Vision
Leaders! i said it before and i'll say it again. You owe it to your people to give them a God compelling and Christ honouring vision.
Bill hybels said this before that without a vision people perish. Not literally but spiritually. People will start dragging their feet to church events. Their shoulders sag, their sparkle in the eyes are gone, the excitement is no longer there. Without a God compelling vision, people simply stop taking church seriously.
I've been involved in quite a few vision talks recently and want to share with you people the 6 essentials about a vision.
1) The vision should be easy to remember.
This point is abit more practical. If i ask any one from the group, the vision should be at the tip of their fingers. Those 10 points visions and a vision statement that is one paragraph long should go. Have something that the group can identify with easily and they won't have such a hard time remembering the vision.
It is not so much of coming up with a vision but instead asking God for His vision for the group. We must make every effort to follow and stick to the vision.
2) The vision must be reflected in the "policies"
The vision should not just be something which is there for the sake of having a vision. They should be carried out. The systems and structures should be in place or at least working towards it so that the vision can materialise. this point also prevent leaders from going into empty talk.
If you have a vision for 70, your group must be able to contain 70. The people must be trained to rise up to contain 70. If your vision include disciplining strong people. Your "policies" must include things like a proper mentoring system or Sunday school etc. My point here is, we do not want to cast an empty vision.
As leaders, we must do everything within our means to give the vision the best possible chance of coming to past.
3) A good vision is cast over a long time
It is not about having one vision night. It is about consistently talking about the vision in your gatherings. It is about living out the vision, working on the vision. and crossing the finishing line together. There is no point in whipping up the anticipation and the zeal during one vision talk but do nothing and talk nothing about it for the rest of the year.
It should be talked about at all levels of the ministry. Don't just leave it to the top guy to talk about vision. The rest need to talk about it, be it at caregroup, unit or district level.
4) The vision is deeply associated with the vision bearer.
The vision bearer may be just an individual- the leader. From the individual, the leadership team must embrace the vision to become co vision bearers. Beyond that, the corporate body takes up the mantle to be vision owners.
The vision without the vision bearer is like fish without water, a bullet without the gun or a LCD screen without the computer. It just cannot survive. Once the vision bearer decides to give anything less than the vision demands of him or her, the vision is as good as dead.
Everyone is a vision bearer. The issue here is, are you carrying the vision on your back or are you putting it down and leaving the vision to die on its own?
5) Protect the vision from harm
The vision for God is one most important thing that will make Christians powerful. And the devil knows it. He will do everything and anything to distract you or tempt you from the vision. After you go high and respond to God in the church, many a times when we go back to our daily life or the reality, things are just not so rosy anymore. If it is so easy to achieve, then it would not called the vision of God.
Nurture the vision, fan the flames, feed the burden, improve the skills even as we go back to our daily lives.
6) The process of the vision is as important as the realisation of the vision.
Don't be too quick to look to the realisation of the vision until we miss the point totally. That is to grow through the process, to love God more, to serve God more and to know more about Him. Don't look so far that you don't see the present and just appreciate and thank God for what is happening at the current moment.
that's all i have for you today! I'll talk more about vision in the next few days.
Regards,
Jie Hui
Labels: Leadership
The kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it.
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Sunday, September 14, 2008
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Sunday, September 14, 2008
Running out of Teachings
I remember that when i was a young leader and have just began teaching the word of God, i had this fear in me. Because i haven't received that much teachings at that point of time, i found it difficult to teach whatever topic i thought should be taught to my flock. I was limited by the type and the number of teachings i had with me.
I also had this mentality that if i receive a good teaching from my leader, i should not anyhow use it as it was the only weapon i had. It was the trump card and i can't use it until absolutely necessary. I also should not freely share the teachings i had as they are my secret weapon. What if i run out of teachings and i end up having nothing to teach? Ha. That was the days i horde onto my old teachings. No one gets near!
I'm glad i've grown beyond that. A few observations about how things have evolved.
1) I hardly reuse teachings nowadays. I find it difficult to teach an unedited version of the teaching i taught a few months ago. In that few months, i should have and would have learned new things about the subject matter. In the few months, God would have given me more revelations about the subject and if it is still the same, i need to go back to my relationship with God.
2) If there is someone with me who would learn everything i teach them in my teachings, I'll be more then happy to share my teachings. It also means that i need to continually learn and receive new revelations myself.
3) Last time, when i was a young teacher, i received lots of help from other Christians as well. It was day and night of watching online sermons, sourcing for teachings from other teachers or spending money to buy books on the subject matter.
4) As i was being helped in the past, i want to help the younger teachers of the word as well. I've started to share my teachings online on my resource hub hoping that the teachings will find its way into blessing many more people beyond my group or sphere of influence. If i horde on to my teachings, it will only be stuck as a memory space in my hard disk.
5) My only request is that the teachers treat these lessons with respect and treasure them as many of them have brought about life change as a result of the word of God contained in them. The fact that i make them easily available does not mean that they are any less valuable and precious.
6) Can i encourage the more seasoned teachers to also share their teachings (free of charge!) God didn't charge you when he gave you the revelations to the word of God so why should you charge His people who are seeking and looking to learn more about God through you? I find it hard to swallow when i see people selling online transcripts of sermons and teachings. Its not like the church will topple without income from these transcripts or that the transcripts will earn millions anyway. Let's share freely about God's goodness!
Let's advance the Kingdom of God together.
Regards,
Jie Hui
Labels: Leadership
The kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it.
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Wednesday, September 03, 2008
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Wednesday, September 03, 2008
Professional Leaders
Let's talk about the idea of professional leaders today.
In the ever so efficient and increasing demanding Singapore society today, being professional is often hailed as a necessity to survive in the market place. Professional give people the impression that they are aloof, they are suppose to be emotionally disengaged with you. they are suppose to achieve a very specific aim in your life and after that you'll not see them again. That's professional.
Sometimes we bring this attitude into the church. When our sheep have a certain issue, just like a doctor, we whip out a certain tried and tested teaching or an advice that we have used on our ten previous sheep without much thought.
When our group grips in anticipation about a upcoming ess, we take a step back and refuse to be part of the emotional roller coaster. When we have gone through a certain season for the 10th time (E.g. Matric Season or Christmas) We become so "experienced" that we reuse whatever attitude, skills, principles we use in the past. It is almost as if we have become indifferent to our ministry. We become so skilled in doing things that we lose the human factor.
This is especially so for leaders so stay back in the ministry. I have already sent off 2 generations of NS guys and i am currently taking my 3rd and 4th generation in the ministry. It is like a cycle. People come and go and basically i can write a syllabus for them and i don't have to worry for the next 10 generations. i just have to reuse whatever i did in the past, whatever i taught in the past, say whatever i said. Good life eh? But i'm afraid that will take all the kick out of the ministry. We'll not be able to bring the ministry forward in any way.
My point is that at the end of the day, we cannot be so seasoned that we become emotionally disengaged from our group because we do not want to go through the sucky feeling of having to get your hands dirty again.
You want to protect yourself from the emotional roller coaster of leading a group to a new frontier. You want to prevent yourself from having to go back to God once again feeling helpless and inadequate. You are just contented with being where you are.
Whether or not you are a leader or not, my call to Christians as well, are we becoming so old bird (Lao Jiao) that we no longer want to feel the kick in the ministry. Do we say to ourselves that the chionging days are for the students and the newer Christians. Wait a few more years and their fire will die down. Hey, can i challenge you to not think like that? you're never too old to chiong for God all over again. Don't become a professional.
Pastors and full time church staffs, it is important to know that what you are doing is not a regular 8 to 5 paying job. After 5, any counseling session will go to my answering machine. I function on a 5.5 day work week. I disengage myself totally when this person have ended off the series of counseling sessions. His well being is no longer of my concern. I only do what is required of me in the portfolio.
Your heart is at the center of your ministry, not your skills set. Once you lose that, it may be time to rethink why are we here in the 1st place.
We want to be good at doing something. But never professional. amen!
Regards,
Jie Hui, Stephen
Labels: Leadership
The kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it.
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Sunday, August 24, 2008
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Sunday, August 24, 2008
Teaching the Word of God
What i am about to share is not for you to judge others. It is meant for self improvement. So don't take what i am about to share and judge your pastor. Look at yourself 1st. ok! here we go...I get really really irritated and burdened when i attend a Christian event where there is a sharing and the sharing is not up to scratch. I get really disturbed when i know that the teaching could have been better prepared, presented to the person's ability or to the teaching/topic's impact.
