Awakening Freedom

2006-08-13T16:41:00.000-05:00

Time to Move!
I followed flat-world sage Joe Kennedy 's advice (www.wordsarenotenough.com), and now blog at
www.awakeningfreedom.com

2006-07-18T12:27:00.000-05:00

[My] Texas Girls Understand Something About Freedom

Yesterday, I took my daughter, my goddaughter, and my wife to a gun range. They'd all decided that learning to shoot a handgun would be fun. No kidding, this is normal behavior for women from Texas. Apparently gunplay is not normal for women in other parts of the country. A friend (goddaughter's mama) just returned from New Orleans where she worked with Habitat for Humanity to build new homes in the 9th Ward. While in NoLa, she met a woman from Connecticut who told my friend that she had never visited Texas and was somewhat afraid to go because, "Doesn't everyone have a gun?" I would have given $50 to hear the end of that conversation. "Yes ma'am, everyone in Texas has a gun and most of us carry one at all times--especially when we're in New Orleans. Would you like to see my highly polished, stainless steel, crackhead killing .357?"

For all the fear that guns cause, you'd think our country was founded by Al Gore and the Fearmongers (which is a good name for a rock band). In fact, it was founded by 18th C. Brits fighting alongside 18th C. Frenchmen and women who all knew how to use a gun. Criminals were only tolerated when they occupied public office, and even then much less so than today. Texas was conquered, settled, developed, and continues to be occupied by a majority of people who understand what a gun is for, and here we have a significant point, a gun is for guaranteeing one's freedom.

If you fear guns, stop it. Your phobia is annoying, and makes me wonder if you also fear matches or automobiles, which kill and destroy far more people and property each year than guns do. Well enough ranting. Yesterday was a joy for me. The girls shot a 9mm auto-loader and a .357 revolver loaded with .38s. They had fun and they learned something important.

I learned something important too. Five minutes after spending an hour at gunplay--while they were still in the gun store and I was paying the range bill--their conversation was onto which type of girly hair product was best given the current wave of heat and humidity (or something like that). I leaned in toward the young man at the register and said, "If you ever wonder why Texas girls are so much fun, just listen to the conversation behind me. They have shifted from guns to gel in the blink of an eye." In the parking lot, I was still giggling when the girls all decided that I should take them for ice cream. What a blessing is the Texas version of femininity!

As for you church planters who may read this. I suggest you learn to shoot a gun and teach your wife and kids. I think that the wolves in your congregation will be less likely to try something shady if they know you take your kids to the gun range before you all go out for ice cream. Well, maybe not, but at least the congregation will have something interesting to talk about when your name comes up.

2006-06-29T14:35:00.000-05:00

Item 1. Unintentional Coaching

I shared meals with two of my coaches this week. One was a ministry coach and the other was a business coach. They are both a lot smarter than I am, and since we are on this subject of coaching, the similarities I found between the two might prove helpful.

1. They make a point. If I ask a question, they give an answer. They do not seem to care much whether or not I agree or if the answer offends anyone. They give their opinions, which are usually right. At the same time, they do not come across as arrogant--confident, yes, but not arrogant.

2. They tell a lot of personal stories. Most of their stories are humorous, and sometimes the point of the story is to tell about a mistake they made.

3. They are both genuinely likeable. It's easy to be their friend.

My two friends do not seem to be too concerned with changing the world or their legacy. In fact, their coaching seems remarkably unintentional. It seems like they just enjoy spending a little time with someone who is younger than they are and offering help when the opportunity presents itself.

Item 2.
Yar! Me Eyes

(For those of you in the dark--pun intended--I began experiencing double vision one week ago today.)

Thanks for praying that my normal vision returns. I have had several appointments with several doctors, who ran several tests. Thankfully, I have health insurance and not a tumor or infection.

