I just finished reading Scott Wilson's book, Steering Through Chaos. Scott is the Lead Pastor at the Oaks Fellowship in Dallas, Texas and his church is exploding in growth right now. Its fun to watch. I have known Scott for over a decade and I have learned from him about how to raise up and invest in young leaders. He has a definite gift for that.
Steering Through Chaos is a book that I wish I could have had when I was first starting out as the Lead Pastor at Allison Park Church (19yrs ago). Scott does a fantastic job of laying out a road map for how to grow yourself as a leader, how to help your organization navigate through change, and what it takes to truly lead out of vision.
I would highly recommend the book for anyone in church leadership. Plus there is a tremendous amount of wisdom included that would apply to just about anyone. Here are some quotes from the book:
- Vision isn't something I determine - its something that I discover as I walk with God day after day. And it doesn't come in a neat package all at once.
- (template for prayer - PLOW) PRAY - LISTEN - OBEY - and God will send the WOW factor.
- Business principles and practices can help us in the administration of our churches, but we'll never be the people God wants us to be without the transforming truth and the power of God.
- Success is the place where preparation, courage, and opportunity meet.
- The seeds of boldness and creativity grow best in the soil of relational security.
- A major - actually, the major part of keeping our vision fresh is to deepen our dependence on God, to see every difficulty as a test instituted by God instead of a random roadblock. We respond in a very different way when we realize that the daily struggles of life are all tests to see if we truly trust the strength and wisdom of the Lord.
Finally, I will leave you with Scott's formula for living a 'focused' life:
- F - First things first.
- O - Other things second.
- C - Cut out the unimportant.
- U - Unify behind vision.
- S - Stick with it.
