The Peril Of Success

John 6:15 - "Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself."

I want to blog on this verse in the next few days ,interested in your thoughts about it first

Great Quote

"To many church's are majoring on being relevant ,while minoring on being reachable."
Jeremy Sargent

Great Quote

“The world will never starve for lack of wonders, but only for lack of wonder”.G.K. Chesterton

Leadership Challenges Part 3

This is part 3 on Leadership Challenges

8. Strained Family

When a Young Lion does something, they do it full-tilt-boogie (all the way). This can many times put pressure on the wife and kids, especially if the lion is used to living a college lifestyle; up early, going hard all day, up late, making stuff happen, taking all the little jobs. In the early days of a church, the pastor usually does everything, and the family may suffer.

9. No Margin

Everything is about building the new church, so exercise, reading, relaxing, dates with your spouse, close community with friends, and time with nothing planned become obsolete. Young Lions like to have every day packed with productive things to do so we can end the day and say “…that was a good day, look at all I accomplished.”

10. Losing The First Love

From personal experience, I can say that all of the creativity and energy that Young Lions have penned up inside their hearts and heads can distract them from the main thing; staying connected to the Vine. In John 15, Jesus made it clear that if we remain in Him, we will bear much fruit, but apart from Him, we can do nothing. NOTHING.

Young Lions must not forget that we are called first to Christ, not success or church planting or executive decision-making. He must always remain our first love. Just wanted to share a post with you by Clayton King founder of Crossroads Worldwide Ministries about the potential pitfalls and dangers "Young Lions" face in ministry.


Its been helpful hasn't it?

Interested in your comments

Challenges of Leadership Part 2

Part 2 of "Young Lions"

4. Sense of Invincibility

To quote Travis Tritt, Young Lions sometimes feel “10 foot tall and bullet proof” without realizing that it takes 5 seconds to destroy with it took 20 years to build. Each of us is susceptible to any and all temptations without the grace of God and the protection of our brothers and sisters.

5. Theological Ignorance

I have heard this one so many times…”Don’t bore me with theology, let’s get busy reaching people for Jesus!” Sure. Sounds cute and epic. But that is the fastest way to build a really big church fast, and then watch it fall apart even faster. All that we do is based on theological beliefs. We must be as deep as we are wide.

6. Isolation

Based on a fear of confrontation or being rejected by others, Young Lions often seal themselves off from the voices and opinions of others. We don’t need a committee for every decision, but we need clarity and wisdom. Proverbs says these come from wise counsel. We do not get that when we role solo.

7. Constant Comparison

With so many new churches sprouting up and so many nationally known pastors and ministries on the map, it becomes a struggle to not always look to them and ask why you are not as big, edgy, innovative, creative, post-modern, hip, or cool, or why you have not yet written a book on church planting or the emerging church. This type of comparison can possibly be a result of insecurity or a result of being too busy to get a clear word from God about the direction HE wants you to take your church. Model, don’t copy.

Challenges of Leadership

Just wanted to share a post with you by Clayton King founder of Crossroads Worldwide Ministries about the potential pitfalls and dangers "Young Lions" face in ministry. Its another 3 part series.Enjoy.

DANGERS FOR THE YOUNG LIONS
1. Extreme Zeal

Is this always bad? Not always, but it can lead to a stressed lifestyle where the church becomes a means to an end, i.e. building a successful church in youthful zeal makes you feel like a success. God builds His church with or without us. The goal is not success, it is faithfulness to the end.

2. Unrealistic Pace

Ministry is a marathon, but Young Lions don’t understand that yet. They (we) treat it like a sprint, end up fatigued too early in the race to finish, and quit or disqualify themselves before the finish line.

3. Lack of Perspective

Young Lions have yet to make all the mistakes, meet all the people, listen to all the conversations, read all the books, reflect on all the mess-ups, and pay attention to all the warnings that they eventually will. Only time (year stacked upon year of hard ministry) can bring this.

Advoiding Pitfalls- Part 3

Last of the 3 points today on the subject of advoiding pitfalls Hope its been as helpful to me as its been to you Jeremy

7. Live modestly and give extravagantly.
In a few more years the selfish, money-focused doctrines that tainted charismatic churches in the 1980s and 1990s will be gone. God is bringing balance and correction to a message that has encouraged greed. I do not know Texas pastor Robert Morris personally, but he has become a long-distance mentor to me in the financial area. His book The Blessed Life has redefined how we charismatics should view money. Bottom line: We don’t give to get, even though we know God blesses generosity. We give to give.

8. Don’t build your own kingdom.
In the previous season leaders got away with naming their ministries after themselves. That will not work today. The one-man show is over. Leadership today is about building a team. Those who think they can “do it all”—and take all the credit—will end up with meager results when their work is tested by God’s fire.

