Category Archives: Connection

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Leadership Lessons From Prison

Bible Book: Philippians 2:2-11

The Law of Sacrifice – Six Steps To Servanthood

There are four critical aspects of the Law of Sacrifice[1]:

  1. There is no success without sacrifice
  2. Leaders are often asked to give up more than others
  3. You must keep giving up in order to stay up
  4. The higher the level of leadership the higher the sacrifice

The Apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 2:6-8 of Christ’s sacrifice in becoming a servant on our behalf. Christ, the ultimate leader made the ultimate sacrifice. He left the glories of heaven and the highest position in heaven, not only to join His creation, but to take on the lowest form of creation.

Jesus stepped through six-levels as He moved downward toward us. He demonstrates the Law of Sacrifice to us. Notice these six levels in Philippians 2:6-8: “…who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man. He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of a cross.”[2]

  1. He gave up His divine form – v.6
  2. He emptied Himself of any rights – v.7
  3. He became a man – v.7
  4. He became a servant – v.7
  5. He was obedient to the point of death – v.8
  6. He died a terrible kind of death – v.8

Shepherds Advantage provides Servant Leadership that helps people close the gap between where they are and where they want to be. Shepherds Advantage closes that gap by providing Leadership Development, Keynote Speaking, and Executive Coaching. Shepherdsadvantage@gmail.com

[1] John Maxwell. The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership (Thomas Nelson: Nashville Ó 2007) Pp.219-230.

[2] Scripture taken from the New King James Version Ó 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights    reserved.

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Leadership Lessons From Prison

Bible Book: Philippians 1:12-18

Stay On Task In Spite of Circumstances

Instead of awaiting his trial, The Apostle Paul used his circumstances to advance the cross. Notice his words in Philippians 1:12 – But I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel[1].

As a leader Paul never drifted from his mission. He determined to leave a mark wherever he traveled. George Washington Carver is reported to have stated that no person has any right to come into this world and go out of it without leaving behind distinct and legitimate reasons for having passed through it.

How did Paul’s sense of purpose keep him in the battle even though he was imprisoned? What did he learn that we should learn during difficult circumstances? Consider the following:

  1. A purpose will motivate you.
  2. A purpose will keep your priorities straight.
  3. A purpose will develop your potential.
  4. A purpose will give you power to live in the present.
  5. A purpose will help you evaluate your progress

Shepherds Advantage provides Servant Leadership that helps people close the gap between where they are and where they want to be. Shepherds Advantage closes that gap by providing Leadership Development, Keynote Speaking, and Executive Coaching. 

Shepherdsadvantage@gmail.com

[1] Scripture taken from the New King James Version Copyrite 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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Leadership Lessons From Prison

Leaders Connect When They Encourage

From the context of prison, the Apostle Paul speaks of his passion and love for the congregation of Philippi. Let this sink into your spirit for just a moment – passionate desire and prison! These concepts are necessarily thought of at the same time and location.

In the Bible book of Philippians 1:3-11, Paul expresses true sincere encouragement. Notice the comparison of Paul’s passion for these people and his words of encouragement.

What lesson can be concluded by examining Paul’s passion and words of encouragement for the church at Philippi?

#1 – Paul does not express worn-out generic phrases of encouragement. His words are from the heart and specific to the needs of the people.

#2 – While a prisoner, Paul encourages others that God will complete what has been started in your life calling.

#3 – While in prison, Paul’s words are public declarations for all to hear and read.

#4 – Paul’s words are specific and directed to the church at Philippi. Specific and targeted words that would make a difference.

#5 – As a leader your difficult days should not prohibit you expressing your love and appreciation to your congregation and your team specifically. Let people hear your passion, care, and encouragement.

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Leadership Lessons From Prison

The Apostle Paul’s Leadership Lessons To The Church At Philippi

The Biblical letter from the Apostle Paul to the Philippians was wrote from prison and carries the theme “JOY”. Let that sink into your mind – Prison, Joy! How are these two realities connected to teach us leadership behaviors? 

As a high elevation view I would offer 5 leaderships lessons that can be learned as you read this biblical letter.

  1. Leaders either surrender to a cause or they surrender to their circumstances.
  2. Only secure leaders will stoop and stretch themselves to lend a helping hand.
  3. A leader’s attitude at the beginning of a task will affect the outcome more than anything else.
  4. Leaders can do anything, but they cannot do everything.
  5. One cannot be a great leader without being a great servant.

