What is your church doing better through this covid-19 shutdown than it was prior? How could your church better demonstrate the visible presence of Christ to your community during this time? What will your church (the people, including you) do to show the love of Christ in your community as we come out of this shutdown? Will the community remember your church for anything significant when they look back on the covid-19 shutdown of 2020?

These are all vital questions for every church and every believer in Christ to ask right now. When restrictions are lifted and we begin re-opening churches and communities will be too late. It is the difference in being proactive and reactive. Of which will you be a part? Which will you lead your church to be? Even if you are not the pastor or leader of your church, you can still lead by your actions.

To answer the first question; “What is your church doing better through this covid-19 shutdown than it was prior?”, many churches have a better internet presence. Yet there is always room for improvement. As you consider how to move forward and re-opening your church and ministries be ever aware and searching for how to improve and increase your internet presence.

Also, I know churches that have made a more positive impact on their communities than any church in the last five decades. Members and leaders of the community will remember these churches, giving the churches a voice to be heard and open doors for Great Commission efforts.

The second question: “How could your church better demonstrate the visible presence of Christ to your community during this time?” What is your church not doing that it has resources to to help meet the immediate needs in your community? If you’re only having an internet presence and not being the hands and feet of Jesus during this pandemic, your church will be left behind, dropped by the wayside, by your community. God has handed to us on a silver platter, through this pandemic, perhaps the greatest opportunity to be his hands and feet that we’ve seen in decades.

The third question: “What will your church (the people, including you) do to show the love of Christ in your community as we come out of this shutdown?” I fear many churches (all the members) will jump right back into their self-seeking rut of desire and comfort. Though this rut of self-desire and self-pleasure is not found in God’s desire or command for His people, it has become the Christianity of North America. Oh church, let us no longer serve the westernization of Christianity. Rather, let us be the New Testament church God has called us to be as we read in the book of Acts.

Perhaps the most pertinent question of all four is, “Will the community remember your church for anything significant when they look back on the covid-19 shutdown of 2020?” There will be few communities where we will hear, “The people of that church put their own lives at risk to help others by ___________.” People in those communities will be drawn to Christ throughout and after this pandemic shutdown.

My prayer is that you desire to be a proactive, Great Commission Christian and desire for your church to be as well, reaching your community for Christ as we are commissioned to be. Be Christ’s light in the darkness of today.

George Yates is an Organizational Health Strategist and coach, assisting churches, organizations, and individuals in pursuing God’s purpose for life.

Is your organization (or even your home) structured to function effectively and efficiently? All organizations have some type of structure. Unfortunately, many, perhaps the majority, do not have an efficient, effective operating structure. In the church for instance, nine out of ten healthy high performing New Testament churches have healthy efficient functioning structures. On the contrary, such an effective, efficient functioning structure is almost always missing in declining churches.

As mentioned in sentence two of the opening paragraph, most churches (and other organizations) have structure but lack an efficient functioning structure. Many of these issues are addressed in Reaching the Summit without ever mentioning the phrase organizational structure. We attempt to assist the church in realigning their structure to be a functioning biblically based organism with an effective, efficient functioning structure.

What does all this mean and what is the difference? Let’s look at one scenario played out in many churches across North America. See if it fits your other organizations too. Most recruiting for lay (volunteer) positions in the church is done in the hallway on Sunday mornings. We corner someone in the hall and implore him/her to take a certain position for the coming fiscal year. Seldom do we offer training or even sufficient resources. We’re only looking for a yes. Once someone says yes, we run off to fill the next position.

This recruiting leads to untrained or under-trained, unmotivated and sometimes unskilled people leading the ministry positions and discipleship classes in our churches. Can you see where this is going? Untrained, unmotivated people with the lack of needed skillsets cannot lead or assist their ministry and your church to effective ministry. It is easy to draw the line of comparison between this recruiting practice and declining churches. These churches indeed have a recruiting process, a structure, but not an effective or efficient one.

There is an intimate connection between structure and healthy living. In fact, you could say this connection was first demonstrated in the Genesis account of creation. Verse 2 of Genesis chapter one says “the earth was without form, empty, and full of darkness.” God spoke form (structure) into place and life became a reality. Every part of the creation account in Genesis demonstrates the principle that structure gives life. Even humankind, until God breathed life into man, man was not a functioning structure.

