This has been a wonderful 48 hours for me. I had the privilege of spending personal time in different settings with four of America’s greatest pastors. Allow me to give you an overview:
- Friday Night – As part of INJOY Stewardship’s sponsorship of the Johnny Hunt Men’s Conference, I was able to attend a special dinner and sit with First Baptist Church of Woodstock’s senior pastor Jeremy Morton. It was there I also reconnected with Pastor Johnny himself and the church’s incomparable former executive pastor Jim Law.
- Friday Night – After the opening plenary session, I attended a Pastor’s Only breakout with Pastor Johnny and INJOY Stewardship’s owner Joe Sangl to serve pastors with both corporate and personal generosity and giving.
- Saturday Night – Attended my home church’s men’s event dinner where the guest speaker was my friend, the incomparable Transformation Church senior pastor Derwin Gray.
- Sunday Morning – My wife and I then represented our pastor Ike Reighard as the hosts for Pastor Derwin and his wife Vicki as he spoke in both morning sessions. Pictured above is myself, Ike and Derwin. You will notice they both have better shoes than I do!
That’s quite a weekend. I did not want this incredible blessing to pass without documenting what I learned from these great men about leadership.
The following are just 10 of the Lessons From Spending Time With 4 Of America’s Greatest Pastors This Weekend:
- The Greatest Pastors Are Men Of High, High Character – Each of the four pastors mentioned above are men of impeccable character. What you see on the platform is what you would find when meeting them in private. Two of my favorite quotes on character were first from Pastor Johnny who said, “I would rather say to my wife, ‘Pray from me today. I had a bad thought’ than ‘Pray for me today. I had adultery.’ If you can’t get that, you need more than the Greek.” The second was when Derwin said, “If you can’t speak to another woman in front of your wife the same way you speak to her when your wife is not around, something is wrong.”
- The Greatest Pastors Preach Jesus – All four pastors mentioned preach Jesus and Jesus alone. Embedded into this is how humble each man is. All realize they are nothing without what Jesus has done in and through them. Pastor Jeremy said, “My life rises and falls on my personal time with the Lord.”
- The Greatest Pastors Are Bridge Builders – I was incredibly impressed with Pastor Jeremy at dinner. There were approximately five round tables in the dinner. He made everyone feel welcome. At our table in particular, he continually made everyone feel important by asking each great questions. Pastor Jeremy is also an incredibly active listener.
- The Greatest Pastors Love The Scriptures And Elevate The Importance Of the Bible – The best pastors do not give talks. They do not present TED Talks with a bible verse. The best pastors are preachers who give a message from the Ancient of Days about the issues in people lives at this point and time in human history. Each man gave verse after verse and verse to support their thoughts.
- The Greatest Pastors Build Platforms For Others – Pastor Johnny was kind enough to share his breakout session at his conference, did you catch that, with Joe Sangl. Great pastors are always looking out for what God is doing in the lives of others and then leveraging their platform to help them impact as many people as possible. This type of kindness leads to the following…
- The Greatest Pastors Lead The Way In Generosity – Joe Sangl had an incredible observation about Pastor Johnny. He pointed out how Pastor Johnny and his wife Janet have lead in the area of sacrificial generosity and how this has helped create the culture that results in everything you now see at First Baptist
- The Greatest Pastors Preach On Sin And Give People An Opportunity To Respond To The Gospel – I love what Pastor Johnny said, “When people say that the pastor makes them feel condemned, it is because they are condemned.” We all deserve death and hell but Jesus took this pain on Himself on the cross. The only hope is through the blood of Jesus and accepting Him as your Lord and Savior. Each service I attended people were given an opportunity to hear and then respond to Gospel.
- The Greatest Pastors Are The Greatest Preachers – I feel the best communicators in the world are pastors. Think about, who works on public communications more and has to deliver a public message every week. Each of the four men mentioned are superlative communicators whom God has uniquely gifted. I always tell pastors that the fastest way to grow a church is to improve as a preacher.
- The Greatest Pastors Have Passed The Test Of Time And Overcome Much – The people God uses most are those who have been broken the most deeply. Each man mentioned has faced tremendous tragedy, hardship, disappointment, disillusionment, and pre-salvation destructive lives. But despite all these things, they have passed the test of time and remained faithful.
- The Greatest Pastors Say Things Which Are Very, Very Memorable – The fancy term for this is sticking statements. They say things which are repeatable or portable. The following are 10 of my favorite quotes from the past weekend:
- “Redemption was God’s greatest work. Great was the work of creation. Greater was the work of redemption.” – JH
- “I would rather it said of you ‘I was struggling’ than ‘I was surrendering.’” – JH
- “The ones who least deserve love are the ones who most need it.” – JH
- “Your education will only take you so far. Your money will only take you so far. Your charisma will only open so many doors…. Your social and political connections will take you so far but if you become a man who daily cries out to God, God will take you to where you need to be. Prayer is the secret sauce.” – JM
- “Our lives are not determined by the dreams we dream. Our lives are determined by the choices we make.” – JM
- “Make your car a holy habitation for the Lord… I try to leave my house with a Christian song in my heart.” – JM
- “You don’t belong to the Republican Party. You don’t belong to the Democratic Party. You belong to the Party of the Lamb.” – DG
- “Check yourself before you wreck yourself.” – DG
- “When you hit rock bottom, you’ll learn Jesus is the rock at rock bottom.” – DG
- “Human beings make great friends but lousy gods.” – DG
***BONUS*** The Greatest Pastors Make You Want To Become A Better Christian
What is one thing you learned from these great men of God which will make you a better leader?
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