I’m currently going through a spell right now as a leader where if I let myself, I could easily fall into the category of hopeless. Have you ever felt like no decision was the “right” one? It’s times like these that I’ve learned to develop what I call “sensitively thick skin.” I don’t want to be so calloused to criticism that I fail to receive anything constructive out of the array of flying opinions. But I also don’t want to be so sensitive that I take everything I hear personally. This only leads to offense and walls being built up around my ego (which should ALWAYS be left at the door of any Kingdom-related venue you serve in). So I let the things meant for destruction bounce, and the frustrations weaved with truth sneak in.
One thing I can never ever let my eyes turn from is the realization that I GET to do what I do only by the grace of God (this kind of thinking helps me stay grounded whenever I’M frustrated with anybody who’s leading me!). We’re all imperfect people serving a perfect God. But because He likes to use the foolish things of this world to shame the wise… He chooses people like you and me to be the instruments that play the melody of His masterpiece. It would be foolish of me to think that I had anything to do with the success of the ministry I serve in. If I didn’t make myself available, he’d simply use somebody else! So with that in mind, I’m grateful. If you are reading this, and you’re currently frustrated with me or my leadership, just know that I’m fighting my way back out of this hole. The funk that I was in is slowly reversing itself from resembling the stench of rotten eggs, to more of the likes of a KC and the Sunshine band tune. I’m taking the necessary steps to get all the wrong things (for me) off my plate, and all the right things back on. I love each and every one of you.
Here’s a tasty bit about opposition from Ed Young:
It’s been a while since I’ve written a “meaty” blog. So here goes.
I read a quote today from a dear friend of mine (….) that struck an old familiar chord in me.
“… to evolve you have to dismantle, and that means accepting the idea that nothing you’ve created in the past matters anymore, except that it brought you here.
To pick up your new marching orders.”
That applies to me as a leader, musician and as a songwriter. That applies to everything that I’m a part of and all the success that I might think I can use to identify myself or fancy myself a big deal. It means that I don’t have to get nervous about the option of failing in front of the new people who are watching me who weren’t watching me 3 years ago. I can simply stop, breathe, and live like I’m in a room of 5 people but lead like I’m in a room of 5,000… just like I’ve been instructed to do.
Today is as good of a day as any to redeclare my dependence on God. That it isn’t me who lives, but Christ who lives in me. I don’t know if any of you ever feel the same way, but sometimes I carry unnecessary weight on my shoulders. Sometimes I need to remember that this life that I live has nothing to do with me or building my kingdom… but rather, to build His.
Filed under: Leadership Lessons
What does it mean to you to serve the church?
Does it mean you are serving in a ministry?
Does it mean you are serving at a building?
Or does it mean you are serving God’s people?
Think about it…
Well it’s almost here once again… the infamous Christmas production! This coming week in the world of theatre and the arts is commonly known as “Hell Week”… ironically enough… considering it’s a performance centered around Jesus. And anyone who has ever been involved with productions knows that it’s a week full of deadlines, last minute tweaks, last minute scraps and fun late night rehearsals.
“Same Olds” aside, we’re closing in on the final week of our series “Christmas Like No Other,” which has truly shown to be a timely series for all of us. This holiday season truly has been different in many ways.
Here’s how it’s been different for me. I “officially” became Rock Church’s worship leader about 3 years ago. Each year since I’ve been very heavily put in charge of most of our productions. Which have in most cases proven to show my immaturity as a leader and an organizer. But each year that passes I become more and more familiar with what is expected of me. And this year I have learned what the term “play to your strengths” truly means. We have chosen to deliberately strip down our resources, manpower and any extra fluff and just focus all of our attention on the things we are good at. Which is why I believe that from a production standpoint, this year is going to prove to be one of the best Christmas productions we’ve ever had.
So this Sunday, if you are a Rock Church attender or any other church go-er, don’t come with an empty car. Make sure you call up your friends, family and other loved ones and cease the opportunity to go pick them up, take them to Starbucks and bring them to an atmosphere where they can meet Jesus… the best gift anybody could ever receive.
You may or may not read the Deadly Viper Blog. I do… it can be extremely insightful. A lot of their posts seem like they could be proverbs or something. Anyway, here’s a great post that really spoke to me entitled “Before You Critique…”
Often times, our point of view says more about US than it does the circumstance upon which we are commenting…
A young couple moves into a new neighborhood. The next morning while they are eating breakfast, the young woman sees her neighbor hanging the wash outside. “That laundry is not very clean”, she said. “She doesn’t know how to wash correctly. Perhaps she needs better laundry soap.”
