John Maxwell on the Hardest Thing in Leadership by Ron Edmondson

Whenever a discussion about leadership comes up in conversation, someone is always going to bring up the name John Maxwell.Maxwell, who is a trained and experienced pastor who passionately loves Christ and Kingdom work, has also greatly impacted the secular world with his leadership principles.
John has sold more than 18 million books and has trained more than 5 million leaders around the world with his non-profit organization called EQUIP. His latest book, Everyone Communicates Few Connect, shares

10 Keys to a Smart Staffing Strategy by Tony Morgan

I get to spend a lot of time with churches, either consulting related to staffing and structure or helping churches with searches for senior-level leaders. It’s been a long time since I shared some of the philosophies that shape how I coach leaders about church staffing, so I thought I’d give you a quick refresher. Here are…

10 Keys to a Smart Staffing Strategy

1. Think strategy before staffing structure. What’s your discipleship strategy? How do you help people who are new to your church become fully devoted followers of Christ? How do you reach people outside the faith and outside the church? Build your staffing structure around that strategy.
2. Hire ministry leaders rather

Francis Chan on Erasing Hell

Worth Watching. Francis Chan on why We Can't Afford to Get Hell Wrong. His new book coming out soon is called Erasing Hell and his thoughts are very interesting. Check it!

Restore Passion to Your Preaching: Three Essential Steps by Ken Davis

Many of my friends have confessed that occasionally they lose the passion in their preaching. In fact, most preachers have experienced this at least once in their ministry. Though few openly admit this, it is a secret that can't be hidden, because its symptoms eventually diminish the power of a pastor's preaching.

I remember reading several years ago about the account of a man who sat listening to a sermon, uneasy about the emotions he was feeling. The worship experience had been excellent; the sermon was well thought out, understandable and even applicable. Yet, as he listened, the man felt an unshakable sense of boredom. Where did it come from? He wondered why he felt no enthusiasm about the challenge of this message. It was well into the sermon when suddenly it dawned on him: He was bored because the pastor was bored—with another Sunday morning that demanded another 20-minute message delivered out of duty and without passion.
If you have lost the passion in your preaching, or if

10 Warning Signs that You Might Not Be a Healthy Leader by Perry Noble

Pastor/church leader…you have GOT to get healthy…emotionally, physically, and spiritually.  I will say that the overwhelming reason that many churches are not healthy is that the leaders in the church are not healthy.  What are some signs that you are not healthy?
#1 – You cannot remember the last time you clearly heard the Word of God speak to you about an issue in your own life.
#2 – You no longer use the Bible to learn more about Jesus and hear His voice…you are simply using it to find your next sermon.
#3 – You actually begin to hate and despise the people in your church (who, by the way, are the very people you are called to love)!
#4 – You spend more time on the cell phone and computer when you are at home than you do with your own family.
#5 – You are so obsessed with pleasing people and putting out fires that listening to God and doing what He says is no longer the goal of your life and ministry.
#6 – You often dream of being in another church…thinking that if you were somewhere else, you would have no problems.
#7 – You are spending time building up people of the opposite sex and having intimate conversations with them that SHOULD be taking place with your spouse.
#8 – You are often overwhelmed with feelings of intense sadness, and you don’t know why.
#9 – You can’t sleep.
#10 – You keep telling yourself (and your family) that one day everything is going to slow down.
I could go on and on…but seriously…if any of these stuck out to you, then PLEASE, do whatever it takes to get healthy.  Call a friend, get a counselor…take a day to just get away from your normal routine and spend time with the Lord.
The church needs devoted, passionate, and HEALTHY leaders!

ALL COPYRIGHT BELONGS TO CHURCH LEADERS AND PERRY NOBLE.

Why We Need to Throw Out the Term "Good Christian" by Francis Chan

I think it's time we stop asking ourselves the question: "Am I a good Christian?" We live in a time when the term "Christian" has been so diluted that millions of immoral but nice people genuinely consider themselves "good Christians." We have reduced the idea of a good Christian to someone who believes in Jesus, loves his or her family, and attends church regularly. Others will label you a good Christian even though your life has no semblance to the way Christ spent His days on earth. Perhaps we should start asking the question: "Am I a good Christ?" In other words, do I look anything like Jesus? This question never even entered my mind until a friend of mine made a passing comment to me one day.

