I have the awesome opportunity and honor of telling you about a new book that was just released last week and is a book that if read with an open heart will not just change your life but will also change the lives of those you come in contact with.

The book is called “Lead Vertically” and is written by Pastor Craig Johnson. Pastor Craig is the Senior Director of Family Ministries at Lakewood Church in Houston which is one of the largest and fasting growing churches in America.

In Lead Vertically, Pastor Craig shares with us his thoughts on how to build an awesome leadership team that is not only successful but is fulfilled. Through powerful scripture references, personal experiences, and life stories submitted by his own staff; Pastor Craig show leaders the importance of building a team that is reaching not only the ministries (or companies) goals but also the staff’s dreams. Letting them know that the best days are yet to come and that they need to keeping looking up because they never know when God is going to drop something awesome in their lap.

Pastor Craig has so many insightful quotes and statements in this book. Here are just a few a few of my favorite:

“ Vertical leaders help others soar where eagles fly, not where the chickens grovel.”

“You can’t receive the harvest until you accept the seed.”

“A vertical leader is inclusive and builds up whoever is willing to follow.”

“To lead another life, one must be willing to give up a part of his or her own.”

“Leadership is about knowing how you are without being defensive about who you are not.”

I encourage you all to go out and get a copy of this book. It’s available just about everywhere online and I am sure in the stores as well. Don’t just buy one though … buy some for your staff. Sow into them … it will be worth it BIG TIME.

As you all know, I said I would be giving away a copy of Lead Vertically today. To enter into the contest all you have to do is subscribe to my newsletter by clicking here. Once you are fully subscribed you will be entered into the contest.

All current subscribers of my mailing list will automatically be entered into the drawing. Drawing will conclude at 10pm CST on May 4th, 2010. I will announce the winner of the book tomorrow evening (May 5th, 2010).

Waking up this morning I have to admit I was lazy. I really didn’t want to get out of bed. I really wanted to just lay there and relax. As I was laying there I started thinking about my life and goals I have. One of those goals is to be healthy and fit. To be able to run a marathon and not cross the finish line in an ambulance. LOL

This morning I had to get up and go look at myself in the mirror for motivation. I had to picture myself as a healthy fit guy. This made me happy because I could see it. It also gave me motivation to walk to the treadmill and run like crazy. Had I not seen myself as a healthy fit guy in the mirror I wouldn’t have had the motivation to give it my all. It would have just been one of those days where I run/walk on the treadmill and go on with my day.

To many times in ministry we lose the vision. We work ministry but we don’t see it and if we do see it … we don’t see it like God see’s it. What we need to understand is that what we keep in front of us (in our vision) affects us. We can be sitting down watching a movie and here comes a Dairy Queen commercial showing a awesome banana split and the next thing I know … I and everyone else that watched the commercial is planning a trip across town to the Dairy Queen.

In ministry we need to always have our vision at the forefront of our lives. As I have told you all many times before, God has given me visions that blow my mind away (Eph 3:20). One particular vision, of which He has shown me over and over again, is where I am standing ministering to kids on a stage and I am looking out over hundreds and thousands of kids. Their hands lifted high in worship, tears running down their faces, and the Holy Spirit moving through the auditorium in waves. This is the vision God has given me and I know that someday I will see that vision come to pass. I look at my life right now and wonder how God is going to do that through me but I believe He will as long as I keep the vision and am obedient to His voice.

We have to start living our lives in faith. We have to start believing that through God NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE. NOTHING!!!

God said in Isaiah 43:19 “I’m about to do something brand-new. It’s bursting out! Don’t you see it?”. God is about to do something brand new in you and me. Do you see it?

I love following Pastor Brian Houston on Twitter because he always pushes me to be a better leader. Over the last several weeks (actually probably months now) he has been posting “Leadership Goals”. I think they are awesome and so I wanted to share a couple with you. I hope these bless you as much as they have blessed me.

Leadership Goal: To be slower to JUDGE motives, but quicker to DISCERN hearts! Heart issues can MAKE or BREAK a team!

Leadership Goal: Not a culture of OPINION which we FORCE on others, but a culture of COUNSEL which is INVITED by others!

