In our previous post we looked at roles and responsibilities of a leader.  Leadership is not about position. You do not need a title or a position to be a leader. Many leaders throughout history were men and women living in the ranks of common everyday people. In fact this is where great leaders come from, not from positions with titles.

In the book of Acts we see a great example of this.  ^“Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures. ²⁵ He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he spoke with great fervor and taught about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John. ²⁶ He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately.” Acts 18:24-28

Aquilla and Priscilla, tent makers by trade, were Jews who had been expelled from Rome, had met and spent time with the Apostle Paul in Corinth and later traveled with Paul to Ephesus.

Apollos, a very learned man with thorough knowledge of the scriptures came to Ephesus and was speaking/teaching in the synagogue. Aquilla and Priscilla recognized a need and put to use their God-given experience and understanding of scriptures. They, tent makers, invited Apollos, a leading teacher and scholar, into their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately.

Aquilla and Priscilla, working class tent makers, realized something was missing in Apollos’ teaching, baptism by the Holy Spirit. Having spent nearly two years with Paul, they knew well the full gospel and the importance of baptism of the Holy Spirit. They saw a need. They had the knowledge and experience to meet the need. They became leaders to the leader.

Reading of Aquilla and Priscilla, you realize they were missionaries, and Paul mentions them several times because they were willing to apply their God-given talents, knowledge, and experience with others – leaders without a title, missionaries.

Leadership is highly reliant on influence. Perhaps you can think of more biblical examples of ordinary people influencing others in ways to accomplish God’s purposes furthering His Kingdom. What about people in your life. Men and women who have had an influence on you, spreading knowledge, wisdom, and stimulus for your well-being.

The word lead is derived from an old English word, Laed, which means to guide or bring along with. Leadership is influencing others through educating and inspiring them to make right decisions and accomplish their God-given purpose in life. Leadership is not a title.

No matter your position in life, how are you using your roles and responsibilities to influence and guide others? How will you begin today to improve your leadership?

George Yates is an Organizational Health Strategist and coach, assisting churches, organizations, and individuals in pursuing God’s purpose for life. Click here to receive this blog in your email inbox each Tuesday.

Have you considered or studied biblical leaders? Each one was a leader chosen by God. Each one was different. Each had different personalities, different characteristics, and different leadership functions.

While each of the following had more than one leadership roles, consider these;

Moses – Guide/Navigator

Joseph – Visionary

Abraham – Influencer

King David – Pacesetter

Paul – Leadership Enlister

Peter – Equipper

Leadership at times requires each of these characters and more.

To be a guide/navigator a leader must set the course. This does not mean a leader acts alone. Moses had his team that he consulted with and of course he consulted with God to set the course. Other biblical models include Joshua and Jacob.

An influencer is a person causing a change in behavior, character, thought, or action of another.

The enlistment part of leadership is to engage the support or cooperation of others. To actively engage in an enterprise. Biblical examples include Barnabas and the apostle Paul.

A leader must always be an encourager. Being an encourager is to inspire with hope, courage, or confidence. Paul was certainly an encourager. What other biblical leaders demonstrated this characteristic?

To keep an organization moving forward a leader must at times demonstrate pacesetter qualities. A pacesetter is an innovator, a person leading the way to new horizons. Be sure not to go alone. Pacesettters bring others along without coercion. Biblical examples include Boaz, Peter (Acts 2), Paul.

Visionary leadership is not about dreams and wishes. It is more about being a creative thinker with future-thinking, inventive design utilizing God-given gifts of the organization. Some of God’s visionary leaders include Noah, Abraham, David.

While these six are certainly not all-encompassing character traits of leaders, they represent vital character traits every leader needs to continually improve and upgrade.

George Yates is an Organizational Health Strategist and coach, assisting churches, organizations, and individuals in pursuing God’s purpose for life. Click here to receive this blog in your email inbox each Tuesday.

On October 14, 1912, while campaigning for president under the short-lived Bull Moose party, an assassination attempt was made on Theodore Roosevelt as he got up to speak at a campaign rally. After being shot, Roosevelt did not seek immediate medical attention. He went on to give his speech before going to the hospital.

It is reported, James Schrank, standing only six feet away, pointed a gun at Roosevelt’s chest and fired in the assassination attempt. The bullet ripped through Roosevelt’s heavy, thick overcoat at chest high. Inside the breast pocket of his overcoat was his 50 page speech, folded in half and his metal eyeglass case. The bullet passed through his overcoat, the 100 pages and the metal eyeglass case, lodging in his chest, stopping just shy of piercing his lungs.

