Author: thinkingoutsidethetextbox

Fruitful Leadership #1: Love

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There has been much study done on the character and personality of good leaders. In the book of Galatians, the Apostle Paul introduces what he refers to as the “fruit of the Spirit”, describing what Christians are to live like, to be like. As believers in Jesus, we have His Spirit living in us when we surrender our lives to Him. Just like al healthy apple tree produces apples, a healthy Spirit-filled person will produce the “fruit” of the Spirit.

Paul gives a list of nine fruits, or characteristics, that people surrendered to Jesus and filled with his Spirit will be like. It makes sense, then, that a Christian leader will be a Spirit-filled person who will ideally be producing the fruit Paul lists.

The first fruit listed is love. If you are a Christian leader, you should be exhibiting the characteristic of love to those you lead and serve. Jesus, in Matthew 22: 39, defines the second greatest commandment as: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” One of the most important characteristics of a follower of Jesus is then, to love. And to love our neighbour. If we are unsure who our neighbour is, we can read Jesus’ story of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10. While others noticed a beaten and robbed man, the Samaritan cared for his wounds and took him to a place to heal up, even paying all the costs this might incur. The neighbour was the one who loved the less fortunate one in practical ways that made a difference in his life. As we daily surrender our selves to the Holy Spirit, he will continue to help us become more loving in our leadership. While it is our responsibility to love, it is the Holy Spirit who helps us to love better and who fills us with a desire to love when we may not really want to.

So how might the fruit of the Spirit of love be evident in a Christian leader?

It would begin with a genuine caring for the others one connects with. These could be your boss, or co-worker, or employees. They could be your church staff and volunteers. Sometimes, people like me who like to focus on the project and getting things done, can see those around me as people who help me get my stuff done, rather than seeing them as people who need to be noticed and cared for. To love is to notice people and to care for them. And to look for ways to help them. A leader who is producing love in their relationships at work will recognize when someone needs to be cared for and not just used to accomplish the leader’s vision.

Love includes communicating well with those you work with and serve. It means that we create an environment where direction is given clearly, and feedback is welcomed. Rather than being threatened by the ideas of others, a leader who loves will see each person as a contributing member of the team. By creating an environment where exchange of ideas is welcomed, the leader makes it clear that everyone is valued.

A leader who loves will want to make sure that their team has healthy relationships with each other. The leader will not hesitate to apologize for hurting someone. He will take ownership of his own mistakes and not dwell on those of others. Love means finding solutions to relationship breakdowns. Rather than just demanding blind loyalty, a leader who loves will create an environment where all on the team enjoy serving together.

Christian leaders display the fruit of love when they are willing to serve rather than lord their authority over others. Jesus pointed this out in Matthew 10: 44, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Some leaders love being the boss and want to make sure everyone knows they are the one in charge and they are the one to be obeyed. Yet even Jesus showed that he came to serve. For him it even meant giving his life to pay for the sins of all people. Love means being willing to serve others, even if you are the leader. Maybe you get coffee for someone rather than expecting they need to get you one. Or you listen rather than direct. You still need to give direction and guidance and set standards that need to be met, but you do so in a way that shows you care about the people you are leading. Love them by serving them.

Christian leader, allow the Spirit to flow through you, displaying love to those you work with.

Keep looking up,

Andy Wiebe

Book Reviews: Andy’s 2024 Reading Experience

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I will be sharing a brief review of every book I read this year. Hope you enjoy and hope it encourages you to keep reading.

IMAGINATION REDEEMED: Glorifying God with a Neglected Part of Your Mind – by Gene Edward Veith Jr. and Matthew P. Ristuccia

The authors suggest that Christians have not paid enough attention to imagination and how it influences our daily walk with Christ. Imagination can help us when we are able to picture what we are reading in the Bible. Or it can hinder us when it leads us to imagine and dwell on sinful things. The book includes both a discussion on imagination and then a look at the Biblical book of Ezekiel and the visions included. The goal of the book is for Christians to pay more attention to their imagination and how it can be used for good. At one point we are challenged to think about God. They write, “If we are to conceive of him correctly – whether in our understanding, our imagination, or our will – our minds must be saturated with Holy Scripture.” (p. 34) They encourage us as believers to allow Scripture to guide our imagination. I was hoping for a little more on how to become more creative in our imagination, but they focused in on how to protect and enhance our godly imagination.

A Good Team Produces Good Work

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Two are better than one,
    because they have a good return for their labor:
 If either of them falls down,
    one can help the other up.
But pity anyone who falls
    and has no one to help them up.

