5 Questions Pastors Neglect in Sermon Prep

by Charles Stone

I just read the book Impossible to Ignore: Creating Memorable Content to Influence Decisions by Dr. Carmen Simon. It is probably THE best book on communication I’ve ever read. Every pastor and communicator should read the book. Really! Dr. Simon is uber-smart (two PhD’s), yet she writes on a practical level. I learned a boatload of insight I’m now beginning to apply in my sermon prep. From her book I gleaned these five neglected questions that most pastors seldom if ever consider during their prep. Yet, those questions can profoundly impact how well your listeners apply what you teach.

5 Neglected Questions Every Pastor should Ask During Sermon Prep

1. What cues am I considering that could jog my listener’s memory to apply my message during the next week?
   • Dr. Simon explains that when we speak, we hope that at some point in the future a listener will act upon our message. And at that future point three mental processes occur. Cues help a listener notice something that relates to the intended new belief or behavior. The listener will search his memory for what the speaker/preacher suggested he do. And, he (hopefully) will execute on his intentions. All this happens in a fraction of a second.
   • Application: Build into your message cues that might prompt your listener to remember what you said and motivate him or her to do it. I recently handed out small red stickers shaped like a stop sign. The STOP is an acronym related to ways to process anxious moments. I hope that when people see the sticker or a STOP sign, that cue will prompt them to act.
2. What kind of memory do I hope to engage in my listener, gist or verbatim memory? 
   • Gist memory is when we remember the general idea or sense of something in the past. Verbatim memory is word-for-word. And gist memory lasts longer than verbatim memory, although both are important.
   • Application: As you prepare your message be clear about which kind of memory you hope your listener will draw upon. Adjust your message accordingly.
3. Have I inadvertently planned for my listener to remember the wrong point(s)?
   • Multiple factors impact how well people remember our messages. They include novelty, emotion, story, distinctiveness, social impact, and relevance. Sometimes we can inadvertently make a minor point stand out so much that the major points get lost. Clarify your most cogent points and make sure that those stand out above the minor ones.
   • Application: Evaluate the word pictures, jokes, and stories you use. Make sure they reinforce your main points. Better yet, focus them on the one or two key take-aways. Ask yourself, “If my listener only remembered 10% of my message, what 10% would I want him to remember?”
4. Do I appreciate the fact that for my listener to really ‘get it,’ he or see has to periodically tune me out during my talk/sermon? 
   Science says that you actually want your audience to tune you out sometimes when you speak.

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   • I tend to struggle when I don’t see people pay constant attention to me when I teach. I used to assume that they were bored with what I was saying (and certainly many have been and are currently bored). However, Dr. Simon points out that people go in and out of paying attention to us every 12 to 18 seconds. When that happens, they carry out an internal dialogue with themselves by formulating meaning to what we are saying and hopefully in doing so, make personal application. When that happens, the brain provides a stronger chemical signal that helps the memory ‘stick’ better. So, you actually want your listener to periodically tune out.
   • Application: The next time you’re speaking and it looks like someone is briefly tuning out, remind yourself that they are probably consolidating a memory about what you said. Even if they are bored, this kind of thinking will help minimize the negative self talk (i.e., “Oh no! I’m boring them.)
5. Have I considered that I want my listener to remember both in the past (what I said) and in the future (future intentions called prospective memory).
   • In the same area in our brain where we reflect over the past, we plan for the future. So, when we reminisce or plan, we’re drawing from similar kinds of information. When you prepare your talks, keep this fact in mind. You don’t want your listener to simply reminisce about what you said. You want them to act upon it in the future, to remember a future intention. If they only remember what you said and don’t connect it to a future change in belief or behavior (to become more like Christ), what you said isn’t very helpful.
   • Application: As you craft your message, think about how you can help your listeners anticipate the future. Perhaps take a minute toward the end of your talk and ask them to role play in their minds what you are asking them to apply during the coming week. For example, if your message is on conflict resolution, have them role play in their minds how they would resolve a conflict with someone.

If you communicate to groups of people in any way, Impossible to Ignore is a must-read. And, as part of her book, Dr. Simon also provides a nifty template against which you can evaluate your talks. It’s quite helpful.
Related posts:

• 5 Tips to Make Your Presentations, Talks, and Sermons Sticky
• How Neuroscience can Improve your Sermons

Develop These 7 Skills When You Want People to Listen

By Rick Warren

“Most church conflict results from poor communication.”

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Most church conflict results from poor communication. Even your best ideas, plans or suggestions are worthless if you can’t communicate them effectively. Remember, communication is not automatic. Just because someone hears you say something doesn’t mean they’re really listening.
Fortunately, there are seven skills you can develop that will guarantee people will listen when you speak. Just follow these guidelines from the Bible:
1. CHOOSE THE RIGHT TIME! Timing is the first key. You may be ready to talk, but are they ready to listen? Never drop a bomb! “There is a right time and a right way to do everything” Eccl. 8:6 (GN).
2. PLAN YOUR PRESENTATION. Think it through first. Especially plan your introduction and your supporting illustrations. Don’t start with the detail. In TV they move from the long shot to the medium shot to the close up. “Intelligent people think before they speak. What they say is then more persuasive” Prov. 16:23 (GN).
3. BEGIN WITH HIS OR HER NEEDS. A listener is always asking “Why should I listen to this?” and “How will it benefit me?” If you answer those two questions up front, you will have their undivided attention. “Speak only…according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen” Eph. 4:29.
4. LISTEN FIRST! We get into trouble when we make assumptions. Be willing to hear the other side out first. “Be quick to listen and slow to speak” James 1:19.
5. SAY IT POSITIVELY. No one likes to hear bad news. Learn to be both realistic and optimistic at the same time. You are never persuasive when you are abrasive! If you have bad news, say it up front in a factual, non-personal way. Then quickly move into a constructive mode. “The mature person is known for his understanding. The more pleasant his words, the more persuasive he is” Prov. 16:21 (GN).
6. CLARIFY YOUR CONCLUSIONS. Summarize and recap what you’ve said. Be specific. Restate what you’ve decided on and what you haven’t. “Agree with each other in the Lord” Phil. 4:2b.
7. END WITH AN ENCOURAGING WORD. Exit lines are important. Even if the discussion was heated and you both took some heavy shots of criticism try to end on a high note. “A word of encouragement does wonders!” Prov. 12:15 (LB).
Try these principles out this week!

