Jump Start Your Spiritual Fitness, Part 2

Continuing our theme from last week there are a number of ways you can strengthen, freshen and jump start your own spiritual life. The key is to understand that it's you're responsibility, not your pastor's or your spouse. YOU MUST OWN IT! Let me offer ten more ways to enhance your daily discipleship with God:

 

Use a hymnal (or book of choruses) during your daily devotional. Sing them. Pray them. Focus on the great truths found in so many songs of our faith!

 

Go on a short term mission trip. You will receive so many more blessings than you can give. It's amazing, just try it!

 

Do an in depth Bible book study with others if possible, but technology makes it possible if you must do it alone. You'll learn how to study the Bible for yourself.

 

Develop a way to share your testimony with someone in 60 seconds! You'll be amazed at the opportunities you'll have.

 

Ask people how you can pray for them---then do it!

 

Adopt a city, nation or people group to pray for regularly.

 

Adopt a missionary (family) and pray for them each day.

 

Conduct a personal or family quarterly mission or ministry project. We did this when our kids were little and they had a blast doing stuff for others and learning early 'it's not about you or me.'

 

Sharpen your saw-----attend ministry training events at least a couple of times a year.

 

Ask your pastor or church staff member what you can do to help them---then DO IT!

Jump Start Your Spiritual Fitness, Part 1

We live in  a culture that has become fanatical about fitness. And that can be a good thing. Spiritual fitness for Christians is critical. However I see too many churches transferring information to believers without giving them skills to accelerate their own spiritual journey. This week I want to offer simple and practical ways you can exercise your spiritual fitness:

 

Use a one year reading Bible to develop the discipline of daily time in God's Word.

 

Learn to meditate on a verse or Scripture passage. Break it down in phrase,  looking for every spiritual morsel.

 

Every day ask yourself the Philippians 4:8 questions. I'm not going to give them to you. Look it up.

 

Pray Scripture.

 

Take a prayer walk through your neighborhood. Pray for that neighbor whose barking dog keeps you up at night. It'll do wonders for your attitude.

 

See the daily traffic pattern of your life as your mission field (work, school, gym, etc.). Ministry is where ever you find it or it finds you.

 

Pray over you daily appointments and to-do list.

 

Use prayer prompts as reminders to pray for people. Prayer prompts can be anything from pictures of family members and friends to personal gifts. The only limit is your own imagination.

 

Keep a journal. It's a great way to measure your spiritual growth, keep a proper perspective and count your blessings!

 

Fast from television, the internet or social media for a week. After six days, the last one is easy!

Ten Commandments for Adult Bible Study Leaders Part 2

Let's continue our discussion from last time on some basic standards for Adult Bible study leaders.

6. Thou shall start and end on time. Begin class time with prayer requests, announcements and class news. Let people fellowship for a few minutes, then begin. Yes you are likely to have stragglers coming in late, be thankful they came. Never say anything publicly about latecomers. If you start on time people will get the message. They'll learn to get there on time. You also need to end on time. If you teach adults with young children they need to get them from their classes and then get everyone into worship. You will kill your class if you abuse this privilege.

 

7. Thou shall not fall in love with a single teaching method. Too many of us (including myself) use the lecture method. It's easier for me if I can boil down every lesson to three points, a poem and a prayer. But I would not be fully engaging my class members in a quality learning experience. Be creative. Once, when I taught a lesson on the Tower of Babel, I recruited some class members and we presented the lesson in an morning TV talk show format. Use testimonies, drama, videos and other things as well. We live in a digital age. Lessons should never be boring! Why do we need variety in our teaching method. Because adult learn differently. Some are verbal learners, others are visual. Some of physical there are at least nine different ways adults learn. Master three or four different learning styles and then occasionally throw in some other ways to keep your people involved and your teaching methods fresh.

 

8. Thou shall teach people the Bible, not the Bible to people. The late Harry Piland first taught me this principle. God's Word speaks to all people in different ways. Wherever our people may be God has a word for them. Our teaching should never be a tool to just hammer people! We should open it reverently, and respectfully to allow God's Spirit to speak. The 19th century preacher Philip Brooks once said, "Remember there's a broken heart in every pew" (or classroom).

