Slow Down by Pastor Dave Simiele

One Piece of Advice | Slow Down

Pastor Dave Simiele, Campus Pastor at Christ Fellowship Church in West Palm Beach, FL, shares his advice to stop and take time to focus on spending time alone with Jesus. Slow down. Go to a deserted place to pray, as Jesus did in Mark 1:35. “It’s not about what I’m doing; it’s about who I’m becoming.”

“The Son of God had to stop and get away and be with His Father.” -Dave Simiele

“If we don’t pause in our life and commune with God and stop, then we are not going to hear the direction that He has for us.” Dave Simiele

“You can’t live a hurried life without warping your soul.” -Lance Witt

‘Reject the lies about production and producing and that busyness equals effectiveness because we know that is not true.” -Dave Simiele

Enjoy Jesus by Pastor Josiah Graves

One Piece of Advice | Enjoy Jesus

Pastor Josiah Graves, The Exchange Church in Deerfield Beach, FL shares his one piece of advice to enjoy Jesus. What gets in the way of our pursuing this? It’s the enemy of comparison, fed by today’s social media. This is a great reminder of the one thing that is essential—knowing Jesus.

“I want to get back to the place where I can just enjoy Jesus. There’s always going to be a task list, there’s always going to be things to do.” -Josiah Graves

“Find your vision in Jesus. Find your contentment in Jesus.” -Josiah Graves

“Comparison steals joy. Turn off your phone. Stop looking at others and what they’re doing.” -Josiah Graves

Focus on Healthy Impact by Pastor Will Torres

One Piece of Advice | Focus on Healthy Impact

Will Torres, Proclaim Church, Boynton Beach, FL shares his one piece of advice to focus on healthy impact rather than worldly success. Instead of measuring by worldly standards, such as numbers or social media stats, we should focus on changed lives. Changed lives change the world for God. That is healthy impact.

QUOTES: 

“We can get sidetracked by looking at outward measures…and we can lose sight of what is true success in ministry.” -Will Torres

“Paul’s example in 2 Timothy 2:2 is a 4-generation impact: …and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.” -Will Torres

“If we can not lose sight of what healthy impact looks like in the church, then we can truly be successful, according to God’s measure and not the world’s measure.” -Will Torres

Always be Willing to Grow by Pastor Kelly Nothnagle

One Piece of Advice | Always be Willing to Grow

Kelly Nothnagle, Associate Pastor at Calvary Chapel Boynton Campus, shares his one piece of advice: Always be willing to grow. The sabbath principle of rest and focusing on the Lord is a key to growth. Being open to and listening for God to speak to you and tell you what He has for you.

QUOTES:

“I have found when we take that time and establish that rhythm just to slow down our mind and connect with the Lord, it’s amazing how big you can see God is.” -Kelly Nothnagle

“To think that He has called us and allowed us to be a part of His plan, it encourages me to want to experience all that God has for me.” -Kelly Nothnagle

“Live in that space where you are looking and you are excited for what God would have for you, and that you want to grow.” -Kelly Nothnagle

Don’t Give Up by Pastor Cody King

One Piece of Advice | Don’t Give Up

Cody King, pastor at Redemption Calvary outside Denver, Colorado, shares his advice from Galatians 6:9, And let us not grow weary in doing good, for in due season we will reap a harvest if we do not lose heart. The whole point behind this is just don’t give up. There are seasons of planting and seasons of harvest, and they are not the same season. Lifelong faithfulness is what it’s all about. It’s going to get hard. Trust Jesus and just don’t quit.

QUOTES:

“We tend to overestimate what we can do in the short-term and underestimate what we can do in the long-term.” -Cody King

“If you really want to see God use you in the ministry He’s called you to in the context He’s given you…then you need to think long-term, long view.” -Cody King

“There’s a real enemy who hates you. And he wants to get you to quit.” -Cody King

Lead the Church Spiritually/Preach the Word Deeply by Pastor Ron Jones

One Piece of Advice | Lead the Church Spiritually/Preach the Word Deeply

Ron Jones, Lead Pastor at Coastal Chapel in Lake Worth, FL, offers his one piece of advice: Lead the church spiritually and preach the Word deeply. With so many ways available through technology, it is easy to try and make your church grow through your own efforts. But Jesus has said, “I will build my church.” We’ve got to minister to the body of Christ. Feed the sheep. If we do that, the church will grow.  