A Practical Solution To 1 Of The 2 Biggest Issues Senior Pastors Face

The two greatest issues pastors face are always in the areas of leadership and stewardship.  Regarding stewardship, I have never heard a pastor say, “Brian, we have all the money we need to do all the ministry God has called us to do.  We’re done.  I’ve asked my people to quit giving.”  I have never heard that and neither have you.
I recently came across some video training explaining how churches can implement an effective stewardship system.  Presented by Joe Sangl, president and CEO of I Was Broke. Now I’m Not., this is practical content which help any senior pastor and church.
Make sure you go to I Was Broke.  Now I’m Not. and click Tools to gain access to countless free online budget and investing resources.  These are the very same resources my family uses to manage our household finances.
Below are some of the main points from 4 Keys To Implementing An Effective Stewardship System along with supporting comments from Joe.  Make sure you watch this 4-minute video to capture all the information.  Enjoy!
“Systems trump determination.”

Weekend Money Messages

• Teach on money at least four times per year.
• January – One of the top three New Year’s resolutions is money.  Teach on it.
• May – It allows you to teach on giving just before summer and that allows you to minimize the effects of a summer slump.
• September – This is when people are getting back in rhythm after a busy summer.
• December – This is the season of giving and a natural time to speak on the topic.

Providing Equipping Events

• These are provided to mid-sized groups after teaching a money message.  The goal is to give practical teaching on stewardship on topics like giving and budgeting.
• January because of New Year’s resolutions.
• September because it is a time of year when your church can achieve maximize attendance to such an event.

Small Group Study

• A personal finance small group study allows participants the time to implement the tools and principles in their lives in a loving community of like-minded individuals.
• Launch new small group studies from each equipping event that your church offers.  Ideal times are January and September.

Financial Coaching

• Provide financial coaching to individuals and families who require one-on-one financial discipleship.
• Where else can your church attenders go to receive biblical and free financial wisdom?
• When your church provides free financial coaching you are literally helping families change their financial future.

Key Tips

• Be sure you have a measurement system in place so you can actually understand the effectiveness of your stewardship process…What gets measured gets addressed.
• Assign someone to own the stewardship system.  Without an owner, this can easily fall off the radar.

Once again, click here if your church is looking for personal finance and small group coaching material.  It could changed the future for some of your hurting families.

Click HERE or on the image to the left and as a free gift for subscribing to this site, you can receive my new Ebook 1869 Leadership Quotes: Timeless Truths From 2015 Global Leadership Summit, That Church, REACT and Catalyst Conferences.  If applied, these insights will make you an exponentially better leader.  Enjoy!!!

When Our Leaders Let Us Down

How do we respond when our leaders fail and disappoint us?  Or when we let others down?

Year after year, we hear the same results from surveys and other research: people are dissatisfied or disengaged at work, and one big factor is that they're unhappy with their bosses.  So what can we do about this?  After all, each of us will experience disappointment in our leaders at some point... and we will let others down too.

This month, I've written a few reflections on the relationship between leaders and those we lead:

    Before We Criticize Our Leaders

 

    How do we respond when our leaders fail or disappoint us?

  

Father's Day and Embracing Responsibility

 
We must see and hear the people we’re leading… even when they’re frustrated at us, or it feels unfair.
 
 

 
Thinking Too Highly of Our Leaders 
 

  Do we need to re-humanize the leaders and spokespeople in our lives?

And now, a question for you: what's the best advice you've heard about how to work with difficult leaders?  Please write back and let me know... I'd love to hear and learn from you.

Thanks for reading and for downloading my books, and I hope they are of service to you. Thank you for your passion and dedication in leadership, and God bless the important work you are doing!  I look forward to hearing from you.

Gratefully, Adrian

21 Things Unchurched Men Are Experiencing When Dragged To Church By Their Wives

Since the beginning of time, grown men have risen early to go out and kill the beast so they can feed their families.  Grown men have always been hunters, protectors and providers.  Not much has changed.  This is our natural calling. The hunt now takes place at our places of employment but the challenge still remains.  Because of this, grown men are proud and demand respect.
Recently, I friend of mine was taken to an event “under duress” by his wife.  It was a seminar on healthy living and proper eating by a wellness doctor.  As he began telling me about his experience, I realized the obvious parallels between his seminar visit and the experience many unchurched men have when dragged to church by their wives.
Below is the recount of his experience and feelings.  I also offer some insights for churches wanting to better reach unchurched men for Christ.
The following are 21 Things Unchurched Men Are Experiencing When Dragged To Church By Their Wives:

