Getting Your Small Group Where God Wants It

Posted on June 9, 2011 by Carl Simmons

I’m still on hold with the new stuff, so one more blast from the past…. This isn’t a brand-new book — it’s a couple years old now, actually — but it’s certainly fresh even if it’s not new.

• Finding the Flow: A Guide for Leading for Small Groups and Gatherings. Tara Miller and Jenn Peppers. Book, 240p., $17.00. IVP Connect.

Don’t let the subtitle fool you — it’s not incorrect, but it’s not the kind of book you might think it is. It’s not a how-to book. It is, however, a what-to and why-to book. Rather than prescribing a strategy for small groups, Tara Miller and Jenn Peppers lay out the elements that make a small group successful… then point out that it’s not going to look the same for every group… then help you make the choices that will work best for your group. And that’s a far more practical approach, in the long run.

From the outset, Miller and Peppers affirm that lots of small-group models work. The trick, they suggest, is finding an approach that accurately reflects the values of your group. Both the opening section and the appendixes are built to help you think through what you and your group really value. From there, building your group becomes a much more natural process.

Another huge point the authors make early on is: While there’s a variety of ways to get there, if the focus isn’t squarely on a hunger for God (rather than on group needs), things will eventually fall apart. That one hit me square between the eyes.

Other sections cover such meaty topics as stages of group life, learning how to listen to God and others, asking questions that go deep rather than lead to obvious answers, dealing with conflict, and developing new leaders.

Peppered throughout each chapter (no pun intended) are many “Do This” suggestions — little ideas you can try either on your own or with your group. As you take these measured risks, your group life will almost certainly be enriched.

Even though it’s a small-group resource, I’ve already gotten this into the hands of one church planter who wanted to start things right with his core team. The principles in this book very much work in that context as well.

Whether you’re starting a small-group ministry or looking to grow your leaders (and yourself) in a meaningful way, this is a great book to help you face the issues that every small-group ministry comes up against. For more info about the book and other related resources, visit www.findingtheflow.org.

An earlier version of this review first appeared on smallgroupministry.com.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

We’re In This Together

Posted on June 8, 2011 by Carl Simmons

We often tend to expect more from other Christians, don’t we? Just about as often, though, these expectations set us up for a fall. Scripture in fact says we’re all fallen people. We’re going to let each other down. It’s inevitable. We’re all lost causes without Jesus.

The trick, then, isn’t simply to pursue relationships with other Christians, but to pursue Jesus together as Christians. The two things sound similar, but there’s all the difference in the world between them. When Jesus is the focus, suddenly all those little things that often get in the way of our relationships don’t seem so important. When we pursue Jesus together, our relationships naturally become closer and deeper, because we’re letting Jesus set the tone. And Jesus is never going to steer us the wrong way.

So let’s dig into this, starting with Acts 1:6-11. Let’s stop for a few moments and try to picture this: One minute Jesus is right there with his apostles—the people He’s entrusted to share His life and message with the rest of the world—and the next, He’s gone. And on top of that, two men in white clothing, presumably angels, show up and in essence say, “What are you doing, just standing there?” How do you think the apostles felt at that moment?

And for that matter, in what ways do you feel (or have felt) like you’re “just standing there” in your Christian walk, waiting for Jesus to tell you what to do?

Cut to Acts 1:12-17 and 21-26. How did Jesus’ followers respond, once they got past their initial shock? A number of ways—they go back to “the scene of the crime,” Jerusalem, to the same upstairs room many believe the Last Supper with Jesus had been held; they pray together “with one mind”; they choose a replacement for Judas Iscariot.In short, they get on with the work they do know Jesus left them to do. And they do it together. And we see the much bigger fruits of that obedience in Acts 2.

Now, think about what that’s looked like in your own lives. How does knowing other Christians you can trust and share your struggles with—no matter what kind of struggles they are—help you to stop “just standing there” and move forward? When has someone who’s been through the same trials really been there for you (or when have your trials helped you help someone else)? Who do you know right now who’s not only your friend but who pushes you closer to Jesus?