Ecclesiastes 4: 9-10

As a pastor, much of my work is a solitary effort. I work on my sermon on my own. While I consult resources such as commentaries and word studies, I am responsible for creating the sermon myself. When I teach a Sunday School class, I generally work on it on my own. I am co-teaching a class on Acts right now. Though we spend some time discussing the scriptures together, we take turns preparing the lessons on our own. When I teach and lead, I build on all I have read and seminars I have attended, learning from the authors and presenters. Yet much of my job as a pastor I do on my own.

This last week I was reminded of the value of working with a team. Our church is in the middle of a Three-Week Prayer Focus. We will conclude with a Solemn Assembly on a Saturday, a Prayer Vigil where people will sign up to pray for an hour or more through the night, and then a Celebration Service on the Sunday morning. This has become a much better event than I first envisioned because others have helped think through how to make it the best event it can be.

When I presented the idea to the chairman of the church board, he instantly saw my vision and began to dream with me as to what we should plan and how to roll it out to the congregation. As we, together, dreamed about how the event might work for our church, we got more and more excited. We could see how to invite people to participate and even how to get them to step into some new experiences of prayer in the process. I had not thought of a prayer vigil through the night, but he suggested it.

This chairman suggested we shoot a promo video with interviews of people from our congregation telling us what they thought of prayer. He knew of someone who could create the video. He asked someone to round up people to participate, and several people did, resulting in a very effective promotional video.

He suggested that we make some promotional posters. Again, he knew of someone who would do a good job with this. Now we have some great posters for the event, and even a prayer guide for the event that people are now using to guide their prayer times. Other board members were willing to sign up to help coordinate and lead the prayer vigil. They have also volunteered to make announcements and lead group prayer times.

If I had only depended on my own dreams and skills, we would still have had an event, but it would not have become the great experience it now is. I needed the Board Chair, the other board members, the promotional materials designer, and video producer to make the event that much better.

We need others to team up with if we want to do a good job on many things. Inviting others into the process makes it better because we get to dream with others and bounce ideas off each other that make the result that much better. Working together ensures no one is left carrying the load, and everyone can use their skills and abilities to expand the capabilities of the leader. Sharing the work with others prevents your project from being a lonely experience; instead, the process becomes a shared collaboration with others who have the same convictions and ideas.

I hope you have a good team around you. If not, then I pray that God will help you to find the right people to join your team.

Keep looking up,

Andy Wiebe

Punctuality Begins With Arriving Early

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When I started out as a young youth pastor, I was told by my Senior Pastor that I had to show up at least one hour before the Sunday morning worship service. I have experienced the value of this advice many times and followed the practice in preparation for other meetings and events as well. I have found that there have been many times when that extra hour has been beneficial.

1. Arriving early ensures I am on time.

It may seem like it goes without saying, but if you plan to be an hour early, you will most likely be on time. If you have a flat tire on the way, you may even have time to change it and still arrive on time.

2. Arriving early protects my integrity.

When you are on time and start events on time you maintain integrity, but when you are late, or start things late, people aren’t sure they can trust you when you announce the start time for an event. And when you don’t follow through on start times, it may affect people’s sense of your overall integrity. You want to be on time and ready to go for your event so that you can keep your word on when you will start.

3. Arriving early gives me time for last minute adjustments.

Often there have been issues to iron out before the service. You have time to photocopy anything you forgot, or to change that one PowerPoint slide. It gives you time to make sure all the technology is up and running. There have been days when I have needed all the time to make sure I fixed something or did a final tweak.

4. Arriving early prevents rushing.

When you are rushed you are not in the best frame of mind. Being rushed often gets our frustrations up and means we may miss something in our final arrangements prior to the event. When we have time, we can be more relaxed and work through our last-minute preparations with time to spare.

5. Arriving early gets me focused.

Everyone knows how life happens and sometimes we are distracted by what we dealt with earlier that day. If you get to your event with time to spare, you can go over the agenda and get your mind cleared and focused. You have time to pause and pray to ask God to help you focus on the moment and leave the distractions with him.

6. Arriving early helps me ensure all volunteers are ready.

When you are early, you will have time to check in with your volunteers to make sure thy are ready to go. I like to give people a heads-up about when their turn is in the service or event. When everybody knows their role, the event will go smoothly.

7. Arriving early gives me time for people.

When you are early, and ready for your event early, you have time to greet people as they arrive. There are often a few people who arrive early. I have had some significant conversations with people because I had time to slow down greet them before the service.

You may think arriving an hour early for a worship service is over the top, but I would encourage you to try it. I’m sure if you try it five or six times, you will begin to experience the benefits and establish this as your own habit. There is value in punctuality, and arriving early ensures your punctuality.

Keep looking up,

Andy Wiebe

We All Need Someone to Lean On

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Many pastors are lonely. Many don’t have a team of staff to talk things through with. Recently I have again recognized the value of having other pastors to talk with and connect with. I have the privilege of being part of a few groups of pastors, but it has been a while since the one group has met and I realize I miss those get togethers.

