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#imustconfess

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#imustconfess



#imustconfess that before Christ, I was lost and confused about my purpose and my place on this earth. It’s true that I had heard (and read) the words of Jesus Christ, but I didn’t know Him in a personal way.

I was 9 years old when I made Jesus Lord and Leader of my life. In that moment, my knees shook and I was overwhelmed by my own sin and guilt. I realized I was a sinner. I opened a Bible and read Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” I embraced the truth in those words and turned away from my sin and toward Jesus. My life was changed!

Since meeting Jesus, I have no doubt about my future. I know that Jesus died for me and rose from the dead on the third day. Jesus is my Lord and Leader, and my relationship with Him defines my life. I still have struggles, ups, downs and everything in between, but Jesus puts it all in perspective. I know who I am and I know I belong to Jesus. It’s the greatest thing that’s ever happened to me, and it’s what #imustconfess!

Scoreboards & Accountability

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Scoreboards & Accountability



If you’ve served or led for any length of time, then you’ve probably watched a key initiative come up short. Maybe a ministry plan was doomed from the start. Perhaps it was slowly and quietly smothered by competing priorities.

What happened? The whirlwind of day-to-day activities consumed most of your time and energy, leaving little margin for important and strategic things.

Ministry 4DX is the application of Franklin Covey’s 4 Disciplines of Execution (4DX) to church growth and revitalization. It leads your team to execute on your most important strategic priorities in the midst of the whirlwind. 4DX includes:

  • Discipline #1 – Focus on the wildly important
  • Discipline #2 – Act on the lead measure.
  • Discipline #3 – Create a compelling scoreboard.
  • Discipline #4 – Create a cadence of accountability.

Create a compelling scoreboard. Since each ministry area or department has 1 or 2 wildly important goals (WIGs), it makes sense that each team will use a scoreboard that measures important lead measures for those goals.

The key idea is to take weekly stock of several lead measures, then show the lag measure they impact. Over time, positive movement in the lead measures should impact the lag measure (attendance, participation, etc.) in the right direction.

For example, a departmental scorecard for community might have five lead measures for new leaders and groups that point to one lag measure—attendance. The team’s time and energy is spent on the first five items with the expectation that average attendance will go up.

Create a cadence of accountability. Each ministry area or department can schedule weekly LAUNCH meetings to help create a cadence of accountability.

Typical meetings are no more than 20 minutes and include quick reports from everyone. Here’s a typical agenda:

  • Pray for each other.
  • What are the 1-3 most important things I can do this week to impact the scoreboard?
  • Report on last week’s commitments.
  • Review and update the scoreboard.
  • Make commitments for next week.

So what’s the Big Idea?

Use 4DX to execute on your most important strategic priorities in the midst of the whirlwind. Create a compelling scoreboard and a cadence of accountability.

Resources

Ministry 4DX, Part 1

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Ministry 4DX, Part 1



If you’ve served or led for any length of time, then you’ve probably watched a key initiative come up short. Maybe a ministry plan was doomed from the start. Perhaps it was slowly and quietly smothered by competing priorities.

What happened? The whirlwind of day-to-day activities consumed most of your time and energy, leaving little margin for important and strategic things.

Ministry 4DX is the application of Franklin Covey’s 4 Disciplines of Execution (4DX) to church growth and revitalization. It leads your team to execute on your most important strategic priorities in the midst of the whirlwind. 4DX includes:

  • Discipline #1 – Focus on the wildly important
  • Discipline #2 – Act on the lead measure.
  • Discipline #3 – Create a compelling scoreboard.
  • Discipline #4 – Create a cadence of accountability.

Focus on the wildly important. Each team needs wildly important goals (WIGs). And because team focus is quickly diluted, it’s important that ministry departments and teams have no more than 1 or 2 WIGs at the same time.

Ask the question: What do you need to focus on above all else? For example:

  • Evangelism WIG – Train 1,000 people to share their 1 story, memorize 1 verse, and get their commitment to share with 1 person by 8/1/16.
  • Worship WIG – Grow the 11:00am service +45 by 8/1/16.
  • Community WIG – Grow LIFE groups +80 by 8/1/16.
  • Service WIG – Mobilize 150 people on short-term mission trips by 8/1/16.

Act on the lead measure. Every goal needs a measuring stick, but not just any measuring stick. Placing your focus on the right measure is one of the most important things you can do to improve execution.

What’s the difference between lead and lag measures? Here’s a quick definition:

  • Lead Measure – Something that leads to the goal
  • Lag Measure – Something that measures the goal

The key idea is to take weekly stock of several lead measures, then show the lag measure they impact. Over time, positive movement in the lead measures should impact the lag measure (attendance, participation, etc.) in the right direction.