Many of our churches find themselves going through motions of action without form and void of true biblical functioning structure. The functionality of our church (and other organizational) structure has been tested these past few weeks, and the testing is not over yet. We are quite possibly only at the beginning of the testing of effective structure functionality.

As we look ahead to coming out of this covid-19 cessation, it is critical that leaders look at the changes needed in your organizational structure and begin preparing for a better, effective, efficiently functioning structure for fulfilling God’s mandate through His church. Church as usual will drive you quickly into further decline. What will you do today to begin reversing decline and setting an effective, efficient functioning structure in your organization?

For more information contact George Yates at SonC.A.R.E. Ministries or contact your denominational leaders.

George Yates is an Organizational Health Strategist and coach, assisting churches, organizations, and individuals in pursuing God’s purpose for life.

It has been said that over 80 percent of North American Christians are biblically illiterate. Not that they cannot read the Bible, but that they choose not to. And biblical illiteracy is not settled with the younger generations alone. Every generation alive today is included.

Millennials and Generation Z (everyone born after 1982) are often categorized as rejecting Christianity. Yet, in fact this is not true of most in those generations. What they do reject is a false representation of Christianity that has been portrayed by their parent’s generations.

Somewhere along the timeline post World War II, the church (the people of the church) began loosening the reins on biblical belief. This loosening began an ever-increasing moderation of what it means to live a Christian life. In the 1960’s the Baby-boomer generation (my generation) acquired the nickname the “Me Generation”. There was valid reason for this nickname thinking more of self than anyone else, which included family and God.

The increasing moderation of Christianity in America, lived out by the Silent Generation (1927-1946), the Baby-Boomer generation (1946-1964) and Gen X (1965-1983) is sometimes rejected by younger generations due to its “me-isms”. While no more biblically literate than their previous generations, the younger ones are looking for a cause, a reason to get involved with something bigger than themselves.

Unfortunately, the Christian life lived out by most self-proclaimed Christians today, is not the same as what we read about in the Bible. But, hold on. Hope is not lost. As our hope is found in Christ and hope is a promise from God. There is in front of us an opportunity to redeem our generations.

We are living in a troubling, trying time which affords us opportunities to live as the early church lived in the book of Acts, if only we redeem the time and practice true biblical discipleship. We are seeing acts of true discipleship right now, for which I am encouraged.

May I suggest you begin by praying about your own life and how it needs to change to reflect the desire of Christ as lived out through the book of Acts. Then search some relevant disciple-making resources to assist you in your growth and your church in becoming a true disciple-making, Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20) church.

Like anything, check references on Discipleship resources. Discipleship resources have been around a long time, yet our lifestyles show that not all of them grow true Disciples of Jesus Christ.

Here are three that I know or have been recommended to me by others:

PassionTree.org, a network for Disciple-Making Pastors.

Discipleship.org, online resources equipping & leading

Real Life Ministries, training and resources

Discipleship is a life-long process. There is plenty of material and curriculum aimed at Discipleship. While some of these are good, printed material does not make a Disciple. Discipleship is practiced in daily living as Jesus lived it with His Disciples recorded in the New Testament. Don’t rely solely on the printed resources of the day. Will you take the challenge to find a true biblically based discipleship process, commit your life to grow, not in American Christianity, but in the true likeness of Christ, and lead others in doing the same?

George Yates is an Organizational Health Strategist and coach, assisting churches, organizations, and individuals in pursuing God’s purpose for life.

Life is different today than it was one month ago, for everyone of us. In our personal lives, business and in church, we’re having to make adjustments and changes in everything we once considered normal. None of us know what twists and turns life will take as we progress through these trying times. My guess is not everything will return to what we once knew as “normal.”

In a recent post, I stated that I believe the church is in the midst of a transformation. Personally, it is one that I believe has been coming and would have gradually come about over the next ten to fifteen years. However, with this current pandemic that timeline progression has been accelerated rapidly.

