I’ve been thinking a lot about influence as of late and one thing is becoming increasingly apparent, you either have influence or you don’t. John Maxwell popularized the notion that leadership is influence and that is quite true. I’ve witnessed that those that we respect in leadership don’t need to incessantly demand things, yell at their subordinates, berate, manipulate and control things to get their way — No, they simply whisper and their influence sets in motion the very things they requested. That’s influence!
This is where young leaders miss the …

Tony Morgan posted Phil Cooke and Brad Abare’s “5 Warning Signs of a Personality-Driven Church” in his blog today. The full article they wrote is in the current issue of Outreach Magazine.

Here is a summary of the 5 warning signs they identify:
1. The pastor doesn’t go on a vacation for any significant length of time. And, when he does, it isn’t announced.
2. When the pastor doesn’t preach, the attendance drops.
3. Unspoken fear that if something happened to the pastor, the church would be in trouble.
4. The pastor is unwilling to listen to and consult …

I just started to read Bill Hybel’s book Axiom — Powerful Leadership Proverbs. It’s a compendium of leadership nuggets from one of the most well known pastors in America and lead pastor of Willow Creek. It will take me a while to go through this book as I am finding each proverb extremely applicable to my current experience. I’ll be going through it like a devotional and share my thoughts periodically.

In the proverb, Language Matters, Hybels shares how the best leaders wrestle with words in order to communicate their big …

It’s hard to put in to words the closing session of Exponential. I felt like I was part of UCF smackdown. Francis Chan brought the sledgehammer to this session. He pastors Cornerstone Church in Simi Valley, California. He is the author of Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God
I first heard Francis at Catalyst ‘07 and his message there rocked my world. Francis has a unique way to call you back to the simplicity of the Gospel and following Christ passionately, radically and intensely.
Some notable points:
“When was the …

What can I say, Craig Groeschel, lead pastor of LifeChurch.tv, has got to be one of my favorite speakers. LifeChurch.tv has been on my radar for about 6 years now and I have been following their multi-site strategy for some time now. We had two back to back sessions with Craig and it was like drinking from a fire hydrant. I’ll outline both messages here:
Reflections on Movements
What I believe about church will determine how I do church.
Remix of Romans 12:2 – “Do not be conformed to the pattern of the …

Erwin McManus has been a big influence in my life. His writings and teachings have expanded my understanding of God, life, culture and what it means to be a Christ follower. His church, Mosaic, is largely considered one of the most innovative churches in America. Erwin is a futurist, I would dare say, a modern day prophet. He is articulate and has a unique gift of communication.
His message at Exponential was taken from his Wide Awake series at Mosaic and is based on Acts 17:16-34. I had heard the …

This was my fourth year attending the Exponential Conference here in Orlando. I spent the last two weeks reflecting on what was unpacked during those three days so I thought I would get some of the main highlights down. Each year I get a renewed reconfirmation on my calling as a minister and further clarity as to my future. This year was no exception. Almost three thousand attended this year’s event and it is the premier conference for church planters around. It is wonderful to see all of these kingdom …

Mark Batterson shared a brilliant post here, about the need at times to “cut the lines to the lifeboat” instead of playing it safe. Sharing from the story of Paul’s crash landing in the Island of Malta, the decision to throw everything overboard, cut the lines to the lifeboat and stay on the ship, saved their lives. That story rivals anything on this season of Lost.
Mark observes wisely, “we like backup plans. We all want a lifeboat. But there are moments in life when you have to cut the lines …

What a great opportunity I had yesterday to meet with Dr. Ron McManus of Kingdom Financial Services. Dr. Ron served as President of the Center for Church Leadership of the General Council of the Assemblies of God and was also a former President of EQUIP under John Maxwell. A humble man with great wisdom. We have been speaking with him to assist us in the clarifying of our vision as a church and to help us strategize in a faith based financing project. I am excited to continue dialoguing with …

