Monthly Archives: April 2010

April 23, 2010

The Place of Okay!

By alexpenduck

One of the most devastating places an individual or organization can find themselves in, is in the place of okay!

The place of okay is the location between great and very bad. Often the place of okay is traveled through after you have been to the place of great and sometimes you find yourself in the place of okay after pulling yourself out of the depths of very bad.

You know the place! This is the place when someone may ask you, how is everything going? You answer, it’s okay!

I’m currently in that place with regards to my health, fitness and weight. Last year I knew I needed to do something about my own personal health. I was in a place of urgency and knew something had to be done. So I did something about it, I was motivated and had an urgency to workout everyday and eat the right things. I the space of several months I went from very bad to doing okay. It was here the urgency left and the motivation deserted me. Now I’m not working as hard because I’m not as urgent. This is dangerous!

I was once on staff at a church that found themselves in the place of okay. When I started they were in a very bad situation. People had left in droves the months preceding and the people that remained had become anxious and very sad of the situation. This led to an urgency to do something about it, and so we did. It was a beautiful example of paid, unpaid, young and old working together to bring this organization back onto its feet; and on its feet it got!

Then all of a sudden we started to travel through the place of okay! People started to think we were okay because we were back on our feet. We became less urgent, not so anxious and the motivation started to leak. There at the place of okay it stayed. I wonder today what that organization today could be if everyone had stayed with a sense of urgency and not walked through the place of okay?

So here’s the leadership lesson in all this! The best leaders are the ones who can take their people and organization through the place of okay in the shortest amount of time. Anyone with something about them can lead in times of urgency, good leaders can lead in times of victory and success, but the great leaders are the one who can take their people through the place of okay without stopping and losing motivation.

Do you have what it takes to be a great leader?

1 comment   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , , | posted in Church, Church Planting, Direction, Fitness, Leadership

April 21, 2010

Am I Going The Right Way?

By alexpenduck

Have you ever asked yourself the question, ‘Am I going the right way?’

It’s a question you have probably asked yourself in a number of difference situations. Whether driving through a new intersection or navigating a downtown one-way system. Many ask this question in regards to their jobs and careers, others ask it in regards to their marriage or raising their kids. This question is one that at some point in our lives we will ask ourselves.

In the last chapter of the book of Exodus we see the account of the tabernacle of God being finished. This was built so it could be transported to wherever the nation of Israel went. In this account we see a promise God makes to the people. He says that his presence will fill the tabernacle and they will know this because in the day there will be a big cloud that covers it, and at night the cloud will glow with fire. When the cloud rises it meant it was time to move on.

How nice it would be if we all had our own personal clouds to tell us when it is time to move or time to stay? In fact we do have our own cloud. It is called the still soft voice of the Holy Spirit. This voice tells us when to move and when to stay.

The only problem for the Israelites was that if they ignored the cloud and it moved, if they didn’t move with it they would lose it. The same can happen if we ignore that still small voice, at one point we may lose it or stop hearing it altogether.

At the very end of Exodus we are told that the people of Israel were guided by the cloud for all of their journey. My prayer is that for all our different journey’s the very cloud of the voice of the Holy Spirit will never be lost amongst all the noise and commotion our everyday lives can bring.

If God moves then we have to move, there is no other option!

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , | posted in Christianity, Direction, Leadership, Life in general

April 19, 2010

Balancing Your Sabbath

By alexpenduck

At the end of 2009 I made the life decision to become bi-vocational. What this means is that while I continue my service to the local church, I no longer get paid for doing it. I took a ‘regular’ job Monday to Friday and carried on my ministerial work outside of my work life. 

For many this would have been a backward step. A few years ago I would have said the same thing. However, there were many factors that led me to this decision and I would have to say it is one of the best I have made.

 Not only am I able to financially support the church more, and relieve the church of the burden of my salary, I am now able to stand in the shoes of the very people we minister to every week. It’s amazing at times how we Pastors can lose sight of how busy people really are and how much of a burden we can put on family life. So often we think we should hold numerous events, plan different options for our services and encourage people to get more and more involved in volunteering in church. While all this is good for our attendance numbers and it may look great to a first time guest, I wonder what it is doing to the long term health of our leaders and volunteers.

One of the core values I desire to see lived out at Generation Church is not to drain the energy out of people but to inject them with energy, life and faith so that they become passionate and energized about their life.

For me, this is tough! I’ll admit I am a Ten Commandment breaker! That whole commandment about keeping the Sabbath holy totally goes out of the window most weeks. The reason is that I rarely keep a Sabbath, so how can I keep it holy? In Exodus 35 we see God instructs the people not to work on the seventh day. God makes the statement that they must rest, even in times of harvest!

I feel I’m in a time of harvest. So much to be done, so little time! These are the times many leaders feel the need to press on! God, on the other hand says, don’t you dare violate the law of the Sabbath, even if the work is so great!

 I’m having to make sure I reschedule my week, so that I can once again observe a Sabbath, and in the process live by the values I desire for Generation Church. How can I ever expect others to do something I am not doing myself?

1 comment   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , , | posted in Christianity, Church, Leadership, Worship

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