Archives For Leadership

Getting Ready for Wibo

May 16, 2008 — 1 Comment

I’m excited about heading up to Northern Virginia next week for the Whiteboard Sessions. It’s a one day church leadership conference. The idea is great, 8 leaders, each given 30 minutes to share one compelling idea about the church. I have read books or listened to sermons from every single speaker, so I’m pretty pumped about getting to learn from them. I’m also getting to join a blogger’s lunch during the break where I finally get to meet several of the bloggers that I have connected with over the internet. Jennifer calls them all my “fake friends”, so this will be good to actually meet them in person so that they aren’t fake anymore. Jennifer is going with me and she even gets to go to a special pastor’s wife luncheon.

It’s going to be a quick trip, we leave late on Wednesday night and will drive until we get there, sleep a few hours, and then head over to the conference. After that we are meeting up with some of Jennifer’s family that live near D.C. On Friday we are heading over to ikea to pick up some furniture for the downtown building at church and then driving back. It’s about 300 miles each way, so we will have a busy week.

In Church Related, Leadership
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Screenless Mornings

April 16, 2008 — Leave a comment


In preparing my sermon about our addictions in life, I realized that I needed to make some changes. I have to work hard to protect my time alone with God each day. I’m wired as a task oriented person who likes to get things done. It is too easy to start each day reading emails, making phone calls, and start working on my to-do list without taking the time to focus my day. So I am setting some boundaries to ensure that I start each day off right. For the first hour and half each morning, I am going screenless. No computer, no cell phone, no tv, no email, no blogger, no twitter, no Google Reader. Nothing but my books, my Bible, and my God. I am several days into this commitment and I can already tell a huge difference. If we want to be disciplined, then we must be willing to do something about it. I feel like I was letting all the computer stuff come between me and my time with God, so I made some changes.

What are you struggling with?
What is coming between you and God?
What changed do you need to make in your life?

Don’t be afraid to make the tough decisions.

In Leadership, Technology
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Interesting Post on Leadership

April 11, 2008 — Leave a comment

Tony Morgan has a great post on the importance of leadership. I have seen this played out over and over again within churches. You see families or factions within a church trying to exert control without the responsibility that goes along with it. It saddens me to see a lack of unity in so many churches in our area. As I have talked with other ministers, it seems like many of them are struggling with people who are stepping up trying to exert control and hijack the vision of the church. This post makes me realize that much of the blame lies with the leadership not having and sharing the vision, strategy, and plan for the church. Here are a few of his statements that really stood out to me. Check out Tony’s post here.

  • Without vision, people will define their own vision and the loudest voice will prevail.
  • Without strategy, people will do what they’re most passionate about whether or not it helps the organization fulfill its mission.
  • Without leadership, people will follow the leader they choose or assume they’re the leader.
In Leadership
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Into The Sunset

April 10, 2008 — 1 Comment

Literally, not metaphorically. I went jogging on the beach right at sunset tonight. Actually I did much more walking and standing than jogging, but it makes me feel better about eating so much to say I went jogging. I spent a lot of time just gazing out across the ocean, listening to the waves and listening to God’s voice.

We made a quick trip down to Charleston to see Jennifer’s sister and her family. We spent last night at her house in North Charleston. Tonight we were able to find a small one bedroom condo at Isle of Palms. We are going to stay here a couple of nights and then head home for church on Sunday. This place is such a paradise. We made our first trip to the Charleston area on our honeymoon almost 13 years ago. Since then, we have been back probably 10 times. I love the area around Isle of Palms and Mount Pleasant. The beaches are gorgeous, and it is the perfect place to bring the family. Since it is mostly a residential area, the beaches aren’t crowded. When I went jogging tonight, I went for minutes at a time without passing anyone.

But there is something about the ocean that stirs inside my soul. A change of pace with a change of place will you give a change of perspective. I just spent time listening to God. It’s strange that the beach is such a spiritual place for someone from the mountains. I think the reverse is true as well. People from the beach always come to the mountains to connect with God. Just looking at God’s creation in a new way speaks to my heart and encourages me to stand firm in the faith.

And what did I hear God speak to my heart, “Be who I called you to be” Now it’s up to me to sort that out.

In Family, Leadership
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Finding Your Voice

April 3, 2008 — Leave a comment

When I preach, I want it to be God’s words from me. This is something that I have struggled with over the past 8 months as I have transitioned from a full time design engineer to a full-time pastor. I don’t want to imitate other preachers, I really want to find my voice. It’s good to listen to other pastors and learn why they are effective communicators, but if I just try to sound like them, I won’t be effective.

Why? Because the people at Cornerstone know me, they know my quirks and they know my strengths and weaknesses. They know how I talk during the week, they know my weird sense of humor. They know my passion. If I am simply reading someone else’s sermon, they would immediately know it. But if I tried to imitate someone else, they may not notice. At least at first, but after a while they would sense that something was wrong. That is why it is so important for me to BE me. This past week at church was one of those weeks where I listened to quite a few sermons and read and researched about the principle of giving. But the end sermon came from the way my mind thinks. I didn’t like the logic behind some of the sermons I listened to. I learned from them, but I had to start with the way my mind works. I had to start with what God’s Word teaches. I want my sermons to logically progress. I don’t want to go off on tangents that lead nowhere.

One more thought. The same principle is true for worship bands. It’s great to listen to CD’s to get ideas, but in the end, you must find your own voice. If you want people to follow you in worship, they need to know the real you. That’s true for pastors, teachers, worship leaders, and anyone else that stands in front of the congregation. Our people are longing for authenticity, but are we willing to really find our voice.

