Get moving...

“A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.”

~J. Maxwell

When I first came on staff with Cobb I had a decent outlook on and idea of ministry. I mean, I had been in his ministry for the previous few years. I saw how things were run. And they were run very well. But it was not until I became employed that I got a better and more thorough look into all of the madness. He had a vision to grow our youth group by hundreds of percents in the next few years; he wanted to do it the right way. We wanted to reach more students in the community without losing spiritual connectedness to the program – a pretty tall order. This would call for us to get uncomfortable... and we did.

Cobb had a clear idea of where he wanted to get to, what to achieve, but he committed to learn along side us as a paid and volunteer staff. He was always out front. When times were hard and we faced tons of struggle through the growth process, it was always sobering to know he continued to believe in our ministry. I remember sometimes sitting in his office and having long discussions about how we were going to get over certain obstacles, whether they were political, damage control or even non-ministry related. But I always felt a sense of peace after I talked to Cobb. He had a reliance on God that I had never seen in anyone I had ever worked with.

We would sit in the “war room” and come up with tons of new plans, most of which never got past the drawing board. Then we would take the few that made it and implement them the best we could. Nothing ever went as planned. But we stuck to our guns. We took ridicule – much of the time it was deserved – but we never gave up. I would leave the church sometimes walking alongside Cobb with no one but the crickets to keep us company. And I look back now and cherish those times. Those were the times that tested our character and drive to do ministry. I never felt like I was working because I believed in his vision for ministry and that we could achieve it.

Who are you following in ministry? Do you believe in the way you are doing ministry to the point where you will work till your eyes burn with sleeplessness? That is the kind of ministry in which I was involved. I always wanted to do more. I always wanted to impress Cobb and make him proud. And it was nothing more than needing him to know that I cared about ministry the way that he did. I still talk to him often and he has not changed. I know that the ministry he leads now is in the same hands that our ministry was. I try to mimic his effectiveness in my own ministry and life each and every day. Can you say that about your mentor and your ministry... that is my sincere prayer for you.