Who Holds The Keys?

This has been an incredible week for us.  It never ceases to thrill us when God opens yet another door of opportunity for us to walk through.  

From the moment we began planting Northpoint we have prayed for God to open doors.  We have always believed, and still do, that the only way this baby church is going to see a healthy birth date is if God opens every door of opportunity along the way.  

It's a strange feeling: the moment you find yourself being handed the keys of responsibility for planting a new church.  Your mind reels with endless possibilities and ideas.  You find yourself dreaming of "over the top" strategies and methods of ministry.  Depending on your situation, planting a church offers some freedoms you might not otherwise have while serving in a ministry position in an established church.  There is the freedom to try new things and build your baby church's DNA (after all, nothing has been done from which to draw comparison.)  

The challenge comes when faced with the temptation to build His church in your own power.  It’s easy to hold on to the things that you think are vital to the growth of His church and if you aren’t careful, you try to force open doors that were never meant to be opened.  

In many ways we are much like the little girl who valued her dime store pearls.  These pearls were shiny and beautiful.  Everywhere she went people noticed the pearls around her neck.  One evening, as the little girl got ready for bed, her father came to tuck her in.  With excitement in his eyes, he told her that he had a very special gift for her.  The little girl’s excitement grew until her father asked her for her dime store pearls in exchange for his gift.  Defeated in spirit, the little girl clutched her pearls and said, “That’s alright Daddy, I’ll just keep my pearls.”  For several days this exchange continued between father and daughter.  Until one evening the father walked in to see his little girl crying quietly on her bed.  As he sat down, the little girl lifted the pearls to her father and said, “Here Daddy, if the pearls mean that much to you, you can have them.”  The father scooped his little girl up into his arms and pulled out a beautifully wrapped box.  As the little girl opened her gift, she could hardly believe her eyes.  Tucked inside this tiny box was a strand of the most beautiful freshwater pearls the little girl had ever seen.  

If you are planting a church, you are faced with the challenge of growing a church that will be healthy and thriving when launched.  If you aren’t careful, you will find yourselves holding onto things that are “good” while God is standing on the sidelines trying to give you the “best.”  You can’t settle for what’s easy and convenient.  Sometimes it will hurt to let go of the things you cherish.  There may be people who leave your team before you open your doors.  There may be ideas you have to table because as a church you aren’t ready to see those ideas become a reality.  You will have to allow others to step in and take responsibility for things, instead of keeping everything on your plate.  

It can be so very easy to hold on to the keys of responsibility. That is, unless you've experienced first hand what can happen when you relinquish the keys to the master locksmith.  

We are discovering more each day that our efforts will always pale in comparison to what takes place when God divinely intervenes on our behalf.  

Relationships are being built and partnerships within the community are being developed.   One of the greatest challenges we face is giving up the keys to our life, and just as importantly, the keys to our church, to the master locksmith.  There is only one set of keys and the choice is ours.  Who is going to hold them?

It's Your Move

One of the greatest challenges for any church planter is moving forward into uncharted territory.   We recently took inventory of all that God has shown us and accomplished since we moved to Beaumont to plant a church.  His hand has been so evident and He has opened so many doors for us.  There has been time spent on our knees as we poured out our hearts to God, asking for His favor and anointing.  We have burned the midnight oil many times as we strategize and internalize the vision we feel God has placed upon our hearts.  We have prayed the prayer of Solomon when he pleaded, "Give me a God-listening heart so I can lead your people well, discerning the difference between good and evil."(1 Kings 3:9) 


We also took inventory of how the enemy has tried to thwart our efforts.  He has tried to discourage us. He has tried to lead us towards complacency and has tried to focus our attention on the challenges of the journey ahead of us.  


As we worked through our inventory list a fresh excitement began to build within our souls as we once again grasped the reality that God is in what we are doing.  He is moving in mighty ways.  He is opening doors that seemed impossible to pass through.  Oh, what a mighty God we serve!  Our inventory also served as a reminder that God is expecting us to do our part.


The question that is in front of us from the moment we wake until the moment we lay our heads to sleep is, "What are we going to do with this new church plant today?"  We recognize more and more everyday that the most effective card Satan can play against us right now is the complacency card.  (We will be bold enough to say that it's very likely the most effective card he can play against you as a church planter, as well.)   


The tasks that lie ahead of us as church planters can often seem daunting.  The weight of responsibility is heavy.  God has given us the incredible and exciting task of building His church and furthering  His kingdom in our communities.  There are relationships to build, launch teams to motivate, buildings to renovate, communities to be reached and spiritual disciplines that must not take a back seat in our list of priorities. 


You may be fighting the temptation to pull the blanket over your head and declare  - "I'll tackle this another day."  

Here's the reality - it's your move.  If you are a church planter, you have walked behind enemy lines.  You are on the front lines fighting for something that isn't even in existence yet.  Your dreams for your church have yet to be fully realized.  You are walking in the land of the unknown.  So what are you going to do about it?  


