Essential Steps to Leading 04 Keep Learning

One of the worst things you can do as a leader ever is stop learning. To reach your potential as a leader you have to keep learning. One of the phrases I believe in so much is lifelong learner. Right now I am doing my DMin, I am doing a course on how to mentor better, I have just come back from a pastor’s conference in Texas – learning, learning, learning. Even at our leadership conference that starts in a couple of days, I will be mainly learning.

I know a lot of people who when they reach a level they are comfortable with they stop investing in learning. I know people who reach a certain age and think school days are over – no school is never over. If you stop learning, that is why you have stopped growing. If you stop growing on the inside, you stop growing on the outside. The apostle John expressed this truth nearly two thousand years ago when he said “Beloved, I pray that you would prosper and be in health, even as your soul prospers”. In other words, your life-prosperity is directly linked to your soul-prosperity.

We have to absolutely put in the time and effort to learn more, it’s essential. I often ask my pastors and people I platform “what are you reading at the moment”, because I want to know they are making the choice to continually grow and learn!

Many people have not even started learning in life yet, I am talking about adults. They have never understood the importance of learning. I have been criticized by people for being in learning situations as much as I am, but that is just that person revealing that they have no idea of the value of learning.

The next step after realizing that learning has worth is taking responsibility for your own learning. Deliberately learning something new is the most important thing you can do for your future. You need to be deliberate about this, you need to be intentional. Choose what you want to learn and who you want to learn from. Pray about it, and ask the Lord for wisdom.

I have been dealing with someone recently who is struggling in several areas, and I found out he was learning from some very questionable ministers. I tried my hardest to help him learn from some more fruitful ministers, but he wouldn’t. That’s a tragedy. It is such a shame.

I cannot give you a specific next step for your learning, but I think everyone should learn something about faith by reading Kenneth Hagin, something about prosperity by reading Kenneth Copeland, and something about grace by reading Andrew Wommack. I’d start there if you have never read a book deliberately before. Learning about these things will change every area of your life. I am talking about promotion at work, living a life of more fruit, a deeper ministry, personal prosperity, new big wide open doors and better friendships.

It is essential to be a leader that you are a learner. I am so wary of some ministers I know who will never be in a room unless they have the microphone. I am wary of worship leaders, children’s ministers, deacons, ushers, anyone who is not learning new information all the time. We have to be constantly learning. I would recommend getting to the place where you are reading at least one book a month. You should also be listening to sermons, and finding mentors who can help you grow and develop your leadership skills. I also think everyone should be in at least two conferences a year where they are there just to learn.

When was the last time we deliberately learned something new? When was the last time you spent money on growing yourself and learning something?

Selah.

Essential Steps to Leading 03 Get Some People Skills!

Listen, if you are going into your vision but no one is coming with you, you are not a leader, you are person on a walk. You have to develop some people skills! It’s amazing how many pastors and leaders don’t have people skills. Some are only interested in speaking to those who can promote them and their ministry. I was in a conference recently in which I was being ignored mainly, until someone realized I had ten nice platforms they could teach on, and considerably more money than most of the other ministers in the room. Then suddenly, I became a person of interest. Not because of my wisdom, my personality, not for friendship but because of what people could get from me. That’s not people skills, that’s sycophantism and it is obvious and it is repulsive.

Other pastors are so nice and kind to everyone that if someone stabbed them they would apologize for getting blood on their knife. They don’t know how to say no. They do not know how to confront people. That’s a skill that is lacking in many churches. Jesus knew how to say no. Jesus knew how to confront people. Jesus did not let people manipulate or intimidate Him.

But at the same time, Jesus had strong and healthy relationships. He once called Peter satan, but the next day, Peter showed up looking for more work from Jesus. That’s a strong relationship! 

Leadership at its most basic level is influencing others, so your ability to connect to others is directly linked to your leadership ability. You have to learn to start new relationships and connect to people, you have to be the one who starts things. Proverbs 18.24 says that a man that has friends must show himself friendly. Don’t moan that no one is calling you or texting you, pick up your phone and call and text others. Listen to other people, find out where they have come from, find out what their life is all about, what they care about – and you will build relationships. Don’t be too busy working to build relationships with the people – people is the work!

