Thursday, November 10, 2011

Mike's Courageous Leadership Chap 4-6

In chapter 4, entitled building a Kingdom Dream Team, he discussed the three characteristics of what he looks for when selecting team members. The three c's are character, competence, and chemistry - in that order. With character, he means that the person's walk with Jesus Christ needs to be solid, and that the person is committed to spiritual disciplines. He mentioned that all the areas are important, but that lacking in character in a lot of situations can produce more damage for the team than occasionally falling short in the other areas. Once again, we will be known by our fruit.

Chapter 5 talks about the Resource Challenge and how the leader needs to be the chief resource raiser. This is not a very fun aspect of being a leader, but it does take resources to get a ministry or project going, and to sustain it. The leader standing behind and working with this projects, is just another area that shows how much the leader is committed to the project. It kind of goes back to the old saying of putting your money where your mouth is. He gives many examples of how things were and how tight the budget was when first starting out. These are areas where you hope you never have to go through, but many times you can really relate to them. One thing to keep in mind is that God is the ultimate resource provider, people are just conduits that the resources flow though. Another point he made in this chapter and quoting a couple sentences - People don't give to organizations or to other people. They give to visions. When leaders who understand this take the time to paint pictures for people and to help them imagine the kingdom good that will result from their collective efforts, then people are free to release their resources joyfully. And generally, the grander the vision, the greater the giving. I believe this helps people keep the big picture in mind. Also, knowing Godly principles about giving and finances is so important and the people you are working with need to be educated in this area as well. Finances can be such a source of bondage in peoples lives.

Chapter six talks about Developing emerging Leaders. This is an area that is so easy to overlook or to just plain ignore. Leaders need to take the time to help develop the potential leaders around them. For many of us we can remember the people who took the time and invested in us. We in turn need to take the time and invest in others. Unless we make a conscious effort to do this, it usually won't get done.

As I have mentioned before, I have really enjoyed this book. Mr. Hybels has been able to bring out items that he has learned or gone through in his ministry. These are things that we can be on the lookout for and have a little better idea on how to handle them. At least we should not be completely surprised when faced with some of these issues that he discusses.

Monday, November 7, 2011

Randy's Chapters 4-6

“I think leaders are at their very best when they are raising up leaders around them."
"People don’t give to organizations or to other people. They give to visions."
I am challenged by these two staments.  It's much easier to just do a job yourself and more difficult to raise up a leader to do that same job.  In order for the church to grow the latter must be the mentality.  I have to admit that was not my priority, I made children my priority.  I now see the error in that thought process.  With help I will make the transition in raising up leaders.
The second statement concerns vision.  Vision is more than writing something on a paper.  It starts there but must take on a life of itself.  The written vision has to grab the attention of the reader.  The vision must be talked about and lived.  I will keep in mind what is written in these chapters as I develope next years Children's Ministry vision.   
Nothing tests the mettle of church leaders and members more than the resource challenge.
BUILD TEAM PERFORMANCE BY ESTABLISHING CLEAR GOALS
Knowing leads to loving.” It is impossible to listen to the heartfelt reflections of a team member without being drawn into a deeper relationship with that person.