Effectiveness in Teams....Don't Spin Your Tires!

Have you ever been in a car that was stuck in the mud and it was just spinning it's tires? It's frustrating!

Let's be honest: there are a lot of organizations, churches, and groups that are simply spinning their tires and are stuck! No one wants to be on one of those teams.

Just like a car can get stuck in the mud so also teams can do things to keep their group weighed down and paralyzed.

I have done some research concerning how to be effective with a team. Here is some proven researched data.

1. Organizations are becoming multi-level and multi-disciplinary organisms built for fluidity. Hierarchy in leadership stifles effectiveness. Shared decision making has been found to be more effective.

2. Smaller teams are best. If you have too many voices nothing can get done. Research points that team members peak at effectiveness when there is on average 4.6 persons in a group. If you have more than eight persons it is difficult to move forward.

3. Teams that work together longer are more effective.

4. Performance is the engine that drives a team. If there is no performance ethic you are not a part of a team.

5. Communication is one of the most important team concepts. It is estimated that 70% of medical errors in the medical field are due to issues of communication.

6. Team based learning is a growing concept and model. The lowest team scores are on average higher than the highest individual scores on a test. Teams can accomplish more together!

7. Trust is critical in team effectiveness. Trust is positively correlated with increased creativity as conflicts get resolved.

As the world in which we live changes so also we must change and adapt to remain relevant. Team research is a fairly new concept only coming to light within the past two decades, but it is having a huge impact on the understanding of how to run a group of persons. Now, virtual teams are the fastest researched commodity as we live in a fast paced technological world. Leaders in a virtual world are now having to become more diversified in their skills and giftedness. The best way to remain relevant and effective is to develop people that have skills and gifts in other areas and get them on YOUR team!

What teams are you on (sports, work, church, etc)? Are they effective? Why or why not? How can you become a more effective group of persons?

Why ALL Easter Church Visitors Should Return Next Sunday

There is NO getting around the meaning of Easter. While the Easter holiday has been secularized (Bunny, Eggs, etc.) people can still not escape the fact that it stands to remember the day that Jesus rose from the dead! This fact is undeniable.

Therefore, many people know, at least subconsciously, that they need to go to church to find out more about this Jesus guy on Easter!

If you are a person that goes to church only on religious holidays let me encourage you to come more often. Here are some reasons why you should:

1. We celebrate the resurrection of Jesus every Sunday, not just on Easter! In fact, the reason why Christians meet on Sunday instead of Saturday is because that is the day that Jesus rose from the dead and the early church met on Sundays to remind their congregants of this fact!
2. Get IN the habit of going to church instead of OUT of the habit! We are commanded in the Bible to regularly go to church.

Hebrews 10:24-25 "And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching."

3. Church family is needed family! I do not know where I'd be without the prayer, emotional, and financial support over the years from my church family.
4. It keeps you fresh and on fire! If you take a log out of a fire it will burn for awhile but will eventually simmer out. If you remove yourself from church you may stay on fire for Jesus for a bit but you will eventually flame out.
5. The statement: "Church is full of hypocrites" has no merit! You go to church to discover the truth and only you will be held accountable for what you do with that truth. No church is perfect and if you find the perfect church you wouldn't qualify to be in attendance.

Sunday mornings should have the most traffic as people are flocking to church. May this happen in your town, surrounding cities, our nation, and around the world!

See you at church THIS SUNDAY!

What's so 'GOOD' about GOOD FRIDAY?

Today is Good Friday.

I decided to do some basic web searching as to how Good Friday got it's name. Unfortunately, there is not a lot of reliable information as to the historicity and development concerning the naming of Good Friday.

Simply put, Good Friday is good because Jesus died on the cross for the sins of the world. Another name for Good Friday is Holy Friday.

I took a few brief moments to ponder the wonderment of the cross this afternoon. Here is why Good Friday is Good:

 

1. Without the cross there would be no resurrection!
2. The cross is the pinnacle whereby all prophecy leads and is fulfilled! (i.e. Daniel 9:26)
3. God's love is on full display that He would turn his back on His Son that he Had known intimately since eternity past!
4. The compassion of Jesus is made known through his gracious and merciful words while being tortured and killed!
5. Satan strikes Jesus a fatal blow but Jesus has won the final victory forever! Game, set, match!
6. Christianity is unique and unlike any other religious system in that God cares so much for humankind that he would die for it!
7. Jesus got to finalize his mission on earth. He is the perfect example all the way from birth until he states: "It Is Finished."
8. The character of humility goes from being mocked to seen as where one's true strength lies!
9. Jesus' death had to happen for us to be given a Counselor, the gift of the Holy Spirit!
10. MY LIFE IS FOREVEF CHANGED AT THE CROSS!