 

9. Thou shall understand the difference between 'chasing a rabbitt' and the leadership of the Holy Spirit. It is important that we maintain our focus and discipline during our time to teach. We should never spend half our allotted time replaying the college football scores from yesterday. Besides ESPN can do it so much better. In thirty years of leading Bible study I can list on one hand the times God interrupted what I had prepared to teach for some special moments: a class member present grieving the death of her husband, another sharing that their spouse walked out, a couple of times with broken-hearted parents with kids going down the wrong path in life. There may have been another time or two but I think you get the point: When God shows up! Get out of the way. You'll know when He does.

 

10. Thou shall let God's people go! The longer I teach the Bible study the more I become convinced that faithfully preparing and teaching God's Word each week is only half my task. Teachers we are called to reproduce! We are called to call out the called! We must understand that one of the best measures of our effectiveness is not how many we gather to hear us, but how many we send out to serve. We must realize that the only place our leaders can go to find workers for our preschool, children, student and adult classes in from us! Let your people go!

My prayer is that this will encourage and challenge you. God Bless you. We'll be back next week!

Ten Commandments for Adult Bible Study Teachers Part I

Whether you lead a small group in a home or in a Sunday monrning Bible study teaching God's Word is a great privilege and responsibility. Most Bible teachers I know want to do it well and they take that responsibility seriously. Over the years of my own Bible teaching, leading and training others I've developed ten commandments for effective Bible teachers.

 

1. Thou shall teach for transformation, not just information transfer. Should we know the Scriptures and want those we teach and lead to know them as well? Absolutely! But most of us will never be Bible scholars and that's OK. Just as important as information transfer must be understanding that we are to teach for personal transformation. Why must we do this? Because that is the biblical imperative. The only imperative in the Great Commission of Matthew 28 is the mission to 'make disciples' i.e. "followers of Jesus." We do this through application. Help your students apply the Scriptures as they go back to work on Monday. Equip them to face their problems, difficulties and people they know.

 

2. Thou shall teach to the best of your ability what the Bible says, not "this is what it means to me." Let me say that I believe two things: First, that there is one blical interpretation that is true. Second, there are 10,000 applications of that same passage. Our job is to do our very best to find the correct meaning of the text. I know that on many issues there may be denominational and theological differences. I understand that is sometimes the case. But our goal as a Bible teacher is to do the best we can to find the truth.  This means we must study and invest in our own teaching ministry. Build your own Bible study library. Buy Rick Warren's book Bible Study Methods. It's a great place to start.

 

3. Thou shall be a team player about the class, the church, training and curriculum decisions. One disturbing trend I see too much is the 'Lone Ranger' approach. Maybe it's a sign of our times that some teachers believe they can do just about anything they want. Effective Bible study teachers should be team players supporting the activities in the church. Recently I heard about a teacher in a great historic church who teaches his class and then goes home. He doesn't worship in his own church. He obviously has an agenda beside the Lord's. Teachers need to support the ministry and training opportunities provided through their church. You may be a great Bible teacher. You still need training! Ted Williams went to spring training every year to get ready. So should you and I.

 

4. Thou shall be a mentor and equipper of others. I firmly believe that the goal of every Bible teacher should be to work our way out of a job. We should be mentoring and equipping others to teach and serve as well. Too many of us in ministry have it backwards. The measure of a great teaching ministry is not how many we gather but how many we send back into other classes, be they presechool, children, students or other adult classes.

 

5. Thou shall be prepared, rested and ready to go. Do your work before Saturday night. Go to bed on time. Be early on Sunday morning and ready to go. Major league pitchers have a routine they follow so they can pitch every fifth day. They are meticulous about their diet, exercise and preparation. Why? Because they want to be at their best on game day. We need the same kind of commitment to something that is much more important. Be prepared, rested and ready to go.

 

On Friday I'll post commandments 6-10. What do you think? What's your experience been with Bible study teaching? Let us know.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Five Actions of Noble Leaders

We live in a celebrity-soaked culture that turns our values upside down. In the last week of June 2009 Michael Jackson, the 'King of Pop' died. Thanks to our 24-hour cable news cycle the world watched every detail surrounding his tragic and premature death. Later in the week we could tune in to watch his memorial service in the packed out Staples Center in Los Angeles.

