Elevate

The Importance of Critical Assessment

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Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.

Acts 17:11

There are times when we need to critically assess certain things. The Bereans in the verse above were carefully assessing the good news the Apostle Paul shared with them in order to determine if what he said was true or false. Rather than writing him off, as some other towns did, the Bereans understood the value of examining the situation carefully and responding appropriately.

There are many times in the work of the church or an organization where critical examination is beneficial. Hare some examples of areas that require careful assessment.

Programs

Churches often begin a new program with excitement and a hope that it will be meaningful and accomplish a certain purpose. The program may succeed and serve the church well, but there may come a time when the program no longer serves the same purpose, or something else might serve the church better. If you do not assess the program critically, you may be holding on to something that no longer has value. Instead, ask these questions regularly:

  • What is the goal of this program, and is it achieving that goal?
  • Is this the best program to achieve that goal?
  • Would the church be best served if this program was dissolved, or replaced?

Budgets

In my years of serving the church I have been part of many budget-setting meetings. It is surprising how often a budget line is approved or denied without real assessment of its value.

Sometimes budget amounts are simply left as is, or increased slightly because of overspending the previous year. This lacks critical thought process about why each amount is designated for each area.

In my years of serving the church I have been part of many budget-setting meetings. It is surprising how often a budget line is approved or denied without real assessment of its value. Sometimes budget amounts are simply left as is, or increased slightly because of overspending the previous year. This lacks critical thought process about why each amount is designated for each area.

Some churches invite program or ministry leaders to submit budget requests. This might require that some assessment take place if those leaders prayerfully determine what their plans and expenses are for the next year, while keeping the vision in mind. The following questions could be helpful:

  • What is our ministry plan for the next year?
  • What expenses will we ask the church to fund, and why?

New Hires

As a Transition Pastor, I am continually working with churches who are looking for a new pastor. I am hired to help them make a wise choice. This includes asking the leadership questions to help them assess each candidate carefully. When a church has been without a full-time pastor for a period of time, there is a desire to find their next one quickly. As they receive resumes, it is easy to fall in love with a candidate without being critical enough. While it seems harsh to the average church leader, you must evaluate your candidate according to some strict expectations. You want the right person, not just someone who seems nice. Here are some questions to ask regarding the candidate:

  • How closely does this candidate match your job description?
  • Are the candidate’s beliefs and philosophies closely aligned with the church’s?
  • Will this person be the best one to lead your church toward its goals?

There are many other areas a church leader needs to assess critically, and there are many other questions to ask in the evaluation process, but most importantly, do the critical assessment necessary to ensure you have the best results moving forward.

Keep looking up,

Andy Wiebe

Share Your God Stories

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When I was in Grade Four, my Dad felt called to attend Bible School. I remember one time in his third year, where he came to me and my brother, now about 12 and 13 years old. He told us that we had no food left in the cupboards and we needed to pray together that God would provide for us. Money that was supposed to come in had not. So, we prayed. Then, a little later, I remember hearing a sound at the front door. We

opened the door to find four big paper grocery bags full of food. Whoever dropped it off was long gone, but God had put it on their hearts to bring it to us at just the right time! I will never forget that feeling of knowing without a doubt that God had provided!

Just four days ago I was driving early. It was still dark and there was quite a bit of traffic. I was a little wary because we hit a deer a few months ago and I did not want that to happen again. With all the traffic I couldn’t see well. There were headlights shining in my eyes and my low beams didn’t reach into the ditches like I wished. Finally, I managed to get some space between me and other traffic and could turn on my high beams. As I did, it felt as if God was saying “Okay, now you can see. I’m looking after you.” Within seconds there were a couple of deer on the opposite shoulder of the road. I saw them in time and slowed down. As I got closer, they turned and headed back away from the road. And then within minutes I saw a couple of elk on the opposite shoulder of the road, coming steadily onto the highway. Because of my high beams I saw them clearly and came to a stop as two of them made their way onto the road and stopped to look around. Slowly the two of them started walking again and cleared the road. And then, again, because of my high beams, I noticed some more movement just as I was about to drive – a third elk. Where I needed to see, I could have my high beams on and God kept me safe!

When God does these kinds of things, we need to remember them. We need to tell others and pass them on to our families and friends.

