Book Review: Exponential by Dave and Jon Ferguson

I have been reading a lot about church expansion and planting, and in particular, the missional church movement. The first book I read in that regard was Organic Church by Neil Cole. It was a great book, and set the stage for me quite well to read Exponential.

Exponential is not as much of a church planting book as it is a church growth, expansion and multiplication book. It talks a little about the grassroots movement, and focuses the majority of its attention on creating a movement with in your church. I think that is good writing, because not too many people will start a church, but many people could help their church cultivate an exponential church growth movement.

The whole premise of the book is basically reproduction. Churches as a whole have not reproduced themselves so much, but as the authors point out, reproduction is the sign of health.

The first thing I took away from this book was the idea of what they call an apprentice. It is basically the idea of one-on-one mentoring. They chose the word “apprentice because, “the word apprentice says that you are not only a learner but also are willing and ready to take action that will demand a greater leadership responsibility in order to further the movement of Jesus. Apprentices don’t just learn; they do what they have been taught and inspire others to lead themselves.”

So, everyone in the church, and particularly in leadership should have an apprentice, someone who they are grooming to do what they do. It seems to me that it is a quite effective way to train people up to do tasks that need to be reproduced within a church. It is also what Jesus did with the disciples. He selected them, gave them the vision, trained them, and then sent them. That is essentially the apprenticeship process.

The second thing that stuck out to me was the section on attracting artists and reproducing them. This is essential according to the authors, and I tend to agree.

Here is a quote from that chapter: "The creative centers tend to be the economic winners of our age... In the form of innovations and high-tech industry growth. The creative centers also show strong signs of overall regional vitality, such as increases in regional employment and population." Richard Florida-The Rise Of The Creative Class

There are different strategies and factors that they hit on in that chapter, but the main theme is that artists need to be given a chance to express themselves, and churches need to be willing to take the chance to make that happen. They say that 30 percent of the people in any church have some sort of artistic background, and the majority of those are not and will not be used. We need to give people the opportunity for artistic expression.

What the book boiled down to me, for the most part, was that we, as the church, need to do a better job of believing in people, coming alongside of them, and empowering them to do what they are capable of, whether they realize it or not. I am challenged to find an apprentice, and begin the process in my own church soon.

For what it is worth, the last part of the book talked about reproducing networks of groups of people, broadening your reach to tens of thousands of people. It lacked the ability to keep my attention. The majority of the meat is jam packed into the first two sections of the book. All in all, a pretty good read though.

The Power of Love

1985 was a terrific year, not that I remember a lot of it. But I do remember some of the pop culture in those days. I remember the iconic fashion and the epic hair styles. I remember that MTV and VH1 were not what they now are, and that they played a lot of music. I recall going to my grandma’s house, turning on VH1 and playing Rummikub with her. One of the songs from that year was on one of my favorite movies, not only of that year, but of all times, Back to the Future. The band was Huey Lewis and the News, and the song was The Power of Love. If you know it, sing along:

“You don't need money, don't take fame, Don't need no credit card to ride this train. It's strong and it's sudden and it's cruel sometimes, But it might just save your life. That's the power of love”

That song was the JAM!!!

But it also contains a truth, that there truly is power in love. I mean, look around at the dating scene for a minute. Look at the “macho” guy that is buying flowers, going to the opera, and watching chick flicks in the movie theater, for love. Look at the girl that is pretending to like UFC and the smell of exhaust fumes at the races, for love. Married people and unmarried people alike have done crazy and stupid things for love. Dreams have been abandoned, families have had their backs turned against them, and friends have been left, all for love. There is not much, if anything at all, that will come in between two people in love.

Yet that love is elementary compared to the love that God has for us. We are only able to give love as much as we are able to receive it. God has freely given us love, and whether or not we accept it is all on us.

In Ephesians 3:17-19, Paul says, “And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, … to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”

God’s love surpasses all intellect. God’s love goes beyond the power to change the habits of a human being. It goes beyond the abandonment of friends and family. God’s love can completely change the entire being of an individual. It can instantaneously turn someone 180 degrees. It has the power to bring enemies together. It has the power to allow people to live together in harmony. That is God’s intention for humankind.