My ophthamologist says I likely have a palsy of the sixth cranial nerve. The nerve has only one job that is to send a message from my brain to an eye muscle to line up. It seems that little nerve has gone on vacation--the noyve of that guy! So, I am cross-eyed as a chameleon with a head injury.

There is some good news. The majority of these cases self-correct in weeks to months. More good news, I get to wear an eye patch, which is one of three ways of coping, and the one that my nephews prefer. What first grader would not want an uncle with an eye patch? Yar!

The other two coping mechanisms involve covering one lens of my eyeglasses with scotch tape (it works better than I thought it would), or to get new lenses with a prism that corrects my vision. I ordered a pair yesterday. Also, while I am adjusting, I do not have to drive anywhere. I have a young hottie serving as my chauffeur. Yar!

Thank ye for yer prayers. I think I'll go play on the beach in Florida. Yar!

2006-06-23T11:50:00.000-05:00

Good Coaching Makes a Good Planter Better
Today's post started as an e-mail from a friend of mine at NAMB. (I am waiting for his permission before posting the text of the e-m.) Reader's Digest version: He rightly points out that so much of what leads to a church planter's success (or failure) on the field connects with who coaches him. Here's my response: ... This subject is ripe for a blazing [blog] battle. DISCLAIMER: [Blog Posting] OFFERS A NOTORIOUS MEDIUM FOR HURT FEELINGS, INUENDO, AND ALL MANNER OF DEMONIC NASTINESS. ONE CANNOT COMMUNICATE AS CLEARLY VIA E-M AS HE CAN IN PERSON (tough to display, body language, volume, etc.) E-mail does not offer very good give and take. So, start out by giving each other (especially me :-/ ) the benefit of the doubt, OK? Two things come to mind:

All my coaches were constantly in my face. This one carries other baggage:

Good coaching and distance do not make good partners.
Good coaching involves an agreed upon (dare I say, “owned”), clear, measurable goal (like, “HIT THAT GUY THERE, THAT ONE”).
Good coaching involves constant correction, criticism, and yelling is often necessary.

The relational nature of mentoring/coaching demands mutual selection. When we assign mentors/coaches to planters, without the two guys first falling in like with each other, we should not be surprised to find that failure is the norm. As a rule, arranged marriages don’t work in the West.

It would seem that the most reasonable path to good coaching (and to increasing the number of successful church planters) involves identifying the guys in the field with a good coaching record and rewarding them by sending them more church planters to coach. I think I can, therefore, advocate a process that encourages church planters to plant in areas with (1) a clear strategy for helping planters in the field, and (2) a proven coach. Such a plan involves abandoning the 19th Century geographic planting strategy. The geographic strategy makes little sense in a day when the largest cities in the South are over 75 percent church-challenged. Instead, perhaps we would be wise to reward the men who have made the most of their “talents” and, yes that will mean penalizing the ones who have “hidden their talents in the ground.” Your turn…

2006-06-14T08:41:00.000-05:00

Greensboro II

These are interesting days for NAMB and NOBTS. I spent most of the day yesterday walking between the booths. I wore the wrong shirt, but tried to be helpful anyway. Both booths were crowded with people asking great questions and genuinely interested in giving us encouragement and their participation. I think the best days are ahead for both entities, and I feel glad to work with them.

Dr. Kelley's speech was excellent as usual, and NAMB Interim & Evangelism Prof. Exemplar Dr. Roy Fish received a standing ovation at his introduction. You can see the reports for both agencies at www.sbc.net.

Overall, this was one of the better conventions I've attended. People with whom I spoke wanted unity. Speakers from the podium and the floor were generally gracious and willing to listen to others' opinions on substantive issues. For that I am thanking the Holy One this morning!

It's easy to let things about which one is passionate get the best of his or her need to be kind. Col. 3:12-13 gives us instruction "as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do." SoBapt family, we will be wise to remember who we are--God's chosen (along with all the other believers still walking the earth) light-givers to a depraved world. How can we respond to God's kindness other than with humility and grace toward others (I wish I was better at it, maybe one day I will grow into my election).

