Silence in the Noise

Our world is a noisy place that gets even noisier every day. The news has always focused on worst case scenarios, but worst case scenarios now overshadow the news. Earlier this year all eyes were glued on BP’s infamous “oil cam” that showed crude gushing into the gulf 24/7. One prognosticator after another offered his dire predictions. Some spoke in apocalyptic terms painting grim pictures of 1,000 miles of irreplaceable wetlands and beaches at risk, fisheries damaged for seasons, fragile species wiped out and a region and an industry economically crippled for years. Some scientists suggested that the oil might hitch a ride on the loop current in the gulf, bringing havoc to the Atlantic Coast. Now we’re back to focusing on worst case scenarios regarding the economy. The scenarios du jour have us fretting over a possible “double dip” recession and an unemployment rate above 9% a year from now. Then there’s noise about the war, about the presidential election in 2012, and whether we’ll be able to get out of Afghanistan in 2014. Thanks to cable news and talk radio our preoccupation with hypotheticals won’t go away any time soon.

“Every part of our life is inundated with words—urgent words, random words, trivial words, hurtful words, managing words, religious words and on and on. Could it be that what we need is time alone with God and a lot fewer words?” (Adele Ahlberg Calhoun, Spiritual Disciplines Handbook, 108). We desperately need to stop talking and stop listening to others talking. We need to escape the noise and be quiet. We need to practice the discipline of silence.

Here’s all you need to know to practice this disciple: no talking, no listening to talking (no reading either). It doesn’t have to be quiet; you have to be quiet. You can practice silence while you do household chores or drive to work. You can practice silence while you walk or run or sit eating at the kitchen table. I shared a meal with monks at an abbey in British Columbia that ate in silence something you do just by eating lunch alone. Walking is my favorite way to practice this discipline; sometimes I read a psalm before I go but not always. How far I walk determines how long I engage in the practice. I don’t always walk the same distance or the same route. I like a change of pace. Sometimes I take Rose the beagle dog.

Utilizing Everyone for Serving

As leaders, we step up whenever there is need...but we were not meant to work alone. Check out this quick word about utilizing everyone in your community for serving.

Utilizing Your Community to Serve from Pantego Bible Church on Vimeo.

We Value Simplicity

It would seem incongruous to go on and on with 14 different principals on how to simplify your life. Let’s face it - You already drank the cool-aid! What I mean is that you probably already believe in living a life of simplicity. The unfortunate reality is that we can all believe in it, but continue to struggle living life through the filter of Simplicity. This value can be much like working out, or eating healthy...we know that we should eat healthy, but it is a completely different thing to live life through the filter of eating healthy.

Simplicity is “keeping” it simple.

The aim of this post is not to inform you of a new reality that you didn’t know. The aim is to remind each other through accountability that the filter needs to be continually checked for snags and gaping holes that are preventing us from living life as we know we desire to live.

Instead of 14 more paragraphs to convince you that you are doing too much let’s take a test.

Which of the 2 images below more closely resemble your life with God, family, work, church…

Let's assume that these 2 computer desktop images represent 2 people with a very similar set of responsibilities. Both photos have multiple colors and are full, but the difference is obvious. The first represents a life that feels cluttered and out of control because the person only reacts to the immediate, while the other represents an intentionally simplified and ordered life.

If we believe that God values simplicity in our life, let’s be active in preventing chaos so that we can make time for the things that most honor and glorify God. Simplicity is actively saying no (or not now) to some things in order to have priority for the “God things”.

Jesus gave us some very clear direction in this, when He said: "Seek first God's Kingdom and His righteousness, and let God take care of the details" (my version). Check out the context of the passage HERE...and I love the Message version HERE.

We Value Mission

I see our missional core value as the central theme of the Christian calling. Certainly, we are called to be a communal, worshipful, incarnational, transformational, evangelical, simple people; and I believe all of that culminates in the Christ-follower as missional living.

*Before I go further, let me note that over the past 15 years, many have confused the word "missional" as simply a new and trendy tag used to mean seeker-sensitive, home-group driven church, or as a new method for growing a church. As a result, missional is often looked upon as just another phase or program. But we error when we do so for missional is more than just another movement, it is a full expression of who the people and church of Christ is and what we are called to be and do.

"Missional is a Shift in Thinking"
Missional Living is the view that being a follower of Jesus Christ involves simultaneously both an inner transformation toward Christlikeness and an active participation in the mission of God's Kingdom.

