leadership is courageous and contagious!

leadership is courageous! When you are a leader you have to be willing to make decisions and not second guess yourself. You are the leader and you need to follow through with your decisions! Those decisions are not always easy ones…I had a group in and gave them a set amount of time in a service to minister and time slipped away, so when the time came for them to get back on the stage I had to make a leadership decision. It did not matter how much makeup they put on and prep they put into whatever they had planned to do, it was time for the meat of the service and that meant making a decision to cut out something big in the service. being someone that wants to take care of groups and treat ministry partners right, I struggled with saying NO, but in the end it had to happen…and it was the right decision. Ministry leaders have to be willing to make courgeous decisions from time to time. People will not follow a wimpy half hearted limp wristed decision maker, but they will follow a courageous leader not afraid to make hard decisions. so leadership is courageous!

Leadership is contagious! when you are a leader you are imparting skills and lifestyle to all those around you. If you want to find out what kinda leader you have, then look at who is following. if the followers are not committed, weak, inconsistent…then maybe the leader is the same. As a leader you are imparting a wealth of information into your followers. You are also imparting a mindset that will cause the follower to act and respond to life and ministry in the same manner. the way you think, act and talk are all contagious traits that your followers will exhibit. So, leadership is contagious!

welcome to the ministry…

today i was reading a tale of three kings, a book on brokenness. powerful read for anyone in ministry. i started to think about leaders that have been in my life, and i realized that the one thing that i have always desired was to simply serve them and do the best possible job i can do in serving. this does not mean i will always like what i have to do (powerful fact: you will always have to do things you don’t necessarily want to do, but it’s how you handle those things that reveals who you are) I have had dealings with several youth pastors that are dealing with situations in their churches and they call for advice…well what they are saying is i have to do this or that and i can’t really focus on what i want to do! my answer is simple…you are a youth pastor, that means you will do a lot of things that you don’t consider fun – welcome to the ministry! the answer has been the same…but you don’t understand i am passionate about what i do, but if i have to do all these other things i can’t…this is Where I say hold up! you just said “I have to” in a sentence like it’s a JOB and not a privilege and “I can’t” like it’s impossible to do what God calls you to do. grow some muscles of faith and get real!

i find so many that are more about protecting what they do, rather than serving the king! no matter who you work for, or what they ask you to do…from scrubbing a baptismal tank, editing video, fixing sprinklers, going to see shut-ins, parking cars, teaching 4 year olds, or picking someone up that broke down 3 hours away…do it with ALL your heart as unto the Lord. this may sound like a rant post today, but what the kingdom needs is more servants and less people with titles that only want to do what they want to do! i heard someone get super spiritual lately and claim their leaders armor just don’t fit them and that’s why they are where they are…sounds like an excuse for betrayal!

Today, tomorrow and every day I wake up I get to go to work at the greatest church for the most driven visionary pastor on the planet. What a privilege it is to just simply serve. Great read today from a tale of three kings…you should read it…and if you have read it, then read it again.

it’s all about the Kingdom…

what would it be like to wake up on january 21st as the 44th president of the united states? would you pinch yourself and say it was a dream? i wonder what it would feel like to wake up in the white house? can you walk around in your pajamas or briefs? the stress and pressure of being the leader of the free world must be overwhelming. where was i when Barrack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th president of the united states? standing in the crave cafe…after a serious time of prayer in the sanctuary, right before going to get some soup, i watched history unfold for the greatest nation on the planet. the crowd was massive! i could not help but be moved by the masses of people that stood in the freezing weather just to take part in this historical event. hope for so many was realized today. i choose not to take sides in politics, since everyone has an opinion and opinions don’t get people into heaven. Jesus is the only way and that’s the truth! my opinion, if someone were to ask me is that the greatest leader to ever walk on planet earth is still Jesus Christ. we live in the greatest country on the planet! so, today i choose to pray for our great country, our new president and the future of our great country. we have too much at stake to be baited into a political debate over politicians. the Kingdom is advancing and it’s time we align ourselves with the greatest movement of all time…Christianity!

