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• Are you prepared to receive it?
The most common reason God holds back on giving vision to a leader is that the leader isn’t ready. Is it possible that’s true for you? The preparation may be personal, professional or both. There are huge variables in the possibilities contained within preparation. The range is from nothing more complicated than you are young and God wants to give you a little more experience to get you ready for a larger vision, to personal issues within you that God knows would serve you and your church well to revolve first.
• God breathes it into your heart.
“It’s not so much ‘your’ vision as you are a servant of God’s vision, carrying out part of His Kingdom plan. When you do life with God — God dreams life with you!” (Kevin Myers). This is such a great statement and reminds us of the truth that ultimately it’s not the leader who comes up with the vision, it is God. And, really, isn’t that a relief? You don’t have to muscle up or manufacture a vision for your church. You don’t have to get clever or even creative. God asks you to wait upon Him and He will give it to you. It’s not easy, but it is that simple. I highly recommend Andy Stanley’s book Visioneering. It will help you immensely in this process.
• Vision is connected to compassion.
You see a preferred future. God will make it clear to you. You will become restless for something more, something better, but it’s not about you. A vision from God is always about the good of others. It involves in some way, compassion, justice, love, truth and burden. A great vision is a solution. It’s a better way. It’s a gift from God for His creation that you act upon, and offer people, so they realize a better way of life — ultimately eternal life. Vision isn’t first about success, its first about helping people. Do that right, with a heart for people, and God will grant success.
• Vision stirs conviction within you.
This is part of the continued preparation. As God prepares you, His Spirit within you gets you fired-up for the vision. You get white-hot excited. Leaders are never wishy-washy about a vision from God. You will need this conviction to stay the course and conquer the obstacles. Conviction is essential. No one will care more than you, no one will pray more than you, no one will think and plan more, and no one will lay awake at night more than the leader with the vision. Is it stirring within you like that?
• The people closest to you buy-in to your vision.
There is a potentially high “duh” factor here, but I want to list this one anyway. Please listen to those closest to you. As a leader there are times when you must push through the obstacles, but you must also give access to an inner-circle of trusted friends and leaders who can speak wisdom into your life. It’s important that they believe in the vision with you. If you don’t get buy-in from your inner-circle right away, it may be an issue of timing, not the wrong vision. Take some time to think and pray and share your vision again. However, your vision may need more crafting time with you and God. Meaning, you need a clearer understanding of what God is saying to you.
There is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to vision or how you receive it. Vision is personal. It’s intuitive in nature and more art than science, but vision isn’t soft. A good vision is clear. It’s solid. People can understand it easily. They will connect with it and get excited with you quickly.
There is no process of birth that is easy. You must take the required time and go through it. There is no “quickvision.com” you can Google to get what you need. God wants you to sit at His feet to hear from Him. My hunch is that’s true because He knows if you will wait in dependence upon Him for the vision, you are more likely to stay close to Him as the vision comes to life.
The most powerful thing in the world is leading people in God’s vision.
A couple of hundred years ago, Benjamin Franklin shared with the world the secret of his success. Never leave that till tomorrow, he said, which you can do today. This is the man who discovered electricity. You think more people would listen to what he had to say. I don’t know why we put things off, but if I had to guess, I’d have to say it has a lot to do with fear. Fear of failure, fear of rejection, sometimes the fear is just of making a decision, because what if you’re wrong? What if you’re making a mistake you can’t undo? The early bird catches the worm. A stitch in time saves nine. He who hesitates is lost. We can’t pretend we hadn’t been told. We’ve all heard the proverbs, heard the philosophers, heard our grandparents warning us about wasted time, heard the damn poets urging us to seize the day. Still sometimes we have to see for ourselves. We have to make our own mistakes. We have to learn our own lessons. We have to sweep today’s possibility under tomorrow’s rug until we can’t anymore. Until we finally understand for ourselves what Benjamin Franklin really meant. That knowing is better than wondering, that waking is better than sleeping, and even the biggest failure, even the worst, beat the hell out of never trying.
music — lady gaga medley by sam tsui
At the end of the day, when it comes down to it, all we really want is to be close to somebody. So this thing, where we all keep our distance and pretend not to care about each other, is usually a load of bull. So we pick and choose who we want to remain close to, and once we’ve chosen those people, we tend to stick close by. No matter how much we hurt them, the people that are still with you at the end of the day – those are the ones worth keeping. And sure, sometimes close can be too close. But sometimes, that invasion of personal space, it can be exactly what you need.
Christmas, doesn’t it make you wanna spend it with the ones you love? True enough, family is where you go running home to.
music — here in my life by hillsong
i wonder if december is the time of the year where people tend to get emotional and sentimental… well but at least for me, there’s always a certain degree of surge of emotions here and there… i guess cos it’s the last month of the year and i’ll take a good hard look at how i live my year, the time of the year where every christ follower work their hardest of the hardest just to win a single soul. and probably writing christmas card requires you to be appreciative and grateful for the people around you, of course not forgetting thanksgiving unto Jesus!
many are looking forward to the arrival of christmas but on a flipside, i am rather nervous and not excited about it. yes, i am unprepared. perhaps some issues is taking hold of me again, yet again.
