Spiritual Attack

Several years ago I was hit in the head with concrete which left me
with occassional stuttering and minear’s disease - a type of vertigo.
Usually the vertigo only hits about one day every oher month - but not
so bad I can’t function. Two weeks ago it kicked in worse than I’ve
ever had it and lasted until yesterday. I couldn’t walk, drive or keep
food down because of the dizziness. The doctors basically can’t cure it
or eliminate the symptoms, they just have to knock me out so I can
sleep through the worst of it. Therefore I haven’t really been able to
do anything for the last ten days.

Denise and I truly believe
that this has been a spiritual attack. The doctors have no clue why
this happened and was shocked that it did. Minear’s doesn’t usually act
like this - at least not for me.

Compass Point is going through
some changes right now. Good changes, but difficult. I am in the same
camp as Mark Driscoll in believing that sometimes you shake things up
and create choas for the sake of growing in leadership and ministry.
After six months of praying, fasting, meditation and Scripture study, I
beleve that God led me to take Compass Point into this time of creative
choas. The minear’s began the day we started the creative choas
process. I think this was by design by the enemy!

I’m beginning
to understand that spiritual attack occurs when God is moving. I’m
almost to the point if I’m/we’re not being attacked by Satan’s forces
then I look to see if I’m/we’re truly following God. It seems to be an
indicater!

I have also found that - in my life - Satan attacks
my health or my home - meaning my marriage. Nothing huge, just
bickering and impatience with each other. Some days Denise and I are
just having a bad day, but most of the time it is spiritual attack.

Pastor’s
be on guard. If God is truly doing something wonderful through you or
your church, Satan will attack in mighty ways. Keep your armor up -
particularly in your home!

It’s About Meeting People

Today Denise and I had a blast working as volunteers at this year’s
Mayfaire Kid’s Art Pavilion, sponsored by the Polk Museum of Art. The
head of education at the museum is a Compass Point member and we had
some other church folks working as volunteers. As you can see I was in
charge of the hat making booth where we used rolled up grocery bags and
art supplies. I met a ton of folks, made great contacts with city
leaders and got to invite several dozen to Compass Point.

I once
heard a church plant "expert" say that the planting pastor’s job was to
spend forty hours a week preparing a sermon and letting the core team
build the relationships. That’s just CRAP!!! The shepherd should be
leading the flock by example! You can’t sit in your study or office and
build a church! Anyone that tells you different has never actually been
a church planter.

That’s not to say you should punk out on
sermon preparation. There have been many Saturday nights of no sleep so
I could go back over my sermon notes for Sunday. God created Sunday
afternoons for three things; the NFL, NASCAR and a chance for night-owl
pastors to grab a nap.

For a church planter sleep is optional, not a necessity. If you can’t occasionally
make it on three hours of sleep (or less), then take a cush job at an
established church - don’t plant. If you don’t like to be around people
. . . great big gatherings of people - don’t plant. If you wife needs
you home by 6:00 PM every night of the week to feel secure in the
marriage - don’t plant. If you have to have a minimum of thirty hours a
week of preparation to preach a sermon on Sunday - don’t plant.

Church
planting is about meeting people wherever and whenever you have to.
It’s kind of like selling insurance . . . every person you meet could
possibly be a candidate for salvation and in need of a church home.

Some
days it may take a conversation with a stranger over a cup of coffee.
Other days it might be wearing goofy grocery bag hats at the local park.

Whatever . . . whenever - the church planter’s creed!

No Battleground

What do I and Compass Point Church have in common with Mark Batterson Ed Young, Jr., Perry Noble, Andy Stanley, Gary Lamb or Ben Arment nd their churches? The answer is . . . practically nothing. We have
different visions, different audience demographics and different ways
of doing things. The one thing we ALL have in common is the unbridled
desire to see as many people come to Christ as possible!

I have
grown incredibly tired of this "implied battleground" by some of the
emails I receive from church planters and other bloggers. They seem to
think there are two camps - those trying to be modern churches and
those that are not. What a stupid thought process! Modern churches are
stupid. Emerging churches are stupid. Identifying with a movement is
stupid! Christ is the only identifying characteristic a pastor or
church should have. We are all in this together and all the guys I
mentioned above struggle to find out how do a better job of reaching
more people.

Sure there are different ways of approaching this
concept we call church. However, it shouldn’t be determined by what is
a "right way and wrong way" of perfecting church. It should be solely
determined by the leading of the Holy Spirit in the shepherd’s life in
accordance with the needs of the individual flock. Approaches are not
wrong. Concepts are not wrong. Ideology is not wrong. We should
constantly be struggling to discover new ways to present an old Truth
without dismissing things because of personal preference. Only heresy
is wrong and should always be a battleground.

Gary Lamb doesn’t
podcast, however I do. Not because one is right or wrong, but because
our flocks are different. Mark Batterson’s National Community Church has muli-site services, Compass Point does not. Not because one is
right or wrong, but because our flocks are different. Ben Arment’s History Church uses message series, while Compass Point doesn’t. Not because one is
right or wrong, but because our flocks are different. God calls
different leaders to different things because of different missions.
God doesn’t seem to care all that much about movements, just people.
For a church leader to dismiss an idea or approach just because it
comes from a different type of church is just plain . . . well . . .
stupid.

Compass Point is more like Mosaic or Mars Hill, than say. . . Northpoint.  We attract a predominately 2o-something, highly artistic, almost
nerdy-hippie flock. Yet, my staff has devoured all of Andy Stanley’s
books and our Pathfinders children’s ministry uses the 252 Basics! curriculum designed by Northpoint. Why? Because it is the best solution
for our flock of children and we spent countless hours in prayer coming
to that conclusion. Our leadership might come up with something better
tomorrow, but today Northpoint’s resources are the best for our
situation.

In essence, there is no battleground. Some of the
leaders I have mentioned in this posting I communicate with several
times a month through email or phone. I read their blogs everyday.
Their thoughts, visions and strategies challenge me. They challenge me
to think, to color outside-the-box, to pray, to ponder, to read
Scripture, to seek God’s guidance in leading this flock called Compass
Point. They may have different styles, but that doesn’t mean they are
wrong. They are Godly men seeking to do Godly business in an ungoldly
world. Anytime that "iron sharpens iron" God moves in mighty ways. That
is why I will always read the blogs and books of other church leaders.

I
was once asked at a church plant conference I spoke at what would be
the greatest advice I’d give to church planters. It is this . . . don’t
box yourself in with the latest/greatest/coolest church plant movement
because it makes you stop listening to other ideas from other church
leaders that God might want you to use.

Compass Point is not
emergent. Compass Point is not modern. Compass Point is not old-school.
Compass Point is Compass Point. We are trying to reach as many people
for Jesus Christ in Polk County as we can and disciple them into a
growing relationship with God. We will beg, borrow or steal an idea,
concept or strategy if we think God can use it to help us reach that
goal - no matter where it comes from.