Shell Osbon's Blog

Insightful, Practical, Powerful!

2010-05-30T23:20:00.002-04:00

Dick Hardy is truly a pastor's friend and "27 Tough Questions Pastors Ask" is a must-read for every leader who aspires to improve their leadership ability. Written from the perspective of an optimist, Dick Hardy offers hope and encouragement to those who may feel that there is only hopelessness and discouragement on every hand. This book is jam-packed with insightful, practical and powerful truths that, when applied, will transform a leader and those he/she is leading. From staff loyalty to personal integrity to overcoming church obstacles to following up with first time guests, nothing is off-limits and everything stands to improve when Dick's principles are implemented. I am happy to recommend "27 Tough Questions Pastors Ask" to all of my friends and to every pastor who desires to to move to the next level.

27 Tough Questions Pastors Ask

2010-04-30T07:45:00.007-04:00

I've never met Dick Hardy, in person, but we've connected by phone, email and Facebook many times yet it seems as if I've known him for years. If you're a leader in any organization, I highly recommend that you check out wwww.TheHardyGroup.org and avail yourself to the excellent resources that he offers.

Over next few weeks, I will be reading Dick's newest book 27 Tough Questions Pastors Ask. I want to invite you to join me on this adventure as I am confident that we will all be sharpened (Proverbs 27:17) by the insights Dick provides.

Is your seat empty?

2009-10-01T22:07:00.006-04:00

If you are a member of a local church, I hope that this post will help you realize how important it is for you to be there whenever you possibly can.

Now I know that most folks think that most pastors (notice the generalization?) just want people to be present because they like preaching to a full house instead of an empty house. And while that may be true, there are also many other reasons that it's important.

Hebrews 10:25 says, "Some people have gotten out of the habit of meeting for worship, but we must not do that. We should keep on encouraging each other, especially since you know that the day of the Lord’s coming is getting closer" (CEV). God is the Creator of the Church and He knows that His people need to be together in His presence on a regular basis.

The tragic reality is that church attendance in America is steadily declining. David Olson, Director of Church Planting for the Evangelical Covenant Church, has conducted nationwide surveys. Olson reports that in 1990, only 20.4% of Americans attended church on any given weekend, in 2000, only 18.8% and in 2004, only 17.7% of Americans regularly attended church.

Perhaps we would all do well to remember the words of Father Henri Nouwen: "I have yet to meet anyone who has come closer to Jesus by forsaking the Church. I know that isn’t a popular bit of advice at a time and in a country where the church is frequently seen more as an ‘obstacle’ in the way rather than as the ‘way’ to Jesus."

Hope to see ya' in church on Sunday!

A Living Sacrifice

2009-07-13T21:20:00.004-04:00

Have you ever stopped to think about what it means to really make a sacrifice in order to live for Christ? I can honestly say that I'm not sure if I have ever made too many TRUE sacrifices for my faith. Now don't get me wrong. I've "given up" a lot of stuff in order to follow Jesus because I knew that those things would not help me in my walk with Christ.

I was considering Romans 12:1,2 and the fact that God is calling us to "present our bodies as a living sacrifice" in order to discover His good, acceptable and perfect will. That sure sounds like He expects me (and you!) to make some sacrifices somewhere along the journey.

I am thankful to point out that His call is for us to be a "living sacrifice" - not a "dying sacrifice." That is to say, He is calling us to live for Him while, at the same time, dying to our own will. Whew! I am so glad that He isn't calling me to die for Him in order to prove my love for Him! Are you willing to be a living sacrifice? If so, it will cost you something but it will surely be worth it all!

2009-06-21T20:52:00.004-04:00

Have you ever considered just how much your family matters to God? The truth is that He is focused on helping you to develop the best family that you can possibly have.

During the month of June, I've been preaching a Sunday morning sermon series entitled "Family Matters" and God has been doing some amazing things! Together, we're learning how to apply the Truth of God's Word in order to become better individuals and, ultimately, to have healthier families.

