Author Archives

Garry Brackett

BA - Fort Wayne Bible College
MAR - Trinity Evangelical Divinity
D.Min - Grace Theological Seminary
Birkman Certified Coach
John Maxwell Certified Team Member
Myers/Briggs Certified
FIRO-B Certified
TKI Certified
25 Years Executive Coaching

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Continued Struggle

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 24:39 — 33.9MB) | Embed

As of week #15 in the COVID-19 journey there is only 50% of churches that have re-opened with protective cautions. Just let that data point settle into your thinking for just a minute. Honestly, things are not going as well as initially thought. After allowing this fact to settle in consider also – 4 weeks ago 3% of pastors stated they would consider waiting until 2021 to reopen. In week #15 that number of pastors has grown to 15% – basically 1-in-9 pastors are now saying they will not open until 2021. 

As you drill down into the data that is being tracked you will notice additional struggles. For example….

•88% of Pastors believe there will be a disruption of “Fall Outreach/Back-To-School” strategies.

•44% of Pastors are still struggling with the whole idea of the Hybrid Church – Live & Digital. February 2020  the Digital Church was at the bottom of the list of Pastoral concerns. Two weeks later the nation was shut-down and Digital Church was literally born over-night as a top concern.

•11% of Pastors feel they are equipped to lead during this national disruption. 

There is an interesting dialogue that is emerging. First of all, Pastors are lamenting the fact that buildings are not being fully utilized. A real sense of loss has crept into the minds of Faith Leaders. If God is not limited to Dates, Times, and Space should we feel that we have lost something? When your mind opens to this truth, you begin to examine the role of buildings, classrooms, ushers, technology enhanced illustrations, etc. Said another way, How would the Gospel of Christ advance if we did not have buildings, technology, programs, and topical series?

Has Technology and programmatic strategies over-taken genuine human interaction? Are we measuring input instead of output? In other words is our message COME instead of GO? We have convinced ourselves that “Our Stuff” is necessary to change lives. Honestly, it is nice but not necessary!

Going back the Hybrid Church concerns, there is a 900lb elephant in the room that needs to be addressed. Social Media is not about announcements of sermon series, activities, upcoming events – “Look at what we are doing!” Social Media Ministry is about maturing people in their faith journey using digital spaces to accomplish this goal. Do not feel the pressure to repeat “facility-based” services on social platforms. Facility style services done on social platforms are not necessarily the optimal method to truly connect with people.

Your greatest resource to help are the Millennials and Gen-Zers. They live in the social platform world, everyone else is the late comers to the discussion. To repeat what I stated earlier, in February of this year digital church was at the very bottom of the list of concerns – 2 weeks later the nation is shut-down and the digital church world was born over-night.

So that I can go on record, I believe it is highly probable for churches to see a massive growth surge post-covid. This was true, post-911. The reason this growth surge of faith did not last post-911 was a failure to make a real human connection. Programs was the solution versus human touches. If post-911 is an indicator, we need to prepare NOW for growth that can be sustained. What do we need to change in our messaging and methods to communicate a genuine care and concern for a person’s story? 

Some suggestions to energize the Human Element style of faith connections might be Zoom Bible Studies that are real and raw minus the production bells and whistles. Perhaps it is time to go “analog” by writing cards, letters, personalized notes of encouragement and demonstrate genuine care. Most of all “experiment” with new ideas that add the human value into your presentation.

LINKS

Shepherds Advantage Leadership Podcast is now on iTunes – SUBSCRIBE

Shepherds Advantage Leadership Podcast is now on Stitcher – SUBSCRIBE

FREE GIFT – “Servant Leadership Questions” – Click on the icon at the bottom of the page

Executive Coaching Service– Private message me for details on this customizable service

Birkman Assessment

Leadershift by John Maxwell

Q&A – Contact me at ShepherdsAdvantage@gmail.com

Music: “Gratitude Mood” by David Arivett. You can learn more about his music by clicking on his name. THANKS DAVID!

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Is There A Race Problem?

