Lessons learned by Luaulou

Three Leadership Environments I Am Committed To

Here is a great post from Perry Noble on Leadership.

As a pastor/leader there are three groups of people whom I believe we need to constantly be hanging out with in order for God to stretch us in regards to our leadership.

#1 - Those Who Are Where We Have Been.

One of the mistakes that I have seen some pastors make is having the idea that once their church grows larger than so and so’s church that there is nothing more that they could learn from them.

Nothing could be more untruthful!

One of the things I love to do is hang out with guys who are currently where I have been at some point in my past. Why? Because I LEARN from them! God uses them to stretch me. They don’t have the resources to do all that they really want to do…so they are FORCED to rely on passion and TRUE innovation.

Some of the best sermon and leadership ideas I ever gotten have been brought on because I have the privilege of hanging out with guys who may have 100 people or less in their church, or 500 or whatever number you want to put here.

#2 - Those Who Are Currently Where I Am Currently.

One of the things I have LOVED about blog world is that it has opened up a network of connections for me…and through this I have been able to meet up with pastors from all over the US who have churches that look MUCH DIFFERENTLY from NewSpring…but they have hearts for Jesus Christ and a desire to see people come to Him.

One of the mistakes that I don’t want to begin making is falling into the competitive pastors camp. I want to hang out with guys who have churches around the same size as NewSpring, and when they grow past us–CELEBRATE with them.

People who are where you are most likely are experiencing some of the same issues and problems you are wrestling with. Pastors…you NEED to place yourself in these environments as often as possible. God will use them to radically encourage you.

#3 - Those Who Are Where I Want To Go.

Again, one of the sad patterns I am noticing is insecure pastors and church planters who have no problem with the first two I covered because of how significant it makes them feel…it’s sad really, these guys get together and rip apart/tear down those who are experiencing some level of success instead of being a student of something that might be working.

I learned several years ago that I can hate and despise those who are more successful than me and spend my time trying to convince others why I am better than them…OR I can do everything that is within my ability to place myself in an environment where I can meet with incredible church leaders that God has His hand all over that can speak truth into my life.

For this to happen I’ve paid $$$ to sit at round tables. I traveled halfway across the country just to have lunch with one pastor. I rearranged my schedule. I am freakishly obsessed with this…and I will do whatever it takes to meet with these great men of God in order to better myself. (Instead of sitting around with guys who think just like me and accomplish nothing!)

I’ve been accused of name dropping on this blog. Am I guilty? HECK YES!!! I name drop like CRAZY! Why? Because I want the people at NewSpring Church to know that God is allowing me to meet with and learn from some incredible leaders. I want them to know I am not satisfied with where I am as a pastor…and I want to become better and better.

Over the past several years I’ve had the privilege to sit down one on one with John Maxwell, Andy Stanley, Craig Groeshel, Ed Young, Jud Wilhite, Greg Surratt, Mark Driscoll and Troy Gramling. Each time I sit with these guys God stretches the heck out of me. (I will be sharing some leadership thoughts I’ve learned from these guys over the next few weeks.)

Oh yeah…in case you are wondering, I still have a goal to sit down and share a meal, one on one, with Bill Hybels, TD Jakes, Joel Osteen, Rick Warren, Matt Chandler and Erwin McManus. God has used these men to speak into my life and influence the heck out of me!!! For those of you who pray for me on a regular basis…pray that this will happen!

So, what are you doing to place yourself in these three environments?

You’ve Gotta Let People Love You

Man!, what did we do before the internet.  Say what you will about all the bad stuff the internet brings, but I gotta tell you I have learned more about so many good things and people because of it.  Here is a post from someone who has impacted my role as a Pastor. His name is David Foster. 

I’ve been around a lot of men who say things that I wonder if they mean. That is, “I love you Bro. I’m with you. I’ve got your back.” And, like you, I’ve had those who’ve kept those promises, and those who have not. I’ve had people betray me who I thought were the best friends I had in the world, and others who have come to my aid that I hardly knew at all.

Neither of these is the point. This is not about me, or you helping me. It’s about letting me help you as a friend.

