Case Study

Currently we have a member that is working on a Masters Degree at Liberty University. She is in a class on organizational vision and strategy, and has selected Severn River Church as a Case Study. I really appreciate the passion with which she is approaching the project. We met last night to discuss the results of a survey that was offered two weeks ago.

She told me that she is thinking about the church constantly and is always thinking of how we might improve even losing sleep over it. I said, "Welcome to Pastoral ministry."

Looking forward to the steps we're taking to lead the church forward.

--Ben

The Holy Spirit And You (pt. 1 of 5)

The Holy Spirit And You (pt. 1 of 5)

Last Sunday we spent time looking at how Jesus built the community of God. From the outset of His ministry He demonstrated a need and dependence on the Holy Spirit. There is a special role that the Holy Spirit plays in the life and ministry of Jesus, and it was so important that Jesus chose to leave and return to the Father so that we could enjoy that interaction with the Spirit as well. (Acts1:4-5)

In this series of posts I would like to share how the Holy Spirit can be fully enjoyed in your life. He wants to empower you, equip you, and embolden you to fulfill the mission of Christ; a mission that has been entrusted to us. How can we accomplish something bigger than ourselves without the power of God at work in us through the Holy Spirit? I would suggest that if you look at the facts you’ll see the answer. Today in the United States of America every mainline denomination is in decline. The annual increase in the church across the board is not keeping up with our population rate. That means we lose ground every year, because fewer and fewer people follow Christ.

In the past the work of the Holy Spirit has been avoided, feared, mis-stated, and quenched. Most churches in America have openly taught that the work of the Holy Spirit was for another time and place, and that it was confined to the accounts of scripture. However some believers have searched the scripture and had a holy experience that they see described in the Bible. It is these churches that are seeing growth, and on a world scale there is a revival sweeping the globe accompanied by the spread of the Holy Spirit’s work in His people’s lives.

If Jesus needed the work of the Holy Spirit, then how much more do we need it?

If God wants to give His Spirit to us to fill and overflow our lives, then why wouldn’t we want Him to?

If Jesus believes that the Holy Spirit is necessary to fulfilling the Great Commission, then why don’t we desire Him, and wait for that gift to fulfill it?

I want to especially invite those who have been brought up in or exposed to churches that have taught that the work of the Holy Spirit is over. It seems from my experience that people from these backgrounds have a greater difficulty truly surrendering themselves to the work of the Spirit. I know that when I feel my heart jaded against any work of God in my life, I have to begin by calling a spade a spade. I confess my hardened heart to the Lord, and I study, pray and listen to hear what God has to say about it. That process allows him to break the shell of my heart and prepare me to receive His word.

--Ben

The Deep Thinkers

This morning I got together with two of the greatest men in my life. Dad and Scott are elders in the church and they have been gracious enough to tolerate me discipling them on Tuesday mornings in Life Commitments. This morning the conversation of my trip came up last week. Someone said, "You know Sunday you were asked, 'Did you get what you needed at the conference?' I guess we should have asked, 'Was God Glorified?'"

Now that's the kind of deep thinking that will wake your soul up at 7:00 a.m. That's why I keep the deep thinkers around. :-)

--Ben

New Social Networking Tool

I think that Pastors should be as available as possible outside the local church family. One way I try to stay available is through Social Networking sites. I will let you in on a little secret...I'm rarely on Facebook, but you wouldn't know it to look at my page. I use online tools to integrate my Twitter, Facebook, and Blogging sites.

I have used one in the past called Twitterfeed, but have had a real problem getting consistent performance from them. Today I found a site called Hootsuite, and have switched to them for an evaluation. So here's to the man (or machine) behind the curtain. I hope it serves me well.

--Ben

Last Week

Last week was a whirlwind, and today I'm catching my breath. I spent Tuesday through Thursday in Orlando at the Exponential Conference, and really enjoyed it. I'm not typically a conference guy. I would prefer a coach that would meet me regularly and help me put action steps together to move my leadership forward. But lately I've really just wanted to get in place where I could hear God speak to me.

God speaks to us in several ways: through his Word, through his Spirit, and through his People. Conferences like Exponential help me be exposed to all three. Mark Batterson likes to say, "Change of Pace plus Change of Place equals change in perspective." That is the benefit of these trips more than anything.

I was privileged to attend with the LifeHouse Network. A network of churches based in Hagerstown, MD. They scholarshiped the trip costs so that I could attend. It was a true blessing.

--Ben

Exponential Conference

I'm looking forward to the Exponential Conference this week. I'll be heading to the conference with some friends from the LifeHouse Network. Exponential is a premiere conference in the church planting world.

I can't wait to go and put myself in a place to hear from God. Can't wait.

--Ben

Great Birthday Weekend

Wow, I just finished one of the best weekends of my life. Friday night I "camped out" in our tent in our patio enclosure with my daughters. Saturday we marched in a parade for our Soccer league. Saturday evening was a birthday dinner and gift exchange with my family. I had a great day at Church Sunday morning where I heard a second-time guest say, "I love this church." (That makes for a good day :-) We kicked off the soccer season (3-2 loss, but who's counting?) And celebrated a birthday with my inlaws last night. It was a great weekend.

Thanks to all my friends and family that wished me well on Facebook, or gave me cards. You expressions of well-wishing were much appreciated.

--Ben

Freedom

I just heard William Wallace's speech to his Scottish army. Such
inspiration, "aye you can fight today and die, or go home and live.
And many years from now dying in your beds would you trade everyday
from now until then for one chance at freedom!?!"