The Power of Love. That is what I want to see in my life. Through my life. Because of my life in Christ. God, show me how to love like you love

...Still Reminiscing

Okay, so I have to reminisce and finish my last post. I ended up with two very promising job interviews, and second interviews with both organizations. I was offered a job at one and was pretty much assured a job at the other. I was all set to start job #1 on a Tuesday, and the Wednesday before, received a phone call asking if I could speak at a church to Jr. High students that Sunday. I accepted and began preparing my first sermon in nearly 6 months. On that Friday, I got a call from job #1 telling me that they had rescinded their offer. It hurt a bit, but I still had job #2 in my back pocket.

Saturday morning I woke up, and in usual fashion, I grabbed my phone before I got out of bed, and checked my emails. Wouldn’t you now it, but job #2 was doing corporate cutbacks, and the job they were preparing to offer me was no longer open. So I went from 2 very promising jobs to nothing in less than 24 hours. I was a bit crushed. I have never struggled with having to be the bread winner or the man that has to make more money than his wife, but not being able to secure these jobs was a bit of a blow.

So Sunday I preached, and I loved it. I knew what I was created to do, and jobs #1 and #2 were not it. I knew I was supposed to be in church work again, and that was what I needed to realize it. I was no longer upset at all about not getting a job, but now driven to do what it took to be in ministry once again.

And God opened that door. The very church I spoke at that January morning ended up hiring me in May. It was and is God’s provision for me. Sometimes He doesn’t tell us the whole story, but lets us live it out to see Him in the middle of it all when we stand and look back.

2011 has been a great year. I have been stretched in ways I wasn’t expecting, and I have sacrificed and God has blessed me.

And now, as I look forward to 2012, I have vision. And I am excited for what the future holds.

It is one thing to say, “God, I will do anything for you,” but it is a whole other thing to actually do it. While it may not be a big step for someone to apply for a job that they aren’t passionate about, it was for me. And it was what God required of me. I laid it down, and God picked it back up and gave it back to me in a bigger and better way.

It reminds me of the book, The Dream Giver, by Bruce Wilkinson. There is a point where the guy with the dream comes to a great river and has to set his dream down. Reluctantly, he does and gets in the boat and crosses the river, hope shattered. But there on the other side is his dream.

God never wants to take our dream from us, but there comes times where He will challenge us to see if He or it has become the God.

Reminiscing... only for a minute

I have never really been the one to look back. In fact, I recently took a strength-finder test and it told me I am a futurist. So, this time of year brings me great joy, because the simple act of the calendar changing to a new year, in some strange way, puts me that much closer to the future. I have definite goals for 2012, and those will be revealed soon enough, but today is a time to reminisce a bit.

One year ago, I was out of a job (by my choice), had just moved into our own home after living with my parents for 6 months, and I was finally starting to move forward in life a bit. I had begun conquering a few things that held me back and, for the first time in a while, I really felt that God was for me.

Christmas 2010 was spent with my parents, my sisters, my wife and my son, and was the best one to date. My son was spoiled by all of his grandparents, and us as well, bringing home enough toys to last him a decade.

As soon as Christmas ended I began looking for a job outside of ministry for the first time in nearly 10 years. This was a tough time for me, because I know that I am made for ministry and church work. But, the whole reason I gave up my ministry job and moved was for the betterment of my family, and so, too, was the decision to go back into the workforce. I had a number of resumes sent out to churches, and nobody was biting, so I needed to do something for income.

Sometimes you just have to do something that you don’t want to do as a man, but is the right thing to do as a dad or husband. If it came down to it, and I needed to go back into retail or fast-food or and automotive job, I would have done it gladly, because my family needed that more than I needed my job fulfillment. Everyday, I am challenged to put aside my own wants and desires to fulfill those of my family.

“Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:13

You get one family; multiple people, but one family. Your family is priority number one in this life. According to Jesus, there is no better way to show your family that they are loved and that they are a priority than for you to lay down your desires for theirs.