I hope that you'll take a minute to download the sermon notes and visual presentations and to listen to the Podcasts. Both can be accessed via http://www.smyrnaassembly.com/.

Remember, family matters to God so make yours the best!

Life is to be continued

2009-02-06T00:02:00.006-05:00

I recently began a series of messages entitled, "To Be Continued: Learning from the Past, Looking to the Future." While I knew that God was leading me in this direction, I must admit that I did not anticipate the congregation's response....which has been incredible! What I am discovering is that a common thread runs through the tapestry of humanity which is that we all want to learn from our past in order to be better prepared for the future. You can listen to the Podcasts or download a copy of the sermon resources at http://smyrnaassembly.com/restobecontinued.html And remember, God has always intended for life to be continued....so live it!

It's Time For A Resolution Revolution!

2008-12-30T23:16:00.004-05:00

A recent article listed the 5 most popular resolutions that people make every year. The 5th was to take up a new hobby, the 4th was to make more money, the 3rd was to improve relationships, the 2nd was to stop smoking and the most popular was losing weight.

So, how many of those resolutions have you made....and quickly broken?!?!

In light of the popularity of making (and breaking!) resolutions, I challenged the folks at Smyrna Assembly of God (http://www.smyrnaassembly.com/) to join me in a Resolution Revolution! Instead of just resolving to change, my encouragement was to make a commitment to the following five life-changes:

Stop Making Excuses - We must take responsibility for our lives and stop making excuses for the things that we dont' like. Proverbs 28:13 says, "A man who refuses to admit his mistakes can never be successful. But if he confess and forsakes them he gets another chance" (Living Bible). Albert Einstein said, "I think and think for months and years. Ninety-nine times, the conclusion is false. The hundredth time, I am right."
Take An Inventory Of Your Life - I contend that most of us have had more good things to happen in our life than bad things. When we stop to inventory our life, we will likely see that more clearly than when we only focus on the negative things. Romans 8:28 says, "We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose" (NKJV).
Act In Faith - There are times when we simply need to act on the things that we already know we should be doing. James 2:26 says, "For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also" (NKJV).
Refocus Your Thoughts - Watch your thoughts, they become your words. Watch your words, they become your actions. Watch your actions, they become your habits. Watch your habits, they become your character. Watch your character because it becomes your destiny. Proverbs 4:23 says, "Be careful how you think. Your life is shaped by your thoughts" (Good News Bible).
Trust God For Your Success - We must depend on God for success in those things that we do. Success requires action. We’ve proven that we can’t do it alone. In fact, about the only really successful thing most of us have ever done, by ourselves, is to successfully fail! Psalm 90:17 says, "Lord, may Your blessings be upon us. Give us success in all we do" (Good News Bible).

In 2009, you will have 12 months or 52 weeks or 365 days or 8,760 hours or 525,600 minutes or 31,536,000 seconds to make something happen. Don’t get stuck in the rut of last year’s successes or failures. Your past has passed! A new day has dawned! Seize it! Embrace it! Enjoy it!

Your Candidate? Our President.

2008-11-17T11:12:00.003-05:00

If you will pardon the shameless reference to my own sermon, I would like to share with you some of the basics of my November 16th message entitled, "Your Candidate? Our President. Biblical Wisdom For All Christians."

In light of the recent Presidential election, I sensed that this would be a very timely word for our congregation. Like our nation, we are a very diverse body of Christ-followers who ascribe to a multiplicity of political persuasions. However, since God's Word is universal in its applicability and can be embraced on every continent, surely it is also applicable within the framework of our political viewpoints.

1. Remember That God Is In Control
Romans 13:1 says, "Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God and the authorities that exist are appointed by God" (NKJV). Daniel 4:17 says, "The Most High rules human kingdoms. He arranges kingdom affairs, however He wishes, and makes leaders out of losers" (Message Bible). In a democracy, the government that God gives us is the one we choose. Yet, regardless of whether our candidate was elected or not, God is in control.