1. Unchurched Men Have Likely Resisted Visiting Your Church For Years And Are Not Happy About Coming – His wife had hinted she had plans for him but would not fully reveal them.  She finally revealed it was a visit to a wellness doctor seminar.  The men had resisted visiting this doctor for years.  Unchurched men have likely resisted visiting your church for years as well and have now been ambushed or guilted into the visit.  They are not happy about being there.
2. Unchurched Men Think The Message Is Irrelevant, Possibly Crazy, And Will Not Help Them With The Issues They Face On A Daily Basis – This is why the man resisted going to visit with the doctor for so long.  He thought the doctor’s alternative approach to health was completely false and did not agree with it.  The word “quack” was even uttered.
3. Conflict Is Coming To Your Parking Lot – As they drove to the seminar, there was little conversation in the car.  On a 90+ degree evening, it was actually quite chilly inside the car!  Furthermore, knowing how wellness doctors feel about drinks with sugar, he stopped by a fast food restaurant and walked into the seminar with a large sweet tea.  All church parking teams need to know this dynamic is coming to your property.  So make parking surprisingly fun, easy and very loving.  Otherwise, the unchurched man will hear nothing your pastor has to say.
4. An Exit Strategy Is Already In Place – The seminar was scheduled from 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM.  He had purchased movie tickets for 8:00 PM.  Unchurched men will likely have something scheduled immediately after the service providing them a “We’ve got to go” exit strategy.
5. “All They Want Is My Money” – Right inside the seminar’s doors was a display selling protein drinks.  Immediately, the man was even more turned off.  “All they want is my money”, he thought.
6. Church Bulletins Matter  – A greeter then handed him a magazine and the inserts fell out all over the floor.  “You have got to be kidding me”, he thought.
7. Seating Location Is Important – The man sat on the back row, put his head down, pulled out his phone, crossed his arms, and prayed no one would speak to him.  One of the goals of your services should be to have men on the back row look up  and uncross their arms.  These are steps toward salvation.
8. Start On Time – At 6:02 PM the man was thinking, “If they aren’t starting on-time, they will definitely not be finishing on-time.”  Unchurched men may be looking at their watch the entire time of their first visit.
9. Speak Directly To Unchurched Men About Things Unchurched Men Like – The speaker immediately encouraged the men to “be the hero of your story.”  This caused the man to look up and listen.  Unchurched men respond to hunting, fishing, action movies, sports, business, cars, and yes, BEING THE HERO!  If you talk about feelings, flowers, and femininity, you run this risk of losing the unchurched man.
10. Talk To Unchurched Men About Sports – There were several references to LeBron James.  The speaker was reeling the man in.
11. Talk To Unchurched Men About Business, Money And Success – The speaker then showed graphs and charts showing the correlation between good health and business success and increased earning potential.  This got this man’s attention  .
12. Keep Talking To Unchurched Men About Sports – The speaker then began referencing even more athletes.  The man began softening as this was turning into an ESPN special.
13. Talk To Unchurched Men About How To Get Smarter – Grown men have pride and do not want to appear dumb.  The speaker then discussed how a better diet increases mental acceleration and cognitive skills.
14. Lighting Matters – Unchurched men are mentally exhausted when they visit your church for the first time.  And because of the world we live in, probably physically exhausted as well.  The seminar’s lights were dimmed so people could see the screen.  The good news was people could see the screen.  The bad news was the man could barely stay awake.  Church leaders, your church is likely too dark.  Your people are fighting to stay awake.  Turn up the lights!  You do not want your services to turn into a test of endurance.
15. Diligently Work On Your Sermons – The man had enjoyed the content related to sports, business and success, but he still spent too much time staring out the window.
16. Appearance Matters – The speaker was physically in-shape, wore a nice outfit, and was an athlete.  This gave him credibility.  Good taste removes barriers and never goes out of style.
17. The Participation Challenge – I have often wondered why so many people no longer sing in our services.  The man did not want to participate with the speaker.  Just to restate it, the man did not even want to be there.  Worship leaders, he sure did not want to raise his hands and spin around!
18. Provide Unchurched Men With Simple Next Steps – The speaker gave simple next steps regarding diet and how to get in better shape.  These were also practical first steps even he could do while not fully buying-into everything being taught.
19. Motivate Unchurched Men In A Memorable Way – All men love a good challenge.  The speaker said, “Life doesn’t get easier.  You must get stronger.”  Contrast (easier/stronger) makes statements memorable.
20. Offer Unchurched Men Solutions To The Issues They Face – The speaker closed with a Jim Rohn statement, “Either you run the day or the day runs you.”  This speaks to relevancy.
21. Wives Must Show Tremendous Grace To Unchurched Husbands And Make Them The Hero – The trip to the seminar was not enjoyable.  In fact, it resulted in the husband making an extended apology.  The wife must now show tremendous grace.  Otherwise, the man will think, “This isn’t worth it” and never go back to another seminar.  The journey will end.  Ladies, if an unchurched husband visits church, show your appreciation.  Make him the hero!  If you do, he will likely come back.  Every man wants to be the hero.

What is one thing from this list you can use today to reach more unchurched men from Christ?

Click HERE or on the image to the left and as a free gift for subscribing to this site, you can receive my new Ebook 1869 Leadership Quotes: Timeless Truths From 2015 Global Leadership Summit, That Church, REACT and Catalyst Conferences.  If applied, these insights will make you an exponentially better leader.  Enjoy!!!

My Thoughts On The LeBron James Expletive-Laden Victory Speech And His Leadership

There were three defining moments in the leadership of LeBron James last week.  The first came between the third and fourth quarters of Game 6 of the NBA Finals in Cleveland (see highlights above).  The Vertical’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported here James told teammates and coaches, “You all get stops and follow me.”
What followed were 18 consecutive points by James, an alley-oop pass for a dunk to Tristan Thompson, and an iconic block of Steph Curry’s layup attempt followed by some rare trash talk.  This was all part of his 41 points, 8 rebounds, 11 assists, four steals, and three blocks performance shown above.
Teammate Richard Jefferson said, “Not many people in the history of sports have said, ‘Everyone get on my back.’  The city, state, organization, team … ‘Get on my back. If we win or fail, I’ll take the blame – but I’m going to lead you.’ How many people have ever said that? I can’t think of too many players who have put that type of pressure on themselves and then have delivered more times than not. And he embraces it …That’s a pressure that I know I couldn’t personally handle.”

There are four takeaways from these two comments:

1. Leadership Comes With A Microphone – This is a statement often made by my friend Jeff Henderson, Pastor of Gwinnett Church.  There comes a time in every leader’s life when they must stand up and proclaim, “This is where we are going!  Follow me!”
2. James Carries More Pressure Than Any Leader In Sports – No other athlete is responsible for such a large part of the GNP of an entire region.  It is estimated James is worth over $1 billion in value to Cleveland-area businesses.
3. James Takes Full Responsibility For The Team’s Success – Many leaders shy away from the big moment but James fully embraces such challenges.
4. And After Taking Full Responsibility, James Delivers Superior Results

Which leads us to James’s second defining moment.  His Game 7 performance and specifically, game-saving block of Andre Iguodala’s fourth quarter layup attempt.

All James did in Game 7 was score 27 points, have 11 rebounds, 11 assists, three blocks (more on this later), and two steals as he led the Cavaliers to a 93-89 victory for his third NBA championship.  See the video below.

 

Sports Illustrated writer Lee Jenkins recapped Game 7 and James’s performance in its June 27th edition.  The following are 8 additional Apex Leadership Quotes And Lessons I gleaned from the article:

1. Apex Leaders Have A Grand Vision – James said, “Every night this is what I dreamed.  Two years ago in Las Vegas, I  had this vision.  I never stopped having it.”
2. Apex Leaders Perform Best When They Remove Clutter From Their Mind And Lives – Longtime friend and business associate Maverick Carter told James two months ago, “You get paid a lot of money to do something you’re better at than anybody in the world.  So just do that.  Don’t worry about this guy or that guy or what anybody else is doing.  Just play.”
3. Like Many Apex Leaders, James Has A HUGE Chip On His Shoulder – He said, “I think people forget sometimes.  I think they forget what I’ve done, and how long I’ve done it, and they doubt me for some reason.  I’ve felt that way for a long time.”
4. Apex Leaders Make Everyone Around Them Better – As the team was flying to Game 5 in Golden State, teammates circled around James’s iPad as he watched video from Game 4.  They all began making suggestions about how to improve their individual performance.
5. Apex Leaders Are Not Passive.  Apex Leaders Engage The Issue. – James thought, “He (Iguodala) is about to get a layup.  I have to chase him down.”
6. Apex Leaders Give EVERYTHING They Have To Those They Serve – Malcolm Mancias, one of the team’s trainers, said, “That play was everything he had left.”
7. Apex Leaders Have A Large Platform.  But Their Home City, School Or Church Has A Special Place In Their Heart. – When asked how this compared to James’s first two championships, he said, “This is different.  This is home.”
8. Apex Leaders Are Rewarded With Great Respect And Admiration – Kyrie Irving said, “I watched Beethoven tonight.”  Assistant coach Larry Drew said, “There’s a king in the house.”  Teammate Jordan McRae gave his opinion on the greatness of James, “The best ever to do it.”

