Pastors, Are You A Winner or Loser?

When winners make a mistake, they say, “I was wrong.”
When losers make mistakes, they say, “It wasn’t my fault.”

A winner works harder than a loser and has more time;
a loser is always “too busy” to do what is necessary.

A winner goes through a problem;
a loser goes around it and never gets past it.

A winner makes and keeps commitments;
a loser makes and forgets promises.

A winner says, “I’m good, but not as good as I ought to be;”
a follower says, “I’m not as bad as a lot of other people.”

Winners listen;
losers just wait until it’s their turn to talk.

Winners respect those who are superior to them and tries to learn something from them;
losers resent those who are superior to them and try to find chinks in their armor.

Winners feel responsible for more than their job;
losers say, “I only work here.”

A winner says, “There ought to be a better way to do this;”
losers say, “That’s the way it’s always been done here.”

THE SEVEN C’s OF SUCCESS

by Brian Tracy

After having studied top achievers and peak performers over the past 35 years, I’ve concluded that these unique men and women, have in most cases, mastered what I call the Seven C’s of Success.
    
Clarity: Eighty percent of success comes from being clear on who you are, what you believe in and what you want.
    
Competence: You can't climb to the next rung on the ladder until you are excellent at what you do now.
    
Constraints: Eighty percent of all obstacles to success come from within. Find out what is constraining in you or your company and deal with it.
    
Concentration: The ability to focus on one thing single-mindedly and see it through until it's done takes more character than anything else.
    
Creativity: Flood your life with ideas from many sources. Creativity needs to be exercised like a muscle; if you don't use it you'll lose it.
    
Courage: Most in demand and least in supply, courage is the willingness to do the things you know are right.
    
Continuous learning: Read, at the very least, one book a week on business to keep you miles ahead of the competition. And just as you eat and bathe, organize your time so you spend 30 minutes a day exploring email, sending messages, going through websites, because like exercise, it's the only way you can keep on top of technology. If you get away from it, you'll lose your edge.

Megatrends that Weren't

 

The most recent issue of Foreign Policy is themed around its first-ever set of predictions about the future.  Articles from some of the world’s most “bleeding-edge” thinkers look at the planet in the year 2025.  
 
As you would imagine, most of their predictions have already been set in motion by recent events, and could, themselves, have been predicted. For example, technology will take on a life of its own; micromultinationals will run the world; everything will be too big to fail; the South China Sea will be the future of conflict; the world will be more crowded (but with old people); the shape of the global economy will fundamentally change; and problems will be increasingly global in nature, as will their solutions (you think?).

But what intrigued me the most was an article titled “Megatrends That Weren’t.” Joshua Keating writes about “yesterday’s Next Big Things” that never took place, noting that “history can be awfully unkind to pundits wielding crystal balls.” 
As his examples show, today’s “Next Big Thing can quickly become tomorrow’s “Trend That Never Was.”

Such as:

*The Japanese Superpower.  In the 1980’s and early 1990’s, as Japan’s industrial production surged by more than 50 percent, a cottage industry predicting Japan’s economic dominance was born. Instead Japan entered its “lost decade” of economic stagnation and was overtaken by China in 2010.

*The Permanent Economic Boom.  Prior to the current financial crisis there was unbridled optimism that the good times don’t have to end. Experts placed inordinate faith in the power of computerized trading, financial “innovation,” and the exploding housing market. The reality was that the Dow Jones industrial average never did get higher than its 2007 peak of 14,164.53. So much for predictions of the Dow reaching 36,000, 40,000 or even 100,000, as some predicted.

*Peak Oil.  While there is a finite amount of oil in the world and it’s going to run out sooner or later, it was predicted that global oil production would tap out in the early 1970’s. Peak-oil theorists failed to take into account both the discovery of new oil and new means of extracting difficult-to-recover reserves buried deep beneath the ocean or in tar sands in the Canadian tundra.  

*The Resource Crunch.  In 1798, English scholar Thomas Malthus predicted that global famine and disease would eventually limit human population growth. As of last month, we are now at 7 billion and growing without imminent global famine and catastrophe due to rapid population growth. There may come a time when the Earth’s population becomes unsustainable, but for now the problem isn’t lack of resources but how to distribute them to those in need.

*The Internet Fad.  Excessive skepticism can be as bad as buying into overly optimistic predictions. In 1943, IBM Chairman Thomas Watson saw a global market for “maybe five computers.” Then there’s astronomer and popular science author Clifford Stoll, who in a 1995 book and Newsweek article, ridiculed the idea that “we’ll soon buy books and newspapers straight over the Internet” and argued that “no online database will replace your daily newspaper.” And more recently British entrepreneur Alan Sugar predicted in 2005 that the iPod would be “kaput” within the year.  

