(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

So I've got to compete against the rain. Let's see how we go, okay? If you can't hear me back there, just put your hand up and I'll have to get louder, okay? So we'll see how we go. But look at verse number 7 there in Hebrews chapter 13 and verse number 7. It says, Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God, whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation. I just want you to notice there, I'm not going to be preaching so much about pastoring, but you can see here in verse number 7 that we're speaking about the bishop, the pastor, the one who's in charge there over the church, and it says whose faith follow. And so, you know, this is the, we're continuing our decently and in order series, and the Bible's telling us that there are some people that we're commanded to follow. And of course in the context of the church here, it's speaking about the pastor, the one that has the rule over you. It's saying, hey, look at that person's life, look at that person's character and follow after them. And so what are we going to be focusing on tonight, brethren, is leadership. The title for the sermon this evening is called Effective Leadership. Effective Leadership. And so, listen, if you're a leader, it means you have people that are following you. Don't forget our institutions that we've been looking at. Don't forget the family. Who's the leader in the family? Dad. The husband. He's the head of his wife. You know what that means? That means the family follows the head. The family follows that man. Hey, when it comes to church, it means the congregation follows the pastor. Hey, when it comes to the workplace, it means that the employee follows the employers. I hope you understand what I'm covering today. And of course, the one we ought to follow most above all is the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, I want you to be an effective leader. We're all given roles of leadership in the house or in different places. Hey, even a mother has a role of leadership. She's in charge of her children. So again, I don't want you to think, oh, this is just for the men. Hey, this is for the mothers as well. If you have people that are under you, you might be an employer. You might be like you, brother, a supervisor. You have contractors that come to work. We're all given an opportunity to be a leader in different places of our lives. One thing that I've learned in my years is that to be an effective leader as a husband is the same thing that's required to be an effective pastor as a leader. Okay, a leader as a pastor. Or if you're an employer, it's the same thing to be an effective employer. Hey, all these things are the same because you're leading somebody else. People are looking to you to follow after you. And so, listen, I want you to be effective leaders. I want dads to be effective fathers. I want them to be strong leaders. I want to see pastors be effective leaders. If you're in charge of people under you in the workplace, I want you to be effective as well. And I'm really thankful over my time. I'm glad that I did not become a pastor very early in my life. I became a pastor late in my life. Well, 36, I don't know if that's considered later. But of course, the Lord Jesus Christ started his ministry when Howard was Jesus Christ. He was 30 years old when he started his ministry. And so even Jesus Christ had some time where he lived a life and he was working hard as a carpenter. And he built up himself to a point where he was able to start a ministry and be the leader while he was on this earth. And so I'm really thankful because I've had many opportunities to take on a leadership role. You know, whether it is as a pastor of two churches. I never thought that would be the case where I'm pastoring two churches. As well as just being a husband, being a father, being a father of 11 children. Hey, that's a great opportunity to be a leader as well. And also in the workplace. I've probably spent, I don't know, maybe eight years of my life as a supervisor, as a manager, all in different roles. Managing people that I'm over, that I'm directly seeing or managing teams that are very far away in the workplace. I've had lots of opportunity to refine my skills. I've had lots of opportunities to see good leaders and also very bad leaders. And I've always wanted to pattern myself over after the good leadership that we have. And so we have a lot of biblical principles that we can apply in how to be a strong leader. Now we're not going to be staying there in Hebrews chapter 13. If I can get you to turn to Proverbs 29 please. Turn to Proverbs chapter 29. You go to Proverbs 29. And just a reminder while you're turning to Proverbs 29, I'm going to read to you from 1 Corinthians 11 verse 3 which says, But I would have you know that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is the man, and the head of Christ is God. And so what we see there is that even Jesus Christ had an effective leader. That was the father. And men, we have an effective leader which is Christ. And ladies, wives, you also have an effective leader which is your husband. Okay, your husband. So I've got seven points that I want to cover tonight. And if you're in a leadership position, please pay attention. It's going to help you in life. And if you look at Proverbs 29 verse 18, it says, And so the first point that I have here to be an effective leader, you must be a visionary. You need to be able to set a vision for those that you are leading. Where there is no vision, the people perish. Now, fathers, I know you don't want your family to perish. You know, as the pastor of Blessed Hope Baptist Church, I do not want this church to perish. You know, if you manage people in the workplace, I know you want to make sure that the job gets done and that you don't fail on the job. And so brethren, you know, if you're a leader, you must establish a vision. What are you talking about? Hey, there must be a purpose for this role that you have. There must be a direction. There must be goals that you're trying to attain, you know, in your life. You know, when it comes to fathers, you know, we ought to have a vision for our families. It's not just get married and have a bunch of kids, right? You know what? My vision for my wife is that she is a great mother, right? That she has the tools that she needs to be able to raise our godly children. You know, my vision for my children is that they love God and they want to serve God, right? They don't have to become pastors. They don't have to be in any kind of leadership position in church. You know, as long as they grow up and they have a love for souls and they go soul winning, you know, and they live a life that pleases God and pleases their parents, that's all I care about. That's a vision, right? And you must have a vision because if you don't have a vision, then you don't know how to set goals for your family, okay? As I said, hey, I want my children to be soul winners as they get older. You know what that means? That means I've got to set goals for them to get there. That means they're going to have to go out as a silent partner. Hey, that means they're going to have to learn memory verses. That means they're going to have to know how to give the gospel. And so we work toward these things so they can reach the goal, the vision that I have set for my children. Hey, that's what it means to be a visionary, set a vision. You know, if you're a father and you just have, well, I don't know what I want for my kids. I don't know what I want for my wife. Hey, that's a big problem. You know, because we can go years after years after years and we're still like, well, you know, nothing's progressed. You know, why is it that we don't seem to be achieving anything as a family? It's because you've not set a vision. And Brethren, you know, as a pastor, when we started Blessed Up Baptist Church, I freely admitted to you guys that I really had no vision when we started this church. To me, it was a bit of a Band-Aid solution. All right, what do we do? I don't know. All right, let's just get down here once a week. Let's have church services. Let's go soul winning. But one thing that I did, regardless of understanding what the long-term vision for Blessed Up Baptist Church was, it was that we would complete the Great Commission. I mean, that's the vision for every church, that we complete the Great Commission. I'm going to read to you from Matthew 28, 18. Matthew 28, 18, it says, And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Then he says this, Go ye therefore and teach all nations. Hey, that's Australia. Our job is to teach Australians. Baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen. You know what's great about being a church? I don't have to come up with some complicated