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As a leader, how many times have you enthusiastically started a new project, excited about its prospects? Eager to begin, you call together your leadership teams, make plans and set the project in motion. But one thing lacks…you’ve forgotten to answer the questions that need answering.
Starting new ventures is great for creating momentum in the church; however, before you begin you must ask yourself and your team leaders if the project is sustainable in the long run. In other words, can you finish what you start? What’s more, if the right people aren’t in place to make it happen, it is more beneficial to refrain from starting until you have the appropriate people trained to take on the new project.
The Leadership of Jesus
In everything Jesus is our example, and momentum in leadership is no exception. Jesus looked ahead. His death, burial, resurrection and ascension into heaven were just a few short years away. In order for the church to succeed without Him, He trained and positioned the right people in the right place, ready to carry on His ministry after His ascension.
Often times Jesus said, "My hour is not yet come,” or "It is not yet my time." He walked in sync with God’s will and timing, cognizant of the preparation needed to complete His earthly tasks. And He made sure His disciples were equipped to continue His ministry after He left this earth.
The Lord is the finest example of leadership we will ever hope to have. His calling and training of the twelve disciples is a model of perfect leadership in ministry. Through Jesus’ leadership style, we can gain a sense of what it takes to create momentum in our ministries. The momentum Jesus created with His twelve disciples still moves forward today, 2000 years later.
By the time Jesus began His ministry and summoned the twelve disciples in Matthew 10, He was halfway into His ministry. That meant that Jesus had approximately two years to train twelve men to carry on the work that He had started just months prior to their calling.
Jesus’ ministry had two phases. In the first portion of His ministry He labored single-handedly for over a year. His miracles and teachings were, for the most part, limited to the area of Galilee. As Jesus gained followers it became clear that He would travel greater distances to reach and teach greater numbers of people. This large group would be unable to follow Jesus wherever He went, especially over the long journeys that became part of His later ministry.
Jesus needed a certain few with Him at all times. He needed to reproduce Himself in a group of willing and faithful men who would be able to carry on His ministry to the world. Thus, Jesus called the twelve disciples.
For the final two years of His life Jesus focused on these men. The crowds grew to greater numbers than before. Jesus would still perform miracles but if the momentum was to continue, He had to direct His passion toward these twelve ordinary men. For several years Jesus trained simple and common people: Fishermen, carpenters, a tax-collector, a zealot and tradesmen. They were all as ordinary as you and I.
How did Jesus select these twelve men? First and foremost, He prayed. In fact, the Bible records that Jesus continued in prayer all night long.
For over a year, Jesus was familiar with the men He would call. Jesus prayed for these men’s souls, their futures, their safety, their understanding and their faith. He prayed for them to develop spiritually into an unstoppable force that would impact the world. We know from Scripture that what Jesus prayed for came to fruition.
Jesus faced controversy from the very beginning of His ministry. His own community literally tried to kill Him after He taught in the local synagogue. Shortly after this, He became popular among the people in the region of Galilee. As the word spread of His teachings and His miracles, huge crowds of people flocked to see and hear Him. The crowds grew so large that He would occasionally teach from a boat on the Sea of Galilee just to get away from the press of people.
Jesus was no doubt the most popular figure who existed in this region at that time. What’s worth noting though, is that Jesus did nothing to use His popularity to advance His cause or gain momentum. In fact, He did the opposite.
Imagine the crowds He could have drawn had He concentrated on marketing His Name? What would have happened had He conceded to some of the religious leaders’ demands? But none of that interested Jesus.
Jesus was controversial for sure. At times, His teachings and messages were so offensive that almost everyone left Him except His faithful few.
Only the twelve simple men stayed with Jesus after everyone else left. It was then that Jesus chose these twelve to mentor, train and disciple over the next two years.
Training the Twelve
By now, Jesus’ ministry had reached a point of no return. The religious leaders of the day made up their minds to kill Him and make an example of Him. The hunt was on and time was short. Wherever Jesus went He worked quickly, getting in and out before He was discovered. The crucifixion was only a few years away and He needed to prepare His twelve disciples to carry on His message.
