Online All Staff Meeting

We had our first online “All Staff Meeting” this week. Several people were asking how we did it, so I thought I’d share a few thoughts.

HOW? We used our church online platform at www.churchonline.org.

WHY? Since our staff is spread out, bringing them together is costly, time consuming, and challenging. We hoped an online event would provide us with the opportunity to communicate, inspire and motivate.

In addition to simply receiving information, the staff had the additional benefit of talking to each other through the online chat.

SURPRISES: None of us had any idea how much fun we’d have. I was laughing out loud much of the time at the hilarious chatting. The staff was buzzing with excitement the day after the meeting.

When we asked people to get serious, they did quickly. The corporate worship was powerful and the prayer time was deeply moving.

We will continue to meet together in person and do an online event once or twice a year when it makes sense. Here is a short clip from the meeting.

If any staff members would like to add some thoughts about your experience, please do.

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Response to Flooding in OKC

Last week, several areas in and around Oklahoma City experienced flooding after record amounts of rainfall. Some of the neighborhoods near our locations saw water levels as high as 4-5 feet, which destroyed nearly everything in their homes. Flooding of this nature is very unusual for these areas, so most of these families did not have flood insurance.

Since Tuesday we’ve been working with the people in those neighborhoods to offer help clearing and cleaning their houses, food, water, prayer, and other assistance. Here are a few of the pieces from local media that have been covering the response:

Helping Flood Victims

Volunteers clean up flooded neighborhoods

We’ve been overwhelmed by the people, organizations, and businesses in the community who have jumped at the chance to help. I just wanted to take a moment to say thank you to everyone who has been giving their time and resources so generously. It’s great to see the church being the church!

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Joel A’Bell - Part 4

LifeChurch.tv was very honored to host Joel A’Bell and his mates from ‘down under’ last week. This is the last of a four-part video interview:

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Joel A-Bell - 2

“Heart for the House” is a phrase that is common at Hillsong. It speaks of the loyalty, honor and single-mindedness that is felt for the local church. In this segment, I asked Joel to explain how they develop a “heart for the house.”

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The Other Side of Brokenness

A few years ago, I sat on my back porch with one of our campus pastors who was struggling in his role. It was clear that he may not make it as a campus pastor.

It wasn’t because he wasn’t trying. This guy was bringing his best. And it wasn’t because he didn’t care. No one cared more than he did. This guy simply wasn’t succeeding at producing the right outcomes through his people.

When he asked my advice, I told him that God needed to break him. That obviously wasn’t what he wanted to hear. Through tears he told me that he was pretty sure that he was broken.

I explained that if he was “pretty sure,” then he wasn’t broken. When you are broken, you know for sure you are broken.

Over a series of other painful events, this campus pastor finally reached a place of deep brokenness before God. When many parts of his life fell apart, God started putting them back together. Almost overnight, this pastor became an infinitely better spiritual leader and is leading a campus in a way that truly honors God.

Recently he told a group of people, “You won’t really know the goodness of God until you are totally broken.”

If you are hurting deeply right now, God’s love and power are even more evident on the other side of brokenness.

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The Strategically Generous Church

I pray your church or ministry gives spontaneously to meet needs. But if we only give spontaneously, this style of giving will limit what we’re able to give. Another way to think about giving is to be strategic.

• Abraham thought ahead of time to send gifts with his servant for Isaac’s future wife.
• The Magi planned ahead of time to bring extravagant gifts for God’s son.
• God strategically showed His love for us by sending Christ while we were still sinning against Him.

Isaiah 32:8 says, “But generous people plan to do what is generous, and they stand firm in their generosity.” (NLT)

We could say generous churches plan to do what is generous. Instead of just planning our next building project or fundraiser, we should also “plan to do what is generous.”

Unquestionably we should plan to help the poor and needy. (Most churches do this well or at least are trying to do so.) We can also plan to help and support other churches or ministries.

In our meetings, we have learned to strategically ask, “What can we give to other churches to help them?”

• Do you have a building you could offer another ministry one day a week or more?
• When you upgrade choir robes, a van, or a sound system, can you give what you had to bless another ministry?
• Can you make your sermons, outlines, or videos available to serve other churches?

When you plan to be generous, you might be surprised how many ways you can be a blessing.

How is God using your ministry to serve others?

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The Church’s Vision is Too Small

For years, I wondered why some people seemed more excited about parachurch ministries than church ministries. Perhaps it is because our vision for the church has been too small.

Almost daily, I hear great church members excited about their “outside the church” ministry. Instead of whining about why they don’t give, serve, or care about the ministry of the local church, I’ve made two commitments:

1. I’m going to cast such a compelling vision for the power of the local church that the vision would draw their hearts back to the local church.
2. I’m going to celebrate and embrace whatever they are doing to make a difference.

Not surprisingly, God is turning many hearts back to loving his church!

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Ministries From the Church

I’m so thankful many Christians are becoming more missionally minded. This week alone, I’ve had people ask me (or our church) to support:

• A group that hands out hotdogs to the homeless.
• A group building homes in Honduras.
• A local ministry that helps drug addicts get jobs.
• A few guys building long lasting pumps to help get drinking water to people without it.
• A girl ministering in an orphanage in Mexico.
• A Christian radio station.

Each ministry is led by passionate believers hoping to make a difference. I’m sincerely thankful for each one.

But sadly, none of these ministries were an extension of any church. In fact, when I asked each one what church they were involved with, several didn’t have a church home.

Instead of branching off to do a new and separate ministry, I love when ministries are supported by a church.

A ministry sent from a church has some built in advantages that include:

• Potentially better financial support.
• Accountability.
• Engagement of people from the church.

Maybe it’s just me, but I’d love to see the church more involved in creating, blessing, and sending great ministries than seeing them birthed outside of the church.

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