Well, I am off to Raleigh, the up to Virginia for a couple days. The convention has been a good trip. I hope I see you holding your voting card next year.
100,000 blessings. +JA+

2006-06-13T15:43:00.000-05:00

Live from the Southern Baptist Convention in Greensboro, NC

I'm at the SBC in Greensboro, NC. It's been cloudy outside, but clear as a bell inside the auditorium. Messengers elected Frank Page the new President with a majority of 50.4% of the vote, so no runoff is necessary. I guess that proves that Southern Baptists still vote. It may also prove something about the value of the Internet for dissemination of information (or, for that matter, disinformation[!?!]).

In other news, the Convention sent a recommendation back to the Executive Committee that would have allowed a vote on whether or not to move the 2007 SBC from Indianapolis to New Orleans. Hosting the SBC in NoLa would have been a huge boost for the city, and at such a critical time too. New Orleans is wide open to the God News right now--I think we could have made a tremendous impact on the region's future. Sending it back to the Execs will pretty much kill the change, and it does save the convention about $425,000, so it's not all bad. I do hate to miss an opportunity though.

Tonight, messengers will debate some of the motions surrounding the governance of the IMB. I think the hollering starts around 7:30, and you can watch it LIVE on the web at www.sbc.net, which is very cool. It's also one reason why I am SoBapt (the hollering, not the WebCast). I like it that a guy from a small Baptist church in a small town can stand at a microphone and ask hard questions. I like it that real messengers from real churches all over the country get a say in what happens. I like it that conclusions aren't always foregone. We fuss (just like a family), but we also give everyone a chance to speak his mind. To my knowledge, no other denomination allows such free-ranging input. In fact, because of our polity, I am not sure one can rightly call us a denomination. We act more like a family, or at least a cooperation.

Speaking of cooperation, NOBTS President Chuck Kelley gave a very good speech thanking So. Baptists for all the help (time and money) we've received in New Orleans and on the Gulf Coast since Katrina. Dr. Kelley pointed out that the Cooperative Program works very well all the time and especially well after disasters. That's another reason I like being SoBapt--we take care of each other (just like a family), and we spread the Good News (just like His family should).

I hope you're having fun and being entertained. I sure am. =JA=

2006-06-03T13:24:00.000-05:00

On Political Leadership in the Most General Terms

Mayor Ray "Chocolate City" Nagin (I think I will start calling him
"Mayor Milk Dud") was reelected in New Orleans. Ray is blunt, often
letting his mouth utter words that have seen the business-trained side
of his mind but not the politically savvy side.

His opponent, Mitch Landreau, is from an old political family.
Mitch's dad; Moon, for whom the city's "Moon Walk" is named; was
Mayor of New Orleans; his sister, Mary, spends other people's money
as a member of Congress. Mitch is polished. He can spin the truth
like a roulette wheel, and with similar, who-knows-what's-coming-up
results.

I was unable to vote, my ballot was absconded by a party I shall
not name, but I think I'd have voted for Ray. Somehow, a painfully
blunt official allows me a better night's sleep than one whose words
must be constantly parsed. Yes, in a contest between Mayor Milk Dud
and Machine Mitch, one candidate promised us an eye-rolling and head
shaking four years. With the other, Crescent City citizens would
surely have seen a return to double entandre political poppycock.
When choice leaves us stuck between bald-headed comedy and bald-faced
federal indictments, give me the funny guy. I think I tend to vote
for the one who will do the least.

Was that a typo? Did I really mean "least harm"? Can I apply my standard
to all leadership? Would I, say, vote this conscience for the President
of the SBC, or the North American Mission Board?; the latter of which
individuals I have no voice with which to judge; i.e., no vote anyway.
I meant to write the one who--in my limited estimation--will do the
LEAST HARM. Now, I can vote for myself to lead something :)

2006-05-02T17:29:00.000-05:00

I feel like I just woke up from the post-prom party. Kids started arriving at 12:45, and I tossed the last boy out at 5:05. That's AM.

