Why Leaders Should Insist On Change

Real leaders know and insist on change in the church where they lead.

Here’s a thought you can use when you lead to change, discuss change in a sermon or another venue. This will help you to engage and groom your leaders with the importance of making consistent, necessary and timely change.

Little corrections save us from making inevitable big corrections.

Here’s why. If we drift two degrees at a time, before long we’re across several lanes. So all we have to do is make two degree changes to avoid making big changes.

I saw this illustrated the other day in traffic on a busy interstate. The driver was texting, shouldn’t have been, and gradually veered off to the edge of the highway. When she realized she was not in her lane, she immediately made the course correction of frantically jerking the steering wheel to the left. It was a major change that almost cost her life!

Just think. When leaders fail to make the two degree adjustments when they should and where they should, it guarantees a major change will be needed later on.

This is precisely why people in our churches resist change. They are conditioned to major changes which are usually painful, demanding and over-correcting because “in action” or the guts to change all along was neglected or delayed by the leader.

Leaders, don’t blame your people if they resist major changes because you haven’t made the little corrections consistently that create a culture that expects and understands change.

Understand this principle and you will be able to give a reasonable answer for change and be able to resist the temptation to "back off" change when others say they don't like it.

Innovative Outreach Idea

Taking a youngster fishing can be one of the most rewarding days you will ever spend.
When you take a kid fishing, be prepared for one thing: communication. It's a great opportunity to listen and communicate with your youngster, and it will be an experience you'll both treasure for a lifetime. It's a chance to talk about nature, his or her school, their friends, things they like or dislike . . . you've got the idea . . . plus its building a foundation that will keep that youngster focused on this great American sport for many years to come.


On Saturday, May 16 our church, Wesley United Methodist Church of Fruitland, MO, will sponsor a Community Fishing Clinic for Kids. The fishing instructor named Joe "Wildlife" (neat name uh) is one of our members. Joe is a wildlife biologist for the Missouri Dept. of Conservation. Time 9:30 a.m. till Noon. All attendees are asked to park at the North Elementary School parking lot.

The event is limited to 20 kids. We already have 18 who have registered. Each child must be accompanied by an adult. A registered nurse will be onsite. Bait, fishing tackle and snacks will be provided by the church. Door prizes and fishing tackle will be given away from Walmart and The Grizzly Jig Company.

Please pre-register your child by calling Pastor Barry at 573-837-6587. After registering for the event, attendees will be mailed information regarding directions to the secret fishing hole.

This is a free community event, however a $3 donation is recommended. All donations will go to the Jackson Food Pantry.

You're all set to go. We have the tackle, We’ve got the snacks, and you're about to depart on one of the greatest adventures you and your child will ever enjoy together. It's called bonding at its best. It's called fishing.

Be prepared to enjoy the sounds of nature, fresh air, and maybe catch a fish, too. But most importantly, it will be the sounds of you and your child talking to each other and enjoying each other's company and the great outdoors. But as with all wonderful experiences, there are also lessons to be taught and learned.


Monday I did a radio public interview on a local station in Cape Girardeau. We plan to engage conversations with the kids and invite them to attend a new Thursday Night communion service for the summer. It is called "Summer Grace."

Already this idea has generated a lot of interest. Do you think your church could sponsor a fishing clinic for your community? If you would like more information email me.

This Was My Moment!

Just got home from playing in a charity golf tournament for my former high school (Crittenden County in KY) to help them raise funds for their young team. My nephew, the golf coach, headed up the foursome I was in that included my brother and another individual. The tournament play was best ball or as some call it "scramble." The fundraising event took place at Drake Creek Golf Course in Paducah, Kentucky.

It all came down to the 18th green. We desperately needed to sink a 10 foot birdie putt on this Par 5 to clinch Third Place. Before we all sized up the putt, my nephew asked "Who wants the pressure?" Without hesitation I spoke up. My reply was "I do." Then, one by one they all looked the putt over to their own satisfaction and missed. It was up to me. To be honest, I love pressure to perform. This was my moment. I felt like I was in the position that my golf idol Kenny Perry was in at the Masters earlier this month.

I walked up near the ball, stared down the cup and visualized the ball rolling over the front edge into the hole. Then, I took my stance and stayed still until I felt very comfortable. My goal was to hit a firm stroke straight at the hole. The ball left my putter and went to the heart of the hole and it dropped. Wow! What a rush it was.

Looking back on it all, the visualization process was key. Further, visualization and the execution of that vision is absolutely key to leadership and in most things we do.

For my winnings I received 1 dozen of Taylor Made golf balls, a $25 gift certificate to Red Lobster, and an attractive ceramic coffee mug from Olive Garden. Most of all, the golf team made great profits for the outing. It was a great day!

Confirmation Can Never Be Graduation Because You Cannot Graduate From God

Today was confirmation and baptism day at our church. Three youth ranging from age 13 to 19 were baptized and confirmed. Confirmation is an ongoing journey of faith. As church pastor and leader, I want to lead the church to instill the passion to be life-long learners as the norm for us.

