Leadership

Seven Habits to Conquer Self-Destructive Behaviors

Leadership
April 22, 2024 by Stan Ponz No Comments

Views: 1044

Do you know who your biggest enemy is? It probably isn’t who you think it is. It’s not the world around you, and it’s not Satan. Your biggest enemy is you. Why? Because you get to choose how you respond to Satan and the world me!

The battle inside us can destroy our ministries or professional lives if we let it. Paul says this of himself, “For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do.” (Romans 7:15 NKJV). Those who are honest will agree with that statement.

Seven weapons of self-destruction that ruin more lives than anything else are shame, runaway thoughts, compulsions, fear, hopelessness, bitterness, and insecurity.

Ministry or working in the business and professional communities don’t exempt us from these self-destructive behaviors.

But the answer isn’t found in our culture or in a book. It is only found in a person—Jesus Christ. Romans 7-8 gives us seven habits that will help set us free from these self-destructive tendencies.

Let’s make this personal. I MUST:

1. Remind me daily of what Jesus did for me on the cross.

Even being a Christian doesn’t mean we act like one. Instead, we’re filled with shame, runaway thoughts, and compulsions. We’re not living like we’re genuinely set free.

Romans 8:1 tells us, “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus…” (NKJV). Paul isn’t saying we’ll never sin once we become Christians.

However, he does tell us God will not judge us when we sin because Jesus took our judgment on Himself when He died on the cross. There is now no need to live in shame. Jesus Christ already paid for the cause of our guilt and shame.

2. Ask the Holy Spirit to give me better thoughts.

God will answer this prayer. He wants to give you better thoughts. Paul writes in Romans 8:5: “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, [set their mind on] things of the Spirit.” (NKJV).

There are two choices we have with how we think about ourselves. We can think about our lives the way we usually do—or we can choose to think about it how God does. I call this the principle of replacement. Don’t resist negative thoughts if you’re serious about changing your thoughts. It’s not just resisting negative thoughts but replacing them with positive thoughts from the Holy Spirit.

3. Realize that I have a new capacity just to say “no.”

Before you became a Christian, all you had was willpower. But willpower doesn’t last. Now you have something that does last—the Holy Spirit. We need to learn how to use His power. Galatians 5:16 says, “Let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves.” (NLT) When you let the Holy Spirit guide and empower your life, you won’t live by your sinful nature. You’ll still have the same urges, temptations, and impulses, but you’ll have the power now to say no to them.

4. Turn my thoughts to God when I’m afraid.

Recognizing we have a Heavenly Father stronger than anything threatening us challenges our fears. Romans 8:15,16 tells us, “For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, ‘Abba, Father.’ The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God” (NKJV).

Whatever you fear is not out of God’s control. Just like an earthly parent who loves to comfort their fearful children, God the Father is there, waiting for you to call and lean on Him whenever fear holds you back. After all, when you’re thoughts are on God, you can’t think so much about your worries.

5. View the long-term rather than the short-term.

Rick Warren wrote about a study he read that showed how long-term thinking often leads to a more successful life. As a Christian, this is vital. Our long-term thinking isn’t 30 or more years down the line. We’re thinking zillions of years ahead. We call it eternity.

Long-term thinking should be like this: “and [since we are His] children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” (Romans 8:17,18 NKJV).

The Christian life isn’t easy. Your life in ministry or the business and professional world isn’t easy, either. If you just see what it is today, you’ll get overwhelmed. That’s why the Bible tells us to think about eternity, where our suffering will be less painful than the glory of worshiping Jesus forever.

6. Remind me that God is good while being large and in charge while being near and dear!

The pain and suffering around us are just part of living in a damaged world. This damage is described by Paul Romans 8:20: “For the creation was subjected to futility…” (NKJV). The Bible says this kind of brokenness leads to pain in our lives.

But Romans 8 also tells us four important truths to remember as we experience pain.

  • The Holy Spirit is praying for us (Romans 8:26,27).
  • God will use our pain for His good and our gain (Romans 8:28).
  • God wants us to succeed and thrive (Romans 8:31).
  • God will give us what we need, not just what we want (Romans 8:31,32).
7. Trust that God will never stop loving me.

Paul realized this, and it anchored his ministry. He writes, “There is nothing in all creation that will ever be able to separate us from the love of God which is ours through Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:39 GNT). We may lose many things in this life—our loved ones, reputation, money, and so on—but we’ll never lose the love of God. He will never let go of us, no matter how tough life gets. Even if we want to let go of him, he will not let go of us. We can depend upon that truth.

God has given us everything we need to overcome our self-destructive behaviors.
Whatever you’re struggling with today doesn’t have to devour you. Let God strengthen you through these seven habits.

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Reading time: 5 min
Leadership

Seven Distractions That Should Be Slayed or At Least Whipped into Submission!