QUOTES:

“It’s so easy to strive as a pastor. It’s so easy to try and do things in our own strength.” -Ron Jones

“I can’t make the church grow. I was taking Jesus’ place in the church.” -Ron Jones

“The church is not an organization, but is a family. And Jesus is the one who grows His family.” -Ron Jones

Get a Team Around You by Pastor Peyton Jones

One Piece of Advice | Peyton Jones

Peyton Jones, Oceanside, California, shares his advice to get a team around you, just as the Apostle Paul did with his team of Barnabas, Silas, Timothy and others as well. You can’t do it alone. If you’re married, your wife is your number one church planting and ministry partner, and you should honor her in that. Also build a team of Barnabases, people who are your equals. This is great advice on an important topic.

QUOTES:

“Trying to do ministry on your own is not only unbiblical (Jesus only sent people out two by two), but also it’s just impossible.” -Peyton Jones

“Make sure you understand your wife is your first teammate.” -Peyton Jones

“Paul picked up mobile teams of people that he could train and leave with other churches.” -Peyton Jones

“Build a team of people that can challenge you back.” -Peyton Jones

Connecting People To God by Pastor Vince Putman

One Piece of Advice | Vince Putman

Vince Putnam, Senior Pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Delray Beach, FL, shares his one piece of advice: Teach and unpack every part of the service every week planning on a person who is in a church for the first time. Vince came to this understanding through a unique approach to inviting people to attend their service. What they said radically changed the way Vince teaches.

“Out of 50 or so, I got one person to say they would come back. The why nots were basically they couldn’t connect with what was happening. It wasn’t meaningful to them.” -Vince Putnam

“It was a real dagger to the heart, that what we were doing on Sunday morning was not connecting God to a person who had never been in the church before.” -Vince Putnam

“We started thinking through every part of the service…and teaching into those things and unpacking them so that people could experience those things in a meaningful way.” -Vince Putnam

Salvation by Pastor Herb Hartso

One Piece of Advice | Herb Herbso

Herb Hartso, Student Pastor at Greystone Church in Durham, NC, shares his one piece of advice: Salvation. We have to understand that hell is the only alternative to heaven. Jesus came and saved us from hell. “When we minister, we must remember that eternity is at stake for people.” Give people an opportunity to be saved.

QUOTES: 

“We have been saved from hell through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.” -Herb Hartso

“When you understand the simple concept that there’s only two places we can go—heaven or hell—you will share the gospel more often.” -Herb Hartso

“Let’s live for eternity. Let’s remember our salvation.” My hope is in eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before the world began. Titus 1:2 

A Willing Vessel by Pastor Alex Fuentes

One Piece of Advice | Alex Fuentes

Alex Fuentes, church planter in Tunja, Colombia, shares his one piece of advice: Be a willing vessel, be available for God to use you. We can want a lot of things in ministry, but asking what does God want makes it pretty clear. Listen for and be led by the Spirit. Ask every day for His guidance, because we are nothing but broken vessels that carry His message.

QUOTES:

“When we place ourselves in His hands and just allow Him to shine through us…allow His Holy Spirit to work through us, that’s what really matters.” -Alex Fuentes

“Allow the Lord to fill you and work through you, to have those spaces for whatever He wants you to do instead of what we want to do.” -Alex Fuentes

“Say OK Lord, where today, what today, ministering in those moments. It allows people to see that this is a work of the Lord.” -Alex Fuentes

Leading Yourself by Thane Ringler

One Piece of Advice | Leading Yourself

Thane Ringler, Los Angeles, CA, shares his one piece of advice: you have to lead yourself well before you can lead others well. Jesus demonstrated this by His example and it is true for us who are leading and shepherding others in the body of Christ. It is a daily practice. It takes self-discipline for these things, making time to develop intimacy with God, to take time to rest. Ultimately it means being faithful. 

