Three Leadership Qualities – Part 2

To read Part 1 click here.

As I continue this leadership series I want to remind you about the first quality, performing competently. All good leaders, especially Christian leaders, must know their job. Christian leaders must also know their Bible well. This week’s leadership quality builds from last week’s.

Act With Integrity

A part of performing competently (as I briefly mentioned last week) was to live out what you are teaching. An excellent biblical leader will not be a hypocrite. That is, they won’t tell someone to live a certain way while they secretly partake of those same sins. I could end this blog post with that, but, acting with integrity is more than just doing what is right when nobody is watching. There are three more important aspects of integrity.

First, acting with integrity means you keep your word. Some of you may have heard the saying, ‘my word is my bond’ (‘word is bond’ for short). This is crucial for Christian leaders. That means we won’t say we will do something without fully knowing we can and are able to do it. If you say you are going to be at work at 8 o’clock then you don’t show up at that time, you are not acting with integrity. You must do what you are say you are going to do. It’s that simple. It may not be easy but it is simple. See James 5:12

Second, acting with integrity means communicating clearly. At first, this may not seem like it has anything to do with integrity. Let me explain. Say you are a Christian leader and you have a few subordinates. You have a good idea in your head for the future for all of them. You have a plan in place to make your organization, or church, or whatever it is great. You carry out your plan but you fail to tell all of those who work for you or who you minister to. You may tell them aspects here or there but never your full intentions. This is poor integrity. It seems as though you were trying to deceive others to get what you wanted. It may have been innocent. You may have had the best intentions for the others but they didn’t see it that way. I have learned over the years that leaders must over-communicate. Communication has always been a poor quality of mine and that is one thing I strive to do better.

Third, acting with integrity means have good morals. Again, this is real similar to performing competently and to what I mentioned above about doing what is right when nobody is watching. Nevertheless, I needed to mention it here for clarity (communication). Great Christian leaders have good morals. They are nice to other people even when they don’t deserve it. They never talk badly about a person when they aren’t there to defend themselves (gossip). They strive to live an upright life.

Look at yourself

Are you acting with integrity as a Christian leader? Are you keeping your word that you promised to others? Are you communicating your intentions clearly? Do you have good morals? Strive to be excellent in your leadership. Don’t be a lazy leader.

Continue reading with Part 3…

 

Three Leadership Qualities – Part 1

Excuse me while I start this blog with a mini-rant. Listen people, if you want to be in a leadership position you must take responsibility for your actions and those of who you lead. I’m sick of leaders who are more than willing to take the credit for when things go right. But, God forbid something goes wrong. Then those same leaders are quick to deflect, blame someone else, or pretend like nothing has happened. If you are unable to take ownership of the mistakes made by you, your staff, or those who you lead then you don’t need to be in a leadership position, period! …and I’m done with my rant.

Biblical leadership

This is going to be a three-part series on three qualities all biblical leaders must have (which also applies to all leaders). I will spend the next three weeks on each quality. These three qualities are a must-have. There is no way around it. If you can’t live up to them then you shouldn’t be a leader. There are way too many pastors, elders, deacons, and church leaders out there who are leading people astray. They are in a leadership position because they want the power not because God has called them. Or, maybe God did call them but they have forgotten that call.

Before I get started let me get three obvious Christian leadership traits out of the way first: called by God, submitting to God, humble attitude toward others (servant). Now, I bring you the first leadership quality all leaders must posses.

Perform Competently

This means you know what you are doing in your job. To be a leader means you have to be able to do your job very well and be able to teach others to do it. Mistakes will always happen. But what will separate great leaders from average leaders is what comes after the mistake: acknowledge it, learn from it, and never do it again. If you keep making the same mistake repeatedly, then you are not performing competently.

For example, I’m a carpenter. For me to be a good carpenter I have to know exactly how to fix something or build something before I start the project. If I start something before knowing what I’m doing then I’m not performing competently. I am a competent carpenter because I have the ability, skill, and knowledge to do carpentry work.

When it comes to biblical leadership, this means you are living out what you are teaching. You know your Bible well. You can teach others what the Bible teaches. You live as a child of God. Again, this isn’t saying you are sinless, but you do sin less. Like I said two paragraphs above about mistakes, you recognize when you sin and acknowledge it. Ask for forgiveness from others and God. Never let that sin take you down.

