This is one of the greatest embarrassing preacher moments I have seen in a very long time. I am so happy that my pastor, Jim Stern of Destiny Church – St. Louis in giving me great humorous video content to post on my blog. Feel free to view Jim’s blog by clicking here.
Several years ago, I had the opportunity along with a few other college students to interview Andy Stanley, pastor of North Point Community Church in Atlanta, GA. If you know me real well, you know that I am a huge Andy Stanley fan, so having this opportunity to sit in a small room with him and ask him any question I wanted was probably one of the most thrilling and rewarding moments of my life. He made this statement I will never forget, “Be Stubborn with your Vision, but be Flexible with your Plans.” We as young leaders have a lot of big dreams, cool ideas and vision for the future. But, then there comes that other thing….The Plan to make it happen.
The plan is needed so you can communicate to your family, friends and potential partners on “Where” and “How” your going to pull your vision into reality. Vision communicates “The What” and “The Why” that drives “the How.” New ventures involve risk and more so with an unstable economy these days. When things don’t go according to plan, it doesn’t necessarily mean your vision is wrong or inaccurate for your life, it just means you need shift your plans, not your vision.
Let’s say, God gave you a vision to start a Children’s home project in Africa. And, you needed to raise the first phase of funding of $50K from US supporters. And, lets say you were only able to raise $20K before the deadline. So, what do you do then? You still need another $30K. At this stage of the game, I’ve seen people begin to question God’s vision to continue with the journey, because things didn’t go according to plan. Some would even say, maybe God is trying to teach me something. Yea, like how to adjust and change your fundraising strategy, not your vision.
God will give us the wisdom and insight to fulfill His vision that He birthed in our hearts. This is where dependence on God comes in. It’s His vision to begin with, which means it will take His wisdom to orchestrate the plans to get it done. Just because the plans aren’t working out, doesn’t mean the vision isn’t from God. God will use these times to strengthen His wisdom and resilience inside of you. Be stubborn with your vision, but be flexible with your plans. Which means sometimes you will have to change your plans many times until your vision becomes a reality.
Thomas Edison had a vision to invent the light bulb. But it took him over 1,000 different plans to finally make it work. If Thomas had any modern and mediocre church friends around him back in the 1800’s, somebody would have probably come by his house and say, “Thomas, what do you think God is trying to tell you? Maybe the light bulb isn’t working because there is some sin in your life or maybe you’re not supposed to invent the light bulb.” I can totally hear some Christians today saying that to Thomas if he were alive today. But, I love his response to his critics.
“I haven’t failed 1,ooo times. I have successfully discovered 1,000 ways (or plans) on how not to make a light bulb.” – Thomas Edison.
Whatever God has called you to do,you must Be stubborn with your vision, but flexible with your plans. We must burn this principle inside our skulls.
Your Thoughts?
Here are my top 10 favorite bloggers that cover different aspects of ministry, leadership, marketing, entrepreneurship and innovation. Go click on the links and get their content. It’s some of the best stuff out there!
4. Craig Groeschel & Bobby Gruenewald
5. Seth Godin
6. Michael Hyatt, CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers
7. Ed Young
9. Guy Kawasaki
10. Phil Cooke
People will rise to the level of expectation placed on them. They will also hit the lid placed over them. Being a young adult in the marketplace can sometimes be a propeller and a hindrance at the same time. Our age and experience leaves much room for growth and yet our ability to generate ideas and think outside the box makes us valuable team players.
I have worked in both ministry and general marketplace offices. In both environments I had many types of supervisors. Some of them helped me soar, and others placed me under a glass ceiling. So how do we contribute and grow at the same time?
As young professionals it’s important to make the most of our time with a company. On average statistics show a person will have 2-3 jobs in a 5 year period. There are also quite a high number of self-employed or contracted young professionals. But even if you are your own boss it’s always good to check your style and make sure you are a good leader of yourself. Here are some tips on how to respond and succeed with 3 kinds of management styles.
Management Style: Involved in every detail and have difficulty with delegating authority.
• Do: Follow through on projects, assignments, etc. Be on time, be prepared. When you show that you can do the little things well, then big things will be on the horizon.
