My Father is glorified by this; that you produce much fruit and prove to be my disciples. John 15:8

You did not choose Me, but I chose you. I appointed you that you should go out and produce fruit and that your fruit should remain, John 15:16 (HCSB)

I love all of scripture and the 15^th chapter of the gospel of John is one of my favorites. This chapter will speak volumes to us if we will only listen.

In verse eight it is clear to see that we please and glorify God by not only producing fruit, but producing much fruit. The only way you produce fruit is by planting, and tending to the fruit trees or vines. For us that is sharing the gospel – God’s story, our story of God in our lives through one time opportunities and on-going relationships.

To glorify is to elevate to a level above all human elements. This is truly where God lives and we need to recognize this and be certain to live this way. This is exactly what verse eight is speaking of. We lift Him up, elevate Him in our eyes, mind, heart, and soul, and in the eye and mind of others when we produce fruit, when we live our lives in such a way that it points others to God and to a personal relationship with Christ.

The sixteenth verse says that we are to produce fruit that remains. I believe the last word in this verse is a key word in this statement from Jesus and one that is often overlooked or dismissed. I often hear pastors and church members make statements as, “We gave out 340 backpacks” or “We fed more than 500 families this year through our food pantry.” While these are good and worthy ministry efforts, where is the fruit that remains? I applaud churches who do these community ministries and yes we are in many of these efforts planting seeds. However, many times they are done without premise of fruit that remains.

Certainly God blesses our efforts – when our efforts are in line with His will for our particular body of believers. Copying ideas and events that we read or heard worked for another church will most often lead to poor results in our church. When we copy models we are not likely to see the results like the ones we hear or read about. Do not copy models, capture principles.

We could copy the model of Jesus: dawn a long plain linen robe and sandles and walk everywhere, teaching on hillsides and at the dinner tables of IRS agents. But that is not what God blessed. That is not what made the difference. The principle of Jesus life and ministry is that He poured Himself – all He knew and all He did – into others. He had compassion on others and He continued to pour into His disciples. He was meeting needs and he was continuously feeding the mind and soul, teaching, equipping. He was building disciples – fruit that remains. Then, in the Great Commission this is exactly what He advised us to do. Pouring himself into eleven men, then to the apostle Paul, Jesus turned the world upside down – and is still doing so 2,000 years later. Now that is producing fruit that remains. May we do likewise.

We can fully live out verse eight only when we have mastered verse sixteen.

Implementation: Uninformed people are ill-informed people

Pastor John and his staff spent six months planning the upcoming changes and adjustments to their worship service. After months of prayer, searching, reading and studying a multitude of options, they began settling on what would fit their particular ministry setting. The team researched and contemplated every angle of each potential adjustment. They were certain they were ready and this is where God had led them as a church staff. Now it was time to pull the trigger, so to speak. The date to unveil the new service had arrived and Pastor John was particularly excited about the potential to expand their ministry through the new approach.

One thing the Pastor and staff failed to do was prepare the people, the church members for the implementation of the upcoming change. And this would prove to be disastrous. Uninformed people are ill-informed people. And in a situation like this, the execution of change could bring about the ministry execution of the pastor or ministry leaders. While thorough strategic planning is essential to a successful event or ministry, without proper implementation, you could be planning your own execution.

Though your church may conduct planning and even strategic planning as discussed in the previous post, strategic planning is only the beginning phase for any event or adjustments in your ministry. Perhaps the more strenuous challenge and the area of greatest difficulty is implementation and execution of your plans. Planning needs to include identifying potential drawbacks and reasons people might not embrace the adjustments. If you do not consider and plan for these possibilities, you will not be ready to properly manage them should they arise.

Planning also needs to include instruction and training everyone involved (in the case above, all church members).Uninformed people are ill-informed people. When planning any event or change in ministry, those involved in planning must remember though they have exhausted all possibilities and perhaps spent countless hours studying and preparing for the adjustments, everyone outside the planning team is in the dark concerning the upcoming change. The planning team has investigated and wrestled with the various components and possibilities. The general membership has not. Everything is new and foreign to everyone not on the planning team.

Therefore, you must begin slow and early to introduce the potential adjustments that “may” be coming. You do not need to give too much information as you begin to identify to the members what is being considered. However, you do want to give enough to allow them to begin to process the possibility of change (perhaps without using the word change) needed to improve or redirect the ministry. It is best to try to build in excitement and intrigue as to upcoming enhancements or redirection of ministry. As the calendar moves closer to the date of implementation expound more and train everyone on what is coming and how it will benefit everyone individually, the ministry as a whole, and God’s kingdom.

