Disqus - Latest Comments for brandonacox

Re: Design Your Year

Brandon A. Cox — Wed, 12 Dec 2018 06:45:43 -0000

This has been a fantastic series of videos - incredibly helpful! And more than that, it's left me incredibly hopeful about the next year! I've gone through your 5-Day Process twice now, and I'm ready to go through it again. It's been a difference maker and the last two years have been pretty great, but the best is still yet to come!

Re: 6 Biblical Ways to Handle Disunity

Brandon A. Cox — Tue, 27 Feb 2018 10:26:39 -0000

Nick, the New Testament was written over nineteen centuries ago in a culture far removed from our own. So we attempt to interpret it according to its historical context without fully understanding that context for ourselves.

For this reason, most evangelicals tend to interpret the New Testament words "elder," "pastor," and "bishop" as referring to the same group of people. And each church in the New Testament seemed to have a plurality of them rather than just one, but the "pastor" was certainly one of the elders, and probably led the other elders.

So I think most of us reading this would agree with you, but with one caveat - yes, elders should manage the affairs of the church, but the leading pastor is the leading elder among them.

Not everyone will agree with this interpretation, but many do, and most of the healthiest churches I know operate under this principle and have bold, strong leaders leading the church forward.

Re: How to Start Growing Toward Your Vision This Year

Brandon A. Cox — Wed, 03 Jan 2018 18:17:10 -0000

That is an awesome testimony!

Re: It Costs to Reach Your Community, and It’s Worth It

Brandon A. Cox — Fri, 29 Sep 2017 09:36:18 -0000

No, I would definitely NOT say that. I know that your heart is in the right place, but we should never connect money to evangelism. For one thing, the people in your church can't actually make anyone become a believer. All they can do is present the gospel and leave the results to the Holy Spirit. So I would not do that. Just remind them of the eternal benefits for the people they share Jesus with and for themselves.

Re: How Men Become Super Achievers

Brandon A. Cox — Tue, 05 Sep 2017 18:01:17 -0000

We would like to clarify that the intention of this article is to address men, directly, about issues that men often struggle with in a way that is sometimes different than the way women struggle with it. We all certainly believe rather strongly that men and women have equal worth, value, and potential.

Re: Becoming a Minimalist Pastor

Brandon A. Cox — Fri, 04 Aug 2017 09:31:13 -0000

Karen, in fairness, I think you may be making assumptions about Brian based on what he didn't say. He's speaking as a professional leader to other professional leaders. I've heard Brian teach on marriage and can assure you he's involved in the mix of things that go into parenting.

Having said that, if your comment were perhaps less personalized to the author, you do make a good point. One of my mentors who was a fantastic leader and preacher would sometimes ask me if I was doing my "chores." He meant that it wasn't enough to lead a successful professional life if I wasn't sharing life entirely with my spouse.

Re: Let’s Keep Reaching Consumers (a.k.a., Lost Sheep)

Brandon A. Cox — Tue, 06 Jun 2017 11:37:11 -0000

Jim, points taken, and thanks for your candor and kindness in pushing back a little. Great perspective! And thanks for the link to your blog - I'll check it out!

Re: 10 Leaders You Need To Follow Today

Brandon A. Cox — Mon, 29 May 2017 09:24:02 -0000

You've introduced me to four new leaders to follow. Thanks Joseph!!

Re: 8 Steps to Grow Your Church

Brandon A. Cox — Sun, 07 May 2017 20:13:20 -0000

We absolutely agree. God alone opens hearts, converts souls, and bonds his body together. Absolutely no one deserves credit for the fruit produced besides God Almighty alone. We are commanded to keep on sowing, so we love helping people sow as effectively as possible.

Re: Four Habits that Make Me a Better Ministry Leader

Brandon A. Cox — Thu, 30 Mar 2017 11:25:25 -0000

Awesome list! I love #3. The ancient Anabaptists used to criticize the Reformers for focusing so much on relationships with God and others but neglecting relationship with self - introspection. Very cool!

Re: How I Did It - How To Build A Business Online

Brandon A. Cox — Thu, 16 Mar 2017 06:17:45 -0000

Peter, I found this page reading one of your one-star reviews of a scam product. I'm thankful you write with honesty to warn people about that particular scheme. And I'm also a HUGE fan of WA. Been a Premium member for a few months now and the value is enormous! Anyone else reading my comment should scroll back up and take Peter's advice! It's a legitimate opportunity learn a ton, connect with awesome people, and build an actual business online.

Re: 8 Steps to Grow Your Church

Brandon A. Cox — Fri, 30 Dec 2016 14:41:30 -0000

Cherry, having planted myself, I can say that you will go through multiple phases as a pastor. You start out doing nearly everything, but your role from day one is to raise up leaders, equip and empower them, and give the ministry away.