LeBron James Victory Parade Celebration

After winning the championship, we experienced the third defining moment in the leadership of LeBron James.  An estimated 1.3 million long-suffering Cleveland fans attended the downtown victory parade.  As much as it pains me to say this, I was shocked and extremely disappointed in James’s platform speech.
Overshadowing the many good things he said, James cursed repeatedly in his no-filtered address to the millions watching live and on television.  The worst part were several variations of the F-word continually used.
Frankly LeBron, you are better than that.  You are smarter than that.  You understand the moment better than anyone.  We have come to expect far more from you than this.  Previously you have done nothing but show the utmost class and dignity.  While you were an impeccable leader on the basketball court, you were a terrible leader on the championship podium.
Just common decency would tell you there are women and children in the crowd.  You showed no respect for either.  You gave the entire region everything you had physically.  Unfortunately, you then gave them little to no respect.  Many readers may disagree but the fact is out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.
As leaders, we have all made mistakes and said things we later regretted.  I hope when LeBron is back on the the championship platform, and he most certainly will be, he will have improved as much with his verbal conduct as he has with his low-post offense over the years.
LeBron, once again, you are better than that.  Or maybe you’re not.  We will find out soon enough.

Click HERE or on the image to the left and as a free gift for subscribing to this site, you can receive my new Ebook 1869 Leadership Quotes: Timeless Truths From 2015 Global Leadership Summit, That Church, REACT and Catalyst Conferences.  If applied, these insights will make you an exponentially better leader.  Enjoy!!!

Want your kids to be less picky at the table?

Hey!
If you’re part of a family, (and you are) you’ve faced it: Picky eaters.
And it may be the picky eater in your family stares back at you from the mirror each day! My children weren’t crazy picky about their food, but they sure liked to complain about it.
In my new blog/video post I share a CRAZY but true story of how Tina and I helped change that for our kids...and us.
One Way To Help Your Kids Be Less Picky at the Table
Beans and Rice as Attitude Adjustment

“That’s it, this has to stop! Don’t you kids know how lucky you are to have food like this?!
So I concocted a plan that my wife went along with. For the next thirty days we would eat nothing but... [click to continue]
Grateful for you!
–Caesar

A Simple Way Leaders (or anybody) Can Reduce Stress

by Charles Stone

God created our brains to help us survive in our world. Whether it’s a real threat (a bear outside your tent on a camping trip) or a perceived one (a board member or boss who acts like a bear), a part of our nervous system, the sympathetic nervous system (SNS), engages the stress response. It’s that fight-flight feeling. Essentially, the body prepares to fight or flee the source of danger by shutting down or slowing non-essential body functions to send blood and energy to vital parts of our body. In this post I explain a science-based practice that can help reduce the effects of stress on your body.

A simple practice that reduces stress

The stress response also activates other body responses. It releases chemicals in your body and brain to provide extra energy and focus if you need to fight or flee, slows digestion and saliva production, increases heart rate, dilates our eyes, and sends blood to our muscles.
Aside from running away from the bear or shooting it (you’d need a permit in most places), what can we do to quiet this stress response in our day-to-day experience?
Deep breathing from your diaphragm helps.

Deep breathing from your belly can help reduce the effect of stress on your body.

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It has been proven to lower blood pressure, reduce stress hormones, decrease lactic acid buildup in your muscles (which causes cramping and fatigue), and make us calmer.
From a body perspective, deep breathing activates a nerve called the vagal nerve that travels from the back of your brain to your belly, tongue, heart, lungs and intestines. It’s an important part of the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS), the SNS’s counterpart. In contrast to fight-flight, it’s rest-digest and controls the relaxation response.
Think of the SNS as a car’s accelerator and the PNS as a car’s brake.
When you activate your vagal nerve, it releases feel-good neurotransmitters like oxytocin and dopamine and dampens the stress response. So, when you’re stressed, you want your brain to release those chemicals. Here’s how deep breathing can engage your vagal nerve and dampen your stress response.

1. Know your body. Look for signals that it’s under stress. Some people get a dry mouth. Shoulders tighten for others. For some, their hands shake. Others experience stomach problems. Some breath faster and from their chest. Listen to your body on a regular basis to ‘catch’ your stress.
2. Remember that breathing from your diaphragm is key. It’s called belly breathing. You can put one hand on your chest and one on your belly to experience the difference. If you are breathing from your diaphragm, your belly should move more than your upper chest, although your chest will also expand some.
3. When you know you are under stress, get away to a quiet private place and sit down if you can. In a pinch, a bathroom stall even works. The Bible often talks about the value of stillness and quietness (see Psalm 46.10).
4. Breathe in deeply through your nose while you count to 4.
5. Hold your breath for a count of 7.
6. Breath out through your mouth with a whooshing sound as you count to 8.
7. Repeat the 4-7-8 breathing 4 times. You’ll find that this takes only a minute.
8. Practice this every day, not just when you feel stressed.

Stress does not have to control you. You can control it with this simple breathing technique. Your body and brain will be glad you did.
What has helped you deal with stress?
Related posts:

• 4 Subtle Signs of Stress
• Decision Fatigue

5 Surprising Characteristics of Churches That Are Actually Reaching the Next Generation

By Carey Nieuwhof

Everyone talks about reaching the next generation of young adults. But what really makes a church effective in reaching the next generation?