Awesome. There is nothing like passion to ignite the soul. It is
that kind of passion that drives me in ministry. We are making a
difference for eternity. We're changing the Spiritual Destiny of
Maryland.

That's why we work. That's why we labor. That's why we'll reap a
harvest.

--Ben

You Guys Make Me Feel So Good

Tonight I talked with an SRCer who was in court today to deal with a terrible situation in her home. We have been praying for her, and just last Sunday I prayed with her that she would receive a judge that would let justice prevail. The Lord answered our prayer. Today she appeared before the judge and many of the issues that she has been facing have now been rectified.

As I talked to her she expressed how much she loves our church. She couldn't express how much she appreciated the church helping her in her time of need. I told her the truth. We (all SRCers) at one time or another have received grace that we couldn't repay or expect. And that's why we try to freely give grace to others.

She said, "On Sunday when I leave church I just feel so good, so good, so good." That's the kind of church I want to be part of, right!?!

--Ben

Followership

The Servant-Leader has become a buzzword in training circles, and to a certain degree has misrepresented the example of Christ. In fact, success for followers of Christ stands in stark contrast to the definition of this world. Success as defined by the world is how many people can I control and how much money can I make. Success as defined by Christ is how many people can I serve and how much money can I give away. Entirely different.

Today I've been thinking about Leadership and Followership. America's rugged individualism has created a culture that abhors followers and esteems leaders. None of us wants to admit that we are followers, we want to be on our own track. The fact is that in the Church we need both, and even our leaders are followers of Christ. We need to get comfortable leading but only as we follow.

This thought was informed by an article in Fast Company magazine. Nancy Lublin said, "Fundamentally, though, mine is not a touchy-feely, 'Workers of the world unite" argument. The under-appreciation of followers has a major bottom-line consequence: crazy redundancy. You can see it in the not-for-profit sector, which has a gazillion little organizations replicating one another. We all want to run our own thing, so not-for-profits never die. As a result, we have huge inefficiency and ridiculous amounts of overlap in the sector. This is wasteful, and this is fundamentally bad business."

Interesting thought.

--Ben

A Family Expecting Guests

Do you remember when you were a kid and your family had guests coming over? I do. The day was usually spent cleaning rooms, arranging furniture, cooking plenty of food, and was typically a little higher stress day. The reason? Guests were coming over and we wanted to put our best foot forward.

You know we face a similar circumstance at church. We want to put our best foot forward because we are a family expecting guests. This Sunday I'm expecting guests, and I'm looking forward to meeting them. We face the challenge of having a small congregation, and this week a number of folks are away traveling for weddings and such. It presents challenges for us, but still we'll work to serve our guests the best way we can. That's what families do, and after all Severn River Church is a great family of friends.

--Ben

What Else Happened on Saturday

In addition to the huge success that was our Easter Egg Hunt we also encountered some challenges. Some of those challenges required my attention this morning as I met with the Facilities Office at AACC.

In three years at the college we have held a number of events, and none of them have ever been over a 100 people. In fact, the majority of them have never been more than 50 people. Though we knew the potential was larger we didn't think that more than 80 children would come, and were taken by surprise when 125 children and their parents and grandparents and teenage siblings also showed up.

The problem was that we had set up registration in the Atrium of the CALT bldg, and there were classes going on. So all of the noise generated by 300 people in a concrete and metal enclosure echoed through the halls and disturbed several classes.

This morning I went in, first thing to make apologies for: 1. Disturbing Classes (which are obviously the priority on campus). 2. Putting the Facilities Office in an awkward position (I'm sure it is difficult to manage inter-office communication and deal with frustration you didn't cause). 3. Underestimating the number of people we would expect.

They assured me that they were okay with everything and understood that sometimes things don't go as planned. We learned lessons on how to communicate better with them and how to serve the community better in the future.

----
Leadership Principles In Play:

1. Be proactive when you're at fault. I could see on the faces of the men that I met with, as soon as I walked in, that they were relieved that I would make the first move. I got there shortly after 9:00 a.m. (standard business start hour) and had handled the matter by 9:30. I expressed my apology for the wrong committed (disturbance of classes), and also apologized for the position I had put these men in. Leader, own up to your mistakes, and be proactive to rectify the situation.
   

Setting The Record Straight

There is apparently some confusion going around. I posted that we had about 200 attend our Easter Egg Hunt today. Unfortunately, I got a call from someone who heard we had 2000. No, it was officially 125 children registered and though parents didn't register we believe the total number was on the plus side of 250.

Thanks to everyone that made the event so special. See you tomorrow at Severn River Church.

--Ben

Eleventy One

This morning I checked the visitor count for our website designed for
the egg hunt today. Over the last two weeks we've had 111 (eleventy
one) hits.

It is going to be a beautiful day. I'm looking forward to meeting
families, and sharing this gift with them. No event like this happens
on its own; it happens because of diligent volunteers and paid staff
who coordinate it all. Thanks to Pastor Ariel for all your work and
to the volunteers who are helping make it a success.

--Ben

A Growing Anticipation

Hour by hour my anticipation for the Easter Egg Hunt is growing. Over 35 families have visited our website to get info for the event, several have emailed directly, and a few have called. In fact, I just got off the phone with a father who is interested in bringing his kids. I love it.

You know I hope that generosity is one of the traits associated with SRC. We are giving a gift to the community, and I can't wait to be part of giving it.

Hope to see you there!

--Ben