Hero Maker
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• Hero makers know that if we focus only on addition, we never get to multiplication. @daveferguson & @warrenbird in #heromaker
• I asked the wrong questions, not hero-making questions but rather questions about how I could be the hero. @daveferguson #heromaker
• Ask this one question every day: Am I trying to be the hero, or am I trying to make heroes out of others? @daveferguson says #heromaker
• Hero makers understand that if we focus on multiplication, we can see God-size results. @daveferguson & @warrenbird in #heromaker
• Hero makers shift from being the hero to making others the hero in God’s unfolding story. @daveferguson & @warrenbird in #heromaker
• Jesus was explicit about his desire to equip his followers to do the heroic. #heromaker
• Jesus was a hero maker. @daveferguson @warrenbird in #heromaker
• Jesus’ ministry emphasis, in terms of where he put the biggest amount of time, was with his twelve leadership residents! @daveferguson in #heromaker
• Too often even our best difference-making efforts are oriented around positioning ourselves as the hero. @daveferguson in #heromaker
• Hero making is something anyone can do, and when accompanied by a leadership gift, it becomes explosive. @daveferguson in #heromaker
• Hero makers create a platform and then invite other people to stand on it. @daveferguson & @warrenbird in #heromaker
• Multiplication thinking requires that we dream big and use simple tools. @daveferguson & @warrenbird in #heromaker
• Heroes are made and not born. For every hero, there is a hero maker. @daveferguson & @warrenbird in #heromaker
• Multiplication thinking is most often catalyzed by the vision of a greater cause, a more important battle, or a bigger dream. #heromaker
• Even more than we need heroes, we need hero MAKERS who think big! @daveferguson & @warrenbird in #heromaker
• There is far more that God wants me to do than I can do all by myself. @daveferguson & @warrenbird in #heromaker
• Beware of doing a little ministry and forgetting about the bigness of God. @daveferguson & @warrenbird in #heromaker
• God can use anyone who is surrendered to make a hero of others. @daveferguson & @warrenbird in #heromaker
• I knew that to do what God said, we had to multiply churches. I needed to become a hero maker. @rmhawaii quoted in #heromaker
• The practice of permission giving is a shift from what God can do thru my leadership to what God can do through other leaders. #heromaker
• Leaders look into the soul of a person and say, “I see what you could be; my role is to bring that out of you.” @DerwinLGray in #heromaker
• Jesus says to his apprentices, “I’ve got all the authority. I’m giving you access to it. Go spread the good news everywhere!” #heromaker
• If you are going to be a permission giver, you need to develop a yes reflex. @daveferguson & @warrenbird in #heromaker
• The reflex of a hero maker is to be a permission giver and say yes. @daveferguson & @warrenbird in #heromaker
• @daveferguson says, We call I C N U the four most important letters of the alphabet. #heromaker
• Disciple multiplying requires we do life with other leaders with the goal of 4 generations of multiplication. @daveferguson #heromaker
• One test of whether we’re a #heromaker is whether we’re reproducing and multiplying other Christ followers, who in turn do likewise.
