Three areas that are killing your leadership and mine.

I want to have significance in my life not just success. So the past few years I have been doing a lot of introspective thinking. Looking at areas I am strong, as well as being open and honest about areas that I am weak and need to improve.  

In this desire to take the lid off my leadership and make the most of the one life I have been given; I've discovered three areas where I have often dropped the ball throughout the years. My guess is, these are areas you struggle with as well. 

So I hope you will continue reading and maybe we can grow together. 

1 - EGO 

If we are honest with ourselves we know that we do not have all the answers. We know deep down that we are more successful when we get get input from and work together with other people. We know that winning is a team effort. But in order for this to happen we have to check out ego at that door. And that is not an easy thing to do. 

Here are some questions to ask yourself, to see if ego is a lid to your leadership. 

Do those around share their thoughts freely with you?

Do the best ideas in your organization come from other people?

When you give an idea, does the conversation quickly turn to running with your idea?

2 - CONTROL

Jack Welch once said, "A leader's role is not to control people or stay on top of things, but rather to guide, energize, and excite". 

This is hard to do when micromanaging or refusing to give authority to others so they can run. When we release those around us to run their race, it frees us up to forge ahead and lead into new areas. 
 

3 - TRUST 

People who say that it is easy to trust have not lead for very long. In leadership, people will drop the ball, they will backstab you, and maybe even leave you hanging high and dry. Because of this many leaders put up a wall around their heart and their to do list. Making the wall higher and higher and their personal to do list longer and longer. 

This is not good for you or your organization. Your heart will be empty because you are alone and your passion will run dry because you are worn out. 

Too many times through the years I would see someone who is gifted in some way and quickly put high expectations on them; thinking they would be able to partner with me and do what needed to be done. More often than not, I would be disappointed and they would be hurt in some way, because they did not live up to my expectations.

What I should have done (and am currently doing) is let people come into my organization (church) get established, get plugged in, and let their faithfulness in small things determine the expectations I place on them and the opportunities I give to them.  This allows them to grow at their own pace and me to build trust along the way. 

Ego. Control. Trust.

These are areas I am trying to improve in. I hope you are as well. 

 

A letter to my younger self.

Kevin, 

You are just starting out. You and Veronica have only been married two years and your first son Jordan has just been born. Before you begin your journey, growing into the man you want to become, I would like to give you some advice.  

You are very driven, and that is good thing, but don’t let your private desire to succeed for Him and make a difference in this world, be the driving force in your life. Even though your intentions are good, if you don’t run this race well, eventually your desire to make a difference could be replaced with a desire to be known… and that is where things could go dreadfully wrong. 

Let the pure pursuit of Jesus in your private life be the driving force of who you are and what you do for Him. You will find out in just a few short years, that success in the public eye will be temporary at best, but what happens in your private times of prayer will give you strength when you are weak and impact your family for years to come. 

Don't ever be afraid or ashamed of doing what others or even yourself may deem as small. You will find that it is the small things that make the biggest impact in you and those that will soon be around you. Simply do what God will call you to do and let Him take care of the size and results. 

As you grow in Christ, leadership, and position. Pay more attention to your father than you do the “rising stars” of the Christian world that you will know and rub shoulders with. 

Some of these men will achieve what most pastors and church leaders aspire to attain. They will all have large churches, nice salaries, and national book deals. Some will speak around the world and have a measure of Celebrity. However, you will soon discover that many will be absolutely miserable. Some will secretly struggle with pornography, others will be unfaithful in their marriage, succumb to addictions or have nervous break downs. These great men in the public eye will struggle greatly in their private life. They will fizzle out by the time they are in their mid 40’s, and begin by Gods grace, the struggle of putting their lives back together. 

Your father on the other hand will be totally different then these men. He will Pastor three churches throughout your life, none of which will ever grow to more than average size. Your Dad will shepherded well, preach the word, and steward money faithfully. 

Your father will never be in the public eye and no articles will ever be written about his ministry. However, when he retires, he will be happily married, in perfect health, run 2 to 4 miles per day, and have no need of medication for any sort of physical or emotional ailment. 

After faithfully serving for 30 years as a Senior Pastor, your father will have left a mark on everyone he had come in contact with. He will have run the race of faith and leadership the way it is supposed to be run. With a pure heart. 

Kevin, over the next several years many people are going to come and go in your life. During this time, watch your father closely. Follow his example, because he will soon be one of the happiest and most content men that you know. 

Never stop serving Veronica. 

Always put your children before your ministry. 

Do what God calls you to do, even when it hurts and you will experience more than you ever dreamed. 

Trust me. The best is yet to come! 

Kevin 

Four things Youth Pastors need to focus on when transitioning to Senior Pastor - Part 4 - MENTORING

You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others.

2 Timothy 2:1-2 

Jesus has called us to make disciples. That will never happen on its own. You have to be proactive. When it comes to making disciples, training leaders, and mentoring others, Paul and Timothy's friendship has always intrigued me. 

Here is a little history on their story. 

Timothy was a teenager when he first met Paul. Timothy's father was a Greek man; we do not know anything about his religious beliefs. But, we do know that his mother and grandmother were faithful Jewish women. They taught the Old Testament scriptures to Timothy when he was a boy. As these Jewish women heard Paul preach, they put their faith in Jesus, and so did Timothy.   Paul saw Gods call on Timothy and invited Timothy to travel with him.

Timothy helped Paul plant and establish churches at Philippi, Thessalonica, and Berea. When Paul left Berea to go to Athens he left Timothy and Silas behind. Paul later sent word for them to come join him. Paul trusted Timothy so much, that he was also sent to Thessalonica to strengthen the faith of believers there. 