• Don’t: Act like a know-it all. Talk less, listen more. Give your boss some slack, they most likely have been burned by employees in the past and want to know you are trustworthy.
Management Style: Distant with little or no interaction with employee and projects.
• Do: Improve your skills and make yourself valuable to the team environment. Step in and be a leader or support the “natural” leader of the group.
• Don’t: Don’t try to get noticed. No one likes a butt-kisser and it makes you look immature.
Management Style: Builds employees up in their job and has necessary interaction and involvement.
• Do: Reflect the attitude of management and look for ways to build others in their roles.
• Don’t: Poke fun or demean management’s desire to “pump” people up.
Attitude is EVERYTHING! Have a positive attitude about yourself and your role in the company. In my experience a “can-do” attitude opened the way for promotions and the skills to do the job came later. Lead yourself well and you will lead others better.
Your Thoughts?
Tanya Glass is a guest blogger. Check out her blog at www.TanlinesOC.wordpress.com. You can also follow her on Twitter here and Facebook here.
I’m in a very bold mood today. I don’t really know why? Maybe it’s just how I’m wired or the sweet ice tea I drank today, but here we go.
I’ve been a follower of Christ all my life. I’ve been active in ministry since I was twelve, and I’ve been exposed to some of the most cutting edge churches, ministries and business organizations on the planet.
I am convinced there are only two types of leaders that exist: Equippers and Speakers. You are either one or the other. Maybe this verse in 1 Corinthians 4: 15 will make this point come more alive for you.
“For though you might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.“
Now, let’s put a different spin on this verse shall we? It will help me drive this point to my desired destination.
“For though you might have ten thousand speakers in the American Church in Christ, yet you do not have many equippers in the American Church; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.”
Do you know how easy it is to hear a speaker today but it’s so hard to be equipped and empowered for your God-given assignment? Just go to a conference, seminar or a church service. Naturally, your next question would be: ‘which one do I go to?’ Exactly, there are seriously ten thousand seminars, conferences and churches that go on every year. Stadiums and convention centers are packed out. Churches are full. But, are people really being equipped and empowered? That’s an easy answer. NO.
How do we track and measure the process of equipping and empowering people? This is a question I’ve been starting to tackle in my heart and mind. Because you would have to be naïve to think your favorite church service, conference or bulk of church resources is actually doing the job. Now, I’m not against any of that, I do have my favorite leadership conference Catalyst, just for the record. And, I love Sunday morning worship when I hear my pastor teach. All I’m saying is that these vehicles alone will not do the job to equip and empower people for their God-given assignment.
What I’ve been learning and observing on my journey is that you can’t equip and empower people by having them just sit in a chair and take notes at your church service or conference. Part of the equipping and empowering process is sending them out to DO something. I want to say that again because it just gets me excited — DO something…Do Something…Do Something (hear the echo)?!
Conferences and weekend services cannot equip you alone; they can only inspire or ignite you. The people that can equip you is through life-on-life relationships and practical delegation of authority in leading, serving and reaching out.
For someone to equip and empower another individual, someone must come alongside and mentor you. But, beyond that, someone must give you some space to run, experiment and try new things. This is HUGE. Why? Because without the delegation of space and authority…you can’t learn to fail, and then learn to succeed; then fail again, and then succeed again.
Equipping and empowering people is a risky business because it’s all about learning to succeed and fail on many different levels. Which is awesome. That’s why it’s easier to just be a speaker, than an equipper.
Your Thoughts?
Your Thoughts?
Joel Stockstill is a leading voice for this generation. His blog is www.joelstockstill.com. Follow him on Twitter: @hippofloat.
I have always believed that an isolated mind is a dangerous place to be. In Genesis 2:18 it says,”It’s not good for man to be alone…” It was not just speaking of a marriage context. I believe it also means within the context of life or life relationships.
It is impossible to lead without developing healthy relationships and it is impossible to have relationships without coming out of your comfort zone. What does this mean? I have some friends that are typically shy in their personalities. I am more of an extravert in my personality. You can be an extravert and still find yourself isolated in your mind. Your personality or your social skills has probably very little to do with what we are talking about this morning.
