Category: New Life Church (page 10 of 10)

Raising the Bar

April 16, 2010 / / 4 Comments /

Recently, New Life Church was accepted as a member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability. I know that sounds as exciting as a root canal, but it is a big deal to me. ECFA sets very high standards for membership and only a handful of churches even bother trying to meet the requirements.

When I came to New Life in 2007, we did not have the internal structures or policies to be a member, but we were determined to make the changes necessary to hit the mark. The first thing we did was change the way decisions were made about spending money. We had always done a yearly audit, but we then added a purchase order system, a more detailed budget and we changed our elder structure. Under the old system, the Senior Pastor had a lot of autonomous, independent spending authority, but under our new system, spending decisions are made as a team with a lot more accountability from elders who are not a part of the staff.

Why did I make all these changes? The old system was not corrupt or necessarily broken. I could have continued with the status quo and no one would have been alarmed or concerned. The reason is simple. I want to be able to stand in front of our fellowship and challenge everyone to give and for them to know that we are operating with complete integrity and maintaining the highest standards available.

This removes all suspicion and brings everything into the light for all to see. Our finances are posted at www.ecfa.org and will be updated regularly. I want people to know we are committed to being good stewards, living below our means and giving generously at every opportunity. These are the principles we live by in the Boyd house and I want the same principles to apply at the church I lead.

Check out the website and give me your opinion. Is this important to you as a New Lifer? Does this help clear up any confusion or is it no big deal?

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What makes a good meeting?

April 3, 2010 / / 4 Comments /

A good meeting sounds like an oxymoron.  Meetings are normally not the highlight of the day at the office or at the church. People dread them like a root canal and for good reason. Usually, a lot is said, nothing is decided and very little is done after the meeting is over.  Either the meetings need to be cancelled or we need to change the way we do meetings. Let me make four suggestions.

1.    Don’t put anything on the agenda that cannot be debated

Patrick Lencioni wrote a classic book on this idea called, “Death by Meeting.” It should be required reading for anyone who leads. Lencioni compares a great meeting to a great movie – both need tension to be awesome. There are lots of rules that need to be made clear before you launch into a meeting filled with debate. First, all debate must be respectful and never become personal. Throw the grenade in the middle of the table, not at one another. Second, no one can be punished for asking the tough questions. Third, the leader of the meeting must encourage input from everyone in the room, not just the three or four strong personalities who love debate. Often the best ideas come from the people in the meeting who actually think before they speak.

2.    Start on time and be on time

My time is valuable and so is yours. If there is a meeting at 2pm, the proper time to arrive is 1:55pm. I am not a military dictator, but I do think it is rude to arrive late. It is also bad manners to start a meeting late and to go longer than announced. Start on time, be on time and finish on time.

3.    Hold each other accountable for what was decided

Lencioni has another classic book called “The Five Dysfunctions of a Team.” He believes most teams have little or no accountability and I agree. Meetings should produce action steps or resolves. Someone in the meeting must take ownership of each decision and be expected to report on the progress after a reasonable time.

4.    Debate in private, support in public

If the team makes a decision that you do not agree with, the time to bring up your concerns is in the meeting and not later while in the break room.  To be clear, the leader of the meeting needs to make sure everyone is heard and all the debate has happened before a decision is made. But once that happens, it is required that everyone own the decision and be willing to defend it publicly.

I must confess I have led a lot of sloppy meetings and I’ve attended many that were a complete waste of sunlight. For those on the team at New Life, I ask them to hold me accountable to practice what I blog. I know I will die someday. I just don’t want to die while sitting in a pointless meeting.

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The future of the local church

December 28, 2009 / / 8 Comments /

In the past ten years, I have witnessed remarkable changes in the local church and the coming decade will usher in even more transformations. While the ancient Sacraments will remain, everything else is up for debate. How we worship, when we gather, what is said, who is leading and where the gatherings happen will all undergo scrutiny and debate.

I have four predictions for the next decade of local church.

1. The places where we gather will become smaller

Every social and cultural trend is leaning toward the smaller, more intimate gatherings and away from the stadium worship experience. Mega churches that purposely create numerous worship settings that promote intimacy and community will see the most significant growth. There will always be a group of church people who will come to the big building, but if we want to see significant growth among skeptics and seekers, we must create less threatening venues for them to explore the issues of faith.