 

But few of us took notice of another death that week. Ken Reusser, age 89 died in Clackamus, Oregon, a suburb of Portland. Colonel Reusser was a veteran of World War II, Korea and Vietnam----and the most highly decorated Marine Corps aviator in American history. In three wars he flew over 250 combat missions, earned 59 medals and decorations including two Navy Crosses and five Purple Hearts. At his memorial service this committed Christian and son of pastor was remembered by his family, friends and community. A Marine Corps Honor Guard was present for a final "Semper Fi" otherwise his death went largely unreported.

 

That contrast is a commentary on our times. We live in a celebrity soaked culture that has turned many of our values upside down. But there is some good news. First, we are not the first culture to turn itself upside down. Twenty-eight hundred years ago a man named Isaiah spoke to a culture much like ours, at least in this regard. The problem was that the people of his day were looking for leadership but settling for celebrity. His word to them is recorded for us in the Old Testament, in Isaiah 32:8 where he challenges the people to reject celebritism and search for noble leaders. He states: .....a noble person plans noble things; he stands up for noble causes.' Tragically, many refused to listen and their nation and culture suffered. Secondly, the good news is that noble leaders can be found in just about every place in our culture.

 

How do we define noble leadership. I believe noble leaders demonstrate five qualities:

 

Noble leaders are people with character. Our character is developed by what we dwell on, think about, what we feed our minds. It is honed and shaped by persevering through life's difficulties and problems. Though we may live in a fast-food, microwave culture our character is shaped and revealed over time, day after day, week after week, and year after year----as we face whatever life brings our way. Legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden, a man of great character once said: 'Things work out for the best for those who make the best out of the way things work out.'

 

Noble leaders are people of consequence. Noble leaders do more than big things, they do the right things. They also get the important things in life right: priorities, relationships, responsibilities and investing in the lives of others. Noble leaders mentor others and leave a legacy of leadership. Recently I had a conversation about two noble leaders of consequence from my past. Both taught me in elementary school. It was a long time ago but their influence still impacts me just about everyday. Mrs. Newman was my fourth grade reading teacher. She left me with a legacy as a lover of books! Mr. Shelley was my fifth grade teacher. He taught me how to write. These are skills I use everyday. They were never famous or wealthy but they loved what they did and had a great consequence not just in my own life but countless others.

 

Noble leaders act with conviction. Noble leaders have timeless values and convictions. They also understand when to do battle and when not to. Noble leaders know when it's time to stand up! You can't stand up if all you do is 'stew in a pew.' Noble leaders know when to sit down. Noble leaders know when to speak up. Noble leaders know when to shut up. Noble leaders don't just curse the darkness around them. They act. They do something. They get to work!

 

Noble leaders speak and act with clarity. We live in a culture that is crowded and noisy. We can be overloaded with too much information. A story is told about President Harry Truman once asked for a one-handed economist! When an aide asked him why, he said he was tired of his economic advisors telling him: 'On one hand this might happen, but on the other hand it could be that this occurs!' Noble leaders speak and act with clarity. They say what they mean and mean what they say. How can we do this? The late Stephen Covey taught me this years ago: Seek first to understand then seek to be understood. That's what noble leaders do.

 

Noble leaders serve with courage. Winston Churchill, a leader of great courage once said, 'Courage is the greatest of all the virtues because it guarantees all the others.' Noble leaders face their own problems, difficulties, challenges and realities with courage. The Apostle Paul challenged the church in Corinth to: 'Be alert, stand firm in the faith, be brave and strong. Your every action must be done with love.' (1 Corinthians 16:13-14). Noble leaders can act with courage because they are a 'velvet brick.' The understand compromise is at times necessary. They also know when not to.

 

Late in his second term, President Ronald Reagan was in Berlin to deliver a speech at the Brandenburg Gate, divinding East and West Germany, between dictatorship and freedom. On his way to the site in his presidential limosine some of his advisors wanted him to tone down the speech and in fact edit out some of the comments. The president listened patiently to their arguments. But he stood firm, telling them 'The speech will not be changed.' He courageously refused.

 

Two years later, the people of East Berlin and eastern Europe were free of communism and totalitarianism. Why? Because a noble and visionary leader kept his speech like it had originally been written. He told the world, "Mr. Gorbachev, if you seek peace, tear down this wall!'

