Chris Reeder has a pretty cool thing going on over at this blog.  He has asked a bunch of different church planters for advice on planting a church when you basically don’t know what you are doing.  I have enjoyed reading the posts.  I’ve never been to his blog before but after going there I am pretty sure I met him at ChurchPlanters.com.  Plus he is calling his church Revolution so he has to be decent.

Check out the posts from different church planters here.

I have had this thought for a couple of weeks and really wasn’t sure how to write it out, but let me try and write I am thinking. In the last 6 weeks we have made a lot of changes at Revolution in regards to people’s roles. We have moved several of our staff around into positions they were better suited for, positions we had holes in, and positions that would enable us to reach more people. We have also moved around a ton of our volunteers into different roles. Again, this was to put them in position they were best suited to serve in and to enable us to take the next steps as a church. Not only have we moved around some staff and volunteers, but I myself have changed my role here at Revolution. I realized I was becoming a huge bottleneck in many areas and I stepped aside and am allowing our incredible team do what they are here to do and that is lead. Transitions are never easy and I’d be lying if I said I have enjoyed everything that I have changed. However, I understand that Revolution is NOT about me and I have made the necessary changes in my role to allow us to continue to grow and reach more people.

We are already seeing the results of these moves as we are having the largest crowds we have ever had, putting on some of the best services we ever have, and there is a buzz in the church that is insane. Changes are life. The day we stop changing is the day we will start dying. As things grow, as new people come on board, as individuals figure out their calling and passion the simple fact is that leads to change.

I have sat back over the last month and observed how people handle change and I have learned it really boils down to what you love. What you love determines how you respond to change. Some people love the position they hold at Revolution and some people love the vision of Revolution. There is a huge difference between the two.

Those who love their position won’t make it through transitions and change. Now, I am not saying you shouldn’t be sold out to the area you serve in because you should be sold out, passionate, and consumed with the area of service God has given you. However, if you love the position more than the vision, you won’t navigate through times of change. When you love the position more than the vision you can’t see the big picture, you can’t see how the church is improved by the changes that are being made, you can’t see that someone else might be able to do your job better and more effective. All you see is YOUR desires, YOUR wants, and what makes YOU happy. When you love the position more you take it personally when you are asked to move to another area. Instead of seeing vision all you can see is YOU are being punished or how YOU are being effected.

When you love the vision over the position, all that changes. When you understand that everything we do at Revolution is about reaching those that are far from God, you could care less where you are asked to serve because it doesn’t matter. When you love the vision over the position all you care about is seeing those far from God come to know Him. Whether it means you are in the band or you are a greeter, you could care less because you know every move that is made is to further the vision. When the vision comes first, you don’t take things personally. You rejoice in changes because you know it is enabling us to reach more people.

We have volunteers at Revolution who have had 10 different areas of ministry and don’t care because they understand the vision. They just want to be part of making it happen and if it means they are carrying crates after the service, they are happy to do it. We have also had volunteers who loved being in charge, loved being in a “cool” position, and loved getting credit and praise from everyone. When those people are asked to change areas just once, they pout and take their ball and go home.

A church cannot, will not, and isn’t able to grow if it is full of people who love position over vision. I have watched over the last few weeks those who have moved around on our staff, with our volunteers, and even myself and I have never been prouder of Revolution as I have watched. For every one person who has loved position first, 25 have loved vision first.

That is why God is moving right now at Revolution!

One of the questions I get asked a lot about from other church planters is about our use of consultants.  We have used consultants almost since day one at Revolution.  We are always looking for people to evaluate what we are doing, offer their expertise, and give us solutions for improving every area of our church.

I can’t remember all of the various consultants we have brought in but a few of the areas we have used them in include Media (sound, light, video), General Church, Children’s, Production, and Marketing.  We have had MANY great experiences with consultants, a couple of bad ones, and one just plain weird one.

I HIGHLY recommend consultants no matter what size your church is but I think we are a lot better prepared today to bring one in then we were when we started bringing them in because we have learned a lot in the process.  Since so many of you ask, I thought I would share with you what we have learned.

