Leadership Is Tough – Part One of Three March 11, 2010
I talked about this at Unleash…but wanted to revisit a thought that I didn’t fully develop…
Think about this for a second, you are Joshua, you have just led over a million people across the Jordan on dry ground…momentum is high, people are excited and they are just waiting on you to tell them what’s next.
SO…you beg God for direction…and then you get Joshua 5:2-3…
“At that time the Lord said to Joshua, ‘Make flint knives and circumcise the Israelites again.’ So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the Israelites at Gibeath Haaraloth.”
Uh…yep…leadership is tough.
Please notice that God told Joshua to do it.
He didn’t tell him to delegate it.
He didn’t tell him to empower others to do it.
He told Joshua, “You are going to have to make the knives and then you are going to have to personally meet with each man you are leading and…” Well, you get the point.
As leaders we ARE called to empower others to do certain things…and we should always delegate the things that others can do better than us…but…
There are some things that God will call a leader to do that he simply cannot delegate…that means…
- There are meetings that you are going to need to attend.
- There are conversations that you are going to have to have.
- There are decisions that you are going to have to make (and they won’t be easy!)
AND…it doesn’t get easier. Keep in mind that there were over 600,000 fighting men…and God told Joshua to circumcise each one.
BUT…God knew Joshua was willing to do the things that no one else was willing to do…to roll up his sleeves and fully invest himself in a matter…to not be a coward because he feared what others might think about him (seriously…do you think people LOVED this idea?)
Leadership is tough…at the end of the day all of us need to be willing to ask ourselves with the question, “Can God trust me to do the things that no one else wants to do…but are absolutely essential for the success of the church that I am leading?”
More about this next week…
Top 7 Money Mistakes I’ve Made – Part Two March 10, 2010
Continuing yesterday’s post…
#4 – Seeking to live the “minimum payment” lifestyle.
I remember my first credit card…after getting it I stopped at a sporting goods store and bought a gun. (Just like all pastors should!) It was $300…and when I got the bill in the mail the next month the payment was ONLY $15!!! (I didn’t know what 19% interest meant!) It was the beginning of a PAINFUL lesson for me–making the minimum payment is NOT a great financial plan!
Within four years I was carrying maxed out balances on around seven credit cards and “successfully” making the minimum payments every month…which was KILLING ME financially. I reasoned that if I continued to make the minimum payments that I would one day be out of debt…which WAS true…but “that day” would have been in the year 2900 at the rate I was going!
#5 – Transferring credit card balances
Don’t roll your eyes…some of you do this! I would get a “convenient” credit card offer in the mail and it would say, “transfer your balances today and get no interest for six months.” What the offer didn’t tell you is that the interest rate was an arm and a leg after that six months.
I always told myself that I could pay off the balance within six months–WHICH NEVER HAPPENED! I realized then that Proverbs 22:7 was/is true…in just four years of having a credit card (which was only going to be used in case of an “emergency”) I had DISCOVERED that my VISA to financial freedom wasn’t in obtaining more AMERICAN OBSESS but rather in turning over MASTER CARD to Jesus instead of the banks!
#6 – STUPID car decisions.
I used to be the guy who said, “I will always have a car payment.”
I used to be the guy that when a car needed a repair I would say, “Go get another one, you don’t want to sink money into that old thing.” (Which, by the way, is STUPID financial advice! Seriously! Spending $300 to fix a leak…or $45,000 on a new car–DUH!!!)
So…because of my desire to have a new car every year and a half (no, I am not making that up) I kept trading them in…and discovered what the term “upside down” means. (It means, “I am a stupid, materialistic person”–at least that’s what it meant to me!)
I once financed a car that was two years old for 84 months at a 12% interest rate…DUMB!!!
Today I own my cars…they do not own me…and that is a very freeing feeling. Most people I have talked to who are strapped financially could free themselves up so much if they would just sell their car…but their desire for status rather than financial freedom will prevent them from it most of the time.
#7 – Not having an emergency fund.
One of the things that Joe and Dave teach is that emergencies are going to happen, the car is going to break down, the kids are going to get sick, the tire is going to go flat…and that if money is set aside for these emergencies then they are less worrisome when they take place.
You CAN set aside an emergency fund…and you CAN live in financial freedom…it just takes WORK!!!
Top 7 Money Mistakes I’ve Made! March 9, 2010
Quite a while back I shared a two part post in regards to the top seven financial mistakes I’ve made…in light of yesterday’s message I thought I would share those posts again!
#1 – I Did Not Place Jesus First In My Finances
OR…in other words…I did not tithe.
