Category Archives: leadership
Hang Ten Ridge Church
Just in case you’re wondering, NO, the Ridge will not slow down to a crawl during the summer.
Some churches during the summer, really hit cruise and slow down to take vacations, time off for staff, and just to breathe a little. Nothing wrong with taking the time to catch your breath, but at the Ridge, we’re not going to hit cruise or slow down.
People however will go on vacation, to theme parks, etc, and that will give us time to really excel in other areas where as before we didn’t have as much time. We’ll take advantage of this time by setting up meetings with other church planters to learn from them, to work on the fall series planning, and to tidy up and create new systems that will allow us to be prepared for even more growth this fall.
Craig Groeschel says that seasons in ministry are like waves. They come and go, so when your in the dip of the wave, don’t give up and don’t stop, because the next wave isn’t far behind. So even as this wave dips for the summer, we’re still gonna surf it and ride it till we ride down the backside of it for the fall.
So be ready Ridge Church…hang ten.
Perry Noble Coaching Network Round 2
In September, I got together with the other pastors in our network along with Perry Noble, for our monthly coaching network. Here are a few of the MANY things that I took away from it. Check HERE for round 1
- Every church is one or two changes away from doubling in size and blowing it out of the water
- There’s no exact formula for growth. Each church has different changes to make
- The early church had to make some serious changes! When they did, well…read the book of Acts to see what happened
- If you want a less than average church, never change anything
- Don’t lead/change out of boredom. Let Jesus put a vision in you as a catalyst for change
- Change comes from a reflection of Jesus
- If you follow the heart of Jesus, you’ll never get bored
- Challenge the people! Some of those people will not want to be challenged and they will leave sometimes
- Be Jesus driven and not series driven
- Read the parable of the sower….not everyone will get IT on every Sunday
- Stop trying to force Christian community. Let it happen naturally
- Recruit volunteers with vision and not with guilt. Never throw out a need, but throw out opportunities
- We SHOULD do it better than Disney World! Walt Disney had imagination….we have the HOLY SPIRIT!
- Everyone has the same access to things that help us grow such as blogs, books, and podcasts. Teach yourself to help yourself grow!
- You can’t be a fully devoted follower of Christ and it NOT impact your wallet
- If you don’t believe in tithing, you don’t believe in the bible.
- If we wait to have the money, we’ll never have it
- You don’t always have to find the right person for the job, just the best person and help make them the right person
- Duck tape the Gospel do not match
- What are the risks we are wrestling with but too afraid to vocalize?
- In your church or ministry, what is the first change a respected leader you know would make?
- We need to be willing to receive anything God throws our way and in doing so, knowing we’ll be uncomfortable
Five Things I’ve Learned About Being Being A Leader : Part 2
Continuing the five things I’ve learned about being a leader. Read part 1 HERE
#4 – Honor Those That Are Below You, Beside You and Above You
Honor is one of those things that really isn’t high up on the list of things to do anymore. I remember growing up as a child and having to call my pastor, “pastor”. (That may have been because I didn’t know his name, but hey…it worked) I didn’t realize it then, but now it all makes sense; I was honoring him by letting him be my pastor and not my homeboy. We need to bring back the culture of honor for those above us, beside us and even below us. When we cultivate honor, we set an example of honor and that will bleed.
Honor people above you or those that are over you, by doing as they request, EVEN IF YOU DON’T WANT TO. They are over you for a reason. “Well he doesn’t know what he’s doing. If I was the boss or if I was the pastor, I’d never do THAT or say THAT.” If God wanted you over them, He would put you there. Discuss it behind closed doors if you don’t like it. If you can’t honor them, you don’t need to be under them.
Honor those people beside you by lifting them up and treating them as if they are above you. For those people that serve along beside you, don’t treat them as if they are second class to you. You honor those beside you by serving them. You’re only as deep as the last person you served. Oh and pet peeve….if they are beside you, honor them like you would want them to honor you. Simple.
Honor those below you by not treating them as if you own them. If there is a chain of command, don’t use that flow chart as an excuse to be a jackass to them. Yes….I just said that. The key to honor is the word SERVE. Whatever you’re doing, whether it’s in the church or in business, if you have people that are below you, they are serving the cause and therefore serving the vision that God has given you. For that you should be grateful and honoring to them. Treat those below you, in church or business, with respect and honor again, as you would want to be honored.
Five Things I’ve Learned About Being a Leader Pt. 1
Over the last several years especially, I have learned and grown a lot as a leader. By no means am I saying that I’ve arrived, but what I can say is that there are some things I’ve picked up on that have helped me along the way. This week, I’ll talk about 5 things that I’ve learned about being a leader.
#5 – To Lead Well, You Have To Have Followed Well
Nehemiah is considered by many to be a great biblical leader. One things that gets lost in the conversation many times is the fact that Nehemiah was first, a great follower. He served the king as a cupbearer. This was a position of high rank and gave him regular access to the king. If you read Nehemiah chapter 2, you will see where Nehemiah goes to the king to request that he leave to go rebuild the wall of Jerusalem. The king without as much as blinking, grants his request. This is a great example of not only honor, but also of being a good follower.
If Nehemiah had been a disruptive, unloyal, back biting, back stabbing, gossiping servant, do you think the King would had granted his request? Probably not. It’s always been my belief that if we as leaders want others to follow us when it’s our time to lead them, we must first follow well. Even in following the ones set above us, we are setting an example to those that are beside us or even under us.
There will come a day as a leader, we will have to ask those below us to step up, step out, be bold and go along with something that is absolutely audacious. In those times, we are going to want those we are asking of to follow and to follow with their hearts. As a leader, if you want those that follow you to bleed with you in battle, you must first hemorrhage. That means bleeding out and sacrificing and setting the example from the beginning.
I Want Something Different
In THIS recent article and latest survey from the Barna Research Group, they are declaring that most people are ready AND looking a different kind of church experience. They are “tired of the typical church experience.”
To me this brings up several questions…..
- What is the “typical church experience”?
- What is the future of the church experience?
- If people are tired of the “typical”, what does the non-typical look like?
I think these are healthy questions to answer, discuss and brainstorm. I’ve heard a lot of people argue now that the current church experience most churches offer are the “new traditional” experience. What was once defined by choirs, hymnals, a pulpit and call to worship has been replaced by a band, projectors and table or music stand. To that I would agree for the most part. However, every church has a different kind of culture it fosters making it somewhat different.
So where do we go from here? We obviously need to change and adapt to changing culture. So what does that look like? How can we continue to reach people in this ever changing culture?
I wish I had more answers, but for now, just lots of questions. What says you?