I hope there isn’t dead silence at the other end after those last couple questions. But if so, that’s OK. This is huge. We need to find answers if we don’t already have them. As William Barclay put it, “It has been said that true friendship begins only when people share a common memory and can say to each other, ‘Do you remember?’ Each of us is one of a great fellowship of people who share a common experience and a common memory of their Lord.”

If you have a small group, try this activity with them. Trust me, it works: Get a pile of ice cubes. Get everyone to take one ice cube, and then stand in a circle. If there are more than 12 people, form groups of six to eight for this experience. Hold hands with the people on either side of you, and hold the ice in between your hands. Hold hands tightly—with the ice in between—until the ice completely melts. Don’t let go. It’s going to get cold, but remember, you’re all in this together! When the ice has fully melted, drop hands. Blow on them, rub them together, get your circulation back. Then discuss:

• What was it like as you held onto the ice—and it got colder? Did it make it better or worse to know that you were all going through the same thing? Explain.
• How does standing together with others help us to keep Jesus a priority in our lives, even (or maybe especially) when things are tough?
• If you could ask this group for advice or prayer on just one thing right now, what would it be?
• Who right now would you really like to develop a spiritual relationship with? Not just a friendship, but a relationship in which Jesus is the important person in it?

Go make it happen. And may God bless you as you move forward together.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

I Don’t Understand…. But I’m Not Leaving

Posted on June 6, 2011 by Carl Simmons

Who’s the most offbeat friend you’ve ever had? How has your friendship with that person influenced both of you?

And for that matter, when have you been the off-beat person in a group? What helped you find the group’s “rhythm” (or did you)?

It’s easy to be there for people we naturally have things in common with. The people you’re invested in right now might be like that. Then again, you might be wondering why God put you with them.

The answer’s the same either way: God always wants us to push beyond simply the natural and into the spiritual, so that our relationships can glorify God on every level.

And the fact is: Not everyone we can’t understand is the off-beat one. We may be the ones who are “off”—at least to them. And that’s OK, too. Some people truly are different; most, though, are simply different from us. The point is, there are people God puts in our lives that we have a hard time getting in synch with—but God’s not letting us off the hook. He’s put those people in our lives so he can grow them—and us—in a brand-new way.

The most important thing isn’t that we totally “click” with others, but that we’re willing to push forward and help that other person discover how God’s working in them. God wants to do what God wants to do. Our part is to show up and remain open to God’s leading, even when we don’t fully understand the other person or what God wants to do in him or her. The important thing is: God understands. And when we allow God into those relationships, we have something—and Someone—much greater in common.

Still, challenging people are… well, a challenge. But you’ve been there before, probably more than you know. Think about it:

• When have you felt totally unequipped to help someone else? How were you able to help anyway (or not)?
• When have you felt like you were in a situation no-one else—or maybe even God—understood or could help you with?
• Looking back now, what do you wish you could have helped people understand (or understand more quickly)?

And we’re not alone, either. We have both a helper and an example. “For we do not have a high priest incapable of sympathizing with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way just as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and find grace whenever we need help” (Hebrews 4:15-16, NET).

Jesus understands our weaknesses, because he faced every one of the same testings we face. And Jesus not only understands us—he also understands the people we’re with, for the same reasons he understands us.

Jesus certainly understood his disciples as well. But the other way around—not so much. And yet, though they dropped the ball sometimes, the disciples ultimately stuck it out with Jesus. And if you’re reading this, you’re probably already a result of that faithfulness. So let’s look at a couple great examples of both the disciples’ confusion and their faithfulness:

“After this many of his disciples quit following him and did not accompany him  any longer. So Jesus said to the twelve, “You don’t want to go away too, do you?” Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life” (John 6:66-68, NET).

“Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died, and I am glad for your sake that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” So Thomas (called Didymus)  said to his fellow disciples, “Let us go too, so that we may die with him”(John 11:14-16, NET).