There are many stories in the Old Testament that are repeated again and again. Many psalms celebrate significant stories of the people of Israel and God at work. They even had special holiday festivals dedicated to reminding people of God at work. One significant festival was the Passover, a yearly reminder of God freeing the Israelites from slavery in Egypt when the death angel passed over the homes of the Israelites who had painted the blood of goats on the doorposts.

Many of us have had unique experiences with God where we know God intervened in our lives in a way that was much more than coincidence. Unfortunately, even though the event was significant to us, we tend to keep it to ourselves. We need to tell the stories. We need to share them at our Thanksgiving suppers. We need to pass them on to our children and grand children, reminding them that God is still at work in our world.

The problem is that we too quickly forget. We don’t write songs about these significant events like bards of old might do. We don’t write the stories down. Unlike the Israelites, we don’t set up stone altars as reminders of God’s work.

God is still at work in our world. Let’s remember when he works in our lives and lets share the stories with others so we can celebrate God and his goodness together.

Keep looking up,

Andy Wiebe

Sermons That Change Lives

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A history teacher tells you what happened in the past. Or, they might inspire you to travel to historic sites. A first aid instructor will help you get a first aid certification. Or, they might inspire you to pursue a career as an EMT.

All instructors convey information…but some inspire. In the same way, sermons can convey information…but they should inspire the listener to action. Something should happen as a result of hearing the sermon.

As I was looking ahead to writing this blog, I heard some great material on a podcast I follow(Revitalize & Replant with Mark Clifton) where these two pastors were talking about how to write meaningful sermons. They referred to a model you may be familiar with. They said every sermon needs to answer the following 3 “what” questions: What? So What? and Now What?

The first question – “what?” asks what the scripture says. This is the research that forms the content of the sermon.

The next question asks, “so what?” This focuses on the importance of the scripture. Why is it something we are discussing? Why do we need to know this?

The third question is the one I want to focus on. Most preachers will do a pretty good job on the researching and writing of a sermon. Many identify the importance and value of the scripture. But many sermons fall short on the final question: “now what?”

“Now What?” is about the application of the sermon. Actually, it’s about even more than that. It is about inspiring the listener to want to do something as a result of the sermon they just heard. They cannot just go home with their family, eat their Sunday dinner, and go on with life.

A good preacher will not be satisfied until the sermon calls the listener to action.

Writing a good “now what” conclusion for a sermon requires an understanding of the scripture and what God is intending to communicate. The preacher takes it to heart and recognizes the action God is calling him to. He knows the content so well that the action required emerges from the text.

Further, the preacher needs to understand his local context, because God does not speak to people in a vacuum. We all live in a certain country or province or community. We all have certain political realities we live in. The preacher needs to know how to make the call to action one that fits his local church. This is one reason why it is important for the preacher to know the people who will be listening to the sermon. The application is then connected to the local setting.

I have discovered that giving a few ideas how to respond may help some people, while others will have already felt God speaking to them about a specific response.

Beyond just suggesting ways to respond, the preacher needs to find a way to inspire the congregation to respond. Just to be clear, it the Word of God by the power of the Spirit that changes lives, yet the pastor needs to prayerfully work in tandem with the Spirit to determine what the action should be and how to describe it in such a way that makes people want to respond.

In Acts 2 Peter preaches a powerful sermon. Look at the response of the people in verse 37:

 “When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, ‘Brothers, what shall we do?’”

The people were not satisfied with information. They felt a response was required of them, but they were unsure what to do. Peter responds: “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

As a preacher, you want people at the end of your sermon to be asking, “what shall we do?” So take the time to answer this question before you conclude. This should not just be tacked on at the end, but something that is given equal consideration as the body of the sermon because it is just as important.

If you want your sermons to change lives, you must help people see what is expected of them after hearing the sermon.

Keep looking up,

Andy Wiebe

A Leader is a Self-Starter

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A leader must be a self-starter who is ahead of the people he leads.

A Christian leader must know their role and how to do it without requiring external instruction. Leaders do not wait to receive direction.

If you have a job description, make sure you understand it and know it so well that you continually look for ways to fulfill it. If you did not receive a job description or are running your own organization, develop a description of your role so you have guidance in how you will spend your time.

This often requires an understanding of the mission and vision of the church or organization you lead. You need to know where you are to be leading others toward, and how you will measure success as you work toward it.

