Tag Archives: leadership development

Preach the Word 2013: Preaching God’s Two Words || Justin Holcomb

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bookI’m at the Preach the Word conference through Acts 29 today and as always, posting my notes to the sessions I attend.

One of the speakers is Justin Holcomb. His topic was an incredibly important theological topic when it comes to preaching: preaching God’s 2 words – law and gospel. Justin used Galatians 3:1 – 3, 10 – 14 as his text.

Justin is a pastor at Mars Hill Church, where he serves as Executive Director of The Resurgence and leads the Leadership Development department. He is also Adjunct Professor of Theology and Culture at Reformed Theological Seminary and previously taught at the University of Virginia. Justin holds two masters degrees from Reformed Theological Seminary and a Ph.D. from Emory University. He and his wife Lindsey are the authors of Rid of My Disgrace: Hope and Healing for Victims of Sexual Assault, and he his new book is On the Grace of God.

Here are some things that jumped out in his talk:

  • It is important to understand how law and gospel relate as both are from God. 
  • If we mess up the relationship between the law and the gospel, we are corrupting the core of the Christian faith.
  • When we miss this, we miss the core of the gospel.
  • We know from Scripture that Christ died to set us free.
  • Christ fulfilled the law perfectly.
  • Christ was raised from the dead for our justification.
  • We have been set free from the bondage of sin, the fear of death. We are called what Jesus was, pure and perfect.
  • The gospel has no condemnation.
  • Thesis 1: the doctrinal contents of the Holy Scripture, both of the Old Testament and the New Testament are made up of two doctrines different fundamentally from each other – the Law and the Gospel.
  • The law condemns and the gospel comforts.
  • The law is everything that commands, the gospel is everything that promises favor in Christ.
  • The problem is not with God’s law, but with us.
  • The law directs and the gospel delivers.
  • The 10 commandments are the summary of the law.
  • The law can’t heal what it diagnosis.
  • The law of God is perfect, true and righteous. It is holy, right and good.
  • The law can do nothing to create what it commands (Romans 7).
  • The function of the law is not to generate obedience, grace is.
  • God’s law and God’s gospel are two different words with two different functions.
  • The law tells us the truth but fails to convey the power to fulfill what it commands.
  • The gospel is the good news is that Jesus’ burden is light and there is no more “no” as that went to Jesus on the cross.
  • The gospel reveals God’s goodness, his mercy and his benefits.
  • Jesus took the law very seriously. He came to fulfill it, not abolish it.
  • Jesus summarizes the law in Matthew 22 by telling us to love God with all of us and love our neighbor as yourself.
  • Jesus commands love of God all the time.
  • Jesus doesn’t just summarizes the law, he intensifies it. The sermon on the mount (Matthew 5-7) is a great example of this. “You have heard it said…”
  • Jesus goes past the outward evidence of obedience to get to our heart.
  • Jesus’ call to be perfect is to give up what we worship so we can worship Jesus.
  • Thesis #2: Only he is an orthodox teacher who not only presents all articles of faith in accordance with Scripture, but also rightly distinguishes from each other the Law and the Gospel.
  • Law and gospel go together and in that order.
  • When we use the law to look good, it isn’t to get what Jesus gives us.
  • We can’t have the law without the gospel, but we can’t have the gospel without the law.
  • Forgiveness means never bringing it up.
  • Don’t replace the ministry of the Holy Spirit with law or exhortations motivating the human spirit.
  • Your goal in preaching is not to motivate someone.
  • Exhortation is not yelling or shaming.
  • Thesis #3: Rightly distinguishing the Law and the Gospel is the most difficult and the highest art of Christians in general and of theologians in particular. It is taught only by the Holy Spirit in the school of experience.
  • The only appropriate response to law and gospel is repentance.

Great opening session.

Links I Like

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Links I Like is a collection of blogs, articles and books I’ve come across recently and thought they were worth sharing. Click here for past Links I Like. 
  1. Forbes Magazine on The #1 reason leadership development fails.
  2. Brian Tracy on 7 habits of successful people.
  3. 4 simple things to keep in mind as you plan 2013.

Here’s a helpful video to get you started in 2013 on the art of stress-free productivity.

Links I Like

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Links I Like is a collection of blogs, articles and books I’ve come across recently and thought they were worth sharing. Click here for past Links I Like. 

6 Qualities to Look for in Developing Leaders

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Pastors and leaders are always on the lookout for younger leader to invest in. People who are worth developing, hiring, etc. At Revolution, one of our goals is to hire from within our church, to raise up pastors and leaders from within those who attend Revolution instead of outside of it.

