5 Ways To Lead Like Jesus

1.  Jesus prayed and fasted all night asking God who He should bring on His team.

2.  Jesus chose the “uneducated and untrained.” He didn’t choose leaders, He built His own.

3.  Jesus trained His followers by example, and then empowered them to do the same.

4.  Jesus expected those that were with Him, would do greater things than He did.

5.  Jesus gave His life to and for those that were with Him.

(ht: Artie)

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Want To Change The World?

from Michael Kelley:

Who doesn’t want to change the world? There’s something inside of all of us, I think, that desires to leave things different than when we found them. That manifests itself in all different kinds of ways:

- We build libraries.

- We donate money to charity.

- We raise our children.

- We tell people about Jesus.

Here’s the rub: When you think about changing the world, usually you think of something big. Massive. And joyful. Something that gets your name in the papers or on the best-seller list. But here’s an uncomfortable question:

What if your greatest chance to change the world is also your greatest source of pain?

Read the rest.

(ht: Take Your Vitamin Z)


Get Michael's new book here.

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6 Questions Every Leader Should Ask

1. Which gauges should we be watching?

At a glance, the right set of gauges can tell you a lot about the health of your organization. Knowing the right three or four to watch is critical. Your mission and vision should help narrow your focus to the numbers that matter. For us, attendance is an obvious one. But if we focus only on attendance, we won’t get a complete picture. If your church’s strategy requires small group involvement, then the ratio of small group participation to Sunday attendance is a gauge. If personal ministry is critical in your model, then your “leader to attendee” ratio is critical. A regular glance at the right gauges can keep your organization on track for the long haul.

2. Where are we manufacturing energy?

Is there a ministry area where you have to pretend a little bit-an area that once generated results and excitement but now requires you to manufacture energy?

This question quickly exposes those areas that need to be retooled or replaced altogether. Often this will free up much needed time and money for truly effective ministry.

3. Who needs to be sitting at the table?

Good decisions require good input. Ask yourself, “Whose input do I need to make the best decision possible?” Then cut through the red tape and ignore the org chart to make sure those people have seats at the table.

We all have different skills and talents. There are people you’ll want to brainstorm with, but who would be horrible in the “get it done” meeting, while others will shine while implementing. Understand who on your team fits where and make sure they are at the right table at the right time.

4. Who is not keeping up?

No one likes to ask this question. It’s painful. But it’s inevitable that as your organization hits 60 mph, there will be some still moving at 45 mph.

As painful as this question is, the truth is that other people already know the answer. They are wondering if you know. Accommodating people who are falling behind hurts the organization, dishonors those people, and will ultimately keep them from finding their areas of success.

5. Where do I make the greatest contribution to the organization?

As leaders, we are often tempted to try to do everything. Generally this leads to widespread failure. We must ask ourselves where we add the most value. In other words, “What do you do that only you can do?” There may be more than one thing that you do well.

Once you’ve answered this question, your goal should be to spend the majority of your time doing the things that make the greatest contribution. Young leaders, this takes time. Usually years. Sometimes decades. But when the time comes and you are in a position to control your time, will you know where to invest it?

6. What should I stop doing?

Once you’ve answered question five, this answer should be clear. You have to make the tough decision to stop doing some things, even things you enjoy doing, if they don’t add value.

Regularly asking these six questions will help keep your organization healthy and on track.

(ht: Inside North Point)

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Stop Doing These Three Things

Guest Post by Jeff Anderson with AcceptableGift.org

We’ve all heard the reasons people hold back in financial giving. You may have even heard or taught sermons about them: fear, greed, biblical ignorance, poor money habits, etc.

In my years of interacting with givers, I have observed some subtle and more practical reasons people are held back from acceptable giving.

Whether you’re new in the giving journey or a teacher or pastor encouraging other givers, here are three things you can stop doing to help embrace more freedom and growth in giving.