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Everyone talks about reaching the next generation of young adults.
But what really makes a church effective in reaching the next generation?
I’ve visited a few churches this year that are doing a fantastic job at reaching 18-30 year olds—a vastly under-represented demographic in most churches.
I took notes at all the churches. They all shared surprising characteristics, even though they are incredibly diverse.
The surprise (at least for me)?
It wasn’t their model that made them effective. The churches I studied have different models.
It wasn’t their denomination. One was Roman Catholic and attracting tons of young families. Others were cutting edge conservative evangelical church plants.
It wasn’t their facility. Some were portable. Some were permanent.
In many ways, these churches are bending the rule book established by the megachurches of the ’90s and 2000s.
Here are five things I’ve seen in churches that are killing it with people in their 20s and 30s:
1. Passion over Polish
If you attend enough conferences, you can think that you need polish to pull off effective ministry. Another $50,000 in lights or sound and you’ll be good.
The effective churches I’ve visited and seen recently by no means had the best lights, stage or production. Some had almost no stage and no lights, while others had a pretty decent package, but not nearly the level you see at some churches.
What did they all have in common? Passion.
When it comes to reaching the next generation, passion beats polish.
It’s not that polish is bad, but I think it’s increasingly trumped by a raw authenticity that exudes from leaders who will do whatever it takes to reach people with the Gospel.
Smaller facilities and stage sets were more than compensated for by preachers, worship leaders and team members who exuded passion for the mission.
2. Jesus over God
This may seem either self-evident or trivial, but I believe it’s neither; the churches that were packed with young adults talk about Jesus more than they talk about God.
Of course, Jesus is God and God is Jesus.
But God can mean many things in our post-Christian culture. Jesus is far more specific.
I’ve noticed that churches that talk about Jesus and the Holy Spirit are having a greater impact on young adults than churches who talk about God.
3. Progress over Facilities
Several of the churches I’ve visited this year are multisite. And they don’t have massive facilities from which to launch new locations.
Next Level Church in New Hampshire is reaching almost 3,000 people over six locations. Their largest facility is a 14,000-square-foot campus that’s a converted auto repair shop. They’ve done a fantastic job remodelling it, but they’ve done it on a dime and it only seats 400 people. They’re reaching almost 3,000 people out of that space across six locations.
It’s not the 10 million-dollar facility you’d think you need to have to reach 3,000 people, but that’s not what Joshua Gagnon, their lead pastor, is focused on. (By the way, I was recently a guest on Josh’s leadership podcast. Perhaps my favourite interview I’ve given. Raw and so real.)
Josh’s passionate, can-do, no-excuses attitude is in part what’s led them to become one of the 10 fastest growing churches in America.
Ditto for National Community Church in D.C. They’re doing a superb job reaching young adults with very small permanent facilities. And they’re adding an eighth location without first building out the space they already have.
Impressive.
4. Risk over Certainty
All of the churches I know that are doing a great job with young adults take risks. Big risks.
They’re either at odds with their denomination (I’ve seen a few of these) or are launching locations where no one else would dare plant a church.
They’re figuring out how to accommodate parking and even children’s ministry after they’ve made the decision to open or move. They just want to see the kingdom advance.
And the young adults they’re reaching seem fine with the uncertainty. They just want more space and more locations to invite their friends to.
Lesson? If you’ve got growth and momentum but you’re waiting for certainty before you determine what’s next, you might be waiting too long.
Just act.
5. Mission over Money
The question for many churches is this: Does mission follow money, or does money follow mission?
Great question.
The churches I know that are doing a great job with young adults would say ‘money follows mission.’
Do the mission well, and money shows up.
In fact, if you lead with the mission first, everything else shows up: people, money and the resources you need.
Too many churches wait for the day when they have the money to realize their mission.
Realize your mission, and you’ll have the money you need.
What Do You See?
What do you see in churches that are reaching the next generation?
If you want more, listen to my interview with Geoff Surratt on his forthcoming book on churches that reach millennials. His findings (while in beta) are fascinating.

Praying Outdoors When Praying Indoors Is Difficult

By Jordan Monson

Provided by

“This loss of private prayer is affecting the church.”

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Jesus told us, “When you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you” (Matthew 6:6).
Now, he said this as a corollary to avoid being showy and “like the hypocrites” when you pray (Matthew 6:5). Still, this verse has been taken as a manifesto to be undistracted in prayer behind a closed door. This isn’t a bad idea. It worked for 2,000 years. Not so much anymore though.
For 2,000 years, the most private and undistracted place was behind the closed door. Now, the noise has relocated indoors. If our computers and devices are near, it’s the worst place to try to pray. Walking through Times Square is less distracting than sitting alone in a room full of technology.
This loss of private prayer is affecting the church.

The Christian Prayer Life

It’s been said that if you want to humble any pastor, ask him about his prayer life. The sad truth is that most Christians, even pastors, spend more time reading articles, watching ESPN or playing games on their smartphones than they do in prayer.
When I compare my prayer life with that of the spiritual greats, I wonder sometimes if I actually know the same God.
The Gospels are full of accounts of Jesus’ immense prayer life. Paul’s prayer life bleeds through every part of his letters. James, the most prominent pillar of the early church was called “the man with camel’s knees” because of the price his interminable prayer life exacted on the skin of his knees.
The writings of Ignatius, Polycarp and Irenaeus are bathed in prayer. One wonders if Augustine or Aquinas ever stopped praying. Luther prayed three hours per day. Calvin prayed during five set-apart times of the day. George Mueller prayed two to three hours a day and recorded more than 50,000 answered prayers in his journals. Hudson Taylor awoke in the middle of the night to pray from two to four in the morning so that he wouldn’t be disturbed!

Struggling to Pray

I struggle to pray for seven minutes in my workspace. I have to set a timer, and if I don’t set my phone to do not disturb, good luck. I have to put my computer to sleep to avoid googling the first question that comes to mind.
Oops, I forgot about the tablet. Looks like my friend is in Chicago for the day. I should text him about my favorite coffee shop there! Wait. Do not disturb on.
I’m doing what Jesus said, right? I’m closing the door, and then trying—in vain—to close all the digital doors that hijack my brain. Why is it so hard?

Times Are Changing

You see, for eight hours a day I plug my mind into the machine and jump from task to task, interfacing endlessly with the devices in front of me. Day after day, year after year. How can I expect to sit in this same space and turn it all off after so much conditioning? I can’t. I have to change my environment.
The problem is, where in the first century the room behind the closed door was private, in the modern era it’s often the most distracting place to pray.
In the first century, people spent much of their time outdoors when they weren’t sleeping. Outside, you faced distraction. You saw the people you’d known your whole life. You saw the market—the center of ancient civic life. But today, if you go outside in a major city, suburb or small town, you’ll likely find next to nobody walking around. If you see anybody, chances are you don’t know them.
So why not pray outside? Go for a prayer walk. Yes, even in a Northern winter. As the Norwegians say, there is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing.

Same Message, Different Means

Outside, you’re alone, but behind closed doors, your devices will chime ad nauseam with that constant nonsense, helping your brain from fix to fix until you’ve neither prayed nor even enjoyed the time you’ve spent distracted.
Pray without distraction. The message is the same, but the means have reversed. One of the best ways to close the door in the 21st century is to open the door and leave your home to go on a prayer walk. This is the opposite of shutting yourself in a room, but it accomplishes the same purpose in our era.
Leave the phone at home, or on do not disturb in your pocket. Pray. Start small and soon you may find it rewarding to walk for 20 or 30 minutes while you pray. You may enter into a communion with God you haven’t felt in years. You won’t be nearly as distracted. The fresh air and exercise will do you good too. Plus your mind will unplug from the noise. Turns out the dopamine-obsessed monkey on your back doesn’t like the weather.