Leadership Goal: Surrounded by leaders who are WISE enough to say NO, but COURAGEOUS enough when they need to say YES.

Leadership Goal: To inspire a crowd with MANY interests, giftings & loves.. to forcefully unite around a SINGLE cause!

Leadership Goal: To enter 2010 with a FRESH approach to pursuing the SAME vision, filled with FAITH for radical progress!

Leadership Goal: A spirit, un-tainted by offense, bitterness, hurt, or regret. A life-long commitment to a FREE spirit!

Leadership Goal: To have a team who say NO to gifts, contacts & favours that have strings attached, & NO to borrowing!

Leadership Goal: Remember that the greatest heights of leadership wisdom are entirely inferior to the power of prayer!

Leadership Goal: To bring CLARITY, not confusion, DIRECTION where there is distraction & FOCUS when things are fogged!

Leadership Goal: FOR our focus, direction & purpose to be clearer to every person in a room, than it was when I walked in.

Leadership Goal: To be a leader who can admit mistakes, show vulnerability, be self-effacing, yet be quietly confident!

If you are a leader you should be following Pastor Brian on Twitter. Click here to find his page and then select “Follow”. Also, if you aren’t following me … well … do the same “here“.

All day today I have been meditating on the Word that was brought forth last night by Pastor Brad Liebe at Pathways Church. His message was entitled “Putting the life of Christ into action”. It wasn’t a “new revelation” message but yet message of encouragement to be all that we can be.

His message literally was Romans 12. This chapter, in my mind, is one of the most important chapters in the Bible. It gives yet another glimpse into how we are to live our lives. I am actually going to include the chapter below (via The Message Bible) as I think every christian should read it and model their lives after it. You will find some very strong truths in it. I was going to highlight or just post a portion of the chapter but in reality the entire chapter is powerful and worth posting. Please read it below … and see how you measure up.

1-2 So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

3 I’m speaking to you out of deep gratitude for all that God has given me, and especially as I have responsibilities in relation to you. Living then, as every one of you does, in pure grace, it’s important that you not misinterpret yourselves as people who are bringing this goodness to God. No, God brings it all to you. The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what he does for us, not by what we are and what we do for him.

4-6 In this way we are like the various parts of a human body. Each part gets its meaning from the body as a whole, not the other way around. The body we’re talking about is Christ’s body of chosen people. Each of us finds our meaning and function as a part of his body. But as a chopped-off finger or cut-off toe we wouldn’t amount to much, would we? So since we find ourselves fashioned into all these excellently formed and marvelously functioning parts in Christ’s body, let’s just go ahead and be what we were made to be, without enviously or pridefully comparing ourselves with each other, or trying to be something we aren’t.

6-8 If you preach, just preach God’s Message, nothing else; if you help, just help, don’t take over; if you teach, stick to your teaching; if you give encouraging guidance, be careful that you don’t get bossy; if you’re put in charge, don’t manipulate; if you’re called to give aid to people in distress, keep your eyes open and be quick to respond; if you work with the disadvantaged, don’t let yourself get irritated with them or depressed by them. Keep a smile on your face.

9-10 Love from the center of who you are; don’t fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle.

11-13 Don’t burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant. Don’t quit in hard times; pray all the harder. Help needy Christians; be inventive in hospitality.

14-16 Bless your enemies; no cursing under your breath. Laugh with your happy friends when they’re happy; share tears when they’re down. Get along with each other; don’t be stuck-up. Make friends with nobodies; don’t be the great somebody.

17-19 Don’t hit back; discover beauty in everyone. If you’ve got it in you, get along with everybody. Don’t insist on getting even; that’s not for you to do. “I’ll do the judging,” says God. “I’ll take care of it.”

20-21 Our Scriptures tell us that if you see your enemy hungry, go buy that person lunch, or if he’s thirsty, get him a drink. Your generosity will surprise him with goodness. Don’t let evil get the best of you; get the best of evil by doing good.

This chapter is who I am (by faith). I will live my life to be all that I can be for God. To be a witness/example of God. That’s my goal … that’s my life. I want to be … what He wants me to be.