In my recent book What They Didn’t Teach You In Seminary, I talk about the “Next, Next Thing,” and how our culture’s preoccupation with “next” has replaced our earlier fascination with “new.” The difference? New is what something is; next suggests a special insight.  

Christians can be captivated by “next” as much as anyone.  

I know of pastors who joke about a “migratory flow pattern” among Christians in their community who are constantly church-hopping to the “next” thing in church life. They move from one church to another, looking for the next hot singles group, the next hot church plant, the next hot speaker, the next hot youth group. Many times they end up full circle where they began, because their original church suddenly became “next.”
Church leaders can succumb to the same temptation, only in terms of church model. First it was Willow Creek.  Then Saddleback. Then came Hillsong, Northpoint and Fellowship. Or perhaps instead of doing it by church name, it was by type:  first came seeker-targeted, then purpose-driven, then postmodern, then ancient-future, then emergent, then “simple.” For some the allure of the next “next” is programmatic, moving from Alpha to KidStuff to...well, you get the picture.  

Stop and think what happened to the “megatrends” of drama in church, the meta-model of small groups, the seeker-targeted strategy of the 80’s and 90’s, and praise choruses?

In truth, many of the “next” churches we flock to - as attenders or leaders - have little of the true “next” about them. More often than not, what is behind the attention is little more than a gifted communicator, or a niche-focus, or tried-and-true contemporary approaches in a traditional context, maybe one or two twists on previously envisioned programs – coupled with a growing edge of town.  

Yet the seduction of the “next” lures us to race to their conference to find the “secret” to success.  

But racing toward the “next” is more than just deceptive – it can be dangerous. Meaning you can buy into the “next” before you know whether it was ever worth buying into in the first place.  

There have been, and will be, some truly “next” churches. But our threshold should be more than rapid growth, a charismatic leader, a niche-market, the latest beneficiary of a growing edge of town or the migratory flow of believers. Not simply because there may not be anything truly “next” about it beyond that which is cosmetic, but because our appetite for the “next” has us looking to churches that have yet to truly prove themselves, much less their ideas, through the test of time.

Leaders must realize that however exhilarating a new church model may appear, silver bullets do not exist.  Leaders must look deeper than the latest model or program, conference or style, and realize that the process inherent within a thriving church has not changed in 2,000 years:  you must evangelize the lost, then assimilate those evangelized, then disciple those assimilated, and then unleash those discipled for ministry.

That’s a megatrend that is, was, and ever will be.

James Emery White

  

Sources     
“Megatrends That Weren’t,” Joshua E. Keating, Foreign Policy, September/October 2011, p. 92. www.foreignpolicy.com
James Emery White, What They Didn’t Teach You In Seminary (Baker Books, 2011).

 

Editor’s Note

 

To enjoy a free subscription to the Church and Culture blog, log-on to www.churchandculture.org, where you can post your comments on this blog, view past blogs in our archive and read the latest church and culture news from around the world.  Follow Dr. White on twitter @JamesEmeryWhite.

A Formula for Success

Emil Brolick, CEO of Wendy's

Wendy’s new CEO is fed up with being known as the “third” burger chain.  If you want to pull his chain even more, talk about Wendy’s as the fallen star of the fast-food industry.

In his first interview since being named chief executive, Emil Brolick spoke candidly with a USA Today marketing reporter about his plan to once again make Wendy’s an industry innovator.

It better be a good one.  It will need to fix a company with 6,600 locations worldwide that has been, to quote USA Today, “rudderless in an ocean of competition since its iconic founder, Dave Thomas, died nearly a decade ago.”

When asked what difference he could make, Brolick said, “I’m a big believer in the importance of leadership in an organization.  My leadership can make a difference in this brand.”

He’s right.  And not just for burger chains.  The Bible talks clearly about the spiritual gift of leadership in Romans 12, and challenges those with the gift to step forward and lead.  Since the gifts were given for the building of the church, there can be little doubt that the Holy Spirit finds leadership indispensable for the church’s flourishing.

Brolick then offered a single formula for success.

“Have a vision, a strategy, define reality, give hope and execute.”

I think I like this guy, and may just buy stock in Wendy’s.  I have seldom read a more concise, direct plan for organizational success that resonates with everything I know about leadership.

Let’s unpack it in light of the church.

1.      Have a vision.  We all know that where there is no vision, the people perish.  Or more accurately, run amuck.  Vision is a clear picture of the future that paints a target on the wall.  You can’t ever hit what you don’t aim at.  Vision tells us what we’re aiming at.