As you move forward, drawing closer to the implementation, you will want to involve more and more people. Be certain everyone who has a role to play in the implementation is on-board, equipped, and informed with the implementation count down. This may not give you a flawless implementation, but it will cut down on some of the errors many churches incur in leading change, and beginning new ministries.

For more on strategic planning and implementation contact George L. Yates and visit SonC.A.R.E. Ministries.

Church planning takes on a variety of meanings in various settings. For instance let’s say there is a new event a church is going to undertake. In some churches the pastor would make the decision and call the person(s) he feels would “get the job done.” He would explain his thoughts and desires for the event to this key person(s). Then he may or may not be heavily involved in the planning stages.

The amount of detail that goes into the planning depends on two key factors: who is leading the planning process, and how many are on the developing team. Now, it is not actually the “who” is leading as much as the personality and character of the event planning leader.  If she is an analytical, details oriented person, then the planning will take on a detailed process. On the other hand if the leader charged with planning the event is a more driven, “get the job done” type of leader, he will likely not be into details as much and continually push to move the planning and development process forward.

It is good to have both of these personality types on a planning team, be it an event, ministry, or the future of the church (or other organization). The driven personality will help keep the planning from stalling out. The detailed person will be sure the team is thorough in its planning process. The measure in which the leader involves others in the planning and development process will also have a great impact on the depth of planning and the outcome of success at the event.

While some form of planning is required for all events, ministry, and future predictions many churches do not have strategic planning as part of their DNA. Strategic planning requires tactical, calculated, and deliberate researching and consideration of all factors that could come into play. For example: planning an outdoor event in September in the central coast region of California does not require a lot of consideration for rain. It does not rain in that region in June through September. However, planning the same event in the Midwest would require this rain consideration and an alternate plan because rain is likely in any given month. In California you might want to plan for adequate shade, not necessarily for rain.

The weather is only one factor to be considered for planning such an event. What else would you need to consideration for the planning process? The analytical personality will likely list at least ten areas to consider while the driven personality might come up with three or four. These may be the three to four that are most predominant; however they may not be all inclusive of what is needed to execute a successful ministry event. How many times have you been in a discussion meeting (or series of meetings) and after most of the planning is complete someone (normally the preschool director) asks, “What about childcare?”  There are always ramifications for areas of consideration missed by the planning team.

Whatever you are tasked to lead in planning and developing for your church be certain to be a strategic planning leader. Certainly be open to researching all areas.

Be tactical – showing skillful planning for success

Calculated – consider a situation carefully and consider what is likely to and what could happen

Deliberate – carefully thought out with intentionality

Happy Planning – Happy Strategic Planning!

For more information on strategic planning and implementation contact George L. Yates and visit the SonC.A.R.E. Ministries website.

 Lead – to show the way by going in advance; to guide or direct in a course; to guide the action or opinion of.

If I asked one of you to leave this room and make your way in and out of two other rooms in this building (your choice of rooms) and reenter this room from a different door and stated this is your leader, could you then follow in his footsteps while he remained in this room and gave you no indication of his journey? No, you could not, could you?

Did your “leader” follow one of these definitions?

1. To show the way by going in advance.
2. To guide or direct in a course.
3. To guide the action or opinion of.

What could have made him a leader? How could this exercise have been changed to enable him to be your leader as described in each of the definitions?

1. Allow him to encourage you to follow closely behind him.
2. Allow him to give you directions in taking the journey or to draw you a map.
3. To go along with you on your journey, encouraging you at every turn.

Why did Peter desire to walk on the water? Because his leader, whom he trusted, was walking on the water. Where in Matthew 14:22-33 do we see Jesus demonstrating these three definitions of leadership?

Going in advance is leading by example. Leading by example is, I believe, one of the most important characteristics of a good leader. Jesus led by example. Where else do we read about Jesus leading by example? Think on this for a moment and name two others.

How do you as a church leader lead by example? …Everything you do you are setting an example.

The more we read and study the ministry years of Christ we see that Jesus’ teachings and His lifestyle demonstrated leadership of the heart. Even at age twelve he says, “…I must be about my Father’s business.” He repeatedly makes similar statements throughout His ministry years.

