Often as women’s leaders, we are so busy about the tasks, that we don’t always stop to listen before we speak and get angry. I am sure that doesn’t describe you, but I know it does me. Dawn Stephens, Associate Minister of Local Disciplemaking and Women’s Small Groups at in Birmingham, Alabama, writes some great thoughts for us to consider as we lead teams and minister to many women in our church and community.

As I have been brought back to the book of James, several times lately, I have had the opportunity to read James 1:19 and really ask God what does it mean for me.

“My dear brothers, take note of this, everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.”

Here are some thoughts He is teaching me, I’d like to pass onto you:

How do I become “quick” to listen?

Is it by daily asking God to help me put aside the distractions of this crazy, media, internet fueled culture so my mind is clear to recognize the need to listen?

Is it by taking daily time for solitude and silence so I know when I  “hear” His voice which trains me to be a better listener to the voices of others?

Is it asking my spouse and child questions that force me to listen to their current struggles, needs, questions and celebrations of daily life?

Is it being much more intentional to give focused time to people in whatever conversations come my way each day?

I think it is all these things……..

How do I become slow to speak?

Is it by measuring every word that I use in a conversation to ensure that it is accurate, edifying and appropriate?

Is it by thinking of the one I am talking to first instead of “my thoughts and perspectives” on the topic at hand?

Is it asking questions that help me better understand my friend and their need to be heard?

Is it not talking during the conversation and doing more listening?

How do I become slow to become angry?

Is it asking God daily to help me not jump to my conclusions and opinions?

Is it asking God daily to help me always see the other person’s side of the coin first before mine?
Is it asking God to help me quickly discern areas of unforgiveness in my life before they become a root of bitterness and a place of constant unresolved anger?

These are just some questions that I have been asking myself that you might also ask yourself and see what God reveals from His Word to you, his child……………………..

Dawn has been involved in women’s ministry in both volunteer and staff positions for many years. She is the Associate Minister of Local Disciplemaking and Women’s Small Groups at The Church at Brook Hills, in Birmingham, Alabama. Her desire is to train, equip and encourage women to use their God given gifts and abilities to show Christ’s love and grace to our world. She graduated from the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary Women’s Ministry certificate program, has served on the Alabama Baptist State Women’s Ministry  leadership team, and serves as a LifeWay Ministry Multiplier.   In addition to her work at LifeWay, Christina serves as a LifeWay Ministry Multiplier. She is a member of Simeon Baptist Church in Antioch where she teaches Sunday school and provides training for staff and ministry leaders. She is also pursuing a doctorate in Christian Education and Leadership at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky.  She has a passion for discipleship that leads to spiritual transformation, and helping others experience God in their hearts and lives.

Resources:

James
Praying God’s Word
Discerning the Voice of God
Frazzled Female
Women Reaching Women
Transformed Lives
 

I read LifeWay President Dr. Thom Rainer’s blog post titled " I Am a Leader" and felt he has such great points for me personally, and for anyone in leadership. I wanted to use that as a starting point for this blog post. Take time to read through his post first.

Now, let’s each ask ourselves (and perhaps use this as a team activity) the following questions:

1.    Is doing what is right my first priority? Regardless of how else I spend my time leading, do I put what I know to be right as the first step always?
2.    Am I looking at those I lead and who serve with me to accomplish what we believe God has directed us to do as real people and not just bodies to get the work done?
3.    Do I treat my leadership role seriously, as a stewardship of what God has entrusted to me? Do I really understand it’s not about me but about Him?
4.    Is the direction and purpose for our ministry clear? Is our conviction about the purpose obvious?
5.    Am I continuing to learn as I lead¸ knowing I will never have all the answers? Always seeking to become a better leader?
6.    Do I lead with courage, especially in the face of tough decisions?
7.    In humility, do I seek to serve those I lead? Or do I lead from a position of power?
8.    Is Jesus my example from whom I pattern my leadership? Do I look to His leadership style as my goal?
These are some great questions that we all need to answer from time to time as we continue to lead teams of women who lead women who………

What questions to you ask of yourself as a leader, and your team with whom you serve?

Resources:

Transformed Lives
Women Reaching Women
Lead Like Jesus
Jesus on Leadership
Spiritual Leadership

One of the main goals for a women’s leader is to equip leaders and develop an effective leadership team. We CANNOT and SHOULD NOT do ministry alone!  Reach guest blogger’s post today for some great advice to lead teams well. Simone Monroe is the director of Women’s Ministries at Lake Pointe Church in Dallas, TX

What gives a team the edge it needs to be successful – to make it just a little better than the rest? I believe the difference is leadership. As John Maxwell so often says, “Everything rises and falls on leadership”. Leaders lead their team to new levels, managers maintain the status quo. These new levels are not achieved by sitting back and giving directives.

