I grew up in Boston, so to say that I’m a Red Sox fan is a severe understatement.

I love the Red Sox. I cried when they won the Word Series in 2004.

Needless to say, the last week has been rough for me.

The Red Sox fell apart. Completely.

Then to make matters worse, they fired their manager.

Say. it. ain’t. so.

But in the midst of all of this madness, there’s 3 huge leadership lessons for us to learn as church leaders: 

1. The Red Sox didn’t think through the chemistry of the team when they brought in their high priced free agents.

2.The responsibility of the success of the team always falls on the senior leader. Period.

3. When their high priced players got hurt, the Sox found that their farm system was pretty thin.

In working with thousands of churches, I could list these same issues as the root problems they faced.

The bottom line is, you never grow past raising up leaders.

It’s a relentless art.

But it doesn’t have to be impossible.

In fact, in my new coaching network Leadership Ninja, I’m going to teach our entire system for reproducing leaders al very level.

In 11 years, we raised up all of our leaders and staff from within. Every single. one.

I know this can be your story as well.

Because the most loyal, high performing leaders, are those whom you raise up.

If you join Leadership Ninja, I’m going to teach you how to do that.

But here’s the deal: I’ve only got 4 spots left for Leadership Ninja. 

So time is of the essence.

So if you’re interested, grab your glove and head over to www.ninjaleadership.com.

The U.S. Army rocks for many reasons.

But there’s one reason that most people overlook, that makes the Army unparalleled as an organization.

It’s not their battle skills.

Or their exceptional abilities.

Neither.

It’s one thing… they exclusively raise up their own leaders.

The Army doesn’t “borrow” soldiers from other branches of the military when they’re looking for new leaders.

Instead, the Army does the hard work of training men and women who can lead at all levels.

They have a thoughtful strategy for turning Privates into Generals.

Most churches fail to put together a winning plan for raising up leaders and seeing people go from infancy to maturity in Christ.

The reason?

No one has given Pastors a proven system for training leaders from within who can lead at all levels in the church.

Leadership Ninja is a 6-month coaching experience that will teach you a reproducible system for investing in leaders and discipling people for maximum effectiveness.

How do I know this works?

Because in 11 years we’ve never had to hire 1 person from the outside.

Not. even. once.

The best leaders in your church are the ones you raise up.

We’ll help you do that.

Leadership Ninja starts next Wednesday (October 12th @ 2PM EST) and there’s only 6 spots left!

So if you’re interested, grab your gear and head over to www.ninjaleadership.com


P.S. There’s a bunch of bonuses who those who participate in Leadership Ninja. www.ninjaleadership.com has all the details.

I’ve worked with thousands of churches over the last 3 years and I’ve noticed a common denominator in churches who lack leaders.

It’s not a desire for leaders.

It’s not a love to see people grow.

It’s not even having someone “assigned” to discipleship or leadership development.

It’s none of these.

The #1 reason churches experience a leadership drought is they haven’t laid out a plan or system that raises up leaders at every level of the church.

Because there is no system in place, leadership development gets put on the back burner.

Here’s what I tell the Pastors I coach: leadership development isn’t difficult to do. The problem is, it’s also not difficult to neglect as well.

Leadership development doesn’t scream for your attention.

At least not today.

In fact,  not developing leaders probably won’t hurt you this week or next week.

But 3-6 months from now, you’ll wish you invested in those in your church that have potential to lead.

Here’s the bottom line: The leaders you invest in today make growth for your church possible tomorrow.

That’s why I’m leading a brand new coaching network called Leadership Ninja.

It’s for leadership who want a proven, reproducible system for training leaders at every level.

It’s for Pastors who want to see leaders, staff, and future Pastors raised up from within.

Leadership Ninja starts next week and I’ve only got a few spots left.

So if you’re interested, mosey on over to www.ninjaleadership.com.

- Great day at Calvary!

- To say that I am enjoying teaching Nehemiah is an understatement!

- This morning I taught on “Dealing with Vision Killers” (Nehemiah 3-4).

- I love seeing people take bold steps in their lives. I’m hearing great stories of people who are listening to the Lord!

- On October 16th we’re boldest initiative in the history of our church. Prayers appreciated.

- Looking forward to a couple of days off this week. We’re Disney bound

- Don’t worry Ninjas, I’ll still be there for our monthly coaching session on Tuesday. It’s the highlight of my month!

- I love pastoring Calvary and I love investing in Pastors. I feel totally called to do both!

- I have 7 new books to read and about 50 hours of audio that I’m going to work my way through over the next week. That sounds relaxing to me. Yes I have problems –

- For those who are thinking about Leadership Ninja, we’re only got 7 spots left. ( By the way, 24 Pastors isn’t some fake number that I drew out of a hat. I want to be available for the guys in this network, so I have to limit the number of guys in the network)

- All of the details to sign up for Leadership ninja is at www.ninjaleadership.com

- Had a couple of people ask me if I’m going to do Leadership Ninja again. The honest answer is, I have no idea. I feel very strongly about doing it now. I don’t know if I’ll do it again. Honestly.

- I’ve got a crazy October, so I’m glad I’m taking a few days off now

- By the way, I’m teaching at the Exponential One Day in Miami on October 26th. Plus, the Calvary band is going to be leading worship. My wife is also going to be leading a breakout session. (My wife rarely speaks at events. The only reason she said yes is because I said yes before I told her Her session for Pastor’s wives is join to be awesome! —> Here’s the link to register.

- Have a great week!

Apart from a sodium-laden Asian meal, fortune cookies aren’t all that tasty. However, after some General Tso’s Chicken, a fortune cookie can hit the spot!

My kids (4 & 2) love fortune cookies, but mostly they love the messages they get inside each tasty treat.

Fortunes like…

“Something you lost will soon turn up.”

“A firm friendship will prove the foundation on your success in life.”

“The road to riches is paved with homework.”

Something like that.

Church leadership should have a “Fortune cookie” effect. There should be something at the core that you you’re looking forward to and can’t get anywhere else.

Too often, people leave churches because they get to the core of the church only to find there’s nothing there. There’s no further discipleship, training or investment.

At Calvary, we always say that the core is where the best stuff is. That’s why people nearly trample each other to get into our leadership development groups. (They’re only available by “Invitation only”, but there’s a tremendous ‘buzz’ in our church about the discipleship that happens in them).

Here’s the point: learn the lesson of the fortune cookie. Have something for those who are most committed to your church that they can’t get anywhere else. This will not only grow your current leaders, it will also cause you to raise up new leaders who wan to be developed.

Creating a system for leadership development is what we’re going to be talking about in Leadership Ninja.

It’s a 6-month coaching network designed to turn your church into a factory for producing leaders.

We’re starting in less than 3 weeks and there’s only 8 spots left.

So if you’re interested, grab your chopsticks and head over to www.ninjaleadership.com