As I count the days down to the launch of a new decade I have been really praying and thinking about my life and about the visions and dreams that God has given me. Thinking of everything that needs to change for me to be … all that I can be.

Let’s be real for a few minutes here. Let’s stop acting like we have it all together and all is well and please read this with your full heart.

Some of us, including myself, have allowed people and situations to get in the way of the vision that God has for us. We are running a race and some of us (including myself) keep getting tripped up.

Here I am, a man ordained and chosen to reach the world for Christ …. but allowing people and situations to keep me back from reaching my full potential. Yeah, I have seen tens of thousands of kids give their lives Christ over the last 16 years but God has so much more for me. I am honored that I was involved in the process of introducing them to the King but there is so many more to reach.

It’s time for change. Time to stop worrying about what others are going to say, stop worrying about what friends will say or do, stop worrying about your past coming to haunt you.

I remember being 12 and accepting Christ into my life. Developing a prayer life and being baptized. I was so on fire for God at church but at home … it was hard. I wanted to be the angelic child, the “I got saved” kid but I couldn’t. God wanted me to respect my parents …. But I was afraid of being taken advantage of and being called a “goody goody”. So …. Change didn’t happen until I turned 17 when I allowed God to really got a hold of me. Respect for my parents was required.

I think it’s funny that even as adults we still deal with these feelings. Many of us called it the “Approval Addition”. I believe in many areas of my life I broke that a couple years ago … however I still seem stuck in the area of ‘change’. I know what God wants in my life. I know what God wants for my health. It requires major change. It requires me to stop living my life based on what others will think of me completely. It requires me to stop living my life based how many ‘friends’ I will loose. It requires me to stop living my life based off my past being thrown in my face.

I started this process of ‘change’ about two years ago … it’s been very slow though. Now I come to fork in the road. Either I give it all I have or I stay as I am, disappointed.

I don’t care what I have to do to be all that God has called me to be. It’s gotta be done. This past decade for me has been the worst decade of my life. The WORST!! It ends now. This new decade will be the decade of change. Not just in my life but in the lives of those I come in contact with.

We as leaders, need to understand that it wasn’t the eating of the fruit that separated Adam & Eve from God. It was the excuse. God still called out to them and He gave them opportunity. God is still calling out. He is still giving us opportunities to make things right. As Keith Craft recently said “If you elevate your thinking … you will elevate your life”. It’s time to elevate!! It’s time to rise above.

Keith Craft recently shared a story about a horse that everyone thought was done for. There was no hope. They decided they were going to bury the horse alive so they dug a hole and lowered the horse into it. Then the men started throwing dirty into the hole to bury the horse. Every time they threw dirt in the hole the horse would shake it off and step up on it eventually elevating itself out of the hole. The moral … don’t let people or situations bury you alive. Step up!! God is always there and will (if you obey) raise you above the nations (Duet 28:1-14).

So, in closing … watch out!!!

Graphic idea from ‘Brendan Sceroler‘.

It’s been awesome having the opportunity to share with you some of my favorite things via the series “Who, what and why do I?”. This series could probably go on forever … literally however at some point I am going to have to end it. Not today however … today I want to share with you some of the best podcasts on iTunes.

I have noticed that there area select few people that I tend to gravitate towards. It’s not a bad thing to gravitate towards them however through this series I realized that I should open my eyes a littler wider … maybe find some more people to gravitate to. I also realized that I don’t listen to as many podcasts as I thought.

If you have any podcasts that you think I should subscribe to and that I might enjoy (obviously) please let me know. I am always looking to learn and grow.

The Top 5 include (in no specific order) – All these links open in iTunes
1. Elevation Church – Now you all should have known that Elevation Church was going to be on my podcast list! LOL!! I am not even going to go into why I subscribe to this podcast because you should already know from Part 1 and Part 2 of this series. LOL

2. Hillsong TV – Same with this one. I just love Hillsong Church. They rock it out.

3. Children’s Ministry Monthly – This is a great podcast that I subscribe to that talks about a wide array of children’s ministry problems and offers solutions in everything from discipline, teaching methods, staff management and even family issues within a children’s pastors family. Awesome podcast for any children’s minister to subscribe to.

