leadership lessons from favre

Reports are all over the networks are saying that the Green Bay Packers are offering retired quarterback Brett Favre 20 Million dollars to stay retired. Most football fans are tired of this story and the fiasco that Favre has set off with his unstable ways. But this is much more than a sports story.

Can you imagine how you would feel if the organization that you worked with for 17 years was willing to pay you extra to not work with them? This isn’t simply an awesome retirement plan. It is a loud and clear statement by the team that he is no longer welcomed there. Rather than being honored or excited, I think I would be crushed.

What happens in organizations that cause such division among leaders? From time to time we hear horror stories about the train wrecks that happen in churches and ministries. People get mad, people get hurt. Anger and bitterness sets in. Bridges get burned. Before it is over, some want to pay others to just go away.

What leadership mistakes did Brett make? My opinion is, he messed up here. He retired, he called the press conference, he gave the tearful speech. The team had to move on and they did, and he wants to come back. He has lost credibility, the team leaders no longer trust him. I think that he is being disrespectful of the team. But none of that matters in the long run. What matters is that you and I do better. We have to behave in ways that encourages others to believe in us. Our credibility is important. While we will never be perfect and never be able to please everyone with whom we work, I hope no one is ever willing to pay me to simply go away.

On the other hand, how many of us would take them up on the offer? How much would it cost to buy you out?

give me your eyes

Brandon Heath's newer song Give Me Your Eyes is great. This youtube clip is entertaining but the message behind the song needs to be heard. For your convenience, here are the lyrics:

Looked down from a broken sky Traced out by the city lights My world from a mile high Best seat in the house tonight Touched down on the cold black tile Hold on for the sudden stop Breath in the familiar shock Of confusion and chaos Are those people going somewhere? Why have I never cared?

Chorus: Give me your eyes for just one second Give me your eyes so I can see Everything that I keep missing Give me your love for humanity Give me your arms for the broken hearted Wasnt it far beyond my reach? Give me your heart for the once forgotten Give me your eyes so I can see again again yeah yeah

Step out on a busy street See a girl and our eyes meet Does her best to smile at me To hide whats underneath Theres a man just to her right Black suit and a bright red tie To ashamed to tell his wife Hes out of work Hes buying time Are those people going somewhere? Why have I never cared?

Ive Been there a million times A couple of million eyes Just moving past me by I swear I never thought that I was wrong Well I want a second glance So give me a second chance To see the way you see the people all alone

A good prayer...

if I were not a pastor

Every once in a while, I think about what life would be like if I were not in vocational ministry. I wonder what kind of church I would be a part of. I think that some of the things that would be important to me would be:

· Outwardly focused – cannot be a self-serving church.
· Innovative – can’t be bound by tradition.
· Connected with the community- has to be involved (hands on) in the lives of people in the area.
· A global vision – has to be involved in reaching people around the world.
· Passionate about worship – must be serious about living in the presence of God.
· Committed to Truth – a no-compromise approach to the practice of the Scriptures.
· Grace based - a loving, accepting and forgiving church culture.
· Generous – giving away more resources than we keep.
· Dangerous – not afraid to take great risks for God.
· Life-giving – an unstoppable drive to bring the redemptive message of Jesus to our culture.

Since doing something other than ministry is not an option for me, I hope that this is the kind of church that I serve. If these things would be important to me as a church member, they are important to me as a pastor. I can be happy in a church like that.

what is God looking for?

We know that God is always watching over us, looking on at our daily lives. Thankfully, He is not just an onlooker but is inextricably involved in our lives. Maybe you’ve never thought about this, but when God is watching us, what is He looking for? I love the fairly obscure scripture found in II Chronicles 16:9 “The Lord searches all the earth for people who have given themselves completely to him. He wants to make them strong.” (NCV) Pretty clear, isn’t it? He is looking for people who are committed to Him. He wants to bless those people.

What does God think when He looks at me, and you? I don’t intend this to be a condemning thing. I hope He is pleased with what He sees and, as a result, makes us strong.

