God uses the weak to display real strength. Rwanda is small by African standards, but leading as an example of a country seeking to do it right. Perfect? Of course not. But on October 13th I was honored to address a monthly gathering of national Rwandan leaders from business, government and the church. I watched as the new leader of their Parliament sat with her well-worn Bible open, taking notes as I spoke. She wasn’t there for a “photo op” but to pray and seek God’s help as she assumes her new role as one of the five most powerful leaders in the nation. It was refreshing to see Christians from business, government, and the Church together; eager to learn how to lead like Jesus in their homes, ministries and government.
October was a month I will never forget, seventeen days devoted to travel and teaching leadership to African pastors and leaders in Tanzania and Rwanda. Of course, the surprise was not what I left behind, but what I brought home… out of Africa. As on previous trips to Rwanda, I learned as much as I taught. Here are some of the lessons brought “out of Africa”.
God uses the weak to display real strength. Rwanda is small by African standards, but leading as an example of a country seeking to do it right. Perfect? Of course not. But on October 13th I was honored to address a monthly gathering of national Rwandan leaders from business, government and the church. I watched as the new leader of their Parliament sat with her well-worn Bible open, taking notes as I spoke. She wasn’t there for a “photo op” but to pray and seek God’s help as she assumes her new role as one of the five most powerful leaders in the nation. It was refreshing to see Christians from business, government, and the Church together; eager to learn how to lead like Jesus in their homes, ministries and government.
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*Choice 7 of 10 in the Take Back Your Life blog series At my church, we have a new members’ class for people who want to join the church. Often, when I visit this class, I ask everyone in attendance: “How many of you want to join this church because you like it?” Obviously, I get a unanimous show of hands. After all, why would they join it if they don’t like the church! Then I surprise them with this promise: “ Because you like this church the way it is, my promise to you is that I will change it.” The room gets real quiet and I see some confused faces staring back at me. I can tell what everyone is thinking: Huh? We just said we like this church. Why are you promising to change what we already like? As a leader, the best change happens when you first decide what must never change. Churches die for two reasons. They change what they should never change or they refuse to change what God gives them the freedom to change. In the first, they abandon the message of God and in the second they abandon the culture they are trying to reach out of their dedication to antiquated methods. In either case, it is essential to determine what things are okay to change and what things should remain constant. Check out I Thessalonians 2. The apostle Paul’s enemies are talking negatively about him and in this passage, Paul defends himself as a leader. From his defense we can extract 6 key essentials for our own leadership. Even if you develop and implement a perfect plan to organize your schedule around Rest Time, Results Time and Response Time, the plan will not work forever. Your plan will fail at some point. Life and leadership are always changing, our responsibilities and priorities, inevitably, are going to shift. Even our unique abilities are under constant refinement, still being discovered and developed as we lead. This is why we need the 4th “R,” Refocus Time. Refocus Time is dedicated to working on the mission, not just in the mission. This time is used to assess, adjust, and innovate for the future; to make the necessary tweaks to your plan so that it continues to work for you. The main questions you want to ask yourself during Refocus Time are: Pastor Peter had been leading his congregation as Senior Pastor for 5 years. The church has enjoyed healthy growth for the last 2 years. The growth became a challenge, taxing the church’s resources. Lots of good ministry was happening, both within the church and out in the community.
But Peter and his 6 associate pastors were growing tired. They reached their capacity, and couldn’t keep up with the demands. They worked harder and longer hours, but it still was not enough. Peter began to see some trends. He and his staff were putting in longer hours, and the joy of ministry seemed to be slipping away. Peter had a deep desire to help his staff, but he too was already overworked. Several months later, one of Peter’s associates came to him. He was busy, buried and behind, overwhelmed by his responsibilities, feeling guilty and inadequate. He was ready to call it quits—he decided to “take a break” from ministry. Peter wondered, “How do I care for my pastors, so they can stay healthy and maximize our ministry to our flock long-term?” |
AuthorI am Dale Burke, a follower and disciple of Jesus Christ, husband, dad and grandpa, leadership consultant, senior pastor for 30+ years and a pastor to pastors. Archive
May 2014
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