When Overcommit Works

o·ver·com·mit  

verb

1. To bind or obligate (oneself, for example) beyond the capacity for realization.

2. To allocate or apportion (money, goods, or resources) in amounts incapable of replacement.

Successful leaders have learned to overcommit. 

If you want to do big things, it’s going to take big commitments. You will be stretched and challenged.

I love what Daniel Day Lewis thought 

“I don’t always overcommit but when I do I win the Academy Award.”

According to our definition of overcommit, obligating past our abilities, is exactly what we leaders do and in some cases expected to do in order to succeed! 

Yet, overcommit can be the dumbest thing we do!

What separates being smart and being stupid?

Let's start with one of our favorite verses “Not by power, not by might, but by the Spirit of the Lord.” 

Jesus gave some great life lessons on it.  Just ask the disciples about feeding 5 thousand and then 4 thousand people with no food. How about Peter stepping out of the boat? Was that being overcommitted?  What about the Great Commission, I mean really, going to all the nations, making disciples, healing the sick, baptizing, bringing the Good News everywhere, that’s a huge commitment! 

When we walk by flesh, we overcommit.  When we walk by grace, we walk in His Spirit.  

So how do we tell the difference?

Grace is the ability to do what God has called you to do.  If God has asked you to do it, He will give you the ability, the power, the knowledge, the resources to do it. If He hasn’t asked you to do it, then you use your own ability, your  own power, your own knowledge and your own resources. 

Go back to the beginning and rehearse your reasons why you said “yes” to the ministry. Was it about serving, pastoring?  Was it about healing the broken hearted, setting captives free? Was it about training up a younger generation??  Now look at what your doing, have you strayed outside those deep passions? Then you might be overcommitted. 

Did you stay true to the vision? Then let me ask you something.

Is your faith in God’s ability causing you to overcommit God or you?

I believe when our faith in God’s ability is exercised in our visions and passions we will overcommit God, which He gets a real kick out of.  I know what you are thinking.  I prayed for the lady to be healed, I told her that God would heal her and He didn’t.  You can’t heal her (flesh) God can (grace). Stop focusing on what God hasn’t done and stay focused on what God can do. It’s a discipline and well worth the exercise. 

The world will try to get you to either overcommitted or under commit. Leave a comment on how you stay clear of both traps?  How do you know you have fallen into a trap and what did you do about it?  

Hope Tour 2011

This is the second year for the Hope Tour.  The testimonies from last year's tour are still coming in.  We have seen over 50 marriages saved, not just one salvation but families coming to salvation.  We have testimonies from women all over the state of Florida that were on their last stand walk away with strength, courage and wisdom to get back up and walk in HOPE.


This is one of the few events I encourage women to attend and to bring someone.  We all know someone that could use a little time away and some hope!!


What is it?


A one day event. It's free, well lunch is $6.  


Workshops for just about any area of a women's life, that could possible be in need of a little hope.


These workshops are by women that have not only walked through issues but have overcome through the power of His Spirit. It's not a bunch of to do list, who needs that?  The enemy thinks that he can get you out of the game by throwing you a bunch of curve balls. This years Hope Tour is about ministering to others right in the very middle of the fight, throwing that curve ball right back!


Some of the Workshop Topics include:


Life after divorce
Ministering to an unsaved spouse
I'm to shy to witness
Saving money in a tough economy
Hope for the Nations. What can I do?
Getting Past your Past
Becoming a woman of influence
From pitiful to powerful
Shop your closet

Dates and Locations

May 28 9am

Upper Room Assembly of God

19701 SW 127th Ave

Miami Fl 33177

June 25th 9am

Arlington Assembly of God

88 Arlington Road N

Jacksonville, Fl 32211

July 16th 9am

Life Assembly of God

2269 Partin Settlement Road

Kissimmee Fl 34744

August 6 9am

Church of Hope

1560 Wendell Kent Road

Saraosta, Florida, 34240

Armor Bearers

Who Ministers To You?

As leaders in ministry, we minister God’s love, wisdom, and healing to a broken world.  It would be foolish to think we are immune to this stuff.  We all have been looking for the force field that would protect us from getting hurt, experiencing loneliness and remain in perfect health, however, I don’t believe there is one.  I believe when we love others we become vulnerable to hurting people hurting people, particularly you. 

To minimize the drama trauma God places armor bearers around us. 