Excited about the direction of our young adults ministry for the new year. It was great sitting with our core leaders and in a matter of 30 minutes of conversation, some of the haze I was encountering about the future of that ministry cleared up. This is the power of collaboration. No one person has all of the answers. In fact, the Bible is clear that we “know in part”. 1 Corinthians 13:9 This past year I learned a lot about harnessing the brainpower of those on my team and …

Next month will be a year in my current position as executive pastor at The Gathering Place. When I assumed this role early last year, I had visions of all of the things we needed to do and the scores of systems we needed to change and implement. I wanted to start doing performance evaluations, I wanted to increase the productivity of the team, I wanted us to do some amazing things together. Then I learned a valuable lesson. We could not accomplish great things for God, if we …

Great article in the current issue of FastCompany on how Cisco is thriving even in today’s time of corporate upheaval. 26 billion in cash in the coffers and they are poised to enter new markets and gobble up rivals. CEO John Chambers has led a revolution of sorts through a massive reorganization effort over the last few years.
This portion from the article sums some of this up:
And Chambers has greater ambitions, even now, in the midst of turmoil. Or, perhaps, especially now. He has been taking Cisco through …

This is definitely one of my goals this year, to read through the entire Bible as a personal devotion, that on top of regular Bible study for sermons and teaching opportunities. YouVersion from LifeChurch.tv is a fantastic online resource and they have a great reading plan that I can take advantage of from my web-enabled G1 phone. We need a “steady stream from God’s mouth” to survive in our current spiritual climate. Matthew 4:4

Great kickoff yesterday to the Exponential Conference. Andy Stanley hit it out of the park — as usual. One comment that stuck with me as he shared on Apostolic Vision and making vision stick was that what is “memorable is portable.” He spent some time unpacking how to make vision portable. If vision is to stick and be reproducible it has to be something that people can take with them. Awesome stuff – Ed Stetzer was brilliant as usual and BoB Roberts unloaded a lot of powerful principles that …

Great pre-conference intensive with Dave Ferguson and his team from CCC. They also lead the The NewThing Network. They are teaching on the Seven Moves to Multi-site. Not seven steps — but seven moves. I think they are important principles and not steps, which people mistakingly run with instead of laying the foundational ground work.
The Seven Moves are:
1. The God-Thing– find out where God is moving and is at work
2. Vision – this will come as the solution to where you discover God at work
3. Leader — This had …

Off to the Exponential Conference here in Orlando. This is possibly the greatest gathering of church planters and church planting organizations. This is my third year attending and looking forward to hearing from some great leaders and networking with church planters. Each year I have attended God has further clarified my call and I am anticipating some great things this week. I hope to post throughout the event.

This book is rocking my world. It is a must read for every church leader, every church member and everyone who wants to make an impact and advance the Kingdom of God. Sunday Adelaja unpacks kingdom principles in Church Shift that demonstrate that our impact has to be far more reaching than what takes place on any given Sunday in churches across the world. Two things have really grabbed me thus far.

Ministry as he re-defines it is "what I do to bring my life and my sphere of …

I am still flying high after the privilege of having lunch yesterday with one of my heroes, Granger’s very own, Mark Beeson. Through what I’ll call divine providence, I was able to introduce Mark to our lead pastor. We ran into Mark at the Call2All conference here in Orlando. Needless to say, to hear from the Founding Pastor of one of the most innovative churches in the country was a highlight for me in ministry. Mark’s stories of perseverance in planting Granger, against all odds, was a true inspiration. I …

Heading off to Atlanta today to Catalyst – one of the best leadership conferences. I am excited to be able to take some of our young leaders on this trip. This is one of those events that you cannot go to alone because it is hard to explain to others. Can’t wait to unplug and be refreshed. Anticipating this to be one of the highlights of this year – and best of all, my wife is going with me.

Watched Robin William’s Man of the Year the other night. Funny, funny, funny. The plot is rather simplistic but drives home some great points. Robin plays Tom Dobbs, an irreverent, late night political talk show host who decides to run for president and wins on a voting machine computer error. His wit and his bashing of both political parties does endear him to many voters though. In a great line of the movie, Tom’s joke writer Eddie, played by Lewis Black, comments on Tom’s popularity vs. his opponents – "He …