Timothy was a person who Paul spent a considerable amount of time pouring into, equipping, and releasing to do the work of the ministry. 

During the 3 years Paul was in Ephesus teaching the people about the amazing power of God, Timothy was there, with him. When Paul was imprisoned in Rome for two years, Timothy was right alongside him much of the time unselfishly taking care of Paul’s needs. By now Timothy had spend around 10 to 15 years with his mentor, Paul. 

Paul thought of Timothy not only as a very faithful friend but also as his spiritual son.

After Paul’s release from prison in Rome, Timothy and Paul traveled to visit friends in the churches they had founded. When they got back to Ephesus, Paul recognized some men in the church were teaching error about Jesus. Paul needed to leave and visit his friends in Macedonia, but he didn’t want to leave the Ephesian church in turmoil. So, he left Timothy, the one he had personally mentored for years, to teach truth to the church there while Paul carried on his mission.

Pauls relationship with Timothy is one that you will need to replicate over and over again in order to make disciples and train leaders to not only help you fulfill your mission but to help them become what God has called them to be! 

Here are some questions to ask yourself on a regular basis.

1 - Who is my Timothy?      (Note - You may and should have more than one.)

2 - What qualities has God placed in them?

3 - What am I doing to sharpen their God given qualities and calling?

4 - What small thing have a released them to do?

5 - Have they proved themselves faithful with the small?

6 - Are they ready for more? 

7 - Who is around them that they can eventually train up as their Timothy?

Here are some things that I (we) currently do to mentor, train the Timothy's around me as well as a couple things we are starting in 2018. 

Staff Members:

1 - Do a weekly one on one with leaders of Departments. 

2 - Do bi-weekly leadership training session with entire team. 

3 - Do random meet ups to check in, coach, live life together. 

3 - Yearly Conference as a team (2018).

Volunteer Team Members:

1 - Weekly team meetings / touch points / prayer with their Department Leader. 

2 - Go Night Celebration and Team Training 5x per year. 

3 - Receive audio of weekly leadership training. (2018)

Four things Youth Pastors need to focus on when transitioning to Senior Pastoring - Part 3 - MONEY

One thing that you cannot afford to ignore as a Senior Leader, is the finances of your church. 

I know people will tell you the church is not a business, it is a hospital. However, let me ask you a question. What does it take to run a hospital? It takes a trained medical staff and money. 

Here are a few things that I've learned (sometimes the hard way) the past few years as a Senior Pastor. 

1. Don't be afraid to talk and teach about money. 

It is not our job as pastors to get people to give money to the church. It is our job as pastors to help people begin experience the freedom that comes from loving the Lord with all of their heart, soul, mind, strength, as well as loving their neighbor as themselves. 

There's not much more in this world that has the potential to ruin a persons heart than money. Because of this, scripture has much to say about money and how we steward it. Even though people get funny when you talk about money, love them enough to talk about and teach biblical truths on this topic on a regular basis. 

2. Help people get out of debt. 

One of the biggest reasons people don't give toward Gods kingdom is, they think they cannot afford it. Most people are so bogged down with debt they are living check to check and totally stressed out at the end of every month. I don't know that God has called everyone to be rich, however, I do know that God wants his children to have peace in their heart. 

As a shepherd it is our job to lead people to the green pastures and still waters that God offers their soul. You need to lead them out of financial depression and into financial peace. 

Besides teaching on financial stewardship in your messages, might I suggest you make Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace class a small group option for you church. This class does not help people get rich, it helps people become free from the mental bondage of bad thinking in their finances. 

Here is a link to FINANCIAL PEACE UNIVERSITY 

3. Have someone more gifted than you handle the church finances. 

As the Pastor you need to have a strong handle on the finances of the church, however, to do that you don't have to handle the finances of the church. 

One of the best pieces of advice I can give you is have someone in your church that understands finances, how they work, and how to steward them well take care of the weekly details of your church budget and finances. 

Just because you are the best speaker in your church does not mean you are the best at handling money, so get a trusted team trained up, and release them to do what they do best, so you can do what you do best. 

4. Be faithful with the small. 

This topic is so BIG that I will save the details for another blog. But, here is the bottom line; if you can't be faithful with stewarding and stretching $5,000 per month in offerings, you will never be able to steward $100,000 per month. So take care of the little, and God will trust you with more. 

Click the links below for two books that have really helped me. I know they will help you as well. 

The Blessed Life - Pastor Robert Morris 

The Blessed Church - Pastor Robert Morris

So you want to be a better speaker? 9 questions to ask yourself after your message.

As Pastors the most important thing we do every week in ministry is present the gospel of Jesus Christ. This is not something that should be taken lightly. We need to master the craft of effectively communicating the truths of Gods word in such a way that people listen and apply what they hear from us. 

One of the best ways to improve as a speaker is to watch your message every week. I know, you don't like looking at yourself. I know, you don't like listen to yourself. But get over yourself! It's not about you. It's about the message. 

Every week I watch my messages and take written and mental notes.

Here are a few things I look for when watching my messages. 

1. What was my point and did I get it across?

2. Did I speak the Bible in its proper context?

3. What were the action steps for the message?

4. Did the people clearly understand the action steps?

5. Was my humor used to move the point forward or to get laughs.

6. Did I have phrases / ticks that distracted from message?

7. Did I use the stage well?

8. Did I have the right body language for the delivery?

9. Did I speak the truth in love? 

These are a few things I ask myself every week and I have found it has really helped my get better at speaking messages that inspire life change. 

Hope this helps you and if you would like to connect - just drop me an email at growmoore@gmail.com.