The one hundred layers of paper and metal case are the only things that stood between life and death that day for Roosevelt. He began his speech stating, “I don’t know if you fully understand that I’ve just been shot, but it takes more than that to kill a Bull Moose.”

The test of a person’s character comes under times of stress and duress. You can be kind and giving, strong and helpful, yet your true character will always shine in times of difficulty. Your reputation is what people think of you. Your true character is always revealed in times of stress and struggle.

The apostle Paul lived through perhaps more adversity and hardship for his faith than anyone before or since – except Christ. Yet, he stayed true to his belief and faith in God and Christ Jesus.

In your life when hard times come, what is revealed about your character? Do you act in rage and anger? Are you looking for, even praying for revenge on your oppressors? Do you use words and actions that are opposite of the reputation you otherwise try to exemplify?

2 Corinthians 4:8-9 reads, “We are pressured in every way but not crushed; we are perplexed but not in despair; ⁹ we are persecuted but not abandoned; we are struck down but not destroyed.”

The apostle Paul was under pressure from Jews, Gentiles, church leaders, and the Roman government, yet he was not crushed. He was perplexed and persecuted but knew he was not abandoned by God. He was struck down and beaten (physically and mentally) several times, yet His spirit was never defeated.

Begin praying, asking God to help you this week to strengthen your resolve to persevere, in all things, in Christ-like character by His grace and glory. Then you can say it takes more than this to stop a Bull Moose Christ-centered Christian.

George Yates is an Organizational Health Strategist and coach, assisting churches, organizations, and individuals in pursuing God’s purpose for life. Click here to receive this blog in your email inbox each Tuesday.

Currently, I am reading “Imagine Heaven”, a book revealing stories and insights from people who have had Near Death Experiences (NDEs). The experiences are gathered from researchers around the globe who have and are studying what people, who have been pronounced dead yet came back to life encountered.

Many NDErs explain a greater brighter white light than ever experienced on earth, exuding love and warmth beyond human comprehension. They share of seeing friends and family, even describing family members they have never met. Colors more brilliant and in many more varieties than on earth. These explanations leave the reader with a desire, a longing for experiencing heaven.

However, researchers have also spoken with people who did not experience heaven like qualities. While they are a small number compared to the wonderful heavenly visions, researchers believe there are many more, but it is too painful to speak about. Yet, even some of those were given a second chance to come back and trust and follow the Lord Jesus Christ in obedience.

One fascinating topic of NDErs is how many of them describe what is referred to as their Life Review. Whether they were not living for five minutes or forty-five minutes, they share of this Life Review. The big take-away for each person is their relationships with others on earth. They watched in disappointment of their failures and shortcomings within their relationships on earth.

No one said they felt condemned for their shortcomings, rather, they felt the ever-present  love and compassion while being made aware of where they had fallen short of God’s expectations. Some said they were waiting thinking, but what about all this good I’ve done, yet that was not what they remembered or what was pivotal in their Life Review. Each one, when returned to this life remembered and realized their need to improve how they treated all relationships.

It’s all about relationships, several NDErs recalled. Perhaps Jesus was trying to instill this in us as recorded in Matthew 25:40-45.

“And the King will answer them, ‘I assure you: Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me.’ ⁴¹ Then He will also say to those on the left, ‘Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the Devil and his angels!

⁴² For I was hungry and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty and you gave Me nothing to drink; ⁴³ I was a stranger and you didn’t take Me in; I was naked and you didn’t clothe Me, sick and in prison and you didn’t take care of Me.’

⁴⁴ “Then they too will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or without clothes, or sick, or in prison, and not help You?’ ⁴⁵ “Then He will answer them, ‘I assure you: Whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for Me either.’

It’s All About Relationships. Not only your best friends, what about your least liked co-worker or neighbor or that particular ethnic group? How do your relationships compare to God’s compassion for you and everyone you meet?

George Yates is an Organizational Health Strategist and coach, assisting churches, organizations, and individuals in pursuing God’s purpose for life. Click here to receive this blog in your email inbox each Tuesday.

Your effectiveness will never rise above the organizational systems being practiced. Therefore, it is crucial to review and reevaluate the ways – systems – in your church/organization. I received a phone call from a pastor who said, “Our systems are broke.” His inquiry was if I was willing to help. I traveled to their location in February, and we worked for two days on a couple of systems in the church. They in turn were able to then work on other church systems.

