Today, what got my attention were the multiple times in Chapter 28 where David tells Solomon, ” Be strong and do the work.”

David doesn’t describe this cushy, lap of luxury type of leadership scenario.  He tells him be strong and get the job done!

When God calls us to something big, he isn’t calling us to something easy.

I think sometimes we can get lulled into believing that leadership is glamorous.  It’s not.  While leaders generally do live in the spotlight, it’s more like a bright fluorescent beacon illuminating all of our flaws and weaknesses rather than a soft, radiant, flattering glow.

David’s challenge to Solomon is a strong one: “Be strong and do the work”!

It will be tough.

It will be challenging.

It may be lonely.

It may be exhausting.

But He will be with you.

“Be strong and courageous, and do the work.  Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with you.” v20

Are you facing something big that God has called you to?  Are you overwhelmed, tired or discouraged? 

I’m praying that God reminds you today that He is with you!

Here’s the original post with all the details:

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There is something really special and really valuable about getting to work out our leadership learnings with a small group of peers who find themselves wrestling with the challenges of daily life as a high capacity leader.  I’m looking for 6-12 women to join me for an 6-month leadership journey together.  We’ll meet 2 times for 2 days each face-to-face and we’ll add in some other times for connectivity in between.

This will require some commitment so I want to challenge you to pray about it and apply as God leads you to.  If you know a woman leader who you think may benefit from something like this, please pass this along.

All the details:

What: Coaching Group for Women in Ministry & Non-profit Leadership
When: October 2012-March 2013
Facilitated by: Jenni Catron

Who:

• Women who serve in a high level leadership role in a church or ministry-related non-profit organization
• Leaders who are in a season of challenging growth or transition that would benefit from the intensive discussion of a small, focused group
• Leaders who are committed to the hard work of personal development that will result in growth for yourself and those you lead
• Leaders who are willing to make the time and financial commitment

What you get:

• Four days of coaching sessions in Nashville, TN
• Special guests for relevant topics
• The opportunity for transparent and honest discussion with other women who think and lead like you
• Focused attention on your key issues or challenges and a committed group to share that growth journey with you
• Two one-on-one coaching calls with me
• A free copy of my upcoming book for women in leadership (you’ll be the first to get a copy )
• Electronic files of all coaching notes and supporting documents
• Additional books and curriculum

What you invest:

• Commit to participate in 2 face-to-face coaching sessions in Nashville, TN
• $750 per person (includes all materials and books, lunch on training days, special guest costs and more) + travel expenses
• Time to prepare and participate fully

A few more details:
You are responsible for your travel and lodging however we’ll get you info on hotel rates and help carpool as much as possible
Dates of coaching sessions in Nashville: Oct 25-26, 2012 & March 21-22, 2013

Ok, I think that about covers it.  I’m praying specifically for those of you who will be a part of this group.  I love encouraging and investing in other leaders and I can’t wait to start this journey!

You can download the application here.  Application deadline is May 15, 2012.

Today it’s time to continue our staff values series…

Cross Point Staff Value #4

Believe the Best – we are intentional about protecting our relationships with one another.

This is one of my favorite staff values and also one of the most difficult ones.  The relational health of a team will make or break an organization, and rest assured the enemy is looking for ways to sever the trust and unity of a strong team.

Let me share a story with you of ‘believe the best’ in action within our team:

Recently a staff person was bragging about me in front of some of the other team members.  I was a little uncomfortable with the attention, so out of my insecurity I deflected the attention and inadvertently made fun of something that that staff member was involved in.  After I’d regrouped and quit focusing so much on myself I realized what I had done and felt horrible!  I immediately went to this staff member and apologized for demeaning something he was a part of while he was praising me!  What a double whammy!

Do you know what his response was?

“Oh, I never even took it that way!”

He believed the best of me.  It didn’t even cross his mind to take my comment offensively!  What a gift.  While my intention was never to offend him, the way I said what I said could have.  It would have been really easy for him to jump to that conclusion and take offense.  But it never even crossed his mind!  He believed the best.

Believing the best is choosing to believe what is most true about one another.  Essentially we’ve challenged each other to not jump to wrong conclusions, but to extend the benefit of the doubt and give grace for moments of misunderstanding or gaps of information.

Believing the best does not mean ignoring sin or avoiding healthy Matthew 18 confrontation.  It just means extending grace and God-honoring love.

^“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” I Corinthians 13:4-7

It is an incredible gift when someone truly believes the best about you.  I’m always blown away by it when it happens.

