Jarrod Jones

I was in the middle of preaching through the book of Nehemiah from a series called “Envision.” Then, God began to lay on my heart another direction:  Tithing.

Tithing? Woo-hoo! The perfect sermon series for Church growth! The sermon series that will generate untold buzz around the community that will bring people flocking to Grace! The sermon series in which people will make countless phone calls and write countless emails inviting friends and family to come!

Not.

Grace’s Executive Pastor, Mark Lingerman, and I had discussions about tithing. Then we both wrote articles for Grace’s monthly periodical. One of our Elders had talked about the need for discipleship when it came to tithing.  And seeds from those discussions began to sprout in me. A couple in our small group, after having read the periodical, said to me, “Jarrod, I hope we’re not stepping out of bounds to share this. But when you start praying through a future sermon series’, maybe think about tithing.”

(Insert Twilight Zone theme song here).

The following week, again in our small group, I shared my fleshly hesitancy to preach a sermon on tithing, much less a series. Then a new believer in our group said to me, “Jarrod, if you know something that will draw me closer to the heart of Jesus, you have to tell me.”

Um, wow…

That basically did it.  Still, the following Sunday, I took two sermons with me into the Worship Center. One was a sermon from the “Envision” series out of Nehemiah, and the other was the tithing sermon.  As I stood before the people I knew the Lord wanted me to trust Him and launch us onto a journey about money, tithing, and giving.  I didn’t have a title for the sermon, much less the series.  I had a video clip I was going to use with the Nehemiah sermon, but instead used it for the tithing sermon and launch of the series. As I began to preach, I choked up with tears. And I said, “My fear is that you will miss out on God’s pleasure by not tithing and giving for the glory of Christ and His work.” I don’t know where the tears came from, nor the words (though I think it’s safe to say, the Holy Spirit), but I meant every word and still do.

And the series right then and there became entitled, “God’s Pleasure.”

We are 3 weeks into the series ( I had to leave for the last two weeks but kept the series in front of our people by way of video and Grace family testimonies). I have no idea how long the series would be. I’m still not sure. But it’s like a mini-revival is happening in the hearts of the Grace fam. We are growing into “fully devoted followers of Jesus”, and we’re experiencing God’s pleasure. Yes, our giving/tithing has gone up. But what excites me is that it’s not a one time call to give that people are responding to. Rather, it’s a response to the gospel and giving/tithing becoming part one’s DNA. A lifestyle of worship…

I’ve gotten some emails in response to the series. The following clip of a recent email sums it up best.

“What an even greater privilege and joy it will be for our family to offer the first and best we receive from God because He gave the first and best He had, His Son.  Thank you!”

Are you experiencing God’s pleasure through tithing and giving to your local church and missions? Don’t miss out on God’s pleasure.

I miss my family, and I miss being at Grace.  Two weeks from my fam, out of the office, and out of the pulpit and I’m getting very ancy.  But God has afforded me some sweet time here in the hot woods of Lone Star, TX for ministry, meditation, reflection, praying, repenting, reading, journaling, listening, and envisioning where God has us going in the future.

I’ve asked the question of myself and our people: “Are we motorboating or sailboating?” In other words, are we the ones doing what we think God wants us to do–steering the boat, determining the speed, etc.  Or, are we seeking, listening, and responding to the Lord’s direction—raising the sails and God blowing His Spirit wind in the direction He wants us to go and at the speed He wants us to go.

We desire to be a “sailboating” Church. In other words, we want to be a praying Church, a pleading Church sensitive to the movement of the Holy Spirit among us. And when we sense His movement among us, we want to work at raising more sails, turning the sails, patching the sails, or whatever needs to be done to move along with God’s Spirit.

Now think of your life.  Are you motorboating? Or sailboating?  Are you doing what God wants you to do, are you being who God wants you to be, and experiencing His blessing and joy (sailboating)? Or are you doing what you want to do and asking God to bless it (motorboating)?

I invite you to join me, my fam, and Grace.  Throw the motorboat keys over the side.  And pray up the sails.

