Mel Ming – LDR

The Two Greatest Needs I see in the Church Today

Assessment, Evaluation, Leadership, Recalibration / By Mel Ming

One of the results of growing old is you develop a long-range perspective. In looking at the Church today I see two great needs I would like to share and have you consider:

The need for Follow-up/Discipleship of New Christians

I am thrilled when I see people getting saved and baptized in water in our churches. Every time I see a post or photo of someone being baptized in water my soul rejoices.

What I have come to see as the greatest need in the church today is for churches/Christians to have an in place one-on-one follow up discipleship program for every new believe. Jesus spent 3 years discipling His followers. Many churches have nothing in place to address this need and even more significantly, many pastors are not discipling anyone one-on-one themselves.

I often find myself wondering how many of those baptized in water will be mature and following Christ two years from now.

What strategy do you and your church have for following up and discipling every new believer, no matter what their age?

The need for Servant leaders focused on Christ, not themselves.

We live in a society that makes us the center of everything. What will help me get ahead? What’s in it for me? How will this help my career? Unfortunately, this is sometimes even true of ministry leaders.

We have forgotten it is all about Christ, not us. The real question is what does Christ want me to be and do. It is not about personal power, pride, prestige, or promotion.

It seems for some “servant leadership” has become I want others to serve me and my goals.

Over the years I have discovered and observed, without true love for Christ and others, there is no servant leadership. If we do not love others and have a burden for them, I think we must not be spending enough time with Christ.

This was not meant to be a criticism of others, but a moment of reflection.

Who are you following up/discpling?
How is your love for Christ being reflected in your love for others?

Two Great Questions That Bring Clarity

Uncategorized / By Mel Ming

I am a big fan of “Getting Things Done” by David Allen. In a recent post (1/21/2024) David asked two great questions that bring clarity to most anything:

What is the successful outcome? And,
What is the next action to make it happen?

If you think about it, these two questions provide a framework for being more productive and successful.

What are the results you are looking for from:

The meeting?
The letter you are writing?
The way you are spending then next hour?
The project you are starting?
The service you are planning?

When you have clarity on the outcome, most things naturally fall into place.

Then, what is the next action you need to take to make it happen? This gets you moving in the right direction.

I encourage you to make these two questions a part of your planning process.

Organizational Control and Empowerment

Strategy / Organization / By Mel Ming

All organizations must deal with the issues of Control and Empowerment. It is not one or the other, but the relationship and balance between them.

When organizations lean too far towards control, they stifle creativity and innovation. They also tend to disfranchise people on the fringe.

When organizations lean too far towards empowerment, they often lose central focus and mission. The organization tends to fragment and lose clarity.

It is the equilibrium between control and empowerment that provides the most results. The leadership controls the mission, culture, and values, while at the same time allowing great empowerment of their people to innovate and bring new ideas into the organization.

How is your organization doing at finding the right balance?

Don’t Be a “Brand”, Be a Servant

Leadership / By Mel Ming

There is a lot of encouragement today to make yourself a “brand”. From a marketing perspective, it makes a lot of sense. But I would say from a follower of Christ’s perspective it is an undesirable action.

In the last couple of years, I have seen a football player I thoroughly enjoyed and respected move towards becoming a “brand”. Before he was a team player and put others first. Then he became a “brand” and it all became about him. I found it very disappointing.

I have seen a few pastors follow this same path. What made them so appealing was they were really focused on serving and others. Then they became the “brand” and the product (not Jesus). Two had moral failures and lost all they had spent their lives to seek to build. Another just lost influence. All of them hurt the work of God in the end.

When you seek to become a “brand” it is all about you. When you are a servant, it really is all about others.

When you make yourself or your program the “brand”, then Jesus isn’t it any longer.

We need to make our lives all about Jesus and share Him with everyone we can.

Lead Pastors, are you learning from those larger than you are?

Leadership, Strategy / Growth, Models / By Mel Ming

I received my September/October 2021 issue of Outreach Magazine today.

As I was looking over the lists of the 100 Fastest Growing and 100 Largest Churches, I was reminded how many of these churches I took pastors and graduate students to over the years:

Bayside Church, Roseville, CA
Gateway Church, South Lake, TX
Harvest Church, Billings, MT
Mariners Church, Irvine, CA
North Coast Church, Vista, CA
Southwest Christian Church, Louisville, KY
Northpoint, Alpharetta, GA
Saddleback Church, Lake Forest, CA
Flatirons Community Church, Lafeyette, CO
Red Rocks Church, Littleton, CO
The Rock Church, San Diego, CA
The Village Church, Flower Mound, TX
Plus 4 or 5 others

There is nothing like seeing a great church with your own eyes.

