| December
2003 |
|
Cadre Connection:
The E-Newsletter from Bill Allison and Cadre International Designed
to Encourage, Equip, and Energize Volunteer Leaders and Teachers
in the Church. |
If we want to see God do great things THROUGH us in 2004,
we must allow him to do great things IN us in 2004. NOW IS THE
TIME FOR YOU TO MOVE BEYOND TALK AND WRITE A PERSONAL GROWTH PLAN
FOR 2004! A personal growth plan is a plan that allows God to
do some great things in you—to grow you and change you--so
HE can do great things through you for HIS glory! I challenge
you to step out of the quagmire of personal mediocrity and excuses--and
I DARE YOU to step into the adventure of writing a simple personal
growth plan for your life in 2004. Need help? I challenge you
to read "Starting 2004 Right: How YOU Can Develop and Follow
Through on a Personal Growth Plan" in this edition of Cadre
Connection.
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In order for God to do great things THROUGH us,
we must first allow him to do great things IN us. We, as teachers
and leaders in the church, must be continually learning and experiencing
God in new and fresh ways. We must be intentional and methodical
about our personal growth—constantly learning and seeking
to apply God’s Word to every area of our lives.
Unfortunately, we often neglect our personal growth
in the name of our ministry! We get so busy serving God that we
forget God! Sound too extreme? In Revelation 3:20 we find Jesus
standing on the outside of a CHURCH (not a sinner’s heart)—and
he is knocking on the door to get into the CHURCH! That’s
a picture of us! We don’t have to be involved in ministry
very long before we realize that the biggest threat to our ministry
is our ministry—because we tend to allow the busyness of serving
God to squeeze out our personal growth and relationship with God.
As teachers and leaders in the church, we are often
focused on the needs of those we teach and lead. We spend much time
and focus praying that God will intervene, grab someone’s
attention, and change his or her life. While this is fine—even
essential, we sometimes forget that the FIRST step that God will
often take to change the lives of those under our care is to intervene
and change OUR lives.
Jesus Confirms
the Importance of Personal Growth for Teachers and Leaders!
If we want those we teach and lead to grow, learn, and apply God’s
Word to every area of their lives, then WE must do it first. Indeed,
Jesus made this point clear when he said, “A student is not
above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like
his teacher” (Luke 6:40). Before you just cruise over those
powerful words—think about the ramifications of Jesus' statement.
If everyone you lead and teach develops a relationship with God
like the one you presently have, how spiritually healthy would they
be? Make no mistake about it: those we teach and lead will be like
US when they are fully trained! So, we must ask some poignant—perhaps
even uncomfortable—questions about ourselves! Are WE growing?
Learning? Changing? Applying God’s Word to new areas? On a
scale from 1-10 (1 being bad news and 10 being excellent) how spiritually
healthy are you? It is critical to remember that the speed of the
leader/teacher is the speed of the team!
Modern Day
Leaders and Teachers Confirm the Importance of Personal Growth
In Developing the Leader Within You, Christian leadership
guru John Maxwell states the importance of personal growth for leaders
and teachers this way:
All great leaders [of the past] have understood
that their number one responsibility was for their own discipline
and personal growth. If they could not lead themselves, they could
not lead others. Leaders [and teachers] can never take others farther
than they have gone themselves, for no one can travel without until
he or she has first traveled within. A great person will lead a
great organization, but growth is only possible when the leader
is willing to pay the price. (underline mine)
The real question for teachers and leaders in the
church is: Are we REALLY willing to pay the price for personal growth?
Or are we going to take the easier route and keep looking to quick
fix remedies (i.e., the latest curriculums and hottest new programs)
as opposed to growing in an authentic relationship with God via
the Word and prayer?
As a leader and teacher in the church, it is absolutely
critical that you are continually learning and growing because,
as Dr. Howard Hendricks says in Teaching to Change Lives,
“If you stop growing today, you stop teaching tomorrow.”
The best thing we can do for those we lead and teach is not wow
them with our teaching methodologies, personal charisma, or intellectual
insights. The best thing that we can do for those we
lead and teach is to intentionally get on a huge personal learning
curve! We teach who we are. Who we are is more important
than what we say or do because what we say or do flows from who
we are. So it is essential that we become intentional about developing
ourselves via a personal growth plan this year.
What Is a
Personal Growth Plan?
A personal growth plan is a WRITTEN plan for your personal growth
in the key strategic areas of your life for the coming year. While
many pundits get caught up in the minutia of explaining the “correct
way” to develop a personal growth plan, I want to keep it
simple by emphasizing the following components of a personal growth
plan:
- It is personal. No one else can develop
a plan for you. It is about you and your needs.
- It is about growth. There should be some
attempt to accomplish something that you are not already accomplishing.
- It is written. It is something that you
have thought enough about to actually write it out. Writing
out your personal growth plan forces you to identify specific
areas of growth.
- It is a plan. In this sense, your written
personal growth plan is a group of statements of faith. “I
will, by God’s power and grace, seek to grow in these
specific ways.”
- It is flexible. As time progresses, God
will often take us in directions of personal growth that we
never even dreamed. So, my one rigid rule about personal growth
plans and life in general is: Be flexible!