Speaking in Texas for two straight weeks in front of 3 packed camps.  An underlying theme has arisen not only in my preaching this week, but within me.  I said to the people, “You complain of being bored in your life.  Bored with “church.” Bored with Christianity. Bored with Jesus.  Have you ever considered that Jesus is bored with you?”  Indeed, I believe if anyone is “bored” with Jesus, it’s because their life is boring to Jesus. In other words, there is no risk, no adventure, no sacrifice, for the sake of the gospel in your life, and therefore you are bored… and boring.

I’m in this with you. I have found myself in meditation, reflection, and prayer this week asking the Lord Jesus if He’s bored with my life. I’ve asked if He’s bored with my family. And I’ve asked if He’s bored with the Church He’s called me to Pastor, Grace Community (due to my potential “boring” leadership)?  Does my life, and the Church that He’s entrusted to me, keep Him on the edge of His seat in suspense to see what Spirit-led, crazy God-dependent, risk and sacrifice that I, my family, and Grace, is going to take for His glory and the sake of the lost and broken?

Is your life keeping Jesus on the edge of His seat?

Or is He bored with us?

God have mercy….

God continues to move Grace into “the good land.” In other words, He’s blessing. On a more personal scale, God has moved my family to the good land.  No doubt God called my family here to NY for me to preach, and pastor the wonderful Grace crowd.  Grace is relationally and spiritually healthy and steadily (and quickly!) growing.

We are in a good land.

But here’s a word God gave me a while back: “But let not your heart turn away from the Lord to worship other gods.” … “Then you will quickly die in that good land the Lord is now giving you.  So commit yourselves completely to these words of mine.” Deut. 11:16 - 18

A church quickly growing can begin quickly dying.  How? Worshiping “the good land,” the blessing, instead of Jesus.   Idolatry lurks, and it can range from idolizing buildings, personalities, vision, strategies, ministries, to styles of music.  For me, Idolatry can be revealed in worshiping the ministry of God, the Church of God, instead of the God of the ministry and of the Church.  A Church, a family, a person can “die” in the midst of blessing. How? The heart turns away from the Lord of blessing to the blessing of the Lord. Self-dependence, arrogance, ego, begin to rear their rears. When you take what is good–blessing–and make it ultimate, that’s idolatry.

And that’s the sure fire way of dying in blessing.

Beware…

Every Wednesday is staff meeting with the Grace staff.  We always begin with Scripture and prayer. Then we get into the meat of things with our staff agenda–celebration moments, strategic ministry, old and new business etc. At the end of staff meeting we always allot about 20 - 30 minutes of leadership “training.” I walk us through material or articles about leadership based mostly on successful leaders who may or may not be Christian. We learn a lot from resources, as well as each other, in ways that we apply leadership principles in our personal lives, families, and ministries. I believe that God can use successful leaders (christian or not) to teach us how to better lead what and whom has been entrusted to us.

We wrapped up our most recent leadership training with a focus on “clarity.”  We spent weeks on this topic. A magazine leadership article we were studying had a list of questions to ask ourselves often to see if we were living, leading, and ministering with clarity.  I had my assistant make cards with the questions and give them to staff to have in front of us throughout the day.

I thought I’d post the article’s comments and questions for you with view toward helping you have clarity in your life too.  Enjoy.

The below (except for question 1) was taken from the article “The Power of Clarity” by Tony Jeary, SUCCESS Magazine, April 2009.

—-

[In regards to gaining clarity], [t]he willingness to change plays a huge role in your ability to succeed. Voluntary change, which does not require anyone to push you or mandate that you do new things, is the kind of change you should seek.  To enable smooth, low-stress change, you need to become aware of what you can and should change.

Here’s a change audit to follow:

1. What is it exactly that you’re trying to accomplish?

2.  What opportunities and choices present themselves to you daily?

3.  What causes you to feel stressed or rushed?

4.  What are the five most important actions you can take to bring value to your business, [ministry], or personal life?

5.  What are five actions you can either delegate or spend less time on?

6.  If you spent less time on the actions in No. 4 and focused more on the actions in No. 3, what would that mean to your effectiveness?

Remember, you will need to know what you want to do, why you want to do it, and how you will do it.  You need to know the benefit of doing it and the negative payoff for not doing it.  Acquiring clarity and increasing effectiveness will accelerate success.