A Startling Article

Read this alarming article about pastors surviving the ministry:
50% of Today's Pastors will not retire as Pastors

What is God doing?

Fusion leaders, since there wasn't much response to the question, "what are you reading?" (thanks, Travis for the input), I thought I'd give a chance to share some stories of God's grace in action at our churches.

What is God doing?

Quickly: I was asked this morning to renew the wedding vows of a couple who was separated and headed for divorce just a few weeks ago. An affair nearly destroyed them. Thank God, He is bringing forgiveness and healing. A marriage rescued!

What's He doing where you are?

what are you reading?

Fusion leaders...in addition to the Bible (assumed ;)) what books are you currently reading? It may be good to exchange some resource ideas.

I am reading Tom Clancy's "Into the Storm", an incredible book on military leadership. The connections to church work are pretty easy. On a road trip tomorrow, I plan to listen to Seth Godin's "Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us" on CD.

How about you?

check out this creative (and free) training opp....

the nines

It's time!

OK, Fusion group...

What's on your mind?

The Fusion Conference is Here!

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The time for our second annual Fusion Conference is upon us. Church of God Pastors and spouses, age 45 and under from all over the state of Florida, will gather this Friday and Saturday, August 21 and 22 in Clearwater Beach. This is a great time of refreshing and challenge. Registration will begin at 5:00 PM on Friday in the back lobby of the beautiful Clearwater Beach Resort (clearwaterbeachresort.com). Dinner is served at 5:30 with a full schedule of fun events on Friday night and Saturday. It is going to be a great weekend!

We hope to utilize this blog page for those of you would would like to dialogue before, during and after the conference.

Feel free to log in and join the discussion. We would love to hear from you, Fusion Pastors!

Act Fast!

It’s not too late to sign up! If you would like to attend the upcoming Fusion Forum on August 21-22, call today! The event will be held again at the Hilton Clearwater Beach Resort (the same place we had it last year).

The teaching will be great, the fellowship awesome and - here is one of the best parts – there is no charge for the event!

So all you pastors under age 45 are encouraged to come join the fun.

If you need further info, act quick and send one of us an email or call Tina Manus at the State Office.

Don’t miss it, we are looking forward to seeing you there!

Florida Fusion Team

update from May 8 post

Many of you prayed for Sarai, a little girl who, 3 months ago, was removed by her drug addicted father from Casa Shalom orphanage in Guatemala. Thank God, she was returned to the home late last night. Understand, this was a matter of life and death for this precious little one. God spared her. Thanks for praying. Let’s now pray that she will not suffer long-term results of the ordeal she has been through over the past few months.

See you guys on August 21-22 at the Fusion Conference!

2009 Fusion Young Leaders Forum

Hey guys! We wanted to share the news that the 2009 Fusion Forum has been approved and scheduled. Woo hoo! The dates are August 21-22 (fri-sat) at the the Hilton Clearwater Beach Resort (the same place we had it last year).

All Florida pastors and spouses, under the age of 45, are invited to register and attend. Lodging and one meal will be provided FREE OF CHARGE. We want to make it as easy as possible for you to make it.

We will have info and registration cards located on the Ministries Table during campmeeting. Please stop by, pick one up, and register this week. If you aren't going to be at campmeeting, just shoot one of us an e-mail and we'll get you signed-up.

Last year was a great start, and this year promises to be even better. Look for more posts here about the event.

See you soon!

Fusion Florida Team

Hope to see you guys at Campmeeting

Campmeeting in Florida begins next week. We are really hoping for a good representation from the Fusion tribe. I know we have shared it before but this group is having a positive influence in the State. An example would be the new nursery and restrooms that have been constructed in the Worship Center at the campgrounds. While we did not do the actual construction, we did dialogue with the State team about the need for these improvements. Guys, they have responded and now those of you with young kids will find it easier to attend events at the Convention Center.

Let's do our best to show our appreciation and interest by being involved in the State meetings like Campmeeting. Hope to see you there! Beside, Wimauma is so lovely this time of year!

Leadership Summit Highlights

Here's Highlight One from Willow's 2008 Leadership Summit.

What say you?

pray for a little one

Pray for Sarai. This week, her father removed her from Casa Shalom orphanage in Guatemala. He has not been able to care for her in the past and her well-being is in question. She belongs to God.

You can read more about this situation on my daughter's blog. We are asking God to bring her back and to do whatever needs to be done in order to secure her future. Pray for the little ones in the world.

How would you like to be introduced like this on Sunday?

Easter updates, anyone?

Hey guys. I hope all of us had a successful and productive Easter season. It may be helpful and encouraging to report on how things went. I realize that the true test is yet to come - hopefully we can retain and assimilate some of the folks who visited with us. But this is also a great time to celebrate victories, evaluate our effectiveness and possibly learn from our mistakes.

So, how'd it go?

What are you doing for Easter?

Hey guys, we would love to hear how you are planning to reach-out during this Easter Season. This is one of the most fertile seasons for evangelism, and I am sure there are a lot of cool ideas happening in our churches. Share your ideas and let's help each other to reach the greatest harvest we can this Easter!

