10 Reasons Why 2012 Will Be Your Best Ministry Year Ever

#1 – You are going to spend more time on your face before God than on facebook, blogs and twitter…and in doing so are going to hear God’s voice and do what He says!

#2 – You are going to be less critical of other people who don’t think just like you and actually see what you can learn from them.

#3 – You are going to stop listening to people who want to do nothing but attack you and tear you down but actually care nothing about you, your family or your church.

#4 – You are going to start listening to people who love Jesus, love your church and love you…and when they push back on you in love you are not going to label them as “disloyal” but rather open yourself to the possibility that Jesus may be using them to speak to you.

#5 – You are going to start loving your people rather than demanding that they love you.

#6 – You are going to take bigger steps of faith than you have ever take before…understanding that when you begin to celebrate the past more than you anticipate the future, it’s OVER!

#7 – You are going to quit looking for handouts and drop the entitlement mindset and actually pay the price both personally and as a church to grow in your understanding of leadership.

#8 – You are going to quit trying to pray away what God has directly told you to deal with.

#9 – You are going to stop complaining about all of the staff and resources that you do not have and START being grateful to God for what He has given you…and then doing your best to honor Him!

#10 – You are going to stop comparing yourself to others and actually find your identity in the fact that Jesus saved you, called you, equipped you and is using you rather than how many people showed up to your church this past Sunday!

(by Perry Noble)

God's Not Through With You!

I am not sure who I am writing this to…but I feel led to let someone know…

GOD IS NOT THROUGH WITH YOU!!!

For weeks, months, maybe even years you have bought into the lie that “it’s over” when it comes to you doing something great for God; after all, you did (fill in the blank)…and because of that there is no way He could ever use you.

Let me be very clear and to the point:  If God were done with you then He would have killed you…but the very fact that you have air in your lungs right now means that HE IS NOT THROUGH WITH YOU!

“But Perry, I screwed up,” you say!

Of course you did!  We all do…which is NOT an excuse to go out and screw up your life, but rather a reminder that in the Bible the ONLY people God used were people who had screwed up.

David committed adultery AND murder (talk about a guy you don’t want to invite over for dinner!  Seriously, David would not have been allowed to serve and most likely attend a lot of churches!)  HOWEVER, David repented of his sin (see Psalm 51) and today we know him as “a man after God’s own heart!”

Moses killed a man…and God used him to lead the Israelites out of Egypt to the border of the Promised Land.

Paul was a murderer…and God used him to write most of the New Testament.

Peter denied Christ and chose to walk away from Him…and God used him to preach on the Day of Pentecost where 3,000 people accepted Christ in one day!

I could go on and on, but you get the point…your past does not disqualify you from an amazing future if you are in Christ!!!

God’s not through with you…and…as I so often say, if you don’t let your past die then it will not let you live and one of the consequences of that is you will allow the enemy to talk you out of the amazing things God has planned for you.

When we repent of sin (which is the most powerful thing we can do in our walk with Christ) we become unstoppable.  And so, if you screwed up…and if you have repented of sin…then STOP believing the lie that there’s no way God could use you!  Take a look at

I Corinthians 6:9-11!!!

God’s not through with you!  GET UP…GET ON YOUR FEET…and do whatever He tells you to do!

(by Perry Noble)

Seven Temptations Leaders Face

1. Wasting Time – We live in a world where it is easier to waste time than it ever has been before.  Comment wars on blogs, tweeting arguments, browsing through random FaceBook pages and numerous other things can absolutely distract us from what we were put on this planet to do.
2. Cruise Control – Leadership is exhausting, and so we must constantly battle the desire to just allow things to be the way they are.  This mentality will put us on course towards an iceberg that will sink even the largest ship!
3. Excuse Making – When a problem/difficult situation arises we can either deal with it or simply excuse it away.  And people who make excuses rarely make a difference because they are way more obsessed with doing what is easy rather than doing what is right.
4. Being Passive – This is a cousin of #3, but passivity has no place in leadership.  Ignoring a problem does not make it go away; in fact, it often makes is become larger and, in many cases, overwhelming.  If a problem comes to your attention DEAL WITH IT, don’t deny it.  God brought it to your attention because you are the leader and you are the one called to make the tough decision.
5. Copying – We should NEVER be ashamed of borrowing ideas from others!  I honestly feel that there really aren’t any original ideas on the planet…and even if the idea is “original” that person was given the idea from the Holy Spirit…so it actually isn't original in the first place.  However, when we build a ministry based on the imitation of others rather than revelation from God we do so out of laziness…and God NEVER honors laziness.
6. Meaningless Fights – Someone IS going to attack your ministry…and one of the easiest ways to get sidetracked is to begin to fight with people who don’t know you, care about you or care about your church.
7. Playing It Safe – When a leader stops taking risks because there is too much to lose…he is closer to losing everything than he actually realizes.  We don’t follow a Savior who played it safe, if He said “take up your cross and follow me” then we need to understand that sacrifice and risk WILL be involved if we want to go where He is leading.

