Leadership

Sometimes our greatest opportunities in life are disguised as our greatest problems. For example, I once visited LifeChurch.tv - of the largest churches in the country. Know how they got so big? It started with a problem. LifeChurch.tv had merged with another church in the area and Craig, the lead pastor was preaching at his church, then traveling across town to preach at the other church. Well, when his wife had her 5th baby late Saturday night Craig had to call both churches and say "I won't … [Read more...]

This is the time of the year where, as a pastor, you will be receiving Christmas cards from parishioners stuffed with movie tickets, gifts cards to your favorite restaurant, or maybe even some cold hard cash. When this happens, make sure you hand write a thank you note. We read in Luke 17:11-17, Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a … [Read more...]

Satan targets ministers of the gospel. Part of spiritual leadership is leading yourself in guarding against temptation. God has been most helpful in this regard by telling us in advance where Satan will try and trip us up. When Satan tempts us it will be in one of three areas: 1) Pleasure, 2) Possessions or 3) Pride or some combination of the three. In this post I want to show you that all temptation comes from one (or a combination) of these three sources, and to do that I'll give you four … [Read more...]

Awhile back I read a book called The Google Story by David A. Vise and Mark Malseed, where I learned something very interesting regarding what top investors look for when considering investing financially in a start up company. Ideas that solved real problems The potential to produce real profits Bright, passionate and capable founders When Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin needed to raise money so their new company could expand, the investor evaluated them by these three things. I … [Read more...]

Proverbs 29:18 says “Without a vision the people perish.” And I heard in a resource I listened to by Rick Warren that the number one responsibility of leadership is to continually clarify and communicate the vision of the organization, and that you will never see your vision become a reality unless you can communicate it to others. But how exactly does one communicate the vision? Well the book of Nehemiah has a lot to teach us about vision, specifically about how to communicate vision. Check … [Read more...]

Growing up my mom taught my siblings and I that courage isn't the absence of fear; it's doing the right thing even when you're afraid. And this is the kind of courage it takes to lead; courage that will act despite how you feel. Here's a couple for instances: It takes courage to do the right thing, even when it might cost you something (i.e. like letting a bad volunteer or staff go without knowing who God will raise up to replace them). It takes courage to stand before your congregation and … [Read more...]