#1. Stop Looking for that Magic Moment

Often Christians want an “experience” to accompany their giving… a peaceful easy feeling that tickles their hearts when they drop the check in the plate.

When people write a check, or click “Pay Now”, for their mortgage or rent, they're not looking for a magic moment. Still, they enjoy their homes - working in the yard, sitting on the patio, or watching their big-screen.

In the same way, no one is looking for a spiritual buzz when they pay their Mastercard or Visa. Still, they enjoy the vacations, the dining experiences and stuff they purchased.

Sure, knowing that our gifts can please God should bring peace to our hearts…and our giving. But if we have the wrong expectation that a warm fuzzy should be there, we’ll get confused or even discouraged when it’s not.

Giving is a lifestyle…not a moment

If your giving choices influence your lifestyle in a meaningful way, you will experience worship through giving all the time. But if your lifestyle influences your giving instead (by giving leftovers or amounts that don’t really matter to you), your giving won’t be fulfilling. Often this leads to giving less or even not giving at all.

Years ago my wife and I decided to drive our cars for as long as it was cost effective to do so. Without continuous car payments, we could direct more of our disposable income towards a giving lifestyle.

When my power windows stopped working and my air conditioning did too, it seemed ridiculous to be driving the car during certain summer months. After all, we had the means to get it fixed – or even buy a new car.

But we also knew our lifestyle choice was enabling us to support our church, missions and the needy in greater ways. We felt worship through giving all the time, not just during the Sunday offering.

The issue is not merely about sacrificing lifestyles. There is nothing wrong with new cars. I drive a much nicer car now. The issue is that a giving lifestyle helps to engage your heart outside of Sunday worship. And when your gifts involve meaningful trade-offs, they will please God too.

So when it comes to writing a check, paying online or dropping the envelope in the plate, stop looking for that magic moment… or that peaceful easy feeling. Leave that to The Eagles.

#2. Don’t Obsess about the Methods

If you grew up giving weekly into the offering plate on Sunday mornings and that venue is meaningful to you, then continue this practice. If instead you prefer the discipline of automating your gifts online, then do that. If monthly or quarterly giving is more practical for your planning and cash flow cycles, then trust the freedom to give accordingly.

Again, the idea is that your gifts cost you in a meaningful way. The overall measure of your gifts matters more than the method or the frequency.

Systematic or Sporadic?

A friend of mine began giving systematically for 12 months straight. Previously, he had always given sporadically in line with his the unique patterns of his business. When he asked for my thoughts on systematic versus variable giving, my response was this: give in whatever way allows you to give the most!

He knew me and he knew what I meant. So he discontinued systematic giving and returned to giving in a way that suited him better.

Apostle Paul was very interested in the Corinthians setting aside money systematically (1 Corinthians 16:1-2). He encouraged them to do so weekly, so that the money would be saved up when the collection buckets came around again. Rather than a mandate for weekly giving, Paul’s instructions were to encourage them to be ready when he came back months later to collect the gifts.

While most of us may benefit from the help of systematic giving, the point is this – there are no rules! As stewards and money managers, we are also gift managers. We are free to utilize the methods that help us to give in line with our circumstances.

So stop analyzing the gift methods. If you give an amount that matters to you, it will matter to God also… regardless of whether you automate your gifts or write checks, give weekly or monthly, give with moving music during church service, or while paying bills with the kids yelling in the background.

#3. Stop Looking for the Correct Causes.

Making gift decisions can be difficult. There is no shortage of places to give. Needs are rampant. Kingdom vision-casting abounds. So how do we determine where to give? Who deserves our help? What recipients are worthy of our support? The answer: RELAX!

God is not standing behind certain “cause curtains” waiting to see if you’ll walk through the right ones. Instead, He is paying attention to your gifts directed to Him.

For those who have been on a mission trip, you recall that before the trip you spent most of your time thinking about the “effective work” you were going to do. But after the trip you spent most of the time talking about what happened to your heart. That’s because when it comes to missions, often God does more in us than through us. The same goes with giving.