Numerous elements are involved in strong leadership, but there are three absolute essentials:

1.    Foundational to strong leadership is the element of good communication. Notice I didn’t say communication. Communication is often poor or even damaging.  A strong leader must develop skills to become a good communicator in order to breathe life into the team. An effective leader’s communication must be clear, consistent, concise– all of which help to eliminate frustration, distrust, and lack of cooperation. Good communication is life-giving to a team. I believe it to be the single all-purpose instrument of leadership.

2.    The second essential of leadership is becoming a better leader. A leader must first grow before she can effectively grow others. Growth involves change and becoming more effective by holding oneself to higher standards, and living and leading at new levels. I like to refer to this growth as Leadership IQ. It involves developing  and communicating vision, modeling standards set for the team, seeing farther and more quickly than others, anticipating what is about to happen in your  ministry “culture” and, especially understanding people, because leadership is about developing people, not accomplishing tasks.  Different people have different passions, respond differently to the same challenge, and require different motivation. A good leader is able to read people and find the key that releases their potential instead of restricting it. Once you add value to yourself by growing as a leader, you will be able to influence and add value to your team.

3.    The third and most pivotal essential in successful leadership is investment in your team. When a leader realizes that “one does not have to be the leader to be a leader on the team”, the necessity of adding value to, investment in the team, becomes apparent. Even if you do not have a budget, you can invest in the team. Investment in team members pays off as they become more unselfish, more enthusiastic, more confident, more self-directed, and more effective. In other words, investment in the team leads to the team functioning at a higher level. 

You may ask, how can you invest in your team?

·    First, decide to invest in the team because investment takes time- Your Time.
·    Do things together as a team- this ensures the growth of the team by providing community. The pay off for volunteering is community. This connection between people as more than teammates gives the needed commitment to one another as individuals not just because they are teammates. It becomes about relationship, not about a job.
·    Empower them with responsibility and authority. This builds trust and confidence.
·    Give them the credit for the team successes. This builds morale which gives momentum.
·    Stop investing in players who do not grow.
·    Create new opportunities for team- it should not stay stagnate (same people, same jobs, same responsibilities) forever. Find new people, create new job opportunities, and give established team members new responsibilities and challenges.

By investing in your team, you allow the team to stretch and guarantee movement to a higher level. If you want to build a great team over a long period of time, you must train your team and invest in them as individuals. This provides for team growth and new levels of accomplishment. 

Simone Monroe is the director of Women’s Ministries at Lake Pointe Church in Dallas, TX, a Global Strategist for ProvenWay Ministries and LifeWay Ministry Multiplier. As a speaker, conference leader, and freelance writer, she is also a member of the Association of Women’s Ministry Professionals. Simone has earned a Masters degree in Christian Leadership and a Certificate in Women’s Leadership from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Forth Worth, TX.   Simone’s passion is teaching and developing women to fulfill their God-given potential. She enjoys presenting God's Word in a fresh and relevant way in order to encourage growth in the lives of her listeners. Her two sons, their wives, and her five grandchildren are the light of her life.

Resources:
Women Reaching Women
Transformed Lives
The Team that Jesus Built, Janet Thompson
On Track Leadership, John Kramp
The Leadership Call, Jeff Iorg

Recently I wrote a series on lessons from Joshua. Today, guest blogger Rachel Lovingood  shares another lesson from this fabulous book in the Bible, and the man for whom that book is named.

Longest day ever…Have you ever wished that you could freeze time and just continue to live in this day or that one? I was just reading in Joshua 10 and came to verses 9-14. I was blown away again by the faith of Joshua and the way that he expected so much more from God than just the ordinary. In the midst of fighting a battle against the Amorites, the Bible tells us that Joshua said to the Lord in front of others “Stand still sun” and the sun stopped in the middle of the day and delayed going down about a full day. Not kidding—read it for yourself.

Now, I have had days where I felt like maybe someone had put a hold on the sun because they just never seemed to end, but never have I asked for something that big to happen in front of others and seen it occur right then.

Here’s what I’m wondering. Do you and I as leaders in ministry ever get too comfortable or too complacent to the point that we have stopped expecting big things from God?? You know—He is the same yesterday, today and forever. Our God is huge and He is extremely powerful but do we really live like that? Do we tell people that God can do anything yet we don’t really ask Him and believe Him for what we need?

