It has been said over and over again that there is “no ‘I’ in team”, but today I beg to differ a bit. Now, I understand the idea of selflessness and group cooperation that this cliché implies, but the truth is, every team is composed of at least two ‘I’s (‘I’ for individual). ‘I’s have to be formed and shaped into a ‘we’ for a team to function at its highest level. It doesn’t just happen.

Since the word team implies more than one participant, it typically comes with as many unique personalities, paradigms, and agendas as there are members; not to mention diverse skill sets, gift mixes and value systems. All these unique qualities can become strong forces pulling the team apart at the seams and causing great dysfunction in the group. People by nature tend to think about themselves first. They have to learn and mature to a point that they can consistently think beyond themselves.  To be developed in this way requires them being coached toward community responsibility, accountability and ultimately effectiveness. Consequently the greatest challenge of any team is how to get the ‘I’s on the team to work as one unit, to even begin to think of themselves as one.

So, the secret to team success really begins at its lowest common denominator, the individual. Let’s focus on that level of team for a moment and look at three keys in individual development that can position the individual to work together with others toward greater team effectiveness. And perhaps through these three keys we can learn to become a better ‘we’ on the team we serve and begin to think as an ‘us’ instead of a constant ‘me’! Confused yet?

These keys are based on the transformation that comes from maturing from one level of competence to a higher level of competence.

1. We must mature from knowledge to understanding. The Scripture says in Proverbs 4:7, Wisdom [is] the principal thing; [therefore] get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.

Knowledge is the lowest level of informational competence. The highest level is wisdom. Someone once said that, “wisdom is the ability to apply knowledge toward purposeful action.” I agree. Wisdom is the ability to process information and from it draw a rational conclusion that can be applied to the process of achievement. In this ‘wisdom’ I can see the larger purpose and how I fit into that purpose. Great teams are composed of individuals who not only possess knowledge, but also have the experience and frame of reference that produces an understanding of the purpose of the task and the value of the goal to the group.

2. We must mature from sharing information to communication.   The root word for communicate is commune. It speaks of a sharing, a fellowship with others. Communication then, is the act of relating with others in such a way that a common understanding is achieved. In short, communication is understanding and being understood. Teams can fail to accomplish their objectives when they only share information but never achieve that powerful and mature level of relationship where information becomes communication. Time together, respect, and appreciation are keys to this critical transformational process. Most ‘I’s on the team can develop into a ‘we’ in an environment where there is a shared challenge to experience, a group vision or goal to achieve, a common dependence on each other, and a mutual benefit to enjoy. It is the coach’s job to see that these elements are present and experienced by all through healthy channels of communication.

3. We must mature from cooperation to collaboration. It is one thing to allow, it is totally a different thing to assist. At the cooperation level, the individual simply gets out of the way and does not resist the process of achieving the goal.  At the higher collaborative level, the individual gets involved in the push and pull of the effort.  We get buy-in and ownership from ‘I’s on the team. Now it is not merely your goal, it becomes my goal. Hence, it becomes our goal, a shared purpose.  And together we succeed, as we are motivated to work as one. An appetite for personal opportunity and glory is transformed into a sense of responsibility to play my part in the victory of the whole.

In summary, to really see a team develop from individuals to a cohesive unit we must mature from the lowest level to the highest level in these three areas:

1. From Knowledge to Understanding

2. From Sharing Information to Communication

3. From Cooperation to Collaboration

“ It is inspiring and refreshing to be around others that build you up, reaffirm your call and challenge you to keep moving forward…” Clint Elsasser, Authentic Church, A New Church Plant In Rockwall, Texas

“”No man is an island unto himself” even applies to pastors and para-church leaders. We must have the opportunity to cross pollinate as well as fellowship with those who understand our struggles, seasons and successes!” Jonathan Suber, Pastor, Faith Community Church, Shreveport, Louisiana

“Its Biblical to gather…. We need people; people need us. We need each other. Jesus, who seldom reviled His emotions, clearly felt great sadness because Jerusalem (the Jews) failed to gather to Him during their day of visitation.” Mark Briggs, Pastor, Riverpark Church, Shreveport, Louisiana

“When we gather together it’s like the miracle of the feeding of the 5,000. There is always more than enough, and fragments to take home with which to feed others. When I gather together and am fed, I then can feed others out of my overflow!” Bobby Rivera, Pastor, Covenant Life Center, Victoria, Texas

 “The Destiny Gathering is a safe place to be refreshed as well as an opportunity to make new friends” My wife Melissa, enjoys it as much as I do! Jeff Phillips, Pastor, Promiseland Churches of Kentucky

 “The Destiny Conference is always a refreshing and encouraging gathering of our Covenant Family. The strategic connections God is sprinkling into my life are extremely valuable to me so, I can’t wait to get out of my normal routine — be spiritually refreshed and have some “hang-time” with my Destiny Family in a relationship-rich environment!” Tom Lowe, Pastor, Christ Church, West Monroe, Louisiana

Well, it’s time for you to come away!

June 6^th-8^th come home to Heber Springs in the Arkansas Ozark Mountains for three days filled with things designed to refresh you and help to answer the WHY questions in your life.