There are organizations and ministries that function as a bubble to themselves. We all know people that live in unhealthy circumstances in their relationships, family, marriage, finances, etc…and think its normal. Why? Because they have become isolated to the point where they begin to think this is just the way it is. Too much isolation becomes an open door for the enemy to have a hay day in your mind. When this happens, you begin to create excuses and maybe even doctrines of why you do what you do.
I’ve seen many well and good intentioned believers become isolated in their faith in ministry and in their relationships. This is not a fun place to be. It’s actually a dangerous place to be. I remember many years ago having a relationship with one ministry in the mid-west. This ministry was a great ministry to my family. They helped open lots of doors of ministry for me to speak and minister and as one who was young and new in the ministry, I appreciated any speaking engagement that would invite me. However, there came a time within the relationship I realized there was a lot of isolation in the leadership’s thinking. Of course they would never admit it, but when you began to step back and look at the overall spiritual health of their congregation (aka…their fruit) and watch how they would not open themselves up to other credible ministries for training, insight or ministry and leadership development, their became a lid set on the ministry. It stopped growing, they started having financial struggles and they started losing church attendance because the people wanted to grow further in God. I love what Rick Warren says, ” A growing church requires a growing pastor.” The sad part about this particular ministry is that they did not develop their people to be leaders. So, when the founder passed away there were no strong and developed leaders to lead the ministry for the next generation. Some tried, but failed. Why? Because they were not trained and developed under the previous leader. Today, this ministry does not exist. This is such a sad story to me. Probably because I had direct relationship to this ministry. But, you can’t rework a truth or a Biblical principle for no one. Isolated thinking brings deception and it destroys people’s lives and ministries.
Please, remember this statement. Isolation is the breeding ground for deception.
How do leaders fall into deception? Here are a few ways.
When I hear people say things like the following…Be aware of Isolation in some area of your life.
Your Thoughts?
Below is a 2-part interview with Jim Stern, Lead Pastor at Destiny Church of St. Louis. Jim is 29 years old and was given responsibility of lead pastor about 3 years ago from his father, Pastor Phil Stern. One of the reasons we wanted to launch ImpelMinistry.com was to highlight other leaders that are impacting their world in their 20’s and 30’s. Everyone knows they are out there, but what are they learning from their experiences? How is God fashioning them to lead in the 21st century that is different from previous generations? In this interview you’ll hear Jim discuss about the following items:
Interview with Jim Stern – Part 1 (See video above.)
Interview with Jim Stern – Part 2
Your Thoughts?
In the wake of a crippled economy and a culturally corrupt society that believes right is wrong and wrong is right. And, while most American churches believe that real ministry only happens within their four safe walls or on their production stage…something needs to give. Something needs to change.
Over the last couple of days, God has been drawing me back to the study of the Reformation era again. America has never experienced a reformation, it has only experienced great revivals. Europe knows reformation, but really has never experienced revival on a massive scale except maybe in some pocket areas here and there.
I believe America needs a reformation. But, how are reformers viewed and what do true reformers do? They buck the current church system. They challenge it from every angle. Today, we admire the leaders of the reformation like Martin Luther, John Wesley, John Calvin, John Knox, and others. But, if they were alive today would we invite them to speak in our churches? Probably not. Why? Because these were the kinds of men who would have no problem saying things like, “Your church helps serve the devil’s agenda more than it does God’s agenda.” Ouch! Do you think he would get a big offering or get invited back? No. Because they weren’t motivated by those luxury ministry perks. They were motivated by truth! They were burdened with the culture of a nation, not the religious feelings of a local pastor.
These guys who led the reformation were not liked people. They were hated by the current religious system of that time. And, I believe that our current system of church and ministry will begin to strike at the reformation generation that God is raising up today. Let me go on record and say I love and believe in the local church, but I don’t like safe and nice churches. Why? Because safe environments don’t challenge and encourage people to grow, serve, work, sweat, fight and send out!
If your church is more concerned about collecting people then growing, activating and releasing people to do ministry, then it’s not a church, it’s a religious club. And, if the religious club refuses to change, then the purpose of it’s existence will be challenged in the coming years, and not just from next generation leaders, but also from mainstream America! Just watch!
Your Thoughts?
