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7 Ways to know if you are losing it!

Saul said to Samuel, "I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice. 1 Samuel 15:24 (ESV)

Saul lost his kingdom because of the fear brought by the voices of others!

Other voices can cause you to lose a lot of things: position, ministry, integrity, relationships or even family.  When leaders begin to put the voices of people, culture, consensus & circumstances above godly conviction they are headed to disaster. Here are some ways to know if you are losing it...

1. You change your mind because the "big giver" asked you to.
2. You do what the "mega church" is doing, without God saying so.
3. You spend a lot of time trying to find out, "who said that."
4. When you find "who said that", you try to change their mind.
5. You kinda "beg" people to stay, who say they are leaving your church or team.
6. You don't have a vision from God, but rather a best guess.
7. You don't do what God said, because you fear the "push back."

Are you doing any of these? If so, how many? Be careful, leading with God is an incredible privilege few have. Don't lose it because you chose to follow an opposing voice!

1 THING that can STEAL your ministry

I was meditating on a recent mission trip, about...you guessed it, leadership. I began to read and compare Saul & David in the book of 1 Samuel. You probably remember the story. But this is what really stood out to me about leadership. 

Saul was given this by the Prophet Samuel: 1 Sam 12.24

Only fear the LORD, and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider what great things He has done for you.

The Prophet knew Saul was going to have this issue:

FEAR

Fear caused Saul to lose EVERYTHING! He offered the sacrifice because he feared man, and his enemies. Consequently, Samuel said the Lord had torn his ministry from him, and was going to give to the one who was after His own heart. We know that man to be David. 

But later, David commits adultery, murder & walks in pride. Even after all that, God said for generations later, David was the man after His heart! Did you get that? Saul committed the sin of fear and lost it all. David messed up time and again, and was still king, and was honored by God.

Lesson learned: How is your fear factor? Are you fearing man? Are you fearing circumstances? If you are, REPENT. You may be close to losing it all. Fear is a HUGE sin in leadership!

Pour out with Purpose!

No matter who we are or what we do, this is a fact: We only have so much to pour out until we become empty. I was reading in 1 Sam.16 about Samuel anointing David. Each of his brothers had to "pass by" Samuel, and the Lord would tell him, not that one, not that one, until he finally reached David. It is funny because as soon as Samuel saw David's oldest brother, "he thought" this must be the one. But God said, "I don't see what man sees." Did you catch that? God does not see people, opportunities, ministries & time the way we see them. We must let every opportunity,and every person pass before us, and wait to hear God's voice, "no not that one", or "yes, that one. Arise and pour into that one."

Everyday we are offered up a plethora of opportunities & people to "pour into." The question cannot be, which of these is the good one, but which one is the God one. And there really is only ONE, GOD ONE! The rest may seem good, but the good one is the greatest enemy of the God one! We must let each opportunity and person pass before us, pause and let God, test it through His eyes, and then listen for His voice, "yes or no." He must make the call, not us.

You only have so much to pour out...do it in God's purpose. We don't want to waste one moment, one word, one action, one thought or one ounce of energy outside of God's purpose and call.

I don't know about you, but today I am going to let everything, and I mean EVERYTHING pass before God, and pour out at His command.

How about you? What are you going to pour into today?

10 attributes of a GREAT LEADER'S heart!

So his armor bearer said to him, “Do all that is in your heart. Go then; here I am with you, according to your heart.” (1 Samuel 14.7)

This is an account of a leader with six hundred men following him on a surprise attack mission to defeat an enemy with an exponentially greater number of men! What trait, what training, what kind of mind control did this leader exhibit that would cause those men to have courage to follow him on what seems to be a suicide mission? 

He had a godly leader's... HEART! From my vantage point, those are rare these days. We don't see many valiant attempts to move followers on great campaigns for God at great risk! My suspicion would be that there is no lack of missions for God. But a lack of great leaders that cause those around them to march and charge against a strong enemy with the right heart in order to advance the Kingdom of God!

I have seen some great leaders with such hearts and they have many of the same characteristics. Here are just a few...

1. They never move until they have definitively heard from God to go.
2. They unconditionally love those that follow, and the followers know it!
3. They live a lifestyle of personal faith that inspires others.
4. They look for opportunities to bring others along on the journey.
5. They always speak words of life, hope & victory to those around them.
6. They greatly honor other leaders and listen to their counsel.
7. They walk humbly with their God, never looking to take the credit.
8. They intentionally create an environment of trust, honor & fun!
9. They demonstrate a true spiritual balance of ministry & family.
10. They never allow "naysayers" to steal a vision or harm a follower!

Remember, great leaders have great hearts! If you look around you and see that people are ready to follow you to the very gates of hell, at risk of life and limb, it's not you, it's your heart. 

Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. (Proverbs 4.23)  

Brett Favre, Great leader...Rookie mistake?

While watching the play off game last night, I have to be honest: I was pulling for the "old man." We have to stick together you know! I am not a big football fan, but I am a BIG fan of great leaders!  And Brett has proven over many years, he is just that-a great leader. So what happened last night? How could one with such experience, confidence & leadership make such a rookie mistake? 

BECAUSE ALL GREAT LEADERS FAIL!

