You've Gotta FAIL If You Want To SUCCEED
Did you know that the average small business owner fails 2.7 times before finally reaching success? That means they have to publicly fall flat on their faces and lose everything over two times before they learn all the secrets necessary for full-time success! The term “Overnight Success” is an oxymoron.
I believe the same is true in ministry: you’ve gotta FAIL if you want to SUCCEED!
In failure:
You learn how not to treat the people you lead
Discoveries are made in scheduling and planning for major events
Emotional IQ is enhanced and increased
Persistence is stirred up for later reliance
WHO you can trust and count on during tough times is revealed
Humility is accepted as the pathway to greatness.
Every crisis is an opportunity.
Dream Again. Dream Bigger. Dream Better.
The Dream is the Distance: Everything looks different from a distance.
Even though you see empty seats, there is an opportunity for growth.
Genesis 41 tells us the following:
The dark room is where he develops the negatives.
The more God uses you, the more He humbles you.
Purpose Over Position -- Believe this and you will never get offended!
No Mess, No Ministry
No Drama, No Dream
God did not say this would be easy; He said He would be with you.
If you are currently experiencing or feeling failure, GREAT! It’s a necessary prerequisite to achieving greater ground for Kingdom expansion! Keep your chin up, your head low, and your posture as a servant-leader. In Christ, the best is yet to come!
2 QUESTIONS TO ASK IF YOUR CHURCH FEELS STUCK
Churches get stuck all the time.
Too often we can find ourselves doing ministry out of memory.
For what it's worth, here are 2 Important Questions for Fearless Leaders to ask...
1) HAVE WE LOST OUR LOVE FOR LOST PEOPLE?
400 years ago Protestants fled England and came to the New World to set up churches... for themselves. If your church is insider-focused, it's because of our Pilgrim heritage!
Ignite your passion for what ignites God's heart -- Remind your church that EVERY person matters!
If your church is reaching the lost, you WILL be a target from RELIGIOUS people!
Religious people were ALWAYS walking away and rejecting Jesus throughout His ministry. If you are not receiving the same rejection as Jesus, then you may not be preaching the same gospel that Jesus preached!
Ask yourself: Am I a fisher of men or a keeper of an aquarium?
2) AM I LEADING WITH A RISING LEVEL OF HOPE?
Nothing great ever happens THROUGH YOU until it happens TO YOU!
Look at every great hero in the Scriptures:
Moses spent 40 years in the wilderness before ascending into leadership
David was living in a cave down by the river for a decade
Peter beat himself up after rejecting Jesus three times
God LOVES using BROKEN people to minister to BROKEN people!
The key is to not wallow in your brokenness. Minister from the OVERFLOW of what the Lord is doing in your life and in your heart! You cannot lead people to a place that you are not already at.
The most important thing I do as a leader: Making sure that I stay encouraged!
Ask yourself: 'What things CHARGE MY BATTERIES?'
If your internal batteries aren't charged up, you will fall into weariness.
DISCOURAGEMENT precedes DESTRUCTION:
The Enemy RUINS your FUTURE by first RUINING your DAY so that you will run toward destructive habits and choices!
LEVERAGING LAUGHTER TO ECLIPSE LEADERS' FEARS
The late Dr. Martin de Maat had a profound impact on my life (I wrote about that here). He was not only my professor and mentor, he was a close friend (Martin was even one of my wedding groomsmen!).
Dr. de Maat taught me so much not only about improvisational-comedy, but more importantly about the joy of doing life together:
"What happens... in being with each other in acceptance and Yes And-ing each other, is that you as an individual start to believe in yourself because you begin to see yourself in the others' eyes.
Your ensemble, your group, your team, your committee, is the one that's believing in you and you pull it together to do it for them.
You know, it's simply recognizing you're not alone. It's love and unconditional acceptance.
You put yourself in a place of support, unconditional acceptance and love for who you are, the way you are and your uniqueness, and what you do is grow. You surround yourself with people who are truly interested in you and listen to you, and you will grow.
And it doesn't take much to start advancing you, it doesn't take much of that support, it doesn't take much of that love and that care and you can do it. You can play act with people. You can be in a state of play together."