QUOTES: 

“What this means is we are taking action and ownership of our lives and we’re never settling for less than what God has called us to.” -Thane Ringler

“It means not trying to be superman. A lot of times we take on and try to be Christ when we need to look to Christ and what He’s accomplished.” -Thane Ringler

“How can we be faithful today?” -Thane Ringler

Be In Agreement With Your Spouse by Pastor Dan Grittner

One Piece of Advice | Pastor Dan Grittner

Dan Grittner, Lifespring Church in Royal Palm Beach, FL, shares his one piece of advice: Be in agreement with your wife. The concept of being one flesh with your wife involves every area of life. Unity in a marriage is very powerful and brings great benefits for your life and ministry. It takes time, it takes work, it takes effort. But the results are worth it.

QUOTES: 

“Agreement is so powerfully important.”

‘It’s really that your dreams come together as one. Your direction comes together as one. That you’re in agreement with your spouse as you move forward.”

“I think God wants us to walk side by side in the same direction.”

One Thing by David Baldwin

One Piece of Advice | David Baldwin

Dave Baldwin, Director of Church United for the Boca/Delray Region, shares his one piece of advice: Know your one thing. Dave’s mother’s death caused him to look at everything in life differently. Reflecting on King Solomon, gifted by God with supernatural wisdom, and his pursuit of all the world’s pleasures, what was the one thing that had lasting value? Only His relationship with God. It is the one thing that matters.

QUOTES:

“When my mother died, it rocked my world. What once gave me great pride just didn’t mean anything.” -Dave Baldwin

“All these vanities are meaningless. The thing to do is just to fear God and have that personal relationship, to be obedient to His commands and to follow His ways.” -Dave Baldwin

360 Preparation by Pastor Casey Cleveland

One Piece of Advice | Pastor Casey Cleveland

Casey Cleveland, Senior Pastor at Avenue Church, Delray Beach, FL, shares his advice from Joshua 4:14: On that day, the Lord exalted Joshua. It is the Lord who exalts us when it comes to significant shaping ministry. So if it is the Lord who exalts leaders, giving people the confidence to follow them as they follow Christ, what is the responsibility of leaders? 360 preparation—being prepared in all sorts of different areas. Being prepared holistically includes mindfulness, diet, sleep, exercise. Every area of life affects your ministry. 

QUOTES:

“If it’s the job of Jesus to exalt me and put me in a place where people will actually go, where I believe the Lord is leading us, then I just need to be prepared for that.” -Casey Cleveland

“Pursue thinking about how I can be fully mindful and present in this moment?” -Casey Cleveland

“Remember, we’re going to war. Most of the warriors I know are in shape—emotionally, physically and spiritually.” -Casey Cleveland

You Go First by Pastor Mike Lawrence

One Piece of Advice | Pastor Mike Lawrence

Mike Lawrence, Port Saint Lucie, FL, recently returned with his family from 13 years as a church planting missionary in Costa Rica to start a new work in Florida. This is his advice: You cannot lead people where you have not first allowed God to lead you. You have to be willing to let God work in your own heart and life first. Your personal experience will give you greater authority and compassion to lead others through similar things. “We are surrounded by people who need to know that the gospel is not only for heaven, it’s for today. They need to know how God is working in your life, so that they, too, can find encouragement that God will do the same thing for them.”

Quotes:

“We see this principle throughout scripture, that when God is going to call someone into leadership, He is going to do a work in them before He does a work through them.”

“We have to be wiling to be vulnerable and transparent about who we are and where we’re at.”

“While there are qualifications for leadership, perfection is not one of them.”

Leading From The Inside by Pastor Kevin Saxton

One Piece of Advice | Pastor Kevin Saxton

Kevin Saxton, a pastor at Family Church in Downtown West Palm Beach, FL, shares his one piece of advice: Lead from the inside. We need to remember that our role as a pastor is as one of the family, one who is on the inside of the body of Christ. Our role as a leader does not place us above or outside of that. We are a part of the body, just as they are. “This is a people business. People really do matter."