We've all had our fair share of attending bad teachings. It is those teachings which you walk away from it feeling that you have wasted you time. You really try your best to learn something from it but you just learned nothing.
Or if you are a teacher, you know that you could have done much better in terms of presentation and preparation.
Do you know how much damage a bad teaching can do? Let me give a few instances:
1) People (especially non believers) are not going to be so graceful to say, oh, this guy is having a bad day. Maybe he didn't teach well because he is struggling with some issues in his life. They are not going to say that.
Instead, what you present to them, they are just going to give you that one chance to impact them. They will judge you by that session.
2) Not only will they judge you only, they will judge the entire 2000 years of Christian teachers based on what you teach.
Teach well and they will be convinced that Christianity is relevant and not boring.
Teach badly and they are likely write off each and every teacher for the past 2000 years because you represent them!! They will not give you a second chance. Especially if they are non believers.
3) The message of God deserves better then how some of us are presenting it. The way some of us teach the word of God takes every bit of interesting thing out of the message. It make the gospel sound like some chant. It makes sitting through the teaching a chore. They are like the age old priests at the pulpit.
Come on, let's be faithful with the concepts and teaching God has given us. Make it interesting. Make it relevant. Don't turn people off the love of God with your monotonous, get-it-over and done with, dull teachings.
4) Don't just say i do my best! Say i want to learn to do better as a teacher. Pick up skills. Watch online sermons, watch how other people do public speaking!
I remember that when i was preparing for the Ns vision night, shirley asked me to watch Obama's speeches. Not to watch it for the content but to learn from his public speaking skills. I did and i improved from there.
I learned story telling skills from pastor Wayne Cordeiro, i learned analogies and sermon structuring from Pastor Rick Warren, I learned how to inspire from Bill Hybels. My point is, if you're not that a good teacher, its ok! Learn to be one.
The gift of teaching is one which needs to be constantly exercised and trained for you to be powerful with it.
5) The bar has been set higher and higher as Christianity develops. You may be able to pass off as a teacher of the word of God in the past with just good biblical concepts. However, it does not work with this generation anymore.
The media has exposed this generation to so many great speakers and inspirational stuff that it is much more difficult to capture their imagination and attention now as compared to the pre-youtube, pre-internet, pre-television era.
The bar has been raised by people like Rick Warren, Bill Hybels and Billy Graham. There is no point in having all the biblical knowledge in the world but not being able to present it in a manner that people will embrace the message of Christ. Its a challenge that we need to live up to.
6) Every teaching has to be a homerun. Never take teaching the word of God lightly. If at the end of the day, you are not faithful with what God has give you, blood is on your hands.
To Start off things, I've posted a series of 4 lessons in the Resource hub-Restricted area for you to download. They are all password protected. This is to prevent the teaching from falling into the wrong hands. Drop me an email at shockerbolt@hotmail.com or leave a email in the comment page if you want to access the teaching.
They include:
a) Principles of Teaching the word of God: What kind of attitudes should we have as Teachers so that we can teach it well?
b) Lesson formulation: How to we structure, write or prepare a teaching? What should we include in a message?
c) Practical skills of teaching: How should we present the word of God? It cover things from public speaking skills to killers of a teaching.
d) Vision casting: What are the essentials in a vision casting? How should we structure a challenge?
Regards,
Jie Hui
Labels: Leadership
The kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it.
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Thursday, August 21, 2008
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Thursday, August 21, 2008
De-leader-ising yourself
This topic has been coming back to me quite often recently and have been sharing it to quite a few people about this concept. I hope it will bless you.
Before i dive into the topic, let me talk about a marriage 1st.
Before the birth of a child, the couple often had all the attention to each other. The topic they talk about often revolve around where to go for the next date or vacation. Their love was poured out to each other.
However, things start to change with the arrival of their 1st child, then their 2nd and their 3rd. The topic they talk about start to revolve around their child's education, needs and their love was poured out to the child. Sometimes it brought them closer together but not always. The marriage was no longer the kind of fervent love that they once for one another.
Sometimes this reflects the story of our spiritual life. When we 1st received Christ, it was between us. When we pray, it was for us to grow in God, to love him more, to get to know him more. Our attention was fixed on one another.
However, things start to change when we start to take lead in our groups. When together with Christ, there are fruits in your life. Whenever you and God talk, it will always gear up praying for your people. when you pray for gifting, it'll be for leadership. When you hear certain sermon points, you'll be thinking of your people, praying that they catch that part and they respond. When you worship God, it'll be about leadership as well.
It is not wrong to have burden for your group or the fruits as a result of your relationship with Christ as much as it is not wrong for the parents to love their children. However, sometimes it will be good to de-leader-ise ourselves. Go back to the starting point of your faith, go back to your 1st love once again. Stop thinking about your people for one moment and just learn to love God once again. Never gauge how much you love God with how well you lead or how well your group is doing.
Your ministry should always be a result of your journey with God. The starting point should never have been ministry. It is not wrong to have burden for your people but do remember to walk with God yourself as well. As Paul puts it, don't run in a way such that you yourself will be disqualified from the race.
That's all! see ya!
Regards,
Jie Hui
Before i dive into the topic, let me talk about a marriage 1st.
Before the birth of a child, the couple often had all the attention to each other. The topic they talk about often revolve around where to go for the next date or vacation. Their love was poured out to each other.
However, things start to change with the arrival of their 1st child, then their 2nd and their 3rd. The topic they talk about start to revolve around their child's education, needs and their love was poured out to the child. Sometimes it brought them closer together but not always. The marriage was no longer the kind of fervent love that they once for one another.
Sometimes this reflects the story of our spiritual life. When we 1st received Christ, it was between us. When we pray, it was for us to grow in God, to love him more, to get to know him more. Our attention was fixed on one another.
However, things start to change when we start to take lead in our groups. When together with Christ, there are fruits in your life. Whenever you and God talk, it will always gear up praying for your people. when you pray for gifting, it'll be for leadership. When you hear certain sermon points, you'll be thinking of your people, praying that they catch that part and they respond. When you worship God, it'll be about leadership as well.
It is not wrong to have burden for your group or the fruits as a result of your relationship with Christ as much as it is not wrong for the parents to love their children. However, sometimes it will be good to de-leader-ise ourselves. Go back to the starting point of your faith, go back to your 1st love once again. Stop thinking about your people for one moment and just learn to love God once again. Never gauge how much you love God with how well you lead or how well your group is doing.
Your ministry should always be a result of your journey with God. The starting point should never have been ministry. It is not wrong to have burden for your people but do remember to walk with God yourself as well. As Paul puts it, don't run in a way such that you yourself will be disqualified from the race.
That's all! see ya!
Regards,
Jie Hui
Labels: Leadership
The kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it.
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Sunday, August 10, 2008
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Sunday, August 10, 2008
Expectant Heart
Was talking to Ding Cheun yesterday about this and it really it me such that i want to share it here.
We need to expect God to move. Heard this before? Let me dissect it for it further.
You see, many Christians all over the world have been going to so many sub standard caregroups that we no longer expect our next caregroup to be a life changing one. We've had so many less than inspiring prayer meet that we no longer expect the one tomorrow to be one. We've attended so many sunday classes that had us walk away with nothing more then a sleepy head that we don't expect to learn much from the next. We've had so many mentoring session that was just... another mentoring session that we don't expect God to speak powerfully... the service we are about to go to, yeah, its just another service.... The list goes on...
This cannot go on! We need to expect God to move mightily in every setting. Everytime we gather, we need to expect life to change. Every caregroup needs to be a homerun. Relationships need to be built up and walls torn down. Everytime i teach, i expect my students to go home with a fresh perspective or a paradigm shift in his life. Everytime i mentor someone, i expect there to a life change and refreshment as well.
You know everytime i blog, i expect lives to be touched. I don't blog for fun. I don't blog with the attitude of, if it touches someone good, if it does not, then i'm just voicing out about my life. No.. I expect each and every one of my blog post to be able to speak into someone. Something in someone will be twitched as a result of this post. It is not that i am good or anything, its about expecting God to move, and expecting the best i can hope for always.