In Leadership
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Visioneering

March 18, 2008 — Leave a comment

I just finished reading Visioneering by Andy Stanley and I wanted to share a few things that I learned. I had a little trouble getting into the first half of the book. I don’t know if it was just me, but the book really didn’t grab me until the later chapters. Andy Stanley weaves in leadership and vision lessons as he takes us through the story of Nehemiah rebuilding the wall. He tackles how visions are formed through prayer, how and when we should share visions, how to handle criticism, and how to maintain your moral authority in striving to achieve God-ordained visions.

For me, this was exactly what I needed to read at this point in my ministry. At times, I have been a hesitant and reluctant leader and I have let other people hijack the vision that God has put in my heart. I am learning how important it is to …

  1. Stay connected to God through prayer and Bible study so I can clearly listen to his voice
  2. Maintain moral authority by living a life that honors God
  3. Ignore distractions and criticism that would bring me down off the wall. I agree with what Perry Noble shared at Unleash. I will only listen to criticism from those people who love God and love me. Criticism from others does nothing but tear you down.
  4. Share the vision clearly and passionately so that others can see God at work and so that God will get the glory

I want to leave you with the closing quote from the book. I think all leaders are burdened. They aren’t satisfied with the way things are. Leaders are able to see how things could be, and that vision creates an inner struggle at times. Our tendency is too give up when things get tough, or to push so hard to achieve the vision that people are hurt in the process. We must maintain our focus on God and the vision he has given us, but we must honor Him in how we lead others. Here is Andy’s quote.

Everybody has a mental picture of what could and should be for his life. But not everybody will pay the price to turn that mental image into reality.
If you are consumed with the tension between what is and what is and what could be, if you find yourself emotionally involved … frustrated … broken-hearted … maybe even angry … about the way things are, and if you believe God is behind your anguish, then chances are you are on the brink of something divine. Something too important to walk away from.
Pay the price.
Embrace the vision.
After all, everybody ends up somewhere in life.
You have the opportunity to end up somewhere on purpose.

In Book and Music Reviews, Leadership
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Reflections on Unleash

March 15, 2008 — Leave a comment

Going to conferences usually evokes several emotions in me. I am usually excited about what I’m about to learn, but secretly I sometimes dread the travel, the time away from home, and the confusion that typically exists about where to go and what to do. It’s just my structured, analytical side coming out. I went to Unleash this week with my emotional ministry tank running low. It’s been a tough few months for me for a number of reasons, but the end result is that I didn’t know what to expect.

From the time we pulled into the parking lot, there were smiling faces everywhere. Thank you NewSpring for having volunteers so passionate and excited about the vision of your church. The main sessions were inspiring, the breakouts were informative and I left energized and excited about what God has called me to do. I think the second main session gave everyone a glimpse of what pastors go through. The emotional weight of leading a church can be overwhelming at times, and the conference really encouraged pastors. Thank you NewSpring for realizing that we are all in this together. That as churches we should share and encourage one another instead of competing against each other.

The worship led me to tears several times. I think everyone in our group was caught a little off guard by the volume and especially the subwoofers (right Sonda), but I absolutely loved it. I guess that is the result of going to so many youth conferences and concerts over the years. After the conference, our group from Cornerstone stopped and ate supper at Sticky Fingers in Greenville. As a pastor, I was excited to see how God birthed a passion in our people from seeing the volunteers at NewSpring. But it all comes down to vision. Having a vision to reach people in our community. Having a vision to help people grow and become more like Christ. I think everyone is starting to realize the impact that a church can have if they become passionate about fulfilling the Great Commission. God is amazing. He knows exactly what I need to hear and when I need to hear it. Thank you NewSpring and Perry for listening to God, and for encouraging and motivating our church to follow God passionately.

In Church Related, Leadership
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It’s been a week of planning and recuperation

February 29, 2008 — Leave a comment

This has been a good week for me. I have preached 18 out of the last 19 weeks and I was getting a little behind on some administration and planning. I was also getting a little run-down physically and emotionally as well. I appreciate Sam stepping up to preach this week. I actually get a longer break because Ken Freeman is in town and will speak at Cornerstone the next week. Ken will be in town for 5 nights doing a big community event that is being sponsored by numerous local churches. I will be pretty busy helping with that and then I will go to the Unleash conference. Since that week will be so busy, I have asked Todd Shaw to speak at Cornerstone. So all together, I have three weeks to get caught back up.

I will be focusing on several things.

  • I want to get a long range sermon plan done. I already have about 5 different sermon series that I would like to plan out. I want to get together rough outlines and main points so that we can start creatively planning the rest of the service.
  • I want to spend some time working on processes. Most problems we have in church are due to not having a clearly defined process. I will be looking at everything from our children’s checkin process to handling benevolence needs to following up with visitors.
  • I have about 4 books that I want to read in the next few weeks. I finished one yesterday, so 3 more to go.
  • I want to read my Bible more than I have been. I have been reading mostly for study, not for devotion.
  • There is still a lot of work and decisions that need to be made for the building downtown, so I will be spending some time on that as well.
  • Encouragement: we all need more of it. I want to spend some one on one time with many of our leaders to encourage them and help them.

As a leader, I want to do everything I can to position our church to have the greatest impact. It’s all about seeing lives transformed, marriages healed, addictions broken, and God glorified. I’m already feeling rejuvenated not having to prepare a sermon for this week. I love teaching and preaching but it does take a lot out of you physically and mentally.

In Church Related, Leadership
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