The Pivotal Design

Mission Catalyst turns five today. The candles are burning. We couldn't blow them out if we wanted to.

We promised a big announcement, and this is it. Please take a few minutes, relax, and read every word. We're incurably excited.

What have we learned?

After many conversations, meetings, hard work, and prayers, here is what five years have taught us:

1. It can be done. What can be done? Prevailing churches with our theological niche can be created.
2. It cannot happen in a parental system. (It's counterproductive to control funding and staffing.)
3. It happens rarely. Why? Because few people understand how to do it. And it's tough. (But re-read #1.)

We are not uncomfortable talking about it. If what breaks God's heart breaks our hearts, we have to talk about it. We have to struggle, experiment, and pray. And once we nail down a breakthrough, it's unthinkable to keep it to ourselves.

What is changing?

We told you that our announcement "changes everything." What is changing?

1. We no longer look for a superstar pastor. There is a better way to staff a prevailing church than to search for someone who is omni-competent.
2. We are raising the bar on the funding. Now that it's clear how to create a prevailing church, we have to amp up our support. A breakthrough requires resources.
3. Leaders who want their life to make a maximum difference have better, clearer choices than ever before.

What is it that changes everything?

We call it The Pivotal Design. It's imperative that you read it. Here are some options. Pick one or all.

• Log onto missioncatalyst.org/pivotaldesign. Choose between the full edition and a somewhat abbreviated edition. Or listen to the audio online, download it to your iPod, or burn a CD.
• Order professionally-printed copies of the bound booklet to share with everyone you know. Order online or give us a call.

Set aside an hour, and read it through. We're pretty sure you'll agree that it indeed changes everything.

How can you help?

I have never felt so good about asking for your help. We have set an ASAP goal of $180,000. Once you read The Pivotal Design, you will understand the potential and how vital it is that we raise up the next prevailing church.

Please choose your level of support (Friend, Supporter, Partner, or Visionary). Let's tackle this challenge with hair-on-fire enthusiasm and make sure we can support a wave of prevailing churches. You can give online, you can call us, or you can send a check. (You can even drive across the country and hand it to us!)

Friend: $30 a month
Supporter: $100 a month
Partner: $500 a month
Visionary: $1,000 a month
Legacy: Let's talk!

What is God dreaming?

Peter says it well: "God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance."

Every page of the Bible, every moment of Jesus' life, the entire plan of salvation, is about one thing: redeeming people far from God. There cannot be another cause as essential. This is what keeps us awake at night and fuels our passion.

In the midst of crazy times in our country and our world, I am asking God for teams of leaders to create prevailing churches, and for faithful kingdom maniacs to step forward and provide the necessary resources. Thank you for being a vital part of what God is up to.

Ron Gladden, Directional Leader

P.S. Can you imagine what Mission Catalyst will be like five years from now (if Jesus doesn't come first)? I'm sure we will be astonished!

P.P.S We want to hear your feedback. Post your comments below.

This Changes Everything: The Pivotal Design

Our family likes to play Sudoku. We don't waste our time with the simple ones; we want the tough ones, the ones most people avoid.

We start out with high hopes but, all too often, arrive at the point where we're stuck. A person can stay stuck for a long time with Sudoku. It is tempting to give up. After a lot of scrutinizing and mental calisthenics, one of us finally sees something that had eluded everyone before, and he moves ahead to completion. When he calls out, "Done!" the others always ask, "Where did you get your break?"

You need a break to get through.

Many of the greatest inventions are attributed to the person who finally got a breakthrough. Consider the airplane and the Wright brothers. Orville and Wilbur were not the first to try, but they were the first to get a breakthrough. In fact, they could not have accomplished what they did if others had not experimented and learned before them. They stood on the shoulders of those who tried and discovered what not to do. After pouring over all the attempts and failures, they were the ones to get the break - and are remembered for being the first to fly.

There have been many improvements in flight since the boys from Dayton made that breakthrough, but every plane built since is based on what they learned. They discovered the pivotal design. To my knowledge, no one has reverted back to the attempts that went before. Someone once said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Inventors experiment relentlessly until they find the pivotal design. Everything after that is based on that breakthrough.

