Christmas Gifts for Pastors

For pastors, there is no better season each year than Christmas. The season seems to carry with it an inherent goodness, not to mention a heart’s openness to the Gospel message. It’s like there’s a non-verbal, clearly spoken message sent into the hearts of our people which says, “Everything can be re-born, and made new.”

But at no time during the rest of the year do pastors work as hard as they do than during the Christmas season. Christmas is not simply a day in the life of a church. It’s a season. And that season consists of planning five or six special worship services. For many Creative Arts pastors, it involves a larger-than-life Christmas production. For Youth Pastors, it involves the kids being out of school, which means a complete shift in time spent with them. And for Lead Pastors, it involves shepherding a who lot of people through lonely, even depressing times.

There is a dual reality of being a pastor during the month of December – it’s incredibly rewarding, and emotionally exhausting, all at the same time.

So this year, why not get your pastoral staff something special? I’ve come up with a few ideas for you to ponder…

* If your church shows videos during its worship services, buy your pastor a copy of “The Quench Project”. This is a compilation DVD of the best videos shown in churches around the world. And 100% of the proceeds go to build clean water wells in Africa. Visit the website for more info: www.thequenchproject.org.

* If your pastor has small children, give him a date night (presumably with his wife), complete with a gift card to his favorite restaurant. Also, financially cover the childcare issue with someone his wife trusts. You just pay the bill. And this is extremely important: You are not invited to go with him.

* Buy your pastor an ITunes Gift Card. Most pastors I know love getting these little beauties.

* Many of you have cabins or second homes. Offer these to your pastors’ families free of charge for a weekend, or even a week.

* Give your Worship Pastor the week after Christmas off. Find someone to fill in the Sunday after Christmas, and let him/her have a weekend that doesn’t revolve around singing more Christmas songs.

* Buy your pastor a Gift card from ChristianBook.com. Most pastors love reading, but can’t afford to purchase the books they enjoy. This will help solve that problem.

These are only suggestions. You know your pastors better than I do. But whatever you do this year, please do something. Do anything. Don’t let the season go by without thanking your pastor, and your entire pastoral staff, for the spiritual growth and maturity they work tirelessly to foster in you. They literally live and die every day with every step of your spiritual advancement. So do something nice for them this Christmas.

Pastors… add your own items for your wishlist below…

The Greater Potential of Thanksgiving

When my daughters were young, we’d take them trick or treating on Halloween. It was usually just a trip around the block – my daughters dressed as angels, or princesses, or babies. The most important thing my wife and I told them, every Halloween without exception, was this: “Remember to say thank you.”

The words “thank you” are possibly the most important words in any language, for any time. It’s not simply about being nice or cordial. Those magic words hit any inclination toward self-reliant pride square between the eyes, and shatter the myth of deservedness. The opposite of gratefulness is entitlement. People who don’t say “thank you” are some of the most arrogant people I’ve ever met, because they often feel like they deserve everything they’ve become.

In our churches, we know the people who are genuinely grateful. They are the worshippers. They are the broken ones. They are the most giving. They are humble at the core. They are grateful because they remember God’s mercy in their lives.

And we know the ones who are not thankful. They are the most negative, the most critical, or the most apathetic. They are the quickest to judge a person who disagrees with them. They feel like hurting people have brought it all on themselves. They withhold compassion. They feel entitled because they have forgotten God’s mercy in their lives.

Thanksgiving is coming. And there is much at stake here. Every year, we set aside one day to express our thankfulness, our gratitude. And every year, we can become tempted to focus more on a large bird, than we do a great God.

There is much at stake here.

At Floodgate, we’ve worked hard over the past three years to help resource your church to experience the true potential of Thanksgiving. We honestly believe that hardened hearts can be transformed into grateful ones. With that in mind, we’ve created a number of media resources for you to implement into your Thanksgiving services. Check them out here.

Whether or not you use any of our resources, it’s vital that churches express gratitude on this wonderful day. And that’s our prayer for you, your leadership team, and your church body. May we be leaders who point people toward a gratefulness that is God-centered, and a thankfulness that comes from their deepest heart.

Because there is so much at stake here.

Veteran’s Day – A Chance to Say “Thanks”

My father was 18 years old when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. The next day, he and his friends stood in a line that wrapped around the Navy recruitment office. They were volunteering to defend our freedom. My father would tell you that young men were lying about their ages, just so they could fight against a very real enemy.

I was born in 1964. I do not understand any of the feelings my father’s generation possessed with regard to defending the freedoms they held so dear. It’s not that I don’t want to understand. It’s that I can’t understand.

Until September 11.

On that day, my generation woke up to the reality of a very real enemy, and the inclination deep in our hearts to protect those we love. We were angry, and frustrated, and ready to volunteer. We were scared and confused.

And for the first time in my life, I got it. There was intellectual understanding, with a depth of feeling I had never before experienced.

