“And I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will guide you with knowledge and understanding.” (Jeremiah 3:15, NLT)

God wants those who are ministers to be “after His heart.” It’s an interesting phrase that at first glance seems to mean that He obviously wants us to be godly and represent His character. While that’s true, there’s another level of the meaning here too that means that we are to passionately pursue after God’s heart.

Serving effectively as a minister isn’t instantaneous. It doesn’t happen with a degree or a title. Unfortunately, there’s no shortcut to success. But the promise here is that God will give knowledge and understanding.

What is it that God wants us to understand? I want to use the word to LEAP to hit four quick areas where we need to grow:

Leadership: This is the ability to effectively cast vision, to develop winning strategies, and motivate and empower others to carry out God’s vision together

Equipping: This is the ability to see the potential in others, to recruit them for ministry, to train others, develop them, give away ministry, and skillfully teach others

Attitude: Ministry starts in the heart, with a positive attitude and a stick-to-it-ive persistence that never gives up

People: You might have heard that ministry would be easy if it weren’t for the people, but we often forget that ministry is all about people. And we’re in the people business. So we need to learn to communicate clearly, relate with all kinds of people, and resolve conflict in a healthy way

Yes, it’s a tall order. So always look before you LEAP!

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Nic and I have recorded some leadership training audio resources for anyone who is in a leadership position. I’m going to be posting these free resources here over the next several weeks so you can check them out. My prayer is that you will grow in your leadership as you make a difference in lives through your group.

Are you having trouble filling up your group? This first audio podcast will give you some practical ideas about how to find people and invite them to join your group. So get ready and “Fill ‘er Up!”

Quickshot: Circles of Life

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On Sunday, Javi was one of the first people at Hemphill. Instead of striving for position, he said, “I may not get to preach every week, but if you’ll let me be responsible for setting up the chairs, I’ll be the best Minister of Chairs you’ve ever seen.” WOW!

They have stepped up to lead a Connection Group, and on Sunday they filled the group in one day just by meeting people and inviting them to their group.

And then, I was totally humbled after everyone was gone to see Javi & Juanita in the broom closet mopping up water that had leaked all over the place (the water was there when we got there in the morning, and not even our mess).

Their enthusiasm, support, and encouragement are off the charts. So Castillo’s, you are our Jesus Freaks of the Week!

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Kristi & Melanie at the TXI Park

The park is very nice and shady with a small stage, a volleyball court, playground, horseshoe pits, grills, picnic tables, air-conditioned bathrooms ☺. It’s going to be a lot of fun for everyone. The kids can play while the adults grow in our leadership. I have some very important and exciting things that I’m looking forward to sharing with everyone there.

We’ll be bringing the hot dogs, chips, drinks, and cold watermelon. I’d suggest that you bring a lawn chair.

So plan on coming out to be with us if you’re serving on a team, if you’re thinking about it, or if you just want to have a great time with some great TCC peeps.

Here’s a map so you can find us.

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Momentum is a leader’s best friend or worst enemy. When you’ve got it going on, you can do so much more than you ever thought was possible. Without it, even the smallest forward movement is a struggle.

What is Momentum? I believe it is the fresh wind of the Spirit of God blowing through your organization. The fact is, if you’re surrendered to His purpose, He wants you to succeed far more than you want success for yourself. Momentum has been described as spiritual waves that you surf to see God’s purpose fulfilled.

When it comes to leaders, there are 4 types of wave surfers:

Wave Fakers: These are people who wish they had momentum, but they miss it every time. So they act as if they are riding high. But due to selfishness and wrong motives, there is no real momentum going on. Even when God chooses to bless the Fakers, they wipe out every time. You can fool some of the people some of the time, but you can’t fool God anytime.

Wave Makers: These are people who are in tune with God’s Spirit and they have the ability to anticipate, jump on and ride the wave. They carry their people forward from small wins to big victories.

Wave Takers: These are also good leaders who are able to work with other leaders to take the waves that have been started and turn it into something great.

Wave Breakers: These are the ones who break up the current of the wave and eventually suck the wind out of the sails. They are doubters who can’t see what God is doing.

When you ride the wind of the Spirit, you can go anywhere God leads you, but when you don’t, you’re headed for a Wipe Out.

What kind of surfer are you?

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There are lots of things that I’m no good at. Really. In fact, if I were to begin to list them, they would fill the page. And no matter how hard I try, I’ll probably never be great at certain things, even things that I wish I could do. That’s okay. There are a few things that I’m very good at doing.

There are a lot of people wasting a lot of time and energy trying to excel at things they’ll never master. They try to shore up their weaknesses.

Why not instead be great at what you’re already good at? That’s one of the secrets to success. It’s about living the way you were made. You were designed to make a difference!

I am trying to learn to play to my strengths. The book StrengthsFinder 2.0 is a great tool to discover your design. Here’s what I found out about my personal top 5 strengths:

Belief: Believers have certain core values that don’t change. Out of these values comes a defined purpose for their life.

Maximizer: Maximizers focus on strengths as a way to stimulate personal and group excellence. They seek to transform something strong into something excellent.

Woo: Wooers love the challenge of meeting new people and winning them over. They get satisfaction from breaking the ice and making a connection with someone else.

Includer: Includers easily accept others. They’re aware of people who feel left out, and make an effort to include them.

