Eddie Rivero

MESSAGE TO PASTORS

Dear pastor,

 

A few days ago, I was called upon to perform the funeral services for the mother of one of our MDPD officers.  This morning was the graveside service.  The family had asked me to allow a friend/co-worker to say some words at the funeral service.  He is a spiritual friend to the officer and carried the nickname "preacher man".  I guess you can imagine why I might be a bit hesitant.  However, I felt that if I spoke to the individual, I would ascertain if it would be a good thing or a tough situation to handle.  After talking with this brother, I asked him to share some words with the gathering.  Long story short, he turned out to be a very humble, godly, Christ like man.  This morning after the graveside service, I asked him, "What church do you go to?"  He responded, I attend New Way Fellowship.  I was happily surprised and told him, "You know, Bishop Baskin is a long time friend of mine.  You have a great pastor!"  He nodded yes with a great big smile.  By the way, his name is Herbert Matthews and he works at MDPD headquarters as a mechanic.  He serves at his church in a number of ministries and has the gifting of an evangelist.

 

I share this story to make this statement to all of you pastors.  Your many years of ministry reach out across this land.  God in you and through you produce great people that are a blessings to our city.  Great teachers produce great disciples.  Sometimes we may  wonder, "Is it worth it?"  Yes!  Your legacy is the lives that you have touched, the people you have built up, yes, even those you have had to correct and have bolted.  Building will get old and crumble, but people are our greatest kingdom asset.

 

I was blessed to have a deacon with a servants heart stand by my side and assist me in ministering to a hurting family.  We flowed together like as if we knew each other for years.  His comments were right on Scripturally.  His demeanor and spirit where Christ-like and compassionate.  I want to thank Bishop Baskin for his many years of ministry to South Florida.  I can imagine that there are many others like Herbert Matthews out there in the workplace.  I began to bring to remembrance many that have been a part of my ministry and took a moment to pray for God's blessing on their lives.

 

Keep fighting the good fight!  Maranatha.

 

ER

SUCCESS COMES BY "PITBULL" TENACITY

The History books are filled with examples of people who are famous for achieving greatness - yet if we study their lives, we find that they failed miserably before they succeeded. Consider these examples:

• Upon his election as U.S. President, Abraham Lincoln was called “a baboon” by a newspaper in Illinois, his home state. The paper went on to say that the American people “would be better off if he were assassinated.”

• Henry Ford failed and went broke five times before he succeeded. At the age of 40 he earned just $20 a week, but by the age of 60 he was the richest man in America.

• After his first audition, Hollywood screen legend Fred Astaire received the following assessment from an MGM executive: “Can’t act. Slightly bald. Can dance a little.”

• A so-called football expert once said of two-time Super Bowl-winning coach Vince Lombardi, “He possesses minimal football knowledge. Lacks motivation.”

• NBA superstar legend Michael Jordan was once cut from his high school basketball team.

• A young Burt Reynolds was once told he couldn’t act. At the same time, his pal Clint Eastwood was told he would never make it in the movies because his Adam’s apple was too big.

• Walt Disney was fired from a newspaper because they said he lacked ideas. Later, he went bankrupt several times before he built Disneyland.

The key to their success was not their talent as much as it was their refusal to give up. It was their "pitbull" tenacity that kept them focused and persistent to keep on keeping on.

A LEADER'S INNER CIRCLE

Informative article from Leadership Guru, Dr. John C. Maxwell

Months before President Obama took the oath of office he began assembling an inner circle of advisors. He and his transition team painstakingly pored over the qualifications of candidates to identify the strongest leaders for cabinet posts. In methodically vetting future leaders of his administration, President Obama demonstrated that he understands the law of the inner circle: A leader's potential is determined by those closest to him or her.

Past presidents have learned the hard way that failures of a leader's trusted advisors can bring disaster. During the Clinton administration, investigations into the conduct of five cabinet members eroded public perception of the President's judgment. The indictments and allegations gave ammunition to Clinton's foes and cast doubts on his character, especially after the Monica Lewinsky scandal came to light.

