Archive for Communication
“How Do You Prepare A Message?” Part Three October 8, 2009
Quick review…
- #1 – Get A Word from the Word
- #2 – Listen to other communicators
- #3 – Find your best time and place to prepare
- #4 – Organize a creative process
5. Work Ahead.
I realize that many pastors are preaching what I call “Saturday Night Specials” because they don’t feel they have the time or they don’t feel they can work ahead. I would challenge pastors to do everything you can to get your message preparation 2 or 3 weeks ahead of time. The reason why is simple: it relieves your team and helps them to prepare better.
Seriously you have people that serve in your church, video people, music people, whatever, that if you simply gave them 2 or 3 more weeks to pray through and develop some ideas you would would be AMAZED at the quality of work they could produce.
One of the problems that pastors have is they think their staff exists to serve them, therefore they will work week of, develop their message by Wednesday, give it to the people who have to help pull it together, completely stress out their music and video crew, make them work 60, 70, 80 hours a week just to get a job done…when if the pastor would repent of his laziness and egomania, the entire staff could serve the Body rather than the pastor manipulating his staff and using them to serve the Body.
When we work ahead it allows things to marinate in our minds. When we know what we are preaching 2 or 3 weeks in advance, it will literally help us because we become aware of what we are preaching on so we are always thinking about it, always praying about it, we’ll see something online that will refer to it. Marinating on an idea helps it develop. One of the things that I try my best to do is to work way ahead so that our staff, specifically our creative arts department, can do their best job possible.
“How Do You Prepare A Message” – Part Two October 7, 2009
Continuing from yesterday…
3. Find your best time and place to prepare.
One of the things that a communicator must discover is that we are completely unique in our preparation process…we have to find what works for us.
When I attended college many moons ago it became very evident to me that I did very well in early morning classes; however, after 12:00 my A-D-D and my desires to take naps often got the best of me! I am most likely to be “on my game” when it comes to preparation between 7:00 and 12:00…after that I am useless most of the time!
Thus, today my preparation time takes place in the morning and I guard that time like a pitbull. I do not allow meetings to take place in the mornings. I very seldom do breakfasts for anyone because the morningtime is my time where I am the freshest and able to think the most clearly in regards to what God wants me to say.
I mentioned time, let me also mention place. When we study we’ve got to separate ourself from distraction- give your cell phone to your assistant, put it on silent, do not twitter. From the time to time we need to get in a different environment-go to a coffeeshop, sit at a picnic table in a park. Do whatever it takes to find your best time and place to prepare. Do not schedule meetings, do not apologize, you’ve got a job to do to communicate to the people God has placed in front of you and we’ve got to find our best time and place to prepare.
4. Organize a creative process.
I used to do “week of” sermon preparation and planning and it was one of the most stressful things that I’ve ever participated in my life. One of the most harsh realities that a pastor faces on Sunday night is the next Sunday is coming really fast. So I’ve organized a creative process that helps me in my planning. It has to do with two parts.
1) Content. Our creative process always begins with scripture. We do not begin with, ‘There’s a cool song we’d love to do so let’s organize a sermon around that. “ We do not say, “I have a really cool illustration so let’s find a bible verse that fits with the illustration and revolve a sermon around it.” Correct theology must drive our methodology and once again what we communicate must always begin with scripture.
The other thing I do under the content is I bring others into a meeting to discuss the scripture passage because there are people at different stages of life that will see scripture through a different lens. You would be amazed at some of the conversations that take place in some of our meetings for example I will bring in women who point out, “You know what Perry, that is the fourth sports illustration you’ve used this week. It’s not really connecting us.” Or…I’ll bring in singles and ask how they believe this passage applies to where they are in life. In fact…I will bring in people that may be different on some minor theological issues that I would happen to think of because I want to take an all-around view of scripture.
Here’s the problem: Leaders, this takes work. It takes organization. It takes effort but if you want to teach the scriptures where you can connect with everybody, teach it in a smaller group and ask their opinions on it first. If you have the ego for it…
2) Creativity. Once we get the message ready then we try to organize the branding of the series and the days around it. Once again, I get different people in this mix. We brainstorm and we think BIG! What needs to be done musically? What needs to be done video-wise? I have a rule: no negative people in this meeting. We don’t need anybody to play the devil’s advocate. He doesn’t need an advocate and I don’t want anyone on his team around my table. When you brainstorm, you’ve got to have people in the room with a willingness to check their ego at the door. Because many times it takes about 9 really bad ideas to produce 1 really great idea. People have to be willing to speak their mind and say what their thinking which means checking their ego at the door.