-Tom Bulick has covered why I highlight inner transformation in his blogpost HERE.
-I highlight active participation in God's Mission because there IS a difference between being mindful and supportive of God's Mission and being participants in gospel mission of reconciliation with God. (*for the call to participate, see 2 Corinthians 5:18-20 and 1 Corinthians 9:23)

-I highlight simultaneously because it would be a mistake to believe that you must achieve some higher level of personal spiritual formation before you begin serving, leading, and loving others as participants in the mission.

As a Missional Church, we view our own context as a constantly changing mission field. We are both engaged in and supportive of missions. We recognize that mission includes both the Great Commission (making new disciples) and the Great Commandment (loving God and loving others as self); and that all people are both the “subject” and “object” of God’s mission. We are engaged in the transformation of people, churches, communities and cultures as we multiply disciples, our church, and our mission.

What should this look like in your community?

A missional church is a gathering of believers who participate in God's mission because they understand themselves as a sent people. This shifts us from a supportive "come-and-see" mentality to a "go-and-be/tell/do" mentality.

Missional churches see the church body as the place of ministry and conversion. Every person in our HG's and CG's should be participating in loving and meeting the needs of unchurched peoples. We should begin to see conversion happening outside of Church walls, which then becomes a gathering place for sending.

**I also like this definition from Wikipedia: "Missional living" is a Christian term that describes a missionary lifestyle; adopting the posture, thinking, behaviors, and practices of a missionary in order to engage others with the gospel message.

We Value Transformation

The president I used to work for when I used to work for Trinity Western University had a habit of saying, “We need to be end result focused.” Faculty thought the expression redundant. “Isn’t focusing on ends and results the same thing?” they would ask. And, of course, it is, but redundant comes in handy when you’re trying to make the point that mission accomplishment is everybody’s business.

Pantego Bible Church has a mission, to see people transformed by the Holy Spirit into fully developing followers of Jesus Christ, and rightly so. Personal transformation, expressed in three New Testament words, is the end result that God has in mind for all of us. The three words are morph translated “form,” summorphizo translated “conform,” and metamorphoo translated “transform.

About these three one author writes, “Paul used this word [morph] in his letter to the Galatians: ‘. . . . until Christ is formed in you.’ He agonized until Christ should be born in those people, until they should express his character and goodness in their whole being . . . Paul used another form of this word when he told the Christians in Rome that God had predestined them to be ‘conformed to the image of his Son.’ This word, summorphizo, means to have the same form as another, to shape a thing into a durable likeness. Spiritual growth is a molding process: We are to be to Christ as an image is to the original. Still another form of the word appears in Romans when Paul says we are not to be conformed to the world around us but ‘transformed b the renewing of your minds.’ This word is metamorphoo, from which comes the English word metamorphosis. A creeping caterpillar is transformed into a soaring butterfly—yet as the child of God we are to undergo a change that make s that one barely noticeable” (John Ortberg, The Life You’ve Always Wanted, 23).

Spiritual transformation, this discipleship process we go through to become like Jesus, is both intentional and incidental. It’s intentional because we can intentionally pursue a more thorough understanding of the 10 Core Beliefs and a more consistent exercise of the 10 Core Practices. As we do, the Spirit of God transforms us. It’s incidental because the Spirit of God also uses the circumstances of our lives to transform us. For example, he uses unexpected trouble to teach us patience and involvement with others in community to sharpen us.

As Pantego leaders we need to be end result focused; seeing people transformed and being transformed ourselves by the Holy Spirit into fully developing followers of Jesus Christ is our business. We do that by helping people develop the 30 Core Competencies through their own involvement in biblical community.

We Value Connection

Most of us have heard it said that “there is no such thing as a lone-ranger Christian”. You might be surprised to hear me say that I disagree with that statement. The reality: it is possible to be a Christian while relationally isolated from other believers. Therefore, I suggest modifying the saying – “there is no such thing as a GROWING lone-ranger Christian.” Christians can indeed isolate themselves from the world and learn a great deal about the Christian faith. But they will never be able to live out their newfound beliefs if they are not connected to others in biblical community.

The one passage we continually refer to regarding this is Acts 2:42-47. In it we see most of the essential elements necessary for one’s faith to grow: biblical instruction, fellowship, worship, communion, meeting needs, enjoying life together, etc. Biblical community offers love, acceptance, fellowship, encouragement, accountability and so much more. It is also the “training lab” for refining our ability to love as Christ has loved us. The more connected I am to my Christian community, the more refined becomes my understanding of what it means to live like Christ (John 13:34-35). As a result, my walk with the Lord will deepen and my ability to love (i.e. – exercise what I truly believe) grows dramatically over time.