Black Vs. White Perspective on Racism

You have been living under a rock if you have not noticed the layered disruptions of 2020. Pandemic, Economic, Racial, Anarchists, Rioting, Intellectual Dishonesty of our Media, and Re-opening; these layers are enough to cause severe and perhaps permanent damage. Make no mistake the atmosphere of public discourse is very toxic and emotionally charged. Unfortunately, in the American Educational system it appears that we have lost our ability to practice “critical thinking skills.” This is the ability to research information from all sides of an issue and to critically think about the trajectory of our decisions once enacted. What is the trajectory of racial discussions in the American experience? Moreover, what trajectory is the Christian church on.

Below are some data sets that were assembled in 2019 by the Barna Research Group and Racial Justice and Unity Center. These data sets will speak for themselves in terms of enlightenment. This is not a judgmental article, rather it is more about information that can and will guide decisions and actions.

Shepherds Advantage provides Servant Leadership that helps people close the gap between where they are and where they want to be. Shepherds Advantage closes that gap by providing Leadership Development, Key Note Speaking, and Executive Coaching. 

Shepherdsadvantage@gmail.com

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Learn The Warning Signs of Failure

Some churches will not survive

What is your level of comprehension regarding what is happening in our world, nation, city, neighborhood? There are layers of disruption that has and still is occurring; Pandemic, economic, educational, Racism, rioting, Anarchists, intellectual dishonesty of our media, and for some death and dying. Are you in touch with the emotional impact these disruptions are having on people you serve? There are some definite warning signs that failure is emanate. Here are just a few.

Expecting Everything To Go Back To Normal – If you are tempted to wait it out until things “get back to normal”, you are acting from an entitlement mentality. Even after the pandemic is over and we can get ack to some familiarity, things are not going to be as they were before.

You Expect Others To Solve your Problems – If you are waiting on government or denominational leaders to solve this problem you are operating from a position of high risk. God has placed you in a position of leadership – so lead! You need to be humble enough to assess your community and various realities and make decisions on what you are seeing.

Expect Church To Happen Only Inside A Building – If the activity of God through you as a spiritual leader can only in a building, then you are missing out on what God really can accomplish.

Poor Communication – This pandemic has forced churches to shift communication styles very quickly. In fact, it has been amazing to watch. Social media platforms, digital tools are here to stay. The churches that will survive and thrive into the future are those that are using communication to ultimately drive activity throughout their entire organization. Communication is going to have a seat at the senior leadership table of thriving churches in the next normal. 

Insider Focus – Churches that have always been solely focused on those who are already attending have been on the brink of extinction for a long time. The recovery period will accelerate the decline of churches exclusively focused on those already attending. You and I need to double down on our efforts to connect with people who don’t follow Jesus and to lovingly see them get connected to his message. Churches that are just focusing on the insiders, that are more worried about the “keep” than the “reach,” will find themselves increasingly marginalized and unable to survive what comes next.Financial Issues – In the coming days we are going to hear of difficulty in the financial operations of the church. Either our debt load is too large in the face of declining attendance, our strategy is building focused less on humanity, or our need for large gatherings with minimal social impact. Money pushed a vision. The real question is what vision is needed that necessitates our financial support.

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Returning To Normal May Be Dangerous

What if the real problem is not medical but cultural!

With so much uncertainty in our world presently, why is there such a push to return to NORMAL? Is it possible that nostalgia has set into our spirit with record breaking speed? It has only been 4 months and yet it seems like 4 years at times – when will all of this end? The layers of disruption cannot be ignored – Pandemic, Racism, Anarchists, Destruction of cities, Back-To-School, Media Dishonesty! None of us are Superman/Superwoman! The social pressure, psychological pressure, and spiritual pressure cannot be ignored. The combination of so many issues can cause us to long for what we had instead of what we are facing. Here are 3 key insights that should give pause and reflection.

