change

5 Gospel Perspectives That Shape Lives

/ Dennis Griffith / Leave a comment

Tim Lane & Paul Tripp, in their helpful book How People Change, suggest that there are 5 Gospel Perspectives that shape lives.  In other words when we understand these principles, and regularly consider our own lives in relation to them, we see change.  These principles, considered collectively,  cultivate the best conditions to see fruitful sanctification.

  1. The need to recognize that God calls for ongoing and continual growth and change in all of us.
  2. The need to understand the extent and gravity of our sin.
  3. The need to understand that the heart is central; that behavior and attitude is a reflection of the heart.
  4. The need to understand the present benefits of Christ.
  5. The need to live a Lifestyle of Repentance & Faith

If you are curious, you might want to check out an interview with Lane & Tripp, where they describe their motivation for writing the book, and explain how to apply the gospel to real life to bring about real change: Interview

I Want Change

/ Dennis Griffith / 5 Comments

Change is inevitable, but it is not always pleasant.  But perhaps even less pleasant than unexpected change is the lack of change when it is desired and needed – particularly change in ourselves and in our spiritual development.  The questions are common: How Can I Change? When Will I Change? 

C.J. Mahaney & Robin Boisvert have written a helpful little book that addresses these very questions.  Here is an excperpt from the Foreword:

“In a day when quick solutions to longstanding problems are too easily offered, we wish to recommend the old paths, having found them tried and true. There is no short course to Christian maturity. There is no cross-less way to follow Christ, no instant secret to the Christian life. But like distance running, if the way of the cross is not easy, neither is it complicated. God presents us with a pathway that is narrow yet straight. He makes his ways plain to those who are sincerely interested in following him, and he will show himself strong on behalf of all whose hearts are fully his.

Although our vigorous effort is required, all growth is by his grace. With that wonderful truth as our starting block, let us press on toward the mark, each confident that ‘he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.’ (Philippians 1:6).”

Thanks to Sovereign Grace Ministrires, this little book is available in .pdf for FREE.  Click on the Chapter Titles to read or download:

Introduction

  1. Caught in the Gap Trap
  2. Where It All Begins
  3. United With Christ
  4. The Battle Against Sin
  5. Tools of the Trade – Part 1
  6. Tools of the Trade – Part 2
  7. Living for That Final Day

Appendices

  • Appendix A – Different Roads to Holiness
  • Appendix B – The Old Man and the Flesh 

Leading Lasting Changes

/ Dennis Griffith / 2 Comments

At Walnut Hill Church we are blessed with a strong tradition and a membership with a high level of satisfaction.  Like most ministries and organizations we have our share of folks who express varying degrees of dissatisfaction – some because we are experiencing growth & change, and others because we have not changed & grown quickly enough.

Change is inevitable but it is also uncomfortable.

For one thing, not all change is good. Degeneration is a change of condition, but it is not something I want to experience in my health or my church.

But even good changes can make some people uncomfortable.  Change marks the passing of something familiar.  It is a constant reminder that nothing remains the same, and we cannot always go back. So when change occurs, even good change, it disturbs our nostalgia.

The key words for the leader concerning change are: effective, positive, and lasting.

Harvard professor John Kotter outlines 8 stages of effective change:

1. Establish a Sense of Urgency

  • Examine market and competitive realities
  • Identify and discuss crises, potential crises or major opportunities

2. Developing the Guiding Coalition

  • Assemble a group with enough power to lead the change effort
  • Encourage the group to work as a team

3. Developing a Vision & Strategy

  • Create a vision to help direct the change effort
  • Develop strategies for achieving that vision

4. Communicating the Change Vision

  • Use every vehicle possible to communicate the new vision and strategies
  • Teach new behaviors by the example of the Guiding Coalition

 5. Empowering Broad-based Action

  • Remove obstacles to change
  • Change systems or structures that seriously undermine the vision
  • Encourage the risk-taking and nontraditional ideas, activities, and actions

6. Generating Short-term Wins

  • Plan for visible performance improvements
  • Create those improvements
  • Recognize and reward employees involved in the improvements

7. Don’t Let Up: Consolidating Gains & Produce More Change

  • Use increased credibility to change systems, structures and policies that don’t fit the vision
  • Hire, promote, and develop employees who can implement the vision
  • Reinvigorate the process with new projects, themes, and change agents

8. Make Change Stick: Anchoring New Approaches in the Culture

  • Articulate the connections between the new behaviors and organizational success
  • Develop the means to ensure leadership development and succession

These steps come from the business world, but church & ministry leaders would be wise to consider and apply these principles to our own situations.

Lutheran leader Steve Goodwin, in a 2005 interview, said:

 “I see so many pastors making the mistakes John Kotter wrote about 20 years ago.”

In an article for Leadership Journal, titled Before You Introduce Change, Bruce Boria observes that most pastors make the mistake of beginning at stage 4.

Boria explains:

I’ve found [Kotter’s] process has substantial implications for guiding change in my church.

In Kotter’s opinion the first three steps are necessary to defrost a hardened status quo. Steps four to seven introduce a number of new practices. And the last step grounds the changes into the organization’s culture.

As pastor of Walnut Hill Church I have intentionally embraced a slow approach to change.  This church was not ailing when I came in, so I wanted to affirm the positives that already existed and pre-dated my arrival.

At the same time, because nothing remains the same, and because there are issues that require strategic attention, change is a necessity. With Kotter’s principles in mind, the questions I am asking are these:

  • How do we cultivate a sense of need and urgency in a congregation widely satisfied with the way things have, for the most part, always been?
  • How do we create a hunger for a better future?

Until we get a handle on these questions no pithy mission or vision statements will produce positive lasting changes.  Instead, I suspect, we will find ourselves reminded of the poetic words of the Bard of Ayrshire: “The best laid plans of mice and men often go astray.”

The Times They Are A-Changin’

/ Dennis Griffith / 1 Comment

With proper dues to Bob Dylan, “The times they are a-changin'”.   I found that glaringly evident when, earlier this week, someone sent me the following video that was oringianlly presented to a gathering of SONY executives.

When I watch this video I find myself wondering about the implications for the church, especially as it relates to our mission to extend the Gospel to the ends of the Earth.  Some things are exciting, others a little unnerving.  See what you think.

I’d be interested in any thoughts that come to mind.