The Lebron Syndrome

I think a lot of leaders (and specifically pastors) suffer from what I am calling "the Lebron Syndrome."

You might be puzzled by the use of the word "suffer." "Lebron is the greatest basketball player on the planet. Whatever syndrome that is then I want it!" Not so fast.

Lebron is arguably the best basketball player in the world, but what is he doing right now? He is currently possibly looking at real estate in the Chicago area (I hope so anyways) and watching four other teams battle it out for the championship that continues to elude him. For as good as he is, fans everywhere and Lebron himself have learned a tough lesson, not even the best can be a champion by himself. While Lebron con dominate any single person around him on the basketball floor, he still doesn't have the right people around him to be a champion. In short, Lebron James isn't enough.

I think a lot of pastors/leaders are like this. They are gifted, creative, high-capacity leaders who most would look at and praise and begin to develop an inferiority complex, but the truth is that most of these leaders will not be champions. Why? Because most leaders have failed to surround themselves with the right people; people who compliment them and whose best are brought out by the leader. I believe that many churches and organizations experience stagnation and decline because their leaders have tried to hard to play the hero; they've put on a one-man show for the spectators to marvel at.

The problem is once the leader/pastor burns out, moves on, fails morally, meets a barrier he/she isn't gifted to get over then the whole thing collapses because everything was contingent upon him.

The Celtics beat the Cavs because they are a team. On any given night one of about four guys can be the hero. The best churches and organizations are the ones where the leader is developing other leaders and is collaborating with a team to meet their desired outcome. Sure Lebron is gifted, rich, sexy, successful, and powerful but in the end he is still missing the thing he desires most, to be a champion. My hope is that we will begin to see more pastors get over themselves and instead surround themselves with some people that can help them and their churches be champions. Build a team, pass the ball once in a while, bring some people with you, and watch some amazing things happen. Even Jesus began his ministry by getting some guys around him and then built into them. Don't fall into the Lebron syndrome!

Internship Opportunities

Are you looking to do an internship at a really sweet church? We have some tremendous internship opportunities at Resolution Church, a young and exciting church in the Chicago suburbs!

We currently have four options:

1. Church Planter Intern: The role of the church planter intern is to serve as an apprentice to the Lead Pastor, and to immerse his/herself into the culture of a new church. The church planter intern will serve in a wide variety of ministries in order to experience the various aspects of planting and leading a new church.

2. Children's Ministry Intern: The role of the children's ministries intern is to gain experience in building and leading a vibrant and healthy children’s ministry, through the implementation of a strategic discipleship strategy and the building of nurturing relationships with children (infants-5^th grade).

3. Student Ministry Intern: The role of the student ministries intern is to gain experience in building and leading a vibrant and healthy student ministry, through the implementation of a strategic discipleship strategy and the building of relationships with adolescents.

4. Creative Arts Intern: The role of the Creative Arts intern is to gain experience in developing and leading a vibrant and quality creative arts ministry, which encompasses the music, drama, media, and various other artistic components of the worship experience.

Other Logistics:

- Length of Internship-Three Options: summer, semester, one-year

- stipend: cannot guarantee at this time. if needed, intern is encouraged to raise support with coaching

- Lodging: if needed the church will provide this

Those interested should e-mail Erick Ewaskowitz at erickewaskowitz@gmail.com.

The End of One Chapter and the Beginning of Another Part Two

A little over one year ago Bekki and I announced that we would be leaving the church where we had served for five years, to begin a new adventure pursuing a call to plant churches. God had placed this new dream in our hearts and we stepped out into the unknown, renting out our house and raising financial support for a one-year church planting internship at Resolution Church in Naperville. So we moved to Aurora, I started washing windows, Bekki started working at Panera, and we got to work.

This has been an incredible year as we have established ourselves in a new community, made a lot of new friends, and have continued to see the transformative work of God in people's lives. And yet in many ways, it has been a year of uncertainty as well. Going into this internship the plan was that we would leave after one year to start a new church. Essentially we came to this place to leave this place. As we've drawn nearer to the end of this experience we considered several options moving forward and yet none seemed right. We began to dream and craft our own next step, but all the while wrestling with what indeed was next.

