Small groups in the summer

Summertime is always a slow time in small group ministry. Likewise, it’s going to be a little bit slower here on the small groups guy blog. I’m taking this time to do some more in-depth writing on various issues that I will be making available in article form to you on here. I will still be blogging regularly, just not as frequently for the month of July. Happy. Summertime!!

I’m a michael jackson fan…

Time for all of us (Michael fans in hiding for the past 7 years) to start making our way out of the shadows to pay tribute to the last guy to single handedly alter the landscape of music in his time. I loved michael jackson. I learned his dances…as much as a clumsy white boy from the suburbs can learn such masterful rhythm. I had tapes, then cds, and at one point a dvd I bought in china (probably pirated) with a concert of his on it. So allow me to go “groupy” on you and drop some michael memories I hope you enjoy sharing. then a word about the blog to follow in a couple of days..

I mean do you remember the music videos? COME ON! EPIC! Let’s take a stroll down michael memory lane together: Smooth Criminal (The lean? what a move!) / Thriller (first two chords…you are so there right now) / Black or White (McCauley!) / JAM (M.J. meets M.J. my 2 favorite icons in one place) / Bad (Whose bad? freaking michael jackson thats who) / Beat It (best knife fight scene ever) Scream (not his best) /  BILLIE FREAKIN JEAN! (Lit up side walk. Dont know why, but that was so awesome) / Heal the World (that song may be a little lame, but its untouchable. if you bust on it, you are a racist who hates poor people) / Remember the time (magic johnson cameo in an Egyptian theme? nowhere else would that be tolerated, much less COOL)

each of these, and I probably am missing some, were worthy of academy award short film nominations (again except for scream). I think Thriller might have won something actually. If I am missing something, let me know in comment section.

I learned what a beat was from this music and I loved it. I learned some quality wedding reception dance moves from this guy and I used them. For a couple years I was, sorry to say, “That guy” that the dreaded dance circle formed around to do his mj dance moves. Still hear comments from the Ussery wedding moves I did to “Beat It.”

Bottom line, its sad M.J. is dead. Sad that with all his fame, success, and wealth I think its safe to say he couldnt buy happiness. Sadder so many people worshipped the guy. He was a great entertainer, maybe the best ever, and now he’s gone. Maybe some people around the world will be open to talking about real life issues for a brief window because of his passing. I encourage you, Christain, to use this window while it is there and talk with your friends and family about it. Death comes to us all. Jesus brings hope in the face of death because he overcame the grave. Speak the truth in love, see what happens!

Back to my tribute: So long M.J. Your music will live on in my house. Leg kick + shoulder shrug + neck/head swing + arm stretch + “He Hee” + hip grab (PC MJ grab) + thrust + Beat It in the background = Spence’s Michael Tribute.

Happy Fathers Day me…The Dangerous Book for Boys

Father’s Day is today. Made me think of my favorite dad resource. Happy Father’s Day to you dad’s out there.

When we had Zeke a friend here at the Summit, John Posey, gave me what is fastly becoming my favorite book. Gonn & Hal Iggulden’s The Dangerous Book for Boys is a blast. let me read you some of the chapter titles…

Essential Gear / The Greatest Paper Airplane in the World / The five knots every boy should know (I learned them last night!) / Making a Bow and Arrow / Navajo Code Talker’s Dictionary / Making a Paper Hat, Boat and Water Bomb…

I could go on. Bottom line, if you are a parent of a boy, you will find this to be a fun manual for creating a life of adventure for your son.

What should you read?

One of our own small group coaches here at the Summit has put together an awesome set of blog posts that I want to commend to you in case you haven’t seen it. Bruce Ashford is a member and small group coach at the Summit, and when he isnt doing that role he is a husband and soon to be dad, and in his spare time the dean of the college at southeastern. Love this guy and am always encouraged by him. The blog post series is titled “On Disciplined Reading” and its been one of the most helpful blog series i’ve read in the past year. Thanks Bruce for this series and for your commitment to making disciples at the Summit!

Bruce is one of the regular contributors to the blog “between the times” that is sponsored by Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. Our lead pastor at the Summit, J.D. Greear, is also a contributor.

Leader Development at the Summit Church

Below is part of a letter I mailed out to small group leaders here at the Summit talking about a shift in focus we’ve made (in house) over the past few months and how it is affecting them beginning this summer. I was hesitant to share this with you as I openly convey some regret in this letter about our ministry’s past. However maybe you will glean something from this to help you in your own setting. Also, our resource list for leader development this year shows up towards the end. Again, for your general knowledge in case it helps. Really looking forward to ‘09-’10!!

