Turning Vision into reality

Got a real treat for you today an interview with John C. Maxwell And Ron F. McManus about Turning Vision Into Reality. Enjoy

Developing People

When you are in leading people ,the purpose is to take people from where they are to where they can be. Most people don’t see their potential. They tend to see their faults and their limitations. We tend to see people’s past and their present. God sees our present and our future. He speaks into our future calling us to places where we haven’t yet been.

Someone once said the greatest use of your life is to spend it on something that will outlast it .

Thats why I love ministry because its all about creating vision in people lives and working with them to make that reality.Here is a great post from Pastor Craig Groeschel on this very subject of Developing People

How To Last in Ministry

Read a great post on Pastor Dave Fergusons blog regarding a message he had listened to by Pastor Rick Warren ,in regard to Ministry Burnout. Some great lessons to apply here

Seven Keys to Discovering Your Destiny

Seven Keys to Discovering Your Destiny
1. Understand Grace.
II Peter 3:18 tells us to grow in grace. Grace itself does not grow. We grow in grace.
If we fail to understand grace, we try to earn favor with God. End up in mere religious works. Entrapped. We must come to the understanding of how much God really loves us and forgives us.
Heb. 13:9 says that our hearts must be established by grace.

2. Develop Faith.
Faith comes by hearing the Word of God. The more Word we have in us, the more faith we will have. Faith must be developed.
*Read the Word. *Believe the Word. *Speak the Word. *Act on the Word.

3. Be a Jesus Person.
John 15 - Develop a strong, personal, intimate relationship with Jesus not just a Sunday morning, congregational kind of relationship.
"I want to be a Jesus Person, not a miracle person. Not a healing person. Not a worship person. Not a tongues person."

4. Forget the past and forgive.
Isa. 43:18-19 tells us to forget the former things. You can't go forward if you are always looking in your rear view mirror.

5. Be quick to obey the Holy Spirit.
If we don't obey quickly, the enemy comes in to steal the Word. (like in the parable of the sower). We must obey quickly because the devil will try to come and convince you that it was only you, not God.God has a school of obedience. The first way we learn to obey is in the area of giving. God uses those who are in obedience in tithing and giving. We learn to hear His voice and obey.

6. Be teachable and submitted.
Matt 8:6 -10. Amount of power you have in the Spirit realm will be related to your submission. We must be submitted, humble and willing to learn.

7. Live your life with passion and eternal perspective.
God wants your whole heart! Be on FIRE for Him!

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

Dealing With Critics - Six Questions That I Ask Part 2

#4 - Is This Criticism Personal Or Shared By Others?

Pastors…here is the truth. We can receive hundreds of e-mails telling us how wonderful the sermon was…and one telling us that we are horrible preachers…and we will ignore the one hundred and focus on the one that was negative!We all do it–I am the world’s worse!!!

OR–we will fall for the line, “I’ve been talking to a lot of people…and everyone is saying…” And then they will unload their personal agenda on us and say that everyone is saying the exact same thing. Which in most cases is not true. In fact, what I have discovered is that a person who usually says things like this don’t really have a lot of people who will talk to them anyway. Seriously! And…if it is always the same person saying that “everyone is saying,” but they are the only person who is saying anything…then ask them who “everyone” is–this will usually shut them up!

#5 - Is This Worth My Time?

I used to try and fight every single ounce of criticism that came my way…and I just can’t do it anymore, and neither can you.
Now, there are some things that are worth my time…and I do address issues on the blog from time to time that I feel are necessary.
BUT…what I have discovered is that the majority of the criticism I get simply isn’t worth my time. I am NOT going to change the person’s mind…and “friendly debate” is out of the question…so I just move on.

6# - Will I cause dissension among the brothers by doing this?

According to Proverbs 6:16-19 God HATES it when someone does this!
One night I heard of a church that was growing in popularity…but had some very different biblical views. I went to their website and listened to a message and, by the end of it, I was SO ANGRY. The speaker had basically butchered Scripture to affirm a very unbiblical behavior! I started to blog about this guy until…I thought, “I don’t even know this dude…and by doing this I am going to release a firestorm against him…is that right?”

Don’t get me wrong–I was still mad…but I did not want to participate in something that I knew God was going to hate–that would pretty much be considered sin!!!
The world is watching…and when Christians cause Christians to get mad at other Christians…somehow I just don’t believe God is pleased.

Dealing With Critics - Six Questions That I Ask

Here below is an excellent article from Pastor Perry Noble of Newspring Church about how to deal with critics.

