Master Leaders

I just finished reading George Barna's new book Master Leaders. In my opinion this is the best and most comprehensive book on leadership I have ever read. I am not a critic, nor am I on Barna's payroll. I have a desire to become a better leader and found this book earlier in the week. What I soon discovered is that Barna hit on every major area for leadership development. The best thing about this book is that it is not your "typical" leadership book. You don't get 25 chapters on how to be a better leader or 55 things that you need to do to be a better leader. Very simply, this is a "behind the scenes" conversation with some of the greatest leaders of our time. If you are a leader, administrator, pastor, teacher, coach or some one who has influence over people, this book is a must read for you.

Reading and Leadership

I've always heard it said that "Leaders are readers." I have found this to be very true. Some would say that "Readers are leaders." I have not always found this to be the case. Just because someone reads does not mean that they are designed for leadership. I am reading George Barna's Master Leaders. It is a great read and I recommend it to those in leadership or those who aspiring to be leaders. When I talk about leadership in this context, I am speaking of those who lead groups, organizations or movements. I make the assertion that everyone is a leader. At the very heart a leader is someone who has someone following them. We are all leading someone somewhere, whether it is consciously or not. For those leading groups, organizations and movements, it is vital that you read continuously. There is a wealth of resources out there to help you become a better leader (and honestly we can all become better in the area of leadership). It takes sacrifice to invest in yourself to become a better leader, but remember that as you invest in yourself, you are also investing in others. What you pour into yourself will ultimately be poured into those that you lead. We always for our team to put forth their very best, but is our team getting the very best out of us? Are we giving our very best? Are we the best that we can be? Regardless of the area in which you serve and lead, you must always be willing to shape your craft. You must constantly be learning. Learning is the movement that takes you to where you want to be. Learning is the river that we raft to reach the destination we desire to achieve. Learn. Read. Succeed. Lead.

Blessing

Abraham was a man who knew the blessing of the Lord. Abraham was also the source of blessing for others. In Genesis 12:2-3, God lays out His plan for blessing. God blesses us for the sole purpose of us being a blessing to others. Take a look! While this is a promise to Abraham, because we have been in grafted into the line of Abraham, it is also a promise to us as followers of Christ. God promises to bless us with the expectation that we will be a blessing to others. Think, for just a moment, about the ways that God has blessed you in the past year. Did you think it was just for your benefit? The blessing was or is so that you can go and be used of God to be a blessing to someone else. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 9:6 that you reap what you sow. If you sow blessing in the life of another, blessing will be returned to you. God tells Abraham that those who bless others will also be blessed. So often we wait for the blessing of God and it never comes. Have you ever thought that it was because you were not a wise steward of what God blessed you with last time? We are the direct result of Abraham's blessing; therefore, we should carry on the promise given to Abraham by being a blessing to others.

Brokenness

Brokenness is a beautifully difficult thing. When we witness it in others we sympathize with them, comfort them, support them. When it happens to us, we feel as if the rug has been pulled from beneath our feet, as if our very intestines have been ripped out of our insides. Brokenness is painful but so necessary to be pursuant of Christ. It is not until we have been broken that we fully understand the fullness of grace. We need brokenness. I have witnessed it many times and experienced it a few times myself. It's the times that we reach rock bottom, brokenness, when we have nowhere to go but up, that we are ready to go where God intends us to go. There is great reward in brokenness. It is in brokenness that we are made whole and complete.

Seeing 2010

As the new year dawned, how did you see it? Was it the same as it was yesterday, or did you see it entirely new? The key word fro me this year is vision. It will be a theme in my preaching this Sunday, but has also been a theme of things I have been reading lately. Vision is not just seeing what is, but what can be or will be. I tweeted earlier today that I see 2009 in the rear view and am slamming the gas into 2010. Vision is being able to leave the past in the past and push toward the future. Over the Christmas break I read Seth Godin's e-book What Matters Now. It is not a "Christian" book, but a book that needs to be read by every leader. It is thought provoking and challenging. There's some good stuff in there and there's some stuff that does not apply right now. The thing that I took away from it is that away is the need that everyone of us has for vision. What has happened to so many people is that they have lost their vision. There was a time, when we were young, and we thought we could conquer the world. Then as we grew older, we began to listen to the critics and we lost our desire and drive to be world conquerors. We became settled and we lost our fire. As the fire died in our soul it dimmed our vision for grandeur.

