What is keeping many of these churches from reaching their full potential? In many cases, I think it’s something as simple – but decisive – as the Shepherd-Rancher divide. This is based on the premise that these are the two basic kinds of church leaders — Shepherds and Ranchers.
God’s promise of a transformed community (Jer. 3:17) comes with a promise of competent pastoral care: “And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding”
The people of the city listened to the message. Really listened. From the city streets and among the storefront shops a grassroots response grew. People believed the message and took action: repentance.
We had some successes in the five years I pastored there—increased attendance, major structural changes, renewed vision, and healthy leadership — it wasn’t me who saved the church. The church saved me.
I want to take time to make sure my leaders to know they are celebrated, prayed for, and appreciated. In the hustle and bustle of ministry, here are five ways I’ve learned to invest in leadership.
Someone once asked me, “What are biggest leadership pet peeves?” I didn’t need to think about it. I said, “When a leader says one thing and does another, or they don’t mean what they say.”
I think God is blessing a movement of multiplying churches that are helping to fill the earth with the good news of Jesus. But the side effect of our multiplying efforts is applying of the same church shopping mentality we use at the mall.
If we hope to lead everyone in the room to the truth of our message, we must start by connecting everyone in the room to us and our message. Compelling preaching is not a simple task.
One of the quickest ways we can connect better with our preaching is to tell better stories and tell them in more effective ways. Let’s look at a few easy and practical ways to become better storytellers, of combining preaching and storytelling.
The best ideas typically come from people who are closest to the problem. Here are a few ideas about how you can establish a problem solving culture.