3 Church Methods That Need to Change

By Ed Stetzer

Here are three methodological shifts churches should consider to more effectively make disciples and reach our communities.

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In light of modern cultural realities, here are three methodological shifts churches should consider to more effectively make disciples and reach our communities.

Consider scattering over gathering

Why not push more of the functions of church life to the periphery of church, including the amount of times we gather? I know this may sound counterintuitive and I don’t want to completely de-emphasize the large gathering. Gatherings are biblical.
But it would make more sense in our current context to do less gathering and more scattering. We are beyond the place where saying “Everyone come!” will bring unbelievers to a gathering. Churches need to have more of a “Let’s go!” mentality.
To be successful, leaders need to empower people. Church members need to be released as witnesses in their everyday lives—to be the “church scattered.”
In some cases, it’s helpful to empower small groups to have a broader functionality, even to the point of these groups functioning almost like little congregations. Some can be pre-church plants.
When ownership and responsibility is distributed, the more likely you are to have greater impact in a community.

Consider how to use pathways

We need a simple and regularly applied approach to what I call “pathways.” A pathways strategy is shown when a church moves people from sitting in rows to sitting in circles. This simple rearrangement is a means of changing members from consumers to participants. Rows tend to focus everyone on a single person. Circles tend to focus everyone on each other.
Pathways transitions people away from apathy into groups where they’ll provoke one another to love and good deeds (Heb. 10:24). We need to help people live as agents of God’s mission.
Sometimes you have to stop doing good things to do the best things. That’s always a hard call, especially for churches. Churches that refuse to budge on inerrancy of Scripture should be commended. Churches that confuse inerrancy with methodology should be corrected.
That tendency can be applied to aspects of ministry that have outlived their usefulness. We need clearer systems and processes that lead people from passivity to activity in involvement in the mission of God and serving one another.

The declergification of ministry

Within our theological understanding of church and ordination, let’s de-emphasize the role of clergy. Ironically, many low church denominations are not a clergy-driven people, but we certainly function like a clergy people. Many low church congregations have a leadership culture that is essentially a hierarchical priesthood. There’s one man who is the only one who has the authority to interpret and teach the Bible. To them, the pastor functions almost as an intermediary priest.
If you are a Protestant, you probably agree clergification is a bad thing, even if you believe, as I do, that pastor is a biblical role. And, you probably agree the Protestant Reformation emphasis on direct access to God was a reflection of the biblical teaching that Jesus is the one mediator between God and man.
I want to see a declergification of ministry in evangelical churches where God’s people own the ministry collaboratively and corporately and pastors serve as equippers of the saints in accordance with Ephesians 4:11—to equip God’s people for works of service to the building up of the body of Christ.
In the new ministry environment, churches need to scatter more, develop better pathways to encourage active members, and combat clergification by equipping the entire body of Christ for service.

15 Leadership Lessons From The Shallows Movie

The Shallows is the classic summer popcorn movie.  It is straight-forward, not a lot of thinking required, get your popcorn, and enjoy 90 minutes of intense action.  It also does not hurt that Shark Week begins tomorrow on the Discovery Channel.
The story is about Nancy Adams, played by Blake Lively, who goes on a surfing vacation in a secluded beach in Mexico.  There she unknowingly paddles into a shark’s feeding ground and the suspense begins.
Be aware there are bikini-shots, one F-bomb, and a tremendous amount of blood and gore.  Lively does a great job in this movie however.
The following are 15 Leadership Lessons From The Shallows:

1. Leadership Always Involves Conflict – All great movies and books contain one of the three following forms of conflict – Man vs. Man, Man vs. Nature, or Man vs. Himself.  Leaders are always involved in one of these forms of conflict.  Adams was involved in two.
2. Dumb Leaders Try To Outthink The Room – As shown in the movie’s trailer shown above, this is not a complicated movie.  Girl goes surfing.  Girl gets attacked by a shark.  Girl finds safety on a rock.  Girl must fight the shark and get back to shore.  Keep it simple.  Don’t try to outthink the room.  People have enough complexity.  They want simplicity.
3. Some Leaders Talk Too Much – Excellence does not require many words.  Since Adams spends the majority of the movie stranded on a rock, there is little dialogue.  Let your performance do the talking.
4. Danger Is Always Lurking – Do not be naive.  A leaders who is frequently surprised and caught off guard is not a prepared individual.  Experienced leaders know just because things appear calm does not mean danger is not lurking.
5. There Are Often Warning Signs – Adams paddled on her surfboard to a partially eaten whale carcass.  Knowing this was probably a feeding ground for sharks she immediately began paddling back to shore.
6. Danger Can Hit Suddenly And With Great Impact – Six years ago I wrote a post 5 Words That Haunt Leaders.  Those words are “I never saw that coming.”  Things happen in our life suddenly.  Something breaks.  An unexpected phone call.  A doctor’s report.  In this movie it was a shark attack.  But rest assured, we are all susceptible to danger hitting suddenly and with great impact.
7. Surviving Crisis Requires Decisive Action – Upon being attacked, Adams immediately starting swimming towards the floating carcass to get out of the water.  Passivity did not save her life.  Decisiveness did.
8. Find Places Of Safety During Crisis – All leaders understand there are places that if they go there, danger lurks.  On the other hand, there are other places where leaders can find comfort and refreshment.  Adams found safety on a whale carcass, rock, and buoy.
9. Surviving Crisis Requires Making Hard, Painful Decisions – Adams had to use her medical school training to perform makeshift stitching on herself to close the wound from the shark bite.
10. Surviving Crisis Requires Clear Thinking – This is difficult to do.  Adams times the shark’s predatory activities to plan her next moves.
11. Surviving Crisis Requires Resourcefulness – You must use what you have available to survive times of crisis.  Adams used ear rings, necklaces, her surfing gear, and even a shark tooth to survive.
12. Surviving Crisis Is Exhausting – It is grueling and requires amazing perseverance.  Adams sat on that rock for over 24 hours.
13. Successful Leaders Do Not Give Up During Times Of Crisis – Adams said, “I’m going to fight just like she (her mom who died from cancer) taught us.  I love you.”
14. Look For Opportunities During Times Of Crisis – There is a difference between sensing opportunity and seizing it.  With high tide approaching, Adams needed to swim from the rock to the floating buoy.  A school of jellyfish would provide her the cover she needed.
15. A Scar Means You Survived The Crisis And Have Been Healed – Even though she was attacked by a shark and had the scar to show for it, Adams returned to surfing a year later.

When, not if, you face your next crisis situation, I hope these points help you.

