Things I wished I had known

15 Things I Wished I Would Have Known: Stolen from Pastor Perry Noble Newspring Church

What I wish I would have known BEFORE starting The moB.

#1 - Don’t say “we will never do BLANK.” BECAUSE…you probably will!

#2 - The more your ministry grows the bigger the target gets on your back. People who don’t even know you will form opinions of you based on something that they heard you said.

#3 - There is not a man that doesn't need Christ but there are a lot that think they don't.

#4 - Time with God is more important than time on the ministry.

#5 - Compliments are harder to take than complaints because of the pride issue.

#6 - Comparing The moB to other ministries will either lead to pride or feeling like a failure…I need to desperately seek Jesus consistently to see who HE has called us to be.

#7 - I should learn from everyone…despite theological differences.

#8 - Don’t hide my failures from my core leaders no matter what the cost especially the little ones. They need to know so they relate.

#9 - Those who you think will always be with you won’t always be with you. This one was hard a year ago and is still hard the 2nd time.

#10 - I don’t always have the best ideas. Some of my ideas will really suck.

#11 - Excellence can never be compromised just because you don’t want to hurt someone’s feelings.

#12 - Only my wife will know the whole story of how hard leading this ministry will be on me.

#13 - People will always misunderstand you…don’t waste a lot of time trying to explain yourself.

#14 - Leadership is as easy as listening to God. Listening to God will be harder than it has to be without scheduled time with Him.

#15 - Journal more, take more pictures and look back when it is hard and remember where you started.

BONUS = The fights, the sleepless nights, the critics, the spiritual warfare, the long meetings, the frustration…IT’S ALL WORTH IT! When lives get changed…it’s worth it. When hell becomes less crowded…it’s worth it. When repentance takes place…it’s worth it! When marriages are restored…it’s worth it. IT IS SO WORTH everything we go through!!! SO…don’t EVER give up–EVER!!!

Those are some of the things I wished I would have known. I am glad I did not know some of the things just because it may have discouraged me from taking that first step.

Five things I am glad I didn't know when I started:

1. Most of the job will be done in secret and no one will know or care you did the work for at least 2 years.

2. Being a volunteer keeps you on the outside of almost everything going on at the church with the people on staff.

3. You will not have the same access people on staff have to the resources of the church.

4. There is always a Judas at your table and he is close enough to kiss you. Got that from TD Jakes at C3 last year and I am not going this year. Bummer!

5. Almost everything will take twice as long and twice as much effort as you expected.

Bonus** Money will not really solve any of your problems. It takes leaders.