- Fusion Florida Team

an inspiring video

Regional Listening Tour - March 19, Tampa, FL

Hopefully, you've heard by now about the Regional Listening Tour that the Executive Committee is holding in Tampa on March 19. It's going to be at Riverhills, and the afternoon session is going to be focused on hearing from the the 40 and under ministers. (You can read more about it here: http://www.faithnews.cc/2008/11/26/regional-listening-tours-announced/ ) What and incredible opportunity for us to be able to share some of our thoughts, concerns and ideas in an open and constructive format. I, for one, am grateful to our leaders for providing such a venue for us, and for dedicating the afternoon session to listen to the younger ministers.

As we approach the event, I would love to hear what our Fusion pastors are thinking about and considering sharing at the forum. Maybe we can dialogue a bit on this blog ahead of the event, and refine some of our thoughts to be shared.

For me, one of the most significant things we must revision in our church is ministry training and licensure. I am increasingly frustrated by the layers of red-tape, individual cost and time required for our young ministers to obtain licensure. I believe that our movement must find a way to open the doors to young men and women who feel the call to ministry, and not over-burden them with excessive financial fees and unnecessary hoops to jump through.

I am sympathetic of the need for qualified and well-trained ministers; however, I am deeply concerned that our church is laboring with an outdated model that is unnecssarily complicated. I have had many young ministers ask me "why they should go through the process?" In an hour when our church is losing many of its young leaders, we must find a way to simplify the process and lessen the cost. If our church is to remain viable in the years to come, we must embrace and pave the way for young ministers to engage and to be included in the ministry of the church. Ministry training and licensure reform is not necessarily a very trendy topic, yet is a vital link (IMHO) in the reinvigoration of our movement. This is an issue that I intend to raise at the listening tour. I would love to hear your comments on this and other possible topics for discussion.

- Clayton

Fusion pastors, what say you?

Which Is Worse?

Yesterday, I heard a statement from Church Consultant, Conrad Lowe: “The church (in America) is not being persecuted, it is being ignored.” I cringed when I heard him say that. It’s not that I am itching to suffer persecution. The thought of being arrested or tortured for preaching the Gospel of Christ is not attractive to me. But the idea that we are having so little impact in our culture, we are making so little difference, that people are actually forgetting that we are even here – well that is truly troubling.

How can it be that there are so many Christ followers in our country, so much institutional Christianity, yet our neighbors don’t even know we are here? History tells us that the church used to be the epicenter of activity in our communities. In most town squares stood a church building that was as much a part of the happenings as the court house, school or the post office. Now most churches sit empty Monday through Saturday and many are just as empty on Sunday.

How can we go from being ignored to being recognized, known and, most important – effective? How can we become major players in the lives of people in our communities? A few ideas:

Get out! - we have to actually go out into the community, engage people where they live, work and go to school. The best thing the church can do in order to allow people to see us is get out of the building!

Connect – church leaders have to “do life” with those outside of the church. How long has it been since you hung out with someone other than a family member or church leader? Intentional connection is vital to our effectiveness.

Relate – we should try to stay current with trends and movements in our culture. If we appear to be out of touch, we probably are.

The truth is, we may one day have to make a choice. If we start making enough noise (through our Christ-like ministries) that we can no longer be ignored, we may find ourselves on the receiving end of persecution. If we have to choose one or the other, I think I would prefer persecution over being ignored.

Which is worse?

- Rick Whitter

Breakfast with "The Guys"

I just got back from a regional pastors' breakfast at the church and it was fun. (Yes, I said fun!) We had 13 in attendance, and I met some guys I did not know before...which is always a cool thing. David Nitz, North FL Evangelism Dir., attended and shared some neat leadership stuff. It was a good morning!

This was the first regional breakfast for us since FL went to regions, instead of districts for its churches. We plan to do one of these each quarter, including spouses next time and thereafter for connection and fellowship. I think the regional church program is going to be a good thing for our state. It has given us an opportunity to re-energize ministry connection and resourcing at a more local level because, like it or not, the district structure was broken. So, now we get a chance to begin again, and that is a good thing.

My takeaway from today is that it is almost always encouraging to sit, eat, and share with fellow pastors. It never ceases to amaze me just how much is being done for The Kingdom through one another's lives. Regardless of church size, we all have similar experiences, and we all need to feel the love and support of others who share in the journey of pastoral ministry. I, for one, always benefit and am uplifted when I spend time with my brothers. Consequently, I try to make time for these opportunities when they come up. We all should...life on this side is too short, and the load it too heavy to carry alone. Put simply, we need more time with "The Guys" around us.

The future of our movement is dependent, in part, on our connecting to one another. I believe it is a key element in sharing life, upholding one another's hands in the fight, and resourcing the ministry to be relevant in this quickly moving culture. Connection is critical...but it doesn't just happen: we must make the effort, take the time, and initiate contact with one another. If we don't, life is just too busy and...well, we know the rest.

- Clayton Watson

What are your thoughts/comments on the importance and future of connection in our movement?