vision. Jesus Christ has already given it to us. What was it again? Go and teach Australians. That's where we are, right? All nations. What are we teaching them? The Gospel, right? We're teaching the Gospel that they would believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Then what are we to do? Baptizing them, right? In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost. What else? Teaching them to observe all things. You know what's great about since coming down to Sydney? We've only been here for two and a half months. But you know what's been going on? Hey, souls have been getting saved. Praise God. That's part one of the Great Commission. Hey, last Sunday we had baptisms. Hey, that's part two of the Great Commission. And part three is that we teach God's Word all things. We don't compromise on God's Word. We teach everything that we have in the Bible. You know, we don't try to skip what the Bible says. You know, even the things that might seem a little bit nasty. Even the things that may seem a little bit negative. Hey, even teaching all the judgment of God. Hey, we're focused on preaching the entire Bible. We're not trying to avoid His Word, right? Teach them all things. And so that's what's great about being a church. I don't have to come up with a crazy idea, okay? Jesus Christ has already told us what the vision of every church ought to be, okay? Now, visions are important because, you know, even Jesus Christ, when He had His ministry, when He walked this earth and He came 2,000 years ago, even Jesus Christ set a vision. He had a plan. He had a purpose. Can you please turn to Ezekiel chapter 7? You go to Ezekiel chapter 7 and I'm going to read to you what the vision of Jesus Christ was. You go to Ezekiel chapter 7 and I'll read to you from Luke 9 56, the words of Jesus Christ. He said, For the Son of Man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. And they went to another village. Hey, Jesus Christ knew His vision. His vision was, I am to save people. I've come here to offer myself a sacrifice and through this sacrifice, people are going to get saved. I'm here to preach the gospel so people can enter into the kingdom of God. He knew His purpose and He also knew what His purpose was not. He said, For the Son of Man is not come to destroy men's lives. When He came here 2,000 years ago, He did not come to destroy people, okay? He knew, well, that's not my vision. My vision is to save. But I know what His vision is on His second coming. He does a lot of destruction, okay? His vision changes in His second coming. He does a lot of destruction, okay? But I just want to show you, Jesus Christ knew very clearly what His vision was. It wasn't, well, I don't know, come up with it in due time. No, He knew exactly why He was on this earth. You're in Ezekiel chapter 7. Look at verse number 26. Ezekiel chapter 7 and verse number 26. I assume this water is for me, is that right? Someone put that on, was that yours brother? Oh, you had a sip? Okay, I'll put it over there so I don't drink it by mistake. All right, that's cool. You're in Ezekiel chapter 7 and verse number 26. Why is it so important that you as a leader have a vision, okay? Well, it says in Ezekiel 7 26, Mischief shall come upon mischief, and rumor shall be upon rumor. Then shall they seek a vision of the prophets, but the law shall perish from the priests and counsel from the ancients. You know what it's saying here? That if we don't have a vision for those that are under us, that when mischief comes upon mischief, when problems come upon problems, and then you're going to eventually seek a vision when things are going bad, when you're going through difficulties, when you're not serving God the way you ought to, you're going to desire that vision, but it says the law shall perish from the priests and counsel from the ancients, meaning that if you don't establish a vision now, when you really need it, it's not going to be there for you, okay? Because you've already messed things up. You know, when you're leading people, you must have a plan. You must have a vision, okay? That's what a leader does. And you know what the followers want? They want to know, hey, you're the leader. What's the vision? What's the plan? What are we trying to achieve? You know, that thing has to be clear. You know what wives want from their husbands? Husband, what are we doing? What are we doing next week? What's happening? When are we going on holidays? What's the plan for our family? You know, even wives want to see their husband be a strong leader with a clear vision that he has for his family. This is the role of a leader. If you're in a position of a leader and you say, I have no vision, I don't want you to end up like Ezekiel 7. When the time comes when you are seeking a vision, it's not there. Destruction's already started. Mischief upon mischief. You've destroyed the institution that God has put over you. We must be visionary to be a strong leader. And brethren, like I told you with Jesus Christ, he knew what his vision was, all right? I'm sure that when he saw the wickedness of Judah, I'm sure there was a part of Christ because he's the Lord Almighty, because he's righteous, because he's holy. I'm sure there was times when you thought, man, it's better for these people to just be destroyed. I'm sure that crossed his mind because he's God, okay? And our God is just, our God is righteous. But then he didn't get distracted by that. He knew, no, there's due time for that, not now. Right now, my vision, my goal is to save souls. And so, brethren, what I'm trying to say to you is when you establish a vision, don't get distracted. It's your vision. It's your vision. It's your plan. You're the leader. You don't have to turn your back and go, well, what do you think my vision ought to be? What do you think my vision? If you're the leader, you establish the vision. Don't get distracted. Don't get distracted by others. And that's why last week I preached on mind your own business, because you have to learn what responsibilities fall under you, and you've got to make those decisions that are your responsibility. Not to be looking at other people's matters and trying to work things out for them. No, if God has given you a position of leadership, whatever that is, you establish a vision. Don't get distracted. Don't worry about what everyone else is doing. Focus on what you know God wants you to do in your position, okay? This is how we keep things done decently and in order. Every person, okay, has to work out, every leader has to work out what God wants from them, okay? Now, can you please turn to, let's turn to Romans 14. And look, I know some of these verses we've already covered in recent weeks. I understand that. But I just want to obviously pull out different thoughts in these verses, because all of this goes together. All of this is building on the same ideas. And I think this might be my, it might be my second to last sermon of the Decently and in order series. I do have one other thing that I want to cover, but I feel like I've done pretty good justice here, because a lot of these things are overlapping, but they overlap for a purpose, okay? And if you look at Romans chapter 14 and verse number 10, Romans chapter 14 and verse number 10, it says, But why dost thou judge thy brother? Or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? So we've read these before recently, right? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written, As I live safe, Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God. Point number two for you to be an effective leader is be accountable. Be accountable, not just for your own actions, but be accountable for the institution that God has put you over. If you're a family man, if you're a husband, you've got to be accountable for your family as well. God has given you that responsibility. Now one day your wife will stand before God and give an account. Your children will stand before God and give an account. But as fathers, you're going to give an account for yourself, but also for what you did for those that God put under you, okay? We're all going to give an account to God. We must be accountable. Leaders must be accountable. You know one thing I learnt? Good leaders are always accountable. Bad leaders, they don't want the accountability. They want the power, they want the authority, but when it comes to accountability, I don't want that. I don't want that on me, okay? That's crazy. That's crazy. You know, I'll tell you why accountability is so important. Because, you know, people are looking at you, you know, your children, families, you know, wives, they're looking at the husband, you know, the church, they're looking at the pastor, and when, you know, when things go well, you know, when things are running well, hey, you know what, you kind of