Replenish Quotes

“Maybe part of the reason we have such a hard time with no is that we aren’t still long enough to discover the yes.”
― Lance Witt, Replenish: Leading from a Healthy Soul

“We must be proactive and preemptive in guarding our lives from complexity.”
― Lance Witt, Replenish: Leading from a Healthy Soul

“A good place to start is acknowledging that many of us in leadership feel like we have a hole in our soul. Ministry drains us, sucks the life out of us, and the result is we are running on empty.”
― Lance Witt, Replenish: Leading from a Healthy Soul

“With everything that is in me, I believe Jesus Christ is the hope of the world. And I believe the church is his plan for accomplishing his purposes on earth. It is breathtaking to ponder the possibility that the Great Commission could be completed in our generation. We have unprecedented opportunity, technology, cooperation, and resources. Never before has the church been so poised for global impact. However, the Great Commission will not be fulfilled by human ingenuity or innovative thinking alone. This God-sized task will only be completed by Spirit-filled, spiritually healthy churches. And these churches will not be spiritually healthy unless their leaders are spiritually healthy.”
― Lance Witt, Replenish: Leading from a Healthy Soul

“you can no more wish spiritual health into existence than you can wish physical health into existence.”
― Lance Witt, Replenish: Leading from a Healthy Soul

“It’s interesting to study the life of Jesus and discover how many times he used the word “not” or “nothing” in reference to himself. In John, he makes statements like “in myself, I can do nothing” or “I do not please myself” or “I do not accept praise from men” or “I came down from heaven not to do my will” or “I do nothing on my own” or “I am not seeking glory for myself.” Even as the Son of God, he was aware he was not pursuing his own agenda but fulfilling the Father’s plan. How incredibly humble for the infinite and perfect Son of God to say, “I’m not seeking my own glory.” He lived out of a deep center of abiding connection with his Father, and as a result his “spiritual transformer” was firmly in place.”
― Lance Witt, Replenish: Leading from a Healthy Soul

“Quaker author Parker Palmer said, “A leader is a person who must take special responsibility for what’s going on inside of himself or herself . . . lest the act of leadership create more harm than good.”[5]”
― Lance Witt, Replenish: Leading from a Healthy Soul

“Take the pressure off you and your team. It really isn’t all about the weekend. Our pursuit of excellence (or at times perfectionism) creates a lot of stress in the team. Remind yourself and your team that your ministry is bigger and broader than those hours on Sunday. Relax. Even if this week’s services don’t go great, you’re always just seven days away from another chance.”
― Lance Witt, Replenish: Leading from a Healthy Soul

“It is the nature of our world to be enamored with what’s big. But in the church we should seek to be enamored with what’s godly.”
― Lance Witt, Replenish: Leading from a Healthy Soul

“[A man’s] work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work.[43] Notice that Paul doesn’t say the “quantity” of my works will be judged, but rather the “quality” of my works.”
― Lance Witt, Replenish: Leading from a Healthy Soul

“The weekend experience is a poor indicator of the health of a church. In fact, attendance alone is not a good gauge of effectiveness for any ministry event.”
― Lance Witt, Replenish: Leading from a Healthy Soul

“It is slower to lead with a group, but it’s also healthier and wiser.”
― Lance Witt, Replenish: Leading from a Healthy Soul

“Many church-planting pioneers have opted to start a church and create their own problems rather than inherit problems like the ones facing those pastors. Here’s the rub. In an attempt to create structures that allow greater leadership freedom (which is a good thing), many have opted for structures that include little formal accountability (which is a bad thing). Instead of a church model where the leader answers to everyone, some have created a leadership model where they answer to no one. It’s a recipe for dysfunction and disaster when a leader is organizationally and relationally isolated. My observation is that a leader who is isolated organizationally is twice as isolated relationally.”
― Lance Witt, Replenish: Leading from a Healthy Soul

“John Maxwell was right: “People who lead themselves well know a secret; they can’t trust themselves.”[32] I know from experience I can easily be self-deceived.”
― Lance Witt, Replenish: Leading from a Healthy Soul

“We need to start asking ourselves some hard and penetrating questions. We must dig beneath the surface and extract the roots that keep producing dysfunction. Why am I so driven? Why do I keep pushing so hard? Am I obsessed with success? Do I have God’s measuring stick for success? Do I have a utilitarian view of people? How has my drive to succeed hurt my family?”
― Lance Witt, Replenish: Leading from a Healthy Soul

“In ministry, the perfect storm for a personal disaster is also the convergence of three elements: ambition, isolation, and self-deception.”
― Lance Witt, Replenish: Leading from a Healthy Soul

“colorfully: “O how slick and weasel-like is self-pride.”[27] When you’ve been in ministry leadership awhile, you learn how to cloak ambition in kingdom language. You can wrap ambition in God talk and sanctify it.”
― Lance Witt, Replenish: Leading from a Healthy Soul

“It is God who creates waves and movements of his Spirit. We don’t get to decide when the wave comes, where it comes, or how big it will be. But it’s our privilege to ride a great wave and participate in what God is doing.”
― Lance Witt, Replenish: Leading from a Healthy Soul

“numerical growth alone is no indicator of God’s favor or godly leadership.”
― Lance Witt, Replenish: Leading from a Healthy Soul

“The greatest danger, really, isn’t in projecting a false image; there’s a Pharisee inside all of us, and I suspect we’ll struggle with this as long as we live. The greatest danger is in getting comfortable with it, learning how to “succeed” with a disconnected soul. Over time we can become very adept at playing the image-management game. The truth is you don’t have to have a healthy soul to be seen as a success in ministry.”
― Lance Witt, Replenish: Leading from a Healthy Soul

“Never lose sight of the fact that the box (your ministry) is not as valuable as the gift (Jesus). And the only reason the box exists is to deliver the gift. You have dedicated your life to the gift, not to the box.”
― Lance Witt, Replenish: Leading from a Healthy Soul

“It wasn’t because Moses was the brightest, or most skilled, or most winsome. The one characteristic that would give his leadership credibility and spiritual power was God’s presence.”
― Lance Witt, Replenish: Leading from a Healthy Soul

“Godly leadership is always inside out. God always has and always will choose to smile on men and women who are healthy, holy, and humble.”
― Lance Witt, Replenish: Leading from a Healthy Soul