“How Do You Prepare A Message?” Part One October 6, 2009
One of the questions most asked of me by church leaders and people around NewSpring is how do I go about preparing a message…
When NewSpring Church began I realized that as a communicator I have between 35-40 minutes (okay maybe 55, or even 60) to speak to the people who attend one of our services every week and to say something that is given to me by God that will impact their lives. I also realized that part of my job as a communicator was to make the message as engaging and memorable as possible. So, I have an seven step philosophy on message preparation that I feel has served our church and our staff well. This week I will share the seven steps that we take.
1. Get a word from the Word.
I have an intense conviction when it comes to preaching–a preacher has got to speak from the overflow of what God is doing inside of him…which means we must have consistent time with God where we are on our faces seeking Him for what he wants to say to us because it is out of our victories and out of our pain that we communicate the most passionately and therefore connect intimately with the people that God has called us to lead.
The overwhelming majority of the series ideas that I have preached here at NewSpring Church have come out of my personal time with God. Now, let me be very clear, I do not use my quiet time for message preparation. However, I always have a pen and a paper nearby so I can jot down a note and come back to it later…because the purpose of my personal time with God is for me to connect with Him, not to prepare a message.
The best thing we can do as a communicator is communicate what God is setting our hearts on fire with because then we don’t have to produce the passion– God produces the passion inside of us.
2. Listen to other communicators.
From time to time I will have people ask me, “Hey Perry, do you ever use other people’s stuff?” I answer, “HECK YES!”
However give me a second to unpack that…first of all I will not preach another person’s message word for word. However, if I’m listening to a communicator and they say something to their church that resonates in my heart and my spirit then I will not hesitate to use that same phrase, that same quote to the people I am preaching to.
I believe it is arrogant for a pastor or a church leader to hear something meaningful or impactful said by another church leader but comes to the conclusion, “I can’t say that to my church because it is not an original thought birthed inside of me.” One of the greatest tragedies that a leader could do in speaking to his church is actually think that he has to be original in everything that he preaches and teaches. God has given us the gift of other leaders and communicators who say some incredible things and we should listen and be unafraid to share what God uses in their voices to impact our hearts and our congregations.
And by the way…the person who claims to be completely original in their communication and vision has a problem with lying!!!
16 Questions That Will Help Us Make It In Ministry – Part Six May 28, 2009
6. Am I Preaching What Jesus Wants Me To Preach?
In Matthew 10:7 He clearly told the disciples what to preach.
Let me make a confession as a preacher there has been many Sunday nights driving home from NewSpring that I begin to actually freak out about the next Sunday and worry about whether or not the message will come together.
There have been many Saturday nights before the next Sunday that I’m wigging out and I’m telling my wife, “honey the message just isn’t there.” She confronted me very lovingly but very directly one night and asked me, “Perry when was the last time that Jesus did not give you a message?”
Pastors I believe that we are worry about what we are going to preach way too much and don’t concern ourselves with who we’re preaching for and who we’re preaching to.
If we are walking with Jesus and we have the gift of preaching, He is always going to put a word in our heart to bring to the people He has called us to lead. Our job is to preach exactly what He has poured into us and not what we perceive will make the people in the pews or the chairs happy. We are preachers and prophets not prostitutes. We don’t get paid for a service that makes people feel good. We are called to honor God by preaching His word even when it is hard.
So…what is it He has called you to preach? If you KNEW you had one last message to preach…what would it be? If you knew you were only going to get to stand before your church one more time and preach…what would you say?
HIS Word IS living and active…and He will ALWAYS put a Word in us if we are seeking HIS Word on a daily basis! These guys preached out of the overflow…remember…they weren’t the religious elite…they had simply spent a lot of time with Jesus and then went out and said everything they had heard Him say.
We’re called to do the same!
Four Points Of Attack (Part 2) – Your Doctrine May 13, 2009
Area #2 – Your Doctrine
Most people who come into your church will say that they want you to teach from the Bible…but often times what they really mean is that they want you to teach from the way THEY see the Bible…AND from the translation they prefer as well!
We are told in Scripture to watch our life and doctrine closely (I Timothy 4:16). We are told that teachers will be judged more strictly (James 3:1). God takes HIS Word seriously…and so should we (Revelation 22:18-19)!!!
However, WE CANNOT teach another person’s theological convictions as our own. We MUST study the Scriptures, seek wise counsel, pray, read and then OWN what we teach. (I Peter 3:15)
UNDERSTANDING that when we do—there are going to be people who disagree with what we teach. Which is OK…as long as we know that we are making every effort to be as theologically sound as we can be. AND…we’ve got to understand as well that godly men and women who really love Jesus have been on both sides of most major theological arguments.
One of the things I often tell the people at NewSpring Church is that I will not lead them astray when it comes to theology or food! We take doctrine seriously…every message we prepare takes hours to shape…and then I gather godly men and women around me who diligently search the Scriptures and hold me accountable on the doctrine that is being taught.
(We’ve had some very lively theological conversations in the meetings I mentioned in the above paragraph!)
