"Now That's a Good Question" - Book Review

Overview

“Now That’s A Good Question” by Terry Powell is a short-power packed book with funny stories, great insight, and easy to use principles for leading a small group discussion. The basis of the book comes from the need to teach small group leaders how to ask the right kind of questions and make an open learning environment for small groups.

Powell shares from his own personal experience that bonds formed in small groups can positively impact a person’s life forever. Therefore, Powell’s desire in writing the book is to facilitate a caring environment for believers and their guests by “asking the right questions.” He gives the following verses for the basis of good Biblical-group discussion: Galatians 6:2, 1 Thessalonians 5:11, Colossians 3:16, Ephesians 4:2, Ephesians 4:32, Ephesians 6:18, Romans 12:10, Romans 15:7, and 1 Peter 4:10.

The principles Powell gives for creating a climate for discussion can be remembered in the word C.L.I.M.A.T.E (p. 19). Here is short description of each one: Caring: showing the members you love them by calling them when they miss, remembering important things in their lives. Laughter: using humor to open up the meetings to make everyone feel comfortable and more open to share their heart. Intercession: making time in every meeting to pray and lift up the member’s needs to God. Methodology: use solid materials and strategy so the group can grow and be organized. Assimilation: make the visitors feel welcome and have things in place to follow up on them to make it easy to come back. Transparency: help people to take of their “mask” and feel comfortable in their own skin and share their lives in an open and honest way. Environment: keep the meeting place clean, free from clutter, loud noises or distracting elements, and offer free snacks and refreshments.

The climax of the book is when Powell shares the “O.I.L” concept for asking good questions from Bible lessons (p. 37). Observation: questions that come from observing the passage, such as, “How did Nehemiah discover the plight of the Jews?” Interpretation: questions that come from the meaning of the passage itself, such as, “What prerequisite for effective intercession does Nehemiah’s inquiry illustrate?” Life-Related: questions that relate to the reader’s life, such as, “In what ways can we stay informed concerning the needs of people in this group or in our church?”

It Reminds Me of When...

This book took me back to the times when I was in Bible College and the Dean of Student Affairs Rev. Anthony Freeman invited us to his house for food, fellowship, and worship. I had attended small groups in other churches prior to coming to Bible College, but they had never really brought me closer to God. However, the times I had at the Freeman’s house forever changed my life and filled me with many heavenly gifts.

At the start of these times of fellowship with Professor Freeman he would lighten the mood with humor and funny stories about his children. Despite the hard times I was facing in school and the feelings of loneliness from being hundreds of miles away from my hometown, I would soon feel so comfortable that I felt like I was home.

The time of welcoming would lead to sharing a wonderful meal together, which was cooked with love and great skill by his wife Sister Melanie. After the meal he would skillfully play the guitar and sing beautiful worship songs that with we all loved. Afterwards, he would share a portion of Scripture and then begin to teach us a simple, yet powerful lesson. Within the lesson he would give great illustrations and ask interpretive questions. In the end he would ask for our thoughts and prayer requests, he then would council us and make intercession to God on our behalf.

It was because of those times in his home that I was able to feel loved, welcomed, and challenged to grow closer to Christ. Though Professor Freeman had not read this great book by Powell, for it wasn’t even out yet, he showed great skill in asking questions and relating the Word of God to our lives. I am very greatful to God for his family’s kindness, hospitality, and love in those formative years of my life and ministry.

Personal Reflection

I personally liked this book because it made me laugh and think about how I lead small groups, ask questions, and host discussions. I have always been able to ask good questions naturally, but I have never been able to distinguish what makes a good question “good” and what makes a bad question “bad.” Powell teaches the differences by noting “bad questions” are: (i) long winded, (ii) unclear, (iii) run-together, (iv) speculative, (v) irrelevant, (vi) usurp Biblical authority, (vii) too personal, (viii) unrealistic, (ix) yes/no questions, (x) too obvious, and (xi) leading questions (p. 53).

Therefore, good questions are the opposite of bad ones, they are: (i) short and to the point, (ii) clear and easy to understand, (iii) given one at a time, with proper time to answer, (iv) not based on personal opinion, but obvious to everyone, (v) relevant to the subject, (vi) come from sound doctrine, (vii) not too personal, (viii) real and useful for discussion, (ix) short sentence answers, (x) require an amount of thought, and (xi) probing.