Leading by example, Jesus shows us that to be a truly great leader we not only need to lead by example, but our example is to be that of a servant. A kingdom leader is a servant leader. Where is one place in scripture where Jesus demonstrates and teaches of being a servant leader? (John 13:1-17 Jesus washing the feet of His Disciples).

“I have set for you an example that you should do as I have done for you.” John 13:15

Why is it important to be a servant leader and lead by example?

We call these characteristics because being a servant leader and leading by example are traits of a person’s character. You see, character is formed on the inside. It starts in the heart and blossoms outward.

To be an effective kingdom leader requires a change of the heart. As seen in Matthew 20:20-28 the hearts of the disciples needed a change and in verse 26 Jesus is once again teaching about becoming a servant leader.

When did the disciples experience a change of heart?

Character grows and flows from the inside out.

Becoming a kingdom leader is a process that starts on the inside with who we are, our character. Kingdom leadership is not a position earned or granted by an authoritative body or person. Kingdom leadership is an outward expression of the godly beliefs held within our heart and directed by the Holy Spirit.

For more information on Characteristics of Christlike Leadership or this conference contact George L. Yates and visit soncare.net .

Formulating good thought-provoking questions may take some practice, but it will be well worth the investment of your time and effort. Regardless of the information, facts, or statements you are reviewing, ask yourself, “How can this information (facts or statement) be used to create higher order thinking in our next meeting?” That, in fact, is a good example of the type questions you want to develop. It is certainly an open-ended question. There is no simple, one way only, answer. You can come at it from different angles and perspectives. The question causes you to think and to look into the material being addressed from different approaches.

A good open ended question will promote higher order thinking (deep thinking) from everyone in the room; causing people to look at the information or issue from different viewpoints and approaches. Never ask a question you do not want someone else to answer. In other words never answer your own question and do not ask a question and move on without giving an opportunity to field responses from others in the room. Their responses may provide the needed learning for others in the room as well as their own. Sometimes, you may need to re-ask your question or change the wording to give better clarification.

Using How, What, and Where questions are possibly easiest to formulate for good thought promoting discussion. Using Why to begin a question perhaps requires the most precaution. “Why” questions often lead to responses allowing to people to live in the past, to pass blame, and respond defensively. This type of question is generally not productive and can produce a negative atmosphere. Example: Why do you think your church is in the situation it is today? Certainly, How, What, and Where questions could just as easily be posed leading to negative responses. Why questions though are easiest to turn on the defensive nature in people.

Instead of dealing in the past and the negative, find the positive or objective of the issue by looking to the future. Example: instead of, “Why do you think your church is in the situation it is today?” you want to ask, “In your opinion, what will a brighter future beyond this situation look like for your church?” This question causes everyone to think. Not about the past or negative issues, but about a brighter, positive future. As different people respond everyone in attendance is processing the information shared. In addition people’s thoughts will not be on issues of the past, but on ideas of how to avoid those issues.

For more information on formulating good thought provoking questions contact George L. Yates and visit soncare.net.

Part two

“Asking questions for data will yield analysis, reasons, rationale, and explanation. Asking questions out of curiosity will yield deeper – often more authentic  – information about feelings and motivation.” ⁽Co-Active Coaching, Davies-black Publishing pg. 74)

Effective questions have people looking not only with the mind but with heart, soul, character, and nature. Leading and teaching for life-change is not about asking questions for intellect, but searching the very fiber, and makeup of a person’s being. Good and effective questions challenge behavior patterns and belief systems.

Effective open-ended questions challenge a person to look with a new set of eyes into the deepest corners of his/her being.

No one likes to be told, but everyone likes to be asked. Everyone loves to give their opinion. The power of an effective question lies at the foundation of discovery learning.

In Teaching That Bears Fruit I used the term “Higher Order thinking” to express the thought processes needed to be engaged to produce life-changing learning. In other words if you desire to do more than dispense information (knowledge, facts, and figures) you must engage your listener’s higher order thought processes. You can be a knowledge dispenser and give great history lessons, facts and figures. But at best you will only be creating in your learners, trivia enthusiasts.

In many educational settings the type of question used is one that does not require the listener to do more than reach for surface (static) knowledge. I deem surface knowledge as information, facts and figures. Which of the following two questions relies on surface knowledge and which one engages the higher order thought processes?

1) Who was the first president of the United States?

2) In your opinion what led to George Washington becoming the first president of the United States.

