Keeping the Faith; Never losing Hope; Always Loving

Why Church is boring

pullins10 — Thu, 24 May 2012 16:10:38 +0000

In this video I talk about why church is boring and the shift that needs to happen for that boredom to transform into excitement.

Preparing the way

pullins10 — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 02:01:13 +0000

In the same way that the gospels describe John the Baptist as preparing the way our job is to prepare the way for the coming of the Lord in the lives of those around us. There is so much that can be said about this but I really want to focus in on a few key elements that help us to do this effectively. By “this” I mean that we help those around us to “turn” (repentance actually means a turning from something to someone) towards Jesus that they might be open and ready to receive His coming into their lives. It all depends upon and revolves around our growing ability to “hear what the Lord is saying” and “to do what the Lord has said.”

Below are 3 simple things to help each of us prepare the way for the Lord to come into the lives of those around us.

1. Be in a discipling relationship where someone is reproducing their life in yours
2. Begin living a life that is worth reproducing
3. Prepare the way for Jesus to come into the life of someone else by reproducing your life in someone else

Each of these are big animals to tackle in their own right; if you’d like to hear about some practical details for each stay tuned as I hope to unpack each of them over the coming blog posts.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Crossroads Video Blog 2-21-12 (Responsibility

pullins10 — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 16:35:06 +0000

This weeks video blog is about responsibility within the context of the journey to Easter. I hope you enjoy and would welcome any feedback.

Babylon is not Jerusalem

pullins10 — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 16:40:21 +0000

I was at a one day event in DC this past Tuesday at National Community Church hearing about a new book, You Lost Me and one of the things that really grabbed me was a comment that “we can’t disciple people in Babylon the same way we would in Jerusalem.”

This really resonated with me and i thought i would spend some time through a couple blog post over the next few weeks reflecting on this idea in relation to discipleship.

The reality is we are not in Jerusalem anymore. Meaning, the church is not seen as a positive, safe place by those who are outside of the church today. For example, when the “jones’”drive by your church in today’s culture they don’t think to themselves, “that is good place for our family.”. In many ways they think the opposite about your church. But yet the majority of churches approach their strategy of ministry and discipleship as if the church is still viewed as a safe, positive place to those outside the church.

The reality is, the church still functions when it comes to discipleship as if Jerusalem is still alive and well while the rest of the culture lives in Babylon.

If we (leaders in the church today) want to effectively reach and disciple those in our mission field we must develop a strategy of discipleship that will be effective in Babylon; any other strategy is a waste of time, energy, and money.

More to come next week concerning an approach to Babylon discipleship.

Vision 2012…..step 3 (Discern)

pullins10 — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 19:00:44 +0000

In continuing the conversation from last week below are the details to step 3 is pursuing God’s vision for your life in 2012. This week’s step is “Discern.”

First, please post your “vision statement” for 2012 on our Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/Crossroads-Churcha-new-united-methodist-community-of-faith/155915776719 this week so we can celebrate these with each other or post to my blog (www.chadpullins.com )

The Visioning Steps

Decide (this was week 1; you’ve got to make a decision to follow God’s vision for your life regardless of what it is first)
Discover (week 2 (last week); this is the process of coming up with that simple, memorable, reproducible statement that is the over arching picture of how God desires to break into the world through your life in 2012. For example, mine is “to make friends, create family, and produce disciples”
1. We want you to post these simple, memorable, reproducible statements on our facebook page or comment on my blog post (www.chadpullins.com)
Discern (week 3….this is where we currently are and I’ll unpack your homework below)
Do (week 4….we’ve got to then put our vision into practice otherwise its nothing more than a two dimensional fantasy)

Homework….Discern—step 3

Once our Father has revealed to us the simple, memorable, reproducible vision that will guide our lives this year the next step is to align every area of our lives underneath that vision. This aligning will give us a chance to evaluate each area of our lives and ask the question, “is “this” accomplishing the vision of “……”

So how do we do that? What are the steps?

