Resources
for Christian leaders Definition:
A Christian leader is
someone who uses his / her influence to bring good into the lives of
others. Christians lead in family, education, business, government,
ministry, media and the arts.
What would you do if you knew you could not fail?
12 week curriculum for your church or small group
Energize your church
Deep inside each person are God-given dreams, sometimes burning
brightly, sometimes dimmed by doubt and discouragement. Tap into those
dreams and you tap into the core motivation for each person. Release
those dreams, and you release life into that person and everyone around
him or her.
Unleash the potential of
your church
Beneath the surface of every congregation is a vast untapped gold mine
of God-given dreams. The true potential of your church is not measured
by how good the preacher is on Sunday, or how talented the musicians
are, or how large the offering is. The true potential of your church is
measured in the faith you have to allow God to work through His people
24/7 in the most unlikely places.
Affirm the work of God
God is at work inside each of us, implanting dreams, desires,
connections, opportunities, gifts, experiences, and expertise. Each
person has a role that no one else can fulfill. Each person has a place
on the front line. To enter this conversation is to affirm what God is
doing and longs to do in His people. → [more]
Change your community;
change your world
What's the key to transforming communities? Simple. Affirming and
releasing the multi-dimensional work of God in mothers, mail carriers,
students, artists, retirees, police officers, entrepreneurs, janitors,
small group leaders ... in everyone. Each person has leverage for the
Kingdom that no one else can match. This isn't about motivating
everyone to knock on doors or pass out tracts. This is going beyond
“discovering our spiritual gifts.” This is
unfolding our unique God-given role in our many circles of influence.
For individuals
Discover your amazing
power to make a difference
Locked inside you is an amazing combination of dreams, desires,
relationships, opportunities, gifts and experiences – all
placed there by God, poised to change your world. This 12-week
discussion explores this simple truth: You really do have what it
takes!
Connect with people who
will help you achieve your God-given dreams
All around you are people who can fill in the missing pieces of the
puzzle for you. And you will be the missing piece for them. This course
is focused on helping you make those connections so that obstacles can
be toppled, and God's good plan can move forward.
Learn how to extend your
influence to accomplish good
Week after week we will explore ways to make you more effective in
every good thing you set out to do. We'll explore relationship,
communication, leadership, marketing and planning dynamics that enable
you to accomplish more with less whether you're a mom or a business CEO.
Make a difference
This is about discovering not only what God has planted inside us, but
how it can be deployed to change our world. This is about building a
foundation for unleashing our God-given dreams. Every week you will
have an opportunity to bring good, eternal good into someone else's
life. You will leave this course a changed person.
In 12 weeks we will work together to move the plan of God forward in
your life. Specifically, we want to empower you to
Make a difference right now, right where you are.
Assess where you are in the dream building process.
Identify and take the next step in unfolding your dream.
Connect with people and resources to help you move forward.
Develop online resources to help you move forward.
Form a core team to help you move forward.
Week One: Your power to
make a difference
We'll discuss our reasons for being here, examine our circles of
influence, look at the current state of our dreams, and look at ways we
can make a difference right here, right now.
Week Two: Building on
the right foundation
We'll look at our own spiritual journey, discuss how to experience the
love of God, take a look at our understanding of the Bible.
Week Three: A Christian
worldview
Here we'll discuss what a Christian worldview entails, how we as a
culture got away from it, and what we can do individually to get back.
Week Four: Personal
transformation
Here we'll discuss personal wholeness including how we as human beings
sustain damage as a result of the fall and what we can do about it.
Week Five: Forgiveness,
connection and integrity
Here we'll focus on the little-understood dynamic of forgiving others,
and examine our own connection to the community of faith.
Week Six: Direction:
Whom do you love?
Here we'll focus the direction of our dreams by taking a look at who we
love and what God's desires are for those that we love.
Week Seven: Reviewing
God's work in you
Here we take a look at what God has placed inside you including your
passions, gifts, accomplishments – and even how your setbacks
have prepared you for God's purposes in your life.
Week Eight: Faith
Here we take on the continuum of faith as it relates to unfolding a
dream – starting with “I can't” and
ending with “I am.” We'll also discuss prayer and
its importance in the dream incubation process.
Week Nine: Relationship,
Ministry and Leadership Skills
This week will focus on relationship, ministry and leadership skills as
they relate to our dreams.
Week Ten: Planning, Time
& Money Management, Peak Performance
This week we'll focus on planning skills and getting a perspective on
time, money and peak performance.
Week Eleven: Teamwork
We'll look for ways to connect each other to the people and resources
that we need to move forward.
Week Twelve:
Multiplication
Here we'll examine mentoring and collaborative relationships
– and also look at how we can carry forward what we've done
throughout these 12 weeks.