Church planters know that failure is more common than success. They have a vision of a healthy church where people can't wait to come. Seekers discover salvation. The things of eternity are put in their proper perspective - desirable and exciting. The atmosphere reeks with anticipation. People are friendly, and the music is familiar. Church planters begin with the vision and great hopes, but often turn away from the project a few years later feeling defeated. Their hearts were right. Their efforts were enthusiastic. But it never quite flew.

Pastors and lay leaders make the attempt because they look at what God is doing elsewhere and they see success. They attend conferences where it's happening. They return to their cities and say, "We can do this!" Then they dive in head first using whatever method or approach they are used to.

Until recently, most church planters missed something important: Successful churches are based on a pivotal design. Those who have discovered it look at the failed attempts and can easily understand why. Those who succeed have - deliberately or inadvertently - worked in harmony with the pivotal design. Once someone discovers it, how smart would it be to start a church without it? Since that windy December day at Kitty Hawk, nobody jumps off cliffs with wings and duct tape.

What is the pivotal design? Thanks for asking. On August 9, we will let you know. You will be amazed at the potential, and you will be invited to do something about it. One thing is for sure: This changes everything!

We want to hear your feedback. Post your comments below. And stay tuned for August 9.

"Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord
will do amazing things among you."
Joshua 3:5

- Dennis Pumford, Assistant Directional Leader

This Changes Everything: Barriers

We are not going to take it anymore!

Don’t get nervous, because we’re not yelling at random passers-by through open windows or contemplating carnage (in fact, we are smiling, high-fiving, and having the time of our lives!). But we’re done making excuses. We will not listen to the people who say, “It cannot be done. Truth is unpopular. The road is narrow. Churches that worship on Saturday (and hang on to some other teachings) will never break through and become prevailing churches.”

Here is how I see it. The distinctives are not a barrier to growth. There are other barriers, but the message is not one of them.

A lot of people actually like to discover truth. They think the Sabbath totally makes sense and, when they learn that God doesn’t torture the unsaved forever, they are relieved. When a church makes Jesus first, when it views each doctrine through the lens of grace, when people truly love each other, the message is not a fence; it’s a bridge. (Of course, no one is open to “truth” that makes people critical, arrogant, or harsh.)

Time will prove the point, and we have a rising sea-swell of stories about people whose lives were miraculously changed by God to illustrate it. We have not yet seen churches with our theological niche that never stop growing, but the reason is not the message.

Look at the factors below. Ask yourself (or phone a friend) and decide, Which of these prevent a church from becoming a prevailing church?

____ The pastor is lazy and inept.

____ The leaders think they’re so smart and talented, they don’t really need God.

____ Members don’t care that much where lost people end up.

____ The leaders design programs with the assumption that tomorrow is 1965.

____ The local church is not trusted to make the big decisions that affect long-term growth (e.g. staffing, money, and facilities).

We will unpack this discussion more on August 9. We’ve discovered something big that will help all of us understand how to leverage our lives for the kingdom. In ten short days, we’ll light the candles (that you can’t blow out) and celebrate anniversary number five.

We want to hear your feedback. Post your comments below. Let us know why you think churches with our theological view have stopped short of prevailing.

“Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you.” (Joshua 3:5)

This Changes Everything: Ten-talent Pastors

Every denomination has a percentage of one-talent pastors, five-talent pastors, and ten-talent pastors. We don't like to label our pastors (after all, this isn't Olympic trampoline or figure skating), but we all know that some are extraordinarily gifted while others, well, struggle. If you've attended church for more than a few years, you know what I mean.

Question: Would you expect the fruit of a ten-talent leader to be more abundant than the fruit of a one- or a five-talent leader? If you define fruit as more and more people following Jesus, would a ten-talent pastor lead the church to greater impact?

Let me illustrate. Rewind to 1975, and take Bill Hybels - indisputably a ten-talent pastor - out of the movie theater where he and some friends started Willow Creek. Plop him into a parental system that controls the staffing, the money, the ministries, and the facilities. Would he make the impact he has made there? Where would he be 34 years later? What about the thousands who have crossed the line of faith and accepted Jesus as Savior and Lord? What are the odds he would still be pastoring?

