Leadership in Context

The book of Zechariah offers powerful instruction for leadership and personal growth. It challenges us as spiritual leaders to ask some important questions. Am I truly walking out what God has called me to do? Am I taking responsibility or just doing enough to get by? Am I empowering those around me? And am I stewarding well the sacred trust of having access to people's lives? These are questions worth asking as we examine how we lead and grow.

The mission is always bigger than you. When the enemy comes after you, he’s really coming after the mission God has called you to. One of his greatest tactics is accusation, attempting to derail you from what God wants to accomplish. Staying focused on the mission requires spiritual leadership that can carry the vision and keep moving forward despite opposition.

Moving forward in vision requires intentionality. This checklist for going forward gives us 11 practical steps to help us do just that. Reposition yourself, clarify the what without getting caught up in the how, and ascribe value to the vision. Choose which pain points to respond to, determine what sacrifices need to be made, and leave behind the things that hold you back. Don't become numb to what's happening around you. Develop a plan, remember that vision comes before provision, and do something intentional every day to move forward in your vision.

People with vision are willing to expend some things—time, money, and effort—to accomplish that vision. People with vision grow in their emotional capacity. People with vision hold tight; they hang on and press forward. People with vision forget what is behind. People with vision stay focused on completing the call of God on their lives.

The way you go forward is vision. That’s why vision is such a critical part of our lives. Often, the beginning of vision is simply God initiating something to get our attention.

What moves us from where we are to where we need to be? Often, it’s pain or vision. Pain can be a good motivator, but it’s a bad master. Vision moves us from the inside and gives us something to move toward. And when vision is real, it doesn’t remain an idea; it turns into a plan.

Recorded in Ukraine, Pastor Tim Quintrell sits down with Mike Crane of Cornerstone Church in Amite, Louisiana, to reflect on his time serving with the team. They went to pour out and love the people of Ukraine, but along the way, God poured into them. Mike shares a moment when the Lord spoke clearly to him: “I brought you here to show you My glory.”

Recorded from Ukraine, guest hosts Pastors Tim and Dawn Quintrell share from their time serving alongside the team. On her first trip, Dawn discovered that sometimes you don’t need all the answers; you simply need to take the next step and show up with love. She shares what the Lord taught her about loving people well, including a beautiful story of how God used an anniversary ring to remind one woman that He sees her and loves her.

Sometimes we have an idea without a vision, or a vision without the ideas to move it forward. Good ideas should turn into vision, good vision should produce ideas, and both should lead to strategy. Today, we’re back in the archives for the final episode in this series on vision. Vision ownership starts with being saturated in the vision yourself so you can lead others toward it.

Integration causes all of our resources to cooperate, compensate, and complement one another. Today, we’re pulling a series from the archives. Scripture describes the Church as a body with many parts. When those parts work together, there is health; when they don’t, there is dis-ease. Vision integration is vital to bringing all the parts together to function as one.