It’s all about the Kingdom!

leaders lead because thats what they are!

this weekend we spent some quality time with some excellent leaders. God has blessed us with some incredible people that lead our students. This weekend was a powerful time spent sharing vision and speaking into lives of those that lead. several thoughts came out of this weekend. and here are a few thoughts…

1. having great vision is not enough you have to do the vision!
2. we need to listen to the voice of god and learn not to say NO to what God wants.
3. learn to celebrate what god has done…
4. if we want to grow a group our level of influence must grow in order for our interests to be realized.
5. if you think you have bad kids now…wait till you start to really step into your destiny…the good kids are all taken – the one’s with issues are the ones that will be reached.
6. 2 types of shepherds the ones from the west that drive sheep and the one’s from the east that lead the sheep. we fall into a west coast offense and drive more than lead, and it’s time for leaders to step up and lead the way to “the place” where God is.

2009 is going to be a year of leading from a different perspective.

creativity and leadership

tonight we hosted our last compel night of the year…from here we are off for thanksgiving and then December hits and we have 2 big events…crave christmas party and the never ending new year. tonight wee went all out for souls and truly got out of the box. at one point i thought things would get a little hairy, but the students were so amazing. our compel night was centered around the theme of taste, we met with a few leaders several weeks ago and hammered out ideas creatively for the night. the night went so well, it always does when you have a great team of volunteer leaders. i love our peeps! they turned it out tonight. we built staging, set up servers to bring out samples of foods, had several different genres of music from…rap, rock, country, gospel to even a little R& B. the flavor for the night was set and the students were packed in. many responded at the altar call and that’s what it’s all about…SOULS! this led me to think of a profound thought. it was in the middle of the food tasting i was standing still, yes standing still watching it all happen, we included so many people in the moment. How could this ever be pulled off without the efforts of so many leaders. creativity is a wonderful thing…but creativity without leadership is a disaster waiting to happen.

great leaders…lead with purpose!

this weekend i had the privilege to preach at a young adult retreat. the group was so easy to preach to, in that you could see that their pastor had been preparing them for a great weekend and planned out a theme perfectly for the retreat. the theme of the retreat was refined! i had such a time preaching about being refined. the one thing i like when i schedule a retreat is when the speaker understands your theme and direction and runs with it. do speakers ever do this, hardly, but it sure is a wonderful thing when they do. it makes it a whole lot easier, since good leaders lead with a purpose in mind. if you don’t have a purpose in doing something with a group of people then you are nothing more than a tour group conductor. you might as well get a flag on a stick and have them follow you around a theme park from ride to ride. ministry that is purpose driven from the get go accomplishes more than just holding services.

so, this weekend the young adults pastor is a close friend of mine, but is by far the most passionate perfectionist i know. i love to be around him, because he has a plan to do something significant and effective in ministry. His greatest strength i believe is his creative passion to make moments for people to encounter a more meaningful experience with God. this weekend the students went after God with intensity and passion. the students were led there by a leader with passion and purpose. if you are a leader, and you want to be effective, then lead by example. if you are not passionate…if you are not driven by purpose…if you are not willing to do whatever it takes to go after it…then how can you ever expect the people you lead to be any more passionate or purposeful?

just a thought! consider where you are going and why you are going before you lead anyone there!

great leaders serve…because thats what leaders do!

today i watched leaders in action…last night we had a great service (really 2 services) and then today the services were turned around for a young adults meeting. i watched as one of our leaders, a behind the scenes kinda guy, showed up early in the day to put all the effort needed to pull off another incredible service. he was the last one to leave…it truly is refreshing to see leaders give with a servants heart! today i also went to a public high school and met with a a group of students at an fca meeting. I got to the room just before class dismissed for lunch and met with the leader of the group. i truly did not know what i was in for, students came in brought lunch and the leader proceeded to pour into the students lives. it is refreshing to see teachers pour into students lives with real passion and real dedication. what a day! lastly i went to a young adults meeting, experienced worship and stood back and watched the flow. i watched as true leaders stepped up and served in various areas, from worship to behind the scenes leaders were busy making everything just right for the moment. that’s when i noticed one guy breaking down some tables and putting away some preservice decor. servanthood…is nothing more than giving…leadership is all about serving! if you are too big to stoop down and serve, then go back and read where Jesus came not to be served but to serve. there aint no one more special than he is, so if you want to lead, then learn how to serve! we have some great leaders here at calvary!