Derailed: Five Lessons Learned from Catastrophic Failures of Leadership by Tim Irwin is one of the most frightening books I’ve ever read… and if you’re in leadership, you should buy it and be frightened by it as well!

Irwin does a masterful job of presenting a comprehensive take on the subject of failure. Irwin lays the groundwork by speaking of the qualities that prevent derailment that should be a part of every leader’s life. Thomas Nelson’s description of the book puts it this way…

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My father-in-law has often said that “an excuse is just a lie stuffed in the skin of a reason.” That’s a good definition. I have a tendency to make excuses sometimes, and I’m guessing you struggle with it sometimes yourself.

For those in leadership, we tend to be especially good at making excuses for why we can’t go to the next level, take the next step, or seize the next opportunity.

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Today I had the privilege of meeting Dr. Jimmy Pritchard, Pastor of First Baptist Church of Forney, Texas. He gathered with about a dozen ministers at First Baptist Church of Centerton and shared with us from the depth of his own ministry. Everything he said went straight to my heart and was exactly what I needed to hear. I’m going to share some other thoughts over the next few days, but thought I’d being by relating this thought he shared from the book of Isaiah…

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I love these. You must read the captions… Between Two Worlds: More Demotivators from Despair.com.

Ever hear this before? “I cried because I had no shoes, until I met a man who had no feet…” Well, meeting this man with no feet will make you cry…

Today was my annual inaugural lawn mowing day. I gathered all of my equipment together, gassed it all up, and got ready to start. I then spent the next fifteen minutes staring at the corner of my house, which is sort of a mass housing complex for wasps. Think I’m exaggerating? Check the photo on the right- I assure you it has not been doctored in any way! (more…)

Oh, the agony of defeat!

First, it happened Thursday evening in our softball match-up. We lost the first game to Bentonville Church of Christ by a decent margin, but we were pounded the second game 26—3. Ouch! I’m guessing about nine other guys are wishing I just wouldn’t have brought it up.

Then, it happened again last night as the Razorbacks gave up a touchdown in the last couple of minutes of the game to lose to Alabama in a gut-wrenching defeat. I’m guessing a few hundred thousand fans are wishing I wouldn’t bring that up either.

So what do we learn from losing? First, we learn that it stinks! But we also learn to regroup, to sharpen and hone our skills, to get our heads back in the game, and to try a little harder next time.

God doesn’t want you living in spiritual defeat. He’s called you to be “more than a conqueror!” But the greatest spiritual conquerors I know have suffered some losses… and they have become all the better because of the lessons learned. So when you lose… learn! But strive for the victory today!

http://www.churchcentral.com/nw/s/template/Article.html/id/24549

Richard Blackaby, in this article, does a great job of related to us that the growth and success of a church largely (almost entirely) depends on the spiritual growth taking place in the heart of the Pastor. It’s so true that we can’t give away what we don’t have. I’ve spent plenty of time being frustrated and discouraged over low numbers in seasons when I’m more about studying church growth than studying God’s Word. But when I really connect with God and spend ample time in prayer, that’s when God seems to really bless the church around me with a fresh season of growth, both spiritually and numerically.

Let me make a few confessions. First, I’m a helpless, hopeless romantic. I often don’t have a clue how some guys pull it off. They come up with these dynamic plans for a special date, a day at the spa, etc. When Valentine’s Day approaches, I go into panic-mode. I can’t think of what to buy, how to surprise my honey, or how to “wow” her socks off.

Second, I’m not the emotional type, the ooey-gooey, syruppy, sappy kind of guy. I don’t cry much during romantic comedies or Hollywood-produced dramas (though I can get choked up during a classic like Milo and Otis). You’d think, being in the ministry, I’d be better with words. The reality is, I can’t always put all of my thoughts into words, much less on paper.

Third, I’m madly in love! I’m proud of my marriage. I’m grateful for my wife and the love we share. Though I have a long way to go and “He’s still workin’ on me,” you’d be hard-pressed to find a guy as committed to faithfulness in marriage than me. I’m wrapped up in my wonderful wife!

She’s the one whom God has used to keep me close to Him. She’s a spiritual thinker and has a heart for ministry to ladies. She keeps my head on straight. She’s not afraid to honestly criticize my dumb ideas and she’s the first in line to praise my successes. She works, not only so that our family can have adequate health care, but also because she has a calling to help hurting people. She counsels kids who have problems, who rarely get told that they’re worth anything.

She’s beautiful too. Her smile can be sweet, cute, or a little crazy looking, but I’m always thrilled to have her smile! More than any of these, she’s an awesome Mom! Our little girl is the apple of her eye and the utmost concern of her heart. She comes from good stock (had to plug the in-laws) and is determined to pass on the rich blessings she’s received.

Is she a Proverbs 31 “woman of perfection?” No. Only Jesus could live up to that, and He’s the “son of man,” not a daughter. Nonetheless, there’s nobody else on this planet that could compete for my affection. I love my wife, I love being married, and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for us.

I just finished reading Jim Cymbala’s book Fresh Power and it has again revived my thirst for God. One of the most impactful insights from the book is the revelation that if we can explain the success of our churches in terms of programs, personalities, or well-oiled machinery without the power of the Holy Spirit, then we’ve missed the point. Cymbala appeals to A. W. Tozer who proclaimed that if the Holy Spirit were removed from our midst today, most of our largest and most rapidly growing churches would continue as they are because their growth is attributable not to the powerful working of the Holy Spirit, but to a marketing structure, business plan, and organizational genius that is very humanly originated.

We do need to operate in the “fresh power” freely available from the Holy Spirit, God’s operative agent in the world today. We do need to continue the writing of the Acts of the Holy Spirit in our modern world. For the Brooklyn Tabernacle, which Cymala pastors, the secret of this abiding power and presence of God is not merely to be found in a great choir, great preaching, or great buildings. It is found in their Tuesday night prayer meeting which serves as the fuel source for all else that happens.

I believe my favorite chapter is the second, entitled Of Cemeteries and Insane Asylums. Pastor Cymbala writes about the two extremes of today’s Christianity. The insane asylums represent the excesses of the charismatic movement. It describes the counterfeit revivals, the get-rich-quick Christianity, the mass-miracle-crusades without discernment or validation. This is Christianity that has zeal but little truth. The cemeteries are those circles of modern Christianity much like my own denomination, which have so reacted against the charismatic movement that we’ve become boxes of bones with no life. We have our truth, and like Charlton Heston and his rifle, the world can peel it from our cold, dead hands. Shame on us!

What an atrocity that we are so closed to the potential activity of the Spirit of God that we completely deny the possibility that God would want to invade our space, enliven our worship, and move us to a new level of power-filled witness. How we desperately need a fresh infilling of His presence. As we seek a proper biblical balance in all things, let us seek the fullness of power of the Holy Spirit, and let us seek to defend the truth in a pluralistic age. God, may You enliven today’s church by Your mighty Holy Spirit, and may this work begin in me!