It may not be what you think. Last night I came in from a fabulous night at Ivy Central and just got a DOWNLOAD about the Parable of the Sower. I will be making this a major focus of next Monday morning’s ‘Transform Leadership’ gathering at Ivy Central (M20 2GP) 10am to 12pm. It will be on Facebook Live too if you can’t physically join us. Last time there were 50 or so in the room and many more virtually from various parts of the UK, Europe and Africa. Whatever your field as a leader, it’s time to get ready for multiplication!
Author: Anthony Delaney
I speak, I write, I lead.
God’s multiplication looks to us like subtraction
If we’re looking to multiply – how does that work? Today at Ivy Kingsway Ben announced that that church in the Cinema is going to double. It’s been full for too long (not a problem most churches experience), a number of plants have gone out from it, and from Easter Sunday they’re going to try two services, which means the word nobody except babies like – CHANGE. Change is often perceived as pain, until growth happens. This got me thinking about how the Lord doesn’t just change or grow us, but multiplies, but it looks like subtraction. In John 12 read about how some Greeks came, wanting to see Jesus: 20 Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. 21 So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” 22 Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. 23 And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Truly, truly, I […]
Wonderings about Worshipping
Worship is not ‘a service’ we go to. It’s not even what we do during a service. Worship is our service – Romans 12:1 says when we offer our lives to God, and he’s transforming our minds as we do that, as our lives start to line up with his perfect will– this is ‘our reasonable service.’ Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. We want to encourage people to get involved here at Ivy and be a part of what God is up to in our community, but we remember; worship is not a religious ritual or routine, it’s not singing or clapping. It can include some of those things of course but it must never be confined to any particular location or a time of day – that’s the mistake ‘come to church’ church makes, and it’s one reason why I am glad we meet in cinemas, pubs, a warehouse, an arts centre, a […]
SAS Leadership
From my notes from a training day by Floyd Woodrow. Author of Elite Leadership and The Warrior the Strategist and You These notes are from a recent training day I was privileged to attend with Floyd. He was excellent, as you’d expect from a former SAS Major. I recommend both his books and that you follow him on Twitter @floydwoodrow (Tell him I sent you!) Being Elite = the best you can be. Leadership is two way – 1) Yourself 2) Others You want to lead? What are you going to do differently? In terms of how you Think/ Act/ Speak? So you don’t just stay the same. QUESTION: What do you want to be – when you grow up? You are still growing aren’t you? What’s stopping you doing it? Why give up on the bigger dream? How good do you want to be? Sun Tzu – ‘Leadership is a matter of intelligence, trustworthiness, humaneness, courage and discipline…When one has five virtues together, each appropriate to its function, then one can be a leader.’ Nobody has all those 5 virtues at day one, but we […]
When God says, ‘I’m not coming!’ (Pete Greig)
(My notes from a great talk by Pete when he recently visited Ivy) One of the most surprising verses in the Bible is Ex 33:1-3 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Leave this place, you and the people you brought up out of Egypt, and go up to the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ 2 I will send an angel before you and drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 3 Go up to the land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go with you, because you are a stiff-necked people and I might destroy you on the way.” Nobody has verse 3 on a tea towel: “I will not go with you.” You’re on your own. I’m not coming. What’s that about? Moses says ‘No deal! No way! I’m not doing that deal.’ I can’t lose you. Even though God said, ‘It’s all going to happen, every prayer will be answered, but I’m not coming.’ How about us? Would we say ‘No! We want […]
You Can Build A Ship, But You Can’t Make The Wind Blow. Matt Chandler
My notes from a stand out talk from this year’s Exponential West 2016; At conferences, you see the speakers up there, like they have something special going on, and then there’s’ little old me.’ Like they have these great big ocean liners and you’re in your little rowboat. But that’s not what matters. We can all aim to implement great practices; we can try to build that a bigger, better ship. But… we can’t make the wind blow. We can gather, we can motivate, but we can’t transform. We are so much in need of the Holy Spirit to blow that wind, in the hope that we move forward. We must not think though, that He isn’t a magical genie in a lamp that you simply rub and it will happen! What we can do is look at the place where the wind blows. If we position ourselves where the wind has a tendency to blow, it will happen. Amid the books, the conferences or podcasts we can all think ‘the Church needs Tim Keller, or someone…’ but he put Keller […]
Want To Be A Great Leader? Try This!
John Maxwell said, ‘A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.’ That’s why I say if you’re looking for the supreme example of true leadership don’t look to a football manager, politician or a business mogul. Look at Jesus Christ. Jesus was an extraordinary leader. Just think…it’s 2000 years since he walked on this earth, yet over 2 Billion people right now around the world who would say they are Christians. This morning I was blown away as I read one short passage in the gospel of Mark that holds for me Jesus’ THREE secrets to what he called great leadership. GET GOING. Mark 10:32-45 starts by saying Jesus and his disciples were on their way to Jerusalem and Jesus was leading the way. Even though he knows and then predicts that there is pain, betrayal, a cross and a grave awaiting him. it says he was ‘leading the way.’ That’s what great leaders do. The first secret. Get going. Nobody can follow someone going nowhere. if you stay still, nothing’s going to […]
What Season Are You In?
From the window where I’m sitting the season is one of my favourites – autumn, but the people I was with last week would call it fall, and by virtue of the fact that people read the blog from all over the world, I’m not going to assume anything. We often think in terms of what time it is, and plan our lives by the clock or the calendar. I live day to day, plan month to month, and have an awareness of what season I am in, whatever the weather. Ecclesiastes 3:1 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven. What season of life are you in right now? You have to discern what season you are in, because you can’t be the same in each of them. I heard a talk years back by Jim Rohn who described these four seasons and though I have forgotten the detail of what he said, I’ve tried to apply the wisdom from it. WINTER – Hang in There! Job 37:6 “He directs the snow to fall […]
Rick Warren – Is Your Church Mature?
What a privilege today to meet and hear Rick Warren here at Exponential. He’s been an inspiration to me for twenty years. Most years at Ivy we do one of his ’40 Days’ journeys of some kind and they have really helped us. I think I have read more of his sermons, blogs and books than any other Christian leader (well, he puts a lot out there!) and so in that sense he has influenced me more than most. Here at Exponential the emphasis is of course on Church planting and what many will not know is that as well as being a Megachurch guy, he’s one of the most prolific planters on the planet. I was able to spend a little time with him today and I’m praying we can get him to come to Europe. Here’s my notes on today’s talk: it was off the charts. __________________ Should I grow or should I send? There is a tension between attractional and missional and people have weighed in on both sides. Should I grow or should I send? The answer is – BOTH! The first public […]
IF God is so good, why is the world so bad?
Every day for weeks we have been bombarded with horror stories. Orlando and then various cities in the USA, Baghdad, Syria (of course), then Nice – a place where Ivy has mission partners that I have visited so it feels a lot closer to home. It really wasn’t that long since Zoe and I sat on the Promenade des Anglais, looking out at the sea and praying together. A beautiful place – and then irrational, unfathomable evil is unleashed and the innocent suffer again. How are we supposed to deal with it? And whether you believe in God or hate the idea of God, you have to deal with it. Sociologist Peter Berger said we all have to come up with a solution to this for ourselves in some way, or we’ll find the world unbearable. We’ll crack up. That’s one reason the world is so hopeless and fearful right now. People are still trying to figure it all out, and they can’t… Last night at Ivy I addressed the issues in a talk entitled How can God be good, when […]