get the credit for it as a leader, don't you? You know, you're the one leading, and things are operating well, things are going well, you know, it's a happy home, a happy family, you know, you can take a pleasure in the success. But you know what else comes with accountability? When you make mistakes. When you make, when you, and look, are we going to make mistakes? Absolutely, we are going to make mistakes. You know, but here's what a good leader does. The good leader, you know, I can't say that the good leader never makes mistakes. But when the good leader makes mistakes, you know what he does? He puts his hand up and say, you know what, I'm accountable, it's my fault, it's my mistake, you know, it's on me guys, I'm sorry, that was wrong, but now, you know what, we need to correct that, and we need to do this instead. That's a good leader. And you know what, most people are understandable, like most people understand that everyone makes mistakes, and when they see the leader put their hand up, you know, that gives a lot of people respect. Like, so wow, this guy's humble, right? But when the leader makes mistakes, and they don't want to take accountability, or they blame those that are under them, it's like, man, this guy's full of pride. What's wrong with this person? And you know what else? When the leader does not put his hand up and own the mistake, you know what happens sometimes? Those that are under the leadership, because you always, you want to find out where did things go wrong? Who's at fault? All right? And when the leader puts his hand up and owns it, everyone's like, okay, he's taking responsibility. But when he doesn't take responsibility, those that are under the leader generally will fight amongst themselves and try to figure out, hey, no, that was you. No, it was you. It was you. It was you. Hey, the leader needs to say, hey, it's me. I'm in charge. I'm accountable for what happened. You know, I was once, I was managing, there was this time period where it was just too much workload, too much, you know, brethren. And I was working long hours. I was working at least 12 hours every day for many, many months. It was a lot of work because there were system changes in the business, and I needed a supervisor. So I promoted somebody that was a good worker as a supervisor, but because we were so busy, I could not give that supervisor the necessary training, right? I could kind of train them to a point, but normally when you get someone under you, you know, you want to mentor them, you want to help them, you want to train that person so they can be effective as well. But we're just overloaded with work. And so I needed a supervisor, but I couldn't give that supervisor all the training they needed, okay? Now, that supervisor, you know, for the first few months did not do a very good job. They got some of the job done, but they didn't do that much of a good job, okay? And what happened was that created some tension for those that were under that person, right? And then those that were under the supervisor came to me in my office one day, and they just wanted to vent and complain about the supervisor that's been put into the position, and it started to cause conflict and issues and drama. And you know what? Hey, I'm the manager. So you know what I did? Ah, yeah, you're right, you know, that supervisor's hopeless. Is that what I did? Oh, you know what? All these problems you're bringing up, it's... You know what? That's all rubbish. Why are you bringing that? Is that what I did? You know what I did? I realised, man, you know what? I've not been able to give that supervisor the necessary training, so I just put my hand up and said, you know what? Many of your concerns that you've raised, they're legitimate. You're right. We can do better. We need to do better. And you know what? It's my fault because I've not been able to set time aside to train that person, and this is why I've not been able to set time aside. You know what that did? Immediately, it calmed the tensions. Immediately, people just felt, oh, man, you know, Kevin's taken ownership of that, even though we want to blame somebody else. But, you know, Kevin's over that person, put my hand up, I'm at fault, and you know what? That's settled everything. It's settled everything. They could understand why things were not operating the way they should have been simply because somebody put their hand up and said, you know what? Yeah, I'll take that on board. That's my fault. I'm sorry. Forgive me. We'll do better moving forward. That's what a good leader does, and I'm not trying to say I'm the greatest leader, but these are just things that I've learned from other people, and I said, man, the good leader always puts their hand up, and then when they put their hand up after they've made mistakes, people are generally willing to go, all right, what's the next way? You know, that was wrong. What's the right way that we ought to do things then? Okay? And so there's accountability. Can you please turn to James chapter 3, please? James chapter 3 and verse number 1. James chapter 3 and verse number 1. James chapter 3, verse number 1. I'm sure all of us have experienced good leaders and bad leaders. I'm sure we've all experienced that, right? Hey, maybe we can look at ourselves and say, hey, there were times that I was a good leader and there were times where I was a very poor leader, all right? And so, again, I just want you to be an effective leader. I want you to be a strong God leader knowing some biblical principles that will help you be in charge and lead the family, you know, church, whatever situation you find yourself workplace. And look at James chapter 3, verse number 1. It says, my brethren, be not many masters. Well, let's stop there for a moment. What does it mean to be a master? A leader, okay? A leader. You know, don't be not many masters. You know what? There's only so much we can do, right? And the idea here is, you know what? You know, if you're a father, that's awesome, right? You're a master in your home. And if you're a pastor, you're a master, you know, in the church there. But don't try to take on too many responsibilities. It says, why, why, why, why be not many masters knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation. Do you see that? Listen, when a follower makes a mistake, they're going to be condemned by God, they're going to be chastised, they're going to be corrected, whatever it is, but the leader, so much more so, for the same mistake, for the same mistake, okay? And so we are accountable to God and we have a greater condemnation. And so look, when people tell me they want to become pastors, I'm like, man, it's awesome. You know, it's great. We need pastors, we need churches, we need soul winning churches, these things are great. But also understand, you also have a greater condemnation if you're a bad leader. If you mess things up, if you make mistakes, there's going to be a greater condemnation that falls on you, okay? Because you've got to be accountable. You're the one in charge, okay? And so of course, God's going to come down harder on you if you mess things up. Look at verse number two. Now here's the thing you need to understand in verse number two. It continues the thought there. It says, for in many things, we offend all. Again, speaking about the masters here, okay? In many things, we offend all. You know what that tells me? It's basically this. You know, I've often said things, you can't make everybody happy, okay? Whatever decision you make as a leader, you're not going to make everybody happy. If you're a father, you make a decision for the family, don't expect everybody in the family to be like, oh, wow, that's the best decision dad, okay? Sometimes they're just not going to be fair, right? We offend all. You know, we're always going to offend because you can't make everybody happy. You know, you might be making the best decision, the right decision. There's going to be somebody that's under you that's just going to think that wasn't the best decision and they might even get offended by that. But let's keep going there. It says, if any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man and able also to bridle the whole body. And so here's the thing. It says, look, if I offend nobody, it's saying I'm a perfect man, right? Now, what it's saying is, look, as we strive for perfection, as we strive to be more godly, as we strive to be more Christ-like, we're less likely to offend those that are under our authorities, okay? But the truth is, whatever position you take as a master, understand people are going to be offended. It's just the way it is, okay? It's not necessarily that you're a bad leader. You know, you might be the best leader, but as you lead, you can still offend people. It's just that's part of the parcel, okay? But