Tom Cannon

That is my philosophy on people, ministries, and churches. People often think they have to be super-talented, a well-known ministry, or mega church to accomplish something significant for God. But is that true? Do you have to be someone ‘specially gifted, ultra-talented, famous, or wealthy’ to accomplish something significant for God?

We all love talking about new life, the birth of a baby, and fresh starts, don’t we? Yet, we often forget that new days, babies, and fresh starts typically begin with SMALLNESS. People who doubt the effectiveness of small churches haven’t studied history, because God has used many small churches, and seemingly ‘insignificant’ pastors in amazing ways.

Need proof? How about small church pastor, Smith Wigglesworth? Though his flock was never large, his impact (and theirs) was tremendous, wasn’t it?

Have you heard of a small woman, named Gladys Aylward? A parlor maid with a heart for God, who was rejected by China Read the rest of this entry »

“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28)

If you really want to build an effective leader, who walks in the likeness of Christ, then you need to “root out” all forms of nepotism, bigotry, gender bias, racism, and personal favoritism that exists in your life. Failure to do so, will earn you the fitting reputation of an unfair leader, and cause the people in your church, or ministry, who are not “numbered among the favored ones,” to lose heart, and 1) leave the church, or 2) develop a “who gives a rip attitude,” because they figure they don’t stand a chance to earn legitimate place of ministry anyway, since those positions are always filled by people you have pre-selected.

Credibility is a strange thing; it can take years to earn, but only a moment to lose. And whether you like it or not, people are determining the level of your credibility every day, based upon the decisions you make, as a leader, and the fairness with which those decisions are carried out. So be careful what choices you make, as a leader, because they are revealing who you are much louder than your words, and by them, people know how fair you are to those you lead.

Example: If you consistently exclude women, or minorities from places of equal ministry opportunity, then you can expect a certain label to be attached to you, as a leader. You may not like it, and may even protest how that tag is unfair, but if your leadership choices never include women or minorities in substantial places of leadership, then you have no one to blame, but Read the rest of this entry »

When it comes to developing leaders, some churches place too much weight on persona, charisma, and other supposedly necessary leadership qualities, but neglect “some of the weightier things,” that God repeatedly says are the most important of all.

Experience has taught us that ministers become more successful if they have:

• The RIGHT relationship with God. Well-defined leadership qualities, spiritual gifts, or charismatic personalities are not the most important asset of a successful Christian leader.  In fact, none of them will ever replace a right relationship with God. The Bible clearly teaches, without a right relationship with God, everything else will be meaningless.
• The RIGHT heart. Successful ministers must have a heart to reach this generation for Jesus, and intensely cares about the members of the church. You will never be successful in ministry, until you’re willing to give yourself away, to save, help, strengthen and establish those Jesus loves.
• The RIGHT work ethic. Like the people in Nehemiah’s day, servant-leaders must have “a mind to work.”
• The RIGHT commitment. Each servant-leader must be committed 100% to the cause of Christ, and to the process of Read the rest of this entry »

[i]“One night a house caught fire, and a young boy was forced to flee to the roof. The father stood on the ground below with outstretched arms, calling to his son, “Jump! I’ll catch you.” He knew the boy had to jump to save his life. All the boy could see, however, was flame, smoke, and blackness. As can be imagined, he was afraid to leave the roof. His father kept yelling: “Jump! I will catch you.” But the boy protested, “Daddy, I can’t see you.” The father replied, “But I can see you and that’s all that matters.” The boy jumped, because he trusted his father.

The Christian faith enables us to face life or meet death, not because we can see, but with the certainty that we are seen; not that we know all the answers, but that we are known.” – Donner Atwood.

If you have a basic knowledge of gardening, you know that mustard seeds are extremely small. Yet, miraculously, one tiny seed is capable of producing a very large plant, in a minimum amount of time. Apparently, there’s a lot of life packed in that tiny seed. The mustard seed is even used by Jesus, as an illustration of the miraculous power of faith.

Every tree in the forest started as a small seed. No matter how large they grow to be, their ‘roots’ can be traced back to a small seed. When compared to the seed that gave them life, the transformation is remarkable.

Read the rest of this entry »