May the church be the one place where people who come out of leaderless homes and schools and jobs and athletic teams discover, maybe for the first time in their lives, the excitement of being valued, of being included, of being told that they are indispensable for the achievement of a common vision.

These things are the business of leaders. Which is why Paul cried out in Romans 12:8, "Men and women, if you've been given the gift of leadership, for God's sake, lead." For the world's sake, lead. For the sake of lost people, lead.

Link

John Sweetman

Last week I suggested that you look for a mentor who can help you grow in an area and who attracts you in some way.

I don't like to add too many more conditions because mentors are hard enough to find and I don't want to make the standard too high. But here are a few other thoughts that may help you find the right person.

Character is so essential to Christian leadership that it's probably not helpful building a relationship with someone who really is not a person of integrity. Oh any mentor will have problems and weaknesses, you can be sure of that, but you're looking for a person with a degree of maturity and character. Watch our for things like judgementalism, dishonesty, impatience, pride, and immaturity. In the end, you won't learn much of value from such people, no matter how able they are.

Look for someone who can be honest. I remember when I was a young senior pastor looking for a mentor who had greater responsibility and experience than I had. I found an excellent guy pastoring a huge church and he was willing to spend time with me. Wow! I met with him twice, but was disappointed. All he wanted to do was tell me how wonderful the church and its ministry was. He wouldn't talk about any problems, fears, or challenges that he faced. I never got to really know him. He couldn't be open with me. What a pity. I could have learned so much.

Find someone who can give you time and will make you a priority. I don't mean that you will be their top priority. But mentors who constantly brush you off because they are too busy and who break appointments are not worth the effort. Don't hang on. It's very unlikely that they'll change.

It really helps if your mentor actually listens to you. Some leaders talk a lot and talk well. Maybe you'll get some ideas from their ramblings, but generally you're looking for someone who can hear what you're asking and will reflect on your ideas.

I think that there are plenty of people like this around the place if you're looking for them. Next week I'll suggest some ways of initiating a mentoring relationship.

Bill Hybels
The church is utterly altruistic.

When leading a business, you can hire a bright, energetic, young employee and say, "Here's our vision. Here's your part in it. Here's your salary, your perks, your car, your phone, your fax, your computer, your secretary, your office, your vacation plan. If you work hard, in five or eight years we're going to make you a partner or invite you into the profit-sharing plan. Down the road, you'll probably make big money. There will be more perks, more time off. And when we sell this place in fifteen or twenty years, we're all going to walk away transcendently wealthy. Are you interested?"

Who wouldn't be?

But as church leaders, what do we tell prospective church members? "You're a depraved, degenerate sinner who's in trouble for all eternity unless you get squared away with Christ." (And that's the good news. We call it the gospel.)

Then we say, "We're going to ask you to commit five or six hours a week to service and two or three additional hours for training and discipleship. We're going to ask you to get in a small group where your character flaws are going to get exposed and chiseled at. We're going to ask you to come under the authority of the elders of the church and give a minimum of 10 percent of your money. Oh, yeah, you get no parking place, no reserved seats, no special privileges, no voting rights, no vacation or retirement program. You serve till you die. But trust us: God's going to make it right in eternity."

In church work, people must be motivated internally. The Scripture says unless the Lord builds the house, unless people have an internal want-to, leaders have no power, no leverage, no buttons to push.

When business people in our churches give free advice-how we should be doing it right-we need to say, with no malice, "It's not that easy, and it's not the same. It's apples and oranges."

Link

(And actually get people to listen)

Kyle Idleman shares why 'Living together won't prepare us for marriage'. It is excellent. Here you will find…

> Statistics from secular sources
…Christian women are more sexually satisfied
…The world's perspective doesn't work
…etc

> Great stories
…Engaged girl who has a poster with a countdown to sex
…Vows of cohabitation

> How to respond when people who say
…'We're living together but not having sex'
…'We're married in God's eyes'
…'We're trying before we buy'
…etc

> Excellent Biblical counsel
…Repenting of sin
…Theology of marriage
…Finding grace for our failures
…Finding hope for the future

Its worth watching. Check it out here.

(It may not be up for long, so be sure check it out soon)

Our Global Mission

Summary of Rick Warren's session (by Dave Ferguson)  

Our Global Mission