I read an article this morning of an editorial that appeared in the New York Sun on September 21, 1897 in response to an inquiry from eight-year-old, Virginia O’Hanlon. “I’m eight years old. Some of my friends say there is no Santa Claus. My papa says if you see it in the “Sun” it’s so. Please tell me the truth. Is there a Santa Claus?” The reply from the Sun’s editor, Frank Church, is still one of the most memorable editorials of all time.

“Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love, and generosity and devotion exist…How dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus! It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginia’s…The most real things in the world are things that neither children nor men can see…Thank God, he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay 10 times 10,000 years from now he will continue to make glad the hearts of childhood.”

I’ve read that story before, and I enjoy reading the perspective in which Mr. Church wrote his response. He wrote not to destroy one’s faith or hope, but for adults who would understand as it is love, generosity, and devotion.

As believers in Christ we know and understand the love, hope, and generosity bestowed on us from the creator of the universe, God Almighty. There are Virginia’s in the world today who would ask, Is there really a Savior? We should be ready to answer, Yes, my friend, there is a Savior, Jesus Christ. He rose from the dead on the third day from a burial tomb. He rose so that you and I can have eternal life after this life is over and abundant life in Him while alive on this earth. He rose from the grave, He lives today, and He will live forever. Not 10×10,000, that would only be the beginning and He invites you to join Him, during this life and forever.

You may not be able to see Him, but as Mr. Church wrote, “The most real things in the world are things that neither children nor men can see.” Jesus Christ is the most real thing present on this earth.

How dreary it would be without Jesus Christ, our living Lord and Savior. Yes, my friend, Jesus is alive and lives forever in the heart of every true believer. And we should rejoice that He is real and living. He is not a storybook or fictional character. He is a blessed reality – it is Christ who will continue to make glad the hearts of children and men. That, my friend, is the real truth. Do you truly know Him?

George Yates is an Organizational Health Strategist and coach, assisting churches, organizations, and individuals in pursuing God’s purpose for life. Click here to receive this blog in your email inbox each Tuesday.

It’s All About God!

Our culture has for decades held an “It’s all about me” attitude. Get what you can and don’t worry about anyone else. Make sure you get what you want first. The generation born from 1965- the 1970’s was also known as the “Me” generation. Yet, perhaps the boomer generation (1946-1964) started this craze that has devolved into crazy. Not any political party or platform, I am writing of individuals and our drive for “me first”.

In the Bible we see a completely different ideology and practice. In scripture we learn (or we should learn) our goal should be not to please us first, but to please God. When we do what is right in God’s eyes and pleasing to Him, then we will find the satisfaction we long for.

Even in Christian living today we expect our desires to be met even to the extent that we believe, “We love God, so, what we want is what God wants.” This could not be further from the truth. God’s thoughts, God’s ways are much higher than you and I can think or imagine.

In EKG, my friend, Ken Hemphill writes, “God acts in human history for our good and for His glory.” We would do well to remember that God’s glory comes before our good. We seem to have gotten that turned around in much of Christianity today.

Hemphill reminds us that even in scripture “…when God began to move on behalf of His people in captivity in Babylon, He made it clear through the prophet Ezekiel that, “It is not for your sake that I will act, house of Israel, but for my Holy name, which you profaned…” Ezekiel 36:22 (italics mine)

God’s actions are always for His glory, not our comfort, pleasure, or our desire. It is always for His glory. God has a love for us, His children, that is greater than the greatest imaginable with our finite minds. It is due to His love for us that He acts for our good. But our good is secondary to His receiving the glory due Him. Through our faith in the shed blood of Jesus Christ, His death, and resurrection, we are ushered into God’s haven of rest, His amazing grace.

^“We have also obtained access through Him (Christ) by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.” Romans 5:2 Even the sacrifice of His own Son was completed for His glory. It was for our good, our only entry into heaven. Yet, before our good, it was for God’s glory.

God’s desire is for all people of all nations, all tribes and tongues to know Him personally and intimately. Therefore, we will find our greatest desire for satisfaction when seeking our God-designed purpose in life. True satisfaction comes only when we realize it is not about me, but it is ALL ABOUT GOD and His glory.

George Yates is an Organizational Health Strategist and coach, assisting churches, organizations, and individuals in pursuing God’s purpose for life. Click here to receive this blog in your email inbox each Tuesday.