You do that in relationships. Have coffee or a meal with your key leaders. Spend time with them, loving them, and teaching them about ministry - not in a classroom but through friendship and conversation.

When you get to 75 people, your role will begin to change a little bit to having one or two key leaders who help lead things. Then, when you have 125 people, you'll be at the toughest barrier of all where you have to go from being "one" group to being a church of multiple groups.

In the early days, it's all about momentum. When you get stuck, make a change. We are five years in and have moved six times and added services. Each time we do, we grow. With every transition comes new people we weren't reaching before.

I hope this is a good start. Also, we have over 100 articles on this site related to church planting, found here: http://pastors.com/keyword/...

And a Facebook group where you can ask questions anytime here: https://www.facebook.com/gr...

Re: 22 Proven Tips for Getting the Attention of Influencers

Brandon A. Cox — Wed, 21 Dec 2016 10:50:54 -0000

Excellent points, Jeff! Just gonna leave this comment right here in honor of #3. Keep going!

Re: 6 Powerful Apps for Managing Social Media with a Team

Brandon A. Cox — Mon, 19 Dec 2016 07:15:03 -0000

Buffer is always my #1 as well. Feedly would be near the top, too. It gives me amazing content to curate and gives me stuff to read sitting in waiting rooms.

Re: Leadership Lessons From The Life Of Astronaut John Glenn

Brandon A. Cox — Fri, 09 Dec 2016 05:39:35 -0000

Talk about a high-achiever! This guy knew how to aim high. Like really, really high.

Re: 3 Reasons Most Time Management Attempts End Up Frustrating You

Brandon A. Cox — Wed, 07 Dec 2016 18:37:12 -0000

I love this, man! Spot on! Especially the "energy management" part. I believe you can balance your life, but not your time. You can always find rhythm. It's how we're made.

Re: 29 IFTTT Applets for Social Media Connoisseurs

Brandon A. Cox — Wed, 07 Dec 2016 15:46:34 -0000

I love IFTTT and use it constantly. I only wish you could utilize multiple accounts under a single tool.

Re: These Are the Best Books of 2016

Brandon A. Cox — Mon, 05 Dec 2016 10:26:28 -0000

Fantastic list, man! I'll try to get all of these read before Thursday... :)

Re: 8 Reasons the Church Is the Greatest Force On Earth

Brandon A. Cox — Mon, 21 Nov 2016 12:36:09 -0000

Brother, I wish that were true for you as well, and I'm so sorry it hasn't been.

As for why church leaders may seem this way, I think it has to do with the variation of shapes of leaders. Some guys are type-A drivers who think about tasks more than people and numbers more than stories. Those guys are given to the body to help move things forward, but they have a weakness - they often forget to stop and listen and put the hearts of the broken before numerical success.

Then there are leaders who couldn't care less about numerical success and just want to pour into individuals, build relationships, and minister to the hurting. They are shepherds. And they are given to the body to remind us that souls matter more than anything else on earth. They have a weakness, too - they sometimes forget to keep going to new places and reaching more lost people.

There are also the cautious bookkeepers who tend to focus on keeping everything organized and the finances in order. And there are wallflowers and social butterflies too. There are dreamers and cheerleaders who motivate but don't get much done and there are missionaries who leave the ninety-nine to go out after the lost sheep.

With this kind of diversity in the body, it's vital that churches work to allow everyone to have a voice, to balance one another. It's one of the reasons we're so passionate about the purpose driven model. We're here for worship AND evangelism AND ministry within the flock AND relationships and community AND discipleship and spiritual growth.

So, what you heard from God is absolutely right!! God loves the one AND the many, while we're so limited that we tend to only focus on one OR the many.

And, at the end of the day, I love what Craig Groeschel said the other day on Twitter. "People aren't looking for a church that is cool. They're looking for a Savior that is real."

So, be frustrated, and turn that energy into positive change if at all possible. You can do that under authority in your current setting or you can gracefully find a way to go elsewhere, but don't give up! The local church - the body of Christ - is the hope of the world. We just need to get better at being who we were meant to be.

As for losing a child, I am SO, so sorry! I haven't been there. But you're not alone. Rick has been there. Greg Laurie has been there. My pastor / father-in-law has been there. And I'm praying for you to somehow find your way into a group of friends, formal or informal, that can encourage you!

Re: 8 Reasons the Church Is the Greatest Force On Earth

Brandon A. Cox — Mon, 21 Nov 2016 11:14:41 -0000

Mike, I understand where you're coming from. But I also know that some of today's largest and fastest-growing churches in America are highly relational.

