Momentum - Allowing God To Move Consistently

This series of articles are dedicated to those individuals who would struggle to maintain the momentum of God's workings in the church.  

 Definition
Latin centum, movement, from *movimentum, from mov re, to move. See meu - in Indo-European Roots

 a property of a moving body that the body has by virtue of its mass and motion and that is equal to the product of the body's mass and velocity; broadly : a property of a moving body that determines the length of time required to bring it to rest when under the action of a constant force

 n 1: an impelling force or strength; "the car's momentum carried it off the road" [syn: impulse] 2: the product of a body's mass and its velocity; "the momentum of the particles was deduced from meteoritic velocities"

Momentum is very hard to create.  The larger the object, the harder it is to move.  Depending on how much energy is needed to move it and the amount of time that energy can be applied decides how much momentum can be generated.

Building momentum in the church is not easy. 

It takes: 

• Commitment
• Sacrifice
• A constant Investment Of Time 
• An Endless Amount Of Energy  

What is Leadership?

What is Leadership? Leadership is first and foremost influence. When you look over history, you will find People like Hitler, Churchill. Mother Teresa, Gandhi, Martin Luther King, who were all great leaders. Not all of them were great people, but they had a way of drawing the masses into their way of thinking.

Of those people listed here, the one who intrigues me the most is Adolph Hitler. If there ever was a political mad man, he was one. However, with all of his error, he was able to lead the masses of Germany into his way of thinking. He was able, with his mindset of madness, to convince them, that murderous mayhem was the necessary means of creating a better and stronger Germany.

So, leadership is influence. How a person uses that influence is the proof of that persons character. Some even in church arenas, have used their influence of people for their own self gratification. Their own self-preservation. And their own agendas. This is not Godly or Spiritual Leadership, however it is Leadership.

Regardless of the result of your effect on a person’s life, whom you have influence over, you are ultimately leading them. It may be your children. It may be the people who work for you or are under you in a corporation or church. It may be the kids in your Youth Group. Or it may be the people you Minister to in your local church.

I recognize the effect of my father’s leading in my life growing up as a child. For years, my father was an alcoholic. He beat his wife. He neglected his children. He abandoned his post of fatherhood, yet he was, with all of his silence in my life, leading and influencing me. Who I would become as a man, was being formed by a person who, for the most part of my childhood, was absent.

4 Letters Every Pastor Should Remember

L. I. D. S.

Learn - The very first thing that a pastor or spiritual leader should know is that they must learn from the people around them; whether it be staff members, the congregation, or others.  We can learn valuable things from the children in the church all the way up to the assistant pastor. How well do you understand your people? Are you willing to learn from them? Successful leaders are constantly open to learning.   As leaders, we should always do this before pursuing any goal.  Otherwise,  we will only be hindering progress.  Always be a student.  Paul commanded Timothy in:

2 Timothy 2:15
"Study to shew thyself approved unto God..."

Innovate - Creativity should be promoted and never ignored.  In the Sunday School department, the youth department, church planning meetings, etc., we should encourage those department heads and staff members to be innovative. If their ideas are not what you would do, so what! Their idea may work better than yours. By using the ideas and the creativity of your entire leadership team, you will keep everyone involved and invested in your vision.  Don't be afraid of change.  Remember, one of the first things our God did was create.

Genesis 1:1
"In the beginning God created…"

Things Every Minister Needs to Understand About People

Knowing what people need and want is the key to understanding them. And if you can understand them, you can influence them and impact their lives in a positive way. Listed are five things about understanding people:

• Everybody Wants to Be Somebody. There isn't a person in the world who doesn't have the desire to be someone, to have significance. Even the least ambitious and unassuming person wants to be regarded highly by others. Once that piece of information becomes a part of your everyday thinking, you'll gain incredible insight into why people do the things they do. And if you treat every person you meet as if he or she was the most important person in the world, you'll communicate that he or she is somebody - to you.
• Nobody Cares How Much You Know Until He Knows How Much You Care. To be an influencer, you have to love people before you try to lead them. The moment that people know that you care for and about them, the way they feel about you changes. If you want to help others and become a person of influence, keep smiling, sharing, giving, and turning the other cheek.
• Everybody Needs Somebody. Contrary to popular belief, there are no such things as self-made men and women. Everybody needs somebody to come alongside and help. If you understand that, are willing to give to others and help them, and maintain the right motives, their lives and yours will change.

Money Matters - Stewardship Is Critical

God provides for us so that we might in turn protect what he has given us.  Our God entrusts us to live within our financial means and ability.  To live outside this ability, jeopardized the provisions of the family. 

God owns everything but he gives us the use of it all.  As we can be further trusted, he entrusts us with more.  We become the managers of his blessings and provisions.  If we cann't be trusted with what we have, how do we expect God to trust us with more?  The management and care of God’s provisions is critical to future blessings.

According to Matthew 25:15-27, God expects dividends and a return on his investment.  If we do not properly care for it and squander it, then we can expect to be cut off from the continued blessings of God.  Luke gave us a clear indication of this in Luke 16:10 as he stated that the person who is faithful in little things is an indicator of faithfulness in larger things.

While earthly things are temporal, we still have to live here on earth.  God gives us everything we need to live, survive, and enjoy the fullness of life.  We must care for it with all diligence.

Confused About Your Calling?

Probably the worst thing that can happen to a God-called minister of the Gospel is that they would be confused about their calling.  Confusion in the ministry thwarts the positive impact of the church.  No congregation or ministry can move forward when the leadership of that organization is confused about their calling. 

