PRESIDENTIAL LEADERSHIP

This last week, most of us had a day off due to a holiday known as Presidents Day.  Some enjoyed the chance to sleep in, while others took the opportunity to enjoy an adventure with their children.    Whatever you enjoyed during this day, hopefully you took time to consider the uniqueness of our American Presidency.  

American leadership is unique among any other in history.  It is a leader selected among the people to represent the people.  The history of our presidents is as unique as the position itself, and offers a vast knowledge of leadership lessons and principles to be learned, and some to be forgotten.

Scripture teaches us to honor leadership because “…there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.”  (Romans 13:1) While we may not agree with leadership, we are called to honor them and pray for them.  There is much we can learn from the history of our American leadership.

Here are some leadership insights we can gain from presidential leaders:

1.       Great leaders are willing to take risks.  Long before Washington was our first President, he was our first general.  During the winter of 1776, he took what was considered one of the greatest risks of the war, crossing the Delaware River.  If he failed, the war could have been over, but he did not.  Because of this risk, it became a turning point in the war, and solidified his position as Commander of the American Army.   While we may not be fighting a war, we are in the battle for the lives of students we serve.  What risks are we willing to take so that we can make a significant impact?  Let us take the necessary risks so that we can impact our communities.

2.       Great Leaders are willing to make unpopular decisions. Now considered one of the greatest Presidents in our history, Abraham Lincoln was not always so well liked.  Because of the deep rift between north and south, his election caused the southern states to pull out of the Union.  He was willing to take a stand against something he deeply believed in.  He did not consider polls, or opinions, he considered his conscience and his beliefs.   He stuck to these core values, and we admire him for it today.  We as pastors must be willing to make the difficult decisions that we know are right and true, and do so with grace and humility.  It might mean confronting with love, and correcting with grace.  Let us being will to make the right decisions.

3.       Great leaders are willing take responsibility.  Harry Truman had a sign on his desk that read “the buck stops here.”  He stated, after taking office,  that he would be fully open to advice from his Cabinet, which he had inherited from Franklin Roosevelt who had just died in office, but that he would be making the final decisions.  With this, he also communicated that he would be taking full responsibility for his decisions.  He is considered one of the top ten presidents in our history.  As pastors, we must be the ones to take responsibility for how we leader our students and congregations.   It is easy to credit when we succeed, but we must take responsibility during difficult times as well.  Let us protect those who serve us in difficult times, and praise them when they succeed.  Let us step up to the challenges that lay before us and lead well.

4.       Great leaders are willing to keep an optimistic attitude.  In 1979, the country was in a deep recession, not unlike what we are experiencing today.  It was considered a time of “malaise” and there was not much hope.  In to this stepped Ronald Reagan.  Instead of focusing on the situation at hand, he focused on what the nation could be.  He spoke optimism and belief in to the American people.  As pastors, we are called to see the best in those we lead, and spoke hope and life to those we pastor.  Even in difficult times, let us remember that our attitude has a great impact on those we lead. 

No matter your political persuasion, we are admonished to pray for our leaders, as scripture teaches:

 ¹ First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, ² for kings and all who are in ^[a]authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and ^[b]dignity. 1 Timothy 2:1-2

 As we take time to reflect on leadership, pray for our leaders, locally, regionally, and nationally.  And as we see them lead, let us take from that all we can, so we too can lead well.

Abe Daniel - District Student Ministries Director

Northern California and Nevada Assemblies of God Student Ministries

USING SOCIAL MEDIA TO BROADEN YOUR REACH

When I asked them to pull out their cell phones, suddenly their eyes lit up. You could see the anticipation and interest of what would come next. "Why does he want us to get our phones OUT of our pockets?" I then asked a multiple choice question, and they could anonymously answer by texting their response to 22333 and their answers appeared on the screen in real time. The tool is a website called polleverywhere.com. When I use the site, engagement in my messages increase exponentially. They get to upload and participate in the message.

It's a new world! Our world is changing really fast. And if you don't keep up, you could be left behind. Social media is something that is integral in the life of students, and we have to “go into the highways” and compel them. But how do we do that? Where do we even start? These are just a few resources and methods for using social media in ministry.