The first question leads to one specific answer and does not require the listener to move beyond stating the fact (surface knowledge). Once someone calls out the answer, everyone’s thinking is shut down. The second question however, requires each person in the room to evaluate the question from his/her own perspective and knowledge base. The higher order thought processes of every person are engaged. Not everyone will respond verbally, but you can be assured all are processing the information being shared.

For more information on formulating good questions contact George Yates at SonC.A.R.E. Ministries or pick up your copy of Teaching That Bears Fruit.

Part one:

One of the interesting features of a question is that it automatically causes us to start seeking. The very word itself “question” is a directive stating an act or instance of search, seeking, or inquiring. Technically it could be considered a double directive. The meaning of the suffix ‘ion’ is action or process and the root word ‘quest’ is defined as an act or instance of seeking or inquiring. So there is no way around the fact that a question causes us to act, opening a search for discovering an answer.

When we are posed with a question our mind automatically changes gear. Your mind will immediately refocus and begin researching your knowledge base for related information. Example: What are your plans for Tuesday? Your mind automatically shifted into thinking of the things you know you will be engaged in this coming week. For most people it would have begun on a wider scale and began narrowing down to Tuesday. The mind is so superbly designed that this task would’ve been completed in a matter of seconds.

The use of proper questions will engage our God-given natural learning ability of Discovery. In my opinion, there is no greater avenue of learning than discovery. Think of Peter walking on water. No doubt this was one of his greatest learning experiences in all of his life. Jesus used discovery learning often. Discovery learning embeds the truth of the experience quicker and deeper than any other method or means of attempted learning.

Questions raise the curiosity factor in us. The curiosity behind a question allows the listener to explore and discover. Properly designed questions open the mind to explore the depths of belief and knowledge. Example: What has been the greatest benefit to your spiritual walk? (Opposed to: Have you grown in your spirituality?) Properly worded questions cause every person in the room to delve into his/her personal belief and knowledge base for an answer. It is the exploration that creates discovery learning.

The curiosity behind questions enables exploration, reflection, detection, unearthing, and resourcing all that we know and believe, even to our core values.

Proper questioning does not involve interrogation.

Questions should be asked not so much from the point of “an expert” but for the benefit of discovery on behalf of the learner. Design your questions not from the point of an expert. Instead, form your questions out of curiosity; curiosity for the assistance of the listener’s discovery of truth and application in his/her life.

Questions formed from a curiosity perspective assist the listener to tap into deeper sources of information. Questions formed otherwise can cause the listener to seek only surface information. Example: (surface) “Who is the son of God?” (better)  “What does the term Son of God mean to you?” The first question is a closed ended question requiring only surface or static knowledge. The second question however, causes everyone to search his/her knowledge and belief system for an answer. The first question shuts down the learning capacities as soon as one person answers. The second one challenges each person to explore and reflect on his/her belief system.

For more information about effectively using questions contact George Yates at SonC.A.R.E. Ministries, purchase a copy of Teaching That Bears Fruit, and follow this blog for more related posts.

Jumping into Lake Michigan on January 1st is, I’m sure, a very cold, brutal, and painful experience. However, there are scores of people who do it every January. Willingly diving into a vigorous face-to-face summit with reality is a similar experience. You are going to get hit abruptly with the cold, hard, brutal wave of reality. But it is necessary if you truly desire to see the reverse of decline in your church.

Go ahead. Jump in. God is waiting with a warm towel to wrap around you and move with you to the next level. A vigorous face to face summit with reality will put you on the road to reaching the summit of your ministry calling.

Unearthing these realities as described in the previous chapter is only the beginning. Church leaders must recognize the need for change—change for the better—the need for improvement.

One major objective for each of us in all aspects of life is improvement. We are incessantly seeking to improve some feature or component of life, be it physical, intellectual, or spiritual. When we discover certain truths of undesirable development (such as decline in the church), we have two choices: ignore it and let things continue in the direction they are headed or seek and develop strategic plans for improvement. The first choice is like sticking our heads in the sand. The second response usually requires a change of course, and this often goes against our nature. We are creatures of habit, not of change.

Seeing how things truly are in your ministry from an objective perspective can be a harsh reality check for a church. Indeed, the further a church has slumped into decline, the more harsh the reality may be. Without the realization of the brutal facts, the church may never resolve to truly attempt to reverse the trends of decline.