Dan is a long time friend of mine. In fact, he's the pastor who performed my wedding. He was talking to me about a pastor named Von. Von has been working with youth in the San Diego area for decades. Many of his students have gone on to become amazing missionaries and powerful servants of God. Dan described a trip to Tijuana, Mexico, with Pastor Von. (Von has been ministering to the poor in the dumps of Tijuana for years.) Dan didn't speak of the awful living conditions of those who made their homes amidst the rubbish. What impacted Dan the most was the relationship he saw between Von and the people of this community. He spoke of the compassion, sacrifice, and love that he witnessed in Von's words and actions as he held these malnourished and un-bathed children. Then he made the statement that sent me reeling:

"The day I spent with Von was the closest thing I've ever experienced to walking with Jesus."

Dan explained that the whole experience was so eerie because he kept thinking to himself: "If Jesus were still walking on Earth in the flesh, this is what it would feel like to walk alongside of Him!" After that discussion, I kept wondering if anyone had ever said that about me-"The day I spent with Francis was the closest thing I've ever experienced to walking with Jesus." The answer was an obvious "no." Would any honest person say that about you?

What bothered me was not that I hadn't "arrived," but that I wasn't even heading in the right direction. I hadn't made it my goal to resemble Christ. I wasn't striving to become the kind of person who could be mistaken for Jesus Christ. Isn't it ironic that a man can be known as a successful pastor, speaker, and CHRISTian even if his life doesn't resemble Christ's?

1 John 2:6 "Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did."

When John made that statement, he wasn't speaking about how to be a church leader or even how to be a "good" Christian. He merely stated that anyone who calls himself Christian must live like Jesus did. So how did Jesus live? You could make a list of character traits to compare yourself to, but it would be far more beneficial to simply read through one of the Gospels. After you get a bird's-eye view of the life of Christ, do the same with your own. Are you comfortable with the similarities and differences?

It's easy to get caught up in the pursuit of "success" as American churchgoers define it. The thought of being well known and respected is alluring. There have been times when I've been caught up in the fun of popularity. I've even mistaken it for success. Biblically, however, success is when our lives parallel Christ's. Truth is there are many good Christs that you'll never read about in a magazine. They are walking as Jesus walked, but they are too focused and humble to pursue their own recognition.

May we make it our goal to someday have someone say of us: "The day/hour/15 minutes I spent with ______ was the closest thing I've ever experienced to walking with Jesus."

As Christians in America, we often complain about how antagonistic people are toward Christ. Personally, I'm not sure that Americans are really rejecting Christ. Maybe they just haven't seen Him.

Try to be COMPLETELY honest with yourself right now. Is the following true of you?

You passionately love Jesus, but you don't really want to be like Him. You admire His humility, but you don't want to be THAT humble. You think it's beautiful that He washed the feet of the disciples, but that's not exactly the direction your life is headed. You're thankful He was spit upon and abused, but you would never let that happen to you. You praise Him for loving you enough to suffer during His whole time on Earth, but you're going to do everything within your power to make sure you enjoy your time down here.

In short: You think He's a great Savior, but not a great role model.

The American church has abandoned the most simple and obvious truth of what it means to follow Jesus: You actually follow His pattern of life. I pray for those who read this article- that we don't become cynical or negative toward the church. Instead, let's make a personal decision to stop talking so much and begin living like Jesus. Then we can say as the Apostle Paul, "Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ." (1 Corinthians 11:1) My guess is that you've never had someone say that to you, and you've never said it to anyone else. Why Not? 

ALL COPYRIGHT BELONGS TO CHURCH LEADERS AND THE CATALYST AND FRANCIS CHAN. 