What is your vision?  Has it been clearly articulated?

At Meck, our immediate vision is called our 20/20 Vision: to have 20,000 active attenders with ministry in 20 countries by the year 2020.

2.      Have a strategy.  Very few churches have a strategy.  Instead, they have tactics – meaning, things they are doing.  But there isn’t an overarching strategy that leads tactics to be chosen, much less that the tactics feed and support.

What is your strategy?  How do you plan on achieving your vision?

At Meck, our strategy to reach 20,000 attenders is to mobilize our church community to invest in those around them and then invite those very people to attend a growing number of regional campuses throughout our city.  Our strategy involves not only outreach, but assimilation, discipleship, and then unleashing individuals for ministry.

3.      Define Reality.  This is one of the most overlooked aspects of church leadership.  My friend Bill Hybels has, of late, been chanting “facts are our friends.”  He’s right.  If an area of ministry is slipping, if a staff person is not a good fit, if a strategy is not working, if an area needs work, it does no good whatsoever to continue on with a “business as usual” mentality or to gloss it over as if everything is fine.  A leader defines reality, and that helps realities change.  If something is broke, call it broke – and then fix it!  If something is dying, bury it – before it starts to stink!  A good leader won’t just tell you how good things are – they can also tell you exactly where things are weak. 

What is the reality of your church’s situation?  What’s working, and what’s not?

At Meck, we need to relocate one of our new campuses as early as January because its current location/facility is hindering growth.  Our set-up and break-down teams for our two newest campuses are in desperate need of support to prevent burn-out and break-down of volunteers.  We are grossly understaffed in areas of children’s ministry and guest services.  These are realities, and there are many more to go with them.

4.      Give Hope.  It’s been said that you can live for four months without food, four days without water, and four minutes without air - but not four seconds without hope.  It isn’t enough to cast vision, much less to define reality – a leader has to give hope that the vision can become reality; that things can change. 

Does your church feel like it can change?  That it can do what it is being called and challenged to do?

At Meck, we take the first weekend after my summer study break and lay out the God-movements in our church.  When a church has a breakthrough, when progress is being made, it should be brought front and center to the church.  Not simply so that God can be given His glory, though that is primary, but also so that the people can maintain the hope they need that we can continue to kick at the darkness until it bleeds daylight.

5.      Execute.  I recently tweeted about the importance of having a bias for action.  Too often we have a “ready, aim, aim, aim…” mentality.  Fire your dang gun!  There comes a time to pull the trigger on action and decision.

Is your church weighing whether to do something, and it’s been weighing it for a long time?  Is there a “paralysis of analysis” going on?

At Meck, in the last 12 months, we decided to build on one campus, launch two new campuses, begin a ministry to Spanish-speaking persons, add two more countries to our mission investments, and adopt a local school that has the highest poverty rate in the city. 

In truth, having a vision, a strategy, defining reality, giving hope and executing is far from simply a marketplace strategy, much less unique to a fast-food executive.

It’s part and parcel of the exercising of the gift of leadership.

And as the apostle Paul said of the gifts given for the church, “If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously.” (Romans 12:8, NLT).

It’ll flip around more than a burger chain.

James Emery White

 

Sources     

“Wendy new CEO has big plans to flip its ranking,” Interview with Emil Brolick, conducted by Bruce Horowitz, USA Today, Tuesday, October 18, 2011, p. 1B and 2B. Read online.

 

   

Editor’s Note

 

To enjoy a free subscription to the Church and Culture blog, log-on towww.churchandculture.org, where you can post your comments on this blog, view past blogs in our archive and read the latest church and culture news from around the world.  Follow Dr. White on twitter @JamesEmeryWhite.

Don’t Let Your Pulpit Be Defiled

Visiting ministers can be a great blessing to any church. But if you don’t do your homework, you could be inviting disaster.


A friend of mine recently told me that the leaders of a ministry invited a prominent American preacher to speak at a conference. During discussions about the engagement, the preacher’s handlers explained two of the terms of his visit: (1) he was always to be addressed as “apostle” by anyone who spoke to him; and (2) he was to be ushered out of the auditorium and into a green room immediately after he delivered his sermon, to guarantee that he would not have to fraternize with the audience. He needed his privacy.


If I had been on the other end of the telephone conversation that day, I would have offered this reply: “Please tell Apostle Arrogance that since he is so concerned about being bothered by the little people, never mind. Just don’t come. We don’t need the disease he is spreading in the body of Christ. God bless you.” Click.