The following are questions you can ask – with a team – in an attempt to improve the systems that are not producing as they should. Please, pastor, do not attempt to do this alone. A team approach is key. Some questions are the same for every process, others may depend on the ministry needs. It is imperative that you avoid the normal, churchy answers, and dig into the root causes. In my opinion, the best way to ensure this is to bring in a trained coach who knows how to ask good thought-provoking questions.

1. Identify the Need; This goes beyond, “we need more people” or finances, even beyond, “Our people are not committed”. The need to the first two could be, “Are we doing a truly great job of equipping the members to walk daily like Christ?” Most churches are attempting to do good things and have good programs and ministries. However, Good is the enemy of Great. When we settle for good, we never strive for the greatness for which God created us.
2. What is the desired outcome(s)?; More than our wishes, What outcomes would be as demonstrative as those found in the Early church in the book of Acts? Due to our compulsion to remain in our comfort zone we often avoid God’s ways, inserting our own, expecting God’s approval. If we can grow to allow God to do things God’s way instead of what we think would please God, can we not expect God-sized results?
3. Stop here and as a team spend quality time in prayer. Pray for guidance in developing essential systems to meet the need.
4. What are our current practices?; Using the earlier example, “we need more people”, Are we opening the doors, waiting for new people to come in? How are we equipping members to reach out and bring people in. Are we trusting in the latest fads and gadgets that we’ve heard other churches using? Are we trusting in the historic traditions used in the church for the past forty years?
   1. What is not working in our current practices?
   2. What was the last innovative practice we put into place that implored people to join us as an inquiring guest?
5. Discovering Better Practices; Read as a group, passages like the first six chapters of Acts, then come together and through prayer discuss what to discard and how to build anew, practices that honor God and stretch you and your church members.

Remember, No Growth ever takes place in your comfort zone. Ask God to stretch you and your church beyond your comfort. God stretches us to grow us into Christlikeness. There are more questions to be asked and fine tuning to be done. As you think through the processes in your church/organization, feel free to contact me or your denominational leaders for assistance in asking the right questions.

George Yates is an Organizational Health Strategist and coach, assisting churches, organizations, and individuals in pursuing God’s purpose for life. Click here to receive this blog in your email inbox each Tuesday.

I read an article this morning of an editorial that appeared in the New York Sun on September 21, 1897 in response to an inquiry from eight-year-old, Virginia O’Hanlon. “I’m eight years old. Some of my friends say there is no Santa Claus. My papa says if you see it in the “Sun” it’s so. Please tell me the truth. Is there a Santa Claus?” The reply from the Sun’s editor, Frank Church, is still one of the most memorable editorials of all time.

“Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love, and generosity and devotion exist…How dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus! It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginia’s…The most real things in the world are things that neither children nor men can see…Thank God, he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay 10 times 10,000 years from now he will continue to make glad the hearts of childhood.”

I’ve read that story before, and I enjoy reading the perspective in which Mr. Church wrote his response. He wrote not to destroy one’s faith or hope, but for adults who would understand as it is love, generosity, and devotion.

As believers in Christ we know and understand the love, hope, and generosity bestowed on us from the creator of the universe, God Almighty. There are Virginia’s in the world today who would ask, Is there really a Savior? We should be ready to answer, Yes, my friend, there is a Savior, Jesus Christ. He rose from the dead on the third day from a burial tomb. He rose so that you and I can have eternal life after this life is over and abundant life in Him while alive on this earth. He rose from the grave, He lives today, and He will live forever. Not 10×10,000, that would only be the beginning and He invites you to join Him, during this life and forever.

You may not be able to see Him, but as Mr. Church wrote, “The most real things in the world are things that neither children nor men can see.” Jesus Christ is the most real thing present on this earth.

How dreary it would be without Jesus Christ, our living Lord and Savior. Yes, my friend, Jesus is alive and lives forever in the heart of every true believer. And we should rejoice that He is real and living. He is not a storybook or fictional character. He is a blessed reality – it is Christ who will continue to make glad the hearts of children and men. That, my friend, is the real truth. Do you truly know Him?

George Yates is an Organizational Health Strategist and coach, assisting churches, organizations, and individuals in pursuing God’s purpose for life. Click here to receive this blog in your email inbox each Tuesday.

It’s All About God!

Our culture has for decades held an “It’s all about me” attitude. Get what you can and don’t worry about anyone else. Make sure you get what you want first. The generation born from 1965- the 1970’s was also known as the “Me” generation. Yet, perhaps the boomer generation (1946-1964) started this craze that has devolved into crazy. Not any political party or platform, I am writing of individuals and our drive for “me first”.

