Take for instance, the church in the village of Saneba. The church is made out of stalks of millet, and in their words it looks like a birds nest. The benches were made out of round, dead, tree trunks that would create an abdominal challenge for most of us to keep our balance on. When I walked in for a tour, which means stand in the middle of the 15×30 structure on the dirt floor and look around, there was no doubt, Jesus was in that birds nest. They gave us a little ‘worship snack’ for the little bit of time that we were in this village, and it was just delicious. The joy those people know with their voices, hands, and feet, is awe-inspiring.

Whenever I am feeling grumpy, or whiny, or synical about this beautiful thing called The Church I try and think about that birds nest.

Not that you would ever do this, but the next time you go to church and think:

1.My parking spot is too far away

2. The music is too loud

3. The Pastor just didn’t do it for me today

4. The line to check-in/pick-up my kids is too long

5. The coffee is too weak (I might support you on that one)

6. I couldn’t find a good seat

Remember that gathering for worship is not about making sure everything is perfectly according to your liking. It’s about taking what inspired, equipped, challenged, and messed you up, leaving that place and giving it away to others. Everything that our gatherings should actually accomplish, can be done in that birds nest.

Everyone Belongs,

Paul

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Over the last couple of years we have been given and incredible opportunity to reach out to families in Northwest Atlanta at Christmas time through an event we call, Hope For Christmas. Our key partner is a non-profit called, A Fresh Hope. It was started by an elementary child just a few years ago with a heart to reach out to less fortunate children in our area. Last year we threw this Christmas party and provided two toys to each child and a food box for each family.

This year, Hope for Christmas is scheduled for Saturday, 12/11/2010. This year we hope to provide Christmas to between 4,000-5,000 children and a box of food to each of their families. We also provide the opportunity for every child to ‘shop‘ (for free) for a member of their family, so that they can know the joy of giving on Christmas morning.

A Fresh Hope and West Ridge work to drum up community support to make this event happen, but our ability to reach out to as many families as possible is realized exponentially through the buy-in of the people at West Ridge. In the past we have looked to everyone in our church to bring in a toy and some canned goods, and we hope that you will.

This year we want to give you the opportunity to think ahead, and issue a challenge from the leadership at A Fresh Hope.

What is the Hope for Christmas Challenge? Well, we are asking for people to do 4 things each month from now until 12/11/2010/

1. Pray for the event. Pray that this event is the vehicle to reach the community. Pray the community sees the Light of Jesus from this event.
2. Purchase 1 toy a month from now until December.
3. Purchase several cans of food for the food bag each month from now until December (items needed are: green beans, corn, yams, boxes of stuffing, mac and cheese, Gravy & cranberry sauce.)
4. Purchase 1 new gift item for the Secret Santa Shoppe.  Dad gifts are particularly needed

Just a little bit extra every month will allow you to invest in families in an incredible way this year. This event also requires hundreds of volunteers, and we will have that information for you very soon, but go ahead and save the date!

For ongoing updates, pictures, details on what you can begin to purchase, check the Hope For Christmas Facebook Page.

Everyone Belongs,

Paul

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Why the kids like it?

One word, Manty. I had no idea that there was a subliminal grasshopper hidden through the pages of scripture until I picked up this book. This little character shows up hidden in the illustrations, and help the kids stay in tune. They love looking for Manty.

Why the parents like it?

This book challenges you to take these few moments and do four things: The first is Read. Got that one. The second is Think. Throughout the pages of My First Message there are simple definitions and key questions that surround key terms. Stopping to ask my boys these question really help them remember and seal the story in their hearts, rather than just quickly reading and slamming the book shut. That happens every once in a while, but that is only when Dad is in too big a hurry.

The third is Pray. At the end of every story there is a short challenge to pray to help apply what you have learned. It helps bring concepts like forgiveness and faith and self-control and love (and whatever else), and make them practical for this age group.

The last is Live. This is often a craft or family activity that you can do to help you further apply and remember the story that you have read. We don’t really do this at bedtime, but these make for great rainy day or family day activities. My kids have made the garden tomb out of play dough and imagined it empty, things like that. We don’t have any of the disciples action figures (I’m sure they exist somewhere) so often Peter, James, and John, show a strong resemblance to Obi-wan, Anakin, and even Yoda. That’s how we roll.

Whether or not you pick up the same books we have is irrelevant. My hope is that each of us trying to raise kids with a Christian world view will take a little intentional time every day to grow them in faith. A little time every day can compound into a lifetime of knowledge and application.

Everyone Belongs,

Paul

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Mac came up with 7 principles for how Jesus raised up the leaders around him after reading straight through the gospels looking through a lens of leadership development.

1) Confidence – Jesus saw people for what they could be, not just who they were at the time.
2) Connection – Jesus had a strong relational connection with the people he invested in.

