Paul Johnson... for a short while

the answer is no.

hey, first off, I mean absolutely no offense by this. That being said, I was curious how many people you invited to the Rock last week? or, rather, how many came with you? and is that really the best way to judge the state of our student group or whether or not a leader is "actually leading out"?

What is the definition of leader, and what is the goal of the meeting?

It's my understanding the meeting is for lifegroup leaders, M.T. leaders, F.T., and aspriring leaders. In each lifegroup you have a lifegroup leader, and most likely 2 aspiring leaders. To me, this seems like where the large number is coming from. Is that a bad thing, I dunno?

Is it supposed to be a "core" leaders meeting? I think those usually happen elsewhere, and at other times.

My other comment agrees with what I think you're trying ask/say. Are the leaders leading out evangelistically? Leadership is not only outwardly faced. For myself, barring all reasons and excuses, I do not reach out to people in any radical way. Christ lived radically. Jim McCotter, Herschal Martindale, and the other founders of this Great Commission movement lived radically. Some of our number live out a life of radical obedience to our God.

So how can I more completely live in response to my faith? That's the question I think many of us, myself included, need to ask.

I guess my question was not directed at if the leaders are specifically inviting/bringing people to the Rock. I guess it is more about the enviornment that we are raising.

My desire is not to incriminate or bring guilt. I desire to ask questions that bring about a change in heart and henceforth a change in action.

I would push the thought patterns more towards Dans response about a lifestyle of faith.

I live a life of faith, sometimes. I will freely admit that I do not live one even half time. But I do strive to live it, and work to display a meaningful friendship with God through the way that I spend my money, speak, and above all use my time. But, alas the fact remains that I did not bring anyone to the Rock.

I see the question not so much as are we bringing people to the rock, or even are we reaching out to people in love, but are we being bold in our faith and sharing it with those around us?

Can we say that everyone who is in our life has as least heard us sharing our faith or speaking of what God has done in our lives? In that I know I fail miserably. I can point to several cases where there are people in my life that I have not shared with, and now may not have a chance too. This is were I think I have failed to set an example as a leader, and I see this as the biggest challange to all of us who are aspiring to lead others.

You know, all you need to do is be more selective in who you think leaders are. There is an inner ring to every ring, and you know who those people are and who are more productive.

I say it is time to do some trimming. Just my opnion even though I don't know what the church is like :)

I think that the concept of the aspiring leader is important. Do the people who attend this meeting have to BE leaders? No. They have never, nor will they ever to be required to BE a leader to be there. It is for leaders and aspiring leaders.

I personally think that it is good that so many in our midst aspire to lead in their lives, our ministry and such. These are men and women who can be discipled, can be challenged, can be held to a higher standard in life because they are not merely attending the Rock, they are aspiring to lead out. Their presence signifies a deeper commitment to this body and the work that God wants to do.

With that said, we must remember that we are all young, and imperfect. As Warren has been saying in Purpose-Driven Life, God has us on this earth to be made more like himself. If we were at the state of Christlikeness that God would want us to be, would our purpose here not already be fulfilled and would we not be called back to heaven? I think that many of us, myself included, are learning what it means to lead out in my life, at my job, etc...

On a different note, I would be careful in your choice of words Paul, this post came across as judgmental to me. Your words carry a lot of weight, and I would suggest being careful in how you use them.

Wow - lots of comments. That's pretty cool. Some have the tone of beating on Paul's question. Thank you Paul for asking a question that causes so many of us to question what we're doing in our personal walk.

Seems like I have struck a vein of sorts here... My next thought will be a new thread.

Greetings to all members of this blog,

I was just surfing the web and stumbled across this page, so I dont have any connection to anyone here as it stands. I was just wondering though if you all are members of a church group called Great Commission Association of Churches? The reason I ask is because I grew up in one of their churches and have some questions I would like to ask some other second generation Christians in this movement...