LESSONS IN LEADERSHIP

PHOTO CREDIT: PERFORMANCE SOLUTIONS

A recent campaign where I posted thoughts on leadership awakened a love of writing and posing thoughts for comment and discussion.  In fact it's been almost 5 years since my last blogging post and to be honest, I've missed it.

I think I'll get back in the saddle.

Here are just some thoughts after this last leadership assignment ended.

• Leaders always lead... that's what Maxwell says.  A leader will naturally gravitate to a group or organization that needs their skills and their gifting.  I'm hoping that's true.  I find myself without assignment at the moment but I'm hoping that I'll be back in the saddle again soon.

• Leaving a leadership position gives you time to think about things.  I've rerun scenarios in my mind of situations where my leadership was good and where my leadership was bad.  By looking back I can learn from the outcomes and I can position myself again in the future to respond differently or more effectively.   Certainly I can learn from my own experiences

• I have learned about communication and particularly when things are clear in my mind that I need to be clear and concise in my mind to communicate that passion clearly.  Sometimes in the fog of the moment of leadership it's so clear to you that it's foggy to others.  As the old saying goes "if it's a mist in the pulpit, it's a fog in the pew".  It must be crystal clear what the message is.
• Most of all I've learned that servant leadership is the most effective type of leadership.  Yes--a leader must make decisions, but a servant leader has been in and among the organization enough to know what is best for the organization.   High castle leadership makes decision that is best for leadership---servant leaders lead from the bottom up.

Here's to being back in the saddle again---on to the next assignment.

It's Like Herding Cats: No Sale Evangelism - Jim Drake's On the Right Track

It's Like Herding Cats: No Sale Evangelism - Jim Drake's On the Right Track

Moving On UP

Well, big things have been happening behind the scenes of this blog this week.  I've purchased a domain name and am moving it to http://jimdrake.me as of today.

I will keep this blog going to keep the past archives, but any new posts will be at the new address.

Social Media--A Must For 21st Century Ministry

Ok.  I've endured endless times of teasing and ridicule (not too bad) about my involvement in social media but today I have to stand up on my two feet and all 5 foot 5 inches of my body and say that EVERY MINISTER should be involved in Social Media--not just for the social part of it.

Case in point:  We had a church member become ill while out of town.  Family had to fly to them. In the meantime I remember a connection through Twitter who is geographically close to them.   I sent a tweet--get a reply--minister checks on a church member that I cannot go see.  THAT'S SOCIAL MEDIA and THE BODY OF CHRIST working hand in hand.

Case in point:  Family waiting at hospital for test resutls.  Only news available is through messaging and postings.  I keep updated so when people ask I know how they are doing.

Case in point:  Teens go through events (death of a loved one)  You connect with them and express your sympathies.  Next time you see that kid--instant connection (this happened to me)

Case in point:  When I need encouragement, I get a message from a friend who says "Do Not Fear" and all I did was tweet up a little prayer.

Case in point:  Our recent Deacon Ordination was posted via Facebook (photos) sharing the moment with family and friends all over the world who couldn't be there and messaged their prayer and support for these men.  Awesome!

I cannot tell you how many times that I can instantly connect with a family or member and talk about their current status that I don't reference something that I read or remember from their posts.  Yes, it takes some time to do this--but I usually scan the media in the morning--then maybe at lunch and then again before bed.  Takes maybe 5-8 minutes each time. It's just like having coffee with someone.   It's not always ideal--but it keeps you connected with church members and they appreciate it.

So ministers---time to get off the fence and jump in. It's the 21st Century and this is how we do it today.

RT: Ministry and Social Media

I Made A Mess of Wordpress

I can't tell if it's BLOGGER revenge or that I'm losing my technology edge, but I've made a mess of Wordpress.

I'm in the process of doing something new for my blog and so I have to take care of some administrative stuff on the back end (things you never see).

It seems that I've pulled the proverbial "ball of yarn" thing with Wordpress and I'm in the middle of a mess. (Ever heard of an MD5 tag--I hadn't until today). It seems that my earlier dabbling with Wordpress.com for a blog still lingers and won't let me use the Wordpress.org functions due to an internal argument of who has rights (ok--more than you wanted to know)

But, I humbly submit to anyone out there who can lend this technology mechanic a hand.  I'm in a mess!

I Have A Dream

On this Martin Luther King Day ( and just for the record I'm working today!) I keep running through my mind MLK's phrase " I have a dream" and wondering about that phrase.

I know that MLK had a dream for equality and the improvements in Civil Rights.  If anything, this was his passion and his life's calling.  He had a dream where anyone could dream and achieve and be what they were called to be.

So, that begs the question "Do I have a dream?" Is there some passion and heartbeat in my life that makes me arise each day and say "what part do I get to work on today?"  That's a big question and honestly one that I'm working on at the moment.  What is it that makes my heart beat and come alive.  Is it music?  Is it art?  Is it creativity?  Is it ministry?  Is it connecting people?  What is it?