Mac refers to the two things above as the central ingredients of leadership development.

3) Content – He gave them parables and stories to go talk about. They had things to learn and grow with during their time away from Him. Their leadership development was not totally dependent on their time with him.

4) Coaching – When Peter sank in the water Jesus asked him, “Why did you doubt?” while he was still in the water. He didn’t wait to ask him when he got back in the boat. He coached him in the middle of his experience.

5) Challenges – Jesus put the disciples into situations where they had to practice their leadership apart from him.
6) Cluster – Jesus created an environment where the disciples could connect with one another peer to peer.
7) Conference (Large group learning) – Throughout the year Jesus had gatherings where thousands would show up. The gatherings were so compelling that people would not even leave to go eat.

Mac shared that leadership is a messy process that requires discipline. I couldn’t agree more.

For more on Mac’s thoughts on Leadership visit http://maclakeonline.com

Everyone Belongs,

Paul

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So technically, I’m not moving to Africa, but my friend Joanna Gregg is. After traveling to Burkina Faso a couple of times, Joanna is following God’s current mission for her life to move there for one year and be a part of our team. Here’s a quick message from Joanna:

I have been involved in missions in one way or another since I was a little girl.  In the last few years my involvement in missions has been to go with West Ridge Church to Burkina Faso.  On my most recent trip I was asked to consider returning to Burkina for a year long internship.  My initial response was, “there is no way I can raise that kind of money”.  However, I agreed to pray about the internship possibility.  After returning home, I realized if it weren’t for the money I would go ahead and proceed with this opportunity.  I knew that if this is something God wanted, I couldn’t let the money stop me.  After much praying I decided to pursue the internship in Burkina Faso.  I plan to move to Burkina Faso in January and work with the Feild family for a year.  I am very excited about this opportunity and about all that God is going to do in and through me during this time.

We are so excited to have Joanna join us at the LAC Team Center in Burkina Faso. Joanna is going to be blogging her experience and will have something up very soon. If you would like to support Joanna, please use the button below. If you would like to contact her, use my contact form at the top of my website. I will make sure it gets to her.

Please pray that God would continue to provide and guide her steps. Gotta love it when someone is willing to step out with this kind of faith and boldness!

Everyone Belongs,

Paul

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“All the food is free tomorrow night for guests. They ask for a donation to A Fresh Hope per a meal instead of paying for the food but that is optional. This Stevi B’s is a huge one with the 106 flavor Coke Machine. Waverly hung out at the Coke Machine all day. They have like 6 different Diet Cokes- heavenly.

I would love to see a lot of support for A Fresh Hope and Stevi B’s tomorrow night if possible. This Stevi Bs is at the corner of South Cobb Drive and the East West Connector in the Publix shopping Center. Go past Cobb Hospital about 5 minutes on the East West Connector. We will be there from 5:00 – 8:00. Stevi B’s really seemed to ‘buy’ into A Fresh Hope and would love to partner in more ways in the future.

All money raise tomorrow night will go towards Hope for Christmas which is scheduled for 12-11-2010. So, bring your family. You have to feed them dinner, right?  Bring your neighbors, they probably need to eat too.

See you there,
Jennifer”

Everyone Belongs,

Paul

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When Will was three, almost four, I decided he needed to start to learn scripture cover to cover. I know that may seem a little extreme, but culture naturally teaches a worldview different from how the scripture teaches us to live. I think it is important to get started early. So how do you  read

the Bible to a preschool boy? I wanted to give my boys a good overview, but didn’t know where to start. I’ve never taught preschool, and I’d never been a Daddy. I needed something to help me teach my first born spawn some basic stories that he will pull truth from the rest of his life. I walked through book stores, searched websites, and actually came upon this little gem in a Barnes and Noble.

It’s from American Bible Society and was exactly what I needed to get me started in training up a child. It’s called the Read and Learn Bible. It contains 102 stories from both the Old and New Testament. Each story is 2-3 pages in very large font with some great illustrations for that age group.

Many nights this is what we do right before bed. It normally takes less than five minutes to read, which is perfect for little attention spans. It seems like the more consistent we are, the more they retain. I read through this a couple of times with Will until we moved him to the next level. Now, I get to read it to my little man Wesley. He’s about to finish it for the first time, and then we will start it again. You can go here to purchase it.

I hope to share a few more of these, including what I do with my oldest boy, and stuff I’ll attempt in the future. I hope these little thoughts equip some Dad out there to take just a little time every day to add value, and be the one who points your child to faith.

Everyone Belongs,

Paul

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Here are a couple of quick thoughts that can replicate any ministry or department, and not just a big event.

1) It’s not about a single personality. A fast growing ministry cannot be dependent on the person at the top. This is not just a Senior Pastor issue (although that happens), it’s about whomever the top leader is in the ministry/department.