Churches that attempt to return to the former normal, will likely face greater difficulties than they experienced in past decades. I am not saying you cannot return to some of the former ways of ministry. However, we must with a discerning spirit, discover what God desires us to learn from this time of social upheaval.

Our economy may or may not bounce back. It will likely be a slow process. However, when a nation experiences such a social upheaval as we are experiencing, it’s not a bounce back, but an alteration that takes place. Some may be small, but alterations in the way we do life are to be expected.

Changes are taking place now. Churches and other organizations are changing to meet the demands of life under lock-down conditions. Yet, to exist in the coming years, more than these temporary changes will be required. Are you willing to lead your church in transformation? A transformation of pastors, leaders and members alike will be required. The future of your church depends on following God through this time of trial and not returning to church as usual.

A transformation requires a changing of the heart. We can change our thinking, but until we have a change of heart, our actions will fall short of even our thinking. Each year many people think about losing weight or getting in shape. Yet, their actions and habits never change. Habits do not change because we “think” or know they should change. Habits change only when our hearts change.

It’s true most churches have changed the way they conduct services and ministry while we are in lock-down. Many pastors and other leaders are chomping at the bit to get back to normal. Normal? What is normal?

Only God knows how short, how short have we fallen from God’s desire for His church, the bride of Christ, in the past fifty years. Could it be that God is allowing us to go through this trial to bring about the needed transformation of the bride of Christ and to draw man’s attention to Him? Are you praying for a true heart transformation?

What are you learning through this time of pandemic that will alter who you are and how you trust God and treat others?

How much time have you spent asking God to help you understand how to better serve Him following this time of pandemic?

To what level will you sincerely commit to allowing God to totally transform you for serving Him regardless of how different it may look?

My prayer is that God’s transformation in you is identifiable to others around you.

George Yates is an Organizational Health Strategist and coach, assisting churches, organizations, and individuals in pursuing God’s purpose for life.

At age 21 I had a sporting accident. I tore a bleeding cartilage and shredded all the ligaments behind my left knee, so bad they could not be surgically repaired. I had surgery to remove the bleeding cartilage followed by five weeks in a soft cast. Then I went through eight weeks of rigorous workouts at a physical therapy clinic.

My therapist was nice enough. She wasn’t very big, but she sure knew how to bend, torque, and maneuver that leg to the point of deep pain. I won’t say that she took pleasure in delivering me to my threshold of pain, but I do remember smiles on her face while putting me through those rigors. I took the rehab seriously and faithfully worked to strengthen that leg.

My range of motion with that leg on my first visit was 12 degrees. The day I left, 120 degrees. I had set a goal of the amount of weight I would work out with and reached it. The first day the workout was free of any weight.

My Physical Therapist taught me a series of exercises to strengthen my left leg that would take about 40-45 minutes each day. The first time was without weights. Then we strapped a one pound weight around my ankle. Then two, then three…On my last day I accomplished a feat that no man, even twice my size, had ever done. I completed that same workout with forty pounds of weight strapped to my ankle. Little skinny me, maybe 129 pounds, had successfully completed all of the required exercises with forty pounds of weight around my ankle.

When I walked out of that center for the final time my left leg was much stronger than the right leg, which had never been damaged.

I went through a lot of painful days, painful workouts during that time. I did it because I had a goal in mind. I was going to be as strong as before the accident. I came out stronger.

We all face trials, struggles, and hardships in life. There will be physical ones like I faced. There will be financial hardships and struggles, mental ones too, and even spiritual trials and struggles. When we go through life’s struggles, trials, and hardships, if we allow, God will lead us through them, so that we come out stronger believers and stronger proponents for His Kingdom and His power.

In the Bible, chapter 1 of the book of James tells us Consider it a great joy, my brothers, whenever you experience various trials, ³ knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. ⁴ But endurance must do its complete work, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.

If I had laid around crying about my poor knee, and how it couldn’t be surgically repaired; If I had not worked out daily as instructed by my therapist, my knee would have atrophied worse than the 5 weeks in the soft-cast. It would have been a useless knee, not able to carry my weight.

