Who Cares if the Ducks Aren't Lined Up?

I read this in a Seth Godin post today:

Getting your ducks in a row is not nearly as powerful as actually doing something with your duck.

Seems way too many people spend way too much time getting their ducks in a row. They say:

"Let me get out of debt, then I'll preach."

"Let me finish college so I'll have a degree to fall back on."

"I need to get married first."

"Let me get the kids raised."

Yet Jesus scolded the fellow who wanted to say goodbye to his folks and the other fellow who wanted to bury his father.

I think God would tell us what He told Israel, "Ye have compassed this mountain long enough: turn you northward. (Deut 2:3)"

You've toyed with sin long enough; make a bearing for righteousness.
You've played the blame-game far too long; take responsibility for your own actions and move on.
You've waited long enough; do something now.
Step out of the nest, stretch your wings and fly.

Let the ducks do what they were designed to do - eat, swim, fly, multiply. Who cares if they're in a row or not?

Brain Problem

The CyberSalt Digest sent me this zinger today:

Scientists have finally figured out what is wrong with mankind. The problem lies in the two halves of their brains - the left and the right.

The left half has nothing right in it
And the right half has nothing left in it!

To Get Through, Surprise Them

Here's the final snippet of my article 7 Ways to Get Through to Your People from the September 2008 issue of Pentecostal Messenger:

7. Surprise Them

Our brains continually compare sensory input against known data. Certain sounds, like the sound of our own breathing, are routinely ignored. We don't pay attention to typical smells or sights. Dr. John Medina, director of the Brain Center for Applied Learning Research at Seattle Pacific University, puts it simply, "We don't pay attention to boring things."

Other sounds or senses alert us to action. A car horn, or even a footstep, can jolt us to state of alert. A stinky diaper cuts through our mental fog and moves us to action.

Similar things occur during sermons. If we've heard it before, our minds wander. If it's something new, our mind says, "Hey! What's this? I've never seen this before!"

Preachers must continually seek new ways to declare ageless truths. Pray for renewed passion. Use fresh testimonies. Reference pop culture. Change the sermon style from topical to expositional or vice-versa. Change the order of service. Do whatever it takes to keep from doing the same old thing over and over again.

Note: If you don't already receive Pentecostal Messenger and you'd like to, the Pentecostal Church of God is offering free subscriptions for the remaining 2008 issues. For details, go to www.pcg.org.

To Get Through, Make Them Laugh or Cry (or Both)

Here's snippet #6 of my article 7 Ways to Get Through to Your People from the September 2008 issue of Pentecostal Messenger:

6. Make them Laugh or Cry (or Both)

The best stories of all are the ones that connect on an emotional level.

I will never forget hearing evangelist Lorretta Kelley tell of a drowning (and miraculous recovery) that occurred at her birthday party. Mental images and sound bites of the event are burned into my memory as if I was there. I felt fear, helplessness, and frustration at first, followed by relief after God answered prayer.

I will also never forget Dr. Ron Minor recounting a humorous experience as a director at a youth camp. Dr. Minor's laughter is contagious enough on its own, but when the entire congregation is laughing to the point of tears, it's unforgettable.

Gospel/Folk musicians Steve and Annie Chapman excel at emotional connections, especially in concert. Their songs and stories evoke tears, first from laughter, then from sorrow, then laughter again, and nobody who experiences the concert leaves unaffected.

Note: If you don't already receive Pentecostal Messenger and you'd like to, the Pentecostal Church of God is offering free subscriptions for the remaining 2008 issues. For details, go to www.pcg.org.

To Get Through, Tell Stories

Here's snippet #5 of my article 7 Ways to Get Through to Your People from the September 2008 issue of Pentecostal Messenger:

5. Tell Stories

I remember seeing a district talent competition where a drama team forgot their lines halfway through their performance. They stopped cold, the curtain closed, and the judges marked the score sheets. But the audience would not be satisfied until the team was allowed to come back and redo their performance. Why? Just to know how the story ended!

I recently bought a Cinnabon cinnamon roll at our local mall. I carried the gooey softball-sized pastry to a café table, where my wife, son, and two other friends divided it up five ways. I loaded a fork with a bit of the soft insides, picked up a little of the brown sugar/cinnamon goo, and just as I brought the fork to my mouth...

Do you want to know what happened next? Why? Because stories, even ones as mundane as this, create interest.

Let me ask something else. Could you imagine the smell of cinnamon? Could you imagine the taste? Could you picture five people around a café table? Could you see the fork headed for my mouth?