This is vital. One-talent pastors have pretty much the same impact no matter where they serve. Ten-talent pastors, on the other hand, either flounder or flourish depending on the system in which they operate. Is it parental? Their impact will always be temporary and limited. Is it grandparental? The sky is the limit.

What do we mean? Generally, parents control while grandparents support. They both want the same thing (healthy, happy, balanced kids), but their roles are notably different. Of course good parents provide support but, in denominational circles, there is a profound difference between control and support.

We all want the same thing: more people in heaven. An even casual reading of the gospels reveals a hidden camera view into God's heart: He is not willing that any should perish. "Whatever it takes" was His mantra, and it has to be ours.

We're only a few weeks away from August 9, our fifth anniversary. We're excited about the party and the five candles (that you can't blow out). Make sure you watch for the announcement.

We want to hear your feedback. Is a talented leader most effective in a parental or grandparental system? Why? Post a comment below. And stay tuned for August 9.

"Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you." Joshua 3:5

This Changes Everything: The Prevailing Church

You heard about the party, right? And the five candles (that you can't blow out)?

Mission Catalyst turns five on August 9, and the candles are for the party. But we're not just eating cake and blowing noisemakers. We are planning an announcement that changes everything. It's a big deal.

What do we mean? You'll know on August 9. In the meantime, let your mind take you back to 50 days after Passover. The believers came together in thankfulness for the first harvest, and strange things started to happen. Flames of fire appeared out of nowhere (no one could blow them out), the noise of a Katrina-like hurricane roared through and, without the benefit of Rosetta Stone CDs, people started sharing the gospel in languages they had never spoken before. The result? Several thousand skeptics crossed the line of faith and became fervent followers of Jesus. Pretty cool, huh?

Can it happen again? Of course. "In the last days," God says, "I will pour my Spirit upon all people" (Acts 2:17). We believe Him. We think conversions ought to be normal. We pray and expect that God will use leaders today to create prevailing churches where God is the hero and believers love nothing more than helping skeptics learn about Him.

We didn't coin the term "prevailing church," but we like it. We use it all the time around Mission Catalyst because it captures what we sense God is calling us to create. We are thankful for every church that lifts up Jesus ("wherever two or three are gathered"), but we will pay just about any price to build a prevailing church. Here is what we mean. See if it sounds exciting to you.

· The church ethos is unselfish: It's all about the next person who needs to meet Jesus.
· The church understands and connects with the culture through music, technology, preaching, and the arts.
· A high percentage of attenders had no church background before finding this church.
· Authentic Acts 2 community happens (largely, but not exclusively) through its system of small groups.
· The stories of supernatural life-change and radical discipleship are countless.
· The church never stops reaching more people. Whatever the church's age, it continues to grow.
· The church has an increasingly significant footprint in the community. You can't miss it.

We want to hear your feedback. And, we'd like to hear whether you know of a church that fits this description. Maybe it's your church or a church you've visited. And stay tuned for August 9.

"Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you." Joshua 3:5

The 6.5 Theses: Undeniable Truths Worth Nailing Somewhere

1. The local church is God's design to reach a city. It is the hope of each community. The local church is God's highest priority.

2. Local churches exist to reach the next person. Effective leaders are clear that the primary customer is the person who will not go to heaven unless something changes before the end of his/her life. Those who pay the bills, who are already convinced, and who already attend are the secondary customer.

3. Churches are self-determining when it comes to the things that cause health and growth (e.g., staffing, money, and facilities). Since the local church is God's design to reach a community, its leaders must prayerfully decide how to best invest tithe and offerings.

4. Any conference or network exists only to resource and assist the local church in reaching its maximum redemptive potential. Ask not what the church can do for the network; ask what the network can do for the church.

5. Those who are persuaded of the Mission Catalyst theological perspective are not spiritually superior to those who attend any other Christian church. God uses Christians with various points of view to help people cross the line of faith.

6. Leaders don't wait for permission from anyone to obey God's promptings. Once they hear his voice, understand His heart, and consult with people they respect, they act.

6.5 Every city should have a healthy, happy, growing Mission Catalyst church.