The Good Old Days!

6 For the Lord of Hosts says this: “Once more, in a little while, I am going to shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. 7 I will shake all the nations so that the treasures of all the nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,” says the Lord of Hosts. 8 “The silver and gold belong to Me”—the declaration of the Lord of Hosts. 9 “The final glory of this house will be greater than the first,” says the Lord of Hosts. “I will provide peace in this place” —the declaration of the Lord of Hosts.

Hag 2:6-9 (HCSB)

Has anyone in your church ever said to you, "We've never done it that way before!"  Or how about this one, "In the good old days we  . . ."  As a leader we can get discouraged by those who only want to look back and not look forward.  However, we also must be careful that we don't say the same things to God.

It can be helpful to remember.  In fact God seems to encourage His people to remember what he has done in the past.  But our best days are always before us and not behind us.  I love what God says here in Haggai, "the final glory of this house will be greater than the first."   Leaders must be careful that we don't look back longingly at past victories because God has better things in front of us than behind us.

Be encouraged there are better days ahead than behind!

4 Essentials for an Effective Church

I think it is safe to assume that all of us want to be effective, ministry is no exception.  So what makes a church effective?  Well there are many who are writing books and offering their thoughts about that.  Here is just one more that may help as you do what God has called you to do. (These Thoughts are not original to myself, but are adapted from a message heard back in 2006 by Dr. Claude Thomas)

There are 4 Essentials for an effective church.

1. Anointing.  God, the Holy Spirit, calls and equips us.
2. Vision.  We see God's vision and help others then to see it.
3. Leadership.  We give leadership to others.  Leaders develop leaders not followers.
4. Framework.  We must understand the foundational building blocks of ministry.  (Message, Mission, Ministry, Method).  They all must fit together.

Give it some thought and I hope it will help you to grow an effective Church where God has placed you.

Below is a power point presentation I created of this material.