2. Remember To Honor Our Leaders
Romans 13:7 says, "Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor" (NKJV). 1 Peter 2:17 says, "Treat everyone you meet with dignity. Love your spiritual family. Revere God. Respect the government" (Message Bible). Christians should be at the front of the crowd in offering respect for our leaders. If you can’t honor them for what they have done, honor them for the position that they hold. After all, that is the Christ-like thing to do!

3. Remember To Pray For Our Leaders
1 Timothy 2:1-2 says, "I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence" (NKJV). We are called by God to pray for those who serve in all governmental positions - regardless of whether we voted for them or not. I believe that more will be accomplished if we pray "for" our leaders than if we pray "about" our leaders!

If you should desire to listen to this message or to download the visuals/notes, you can find those items at http://www.smyrnaassembly.com/. Be sure to check out the "Resources" tab at the top of the page and the Podcast subscription link at the bottom of the page.

How To Survive The Ministry

2008-10-21T20:22:00.002-04:00

In my previous blog, I borrowed some statistical information, from Mark Driscoll, which points to some of the tragedies associated with people serving in pastoral ministry. Today, I want to provide some of Mark's recommendations for surviving the ministry. If you're like me, you'll see a lot of opportunities to grow and to enrich your personal life.

Fill your plate — Each person needs to first find the size of their plate and then fill it only with those things that are of highest priority. Before adding any additional things to our full plate, we must take something else off to leave space for the new duty.
Exercise — Sadly, most pastors and Christian leaders are woefully out of shape. Experts say the best time to exercise is in the morning and those who work out early in the day are most likely to remain on an exercise regimen.
Do not allow technology to be your Lord — Fortune magazine had an insightful article stating that the average American worker is interrupted once every eleven minutes and takes twenty-five minutes to refocus on their original task. The problem is that the alarms and bells of our technology deceive us into reacting to them even when the matter they call us to is neither urgent or important. So, turning off the chime and vibrate on your phone, only checking your voicemail and email on certain days at certain times, and turning the notification off on your email will itself go a long way toward your healing.
Sabbath — This includes taking five minutes off every hour to catch your breath, go for a walk, stand up at your desk, etc. It includes taking thirty to sixty minutes off a day to nap, go for a walk, read, garden, or whatever else releases your pressure and helps you to relax. This also means taking one day off a week to Sabbath, including a date night if you are in a serious relationship or married. This also includes a day or two off a month for silence and solitude and a few weeks a year for an actual vacation that does not leave you more tired than before it began.
Pick a release valve — Because ministry causes pressure, any leader without an acceptable release valve will either burn out from stress or blow up from sin. So, the key to releasing pressure is to find and use an acceptable release valve. This may include exercise, gardening, a hobby, journaling, or heading into the mountains for a day of adventure to find new lakes to swim in.
Work on your life, not just in it — Time needs to be regularly taken to pull back and look at your life so that you can work on it rather than just run in it. This also means taking time to read books on the issue of time management and burnout and biographies of great leaders to learn from their lives, and possibly even taking time to meet with a Biblical counselor to get insight on your own life and tendencies.
Leave margin — When we push our bodies, schedules, minds, and budgets to the point where there is no margin, all that it takes to destroy us is one unforeseen expense, one small emergency, or one small cold. This means leaving extra money in the bank, leaving extra time between appointments, and preparing to arrive at places early so that if there is traffic you will still be on time and not stressed.
Spend most of your time training leaders — While thousands of people came to see Jesus, only a handful really knew Him, and only three knew Him intimately. This is because Jesus spent his time training leaders to do ministry and without doing the same we will die from our work and sadly see it die with us as well.
Work from conviction, not guilt — Conviction comes from God and guilt comes from people. The key to being both fruitful and healthy is to do what God wants and not always say yes to or let yourself be pushed around by people who are demanding and have perfected the art of making you feel guilty if you do not do what they demand.

A Word To All of My Pastor Buddies

2008-10-17T07:34:00.003-04:00

If you have been in some form of vocational ministry (you know, where you actually get paid to do what you love to do!), for at least 38 minutes, then you no doubt have already come to the sobering realization that ministry is not for the faint of heart! I mean, let's face it, there are times when just one more meeting in which you hear some more bad news will nearly push you over the edge...and you might even be tempted to take somebody with you! (For those of you are reading this blog and you are not in vocational ministry, please overlook that last statement!)

