Others Minded

I have a good friend that took a church in Nashville a little over a year ago. When he took the church it was running 30 on an average (a little better than average) Sunday. Today, he runs about 150 on a Sunday, in just over a year!

How did he do it? Well it wasn't expertise. This is the first church he's pastored. It wasn't by education. He has just started the process of learning theology. It wasn't through numerous programs he grabbed from all the mega-churches. I'm not sure he could name 10 mega-churches. How did he do it?

2 Things...and these are revolutionary!
1.) The Holy Spirit
2.) Loving Others...

I know profound isn't it. When we went to that church, he went committed to the message of Jesus' redeeming, heart-transforming love. Consequently, he was committed to letting the Holy Spirit have the Spirit's way with his life and church. And what he found was that the Holy Spirit was pushing he and his church outward toward others. The Spirit gave him the vision of being a missional "others minded" community. They just committed to love on people, to be there for them, and to meet them in their needs. They go out! That's how their whole church thinks. They have two Sunday School Classes that don't meet in the church but instead go out into the community and do service, clean up trash and cigarrette butts and they don't even advertise by wearing T-shirts...saying "Hey look at us!" They just trust God that the love they show through the Spirit will bear fruit.

Who would have thought that by letting the Spirit loose and loving on people like Jesus would, by making others first, that such fruit could grow. When the Spirit moves...the church becomes "others minded." I am thankful for Hendersonville Church of the Nazarene for that reminder.

God still breathes...