Lord, we don’t wanna battle against satan in vain. whether or not it’s the right timing, we humbly ask for You to use us for Your glory and the extension of Your kingdom. We’re merely jars of clay, mould us to be who You want us to be.
music — at the foot of the cross by kathryn scotts
the difference between volunteering and being called by God
1. volunteers see their involvement at church as community service, but people called of God see it as a ministry
2. volunteers whine about what it’s going to cost to serve, but people who are called are committed to serve.
3. volunteers shrink back from resolving relational conflict, but people called of God seek to resolve relational conflict for the sake of unity in the church
4. volunteers look upon rehearsal as another commitment they’re obligated to fulfill, but people called of God look forward to rehearsal as another opportunity to be used by God
5. volunteers do no outside practicing or preparation, but people called of God come to rehearsal and a performance as prepared as possible
6. volunteers are not open to constructive criticism; they get defensive about it. But people called of God are grateful for feedback because they want to be be the best they can be.
7. volunteers feel threatened by the talent of others, but people called of God praise Him for distributing gifts and talents as He chooses.
8. volunteers want to quit at the first sign of adversity or discouragement, but people called of God dig in and persevere.
9. volunteers find their main source of fulfillment in their talents and abilities, but people called of God know that being used of God is the most fulfiiling thing you can do with your life.
10. volunteers can’t handle being put in situations in which they’re going to be stretched, but people called of God respond to God’s call with humble dependence on Him.
music — thunder (acoustic live) by boys like girls
omg the realisation really horrifies me…
i need to grow in humility now , there’s no such thing as know-it-all!
i need to repent daily , as soon as i commit a sin!
i need to give thanks in all circumstances , despite shit moments!
i need to focus on Him , keep the main thing the main thing!
i need to walk closely with Him , there must be growth everyday!
i need to prioritise , whatever that expands the kingdom first!
i need to………………..
i need God in the centre of it all!
sheesh when will i then start reading the book “heart of an artist” ? STOP PROCRASTINATING!
ARTICLE
“40 Years Later”
by Dan Reiland
They played before an audience for only the second time in 1969, to a crowd of 500,000. Their first song was “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes.” It was at the Woodstock (Music) Festival near White Lake, New York. This event was held on Max Yasgur’s 600 acre dairy farm! Do you know the group? Crosby, Stills and Nash.
My wife Patti and I recently saw CSN at the Chastain Park Amphitheater in Atlanta, Georgia. Chastain is a great outdoor “rain or shine” venue with a cool tradition of picnicking before and during the concert. The food varies from a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken to the finest of wine and cheese over a linen tablecloth, and everything between. The music varies just as much as the food, with talent from James Taylor to the Dobbie Brothers to the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.
It rained that night, and no one cared. The rain only lasted about 15 minutes and helped to cool things off from what could have been another sweltering summer night in Georgia. They opened with a great acoustic set that showed-off their famous harmonies. That set the stage well for the second set where they kicked in with some of their classic rock numbers.
One thing that couldn’t help but be noticed was the multi-generational crowd. All ages from all backgrounds were there singing every word to every song! Patti and I were part of a group of six. Four were twenty-somethings, and well, let’s just say we are just a bit older!
It was a wonderful night and I couldn’t help but notice a few things that can translate to good questions about leadership.
• Who are your friends?
It’s amazing to consider that David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash have been friends for over 40 years. They’ve had their ups and downs and a few rough patches, but who hasn’t? We live in a day and age when marriage vows are optional, and roughly 50% don’t make it. So when it comes to the commitment of friendship, it is completely up for grabs.
It hasn’t been an easy road. They’ve had to negotiate everything from technical business contracts with all the minutia of royalties, to the artistic side of what notes are in what songs and who sings what part! Most marriages couldn’t survive that!
Pastors move. That’s just part of the calling of ministry, and that can be rough on friendships. Some move often and a few enjoy long tenures. Whether you are long term or short term in your church, it’s critical that you know who your true long term friends are. One of my mentors, Keith Drury, now a professor at Indiana Wesleyan University taught that by 40 years of age, we ought to know who our life-long friends are. I think he’s right.
Some pastors don’t believe it’s wise to have close friends within the church they serve, and others wouldn’t have it any other way. I believe the latter. I have deep and meaningful relationships from the churches I’ve served. The risk is greater when your close friends are in the church, but the potential reward is even greater.
I’ve also been blessed to have established great friendships during the years I served as a church consultant and leadership development coach with John Maxwell and INJOY. Still today there are many pastors who pray for me and I pray for them. We talk church, swap ideas and share some of the rough times together too. If it sounds like I’ve been blessed with friendships, I have. But I will tell you that friendships, especially the meaningful ones that last, don’t happen by themselves. They require intentional effort. I don’t mean mechanical networking. I mean taking the time to keep in touch on a personal level, and staying involved even when it’s not convenient. Genuinely caring about people always makes a difference.
• Are you doing what you love?