With the job description and vision in mind, prayerfully set the course for how you will spend your time. Identify your responsibilities and areas to delegate. I constantly check in with God for wisdom and discernment on what is important for each day and what needs to be left for another day.

A self-starter knows what is needed and how to determine what activities they should pursue for the day. This means knowing the daily and weekly requirements that can not be missed.

A self-starting leader schedules their efforts. I have found it helpful to occasionally set time aside to determine what needs to be done in the next year, next six months, next 30 days, and the next week. A self-starter knows that you cannot stumble into each day with no idea what needs to be done in the near future. Planning is a key characteristic of a self-starter.

For example, in my role, I preach a sermon each Sunday. At the beginning of each week, I know that this is something I need to prepare without putting it off for later. There are also some recurring meetings that I can anticipate and prepare for in advance according to my role in these meetings and my expected contributions. A self-starting leader knows how to schedule and then do what is required.

Being a self-starter means you do what needs to be done. Be clear what is required, and then you do it. Don’t wait for others to direct your activities. If you do, then you are definitely not a leader but are following the leading of someone else.

Planning and preparation is arriving to commitments on time, if not early. A self-starter is an achiever because they do the work required to get the job done.

The self-starting leader is courageous, pushing beyond comfort zones. This includes trying new things, not taking unnecessary risks, but open to taking risks to move beyond what is to what could be. This leader is the visionary who is willing to look out and pursue a new future or new direction because he sees what others don’t. While he tries to get others on board, he does not wait for everyone to agree with him before he takes necessary steps to what could be.

A driven leader is a self-starter. This leader is ambitious and passionate about moving the people and organization forward. This leader is not content to only do what has been done, or just doing enough to make people happy, but eagerly seeks opportunities for positive change.

A Christian leader asks God to continually guide as they move ahead to get things done and move people to the future God has for them.

Keep looking up,

Andy Wiebe

Rehearsal: A Valuable Aspect of Sermon Preparation

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I was an actor in a drama years ago when I was attending Bible College. We received our script and then spent time getting to know our lines. One of the key aspects of preparing for the final show was rehearsals. After months of rehearsing, first individual scenes, and then the entire drama, we debuted a successful show that went quite smoothly and was enjoyed by all.

As pastors and teachers in the church, we regularly prepare presentations. We work on lessons to teach to a class and sermons to preach to the congregation. We all have our methods of preparing for our presentations. We may do some research and pray through what God wants us to say. We may work at preparing just the right outline and finding just the right words to express our thoughts clearly. One aspect that some of us miss is rehearsal..

I like to practice my sermon at least once and have experienced numerous benefits.

  • I hear what it sounds like.

Preaching is not the same as writing a paper. In a paper I might write formally, and there are often clues such as headings and formatting that visually indicate the organization of topics.

However, when preaching, the content is delivered audibly so the same visual clues no longer apply. That means that it needs to be more conversational, even if the audience isn’t responding to you. You need to pretend you are speaking with them. I get to hear if it sounds too formal and change the wording before I preach it “live”.

  • I hear what I sound like.

I can hear my voice as I preach it. I can adjust by slowing down or speeding up at sections I want to highlight. I can hear if I sound judgmental, or if I sound like I care about the audience as I preach to them. If my voice goes too high, or if I say a word in a funny way, I can work at correcting that. Sometimes, what sounds good on paper sounds wrong when we speak it, so I can adjust that.

  • I can anticipate their responses as I practice.

I try to do this as I write, but sometimes, as I practice out loud, my mind hears how it sounds and reminds me of a question that may be raised by what I just said. I can then determine if and how I need to address that question.

  • I get a better idea of how long it will take.

Often there is an expectation on how long – or short – our sermon or lesson should be. When practicing it out loud, I can time myself and get a pretty good idea of how long I will take. I can also adjust to the time before I go live.

  • I can see how my actions will look or feel like.

As a presenter, I enter into the presentation with my whole body. I can smile and frown. I can raise my hands in excitement or open my arms wide to imply something big.

As I practice the sermon, I move around and go through my actions as I expect them to be. If they seem awkward I can either drop the actions or practice them enough to feel comfortable using them. Some presenters will record themselves so they can see what they actually look like.

  • I get it ingrained in my head.