When the reality of your situation is presented to and realized by the church, it is important that you identify with the necessity of the situation. Identifying the situation is not where the struggle begins. The battle to turn around begins only when we identify with the necessity of the situation.

The biblical book of Nehemiah renders a great study on the elements of this chapter. Nehemiah identified with the needs of the city of Jerusalem. He felt compassion for the people living there, for the rich heritage of the City of David (Jerusalem), and for the God he and his forefathers   served. If Nehemiah had not identified with the needs of the city of his fathers, a city that he probably had never seen or visited, the book of Nehemiah would never have been written. Nehemiah would never have left the comforts of the king’s palace. Jerusalem would have remained in ruins until God raised up another leader.

Verse four of chapter one of the book of Nehemiah says, “I sat down and wept. I mourned for a number of days, fasting and praying before the God of heaven.” When you read this passage in Nehemiah, do you think of how long it has been since you wept and fasted over broken down walls? It has been said that one will never rebuild until he or she comes to the point of weeping over the ruins.

Be brave. Be bold. Be broken-hearted and obedient. Serve God as He leads. He will deliver and cause the rebuilding of your church.

For more information on Identifying with the Necessity of the Situation and reversing declining trends in your church, contact George Yates and SonC.A.R.E. Ministries.

part two

Before you can reverse declining trends in your church (or other organization) you must first realize the need for reversal and understand the reality of your situation – the brutal reality of where your organization is indeed. We live life in a bias and we see our current reality through rose colored glasses or in a bias. It is difficult for us to desire to see the true unpleasantness of any situation. We tend to focus on the pleasantries of our situation. Thus we remain in a comfort zone. Our natural inclination is to avoid circumstances that may stretch us beyond where we are comfortable.

Jim Collins in Good to Great states that it is impossible to make a series of good decisions without first confronting the brutal facts of your situation. In other words, before you can truly begin making decisions that will assist in reversing declining trends in your church, you must first have a Vigorous Face to Face Summit with the reality of your situation. This is one of the main focus points of the Reaching the Summit resources.

Some of the things you will look at in your vigorous face to face summit with reality include historical data, behavioral patterns, church trends, church character traits, core values, inclusion, and community assessment. Just as every person has behavior patterns so every church has behavior patterns. The same is true with character traits and core values. Everything we do is an outward manifestation of an inner belief (core value). If we do not hold something as a core value we will not act on it. It cannot become a behavior pattern for me to share my conversion story with others if it is not a core conviction.

A vigorous face to face summit with reality will reveal deep and noble as well as ignoble things about your ministry and your church. Once you have examined your ministry in this fashion every decision you make should be predicated on the findings of your summit. From this point forward prior to making any decision you must qualify it by weighing each option against the findings of the vigorous face to face summit. Perhaps a finding in your summit is that your church has never attempted ministry to people who live to the right side of your driveway. Each decision now needs to carry the question, “Does this decision allow us to fulfill the Great Commission to those communities God placed to the right of our property?” If so, Go Right Young Man! If not, rethink. You cannot make a series of good decisions without first conducting a vigorous face to face summit with reality.

This is how you set the course for reversing decline in your church. For more information on conducting a vigorous face to face summit or reversing decline in the church, purchase a copy of Reaching the Summit or contact SonC.A.R.E. ministries.

One of the major ways to begin assessing the reality of your situation is to take a vigorous look at the truth. Most people do not like confrontation. However, confronting is a good term to use, because to reverse decline in your organization, you must be willing to meet head on the things that may be detrimental and causing decline. A vigorous look at all the truth of the reality of your ministry situation will be essential in reversing or avoiding decline.

With the phrase a vigorous face-to-face summit with reality we are speaking of a completely open and honest assessment—a vigorous face-to-face meeting with reality as the result of an intense investigation of who we are and how we arrived where we are today. It is my belief that a church cannot successfully and thoroughly conduct this assessment without the assistance of an objective experienced and qualified person from outside the church.

If you are serious about turning your church around or even avoiding decline, you should seek a church consultant and coach with experience in assisting churches in growth and reversing decline. Appendix 2 in Reaching the Summit is written as a help with choosing a consultant or coach for your church. You want someone on your turnaround team who does not have the biases that you and your church members have but has a passion to see the church thrive in building God’s kingdom.

For more information on conducting a Vigorous Face to Face Summit for your church or organization purchase a copy of Reaching the Summit: Avoiding and Reversing Decline in the Church or contact George Yates at SonC.A.R.E. Ministries.