As Bro. Carlton Coon often says, "if it’s not happening at the local church, it’s not happening." Our organization- district, section and departmental ministries- all exist to strengthen and serve the local assembly (rather than the other way around.)
One of the things that I have learned that has helped me in pastoral ministry, is that it is the long run that counts. It is just like a coach who realizes that it is not just the win or loss of a single game, but the entire season that is important. I once heard Coach Larry Bird, after the Pacers had lost a game say in an interview (paraphrase him), We didn't lose tonight- we played better than we have ever played before, and we accomplished the things that we have been working on. We might have been outscored, but we didn't lose.
We removed the ‘attendance board’ years ago because it didn’t really indicate the overall health of the church. If we ever put it back up we are going to change the categories to things such as How Many Witnessed to, How Many Home Bible Studies taught, How Much Did We Pray, How Many Baptized, How Many Showed Up for Work Day. Someone once said that you can tell what is important to people, by what they measure.
The ‘Primary Class offering one year ago this week’ is really not that important to me.
I was able to be in a meeting with author Dirk Zeller last week who, aside from being a multi-millionaire, has authored a number of books on successful marketing. During the break I was able to spend some one on one time with him. One thing he said, really impacted me.
Dirk asked, of these four things, which is usually the area we need to work on to be successful: knowledge, skill, attitude, or activity. Our group answered, for the most part, our attitude. Dirk responded that in most cases it is our activity that is determining our level of success. Most folks have as much or more knowledge and skill than they need, and usually our attitude is pretty good, too. It is our activities that are typically the problem. What we do with our time. How we manage, prioritize and utilize our waking hours.
It is how the local church manages its activities that will determine the future of its growth.
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Pastor Deckard
About Me
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- R. Deckard
- Des Moines, Iowa, United States
- Pastor Rex Deckard was born in Bloomington, Indiana. He received his BS degree from Indiana University, his Masters degree from Trevecca College, and did post graduate work at the University of Tennessee. He is a licensed K-12 School Administrator and a certified teacher. Pastor Deckard has been involved in a variety of ministry roles: planting churches, home missionary work, curriculum development for Word Aflame publications, teaching overseas in Papua New Guinea, and leadership development. His writing has been featured in numerous magazines, both secular and Christian. He has pastored churches in Tennesee, Indiana and Iowa. He is the Coordinator of Apostolic Training Institute, a distance learning initiative of the Home Missions Division, and is a member of the Iowa District Board of the United Pentecostal Church. He is the pastor at Calvary Apostolic Church, 2611 Easton Boulevard in Des Moines, Iowa. Family and Interests The Deckard family consists of wife Brenda (both a musician, songwriter and nurse), daughter Emilile (student at Des Moines Area Community College) and son Rex Adam (student at Iowa Christian Academy).