Recently, I was asked about structure. One, in particular read one of my recent articles on strategy, stated it was timely, but now need something on structure. I have written on structure several times over the past 13 years in this blog and other places. Today, I want to focus on a different avenue of structure.

Structure is, as the Oxford dictionary has it, “the arrangement of and relations between the parts or elements of something complex.”

Every organization, no matter its size, needs structure. Without structure you have chaos. You may have organized chaos, but it is chaos – disorder and confusion. I have leaders both in the church & corporate world state something like, “We let our people have the freedom to get the work done, each in their own way. We don’t really have a structure.”

Giving people freedom to accomplish is not all bad or good. Still, there must be boundaries. There must be certain guidelines to be followed. Otherwise you will breed chaos.

Each organization needs a structure that fits its size, demographics, (inside and outside the organization) and organizational purpose. Attempting to create a structure not based on a great understanding of these three will only produce floundering, failure, and chaos.

The majority of churches in North America today run less than one hundred in attendance. The structure of those churches, most with only one paid staff person (many of those bi-vocational) will need a very different structure than a church running 200, 300, 1,500, or 15,000. The smaller church structure will rely heavily on volunteer personnel. While every effective church structure relies heavily on volunteerism, the larger church will have various layers of paid staff structured in as well.

Yet size is only one critical element in creating effective structure. Leaders must know and understand the demographics within and outside of your organization. Demographics reveal statistical data relating to the population and particular groups within an organization and those outside of your organization. Every church should be aware of the demographics within at least a 1, 3, and 5 mile radius of the church. Who lives around you. Where do they work, what is the household income, how many children, etc. Do the demographics in your church match the demographics of those living around you. Your structure should draw heavily from the demographics of and around your church or organization.

The third critical element for your organization in designing the effective, correct structure is your organizational purpose. For what does your organization exist? What is the purpose of your organization? For every evangelistic Christian church it is to fulfill The Great Commission. Therefore, a structure is needed that will effectively carry out the tenets of The Great Commission as ordained in scripture. Perhaps a good first question to ask is, “To fulfill The Great Commission what do we need to incorporate, according to our size, the demographics within the organization, and who we trying to reach?

For more information and coaching for your organizational structure contact George Yates or your denominational leaders.

George Yates is an Organizational Health Strategist and coach, assisting churches, organizations, and individuals in pursuing God’s purpose for life. Click here to receive this blog in your email inbox each Tuesday.

The U.S. population over the past forty years has increased greatly, while the presence of the evangelical church has painfully decreased. One key in this decline is what I refer to as he westernization of Christianity. Instead of following God’s design as written in His word, The Holy Bible, perhaps the majority of Christian believers today form their own God based on personal preferences and comfort.

God, in His word, through His Son, Jesus Christ, gave us a commission, our marching orders, The Great Commission. The Great Commission has in it three mandates for each believer and the church, Share the Good News of God allowing the Holy Spirit to lead people to faith in Christ, baptize the new believers as an illustration of the change made in the person, and continually teach them to grow in Christ throughout the remainder of life.

One missing key element in most churches today is a Great Commission strategy. In Turnaround Journey[i], I shared that most churches know how to plan, but few strategically plan for an effective implementation. A Great Commission strategy includes what Gene Mims wrote about in Kingdom Focused Church[ii], and sometimes referred to as the 1-5-4 principle.

The Great Commission is to be our one (1) driving force. Everything we do should have as its aim, to fulfill the great Commission. The strategy should have as its foundation, the five (5) functions of the church. Prayer is a vital part of all five, not an add on. Included in the strategy each church should include representations of four (4) areas of results.

The four area of results are, 1) Spiritual growth – as you and I individually and as a church grow spiritually, we impact the Kingdom. 2) An outcome of this spiritual growth is ministry expansion, the need for more ministry opportunities to be fulfilled, 3) A further outcome when a church experiences spiritual growth and ministry expansion is missions awareness. As believers grow in Christ their awareness for mission service develops into a passion.

The fourth area of results is an outgrowth bi-product of the first three, numerical growth. As we grow in Christ, expand the ministry based according to God’s direction, and endeavor into missions opportunities at home and abroad, God will add to our numbers, not for our sake, but in expanding His Kingdom.