You have to learn how to communicate clearly. Communication is a two-way street, not a one way street, so not just talking, listening too. Even in preaching, which is fairly one-way as a means of communication, I can feel if the congregation hasn’t grasped something so I need to go over it again, or if they have got really excited about something so I need to speak more on that. There’s always two directional traffic in good communication.

One of the best ways to build good relationships is to support people when they are going through hard times. We all need that kind of support at times, and if you are the one providing it, you will be able to lead more effectively. Now do it for real, don’t do it to increase your leadership base. Don’t do it to earn brownie points with someone, don’t do it to make someone guilty or indebted to you, just do it out of love. But one of the benefits will be that!

Another key I have found to good relationships is to be positive. People gravitate to positivity. There is a serious lack of positivity in this world. When you start saying something like “When I pray, things happen”, “I can help you beat this”, “we are going to see some miracles today”, “we are going to get to where we are going”, some people will get their back up, mainly because they don’t want to put any effort into changing, but others will be drawn to that kind of faith and positivity. That is the kind of relationships you should be building. 

Working on people skills is something that will take the rest of your life. Deliberately do it. Find people who are good leaders and learn from them. Actively work on good friendships. 

Essential Steps to Leading 02 Have Dream Time

One of the most important keys to leadership, whether it is being a pastor, a manager, a dad, a mum, a living church leader, a head chef, or anyone who wants to influence others for good and for the kingdom of God, is that you must have dream time. 

You have to set aside and make time to dream. It’s so important, that there is pretty much no way I could ever over-emphasize this! It is vital, it is imperative, it is essential!

Those who dream will always do more than those who don’t! Dreamers get new ideas when others are still struggling, dreamers solve problems better, dreamers communicate vision better, dreamers are more creative, dreamers are more innovative, dreamers are more influential. In short, dreamers are better leaders. 

So many people never take time to dreams, and it shows. Some people never dream about themselves conquering a Goliath, solving a problem, doing something better, walking in victory, walking in health. Some pastors never dream of what their church could look like, some managers never dream of what their company could look like, some parents never dream of what their children look like. If you see yourself in this, here is the solution:

  • Dream specific dreams. If there is a problem in your life, stop whining and complaining, and start dreaming.
  • Set aside time to dream. You will never ever find that time.
  • Dream about your future. Dream about the end of this year, dream about next year, dream about it working, dream about ten years time. Dreams lead to schemes! In other words, your dreaming leads to you making plans. I have often decided to do things in the midst of my dreaming time because it became clear that it would get me a step closer to the dream.
  • Bring the Word into your dream. Dream big but also dream long too – take the time to dream of what this situation would look like if all the promises of God manifested. Dream long enough to see what you are dreaming crystal clear with the Word inside it – it will produce wisdom, favour, and so much more. DREAM!
  • Dream as big as you can, then dream bigger. That’s my practice, just when I think I cannot dream any more, I add another 10% and keep dreaming. Dave Duell told me a dream should be so big it stops you sleeping! I agree!
  • Do something. Your dream should be so big it cannot be done by you alone and cannot be completed in your lifetime. But you yourself can do something today, so do it. 
  • Let your dream influence your decisions. Let it influence how you treat people, how you respond in meetings, how you spend and invest money, how you carry yourself. Let it change everything!
  • Find a dream place. I do my best dreaming in my office, but I also like to dream at the gym too. Both those places I can lock myself away (one literally, one metaphorically) and focus on the Word and the dreams of the Spirit.
  • Be consistent. Be regular. Don’t stop dreaming!
  • Make sure you hang around with people with bigger dreams than you, and keep your time with people who have tiny dreams, or who denigrate your dreams, to a minimum.
  • Make sure you have a pen and paper or voice recorder or some app on your phone that you can record things as you dream.
  • Share your dreams. DO NOT share everything with everyone, but share something with someone who you trust, and it will fire you more and more!

When was the last time you dreamed? David Yonghii Cho had 1-2 hours of dreaming in his diary every day and had a church of 1000000 people. Selah!