4. The Potter’s Touch – This is Bishop TD Jakes church and he is always preaching one message that really turns out to be 20 messages. You always learn and grow from his messages. If you don’t … well … you might be dead.

5. Daily Live Worship – This podcast is recorded by Bryan Clift. He is an awesome worshiper and every day he goes and worships and records it in hopes that you will enter in with him. Some of his stuff is old school but it’s powerful. I can’t tell you how many times I have went in while listening and participating in the worship that he records. Some of you may not get it … but because I am old school … it gets me. LOL

I know there are other podcasts out there and I am sure they are awesome!! I want to know about them so if you subscribe to a podcast and think that I would enjoy it feel free to post it in the comments below. Please SHARE!!! Don’t be selfish!! LOL

Will there be a part 4? Only time will tell.

Yesterday I started a series called “Who, what and why do I?”. The first part of the series was about who I follow on Twitter and why? You can read it by clicking here. Today I want to share with you which blogs I read daily and why?

There are so many blogs on the web. I remember at one time blogging was process of manually inserting your posts into a core html Angelfire page. ((THANK GOD FOR WORDPRESS)) That was a long time ago. Over the years I have found some awesome blogs. I happen to have become “a reader” as of late. I use an awesome RSS reader called “Feedreader” and each day it launches and I read up on new posts.

Never – the – less there are a couple blogs that I get my daily fix from. Below are the Top 5 Blogs that I recommend everyone to read (other than my own blog of course! LOL).

The Top 5 include (in no specific order)
1. Steven Furtick – Now you all should know that he was going to be at the top of my list. His blog entries are awesome. They really push me to be an awesome leader. Really makes me think. For instance, today’s blog was about “The value of a good reputation”. I strive to have a good name. I’ve made mistakes in the past and people have their judgments about me but I know who I am and who I am trying to be like. Never – the – less, if you are a leader … you should be reading his blog daily. It will bless your socks off.

2. Jim Wideman – Now if you are a children’s minister and you don’t know who Jim Wideman is then I ….. Well …. I really don’t know what to tell you. LOL. Jim Wideman is the e-ching of children’s ministry leadership. I read his blog daily as he inspires me to be all I can be and he pushes (well … in a blog type way) me to step up. He is another one of those leadership gurus that every leader should follow.

3. Seth Godin – Seth is a marketing guru. Whether you want to admit it or not, the church is marketing Christ to the World. This is the reason I follow Seth. Obviously all of his posts are about “business marketing” but a lot of the things he shares can be used in the church. Seth is known well for his popular book called “Purple Cow” which pushes companies (and people) to be “unique” and offer something that it not seen every day. A good follow … especially for business owners and leaders.

4. David Wakerley – As I stated in my last post … I think David is one of the best children’s pastors I have ever had the opportunity to follow. He is edgy and energetic. I love his heart for the ministry and his drive to see kids saved. He also has changed the “music world” with the awesome songs coming out of Hillsong Kids!! While serving in Milwaukee, WI … Hillsong Kids music was number one … followed by Group 1 Crew.

5. Henry Zonio – Henry’s blog has blessed me many times. His blog posts are real. What I mean is that I find myself learning and dealing with the same stuff that he has posted. I have only been following him for a little under a month but the first post I read from him had me hooked. I am really looking forward to seeing and hearing more about how he is impacting Canada.

Now hold on … I know that some of these bloggers I also follow via Twitter … it just shows you how much of an impact they have on my life. I love how there are powerhouses throughout the World. From warm Australia to the cold country of Canada. From one pole to another God has placed powerful leaders in our paths to help us grow. Just thinking … wouldn’t it be awesome to read God’s blog every day? I mean, we know he is a life changer and he has written/inspired many life changing books!

Anyways … these aren’t all the blogs I read every day. There are several others like Jenni Catron, Arnold Cifax Jr, Holly Furtick, Carlos Dyonisio, etc. These are what I would consider my Top 5 blogs though. The Top 5 blogs that inspire change in my life.

Do you have a favorite blog that’s not listed above? Let me know in a comment.

Coming up in Part 3 – Podcasts I subscribe to and why?