Category Archives: General Information

Posted on

How would you like $10,000 worth of resources for FREE?

OK! Done!

 

No, this is not like one of those emails that tells you that you’ll get an incredible African inheritance if you will just give us your contact information (including your bank routing number).

You don’t have to send us anything to get access to thousands of dollars worth of resources for FREE.  In fact, if you are a member of one of our HBA member churches, you already have access!

A few weeks ago, we sent a letter to every church in the association, letting them know that the association has partnered with Sampson Resources to provide each church with one year’s access to all of their video workshops, Bible studies, and training programs.  

These resources include topics like Sunday School/Small Groups, Women, Men, Marriage, Parenting, Deacons, Bible Prophecy, Preschool, Children, Discipleship, Students, and more.  

And this is not some joker in a backroom making videos on his iPhone.  These are professionally produced videos with the teaching of people like O.S. Hawkins, Johnny Hunt, Dennis Swanberg, Daniel Akin, Liz Curtis Higgs, Kevin Leman, Adrian Rogers, and more.

And since the videos are delivered through online streaming, any member of your HBA member church can be accessing any resource on the website at any time from anywhere there is a good internet signal.

Your church could order this service (StreamAll) and pay $295 per year (or $225 if your attendance is under 300), but because of your cooperative ministry with HBA, we have partnered with Sampson to provide StreamAll Plus to every church in HBA for FREE.

Your HBA member church got a letter with instructions on how to use the service, as well as a master password that is unique to your church. That’s all you need to start taking advantage of all these great materials.  You get 24/7 access to all the Bible studies and training resources and your church’s account is activated through April 20, 2019. The only requirement is that you not share your church’s master password with any other church or organization.

If for some reason, your church’s letter didn’t make it, or you missed finding out about it, please let us know and we will send you the instructions and your church’s master password.  Please include your name and the name of your church in your email to us.

This resource is just one of the ways that …

“We inspire and assist our member churches to engage their communities and expand their kingdom focus with transforming grace.”

 

SAVE THE DATE

How good is your church at “neighboring” your community? That is going to be the focus of our HBA Annual Celebration that will be held on Sunday, October 7 from 4:00 – 5:30 p.m. at FBC Boyd.

Our special guest speaker will be Brad Brisco, National Director for Bivocational/Covocational Church Planting for the North American Mission Board and Author of “Missional Essentials,” “The Missional Quest,” and “Next Door As It Is In Heaven.”

 

This truly is a great time to be about the work of the kingdom and I am grateful to be your partner and mission strategist.

 

 

Posted on

Starting with the man in the mirror

Two ways to clarity

Photo by Edgar Pereira on Unsplash

 

That phrase is not just a line from Michael Jackson’s 1987 song.  It’s actually a metaphor for one of the ways we inspire and assist our member churches.

Last week I wrote our answer to the question, “So, what do you guys do anyway?”

Here it is again, in case you missed it:

“We inspire and assist our member churches to engage their communities and expand their kingdom focus with transforming grace.”

I like to describe our processes in terms of mirrors and windows.  Mirrors help us see ourselves more clearly. If we are unable (or unwilling) to see ourselves, we will be less effective in engaging others.

Some of the tools and processes we have are like holding up a mirror for leaders–and the churches they serve–to do some self-assessment to identify strengths to optimize, weaknesses to mitigate, confusion to clarify, and missing elements to add.

Tools like the Church Health Survey and Leading from Your Strengths, and P.L.A.C.E.  have a strong mirror component.

Tools like Church Unique, the Younique Personal Vision Journey, and Dangerous Pastors also begin with a strong mirror component before moving to the metaphor of the window.

Windows help us see the world around us more clearly.  If we are unable (or unwilling) to truly see our communities, we will miss opportunities to engage with them in Kingdom pursuits.

Demographic and Psychographic studies are window tools.  

Of course, most of our tools and processes are a combination of mirrors and windows and sometimes we use multiple tools to get as clear a picture as possible.

We need both.

If we spend all our time in front of the mirror, we will become so internally focused that we will spend all our time either primping or nitpicking.

