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They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
Acts 2:42-47
I have a small church mentality.
This is a big deal because I just realized it. I was talking with a good friend yesterday about church growth and what the vision for Four Hills Church is and the subject of "small church" came up. You see, we have a fairly small church right now. It is growing, but it is like cooking in the crock pot...slow and steady.
Unfortunately, I have been trained (as many of us have) to resent "small church" and strive for more, more, more. I went to Church Planting Boot Camp (which was wonderful) where I was told that, "If people come and see a small church, they will think you want a small church...so do everything you can to make your church look bigger and fuller." In the world of church planting...heck, church in general..."small" is bad and "big" is good.
That doesn't sound like Jesus, though. I realized this during my conversation yesterday.
When did having a "small church mentality" become a bad thing? God forbid I become a shepherd that does not know even one of my sheep. The truth is, large churches with a counters instead of a roll call sounds more like corporate America than the Kingdom of God. How could we ever sing about "When The Roll Is Called Up Yonder" when the roll in our churches is just counting rear ends that are in the seats?
Don't even get me started about how attendance counting turns all pastors into liars (including myself).
So, with all these conflicting thoughts, I went back to the passage that inspired the birth of our church in Acts 2. Everyone was together and had everything in common. They met everyday and broke bread in their homes. That sounds like a pretty "small church mentality" to me. Of course, the passage ends that the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. It dawns on me now...
The disciples founded "small churches" while fostering a "HUGE KINGDOM".
When the vision of my church becomes about my church, I have faltered. When it becomes about His Kingdom, it is rock solid.
Let me tell you a little story that happened yesterday after church.
I was shaking hands with people at the front door (my usual practice) and a young lady with an unusual name crossed my path. I called her by her name and received a huge smile.
"You got my name right!"
"Why wouldn't I? It's a unique name...kind of hard to forget."
"Still, it's cool for a pastor to remember my name."
With God's help, this "small church mentality" will lead to lots of people whose names I remember. :)
by Matt Monyhan on May 16th, 2011
by Matt Monyhan on May 12th, 2011
All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the Lamb’s book of life, the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world. - Revelation 13:8
I have been evaluating the church we are planting recently and I am finding some interesting things (when comparing it to other churches planted around the same time).
One, we are smaller than almost every other church that I know of that was planted around the same time. Well, we are numerically smaller. From a weight standpoint, we might have a couple of them beat. Just don't know.
Two, we are the only one of our comrades that are not striving toward church sovereignty (we are still under the direction of the KY District). I do not know if this is a good thing or a bad thing. It simply means that our budgets still aren't completely stable. Not bad...just not stable.
Three, we are the only church of the group that has moved locations within their first year. I like to think that is a good thing. But, just as with the others, who knows? The truth is, I am really bad at measuring the success of our church. Why?
I don't measure success the way other people do.
Somewhere in the midst of reading the Bible, Jesus turned my success-o-meter on its end. I am told constantly that good evaluation is critical to success as a church planter, but I have difficulty evaluating the things that I find important in a church. Things like:
Authenticity - I have always wanted to pastor a church where REAL people had REAL problems and didn't fight to hide them from everyone else. I wanted to build a church where the pastor was just as flawed as the congregation and nobody was expected to be perfect. How do you measure that?
Family - I have been striving to build a church where people became close like family to one another. That includes getting on each other's nerves like family and feeling like you had people you could lean on like a family. I have been a part of too many churches where people enjoyed the show, but didn't get to know the people. How do you measure that?
Maturity - It's cool to be real and be close. But, I have always felt that those things should lead to a person being closer to God this year than they were last year. Sometimes, that is harder than it sounds. A lot of it depends on the individual, but the church should play a role in it. Again, I am not sure how we measure this?
You see, my ambition has never been to have a big church or even a wealthy church. My ambition is to be a good pastor, the way Jesus was. Unfortunately, His ambition was to lay down His life (from the foundation of the world), which means that my ambition...well, it must be the same. How I measure my success depends upon how much of my life I have laid down.
How do you measure success? The world has some interesting ways to determine success, but most of them seem contrary to Jesus. This week at Four Hills, we will talk about A WEiRD Way To Measure Success. It should be interesting.