- It targets key areas for personal growth.
Some key areas I have identified for my own personal growth
plan for this year include the spiritual, financial, marital,
familial, vocational, ministerial, physical, and intellectual.
- It is limited to a specified time. In this
case, I suggest looking at the coming year.
How to Create and Implement an Effective Personal Growth Plan
The most important step we must take to create and implement an
effective personal growth plan is to take the time and pain to actually
write out our plan—in hard copy format. This is one of the
main reasons about half of all people who make New Year’s
resolutions fail to achieve their goals—they only verbalize
their goals instead of actually writing them down. Something mysteriously
wonderful happens when we write goals down. We internalize and own
what we write in a way that does not happen when we simply think
or speak. Furthermore, writing out your personal growth plan forces
you to identify specific areas of growth. Identifying what exactly
you want to accomplish is absolutely critical if you are serious
about following through on your plan. As Maxwell so aptly states,
“Ninety-five percent of achieving anything is knowing what
you want.” Writing down the specifics of our personal growth
plan forces us to determine what exactly we want to accomplish.
Join the
Elite 3 Percent of All People
International speaker and trainer Brian Tracy states that only 3
percent of all people actually take the time to write out their
goals. However, those who take the time to write out their goals
go on to realize and achieve about eighty percent of their goals.
According to Tracy, even if we write out goals, put them aside and
forget about them--only to come back to them at the end of the year,
we will still have achieved most of those goals. Such is the power
of writing out your personal growth plan. If you don’t believe
it—why not put it to the test this year and write out your
goals? (Of course you may type it on your word processor if you
prefer—just make sure you create and keep a hard copy to review
and use as a mile marker and prayer guide.)
Remembering
Why We Need a Personal Growth Plan
A couple of years ago I had the opportunity to speak to a large
youth group in Minnesota. The youth pastor is a well-known communicator
and recognized youth ministry expert. In a moment of honest, heart
to heart fellowship, the youth pastor said to me, “The biggest
problem the students in my youth group are having is that they are
relationally shallow and dependent on programs.” Then he nearly
blew me away when he honestly confessed, “They are just like
me.”
Indeed, the speed of the leader IS the speed of
the team! For good and bad, those we train become like US! Therefore,
it is absolutely critical that we, as teachers and leaders in the
church, become intentional about our own growth and development.
One great way to get intentional is to actually write out a personal
growth plan for the year 2004.
I
DARE YOU to Take the 2004 Personal Growth Plan Challenge
If the idea of writing a personal growth plan for the year 2004
resonates with your spirit, I would like to propose that we take
it to the next level. If you will send me a copy of your personal
growth plan for this year, I will send you a copy of mine. (Send
your personal growth plan to info@cadreministries.com) We can pray
for each other. I would be more than willing to do this—especially
if it would be an encouragement for you to put a personal growth
plan on paper and into action. A year from now we can take some
time to reflect, learn, and make a new personal growth plan for
2005—Lord willing.
If you would like to send the 2004 Personal
Growth Plan Challenge to a friend so you can take the challenge
together, click below to send your friends this edition of Cadre
Connection:
Send
to a Friend >>
Don't Miss the January 2004 Edition
of Cadre Connection:
"Utilizing a Personal Growth Plan
Effectively--
Avoiding Seven Common PGP Pitfalls"
CLICK
HERE to view it now >>
 Personal
Growth Plan Help for Your 2004 Journey
Grow, Minister, and Lead! Ten Training
Sessions to Help You Grow, Minister, and Lead
These ten training sessions come with Bible study questions that
are ideal for self study or small group training sessions. Topics
covered: how to develop a personal growth plan, Joseph's secret
for sexual purity, how to find an accountability partner, time management
for busy people, how to deal with difficult people, how to conduct
a meeting so people actually show up, and much more!
For more info:
http://www.cadreministries.com/store/books.html#grow
Grow, Minister, and Lead #2--THE NEXT LEVEL!
Ten MORE Training Sessions to Help You Grow, Minister, and Lead
These ten training sessions come with Bible study questions that
are ideal for self study or small group training sessions. Topics
covered: moving from ordinary to extraordinary, how to develop a
SMART personal growth plan, time management, the importance of volunteer
ministry, how to gain credibility, what does it mean to be successful
in ministry, why non-Christians won't come to outreaches, self leadership,
how to lead those who lead you, and motivating volunteers.
For more info:
http://www.cadreministries.com/store/books.html#next
Grow, Minister, and Lead--AUDIO (tapes
or CDs): The Best of GML 1 and GML 2 on Audio
These nine audio training sessions on six tapes or six CDs include:
moving from ordinary to extraordinary, personal growth plans and
how to create SMART goals, sexual purity, accountability, time management,
becoming a credible communicator, self leadership, leading those
who lead you, and becoming a high impact teacher.
For CDs: http://www.cadreministries.com/store/audio.html
For tapes:
http://www.cadreministries.com/store/tapes.html#pack
 Top
Ten Heart Connection Christmas Gift Ideas
By Dave Garda
#10. Give the gift
of a family night.