Have you ever had someone believe the best in you even when you didn’t deserve it?

Staff Value #3

Staff Value #2

Staff Value #1

Staff Value Overview

In my time with them, I shared the story of Deborah from Judges 4.  God has been challenging me with this passage for quite some time and the more I study it the more I’m challenged by the leadership that Deborah displays.

Let me set the stage for you:

• Deborah is prophet, priest & Judge of Israel
• Israel has been oppressed by the Canaanites for 20 years; likely most of Deborah’s life
• In verse 4 Deborah is going about her business as judge settling disputes
• Somewhere between verse 5 & 6, God speaks to Deborah and in verse 6 she sends for Barak, the leader of the Israelite army and tells him that God commands him to go get 10,000 men and go to battled with the Canaanites
• The crazy part about that is that upon further study, historians believe that the Israelites had no weapons.  The Canaanites had stripped them of all of their weapons, so this was a massive test of faith for Deborah, Barak & the army of 10,000.  Essentially they had no resources with which to get the job done!

What strikes me about this story is how confident Deborah was in what God told her to do. Verse 6 says:

She sent for Barak song of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali and said to him, “The Lord, the God of Israel, commands you: ‘Go, take with you ten thousand men of Naphtali and Zebulun and lead the way to Mount Tabor.  I will lure Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his troops to the Kishon River and give him into your hands.’”

Even later as they are about to go to battle (v 14), she reminds Barak of what God promised by saying:

“Go! This is the day the Lord has given Sisera into your hands.  Has not the Lord gone before you?”

I love that!  Even in the heat of the moment.  Even when doubt could have totally wrecked her, she reminds Barak (and herself) of God’s promise.

Here’s what I think makes Deborah’s story so powerful:

• She knew God’s voice so well that when she cast vision for what she believed God had commanded them to do, she didn’t show a hint of doubt or hesitation
• She was obedient to what God called her to do

I don’t know about you, but being confident that I have heard God’s voice – especially in the big decisions as a leader – is one of the most difficult things for me to discern with certainty.  I tend to qualify my statements with things like, “I think God is telling me” or “I believe this is what God is asking”.   But Deborah’s example is one of assurance and confidence.

Not only did God deliver Sisera and the Canaanites into the Israelites hands as He promised, but the Israelites experienced freedom for 40 years!  It’s unlikely that Deborah had any idea of how significant her faith and obedience would be.

What is God calling you to lead through that scares the pants off of you?  Are you shrinking back from uncertainty or are you boldly and confidently moving forward?

Has not the Lord gone before you?

My morning runs are set within the lush and hilly landscape here in Franklin, TN.  These runs have some pretty intense hills so it always challenges me mentally and physically.  Some of these hills can be daunting and I’ve learned a few ways to lean in and approach them with the drive and intensity necessary to push through.

I’ve noticed something lately though… once I crest a hill and have a moment to catch my breath, I don’t actually enjoy the downhill.  I just start fixating on the next hill.  I move right into the dread of the next one that’s coming.

Why is it that I can’t enjoy the down? Why do I go directly to the next daunting challenge without taking a moment to stop and enjoy the moment to catch my breath?

I do this in many aspects of my life.   I keep my head down and aggressively tackle the big projects in front of me, but when I crest the hill I don’t usually take the time to enjoy the relief of the down slope.  Instead I begin to fixate on the next big challenge ahead.

That perspective can get exhausting!

In life and as leaders, we have to enjoy the few moments of “down”.  In our driven and purposefulness we can get really overwhelmed by the repeated hills ahead of us and easily miss the moments to breath.  We’ve got to enjoy the opportunity to catch our breath as much as we agonize and toil over the up.

Do you find yourself always fixating on the uphill?  How can you better enjoy the ups and the downs?

Cross Point Staff Value #3

Exponential Innovation – we believe in doing whatever it takes.

Limited resources + increasing passion = exponential innovation.

We stole that equation from Craig Groeschel’s book It: How Churches and Leaders Can Get It and Keep It.  Craig put into words what our team has experienced for the 10 years of the life of our church.  We’ve never had a lot of resources but we’ve certainly had a lot of passion and conviction about what we are called to.  That has resulted in some crazy innovation.  We pull off a lot with a little which is driven by a spirit of “whatever it takes.”

I want our staff to love being a part of this place.  I want them thriving in their gifts and abilities.  I want them owning it and together accomplishing more than they ever dreamed possible.

Leading through this value is much more difficult than writing it on paper, however.  It’s easy to drift toward the mundane.  The busyness gets tiring and continual lack of resources can be draining.

