Comments on: How Great Leaders Inspire Action

By: MJ Peace

MJ Peace — Mon, 04 Aug 2014 15:10:31 +0000

I think people are afraid to ask, “why,” because they are afraid of the answers and implications they bring. For example, if I were to ask why we have Friday testimony sharing meeting, people would usually say to meditate on the word of God and apply it. But there are many other ways to achieve that purpose. The real reason for those meetings, sometimes, is simply because we’ve been doing it this way for the last 20 years; it worked back then and we hope it’ll start working now. The church needs to meet people where they are at instead of pushing people to meet their standards.

By: MJ Peace

MJ Peace — Mon, 04 Aug 2014 15:05:48 +0000

Yes, I agree. The gospel makes so much sense to me. I love that we believe in a God who uses reason and logic. Of course, faith is a gift and it is the key to the gospel, but God is open to our questions. One of my favorite verses is Jeremiah 3:33. I do have doubts and questions sometimes, but whenever they I arise I know I can go straight to God and ask them. (Humans are not like that. People like to have command and lord over others without giving reasons for their commands. We all are in it for the power trips.)
When I preach about the gospel it flows. I can have confidence because Jesus makes all the “whys” clear.

By: MattC

MattC — Mon, 04 Aug 2014 04:54:08 +0000

“Why” is such a great question, it is a shame so many people don’t want to hear it! Thanks for digesting what you learned and sharing it with us.

By: Chris

Chris — Sat, 26 Jul 2014 15:18:38 +0000

Thanks MJ. These are things to keep in mind. I believe we can be only inspiring if we 100% believe in what we are doing and are on fire about something. If that is not the case, we should try to find out why. Maybe something is wrong with us, or with the idea that we want others to be inspire about. I remember that I could not really give inspiring messages in UBF because I was not 100% sure about the things that I had to preach, either because I saw them as UBF ideas imposed upon my own understanding og the gospel, or because I had problems with literal understanding of parts of the Bible, particularly the OT. All these ideas felt alien to my mind. Because I was not really 100% convinced of these teachings, I could not defend and preach them so that they inspired others.

And yes, TED talks are a good source for education and inspiration, I also like to watch them.

By: BrianK

BrianK — Sat, 26 Jul 2014 11:37:43 +0000

Thanks for sharing these thoughts MJ! I appreciate your line of thinking very much. Here is the TED Talk by Simon Sinek referenced in your article. I've watched several TED talks and they are a great source of inspiration. You pointed out something of significance that deserves more thought: "Every single person knows what they do and most likely how they do it, but the central question is: why. And the answer to that question is not simply “to be rich.” That is a result." One of the important principles every leader has to know is that results follow, they do not lead. Chasing results will drive your church or your business into the ground.

By: bekamartin

bekamartin — Fri, 25 Jul 2014 22:27:57 +0000

A+++. Thank you!