LIFT THE LID ON YOUR LEADERSHIP

LIFT THE LID Some of us have put a lid on how much God can use us, and in this season, He wants to lift it off.   Growing up, I was never a leader. We were hard workers but nobody in my family was a leader. I thought some people were ‘born leaders’, but not me. When I became a police officer I had no desire to go up the ranks, because I never saw myself as a leader. And you’ll always BE who you SEE you are.  I had a lid on. Then I came to know Jesus and he called me to lead people to know him, so eventually I spent three years training studying theology. But they taught nothing about leadership, because the people teaching had never led a church, let alone grown one. You have to be one to grow one. Then a few years into ministry, I read a book by a guy called John Maxwell entitled ‘The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership”. It totally blew my mind. I got to meet him at the Albert Hall a few years ago and […]

TOO MANY NAKED CHRISTIANS

There are too many naked Christians.  I was reading through Ephesians 6 today – very familiar passage to most of us who connect regularly with the Bible and that phrase popped into my head!   It struck me how often we just view this as metaphorical, rather than vital. We don’t wear what we’ve been told to wear. Put on the full armour of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. So here’s why we fall. Why we don’t keep standing. We go out into a battlefield without the armour on. I have this picture sometimes of something like the D Day landings – Saving Private Ryan– bombs, bullets, blood sweat and tears. Then through the middle of it all is a guy walking across the beach with his Labrador. Totally oblivious! That’s the church. Wondering why we get so many wounded. Leaders too – supposedly, taken out so easily, so often, so soon.  When I was in the police, I spent a lot of […]

SEVEN WORDS That Will Put Your Business, Church or Organisation Out Of Business In A Covid World.

Wednesday is my day off. I love Wednesday. This week I dropped my wife at work at the hospital and then thought I’d call in at one of my favourite local places to eat a socially distant but healthy breakfast, drink a coffee, and read a novel. I was especially keen because the Chancellor has told us to ‘help out by eating out’ which is my kind of patriotic act. He incentivised this by effectively making my breakfast and coffee half price through August. Win/win. I won’t name the place but I am regular and know the guy who runs it so I said Hi and then said with a smile, ‘Can’t wait for the half price deal!’ His response? “I’VE NOT GOT ROUND TO IT YET.” Those are seven words that will put you out of business, right there. Now this is of course your classic first world problem. I can make breakfast myself. I am actually very good at breakfast. Their coffee is okay, not great to be honest but it’s the being out and about that makes […]

REFRAMING CHURCH with Alan Hirsch – Video Interview

Alan Hirsch is the founder of 100Movements, Forge Mission Training Network, and Future Travelers.   KNOWN FOR HIS INNOVATIVE APPROACH TO MISSION, ALAN IS WIDELY CONSIDERED TO BE A THOUGHT-LEADER AND KEY MISSION STRATEGIST FOR CHURCHES ACROSS THE WESTERN WORLD. Alan is the author of 5Q: Reactivating the Original Intelligence and Capacity of the Body of Christ, The Forgotten Ways; co-author of The Shaping of Things to Come, ReJesus and The Faith of Leap. (with Michael Frost); Untamed (with Debra Hirsch); Right Here, Right Now (with Lance Ford): On the Verge (with Dave Ferguson); The Permanent Revolution (with Tim Catchim): and Reframation (with Mark Nelson) This week I had the pleasure of a fun and wide ranging convo with Alan. Things we discussed included… The world has changed! How do we ‘reframe’ to see with ‘soft eyes’?  Insights from Alan’s fantastic ‘must read for the future’ book Reframation and general great stuff ranging from;   Aldous Huxley Reframing Church – without buildings?  Never going back to ‘normal’.  Learning to play a new game.  ‘Dinner party’ churches.  Liminality, risk, innovation.  Lessons from the persecuted church.  Openness and evangelistic opportunities (TODAY global mission is the 15th of May not the 18th!)  APEST […]