How this got started
For a long time I have believed that the church is a sleeping giant,
that 98% of the potential of the church lies dormant, untapped,
unrecognized. I believe that deep inside all of us is a God-given cry,
a profound desire to make a difference in the lives of people God loves
and we grow to love. It gets stuffed down by life and by our culture.
The flame is dimmed, but I hope and pray not extinguished altogether.
It is the awesome privilege of the church to find that cry, to fan it
into flame, to release and unleash the love of God expressed through
His people.
What form will this unleashing take? I'm not sure that this can be
reduced to just another church program. But it's clear to me that these
elements need to be present:
1. Listening. This is foundational. Listening to God. Listening to
ourselves. Listening to each other to draw out what is inside.
2. Validating. Recognizing what is from God. Finding the sacred in
unexpected places. Putting value on those first wobbly steps.
3. Mentoring. Networking. Encouraging. Praying. Providing
accountability and a path to success. Failure recovery. Coaching.
4. 24/7. The real potential of the church is Monday morning, rather
than Sunday morning. Then Sunday morning gives us a chance to celebrate
what God is doing in the other 167 hours of the week.
One day I was having lunch with Pastor Shane Holden as he was thinking
about launching a new church. I said to him, “You know, I'm
not a pastor and I probably never will be. But if I were, here's how
I'd do it. I would sit down with each person in the church and I'd ask
some simple questions. Like, 'Who do you love?' 'What do you want to
do?' 'What's in your heart?' 'How do you want to make your world a
better place?' 'What are your dreams?' And then I'd ask, 'What can we
do to help you get there?'”
Shane looked at me and said, “I've never heard anybody
express it that way before, but that's exactly my vision for the
church. My vision is simple. The people are the vision.” From
that moment, I was hooked. I was on board. If we can really create a
place like that, I want to be part of it.
What does that mean? It means this. Rather than twist you until you fit
the “program” of the church, we believe that God
can do something far more creative. We believe that God can get inside
your dreams and your desires, and use you to shake the earth. We
believe that God has designed you to bring eternal good into the lives
of other people, and we're just looking for ways to set that in motion.
So I ask you, “Who do you love?” “Who are
you naturally attracted to?” “Whose life do you
want to make better?” And ... “How are you going to
do that?”
The Empower Good group is an invitation to start that conversation. For
about 90 minutes each week, we focus on bringing God's plan for you
into laser sharp focus, connecting you with people who can help you
achieve your dreams, finding resources and opportunities that will
extend your influence and your power to bring about good.
This will be a nonthreatening conversation for adults and teens who
want to make a difference. This is a group for mentors and people who
want to be mentored. Together, we'll focus on building a strong
foundation that will empower you to change your world. We'll seek God
to change your dreams into workable plans, your plans into reality.
Along the way, we'll discuss ways to make everything you do more
effective.
This is a collaboration,
not simply a curriculum.
If this were merely a curriculum, I would impart my experience to you;
you would soak up what you can and move on. That's not what this is
about. This is a collaboration. In a collaboration, we each keep
returning to the table bringing new discoveries to share with a growing
community.
I'm starting a conversation with you. But it's not my aim to have the
final word. I hope you can learn from me, and I look forward to
learning from you. Throughout this Guide, I will offer you
opportunities to enrich our collaboration with your participation. Part
of our goal with Empower Good is to create a worldwide community of
people helping each other unfold our God-given dreams. I'd like to
invite you to be part of the process of creating that community, if
you're interested. There will be plenty of opportunity for your input
in that as the weeks unfold.
Many blessings. Engage and enjoy!
Dwight Clough
Terms of use
The 12-week EmpowerGood.com curriculum may be freely downloaded and
shared. Our object is to get it into the hands of as many people as
possible.
If you are using the 12 week curriculum in your church or small group,
please contact Dwight
and let him know. Here's why: Your feedback
allows us to make constant improvements in the curriculum.
You
may not sell the digital file, nor may you sell printed copies.
If you wish to order printed copies (black and white) of the
curriculum, copies are available for $25 each. Contact Dwight
to order.
Copies will be coil bound or in a binder.
The beta version of the EmpowerGood.com curriculum is available as of
9/1/09. Check this page frequently to obtain the most recent
version.
Supplemental resources
for the Empower Good 12-week curriculum
Managing complex change - If you
want to make changes, you need to be sure that all the essential
ingredients are present, or you will get stalled or derailed. Here's a
quick reference. (pdf) Courtesy of Joseph Steinke
The 6S principle - a visual
representation of the six stages any organization goes through (pdf) Courtesy
of Joseph Steinke
Organizing for change - How do you
take a set of results that you want and turn it into a set of
activities that will produce those results. Here's a central organizing
chart. (pdf) Courtesy of Joseph Steinke
Delegating authority by Stephen Fry
- How do you get the delegation process to work smoothly? Although
written from a church ministry perspective, these principles will apply
to many other organizations. (pdf) Courtesy of Stephen Fry