A question to ask ourselves, “Is my church putting more emphasis on raising our numbers or striving for individual and corporate spiritual growth?” Only the second one will lead into an effective Great Commission strategy. The numbers will be a bi-product whether your church is decreasing in numbers or increasing

[i] Turnaround Journey, George Yates, Sonlight publishing

[ii] The Kingdom Focused Church, Gene Mims, B&H publishing

George Yates is an Organizational Health Strategist and coach, assisting churches, organizations, and individuals in pursuing God’s purpose for life. Click here to receive this blog in your email inbox each Tuesday.

Drop a small stone in the water and what happens? That one small splash creates a ripple effect of concentric circles widening out from where the stone broke the water’s surface.

What happens when you drop several stones in the water? The ripples from the different stones can intersect creating small waves that begin moving a larger surface area of water.  This is the nature of leadership. It is the nature of influence, and it is what you and I as believers in Christ have been called to do.

Acts chapter 9 verses 19-28 give us some insight into creating ripples for Christ. First,

1. Exercising Brings Greater Strength

In Damascus, Paul was causing a ripple effect, stirring the waters. And look at what happened to him. Verse 22 says, But Saul kept increasing in strength and confounding the Jews who lived at Damascus by proving that this Jesus is the Christ.

Saul was gaining in strength – this is spiritual strength and wisdom, a voice to be heard. The more he shared with others, the more his spiritual strength increased.

2. Greater Strength Creates Longer Lasting Ripples

Paul’s ministry would continue to produce a ripple effect throughout his life with Timothy, Titus, and so many others he influenced in the churches he started throughout his ministry.

Paul’s ripple effect continues still today. Christ created ripples with His Disciples, who in turn created ripples with the Israelites in Jerusalem establishing the earliest of New Testament churches. These believers continued the ripple effect by taking the gospel away from Jerusalem,

Each ripple influences another. All of these ripples began with Jesus, and they led to a change in the world like civilization has never known. That is the power of ripples. And it is the power that you and I have through Jesus Christ.

That ripple effect started by Jesus has come down through the centuries until someone’s ripple influenced you. That ripple affected your life. Now it is your turn.

3. The Ripple Effect Lives On –

Once a pebble is dropped in the water, you can no longer see the pebble. But you can see the ripple effect long after the pebble disappears. Do your friends continue to see the ripples of Christianity after you have left the conversation? What will be seen after your life is over? What will be said of the ripples you leave behind?

What is within your grasp to create a ripple effect in the lives of people around you? How will you be intentional about creating ripples this week?

George Yates is an Organizational Health Strategist and coach, assisting churches, organizations, and individuals in pursuing God’s purpose for life. Click here to receive this blog in your email inbox each Tuesday.

I am a dreamer. I admit I’m a daydreamer for things I would like to do or have. I likely spend too much time daydreaming. However, part of my daydreaming is of how churches that I interact with could be more effective at fulfilling the Great Commission. Then, I begin daydreaming how I could help, how I could guide the pastor & church to discover ways and strategies to have a greater effect for God’s Kingdom.

Some of my daydreaming may be self-focused rather than Kingdom focused (my personal wants or desires). Perhaps  this is true for everyone. This daydreaming can be a stress relief or it can be a distraction and detriment from fulfilling God’s purpose in our life.

Pastors and other ordained ministers can sometimes find themselves daydreaming about their next church – “What will it look like and what will I do?” This is detrimental daydreaming. Dreaming of another church, another time, another town is a detriment to your calling and where God has currently placed you.

I once had a young lady ask, “Bro. George, you probably don’t stay at a church a long time do you? I mean with what you do, you help a church improve and then…” My response to her – and to others since then – “I never go into a church thinking I am going to leave before retirement. If God calls me away before then, I will follow, but I plan to stay.”

I do not recall ever dreaming about the next church. Here are three reasons for any minister to remain focused on God’s current assignment. Actually, this is good advice for anyone clergy or parishioner.

1, Your calling is to the Lord and not to any dream church or position. If my call is from God, then God will see me through the tough times and the smooth days at this church where He has me currently serving. I’ve experienced some pretty tough times in churches. One senior pastor whom I served with remarked, “I don’t think I would’ve stayed if I were you.” To which I replied, “I knew we were doing God’s work in His will. I could not leave.”

2, Each minister and each member must assess through prayer and guidance from the Holy Spirit what God desires and how God desires to use me where He has me serving right now.

3, Individually, each one must concentrate and focus on using his/her gifts to build up the current body of Christ. Ephesians 4:12 admonishes that all believers that we are to use our gifts for this reason only. God does not make mistakes. If He desires to move you, He will. But for today, there is no time to spend daydreaming about your desires of another church when God has a much greater plan.

George Yates is an Organizational Health Strategist and coach, assisting churches, organizations, and individuals in pursuing God’s purpose for life. Click here to receive this blog in your email inbox each Tuesday.

How many of life’s pleasures and stresses seem to bring difficulties on your spiritual walk and on the life of your church? If we are honest, there are quite a few. Every four to six months pastors and church members want to give up, asking questions like, “Is it really worth it?”. Paul had some advice for young Timothy in one of his times of distress.

Not only were the stresses of building and strengthening a church in a pagan culture plaguing Timothy, his mentor, the Apostle Paul was in prison for doing the work Timothy was trying to carry out. It is understandable that Timothy would be feeling the pressure.

In 2 Timothy 4:5 Paul told young Timothy, “But as for you, keep a clear head about everything, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.” This is good advice for everyone of us today. Fulfill your ministry – your specific calling from God.

God knows what you are facing. He understands the trials of today, and He is with you. He has promised to walk with you through those trials – everyone of them. He may not remove them, but who greater than the creator of the universe to walk side by side with you through your trials?

It would do each believer and each church well to at least annually reconsider its focus. Are you kingdom focused? As an individual, as a church? It is easy to fall into the trappings of societal beliefs mixed into your spiritual beliefs. It is part of what I refer to as the “westernization of Christianity”, and it is leading millions of people away from biblical Christianity.

God created you to fulfill a specific purpose, His purpose. The right and true goal of every Christian and every church is to be Kingdom focused as God is Kingdom focused. Unfortunately, the westernization of Christianity has brought with it the idea that, “if I like it and it feels good then it must be from God. That is the farthest from the truth as you can get.

Even Jesus Himself underscores this goal and principle as we read in John 5:19-20, “I assure you, the Son of man is not able to do anything on His own, but only what He sees His Father doing. For whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in the same way. For the Father loves the Son and shows Him everything He is doing, and He will show Him greater works than these so that you will be amazed.”

Notice it says the Son does “in the same way”. The Son does not have permission to twist and change up what the Father is doing to suit himself. It is when we resist the temptations of doing “worldly ways” that people are “amazed” because it is God working through a Kingdom focused mindset.

What will you do today to insure yours is a Kingdom mindset prescribed by the Father and not of your own design?

George Yates is an Organizational Health Strategist and coach, assisting churches, organizations, and individuals in pursuing God’s purpose for life. Click here to receive this blog in your email inbox each Tuesday.

One bullet point in our previous post on assimilation was: The process of bonding must be ever-present. I’m not referring to touchy-feely fall back into each other’s arms exercises. Your church should include practices as; interfacing, connecting, acceptance, belonging, ownership, and continuity. In this post let’s explore each of those six practices.

• Interfacing – People need person to person interaction. Fruitful churches provide opportunities for members/employees to interact – face to face with one another, not only in casual, superficial ways, but in authentic, genuine personal growth opportunities. In the church this can be planning and preparing for events, serving together in community projects, going on mission together. Over the years I have witnessed persons serving in VBS, serving kool-aid, as their very first service within a church that became the catalyst for them in becoming an engaged member of God’s Kingdom.
• Connecting – certainly one factor in the VBS scenario is connecting with other peers through serving together. One of the greatest connecting points of an evangelistic church is through an ongoing Bible study small group. Not only meeting once a week, but intentionally fostering relationships with one another, living life with each member.
• Acceptance and Belonging – Everyone enters your facilities with a desire to be accepted. Most churches are good at courting newcomers, yet when they become “regular” attenders or members, we drop them as if once they accept membership they now know everyone and everything and nothing else is needed from us. People – including you, desire and need to feel accepted and that they belong.
• Ownership – Members of a club or organization pay the minimum dues to enjoy the benefits of the club. The owners of a club or organization on the other hand strive to make it the best, taking pride in the organization being its absolute best.
• Continuity – Scripture says, “Let your yes be yes, and your no be no.” That is continuity. For people to be committed and assimilated into your church, they must realize that the principles being lived out through the organization are not wishy-washy (as my Dad used to say) but steadfast, biblically based with stability.