Leadership
April 15, 2024 by Stan Ponz No Comments

Views: 1174

Ever notice your day seems to vaporize and you wonder what happened to all your best intentions?

You’re ready to end the day, but you barely even dented your to-do list. As a result, you’re going to have to try to justify squeezing an hour of work in after dinner or just get up at a ridiculous hour tomorrow to try again.

Not only is that pattern unsustainable, but it’s also mysterious. You try not to have it happen again, but it does anyway.

So…what causes that? At the root of it is likely repeated patterns and behaviors.

There’s also another problem more leaders struggle with than ever before, and that’s distraction.

As research and experiments have shown, workers get interrupted as often as every 11 minutes during the workday, and it takes 25 minutes to refocus after each interruption.

The math doesn’t even exactly add up, but you get the point. That’s why it feels impossible to get anything done.

Slay these distractions today, and you’ll have a better tomorrow.

1. Push Notifications

Nearly every single app in the world starts off its relationship with you by asking “Allow Push Notifications?”

Your automatic answer as a leader should be no. Every single time (except one…I tell you which exception I think you should make below).

You don’t really need to know every time someone sends you an email. Similarly, it’s useless to be notified every time someone comments on your Instagram.

Why? Well, think of push notifications as someone tapping you on the shoulder. If someone tapped you on the shoulder somewhere between 30-300 times a day every day, you would either tell them to quit or get a restraining order.

Every time your phone vibrates, that’s what’s happening.

And don’t think the people you’re in real life conversation with aren’t bothered by your constantly buzzing phone and your incessant need to check your screen. It’s hard to respect or follow a distracted leader.

Being busy isn’t a sign of respect anymore. It’s a sign you’re not managing your time or priorities well.

I disabled push notifications on my phone and turned on the Do Not Disturb on my devices a few years ago. I don’t miss the constant buzzing at all. Nor do my friends and family.

Instant notifications about your messages aren’t that important. I’m not actually that important. With all due respect, neither are you.

2. Text Messages

You’re probably thinking, I get the part about not getting notifications about Instagram, but come on, text messages? Miss those, too?

Here’s what I’ve done with my text messages. Before I tell you, know that I do not give out my cell number as freely as I used to do. Not a lot of people have it. Even then, I don’t want to be a slave to it.

So, I allow push notifications for text messages, but I keep my phone on Do Not Disturb, which means I don’t feel them or hear them.

When I’m ready to take a break, I pull out my phone and do a quick check. That way they don’t interrupt me.

But wait, you say, what’s if it’s a true emergency?

Well, if you’re waiting for a new kidney and the doctor is texting you that you need to come to the hospital right this second or you lose the organ, sure…keep your phone on.

The planet will keep spinning. I promise you.

And you will get more done.

3. Your Idle Curiosity

The challenge of working in an online environment is that the world is literally at your fingertips. 

And working in a home office makes it even more tempting to check the world!

The distractions are a click or tap away. It takes tremendous self-discipline not to go down the rabbit-hole of the internet, from social media to mindless Googling of things that really don’t matter, like the surface area of the sun or who invented the straight-razor.

Curiosity is a great thing, but idle curiosity that produces nothing…not so much.

We blame our office environment, co-workers, endless email or whatever. But eliminate all those things, and you still have you to contend with.

I don’t need an enemy. I have one. It’s a perpetually distracted me. You don’t need an enemy. You have one. It’s a perpetually distracted you.

4. Inefficient Email

If you can’t totally escape email entirely, limit it.

Turning off push notifications is a great start, but it won’t solve all your problems.

Try changing your email practices from ‘always checking all the time’ (which is the default for almost all of us) to tiny pockets where you check it at different points in the day.

For example, try doing a small window of say 15 minutes in the morning to make sure nothing’s on fire. 90% of the time, things aren’t on fire.

Then come back to email at a set time later in the day and pound through it. Do it when your energy is a little lower and spend your best energy instead on the tasks that are most important to you that day.

The less time you spend on email, the less it will consume you.

Second, don’t manage or lead by email.

Here’s how it happens to most leaders. Someone thinks of an issue, so they send an email. Someone adds a thought, and they reply all.

A conversation that might take 5 minutes in person (or less) drags on a through a series of useless replies that go on for days.

Here is a practice adopted by Carey Nieuwhof’s team that helped them.

First, don’t email people about everything. If you have an issue that could be just as easily handled by phone or in person, park it on a list.

Then, once you have a list of 5-15 items, do a simple 15-minute check-in phone meeting or stand-up meetings in person to handle them all. You’ll be way more efficient.

Similarly, if a direct report emails me something that’s not urgent, I’ll just ask them to wait until our weekly meeting with it. It can almost always wait.

If it’s truly urgent and there will be a lot of back and forth, pick up and phone and call or do a quick text exchange. People are always shorter on text than on email.

Not everything is urgent, so don’t treat it like it is.

5. We live in meetings, and our productivity dies in them.

Meetings are a huge distraction in a world where leaders often simply need to get work done.