[by Perry Noble]

Death Notice - Mary Hagood

Mary Kathleen Hagood, 90, of Chattanooga, died Saturday, November 26, 2011 in a local hospital. Mrs. Hagood was a member of Oakwood Church of God of Prophecy and has been a licensed minister since 1955. She worked for the Children’s Home in Cleveland from 1968 to 1974. She was the wife of the late, Freddie Welch Hagood and was also preceded in death by a son, Robert Hagood, seven brothers,and parents, Porter and Emma Reynolds. Survivors include her daughter, Miriam ( Harry) Gossett, Chattanooga; seven grandchildren, Holly (Justin) Kitchens, Rick Gossett, Debra (Randy) Stallings,Kathy Madert and Cindy Gibson, eleven great grandchildren, Riley Kitchens, Madeline Kitchens, Sophie Stallings, Ashley Cooper, Zachery Cooper, Misty (Stephen) Potter, Caleb Gossett, Phillip Gossett, Sarah Gibson, Daniel J. Kitchens and Christopher Kitchens, three great grandchildren, Anna Marie Swafford, Natalie Cooper and Hayden Potter, several nieces & nephews.

Services were held in the funeral home chapel with Rev. Mitchell officiating.  Interment was in Forest Lawn Cemetery, Abbeville, SC.

Church Fined for Removal of Windows

GLOVERSVILLE, NY - The Church of God of Prophesy, which owns the Bleecker Square Church, was given a conditional discharge and one year to pay $60,000 in fines after stained-glass windows and steeple clocks were removed in February from the 142-year-old church without the Historic Preservation Review Board's consent.

City Court Judge Vincent DeSantis ordered the church to replace the windows and maintain the building by removing graffiti and mowing the grounds, as well as prepare it for reuse and market it to a viable buyer.

The $60,000 is broken up into five $12,000 fines - one for each of the four facades of the building and one for the steeple, where the clocks were removed.

The order was close to the $14,000 maximum penalty for each fine.

The church faced fines that could range from $25 to $50 per day per violation since February, when Building Inspector D. Robert Robbins cited five violations

He said if the church fulfills the maintenance requirements, it may petition the court to have the fine reduced or eliminated, though that does not guarantee the court would grant that request.

DeSantis called the church, once the meeting place of the First Methodist Church a "major architectural feature" downtown and "forms a significant part of the architectural heritage of downtown."

He said he was "sympathetic to the church," but that he must act "in the city's best interest, and in the community's best interest."

The conditional discharge requires the church to comply with the directives of the Historic Preservation Review Board, which accepted a plan for replacement of the windows at its Dec. 1 meeting, aggressively maintain the structure and grounds and take positive steps to market the building to a purchaser in a position to maintain it.

If the windows are not replaced within a year, the church could face more violations.

"It's in the community's best interest that this building be maintained and adaptively revised to have that building be an active part of the synergy of downtown," DeSantis said.

The one-year conditional discharge means that the city is not able to enforce fines until Dec. 15, 2012.

Gloversville City Attorney Anthony Casale said he was "very satisfied" with DeSantis's sentencing, although he was disappointed the matter dragged on for nearly a year through multiple court adjournments.

During the sentencing hearing, he outlined the timeline of the matter, which had been going on since January when Robert Castiglione told him of word the church was planning on removing the windows.

At that point, Casale sent a letter to the church bishop in Albany, warning the church not to remove the windows without the Historic Board's approval.

Robert Meringolo, an antiques and art expert and dealer from Westerlo hired by the church to handle the project, said a miscommunication with his project partner, Joe Bailey, the owner of From Europe to You, resulted in the window and clock removal without approval, after an application had been submitted to the board.

Meringolo noted many of the church's historic windows were broken before they were removed, and the building had been the target of vandals.

Justin Gray of the Albany firm of Maynard, O'Connor, Smith & Catalinotto, represented the church in court and said not all of the windows had been sold. Casale said about $20,000 worth of material was sold from the church.

Gray also argued the bishop did not give approval to remove the windows and that the action was done by a third party; however Casale noted the church already pleaded guilty to the charges.

The Church of God of Prophecy Northeast Region, based in Albany, has owned the Bleecker Square Church since 2000, when it was purchased for $60,000, according to tax map data.

The structure's tax-exempt status was removed in 2009 because it no longer is used as a congregational meeting place, and the church has paid its taxes.

[By AMANDA WHISTLE, The Leader Herald]

Merry Christmas

“So [the shepherds] hurried off and found Mary and Joseph and the baby, who was lying in the manger.” (Luke 2:16)

Synergy Ministries Board of Directors Meeting

CEO Don Brock announced the upcoming Synergy Minustries Board of Directors Meeting, December 1-3, 2011, in Las Vegas, NV. The meeting will include Strategic Planning and Vision Casting

Pastoral Counselors Beware

A jury has awarded $1.4 million to a Minnesota woman who accused her Methodist pastor of sexually abusing her.  The woman accused 67-year-old Donald Dean Budd of pursuing an inappropriate relationship at a time when she was emotionally vulnerable.

