one-hundred!

wow- one-hundred blogs! I was originally going to write 100 interesting things about myself, but I didn’t get past 10. and then it dawned on me that I’m always spouting off some advice to young leaders- whether they asked for it or not. so here are 100 lessons for leaders from yours truly. I could elaborate on all of them, but for the sake of time, I’ll keep them brief. some of these sort of overlap, but hopefully they make sense.

1. take care of your wife.
2. take care of your kids; church-people like having you around, your wife and kids NEED you around.
3. take care of your volunteers. bless and thank them profusely.
4. take care of your soul; minister to the minister
5. take care of your flock; don’t be a snob- be available and care deeply
6. talk less; listen more. even a fool is thought wise when he keeps silent.
7. stop waiting for it to get easy; its not going to- and no one ever said it would. it can be fun, but probably not easy.
8. leave them with a blessing; when people talk with you, they are hoping that you’ll notice, that you’ll ask that important question, that you’ll pray for them, encourage them. notice. ask. pray. encourage.
9. get creative about money; the budgets will never be as big as your dreams, but that shouldn’t keep you from dreaming. if you need it, find a way to afford it. impossible is not in God’s vocabulary.
10. no excuses; you are responsible for your ministry. stop blaming others that things are not the way you want them. you are responsible, figure it out.
11. get some rest; you’ll be better and more to be around if you do. you’ll last longer too.
12. being funny is overrated; almost every time I’ve gotten in trouble I have thought to myself “I was just trying to be funny.”
13. have a life; there has got to be more to you than what you do and where you work.
14. don’t forget your story; with all of the compliments that we receive, its easy to forget who and where we were before we met God. remember that guy or girl; remember the thrill it was to pray and learn about God and to be forgiven.
15. wear a watch.
16. don’t believe everything you hear about yourself; not from the critics, and certainly not from your fans.
17. carry breath mints.
18. have a notepad and pen- writing down your thought frees you to think new ones.
19. don’t travel alone; hotels can be dangerous if you don’t have a friend to hold you accountable.
20. don’t eat lunch by yourself.
21. clean your office.
22. show up on time; if you’re going to be late, call ahead. aim to arrive a little early, to give to the margin for a few extra red lights.
23. remember names; and use them as you speak to others. I know its hard for you, find a way to do it, its important.
24. don’t run from conflict; its coming, not everyone will agree with you or understand. its not an excuse to be a jerk, but it will happen, and in a lot of ways it has to happen. its hard, but you can make it.
25. network; initiate relationships with people like you. you need them and they need you.
26. have a hook; conversations slow down, how will you keep them going? have a hook, a go-to question that will help people to feel valued, questions like, “what are you looking forward to?” “are you happy?” “what’s on your iPod these days?”
27. be fully-present; when you’re talking to someone, don’t check your e-mail, don’t answer your phone, don’t be somewhere else. be here, now. listen intently; ask questions that show that you are listening.
28. be honest; no one expects you to be perfect, don’t pretend to be. don’t spill out your gory details, but its ok to admit that you have issues, doubts, and conflicts of your own.
29. don’t be a butt; I know that you feel important, but you’re not all that. get over yourself.
30. be a butt; for the sake of your flock, every now and then you need to say no to something or someone that wants to use them, advertise to them, manipulate them, disregard their feelings, steal their resources. don’t sin, but, be a butt.
31. be you; the big question is what is you? what isn’t? are your clothes you? your piercings? is messiness you? no! if you’re asked to change the way you dress, don’t mean that you are being asked to stop being you.
32. serve more than one category; youth guys often feel that they only need to appeal to kids- not true. they need to create security for parents, pastors, volunteers and elders. learn to minister and speak into people who are outside of your target ministry.
33. remember who you work for; we work for God, not a church. since we work for Him, He has the right to move us around. these decisions are His, not a church’s or a leader’s.
34. create confidence; give your boss, the people that you lead and your co-workers the feeling that you are going to do what you said you would do. don’t waver, look them in the eye and create confidence.
35. your product isn’t you; someone can give you constructive criticism, but you don’t have to take it as a personal attack- your product isn’t you.
36. build a team- ministry is so much more fun together.
37. delegate- give roles to others, help them learn what to do, and then let them have that job. don’t take it back. work yourself out of a job.
38. be a reader; have a book that you’re working on. you don’t need to finish 12 a year, but you should be working on one all the time. books on CD work well too.
39. don’t kill yourself; do your best, but make sure you’re taking care of your family and yourself. if you burn out, the church we replace you quickly and painlessly. but you are irreplaceable to your family.
40. smile when you talk.
41. find a mentor; find someone that you look up to, learn from them, listen to them; get their advice and ask them why they do what they do. you are in charge of setting up the meeting, and paying for the coffee. if they ask you to do something to help you grow, DO IT.
42. light your sparkle- have joy when you enter the room, be ready to laugh and smile and be excited to see someone, even if you’ve seen them a million times. rest builds sparkle, so does solitude, prayer, and caffeine!
43. evolve; its ok.
44. get organized.
45. keep it in the lockerroom; if you have a conflict with someone in your church, be careful who you tell. learn to resolve your conflicts quickly.
46. better safe than sued; when in doubt, DON’T.
47. get advice; it’s a sign of wisdom, not weakness,, and it’s a reminder that you don’t know it all.
48. understand change; there is a bad way to introduce change and a good way. several great books have been written on this subject, and you need to learn this.
49. step back; build for the future, plant seeds that will become mighty oaks, make decisions today that your successor will thank you for.
50. watch out; don’t be dumb. avoid that lady, those guys, and that activity that has disaster written all over it.
51. find a friend; a true friend, an accountability partner, someone you trust, respect, and enjoy.
52. grow; go to conferences, read books, listen to tapes. never stop growing.
53. dream; go see the ministries that you want to be like, bring others with you. go see the speakers that you want to speak like, the bands that you want to play like, and let your heart wander and wonder what you could become.
54. take care of your boss; don’t monopolize his time, support him in public, disagree in private. if he or she asks you to do something that is a high priority for you. get it done well and fast. let your boss know they although they may have much to worry about, they don’t need to worry about you.
55. over-communicate; let people know in advance what to expect as far as scheduled events. be clear.
56. know your volunteers; know their stories.
57. send mail; specifically thank you cards. be a thanking machine.
58. be curious; be interested in others. everyone is fascinating in their own way.
59. don’t be afraid to touch; have your hands ready to shake hands, to pat a back, and if appropriate, to hug. some people don’t get touched ever.
60. collect alliances; when you interact with local businesses, vendors, restaurants, go in with the impression that this could be a lifelong friendship.
61. create margin- I’ve blogged about this a bunch lately. being hurried is overrated.
62. go the extra mile; on everything. we’re doing this for God, He deserves our very best, no matter how small the task.
63. hang on to encouragements; keep a file of those encouraging e-mails, letter,cards, etc. sometimes it helps to remind us what we’re all about.
64. get inspired; what inspires you? music, a concert, art? nature? fire yourself up- every part of your world will benefit.
65. no obstacles; I keep hearing, “I would have a great ministry if only …” money won’t solve your problems. neither will a new boss or 10 more volunteers. the change needs to take place in you and the way you’re looking at this thing.
66. interruptions are from God. view them as such.
67. numbers aren’t everything. you aren’t a bad leader if you have few, and great if you have many. I’ve had them both; both are fun- and neither made me a happier person.
68. love the ones you’re with; there is this temptation to be mean to those who showed up if only a few showed up! whether there are hundreds or few, your crowd deserves your best energy and creativity.
69. remember your call- it will keep you going when times get rough.
70. recruit all the time
71. respect the offering plate; our budgets get paid by the tithes of believers- so do our budgets. that money was not offered to us, it was offered to God; therefore its holy. so work hard, and make great decisions regarding what you spend your budget on.

