This is worth 6 minutes.
Tag Archive - Christianity
Catalyst Conference 2004 DVD Give Away
In my many years with Catalyst Conference, Giant Impact, and the Chick Fil A Leadercast (all the same company), I’ve been fortunate enough to accumulate quite a collection of leadership resources. I’ve collected a plethora of books, as well as audio and video lessons. Unfortunately, what I don’t have is the space to keep all of these amazing materials. My pain can be your gain. I initially began to pitch the stuff, but later thought… “Hey, maybe I can share these resources with the kind people who read my blog. “
So… giveaway number one is the 2004 Catalyst Conference speaker sessions 1-8 DVDs (I believe that is the entire conference). It contains sessions from Andy Stanley, John Eldridge, Ted Dekker, Rob Bell Jr., Chuck Colson and many more. 
It’s simple to win… just re-tweet me or tweet this link and hash tag http://ow.ly/3H9ts #rcfreebie . By the end of the day next Wednesday (sorry I’m traveling), I will randomly select a winner from the re-tweets and hash tags and contact you via direct message for your shipping info. Enter as many times as you like!
When you’re done, make sure you check out The Catalyst Conference near you!
The Definition of Success
Earl Nightingale defined success as “the progressive realization of a worthy ideal”.
My strategy for success as a human is directly tied to my ability to connect with three people. I call this my “Critical Success Factors” (see it even has success in the name). Whether it’s success as a Church Advisor, a planter of missional community, or running a marathon, I know I have to have a level 10 relationship with my wife Kristy, with my daughter Jordan, and with Jesus my Savior to truly be successful. Reaching my goals at the cost of any of these relationships is my definition of failure. The cool thing is, strengthening one of those relationships strengthens them all.
For me that means connecting with each of them as regular as possible and I’ve realized doing that takes more than just being in their presence.
Connecting with an 8 year old
Right now this is easier than it might be in a few years because she’s in “daddy’s girl mode”. Jordan and I have a date just about every Saturday morning, and nothing gets on my schedule that trumps that time. I go with her where she likes to go. We connect about things that are on her mind, and I try to answer questions that she has and relate them back to things God has taught me over the years. Right now I’m trying to learn to lead her with good questions versus giving her advice.
Connecting with my wife Kristy
My relationship with God is directly proportionate with my relationship with Kristy. He often speaks to me and leads me through her words. Connecting at this stage of life can be hard, and for a long time I think we both felt as if we had to have a date planned to get out of the house and connect. We still do that, but one of the daily habits I track is… did we connect? I’m finding that it’s fairly simple to do if I just put everything aside for a few moments and focus. My friend John Woodall gave me these three questions that I want to ask more often…
- What are you thinking?
- How are you feeling?
- What do you want to do?
- Bonus question, “What would make this day a 10 for you?”
Connecting with Jesus
I think there is quite a bit of value in determining how you connect with Jesus.
For me to feel connected I have to slow down. I need to:
- Make sure I’ve planned enough time.
- Be still and hear the big questions God has put on my heart.
- Be careful of my agenda. God rarely answers the questions I’m asking Him, but more often asks me better questions about other things.
- Great music helps… but nothing with words.
Do you know what your Critical Success Factors are?
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North Point Leadership Change
In the 13 years I’ve been at North Point Community Church I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve been amazed at the quality of people the church continues to attract. Their ability to make high quality leadership decisions in order to stretch their organization to reach the world for Christ is worth taking note of.
This weekend Andy Stanley announced Joel Thomas as the new campus pastor for the Alpharetta Campus. If you’re thinking “isn’t that the main campus, the mother ship?” you’re right. Andy’s moving out of that role and into an advisory role over what will soon be five local campuses for North Point Ministries. Joel has been with the church for more than a decade and will not only fill that role but probably exceed what has been accomplished with it to date.
If you hold a leadership role in your organization here are a few things worth thinking about.
1. Leadership is the lifeblood of growth
Great organizations have great leaders. Great leaders are in the leadership development business. They constantly find people with the competence and character to fuel their organization. Growing leaders is a process that’s more like a crock pot than a microwave, and there isn’t a guaranteed recipe. You’re going to have to get your hands dirty with people helping them through some personal barriers to leadership before they can really break out.
So who are your up and coming leaders? How can you invest regularly in a couple of them? Are their people who aren’t on staff who should be?
2. Only do what only you can do
Ok this isn’t the first time you’ve heard this, but how are you making it happen? For most of us either you can do this or you can’t. We have to do it all. However, “only doing what only I can do” should be a goal, even if it’s a long term goal. Do you know what it is that only you can do in your organization? Could you make a list of those things? What are the things you do that anyone in your organization could do? How can you delegate one or two of those things today? While you’re at it, what are one or two things you do that nobody in your organization should be doing? If you’re in a church and you’re not leveraging people in your congregation for some of those things, you’re denying them the growth that might come from serving in that capacity.
3. Cast Vision and Stand Back
You may not be the best leader on your staff. I know that might be hard to swallow, but hopefully it’s true. If you’re going to reach your goal of only doing what only you can do you have to develop a lot of people who can do things better than you can in other areas. Let go of the wheel systematically and over time. Create a culture where failure is not only accepted but encouraged.
Which leaders in your organization need to make a regular appearance on your calendar? Send the invitation right now!
Lead well and multiply!
Have Something to Say? Comment Here
The Bible for the Undisciplined
How many times have you started to read the Bible throughout the year but got sidetracked or didn’t stay disciplined enough to finish? We’ll there is hope. Bible.is is an app available on iphone and droid. But its much more than just another Bible app. It has audio available in several different versions as well as dramatic and non-dramatic readings. I was in the car today for about 4 hours and covered most of the adventures of Saul and King David.
This app is awesome. Check it out.