Francis Chan is an author and church leader, formerly the pastor of Cornerstorne Church in Simi Valley, California. Chan has authored two books, Crazy Love & Forgotten God. He is also the founder of Eternity Bible College and sits on the board of directors of Children's Hunger Fund and World Impact. Francis lives in California with his wife, Lisa, and their four children
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5 Warning Signs You Have a Vision Gap by Tony Morgan

If you’ve been to London, you’re very likely familiar with “the Tube.” The Tube is what they call their subway system. Wherever you travel using the subway in London, you’re always told to “Mind the gap.” You hear that phrase on the loudspeakers. You see that phrase plastered throughout the subways. You won’t be in London very long before you’re aware of the warning to “Mind the gap.”
When you’re traveling in London, “the gap” refers to the space between the subway platform and the train. As you’re stepping out the train, there’s a caution to mind the gap between the train and the platform. It would be a bad day if you fell in the gap.
That word picture struck a chord with me, because I think there’s a gap that exists in churches today as well. In recent months, I’ve been warning church leaders to “Mind the gap.” There’s a gap between the vision and the people who are waiting to execute the vision. Unfortunately, leaders with big vision tend to ignore the gap. They buy into the myth that if people unify behind a clear vision, the ministry will succeed. Let me explain why that type of thinking may lead to you getting stuck.
Today, it’s not uncommon for churches to have vision statements. Knowing the importance of unifying behind a clear vision, leaders have gone through many conversations and exercises to develop the church’s vision statement. Let’s look at an example. Let’s assume our church’s vision statement is: “Love God. Love people. Change a community.” That’s a very compelling vision.
With their new vision statement completed, leaders will preach messages and create campaigns to gain support of the new vision. If the leader is effective in vision casting and has built trust, people will rally behind the vision and the leader. The vision statement may end up on the Web site, in the weekly bulletin, on the walls of the church facilities. In fact, if the communications and vision casting strategy is executed effectively, it’s possible for everyone in the church to know and embrace the vision of the church.
That’s the problem. It’s possible for everyone to know the vision and still not have any clue what they’re supposed to do to help make the vision become reality. The problem is that church leaders have failed to “mind the gap.” For churches, the gap is that space between vision and execution that generates results. The gap includes the specific strategies and systems that are established to accomplish the vision. Visually, it may look like this:

Vision + [Strategies & Systems] + Execution = Results

When there’s a strategies and systems gap, churches end up just “doing church” — they do what churches have always done. They may have a unique vision statement from the church down the street, but they end up employing the same methods as the church down the street. They do that because no one took the time to figure out what strategies and systems would be required to accomplish the vision. That’s how churches end up doing the same things churches have always done but hoping for different results.
Here are some warning signs that your ministry may not be minding the gap:

• Since you haven’t clarified your strategies and systems, the loudest person decides what does or doesn’t happen in your church.
• You lose great staff and lay leaders to other churches or community organizations because you’ve not empowered them with clear strategies and systems.
• Because there’s a gap, good people with good hearts will try to fill the gap. They’ll start to develop their own strategies and systems to accomplish your vision. Eventually, you’ll have many people pulling in many directions, and that will create division and, ultimately, split churches.
• When you haven’t clarified strategies and systems, more meetings are required. Every time an issue pops up, you have to reinvent the wheel. People who crave power love this because there are more meetings to make decisions. People who crave ministry impact leave the church.
• Your giving plateaus or declines. People will give to vision when they know specifically how the vision is going to be accomplished. People do not give to a vision statement.

Most important, if people are sitting on the sidelines and aren’t engaged in ministry, that’s a loud warning that you need to mind the gap. People may have bought fully into your vision. They may be willing to invest their time to execute the vision. They may just be completely clueless as to what they’re supposed to do.
In his book The E-Myth Revisited, Michael Gerber said it this way:

“What makes people work is an idea worth working for along with a clear understanding of what needs to be done.”

You help people get a clear understanding of what needs to be done by minding the gap. You have to establish the specific strategy to accomplish the vision. And you need to establish the systems for executing that strategy. The systems make it possible for you to empower leaders and mobilize people. Without systems, you have to stay involved in every task and every decision.
So I already know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking: “This is a great business philosophy, but it has no place in a church. It’s not biblical.” In addition to minding the gap, I guess I can also read minds. We’ll cover biblical examples of ministry strategies and systems in the next article.
For those of you who have experienced “the gap,” what are some other warnings signs for us to consider?

ALL COPYRIGHT BELONGS TO CHURCH LEADERS AND TONY MORGAN.