• BRING IN PEOPLE WHO UNDERSTAND YOUR CHURCH - This one is huge.  We have a very clear vision here at Revolution and not everyone understands that.  We are all about reaching unchurched people and nothing else.  That doesn’t mean we talk about reaching unchurched people, that means we actually try to do it.  We have had guys come in who at one time were part of large churches (great churches doing great things) that simply wanted to talk about that church and what they did.  It didn’t matter if that fit our culture, our vision, or our DNA.  It is also important for them to understand that we are a portable church, with a thousand people, and what our budget is.  I’ll never forget the consultant who gave us a write up with around $250,000 worth of improvements when we were running about 500 people.   They were great improvements but not realistic for us at that time.
• MAKE SURE THEY ARE CURRENTLY PART OF A LOCAL CHURCH AND CALL THAT CHURCH - I am so sick of guys who “use to be on staff at ________.”  Ministry changes QUICKLY.  If you are going to consultant for local churches make sure you are part of a local church.  I am so fed up with guys who are experts at what is working in the local church but haven’t been part of one for a while.  I will never forget bringing in a guy to talk to our staff one day who had lived in the area over a year and still hadn’t found a church to be part of.  He knew every church was doing wrong but after a year hadn’t gotten his family connected to one yet.  What he said held little ground with me or our staff.  It is easy to have theory, it is another thing to actually be in the battle doing it.
• ALLOW THEM TO BE HONEST -Sounds simple, but most guys can’t handle the truth.  If you can’t handle the truth then save yourself some money and don’t bring them in.  We recently brought in a consultant for our children’s ministry and she was BRUTAL to us.  I told her coming in that I wanted her HONEST evaluation and she gave it.  It stung for about 2 seconds then we realized she was right and we have made HUGE changes in that area and it is paying huge returns.  She could have came down and patted us on the back, but she cared enough not to do that.  Swallow your pride and allow them to be honest in the areas you aren’t very good.  I like to hear what we are doing right as well, but that isn’t why I bring them in.
• BRING IN PEOPLE YOU HAVE A RELATIONSHIP WITH AND WHO CARE ABOUT YOUR CHURCH - This goes back to the last one.  The reason this person was allowed to be brutally honest with us is because we had a relationship with her and knew she actually cared about our church.  Anyone can tear down just to tear down.  I want someone to tear down because they are trying build us up and that comes from having people come in that we have a relationship with.  THE best consultants we have brough in aren’t actually consultants, they are people who are on staff in churches we have relationships with who come in and want to see our church be all that it can be.
• GOOD CONSULTANTS COST MONEY - One of the lessons I have learnd in planting a church is you get what you pay for.  Churches are the worst about wanting stuff for free.  If you are going to take someone’s time to travel, time way from their family and their time to give you an honest evaluation, you need to pay them.  Quit being cheap and spend the money to make your church better.
• LET THEM KNOW WHAT YOU EXPECT BEFORE THEY COME IN - I have learned that most of the time when expectations aren’t met, expectations weren’t clearly laid out beforehand.  We are very clear before we bring some in about exactly what we expect and why we are bringing them in.

I could go on and on but those are the first things that popped into my head.  Hope it helps.

I am sure it is this way in all types of churches, but there are times that I feel the way we are doing church (not that is the only way to do church) is so different that you just feel an instant connection and brotherhood with those who are doing the same thing. God has blessed us in North Georgia with some GREAT churches that I feel very connected with, guys who are doing church that is trying everything in it’s power to reach those far from God, so I thought I would throw their names out there so all of you who call Revolution home can pray for these guys as well. They need your prayers ALWAYS, but Easter is crazy so I am sure they would appreciate some extra prayers this week!

Along with praying for these guys, I would encourage you to notice where they are located and if you have family, know someone, or work with someone in the areas where these guys are INVITE those people to check what these guys are doing!

J.R. Lee - Freedom Church - Acworth, Ga.

Tony McCollum - Fusion Church - Suwanee, Ga.

Shawn Lovejoy - Mountain Lake Church - Cumming, Ga.

Michael Lukaszewski - Oak Leaf Church - Cartersville, Ga.

Steven Gibbs - Stonecreek Church - Alpharetta, Ga.

Scott Whitaker - Stone Point Church - Newnan, Ga.

Ritchie Miller - Avalon Church - McDonough, Ga.

Brian Bloye - West Ridge Church - Hiram, Ga.

Danny Echols - Crossview Church - Rockmart, Ga.

Jim Carpenter - Compass Church - Athens, Ga.

Matt Evans - Rock Bridge Church - Dalton, Ga.

Man, just writing that list got me freaking jacked up!!! I forget how awesome God is moving throughout our state! I am sure there are other GREAT churches that I left off that list, but those are the guys I hang with on a regular basis and those are the ones that popped in my mind.