Lastly, with all the distractions the world has to offer, simply promoting biblical community can sometimes seem more trouble than it’s worth. But I want you to think what your life would be like today if you were to strip away all the relationship connections you’ve had with your church family over the past 3 to 5 years. For most, if not all of us, this should be a haunting thought. I believe God has entrusted us to communicate, promote and live-out the sacred value of biblical community. Together we can celebrate (one victory at a time) each person who God brings into, and transforms, through the heavenly fraternity known as biblical community.

Common Values

What are values? Values are those things that really matter to each of us. They could be a certain set of beliefs, a mission (or cause) or a philosophy of life. Everyone has a set of values, whether they are aware of it or not. Your values may be different than mine, but we all live according to our values. Values are not something that you are born with, but could have been passed on to you by your family, school or other influences. Values guide the decisions that you make. For example, if you value an intimate relationship with your spouse, then you will do certain things that contribute to that relationship, and you will NOT do things that detract from that relationship. If I value health, then you will avoid unhealthy behaviors (like smoking, drugs, overeating, etc.) and you will participate in activities that foster a more healthy lifestyle (exercise, rest, proper diet).

Healthy organizations also hold to a set of values, which could be unique to that organization. But the strength of these values is greatly enhanced by their common acceptance…the fact that they are shared. If the members of an organization (like our church) share the same set of values, there will be a focus, an intentionality and momentum that cannot be underestimated. Common values help us to determine what we do and what we do not do as a church. They guide the programs that we create, and free us up to invest our time and resources wisely.

At Pantego Bible Church, we recognize four common values that we rally around and call our people to champion in their own lives.

1st: We value connection: Intergenerational, geographic community
2nd: We value transformation: Life-change through the 7 Functions of Biblical Community
3rd: We value mission: Evangelizing in our neighborhood and into our world
4th: We value simplicity of life: Makes the other 3 possible

Our next four leadership blogs will unpack each of these common values and address how, when shared as a community, these values give us laser-focus to accomplish the mission of our church.

Area Pastors - Thinking Leadership

Area Pastors here. We're offsite, planning ways that we can better serve and equip you as leaders.

Thinking: Leadership from Pantego Bible Church on Vimeo.

Home Group Tips v 1.0

Here are 3 Tips for hosting a successful Home Group!
1) Have a Pet Plan 2) Have a Kid Plan 3) Have a Greeting Plan

Home Group Tips v 1.0 from Pantego Bible Church on Vimeo.

Dealing with Difficult People

Dealing with difficult people can be, well…difficult! As such, we wanted to share a few bits of wisdom on how to not just “deal” with them…but to truly minister to them.

First, take the time to get to really know this person. Like each of us – only to a greater extent, difficult people are trying to function socially in the midst of some level of brokenness. If a behavior doesn’t seem “right/normal” to you…there’s definitely an underlying cause of it. There could be physiological, psychological and even spiritual issues from their past for their distracting behavior patterns. Oftentimes, their mannerisms exist because they feel they’ve never truly been “heard/understood” by others.

Reflective questions to ask yourself as you meet with this person one-on-one would include: How they are feeling, how they are thinking, what they are doing (i.e. – possible patterns of thinking, living that make their behaviors worse). At the HG level, consider having your group go through a “personality” profile like D-I-S-C or Personality Plus.

Second, seek ways to communicate correction in a discrete manner. For instance, say someone in CG or HG tends to always monopolize the discussion (perhaps because they’ve never been affirmed by others). Having already met with this person, it would be easy to approach them privately and say, “Friend, one of the things I appreciate about you is how engaged you are in our weekly discussions. I’ve found that if I don’t hold back some of my comments, I run the risk of not giving others enough time to speak up and share. Would you mind if we held each other accountable on this?”

Third, be patient; remain compassionate. We need to adopt a mindset that if we don’t minister to them, who will? The answer: perhaps another church body (maybe); but even more likely…the world (which leads to emotional despair) or a cult (which leads to spiritual destruction). God has entrusted these precious people to our care. Let’s work together in community (as a team) to help them be an ambassador of Christ according to God’s design.

God reached out and showered his love upon us while we were still sinners (and most difficult to love!; Rom 5:8). We model His love in the manner we love on our own “difficult” people!

Taking it to the Streets

Here's 3 Tips to help you take your faith to your neighbors.

Taking It To The Street from Pantego Bible Church on Vimeo.