1.  Polleverywhere.com. A free account gets you unlimited polls with up to 40 responses per poll. Monthly fees for more responses are contract free, and can be cancelled anytime. Polls can be posted online, displayed live via PowerPoint or Keynote, and users can be polled via Twitter, SMS, and/or a private website.

2.  Foursquare.com is a social “check-in” site and mobile platform. Students with smartphones can download the app for free on just about every kind of smartphone. They “check-in” at locations, let their followers know where they are, and post their check-in to Facebook and Twitter. You can create Specials for check-ins based on number of criteria, including most check-ins, every X number of check-ins, and first time check-ins. For example, you can create a Special for first time check-ins that reward them with a free snack at your snack bar, or a free t-shirt, or something. When they check-in, the rewarded special shows up on their mobile device. This is a great way to get basic visitor information without them filling out a card.

3.  Text Me. I actually got this idea from District Council a few years ago. Whenever I finish a series based on something I know my students will have questions about (like dating), we do a “Text Me” night. They send questions to my phone via text message during the service; then I and sometimes members of my leadership team simply answer them. You’d be surprised the questions students will ask when it’s not “out loud.”

4.  Google Plus. I realize most students are either going to be on Facebook or Twitter (maybe both), but Google Plus Hangouts allow live video chat for up to ten people at once, both on a computer and mobile device (with front facing camera). This might be a great way to connect for small groups or other discipleship type settings where “gathering together” might be hindered in some way.

5.  Twitter and hashtags. A youth ministry in the Bay Area started a series based on iamsecond.com. During and after their message series, they challenged their students to “live second” and post on Twitter how they did that with the #iamsecond hashtag and username of their youth ministry (@youthministry).

6.  YouVersion. I have used YouVersion.com for a long time for personal study, but when I began to look at the tools it has for events, I started really digging. You can create a set of sermon notes for listeners to follow during your message, complete with scriptures, notes, audio and video links, questions and polls, and more. You can also include a form for prayer requests.

7.  Instagram. Instagram is an app for iOS (so your reach may vary here) that lets users take photos and then apply retro looking “filters” to their photos and post them to instagram.com as well as other social media sites. You could do an instagram photo contest for an outreach event. Or just ask students to post instagrams with an event specific hashtag like #yourawesomeevent and then use a site like prinstagr.am to print them in a poster, individual prints, stickers, etc. Also, for a larger conference type event, instaprint.me is a photobooth type printer that automatically prints instagrams with your events’ hashtag as they are posted in instagram.com.

8.  QR Code. A QR Code is a scannable code (similar to a barcode) that students can scan with their smartphones. A QR Code can link them to ANYTHING you want, whether it’s contact information, a website, videos or downloads on the internet, etc. You could do one for your entryway that links to your welcome video, as well as on your PowerPoint to link students to the YouVersion notes, or anything you want. They can also be used for digital copies of event registration, saving you physical copies.

These are just a few resources and ideas for using social media to engage your students differently. If you have questions about any of these or other social media ideas, you can contact me at revtony79@gmail.com.

Tony Mazon serves as our area leader for the Valley Ridge Section.

He is the Youth Pastor at First Assembly of God in Chico, CA

REMEMBERING LEADERSHIP

Often, when writing on leadership, we speak in hypothetical terms and principles that could be applied to ministry.  This week, we look at the reality of people whose lives have modeled well the value of solid leadership and strong character.

This last Tuesday, Rev. Glen Cole, Pastor of Trinity Life Center, and former District Superintendent went to be with Christ.  He had suffered a heart attack shortly after arriving to the church that morning.  His was a life marked by great passion for ministry, people and leadership. 

We also mourn the loss of Rev. Carolyn Sheley who went to be with the Lord last Friday. Carolyn served the Northern California and Nevada District Office for 23 years as a secretary and administrator, even serving while she quietly battled cancer for 8 years. 

Pastor Cole leaves a legacy of building great churches and even greater leaders.  His legacy can be found in his 2 sons serving in ministry and in the profound  impact he made on a multitude of pastors, leaders, missionaries and churches throughout our district, nation, and the world. 

Pastor Cole’s life taught us much.  There is much to be learned from a life well lived:

1.       He had unending passion for ministry. He served in ministry till the end.  Pastor Cole was serving as a senior pastor, and was at the church when he passed.  While most would head in to retirement, Pastor Cole took on the leadership of pastoring Trinity Life Center well after retirement years, growing it to over 1100 in attendance on a weekly basis.