What if God does not move as expected? The fact that God does not move mightily does not mean that we lessen our expectant heart. It just means that we need to work harder. It just means that we need to expect even more. It just means that God can use the next gathering to move powerfully. This is the Acts community isn't it?'
Regards,
Jie Hui
Labels: Leadership
The kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it.
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Wednesday, August 06, 2008
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Wednesday, August 06, 2008
The leaders state of mind
Whoever you may be, i will address you as child of God today instead of addressing you as leaders as i normally do for leadership posts.
Leadership in the kingdom of God is exciting, but being a child of God is even more exciting then there. Leadership demands so much from us that sometimes it whatever we have:
Remember that you are a child of God before you are a leader. God doesn't see us as leaders. He see us as His Child whom he uses to serve in a leadership role. Its good to just remove your leadership tag once in a while and come into God's presence again simply as someone he loves. Its your journey with God at the end of the day.
This leadership phase in my life is just a season in my life. I want my journey with God on earth to be colourful, to be exciting and to be filled with different challenges. Isn't it boring to just stay in one leadership position forever? Or be involved in some leadership rat race? I want to experience life as a church planter, as a university student, as a husband, as an engineer. I don't want any of this to define my life. because no matter what i do or where i am, My life will always be about a journey with God.
God will walk above and I will walk below and here we go.
I'm just a child walking beside a father down a path that will lead to eternity at th end. And together, we will enjoy the different landscapes and weather that will come along the way. As we talk, we share about what we think of the different things we see and we feel. We comfort each other, we are there for one another. Isn't just amazing...
Regards,
Jie Hui
Whoever you may be, i will address you as child of God today instead of addressing you as leaders as i normally do for leadership posts.
Leadership in the kingdom of God is exciting, but being a child of God is even more exciting then there. Leadership demands so much from us that sometimes it whatever we have:
- When you pray, you pray over your group, your people, your goals.
- When you pray for yourself, you ask God to give you more wisdom to lead, to give you the skills to guide your people, to give you anointing to charge ahead.
- When you think of your journey with God, the 1st thing that comes to mind is the resume of leadership positions you have ever held in the church.
- When you describe who are you in church to your friends, the 1st thing that comes to mind is i'm a leader.
- How we want and think others will see us: Leaders.
- How do we think God will see us as: Leaders.
Remember that you are a child of God before you are a leader. God doesn't see us as leaders. He see us as His Child whom he uses to serve in a leadership role. Its good to just remove your leadership tag once in a while and come into God's presence again simply as someone he loves. Its your journey with God at the end of the day.
This leadership phase in my life is just a season in my life. I want my journey with God on earth to be colourful, to be exciting and to be filled with different challenges. Isn't it boring to just stay in one leadership position forever? Or be involved in some leadership rat race? I want to experience life as a church planter, as a university student, as a husband, as an engineer. I don't want any of this to define my life. because no matter what i do or where i am, My life will always be about a journey with God.
God will walk above and I will walk below and here we go.
I'm just a child walking beside a father down a path that will lead to eternity at th end. And together, we will enjoy the different landscapes and weather that will come along the way. As we talk, we share about what we think of the different things we see and we feel. We comfort each other, we are there for one another. Isn't just amazing...
Regards,
Jie Hui
Labels: Leadership
The kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it.
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Tuesday, August 05, 2008
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Tuesday, August 05, 2008
Gauge of ministry success
Have you ever asked yourself what is a good guage of success in ministry. Some say its having successfully having discipled someone, some says its hitting goals, some say its growing the group, some says its bringing people closer to God.
I believe that all these things are great but today i really want to focus on one gauge of success in ministry:
People have to be truely better off because of your ministry and your work with them.
I really believe that this is a powerful guage at the end of the day.
Sometimes we are very caught up with goals and we push our people to evangelise and work hard. Nothing wrong with that. But that cannot be happening all year round.
Sometimes we are very caught up in your people rising up and learning the skills needed to be a shepherd or a careleader. Nothing wrong with that. But we can't stop here.
My question to you today, are people around us, truely better off becasue of our work in them? Are we just trying to keep them in church? Are we just trying to win a camp so that they need to work hard? Are we making them effective evangelistic machines but lousy Christ followers? Are we just trying to "Christianize" them?
We need to add value to other's life. We need to learn that church is not everything when it comes to a Christian life. In fact, an average Christian spends less then 4 hours a week in church.
Leaders, learn to look beyond just our people's church life.
Look at their family life. How are they spending enough time with their parents? Are they taking up enough responsibilities at home as they grow? Are they helping out with household chores?
Look at their skills. Are they constant looking to improve themselves to make themselve more attractive in the market place? Are they learning things like piano, driving, language lessons, IT etc.
Look at their market place skills.. How can they do better to go for the promotion? How should they sturdy harder to get better grades? How are they managing their finances? Are they saving enough?
Look at their people skills. This is so important. How are they coping with people outside of church? Some of us are so "churched" that we find it hard to relate to people outside of church.
All these things come to help us be holistic leaders. To truely make our people's life better, not just their church life.
Whether people around me are believers or not, i make sure that when they are around me, i will add value to their lives. Its not difficult to me because it is simply a result of my journey with God.
I find it so amazing and exciting to share about what i learn about God in church to my friends outside. I care for the people, not the church building. I care for the people I shepherd, not the shepherding system. I love those around me not becasue they are my sheep or in my care but because God loves them.
My question to you again, are people's life around you truely better off because of you?
Regards,
Jie Hui
Labels: Leadership
The kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it.
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Tuesday, July 22, 2008
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Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Leaders Killer
I'll write this from a leadership point. But it can be easily substituted to become a sharing based on Christian living.
One of the greatest killers of leadership is when leaders lose the support around them. When they not only have to run alone but worse still, they have to run against overwhelming opinions coming against them.
These opinions can come from our own members, our peers or even our leaders.
Christians always say God is all we need right? But how true is it really? Let me share a story from the book of 1 Samuel 30 today.
One of the greatest killers of leadership is when leaders lose the support around them. When they not only have to run alone but worse still, they have to run against overwhelming opinions coming against them.
These opinions can come from our own members, our peers or even our leaders.
Christians always say God is all we need right? But how true is it really? Let me share a story from the book of 1 Samuel 30 today.
When David and his men came to Ziklag, they found it destroyed by fire and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive. So David and his men wept aloud until they had no strength left to weep. David's two wives had been captured—Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail, the widow of Nabal of Carmel. David was greatly distressed because the men were talking of stoning him; each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters. But David found strength in the LORD his God.
Then David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, "Bring me the ephod." Abiathar brought it to him, and David inquired of the LORD, "Shall I pursue this raiding party? Will I overtake them?"
"Pursue them," he answered. "You will certainly overtake them and succeed in the rescue."
David and the six hundred men with him came to the Besor Ravine, where some stayed behind, for two hundred men were too exhausted to cross the ravine. But David and four hundred men continued the pursuit.
~ 1 Samuel 30:3-10 ~
You see, David was the leader who led all these people to victory and he was about to face his biggest leadership challenge to date. All along, he had the support of his people, and his mighty man. But suddenly when they got back stabbed and things doesn't go their way, he lost the widespread support of his people when their base got plundered and their wives and children were captured.
Many people remember David for the David and Goliath incident but i really love this part. I thought it really showed his mantle and what he was made of. Let's look deeper into the situation.
1) When David was facing Goliath, he had the support of all the people. Saul even put his armour on him to commission him. But this time round, he didn't have any "human" support.
2) All along, along the way, whatever crisis, David had someone with him. Even when Saul tried to kill him, jonathon was with him. But David faced a total rebellion this time round.
3) It was like excuse me, it was as though it was totally David's fault that they lost their wives and children. But David would not go into the blame game as the rest did as it will not lead to anything. He quickly picked himself up to find a solution to the problem.
4) David lost his wives and children as well eh. Those people who wanted to stone him were not the only ones who lost something. David had to put aside his anguish and lead the people. The last thing the situation needed was for David to break down.
5) The chase was another amazing part. Just when they needed the most leadership, David provided it. He did not allow insecurities about how others looked at him, about how others have wanted to stone him nvm respect him to stop him from getting the best for his people. He was smart, sharp and decisive. What a leader!!!