Things are not normal – it may be a while – Current data on attendance says that churches are 25% – 60% of attendees have returned to church facilities for worship. There is a serious question that demands an answer; Are we looking a medical issue or a cultural issue? What if the signs of declining attendance pre-dates COVID by 8 years? That being said, our real problem is culturally related not COVID. Look at the data chart below.

Crisis is the great accelerator. What may have taken 10 years to develop appears over-night during a crisis. The more we cling to the past only makes thriving in the future that much more difficult.

Are we building focused or people focused? – Since resources are not unlimited where are we allocating these resources. If our mission is to fill a building, then continue forward with your strategy. If your mission is to impact people then COVID has given all of us an opportunity to rethink our strategy and budget allocations. Beware of the trap of investing large amounts of resources into areas that are not producing currently.

Not gathering in a building does not mean we cannot gather – The church does not shine the brightest when we complain the loudest in the marketplace. Are we striving for a “zero-sum game” all or nothing? Is the church building the only way to gather? Pastor Greear of Summit Church in Durham, North Carolina recently told his church; “We are going to gather, it’s just not going to be in large groups of 500 to 1000 on the weekend in our facilities. ”Instead of The Summit Church being 12,000 people meeting in 12 different locations on the weekend, now we are going to be about 15,000 people meeting in about 2,400 locations.”Stop looking at COVID as an intermission. Stop thinking about how your future requires going back. Move forward toward your future. Rethink your mission!

Shepherds Advantage provides Servant Leadership that helps people close the gap between where they are and where they want to be. Shepherds Advantage closes that gap by providing Leadership Development, Key Note Speaking, and Executive Coaching. 

Shepherdsadvantage@gmail.com

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What Causes You To Panic; Past or Future

The Best Thing You Can Do As A Leader Is To Learn From the Past, Not Live In it!

How is the church re-opening going? The national tracking data shows that churches are experiencing 20%-60% return to pre-COVID attendance. Truthfully, any sense of “old normal” will probably not be returning quickly. That is not be a prophet of “doom & gloom” rather, it is to speak of the phenomenal layered disruptions that everyone is experiencing – Pandemic, Social Distancing, Masks, Racism, Violence, and Anarchists.  Patience is the key life-style principle that should be exercised in abundance. We are re-opening against 14+ weeks of isolation, work-at-home schedules, intellectual dishonesty of our news outlets, a poisoned social narrative, and out-right defiance. This is the short list that is more than capable of discouraging anyone to return to the old-normal of our past.

So that we do not miss the 900lb elephant in the room let’s be clear; there is no trophy for being the first to reach 100% for arriving back at your old-normal! Truthfully the church world was ignoring reality of societies perception of church attendance. Pre-pandemic faithful church attendance was classified as 1.7x per month. Millennials and Gen-Zer’s were leaving the white church (not the black the church) experience. Pre-pandemic data shows many churches building a massive following without having a massive social impact (Programs over Human Relationships). The massive technology shifts within our daily lives has radically altered our relationships, workflows, and social norms. This is nothing but a massive cultural revolution. The pandemic was the open can of gasoline that has accelerated this cultural revolution (Barna Research).

Going back to normal only works if; Normal was working before the pandemic. Secondly, does normal even exist. It is hard to return to something that does not exist. Carey Nieuwhof Ministry recently wrote about the allure to return to the past in a post-pandemic world. It has been suggested that……

  • Your skillset was designed for the Old Normal. You have perfectly prepared for a world that does not exist as before.
  • Your past is not what makes you panic. It is your future that causes the panic. The past is nostalgic the future never is.
  • Your past success makes you the most motivated to preserve it. In 1903, Horace Rackam, President of the Michigan Savings Bank famously told Henry Ford’s lawyer not to invest in the Ford Motor Company. His argument: “The horse is here to stay but the automobile is only a novelty – a fad.”
    • Horses and carriages had transported people for thousands of years—literally since Old Testament times. It was rational to believe that this mode of transportation wouldn’t disappear overnight. Until, of course, it did.

Shepherds Advantage provides Servant Leadership that helps people close the gap between where they are and where they want to be. Shepherds Advantage closes that gap by providing Leadership Development, Key Note Speaking, and Executive Coaching. 

