Amanda Pelser… Ramblings of a Communications Director …

This was the second book that I read on my Kindle.  I just have to say that I *love* reading books on my Kindle.  The perfect birthday present!

Craig Groeschel is the pastor at LifeChurch.tv, a multi-site church that currently has 14 campuses.  It is his attempt to explain why some churches seem to do so well and thrive while others seems to be stale and in decline.  What is the difference between the two churches? “It”.  Here are the memorable quotes that stuck out to me.  My thoughts are in italics.

This quote sums up the whole book in my opinion:

“The best explanation I can give you is this: it is what God does through a rare combination of these qualities found in his people:  Passion for his presence.  A deep craving to reach the lost.  Sincere integrity  Spirit-filled faith  Down-to-earth humility.  Brokenness”

What is “it”?  What does it mean to have “it”?  How do I get “it”?

• “The good news: if you don’t have it, you can get it. The bad news: if you have it, you can lose it.”
• “… we have to embrace the fact that God makes it happen. It is from him. It is by him. It is for his glory. We can’t create it. We can’t reproduce it. We can’t manufacture it.”
• “Yet even though it can’t be taught, it can be caught.”
• “When a ministry has it, the staff knows they’re part of something much bigger than themselves, part of a divine mission. They show up early for everything. They often stay late. They rarely fight. When they do disagree, they grow through their differences, usually quickly. When a church doesn’t have it, the staff is simply doing a job, drawing a paycheck. They’re territorial. Jealous. Griping. Even bitter.”
• “When a church has it, lives are changing, and everyone around knows it. The only thing constant is change, which it-soaked people seem to thrive on.”
• “It doesn’t follow a particular model. You can’t copy it.”
• “The best explanation I can give you is this: it is what God does through a rare combination of these qualities found in his people: Passion for his presence. A deep craving to reach the lost. Sincere integrity Spirit-filled faith Down-to-earth humility Brokenness”
• “… spiritual shortcuts rarely work.”
• “These are the qualities that I believe help contribute to it, or at least don’t hinder it.”
• “Worse than being blind would be to be able to see but not have any vision. – Helen Keller”
• “No matter how you translate it, without chazown (vision, revelation, divine guidance), the people we lead will be confused, scattered, unfocused, and easily distracted.”
• Without a God-given vision, our ministries will never have it.
• Without a compelling vision, people, just like tires, quickly wear themselves out. Those who serve will burn out. Staff members will grow frustrated. Boards, elders, deacons, and leaders will disagree.
• An effective vision will always be memorable, portable, and motivational.
• Business consultant Nido Qubein says, “Nothing can add more power to your life than concentrating all your energies on a limited set of targets.”
• Instead of thinking about what you want to add to your ministry to-do list, maybe you should pray about what to add to your ministry to-don’t list. Some call it planned abandonment. You are planning what things you won’t do, that most do, to do best what God called you to do.  Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should do it.
• … the first priority should be the Sunday service, since it is the most public and visible aspect of the church. After that, the website should be the next priority, along with small groups. In this way, the website becomes the front door, the Sunday service becomes the living room, and the small groups become the dinner table for the church family.
• For the church to have it, the staff (or volunteers) will likely have it first. As it goes with the leaders, so it goes with the whole organization.  To have it everywhere, it has to start somewhere. It must begin with your team.  The team with it loves each other. Not only do they minister together, they do life together. What they have is more than friendship. It’s something that God gives more of a partnership of people with deep love committed to a single mission. You’re more than friends. You’re a team.  [In the words of Paul Allen, "Leadership leaks."]
• If you want it, you’ll experience it best when you live in authentic community with God’s people. … We don’t always understand what another body part does, but we need to live unified and working together as a whole body.
• The problem is that when two parties compete, one loses. That’s why in ministry, those who have it don’t compete with one another; they work to complete one another. They love the mission so much they’re willing to give and take. They’re eager to work hard and play hard. They enjoy the battle. When they win, they win as a team. When they lose, they learn as a team. Someone said, “Teamwork is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results.”
• Every staff member and volunteer must understand the mission of the organization.
• The more open your team is, the more likely you’ll experience it together. The more closed you are, the more you’ll kill it.
• Part of having it is knowing that as a group we can have it out and still be friends. …  Colin Powell said, “When we are debating an issue, loyalty means giving me your honest opinion, whether you think I’ll like it or not. Disagreement, at this stage, stimulates me. But once a decision has been made, the debate ends. From that point on, loyalty means executing the decision as if it were your own. Leaders with it fight together privately and stand together publicly. The functional word in both settings is together.”
• If the staff has a sense of family, they will support and take care of one another, which makes the entire organization a better place to work.
• We’ve raised two critical It Factors of great innovation:

1. Passion creates motivation, which leads to innovation.
2. Limitations often reveal opportunities.
3. Limited Resources + Increasing Passion = Exponential Innovation

• …  you have a God idea, you must be brave enough to go with it. Break some rules. …  Don’t let the rules of man stop you from following God. When he gives it to you, go with it.
• Decide today that your team will work together to find new ways to reach people, not more reasons to stay the same.  The goal is effectiveness.

Importance of embracing failure…  Something God has been showing this recovering perfectionist over the past few years…

• “Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.” Robert F. Kennedy
• Being overly cautious can kill it.
• As John Dewey once said, “Failure is instructive. The person who really thinks, learns quite as much from his failures as from his successes.”
• Yes, you’ll always want to consider the cost before launching a new ministry effort. But you must remember the words of the writer of Hebrews: And without faith it is impossible to please God (Heb. 11:6). God is calling you to risk being stung again. And again. And to recognize that this is the best way to live, the only way to please him.
• Sometimes the fruit of your steps of faith is measured not so much by what God does through you as by what God does in you.
• Call your new ideas “experiments”.  This gives the leaders some wiggle room to make minor tweaks or major adjustments. If the experiment doesn’t work, we still come away with something valuable, something we’ve learned and can explain to those concerned.
• Create a culture that allows failure.
• Failure is a part of success.
• Don’t internalize failures.  Remember that failure is an event, not a person.
• Debrief after failures and successes.
• After every new venture, take time to debrief.
• Try again.
• Don’t let yesterday’s loss talk you out of tomorrow’s win.
• Face your fears. Fail. Learn. Adjust. Try again. And watch God do more than you can imagine. Failure is not an option. It is a necessity.
• If you’re not failing, you’ve stopped dreaming. You’ll eventually stop learning. And you will stop growing. Those who have it fail often. Failure is often the tuition for success.

Getting “it” back if you’ve lost “it”:

• “If your gospel isn’t touching others, it hasn’t touched you.” Curry R. Blake
• We are the church and we exist for the world.
• “What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world remains and is immortal.” Albert Pine
• If you’re looking to find more of it in your ministry, maybe you should look for more ways to give whatever part of it you have to others.
• Have you forsaken your first love? Be honest. Do you love ministry more than you love Christ? Do you care more about what people think about you than what God thinks about you? Do you strategize about ways to grow your ministry more than you think about how to grow God’s people? Do you study the Bible to preach more often than you study it to hear from God? Do you pray more often in public than you do in private? Have you lost your first love?
• Stretch Me…  You have more in you than you realize. God has put more in you than anyone knows.
• Ruin Me…  I’m referring to the work of a loving God who breaks us and ruins us for his glory.
• Heal Me…  To be healed, we have to first admit to the ways we’re sick or in need. You might have to face something you’ve stuffed, ignored, or rationalized for years.