I was just so amazed at David. Can you imagine yourself going through it? Sometimes the devil will drop the thoughts like "If you don't trust me, there is no point in me leading you", "Why do i have to serve so hard when my leader does not believe in me". "Am i the only idiot who believe that this vision can come to pass? Why have all my friends deserted me?", "Why is my caregroup so against my leadership, is there something wrong with me?", "Why is my leader not entrusting anything to me?", "My people does not seem to respect me." And the list goes on. In times when the group is down and they rebel against your leadership, the last thing they need is for the leader to break down. You'll really prove what they say is true.
So what did David do? He seeked God, he rose to the occasion and he led the people by the authority of God, and he did whatever was necessary to get things right. Very often, when our people rebel, or bite us, there is often a bigger underlying evil behind. Like when they rebelled the bigger evil was the Amalekites. David knew his enemy was not those rebels, it was the Amalekites and he knew his commander is not those rebelling people but it was God.
Amazing right? Leaders remember this. If criticism of us is accurate, we take it in our stride and we change. If the criticism is not accurate, we don't let it affect us, move on., and resolve it with the person it came from.
Don't let the whole idea of pleasing man and having support from others take over your leadership. That is when the leaders killer will come in and take your spiritual life away.
If that is your call from God, nobody can take it away from you.
Regards,
Jie Hui
Labels: Leadership
The kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it.
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Tuesday, July 08, 2008
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Tuesday, July 08, 2008
Engineering change
I was talking to wenjiang the other day and he was sharing with me about this. I thought it really make sense and wants to share it here.
There are mainly 2 ways you can go about changing things.
The first, you replace the people. This is the surest and fastest way to change things around. We can it a change of dynasty. Sure, you'll definately get changes, but will it be for the better? Will the kingdom of God benefit at the end of the day?
The second, you change the people from the inside. It means you impact them, you make them buy into what you believe in and you change them. That is one way to change thing.
I guess i'm not siding to any cause it is really a case by case thing. The 1st one may be a bit more extreme. Its what nations always do right? If the people are unhappy and want changes what will they do? They will go onto the street and protest and demand the cabinet or president step down. Just look at South Korea and Malaysia now. Sure, you may get your new president, but will the new president do a better job? Change for the sake of changing may not bring you anywhere.
As Christians, we should be patient and loving and not call for our leaders head or extreme changes everytime something goes wrong. It will just not bring you anywhere. Peter made possibly the greatest mistake a disciple could make but Jesus still entrusted the church to him eh?
However, let's say the leader is unrepentent and leading the ministry in the wrong direction, then maybe a change will be good for both the leader and the group.
Let's look at the 2nd point now. This is a more "Christian" way of doing things? We grow the people. We allow them to buy into what is their missing link and we help them to see the need to grow in a particular area. This is a more genuine change in life i guess.
Tthat's why when things goes wrong, we always question the following in that particular order.
1) Spirit - Is there something wrong in the people when things goes wrong. Are there anything we can do better? If there is, we teach the people and we evaluate again.
2) System - Are things not working out because cg timing is bad. Is cg attendance bad because there is no fun cg, just standard cg. Are there not enough word for life sessions. Does cg cater to everyone in the group?
3) Structure - If all things goes wrong, then we look at the structure. It is the last thing we want to change. We cannot be switching the structure everytime something goes wrong. But if we need to change it, we change it. yeap.
Regards,
Jie Hui
Labels: Leadership
The kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it.
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Monday, July 07, 2008
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Monday, July 07, 2008
Motive in leading
I am so excited to share this because i believe it is something close to everybody's heart. The word motive can be a good term to us or a nasty term depending on our past experiences with it. We tend to use the word wrong motive much more then we use the word right motive right? but do u know motives can be right as well? And that in wrong motives, God can work as well?
Let me share with you an amazing verse. I am quoting this verse but please do not take it out of context here. It is not a stand alone set of verses.
I was quite stunned when i read this verse. I mean those people were serving with wrong motives and Paul didn't name them one by one and have them step down from leadership. They were after all trying to take advantage of Paul's imprisonment and make a name for themselves. Talk about wrong motives ehh. ok, here comes the next part, Paul's stand is, they are serving with wrong motives, let them serve, but is the wrong motive advancing the kingdom of God, if God is allowing it to happen, we have to rejoice as well. Paul was unselfish in this aspect.
As Paul allowed those people to fight it out and to advance the kingdom of God with their wrong motives, he also tries his best to teach these people how to serve with the correct motives because he knew that these people would not go very far with this wrong motives. Climbing up the church ladder would not be able to satisfy their hunger for power. In the later part of Philippians the story continues:
Let me share with you an amazing verse. I am quoting this verse but please do not take it out of context here. It is not a stand alone set of verses.
It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. The latter do so in love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice.
~ Philippians 1:15-18 ~
~ Philippians 1:15-18 ~
I was quite stunned when i read this verse. I mean those people were serving with wrong motives and Paul didn't name them one by one and have them step down from leadership. They were after all trying to take advantage of Paul's imprisonment and make a name for themselves. Talk about wrong motives ehh. ok, here comes the next part, Paul's stand is, they are serving with wrong motives, let them serve, but is the wrong motive advancing the kingdom of God, if God is allowing it to happen, we have to rejoice as well. Paul was unselfish in this aspect.
As Paul allowed those people to fight it out and to advance the kingdom of God with their wrong motives, he also tries his best to teach these people how to serve with the correct motives because he knew that these people would not go very far with this wrong motives. Climbing up the church ladder would not be able to satisfy their hunger for power. In the later part of Philippians the story continues:
(A) Paul tries to teach these people about being selfless and humble:
then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.
~ Philippians 2:2-3 ~
~ Philippians 2:2-3 ~
(B) Paul endorses the authority of Timothy whom he knew served with the correct motive:
I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, that I also may be cheered when I receive news about you. I have no one else like him, who takes a genuine interest in your welfare. For everyone looks out for his own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. But you know that Timothy has proved himself, because as a son with his father he has served with me in the work of the gospel.
~ Philippians 2:19-22 ~
(C) He told the people to let the main thing be the main thing and not let differecnes come into play.
For people, one of the most threatening and obvious wrong motive is when we suspect a person to be power hungry. They come to you and tell you they want to be a CL, they want to be a shepherd, they want to be a whatever L by the end of when. You see, some of us Asians, we think humility is, "i can't do it" "i don't think i can be a cl" "I am inadequate". I tell you, that is not humility.
Can i give you another option today? Some of them are really not power hungry. They are Impact Hungry. Don't write off every desire to serve in a great capacity as power hungry and wrong motive. I'm not saying this cannot be the case but there are other options as well. Power hungry people looks at themselves more then they look at the welfare of others. Impact hungry people looks at the well being of others more then they look at themselves.
Not that they will not struggle with motive. they will. but they have the desire to bless more then to receive from the start. And the amazing thing is, when you twitch the motive button, people can change from power hungry to impact hungry. Other then the motive part, the two are distinctively the same in terms of manifestation esp at the early stages.
Impact hungry people knows that they have a greater capacity to impact people beyond what they are doing right now. They know that God has prepared them for something greater. They know that they have something to give to a greater group of people. If you are leading such people, can i encourage you not to cap these people?
Sometimes it may be our own skepticism. Or it may be our own insecurity. But can i encourage you that these people when tapped upon, they will give their life to the cause, they will take ownership of what they are given. Encourage them to influence and give them the platform they need to do so. Spoke about this 1 week ago in transplanting people.
For those who find themselves on the wrong side of motive. Can i encourage to read the word of God and to keep your quiet time strong? Beyond that, account your motives to your leader. You are not alone in this and you are not the only devil around with the wrong motive. Trust me, your leader will be glad when he hears you talk about your struggle with motive because everyone will go through it. But don't end there. Don't go into a state of, "i'm lousy", "i can't serve". Move on from there and serve God in a greater capacity!
Wow, what a long article. Hope you received something from it.
Regards,
jie hui
~ Philippians 2:19-22 ~
(C) He told the people to let the main thing be the main thing and not let differecnes come into play.
Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you.
~ Philippians 3:3-15 ~
Leaders are always placed in this predicament of serving with the wrong motives. Or whether we rise someone up who is serving with the wrong motives. But my question to you today, who ever serves with the right motives 24 hrs a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year. Paul knew these people were serving with the wrong motives but did he stop them from serving or belittle them? No, he allowed them to serve but continually teaching them the right stuff.