As expected, the kids were terrific. The girls were gorgeous and sweet. The boys very polite--perhaps you think it was because I was holding that rifle all night, but I think their mothers are right. These are a nice bunch of kids.

We fed them healthy snacks. Apples, bananas, marshmallows, and angel food cake with homemade chocolate fondue with real imported Italian liqueur in to give it a little zing (we borrowed it from my sister-in-law and did not, I swear, use a drop of it as a beverage). It was really good. Oh, and sausage, which was dipped in chocolate by only one football player (what a surprise).

The boys found the pool and went for a swim around 2:00, which was 30 minutes later than I anticipated. I told Janet that if God intended for a 6-foot iron fence to keep boys out of water, he would not have given them arms and legs. It turned out those rascals did not even need to climb the fence. They picked the lock with a driver's license! I was so proud, I almost cried.

A cold front complete with rain blew in as they were climbing the fence (in Texas, a cold front in April is defined as anything wet that drops the temperature below 70 degrees). So when the boys returned from their adventure, they were wet and freezing. They were also scared to come inside despite our daughter's assurances of grace. I think I overheard one say something about, "Yeah, but your Dad has that funny look in his eye."

Janet--always the kind one--went outside and offered towels to the huddled masses. Then she smiled and came back in. Our daughter just told her friends, "See I told you my parents wouldn't be mad." We are gold, y'all.

All this is to say that it's really nice to give away the grace that the Father gives to me. Those kids were not ready to go home after the prom. They had energy and sore feet. If you wonder why girls wear shoes that cause such pain, you are a guy. I asked and they told me. It's because they look pretty. That tells me that those girls were willing to endure pain to have someone tell them they looked pretty. So I told 'them, "Sometimes, pretty is worth the pain." I told those dumb boys--who by 1:00 had changed into what Janet calls "paint clothes"--to compliment the girls on how pretty they looked. So the boys made points too.

Anyway, there's a God-thing in here somewhere. Oh yeah, God looks at us, sees our self-inflicted pain, and tells us how pretty we look to him. Jesus is the kindest and most fun guy who ever lived. He does not mind a bit when we go swimming in a tuxedo. Nor does he mind when the girls think we're crazy and laugh at us. In fact, as the wind blew that night, and the mist started to form into big, wet drops, I could've sworn I felt the Father's smile on the whole shindig.

2006-04-28T10:57:00.000-05:00

We--my wife & me--will host the after-Prom party tonight. Other than having to stay awake until our guests arrive well past midnight, I expect good things. Well, maybe not all good. My neighbors will whinny because throngs of teenagers with newly minted driving licenses block their driveways with dad's SUV. My bathroom will get a workout I will make untold trips outside to see what exactly is so interesting outside that you have to go back and forth several times (maybe not, these are really good kids or so their mothers tell me). That we live next door to a park offers me no comfort as I imagine tuxedos in the grass (hey, that would be a good name for a rock band).

My bank account will also get worked over. Prom dress $300, shoes $79, earrings, $43, chocolate fondue, fruit, orange juice, plates, napkins, and cups, $118. Being the coolest Dad: priceless.

For all it's impending doom, hosting the post-Prom shindig offers the best possible way to really know my daughter's friends. I expect to see at least one couple on the brink of a breakup and more than one pledging goo-goo eyed foreverlove. I will meet the class clown, brain, jock, and dweeb who will likely change roles over the next twenty years. It should be more entertaining than people watching at the Austin airport, which is pretty good fun if you've never tried it.

Pray for me. I hope I can stay awake.