If we are going to crash into life, then we must be people of vision. We must spend time seeking the will of God so that we set our vision on the things that matter most. I hope that we enter the second decade of this millenium that you will begin the process of becoming a person of vision. I hope that you regain the fire of your youth and that you will begin to conquer the world. 2010 is a year of great promise, a year of great vision and a year of great accomplishment.

The Freedom of Forgiveness

I had the opportunity this week to see forgiveness at work. I guess I actually saw the aftermath of forgiveness. I had gone to visit a man in the hospital who had been very sick. He was doing much better. God has been doing some pretty amazing things in his life both physically and spiritually. On the day that I visited him, forgiveness had come to him. That day, his sister, whom he had not spoken to in eight years, came to visit him in the hospital. He recounted the story for me. His wife was pushing him down the hall in a wheelchair when he saw his sister down the hall. He knew it was her. He called out her name and she turned to look. Through tears in his eyes and a cracking voice he told me that they had been reconciled that day. What an amazing story. He said that pride had taken root in his heart and grown into bitterness that kept him and his sister separated all of these years. He said it had been so hard for him to say he was sorry, but on this day, the words came easy. On that day, this man's life was drastically changed. He is a believer but on that day he became a follower of Jesus. Why? Because he had now given the forgiveness that Jesus had given him so many years before. The one thing that he said to me that had the deepest impact on me was that he said that he now felt free. He said he felt as if a great burden had been lifted from him. He felt as if he were going to make it. He said that he felt truly alive. This has been a long time in coming for sure. There is freedom in forgiveness. It is so hard for us to give because we allow pride to prevail. When pride goes unchecked in a conflict, it gives way to bitterness, which plants its roots deep in our souls and causes us to refuse to forgive. We have now become slaves to pride at this point. It becomes more about winning and being right that actually doing what is right. I don't think that forgiveness can truly be given until we have truly experienced forgiveness. Where there is freedom there is forgiveness. Forgiveness is only found in Christ. In this Christmas season, we discover the greatest gift that can be given is that of forgiveness. That is why the Christ-child came, was to bring God's forgiveness to man. If you have not accepted this forgiveness yet, I encourage you to do so. But just as we have received that forgiveness we are to give that same forgiveness to others. Maybe the best gift you can give someone this Christmas is to set them free and forgive them. Peace.

SYATP

Today, thousands of students gathered around their flagpoles at their school campuses to pray. Today marks the 19th See You at the Pole event that I have been apart of. I was there at the first SYATP in 1990. This morning as I gathered with some students from our local high school, I was struck with the need and urgency to pray for our students. If you have kids in school, I know that you are doing this. If your kids are out of school, then you probably haven't given it much thought in a while. Students today are faced with decisions, situations and circumstances that you or I were not faced with ever or at least not until later in life. I heard a report on the radio of students who gathered in Pittsburgh, PA to pray for the leaders of the G20 conference that is coming to their town. One student commented that he wished he would be able to speak to one of these world leaders just to let them know that they were in his prayers. You see, we must understand that this generation of junior high, high school and college students want to make a difference in the world around them, more than any other generation before them. They not only believe they can change the world, they are being proactive in doing it. We need to encourage them to do that. We can most especially do that by praying for them. I think we also need to do that by supporting, encouraging and mentoring them. While they may have huge aspirations they may lack the direction and resources to make the difference they need to. I think it is important for us as adults to invest in the generations that are coming behind us. How can you do that? Volunteer at your local elementary, junior high or high school campus. Start an after-school program at your local church. Become a mentor. Ask your children's minister or youth pastor where you can serve in their ministries. As adults and senior adults, we have something the following generation can use -- wisdom and experience. God did not give us those things to hold on to for ourselves. He gave us those things to share and invest in others. I think, sometimes, that a ministry of presence, especially in the lives of students, makes the greatest impact. When students see that another adult cares for them it makes a huge difference. Let me encourage you today to get involved in making a difference in the lives of students. That is crashing into life. Crash on!