1) On your credit cards, do you currently owe more than you make in a month?

2) Do you buy things to make yourself feel better? Do you get a good, settled feeling after you make a purchase?

3) Do you envy the lifestyle your friends have or the things they own? Do you fantasize about owning those same things and having that same lifestyle?

4) Do you eat out more than four times a week?

5) How much food do you have in your house?

6) In regard to entertainment, do you spend more than $250 per month on your cable bill, going to the movies, video games, downloads on iTunes or the latest technological toy? What about your cell phone bill? Ouch.

7) Do you immediately get defensive anytime someone begins to ask for your money –your church, a charity or a nonprofit organization? (This is a sure sign that you actually want to hold on to your money and that you have difficulty sharing your money with others, even those in dire need.)

8) Are you cheap when you leave a tip at a restaurant, thinking the server doesn’t really deserve the money and you could use it better somewhere else?

9) What percentage of your salary or income do you give away? This could be in the form of a tithe, donations, helping out a local charity and so on. (Donating old clothes you don’t wear to Goodwill or the Salvation Army doesn’t count.)

10) Do you ever have an internal struggle before you make a big purchase (try to talk yourself out of it, think of all the other things the money could be used for), or do you spend freely with little regret until hours or days later?

11) Do you fear what life would be like without the safety you think money brings you? Do you find yourself devoting more time to worrying about money than being concerned about people who have no job, no food, no health insurance or no one to love them and care for them?

12) Do you even know how much your monthly bills are, right off the top of your head? (These include health insurance, auto insurance, rent, tuition, credit-card payments, student loans, phone bill, water and power.) If you don’t know this amount automatically, you are in trouble, because it shows you are not paying attention to where your money goes each month.

13) Could you, in 30 seconds or less, summarize your basic budget? This includes how much you make, how much you save, how much you give and how much you pay out in bills and payments each month. If you can’t, then you don’t have a budget at all, even if you claim you do.

14) How long does it take you to pay a regular, basic bill? Do you let bills stack up on your desk? Do you open them when they arrive or put them off until after they are past due? How much do you pay a year in late fees due to fear, laziness or forgetfulness?

15) Right now, how much money do you have saved up? Add up what you have in your checking account, your savings account(s), IRAs, life-insurance policies, stocks, bonds, cash in coffee cans buried in the yard and loose change on your desk. Now, compare that number to what you currently owe, including all credit cards, student loans, car loans and any other outstanding debt. Which number is greater? By how much?

People are illogical, unreasonable and self-centered (including me). Love them anyway.

If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Do good anyway.

If you are successful, you win false friends and true enemies. Succeed anyway.

The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.

Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable. Be honest and frank anyway.

The biggest people with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the littlest people with the littlest ideas. Think big anyway.

People favor underdogs, but follow only top dogs. Fight for a few underdogs anyway.

What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway.

People really need help, but may attack you if you do help them. Help them anyway.

Give the world the best you have and you will get kicked in the teeth. Give the best you have anyway.

1) A deep passion that captures people’s attention. Your vision will only burn as bright as you do. This idea is not about you ‘working up’ something or ‘turning on’ the hype. When this passion comes from deep within you, people will sense it. The impact is palpable. It is inescapable. You will have the people’s attention. They will be excited. They’ll ask questions and want to know what’s next. They will be eager for more information. They will be proud of the vision and tell their friends.

2) A largeness that creates enthusiasm. This is not about numbers, though numbers matter. The idea of largeness is more about being bold for the sake of the Kingdom! It’s the ‘go big or go home’ idea. The vision needs to be large enough to require God in the mix or it won’t work. You can see the need for balance between ‘believable’ and large! Leadership is an art and crafting the vision is just as important as communicating it. There is a direct connection between the size of the vision and the level of enthusiasm.

3) A dedication that inspires sacrifice. This is similar to passion. The difference is found in your tenacity. Passion can be big, but short term. Dedication is long term, and requires determination and resolve. Candidly, it’s easy to be passionate for a short time, but to be dedicated for years, even decades, takes an uncommon leader. This will result in a dedication found in the people. Much like passion, the people will not be more dedicated than you are to the vision. The outcome is a willingness to sacrifice. The sacrifice can be seen in time, energy, and financial resources.

4) Resources flowing toward the vision. Now we really get practical! Money! Let’s be candid, money follows vision. Without financial resources, no matter how godly you behave, the mission can’t move forward. A worthy vision shouldn’t be free, and a vision that is truly worthy will attract financial resources. No church ever has ‘enough’ but God will supply what we need to accomplish the vision.