We minister to others, but who ministers to us? Who can we rely on when the going gets tough? It’s easy to tell someone to get it together, but who is telling us? Do we have someone in our lives to give us those wake up calls to our own silly choices?

Having the right support group in place is paramount to a great leader.  When you are in ministry, you will be surrounded by people all the time.  But not all those people will be the support you will need to walk in the mighty gifts and talents God has placed within you. 

What do you look for in armor bearers?  What kind of qualities will they display to tip you off that God has placed them for the purpose of supporting you?

1-They will strengthen us, not zap all the strength out of us. 

2- They will go the distance with you and the vision. 

3 - They will pray through for you. 

4 - Integrity, they will be people with enormous integrity.  

5 - They have discretion, they know when to hold their tongue.

6 - They walk in mercy and truth.

7 - They are capable worshipping warriors.

8 - They will invest in you and the ministry, with their time, energy and money.

9 - They are faithful to the relationship, to service and more importantly to God.

There is probably more qualities of these wonderful gifts from God.  If you have a suggestion to the list let us know!!!

Who is in your support group?  What do they do that makes you a better leader?  How did you find them?  How do you identify those who genuinely invest?  How are you being held accountable?  Leave a Comment!

Why do we have a Women's Ministry? (video pic of the week)

In some churches women's ministry is an after thought.

Some churches treat women's ministry as an accessory. You know the group of ladies that makes sure all the food is cooked, the place is cleaned and the kid's get their money for their big trip. I'm talking about real ministry.  I have been asked, a few times, about why are we separating the women from the men in ministry. "Can't they all just go to the same things?"  The very same people have no problem separating the youth from their parents. (that's a different post)

As a section representative for the Assembly of God, I meet with pastors and I hear their concerns about women's ministry, the good part, the bad part and even the ugly part, but isn't it the same concerns for every ministry?

I went to one church, a fairly large one, and met with the pastor.  Right off the bat he said "We don't do women's ministry." It must have been the Holy Spirit because I could never come up with anything so clever, my reply was "So the women hang out in the parking lot waiting for their men to get out of church?" He chuckles, I chuckle and our conversation lasted two hours.  The pastor realized whether there was a formal women's ministry or not in his church, women were ministering to each other. He also realized after looking at the demographics of his church, the majority of the congregation was women.  

I am not saying women and men need to be completely separated.  We need each other, it's the way God intended it to be.  Discipleship and mentoring necessitates separate ministries.  There are just some things that men don't get about us and that's okay.  

Here is the video pic of the week (so many has asked for it).  I believe it helps drive this point home.  

When and what are those issues that would be better served by women?  Yes, we need men's perspective (they have great perspective) how can we add value to the church when dealing with gender related issues? 

The Power of She

The Power of SHE

Take a moment and think about your congregation.  Go through the members directory list.  Is there more women than men?  If so doesn't it make sense to have a women's ministry.  Now I am not talking about catering and empowering women to hate the men and take over the world.  I like the guys I don't want to get rid of them.  We are to come together as a team, brothers and sisters.  However, we can't ignore the resource God has provided His church through women.

Here are some statistics taken from a poll conducted by a large parenting magazine.  It gives a incredible insight  at the enormous amount of influence women in our culture carry.

I call it the power of SHE.

SHE controls 85% of all household spending
SHE makes 91% of the decisions to purchase the new home
SHE purchases 66% of the computers in the US
SHE purchases 92% of the family vacations
SHE purchases 80% of healthcare
SHE makes 66% of the decisions to purchase the new car
SHE opens 89% of the bank accounts
SHE purchases 93% of the groceries
SHE purchases 93% of the pharmaceuticals

SHE tells her friends 92% of the time

OH and by the way she buys, drives and feeds her kids and husbands too.

With that kind of influence, why would we think women's ministries is a church accessory?  With that kind of influence in today's market and culture, Godly women can be the leaven in our culture, to change it for the better.   We as leaders in Women's Ministries have a responsibility to ensure women's influence brings glory and honor to our King, His people and His church.

With that kind of influence we can bring a lot of value to our culture and make a huge impact with the compelling love of Christ.

 What are we doing in our Women's Ministries that can make a difference in our communities? How as women can we use our influence to make an impact?

Leading in the Trenches

Are you and your team going through a real battle these days?