2.       He understood that ministry was about people.  Pastor Cole has served as a mentor to a countless number of pastors and leaders throughout our movement.  He often would encourage others in his congregation to help plant other churches in the local community, and many of these churches are healthy and strong, because of his passion for people and evangelism.

3.       He left a lasting legacy.  Both Pastor Cole and Carolyn each have children that serve in ministry who are carrying the legacy of ministry that was passed on to them.  Carolyn’s daughter, Leanna, serves at the District Resource Center.  Her son, Wes, serves as a Youth Alive Missionary in the Oregon Ministry Network.    Both of Pastor Cole’s sons, Rick and Randy, serve as pastors at Capital Christian Center in Sacramento, with Pastor Rick serving as the lead pastor.   

It is any easy thing to talk leadership.  It is a much greater task to model it.  Leadership is never easy, but it is greatly rewarded with a life that perseveres and remains faithful to what God has called us to do.

2 Timothy 4:7-8a states “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith;  in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness.” Today we honor those who have passed in to eternity, having fought this fight of faith, and we use their legacy as a reminder that we must strive to do all that God has called us to do and end this life well.

Abe Daniel - District Student Ministries Director

Northern California and Nevada Assemblies of God Student Ministries

PASTORAL PATIENCE

“For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken. ” (Psalm 62:1–2, ESV)

Ministry—and life for that matter—is constantly a work of balance.  Whether we are dealing with how to allocate funds, how to spend time, or any host of issues, balance is ever important, yet ever elusive. 

Pastors often face a challenge of balance when they must make decisions.  My gut tells me I know what to do and wants me to act straightway.  My spirit tells me to slow down, to think, to pray, to wait.  Leaders suffer criticism when they delay decision-making, the common assumption being that they don’t want to make the hard call.  While this can be the case (which of us hasn’t put off a decision that was simple to make but would be hard for people to receive?) sometimes leaders do well to hesitate. 

Patience is essential to balance and thus a requirement for mature pastoral ministry.  In patience, you look like you’re doing nothing; in reality, you’re doing something crucial—you’re waiting on the Lord.  In our “do now, think later,” culture, most people don’t want you to wait.  And let’s face it, neither do you.  We want to get to the front of the line, have our answer, fix the problem, and we must do it all now.  But we must question if ministry works best, or works at all, in such a fast-paced, results-driven mindset.

Every pastor must wrestle with where ministry begins and how it happens.  In The God Who Comes, Catholic theologian Carlo Carletto wrote, “We must assume an attitude of waiting…We must do this because it is not our right to do anything else; the initiative is God’s, not ours.  We are able to initiate nothing; we are able only to accept.”  Ministry begins with the word and work of God, incarnated in Christ, by the empowerment of the Spirit.  As Pentecostals, we must be careful to remember that the heart of our theology isn’t what we do in the power of God, but what God does in the weakness of human beings (2 Cor. 4:7).  

Let’s consider a negative and a positive example regarding this pastoral dilemma of what to do with pressing circumstances.  King Saul offers an example of the personal and communal destruction that ensues when spiritual leaders fail to wait.  In 1 Samuel 13 war with the Philistines intensifies.  The people follow Saul trembling with fear and uncertainty.  Saul waits for Samuel, the man of God, to come and lead the people in worship so that God will deliver them. 

He waits a full seven days, but Samuel hasn’t arrived.  So Saul offered the burnt offering himself and with poetic timing, Samuel shows up just as Saul finishes, and he says “What have you done?” (vv 10-11).  As a result of Saul’s decision to seize authority that was not his, refusing to wait for the Lord, his life eroded and his kingdom fell.  Is the failure of many ministers today connected to this relentless need to do something before waiting?  We press more than we pray.  Patience must not be a virtue lost on pastors today.

There is another way.  In Numbers 9, during the celebration of Passover, certain men had become unclean by coming into contact with a corpse.  They come to Moses, asking about how they could offer sacrifices in their condition, and Moses’ reply is instructive: “Wait, that I may hear what the Lord will command concerning you” (v 8).  Moses tells the men to wait, but what does Moses do?  He also waits.  But his waiting isn’t passive.  He waits on the Lord.  He doesn’t need his hands to make a decision, but his ears.  He doesn’t act, he listens.  He doesn’t rush, he waits.  And sure enough, God speaks.

