Finding Mentors Online – 5 Reasons Download Podcasts

Just about all of the old management and leadership books I’ve read said that the key to your success is ultimately finding yourself a good mentor.  In its simplest terms, a mentor is someone who trains, advises, and shares practical experience with someone else. The mentee gains from a “knowledge transfer.”  But how many of you know mentors don’t just fall from the sky?  You can’t go through Burger King’s ‘Have it your way’ drive through and say, “I’ll have the combo meal – no pickles and a ‘mentor’ please.”

When we think in terms of mentors we think of a single person we can call, meet with to guide and advise us personally.  But the truth is who really has the time? By the time you manage all of your own stuff that you are REQUIRED to manage;  it’s unreasonable to say  with the left over time that you’re going to mentor someone. Don’t get me wrong, I am sure there are people who devote their lives to mentoring others and have successful mentor/mentee relationships I just wasn’t one of them. Thank God, however, that I did not throw myself a pity party and accept defeat, but began looking for indirect mentoring opportunities.

Here’s what I mean.  I have an extensive library on church management and leadership.  I have come to respect and really appreciate the life experience of many of the authors. They have addressed just about every area of ministry- my topic of interest.  As I stated before, a mentor is one who trains, advises, and shares …  The truth of the matter is we can be mentored through the words in a book or words on an audio and if you are lucky you can be mentored by way of a video. The bottom line is to find a format where you can receive benefits from a ‘knowledge transfer.’

Finding an ‘online’ mentor is easier than you think.  Once you identify someone you respect, many times you will find them referencing how someone else that has spoken into their lives. Some even share names of their favorite blogs and web sites as resource links on their sites.  I start here, compiling a list of their favorites.  Next, I start the visits.  Chances are if the person you started with has a website, a blog and a podcast so do your other potential mentors.  Once you identify that they have a podcast — download a way!

Why look for a mentor this way and download their podcast?  Here are 5 Reasons.

1. It’s quick, easier than the traditional ways of finding a mentor and its convenient.
2. You get to hear with your ears their voice and sense the author’s feelings and passion on a particular subject
3. It’s to the point, because you download just what you want to hear or see.
4. More exposure and engagement. Many podcasters provide blogs and or forums where you can engage in conversation too.
5. It’s FREE.  For the most part there is no cost to download a podcast.

Mentor / Mentee Relationship
Knowledge Transfer

My ‘short’  list of  author’s who I consider to be my online mentors in the area of church leadership and management. DISCLAIMER:   I am not connected to them personally so if they were to ever mess up – they mess up.  I don’t believe in throwing the baby out with the bath water.  I benefit from the “knowledge transfer” of such individuals as: Andy Stanley, Matthew Hyatt, Rick Warren, Mark Driscoll, Frances Chan, Myles Munroe along with others.

Trouble with being Disciplined!

At pastor’s conference a pastor asked the speaker of the hour to address the challenge of pastors being disciplined and goal oriented.

The conference leader (an apostle) responded that many pastors are ‘busy-bodies,’ often doing a lot of stuff, but too often they are not accomplishing anything of value.  This occurs because pastors are not being driven by their vision.

Your vision drives everything.  If you don’t have a vision . .

• you don’t know what to do with your skills
• you don’t know what to do with your time
• you don’t know what to do with your day
• you don’t know what to do with your friends
• you don’t know what to do with your money

“Pastors, there is no need for you even to have a budget meeting if you don’t have a VISION because you wont know what to do with the resources.  Why not? Because the VISION drives the money appropriation.”

• Your vision should drive HOW you will spend your day.
• Your vision should drive HOW you manage your money
• Your vision should determine WHO you  spend time with

You must clarify your purpose by answering who am I and what have I been called to do and what do I want to see?  You must state publicly what GOALS you wish to achieve. These goals are considered to be stepping stones to achieve your ultimate vision.  These goals should be reasonable and attainable.  For example,   Vision: to lose weight Goal:  you want to lose 100 pounds.  Is is realistic to lose 100 pounds right away?  Answer: No.  Instead, try celebrating losing 10  pounds at a time by September.

Manage your boundaries.  When you have established your vision, your CAN and CAN‘NOTS’  should naturally fall in place. You begin to say “no” to those things that do not line up with your vision.  As a result of managing boundaries, your life becomes disciplined because your vision has demanded it.