This two-year period of time was critical to maintain and advance the momentum Jesus established in the first year of his ministry. From this point forward, the whole character and motive of Jesus’ ministry changed. His focus switched from the multitudes to the few. His first priority was to train the men who would become His ambassadors of the Gospel and the momentum would continue through these chosen few.
Twelve was a number Jesus could disciple, mentor, tutor, and teach in a one-on-one setting. Twelve was the number with whom He could have friendship and a relationship.
Less is More
The Lord understood that spending more time with less people would eventually impact the Kingdom in a greater measure than meeting with great crowds of people. Less would become more...many, many more. All of us need to use this concept in training and mentoring other leaders.
Jesus took it a step further. He broke down the twelve into three. Peter, James, and John became what we know as the inner circle; they were the closest to Jesus. These three were instrumental in carrying on what Jesus started. Whatever these three did, the others would also do. Consequently, Jesus spent more time mentoring these three than any of the other nine disciples.
- Peter was the one to whom Jesus entrusted the keys of the Kingdom. He went on to preach the keynote message at Pentecost.
- John was the disciple whom Jesus loved. The Lord shared things with John that he never shared with the others. Many of those things are recorded in the Gospel of John and the Book of Revelation.
- James and John were known as the Sons of Thunder, possessing a zeal for God that the others did not have.
Jesus had deeper discussions with these three men and they were closer to the Master than the others. For example, Jesus asked Peter, James and John to join Him when He healed Jairus's daughter. They were present during the transfiguration and as Jesus anguished in the Garden of Gethsemane. They were the first great leaders of the church and became the foundation with Jesus as the Chief Cornerstone.
Jesus Christ, God of this universe, concentrated the majority of His efforts on three men who would emerge as the leaders of His Church. With Jesus as their commanding officer, these three men experienced hands-on training in the front lines of a spiritual warfare.
As we follow Jesus’ example we, too, will realize that less is more. After all, we can train and mentor a few a lot better than we can mentor a whole group or a classroom of potential leaders.
In everything we do, we should keep these concepts in mind. Don't start something that you cannot properly manage and maintain. It will fail, having wasted precious time, energy, and resources to no avail. Simplification is key to maintaining momentum in any given organization.
If you would like to learn more about experiencing momentum in your ministry by raising up the leaders around you, take a look at http://www.pastoralhelps.com/momentum-in-ministry-exclusives-page/
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Last week, time was spent on the Barnabas Blog with a series of posts called “Guard the Gates” and how important that our minds are in this spiritual battle that we are involved in. Late last night, I was mulling over the next series of things to write about that might bring a little inspiration to those hearty souls who are involved in ministry. During that time of productive meditation, I was drawn to another theme from Bunyan’s The Holy War that sort of lodged in my spirit.
Early on in the taking of Mansoul, Bunyan pulls us in with the majesty of his word pictures when he tells us that Captain Resistance was one of the chief men of the city who had great influence. As he tells us of the approach of Diabolus in attacking the Eye Gate and Ear Gate, Captain Resistance gets up on top of the walls of the city. From that high point, one of the deadly archers of Diabolus shoots him off of the wall with an arrow to the head. Obviously the word picture gives us the idea that Captain Resistance is a godly pastor who is preparing to shout his warning from the top of the wall. When he goes down, the whole city soon falls to the evil hordes of Diabolus and his minions......
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Storm the Gates - Part 1
Last week, time was spent on the Barnabas Blog with a series of posts called “Guard the Gates” and how important that our minds are in this spiritual battle that we are involved in. Late last night, I was mulling over the next series of things to write about that might bring a little inspiration to those hearty souls who are involved in ministry. During that time of productive meditation, I was drawn to another theme from Bunyan’s The Holy War that sort of lodged in my spirit.
