Archive for Leadership
Influence July 2, 2009
“Who or what you listen to will ultimately determine what you do.”
I once heard Andy Stanley make that statement…and like it or not…it’s true. Every single one of us are influenced by someone or something–period!
This stuck out to me the other morning as I was reading through the OT and saw II Chronicles 24:1-2…take a look at that verse and notice the phrase, “Joash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord all the years of Jehoiada the priest.”
In other words…Joash did what was right as long as he was being influenced to do so.
BUT…as I continued to read IN THE VERY SAME CHAPTER I saw II Chronicles 24:17-22…WOW!
How does a guy who is so sold out to the Lord eventually turn his back on God and even have people killed who try to talk sense into him? Simple–WHO he listened to changed.
None of us…NO ONE…can make wise, godly decisions on our own! We need help…which is why we should continually seek…
#1 - God’s Word - I’ve said it a million times–NO ONE has ever came to me claiming to have screwed up their lives by reading the Bible and then doing what is says. In church world this is true as well…if our THEOLOGY isn’t driving our METHODOLOGY then we are screwed! (I would say correct theology!!!) And right doctrine comes from a right discipline of spending time with Him in His Word!
#2 - God’s People - Let me be clear…I do not make decisions without the godly input of others. Once again to borrow from Andy Stanley…I heard him say once that the wisest person who has ever lived (Solomon) had tons to say about listening to the advice/counsel of others. If he needed it…we do as well!
Let me be clear before moving on…we need to seek the advice of people who LOVE JESUS and we know will tell us what we NEED to hear rather than what we WANT to hear. We can always find a group of idiots that will affirm our sin and dysfunction because doing so will allow them to justify their lifestyle.
BUT…that would be the WRONG approach.
#3 - God’s Church - When you attend a church weekly and walk in with a prepared heart…you will often find that God WILL speak to you in very direct ways! I can’t tell you the number of times people have said to me, “Pastor P…I felt like you were talking to me and only me today.” Which is funny because I didn’t have that particular person in mind when I prepared the message!!!
I could list some other ways…but my question to you is WHO or WHAT has the most influence in your life…because “who or what you listen to will ultimately determine what you do.”
Life is too short for us to make bad decision after bad decision…we need Jesus and we need one another! Don’t fall for the lie that this is “my life” and I will do as I want because…in reality…our decisions always impact other people.
So…think about it…who or what has the most influence in your life? Answering this question is dangerous because in doing so, you may need to make some adjustments! When Joash got away from doing things God’s way it ALL went downhill…and what is sad is that it didn’t have to be that way!
God is ALWAYS speaking…the question is are we always listening?
DANG! June 30, 2009
“Jesus leadership example = saw a great need which produced a broken heart which ignited passion which worked itself out through sacrifice.” Shane Duffey
Saw this on Twitter this morning…was too long to retweet and didn’t want to dilute the message by trying to abbreviate it…
Might be one of the best definitions of leadership I’ve ever seen!!!
16 Leadership Questions That Will Help Us Make It In Ministry - Part 14 June 30, 2009
14. Will I Preach Jesus?
In Matthew 10:32-33 Jesus is very clear to His disciples the purpose of preaching and leading is to proclaim His name…and that if anyone denies His name that He will deny them- pretty serious stuff.
I remember a time several years ago where I nearly lost my focus. I would find a cool video idea or a cool song idea or a sermon prop idea and try my best to revolve the sermon around a concept rather than scripture.
I actually thought I could give really great lessons in morality and not preach Jesus because His name seemed to constantly offend people—then God rocked my world, slapped my face, got my attention and helped me to understand that Jesus, and ONLY Jesus, is the game changer.
“Cool and cute” will impress people….but Christ will CHANGE them!
I could teach people get out of debt, have great sex with their spouse, get over anger issues, and become greater people; however, if I do all of that without pointing them to the Gospel and sharing Jesus with them I have rescued them from Hell on Earth and damned them to Hell in eternity.
(And do not misunderstand the paragraph above as me taking shots at teaching the practical…I am not against that at all…but when our goal is simply to be practical and avoid the controversial that the Gospel will cause…we have a problem!)
I try to be a student of growing churches…and the thing I see across the board in nearly every church that is experiencing growth is that they are preaching Jesus…that there is a dependence upon the Spirit and not just systems…
And the Spirit will ALWAYS lead us to proclaim the name of Jesus!
When our agenda in the church becomes anything except for Jesus (insert whatever you wish here—political preferences, home schooling, recycling, the list goes on and on) then we are proclaiming another Savior…which is dangerous and heretical!
I Corinthians 15:1-8 is where Paul says THIS is the most important thing we can preach…we NEVER go wrong by lifting up Christ.
Seven Questions Leadership Teams Should Wrestle With June 29, 2009
#1 – Has everyone in the room kept short accounts…or is there any unresolved personal tension that needs to be dealt with?
#2 – Is there anything that we are doing as a church that we would not be excited about if we were not on staff?