understand, you know, taking on a leadership role, taking on a position of master means you're more accountable to God for that which you've been given, okay? Accountability. But then own the accountability. Own it, you know? Own it and show God that you're taking accountability for that which God has given you, right? Again, you can glory in success. That's great. But also, when you fail, you put your hand up, you take ownership for the failure that you've done, right? You take accountability for your mistakes. Now, the next point that I want to bring to your attention is, if you guys can please turn to Isaiah chapter 30. Isaiah chapter 30 for me. Isaiah chapter 30. So the first two points that I had for you, number one, if you're a leader, effective leader, you need to have a vision. Be a visionary. Number two, you've got to be accountable. Number three, you need to be decisive. You need to be decisive. Point number three, you need to be decisive. What does it mean to be decisive? Make decisions, okay? It's your job if you're the leader, if you're the husband, you're the father, you have to make decisions for your family. You don't have to go, well, let me check with this person. Let me check with that person. Let me check with the pastor. Let me check with my wife. Let me check with my kids. Look, it's your decision. There's nothing wrong with asking counsel. It's nothing wrong seeking opinions, but at the end of the day, as a leader, you have to be decisive. It's your decision. You can't say, well, I made the decision because pastor told me to. No, it's your decision to make, okay? This is what a leader does. He's decisive. He doesn't dilly dally, hey, what do we do? What do we do here? What do we do? Just make a decision, okay? Be decisive. I'm going to read to you from Proverbs 3, verse 5. You say in Isaiah 30, and I think I read this passage not long ago, but let me just show you again. Proverbs 3, 5. It says, Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding. Look at this. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. You know why you can be a strong leader that is decisive? Because when you make a decision, just acknowledge God. Just say, God, I think this is the right decision. You know, Lord, can you guide me Lord, I just want to give you thanks. I just want to do things the way you want me to do things. If you acknowledge God, the promise is that he shall direct thy paths. This is why as a leader you can be decisive because as long as you bring the Lord into the picture, as long as you focus on his word, then you know the decision that you're making is the right one because the Lord promised to direct your paths. But listen, if you're far from God, I'd be scared to make decisions as well. You need the Lord's presence in your life. You need to know his word to make the right decisions. And Brevin, the thing about being decisive, the reason why people don't like making decisions is because whatever decision you make, there's always a risk. There's always a risk, right? You know, I made a decision to come down to Sydney to help this church, but there's always a risk. What about new life? What about whiling away? What's going to happen? You know, are families going to leave? Are there going to be problems? You know, a false prophet's going to try to creep in and cause, you know, problems. Who knows, right? Everything, you know, you've got to measure the risks. There are always pros and cons to every decision that you make, and you've just got to figure out, listen, I think this is the right decision. This is the path that I'm going to walk. And if those things come up, if those risks become an issue, then I'm going to have to deal with those risks in due time, okay? But the reason a lot of people don't make decisions is because they don't want to take the risk. But listen, just make a decision. Hey, those risks may never turn up. It may never happen, okay? Just be decisive. What did I ask you to turn to? Sorry, guys. Isaiah 30. You're on Isaiah 30, verse number 21, please. Isaiah 30 and verse number 21. And before we read this, this is going to help leaders. There's not always just one way. Now, in salvation, there's one way, okay? But don't forget, God gives us a lot of liberty in our Christian life. There are many ways. In fact, there might be many correct ways, okay? But you still have to make a decision. Which way am I going to take? Because it says in Isaiah 30, verse 21, it says, And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way. Walk ye in it. Then it says this. When you turn to the right hand and when you turn to the left. What is it saying here? It's saying that God sometimes is not going to give you one answer. Now, I like it when God gives me one answer. Because it's easy. It's easy when there's one answer, right? But sometimes God says, Well, you know what? You can go the right way, you can go your right hand, or you can go this way on the left. Completely different directions, right? The right is this way, the left is this way. Completely different directions. And God says, This is the way, walk ye in it. So sometimes, you know what? God, I don't know, right, left. You know what? I'm going to go right. You know what God says when you go right? Yep, that's the way, walk ye in it. But what if I said left? Yep, walk ye in it. That's the right way. Because there's not always one correct answer. God gives us liberty. He gives us freedom. He doesn't want us to feel like we're prisoners and there's only one right way for every little thing that I do. God gives you many options, many decisions. And that's wonderful. That ought to be a wonderful thing. But at the same time, just because you have many options, doesn't mean you need to be stressing, Which is the one right? You know, which is the one? Just take one. If you're the leader, make a decision. Be decisive. You know, so everybody knows everyone's on board all right. You know, Dad said, This is what we're doing. This is what we're doing. Pastor said, This is what we're doing. I guess that's what we're doing. Okay? And we're not confused and not sure what decisions to take. And Brevin, let me just reinforce this because I know this is a problem in many Baptist churches where the, you know, husbands will go to the pastor, Pastor, what decisions? You know, I'm in this position. What do you think I should do? You know what happens? Sometimes people come up to me and ask me that. Look, if you need to ask me something, I'm not saying never come to me. I'm not saying that, right? Obviously, if you have a biblical question, I'm more likely going to be able to give you an answer from a biblical position. But as I showed you, sometimes there are many options. Okay? But quite often, this is what happens, quite often when people come up to me and say, well, what would you do in my situation? Most of the time when that happens, my real response is, well, I would never have found myself in that position in the first place. So I have no idea. Like, I would not have been in that position. You're in that position. Actually, the one that knows best and the potential risk, the pros and cons, is actually you. It's your decision. But sometimes I'm like, well, you know, I think about it a little bit. I think this is what I would do. Okay? But then what happens? You know, people make decisions on the pastor's decision. What the pastor said. And then it's a failure. It doesn't work. Okay? It doesn't work. And what happens? Oh, why did that work? Oh, the pastor. It was the pastor's mistake. Listen, what's the pastor's decision in the first place? Right? Hey, a leader, if you're a leader, you have to make the decision. As I said, nothing wrong with getting counsel. Nothing wrong. Hey, that person said, do A. That person said to do Z. That person said to do X. That person said to do V. Well, it's still my decision. I'm the leader. So I've got to decide what I'm going to do. And that's how you take accountability. You can't just, well, you failed because he said so. Or you failed because, you know, my wife failed. Hey, you're the leader. Okay? You can't just blame your wife. You're the head of the wife. You're the leader. It's your issue. You've got to deal with it. That's what leaders do. They're decisive. This is what we're doing. We could do this. We could do that. We could do this. But I'm making the decision to do this. This is the way we're going to walk. So it's clear. Clear to everybody. When you're following somebody, you want to know which direction we're going, right? You don't want to know, you know, what the leader has no idea where they're going. You know, that was the problem in the false prophets. The blind leading the blind. If you're blind, you don't know where you're going. How are you going to lead others that are blind? Okay? Of course, you have. If