There are times as a leader it seems as though you and your team are going through the fire.  I call it the “trenches.”  It’s not the pressing of small stuff it’s the BIG STUFF that’s bombarding the ministry and it’s all you can do to hold your ground.  It could be a season of transition and we all know how vocal some people are about change. Maybe you are the new leader replacing an awkward situation with the last leader.  Maybe you have been called in to clean house, so to speak.  It could be the ministry was blindsided and now your holding the ground till resources, replacements and re-enforcements show up.  Whatever the case may be you will know without a doubt you are in the trenches and I have two words “grace” and “mercy.”  Hang in there, help is on its way.

While in the trenches I have a few tips to help you and your team get through this. 


Focus. 


 Keep the main thing the main thing.  What is important in the ministry?  Keep that in the front of your mind. Why did you get into ministry anyway? 


Energy.  


Go all in, bring everything you got into the situations. Effort will go a long way.  Will you be tired? Yes, will you need to take some breaks for refreshing? Yes, it’s one reason I love Fall Breakaway so much.  No making 3 tracks, your two feet and your tail. 


Integrity. 


Your credibility, your word is the most important possession  you have. Don’t compromise those godly core values the Holy Spirit spent years developing in you.


Solutions and Sisters.  


Don’t be the one presenting all the problems and offering no solutions.  Just solve the problem and move on.  Whatever you do don’t argue with the solution and don’t make excuses. Remember your sisters.  Let’s not leave any behind.  Great solutions have a common trait, they are win -win.  Look for those kind of solutions especially when dealing with your sisters.


Take the blame when no one else will.   


Own up to your responsibility and be accountable to your part! Jesus took the blame for all kinds of crimes, as soon as He did redemption began to flow.  I know sometimes it’s just wrong, and unfair.  Be the bigger person.


Yes, I do windows.  


The best gifts are on the lower shelves.  Humbleness goes a long way.   Let’s lose the “Your not my boss” and “that’s not my job” attitude.  When leading the ministry, the business, the family through these really tough times remember we are all in it together.  




Can you think of more ways to stand your ground without hurting those around you, or have you been through this and have an encouraging word?  Leave a comment.  

Connecting the Ministry part 2

This is part 2 of Connecting the Ministry.

Connecting is about relating to others and bringing value to that relationship.

Here are some basic principles about connect.

It’s not about you, it’s all about them.  

Ever meet someone that all they want to do is talk about themselves? Or all they want to do is push their agenda, their opinions?. They are constantly getting you to opt in whatever they are doing.  I have met some street evangelist with no interest whatsoever about people’s name, their situation in life, all they really cared about was “they are going to heaven, bless God.”  I know this one Women’s Ministry leader that no matter what room we are in, she always pipes in about the Bible Study she is doing.  I don’t think I have ever heard her genuinely ask another person about their thing and leave it at that.  No matter what the conversation topic it always got steered to the fact she does a bible study.  Some leaders think they it is lonely at the top, that it’s better to soar alone, that the extra mile is a lonely place.  That’s because it was all about them! 

It takes time and energy.

To connect to people will cost you. When two people are dating they spend an enormous amount of time and energy building that relationship, marriages would be whole lot better off if the couple went back to those days of dating energy. It takes creativity and energy to make people feel special.  It takes innovation to find the perfect way to tell Sister Bah-Humbug she matters. Look what Jesus went through just to connect with us!  For some it takes many hours gripping the mercy seat to battle against holding an offense.  To connect to some people will require time, a commitment to  constant reaching out. 

Find some common ground and encourage and empower them to better ground.

To connect to people we find common ground. We get where they are!  We become inclusive instead of exclusive.  We find out their likes and dislikes.  I like what Paul said “When I am with those who are weak, I share their weakness, for I want to bring the weak to Christ. Yes, I try to find common ground with everyone, doing everything I can to save some.”

Then we empower them, we bring value to their lives.  We lift them up.  How can we do that if we don’t even know where they are in life?  

Connecting the Ministry part 1

Making Connections

Look, it’s  pretty important in ministry to actually meet people.  I know, I know, what about the old saying about a baseball field and some ancient ball players “If you build it they will come.”  That’s called an “attraction model.”  You just make the time, date and place put out enough flyers they will come, right?  

The only danger and problem with this scenario is:

You seem to only attract people similar to you.  The flyer, the event, the ministry is tailored around what you and your gang likes. So the people that are drawn to it are your kind of people.  If you notice in the baseball (Field of Dreams) movie the guy attracted baseball people, players and fans. 