For people, one of the most threatening and obvious wrong motive is when we suspect a person to be power hungry. They come to you and tell you they want to be a CL, they want to be a shepherd, they want to be a whatever L by the end of when. You see, some of us Asians, we think humility is, "i can't do it" "i don't think i can be a cl" "I am inadequate". I tell you, that is not humility.
Being humble means:
I can't, but with God, i can.
I can do it alone, but with God, i can do it better.
I can't, but with God, i can.
I can do it alone, but with God, i can do it better.
Can i give you another option today? Some of them are really not power hungry. They are Impact Hungry. Don't write off every desire to serve in a great capacity as power hungry and wrong motive. I'm not saying this cannot be the case but there are other options as well. Power hungry people looks at themselves more then they look at the welfare of others. Impact hungry people looks at the well being of others more then they look at themselves.
Not that they will not struggle with motive. they will. but they have the desire to bless more then to receive from the start. And the amazing thing is, when you twitch the motive button, people can change from power hungry to impact hungry. Other then the motive part, the two are distinctively the same in terms of manifestation esp at the early stages.
Impact hungry people knows that they have a greater capacity to impact people beyond what they are doing right now. They know that God has prepared them for something greater. They know that they have something to give to a greater group of people. If you are leading such people, can i encourage you not to cap these people?
Sometimes it may be our own skepticism. Or it may be our own insecurity. But can i encourage you that these people when tapped upon, they will give their life to the cause, they will take ownership of what they are given. Encourage them to influence and give them the platform they need to do so. Spoke about this 1 week ago in transplanting people.
For those who find themselves on the wrong side of motive. Can i encourage to read the word of God and to keep your quiet time strong? Beyond that, account your motives to your leader. You are not alone in this and you are not the only devil around with the wrong motive. Trust me, your leader will be glad when he hears you talk about your struggle with motive because everyone will go through it. But don't end there. Don't go into a state of, "i'm lousy", "i can't serve". Move on from there and serve God in a greater capacity!
Wow, what a long article. Hope you received something from it.
Regards,
jie hui
Labels: Leadership
The kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it.
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Friday, July 04, 2008
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Friday, July 04, 2008
Vision casting
The most well documented vision casting in history includes, Martin Luther's I have a dream and Billy Graham's revival speeches. A lot of times, a good vision cast is seen as a once off event where someone say something so inspiring or create such a emotional stir that people buy into to the vision, they treat the success of the vision as their own and at that moment, they are willing to do whatever it takes to see it come to pass. Some call it an emotional high. However, there must be more then this to a good vision cast. Something else seems to be missing.
Yes, a good vision cast is not a once off hair raising, electrifying affair. A good vision cast will spark off a chain of events after the vision cast that will mark the success or failure of the event itself. There much be tangible substance within the vision cast that will result in changes after the vision cast. in another words, a vision cast should not just give people hope, it should also give them, something to work upon. what's next after being inspired to do something for God?
Other then that, i make it a point to stress that a good vision is not cast over one night. It is in fact cast over weeks, months, if not years. i don't believe that Abraham Lincoln only came up with the vision of freeing the blacks in America only on that faithful day. I believe that this vision has been cast repeatedly to those close to him, to his friends, to family members, to supports.
People are forgetful people. After the emotional high, after the response time, we need to repeatedly remind people through smaller sessions about their commitment to the vision. Once in a while, come together as a congregation to recommit to the vision once again.
Leaders, don't be too quick or impatient to change track. What do i mean by this? Let me give you an example of how i run the NS vision night. The NS vision night is a quarterly event in which we gather as a ministry to talk about vision and direction of the ministry in the quarter. As a leader, does that mean that i have to cast a new vision every other quarter? What if we are not on track for this two years vision that i cast in the previous vision night? Does that mean that i have to re-engineer the vision from scratch?
By all means! no! We live in a culture of instant success. We sow and expect converts immediately, long term vision like a 2 year plan no longer appeal to us because it is not "instant" enough, we cast a vision but don't want to commit to it when there is no short term success. My challenge to leaders today:
The most well documented vision casting in history includes, Martin Luther's I have a dream and Billy Graham's revival speeches. A lot of times, a good vision cast is seen as a once off event where someone say something so inspiring or create such a emotional stir that people buy into to the vision, they treat the success of the vision as their own and at that moment, they are willing to do whatever it takes to see it come to pass. Some call it an emotional high. However, there must be more then this to a good vision cast. Something else seems to be missing.
Yes, a good vision cast is not a once off hair raising, electrifying affair. A good vision cast will spark off a chain of events after the vision cast that will mark the success or failure of the event itself. There much be tangible substance within the vision cast that will result in changes after the vision cast. in another words, a vision cast should not just give people hope, it should also give them, something to work upon. what's next after being inspired to do something for God?
Other then that, i make it a point to stress that a good vision is not cast over one night. It is in fact cast over weeks, months, if not years. i don't believe that Abraham Lincoln only came up with the vision of freeing the blacks in America only on that faithful day. I believe that this vision has been cast repeatedly to those close to him, to his friends, to family members, to supports.
People are forgetful people. After the emotional high, after the response time, we need to repeatedly remind people through smaller sessions about their commitment to the vision. Once in a while, come together as a congregation to recommit to the vision once again.
A good vision cast is a vision that is repeated to the congregation regularly throughout the entire duration of the process to reach the vision.
Leaders, don't be too quick or impatient to change track. What do i mean by this? Let me give you an example of how i run the NS vision night. The NS vision night is a quarterly event in which we gather as a ministry to talk about vision and direction of the ministry in the quarter. As a leader, does that mean that i have to cast a new vision every other quarter? What if we are not on track for this two years vision that i cast in the previous vision night? Does that mean that i have to re-engineer the vision from scratch?
By all means! no! We live in a culture of instant success. We sow and expect converts immediately, long term vision like a 2 year plan no longer appeal to us because it is not "instant" enough, we cast a vision but don't want to commit to it when there is no short term success. My challenge to leaders today:
Cast a vision, stick to it, twitch it when you have to, repackage the vision to keeps things fresh, but the content remains relatively the same and see it come to pass. Don't be too quick to dispose of the vision which God has graciously granted you.
In one of the previous vision night,
i remember i talked about the same topic. Still remember the 3 pts:
1) Vision is normally birthed from life's reality.
2) Receive the vision from God.
3) Protect the vision from harm.
Yes! that's it, if the vision can make someone die for the kingdom, what makes you think that the devil won't come in and try to take it away. Protect the vision God has given you from harm always.
Regards,
Jie Hui
In one of the previous vision night,
i remember i talked about the same topic. Still remember the 3 pts:
1) Vision is normally birthed from life's reality.
2) Receive the vision from God.
3) Protect the vision from harm.
Yes! that's it, if the vision can make someone die for the kingdom, what makes you think that the devil won't come in and try to take it away. Protect the vision God has given you from harm always.
Regards,
Jie Hui
Labels: Leadership
The kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it.
0 Comments
Thursday, July 03, 2008
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Thursday, July 03, 2008
Leading with distinction
Anyone can lead. but not everyone can lead well and with distinction. Today, i'm going to talk about planning, strategizing and communication aspect of leadership.
Outline
You see, we always say we need to plan. Ok, so what is the first thing that goes onto the paper when say, you are planning for the momentum up to an ESS? It has to be the ESS right?
1) How does this micro planned season contribute to the overall big picture.
2) What does my group needs to do or to learn to get there or to be successful.
3) What is the bench mark for success and failure for each season?
4) Will my people respond positively at each stage or at which stage will i need to rally the people abit more?
5) How is this event bring the group closer to the final goal when benchmarked against where we left off in the previous event?
A vision cast is not like, just throw your people a huge vision and leave them there and hopefully things will work out right as things unfold. It won't. This is not what is meant by being spirit-led.
When you cast a vision, break it up into small digestible steps for the group to see. Mentioning to them how, at each stage, you will tackle the 5 qns i raised up. When people see that you know what you are doing, you are not just big talking about a big vision, but you know exactly what it takes to get there, the costs, the strategy, the people, i tell you, PEOPLE WILL BUY YOUR VISION.
