Paying Staff Well

Just wanted to remind folks at The Bridge that we are in this thing for the long haul. Our goal has always been to create a Biblical community where long term relationships are essential as people learn how to love God and love other people. As I look around the country (and I do look), the best churches at getting this done keep their top staff people in tact for a long period of time. Matt Chandler is going to stay at The Village in the Dallas area for a long time (http://www.thevillagechurch.net/), Steven Furtick is committed long term to Elevation Church in Charlotte, NC (http://www.elevationchurch.org/), and I am in this for the duration at The Bridge. There are hundreds of others and it is important to note that these pastors are not in this to move to a bigger and better church. They believe that God has called them to revolutionize the communities that they planted churches in. These churches need to pay their senior leadership well enough that there should never be a day when that pastor is sweating how he is going to pay his bills. You might be interested in this article that shows the average amount that is paid for quality church leadership: http://www.christianpost.com/article/20080819/church-pastors-pay-rises-to-more-than-80-000.htm.
While it is true that I have so far never accepted a nickel in salary so that we could get this church up and running with all of the ministries needed to deliver the Great Commission to St. Francois County, there may be a day when I will need to. But even if we are not talking about me, we must pay our God-supplied quality staff well enough to let them know that we want them here long term for long term growth and relationships. All of the leaders at the best churches in America share that philosophy. I can assure you that none of the current leadership at The Bridge is in this for the money, so we need to be diligent and take care of those who have been called to lead God's flock. We need to tithe faithfully and then be cutting edge in taking care of a quality staff. It is sure sign of a church that does not have IT for the membership to be constantly moaning about what any particular staff member makes when the people who set such things are doing so by Biblical and God-centered selfless attitudes. Our church has not done that, but we are going to have to up the ante here someday soon from a fledgling church plant to an established Kingdom factor in all areas including this one.

Reflection

I was just thinking back to this time last year when God was really pushing us to set aside our personal agendas and serve others. Think about all of the amazing things that God has done through his servants since then. Remember Bridging Back where we took an entire week's offering and gave it away to our attenders just to give it away to people in need. Remember Advent Conspiracy where our attenders spent less on Christmas presents and focused more on Christ, then gave thousands of dollars to Project Chacocente. There have been dozens of electric bills paid, cars fixed, jobs found, prayers for healing lifted, and many other random acts of kindness here locally thru GAP. Then, 25 people put together enough money over and above their tithe and building gifts to travel to Chacocente, Nicaragua to serve some people in need that they had never met. We will have relationship with these people for the rest of our lives; they are siblings in Christ. Now, our big focus is to sacrificially give of our time and money to build a spiritual epicenter for our county, our Sprung building. People have already sacrificially given enough to buy 10 acres of prime land on the 67 corridor. Our epicenter will be located 11 minutes from every corner of St. Francois County and will be the perfect location to go and "feed the hungry, give cups of cold water, heal the sick, visit the prisoner, provide shelter to the homeless" -- all of the things that Christ commands in the Great Adventure of Matthew 25. It looks like the start date for construction will be October 1.

I believe that we are the quintessential missional church. Our Great Adventure Project that is about to get off of the ground in a big way (it has already been responsible for all of the above ministry) is going to be a model for the evangelical church world. God asks us to risk big for His sake, and so we are going to keep pushing the bar of risk to fulfill the mission that He has challenged us with in the Great Commission.

Matt's Poems

My cell family is very diverse. We range from 83-year-old widows to 28-year-old ex-cons. We have married people, divorced people, joyful people, and downtrodden people. We have very spiritually mature and some that are not even sure about the existence of God. We have carpenters, pastors, social workers, welders, teachers, housewives, and folks retired from careers but not from the church.

Matt Phillips is one of this magnificent group of people. He went to prison when he was in the military and he wrote some poetry while he was there. I thought you might enjoy reading his work.

"His Hands"

In His hands,
Is a place of protection
to take away our fears.
A place of comfort
to wipe away our tears.

With His hands,
He provides us strength
to carry us through.
He gives us guidance
in all the things we do.

By His hands,
He created every thing
from His throne above.
He was nailed to the cross
to show us His great love.

His hands,
Redeemed us from the grave
and gives us eternal life.
Cleanses us with His blood
and makes us snow white.


"What I Went Through"

In my home town you rejected me,
My brothers were ashamed.
You tried to confine me
Claiming I was insane.

I did the works of my Father
Before your very eyes,
Yet you called it blasphemy
And thought I told lies.

I was chased from your towns.
My head, it was sought.
You wanted to imprison me
For the Word that I taught.

With a kiss on the cheek
You turned me over to the guards.
Thirty silver coins,
You claimed as a reward.

I was cursed at and spitted on
Sentenced by my own children.
Flogged many times by the whip
My body was stricken.

My hands and my feet,
To the cross were nailed.
While you laughed and joked,
Mocked me and yelled.

Crown of thorns on my head,
Blood soaking in my hair.
My chest was collapsing
While I gasped for some air.

Broken, battered, and bruised.
One step away from death.
I slowly closed my eyes
And took one last breath.

My love was much stronger
Than the pain I went through,
But the choice was all mine,
And I did it For you!

Matthew Phillips

Loved

I feel extraordinarily loved by our Father today. I always know that He loves me, and I always sense His presence. His love is overflowing today.

I sat with a man last night that needs God's love very badly. He has made a wreck of his life with a series of bad decisions. The Good News is that Jesus Christ can wipe away that past and make him a new creation in a split second. I pray that God's grace and mercy fall on this man today.

Debit Card Machines in the Church

OK. I am wrestling around with something weird today. That happens to weird people, I guess. I just read an article that 40% of the group of people that tend to come to The Bridge are headed to never using cash or writing a check in their daily lives. They basically will do everything online electronically. So, I am starting the conversation with our staff about putting a debit card machine in the welcome area of the new facility. This is a risky adventure because it is so cutting edge, but the study thinks that churches that do not provide this option may be costing themselves as much as 30% in their giving, and that number is going to skyrocket as checks and cash become more antiquated.
Since we do so much training thru the Treasure Principle and Crown to have people either destroying their credit cards or being ultimately disciplined with them, I am torn in my feelings about this issue. If we think and pray very carefully about this though, could our extensive training actually allow us to do this? Offering envelopes were a very controversial new tool in the 1890's, and I think that we will look back on this 30 years from now and laugh that we ever hestitated to do it. We are a cutting edge church that teaches strong Biblical concepts and that includes our worshipful giving to God. Could it not be just as worshipful to swipe a card as write a check? What is the difference really?
My sister gets criticism from her pastor about giving her tithe from her online banking account. She tells him that since we are commanded to give a certain percentage of gross income to the local church that this process helps her in the spiritual discipline and worship to do so. He is struggling not seeing the gift hit the gold plate that they pass, but why could it not be just worshipful to click a mouse as it is to write a check and plate it? Interesting question.
There is also the danger that the general public will be suspicious that we are only interested in people's money, but if they hang around and give us a little chance they will see that is quite honestly a ridiculous notion.
We will not be putting them on the ends of our rows of chairs or on the altar, but I am feeling like this probably needs to happen. Please pray about it, and let's talk real soon about what you hear from God. The WCA will put the $1500 technology in for us free, so there is no investment. I think that this is probably going to happen and it will feel strange for a little while, but then it will feel just like the envelopes that we no longer think anything about.