“We were surprised, shocked really, to discover the type of leadership required for turning a good company into a great one…Self-effacing, quiet, reserved, even shy – these leaders are a paradoxical blend of personal humility and professional will.”
~Jim Collins, from his bestselling book “Good to Great“
Sometimes the best leaders are the ones who are reluctant to step into the limelight. In fact, at times, it’s hard to convince them to step into a leadership role. They are fully capable leaders. They are highly respected by their peers and subordinates. However, it may be difficult for them to see the potential in themselves that everyone around them easily recognizes.
It’s easy to identify a reluctant leader. They are the first to give credit and the last to accept praise. They always put the good of the team ahead of their person goals. A reluctant leader isn’t looking for personal gain or glory. This genuine humility is one reason they often have the greatest potential to be successful leaders.
Reluctant leaders can benefit greatly from executive coaching. When these leaders have someone speaking into their life and calling out their potential, they become more confident in their role as a leader. While their skills may be very apparent to those around them, they need to realize and understand those skills in order to effectively lead.
Executive coaching can be the key that helps unlock their talents. As confidence in their own leadership skills increase, the team following them will feel more empowered. A reluctant leader naturally focuses on the team, and this focus allows them to easily recognize the strengths within their team. A good leader is passionate about developing others and recognizing the talents of others.
Please contact us for your professional leadership training needs.
(As you can see from this joint ad by MTV and Pepsi, the erosion of spiritual foundation by popular culture isn’t just limited to Christianity.)
A report by Christianity Today recently shared the results of a survey conducted by Lifeway Research. The report showed that 70% of youth drop out of church. Unfortunately, for most people in church leadership, this is not a shocking statistic. Discussion has been circulating in Christian arenas for a while as to why young people are leaving the church. Although not shocking, it is a wake-up call that something may be missing in many church youth programs.
A quality youth development program can help you identify gaps in your current plan and give you valuable next steps to build a better program. The Bible is full of examples where God used young individuals to fulfill his work. Young people are capable doing great things, but sometimes they are not given the opportunity to grow and develop.
Young people need mature Christians in their lives investing into them on a regular basis. It’s important to identify the potential in young people and help them emerge as leaders. The training for our youth group does not have to stop in the youth room. It doesn’t have to be all fun and games either. When we empower our youth, we give them a sense of ownership and responsibility.
Great examples of this include youth mentoring. For example: A gifted young musician is a great fit to work with someone on the church worship team. The worship leader can invest in the young person’s spiritual life and help them grow in musicianship. This type of culture allows for development of church leaders for the next generation.
From helping in classrooms to running the sound board, there are many areas where youth can work alongside older Christians. It’s important for young people to feel connected to the rest of the church. This type of mentoring also helps develop a sense of belonging within the church.
Update 9/8/2020 – Developing Our Youth for Christ
We recently had a pastor from rural Africa asking us for some ideas on youth development and how to draw young people to Christ.
We’re finding this is a universal question. Pastors from New York to Nigeria struggle with this. How can we interest the young in the Gospel? How can we help them to live out a personal relationship with Jesus? Unfortunately, there is no map, no hard and fast rules but we do have a promise in Proverbs 22:6:
Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it..
This does not mean we give up or leave youth development to chance. Children can be pointed toward spiritual markers that will help them find true faith.
Milestones for Establishing True Faith
The early years
Many pastors or parents start by teaching their toddlers fun Bible stories. The emphasis strongly fells on the fact that ‘Jesus is your friend.’
This might be true, but should you only focus on this, the foundation for spiritual wisdom is not being laid. What is the foundation? The foundation is respect and fear of God. The following truths are great to install respect for God in small children:
Teach them that God is strong, and He can do anything.
When He promises something, He will do it.
There are rules that we must live by, and God disciplines us because He loves us so much.
Even if nobody sees what you are doing, God still sees.
Walking with God’s Word
The next step is to teach kids to grow in wisdom. They need to start knowing God’s Word. Pastors or parents can focus on teaching children:
God is righteous, powerful, and loving. There are lots of Bible stories that can be used to teach children about God’s character. Ask of every story: What can we learn about God from this?
Where can we find the truth? From here on in life, children will be bombarded by ‘truths’ from the media, friends, and even teachers. How do they know what to believe? Teachers and pastors must be successful in teaching kids that truth and wisdom come from the Bible. It is the source. If one can establish this early on, children will struggle less with faith issues later in life.
Man is not ‘basically good’. The humanistic culture around us teaches children that ‘people are good.’ It is not what the Bible says. The Bible says that we have all sinned and that we are actually all ‘bad.’ We are in need of a Savior. The young can only appreciate this fact until they realize that they are not ‘good’ apart from Him.
Jesus is the only Way. Youth today find themselves in mixed company everywhere, rubbing elbows with Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and even atheists. They need to know exactly who Jesus is and whyHe is the only Way.
Equipping early-teens
Some research has shown that most people who love Jesus and trust Him accepted Him before they were teens. So, said another way, if the youth can’t be won for Christ by the time they are teens, the probability begins to decrease that they will do so. (Of course, we still believe that nothing is impossible for our God!)
A pastor must make sure that the children in his care fully understand the Gospel.
Pray and ask God to show you those who are still reluctant to accept Christ. Ask questions to test the kids’ faith. “Why do you think you are a Christian?” and “Can you explain what Jesus did for you?” are some questions that can give you an indication of what a child believes.
The youth must not only accept God’s grace but also learn to give grace to others. Grace means forgetting what is ‘fair’ and it gives others more than they deserve. It is the best way children can learn how to be like Jesus. Teaching this is not easy—the youth’s selfish nature will rebel! The pastor needs to model this way of life continuously.
Key Question #1: What will life hold for me?
Young teens everywhere ask this question. This is the time when religious leaders must discuss the ‘importance of trusting God with your future’ with each teen. The message is that God’s understanding is best, and He will make your ‘paths straight.’ A teen who invites God to take complete control of his or her life will have a strong foundation in the years to come.
Key Question #2: Why does God allow suffering?
Often the lack of adequate answers to life’s big questions will send a teen’s faith in a downward spiral.
The youth now needs their pastor’s stories of times in his life when God had everything work out for the better. They need to see that you still trust God and that He is sovereign. If you don’t have the answer to a question, commit to finding solutions together. Here is one of the best explanations we’ve seen on answering why God allows suffering.
Conclusion
Of course, the Internet is full of Biblical resources for pastors and youth leaders. Here are a few interesting websites we found:
(Use it for practical ways to underscore the truths that we’ve outlined here.)
In the end, however, it is the basics that count.
The Bible says in Acts 17:27 that, “His purpose was for the nations to seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward Him and find Him—though He is not far from any one of us.”(New Living Translation.)
God wants to be found.
He did not give us complicated instructions, and He does not hide. A God-fearing and prayerful pastor will find ways to lead the little lambs to Him. You don’t need fancy requisites or a huge building–God planted you just where you are!
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:5
A personal reminder for myself. I often find myself crashing headlong into the brush only to realize all these nicks and scratches are proof of my own ego. If I remember that every breath I breathe comes from Him, I arrive at a place where I can relax and allow God to drive the outcome.
If Moses were to come down from a smoldering mountain with the Five Commandments of Christian leadership training, here is what he would bring to your church or ministry today:
Thou Shalt Start with Vision: Leadership training–especially in a Christian context–starts and ends with a vision. Each ministry is uniquely created to do something special in the Kingdom of God. If you want effective leaders, they must know the vision and hold unswervingly to it.
Thou Shalt Not Be CHEAP: Anything worth doing will cost you something. When you begin to raise up leaders and provide training, do not settle for anything less than the best. Invest in help from the outside if your current leadership is not ready to build teams and other leaders. This is crucial. John Maxwell is right when he says, “Everything rises and falls on leadership.” Do not look for cheap solutions when it comes to Christian leadership training.
Thou Shalt Focus on Service: Leadership is not about power and control. Great leaders serve. Serving the people we lead is not a ploy to curry sympathy. It’s about removing obstacles and helping our followers become their best. Leaders do not stop leading when they serve. They are simply laying aside their rights for the good of the organization. Serving others simply makes Christian leadership training practical.
Thou Shalt Focus on People: Someone once said, “Any leader who does not have followers is someone who is out taking a walk.” Leaders who know how to love and listen to people will never have a shortage of followers. Any leadership training, especially from a Christian perspective, has to include listening skills. You cannot help and lead anyone until you understand where they are coming from.
Thou Shalt Start Young: If your christian leadership training does not have someone in high school at the table, you are making a huge mistake. Good Christian leadership training instills a vision for creating a legacy of great leaders in the future. How can we expect leaders to return to a foundation they know nothing about? The Catholic Church is beginning to recognize this dilemma, and is initiating Christian leadership training programs to help. For instance, Michael Adkins, academic dean at St. Agnes School, a K-12 school in St. Paul, Minnesota has graduates from his program come back from college to speak with his students. Adkins says:
“It is powerful when somebody can come back to St. Agnes and can stand before our students and say, ‘I was captain of the football team at my college, and when there was lewd language in the locker room, I could stand up and say something about it.’”
In a fallacy that appeals to the heart, the arguer uses emotional appeals rather than logical reasons to persuade the listener. The fallacy can appeal to various emotions including pride, pity, fear, hate, vanity, or sympathy. The appeal to sympathy is actually a formal fallacy labeled ad misericordiam.
Generally, the issue is oversimplified to the advantage of the arguer. For example, in 1972, there was a widely-printed advertisement printed by the Foulke Fur Co., which was in reaction to the frequent protests against the killing of Alaskan seals for the making of fancy furs. According to the advertisement, clubbing the seals was one of the great conservation stories of our history, a mere exercise in wildlife management, because “biologists believe a healthier colony is a controlled colony.”
Have you ever run into this? For instance, take the following pro-choice argument. Is it a principle or a fallacy?
Pro-choice argument: A woman should have control over her own body.
This statement, while arguably true when applied to the individual, does not address a number of details.
First, her baby has its own body, brain, heartbeat, blood type, sex, and genes–half of which was donated by the father. Does that mean the baby is half his, legally? Or is possession truly nine-tenths of the law? This assumes we agree children are owned by their parents, of course.
Second, it neglects the controversy of whether it is a ‘fetus’ or a ‘baby’. (A popular Right to Life slogan is, “If it’s not a baby, then you’re not pregnant.”) If it is a fetus, a mere sac of blood and tissue, surely it is within a woman’s right to have it removed, the same as one would have a cancerous tumor removed. If, however, it is a baby (thereby implying that the woman is indeed pregnant and not simply experiencing a random growth or venereal disease), then one wonders what rights the unborn child is allowed to possess.
The “woman should have control over her own body” argument appeals to a liberal, human rights slant. It fuels the emotional certainty that we should all have consummate control over our bodies and what goes on inside them, while neglecting the same control for the unborn child.
In heated issues where positions are characterized by a high emotional index, it is common for antagonists to hurl fallacies at each other, but this is immature. When considering such a devisive topic as abortion, it is often difficult to separate emotions from rational debate (but not impossible.)
Pro-choice is said to follow from the widely accepted principle that individuals have a right to control their bodies. The counterargument would have to examine to what extent the principle is applicable. For example, do people have a right to kill themselves? To damage their bodies through self-destructive habits such as drinking, smoking, taking narcotics or mountain climbing? If yes, do women have that right in full when they are pregnant or do mothers have obligations to limit self-destructive habits when they are pregnant?
To the extent you weaken the premise on which the argument depends, to that extent do you weaken the conclusion for pro-choice.
Link building has always been one of the most important element in the success (or failure) of a website. When it comes to SEO (search engine optimization), it may be the biggest element of all.
Links are like ratings that point to a page in your website, signaling the search engines that your website might be highly sought after and deserve a higher placement in the search results.
With that in mind, here five tips to help you with your link building efforts:
1. Quality over quantity
As much as SEO experts want to build a lot of links for their clients’ webpages, having a high amount of back links doesn’t necessarily mean long-term success in SEO.
In the old days, quantity was king, but not anymore. Quality is now the most important factor when building links for your website.
Remember: Backlinks from shady websites or articles that are not relevant to your site will do more harm than good. Your site’s overall health and search placement will suffer.
2. Hire help
Link building (and SEO in general) can be a very arduous task. This is the reason why there’s a whole industry built around it. There are lots of SEO experts, consultants and professionals out there these days. SEO will take up a lot of your time, so it can be more efficient to leave this task to the professionals. Don’t hesitate to contact us if you need help in this department. We specialize in SEO.
3. Simplify your content
Make your articles simple, so that many people can easily understand and spread your message. It is a fact that the more complicated the content is, the less it is shared.
4. Submit to web directories
Submit your website’s links to as many web directories as you can. While this was once one of the best ways you could optimize your offsite link profile, web directory listings seem to have been reduced in importance in recent years. They still hold value, however.
Web directories will not know about your site unless you submit to them directly. This takes a lot of time, but it is a very important part of SEO. To save yourself time and work, hire an SEO expert to help you with this task, so you can just concentrate on your church mission. Contact us if you need help.
5. Develop high-quality content
Google’s “Panda” update pushed pages Google considered to have been poorly written and/or have spammy content way (WAY) down its rankings. As an aftermath, websites need to focus on creating high-quality content that’s useful, informative and shareable to stay in Google’s good graces.
Low-quality content will land you in Google’s cross-hairs, but high-quality content will help you attract precious inbound links and targeted traffic. However, producing a regular stream of constant, high-value content can be difficult. Get help in this area and hire content-writing experts.
Go forth and conquer
So there you have it, five tips to help you with your link building and SEO efforts. Implement these tips and you will be on your way to achieving greater online visibility in your community.