LIFT THOSE THOSE GUYS UP IN PRAYER THIS WEEK!

As our church continues to grow and as I have taken some things back on my plate that NEEDED to be back on my plate, I am being forced at being more disciplined.  I have to admit it is a struggle.  But, I am seeing the benefits of it in major ways.

I am focusing on three major areas of my life in regards to discipline:

Physical Discipline - I have let myself go and it is 100% a discipline issue.  I am very focused right now on my physical health.  I am two weeks into working out and eating right and I am already seeing a difference and I am already feeling better.  I have a long way to go but without discipline in this area I won’t make it.

Spiritual Discipline - The last two weeks I have been up at 5 every morning.  I have started my day in prayer and in the Bible.  Again, this has been huge and I am already seeing the benefits.

Time Discipline - THIS ONE IS HUGE FOR ME!  My job is to lead this church and I all to often lead in the spur of the moment due to my lack if discipline in the area of time management.  I am being very intentional about my time lately.  I am planning my day the day before, I am sticking to my schedule, I am going into meetings prepared, and I am letting our guys lead like never before while also keeping them accountable to their actions like never before.

Right now none of these three areas come naturally to me, but they are so important for me to be the husband, father, pastor, leader, and believer that God wants me to be.

Discipline sucks, but it is life changing!

DeAnna and I just got back home from Nashville.  We had a GREAT time.  No kids and No dog for two days was nice.  Nashville is a GREAT city.  Atlanta could learn something from Nashville.  The downtown area is rocking.  There are some great eating areas, some great music, and it just a great city.  It was so nice just hanging out with DeAnna.  We did a lot of sleeping.

Thursday morning I got up and hung out with about 12 pastors for a few hours and it was great just sharing stories.  Most of the guys I have mentioned a million times, but two guys stuck out to me.

1. Pete Wilson -  Pete pastor Cross Point Church in Nashville and is going a bang up job.  He reminds me a lot of  Batterson in that he might be one of the nicest guys in America.  The thing that stuck out to me about Pete was the building his church meets in.  It is an awesome story and one of the saddest stories I have ever heard.  The meet in a old church  building.  It is freaking HUGE.  Seriously it takes up a whole city block.  It is the old school brick building that has been added onto about 10 times.  It has a worship center that seats well over 1000, has a HUGE gym, thousands of classrooms and is just a lot of building.  They have done a GREAT job remodeling the inside.  It was cool to see how God provided this building for them to lease.  That is the cool part of the story.  The sad part of the story is WHY they can meet there.  On the city block is the first part of this old church building.  A small worship building that actually looks like it is falling apart.  Inside that small building on the same property meets the original church.  At one time they were THE church in Nashville and now they run about 75 people and meet back in their original building having to lease the rest of their building to another church to pay the bills.  It is a sad story of what happens when a church isn’t willing to change to reach the next generation.  I wonder what those people think every Sunday when they show up to their old building and see thousands of people walking into the building they use to meet in?
2. Randy Cook - Randy pastors a church called Crossroads that is about 14 months old.  This guy could be my brother from another mother.  The dude was flat out crazy and the story of his church is CRAZY.  Go check out his blog if you get a chance.  I was really impressed with this cat.

It was a good time and much needed.  Now, I am sitting here getting freaking pumped up about Sunday!  We are talking about something Sunday that we haven’t talked about in a LONG time and it is going to be something we ALL were created with a need to experience.  Oh yeah, wait to you hear the band Sunday.  I can promise you have NEVER seen the Revolution band like you will this Sunday.  It is going to be a fun Sunday!

Many of you have asked for them, so here very quickly are the points I hit on in my talk at ChurchPlanters.com.

1.) If you have portability issues, you really have vision issues

Though they will never admit it, most churches have a vision to build a building, not reach unchurched people

2.) Eliminating excuses starts with you

You are the leader. You set the tone. If they see you not liking the fact you are portable, the church won’t either

3.) K.I.S.S

Keep It Simple, Stupid. You are portable, accept it. Don’t make your set-up harder than it has to be.

4.) Spend the money to be portable

Spend money on cases, totes, good equipment, carts, etc. Your people are worth it.

5.) Learn from others how to be portable

Don’t reinvent the wheel. There are others out there doing it great. Visit them, call them, email them, look at pictures, etc. Learn from their mistakes where you don’t have to make them.