If I’m not careful, I can spend half of my week in meetings, and most are virtual meetings… and have only a few hours left over for writing messages and leading what matters most.

Meetings expand to fill the time you’ve set aside for them. So just set aside less time.

6. An Open Schedule

Chances are you only write appointments with others and meetings in your schedule, right?

Big mistake.

Make appointments with yourself. Write in writing time, thinking time, date nights with your spouse, family time —everything you need to get done.

Why?

Then when someone asks to meet, you can say you have a commitment. If it’s truly important, schedule them in during your next available slot.

An open schedule is a guarantee you’ll spend your time on everyone else’s priorities, not yours.

Conversely, a fixed calendar can fix your life.

7. Conversations without Purpose

Conversations can waste tons of time. And they happen all the time to leaders. Sometimes you feel trapped in one.

What do you do when someone corners you or gets through to you? Be pleasant and move on. You’ve got work to do.

Turn that 20-minute conversation into a two-minute conversation. Be pleasant, thank them and if need be, tell them you were on your way to get something done. Then go do it.

If you work in an actual office, close the door, or put a sign on the door that you’re doing focused work.

If you’re in an open office or even a home office, you can even devise a signal with co-workers or family members that lets them know you’re not free to chat.

If you can shut down meaningless conversations, you’ll ramp up your productivity.

Ideas adapted from Carey Nieuwhof

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Reading time: 7 min
Leadership

How to Know What Goals God Honors

Leadership
April 8, 2024 by Stan Ponz No Comments

Views: 1164

“Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”
1 Corinthians 10:31 (NKJV)

Not every goal you set for yourself or your church or business is a good goal or one that God will honor and bless.

If you want to know the kind of goals that God will honor? Begin by asking yourself these questions:

“Is my goal going to honor God?”

What is the kind of goals that bring honor and glory to God? Every goal that produces a deeper trust in Him is to depend on Him more, love Him more, love other people more, serve God, serve others, and be more unselfish.

The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 10:31, “Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” (NKJV)

All good things can be done to honor God. You can take out the trash to honor God. You can do the laundry to honor God. You can study for a test to honor God. How? By doing it with the correct motive: gratitude. If you want your life to bring honor to God, make sure your goals help you be the best you can be for God’s glory.

“Is my goal motivated by love?”

God will not honor or bless a goal motivated by greed, envy, guilt, fear, or pride. But He does honor a goal inspired by a desire to demonstrate love to Himself and others.

Why is having goals that are based on life so important to God?

Because if you set loveless goals, you will treat people as assignments. You’re going to walk all over them to get to your goal. As you climb the ladder of success, you’ll run over your marriage, friends, faith-family, and other people. God says, “No. There is a better way. It’s not about achievements. It’s about healthy relationships. It’s about learning how to love.”

First Corinthians 16:14 teaches to “Let all that you do be done with love.” (NKJV). The goal to begin honoring God is to learn to love—your family, neighbors, and people who are hard to love. It always is easier when you love God first. It will make you more like God—godly, God-like because God is love.

So next time you set a personal, ministry, or business goal, make sure that your goals honor God and are motivated by love.

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Reading time: 2 min
Leadership

Five Principles for Working Together in Evangelism

Leadership
April 1, 2024 by Stan Ponz No Comments

Views: 1233

“The Lord is . . . not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” 
2 Peter 3:9 (NKJV)

We have all been given the same mission that Jesus had.

The Bible says, “God…reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:18 NASB).  Passing on to others the same Good News about God’s love that somebody told you is your mission in life.

But God doesn’t expect us to fulfill this mission on our own.  He gives us other Christians to support us.  In fact, we do evangelism as a partnership with the people in our faith family and other churches.  And you can even evangelize with your small group.

God has given us an excellent example of this in Luke 5:17-26.  It’s the story of friends who brought someone to Jesus.  Because they couldn’t find a way to get into the house where Jesus was, right in the middle of everyone and in front of Jesus, they lowered their paraplegic friend through a hole in the roof on a stretcher.  Jesus was impressed by their faith and told the paralyzed man to stand up and walk, and the man immediately did!  The people were amazed.

In this remarkable event, God gives us five principles for partnering with others to reach out to people who don’t know about Jesus and how you can fulfill your God-given mission in the world.

The Principle of Compassion: This small group of friends cared enough for their helpless friend to do something about his pain.  Compassion is not just something you feel; it is love with its working clothes on.

The Principle of Cooperation: Each one of us has been assigned a task in evangelism by the Lord. Paul says, “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it” (1 Corinthians 3:6 NIV).  It means you don’t have to do everything yourself.  But you must do your part, and the Lord will reward you when you do.

The Principle of Faith: Jesus said that the faith of the paraplegic’s friends had led to this man being healed.  Remember, no one is beyond the reach of God’s amazing love.  God specializes in doing the impossible.  So don’t give up on people for whom you care.  Trust the Lord for what He can do in their lives.