• Whatever ministry you lead, to become a hero maker, you need to first be a disciple multiplier. @daveferguson & @warrenbird in #heromaker
• Even the Son of God, God in the flesh, didn’t try to change the world on his own. @daveferguson & @warrenbird in #heromaker
• Jesus was a hero maker to the few and in so doing changed the world. @daveferguson & @warrenbird in #heromaker
• When you’re committed to being a disciple multiplier, the impact reaches beyond your church and your city. @daveferguson in #heromaker
• 2 Timothy 2:2 calls us to mentor disciple multipliers to the fourth generation. @daveferguson & @warrenbird in #heromaker
• Apprenticeship is the core competency of any movement of God. @daveferguson & @warrenbird in #heromaker
• Gift activating requires that we not fill slots but instead develop people’s gifts. @daveferguson & @warrenbird in #heromaker
• Assessments are good and helpful, but they are not how spiritual gifts are activated. @daveferguson & @warrenbird in #heromaker
• Once a year, we have a day on which we anoint and pray for everyone who wants to be commissioned for the Jesus mission. @daveferguson
• Kingdom building requires that we reject old ways of measuring success. @daveferguson & @warrenbird in #heromaker
• To God, winning is faithfulness. You don’t have to be successful, only faithful. @daveferguson & @warrenbird in #heromaker
• Jesus could never be accused of counting only crowd size and cash on hand. @daveferguson & @warrenbird in #heromaker
• It is entirely possible for a church’s attendance to be growing, while the kingdom of God is shrinking. @daveferguson in #heromaker
• In all our counting, I believe we have missed what matters most: Is the kingdom of God advancing? @daveferguson & @warrenbird in #heromaker
• If you can’t answer the question, “What is a disciple of Jesus?” you’ll never know if your church is winning. @daveferguson in #heromaker
• “My fruit grows on other people’s trees,” says Bob Buford, quoted by @daveferguson & @warrenbird in #heromaker
• Hero makers have the opportunity to be used by God to move the needle on the church multiplication gauge from 4% to 10%. @daveferguson
• Only about 4% of all churches in the United States have ever reproduced a new site or church. @daveferguson & @warrenbird in #heromaker
• There is a growing critical mass of church leaders who are committed to becoming hero makers! @daveferguson & @warrenbird in #heromaker
• I’m strongly suggesting we are looking at what could be an inflection point in the mission of Jesus Christ in the U.S. @daveferguson
• I believe the church is reaching a tipping point for reaching millions of lost & hurting people in the U.S. @daveferguson #heromaker
• Hero makers must strive to have the same motives as Jesus. @daveferguson & @warrenbird in #heromaker
• A hero maker’s methodology is not about creating a crowd but about multiplying a movement. @daveferguson & @warrenbird in #heromaker
• If Jesus’ measure of success was to create a loyal crowd, he failed miserably. @daveferguson & @warrenbird in #heromaker
• I’d rather see one small church starting ten churches than a church of one thousand that is not starting any churches. @daveferguson
• Are we growing to increase our SEATING capacity, or are we growing to increase our SENDING capacity? @daveferguson in #heromaker
• If you really trust God, tithing to plant new churches is not an issue. @daveferguson & @warrenbird in #heromaker
• We will never be able to build buildings big enough or fast enough to keep up with what God wants to do. @daveferguson in #heromaker
• Hero makers strive to create hero-making cultures so that the practices of hero making continue without them and after them. @daveferguson
• Culture is spontaneous repeated patterns of behavior. @erwinmcmanus quoted in #heromaker by @daveferguson & @warrenbird
• You will reproduce what you do—not what you teach, but what you do. @daveferguson & @warrenbird in #heromaker
• What gets rewarded gets repeated. @daveferguson & @warrenbird in #heromaker
• If I had to pick only one way to institutionalize hero making, it would be through leadership residency. @daveferguson #heromaker
• Some of your church’s hero makers might become church staff, but the majority will make heroes of others as volunteer leaders. #heromaker
&
nbsp; • Values are both the convictions of your mind and the passions of your heart. @daveferguson & @warrenbird in #heromaker
• Telling stories in small circles or from the platform is part of bringing values to life in a hero-making culture. @daveferguson
• Leader, you will get the culture you deserve. You reproduce who you are. @daveferguson & @warrenbird in #heromaker
• We know by Jesus’ example and instructions in God’s Word that hero making is the model for leading in a kingdom movement. @daveferguson
• Hero Maker’s Daily Question: Am I trying to be the hero, or am I trying to make heroes of others? @daveferguson & @warrenbird #heromaker
Here are various sayings by contemporary Christian leaders, all of which communicate the idea of what a hero maker is and does.
• “My fruit grows on other people’s trees” (Bob Buford).
