Passionate Leadership

Philip spoke this past Sunday on Volunteering. He said it is not something you should be guilted into doing but it is something you should desire to do. Volunteering and serving the Lord is a privilege. I have never found more satisfaction in life then when I am using my gifts to serve God for no other reason then the fact that I want to see people come to know Jesus. Many of you know I work a second job as an IT guy and I love it but I will never love the It job as much as I love my staff position at Discover Point. I am passionate about what I do. The other staff will tell you if I get heated on a subject they will have a 1000 word essay on the matter in their inboxes the next morning (I know they get sick of that). Philip right now is very passionate about getting into the new building and for good reason. We have very passionate people about volunteering in our church. Don't get me wrong passion can sometimes be a bad thing but passion in the right person used correctly can be life changing to the people around them.

Passion is surely a huge quality in a leader but does being passionate make you a leader? I have a Friend of mine who is a youth pastor in South Carolina. They were trying to build a middle school program but did not have the financial means to hire a full time middle school pastor. They were using volunteers. One volunteer stepped up and really tried to take charge of the program. He seemed passionate about what he was doing. He would tell everyone how much he loved working with middle schoolers. After a while though it became very clear that this volunteer was not a leader and despite much counseling with the staff it was evident that something needed to change because the there was no structure to the group. The volunteer was becoming more of a chaperon than a leader. There was no spiritual growth happening in the middle schoolers. They're were a lot of other things but let just say this is a intelligent staff full of down to earth guys who love everyone and who give everyone a chance to serve. They were frustrated. So they hired a full time middle school pastor and offered the volunteer a chance to be a huge part of the program. The volunteer got upset but still excepted the position. After awhile the new middle school pastor got frustrated and came to the staff and ask if they would pray about finding a positing for this volunteer because he had become lackluster and lazy. What they staff originally thought was passion was really a control need. The volunteer was only passionate when they were in control. The staff has since counseled the volunteer and plugged him into a position where he is more qualified. I am very proud of this staff for the way they handled the whole thing. The volunteer is happy and did not leave the church and the middle school program is growing. Passion is defiantly a huge quality in a leader. But there are defiantly other characteristics that a leader has to have to truly be a leader not just passion alone. Can you be a true leader without passion?

Trends

I must admit that I am an avid blog reader and Google fan boy. I use Google to find all sorts of nifty (did I just say nifty?) gadgets and sites that I would not have found other wise. One of my favorite Google inventions is Google trends. If you have never visited I suggest you do. What is Google Trends?

It is a site where Google shows what the hottest searches are for that day or you can compare how popular keywords are by a date range. The reason I think this is important is because I think it is important to have your finger on the pulse of culture. We as a church need to know what people are searching for on Google and use that. Why would you do a sermon series on "Thunder Cats" for instance when only a few people even still know or care about "Thunder Cats" ( I loved Thunder Cats). I mean you have to know your audience. If you have a bunch of 26-32 year old guys in your church by all means do a Thunder Cat series. What I am saying is the church needs to pay attention to what is trendy and use it to connect. Don't over use it and look cheesy either. Just because "LOST" and "24" are hot right now does not mean you should do a sermon series on them but maybe you could use a clip from one of these shows to drive home a point in your message (rather than a clip from "The Wonder Years").

World of War Craft (WOW) is hot right now, it's a video game for those of you who don't know. How awesome would it be to open your church during the week to teenagers and supply them with a few computers to play video games. Open the doors before a Wednesday youth gathering and let them stay for the gathering after playing games (thanks Jim for the idea). Be smart, study, and don't assume you know what is popular and what is not. Don't just use Goggle trends! Build relationships with people, ask questions, find out what is important to people who you know don't go to church. Don't assume that because you like a certain type of music that everyone does. Don't assume that your way is the best way because that's they way you have always done it. Don't just pander to your current audience. Broaden your mind and change the world.

Pictures of New Building!

Here are a few Pictures from the new Parker Rd location for those of you who have not seen them yet. I guess you could call theses the before pics. Thanks to Lisa Collinsworth for the photos.

Relevant vs Copying

I read an article the other day in Collide Magazine (A great Mag if you have never read it) about bad church design practices. In the last segment Cameron Smith rants about how annoying it is when the church copies popular TV Shows as the title of their sermon series and chalk it up to relevance.  The truth is it's lame. I believe as alot of others do that the church should be on the forefront of innovation. It is important to leverage the culture and to know the culture but copying is not nececary. I have a passion to be on the forefront of innovation for the sake of communicating the greatest story ever told. I worship God through my art and videos. I just wanted my first blog to give everyone a good idea why I do what I do. More Later!