Over the years, Destiny’s Covenant Family of Friends has grown into a group of fivefold ministry leaders, staff, and friends who share a common passion for God and the work of the Lord, not to mention an amazing future in the Kingdom. Plus, we love to get together! Every year the Destiny meeting is hallmarked by great ministry, warm fellowship, and times of powerful spiritual renewal.  And this year will be no different. Plus we have added several awesome events to the mix.  For example, we have planned a kids Vacation Bible School that will be going on Thursday and Friday from 9AM till 2PM for ages 4-12.  So, you can bring the kids and know that they are being ministered to while you’re having fun. On Thursday we have fishing, golf and shopping excursions planned that are sure to delight and offer great opportunities to connect with one another on a deeper level. We are planning exciting meal times (courtesy of Covenant Life Center in Victoria, Texas) with fun themes to spice things up. And, of course the services will be life changing. There will be a special Destiny Worship Band and powerfully anointed speakers.  You simply do not want to miss it.

There is no cost for the conference, food, or for the kid’s VBS! It’s God’s treat and our opportunity to bless you who give so faithfully throughout the year!

If you’re not already registered, do so today! Click here to register!

1. Be respectful of things accomplished in the past and the people who accomplished them.

2. Separate ideas from people. Ideas are expendable, people are not.

3. Remember that anything that is for the cause of Christ is for us.

4. Value criticism and use its positive potential. Let it make you better.

5. Count the cost. Every change has a price tag attached. Do a thorough analysis of the potential impact that the change your about to make will potentially have on the environment, people and the atmosphere.

6. Honor your present commitments.

7. Maintain a optimistic attitude. The people that your leading through change, will feed and breathe from the source that your attitude supplies.

8. Practice expanding your imagination. Be as creative as possible, think outside the box.

9. Communicate, communicate, communicate! You must coach your people through change utilizing excellent communication skills. Remember people communicate and learn through different styles. And only a small percentage of what we learn comes through spoken words. So, be creative and diverse with your communication.

10. Be determined. If at first you don’t succeed… then try and try again.

Ideas are words on steroids. When we combine words into sentences that communicate ideas, we can teach concepts that can be embraced by others.  As we do, we begin to see a community emerge with certain values, norms and tendencies; a society. Here we see words become more than just a message, they become a people. They become who we are over time as we embrace the ideas that they produce.

A Word About Values…

Jesus said that we are to be the “salt of the earth, and the light of the World”; to be game changers and global influencers. To do this we must build a community of influence. I believe that it is accurate to say, “Its not that God has a mission for His church in the World, but rather that He has a church for His mission in the World”. Christian Leaders then must become social engineers. Our goal is to build a community with missional purpose and the power of influence.  Therefore we must introduce words that produce ideas and concepts that move the society we are building in a deliberate purposeful direction. These words become the channel for communicating what is important to us as leaders, our values.

Our values are the purposeful part of our ministries. They are what make our particular ministry unique.  While as Christians we all value similar things, we each have unique emphasis and intensities. I have always taught that values answer “the why do we exist?” question, while our vision statements should be a simple summary statement of these values. Our mission statement answers the “what are we going to do?” and our strategic plan answers the “who, where, when and how?” questions. So the message we must constantly communicate with our members is “what are our values?” and “why do we exists?” Our values define our culture, establish the spiritual mores that govern our community, and give purpose to our activities.

Three Words:

Well, today I have three words for you that will help you understand how to effectively communicate your values and create a culture of power and purpose, a culture where your values are more than wall decorations and your mission statement is more than a filler page in the church brochure. They are ancient words from the arena of Philosophic rhetoric (don’t run yet, give me a moment).

In rhetoric there are three ideas that Aristotle used as tools of persuasion to effectively communicate an argument on a particular subject. They are Pathos (Emotional), Logos (logical) and Ethos (Character). I have found them helpful not only in the area of speech (art of persuasion) but also in understanding the process of community (church) development and transformation. Yes, the pattern Aristotle identified works for speech, but it also can be used to sustain an idea within the society until the people become the message themselves. Utilizing this pattern in a ministry setting can create a powerful ministry brand that is built around the central message of our values.
A Word About Brand…
Advertising experts define “brand” as “all the response generated by your presence in the marketplace.”  It’s more than a logo and a color scheme. It is the feelings, ideas and reputation your presence has created and sustained within a group or culture.  And this can be positive or negative. From a church/ministry perspective when your brand is positive, it becomes purposeful and powerful.  When you add a strong “persuasion factor” that is clearly communicated, understood, easily experienced, repeatable and sustainable, your influence can create great gravity, giving it the power to draw and hold on to those who come.

So let’s look at each of these words and let me coach you on how to use the concept to create the community that you want.

Pathos in the Greek originally meant “suffering”. It came to mean “experience” that touched the emotions. In rhetoric it is the appeal of a message that connects to the emotions of the hearer and produces influence or persuasion.  It is the portion of the message to which the hearer can relate. It ignites their passions because they have shared the experience described by the speaker or can relate to it through their  imagination.

