John Mark's Lessons

I just listened to another leadership CD. I heard a leader say some years ago that if you continue to pump from the well without replenishing your supply, your well will run dry!

I refuse to run dry! Therefore, I purchase, CD, DVD’s, attend leadership conferences, and choose friends who can help me become the man of God, that the Lord Jesus wants me to be.

The CD I listened to was “Leadership Secrets from John Mark”. In it I learned:

1. Failure is part of life.

a. Admit it
b. Don’t blame others
c. Don’t have a pity party
d. Don’t live in shame for the rest of your life
e. Don’t be afraid to try again

2. Examine WHY we fail

a. Overconfidence
b. Unteachable
c. prayerlessness
d. Bad strategy or poor planning
e. Fear of risk or rejection
f. Associate with the wrong people

3. View Failure as a friend not a foe

4. Failure should be a mentor, not a monument

5. You never really fail until you quit

6. God often does His best work through people who once failed miserably!

The principle that really excited me was “View Failure as a friend not a foe.” WOW! If I can get my head around this one then failure becomes a step in success.

If you had all the money and all the time you needed, what would you accomplish? What would you do? What is your dream? I would love to share mine with you sometime. Shoot me a note to:

mknowl@bellsouth.net

and we will connect.

Dr. Mike

John Mark

Fulfilling Your Potential

I had a great time this week learning from "Les Brown." In his talk "Live Full - Die Empty" he shared some ideas that excited me.

He asked, if you had your life to live over again, could you do more than you've done? When he asked that question, I realize I could have done way more. Isn't it exciting that God puts more potential in us than we can develop?

That is one of life's most exciting and frustrating truths. Seeking to fulfill your potential is a wonderful journey. Some people are paralyzed by fear. They never seek to develop their potential afraid they might fail. I've got good news. You are going to fail! But in the failing you become the person God created you to be. WOW! I am so pumped up by this truth.

Find a company to work for, find a position at church to serve in, find a way to serve, work, participate in an area you are passionate about and learn to fail. Become, develop the potential God has given you.

Fall Festival Blow Out

Fall Festival Blow Out!

Can you believe what the Lord has done? We prayed for 50 guests and God blew us out! We had 244 guests! If you were one of the hundreds of guests, THANKS for attending. If you were one of the members who worked hard to make this event a huge success, THANKS. If you did not attend but would love to attend, come on by. We have our worship celebrations on Sundays at 11:00 A.M.

See you next time with some exciting news about what God is doing!

Pastor Mike

Fall Festival

I am enjoying another great week with the Waldrop Family. We had the opportunity to ordain Drew McKenzie and celebrate God working in his life.

I had the opportunity to meet two new people yesterday that stopped by the church office. I had the chance to share a “story” and get to know them. I loaned out a book and will get to follow up about the book which is a wonderful plan by the way.

Tonight we have missionaries from Mexico coming to share what God is doing in their lives. I love meeting missionaries. Meeting people who lay it all on the line encourages and excites me. You can pray for Tap and Katie Hornor. You can also participate in their ministry through giving and going. Here is there website.
http://tkhornor.com/web_site/

Saturday is our Fall Festival. I am praying diligently that God will move. I see other churches in the area that are doing a fall festival. Maybe the Lord is going to reclaim this date for His glory. Keep on praying.

Sunday I will be preaching a message “Dealing with People, Overcoming Unfair Attitudes.” Come hang out with us and see what God is saying.

Excited about Jesus!

Pastor Mike

Servant Leadership

It has been a busy week. It is Friday night and I'm waiting to hear from my oldest son who is headed home tonight.

Tomorrow I travel getting ready for a great weekend with my church family. We will ordain Drew McKenzie this weekend. What an awesome time for our family. Being a deacon is all about "Servant Leadership." In Acts chapter six we see the beginning of this ministry. There were some widows being left out of the daily distribution of food. They complained and word got back to the Apostles. After prayer they made this announcement to the Church Family.

Then the twelve summoned the whole company of the disciples and said, "It would not be right for us to give up preaching to wait on tables.... Acts 6:2 HCSB.

The Greek word for "wait on tables" is "diakoneo". It is here that we get our word "deacon" from. That is why we call deacons "servant leaders." They wait on tables, serve the congregation, and lead by their service. What a great biblical concept.

The world teaches leadership by commanding and demanding from others. Jesus teaches leadership by putting a towel around Himself and washing the feet of the disciples. What type of leader are you? Commanding or Serving?

Building Trust

WOW! We just returned from trip to Panama City. I had the privilege of hanging out with the guys. They were a blast. We discussed several topics - Our Strengths, Trust, and Loyalty. Jerry Z did an awesome job organizing and planning this trip. (THANKS!)

We had as much time together this weekend as we would have had in a year of going to church together. This much time compressed into a few days helped to bond us together. I am excited about the leadership God has given us. The men are stepping up and hitting the ball out of the park.

I guess my best quote of the weekend was, "If what you're telling me is important to you, and I'm not writing it down, it is not important to me."

The other quote I was excited about was, "...being loyal is a way of showing love."

Thanks guys for your love and support.

Mike