In his book Relational Intelligence, Steve Saccone gives 6 qualities you should look for a leader worth developing, hiring or spending time with:

  1. Generative. They willingly serve others with a positive attitude of love and helpfulness, as they generate good. They consistently maintain a generative spirit as they strive to love others well. They embody what Jesus embodies – they live to serve, not to be served. They seek to give, not to take. They unselfishly offer their time for other people who in turn unselfishly give their time away for still others. And when necessary, they sacrifice for others with authentic, selfless love.
  2. Grateful. They value people’s time and resources and even express it. Thank you is part of their regular vocabulary. They see every ounce of investment that a person gives them as an undeserved gift. They don’t demand anything, and what others give is always more than enough.
  3. Teachable. They sustain a consistent humble posture, and a strong desire to grow. It’s not just that they want to learn knowledge; they open up their lives to learning from people through relationship, and their learning changes them. They are humble enough to receive advice, suggestions, and input from others.
  4. Missional. They live with conviction for their mission. They believe they have a calling, a significant contribution to make, and that something must be done to bring change in the world. They are focused and drive to pursue the cause they believe in.
  5. Strategic. They think wisely and intentionally about how to use their time well, rather than being cause or even flippant with how they spend it. They strive to expend their best efforts on people who can multiply their impact and advance their mission.
  6. Resilient. They are able to keep going when the going gets tough. Giving up is not an option. They realize that in order to accomplish their mission they must push through obstacles and challenges that hinder progress and forward movement. We want to invest in people who are going to be successful, and successful people don’t give up when it’s hard.

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Saturday Afternoon Book Review: Effective Staffing for Vital Churches

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On most Saturday afternoons, I share a review of the most recent book I’ve read.To see previous books I’ve reviewed, go here. This week’s book is Effective Staffing for Vital Churches (kindle version) by Bill Easum and Bill Tenny-Brittian. In it, the authors seek to make the point that separates churches in terms of health and effectiveness can be found in their staffing cultures. Who they hire, how they hire staff, how that staff spends their time, how that staff does in terms of developing other leaders vs. doing all the ministry.

According to the authors, here’s what a staff does:

So what’s the purpose of staff? Simply put, the role of staff is to “equip the saints for the work of ministry” (Eph. 4:12 ESV). Staff creates an environment in which leaders at every level are equipped and encouraged to replicate the DNA of the church by living out their spiritual gifts. God built the church on the premise that every Christian has a gift and a calling to share with the world. It’s called the “priesthood of believers.” The role of staff is to ensure this happens.

Even before reading this book, I’ve made specific changes to how and who I spend my time with. The authors of this book largely backed this up with their research. A lead pastor should spend the majority of their time with:

  1. Younger, emerging leaders.
  2. No more then 4 staff members that report to them.
  3. Guests to the church.
  4. Those who don’t know Jesus.

Here’s why:

Effective coaches invest heavily in those who not only show promise, but who are committed to the leadership journey. That doesn’t mean the coach neglects those with less promise or commitment, but with limited time and resources wise leaders invest most heavily where the greatest return can be expected.

I realize how this sounds like it is uncaring or unloving in some way. At the end of the day, this mindset is what is best for the church and fulfills what God has called pastors to.

In a church under 500, the authors say a lead pastor should spend 70-80% of their people time in these areas to see the most effectiveness. Notice, this isn’t all their time, just the majority of their time. Many pastors fight against this and the authors point out, this is one of the reasons church aren’t as effective: leaders don’t hand ministry off to other leaders.

What I appreciated most about the book were the sections where the authors laid out the transitions a leader and a church must make as the church grows. This has been something I’ve been trying to learn more and more about as Revolution grows. What I did when we were a church of 50 people, then 150, now 250 and then what it looks like at 500 and beyond. One of the things the authors pointed out is many leaders and churches are not willing to change what they do or learn new things as the church grows and changes.

Overall, if you are looking for a resource on how a pastor should spend his time, hiring and firing staff, how to deploy staff in an effective way, this is a book worth picking up.

Links I Like

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Links I Like is a collection of blogs, articles and books I’ve come across recently and thought they were worth sharing. Click here for past Links I Like. 
  1. Craig Groeschel on Disrupt rhythms strategically.
  2. Someone needs to stop Pat Robertson.
  3. Darrin Patrick on Loving your wife and the mission.
  4. Men, here’s the most important meeting of the day.
  5. Mac Lake on The reason your church lacks leaders. Like all things in a church, if you want something to happen, you must be intentional.
  6. A kind wife.

Links I Like

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  1. This looks delicious. Great summer grilling appetizer.
  2. Joe McKeever on The number one failure of 90% of pastors. Convicting post for leaders.
  3. 6 ways to develop leaders. Great insights into developing leaders.
  4. Tim Keller on The gospel vs. moralism. This framework has had a huge impact on my preaching in the last year.
  5. When you realize you have the comfortable life. If you are reading this, you have the comfortable life.