From a church growth perspective I define it as the common experience and passion shared by those who come to your church and are exposed to your value system. It is one to which they can easily relate, and that also connects to their emotions in a positive way.  Hillsong, the famous church in Australia, places a high value on worship. And has, to a large degree, built their global influence on a consistent worship experience that attendees have when in a Hillsong service. They have also exported that around the world through various media outlets, through students they have trained and ministers they have produced.  It is an astounding global ministry brand with tremendous gravity.

Our second word is Logos. In the Greek it means “word or reason.” It is the root word for logic or logical. In rhetoric it is the explanation of an idea through a rational, systematic form of logic that produces a persuasive argument for the speaker. It is the expression of the rational logic behind the idea.

As we offer our Bible based values in a relevant, clearly communicated way, our own set of word ideals and values begin to develop in the hearts of people who are members of our community. Over time our members begin to share a common language and lexicon. “Value Words” and phrases emerge that are frequently used and immediately understood by members. They start to become the message themselves. They begin to speak to others what they have heard us speak to them. At this point our ministry is multiplied as well as our impact and influence. Now instead of one voice communicating the message, we have many. And a movement is born with salt and light potential.

It takes both a strong Pathos and a strong Logos to build a ministry brand that will endure and create gravity over the long haul. And both our experience and our words should express our value system in a consistent manner. It is about balance here. Too much emotion and your ministry will lack credibility and substance; too much word (reason) and it will become cerebral and overly analytical.

Ministries who have a strong word connected to an emotional experience tend to grow rapidly and effectively. They effectively communicate a clear message delivered at the heart level.  It will leave a lasting impression and one that people will share with others.

This seems to be the key to growth. The members of your church and ministry must be adequately stimulated emotionally to be motivated to share with someone the great spiritual things they are experiencing at your church.

This brings us to our last word, Ethos. Ethos defined in the Greek simply means “accustomed place”. It has come to be defined as the guiding beliefs, ideals or principles that characterize a community or ideology. It is what a particular community is known for, its reputation. For a company, it is the brand. In rhetoric it is the credentials and reputation of the speaker that provides persuasive power to his message.

For our purposes here I define Ethos as the sum of both Pathos and Logos. Ethos is the result. When we create a common experience that is tied to the emotions and build it upon systematic truth that is compelling, people are moved to act decisively and with conviction. They begin to share our system of values at the heart level. They become a society, a community. The general reputation, attitude and the atmosphere it creates becomes our ethos. Ethos becomes the credibility that gives us persuasive power to influence others.

Many churches today lack an authentic ethos because they have allowed themselves to be defined by someone else’s values, or have simply looked for something that will work, because it works, without it being born out of who they really are and what they are passionate about.

These three words represent concepts that when properly managed can serve as a simple road map to creating a ministry brand that is exciting, contagious and sustainable.
Now Let Me Coach You:
Focus On Your Experience…
The Pathos (experience) of your church/ministry starts with the values that drive your vision and identity. These values must be communicated and then experienced in service settings. The experience of these values must be strategically planned and emotionally charged.  Getting the chemistry right is critical. I’m not talking about emotionalism for the sake of emotionalism, but rather connecting a message to the emotions of those present in a way that the experience leaves them inspired and ready to act. You should not only manage the message but also the environment. This includes the people who lead the service on stage as well as the atmosphere created by the lighting, sound, and music. This common experience (your pathos) should be one that reinforces your values; is consistent, inspiring and exciting. As it is experienced over and over again, your members begin to become synchronized with the experience. It becomes more and more a part of them. They take ownership of it. It becomes your ministry Pathos.

If you’re not strategizing and then managing the emotional stimulation of your ministry settings you should.  Ask yourself these questions:

Do our services inspire and excite the emotions of those present in an appropriate and strategic way?
Is there a place in the service that allows for a clear emotional connection?
Is there a passionate “values” theme that is consistent in our ministry settings?
Do each of our ministry activities reinforce our values and beliefs on an emotional level?
Do we have an effective team of communicators who can interpret the experience for the audience in a way that inspires them to act in a decisive manner?

Your Logos… From a church growth and development perspective, your Logos are the ideas, values and vision  expressed in words that stimulate the mind to draw a conclusion. While your ministry experience (Pathos) stirs the emotions of your members, your Logos stimulates the mind with a reasonable logic that persuades them to believe, want to be a part and to act. Emotional experiences without reason will loose their impact over time. But when we connect an idea to the hearer in such a way that it becomes a shared value, the motivation becomes internalized.

Your values, vision and strategic plan should make sense. They should be clearly communicated consistently and creatively. Look for opportunities to reinforce them during services through testimonies and media. And remember only about 15% of communication is verbal. The rest is through the other four senses. Stimulate them all if you can. Your values should be seen, touched, etc.