I had to stretch it, work it, bend it, lift weights with it and let the Physical Therapist bend it until I was in deep pain. My leg had to be stretched beyond what was comfortable. My rehabilitation of that leg was not a one-time venture. It was day by day, every day, a 40-45 minute workout each day. So it is in life, if you want to grow you’ve got to be stretched – sometimes until it hurts. It is a day by day process of development. Growth never takes place in your comfort zone. God stretches us to strengthen us. The more we’re stretched, the more intense our workout, the stronger we become.

When a man accepts this testing in the right way, and day by day he develops this steadfast devotion moving through each day, then day by day he will live more triumphantly and move nearer to the standard of Jesus Christ Himself.

George Yates is an Organizational Health Strategist and coach, assisting churches, organizations, and individuals in pursuing God’s purpose for life.

This post is an excerpt from a forthcoming book on Lessons from God.

Texting with a pastor today about these uncertain times it was obvious he was truly concerned about his congregants and the future of the church. I shared with him just a snippet of what I plan to share in this post. I believe it was 2008 when I first shared this as I addressed a group of pastors and church leaders. A question was posed about the future of the church, the church in general.

My response was something like this: “I’m not certain what the church will look like in twenty to thirty years (2030-2040). But I will tell you this, in my opinion, it will be different than we have known church for the past sixty to seventy years. I believe we will see a lot of empty church buildings dot the landscape all across our nation…We could see a rise in smaller, home churches, which has a biblical base as we read in Acts. Technology will certainly play a part. Whatever it looks like, it will be different from what you and I have known as ‘church’ in our lifetime…”

In my texting today I admitted that this Covid-19 is perhaps speeding up those dates by a full ten years. And that may not necessarily be all bad. Churches today are being forced in some sense to adopt and adapt to today’s technology. We are having to reconsider and reconfigure almost everything we do as “the church.” And it may not be temporary adjustments.

I see this as possibly a blessing in disguise or at least a providential intervention to get the church’s attention for needed change. I realize the word change is a dirty six-letter word in the church, but change is essential for the continuing existence of God’s church. For two thousand years the church has adapted, morphed, and changed to reach the culture of the day.

The church today has a golden opportunity to reach our communities, nation, and world with the gospel of Jesus Christ. The question is, will we, the church, allow God to use us to be His church, regardless of what it is to look like. Regardless of our traditions or a completely new venue.

So, pastor, church leader, let me encourage you. While today church does not look like what it did just one month ago, this did not catch God off guard. He not only was aware of it before it happened, He has known since the foundation of the world.

Since it has not caught God off guard, He knows there is work to be done. It is not a new work, only new methods. We need a new mindset. For many in our world, a new mindset will require a transformation. I believe a transformation of the church is indeed in the making. And we are blessed and privileged as His servants to join Him in that remaking, transformation of Christ’s bride. “Let us rejoice and be glad in it!”

George Yates is an Organizational Health Strategist and coach, assisting churches, organizations, and individuals in pursuing God’s purpose for life.

The Power of a Four-Letter Word

We hear of dirty four-letter words. But there are many positive four-letter words as well. Words as; love, best, calm, cute, grow, heal, these are just a few. One great four letter word that I like is, hope. The standard thought for the word, hope, is a feeling or thought of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen. For me hope is much more than a desire or expectation. Hope is a powerful four-letter word.

Perhaps, like me you receive many personalized emails using the word hope in the opening line. “I hope you are fine…” “I hope you are doing well today.” Perhaps you begin many of your personal emails this way. Anyone who has received an email from me over the years (and there have been several thousand) will have to admit, not one of those began with the word hope in a similar sentence.

You see, to me the word hope is reserved for my faith and trust in God. God Word, The Holy Bible is chocked full from front to back with His promises of life abundant to me. This does not mean I will never go without trial, hardship, harm, or disease. I will face those all my life just like you and every other person on earth.

What God’s Word does promise is even in the midst of these hardships and trials, God will walk with me through each one. No matter what I am facing personally or what pandemic the world is facing, God’s Word assures me of His loving arms protecting me. No matter what I die from or when, God knew long ago, before my birth. And as a child of God He has prepared a place for me that is greater than anything here on earth.