In SUMMARY:

1. Clarify your purpose!  Why am I here and what do I want to see?
2. Manage your boundaries
3. Establish reasonable goals
4. Celebrate attaining your goals and sub goals  (celebrate small successes along the way!)

Church Time Challenges

Many churches need to consider purchasing countdown timers. From experience, being a MC (Master of Ceremonies) is no joke. It’s harder than one thinks. You are not only responsible for keeping the people entertained as you move from one segment to another on the program, but your biggest challenge is keeping people within the time constraints. Have you heard someone say, “I know I’ve been given the time, but the spirit says…” ? We usually hear this sort of statement when the congregation is responding and publicly displaying their enjoyment with the speaker or singers.

I went to a choir anniversary not long ago where it was standing room only. It seemed that every choir that was invited came to attend. The M.C. politely addressed the groups telling them to sing a theme song and one song and to not sing too long as a sign of respect to the choirs that would be singing after them.

THE SIGNALS.  The M.C. further stated if he got up and clapped along that meant he was enjoying it and you were within your time. However, if he got up and began to subtly clear his throat that was the signal to wrap it up and bring the song to a close. The congregation and the invited choirs chuckled.

IGNORING THE M.C.  The program was going along well. Because we were all having a good time, it hardly seemed like we had already been there three hours. A group got up and began to sing. They sounded like professionals and were very entertaining. But they exceeded the time limit. The M.C. attempted to get their attention. In obedience (or so we thought) the group moved away from their mikes and slowly made their way down the center isle, but they continued to sing and their musicians continued to play. The congregation was thoroughly entertained by their showmanship; however, the MC after repeated attempts to get their attention was not amused.

THE FINAL CALL.  Finally, after three or four attempts to get either the choir or muscians’ attention and after being ignored, the M.C. abruptly called out to the musicians and told them that he felt very disrespected. This rebuke was negatively received by many members of the congregation. Some even said they thought the M.C. was ignornant and had no right to embarass them that way and got up and left in protest.  I asked the question, “But what about the M.C., what about embarassing him? The M.C. apologized if people were offended but stressed the value of being obedient and told the people under the sound of his voice, “In Jesus name, it just is not fair.”

THE ABUSE OF PRIVELEDGE. The truth is I have gone to countless anniversaries where groups have been asked to respect the timing and song guidelines and did not. I’ve seen them sing an extra song or I have witnessed them sing a chorus over and over and over again at the expense of other groups in the line up.  They call it “Following the Spirit.” This is mostly seen when the crowd is expressing that they are enjoying the performance. 

THE REAL PROBLEM.  The real issue for the M.C. is to maintain a pleasant environment for everyone and that includes the remaining groups on the schedule to sing. Everyone deserves an audience.  It does not feel good when the next group gets up to sing and more than three quarters of the church is leaving because the hour has grown late.   It is not fair to the remaining groups and it is disrespectful.

CONSIDER A COUNTDOWN TIMER. I have been saying for years that churches need to invest in a  countdown timer. Anniversaries, especially funerals, as well as other programs go on too long because people abuse priveledge.  In their defense, the truth is most people, without looking at their watches, simply have no clue when their two, 10 or 20 minute time frames are up.  Timer clocks would serve to remind them when time is up! 

Pastors, if you have this problem with people disrespecting the guidelines consider purchasing a timer countdown. More  churches than you think use timer countdowns. It helps us to raise the bar.  They are inexpensive and I agree with the M.C. in that there is a  value in being obedient for even the Good Book says,  “Obedience is better than sacrifice!”

RESOURCES. Here are some resources you may be interested in:
http://www.faithclipart.com/category/church-countdown-timers.html
http://churchcountdowns.com/
http://www.sermonspice.com (select ‘Countdown’ tab)

Social Media – Can the Church Benefit?

Hope you enjoyed the above video. Take a look at these stats gleaned from the video. 
50% of the world’s population is under the age 30 (this generation is very techno saavy)

• Years to reach 50 million people through advertising with . . .

