Last Seen Blogs
Photo
3 Steps to a Proper Perspective
There was a time when I started to get these pretty intense headaches periodically and at one point they became “everyday headaches.” I was slightly alarmed that I was getting headaches everyday, I mean who wouldn’t? So I did the very thing that doctors tell you not to do and that’s go onto WebMD and try to diagnose yourself based on your symptoms. After much research, I came to the conclusion that I only had a few weeks to live based on my WebMD findings. Okay, we all know that wasn’t true.
One day, my wife expressed to me that she thought I should go and get my eyes examined because of the headaches, so I went. The doctor prescribed me certain lenses and I went and picked them up a few weeks later. When I got the glasses, I put them on immediately and noticed something was off. ��I told the lady that I couldn’t see correctly and she exclaimed that they would take about a week to get adjusted to. I was concerned because everything was super blurry and looked rather distorted.
After a few weeks of wearing the glasses, I still couldn’t see correctly. Everything was still blurry, it was driving me crazy, and I think that my headaches got worse. I actually wore these glasses for three weeks like this before I realized that the lenses were the wrong prescription. I was looking at everything from a faulty lens that literally caused me to perceive everything as blurry and distorted.
The truth is that many of us are like I was with the faulty lenses. What do you mean, you might be wondering? Many of us are looking at our lives, our situations, our ministries, our businesses, our finances, our marriage, etc from the wrong lens or rather, the “Wrong Perspective.” The reason that we’re looking at our current life or circumstances from a faulty lens is because the lens that we’re wearing was informed by other things that we’ve experienced rather than the one true thing and that’s the Word of God.
I believe that so many of our issues in this life are really a perception issue. I’ve found that personally and through counseling people that so many of our issues could be resolved if were simply looked at our situation through the lens of God’s Word. If we simply had a different perspective on our situation we would be able to see it how God sees it. Sometimes the reason that we’ve yet to experience growth in our personal lives or in our ministries is because we’re not seeing things from Heaven’s perspective.
So the question is, “How do I get to a place where I begin to see things the way that God sees things?” It’s simple…here are a few things that you can implement into your daily life.
1. Start believing what God says
If you look at Gideon and his call to lead you will see that the way He responded is no different to the way that we often respond to God when He calls us to lead. The Angel of the Lord called Gideon a “Mighty Warrior.” This perplexed Gideon because he knew all too well that he was the least in his tribe and from the weakest tribe, yet God called him a “Mighty Warrior.” You see, God didn’t call Gideon what he currently was, instead He called Gideon what He would become. Why? Because God was looking at Gideon though a different lens, the lens of Heaven. Gideon had a hard time comprehending and believing the angel of the Lord because he kept looking at himself through the lens of discouragement, lack of self-esteem, and negativity. Those are the things that had informed his thinking about himself.
It’s time that you start believing what God has believed about you, about your ministry, about your business, and about your life. I don’t know what negativity has informed your perspective of yourself but take off those faulty lenses and put on the lenses of Heaven to see what God sees. God doesn’t call you what you currently are, but instead He calls you what you will become
RT: God doesn’t call you what you currently are, but instead He calls you what you will become.
2. Renew your mind
The only way that you’re going to re-inform your way of thinking and processing is by renewing your mind. In Romans 12:2, the Apostle Paul charges us to be transformed by the renewing of our minds and then we will be able to know God’s will. You see, many people don’t know God’s will for their lives because they can’t see it. Why can’t they see it? Because they’re looking at it through the wrong frame of mind or the wrong lens. If you want to see things from a renewed way of thinking than you must renew your way of thinking and that happens by reading and meditating on the Word of God. Begin to look at life through the Word of God. When you do that, you find hope, faith, courage, and strength to tackle like and ministry.
3. Stop focusing on your problems and start focusing on the problem-solver
The story of Peter walking on water is commonly known, even to the non-believer and it’s full of so many great implications. The one I want to focus on is this: Peter stepped out in faith to walk on water as Jesus called him out. Peter was doing great walking on the water while he had His eyes on Jesus, but the moment that he saw the wind he took his focus of of Jesus and placed it on the problem. When that happened he began to sink and sink quickly. Lucky for him, Jesus was there to grab his arm and pull him out of the water just in time.
This narrative represents our narrative and many times when we encounter difficulties in life and in ministry we tend to take our eyes off of Jesus and place them on the problem instead. When we do this, we’re not able to look at the situation through the right lens. We’re spending more time focusing on the problem, rather that the problem-solver. Stop focusing so much on your problems, your lack of church budget, your fears, and your failures, and instead focus on Jesus. The one who is able to solve any problem. The one who gives you a peace in the middle of the wind while you’re walking on water if you would just keep your focus on Him.