Biblically speaking, once Nicodemus in the scriptures (John 3) understood what it meant to believe, he did not become an automatic follower of Jesus immediately. He was still resistant to God. For us it is hard to confess that we truly can’t do it by ourselves and that God’s love for us is far greater than anything we are able to offer him. To overcome resistance is to humble ourselves and recognize that we all depend on Jesus for our salvation.

We can be sure we are Christians because of resistance awareness. Resistance awareness is manifested in three ways:
1. Our resistance as part of our human nature
2. Our resistance to God
3. Our resistance to Sin

Allow me to illustrate as I did in today’s message. Every bicyclist has to overcome wind resistance. Plus, bicycle racers are aware of this problem of wind resistance and over the years have developed several techniques for reducing it.

One of these very important techniques is called “drafting.” You see, as the bicyclist moves through the air, he or she produces a turbulent wake behind themselves. It makes vortices. The vortices actually make a low pressure area behind the bicyclist and an area of wind that moves along with the bicyclist.
Now comes the leadership lesson in all this. If you’re following a bicyclist and move into the wind behind the front bicyclist, you can gain an advantage because the low pressure move you forward and the eddies push you forward.

Surprisingly, “drafting” not only helps the bicyclist following the leader, but the lead cyclist gains an advantage as well. In other words, when you are filling in their eddy you improve the front person’s performance as well. So two people who are drafting can put out less energy than two individuals (who are not drafting) would covering the same distance in the same time.

Further, bicyclists group together in a pack knows as the “peloton” or a pace line called an “echelon.” And to be effective drafting, a cyclist needs to be as close as possible to the bicycle in front of them. This is exactly the reason why many professional cyclists get within INCHES of the bicycle in front of them. The shorter the distance between them, the larger the decrease in wind resistance.

Do you see how this relates to your leadership? Do you see how important it is to understand how and why we never graduate from God?

Your Easter Strategy Really Begins Now and Really Counts The Most

Your Easter services and attendance are over and now the strategy really counts!
Here is the checklist.

1. Sort through the guest information cards to determine those who are really good prospects.

2. Ask a lay person in your church to contact those prospects with a simple and friendly phone call with an invitation to come next Sunday.
(3 minutes TOPS!!

3. Ask a lay person to report back to you about the phone call and how it went.

4. Send a personal follow-up card or letter with a handwritten note from you to those guests who are good prospects Promote you next begin event.


5. Continue to identify occassional attenders and turn those occassional attenders into regular attenders.


6. Create more occassional attenders.
Understand how this process is called normalizing your attendance week to week.

The Ultimate April Fools Day Joke!

Being from the Commonwealth of Kentucky and still bleeds "Wildcat blue", the ultimate April Fools Day joke would be if John Calipari called Lexington and said he changed his mind. Believe me, it would rock the state more like an earthquake.

This week UK signed Calipari to an 8 year contract for an estimated 35 Million to lead their basketball program to the top in 2010. Coach Calipari is a welcomed change as a alumni of the University of Kentucky we're tired of losing the best high school recruits to Memphis, North Carolina, Duke, and not to mention Louisville.

He is a great recruiter which is about 85% percent of college coaching today. Getting the right people on the bus is priority to the mixture of any sports team, church, business, or otherwise.


The spirits of Adolph Rupp, Joe B. Hall, and Rick Petino are working in our favor. Go Wildcats!

How Often Do You Underestimate God?

A few days ago I had two evangelistic encounters where I admitted how much I underestimated God. In the first instance, a lady had asked to meet me in a local restaurant to discuss her search for God. She first contacted me over 30 days ago. I told her I never really expected her to call again and want to meet as she had first asked. I underestimated that God’s presence had been dealing with her in her journey to know him. I personally invited her to attend our church this weekend.

The second encounter was when Carmen and I were at Panera Bread for dinner and coffee. A young man and his wife came up to me and said “you look familiar to us.” They knew me from another church where I used to serve as Executive Pastor. They were not part of the congregation but had relatives who were.

Interestingly, this couple had just moved here from Jefferson City, Missouri about two weeks ago. He had a new sales position and had just rented a house for their family. We spoke briefly at the restaurant. I asked him where they attended church. He said they were looking. I invited him in a general way to our church sometime. I gave him my business card and asked for a phone number and said I would follow-up with a phone call. We both said, “good to see you again” and then we left.

Later in the evening, God spoke to me again and said “you’ve underestimated me once more.” I had remembered how I heard Doug Anderson from the Reuben Job Institute, weeks earlier in Fayetteville, Arkansas, said there are 3 components to a personal invitation.
1. It is personal
2. It is specific
3. It is relational

So, I called the couple whom I met at Panera and explained how I believed God arranged our impromptu meeting. This was my opportunity to make the invite a “do over” and most of all specific. I said “_____I want to personally invite you to attend our church (not sometime, as before) but this next Sunday. I shared with him about my current message series from Luke 15 the Prodigal Son story. He said that he would definitely discuss the personal invitation with his wife and they would come.
Wow! I underestimated God twice in one day!