Communication
Leaders, can i plead to you not to play the "cannot tell you" game? Let us not fall into the trap that information needs to be contained thing. Be as open to your people about your dreams. Communicate to your people the plan! the steps of the plan! and the strategy of the plan! Don't just restrict it to your direct team all the time. Remember this, if there is something that needs to come directly from you and not through your core team, it is the spirit behind the vision and the plans to get there. Communicate the above two points to as large percentage a group as you can. Maybe shepherds and above or even everyone in the ministry.
And leaders, can i challenge you to learn how to vision cast properly? How to communicate a vision clearly. Watch how bill hybels does it. Watch how Obama does it. Watch how Rick warren does it. Can i encourage you to learn this skill and not always depend on pure conviction or emotions only. These things are important but we need to look around, and learn from others how they do it. Don't just stare at them and wow. Learn from them and be willing to try out new styles. To try out new methods.
Whenever i receive a Vision from God, i want to do justice to the magnitude, the awesomeness, the power of that vision so much so that i will stop at nothing to make sure that it is as well represented as i can possibly make it to be.
Regards,
jie hui
Anyone can lead. but not everyone can lead well and with distinction. Today, i'm going to talk about planning, strategizing and communication aspect of leadership.
Outline
You see, we always say we need to plan. Ok, so what is the first thing that goes onto the paper when say, you are planning for the momentum up to an ESS? It has to be the ESS right?
Whatever you plan, the final result and destination must be crystal clear.
Some of you may be wondering if we got a wrong heading here. Didn't we just talk about planning? Nope, nothing is wrong. What you just read in the previous paragraph is not planning. that is drawing target board. the real planning starts here. After knowing where you want to lead a group of people to, break up the journey to the end point into manageable seasons or parts. Micro plan the seasons from here onwards. Be crystal clear about the following:The success or failure of the entire momentum will hinge mainly on the result of this final destination. Don't just plan for planning sake, write down clearly what you hope to see, what will constitute a success and what will constitute a failure. Don't just do the former without the latter. With this in mind, planning becomes much more focused and agenda-ed and you will not find yourself slotting in events for the sake of it.
Planning
Planning
1) How does this micro planned season contribute to the overall big picture.
2) What does my group needs to do or to learn to get there or to be successful.
3) What is the bench mark for success and failure for each season?
4) Will my people respond positively at each stage or at which stage will i need to rally the people abit more?
5) How is this event bring the group closer to the final goal when benchmarked against where we left off in the previous event?
A vision cast is not like, just throw your people a huge vision and leave them there and hopefully things will work out right as things unfold. It won't. This is not what is meant by being spirit-led.
When you cast a vision, break it up into small digestible steps for the group to see. Mentioning to them how, at each stage, you will tackle the 5 qns i raised up. When people see that you know what you are doing, you are not just big talking about a big vision, but you know exactly what it takes to get there, the costs, the strategy, the people, i tell you, PEOPLE WILL BUY YOUR VISION.
Communication
Leaders, can i plead to you not to play the "cannot tell you" game? Let us not fall into the trap that information needs to be contained thing. Be as open to your people about your dreams. Communicate to your people the plan! the steps of the plan! and the strategy of the plan! Don't just restrict it to your direct team all the time. Remember this, if there is something that needs to come directly from you and not through your core team, it is the spirit behind the vision and the plans to get there. Communicate the above two points to as large percentage a group as you can. Maybe shepherds and above or even everyone in the ministry.
And leaders, can i challenge you to learn how to vision cast properly? How to communicate a vision clearly. Watch how bill hybels does it. Watch how Obama does it. Watch how Rick warren does it. Can i encourage you to learn this skill and not always depend on pure conviction or emotions only. These things are important but we need to look around, and learn from others how they do it. Don't just stare at them and wow. Learn from them and be willing to try out new styles. To try out new methods.
Whenever i receive a Vision from God, i want to do justice to the magnitude, the awesomeness, the power of that vision so much so that i will stop at nothing to make sure that it is as well represented as i can possibly make it to be.
Regards,
jie hui
Labels: Leadership
The kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it.
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Wednesday, July 02, 2008
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Wednesday, July 02, 2008
Shadow Mission
The topic of Shadow mission was famously bought up by John Ortberg. I was personally very touched by it cause the it just hits the nail on head. Something that many leaders, young or old, experienced or not, needs to put themselves back on the correct track. Here goes.
We all have fears. Some of us have a fear of failure. Some fear disappointment. Some fear criticism. Especially when these things happen to leaders, it sometimes gets amplified and things can get messy. Some of us fear being looked down by peers, other fear losing out to peers as they serve God and even others fear not looking good in front of the person you like. These fears come to people here and there and each one have their own set of fears.
We may be able to even realize these fears or conceptualize these fears in our lives. They may come from the deepest part of our heart. And it is these that leads eventually to what we call a shadow mission. Something that is selfish, dark and personal. This shadow missions can happen to people, companies, countries, to anyone.
The shadow mission is a mission that stems from wrong motives, but is artfully hidden behind the veil of the real mission. People won't realized it until its full blown effect comes into play. For example, i may be leading NS group, but my shadow mission can be to self actulize. For example, i may be signing up to be a church staff, but my shadow mission can be to earn the big bucks from the "church industry".
Even as people choose to follow God's given mission, these shadow missions stay on the side lines ready to take over from the real mission at the click of a finger. You see, shadow missions are seldom 180 degrees away from the real mission. It may just be 10 degrees off the actual mission. For example, if there is this girl i am interested in and she needs a ride home and i want to impress her. I may offer to send her entire cg home as a legitimate reason for me to send her home. That is a shadow mission that is just 10 degrees off the actual mission .And it is just an example, so no need to try to remember if u sat in my car b4. i dun struggle in this shadow mission. at least not yet. hahaa.
Are there hidden agendas in our lives. Missions that is there in the heart but you know that it should not be there?
As leaders, especially for those who have been leading the same portfolio for some time already. always look into the ministry and ask if it is on the right track or if it has been overtaken by another shadow mission? For example, is the group still focused on holistic growth, or have our shadow mission of winning the best of the best for this year taken over. its just an example.
Never allow the shadow mission to take over your real mission. it will lead to destruction. Be brutally honest with yourself when it comes to getting rid of the shadow mission. The real mission is already massive enough for you not to need the shadow mission. Ensure that the real mission dominates and advances the kingdom of God.
Always allow someone to speak into your life about shadow mission. Here are some questions for you.
Is there anybody you are trying to impress besides God? It can be your own people, it can be your peers, it can be a girl/guy you like, it can be your boss etc.
Is there any tinge of contamination in our real mission? It can come in the form of more tangible things like results, actions, speech etc. Or it can be non tangible like motive and emotions.
The things that you struggle with consistently will probably show you the way to your shadow mission. what can it be?
That is all from me. See ya!
Regards,
jie hui
We all have fears. Some of us have a fear of failure. Some fear disappointment. Some fear criticism. Especially when these things happen to leaders, it sometimes gets amplified and things can get messy. Some of us fear being looked down by peers, other fear losing out to peers as they serve God and even others fear not looking good in front of the person you like. These fears come to people here and there and each one have their own set of fears.
We may be able to even realize these fears or conceptualize these fears in our lives. They may come from the deepest part of our heart. And it is these that leads eventually to what we call a shadow mission. Something that is selfish, dark and personal. This shadow missions can happen to people, companies, countries, to anyone.
The shadow mission is a mission that stems from wrong motives, but is artfully hidden behind the veil of the real mission. People won't realized it until its full blown effect comes into play. For example, i may be leading NS group, but my shadow mission can be to self actulize. For example, i may be signing up to be a church staff, but my shadow mission can be to earn the big bucks from the "church industry".
Even as people choose to follow God's given mission, these shadow missions stay on the side lines ready to take over from the real mission at the click of a finger. You see, shadow missions are seldom 180 degrees away from the real mission. It may just be 10 degrees off the actual mission. For example, if there is this girl i am interested in and she needs a ride home and i want to impress her. I may offer to send her entire cg home as a legitimate reason for me to send her home. That is a shadow mission that is just 10 degrees off the actual mission .And it is just an example, so no need to try to remember if u sat in my car b4. i dun struggle in this shadow mission. at least not yet. hahaa.
Are there hidden agendas in our lives. Missions that is there in the heart but you know that it should not be there?