How to Lead All the Time Without Leading All the Time by Artie Davis

Know what it feels like to pull someone else? I mean really carry the load? Like pulling someone in a wagon, carrying a load up a hill. That’s what leadership is. It’s carrying the load of vision and the pace.
We formed “PaceLines” when I was into cycling. Those are lines where you form a single line and “Draft” off one another. In other words, the leader in the front pulls the line by taking on most of the wind resistance. Those behind the leader have to work 30% less to keep up.
When the leader gets tired, they simply “peel off” and fall to the back of the line. Then, the next rider pulls until tired. This process is repeated until the original leader makes it back to the front again.
You can’t pull the pack all the time. If you try, you will burn out, and all the energy stored up by those behind you makes them restless. As the leader tires and becomes unwilling to allow someone else to lead, the pack loses time and wastes talent and resources.
The wise leader trains his team well, so he has the ability to rest when necessary. Here are some ideas to help accomplish that:

• Give young leaders small projects so they know how to carry the full load
• Make organization-wide campaigns, and let another take the lead
• Turn meetings over to other leaders to help others follow someone else
• Make another leader the point man for a season
• Form a leadership team on a project and rotate the leaders

As a leader, you must know when to “peel off” and rest. But your organization can’t fall apart while you are resting. So you must plan and equip your team for your seasons of rest. If done properly, you will be amazed at how much your team does with out you.
Are you ready to peel off? Can you?

ALL COPYRIGHT BELONGS TO CHURCH LEADERS AND ARTIE DAVIS

What makes a great leader by Charles Lee

Leadership is often defined as influence.

In my opinion, everyone possesses the ability to “influence” or lead others in the general sense of the word, but not everyone is a leader (i.e., someone who functions in a publicly recognized role of guiding or influencing others). I have worked with several people who influence the lives of many people but didn’t function well once given a key role of leadership in an organization and/or company.
The reality is that leadership in a formal sense requires a certain set of perspectives, values, and praxis that very few are able to carry out well. Over the years, I’ve had the privilege of working with some phenomenal leaders that are literally changing the landscape of our world. Here are a few insights I’ve picked up about what it takes to become a great leader:

• Pain Frames Purpose – Great leaders do not run away from pain, but rather, recognize that pain is what truly forms and informs their life purposes. It is not to say that they are sadistically seeking pain. Passion for one’s purpose is often fueled in part by one’s pain and suffering. Passion by definition is not only a reference to fervor but also the willingness to work with pain.
• Collaboration is Necessary for Creative Innovation – Leaders recognize that they cannot and will not do it alone. Every great endeavor needs a team or community to help it flourish. Great leaders move from simply wanting collaboration to needing it. In addition, they welcome voices from unrelated fields to spark creativity and refinement of purpose.
• Courage Guides Decisions – Great leaders are marked by their courage in decision making. They rarely lean towards the popular vote. Courage implies that there is often a deep presence of fear and obstacles. Courage is the ability to move forward in the presence of fear.
• Compassionate Justice Provides Perspective – No matter how tough a great leader may appear, deep inside they all care about the people they lead. Compassionate justice is a reference to a work that seeks to make things right with a posture of real care. Great leaders are leading because they feel they can change the environment or direction of something that could be better. People ultimately “follow” a leader because they sense that they have their best interest in mind, even if it means that they go against the grain.
• Focus of Implementation – Great leaders don’t just talk; they do. They realize the hard work is in the implementation of their vision and courage. They don’t make excuses nor choose to sit on their ideas. They simply move forward and figure things out along the way. Great leaders are focused on implementing better. They're not satisfied with a 30,000 feet view. They also want to see what’s right in front of them. The focus is not just greater vision but greater action.

Living life as a leader is a noble pursuit. It takes a special person to move beyond the romanticized benefits of its role.
Are you a leader? If so, our world needs you at your best!

ALL COPYRIGHT BELONGS TO CHURCH LEADERS AND CHARLES LEE.

Church Branding or Marketing? What's the Difference? by Maurilio Amorim

If “marketing” was the church’s buzzword for the ‘90s, “branding” is definitely the new, upstart concept when it comes to communications these days. So what makes the new millennium’s branding better than last century’s marketing strategy? A lot, if we understand the differences between them.