Essential Steps to Leading 01 Lead Yourself First

One of the essential things to being an effective leader is to lead yourself first. You cannot have a leader who cannot lead themselves. You cannot pastor if you cannot pastor yourself, you cannot usher if you cannot usher yourself into a place of peace, you cannot be a worship leader if you cannot lead yourself to worship God whether you feel like it or not, you cannot be a house group leader without your own house in order, you cannot be the treasurer of a church if your own finances are not in order, you cannot preach to others if you cannot preach to yourself and encourage yourself in the Lord.

I am meeting more and more leaders who want to lead others without leading themselves. They want a platform to influence others, but their own life is lacking. The word for that, according to the Bible, is hypocrite. You cannot stand on the platform spouting this and that, then come off the platform and be sulky, rude, belligerent, indifferent to the things of God. That is not how we should be as leaders. Not in the slightest. People are watching and they want to know if you are leading yourself.

Here are some keys to help you become a better leader of yourself:

  1. Develop a better relationship with yourself. When it comes to leading others, at some point good leadership advice will be build a better relationship with the people you are leading. It’s the same with yourself. Get to know yourself. What are your strong points, what are your weak points, when does temptation get you. Learn more about yourself.
  2. Encourage Yourself. If you are a leader, you are encouraging people. If you are a pastor, you are encouraging people in the Word, if you are a worship leader, you are encouraging people to worship, if you are an elder, you are encouraging people to relate to the Word. So, start with yourself. Encourage yourself in the Word, encourage yourself to worship, encourage yourself to give. Be in church, be in a living church, go to conferences, be a reader, listen to sermons. Build yourself up!
  3. Challenge Yourself. One of the most powerful parts of leadership is to challenge the people you lead. Do it to yourself. Challenge yourself to have a positive attitude no matter what is going on around you. Challenge yourself to walk with God and reflect His goodness no matter what is happening inside you. Control your thoughts, harness your emotions and dominate your reactions. 
  4. Don’t over-push yourself. Another piece of good leadership advice is not to put too hard a burden on the people you lead. Do the same for yourself. Make sure you get a Sabbath every week, don’t just focus on your leadership life, but make sure your family and friends are part of your routine. Spend time with the Lord, spend time relaxing too. Evaluate where you spend your time and be willing to make changes.

The more you lead yourself effectively, the more others will be keen to follow you. Selah.

Pastor’s Don’t Do This 25 Being Light About the Things of God

Last week, I asked someone who was working for the church in the finance department to give money to two ministries and they refused. They said the money should be given later when other things were done. They were light about the things of God. They were not taking God seriously, and putting His commands to give and sow seed off to another day. One thing no pastor or church leader must ever be is light about the things of God. Cain put off giving until later, Abel gave the first-fruits of his income. Only Abel was a man of faith!

Some people have a naturally practical temperament, that’s true, but we must no matter our temperament take the Word of God, the Spirit of God, the office of a pastor or the kingdom of God lightly. We have to take that more seriously than anything else. 

One of the things that differentiates people who are fruitful in the kingdom and those who are not fruitful is the speed in which they move when God speaks to them. Some people move at their own pace, doing what they want when they want, other people move at God’s pace, listening to Him and putting Him first. As pastors, we need to be in the second group!

In John 7.6 Jesus said “My time has not yet come, but your time is here!” Think about that – Jesus was saying my time is not your time. A lot of us are living by our time, but we need to repent and start living by his time. If you had asked me the time on Wednesday 7th September, at around 3pm, I would have said it’s an hour before my pastor’s Zoom, it’s a few hours before I do a livestream, and it’s my wife’s birthday soon so I need to get ready for that. If you had asked the Queen of England what time it is, I doubt her answer would have included my pastor’s meeting or live stream, she might have mentioned high tea, meeting a family member or a meeting or something. But it was actually a day before she died! Her time was not my time. 

I have my time, I have a timetable for my life, you have your time, a timetable for your life. but we all should be looking to God for His timing, His plans, His way of doing things.