The first passage is one of the most affecting in the Bible for me personally—you can almost hear Jesus’ voice cracking as He asks, “You don’t want to go away too, do you?” The other one, to me at least, is one of the deadpan-funniest passages in the Bible, if also one of the most inspiring (I’m a lot like Thomas). Your turn:

• Where do you see both bewilderment and trust from the disciples here? How do you identify with Peter and/or Thomas?
• Let’s think back to last week’s session on guidance. How does putting the priority on what Jesus is trying to do, rather than our own understanding, help us to help others? How does it grow us?
• How does sticking by someone, even when you can’t understand what they’re dealing with, lead to understanding?

So, here’s a few ideas to consider this week. Try one (or more) out, and see what happens:

• Who don’t you “get” right now that you interact with regularly? Set aside your discomfort and reach out to that person. Start a conversation—even if you have to finish it, too. Take him or her out for coffee. Discover what you do have in common, and begin building on it.

• Who in your family totally bewilders you? You know who it is. Make time with him or her this week, and just listen. Then, take time to pray with him or her. Really pray. Pray with as much understanding as you have, and ask God to give each of you more understanding. And fully trust that God will provide it (James 1:5-6).

• Who’s your most off-beat friend right now? Enter further into his or her world this week. Set a time to get with that person, but let him or her set the agenda for how you’ll spend that time. (Use common sense, but give him or her permission to take you out of your comfort zone.) You’ll learn more about that person, and maybe even discover you like that activity you’d been avoiding.

• If there’s a church that worships differently from yours—either because of its doctrine, tradition or size—go check them out as a group. Don’t go to analyze or critique (let alone criticize) how they do things, but go seeking to understand and worship alongside other members of the Body of Christ. You just might discover something you’ll want to add to your own worship time together.

Ask God to help you commit to the “off-beat” people He’s put in your life, and to help you become better friends with them, even as you work on understanding them better. Ask for humility to understand how God wants to use these people to enrich your life as well—maybe far more than you enrich theirs.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

a fragment of Lay Down Your Pride

Posted on June 3, 2011 by Carl Simmons

I’ll keep this one short today, but expect I’ll be coming back to this theme—and this passage—repeatedly….

A couple of weeks back we looked at the idea of laying down our thought lives—how to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. Since I didn’t use that passage at the time—and it’s been my life passage since before I was a Christian—let’s go there now, and even use the King James version I first read it in:

“And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

For a guy like myself who enjoys being in his head in the first place, that’s actually a pretty easy idea to fall in love with. (Although I would dare suggest that extroverts are in their heads every bit as much as introverts are—they just want the rest of us in there, too.) And it’s a good one for my non-conformist bent, too—in fact, when I first read this as an I-believe-in-God-but-I’ll be-anything-but-a-Christian 30 years ago, I immediately sat down and wrote an essay on the power of saying “no.” And there’s been even better reasons to love this verse in the quarter-century-plus since becoming a Christian.

But in practice, at least, I also enjoy forgetting that Romans 12:2 is immediately preceded by Romans 12:1 (emphasis mine):

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”

In the weeks to come, we’ll explore this idea of being a living sacrifice more.   But suffice to say for now: Nothing kills pride faster than having to sacrifice our outward selves.

And it comes back to this idea from a few weeks back: We can believe in our heads all we want, but until we believe to the point that we’re willing to lay our lives down first, all our head-belief adds up to less than nothing.

Stay tuned… because we all need to get better at this.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

The Truth About “The Naked Truth…”

Posted on June 2, 2011 by Carl Simmons

While I’m waiting for the book I was planning on reviewing this week, here’s a blast from the not-so-distant past that’s well worth your time…..

• Randall Neighbour. The Naked Truth About Small Group Ministry: When It Won’t Work and What to Do About It.  Softcover, 256p., $20.99. Touch Publications.

Randall Neighbour has an unusual but appropriate message for pastors: If you’re looking to fix what’s wrong in your church, don’t expect small groups to accomplish that. But if you’re looking to make a healthy church healthier, get going!

“In many churches,” Neighbour correctly points out, “the lead pastor uses small groups to support the larger corporate gathering. Or, he views small groups as one option among many for church involvement.” Both views, he says, are bad reasons to be doing small-group ministry — they end up overwhelming the leader and not engaging the rest of the group.