I have been evaluating the church we are planting recently and I am finding some interesting things (when comparing it to other churches planted around the same time).
One, we are smaller than almost every other church that I know of that was planted around the same time. Well, we are numerically smaller. From a weight standpoint, we might have a couple of them beat. Just don't know.
Two, we are the only one of our comrades that are not striving toward church sovereignty (we are still under the direction of the KY District). I do not know if this is a good thing or a bad thing. It simply means that our budgets still aren't completely stable. Not bad...just not stable.
Three, we are the only church of the group that has moved locations within their first year. I like to think that is a good thing. But, just as with the others, who knows? The truth is, I am really bad at measuring the success of our church. Why?
I don't measure success the way other people do.
Somewhere in the midst of reading the Bible, Jesus turned my success-o-meter on its end. I am told constantly that good evaluation is critical to success as a church planter, but I have difficulty evaluating the things that I find important in a church. Things like:
Authenticity - I have always wanted to pastor a church where REAL people had REAL problems and didn't fight to hide them from everyone else. I wanted to build a church where the pastor was just as flawed as the congregation and nobody was expected to be perfect. How do you measure that?
Family - I have been striving to build a church where people became close like family to one another. That includes getting on each other's nerves like family and feeling like you had people you could lean on like a family. I have been a part of too many churches where people enjoyed the show, but didn't get to know the people. How do you measure that?
Maturity - It's cool to be real and be close. But, I have always felt that those things should lead to a person being closer to God this year than they were last year. Sometimes, that is harder than it sounds. A lot of it depends on the individual, but the church should play a role in it. Again, I am not sure how we measure this?
You see, my ambition has never been to have a big church or even a wealthy church. My ambition is to be a good pastor, the way Jesus was. Unfortunately, His ambition was to lay down His life (from the foundation of the world), which means that my ambition...well, it must be the same. How I measure my success depends upon how much of my life I have laid down.
How do you measure success? The world has some interesting ways to determine success, but most of them seem contrary to Jesus. This week at Four Hills, we will talk about A WEiRD Way To Measure Success. It should be interesting.
by Matt Monyhan on May 9th, 2011
Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. - John 13:3-4
I am not certain why it is on my mind today, but I thought I would take a moment to discuss church dress codes. Maybe it is the abundance of church attire I witnessed during the Mother's Day restaurant scened. Or it could be the WEiRD sermon series that we are doing at church. I really do not know my inspiration, but I am going there anyways.
I was taught that there is a certain way to dress in church. This way was told me through various anecdotes, such as:
"The Bible says that you should wear your best before the Lord."
Of course, when I hear someone say this one, it confirms to me what I have always thought...people just don't read the Bible. I had one person tell me that "Cleanliness is next to Godliness" was in the Bible. That would have been funny, except that the person was a senior adult who had gone to church since she was in diapers.
"How would you dress if the President were coming today?"
You see the switcharoo? Based upon this statement, it would appear that I have more respect for the President than I do for our Lord and Savior. Nevermind that God is omnipresent, so He sees me when I am in the restroom or cutting grass. Based on this logic, my only encounter with God during a given week is on Sunday morning, which begs a much greater question about my decision to follow Jesus in the first place.
"The pastor should dress like a pastor."
I know that this one is specific to clergy, but I have to hear it just the same. Somewhere along the way, it was decreed that pastors wear suits. This would cause great problems for female pastors, except that the persons who came up with this system would never allow for a female pastor in the first place. Jesus had great difficulty finding suits in His day, but the apostle Paul...now that was a suit-wearing maniac.
"If we don't dress our best, people may end up wearing blue jeans and the like to church."
Ah, there it is. In Satan's grand scheme for defrauding the church and making the sacred unholy, he began with the denim fabric as a foundation for illicit behavior of the worst kind. The slippery slope of khakis and polo shirts will only lead to jeans and t-shirts. Next thing you know, people will show up naked to church.
The "blue jeans" argument came full circle one day at a church I served in the south end of Louisville. One of my students arrived for a Sunday night service wearing blue jean shorts. She was not allowed access to service because she was dressed so inappropriately. She came to me in tears. The Bride of Christ had made their judgment upon her and her blue jeans.
