The Ability to Focus

One of the things I’ve had to do over and over when coaching pastors is remind them to focus on the major issues we’ve talked about instead of getting distracted time and time again. Pastors appear to be extremely vulnerable to distractions due to their high desire to please people. Often pastors have a […]

Following Jesus into the Mission Field

Those who follow my writing know I believe we are living in a pivotal period of history in which everything that will be is being separated from everything that was. In such a traumatic period, all the rules of the game of life are called into question.
Christianity and the Scriptures are the result of […]

The Ultimate Measurement

Have you ever wondered why the vast majority of growing churches today are out of the mainstream? In fact all of the mainline denominations are in decline. I have a theory on why. Well, it’s more than a theory; it’s what I have observed in working with both mainline and non-mainline churches for the […]

Decentralization

The world I grew up in taught there is one way to do everything and one size fits all. That’s the heart of the industrial world of modernity. However, just the opposite is true today. You know that if you own most any kind of software or cell phone. Almost everything today is undergoing decentralization. […]

The Use and Misuse of Power

I’ve met pastors who want their church to grow but don’t want to be the leader because they don’t want to exercise any power or authority. The problem is, this never works; growth takes a leader who is so convinced of the outcome that he or she influences others to jump on board and […]

Living into Your Mission Statement

Over the past few decades, the idea of having a mission statement has been the topic of many an article and even some books. By now, most churches, growing or dying, have one. The question is, do they help? It depends on whether or not the pastor and church are living into them.  What […]

Pulling the Trigger – Part Three

Leaders Must Manage Their Teams
For our purpose we will define a team as “a small group of people with complementary skills who have affinity for one another and who are invited, not elected, by an individual to do the following: achieve a common goal and place that goal before their individual interests, integrate their […]

Pulling the Trigger – Part Two

Yesterday we looked at why it is so hard for pastors to pull the trigger and institute something new. Today we are going to look at what pastors need to do in order to pull the trigger.

Leaders Must Manage Themselves
Pastors or executive pastors have to be flexible on non-essentials and stubborn on the essentials. […]

Pulling the Trigger

Two Axioms for Pulling the Trigger
Why is it so hard for pastors to pull the trigger and institute something new? Why do so many resist doing what they know needs done? Let me take a stab at responding to these questions.  I think there are two prime reasons.

1. Distractions dilute desire.

Don’t kid yourself. Distractions […]