QUOTES: 

“There’s no one who is a believer in Jesus who doesn’t belong in the church of Jesus.” -Kevin Saxton

“Being a leader in the church means the you don’t lead from outside the body of Christ, you lead from inside the body of Christ.” -Kevin Saxton

“We actually get to serve in such a way that we are a part of the family.” -Kevin Saxton

Who Am I? by Pastor AJ Pierre

One Piece of Advice | Pastor AJ Pierre

AJ Pierre, Lead Pastor at Empower Hope in West Palm Beach, FL shares his one piece of advice: Ask yourself this simple question—who am I? You have to deal with this issue in your life. God has created you for a specific purpose at this exact time. Figure this one thing out and reconnect to what God uniquely created you to do.

QUOTES:

“This is a question I believe we all have to eventually answer in our lives—who am I?” -AJ Pierre

“You have been created by God for this exact time for a specific purpose to accomplish a specific task. For that to happen, you have to be authentic. You have to be exactly who you’ve been called to be.” -AJ Pierre

“There are people out there whose ears are tuned to your voice. The only way to reach them is if you are functioning in who God has truly called you to be.” -AJ Pierre

Stop Judging and Start Loving by Pastor Jim Campbell

One Piece of Advice | Pastor Jim Campbell

Jim Campbell, retired pastor living in Delray Beach, FL, shares his one piece of advice that God recently spoke to his heart: The kingdom of God needs to stop judging and start loving. How can we stop judging? You can do it with the help of the Holy Spirit.

QUOTES:

“We judge in so many different ways.” -Jim Campbell

“Can you imagine what it would be like if every human being on the earth stopped judging and started loving?” Jim Campbell

Humility by Director Jason Sanchez

One Piece of Advice | Jason Sanchez

Jason Sanchez, Director of House of Blessing, Bachiniva, Mexico, shares his advice to stay humble. “Humility is crucial for leaders and pastors because it is our human nature, especially in a position of leadership and power where people look up to you…to naturally, in our flesh, let that puff us up.” We end up thinking we’re something we’re not and somehow we reach a status where we’re not so reliant on the Lord. James 4:10 instructs us: Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up. This is the great lesson the Lord taught Jason when he and his wife moved from Washington to Mexico to start an orphanage. The move put him in an unfamiliar position of receiving praise and applause not only from believers but especially from unbelievers in the local communities. “Directing an orphanage, working with orphans, draws the attention and admiration of everyone—the affirmation from unbelievers put me in a scary spot. That’s when the Lord brought it to my attention, to stay humble.” Jason talks about how you can do that.  “Put checks and balances in your life where you can humble yourself. Sweep a floor. Take the trash out. Keep it in the forefront of your mind.” You can follow Jason at thehouseofblessing.org

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“Humility is crucial for leaders and pastors because it is our human nature, especially in a position of leadership and power where people look up to you…to naturally, in our flesh, let that puff us up.” -Jason Sanchez

“Directing an orphanage, working with orphans, draws the attention and admiration of everyone—the affirmation from unbelievers put me in a scary spot. That’s when the Lord brought it to my attention, to stay humble.” -Jason Sanchez

“Put checks and balances in your life where you can humble yourself. Sweep a floor. Take the trash out. Keep it in the forefront of your mind.”  -Jason Sanchez

Trust In The Lord With All Your Heart by Pastor Julius Sanna

One Piece of Advice | Pastor Julius Sanna

Pastor Julius Sanna, Joy Church, Delray Beach, FL shares his insight into the wisdom of Proverbs 3:5 to trust in the Lord with all of your heart. The limits of our own understanding of situations as leaders forces us to sometimes stop or take a pause to ask God what’s next. “God is always available for us to approach. When you lean on God, God is able to direct your path.” During times of adversity and challenges, we need to remember this. Adding fasting to your prayer life can clarify God’s leading. “When I’m calling on God..and I add fasting…it clears my ears so that I’m not only calling on God, but when He speaks, I can hear Him so clearly.” Make fasting a habit of your prayer life. Like Jesus, we need to separate ourselves from the noise of life and listen to the Father. Prayer gives you the strength to apply what God has instructed you to do.