When trying to define your ministry Logos, listen to yourself. Listen to your words and ideas… and ask:

What are the ideas that keep coming up again and again in our services?
What themes and messages am I so passionate about that I frequently preach, and could be considered as a life message?
What ideas or concepts would best define what is most important to us?
Finish this statement: “People who know me know that when it comes to church I ______________…”

Now Your Ethos… Managing your (ethos) reputation and credibility has never been more important than it is today.  You already have a reputation and are continuing to build it whether you know it or not.  The part you control is the experience that people have when they attend your services, and the tools and manner you use to communicate a clear message of your values and vision. Make sure that what you control is excellent, honest, consistent and current with your values and identity. Tell people what they are going to experience and why. Don’t over sell, but don’t under sell either.

Your media, advertising and marketing efforts should be constantly examined against the template of your values as well. Make sure that what you advertise is what the people are going to experience when they arrive.

Romans 1: 18-21
A Big Question: Why is there anything but God?

1. God Wants To Be Known.
God needs nothing outside of Himself to be God. He is self existent; He is God all by Himself. Our being, even the World existing does not make Him more God than He already is. he did not need us… So why bother. Why create anything else?

After much thought and study, I have come to the simple conclusion that God wants to be know, to express Himself. How did I come this conclusion?

1st He revealed Himself in creation by and through what we call Natural Revelation. Probably for the same reason that an artist wants to create and design. Except God as an artist wanted to not only create a masterpiece on a canvas that He could admire, but He wanted to create a work of art that could admire him back.

2nd He inspired a book to be written about Himself, the Bible. We call this Specific Revelation.  Hebrews 10:7: “Behold I have come in the volume of a book it is written of me…” In one volume with 66 books written over 2000 years by some 40 authors. Its a book of fulfilled prophecy. David said in PS 119:105 “ Your Word is a lamp unto my feet and a Light unto my path.” It is a Lamp for light on demand and a light to dispel darkness.

3rd He revealed Himself through personal revelation in the form of a man named Jesus Christ. John 1:14 “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory as of the only begotten of the Father full of grace and truth.” He knew that we could never understand Him in another dimension and that we because of sin could never become like him. So the only way was for Him to become like us.

God was so committed to expressing Himself that he left His fingerprints on all of creation, wrote a book about Himself and finally become a man and introduced Himself to us in person.

God Fact #2 God Wants To Be Trusted
In Hebrews 11:6 we are told that “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.”  Notice… must believe that “He Is”. We must believe that He exists and that He is a rewarder. In other words, that He is interested and active in our lives… God wants us to trust Him but He knew that we could not trust what we did not know. So He first revealed Himself to us and then began to teach us to trust Him. And if you believe He’s there, why wouldn’t you want to trust Him?

A call to faith is a call to action. By faith Able offered, Enoch walked, Noah built, Abraham obeyed etc…

What is your action statement as a result of your faith?

God Fact #3 God Wants To Be Loved.
Matthew 22: 35-40. The greatest commandment is not the great commission. The greatest commandment is to Love the Lord with all of our heart, soul and strength. with Everything… is the standard. Not holding back…
Love awakens something inside of us…

The scripture says that while we were yet sinners Christ died… John says the God so loved the world that he gave… We are moved by love and so is God. What lessons do we learn about love from the scriptures?

Love awakens, Love gives, Love goes, Love covers, Love serves. Love was the reason from the beginning… Why did God reveal Himself in the first place? Because He knew we could not trust what we did not know and we could not love what we did not trust. It had to be a progression…
Knowing, Trusting, Loving!

God wants your heart most of all!

But God, in His wisdom, knew that we could not Love what we did not trust, and that we could not trust what we did not know so He first reveled Himself so we could learn to trust Him because we could then love him back! He loves you today.

Leadership can cast a vision, motivate, even inspire, but management must put the action, materials, and manpower into motion to produce the desired result. Leadership and management are not the same thing, and I think we have yet to understand that in ministry. Therefore, small ministries with big dreams seem to be the best that many can produce. In ministry today we often have truckloads of vision and spoonfuls of management skills. As a result, our impact is negligible at best and destructive at worst, leaving us with our leadership numbers in decline. Why? Because when a visionary leader fails to partner with people who possess management abilities, he quickly overheats and burns out as a result of the flaming passion for his vision and no mechanism by which to bring it to pass.

Leadership and Management…

While both leadership and management are executive functions, leadership is about where you are going, management is about how you get there; leadership is about progress, and management is about performance. We must have them both to achieve, and they must work together and not against each other. How? I’m glad you asked.

The process of leadership in an organization normally involves several steps, including:

• A foundational set of guiding and defining values.

• A clear vision that answers the “why do you exist?” question.

• A mission that answers the “what are you going to do?” question.

• A strategic plan that answers the “how and when are you going to do it?” questions.

The first three are essentially leadership responsibilities. But the fourth, the strategic plan, is the step where management becomes urgent to the process. It is the strategic plan step where people must now engage in purposeful action if success is to be achieved. Here the process ceases to be visionary and abstract, and now becomes measurable. Here the subjective becomes objective and it is time for management to step in and execute. This is the pivotal place where leadership must shift to management, and management must put the nuts and bolts together to make the vision vehicle run down the road to achievement.  Often it is in this step that ministry vision comes apart at the seams because visionary leaders are often poor managers. If you are a visionary leader you must recruit managers who can assist you in implementation.