I used the excuse that I could not afford to tithe…and it was through some painful financial lessons that God actually showed me that I could not afford NOT to tithe. God kept bringing me back to Matthew 6:21 and Matthew 6:24 over and over again…and in the fall of 1999 I completely surrendered the 10%. (And I’ve never missed it!)
#2 – I treated tithing as the finish line.
When I began tithing I sort of expected God to strike up the heavenly marching band…and for about a year I was quite proud of my newly formed spiritual discipline…until…
In the summer of 2000 Jason Wilson, our Executive Pastor, was speaking at NewSpring Church and said, “We all know that Scripture says to tithe…what I want to ask tonight is what are you doing with the other 90% to advance His Kingdom; after all, He does own it all!”
That statement hit me in the face like a ton of bricks…Psalm 24:1 became more real to me than ever before…and that night I surrendered the other 90% to Jesus!
Tithing isn’t the finish line…it’s the starting point…God has called us to be generous givers–HE IS!!! (II Corinthians 9:15)
#3 – I thought I could NEVER get out of debt.
When Lucretia and I got married on April 8, 2000 we had over $100,000 worth of debt and DIDN’T EVEN OWN A HOME. It was all credit cards, student loans and ridiculous purchases (all made by me!)
I felt trapped–heck, I was trapped…and I had just about given up hope until I heard about this guy named Dave Ramsey. It was in one of his all day sessions that I began to understand that I could get out of debt…but it was going to take sacrifice, a lifestyle adjustment…but it COULD be done!
In November of 2007 Lucretia and I became debt free…we owe on nothing except for the house. Trust me–if we can do it–YOU CAN TOO!!!
(By the way…if you are making one of these mistakes…OR any of the next four that I will talk about later on this week…and you do not MAKE it a priority to get to JOES CLASS THIS WEEK then you’re passing on an incredible opportunity! Seriously, there is NO REASON for you to be in debt…when Jesus sets us free…WE ARE FREE, and yet so many Christians go and enslave themselves to debt! BREAK FREE THIS WEEKEND!!!
Stay tuned for the other four…
Giving from a Child’s Perspective March 8, 2010
We showed THIS VIDEO yesterday…thought it was one of the best “sermons” on giving I’ve ever watched!
So Excited I May Pee My Pants! March 8, 2010
Seriously!
We are doing a one day leadership conference here at NewSpring Church on Thursday, September 16th.
Speakers are…
- Steven Furtick
- Mark Driscoll
- Judah Smith
- Francis Chan
- Jud Wilhite
- and me! :-)
I can’t WAIT for this event…it’s going to be like drinking from a fire hydrant! (Yes, I know that illustration gets used a lot…but I wanted to use it again!)
Six speakers, one day, all speaking about church leadership.
The cost for the day is $149 and sign ups are taking place right now…here’s the link if you are interested.
We have 2,500 seats and once they’re gone…they’re gone!
This is going to be a GREAT DAY! Hope you can make it!
Sunday Night Reflections March 7, 2010
A few thoughts about a great day at NewSpring Church…
- Had an absolute BLAST preaching on giving today…and LOVED the fact that we saw people receive Jesus after the message, that’s AWESOME! (And never gets old!)
- We continued “Practical Atheist” today–last week we defined a “PA” as someone who says they believe in God but then live their lives as if He does not exist, and the area people struggle with this the most is in the area of money and personal finances.
- Money is the number one competitor when it comes to our hearts and our following of Jesus Christ! If we don’t nail this issue down it will impact every area of our lives.
- I love teaching what God’s Word says about money because…if we handle money the way God’s Word says to handle it then it is IMPOSSIBLE for us to screw up financially!
- A man who claims he walks with God but has not surrendered his finances will always walk with a limp.
- The only people who really get upset when you speak on money are those who are robbing God…just like the only ones who get mad when you preach on adultery are…well…you get the picture.
- According to Jesus and the Scriptures…it is IMPOSSIBLE for us to say we are fully devoted followers of Jesus and NOT give!
- I received Christ in 1990…but robbed Him of the tithe until the fall of 1999…it was then I decided to test Him and HE DID NOT FAIL! (See Malachi 3:6-12!)
- You CANNOT out give God–period!
- I shared the statistic that only 9% of the membership of NewSpring Church tithed last year…and 26% of the members didn’t give a dime…both of these stats are heartbreaking but needed to be shared. (Here is a link to our annual report we gave out at every campus at the end of every service.)
- I also made it clear that we will not hire someone who does not tithe…it always gets tense when I say that but JESUS said in Matthew 6:21 that if someone’s heart is there then you have their treasure…why in the world would we ever hire someone whose heart is not at the church?
- Proverbs 3:9-10 tells us to honor God with our wealth…some push back and claim they are not wealthy…so, go HERE and put in your salary and see where you rank in regards to the world and your wealth!
