One Last Reminder of Domain Change.
Hey all! Don't forget that I moved to WORDPRESS...
So you need to click
HERE for a new RSS feed right off the top of the page.
And the E-Mail sign-up for the blog delivered to your inbox is a the bottom of the
same page.
Thanks for moving with me!
THIS LINK WILL TAKE YOU TO THE NEW SITE: www.chazzdaddy.com
CHANGING HOSTING SITE TO WORDPRESS...
It took me years to switch to a mac, and now to wordpress. [insert cheers and I told you so here.]
Click here to see me over there, and catch the new feed to your RSS and you must RE-SIGN UP FOR E-MAIL SUBSCRIPTIONS to my blog.
Announcing The Sticks Coaching Network
GO HERE FOR THE STICKS COACHING NETWORK POST.
Just moved to wordpress...and yes I can hear you saying: "TOLD YOU SO!"
Labels: THE STICKS COACHING NETWORK
Successful Church Planter = Great Leader? Ummm, No.
I coach a few crazy guys in the church planting world...[by the way, I have a couple more spots out of 5 available for a one on one coaching network that I haven't announced yet if you want to hit me...or did I just do announce it?]
And by the way, I have THREE coaches of my own!
Anyway, we were talking about something that I have noticed in church planters around the country and that includes myself in this group.
Great church planters are not always great leaders.
They might be catalysts. They migh be vision casters. They might have the ability to pull off a service.
They might preach a great sermon or write great systems and strategies.
But to go to the next level time and time again in our ministry and leadership requires raising our leadership lid time and time again. You will never go beyond that level. If you want to become a a top level leader it requires more than just learned skills.
Not all church planters are great leaders, even if their plant is "successful". [Been there, done that.]
But just as you can learn the skills to become a great church planter...you truly can learn the skills to become a great leader if you are disciplined and willing to suck it up and go there with God's grace, blessing and help!
Are you willing to do whatever it takes? It is usually a matter of control, pride and ego that hold us back.
What say you?
Labels: church planting journey
Butt Tape Saves Lives...But How About Airplanes?
Yep. No joke here. We were sitting on a Southwest Flight last week [I will ONLY fly Southwest unless it is a really bad day, so SOUTHWEST AIRLINES rules in my book no matter this story]...and the captain said we were delayed for a few for maintenance issues.
That's when I spy this maintenance guy walking toward our plane with DUCT TAPE and a CROW BAR thing. Sure enough, the DUCT TAPE was for the fix. [That is how you do anything in THE STICKS right?] So glad he boarded the plane and fixed a seat in the back and we were off and it wasn't to hold the engine on or something.
I made the comment several times at our
first church plant in Ohio that we were held together by bubble gum, bailing twine and duct tape. And that was no joke. Doing big things for God with people and ministries that are barely held together was our mantra! [Me being the poster child for brokenness and butt tape :]
You do what you have to do when you are called to the middle of nowhere! When God sends a vision, you make it happen in HIS power, with HIS people, and HIS timing. A little bubble gum, bailing twine and duct tape will help though for those moments when you are ready to lose it all. [and yeah...that crow bar comes in real handy too at times...]
Oh yeah, imagine the dudes pain in the pic when he had to remove that mess from his hiney...sounds a whole lot like church to me.
WHY?
It is so cool that as we are barely held together like that seat on our flight to remember that it isn't just about the details or the outside that matter, it's the people inside and the destination we are helping them head to.
_______________________________
**Would you consider sending the gift of some duct tape, bubble gum, bailing twine and anything else to MISSION WEST this Christmas? Our destination of helping to put churches in 22+ cities without 1 church in them in UTAH needs YOU! Consider an on-going or 1 time gift to help us reach people for Christ.
You can get the deets and E-Give HERE. Thank you. For real....
Thank you.Labels: church planting journey
Just Writing This Post is Dangerous.
My parents held a Christmas gathering last weekend in a country where you can be arrested, jailed or killed for your faith and for gatherings such as these.
Over 120 people showed up and they don't even speak the native language. That's bigger than many American churches last weekend. Please pray for them, especially as they look for native leadership that will succeed them when they are called away.
I love that my parents and my family at
New Hope were bold enough to believe in the Great Commission and carry it out. We are not only called to go into our communities, but into all the world!