Shepherdsadvantage@gmail.com

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Pastoral Vulnerability

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 25:29 — 35.0MB) | Embed

Layered Disruptions is the mark of 2020. In turn this has increased the pressure of performance and pressure on our most sacred relationships. In week #17 of our COVID journey there are a number ofpoints to discuss regarding Pastoral Vulnerability.

Vulnerability is something that ministers do not do very well. There is one generational thought of yester-year – “Do not let people see you sweat!” Another thought is vulnerability exposes weakness and people will not follow weakness. On the other hand every detail of life is displayed and that becomes reckless and manipulative. There is a real disconnect that is occurring..

Ministerial health has been surveyed weekly since the national quarantine began. When Ministers were asked, “Do you feel close to God?” – 90% said they felt close to God. However when asked, “Have you felt isolated and alone in the last week? – 50% of ministers stated they felt isolated in the last week. There is a disconnect from being close to God and yet isolated at the same time.

The idea that “I was built for this moment” is exposing some cracks in our emotional armor. There are three areas in which this is showing up; 1.Personal Friends – Ministers tend to have many acquaintances and few true friends. The real question; who are you calling this moment for emotional support and who will give you real honest feedback?2.Vulnerability In Leading – The pressure of ministry has exponentially increased. If I show weakness people will leave. 3.Ministerial Confidence in Their Calling – The pressure has been so heavy that many are beginning to question if they are even called to lead in this environment.

Vulnerability is a key issue for all of us. Understand there is a difference between Privacy and Secrecy. We should not share private matters and their associated details to a watching community. Yet there is a need to share in some context for healing to occur with a trusted person/spouse. To share the larger issues is to demonstrate humanity versus never saying anything about personal struggle – I’m Good! The complete opposite of privacy for the purpose of healing is secrecy that intends to keep silent and withhold darker habits and issues. It is difficult for healing to occur in this environment.

There are three BIG QUESTIONS we all need answered; (1) Can you help me? (2) Can I trust you? And (3) Do you truly understand? Let’s face it, we are all living in the face of COVID-19 and social unrest at levels that surpass the 1960’s. There is a subtle cry and tension point between Christ’s response to the hurting father; “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes…” The hurting parent cries out,  “Lord I believe but help my unbelief.” Mark 9:23-25

God ministers through our weaknesses not our strengths!

LINKS

Shepherds Advantage Leadership Podcast is now on iTunes – SUBSCRIBE

Shepherds Advantage Leadership Podcast is now on Stitcher – SUBSCRIBE

FREE GIFT – “Servant Leadership Questions” – Click on the icon at the bottom of the page

Executive Coaching Service– Private message me for details on this customizable service

Birkman Assessment

Leadershift by John Maxwell

Q&A – Contact me at ShepherdsAdvantage@gmail.com

Music: “Gratitude Mood” by David Arivett. You can learn more about his music by clicking on his name. THANKS DAVID!

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Need A Career Change?

We all knew something was not quite right but were unsure of where to direct our focus and emotions. Our global pandemic has forced what was already present in people’s lives to the surface – “I am not happy in my work-life experience!” The Mental Health America group reports a 370% increase in depression and anxiety since January 2020. Life feels like a pressure cooker!

The combination of many factors has pushed forward the notion for many people, “Should I consider a new career? Writer and Director for International Business Development at People Keys Dr. Brad Smith, has put together 10 warning signs when you should consider a new career. Here are the 10 signs you are ready for a career change now:

  1. You are furloughed, either temporarily or permanently. It doesn’t get any more clear or real than this. You need a new way of making income.
  2. You have serious doubts about your current position, company, or long-term financial outlook. Start something on the side now you enjoy that you can eventually move into full time.
  3. You feel physically or mentally drained most of the time.
  4. You wake up in the night or in the morning with anxiety or worries over your job.
  5. You are losing self-esteem and think less of yourself. Chances are, it really isn’t you, but being in a bad place or working for someone who is not supportive leads you to feel less confident in yourself. It’s time for a change.
  6. You have said things to yourself, such as, “If it wasn’t for the money I would already be gone.” You are ready for a change.
  7. You are self-medicating or finding other ways to cover your unhappiness.
  8. You feel like a split personality, one at home and one at work, or while you are performing your job duties. You don’t feel the two align, ever!
  9. You have lost all excitement about your work or profession.
  10. You have read this article up to this point. Unless you are doing it for educational purposes, you probably wouldn’t be reading this unless you knew it was time.

