Comments on: Should I Stay Or Should I Go?—1

By: prince paul

prince paul — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 11:49:24 +0000

Dear Pastor praise the lord

Greetings in the most exalted name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

We hereby write to introduce our ministry: Kirupiyen Kirupasanam. We are located and minister from a village called Jothipuram. This is located in the Taluka of Arkonam, District Vellore, Tamilnadu, India.

My father Pastor Prince Paul is ministering here for the last 20 years. During this period we have seen tremendous move of the Holy Spirit and souls being added to His fold.

Jothipuram is surrounded by approx. hundreds of villages. Most of the people here are pre-dominantly non-Christians. To cater to the needs of the people, the Lord has led us to diversify the ministry. We have registered this as a Trust and are now doing the following ministries:

1. CHURCH MINISTRY
2. VILLAGE MINISTRY
3. CHILDREN MINISTRY
4. HEALING MINISTRY
5. INTERCESSION MINISTRY
6. YOUTH MINISTRY
7. BENEVOLENCE MINISTRY

For all our activities you may please see our website: http://www.kirupaiyenkirupasanam.com There is a lot to be done in this part of the world as per Ezekiel 3:18 and 33:18. There is good opportunity to conduct Evangelical crusades, etc. Should your church/mission have a
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burden for this part of the world, you may please join hands with us, so that we can together labour for the Lord. So far we have good rapport with the people around and therefore, there may not be any hurdles for the ministry.

Please remember us in your prayers and also should the Lord lead you to support our ministry, you may please contact us.

Looking forward to hearing from you soon.

Thanking you

Yours in His Kingdom building

PETER WESLY
VICE PRESIDENT

By: big John Scott

big John Scott — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 16:22:45 +0000

The thoughts behind these posts should be developed into a college course for ministry majors…. I know more ex-Christians who blame their exodus from the fold on a Christian or Christian leader who got stale or bolted on them early than on misunderstood theology, botching funerals/weddings, or bad counseling. It’s staying too long, leaving too early, or just totally being in the wrong place at the wrong time period that is a true root cause of pain in the body of Christ. Look at King Saul. Or Hezekiah.

By: Cycleguy’s Spin » Blog Archive » Link Love

Cycleguy’s Spin » Blog Archive » Link Love — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 18:08:40 +0000

[...] will not find a better set of posts on when to stay and when to go than you will find starting with this one. There are four to this [...]

By: richard wong

richard wong — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 01:58:19 +0000

When God asked you to go somewhere you should go..

By: Jeremiah M.

Jeremiah M. — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 15:22:56 +0000

WOW…I have been through almost everything that everyone is talking about. I have been in the city I live in for alomst 3 years. We came here to lant a church which closed it’s doors in November of last year, it almost broke me. We merged what was left with our parent church, which is not that big itself, within the same city basically because it was God thing, because everything about these two churches was different. To this day not one perso has jumped ship. I am strugling with my place now. I don’t agree with the leadership of the lead pastor and he is kinda looking to step out of the way and let me take over, but I am not sure that this is where I am supposed to be, yet I feel like I just can’t leave. Just thinking out loud I guess, thanks for all the thoughts and conversation.

By: Staying or Going « My World

Staying or Going « My World — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 14:22:23 +0000

[...] on staying or going in your current position have been really thought provoking. You can read them here and [...]

By: Ken

Ken — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 04:59:40 +0000

Craig,

Reading your book “IT” and reading this, I can’t help but having the urge to leave. I wrestle and struggle in the following area:

1. If I stay, I don’t think I’m growing my full potential. I’m leading my family into spiritual dead-end (thank God for lifechurch.tv for my spiritual feedigns)

2. If I leave, the ministry that I recently committed too and the people who also put in their hearts and souls will be devastated. (side note: the person that I committed doing the ministry with recently left the church)

3. Passion. Sometimes I’m scared of the vision that God places in me. I fear that I’m not good enough. I won’t be as an effective leader as I think I am. I also wrestle with the question… do I have a passion for the work of God? or for God? I believe these are two very distinct areas. And it can be both. Sometimes we tend to get wrapped up into having a passion for the work of God… but it must also originate from having a passion for God first.

By: Nyxll

Nyxll — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 20:57:38 +0000

You know you have outgrown the leadership of your leader when…

You approach your leader about your vision, they pray about it, confirm it and bless you on your new path

You are too comfortable to understand what God has for you and your leadership/peer group is not challenging or stretching you

Everyone around you cannot understand what God has put in your heart. They quell your zeal

God has placed an overwhelming burden on your heart and you cannot work toward it because it doesn’t line up with the vision of your leader

You are scared to move into a new growth area, but are excited beyond understanding

You are not affecting others, and they are not affecting you in a Christ honouring manner

Your leader doesn’t want “IT”

By: Vogelpedia.com » Blog Archive » Leadership by Craig

Vogelpedia.com » Blog Archive » Leadership by Craig — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 20:44:43 +0000

[...] it comes to church leadership and how to be more efficient in your role. He posted about a topic “Should i stay or should i go”. I am in the middle of this battle in my head right now because of the circumstances that lay [...]

By: Joe Wilson

Joe Wilson — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 14:13:43 +0000

Thank you so much for this post and discussion. I’m currently in the midst of this incredible challenge. For me, it’s been a three year process simply because I didn’t want to be one of those guys leaving too quickly. Your blog is helping me down this difficult path.
Hearing God’s voice and following His leading isn’t always as clear as we would like - the bush in my back yard still hasn’t gone up in flames! But, I have found fasting to be an amazing tool that we often under utilize. After almost 20 years in ministry I am just now learning the value of setting aside a specific time to fast and pray.