Her husband looked on, but remained silent.
Every time her neighbor would hang her wash to dry, the young woman would make the same comments.
About one month later, the woman was surprised to see a nice clean wash on the line and said to her husband: “Look, she has learned how to wash correctly. I wonder who taught her this.”
The husband said, “I got up early this morning and cleaned our windows.”
I received this book at Catalyst this month. Seth Godin (the author) GAVE away over 12,000 copies before it’s release date to everyone who sat in on his session.
At what point does a person gain the credibility to say things that completely alter the culture of their field?
Session 8 – Andy Stanley “To reach people no one else is reaching, we must do things no one else is doing” “The next generation product almost never comes from the previous generation.” “What do I believe is impossible to do in my field… but if it could be done would fundamentally change my business?” If we got kicked out and the board brought in a new CEO, what would he do? Why shouldn’t we walk out the door, come back in, and do it ourselves? •Why am I unwilling to deal with this? “When your memories exceed your dreams, the end is near.”
-Craig Groeschel
•We have people who live in this world who are waiting for something DIFFERENT. Not better, louder, weirder, etc… but different.
Take Away: Become preoccupied with those you haven’t reached as opposed to who you’re trying to keep.
-Focus, Al Reis
•The next generation product will not comes from the previous generation.
•Don’t do to the next generation what the previous generation did to you.
•Previous generations are recognizers. Next generation are creators.
Take Away: Be a student, not a critique.
-Future Edge/The Paradigm Book, Joel Barker
•What do I believe is impossible but could fundamentally change my ministry?
Take Away: Pay attention to the people who are breaking the rules.
-Only the Paranoid Survive, Andy Grove
•Have the mindset of a new-comer instead of falling in love with the way I do ministry.
•No pain, no change!
•Where are we manufacturing energy? Where are things going on [in our ministry] that we’re really not too excited about?
•It’s never easy to change. If it were it would have already been made
Take Away: Acknowledge what’s not working and own up to why you are to do anything about it.
-Michael Hammer
•Am I more willing to be more vision oriented than celebration oriented.
•The temptation is to celebrate what you’ve done and then coast
•Invest in the future, NOT the present (which is essentially in the past)
Take Away: Don’t let success overshadow your vision
•Success breeds complacency, and complacency breeds failure
•Do what you do best, better than you ever have before. Because our leadership is more important in our country than it’s ever been before.
Today I pretty much got my face rocked. We heard AMAZING messages by Andy Stanley, Jim Collins, Seth Godin, Steve Furtick and Craig Groeschel. I got the most by FAR out of Jim Collins’ message. Here are some of my notes.
Session 2 – Jim Collins
•Not all time in life is equal – I have a long runway in front of me (more time now than tomorrow)
•Good is the enemy of great
•Greatness is not a function of the cards that were dealt, it’s a function of conscious choice and discipline. We are not a slave of circumstance, we are free by our choices and discipline.
•A common misconception of an organization getting better is that it become more like a business. But that’s inaccurate because most businesses are considered average.
•Any truly great thing has a culture of discipline.
•Most overnight success stories are about 20 years in the making.
•Overreaching, undisciplined pursuit of more is how “the great fall” happens. You become seduced by your own success.
•The number one sign of overreaching is when you start compromising having your best people on the bus for the sake of growth
•If you have the right “who’s” you get better “what’s”
•The ultimate preparation for what you cannot possibly predict is WHO you have on your bus. Analogy: mountain climbing partner
•The signature characteristic of a level 5 leader from a level 4 leader was HUMILITY
•If it’s about you, you will not build something great. It has to be about the work, cause, values, etc.
•It’s not about personality
•What are you passionate about, what are you good at,
•the presence of a to-do list without a “stop doing” list is a lack of discipline.
•What gets in the way?
•We get in trouble when we confuse values with practices. Denominations are practices not to be confused with the big picture values.
•Every generation needs to create it’s own practices to exemplify their eternal values/faith
To Do’s
1. www.jimcollins.com – good to great diagnostic tool to self assess how are we doing?
2. How many key seats are on your bus? Who are in those seats (right people)? How do you get that to 100%
3. Get young people in your face
4. Build a council
5. Turn off electronic gadgets. Built pockets of solitude. Days without electronics. Take time to think. Work is infinite, time is finite.
•Pay your mentors back by mentoring others
•Your responsibility is to those you are ministering to… NOT those who you are ministering WITH.
•Don’t give people titles, give them responsibilities
•You should only have THREE main priorities, otherwise you have NONE