Action Points

Here is a list of the most important actions I derived from this fun book:

1. Use humor, funny stories, or fun group activities to open up small groups

2. Make a group open for good discussion by following the C.L.I.M.A.T.E principles

3. Learn the difference between good and bad questions

4. Design great questions in each lesson from O.I.L (Observations, Interpretations, and Life-Related)

5. Avoid bad questions and common pitfalls to bad discussions

Therefore, I would recommend the book to all small group leaders and you can get the book here.

Purpose Driven Church Evaluation

Principles in the “Purpose Driven Church”

I truly enjoyed the many principles given in this classic book on church growth by Rick Warren because they are easy to understand, based in Scripture, and highly functional. I will note five principles on church growth and development that stuck out to me; (1) The Five Dimensions of Church Growth, (2) Eight Things that Drive Churches, (3) Five Circles of Commitment, (4) The Five Purposes of Saddleback, and (5) Saddleback’s Life Development Process

(1) The Five Dimensions of Church Growth: (i) Churches grow warmer through fellowship, (ii) Church grow deeper through discipleship, (iii) Churches grow stronger through worship, (iv) Churches grow broader through ministry, and (v) Churches grow larger through evangelism (p. 49).

(2) Eight Things that Drive Churches: (i) Churches driven by traditions, (ii) Churches driven by personality, (iii) Churches driven by finances, (iv) Churches driven by programs, (v) Churches driven by buildings, (vi) Churches driven by events, (vii) Churches driven by seekers, (viii) Churches driven by purpose (pgs. 77-80).

(3) Five Circles of Commitment: (i) Community-Unchurched, (ii) Crowd-Regular Attendees, (iii) Congregation-Members, (iv) Committed-Maturing Members, and (v) Core-Lay Ministers (p. 130).

(4) The Five Purposes of Saddleback: (i) Magnify: We celebrate God’s presence in worship, (ii) Mission: We communicate God’s Word through evangelism, (iii) Membership: We incorporate God’s family into our fellowship, (iv) Maturity: We educate God’s people through discipleship, and (v) Ministry: We demonstrate God’s love through service (p. 107).

(5) Saddleback’s Life Development Process: (i) 1st Base: Committed to Membership-101 Classes, (ii) 2nd Base: Committed to Maturity-201 Classes, (iii) 3rd Base: Committed to Ministry-301 Classes, and (iv) Home Plate: Committed to Missions-401 Classes (p. 130).

Strengths and Weaknesses

Strengths: “The Purpose Driven Church” had many strengths, here are just a few: (1) Warren does a great job of dispelling “mega-church” myths, (2) The book notes some of the key mistakes to church growth, (3) He encourages the smaller churches to start where they are to begin to grow, (4) Warren spends much time trying to avoid compromising or “lowering the standard,” and (5) The book gives overall strategies for every major function of the church.

Weaknesses: Despite all the strengths I do see some major weaknesses and concerns, namely, (1) Warren seems to think that Jesus intended the church to have “two-types” of services, one for believers and one for unbelievers, thus I believe this contradicts the depiction of the church found in Acts and in Paul’s letters, (2) The book does not do a good job of describing Christian conduct or the outcome of true discipleship, thus as the reader I am left wondering, what does Warren define as a mature Christian, (3) Warren’s methods seem to emphasize too much on what “man” can do and does not teach enough how to rely upon God for strategies, (4) Some of the methods mentioned such as how to preach, lead worship, and offer small groups seem manipulative and not Spirit led, and (5) Warren does not prepare the “would-be-purpose-driven-pastor” enough for failure or disappointment, it seems like he presents his strategy as “fail proof.”

My Personal Thoughts

I have overall negative feelings towards Rick Warren’s book because I do not believe his strengths are enough to overcome his weaknesses. For example Warren says concerning methods for preaching, “Select your Scripture readings with the unchurched in mind. While all Scripture is equally inspired by God, it is not all equally applicable to unbelievers (p. 297).” He states that Psalm 58, “break the teeth in their mouths, O God” should be saved only for “your own personal quiet time (p. 298).” I believe it is verses like these that display the wrath of God that should be used with unbelievers!