For me, it’s easy to recognize a biblical leader who is performing competently. They have confidence. They know what they are teaching and living out. They know and read the whole Bible, not just a few verses here and there. They know God is real. They know Jesus died on the cross and rose from the grave. They know Jesus is coming back again. They know they will be united in heaven with all the other believers and spend eternity with our Savior. They have the Holy Spirit. They have swag. And, most importantly, they have a humble attitude toward others.

Look at yourself

Now, if you are a leader, ask yourself, “Do I perform competently?” I’m sure your answer will be yes. So here is a harder challenge, ask those you lead if you perform competently. I urge all leaders to strive for this quality. If you don’t think you are there yet then maybe you need to step down for a while until you can be at this level.

As a biblical leader you are never going to know all the Bible but you should have a really good grasp on what the Bible teaches and what you believe in. You should be able to teach others competently using the Bible as a guide not your own thoughts. You should be able to take people through the different books of the Bible and show them what they are about. Study the Word of God and stay connected to God through prayer then you will become (or stay) a competent Christian leader

Continue reading Part 2 now…

Or jump ahead to Part 3…

Combat Ready Devotional #4

Isn’t this what we told you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone so that we can serve the Egyptians, because it is better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!’”

Exodus 14:12

Serve The LORD

The Israelites had a narrow vision. They didn’t see what God saw. They were happy being servants in Egypt, at least they had all the food they can eat and all the water and wine they can drink. Life wasn’t too bad for them, or so they thought. They didn’t want to go through the process of God eliminating their bad habits so they can serve Him instead of Egypt. They didn’t want to be a holy nation. They didn’t want God so God allowed them to die in the desert.

God has great plans for you even though you can’t see it. To realize these plans you have to be torn away from serving the wrong master. This is a painful experience. It’s easy to see why the Israelites complained. We want the best of what this world has to offer. But, God wants to offer you the best of the next world. To get that, you must put aside everything that gets in the way of you serving Him alone. Don’t look back. Trust in God.

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This is an excerpt from the upcoming companion devotional to Combat Ready. These devotionals are not in the same order as they will appear in the printed book and may not be in the final form. To read more devotionals click here. To purchase the original book, Combat Ready, click here or go anywhere else books are sold.

Combat Ready Devotional # 3

Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron in the night and said, “Get up, get out from among my people, both you and the Israelites! Go, serve the Lord as you have requested! Also, take your flocks and your herds, just as you have requested, and leave. But bless me also.” The Lord gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, and they gave them whatever they wanted,and so they plundered Egypt.

Exodus 21:31, 32, 36

This is what Pharaoh, ruler over all of Egypt, told Moses after the tenth and last plague that killed his eldest son. The Egyptians forced the Israelites out of their land. Essentially bribing them with all of their jewels and goods for them to leave immediately. This was God’s plan all along. He had hardened Pharaoh’s heart during the previous nine plagues so He can show off His awesome power. So the Israelites and all the world will know that He is the One True God.

Israel had to suffer through some of the same plagues the Egyptians did. But, they made it through. In your life you may be going through some personal plagues. It may be at work, school, or at home. Be like the Israelites and patiently wait through it. In the end, you will be blessed for what you went through. You will be richer too. You may not be financially richer but you will be spiritually richer. Allow God to work His miracles in your life. Wait for His plan to come together not your own plans.

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This is an excerpt from the upcoming companion devotional to Combat Ready. These devotionals are not in the same order as they will appear in the printed book and may not be in the final form. To read more devotionals click here. To purchase the original book, Combat Ready, click here or go anywhere else books are sold.

The Difference Between Salt and Light

The Bible tells us to let our lights shine. Jesus first talks about this on His Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:13-16). The Bible also tells us to be salt. Jesus said for us to do this on a few different occasions. But what does it mean? How can I be salt? How can I be light?

Light

Light is seen, especially in the darkness. We are to be a light on a hilltop. We do this by our actions. This is what people see. When darkness, or sin surrounds us, we stand out because we act differently. We handle ourselves differently. We look differently. Our actions line up with what the Bible teaches. We are unselfish. We are good to others when they aren’t good to us. We are confident and bold because we have assurance of salvation. We are optimistic and filled with hope. We aren’t afraid of the enemy because we know we are on the winning team. When things go wrong we aren’t crushed because we have hope in the future.