...And we didn't think it was an option that was affected by the economy or any other excuses we could muster.
[I love you Mom and Dad and your boldness inspires me to the core. Your obedience had a big impact on our decision to launch out as well when God tapped our souls.]
Labels: church planting journey, evangelism
Most Top Level Leaders Have This 1 Thing in Common.
In my limited experience, one of the greatest things that strong leaders I know have in common is this:
THEY ARE GREAT COMMUNICATORS.
I am not talking about speaking communication from a stage, etc. I am talking about communicating across the hundreds of needs, requests, and demands they are swamped with.
1. I am amazed that people cannot return or reply to simple e-mail. [I generally return an e-mail the same day and believe we should all strive for that courtesy. If non-urgent, within 24 hours.]
2. I am amazed that people cannot reply to a twitter or facebook thread. [How hard is it to hit REPLY? I work hard on twitter and facebook to not "selectively" reply. If you are that important, get a fan page:]
3. I am amazed people cannot return phone calls and/or texts. I now use google voice to have my voicemails transcribed to e-mail and sent to my inbox. [Are we that important and is the person that non- important?]
4. I am amazed at the lack of thanks offered. [Cards, calls, verbal, etc.]
I am not saying we need to put our prayer, study, family and other things ahead of communication [Mark Batterson talks well of e-mail addiction, and I used to have a very hard time with it as well], but if you want to be a top level leader, you will figure this piece out and keep it healthy. And I am not saying I am 100% on this either, but dang, we have to address this mess.
**I have a habit to keep my inbox clear at all times.
If I have an e-mail that is a task, I assign it or put it into my gmail task list.
**When I head out for a drive,
I take my call list.
**I check e-mail during different times of the day, I make calls during the afternoon only unless urgent, and
I generally check twitter and facebook in the morning and evening, sometimes more often when I need a little "break" during the day. That can be an addiction as well. And I don't do applications, games, etc. I actually block those because of time constraints.
**If all else fails, hire someone to HELP YOU! But don't be so important that you can't sign your own cards of thanks! We know when you assistant signs your cards, etc. and that is tacky.
The busiest of the top leaders are busy for a reason, and they have their hands in a million things, but this one characteristic seems very consistent across the board.
The same holds true of those who are not as top-level
[but you can be disciplined to get there...key word: discipline]. They seem to not be as concerned with communicating,
which I believe is a top key to any relationship, vision or mission. Nothing is more frustrating than lack of communication.
If you want to go to this next level as a leader, these things you must do.
Have you noticed the same in whatever career God has placed you?
Labels: Church Leadership
Spiritual Disciplines Message.
I spoke a couple of weeks ago at the church I am a serving at here in Utah. If you would like to hear the message on SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINES, check it out
HERE.
Simply click on the SOUTH CAMPUS TAB and I am the 2nd message down in the list. It is audio. I thank God for the opportunity to share HIS truth whenever I can!
K2 has been a tremendous blessing to our family and our team. Thanks everyone for welcoming us with open arms!
Labels: GET SERMONS HERE, Spiritual Growth
This 1 Thing Will Change Our Lives...
"So the king asked me, 'Why does your face look so sad when you are not ill? This can be nothing but sadness of heart.'
I was very much afraid, but I said to the king, 'May the king live forever! Why should my face not look sad when the city where my fathers are buried lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?'
The king said to me, 'What is it you want?'
Then I prayed to the God of heaven, and I answered the king, 'If it pleases the king and if your servant has found favor in his sight, let him send me to the city in Judah where my fathers are buried so that I can rebuild it.'"[Nehemiah 2.2-5]
This is one of my favorite prayer passages in all of Scripture. Nehemiah shot up a quick one before answering the King to the one who controlled the outcome...that is LIVING in an ATTITUDE of PRAYER! And when we live this way with God as the focus 100% of the time in ALL that we do...we will be led by HIS SPIRIT and HE WILL DIRECT OUR PATHS! [Proverbs 3.5-6]
“Let us not be content to pray morning and evening, but let us live in prayer all day long.” --F. FenelonLabels: prayer
I coach a few crazy guys in the church planting world...[by the way, I have a couple more spots out of 5 available for a one on one coaching network that I haven't announced yet if you want to hit me...or did I just do announce it?] And by the way, I have THREE coaches of my own!