I cannot imagine putting giving off to a better day. I don’t ever ask how much is in the bank when God tells me to give, I just obey God, knowing it is better for me, better for others and ultimately better for God. However, there was a time I did put God off, for about six months, I knew God wanted me to yield to Him and be born again, but I didn’t do it until much later than God started dealing with me. I’ve met people who know God has called them to be born again, but they haven’t responded and it is decades later! They just haven’t done what God said to do, they are putting it off. What they have done is taken God’s Word and God’s instructions lightly. 

When I was at Bible College, I met students who had been called to go to Bible College over ten years previously, but put it off. I know someone who called me recently when I planted one church telling me God had told them eight years previously to plant a church there, but he had never got round to it. I don’t know what to say. I sometimes see pictures of some Bible Colleges, not all thankfully, and see a sea of gray hair. I have been planting churches for over a decade and I feel I am only just starting my ministry. I am not sure you can have maximum results if you put things off over and over. Now if you have put things off, obey God now and receive grace, but stop doing it – stop taking God’s instructions lightly. 

Lightness to the things of God is one of the problems of the age. We have to take things seriously, life is not Pacman – we only get one life, we only get one run through, let’s use it to make waves now. 

People are not sharing their faith, saying they will do it another day. Jesus said do not say four more months! We have to stop taking that lightly. Stop taking prayer lightly, stop taking prayer lightly, stop taking purity lightly, stop taking giving lightly. 

It’s a really sad truth, but one that is universal is that many Christians never get to where God wants them to be. Indeed some Christians seem to be growing worse! 

One of the main reasons is a lightness to the things of God. We need to be heavy when it comes to God – taking God seriously. You need to spend time meditating about the things of God, you need to spend time in the Word, you need to spend time in prayer, you need to feed from God, listen to sermons. Not the light sermons either, but heavy ones, ones full of nutrients from the Word. You and I don’t have time to waste on froth and bubbles!

A lot of us are too irreverent to God, like His Word doesn’t matter, like His ability to provide and help means nothing. There is so much of this going on, some of it sadly in the name of grace. We need to spend the time listening to God that when He speaks in a church service, that you as the pastor know how to move and flow with the gifts, you know how to heal the sick, prophesy over people and lead people into a deeper walk with God. Pastor, do not take the things of God lightly!

There is a lightness when someone can ignore and fail to implement a godly instruction from a pastor. If I see an usher doing something they shouldn’t, I don’t normally get personally involved, I speak to the deacon. If a business man had a problem with a cleaner, he would speak to the cleaner’s boss. God is as smart as me and as a business man! God tells pastors things to do sometimes, and people should then not take that lightly. If you are in church this week and the pastor says we are going to sing that song again, and again, and again – listen and do it and do it with passion. No one ever died from singing a song over and over, and if the pastor is in tune with God it will absolutely help you encounter God! Pastors, make sure you are in tune with God and when God leads you to do something, do not give a rip about what anyone else thinks, obey God!

In Tree of Life we will see the glory fall on people this year – unless people are light about it, those people won’t see it. Pastors, you should be aware of what was happening in advance, you need to become serious enough about the things of God that you do. A lot of what is going on with the gifts is light not heavy, and it needs to change, we need to develop!

Selah.

Pastors Don’t Do This 24: Being Super Mature

We should all be mature, there’s something ugly about an immature leader, but some leaders get so mature they start believing their own press, they take themselves far too seriously, and they forget how to have fun. They then lose humility. We have to enter the kingdom like children (Matthew 18.3) – and often pastors are the exact opposite of children. They become unteachable. I know a lot of pastors who never listen to sermons, they would never ever respond to an altar call no matter how specific the word was for them and how much they need prayer. 

Many pastors never mature because they are over-mature, they are not child-like. Right now I am in Manchester opening a new church and a huge part of why Tree of Life Church is so successful is that I am child like. I am not over mature. A lot of pastors never enter a new dimension of ministry because they cannot learn from others, they cannot step out in faith, they cannot even say “amen” at a good sermon. That’s true, I know pastors who just sit there silently if another is preaching – woe betide if they get excited. They never lift their hands during worship, they never flow in the gifts. They are too concerned what the cool “older” kids think of them to do what the Spirit leads!