That is right, all great leaders fail. Sometimes even in the crunch, even when the title is on the line, the big deal is about to close, the greatest opportunity is before you and you fall on your face in failure. But this is the difference: all, and I mean all, GREAT LEADERS never stay on their face, they will always rise again with renewed vigor and experience and become an even better leader than they were before they failed. Because great leaders will always know how get up after failure and learn from it!

Old man! Go for it!

Sometimes being a leader really SUCKS!

...far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by failing to pray for you. And I will teach you the way that is good and right.

(1 Sam.12.23)

Let's face it, sometimes being a leader really sucks! I mean, when you are a leader, anointed and called by God, we answer to God, not to man. Therefore we have to obey God-no matter what! 

Now, check out Samuel, he is highly P.O.ed. The people asked for a king (not a good thing) and sinned against God. Samuel told the people the truth, that asking for a king would be rejecting God, but they did it anyway. This hurt God, and we can see it hurt Samuel as well. Samuel is like, "Guys, I have never lead you astray, I have always told you the truth, rescued you from your enemies. Why are you doing this?" It didn't matter, they wanted a king, and got one. Done.

Now, here is the kicker. Samuel says, in spite of all this crapy stuff you guys are doing, "I still have to pray for you." If I don't pray for you, I won't be sinning against you, but sinning against God! I answer to God, not to you. God is the One who has put me in this place of leadership, so I must follow and obey His voice. 

This is where it sucks sometimes to be a leader. Wouldn't it be great to be able to just call down fire on those guys and torch about half of them?! The other half would then listen. Yeah, your church would have half the attendance for awhile, but boy they sure would listen next time! Well, that would be in the "preacher perfect" world, but we live in reality. And this is the reality...

• We are called by God and not by man
• We must pray for those we lead, regardless if they heed our words or not
• We continue to love even though they may reject us
• We tirelessly proclaim the truth, no matter how long it takes for them to "get it."

I know...I feel your pain! Sometimes being a leader really SUCKS!

(P.S. If you would rather do anything else, you may not be called to do this!)

Great Leaders get GREATLY Aroused!

"Put out your eyes, and give them to me." This was the cost of not being killed, and being allowed to serve as a slave to the king of the Ammonite's, and they were about to do it! (1Sam 11) However, when the newly anointed King Saul heard the news,  

...they told him the words of the men of Jabesh. Then the Spirit of God came upon Saul when he heard this news, and his anger was greatly aroused.

Great leaders become "greatly aroused" at the injustice done to those around them. Here is the cool part, it's done "in the Spirit"! That is called righteous anger. When we, as leaders, become angry in the Spirit about injustice, we become angry because it angers God.

If Saul had not become "greatly aroused" in anger, they would have been defeated and enslaved by their enemy. As leaders, we must be careful to listen, recognize injustice & error, and be willing to take a bold stand against it! We must be leaders of ACTION, not just listening leaders who react in some passive form to just keep peace and not offend anyone. 

This is my question, if you are a leader, when was the last time you were "greatly aroused" in anger by the prompting of the Spirit? DId this prompting of the Spirit compel you to act in the defense of the defenseless?

If you can't remember, you may need to spend some time in repentance for listening to the voice of apathy, rather than the voice of God!

Rubber Bands for Leaders!

I was trying to clean off my desk and I needed to bundle some things together. There is a simple invention designed to hold things together, and help them stay together, it's called a rubber band. But I couldn't find a rubber band ANYWHERE! So simple, but it was needed to keep things together, and prevent clutter and chaos! Which brings to mind some "rubber bands" that leaders need...

 

1. Vision- written, communicated & revised
2. Organization- planned, reviewed & corrected
3. Delegation- given, guided & empowered
4. Action- pray, listen & move
5. Passion- love, zeal & contagious
6. Elation- joy, perseverance & crave-able
7. Caution- humble, teachable & listening

Those are just a few that came to my mind. Any others you can think of to add to the list?

HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND?

A new study (http://ow.ly/V90d) says there is a growing number of Americans that are "practicing" & "combining" several types of religion and spiritual beliefs to find satisfaction.

What a tremendous scar on the face of the American evangelical church. What have we done, said, preached, written or practiced that would give anyone such an idea; that being a "Christ Follower" could be just one of the selections & could be mixed with other offerings at the "spiritual life" buffet? This kind of practice will make you lose your mind. I'm serious... "You will lose your mind, up in here, up in here..."

Lest we find ourselves being a contributor in any form or fashion to someone losing their spiritual prowess, let's look at some sure fire signs that if you or your church are practicing you are contributing. You are helping people lose their mind if...

1. You change your "strategy" monthly based on the hottest thing
2. You make people feel like crap because they aren't as righteous as you
3. You let everyone know, humbly of course, how much good you are doing
4. You say you love God, but those _____ "are just not right"
5. You make following God as complicated as, "some assembly required"
6. You are known for the "we don't" and not the "we do"
7. You think unity is the same as conformity
8. You think acceptance is the same as approval
9. You consider ANYONE an "untouchable."
10. You read this list and get pissed off...because it describes you!
11. P.S. You don't want world peace. (Just in case)

HAVE A HIGHLY BLESSED DAY!

Leading or Neutering?

Don't tell people how to do things, tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results. George S. Patton 

In warfare, spiritual leaders must be empowering, not neutering! As we engage the enemy and all of his forces on a daily basis, we limit our strength if we focus on "micro managing" those God has given us to lead.