Stories are multi-sensory by default. The areas of the brain that handle the senses (sight, sound, smell) kick in and embellish the story. This allows a good story to adhere in one's memory better than facts, figures or principles alone.

Note: If you don't already receive Pentecostal Messenger and you'd like to, the Pentecostal Church of God is offering free subscriptions for the remaining 2008 issues. For details, go to www.pcg.org.

To Get Through, Go Multi-Sensory

Here's snippet #4 of my article 7 Ways to Get Through to Your People from the September 2008 issue of Pentecostal Messenger:

4. Go Multi-Sensory

Kindergarten and first-grade teachers know this rule well. When they teach the letter "A", they allow the kids to see it, sing it, taste it, feel it, smell it, draw it, and make it -- almost anything goes in teaching that letter.

The ancient Chinese also knew this rule, according to their proverb:

I hear, and I forget.
I see, and I remember.
I do, and I understand.

The ancient Chinese, in their doing, involved at least four senses -- sight, sound, smell, and touch, plus the mental and muscular processes for performing the task. All of this combined to make the task not only memorable but understandable.

In preaching, the more faculties we involve, the more the message will stick. To be unforgettable, let the audience not only hear the word, but see it, smell it, touch it, taste it, experience it, and do it.

Note: If you don't already receive Pentecostal Messenger and you'd like to, the Pentecostal Church of God is offering free subscriptions for the remaining 2008 issues. For details, go to www.pcg.org.

To Get Through, Meddle

Here's snippet #3 of my article 7 Ways to Get Through to Your People from the September 2008 issue of Pentecostal Messenger:

3. Meddle

Preachers can preach all day long about the evils of Hollywood, Wall Street, or Capitol Hill, and never affect their congregation. Everyone may shout "amen", but they're saying, "I agree that those other people need to change." Soon the audience goes on auto-pilot, mentally checked-out, but still saying amen where appropriate.

Something different happens when the preacher begins to meddle, when he preaches to the main-street crowd. Those struggling with porn listen when the preacher tells how to be delivered. Those in debt listen when the preacher shows the way to freedom. The congregation listens when the sermon is for them and about them.

Peter meddled in Acts 2 when he told the crowd about Jesus being in the midst of them... as they knew... whom they crucified. The pointed preaching affected the hearers who then cried out, "What shall we do?"

Instead of preaching all day about how somebody needs to do something, get specific. Target your congregation. Challenge your congregation. Meddle.

Note: If you don't already receive Pentecostal Messenger and you'd like to, the Pentecostal Church of God is offering free subscriptions for the remaining 2008 issues. For details, go to www.pcg.org.

To Get Through, Delete the Fluff

Here's snippet #2 of my article 7 Ways to Get Through to Your People from the September 2008 issue of Pentecostal Messenger:

2. Delete the Fluff

I've seen preachers waste several minutes droning about how someone else could do a better job and how they hope the audience will get something out of it. I sometimes think if the preacher isn't excited about preaching the message, why should I be excited to hear it?

If you were playing baseball, you wouldn't step up to the plate and spend 5 minutes talking about how Babe Ruth could do a better job, would you? No! You'd step up and give it your best swing.

Preachers should do the same. Prepare thoroughly at home, and deliver without hesitation in the pulpit. If you're behind the pulpit, that means you're the one appointed for that time. There is no one else. Stand and deliver.

Note: If you don't already receive Pentecostal Messenger and you'd like to, the Pentecostal Church of God is offering free subscriptions for the remaining 2008 issues. For details, go to www.pcg.org.

To Get Through, Know Your Point

Here's a snippet of my article 7 Ways to Get Through to Your People from the September 2008 issue of Pentecostal Messenger:

1. Know Your Point

Dr. Howard Hendricks says a sign on a lectern once nearly derailed his sermon: "What in the world are you trying to do to these people?" The sign's author told Hendricks, "I've been preaching for twelve years without an objective, and it finally dawned on me one day that if I didn't know what I was doing, there was a good possibility they didn't know what they were supposed to do."

When it comes to a particular audience at a particular time, nothing is more important than knowing what God wants done. The man of God must pray for a word from God. Only then can he craft his sermon effectively.

Imagine if halfway through your sermon someone yelled out, "So what?!?" Would you have an answer?

For best results while preaching, have a point. Have one point. Get that point from God. Know that point. Preach that point.

Note: If you don't already receive Pentecostal Messenger and you'd like to, the Pentecostal Church of God is offering free subscriptions for the remaining 2008 issues. For details, go to www.pcg.org.