6.) Staff for portability

Make sure the people you bring on staff UNDERSTAND what it means to be portable. Make sure they understand the difference between being portable and not being portable.

7.) Get creative

Bring your people in and pick their brains on how to come up with better ideas. Running out of space? Get creative.

8.) Look for opportunities to teach about portability

They are everywhere. Let your people hear WHY you are portable and let them hear the results of that.

9.) Plan for problems

They are going to happen, be prepared.

10.) ENJOY IT!!!

There will be a day when you have a building and a huge loan payment. You will miss the days of being portable so enjoy it while it you are in the middle of it.

Being at Churchplanters.com this week just reminded me of how much I love church planters.  I think church planting is the extreme sport of ministry. To step out on faith where there is nothing, where you know no one, and don’t have any money is CRAZY. That is why it takes a crazy person to do it. Just hanging with church planters pumps me up.

Since the day we started Revolution we have been around church planters.  Honestly, there are church planters in our services, our offices, e-mailing us, and calling us so much that it just seems normal.  You never know who is going to be in the office when you show up or on the phone when you pick it up.  I love it!  It truly is in our church DNA.

I am actually praying that God will get a hold of someone and they will GIVE us a house where we can house church planters for a year at a time and allow them to do nothing but hang out at Revolution for a year and learn and prepare to plane the church God has called them to plant.

This past year, I had to get a grip on my schedule and that meant saying NO to a lot more things.  One of those things was passing on some of the church planters who come our way.  I have LOVED watching our staff embrace the same passion and do whatever it takes to help out those planting churches.

Church Planters are like a fraternity.  You just meet guys that are starting churches and there is an instant connection.  That is why I make it a point to attend ChurchPlanters.com every year and will continue to even after Shawn decides he is sick of letting me teach breakouts.

I heard the expression LEARN AND RETURN one day and it just stuck with me.   I have the honor of meeting with some very sharp people in ministry and I want to be able to spend my life reaching North Georgia and impacting church planters.

If you are a church planter and you are not connecting with other planters and you are not learning from other planters, you will not last.  Start saving your money now for the churchplanters.com conference next year.  Look for opportunities to connect with guys.  I actually heard a rumor this week of a one day church planting thing coming up this fall.  If it happens, sell your car to make it to this one.  I promise it will be worth it.

A few more quick hits and I am done talking about the conference:

• Finally got to meet Matt Adams from Factor 1 (guys who did our website and this blog).  I think Matt is one of the best web designers I have ever seen and I can’t recommend him enough.  GREAT GREAT company.  If you are looking for a site, he is your man.
• Had fun hanging with Devin Hudson during the bloggers breakout.  The dude makes me laugh so for that I like him.
• Went to lunch with a bunch of old friends.  That is always the best part of any conference.
• I knew a lot of people read this blog and I knew a lot of people follow the Revolution story, but I didn’t realize how many.  God really convicted me of the responsibility our church has and I will be taking this more seriously.
• I simply love Dave Anderson.
• The dude working the room I was teaching in was great.  I can’t believe I can’t remember his name but the dude was awesome!
• I need to get to more conferences.  I honestly feel like I could kick the devil in his teeth right now.

I live for people discovering their purpose in life.  I know how my life was changed when I knew what God had called me to do and I love to see it in others.

Today I got a package from Ben Arment (this is the guy I told all you church planters about in my session today that has all the worship environment pictures) about his one day conference called The Whiteboard Sessions.  It was the BEST promotional package I ever saw.  It actually got me pumped about the conference and made me look at my calendar to see if I could make it.  When I discovered, I couldn’t, it actually bummed me out to know I can’t make it.

What does that have to do with knowing your calling?  When I got the package, I started smiling knowing that Ben has found his calling.  As most of you know, Ben resigned his church plant a few weeks ago.  I can’t imagine how hard that had to be.  I bet it was the toughest thing he ever had to do, but on the other hand it felt like a thousand pound weight off his chest.  I think it takes a big man to admit they aren’t where they should be and it is time to move on.  I think it takes an even bigger man to have the guts to do follow your passion.

If you have followed any of the journey of The Whiteboard Sessions, it is nothing short of amazing.  I have been blown away with the way in which Ben has put this thing together and I think it is awesome that he is operating in his sweet spot.

I said all that to say this:  If you are looking for a conference to go to this year, check this one out.  8 of the most awesome speakers in the church today, given 30 minutes to discuss one topic all in one day.  That is awesome.

BTW, thanks Ben for the package.  It was awesome!