5) A soundness that stands up to scrutiny and the test of time. You know the difference between fluff and something of substance. Your vision needs to have a biblical soundness and a solid nature that stands up to examination over time. It needs to make sense and have obvious evidence that it was well thought through. This does not suggest that you should make it complicated. In fact, sometimes making something simple, which is in reality complicated, is far more work than the reverse!

6) You cannot be silenced! When my kids were younger and they really wanted a certain toy for Christmas, there was no silencing them! They dream big and never give up! I love this thought. It’s simple but powerful. If God has breathed a vision in you, you simply cannot and will not be silenced. That’s it! Compare this to the things we want silenced like negative talk and gossip. Wow, what a difference. Don’t let anyone shut you down. Keep talking your vision!

1) AFFECTION – You cannot enter into an African-American church without receiving a huge hug or a strong man hug. It’s just how they roll whether they know you or not. They make you feel welcomed and accepted as part of their community.

2) AFFIRMATION – You cannot go through a conversation without hearing words of affirmation such as, “Uh huh,” “Yeah,” “Exactly,” “Come on,” “I hear you brother”. It is especially encouraging when I hear it during my preaching. For some reason, it always makes me want to preach like this.

3) ATTESTATION – You cannot be in an African-American church without having some time allotted for “testimonies.” I am always encouraged to hear people attesting to the power of God and the goodness of God in their lives. It really has a way of uplifting the whole Body of Christ to have greater faith in what God can do.

4) APPRECIATION – You cannot help but to feel the heart of gratitude and thankfulness from the members as you serve them. It is interesting how in the African-American church culture they have a high view of their pastor and his wife (a.k.a First Lady). I was humbled to see many of the members coming up to me after the gathering to greet me and express their appreciation. It humbled me to see their humility and experience their appreciation.

5) ASPIRATION – You cannot go into an African-American church and see the purpose for their existence is just within the four walls of the church. I am constantly amazed at the number of outreach programs they have to their community. They really take seriously the command to “love your neighbor as yourself.” Their aspiration to bring the blessings of God to their community is inspiring. They are truly aspiring to be “a city on a hill that cannot be hidden.”

1) TIMING – God’s timing is impeccable. I still remember back in 2011, we found out that all the larger venues on the University of Michigan campus were booked. We were trying so hard to figure out how we were going to fit everyone in our church facility, especially with all the friends and family members that people were going to invite. It wasn’t until February 2012 that someone from the UM facility reservation office contacted us regarding a venue that opened up. But the incredible thing about all this was that God quickly opened up not only one venue but rather two – we had options! It is in these times when I am reminded that God is always in control. He is never too late or too early, but rather He answers prayers just in time.

2) TRUST – Once the venues opened up, we realized that we did not budget the rental of the Easter facility for the 2012 budget. This was not a good situation because the rental of the facility would cost some money which we did not have. As the Board of Directors and I prayed, we concluded that it was God’s will for us to have our Easter Celebration at the iconic Michigan Theater and that we needed to trust in God. Therefore as we moved forward with this decision, the people of God stepped up and gave generously. It is humbling to know that when God gives us a vision, He will always provide the provisions because He is always “for” (pro-) His vision to come to reality. God always honors those who honor Him in obedience no matter what the cost.

3) TEAMWORK – Every time I think about the commitment level of our church members, I am just humbled and grateful. Months before the Easter Celebration, many people invested their time and energy in getting things ready. Then on the morning of Easter, many of them got up early in the morning (4:30AM!!) and some even stayed up all night to get everything prepared. It was great to see every ministry team in our church working together to make Easter Celebration all about Jesus. The more I think about it, the more I realize how I just play a little part in the overall worship experience. While the preaching of the Word is important, there are so many other things that go into an Easter Celebration. I am thankful that I am part of an incredible team. When all different types of people from all different lifestages can come together to serve God, it is one of the most powerful testimonies to God’s love and grace.

4) TRUTH – Too often people are afraid to invite their friends to church because they think that their friend might feel uncomfortable, especially during the preaching or even the worship time. But we have to be convinced that unless the truth of the Gospel is preached and the power of God is experienced, people will not come to place in their lives to trust in Jesus Christ. This is why both, truth and grace are needed. It is always tempting for the preacher to “water-down” the truth because there are a lot of new people or even pre-Christians in the audience. But as we unapologetically preach the truth in love, then we know God will take care of the rest. Ultimately, it is the Truth of God’s Word and promises that will set a person free (Jn 8:32). This is why it was encouraging to see many people respond for the first time to receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

1) The church has always been under attack. So, when people criticize it, Christian, don’t panic.