you're blind, your followers are going to be blind as well. They're not going to know what way are we walking. Now, if you can quickly turn to Psalm 119, please. Psalm 100, yeah, actually, that's a good one to turn to. You go to Psalm 119 for me, and verse number 104. So I'll just give you a moment to turn there. Psalm 119, 119, and verse number 104. You say, well, how do I know that I can, you know, if I'm going to be decisive and make decisions, you know, I want to make the best decision. How is it that I make the best decision? Well, Psalm 119, verse 104 says this. Through thy precepts. What are precepts? Well, basically, all these titles are given to the Word of God. Okay? Through thy precepts, I get understanding. Brethren, you know what? And you know you're the leader. You need to be decisive. Just go to God's Word. Just say, God, I need direction here. Can you please show me in your Word what I need to do? Then it says this. Therefore, I hate every false way. You know, how is it that you don't, and I know this probably has to do with false doctrines and things like that, but you know, if you're given, if there are many ways, many options, you know, some of those options might be a false way. How is it that I make sure I don't step in a false way? Go to his law. Look at verse number 105. You want to make the right decision? Just go to God's Word. Say, God's Word has given me ten options. Well, then every option is right. Just take one. Be decisive. Be the leader. Take one and walk in the way that the Lord wants. So decisive was point number three. Now you're in Psalm 119. Please turn to Psalm 118 for me. Psalm 118. And the next point that I have for you to be an effective leader is be confident. Confident. Okay? A leader needs to be confident. Now when I say confidence, I'm not talking like the world. Okay? Because, you know, if you go to, if you get like a, you know, and I've done like leadership courses, you know, by unsaved people, of course. I mean, you could, but quite often when they spoke about, like, yourself and improving yourself, it's just worldly philosophies. It's like, it's literally the opposite of the Bible. You know? So, you know, as a believer, you just got to, you know, take what's right and then just, just throw out what's bad, you know, obviously. But, you know, the world tells you to be confident, you need to be self-confident. Right? You know, you've got to find confidence in yourself. Man, I've got no confidence in myself. I don't know about you, but, you know, I've got no confidence in myself, man, I've got no confidence in myself, man, I've got no confidence in myself, man, I've got no confidence in myself, man, I've got no confidence in myself, man, I've got no confidence in myself, man, I've got no confidence in myself, man, I've got no confidence in myself, man, I've got no confidence in myself, man, I've got no confidence in myself, man, I've got no confidence in myself, man, I've got no confidence in myself, man, I've got no confidence in myself, man, I've got no confidence in myself, man, I've got no confidence in myself, man, I've got no confidence in myself, man, I've got no confidence in myself, man, I've got no confidence in myself, man, I've got no confidence in myself, man, I've got no confidence in myself, man, I've got no confidence in myself, man, I've got no confidence in myself, man, I've got no confidence in myself, man, I've got no confidence in myself, man, I've got no confidence in myself, man, I've got no confidence in myself, man, I've got no confidence in myself, man, I've got no confidence in myself, man, man, I've got no confidence in myself, man, I've got no confidence in myself, man, I've got no confidence in myself, man, I've got no confidence in myself, man, I've got no confidence in myself, man, I've got no confidence in myself, man, I've got no confidence in myself, man, I've got no confidence in myself, man, I've got no confidence in myself, man, I've got no confidence in myself, man, I've got no confidence in myself, man, I've got no confidence in myself, man, I've got no confidence in myself, man, I've got no confidence in myself, man, I've got no confidence in myself, man, I've got no confidence in myself, man, I've got no confidence in myself, man, I've got no confidence in myself, man, I've got no confidence in myself, man, I've got no confidence in myself, man, I've got no confidence in myself, man, I've got no confidence in myself, man, I've got no confidence in myself, man, I've got no confidence in myself, man, I've got no confidence in myself, man, I've got no confidence in myself, man, I've got no confidence in myself, man, I've got no confidence in myself, man, it is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man. It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes. Alright, so, princes of course, that's somebody in authority, that's someone that has riches and power, you know what, as I said, there's nothing wrong with going to other people and getting some advice and counsel, especially if you know, like, if I was, maybe if I was struggling raising my children, and there was brother so and so, who's doing a great job, his kids are well behaved and they love the Lord and, you know, they're respectful children, yeah, I might go to that brother and say, listen, can you look, you seem to be a really effective leader, you seem to be a great father, can you give me some tips? Nothing wrong with that, amen? Nothing wrong, okay, you see somebody doing a good job in an area, go and ask, that's how you learn, that's how you grow, you know, again, that takes down the pride a little bit, the ego a little bit, where you have to admit, you know what, I need a little bit of help, you know, nothing wrong with that, okay, but again, when you're a leader, you have to be decisive, you have to be confident in, in the decisions that you're making, and so don't put all your confidence in man, okay, make sure you only put it in the Lord Jesus Christ, okay, put it in him, in his word, I'm glad the rain has stopped, I can talk a little quieter now, my throat's starting to get a bit itchy, when did I ask you to turn, oh no, you already turned there, okay, yeah actually can you please go to Acts 28, let's go to Acts 28 verse number 30, Acts 28 and verse number 30, I think I've got too many Bible verses here, but I'm going to just try to get the better ones that I can see here, Acts 28 verse number 30, confidence, confidence, now, you know, for the men that get behind the pulpit and preach, you know what I want to see in you guys, I want to see confidence, you say, but you know, Pastor Kevin, Pastor Kevin, maybe you know this topic better than me, I'm a little bit worried, I'm a little bit fearful that I could, you know, say the wrong thing, listen, you know, you've prepared your sermon, you know the material better than anyone else, okay, so when you get behind the pulpit, you need to have confidence in the study that you've put into God's word, confidence in the prayers that you've asked the Lord to help you preach, you know, preach with confidence, and not only preach behind this pulpit with confidence, but when we go door to door soul winning, okay, the person behind the door needs to see that the soul winner that knocked my door today is confident in the message that is given, right, Acts 28 verse 30, and again, this is not pride, I'm not talking about arrogance here, you know, don't be this, you know, high and mighty person, just be confident of your message, Acts 28 verse 30, it says, and Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house, and received all that came in unto him, just very quickly, Paul was under house arrest, you know, in the Romans at this point in time, but he was allowed for people to come in in his house, verse number 31, what was he doing, for those that were coming in, preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, look at this, with all confidence, no man forbidding him, you know what gives you a lot of confidence to preach God's word, if you're preaching God's word, okay, if you're just preaching your wisdom and your intellect, and you think you're going to wow people with your smarts, you're not going to have confidence, you're not going to have confidence in the flesh, that's where you're going to make mistakes, but you know what, if you just have clear Bible verses, this is what it says, I'm going to proclaim it, you can have complete confidence, it's coming from God, right, and you see that the Apostle Paul was confident, because he was teaching the things that concern the Lord Jesus Christ, brethren when you go door to door soul winning, and I know I'm the same, you know, but you know what, at that point in time, you're leading, you're the leader, don't let the person behind the door become the leader, and you're carried