• “I want to be a cheerleader who gives permission, encouragement, and accountability to release the potential in others” (Bob Buford).
• “Push others into the spotlight” (Carey Nieuwhof).
• “The greatest contribution you make to the kingdom might not be something you do but someone you raise” (Andy Stanley).
• “I’m the bow and others are the arrow; my job is to help send the arrows” (unknown).
• “The hero maker plays the role of the wind beneath someone’s wings” (Larry Osborne).
• “Multiplication lives and dies on leaders who are willing to pass the baton and empower others to lead” (Ralph Moore).
• “If you delegate tasks, you create followers; if you delegate authority, you create leaders” (Craig Groeschel).
• “Most leaders focus on finding the right strategy; the best leaders focus on empowering the right people” (Craig Groeschel).
• “Mature leaders know they are worth more to the team when they know they don’t have to be the star of the team” (Christine Caine).
• “Our best leaders, regardless of position, must assume the role of mentor and guide, rather than seek the hero’s spotlight” (Chris Fussell).
• “The measure of a leader is not what you do but what people do because of you” (Howard Hendricks).
• “The church is not an audience gathered around one anointed leader. It’s a leadership factory” (J. D. Greear).
APPENDIX 3
Multiplication Resources
But wait, there’s more! Don’t miss the many excellent resources described below.
1. Official Book Website
See HeroMakerBook.com for a free discussion guide and other resources to help you maximize what you gain from this book.
2. Resources from NewThing
• Exponential: How You and Your Friends Can Start a Missional Church Movement. I cowrote this with my brother Jon, who is cofounder of Community Christian Church. It lays out the idea of a multiplication strategy, giving practical how-to’s for reproducing Christ followers, leaders, artists, groups, teams, venues, sites, churches, and networks of churches. We illustrate it with the story of God’s amazing work through Community Christian Church. Exponential is the anchor book in the Exponential Series. Available from any bookseller.
• On the Verge: A Journey into the Apostolic Future of the Church. I coauthored this with my friend and missiologist Alan Hirsch. This book blends both the theological and the practical with great urgency to explain how a church can make a shift to be more missional in its approach. It offers a simple change management approach that will empower Christ followers to influence their friends and neighbors and the church to impact their neighborhood and city. On the Verge is a part of the Exponential Series and is available from any bookseller.
• The Big Idea: Aligning the Ministries of Your Church through Creative Collaboration. When our church embraced what we call the big idea, it changed everything. Three of us—me, my brother Jon, and Creative Arts Director Eric Bramlett—wrote this very practical tool for the Leadership Network Innovation series to show how to creatively present one laser-focused theme each week to be discussed in families and small groups. The Big Idea shows how to engage in a process of creative collaboration that brings people together and maximizes missional impact.
• Developing an Apprentice Field Guide. Within these pages are some of the most practical and insightful ideas you’ll find to guide you on this journey of not only leading but leading others to lead to change the world. This guide is used by all areas of ministry at Community Christian Church to develop leaders and further the Jesus mission of helping people find their way back to God. (Also available in Spanish.) See www.newthing.org/store/.
• Mentoring a Leadership Resident. This guide is for pastors, mentors, and coaches who want to see a reproducing church movement in our lifetime. In seventy-six pages, you will get a step-by-step plan for identifying, recruiting, and developing what we call leadership residents (apprentice church planters), who will eventually be sent out to plant a new church. In six chapters, this guide will answer the most common questions on how to do this effectively.
• Coaching Guide Book. Coaches play a valuable role in equipping leaders for the movement of God in our churches and cities. Leaders flourish and thrive under the practical care that a coach can provide. If you want to see the leaders in your ministry (including small group leaders) grow stronger, more resilient, and better able to develop others, then you will need coaches who know the game plan! This guide will give you tips and tools to help you be an effective coach to the leaders in your care.