The challenge of ministry management…

In business the vision of a company is a type of vehicle. It is a vehicle made up of supply and demand, leverage, margins, and materials combined to produce results, and ultimately upward movement in the bottom line. This nuts and bolts metaphor is a good analogy in most arenas, but not in ministry. There is a difference between getting the job done in the secular and getting the job done in the sacred. While I’m preaching, we must have management type people. We must train them with a ministry mindset and keep them filled with the Spirit. I don’t want to paint with too broad a brush here, but often management types bring with them their own set of challenges. Management people tend to be more analyst than leadership types. Therefore they tend to be fairly detail oriented, can be possessive, territorial, and lack the people skills needed to motivate the troops. That may be OK in manufacturing, but not in ministry. Let me explain.

For example, in businesses like manufacturing, if there is a problem with the leadership or with production, the assembly line or in sales, you can take the system apart, isolate the defective component and fix it. Then you can put it back together and get going again. But you can’t always do that in ministry. Why? Because when we talk about ministry we are really talking about the Body of Christ. In other words, it is a living thing. Everything relates to something else. I tell pastors all the time, ministry is more like medicine than business. We must always remember that when a doctor treats a patient he is well aware that everything he does affects something else. Treat one area and the other areas experience the pain, or even the side effects of the medication. And often while treating one illness we can create another.

In all, the relationship between visionary leadership and executive level management can be a challenging one because we see things through different lens. The first, progress  (forward movement through change); the second, performance (systematic operations and maintenance of the status quo). It can be very difficult to be constantly moving into new territory while performing at a high level. But if both are committed to the vision and understand the real value that each brings to the team, balance can be achieved. When it happens it is a beautiful thing.

Four Coaching Tips For Leaders & Managers:

1. Communicate the vision and the passion for the goal! Focusing on the same goal helps, even if you see it from different perspectives.
2. Collaborate: consistent communication is the first priority in every effective and productive relationship.
3. Celebrate wins together, carefully highlighting the part each role played in the success.
4. Cooperate: Practice looking at goals and systems through the lens of the other team member’s perspectives. Understanding is critical to cooperation.

Well not long ago I had just such a dream. And in my dream I received a word of wisdom regarding the Kingdom and the power of the seed.  In my dream a Pastor friend had called and asked for my thoughts regarding the Kingdom of God and the power of the seed, specifically. The story in my dream was that he was working on an upcoming series and needed some ideas. As we began to talk I realized that I was saying things that I had never taught and had never heard anyone else teach. God was bringing revelation to me through the medium of a dream. In my dream, I spoke about the Kingdom of God in the context of the Lord’s Prayer recorded in Matthew chapter 6. Several things came to light in our conversation.

Jesus said, “Your (God’s) Kingdom come Your will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.” In my dream I told my friend, “God wants to introduce His Kingdom on Earth as it is in Heaven. If this were not the case, Jesus would not have told us to pray for it.” It is God’s plan. Therefore, God’s plan must become our petition. I told him that the Kingdom of Heaven is not just a place  (and I do believe in a literal Heaven and Hell for that matter), but it is a principle to be practiced. What is Heaven? Is it defined by pearly gates and golden streets ? Or is it simply stated, a place where the will of God rules without resistance?

Jesus seems to equate the coming of the Kingdom with the will of God. In my dream I told him that the Kingdom of heaven was defined by the will of God. The expression of the coming of the Kingdom is when the sons and daughters of God begin to practice heaven, or the will of God, on Earth as it is in Heaven. Jesus said that we should make that our passion and prayer.

Jesus seemed to be almost obsessed (if I can say that about Jesus) with the will of God. He says in Matthew 7:21, “Not everyone who says to me Lord, Lord will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in Heaven.” In Matthew 12:50, He says, “For whoever does the will of My Father is My brother, and sister and mother.”  In John 4:34, Jesus says, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent me and to finish His work.” In Hebrews 10:7 the writer speaks of Jesus and says, “Behold, I have come in the volume of a book it is written of me – To do your will, oh God.”

I stressed in my dream to my pastor friend that to Jesus the Kingdom of Heaven equated to the will of God, and that our prayer should be for that will to be done on earth as it is in Heaven.

Two things that I learned from my dream:

1. Heaven is more than a place, it is also a principle to be practiced. And as I am practicing the will of God, I am becoming a conduit for and ushering into the earth the Kingdom of Heaven.
2. That the principle of heaven is the will of God. Heaven is defined by a place where God’s will rules without resistance.

Since that night, my almost constant prayer is, “Oh Lord, I have come to do your will and finish the work you sent me to do.” This is the greatest and highest purpose for man; to do His will and finish His work.

This dream has caused an adjustment in my thinking because I often, without meaning to do it, downplayed the will of God and our responsibility to seek it. “Well,” I would sometimes say,  “God will bless you in any effort if your heart is right and you desire to please Him.” And I generally believe this is true. But after my dream I found it difficult to totally contrast that position with the example of Jesus.

