Your Journey Blog

Wonder and anger

It's hard to imagine two emotions more different from one another.

And yet one can easily replace the other. A sense of wonder and grinding anger can't co-exist.

Great innovations, powerful interactions and real art are often produced by someone in a state of wonder. Looking around with stars in your eyes and amazement at the tools that are available to you can inspire generosity and creativity and connection.

Anger, on the other hand, merely makes us smaller.

via sethgodin.typepad.com

Foundational Characteristics of Missional Leaders-Part 2

One of my favorite leadership books is "Be, Know, Do: Leadership the Army Way" by Frances Hesselbein and General Eric K. Shinski (USA Ret.) This book takes a close look at the official Army Leadership Manual and applies its principles to the corporate and civic leadership realms. Here is the Army's definition of leadership, "Leadership is influencing people, by providing purpose, direction, and motivation while operating to accomplish the mission and improving the organization". (pg 5) This definition has three words that stand out to me: influencing, operating and improving. Influencing: motivating and loving others in the mission for the mission. Operating: creating plans, developing systems and managing their execution so that the mission is achieved. Improving: adding value to those around you and to the organization for the betterment of the mission.

So what does a missional leader look like in a local church? Last time we looked at the first two of four qualities of those leaders who are seeking to align themselves and their churches with God's mission. The first was THEY ARE PASSIONATE FOLLOWERS OF CHRIST and the second was THEY INSPIRE OTHERS TO WORSHIP GOD. The final two qualities are:

3. They serve out of their unique giftedness.

Missional leaders are comfortable in their own skin. They understand that God, in His sovereignty, has bestowed upon them a unique personality, a unique story and a set of spiritual gifts, through the Holy Spirit, for the purpose of fulfilling God's missional purposes through the local church. The Apostle Paul tells us how to think about ourselves in light of our unique gifts when he wrote, "Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you". (Romans 12:3 NIV)

First, we are to refrain from thinking of ourselves too 'highly' because when it comes to spiritual gifts there is no ground for an inflated view of ourselves because the gifts are given by God, for God, and His mission. Second, we are to think with 'sober judgment' which means, sound thinking or a healthy perspective when it comes to our giftedness. In light of this healthy perspective the missional leader celebrates what God has given them, determines to develop those gifts to their fullest potential and becomes humbly dependant on the rest of the body of Christ because they understand that all the gifts are needed for God's mission to be fulfilled.

Missional leaders create a gifts oriented culture by celebrating all the gifts that God has given to the body. They provide pathways for others in discovering how their unique personality, life experiences and spiritual gifting fit in God's missional purposes. These leaders also come alongside and challenge people to use and sharpen their gifts to their utmost potential. The Apostle Paul wrote these words to a young leader, "For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God". (II Timothy 1:6 NIV) Missional leaders are urgently calling God's people into service because every gift is needed to fulfill the mission of making more and better disciples around the world.

4. They have a heart for the lost all around them.

In Acts 17:16 we read, "While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols" (Acts 17:16 NIV). While waiting for his traveling companions, he wandered the streets of Athens, the intellectual capital of the world and the center of sophisticated Greek cultural. As he strolled through the city his heart began to stir deep within him causing him great pain and personal distress because of all the hopelessness he encountered every time his came across the lifeless idols throughout the city. One man described Athens as a junkyard of idols; people giving their lives, their time, and resources to images made by the hands for men.

Missional leaders see the world through a different set of lenses. They see the world through the eyes of a God who is on mission and cries out to a lost world "Where are you?" and "What is this you have done?" (Genesis 3:8, 13 NIV) They see the world through the heart of a God who so loved the world the he gave and he gave his Son sacrificially so that those who came to him would experience the very life of God. (John 3:16) This deep stirring within their souls causes missional leaders to act and to freely accept the call and the challenge from Jesus when he said, "As the Father has sent me, I am sending you" (John 20:21 NIV).

The Apostle Paul's heart was broken not only for the lost souls of Athens but for the whole world. This is why he wrote, "Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel that I may share in its blessings" (I Corinthians 9:19-13 NIV). In Athens, Paul figured out how to reach sophisticated Greeks. In Jewish circles, he knew what to do to reach his fellow Jews.