Believe you me its part of the territory that comes from wanting to live a significant life.Depending on how its handled it will either make you or break you.
Pastor Perry gives some good insight on how to let it make us .Its in 2 parts,check out tommorow for Part 2

Dealing With Critics - Five Questions That I Ask

I have been a part of several pastors Q & A sessions in the past year–leading some and participating in others–and in EVERY session that I attended the question, “How do you deal with criticism” surfaced.

I will have to admit that I am NOT an expert in this area…I am still learning; however, I believe in order for a pastor (or church leader) to finish well he has to learn how to deal with this issue. Jesus dealt with it, so did the Apostle Paul…we all will. One of the number one factors in pastors leaving the ministry is discouragement…and so here are several questions that I ask when criticism flies my way…

#1 - How Well Does This Person Know Me?

One of the things that we have to learn as pastors is just because someone has a blog or knows how to type an e-mail…that does not make them an expert. (Yes, I put myself in this category.)
I cannot tell you the number of blog posts I have read and e-mails that I have received from people calling me prideful, a heretic, saying that I am going to hell…and those are the nice ones!!!

Pastors, you’ve got to understand WHO is doing the criticizing. People will often act before they think (I do) and make snap judgments on your character based on one line you wrote on your blog or something you said in a sermon in which they did not listen to the entire context.
And…to be honest, those are the people I do not listen to. I can’t! I don’t have time.

BUT…I do listen to those closest to me. I have created an open atmosphere among the leaders here at NewSpring…and behind closed doors I have been both encouraged and rebuked. You’ve got to have people around you who are willing to tell you the truth or this does not work.

AND…I listen to the people in our church, who are neck deep in ministry with us…their opinion matters! But those who don’t know me–I don’t have time to try to convince them I’m a good person…and if I try then they call me arrogant and say I should be more humble. :-)

#2 - What Attitude Does The Person Criticizing Have?

Bottom line, if someone comes at me with a negative, condemning attitude…I write it off. The Bible says that we are called to speak the truth…but we are called to do so in love.


#3 - Does What The Person Is Saying Pass Through The Filter Of Scripture?

DANG…I heard Erwin McManus say this once…and it has impacted me ever since. When someone comes at me with, “I think this,” and, “I think that,” but cannot back up their argument with Scripture…I write them off.

Let me say this–Scripture IN CONTEXT, I have discovered that there are some people out there who can make the Bible say anything they want it to say by misquoting God’s Word.
But Scripture in context…I will listen to that.

For example, a few weeks ago a friend and I had some differences and I did not speak to this person for several days. Things were tense because we work around one another. She confronted me on this and said,

“The Bible says in Ephesians 4:26 that we are not supposed to let the sun go down on us while we are angry…I would say you have done that.”
I was busted–she was right…she confronted me with a non-judgmental attitude and used Scripture in context…and I repented because I was wrong.


Have you experienced critics?

What works for you?

I am interested in your comments
Jeremy

Causes of stagnation

What causes people to repel against the most natural thing in life – to grow and develop? What causes people to surrender the very thing that makes them uniquely human – their ability to adapt, change and invent?

I believe this article provides a compelling reason

One of the reasons so many surrender to the multiple lures of stagnation, is its familiarity. Former Executive and President of Hewlett-Packard Co. Carly Fiorina succinctly outlined the seductive danger of comfort zones in the following illustration about “querencia”.

“In bullfighting” she writes, “there is a term called querencia. The querencia is the spot in the ring to which the bull returns. Each bull has a different querencia, but as the bullfight continues, and the animal becomes more threatened, it returns more and more often to his spot. As he returns to his querencia, he becomes more predictable. And so, in the end, the matador is able to kill the bull because instead of trying something new, the bull returns to what is familiar, his comfort zone”.

Where do you or I return when we feel threatened? Where is our “querencia”? Chances are wherever that place may be is the same place that holds the greatest threat to our growth and development. Querencia’s are not built to advance us but to comfort us. They are not constructed to make us think, dream, dare and change, but they are places of retirement, familiarity and predictability. Tragically like the bull, the more predictable and comfortable we become the easier it is for the matador’s of life to kill us.

To kill every dream, dismantle every vision and terminate every aspiration we possess to become more than we are. When that happens LIFE , real LIFE as it was always intended to be lived, becomes extinct. We each need an element of chaos in our lives, an element that leaves us in anticipation of a surprise.!

What is your Complaint?

What is your Complaint?