Some late night comedians and others like to take shots at old rockers like CSN. The last one I heard said: “Yeah, I saw them last week and they just keep coming back older, fatter and balder!” OK, it’s a little true. Crosby, Stills and Nash are grandfathers! But you just have to watch them play. They absolutely love what they do, and they are good at it! All of us thoroughly enjoyed the concert. It was like the three of them were old friends of ours and we all enjoyed the evening together.
CSN make jokes about themselves being able to remember the words and their hands not being as fast as they once were for those hot licks on lead guitar. But who cares?! Hey, if you and I can lead as well as they can sing and play when we are their age, we’ll be doing great. Let me be blunt. They can still draw thousands of people to a concert! Isn’t that a little like what you are trying to do? You want to draw people to church, and for something much greater than a music concert. The point is that it’s so important to love what you do. I believe that has everything to do with how long you are effective as a pastoral leader. When you stop loving church work, you are done!
So do you still love what you do? Church work can be rough. You serve people who think you work one day a week and have no idea you work 60 or more hours every week! The same people who fuss at you to take a day off, fuss at you if you try to take a day off on the day they want you for something. Living out those tensions isn’t easy, especially in smaller churches. You’ve got to love what you do to stay in the game.
You must also know where you are going to love what you do. I don’t think I’ve ever met a leader who is spinning their wheels without direction who loves what they do. On the other hand, I know many leaders in difficult and stressful situations who absolutely love what they do because they know where they want to go. It makes such a big difference. There are moments when you may not love what you do, but you can always be doing what you love.
• Are you playing new music?
I met Crosby, Stills, and Nash when they played at a cool downtown venue in San Diego. That was a number of years ago and they were more engaged in writing and playing new songs. I could tell they loved playing the new stuff even though the crowd wanted to hear their favored classics.
The new stuff keeps any band energized and in the game. When you write new stuff, you must write from the heart and write what you feel, but you must also write what record publishers will get behind and sell! You must write what radio stations will play. This kind of stress keeps you sharp, and good and in the game.
The best of the best keep writing new songs. I’m a fan of Paul McCartney. He’s 67 and still writing and singing new songs. He too was recently in Atlanta and played to an outdoor crowd of over 40,000 people. Even though all the fans wanted to hear the vintage Beatle songs, I believe the new stuff is what keeps McCartney going.
So how about you as a leader? Are you only playing the same old songs you’ve always played? The people may love some of them, but if you don’t dig in and write some new stuff, the crowds will start to dwindle. You must grow as a leader, listen to new ideas, and learn new ways of doing things. You may think that will drain you of your energy, but in fact, it will energize you.
I have some of my most fun learning from our twenty-somethings on staff. If you think about it, one of the reasons they are so alive and lead well is that all their “songs” are new. Life and leadership is all fresh for them! Keep pressing forward. Keep learning, keep thinking, and may your leadership play out like a new song for the people you lead!
it’s really true ! when you remove salvation from the Bible , you’re left with merely less than twenty percent of the Bible ! and that’s really God’s heartbeat , the reason and the only reason why He sent Jesus is also because of the salvation of mankind ! if we as christians are still living life not anxious about lost people, we are seriously being fools and causing our own christian walk to be hollow !
we really gotta charge like an army and love like a family!
just like how the song goes…
i will live to carry Your compassion
to love a world that’s broken
to be Your hands and feets
i will give with the life i have been given
to go beyond religion
to see the world be change
by the power of Your name!
seems like i’ve been really out of touch with all the technologies for about one week plus… and now i am trying to get back. cos this is like the easiest way i can track back my thoughts and memories =D hehe..
i had dmm yesterday and xueting was teaching about a united church, i wonder if i used the right word cos that’s my first dmm in tertiary =D “as usual”, we sidetracked and talked about other topics and the topic’s really interesting cos we were blabbering about The End Times. i will not go into details but the main thing is, rapture and the seven years of tribulations really seem scary to me , i believe none of us would want our families and friends to go through that seven years and not to even mention hell . OH GOD , SENSE OF URGENCY ! we gotta live as if Jesus is coming back tomorrow! we gotta walk right , walk close and walk daily with God , and we ought to keep sharing about the good news !
oh! do you know that actually angels do not have wings?! HAHA they look exactly like us! HAHAHAHAHA maybe they could be as dark as indians hahahahaha! so i must stop being racist! =D
music — the noise produced by my stand up fan
today i realise how fragile and vulnerable life can be…
a friend of mine contracted cancer , she’s not particularly close to me but she’s a really nice and sweet girl whom always offered help and guided me alot when i am studying for my examinations . without her , my results will be worst than cui . i pray i can have that opportunity to share about Jesus to her… i pray that she will not reject the love and healing Jesus longs to give her…
yes , life is unfair but it’s in this midst of suffering we learn to depend on the grace of God . my friend is damn smart , hell knows why such misfortune will befall her . but i am very sure she will be fine and turn out stronger because whatever don’t kill you , makes you stronger!!!!! =D
upon realising the truth , all i know i can do is to give thanks to God for every single thing He’ve done and have yet done in my life . even for the slightest details i didn’t give thanks before that is Jesus love me so much to let me enjoy another day on earth . i wanna have joy despite heaven or hell circumstances in life .
Lord , bless and heal this friend of mine . AMEN (:
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