Move: Quick thoughts on my last read

MOVE: What 1,00 Churches Reveal About Spiritual Growth Greg L. Hawkins & Carry Parkinson

Quick Summary: Move is aimed at helping churches get a grasp of what they can do to offer the best impact for spiritual growth. These results challenged the core assumptions from church leadership and helped identify the most effective ways to move people to greater love for God and others. Move offers a challenge to church leaders to not assume people move toward God because they sit in church on Sunday; but rather a challenge to look deeply, and provide the right tools and resources to engage people and build disciples and followers of Christ.

Key Insights:

• Participation in church activities does not necessarily drive spiritual growth. Less is more, not more is better.

• Those in the Growing in Christ category are willing students & active participants in church programs, but are less likely to express their faith outside the church.

• Close to Christ- most want from church leaders, to challenge them to take personal responsibility for their own spiritual growth.

• Between those who are Close to Christ and those who are Christ-Centered-is perhaps the most difficult line to cross.

• We(church) let those who sit in our services remain comfortable having Jesus as their friend, helping them live their lives, but never learning to fully surrender to his leading. We must give them opportunity through invitation to respond.

• Serving is the most catalytic experience offered by the church.

• 3 Key strategies to get people moving: Make destination clear; make the spiritual jump start non-negotiable; make the lead pastor the champion. I think ECC does all these things well.

Personal Application

• We must have measurable goals. Kennedy, King, Lombardi, Jobs, all reached goals each with difficult achievements ahead of them, yet all began with clear, unambiguous goals.

• Scripture is the only catalyst that appears in the top 5 of the three movements. The Bible transcends all other catalysts, when it comes to spiritual growth. I just go back to II Timothy 3:16.

• To create ownership we must: empower people to be the church; equip people to succeed; hold people accountable.

• Pastor the local community- The word pastor is used as a verb instead of the word serve. The culture of church ministry is no longer those who meet inside the walls on Sunday, but we must raise up and engage pastors to pastor their cities. These are the churches that will remain strong.

Meaningful Quotes

• "…not because we came up with another creative program, but because we were willing to face, and act, on the truth; increased church activity does not lead to spiritual growth. p.25

• Those who are interested in Exploring Christ segment are clear interested in Jesus…and we shouldn't shy away from being direct." p. 33

• Coming to faith in Christ isn't just a matter of convincing people of the truth. It's a work of the Holy Spirit. p.37

• "Our work as spiritual leaders in the church is to help catalyze spiritual movement." p39

• "…a crisis or an ordeal of any kind was a triggering experience for spiritual surrender….breaking an emotional wall-are not prerequisites for a Christ-centered life." p.159

• "When the church increasingly promotes all the things people should do, it's easy for them to lose sight of the real goal-which is who they should become." "..away from self centered and toward Christ centered." p 165

• "embed the Bible in everything." p219

• 3 Strategies to Pastor the local community: Set a high bar for serving the church and the community; Build a bridge into your local community; make serving a platform for the gospel. p.240