Are You RSS-Savvy?

If not, you're missing out on a powerful time-saver.

This nifty video explains everything you need to know:

What is a Blog?

Here's the video Blogs in Plain English from the brilliant minds at commoncraft:

To Be Remarkable, Involve Others

Here's the finial snippet of my article 7 Ways to be Remarkable from the January 2008 issue of Pentecostal Messenger:

7. Involve Others

During late spring and early summer, I see crowds gathered around the little league ball fields in my home town. The crowds do not gather because of the athletic ability of the players. They gather because they know someone involved in the game, and that someone wants their family to see them play. Something remarkable occurs, because parents tell others, "you should have seen...!"

I think involved people remark more often than the non-involved. Choir members invite their friends to hear them sing. Musicians invite other musicians. Pastors bring more people to district events if they're involved in the event. Involvement breeds excitement and ownership, causing people to make remarks. And if they're remarking, then it is obviously remarkable -- at least to them.

Note: If you don't already receive Pentecostal Messenger and you'd like to, the Pentecostal Church of God is offering free subscriptions for the remaining 2008 issues. For details, go to www.pcg.org.

To Be Remarkable, Be the Best, Really

Here's snippet #6 of my article 7 Ways to be Remarkable from the January 2008 issue of Pentecostal Messenger:

6. Be the Best, Really

The best of anything is remarkable. People talk about the best - whether it be the best bargains, restaurants, or sports teams. People also talk about excellence in churches, but congregations are silent if a church is average.

To be remarkable, find something you could be the best at, and then do it. Have the best preschool program in town, the best worship services in the city, or the best Vacation Bible School. You could love the best, teach the best, or work better than anyone to improve your city. The key is to find an area where you could be remarkable, and then work on that area.

Note that you cannot simply say you're the best, but you must be so. As Margaret Thatcher once said, "If you have to tell someone you are, you aren't."

Note: If you don't already receive Pentecostal Messenger and you'd like to, the Pentecostal Church of God is offering free subscriptions for the remaining 2008 issues. For details, go to www.pcg.org.

To Be Remarkable, Create, Don't Copycat

Here's snippet #5 of my article 7 Ways to be Remarkable from the January 2008 issue of Pentecostal Messenger:

5. Create, Don't Copycat

Mark Batterson www.evotional.com often says, "The church ought to be the most creative place on the planet." I agree. We serve the Creator of the universe, and we are made in His likeness. So why does the church have such a hard time coming up with original thoughts?

When churches do sermon series on 24 or Desperate Housewives, the world does not respond with awe. When T-shirt designers "christianize" secular slogans (e.g. Tommy Hellfighter, Jesus Died for Pedro), the world responds, "That's cute," or, "That's lame," but never, "That's remarkable!" The church continues to be easily dismissed because we fail to achieve the remarkable.

We say we're not creative, but we used to be when we were kids. All children are creative. I cannot count the times I've seen my kids do things I never imagined -- beans up the nose, playing in toilets, standing on hampers to reach door locks. Creativity reigns!

Adults are simply afraid to let themselves loose. What if it doesn't work? Should we let the people vote on this first? Kids have no such fears, not in the beginning, not until adults start to say, "You can't...."

To be remarkable, be an original, not a copy. Pray for ideas, dare to do them, and see what remarkable things come about.

Note: If you don't already receive Pentecostal Messenger and you'd like to, the Pentecostal Church of God is offering free subscriptions for the remaining 2008 issues. For details, go to www.pcg.org.

To Change a Viewpoint, Change a Belief

Seth Godin's article Bad Judgment led to some mini-revelations:

1. Those who disagree with us don't do so out of sheer stubbornness, but out of sincere beliefs.


2. If we can change their beliefs, we can change their actions.


3. Isn't changing beliefs what preaching/teaching is all about?


4. Seth really wrote about two kinds of bad judgment:
   
   
   
   • That of our opponents, which may not be bad judgment at all.
   • That of ourselves, in judging our opponents' opposition to be bad judgment.

To Be Remarkable, Eliminate Distractions

Here's snippet #4 of my article 7 Ways to be Remarkable from the January 2008 issue of Pentecostal Messenger:

4. Eliminate Distractions

One of my all-time favorite restaurants [I use the term loosely] was an Indianapolis eatery named Taquiera Los Amigos. Their Tacos de Lengua were the best I've ever had, and I drove 70 miles one-way more than once just to eat them. To me, Taquiera Los Amigos was remarkable, and I often remarked about it.