away in some conversation, and that wasn't even your purpose, hey, that wasn't my vision, my vision was to preach the gospel, and now I've lost my vision, because I let this person take over, no, you're at the door, you need to have confidence, hey, I'm coming to give you the good news, I'm from this Baptist church, I want you to know that you can be 100% sure that you're going to heaven, and behind the door, nobody can be sure, so yeah, I'm 100% sure, let me show you why, because God's word says I can be 100% sure, okay, you go with confidence, you go with a smile, not arrogance, you go with confidence that the message is true, okay, and look, many times, yes, you know, listen, don't misunderstand, you know, the power of salvation comes in the gospel, you know, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God, but listen, if you go to the door, and you're very timid, and you're unsure of yourself, they're less likely to want to listen to you, because you're not showing that you truly have confidence in the message that you're giving, okay, when you show that you have confidence, they're more likely to go, wow, I better give ear, I better pay attention to what they have to say, okay, so, your confidence in the Lord, in the word of God, will open doors for you to be able to preach the Lord Jesus Christ, okay, now again, I'm just giving you some examples here, I want you to think about yourself as a leader, because I truly believe at least all the men, you know, have the ability to be a leader, even if it's just to be the husband, even if it's just to be a father, that might be the position of mastery that God has given you, so these things are going to help you as well, you need to be a confident father, okay, your kids need to see how my dad's confident, you know, I feel secure in this family, my dad knows what he's doing, can you please turn to Romans chapter 12, turn to Romans chapter 12, so let me just give you those four points once again, number one, you've got to be a visionary, number two, you've got to be accountable, number three, you have to be decisive, number four, you have to be confident, and number five, now number five takes a lot of work, takes a lot of effort, a lot of skill, a lot of training and experience to do this, but number five is to be influential, if you want to be a good, effective leader, you have to be influential, okay, what that means is, you know, you might be leading in one direction, others think well that's, I don't know if that's the right decision, you've got to be able to help those that are under you, to see yes, this is the way we're going, you know, let's walk this way together, where you're able to convince people, that what you're, how you're leading is the best way to lead, okay, influential, it means you're rubbing off on other people, Romans chapter 12 verse number 17, is that where we're going to turn? Romans 12 17, now it says, recompense to no man evil for evil, provide things honest in the sight of all men, then it says in verse number 18, if it be possible, as much as life in you, live peaceably with all men, what is that saying? God's saying look, do the best you can, to be at peace with everybody you come across, okay, now you might say well that doesn't sound right, because, you know, there are things that I believe in the word of God, hey even pastor Kevin, there are things that you preach, that I know that if people knew that you believe that, you're not going to have peace with people, yeah, you know what, we don't compromise God's word, we don't compromise, listen, you know, if I don't have to compromise God's word, you know what else I'm going to, what effort I'm going to be putting, to live peaceably with people, because you have to get along with people, you know, if you want to win somebody to the Lord, you've got to be at peace with that person, that person's got to go wow, this person's trying to help me, this person's trying to get me to heaven, you know, I'm at peace with this, but I'm not fighting it, and arguing with this person, sometimes people are full of knowledge, and they just think, man, I've just got to lay into people, you know, I've just got to bubble batch people, what's the point, if the person's not saved, all you should care about, is not how well they live in a Christian life, but all you should be caring about that person, is this person going to heaven, okay, so we have to be influential, we have to be able to motivate people, persuade people, that God's word is correct, and you know, when you're a leader, you have to learn how to persuade people, it can be irritating if you don't have this skill, because quite often as a leader, you'll find that, you know, so and so doesn't want to go the same direction, sometimes husbands, my wife doesn't want to go the same way I want to go, you've got to learn how to persuade, you've got to learn how to be influential, you know what, just loving your wife, can be the most influential way, to cause her to come your way, say well, my husband loves me, you know, even though I don't think this is the right decision, but I know he loves me, therefore, he must believe this is the best thing, for us as a couple, for us as a family, you know, so it's not just this is what we're doing, I'm the boss, we're going this way, whether you like it or not, hey, you're not going to influence people that way, you're going to have problems in the institution that you've been given, you're going to have problems, you're going to have people leaving your workplace, you're going to have employees dropping like flies, you know, from the job, you know, one thing I learnt this the hard way, because I once walked into a position, in a management position, where we had 40% turnover in our staff, now if you don't know what that means, think about it this way, you know, we had a, let's say we had 50 people, you know, in the department, okay, that means in a year, within 12 months, 40% of those people would quit, okay, so let's say it's 50, what's 40% of 50? Is it 20? Yeah, it is 20, so 20 people would quit a job in 12 months, meaning you'd have to recruit another 20 people, hire another 20 people, that's a high number, okay, and I was put into that position, and I thought, man, this is crazy, how much money, how much time, on these people leaving, and, you know, training new people, we don't even know if these new people that are coming in are going to be able to do the job, hey, these people that are leaving, they know the job, why aren't we keeping these people? And I had to learn how to be influential, you know, people would come, you know what, I'm thinking of quitting, because X, Y, and Z, the job's too hard, you know, the pay's too low, you know what I found out, how to be influential? Just to show that person that I cared for them, you know what, they were expecting me to say, you know what, just stay in the job. I was like, you know what, if you think it's the best decision to leave, I'm behind you. I said, but one thing you have to understand, if you leave, you have to find another job. Number two, you don't know if that job's going to be even harder. Number three, you don't know if you're going to fit in. You don't know if you're going to like it. Hey, why don't you stick around, let me see if I can help you, find out what it is that you're struggling with here, let me help, you know, get some other people around you that can guide you, and they were like, well, you know what, if I leave, I'm not going to be at odds with my manager. In fact, he's going to support me and give me a good reference if I've been a good worker, but at the same time, it seems like this person cares for me, so maybe it's better if I just stick around and just work harder, because who knows if I'm going to like the next guy I work under. And I found that I went from 40% turnover in one year to like 5% turnover. It's something crazy. Okay, and I just learned the lesson. Just tell people, show them that you care for them. You know, show them that you care for them. And that really is one great way to be influential. I'm going to read to you from, if you guys can turn to John chapter 1, please. John chapter 1, verse 14. John chapter 1, verse number 14. And some of these things I've touched with the men on Fridays, because, you know, we're covering how to preach and study the Bible, these kinds of things. And, you know, when I get behind the pulpit, I don't want to be hot air. I actually want to influence you. You know what I'm saying? Like, I want you to walk away, not just learn something in the Bible, but to go, you know what? Yeah, that makes sense. I need to do that. I need to change that. I need to add that to my life. I need to get that sin out of my life. Whatever it is, I want to influence you in a positive way, man. What's the point of me being here