By Lin Wurzbacher on
12/28/2011 8:48 PM
A lot of Church Planters and Senior Pastors often write about how horrifically hard this type of ministry can be. And I agree, it is often really, really hard. But there is one thing you rarely here leaders talk about and that's the joy, joy, joy that is also found in doing this ministry!
Why Joy? Because in my opinion, there is no more satisfying work in all the world than is the work of serving our Holy Lord! Ohhhh, soo very satisfying. Words can not come close to describing the overwhelming, pure joy I feel at times.
When I see someone find Christ for the first time! (And I see their joy!)
When I see someone have an aha moment with the Lord that leads to much growth!
When I see a husband and wife forgive each other for horrific things!
When I see people unselfishly reaching out to others in the name of Jesus!
When I know God has used me to help someone!
When I see evidence of the Living God time after time in the lives of others!
When I get to walk...
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By Lin Wurzbacher on
10/25/2011 9:43 AM
I woke up this morning thinking about Shaun King and his wife.
I'm sure he was much on my mind because right before I went to bed last night, I read THIS (his story about his recent resigning as the pastor of Courageous Church in Atlanta, GA).
I have been reading Shaun's blog for over 3 years now. He planted Courageous Church in Atlanta in January of 2009. They saw very rapid growth and I was quite shocked to hear about the recent turn of events.
And I was also saddened to read Rai King (Shaun's wife)'s blog on her perspective. My heart goes out to this family and to this church.
There is no judgment on my part towards Shaun & Rai, only empathy. In the past nine years of being the senior pastor of the church I planted, I'm sure my husband and I have felt all of the raw emotions they...
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By Lin Wurzbacher on
10/14/2011 8:26 AM
They say a leader's first job is to define reality. That's what I've been trying hard to do with the present status of our church recently. Asking the hard questions: How are we doing? Where exactly are we? Are we healthy? Are we growing? What's working? What's not working? What's the next step?
Of course, there is a ton of prayer that is wrapped around every part of this process.
But then there is this challenging quest to find tangibles that define the spiritual. This is where it gets difficult because so much of what we do is impossible to measure in tangible ways. Some things are 'immeasurable' and other things are impossible to place a value around.
But we need to do the best we can with what we have so we try to use what we know.
The first question I want to answer is: Is BHCC church growing? And if so, at what rate? Fortunately, there are finally some reliable studies and resources out there to draw from. These things were not there when we first planted this church. Here's...
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By Lin Wurzbacher on
9/22/2011 7:15 AM
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By Lin Wurzbacher on
8/14/2011 7:16 AM
Last week I attended the Global Leadership Summit satelite version. There was a large gathering of other local senior pastors and leaders at this event. Every year I feel very torn about whether or not to attend and some years I do and some years, I don't!
Conferences almost always leave me with all kinds of conflicting feelings, both good and bad, but this particular one always leaves me with many strong, negative emotions to process.
It has everything to do with the fact that it is a gathering of local pastors, and I know many of them and have for many years. Here we are being incredibly inspired by the conference speakers to be Christ-like, and to be humble and vulnerable and forgiving and peace makers; and then we go on a break and I run into pastors I know who won't talk to me, won't say hello and even turn the other way when they see me coming.
If you don't me, you might think, oh wow, what kind of crazy person is this that gets that kind of response from other pastors? Well, first...
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By Lin Wurzbacher on
6/9/2011 7:29 PM
Thought I'd share some of the top, most meaningful advice that I've received through the years about Church Planting:
1.) The surest way to fail is by trying to please everyone.
2.) Sometimes you have to let people that you love.... leave.
3.) The church is not a destination, but instead more like an airport that gets people from one place to another. (Alan Hirsch)
4.) Don't put people in leadership positions too quickly. (Everyone)
5.) Don't try to be like other churches or other pastors; be who God made YOU!
6.) The people who are suppose to stay will stay. (Mary Molino)
7.) Don't pull the trigger slowly. (Tony Liston)
8.) It seems people don't necesssarily remember what they are told of God's love, but they never forget what they have experienced of God's love. (Steve Sjogren)
9.) Just be a Shepherd and feed my sheep. (God)
10.) Be a purpose driven church (Rick Warren)
11.) What makes a leader a leader...
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By Lin Wurzbacher on
5/16/2011 8:38 AM
According to the Bible, what determines whether or not someone should be / is a pastor?
Is it education? College Degrees? Age? Meeting demoninational standards? Popularity? Experience? Gender? :-)
What determines whether or not someone should be a pastor, elder or spiritual leader in God's Church has everything to do with the calling, choosing and anointing of God Himself!
How did the mainstream church's thinking get so twisted in this country? How do people rationalize what the Bible says verses the way we've 'institutionalized' God's church?
Jesus called His disciples.(And He still does.) He 'called' ordinary, uneducated people. Their credentials weren't from some name-dropping institution. Their credentials were that they had a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Their credentials were that they had been personally called and then trained by Jesus Himself.
I'm not anti-education by any means. But I do believe that there is an over-focus on formal...
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By Lin Wurzbacher on
4/30/2011 4:44 PM
My family gave me a Kindle a few weeks ago as a birthday present. I wasn't sure if I was going to like it at first, being that the writer in me LOVES holding books in my hands! But truth be told, I quickly learned to LOVE my Kindle!
I love the fact that I can instantly download any book! And it's so easy to be reading 5 or 6 books at one time without cluttering up much space. I've downloaded about 10 church leader type books in the last few weeks and I'm absolutely thrilled to be absorbing so much great information.
My absolute favorite book so far is a book called "Sun Stand Still" by Steven Furtick. (Subtitle: What happens when you dare to ask God for the impossible.)
All I can say is, WOW, what an amazing book! It's a wonderful reminder of what it means to have a HUGE, God-sized faith and vision for what God can do with any of us, if we'll just believe God to do the impossible.
It...
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By Lin Wurzbacher on
3/31/2011 7:12 AM
I recently listened to a webinar where yet another senior pastor from a growing mega-church (down south) describes the 'magic formula' he used to make his church a huge success.
There are tons of church leadership books, conferences and seminars out there where these pastors and churches are lifted up like rock stars and they can't wait to tell all of us how to build a megachurch just like them. The implied message from them is that if we too will simply apply their strategies and magic formula on how to build a church, we too can have a megachurch and be a rock star pastor, as if that's what we're all striving to be.
There's so much wrong with the message they are sending out to pastors and church planters in America. We have let the corporate America thinking penetrate the Church at large and it's so not what God has called the church to be. I just wish it hadn't taken me so long to figure out because it has corrupted my thinking for too many years.
Way too many church planters go into...
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By Lin Wurzbacher on
3/21/2011 9:35 AM
There are so many different parts and roles of being a pastor. I (in the flesh) would never, ever have chosen this life or this role in life for myself. It's hard, even impossible most of the time (without the power of God).
Senior pastors today are expected to be great leaders, shepherds, care-takers, preachers, technology experts, teachers, developers of leaders, savvy business leaders, financial experts, administrative gurus, biblical scholars, writers, evangelists, visionaries, vision casters, recruiters, and on and on it goes.
I would not do this if I was not totally compelled by God and completely convinced that this is what He has called me to do!
Yes, there are many parts of being a pastor that I truly love and absolutely enjoy doing! But there are other parts about being a pastor that I totally dislike and so wish I could get out of doing. ...
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