John C. Maxwell Quotes

Vision is something pastors and churches cannot afford to live without.

Without a vision our community will perish without Christ, but without a vision the church will perish as well.

The local church is the hope of the world, and its future rests primarily in the hands of its leaders.

It's just stunning to watch churches struggle to get mission statements when there it is, the Great Commission, and they should simply do what it says.

In my leadership conferences, pastors ask, "Do you have a vision for my church?" Many times they want me to give them a picture of where they should go and what their church should look like. When these pastors do this, I always feel bad.

Churches need to figure out how they will address the spiritual lives of their staffs and leadership teams.

Good plans shape good decisions. That's why good planning helps to make elusive dreams come true.

As a mayor, my instinct is to really think about how to get something done and not to make the promise unless you have some view of the pathway. You don't have to have it all figured out, but you have to have a pathway there.

We all need lots of powerful long range goals to help us past the short-term obstacles

If churches would take ownership of a vision, the next pastor who is thinking about coming to that church can see what their vision is and then determine if their vision fits with his or her ministry. If it doesn't, then it would be wrong for that pastor to come to that church.

It's not our church; it's God's - it's not our responsibility to run it!

I have a vision of the whole Church getting nearer to God by abiding by the precepts of the Book of Mormon.

As a leader it is your job to protect the missional integrity of the Jesus gathering to which you have been called. It is your responsibility to see to it that the church under your care continues as a gathering of people in process; a place where the curious, the unconvinced, the skeptical, the used-to-believe and the broken, as well as the committed, informed and sold-out come together around Peter's declaration that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God.

The next time you're looking at a charity, don't ask about the rate of their overhead; ask about the scale of their dreams - their Apple-, Google-, Amazon-scale dreams - how they measure their progress toward those dreams, and what resources they need to make them come true, regardless of what the overhead is.

The Bible says, 'Where there is no vision, the people perish.' Have you a vision? And are you undeviatingly pressing and pushing toward its accomplishment? Dreaming alone will not get you there. Mix your dreams with determination and action.

Many times when people have a vision, they think in terms of a big vision - I want to take my city for Christ. But the problem with many pastors and this type of vision is this: they haven't developed the strategy to fulfill that vision. A pastor preaches a dream or vision to his/her people, they get excited for a week, a month, or a couple of months, but there is no strategy, planning, or process to fulfill that vision.

By the time I went to the pulpit, the vision was never on the same level as when God first gave it to me; it was clearer and bigger. It was better because the body of Christ complemented what God had given me. So when I gave the vision to the congregation, the influencers already bought it. Then after the people have heard my message, and migrate to the influencers, these influencers are already my allies and help me communicate the vision to the congregation.

The opportunities for using our financial resources to spread the gospel and strengthen the church all over the world are greater than they've ever been. As God raised up Esther for just such a time as hers, I'm convinced he's raise us up, with all our wealth, to help fulfill the great commission. The question is, what are we doing with that money? Our job is to make sure it gets to his intended recipients.

The goal of a church is not to have a bigger building or budget but to see the word of God increase and disciples multiply

This is the Church of Jesus Christ, and He leads it. No assignment in it need ever overwhelm you if you know that and listen for the Master's voice.

Let us never forget that it is the Lord who guides the Church. He is the one who makes our apostolates fruitful.

God wants us to make Jesus Christ the central figure in our church--not just say that we do, but actually do it.

A team aligned behind a vision will move mountains. Sell them on your roadmap and don't compromise - care about the details, the fit and finish.

No business can do everything. Even if it has the money, it will never have enough good people. It has to set priorities. The worst thing to do is a little bit of everything. This makes sure that nothing is being accomplished. It is better to pick the wrong priority than none at all.

Work mixed with management becomes not only easier but more profitable. The time is past when anyone can boast about 'hard work' without having a corresponding result to show for it.