Shepherds Advantage provides Servant Leadership that helps people close the gap between where they are and where they want to be. Shepherds Advantage closes that gap by providing Leadership Development, Keynote Speaking, and Executive Coaching. Shepherdsadvantage@gmail.com

Note: Dr. Brad Smith was the genesis of this article

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Learn F.A.S.T.E.R.

Here are some great quotes on learning.

“Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably the reason why, so few people engage in it.” ~ Henry Ford

“I not only use all of the brains that I have, but all I can borrow” ~ Woodrow Wilson

The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who cannot read” ~ Mark Twain

We all would like to have more time to learn and to learn at a faster pace. The “someday/maybe’s” holds more people from their fullest potential than anything I know. Author Jim Kwik suffered a severe brain injury as a child. This affected his ability to learn so much so that an elementary teacher stated that his brain is broke. The kid with the “broke brain” stigma stayed with Kwik for years. Obviously he became an overcomer in developing habits and life hacks that aided in his amazing recovery. He shares many of those insights in his book Limitless. He wrote about an acronym F.A.S.T.E.R. that is a great tool worth sharing if you desire to grow and learn faster against all odds.

F is for Forget – The key to laser focus is to remove or forget that which distracts you. …

A is for Act – Traditional education has trained many people that learning is a passive experience. You sit quietly in a class, you don’t talk to your neighbor, and you consume the information. But learning is not a spectator sport. The human brain does not learn as much by consumption as it does creation. …

S is for State – All learning is state dependent. Your state is a current snapshot of your emotions. It is highly influenced by your thoughts (psychology) and the physical condition of your body (physiology). …

T is for Teach – If you want to cut your learning curve dramatically, learn with the intention of teaching the information to someone else. Think about it: If you know you have to give a presentation on what you learn, you will approach how you learn the topic with the intention of mastering it well enough to explain it to someone else. …

E is for Enter – What is the simplest and most powerful personal performance tool? Your calendar. We enter important things on our schedule. … Do you know what a lot of people don’t schedule? Their personal growth and development. If it’s not on your calendar, there’s a good chance it’s not getting done. …

R is for Review – One of the best ways to reduce the effects of the forgetting curve is to activelyrecall what you learned with spaced repetition.”

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Data Informed Decisions

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 28:03 — 38.5MB) | Embed

As the churches of American continue to re-open their doors we are discovering that many people have yet to commit to returning to regular live church services. In fact it is almost a guessing game for some leaders. Barna Research has been polling the faith community for decades. They have put forth a special effort during our pandemic journey on a weekly basis to reveal what pastors, various faith leaders, and congregants are saying and feeling. Because we are living through the disruption of COVID-19 and then add on top we now are dealing with Racism in America. This compounding impact of social unrest is causing church leaders (1 in 9) to feel their congregants’ faith will and/or is diminishing. Also 43% of leaders now feel there will be a long-lasting decline in church attendance.

I want to interject some personal thoughts on attendance. In my life-time beginning with my pre-teen years church was offered…..•4x weekly – mid-week prayer, Friday evening Youth, 2x on Sunday (a.m. & p.m.)•Pre-COVID faithful church attendance was 1.7x per month. •Is church attendance the correct matrix to measure the activity of God?

The compounding disruptions of the faith community should awaken us to be concerned about how are we showing up as the church in helping people with trust? Trust in government, relationships, and church?