Branding and marketing both aim at communicating a product, an institution, even a person to a particular audience. This whole process happens solely in the mind. In this case, perception is reality—for good or bad. Most of what marketing does is build a brand—create a favorable reality in the minds of our target audience. A marketing campaign’s effectiveness is measured in months, but a brand’s strength is calculated in years, even decades. Each marketing effort should help define, position, and strengthen the brand.

Recently, the Old Spice campaign featuring Isaiah Mustafa has sold a lot of deodorant to men who want to be more like Isaiah and to wives who wished their husbands looked like Isiah. The once tired, old man brand got a new face, new energy, and lots of new sales through a shift in brand positioning.

So what about the church? How should we view the branding dilemma? First of all, we must remember that as far as the church is concerned, marketing is simply communication. Jesus commanded us in Luke 14:23 to go into the highways and lanes and “compel” them to come in. And for marketing to build a brand, it must be deliberate, systematic, and consistent.

Deliberate. Before we can begin to build a brand, we must know our branding statement and position. “We are a church; that’s our position,” you might argue. But within the category of churches, yours should have its own identity, calling, niche, passion, or however you want to define your uniqueness. That’s a deliberate message you need to continue to share, and it should always come through in your communication strategy.

Systematic. I was fortunate to be in on the birth and growth of a church that reached megachurch status in a very short period of time. Our brand statement was, “Real Hope for Real People in the Real World.” And boy, did we keep it real! The way we used music, graphic arts, and language reflected a church very much in tune with popular culture. We wanted to keep it real, and we did. “The church for people who don’t like church,” some would say. That was our brand. We drove home the message online, on every direct mail piece, radio and television spot. And it worked.

Consistent. “We tried this before; it didn’t work.” These are the famous last seven words of the dying church. You must be consistent with the message and with your efforts to continue to reach your community for Christ. Your strategy might change from one medium to another, but your consistency in message and focus should reinforce your brand. A strong visual logo is always a good way to build your brand. Lakewood Church in Houston, TX, does a great job with branding. At every opportunity, Lakewood lets you know that, “We believe in you!” Don’t give up after a few tries. Consistency pays dividends in the long run. Be patient, stick with it, and you will see results.

As you help your church through communication issues, remember to make sure you have a compelling brand statement that will be part of your marketing strategy for a long time. A good brand statement will add value to the reader and give him or her a new incentive to visit your church: “We believe in you.” Build that brand every chance you have: bulletins, letterhead, business cards, Web sites, billboards, radio spots, television spots, etc. Remember that you cannot over use your brand statement. You might be sick of it after a few years, but to some, it will be a new revelation. You know you’re doing a good job when you hear someone new to the church repeat it back to you. Oh, that’s always music to my years.

ALL COPYRIGHT BELONGS TO CHURCH LEADERS AND MAURILIO AMORIM

4 Reasons to Expand (Even When You Shouldn't) by Jamie Munson

God has been very gracious to Mars Hill Church. We’ve seen a lot of converts, a lot of growth, and a lot of evidence that Jesus is alive. It feels somewhat ridiculous to talk about the case for church growth because we’ve had nothing to do with it.
Just because it’s God at work and not us, however, doesn’t mean that growth is always easy. It requires perseverance because the future is uncertain, people resist change, and the temptation to rest on the status quo is strong.
In the face of a struggling economy, a divided leadership, a lack of generosity—whatever your church is going through—here are four reasons to pursue and pray for expansion anyway:
1) Jesus will build his church.
Jesus has more for his church. That’s why we’re still here. He promised to build the church (Matt. 16:18), and we must trust that he will. This requires acting on God’s calling even if you don't always know exactly how things are going to play out. Jesus often asks his disciples to trust him, even when the plan seems obscure—or downright impossible (Luke 9:10–17).
2) The opposite of growth is death.
The living grow; the dying do not. A church need not add to its numbers in astronomical proportions, but if nobody is showing up, chances are nobody is meeting Jesus, which is the whole point. Also, spiritual growth is inextricably linked to numerical growth (though it’s not always an exponential relationship); if people are truly growing in their faith, they will give, they will serve, they will invite their friends, they will tell people about Jesus, they will live on mission—all of which leads to some level of numerical growth as God works through his people.
3) We want the church to mature.
We all have a tendency to cling to our lives, our money, and our time as if we were somehow entitled to it in the first place, as if it were not a gift from God to be used for his glory. Large visions and large projects require large faith, large giving, and large amounts of volunteers to own the mission. It should be somewhat difficult and painful because it should be a sacrifice. Through sacrifice, God destroys our selfish ways and teaches us to treasure Jesus above our comfort and our self-sufficiency.
4) More people need Jesus.
Our plans ultimately rest in God’s hands (Prov. 16:9), but our ultimate objective is clear: more disciples and more churches so that more people can meet Jesus (Matt. 28:19; Acts 1:8).
Please pray for healthy growth (and the necessary pruning) in Jesus’ church throughout the world.

