If you are AG, want to start a church plant and need $ check out this enewsletter I rec’d today.

Greetings!

I know you are aware by now that Dr. Wood has recognized starting new churches as a core value of the AG fellowship. A powerful evidence of his determination to align our behavior with our values is the Church Multiplication Network Matching Fund. The Matching Fund is based on a simple idea: we can do more together than we can by ourselves. The Matching Fund provides a strategic way to make the most of your fund raising efforts to start new churches.

Here is how it works: every approved Assemblies of God church planting project may apply for the matching funds one time during the planting process. A maximum of $30,000 per project is available. The funds must be used in a manner that maximizes the “start-up” event and therefore, the funds are only available for planting projects that have not yet had their public launch event.

We’ve already funded 21 new churches through the Matching Fund and the results have been phenomenal. In their first 10 months, these Matching Fund churches have led 451 people to faith in Christ and given a total of $92,000 to missions! We are currently looking for 35 qualifying church plants to invest in. If you, your district, or someone you know is involved in a church planting project, it is very possible that the CMN Matching Fund can be a tremendous boost to them. Money is available now, so do not delay. Give us a call at 1.800.447.0427 to discover if the Matching Fund will work for you or for a planting project you care about. Applications can be found on the CMN website. http://CMN.ag.org 

In Christ,

Steve Pike

National Director

Church Multiplication Network 

I am one that loves learning about leadership best practices. But unlike some who only like to learn and save (for the head knowledge), I like to learn and apply (for the heart knowledge). I think I’ve read a lot of leadership books and in some cases, there is repetition. However, there are always nuggets that you’ve not heard before or have been stated in a way that makes you pause. Such is the case with a recent page I was reading in John Maxwell’s Leadership Gold, he stated that “to see how the leader is doing, look at the people.” He quotes Max Depree who said “the signs of outstanding leadership appear primarily among the followers.” That gave me cause for pause because I simply never heard that. Maxwell suggests that if we want to evaluate how a leader is doing (either ourselves or someone in an organization) we should do so by asking these four questions:

1.   Are the people following?

2.   Are the people changing?

3.   Are the people growing?

4.   Are the people succeeding?

On #1 – he shares that just because you have a position doesn’t mean that people actually follow you. Trust is a key factor in whether someone decides to follow you where you are going and you have to earn that and expect it by virtue of the fact that you have been appointed to a role. If you get your people’s trust, what usually follows is their loyalty and that can be limitless.

On #2 – Maxwell states that “good leaders inspire their followers to have confidence in them. But great leaders inspire their followers to have confidence in themselves.” Leaders are the ones that create an environment of expectation. The leader facilitates the process of change.  

On #3 – Maxwell quotes Dale Galloway here when he shares “the growth and development of people is the highest calling of a leader.” Recruiting the best people is good but then you have to take the time to develop them to their full potential and that responsibility falls on the leader! The key is that you want them to become better people not just better workers. When I ran the House of Healing for the Latino Pastoral Action Center I was a much different person than when I worked at the main headquarters site (due to my own personal growth with Christ) and that was my mission with my 80+ staff members, to help them become better people. Just as recently as May 2008 I got emails from former staffers telling me how their time there was wonderful and how they’ve never found a place like that again. Some of us who worked together during that time call it our Camelot. By the time I started running House of Healing, I valued people, I understood they had a story, that they had a life outside of work and that they truly wanted to be better and perform to the best of their ability (ok, so some didn’t but don’t you always have a few of those LOL). Maxell suggests that leaders need to believe in their people so that the people will believe in themselves. So if the people aren’t growing it’s a reflection of a leader. Ouch, I think there are many leaders out there who don’t want this responsibility LOL.

On #4 – this one was vey poignant because it made me think of me. My personality tests all say that I’m an overachiever and I remember when I worked with Rev. Ray Rivera he would always tell me “people before tasks” but I didn’t get it then. Again, by the time I was working at the House of Healing I had gotten it in a big way lol! But I think the reason I didn’t get it early on was something related to this quote by Basketball coach Pat Riley, “it’s been my experience that successful people who are not naturally gifted in leadership sometimes have a difficult time transitioning from achiever to leader. They are used to performing at a high level—doing tasks with excellence, reaching their goals, achieving financially—and they judge their progress by those things. When they become leaders, they often expect everyone else to do the same, to be self-motivated. And when the people they lead don’t perform as expected, they ask, “what’s wrong with them?!!”

So you see, there is a shift that must take place for leaders to not only focus on their success but the success of their followers. “Leadership is meant to lift up others.” This is the difference between good to great leaders.