Another solid reason to give ourselves completely to God.

a leadership scripture from various angles

A simple verse that teaches us the responsibility of leadership is found in Romans 12:8. The section is discussing spiritual gifts and the importance of operating within your gifting as well as developing and deploying your gift. Take a look at the various versions… (parenthesis mine)

If it (one’s spiritual gift) is leadership, let him govern diligently. (NIV)
If you're put in charge, don't manipulate. (MSG)
God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. (NLT)
If we are leaders, we should do our best. (CEV)
Anyone who has the gift of being a leader should try hard when he leads. (NCV)
If it (your spiritual gift) is to lead, do it diligently. (TNIV)

The specific interpretations vary but you get the idea. Simply put, if God has called you into leadership, you owe Him your best. No slacking. No shortcuts. No half-hearted effort.

Get on with being the best leader you can possibly be!

falling on your face

If you have been a leader for more than a week or two, you have felt like the dude in the picture (Minnesota Twins' Carlos Gomez). Falling is a part of leading. Seems kind of contradictory, most people think of leaders as those who succeed. Who wants to follow a person who spends time face down on the ground? The reality is, anyone who is enjoying success has had their fair share of failure. They have fallen and will fall again.

I believe the thing that separates leaders from most people is their ability to get up after a failure. Falling is humiliating. The first thing I do when I trip on the sidewalk is to look around and make sure no one was watching me. I don’t have that luxury in my public leadership role. When I trip, lots of people see it. The more responsible the leader, the greater number of people under her or his care, the more people that see the fall.

Get up. if you have fallen, pick yourself up. Clean yourself off. Start walking again. The lessons you have learned from falling will serve you well in the future. If you are wise, you will be less apt to fall again, you will also be better equipped to help those around you when they fall.

respect your youngers

Never heard that one before, have you? The more recognized phrase is, “respect your elders”. Obviously, the latter means to treat those who are older than you with honor, if someone is in authority over you, they are due respect. No issues with that.

But it is also OK to encourage one another to treat those who work for you with respect. Younger people, up and coming leaders, those who look up to you – they all need to be honored. In essence, this is a reminder to leaders to remain humble, and to never take advantage of those for whom you are responsible. Too many people at the head of organizations forget that it is the people in supportive roles who are majorly responsible for the success of their organization. Many times, those in supportive roles are the very reason for the success of their leaders.

Never take these people for granted, never disrespect them, never be condescending to them. Hopefully, they are looking to you for leadership and example on how to treat other people. Show by your behavior how you genuinely care about them and for them. They, in turn, will hold you in high regard.

Respect your youngers, without them, you would fail. They are good people and worthy of your respect.

the gift of opposition

In a recent article, John Ortberg writes about opposition and the place it plays in the ongoing development of a leader. Like all who are in positions of responsibility, he has had his share of dealing with people who resist and oppose. Rather than treating this as a pain, he has chosen to make opposition something positive. About opposition, he says, “When it comes, I learn something about my motives. When it comes, I get to test my courage. When it comes, the truth about my humility (or lack thereof) is revealed. When it comes, blind spots get exposed that would otherwise do damage. When it comes, I am given the opportunity to grow strong. When it comes, I discover that I am the opposition in more lives than I ever would have guessed.”

I think of what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 16:8 “But I will stay on at Ephesus until Pentecost, 9 because a great door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many who oppose me.” (NIV) It appears to me that the opposition he was experiencing may have been one of the indicators that a door was opened. Maybe a connection between opposition and effective work , possibly we can’t have one without the other.

For me, it comes down to motives. When someone opposes my leadership, my first reaction is to be defensive. But if I know the individual is a person of integrity and they have the best interest of the organization in their heart, I can be much more open to their position. If their motive is to help, I can tolerate it. It helps if the person also exercises a little tact. If someone is mean spirited, rude and trying to cause difficulty in the church, my response is not positive.