Likewise, President George W. Bush faced embarrassment when the man he appointed as head of FEMA, Michael D. Brown, failed to provide strong federal leadership in the aftermath Hurricane Katrina. Inexperienced in emergency management, Brown was overwhelmed by the crisis. During the height of the disaster, he fretted about finding a dog sitter and fussed about his attire. His unpreparedness and inaction left the Bush Administration vulnerable to scathing accusations of neglect and indifference.

Five questions to ask when forming your inner circle:

Do they display exemplary character in everything they do?

Deception eats away at a leadership team like cancer. Dishonesty on the part of one member of an inner circle can bring shame and disaster to all. Entire organizations have toppled from the misbehavior of one bad apple.

Do they bring complementary gifts to the table?

Imbalance within an inner circle can attune a leader's ear to only one side of an argument. When putting together an inner circle, prioritize diversity of personality and perspective. By doing so, you widen the range of your vision and the breadth of your influence.

Do they hold a strategic position and have influence within the organization?

Members of the inner circle must have the platform and influence to implement a leader's decisions. If they cannot be relied upon to execute a chosen strategy, then they shouldn't be entrusted with a spot on the leadership team. In addition, inviting uninfluential advisors into the inner circle disrupts the political balance of an organization. High performers suffer a motivational blow when they see a less deserving colleague granted special access to top leadership.

Do they add value to the organization and to the leader?

When considering someone for the inner circle, you should be able to articulate clearly the value they will bring.  Ask yourself the following questions: What will they infuse into discussion? Where do they have expertise?  What unique skills can they be counted on to bring to the table?

Do they positively impact other members of the inner circle?

If you've ever inhabited a house with a feuding husband and wife, then you can understand the need for leaders in close proximity to get along. Infighting saps energy and focus from a senior leader, forcing him or her to mediate conflicts with time that could be better spent elsewhere. Differences of opinion signal healthy debate, but personal animosities destroy a leadership team. Make sure members of your inner circle have the emotional intelligence to keep arguments from becoming too personal.

We've looked at the questions to consider when gathering a team of trusted advisors, I'd also like to offer thoughts on the two traps you can fall into when forming their inner circle.

Two common errors in constructing the inner circle:

Soliciting praise instead of candor.

Stacking an inner circle with flatters and "yes" men ranks among the lousiest decisions you can make as a leader. Doing so restricts your perspective, exposes you to blind spots, and leaves you on an island when do-or-die decisions must be made. When picking members of your inner circle, be sure they have the gumption to voice dissent. You'll rely on them to question your assumptions, to focus you on the mission, and to measure the integrity and worthiness of your ideas.

Driving away talent so that your power isn't threatened.

The wisdom of accumulating a talented inner circle may seem intuitive, but a rising star may threaten insecure leaders. Leaders should not be, and cannot be, the utmost authorities on all matters germane to the organization. Invariably, people have weaknesses. Wise leaders staff around their weaknesses, and welcome talent in areas where they lack strength.

Summary

Questions to Ask of Candidates for Your Inner Circle:

   1. Do they display exemplary character in everything they do?
   2. Do they bring complementary gifts to the table?
   3. Do they hold a strategic position and have influence within the organization?
   4. Do they add value to the organization and to the leader?
   5. Do they positively impact other members of the inner circle?

Traps to Avoid when Staffing Your Inner Circle:

   1. Soliciting praise instead of candor.
   2. Driving away talent so that your power isn't threatened.

Source: Leadership Wired E-Newsletter / www.giantimpact.com

INTERESTING THOUGHTS ABOUT PRAYER

Recently received this article from PRAY! Magazine... Hope it speaks to you

Broken Appliances and the Kingdom of God
by Cynthia Bezek, editor of Pray!

After sinking more than $300 into a malfunctioning dryer and rearranging my work schedule four times to meet the repairman, I asked intercessors to pray for a healing miracle for my ornery appliance. I was frustrated, sick of soggy clothes, and my checkbook was smarting. I knew it wasn’t much of a “kingdom” prayer request, but I needed my dryer to work and I sure couldn’t make that happen for myself.