 

Thank God he was a leader with courage!

 

What do you think? Are there other actions of noble leaders? Let the conversation begin.

 

 

THE LEADERSHIP LANDSCAPE

For over thirty years I have observed, examined and learned from a variety of leaders in politics, government, business, education and ministry. At times these leaders were observed up close, in the heat of a hotly contested political campaign, or the stress involved in running a large organization. Other leaders I have watched and learned from afar. Many of these leaders remained faithful to their values and those they led and served. Some did not, having been seduced by the temptation of celebrity. During my own leadership practice, watching and working with leaders I’ve discovered five leadership models that apply to leaders in this age of celebrity. To describe these leaders in the age of celebrity I’ve employed TV talk show hosts as my model.

The first leader on today’s leadership landscape are ‘Dr. Phil’ leaders. These leaders are powerful, articulate, confidant and charismatic. They can be blunt and often bombastic. They will tell you ‘like it is’ or rather how they believe it to be.  They can be popular, helpful and effective. You can find these leaders in Congress, sports, businesses, and churches. They have all the answers. Many people respond positively to these charismatic leaders. They hang on every word or live by their teachings and/or philosophy. The greatest temptation these leaders face is the toxin of celebrity. They succumb to their own ‘my way or the highway’ practices. Because they’re human, cracks eventually begin to appear in their larger than life personas. Over time these leaders lose their ability to lead because having the answers to everything eventually dilutes their leadership. When you have an opinion on everything you can lose the ability to influence when people get tired of listening. With no one holding them accountable they begin to believe their own press clippings. Far too often we’ve seen the train wreck that happens when a leader disappoints, stumbles or falls.  Their capacity to leadership is wounded, often permanently. Whether the leader is in politics, business, education or ministry the end result is people are devastated, disappointed and cynicism abounds.

Next on today’s leadership landscape are ‘Oprah leaders.’ These leaders promote cooperation, community and consensus. Their motto is ‘can’t we all just get along?’ Their greatest strength is their ability to nurture, care and create a sense of community. These are tremendous gifts and many people respond. The temptation many of these leaders face is compromise. They will compromise their convictions for consensus, political correctness or popularity. At some point nearly every leader, in any field will encounter the moment of truth: ‘Will I compromise my basic beliefs or stand firm?’ Oprah leaders often take the easy way out. Expediency often triumphs with ‘Oprah leaders.’

Our next stop on today’s leadership landscape is ‘the Jerry Springer leader.’ These are leaders who are battlers. They are always fighting for a cause, be it about a war, Roe vs. Wade, secularism, liberalism or a ‘vast right wing conspiracy.’  These leaders rouse people to their cause. Their motto is ‘we’ve a fight to be fought!’ We see this kind of leader in the business world who comes in to rescue a business or industry. In politics, single-issue candidates can solicit support from millions of people. In recent history, many ministry leaders have taken up the flag of battle either within their own denomination (J. Gresham Machen, fighting over perceived liberalism at Princeton) or social issues (the late Jerry Falwell, and the formation of the Moral Majority). The problem confronting ‘Jerry Springer’ leaders is that battles are won and lost. To be forever battling is exhausting. This leadership style can wear out both leaders and followers. Issues come and go. Battles are won and lost. ‘Jerry Springer’ leaders must continually recalibrate to keep their followers and the cash coming.

The fourth stop on today’s leadership journey are ‘Johnny Carson’ leaders. Johnny was great in his day. He had a long run. People loved Johnny. He was effective and popular….in the sixties and seventies. But Johnny Carson is dead. He is gone. Johnny Carson leaders are outdated and irrelevant. They haven’t kept up. They have refused to be lifelong learners. They don’t understand their organization, marketplace or communities. These leaders remind me of the leaders of the American railroad industry a century ago. They made the mistake of remaining comfortable with what they knew: they decided to remain in the railroad business instead of transitioning into the transportation business. They didn’t stay current, and lost their huge market advantage. Rick Warren is right: when leaders stop learning they stop leading.