The Principle of Action: The friends put their plan into action.  Because the paralyzed man couldn’t get to Jesus on his own, he needed other people to bring him.  There will be times when you will need to step out in faith.

The Principle of Persistence: Discouragement could have kept his friends from going through the door because of the crowd.  Yet they would not give up.  It showed determination.  Their mindset was, “It doesn’t matter what it takes; we’re going to bring our friend to Jesus.”

One writer wrote, “are you willing to go through the roof for a friend?”  Everyone needs to know about Jesus Christ and trust Him to be their Savior!  Without Jesus, people have no hope in eternity.  The Christian who doesn’t care about unsaved people is saying to the world, “I don’t really care about you.  You can go to Hell.” But the Bible says, “The Lord is . . . not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).  He wants everyone to change their minds from what they thought would get them to Heaven to just placing their faith in Jesus Christ alone to save them!

Don’t get discouraged, and don’t give up.  Keep praying, asking, inviting, and doing what you can to help that person come to faith in Christ.

Telling people that salvation is found through faith alone in Christ is the greatest act of compassion you can do for them.

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Reading time: 3 min
Leadership

5 Ways Leaders Can Make Easter More Personal

Leadership
March 26, 2024 by Stan Ponz No Comments

Views: 1136

It’s easy to miss the heart of Easter personally because we’re so busy getting ready to tell everyone else about it. 

Don’t let your professionalism crowd out the personal from your Easter experience this year.

Too familiar are the stories of exhausted evangelists and pastors who worked so hard and taught like their preaching and personality carried the full weight of Easter. 

It’s great to carry a heartfelt responsibility for those you lead, but it’s also important to know where your influence stops and the power of the Holy Spirit takes over. 

The power of Easter has always been the resurrection, not the church service. 

It’s good to plan well and work hard to create a wonderful worship experience for those who will visit your church. However, don’t underestimate the importance of hospitality and kindness on Easter. 

Your Easter guests are more likely to return because you treated them with kindness rather than the sermon being eloquent.

Loving people is at the core of the gospel. It’s the epicenter of what God did for us through his Son Jesus. 

Don’t over complicate Easter. Tell the story, love the people, and create an experience of hospitality that inspires your guests to return. 

Celebrating Easter is appropriate.

Worshipping the person of Jesus is better. 

Focusing on those who are lost is probably what Jesus would do.

The good news is we can do all three! I know you care about those who will attend on Easter and you are already praying for them. My encouragement is to do all you can to emphasize that care and extend hospitality to the greatest extent possible. 

A great way to prepare your heart includes the following three personal expressions:

  1. Gratitude – for the truth that God loves you deeply and has chosen you to lead.
  2. Humility – that you get to be part of such a grand story of eternity.
  3. Compassion – for those that have not experienced the grace that you know so well.

Easter is powerful because it’s personal.

One of the best ways to make Easter come alive for your guests is to make sure it’s real and personal for you first. 

As a leader, you set the pace. Keeping the message of Easter alive in your heart and soul will transfer to those you serve on Easter. 

5 Ways to Keep Easter Personal:

1) Remember the gift Jesus gave you.

I don’t deserve God’s unconditional love, yet He freely gives it to me. I can’t earn it, but I can live my life in a way that honors that gift. 

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians 2:8-9

There are no strings attached to God’s love. There are hopes, even expectations because He wants “life to the full” for you and me. But nothing can separate us from the love of God. It’s truly a free gift.

2) Reflect on the price Jesus paid for you.

Sometimes I think the gifts Carol and I purchase for our family are expensive. We talk about it and always realize that what motivates us is our love for them. Since they were little kids, we’ve loved their joy and grateful smiles at birthdays and other special celebrations.

When I reflect on the “expense” or cost that Jesus paid for me, it’s overwhelming. My joy is deep. I feel like a kid who has received the most incredible gift of a lifetime. How about you? When you think about the price Jesus paid, how would you describe your thoughts and emotions?

No sacrifice compares to the price Jesus paid for your salvation. His gift to you and I is invaluable. There is no price tag. No one else could give the gift Jesus gave. 

3) Express gratitude that Jesus has changed your life.

I’ve already mentioned gratitude but let me add to that thought. It’s one thing to receive a gift of significant cost or value, and it’s another thing to realize that gift has changed your life forever. You are actually a new person.

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:[a] The old has gone, the new is here!. 2 Corinthians 5:17

This was the first scripture the Holy Spirit seared on my heart as a new Christian a long time ago. The power of this truth has never left me, and I am so grateful that I’m not the same person. 

Your life has been changed. 

Take time to express your gratitude to God. Not like a thing on your to-do list, but a moment that takes the bigger story all in. It can be overwhelming, in a good way, but gratitude is a very personal way to make the gospel real. 

4) Practice the truth that Jesus helps you see others differently.