1) Get two sheets of paper and at the top of each paper write your vision statement

2) Pray “Daddy, as I begin this process of discerning how you want me to live out this vision I want to begin my discerning by inviting you to be the guide in the process. Reveal to me the areas I need to concentrate on and show me any changes that I need to make to most effectively live into the vision that you gave me. Amen.”

3) List every area of your life

a) Begin by making 3 columns on each paper (God; God’s Family, God’s world)….these columns represent the different areas of relationships that encompass all of your life.

b) God—this is your direct relationship with your Father (Prayer, study, worship, etc)

c) God’s Family—This includes your immediate family (spouse, children, etc); your extended blood family (cousins, grandparents, etc); your church family (the community of folks you share your life with….ie. Life Group)

d) God’s World—this includes all the other relationships of your life

4) Once you have these three categories listed then evaluate each area of your life where you currently spend your time (work, family, fellowship, etc) and money (family, shopping, fun, outreach, giving, etc) and put them within the correct category. Use one sheet for “time” and the other sheet for “money.”

5) Look at your list and see if there is a sense of balance in your life between the 3 categories. See if there is one category that dominates your life. See if there is a category that needs some work. This will let you know if you need to make some adjustments for balance in 2012 and where to make those adjustments.

6) Go through each category and ask the question, “which of these are absolutely necessary?”…..then highlight those areas

7) Go through each area of your life and ask the question, “does “this” currently empower me to live into God’s vision for my life?”

a) If the answer is “yes” write down how it empowers you to live into the vision and then move on to the next area

b) If the answer is “no” then you either have to make a change in that area so that it is living into your vision or remove that area from your rhythm of life

8) Go back to any category that has more than 5 areas listed. Then decide which of the non highlighted areas in the category you are going to give up until you have a max of 5 areas in that category. Each category should be simple, memorable, and reproducible so that you could explain it to someone that is interested in your rhythm of life. As Jim Collins rightly says “it is better to be great at a few things then good at many things.”

9) Finally, go through each area and list a goal (no more then 3) that you think your Father would like you to accomplish in 2012 for each area.

10) Pray..”Daddy, thanks for guiding me through this time to focus in on my life that I could discern how I can be intentional about living my life in such a way that it is pursuing your vision for my life. As I go about life this year help me to recalibrate as necessary that I might be as fruitful as possible in allowing you to create a life in me that is fulfilling your vision for my life. Amen.”

Below is what mine looked like when finished

Time

God—Prayer and Study, Worship, Leadership
- Prayer and Study—my goal is to reproduce my daily rhythm of prayer and study (personal and family) with others.
- Worship—my goal is to begin learning how to play an instrument
- Leadership—my goal is to continue being discipled; to disciple others; and to begin putting an outline of a book together
God’s Family—Household; Extended Family; Crossroads Family; Other Christian Friendships
- Household—achieve specific goals for marriage; achieve specific goals for children; achieve specific goals as a family unit
- Extended Family—my goal is to be the initiator in cultivating these relationships (phone calls, emails, visits, etc)
- Crossroads Family—my goal is to be in a discipling relationship with 8 people that will begin discipling others during this year, to be a part of a Life Group that is on mission sharing their lives together, and to enter into a learning community.
- Other Christian Friendships—my goal is to share my life with other Christian leaders outside of Crossroads where I have a chance to reproduce in them and they reproduce in me.
God’s world—Children’s activities; Golf; Hunting; Community Experiences
- Children’s activities—my goal is that our family is able to build some healthy friendships with other families we meet through our children’s activities and to open up our lives to these families.
- Golf—my goal is to gain influence with some of the men at Gate’s Four through playing golf
- Hunting—my goal is to introduce other men to hunting and to build some deeper relationships with those I currently hunt with who are not followers of Jesus.
- Community Experiences—my goal is for my family and I to attend at least 1 community event every other month.