I promised myself that when I pastored a church, I would wear blue jeans every Sunday. I realize that I don't look as cool as others do in them. I definitely do not wear them because they are so comfortable. But, when the day comes that one of our people want to cast judgment on another for their attire, I want them to be able to point to me and say, "He doesn't seem to mind that I am wearing blue jeans." I want to be the worst dressed person in the room.
When Jesus came into His glory, He put a towel around His waist...the attire of a servant.
I want to be like Jesus. He was the worst dressed person in the room, so that He could serve all of the others. That sounds like the kind of pastor that I want to be. That sounds like the kind of church I want to build.
Be like Jesus.
I am not certain why it is on my mind today, but I thought I would take a moment to discuss church dress codes. Maybe it is the abundance of church attire I witnessed during the Mother's Day restaurant scened. Or it could be the WEiRD sermon series that we are doing at church. I really do not know my inspiration, but I am going there anyways.
I was taught that there is a certain way to dress in church. This way was told me through various anecdotes, such as:
"The Bible says that you should wear your best before the Lord."
Of course, when I hear someone say this one, it confirms to me what I have always thought...people just don't read the Bible. I had one person tell me that "Cleanliness is next to Godliness" was in the Bible. That would have been funny, except that the person was a senior adult who had gone to church since she was in diapers.
"How would you dress if the President were coming today?"
You see the switcharoo? Based upon this statement, it would appear that I have more respect for the President than I do for our Lord and Savior. Nevermind that God is omnipresent, so He sees me when I am in the restroom or cutting grass. Based on this logic, my only encounter with God during a given week is on Sunday morning, which begs a much greater question about my decision to follow Jesus in the first place.
"The pastor should dress like a pastor."
I know that this one is specific to clergy, but I have to hear it just the same. Somewhere along the way, it was decreed that pastors wear suits. This would cause great problems for female pastors, except that the persons who came up with this system would never allow for a female pastor in the first place. Jesus had great difficulty finding suits in His day, but the apostle Paul...now that was a suit-wearing maniac.
"If we don't dress our best, people may end up wearing blue jeans and the like to church."
Ah, there it is. In Satan's grand scheme for defrauding the church and making the sacred unholy, he began with the denim fabric as a foundation for illicit behavior of the worst kind. The slippery slope of khakis and polo shirts will only lead to jeans and t-shirts. Next thing you know, people will show up naked to church.
The "blue jeans" argument came full circle one day at a church I served in the south end of Louisville. One of my students arrived for a Sunday night service wearing blue jean shorts. She was not allowed access to service because she was dressed so inappropriately. She came to me in tears. The Bride of Christ had made their judgment upon her and her blue jeans.
I promised myself that when I pastored a church, I would wear blue jeans every Sunday. I realize that I don't look as cool as others do in them. I definitely do not wear them because they are so comfortable. But, when the day comes that one of our people want to cast judgment on another for their attire, I want them to be able to point to me and say, "He doesn't seem to mind that I am wearing blue jeans." I want to be the worst dressed person in the room.
When Jesus came into His glory, He put a towel around His waist...the attire of a servant.
I want to be like Jesus. He was the worst dressed person in the room, so that He could serve all of the others. That sounds like the kind of pastor that I want to be. That sounds like the kind of church I want to build.
Be like Jesus.
by Matt Monyhan on May 4th, 2011
Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. - Romans 12:2
So, I am reading a book called "Weird" and preaching a message series called "Weird". It seems that I am destined for weird-ness, so I thought I would try to bring some people with me.
In Matthew 7, Jesus speaks about the wide road and the narrow road. He makes a strong point that the direction that the majority of the world is going "leads to destruction". We could take that to mean Hell or just general destruction of life. Either way, I am not too into heading for destruction, so I definitely want to head down the narrow road, where few travel.
Of course, this brings up some interesting questions about:
It is perfectly normal to hate your enemy, especially one as evil as that.
But, that really is the point of weird-ness, isn't it? When Jesus called us out of the world, He was asking us to put normal aside. He even goes so far as to say, "You have heard it said to love your friends and hate your enemy, but I tell you, Love your enemy and pray for those who spitefully use you." Wow. That speaks volumes.