As leaders, especially for those who have been leading the same portfolio for some time already. always look into the ministry and ask if it is on the right track or if it has been overtaken by another shadow mission? For example, is the group still focused on holistic growth, or have our shadow mission of winning the best of the best for this year taken over. its just an example.
Never allow the shadow mission to take over your real mission. it will lead to destruction. Be brutally honest with yourself when it comes to getting rid of the shadow mission. The real mission is already massive enough for you not to need the shadow mission. Ensure that the real mission dominates and advances the kingdom of God.
Always allow someone to speak into your life about shadow mission. Here are some questions for you.
Is there anybody you are trying to impress besides God? It can be your own people, it can be your peers, it can be a girl/guy you like, it can be your boss etc.
Is there any tinge of contamination in our real mission? It can come in the form of more tangible things like results, actions, speech etc. Or it can be non tangible like motive and emotions.
The things that you struggle with consistently will probably show you the way to your shadow mission. what can it be?
That is all from me. See ya!
Regards,
jie hui
Labels: Leadership
The kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it.
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Tuesday, July 01, 2008
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Tuesday, July 01, 2008
Strengths and weakness
I'm basing what i write today mainly on the idea based on the leadership summit 2007 teaching by Marcus Buckingham - Go put your strengths to work.
There is this age old question that pops up time and again about leadership or even simply as Christians. If you had to choose between building on your strength or fixing your weakness, which one would you choose?
Buckingham made these statement,
There is this age old question that pops up time and again about leadership or even simply as Christians. If you had to choose between building on your strength or fixing your weakness, which one would you choose?
Buckingham made these statement,
"In our pursuit of excellence, we tend to focus on our weakness. However, we ought to study our success and strengths as well."
"People aren’t our greatest assets, people’s strengths are our greatest aspects"
"People aren’t our greatest assets, people’s strengths are our greatest aspects"
Before he went into the topic straight, he listed down 3 myths that i thought makes a lot of sense.
Myth 1: As you grow, your personality changes.
Truth: As you grow, you become more of who you already are. The challenge is not to change your personality but to channel it.
Myth 2: You will grow the most in the areas where you are the weakest.
Truth: You will eventually grow most in areas where you are the strongest.
Myth 3: A great member will put aside his strengths and does whatever it takes to help the team.
Truth: A great member will help the team most when he contributes his strengths.
I thought it makes a lot of sense. As leaders, in the day to day hectic ministry, we cannot always be fighting our weaknesses if we want to be effective. It leads to a point of whining and fast develops into a form of insecurity. A leader is the most effective when he believes that he is working to his strengths.
Let me give an example. If pride is a issue in my life when i do public ministry but my strength is in public speaking, while i try to overcome the issue of pride in my life, i cannot allow it to keep bugging me to a point when i focus on containing the pride when i do public speaking instead of focusing on my speech. I have to settle it before or after at a more appropriate time.
Let me use the example of Moses. Moses was not confident of public speaking and God got Arron to speak on his behalf. Moses could have curse and swear about his weakness and his incapabilities of public speaking. But what did he do? He played to his strength of leadership. Of leading the people through the desert and he was secure enough to know that Arron will cover for his weakness in the mean time.
Leaders, can i encourage you to be more confident in allowing God to use you in your strengths or weakness. If God can use you in your weakness, what more can God do through your strengths? So leaders, stop letting your inadequacies from becoming the sticking point of your ministry. Let your strengths be.
There are certain things i am not good at. There are certain things i am better at. A rule of thumb is that as long as the things i am not good at does not have a crippling effect on my ministry, i will keep it in mind to take long term steps to grow out of it and devote more attention to other areas. However, if it does, then we will need to grow out of it fast.
Beyond that, leaders, let your ministry in mind, heart and soul surround around your strengths. Be confident of not yourself but of God working through your strengths.
i know i am not a musical person. Can't play guitar for nuts but i know it is an area i need to buck up. But right now, its does not have a crippling effect on my ministry so i focus my strength and energy on the NS ministry on what i am better at, things like discipleship, teaching the word of God, missions etc.
Buckingham sums it up so beautifully:
jie hui
Myth 1: As you grow, your personality changes.
Truth: As you grow, you become more of who you already are. The challenge is not to change your personality but to channel it.
Myth 2: You will grow the most in the areas where you are the weakest.
Truth: You will eventually grow most in areas where you are the strongest.
Myth 3: A great member will put aside his strengths and does whatever it takes to help the team.
Truth: A great member will help the team most when he contributes his strengths.
I thought it makes a lot of sense. As leaders, in the day to day hectic ministry, we cannot always be fighting our weaknesses if we want to be effective. It leads to a point of whining and fast develops into a form of insecurity. A leader is the most effective when he believes that he is working to his strengths.
Biblical inadequacy leads to us being empowered by God but human inadequacy leads us to feeling worse and even more inadequate then ever.
Let me give an example. If pride is a issue in my life when i do public ministry but my strength is in public speaking, while i try to overcome the issue of pride in my life, i cannot allow it to keep bugging me to a point when i focus on containing the pride when i do public speaking instead of focusing on my speech. I have to settle it before or after at a more appropriate time.
Let me use the example of Moses. Moses was not confident of public speaking and God got Arron to speak on his behalf. Moses could have curse and swear about his weakness and his incapabilities of public speaking. But what did he do? He played to his strength of leadership. Of leading the people through the desert and he was secure enough to know that Arron will cover for his weakness in the mean time.
Leaders, can i encourage you to be more confident in allowing God to use you in your strengths or weakness. If God can use you in your weakness, what more can God do through your strengths? So leaders, stop letting your inadequacies from becoming the sticking point of your ministry. Let your strengths be.
There are certain things i am not good at. There are certain things i am better at. A rule of thumb is that as long as the things i am not good at does not have a crippling effect on my ministry, i will keep it in mind to take long term steps to grow out of it and devote more attention to other areas. However, if it does, then we will need to grow out of it fast.
Beyond that, leaders, let your ministry in mind, heart and soul surround around your strengths. Be confident of not yourself but of God working through your strengths.
i know i am not a musical person. Can't play guitar for nuts but i know it is an area i need to buck up. But right now, its does not have a crippling effect on my ministry so i focus my strength and energy on the NS ministry on what i am better at, things like discipleship, teaching the word of God, missions etc.
Buckingham sums it up so beautifully:
We need to be able to talk about our strengths without bragging and weakness without whining.
Regards,jie hui
Labels: Leadership
The kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it.
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Monday, June 30, 2008
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Monday, June 30, 2008
Transplanting People
Ok, this is going to be so so so important for the churches who group people by homogeneous groupings according to geographical location, life stage, interests, job type etc. When you have such groups at the macro level, it inevitably leads to this hated word called transfer. When you move from one life stage to another. When you change from one job to another. For effectiveness, the group in which you serve in changes as well. For the readers who aren't faced with such situations, you can apply what will be discussed to your own life about the transplanting of people from one group to another or for assimilating a new member.
We always say this, if you are spiritual, wherever i put you, you will influence and you will impact those around you. If you are able to lead 10 people in this group, when i move you to another group, you should be able to lead 10 as well. If you star burst in a certain group, i put you in a new environment, you will thrive as well. Basically, if you are made of substance, you will do well. That may be true in some instances but in many it is not. We have seen so many instances where people failed to live up to the expectations and the hype of that came with the transfer. We send off many people from youth to other ministries but many of them failed to impact and you ask yourself why. If they are made of substance, which many of them really are, why is it that they find it so hard to again weave their magic in a new group?
Bill Hybels discussed this in leadership summit 2006. He discussed this thing called the platform. It was just a mind blowing concept that hit me. It has been what many of us have overlooked all along. The main idea you see is that when a leader thrive in a certain ministry, say youth, it is not just the leader's work and conviction alone that built up the group. There must be a confluence of factors which we call the "Platform" on which allows the group to thrive or achieve success. This Platform includes things like their core team, their leaders, the positive culture, friends serving together, familiarity, experience in that ministry for many years, conviction and ownership of a certain vision and many more. All these things come together to form success.
When we pluck just an individual out of this success and put them in our group expecting the same result and for them to weave their magic, both parties are often left frustrated, disappointed and often want to turn back the wheels to our good old days. This has been happening in so many lives that we as church leaders have the responsibility to ensure that we don't ever allow this to happen in our group.
