What will you ask of God in 2019?
It’s almost an unimaginable gift we have as Christian leaders to be able to ask God himself to lend His presence and power to our leadership and ministry. Yet it’s true.
Don’t waste the privilege of prayer, it’s your most powerful resource as a leader.
This invitation and opportunity to pray can be overwhelming. The needs are so many, from vision and dreams to hope and healing.
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The love of God is both incomprehensible and incomparable.
It’s difficult to fully understand the depth of God’s love. There’s no end to it. It’s a love that surpasses knowledge. (Ephesians 3:19)
Paul prays that [we] have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide, and long, and high, and deep is the love of Christ.” (Ephesians 3:18)
A perfect love can’t be measured, or fully understood, but it can be experienced. It can be expressed, and that’s what God asks of us, to lead with this kind of love.
A love that is incomparable – “the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.“ (Ephesians 2:7)
It’s because of His great love for us (Ephesians 2:4) that we do what we do.
I don’t know about you, but that can be an overwhelming thought at times.
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Reflection is good for the soul.
Personal reflection is even better if you act on it.
You may not be an “end of the year – take a two-day retreat in the mountains” kind of person. I’m not either. I can think through and process these questions in the time it would have taken me to drive there and back. Hey, I’m all for those who love a mountain retreat, but I’m not wired to be in that much silence for that long. I’d end up trying to make friends with a bear or something.
If quiet reflection is not motivating for you, try it verbally with your spouse or a close friend. The key is to make it enjoyable, not a chore.
Regardless of your wiring, personality, or how much time you have for this, investing quality think time to process 2018 will position you for a substantially better 2019.
No one ever starts out in ministry expecting to mess up, fail or quit.
We all begin with great vision, enthusiasm, and dreams of changing the world for good.
So what goes wrong?
Why do good and godly leaders (church staff and volunteer) end up crashing in ministry, and end up out of ministry?
The answer to that question is obviously complicated, but essentially, we fail to anticipate and prepare for tough times and rough seasons in ministry.
Dan Reiland is the Executive Pastor at 12Stone Church in Lawrenceville, Georgia. He previously partnered with John Maxwell for 20 years, first as Executive Pastor at Skyline Wesleyan Church in San Diego, then as Vice President of Leadership and Church Development at INJOY.
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