How Dads Should Build Leaders

Do you consider yourself a leader, dad?

You may or may not be in a leadership position in your career, and you may or may not be naturally wired that way. But I believe you are leader if you're a father. It's a leadership position, for sure.

I want to help equip you for that, with help from my close friend Wayne Gordon, pastor at the Lawndale Community Church in Chicago. What has happened in that neighborhood under Wayne's leadership has been called a miracle: A blighted community has been transformed into a place of progress, purpose and hope. I had the privilege of serving there with Wayne for five years during the 90s.

Wayne's book, Real Hope in Chicago, talks about the principles that helped to transform this community. His insights on leadership are especially valuable, and I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't pass them on to you—with my own added emphasis on fatherhood. After all, fatherhood is about leading today and raising up leaders for tomorrow.

1. See 15 years into the future. The little children you see today—or even the teenager—will grow and mature. Even if things seem difficult right now, don't give up! Your investments in your children's lives will make a difference, even if you can't see it for weeks, months or even years.

2. Make them feel important. That's how gang leaders build closeness and loyalty, and it works even better in families. When your child knows that he is precious to you and has a contribution to make in your household, he develops the confidence to develop into a leader.

3. Don't go anywhere alone. Future leaders need to get out in the world, experience life and become familiar with its problems and mysteries. And they need to see how dad handles those issues. So include a child when you go to the hardware store, to the weekend softball game or to the church service project—and sometimes, if you can, even the out-of-town business trip. That's how you share your life with your children, strengthen your relationships and give them a vision for the world.

4. Be accessible. Our children need to know that they are among our top priorities, and one way we communicate that is by being available—even when it's not convenient for us. When a child knows they can get your full attention in a time of need, suddenly they gain a confidence to reach beyond themselves.

5. Expose them to other role models. Give your kids opportunities to learn from gifted youth leaders, caring coaches and teachers, and other positive influencers. As we're sharing the best of ourselves, we also need to share others with our children.

6. Let them fail. It's hard to stand by and watch your child fall short of a goal. But that's often when the most growth occurs. At times, we may need to take a few steps back to allow our kids to move forward through the process of making mistakes and learning from them.

7. Love, love, love. Love is empowering for a child; it gives confidence and security so she can try new things or recover when something has gone wrong. And I know you already know this, but dads, our love needs to be expressed in actions and in words.

Dads, it's inevitable that our children will grow up and eventually be out on their own. Let's make sure we're equipping them to be responsible leaders who really make a difference.

Dad—please share your thoughts: What leadership principles have you seen at work in your fathering? You can join the conversation either below or on our Facebook page.

Action Points for Dads on the Journey

• Tell your children your heartfelt dreams for each of them.
• Include at least one of your children when you run errands around town and, if you can, take one on an occasional out-of-town business trip.
• Talk to your children about a coach, boss or other leader who has been influential in your life. Share about what made him such a great leader.
• Give your child opportunities to make some decisions as he becomes more responsible and refines his leadership skills.

Carey Casey is the CEO of the National Center for Fathering, a nonprofit organization dedicated to changing the culture of fathering in America by enlisting 6.5 million fathers to make the Championship Fathering Commitment.

For the original article, visit fathers.com.

---

Original Page: http://www.charismamag.com/life/men/20013-how-dads-should-build-leaders

5 Things Every Married Man Should Do Around Single Women

A wise man once told me that when I find myself around single women, especially when I find them attractive or interesting, I should mention my wife and family early in the conversation. I have found this advice to be very useful on many occasions.

Fellow husbands, I have found the above advice and the other tips at the bottom to be essential in keeping my marriage healthy and strong. I want my marriage strong and healthy and so should you! In fact, it's one of your biggest responsibilities in your marriage.

So let's dig deeper into this subject. Where are some common places where you might run into this scenario? For many of you, it could easily happen at work. You could be starting a new job and find yourself around a lot of nice, new women. When this happens, you have to make the choice to embrace their attention or extinguish it in a friendly way by mentioning your beautiful wife and family.

For some of you, you have been working around the same women for some time. You might have had the choice many times to engage in flirty conversation or go out with co-workers after work. If this is you and your wife is at home waiting for you, then it's time to step back and assess your position as the husband and leader. Take the necessary steps to make your relationship with your wife the most important one again and don't forget it. Lead gentlemen, lead!

Even though those were just a couple quick examples, I know there are a few of you out there that need to step up your role as a husband. Those examples don't apply to you? Then consider who you know and talk to at your gym; the grocery store; the local hang out or wherever. These "simple" places could produce difficult relationships that will harm your relationship and love with your wife. Man up and do what needs to be done for your marriage!

Now that I have your attention, here are 5 things every married man should do around single women:

1. Keep your ring on. There are very few exceptions for when that ring needs to be off. Operating heavy machinery, swimming in shark infested waters, etc. If you are about to enter a situation that makes you look at your ring and consider if you need it on or not, LEAVE! RUN! GET AWAY FROM THERE! Seriously, get out of that situation, your vows, marriage, children and more depend on those important decisions (Read Luke 16:10 ESV).