The bible has a great example of a dreamer--Joseph.  What I find interesting about Joseph's dreams were that they weren't his alone. He didn't make them up or conjure them up; they were dreams given to him (and rightly so because he stewarded these dreams) and God used them to bring about His plan for the children of Israel (Genesis 37-50)

Maybe that's the better question on a day like today.  Not "what are my dreams" but "God what are your dreams for my life?"  Then and only then can I appreciate what I have to steward about my dream.  For you see if it's mine (of my own making) then I take more responsibility for it than I should.  I try to make it happen.

But when it's God's dream--I only have to follow the Dream Giver.  It's his--not mine and I have to be faithful to what he has revealed.

(As a side--I will tell you that I've had some wild night time dreams lately. One of them I was a lawyer and had to get my client off or it was the Death Penalty.  Let's just say I didn't succeed)

What are your dreams?  Are they God-given dreams or man-manufactured dreams?

Sunday Set List--January 16, 2011

 

This post is part of Sunday Set Lists over on The Worship Community Blog.  It's where worship leaders from all over the world list their set lists from today's worship.

Setlist

Today Is The Day (Brewster)

Call To Worship--Psalm 118:24 (MSG)

I Will Follow (Tomlin/Morgan)

Turn/Greet

Letter To Dad--A Daughters Remembers

Welcome/Announcements/Prayer

Better Than A Hallelujah

(I was here last year at Puckett's in Nashville as Amy introduced this song--brought back some good memories of opening night of RECREATE 10)

Scripture Reading--Psalm 103

Glory To God Forever (Fee/Beeching)

Glorious Day (Bleeker)

Offering (Baloche)

Morning Message--Ruth'less Relationships (Part 3)--A Study in Ruth

Just As I Am (Hymn Charts)

Technology Tsunami Hits Snyder, Texas

Snyder, Texas--not located near any large body of water (unless you count Lake Alan Henry to the north or the small pond called Lake JB Thomas to the southeast) is in the path of a major Tsunami.  This Tsunami is scheduled to hit the end of this month.

Now, how can a community not located near a body of water be taken over by a tsunami?  Tsunamis (the large displacement of water by an earthquake or volcano) happen suddenly and remake the landscape of the islands they impact.  The Snyder Tsunami is not weather related but technologically related.

At the end of the month, the first wave of 700+ MacBooks will be distributed to all Junior High Students for use in class, projects and instruction in the classroom.  Can you imagine the impact that is going to have on this city?   Technology in the hands of the younger generation will have the effect of a tsunami as the lower levels of the culture begin to churn against traditional forms, structures and thoughts as they connect with the availabilty of information and creativity in the classroom.   School as we know it (or knew it) will never be the same again.  Teachers have the new computers too and are having to adapt their styles and methods to include this technology.  It's a new day!

I attended an information meeting this week and the comments were interesting.  All I could do was sit back and wonder what this will mean to the culture of our community (I applaud the adoption of this program). There was resistance from some asking "why?" and the standard "are you gonna force my kids to use this stuff" to which I shook my head and thought "they already are using this stuff". And I had to chuckle at the comment about chat rooms (Chat rooms?--they haven't been around since AOL in 1993).  Nevertheless, I see a tsunami coming.

What has been the impact of large technological changes in your community?

We Went Around The World and Never Left Home

Somewhere in the last days of December 2009, I struggled with the idea of keeping a missions goal before our people, one that seemed almost impossible to meet in light of our church situation without a Senior Pastor and once again in transition.

I remember asking God "how do we do this?" Then I remembered something--the Lord had connected me with missionaries all over the world and by connecting our people to these missionaries we could celebrate all year long the work that God was doing in places that we would never know about or even go.

So, I took a calendar and the OPERATION WORLD BOOK and began to schedule each Sunday a different country to focus on, to pray for and to give connection to in our services.

This took place in many ways.  I knew that several of the missionaries would be home during the year, so I made contact with them to schedule us for a visit/interview during our services.  We did that with this missionary, and this missonary and this missionary.  Those were exciting services as we learned about their countries first hand.

We had a video from this church planter who was moving his entire family to a new culture and language for the sake of the gospel.

We did  SKYPE calls to missionaries in Serbia, Hungary and Thailand and also to a fellow minister in Egypt. (If you want to know how to do this--email me and I'll tell you how we did it)

We had testimonies from local community leaders who had gone to Uganda and Kenya.

We even prayed for people in places where we couldn't mention that they were there--you guys know who you are.

We kept the world before our people for 52 Sunday's last year.  Our goal was to raise $65,000 for missions and causes.  The result.... we raised $69,099 for this cause last year.

We went around the world in 2010 and never left home.  You can do it too and your church will never be the same.