Shepherds Advantage provides Servant Leadership that helps people close the gap between where they are and where they want to be. Shepherds Advantage closes that gap by providing Leadership Development, Keynote Speaking, and Executive Coaching. 

Shepherdsadvantage@gmail.com

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Engaged or Controlled

Ministers, Learn the Difference

Your family is where you are making lasting memories that will matter for time and eternity. Your ministry profession is rewarding, but not at the sacrifice of your family. Learn the difference from being engaged in ministry and being controlled by it. When your current ministry assignment has ended, another will take your place and a new chapter will be wrote by a new leader. Learn to accept now the fact you will not always be the up-front speaker and people will no longer call you. SO, what really matters in life? Charles Swindoll offered some piercing words recently in his blog writings that are worth sharing. This really spoke to me.

Let’s state the obvious!

You still have a family!

  • They still long to have lunch with you.
  • They still love to get a phone call.
  • They want to know wisdom from you outside the pulpit.
  • They still yearn to have an arm around their shoulders.
  • They still want you to make time to sit on the back porch and kick back and listen.
  • They want you to attend their ball games and go to their performance and see you relax . . . really relax!
  • They still want to know that you can do more in your spare time than study.
  • And they really want to hear you laugh!

They are the ones you will leave in your legacy—the only ones who have your blood and your name. They need you. They want you.[I]

Shepherds Advantage provides Servant Leadership that helps people close the gap between where they are and where they want to be. Shepherds Advantage closes that gap by providing Leadership Development, Key Note Speaking, and Executive Coaching. 

Shepherdsadvantage@gmail.com

[i] Charles Swindoll. A Pastor’s Relationships – His Family. Accessed 29 September 2020. The Pastor’s Blog.

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10 Things Pastors Should Give Their Leaders

Ghostwriter and contributing editor for Inc. Magazine, Jeff Haden has written a number of articles on how CEO’s and other department Supervisors are to relate to employees and vice-versa. This has provoked thought on faith-based initiatives and how Pastors should relate to those they are attempting to lead. While there are similarities there are many subtleties in applications. The relationship within for-profit corporations is based upon performance – paycheck rewards. In non-profits the relationship is far more communal/relational and not paycheck rewards driven.  There are ten things that faith-based leaders should provide for those serving them.

  1. Ownership

Churches are not manufacturing facilities in that we are producing shapes, colors, and designs. We are shaping people for Eternal Kingdom purposes. Therefore, engagement and satisfaction is based upon ownership. Do your leaders own the vision? Have they bought into you as a leader first? When that happens, leaders will obtain a sense of satisfaction that will be based upon their freedom to be responsible for the outcomes. Autonomy and independence plus freedom breeds’ innovation and dreams.

  • Clear Expectations

The old adage is true: If you do not know where you are going, then any road will take you there! The one true litmus test of casting clear vision and expectations is the ability to write it down on paper. If it cannot clearly be communicated in writing, then we are daydreaming. In the book, The Advantage, the author obsesses over the fact that communication must be ridiculously redundant.   When in doubt communicate!

  • Purposeful Goals

While the corporate world is controlled by the bottom-line, non-profits should be controlled by a higher purpose. The leaders we train need to know their effort serves greater purposes than “branding/marketing” agendas. To leave a footprint in life is a great accomplishment. Legacy building starts today!

  • A True Sense of Purpose

The Latin meaning for our word “religion” is ligare’. This implies my effort to link back to a creator or that, which is bigger than myself.  Vision needs to be tied to a greater community good. We are not just in the Brand Building business – we are in the Influence Building business. The highways and hedges mentality is worthy of time and resources to implement community-influencing strategies.

  • Provide Significant Input

The pathway to exchange ideas should be wide-open, accessible and honored. Pastor honor those who offer suggestions about the work they are involved in. Understand they are thinking about the what and where we are doing and headed. Those ideas that seem to be in left field are great teaching moments to assist those people through a “critical thinking” process, helping hem to evaluate their ideas differently. This is serving them and adding value to them. The absolute last thing you would do is to criticize their idea. They will shut down immediately.

  • Connect

Pastor you need to understand that people volunteer for more reasons than being rewarded. They want to follow someone they admire and can trust and in turn know they are admired and trust is reciprocated. Connections are made on a personal basis not just a professional basis. Ask them about their family, children, or hobbies, this will build rapport. Relate to them as human beings and not just workers.

  • Consistency

As Pastor, people are looking for consistency in conduct, policy, and behavior. They will take tough-mindedness if it is consistent. The more that workers understand why decisions are made the less likely they will consider they are being treated unfairly or assume favoritism.

