Last week was a whirlwind week that began with the casting of vision for a possible new campus, took me to Anderson, SC for 3 days and then found me flying with our staff to Chicago, Il for 2.5 days. All of this in the name of growing as the leader that God has called me to be to Vertical Church. I am often reminded that it is God who set me on this pathway,
[9] Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9 ESV)
I took so many notes and there is so much for me to process – but at a glance here are some of my biggest take-a-ways from last week:
- The hardest person for me to lead is me. Setting up a schedule that works for me and allows me to grow as a person, husband, father, pastor and leader is so important to the longevity of God’s ministry through me. I recognize that we all “know this”, so why do we continue to suck at it? 23For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. (James 1:23-24)
- The Message is the most important thing we do on Sunday. With this in mind we should constantly evaluate our message through the eyes of a person who doesn’t attend church. We can and should strive to teach believers and challenge those who haven’t met Jesus at the same time.
- Take off our “ministry colored glasses”. We must look at our environments through the eyes of those who don’t normally attend… would they think this is great? They should.
- I’ve heard Perry say this many times before, “Your church is probably 1 or 2 changes away from doubling!”
- You gotta care more about who your people are becoming than what they do. We never want to get the work done on the back of someone not growing in Christ.
- The longer you’re in the less aware you are of the culture of your church. (Do we see anything off mission?)
- Healthy people are attracted to healthy staff cultures.
- What we value is what we DO.
- What once was great is no longer great because they allowed what they valued to slip.
- If you can’t tweet your values they are too long.
- How do you infuse values into someone you hire? YOU CAN’T. Hire and recruit FOR your values, you won’t change them later.
- If you’re somewhere that doesn’t share your values you should leave HONORABLY. They aren’t bad, you just have different passion/values.
- I want Vertical Church to be the best place that anyone ever worked!
- “tell me about the last person you prayed with.”
- Your staff isn’t a supporting cast for your glory and success.
- Loyalty IS NOT a fruit of the spirit.
- The higher you rise the harder it is to get objective truth.
- A self-deceived leader always finds someone else to blame in church world. We are really bad at delegating authority.
- “What am i excited about that you don’t care about?”
- What makes an environment great? When it is irresistible.
Incredible information. Now to process and apply to my own life… hope it helps you as well.