Some pastors are over mature in their preaching, they never get excited about anything they are preaching about, they preach from their mind, from a place of the mind and thinking, they never preach something exciting. Their sermons never wake anyone up. And those people always judge the more exciting preachers – “Oh, they never said much, they didn’t have any substance, they didn’t use enough Scriptures” – where as a child in the kingdom would have received so much from that message!

If you can only receive from some speakers, it is because you are not child-like enough, and are childish. You look down on anointed people and dismiss them as irrelevant even if they are more fruitful than you. Children know they need to learn more and look to learn from everyone.

If you want deeper ministry, you need to learn how to learn from people. If you want a healing ministry, then the first step is to admit you don’t have one yet. The second step is to find people who do and read their books, listen to their CDs, go to their conferences and learn. When they say something you disagree with, don’t go over-mature and judge and look down the end of your nose at them, realize they know more than you and learn something. There is no other way to enter into a healing ministry – you cannot enter into the kingdom unless you do it as a child. You cannot enter into a healing ministry unless like a child. That’s how I did it, that’s how anyone who has done it has done it. There is no other path.

Stop worrying about what everyone is thinking and dance like a child, flow in the gifts like a child, preach with passion like a child, learn from others like a child.

Be humble! If you are not learning from other people, you are not humble. If you cannot tell me who you are actively learning from, you are not humble, and pastor you are heading for a fall!

Just receive. Selah!

Pastors Don’t Do This 23: Receiving Glory from Men 03 Receiving Glory from Men Makes it Impossible to Preach Prosperity

I have taken up a number of very successful offerings in my life. I have raised 30000 Euros in one offering in one conference, I have raised 17000 pounds in one offering in our summer conference, and I once raised nearly 40000 pounds when Andrew Wommack came to speak for us last year. To get up and receive a big offering for any purpose, you have to stop caring about what people think of you. It is that simple. One of the reasons some people cannot receive offerings is that they want glory from people!

A few years ago I wanted all our churches to receive a special offering for a specific reason so I told our pastors to receive the offering and gave them instructions on what to do. One of our pastors point blank refused, and so I went to visit them and I was actually going to receive the offering myself in their church for them, if they did not feel capable of doing it. Oh, it was not ability that caused the problem, it was that they did not want to lose face with people by talking about money. Listen some people will always get upset when you talk about money as a leader and as a pastor because their heart is wrong. I know one of our churches whenever I talk about money, there is one man who shakes his head and gets angry. He is very poor and the reason is because he will not submit his finances to the Lord. You will lose face with people like that if you speak God’s Word about finances. It’s that simple, and you have to get over it.

It’s a very sad truth that some pastors are desperate for the glory of people, they would never do anything to damage their reputation with people. They would quench the Spirit, only teach on some subjects and hold back on looking foolish, all to impress people! I know pastors who are so excited that some ungodly politician likes them or comes to speak at their church. I noticed when I read the Bible Jesus does not invite Pontius Pilate to give a short word before the Sermon on the Mount. He never tried to go and have an expensive lunch with Herod.

But when it comes to talking about money, there are pastors who will never receive a big offering because they are too scared of the opinions of people to say what needs to be said. They are scared of being grouped with those pastors who have abused money, they are scared of people leaving the church, they are scared of upsetting first time guests, they are scared of nasty emails from ignorant fools. In short, they are scared of being disliked by people. They are more concerned with the glory of man than the glory of God.

Do not be like that. If God leads you to speak on money, speak on money. If God gives you a word of knowledge about money, share it. If God leads you to receive an offering, receive it. If God tells you to do this or that, do it. If God tells you to say something about finances, say it. Stop caring what people think and start caring about what God thinks.

Selah.

As an aside, but as a very important point, you will never be able to speak boldly on finances if your finances are not in order. If you are a non-tither, you have no right at all to be in a pulpit for any reason. If you don’t know how to give and give big, how can you inspire others?! If you are in that position, sort things out and do it quickly. Get help if you need it, but sort it out. The church needs people who can speak about finances with boldness, tenderness and wisdom. If we do not, we will never be able to fulfill the Great Commission.

