cleanup for Katie.  As usual, Katie handled the situation directly and with grace.  I think she said something like, “I know you’re not gonna leave all this clean-up for me.”  Living life together with Katie has made me a better man, a less selfish man.  She has helped me learn to do what the Bible says, and choose to “prefer someone” over myself.

However, I’ve realized this spring another area of my life that I still want my way.  I have wanted my Free Will Baptist world just the way I want it.  If you have been a part of Free Will Baptists for very long, you probably understand we are a very diverse group of people.  Our diversity, unfortunately, has been less than a positive when it comes to denominational decisions that will chart our course as a “gospel ship” delivering the Good News.  I can speak with authority on this because I am guilty of doing this!  On the surface, we may get along and shake hands, and say, “hey brother!”, but when it comes down to “brass tacks” our diversity is a brick wall keeping our denomination from being all it can be.  We don’t trust one another.  Our differences separate us.

While our diversity could be used as a tool to reach more and more people for the glory of God, that isn’t the way it works. Often people on each side of an issue vilify the other side.  They speak out and work against and otherwise try to “have their way” in every situation. There seems to be a serious chasm between our most diverse sides.  Only the most obvious issues are met with unanimous support. The following characterization isn’t true of every case, but is typical in my opinion. In any significant issue, or insignificant for that matter, there is a fear from our more fundamental and traditionally conservative side that anything they don’t prefer in their churches or denomination is bad, unwise, inappropriate and downright sinful. There is then a response from our progressive, but still very conservative side that ranges from “who cares what those old fashioned, KJV only people think of our methods” to totally ignoring the criticism and basically unplugging from the chaos and frustration that comes from trying to be different.  Neither response is beneficial for our denomination’s impact on the world for Christ.

I am a firm believer that we are Christians first, and Free Will Baptists second.  Great things are being accomplished for God by Christians from many different denominations or without being in a denomination at all.

However, I also believe there is a benefit to being a part of a likeminded group of churches, such as our National Association of Free Will Baptists.  I am glad my church is part of the denomination.  I am glad to be personally a part of the Free Will Baptist family.  I believe it is possible for us to work together and achieve more collectively, but because of our issues of distrust and selfishness, our denomination is in decline.  The number of Free Will Baptist churches is shrinking, as is the number of people attending our churches.  I believe our problems are rooted in our inability to “give and take.”  I believe this has been the “status quo” for far too long.

In most ways, we learn as we grow from children to adults to share.  We realize we need to allow others the freedom to make choices they want to make.  I believe our denomination needs a healthy, gigantic dose of this kind of maturity.

We need to quit marginalizing churches that prefer the use of the King James Version.  If you love the KJV and only want to use it, that should be fine with all FWBs.  However, those who are KJV only should quit marginalizing churches that use other translations.

We need to allow churches who only want to use the Heavenly Highway hymnbook (17th edition!) the freedom to prefer that in their churches without thinking they are too old fashioned to be any good to the Kingdom.  However, those churches who prefer shape notes,hymns and southern gospel need to allow churches who prefer a contemporary sound, drums and new hymns the freedom to use what they prefer.

We have got to stop referring to the ministry approaches for evangelism, church planting and discipleship that are foreign to us as sinful.  A pastor of a mission church in Arizona shouldn’t have his hands tied by his sending agency or risk termination because of this kind of disagreement.

There is room for movement and grace from each side of our diverse population.  I want to be a part of a family that can disagree without breaking up over disagreements.  I believe we should be able to have it out with one another in a direct and humble way, exploring both sides of an issue from a Biblical and cultural perspective.

It may seem like a “pie in the sky” pipe dream to some, but why not give it a try and see what happens? We need more Give and Take, not for the glory of FWB, but for the glory of God in this broken world.  Let’s major on our similarities and allow grace for our diverse ways of leading people to Christ.  Why not start a new tradition next week in Memphis at our National Convention? I believe many FWBs want to be a part of that kind of movement, how about you?