What’s your problem? What’s your issue? What can’t you stand? What won’t you put up with?

What do you have an attitude about? What bothers you about the church? What keeps you awake at night?

What drives you crazy and gets you up on your ‘soap box’ thumping the table in protest?

Here you will find your life’s cause and calling. Your irritation is your ministry. What you can’t stand is what you were put here to stand up for.

Celebrity TV chef called Jamie Oliver recently took on the Government about the poor nutritional quality of school meals. His complaint was that our children are being fed junk food at the most formative time of their physical and intellectual development. His outrage exposed the disgrace on national TV and the public protest he provoked resulted in a change in the level of government funding for school meals in a matter of weeks.

Many before him had expressed a concern about school meals, but a concern is not a complaint. A complaint fuels a vision to bring change and the consistent voice it becomes makes real change possible.
When people have no complaint they become compliant; accept the status quo, and sign up to long established traditions. They do what they do because everyone else does; together they comply because compliance is comfortable and comfort has never been the mother of complaint passion holds that birth right!
People have complaints about training, music, kids church, youth, security, visitor experience, tidiness, catering and hospitality, media, marriage, money management, transport, the poor, the homeless, prostitution, drug addiction, solvent abuse, housing, care of the elderly, those in prison – and so on.

The people leading these ministries are doing so because they have a ‘bee in their bonnet’ about it. Their vision of what they can do is coming from their complaint about what was once done poorly or, worse than that, never done at all.

If something bothers you, if you feel something should be done, someone should say something, someone should stand up and stand out, then don’t tell your leaders. You’re noticing it for a reason, you feel strongly about it for a reason.
And the reason is, it’s your complaint, which is the beginning of your vision.
In the same place that you find your life’s complaint you will find your life’s call.

So lets not whinge and complain about the things that we tolerate but be someone with a genuine complaint, willing to become a force for change

Your complaint fuels your vision

I asked a question on the last post and want to explore this over the next few blogs .
How do we take hold of a cause to give our life to ?.Or perhaps better put how does the cause take hold of us ?

This is taken from Pastor Paul Scanlons book "Crossing Over".

Your complaint fuels your vision

Write down the vision and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it.'Habakkuk2:2

This is probably one of the best known and most quoted verses in the Bible on the subject of vision. However, what is usually less known is the context within which it was spoken. These words from God to Habakkuk were part of a reply to some specific issues Habakkuk had been asking God about. Chapter one of the book records these. Basically they consist of two complaints which had become the focus of Habakkuk’s anger and frustration. His complaints were about injustice, lawlessness, the oppression of the poor and how the wicked seemed to be getting away with murder - often literally.

Habakkuk had a table thumping, finger wagging, voice raising complaint that he would not leave alone until he heard from God. He was in good company. His contemporary, Jeremiah had a similar complaint as did Nehemiah, Moses and Gideon. More recent history records that Abraham Lincoln had a complaint about slavery, Martin Luther King had a complaint about racism and human rights, Nelson Mandela had a complaint about apartheid and Mother Theresa a complaint about hunger and poverty – the list goes on. Each was so motivated by their complaint that they gave their lives to doing something about it, and this became their vision.

The principle I am therefore establishing is this: At the core of every visionary leader’s life is a deep dissatisfaction with how things are; at the root of every history maker’s calling is a complaint. That complaint is their cause, it is their fuel, drive and motivation to press through and accomplish their dream, however tough it gets along the way.

I want you to understand this important principle because in Christian teaching and preaching, our emphasis is usually on the vision, not the complaint it sprang from. We study vision, are keen to ask what a person’s vision is and work hard to ‘communicate the vision’ of our church, ministry or organisation.

However, unless that vision springs from a fundamental dissatisfaction with how things are, it lacks a cause. And without a cause, vision lacks a ‘Why?’ It lacks a reason.

People need a reason for being asked to sacrifice for the vision you are presenting, and that reason must be real, known and felt by all involved. They must feel the strength of the complaint which fuels the vision. And here lies the point of my title for this article: The vision you have will perish and die unless you stay in vital touch with the deep complaint that first motivated you to develop a vision of a better future and then go and do something about it.

Without a vision your people will perish

Without a complaint your vision will perish.

Be interested in your comments

What fuels your vision?

What steps do you take to keep you commited to your vision?

In looking back ,has the fulfilment of the vision grown in momentum or is there a continual pattern of stopping and starting ?


Next time -How do we know what our complaint is ,How is this found ,What is my complaint ?