To be light, we have to act like we are children of God. We have to be children of God. When we humbly follow Jesus and are filled with the Holy Spirit then we will have the fruits of the Spirit. These are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. These attributes will naturally show up in a person who is connected to God. Spiritual fruit is what shines in the darkness. You don’t need to think about doing them, they just come naturally when you are fully connected to God.

Salt

Salt is tasted. Salt enhances the flavor of what it’s put on only when it is used in moderation. Too much salt destroys food. Salt is what we say. We need to preach the gospel in moderation. Sometimes food doesn’t need any salt. Sometimes we don’t need to say anything we just need to be present and live out the gospel (light). Saying too much can destroy someone and make them run away from God. Be careful of how much salt you put in people’s lives.

However, sometimes we need to put on a lot of salt. We need to talk a lot about the Bible, God, and the gospel. Every situation is different. Be mindful of the people you are around and how much salt they can take in. We are here to flavor the world with the gospel.

Balance

Jesus talks more about being the light of the world than being salt. Behaving as Christians is more important than talking about being a Christian. The New Testament mentions the word salt only seven times. However, it mentions light about 91 times. Clearly the Bible is teaching us that what we do is more important than what we say.

Be moderate in how much gospel you preach into someone’s life. If they don’t want to hear it, then don’t say anything, just show them. I hear of too many stories of people being turned away from Christianity because Christians just don’t know how to shut up. We need to close our mouths sometimes and show God’s love with our actions. Stop being a hypocrite. Stop doing the opposite of what you say other people should do. Have a proper balance in your life of salt and light.

Personalities

Yes, I understand that we all have different personalities. Some people like to talk a lot while others prefer to listen more. I’m the latter. I have no problem being light. But, sometimes I should be more salt and I miss out on opportunities to spread the gospel message. On the other hand, people who enjoy talking sometimes put too much salt in people’s lives and may not even realize it. The key is balance. Know who you are and who the other person is and give the right amount of salt. You can never be too much light but you can be too much salt. Don’t hide your light (Luke 11:33), let your light shine!

Combat Ready Devotional # 2

Then the Lord God commanded the man, “You may freely eat fruit from every tree of the orchard, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will surely die.”

Genesis 2:16, 17

Run Away

Why are temptations so tempting? God gave all this great stuff to Adam and Eve and only had one rule: don’t eat from one single tree. That sounds like an easy rule to follow. There are plenty of other trees to eat from. Plenty of other things to do. Plenty of exploring to do. Why even bother looking or going near the forbidden tree. Why are we drawn to what we don’t need?

In this Bible story it is satan or the devil who is the one who draws Adam and Eve into temptation. They didn’t have to fall in to it but they did anyways. We too are drawn in to temptations by the devil. Being tempted is not a sin. We don’t have to be ashamed of being tempted because everyone is, even Jesus was tempted. The sin is falling to that temptation.

The next time you are being tempted by something call it what it is; a temptation. Do what Adam and Eve didn’t do; call out to Jesus for help. Run away as fast as you can. Flee from the devil and temptation and you will be safe.

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This is an excerpt from the upcoming companion devotional to Combat Ready. These devotionals are not in the same order as they will appear in the printed book and may not be in the final form. To read more devotionals click here. To purchase the original book, Combat Ready, click here or anywhere else books are sold.

Moving on…

Chaos

My life has been utter chaos over the last 18 months or so. If you have followed my blog you know that I was involved in an exciting church plant in California last year. I went from disappointment to excitement to being crushed. The amount of stress put on my wife and I has been tremendous. We moved from Michigan to California (with our own money) then from California to Texas (again with our own money). We couldn’t afford to get all of our stuff to Texas so we had to put it in storage. Which meant making a trip back to California in a plane and another driving trip to Texas.

People often ask me ‘Why would you ever leave California and come to East Texas?’ That’s a very good question indeed that has a complicated answer. First off, why did I even go to California in the first place?

Just four short years ago I was living in Virginia, running my own successful home improvement business, working part-time as a youth pastor with some awesome teens, and going to school part-time. Things were going great but they couldn’t last long.  I had to eventually move to Michigan to complete my Master’s degree in Divinity. So we moved to Michigan in December of 2010. It’s important to note that I know God called me to go to the seminary.