Money

God—Crossroads; Future Leaders
- Crossroads—my goal is to invest more money into God’s Kingdom through Crossroads then I ever have in my life and to live into our family’s financial commitment for 2012.
- Future Leaders—my goal is to set aside some money to invest into future Leaders that are taking risk of faith in pursuing God’s vision for their lives.
God’s Family—Debt, Retirement, College, Leisure
- Debt—my goal is for our family to be debt free except for our home by the end of 2012
- Retirement—my goal is to double my investment into retirement in 2012
- College—my goal is resume investing into college funds for our children.
- Leisure—my goal is to have money set aside to develop relationships with other families at Crossroads through food and fellowship.
God’s world—Africa and Fayetteville Community
- Africa—my goal is to invest money into a ministry in Africa geared at empowering children to change the family legacy
- Fayetteville Community—my goal is to invest money into the children of the Fayetteville Region to empower their lives.

What I believe will happen is that as I begin to pursue these goals that the end effect is that I will “make friends, create family, and produce disciples.” As I take action and implement the 4^th step (“Do”) this two dimensional fantasy becomes a three dimensional life giving reality. And I believe with all that I am that the same will happen for you if you take the time to discern and have the courage to put it into practice.

Chad

Steps to Cast Vision in 2012 for your life….Step 1.

pullins10 — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 15:39:08 +0000

I’m currently doing a series at Crossroads called “Vision 2012″….in response to so many that are hungry for a simple, clear way to discover God’s vision for their life this year I’ve decided to take some time on this blog to unpack those steps…..

Step 1–discovering the simple, clear statement (or phrase)

”What is the over arching vision for your life (and family) in 2012?”

Meaning, what is the simple statement that will describe the way in which God wants to break into the world through your (and family) life in 2012?

Below are some thoughts that will help you to hear from God as to what this vision is:

Pray this prayer (by yourself and as a family) this week:

“Daddy, how do you want to break into the world through my life (our family) in 2012? Daddy, what are the words you want us to use to describe how you want to break into the world through our lives in 2012? Daddy, give me (us) the strength to not stop wrestling with these words that describe this picture until you give me (us) peace about the description because Daddy, I don’t want to go around in circles this year but I (we) want to make an eternal impact with my life (our family) this year. Amen”

The vision (the statement) should be clear enough that you can describe it to anyone in one simple sentence (it should be able to fit on your fridge). It should be so clear that a first grader could hear it and remember it. It is this clarity that will create the confidence to pursue the vision under pressure. Courage is confidence under pressure. Hence, your clarity in your vision becomes the source of your courage to pursue the vision in the face of opposition.

Don’t worry about the details right now; over the coming weeks we will align the areas of our lives underneath the vision with specific goals to pursue. The first step is hearing from your Dad as to what the picture is of how He wants to break into the world through your life (and your family) this year.

Below is a snapshot of my vision for 2012 (this may help as a reference)

In asking the question of my Dad, “How do you want to break into the world through my life in 2012?” the answer that I received was a focus upon three different areas.

1.being intentional about friendship
2. Inviting friends into being a part of our family
3. Out of these relationships God would use my life and my family to produce disciples (faithful followers of Jesus).

Hence, God’s vision statement for my life in 2012 is to “make friends, create family, and produce disciples.”

The next step (which will come next week) is to put that vision into practice with some very specific strategy and goals for 2012. The way in which I put that vision into practice is that I want to align the different areas (roles) of my life in such a way that it lives into that vision. So I look at my marriage, family, fatherhood, friendship, work, community involvement, finances and get very specific about the goals and strategies I have for each area that will produce the kind of life that is “making friends, creating family, and producing disciples.”

The questions I’m asking of each area:

How Does God want to use my marriage and my role as husband to “make friends, create family, and produce disciples”?
How Does God want to use my family and my role as “Father” to “make friends, create family, and produce disciples?”
How Does God want to use my role as “Leader” to “make friends, create family, and produce disciples?”
How Does God want to use my role as “steward” (my finances) to “make friends, create family, and produce disciples?”

And then I want to ask the Holy Spirit to get very specific in revealing to me (and our family) what these specific goals are for in 2012…..knowing that one of the ways I can tell if it’s from God or not is if the goal doesn’t require God’s presence for it to be accomplished then it’s not from God. If the goal and strategy will require my Dad’s presence in involvement then it’s from Him and will be a tool He will use to break into the world through my life

I would love to hear the vision God gives you in a comment below…..just the simple statement.