So how do you measure up? Are you a good leader or are you working to become a great one?

John Osteen, some love him, some hate him, some like me say live and let preach. My personal take is Proverb 30:8: “Keep deception and lies far from me, Give me neither poverty nor riches; Feed me with the food that is my portion.”

This article shares a bit about his vast empire. Osteen’s Lakewood Church, in Houston, is the largest in the United States, with 45,000 regular weekly attendees and 7 million more tuning in. His television show is the most-watched inspirational program in America and is seen in 100 countries around the world. He has sold 7 million copies of his two books, ‘Your Best Life Now’ and ‘Become a Better You.’ Podcasts of his sermons are downloaded 4.5 million times a month. He preaches to more than 15,000 people at a time in the basketball arena turned sanctuary that is Lakewood Church. His pulpit stands near the spot where Hakeem Olajuwon helped the Houston Rockets win two consecutive N.B.A. titles. But the Rockets, who have since moved across town, never put as many people in the seats as Osteen does.

In New York there was a guy called Reverend Ike. One of his core messages was on the supposed Scriptural topic— “The lack of money is the root of all evil”. He kept saying things like, if you have trouble handling money, send it to me. Osteen is far more slick than this, and in fact far more accountable. His ministry maintains public records and provides financial reports, and in fact he has not taken a salary since his book went mega-platinum. He has also reportedly signed an enormous contract for his second book with Simon and Schuster. He is then not a shister or a crook it would appear. His example seemsfar more beguiling than the obvious huckster. Wherein lies the problem then?

The problem is several fold, and it involves a fundamental replacement of what the Bible actually has to say about wealth, with what our culture says about wealth and prosperity. And of course when you preach a message that is heard as saying “God wants you rich” or is heard as saying “if you give generously to God (i.e. our ministry) he will repay you many times over”, then of course the implication is that the Gospel message is really all about us, and ways to get God to fulfill not merely our needs and desires but even our conspicuously consumptive dreams. But is God really a nurturer of a vision of life that says its all about me and my material success? Um, I don’t think so. I like the guy, I just don’t agree with everything he has to say. But here read the entire article here and if you haven’t thought about it already, do so.

My son, Daniel Jeremiah (DJ) has taught me more about unconditional love…what it means to give it and receive it, contentness, how God moves in the hardest of times. We call him our silent prophet. Well today on the Church Channel Hiram and I saw this movie and uh, it bought us to tears because we could relate in alot of ways and in some ways we know it eventually lies ahead. Get tissue, you’ll probably need it.

Yikes! The future is weird. Discussions are being held by the watch company Timex on a new way to wear watches in the future…on our nails!

Read the whole story here!

I used to think that leaders distinguished themselves by rising above their people. It’s the “cream of the crop” theory. That was a mistake. I’ve learned that leaders distinguish themselves by rising with their people, and there’s a world of difference between those two.

I finished a short book called How Full is Your Bucket by Tom Rath and Donald Clifton which was a NY Times #1 Bestseller. The premise of the book is simple, each of us has an invisible bucket. It is constantly emptied or filled, depending on what others say or do to us. When our bucket is full, we feel great. When it’s empty, we feel awful.Each of us also has an invisible dipper. When we use that dipper to fill other people’s buckets — by saying or doing things to increase their positive emotions — we also fill our own bucket. But when we use that dipper to dip from others’ buckets — by saying or doing things that decrease their positive emotions — we diminish ourselves.Like the cup that runs over, a full bucket gives us a positive outlook and renewed energy. Every drop in that bucket makes us stronger and more optimistic. But an empty bucket poisons our outlook, saps our energy, and undermines our will. That’s why every time someone dips from our bucket, it hurts us.So we face a choice every moment of every day: We can fill one another’s buckets, or we can dip from them. It’s an important choice — one that profoundly influences our relationships, productivity, health, and happiness.

I love metaphors and I loved this simple book. Another great leadership read if you ask me. Most leaders have been dippers and I include myself in this category. Over the last ten years due to my own personal growth journey I hope that I’ve become more of a bucket filler! For some reason most of us empty other people buckets (and our own) rather then fill them up. Just consider the following statistics from Gallup: 65% of Americans can not recall any recognition or praise in the workplace last year. It is the same or even worse in other developed countries. About half of all marriages in the developed world end in a divorce  so I guess we empty the buckets at home as well as at work.  Why is this important for a business or church leader: A study found that negative employees can scare off every customer they speak with—for good! I believe that would be transferable to church folk too!It is not only about bad feelings, high divorce rate, or employee turnover ratio. Negativity can shorten life span. An interesting study by Gallup was conducted in a monastery among nuns. The researchers studied the autobiographies of each of the nuns. They looked specifically for the proportion of negative vs. positive. They came up with an astonishing finding. Those with prevailing positivism lived on average ten years longer.