Whether we are talking about an individual’s or an organization's calling, confusion can kill their potential.  Some men/women spend their entire lives confused about their calling.  Hearing a call from God, but listening for direction from other people. 

It’s important to understand that every Calling is not a call to preach.  Some would argue this.  Countless young men and women have felt a call on their life, but got their direction from good-meaning people who put Preaching on them.  “You’re going to be a great preacher.”  “I feel you are called to preach!”  Prophecies are spoken over these people by many misguided folks who believe or  have been taught that only a preacher can have an effect on the work of God.  Some would have every worker in the harvest to be Great Preachers.

Stop!  The world does not just need more preachers.   It needs more people who are concerned about souls.  It needs compassionate people who care enough about their fellow man to pray for them and invite them to church.  It needs not preachers, but teachers.  Teachers who will take Bible in hand and sit in someone’s home and teach them a Bible study.  Truth is hard to come by, yet it is right at our fingertips.  Our generation is lost for a lack of understanding of the Bible.

What is the calling you are called to?   Share truth with someone who does not know the truth.  Jesus said, “I share with you a truth”.  Long before Peter was preaching on the day of Pentecost, Jesus (our example,” was teaching in the synagogue.

What is it about our human nature that desires to be “The one up front.”  The one doing the talking.  What is it about our human nature that desires not a teacher, but a preacher.  Midweek Bible studies have only a slice of the attendance that Sunday preaching services have.  Why is that?  We are still coming together to worship and share the Word.  Yet on Sunday there is preaching and on the midweek service there is teaching.  And the church would rather hear a preacher than a teacher. 

It’s in our nature.  We want an icon.  We want someone to idealize.  We want a spokesman for our church.  We want preachers.  So every person who feels a call on their life gets “pushed’ into the preacher mold.

Leading Leaders Who Think

One of the challenges all pastors face is leading those who have the same vision you have but don't have the same idea's about accomplishing that vision. I call these people 'thinkers'. Thinkers are good and bad. Every pastor loves to have a group of leaders that agree with everything he says. But there comes a point when that starts working against the pastor.

It is not always healthy to have a ministry team full of 'yes-men.' Most "yes-men" cannot think for themselves. What good are leaders who cannot work situations out? They need instruction for just about everything they do. Some even like to be micro-managed. Pastors cannot afford to be micro-managers, it steals ones time and produces people who cannot make it on their own.

As a builder of homes I have worked with hundreds of different carpenters from around the country. While working with these different tradesmen there were a few things I learned very quickly about people. Some of these carpenters would come to me and ask me how I liked things done. They wanted to be sure they built the house the way I wanted it to be built. At first I really appreciated this, but soon I realized that most of my time was taken up showing them my method when their method would have worked just as well.

Other carpenters would jump right in and do their own thing. This frustrated me even more because they didn't even have the courtesy to ask for my plan or opinion. But then there were those very few carpenters who would ask a few questions about the blueprint, get dialed in on my plan of attack, and then proceed to carry out that plan.  If they ran into a problem, they could "think" it out for themselves. They didn't have to come to me about every little thing, but if something major came up they wouldn't hesitate to consult me. Sometimes they even offered suggestions that increased the productivity of my crew. In  twenty plus years of building homes, I found only a handful of carpenters with these qualities. These were valuable men. These were the men who helped me achieve my goals. These were the carpenters that made my company money.

We need leaders like this in our churches. We need men and women who can work through problems and think things through on their own. It is important as a leader that you develop leaders who can think. It is also important that you are confident enough to lead leaders who may have a better idea or plan than you have. I am not talking about those who disagree with everything you have to say. I am talking about those who are dialed in to your vision, but may have better ideas than you about how to accomplish that vision.

In the Old Testament, the Kings surrounded themselves with people who were dialed into their mission. There are many accounts where this team of leaders did not agree with their King. They had different ideas of how to accomplish the mission. They were not "yes-men". What kind of value would they have to the King if they agreed with everything the King asked? The king though, would have to be humble and confident enough in himself to act on their advice. Their advice was oftentimes critical to the success or failure of that nation.

Momentum in Your Personal Life

Most of us know how valuable momentum is. When you have it, things happen almost without effort. Without it, things come to a grinding halt. Where does momentum come from? Momentum comes from God, and it begins in your personal devotion to Him. Many leaders struggle because their devotional life is not what it should be. If you do not have momentum in your personal life, those you lead will not experience it.

Bi-vocational pastors face many challenges in life. One of their biggest challenges is time. Time is critical.  Approximately sixty hours a week are spent working and getting to and from work. Another sixty hours are taken up sleeping. Church services and functions take up another twelve hours. That leaves only thirty-six hours a week to eat, exercise, spend time with family, train leaders, prepare sermons, teach Bible studies, counsel people and have personal devotion. Personal devotion is one of the areas that gets pushed off until the very last, and usually one does not have sufficient time or energy to have meaningful devotion with God.

That is a problem because devotion is a focused and faithful commitment of one's time and energy. Without personal time with God, spiritual momentum comes to a grinding halt. One begins to depend on their own power and abilities instead of God's power. It isn't long before the entire church and its ministries feel the effects.

Ideas For A Spirit Led Worship Service

Creative idea's to enhance your worship service

Worship is a large and important part of being a Christian, and worshiping as part of the congregation can be a powerful experience.

A worship service should guide people back towards God, and help the congregation feel God's presence, power, and anointing. As pastors, we should prepare our people to be sensitive to God's presence with a heart that is open to the love of Christ, and sensitive to the moving of the Holy Spirit.

Our call to worship should cause hearts to burn with desire and a passion for God. Every visitor should leave our services knowing without a doubt that God was in the house.