#3 – Would we even attend this church if we were not on staff?
#4 – Is our goal to really focus on what needs to be done…or to get the meeting over with as soon as possible so we can get on with our individual agenda?
#5 – Are we resisting anything that God is leading us towards because it puts us in a very uncomfortable place?
#6 – Are we moving towards complexity or simplicity?
#7 – Is there anything that is obvious to everyone else but we are choosing to deny it because dealing with it would force us to change things up?
16 Questions That Will Help Us Make It In Ministry - Part 13 June 12, 2009
13. Will Be Controlled by Fear or Will I be Faithful?
Fear is a reality. The man that says “I fear nothing” is a liar. We all are scared of something. Personally I am scared of spiders. I hate them. I hate them more than I hate cats. I think all spiders and cats go to Hell when they die. There have been times in my life when I have seen a spider and literally been paralyzed with fear and could not move because something that I feared held me captive.
Now if you think about it it’s a pretty ridiculous scenario. I’m 6’6” and weigh 225 lbs. and I wear a size 14 shoe. I can crush a spider at any time that I wish. But my perception of the problem is that the spider can somehow rise up and kill and eat me and I will exist no more. We laugh, it is ridiculous, but many of us as leaders let very small problems to hold us captive in fear.
One of the things that we constantly need to remind ourselves of is that the same power that conquered the grave lives in us. God is sovereign, He’s supreme, He reigns and if we’re operating under His authority and following His instructions have nothing to fear. Fear many times should drive us to desperation for Him so we can see how awesome He is.
What are you letting control you? If the answer isn’t “Jesus” then something has got to change!
16 Questions That Will Help Us Make It In Ministry - Part 12 June 11, 2009
12. Will Be More Like Jesus No Matter What?
I heard Rick Warren say at a conference recently, “When we do ministry just do it like Jesus”. I believe that is an excellent philosophy. It’s something that I personally strive for, however; it’s really hard when overwhelming situations seem to come our way.
In the text that I mentioned in this question, Jesus said and scriptures indicate that people actually accused Him of being demon-possessed and actually doing the work of the devil just because He wasn’t willing to cave in to the traditions of man. The same is true for us, when you and I strive to be more like Jesus as a leader, we will be misquoted, misrepresented, and misunderstood.
JESUS was accused of being demon-possessed (think about how CRAZY that is–people who criticize and tear down often cannot see their own foolishness…so it does not do any good to point it out to them) and if it’s true of Him its true of us.
People will question our motives and our ministry. But our goal in all of this should not be to try to explain ourselves but to simply keep our eyes on the Lord and strive to become more like Him. If we spend too much time explaining ourselves we won’t have time to actually do what it is God has commanded of us in the first place!
Two Facts About Spiritual Warfare–Part Two June 10, 2009
Continuing from yesterday’s thought…
#2 - The Enemy Will Always Come After The Leaders Family
Once again, take a look at I Samuel 31:1-3…and notice that the enemy first killed Saul’s sons before they got to him!
DANG!
Church leader…here is a fact…the enemy IS coming after your marriage!
- He wants you to take it for granted.
- He wants you to believe that God will make up the difference if you will just keep on ignoring your family.
- He wants you to have high expectation from them…but have them not expect anything from you.
- He wants you be completely spiritual at the church…but never really mention Jesus at home.
- He wants you to invest time in developing a great ministry…but invest ZERO time in establishing a great vision for your marriage.
AND…trust me…he WILL come after your spouse!
I can’t tell you the number of nights that Lucretia has had nighmares and cannot sleep. (Not to mention a variety of health issues she has dealt with in the past three years!) Your spouse is a target…and that is why we must LOVE THEM and LEAD THEM through this minefield! If we think our spouse is immune to this we are idiots! When we are married the two become one…period!
Question…what steps are you taking to SHOW your spouse that they are important to you…and you will do whatever it takes to love and protect them. (Date nights, back rubs with NO strings attached, conversations about what they are reading in Scripture, etc.)
AND…church leaders…the enemy is coming after your kids…
UNFORTUNATELY many pastors kids become “wild as hell” because he spends all of his time looking after every kid in the church except his own. (And when his kid does go crazy the church fires him because he is not leading his family well!!!)
My NUMBER ONE discipleship responsibility is Charisse! Yet the enemy will tempt me with…
- You’re tired…you can play with her tomorrow.
- Vacation time is coming, you can spend time with her then.
- You don’t understand her now…but when she gets older you will.
I could go on and on…but the reality is that she is a target…and I MUST do all that I can to protect her…not only as her pastor but as her father.
She’s only one (two on the 27th)…but we pray together every night! We have a date every Saturday morning. We read the Bible together (her favorite story is Jonah). I sing to her every night (her favorite song is “Amazing Grace!”)
Pastors…we MUST take our children seriously…the enemy does!!! He IS coming after them…and so we must raise them to love Jesus and walk in victory…and then they can grow up and kick satan in the nuts…just like we did!!!