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Alan and Trent are pastors helping churches and leaders make a difference and last.
Episodes
Sep 25, 2023
Sep 25, 2023
30 min
Episode 236: 10 Ideas to Help You with Your 2024 Budget
1. Pray for your budget
2. Look at your past trends
- per capita giving
- growth or decline patterns
3. Ask, do people in my church know our church's vision and priorities?
4. Expect insurances to increase significantly
- health insurance
- facility insurance and umbrella coverage
5. Speak truthfully regarding items in your budget.
6. Recognize the value of people
- a smaller, well compensated staff will accomplish more than a larger poorly compensated staff.
- well-compensated does not always mean full-time
- stipends are more common approach than ever before
7. Be a tithing church
- give in the same measure or better than you expect.
8. Unused space is more costly than ever; plan to use your space creatively.
9. Put something in a fund to provide for long-term maintenance issues.
10. Pray some more!
Sep 18, 2023
Sep 18, 2023
24 min
Episode 235: How to Welcome Well
Don’t do this
1. Ignore or turn away
2. Frown
3. Pass by
4. Be invasive
5. Take the back row
Do this instead
1. Smile. Number one key
2. Wave - international symbol that all will recognize
3. Say “hi welcome to our church - my name is _____”
4. Ask few questions.
5. Invite a guest to sit near you.
6. Ask if they have any questions.
7. walk with them to guest area or nursery etc
Sep 11, 2023
Sep 11, 2023
25 min
Episode 234: Am I a Lead Follower?
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Am I a follower before I am a leader?
Am I setting a reasonable pace?
Am I "in love" with leading?
Am I too busy leading?
Do I have a bad attitude about the concept of following?
As a pastor - am I following Jesus in faith
As a worship leader - am I a lead worshipper
As a youth minister - am I leading young people to higher ground
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Sep 4, 2023
Sep 4, 2023
25 min
Episode233: Revivals: Check Yes or No?
Questions that arose...
1. Answer the question: What is a revival?
- revival is for God's people
- crusade/outreach for lost
2. Answer the question: How does revival take place?
- Only God can launch a revival
- We can have a hopeful expectation
3. Know your people to know what is needed.
4. Make sure any speaker/preacher aligns with your philosophy of ministry.
5. Have a plan for preparing your people
6. Recognize that whether or not you use revivals or crusades, our people need to hear another voice on occasion.
7. The "unplanned" revival that happens from the natural activity of God's work is powerful.
8. A revival gathering is no magic bullet.
9. Do the work of discipleship.
10. Know God longs for all His churches to be full of life.
Aug 28, 2023
Aug 28, 2023
23 min
Episode232:Do We Revere Scripture?
Westminster Confession
"The authority of the holy Scripture, for which it ought to be believed and obeyed, dependeth not upon the testimony of any man or church, but wholly upon God (who is truth itself), the Author thereof; and therefore it is to be received, because it is the Word of God."
Every great movement of God has been grounded in Scripture. We believe every enduring church has its roots firmly in Scripture.
Do we as pastors revere and hold holy God’s holy scripture?
Do we study it first before any other book for a sermon?
Do we encourage our flock to bring their Bible to church ?
Do we encourage our flock to study their Bible outside of church?
Do we encourage our flock to memorize scripture?
Aug 21, 2023
Aug 21, 2023
13 min
Episode231: Culture Takes Time
Aug 14, 2023
Aug 14, 2023
11 min
Episode 230: Tent And Dana from Interlaken, Switzerland
As summer draws to a close, Trent and Dane remind us about the importance of time away.
Aug 7, 2023
Aug 7, 2023
30 min
Contact Alan: alan@dtbatogether.com
Contact Trent: gasconadevalleybaptist@gmail.com
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Jul 31, 2023
Jul 31, 2023
30 min
Contact Alan: alan@dtbatogether.com
Contact Trent: gasconadevalleybaptist@gmail.com
Facebook
Website
Episode 228: Ka-Ching: Talking About Money
1. Let the Bible determine when and how often you talk about money.
- If you preach systematically, the subject will come up.
2. Plan a sermon series on money, finances, stewardship.
- They might be different in meaning, but people interpret them the same way
3. Avoid apologizing for preaching on the subject.
- Hypocrisy in this area is unforgivable to many.
- You shouldn’t apologize for God’s word
- Ask yourself - Do I want my church family to be blessed?
- Malachi 3:10 New International Version (NIV)
- Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.
4. Speak honestly and clearly
- define your terms: tithe, offerings, generosity, stewardship
- the ministry needs resources
5. Keep your church budget available and talk about it
- Everybody has limits and boundaries on their income and expenditures. They recognize that for the church.
6. Share stories, and let others share stories
7. Use small groups
Two controversial statements:
1. If your church is not practicing good stewardship, don't preach on the subject. - WHAT?
2. if you are not practicing good stewardship, don't preach on the subject. - WHAT?
Jul 24, 2023
Jul 24, 2023
31 min
Episode 227: 10 Statements About Healthy Churches
Ten Statements about Healthy Churches:
1. The pastor is spiritually healthy and growing. A church tends to follow its leader.
2. The pastor is a collaborative leader. Our best idea is rarely the best idea. The best ideas are filtered through others where they can become something better.
3. The church has a way of connecting people to smaller groups. A large gathering cannot do discipleship effectively. Do people want to connect with what you are doing?
4. The church welcomes and equips new leaders. Think from a teaching perspective. The more teachers trained and equipped, the more groups you can have.
5. People regularly invite guests to church with them. Healthy churches have guests, because people are excited to share their church with others.
6. The church deals with conflict constructively. Healthy churches have as much conflict as many unhealthy churches, they just deal with it constructively.
7. The church values intentionality over busyness. Healthy churches care more about “why” they do something than other churches. The “why” matters.
8. Prayer is more than a time-filler. Healthy churches spend dedicated time in prayer.
9. The church is optimistic ad joyful. The battle is already won, and the gates of hell cannot stand against Christ’s church. If optimism should thrive anywhere, it should be in church.
10. The church spends more time looking forward than it does looking backwards.
In healthy churches people are excited about what God is going to do next. In unhealthy churches, people lament what has been.
If your church isn’t healthy what steps can you take to get to health personally and collectively? Are you connected with others who can feed into you a healthy perspective? Church health is fragile. We have to take great care to maintain it.