Take a look at some lead and lag ministry measure examples:

  • Evangelism Lead Measure—1×3 Outreach Initiative Commitments—impacts the Lag Measure—Baptisms
  • Worship Lead Measure—Invite Cards Distributed—impacts the Lag Measure—Worship Attendance
  • Community Lead Measure—New Groups Started—impacts the Lag Measure—Groups Attendance
  • Service Lead Measure—New People Mobilized—impacts the Lag Measure—Missions Participation

So what’s the Big Idea?

Use 4DX to execute on your most important strategic priorities in the midst of the whirlwind. Focus on the wildly important and act on the lead measure.

Resources

Evangelism Redux

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Evangelism Redux



Over the last several decades, influential witness training methods like Evangelism Explosion (1962), Continuing Witness Training (1982), Becoming a Contagious Christian (1995) and FAITH Evangelism (1999) became key drivers of church growth.

Across America and around the world, a fresh Acts 1:8 history lesson was learned: Develop an intentional witness training plan, maintain a growing prospect list and build a sustained churchwide evangelism focus.

The influence of these programs continues in churches that have made them a part of their vision and DNA. In other churches, they ran their course and petered out, leaving exhausted pastors and congregations in their wake.

It seems likely that some of us (and I count myself in this group) over thought and over complicated what should have been a simple proposition: Mobilize as many believers as possible to live a lifestyle of sharing.

More than ever, I believe that mobilizing more people with simplified evangelism “handles” is the best way forward. If you’re a believer, then you can share your faith. Let’s return to basics and embrace KISS methodology: “Keep it short and simple.”

At First West, our evangelism plan asks for 3 commitments:

  • 1 Story – Learn to share your 1 story.
  • 1 Verse – Memorize 1 verse to share the gospel.
  • 1 Person – Identify and share with your 1 person.

1 Story. Experience tells us that a person’s testimony is the easiest way to share with someone else. Every believer has a story! Teaching believers to share about their life before they met Jesus, how they came to accept Jesus into their life and about their life since they met Jesus is the best foundation for sustained lifestyle evangelism.

1 Verse. We use Romans 6:23 to equip all ages to share the gospel. It’s easy to use key words from this one verse to present God’s plan to save the world:

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. – Romans 6:23 (ESV)

Key words like “wages,” “sin” and “death” illustrate that our sin has earned us a death sentence. That’s the bad news. The word “but” offers some good news. “Free gift,” “of God” and “eternal life” tell us that God’s gift is the eternal life alternative to the death we deserve.

1 Person. We lead our church to know who their one person is. We ask believers to pray for their one person. We ask them to start faith conversations with their one person. We ask them to invite their one person to a weekend service or special community event. And we ask them to share the gospel when the relational chips have been earned to do so.

So what’s the Big Idea?

Provide evangelism “handles” like 1 story, 1 verse, 1 person to keep witness training short and simple. Mobilize as many believers as possible to live a lifestyle of sharing.

Resources

Set SMARTer Goals

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Set SMARTer Goals



Many goals fail because they aren’t clear, don’t seem important or aren’t likely to happen when you need them to. The solution is to use SMART criteria to make goal setting, well, smarter.

SMART goals use a mnemonic acronym to guide the setting of objectives:

  • S = Specific
  • M = Measurable
  • A = Achievable
  • R = Relevant
  • T = Time-Bound

The first use of SMART criteria to describe goal-setting occured in the November 1981 issue of Management Review in George Doran’s article, “There’s a SMART Way to Write Management’s Goals and Objectives.”

Doran wrote that objectives should be:

  • Specific – They should target a specific area for improvement. Exactly what do you want to accomplish? Who, what, when and where?
  • Measurable – They should quantify or suggest an indicator of progress. How will you track your progress? How much and how many?
  • Achievable – They should aim for a realistically achievable result. Do you have what you need to achieve your goal? Is your goal too challenging? Is it too easy?
  • Relevant – They should be goals that matter. Does your goal matter to your supervisor, team and organization? Is your goal aligned with organizational vision and values?
  • Time-Bound – They should specify when the result can be achieved. When will you achieve your goal? What is your time limit?

How do your 2016 goals stack up against the SMART standard?

Make your goals specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound. It’s a fact: SMART goals make goal setting smarter.

And that’s the Big Idea.

Resources


Source

“SMART Criteria,” Accessed August 20, 2015, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMART_criteria.

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