To achieve committed, fully assimilated constituents of your church and God’s Kingdom, think on these things. For they are all just, pure, lovely, of good report, great virtue and worthy of praise to our God. Think on these things. (Philippians 4:8)

George Yates is an Organizational Health Strategist and coach, assisting churches, organizations, and individuals in pursuing God’s purpose for life. Click here to receive this blog in your email inbox each Tuesday.

In our last blog we looked at five first steps to assimilation. In this post we’ll look at five more proven points to advance the assimilation process. Assimilation is a process, it takes time. As stated in the previous post, churches must be intentional with a specified, focused process for assimilating newcomers. In addition to the first five steps discussed previously, consider incorporating these five into your church assimilation process.

• Structured small group Bible study classes are critical in assimilation and in the growth of any church in any region of every nation on earth. These are where friendships blossom, relationships are fostered and spiritual growth unites people as one.
• Expectations – Civic groups and rotary clubs have more expectations on their members than most evangelic churches. People need and want expectations. In the late 1980’s, 20 million boomers and busters returned to the church. That is a great fact, until you realize that by 1995 22 million left the church. That number continues to climb. The largest factor cited in their leaving – No expectations on them from the church.
• The process of bonding must be ever-present. I’m not referring to touchy-feely fall back into each other’s arms exercises. Your church should include practices as; interfacing, connecting, acceptance, belonging, ownership, and continuity.
• Outreach and Lay involvement – Churches that reach out to others will keep more of their members. Outreach should be considered a group activity in every class and every church. The involvement of laity is critical to assimilation as noted in Points 3, 4, & 5 in the previous post.
• Implement and strengthen ministries that include; Spiritual gifts (discovery & utilization), Lay mobilization, specific discipleship, student ministry, & family ministry.

Assimilation is critical for the growth of the church if it is part of God’s Kingdom. In Leviticus 19:33-34 God told Moses and the Israelites, “‘And if a stranger dwells with you in your land, you shall not mistreat him. The stranger who dwells among you shall be to you as one born among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.” (NKJV)

Assimilation into God’s family is important to God (it is The Great Commission), and it should be a priority process in our churches. What will you undertake this week to strengthen the overall assimilation process in your church? You have a part to play. What will you do?

George Yates is an Organizational Health Strategist and coach, assisting churches, organizations, and individuals in pursuing God’s purpose for life. Click here to receive this blog in your email inbox each Tuesday.

It is well known and well documented that the church in North America is in decline. However, we see and hear of pockets of well-sustained growth and healthy discipleship in some churches. What makes the difference?

In my opinion, it all begins with assimilation and assimilation begins with showing that you truly care. Perhaps in the near future we’ll write a blog on “Showing that you truly care.” For now, let’s look at 5 first steps to assimilation.

1, Assimilation does not happen by accident. A church must be intentional about assimilating new people into your congregational family. It cannot be by coercion or force. Newcomers must feel genuinely welcomed and accepted. Too often our welcome in churches is superficial – and newcomers know it.

2, A church must project a warm fellowship (atmosphere) to outsiders. Churches today have a tendency to be closed societal groups, many times without intention. We think we are open to newcomers, yet we show preference in our conversations and actions to our friends and long-term members.

3, Assimilation begins at the first contact with the church. A good rule of thumb is “the first threes”. What happens in the first three minutes when a newcomer enters – 1) your property, is there guest parking clearly marked, what entrance to use? 2) your facility, are there greeters and good signage to direct guests? 3) in the worship center, how are newcomers greeted and by how many people? Are they asked to join another family for worship?

4, All guests to your services should be contacted within 36 hours for highest rate of return. Ministerial (clergy) contacts are great; laity contacts are twice as effective. Guests see clergy contacts as part of “their duty”, what he is paid to do. On the other hand they view laity contacts as “They truly care”.

5, Newcomers to the church must begin building new relationships within the congregation immediately. You cannot wait to see if they’re going to “stick” before getting to know them. Relationships are perhaps the most crucial aspect of assimilation. Surveys and research projects over the years continue to prove the higher number of genuine, new relationships inside the church reinforce the assimilation process for individuals and families.

If your church truly desires to fulfill the purpose of The New Testament Church – The Great Commission – please do not leave assimilation to chance. Build in an assimilation process. Train and equip all of your congregation to be active participants in the assimilation of others.

George Yates is an Organizational Health Strategist and coach, assisting churches, organizations, and individuals in pursuing God’s purpose for life. Click here to receive this blog in your email inbox each Tuesday.