Leadership Lessons

The moment you received Christ into your heart, you were born again. At that moment, God loved you as much as He ever will love you. Because His love is perfect, His love for you will never be any more or any less than at that instant you gave your life to Him. Yet, at times it is difficult to trust His love.Some time ago, a lady came into my office, brokenhearted over marriage issues. In spite of...

You want to move forward with courageous faith. When you have the strength and spiritual balance you need, you begin to have the courage to do something. The problem arises when we don’t do what we need to do—right now! Whether it’s beginning a new ministry or business, serving others, or simply spending time with God, chances are, if you procrastinate, you will never do it. In my book, Overcoming...

It’s been said that everything rises and falls on leadership. Leaders often say this when the organization is going well—seldom said when it’s struggling. I know that we have a tendency to make excuses for shortcomings or failures in leadership. We want to blame others, the economy, or the culture. Still others, however, feel a load of guilt, a sense of failure, when their organization is struggli...

We live in a society that is essentially non-confrontational. Their motto appears to be “Live and let live—your beliefs are true for you, and my beliefs are true for me.” In application, opposite or conflicting beliefs cannot be all true, and as a result, the claim is that there is no absolute truth. Consequently, having no firm beliefs leads to little or no conviction in the heart.Conviction prod...

"The people you call around you will greatly determine the level of your success." (John Maxwell) In his book, "From Good to Great", Jim Collins states that one of the central ingredients for the businesses that have gone from being a good company to a great company, is that the leader has placed the right people (staff) on "the bus". Much like a football coach needing to hire his assistants, the ...

I've heard it said that "money flows to good ideas". Or..."God's work, done God's way, will never lack for God's supply". Are these statements true? How many good churches hurt for money? How many growing churches need to add staff or build a new building, but they cannot afford it?Pastors often take the attitude "I don't feel comfortable preaching on money, it will offend people". Laymen sometime...

Once the Pastor has cast the vision, there must be a strategy to reach that vision. In Nehemiah 2, Nehemiah cast the vision and rallied the people to rebuild the wall. Afterwards, however, he had to organize the troops to accomplish the task.The first step is to establish objectives under your stated vision. These can be broad or unending tasks you want to be accomplishing until Jesus comes. One o...

Vision is a deep impression on the heart, an invitation to get involved in what God is doing.Proverbs 29:18 states, "Where there is no vision, the people cast of restraint." Vision defineswhere a church and organization is going. It describes, in general terms, your uniqueness inGod's ministry.George Barna has said that 98% of pastors have never articulated a vision to their church. Once a pastor ...

Once a pastor has helped the church define who it is and has established a relationship of trust (see last article), he is ready to cast a vision. Proverbs 29:18 states, "Where there is no vision, the people cast of restraint." Leadership magazine says, "Every great work and every great person has come under the influence of a vision that changed them, and therefore, changes others."How important ...

Vision is a hot topic today. However, a church cannot give direction for the future until they define who they are. John Maxwell has stated that the first job of a leader is to give purpose to the organization. Since we are the Bride of Christ, and Christ is the head, I want to be involved in His purpose.In Luke 19:10 we read, "For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost." ...