Click HERE or on the image to the left and as a free gift for subscribing to this site, you can receive my new Ebook 1869 Leadership Quotes: Timeless Truths From 2015 Global Leadership Summit, That Church, REACT and Catalyst Conferences.  If applied, these insights will make you an exponentially better leader.  Enjoy!!!

6 Ways to Create a Culture of Innovation in Your Church

By Pastor Rick Warren

Creativity matters in ministry. It matters because God is creative. He’s the most creative being in the entire universe. It only makes sense that we serve God with our creatively.
How do you develop a culture of innovation in your church?
You need a theology of innovation. We are most like our creator when we’re creative. God wired us to be creative. Children are very creative. They are born creative. It’s normal. We get the creativity kicked out of us as time goes by. We learn to be afraid. But a theology of innovation always reminds us that God intends us to be creative.
You need a creative atmosphere. There are certain environments I can be very creative in, and certain environments where I can’t. At Saddleback, we’ve never had a boardroom or the big boardroom-style table that comes with that. We have recliners. Meetings don’t start at Saddleback until we kick our feet up. It’s when I get in a totally prone position that I can be the most creative and can discover what God would have us do.
You need to stay playful. Playfulness stimulates creativity. When you get people laughing, you get the endorphins going. Creativity is often putting together two exactly opposite ideas, which is often ludicrous or seemingly stupid. It just makes people laugh. When people start to laugh, I know creativity is coming. When they’re serious, we’re not going to get creative.
You need the freedom to fail. Innovation means not being afraid to fail. There’s no such thing as failure at Saddleback. We experiment. Sometimes we guess. It’s trial and error. But I give my staff the freedom and flexibility to fail. You’re never a failure at Saddleback until you stop trying. We’ve done more things that didn’t work than did. I want all of my staff members to make at least one mistake a week. If they aren’t making mistakes, they aren’t trying!
You need to think big! You foster innovation by setting goals that are so big that you are bound to fail unless God bails you out. We did this before we started 40 Days of Purpose back in 2002. We had been planning to start 300 new small groups through the campaign. That would have been a big deal. But God told me, “Add a zero. Start 3,000 small groups.” But we didn’t have 3,000 small group leaders. So we innovated. We came up with a brand new way to do small groups, as we focused on finding “hosts” instead of leaders.
You must do something that matters. My friend, Erwin McManus, once told me, “The reality is that if you’re not trying to accomplish something meaningful, you’re not really being pressed into the creative process.” We don’t innovate at Saddleback to be cool. We innovate because we want to reach people with the good news about Jesus. The why determines what we do.

25 Really Weird Things Said to Pastors and Other Church Leaders

By Thom Rainer

“Few people are truly aware of the constant requests, complaints and criticisms pastors and other church leaders receive.”

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Few people are truly aware of the constant requests, complaints and criticisms pastors and other church leaders receive. I must admit, however, I was surprised when I asked church leaders on Twitter to share some of the more unusual comments they have received. I was first surprised at how many responded. But I was most surprised at the really strange things people tell pastors and other church leaders.
Many of the comments related to using the Bible too much or to being too evangelistic. I should make those a blog post by themselves.
I narrowed my selection to 25, but it could have been much higher. I left off many great comments to keep this post manageable. I’ve only made minor wording changes to some of these. For the most part, I received these quotes just as you are seeing them. The parenthetical words after each comment represent my off-the-cuff commentary.
1. “We need a small group for cat lovers.” (I guess they could serve Meow Mix as a snack.)
2. “You need to change your voice.” (Yes ma’am. I’ll try to have that done by next week.)
3. “Our expensive coffee is attracting too many hipsters.” (Yep. You don’t want too many of those hipsters in your church.)
4. “Preachers who don’t wear suits and ties aren’t saved. It’s in the Bible.” (I should have known that’s what Jesus and Paul wore.)
5. “Your socks are distracting.” (I understand. I’ll stop wearing socks.)
6. “You shouldn’t make people leave the youth group after they graduate.” (It’s going to get really weird by the time they turn 70 years old.)
7. “I don’t like the color of the towels in the women’s restroom.” (I don’t understand. They match the towels in the men’s restroom.)
8. “We need to start attracting more normal people at church.” (So, you will be leaving the church, I presume.)
9. “I developed cancer because you don’t preach from the KJV.” (Major medical announcement! New carcinogen discovered!)
10. “Your wife never compliments me about my hair or dress.” (There could be a reason for that.)
11. “Not enough people signed up for the church golf tournament. You have poor leadership skills.” (I’m so sorry. I expected more since most of the deacons play golf on Sunday morning)
12. “I think you are trying to preach caffeineism.” (Probably Reformed theology with an extra kick.)
13. “If Jesus sang from the red hymnals, why can’t we?” (I think you are mistaken. He sang from blue hymnals.)
14. (To a pastor who married interracially). “You are living in sin. You shouldn’t be married to each other.” (That one is not worthy of commentary.)
15. “I don’t like the brand of donuts in the foyer.” (It’s better than Meow Mix.)
16. “You didn’t wrap the hot dogs in bacon for the church picnic.” (I understand that one. Bacon rules.)
17. “You shouldn’t drink water when you preach.” (At least not simultaneously.)
18. “The toilet paper is on the wrong way in the ladies restroom. It’s rolled under.” (My guess is that it is still functional.)
19. “Why don’t you ever preach on Tim Tebow?” (Be patient. I will be preaching a six-week expository series on him in the fall.)
20. “You don’t have ashtrays in the fellowship hall.” (Yes we do. They are right next to the spittoons for your chewing tobacco.)
21. “Did you see me waving in the back of the worship center? You preached too long. It was time to eat!” (Who needs a clock when I have you?)
22. “The eggs were not scrambled enough at the senior adult breakfast.” (We thought you could jump up and down after you ate them to finish the job.)
23. “You don’t look at our side of the worship center enough when you preach.” (That’s because you are on that side.)
24. “We are leaving the church because you have a red cross on the building. That’s the color of the devil.” (I understand. It’s in the same verse that describes his pitchfork and horns.)
25. “Your sermon needed more calories.” (OK. I’ll feed it one of those donuts in the foyer.)
Pastors and other church leaders must have great patience and strength. They are faced with these and many other comments and demands every day. I love these church leaders, and I thank God for them.
Share with me what comments you have received. And tell me what you think of the 25 comments that were shared with me.

10 Rewards of an Encouraging Leader

By Brian Houston

“My experience in life is that you get what you go for.”