Early on in the taking of Mansoul, Bunyan pulls us in with the majesty of his word pictures when he tells us that Captain Resistance was one of the chief men of the city who had great influence. As he tells us of the approach of Diabolus in attacking the Eye Gate and Ear Gate, Captain Resistance gets up on top of the walls of the city. From that high point, one of the deadly archers of Diabolus shoots him off of the wall with an arrow to the head. Obviously the word picture gives us the idea that Captain Resistance is a godly pastor who is preparing to shout his warning from the top of the wall. When he goes down, the whole city soon falls to the evil hordes of Diabolus and his minions......
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Those wonderful complainers!
Don't you love them? They add so much to a church or organization. Their destructive attitude is so encouraging. They build faith in all who fall prey to their vile contempt. They're such a blessing!
It is funny though, how some people hate to hear a complaint, but love to be the one complaining. I suppose there are many reasons why a person complains. However, I doubt anyone realizes the full impact of it's destructive ability.
Several years ago, I was working on a job with a fellow leader in the church. We were working the midnight shift in a factory. As the night went on, I found myself complaining to this brother about my situation. At the time I felt justified because it was late and I was tired. I was also hurting emotionally and felt that people in the church should be more sensitive to my families needs. I had a list of reasons why it was OK for me to complain.
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Those wonderful complainers!
Don't you love them? They add so much to a church or organization. Their destructive attitude is so encouraging. They build faith in all who fall prey to their vile contempt. They're such a blessing!
It is funny though, how some people hate to hear a complaint, but love to be the one complaining. I suppose there are many reasons why a person complains. However, I doubt anyone realizes the full impact of it's destructive ability.
Several years ago, I was working on a job with a fellow leader in the church. We were working the midnight shift in a factory. As the night went on, I found myself complaining to this brother about my situation. At the time I felt justified because it was late and I was tired. I was also hurting emotionally and felt that people in the church should be more sensitive to my families needs. I had a list of reasons why it was OK for me to complain.
It has been over 11 years since that night and I have regretted it ever since. I cannot tell you how many times I have asked God to forgive me for allowing that negative spirit to work through me that night......
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Small Groups - Helping close the back door.
In my years of pastoring and ministry, I’ve found that people usually leave the church because they were never truly assimilated into the family of God to begin with. Once a person is established into the church and have formed nurturing relationships, it’s less likely they would become offended and leave.
We think that we have to “get them into the choir right away” or “find them a position or job in the church” to keep new converts. This may help that person feel more attached, but it will never assimilate them into the church.
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Small Groups - Helping close the back door.
In my years of pastoring and ministry, I’ve found that people usually leave the church because they were never truly assimilated into the family of God to begin with. Once a person is established into the church and have formed nurturing relationships, it’s less likely they would become offended and leave.
We think that we have to “get them into the choir right away” or “find them a position or job in the church” to keep new converts. This may help that person feel more attached, but it will never assimilate them into the church.
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7 Things to Consider When Asked to “Lead the Service”
All too often the people who lead the service mislead it. These good people whom the Pastor has asked to help out in the service many times serve to cause frustration and confusion in a church service.
Leading a service properly can bring about a move of God that can break every yoke in the service. Leading it improperly can cause people to go home more bound than they were when they came.
Every element of the service should prepare the way for the next. The end result of the service is the move of God in the alter. When you get in the way of the progression, you kill the potential of what could happen.
Here are a few things to consider when asked to “Lead the service”.
- Keep it moving. Don’t allow for delays or “dead air” places in the services. In radio, “dead air” is when you hear silence. It is also when the producer did his job wrong and did not prepare for those seconds of the day. It is during this time that many people will change the channel or turn off their radio. You don’t want this happening in the church service. “No Dead Air!”
- Do not continually comment. If you are introducing the various singers and elements of the service don’t comment each time on the last person who sang or spoke. Just introduce the next part of the service....
7 Things to Consider When Asked to “Lead the Service”
All too often the people who lead the service mislead it. These good people whom the Pastor has asked to help out in the service many times serve to cause frustration and confusion in a church service.