Missional leaders not only feel the burden of God's mission but they also act on the burden and act upon it sacrificially. Leading a missional church is not for the faint of heart. It takes courage to push yourself beyond your comfort zone and to lead the church beyond it personal limits. Brokenness, inner turmoil and sacrifice will always be part of the missional leader's life.

Excerpt from NextSteps for Leading a Missional Church

NextSteps for Leading a Missional Church - Webinar Series

One key difference between a follower and a leader is that a leader knows what the next steps are for their organization. Even if the specifics of those next steps are still unclear, a true leader will relentlessly search for ideas, advice and counsel to get their organization to the next level.

NextSteps is designed for any church leader who embraces the missional lifestyle, and aligns the ideas and tools around building healthy church systems that allows the church to actualize its values and achieve its mission.

Announcing the NextSteps Webinar Series! The NextSteps Series interprets the research from the Natural Church Development Paradigm by Christian Schwarz in a missional context.

The first event--Characteristics & Skills of a Missional Leader--is scheduled for February 15, 2011 at 1pm Eastern/10am Pacific.

Event Overview: There is a lot of buzz about the word "missional" these days. Some of it's good and some not so good! Gary Rohrmayer in partnership with CoachNet presents the NextSteps free webinar series for pastors, church planters and leaders. In hopes of bring some theological and practical clarity to the issue of missional leadership and missional living.

• Are you wondering how I can get my life in the center of God’s missional purposes?
• Are you struggling with how to lead your church into the center of God’s great redemptive flow?
• What are the foundational characteristics and essential skills of a missional leader?

In this 60 minute webinar--where you don’t have to travel or spend any money Gary Rohrmayer will be joined by Jonathan Reitz of CoachNet. And you will:

• Understand what it means to live missionally in this world
• Discover 4 foundational characteristics of a missional leader
• Learn about the 4 essentials skills of a missional leader
• Receive ideas to grow how to grow as missional leader.

You can expect to learn

• What drives a missional leader
• What keeps a missional leader on mission
• What a missional leader does

Register here for the NextSteps Webinar on February 15, 2011 at 1pm Eastern/10am Pacific.

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Other topics that Gary Rohrmayer will consider in the NextSteps Web Series:

• Missional Leadership: What are the foundational characteristics and essential skills of a missional leader?
• Missional Vision, Values and Systems: How to you bring missional alignment to vision, values and systems?
• Effective Systems: How do you measure the health of your church both quantitatively and quality?
• Need-oriented Evangelism: How do create a system the consistently raise the evangelistic temperature of your church?
• Leadership Development: How do turn your church into a leadership engine?
• Passionate Spiritual: What does spiritual formation look like in your church?
• Inspiring Worship Services: How do you insure that every Sunday is a high impact worship service?
• Holistic Small Groups: What are systems are you creating to sustain community in your church?
• Loving Relationships: How are you systematically insuring the biblical relating is happening throughout your church?
• Gift-oriented Ministry: How are you assisting your leaders in finding their sweet spot in ministry?
• Kingdom Advancement: Nine prayers of a missional leader.

Green Bay Packers World Champions!

Missed any of the big plays in Super Bowl XLV? FanHouse has you covered with video from NFL.com. From Aaron Rodgers' best touchdown strikes to Ben Roethlisberger's attempts to rally the Steelers back, check out all the top highlights from this year's Super Bowl by clicking on the links below. And be sure to visit NFL FanHouse for our great analysis of the big game.

Note: Each link will open the selected highlight in a separate popup window.

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Aaron Rodgers' final stats: 304 yards passing, three touchdowns, and his very first Super Bowl victory. Check out the Super Bowl MVP's best moments right here.

Texans Trying to Pronounce Names of Wisconsin Cities - Must See!

MUST SEE!  Texans Trying to Pronounce Names of Wisconsin Cities... Oconomowoc and Waukesha make the list.