Dear SummitLIFE Leader,
I hope your summer has started off well. I want to take a second to say thank you for your diligent leadership of your SummitLIFE group this past spring. Just to catch you up, we had more people involved in a SummitLIFE group this spring than ever before! Praise God we are really starting to develop a family of believers here at the Summit!

Our growth is exciting, and with that God has given us a great responsibility to be not just a ministry growing in number, but growing in our capacity to make disciples as well. To my regret, we have not been emphasizing leader development as much as I’ve come to see we should have been over the past few years.  The result has been a small group ministry largely pointed towards numerical expansion and not focused enough on the spiritual health and maturity of its leaders. Thankfully, this is no longer the case.

We made up substantial ground this past year (Fall-Spring) by connecting most of our group leaders to experienced small group leaders and/or pastors who we are calling “coaches” as a prayer and support line for you. Our coaches meet monthly with myself and our SummitLIFE staff to discuss and take steps to improve the health of your group.

This summer, we are beginning the next phase in our shift towards becoming a healthy discipleship ministry. Your elders have affirmed this move and are behind us in this effort. The Summit will be issuing you a series of resources over the course of the year (Summer ‘09 – Summer ‘10) for you to work through. They include:

•    The Cross Centered Life by C.J. Mahaney
•    Emergency Response Handbook for Small Group Leaders by Groups Publishing
•    The Treasure Principle by Randy Alcorn
•     “Organic” Series by Pastor J.D.

We believe out of all of the resources we looked through, this combination along with our coaches and our ongoing sermon-based group material, will help us create an environment for a healthy year of discipleship for the small group leaders of the Summit Church. We will be both supporting and challenging you like never before.

I love my role here at the Summit Church.

Monday on the Links…a good word

I found the article below on Leah Rade’s blog. Leah is part of a the staff of fellow local church here in the area and focuses her time on creating community in the church much like I do. Like her, I find this short word from James D. Berkley challenging.

Is there anything simpler or more natural than members of a church looking out for their own interests? We like to park conveniently. We want our pew available each week. We expect our kind of music to be sung—not that other ungodly stuff! We like things our way, to our convenience and taste.

How easy it is to make church nice and comfortable for us! And how wrong! Why? Because church isn’t meant to be comfortable. No pioneering, radical, countercultural organization has the leisure to be comfortable. A country club can be comfortable. A golfing foursome can be comfortable. A family gathering can be comfortable. But a church—that culture-shaking, eternity-changing band Jesus commissioned to turn the world upside down—doesn’t have the charter to be comfortable. It’s commissioned as activist for the kingdom of God!

My pleasure, my ease, my way are really not important. God’s glory, God’s tasks, others’ benefit—that’s the reason for the church. The apostle Paul makes clear that Christians must treat one another as more important than themselves. They are to be “put out” by the interests of others. The church is not my personal vending machine. Instead it is a lifesaving station to reach out to those in peril needing to be made safe.

How does that happen? When leaders decide their responsibility is to follow seriously the One who came to seek and save the lost. That, however, gets expensive, when the church has to add parking and pews and programs for those not yet in the church. That becomes difficult when the comfortable become discomfited by change. That becomes messy when the sacred mixes with the profane. Granted.

But Jesus emptied himself, humbled himself, and died on a cross for us—and that is to be our mindset (Phil. 2:5-11). As leaders we must proclaim to the comfortable the message of Christ. And then refocus our thinking and strategy on the outsider, so that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

—James D. Berkley

To note, I think the Summit Church is a body of believers who “gets” what berkley is saying. But we must never forget it. especially as we enter a season of growth in our small group ministry.

Stuff a Small Group Leader should know pt.3 : Disciplines vs. Habits

We continue our ongoing series of stuff a small group leader should know. This one is useful both as a tool to keep your small group from avoiding “routine” and to keep you personally from putting the gospel on cruise control in your life. Today we talk about

Spiritual Disciplines vs. Spiritual Habits

I’ve been trying for some time to work out this principle because I experience it on a regular basis as a follower of Christ who is also a habit loving human. I love the routines I have in my life. Take showering for example. I have a showering routine. Warm the water up, get in facing away from the water, rinse, shampoo, wash body, rinse shampoo, finish Bohemian Rhapsody Chorus, and get out.

Why do I love this routine? because I dont have to think about it. I can go through the motions, get the job done, and not have thought about a thing. I rarely forget to do it, but I exert no thought towards it. Does that make sense?

Sometimes personally I can get into a spiritual routine. I crack open my bible, let my eyes go over a chapter of a book, shut it and pray for my family, my church, my friends, and world peace. On the surface, I appear like a pretty mature christian right? I mean I “read” my bible and I “pray” every day. Or at least, I go through the routine. I even sing the songs on Sunday at church. All of em. Every week. Another place for routine to kick in. I pay my tithe every month online through bill-pay. Another routine.