The key is to remember that “every moment matters“ when you are interacting with someone. There are supposedly 20,000 moments a day we decide whether to empty or refill our buckets. So why live shorter and sadder if we can live longer and happier? The amazing thing about all this is that YOU get to decide if you will fill or dip into someone’s bucket. I want to be a filler, do you?

 For more on the book visit here. Read and discuss with your entire leadership team!

To send a drop to fill someone’s bucket go to the “drop zone” here

Today I purchased Time Magazine because of its cover…

Nelson Mandela and his secrets of leadership and since I love to learn about leadership issues I picked it up. However, what I found inside could  have been depressing. Time went on to talk about all the problems Florida has been experiencing. The writer asked if the Sunshine State could actually be called the Sunset State? Dag. The article is here should you care to read it. 

I think the reason they focused on Florida is because it was for many years and for many people an escape state. In 1880 Florida only had 257 residents but today it has more than 18 million and most of them South of Orlando (yes there is a world outside of Orlando!!). People used to call Florida a hell but after they figured out a way to get the water to people, invented central air-conditioning and bug spray well, it was a matter of time before people came to the South to escape to heaven…the cold, the taxes, the crowds, the snow, insert another reason here ______________________.  There are not many states outside of Hawaii (which was always very expensive) that is considered a tropical paradise for people. Other States were what they were…you were born in it, lived in it and died in it. I never even left NY to Florida until I was married! I didn’t take yearly trips to Disney, my Disney was the local hang out on 10th Street and Avenue D by the project benches and an occasional trip to 23rd Street pool with the homies.

All this to say, why they hating? It is almost like people were waiting for this to happen. Like “hooray now Floridians can live in hell just like everyone else does!” LOL. Whatever. Yes, Florida has problems. Do you know of a State that doesn’t? But I guess for me, I rather have problems with the sunshine beaming on me (with the option of going in for a/c) than a gray day…any day. The Time article mentioned that with all these problems, Florida confronts the “death of a dream”. I, for one, didn’t think Florida was an escape, I came here because I had to for my son and I never thought it was perfect. However, by comparison to my home state I got to tell you, I’m good and I’ll leave it there.

your home is better than your last vacation? I would say very blessed. I realized it yet again after this week.

I just returned from a vacation in Orlando for a family reunion, the best part of course was the reunion. OMG did we have a snap! My husband the baby of the family is also a clown. My family (Hiram, Sam and DJ) got to see family that they haven’t seen since we moved from NYC five years ago! Since I travel more than they do, I have been able to see them off and on these last few years.  Although there were five people missing who couldn’t make it, those of us who did provided a priceless moment!

The Rios Clan (with inlaws and next generations)

The thing was that we wanted to get back home because the place was just well, for us, not that much of a vacation. Sure, for Northerners who live with, well what they live with and like it (so they say) or “called to it” (so they also say), any place in Florida is pretty much great. Hiram and I, however, felt next time we need to go to a place far better than our own home and backyard or we’ll just do a staycation. But enough about our issues, regardless of the “spot” we did have a great time with familia and it will be treasured always.

Me and my sister-in-laws from LtoR: Myrna, Enid, ME, Sibia

Other pics to come when the photographers of the family send me their pics!

A family friend sent me an email today basically letting us know that a Texas B&N had a gay sexual book “Ultimate Gay Sex” open on one of the reading tables (I wonder if it was the kids section but even if it wasn’t it could be). An 11 year old boy was exposed to this perverseness! Can you imagine your child just walking around the bookstore and finding this!!! I was just at B&N yesterday with my son and niece and nephew. Read the email here.

What is even more interesting is that B&N began rejecting emails from concerned parents who wrote them to keep that material in a place where kids can’t get to it (since we KNOW they won’t take it out of bookstores as it isn’t “politically correct”).

 If you agree that this is just too much, write an email like the sample letter below.

Dear Chairman Riggio:

Mr. Stephen Riggio, CEO sriggio@bn.com
Chris Troia, Chief Information Officer ctroia@bn.com
Mary Ellen Keating, Senior V.P. of Corporate Communications and Public Affairs mkeating@bn.com
Jaime Carey, Chief Merchandising Officer jcarey@bn.com
Carolyn Brown, Director of Corporate Communications e-mail: cbrown@bn.com

If you’d like to personally call B&N, their corporate office number is 212-633-3300.