2) That the church has survived the attacks from its enemies and the failings of its own members for two thousand years and is still going strong stands as a remarkable testimony of God’s plan for her. God’s people were told to expect attacks from the outside and divisive sneak attacks from the inside in Acts 20:29-30. The one constant of ecclesiastical history has been those two disruptive forces. Expect it, Christian. And remember this elementary lesson from your high school physics class: A fire under pressure will burn brighter. Since the devil never took physics, he doesn’t understand this, so he keeps persecuting the Lord’s people and attacking the Church and slandering Jesus. What he cannot figure, though, is why all such efforts only spreads the Gospel.

3) The apparent weakness of a particular church is generally deceptive. God delights in using weak things, ordinary people, and unlikely prospects. He can take a young child’s simple lunch and feed thousands. So, the next time you look at your church service and decide that you are tragically out-of-date in the hymns and technology and that you need a younger pastor because the one you have is too boring, bite your tongue. You are in the kind of church where God delights in showing up and doing something remarkable. Drop to your knees and start asking Him to do one of His patented God-things among your group.

4) The Church belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ. According to Matthew 16:18, it’s Jesus’ church. According to Acts 20:28, it’s God’s. Same difference. It’s His Church. And the only question on our lips every time we meet to do His business should be ‘What would you have us do?’

5) Whatever we do to the church, Jesus takes personally. Scary thought, isn’t it? Jesus told Saul of Tarsus that when he touched one of ‘the least of these my brethren’ to harm them, he was ‘persecuting me’ (Acts 9, 22, 26). The New Testament calls the church the ‘Bride of Christ,’ the ‘Body of Christ.’

6) God sends pastors, not to make the church members happy, but to make them healthy and holy and Himself happy. At least one pastor out of ten – I don’t care what denomination – has been ousted from a church because the members were unhappy with him. Show me one place in all the Scripture where the pastor (or any other leader) is sent to please the people, and I’ll show you ten where the people rose up in arms against a faithful leader who was serving God well.

7) The best thing your church has to offer Christians is fellowship. Now, the best thing the church has to offer the world is the Gospel of Jesus Christ to be sure. However, once they are in the kingdom, fellowship with other believers is the greatest need of believers. By that, we mean they need regular, close contact with people like themselves who are also serving Jesus. They need time to visit, to talk, to argue, to pray together, and laugh and work and serve. Your television set brings in some good preachers every Sunday morning. You can sit in front of the set and worship God, study the Word, pray, sing, and even make an offering. I suppose you can even find a way to minister without leaving home. But the one thing you cannot do on the screen is to fellowship. For that, you will require other believers. You will need to ‘forsake not the assembling of yourselves together’ (Hebrews 10:25).

8) The toughest part of belonging to a church is the requirement for submission – that’s why we rarely hear about it. To submit means to give in to the other. Two men disagree; one gives in. Two women disagree; one gives in to the other. Only in matters involving life-or-death issues (the inspiration of Scripture, the efficacy of the cross, the Virgin Birth, etc) do we dig in our heels and say with Luther, ‘God help me; I can do nothing else.’ To give in to another is to practice the command of Philippians 2:3. In humility, consider others as more important than yourselves. Practicing submission could stop 90 percent of church divisions in their tracks.

9) God created the deacons because He needed servants willing to do the dirty work. Jesus gave us the ultimate picture of servanthood when He stooped and washed the disciples’ feet (John 13). The Jerusalem incident of Acts 6 – commonly believed to be the origin of the diaconate, even though they’re never called deacons there – confirms that these godly men are to serve the Lord’s people in the lowliest tasks in order to free up the leaders for the ministry of the Word and prayer.

10) If you do not like change in your church or your personal life, you will want to avoid Jesus – He’s all about change and growth. The Lord Jesus said believers were to be like ‘new wineskins,’ a reference to their flexibility, their adaptability to change, their skill at making adjustments to fluid situations. The image of Christians as defenders of the status quo, of resisting every new idea, of reacting against anything foreign – that is anathema to the spirit of Jesus Christ. The seven last words of the church, it has been said, are ‘We never did it that way before.’ So, we have to work against our innate resistance to change and growth.”