Seriously, being in the ministry is no walk in the park. You are constantly trying to balance meeting the demands of those God called you to serve, the needs of your family and your personal needs. And if you're like most of the pastors that I talk to, you rarely feel as though you have done all of that successfully.

I recently read some statistics, which were shared by Mark Driscoll, Lead Pastor of Mars Hill Church, that might be as alarming to you as they were to me:

1,500 pastors leave the ministry each month due to moral failure, spiritual burnout, or contention in their churches.
50% of pastors' marriages will end in divorce.
80% of pastors and 84% of their spouses feel unqualified and discouraged.
50% of pastors are so discouraged that they would leave the ministry, if they could, but have no other way of making a living.
80% of seminary and Bible school graduates will leave the ministry within the first 5 years.
70% of pastors constantly fight depression.
70% said the only time they spend studying the Word is when they are preparing sermons.
80% of pastors' spouses feel their spouse is overworked.
80% of pastors' spouses wish their spouse would choose another profession.
The majority of pastor's wives surveyed said that the most destructive event that has occurred in their marriage and family was the day they entered the ministry.

Well now, that doesn't seem to be very encouraging, does it? But then, sometimes acknowledging reality isn't always a walk in the park, either.

Pastors, in my next blog, I'll share some solutions which Mark Driscoll (and I) recommend to help you if you find yourself (or your spouse) represented in these statistics. But for now, take a few minutes to read 1 Corinthians 15:57-58, 2 Corinthians 4:7-13 and Galatians 6:9-10.

I trust that God will speak to you, through these verses, as He has surely spoken to me. Hang in there, my friend.

Top Ten Predictions Regardless of Who Wins the Election

2008-10-13T21:56:00.002-04:00

In only a matter of days, America will have a new President. After the election, there will be some people who will be happy and some people will be sad. Some things will change and some things will stay the same. That is, after all, the essence of our political system in the United States of America.

While I would never attempt to foretell the outcome of the election, I do offer the following ten predictions that I am certain of regardless of which candidate wins:

1. The Bible will still have answers for life's problems.
2. Prayer will still work for those who pray.
3. The Holy Spirit will still move mightily in our lives.
4. God will still inhabit the praises of His people.
5. There will still be God-anointed preaching from pulpits across America.
6. There will still be people singing praise to God.
7. God will still pour out blessings upon His people.
8. There will still be room at the Cross.
9. Jesus will still love you.
10. Jesus will still save the lost when they come to Him.

What do these things mean?

2008-09-30T20:42:00.000-04:00

Admittedly, I am a pastor - not an economist. Inasmuch, I am certainly not claiming to wholly understand the mortgage industry bailout nor the volatility of the stock market. In all honesty, I don't know too many people in my world that can! Nevertheless, I do believe that there are some things that can be learned even if we don't understand it all.

For example, God says that if His people would become more humble, begin to pray, seek after Him and stop living outside of His plan, then He would hear our prayers, forgive us and bring healing to the land in which we live (2 Chronicles 7:14). Again, I don't claim to understand the totality of this verse but it does reveal God's desire to change us and our world because both desperately need to be changed.

Here's another example. God invites us to talk to Him and then says that He will talk to us and show us things that we don't know (Jeremiah 33:3). It seems that what He wants is an open line of communication with His people.

Could it be that what will bring change in America is for God's people to implement the essence of 2 Chronicles 7:14 and Jeremiah 33:3? There may be a whole lot more but it certainly won't hurt a thing to start right there!

I'm soooooo blessed!

2008-09-18T19:18:00.000-04:00

Although there is certainly no shortage of things that I wish were different in my life, I must admit that I am so very blessed. In fact, even though it's sort of "cliche'-ish", I really am too blessed to be stressed.