In the Bible we see a completely different ideology and practice. In scripture we learn (or we should learn) our goal should be not to please us first, but to please God. When we do what is right in God’s eyes and pleasing to Him, then we will find the satisfaction we long for.

Even in Christian living today we expect our desires to be met even to the extent that we believe, “We love God, so, what we want is what God wants.” This could not be further from the truth. God’s thoughts, God’s ways are much higher than you and I can think or imagine.

In EKG, my friend, Ken Hemphill writes, “God acts in human history for our good and for His glory.” We would do well to remember that God’s glory comes before our good. We seem to have gotten that turned around in much of Christianity today.

Hemphill reminds us that even in scripture “…when God began to move on behalf of His people in captivity in Babylon, He made it clear through the prophet Ezekiel that, “It is not for your sake that I will act, house of Israel, but for my Holy name, which you profaned…” Ezekiel 36:22 (italics mine)

God’s actions are always for His glory, not our comfort, pleasure, or our desire. It is always for His glory. God has a love for us, His children, that is greater than the greatest imaginable with our finite minds. It is due to His love for us that He acts for our good. But our good is secondary to His receiving the glory due Him. Through our faith in the shed blood of Jesus Christ, His death, and resurrection, we are ushered into God’s haven of rest, His amazing grace.

^“We have also obtained access through Him (Christ) by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.” Romans 5:2 Even the sacrifice of His own Son was completed for His glory. It was for our good, our only entry into heaven. Yet, before our good, it was for God’s glory.

God’s desire is for all people of all nations, all tribes and tongues to know Him personally and intimately. Therefore, we will find our greatest desire for satisfaction when seeking our God-designed purpose in life. True satisfaction comes only when we realize it is not about me, but it is ALL ABOUT GOD and His glory.

George Yates is an Organizational Health Strategist and coach, assisting churches, organizations, and individuals in pursuing God’s purpose for life. Click here to receive this blog in your email inbox each Tuesday.

Recently, I was asked about structure. One, in particular read one of my recent articles on strategy, stated it was timely, but now need something on structure. I have written on structure several times over the past 13 years in this blog and other places. Today, I want to focus on a different avenue of structure.

Structure is, as the Oxford dictionary has it, “the arrangement of and relations between the parts or elements of something complex.”

Every organization, no matter its size, needs structure. Without structure you have chaos. You may have organized chaos, but it is chaos – disorder and confusion. I have leaders both in the church & corporate world state something like, “We let our people have the freedom to get the work done, each in their own way. We don’t really have a structure.”

Giving people freedom to accomplish is not all bad or good. Still, there must be boundaries. There must be certain guidelines to be followed. Otherwise you will breed chaos.

Each organization needs a structure that fits its size, demographics, (inside and outside the organization) and organizational purpose. Attempting to create a structure not based on a great understanding of these three will only produce floundering, failure, and chaos.

The majority of churches in North America today run less than one hundred in attendance. The structure of those churches, most with only one paid staff person (many of those bi-vocational) will need a very different structure than a church running 200, 300, 1,500, or 15,000. The smaller church structure will rely heavily on volunteer personnel. While every effective church structure relies heavily on volunteerism, the larger church will have various layers of paid staff structured in as well.

Yet size is only one critical element in creating effective structure. Leaders must know and understand the demographics within and outside of your organization. Demographics reveal statistical data relating to the population and particular groups within an organization and those outside of your organization. Every church should be aware of the demographics within at least a 1, 3, and 5 mile radius of the church. Who lives around you. Where do they work, what is the household income, how many children, etc. Do the demographics in your church match the demographics of those living around you. Your structure should draw heavily from the demographics of and around your church or organization.

The third critical element for your organization in designing the effective, correct structure is your organizational purpose. For what does your organization exist? What is the purpose of your organization? For every evangelistic Christian church it is to fulfill The Great Commission. Therefore, a structure is needed that will effectively carry out the tenets of The Great Commission as ordained in scripture. Perhaps a good first question to ask is, “To fulfill The Great Commission what do we need to incorporate, according to our size, the demographics within the organization, and who we trying to reach?

For more information and coaching for your organizational structure contact George Yates or your denominational leaders.

George Yates is an Organizational Health Strategist and coach, assisting churches, organizations, and individuals in pursuing God’s purpose for life. Click here to receive this blog in your email inbox each Tuesday.