2. Hang up pictures of your wife at work. A married man in this position would be wise to pick out a couple great and fun photos of him and his wife and keep them displayed at his office or place of work. Pick a time that was fun for two reasons: it will remind you why you love her so much and it will make for a great conversation tool when others, especially women, ask about it. Update the image as needed to keep the people around you knowing your relationship is continuing to grow. Get that picture up this week and extinguish those flames (Read Psalm 119:37 ESV).

3. Keep eye contact simple and short. Don't read this the wrong way; I'm not saying to be rude. I'm saying to be careful where your eyes travel and how long they travel for when you are in the presence of an attractive single woman. You know that once you engage in the first serious look you have signed the dotted line for more eye trouble. Read more about that "first look" here. Keep it short, keep it decisive and move on. Get back to that image posted at your desk. Go! (Read Matthew 5:28, KJV)

4. Keep conversation general and professional. If you work around single women, there is no question that conversation will come up. It's up to you on how you decide to speak with her. You can choose to keep it short and general, you can choose to keep it professional or you can choose to keep it off of those and allow it go places it shouldn't. Be polite, but very intentional in your conversations. If needed, again, always be ready to bring up something about your wife or family. Pull the pin, aim and distinguish. Safety first (Read Romans 6:13, ESV)

5. Talk about your wife and family often. Did I mention anything about talking about your wife in conversation yet? I believe I did, but this last point brings the idea to a firm home. The single women you engage with each day, if you have to, should be no match to your wife and family. Your family should be your first priority wherever you are and with whomever you encounter each day. Yes, each and everyday. Keep it short, keep it simple and mention your beautiful wife. Now pat yourself on the back and keep it up (Read Ephesians 5:25-33, ESV). 

Important Note: Oh, and no matter what you have done with your current relationships with single women, these steps can and should be started at anytime. Your wife's feelings are and will always be more important then the woman you need to take these steps with. Get on it!

I challenge you to take these bold steps for you, your marriage and your family. Again, it's your responsibility to LEAD!

List one of your own tips and let's help out our fellow husbands!

Manturity is a blog built on establishing spiritual maturity in today's man. The goal is to assist men in building better marriages and help them in grow in maturity and explore different aspects of manhood. Manturity.com features new weekly blog posts, daily social media updates and a powerful resources page. Stay up to date with the Manturity blog communities on Facebook and Twitter.

For the original article, visit manturity.com.

---

Original Page: http://www.charismamag.com/life/men/20028-5-things-every-married-man-should-do-around-single-women

Apostle Paul’s 3 G’s of Powerful Prayer

No matter what our age, years of Christian service or maturity in ministry, we will always need to keep growing in the exercise and discipline of prayer. As you fulfill God's call on your life, I want to encourage you to be a person committed to powerful prayer.

The apostle Paul's prayer in Ephesians 3:14-21 comes to mind when I think of excellence in prayer. This gives several insights into the preface, posture and petitions of powerful prayer.

Preface

Paul starts by saying, "For this reason I kneel" (Ephesians 3:14, emphasis mine). What reason? What is the reason that drives him to prayer? It is a phrase he also uses in 3:1, "For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus. …" In some way Paul connects the reason—the preface—to  the entire prayer that follows. Paul joins that "reason" to the word mystery that occurs four times in Ephesians 3 (verses 3,4,6,9). The "mystery" is that the church—composed of Gentiles and Jews—would make known the many-sided multifaceted wisdom of God to rulers and authorities in heavenly realms. In plain speech, Paul is saying: "Before I launch into my prayer, let me tell you what stands behind it. The church has God's name on it. We are the assembly of God. The church is His pride and joy."

Posture

In Jewish prayer, standing is the normal posture (Matthew 6:5; Luke 18:11,13). Kneeling, however, is the more intense form of prayer. Paul says, "For this reason I kneel" (Ephesians 3:14, emphasis mine). This is a tip-off to the fervency of effective prayer.

One of the early church fathers put it this way: "By kneeling we demonstrate the full form of prayer. We ought not merely to incline our minds to prayer but also our bodies. We do well to lower our bodies lest we create an impression of elevation or an appearance of pride."

What would happen in our lives, homes, and churches if we fell on our knees and prayed more earnestly—going beyond the rote and routine of prayer—to the fervency of prayer?

Petitions

The posture and preface to Paul's prayer leads us into the intensity of three petitions he brings that we can summarize in three words: grip, grasp and grow.

1. Grip. Over the years my daily prayer list has grown to more than 250 people. I laid Paul's prayer over my list and realized how spot-on his prayer is because so many people on my list, including myself, need our grip strengthened with power through the Spirit.