“What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?” Mark 8:36

What good is it for a man to gain the whole world (money, cars, titles, promotions, cars, homes, stuff), yet forfeit his family?

What I have learned in Acts 3

God just used Peter and John to heal a man that was crippled since birth. The man had been sitting at that gate for years, potentially. In fact, it is not much of a stretch to say that Jesus may have walked by this guy a number of times during his ministry. But here we have these two disciples full of the Holy Spirit, and ready to live out their faith and launch the early church, and they happen upon this guy asking for money…. Again.

So as the Holy Spirit prompted him, Peter grabs the man by the hand and says, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” No bells. No whistles. No church service. No healing ministry. Just get up and walk. The guy gets up and, in an instant, his muscles were like they have worked his whole life. He was jumping all over the temple courtyard. I can’t even walk when my leg falls asleep, and here is this dude jumping all over the place after having his legs asleep for 30 years!!!

Naturally, everyone around was amazed. They have seen this guy for years, and now all of a sudden, he is walking. A true miracle!!

But Peter says to them, “Men of Israel, why does this surprise you?” It was as if this was the normal thing to take place, and to Peter it was. Peter knew things that the other people did not, that this is commonplace with God.

But this is NOT commonplace in so many of our lives as Christians. If something were to take place similar to this story in our churches, would we just be floored? Or would we expect it? I think we need to raise our level of faith and our level of expectation, so that WHEN this type of thing happens in our life, we can just respond as Peter did.

P.S. This story happened OUTSIDE the temple. Miracles do not have to happen in the church building!!! In fact they should RARELY happen in the church building. The people of the church should be taking this to the streets and then bringing the people and the testimonies into the church!

The Calling

There are many times in life where I have heard God calling me to accomplish something. Not audibly, but I just knew that I knew that I knew that it was God. He called me into ministry. He called me to start a midweek program for the youth at our church. He called me to move and leave so many things that I loved, behind.

There have also been times in life where I haven’t heard God. Either He wasn’t speaking, or I wasn’t listening, but I heard nothing. A season just like that recently ended in my life and I have heard God again. What a refreshing voice to hear. It rejuvenated me and gave me vision and dreams again, and excited me for the future and what it holds.

It reminds me a bit of the disciples. They watched Jesus ascend into heaven with His parting words, “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, but also in Judea and Samaria, and in the uttermost parts of the earth.” Jesus left them, speaking to them and giving them a vision to run with. I can imagine the 11 men sitting down and formulating a game plan, and dividing themselves into groups that went out. If they were anything like I am, they were ready to go right then and there. Sure it was an overwhelming task, and they may not have felt qualified to do it, but they had a direct assignment from God to accomplish!

I feel that way a bit. I have a direct assignment from God to accomplish, that is overwhelming and a bit scary, and I would love to start cracking on it today. But just before Jesus gave the disciples that assignment, He gave them another: wait. He was sending them a helper, and they needed to wait. And that is where I am. Waiting. Waiting for my Helper. Not only that, but I need to finish this assignment I am on first. But while I am doing that, I am planning and preparing for Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and beyond.

Don’t jump the gun. Don’t play the role of God. Finish one assignment before diving too deep into the next one. This assignment qualifies you for the next assignment.

Doing the RIGHT things in ministry

The life of a pastor, and especially the volunteer in ministry can be very, very busy. There is your family, your job, your personal time with God, church, meetings, the ministry you serve in, the lunch appointments, the one-on-one meetings, counseling, mentoring, discipleship, planning, more meetings, phone calls, administration, visitations, and still, more meetings. I have tried to fit 100 hours into a 40-hour workweek, and it doesn’t seem to ever work out. Something always gets short-changed.

So in those instances, what is your default short-change? I know for me, it is the things that I do best or come the easiest to me that usually get the least amount of attention. I figure that I can always just throw together a sermon, or just text message someone rather than spend the necessary time studying or really connecting one-on-one with someone that really needs it. I have found out that the things that are usually the first to suffer are the things that are the most important, but are also the things that I enjoy the most.