I often share at funerals I share, “Death is but a door that we all must walk through at some time. And for those who trust God as Savior and Lord, walk through that door into the open arms of Christ, our Savior.” I am pleased to live and serve God. I am grateful that He allows me to be part of His work. But I trust God and take Him at His Word.

My hope is in Christ. Yet, my hope is not in a desire, but and actual promise. God’s promise to prepare a place for me. When I use the word hope it is much more than an expectation, it is the fulfillment of God’s promise on my life. Therefore, I reserve the word hope for that very purpose.

I do not use the word hope in emails or common speech because it is a special promise from my Lord. A promise that I not only desire to be fulfilled, but that I have been assured.

So, how do I begin those personal emails? I trust you are well and having a great week in Christ. Not only am I reserving the word Hope, by using the word trust, I also exhibit the confidence that no matter what you are going through, God’s arms of love and comfort are around you. I trust because I have confidence in God.

I end this post the same way: I trust you are well and having a great week in Christ!

George Yates is an Organizational Health Strategist and coach, assisting churches, organizations, and individuals in pursuing God’s purpose for life.

The CEO of a major airline was approached by an employee with the suggestion of offering a particular salad on some of their flights, suggesting the airline customers would appreciate it. The CEO asked one question, “Will adding the salad contribute to our value (culture) having the low-rate airfares in the industry?” This was his litmus test for any suggestion within the operations of the airline. If the answer was yes, we’ll explore it. If the answer was no, then to follow through would mean we are not operating within our culture of discipline.

I credit Jim Collins with coining the phrase Culture of Discipline. As Collins puts it, “A Culture of Discipline. … Disciplined people who engage in disciplined thought and who take disciplined action—operating with freedom within a framework of responsibilities—this is the cornerstone of a culture that creates greatness. In a culture of discipline, people do not have jobs; they have responsibilities.”[i]

Creating a disciplined culture in your organization may take time, but it will be valuable time spent – an investment greater than finances can provide. Collins definition is wordy and covers a lot of ground, it is important to understand and utilize each part. Disciplined people engaged in disciplined thought, yet not allowed to work in freedom within certain guidelines (framework) will not create a disciplined culture. This freedom enables the motivation to operate within the disciplines set forth for the organization’s culture.

Example: Your organization could provide the absolute best training on procedures and best ways to accomplish the tasks required, yet the leadership allows no freedom in performing those duties, the workers are being treated as slaves under a dictatorial leadership.

If, on the other hand there is freedom to complete assignments without any discipline processes and thought patterns, each person and division is looking out for their own interests without consideration of how their actions affect others within the organization. Chaos will ensue.

Therefore, a disciplined culture containing all the parts of Collins definition is critical to the effectiveness of any organization. In the business world it all begins with the hiring process. In churches and other volunteer organizations it is instrumental in vetting everyone desiring to be part of the organization – prior to their joining. Educating people prior to their joining your organization will eliminate many issues and difficulties that arise in organizations without a culture of discipline.

When people know the expectations upfront and realize they have certain freedoms to act within the framework of the organization, they will be motivated to act within the disciplines of the organization. As long as these disciplines are not oppressing in nature and not harmful, people will accept them and assist the organization in moving forward to accomplish its desires and purpose.

George Yates is a coach and organizational health strategist, assisting individuals and organizations in fulfilling their God-given purpose.

[i] Jim Collins, Good to Great, Harper-Collins

Leaders of the BBC decided a particular division needed to be shut down. They sent in an executive to give the news to the more than 200 employees who had all worked diligently, giving their best.  The executive sent to deliver the decision started off with a glowing account of how well rival operations were doing, and that he had just returned from a wonderful trip to Cannes. This was not a well-planned delivery just before telling these same people they are soon to be jobless. Would you like to hear of your boss’s great luxurious lifestyle, just before he tells you he is taking away your source of income? This executive did not have EI (Emotional Intelligence), much less an EIQ (Emotional Intelligence Quotient).

As David Goleman tells this story in his book, Primal Leadership, he says people became enraged, not only at the decision, but as much with the deliverer of the decision. Fortunately, BBC sent in a second executive who shared of the decision in a different manner. He spoke from the heart about the importance of the calling into journalism, about the dedication and commitment of journalists such as the people seated around him. When he finished, the group cheered.