Jonathon Edwards, an 18th century theologian and revivalist, preached the exact opposite in his world famous sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” Which in his day had proven success and not only grew “a church” but transformed Christianity in America. Therefore, I believe Warren’s overall “soft” approach to sinners can be very dangerous and lead to their eternal destruction (See Ezekiel’s warning to the “Watchman” in Ezekiel 33).

Also, Warren tends to treat the Holy Spirit, the source of the church’s power, as an “embarrassing family member.” For example, Warren says concerning worship services, “God expects us to be sensitive to the fears, hang-ups, and needs of unbelievers when they are present in our worship services(p. 243.)” And, “We must be willing to adjust our worship practices when unbelievers are present.” He uses 1 Corinthians 14:23 to try to prove that Paul was the first “seeker sensitive” preacher. However, Warren chooses to overlook vs. 24-25, “But if an unbeliever or someone who does not understand comes in while everybody is prophesying, he will be convinced by all that he is a sinner and will be judged by all, and the secrets of his heart will be laid bare. So he will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, "God is really among you!" Therefore, when “visitors” see Christian worship and hear prophesy they should be made to feel “convicted,” “judged,” “laid bare,” and exposed as a “sinner.”

In conclusion, though Warren offers great strategies for church growth left alone they could lead to a greater destruction than having a “small church.” I would rather see “small churches” preaching the Gospel the way Christ did, than “mega-churches” compromising the message of Jesus. Therefore, I believe Warren falls under the category of preachers that Paul talks about in 2 Timothy 4:3-4, “For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.”

Successful Strategic Planning in the Church

Definition of Strategic Planning

Strategic planning in the church is “the art of devising or employing plans or stratagems toward a goal” (Webster). It is clear from the Bible God loves using strategic plans to accomplish His goals, for example: Creating the universe in six days, Building the nation of Israel, Worship in the temple, The Davidic line, Jesus and the twelve, and End times prophecy.

Therefore, it is equally important in the church age that God’s leaders use plans and strategies to accomplish the Great Commission. This paper will (1) Give the essential people needed to make a strategic plan, (2) Demonstrate a clear strategic planning process in the church, and (3) List the most common mistakes made and how to avoid them.

People Needed to Make a Strategic Plan

When making a strategy for the church there needs to be certain people present. First, the senior leader or pastor needs to be present to guide the process. God works through a chosen leader, not a “committee” (Galatians 1:15-17). Second, team leaders or department heads need to be present because “dictatorship” is not Biblical. James, the leader of the church of Jerusalem was seen relying on Peter and other experienced leaders (Acts 15:13-14). Lastly, outside experts, these are people that come only for certain parts of the meeting to offer their expert advice in areas the leader and team do not have quality insight (Jethro to Moses – Exodus 18:24).

The Strategic Process

Here is a clear example of strategic planning in the church from Dr. Rod Dempsey’s article “Core Elements of a Ministry Plan.” First, the senior pastor should open the meeting with prayer and a short word about fulfilling the Great Commission. Second, he should begin by stating the rationale or reasons for the church to exist and operate according to Scripture. This should be the “heart” of why God has called the church to exist.

Third, a team leader should give some information on the current needs of the community through demographic studies and surveys. Demographic studies are easy to gain from the county, however surveys need to be developed by team leaders and done throughout the community. Also, such books or articles by George Barna can give great general overviews of worldviews within generational and social groups.

Fourth, the pastor should give a basic vision statement that can encompass the purpose of the particular church. The team can then add their insight and agree upon a simple yet big statement. For example, “Metro Praise’s vision is ‘Loving God, Loving People.” Fifth, the team should develop a mission statement, something that gives “teeth” to the broad vision. For example: “The mission statement of Metro Praise is to “Connect the lost to Jesus, Mentor believers in ways of Jesus, and Send disciples to share Jesus.’”

Sixth, the team should develop the core ministry values from the Bible. These ministry values are how the vision and mission statement will be given action. For example: “Metro Praise’s ten core ministries values come from Acts 2:42-47, which are, (1) Services, (2) Small Groups, (3) Evangelism, (4) Discipleship, (5) Fellowship, (6) Community Service, (7) Prayer Meetings, (8) Fulltime Ministry Training/Bible College, (9) Church Planting, and (10) Mission Trips.