2. The church will be launched into real mission.

The local church is hungry to embrace the mission of the New Testament and this will only increase in the next decade. This next generation is tired of the hype of events and is eager to give their lives to something that requires sacrifice and results in biblical justice. They want to get their hands in the dirt of humanity and see real change in the communities where they live. They will come to the church building for some of the attractional events, but will get disillusioned quickly if these events do not result in real opportunities to serve their world.

3. The church will return to its ancient roots

If it’s new, it’s probably not truth. If its truth, it’s probably not new. I believe the ancient, yet simple recipe of local church will return. We will gather often, read the Scriptures, worship intently, pray fervently, be led by servants, live authentically, and honor the Sacraments. For sure, we will continue to be creative and inventive, but not at the expense of the ancient structure which has transcended all generations for over 2000 years.

4. The church will return to wonder and awe

The churches that embrace the supernatural nature of God will see the most growth and have the most influence in the coming decade. Good preaching, trendy stage sets, and clever videos will not be enough in the next ten years because people want to see God intervene more and more in the affairs of the earth with miracles and healings. Sound theology must prevail and we must not return to our sloppy Charismatic tendencies, but we must also embrace the mysterious and risky nature of God and not be afraid of wonder and awe. While the Holy Spirit may be unpredictable, the results are always predictable – people will find God, people will be healed and people will discover real freedom.


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Seven Favorite Memories of New Life

July 6, 2009 / / 4 Comments /

I am approaching my two-year anniversary at New Life and I have been reflecting lately on all that has happened to me and to the church in such a short period of time. It seems we have packed ten years worth of experience into the past 24 months.  Certainly, there have been some dark days, but there have also been some funny and memorable events that I will never forget.

 

7. President Bush shakes my hand

A few months after the shooting on the campus, the White House contacted my office asking me and Jeanne Assam to meet President Bush in Denver.  He was sincerely moved by the story at New Life and wanted to tell us personally how proud he was of the church and the community. Watching Air Force One land and seeing the president come down the steps was magical and a memory I will never forget.

 

6.  The fire alarm goes off at the end of the 11am service.

Pastor Ross was just wrapping up a great talk about serving in our city, when the fire alarm went off and forced several thousand people to evacuate. It was as if God was telling us to get out of the building and go be salt and light. There was no fire, but we will always remember the big ending to the service.

 

5.  The porcupine in the petting zoo

It is true – we had a porcupine in the kid’s petting zoo for Hallelujah Night in 2007.  Kids were not allowed to touch the prickly critter, but it was funny that a porcupine was next to sheep and baby goats in the little indoor zoo we had created.

 

4.   Kill the Devil T-shirts

This was the best selling T-shirt at last year’s Desperation Conference when over 4000 students came to our campus to worship and pursue God. Everyone was wearing t-shirts that read, “Kill the Devil”. While it is theologically impossible for the Devil to be killed, it did make for a killer t-shirt.

 

3. Wait No More

In November 2008, over 1300 people from across the state of Colorado came to our campus to kick off Wait No More, an ambitious ministry idea birthed at Focus on the Family. We challenged the 3000 churches of Colorado to adopt the 750 children in the state’s foster system that were waiting for homes. That number is now under 500 and we believe that soon Colorado will have a waiting list of parents wanting children rather than a waiting list of children hoping for parents.

 

2. The Thorn

This year was my first Thorn experience and it was life-changing.  Over a thousand volunteers worked for months to produce a Broadway quality musical complete with pyrotechnics, dancers, scary centurions, acrobats on ropes, and the debut of Doubting Thomas. Hundreds of people committed their lives to Christ and over 35,000 came during the Easter season to see the eight performances.

 

Number 1 – The Wednesday Night Family Meeting

Three days after a shooting on our campus, our tribe of people gathered for a time of mourning and remembrance for those who lost their lives. In the midst of great sorrow, hope arose from the ashes. At the end of the meeting, the worship team sang, “Overcome” and heaven literally came to the earth inside our packed Living Room. We sang the song with a holy defiance. We were determined that God was for us and that nothing could take the lamp stand from New Life that He had placed among us.  When we were at our weakest moment, God became strong among us.

 

There are numerous great memories of my time here at New Life, but these seven came to mind today. Some are just things that appeal to my bizarre sense of humor and others are a reminder that God often leads on paths that are dangerous, mysterious and risky, but will always give us joy for the journey.

 

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