Blog Archives
Don’t despise the days of humble beginings
A small idea
A small conversation
A small amount of money
A small amount of time
A small number of people
A small amount of skill
But with a BIG GOD!
Eph 3:20 He will take it to whole nutta level!
Don’t give up!
Have you run out of good Ideas?
“…….!
No you haven’t!
There is an illusion most people are under. “It’s all been done….!”
All the great ideas have been thought of or exhausted. Hence, we settle for the status quo, an attitude of ‘go with the flow’, living in mediocrity and letting others do all the thinking for us.
God gifted every human being with a ‘brain’ for a specific purpose – TO THINK!
Our problem is we have been conditioned to contemplate within limited parameters set by our upbringing, education, culture, community and so on.
When I read about the lives of people like Albert Einstein, Walt Disney, Thomas Edison, it just does not make any sense. These people were regarded as under achievers by society, soared big time. In fact they have done a lot of thinking for us. (I’m grateful)
I believe there is a measure of creativity in all of us. We have not run out of ideas. We just need to think, process, plan and commit to action.
Nothing good ever happens accidentally. Wishful thinking will get you nowhere, but to Wishful-land with a wish list. To become successful requires intentional strategic thinking, planning, and intentional actions.’
Ok, now I need to eat my own words. I have a lot of thinking to do over the next few weeks even more so, a lot of praying that my thoughts and ideas are aligned with the will of God.
Leadership Questions?
Its 3:38am Thursday morning and I am wide awake. I’m asking myself why I’m up so early?
Got me thinking about some questions leaders need to ask themselves in order to check whether they are consistent in their vision and passion.
What keeps you up at night? It is either something you are excited or nervous about.
What makes you cry? Your passion! Is it still the same?
What annoys you? Usually its a call to action!
What are the things that nag at you? hint!! hint!! – Procrastination kills passion and vision slowly.
What must I do today that no one else can do but me?
Help me Lord!
No Vision No Passion No Direction
Vision – the most powerful weapon that a Leader can use to lead people or an organization. It is absolutely crucial for a leader to have a clear picture of where he/she is going and where he/she is taking the organization to. People like to be lead.
People like follow someone who knows where he is going. It is natural. No one wants to follow a blind leader. Hellen Keller, a well known visionary leaders once said: “The greatest tragedy to befall a person is to have sight but lack vision”. Keller of course was blind physically.
Vision is a picture of the future that produces passion NOW. You can tell a leader with no vision, he or she has no passion for anything, just go with the flow.
No way I’m following someone like that!
Stop Being Normal!
…………following from last Sundays Sermon…………………..
You can not be a follower of Jesus and stay normal.
“When anyone is joined to Christ he is a new being; the old is gone, the new has come”. 2 CORINTHIANS 5:17
The dead old, boring, gutless, purposeless, normal you is GONE! You are now a new person, fueled by the power of Christ in you. Someone is going to take notice of the change and say ‘Something has happended to you. You are not the same person you used to be. If your boss at work doesn’t know that you are a Christian you are probably not.
You are new person. You are now radical and willing to do whatever it takes to live for Jesus and follow him, to love God and love people. It takes guts to follow Christ. Jesus said “If you want to follow me take up your cross and come follow me”.
You can’t follow Jesus and still try to live a normal life.
Cefas was a normal, everyday fisherman. But when Jesus called Cephas to leave everything and follow him, he did and he was not the same again. First his name was changed to Simon Peter. He never went to any preaching school but when he spoke on the day of Pentecost 3000 people gave their lives to Christ. Now thats not normal for a fisherman!!
Paul was a normal Pharisee doing what normal Pharisees do. At the time he was killing new converted Christians. But when he encountered God on the Road to Damascus, he wasn’t the same again. He reached the Gentile world with the gospel.
You can’t follow Jesus and continue to live life in a normal way. You can’t love with the same normal love you loved people before you found Jesus. You can not give the same way you used to give. You can not serve the same way you used to.
People who follow Christ Are not Normal. The Bible calls them ‘Perculiar people’ – 1 Petr 2:9, because with Christ they are now people of power, people of promise, more than conquerors but most of Faith in God who can do exceedingly, abundantly and above all……..Ephesian 3:20
Normal people are ‘average’ people who do average work and produce average results. No one is inspired with ‘average’.
Tell me someone who is well known because he/she was average. Show me a monument of an average leader.
Normal people don’t inspire others
Normal people don’t make incredible leaders
Normal People don’t change the world
Normal people don’t take risks
Normal people don’t face fears
Normal people die with a lot of regrets.
Step up another level today and live above normal.