The U.S. population over the past forty years has increased greatly, while the presence of the evangelical church has painfully decreased. One key in this decline is what I refer to as he westernization of Christianity. Instead of following God’s design as written in His word, The Holy Bible, perhaps the majority of Christian believers today form their own God based on personal preferences and comfort.

God, in His word, through His Son, Jesus Christ, gave us a commission, our marching orders, The Great Commission. The Great Commission has in it three mandates for each believer and the church, Share the Good News of God allowing the Holy Spirit to lead people to faith in Christ, baptize the new believers as an illustration of the change made in the person, and continually teach them to grow in Christ throughout the remainder of life.

One missing key element in most churches today is a Great Commission strategy. In Turnaround Journey[i], I shared that most churches know how to plan, but few strategically plan for an effective implementation. A Great Commission strategy includes what Gene Mims wrote about in Kingdom Focused Church[ii], and sometimes referred to as the 1-5-4 principle.

The Great Commission is to be our one (1) driving force. Everything we do should have as its aim, to fulfill the great Commission. The strategy should have as its foundation, the five (5) functions of the church. Prayer is a vital part of all five, not an add on. Included in the strategy each church should include representations of four (4) areas of results.

The four area of results are, 1) Spiritual growth – as you and I individually and as a church grow spiritually, we impact the Kingdom. 2) An outcome of this spiritual growth is ministry expansion, the need for more ministry opportunities to be fulfilled, 3) A further outcome when a church experiences spiritual growth and ministry expansion is missions awareness. As believers grow in Christ their awareness for mission service develops into a passion.

The fourth area of results is an outgrowth bi-product of the first three, numerical growth. As we grow in Christ, expand the ministry based according to God’s direction, and endeavor into missions opportunities at home and abroad, God will add to our numbers, not for our sake, but in expanding His Kingdom.

A question to ask ourselves, “Is my church putting more emphasis on raising our numbers or striving for individual and corporate spiritual growth?” Only the second one will lead into an effective Great Commission strategy. The numbers will be a bi-product whether your church is decreasing in numbers or increasing

[i] Turnaround Journey, George Yates, Sonlight publishing

[ii] The Kingdom Focused Church, Gene Mims, B&H publishing

George Yates is an Organizational Health Strategist and coach, assisting churches, organizations, and individuals in pursuing God’s purpose for life. Click here to receive this blog in your email inbox each Tuesday.

Drop a small stone in the water and what happens? That one small splash creates a ripple effect of concentric circles widening out from where the stone broke the water’s surface.

What happens when you drop several stones in the water? The ripples from the different stones can intersect creating small waves that begin moving a larger surface area of water.  This is the nature of leadership. It is the nature of influence, and it is what you and I as believers in Christ have been called to do.

Acts chapter 9 verses 19-28 give us some insight into creating ripples for Christ. First,

1. Exercising Brings Greater Strength

In Damascus, Paul was causing a ripple effect, stirring the waters. And look at what happened to him. Verse 22 says, But Saul kept increasing in strength and confounding the Jews who lived at Damascus by proving that this Jesus is the Christ.

Saul was gaining in strength – this is spiritual strength and wisdom, a voice to be heard. The more he shared with others, the more his spiritual strength increased.

2. Greater Strength Creates Longer Lasting Ripples

Paul’s ministry would continue to produce a ripple effect throughout his life with Timothy, Titus, and so many others he influenced in the churches he started throughout his ministry.

Paul’s ripple effect continues still today. Christ created ripples with His Disciples, who in turn created ripples with the Israelites in Jerusalem establishing the earliest of New Testament churches. These believers continued the ripple effect by taking the gospel away from Jerusalem,

Each ripple influences another. All of these ripples began with Jesus, and they led to a change in the world like civilization has never known. That is the power of ripples. And it is the power that you and I have through Jesus Christ.

That ripple effect started by Jesus has come down through the centuries until someone’s ripple influenced you. That ripple affected your life. Now it is your turn.

3. The Ripple Effect Lives On –

Once a pebble is dropped in the water, you can no longer see the pebble. But you can see the ripple effect long after the pebble disappears. Do your friends continue to see the ripples of Christianity after you have left the conversation? What will be seen after your life is over? What will be said of the ripples you leave behind?

What is within your grasp to create a ripple effect in the lives of people around you? How will you be intentional about creating ripples this week?

George Yates is an Organizational Health Strategist and coach, assisting churches, organizations, and individuals in pursuing God’s purpose for life. Click here to receive this blog in your email inbox each Tuesday.