As pastors, we will be confronted with myriad decisions.  If we are true spiritual leaders, not just task managers and problem solvers, we won’t rush to a conclusion or to a solution.  We’ll wait in prayer.  This patient pastoral work takes uncommon faith.  Do you trust God to show the way?  Each of us must decide whether we follow God or he follows us.

The former seems obviously right, but it’s easy to act and pray like the latter:  “God, here’s what I’m going to do, please help me.”  I’ve prayed like this, then realized that I’m not pastoring when I invite God to join my efforts and support my decisions.  I pastor when I wait upon his wisdom and rely on his grace.  Pastoral patience acknowledges that God alone is the author of truth, freedom, hope, and all the things we, our people, and our ministries need.  To access God’s help, we wait.  In waiting, we pray.  If we are led to prayer, we’ll never fail to be in the right place.

“O Lord, be gracious to us; we wait for you. Be our arm every morning, our salvation in the time of trouble. ” (Isaiah 33:2, ESV)  

Nathaniel Rhoads serves as Area Leader for the Northern Nevada Section
He is Senior Pastor of Word of Life Fellowship in Winnemucca, NV

THE GATE KEEPERS

Many youth workers approach junior high ministry with a sense of fear or even reluctance. One youth pastor I met confessed, “I can handle high schoolers, I can even handle kid’s ministry if I had to, but junior highers don’t make any sense to me! I’m terrified of them!”

Fear of the unknown has a way of paralyzing people. In 1908, people were fearful of just the thought of driving an automobile at high speeds of 55-65 MPH. It was thought that your head would be blown off at such a speed. The speed limit at that time was 20 MPH on a freeway and 8 MPH within city limits.

A change of perspective is in order if we’re ever going to move away from a paralyzing fear of junior high ministry. Rick Warren, Senior Pastor of Saddleback Church, stated that, “anyone who works in the church should know that junior high may be the single most pivotal period for spiritual decisions in the lives of

our children.” The Barna Research Group backs up Warren’s statement with statistics showing that the overwhelming majority of Christ-followers date their conversion prior to 14 years old, after 14 years old the likelihood of conversion drops drastically.

The importance of junior high ministry can’t be overlooked, but our success will be found in realizing the advantage of working with junior high students. Psychologist Stephen Glenn states, “Puberty has just hit junior highers, and the physical, intellectual, social, and emotional changes that accompany this change of life creates growing awareness in these kids that a whole new adult world is opening up to them.” This discovery phase produces 3 effects: rapid experimentation, a thirst for information, and a sense of transition.

If we attempt junior high ministry with the same bag of tricks and same set of rules we use on high school or college ministry, then we’re doomed to be left frustrated. We have to take advantage of the fact that junior highers are ready to try anything, thirsty for information, and are trying to find their place in the world.

The world is transitioning on them as they find themselves captured in a whirl wind of change. They are crossing over a bridge from adolescence to adulthood. They look up to high schoolers and want to be involved in their “cool” world. In an essence, junior high workers are gate keepers. We stand in the middle of elementary and high school, kid’s church and youth ministry, Dora and YouTube, Sesame Street and Facebook.

This is the beginning of their adult life and the foundation that their future will be built on. Our goal should be to effectively create an experience that will lay a solid foundation for the rest of their lives. As gate keepers, we have the awesome privilege of transitioning young students from one season of life to another.

JR Arellano serves as area Leader for the Butte Section

He is the Junior High Pastor at Calvary Christian Center in Yuba City, CA

MOTIVATING HIGH MORALE

One of the great challenges of a leader is maintaining high morale.  While some leaders have a natural ability to keep people motivated, most of us have to work hard at keeping people focused on the ‘big picture’ and vision of ministry.

How do you keep your team passionate? Ready?  Motivated?  There are four stages of morale:  Poor, low, moderate, and high.  Poor morale is where the leader must do everything.  Low morale is where the leader must do productive things.  Moderate morale is when the leader must do the difficult things.  High morale is when the leader only does the little things.

Where is your team on this scale?  How do you motive for a higher moral?  Our attitude toward volunteers, our ability to encourage them, and to show we trust them plays a great part in how a team responds to our leadership.