2 notes
·
View notes
Text
GROWING IN INFLUENCE
Acts 9:22-25 (NIV)
22 Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Messiah. 23 After many days had gone by, there was a conspiracy among the Jews to kill him, 24 but Saul learned of their plan. Day and night they kept close watch on the city gates in order to kill him. 25 But his followers took him by night and lowered him in a basket through an opening in the wall.
We all want to be influential to some degree and we would all love a greater platform. Below are three things that will help you build your influence and deal with everything that comes with it.
1. Influence comes through elevating Jesus, not self
In this text we see that it says that “Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Christ.” Paul grew powerful because He placed things in the right order in his life. His sole aim in life was to elevate Jesus and make His story known throughout the ends of the earth. Paul wasn’t looking to build a mega youth group, mega church, get a book deal, and be on Good Day LA. Those are all great things, but they weren’t the epicenter of his pursuit. All of those things should become bi-products to the main thing and that’s making it about Jesus.
It’s so easy in this current culture to make ministry about ourselves and somehow become convinced that we’re making it all about Jesus. I know because I’ve been there. I know what it’s like to have my priorities out of order and think that I was all about elevating Jesus when instead, I was all about elevating me. We often try to build our little towers of Babel and at some point God just knocks it down. He had to take me through a humbling season in order for me to understand this. When we make it about Jesus, Jesus makes it about us. In due season…did you hear that? In due season, He elevates your platform, increases your influence, and opens amazing doors of opportunity. Before He does all of that, He wants to ensure that He grows your character, that you’ll know how to handle those platforms, that you'll know how to handle yourself, and how to handle your pride. The motives of the heart are everything because in the end-that’s what God is going to look at.
2. Haters will arise as God gives you influence
In verse 23 it says “After many days had gone by, the Jews conspired to kill him.” Wow, all of a sudden the haters stepped on the scene. Why? Because Paul was growing in influence and people were flocking to him and listening to him. You see, the Jews couldn’t claim his success nor could they place their name on it so they became haters.
As God grows your platform and influence, you better believe that the haters are going to come out of the wood work. If they can’t put their claim on you, then they’ll probably hate on you. What’s crazy, is that some of those haters might be people that you were once close to. Some people in your friendship circle or network won’t know how to handle your success. Especially, if they feel that you’re rising above where they’re at or if you’re challenging the system. This can lead to jealousy and things alike.
RT: If they can’t put their claim on you, then they’ll probably hate on you.
The question is, how will you respond to those who hate? My answer would be, in love. To always be as wise as a serpent and gentle as a dove. You can’t give into haters because they end up pulling you down. Be prepared to be criticized for your accomplishments, don’t let it get to you, and keep on doing what you’re doing.
3. Know who your friends are, and keep them close
In verse 25 it says, “But his followers took him by night and lowered him in a basket through an opening in the wall.” We see here that as the haters were conspiring to kill him, he had a following of people who protected him and had his well being in mind. This group of people were the ones that saved him. These are the kind of people that Paul needed to keep close because they were willing to lay down their lives for him. If they would have gotten caught, they could have been killed too.
You have to know who your real friends are and you have to keep them close to you. There’s nothing better that friends who you can trust to this capacity. Friends who will be there for you in your weakest of moments, in your most vulnerable times, and during difficult seasons are the kinds of friends that help you along the journey. Keep your “Ride or Die Click” close to you because as your influence grows, you’ll need to guard who you let in. Some people might want to be around you for all the wrong reasons.
0 notes
Text
10 Ways to be a Better Leader
Here are 10 things that I practice on my leadership team and that I’ve learned throughout the years of being a youth pastor, school director, lead pastor, and non-profit operations manager. I’ve come to understand that my team is the most important component (aside from Jesus), in being able to make what we do possible.
1. You must be your team member’s biggest cheerleader.
The truth is that if you have a team of people that are working for you or volunteering for you, it’s because they believe in you and in your vision. This means that they make great contributions, great sacrifice, and great choices that allow you to do what you do. You must be their biggest cheerleader. I believe that your team should know that you believe in them and that you support them in what they do. You should be their biggest shouter, encourager, and hype man. I want my team to know that I believe in them and that I have their back.
2. Listen to your team because they have great ideas.
If you feel like you always have to come up with the most creative and genius ideas - you’re wrong. That’s why you have a team. You have to be secure enough as a leader to allow your team to come up with great ideas. If you listen and allow them to give input, you’ll find that you’ll go a lot further as an organization.