ALL COPYRIGHT BELONGS TO CHURCH LEADERS, THE RESURGENCE, AND JAMIE MUNSON.

10 Tips on Handling Conflict by Rod Edmondson

In every life situation involving people, whether among family, friends, or co-workers, there will be potential for conflict.  In fact, if relationships are normal, conflict is inevitable.  It seems to reason then that learning to deal with conflict successfully should be our goal, especially those of us who desire to lead organizations.
Here are 10 tips for more effective handling of conflict in your life:

1. Understand the battle.  What is the real source of the conflict?  Make sure you are addressing with the real issue.
2. Find the right time and place to confront the conflict.  When emotions are high is not good timing for dealing with conflict.  Personal conflict should not be handled in public.
3. Examine yourself first.  Sometimes, the issue is personal to you, and you are only blaming others for your problem.
4. Consider the other side of the conflict.  Put yourself in the other person’s shoes and consider their viewpoint in the conflict.
5. Do not overreact to the issue or overload on emotion.  Stick to the issue at hand.
6. Do not dance around or sugarcoat the issue or disguise it in false kindness.  Sometimes, we fail to address the conflict because we are afraid of how the other person may respond or we are afraid of hurting feelings.  The avoidance usually will cause more conflict eventually.
7. Do not allow the small disagreements to become big disagreements without confronting them along the way.  Minor conflict is always easier to handle than major conflict.
8. Be firm but gentle.  Learn the balance between the two.
9. Work towards a solution.  Never waste conflict, but use it to make the organization and relationships better.  The best-case scenario is a win-win situation, but ultimately, the conflict needs to be resolved with the right solution.
10. Grant forgiveness easily and do not hold a grudge or seek revenge.  Healthy teams handle conflict and allow it to make the organization stronger.

Those are my suggestions.  How do you handle conflict?

ALL COPYRIGHT BELONGS TO CHURCHLEADERS.COM AND ROD EDMONDSON.

Ron Edmondson is a pastor and church leader passionate about planting churches, helping established churches thrive, and assisting pastors and those in ministry think through leadership, strategy and life. Ron has over 20 years business experience, mostly as a self-employed business owner, and he's been in full-time ministry for over 8 years

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Keep It Real By Tim Hughes

How Do We Maintain Our Heart Values As A Worship Lead?

As a worship leader, the most important thing is your heart, your attitude and your values. There is the danger that if you’re doing a lot of upfront “stuff,” the upfront stuff becomes the focus, and the hidden life can be neglected. That’s a very dangerous thing.                                                                        

I think for leaders generally, it is so important to have those people in your life to whom you’re accountable, who can speak into the things that you do, and who can ask those tough questions. Personally, I’m so grateful for those friends who will sometimes ask me the hard questions, like “Tim, what’s your motivation?” They may say, “Tim, what you’re doing now – I’m not so sure that’s a such good thing.” It’s tough to take but it’s wonderful because it keeps you real and reminds you what it’s all about. Accountability helps you to focus on the important things – focus on God, and on maintaining your relationship with God. I’m a child of God first, and that’s the most important relationship to me. That’s the difference.  

