How Are You Growing

Yesterday I talked about the conference coming up this February, where I will be sharing some insights on being a resilient leader (www.churchplanters.com). This conference got me thinking...here's a question we should all be grappling with: Do we have a growth plan? So you want to be a better leader...how's that going to happen unless you plan on growing? This is why I believe so much in conferences. At leadership conferences you get to learn from people who are leading their field. You get to learn what you didn't even know you needed to learn! In my opinion, seminars are the seminary of the future. This is not to say that we don't need theological education (I've got it hanging on my wall as I write,) but that once we have graduated, we are not finished learning. Show me your bookshelf and I can determine the year you died...it's the last book you read. Here's my growth plan:

1. Stay in God's Word regularly.

2. Go to at least 2 conferences a year (not ones I'm teaching at).

3. Read one book a month.

4. Listen to mentors (just talked to Ed Young today...and of course, he taught me something new in one conversation.)

5. Attempt something new in our church that scares me at least once or twice a year.

6. Stay accountable to my wife, my closest friends, and my church leadership team.

What is your growth plan? It doesn't have to mimic mine, but I can promise you this...even if it's a bad plan, it's better than no plan.

Comments

[inWorship]

These are great principles, thanks for the reminders and example.

I just wanted to say that I have been reading your blog for a while and I always look forward to the wisdom you have to give. I know when you pop up in my reader tha I will have some great stuff to chew on that day.

Thanks, Brent

[Ashley Stanford]

I just wanted to say that Bay Area ROCKS! I have been a missionary for the past 4 yrs now and have set in many different churchs around the world and under many different pastors. I am continually blessed each time I hear Pastor Bill speak. So many times you will hear pastors speak only from the Bible and not from their heart, or they will speak only from their heart and not from the Bible. Pastor Bill has a good balance of both and I love his approach on things. The Bible says "The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy," and I see our church moving into new waves of the prophetic. The pastor is not the church though, the people are. So I would also like to say thank you to the church staff and members for pulling your weight and working like a team. I will be going back overseas in early Jan. so I will not be at Bay Area anymore, but I look forward to hearing the great things happening in this church around the world.
Blessings, Ashley