What about meeting people that aren’t necessarily like you?  God has given each one of us a sphere of influence, your family, your friends, your neighbors and your co-workers.  Make a list of them.  How many of them are really just like you?  I have some family members that are nothing like me, and I have some family members that are way too much like me.  What about your neighbors? Other than the fact you live on the same street, are you guys fairly alike?  I know on my street we are the youngest family, the only family with kids.  Yep, we are nothing alike, they aren’t going to like and go to the things my family likes and goes to.  

Yet, in all of our differences we by the “Great Commission” we are to go out and meet people. We are to connect. I’m not talking about communicating to people, some people talk way to much anyway.  You ever get around someone that just can’t stop talking, and your eyes glaze over?  They are communicating but they aren’t connecting.

Connecting is about relating and identifying with people in a way that influence is in play.  


They will influence you and you will influence them. The more value we bring to that relationship, whether it is with people, a family, even a community, the more influence we will have. That value is in the connection!  We are salt and light!

Stay tuned tomorrows post will be about the basic principles to connecting to people.

Enriching the Ministry (part 2)

This is part two of Enriching the Ministry.

Here are some more simple cost effective ways to supplement the ministry and help develop your team.

Online webinars, simulcasts or conference calls 

For some this means getting a little tech savy.  Get’s some youth to help you out in this.  Learn from them, don’t just rely on them to do everything, every time. Gather the  core team or women your mentoring around a computer and hook up with a leader in a different area. Meet with a core team from a different church and share ideas. Arrange for a joint call with another leader and let the team ask questions and then process the interview together.

Cross the denominational and church divide 

 Join forces with another church to accomplish any of these ideas.  I have what we call the meeting of the five families. Five women’s ministries in our area get together and plan ways to meet the injustices in our community.  Learn from each other. We really need to loose the competing ministries mentality anyway. Do a combined mini-conference of your own. Rotate the location of events to the different churches. 

Learn from each other 

Take turns with sharing best practices from different walks of life and careers.  For instance, best practices for nurses, teachers, business, marketing, mothering, home-schooling.  

Plan a scavenger hunt  

It could take a day, week, even a month.  Give the ladies certain items to look for,  such as a community need, brilliant marketing, leadership techniques, experts to bring in, places to fellowship, the list could go on!  Create teams, or pairs to search their community, online, book, or through networking wherever they want.  Let each team present their findings. Let them seek out new ideas and improvements they can share and learn from.  The process of sharing the idea discovered will prove to be development.

You have any suggestions?  What has your ministry done to bring more substance to the ministry?

Enriching the Ministry (part 1)

Ministry can be enriched with ingredients that promote growth.  Immediately upon hearing the term "growth" images of  bringing as many people as possible and ways to retain them comes screaming into our already crowded mental to do list. That's not the growth I'm discussing today.

Growth

The people that God has placed around you are there to be nurtured and developed.  If we are faithful to not only be God’s hand extended to them, but also to fostering them into their God given purpose, talents, gifts and possibilities God will send more. This is growth. Remember not everyone is called to full time ministry, so developing them in their area of influence is aligning them with God’s plan.  

Growth comes with a price.  Here are some ways to keep the cost down and still enrich the ministry to nurture growth individually and corporately.

Invite outside experts to come –  Find an expert in whatever direction the ministry is taking and bring them in. If it’s outreach, get an evangelist. If you have mom’s get a Mommy expert in to encourage them (if you have a youth group and the mom’s are not attending church, this is a great resource for them)  If  you have unemployment issues bring in a Job Coach.  ( I know a really good  one)  It may be cheaper to bring the expert to you than it is to attend a conference. I personally know a lot of women speakers/leaders and experts that would come just for the travel expenses and they don’t mind if its 5 people or 250. I personally like the smaller groups, more room for connection. 

Get them to a conference – In Florida, I have only a couple of conferences I promote to the whole.  I try to get as many people I can to attend them.  The first is a free day event (Hope Tour) and the other is 3 day/2 night retreat (Fall Breakaway).  I don’t believe in conference junkies and that’s another post altogether. I do believe in road trips. They will see the bigger picture, they will realize they are not alone.  There are other conferences, that are specific in nature, send just one member to it. You may have to flip a coin to see who goes, but be willing to pay for them to attend. The only catch is they have to bring back what they learned and teach it to the rest. 

this is a two part post so come back tomorrow to finish the list.