I mean, sure, I would love for gas prices to drop below $1 per gallon...who wouldn't? And I could definitely make room for some more material blessings (ie - you know, the same stuff that most of us think we need). But then, when I stop to really count my blessings, I am almost embarassed when I realize how "much" I have compared to so much of the rest of the world's inhabitants.

Thank God, no one in my family is suffering from a major illness, there is food in the refrigerator, our vehicles are dependable (well, at least 2 out of 3 aren't giving us problems!) and we have a roof over our heads.

I'm pastoring an incredible group of Christ-followers who, like me, are on a life-long journey of transformation in order to become the person that God has designed and destined for us to be. The Ministry Team that God has assembled at Smyrna Assembly(http://www.smyrnaassembly.com/) consists of incredibly gifted and anointed individuals who are devoted to the task of leading this great church into its next season of destiny.

My Master's Degree courses at Beulah Heights University (http://www.beulah.org/) are going well (exhausting, but necessary!). My roles as the Alumni Association President and Board of Trustees Member at Beulah Heights University afford me opportunties to connect with some wonderful lovers of God.

And on top of all of that, I have the world's greatest wife and kids (can you tell that I'm a little biased?) What more could I possibly want or need? Nothing really for me.

But what my heart longs for is to spread the good news of God's redemptive grace to those who have not yet heard of who have not yet received. Statistics reveal that 80% of those people living in Cobb County, GA (where I live and pastor) do not attend church on any given Sunday.

Of the 650,000 residents, more than 500,000 of my "neighbors" won't connect with a local Christian church this Sunday. Many of these friends have received God's grace but may not be a part of a local body of believers; however, I suspect that even more of these friends have yet to experience the life-changing grace that He offers through Jesus Christ.

Are you one of those who have never received God's grace? If so, I would love to introduce you to my best friend, Jesus Christ. Perhaps you will take the opportunity to call me (770.435.5478 x225; 1.866.377.7591 x225) or to email me (Pastor@SmyrnaAG.org).

Do you know someone who has never received God's grace? Then I encourage you to tell them about your best friend, Jesus Christ.

If you live within driving distance of Smyrna Assembly (http://www.smyrnaassembly.com/) and you aren't connected with a local church , please accept my personal invitation to visit.

May the blessings of the Lord overtake you, my dear friends!

Africa Oasis Project

2008-09-16T15:33:00.000-04:00

Did you know that 80% of all sickness is attributed to unsafe water? Were you aware that 25,000 people die every day from drinking unsafe water? Have you ever heard that many women and children often walk 10 miles per day in hopes of finding safe water for their families only to discover the water they find is shared with animals and that it is filled with parasites and deadly pathogens?

Until today, I could say, "No, No, No...I wasn't aware of those realities." But now, I know and now I feel compelled to do something about those realities.

Now before I come across as if I am the "safe water savior" or something, I need to say that I am well aware of my incredibly limited abilities. In fact, there are times when it seems that my inabilities FAR outweigh my abilities. And while it is most certainly true that I can't do "everything for everybody" it is also true, nonetheless, that I can do "something for somebody."

Today I was privileged to hear the heart of God through a servant by the name of Ken Corley as he spoke to several of us about The Africa Oasis Project (http://www.africaoasisproject.org/). While AOP has been in existence for several years and actively involved in meeting some desperate needs, there is an urgency in my spirit to help get the word out.

AOP, under the direction of various Assembly of God missionaries, is working feverishly to eradicate that continent's need for clean, safe drinking water. This worthy organization partners with churches, individuals, businesses, civic organizations and schools to both raise the necessary funds as well as to raise the awareness of the problem which exists. For more information, you can visit the AOP website (http://www.africaoasisproject.org/) or contact Ken Corley (770.922.1466).

Let me encourage you to consider what you part might be in helping someone to enjoy a cup of water that will be presented to them in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ. And remember, He blesses those who give water to others (Matthew 25:35 NIV).

Welcome to my blog!

2008-09-01T19:14:00.001-04:00

It's great to be able to finally say that I am a blogger! Still not sure what that actually means but here we go!