We should give freely and openly. Don’t complicate the giving process. Don’t over-think the needs. Just start giving. And don’t try to give everywhere. You can’t.

But as you develop in the giving journey, you’ll learn to sense God’s leading to be more discerning and selective and in line with a clearer giving purpose. The generous givers I know tell me they rarely, if ever, regret a gift… even when the outcome may not be as effective as they envisioned.

What about “church giving”?

There are some biblical guidelines to help us in this area. We are biblically instructed to support two groups through financial gifts: (1) the “seed- sowers” - which include the local church, missionaries, word-based organizations, etc; and (2) the needy – the poor, orphans, widows, hungry, lame, etc.

The matter of tithing and “church first” giving is a beefy one and can’t be fully addressed here. But in short, we are commanded not to neglect giving to where we are fed spiritually – and that means supporting our local church. And as scripture makes very clear, we are to remember the poor with our gifts as well.

If we keep these gift categories in mind, grace abounds in our gift choices.

Look Up

Keep in mind, God is the primary recipient of our gifts. Do not let your giving be driven by need for an experience... or search for the right method… or understanding the “right” gift recipients.

Instead, try looking up to God with your gifts. Make giving a way of life. Explore new methods and giving rhythms. And pull the trigger more freely with your gifts.

In doing so, you’ll likely discover a lifestyle experience that fills you, a giving method that motivates you, and a heart transformation that is worth more than any effective work.

Jeff Anderson has worked with churches and non-profits for nearly two decades, as elder in his own church, and as Vice President of Generosity Initiatives with Crown Financial Ministries, and currently as leader of AcceptableGift.org.

Jeff continues to consult and speak, and is the author of Plastic Donuts, A Fresh Perspective on Gifts.  

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Tim Keller On Sermon Preparation

Tim Keller is the pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian in Manhattan, and he explains in this video below that he spends about 14 hours a week in sermon preparation.

(ht: Denny Burk)

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Creativity Is Just Connecting Things

"Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn't really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while."  ~ Steve Jobs

I have often put that same thought a little differently by saying that creativity is about making new associations - taking existing ideas, objects, resources - and connecting them differently.

Therefore creativity isn't merely about making something new out of absolutely nothing rather it is creating something new out of making a new association of two completely divergent and different things.

What does this mean for leaders?

• Be cross trainers - read broadly, don't just get stuck in your own niche, become familiar with other disciplines.
• Don't quickly rush to judge new ideas.  Let ideas percolate and simmer.
• Capture ideas and thoughts when they are fresh - keep a notebook available to jot down ideas.
• Think Non-linearly - use Mind Mapping to brainstorm.
• Keep a Tickler File - store ideas in a file - even if you aren't sure how you might use them or if they are relevant - they might apply in the future.

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Small Groups Shouldn't Be A Christian Cul-de-Sac

by Logan Gentry:

Small groups have become a staple in the American church as a way of cultivating friendships, developing community, and encouraging spiritual formation. Pastors and other small group leaders often cite Acts 2:42-47 as the model for such community devoted to God and devoted to one another through shared time, resources, and space. But there is growing sentiment for small groups to fulfill the rest of that passage---God adding to their numbers daily---by extending the gospel of Jesus Christ to unbelievers.

We love to study the Scriptures and discuss the glorious truth of the gospel with one another, and we enjoy spending time with fellow believers. Yet we're often fearful and uneasy about what will happen if we invite people who do not believe as we do into these environments. What will happen to our intimacy? What will happen to our deep community?

I worried about the same things when church leaders first asked me to transition my community group toward an outreach focus. Now, as a pastor seeking to foster community, I'm encouraging others to transition their groups, and they're reacting with the same skepticism.

Read the rest.

(ht: Take Your Vitamin Z )

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What Is A Healthy Online Church Presence?

Take a good look at these statistics compiled by iMinistries.org in this infographic.

The keys to a healthy online church presence from this infographic are good use of the technology available, social media and design.

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