Pastors Don’t Do This 22: Receiving Glory from Men 02 Receiving Glory from Men Will Cause You to Miss a Move of God!

We have, in planting in 17 different locations around the UK, sometimes had to start services in locations that were not ideal, in situations that were not ideal, we haven’t had a worship leader, the room needed a lick of paint – and maybe a clean. It took a while to find, and we didn’t have the money for signs and banners.

I would always be thinking – who would want to come to this church? Who would want to come to this meeting? Sometimes I have made decisions about promoting people who other people did not think were ready or whatever.

Some Christians do choose a church where the admiration and glory of men matters so much to them. I have met those people before. But, you know when God wants to move He does not necessarily choose someone who is eloquent or educated. He might choose someone who was a drug addict rather than someone who was a Bible College graduate. He might choose someone who was a thief rather than someone who was raised in a nice family and with a nice background and nice accent. We have to learn to look past these things!

If we pick a church because of the honour of men, we will more than likely go to the wrong church. You will also marry the wrong person if you marry someone who everyone approves of. Some people want to marry a doctor or lawyer because they want the glory of men. What people want and what God want are not the same. Some people have made idols of the words and opinions of others and will go to the wrong church, have the wrong career and marry the wrong person just to be respected by others!

And as pastors, some pastors prepare their messages to be admired by people. You can either preach to impress people or preach to feed people but you cannot do both, it is impossible. I would have preached some very different messages in the last few weeks if my goal was to be popular and admired. I have spoken the truth about Israel, the nations, the end-times and morality. I could have preached some great messages that would have been far more dignified, I could have preached in such a way to impress the grace people, the faith people, the this and that people, but that is not how we choose what to preach. WE MUST FIND OUT WHAT GOD WANTS US TO SAY AND SAY IT BOLDLY! We don’t need the long words and the fancy accent, we need to be on fire for Jesus. We need to be like Jesus, more concerned to share the truth and have people understand it than preach fancy messages. I like what Paul said in 1 Cor. 2.1-2 in the Message translation:

You’ll remember, friends, that when I first came to you to let you in on God’s sheer genius, I didn’t try to impress you with polished speeches and the latest philosophy. I deliberately kept it plain and simple: first Jesus and who he is; then Jesus and what he did—Jesus crucified.

I was in our Cambridge church plant a few months ago, and I preached such a simple message on being born again and receiving the baptism in the Holy Spirit. One couple came and left the meeting, and they didn’t realize my wife was outside, and the wife started criticizing the message for being too simple. I am so glad I didn’t preach that message to impress them! I am not trying to please people, I am trying to please God.

What did Paul tell the Galatians when he told them that their legalism was actually a form of demonic witchcraft taking them away from the true gospel? A message we still need to tell people today! He said:

Do you think I speak this strongly in order to manipulate crowds? Or court favor with God? Or get popular applause? If my goal was popularity, I wouldn’t bother being Christ’s slave. Know this—I am most emphatic here, friends—this great Message I delivered to you is not mere human optimism. I didn’t receive it through the traditions, and I wasn’t taught it in some school. I got it straight from God, received the Message directly from Jesus Christ. (Galatians 1.10-12 MSG)

Pastor, you have a choice. Preach what God wants you to preach or preach for the admiration and glory of men. You can rarely do both. Pleasing the people is often the opposite of what God wants you to preach! I know churches that have taken messages in tongues out of their services! I know churches that have stopped ministering to the sick in their services! Why? They want to impress people! Some people mock evangelism, mock missionary work, mock healings, mock miracles, and some pastors are so concerned about what those people think. It shuts off a move of God!

Pastors Don’t Do This 21: Receiving Glory from Men 01 What Do You Mean Receiving Glory From Men!

John 5.44 in the ESV says:
How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?

When you receive glory from other people you cannot at the same time believe and trust God. That’s what Jesus said and I believe Him! One of the reasons so many pastors are not stepping out in faith and doing what God has called them to do is that they like the glory they get from other men. I would say this – either you are listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God, or you are listening to the glory coming from other men.