on the subject of speaking in public and giving a messege from the bible:

72. have something to say; don’t give that message until you can’t hold it in. search that topic, that text until you find the aspect in it that is too painful to hold insode. then you’re ready.
73. study ahead. don’t prep this sunday’s message this week. prep next month’s message this week.
74. let the message marinade; don’t rush it. give yourself time to ponder the message, to let it soak into you. you can’t fake the marinade.
75. know your stuff; study! it’s the Word of God- give it your best!
76. don’t drive off without your passengers; I had a preaching prof say to me once, “your train took off before I had the chance to get on board!” capture the attention of your hearers before you get rolling on those points.
77. make one point. if you want people to remember what you said, just say one thing. the more you work at this, the easier it gets.
78. don’t tame God; God os allowed to be mysterious. if you’re talking about a miracle that He did in scripture, remember that it was miraculous! don’t alliterate the wonder out of it.
79. be relevant; use recent illustrations, speak on what your crowd needs to hear.
80. consider your surroundings; jesus did. be aware of how they will support or hurt your message and plan ahead.
81. bbe a seeker; keep your eyes open at all times for soemthing to add to a message. when you find it, write it down.
82. use imagery; God always did. download an image into the hearts of the ones hearing you.
83. inspire; fire people up, motivate, challenge, pursuade; call them out; give them something to do, not just something to know.
84. know your crowd; are they young or old? tired or fired up? seekers or students? custom make this presentation for them.
85. imagine a face; when you’re preparing, think of who will be there: how will you communicate this truth to them?
86. emulate; if you’re not confident as a speaker, listen to someone that is. emulate them. say what they would say. say it how they would say it, and eventually your own voice will be uncovered.
87. be heard; its your job to make sure that the sound is right, not just the sound guy’s. do a sound check.
88. there are no little messages; it doesn’t matter if you’re speaking for junior highers or pastors; if you’re teaching a class or leading communion, every message is important, and each one deserve adequate preparation.
89. every sunday is someone’s last; so step up to the plate and hit that ball out of the park every time. someone’s eternity is at stake.
90. know yourself; are you sick? tired? distracted? know yourself and get yourself through that message.
91. have notes; you never know what distractions will arise at church. you will get distracted in the middle of your message. if you can’t find a way back to what you were saying, it will get choppy.
92. bible pages; don’t thumb through your bible on stage. have it printed out on your notes. and if you must, at least have the page marked and the passage highlighted. not finding your passage can send you into a panic.
93. say something fresh; in most churches, there are people there that have been hearing sermons all of their life. give them something new- not just the same old points.
94. practice! a run through or two never hurts, it always helps.

and the last five ministry lessons:

95. be a shepherd;
96. decompress; reflect, go on a walk, pray it through, ask God to help you sort it all out.
97. have your integrity. get help. this is important.
98. love the church; God does, and He’s asking you to feed His sheep.
99. pray your heart out;
100. don’t give up. hang in there.