Leadership in Context

There is a place where we preach the gospel, and people are offended because they need to be offended. The gospel offends their place of sin. In order for a person to be found, they have to be lost. We are trying to find people who have no concept that they are lost. The preaching of the gospel should produce an understanding that they are lost and in need of a Savior. Show notes (posted every Tue...

Jesus was gentle and loving and kind, and that caused Him to affect the masses. We should be gentle and loving and kind to affect the masses. But to say that we are failing in our mission because everyone doesn’t like us—I don’t buy that indictment. I think it’s important that we understand that there are many, many people who rejected Jesus’ ministry. We do have some great success stories that ar...

There are some beliefs that pretty much guarantee that people will not like you. They are beliefs that our culture does not agree with. But they are foundational. They are important. And regardless of what people think of us, we must stand firm on them. Jesus wasn’t always popular. Our mandate is not to always be popular. But to always be truthful and effective for the gospel. Show notes (posted e...

Many believers that think if they are really pleasing God, then everyone around them should be pleased with them. But Scripture tells us that we will be persecuted. That people won’t like us. In fact, Scripture ties persecution and righteousness together. We aren’t persecuted because of us, but because of Who we represent. Many of us are walking around with the wrong expectation (that everyone wil...

In Scripture, occupations are talked about many times. It is not coincidental that Jesus was identified as a carpenter and that His disciples were found casting nets, mending nets, and collecting taxes. Nehemiah was a cupbearer. Amos was a fruit picker. There is a Kingdom connection in Scripture between what a man does for a living and how he impacts the world. Show notes (posted every Tuesday) ca...

As we lead and disciple people, as we impact our culture, our messages need to line up with God’s Word, encompassing teaching, reproof, and correction. Teaching that is not just auditory, but demonstrates the how. Reproof that uses the gospel to identify sin. Correction that is preemptive in action. These elements lead people to hold God’s Word as the authority and not just another opinion. Show n...

Dignity is not ours to give, to decide upon by a vote, to debate; but dignity, rather is to recognize, receive and, honor. Dignity, by its very nature, is not about performance or ability, production or contribution. It's not even about being wanted or needed, but dignity is about “being”—it’s about being a human being. That is the true qualification for dignity, and that is the story history...

Without some energy, without some excitement, without some urgency, you depreciate and devalue the vision. Vision is not something that is on a sheet of paper, on a flow chart, or a mantra people quote. Vision is a wake that is being created by those who are leading. The value of the objective needs to be what determines how fast we are going. Are you making a wake, or have you become sluggish? Sh...

The single biggest deterrent to people getting healed is faith. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. We need to be stirring faith up in believers. We need to set a new culture where we are preaching the Word, having people examine themselves in preparation to receive prayer, and then releasing faith and believing God for a supernatural outpouring. Show notes (posted every Tuesda...

Research shows that evangelical believers don’t really believe in a literal devil, just a force of evil. The Bible says to resist the enemy, but how can we resist something that we aren’t aware of or know nothing about? As Christians, we need to understand that the enemy is real. That he is laying snares and plotting schemes against us. We have an adversary, but we also possess the power to not on...

Teaching on the giftings can unmask the gifts in your church. Get people baptized in the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues. Introduce them to the gifts of the Spirit. Teach them how the five-fold gifts mature them and cause them to become a united part of the body. Teach them about the motivational gifts so they can be plugged in and serving somewhere. All of those gifts work to...

The infilling of the Holy Spirit is critical to the overcoming and victorious life that every church, every Christian needs. Yet it seems we have neglected this foundational stone. Today Keith discusses the importance of the filling of the Holy Spirit and how you emphasize the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Show notes (posted every Tuesday) can be found HERE . 

It is easier to deal with wildfire than no fire. How a senior leader handles strong personalities is one of the defining marks of their success. When working with strong personalities, you have to focus on the idea (not the person), avoid suspicion, and not be fearful. The goal is to be a leader that strong personalities feel like they can vent to, talk to, and give opinions to without being shut...

Do you have strong people in your life that you would like to have better relationships with? Compliance is not the goal of leadership. FRUIT is the goal of leadership. Today Keith begins a discussion on working with strong people. We don’t want people who will just comply, but people that we can release, channel, hold onto without dragging them down. Show notes (posted every Tuesday) can be found...

Evaluation is critical to growth. Today Keith discusses how, by asking just a few questions, we can identify some things that may be holding us back. He has found that the things we are avoiding tend to be the pitfalls that are knocking us off course, that as we improve in specific areas, we will see correlated areas of our ministry improving, and that investing in others is always worth the effor...

In ministry, we are always telling people they need to improve, to be equipped, to be held accountable. Yet often the most unaccountable and unchallenged person in the church may be the guy who is doing the preaching. Self-evaluation uses tools and people around us to give us honest feedback on where we are on specific things so we can keep improving. It is important to identify what you are reall...

God needs called people that He then qualifies. He doesn’t look for qualified people and then calls them. As leaders, we can recruit people and train them for leadership. By recruiting, by turning the funnel open wide, we give people an entry point. We give people a chance to show us what God has put in them—thing that we might not have seen if we had not given them the opportunity. We need to be...

We have 52 opportunities to influence people for the Gospel and for the Kingdom. It only seems rational that we would build our schedules and strategies around those 52 launching pads. When we plan ahead, we inspire people. Where do you want to be 52 weeks from now? Today Keith walks us through how we can build our schedules backwards and shift from hoping something happens to making something hap...

There is a good chance that you would say you are busy. Most of us are. But having a busy mindset is one of the things that will zap your mental, spiritual, and emotional energy and will keep you from being productive. As the new year is starting and we are planning our calendar, how will 2019 look different from 2018? It’s as simple and as difficult as this: Assign your days. Show notes (posted e...

The first person on this planet to praise the incarnate Jesus Christ was John the Baptist—as a baby inside his mother’s womb. Jesus received this praise while He was still in His mother’s womb. What a message God sent to us. Every day, God’s heart breaks, because every day innocent blood is shed. That will never be OK with God. If we are in covenant with God, it should never be OK with us. Pray fo...

The greatest missions need is not money; it’s people. Money helps facilitate those people. Cast the vision of people (your church) touching people (the missions) touching people (the need). This works and creates provision for your vision. Join us as Keith continues a series of conversations about being missional. Show notes (posted every Tuesday) can be found HERE .

One of the clearest ways you define and infuse vision is to demonstrate a strategic plan to obtain provision to fuel the vision. Missional churches have leadership that is unapologetic about asking people for their time, talent, and their treasure. Take the time to find people’s ponds; find the things in their heart that really moves them. People are motivated by different things, but they all wan...

Join us as Keith continues a series of conversations about being missional. If we want people to be different, we are going to have to lead them out of where they are, not just suggest a different route that they can take themselves. Today Keith shows the practical application of this by walking us through what needs to be done to develop a strong missions culture in our churches. Show notes (post...

Join us as Keith continues a series of conversations about being missional. If you want to move forward—building a building, adding staff members, supporting a missionary, recruiting more volunteers, etc.—here are 5 C’s that can be a checklist for you as you pray, meet with your leadership team, and communicate. Cause, Cure, Curriculum, Culmination, and Commission. As you begin to put these into p...

Join us as Keith begins a series of conversations about being missional. We have trained people to think that the church exists to take care of their needs instead of helping them mature and contribute to the work of the ministry. Missional is what we do and why we do it, not just what we receive and the benefits. Developing a missional culture is one of the most significant things you can do. It...