Veterans are people unlike me. They not only feel deeply about defending America, but they act on those feelings. They put their lives on the line for us. Think about that statement: They put their lives on the line for us.

With a deeply grateful heart, the creative team at Floodgate Productions has created our latest mini-movie. It’s called “A Veteran’s Voice“. If you do nothing else this Veteran’s Day weekend, please pick up this video, and just play it in your worship services. People from my father’s generation, from my generation, and from the upcoming generation need to know that WE APPRECIATE the heart they’ve given us.

If you don’t like the video we’ve created, then please make the time to find another video honoring Veterans. Check here.

Again… let us not forget….

They put their lives on the line.

For you. For me.

I pray the church communicates how grateful we are to these brave and courageous people.

Should There Be a Church Video Standard?

Last Tuesday afternoon, I received an email from my pastor. Jason, Dave, and I were in the middle of a lunch meeting with the largest church video distributor in the world. Ironically, my pastor’s email message had to do with church video distributing. Here’s my rough paraphrase of his question:

“Gary. I’m looking for a video for this Sunday. It needs to be about the freedom we have from sin, in Christ alone. I’ve looked for the past hour on a church video website, and the videos are awful. I would never show them in our church. Do you guys have anything on that topic, or can you recommend something that’s good?”

I emailed him back, and basically said, “No. Sorry.”

His response was even stronger in his next email: “Then will you please tell your friends who make videos to make them with a certain quality standard? And please tell them to be less preachy….” Because he had already spent an hour of his time looking for a video and found nothing. he concluded, “I want my hour back!”

What are your thoughts?

This is an industry that’s growing larger by the hour, so it’s important that pastors and church leaders consider questions like this. Should a video that a high schooler made on his camcorder for his youth group be allowed to sell on a website, especially if the quality is lacking? Or is there a quality standard that churches and video distributors should adhere to?

Keep Taking Risks

In a bit of a follow-up post, I wanted to continue to discuss our response to Wall Street. Last week, the team at Floodgate created a video response, in hopes that it would serve Christ’s church around the country. It is very relevant and timely video, and we invite you to check it out here. As I write this, the video has been downloaded over 2500 times. Obviously, that message was important to you.

Over the past couple of days, I’ve been chewing on a separate, but related message that I think God is speaking to my heart. The message is a simple one…

During times of great economic distress and anxiety, don’t stop dreaming.

If you’re already bent toward having all your ducks in a row before you make a decision, then my simple post won’t change that in you. But if you’re like me – a dreamer and a wanna-be risk taker who is scared – then let’s agree together right now that we need to keep dreaming, keep pushing the cause of Christ, and keep creating outside-of-the-box ministries and ideas. Let’s keep giving money and resources away to people in need. Let’s keep risking. Let’s keep reaching out. Spend less, to be sure. But dream bigger than ever before.

And above all… let’s agree to keep elevating the glory of God beyond this financial mess. He may be behind the meltdown. He may have nothing to do with the meltdown. But this one thing I know…

God is above the meltdown.

He supersedes it. He’s bigger than Wall Street. He’s far greater than any economic plan any politicians commit to implementing.

So please, please, please… keep risking and dreaming. Keep walking by faith. Keep placing yourself in the direct path of unbelievers, and allow yourself to display Christ’s grace and truth to them. Keep laughing with your friends, your spouse, and your children. And as prepare for this weekend’s worship services, plan to worship God like never before. Elevate His glory, and all these things will be added unto you.

I promise.

Wall Street Response Video

Preview/download the video now.

On Tuesday morning, September 30, I woke up early with a message on my heart. I’ve become really good at dismissing these messages as stupid ideas that will never work. I tried to do this, but God kept pushing me with ideas, scripting, and even camera shot movement. I knew that we’d need to write, shoot, edit, and upload the video all in one day. Good luck with that. We couldn’t get an actor at such short notice, so I decided to do it.

I showed this video to a friend (Scott McClellan), who’s the Editor of Collide Magazine. His quote is perfect: “…it seems as though a lot of Christians put their trust in their 401k’s and mutual funds to take care of them while they live, and put their trust in Jesus to take care of them when they die.” How true is that?

The result is a video we’re proud to offer you. Check it out here. Download it and show it in your church this week. Then please come back to this post and comment on how you used it in your unique church. What were the elements surrounding the video? Did you have anyone respond as a result of the worship service?

When it all comes down, it’s all about God’s love for us, and our trust in that love. It really doesn’t get any deeper than that. May we trust in God, when the (blue) chips are up, and when they’re down. The events of Wall Street over the past two weeks have not caught God by surprise. It’s not like God thought, “Crap. Never saw that one coming.” May we learn to trust His love for us, and respond in worship more than ever, during this crazy period.

One final important note:  For the initial two weeks following the creation of this video, we offered it for free.  As of Monday morning October 13, the video is available for $10 – still half the price we normally charge for our mini-movies.