The Hennepin County jury concluded this week that Budd must pay $1 million in punitive damages. Of another $410,000 in compensatory damages, Budd must pay $246,000 and the rest is to be paid by the Minnesota Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church.

A call to Budd’s home Saturday rang unanswered, and a message left with his attorney wasn’t immediately returned. The woman’s attorney, Robert Hajek, said the jury’s verdict was “very responsible and reasonable.”

Budd was a pastor at McKinley United Methodist Church in Winona. Prior to that, he served in Methodist churches in Harmony, Minn., and Eau Claire, Wis. He is no longer a pastor.

The woman filed a civil lawsuit in 2009, alleging that she sought counseling from Budd while he was a pastor at McKinley between 2003 and 2005. A sexual relationship developed, leading to Budd’s eventual conviction on a pair of felony sexual-abuse charges.

The woman said she reported the relationship to the conference in 2006. She accused officials of dropping the investigation and calling the woman uncooperative and not credible, court documents said.

Her civil lawsuit claimed that the conference should have done a better job of investigating Budd’s sexual misconduct, according to a Winona Daily News report.

Victoria Rebeck, a spokeswoman for the conference, disputed the charge. She said the conference and its bishop acted immediately when notified about the allegations by placing Budd on restriction and removing his credentials.

[Superior Telegram | Superior, Wisconsin]

When accusations happen these days, a full investigation must be done immediately and completely.  And there can be no cover up.  Information is too instantaneous and widespread these days.  The truth will get out.  (If not the truth, then at least rumors… which again will doom you if you’ve not done the full investigation).

There should be no cover-up in the body of Christ.  And if there was in this case, it was found out.

[from MMI Weblog by Todd Rhoades]

Compensation for Senior Pastors

What is the average pay for a senior pastor these days?

Well, of course, it depends… on your experience, the size of your church, and what sex you are.

According to the 2012-2013 Compensation Handbook for Church Staff (which surveyed about 4,600 churches and 8,000 church positions), the average senior pastor overall makes…

$82,938

That’s up from last year’s average salary of $80,745.

[from MMI Weblog by Todd Rhoades]

A Warning to Young Pastors

Leadership Development

Bible Illiteracy

White House spokesman, Jay Carney, recently made this statement in a press briefing:

"Well, I believe the phrase from the Bible is, 'The Lord helps those who help themselves.'  And I think the point the President is making is that we should — we have it within our capacity to do the things to help the American people."

The only problem is, this is not a quote from the Bible.  It may be a good concept.  It may even be support by Scripture.  But it is NOT a quote from the Bible.

Has America become Bible illiterate?

The Lifecycle of Pastors

Almost twenty years ago, I began to note that the tenure of a pastor often follows a predictable pattern. Now, almost two decades later, I still see many of the same patterns, though I have refined the categories and time spans a bit.

I fully understand that these categories are not definitive, and there will certainly be exceptions to the rule. Nevertheless, I offer this lifecycle as a guide that I hope will prove useful to both pastors and congregations alike.

Honeymoon: Years 0 to 1

The new pastor is perceived to be the answer to all the needs and the problems of the church. He is often viewed as a hero because he is not his predecessor. Though some of his faults begin to show during this period, he is often given a pass. Expectations are high that he will be molded into the image that each congregant would like to have.

Crisis: Years 1 to 3

It is now apparent that the pastor is fully human. He has not lived up to the precise expectations of many of the members. This phase includes a number of conflicts and struggles. Indeed it is the most common time that pastors choose to leave the church or they are force terminated. This single epoch of a pastoral tenure contributes more to short tenures than any other time.

Realignment: Years 3 to 5

The number of crises begins to abate, though they do not disappear altogether. It is at this time that more and more new members come under the tenure of the new pastor. Some of the dissidents have left the church or the community. There is a realignment of loyalty and expectations of the pastor. Thus he is able to lead more effectively, and began to see some more productive years as pastor of the church.

Growth: Years 5 to 10

Not all pastors have productive and joyous ministries in this period, but many do. It is not unusual for the congregation to begin to appreciate the pastor more and to follow his leadership with greater enthusiasm. Many of the battles have already been fought; and many of the conflicts have been resolved. The pastor and the entire congregation are ready to move forward in more productive ministry for the glory of God.

Mystery: Years 10 and Beyond

There are relatively few pastors and congregations that continue their relationships beyond a period of one decade. Thus any perspective I have of long-term pastorates is inconclusive and limited. I am confident, however, that if we see more and more pastors entering their tenth year of ministry and beyond, we will see more productive and fruitful ministries in local churches across the nation.

The Quest Continues

The topic of pastoral tenure fascinates me. I see significant correlation between ministry effectiveness and longer pastoral tenure, though there are certainly exceptions to the rule. I do hope that we will do a more comprehensive and objective study of this important issue in the future.

What is your perspective of pastoral tenure?

[from The Christian Post RSS Feed]

He Has Sent Redemption

Pro-'gay' play at school not well received (OneNewsNow.com)

Pro-'gay' play at school not well received (OneNewsNow.com)