Neighbour advocates a more organic approach, where the focus is on the sense of community being created within the small groups, rather than as a church-support system or just another ministry among many. And he extends this idea into his approach for creating a small-group ministry as well.

Rather than launch a church-wide initiative as most churches do, Neighbour suggests the exact opposite: Start with one pilot/prototype group. Find out what works and what doesn’t before unleashing a small-group ministry upon the rest of your church. First get it right, then let the rest of the church catch the vision. “Launching a number of groups when you’ve never had experience launching one healthy group makes no sense.”

Likewise, when launching, Neighbour recommends starting with one new group. This gives leaders a chance to develop naturally, and as well as allows time for ministry champions to develop so they can transition from leaders to coaches.

There’s a huge emphasis on relationship-building through this book, as well there should be. Perhaps Neighbour’s most forceful point (and he’s got a lot of them) is: If you’re not willing to make a commitment to others — to put yourself in a position where real discipleship can happen — don’t even think about starting a small group. And heck, potential leader, in that case you probably don’t even want to waste your time joining one. To reinforce the seriousness of his message, Neighbour suggests a fairly rigorous discipleship program for both members and leaders.

There’s a lot of good ideas here, especially for established leaders who are trying to figure out how to make their small groups better. (I particularly liked “The Blessing List,” a means to get groups more outsider-focused without viewing others as “targets.”) There’s also a very useful chapter about intergenerational small groups at the end of the book, written by Daphne Kirk. (Great quote: “The small group is not a spiritual ‘date night’ for parents.”)

On the down side of all this good advice is that I suspect a lot of the more uninitiated readers will look at this and say, “If this is what it’s going to take, it’s too much work to even try.” And granted, it might be a good thing to weed out people who aren’t really committed earlier on. But I think potential leaders are also the audience Neighbour’s really trying to reach here, it’s kind of a shame, too.

There’s probably a way to make all these good ideas seem less daunting. After all, it isn’t that hard to throw a party and get group members involved with one another and connect them with “outsiders.” And there’s plenty of good materials out there to help groups find a sense of mission without it becoming (Neighbour’s own words, and methodology) “boot camp.” And being a real friend to your other group members, while absolutely essential and all-too-absent in a lot of small-group ministries, isn’t something you’re going to learn in any book.

In short, get the book for the ideas and the vision, because they’re well worth reading. Just don’t let yourself get overwhelmed by all the do’s and don’ts here, or feel obligated to do things the exact same way.

On the other hand, if you are up for using The Naked Truth… as the textbook for your burgeoning small-group ministry and feel your church can handle the rigor, by all means go for it! It’s good stuff.

An earlier version of this review was originally published on smallgroupministry.com.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Worship: It’s Not Just Singing

Posted on June 1, 2011 by Carl Simmons

Over the last several Wednesdays, we’ve looked at different ways to respond to and become more connected with God, such as quiet time, prayer, and Bible study. We often refer to them as spiritual disciplines, but all of them are also forms of worship—ways to acknowledge that we serve a great God, to recognize God’s “worth-ship.” They get us out of our own way so we can see and appreciate God for who he is. Our worship declares that God is God—and we aren’t. And thank God for that!

As we’ve looked at these different approaches to worship, you’ve probably been more naturally drawn toward certain ones rather than others. Or maybe you just can’t wait for Sunday service, so you can let it all out. The good news is: These are all legitimate ways to worship God! And while we should use all of them—and other ways as well—we shouldn’t ignore that God has built each of us to connect with him in our own unique way. So let’s learn more about how we can worship God the way He’s already wired us, and what keeps us from going there.

So, here’s a whole list of questions to consider:

• When you think of worship, what comes to mind for you?
• Out of those answers, which ones do you think most fit God’s idea of worship? What other answers can you come up with?
• Do you normally think of worship more as a shared experience or a personal one? Why?
• Can worship be both shared and personal at the same time? 
• Which activities help you connect with God the most? Why?
• Think about a meaningful time or season of worship you’ve had in the past—of any kind. What made it so meaningful to you?
• How has your idea of what worship is (and isn’t) changed during the course of your Christian life? How has your own worship before God changed, as a result?