If we spend all our time looking out the window, we may miss something in us that is either a hindrance or an unrealized potential for effective ministry.

And the bottom line is that our time before both the mirror and the window should prepare us to launch out the door to where God is working around us.

So, how can we use the tools we have to help your church (and your leaders) take a good look in the mirror and through the window?

This truly is a great time to be about the work of the kingdom and I am grateful to be your partner and mission strategist.

 

Posted on

So, what do you guys do anyway?

A common question in our Mission Center

We get that question a lot at the HBA Mission Center, so when we had our last quarterly Staff Development Day back in April, we spent most of the afternoon deciding the best way to answer it.

We wrote our vision and mission statements on our cool new whiteboard wall.  We wrote out our three strategies. Those are all really good statements, by the way.

But, the truth is that no one comes and asks, “What is your mission? What is your vision? How do you fulfill it strategically?”  They ask, “What do you do?”

So, we started circling words, looking up synonyms, and asking more questions.  Then we started drafting a statement that we hope will lead to more questions and conversations.

Here’s what we came up with:

“We inspire and assist our member churches to engage their communities and expand their kingdom focus with transforming grace.”

Part of what we do is inspire.  To inspire means to “infuse with breath” or to “prompt or instigate by influence.”  We cannot–nor should we try to–control what happens in our churches. But we do try to influence our churches by creating a fresh breath of air to prompt or instigate new ways of thinking and acting.

Part of what we do is assist. To assist means to “stand by or be present” to “give support or aid.”  We cannot–nor should we try to–do ministry for churches. But we do try to stand by our churches to support/aid them to greater effectiveness.

But, we didn’t stop there, because vague inspiration and assistance isn’t focused enough to actually accomplish anything.  So our inspiration and assistance are focused on two areas:

We inspire and assist our member churches to engage their communities. Every church exists in a geographical location (a community).  Without consistent reminders of the mission of God, churches can forget that God has sent them to those communities for the benefit of the community.  Part of what we do is to inspire and assist churches to get into where the people are, not to try to get the people into the church building.

We also inspire and assist our member churches to expand their kingdom focus.  The Body of Christ is bigger than a single congregation.  We can do more together than we can separately. Kingdom focus reminds us that the kingdom of God is most effectively realized as churches partner together without competition, territorialism, and isolationism.  Part of what we do is to inspire and assist churches to see the big picture of the gospel of the kingdom of God and to share ministry and resources in kingdom-focused covenant relationships.

All that is done with transforming grace.  True transformation is only possible as we lean into the grace of God.  We inspire and assist with grace. Churches engage and partner with grace.  And God uses it to bring about gospel transformation.

Over the next few weeks I’m going to be unpacking some more of the what’s, the how’s, and the why’s of what we do.  This is a great time to be about the work of the kingdom and I am grateful to be your partner and mission strategist.

 

Posted on

Ten at Ten

A Top Ten list at the Ten Year mark

 

As many of you know, I recently (June 1) celebrated my ten year anniversary at HBA.  It’s hard to believe. In some ways, it seems like I just started last week. In other ways, it seems like I’ve been here for a lifetime. (Both of those perspectives are good, by the way).

One thing that ten years at HBA means is that it has been ten years since I was a pastor. I think I was a good pastor for the twenty years that I spent in that role.  While I have no sense whatsoever that God is leading me back toward the pastorate, I know I would be a better pastor now because of what I have learned over the past ten years.  In fact, I have often joked that 95% of what I know about being a pastor, I have learned in the past ten years of not being one!

I recently read a couple of blog posts written by seminary professor, author, and church consultant Chuck Lawless where he talked about things he would do more or less of if he were to be a pastor again.  You will find links to both of those articles at the bottom of this post.

That got me to thinking.  At the ten year mark, what are ten things I would focus on if I were to be a pastor again?  Until today, I haven’t really thought through all that. These things have certainly been in my mind, but I processed them for the first time today.  So, here’s my thinking today on what I would focus on if I became a pastor tomorrow.

