We have such an awesome staff at Grace Community Church. God has blessed us with people who love Him and love others and each of them has a true heart’s desire to be found faithful in their Kingdom work. With the size of our church, by most standards we are under-staffed. We have a philosophy that everyone on our staff is a true minister. There are no strictly administrative people working for Grace. (I hope that’s always our philosophy.) I want to take this opportunity to honor each of them for their special contribution to all God has done at Grace in the last 3 ½ years.
I am in the midst of a life transition of sorts. It was subtle at first, but over the last couple years, as our church has grown in size and our ability to make an impact in the Kingdom has increased, it has become more recognizable. I am moving from more of a receiver to an investor into other people’s lives. I am honored to invest in younger men, many who are pastors also.
A seminary student who was doing a paper on church planting recently interviewed me. For those planters who follow this blog I thought you might want to hear some of my answers. If you have other questions for me, please ask.
I received an email from an Internet friend via my other ministry site (www.mustardseedministry.com) asking me how I determine if what I am doing is within the plans God has for me. Here’s my quick reply to him for knowing you are within God’s plans for your life:
There is a Biblical model for identifying potential leaders. It is found in Exodus 18:21. Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, had advised Moses to recruit some leaders. Then he told him what type of people to look for.
I have been encouraging people to dream big dreams for years. I think part of the reason I want others to dream is so that I am justified in my own desire to dream. I believe dreaming encourages the heart and keeps a mind fresh. As we begin another year, I hope you have some big dreams. You will never have a dream for your life bigger than God’s dream for you.
Who are you as a leader? Determining the type leader you are is often as important as the leadership you provide. Every leader needs to understand his or her individual strengths and weaknesses, and the skills he or she has and does not have. It is also important to understand the style of leadership you aspire to and what you expect of followers and would think they expect of you.
Yesterday’s message at Grace Community Church was about having and keeping a vision for your life. The summary points were:
I am not a selfish person usually, although I guess we all are to a certain extent. Still, there are some things I want more of in my life in the year 2009. All of these stem from what I really want to accomplish in life. I have thought a lot recently, while preparing for the first message of the New Year at Grace, about what matters most in my life. Here’s my list of “moreâ€.
Some people speak a language they share with the group of people who have a similar lifestyle, occupation or interest. We tend to indoctrinate ourselves with the language and culture of the people we hang around, work with, and from whom we learn.