It’s amazing how God meets us where we’re at, and uses what we have and who we are. At the same time, we shouldn’t be surprised—God made us the way we are. So let’s start making our way to the end of this… the very end:

“Then a voice came from the throne, saying:

“‘Praise our God
all you his servants,
and all you who fear Him,
both the small and the great!’

“Then I heard what sounded like the voice of a vast throng, like the roar of many waters and like loud crashes of thunder. They were shouting:

“’Hallelujah!
For the Lord our God,  the All-Powerful,  reigns!
Let us rejoice and exult
and give him glory,
because the wedding celebration of the Lamb has come,
and his bride has made herself ready.
She was permitted to be dressed in bright, clean, fine linen’  (for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints). 

“Then  the angel  said to me, ‘Write the following: Blessed are those who are invited to the banquet at the wedding celebration of the Lamb!’ He also said to me, ‘These are the true words of God.’ So I threw myself down at his feet to worship him, but he said, ‘Do not do this! I am only a fellow servant with you and your brothers who hold to the testimony about Jesus. Worship God, for the testimony about Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.’—Revelation 19:5-10 (NET)

Put yourself in the middle of this passage—go from being an observer to a participant, because that’s what you’ll be one day. Does this scene excite you, make you uncomfortable, or does it just not resonate with you at all? Why?

By the same token, how does (or should) knowing our eternal future with Jesus help us make worship—however we do it—a higher priority in our lives right now?

It’s more than a little remarkable to think about, but it’s important to remember that our lives are prep time for eternity. At this very time in our lives, we’re being prepared to live forever in God’s presence. Just thinking about that will help us look at our lives here differently, so reflect on that this week.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

How to Guide Without Steering

Posted on May 30, 2011 by Carl Simmons

We’ve all made bad decisions that seemed good at the time. Bet you’ve already thought of one. So let’s explore that before going any further:

• When has a decision looked like “the right way” to you, yet turned out totally wrong (or at least unnecessary)?
• Looking back, why did you choose that route instead of another?
• What or who got you back on track? What did God teach you, as a result of that time?

We’ve all had times when we’ve thought or felt we had all the right information, but somehow still found ourselves off-course. When you think about it, then, it’s even more difficult to help others to make the right decision. We want to help; we think we know what will help. But even if we’re right, we usually don’t help by simply handing them the answers.

Sometimes we do see what others need more clearly than they do, but they can’t see it. And sometimes we really don’t understand where God’s trying to take them, and we project our own ideas and experiences onto them.

Either way, if they can’t see where God’s leading them, they might never get there. They could go the wrong way, or do something without the conviction that it’s truly God who’s doing the leading—and without that, they’ll likely give up before they ever really get start.

The trick, then, is to get the people we care about to see for themselves where God’s leading. And God can use us to do that, whether we can see where God’s leading them or not. Keith R. Anderson and Randy D. Reese, in their book Spiritual Mentoring: A Guide for Seeking and Giving Direction, make this observation: “The extraordinary events of epiphany or revelation are few and rare, but the gentle or firm probing of a mentor’s questions draw us back to the central action of spirituality: to pay attention for the presence of God in everything.” Here are just a few biblical examples, and you could do far worse than to take a few minutes to read them now:

• 1 Samuel 3:1-10
• 2 Samuel 12:1-13
• Matthew 7:1-6
• John 16:5-15
• Galatians 6:1-5
• Titus 2:1-8

And if you did, here are some questions and quotes to consider:

• What elements of guidance do you see in each of these passages? What challenges do you see?
• Putting all of these passages together: What’s God’s role in guiding others? What’s ours?
• How can we help people focus less on the pieces they don’t understand and more on the ones they already do? How will that help them figure out the rest of their “spiritual roadmaps”?

“All too often we think it is our job to get people in a place where they can call on God, but what if God has already called them? Then our role in someone’s life is to help them respond to the overtures of God.”—Robert Gelinas, Finding the Groove: Composing a Jazz-Shaped Faith

“To recognize an entry gate you do not ask, ‘What are the problems in a person’s life?’ Instead you ask, ‘What is this person struggling with in the midst of the situation?’”—Paul David Tripp, Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands

Think about the people who’ve helped you get over barriers you’d created in your own head, so you could accomplish something you didn’t think yourself capable of. How did God prepare both you and that other person?