Tips for Celebrating Birthdays

Remembering someone’s birthday shows them that you care. But, anytime you publicly recognize one person’s birthday in your Home Group, you run the risk of forgetting someone else’s. To avoid unnecessary hurt feelings, you might want to consider a more simple method to the madness.

Choose the 1st or 4th HG of the month to be your day to celebrate all birthdays for that month. Here are some suggestions to help you pull this off:

-Make it special, but keep it simple.
-Put a candle on any dessert that was brought to Home Group.
-Gather the birthday folks in the middle of your group, dim the lights and sing HappyBirthday loud and proud.
-Blow that candle out and end with a prayer of blessing on each of them.

Remember to have fun. Avoid embarrassing people and make it something that they look forward to each month. In this way you will show everyone in your group that they are special. And please save a piece of cake for me.

Keys to a Great Community Group Experience

A number of things contribute to making the Sunday morning Community Group experience great, and a great experience attracts new members and keeps current members coming back for more. Some of the things that make a difference relate to the physical and social experience, some to the learning experience. In a nutshell, if the people in your Community Group enjoy being together and enjoy the Bible study, they’ll be back; if they don’t they won’t—at least not for long.

The Community Group Check Up looks at four different areas related to the physical/social experience.

The physical environment. The room is clean and uncluttered, neither too hot nor too cold. The right amount of seating around tables makes it feel comfortably full. Coffee and a variety of fruits and foods are in plain sight for people to enjoy.

_ strongly agree _ agree _ somewhat agree _ somewhat disagree _ disagree _ strongly disagree


The social environment. People are drawn into the lively Christian fellowship when they arrive. Timid people aren’t ignored but invited into ongoing conversations. Guest’s are greeted at the door, introduced to other members of the class, and never allowed to sit by themselves.

_ strongly agree _ agree _ somewhat agree _ somewhat disagree _ disagree _ strongly disagree


The preliminaries. The opening welcome, announcements, prayer, sharing, and “community business,” while essential, remain “preliminaries” that don’t overshadow the study of God’s word nor make guests feel like outsiders.

_ strongly agree _ agree _ somewhat agree _ somewhat disagree _ disagree _ strongly disagree


The learning environment. A gifted, well prepared teacher leads an engaging discussion around the content and questions in The Scrolls. The teacher contributes information along the way but doesn’t lecture. Everyone is given ample opportunity to participate.

_ strongly agree _ agree _ somewhat agree _ somewhat disagree _ disagree _ strongly disagree

Welcoming a Guest

You’ve heard the expression “You never get a second chance to make a first impression.” Well, here are some suggestions that will make that first impression a good one. In a word, “SMILE”.

Say “hello.”
Make the first move. Initiate the conversation. “Hello” works very well.

Make eye contact.
Show by your eye contact that you are focused on them. Looking around the room communicates that you are thinking about other things or that you’re looking for the next person to speak with.

Introduce yourself & Inquire about them.
Tell them a little about yourself and without interrogating them, ask good questions that require more than a “yes” or “no” answer. For example, “How did you come to our group?” “What do you do for a living?”

Listen with your heart.
Try to understand where they are coming from, what makes them unique. Do your best to remember their name and other critical information they share. Remember to call them by name and follow up with them on your previous conversation. “How is your job search going? You mentioned last time that you might have a lead.”

End with an invitation.
Thank them for coming and invite them to sit with you in church or come to your Home Group. Tell them about the next group activity and offer a sincere invitation to participate.

A SMILE can go a long way in making a guest feel welcome!

4 Tips for Intentional Discipleship

We are called to "Go and make disciples"...How do you do that!?! How do you start? Here are 4 Tips to help you begin an intentional discipling relationship.

4 Tips for Intentional Discipleship from Pantego Bible Church on Vimeo.

Communication via Email

E-mail is a funny thing! It is all about our convenience. I start writing it when I am ready, I finish writing it when I am ready, and I send it after I have, or have not spell checked and or proofed it. We often read our e-mail when we want, replying when we want, knowing that the sender or receiver will never know what we were wearing or if we picked our nose in the process.

E-mails can be funny, informative, encouraging, and the opposite of each of these. The point that needs to be understood is why you have sent the e-mail. Sarcasm is often misunderstood because the person either does not know you, or does not know that you are J/K (just kidding).

The trick is to be personal but not too informal. Blow is an example, look for these three things:

1. Is it personal?

2. Is it brief?

3. Is it helpful?

SAMPLE

Hello Bob & Sally,

My name is Darren Holt and on behalf of Pantego Bible Church, Welcome! We hope that your experience with us has blessed you. It was a great to have the opportunity to meet you at the Guest Connection time on Sunday. Besides the corporate Sunday worship service, we also have Community Group Bible studies on Sunday mornings, as well as Home Groups that meet regularly in your area.