Peace from Pastor P

Keeping Appointments

pullins10 — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 13:41:41 +0000

As the new year begins we all have a sense of a new beginning and looking forward to some changes. For me, I have a number of area that I want to focus in on and pursue breakthrough in my life. One of the places I hope to be more disciplined is in committing to writing on this blog more then the last half of 2011….so here it goes.

I’ve been thinking the last couple days about keeping appointments and specifically those appointments with God. What I think most of us don’t realize is that when we take matters into our owns hands we are at the same time choosing not to keep an appointment with God. This becomes an obstacle to us experiencing breakthrough in our lives. I struggle with this in my own life where I think that i need to “do” something to “make” something happen when the reality my “doing” and “making” is actually a roadblock to God’s very action in the circumstance. If I would spend more time focusing on keeping an appointment with God and less time trying to “make” something happen I would experience an enormously more amount of breakthrough in my life and leadership.

One of the places I hope to experience breakthrough in this year is spending less time trying to “do” and “make” and more time keeping my appointments with God and trusting Him to orchestrate the “doing” and the “making.”

Peace from Pastor P

settled relationships

pullins10 — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 12:48:13 +0000

I wonder how many of us have relationships in our lives that are unsettled. Do you have folks in your life where you know there is a tension in your relationship? Many times in our current culture of church we are content with the idea that through Jesus our relationship with God is settled and thats all that we need to focus on. But yet this is only half of the gospel. It is because our relationship with God is settled that now are relationship with others can be settled too.

May you allow the grace that comes from having a settled relationship with God through Jesus empower a life that seeks to reconcile and settle the relationships with those around you. May you be a pioneering settler today.

Peace from Pastor P

The epectation of the blessing: “living in abundance”

pullins10 — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 10:32:27 +0000

It is so easy to consume all of the blessings and provision of our lives. In fact, our culture has wired our habits to work in this way and produced this fierce competition to get “our” piece of the pie. Once we get our piece then the only smart thing to do is hoard it for ourselves or else someone might take it from us. This is a lifestyle of scarcity and what our culture would like to inject into our lives; because this mindset of scarcity drives a capitalistic culture that always leaves us wanting “more” which in turn keeps the machine running.

But yet God says there is a different way; a better way. God desires that each of us realize that all we have flows from Him; every provision we have is a blessing from Him. God desires us to know that our Daddy owns everything. God desires for us to come from a mindset of abundance which comes through faith in believing God is our abundant provider. This lifestyle doesn’t lead to a fierce competition to “beat” our neighbor and hoard our blessing even if that means taking from him. This is a lifestyle that flows out of abundance that is always leaving a piece of the blessing for those around us and specifically those that we would consider “outsiders.” When we leave a piece of God’s provisional blessing in our lives for someone outside of the family we are injecting the blessing of our Daddy into the lives of others who may have never experienced the truth of abundance.

I want to encourage you today to not live in a mindset of scarcity but trust in the abundance of you Daddy and be intentional about sharing His blessing with the foreigner among you.

The scriptures say, “21 And when you cut the grapes in your vineyard, don’t take every last grape-leave a few for the foreigner, the orphan, and the widow.22 Don’t ever forget that you were a slave in Egypt. I command you: Do what I’m telling you.”

Chad

True North

pullins10 — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 11:42:12 +0000

It is so easy to get caught up in living a life where we just go around in circles and never feel like we are making any head way in our lives. Does your life feel like you are going around in circles today? The reality is if we don’t know where “north” is we will default to living a life that goes around in circles. Through Jesus, God points to all of humanity and basically says, “this is the way; this is true North.” In being a follower of Jesus we are invited to live a life that doesn’t go in circles but a life that is going somewhere; heading “true north.” May you be the kind of person today that doesn’t chase their own tail but instead goes somewhere today following the one that points you “true north”

Peace from Pastor P