By: Ben McPhaull

Ben McPhaull — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 06:31:24 +0000

Craig,

Thanks for the insight indeed!
I spoke to you at Catalyst 08 about this similar topic. Thank you for your words of encouragement. Thanks for this post.
Bless you man!

Ben

By: ftay

ftay — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 02:37:58 +0000

obviously, i am content with not spelling well. . . (see post 28)

By: cgm

cgm — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 20:28:58 +0000

Meeting with elders and interim senior pastor this afternoon to discuss this very thing. Praying for wisdom. I’m looking forward to hearing more on this subject.

By: ftay

ftay — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 18:51:30 +0000

I’ve got to tell you, I am in the midst of the research, the questioning, the beggng God for clarity. I continue to find myself in a place of “forced” contentment with where I am at, instead of a “natural” contentment. I know contentment is often a choice, but my question is, when does it cross over to the feeling stage? And if it doesn’t, is that a piece of the puzzle? I await you rfuture posts with bated breath…

By: JE

JE — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 18:12:49 +0000

Scary.. I was just struggling with this question and thought about checkin’ if your daily wisdom would give any answers. And you wrote about just the same thing that I was thinking!

Maybe it’s a sign?

By: Brandon Duff

Brandon Duff — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 17:27:57 +0000

I had the exact scenario play out when I was an associate pastor. My vision grew and grew and I was able to bring great influence into this church. But a day came when I realized my vision would cause more harm to the church than good - I would have pushed too hard to accomplish what God was growing in my heart or pulled people my way. I was committed as an associate to never divide a congregation, so it was time for me to move on. I knew I had accomplished all that I could. I did so, and in time God brought to pass the vision He had given me. He used that very church when the time was right. It was so cool to see how he brought it full circle. Wish I could share the whole story here.

Too often we move too quick, jump from place to place, run people over, hurt people in the process or try to accomplish things in our time frame only to face the same challenges elsewhere.

By: Mark

Mark — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 17:10:42 +0000

I left a ministry a little over 3 years ago where I served as the Executive Pastor, where I was empowered to make almost any ministry move I deemed necessary, and where I was held in high esteem by both the congregation and staff. Your probably asking at this point, “Are you crazy, why would you leave?”

Unfortunately, the Senior Pastor (who was and continues to be my best friend) insisted on being the vision/change initiator, he was a great pastoral care giver, but not a great leader/vision caster. Simply put His lack of the gift of “Leadership” held the church back, it was the perfect storm, the Senior Leader occupied the wrong seat on the bus! While I was there the church grew from about 100 to 300 in attendance, it remains there 3 years later.

I started leaving 3 years before I finally departed and believe the church in stronger because I honored the Senior Pastor and my friend even though I disagreed (always in private). Leaving truly felt like “the pulling of flesh from my bones,” it was painful as I left a congregation and a friend whom I love. Waiting those 3 years was one of the hardest and yet best things I’ve ever done, there were times in the past where I displayed neither the patience nor the wisdom to do the right thing. I waited on God’s direction, faithfully served and did not leave until I saw God’s direction for my next place of ministry service.

I thank God everyday for where He has positioned me for ministry at this point as it may be the only place where my gifts can be fully leveraged for the Kingdom, where the vision is greater than I could ever dream or imagine, and where ministry leaders are empowered to challenge everything that is currently being done for Kingdom advancement. After more than 3 years in my current position I wake up every morning eager to be part of what God is doing but remember when it wasn’t that way!

I hope this connects with some thinking it’s time for a change, if you are considering moving from your current ministry position to another I urge you to listen for the unmistakable voice of God saying:

Your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying,
“This is the way; walk in it”
Isaiah 30:21

By: "BIG" BraCharles

"BIG" BraCharles — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 16:27:45 +0000

Awesome Blog, Bra.

I’ve had to deal with this issue too. My obedience to God word has help me to get understanding of His Anointing. God sometimes has to check us to see if he can trust us with more of his Anointing. God is in total conctrol of our lifes and he has a purpose planned out for each and every one of us.

The question is how far are we willing to go for Christ. Even if it mean moving the who family to one place to another. God want our obiendience more then our sacrifice.

That is why I believe that God had to show me something in order to get my attention. In it all, I found my Personnel Devotional Bible Study with Jesus Time(My D.O. Time). I realize that there is no man on earth who going to teach and develpement me like Jesus Can. Jesus has been with me the whole 12 year of my ministry Life. There’s no 12 step program to teach Us how to do us.

Jesus the living Word of God is the only way to teach us how to do us. I want to encourage you who going through this issue. To be strong and of good courage, because God is not done with you yet.

Thanks again Bra for opening this issue that is plaguing the Church today.

By: Keith

Keith — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 16:22:36 +0000

I believe this would be a strong reason to begin the process of perhaps moving on. As you read this post, there is no sense of unhealthy tension between the vision and structure/culture of the church. But don’t get me wrong, there is tension. But it is in that tension that perhaps God speaks to us about trusting Him more and following the dream he has put on our hearts. In that tension you find yourself having to really trust, really pray, really humble yourself and be willing to leave your comfort zone behind. A comfort zone that has been interupted by this healthy tension…which mind you can sometimes be really annoying once you have gotten comfortable.

By: Craig Groeschel

Craig Groeschel — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 16:16:42 +0000

Craig, Thanks for the great advice and articles.

Eduardo, So glad to have you as part of the community! Blessings to you and your ministry in El Salvador!

A.J., Happy to pray for you.

Dave, Great advice on not making the big decisions on Mondays. Should have started this discussion tomorrow!