Leading a service properly can bring about a move of God that can break every yoke in the service. Leading it improperly can cause people to go home more bound than they were when they came.
Every element of the service should prepare the way for the next. The end result of the service is the move of God in the alter. When you get in the way of the progression, you kill the potential of what could happen.
Here are a few things to consider when asked to “Lead the service”.
- Keep it moving. Don’t allow for delays or “dead air” places in the services. In radio, “dead air” is when you hear silence. It is also when the producer did his job wrong and did not prepare for those seconds of the day. It is during this time that many people will change the channel or turn off their radio. You don’t want this happening in the church service. “No Dead Air!”
- Do not continually comment. If you are introducing the various singers and elements of the service don’t comment each time on the last person who sang or spoke. Just introduce the next part of the service....
What If Everyone Tithed
What are the possibilities if every Christian in America tithed ten percent of their increase to the Kingdom?
We can imagine those possibilities through a recent CNN article about tithing....
The churches of the U.S. last year received about $4 billion in donations. If the 112 million Americans who claim a religious affiliation had given one tenth— the traditional tithe—of their personal income to churches, that total could have topped $25 billion.
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What If Everyone Tithed
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The churches of the U.S. last year received about $4 billion in donations. If the 112 million Americans who claim a religious affiliation had given one tenth— the traditional tithe—of their personal income to churches, that total could have topped $25 billion.
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We live in a different world than we did 30 years ago and the family unit is suffering as a result.
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Things to consider when planning church activities
People are very busy, don’t burden them with mere activities.
- Many full time church leaders do not understand the time constraints of the working saint and their family.
- Many homes are two income homes where families seldom have time for one another.
- God and church should be at the center of our lives, however church leadership needs to realize that people need a break once in a while as well.
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We live in a different world than we did 30 years ago and the family unit is suffering as a result.
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It would be a good exercise for church leadership to see how they can cut the church calendar 20% by removing unproductive activities.....
When Brethren Disagree
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- Keep the disagreement in perspective. Don’t reject the person because he or she has a different opinion. A variety of opinions are the spices of life.
- Do not transfer the disagreement to other areas.....
When Brethren Disagree
How do you handle disagreements among brethren? The following article appeared in Brother T.F. Tenney’s book, “Advice to Pastors and Other Saints.” It gives excellent advice concerning how to get along.
- Keep the disagreement in perspective. Don’t reject the person because he or she has a different opinion. A variety of opinions are the spices of life.
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10 Ways To Use These Articles
The Articles of Preachit.org are written specifically for you and your Ministry team. We have prayed over our articles and sincerely hope that they help you in every way possible. We pray that each article you read, ministers to you and encourages you to keep doing the awesome Work of God. May God continue to bless you as you bless His kingdom.
Below are some ways to use this tool for your benefit. This is not a complete list as you can add to it as you see fit and how it fits your Ministry team. These are just some suggestions to get you started. Thank you for taking the time to read the PreachIt.org Articles and may it enrich your ministry.
1. Teach Your Leadership Team.
2. Put the articles in Your Church's Bulletin.
3. Print out the PDF format and save them for sermon thoughts....
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10 Ways To Use These Articles
The Articles of Preachit.org are written specifically for you and your Ministry team. We have prayed over our articles and sincerely hope that they help you in every way possible. We pray that each article you read, ministers to you and encourages you to keep doing the awesome Work of God. May God continue to bless you as you bless His kingdom.
Below are some ways to use this tool for your benefit. This is not a complete list as you can add to it as you see fit and how it fits your Ministry team. These are just some suggestions to get you started. Thank you for taking the time to read the PreachIt.org Articles and may it enrich your ministry.
1. Teach Your Leadership Team.
2. Put the articles in Your Church's Bulletin.
3. Print out the PDF format and save them for sermon thoughts....
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As A Man Thinketh
I have so many titles for this article running through my head. "Stinking Thinking". "As A Man Thinketh In His Heart". "You Are What You Think". "So Go The Thoughts, So Go The Man". Let me start by asking you a few questions.