While I knew we would leave this community and ministry sooner than later, a funny thing happened on the way to leaving to pursue our dream. We fell in love with this community and this church and wondered if perhaps we weren't yet done here, due also to the lack of a clear next step and a sense of release from this ministry.

Many have asked us the last few months what we would be doing next? Up until recently we literally had no clue, only speculation. In the past few weeks God has brought clarity to the next chapter in our journey. It turns out that God is now sending us to where he planted us one year ago. In June, I will assume the role of Lead Pastor of Resolution Church, a year-and-a half old church where we've been serving as interns this past year.

There is much that could be shared as background to this development, and I'd love to share our journey in more detail with you over the phone or a cup of coffee. For this venue, I simply want to express how humbled and excited Bekki and I are, and how we continue to be amazed at the hand of God at work in our lives and ministry. This was never on our radar screen and we would've never expected that God would lead us to this place. I am experiencing a healthy dose of excitement and a holy anxiousness and am believing BIG things for both our future and the future of Resolution Church!

This has been an exhilarating adventure for us and we are so grateful for the prayer and support of so many of you who are tracking with us. As a new chapter unfolds we are encouraged to know that we have a "cloud of witnesses" surrounding us and cheering us on! As a friend of mine recently shared in an e-mail, now it's time to "dream big and get to work!"

The End of One Chapter and the Beginning of Another Part One

These past few weeks have been pretty big! One significant chapter in my life closed while another one opened.

First, the one that closed. Last week I graduated with a Masters in Theological Studies from Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary. I did not attend my ceremony but I graduated all the same. I began my Masters in the Fall of 2006 and managed to cram a two-year program into four years. When I began in 2006 I was a somewhat still newlywed, full-time youth pastor, with no kids, living in a small apartment and driving a 1995 Ford Escort. (God bless you Naomi wherever you are!) I failed my first paper (seriously failed not like I got a "C"), and was ready to bow out before ever really getting started. Within my four years of seminary we've had two kids, bought a house, worked with four different senior pastors, left our jobs to pursue church planting, raised support, moved again, picked up some part-time jobs, and yes I had to find a different car to get my butt to school (thank you 1979 Impala and 1995 Honda Oddyssey with 218,00 miles).

All of this to say...it has been quite the journey with a few twists and turns along the way, and due in large part to the grace of both God and my wife I am finished, having never bombed an assignment since, with a 105 page thesis and no added debt to show for it!

So while I didn't walk in a cap in gown last week I did still practice the spiritual discipline of celebration. What I thought was going to be a nice dinner with Bekki ended up being a surprise gathering of friends, both old and new. We ate a ton and had a blast and I again can't believe that I get to live this life!

To conclude I share these words from the acknowledgement section of my thesis:

My deepest gratitude is to my wife and boys. Thank you Bekki for your outstanding love and support throughout this process. You were my biggest cheerleader and I love you dearly. It is now my turn to support you in whatever endeavors you wish to pursue. To my boys Noah and Wil, thank you for letting dad go to school and do his homework. I will return the favor in a few years. Thank you to my Creator and Sustainer who continues to enact transformation in my life, further calling me to bear the image of God in my community and world.

Get busy and reproduce

I've been reading a lot of church planting stuff lately, and it has mostly had to do with church multiplication and reproduction. I want to share some simple, yet thought provoking stuff from one of these books.

"Viral Churches" by Ed Stetzer and Warren Bird claims that most church growth happens by addition, but challenges that a real movement will happen only by multiplication. Check out this concept that they offer:

"If a church of twenty people plants just one church of twenty each year, and each of those likewise follow the cycle of planting one church per year, then in twenty years the original church would have multiplied into more than ten million people."

I am inspired by this! A church of twenty planting a church of twenty each year that plant churches of twenty each year actually sounds somewhat attainable. Perhaps too often we think too big, and this bigness paralyzes us. Maybe small is the new big, maybe in order to fulfill a big dream we must start with a small one. What a great challenge for every church and leader: to plant a church of twenty this year and see what happens! My prayer is that churches all across the country will get pregnant this year and birth little babies that in twenty years will have grown into giants who wreak havoc for the kingdom of God. Time to do some conceiving!