What does…

One the coolest cities in America, and…

One of the most joyful pastors in America, and…

One of the top leadership lineups in America all have in common?

Answer: SPUR LEADERSHIP

Austin Texas + Pastor Mac Richard + a conference speaker lineup including General Tommy Franks, Texas Governor Rick Perry, Next Generation leader Pastor Steven Furtick, and Human Resources Vice President for Dell Steve Price to just name a few.

Whether you are in ministry, business, military, or government, life is too short to miss going to Austin Texas and attending the Spur Leadership Conference.

I don’t know of another event that brings the market place and ministry together like Spur Leadership.

I look forward to seeing you there!

Let me know if you will be there! I would love to connect with you…

My friend Pastor Steven Furtick wrote an insightful post that I wanted to pass along…

Masquerading Insecurity
March 3rd, 2009

In Mark 9:28, the disciples tried to cast out a demon.  They were unsuccessful, and thoroughly humiliated.

In Mark 9:38, the disciples came to Jesus tattle-tale-ing about a man who was apparently successfully driving out demons.
He was doing good things.  But he wasn’t doing it their way.
This guy wasn’t one of them.
Jesus was quick to correct: Whoever is not against us is for us.

Were the disciples really concerned about correct orthodoxy?
Or were they just jealous because this guy was producing results they were unable to achieve?

Usually, when someone is successfully doing what we’ve unsuccessfully attempted to do, we medicate our failure by complaining to God and others about how they’re not doing it right.
And we sincerely believe our motives are pure.  Usually they aren’t.

“Yeah, that church is growing, but what are they doing about discipleship?”
Often a pastor who makes this subversive snide remark about another church isn’t motivated by a pure desire for discipleship.   There’s a good chance he’s envious of the numerical gains that seem to elude him year after year.

When a mom critiques another mom, it’s often a reflection of her own frustration with her parenting abilities.

When you find yourself spending more time critiquing the methods and motivations of someone who’s doing a good work for God, check yourself.

You might be masquerading your own insecurity.

Here are seven diagnostic questions you need to keep asking yourself as a leader, to determine if you are fulfilling God’s Call with your personal life, and staying holy and healthy. Thanks to Dan Brock for these great questions.

DO I REALLY KNOW GOD? If ministry activity were taken away from me, would I still have a personal, growing relationship with Jesus?

DO I TRULY PURSUE INTEGRITY? Are there areas of ongoing secrecy in my life that I am intentionally hiding from those closest to me?

AM I BEING MYSELF? Am I living under the self-imposed pressure of always having to prove something to somebody?

DO I OWN RESPONSIBILITY? Do I acknowledge my mistakes or do I project blame and use my influence to vent unresolved anger?

DO I EMBRACE CHANGE? Is my attitude faith-filled and future-focused or am I overly nostalgic of the past and fearful of taking risks in the present?

DO I LOVE LEARNING? Am I coasting intellectually or am I applying myself to the disciplines of personal study and reflection?

DO I LIVE JOYFULLY? Do I love what I am doing or have I taken the pressures of ministry onto myself?

What we feed will grow; what we starve will die.

What do want to see God accomplish thru you in your lifetime? Thought provoking question isn’t it? So can you answer it? Once you can identify it…Feed it – every day and it will grow. Procrastinate, just put it off, don’t think about it, and your dream will starve and die.

What do you want to see happen in your marriage? Do you want to grow in intimacy? Do you want a life long friend and companion? Feed your marriage…spend time with your spouse, date your mate, work thru conflict, improve your communication skills, listen…and your relationship will grow and flourish. Complain and point out all your spouse’s flaws, don’t come home from work, compare your spouse…they will wither and starve emotionally, and your marriage will die.

What we feed will grow; what we starve will die.

The principle is universal and Biblical. Whether your career, your children, your friendships, your relationship with God, your health.

What we feed will grow; what we starve will die.

What do you need to starve in order to accomplish your vision?

What do you need to feed in order to accomplish your vision?

Got this from John Maxwell and thought it was well worth passing along…

• They have a losing attitude: People generally get whatever they expect out of life. Expect the worst, and that’s what you’ll get.

• They quit growing. People are what they are, and they are where they are because of what has gone into their minds.