  • Private Criticism

No one is perfect – no even pastors! We all need constructive criticism, not public rebuke. Good feedback is always done privately and with dignity. Always have in mind the other person’s growth and influence capability; this will keep personal attacks to a minimum.

  • Public Praise

Everyone does something that is praise-worthy from time to time. Show appreciation and recognition. Catch people in the act of kindness. The “Five-Minute Manager” book that came out years ago suggested that five minutes be taken to start each day to either call, email, or send a personal note of thanks and appreciation for a job well done. Small acts of appreciation pay large dividends.

  1. Preferred Future

Every area of work within life should have an opportunity of advancement. Pastor, develop the people around you. You cannot influence a community if you cannot influence your closest workers and allies. Invest in other people’s success. Resource them and give opportunities for learning. Don’t go to seminars by yourself; take others with you on the learning journey.

Shepherds Advantage provides Servant Leadership that helps people close the gap between where they are and where they want to be. Shepherds Advantage closes that gap by providing Leadership Development, Key Note Speaking, and Executive Coaching. 

Shepherdsadvantage@gmail.com

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5 Things Your Future Self Will Thank You For

When life pushes you over, stand up and push back even harder. Where there is a fork in the road and choices to make, make the ones your future self will thank you for. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Philippians 4:13.

Today, start…

1. Choosing to be YOU. – Wearing a mask wears you out. Faking it is fatiguing. The most exhausting activity is pretending to be who you know you aren’t. No matter how loud their opinions are, they do not choose who YOU are. Choose yourself even if nobody else is choosing you.

2. Being positive. – You can’t live a positive life with a negative attitude. Heaven on Earth is a choice we must make, not a place we must find. Let every day be a dream you can touch. Let every day be a love you can feel. Let every day be a reason to live. Life is too short to be anything but positive.

3. Letting go. – The only thing that makes it a big part of your life is that you keep thinking about it. The biggest step in changing the world around you is to change the world within you. Don’t cry over the past, it’s gone. Don’t stress about the future, it hasn’t arrived. Just live in the present, concentrate on the things you can control, and take one small step at a time. Live fully in the present! Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord – Acts 3:19 NIV

4. Picking yourself back up. – Where you are in life is temporary; where you end up in life is permanent; how you get from here to there is entirely up to you. So don’t give up. Sometimes when things go wrong it’s because they would have turned out worse if they had gone right. Be careful what you seek in life! Be glad some things do not work out and that God has saved you from yourself.

5. Taking action. – The happiest and most successful people are usually those who have broken the chains of procrastination, who find satisfaction in doing the job at hand. They’re full of eagerness, passion, and productivity. You can be too. Remember, success in real estate is about location, location, location. Success in life is about action, action, action.[i]

[i] The genesis of this article came from authors Marc and Cheryl Chernoff.

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Blizzard, Winter, or Ice-Age?

How do we see the COVID Journey?

We were told by Virologists of the Coronavirus task force in mid-March that we should expect to expect COVID to last through July-August timeframe. Well, here we are in late September and we are not clear when all changes in our lifestyle will “go back to the way it was. No one seems to know how much further we will travel in our new daily habits.

Ironically, Andy Crouch and his team wrote about the winter motif as a way of thinking about the impacts of Covid-19.  He suggested a blizzard may be difficult, but that it is not long term. “This will be over in a few days or a couple of weeks”, we said. A winter season last usually lasts 3-5 months of the year. We know that springtime is coming, and it will be sunny and warm again. However, an ice-age does not necessarily imply hundreds of years, It can be 16-19 months to 30-50 years. Andy Crouch suggested March 20th, this pandemic was going to reassembly an ice-age.

Regardless of how long all of the impacts of layered disruptions last, how are faith leaders to make sense of this radical change and then how are they going to lead a new version of the faith community? One of the exilic Psalms can help us in getting through a prolong national crisis. God’s people are in Babylon. When you read Psalm 137 you hear the people lament over being tormented by their captors to sing songs from their homeland. Notice v.4. – “How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land? That is a statement of despair! The emotion of v.4 sums up our emotions today! How can we carry on in the face of so many layers of disruption in our church efforts?