Guess we all need to work on dealing with opposition. Special thanks to Pastor Ortberg for his helpful article.

pray for China during the Olympics

The Olympic games in Beijing are three weeks away. News agencies have chronicled the controversy over the political and moral conditions in that country. While the world is watching China, we should pray for what is happening there. There is still incredible persecution of Christians going on, people are being punished for the sake of the Gospel.

You can order a free prayer band, reminding you to pray for the people of China. The free gift comes from the Voice of the Martyrs, an organization that supports persecuted Christians everywhere. Wear it with pride.

Pray for salvation for the people of China.
Pray for those being persecuted.
Pray for those spreading the Gospel during the Olympics.
Pray that Christ will be exalted.

a prayer for focus

God, help me to zero in.
Help me to cut out the nonsense, the distractions and the fluff.
I’m tired of time wasters and the things that pull me away from You.
The things that look good and seem important but only cause me to forget You.
Harmless things may not be so harmless.
Help me to discipline myself, discipline me.
Help me to filter out the things that don’t belong in my mind and my eyes and my ears.
I want to look at You. I want to clearly hear Your voice.
Be my Focus. Let me forget “my” focus.
Let me see You, nothing else will matter.

pray for leaders

I met with a fellow leader yesterday who is going through an especially difficult time. He is in a bad spot because of his leadership responsibilities and decisions. My heart went out to him.

I am reminded that those who are called by God to positions of leadership need our prayer support. A few things come to mind…

There is a higher standard for leaders:
James 3:1-2 Don't be in any rush to become a teacher, my friends. Teaching is highly responsible work. Teachers are held to the strictest standards. And none of us is perfectly qualified. We get it wrong nearly every time we open our mouths. If you could find someone whose speech was perfectly true, you'd have a perfect person, in perfect control of life. (MSG)

Since leaders have a more strict standard, we should pray often for them.

People criticize leaders:
Exodus 15:24 So the people grumbled against Moses… (NIV)
Exodus 16:2 In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. (NIV)
Exodus 17:3 But the people were thirsty for water there, and they grumbled against Moses. (NIV)

Complaining and grumbling wears leaders down. Rather than saying something against a leader, try praying for them.

Leading is hard work:
Paul wrote, (2 Corinthians 11:27-28) “I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. 28 Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.” (NIV)

True leadership is not glamorous. It can kill you. Please support leaders with prayers for encouragement, strength and endurance.

Leading can be lonely:
Mark 14:50 Then everyone deserted him (Jesus) and fled. (NIV)

The time comes for every leader when he/she has to stand alone and do the right thing, even when it is not popular. This is a true test of leadership. We need to pray for our leaders that they will be confident and experience the closeness of the Holy Spirit in times like these.

Leaders will give an account to God:
Hebrew 13:17-18 Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you. 18 Pray for us. (NIV)

Pray for leaders.

questions part 3

On July 10/11, I offered a two-part post on leadership questions. One of my friends (and regular commenter on this blog), Paul, commented on the post and I was inspired by the point he brought up.

His question has to do with character: "Is my private life the same as the outward life I portray?" He writes about his desire to be like Christ in aspects of character and ends his comment with this caveat: “Especially when no one is looking.”

I was raised in a judgmental spiritual atmosphere where we were taught that God was watching our every move, just waiting for the chance to catch us doing something bad so He could take delight in punishing us. OK, that nay be a little overstated but it was nearly that bad. That teaching left me with feelings of hopelessness and the belief that I could never be good enough for God. Now that I am learning more about grace and know that God doesn’t want to squash me like a bug, I can’t forget the concept that God is watching me and that my character (or lack thereof) is under His watchful eye.

So I am asking myself today: Am I true to God? Do I compromise in areas of integrity? Do my actions reflect what I preach?

Thanks, Paul for the challenge and continual encouragement.