Now, how might God use you to help someone else get past a barrier this week? Look for the opportunity, and take advantage of it. But remember, it’s about God’s call on them. Help them see it, but let them hang onto the wheel—because it’s God’s direction they need to follow.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

A piece from Laying Down in Peace

Posted on May 27, 2011 by Carl Simmons

We tend to get worked up whenever someone criticizes God or Christians. We want to run to God’s defense—or honestly, much of the time, our own—and say just the right thing that will shut that other person up. But God can defend Himself far better than we can. We are called to stand and deliver, then take what comes, just as Jesus did.

And consider that for a moment. For just a few moments, take off the table the idea that Jesus was the Son of God—that Jesus is God. Look, for a few moments, purely at the human Jesus of the gospels. Look at how much He loved God, and had to present the Kingdom of God and defend it—including very often against those who claimed to speak for God and clearly did not. And even how He spoke to those who truly desired to know God but got it wrong—a lot. Here was someone who actually knew the right answers. How do you think Jesus felt during when he was assaulted verbally—and later physically and beyond—by those who didn’t want to hear those answers?

But how did He respond? Certainly there are examples of anger—pretty much reserved for those who insisted they could represent God better than Jesus could—but there is also patience. Love. A desire that the people He responds to do somehow hear it.

And if that’s the model of a Christian response, who are we—who are still a hopeless jumble of spirit and flesh being sorted out through this process called sanctification—to respond any more pridefully?

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Dallas Willard for Dummies… in the very best sense

Posted on May 26, 2011 by Carl Simmons

I thought that might get your attention. 🙂

But let’s face it, as wonderful a spiritual writer as Dallas Willard is — and The Divine Conspiracy is deservedly recognized by many as the best Christian book of the past quarter-century — he can be a tough read. Renovation of the Heart is still close to impenetrable for me. The Great Omission or Hearing God are better starting points if you’re a newcomer, but there’s some deep thinking going on no matter where you turn.

But back to Conspiracy: The throwdown Dallas gave in that one was the creation of a “curriculum for Christlikeness” — a way to take all these deep thoughts about Jesus and turn them into spiritually transformative, real-life experience. In fact, that was pretty much the direct commission Dallas gave to James Bryan Smith for his Good and Beautiful series. I published a review of the final and best entry here a month ago, but bottom line: I don’t think it came close.

Enter another Willard disciple and more recent IVP publishee, Keith Meyer — who already had “spiritual street cred” with me going in, due to his pastorship at Church of the Open Door in Minneapolis (go C&MA alumni!) and its decided emphasis on discipleship. In his first book, Whole Life Transformation, Keith shares how that emphasis changed both him and his church — and more importantly, how to reproduce that transformation in your life and church (in the way God chooses, of course). And by presenting it in the hands-on way he does — especially the book’s second half — I believe this is the closest we’ve come so far on that “curriculum for Christlikeness” front. (Well, maybe also… but let’s not go there right now. :))

Keith Meyer. Whole Life Transformation: Becoming the Change Your Church Needs. Foreword by Dallas Willard. Hardcover, 224p., $20.00. IVP Books.

A Willard quote is both the launching point for Keith and this book: “In the end Keith, what God gets from your ministry for him is you.” And another, from Keith himself: “Without a strong sense of being loved by Christ, ministry sets us up to feed off each others’ egos in attempts to get what only God can give.”

It’s this latter quote that embodies the first half of the book — Keith’s story, one of a pastor approaching burnout because he’s doing “God’s work” without God’s help or presence. And it’s a question from his son while sitting watching TV — “Dad, are you home yet?” — that stops him in his tracks and turns him around. Keith discovers how to let Jesus be his teacher; and ultimately, his personal turnaround spread to an entire church.