The Great Heresy of American Christianity

The term “heresy” is a harsh one, and reserved only for belief systems that directly contradict the clear teachings of Scripture. I’ve been encountering a modern-day heresy lately, and had to post. The heresy is a subtle, and can best be described by looking at the life of Bill.

Bill is a Christian. He attends church regularly, serves in the Children’s Ministry every other month, loves his family, and prays every night. He is kind, and likable. He is normal. Bill works hard at his job, complains every now and then, but is never disrespectful to his authority figures. Bill is a good guy. And he will definitely be in heaven one day.

But Bill’s core belief about life is where the heresy lies. Simply put, Bill “gets through” every day, and asks God to help him do that. Bill’s life is in the driver’s seat, and God is his Assistant. With “God’s help”, Bill makes it through every day.

It is subtle. It is popular. And it is heresy.

And our churches are filled with people who function and believe just like Bill does.

The Bible paints a completely different picture of our lives. The Bible paints a picture of a Sovereign and Loving God who is not only in the driver’s seat, but One who also created the road He’s driving on. He is the Driver. He is the fuel. He is the destination. He is the starting point. He is the journey. The truth is that we are assistants. We are speaking His words, and we are explaining and displaying His character to the world, because It ALL points to Him.

God’s goal is not to help us get through our days (although He does this every day). God’s goal is to get us to see the world the way He does, and then to respond with the mind of Christ in appropriate, and sometimes irresponsible ways.

Galatians 2:20 explains it best: “For I have been crucified with Christ, and it is NO LONGER I WHO LIVES, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live, I live BY FAITH IN THE SON OF GOD, who loved me, and gave himself up for me.”

Christianity does not offer anyone a God who becomes our Assistant. Christianity offers an EXCHANGED life – His life for ours. And it does so with an entirely new purpose – to make known the majestic name of the Most High God. Before Christ, it was all about us. The Great Heresy of North American Christianity has figured out a way to continue to make it all about us, but with God’s help.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Shared Leadership

We’ve created a unique situation at Floodgate. And unless you dig deeper, you probably won’t know it. There are three owners of the company – three coequals – all steering the ship, together. There is no boss, and no one has more influence than the others.

When we launched in the Winter of 2006, I was personally counseled by Christian business leaders to NOT establish a business this way. “The buck needs to stop with one person”, they said. “Leading in a committee of three will hinder progress”, another friend told me. But almost three years later, things are expanding and moving forward, with no hint of slowing down.

As I reflect on what’s making this all work, there are several answers. But the answer at the top of my list is a simple one. It’s a certain permission – an unspoken blessing the three of us give each other every day. And honestly, I’ve never seen it played out in any business I’ve experienced.

Except here.

The reason the shared leadership model is working for us is because we give each other the constant permission and blessing to say “no”. When a job comes in, we all have the ability to respectfully decline our personal involvement. There doesn’t need to be a reason, because we trust that our “no’s” have legitimate reasons, sometimes shared, and sometimes not. When life gets too busy for us to function at peak professional levels, we simply say, “I’m sorry. I can’t do that right now.” And the other two respect and honor that.

I wonder what this would look like in a church setting? Can you imagine a staff environment where you’re given permission and blessing to say “no”, and have it honored, even trusted? Maybe you work in that setting. Maybe you dream of it.

Could it ever really work?

Play it out in your imagination and, if God leads, work toward making it happen.

Love for Media? Love for People?

I love creating media that moves people emotionally, and challenges them spiritually. I love creating media that makes people ask the most difficult questions of life. And I love creating media that offers the true life of Christ.

My problem is this: It’s so easy to forget that good media is simply a tool – that it’s spiritually neutral. There is no such thing as “Christian media” – there’s only the message we infuse into that media. That message will make it Christian, or not. Our media is impotent if not created with the target of people in its scope.

Truth is, I can find myself aiming at all sorts of alternative targets with the media I create at Floodgate. I aim at making money for our company. I aim at impressing people with talent (and secretly hoping that I’m validated in some way by it). I aim at a spot in the top ten of WorshipHouse or Sermonspice.

Crap.

Jesus came to save. He came to save people. He used illustrations from the Palestine countryside and the Jewish landscape to communicate to people. Those illustrations were mostly about the Kingdom of God. The media Christ used was always a tool for understanding, or for further confusion or confrontation (he wasn’t actually too concerned if the religious elite didn’t understand or embrace him). People were his endgame, and media was the means.

Do we love our media more than the people we serve with it?

I gotta be ready to answer that question when I walk into the office tomorrow morning.

Pastor Ed Young’s Rant

Ed Young is the gifted pastor of Fellowship Church. Recently, he sat on the steps of his church stage, and talked to people about “Pirates”. Please check it out below, and post your thoughts and comments. As an ex-pastor, I understand what he’s saying. But as someone who is beginning to embrace Christ’s “Big C” Church, I’m struggling, even angry.

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