You can see how this progression builds. It starts with recognition and remembrance of the gift you received and acknowledgment of the immeasurable cost. And gratitude is the appropriate heart response for a changed life.

Part of the change that takes place in us is that we see others differently. We begin to see others as Jesus does. The impact of the gospel causes us to love more, care deeper, and respond with generosity rather than selfishness. This makes Easter personal, and of course, this is not contained to the Easter season.

Practicing the power that the resurrection unleashes in our lives enables us to put others first, be more patient, seek understanding, and love authentically. 

5) Maximize the opportunity Jesus gives you within your calling. 

When the story of the gospel has been deeply internalized and is first personal, it then gives you more freedom to focus on the opportunity that comes with your calling as a leader in the church. 

This coming weekend and the weeks following Easter represent an amazing opportunity to reach people for Christ and see your church take new territory for God’s Kingdom.

We all get excited about that!

I pray that you sense God’s closeness and the favor of His power and that you experience your calling as an incredible privilege and blessing.   God is with you!

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Reading time: 5 min
Leadership

Seven Foundational Responsibilities of Your Leadership Team – Part Two

Leadership
March 25, 2024 by Stan Ponz No Comments

Views: 771

Effective leadership is essential for specialized ministries, churches, or businesses. And having a leadership team is critical if they adhere to foundational responsibilities.

What are the primary topics your Leadership Team is responsible for addressing? What issues should be given the most attention?

Last time I offered three of seven foundational responsibilities your Leadership Team should concentrate on that may best guide you. This edition will cover four more responsibilities.

Use this list, evaluate what you do, and then fine-tune it to serve your team effectively.

7 Foundational Responsibilities of your Lead Team:

Let’s review

1. Sensing the Leading of the Lord

The Leadership Team is responsible for discerning the heart and voice of God as churches relate to the best interest of its ministries, staff, and faith-family. The same goes for specialized ministries and businesses.

2. Vision-Thinking, Strategic Planning, and Vision-Casting

The Leadership Team is responsible for developing, positioning resources, communicating, and examining progress toward the vision and strategic plan.

3. Culture and Values for the Church, Specialized Ministry, or Business

The Leadership Team is responsible for confirming appropriate processes are in place to foster and monitor ministry culture, values, and spiritual health.

Let’s continue

4. Management of Resources

The Leadership Team is responsible for the vision, strategic plan, and conformance to regulatory standards and best practices while managing the resources accordingly.

I learned the following from the CFO at 12-Stone Church, Norwood Davis.

What I can share with you is the importance of how you handle financial resources.

The Lord has put you in trust with the wise management of financial resources given through faithful people. Don’t take this lightly; every dollar does matter. Our Make It Clear Ministries team treats each dollar donated as if an elderly person on Social Security gives to the ministry.

That doesn’t mean you should lead like gloomy scrooges, think with a poor mindset, or lack charity. It simply means being wise managers with the Lord’s money.

Strategic questions:

    • Are you regularly teaching biblical principles of generosity and giving?
    • Do you have in place sound financial systems with accountability?
    • Are you and your team doing everything you can to use every dollar wisely?

5. Culture and Effectiveness of Staff

The Leadership Team is responsible for the systems that ensure systems that appropriately cultivate and observe staff culture, health, and performance.

Let me suggest a five-point outline I picked up from Dan Reiland that will serve you as a guide on how to think about staffing. (NOTE: Even if your staff is smaller, don’t ignore this.)

    1. Culture
    2. Selection
    3. Development
    4. Teamwork
    5. Performance

Your Leadership Team may own more of this detail if your ministry and staff are smaller unless you may have other leaders on the team to help you with much of this. Either way, it’s essential to persistently think through all five areas to know you are developing and cultivating a healthy and productive staff.

Strategic questions:

    • How healthy is staff culture? How do you know?
    • How are you selecting the best possible staff?
    • How are you caring for and developing your team?
    • How well is your team functioning together?
    • Do you find your team creating the outcomes for which you hoped?

6. Problem-Solving

The Leadership Team is responsible for solving problems and, in optimum circumstances, being prepared for them before they happen and cause more significant issues and consequences.

It’s not the Leadership Team’s responsibility to solve all the problems, but it is their job to solve the significant ones.

Unfortunately, some Senior Leadership Teams avoid the more complex problems by dumping them on staff who aren’t equipped to deal with them or won’t make the tough choices.

What problems need to be solved that only the Leadership Team can solve? Those issues should always be an agenda item for your team.

Which are real problems to be solved, and which might cause tensions to manage?

Strategic questions:

    • List the problems facing you now that only you should and can solve.
    • List the issues critical to the mission that might hinder the vision and momentum.
    • What timeline is in place when solutions are required?

7. Innovation and Improvement

The Leadership Team is responsible for nurturing and embracing new approaches and improving existing systems and processes for your ministries or business can thrive.

