These are quotes which stood out to me, possibly for use in a sermon someday. Their presence here does not mean I agree with them, it merely shows that I might want to reference them later. The default view is five random selections. Use the tag list on the right to view all quotes relevant to that theme.
I thank you, Lord, that we do not have to extract things from you, and that you extract things from us.
"ADD VALUE"
5 Questions for John Maxwell
HOW DO YOU RECOGNIZE FUTURE LEADERS?
Everywhere I've served, I've prayed for God to send me leaders
to build his church. For fourteen years, at least once every
month or so, I'd meet someone visiting our church for the
first time. We'd introduce ourselves. Then God would speak to
me and say, "John, there's one." That was the most humbling
thing in life because I didn't do one thing to bring that
person in.
After I resigned, I was with about seventy-five church leaders
one night for a farewell dinner. I got up and said, "All my
life I've prayed for leaders. Let me tell how God answered
those prayers with you." Then I went around the room, telling
each one about the time I met them, when God revealed,
"There's one." By the time I was done, we were all bawling.
Someone said, "How could you remember meeting everyone in a
church this size?"
I replied, "I don't remember meeting every person. I remember
meeting you because you were one of those people I prayed God
would lead into my life."
If you pray for leaders; if you have a heart to develop, lead,
and empower people; if you've got a God-given vision, God will
give according to your heart's desires.
HOW DO YOU APPROACH A POTENTIAL LEADER?
I've always asked them to become my prayer partner for at
least a year. That gives us time to get to know each other's
hearts. In addition, our church board members were asked to
mentor a potential leader, their replacement, during the last
of their three years in office.
On the front end of these relationships, we asked, "Are you
willing to reproduce other leaders if I invest in developing
you?" This perpetuates the culture of leadership development
and weeds out people who probably wouldn't have developed
anyway.
HOW DO YOU DEVELOP A PERSON WHO HAS A HEART FOR GOD BUT NO
LEADERSHIP SKILLS?
Provide on-the-job training. If people have the character
qualifications, they just need to learn how to maximize their
efforts. We worry too much about position and titles. I teach:
"Wherever you're working, whatever organization you serve,
start adding value to people and begin to gain their respect.
They will champion you."
When you understand that leadership is influence instead of
position, that changes everything. You don't strive to be a
leader; you strive to add value to people, and they'll let you
be the leader.
IS THAT HOW YOU ENCOURAGE LOYALTY AMONG LEADERS?
I prefer to talk about respect instead of loyalty, because you
won't be loyal to a person if you don't respect her or him. In
my dad's day, the pastor got loyalty because he was the
pastor. These days, people will not be loyal to anyone unless
they respect the person and know the leader respects them.
People give loyalty when they can say, "I'm a better person
because of that leader." As a leader, I'm always asking, "How
can I add value to the person I lead?" I advise pastors not to
go to a new church and ask, "Who's going to help me?" Instead,
look around, find out who the leaders are, and ask, "How can I
add value to them?"
HOW, SPECIFICALLY, DO YOU ADD VALUE TO SOMEONE'S LIFE?
Adding value comes from listening to people. If I know their
heart, then I know exactly where to add value. I develop the
part of themselves they want to see developed, not what I
happen to need at the time. This prevents me from using
people.
We all believe that people are our greatest asset when we
first meet them; it's a little tougher to believe after we
have worked with them a while and have seen their weaknesses.
I ask, "What is their unique contribution?" Then I equip
people according to their gifts and desires.
And part of it comes from asking people to be part of a great
vision. Having a cause worth dying for is the greatest reason
to live.
"Excellence cannot be sustained indefinitely...you maintain excellence for limited periods of time, and then you lose it...you do not reach peak levels by repeating exactly the same processes that worked in the past. Reaching a level of excellence involves analyzing each individual situation and determining what is right. It entails good communication, cooperation, high expectations, risk, and trust." "Most of us seek quantum leaps in our performance levels by following a strategy of incremental investment. This strategy simply does not work. The land of excellence is safely guarded from unworthy intruders. At the gates stand two fearsome sentries - risk and learning. The keys to entrance are faith and courage. To attain excellence, an individual, group, or organization must care enough about an activity to insist that it fully meets and exceeds the demands of its audience (either internal or external), and this involves a fair amount of risk. Personal and organizational excellence demands experimentation, relfection, and evaluation, and these things in turn lead to learning and growth. Change precipitates growth - some part of the self or the organizational culture is abandoned, encouraging and allowing a new self or a new culture to emerge. The new self or culture usually leads to a synergistic relationship that results in high performance."
Finishing Sermons
Unbalanced cohabitation: Apparently commitment isn't all a man is avoiding by living with a girlfriend outside of marriage. Among cohabitating pairs, women contribute more than 70% of the couple's income. Both formal and informal surveys indicate that in such situations, most women expect the relationship to lead to marriage, while most men do not. (Touchstone April 2006 p. 48)
Glen's takeaway: more evidence that sex outside of marriage is not primarily an expression of love - it's an expression of selfishness and self-delusion.