What are you going to do once you've poured your heart out to God?  What's next once you've strategized and laid out your vision for your church?  Our prayer is that you are going to MOVE!  Get out into your community.  Reach out to the schools in your city.  Build your launch team and stay in touch with them throughout the week.  Be their greatest encourager.  Be available to them.  Stay current with social media (this takes almost daily time and effort.)  Plan ahead - build your calendar (or in church planting terms... your timeline) and work it!  Know what's coming and over-prepare.  Anticipate the hurdles as you work towards your block parties and your community events leading up to launch.  Have Plan B in place.  Above everything else - just MOVE.  Don't fall into complacency.  Begin your day with a plan  - even if your plan is to work at the local coffee shop for the day.  By the way, three of our launch team members are a direct result of time spent in the coffee shop praying for God-appointed conversations.


Everything you are doing right now matters.  Launching your church is exciting and an obvious accomplishment that we all want to experience.  But remember that God is moving right now during the process of building your church and leading your team towards launch.  2012 holds seemingly endless possibilities for our churches.  Don't let this year get away from you.  Seize every opportunity God gives you and look for the opportunities that He might be placing right before you if you'll only open your eyes to see them.  


He has called you to a mighty work - now it's your move.  What are you going to do about it?


Be encouraged today!

Building an Effective Website for Your Church Plant

From the very beginning of our journey we felt it was critical that we have a website up and running, even if at first it was bare bones.  Our good friend Tommy Bailey, who owns Collision Media, has worked with us  extensively to help us develop social media outlets that work for this leg of our journey with the church plant.  Tommy and his team at Collision Media have shared with us some very helpful guidelines when building your church website and we'd like to pass those on to you. 

WHAT ARE THE TOP 10 MISTAKES CHURCHES MAKE WHEN BUILDING A WEBSITE

1.  Not keeping it simple.

a.  Your website needs to be simple.  Think about the most visited website in the world, Google.  When you visit Google.com you have one option, and that’s it.  You don’t need to under simplify your website, but your potential website visitors want simple instructions on where to find information.

2.  Focusing on features rather than content

a.  Church leaders often get caught up in adding the latest and greatest features to their website (Twitter feeds, live streaming, blogging, etc.) at the detriment of focusing on the most important content that your website users will primarily require.

3.  Focusing on design rather than content

a.  Church leaders often get caught up in creating a website that simply looks pretty at the detriment of focusing on the most important content that your website users will primarily require.

4.  Not thinking through sustainability when putting together your website.

a.  Consistently updating your website is a discipline, and it’s not easy.  When building your website, make sure your are thoughtful about what you and your team can continue to update on a continual basis.

5.  Not putting your times and directions front and center on your website.

a.  This is one of the most common mistakes on a church website.  The number one thing a user wants to know is where you are, and when your services start.  When you church has launched make your times and directions very apparent on your homepage.

6.  Using Flash technology

a.  Flash is a technology that is going the way of the buffalo, it’s dying.  It doesn’t work on most mobile devices and it consistently has security issues.  When working with your web developer make sure they don’t use Flash, or if they do, make sure it’s minimal.

7.  Using auto-play

a.  Auto-play is at the top of the list of annoying things your website can do.  When a user loads a page they don’t want your webpage to automatically play a video or audio.  Give them the option to start and stop media on their own.

8.  Not incorporating online giving

a.  Online giving is easy with services like PayPal, MinistryGive, and many others.  There’s no reason your website can’t accept online giving right from the start.

9.  Using “your nephew” to create your website.

a.  We’ve heard this story many times.  Use a professional to develop your website, not your teen nephew who’s taken an HTML class.  You don’t have to spend a fortune to have a great website, but it’s an important investment, so choose someone who knows what they are doing.

10.        Bad photography

a.  You’re probably not a photographer, and just because your friend bought a new fancy camera doesn’t mean she’s a photographer either.  Hire a professional to take a few quality photos of your leadership and church.  Remember, most people who visit your website don’t know you - your photography may be their first impression.

WHAT IS THE #1 PRIORITY CHURCHES SHOULD CONSIDER WHEN BUILDING THEIR WEBSITE

Keep your website simple.  This doesn’t mean that your website can’t be robust and feature rich, but simplicity and organization of your content is important both for you and for your visitors.

• For you:  You’re working at a church, which is a lot of work, and rarely do church leaders have time to consistently update more than a few sections of their website.  There’s nothing worse than an out of date website.  Sustainability will help you in the long term, and ultimately create a better communication strategy for your church.

• For your website visitors:  You have around 7 seconds for a visitor of your website to decide to continue looking for the information they want, or to leave.  Keeping your website simple and organized is the best way for your visitors to find the information that they need.  Most importantly, make sure your times and directions are easily found on your homepage.

CHECK OUT THE LINK BELOW TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE SERVICES OFFERED THROUGH COLLISION MEDIA:

http://collis.in/tw06Qc