This is how comedians create new material.
Yes And leads to trust leads to contagious unity leads to childlike creativity.
Its how leaders might lead teams in the 21st Century.
Don't settle for the loneliness of leadership isolation.
Dream of and strive for a team of church leaders who are accepting of one another's uniquenesses. After all, we each bring different strengths to the table.
I love what Martin would say about the group dynamics of creating comedy through Yes And:
"There's a lot of laughter that goes on. Since we're laughing together, we're true community. It's a very safe place to confront your fears. The minute somebody says, 'Perform!' your fear comes up..."
As we Yes And, may we as leaders embrace contagious unity and laughter.
By refusing to perform and instead choosing raw, authentic community, we may just lead at a higher, deeper, more spiritually-sensitive level than before...
CUT THE CHEESE: 3 STEPS TOWARD CREATING A NON-CHEESY RADIO SPOT FOR YOUR CHURCH
I’m a big believer in leveraging all media by all means to reach all people for the gospel. There’s just one thing that drives me crazy… Cheesy Christian Media.
Let’s be honest: if Christians excel in one area of media, it’s the cheese. We try to clumsily lump theological doctrine into 30 second church ads thinking that the goal is information-transfer.
Nope, sorry.
Effective advertising is more about connecting emotionally and relationally.
If you can touch the heart (or funny bone), you earn permission to invite people into your story.
First, here’s a recent spot:
Three steps we’ve learned in cutting the cheese:
1) KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE!
This radio spot is not designed for deeply theological, life-long Christians. In fact, I’ve already taken heat from over-saved Christians on the internet. And I don’t care, because I’m not called to make men happy but instead to obey the Lord.
The message in this radio spot is aimed toward people who wouldn’t normally darken a church door. When you know exactly who you are communicating to, it won’t bother you when the rocks come flying from outsiders.
2) CONSISTENCY BREEDS TRUST!
When I lived in north-east Ohio, I was impressed by the media strategy of Knute Larson, a now-retired pastor of The Chapel. Over the course of many years, by consistently lending his own voice and personality to church radio and tv ads, people throughout the region began to trust Knute. Even people who never attended church began to naturally think of Knute as “their pastor.”
If they ever encountered a crisis in their lives, they knew Knute Larson and The Chapel were a safe place to go to for help. That’s my heart for Life Church in the Great Lakes Bay Region. Consistency breeds trust.
Proverbs 22 says, “A good name is more desirable than great riches.” Life Church has a strong reputation and name recognition among unchurched Millennials and Gen Xers in our region of Michigan as a safe, non-judgemental place to ask real questions about faith. That is important to me as our church continues moving forward.
3) EXAGGERATE THE TABOO!
In this 2017 ad, we were told by the radio station that we couldn’t say the full title of the movie in our radio ad for legal reasons.
What could have been a hurdle was instead turned into an opportunity.
In my improv-comedy training, I learned about the power of exaggerating the taboo. I talk more about this in my first book, Comedy-Driven Leadership: there are no mistakes, only opportunities.
In this case, we thought it would be hilarious for our 60 second radio ad for a church to have words that are being beeped out. It would actually make the radio spot more interesting, like playing a little game with the audience!
The result is a fresh and fun radio spot that is gaining traction in the Great Lakes Bay Region. More people will feel welcomed at Life Church and the story of God’s love will echo into more hearts.
Perfect is Overrated
You tinker and tinker and tinker until... what? Until its perfect?
Sometimes you just gotta pull the trigger and do it.
Don't wait until its perfect (because it never will be).
Give it your best shot, throw it out there, and see what happens.
If you get feedback that it stinks, fix it. If its celebrated, hooray!
But it will never be perfect.
Perfect is overrated.
As Tina Fey says, "Perfect is boring on live tv."
Why You Should Never Give Up On Your Dream
In 1962, the Beatles auditioned for Decca Records.
The label turned them down, saying that “guitar groups are on the way out”
and “the Beatles have no future in show business.”
And after that, the Beatles stopped making music forever.
Hug the Cactus
Grudges are dumb.
When you hold something against someone else, you imprison one person: yourself.
Forgiveness is the most powerful force in the universe: