PASTORAL LEADERSHIP: DAY EIGHT

If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader… so dream big. Being a leader means being willing to place the needs of others above your own… so love big. Great leaders truly care about those they are privileged to lead, and understand that the true cost of the leadership privilege comes at the expense of self-interest… so think big, about others. Simply put, leadership is not a license to do less; it is a responsibility to think more.

Philippians 2:3-11 (ESV)

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

PASTORAL LEADERSHIP: DAY NINE

There are so many things we can learn from the different styles of leadership of Moses and Joshua. The principle that you have to choose wisely who you camp with. If you camp with the wrong people, you’ll never cross over to the place that God desires for you. Choosing the right people for your inner circle is a life and death situation. The principle that most people don’t know what they want, so they choose what they already know. It’s human nature to pick the path of least resistance. A leaders job is to help people see the best path, not the easiest path. Henry Ford summed it up best. “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said a faster horse." Lastly, a leader’s job is to lead from the front, so you better be ready to get some arrows in the back. If you’re going to call the shots, you’re going to take some shots. Jesus did everything perfectly, yet there were a lot of people who didn’t like him. You’ll never be able to please everyone, just make sure you can look in the mirror, and know that you placed the needs of others ahead of your own.

Matthew 6:33 (NIV)

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

PASTORAL LEADERSHIP: DAY TEN

It takes great time to do great things. We all realize that at some point we have to ship the product. There is a deadline for greatness, and for us that comes every weekend. The bigger picture though is how do we achieve greatness regularly, while also striving to achieve next level greatness in moments. To achieve an extraordinary result you must choose what matters most, and give it all the time it demands. We do this by what’s called goal setting to the now. If we can break our biggest moments down to the smallest things, we can achieve so much more. By thinking through this filter, you set a future goal and methodically drill down to what you should be doing today. It’s like the old Russian dolls. One big doll, broken down over time to reveal one very small doll. This is how we achieve great things over time, piece by piece, little by little. So think BIG by thinking small.

HABAKKUK 2:3 (NIV)

For the VISION awaits an appointed time;
    it speaks of the end
    and will not prove false.
Though it linger, wait for it;
    it will certainly come
    and will not delay.

PASTORAL LEADERSHIP: DAY ELEVEN

Ministry is hard work. If we were honest, it’s nothing like we imagined it in our minds eye. In my nearly 15 years of ministry I’ve learned that there are seasons where you rest, and there are seasons where you have to lean in. It’s in these seasons that we lean in that we have to be united at home. Our spouse has to be behind us fully, or we won’t finish the course that God has set before us. The thing I’ve discovered is you don’t have to overwork, you just have to work with your whole heart. We do this by showing up to work every day healthy. Healthy physically, healthy mentally, healthy spiritually, and healthy maritally. When you do that, your strengths will show up for you, your attitude shows up for you, your work gets done quicker, and you have a creative bent toward all your projects. If you’re healthy, you can bring health to those God has placed under your influence.

1 Timothy 3:1-7 (NLT)

This is a trustworthy saying: “If someone aspires to be a church leader,[a] he desires an honorable position.” 2 So a church leader must be a man whose life is above reproach. He must be faithful to his wife.[b] He must exercise self-control, live wisely, and have a good reputation. He must enjoy having guests in his home, and he must be able to teach. 3 He must not be a heavy drinker[c] or be violent. He must be gentle, not quarrelsome, and not love money. 4 He must manage his own family well, having children who respect and obey him. 5 For if a man cannot manage his own household, how can he take care of God’s church? 6 A church leader must not be a new believer, because he might become proud, and the devil would cause him to fall.[d] 7 Also, people outside the church must speak well of him so that he will not be disgraced and fall into the devil’s trap.

 

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PASTORAL LEADERSHIP: DAY TWELVE

Biblical purpose means prioritizing the wants, needs, and desires of others before our own self-interests. Our purpose is to be purpose dealers. When someone has a purpose, they have hope. When someone has a purpose, they have a future. When someone has a purpose, they have joy. Ralph Waldo Emerson said it best, “The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.” We have to help people find their purpose, and in doing that, we find our own.

Romans 8:27-30 (MSG)

Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good. God knew what he was doing from the very beginning. He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love him along the same lines as the life of his Son. The Son stands first in the line of humanity he restored. We see the original and intended shape of our lives there in him. After God made that decision of what his children should be like, he followed it up by calling people by name. After he called them by name, he set them on a solid basis with himself. And then, after getting them established, he stayed with them to the end, gloriously completing what he had begun.

PASTORAL LEADERSHIP: DAY THIRTEEN

Passion without vision leads to frustration. Passion is one of the greatest assets of any movement. People who are excited, willing to risk everything, and ready to do whatever it takes grow whatever they touch. Passion without direction, however, leads to disaster. It can lead to teams breaking apart, organizations losing influence, and relationships that were once strong becoming insignificant overnight. We are hope dealers, passion kick-starters, and vision casters. The question is do you have a vision worth following? Do you give people hope and a future? Do you insight passion, or do people leave your ministry frustrated? John Maxwell says, “The moment you get sick of saying it is the moment you’re people are just beginning to understand it.” So DO IT AGAIN! Say it again! Because a vision worth following is a vision worth repeating.

John 3:16-18 (MSG)

“This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person’s failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him.

PASTORAL LEADERSHIP: DAY FOURTEEN

Correction is not an indictment, it's an investment. Our vision determines our direction, so how we view things determines whether we rise to the occasion or shrink into the background. The powerful thing about correction is that it dislodges is from our rut. It exposes our weaknesses, shortcomings, failures, and flaws. Once uncovered for us to see we have to do everything we can to be better, and give the rest to God. Because with God's help I can GROW through anything. Focus on the right things, remember that there are more victories behind you than there are battles ahead of you. The end of your strength is the beginning of HIS. God’s love and strength never stops flowing toward us. The question is will we wade out into the deep waters, or stay on the shore relying on our own strength? 

Proverbs 3:5-8 (ESV)

Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
    and do not lean on your own understanding.
6 In all your ways acknowledge him,
    and he will make straight your paths.
7 Be not wise in your own eyes;
    fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.
8 It will be healing to your flesh[b]
    and refreshment[c] to your bones.