The 5 Toughest Things About Leading a Church In My First Year!
*My wife keeps asking me to watch "Fireproof" with her tonight. Watching a Kirk Cameron movie goes against all of my internal instincts.
*This weekend... I'm teaching from a book of the Bible that I've never taught from before. Guess which one (in your mind) and see if you're right on Sunday morning.
*Here are "THE 5 TOUGHEST THINGS ABOUT LEADING A CHURCH IN MY FIRST YEAR":
1) Having boundaries. I think this is the same answer anyone will have who LOVES what they do. I recently promised my wife that I would shut off my computer at 6 pm every night... so that I resist the temptation to work.
2) Taking risks. Everything about a new church requires risk. I've lost more sleep in the past 12 months than I have in the past 12 years.
3) Keeping "outward" focused. Lots of people are willing to help start new churches, but few make it for the long haul. The reason for this is that launching a church requires LOTS of sacrifice (giving up preferences, financial and time commitments, etc) . It gets even harder when the purpose of the church is to create a place where people who don't go to church will feel comfortable and accepted. Whenever I sense we're going to lose somebody 'cause of our mission, I'm tempted to water it down.
4) Logistics. Dang. There are more details than I could have imagined to running a church. I could not do this without the couple hundred volunteers who serve at Great Lakes.
5) Trust. Every leadership book talks about the importance of trusting other people. In leading a new church, it's hard to know who to trust. Who is going to around long-term? Who is going to stay true to the mission? Who has the character and ability to lead?
*ON ANOTHER NOTE: For those of you who are IKEA fans, they've recently started selling cars. See pic below...
*This weekend... I'm teaching from a book of the Bible that I've never taught from before. Guess which one (in your mind) and see if you're right on Sunday morning.
*Here are "THE 5 TOUGHEST THINGS ABOUT LEADING A CHURCH IN MY FIRST YEAR":
1) Having boundaries. I think this is the same answer anyone will have who LOVES what they do. I recently promised my wife that I would shut off my computer at 6 pm every night... so that I resist the temptation to work.
2) Taking risks. Everything about a new church requires risk. I've lost more sleep in the past 12 months than I have in the past 12 years.
3) Keeping "outward" focused. Lots of people are willing to help start new churches, but few make it for the long haul. The reason for this is that launching a church requires LOTS of sacrifice (giving up preferences, financial and time commitments, etc) . It gets even harder when the purpose of the church is to create a place where people who don't go to church will feel comfortable and accepted. Whenever I sense we're going to lose somebody 'cause of our mission, I'm tempted to water it down.
4) Logistics. Dang. There are more details than I could have imagined to running a church. I could not do this without the couple hundred volunteers who serve at Great Lakes.
5) Trust. Every leadership book talks about the importance of trusting other people. In leading a new church, it's hard to know who to trust. Who is going to around long-term? Who is going to stay true to the mission? Who has the character and ability to lead?
*ON ANOTHER NOTE: For those of you who are IKEA fans, they've recently started selling cars. See pic below...
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