• They have no game plan for life. As William Feather, author of The Business of Life says, “There are two kinds of failures: Those who thought and never did, and those who did and never thought.”

• They are unwilling to change. Some people would rather cling to what they have rather than embrace what might be better because they are afraid of getting something worse.

• They fail in relationships with others. People who cannot get along with others will never get ahead in life.

• They are not willing to pay the price for success. The road to success is uphill all the way. Anyone who wants to accomplish much must sacrifice much.

A friend of mine named Ritchie Miller pastors a great church in Atlanta, GA called Avalon Church.  He started the church in 2001, and it’s rapidly growing and doing incredible!

Ritchie is an amazing leader, and he wrote a great post the other day on our President Obama.  I believe his post just sums it up the best from the Biblical perspective of our President.  I encourage you to check it out.

In our series, “Unprecedented Times,” Northway Church is breaking all the rules in the church growth handbook. No, there’s not really a handbook out there, but make no mistake, there are definitely unwritten rules…and every Pastor knows them. Here’s the crazy thing…we are growing like crazy! Who knew?

God did.

We’ve had our largest increases in this series with packed services. We ran out of chairs last weekend in one service with standing room only. Now we’re faced with having to add a service to accommodate the growth. Pretty cool. So what rules are we breaking? Here are some unwritten commandments that I’ll explain in my upcoming post.

1. Thou shalt not teach on the End Times.
2. Thou shalt not teach on Matt 24 and 25
3. Thou shalt not leave debated passages of scripture open ended.
4. Thou shalt not makest people feel uncomfortable, surely they wilt not return.
5. Thou shalt never changest what grew thy church to this point.
6. Thou shalt never go against thy creative team.
7. Thou shalt not unplug lights, instruments, or mics in the middle of a song.
8. Thou shalt not question the goat-like tendencies of your staff or leaders.
9. Thou shalt not speaketh on tithing during the plight of an economic crisis.
10. Thou shalt not partake in playing or singing a 90s worship jam.

• Had an unbelievable time at Spur Leadership!

• Loved learning from the best of the market place and church world !

• Mac and his team hit it out of the park hosting this event!

• You would have thought they had done this for decades….certainly not their first.

• Here are some quick notes….gotta to catch a flight

Les Csorba:

1. Management is doing things right
2. Leadership is doing the right thing

Nonnegotiable For Leaders That Last:

1. Manage Your Character.
2. Manage Your Ambition.
3. Manage Pragmatism.
4. Manage Privilege.
5. Manage Mentors.
6. Manage Your Serve.
7. Manage To Pray.

Rocky and Janet Mountain

Successful Leaders Are Fully Engaged Every Day: Their characteristics are…

1. Remove Road Blocks
2. Truth Telling
3. Inspire Ingenuity
4. Communicating Cogently

On Thursday, October 2, 2008, join Mac Richard and renowned leaders from various walks as they allow all comers to see inside the challenges, triumphs and unbridled truths of leading from the heart. This inaugural gathering is designed for those who desire to plug into a selfless leadership community whose time is now. Spur Conference 2008—-Experience it, then live it.

Looking forward to learning from some of the BEST leaders in the market place and in the church world today. I’m so excited for my good friend, Mac Richard, and his vision for Spur leadership. His line up for this ground breaking conference is out of the park!

I’ll keep you posted on what I learn.

I’m also looking forward to seeing some dear friends, Ed Young, Preston Mitchell, and Bil Cornelius.  I’m grateful to God for all of these men that have impacted my life and sharpened me as a leader.

By the way, if you haven’t registered for the C3 on the Road Conference on October 13th at Northway Church, you can do so here.

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C3 is on the road and on its way to Northway Church on October 13th!

Sign up today, space is limited.

WHAT YOU GET:

• An intimate setting for your team (pastors, staff members and volunteers) to realize new possibilities for your church
• Hear Ed speak about tough topics no one else wants to tackle
• Gain motivation, application and innovation to take ministry to the next level
• A Q&A session with Ed Young
• Special Group Rate if you bring 5 or more!
• A special luncheon with Ed Young for senior pastors and their wives

REGISTRATION:
$79/person

-OR-

$325/team (5 or more people)

You don’t want to miss this conference!