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Fund Your Vision

September 19, 2011 in Leadership, Life Change with Comments Off

I get asked a lot how we teach generosity at Revolution Church. our system comes from our amazing coach, Casey Graham and his team at givingrocket.com.

Pastor, are you tired of just breaking even all the time?
Are you sick of saying no to the God-given dream because of a lack of finances?
Are you tired of cutting the outreach budget because it’s too expensive?
Are you stressed because you can’t hire the next staff position you desperately need?
Are you frustrated that you can start that facility project because there’s no margin in the budget?

Broke or break-even ministry is built on a belief system that has spread like the plague among church leaders. You keep telling yourself that when the economy picks up, when you get ahead, or when that big gift comes in, you’ll launch that ministry.

Here’s the good news is that you can take intentional, practical steps to eliminate the funding barriers. Trust me. Revolution Church is living proof!

What would happen in your church if you DID hire the right person to fill that ministry position? How would your community respond if you really DID open that food pantry or renovate the children’s area. What would happen if you quit breaking even and broke through to the next level.

STEP ONE to making all that happen: ATTEND THE FREE “FUND YOUR CHURCH NOW” Conference online.

At this event, you will learn principles that I have seen work in hundreds of churches. You will walk away with a framework to move people’s giving from one level to the next. You will learn easy-to-implement ideas and strategies that call people to action.

This is NOT about getting more money. It’s about doing more ministry.

This is NOT about launching a high-pressure capital campaign. It’s about increasing operational revenue.

This is NOT about breaking even or balancing the budget. It’s about breaking through.

These 180 minutes could change the culture and direction of your church, and free you up to do more ministry.

Don’t miss it!

Mixin’ Up Rubik’s Cubes

August 22, 2011 in Goals, GOD, Leadership with Comments Off

My sister can solve a Rubik’s cube fast. It hacks me off. I have never solved a Rubik’s cube. But I have messed up and mixed up many of them!

Most people are paid to ensure that everything is in its place. Sure, there are random events called problems that pop up that we deal with; but most people try to extinguish these things as soon as possible.

I see my job as the opposite. My job is to create a ruckus, to insert the random, to yell ‘fire’ and to shake things up spiritually.

Its actually a little more “tame” than I am making it out to be when it comes to leading the entire church. I think the greatest pastors are good at dancing with chaos, not creating it necessarily (though sometimes they do).

When the random ruckus of life hits, pastors and leaders have to take it, sort through it, leverage it and then improvise to make something great out of it.

My life goal has nothing to do with everything being “alright.” I want to cause a ruckus and shake things up just enough that you experience a spiritual revolution and come out on the other side looking more like Jesus.

And as a leader, I want to dance with the chaos that life will bring. I want to mix up the Rubik’s Cubes of life!

The Hardest Person in the World to Lead

August 19, 2011 in Leadership, Rants, Revolution Church with Comments Off

I have been talking to several young men lately that are interested in getting into church leadership and I see a common theme with many of them: they don’t really lead themselves.

There is no one harder to lead on this Earth than yourself. It’s easy to talk about what you should do or tell others what they should do, but doing it yourself is an entirely different endeavor.

This presents a problem because people will never follow your talk. But they will follow your example. If it is hard for you to be an example, chances are you won’t be leading many people.

I lead with this core conviction (among many others): People don’t want to follow someone yelling from the sidelines.

Want to lead? You have to lead yourself first!

Here are some good ways to know if you are leading yourself:

1. You have a daily lineup card

Jim Rohn said “Never begin the day until it is finished on paper.”

I did not want to use the word schedule here, because I realize, not everyone operates on a strict calendar. But, at the same time, if you are leading yourself, you will at least know what you are doing on any given day when you wake up.

I have noticed that many young leaders don’t know what is in store for the day…even by lunch time. Don’t tell me you are leadership material if you don’t even know what you are doing today. That’s just simple discipline.

2. You have some goals and are actively working to achieve them.

Zig Ziglar said “If you aim for nothing, you’ll hit it every time.”

Don’t tell me you are leadership material if you don’t have any goals that you are working on knocking out. They could be simple goals like “pay off my debt” or they could be complex like “become the CEO of Starbucks.”

Show me some initiative and that you are serious about the trajectory of your life and impact your life will have on this world. Read more on goals here, here and here.

3. You read regularly

Jim Rohn said “The book you don’t read, won’t help… Most homes valued at over $250,000 have a library. That should tell us something…”

Leaders are learners. They learn. They improve. They are actively moving forward in their thinking, knowledge and challenging themselves with the ideas of others’.

I think the library quote above is awesome, though with Kindles and iPads it might be more metaphorical. If you spend more time watching television and playing video games than you do learning, then maybe you aren’t leading yourself.

4. You don’t whine and complain

Anthony J. D’Angelo said “If you have time to whine and complain about something then you have the time to do something about it.”

I am tired of whiny “leaders.” Please, for the sake of everyone you want to lead, stop whining and make it happen. Learn to accept the minor aggravations that life will bring and move forward. Don’t cover everyone with your dust of complaints.

Just a few things I have learned about leading yourself first!

Circles

August 15, 2011 in Creativity, Leadership with Comments Off

This year Google rolled out their version of Facebook – Google plus. It uses “circles” to help you share different things with different people. Sharing the right stuff with the right people shouldn’t be a hassle.

Google’s idea of circles makes it easy to put your friends in one circle, your parents in another, and your boss in a circle by himself – just like real life.

Leaders, we have circles too. Or at least we should.

Here is an idea:

Make a list called, “Five People Whose Circle I Want To Sit In.”

Now make it happen.

Get an hour meeting for coffee or a phone conference call with each person on your list. Don’t give me that “it would never happen” bologna. MAKE it happen.

It took me 2 years but I finally made all five on my list happen this year. Now I am going to make another list…

(I get accused of being a fanboy all the time but I don’t care because I have gotten to sit and learn from some of the leading church planters and pastors in the U.S. because of this idea!)

Before meeting with them write down the three or four qualities that you admire most in that person. When you meet with them, dig in to those qualities. Ask good questions and take good notes.

Oh, and let me ask you this:

Who wants to sit in your circle?