Radio – 38 years
TV – 13 years
Internet – 4 years
iPod – 3 years
Facebook – less than a year reached 200 million
     If Facebook were a country, it would be the 3rd largest country
     Fastest growing segment on Facebook is 55-65 year-old female

80% of companies use social media for recruitment
YouTube -2nd Largest search engine in the world
Blogs – There are 200,000,000 blogs (people posting opinions about products, services, movies, events and experiences)

Churches Need to Get On Board.The church has got to get on board regarding social media.  It is really unfortunate to see just how far the church has lagged behind.  Finally we are getting on board with email and now email is slowly becoming obsolete as many people are using FaceBook to communicate especially through the use of their smart phones. 

Traditional forms of advertising SUCK!  Let’s Face it, traditional forms of promotion and advertisement don’t give you the bang for your buck anymore. I remember the times when a 2X2 inch newspaper advertisement cost me $250 to reach 30,000 subscribers and I got three responses.  Of course I only ran the ad one time.  Professionals say you need to run your ad atleast seven times before it is effective. I could not afford that! I also advertised on the radio and it cost me $1250 to run a 30 second ad  twice a day randomly for five days. This did yeild me greater results, but was still limited. I was told for effective advertising that I needed to run the ad for two weeks, but again budget was an issue.

But you can’t beat FREE! The Internet, FaceBook, Podcasts, etc.  – their reach extends as far and wide as you want (I should say if you are willing to work it).  And the good news with all of this is that the services are FREE.  Come on churches, FREE!  You know we like FREE – anything.  Get your youth involved to promote your events using Facebook and Twitter.  Put a 2 minute YouTube video on your website promoting your upcoming event or better yet have your young people send the video on their FaceBook pages.  The average young person has more than 400 friends EACH.  A lot of their friends are adults too. 

Pastors Connect! Pastors you can also send church member shout outs as a way of connecting  with your peeps. Take a look at how other pastors are using it and GET On Board.  FaceBook – The Internet is NOT a FAD.  It’s here to stay.  Like anything else, it may start out free, but who is to say how long it will be free. 

The Queen King is Dead! Lastly, I would like to leave you with this  – – the next time you find yourself doubting the influence and power of the Internet, think about the people in Egypt who used the social media influence and power to dethrone their king. 

Pull the Plug Already! That’s Too Much Grace

There is something as “Too Much Grace.” The church is the only organization that will keep a ‘thing’ on life support when it is evident that you needed to ‘pull the plug” long ago. This is so true with: Programs/Annual Events/Staff and even Volunteers.

As a senior pastor you may not have the heart to pull the plug because inevitably it would probably lead to more conflict. Face it, your life, like that of many others probably can’t stand one more thing –  so your position is to “Let sleeping dogs die.” But the problem is that the dog keeps hangin around. It won’t die on its own.

When we look at the phrase “too much grace,” it refers to giving a person or a thing an unlimited amount of chances to get it right and or be successful even if it means compromising other things.

The president of Egypt had been reigning for more than 30 years when the people had had enough. “We want our king out of office – NOW!” they shouted. Their economy had reached an all time low; poverty and unemployment had reached an all time high. The people protested in the streets yelling, shouting and displaying handwritten signs. Feeling the pressure from his people, the king stated that he would not run for re-election in the fall and that he would leave office then. The people responded, “NOT good enough – leave office now!” The king stated that he had heard their cries, their passions and he promised to work on reform. The people turned a deaf ear to the king and shouted all the more, “Step down, leave.” The people’s sentiments were, “If you haven’t done anything in 30 years, why should we expect anything in 30-years and six months.

It is the same with our churches, we as pastors will keep supporting those programs year after year because they have a 20-30 or 50 year history even if the same 13 people are the only ones attending. You know Brother Boring should not be doing announcements as he puts everyone asleep, but he is faithful to his job. You know you should send your secretary packing. Things are just not working out, from spelling errors in the bulletin, to missed appointments and to make matters worse she isn’t all that great on the computer. But you continue to hold out waiting for the day that she will “wow” you with her competence. 

Somehow you are feeling guilty in that firing someone whether staff or volunteer or deleting a program is unChristian like.  But it is very Christian like. We are to be good stewards.  God expects us to maximize the resources we are given to manage. 

Do you remember the story of the Fig Tree?  It was not producing and the manager told his assistant to cut it down.  It was wasting soil and another tree could be planted in its place that would bear fruit.  There was some grace extended by the assistant in that he was going to pay special attention to the tree.  He bargained with the manager, but I ask you what if the assistant still could not get the tree to bear fruit, would you object to the tree being cut down?