2006-04-27T12:18:00.000-05:00

Strategy Simplified: Listen-Aim-Act-Change-Repeat

Why Most Church Plants Fail

Depending on who keeps score, somewhere 50 and 80 percent of all church plants fail to make their tenth birthday.[1] Far too much time, energy, emotion, and m-o-n-e-y go into church planting for believers to be satisfied with such dismal results. Business leaders like to say, “Your system is perfectly designed to achieve the results you’re getting.”[2] If that is true, and it likely is, then one must agree that something in the church planting system needs adjustment.

Most often, former leaders of now defunct church plants cite under-funding as their chief complaint, but (because the fruit is always in the harvest) funding causes few, if any, church plants to collapse. Over the last several years, an ongoing, faith-based (unscientific) poll helped determine what most causes failure in church planting: bad strategy. Ill-conceived, or misguided strategy always leads to failure, even in cases where funding is extraordinarily high.

Most Church Leaders Don’t Know Much about Strategy

Last February, George Barna’s research group wrote that while 92 percent of church leaders (and probably 100 percent of church planters) “consider themselves to be effective leaders, . . . only one out of every seven Senior Pastors (14%) say that they are effective at thinking and acting strategically.”[3] A wise person might wonder why seminaries do not require that graduates complete at least one course on strategic thinking and planning. Simply stated, the typical MDiv requires over ninety semester hours. Ask committee members what they would one cut in order to make room for three or four hours of strategic thought, and the answers will vary to the point of stagnation. So the larger issue of Southern Baptist Seminary curriculum must be left to greater minds.

For now, strategy rides the waves of elective courses, which is where all church planting courses abide in stateside seminaries. Nehemiah planters take at least two courses; one covering the basic principles of church planting and one that focuses on models. At New Orleans BTS, the latter course—Strategic Church Planting for Multiplication—underplays models to spend most of its three hours on strategic thinking. the thought is that if one understands models he has a good chance of choosing the wrong one for his context (as experience easily proves), but if one can plan and think strategically, the correct model will show itself.

So what can be done now? Not much it would seem. The ocean of books on strategy generally complicate the subject to the point one feels he needs a three-hour, graduate-level course on the subject, which leaves us right back where we started does it not? (Readers may find one or two good choices on the front page of my blog.)

A Simple Formula: Listen-Aim-Act-Change-Repeat

Rather than sinking into a-strategic haze, perhaps a few quick thoughts will send readers in a healthier direction. First, understand that strategy is a lot like bathing. You’re never through; no matter how clean one feels at first, after a while everything stinks again. Strategic thinking and planning never cease.

Strategy has four parts that always return to the primary source for information. Good strategy follows good information, and good information comes from listening. Most people do not listen well, if at all, so most strategies start off starved for information. Strategy does not stop at listening, it takes other steps. It takes aim at a goal, it takes action to meet the goal, and it changes to correct the things it could not have seen before it took action; but—please remember this—strategy listens all the time.

Think of the steps as four-fold and always repeating: listen-aim-act-change-listen-aim-act-change-repeat.[4] It may help the reader to draw a figure eight lying on its side; i.e., an infinity symbol; and plot the steps on at equal distances on the figure.

If we’re trying to grow a church, we listen to the people in the area. How do they perceive truth? What do they think of churches? What are their ideas on God, Jesus, Holy Spirit, baptism, communion (stick with the big stuff)? Where does life hurt and where do they find joy? If a Bible study started in their neighborhood, would they attend? Would they host it (one finds the neighbors almost always attend when they host the Bible study in their home).

It all seems obvious doesn’t it? Yet leaders start most churches, or any program for that matter, with what they think might work instead of what their listening ears tell them will work.

After listening enlightens a few trends, one can aim his energies at something specific. If he finds people receptive to small group Bible studies, but not to large group worship gatherings, he could aim at starting small groups in every neighborhood in a ten block square.

When his aim is clear, he can act on his target. He can look for host families, pick a night, invite people, train leaders, and start networking between groups.