Seventh, each team leader naming the expenses they will incur for the next year doing their ministry should develop a budget. The pastor then should use an expert in finances to help develop an overall budget and projected earning for the next year.

Eighth, the team should develop goals for each ministry and for the church as a whole. For example: Elevate youth ministry will grow to 40 disciples, the adult small group will multiply to four groups with 80 disciples, and the church will grow to 250 people in Sunday attendance. Ninth, the team should plan a calendar for the year. The events must work within the vision, mission statement, core ministry values, and budget. The pastor should have the last say to what is in the official calendar.

Lastly, an evaluation system should be placed in order so the team can see their strengths and weaknesses and make the necessary changes to insure success of the goals. For example: Metro Praise will have monthly meetings with the team leaders where budgets will be evaluated, disciples will be counted, leaders will be held accountable, and calendar events will be judged as “wins or losses.”

Common Mistakes

Stephen A. Macchia in his article, “Developing a Strategic Plan for Your Church,” lists the most common mistakes leaders make when trying to make a strategic plan:

(1) Making Planning Too Complex: Stick with 2-3 ideas when coming up with options, making long lists can frustrate the leadership and never lead to a point.

(2) Not Reaching Conclusions and Making an Action Plan: Tie up loose ends along the way, and outline appropriate action steps. Leaving things unresolved to future meetings takes away the teams momentum.

(3) Not Keeping the Action Plan Simple: Action plans are designed to help each ministry reach their goals. These should be simple. For example: Elevate will grow to 40 disciples by (a) Evangelizing every Friday at the schools, (b) Monthly E-Nites, and (c) Small Groups.

(4) Not Revisiting the Plan: Never be afraid to change plans, strategies, and steps. Vision statements and mission statements should be stable, but plans can change to insure success.

(5) Taking Too Long: Make planning meetings efficient and to the point, do not let “rabbit trails” get your team tired and distracted.

(6) Trusting Your Instincts apart from Prayer: Planning alone is okay, prayer is better, but praying with your planning is best! Encourage prayer before meetings, seek God in meetings, and after decisions are made keep an open heart in prayer to let God speak through the process.

Application

Today God is working through leaders that plan to do great things for His Kingdom. Whether it is through Reinhardt Bonke planning for a million souls to be saved in one evangelistic meeting or Cho starting a church in a tent proclaiming his church will be the biggest church in the world- God is giving vision to win the world!

Make time today to apply these principles to your ministry so you can get “God-ideas” and start “visioneering” with your team! The end result should be doing whatever is good to “your team and the Holy Ghost!” Here is what you can do today if you are a pastor or senior leader: (1) Prayerfully seek out your team, (2) Begin to recruit and start praying about your strategic meetings, (3) Consult other leaders that have had successful strategic meetings, (4) Plan your first meeting, and (5) Encourage the team to pray and prepare for great things!

"Leading a Small Group" Book Review

Overall Book Review

“Leading a Small Group” by Dave Earley and Rod Dempsey is a powerful and informative book on the tools needed to lead a multiplying small group. The authors list 52 ways to help start a small group from scratch and develop it to 1,520 small groups in just ten years! The uniqueness of this book is the fact that it combines many different structures and ways to build a small group. For example: It gives the “G.R.O.U.P” structure, the “Five Practices of Healthy Small Groups,” the “L.I.F.E Group” structure, and the “Eight Effective Habits of a Small Group.”

The basis of all the great information presented is because “learning to lead a healthy, growing, multiplying small group effectively is a little like eating an elephant. You can’t ‘get it’ all at once. You have to ‘eat it one bite at a time,’ learning a little more regularly and putting it into practice.” Thus, the book offers “high octane equipment, empowerment, and encouragement” for the beginner and “practical guidance” for the veteran.

The authors Dr. Dave Early and Dr. Rod Dempsey have a wealth of experience from many combined years of church planting, leading small groups, and teaching on church building. Dr. Early currently pastors the church he planted with over 2,000 attendees and over 100 small groups. Dr. Dempsey teaches all over the nation on discipleship, small groups, and effective church growth strategies. Also, both are highly respected in the academic world with teaching positions at Liberty Baptist seminary.

Therefore, combining the experience of the author’s ministries and the massive amount of today’s best small group strategies and methods, “Leading a Small Group” is a tremendous book for every leader. This paper will outline some of the best methods and habits noted in this book and how I received them.