The second half addresses how to begin “being the change” in our own lives, and again Keith starts with family, and friends — the people who can see our blind spots and point them out so we can take them to God. From there, he shares what that spiritual transformation can look like in a church context, and where it needs to start:

“One person finally got was I was trying to say, and asked, ‘If we get .01 percent of our people into this the next year, we would be doing good, right?’ I said, ‘You got it! And the .01 percent would be you… living it out together in your homes, neighborhoods and work.”

So, your turn: Are you fried? Restless? Wondering where God is in all this ministry you’re doing for God? So was Keith. As you walk along with him through Whole Life Transformation, you’ll realize God DOES have a “better life now” for you — the real kind — and that it is something worth attempting. And you’ll probably start doing something with it before you’re done reading this book.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 8 Comments

What’s Your Compass?

Posted on May 25, 2011 by Carl Simmons

Are you alone? Good. Then you won’t feel silly trying this:

Shut your eyes… well, I’ll tell you when actually … and point straight ahead in the direction you think is north. (If you have an actual compass, keep it handy but don’t look at it yet. A town map would get it done.) Now, keeping your eyes closed, spin around three times and try to be pointing north again when you’re done. Ready? Go!

OK, check your compass or map. How close were you to being north when you were done?

Here, then, are a few more things to reflect on:

• What landmarks did you use to decide which way north was? How accurate were they?
• When’s a time you’ve felt like you’d been spinning for so long that you didn’t know which way was up (or north, for that matter)?
• What do you use as your “compass” when you have to make a tough decision?

God has given us a number of compasses to help us figure out what direction we should take, such as the guidance of the Holy Spirit and the advice of other mature Christians we trust. But sometimes we can mistake our own thoughts or feelings what the Spirit’s really trying to say to us — we’ve certainly seen evidence of that earlier this week. And even with the best of intentions, other Christians can give us advice that isn’t what God wants for us.

We have a compass that always points to God and can give us the guidance we need—the Bible. But many of us don’t know how to use that compass to its best effect. Sometimes we don’t believe it’s really pointing north and don’t follow it. Even more often, we don’t pull it out to find out where God is trying to point us.

And sometimes, we have a hard time reading that compass. But when we do use, understand, and follow God’s Word, God changes us and takes us where he really wants us. So let’s see how we can make God’s Word more a part of our lives, and why it’s important for us to do it.

You might already do something like this on your own, but try it now and see what happens: Find Joshua 1:1-9 in your Bibles, and read the passage quietly to yourself. Don’t move on until you’ve read the whole passage first. Then, answer these questions:

• What’s the context of this passage? In other words: What’s happening here? When and where is this taking place? What are the people in the passage thinking and feeling at this moment?
• What words or phrases stand out to you here?
• What’s the main thing God wanted the people in this passage to know?
• What’s God saying to you through this passage? What’s one way can you take that and put it into practice?

Here’s a couple more broader questions:

• Look again at verses 8-9. What’s the difference between meditating on God’s Word and just reading it?
• When (or how) has spending time in God’s Word helped you have strength or success you wouldn’t have had otherwise? Talk about it.

OK, here’s one more activity: Take out your wallet, purse or cell phone, and put it in front of you. What’s so important about carrying this thing with you everywhere you go? What are some different ways you use it?

We just looked at a passage in Scripture where God commands us to meditate upon his Word day and night. So let’s take that idea a step further: What do you think would happen if your Bible was as “joined to your hip” as the item you have in front of you?  How would giving God’s Word time and priority in your life change how you live? Be specific.

With that, I want you to try an experiment this week. Let’s make this idea more than just a nice activity. Try actually taking your Bible everywhere you take your wallet, purse or cell phone this week. Yes, everywhere.

It’s likely you’ll get some interesting looks from people; you’ll almost certainly get a few questions. But who knows? You just might get the opportunity to share your faith with someone whose curiosity you’ve piqued. And as an added bonus, whenever you have the urge to read your Bible, it’ll be right there. And because it is right there, you’ll probably have that urge more often than you would have. So take a chance this week, and give God an extra opportunity to use you and speak through his Word. OK?

See you tomorrow, with another review from another voice.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment