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This is an article that I wrote for our church family this week. When writing this article, I was totally convicted.

My favorite quote of all time is from Oswald Chambers: “If your love is always discrete, always sophisticated, and always in its proper bounds, I dare say perhaps you have never loved at all.”

Christ’s love for humankind is radical, life changing, loud, and creative. When we experience the amazing love of Christ we are freed to reciprocate in the same manner.

Apply this to worship. In fact, re-write the quote to reflect worship. “If your worship is always discrete, always sophisticated, and always in its proper bounds, I dare say perhaps you have never worshipped at all.” WOW! This perspective can speak volumes into recesses of our hearts about our worship. We have created such a seemingly wonderful and orderly formula of worship that is free from chaos, very “normal” and fits our culture’s expectations like a glove. Yet it lacks the life changing power and anointing of God and does not reflect a life loved by a radical, loud, crazy in-love-with-us God.

Simply put, worship is the expression of our love for a Holy God. To the degree that we love…we will worship.

I would hope that my expression of worship would reflect my gratefulness, joy and love in a non-discrete, out of bounds, unsophisticated, sold-out, lost myself in HIM kind of way. I hope that goes for you, too.

1. “Mistakes” are Important

Behold the turtle. He makes progress only when he sticks his neck out.  Author unknown

 One of the greatest obstacles we face in attempting to reach our potential is the fear of making a mistake, the very human fear of failure. And yet excellence is based on failure, usually one failure after another.

In this ministry, excellence is expected, not perfection!

We must be careful not to have an environment where we can’t fail or make mistakes.

If we feel like failure is not an option, then we will stop at nothing to self-preserve ourselves, including lying, demeaning and blaming each other for mistakes. This is unhealthy and ungodly and does not reflect the Love of Christ and has no place in any ministry.

God does not expect perfection; He expects obedience.

Don’t call it a mistake…call it an education.
Learn from your mistakes and keep going. 

John Maxwell refers to this concept as ‘Failing Forward’.

CAUTION:
Don’t use this point to justify laziness or lack of organization. No one is fooled.

2. Attitude is almost everything!

Jim Rohn shared these observations on what he called the “diseases of attitude”:

Indifference: the mild approach to life. Don’t let this rob you of the good life.

Indecision: the greatest thief of opportunity. A life of adventure is a life filled with many decisions- good ones and bad ones.

Doubt: One of the worst is self-doubt. Turn the coin over. Belief is a better gamble than doubt.

Worry: The real killer. Worry in its final stages can reduce you to begging. It causes health problems and financial problems.

 Over-caution:  Some people will never have much. They’re just too cautious. Let the record book show you won, or let it show you lost, but don’t let it show you failed to play the game.

SOME FINAL THOUGHTS:

A Smile breeds a smile. Negative thoughts stimulate the growth of more negative thoughts.

One of the ingredients for a life of excellence is – healthy attitudes. One smile is still worth a hundred frowns in any market. – Engstrom

“A man can succeed in almost anything for which he has unlimited enthusiasm.” Charles Schwab

 Start putting everything you’ve got into everything you do!!

You are responsible for you. You cannot control what other people say, how they think or feel or how they act. But you can control YOU! You have to let people be who they are (and let Christ worry about their transformation). Determine that you will live life with excellence in every way including speech, work ethic, dress, out-look, etc. People will notice and they will want to follow.

Happy Leading!

1. Choose a goal and work toward it.
   Later you may modify it, expand it, or even eventually abandon it for a better one. But first, make a decision.Decide to Decide
   
   It may be difficult to choose a specific goal, but unless you do, you my find yourself forever frustrated, nonproductive, and eventually emotionally distraught 
2. Always Create a TO-DO List
   Your brain will fail you when trying to keep up with your schedule.Divide your TO-DO list into two categories by day.       ‘Things that I MUST to do today’ and ‘Things that I WANT to do today’Under the “Things that I MUST to do today” – identify the priorities that are essential to your organization.
   When ranking your list, here is a tip on how to think through your prioritization: Ask yourself “What will happen and who will be affected if I do NOT get this task done?”
   Based on your answer to this question, you can begin to sift through your needs vs. wants.

   Your TO-DO list can be in any form that you wish; electronic or on paper.

   If you are an easily distracted person, it will be best to print out or manually write out your TO-DO list and place it in front of you.

3. People that truly excel in their endeavors are invariably the ones who early on (1) determine clear-cut goals and (2) habitually direct all their energies toward fulfilling them.
4. “Always have the next goal in the back of your mind, since the most satisfaction comes from pursuing a goal, not simply from achieving it. “ –Kiev
5. The Difference between an amateur and a professional is about 5 minutes more.

Leaders, I found this insight on ‘Ministry Seasons’ by Bill Hybels a great evaluation tool. (I highly recommend the book, AXIOM)  I shared this section with my staff and leadership teams about 2 years ago. It spurred great discussion on where we were as a church and where we were as a music ministry. I was able to gain perspective from how my staff and lay leaders viewed our shared ministry.

Ministry Seasons
Axiom, Chapter 3
Bill Hybels

1. Season of Growth- Attendance is spiking, giving on rise, programs are thriving, future looks bright.

• Leaders have to organizationally aware enough to say, “Loo, everybody, we’re going through a fun growth spurt here. Let’s pour all of our energies into fueling the fires of growth.
• Understand that this period will not last forever.
• Grow structure to support growth.

2. Season of Consolidation- assimilate and support the people that you added during your season of growth.

• Spend time to mentor and disciple.
• Invest in your infrastructure
• Protect your gains

3. Season of Transition- It might begin when several staff decide to leave all at once, and everything and everyone feels a bit off balance and uncertain.

• Leaders must give voice and language to the reality
• Explanation of the era must occur with discussion on what it means and how to navigate through it.

4. Season of Malaise- somber, stale, stuck

• Everything feels dated and there is no buzz
• The organization needs to be shook up
• Be careful to not make this phase permanent.

5. Season of Reinvention- looking at every ministry and program under the microscope

• You will need to decide…what needs a facelift, an overhaul or a funeral
• This pruning is necessary to make room for growth.