I love my church
I wanted to find out what we are doing really well as a church that draws people to LifeChurch and stay in church. So two weeks ago I started asking people why they keep coming to LifeChurch. I gave them a fill in the blank question.
I love my church because_______________________________
Come back next week for answers!
New Series Coming Up
On of our Values as a church here at LifeChurch is ‘Relevance’. I know that’s a dirty word to some, especially those who think that in order to be relevant you need to compromise. I don’t think so! My desire is to teach/ preach the word of God without compromise. We just need to be able to relate to people’s situation, and environment. It is vital that we the church seek to communicate truth in ways that they will be able to listen, hear and understand. We need to be Relevant not Religious.
Over the next 6 months we will be teaching/ preaching on some issues we believe are relevant not only to our congregation but also to our community here in Manurewa and South Auckland.
Here are some of the themes. We are yet to finalise the Series titles.
1. The Supernatural: Angels, demons, evil, spirit world, horoscope, miraculous etc….
2. Sex: Opposite Sex, Pornography, Relationships,
3. God: Who, where, when, how etc….
4: Death: Abortions, stillborn, life after death..etc…..
I asked the church the other day during church to txt me their questions. and issues they need answers to. Over the next 6 months we will bring answers from the Word of God to those questions and issues!
I think that’s being relevant!
Lastly, on a Vision Statement #8 we say:
“We see a Church a with a clear and bold biblical message that changes lives. A message that is relevant to every situation of our lives. A message that brings restoration and healings in every relationship”.
Our Goal is Changed Lives!!
Re-Casting Vision
Recently a pastor asked me on how I cast vision and motivate everyone to get on board. I answered, “when I first started, it was with much tremble, fear and gnashing of teeth”. Back then I was inexperience, didn’t know much about church leadership and casting church vision. All I had was a burning passion for God and what he laid in my heart. I was like Moses saying to God and the ‘burning bush encounter’ – ‘What shall I say to the people who sent me’…….Lucky for Moses God said “Tell them I AM WHO I AM”.
Today I look forward to casting Vision.
This weekend I am meeting with all my leaders at LifeChurch. I will once again recast our vision as a church. My goal as a leader is to realign everyone and everything so that we are all on the same page, singing the same song. This is necessary because you want all your leaders to be on board. Next weekend I will be doing the same thing with the whole church.
Here are some of the things that I will be sharing:
1. Who we are.
Identifying who we are and explainging the reason why we exisit as an organisation is a great start. As a church we have a purpose and are on a mission. We don’t just exist.
2. Where we are going.
This is where I will be talking about our goals and dreams and what we will do and where we will be.
3. Why we are going there.
I will be explaining reasons why we need to go there. Why do we do what we do? Why do we do it differently.
4. What it feels like to be going there.
I will be honest with people. I will share the good the bad and the ugly. Lets face it ministry is hard work but it can also be a lot of fun. I love fun and hard work together.
5. What they can do.
I will be calling for commitment. Their time, energy, skills, resources and so on.
6. How we’re going to do it.
I will be sharing our strategy as a church. This is one of the major differences between churches.
7. What the rewards will be.
Ultimately God will say “Well done thou good and faithful servant.” I want to train their ears to look forward to hear that from God. When your team and church understand that God rewards us all individually and accordingly, then they will work to please God not the pastor. They will work to build the Kingdom not just the church organisation. When they get an eternal perspective that this is about the will of God and his purpose for our lives, then I beleive I don’t need to hard sell the reason why we exist as a church.
I think thats why it was so hard for me to talk vision in my early years.
We are here to please the audience of one. God.
Should Church be Managed or Lead? pt2
I am a leader.
God wired me that way and personally I don’t like management. But just because I don’t like management it does not mean that I shouldn’t be doing it. Its like taking out rubbish.
Just because you don’t like taking out the rubbish on the collection morning it doesn’t mean that you don’t have to do it.
Like or not we still need to manage. Church management is not the most exciting part of ministry. I think most people prefer to preach, teach, lead, pray for people and so on, …….. for me I don’t like meetings and minutes, I don’t like budget and forcasts, I don’t like boards and governance. The truth is we still need to do the budget and plan and take out the rubbish ruglarly.
Leadership creates movement. Management sustains movement and make things happen. I admire the patience of managers.
A well managed home brings joy to the family and visitors at the same time, while the parents provide leadership and direction.
A well managed business results in profit while its owner is still looking for new opportunities to trade.
Church should be managed and lead at the same time. Ministry and management go together under under great leadership.
Leaders focus on vision, mission and strategies while managers are working together to make sure goals are achieved, objectives are met, and mission accomplished.