- Are you totally discouraged right now?
- Do you feel overwhelmed?
- Is your mental thought process completely shut down?
- Do you feel trapped?
I have a friend who consistently responds “I’m happy and blessed” when I ask him how he is doing. Now I like this guy, I really do. But, sometimes, I just want to say “get real" when he tells me that. I don’t know, maybe he really is happy all the time. I guess it’s possible. Anything is possible right?!
I’m going to get blasted over this article. I’m going to get tons of emails from the "Happy All The Time Crowd". They’re going to tell me I’ve gone off the deep end. They will let me know that the Christian should always be happy. It’s our right. It’s our obligation. We should always have this enormous smile that tells everyone around us that we are HAPPY.
Christians are not allowed to get bummed out. Christians, especially Christian ministers are definitely not allowed to sink to the cloud of discouragement. A minister should never allow himself to get to a place of feeling down. Right?
Sounds good doesn’t it. But in the real world that’s a bunch of baloney. Just ask the old Prophet of God. One minute he’s killing off 500 false prophets, and wishing he could die the next.
You might agree with me that most preachers are emotional people. Now some people out there are not real emotional, but most of the preachers I know are people who allow emotion to guide them. Now that’s not a bad thing. I’m convinced that the Lord has a hard time using people who are hard to move emotionally. This is why he anointed David to be king when he was only a boy. God said of David, “He’s after my heart”. Other words, he’s a person who is able to touch me with his emotion. Without emotion, David would be led of his own ideas and agenda. But, since he was a person whose heart could be touched, God said, “I’ll use him in ways he never imagined he could be used.”
Emotion is a good thing. We need to be emotional! God is emotional. Look what the scriptures tell us about him.
- He gets angry.
- He gets jealous.
- He laughs.
- He’s emotional!
We, being created in his image are allowed the same privilege of being emotional.
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As A Man Thinketh
I have so many titles for this article running through my head. "Stinking Thinking". "As A Man Thinketh In His Heart". "You Are What You Think". "So Go The Thoughts, So Go The Man". Let me start by asking you a few questions.
- Are you totally discouraged right now?
- Do you feel overwhelmed?
- Is your mental thought process completely shut down?
- Do you feel trapped?
I have a friend who consistently responds “I’m happy and blessed” when I ask him how he is doing. Now I like this guy, I really do. But, sometimes, I just want to say “get real" when he tells me that. I don’t know, maybe he really is happy all the time. I guess it’s possible. Anything is possible right?!
I’m going to get blasted over this article. I’m going to get tons of emails from the "Happy All The Time Crowd". They’re going to tell me I’ve gone off the deep end. They will let me know that the Christian should always be happy. It’s our right. It’s our obligation. We should always have this enormous smile that tells everyone around us that we are HAPPY.
Christians are not allowed to get bummed out. Christians, especially Christian ministers are definitely not allowed to sink to the cloud of discouragement. A minister should never allow himself to get to a place of feeling down. Right?
Sounds good doesn’t it. But in the real world that’s a bunch of baloney. Just ask the old Prophet of God. One minute he’s killing off 500 false prophets, and wishing he could die the next.
You might agree with me that most preachers are emotional people. Now some people out there are not real emotional, but most of the preachers I know are people who allow emotion to guide them. Now that’s not a bad thing. I’m convinced that the Lord has a hard time using people who are hard to move emotionally. This is why he anointed David to be king when he was only a boy. God said of David, “He’s after my heart”. Other words, he’s a person who is able to touch me with his emotion. Without emotion, David would be led of his own ideas and agenda. But, since he was a person whose heart could be touched, God said, “I’ll use him in ways he never imagined he could be used.”
Emotion is a good thing. We need to be emotional! God is emotional. Look what the scriptures tell us about him.
- He gets angry.
- He gets jealous.
- He laughs.
- He’s emotional!
We, being created in his image are allowed the same privilege of being emotional.
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