I brought my sister there once. She did not find it as remarkable as I did. The stickiness of the floor proved an insurmountable distraction to her Taquiera Los Amigos experience.

Christians must look out for insurmountable distractions. Whining PA systems, 1970's carpet, and off-key musicians detract from worship. Weeds in the flower bed repel visitors. Some waitresses detest Christians because of the poor behavior of the Sunday-after-church crowd. Such distractions must be eliminated so our remarkable message may shine through.

Note: If you don't already receive Pentecostal Messenger and you'd like to, the Pentecostal Church of God is offering free subscriptions for the remaining 2008 issues. For details, go to www.pcg.org.

A Better Way to Debate our Schisms

Secular vs Sacred.
Choruses vs Hymns.
KJV vs NIV vs MSG vs...
Attractional vs Missional.
Oneness vs Trinity.
Cessationists vs Charismatics.
Pre-trib vs Mid-trib vs Post-Trib vs Millennialists.

We do have our schisms, don't we?

I am refreshed by Tim Steven's approach to a recent interrogator.

Rather than defend himself, he invited others to answer the question, stating there will be no arguing back-and-forth, just answers.

Want to join in? Click here.

To Be Remarkable, Improve on Strengths

Here's snippet #3 of my article 7 Ways to be Remarkable from the January 2008 issue of Pentecostal Messenger:

3. Improve on Strengths

I am a half-way decent musician, having played piano and bass over 20 years. I also know a little about roofing, having worked on several roofing projects. But I am a better musician than I am a roofer because I spend much more time working on my music.

If I did things the other way around, instead of "knowing a little" about roofing, I might become a half-way decent roofer. I would then be half-way decent at both roofing and music, but not remarkable in either. I prefer instead to work on music, so that I might move from "half-way decent" to "downright awesome" or "flat-out remarkable."

Jacks-of-all-trades do not attract attention, but virtuosos get invited for private performances with presidents. Common laborers risk lay-offs continually, while top performers not only keep their jobs but also make better money. I think when Jesus promised "life more abundantly," he was saying that Christians should abound in everything they do. They should be found among the best scholars, musicians, and athletes. They should be like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah whom the king found "ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers that were in all his realm." That's remarkable, and it will only happen when you commit to improve on things you're already good at.

Note: If you don't already receive Pentecostal Messenger and you'd like to, the Pentecostal Church of God is offering free subscriptions for the remaining 2008 issues. For details, go to www.pcg.org.

Video Log of a Pastor's Workday

Ever wonder what pastors do all day? Here's a video clip one pastor made to answer that question:



Thank you, Monday Morning Insight, for sharing this!

To Be Remarkable, Pray Remarkably

Here's snippet #2 of my article 7 Ways to be Remarkable from the January 2008 issue of Pentecostal Messenger:

2. Pray Remarkably

Older saints tell how they used to pray past midnight and not leave the alter until they saw the Holy Ghost move. They tell about seeing the Shekinah Glory and literal tongues of fire, about hearing the Holy Ghost rush in like a tornado.

I hear today of Korean pastors who pray all night every Saturday for Sunday's sermon, and I hear of Africans who go into the bush for days at a time to pray and fast. Their prayers result in miracles, healings, and masses of people getting saved.

Remarkable prayers bring remarkable results.

Note: If you don't already receive Pentecostal Messenger and you'd like to, the Pentecostal Church of God is offering free subscriptions for the remaining 2008 issues. For details, go to www.pcg.org.

Cool Rendition of 12 Days of Christmas

I know Christmas 2007 is over with, but perhaps this will still be around 11 months from now...



Thank you, Mark Winters, for sharing this on your blog.

To Be Remarkable, Prophesy Genuine Prophecies

Here's a snippet of my article 7 Ways to be Remarkable from the January 2008 issue of Pentecostal Messenger:

1. Prophesy Genuine Prophecies

Genuine prophecy is always remarkable. Paul wrote of unbelievers falling down on their face, worshiping God, and knowing that God is in the church, all because of prophecy that exposes the secrets of their hearts. (See 1 Cor 14:24-25). Remarkable!

Compare that to the common God's-going-to-bless-you "prophecies" that excite Christians, but rarely affect sinners. We need prophecies that bring sinners to the alter - genuine words from God that bring remarkable responses. We must desire to prophesy, covet to prophesy, and despise not prophesyings (1 Cor 14:1, 39; 1 Thess. 5:20).

Note: If you don't already receive Pentecostal Messenger and you'd like to, the Pentecostal Church of God is offering free subscriptions for the remaining 2008 issues. For details, go to www.pcg.org.