then if I'm not going to try to influence you? Yeah? But we see here in Jesus Christ, in John chapter 1, verse 14, it says, It says, Now, I love the next words. Full of grace and truth. Full of it. Hey, was Jesus Christ full of truth? In fact, he is truth. He is the truth. Okay? He was all about truth. Now, did Jesus go around just bagging everybody out with the truth? Was he just, you know, like I said, Bible bashing everybody, everywhere that he came across? You know? Because could he do that? He's the Lord God. He can pass judgment, but he was also full of grace. You know how he got so many people to follow him, where Christ literally had thousands of people trying to listen to what he had to say, not only because he was preaching the truth, that's one part of it, but also because he was full of grace. Okay, grace is undeserved merit. People knew, wow, this preacher, he loves me. He's trying to guide me in the right paths. You know what? And then he was able to influence the thousands. Okay? John the Baptist had thousands following after him. How did it happen? You know, he had love for the people. We know that he rebuked the false prophets. He rebuked the Pharisees in a very strong way. But at the same time, he was trying to lead people to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. He was trying to be a positive influence. People were like, wow, this man loves me. He's teaching me things that these religious leaders are not teaching me. He's showing me that salvation is through the Messiah. You know, I'm excited. Messiah's on his way apparently, according to John the Baptist. Then Christ comes on the scene, hey, he's full of grace as well. You know, to be a good leader, an influential leader, not only should you be a strong leader, guiding people, being decisive, but you need to be full of grace for those that you're leading. Okay? Show them that you care for them. Show them even when they make a mistake. Just have grace. Don't just shut them down immediately. You know, an employee makes a mistake. It's like, you know, look, don't cover up the mistake. Look, you made a mistake, okay? Hey, but we all make mistakes, okay? And we need to learn from our mistakes, okay? You made this mistake this time. Hey, what can we do next time to avoid you making that mistake again in the future? Instead of just shooting them down and yelling at them, making them feel horrible, no wonder you lose employees, okay? No wonder your children don't want to listen to you. No wonder your wife doesn't want to obey your guidance and direction because sometimes we miss out on the grace. We're just like, well, I'm the leader. Follow me. So have grace, okay? Not just truth, but grace as well. Jesus Christ had that perfect balance. 1 Corinthians 8, please. 1 Corinthians 8, verse number 1. 1 Corinthians 8 and verse number 1. 1 Corinthians 8. I better hurry up. Verse number 1, it says, now as touching things offered unto idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Look at this, knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifyeth. Is there anything wrong with knowledge? No. Knowledge is great. God wants us to have knowledge. But listen, if all you are is full of knowledge, then all you're doing is puffing yourself up, just lifting yourself up with pride. Look at me. Look how much I know. What's the point? Don't you want to influence others? Don't you want others to have the same knowledge that you have because you care for that person? Well, what do you need to have? The charity, the love, okay? It said there in... Oh, man, I've lost my spot. Oh, yeah, but charity edifyeth. So edify means to build up. You want to build up other people? You want people to say, hey, you know what? I've been built up because of this leader. I've been built up because, Dad, you taught me some good truths that he learnt as a child and that's helped me. You know, pastors built me up. You know, you've got to show love to people. You've got to show people that you care about them. You know, be sacrificial. Don't think that they are the ones that just have to be sacrificial towards you. You need to be sacrificial to other people. Charity, love, that edifies others. Then when you edify them, they're going to be able to absorb your knowledge. They're going to be understand... your guidance, your direction that you're heading. Be influential. This part's probably the hardest part of all of these, I think. Okay, be influential. Influential. The next one I have, if you can please turn to... go to 2 Corinthians, since you're in 1 Corinthians. Go to 2 Corinthians chapter 12, verse number 9. 2 Corinthians chapter 12 and verse number 9. The sixth point I have to be an effective leader is you've got to be positive. Positive. I'm not saying there's never a time to mourn and to weep. You know, there's a time for all of that, okay? But as a leader, you really need to be a force for positivity, okay? Now, you know, when I get behind the pulpit and I'm your pastor here, I try to be positive all the time. You know, I try to be an encouragement all the time. I don't always feel it, though. Like, right now, I'm feeling kind of tired, right? Because I flew down to the Sunshine Coast yesterday and flew up this morning. And even as I was preaching down the Sunshine Coast, I think I just lost the habit of flying every week. And I was just feeling dizzy. Like, there were a few times last night when I'm preaching and I held onto the pulpit because I felt like I was going to faint. You know, I was just tired, right? But listen, is that what they want? Do they really want our pastor to come and just be tired and, you know, not give his best? You know, when you're a leader, you're just going to have to, you know, even when things are challenging, right? Maybe not so much for your sake, but for those that are looking up to you, you've got to be positive, okay? Now, look at 2 Corinthians 12, 9, and Paul's the best example, I think, of positivity in the New Testament. 2 Corinthians chapter 12, verse number 9, he said, and he said unto me, this is what God said unto him, My grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Now, this is a great promise to have. Whenever you're weak, as I said, I was kind of feeling faintish last night. Even today, I still feel a bit dizzy. Now, I know in my weakness, that's where God's strength is going to be. So if I'm weak, then I'm going to depend more on God's strength, right? That's a positive thing. I'd rather be strong in the Lord because I know His might is much more than mine, definitely much more than mine. But I want you to notice how he keeps going there. He says, most gladly, hey, was Paul glad? Was he positive? Most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me. So when Paul got sick, and he's writing to the churches and he's visiting the churches, and he's not feeling well, is he like a force of negativity? It's like, oh, man, I'm just not feeling good today. You know, he's like, you know what, I'm going to glory. I'm sick. You know what? For the sake of others, I'm going to glory. And look at this, it keeps going there in verse number 10. Therefore, I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then am I strong. That's a good leader, yeah? Even when I have needs and I'm being persecuted and things are falling apart. You know what, I'm just going to glory in the Christ. I'm going to glory in Christ because the harder things get, the more that I have to depend on Christ, the more he's going to come through and help me. That's a leader, positive, positive-minded, right? And, you know, husbands and fathers, you need to be positive-minded for your wife and children. You know, you need to show them that, hey, you know what, because don't you want to have a happy life? I want to have a happy life. I want you to have a happy life. Well, it comes down to the leaders, really. You know what, if the leader's moping and whining and complaining, you know, he's going to just have a negative effect on those that are under him, you know? But a positive-minded leader have those that follow under him. When they see the positivity, you know, it comes on the others as well. I know when I had a positive leader, a positive manager, I wanted to work harder on the job. When someone was encouraging, and I know that manager actually cares for me, he wants me to succeed, I'm more likely to work hard because that positivity has rubbed off on me. All right, let me keep going. Please go to Colossians chapter 4, please. Go to Colossians chapter 4. We're up to the seventh point now, the seventh and final point. Colossians chapter 4 and verse number 6. Colossians chapter number 4 and verse number 6. And this is another one that I personally had to work on a lot because if you ask my mum and you ask her what was I like as a teenager, she'll say to you that