The Power of Focus

Segal's Law:

"A man with a watch knows what time it is. A man with two watches is never sure."

Many Pastors and Churches I know suffer from having too many watches. When it comes to knowing what time it is, in terms of their mission, structure, progress, vision, core values and future, they don't have a single watch to tell them. Instead, they have several watches and, depending on which watch you're looking at, you get only one perspective on what time it is.

Focus and clarity are powerful assets in a Pastor and a church. Knowing what matters, where you're going, how you're going to get there, and what a win looks like are critical to sustained success and influence for the Kingdom of God.

So, again, two questions to ask of your staff, leadership team, Board and members:

1. What business are we in?

2. How's business?

Knowing what business you're in sets the stage for having measurable components that help you thrive in that business. If you know your business, you know which watch to own and you only look one place to know what time it is.

One last thought: The local Church is not in search of a mission. The mission of Jesus is in search of the local Church.

What is a Win?

The two questions every local church and Pastor must continue to ask, whether a Kid's Pastor, Youth Pastor, etc, are:

* What business are we in?

* How's business?

Most of us have a tendency to keep moving, planning, maintaining and budgeting without intentionally answering these two questions. We follow our gut and impulses or we spend our time responding to attendance reports, giving reports, and congregational feedback (read "complaints").

What does it look like to win in Youth Ministry?

What is a win in Children's ministry?

What is a win for our weekend services?

I really like what Alan Hirsch says, "The Church isn't in search of a mission; God's mission is in search of a Church."

What are your thoughts?

A Resource Network

Welcome to our Blog for the Denver Metro South section of the Assemblies of God!

This blog is created to be a tool for the ministers of our Section for the purpose of sharing resources, encouragement, ideas and discussions. As we move forward as a Sectional Committee (Jim Ladd, Gordan Albury and Anthony Ross) our dream is to coordinate resources, networking and events that truly support and encourage you. Our nightmare is that we would offer resources, meetings or events that you have no interest in or that offer no real value.

Here are some ideas we are considering:

* Brown bag lunches. These would be gatherings where everyone brings their own lunch and we have an open-forum discussion on a topic designated in advance. For example, Lead Pastors would gather together and discuss a topic like "developing a preaching calendar", "how I stay fresh in ministry", "running effective staff or board meetings", "the best idea we had last year" etc. Meanwhile, youth pastors, worship leaders, kids pastors, etc would meet together and do the same thing with topics pertinent to them.

* This Blog. A venue to discuss topics of interest, network for resources, review books, share helpful articles, etc. We want every minister in the section to have the ability to post, comment and discuss issues. We only ask that proper attitudes of encouragement and edification prevail.

* District Council party. Inviting the members of our section to a late-evening room for food, fellowship and relaxation.

* Major Events. Rockies games, concerts, etc. Just for fun for us and our families for any who want to attend.

* E-Bulletins. An email bulletin as needed to share prayer requests, make major announcements or share exciting reports from around the section.

So, what ideas do you have? We have no desire to invade your calendars with events that don't contribute to your life and ministry in positive ways. We all are plenty busy. At the same time, there may be ideas you have for how we can offer mutual encouragement, support and resources that are worthy of your time. Please offer any and all suggestions you can think of.

Thanks!