Speaking the sermon out loud helps me to get it ingrained in my mind so that I am not just reading content, but it becomes part of who I am. In this way, hopefully, it will not just sound like I am reciting information I have researched but will sound like something I have learned personally and am passionate about sharing with those listening.

  • I think of new illustrations as I go.

Sometimes, practicing my sermon out loud will help me think of illustrations I didn’t think about when just writing words down. Saying the words out loud can remind me of something else that helps explain what I am teaching.

  • I can recognize when something needs to be reworked.

There are times when I have written things down in the wrong order. Just the other day I recognized that I was missing a section of the scripture I was preaching on. Somehow, I had missed including a place where we would read those verses. I was able to put that in because I noticed it in practice.

As we prepare for lessons and sermons, we want to do our best to communicate God’s truth accurately and creatively. Rehearsing your presentation is one way of making it even better.

Keep looking up,

Andy Wiebe

Book Reviews: Andy’s 2023 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.

ON BEING A PASTOR – by Derek Prime & Alistair Begg

This is a great book for any pastor, especially for one who is just starting out. It covers many aspects of the pastor’s role and how to do it well. It is a bit dated, yet most of the content still speaks to the pastoral role today. The first chapter is a great discussion on the call to be a pastor, pointing out that the role can be difficult, but very rewarding if this is what God wants you to do. The authors, both pastors with years of experience themselves, then talk about the character of the pastor, his home life, and how to lead a serve a congregation well. The authors both share examples of how they have applied the teaching in many sections of the book. It is good to see the way two different pastors do the work of ministry. A great book for anyone in ministry!

Church Leadership Series: Part 7: A Leader Must Manage His Family Well

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He must manage his own family well, having children who respect and obey him. For if a man cannot manage his own household, how can he take care of God’s church?

1 Timothy 3: 4,5 (NLT)

his children must be believers who don’t have a reputation for being wild or rebellious. 

 Titus 1: 6 (NLT)

I wonder how many leaders love the idea of leading people as long as it doesn’t intrude on their own personal life. The reality is, when we are leaders, we are still parents and children and siblings.  We have responsibilities at home that affect how we lead and how we lead affects how we handle our responsibilities at home.

A Christian leader must manage his own family well. After all, if you can’t manage your household, how can you be expected to manage the church organization you lead? How you do with your responsibilities at home portrays how you will likely manage others.

Look at Ephesians 6:4: “Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.” Parents, especially fathers, are entrusted with the training and instruction of their children. Church leader, you need to be able to manage your family well.

In 1 Timothy the leader is described as “having children who respect and obey him.” Titus says, “his children must be believers who don’t have a reputation for being wild or rebellious.” I know of Christian leaders who have stepped out of leadership positions because of children who were not obeying them. They felt that if they were not able to manage their family, they should not be in church leadership. I respect that decision as long as there is then an effort to rebuild a relationship with a rebellious child.

There is an expectation that a Christian leader will have a good relationship with his children so the children will willingly respect and obey him. This tells us things about both the leader and their child. This implies that the leader has taken time at home to ensure there is a relationship with the child. Some Christian leaders are “absent fathers” because they spend so much time away from home, or even focused on their leadership responsibilities, that they have not cultivated a loving and caring relationship with their children! A child’s obedience can be an indicator the leader has not parented well, but this is not always the case. It could be that the child is struggling in some other way or is determined to do their own thing, no matter what. If so, then maybe the leader needs to step away from some leadership roles to spend more time with this child.

A leader should not have a “wild and rebellious child” but children who are believers. The leader should take time raising their children to ensure that they came to know Jesus, or at least had every opportunity to do so. Do we really want leaders in the church who have not taken the time to ensure their own children have given their lives to Jesus and accepted Him as their Savior?

Some Christian parents seem to think their role is to make sure their children get to Sunday School and VBS and youth group at church. They may enroll them in a Christian school. Their idea of Christian training is to expect the church to do it all. While all those are good things, they can never be more than an added help. The church cannot be the main contributor to the spiritual growth of children. This must be led by the parents at home. A Christian leader needs to see the value of their own time teaching their children and not expect they can hand it off to the church. A Christian will go out of their way to disciple their children first and then look at leading others.