- America is the ONLY NATION in the world where someone can “struggle” with poverty and obesity!!!
- It’s not a sin to be blessed and have nice things…it’s a sin for nice things to have you!
- Greed is a sign of a heart that has not been regenerated! (Ephesians 5:5)
- Personally, I refuse to stand in the shadow of a blood stained cross and offer God any less than the bare minimum of what He has commanded me to give.
- Some people should have a bumper sticker that says, “I drive my tithe!”
- It is BECAUSE OF HIS MERCY and GRACE that I even have anything to give in the first place. (See I Chronicles 29:10-14)
- God doesn’t need our money–we need His blessings!
- We get to go to heaven because God is an extravagant giver (see II Corinthians 9:15 and John 3:16), if we are going to be followers of Him then we cannot claim that He has all of us and refuse to offer Him our best in this area of our lives.
- If God’s never asked you to give an extravagant gift then I would say you probably haven’t been listening for it!
- Jesus said we cannot serve both God and money (Matthew 6:24) – who/what are you serving? It can’t be both…and if it is Jesus then we must submit ourselves to the teachings of Scripture.
- It’s amazing to me how many “Christians” will receive the salvation passages but then want to complain about the giving passages.
- And, for the record, I did eat at Grits and Groceries yesterday…some of the best food I’ve ever put in my mouth…and yes, it is a legit place, I did not make it up…here is the website!
I could go on and on about this…but…the bottom line is that giving is NOT a money issue, it’s a heart issue. When our hearts are right with God then giving isn’t a problem (this is according to the Scriptures and 20 years of ministry!) IF you struggle with this I would challenge you to do three things.
#1 – TRUST GOD – Hebrews 11:1 and Hebrews 11:6 talk about faith and trusting God…and it takes faith to trust Him with our finances. Many of us want Him to bless us and then we say we will follow…but He says follow first and then He will bless. Like I said today…it’s not that I can’t afford to give…I can’t afford not to!
#2 – Get Your Financial House In Order – SERIOUSLY, we should all know how to set up a budget, how much debt we have and how long it will take for us to get out of financial bondage (see Proverbs 22:7) – we are providing a FREE SEMINAR this week at every campus…and not only that, but we will provide dinner AND childcare IF you will sign up!!! (Here is the link)
#3 – Get Ready To Have Your Mind Blown! God always brings a return far greater than anything we could ever imagine (Malachi 3:10-12, Proverbs 3:9-10, II Corinthians 9:6-8)…these are PROMISES from Scripture that should be obeyed, celebrated and anticipated! I can’t WAIT to see all that He does with those who choose to take Him at His Word and follow through with obedience!
Experts…There Are None! March 3, 2010
One of the things I think church world needs to learn is that there are actually VERY few experts in the world today…especially in ours.
We love the experts…the ones who can tell us WHAT to do and HOW to do it (even if they’ve never darkened the doors of our church) and we will buy whatever they are selling because; after all, they are the experts.
(BTW…NEVER trust an “expert” that is “pimping” an untested philosophy that they don’t have the stones to try out…but they are absolutely positive it will work in your environment.)
Don’t misunderstand…I am NOT saying that there is never a time for outside opinions and/or some sort of consulting…but the problem develops when we depend on THEM way more than HIM. (You know, the One who called, equipped and will sustain us!)
He has an incredible track record of using non-experts…
- Joseph was not an expert statesman…but God used him to preserve a nation.
- Moses was not an expert leader…but God used him to lead His people to the place of promise.
- David was not an expert soldier…but God used him to bring down the biggest problem the Israelite army had ever seen.
- The Apostles were not experts…but God used them to plant the church (see Acts 4:13.)
When it comes to HOW to do church…there simply are no experts. There is not one type of church that works at every place at any given time. If there was a formula for doing church then why in the world did Jesus address seven different churches in seven different ways in Revelation 2-3?
Too many times pastors/church leaders want the easy answer rather than committing themselves to doing the hard work and actually seeking the face of God and begging for His wisdom and guidance…talking to the “experts” is easy…just plug in the formula and BAM…double your attendance. AND after years of watching this chaos happen I think we can all admit…this does not work…
Which is why I cannot wait until tomorrow at Unleash…
News flash…NONE of us are “experts” here at NewSpring Church. Our hope and prayer is NOT for churches to be more like us…but rather for churches to get a white hot vision from Jesus and become exactly who HE called them to be.
Tomorrow will be wheels off…intense…challenging…and extremely humbling for every single staff member and volunteer that is here. We can’t believe that people are actually making the pilgrimage to Anderson…and our prayer is NOT that people see an “expert” way of doing church…but rather just a bunch of “unschooled, ordinary men and women” who are desperately trying to hear God’s voice and do what He says.