He made it abundantly clear that He only did what the Father instructed Him to do, would only say what the Father instructed Him to say. He himself spent great amounts of time in private seeking and personal surrender to remain in the will of God.  Case in point, in perhaps the most dramatic moment in the New Testament, during His agony in the Garden, He won the victory over the devil and hell when He said, “Not My will but Thine be done”! The will of God is not a take it or leave it kind of thing. It is the principle of heaven. When my will is in control, it produces hell on earth; when His will is, it produces Heaven on earth.

How do I find the will of God? Where is it and how do I practice it? This was a really interesting part of the dream.

Now the seed part…
The seed is the carrier of the will of God and the Vehicle of the Kingdom.

Jesus also used constant metaphors of the seed as it related to the Kingdom of God and Heaven. But why the seed? The concept of the seed is a Biblical picture of the coming of the Kingdom. In my dream I explained that the will of God was downloaded into the seed and then must be sown in the earth. And this was the God chosen method through which to introduce His Kingdom on earth. Everything that God wants to do on earth He puts in a seed, fills it with His will (the Principle of Heaven), and then places it in the hand of a man or woman to be planted, in the time and location where He wants it to grow. Man’s role is to be a steward of God’s will in the form of a seed. From our finance to our family and ministry objectives, they are all seeds filled with God’s will. We don’t own the seeds, we only steward them. It’s not our will that fills them and makes them grow. It is God’s. God is the owner and giver, and as such He alone has rights to their purpose. We as stewards have only responsibilities.

Jesus is a great example of this. Jesus was the seed carrier of the Kingdom of Heaven.  Paul calls Jesus the “seed to whom the promise was made” (Gal 3:16). Jesus was filled with the will of God, and He even called Himself a seed. In John 12:24 He says, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much fruit,” speaking of Himself and His death on the cross.

God embeds His Kingdom will in a seed but it must be sown, practiced. When it is sown in faith it will produce a multiplied harvest in time. But the seed must die. Why? Because it is the corruptible container of the incorruptible. When it dies it releases the incorruptible will of God inside. What kills the seed? It dies as it is sown. The sowing of the seed produces the death of the seed and allows the outer shell to be broken. And how do we sow the seed? Faith. In the Scripture the Bible talks about the process of sowing the seed in three phases. It speaks of (1) seed, (2)time and then (3)harvest.

The seed phase is where the seed is sown. It is the act of obedience when I take what God has given me and as a responsible steward I sow it in the field that God has assigned me to. It is writing the check, making the call, making the decision. The emphasis here is not just on doing something, but doing the right thing, the thing for which you are called. The key word is Obedience!

The time part is where the seed dies. It is in this phase the corruptible part of the seed surrenders to the will of God (the incorruptible part) that is inside. The Apostle Paul teaches this principle in 1st Corinthians chapter 15. In context He is speaking of the human body and what it will be like in the resurrection, but we see the sowing and reaping principle explained as well. He says in verse 36, “…what you sow is not made alive unless it dies.” In Verses 42-44 he goes on to say, “…the body is sown in corruption but raised in incorruption”, v43 “it is sown in dishonor but raised in glory. It is sown in weakness but it is raised in power.” In verse 44 he tells us that it is sown in one form, but raised in another:  the first, natural; the second, spiritual.

The time part is where faith takes over and begins to work on the seed. In my dream I called it the “death of faith”. I explained, “Faith feels like death to the flesh. I have never done anything by faith that felt good to my flesh!” “Faith kills the corruptible part of the seed so that the incorruptible part can be released.  Sowing the seed as an act of obedience, but in the time phase faith is in control. Faith breaks down the hardness of the outer shell, neutralizes the corruptible nature with its strong controlling desires, and allows water (The Holy Spirit) to get to the inner incorruptible will of God to bring life to it and release it to grow. This was so encouraging to me. Even in the context of giving and tithing. When you tithe, even though you know it’s right and proper, yet the feeling of loss that you have when you write the check tells you that it is working. Faith is doing what it is designed to do; breaking the outer shell of your me-o-centric carnal nature that wants to be in control, and is killing your flesh so that the will of God can come into your finances!

And then the Harvest… In the seed is the principle of Heaven, the will of God. When it is sown and it endures the “death of faith”, the corruptible part of the seed, the outer shell, is broken and discarded so that the incorruptible part, the will of God that is in the seed, can germinate. With the limitations of the flesh out of the way, now the spiritual side of the equation kicks in and the life in the seed begins to grow. But with one exception, now instead of being one unit solely existent in the form of the flesh, it is transformed into a multiplying, fruit-producing engine of the Spirit. Natural limitations are lifted, and exponential potential is released. Formerly impossible situations become not only possible, but expected. God’s will is now being released into the life of the situation, Heaven is coming to earth. Jesus‘ prayer and ours is now coming to pass. God’s will is being done on earth as it is in Heaven. With the flesh dealt with, God’s will is released without resistance and a Kingdom Harvest begins to multiply more and more, moving through the process of production into a state called fruitfulness by God. And it looks something like this: first, simple reproduction, then multiplication, and then abundance. God’s will is expressed in an abundance of that which pleases Him. In fruitfulness, potential is maximized and experienced. Jesus said in John chapter 15 that “in this is the Father glorified, that you bear much fruit.”