When I emailed a friend for prayer, I added that I was missing my late husband, who had always handled such things. What she prayed in response to my very immediate, temporal, self-interested (but necessary) request floored me. She asked God to be a husband to me. The Holy Spirit had shown her that my greater need--and God’s deep desire--was for me to feel that He cherished me and would care for me as my loving spouse. My friend took my “little answerable” and turned it into a “Thy kingdom come” request that invited God to reign in my heart in ways I deeply needed that day.

My experience illustrates an important prayer principle that brings life, depth, and eternity to our intercession: God wants to reign in our lives and world. So when we pray, we should view our needs and desires within the perspective of His desire--and right--to rule on earth as He does in heaven. The Holy Spirit helps us discern God’s heart as we pray, but here are some examples of what asking Him to reign might look like.

•    A friend’s daughter is failing her classes. You pray for her to study hard and earn better grades. But what about also asking God to develop her spiritual gifts and passions? Then ask Him to provide all she needs to prepare her to appropriate them in His kingdom.
•    Your church struggles to pay its mortgage, so you pray that giving will increase. But as you listen for His desires, you realize God is calling you to seek the priorities of His kingdom first (which go beyond paying bills) and depend on Him more radically. So you pray that way.
•    You’re facing a big presentation at work, so you pray for good ideas, sound preparation, and effective communication. As you consider how God wants to reign in the situation, a particular colleague comes to mind. He’ll be at the meeting, so you ask God to deepen your relationship with him in ways that will advance His kingdom in your colleague’s life.

I still don’t know what will become of my dryer. But my friend’s kingdom prayer did something for my heart that a functioning dryer could never accomplish.

How about you? What “little answerables” can you expand into prayers that invite God to reign in your world?

GOD IS OUR SOURCE OF HOPE

Last Saturday, I began a series of messages on 'How God Meets Your Deepest Needs".  My first message was "Where to Find Hope".  It's amazing that one of the powerful themes that permeated this past presidential election was "hope".  President Obama successfully communicated a message of hope.  People are in need of hope.  The question is, where can we find hope?  Romans 15:13 tells us that God is our source of hope.

“May God, the source of hope, fill you with joy and peace through your faith in Him.  Then you’ll overflow with hope…” Rom. 15:13 (GWT)

One of my favorite Bible verses is Romans 8:28.  The second point of my message was based on this verse and I thought I would share it with you. 

The second source of hope is this: 
HIS PURPOSE IS WORKING IN ME. 

No matter what’s happening in my life – good, bad, or ugly – God’s purpose is working in me.  When you have a problem that you don’t understand the purpose, that’s very difficult to handle.  You know the most difficult kinds of questions of life are, “Why is this happening to me?”  When the problem is there that’s kind of a freak accident and it doesn’t have any rhyme or reason to it.  It just doesn’t make sense.  Those are the kind of situations that are the most difficult to handle.

On the other hand, when you see a purpose behind your problem it gives you enormous hope.  It also gives you enormous power to endure it.  And God says, I am working in your life and I have a purpose no matter what’s happening. 

God is doing good things in my life even when the situation is bad, even when I don’t feel it, even when it doesn’t make sense, even when I have no understanding.  When the situation is bad, He is still doing good things in my life. 

I want us to look at a couple of verses that we’ve looked at many times here at NLFC.  But we keep coming back to these verses because they’re so profound, they really explain what life is all about.  I hope by now if you’ve been a believer for some time that you’ve memorized Romans 8:28 ”We know that God causes all things to work together for good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose.”  (NAS)

This is such a significant verse I want us to look at it word by word.

Notice first what it does not say.  It doesn’t say, “All things work out the way I want them to.”  We would like that and we’d like to interpret it that way but that’s not what it says.  It doesn’t say, “All things work out the way I want them to.”

It does not say, “All things have a happy ending on earth.”  Because that is not true.  All things do not have a happy ending on earth.  Reality teaches us that not every patient gets well, that not every couple that gets married lives happily ever after.  Reality teaches us that not every business decision makes a million bucks, not every problem is resolved.  So we know that’s not true.   All children don’t get straight A’s and become captain of the football team.  What does it say?

First it says, “We know that God causes all things to work together for good.”  Circle “We know”.  What that means is we don’t wish, we don’t imagine, we don’t desire, we don’t have false hope, we don’t have positive thinking.  It just says, We know.   It’s not a wish or a desire.  It is a certainty.  We are confident of whatever comes after this.  “Hope is not the same as optimism.  It is not the conviction that something will turn out well.  But hope is the certainty that something makes sense regardless of how it turns out.”

“Hope is the certainty that something makes sense regardless of how it turns out”  -- “We know”  not hope or imagine – We know.  What?

“… that God causes…”  There is a grand master designer of the universe.  And there is a plan that is in action and history is His story.  There is no such thing as fate.  There is no such thing as chance.  There is no such thing as luck – good luck or bad luck.  There is no such thing as karma, what will be will be, destiny or “I just happen to fall into it.”  That is not true.  There is a master designer.  We make mistakes for sure.  We make many mistakes.  But God never makes mistakes. 

“We know that God causes all things to work together for good.”  Circle “all things”.  What does that include?  Does that include illness?  Yes.  Does that include unemployment?  Certainly.  Does it include divorce?  Some of you have a question about that one.  Does it include a miscarriage?  Does it include failure?  Does it include freak accidents?  Does it include the stupid decisions that I make and the mistakes I bring upon myself?  Yes!  Absolutely, yes!  Everything fits into God’s plan.  The good, the bad, the indifferent.  The things that I do, the things I don’t do.  The things that I control, the things I don’t control.  All things work together for good.

Notice:  It doesn’t say, “all things are good.”  And it does not say God causes all things.  God does not.  God does not cause rape.  God does not cause war.  God does not cause famine and poverty.  God does not cause leukemia and cancer.  To attribute those things to God is to turn God into a monster.  God is not a monster.  God is incapable of sin.  It doesn’t say God causes all things.   We bring a lot on ourselves. 

But it does say that “God causes all things to work together for good.”  Circle “work together”. 

Illustration:  Baking a cake. 
When you’re baking a cake you’ve got to have some flour and some raw eggs and some Crisco and some sugar and some salt and some vanilla.  Any one of those things by itself doesn’t really taste too good.  Have you ever tasted flour?  Crisco?  Maybe the sugar some of you might say is ok.  But none of those things on their own tastes good. 

There are a lot of things in your life that are difficult to swallow.  They’re bitter going down and you choke on them.  “Why is that happening?”  Not all things in your life are good but they all work together for good.  When those elements are put together – just like the element of the cake are put together it produces a cake and the cake is very good.  God wants to bake a cake in your life and He wants to take the elements in your life, even the things that are distasteful, bitter, and He wants to work them together. 

God is weaving a tapestry of your life.  And when He weaves that tapestry He uses some dark threads and some light threads.  He uses some heavy yarn and some lighter yarn.  When He looks down on the tapestry He can see the pattern that is emerging and the picture that He wants to make of your life.  As He looks down from heaven, He has a different view than the one we see looking up.  Have you ever looked at the underside of a tapestry?  It’s a jumble of yarn that makes no sense at all.  Looking up from the underside of that rug it makes no sense.  You ask, Why did that happen.  I don’t know.  But one day you will know and you will see how He was weaving the dark and the light, the good and the bad, the happy and the sad, every experience of life into a pattern.  Can God bring good out of the bad?  Did He bring any good out of the crucifixion?   I’d say so.  The crucifixion was not good.  It was quite painful.  But God brought good out of it.  When you understand that God is not only watching over you but He’s working in you.  He not only has His presence but He has a purpose.  That is a source of enormous hope.  Enormous. 

Notice the qualifier of this great promise.  It is not for everybody.  It says “… those who love God…” All things do not work together for good for everybody.  In fact, if you are thumbing your nose to God, walking out the back door and saying, “Forget You, God!” all things are not working for good in your life.  In fact, all things are working for bad in your life.  This is not a promise to everybody.  It’s a promise for those who love God and want to have a relationship with Him and who are trying to live according to His purpose. 

Tonight, if you are here and you’re facing an impossible situation, the next verse is for you.  Jeremiah 29:11 God says,

“I have good plans for you, not plans to hurt you.  I will give you hope and a good future.”  Jeremiah 29:11 (NCV)

You may think that what God is doing in your life right now is painful and is to no avail but God says, “My plan is good.  You just don’t see it.  You need to trust Me.  You need to have hope because it’s a plan to give you a hope and a future.” 

If you have walked away from God.  And you think, “I was close to God at one time but I can’t get back to Him,” then the next verse is for you.  

 “God began doing a good work in you and I am sure He will continue it until it is finished when Jesus Christ comes again.”  Philippians 1:6 (NCV)

God starts something in your life and what He starts He finishes.  You may say you’re too far beyond hope.  You’re not.  You’ve walked away from it but when you come back and say, “God, I’m going to give You the mess, give You the pieces.  Give me Your peace.”  Then that which He started, He finishes in your life.  And He keeps on keeping on.

WORKING AS A TEAM

In 2005, East Carolina University football coach Skip Holtz put his mark on the football team.

One difference fans noticed when ECU opened with Duke on September 3rd was the absence of players' names on the backs of the jerseys. Holtz indicates he believed the team was “buying in” to what the coaches were trying to sell in terms of a new culture and attitude much more quickly than when he was involved in starting turnarounds at UConn and South Carolina.

The removal of individual names is making a statement that Holtz wants the East Carolina University team to understand.

“One of the players said, 'Coach, we’ve always had our names on our uniforms,' ” said Holtz. “I said no, we’ve got the one on the front. That’s the only one we need to worry about right now. Until we’re proud of the one on the front I don’t care about the one on the back."

Team unity is one of the biggest factors in collective effectiveness and success.

BREAKING YOUR "FOUR MINUTE MILE"

The story of Roger Bannister is an inspirational one. For many years it was widely believed to be impossible for a human to run a mile (1609 meters) in under four minutes. In fact, for many years, it was believed that the four minute mile was a physical barrier that no man could break without causing significant damage to the runners health. The achievement of a four minute mile seemed beyond human possibility, like climbing Mount Everest or walking on the moon.

It was a windy spring day, on the 6th of May 1954, during an athletic meeting between the British AAA and Oxford University, that Roger Bannister ran a mile in 3 minutes, 59.4 seconds. He crossed the finish line with a time of 3 minutes, 59.4 seconds, and broke through the “four minute mile” psychological barrier. John Landy a great runner of that day never run faster than within 1.5 seconds of the four minute barrier. Then 56 days after Roger Bannisters breakthrough, John Landy ran the four minute mile in 3 minutes and 57.9 seconds in Finland. Later Bannister and Landy raced in the Mile of the Century where Bannister won in 3 minutes and 58.8 seconds.

The breaking of the four minute mile was so significant, that is was named by Forbes as one of the greatest athletic achievements. What made this event so significant is that once the four minute barrier was broken by Roger Bannister, within three years, by the end of 1957, 16 other runners also cracked the four minute mile.

So what happened to the physical barrier that prevented humans from running the four minute mile? Was there a sudden leap in human evolution? No. It was the change in thinking that made the difference, Bannister had shown that breaking four minute mile was possible. Often the barriers we perceived are only barriers in our own minds. Previous runners had been held back by their beliefs and mindsets. When the barrier was broken other runners saw that is was possible and then 16 runners went on to do they same.

Our beliefs and mindsets limit or expand our world. Beliefs have power over us because we treat them as though they’re true. Beliefs influence what you attempt or choose not to attempt in life. They determine what you pay attention to, how you react to difficult situations and ultimately your attitude. Success and failure begin and end in what the mind believes is possible.

The first step a leader can take in influencing the world around them is to change how they think about it. If Roger Bannister accepted that the four minute mile was a physical limitation, he would never had tried to break it. Just like the runners of time past, many of the barriers that hold us back today exist only in our minds.

• What are the four minute miles that are holding you back in your personal and professional life?
• Are their any role models who are challenging existing limits that you can learn from?

Article by George Ambler on June 25, 2006

Four Ways Our Culture Is Brainwashing Us

Interesting comments by J. Lee Grady, Editor of Charisma Magazine - ER

This past week I spent four days preaching at Emmanuel College, a Christian liberal arts school in northeast Georgia. I love speaking to college students because they are spiritually hungry, they love passionate worship and I don’t have to wear a tie.

On the third night (after a young man got saved and delivered of drug addiction—yeah God!) I told the kids I needed to get brutally honest. They gave me permission to shoot straight. Because I genuinely care about them—and because they will be spiritual leaders before too long—I warned them about four lies they must confront.

Every Christian in this country must learn to dissect these lies using the Word of God. The devil is working overtime today to gain control of our nation’s soul. We are in a life-and-death struggle. This is not a time for Christians to be squishy in their faith or spineless in their convictions. We must plant our feet on the bedrock principles of the Bible and oppose each of these lies:
"We must start preaching about hell again instead of worrying about who might leave our church or how it might affect our TV ratings."

1. Hell does not exist. Jesus preached about hell more than anyone in the Bible. His words dripped with love, but He didn’t soft-pedal when addressing the eternal consequences of sin. When He began His ministry, he read from the book of Isaiah, announcing that He had come not only to “proclaim the favorable year of the Lord” but also “the day of vengeance of our God” (Is. 61:2, NASB).

The real gospel is a double-edged sword that offers both the “kindness and severity of God” (Rom. 11:22, emphasis added). That’s why hell is one four-letter word we should use more often—not to condemn people in mean-spirited judgment but to warn them that mercy has a time limit.

The world rejects the concept of hell because it’s too exclusive. Our Oprah-ized culture insists that everyone deserves a warm and fuzzy life free of consequences. “How can a loving God send anyone to hell?” people ask. If we truly love them we will explain that hell is not a metaphor—it is a real place of dreadful separation from God that sinners choose when they reject Him. We must start preaching about hell again instead of worrying about who might leave our church or how our unpopular message might affect our TV ratings.

2. God didn’t create the world. 2009 is the 150th anniversary of the publication of Charles Darwin’s The Origin of Species, so you can be sure the scientific community will bombard us this year with more “proof” of this sketchy theory. The mainstream media and academia insist that evolution is pure fact. Anyone who dares to challenge it is considered a religious idiot.

What people don’t realize is that Darwinism, besides being laughably lacking in scientific basis, has roots in spiritualism. Welsh naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace shared many of Darwin’s beliefs and encouraged him to publish his book. Wallace believed in spirit guides, participated in séances and was intrigued by all things paranormal. He promoted the “science” of evolution because it supported his anti-God views. Is it any wonder, then, that this doctrine he and Darwin propagated has been used to undermine Christianity ever since?

The world does not want to believe in a Creator because if He is real, then He has ultimate authority over His creation. On the flip side, man has no moral responsibility if he crawled out of a primordial soup, grew fins, then legs, and then became a talking ape. Evolution is not really about science at all—it is about rebellion against God’s rule over us.

3. All religions lead to God. This isn’t a new lie, but it is enjoying a revival today. President Bush has obviously flirted with the idea, since he has told reporters that Muslims and Christians worship the same God. Barack Obama attended a church for 20 years that teaches that Jesus is not the only way to salvation—and he has publicly acknowledged that he believes this.

The doctrine of universalism—which states that all people will ultimately gain salvation and enjoy heaven—has become the religion of the masses. Even some charismatic and Pentecostal preachers such as Carlton Pearson of Oklahoma and D.E. Paulk of Atlanta have abandoned biblical orthodoxy to embrace this heresy. They are now on a crusade to rewrite Christian theology—and they have allies in some mainline denominations (such as the Episcopal Church) where the authority of Scripture is denied.

Christians who embrace universalism are like the prophets of Baal in Jezebel’s court who had been neutered. They preach a powerless message that cannot change anyone. We must arise in the spirit of Elijah to confront this deception and prove to the world that the one true God answers by fire.

4. Man can redefine morality. This is perhaps the most deadly lie of all. Everywhere we look today, leaders in media, politics, education and entertainment are plotting the virtual overthrow of conventional morals. They want a hedonistic world with no rules and no guilt. This was most obvious last month when Newsweek published a cover story brazenly claiming that the Bible approves of same-sex marriage.

A lying spirit has invaded many mainline churches and is convincing weak Christians to change their views about homosexuality, abortion and fornication. Evil is called good while those who stand for the biblical values of purity and traditional marriage are labeled bigots.

If we ignore these lies they will engulf us. We need a zero-tolerance policy for spiritual compromise. While we must demonstrate overwhelming compassion and love for sinners, God requires us to oppose cultural brainwashing. We cannot be silent on the issues the devil is attacking.

If you are wavering in your faith on any of these four fundamentals, get honest about your doubts, repent of your lukewarmness and dig in God’s Word until your mind is renewed. Don’t become a brainwash victim.

Steps To Turn A Plateaued Church Around

Here's an article I received from Sermon Central.  Most people would immediately think, "OK, this has to do with some old church that has stagnated... but there are a lot of churches that have plateaued and are trying to sort out how to reach people in a changing culture.  Not sure how it is in your city, but in Miami, if you don't keep people coming in the front door that will trickle out the back door. This is a great checklist for pastors and their leadership team.  Let me know your thoughts.

Steps To Turn A Plateaued Church Around
By Author Unknown

•    Pray! Pray! Pray! Pray for wisdom specifically and continually. Pray to the Lord of the Harvest for ministry helpers.
•    Seek a God- given vision for growth and philosophy of ministry (core values) and continually communicate them to the church.
•    Pray that God will help you identify a core group of people in your church that embrace your vision and core values of ministry and will begin to make positive change in the church.
•    Start mentoring your core group. Continue to share the vision and ministry core values God has placed on your heart. Equip them (through one on one mentoring, seminars, video resources, books, etc.) Help them identify their spiritual gifts. Cheerlead them. Love them. Do everything you can to make them a success.
•    Praise from the pulpit those who are reaching out. Be careful not to degrade others while you’re publicly identifying those who are making a difference.
•    Utilize weekly letters in your church as a means to enhance communication, share your vision, encourage them to bring others to church, praise those who are making a difference, build excitement for Sunday’s services, etc.
•    Reach out to members who haven’t come to church in a while. Complacency in the church may have infiltrated their home. It’s time to bring them back into the church.
•    Seek ways to reach out to the community with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Gradually begin to use visitation, mail-outs, door to door canvassing, advertising of a variety of sorts, special events, etc. to spread the name of Christ and the church throughout your area of ministry.
•    Begin to assimilate your visitors. Assimilating visitors into the main stream life of the church will be a major contributing factor to making positive change in your church.
•    Continue to pray, love and support those who disagree with what you are doing. Don’t alienate them. Encourage them in their walk with Christ, but don’t allow them to sway you from turning the church around.
•    Begin slowly and gradually to build an outreach emphasis among your core group. Once your core group begins to own the vision – they will begin to fulfill the vision. They will begin to share Christ with others, help you organize and bear the load of the ministry, and invite their friends, relatives, associates, and neighbors to attend church.
•    Use illustrations to enhance your vision in your messages. Your messages are a great time to communicate and reinforce the vision for your church. Weave it into illustrations, into one of the points of your message, into the alter call, etc.
•    Don’t get discouraged! God has placed you in your church to help resuscitate new life into His body. Don’t isolate yourself from other pastors or the ample supply of resources available. You are not in this battle alone! Thousands of your pastoral associates stand with you and are ready to help you.

Checklist for Success in 2009

 Here's a great checklist to follow:

• The path to true and lasting success always begins with putting God first.
• Your past does not equal your future! The only limitations you really have are those you give yourself.
• A dream written down with a date becomes a GOAL. A goal broken down into steps becomes a PLAN. A plan backed by ACTION makes your dream come true.
• Your success is in serving others! When you focus on other people's success, yours is sure to follow.
• You are the reflection of the five people you associate with most, and your income is the average of those five people. Choose your friends wisely.
• Observe every obstacle as a learning experience. The greater the challenge, the greater the reward.
• Practice NSI: the Never Stop Improving attitude. Take classes, read books, keep acquiring new skills. If you are interested in a subject, make time to learn about it.

MAKE 2009 COUNT