“I have heard horror stories of ministers who required their hosts to provide shopping money, certain types of exotic bottled water, limousines and manicurists. A childish rock star might be expected to ask for these luxuries, but such behavior is reprehensible for a minister of the gospel. Don’t cater to their appetites.”


That may sound harsh, but I don’t think there’s any other way to prevent the spread of this plague. The “celebrity syndrome” is still alive in 2011, in spite of the recession, and the only way we are going to stop big-headed charlatans from corrupting churches is to boycott them. We need to hand them a pink slip. I recommend these safeguards:


1. Investigate before you invite. There are many wonderful traveling ministers who carry genuine anointings and can bring great blessing to churches and ministry events. They have been called by God as evangelists, prophets, teachers and apostolic leaders—and those who walk in the anointing of the Holy Spirit will produce fruit wherever they go.


But there are also imposters on the preaching circuit. Some of them once carried the anointing and lost it; others actually entered the ministry as fakes and learned to prey on naïve congregations. Don’t give anyone a platform who has a questionable record. Always find out who they are accountable to. If they have no relationships, no oversight or no reference board, you are taking a great risk by having them in your church.


2. Slam the door on egotism. The celebrity syndrome is easy to detect. Does the visiting preacher have a servant’s spirit? Or does he come across as cocky and unapproachable? Any man or woman engaged in ministry should have the attitude of Jesus, who was willing to ride a donkey into Jerusalem and wash the feet of His disciples. If you allow a prideful, unbroken preacher in your pulpit, you are giving a spirit of Lucifer the opportunity to infect your congregation.


3. Don’t feed the spirit of entitlement. Every traveling minister appreciates a gracious host. You show honor when you provide him or her with a nice hotel room, meals and transportation during their stay. But you should be alarmed if a preacher demands celebrity treatment.


I have heard horror stories of ministers who required their hosts to provide shopping money, certain types of exotic bottled water, limousines and manicurists. One preacher who recently ministered in Australia demanded a certain type of steak that had to be flown across the Pacific Ocean from the United States! A childish rock star might be expected to ask for these luxuries, but such behavior is reprehensible for a minister of the gospel. Don’t cater to their appetites. 


4. Don’t tolerate financial rape. I know of an American minister who traveled to a church in Canada and insisted that the pastor rent a civic auditorium that seated more than a thousand people. The pastor couldn’t afford the hall, but the evangelist said she wouldn’t come unless a large venue was provided. In the end, the evangelist canceled the trip because not enough people registered for the conference—and the pastor was left holding the bag. His church went bankrupt.


A true minister of the gospel would never push a church to go into debt just to satisfy his or her egotistical need for a big crowd. Jesus was just as comfortable preaching to a few disciples as he was to a multitude, and He didn’t base success on numbers. If you fall into the numbers trap you will be sorry.


Also, a shepherd who cares about his or her flock will never allow a visiting preacher to manipulate a congregation financially. Visiting speakers who spend 30 to 45 minutes begging for money, or making outlandish claims of “supernatural returns” for investing in their work, are sheisters who need to leave the ministry and find a job on a home shopping network.


5. Beware of strange fire. A minister imparts his life, not just the words of his sermons. That is why it is so important for preachers of the gospel to walk in humility, sexual purity and financial integrity. If a minister has allowed compromise in any of those areas, his anointing will be hindered and he may pollute your pulpit and leave a toxic environment in your church.


I talked to one pastor in California who had invited a speaker to his annual conference. But before the speaker arrived, the pastor learned that this man often used drug imagery in his sermons and even compared the Holy Spirit to marijuana. When he asked the speaker to refrain from such references, the man arrogantly refused. Thankfully the pastor did the right thing: He politely but firmly canceled the man’s visit.


It is possible for us to “just say no” to the charlatans, shysters, con men and rock star evangelists who have never submitted their lives to the discipline of the Spirit. Please heed the warnings, inspect the fruit and be willing to disinvite.


J. Lee Grady is contributing editor of Charisma. You can follow him on Twitter at leegrady. His latest book is 10 Lies Men Believe (Charisma House).

Creating 'Textable' Content

Matt McKee


We now live in a culture that reads, responds, and reacts in 140 characters or less. I'm not trying to make the point that as pastors we should or should not be on Twitter, or that teens use Twitter at all. The point is that we now share information with family, friends, and fake friends faster than we have ever done before. This information mostly is shared via text message. 


According to Sprint and other reports, mobile phones are used for talking less than 50% of the time. So if people aren't talking on the phone, what are they doing? They're sharing, liking, tweeting, texting, searching, and updating. They are doing this all the time.