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My experience in life is that you get what you go for.
When a leader builds others through encouragement, they create a world of big-spirited, big-hearted people who in turn lift their leader higher and help them soar. It’s true—the best leaders are encouraging leaders.
Encouraging leaders don’t lead by intimidation or through forced allegiance to their authority. Instead, leaders must see the very best in other people and spur them onward and upward through an unwavering belief in the potential of those around them.
Here are a few qualities of encouraging leaders:
1. You are a DOOR OPENER
An encouraging leader knows when it is time to open new doors for those they lead, rather than keeping the door firmly shut and holding back opportunities.
The first thing my wife wanted people to feel as they walked into any Hillsong Church around the globe was a genuine sense of welcome. So, a sign saying “Welcome Home” prominently greets everyone who walks through our doors. It’s an intentional message that says, “Our doors are open.”
In the same way, when entering a store if someone holds a door open for you—there’s a kindness involved in that gesture that says, “Here, you go first.” In other words, it’s a display of humility. I think it can be so easy to believe that opening doors for others will lead to closed doors for you, but that’s never the way it works with God. God promotes the lives of those who promote the lives of others.
So, let’s be leaders who:
—Open doors of ministry and opportunity for the gifted.
—Open doors of safety and security for the vulnerable.
—Open doors of warmth and value to the family.
—Open doors of welcome, love and acceptance to the stranger.
I want to live my whole life as a door opener.
2. You are a PLATFORM BUILDER
An encouraging leader recognizes that their God-given platform is an opportunity to promote and enlarge the world of others.
By God’s grace, the Hillsong platform has done exactly that for many of our guests and speakers whose own ministry platform has notably grown after their exposure through our Hillsong or Colour Conference platforms.
Everyone’s platform extends well beyond the particular room they are in. The greater the influence God gives you, the higher your own platform becomes and the further your voice carries. I’m not necessarily just speaking about an actual or physical platform; rather, being a platform builder is about having an attitude and openness to use whatever influence you’ve been given to promote and increase others. As Matthew’s gospel puts it, “To whom much is given, much is required.”
3. You are a KING MAKER
An encouraging leader quickly sees the potential in others and uses their God-given authority to appoint those around them to new levels of authority. Like Moses in Exodus 18, who—under Jethro’s instruction—appointed “able men” (described as “leaders of thousands, hundreds, and fifties and tens”) to help share the burden and carry the load.
In my most recent blog on ‘10 Hallmarks of a Leader of Leaders’ I quoted from Psalm 45.16: “Instead of your fathers shall be your sons who YOU will make princes in the land.” I am believing to raise up princes…both men and women who become ‘generals in the faith.’ I want to be a king maker when it comes to advancing the lives of people, whilst always keeping it about the King of Kings.
4. You are a CEILING LIFTER
An encouraging leader is both a room-giver and a roof-lifter when it comes to their impact on others. A wise leader senses the right time to make the space for others to grow taller, and enlarge their capacity and their influence. The truth is, though, you can never lift a ceiling that you can’t reach yourself—your arms just aren’t long enough! So, in order to raise other people’s ceilings, your own life and leadership will require consistent stretching and growing. Building a team known for their loyalty and longevity means making constant provision for your people to grow in their leadership and flourish in their calling.
5. You are a BELIEF GIVER 
An encouraging leader has others believing that “all things are possible, and nothing is impossible.”
“Little boy, do you believe you can do this?
“Yes, I believe I can do this.”
My wife was mesmerized by a simple movie called ‘Little Boy,’ which is a feel good film about a young man’s mountain-moving faith. He believed he could do what others said was impossible.
Lack of belief can lock people in a jailhouse of intimidation and under-achievement. You can never be a belief giver unless you actually and genuinely believe in the potential that others have. When you live in a faith-filled, uplifting environment where encouragement is welcomed—it is easy to forget that many of those around you would never receive any encouragement if it weren’t for you.
Encouragement in this world is rarer than you may think. So many people live in a negative and discouraging world where encouragement is a foreign language that no one has ever learned and no one ever speaks. Yet, a leader who genuinely believes in people and offers genuine encouragement will consistently be surrounded by people who would go to the ends of the earth for them.
6. You are a GIFT RELEASER
An encouraging leader is like a coach standing on the edge of the high-dive tower, talking an overwhelmed young diver through their routine and inspiring them to believe that they can nail it. If you are an encourager, you will enable people to flourish in their gift and help them to see that they actually really do have a unique set of gifts and talents, all their own. An encourager refuses to be threatened by the giftings of others and is therefore able to attract, and graced to lead, a team of highly gifted—high capacity people.
7. You are a VISION ENRICHER
An encouraging leader recognizes that everyone has a right to live with a big vision. That right didn’t stop with you and me. As a church pastor, I am grateful that so many people over the years have leaned into my vision for the local church and have tirelessly worked, owning the vision as their own, and have watched it become a reality.
However, being a big-spirited leader means that there are times to recognize the individual callings on the lives of others. Yes—some people will move on and plant, build and grow something significant themselves; I believe that it is one of the great joys of leadership—the opportunity to play a part in seeing the vision of others become a reality. However, if you are a believer in people, the pathways you create for others within your own vision will mean that you will see a huge majority of people stay with you and loyally outwork that vision together.
8. You are a POTENTIAL SEER
An encouraging leader sees the giant possibilities that often lie dormant within the hearts of people who can’t even see it within themselves. An encouraging leader looks to the future and sees the great things that God has in store.
If you can see what others can’t and unearth the gold in people, you will have a tremendous advantage. You won’t be constantly looking further afield to find the caliber of people you need alongside you, because you possess that uncanny knack of raising people from seeming obscurity, and to the surprise of many you will have the ability to release them into their divine destiny and calling.
9. You are an ENCOURAGEMENT SPEAKER
An encouraging leader is exactly that, an encourager. They speak words of life and see possibilities long before they notice the obstacles and hindrances. If you love to encourage, it may upset some whose own confession is laced with negativity, but you lift the spirits of many others and have them believing that anything is possible.
Encouragement: Lifts spirits, eases fear, relieves anxiety, speaks hope, breathes life, soothes pain and brings calm.
10. You are a DESTINY ENHANCER
An encouraging leader guides people toward their divine calling and purpose.
What a wonderful opportunity it is to know you have played a part in the life of someone who is living in their kingdom purpose and destiny. You saw what perhaps others couldn’t, and now you have the joy of watching someone you influenced walk out the God-ordained life that is uniquely theirs.
Perhaps you opened a door or gave them a platform. Maybe you chose a “king” or placed them in a position to win. You lifted ceilings and even when it was hard to believe, you just kept believing in them. You recognized their gifts and unearthed the gold. You saw their potential and reinforced their vision, always with an encouraging arm around their shoulder, speaking words of affirmation and guidance. And because of that, you now have the great joy of seeing them walking into their destiny, their glorious future.
HOW GREAT ARE THE REWARDS OF ENCOURAGING LEADERSHIP!