To use again the scripture from yesterday, with an emphasis on a different part:

Psalms 19:14 May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. (NLT)

careless words

Jesus said in Matthew 12:36-37, “I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. 37 For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.” (NIV)

This teaching should concern us. I assume that you, like me, find yourself talking too much from time to time. When I speak too often or too loudly, I am usually being careless with my words. I joke around, I say dumb things. I say things I shouldn’t say. When I think back to the many times that I have hurt the feelings of others with my words, it was when I was trying to be funny or cute or trying to gain the attention of the crowd. I ended up embarrassing others and myself.

The question is, will I be condemned by what I say or will I be acquitted by what I say?

From the original language of the writing in Matthew, the word “careless” is better translated as “idle”. “Argos” (Gr.) means inactive, unemployed, lazy or useless. I get the mental picture of words that accomplish nothing. Like the small talk, the senseless joking around. Wasted words.

While we should be confident enough to speak up and engage in good conversation, we had better be careful. I am not advocating always being serious in conversations. I am, however, saying that we should remember that our words are forever. Words are a gift from God, we will give an account to Him on how we use them.

Psalms 19:14 May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. (NLT)

pastor up for auction on ebay

This guy appears desperate for a relocation.

quotes on generosity

Just a few notables talking about giving. Maybe some inspiration so that we will increase our generosity.

Barbara Bush: Giving frees us from the familiar territory of our own needs by opening our mind to the unexplained worlds occupied by the needs of others.
Dale Evans: Every time we love, every time we give, it's Christmas.
Horace Mann: Generosity during life is a very different thing from generosity in the hour of death; one proceeds from genuine liberality and benevolence, the other from pride or fear.
Jean-Paul Sartre: The poor don't know that their function in life is to exercise our generosity.
John D. Rockefeller Jr.: Think of giving not as a duty but as a privilege.
Thornton Wilder: Money is like manure; it's not worth a thing unless it's spread around encouraging young things to grow. from "The Matchmaker"
Walt Whitman: The habit of giving only enhances the desire to give.
Winston Churchill: You make a living by what you get. You make a life by what you give.

Jesus Christ: Freely you have received, freely give. (Matthew 10:8)

questions part 2

In follow up to Perry Noble’s list of questions from yesterday, I have developed a few for us to consider today. See what you think:

5. Who is influencing me?
I believe that one of the most crucial considerations for every leaders is that of influence. Who is speaking into your life? Who are you reading, listening to and following? Be sure to feed your mind and soul with good things, the things that will make you better.

6. Am I balanced?
An effective leader has to do lots of things well. We can’t lean too far either way. Are you focusing on the long term, as well as the short term? Are you task oriented AND people oriented? Am I as concerned about authenticity as I am charisma?

7. Are my relational priorities in place?
I often say, “if it isn’t right at home, it isn’t right.” Family is first ministry. You cannot be a good leader in ministry or in the marketplace if your familial relationships are a wreck.

8. Am I leaving a legacy?
We all want people to say good things about us, once we depart. Hopefully, it will be more than talk. Do the things today that will cause people to speak about your integrity once you leave them. And who will replace you when you are gone?

Maybe some of you have a few questions that leaders should ponder…how about some comments on this one?...

four questions for leaders

On his blog, Perry Noble asks himself four "stretching" questions that will provide challenge for every leader. Great leaders should take time on a regular basis to wrestle with these questions. Take a look at Perry’s specifics on his site – but here are the four questions:

1. What do I need to stop doing?

2. Do I always have to be right?

3. Am I helping people around me succeed?

4. Am I speaking positively of other people?

I would propose some additional questions, not that I would compare my wisdom to Noble’s. Check back on tomorrow’s post for my simple list.

Woman Shoots Herself While Trying to Kill Mice

This Fox news story is pretty funny. I am sorry that the woman got hurt but, as usual, I am looking for some type of lesson that we can all learn.