All of these factors tell us where the culture is moving, where it is located. Location, location, location! We hear this all the time as it relates to marketing. But location when it comes to reaching and connecting with the culture is not always a geographical term. People move in their thinking long before they move physically.

While from a Christian Ministry perspective, we all know the message of the Gospel doesn’t change, it hasn’t for 2,000 years, yet we must move that message with the culture or we won’t be close enough to be heard.
With that said, let me tell you the important trends that I believe are going to impact the church in the coming days:

1. Mobile technology is changing everything. My office is now wherever I am. Receiving, processing and assimilating information is more personal and requires less effort on my part than it ever has. This is producing a decentralization of the culture. Medical, educational and banking institutions now know that they must go with me to where I live, move at the pace that I move, and be content with the time I allot for them or they will get left behind. The church should take note!  Innovate…

2. We are emerging through the consumer era into what futurists call the prosumer era. Here people want to both consume and produce. They want to make a difference. Social justice and making a contribution to society are common values in the emerging culture. Seize the opportunity and leverage it to expand your volunteer base. The web has made us all authors, commentators and film producers. Bend that trend in the direction of inspiring Christians to become influencers, the Salt and Light of the World.

3. Build your structures and programs for change. The old “built to last” value has been replaced with a “built to change/adapt” model. This is the language the culture speaks. People want to see it in the organizations they serve.  This requires a leadership philosophy change. The way we cast vision and assign roles must become more flexible and less permanent. Departments and programs must be evaluated based on functionality with an expectation for change.

4. Relevance is King! Think, what is its purpose and how does it function? Quickly define experiences and contextualize them on the fly. Make your theology interactive through testimonies, multi-media and hands-on opportunities. Connect people to the message ASAP.

5. Think networks. Networks are all over your church. Networks are the next generation of cells. Where the cell group was the vehicle of the past, networks are the vehicle of the future. Teach people to use their existing networks to share information and opportunities to connect the church with others.  Small groups often fail because we ask people to create new groups instead of utilizing their existing network to accomplish the same objective.

6. The Christian world has changed from push to pull. Before we pushed people to embrace our views often through religious control mechanisms. But now we must pull them in with influence and a values system that engages and inspires them.

We don’t have to pray about what God’s will is for the culture. It is not His will that any should perish, but that all should come to eternal life. But we have to be where they are, speaking a language they understand through a medium they can relate to. If we do that, we can lead the way into the future!

Project Samuel, founded and managed by Relationships For Christ Ministries in The Woodlands, is a youth revitalization project and a working farm situated about an hours drive down a main road out of the Capitol City of Lusaka and a half hour off the “tarmak” (highway) on premium farmland.  I must say that I was truly amazed and impressed with the tremendous progress Project Samuel has made in the relatively brief two years or so from its ground breaking (three more years in the planning and preparation). Five buildings are coming up out of the ground, two all but completed, three are in the blocks awaiting the funds to continue construction. And there is nothing in the area that even comes close to the quality and excellence of the buildings. Project Samuel also is providing employment opportunities for a number of locals from the area. And there is a lot of work to do. Of course, there is the construction of the buildings, but there is also the agriculture. There are almost 60 orange trees already planted in the orchard, a host of other fruits and vegetables that have been planted or will be, and the Zambian staple food, corn.

It has its own water supply; which is a necessity in Southern Africa. It’s a well that had to be drilled before construction could even begin. It serves the project needs as well as many villagers who walk to the well for the daily rations of water they need to survive. Electrical poles have been installed with lines pulled for power. They stand as silent sentries while awaiting an expensive transformer to be purchased that will allow them to go into action.  In the mean time the project mission house uses a generator for power.

Water, power, clearing undeveloped land, plowing and planting the corn fields, the fruit trees and gardens, each of these essentials have price tags associated. Some are large, some are not so large, but they all add up to one big undertaking. Those who have been involved with building programs in the states know the challenges associated with them. Imagine building, raising money and managing the project from six thousand miles away. Hats off and congratulations to Timothy, Brenden and the entire Project Samuel Team

While there, we held the very first service at the Destiny Training Center on the property. With only the block walls around us, no windows, no doors, no roof, we hosted nearly 80 area residents for the first service.  Sitting on concrete blocks with wooden planks for benches, they came to hear Pastor Tim Kugler preach an awesome message. The altar area filled with hungry people and God’s Spirit was ushered into the place in moving majesty. As we listened to his message I imagined the countless leaders, pastors and students who will be trained there and eventually lead African churches. It was a moving experience for us all.

Our visit also included a training session for area Christian Leaders hosted at the local public school. It was held at about the time that school dismissed so there were children everywhere. The classroom we used for our seminar had no windows in their frames, so children’s faces were pressed in every opening listening to the “muzungu” (white man) speak of leadership. The school choir had welcomed us with several lively African songs sung in beautiful harmony before we began. Our topic was Servant Leadership and the group paid close attention as we looked to the Gospels and Jesus as our guide into the subject.  At the end, some very interesting questions were asked and we began our task of training leaders.  “What about water baptism, should one be immersed or is it ok to only pour water?” “As a leader, how do you handle another leader’s lack of commitment to the vision?” “Did James and John really drink the cup of Jesus and were they baptized with the baptism of Jesus? What does this mean?” People are the same all over the World. Needless to say, this was not the first time for me to hear and attempt to answer these questions. I’ve answered them on four continents.