There are several great churches in San Antonio that would make an outstanding trip:

Community Bible Church
Gateway Fellowship Church
Oaks Hills Church
Westover Hills Church (AG) and one of the most integrated Churches and staffs in America

This would be a great Fall or Spring trip. The weather in San Antonio would be great.

A California church I have not visit that would be on the top of my list would be Eastside Christian Church in Anaheim, CA. This could easily be done with Mariners and Saddleback.

If you are a lead pastor of a large church, what are you doing to help you see a church larger than you are?

If you can’t envision it, it is much harder to get there.

Post Covid Opening up Strategy

Planning, Strategy / By Mel Ming

One of my coaching clients asked me a question about where we go now, and I decided to share my answer with a few of you who I have coached in the past.

We are a transition point. The last year and a half disrupted how almost everyone did church. Everyone had to adjust and find ways to minister during Covid. The hybrid church is probably here to stay.

We are now at another transition point. People are ready to forget about Covid and get back to life and the future. This is observable in many ways: air travel is growing exponentially, national parks are breaking all-time records, people are taking a vacation and going to see family, sporting events are packed to capacity. All of this tells us the focus of people in on the present and future. They are wanting to get on with life, not focus on the past and problems.

What are the implications for church leaders? I think every church needs to act like they are planting their church all over September 1^st. What would you do if you were planting your church for the first time this September? That is probably what you should be doing.

How are you going to get people connected to your church who don’t even know you exist? Here are a few ideas to get you thinking.

I would urge you to consider a three-issue mail campaign to your community (3 mailings two weeks apart). If you can’t afford to mail to your entire community, consider: 1) mailing to everyone who has purchased a home in the last year and a half; 2) mailing to everyone who has children living at home (Buy the address list from a marketing company); 3) mailing to everyone within 2, 3, 5 miles of your building. In your mailing focus on why they should attend your church from their point of view. Not your mission statement “To know Christ and live for him daily”, BUT “You can find faith that will transform and authentic friends”.
Print invitation cards (sometimes called touch cards) for your members to use in inviting their friends, neighbors, and co-workers to come with them to church. Design them for non-Christians.
Start a weekly email to every email address you have. Keep it short and focused.

First, share one-way people are being transformed at your church (one week you might feature one of the following:

- - youth (maybe a story from camp or a teen who turned their life around),
  - children (maybe a story from your summer kid’s ministry or how the kid’s ministry helps parents)
  - Young Adults (how someone found authentic friendship or direction in life)
  - Women (How someone’s life is being transformed by a small group or activity)
  - Small groups (How being connected helped someone in a tough time)
  - Community outreach (How your church is changing lives in your community)
  - You get the idea. People are not interested in programs or numbers, but they are interested in lives being changed.

Second, why they will not want to miss Sunday (The is your message teaser) How will the message be meaningful to a non-believer.

Plan a fall fun event that is easy for your church people to invite friends to attend:

- - Have a Car or motorcycle show
  - 3 on 3 basketball tournament
  - Kids’/Family fun time
  - Food trucks after church
  - Concert in the park with several bands
  - A community serve day

Remember to reach your community you will probably need to build some momentum. That is why I suggest your brainstorm with your team on what you would do if you were launching this fall.

I know many of you are way ahead of me on this, but I thought I would share. May God grant you a genuine harvest of souls this fall and help your church to truly reflect Christ in your community.

Mel

“To know Christ and make Christ known”

LDR Church Planting Workbook Released

Church Planting, Leadership, Planning, Teamwork / Workbook / By Mel Ming

This week the LDR Church Planting Workbook was released on Amazon.

The Kindle version should be up in a week or two.

This will be followed by the two LDR Church Development Workbooks in the coming months.

LDR is excited to partner with Gravitational Leadership Press on these books.

You can order the Church Planting Workbook at:

amazon.com/Church-Planting-Workbook-Melvyn-Ming/dp/1944858601/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=ming+Church+Planting&qid=1581617024&sr=8-4

What Others are saying about the workbook:

“There’s no doubt in my mind, The Church Development Workbook and Church Planting Workbook are the most comprehensive field guides ever written for ministry leaders. The principles are powerful, and have been a strategic part of my personal journey as a leader for years. You’ll discover how to have the right systems and people in place to move your organization to the next level in health and growth.”

Kent Ingle, DMin
President
Southeastern University

“Nobody does the mission alone. Not even Jesus. So why would you try to plant a church by yourself? Do what I did and go through the church planting workbook and learn from my mentors, Mel Ming & friends.”

Wes Davis
Visionary of “People Becoming the Church”
Lead Pastor
Newlife.TV

“Whether you’re planting a new church or multiplying campuses, finding the right resources in right order makes all the difference. This Church Planting tool has helped and continues to assist us as we build teams, fine tune systems and endeavor to ask the right questions in the right order for greater efficiency and ultimately greater Kingdom impact. I highly recommend it to anyone with a vision for planting a healthy church.