The person who is ultimately responsible has got to communicate clear vision and values and give them away. When a church comes to me about participating in Community Makeover (CMO) here’s the first question, Do you have a leader strong enough to recruit and care for other leaders and to put a simple structure in place? The first thing you need is a leader of leaders who’s not afraid to replicate themselves at the risk of sharing glory, credit, etc. They need to know their strengths and have people around them to compensate for their weaknesses. Every leader will learn and share the same values and vision, and be able to speak about them in a way that it is clear they own the vision.

Too many churches/organizations stay small because everything has to run through a certain person. Sometimes we pretend their are checks and balances to prevent this by putting whole committees in place. In reality everyone is waiting for approval of the Head Deacon or whomever. This type of control freak leader stifles the growth of their area and a whole organization. The trap for this kind of leader is the happy knowledge that the organization has not grown past their leadership…and it never will.

2) The structure can’t be complicated. There cannot be layers of structure that create barriers to communication and creativity. If you care for people well you don’t have to use terms like “Chain of Command”. If you take the time to invest just a little bit relationally with people you will create an environment of mutual trust. This type of environment allows people to be creative, and allows the leader to be able to come back and tweak the creativity if needed.

Every volunteer should be able to get answers to their questions no matter who they ask, and every leader must be approachable.

CMO is not complicated. The entire structure of this enormous event can be boiled down into four parts moving together like Bono and the boys to help a church of 50 or 5,000 ‘rattle and hum’ along with excellence. It can be applied to any church environment whose desire is to allow leaders to lead.

When it comes to CMO having the right leader and a simple structure allows churches to own the event themselves. This is crucial. The goal of the makeover is not to connect people in different counties back to our non profit, Engage Atlanta. Engage does not want to plan the Outreach of any given church. The desire of Engage is to create an environment that allows churches to connect to each other and reach out to their own community the way they are being led to. Maybe the churches can even work together in the future. We create a catalyst opportunity for churches to engage their community with the love of Jesus Christ. The church is still in the community after CMO is over, and the church ‘makes disciples’ not the non-profit.

The desire is that getting people involved and recruiting new leaders through this event helps set up ministries to have greater success in reaching their community in the months that follow.

Everyone Belongs,

Paul

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Pastor Jim Cymbala of the Brooklyn Tabernacle Visits U.S. Cities to Encourage Ministry Leaders

Jim Cymbala, Sr. Pastor of the 10,000-member Brooklyn Tabernacle, renowned for their Grammy Award- winning Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir, is passionate about encouraging pastors and ministry leaders.   As an expression of this burden, he is visiting key U.S. Cities in 2010 to minister to church leaders in a one-day event called “reFresh!”  He will be in Atlanta on Thursday, November 11 at Westin Peachtree. The day is co-sponsored by a broad group of churches and ministries throughout the Atlanta area.

Cymbala, author of the best-selling book Fresh Wind- Fresh Fire (Zondervan), has led the Brooklyn Tabernacle for almost 40 years.  The church is known for its Tuesday evening prayer meeting that attracts 4,000 participants each week.   Cymbala’s lessons on spiritual power, authentic prayer and enduring leadership are going to be the focus of this one-day event.  Pastors, church staff members, missionaries, ministry leaders and spouses are encouraged to attend.

Joining Cymbala in leading this day is Pastor Daniel Henderson, who serves as President of Strategic Renewal, a non-profit ministry specializing in coaching pastors and congregations in prayer-based revitalization.  Henderson, a veteran pastor of 27 years, also writes extensively on prayer and pastoral ministry, most notably Fresh Encounters- Experiencing Transformation through United Worship-Based Prayer (NavPress).

Henderson notes, “This is a day of giving back to spiritual leaders who sacrifice so much for the sake of the people they serve.  We are not selling anything, rather giving away some books on pastoral leadership and prayer, along with the latest CD from the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir. Through encouraging teaching, seasons of prayer and fresh ideas for Spirit-empowered ministry, we hope every participant walks away from the day with fresh hope and practical tools.”

In anticipation of these one-day gatherings, Cymbala states, “We are going to call on God and ask Him to teach us how to make our churches houses of prayer as we trust Him to also meet each of us at our point of need.  Pastors need so much encouragement these days.  Together we are going to experience His grace from the word and presence of Christ.”

The day begins at 8:30 a.m. and concludes at 3:30 p.m.  Lunch is included in the $25 registration price.  More information on this event, along with a 2-minute video and registration details, can be found at www.refreshpastors.com.

For further information contact:

Paul Richardson, Engage Atlanta: engageatlanta@me.com

Or email the Strategic Renewal offices:  info@strategicrenweal.com

Or call:

1-888-326-4774

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