If you say, in the church, that we are connected, we’re a community, we’re a family, that we speak well of each other, it also must mean that we have each other’s back. There are times when we drop that ball, but let me be quick to say this, you’ve got to show up to let people love you.

I have found that when people are hurting, when they feel let down, their first reaction is to retreat, retreat into their house, into their home, into their email, into their texting, on the internet, and wonder why no one has come to love them, to apologize, or to embrace them.

The truth of the matter is, you’ve gotta show up. You’ve gotta show up and let people love you, and here’s what I’ve found. If you’ll show up - you get up, suit up, show up, and do the next right thing - you give people an opportunity to come alongside of you and do for you what you can’t do for yourself.

If you want people to love you, you’ve gotta show up. You’ve got to go and be with them when you’d like to run and hide.

Yeah, I know it’s messy, but people are messy, life is messy. But it’s God’s will that we love one another. By this loving, which is difficult and messy, and expensive, all men will know that we are His disciples.

The Exception to the Rule

Here is a great post from Ken Shaffer on wisdom.

With age comes wisdom. At least, it should. It is the wisdom of experience and the wisdom of learning from others’ experiences. I like how Oliver Wendell Holmes eloquently put it:

The young man knows the rules, but the old man knows the exceptions.

Knowing the rules does not guarantee greatness. It only rescues you from failure (assuming you follow them). But when you reach the point when you know the exceptions to the rules - that is when to break the rules or go against tradition or trends - then you are likely to achieve greatness (assuming you have the guts to pursue the exceptions).

Attaining such wisdom has nothing to do with age but everything to do with the maturity of your knowledge. And such maturity is gained by passionately pursuing opportunities to learn from the wisdom of experience. Continually read books, blogs, and articles so that you might learn from the failures and success stories of others. Find a mentor. A good mentor can give you a lifetime of experience in a matter of months. If you do, you will gain wisdom beyond your years.

Jesus’ Ministry Marketing (1 of 4) :: The 4 P’s

Here's a great post by Kent Shaffer.

Over the years, I have heard quite a few perspectives on church marketing and whether or not it has a Biblical basis. I believe that church marketing is a good thing although, as with any area of ministry, I have also seen church marketing taken to negative extremes.

Lately, as I have been reading Mark, I have been thinking about how Jesus’ ministry fits into the modern definitions of marketing. Specifically, I have been thinking about the 4 P’s of the marketing mix - product, price, place (distribution), and promotion. Jesus’ ministry is an example of what ideal church marketing should look like. Although I should warn you, Christ’s example always sets the bar high. So here are some of my insights:

The 4 P’s of Jesus’ Ministry Marketing

• Product
  Jesus is perfect. He was sinless. Therefore, His ministry was perfect. It was remarkable, and consequently, it created word of mouth.
• Price
  Jesus’ ministry was free, financially speaking. It was accessible to both the wealthy and the poor. However, because Jesus’ ministry (His product) was perfect, He frequently experienced more demand for His ministry than He and His disciples could supply. People were willing to tear a hole in someone else’s roof so their paralyzed friend could see Jesus (Mark 2:4). In Mark 3:20, Jesus and His disciples could not find time to eat. And when at the lake, Jesus used a boat as an escape plan just in case the people crowded Him off the beach (Mark 3:8-9). Sometimes to lessen the demand, He raised the cost of the time and effort needed to see Him by traveling to a secluded place (Mark 1:45). But people still came from everywhere to see Him.
  
• Place (Distribution)
  Jesus frequently traveled to make Himself accessible to a greater region of people. He ministered in the synagogues, the streets, and the countryside. He ministered everywhere.
• Promotion
  Jesus had no need to promote His ministry because the “product” was flawless. People promoted His ministry for Him. However, because He had a face-to-face ministry, it could be said that He used personal selling for promotion.

How would Jesus market His ministry today?

Had Jesus’ ministry taken place 2,000 years later, I do not think much would have changed. His ministry (His product) would still be perfect and would garner significant amounts of word of mouth and press coverage. It would still be of no charge financially. The biggest change would be His use of technology. Without question, Jesus would use technology to its fullest potential to distribute His message to as many people as possible.

