Tag Archives: success

Links I Like

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Links I Like is a collection of blogs, articles and books I’ve come across recently and thought they were worth sharing. Click here for past Links I Like.

book

  1. Jonathan Parnell on Figuring out what is God’s will for my life?
  2. Why team alignment is so important.
  3. Todd Rhodes on What churches can learn from Google killing Google reader. Lots of insights, I’m sad as I love google reader, but a great leadership move.
  4. If you read this blog through Google Reader, you’ll want to update to Feedly, now that Google Reader is shutting down.
  5. 5 insights behind North Point’s success.
  6. Ed Stetzer on Whether or not the church needs to “get with the times.”
  7. 3 practical ways to increase giving at your church.

Som Sabadell Flashmob

Links I Like

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  1. The deep limitations of digital church. 
  2. J.D. Greear on Homosexuality and the gospel part 1, part 2, part 3 and part 4. 
  3. Are Mormons Christians?
  4. Justin Buzzard on That idol that you love, it doesn’t love you back.
  5. A biblical view of success.
  6. Ryan Huguley on 7 ways to prepare for worship. 
  7. 3 reasons you need to attend the Planet Rev parent meeting tonight if you are a parent at Revolution Church. 
  8. Scott Thomas on The pastor’s wife is simply a wife. 

Links of the Week

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  1. Matt Chandler on “Success” is a hollow goal. 
  2. To get ahead, do what others don’t do. This is a helpful list. 
  3. Download a free album from Page CXVI. If you don’t know this band, you should. They put out some great mixes of hymns. 
  4. Michael Hyatt on 5 Reasons Why You Should Take A Nap Every Day.
  5. Easter services and men. Great insight here for pastors and churches. 

Where Success Comes From

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“Purpose & principle, clearly understood and articulated, and commonly shared, are the genetic code of any healthy organization. To the degree you hold purpose and principles in common among you, you can dispense with command and control. People will know how to behave in accordance with them, and they’ll do it in thousands of unimaginable, creative ways. The organization will become a vital, living set of beliefs. All organizations are merely conceptual embodiments of a very old, very basic idea – the idea of community. They can be no more or less than the sum of the beliefs of the people drawn to them; of their character, judgments, acts, and efforts. An organization’s success has enormously more to do with clarity of a shared purpose, common principles and strength of belief in them than to assets, expertise, operating ability, or management competence, important as they may be.” -Dee Hock, The Birth of the Chaordic Age

Saturday Night Mind Dump…

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  • Love my church
  • Talked about how to handle adversity, opposition and criticism tonight from Nehemiah 4:1 – 14
  • Great passage, great example of not only how to be a leader in the midst of adversity and opposition, but how to handle that personally
  • Nehemiah heard the criticism, prayed about it and then got back to work
  • No one does anything great in their life or for God without experiencing some opposition and criticism
  • It is part of the journey
  • If you missed tonight, you can listen to it here
  • Love having 2nd and 3rd time guests introduce their friends that they brought with them
  • So much energy comes by investing and inviting in our friends
  • Humbled by how many people God is entrusting us with
  • Heading to California for a conference this week with Katie, Paul and Jennifer
  • Really excited about the time away
  • I’ll be live blogging the main sessions and then I’m doing the preaching track with Rick Warren, so I’ll be sharing my notes from that
  • Can’t begin to tell you how excited I am to have no kids and all the information I’m going to get this week
  • Wow
  • Katie and I are talking about maybe going to Disneyland one night
  • I’ve never been before
  • Love this picture of our kids
  • Someone told me I looked mad tonight
  • For me, I get so frustrated when people mail in their dreams because of adversity and I get so mad when churches are derailed because leaders don’t stand up to opposition and criticism
  • Remember, when someone comes to you says, “They are mad,” you are talking to “they”
  • “They” is always 1 person
  • This might be one of the best leadership books I’ve read in a long time
  • So excited about the Rev Up meeting next week
  • I can’t wait to see how this ministry is able to affect the lives of students and their families
  • Cody is a great young leader that is going to do huge stuff for God at Revolution
  • Spent a good bit of time this week laying out what Revolution’s system will be to help new believers get connected at Revolution and take the next step in their journey
  • Really excited about having this planned out so we are better able to help people in their journey
  • If you haven’t signed up to be baptized on the 20th and would like to be, please email Christe LePeau
  • Pretty excited about the super bowl tomorrow
  • Without a horse in the game, I’m just hoping for a good game
  • I think the Colts will win, but it will be close
  • And high scoring
  • I have been working through this question posed to me by my spiritual director last week, “Do you enjoy success?”
  • Trying to learn how to be more present in the moment of what God is doing and enjoying what He is doing in my life
  • Excited about next week and being able to talk about how you defend what God has given you, whether it is your own life (spiritual and physical), relationships, family, ministry, church or job
  • This is incredibly important, not only to our church, but also as individuals
  • Too often, we let our protection happen by chance
  • It’s going to be a powerful night
  • Lots of props, which is always fun

Do You Enjoy Success?

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One of the things I started doing before Revolution started was meeting with a spiritual director. As a pastor and communicator, a big part of my job is helping others with their spiritual journey, answering questions, giving guidance and helping people see where God is working in their lives. I love this about my job. The problem I ran into was I needed someone to help me with that.

Last week, during my monthly session, I was sharing about the weight of pastoring. It is hard to describe the weight a pastor carries. While all jobs have weights, for me I feel the financial, spiritual, relational, emotional weight, as well as the calling that is on my life for this job.

As I was describing this and all the things God has done in the last few months at Revolution (which have been amazing and God has done some unbelievable things at our church) she asked me, “How do you handle success?”

It stopped me in my tracks.

She went on, “Do you ever just sit and bathe in what God is doing, what God has done? Or, are you so focused on the next thing, looking for the next problem that you miss what God is doing?”

As a church planter, it is bred in us to be a fighter. It takes a fighter to make it, church planting is not for the faint of heart. You also don’t want to have the idea that you have arrived or made it as a church. You don’t want to be prideful or think God is moving because of you.

I left thinking, “Am I allowed to enjoy what God is doing?”

The answer is yes. A resounding yes.

So, now I’m celebrating more. I’m bathing in what God is doing. I’m trying to be more present to enjoy what God is doing around me, in me and through me.

So, leaders. Do you enjoy success? Do you enjoy when God moves and he uses you, or, are you off to the next thing, looking for the next fire to put out, the next problem to solve?

I am enjoying God moving and using me. I am enjoying God’s success.

Links of the Week

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  1. 18 Questions for a Church Planters Soul (from Acts 29). Great thoughts as the busyness of church can often eclipse our souls.
  2. Tony Morgan on Ministry is messy. This is the beauty and heartache of church. Real life.
  3. Barna’s latest study on generational perspectives of the Bible.
  4. C.J. Mahaney on What precisely is the gospel?
  5. How staff and leaders can set volunteers up for success.
  6. Scot McKnight on OMG and taking the Lord’s name in vain. Is it still a sin if you abbreviate it?