  1. I would focus on clarifying the church’s vision rather than promoting my own.  Vision should outlast leaders. I would start on my first day preparing the church for my last day.
  2. I would focus on celebrating biblical Sabbath and healthy rhythms rather than keeping people busy with church activities.
  3. I would focus on being a guide rather than a hero. I would rarely, if ever, do ministry alone, but would always take someone with me in whose ministry I was investing.
  4. I would focus on helping people rejoice in who they are becoming rather than struggle with what they should be doing. I would help them learn to joyfully live out their identity in Christ.
  5. I would focus on life transformation rather than behavior reformation. I would focus on helping people renew their minds through changing the way they think about life.
  6. I would focus on doing a few ministries that we do best rather than doing as many different ministries as possible.  Optimize and simplify would be an intentional strategy rather than a last resort.
  7. I would focus on celebrating and advancing the kingdom of God rather than on growing a single congregation.  Kingdom partnerships trump territorialism and competition every time.
  8. I would focus more on getting the church into the community than getting the community into the church. We have already been sent to them; they have not been sent to us.
  9. I would focus more on applying Biblical truth than transmitting Biblical content.  Content without application has limited value.
  10. I would focus on activating unique disciples rather than creating ideal Christians. Being conformed to the image of Christ includes having the life of Christ formed (incarnated) in us.  Instead of asking, “What would Jesus do?” we ask, “What would Jesus do if He were me?”

I could think of plenty more, but ten is a good stopping place.  (And it allows me to use Ten at Ten for my heading).

The really cool thing about all of this is that, while I don’t have the opportunities to focus on all these things as a pastor of a local congregation, they are all consistent with our association vision of cultivating a kingdom-focused culture of engaging churches who are on mission to sow seeds of transformation into each local congregation.

Please contact me if you would like more information about the resources and processes we have available to inspire and assist our churches to engage their communities and expand their kingdom focus with transforming grace.

 

Your grateful partner and mission strategist in the work of the kingdom,

Gerry

 

Articles from Chuck Lawless

10 things I would do more often if I were pastoring again

10 things I would do less often if I were pastoring again

Posted on

How’s your health?

Is it time for a church health checkup?

 

How’s your health?

When did you last see your doctor for a general health check-up?  Too many of us wait until there are symptoms of illness before we get ourselves checked out.  We don’t monitor things like our blood sugar, blood pressure, cholesterol, weight, and other tests that might show early detection warning signs that could prevent a major health crisis.  And since we don’t do it regularly, we may miss trends that have been developing over several years.

One thing I realized a couple of years ago is that I didn’t just wake up one morning weighing 240 pounds and having over 90% blockage in the “widow-maker” artery.  It happened slowly over time as I neglected good health practices. It’s an ongoing struggle and sometimes I don’t do it well, but I have learned that I have to pay attention and make adjustments if I am going to live the life I want to live, see my grandchildren grow up, and be effective in serving the Lord for as long as possible.

One of my lessons from Sabbatical was the importance of keeping rhythms and paying attention to ways that I have gotten out of rhythm physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

 

How’s your church health?

If regular check-ups are important for our individual physical bodies, doesn’t it make sense that regular check-ups are important for the Body of Christ? Instead of waiting for a crisis, what if our churches engaged in a regular rhythm of internal reflection and external examination, not for the purpose of finding “what’s wrong,” but for the purpose of identifying areas that need to be strengthened and even celebrating the good health that exists?

Last week I wrote about the resources that the association churches provide for each other through their covenant partnership.  One of those resources might be described as a Church Health Checkup. We bring the tools to the church to assess strengths, trends, and perceptions (diagnosing the current reality) and then help the church to design a plan to optimize the strengths and address areas that need to get more healthy (prescribing a future health plan).  The whole process is intended and designed to be affirming and optimistic about the future if the church is willing to take the hard look and do the hard work of making healthy choices and developing new rhythms.

This evening, I’ll be sharing an overview of that process with one of our association churches to help them determine a strategic healthy vision for the future of their church.

Please contact me if you would like more information about this and other resources and processes we have available to inspire and assist our churches to engage their communities and expand their kingdom focus with transforming grace.

I’m thrilled to be a mission strategist for you as we work toward our vision of cultivating a kingdom-focused culture of engaging churches who are on-mission to sow seeds of transformation into each local congregation.