As for equipping, it's starting, building, and sustaining relationships with people, inviting them to spend their life on kingdom concerns, giving them the opportunities, showing them the way, and empowering them to lead others. It looks like an alcoholic named John whose family kicked him out of the house. Tired of sleeping on his office couch, he went to AA, which helped, but something was missing. He wound up starting Celebrate Recovery which now empowers thousands of CR groups, raises up regional leaders, is used in 17 state prison systems, etc. It looks like Jeremiah, leaving the main campus to launch a new one in a run down school, inviting others to join him, empowering them to lead groups, leading them to serve the Anaheim community. It looks like a worship leader named Neil who is awesome with a guitar but spends countless hours doing coffee and auditions with musical hopefuls, planting seeds in their hearts and minds about being part of the mission of planting new churches around the world.

Equipping is relational. It's a Senior Pastor who so encourages his staff that they will tackle huge projects passionately, inviting volunteers to join in and make it great. It's Kelly, volunteering at a local food pantry and now on staff running the whole local peace center. It's Larry, your average success-pursuing American middle-ager, going one time to help feed some homeless people in Compton and a year later preaching to them every Saturday morning over breakfast.

As for Rick, yes, his personality is large. But when his son, Matthew, took his own life, he took four months off, stayed away from the pulpit and didn't meet with the staff. The result? The church had its greatest growth in its history.

Rick has so engrained into his church a culture of intentional, relational discipleship that every area of ministry runs strong even in his absence. Yes, he's the primary motivator, but that's leadership. That's influence.

Trust me, what happens on Sunday is still the icing. Real community, real ministry, real life change happens in living rooms and coffee shops and out on the streets.

I was burned by institutionalism myself. I spent fifteen years doing traditional ministry, trying to keep people happy and the bills paid. Then I joined the staff of Saddleback and I'll never be the same. For the first time in my life, I found authentic community, shared my innermost struggles with my small group, and started healing. I'll never do church the same way again.

So, I get where you're coming from. Your story is common. But there are churches that are thriving, both small and very large, that are counting more than heads. They're counting the stories of lives turned around by the gospel, made possible because of the effect of relational, multiplying ministry.

Is Saddleback perfect? Nope. I once made a big mistake that probably embarrassed Rick with the public. Know what he told me? "That's your mistake for this week. Now go make another one next week. It's how we learn."

Like I said, it all changed my life, and I wish for many more Saddleback-like churches to rise up.

Re: 8 Reasons the Church Is the Greatest Force On Earth

Brandon A. Cox — Mon, 21 Nov 2016 10:26:37 -0000

Mike, according to Ephesians 4, the role of the leaders of a church is to equip others for leadsership and service.

Saddleback is a prime example of what is wrong with total anti-institutionalism. Most people know about the weekend attendance numbers of 24,000-ish. But what gets less press is the almost 40,000 in small groups and the 17,000+ who have gone on Saddleback mission trips literally to every nation.

The weakness of organic-only movements is not only that they overlook some major leadership principles, they also lack the strength and structure necessary to mobilize the body for ministry and mission. There is a happy, biblical, functional medium that avoids excessive institutionalism and grants freedom for leaders to be empowered and to empower others.

Re: 10 Easy Ways To Blow Your Influence As A Leader…Without Even Trying

Brandon A. Cox — Thu, 17 Nov 2016 09:11:05 -0000

So what I hear you saying is, don't blow this? Good stuff, man! Vitally important.

Re: How to Become a Big Thinker

Brandon A. Cox — Wed, 16 Nov 2016 07:03:44 -0000

I started out in adulthood thinking big - really big. Then, over the years, some past pain caught up with me and I wound up surrendering my vision in exchange for being liked by others. It's only in these last few years that I've really recovered well and now, the sky is the limit. Spot on! God loves big thinking!!

Re: 50 Tiny, Time-Saving, and Free Tools for Web Designers for 2017

Brandon A. Cox — Mon, 14 Nov 2016 11:22:42 -0000

Word Doc to HTML is a life saver!! Thank you Paul! I'm an Editor of a site that gets a lot of submissions and they're almost all Word docs.

Re: How To Make Christmas Your Best Outreach of the Year

Brandon A. Cox — Mon, 14 Nov 2016 11:16:54 -0000

Good stuff, man! It's a great point about the fact that the culture stops shopping and running in order to pause and ponder. We're doing an afternoon service on Christmas Eve this year and repeating it on Christmas day, also in the afternoon. Families love having the mornings together and often have dinner plans, so we're slating both services at 4 pm. It's an experiment. We'll see how it works.