THANK YOU JESUS! 

 

Doubt - The Emotion that Forces us to Choose

This Sunday I had the opportunity to preach on the emotion of Doubt. This message is something that we as individuals need to be reminded of on a daily basis. The anti-thesis or the remedy for our doubt is faith and trust!

Here are some good reminders when you are struggling with doubts and questions:

- Doubt forces us to choose! We can either acknowledge God's power in our life and step through doubt in faith or we can allow doubt to paralyze us!
- Doubt is the trigger by which we choose to follow God and get stronger! If we did not struggle with doubt than our faith would not get stretched. God uses our doubts to push our faith forward.
- God plus you equals the majority! Doubt isolates people and we feel alone. If you feel like a nobody or a nothing with God you are a somebody!
- God blesses those who takes steps of faith in Him!
- The Christian life ain't boring because when you step through doubt you are riding on the front waves of faith!
- When you succumb to doubt you completely take yourself out! If we go into battle thinking we are going to lose than lose we will indeed.
- Doubt is Satan's primary weapon! Satan's gameplan was to plant seeds of doubt into Adam and Eve's mind and his gameplan today is to do the same to believers. His tactic has not changed for thousands of years!
- The end by-product of doubt is desperation! Doubt leads believers to settle in our lives, a loss of hope, and eventually to desperation. We can though have victory if we step out in faith!

"God is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine." (Ephesians 3:20)

 

 

God wants to speak through our doubts in immeasurable ways!

In SICKNESS and in Health - Get Better Kim

I have known my wife for over three years and I have never seen her sick........until today.

This morning, therefore, I had to go shopping to pick up the typical sick supplies. You know the Soup, Gatorade, Flu medicine stuff.

As I was traveling to Meijer's a few thoughts crossed my mind.

1. I am only 'repaying' Kim a small part of what Kim has done for me. My wife has been faithful and loyal in cleaning, making dinners, and rushing me to the hospital while I was struck with a Kidney stone. (see http://cosentinoquickfix.blogspot.com/2014/01/what-kidney-stone-will-teach-you.html) Compared to what she has done for me, this is only a small way to show my love for her.

2. God created the husband and wife relationship for stability. Everyone needs someone they can 'lean on' from time to time. This time my wife is leaning on me, but I will need her support and to lean on her too down the road (sooner rather than later).

3. It's time to live out my wedding vows. I made sure that in my vows I kept part of the traditional wedding vows to love my wife in sickness and in health. During my drive to pick up the supplies there was some excitement and joy as I was delivering on my promises.

Let's be honest: being sick is never enjoyable!

Best wishes to a speedy recovery Kim!

You can NOT out ENTERTAIN the ENTERTAINMENT Industry - Youth Ministry

I am a youth pastor. I am not an entertainer.

The entertainment industry has been changing, modifying, and adapting over the ages. Teenagers have been engaged throughout most of their formative years by all forms of media, technology, and entertainment.  If a church builds a youth ministry that is entertainment and completely "fun" driven it will eventually lose it's appeal to teenagers. Why? Because teenagers are exposed to all forms of entertainment at the click of a mouse and the church cannot compete or keep up!

Here is the good news. Youth ministries are not called to entertain students but to make disciples. Luckily, teenagers aren't looking for just a fun time, but are looking for people who can give them answers to the hard questions and who will walk side by side in life with them.

Before being accused of being a kill joy let me confirm that I do believe that youth ministry should be fun and relevant. Our youth ministry uses Just Dance songs, YouTube videos, TV's, zany games, and a band. We use these things though to augment and to build up to the spiritual climax and mission of our youth services.

I have been to a number of retreats, conferences, and youth meetings. It is easy to see what the priority of the gathering truly is. Is the meeting emphasis to primarily have fun and to mix a little of Jesus in as well OR is the meeting emphasis more about encountering Jesus and having some fun is more of a byproduct of a missional mindset?

Therefore, there is more to youth ministry than just fun, pizza, pop, and video games. While it is fun, youth leaders are called to make disciples and to raise the next generation up to love the Lord which is hard work!

Do not try to out entertain your students compared with the entertainment industry. You will lose every time! Do try to provide an atmosphere of authenticity where Christ is preached in a fun and relevant way!