Four Wishes I Have For Church Leaders – Part Three April 30, 2009

#3 – That We Will Be Filled With Passion!

Life is too short to screw around and play games!

The church doesn’t need any more leaders who are apathetic and unaware of who JESUS is and what HE wants to do with HIS church…but rather we need leaders who are consumed with passion, who have a fire inside of them that cannot be contained (Jeremiah 20:9)…and will do whatever they can to reach whoever they can and literally watch Jesus change their community one life at a time!

Our motivation for EVERYTHING we do should be passion…unfortunately for some church leaders passion isn’t their motivation…a paycheck is…and because of that their vision is “always for sale!”

One of the reasons I believe the church in America lacks passion overall is because her leaders lack passion.  It seems that our main obsession has become to maintain the status quo and keep the sheep happy rather than to listen to the voice of Jesus and do what He says!

Passion is something we must pray for…and then allow it to consume our lives.

• A passionate leader keeps on trying when others have given up.
• A passionate leader will stand and fight for what is right when others run.
• A passionate leader WILL NOT STOP asking God to do the unexplainable and the undeniable so that the church will become unstoppable.
• A passionate leader will face his biggest fears because he knows that God is Sovereign.
• A passionate leader will not offer up excuses as to why what God has spoken to him cannot be done
• A passionate leader will believe in the team around him and learn to pull from their passion when his seems to be fading.
• A passionate leader will sacrifice—period!
• A passionate leader will operate “in the now” but will always be moving towards what is next.

We don’t need any more leaders who are locked up in the prison of predictability.  We need leaders in the church who are consumed with passion.  When what REALLY matters to God TRULY matters to us…the world will NOT be able to resist all He wants to do through His church.

Four Wishes I Have For Church Leaders – Part Two April 29, 2009

#2 – That We Will Be Faithful.

Every time I read II Timothy 4:6-8 I cry as I think about the Apostle Paul sitting and waiting to die…and KNOWING that he finished well.

I WANT THAT for me and for every church leader as well!!!

• I don’t want to see another leader flame out and give up on Jesus and His church!
• I don’t want to see another leader leave the ministry because he could not remain faithful to his wife.
• I don’t want to see another leader give up on the vision GOD has placed inside of him because people who don’t know Jesus keep telling him, “that can’t be done!”
• I don’t want to see another leader who is afraid to preach the Gospel and teach hard truths because he knows if he does that people will get offended and leave the church.
• I don’t want to see another leader who allows critics to shape his ministry…and wastes his time responding to them rather than fulfilling his calling.
• I don’t want to see another leader who feels like he has to do it all…thus sacrificing his family on the alter of ministry.
• I don’t want to see another leader burn out.
• I don’t want to see another leader give up!!!

I once heard a statistic (can’t remember exactly where) that 90-95% of the people entering ministry will not make it in ministry…and it BROKE MY HEART!

Philippians 1:6 has been my personal rallying cry so many times…if He called me He will sustain me no matter what I go through.

One of my constant prayers for myself and the team of staff that I serve with is that we will be faithful to Jesus…that we will serve His church…that we will feel fulfilled…and that our eyes will ALWAYS be on Him.

(I find personally that the times I want to quit/walk away are the times I make it all about me and not about Jesus!)

Church leader—we ALL wrestle with feelings of inadequacy, insecurity, frustration, anger and doubt…but once again…Philippians 1:6…read it, memorize it and live it!!!

Jesus was faithful to God and HIS calling…He MUST be our example!  No one said it would be EASY…but I can’t imagine there is no greater reward than standing in front of Him one day and hearing, “well done.”

Four Wishes I Have For Church Leaders April 28, 2009

#1 – That Everyone Of Us Will Experience Success In Our Ministry!

I honestly believe that if someone has a calling of God on their lives it is because HE wants them to accomplish something significant for His Kingdom…and whatever that calling is will be the key to our success.

The Word “success” is a dangerous one because, as church leaders, we are so easily swayed to allow other things to define our success (such as comparison with others and conditional obedience to Jesus), thus neglecting the specific call of God on our lives.

The Lord told Joshua in Joshua 1:8 to not let the book of the Law depart from Him…to think about it, be consumed with it…and that doing so would lead to being prosperous and successful.

There is SO much wisdom and encouragement in that verse for us as church leaders (HECK…as human beings!!!)  True success is directly tied to God’s Word being in us and working through us.

Whenever I am feeling pressure from what I call unrealistic expectations of success I always try to get a word from THE WORD…to go back to my calling and focus my eyes on who Jesus is and what HE wants me to do.

Success is not determined by our service to ourselves…but rather in our submission to the Savior!  He saved us…He called us…He has a plan for us…and it is so much larger than we could ever imagine.

I pray that ALL of us listen to God and do what He says…because when we do that the church will continue to become the unstoppable force He desires us to be!!!

AND…I honestly think the church as a whole would see WAY more success in our ministries if we began COMPLETING one another instead of COMPETING with one another!

What is your specific calling?  Begin with this question – “What would you be willing to attempt for God if you knew you could not fail?”  Seriously…that question changed my life.  How about it?