Keep looking up,

Andy Wiebe

Church Leadership Series: Part 5: A Leader Must Teach

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he must be able to teach

1 Timothy 3: 2 (NLT)

He must have a strong belief in the trustworthy message he was taught; then he will be able to encourage others with wholesome teaching and show those who oppose it where they are wrong.

Titus 1: 9 (NLT)

I love to teach. I love preparing a lesson and then teaching it to a group of people, small or large. I love to see learners understanding a new idea or learning how to apply a truth they have just understood. To be a leader is to instill new ideas and ways of doing things in others who are coming after you. A church leader must be able to teach. This is one of the main ways to instill new ideas and practices in those whom you are leading. My automatic reaction to this verse is to think of teaching thoughts and ideas, of preaching and teaching scripture and discipling others through teaching in a class or sermon. But we all know that teaching is also about hands-on and practical learning.

Apprentices are always learning, but only part of their training is in the classroom. Much of the teaching they receive is active hands-on learning. Leaders in the church may be good classroom teachers, or they may not, but if they are teaching others in practical ways, then they are still teaching.

I find it interesting that in Titus we are told that the leader must have been taught first and must believe what he was taught. A teacher cannot teach what they do not know.

The key teaching in the church is the “trustworthy message” of the gospel. We have heard and now teach the gospel of Jesus Christ to others. As leaders we continue to encourage others to get to know the Jesus of the gospel, and to receive His life-giving forgiveness of sins as we put our faith in Him.

Church leaders are responsible to teach many things in the church, but it always needs to come back to the gospel message. Whether we are teaching others how to be an usher or how to do run the sound board, all of that is to help others continue to hear the gospel message.

Part of a leader’s responsibility is to “show those who oppose it where they are  wrong.” (Titus 1:9) It is not unusual to come across people that have not understood something correctly. Misunderstanding may be as serious as not understanding the forgiveness that Jesus offers to all who believe in Him, or something as simple as not following through on a certain responsibility they accepted. In either case, the leader’s job is to correct when correcting is necessary, and this is done by teaching and showing what the correct understanding is.

It is pretty much impossible to be a leader and not be able to teach. To lead is to be ahead of people in information or practices that somehow need to be passed on to those following. In the process of doing that, you are teaching. Yes, some are more gifted in teaching than others, but a leader will always be able to teach to some level.

Keep looking up,

Andy Wiebe

Church Leadership Series: Part 4: A Leader is Faithful to His Wife

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He must be faithful to his wife

1 Timothy 3: 2 (NLT) and Titus 1: 6 (NLT)

A church leader must be faithful to his wife – or her husband. Paul advises church leaders to remember their priorities. Yes, serving in the church is a good thing – a great thing even – but he warns them not to forget their responsibilities to their spouse as well. Many church leaders work full time jobs outside the church and serve the church with the left-over time they may have. Others work full time in the church as pastoral staff. It is easy to see the church work as being so important that you begin to neglect the person most important to you.

I am serving as a Transition Pastor which means I serve a church for about a year or so in preparation for their next full-time pastor. One of the things I like to do is work with the church to make a plan for the first 90 days of the new pastor’s ministry. I want to help them see the importance for balance in the pastor’s ministry. That same balance needs to be there for any church staff or volunteer. Remember that you need to consider your spouse and make time for them to.

Part of “faithfulness” to your spouse is giving them time too so you do not make them feel they are fighting the church for attention from you. Faithfulness involves giving them priority in your life.

Some versions of 1 Timothy 3: 2 are: “husband of one wife,” or even “man of one woman.” If you want to be a God-honouring church leader, you will protect your marriage. You will be committed to your spouse. You will protect that relationship and not let anyone else into that place that you hold for them.

It is the nature of church work that volunteers work closely with other volunteers. You pour your heart into what you are working on. You are dealing with spiritual issues, which sometimes become emotional issues. In the process, some leaders have begun to transfer feelings and thoughts they had for their spouse to the person they are working so closely with. Guard yourself against sharing too intimate details with someone who is not your spouse, especially if you are working with people from the opposite sex.

You can protect yourself from some of the dangers by doing a few simple things.

  • Never spend time alone with a person of the opposite sex

If you need to meet with someone in your office who is of the opposite sex, make sure your office is set up with windows that anyone walking by can see what is going on inside. Keep the door open. If that does not work, ask if you can have another person sit in on the conversation.