Why in the world then don't we try to leverage this power that people already know how to do to spread the gospel? Why are we so opposed to asking people to spread the message of hope, love, forgiveness, and salvation in the means that they are already doing? Furthermore, why are we not giving them ideas and content that would fit in 140 characters or less so that it would be the easiest to share?


This is not an article that is saying that I think we should keep our heads buried in our phone. This isn't an article saying we shouldn't have time where we're still and reflective on what God is doing. This isn't an article that thinks if we all used iPhones that our world would be a better place.  


This is an article about content and what we want people to live with and do. Let's just take a possible subject for example. Let's say you taught principles behind effective prayer. Each principle comes from the Lord's Prayer found in Matthew 6. This would be a great topic and one that needs to be taught, but what would you have people share from this? The principles that you are teaching, are you stating them in a way that phrased in a way to be shared? 


The takeaway and application, are they communicated in a way that your audience would be compelled to send to someone else? Why not? Why are we not even taking this into consideration?


Here's what I believe:


Breaking down ideas that are complicated to principles that are easy to understand is much harder than keeping things complicated.


Understanding a topic is one thing, telling people to do something with what they understand is much harder.
People only do hard things when they are a priority and processed over time.


So the next time you teach, preach, lead a small group, or share the gospel in any form, make it "textable." Ask yourself when preparing the message or lesson, what in here is "textable" and what do I want them to share?  


By the way, if you were going to share this article or principle, you might say, "I'm being challenged to teach in "textable" ways. If you want to know what that means just ask."

Vision Can Only Succeed by Alignment

By Graham Cooke

We do not get a vision by ourselves and ask God to breathe on it. We worship, pray, meditate and listen to His heart. A vision that is rational, logical and based on what we can reasonably accomplish given our numbers and resource... will ultimately not upgrade anyone involved in the enterprise.

The Father has a vision for us personally and corporately. What does He see? Dreams, visions, scripture and prophecy are the seedbed for a vision that comes from another dimension. We cannot open ourselves up to Christ without becoming supernatural in our lifestyle and processes. A man made vision breeds struggle. It takes away our energy in the Spirit. It strips us of astonishment, awe and wonder.

Supernatural resources cannot come to a man made vision. God must own the vision and we must steward it in wisdom and obedience. Revelation always produces a sense of responsibility. When the Lord owns the vision He will commit resources to it from Heaven. When we are struggling financially we must question our alignments. Whatever God orders, He always pays for in real terms. Lack of resourcing is a sign that we are not aligned with His purpose.

Some people blame the enemy for their lack. That is a poverty spirit speaking. When we blame the enemy for something we are confessing that he has a power over us that we cannot fight. Some people blame circumstances, such as the recession for their lack. That is a poverty mindset. Poverty is not economic; it is learning to live with meager possibilities. Is God broke? Is He working to a tight budget? Is the Kingdom of God reliant on the word system? Who has abundance and fullness? If the Father is the true possessor of abundance and the wealth of the wicked... then we must determine the reason(s) why we are under resourced.

What is out of alignment? Where do we need to conform to the image of Christ? If we received the original vision from God Himself, are we walking in it? Are we stewarding it in the manner He requires? Or, are we, who began in the Spirit, now trying to work things out ourselves? Paul's big picture perspective was that he must remain obedient to the Heavenly vision (Acts 26:19).

Stewarding the vision means that we rely on our Principal supporter for resources. He is our true fulfillment in all things. We should never allow people or circumstances to dictate who we are or what we can do.

Vision that embraces the Father's heart and will is always resourced. In His favor we are empowered to have a conviction that He Himself is our renewable life source. Vision releases faith, which is the confidence that we are walking and working in partnership with Him. Vision produces power and supplies the necessary courage to live by His Empowering Presence.

God's vision energizes. Each day we come under the weight of His joy and passion for us. His yoke is easy and His burden is light (Matthew 11:28-30). If our vision is not properly aligned we come under the weight of responsibility to make things happen.

His vision provides insight. He allows us to see what He is seeing, both in us and for us. We learn His perspective and to see the resources at our disposal. I am always reminded that the vision given to me is God's and therefore I can continue to look at my life through His eyes.

 

About the Author

Graham Cooke has a passion to bring God's people into deeper levels of relationship and intimacy with the Lord. His life and ministry are underpinned by his delightful, intimate and unreserved two-way friendship with God. He inspires others to pursue God with abandon…letting go of old mindsets and opening up a radically new understanding of who God really is. He brings insight, hope and vision for the future of individuals, churches, cities and nations through prophetic ministry and powerful teaching. Originally from Manchester, England, he now lives in California and is part of the leadership team at The Mission in Vacaville. He is the founder of Brilliant Book House and My Emerging Light.