3. You must meet with your team regularly.
It’s important that you meet with your team on a regular basis so that you can cast vision, get everyone on the same page, and plan. The team needs to constantly know where you’re going and you can’t assume that they’re just going to know what you’re thinking all of the time. Make your meetings fun, celebrate the wins, and always carve out time to teach on leadership. Also, be accessible to your team members when they need to talk. They have to know that they’re a priority.
4. You must hold them to high expectation.
Your team should be held to a high expectation. This shows that you desire excellence in your organization and it pushes your team members to grow in their personal leadership and development.
5. Don’t be afraid to bring correction.
As a leader, you will have to confront and bring correction to your team members when needed. Don’t avoid conversations because you’re afraid of correction. In reality, when you choose not to confront, you hold your team back from an opportunity to grow.
6. Delegate authority, not tasks.
You don’t just throw authority to people that aren’t competent, but the truth is that if you brought them on your team, then you believe in them and you feel that they’re able to do what you’ve brought them on board to do. If this is the case, then let them lead. Don’t hold back your team members because you’re afraid that the project won’t get done the way that you would do it. The truth is that they might do it better than you. If your team feels like they’re only on the team to do tasks, eventually they’ll get frustrated and leave to a place where they feel empowered. When you release authority, be ready for it to get a bit messy before it soars to the top. You might experience a dip, but it will shoot right back up.
7. Give your team members space to fail.
They way you respond to their failures will be key in how they bounce back. Listen, even you make mistakes. You’re team members are bound to make a mistake or two, but you have to give them space to fail and learn from their failures. I mean Jesus had some serious patience with Peter and look at what God did though him. Be patient with your team members as Jesus has been patient with you. Great teams don’t just happen, they’re developed over time….did you hear that? Over time!
8. If you’re wrong, own it.
We make the mistake of thinking that if we’re wrong about something and it shows, then our team will think that we’re weak. That’s just crazy. As a leader, you need to own your mistakes because it shows that you're human and it makes you a stronger leader instead of a weaker one. It takes more courage to admit when you’re wrong and in the end your team will respect you for it instead of making excuses for it.
9. Desire Health.
You’ve heard it over and over again, healthy things grow. Therefore, your aim should be to have a healthy team. If you have a healthy team then you’ll have a healthy organization. Focus on team health above all else. Invest into your teams spiritual vitality, into their leadership, and into their character. You should have a strong pulse on your team knowing when they need time off or if they’re taking on too much. Be careful how much work you stack your team with.
10. Respect and value their boundaries.
If your team members are off, they’re OFF. If they’re on vacation, then they’re on vacation and you need to respect those boundaries. You need to not bother them on their time off because it’s their time off. They need time to recharge and be with their family and friends. Your team is no good to you if they’re burnt out or feel stressed out on their day off because they know that at any minute you’re going to shoot a text or email asking them to do something.
0 notes
Text
4 Ways to Break the Limitations Off Your Life
Mark 6:5-6 (NIV)
5 He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. 6 He was amazed at their lack of faith.
We recently encountered a situation with our oldest daughter, Brooklyn at school. We started noticing a shift in her behavior and a shift in her thought process. Ashley and I began to notice that she was beginning to complain a lot more at home in regards to her basic chores and commitments such as ballet and homework. She also began to ask us questions that were concerning us for her age. Now I know we live in LA and kids are exposed to a lot but something was off.
Through this time, we had learned that she had acquired a new friend at school that we were not familiar with and that’s when things started to come together and make sense. Brooklyn’s new friend was starting to influence her and not in positive way. Her new friend was beginning to bring her down and hold her back. What we had realized is that her friend was teasing her about the current activities that Brooklyn was involved in and making her feel insecure. Ashley and I had come to the conclusion that her friend, was a bully and seemed jealous of Brooklyn. Her emotions were leading her to express negative opinions and thoughts towards Brooklyn that were causing her to regress instead of progress. Brooklyn is an A student and in the top 3 in her class and she sure wasn’t acting like it.
We had to sit our daughter down and discuss with her that she needed to part ties with this friend and we had to talk about friend selection. It’s very difficult trying to explain this to a five year old, but we tried out best and challenged her to make the decision to remove herself from this friendship. Ok….we didn’t give her an option, we told her what she needed to do. Brooklyn has recently separated herself from this friend and she’s now back to her old self and her behavior at home has been better than it’s been before. Her attitude is great and she’s back on track with ballet.