We hear a lot about the Millennials and Gen-Zer’s leaving the church. We should nuance this say they are leaving the white church not so much the black church. If we can get beyond our stylistic likes and dislikes for a moment, I think we can all agree that black worship is emotionally engaging and relational. That seems to be a winning combination for these generations.

Truthfully, as humans seeking understanding and longing for something to believe in, we desire to feel that our life counts and that we belong in a relational community. I believe there are three key conversations that need to occur from church leaders to congregants:1.How are we instilling trust in Civic Leadership and Praying for them?2.How are we instilling confidence in relationships?3.How are we building the Biblical image of the Church/Kingdom of God up?

We still are dealing with the 2nd major disruption – Racism in America. I want to offer 6 bullet points of thoughts.•Research the demographic of your community’s’ school district to get a grasp of the ethnic diversity in your community. This alone will guide strategy to reach across the divide.•Show up at ethnic community opportunities as a LISTNER! Then act like a servant to meet needs.•Love People – Love casts out fear!•Choose Jesus not a “side.”•Do not give up your birth-rite as a Christian for racial posturing.•Every Leader needs a Pastor in their life.

Everyone is an expert presently because they have an FB, Twitter, IN account. Do your homework to get at the truth. Allow data to guide your actions and conversations. Do Not use data to become the decision, only a guide for decisions!

LINKS

Shepherds Advantage Leadership Podcast is now on iTunes – SUBSCRIBE

Shepherds Advantage Leadership Podcast is now on Stitcher – SUBSCRIBE

FREE GIFT – “Servant Leadership Questions” – Click on the icon at the bottom of the page

Executive Coaching Service– Private message me for details on this customizable service

Birkman Assessment

Leadershift by John Maxwell

Q&A – Contact me at ShepherdsAdvantage@gmail.com

Music: “Gratitude Mood” by David Arivett. You can learn more about his music by clicking on his name. THANKS DAVID!

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Superhero Meet Supervillains

Yes, I have Nemeses!

“I’m a firm believer that we all have incredible superpowers that are waiting to be awakened.

I’m not talking about the ability to fly, create iron-clad armor, or shoot lasers from your

eyes, but real-life practical abilities like flying through books, iron-clad memory, laser focus,

boundless creativity, clear thinking, mindfulness, superior mental attitude, and more. We are all

superheroes in one way or another.

Just as every superhero has powers, so do they have arch nemeses. Enter the supervillain.

Think the Joker to Batman, Lex Luthor to Superman. The villains we face may not look the

same as they do in the movies, but they’re still the bad guys—the ones you, as a superhero, need to vanquish and hold at bay. Modern-day supervillains get in our way and make life harder, keeping us from our potential. They hold us back and rob us of our productivity, prosperity, positivity, and peace of mind. And it’s up to us to recognize and defeat them.” Jim Kwik

We are all faced with various distraction that keep us from reaching our fullest potential in life. Many of them ae spiritual but others are our on doing. There are 4 key Supervillains that get in the way of our potential and giftings. These have been referred to as the 4 Modern Horseman of our age.

First, we’re DELUGED with an overload of information. Get this: “Compared to the 15th century, we now consume as much data in a single day as an average person from the 1400s would have absorbed in an entire lifetime.”

Second, we’re DISTRACTED by all this digital stimulus. “Instead of relaxing into the downtime that we might experience when waiting in line, waiting for a bus or an appointment, etc., we pull out our phones and train our distraction muscles.”

Third, we’re experiencing DEMENTIA or a “breakdown of cognitive abilities” as a result of our overreliance on technology. “There’s research that says our brains are more like a muscle, rather than a hard drive that fills up. That the more you use it, the stronger it gets, and the more it can store. The question is: Are we making those choices consciously, or are we acting out of unconscious habit?”

Fourth, we’re losing our power of DEDUCTION when we can so quickly turn to digital sources ofinformation to let us know how we should be thinking about something in our lives. “The upshot is that deduction—an amalgam of critical thinking, problem solving, and creativity that is an essential skill for being limitless—is becoming automated.” Jim Kwik