Over the past twelve months one of my writing highlights was releasing a popular book that is helping to re-focus willing hearts to a new way of seeing outreach as something we live out in response to Jesus’ invitations to us (Outflow, Group, 2007).

Perhaps an equally huge thrill was the blogging article I wrote that was published on Rick Warren’s Pastor’s Toolkit some months ago entitled, Do You Want To Be Original Or Effective? I wrote that article with church launchers in mind, but thought some currently “stuck” communicators could draw strength from the ideas contained there. If you happened to read it, you might remember it stirred up something of a hornets nest.

Of the many responses I received directly (which was only a fraction of the responses - most of the responders chose to take their words to the internet, to ezines, or even the national radio scene!) Not surprisingly, those who were “upset” were nearly 100% of one sort - seminary professors. Needless to say, I was encouraging communicators to become effective by disregarding much / most of what they had learned that was outright ineffective in seminary. If what they learned was so effective wouldn’t the current situation / outcome they found themselves in be quite different, after all? There’s nothing like a professor who has either never preached regularly or who has been out of the loop of preaching to be elevated to the post of professor to shape the minds of men and women entering into the ministry.

To quote one mentor of mine who taught at one of the most respected seminaries in the U.S. for several decades - this was his quote not long before retiring and pondering his years in the seminary scene: “There is nothing wrong with the current seminary system for training effective Church leaders with this exception - we are training the wrong people in the wrong way with the wrong information at the wrong time in their lives in the wrong context. Other than that, we pretty much have it figured out.” I won’t use his name but I suspect you have read a book or two of his.

I have one regret in releasing the piece I am referring to: That I didn’t insist on explaining all that I meant and left some ideas hanging which allowed those prone to thinking the worst, those prone to hoping the worst to run wild with the “Chicken Little” message we often hear in Church circles - “The sky is falling, the sky is falling…”

Truthfully, the sky is falling - or better yet, it has fallen…upon many whose churches have at best plateaued, but in most cases are declining. Why the decline? Read this next line carefully (or better yet several times) - there are two things people will not put up with in any church for more than a few weeks at the very most -

1. A shabby nursery…; and

2. A poor weekend message.

Normally I publish only three posts a week. This week I am releasing five on this super important topic.

Know this - I am also about to release an ebook on this topic - how to raise your speaking level from a level 3 to a level 8 - referring to the potential 10 point scale.

Until tomorrow…