We’ve GOT to take what we teach people seriously…WITH the understanding that no matter how much time we put into the message there will always be people who disagree with what we say.
BUT…that is cool because when people do question us it gives us a chance to either KNOW what we believe OR go back and research to see if our convictions are OWNED by us…or just a cool concept we heard on a podcast.
It’s The Vision, STUPID! September 30, 2008
I’ve had a few people ask me my opinion on the presidential debate that took place this past Friday…so, I will share it here…and also be VERY transparent as to what God taught me through watching.
Honestly, both me drove me absolutely crazy! I speak for a living…and so I pay close attention to communication styles and techniques. And NEITHER of these men went into the debate focused on the subject…because…
THEY LITERALLY WASTED THE TIME OF MILLIONS OF AMERICANS because they were OBSESSED WITH TEARING EACH OTHER APART!
All they did was attack each other! They literally could NOT speak for more than two minutes without tearing the other person down.
Why did this bother me? Because NEITHER one of them took the time to actually focus on casting a compelling vision of the way things could be and should be.
I literally wanted to scream at the television, “I KNOW you don’t like the other guy…leave him alone! STOP trying to instill fear in me because of all you perceive that he wants to do! TELL ME YOUR PLAN…DREAM BIG…CAST VISION…LEAVE YOUR TALKING POINTS AND OWN WHAT YOU BELIEVE!!!” AHHHHHHH!
I honestly believe the first candidate that will stop trying to smear the other person and simply focuses in vision…the one who can simply share from his heart what he wants to see for the country and STOP being so freakin’ negative…that guy will win!
There needs to be a point of realization for both of these men that they SHOULD NOT try to define themselves by declaring who they are not…but rather who they are!!!
People are SO turned off to negativity…which brings me to my next point…which is SO convicting…
While I was sitting there steaming over having wasted time watching two grown men go “Jr. High” on one another I realized that, as a leader, I’ve been so guilty of the same thing…wasting people’s time declaring who we are NOT as a church rather than casting a compelling vision of who we should be and could be!
It is so easy as a pastor to fall into the temptation of defining yourself by declaring all of the things you are against…but what will truly impact people is when we begin to declare what we are for.
It’s a leaders job to cast vision and focus people on the future, not to be in a constant state of comparison. I wrestle with this–every leader I know does; however, I honestly believe that the more passionate and obsessive we become about VISION…the more of a difference God will allow our churches to have.
This is an area of my life I think I will always wrestle with…but I am in a constant state of prayer, begging God that He will guide me to lead with vision and not with criticism and fear.
Three Truths To Keep In Mind When Trying To Resolve Conflict–Part Three September 18, 2008
And finally the third truth…
#3 – Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On You If You Are Angry!
Ephesians 4:26-27 is HUGE when it comes to both resolving conflict and keeping working relationships healthy.
One of the mistakes that I made pretty often when we began NewSpring Church was to try to internalize everything that came my way, trying to “figure out” what people were really saying and thinking INSTEAD of just asking them.
And that, my friends, gave the enemy a foothold that he used to climb all over me!
The scenario would go something like this…
Someone would say something in a meeting or in the halls that I didn’t like or agree with. In some instances I may have felt attacked or torn down. Of course that would make me angry…and I would usually just walk away…
BUT…when I finally calmed down I would begin to think about the person that had brought the issue to my attention…and instead of thinking about what they said I began to think about all of the things I didn’t like about them…and all of the problems I thought they had.
By the time the evening rolled around I would be sitting in my home having imaginary arguments with them (I always won!!!) AND…if I wasn’t careful I would begin to say slightly negatvie things about them in front of others…and actually looked for opportunities to tear them down.
Sin has a funny way of trying to justify itself!!!
So…several years ago I decided that if the Bible said to not allow the sun to go down on my anger…then that is exactly what I was going to do.
WHICH means I’ve had to make some late night phone calls. I’ve had to walk into some offices and close the door & say, “Hey, I know you probably didn’t mean it…but I felt torn down when you said what you said…”
(By the way…90% of the time the person who I was angry with is completely surprised that I took what they said the way I did. I had someone tell me a long time ago that words don’t have meanings…people have meanings. That is so true!)
Bottom line…I try my hardest to not go to bed angry at anyone! EVER! Sure, it’s made for some long conversaations…and there have been times that I have had to say, “Look, we obviously are not seeing eye to eye here…but can we at least agree that we are on the same team and pray through a solution?”
The enemy WANTS to destroy harmony among team members! He wants you to think negative thoughts about others. He wants us misunderstanding one another. Unity and harmony MUST be valued…and pride must be put aside so that effectiveness will continue!
There is NOTHING LIKE serving on a team where the people actually love one another…BUT that atmosphere doesn’t happen by accident…it only happens when each team member decides that the sun is not going to go down on their anger!