Much like solving problems and perhaps more, all improvement and innovation should not come from the Leadership Team.

You are not receiving all the best viewpoints or ideas if they only come from your Leadership Team.

The first role of the Leadership Team regarding improvement and innovation is to foster an environment that is favorable to and allows for change.

The second is ensuring the improvement and innovation agree with the vision and mission.

And finally, to be sure that improvement and innovation are better, not merely different.

Strategic questions:

    • Is your ministry and staff team open to change?
    • List any ministries or departments that need improvement.
    • List the top three areas that need improvement and innovation in your church, ministry, or business.

These are seven responsibilities for your Leadership Team. I suggest you begin implementing them at your next meeting. You might select one each time you meet until you build all of them into the culture of your Leadership Team. Let me know how these foundational responsibilities are working for you and your team!

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Reading time: 4 min
Leadership

Seven Foundational Responsibilities of Your Leadership Team – Part One

Leadership
March 18, 2024 by Stan Ponz No Comments

Views: 917

If your Leadership Team tries to give attention to everything, they won’t effectively succeed at anything. 

It’s healthy that your Leadership Team has the freedom to talk about anything, to be truthful, and to discuss with authenticity as it happens, but what are the critical areas on which you should focus? 

We use the term Senior Leadership Team in our ministry.  However they are called, and whether they are paid or include volunteers, what should be on the agenda they create?

The “going around the table and giving updates” strategy is not typically highly effective.

While it is sometimes critical to communicate updates, that is not always helpful.  However, you will often have more substantial results when the entire team works on an issue together.

Even if your Leadership Team resolves a few difficulties with an open agenda, which is a good thing, perhaps others could have resolved those issues.  It would allow you to give more forward-focused thinking time.

What are the primary topics your Leadership Team is responsible for addressing?  What issues should be given the most attention? 

Of course, crises will make you adjust to issues. 

Military leaders focus on different things in wartime versus peacetime.  Life is no longer “business as usual” for them; typically, they must make more decisions faster. 

But without a boundary or yardstick of your lanes, it’s challenging to get the essential items done and make significant progress. 

Further, when the Leadership Team isn’t confident about what to give attention to, the rest of the team won’t be clear on their focus either. 

Every specialized ministry, church, or business is unique.  However, let me offer seven foundational responsibilities your Leadership Team should concentrate on that may best guide you.  

Use this list of the first three of seven foundational responsibilities of your leadership team, evaluate what you do, and then fine-tune it to serve your team effectively.

 7 Foundational Responsibilities of your Lead Team:

 1. Sensing the Leading of the Lord 

The Leadership Team is responsible for discerning the heart and voice of God as they relate to the best interest of its ministries, staff, and faith-family.  The same goes for specialized ministries and businesses.

Strategically thinking is essential, but spiritually discerning God’s heart and voice must always come before strategic planning. 

What is God saying to your ministry president, executive director, or team’s senior leader?  Also important is what God says to each person on the team.

Most important is how Scripture influences your ministry or business course and choices. 

Equally important is prayer as the indicator and institution for your ministry’s current initiatives and future dreams.

Strategic questions:

    • Does your team allow the Holy Spirit to interfere in your process and modify or even discontinue your plans? 
    • How do you discern when it’s your idea or the mind of the Lord? 
    • Does your team have a history or pattern of decelerating to discern what God wants? 

 

2. Vision-Thinking, Strategic Planning, and Vision-Casting 

The Leadership Team is responsible for developing, positioning resources, communicating, and examining progress toward the vision and strategic plan. 

This is heavy lifting and an arduous responsibility of the team. 

Vision-thinking and even vision-casting are often exciting.  It’s motivating, and it’s great to dream!  But the instant you get serious about effective strategic planning, the air at the table gets cold. 

The moment you move from discerning the vision to figuring out how to make the dream a reality, your team will face the actual load and experience of leadership.

Executing the strategy is the core of leadership.

What matters are after-effects and outcomes.  That’s why you’re in the room and at the table.

Strategic questions: 

    • Are you remaining steadfast about the direction God wants for your ministry? 
    • Are you constantly reviewing the strategy and holding yourself accountable for results?
    • Are you nurturing joy in the process? 

3. Culture and Values for the Church, Specialized Ministry, or Business

The Leadership Team is responsible for confirming appropriate processes are in place to foster and monitor ministry culture, values, and spiritual health. 

Separating your ministry’s culture, values, and spiritual health is impossible.

It’s challenging to increase spiritual health if the culture is toxic, inward-focused, or divisive,

Every ministry has a culture, just like your staff’s culture (the two are very similar).

The culture of your ministry is not what you write on the wall; it’s the attitudes you express, the beliefs you demonstrate, and how you live your lives.

The culture of your ministry or business will reveal your values and determine the probability of its spiritual health. 