 

Your grateful partner in the work of the kingdom,

Gerry

Posted on

What is a Baptist Association

Ponderings from the Executive Director

 

What is a Baptist Association?

I’ve recently been pondering that question.  There are several reasons for the pondering. Certainly attending the Southern Baptist Conference of Associational Leaders earlier this month contributed to it.  I’ve also had some questions come directly to me recently that have piqued my pondering.

I don’t know that there is an “official” definition/description of a Baptist Association anywhere and, to be honest, it seems a little un-Baptist for such a thing to exist.  I do not intend for the definition below to become official in any way, but I don’t know of an association anywhere that would disagree with the conclusion to which my pondering has led me, so I offer a first draft of my definition here:

A Baptist Association is a covenant partnership network made up of churches who are (generally) within a common geographic region, who have covenanted with one another to cooperatively and voluntarily share mutual support and resources so that the resources of the association are equally available to all partner churches within the network for the glory of God and the work of the kingdom within their region.

What does all that mean?  Well, I could probably write an entire white paper on that (and perhaps I should at some point), but the bottom line is that lack of clarity on the nature of the covenant partnership leads to inaccurate and unhelpful conclusions on many levels.

 

Understanding Partnership – Two Models

If the partnership is believed to be between the association office and individual churches, represented in Figure 1 below  (I’m calling this the Membership Services Model), then we run the risk of a vendor/customer relationship between the association office/staff and individual churches. The blue square represents the association office/staff partnering with each individual member church, represented by red circles of varying sizes. The churches may or may not partner with each other and there is certainly no sense of community or covenant among the churches.  If a church decides they no longer wish to receive the products and services of the office (or to support those products and services through financial contributions), then the partnership is easily dissolved.

But if the partnership is understood to be between the churches, represented in Figure 2 below (I’m calling this the Covenant Partnership Model), every association church has a partnership covenant/connection with every other association church. In this case, the association office/staff is a resource that the churches are providing for each other, making all the resources of the association available equally among the churches, regardless of size, location, amount of financial participation, or particular preference of what resources are most needed.  One particular resource may be vital to one church and meaningless to another, but the covenant partnership between the churches means that they work together (including financial investment) with an outward and expanding kingdom focus (represented by the yellow circling arrows), rather than in inward congregational focus. This covenant partnership is not easily dissolved because churches understand that their actions affect the ministry of every other church.  I believe this is what each Baptist Association at its heart, desires to be.

 

More pondering to come

I had the great opportunity this past Sunday to share those ponderings for the first time with one of our association churches. I am so grateful to pastor Ford McElroy for the invitation to share the work and vision of HBA and have a meaningful Q&A dialogue with the great folks at Post Oak Baptist Church.

I’m continuing in my pondering and trying to identify some helpful and creative ways to communicate our vision of cultivating a kingdom-focused culture of engaging churches who are on-mission to sow seeds of transformation into each local congregation.

I look forward to sharing more in the days to come. If you would like me to come and share with your church, contact me at dom@harvestba.com and let’s get it on the calendar.  

 

Your grateful partner in the work of the kingdom,

Gerry

Posted on

The end is in sight

Sabbatical reflections on re-entry

How time flies! As you read this, I am in the final week of my Sabbatical renewal leave. As I write it, it is 35 days ahead of the time it will be published. I am saying this far in advance because I believe it will be true, that I am refreshed and reinvigorated.

This final week will be spent at home.  No travel. Nothing overly taxing physically.  It is transition week. I’ll still be reading. This week’s book is Forgiving God: a story of faith (Hilary Yancey). I’ll begin transitioning back to a normal bedtime and morning ritual.  I’ll wrap up whatever remains of the declutter projects. I’ll make myself hold out for another week on electronic communication and social media.

I’ll reflect on what God has done in me and begin allowing myself to think about upcoming ministry opportunities.  When next week comes, I’ll be ready and recharged. And I won’t go back to doing everything the same as before because God will have shown me a better path and a more effective rhythm.

Will you please pray that I will listen carefully to Him during this transition week?

 

We are cultivating a Kingdom-focused culture of engaging churches.