Relational Leaders

Relational Leaders

Vision and strategy are great.  But what gets a ministry planted and thriving is relationships. Leading a ministry means cultivating relationships.  

Here are 3 tips to becoming relational leaders

1- Be accessible.  The days of the rock star preacher is dying, thankfully.  This doesn’t mean the people of the church own you 24/7. It does mean you are reasonably available.

2- Be open.  This means you are open to be mentored, you are open to having friends, you are open to mentor.  You have a Paul, a Barnabas, and a Timothy in your life.  Just because you are the leader doesn’t mean you can’t have friends.  You can love with your life.  You can be honest with people, they will respect your sincerity. Be open to suggestions, be open to people speaking into your life, be open to friendships.  I know there is a lot of leadership quotes about the extra mile being lonely, and eagles don’t fly in flocks, don’t buy in to them to much.  You can have friends.  They will be the ones that get you through the extra mile and you can’t soar too high without them.  

3- Be a role model.   There is no such thing as assembly line christianity. It’s easy to make disciples of people or even ministries.  It is a whole other ball game when it comes to making disciples of Christ. Disciples of Christ are made with time and energy.  It requires humility, because you will have to take a back seat more often than not.  It means you will have the good, the bad and the ugly to deal with and people watching while you do it.  Showing them godly character in all of it, will stand the test of time. They will respect you all the more.  

Momentum, not Motion in Ministry

Ways to Focus on Momentum, not Motion

Too many leaders confuse motion with momentum. We can all be super busy, but is anything getting done?  Leaders with constant motion, without any momentum will stunt, sometimes even kill, a ministry. 

So how do we fight this and get some real momentum going?

Measure results, not work.  
Have a plan developed around results that are measurable and quantifiable. Ask why your doing the event, the particular outreach, fellowship? and then ask what results do you want from that event?  If your doing an event for just the sake of doing the event, that might be a clue of a busy ministry without momentum.  Where is the event going to take you?  If you want to see the community impacted find a way to measure the impact. 

Your greatest asset is people. 
Relationships are key! A momentum killer is when you perceive people as a liability. 

Count the Cost. 
Growth and momentum gets stunted when we think the cost is too high.  I’m not talking about money here.  Get some quality commitments from many people. 

Ask God! 
You would think this was a no brainer in ministry, but you would be surprised.  Once you get a Word from Heaven, faith is in play! Move on it, trust it. God’s not your assistant here, you are His.  Sometimes we have an event for Him. Meaning, we plan all this stuff to do and then we hope God shows up when the doors open. We even pray those “red carpet invitations to God” at the beginning to of the service. Maybe God want’s something done event wise for the community? Maybe God wants to hold a service and invite people to it.   These are the only kind of events I like to do.  The one God orders. 

Communicate action.
 Inspiring people isn’t enough to change the world.  Inspiring them and clear action steps will!  People understand whats being communicated and the speakers point of view. They hear the vision and they love the vision. That’s not enough if they don’t know how to effectively apply steps to attaining the vision. If you want to hit the anointed home run in your ministry go back and see how easy it is for your team to apply what you’ve taught.  

Creativity Is Not Enough, Finish Strong

Being Creative is Not Enough, we need to finish what we start.

Having a team that can come up with some unique and on the money idea’s that can’t finish is no better than a team that can’t come up with any new idea at all!

So, what can we do to ensure our team can finish strong.

1. When planning the event, the fund raiser, the ministry start from the end and work backwards. 
2. Motivation motivation motivation. Make finishing something they WANT to do.  
3. Keep the eye on the prize.  It’s easy to get distracted by all the details, and we should strive for excellence.  However, at the end of the day, we want to finish.
4. If the team, or members of the team are not known for finishing well, then maybe have them take on smaller projects at first.  
5. Identify some finishing “killers” 
1. Lack of clarity on what finishing looks like
2. It’s not going to be good enough.  Is it ever going to be good enough for some?
3. Fear of getting out of the comfort zones and into the splash zone.
4. Insecurity about stepping out and on display for the whole church to see and they fail.
6. You are who you hang out with.  Get some finishers on the team, or invite them to speak to your team.

Got some suggestions on "Finishing Strong" we would love to hear it!! Leave a comment.