Jeffery Portmann, DMin
Lead Pastor
newhope Church

Collaboration

Leadership, Planning, Teamwork / Collaboration / By Mel Ming

“Without a culture of collaboration, the best processes, systems, tools, and leadership strategies fall flat.” – Evan Rosen

Effective collaboration is not really a technic or approach. It is a culture and climate in which people feel empowered to act, share, learn and engage.

Nothing kills collaboration faster than command and control leaders and star based cultures. For collaboration to be effective it must cultivate a sharing partnership culture.

Paul says it this way in Romans 12:3-5,

“Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us. ⁴Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, ⁵so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.” NLT

A few cultural elements of collaboration adapted from Evan Rosen are:

Trust: developing comfort with colleagues
Sharing: letting ideas flow and grow
Goals: reading from the same script
Innovation: embracing new approaches
Anticipation: making room for the unexpected
Honesty: willingness for robust dialogue
Community: sharing interests and goals
Appreciation: recognizing the value and contribution of others
Partnership: the priesthood of believers in practice

Reflection questions:

How could your church or organization develop a culture of collaboration?
What could you do to develop a culture of collaboration?

Planning for Easter

Media, Planning / Easter / By Mel Ming

In our day, many churches use some form of the “simple Church” format.

In this format the music tends to be all congregational, the announcements kept to a minimum and then the preaching/teaching. We tend not to have special music such as solos, duets, choirs.

I would encourage you to consider for special days to consider bring some of that back. A great song can prepare people to hear the Word of God in fresh ways. This also allows people in our congregation with musical gifts to use them to glorify God.

Big days can be a great time to add:

An orchestra/band (Violins, Cellos, trumpets, sax, flute, etc.)
A Gospel Choir either for a special or to back up a solo
A solo, duet or trio

All of these encourage people with musical talents to share them.

It also gives these people a chance to invite non-Christian friends to come and hear them.

There are some great production numbers that can be used for Easter.

One example is “End of the Beginning” by David Phelps

Read the words to the song.

I was takin a trip on a plane the other day
just wishing that I could get out.
When the man next to me saw the book in my hand
and asked me what it was about.
So I settled back in my seat-
“A best seller,” I said.
“A history, a mystery in one.”
And then I opened up the book and began to read
from Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

He was born of a virgin one holy night
in the little town of Bethlehem.
Angels gathered round him underneath the stars
singing praises to the great I Am.
He walked on the water, healed the lame and made the blind to see again.
And for the first time here on earth we learned that God could be a friend.
And though he never ever did a single thing wrong
the angry crowd chose him. And then he walked down the road
and died on the cross and that was the end of the beginning.

“Thats not a new book thats a bible, ” he said, “and I’ve heard it all before.
I’ve tried religion- its shame and guilt and I don’t need it anymore.
It’s superstition, made up tales and just to help the weak to survive.”

“Let me read it again, “I said, “listen closely, cuz this is gonna change your life.

“The end of the beginning, ” he said with a smile.

“What more could there be? He’s dead.
You said they hung him, put nails in His hands
and a crown of thorns on His head.”

I said, “I’ll read it again but this time there’s more,
and I believe that this is true.
His death wasn’t the end, the beginning of life
that’s completed in you.
Don’t you see he did all this for you!”

He was born of a virgin one holy night
in the little town of Bethlehem
All the angles singing praises to the great I AM
He walked on the water, healed the lame,
and made the blind to see
(and for the first time here on earth)
Did you know that God could be a friend.
Tho He never ever did a single thing wrong,
He was the one the crowd chose.
then he walked and he died but
three days later HE ROSE!

Three days later he rose!
You see he came, he lived, and he died.
But that was the end of the beginning.

Can you see how a great song like this could prepare people’s heart to hear the message of Easter?

As you prepare for Easter, at least consider adding some special music.

Year-End Reflection

Assessment, Evaluation, Re-calibration / By Mel Ming

The end of the year is when a lot of us do some self-reflection. We reflect back over the past year and evaluate how we did in life, work, spiritually, financially, etc. and we then set our goals for the New Year. This self-reflection can be good.

For me it is a time I review my:

Personal Mission
Core Values
Roles
History
SHAPE

To be sure they reflect what I think Christ wants in my life.

This is also the time I review my calendar for the next year, to be sure it reflects what I believe God wants to fill my days.

A few reflection questions might be:

Am I becoming more loving and tenderhearted?
Am I treating my family and friends with godly respect?
Is my conversation becoming more righteous?”

Consider setting some goals that reflect the way God wants us to live and pursue His righteousness.