Emotional stability & Patience

When we look at the life of Jesus and His ministry on the earth, there are many things we can learn from His life when it comes to leadership. Today I just want to focus on two areas that I have been studying and focusing on:

1. His emotional stability
2. His patience

Jesus had three years of active ministry on the earth and was on a mission to accomplish the greatest and most important thing in eternity. HIs job was to save the world and turn enough people into believers who were willing to lay down their lives even after He ascended into heaven.

The amazing thing is that Jesus accomplished all of this while remaining emotionally stable and patient with His disciples.

There were times when He did get frustrated with them regarding their lack of faith but he never blurted out things out of frustration. There was times when Jesus spoke sharply to both His disciples and the religious people of the day but there was never a time when Jesus had to regret what He said and never a time when He felt like He had to "take back" the words that He said or spoke to others (Mark 9:19).

We also see Him as a leader who was patient with His disciples. He continuously taught them, even when it seemed like they were not growing. When some of his disciples made emotional comments and commitments about never leaving HIm, He did not get carried away. When the same people who promised to never leave Him, said that they never knew Him, He did not give up on them. He was patient enough to meet with them after His resurrection.

As leaders we absolutely need to develop emotional stability in our lives. It is not just needed when we are in our office but in our houses as we lead our families. In the last few months I have seen leaders fail because they lacked emotional stability and have seen leaders succeed in difficult times and circumstances because of emotional stability.

Patience is another area that we need to develop in as leaders. As leaders, most of us like things to get done quickly and would like to see people around us move at a fast pace. This is of course needed in certain areas but when it comes to developing patience, it just doesnt work! As leaders we need to be more patient with the people that we are leading. We need to take the time to disciple them and coach them along the way.

What are your thoughts on these two areas? How have they affected or effected your life and leadership? Can you share any examples?

In the following posts I will talk about how we can develop emotional stability and patience.

Update!

Hello everybody!

Its been a month since I last blogged! I have been a little busy doing some traveling and attending a few conferences. Now that I am back I plan on being much more regular.

Thanks for being patient!

How has your summer been so far?

Cave of Winds

Uploading a video to blogger for the first time from my iPhone 4. Wanted to see what the video quality might look like.

Teenagers and Media

I just came across some interesting facts about teenagers and tv on Jonathan's blog. Honestly some of the information surprised me. Here is a pie chart of the total media time consumed by teenagers on various platforms:

Here is a quote from Time Warner Chairman and CEO Jeff Bewkes claims, “TV is not only not dead, but it’s one of the fastest growing businesses. Ratings, time spent and viewership are all up.”

With this mind, here are two questions:

1. Are you surprised with this information?
2. What is the primary platform with which you communicate with teenagers in your church/ministry?

The Slide - Fast lane

What if we had one of these at church?

Journey to Everest

Journey to Everest is a film directed by David Kiern. It follows the adventure of six people who trek to Everest base camp. During the trek the team get to visit some great places and interesting people.

The movie will be premiering in churches through out the country on July 11th. You can use this at your church for FREE.

Here is a short video of the director talking about how the movie can be used in various ways at your church. The video also has the trailer of the movie.

Journey to Everest Summer Release from Epiphany Productions on Vimeo.

You can click here for more information regarding the movie or to find out how your church can sign up and use this tool in various ways.

Failure, Life and Leadership

Here is a really well done video from Honda about failure and its role in achieving success.

I have personally failed many times in many ways. From failing in a subject in middle school to at times failing as leader leading the high school department at church, I have failed many times. But by the Grace of God and some very wise people that are in my life I have been able to learn from those experiences and move on instead of getting stuck. I am thankful for my family, leaders and the team I get to lead who have given me room to fail.

So what about you?

1. What did you get out of it?
2. What have you failed at?
3. How did you move past it and keep going?
4. Do you give people that you lead room to fail?

Do You Really Believe?

One of the words that is used to reference Christians is the word “believers.” Every human being believes something. So, why are Christians called believers? What exactly does it mean to be a believer?

The word “believe” comes from two old English words: BE and LIFON. BE meaning "life" (as in being) and LIFON meaning "according to." Therefore, to believe means to live in accordance/agreement with something. Continue reading here....

Making The Right Decisions

Decisions are a part of our lives. They make or break relationships, families, organizations, churches and our very lives. They play a very important part in everyone's lives. Since they are so very important, we need to make sure we are depending on the right source to help make our decisions. Who we consult with before we make decisions is very important. This is especially true for leaders. Decision-making is a part of leadership that no leader can avoid. Making decisions or owning up to a decision made by the group that you lead is part of what makes you a leader.

So, as a leader who do you primarily depend on for guidance and wisdom before you make a decision? Continue reading here...