 

Eleven Keys To Having An Explosive Easter - Part-2

A record-setting 106 million people watched last year's Super Bowl.  Many believe that this record will be smashed this year.  The Super Bowl has become a focal point for fans and advertisers of all types.

One pastor said, "Easter is our church's Super Bowl."  This attitude is probably one reason why they have grown significantly each year since their church's existence.

In light of the fact that Easter falls later on the calendar this year, April 24th, you have an opportunity to have one of your largest Easter attendances in the history of your church. In my last post we looked at the first five Keys to Having an Explosive Easter.  Here are the rest of principles that you can apply in planning your explosive Easter this year.

6. Start recruiting help for Easter early.

Here is the principle, "The more people get involved the more likely they are to invite people to attend." Recruiting, deploying, and encouraging volunteers at all levels is vital to the success of your Easter Outreach.

Generate a list of Entry Level Service Opportunities

• Set Up
• Take Down
• Nursery
• Greeter
• Usher
• Hostess
• Sound Tech
• Musician
• Food Preparation
• Choir
• Children’s Ministries
• Video Production
• Audio Ministry
• Small Group Host
• Office Assistance
• Event Production
• Marketing Team
• Website Production

7. Write a personal letter to every member of the church about the Easter Service(s).

Leaders lead and sending a letter to your congregation shows initiative and leadership.  Make a heart felt appeal to your people to make this the best Easter ever in the life of your church.  The letter should contain the following:

• An enthusiastic vision: Why I am excited about this Easter Service?
• Encouragement & ideas for inviting friends: What invitational tools can I encourage them to use?
• Invite them to get involved: What serving opportunities do I need to specifically promote?
• Get the specific details: What logistical details do I need to share with them?
• Remind them of the reality of the resurrection in their lives: How can I encourage them to experience the victorious life promised in the resurrection?

See Sample Letter

8. Reach out to the fringe people of your church.

Send a special invitation or a personal note to all your visitors from the last two the years. There is nothing like a personal touch when it comes to outreach.  In may cases the most receptive people you can reach have already attended your services at some point.

9. Cast seeds of awareness to the community at large.

This principle is that you will always have to cast more seed than you think to get a significant impact. I encourage churches to spend 5-10% of their budget on marketing outreach.  If you are facing a certain growth barrier you will need to kick that up to 10-15%.

Here are a couple of posts on the various ways to sowing seeds of awareness through relationships and throughout the community.

• Sowing Seeds Through Your Webs of Relationships
• Sowing Seeds of Love in Your Community
• Sowing Seeds Through Servant Evangelism #1, #2, #3
• Sowing Seeds Through Marketing #1, #2, #3

10. Preach a message on personal evangelism the Sunday before Easter.

Laying a biblical foundation and creating a heightened awareness for personal evangelism with the immediate application of inviting someone to Easter will really pay off in the long run. In recent years evangelism training in local churches has really been neglected. In making this part of your strategy you create a new discipline so that great commission living becomes infused into the life of your church.

11. Deliver the best Easter Service(s) to date. 

You will need to communicate throughout the staff and volunteers that we want to put your best foot forward in this Easter Service. By creating a sense of urgency and taking steps to raise the quality of your service will have a lasting impact on your church.

It is important that you raise the quality of the service, not dramatically change your service or try to create an over-the-top experience. Turning your service into a Easter Extravaganza can back fire on you. 1) It does not represent who you are on a normal Sunday. 2) It can create a let down in your first time attender who returns the next week. 3) In bringing outside speakers or worship leaders you don't improve.  Nelson Seacy writes, "Make your Easter service excellent, but keep it normal. If you are the one who usually preaches, preach on Easter. Have your regular worship leader lead worship on Easter. The goal with your Easter service planning should be this: To provide a great, quality service that reflects what attenders will see the rest of the year. When you get too fancy in your efforts to capitalize on Easter, you step out of the realm of reality and that can only lead to disillusionment." 

 

Here are some other resources to help you have an Explosive Easter.

This Easter Outreach Idea Works by Chuck Warnock

Maximizing Easter Report by Nelson Seacry

18 Easter Factors by C Michael Johnson

Marketing Your Church for Easter by John E. Squiric