I barely spoke, right? Like I had my, you know, just my teenage, you know, dramas and stuff. And, you know, some teenagers, they feel they can just open about things. I was a very closed book. In fact, I'm still a very closed book. For me to talk, it requires a lot of effort. I've actually got to put the effort in to talk, okay? But point number 7 is to be an effective leader, you have to be a communicator. You have to open your mouth and communicate, okay? Colossians chapter 4 and verse number 6 says, Let your speech be all way with grace. Hey, there's the grace, that influential part, right? Seasoned with salt that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man. Boy, does God want us to open our mouths? Absolutely. A good leader will be a good communicator. It's so important that you communicate the message. You know, you might be a leader that is decisive. You might be a leader that is influential. But if you're not communicating the vision, you're not communicating the goals, people are still going to be left blind. Like you're leading, you're pushing forward, but I just don't know where I'm going. Where are we going? Because we need to learn how to communicate. We need to learn how to pass on information, okay? That's why the pastor has to be apt to teach. He has to have the aptitude to teach so people can walk away, go, I learned something today at church, right? Sort of like, what did you learn at church today? Nothing. What was it about? I have no idea, okay? No, a leader needs to be able to teach, communicate what God has in his word. But you know what? We need to be able to learn how to communicate, and this happens with husbands and wives because we get used to each other, we live with each other so long, eventually husbands aren't talking so much to their wives. That happens a lot. I know a lot of marriages are like that, right? And before you know it, you don't even know your wife. The wife doesn't know her husband. They've lost the communication. They just thought it's a given. No. You know what? The one that needs to drive the communication needs to be the leader, okay? You need to pass on, hey, this is what we're doing. And I remember, you know, to be effective in the workplace, we needed sometimes to just stop and have a meeting, you know? Things aren't working quite well. People are struggling for whatever reason. People are quitting their job, and we're not reaching our targets. You know, it's stupid to just continue doing the same thing that you were doing before if it's not working. So sometimes you need to stop and have a meeting and talk and communicate. Hey, this is falling apart. We're not reaching our targets. We're not doing what we need to do. Why is it? Does anyone have any suggestions? What's the issue? Okay, these are the issues, all right. Now let's address the issues, okay? That's what a leader does. Let's address it so we can be back on target. We can continue on our vision. We must learn how to be communicators. But the worst thing about the job sometimes, you know, is that you don't want to be hot air, you know? When you communicate, you want to be straight to the point. I don't know about you, but if I ask you a question, I just want you to go straight to the point. Just answer the question. I don't like dilly-dally, you know? I don't like just the people, you know, beating around the bush. It's like, yeah, okay, you're talking about this, this, this, this. But I was asking about this, you know? Can you answer that question? Because that's going to help me know the next step or whatever it is, right? And sometimes you would have these meetings in the workplace. There's a lot of talking. A lot of talking. It's like, but then you leave after an hour or two hours. Like, what was that about? I still don't know. What did we achieve? There's a lot of talking, a lot of whining, a lot of complaining. But what did we achieve? You know, I remember, you know, I took on a position. It was quite a high position in the business. And I was with these other people, these other managers. And, you know, I was advised. Someone told me, you know, Kevin, this is your first meeting. Just don't say anything. Just listen, observe, you know, find your feet, you know? Because if you step out of line, you say something, they're going to tear you apart. I was like, all right, okay. I was quiet for the first meeting. Second meeting, talking, complaining, whining, you know, this, this, this, this, this. And then it was my turn to talk. And I was like, you know what, guys? I don't know why we're having a meeting. You know, I could have spent this last hour doing more effective, more productive things in my time. And now I've just lost an hour and all we've been doing is complaining and whining. Okay? Now, they didn't like me after that. But after about six months, they liked me. You know, it just took time for them to adjust to the kind of person that I was. Because I don't like, I don't like just talking for no reason. You know, I want to be able to communicate and, okay, now we get well, okay, yeah, good. What's the next step? Right? Oh, brother, you know, let's talk. What do you think? Okay, I'll be praying for you, brother. That's the situation. I'll be praying about that. You know, I want to make sure that communication, you know, is effective. It's productive. That's what a leader needs to be. Not just talk because a lot of people can talk. Oh, man, a lot of people can talk. A lot of pastors can get behind the pulpit and, boy, they can talk. Okay? A lot of hard air. Again, you walk away. Who knows what he preached? I have no idea. I hope by the end of today, you're like, what did Pastor Kevin preach about? At least leadership. At least he can walk away with that. He wants us to be effective leaders, right? Maybe he didn't listen to anything else I said, but if you walk away, he preached about effective leadership, hey, I've done a better job than many pastors behind the pulpit. Because many times you walk away, you have no idea what that was even about. Okay? Communication. That is so, so important. And the other reason why communication is important is because the leader needs to be transparent. Now, again, this is why I'm usually a closed book in my normal, like, my personal self. Because I don't really like people knowing my private life and this and that, but I realize that when you become a leader, you have no choice. You have to open up. Like, people need to understand what you're doing, how you're leading, and you've got to just be open. Okay? You know, it's not hiding because I'm... It's just sometimes you just want to keep it to yourself for whatever reason, but really the leader has to be transparent. Okay? And I'll just read to you. You don't need to turn there. I'll just read a few passages here. Ephesians 4. 25. It says, Wherefore, putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor. Then it says this, for we are members one of another. Okay? You know what? For our church, we're one body. We're members one of another. Okay? And in order for us to be an effective body for Jesus Christ, we need to put away the lying. We need to speak in truth. What that means is we need to be honest and transparent about what the situation might be, whether that's a personal thing, whether that's a church thing. You know what? For you to have your prayers answered, sometimes you just have to open up. It might be a little bit embarrassing and say, look, brethren, I'm struggling in this area of my life. Can you please pray for me? Okay? That's awesome, right? The pastor's got to be transparent. When it comes to the finances, okay, that has to be communicated. The reporting of the finances, this is how much money came in, this is how much money went out, and it went out for these different reasons. Those things have to be transparent to be an effective leader, for people to trust that leader, especially when it comes to finances, especially finances in a church. Boy, I've seen churches break down because of finances. That seems to be the number one reason, you know, money problems that causes churches to fall apart. And so, brethren, I won't read the other passage I've got there. I'll wrap it up there, but, you know, point number seven was if you want to be an effective leader, you must be a strong communicator, okay? So let me go through those seven points once again. Number one, you have to be a visionary, okay? You're a leader. Where are we going, leader? Okay, what's the vision? Number two, we have to be accountable. Christian, Christian, stop. Number three, we have to be decisive. Number four, we have to be confident. Number five, we have to be influential. Number six, we have to be positive. And number seven, we need to be a communicator, okay? Let's pray. Heavenly Father, Lord, I want to thank you for your word.