Strategic questions:

    • In what way would you describe the culture of your ministry or business? Is it what you want? 
    • In what ways are your ministry in agreement with your values?
    • In what ways would you say the spiritual health of your ministry or business is vibrant and growing? 

Next, we will learn four more foundational responsibilities of your Leadership Team!

 

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Leadership

God’s Eagerness to Hear

Leadership
March 11, 2024 by Stan Ponz No Comments

Views: 1015

In Christian leadership, there must be open communication between the Lord and us.  We need to hear from Him, and He wants to hear from us.  And He is most eager to hear from us.  The best accurate way to hear from the Lord is to open His Word, the Bible, and listen to what He wants us to hear.  Prayer from a pure heart is the best way for Him to hear from us.

We live in a world full of situations and needs that require us to pray.  Prayer means we are building a relationship with the Lord by communicating with Him.  So, communication is the key.  And that means speaking and listening.  In this case, it means talking to God and Hi listening.  And Him speaking to us and us listening to Him.

It is debilitating to lose our hearing.  Our hearing is one of the primary gates that allow us to know and respond to everything.

The eyes, the nose, the sense of touch, and the mouth all aid us in communicating.  Hearing is foundational.

There are two different levels of hearing.  First, every day we hear thousands of sounds without responding.  Because our minds are conditioned, we tune much of this out.  It’s labeled “background noise.”

Because of selective hearing, “Please take out the trash” is hardly ever heard the first time when our kids or their dads hear that.  And yet, with the slightest whisper, they hear, “Let’s go get ice cream.”

God Hears

Our relationship with God is dependent on hearing.  We must hear Him and listen to Him.

Yet most Christian leaders pay attention to God.  We have permitted the world’s noise to so saturate us that our ears are rarely accustomed to the “still small voice” of God.  Spiritual indifference and rebellion clog our ears.

The Lord is speaking all the time, but we do not hear.  It can be our greatest tragedy.

But our relationship also depends on God’s willingness to hear us when we come to Him.

A one-sided relationship is not possible for a healthy relationship.  It is essential to hear God and to be confident He hears us.

A Prayer of Solomon

When Solomon completed the building of the first temple in Jerusalem, he dedicated it with a prayer pleading for God to hear (1 Kings 8).  The essence of his entire prayer was, “We need You now and will need You; so, God, please HEAR US when we pray!”

Then Solomon detailed when their prayers and God hearing them were most necessary.

“Oh Lord, please hear…”

  • My prayer at this very moment (v. 28)
  • When Your people pray (v. 30)
  • When a person sins against their neighbor and returns in prayer to You (v. 31)
  • When Your people are conquered before an enemy because they sinned against You, and they turn back to You confessing their sin and pray (v. 33)
  • When the heavens are locked up, and no rain comes because we sin; and in prayer, we confess this and return to You (v. 35)
  • When there are calamities like famine, pestilence, plague, or sickness, and we pray (vv. 37-39)
  • When the immigrant comes and prays (vv. 41-43)
  • When we go into battle against our enemies, and we pray (v. 44)
  • When Your people sin against You (for every person does sin) and you become angry delivering us to the enemy, and then we repent and pray (vv. 46-53)

Review through this prayer and notice that almost every human issue is covered.  Solomon simply asks, “Lord, will You hear if we pray?”

Notice that for God to hear each prayer request, they are conditioned on several things.  The people must see the awfulness of their sin, confess it, return to God, and pray.

He will not hear a proud, selfish, or prayer designed to further what a person wants for himself rather than what brings glory to the Lord.  The Lord turns a deaf ear to those who turn a deaf ear to what He says about their sin (Ps 66:18).

Also, the Lord will not hear what is not asked.  “You have not because you ask not,” James 4:2.  Many conditions for effective prayer are mentioned in Scripture.

But, if we will come in humility, forsaking our sin, with the willingness to obey the Lord and approach God in prayer, He has promised to hear us.  How amazing this is!

Our God who hears prayer has all the resources necessary at His disposal to meet our every need.  George Mueller declared how faithful our God is, “He is a prayer-hearing and prayer-answering God!”

Father, I never cease to be amazed by this truth.  That You would make a way for me to approach You is amazing, considering my sin.  I’m overcome with gratitude for Your Son, Jesus, who lived, died, and rose so that we can now enter and stand before Your throne of grace with peace.  Providing us a way to have an intimate relationship with You as a friend to friend; please forgive me for not praying more often.  Forgive me for not listening.  But thank You, Father, for Your ever-hearing ear!

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Leadership

Ways to Serve Our ONE

Leadership
March 4, 2024 by Stan Ponz No Comments

Views: 1253

As Christians and especially Christian leaders, we are wanting people to come to faith alone in Christ and going on to become fully obedient worshippers of God.  And we are wanting to help Christians to do the same…right?  Right!

But so many times wanting to and wanting others to do it doesn’t translate into actually doing it ourselves…right?   Right!