This value does not mean working your staff to exhaustion.  There is a delicate tension you have to manage as a leader in pushing your team to an outcome that they may not be able to see yet and working them to death.

A “whatever it takes” attitude is not accomplished among a staff without a leader who can compel them with vision and care.  As leaders we have to be able to discern when to push and when to pull back.  Oftentimes we have a tendency to swing too far in one direction or the other.  Our ability to manage this tension will directly impact our team’s ability to embrace this value.

What does exponential innovation look like for your team?

Staff Value #2

Staff Value #1

Staff Value Overview

For over a year I’ve had a massive project on my plate that I’ve had limited opportunity to talk about.  My role at Cross Point is to “put feet to vision” so while Pete and our Elders were seeking God’s next step for our church, I was chasing the details to bring this vision to life.

Today Pete shared the vision for the next chapter of Cross Point’s history which includes a relocation for our Nashville Campus.  Even though I’ve been living with this idea for well over a year, every time I listened to the message today I was completely overwhelmed by the opportunity I have to be a part of what God is doing through this church.

Here’s a video that shares our Chapter 2.

Chapter 2 // Vision Video from Cross Point Church on Vimeo.

You’ll also find a lot more details on the website we’ve created for Chapter 2.  Be sure to check out this site and subscribe to the blog where we’ll be keeping you up to date on all the details.

Also, we’re throwing some BIG PARTIES this Friday and Saturday to share even more details with you.

If you consider Cross Point your home, we would love for you to join us for one of these events!

Friday, May 11th 6:00 PM

Friday, May 11th 8:00 PM

Saturday, May 12th 6:30 PM

Just hop over to this link to RSVP and then we’ll email you a confirmation with all the details!

I’m so excited for all that God is doing through us and I can’t wait to see what He’s got next!

This is our next chapter Cross Point!

“I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.”
(1 Timothy 2:1, NIV)

On this National Day of Prayer, may those of us who lead also pray for those who lead our nation.

Prayer is where our leadership should begin and end.

How are you praying for our leaders and our country today?

Or at least that’s what I let myself believe.

The problem with predictable is that what’s known is often overwhelming and demotivating.  Monotony and routine become boring and lifeless.

I like to consider myself a runner.  I’m not an extreme runner but I run three days a week for good health and fitness.  Once a week is my long run for extra conditioning but most importantly for extra time to disconnect.  But on those long runs I can get overwhelmed by constantly thinking about how far I still have to go.  I’m constantly trying to find ways to change it up and make it less predictable:

• I’ll change the route to one that I haven’t memorized every house, irritated dog, crack in the pavement and every mile marker.
• I’ll bring my ipod so that I can listen to my favorite songs or podcasts
• Somedays I’ll even choose “shuffle all songs” so I have no idea what’s coming next (really living on the edge)

The blessing of the unpredictable makes life more interesting and sometimes just more bearable.  I’ll forget significant portions of my run when I get lost enjoying the beauty of some wildflowers or listen to the lyrics of a song.

The same is true in our lives.  Too often we try to control, plan, predict and orchestrate too much.  Sometimes we have to learn to allow for the unpredictable -  To not be afraid of the risk, adventure or leap of faith.

Instead of trying to control all the outcomes, learn to let go a bit and enjoy the unexpected.

It makes for a much more enjoyable journey!

Cross Point Staff Value #2

Give Ministry Back – we are passionate about the development and empowerment of volunteers.

We believe the church is a volunteer organization that is led by a small group of staff who equip volunteers to do the work of the ministry.  I believe the church is one of the greatest opportunities for people to discover their gifts and put them into practice.  We as church staff get the tremendous blessing of seeing people uncover their gifts and thrive in serving from them.  A large majority of people don’t get to utilize their gifts and talents in the workplace and we want to do everything we can to allow them to use those gifts inside the church.

That’s great in theory…

But in the day-to-day busyness of ministry it’s easy for us to drift into being doers instead of equippers.  There are numerous reasons why we take over rather than empower…

• We may be tempted to think we can do it quicker or better
• We may feel bad for asking volunteers to help
• We may not have planned or prepared well enough in advance to enable volunteers to do it on their time, so in our rush we have to do it

Whatever the reason, this one is an easy drift.

That’s why every week in our all staff meeting we share “Giving Ministry Back” stories.  I want to celebrate and highlight staff who empowered volunteers to lead in remarkable ways.

When we do this we experience the believers working together as a fully functioning body of Christ.  It’s amazing!

Staff Value #1

Staff Value Overview