Here’s my proposition. What if we led like Joshua. With a faith that says “Let’s go for it” and “If God calls us to do this then nothing, absolutely nothing will stand in our way”. You can never expect more than God has the ability or power to do. Let’s refuse to box God in so we can understand Him better and let’s raise the roof on our expectations.

What do you need to believe God for? What obstacle seems overwhelming to you? Who is coming against your service for the Lord? He is bigger and He is stronger—let’s live like we believe that.

Rachel Lovingood is the Next Generation Pastor’s wife and a women’s leader at Long Hollow Baptist Church, Hendersonville, Tennessee, as well as a LifeWay Ministry Multiplier.  She co-authored the Bible study for ministers’ wives, In Our Shoes: Real Life Issues for Ministers’ Wives by Ministers’ Wives.  She uses her passion for Christ, her energetic style and her sometimes crazy sense of humor to encourage and teach women to find the answers they need from the only true source of wisdom—the Bible. She is a wife (of a minister), a mom (of three fantastic kids), a friend, a writer, and a teacher. Her experiences working in youth ministry as well as women’s ministry in various churches across the country have developed in her a deep love for women and a mission to help enable them to live victoriously in spite of the struggles they face.  Read more on Rachel’s blog here.


Resources:

Called to Be God's Leader: How God Prepares His Servants for Spiritual Leadership, Henry Blackaby & Richard Blackaby

Women Reaching Women
 

I too, like our guest blogger Martha Lawley, am at a point in life and ministry that I pray that God will strengthen me daily to “finish well”. Even if you are younger, you will benefit by reading this post as you consider the legacy you will leave behind one day…and only God knows when that day will come.

Finishing well . . . It’s a phrase I’m hearing a lot lately. Perhaps it’s because of my age or the phase of ministry many of my friends find themselves. Either way, I’ve been asking God to show me what it really means to finish well.

I have to admit, I was a little surprised by the first thought God brought to my mind on this subject. He reminded me that we rarely know when we are experiencing our “lasts” in life. While many of our “firsts” are celebrated, our “lasts” seem to sneak up on us without notice. Only later do we realize it was a last.

This reality has led me to more closely examine the idea of finishing well. God alone decides when we are finished and I’m beginning to see the wisdom of being in a state of ready by remaining focused and faithful to what God has ask of me.

I’ve learned a lot about life and ministry from the Apostle Paul. The challenges he faced in living out his calling and his openness about his human failings have been an inspiration to me. When I think about finishing well, I think about Paul’s last visit with the Ephesian elders recorded in Acts 20:24-27. Nearing the end of his ministry, Paul gives valuable insight into finishing well.

1. Certainty of Calling – Paul knew what God had called him to do. In times of defeat & difficulty as well as times of joy, Paul was clear on one thing: God’s call (vs. 24). What about you? Are you certain about God’s call on your life? How can we finish well if we have not even started what God has called us to do?

Certainty of calling is crucial to finishing well. Calling sets our priorities and defines our successes. Living out God’s call, finishing the task given him had become the most important thing to Paul. He considered his life is worth nothing compared to completing his calling.

Clearly it would be easier to work for God without a call. We would not have to be bothered with what God requires and would be free to follow our own sentiment. However, in God’s calling we find protection and the fulfillment that can only come from living a life that truly matters.

2. Confidence of Success – Perhaps most remarkable of all is the wonderful confidence that results from a certainty of calling. In Acts 20: 26–27, Paul makes a profound statement of confidence. He knows, without any doubt, he has done what God called him to do! Now that is something every leader could benefit from. How did Paul get such confidence? Well, from being certain of his calling, letting his calling determine his perspective and living in obedience. Let’s be clear – Paul did not always get it right (remember Barnabas?). His confidence of success was not based on being perfect, but rather on being faithful.

Did you also notice that Paul’s success was not determined by the response of those he ministered to? How often do you and I make that mistake - allowing the others or the enemy to beat us down? Like Paul our success as leaders - our finishing well - is determined by our obedience to God’s call!

Finishing well sounds a lot like starting well. What do you think? How is God helping you finish well?
 

Martha Lawley formerly served as the Women’s Consultant for the Utah-Idaho Southern Baptist Convention until her family moved to northern Wyoming. She contributed to the women’s leadership books, Transformed Lives: Taking Women’s Ministry to the Next Level and Women Reaching Women: Revised and Expanded edition, published by LifeWay, and has written numerous articles for LifeWay’s Women’s Ministry web site. She is also the author of Attending the Bride of Christ: Preparing for His Return. Martha is a LifeWay Ministry Multiplier and serves her local church in various areas of leadership, and is a member of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee.

Resources:
Attending the Bride