Then he can plan on changing. Strategic plans always change. Every plan demands change soon after one takes action, and no one can anticipate those changes. Moreover, no one can anticipate how changes will affect they people in the group. So, wise strategists listen again, shift their aim, take new action, make new changes, and—you guessed it—listen again.

100,000 blessings, Jack Allen

[1] Jeff Nyberg, quoted in Jerry Pierce, “Church Planting Fellowship Gets Gospel in Written Form to 13,400 Plano-area Homes,” Southern Baptists of Texas, accessed 27 April 2006, http://www.sbtexas.com/default.asp?action=article&aid=1341. Elizabeth D. Rios, “Chronicles of Church Planting: 80% Failure Rate,” Next Wave: Church and Culture, accessed 27 April 2006, http://the-next-wave-ezine.info/issue81/index.cfm?id=4&ref=ARTICLES_CHURCH%20PLANTING_45

[2] The saying is generally credited to Frederick Taylor (1856-1915), the father of scientific management.

[3] “Church Leaders Emphasize Motivation, But Struggle with Strategy,” The Barna Update, http://www.barna.org/FlexPage.aspx?Page=BarnaUpdate&BarnaUpdateID=220. accessed 27 April 2006,

[4] Adapted from Gary Gagliardi, The Golden Key to Strategy (Seattle: Clearbridge), 2005, which was, other than the author’s brilliant formula, a metaphysical mumbo jumbo and utter waste of $15.95.

2006-04-20T13:54:00.000-05:00

Marty Duran came up with a great question on his blog: "You are the new President of NAMB. What are your goals?" Chime in at http://sbcoutpost.blogspot.com

I guess my first thought would be to ask "what sin did I commit to call down God's wrath on my head? Now I'll actually have to work." After that, here's a list, a flawed one I'm sure:

1. Put a 90-day moratorium on new programs.

2. Get on my face before God and stay there until He tells me what to do.

3. Tell some godly people with a proven track record for wisdom what I think God said. Listen to their advice.

4. Take revisions to the Lord.

5. Tell the Trustees what I think God is saying. Listen to their advice. Read this list to them. Listen to them some more.

6. Ask NAMB staff for names of people they most trust within the organization. Meet with those people and listen to them talk about whatever they want to talk about. Once they wind down, tell them what I think God is saying. Listen some more. Pray with them enough for all of us to feel like we actually prayed (this will take a lot of time).

7. Meet with small groups of NAMB staff (8-12 people), and listen. Then repeat what I did with the influencers in #6.

8. Create a field-based strategy (and reduce the administrative-based strategy) to accomplish what the Lord is telling us to do. This will be fun because NAMB staffers will soon want to call it the "FBS" but they'll be afraid to say that out loud, so maybe we can get away from using intials for everything and learn to talk plainly again. Admin-based strategy is easier on the people in the home office, but it's really hard on the people in the field. The field-based version is easier on the people on the front lines (like church planters and missionaries). A field-based strategy is usually harder to measure or to report, but it is more consistent with "caring for the needs of others" (Phil 2:4), so it get better long-term results.

9. Do everything in my power to make NAMB a fun place to work. Watching God do stuff leads to joy, and joy is fun. In fact, it really seems that working for NAMB should be relatively easy. Ask God. Listen. Do it. (Maybe that would be my slogan.)

10. Remind people that the work of NAMB is missionary work, (Ed Stetzer would say, "missional" which is a good new word Ed invented). It means we have a mission that involves fighting a spiritual battle. We might want to learn more about how to fight a spiritual battle and rely on our biblical training and the Holy Spirit more than on marketing or psychology. The latter two arenas are very helpful, but only if we combine it with spiritual fighting. Is it not interesting that Jesus gave us direction on one, but not much on the other two?

I like it that I put a lot of listening in there. My wife & children will tell you that I am a better teacher than listener, but I am working on reversing the two. As I get older, one seems infinitely more important than the other.