Here are some things to consider:

1.        Show that you trust your team.  Trust goes a long way in building momentum and moral.  Give them room to fail, and work with them as they grow.  The greatest tool you can give your team is trust.

2.       Create opportunities for them to succeed.  Find ways to give your team opportunities to succeed.  Help them grow and find opportunities to do things well.  And when they do, celebrate it with them and the team.

3.       Don’t block them from being involved.  Often we don’t let others get involved because we do not think they will do it as well as us,  and that might be true at times.  But the long term affect will be that you might lose a valuable member of a team that you can mentor and develop in to a solid leader.

4.       Communicate for greater impact. What you say has great impact on the team.  If you are constantly correcting and rebuking, you might create a team hesitant to serve.  If you encourage and speak life in to your team, you will find a team ready to grow.

The reality is, when you’re winning, nothing hurts, but when there is low morale,  there will be waste energy and poor involvement.  Find ways for your team to win.  Find ways for them to have greater impact.  Your greatest success will be in the success of your leaders and students.

Remember, under the right circumstances, people will respond positively.  Create an environment for success.

Abe Daniel - District Student Ministries Director

Northern California and Nevada Assemblies of God Student Ministries

- Inspired by "17 Laws of Teamwork

CONGRESS REVISITED

Your Take Aways From Leadership Congress

For those who attended Congress this year, they did not go home disappointed. We gained powerful leadership insight from Pastor Bret Allen of Bethel Church in San Jose, from Pastor Tommy Barnett of Phoenix First Assembly in Phoenix, AZ and from Jeremy Affeldt from the San Francisco Giants.

Here is what you had to say about your take-aways from Congress this year:

FROM THE MAIN SESSIONS:

• "Who's on your tandem bike?" Who's leading the journey that you are taking? Are you trying to be in control, or are you letting God lead you?"
• "Sharpen Your Axe!" We must work hard and work will to fullfill the call that God has placed on our lives."
• "Being ordinary is okay. You can be great by being ordinary. A leaders job isn't telling people what they can't do.Jesus loved people.Tandem bike:If you look at your life on a tandem bike, we're really."
• "Don't allow acquaintances to dictate your God given priority. Understand the associates in your life and their role in your life. Define your allys and deposit into them how you would them to give back to you."
• "Success in ministry is not a stamp of approval on my personal life. Don’t ever take it that way. Too may pastors have said I thought my life was okay because my ministry was successful after a moral failure."
• "The hot water pipe- this really hit home and the fact that as Christians, we still deal with anger hate and all the other things we dealt with before we got saved. It is most important that we tap into Jesus and the Holy Spirit and pray that Jesus turn the water on and flow into our lives and our heart."
• " If you want a God-given dream to happen, you have to take action!"
• "In order to be great we need to first understand that we are ordinary that way God can work through us."

FROM THE BREAKOUTS:

• "We communicate for CHANGE! Why create an experience instead of a simple message? More is caught than taught. Like the rain forest cafe, they don't just bring you in and tell you about rain forest cafe."
• " There has never been a bigger need to lead than right now. We are called to finish what the disciples started."
• "For a team to be successful, they need to know their roles and play their part."

SOME RESPONSES:

• "Hearing the passion of Pastor Barnett and the workshop from Pastor Dean on "Creating Spiritual Rhythm" gave me a renewed strength and excitement for ministry. I regained the "idea generation" that I felt when I was first called into ministry and received the permission to be passionate about the vision that God put in my heart."
• "Tommy Barnett’s morning session on quitting was insightful and encouraging. Perfect lesson for any leader."
• "I am now a Giants Fan."
• "What am I doing to build healthy friendships so that my friendships reach beyond ministry?"
• "My leaders and I had time to get together and debrief on what was going on in our lives and our youth ministry. We also were able to sit down and apply the words of wisdom given by each speaker to where we our at in our walk with the Lord and challenged us to move forward with excellence in our youth ministry!"

WHAT WAS SAID ABOUT EACH OTHER:

• The youth pastors in the district are really some of the greatest Christians / YP's in the country. All of the churches represented are very blessed to have such awesomeness serving their youth departments.

Thanks for the great insights…we do have amazing youth pastors and leaders!