How Can We Better Facilitate “Spirit-led” Worship                            

In our churches, we have too many song leaders and not enough worship leaders. I think the difference between the two is that a worship leader is trying to see what God’s doing, and follow that. A song leader just plows through the songs without thinking of much else. We’ve had times in our church recently where God’s intervened in a time of worship just poured out His Spirit and the whole meetings been “hijacked” by God! It’s absolutely amazing. We wish He’d do that more and more.  In those moments, God suddenly makes it clear what He wants to do among His people in that time of meeting together. That’s an exciting thing, but there is also a responsibility for the worship leader and the worship band. It is the responsibility to prepare themselves, to get their hearts ready, to get the songs that they’ve practiced and rehearsed ready. Then they’re ready to go for it in those powerful times, and to be open to what God wants to do. 

ALL COPYRIGHT BELONGS TO WORSHIP TRAINING AND TIM HUGHES                                                           

15 Signs Your Church Is in Trouble By Perry Noble

1. When excuses are made about the way things are instead of embracing a willingness to roll up the sleeves and fix the problem.
2. When the church becomes content with merely receiving people that come rather than actually going out and finding them…in other words, they lose their passion for evangelism!
3. The focus of the church is to build a great church (complete with the pastors picture…and his wife’s…on everything) and not the Kingdom of God.
4. The leadership begins to settle for the natural rather than rely on the supernatural.
5. The church begins to view success/failure in regards to how they are viewed in the church world rather than whether or not they are actually fulfilling the Great Commission!
6. The leaders within the church cease to be coachable.
7. There is a loss of a sense of urgency!  (Hell is no longer hot, sin is no longer wrong and the cross is no longer important!)
8. Scripture isn’t central in every decision that is made!
9. The church is reactive rather than proactive.
10. The people in the church lose sight of the next generation and refuse to fund ministry simply because they don’t understand “those young people.”
11. The goal of the church is to simply maintain the way things are…to NOT rock the boat and/or upset anyone…especially the big givers!
12. The church is no longer willing to take steps of faith because “there is just too much to lose.”
13. The church simply does not care about the obvious and immediate needs that exist in the community.
14. The people learn how to depend on one man to minister to everyone rather than everyone embracing their role in the body, thus allowing the body to care for itself.
15. When the leaders/staff refuse to go the extra mile in leading and serving because of how “inconvenient” doing so would be.

ALL COPYRIGHT BELONGS TO CHURCHLEADERS.COM AND PERRY NOBLE. 

Perry Noble is the founding and senior pastor of NewSpring Church in Anderson, Greenville and Florence, South Carolina. At just nine years old, the church averages over 10,000 people during weekend services and is launching another campus in Columbia, South Carolina. Perry is convicted about speaking the truth as plainly as possible. A prolific blogger, he’s also the author of Blueprints: How to Build Godly Relationships.

Charlie Sheen, Tiger Woods, and What It Means to Fall from Grace By Steven Furtick

I always used to associate the expression, “fall from grace,” with major acts of sin. Enormous failures. Significant falls.
People who fell from grace were people like Ted Haggard, who lost his church and nearly lost his family after admitting to a homosexual affair after years of speaking out against homosexuality.
Or Tiger Woods, who had an affair that cost him his family and tens of millions of dollars.
Or Charlie Sheen who…well, pulled a Charlie Sheen.
So falling from grace was where you had an affair. Cheated people. Engaged in an addictive behavior. Melted down in public. In general, had some kind of an enormous moral failure and lost everything. Your reputation. Your family. Your livelihood. In the case of Charlie Sheen, your sanity.
That’s what I used to think. And if you were honest, it’s probably what you associate falling from grace with as well.
But we’re both wrong. That’s not what it means. The true definition is astonishing. And infinitely more threatening, convicting, and relevant to most Christians than the stories of the men above.
If you go back to where the phrase comes from in the Bible, here’s what you read:
You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace (Galatians 5:4).
Crap. Ted, Tiger, and Charlie can no longer be our punching bags for falling from grace.
I understand why they are. They’re easy targets. They warn us of the danger of falling into sin and ruining our lives. And if we’re honest, they make us feel better about ourselves. But here’s the truth: Most Christians aren’t in danger of pulling a Charlie Sheen or a Tiger Woods or a Ted Haggard. We’re in danger of something far more deceptive and equally offensive to God.
And that’s living as if we have no need of His grace. It’s believing that all of our good deeds actually put us in a better position before God. That because we’re not Charlie, Tiger, or Ted; we’re closer to God, even if only by an inch.
This couldn’t be further from the truth.
Even if you read your Bible everyday and now have it memorized in Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and the 1611 KJV.
Even if you never have an affair.
Even if you live a life that makes the Pharisees look like cat-strangling, coke-snorting, Wiccan worshippers.
Even if you have it all together.
When Jesus comes back and every knee bows and every tongue confesses that He is Lord, your head won’t be one centimeter higher than Charlie’s. Or Tiger’s. Or Ted’s. Or anyone else’s.
The quickest way to fall from grace is to think that there is an ounce of your life that isn’t dependent on it. Every step that you take to be acceptable to God in your own effort apart from Jesus and the cross is actually a step away from God.
Don’t fall away from grace. Ted needs it. Tiger needs it. Charlie needs it.
But so do you. And so do I.