No one I know likes getting into a cold car in the dead of winter.  That’s why auto makers manufacture cars with seat warmers and now steering wheel warmers.  This makes taking a trip more comfortable.

So, today’s edition of Leadership Helps is to remind us to identify our ONE who we will lovingly serve for a gospel conversation.  Of course, the best way is to use prayer to warm them up.  While keeping our ONE in prayer, we could add the following ways to warm up our ONE to a gospel conversation.

  1. Take them out for a cup of coffee.
  2. Write a note of encouragement.
  3. Hand out notes of encouragement to those who serve you at grocery stores, restaurants, barbershop, hair salon, hardware store, etc., letting them know they are prayed for and loved by Jesus and you.
  4. Text how you can pray for them.
  5. Drop off a gift card for your ONE at their door and leave a hand-written note explaining why you did it.
  6. Type up a note saying you are offering to help your neighbors in any way they need.  Leave it on neighbors’ doors.  Offer to do yard work, run errands, etc.  Ask for prayer requests.  Put your contact information in the note.
  7. Anytime the Lord puts your ONE on your mind, stop to pray for them, then send a text or DM them to let them know you have prayed for them and ask how they are doing.
  8. What other ways can you serve your ONE?  Let me know so I can add to my list those ways to serve my ONE too!

No doubt we can all agree this form of friendship evangelism still needs an actual GOSPEL conversation.  Warming them up is just a vital first step.  So, let’s get busy and serve our ONE with the gospel!

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Leadership

Three Truths to Remember When Facing Valleys

Leadership
February 26, 2024 by Stan Ponz No Comments

Views: 1056

You’ve probably read Psalm 23 many, many times. I’ve preached it, and I have read it at many funerals or what people call Celebration of Life services.

Today, it needs to be read again. Psalm 23 provides encouragement for the valleys we face in life—and today, we’re facing some valleys. As the world lives in crisis, we’re facing increasing health and financial concerns. These are not just difficult days for those we’re serving in ministry and in the business and professional community.

 These are tough days for Christian and business leaders, too. 

Psalm 23 provides tremendous hope for what we’re experiencing. Through this chapter, God reminds us of three powerful truths we can cling to when we’re so deeply concerned about the present and future.

  1. We Are Not Alone! 

God is walking through the valley with us. Psalm 23:4 says, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me” (NASB).

You deal with life’s shadows by turning to the light. You can’t see the shadow and look at the light at the same time. Jesus said, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the Light of life” (John 8:12 NASB).

Stop focusing on what’s scaring you, and focus on Jesus. He is with you right now. When you get your focus off your fear, you can focus on God and what He wants to do through you. You won’t see Him, but He is there…and He sees you.

One of my favorite Bible passages that reminds me that I am not alone is, “…He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you. So we may boldly say: The LORD is my helper; I will not fear…” (Hebrews 13:5b, 6a NKJV)

Valleys are different for a believer than a non-believer. That difference isn’t the absence of the shadow. It’s the presence of the Shepherd.

  1. God Always Has a Purpose for Our Problems. 

Psalm 23 tells us over and over God works for our good. He gives us everything we need (v. 1), gives us rest (v. 2), gives us strength (v. 3), and leads us down the right path (v. 3). Psalm 23:6 says, “Surely [Your] goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life…” (NASB).

The consistent message of Scripture is that God cannot do evil. As we go through these valleys together, we need to remember that God will use these difficult days for our good.

God loves to take the difficult times of our lives and use them to build our character. Paul tells us this in Romans 5:3-4: “We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation” (NLT). Hosea 2:15 says, ““I will transform the Valley of Trouble into a gateway of hope!” (NLT). God will do this through today’s valley as well. He will work it out for good.

As believers, we can be certain that there is a purpose in our pain.

  1. Our Reward Will Last Forever.

No matter what happens to our earthly bodies, this is not the end of the story. Heaven will be worth any valley we go through today. Psalm 23:6b, “And I will dwell in the house of the LORD Forever.” (NKJV)

There we will be rewarded for our faithfulness during our time on earth.  The reward isn’t being in heaven but will be received in heaven!

The Bible says heaven is real—and we’ll be there forever. No valley, no matter how long it seems now, will last near that long.

2 Corinthians 4:17, 18 says, “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” (NKJV).

I don’t know how you’re experiencing this valley. I don’t know what fear keeps you up at night. Maybe you’re scared of getting sick. Maybe you’re scared of someone you love getting sick. Maybe you’re scared you’ll have to close your ministry, church, or your business.

I do know that you have a Good, Great, and Chief Shepherd all-in-one walking through this valley with you. I know God will work good out of this situation. I know the valley won’t last.

Take some time to soak in Psalm 23 today—not just for the people you’ll walk through this valley with but for yourself and your family as well.

We’ll walk through this valley together as we look at it in light of eternity. Revelation 21:4 tells us: [God] will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever” (NLT).

This is not the end of the story!

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