We must reach back into scriptures to find our footing and solid marching orders. “Go into all of the world…..” is still a biblical mandate that must be followed. Do not allow yourself to become paralyzed because of all the social unrest. Stay focused on what matters biblically. There are three keys which will bring success in this endeavor: 

  1. Clear endorsement and vision by Senior Church Leadership
  2. A clear pathway that disciples can follow and feel they are growing as Christ-followers
  3. A metric assessment to measure the progress of the strategy

Do not become prey to the notion of building a large church without massive community impact. Make disciples first, community impact will follow.

Shepherds Advantage provides Servant Leadership that helps people close the gap between where they are and where they want to be. Shepherds Advantage closes that gap by providing Leadership Development, Key Note Speaking, and Executive Coaching. 

Shepherdsadvantage@gmail.com

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9 Characteristics of Revival

The Earth is Being Prepared For The Last Great Revival

Repent therefore and turn back that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord and that He may send the Christ, appointed for you, Jesus. Acts 3:19-20 ESV.

A Sovereign God acts sovereignly. Notice that nothing can be done against the truth, but that all things work together for His truth. He raises up Kings and brings down Kings. He raises up nations and brings down nations. YES, the earth has been in preparation for a great season of revival before the end of times and the second return of Jesus Christ.

History past assists in understanding history future. When we look back and study great revivals we notice general characteristics of those moves of God. Dr. Carolyn Tenant in a lecture (June 9, 2015) at the Theological Seminary for the Assembly of God in Springfield, Missouri gave nine characteristics of revivals past. They are listed below.

Occurred in times of moral decline

Began in the heart of a consecrated servant

Rested on the Word of God

Resulted in a return to worship of God

Witnessed the destruction of idols

Recorded separation from sin

Had people returning to obey God’s laws

Experienced a restoration of joy and gladness

Was followed by a period of national prosperity

We are witnessing a level of moral decay that we have not experienced in this generation. There is a spiritual restlessness that is stirring in the hearts of worshippers. This will drive a new sound of worship coupled with a manifest presence of God that has not been heard since the late 1960’s.

The earth is being prepared – the real question, are you being prepared?

Shepherds Advantage provides Servant Leadership that helps people close the gap between where they are and where they want to be. Shepherds Advantage closes that gap by providing Leadership Development, Key Note Speaking, and Executive Coaching. 

Shepherdsadvantage@gmail.com

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Signs of Revival

These Signs Were Discussed 6 Years Ago

Six years ago, there was a declaration that 2014 was to be a year of revival and the prophetic. A lot has happened in our world since that time. Revival has not been at the fore-front in the last six years. A national crying out to the Lord is not about unlocking Heaven’s treasure box. It is more about humanity crying out to God for help that man cannot generate and provide. Our COVID Journey has turned everything upside down and right-side up – we are confused at times as to the nature of our country. Christ made it clear that His house was to be a house of prayer if it is going to be anything. So, what are the signs of Revival that were mentioned six years ago.[1]

A Work of God – Spiritual awakening is a work of God. Spiritually dormant Christians cannot resuscitate themselves! Those in a coma cannot push the button beside their hospital bed to alert the nurse’s station of their dire condition. They cannot give themselves medicine or go for a walk to get some fresh air. God is the Creator and sustainer of life. Only He can dispense it. Even when people begin to sense their need for revival and they start meeting with others to pray for it, they are simply responding to a divine initiative, convicting them of their sin and prompting them to return to God.

Place of Repentance – Spiritual awakening involves returning to God. God urged His people through the prophet Malachi: “. . . Return to Me, and I will return to you” (Mal. 3:7). 

Holiness – True revival always leads to holiness. You cannot continue to practice sin and simultaneously experience spiritual renewal. In Isaiah chapter 1, God rejected His peoples’ worship when they entered the place of worship with sin-filled lives (Isa. 1:1-20).

Filled With The Holy Spirit – In times of revival, people are filled with the Holy Spirit. Preaching becomes powerful when anointed by the Spirit. The congregation can sing the same songs, yet now they are invigorated by the Spirit and the times of corporate worship are characterized by the joy and presence of God’s Spirit.

Willing Obedience – Revivals stimulate obedience to whatever God requires.

Love Relationship – Revival brings God’s people back into a LOVE relationship with Him. Our sin represents a renunciation of God and a violation of our LOVE relationship with God.

Shepherds Advantage provides Servant Leadership that helps people close the gap between where they are and where they want to be. Shepherds Advantage closes that gap by providing Leadership Development, Key Note Speaking, and Executive Coaching. 

Shepherdsadvantage@gmail.com

[1] Kay Horner. 6 Signs of Revival. www.charismamag.com Accessed 19, September 2020.