Jeremy

The 4 stages in the "Pursuit of a Cause"

Hi everyone ,in my previous blog I wrote about how the fulfillment of our dream/cause depends a lot on how we navigate through the setbacks of life ,or perhaps a better description , "The school of hard knocks"

The message went of the hook and blessed many people
In prepping for my my message I came across this article ,which using my own life as a point of reference I have found very true


The pursuit of a cause/dream tracks its way through four developmental stages.

Stage One – “Dream” This is the place of euphoria and idealism, the beginning of any project or the commencement of any endeavour. It is when ‘best-case-scenarios’ abound and enthusiasm is virtually tangible.

Stage Two – “Disappointment ”. Disillusion sets in, reality hits; things fail to appear as sweet and simple as at the beginning. This is the place where struggles begin, obstacles impede and setbacks delay.

Stage Three – “Discovery ” Reality is re-defined; endurance and persistence ensure that vital lessons are learnt. The true size, nature and demands of the task are now uncovered.

Stage Four – "Decision"With eyes now fully open, a fresh determination is found and a new, deeper, more real commitment is made to proceed whatever the cost.


Comments please ...
Next blog will be how do we take hold of a cause to give our life to ,or perhaps better put how does the cause take hold of us ...
Blessings
Jeremy

leadership development

Delegates at this year's Planetshakers Conference Brisbane enjoyed exceptional messages from some of the world's best preachers. I was fortunate to get a copy of Chris Hill's leadership session titled 'Adullum Discipleship'. It's an amazing message on the leadership development of David. Do whatever you can to get hold of the CD. In the meantime, here are some of the key points.

The leadership development of David can be tracked in six places:

1. Bethlehem - The Place of Initiation

> Bethlehem is a small town, but God calls forth His choice champions from small beginnings
> In this first city we see the beginning seeds of everything that God will do through David, because God doesn’t start in the big, He starts in the small.
> God puts the whole of a thing in the seed of that thing
> The Devil seeks to destroy people in the place of initiation because he sees what we will be; i.e. the lion and the bear are in the place of initiation
> God crystallizes the character of his choice Christians in the crucible of isolation.
> In dark places He develops the picture that you will become. In the dark room of the divine He dips you in process after process until He perfects the image that He wants, and then He shows you to the world.
> In Bethlehem he receives a prophetic word that he would be a king. God says things to us despite what we see. When we see our situation it’s hard for us to receive His revelation. You cannot allow your situation to speak louder than the revelation.
> In Bethlehem you receive a revelation of who you will be, before you get to be.
> He is Alpha & Omega, and lives outside of time. In David's life there’s a 20 year gap between the prophecy and the fulfillment. This is called 'process'.
> God speaks things as though they’ve already happened, because to Him they’ve already happened. But I live in time, so I have to walk all the way to the fulfillment.
> Process prepares me for what He has called me to be. When God deals with us He must do it through process. If He makes us immediately into what we will be, we mess up. For example, Saul was chasing donkeys and then became king - it messed him up. God didn't do that to David; He gave him twenty years to become what God has said.

2. Gibeah - The Place of Introduction

> David was faithful in Bethlehem; someone heard about it and then he was promoted
> Be faithful with what God gives you. Rock what you have here and other people will feel the ripples!
> David does something so powerful in Bethlehem that it opens the door for him in Gibeah
> Gibeah is the place of introduction, because David gets to serve what he will one day become.
> Gibeah is the place of exposure. God gives you opportunity to be exposed to people who are already doing what you will one day do.
> God has called David to be a king, so He exposes David to a king. God has David there not to rule, but to serve.
> At this point in his life, David has already killed a lion and a bear; he knows how to fight but God does not give him a sword, He gives David a harp.
> If God gives you a harp, just play. Shut up and play. Don't tell Saul what to do and don't impose your prophecy and your calling. Just shut up and play.
> Don't try to exert authority that God hasn't given you yet. God has you here just to expose you, to be a fly on the wall, to see how kings operate, to see how leadership is set in array, to see the palace.
> Don’t come in with your own agenda; who cares what you think – keep your opinion to yourself. If you have an opinion don’t give it yet, because your opinion hasn’t been processed by time.
> You don’t have any right to lead what you did not build, until God gives it to you.
> In Gibeah, God puts you in 'undercover' to be exposed to what you will become.