Provide a great interactive game like "Cranium" (1 hour,
creative, interactive, relationship building fun) with a few of
your favorite snacks. One of my favorites for a setting like this
are genuine "Jelly Belly's." The variety of flavors and
the challenge to try the "popcorn" or "jalapeno"
flavored ones bring a small taste of connection.
#9. Give a night
away.
Offer to stay overnight with a young couples' children to allow
them a 24 hour escape to rebuild their connection with each other.
#8. Give a date night
in.
Provide a Blockbuster coupon with a gift card for your favorite
local pizza.
#7. GIve a date night
out.
Provide a gift card for a night at the movies plus dinner at Chili's
(one of my favorite casual restaurants which has been designed to
build connections.
#6. Give an hour
break.
Provide a Starbuck's gift card with the instructions that it can
only be used under one of the following conditions: A. You go inside
and sit down and enjoy your "Grande Skim Extra-hot Peppermint
Mocha." B. You open your Bible and connect with God while you're
there using Cadre's 25 day Bible study devotional tool on the One
Another's at the Cadre
Store. or C. You take a friend with you.
#5. Give your spouse
the gift of taking a walk.
Give someone special the gift of your participation in something
he/she likes to do that you don't typically look to do with your
free time. Tell him/her that it's more important to be together
than it is to do anything in particular.
#4. Pick out a missionary
family and have each member of your family help in providing a gift
box for this family at Christmas.
One suggestion is to provide them some current worship music. One
suggestion I have for you is the downloadable or CD worship set
from Harvest Bible Chapel. Two of the songs are written by one of
the Garda's favorite Christian song-writers (Josh Caterer of Duvall
and a worship leader at Harvest). You can preview or order the Here
and Now CD online at http://harvestsongs.org.
Or if they've got students and you want to introduce them to some
new Christian music you can order the newest CD from Duvall from
http://www.asianmanrecords.com.
The CD has a great sound, tight vocals, meaningful lyrics with a
great Christ centered message even though asianmanrecords.com is
not a Christian record label. Duvall is committed to getting Christian
music out into the mainstream.
#3. Give
up some of your time.
Erase a few squares on your day-timer or palm-pilot and sit down
and really talk to a senior, an orphan, the homeless, those in a
nursing home that don't have family. Bring them some cookies, but
give them the gift of your time.
#2. Give God more
of your time.
If someone you love is tied at the hip to a palm-pilot then I suggest
you go to <http://www.laridian.com> and purchase a palm Bible
(available in a range of translations including NLT, NIV, NASB,
etc.). Provide him/her with access to God's love letter as easily
as a tap on the screen. The palm Bibles are searchable so they make
great study tools with access to God's Word whenever someone has
a few free moments.
#1. Make a virtual
date with someone who lives out of town.
Go to your local coffee shop and get your favorite hot drink. Pick
up your cell phone and call an out-of-town friend--tell him/her
that you wanted to go out for coffee long distance and take 15 minutes
to re-connect your friendship by talking, not just emailing.
Strange
But True Allison Family CHRISTMAS Stories
by Bill Allison
 Shortly
after the birth of our first child, we, as Christian parents, were
confronted with the challenge of celebrating Christmas properly.
We are not the hyper-spiritual, legalistic, party-pooping kind of
parents who believe that Santa is just a weird way to spell Satan!
On the other hand, we really wanted our kids to celebrate the real
reason for Christmas—the birth of Jesus. For the first several
years, we simply focused on Jesus and his birthday—no anti-Santa
stuff—and it worked great. However, Stacy and I sensed that
with each passing year—as our children grew and became more
inquisitive—we would have to deal with the “Santa issue.”
As the next Christmas crept upon us, we decided
to research Santa and see what we could find that we could redeem
as Christians. Of course, we found out that Saint Nick was a Christian
man who lived long ago—and, in short, was famous for helping
the poor—get this—by sneaking in houses and leaving
gifts. We now had our Christian angle on Santa—and waited
for one of our brilliant kids to ask about the fat guy in the red
suit.
As fate would have it, shortly after we did our
Santa research, Billy, my then 3-year-old son, asked my wife (while
I was not with them—thankfully), “Is there really a
Santa?”
My wife, nervous but poised for this question,
launched into something just slightly less than an oral doctoral
dissertation entitled, “Santa: Jolly Fat Man in a Red Suit
or Good Christian Man of Old?” Throughout the informative
historical lecture concerning the original Saint Nick—a Christian
man who helped the poor—my 3-year-old son listened the best
any active little boy possibly could—which was not too good.
After the dissertation, Billy asked one simple question: “Is
Santa still alive today?”
Stacy responded, “No. But at Christmas many
people dress up in honor of him and his giving to others.”
Billy simply said, “OK.” And with that,
he went off to play happily—probably torturing his sisters
in some creative fashion.
The next day, as my wife was Christmas shopping
with our children, one of the well-meaning grandma-type clerks at
Wal-Mart approached my son and asked, “Is Santa going to bring
you lots of toys this year little boy?”
To which my son looked at her squarely in the eyes
and adamantly said, “Santa’s dead!”
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