Communication – Talkin Loud and Sayin Nothin!

Church Communication. I was reading a blog this morning that talked about communication in church.  This is said to be one of the main reason for conflict in a church at every level – the ‘Lack of Communication and Ineffective Communication.’  I looked up the word, “Communication.”  Here is it’s definition – – The exchange of thoughts, messages, or information, as by speech, signals, writing, or behavior.  Suffice it to say, we do a lot of communicating. Sure we all communicate, but how effective are we? 

I have heard pastors say, “I talked to my committee for two hours and they still say they don’t know what they are to do.”  Well I hate to tell you this, but James Brown said it best, “Talking Loud & Saying Nothing.”   If not a single committee member after two hours understands what you want them to do, the problem lies not with them, but with you and how you are communicating.  I would suggest that you change the way you are communicating.  Perhaps your conversations are too broad and need to be more specific – more focused, perhaps you need to bring in some props, take a field trip, tell a story or at least communicate in writing in a numbered list format what your expectations are in order to enhance clarity. 

 Growing up my mother use to say these words, “I shouldn’t have to tell you, you should know.”  This statement really bothered me.  up.  If this is your sentiments regarding your leadership and staff, this is why you may be frustrated, overwhelmed and stressed.  I didn’t like when my mother said this to me because she is assuming that the only thing I am thinking about is that thing she deemed important when psychologist will tell you at any given time the average person is juggling multiple thoughts at a time.  It is simply not only about you and what you want and what you think is important.  Yet if it is important to you then you will take the time to pray on how best to communicate a thought, idea or expectation to those you lead.  They are not mind-readers; you must be clear about your expectations of them.  If they are true servants they will do what they can to meet your expectations.

Cell Phones in Church

A few weeks ago I wrote a post entitled, “They’re Not Praying, They’re Texting” which made a case for the reasonable application use of cell phones during a church service. For example: emergencies, message alerts, evangelism, referencing scriptures, asking questions and even engaging your congregation in contests. Yet with any good thing you got to know when to draw the line. Have you ever forgotten to put your phone on silent? Has it ever gone off in church? It probably didn’t go off while you were in the middle of high praise – like during the offertory, but more like when they say , “Let us pray.” If that were not enough, you don’t have the regular ring tone chime, but the theme song to Martin Lawrence and Will Smith’s “Bad boys, bad boys whatcha gonna do, whatcha gonna do when they come for you” – making everybody burst out laughing. How’s that for embarassment? Of course we need to remind people to put there phones on silent, but we enivitably forget. I recently came across this funny video put together by Westminister Presbyterian Church located in Burbank, California. It truly makes the point on why boundaries are needed.

Enjoy! Have you ever forgot to put your phone on silent? At what point in the service did it go off? What was your ring tone? LOL!

From Ideas to Execution

I was on a conference call this morning and I learned some tips that I think are worth sharing.  You may already know this, but you still need to hear it – or in this case read about it.  I really can’t wait to put my video’s online that way you can see and hear!  I have been working with churches for a long time and I must say one thing that really frustrates me  is that  it’s the only institution that operates as if it has all the time in the world and that in spite of the world changing around her believes it can continue to operate as it has been for the last 20 or 30 years.

Apostle Ron Carpenter and Dr. Paul Gaehring of Redemption World Outreach Center (15,000 members) spoke on their experience on getting  jobs done.  They took us through a 5 step process. 1) Brainstorm, 2) Determine top 4 or 5 Church Initiatives, 3) Assign Church initiatives to someone, 4) EXECUTE with expected date and 5) Manage what has been executed.

 

1) BRAINSTORM.  You need to have brainstorming meetings with your leadership team. (They are like ‘think tanks’ and are done quite often especially in forturne 500 companies, but seldom in the church).  The idea is to provide a platform for which new ideas can be aired and you also address how to make existing programs ‘better.’  Not only do you need to brainstorm, pastors need to determine how often to meet to have these sessions (monthly; quarterly or semi-annual).  The goal could be to come up with 20 ideas.  Then the *team determines top five and addresses action items on remaining 15 (wait, consider in 24 months, don’t have budget, not pratical, throw out, won’t work at our church, etc.) * The senior pastor, of course, has the final say in determining top five.

