Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I have lived an hour south of Willow Creek most of my life. My father, a pastor, goes there almost weekly to get refreshed and then drives the hour home with new ideas from the Holy Spirit. We are both saddened by the vast numbers of people who criticize Hybels and Willow Creek without knowing their heartbeat or, suprisingly, even stepping foot on the churches main campus.
Courageous Leadership is a book that will act as a portrait of the heartbeat of Pastor Hybels and what makes him tick. It is also a book that acts as a tremendous source for church leaders of all shades and descripitions, even if you are not a pastor.
Covered in this 252 page book are the following....
* Finding leaders who have chemistry and who fit with your current team.
* Establishing clear goals for everyone, and making them tangible.
* Excellence in church is a must. He discusses how people will use excellence in their worldly jobs, but have a hard time using those same critical methods for the kingdom of God.
* The vitality of vision and recasting that vision.
* The importance of celebration and giving honor to church workers, especially volunteers. Hybels tells of a story on page 175 in which all the volunteers were honored in a quasi-parade in which they all marched onto the stage as the church cheered them on. One of Willow's pastors, John Ortberg and drama leader Nancy Beach, acted the parts of Regis and Kathy Lee as they described each ministry group as they marched by.
* Praying to become like Biblical warriors and adopting the best attributes of people like Esther, Joshua, and David.
* Emulating the tenacity of Christ and the Apostle Paul.
* The importance of saying no to certain things and ideas in order to use your energy on what God really wants in your life.
* The importance of staying focused and cleaning up our own secret, inner problems first and foremost.
* The crucial importance of finding a team that is big on character, competence, and chemistry.
I found it interesting that nowhere in this book does Hybels ask leaders to emulate Willow Creek's worship style or vision methodology. He does, however, ask leaders to emulate his own dependence on the living God through different forms of prayer and team-building, accountability, as well as seeking out what our own gifts are while utilizing them where we're at.
Hybels also discusses the importance of getting away from the church at times to be alone with his family and the Lord. I thought this part of the book was probably the best because he talks about how it has revolutionized his own life and turned his children, instead of turning on the faith, into dynamic lovers of the Lord. The summer break, as he calls it, is something that all leaders need in some form or another. All-in-all, Courageous Leadership is a great book for Christian leaders of any sort, not just pastors.
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