Article Thoughts

Just read an article on churchrelevance.com about an article by a guy who wrote his 10 top ministry management principles and church relevance highlighted a few of them...here they are with my thoughts about me and Seven right now...

#2 :: Plan for Growth
Remember that people follow people with a plan. Have a plan for spiritual growth, organizational growth, and numerical growth.
I think we have done a pretty decent job with this one. It's been a little bit of a batle between me and the Lord though. I felt like the Lord wanted me to start Seven downstairs in the auditorium rather than ever meet upstairs in the "Great Room"...I chickened out. I thought "what if we only have 40 people show up to the first service? I'll look like an idiot with only 40 downstairs in the auditorium. Well we had over 100 but it still took about 4 months. The point to me has always been let's put ourselves in the best position to influence the most people for the kingdom of God. Now the struggle is when to put down the curtains and open up the entire sanctuary. Soon. Real soon.

#3 :: Get Some Help
Make some calls. Network. Read a book. Listen to a CD. Get a Mentor. Don’t try to reinvent the wheel.
Not my strength. I have goten better over the years but this is definitely not my strength. I read, have mentors, get counsel, leverage the creativity of others, but my problem is in getting help from people not because I can't cast the vision (never been a problem) but because I struggle with helping them once their onboard. I have never had a problem getting people on board...the problem comes once they are all in. I need people around me who are detail people, who can help plug people in. I can get them in, but I need help plugging them in.

#6 :: Plan for Interruptions
When everything is said and done, there is more said than done. Things don’t always happen as you plan them.
Tough to do. Holly's mom. Baby #3. Growth explosion. Connecting with so many people who want to hear the vision and sign up immediately...that one takes more energy than you might think. But I feel like I have protected my time much more in Seven than with youth because I feel the Lord challenging me to do what I do best and find others to help me with the rest.

When I think about all that God has done through Seven so far I get overwhelmed. We have tripled in Seven months. It's incredible how many great people He has drawn to what he is doing. This past week has been a week where the Lord has allowed me to celebrate what has happened with Seven thus far. What a ride. What an explosion. What impact we are about o make in the DFW area. He decided it was time and I'm grateful I have been given a front row seat.