What we realized was that Brooklyn’s friend was limiting her from maximizing her fullest potential. Her circle was limiting her from becoming the best she could be and instead of progressing, she was regressing. The reality is that this isn’t a new revelation of some sort but sometimes we’re limited in what we can do for the Lord because our circle is limiting us.
Even Jesus experienced this in His home town. Jesus went back to Nazareth to try and perform many miracles, but the peoples lack of faith and their negative comments limited Jesus and his ability to maximize His fullest potential in that town. The Bible clearly shows that Jesus wasn’t able to do what He came to do because of the people's jealousy, doubt, and I’m sure insecurities. Before King David was king, his own household doubted him to be even considered worthy of the thought of becoming King of Israel. His own father didn’t invite him to the king anointing party. One minute God was calling him a man after his own heart, and in the next moment his brothers were calling him arrogant and declaring that his heart was evil (I Samuel 17:28-29 The Voice). David’s home was limiting his potential so God took him and placed him in the palace.
As leaders, the truth is that sometimes we can find ourselves limited in what we can do or limited in maximizing our fullest potential because our circle is limiting us. There are a few other factors that hold us back and my heart and prayer for you is that you would be become the very best you and maximize your fullest potential in Christ. God has given you something special and maybe there are some buried talents within you that God wants to extract from you. Maybe He’s desiring to tell you that the very thing you buried away in your heart is no longer going to be dormant or dead, but He wants to bring it back to life. Here are a four things to help you maximize your potential and break off the limitations in your life:
1. You need new friends
If you want to take your leadership, ministry, or business into places that it’s never been before, then you’re going to have to surround yourself with people that have already achieved what you desire. You need a new circle of friends, peers, and mentors. The truth is that you can’t go where you’ve never been before without someone else guiding you who’s already been there. The greatest leaders today have the greatest coaches, friends, and mentors. Don’t allow your circle to limit you. If you’re the smartest one in your group, then you need a new group.
RT: Maybe you're limited in what you’ve been able to accomplish because your circle is limiting you.
2. You need to put insecurity behind you.
The reason that we often don’t have friends, mentors, or coaches that are at a higher level than us is because our insecurities hold us back. If you’re going to surround yourself with successful people, then you better let go of your insecurities. In order to raise your leadership lid, you must surround yourself with leaders who’s leadership lid is higher than yours. Don’t allow insecurity to isolate you and keep you from growing. The greatest leaders of today have achieved the secret of being a good leader and that’s honor. Honor should trump insecurity.
RT: Leaders that isolate themselves are usually insecure in themselves. If everyone else is the problem then maybe you're the problem.
3. Don’t wait around for them to seek you out
If you don’t have great leaders, friends, or peers in your circle it’s no one’s fault, but yours. You need to be proactive in pursuing a new circle. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve asked high level leaders to mentor me and speak into my life and there have been times when they’ve said no and there have been times that they’ve said yes. Nonetheless, you can’t wait sitting around hoping that Rick Warren or Carl Lentz call you, you need to go after them.
4. Maybe you need to move on
When Jesus realized that He couldn’t perform many miracles, He left and went on to the next town. He realized that He couldn’t do much more in that place so, He went to a place that He would be able to maximize His potential. Maybe you’ve reached a lid in the place that you’re currently working in, whether in ministry or a secular job, or maybe it’s time that you go back to school in order to get that higher paid position. Maybe it’s time that you resign and go into the next season in order to be at a place that you can grow and go to the next level. Sometimes, our limitations come from the organization and when that happens, it’s a sure tell sign that it’s time to go.
0 notes
Text
T H E A N X I O U S L E A D E R
Philippians 4:6-7 (NIV) 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
As a leader, I've had many sleepless nights. My thoughts have consumed me far more than I ever should allow, and ZzzQuil has been my best friend. It's crazy how our mind can sometimes get the best of us, not to mention our emotions. As leaders, we often have the tendency to dwell within the realm of anxiety and stress in regard to the future of our ministries or workplace. This tension is never a healthy one, and often leads us into a place of unhealthy spirituality.
The question is why? Why do we allow anxiety to grip us beyond our control? Why do we worry about the future and stress over the things, that in the end, God works out for our good? I think that as a leader, anxiety comes from a place of discontentment. I think it comes from a place where we're constantly living in the "what if" instead of living in the peace of God that surpasses all understanding.
Here are three things that help me walk in the peace Paul talks about. To be honest, I don't have this down perfectly. It's a constant fight for me to rest in God's peace and it will probably always be that way, but it's something worth fighting for.