2. Grasp. Paul not only prays for us to get a strong grip. He prays that we will also get a great grasp. Years before Paul wrote this Ephesian letter from a prison in Rome, he had planted and pastored the church in Ephesus for two and a half years. During that time he sent letters west to the Corinthian church that was beset with all types of problems and pride. He told them in 1 Corinthians 13 what was missing in their community life. They were not rooted and grounded in love.

This is always a sobering word to the Pentecostal and charismatic church because in our desire for the restoration and presence of the charismata we may be tempted to build on the gifts rather than the Giver; on the sensational above the ethical or moral—on success and numbers rather than love. When we are rooted and grounded in love—then we can grasp the breadth, duration and extremity of His love.

3. Grow. Paul knew that being filled with the Spirit was not just a one-time "I've got it" experience. When you read the last two and a half chapters of Ephesians, you can see that these Spirit-baptized believers were still being pushed to grow. No matter what our age, years of Christian service or maturity in ministry, we will always need to keep growing because even if we are filled now, we are not yet filled with all the fullness of God. But that is not all. He ends with, "(He) is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us" (Ephesians 3:20). Great praying leads to great power—"He is able," Paul says. And great power leads to great praise. "To him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen" (Ephesians 3:21).

The grip. The grasp. The grow. They all lead to immeasurably more. God is infinite and capable of giving more; and we are expansible and capable of receiving more.

Do you want to display the glory of the Father? Become a person who prays powerful prayers.

George O. Woodis general superintendent of the Assemblies of God.

---

Original Page: http://www.charismamag.com/spirit/prayer/19881-apostle-paul-s-3-g-s-of-powerful-prayer

10 EASY WAYS TO KEEP ME ENGAGED DURING YOUR MESSAGE

I've taken some time recently to think about what makes some folks more effective speakers than others and I am convinced that there are specific strategies that any communicator can use to improve the chances of their message being heard.

This list may not apply to every listener, but here's what really keeps me engaged during an entire message:

1. Be real. Let people see the actual human inside you. Most of the time, this involves sharing your personal stories.
2. Talk like normal people talk.  Use my language. Don't assume I know what you know. Provide the backstory, so I can be on the same page as you.
3. Use humor. If you don't make me laugh, I'm probably going to tune you out. By the way, the best humor comes from your everyday life.
4. Be honest. If I think you're credible, there's a better chance I'll think your message is credible.
5. Avoid being too polished. I love it when you leave your prepared statements and share anything off the cuff.
6. Don't tell me what to think. Lead me on the journey, but let me reach my own conclusions. In fact, you can challenge me, but don't talk down to me.
7. Reveal your weaknesses. Silly as it seems, it makes me smile when I hear you tell about your mistakes. It helps me respect the areas where you are growing.
8. Be brief. Shorter is better. I'm probably going to remember only one or two things that you say.
9. Make me feel smart. I don't care how smart you are, but I like it when you make me feel smart. Simplify your statements and make it easy for me to apply what you're teaching.
10. Tell me why I should care. Help me understand why I should listen. If I'm not sure why what you're saying is relevant to my life, I'll be thinking about everything but your message.

I've never had a seminary course on preaching, so I don't really know what it takes to prepare a good sermon. I do know that what you're saying can't have an impact on lives unless people are alert and engaged in your message. Hopefully this list will help make that happen.

Photo Credit: ganatronic via Compfight cc

The post 10 EASY WAYS TO KEEP ME ENGAGED DURING YOUR MESSAGE appeared first on TonyMorganLive.com.

---

Original Page: http://tonymorganlive.com/2014/02/25/10-easy-ways-keep-awake-message/

Cultural Languages of the Church

When Mao Zedong was leader of China, he imprisoned Deng Xiaoping as a capitalist roader. After Zedong died, Xiaoping became China's leader and instituted capitalist reforms that have fueled China's resurgence today. Hotly criticized by the old Maoists, Xiaoping's famous response was, "I don't care if a cat is black or white, so long as it catches mice."

The apostle Paul took the same approach concerning how we communicate the gospel to various cultures: "I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some" (1 Corinthians 9:22).

In the Church, we must be more concerned about results than means. Are people being saved, being baptized in the Spirit, living in the Spirit, and becoming fruitful disciples of Jesus? If so, then we do not need to concern ourselves with pastors and churches that may do things differently from a past generation.

The modality of bringing Jesus to the culture shifts with the culture while the eternal message of the gospel does not change.

The Jerusalem church spoke Hebrew; the Antioch church spoke Greek. Jerusalem kept kosher; Antioch ate cheeseburgers with bacon.

What is a language in our culture? Consider the following languages:

• Music.
• Dress.
• Service times.
• Church architecture.
• Form of worship.
• Forms of church governance.
• Tradition.

Acts 2:42 applied to the Antioch church just as it did to the Jerusalem church, and it needs to apply to us. The key is retaining apostolic doctrine and experience, and being flexible on the rest.

The post Cultural Languages of the Church appeared first on Dr. George O. Wood.

---

Original Page: http://georgeowood.com/cultural-languages-of-the-church/