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July 30, 2008

 

 

 



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Best Practices Sermon
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Best Practices Video
To the Point:

The squeaking wheel doesn't always get the grease. Sometimes it gets replaced.
 - Vic Gold

Skill without imagination is craftsmanship and gives us many useful objects such as wickerwork picnic baskets. Imagination without skill gives us modern art.
 - Tom Stoppard

Where all think alike, no one thinks very much.
  - Walter Lippmann

I am just going to pray for you at St Paul's, but with no very lively hope of success.
 - Sydney Smith  (1771-1845), British clergyman and wit, upon meeting an acquaintance

Compelling power is found only under Satan's government. The Lord's principles are not of this order. His authority rests upon goodness, mercy, and love; and the presentation of these principles is the means to be used. God's government is moral, and truth and love are to be the prevailing power.
 - EGW, DA 759

Got a favorite quote? Send it to BestPractices@ameritech.net. 
Mike Fortune 2Innovative Ministry:
Praying at the Pump
by Mike Fortune, Toledo, Ohio

"So, Reverend Fortune of the First Seventh-day Adventist Church in Toledo Ohio, I've got to ask you: has the price of gas gone down?"

My interviewer was Glen Mansell, reporter for the British Forces Broadcasting Service, calling from England to talk to me about an ordinary prayer, prayed in an unordinary place: the gas station.

On June 20 I'd driven our church bus with 8 members in it to the largest Exxon station in town and pumped it full of diesel. Meanwhile, we joined in hands in prayer around the pumps (including my 8 year old son and 6 year old daughter), and then sang "He's Got The Whole World In His Hands."

But we didn't do it to impress an international audience. We did it to raise awareness of how rising fuel costs are increasing the price of things like bread and milk, which in turn are having a devastating impact on the working poor. Our Ohio governor, Ted Strickland, recently said in a keynote speech that 13% of Ohioans, often working more than one minimum wage job, still can't afford to buy the basic necessities of life!

The idea wasn't mine: I'd seen a news report about Rocky Twyman, an Adventist layman from Washington, DC praying down gas prices with volunteers from his church's soup kitchen. So I googled Rocky and invited him to Toledo to help us pray at the pump for the people Psalm 82:3-4 describes as poor, oppressed, and helpless.

We started in Detroit- Motor City-on June 19. We finished in our hometown, Toledo. And thanks to the reporter who followed us to Detroit and wrote a great piece that landed on the front page of the Toledo Blade, all four television stations (some even going live for the midday newscasts) stayed for an hour after we said 'amen' to interview us (including the complete strangers who put on our "Church has left the building" T-shirts, and joined us in our prayer circle.)

Since then, callers from the community have left me voicemails thanking us for praying, and encouraging us to continue. So on the 13th of October (to keep the emphasis on the 13% working poor), Rocky and I and others will be driving the bus to a refinery in Findlay, Ohio to pray there too. Want to join us?

And by the way: I was able to tell that BFBS reporter that here in Toledo gasoline is down from $4.09 in June, to $3.54 now!

You can contact Mike at mike4tune@gmail.com
Reading for Pastors
by Best Practices Editor, Loren Seibold

Antagonists In the Church: How to Recognize and Deal with Destructive Conflict, by Kenneth C. Haugk

Key Concept: Managing destructive conflict

Thesis: There are some people who truly want to cause trouble.  There are other folks who just happen to stumble on to it. Knowing the difference and how to respond is key to a long and productive ministry.

Pros: There are very few places to turn when you are deep in conflict and don't understand why. And once you recognize your situation, what do you do about it? Antagonists in the Church goes well beyond Matthew 18 into uncharted territory and helps the church leader to face difficult situations with skill and compassion. It also helps you to stay objective and avoid many of the traps that come when one enters into conflict with a church member or group.

Why Read It: Every pastor needs an emergency plan for destrctive conflict. By the time it hits, it's probably too late to deal with, you are packing your bags to move to the next district. Maybe you've been part of the problem (heaven forbid). But you will never be far from making a mistake in your responses to conflict and this book will help you navigate the difficult situations that show up like a storm from nowhere. You won't read it every day, but when trouble comes, you won't put it down.
 
Review by Marty Thurber
Resources, Ideas and Events
by Best Practices Editor, Loren Seibold

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Got a tool, resource, site, article, idea or seminar that you like a lot? Share it with us at BestPractices@ameritech.net.
NAD Events
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NAD Church RESOURCE Center
Best Practices is an e-publication of Vervent
NAD CHURCH RESOURCE CENTER
Editor: Loren Seibold
Senior Pastor, Worthington Ohio Seventh-day Adventist Church