Woman Shoots Herself While Trying to Kill Mice Tuesday, July 08, 2008 POTTER VALLEY, Calif. — A Mendocino County woman who was trying to kill mice in her trailer with a gun ended up shooting herself and another person. The 43-year-old woman pulled out her .44-caliber Magnum revolver after she saw the mice scurrying across the floor of her trailer on Highway 20 in Potter Valley, sheriff's officials said. But she accidentally dropped the gun, which went off as it struck the floor. The bullet went through the woman's kneecap, bounced off the keys sitting on the belt loop of a 42-year-old man in the trailer and grazed the man's groin before ending up in his coin pocket. Authorities did not release the shooting victims' names. The mice escaped the shooting unharmed.

I have been guilty of shooting at mice with a .44 caliber handgun. By the way, a .44 is a VERY LARGE gun and completely inappropriate for hunting mice. I have also experienced self-inflicted wounds because I was shooting a gun when a simple mouse trap would have sufficed.

Of course, I am speaking metaphorically!

see around the corner

Today in our staff meeting, during our time of prayer, one of our pastors was praying for our church and for our ministry leaders. He prayed, “God, help us to see around the corner, help us to know what we should do”. The “seeing around the corner” idea really resonated with me and I started thinking about how important this concept is to leaders.

I remember, as a kid, really wanting one of those cool secret agent look-around-the corner telescopes. I think they utilized a mirror and a couple of lenses so that you could stand at a corner and peer around at whatever was, otherwise, out of sight. I never got one of those telescopes but really didn’t need it anyway – I probably would have gotten into trouble with it. But man, could I use a leadership scope today that would do that?!

The art of anticipation is a valuable gift that effective leaders carefully develop. How much grief could we spare ourselves if we could know in advance what to do and how to do it? Think about it: if you had known last year how this year would shape up, what would you have done differently back then, what decisions would you have made that may have impacted what is happening right now?

This is a good prayer for leaders: “God, help us see around the corner. And help us to trust You even when we can’t see what’s on the other side.”

home again

We returned home safely from our brief trip to Central America. Much appreciation to everyone who gave prayer support.

One of the results of the trip is the usual attitude adjustment that I experience. I am humbled by the blessings that I have.

The children of New Life in Nicaragua and Casa Shalom in Guatemala are incredible. Each time we visit, we are amazed by their stories of recovery. They have been abused, neglected and abandoned. Still they smile and are able to respond with open hearts to those who reach out to them. Their resiliency is astounding.

Some prayer requests to please remember:
New Life has rented a larger house which they will occupy in a month or so. Pray that the missionary teams will be able to get the house ready in a short time and that the transition will be smooth.
Casa Shalom is in a time of growth and transition. Pray that financial support will increase and the needs of the home will be met.
Pray for the American missionaries in both places: The Bagwells in Nicaragua and the Hansons in Guatemala.

Enjoy a couple of videos. This hungry little dude left New Life orphanage with his twin brother while we were there - to go live with a family member who will love them. Success!

This is Sarai saying "whiskey" (what Guatemalan children say when having their picture taken!)

casa shalom

We are currently at Casa Shalom orphanage in Guatemala City, Guatemala. Our daughter and her husband are serving here. Please take a minute to look over their blog. They update it as often as they can. If you are interested in being on their email list for an enewsletter, you will be able to sign up on their site in the near future.

Pray for the kids of Casa Shalom. God is doing a great thing here!

halfway point

Today is July 1, the first day of the second half of ’08. Maybe this would be a great time to check in with those New Year’s resolutions. You remember, those promises you made to God and yourself. Those commitments you made to lose weight and get in shape and learn a new language and read your Bible more and … I have the same list. Problem is, it’s not the New Year and our motivation seems to have slipped through our fingers.

Why not revive some of the good intentions? It is not too late to resurrect those ideas. They were pretty good when you came up with them, they are still valid now.

Maybe you made a list. Where is it? Did you create a file? If there is no record, just recreate it now. Maybe you didn’t even create a list in your head. Maybe you don’t even believe in resolutions. Do you believe in goals? If so, set some. You have 6 months to work on these things. A lot of good can happen on half a year.

Let’s make the next 6 better than the last 6.