I had one year of school left when I got an amazing offer to work at a church plant (January 2013). I had been frustrated with school (I’m not a fan of homework) and with the fact that everyone in that little town in SW Michigan were “Christians” but not many people wanted anything to do with reaching out to non-Christians. I saw a huge disconnect between what the gospel teaches and what the thousands of Christians there practiced. I was frustrated and was ready to leave.

Back to the offer to work in a church plant. Not only was it a great opportunity to reach people for the kingdom of God, we were going to work with our two best friends and their families. This seemed like a dream come true. Well, we worked together for six months last year. It wasn’t what I was expecting. We had good times, but it was mostly frustrating. The head pastor who invited us there had no experience with working in teams and couldn’t handle us. His leadership was very poor and things quickly got out of hand.

Loud Mouth

I have never been the one to keep my mouth shut. I have always had problems with authority. So when things are wrong I say something. So, I did. I confronted him on all the things going wrong. I’m sure I said things wrong or said things I shouldn’t have. Eventually, I guess he got tired of it. He told me that I was never really a part of the plans in that church. He felt sorry for me (I still don’t know why), so he decided to invite us out but withheld vital information from me, which, if I would have known, I would have never left Michigan.

They said I didn’t know how to get along with non-Christians. I find this odd since all of my best friends have always been non-Christians. I didn’t grow up as a Christian. I’ve always been around non-Christians. In fact, I find it harder to get along with Christians. So, the church planting organization didn’t think I was worthy to be a church planter but they didn’t tell me that until after I left school with one year left. After I spent $3,500 of my money to move halfway across the country. After I sold many of my possession to work full-time in a church with only part-time money. After I got my hopes up with the people of that city.

I was crushed. I was angry. No, I was furious. I was angry at the people who lied to me, who deceived me. I got even more angry when they refused to acknowledge it and take responsibility for their actions. I got even more angry when they lied to our friends. And, I was angry at myself. I was angry because I realized I disobeyed God. I was never supposed to move to California. God called me to go to Michigan to finish my degree. I didn’t. I would be done by now. Now all my friends have graduated and I’m stuck in a rut.

My Point

This post isn’t to get you to pity me. It isn’t about lashing out at people. It is a warning to everyone following God. In fact, I guess I can say I am grateful for what I have been through. God disciplines His children (Hebrews 12:5-13). I’m grateful because I know I’m a child of God.

Please learn the following five lessons before you make any important decisions. I am hard-headed. I learn through experiences and mistakes. I want you to learn from my mistakes too.

1. Listen to other people who are connected to God. Never ignore godly counsel. I was counseled to stay in Michigan and finish my degree. I ignored it.
2. Always fulfill what God originally asked of you before moving on. I forgot that God called me to go to Michigan. I was selfish and ignored God. I thought I knew what was best for me and my family.
3. Allow God to lead you no matter what. Even if you don’t like what is happening or know what is going on. Just because things get difficult doesn’t mean you need to move on. I was hating school when I decided to leave. I should have pushed through it like everyone else.
4. Take a lot of time seeking God’s will before making any major decisions in your life. We decided pretty quickly that we were going to abandon the seminary and move to California. There was a seminary there I transferred to. There was evangelizing to do there. We were going to work with our friends. It seemed like the right thing to do. It seemed like God was approving of the move.
5. Don’t forget who you are and know your value. I know God called me for a certain task. I let that escape me. God has a plan for me and for you. No matter how much or little you have accomplished in this life, you hold a lot of value in the eyes of God. Never allow others to diminish that.

Now What?

Back to my first question, why Texas? We both have family within two hours of here. The economy is great here. I got a job after being here two days. But, the biggest thing that drove us here was the realization that I disobeyed God. The longer I was in California the more I felt disgusted. I had to get out as fast as possible.

Yes, we miss our friends. Yes, we are still hurt by everything that went down. But, now is our time to reconnect with God, stay away from church people, and heal.

Combat Ready Devotional #1

“After this Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, ‘Look, you have become well. Don’t sin any more, lest anything worse happen to you.’”

John 5:14

 

One thing that Jesus loved to do was to heal people. He did it everywhere he went, even in Jerusalem. On this occasion He healed a man who had been disabled for 38 years. He wanted to be well but didn’t have anyone to help him. And then along came Jesus and turned his world upside down.

After healing the man Jesus made sure to tell him to sin no more. Jesus requires the same thing of us once He heals us. He wants us to change our lives and wants us to sin no more. That means we can’t live our lives for ourselves anymore. We must change our selfish ways into unselfish ways. Live your life today for the Kingdom of God and do a good deed for someone else without expecting anything in return.