But all is not lost. Noble leaders are all around us. A leading business executive headhunter told business writer Robert McGarvey, “You are seeing fewer ‘celebrity’ CEOs….the 21^st century CEO may be best characterized by ‘invisibility.’ You could be sitting next to one right now and never know it.”  This shift in the business culture has been documented elsewhere. Jim Collins’ best-selling book, Good to Great, describes those leaders whose companies went from good to great as leaders possessed with personal humility and professional will. They were strong, effective leaders who demonstrated discipline, focus and a willingness to face reality. They personally modeled humility, inclusiveness, empathy and integrity.

On Friday, I’ll post the five qualities of noble leaders. Let me know what you think!

 

'WHY I FIRED MYSELF

Over the last twenty years I’ve had the opportunity to minister, equip and encourage over 400 churches as a speaker, trainer and consultant. Until recently I had never walked away from an incomplete assignment, or process. Until a few weeks ago…..The fact that I did so surprised me for a couple of reasons: first and foremost because the pastor was and still is, a good friend. Second, because their need and my skill set seemed a near perfect match. Finally, they really needed someone to provide an outside perspective. Their pastor and I had been meeting regularly for the last four years for some one-on-one coaching: I understood the challenges they faced while at the same time not having the emotional investment of their leaders and members.

I spent the beginning of my consultation doing what I should do: observing, asking questions, collecting data, in short trying to help them define and understand their reality. I thought we were all on the same page and off to a good start……..BOY WAS I WRONG!!!!!

So what happened? To put it simply: The pastor (still my good friend) and church leadership refused to accept or understand the reality of their church! This was not rocket science. The church was in a serious decline financially and in attendance. The church was at about a third of what it once had been and was rapidly using up their financial resources. My initial assessment included four elements:

·         Reorganize church leadership. It was too large and cumbersome for their present size. This made making tough but necessary decisions even more difficult.

·         Refocus the church energy on reaching new people.

·         Retrench the church financially by cutting ineffective and bloated programs.

·         Realign (slowly) the ministries of the church to impact their community.

I didn’t suggest they do all these at once. In fact, just tweaking a few things would put them on a better path. I gave them my best judgment on what need to be prioritized, to help stop the bleeding.

They refused. They made the decision together to remain in fantasy land, thinking all they needed was another building, or the right staff person, or the same leadership core that had got them in that situation.

So I did the only thing I thought I could do: I fired myself. I walked away…..Didn’t want to but it was the only option I had left. The church and pastor refused to listen to me….their emotional investment clouded their ability to see their true situation. Nothing was going to change, because they refused to face their reality.

In one of his books, author and researcher Jim Collins talks about a conversation he had with Admiral James Stockdale, the highest ranking American POW in the Vietnam War. As part of their conversation he asked Admiral Stockdale about those fellow Americans who survived and those who did not. The Admiral told him it was easy to answer that question. The survivors were those who understood their reality: That every day in the ‘Hanoi Hilton’ would be the sum total of the rest of their lives. The non-survivors were the optimists. They believed the North Vietnamese promise they’d be home by the next Christmas, then the next Easter or 4^th of July. When they began to understand they were being lied to, many would just give up and die. Those that survived accepted the grim reality of their existence, away from their families and their country. So Collins named this phenomenon the ‘Stockdale Syndrome’: Accept reality and maybe you’ll make it out.

I fired myself because the church refused to accept their reality (and therefore rejected my solution set). I hope this is the last time I have to fire myself. But it got me thinking, are there other situations where it is better to walk away?I came up with three other scenarios:

·         Unbiblical & unhealthy practices in senior leadership.  I’m talking here about a serious moral failure by a senior pastor or key staff member that goes unaddressed or I discover it is not dealt with by the church and/or person.

 

·         Unbiblical theology. I don’t mean differences in end-time views, but serious theological divergence from biblical, historical and classic Christianity on core issues. I’m not talking about denominational differences but a serious breach on key doctrinal issues.

 

·         Not in my skill set. As a general rule I don’t do music, acoustics, architecture, technology or social media. If in my diagnostic process I discover something I am not comfortable addressing I let the client know as soon as possible. If they ask for a recommendation I can often give them the name of a qualified person to address that concern.

The bottom line is simply this: If they won’t take my advice, if they refuse to listen, I’ll walk away. After over 400 churches it finally happened. I pray it never does again.

What do you think? What are some other situations where you would walk away? Let me know. Let’s get the conversation going.