In 2023 Barna.com shared a poll that highlighted the loneliness and isolation of pastors. Their poll shows “these feelings have increased significantly since 2015 when 42 percent of pastors shared they either frequently (14%) or sometimes (28%) felt this way. Now, 65 percent of pastors report feelings of loneliness and isolation, with 18 admitting these feelings occur frequently.” (7-Year Trends: Pastors Feel More Loneliness & Less Support)

As pastors, we need to take initiative to connect with others who understand what it its like being a pastor. Pastors can relate to us and pray for us in a way that others can’t. We all need good friends, and many of us have very supportive and encouraging families, but we do need to have other pastors in our circles too.

Many denominations have regular gatherings for local pastors. Take advantage of those. These are people who are in your circles and understand your church dynamics. In some places, there may not be others in the same denomination nearby; instead, connect with other pastors in your community. I have benefited greatly from connections with pastors from other denominations. We have different theological stands on some issues, but we all deal with the same day-to-day struggles of working with people and trying to have the answers our congregation needs.

One of the benefits of connecting with other pastors is that we can have people in our corner who understand us. Like any profession, it can be difficult to explain some aspects of being a pastor to others who are not. It is easier to celebrate and commiserate with people in the same field.

Other pastors may also be able to speak into our lives, offer words of encouragement, or ideas on how to handle certain situations we face. This is valuable support that requires you to open up to others.

Sometimes other pastors can help us develop our creativity as we hear of unique ministries or programs they run. We can help each other become better. Proverbs 27: 17 applies here:

As iron sharpens iron,
    so one person sharpens another.

Do not be satisfied with your loneliness. Find other pastors to connect with, and encourage them as they encourage you.

Keep looking up,

Andy Wiebe

Book Reviews: Andy’s 2024 Reading Experience

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I will be sharing a brief review of every book I read this year. Hope you enjoy and hope it encourages you to keep reading.

GO: Returning Discipleship to the Front Lines of Faith – by Preston Sprinkle

As Preston Sprinkle’s books usually do, this one also pushes the boundaries of what believers are comfortable with and used to.  He does a great job of biblically suggesting there is more to discipleship than just teaching and more to church than just Sunday morning worship. He points out that discipleship is about living out a relationship with Christ, and living it out in real and practical ways as we connect with others in our world. Chapter 9 is worth the cost of the whole book as he challenges believers to consider how much of our efforts and money is wrapped up in putting on nice Sunday services instead of helping people with their real needs. A challenging and encouraging read!

The Importance of Consistent Messaging

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Whether in conversations with a friend or making a transaction at a store, we need to be able to communicate or intended message clearly. As church leaders, we want to communicate with the people in our churches and the communities around us, and it is important that we put thought into our messages we communicate to avoid unnecessary confusion.

Every time I drive to the community where I serve as a Transition Pastor, I pass a confusing message. On the side of the road there is a big tea pot shaped sign up on a post, as if announcing a place to stop and have tea. As you get closer, you will see that they do not want you to stop, because as you turn off the highway, you are greeted by two orange traffic barricades with a sign that says, “Do not enter. Private yard.” It must have been a restaurant at one time but not anymore. Yet the teapot sign remains inviting people to enter a private yard.

Just this morning I walked by another confusing message. In a storefront at the local mall, a slogan says: “Celebrate your shape.” In my mind, that indicates that they would have clothes for a variety of shapes of people. Instead, the mannequins in the display window are all pencil thin. That seems like a confusing message to me. Does it mean you can celebrate any shape you want as long as you are very thin.

Let’s look at a few ways that we as church leaders can prevent common inconsistent messages:

  • We say we want to strengthen families and then we plan separate activities for everyone.

Many churches say they support families. That is good, and we should support them, but too often we keep the families busy with their own separate activities. Children go to Sunday School and Children’s Club. Youth go to Youth Night. Men and women go to their own Bible Studies. We say we support families and then we plan everything to separate them. I know there are benefits to the separate programs, but how about we bring them together more? Instead of planning a Youth Ski Trip, plan a Family ski trip. How about planning mixed Bible Studies occasionally?

  • We say we are an intergenerational church but don’t allow children to serve in the worship service.

In many churches, serving in the worship services is limited to adults – often only “accomplished” adults. While the messages on the website might state the church values intergenerational participation, a different message is communicated each Sunday morning. Why not add some youth to your worship team? Many of them are musical and would love to learn to play an instrument as part of a music team. How about having children reading scripture?

Some of the ushers in our church are inviting their children to help them pass the bags to collect the offering. There are many places where children and youth can learn to serve and serve well.

  •   We say we want to reach our community with the gospel but have no outreach from our church.

