Leading Edge

I've been a student of leadership for many years.  As I look back over my life, I've been in leadership nearly all of it.  As a teenager, I was the senior patrol leader of my boy scout troop at the age of 14.  I served on the board of my home church at age 16.  Throughout my college years I was involved on several leadership ventures.  In my 31 years of ministry, I've led churches, boards, and committees, and served on denominational task forces and various district offices.  I've been blessed with a wide range of experience.

Now my confession:  I'm still learning about leadership.  I am constantly reading books on the subject, attend the occasional leadership conference, listen to leaders on cd, and glean from leaders I respect.  I'm constantly soaking up leadership principles to improve my interaction with people and to take my organization to the next level.  I am hungry to learn more. 

I also desire to share what I am learning and practicing with others.  I've come to that stage in life where I know that I need to invest more in others in this particular area.  I'm currently developing a program for systematic leadership training in my local church.  I'm co-leading a small group of pastors in my district where our focus is on leadership development.  I'm being certified as a coach in the Wesleyan Coaching Network in order to be able to enter into formal coaching agreements with those who desire to be better leaders. 

Leadership is influence.  I've not always been the best leader, but I'm working at it.  I'm at the stage in life where I am determined to leave a legacy of developing others.

What are you doing to invest in others?  I'd like to learn from you.

Efforting

Efforting.  It's an interesting term.  It's used in broadcast journalism when support staff is attempting to secure a guest for a show - "We're efforting that." 

It's also a good way to describe what happens in sports.  Players that are really putting everything into the game are known for their efforting - giving their total energies to the game.  My daughter Bekah and her friend, Morgan, are great at efforting in their volleyball games.  Some of their teammates - not so much.

Let's move the discussion over to spiritual development.  Are you "efforting" in your growth?  Are you putting in the effort necessary to be a fully devoted follower of Jesus?  Do you settle for simply being on the team when you could be contributing in the game?  Are you contributing in such a way that adds value to your team and teammates, or are you actually being a drain on their efforts? 

I know these are hard questions for some who may read this blog.  But we are all responsible to be good stewards of what God has given us.  Being a good steward is not keeping what we have, but investing it so that it grows.  When one person isn't efforting, it impacts the whole team - and the whole church.

So what do you think?  And are you efforting?

Toxic Waste

I was in a meeting the other day when a friend made this statement:  "We let our passions for what is good separate us from what is best."  Isn't that true?  Sometimes we allow the good things of life keep us from becoming the best that God wants us to be.  We sacrifice the great by settling for what is simply good.

What are some examples of this?  When parents are willing to involve their children in every sporting league and encourage them to compete in tournaments to the point their children are no longer regularly in church, I think this sends a signal to the kids that church isn't important.  I know parents are trying to get their kids to earn scholarships and other honors, but how many actually get these awards?  How many kids burn out on the very sport they are passionate about?  Another example would be choosing to pursue a relationship we know isn't in the center of God's will but we allow ourselves that liberty.  What does that say about our values?

Don't get me wrong.  There is life outside of church!  There are going to be times when some events conflict with the church calendar and your participation may be necessary.  However, I think each of us knows the difference between what is good and what is best.  Are you struggling in this area? 

I'm going to do a sermon series in August on this topic.  Let's explore this together.

Longevity or "Old?"

I received a certificate on Saturday at our district conference.  It was for 30 years of service in The Wesleyan Church.  As I stood on the platform with pastors who had served 25, 30, 35 and more years, I thought, "All this means is that I'm getting old."  The good news is that I felt (and hope looked) younger than the other men on the platform.  I guess that's my perspective and I'm sticking with it. 

Our General Superintendent did make an interesting comment:  Nearly 50% of those who are called to and start out in ministry quite within the first five years.  Wow!  I'm not sure what to make of that exactly, but it's an interesting stat.  I guess after 30 years it says I'm too stubborn to quit! 

On a serious note, I tip my cap to all those who serve in pastoral ministry for whatever period of time, and particularly to those who have been at it longer than I have.  Thank you for your faithfulness!

Updates on previous posts

Well, I looked back and thought I better update some of my past posts.

• General Conference has come and gone.  We have restructured The Wesleyan Church to being led by one general superintendent and four major department leaders.  Many of the changes are good.  There are a couple of concerns as far as how some of them will impact overall effectiveness, but all in all, the denomination is leaner and meaner. 
• I completed my online training for IWU and I passed!  I'm still a bit nervous about that first online class when it gets assigned, but like anything new, you have to try it before you know if you will like it!
• I've lost about four pounds since implementing the "weight upon the Lord" plan.  I only have a couple of others in the church doing it with me, but that's fine.  By the end of the summer we'll be the envy (oops, can't have that) of the church.  :)

I'm praying our vacation plans come together.  There have been some obstacles but we are working toward it.  Look out New York! 

Weight on The Lord

Yeah, it's corny, but I issued a challenge to our congregation a week ago that we need to be better stewards of our bodies.  The Bible tells us to wait upon the Lord for strength.  Well, if we exercise and watch what we eat, our weight will go down, our health will improve, and we will have more energy for our families and for serving the Lord.  Part of the goal is for each participant to set a financial goal at the end of the next three months as a gift for a benevolence that we will be designating in the near future.  The money isn't for the church.  It will be given away to others. 

My goal is to lose 15 pounds by the end of August.  I've made my financial pledge.  If any of my readers would like to sponsor a financial pledge in support of my goal, that would be awesome!  Just let me know.  As I said, the money will go to assist a person or persons in need.  I have a couple of other people in the church who are also doing the challenge.  I hope a few more will step up!

One of the reasons I am doing this is to be more accountable for my weight loss.  My doctor says I need to take off more weight (and keep it off) in order to better combat my diabetes.  If I hit some of his weight goals, I may actually be able to get off my medication (Metformin) and keep my diabetes under control with diet and exercise.  When I was first diagnosed I weighed about 242.  A week ago I was at 224.  Today I was at 220.  I may be able to lose more than my goal of 15 pounds.  But that's the goal for the summer! 

In Over My Head

Have you ever had one of those experiences where you really wanted to do something, pushed hard to be able to do it, and then when you were granted permission you found out you were way over your head?  Man, I've felt that way the past two weeks, but this week in particular.

I have been teaching for Indiana Wesleyan University for nearly 12 years.  Due to the explosion in online education, our onsite program is struggling and the number of courses I am being offered to teach has dwindled from six to one a year.  That's not good on the old family budget!  I started asking to teach online about two years ago.  I was always turned down and told, "You are too valuable to our onsite program and we don't want to lose you to online."  I assured people that I would make onsite a priority, but I needed a couple of online classes a year.  I was finally approved a couple of months ago and started my training two weeks ago. 

Wow!  The first week of training took up a bit of time (about 14 hours).  This past week was supposed to take 18-22 hours - to give us a feel of what a real online class would be like.  Right!  I spent nearly 40 hours just on the program, doing my online assignments to learn how to use the program and grading fake papers that were all jacked up!  I mean, I had one three page paper I graded with 35 errors!!!! 

Next week is the third and final week of this training process.  If I complete it without losing the rest of my mind, I might be "hired" by the online division.  If not, I will continue teaching onsite in a very limited capacity. 

To top it all off, I'm still working on my coaching certification for the Wesleyan Coaching Network!  Anyway, I'm not really whining.  Seriously.  But I may have bitten off more than I can possibly chew, let alone eat!