We thank God that this is not the end of the road. There are solutions to this after all. This is a few way out of it.
The platform we are talking about may vary from case to case, individuals to individuals but the principle is don't expect to throw a successful person into a group, do nothing from there and expect returns. People are not robots. There are a few "universals" that will apply to most people who are in transition.
Firstly, give people the visionary platform. Without vision, people perish. simple as there. One of the main role of the new leader is to give people the ownership of the new vision. Don't just throw them your vision. Explain to them the vision, why we have the vision, the history of the vision, where are we currently at in reaching the vision and what role they can play in the vision. When people own a vision, things happen.
Secondly, it is the community platform. The new people needs to feel welcomed. They need to be comfortable with the community and enjoy their fellowship.
Thirdly, it is the service platform. People need to not just serve but serve with a purpose and know why they are doing what they are doing. Don't just treat new members are foot soldiers. They are leaders in their own capacity capable of thinking and initiating and adding so much value to the group they are in, if only they are being tapped upon.
Fourthly, it is the empowerment platform. This may come in different forms. It is not just about being a careleader or a shepherd. That is one form of empowerment but not everything. there are many other ways to empower someone. I make it a point to ask my new members that from their experience in their past ministry, how would they run my ministry differently. What did they see in their previous ministry that worked and how we can learn from them? This is not just a token question to make them feel involved but i will really take their ideas seriously and if possible, we will implement them. Empowerment comes when people realise that they can make a difference and what they initiate can very possibly result in something tangible at the end of the day, they will thrive.
There are other platforms but the above four are the main ones. Understand what made these people successful and if possible, replicate them in their new environment. (E.g If weekly shepherding adds alot to this person's life in the past, i don't see a reason why the new leader cannot accommodate this)
That was for the receiving leader. Now, it takes two hands to clap. The person undergoing transition can make himself much more mobile and adaptable by being able to rise above occasion and carry on despite the new ministry not being able to provide a particular platform for him. Let's take the example of the platform - a leader's core team. Many a times, it is not possible to transfer an entire leadership team. When the leader is being transferred and he needs to work without this team, he needs to rise above the occasion and carry on despite the missing platform. It may be his calling now to just serve as a member thus making that particular platform less urgent at this point. There are instances which you are called to build a platform. Lets say we are talking about a worship leader. He transferred without his music team but God has called him to build on from scratch in the new ministry. This is where we are sent out to strengthen these platforms for people to succeed.
In conclusion, take this home with you. As receiving leaders, if it is possible to give a platform to this person to succeed, please pay careful attention to it or you'll be losing gems on your hands. As people who are moving, if it is not possible for us to have the kind of platform that helped us thrive in the previous ministry, we need to adapt and do whatever helps. It may be to build a new platform or it may be to learn to step up using another platform or it may be to do away with that platform altogether.
Transplanting people is like organ transplant. When an external organ is introduced to the body, we have to ensure that it fits in, that it is not rejected, that it will eventually work at the optimum if not better compared to its previous body.
Regards,
jie hui
Labels: Leadership
The kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it.
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Saturday, June 28, 2008
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Saturday, June 28, 2008
Please, be a vision owner
Change the topic cause i felt that before a leader can cast a vision, he needs to own the vision.
They always say that leadership is a lonely job. That there are times where no one would understand what you go through. Everyone expects you to be up there all the time. Sometimes even when you struggle with your faith, you can't show it to your people.
From a very human perspective, when our leaders challenge us with a vision, we'll gladly follow. Have you ever asked where did these leaders get their vision from?
Some say they get it from their leaders. But where did our leader's leader's get it from? You get what i mean? It has to start from somewhere. We cannot always be depending on our leaders to challenge us for a vision.
Some say its from God. Then how do your receive the vision from God? Does every leader see a the light like Paul? Or dream like John? Does every leadership decision have to come from God? Does God whisper into your ears about every restructuring? So how does God actual ensure that leaders get going in his plans?
In leadership, when you hit a certain level, you know that you are pretty much on your own. For example, in the corporate level, a manager cannot expect a CEO to be breathing down his or her neck about the management of his/her staff every other day. The CEO can provide the covering but the manager is pretty much on his/her own. That is why they are employed in the 1st place! not to be the CEO's puppet but to take the burden off the CEO.
In the same way, when you hit a certain level like being a key leader in a certain school, camp, region, area, district, min ops, area of interest, you were never placed in that position to wait for your leaders to challenge you. It is always your job, not your leader's job to dream for your respective area of ownership. I make it a point in my leadership never to micro manage my leaders when it comes to dreaming for their camps. I may challenge them to dream, or to give a macro vision for my own level and that is my job, but never to dream on their behalf. My point to them is simple, if you are not going to dream for your own area which you are responsible for, i am not going to dream for you and at the end of the day, whether or not there is growth will be because you chose to or chose not to do something about it. Leaders! never pamper your people by dreaming and casting visions on their behalf.
In the bible, John 10, Jesus spoke about the hired hand and the owner. The hired hand was never ever going to dream for what is in his hands because its not his job. But the owner looks out for every opportunity and chance, to do something about the things in his hands.
Some of us, we are like the hired hand of our leaders. The group belongs to be leader. I will just support his dreams. My leader will challenge me when its time for me to grow.
Or can we become an owner? Over my dead body will i allow what is in my hands to lose value. When people own a vision, they will pray for it, work for it, sacrifice for it, and history have shown, some will even die for it.
Ownership is the prerequisite of a vision.
A few question for you to take back:
1) Are we allowing our people time and room to dream on their own? Or are we just pursuing ministry at such neck breaking speed that people are just trying to keep up with us and our dreams?
2) Are we constantly dreaming and initiating things or just waiting for someone else to come along and challenge us?
Regards,
jie hui
Labels: Leadership
The kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it.
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Friday, June 27, 2008
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Friday, June 27, 2008
Leadership - What leaders owe their people
If you are still visiting this blog aft i haven't typed anything for the past few months, you must be a really loyal supported of this blog eh.. haha.. ok... here goes.
I have been bugged by many people about the issue of leadership recently and that in turn have bugged me. It has set me thinking of what makes a good leader. I'm not saying i'm really that good but i believe that i do have somethings i really feel God has placed in my heart about leadership that i wish to share here.
The church is calling out today for strong leaders who provide decisive direction, passion and inspiration for the people. Far too often, leaders are afraid to provide a direction for the fear that we will lose them if they do not agree with us or we have over challenged them. Worse still, leaders are afraid to provide a direction simply because they are not sure of the direction themselves.
Can i plead onto all leaders today, any leader, that you need to get this right once and for all. "Get your motives right, keep yourself accountable, consult your team and make the decision." The bible says "Go and make disciples" It did not emphasize go when, go where, go with who. It simply says, Go! and make disciples of all nations. At the end of the day, church leaders does not lead because we want to see results as an end to itself. We lead because it is a calling from God to lead his flock through the temporal victory or the occasional temporal defeat. People are not as afraid of chionging for a incorrect direction compared to having no direction at all.
Lead his flock!! Take up the leadership mantle and provide your people with the kind of leadership that will inspire them to do likewise to many other people.
I'll leave you with this. During any war, soldiers look to their immediate commander for leadership. When the sides are evenly matched, decisive leadership becomes the one more important factor that determines the life and death of hundreds of soldiers. If the leader is strong, the soldiers get to see another day. If the leader is weak, it is the end of the road for many of them. The leader does not only owe these people, who entrusted their lives to him, strong leadership, he owes it to the many wifes and children back home who are waiting for these brave young man to return home.
Many a times, as leaders, we cannot wait to go into battle. We cannot wait to come back victorious. But sadly, we only know how to start and how to end, how to charge the people and how to celebrate a victory. Our people entrust their time, their energy, their emotional, and mental being to follow our lead and we owe them our decisive leadership, our confidence, our passion and our inspirational drive in the midst of the battle, because there is a loving father waiting back home for all these beloved son and daughters of his to return home to the heavenly throne.
I'll continue tomorrow on How do leaders find their bearing.
Regards,
Jie Hui
Labels: Leadership
The kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it.
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Thursday, June 26, 2008
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Thursday, June 26, 2008
Hey people,
Welcome to my blog. I really hope that this blog will be an inspiration to you in your walk with God.
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Jie Hui
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