Unfulfilled Longings

"If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world."

"The books or the music in which we thought the beauty was located will betray us if we trust them...For they are not the thing itself; they are only the scent of a flower we have not found, the echo of a tune we have not heard, news from a country we have not visited."
C. S. Lewis

The Importance of Systems

Systems is one of the most misunderstood and overlooked areas of new church development. Yet systems are relatively easy to implement and will add enormously to the effectiveness of your new church. Systems are also the key to building a strong, effective team!

A wise pastor wants his church to become increasingly more systems-dependent and less pastor-dependent. Ideally, you want your church to get to the point where it can basically run itself, and all you have to do is give it direction and monitor the dashboard!

Could you take a leave from your church for a month and come back to find it operating smoothly and effectively? Could you escape for even 1 Sunday? If not, you do not have an effective system; you are the system!

Your church should not depend upon your presence, personality, problem solving and perspiration for its weekly survival. If it does, your church does not work, you do! If everything in your church flows through you and is dependent upon you, then you are dramatically restricting the growth and effectiveness of your people and your congregation!

Keep Your Head Clear!

One of the biggest challenges in church planting is keeping your head clear! We can get very busy with lots of stuff. In fact, over time, we tend to become consumed by non-essential "stuff" - what I call CLUTTER. When our heads and our lives become cluttered, we get overwhelmed and distracted by details and low-priority, low-value activities.

It's easy to get busy being busy, and lose sight of what is most important to us in our work and personal lives. We end up wasting time and talents on the "wrong" type of work. As such, our lives become complex, cloudy, confusing and stressful. Our productivity and effectiveness diminishes!

When we get cluttered we start to lose focus, miss opportunities, adopt bad habits, get in unproductive comfort zones, and make excuses. Clutter reduces our effectiveness, growth, and joy. Let me encourage you right now to identify and eliminate at least 3 types of clutter from your life. What are they? What will you eliminate, delegate, downsize, delay, or redesign? Do it NOW!

Coaching for Post-Launch Planters

• Are you struggling with knowing how to take your church to the next level?
• Do you feel like you’re doing most of the work?
• Have you hit a plateau that you can’t get off?
• Do you have an effective strategy in place to reach new people?
• If your church did double in size next year, do you have the infrastructure and leadership in place to handle it?
• Are you satisfied with the commitment level of the disciples you are making?

These are some of the critical issues that we will be addressing in our New Church Coaching Workshop beginning February 12th! Every other Tuesday evening Chad Clarkson and I will be leading this small group coaching session here in Houston from 6:30pm – 8:30pm. If your new church is less than 5 years old, this is for you!

This group will be limited in size, so sign up today! You will receive 6, 2-hour coaching sessions over the next 3 months that will help you move your church forward. You will learn how to create systems for health and growth. You will develop a powerful strategy for reaching new people, for making missional disciples, and for developing leaders.

Do not miss this opportunity! It will transform you and your church! Email me (glenn@nciglobal.org) if you would like to participate. Space is limited.

If you do not live in the Houston area but are interested in benefiting from our coaching process, contact us at glenn@nciglobal.org.