Incredible past few days in Anderson, SC with Perry Noble. It was encouraging to rub shoulders with other lead pastors nationwide and hear stories of how God is prevailing through their churches.
I was blown away by NewSpring's generosity in pouring into our staff guys one-on-one. They even connected our crew to Chunks Corbette and the crazy-genius team at Elevation in Charlotte.
Back at NewSpring, God used Perry to really speak into where I'm at in ministry right now. Perry said that the worst thing that could happen is if our church went through another growth spurt and I personally wasn't ready for it.
So goes the Leader, so goes the team. If the Lead Pastor is not healthy, the Staff will not be healthy and the Church will not be healthy. Making sure I'm personally in a good, vibrant place is the most important lesson of all.
So true. God has been incredibly faithful in blessing our first year with over 160 people receiving Christ, 65 baptisms, over 80 new church partners, etc. All the attention and credit needs to go toward Jesus because He is calling the shots and He is responsible for what we're experiencing in Caro, MI.
With strong Kingdom advancement comes bogus opposition from the Enemy. What warms God's heart (reaching the lost at any cost) brings a chill to the gates of Hell. The greatest spiritual oppositions come before the greatest breakthroughs.
Personal health becomes paramount moving forward. Perry's words were on-target and affirming. A few key thoughts that impacted me:
"Senior Pastors receive tons of attention, but not much care." Very true. Intentionally seeking out healthy relationships (particularly with other pastors) is a must.
"To be healthy, you WILL tick some people off in your church." No matter what, in the quest to be a healthy leader, I'm going to be misunderstood... by other Christians. I might as well intentionally define what I will be misunderstood about, namely, making boundary choices that will keep my and my family in a healthy place.
"Your church needs your LEADERSHIP more than your PREACHERSHIP." Establishing a sustainable preaching schedule has become a high priority in my life for the coming year. Perry was very specific on which calendar weekends to focus on.
"Don't read what people say about you, either positive or negative. Positive can lead to pride; negative deflates." Dan and I spent a lot of time talking about this area. We are now deeply committed to being deaf to critics of our church's vision and strategy. We are rock-certain of God's leading and will not give our critics a platform going forward.
Obviously with 9 pages of handwritten notes in my Moleskin, Perry covered a ton with the Coaching Network. This is just a taste of what all God is teaching and refining in me right now. Going forward I am committed to realignment personally so that I am in in strong physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual health. Looking forward to September's coaching!
