pastorgeorge.com

Change is Good – Part 6

The sixth benefit of change – Excellence is redefined

What is excellence? Well, the way I define it is doing your best. It's not about how you measure up to someone else or trying to outdo another person. It's about me doing the best I can do.

What I've discovered is that after I've done something a certain way for a long time then it just becomes second nature to me. I'm no longer pushed or stretched, and I end up settling into a routine. And that routine can lead to doing things just mediocre.

So I need some change to come along to cause me to kick things up another notch or two, to rethink whatever I'm doing, to look at things differently and hopefully redefine excellence.

Hey, I'm a phlegmatic, easy going, leave things the way they are kind of person. So change is not something I always welcome and certainly not something I pursue. But if change can help kick my butt in gear to grow and improve, then I guess I'm all for it.

Change is good - Part 5

The fifth benefit of change - growth is the result

I've discovered that even though change is often hard and many times met with resistance, if I choose to embrace change I discover new opportunities to grow. I've also discovered that if I'm not changing I'm not growing.

At the local health club where I work out I was talking with one of the fitness instructors the other day. I was actually picking up on a previous conversation we had earlier. He asked me what I was working on that day. He could probably tell that just about anywhere I started would be a good place.

But anyway he suggested I try doing biceps and back one day and triceps and chest the next. Then the other day I saw him and asked him about this to make sure I had it straight. He said "Yeah, that's right, but keep mixing it up. Do different patterns and different machines so you can keep your muscles guessing."

The idea behind this is our muscles have memory and if we always do the same thing our muscles get use to it and as a result they stop growing. So now I'm trying to mix it up, change it around, do different stuff. And wow! The results are amazing! You'd have to see it to believe it! Maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration but anyway, you get the point.

What is true about physical exercise is also true about life in general – emotionally, mentally, and just in how I go about living my life. When change comes along, if I can somehow embrace it, often growth is the result.

Ok, I need to finish up this muffin and mocha and get over to the gym. Hmmm, maybe I need to make some diet changes, too.

Change is Good Part 4

The fourth benefit of change – New ways of doing thing begin to surface

Not only do ruts keep us from developing new skills and abilities they also keep us from discovering new ways of doing things. Change changes all of that.

For example at the church I pastor we baptize people by immersion – completely under water. Four years ago when we moved into our first building, we designed our baptistery so that it was behind two sliding doors on the back wall center stage. If you were raised in a church or even spent much time in one that does full immersion baptisms then you know what I mean.

Well, about a year after that we began adding more creative elements to our weekend services and teaching time. One of those was actually designing sets to go along with the message series. The only problem was we had baptisms every four weeks and we always had to work around the set and eventually design something that could be easily moved or didn't block the doors. Obviously that totally limited what we could do.

So we had to make a decision – stop doing creative stuff or stop doing baptisms. I opted for canning the baptisms – just kidding. But what we did do was come up with a creative way to do them. We yanked the big tub out of the wall, encased it in wood – kind of made it look like a casket – that's appropriate, put wheels on it, and put it out on the floor. Now when we do baptisms it is not so far removed from the people. Now friends and family members actually come up and gather around and join in the celebration. There's singing, clapping, and people are spontaneously getting baptized in the clothes they wore to church. Now, rather than being a stuffy ceremony, baptisms are awesome celebrations.

Change helped us discover a new, more exciting way of doing something we had been doing one way for 15 years! With change, new ways of doing things begin to surface.

Change is Good Part 3

The third benefit of change – Abilities are developed

Sometimes I find that I get in a rut and end up doing things the same old way all the time. But when change interrupts my routine and I have to find new ways of doing things, I find that sometimes new abilities are developed too.

For example a few years ago at our church we began using various creative elements to help communicate the message. For example we did a series on Philippians and in the opening message I wore shackles on my wrists throughout the talk. That meant I couldn't rely on my notes at all. I practically had to memorize the whole thing. Now I find that for many messages whether my hands are in shackles or boxing gloves (that was another message on dealing with conflict) I can often go without burying my face in my notes.

In times of change the abilities of others are developed, too. Recently one of my associate pastors who shared a lot of teaching responsibilities with me resigned. I loved him and miss him but it has opened the door and provided some great opportunities for other staff members to do some teaching in our weekend services.

So now when change is on the horizon one of the positive ways of looking at it is to look for the opportunities to develop some new skills and abilities.

Change is Good Part 2

The second benefit of change - Habits are broken

Some habits are good and some are bad. Good or bad, times of change can also be opportunities to discover new ways of doing things

We just recently changed our weekend service schedule from having four Sunday services (3 in the morning and one in the evening) to where we now have five (two on Saturday evening and three on Sunday morning.)

For years I have been in a routine, I have developed the habit of studying my Sunday message up until about 7:00 pm and then going to bed and getting up around 4:00 am on Sunday morning to study some more and pray. (Mostly study and review notes. I had to add prayer because that makes me sound more spiritual.)

When we moved Sunday evening to Saturday I had to develop a whole new pattern and break some habits I had established. This change forced me to do that and I love it. Now I study on and off throughout the day on Saturday in order to be ready by 4:30 pm, our first Saturday evening service. This change is awesome. Now I don't have to go to bed so dang early and get up at the ungodly hour of 4:00 am. In fact, now after the Saturday evening service I occasionally make the four minute drive to our local health club and sit in the steam room, sauna, and hot tub for about an hour and then get a great night's sleep with the alarm set at a more reasonable hour – 6:00 am.

Change is good because it can force us to break some habits (good and bad) and look at different ways of doing things. Habits are broken and new opportunities are opened up to us.

Ok, I'm off to the steam room!

Change is Good Part 1

I think a lot of people are like me – we like the way things are and we are not too quick to embrace change. Over the years, however, as I've pastored the same church for the last 19 years, I've learned to expect, adjust, and even embrace change.

Our church has gone through a lot of changes over the past year. We've had changes in staff, we've added services, we've added venues, we launched a second campus, and then there were all of the changes that came with these changes.

So a few weeks ago I shared with our staff some thoughts about some of the benefits of change so I thought I'd share them with you, too. Plus I NEED TO GET BACK TO BLOGGING.

Based on the word "CHANGE" I'll take the next six blog entrees to write about them.

Commitment is tested, especially if it is a change we don't like

Years ago I was I was fired from one of my first ministries. I was only 23 years old. (It wasn't my fault!) That was a huge change that took place in my life and it tested my commitment to stay in ministry. I really contemplated that if this is what ministry is all about then, "no thanks," I think I'll take a pass.

I'm so happy my better judgment won out and I stayed in ministry. Now that I can look back on that excruciatingly painful time in my life, I can see how God used it not only to test me but also to bless me. I ended up in a wonderful ministry that lasted 8 years and where I developed friendships that are still special to be today.

It also prepared me for the time I would start Abundant Life Church and the changes that would eventually come with this ministry.

Change is good because commitment is tested in change and it causes us to do some serious introspection.
"Should I stay or go?"
"Do I really want to deal with this?"
"Can I change in order to keep up with the pace of growth?"

What change are you facing in your life right now? How is your commitment being tested? Will you stay committed to your spouse? Will you stay committed to your family? Will you stay committed to your vision? Will you stay committed to God?

Change! It does test our commitment.