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Steven Furtick is the Lead Pastor of Elevation Church, an incredible move of God in Charlotte, NC with more than 6,000 in attendance each week among three locations. He is the author of the forthcoming book, Sun Stand Still. He lives in Charlotte with his wife Holly and their two sons, Elijah and Graham.

5 Things Creative Leaders Need From Their Pastors by Stephen Brewster

Here are 5 things that I believe every creative team needs from their pastor:
1. Permission to fail. No one enjoys failure, but the reality is if we want amazing and really creative experiences, there is a very solid chance that at times we are going to fail. Real art is not safe. Safe stuff is created in the middle, but really amazing stuff, the stuff people remember and can’t ignore, is created on the edges. Sometimes when we are creating on these edges, we may fall in the ditch. Knowing that we are allowed to fail from time to time creates the safety to really experiment. That does not give creative teams permission to be lazy, but really places a healthy pressure on us as creative teams to create unforgettable vehicles for the amazing content that pastors are communicating. We have the greatest story of all time to tell; we should utilize the greatest vehicles for that story.
2. Communication. Never be afraid to communicate what you like and what you dislike. Be clear and very candid. Being aware of expectations helps to create clarity for what should and should not be created inside your organization. Another key in communication is the ability to articulate where you are headed with your content. Give as much info as you can, as early as you can, so that the creative team can dig in and find the best tools to help share the amazing content God is placing on your heart. When a team has a week to execute your vision, they will not create as great of an experience as they would if they had a month.
Also key in healthy communication is to celebrate victories publicly and criticize in private. Creative teams by nature are going to be emotional and get attached to their creations. Besides you as a communicator, no other department in your church leaves as much personal DNA on a weekend as your creative team. Criticism is healthy and necessary, but protect your team and it will build an amazing amount of equity between both parties. Communication will make or break your creative process.
3. Trust. We have to trust each other. There is a song that we have in our rotation right now that is not Pete’s favorite. I love the fact that he trusts us to continue to try to work the song and he trusts that we have a purpose behind why we are trying to make the song work. Pete also trusts that if the song does not work, we are going to pull it and not risk negatively impacting the momentum that God is building around Cross Point. Trust goes beyond music. It is also vital to external communication, creation of vehicles for content, and the hustle both parties are putting into what is being created. Trust is also necessary in the creative meetings. In our meetings, we need to make sure the playing field is level and everyone is trusting, not focusing on titles or position. If that trust is not there, people will be afraid to communicate their true feelings about ideas, concepts, and impact.
4. Inclusion. Pete is great at this. Keep creative arts included in the conversation. Knowing what is going on and eliminating surprises as much as possible helps everyone plan, be prepared, and create our best stuff.
5. Space to create. As a pastor and a boss, be as involved as you can be in the process, but once you feel you have contributed to the process, allow the team to create. If you walk by the creative suite and wonder why half the team is laying on the floor with Hillsong music playing and the other half of the team is playing ping-pong, understand that may be part of their process. When expectations are set and clear, allow the process to be worked out in the methods that allow creative teams to be their most creative. What works for one person may not work best for the next. 

ALL COPYRIGHT BELONGS TO CHURCHLEADERS.COM AND STEPHEN BREWSTER

Stephen Brewster is the Creative Arts Pastor at @crosspoint_tv in Nashville, TN.