Weird people would have loved Osama bin Laden?
When I heard the news report, my first reaction was disbelief. My second was a smile on my face. How sick is that? I am not as weird as I need to be.
I saw a gentleman from the Kentucky Baptist Convention on television being interviewed. He had helped with the relief effort after the bombings in 2001. Here was a man that had seen the devastation caused by bin Laden first hand. What would he say about this reckoning?
"I find that I cannot rejoice over the death of any man. We prayed for Him, just as Jesus wanted us to. Christ loved him. Do we have a greater claim than Him?"
Pretty weird, huh? The guy loved his enemy because Christ loved His enemy.
Let me be weird like that.
So, I am reading a book called "Weird" and preaching a message series called "Weird". It seems that I am destined for weird-ness, so I thought I would try to bring some people with me.
In Matthew 7, Jesus speaks about the wide road and the narrow road. He makes a strong point that the direction that the majority of the world is going "leads to destruction". We could take that to mean Hell or just general destruction of life. Either way, I am not too into heading for destruction, so I definitely want to head down the narrow road, where few travel.
Of course, this brings up some interesting questions about:
- the way that I dress
- what I watch on television
- the words that come out of my mouth
- how I treat other people
- what I allow myself to do with my body
- countless other things in my life
It is perfectly normal to hate your enemy, especially one as evil as that.
But, that really is the point of weird-ness, isn't it? When Jesus called us out of the world, He was asking us to put normal aside. He even goes so far as to say, "You have heard it said to love your friends and hate your enemy, but I tell you, Love your enemy and pray for those who spitefully use you." Wow. That speaks volumes.
Weird people would have loved Osama bin Laden?
When I heard the news report, my first reaction was disbelief. My second was a smile on my face. How sick is that? I am not as weird as I need to be.
I saw a gentleman from the Kentucky Baptist Convention on television being interviewed. He had helped with the relief effort after the bombings in 2001. Here was a man that had seen the devastation caused by bin Laden first hand. What would he say about this reckoning?
"I find that I cannot rejoice over the death of any man. We prayed for Him, just as Jesus wanted us to. Christ loved him. Do we have a greater claim than Him?"
Pretty weird, huh? The guy loved his enemy because Christ loved His enemy.
Let me be weird like that.
by Matt Monyhan on April 29th, 2011
Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. - James 4:14
According to my research, people are more likely to read a blog post that is roughly half the size of the ones I post. So, we shall make this brief.
It has been a pretty wild week. Easter, followed by business meetings in Henderson, led to tornadoes and flooding (in the church basement). A Wednesday night of kids on my own (my wife had to care for our sick one at home) and a Thursday of church politics have brought me once again to Friday. I am preparing for a weekend of weddings (not royal ones) and sermons.
It is during weeks like this one that I wonder how quickly the sand is creeping through the hourglass of my life. I want to spend my time to doing meaningful things, but I sometimes feel that my time is spent on what must be done, rather than what should be done.
Ever feel like that?
So, for a moment, I will pause and thank God for this gift of life. I will once again promise to use it to the best of my ability. I will grind through the things that must be done and revel in the things that should be done. But, above all, I will cherish every moment of life. Life is brief...like this post.
Live life to please God. That is what matters.
According to my research, people are more likely to read a blog post that is roughly half the size of the ones I post. So, we shall make this brief.
It has been a pretty wild week. Easter, followed by business meetings in Henderson, led to tornadoes and flooding (in the church basement). A Wednesday night of kids on my own (my wife had to care for our sick one at home) and a Thursday of church politics have brought me once again to Friday. I am preparing for a weekend of weddings (not royal ones) and sermons.
It is during weeks like this one that I wonder how quickly the sand is creeping through the hourglass of my life. I want to spend my time to doing meaningful things, but I sometimes feel that my time is spent on what must be done, rather than what should be done.
Ever feel like that?
So, for a moment, I will pause and thank God for this gift of life. I will once again promise to use it to the best of my ability. I will grind through the things that must be done and revel in the things that should be done. But, above all, I will cherish every moment of life. Life is brief...like this post.
Live life to please God. That is what matters.
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