 

2) CHURCH INITIATIVES.  Determine top 4 or 5 items and give the items a name or description.  For example: the “Church Initiatives.”

3) ASSIGN RESPONSIBILITY. Assign these “Church Iniatives” to your leadership team member.This person or persons are taking responsibility of the action items related to the assignment. No assignment, job does not get done no matter how many people who seem to be on board at the meeting.

4) EXECUTE WITH ASSIGNED DATE. Execution phase must include date – (Do NOT leave open-ended otherwise if will never get done).

5) MANAGE INITIATIVE. Senior pastors, whatever is being executed, MUST be managed.  (Sometimes the one who initiated the project is not the best one to manage the project.  His or her gifting may be to just initiate, to set up and start, but it may be someone else’s gifting to manage.)

Hopefully this information has help to serve as a reminder that you must  be intentional and that things just wont happen just because we want them to.  Someone once said that “Knowledge is Power.”  I use to believe that, but no longer do because knowledge that is not applied is nothing more than knowledge.  A lot of church doors have been closed, but the leader had knowledge.  So I would rather say, “Applied Knowledge is Power!”  May God Bless Your Ministry!

Clean Up Own Money Issues in PRIVATE!

DEBT.  The other dirty 4-letter  word.  When you talk budget, debt or about money in general people get all ‘willy-nilly.’  In one of my financial workshops I stated that “Money makes people funny. Don’t mess with my Money.”  People are willing to talk about just about any other subject, but Managing their Money.  It’s like they don’t want you looking in their ‘panty’ drawers. 

Debt: No one likes to say it. Everyone likes to pretend it they don’t have it, others look down on others who have it, churches try to ignore it BUT the smart ones try to eliminate it. Hmmm….. 

I recently sent out a FaceBook post giving people (especially our pastors, leaders and ministers) a Christmas gift that would probably be the best gift they will ever receive.  It could be the gift that keeps on giving.  That gift was a resource to a software I discovered years ago entitled, “Debt-Analyzer.”  It’s the same type of program that professional debt-reducers use to put people on a plan to get rid of their debt.  The good news is that it is only $29.95.    It will be interesting to see how many people will respond favorably.  I am not expecting much (not even from the pastors), but at least I did plant the seed. 

PASTORS/MINISTRY LEADERS: the above statement isn’t to offend you, but to get you fired up to make a difference in the lives of your congregation.  If your members are freed from the burdens of debt, they will be more likely to follow the mandate of tithing.  Churches across the nation are feeling the affects of reduced tithes and offerings.  Let me also say that I get nothing (no financial gain whatsoever) for promoting this software.  I am offering this because I am on a Kingdom mission and I have used it and know first hand that it works!

Now how do I know that this software is a good investment?  The answer to this is I’ve used it for myself and paid off all my credit cards, car loans in short of two years.  Had I not quit my job 10+ years ago, my family would have been completely debt-free including our mortgage October 2005 – paying off my home 18 years earlier and saving more than $125,000 in interest payments alone!

This software will allow you to generate your own plan! Create a professional debt reduction plan applying the same techniques used by banks and credit counselors. And, do it in the comfort and PRIVACY of your own home or office.  If you follow the plan it is guaranteed to Save you money! 

Hop online: www.debtanalyzer.com  and take a look at the flyer.  I encourage you to invest in yourself or buy this software as a gift for anyone.  Great Christmas gift, graduation or wedding gift!

Be Blessed and Remember – – – “It’s About the Kingdom!!”

Just What is a MegaChurch Anyway?

You have heard the term MegaChurch.  When does a church become a megachurch? According to my research it’s when a church grows to a congregation of 2,000 or more people.  Another name for a megachurch is also known as a  “seeker church,” because they cater primarily to new Christians and seekers, rather than to Christians who are already attending services.

Megachurches tend to grow to their great size within a very short period of time, usually in less than ten years, and under the tenure of a single senior pastor. Nearly all megachurch pastors are male, and are viewed as having considerable personal charisma.

What makes a church turn into a megachurch? Answer. Aside from an effective charismatic leader/pastor who can preach well and who is highly motivational and persuasive, the existence of elaborate systems, the creation of relevant ministries, active outreach support and being staff supported.  This is just some of the characteristics of a megachurch.