I try to spend time outside of my gifting far too much. I am not blessed with great administrative skills. So my attempts at being administrative in certain areas normally take me twice the amount of time they should take, and probably even more than that for someone who has the gift of administration. So I end up spending far too much time outside of my gifting, and that takes away from the things that I really enjoy doing. Consequently, I can end up stressed out and irritated.

So the key is to surround yourself with people who aren’t like you! Get people into your circle that can do what you can’t do well. Delegate! Spend your time chasing things that matter and that which God wants you to do. God wants you to do what He has gifted you to do. He would not have given you the gift had He not wanted to use it.

Plan your week, spend your time in the right places, and delegate the rest!

...But I am called to do something else!!!!

10+ years ago I graduated from college with a degree in Youth Ministry (Yes, it is a real degree). I had felt the call of God on my life to pursue full-time ministry, and was well on my way to that, or so I thought.

Resume after resume was sent out, only to receive rejection after rejection. In fact, I think I had more rejections than I had actual resumes sent. It was a very disheartening process and I allowed it too much control in my life, and I eventually left church altogether as a result. But just because I left the church did not mean that I was not called to ministry anymore. The flame was still there, although its intensity was not great.

I heard a quote once that went something like this, “Don’t ever give up on that which you can’t go a day without thinking about.” That is exactly what I had done. Given up on the very thing I knew that I was called to do. So I went to work a job in a very secular arena, and relegated myself to the fact that that was going to be my life. I am so glad that God doesn’t give up as quickly as I do. I would be well up the proverbial creek at this point if He had.

So long story short, I found a church, and the passion was reignited towards my calling. But now the issue was that I was in a job that I didn’t care much for, there was no job available at the church I was serving at, and my house payment needed to still be paid. I very quickly learned the principle of being faithful with little.

I started playing bass in the youth ministry. That led to playing guitar in both youth and main services. That led to leading worship for the youth service, which was probably the biggest stretch for me up until that point. Then that opened the door to preaching and leading a small group, then to leading an entire midweek service. After that 4-year process, the door finally opened to full-time paid ministry.

The process in rarely easy, and is never scripted the way we want it to be scripted, but it is always the best in the long run. God knows what He is doing. Have faith that God has called you, let faith turn into trust the God is taking care of it, and let trust pave the way for your destiny. If you are faithful with one, God gives you another. If you are faithful with that, then you get another, and on and on goes the cycle. If you cannot be trusted with one, you will circle the mountain endlessly, and the frustration will most certainly build to unbearable heights. BE FAITHFUL RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE!!!!!

As we look back on our lives and how we ended up where we are, our stories will all be different, but principles that we learn in the process will be quite similar. We will be able to relate with those people that are in the middle or early stages of the process, and offer words of encouragement or advice. God will use you at any stage that you are at in the process if you remain faithful!

What's In A Name?

It is hard work trying to find a blog name, twitter name, email name, or any other name associated with the internet when you have a common name. I can't imagine how Jim Jones feels. Poor guy. I can imagine some guy on a quest for a simple twitter name:

"Okay, let me try Jim Jones.... Taken....James Jones... Taken... JJones... Nope... JJones1980... CRAP!... J_Jones_19_80... Are you serious?!?!?!?!? Fine, I will just stick to Facebook."

Anyhow, that's how I ended here, "thejeremypeters". It is not out of arrogance, but necessity. I am not "THE" Jeremy Peters, but rather "A" Jeremy Peters. In fact, a good friend of mine has the same first and last name on his birth certificate. I never thought that I would actually meet myself, but I did. So I didnt pick the name to slap the other men with the privilege of having this beautiful name, but it was all I could find that would work on Twitter and a blog. Actually, as I sifted through domain names, this name was suggested by my good friends at GoDaddy. Well, they aren't my friends, unless of course they want to endorse me, or give me free hosting or take Joan Rivers out of their advertising... then I shall call them my friends. But until then, I am "thejeremypeters" the non-friend of GoDaddy.