The spiritual disciplines (bible study, prayer, fasting, worship, evangelism, tithing, etc) are called disciplines because they require mental engagement. One must discipline himself or herself because he or she is not naturally inclined to fully engage such an exercise. We are CREATED to carry out these disciplines as they are all forms of worship, but our sin nature pulls us away from these acts of worship. (Paul expresses this struggle in the second half of Romans 7)

So here is my point: A group leader has got to fight against spiritual habit. Going through the motions is Satans way of pulling you away from communion with God himself. Fight it. As John Piper said at Advance09 this past weekend: “You will not know what prayer is for until you know that life is war.” Something like that.

You and your people are in a constant spiritual battle. Discipline your heart and mind to ENGAGE the scriptures, to pray with conviction and specificity, to make your words a concious conduit of your faith in your worship, to consider the sacrifice of the gospel in your tithe, to feast on Christ in your fasting, and most of all to rejoice in your salvation as you tell others.

You were created for worship. you are in a war. avoid cruise control at all costs.

Advance09 update

I’m sitting here in the DPAC attending Advance09, a conference on the resurgence of the local church. 2 sessions in and I’ve already been challenged by some pretty major stuff. Also been affirmed in some things we are doing at the summit. Here is a little bit that has stuck with me:
challenging thoughts:
– less than 17% of people age 17-29 are in a evangelical church in the west.
– we must engage in long-term active repentance to see a resurgence of the local church.
– the local church must revolve around Jesus
– we have done a poor job in Christian education

Affirmations
– Sunday school is not welcoming to non-believers
– Small groups studying the same thing the pastor is studying creates unity in the church.

More to come

Summer Equipping

ADVANCE09 is next week. Advance09 is a conference about furthering the local church and equipping pastors, leaders and the laity to help further the church. If you are coming and would like to connect while there, let me know. If you are not planning on coming yet, you need to change your plans. Best line-up of speakers I’ve seen in a while and what a great topic for them to train us on: the local church!

Summer bible study at the Summit: I will be leading a 5 week study through Ephesians beginning next wednesday for all interested. The goal: to fellowship through learning from the scriptures, to help you gain confidence studying the scriptures, and to connect to others at the Summit in a laid back atmosphere.

Came across this 3 part training session by Total Church author Steve Timmis which he did at Mars Hill Church in Seattle recently. I encourage you to take some time as a group leader to sit down and listen through these sessions whenever possible as they were created with you in mind.

Stuff a small group leader should know pt. 2…The Calendar!

In our ongoing series on stuff a small group leader should know, today we look at the Calendar. Let me put it to you this way, if you are a small group leader, you need to own a calendar. Especially if you lead a group full of families with young kids as they are forced to manage their schedule farther in advance than most. Regardless, you need to be aware of the Calendar so you can plan for success in your small group. Nothing is better for your small group than knowing what is coming so they can prepare. If you are a SummitLIFE group leader, knowing that we switch gears in June and July is critical. We want you to break from your normal leader role and focus on relationship building and week of hope project. So dont plan a ton of gatherings but instead focus on relationship building.

Exercise for you as a leader: Sit down with a copy of the remaining 2009 calendar and plan out your schedule for your small group. When can you do social gatherings? When can you do community service? When could you devote a night solely to prayer? When could you invite a church planter to come (via skype or in person) share with you? What major church initiatives do you need to take into consideration?
And can I be honest with you? I’m not good at calendaring. I have to really discipline myself here, but it is very much worthwhile.

A look at my group’s June calendar:
Notes
* I know the sg staff has encouraged leaders to focus on relationship building and our community ministry projects.
* Spence & Trevor both separately leading on-campus bible studies on Wed. nights so that is open to those interested.
* Church planters we support have a team rep. coming to town sometime. When we know, we will try to have them join us.

05.31 – 06.06:

• No gathering
• Advance09 conference that some are attending towards end of week.
• Hope 4 RDU grant application due by 06.07

06.07 – 06.13:

• Tentative hang out night at new home of the Wickershams.
• Confirm Hope4RDU week of hope ministry assignments for everyone in the group
• Check-in individually on prayer reqs & answers to prayer from 05.27 gathering

06.14 – 06.20:

• Tentative cookout / video game (old school NES) and other fun stuff night. Probably Tuesday Night.
• Church Planting Team rep. can be there to talk with us?

06.21 – 06.27

• Nothing on calendar but maybe a guys night or a girls night?

06.28 – 07.04

• Final preparations for week of hope projects.
• Some people on vacation

I hope you see that this is nothing major and some things are still not set in stone. The point is, some direction has been provided that our group can then work with. People need this. So either get on it, or entrust the calendar to a group member who you know can pull this off. We’ve got an awesome calendar lady in our group so the above is all up for her to adjust!