Travel in Zambia is difficult. The roads are challenging and almost impossible without a sturdy SUV 4×4. We traveled one road that was eighty-five kilometers (about 60 miles) and it took us over three hours. Most people in the area of Project Samuel don’t have vehicles, so they walk. Hours they walk; they walk to market, to the fields, to church, everywhere they go. For long distances they take public transportation and that is a subject all its own. The buses look like something from the dark ages. Years of abuse on dirt and gravel roads have left them with the appearance of being driven out of a junkyard and put into use.

The life of a typical rural Zambian is difficult to say the least. The many challenges include earning a living in a country where there is eighty percent unemployment, trying to farm enough food to feed a family, as well as dealing with the lack of adequate health care and education. There is a clearly identifiable cycle of suffering and poverty. Yet the people are warm, positive and friendly, seeming to accept their lot in life without much complaining.

Jesus said that we are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. I don’t think He just meant that we were to preach the gospel. I think He meant that and much more. We are to be the influencers of the world. And to fulfill this assignment, He has given us the provision to make a difference. We must arise to the occasion and become involved by sharing our prosperity with those all over the world who suffer under the burden of lack. Seems like I remember that in the Scripture there is a passage that says something like, “to whom much is given, much will be required”. Abundance and blessing from God comes with a price tag attached. We are blessed to be a blessing. That’s what God told Abraham. And I believe that is what He is telling us today.

Every time I visit a third world country or developing nation, I leave with this sense of thankfulness for my having been born in the US. But greater than the gratefulness is the sense of responsibility to do something to help. The problem is enormous and, of course, we can’t do everything, but that’s not the point. We can do something and together we can do more. This is what the “Let’s Do Something Great Together” program is all about. Our promotional tag line for Destiny since the beginning has been the words, “Vision / Identity / Accountability / Opportunity”. These are the words that define our value system and our members. At Destiny Ministries we are absolutely committed to translating these words from mere ideas into a movement, a vehicle of action! Yes we are a fellowship of ministers, and yes we license and ordain leaders with various callings, but we must be more than just a membership. We must also appeal to our members to do something, not just be something. My challenge to all of our Destiny Partners today is to get involved. Your involvement is the fuel that gives life to the vehicle. Your willingness to give, go and send is the secret. When you give your three percent tithe and your generous offerings to Destiny, you are really giving through Destiny to others around the World. When you join a missions team and visit a nation that we are working in, you go to the people who need you most. And if you can’t go, but you help to send those who can, you are living the Destiny Dream!

For so many years now I have been talking with leaders about change. Change is hard! While it is one of the common denominators of life, it is one of the most difficult parts.

We can talk about it, teach about its necessity, prepare for it, even be its cause, but it is still one tough part of leadership. Change is interpreted by 70% of people as loss followed by pain and anguish. And this is for a reason.

There are changes that are a one step process, sudden and abrupt. Things like the sudden death of a spouse, or the termination of a job, and these can be extremely traumatic, producing shock to the normal systems of life. And then there are those that are not as sudden. They can be seen from a distance, often felt before they are seen.

These changes travel through a channel called transition. They begin where you are and then lead you through a process toward a totally new and different reality. There are usually milestones of change along the way that help reduce the surprise, shock and trauma as your new future is defined. These transitions are the process of change. They occupy the ground between two realities, your past and your future. Transition is the gap between your now and your next. It is the space that you must cross. And while we tend to hate it, the truth is, it is the connector. Transition is the hallway between two rooms of your life, between where you are and where you want to be or sometimes are forced to be.

Transition has several qualities that can be examined. Because transition occupies space, when properly defined, it can be measured. Two such measurements are time and distance.

There is a season of transition and a distance to be traveled that is defined by the change. The greater the change from one reality to another, the greater the distance of transition. And if you fail to move you can stay in transition forever. Transition was never meant to be forever, but just for a season which will be determined by your rate of movement. The quicker you can embrace change, the faster you will move through transition.

If you are a leader you must remember, though, you are not traveling alone. There are others trying to make the change with you. What rate of change can they tolerate? This is where the real test of leadership in transition will be measured. It is not just how fast you can make the move, but how about those you lead? Can they keep up?

Now we all know that some will and some won’t, but it is important that we keep as many as we can. So we must find the balance in transition between getting bogged down in the quagmire of nothingness forced upon us by people who will never embrace a new reality, and running the people who will into fatigue, frustration and ultimately failure.Transition, while not much fun, can be celebrated because it signals the beginning of your future and the end of your past. Make it carefully but courageously.

But all of this difficulty does not alter the fact that change is a must for living things. It is the basic vital sign of life. So then as long as we live, as long as our vision is alive, change is inescapable. And because this is a fact, we at Destiny must go on training, coaching, and helping leaders to navigate through the arduous process of change.