Here’s my notes from Craig’s first talk.  Challenging stuff.  I’ll write some of my thoughts that this has spurred in me later.

Busting barriers with mindset changes

  • No matter what the ministry, they will want to settle in.
  • The longer a ministry is stalled, the bigger catalyst to create momentum.

Romans 12:2

1. Think differently about your church culture.

  • Problem: “Our people won’t __________.”  You fill in the blank to see where we need to change the culture.
  • New mindset:  We haven’t led them to ________.
  • Symbolic leadership – have to model it first; lead them to it

2.  Think differently about programming.

  • Normal mindset: do more to reach more
  • New mindset: We can reach more by doing less.

3.  Think differently about the mission.

  • Are you about your mission?  Or are you about guarding people’s feelings?
  • Old: We can’t hurt people’s feelings.
  • New: We can’t allow someone to hold back the mission of the church.
  • Hire for tomorrow’s need.
  • We are often surrounded by people who can’t go to the next level.
  • You have to love the mission enough to make the painful people choices.

4.  Think differently about people leaving the church.

  • Old: We can’t let anyone leave.
  • New: We can grow when people leave.

5.  Think differently about limitations.

  • old: We can’t because we don’t ________ (people, funds, etc,)  Sometimes the greatest limitations is our own perceptions.
  • God often guides by what he doesn’t provide.
  • new: See opportunities where others see limitations.

Assignments:
1. Find someone 1 or 2 steps ahead of you and learn how they think. Most want to learn what they do without understanding the why.
2. Identify one wrong mindset and ask God to renew your mind with truth.
3. Identify one painful decision you’ve been avoiding and commit to make the decision no matte what the short term pain.

The greatest thing he did recently was intentional about bringing his passion and heart for Jesus to his church.