How can we sow seeds of transformation into your local church?

Posted on

A new turn

Sabbatical reflections on traveling well

As this week begins and you are reading this, my Sabbatical renewal leave enters week three and takes a bit of a different turn.  We’ve done a little traveling each weekend (all family oriented). This week will be a special getaway for just Mrs. Sweetie and me.  We will have four days of relaxing and enjoying some beautiful scenery in a part of the country where we’ve never been. My particular challenge is to really rest and enjoy and to not try to pack too much activity in.

This week’s book (unless I’m still caught up in one of the other ones) is Out of the House of Bread: satisfying your hunger for God with the spiritual disciplines (Preston Yancey).  Sitting and reading in a beautiful location will definitely be part of this week’s agenda.  We’ll make it home just in time for the wedding of a young lady who is special to us.

I have a question: If you could visit any place in the world that you haven’t visited before, where would it be?  How would you ensure that you took adequate time to really see it, and not just blow past on the way to the next stop?

We are cultivating a Kingdom-focused culture of engaging churches.

How can we sow seeds of transformation into your local church?

Posted on

Halfway

Sabbatical reflections on legacy

 

Another week down!  As you read this, I’m just about at the halfway point of my Sabbatical renewal leave. I was able to spend Mother’s Day with my mom and step-dad and go to her church with her.  This was the first time I have been able to attend her church since they moved to East Texas two years ago. I’m incredibly grateful to have been able to devote these two weekends to honoring my parents and being present with them.

This week’s book (if  I am on schedule) is Sabbatical Journey: The Diary of His Final Year (Henri J.M. Nouwen). This week is my learning week. I’ll be participating in a couple of coaching classes.  

At the end of the week, we’ll be heading for the panhandle to attend our grandson’s second birthday party and see his daddy (our son) in the Amarillo Little Theatre’s production of Sister Act.  The previous two weekends have been focused on my heritage.  This one is on legacy.

I’ve heard stories of dads (sometimes, in particular, preacher dads) who missed the ball games, performances, and special events of their children because they were doing “important ministry.”  My actor (part-time) and teacher (full time) son is 27 years old and I have seen at least one performance of every show he has ever been in from kindergarten through now.

I’m neither boasting about myself nor berating anyone else.  I’m just saying it’s doable. We can be there for our family without neglecting the flock God has given us.  To pastor dads, I say, if I can ever help you by filling in for you so you can attend something for one of your kids, let me know. (As long as it is not in the next couple of weeks!)

 

We are creating a Kingdom-focused culture of engaging churches.

How can we sow seeds of transformation into your local church?

 

Posted on

One week down!

Sabbatical reflections on distractions

 

One week down!  As you read this, I’m beginning the second week of Sabbatical renewal leave.  Since I’m writing this ahead of time, I can’t report on it, but I will be sharing a report later one.

I’m asking you to pray this week especially for our Vancouver Partnership: for West Coast Baptist Association, for Zendeh Church, for Amin and Sepideh as they lead the church, and for the future work among Farsi speaking people in the region.  The semi-annual church planting advocates meeting is happening this week and neither Dave Woodbury nor I were able to attend this time. We will be sharing about future Vancouver opportunities soon.

This week’s book (depending on if I have finished the first one) is Rhythms of Rest: Finding the Spirit of Sabbath in a Busy World (Shelly Miller). This week is mostly about decluttering (literally). My home office and closets are going to get a serious relook this week. Some things will be filed and shelved. Some things will be going to the trash. Some things will be going to Goodwill. Some things will be given away to other people.

The point is to make my office a welcoming place where I want to spend time and where I am inspired, rather than a place where I have to push things aside to be able to get anything done.

I admit that I tend to hang onto things too long.  Sometimes for sentimental reasons. Sometimes because I think I’ll be able to use them at some point.  But the truth is that they have become distractions that keep me from focusing on what matters most.

It’s time to review and rethink.

Can you relate? At home? At work? At church?  What are the things that we are grasping too tightly that keep us distracted from our purpose and calling?

We are cultivating a Kingdom-focused culture of engaging churches.

How can we sow seeds of transformation into your local church?