I’m having a great time training pastors and leaders here in the Dominican Republic. Last evening I trained over 500 pastors and leaders in the northern city of Santiago, a city of 1,200,000 people. It was an incredible seminar, and concluded with a powerful time of impartation and ministry.

One of the sessions I am teaching is titled, “Developing The Leader Within You” (John Maxwell). Let me share with you some of the first principles that I teach in that session.

• Leadership, the ability to rally people to a common cause, is always the key to having a successful church or organization.
• The Lord wants to “stir up the gift” of leadership in our lives (2 Timothy 1:6).

BECOMING A STRONG LEADER REQUIRES HAVING A VISION FOR OUR LIVES AND MINISTRY

• Vision is the ability to clearly see and articulate where God wants us to go or what God wants us to do in order to fulfill our “mission” in life.
• “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” (Proverbs 29:18)
• Vision usually results from a dream, a burden or a great challenge. It is the role of a pastor or leader to get a vision from God, develop plans to accomplish that vision, and then communicate that vision and those plans to the people of God.
• We must have BIG dreams and a GREAT vision if we are to motivate others to join us in accomplishing our vision.
• D.L. Moody wrote in his Bible beside the Miracle of the Feeding of the 5000 – “If God is your partner, make no little plans.”
• Vision stirs up faith and excitement in our lives, and brings us fulfillment.
• Three Questions that everyone needs to answer.
  • What is your Vision/Dream for your life and ministry?
  • If you had no obstacles whatsoever, what would you be doing for God and others?
  • What steps can you take to begin fulfilling your Vision/Dream?

I would love to hear and read your responses to the questions above. You can leave them on this Blog site, or email them to me at dennisw@celebrationchurch.org.

May the Lord grant you great Visions/Dreams for your life and ministry, and may He enable you to accomplish those Visions/Dreams in the days ahead.