9. Develop keen discernment.
The devil is on the prowl, and we can’t afford to be ignorant of his schemes. Leaders must develop an early warning system if we expect to survive. You must develop a team of watchful intercessors who are committed to praying for you. Those whose ministries are crashing and burning today most likely ignored prophetic counsel from people who saw disaster coming.

10. Maintain your spiritual passion.
People who experience moral failure almost always lose their spiritual passion first. Being filled with the Holy Spirit is not just a one-time encounter. Because we “leak,” we need to be refilled and recharged regularly. We will burn out quickly if we don’t stay plugged into the Source. The man who led me to Christ, Barry St. Clair, taught me to have a daily appointment with God

.I try to guard my time in prayer and Bible study because I know I can’t give what I don’t have. The more I read His Word, the deeper and stronger it grows inside me, providing daily revelation of the Savior—and giving me more and more reasons to make Him my magnificent obsession.

Advoiding Pitfalls Part 2

4. Stay in touch with the real world.

Ministry is about loving people. (Duh!) But you will never develop compassion unless you are close enough to the grass roots to smell the poverty, lay hands on the sickness and cry with those who are in pain. The days are over when preachers can arrive in limousines to announce salvation. The Lord is requiring all His servants to come down to earth.

5. Don’t allow people to make you a celebrity.

Before Jesus began His ministry, the devil showed Him the kingdoms of the world and offered Him fame and fortune. The enemy of your soul will try to cut you a similar deal. Resist every urge to become a star. Don’t let people put you on a pedestal. If the spirit of entitlement is seducing you, humble yourself and wash some feet. That is what true ministry is about.

6. Make family a priority.

We have crusaded against abortion and gay marriage, yet at the same time many in our movement have neglected their spouses and children. People need to know that what we preach works at home. The Bible makes it plain: “But if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of the church of God?” (1 Tim. 3:5, NASB). If we enforced this one biblical principle today, most of the shenanigans happening in charismatic leadership would end overnight.

Part 3 tommorow.

Advoiding pitfalls

Recently a young pastor wrote J. Lee Grady, editor of the Charismatic/Pentecostal magazine Charisma and asked how he might avoid the pitfalls that other leaders have fallen into.

After all no one starts out planning to ruin their lives in a moral scandal. Grady gave some great advice which I am posting here. There are 9 so I am going to do this over 3 postings. To allow readers to digest and think about it All young leaders please read this, meditate upon it and put into action.

1. Live a humble, transparent life.

Just because you are a leader doesn’t mean you don’t have issues. You are a flawed, broken individual who has experienced the miracle of God’s mercy. Resist the temptation to live in denial about your weaknesses. Don’t take yourself too seriously.
Stay in close relationship with mature mentors and trusted peers who know your temptations, insecurities and any past addictions. Confess your sins to God and to your inner circle regularly.

2. Stay open to correction.

Many of those whose ministries are imploding today either worked in isolation or they surrounded themselves with yes men. As your ministry grows, increase the number of people who speak into your life.
If your colleagues are rubber-stamping everything you do, consider that a warning sign. If they tell you they can’t correct you because you are either authoritarian or subtly controlling, take a sabbatical and get counseling immediately.

3. Audit your actions regularly.

God watches the way we handle the little things. Are you telling the truth? Are you mishandling ministry finances? Are you “fudging” in any area of sexual purity? Do you have checks and balances set in place so that you always comply with the law?
God sees every Web site you visit, every personal expense you charge to your ministry account and every exaggeration (i.e., lie) you put in your newsletter.

Interested in your comments about this

Great Book

I love the below paragraph from the book I am reading at the moment called ‘The Church Of Irrestible Influence” by Robert Lewis

It’s a very good book, insightful, inspiring and practical.

I love the church of Jesus Christ. I love the truth it stands for. I love the life it alone can give. Despite it shortcomings due to the open arms it offers sinners, it still remains the greatest force on earth for good.

Nothing else is like it or can match it, especially when it is healthy.It alone possesses the supernatural message of truth that can transform the worst of humanity in a instant, while unleashing the best of it over a lifetime.

Love it

Interested in your comments

Bula Fiji

Hi all, just got back form Fiji, after having a wonderful time
Wow what a place, what an experience.

Glad I saw the many sides of Fiji, people who visit Fiji and only stay behind the four walls of the resort must miss out on experiencing true Fijian culture
I loved the rawness of the country, untouched by the many so-called advances of the modern world.
It was nice to step back in time, when life was without cell phones, internet, when people chatted to each other face to face rather than through a virtual world.

As you travel through life you find out that there are many things that divide people ,race,languaue,social and economic status to name a few.
But one language is universal, and that language crosses over every cultural, ethnic and social barrier ,the language of love.

They say people often forget what you say, sometimes they forget what you do, but the never forget how you make them feel.

Vinaka Fiji ,I certainly am a better person for the experience