Being A Band

I spent this past weekend on the road with Julian Drive. It was an awesome experience with some great people. Their ministry is a genuine one and I really appreciated seeing that as I spent time with them. Amongst all of the fun and the work I saw a great team; five people who came together to make their band greater than what it was. What they all had in common was their love for God and their passion to do what they love to do. I found myself missing the camaraderie of a band. I missed being able to play music with a group of people who love it just as much as I do. The members of Julian Drive are all great people in their own right and they have many trials that they have to face but I saw how worth it all of it was.

Any time you have a team you have to have good vision and leadership for it. A band is no different...you're not going to go anywhere if you can't come together as a team under good leadership. However, a good team isn't made up of one leader and a bunch of followers, it's made up of a team of leaders who all contribute equally to a common goal. For a band, this isn't just applied behind the scenes but on a stage too. Everyone has to pull their weight equally for a band to be successful. Most people look past these things and don't see how much work it takes to be a part of a good band. You have to give musicians credit where credit is due...the ones that are on the road have a lot of work they have to do.

Leaving A Legacy

 Change is a powerful thing. Time changes all of us and keeps the memories we have stored away. Time gradually unleashes who we are and before we realize it, we become who we always wanted to be...or who we never wanted to be. I want my life to be a reflection of a man worthy to be remembered. Not because of my greatness, but because of God's greatness in me.

We were in South Hill, VA ministering at South Hill COG this week and I found my past rapidly smacking me in the face. I didn't see what I used to, but I saw the way that the people I knew had changed and how my life wasn't my life anymore. People that I'd known so well, I didn't know anymore. It's reflective and it's sobering when you come to a reality like that. That moment when you realize that you're becoming the person that you want to be but you're leaving so much behind. It's that same moment that begins your true legacy on the world.  In that breadth  of awakening; when all the time that has been spent in your life begins to turn like a clock, you realize that all the time wasted up to this point was precious and the rest is going to be equally as priceless. The Law of Legacy says that “Lasting value is measured by succession.” I see that my life and the legacy I leave is going to be measured by the way I live it. I hope and pray that I leave a legacy worthy of the time I invested on this earth.

Where Grace Is Given

Leadership, as I'm learning, is tough.  I knew it wasn't going to be easy, but when you're actually in the midst of it, it's quite a hill to climb.  I've observed much since beginning the 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership and my eyes are being opened to how the different laws are either in effect or not throughout my surroundings.  Living in a community of people, I'm having to learn quick how best to apply each law and in which situation to use what.  At times this thought process can be overwhelming but it gets easier through trial and error.  That's really what this year is all about for me and the rest of the leadership students.  We have to learn by doing...we can't just sit by and learn the book material, we have to apply it.  Of course, that's harder said than done in an atmosphere of transition and change.  What makes it equally as hard is that in our first year we have been learning to lead all girls.  This would be much easier if we had at least one girl leadership student on our team, but we don't.  From the beginning of time, men haven't been able to fully understand women and this situation is no exception.

The law I want to briefly talk about however is the Law of Buy-In.  This says that, "People Buy Into The Leader, Then The Vision."  You can't get people to believe in your vision unless they believe in you.  The key is getting them to believe in you.  How do you do this?  By applying all of the other laws learned in the 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership.  You have to be a leader worth following in other eyes in order for them to buy-in to your vision.  I know, that for me, this is a law that I have applied already, not as a leader.  I bought in to the vision of our new director.  While others haven't, I believe in what he can do and where he wants to take Mission Baltimore.  Anytime you have a transition of leadership things are going to start out tough and that is something that needs to be full understood in order for grace to be given.  While I have bought into our director...I can only hope that others are buying in to me.  If not...something will have to change.

Ministry and Football

For the month of September I spent a lot of time on the high school football field, but not in the way you might think.  Tim came to us as leadership students and asked if we'd like to serve the varsity football team at his son Isaac's high school.  Naturally we said yes because we all love football.  It's been a lot of fun but it's also a very good time to minister in a different way.  For the past few weeks I've been recording the games with Ben so the coaches have something to watch after each game.  If they didn't have these videos then they couldn't learn from their mistakes and improve on their triumphs.  It's an important job and I'm more than happy to do it because I love high school football.

When we record the games we have to record them play-by-play.  We have to make sure we pay attention as well so we know who has the ball and where it's going in order to follow all the action on camera.  It's definitely different watching a football game through a camera but you catch a lot of things that others wouldn't.

This month I spent 8 hours altogether doing video for the football team.  The second game we were away and instead of being on top of the box like we were before, we were inside it.  There were too many people inside so I had to take the camera off the tripod and go handheld in order to get the right shots.  It was good experience for me in the area of flexibility and making quick decisions.  Luckily the video turned out good despite not being on a tripod.

I look forward to doing this some more in future months but until then I'll keep you updated with my week to week learnings.  Thanks for reading guys.

Connection Through Intuition

The Law of Intuition says that leaders evaluate everything with leadership bias.  To be an intuitive leader is one trait that is most commonly found in natural leaders.  This law is one of the harder ones to learn if not the hardest because of this natural affinity but it can be learned.  I've seen this law in work in other leaders as well as a few rarities in myself.  Once you begin to recognize what it is you can begin to hone this skill.

If you look at a lot of leaders, whoever they might be, the really good ones will apply the Law of Connection.  This is a relational law that, if applied correctly, will win the respect of your followers.  This law states that leaders touch a heart before they ask for a hand.  You can't expect someone to follow you because of title, as I said last week.  A good leader cares for those they lead and delves into their lives with a caring heart.  This creates a respect on a deeper level than just that of fear or title.  I see this law overlooked in most cases and it's sad to see.  Win the heart before you ask for their hand.  What this means is that followers aren't going to do things for you unless they know that you actually care about them.  An important concept to learn inside and outside of leadership.  You could say that connection takes quite a bit of intuition.  You have to learn how to understand and read people before you can connect to them.