Craig Groeschel on Reaching The Next Generation

To reach the next generation for Christ, we must be three things:

Conversational.
Missional.
Generational.

Let’s start today with conversational. This generation craves intimacy in relationships. They want to know and be known.

Too many Western Christians are turned off (or intimidated by) the young, tech savvy, tattooed, and pierced young adults. Some churches preach against these outward appearances. Others are striving full-time to be “cool” and “relevant” believing the right environment, best light show, or hot sermon series will win the young adults to Christ.

Both these strategies miss a key ingredient. This generation wants to talk. Conversation matters. Relationships matter. Intimacy matters.

Here are some rules of conversation:

Before they listen to you, they want to know if you’re listening to them.
If you’ll get to know them, they will listen to you.

If you’re quick to judge, don’t bother trying to connect.

It doesn’t matter if you’re cool or relevant. It matters if you bring the real you. Fake is the worst thing you can bring.

The fifth conversation might be the difference maker.
In my “Christian Witness Training” course at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, we were trained to knock on doors, present the gospel, and ask people to pray the sinners’ prayer. While this might occasionally still work, it isn’t a likely path to life change. This generation builds trust slowly. If you don’t plan on having a third, fourth, or fifth conversation, you might not want to spend a lot of time on the first.

They want to be loved.
My most consistent conversations with 20-somethings happens in the gym. After getting to know some young men, I genuinely care for them and believe in them. I try to tell them often, “I’m proud of you… I’m pulling for you… I believe in you… I love you.” They seem hungry for acceptance and affirmation and respond well to sincere Christian love.

What are your thoughts?

(If it is helpful, tell us how old you are.)

Wayne Cordeiro On Time...

The Necessity of Time...

I just got out of teaching a class on message prep to our Generation Acts students, and my talk included a point about the necessity of time. Basically, the idea is that there is no substitute for time spent in message preparation. The amount of time varies, of course, but the need for it does not. As I was teaching, God was talking, and I thought I would share some thoughts.

Its pretty clear to me that my primary role as a pastor/teacher is to share a relevant, God-inspired message each time I step up to talk to my congregation (or any other group for that matter.) I was recently reminded what an incredible privilege it is to be able to speak on behalf of God to His people. Just this week, someone shared with me how a recent message had totally changed his perspective on a pretty important topic. I am always amazed that anything I say has that kind of influence. Yet, repeatedly, God chooses to use regular guys like me and you to share a "word in season" into someone's life. What an awesome privilege...what a huge responsibility. A responsibility that probably demands more of my time.

I was convicted this morning (as I was teaching...of course) that when I fail to put in the time needed to really "develop" a message, I am undervaluing the privilege and underrating the responsibility. Of course, time needed to develop a message varies from topic to topic, and from speaker to speaker; however, we must never forget that time IS needed. All of us have walked to a podium at some time or another unprepared, for whatever reason, and God often will help us out in those moments. But don't you think that should be a rarity?. I do. Honestly, I already put a lot of time in on prep each week...but there is room for more. I'll bet most of us could push message prep a few notches up the list on our priorities. Am I wrong?

So, for me, I'm back to evaluating my prep practices and looking for ways to spend more time doing it. Time Blocks are a great for some folks, but they have never really worked for me. I use a concept I call Time Rhythms, which is basically understanding that every one of us has a typical rhythm/pace to their life, and we can cooperate or contend against those rhythms in getting things done. I choose to cooperate. Simply put...I know when my energies are up and when they are spent, when my mind is sharp and when it is dull (too often, btw), and I know when it is most productive for me to spend time in message prep mode. That process works for me, and I use that philosophy with most other things in my life as well. Guess I just need to cooperate a little better going forward!

One of the core values at our church is Relevant Truth, expressing our belief that His Word is always relevant to our lives. That value is reflected in my opinion that there is never an excuse for God's Word to be presented in an irrelevant, uninteresting way...it's way too important and alive for that! Further, there is no substitute for time in preparing a life-giving, relevant and God-inspired message for our people. I, for one, am committed to such.

Preach on, preachers!

- Clayton

A New Blog Is Born...

Today is a momentous day! Why?...We are launching the new Fusion Blog for young leaders in FL. (OK, so momentous might be overreaching a bit...but a cool day, nonetheless!)

Last August, we initiated something pretty important for the young leaders in the Church of God in FL: The Fusion Initiative. Fusion is all about giving us younger guys a way to connect to one another, to connect to the church and to contribute our thoughts, ideas, suggestions for positive progress and change in the church.

It all began with a great, albeit wet (remember TS Frances anyone?), weekend in Clearwater Beach. We met, we ate, we laughed, we shared and we came to some great conclusions. What a good time! In recent months, many of the things we talked about have been acted upon, and others are in the works. However, there is so much more that we can be as a group. Last Fall was just the beginning of the journey, there are many miles yet to travel together. This blog is but one step in that direction.

The Fusion Team will be blogging here, posting resources, etc., and we want to invite you to interact and to comment here. We are just getting started...so be kind! That's it for now...stay tuned.

- FUSION FL TEAM