Activator: Activators can make things happen by turning thoughts into action.

Do you know what you’re really good at? Then go for it!

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• People need to belong before they will believe
• When Jesus called His disciples He didn’t preach a sermon to them, He simply said, “Follow me”
• If you dont have some cigarette butts in the parking lot of your church, you don’t have much of a church.
• The church is not a waiting room for the saints it is a hospital to the sick.
• “The hurting people get front row seats.” We need a long front row
• The method is not sacred, the message is.
• There is provision for the vision
• Jesus is not our HOMEBOY, He is the supreme Lord of lords and King of kings!
• Jesus doesn’t want our props, He deserves our praise!
• We should be known for what we love, not what we hate
• Let’s honor the men and women who have been serving faithfully in the trenches!
• To reach people no one else is reaching, you’ve got to do things no one else is doing. that means: don’t do what everyone else is doing
• You’re greatest limitation can be your greatest potential when you have faith
• Failure is often your first step to success
• What has God called you to do that you’re afraid to try?
• Creativity costs nothing

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• Ed is up to speak first this morning, riding the Crazy Train  http://twitpic.com/1kicm #
• Crazy (not legitimate mental illness) is when I say to God, “I am in charge of my life.” It’s the ride of pride.
• We’re all a little crazy in some way, but there’s a good crazy and a bad crazy.
• The devil throws crazy people around Christ-followers to distract us from our mission.
• My bad artwork of the concentric circles of crazy: http://twitpic.com/1kikz #
• The signs of crazy: crazy eyes, playing the God card, name droppin’, 1 upping, blowing up the phone, not listening to advice, talking about themselves all the time, I bet you think this song is about you, have no filter, are 1 issue people, ” got an issue, grab a tissue”, space invaders, enjoy their dysfunction, have crazy pets, dress in full-team uniform, the first or last to talk to you, answer the phone: “umyelloo”
• We all have a built in crazar, to discern craziness
• How to cut out the crazies: live a life of holiness and honesty and integrity before God
• Ministry is brutiful, that is: both brutal and beautiful
• If a business man understands how you do finances at church, you’re not doing it right
• Don’t get lazy or hazy about crazy
• Daniel 5:20 – speak the truth and shame the devil
• Integrity brings opportunity to the front, don’t be afraid to confront in love
• Deal with pride because it binds and blinds
• Technology (blogs, etc.) can give a false sense of your importance, nobody cares about your cat’s gastro-intestinal issues
• Humility is power under control
• You know you’ve preached too long when your wife closes her Bible
• We’re more likely to be jealous of those in our same field of occupation/vocation
• The majority is usually wrong: Everytime God’s people voted in the Old Testament, they were wrong
• It’s so tempting to swallow the crazy pills in ministry
• Elijah, a man with a serious faith went through a serious funk
• after the showdown, Elijah went through a letdown
• We need to put our best offensive energy into what we do best
• Because public speaking is such a fear, at a funeral, the guy giving the eulogy would rather be in the box.
• leadership is measured by what happens in our absence
• “Cannibals aren’t the only ones who get fed up with people”
• Having lunch with the senior pastor’s lunch, there’s “The Biggest Loser”‘s mom from last season by the wall  http://twitpic.com/1km4z
• At TCC, we make it hard to get to hell from Hays County
• Bil Cornelius: “Before God fills the house with people, He wants to fill the house with His glory”
• Ben Young: “Truth was a Person before it was a doctrine”
• Be aware of the chair! The place in your church where ANYONE can come in and hear the Gospel
• Maturity in Hebrews 6:1 – To get to it (maturity), we’ve got to go through it
• A Biblically-functioning community will have unbelievers, new believers, and maturer Christ-followers
• Spiritual adolescents are the first to leave a church to go to a place that’s more comfortable for them
• Students listen up… your parents know more than you and they used to be cool but you made them uncool.
• “Being obsessed with what people think about you is the quickest way to forget what God thinks about you” – Craig Groeschel
• “I can’t please everyone, but I can please God.” Live for an audience of ONE!

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To hear the podcast, click the title: Being a Great Usher

If you want to be a part of this team, join us on Sunday morning, Feb 15, in the Worship Center after the first service for a quick meeting. We’d love to have you as a part of the team.

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For me, conferences are a way to:

• refresh my spirit
• get some outside perspective
• stay sharp on the bleeding edge
• discover some new resources
• connect and reconnect with others in the trenches
• learn new skills
• and most importantly, refocus on the Lord

This year, I'm going to pull back on my conferencing a little to save money. The plan is to stay more local and take advantage of the great conferences that are happening in Texas.

I'll be attending the Creative Church Conference in Grapevine with Ed Young. This year looks like it's going to be awesome with Bil Cornelius and Steven Furtick speaking. Steven's message at Catalyst last year seriously rocked my world!

I also plan on going to the Catalyst One Day conference happening on May 18th in Dallas with Andy Stanley and Craig Groeschel.

Oh yeah, I'm also going to the SBTC Church Planter Retreat where I get to lead a breakout with my friend Loui Canchola. We'll be talking about how to reach men in a breakout called Dude, Surf's Up!

We might also buy the audio or video from some other good conferences that are happening this year and listen to them as a staff.

If anyone wants to go with me to any of these, let me know.

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