Good morning Leaders!

I wanted to follow up our ACTS Meeting yesterday by sending out the notes we used.   It’s great stuff!  If you missed the meeting yesterday, the audio will be available on the Focal Pointe blog by Wednesday of this week.  Check it out!

Have a great week everyone!

Shane

ACTS-8/29/10

Leading People Who Don’t Have To Follow

True leadership is all about Influence .

“Leadership is influence.” – John C. Maxwell

“The key to successful leadership today is influence, not authority.”

- Ken Blanchard

True leadership is having Character .

True leadership Multiplies Itself  .

Hebrew Method…

·        I do it…

·        I do it – and you watch .

·        You do it – and I watch .

·        You do it

Jesus modeled this…

“And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction.” (Matthew 9:35 ESV)

He did it.

“Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” (Matthew 9:37-38 ESV)

He did it, and they watched.

“And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction.” (Matthew 10:1 ESV)

They did it, and he watched.

“These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them…” (Matthew 10:5 ESV)

They did it.

In Christ-Made Alive…In Christ-One

[4] “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, [5] even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ-by grace you have been saved-”

(Ephesians 2:4-5 ESV)

I really liked Pastor Shane’s devotional title last week; “In Christ”. As I make my way through the book of Ephesians, I am reminded and encouraged over and over…In Christ. God’s mercy on us flows from his own loving heart, not from anything that we’ve done to deserve it. How encouraging! Christians, rejoice in hope because of God’s incredible grace and free salvation. We’ve been saved! In Christ, we’ve been made alive! And you know what? In Christ, we’ve also been made one; one body of believers. Take a look at another passage from Ephesians and be encouraged.

[18] “For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. [19] So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,”

(Ephesians 2:18-19 ESV)

We are no longer strangers. We are fellow citizens with the saints! Paul uses words that were common to political life in ancient cities like Ephesus. Strangers were complete foreigners with no rights or privileges, and aliens were non-citizens who dwelt in the city and were accorded only customary privileges as neighbors. Only citizens had full protections and rights in the city. Friends, we have full protections and rights as citizens and members of the household of God. Isn’t it nice to be reminded sometimes? I invite you to join Pastor Shane and me in reading through the book of Ephesians for the remainder of this month. After all, we are alive, and we are one! Let’s be encouraged together!

Have a wonderful week!

Shawn

IN-DEPENDENCE

“And behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:17 ESV)

I really appreciate last week’s devotional. Something Pastor Shane wrote really stuck with me throughout the week, “Friends, God is always pleased with humility and dependence!  This is what Jesus himself was commended for!” This is a great point and it causes me to wonder; could we be doing a better job of following Jesus’ example here? I know there are some days when I could look back and answer a great big “YES!” to that question. Hindsight is 20/20, as they say. I think that my level of dependence on God is directly related to my level of humility. If I could possess greater humility, my dependence on God could increase exponentially. Have you ever made that connection? A Psalm of David helped me greatly in my efforts to figure this out.

“He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way.” (Psalm 25:9 ESV)

As I become more humble, I begin to realize my size compared to God. I begin to better understand how in-control He really is and how in-dependence I truly need to live. I become more open to His leading; to Him teaching me His way. When I catch a glimpse of how big and how great and how mighty and how powerful God is, I am humbled, and my dependence on Him can only be amplified. Have you caught your glimpse? Are you living humbly in-dependence? Seriously think about this one. Let’s try to be like Jesus this week!

Blessings,

Shawn

The Apprentice

“Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.” (2 Timothy 1:13 ESV)

Sometimes I try to imagine what it must have been like to have been Paul’s apprentice. Paul seems to have filled the role of mentor in Timothy’s life, yet Paul treated him respectfully as a close friend and partner. I am very blessed that Pastor Shane has chosen to play a similar role in my life; guiding me and helping me mature. I must tell you that as the apprentice, I feel a great sense of responsibility. I want to make sure that things are done in a manner that Pastor Shane would approve of, and this can sometimes be a heavy burden. But this privilege and responsibility also stretches and shapes me, so that I can be better prepared for what God would call me to do in the future.

Who is your apprentice? To whom are you giving the great privilege and responsibility of being mentored by you? How’s it going?

Friends, we’ve got to follow Paul’s example here and help others along. I am consistent in mentoring a few different men, and I have yet to find anything more rewarding than watching a close friend mature in Christ. One of those friends just took over my role as Assimilation Coach with Celebrate Recovery, and he’ll probably do a better job with that than I did. What could happen with your ministry if you decided to raise up an apprentice? Would you have more time to dream bigger; to think more about the big picture? What will happen if you don’t? Probably nothing; and this should be one of our biggest fears.

So today, ask yourself “Who will it be?” And if you’ve already found your apprentice, pour a little more into that person this week!

Blessings,

Shawn

NEVER STOP EXPLORING

[27] Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. [28] And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues. [29] Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? [30] Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret?

(1 Corinthians 12:27-30 ESV)

The purpose of spiritual gifts is to build up the body of Christ, which is the church. All of the gifts are meant to benefit the church; to contribute to building others up. The question is; what are you doing with yours? Or better yet, do you know what your spiritual gifts are? In verse 29 of the above scripture, Paul asks a rhetorical question “Are all apostles?” The answer is obviously no, setting us up to answer no to each of the following questions as well. This implies that the Holy Spirit does not give the same gifts to everyone, which leads me to believe that we each have our gifts for very specific reasons. Awesome!

Friends, the road to putting your gifts to work for God is really pretty short. We have many opportunities here at NorthPointe for you to explore. The journey to mastering the use of those gifts however, is just that; a journey. And as a fellow traveler, I want to encourage you to find the adventure in the journey. Look beyond yourself, look beyond what you’re doing right now, look beyond tomorrow. What do you think God will have you doing with your gifts next year? What do you think He’ll have you doing with what He gave you in ten years?

I saw a really cool shirt in a sporting goods store the other day. The writing on it said “Never Stop Exploring”. Let that be an encouragement to all of us. Never stop exploring! Never stop asking God what he wants you to do with the gifts he’s given to you. And if you aren’t sure what those gifts are, you can begin exploring right now. Check out the link to a Spiritual Gift Assessment and start your adventure today.

Blessings,

Shawn