What the Book Meant to Me

This book took me back to the time I pastored my first church in New Orleans. I had been doing a form of “home mission” inner city church planting, which was basically raising money from the suburb churches and spending it in the “hood.” I likened this method to “Robin Hood,” taking from the rich and giving to the poor. However, the problem with this method was two-fold, first, we did not develop a church that was self-supporting, and second, the depth of the members was lacking in both spiritual and social maturity. As a result, after four years of “blood, sweet, and tears” we only had a “crowd” that lacked serious discipleship.

Facing the discouragement of never having an indigenous church, I began looking for better methods than our “Robin Hood” method. During this time of searching for better methods I came into contact with the “G12” cell group movement. G12 is a cell based church growth movement from Columbia under the leadership of Cesar Castellanos. Though this movement had proven strategies, it was very one-sided and inflexible. Therefore, when I tried to mold the inner city church I was pastoring into the “exact” G12 model, the result was devastating. We basically crushed the church and lost all of our “crowds” and did not even have disciples!

I wish I had this book before I joined G12. If I would’ve had this book and some maturity we could have started small groups one step at a time. I believe we could’ve had both a great inner city outreaching church and a strong discipleship based small group ministry.

Reflection

I personally loved this book because it was written in a way that I like to receive information- short and to the point. Also, I prefer books that show a variety of strategies instead of just “pushing” one idea. This is because most of today’s church growth and strategy books come from a church that found “their way” worked and now they want everyone to “do what they did.”

“Leading a Small Group” gives you the impression that God has many tools to use to building a strong small group based church. Such chapters as, “Jesus Was a Small Group Leader,” “Personal Growth: The Fountainhead of Long-Term Effectiveness,” and “Leader Burnout: Healing and Prevention” come with great life lessons and deep truths to base one’s ministry on.

I thought the strongest two strategies mentioned were the “Five Practices of Healthy Small Groups: Welcome, Worship, Witness, Word, and Works” and “Eight Habits of Effective Small Group Leaders: Dream, Pray, Invite, Contact, Prepare, Mentor, Plan, and Personal Growth.”

Application of the Book

Here is a list of the most important actions I derived from this powerful book:

"Five Practices of Healthy Small Group:"

1. Welcome: I believe that every small group meeting must have a time to “meet and great,” a time of snacks, fellowship, and light conversation.

Metro Praise Church Application: Make time to have snacks, games, and small talk before the group starts. This can work in the summer by first meeting the group in the back yard with some activities or by meeting in house with music playing.

2. Worship: The best way to start a small group meeting is to begin with worship. Worship is important because it focuses everyone’s attention on the Lord and opens their hearts to receive what God has for them.

Metro Praise Church Application: If there is a guitar or keyboard player available have them choose 2-3 songs that are easy to learn and sing until everyone can enjoy singing the choruses. If a musician is not available, then play 2-3 songs on the stereo with a song leader praying and encouraging worship during the songs.

3. Witness: Every week there should be a time when the group meets and spreads the word throughout the neighborhood the group meets in. Also, the group should teach practical witnessing tips for the members to use doing the week with co-workers and friends/family.

Metro Praise Church Application: The group should go out witnessing in the neighborhood of the meeting place, local parks, and schools.

4. Word: The small group must honor the Word of God and make it the center of the group’s focus. The leader should be gifted in making the truths of the Bible plain and applicable to the member’s lives.

Metro Praise Church Application: Have a 10-15 time of teaching the Word of God. Illustrations, icebreaker questions, and stories can help teaching the Word of God practical. However, the focus should always be on finding truths in the Word through prayer and prior study by the leader.

5. Works: The small group should be a place where leaders can train other leaders to fulfill their purpose in the ministry. Small groups should take specific ministry opportunities to work together for the growth of the Kingdom of God.

Metro Praise Church Application: The small group can “adopt-a-block” and take time once a month to go together outside of their small group meeting time and minister together, the group could visit the “weaker” members of the church and have home prayer and Bible study with them, or the group could host retreats and special events such as: “men and women's meetings, “couple’s retreats,” and “conferences at other churches.”

Resources

1. Here is the link to buy the book, a most for all small group leaders!

2. Link to the day and times of Metro's adult small group