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This is an excerpt from the upcoming companion devotional to Combat Ready. These devotionals are not in the same order as they will appear in the printed book and may not be in the final form. To read more devotionals click here. To purchase the original book, Combat Ready, click here or anywhere else books are sold.

The Son is Still Shining

Wow! It’s really been a month since I last posted here. Life certainly has gotten busy. Well, along with my pastoral duties, I am now working a full-time construction job plus school has started too (I’m finishing my Master’s degree in Divinity at AW Tozer Seminary).

So, what has happened over the last month? Simple answer: a lot. We are now actively looking for a new building for the church. We found one that we really like that will be ours full-time; compared to only renting a space for a few hours and having to set up and take down every week. The price is only a little more than another building we looked at that would only be ours to use for one day of the week. The building is in downtown Redding and is an indoor office building. It’s nearly perfect.

There is a coffee shop next door and many people will be walking by it. This will give our church great exposure. But, there are two downsides, maybe three.

1. There is no kitchen. There is a sink in one of the offices but no oven or fridge. We won’t be able to have lunch at church anymore.
2. We will need to buy chairs, tables, desks, and more. We already have all of our sound equipment which is a plus. We will need to raise funds for that.
3. It only seats 100 people, so we will have to move again once we outgrow it.

Another observation I have about Redding is the people always seem to be in a good mood. I think it may be from the sun always shinning. There are hardly ever any clouds in the sky and it’s only rained twice since we moved here almost 4 months ago.

I would like to go into more detail and write more for you but I just don’t have the time now. (I have to finish getting ready for work). Hopefully I can start writing my Scripture based blogs again soon. Until then may God bless you.

Be sure to check out our church website epikosredding.com

 

Elementary, My Dear…

Foundation (Photo credit: RBerteig)

Several weeks ago our church staff decided to split our Saturday morning Bible study into two groups. One more advanced, and the other a beginner class. We call them “Meat & Potatoes” and “Milk & Honey,” respectively. I was tasked to come up with topics to discuss in the beginners class. I came up with what I thought were good topics for new believers or people who wanted to know about the Bible, God, and Jesus.

As I was reading the Bible the other day I came across this passage:

Therefore we must progress beyond the elementary instructions about Christ and move on to maturity, not laying this foundation again: repentance from dead works and faith in God, teaching about baptisms, laying on of hands, resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. Hebrews 6:1, 2

This passage is very enlightening to me. It gives great insight into what is an elementary teaching and what isn’t. I had to go back and make sure what I was teaching was an elementary teaching. I had to take out some stuff and add in others I didn’t include the first time.

Remember, we must consider that the book of Hebrews was a letter written (possibly by Paul) to Jewish Christians. They already had a firm foundation in the Old Testament Scriptures and came to believe in Jesus Christ. Therefore we must include those in the elementary teachings as well.

Considering this passage and the Bible as a whole, here is my list of elementary Bible teachings:

• Inspiration of the Bible
• Origins of sin and current state of sin
• Repentance of sin
• Salvation through Jesus Christ by grace
• Faith in God
• Prayer to God (includes laying on hands)
• Baptism
• Fruits of the Spirit
• Love
• Resurrection of Jesus Christ and the end time resurrection
• Eternal judgement (either eternal life or death)

Counsel for Church Goers

My question to you then is, Have you been taught, or learned for yourself, the proper foundation for being a Christian?

The reason this was brought up in the letter is because these basic truths were not being taught, or understood correctly. The author of Hebrews wanted to move on to ‘spiritual meat’ without having to go back and rehash basic beliefs. You too, need to be aware of the basic Christian beliefs and whether you understand them correctly. Then, you need to move on to the ‘meat’ of the gospel and strengthen your spiritual life.

Admonition for Leaders

If you are a leader or teacher, you need to make sure your flock knows these things well before moving on to more difficult things in the Bible. Of course, everyone will be in different stages. That means you have to know your people and know what they are in need of. You will be doing a disservice to your people if they don’t have a firm foundation in Jesus Christ. Don’t teach your people prophecy if they don’t personally know Jesus. Prophecy is for believers (1 Cor 14:22). Teach your flock what they need to know.

Share

Feel free to share your thoughts on this and if you think I may have missed another basic Bible truth.