What kind of pastor would blog about his love for Sin City? That would be me. Heather and I love living in Las Vegas and are thankful that the Lord brought us here to start Southern Hills Baptist Church! Why do I love this town so much?
Single Moms and Single Dads are my new Heroes! Really!!! I look around our congregation and I see these dear women and men who are doing it all by themselves! They get the kids out the door to school, go to work everyday, many times to an underpaid & unappreciated position, pick up the kids from school, do the homework and then put them down for the night… ALONE! Phew! I’m tired just thinking about it. For those of you who are single parents I have no suggestions (other than keep walking with Jesus) only admiration.
Reading is not lame! I can remember as a child getting a hold of my very first copy of “Pilgrim’s Progress”. Mrs. Kerber was my Sunday school teacher and I was was only 9 years old when our class had a contest that ended in me winning 2nd place and the a fore mentioned christian classic. The book was obviously published by someone trying to market to my age group. Christian was on the cover with a shiny sword, a suit of armor, and a look of determination on his face that clearly stated his strength in the face of peril. That book changed the direction of my life in 2 BIG ways. First, I began to look at the christian life as a journey and an adventure. Secondly, I fell in love with books.
I never get over how strong the temptation is to preach religion instead of preaching that which I am commissioned to preach, Christ!
I Corinthians 1:23, II Corinthians 4:5, Colossians 1:28
Currently I am preaching through a sermon series called Heroes: 8 Stories of Incredible People. The second sermon was slated as a charter study of the life of Peter. When I study the life of Peter I see an incredible walking contradiction, a man of incredible strength and epic weakness. At one moment he is walking on water and the next he’s slipping into the waves. It seems no apostle is more commended and subsequently corrected than Peter, many times all within the same passage.
Watching my father, Dr. David Teis, plan the church calendar every year while growing up was the inspiration I needed to become a planner. His dedication to his church continues to this day with 35 years of ministry and 850 members. I have also learned planning skills from reading a multitude of books on the subject, but the idea for Vision Sunday came from a pastor-friend in California named Paul Chappell. For the last 25 years, he has used vision night to keep his congregation on track as he lays out the plans for the coming year. This is the fourth step in my annual planning process… so… here we go…
I hate to admit weakness! In fact I’d just like to assume that if I had any weaknesses I overcame them years ago. Moreover, I’d like you to assume that I had none. Alas, ’tis not the truth. In fact those that know me personally can attest to many more weaknesses than the one I am about to share with you.
Being on a church staff can be one of the most exciting things or one of the most frustrating things in the world. Although there are many factors that go into developing a healthy church staff, planning and communication are indispensable to the process.
I’ve got to be real with you! Among my favorite things in life, I would include sitting in front of the television with a bucket of popcorn in my lap while watching a shootout between the bad guys and the good guys. I love to chill, relax, and think about nothing! So, left completely to myself, I would never get anything done unless I planned to get it done. Therefore, I plan. Over the years, I have developed a 4-step planning process that has helped me tremendously in planning for the coming year and staying on schedule throughout the year.
So I thought, over the next few blog posts, I would share with you my process for annual planning. (My 4 steps: Personal Planning in August, Staff Planning in September, Men’s Leadership Planning in November, Vision Sunday on 1st Sunday of January)