But what would Jesus do for promotion? Would He use advertising, direct marketing, interactive marketing, personal selling, public relations, or sales promotions? I think He would use interactive marketing and personal selling. He would have a website to bring His message to a greater number of people globally, and He would still have a personal face-to-face ministry. The other areas are debatable. With large levels of word of mouth and press coverage, why spend money on advertising, direct marketing, or public relations. I definitely cannot imagine Jesus using the gimmicks of sales promotions to attract people.

4 Types of Friends Every Pastor Needs

By Ike Reighard

Pastors may be the most well-known, loneliest men on the face of the earth. Friendship is a vital part of New Testament ministry and leadership. Without quality, biblical friendships, we are modeling a flawed Christian lifestyle for our church members. Yet, for many, the difficulties of pastoral friendships outweigh the benefits.

Most pastors find themselves in an unhealthy relationship where their wife is their only friend and counselor. If a pastor continues to project his problems onto his wife, she will grow disillusioned and desperate to leave the ministry. I believe a pastor’s wife should be his best friend, but she should not be his only friend. In my 30 years of ministry, I have learned that every pastor needs at least four types of friends:

The Developer
Your best friend will always be the person who brings out the very best in you. According to Billy Graham, he wouldn’t have made it as an evangelist if he had to minister alone. Over 53 years ago, Billy Graham met his staff and best friends: Cliff Barrows, George Beverly Shea, and Grady Wilson. These three men protected him, strengthened him, counseled with their wisdom, and corrected him when he needed it. He is convinced that without these friends he would have burned out within a few years after his first groundbreaking crusade in 1949 (Just as I Am: The Autobiography of Billy Graham, pp. 125-129).

Developer friends will bring the gift of encouragement to a pastor’s life and bring out the very best in him.

The Designer
We tend to think of mentors as a personal, hands-on coach. The Latin and Greek define them more as “advisors” or “wise men.” Jesus was a master mentor. He ministered to thousands, trained hundreds, equipped twelve, and had an intimate friendship with three men.

The designer mentors us in our marriage, ministry, child-rearing, civic involvement, business acumen, or any area where we need a model. Designer mentors may live near or far, be acquaintances or strangers, or may even be dead. They “design” our lives through Scripture, books, tapes, articles, or seminars.

The Disturber
We need friends who will shake up our status quo. Disturbers ask us difficult questions, forcing us to take a closer look at motivations and ambitions. Disturbers know when we have retreated into our comfort zones, and they call us out to greater effectiveness. God uses disturbers in our lives to become the object of greater force that breaks inertia and propels us to greater achievement.

A biblical picture of a disturber is in Deuteronomy 32:11. In this passage the mother eagle tears up the soft nest to reveal sharp thorns that bring discomfort to the eaglets. Because of discomfort, the eaglets leave the nest and learn to fly. The mother develops her young by repeatedly pushing them out of the nest and catching them until they become skilled flyers. Eagles were never meant to stay in the nest and neither were we. The disturber pushes us to learn to fly.

The Discerner
In a lifetime of relationships, perhaps only a handful of people are willing to play this vital role because it requires mutual vulnerability. More popularly known as accountability partners, discerners bring the gift of spiritual insight into our lives. They know how to speak the truth in love. They know how to exhort and rebuke, seeking to keep their friend on the right track. They are also vulnerable—the true friends who will walk into the room of your life while everyone else is walking out.

Proverbs 27:6 reads, “The wounds of a friend are trustworthy, but the kisses of an enemy are excessive.” Always be slow in choosing your discerners and even slower in leaving them.

If you are a typical pastor without close friendships, I urge you to seek them out. They may keep you in ministry for the long haul, and your wife will thank you.

Ike Reighard is the Founding Pastor of NorthStar Church in Kennesaw, Georgia. Adapted by Craig Webb from a previously published article.

How do you want people to remember you and your church?

We remember...

 10% of what we read,
    20% of what we hear,
    30% of what we see,
    40% of what we do and
    100% of what we feel.   

        -- Dr. Karl Pribram