Communicating Value to Volunteers

What is it you do (I'm talking intentionally, not haphazardly) to communicate to your volunteers that they are valuable? Mark Waltz blogged about Patrick Lencioni's Catalyst session on this very issue. According to Mr. Lencioni, "People want to know that their work and personal contribution is relevant to what's going on in the workplace – or church." Here's the rest of the writeup.

Team Togetherness

Tueday's Tip from Group Publishing had a great comparison between a team that is connected and a team that is disconnected. I found it a helpful diagnostic tool so thought I would pass it along. Link

Back In The Saddle

I'm sorry for the lack of posts over the past week and a half. Here's what's happening.

• Newfrontiers team meetings took up all my week last week. Love the guys on the team, but glad the meetings are done.
• Thanks to the meetings I've got a to-do list that will keep me busy for awhile.
  
• Gayle and I have received an offer on our home and a contract has been signed.
• We are now looking for a home in Wentzville, MO
• Sunday mornings at Jubilee have been rockin'! Every Sunday is something to look forward to.

Good to be back.

Purity

We all know that leaders share a greater sense of accountability and responsibility for how they live their life. It is incumbent of leaders to guard their heart in all matters of life. Nowhere is this more true than in the area of pornography. Sermon Central recently made available an article (it may have been a sermon) by Steve Arterburn (Every Man's Battle) of New Life Ministries. It is a sobering article that should make us all pause and consider what we're doing to guard our hearts in this area. Link

What Are You Waiting For?

Gayle and I are currently reading It's Not My Fault, by Henry Cloud and John Townsend. One of the initial main points they put forth as a way of owning responsibility for your life is to realize that your thinking may be wrong. Sounds obvious I know, but actually when our brain outputs information it comes out with conviction that it is right in its assessment. (Gayle tells me I come across this way on most occasions. Dang!) As leaders, our internal assessment is extremely important because decisions are made based on them.

As I work my way through the scriptures (My reading plan currently has me in Jeremiah and Isaiah.) it's clear to me that most times our assessment falls glaringly short of God's assessment (1 Cor 2:7-9). The result is that we make small decisions, based on small assessments, resulting in small outcomes. In a recent post, Perry Noble asked this question, "What would you be willing to attempt for God if you knew you could not fail?" As you read it, ask yourself these two questions;

1. What is God's assessment of...? (you fill in the blank)
   
2. What will I do in response to God's assessment?

The truth is that God doesn't need millions of people to change the world, (1 Samuel 14:6). He can do that with a very small number. Will you be one of those?

Innovate 2007

For those of us who couldn't make it to the Innovate Conference at Granger Community Church, the good folks at Granger have placed all the main sessions online. Here's the link.

Being An Encouraging Leader

One of the most telling things about any leader is how they respond to people, especially to those they are seeking to lead. Few leaders are more encouraging to others than John Maxwell. (His message "Five Things I Know About People" from Focus on the Family is still my all time favorite message.) Mark Waltz recently shared John's notes from his seminar at Catalyst last week. I thought you would benefit from John's thoughts about how he goes about adding value to people's lives. Link

Hmmmmm...

Every once in awhile I hear or read something that makes me stop and think. I'm not talking about giving me pause to think, I mean really stopping, praying and considering the implications of what I heard or read. This week I've come across two such things from some speakers at the Catalyst Conference that is currently going on in Atlanta. I thought I'd pass them along to you.

Author Reggie McNeal said, "The book of Acts is the church catching up with the Spirit." Here are some implications of this statement.

• The Spirit is already at work in the world drawing people to Jesus. (John 6:44)
• Salvation is a supernatural event that only God can do. (Jeremiah 24:7)
  
• The church's job is to follow the Holy Spirit...period. (John 5:19-20)
  
• When the church catches up with the Holy Spirit the world is turned upside down. (Acts 2:41-47)
  

Rick Warren said this about the church and culture; "Stop trying to change culture, just create it."

• God is creative and innovative and he desires his church to be creative and innovative versus predictable and reactionary. (Check out Wednesday's post here.)
• Stop focusing on where the world is and place our focus on where God wants us. (Colossians 3:1-4)
  
• God can use us, through the power of the Holy Spirit to create a Kingdom culture in our midst.

Enjoy your weekend and I'll send more stuff your way next week.

Slaying The Procrastination Monster

When I was teaching classes in our Trilogy Project training program I was surprised to discover the level of procrastination amongst leaders and future leaders. I include myself in this list as well. The one thing I found easy to put off was grading Trilogy papers. UGH!

The good news is that relief is on the way. Neil Fiore has written a new book for helping people overcome procrastination called The Now Habit. I came across a summary of the book (at least the part that this particular procrastinator had finished) that shared some really cool things about Fiore's strategy. Here's the link. (Don't put it off, check it out now!)

Think About It!

I've just recently subscribed to Collide Magazine's RSS feed. In their October 1 post there's a great article about the difference between improvement and innovation. It's so easy to get into the trap of always trying to improve things, whereby neglecting innovation.

God is all about innovation rather than improvement. For example, salvation is an innovative work. God didn't improve us, he completely re-engineered us by the power of his Holy Spirit. The work of God in and through us by his Spirit on an ongoing basis is not simply an improvement of our fleshly efforts and strength. His supernatural grace and strength come to us every morning, available for whatever he has for us at that time. Life in the Spirit is competely and utterly innovative. Therefore, my prayer is, "Lord, open my eyes to see your innovative work around me. And speak to me about the innovative things you want me to give myself to via your strength and power. " Here's the link.

The Power of Story

It's amazing to me the impact stories have on our lives; they engage, encourage, inspire and envision. Mark Waltz has a great example of how this truth recently impacted him and how it can be applied to the church. Link