• LARN. This stands for Leading a Reproducing Network, NewThing’s one-year coaching opportunity for leaders of influence interested in starting and leading a reproducing network of churches. The goal of the training is to help leaders start new, reproducing networks of churches. To do this, we want to help you grow in your understanding of movements while providing you with practical insights on how to lead one. NewThing provides content while working alongside each church to create a specific action plan for its context. For more information, see www.newthing.org/leading-a-reproducing-network/.
• The Catalyst Community consists of three separate, facilitated sessions conducted over the period of one year. During these sessions, networks will establish a process that enables church teams to work together to build vision, identify and remove barriers, and create collaborative opportunities to accelerate and sustain the growth of the network. Each community includes catalyst facilitator training for selected individuals, to allow for multiplication of the network using this approach.
3. Resources from Exponential
A. EBOOKS
There are more than ten free ebooks in our multiplication library. Authors include Jeff Christopherson, Ralph Moore, Larry Walkemeyer, Bobby Harrington, Tim Hawks, Greg Wiens, Will Mancini, Todd Wilson, and many more. These leaders of multiplying churches share their journey of creating a sending culture of multiplication.
These ebooks are in addition to the more than eighty existing free ebooks in Exponential’s resource library. Check out www.exponential.org/ebooks to download these books.
B. PODCASTS AND VIDEOS
More than one thousand hours of audio and video training from national and international leaders are available on our website, including entire workshops from Exponential conferences (see www.exponential.org).
C. EXPONENTIAL CONFERENCES
Don’t miss the opportunity to gather with like-minded church multiplication leaders at Exponential’s many annual events.
Our national event convenes thousands of church multiplication leaders and features 150+ speakers, 150+ workshops, and 10+ focused workshop tracks.
Our regional events bring the full punch of the national event theme in a more intimate gathering that helps leaders save travel expenses. Regionals take place across the continent.
For a complete schedule of upcoming conferences and locations, see www.exponential.org/events.
D. FREE ONLINE ASSESSMENT TOOLS
Discover yo
ur church’s level and pattern of multiplication by using our free online tool at www.becomingfive.org/heromaker.
Discover your profile and pattern of disciple making by using our additional free online tool at www.becomingfive.org.
E. FREE ONLINE MULTIPLICATION COURSES
The Becoming Five Course is designed to delve deeper into the practical elements of church multiplication. Leaders wanting to multiply their church will find valuable, work-at-your-own-pace training in the form of audio, video, and written content supplied by dozens of multiplying practitioners. Visit www.exponential.org/school to register.
The Dream Big Course is designed to help you and your church identify, select, and move forward on your pathway toward multiplication. You will be able to diagnose where you are, discern where you believe God wants you to be in the future, and determine the necessary practical steps to move into multiplication. Visit www.exponential.org/school to register.
F. DIGITAL ACCESS PASSES (TRAINING VIDEOS)
Exponential offers downloadable content from all main sessions via our Digital Access Pass (a separate pass for each conference theme) at www.exponential.org/dap/.
2015: “Spark: Igniting a Culture of Multiplication”
2016: “Becoming Five”
2017: “Dream Big: Discover Your Pathway to Level 5 Multiplication”
2018: “Hero Maker”
APPENDIX 4
Paying Interns and Residents: Legal Requirements
By David O. Middlebrook, The Church Law Group
Many churches offer an unpaid internship or residency program which provides ministry-related skills and experience as well as suitable skills for a secular workforce. Sometimes these are a requirement for a student’s degree program; at other times, it is just a matter of someone desiring to gain practical ministry experience prior to entering full-time ministry.
What do employment law experts say about whether unpaid internship programs (whatever you call them, such as residency) violate state and/or federal wage and hour laws? Some states have increased their investigation of this issue, and other states may follow, given the prevalence of such programs. It is therefore imperative that your church or ministry understand the legal requirements and implications for unpaid internship programs so they may be structured appropriately.