Josh Robinson

The Battle for Courage

joshrobinson — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 14:00:35 +0000

A few weeks ago I shared a message called, “The Battle for Courage.” Below are a few thoughts/points. God’s will is found when we decide to be COURAGEOUS about following Jesus. Many people live each day with the temptation of living for now and not for eternity. Living the “safest” life possible is not the goal of following Christ. It is not about the OUTWARD, but the inward. Jesus always looked at the motives of the heart.

Romans 8:31- 37 “ No in all things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”

Cowards live by….

1. Confusion – Those who lead with wrong motives are mixed up on what is right or wrong.

- Constantly debate with, “what is wrong with it?”
- A courageous person asks, “what is right with it?”

2. Criticism – Overly critical of authority.

- Rebellion against authority.
- Puts others down to uplift oneself

3. Compromise –

- Willing to take a shortcut at any cost to get AHEAD.
- Do whatever it takes to make oneself look right in any situation.

Following Jesus is not just in your mind – it is a heart change and surrender of WALKING as Jesus WALKED. We create a compromise of saying, “I’ll just pray about it” or “I’ll get to that.” Instead Jesus wants our heart to be captivated by His love in order to lead with courage. “This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.” John 15:8

Jesus won the battle of sin and death! He is the undefeated champion!

Courage lives by…

1. Clarity – Understand the purpose of knowing why you live your life.

- Eternity is the focus
- Tradition is not as important as God’s Word

2. Confidence in God’s Will

- Obedience to Authority
- Finds wisdom daily through God’s Word

3. Character to become like Christ

- You should be excited when people put you down for following Jesus.
- Following Jesus can be a lonely road, but it is WORTH IT!
- Decide to resemble Jesus in how you ACT.
- Courage to follow Christ at any cost! Courageous believers will one day hear from Jesus…“Well done, my good and faithful servant…” Matthew 25:23

Are you willing to trade in the American dream for a world that desperately needs Jesus? Are you willing to trade in your tradition for untraditional people to come to know Christ?

A Leader’s Skills – Delegation

joshrobinson — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 21:00:12 +0000

A leadership skill that is needed is the ability to delegate. It is unproductive to go about ministry with a “me-for and no-more” mindset. Using a team of volunteers is important to fulfilling the ministry’s mission. A leader who does not delegate takes the ministry upon himself and makes it all fall upon his shoulders. One pitfall of many leaders (including myself) is perfectionism. Everything MUST be done a certain way. In Blackaby’s book it he states, “Whatever the reason for reluctance to delegate, leaders must understand that mastering the art of delegation is preeminent among leadership skills. It is one of the wisest uses of a leader’s time.” One person can not do it all. They can try but the ministry will suffer if the leader is controlling and has a perfectionist attitude. Bill Bright said, “Great men lead people, but greater men train leaders.”

The understanding of skills in ministry is a simple concept, whatever God has blessed you in, you need to use to glorify God. A wise leader helps develop ways for people to live out their spiritual gifts in the church. Leadership involves people and administration. Finding time for both can be difficult. One of the things I do is delegate some of the administration to one of my youth leaders who loves it. I am not aloof from the responsibility, but give people freedom to take ownership of the ministry. I prefer to empower people to achieve success rather than just “dumping” stuff on people. Delegation is key to success in the ministry. Wisdom is found when people and their gifts are used together for a common goal.

References:

Blackaby, Henry. Power of the Call

A Leader’s Skills – Lifelong Learner

joshrobinson — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 16:28:34 +0000

Leadership is an ongoing process of becoming a “lifelong learner.” Unless a leader continues to grow and stretch their understanding of leadership, they will eventually run out of steam. It is no longer a process of allowing a few people at the “top” of the leadership ladder to be in charge of everything, but it is moving people along in their own abilities on the team. The only way to improve an organization is to challenge the habits or processes that make it function. It takes humility and a teachable spirit for a person to improve and take constructive criticism. At the heart of any successful leader is a willingness to always be willing to improve. Without a good review of the process, there will be no improvement throughout the organization. With that being said, encouragement goes hand in hand with challenging the process. The motive of leadership is to help people come to a clearer understanding of themselves and become confident in their abilities.

I have learned that there are negative and positive ways to lead. When I began in student ministry I sometimes viewed parents as an obstacle. For some reason I believed that I could help the students and thought that most parents did not know how to help their students. Through conversations with numerous parents, I learned that parents are my one of the most powerful aspects of student ministry. Instead of thinking that I had the answers, I would gather around me parents who were wise and we joined in the discussion together on how to lead students to be fully devoted followers of Christ.

I have learned in the past four years that leadership is a shared vision and not a “one man show.” Like earlier, when I began student ministry I focused upon the students mostly. Now I realize the powerful change that can happen when the parents are encouraged to be the spiritual influencers in the home. My passion is to build relationships with students and parents. My goal is to encourage and equip parents to lead in the home and reinforce God’s Word into the lives of the students. One of the challenges of leadership is to be willing to admit faults and through these past years, I have learned that parents need encouragement and ministry just as much as the students.