The same people, about to lose their jobs. But this time they cheered. What made the difference? The temperament. The second executive had a high EIQ. He understood the heart of the matter and the impact of the decision to shut down this division. Therefore, he spoke from his heart. The temperament of a leader and the temperament of his/her communication delivery sends a loud and clear view of his/her EIQ. The first executive drove the group toward antagonism and hostility, the second toward optimism, even inspiration, in the face of difficulty.

As leaders, we impact people’s lives every day in many ways. Our temperament and how we influence the temperament of others has a significant impact in the effectiveness of our organization. Temperament is outwardly displayed in one’s attitude. When a leader comes across with a rough and impersonal charge, it will negatively affect the attitude of all in attendance and will flow down through the organization. On the other side, as a leader delivers a charge to the organization with enthusiasm and encouragement, the organization will respond more positively.

However, for some reason, emotions (which drive temperament and attitudes) are oftentimes considered irrelevant in the workplace and have no bearing on leadership. Any time a leader can gain insight into better understanding and developing his/her own Emotional Intelligence (EI) will only increase positive leadership ability. Understanding and developing your own EI will also give insights into positively influencing the productivity of others.

Like it or not, our emotions affect all areas of our lives, including the workplace. The more a leader can grasp the influential role of emotions in the organization, the greater effectiveness and production will be realized.

Understanding and developing a high EIQ separates the few great leaders from all the others. These leaders see not only improved production and effectiveness of staff, his organization also realizes less turnover, greater compatibility through team work, as well as commitment and retention of talented employees/volunteers. Are you ready to develop your EIQ?

To learn more about EIQ contact George Yates.

George Yates is a coach and organizational health strategist, assisting individuals and organizations in fulfilling their God-given purpose.

This is a repost from 09/2017

John has decided that he is going on a trip this Summer, something he’s never done. If John comes to you for advice, what would you tell him are the first three things to do in planning for his trip? Perhaps you would ask John where he is going. Deciding his destination would be a good first step, wouldn’t it? Who’s going with John? Another good thought to consider, before you get too far along in planning. A third resolve might be “how are you going to travel, plane, car, train? All three of these need to be resolved early in the process. They’re essential to the planning and preparation process.

John has decided to travel by car from Atlanta, Georgia to San Diego, California, with his wife and two young children. What advice will you offer? If you are like me, my first question will likely be, “How much time do plan to take?” What if John says he has three weeks and is planning to drive to San Diego the first day, in one day, to have more time on the west coast?

It is impossible to drive from Atlanta, Georgia to San Diego, CA in one day. It cannot be done. So, a help to John might be to encourage him to break the trip into segments that he can comfortably drive each day. It is possible to drive from Atlanta, Georgia to Baton Rouge, LA in one day. That could be the first day. The second day could be from Baton Rouge to San Antonio. Then to El Paso the next day, Phoenix, AZ and the fifth day into San Diego. Any trip like this must be broken into doable segments.

Personal or organizational goals must be planned and achieved the same way. Do we often look out into the future for something to accomplish without breaking it into doable targets? I see this happening in both the corporate and religious realms of organizations more often than not. We envision where we want to be or would like to be and take off heading for that goal without proper planning.

Strategic planning for effective implementation is crucial. If John realized that arriving to San Diego would require five days of about 8 hours driving each day, is that all the information he needs? No. Will 8 hours the first day driving north to Dayton, Ohio get him closer to his goal? After all he did spend eight hours driving that day. Sounds silly and preposterous doesn’t it? Yet, this is what many individuals, and organizations do.

Arriving at your destination in a timely manner requires planning, strategic planning. If your destination as a church is to fulfill the Great Commission, a life-long commitment, what is the distance you can cover in one year? To say our goal is to fulfill the Great Commission may sound noble, but in reality, it is God’s directive to the church, not your goal. The goal will reveal what direction you are traveling to accomplish the directive in the next segment of time (one year). From here (where we are at today), to where we will be at the end of this year.

To learn more about effectively moving forward read Turnaround Journey or contact George Yates.

George Yates is an Organizational Health Strategist and coach, assisting churches, organizations, and individuals in pursuing God’s purpose for life.