Fantastic thoughts from @NickJudd16 on expectations in this life:

🧵 “I've come to the conclusion that many of us live with this strange assumption that every problem is solvable, every damage is fixable, every question is answerable, and every pain is curable in this life.”

Pastors must carve out time to work *on* the church and not just *in* the church.

What does that mean? Every church needs particular leadership and focus in different seasons in order to go forward.

🧵 3 Reasons You Must Work *On* the Church and not Just *In* It: 1. Every church has particular things it needs to go forward.

• some need major theological foundations laid
• others need strong leadership supplied because they lack direction
• many need to heal from wounds of the past

No church is identical. Each have their own story.

Owning the truth of biblical Christianity in Negative World requires courage.

It’s not easy. Peter cowered under the pressure of being associated with Jesus when the opposition rose.

🧵 5 Truths About Christian Courage in Negative World: 1. People come to faith when Christians embrace the truth despite unpopularity.

The gospel spreads during persecution. But only as believers remain faithful to hold the line.

We can have reformation in our world again today if Christians would own the truth.

Strong leaders don’t try to take credit for accomplishments.

Weak leaders try to make sure they get the credit for everything.

🧵 5 contrasts that differentiate strong leaders from weak ones: 1. Weak leaders are insecure that they’ll lose their influence if others get credit.

Strong leader recognize that their influence grows as team/organization wins.

Being a good preacher and loving people isn’t enough, pastor.

You must devote yourself to learning how to lead.

Being a shepherd includes more than feeding and caring for sheep, but leading them.

🧵3 Areas You Must Learn to Lead 1. Assessment

You have to get above the fray often enough to see the whole picture.

• What’s right?
• What’s broken?
• What’s missing?
• What’s coming?

Pastors have to be able to answer these questions.

We live in a society where people are truly walking around every day with completely different lenses of the world.

Why do 3/4 of liberals think churches have a negative impact on the country?

🧵5 Reasons

https://twitter.com/tycardon/status/1616572350354579456

1. We believe sexuality is confined to God’s command of one man and one man in an unbreakable bond of marriage.

This goes against:
• pornography and lust
• sex and living together before marriage
• homosexuality
• polyamory
• divorce by convenience

Not everything you care about is in your control or responsibility.

Many people live anxious or frustrated because they try to manage things they’re not responsible for and have no control over.

🧵 These 3 things have helped me personally and in counseling others: 1. You can only take control of the things you’re responsible for.

God has made you responsible for certain things. Your:

• devotion to God
• job
• integrity
• attitude
• response to other people
• thoughts and words
• family
• character
• habits
• etc.

Christians that refuse to engage in the “culture war” are not glorifying God or loving their neighbors.

🧵 ▸ What is the culture?

Culture is that collection of beliefs, values, norms, and practices that permeate a society or institution.

When we talk about “culture war,” we are describing the culture of our nation, society, or Western civilization.

Many genuine Christians have very unChristian beliefs.

🧵 I heard a celebrity musician talking about their faith in Jesus. They grew up in church with their family.

But in the same conversation, she talked about often wondering what she was in a “previous life.” It wasn’t a tongue-and-cheek statement.

She meant it.

People follow people, not plans.

🧵 Build plans and strategize about how to accomplish initiatives as a church.

Intentionality is a great thing.

But don’t forget that what moves people to action: leaders.

People follow people.

These books and resources helped shape how we do ministry at @tjclive

**No. 5 is one of my favorites even though I have major issues with the author

🧵 9 Marks of a Healthy Church

This book was crucial for understanding what the Bible teaches as the “marks” of a church. Classic @MarkDever

a.co/d/gvpvDty

Every church has systems. The question is not whether you have them, but are they are effective for accomplishing their goal.

🧵Here are 8 different systems every church should intentionally implement and constantly evaluate: 1. Worship Gatherings

What is your process for planning gatherings? How do you organize the service? How do you communicate with and prepare those with responsibilities in service?

The goal is magnify Christ and edify the saints.

Do we have a set routine for doing this well?

Pastors and ministry leaders must shepherd parents and students amidst the sexual revolution.

🧵 The outline from my Bethlehem Pastor’s Conference sermon: The sexual revolution has conquered the culture and nearly every institution in society.

This is the context the families in your church are in each day.

The church is the last bastion of resistance. Pastors must shepherd with an upright heart and skillful hand (Ps 78:72).

Our church implemented a new strategy to multiply our dollars for ministry. It’s a game-changer.

No gimmicks. No capital campaigns.

🧵 Compare your options for increasing ministry dollars 📈: 1. Incremental growth through increased number of tithers

•the long-term growth for this is incremental because it’s only a small % growth from each family

•the only way $ grows is for attendance to grow

Many things remain dreams because there is no $ to do them.

Jesus is either a Liar, Lunatic, or Lord.

C.S. Lewis coined this description, showing that Jesus’ words and deeds leave us without the comfort of retreating to safer titles such a “Moral Teacher” or “Wise Sage.”

🧵 Here are the 7 “I AM” statements Jesus forces us to deal with: 1. “I am the light of the world.”

• John 8:12

• Jesus is holy and righteous One of God. He dwells in unapproachable light (1 Timothy 6:16) and the darkness cannot overcome him.

• Only Jesus can lead people out of darkness and into the light of God’s grace.

Because of the culture we live in today, pastors should sprinkle apologetics into every sermon.

🧵 Here are 3 Immediate Benefits & 1 Question to Guide You: 1. You strengthen believers to stay the course.

Your folks are bombarded with craziness all week long. We must ground them.

• movies
• media
• magazines
• social media
• tv
• music

These platforms primarily promote worldviews counter to Christianity on a daily basis.

“Pastors that talk about vision are just copying business principles for the church!”

Wrong.

🧵5 arguments for leading your church with vision: 1. Vision is rooted in biblical principles.

Proverbs 29:18 says without vision the people perish. This doesn’t mean a slogan by the church, but it does mean direction and godly leadership.

Jesus led with vision by always teaching and modeling what the kingdom was like.

Want to start the week off strong? Plan your upcoming week on Sunday evenings and watch your productivity soar!

🧵4 Benefits for Pastors and Leaders: 1. Improved time management.

Planning your week on Sunday evenings allows you to identify and prioritize important tasks and deadlines, and make the most of your time.

Rather than pushing off sermon prep as you run to every fire, you protect and prioritize that task.

We see foreshadows of Jesus all over the Old Testament.

These glimpses are not coincidental, but purposeful breadcrumbs leading us to recognition of the Savior.

🧵 3 glimpses of Christ on Mount Moriah (Genesis 22): 1. Isaac is the son, the one and only son of Abraham.

Isaac was the promised offspring of Abraham. It was through him that the promise of God to build a people would occur.

Jesus is the one and only Son of God. And He is the promised offspring of Abraham (Matthew 1:1).

Church staffs rarely get to worship together.

Sunday mornings are often filled with solving problems, meeting with leaders, and talking to congregants.

🧵 5 Reasons your church staff should have staff worship: 1. Staff members still need to grow and be discipled.

Members of a staff should be committed to spiritual disciplines on their own, but a worship time provides a special teaching opportunity tailored for them.

Church staff still need to be pastored.

Hey peeps, at some point it isn’t “the enemy is really coming against us.”

🧵 It’s:

• “I’ve made bad decisions”
• “I’m a poor leader”
• “I’ve alienated myself from wise counsel”
• “My pride has created this problem”
• “I’ve earned people’s distrust”
• “People aren’t divisive…they just hate seeing something they love suffer from my actions”