1. Our Anxiety is a Result of Not Being Thankful
Paul lays it out clearly in the text. He basically says our anxiety is a result of our lack of thankfulness to the Lord. It's easy to be so caught up in the "what I don't have" and the "what's not going right" that you lose sight of what God has already been doing in your life, and the beauty of what's unfolding. Replace your anxiety with thankfulness and you'll experience an unprecedented joy. Practice right now. Start thanking God for what He's already done. If you can't be thankful with what's in your hands now, you'll never be thankful when your hands are full and overflowing.
RT: Replace your anxiety with thankfulness and you'll experience an unprecedented joy.
2. Walk in the Great Exchange Program
I call this scripture the "Great Exchange", because there's a promise here that's borderline ridiculous. God pretty much says, "Give me your anxiety, your worry, your stress, and all the other drama you've fabricated in your mind and in return, I'll exchange it for my perfect peace." I don't know about you but that's like finding a gem in a thrift shop in Silverlake. It's just crazy, but it works. When you feel that anxiety, worry, and stress about the future, stick it's ugly head into your heart and mind, stop, drop and roll...J/K. Stop and begin to pray and exchange it for peace.
3. Guard Your Heart and Your Mind
It's crazy how dumb we can be when it comes to the things we think. It's crazy to me, how worked up I can get about a situation that hasn't happened yet, and probably will never happen, but because I don't guard my mind or my heart and take my thoughts captive, I create a mess out of nothing. Learn to guard yourself against the thoughts that bring about anxiety. Don't buy into the lies about yourself that aren't true. Don't give the enemy permission to feed you lies anymore. It's time to take your thoughts captive and dwell on the things that are noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy (Philippians 4:8).
May you be encouraged today! I would love to hear your thoughts... leave a comment, please!
Alberto Bello
0 notes
Text
WHO ARE YOU?
I read this quote from Brian Houston, Pastor of Hillsong Church, and it literally spoke VOLUMES to me. One thing I've learned the hard way as a new lead pastor and church planter is that I'm not Chad Veach, Carl Lentz, Judah Smith, Rich Wilkerson Jr. and Chris Durso, and neither are you.
Social Media is not of the devil, but the enemy will use it to mess with you if you're not careful. There seems to be this crazy pull on leaders and pastors to look at other leaders and ministries on social media and compare your behind the scenes life to someone else's highlight reel (*Steven Furtick). This is the absolute worse thing you can do. I've fallen into this trap and have to constantly fight it. Why? Because the enemy would love to get you to think that who you are and what you do is not enough, not big enough, not important enough, not relevant or hip enough, and that you must be doing something wrong. All of these thoughts will cause you to essentially become discouraged and feel like you must be someone else in order to achieve someone else's success.
We end up trying to be someone we were never intended to be in order to obtain something we were never intended to have. So the question is, how do we guard ourselves from that trap? Here are five things that help me remember that God called me to be doing what I'm doing.
1. Know Who You Are Not - You're not all of those other pastors, you're you. God called you to do what you're doing with your personality, your gifts, and your abilities. Accept that!
2. Stop Comparing Yourself to Others - Stay in your lane and stop looking at everyone else's lane to see where they're at. If you have to stay off of social media for a while in order to get healthy, then do it, BUT you MUST STOP COMPARING yourself to others because God isn't. If God wanted you to pastor Hillsong New York than you would be there, but He didn't. He called you to where you are.
3. Be Faithful With What's in Front of You - If you can't be faithful with the little God has entrusted you with because you're constantly thinking about the greater platform, than you'll never go beyond where you're at right now. Be faithful with what God has given you. Shepherd your people, love them, give your sermons your all as if you were preaching to the masses. David had to tend sheep before he could tend to the kingdom and we must do the same.
4. Honor Like It's Going Out of Style - The best way to conquer insecurity and jealousy in ministry is to HONOR LIKE CRAZY! Start honoring people instead of comparing or hating on them. Start speaking words of LIFE over them and their ministry. Honor always trumps insecurity.
RT: Honor always trumps insecurity.
5. Have Fun - Chances are that if you're struggling with comparison and feeling like what you do doesn't matter, you're probably not having any fun doing what you're doing. Meaning, you're not enjoying yourself. Start enjoying the process because if you can't, then you'll never be able to enjoy the promise. Have fun, relax, and know that what you do MATTERS! Don't let the size of what you do determine how you view success. If you have one talent, then kill it with that one talent.
RT: If you can't enjoy the process, then you'll never enjoy the promise.
0 notes
Video
vimeo
Southern California AG Youth Convention Part 1
0 notes