Our prayer is that you would find a Biblical community that can pour into your life. We truly seek to love and minister to people by encouraging biblical community inside local neighborhoods. Being connected to local believers is essential for developing deep, lasting spiritual relationships.

We believe everyone needs a place to BELONG, a place to BECOME more like Christ, and a place to go BEYOND.

I have copied the Shepherds and some friends of mine that live in your area so that they would also be able to help get you connected.

· Your Community Group (North Trinity Area) meets at 9 am in room 150.

· The Rhiddlehoover Home Group meets Tuesdays @ 6:30pm. Their number is: ###

· The Acosta Home Group meets Sundays @ 1-3pm. Their number is: ###

If you have any questions or if there is something that I can do, please let me know.

We look forward to getting to know you.

In Christ alone,

Darren Holt

817.713.6167 cell

Leading From the Front

Do you remember high school speech class? Talk about awkward. If the person giving the speech was uncomfortable, then the whole room was uncomfortable. If the person upfront was confident, then that put everyone at ease. The atmosphere of your Community Group Bible study can be adjusted just as easily as a person changes a thermostat. It is critically important to your group that you lead from the front and that you lead well. Here are some helpful reminders that will make that experience enjoyable for all.

Eyes - Make and keep good eye contact. Don’t read the announcements…talk to your people. Try to visually connect with every person in the room while you are at the front. And if you smile, they will smile back. Try it. And use the whiteboard

Ears - Speak a little louder than you would normally speak in a conversation. Talk to the person sitting at the back and you’ll be fine.

Hearts - You are not just making announcements; you are connecting with the people you love. If you can connect with their hearts then you will connect in all other areas. Refer to individuals by name; catch the group up on something good that has taken place in the life of your Community Group. Brag on the generosity and care that is taking place. Inspire your people to greater expressions of living life on mission.

Successful Connection Calls

Here are 5 quick tips for making connection calls.

Successful Connection Calls from Pantego Bible Church on Vimeo.

...If You Have Love for One Another

We all know the importance of making a good first impression. And the truth be known…so do the guests who come to our community gatherings. For instance, when a guest works up the courage to come to our Community Group, it takes about 5 seconds (or less) for them to form an initial impression of the love and acceptance they hope to find there. If they walk into a relatively cold room, void of the warmth of genuine hospitality, a strong sense of “maybe this isn’t the place I should be” permeates their thoughts.

However, the opposite is also true. When a guest is greeted, immediately, with a smile, hand-shake and a sincere “Hey there, I am so glad to meet you. My name is…” instantly their fears begin to subside. As you introduce them to some of the other leaders, make sure you appoint one of them to be your guest’s advocate. By this I mean that the leader speaks for them when they are acknowledged. Your fellow leader needs to know their name(s), number of kids, perhaps their occupation and/or a brief mention of where they live.

In no time at all, they begin to tell themselves, “You know…everybody seems so nice and welcoming, I think this might be the place I BELONG. Granted, they may not reach that conclusion on the first Sunday they attend. But, if they have a positive, inviting experience, they are much more likely to come back in the Sundays that follow.

Hospitality is the heartbeat of community growth. And if we desire to see new life infused into our communities, the extension of genuine Christ-like love must be evident to those whom God entrusts to us.

“By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” -Jesus

Welcome to BlogWorld!

Hey all!

Glad you found pantegobible.blogspot.com! This is the home of our new SFI: Training Blast blog site. Basically, what that means is that we will use this site as the place to pass on information and encouragement to help you leaders lead well! We hope that this will be a valuable tool that leads to further successes for you, whether you are a Community Group leader, Home Group leader, or a Teacher.

We will send you an email anytime an Area Pastor contributes a short article for the blog. Topics will range from spiritual encouragement to practical advise, such as "Showing Hospitality", "How to Deal with Conflict", "5 Ways to Love Your Homegroup This Week", or "Creating a Reproducable Discipleship Plan".

You will also receive an email with the link to our videoblog (vimeo.com/pantegobible) anytime we produce a 2-3 minute training video for the same purposes. We hope that these short clips will also helpful to your ministry.

Our hope is that you would LOVE leading and ministering with us at Pantego Bible Church; and our goal is to better equip you with tools for success!

Thanks for serving,

Area Pastor Team // Pantego Bible Church