An outline of points 3-6 still to come

. Elah - The Place of Exhibition

> Elah is the defining moment when we go from obscurity to popularity; from playing a harp to running down the enemy.
> Elah is awesome, when God puts you on exhibit. In Elah, Jonathon will see you and fall in love with you, and the King’s daughter will fall in love with you. In Elah you move from chump to champ.
> Elah is the place of exhibition, but it is also the setup for execution
> It’s better to stay underneath the radar because when you get above the radar, then the enemy can see you. For example, Jesus was safe for thirty years while He was hidden in God, but the moment John the Baptist put Him on exhibition He became a target for the enemy.
> Exhibition is married to execution. The same voices that say "Hosanna" on Sunday, will say "Crucify Him" on Friday.
> Elah is a great moment, but a dangerous moment unless you have a strong relationship with God.

4. Nob - The Place of Salvation

> David’s whole world flips over. He was rejected by his biological father, and finally says ‘My father in law loves me. I’m going to be accepted and endorsed." and before he knows there is a spear coming at his head, from the very father he thought would replace the father who had overlooked him.
> What do you do when they promised you it would be ‘this’, but you got there and found out it was ‘that’? You run to Nob, the city of the High Priest, the place of salvation.
> David asks the High Priest for three things, which you need when in crisis:
1. A word from God for you
2. Bread from heaven for you
3. A weapon that you can fight with
> You need a spiritual leader who can lay down his own agenda to get bread from heaven for you
> Church needs to be a place where people can run to, to get the bread of life that gives them the strength to keep running. People don’t need three points and a poem, they need the bread of life that gives them the strength to fight the good fight of the faith.
> There’s a sword in the temple; it’s Goliath's sword.
> The weapon you take from your enemy will always be yours. When you have a victory, keep the monuments of that victory. You need to bottle that good feeling so when going through bad things you can take a sip of the joy juice!

5. Gath - The Place of Humiliation

> If you walk with God long enough, He will put you in a situation that makes you feel like you are knee high to an ant.
> David runs to Gath but the Philistines recognise him. David starts scratching the wall and acting crazy, so much so that the King says ‘…that dude; he’s not a threat.’
> “Aren’t you the mighty man of God?”
“Yes, but not today. Today I’m just scratching the wall and dribbling on my beard.”
> The Place of Humiliation – where you have to disguise your true nature and come out of your comfort zone, because that’s just where you are right now...but if you can walk through it you can get to Adullam.

6. Adullam - The Place of Cooperation

> David says "I can’t stay in Gath, so I’m going to make my place in a cave...It doesn’t look nice or pretty and it’s not the palace, but I’m going to be happy here."
> "It’s not what I wanted or what they promised, but I’m going to dig in here and treat this cave like it’s my palace. I’m going to treat this situation like it’s the very fullness of the promise of God."
> Dance in the cave. Sing in the cave. Worship in the cave. Decorate the cave. Put carpet in your cave!
> E.G. Bishop Jakes put a chandelier in his storefront church in West Virginia. Why? Because he had chandeliers in his spirit.
> If you can decorate the cave, others will be attracted to the vision you’re seeing, even though they can’t see it.
> 3 categories of people come to David at Adullam: 1. Distressed; 2. In Debt; 3. Discontented.
>The best place to disciple is in mean situations, in the cave; that’s the time to begin to call people to yourself. And don’t wait for Superman to come, because he’s not coming to the cave. At the cave you get the broken, busted and the disgusted.
> You get the messed up people in the cave. But if you can disciple them in the cave, they go from being the rubble to being the mighty men that will change the whole complexion of a nation. And you don’t have to wonder about them, because they’re not coming for the fish and the loaves because you didn’t have any fish or loaves in the cave.
> David works with 400 of the most messed up people. He turned the messed up into mighty.
> Stop looking at your situation and start zeroing in on their situation.
> Find a kid who nobody is patting on the head, who nobody is saying ‘I see a legend inside of you…You’re going to be somebody great.’ Just a drop of love makes them blossom, because nobody has given them any moisture at all. At the smell of moisture they will blossom and bloom, because they’ll appreciate you, so much so that they will run through troops to get you a cup of water.
> What you build today will fight for you tomorrow.
> The cave that you’re in becomes the creative place from which they will emerge. The situation that’s driving you crazy – God has put you there to slow you down long enough that you can disciple somebody else, because you really don’t have anything else to do anyway.
> Discipleship is working with what you’ve got. It is seeing what God is saying and speaking that, training that and raising that up until it emerges from the cave as a mighty army that cannot be stopped.
> Youth ministry is discipling what comes to the cave.


Apologies that the 'outline' became extensive in parts... Some things are too good to paraphrase!