We want to be admired in society, we want to be respected, to be honoured (which is the word the KJV uses). We are often bound by the glory given to us by other men which stops us believing God and walking in God’s plan for our life. We should only be receiving our glory by doing what God tells us to do.

One of the things that makes the life of Jesus stand out so much is that He did not receive the glory from men. He never did something to make someone like Him more, to make someone respect Him, to make someone admire Him. That never moved Him! We must be the same as pastors and leaders. We must be immune to the praises of men, and only be looking to be praised by the Father!

You cannot flow with God and still be looking for respect and honour from people! The glory of men still makes many people do things that are against God’s Word. We want qualifications so we go to godless universities rather than spend time listening to God and doing what He calls us to do. We choose schools for our children, drive cars, buy houses, eat at certain places and wear certain clothes so that other people admire us and give us glory. We do so much to get credit and praise from other men. This is the truth.

Every big decision you will make as a pastor will boil down eventually to this: will I make the choice that makes men admire us and give us glory, or will we do what makes God admire us and give us glory? That is the crux of every big decision a pastor makes. Or any Christian, but it is vital for those feeding the flock!

I have just seen a couple throw their destiny in the bin because they could not do anything that did not bring them glory from other people. It was very sad. We have to not be like that, we have to only seek glory from God – what will make God admire and respect us – choose that and do that.

Selah.

Pastors Don’t Do This 20: Not Bearing Fruit!

What glorifies God? If you asked 100 pastors the answer to that question, I bet you would get 100 answers, and very few of them would be from the Word of God. But the Bible is clear on this: Herein is my father glorified, that ye bear much fruit (John 15.8). The way to glorify God is to be fruitful. As pastors we should be fruitful – our churches should be growing, people should be saved, healed, transformed. People should have testimonies because they got around us. The more fruit we bear the more glory we bring to the Father.

I think many pastors have ignored or forgotten this Scripture. They do not seem to think that pastors should be fruitful or that it matters. Now I am not talking about becoming selfish, having a carnal ambition or comparing with others. I am talking about growing and being fruitful. Sometimes I talk to some pastors and I wonder why they even went into ministry, their goals in life do not seem to be populating Heaven, making disciples and changing as many lives as possible.

I met an African pastor recently, he had a church of over 1000 in his home nation, and he came to London, and is now pastoring 20. Now I am not saying that this could never be God’s will for someone, but our entire conversation all he could talk about was the joy of living in England, and he was not talking about fruit! In my opinion, he was being very fruitful where he was, and moved for the wrong reasons. Are you looking to live in London or are you looking to bear fruit? What has God called you to do? What do you want? An easy life or fruit? Respect or fruit?

I know an elder in our church who was fruitful, every week he had the largest Living Church in our church family and people were impacted by the gospel. But he decided, at the enticement of someone else, to launch out into his own ministry which failed miserably. He chose independence to me over bearing fruit, and that is sad. Pastors choose money over fruit, position over fruit, fame over fruit – are you looking to make a name for yourself or are you looking to bear fruit?

It disturbs me how many “successful” pastors in the UK suddenly feel a calling to the US. There is more money to be made as a pastor in the US than the UK. Is it the US or is it fruit? We have to be sure.

The top of our agenda should be to glorify God and if the way to do that is bear fruit, then the top of our agenda must be to bear fruit. Ask yourself today – what can I do to bear more fruit? Why do we have the conferences we do, why do we keep planting churches, we are we doing evangelism on the streets every week, why am I writing this blog and my tithing blog today when I am busy at a conference? Why do I work as hard as I do and preach as much as I do? I KNOW HOW TO GLORIFY MY FATHER!

God has placed in all of us a desire to be fruitful. Start listening to Him how and start following His leading. I love my car, and I would also love to get a brand new car. But that is not the fruit of the kingdom, the fruit of the kingdom is salvations, healings, miracles, disciples, new churches, new leaders being released, people’s ideas being challenged. How we glorify God is by bearing much fruit.