Don’t spend time working on projects with a person of the opposite sex. Invite others to work with you, or make sure that the work being done is out in the open where people are coming and going.  Protect yourself from any problems or perceived problems.

Never drive anywhere with only one person of the opposite sex in your car. Either take separate cars or invite another person to join you.

  • Tell your spouse everything.

Tell your spouse about what you are doing. When you are ever in a situation that may cause an issue, let your spouse know as soon as you can. The more open you are with your spouse the less you will be tempted in the wrong direction. Hiding things lets temptation grow, bringing them out in the open takes the power of that temptation away. And the more you share with your spouse, the more they will trust you as well.

  •  Set guidelines and policies.

The more that is made clear at the beginning, the easier it is to stay on track and protect your relationship with your spouse. Develop clear guidelines for your staff and volunteers to make sure you all understand your desire to protect relationships and marriages.

Church leaders, do everything you can to protect your marriage as you serve the church.

Keep looking up,

Andy Wiebe

Church Leadership Series: Part 2: A Good Reputation

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So a church leader must be a man whose life is above reproach… He must exercise self-control, live wisely, and have a good reputation.

Also, people outside the church must speak well of him so that he will not be disgraced and fall into the devil’s trap.

1 Timothy 3: 2, 7 (NLT)

An elder must live a blameless life.

Titus 1: 6 (NLT)

I have spent much of my life in small towns, towns where it seemed everyone knew who you were, especially if you were the new pastor in town. In smaller places, people know more about you than you realize. They see you around town, they hear the gossip about you. It doesn’t take long for a person to get a reputation. The thing about a reputation is that it can be good or bad, and while a reputation may be influence by others, you have a large part to play in the reputation you earn.

And often that is the case: you have earned your reputation. You have said things or done things that people saw or heard about later, which formed their opinion of you. Your reputation is one you should guard carefully. It is hard to reverse a bad reputation because first impressions make a huge impact.

The Bible tells us that church leaders need to have a good reputation. The two verses above tell us some of what that reputation should look like.

Timothy tells us the leader needs to live a life that is “above reproach” while Titus tells us the leader must live a blameless life. 1 Timothy talks about overseers and bishops, Titus addresses elders, but I will combine those to say they should influence all church leaders, whatever your role may be. If you are leading people, you need to have a good reputation. You need to be above reproach and live a blameless life.

Now, I want to be clear, I do not believe that you or I will lead a completely sinless perfect life, but we can live a life that is generally God-honoring. And when we give in to sin, whether privately or something others see, we address it quickly by confessing our sin, asking for forgiveness from all involved and make right what we can.

If you have a reputation for quickly trying to resolve issues, admitting when you have done wrong and looking to correct that, you may not be blameless, but you will have a reputation that says you long to do what is right. Choose that reputation and work towards it.

1 Timothy 3:2 shows us how to gain and maintain a good reputation: “exercise self-control, live wisely.” Self-control means we are in control of our self. That sounds so simple and yet is so difficult. We so easily allow the actions and words of others to affect how we act. When someone accuses us of poor leadership or belittles something we have poured a lot of time and energy and prayer into, it is easy to respond with frustration and anger. We are called to control our selfish response and love them. Further, we need to recognize that our value is not found in the approval of others but in the approval of God. “Our purpose is to please God, not people. He alone examines the motives of our hearts. (1 Thessalonians 2:4) Self-control must be a self controlled by the God we serve, a submitted heart helps self-control to work.

And then we come to the phrase: “live wisely”. If you desire a good reputation, you need to live wisely, and lead wisely. You need to be careful about what you say and do so that you are seen as someone who is living wisely.

It might be good to be silent and listen more often rather than be quick to speak and end up saying something that is not good. All of us probably have memories of saying something we would like to take back. It may have been said in jest or in anger but did not reflect “living wisely”. Take care that your words and actions reflect wise living.

If you desire to be a church leader, as a volunteer leading a program or as a pastor, guard your reputation. It’s quite okay if people talk about me when they are saying good things, it’s another when they are passing along negative gossip. And unfortunately, the hurtful gossip spreads quickly. Do your part to squash the negative gossip by living in such a way that it has no element of truth in it.

A church leader needs to have a good reputation.

Keep looking up,

Andy Wiebe