I understand there are many ways to reach into our community with the gospel, and much of that can be done by individual members of our church. It’s exciting when we hear of that happening. Yet if this is something that we say we want as priority in our church, the church should provide opportunities for outreach and training. We need to follow through on what we say we think is important as a church.

  • We have a website that announces activities we do not offer.

Every church needs to have a website. We need to be able to communicate with people online. But let’s make sure that our information is up to date and accurate. Recently I was looking to book a bus ride from one town to another. I searched online and found a site advertising the route and rates. I made some initial plans that revolved around catching that bus. I went to book it, only to find that the route and bus service had been cancelled for a year or two already. We don’t want to do the same thing with our information online. Communicate what you offer and make sure you it’s accurate.

 Inconsistent messaging not only misinforms people, but it also causes them to lose trust in us. If we can’t communicate accurately, it will seem as if we are not being truthful. We end up not just disappointing people but turning them away from our church. Let’s make sure that our messaging is consistent and accurate.

Keep looking up,

Andy Wiebe

Half a Century of God’s Faithfulness!!

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I just realized the other day that I have been a follower of Jesus for 50 years – and God has sure proven His faithfulness! I was about seven years old when my dad prayed with me, and I surrendered my life to Jesus. Next month I turn 57. And God has never failed me over all those years. I have experienced what Deuteronomy 7:9 declares, “Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God.”

God has proven his faithfulness in always being there for me, in good times and bad. He has been there when I was so disappointed in Him that I deliberately tried to ignore Him for a period of time. I was frustrated how my life was going and began to wonder if God would ever intervene. That attempt to give God the cold shoulder didn’t last for too many days, because no matter what, God has always been there. He was never far from me. Romans 3:3-4 declares God’s faithfulness even when we are not. “What if some were unfaithful? Will their unfaithfulness nullify God’s faithfulness? Not at all!” And God has shown His faithfulness as I have learned to get to know Him better over the years. When I think back to the simple faith of seven-year-old me and the way God has proven His love in ever deepening ways, I am so thankful that faithfulness is one of God’s attributes!

I have experienced God’s faithfulness in his forgiveness. As scripture declares in Romans 5: 8, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” He loved me while I was a sinner, and he loves me as I continue to struggle with sin. And like the patriarchs of the Old Testament, God has used me in meaningful ways even as I fall short of His best for me. God working in and through me has allowed us to be part of some unique experiences like helping a church grow in a school and then move into its own building, and putting on Easter events for the community that drew three times as many people as we usually saw on a Sunday.

God has been faithful in giving me a great family! I have a beautiful wife, who is clearly a gift from God. We have two beautiful and competent daughters! Again, clearly gifts from God! And He has helped us through many difficult things. We have had family health scares but known God’s peace in those as He walked with us. We have had times of financial strain, without a house, without a job, and unsure about what was next. God arranged for a job that provided us with enough finances to buy a house after two years. We have experienced answers to prayer, from finding skates for a great deal to healing when we needed it.

The faithfulness of God is evident as I look back over the years to how God directed us to certain churches and communities to live and serve in for awhile. While there were a few disappointments along the way, it was clear that God directed us to the places where we could fit and serve Him well. He has given us many great memories from the different places we served.

God loves people. He loves to welcome them into His family. And He loves to walk with them for the rest of their lives! I have experienced that in many personal ways. It is so good to never have to worry if He will still love us if we do something wrong, or if He might ignore us or no longer respond in love. “Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God.”

Keep looking up,

Andy

Book Reviews: Andy’s 2024 Reading Experience.

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I will be sharing a brief review of every book I read this year. Hope you enjoy and hope it encourages you to keep reading.

SPIRITUAL LEADERSHIP: Moving People on to God’s Agenda – by Henry & Richard Blackaby

Spiritual Leadership is one of the better leadership books I have read. The authors highlight that spiritual leadership is all about God. It is about moving people in the direction God wants them to go, about listening to God for how to lead well, and listening to God about what direction to lead. I appreciate how they point out that spiritual leadership is not the same as leadership in general. In fact, they begin the book with this statement: Spiritual leadership is not an occupation: it is a calling. Christians in any area of leadership should be spiritual leaders. This is a great book for any Christian who wants to lead well.

Book Reviews: Andy’s 2024 Reading Experience.

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I will be sharing a brief review of every book I read this year. Hope you enjoy and hope it encourages you to keep reading.

I AM A CHRISTIAN: Discovering What it Means to Follow Jesus Together with Fellow Believers – Thom S. Rainer

Thom Rainer outlines the basics of Christianity in a simple and straightforward manner. This little book would be great for new believers – and others – to explain what it really means to be a Christian in practice. Rainer introduces the reader to the main ways that a believer lives out their faith. He includes some good stories to help explain his concepts. A great biblical little book to help clarify what it means to be a Christian!