Dean Inserra

When people hear about my hobby they usually mess with me about being 12 years old. I collect football and baseball autographs. The collection is actually pretty impressive with stuff signed by hall-of-famers, current and former coaches, college and pro players. Almost everything in my collection I have gotten signed in person. Collecting is lots of fun and I can’t wait till Tommy gets old enough to go on autograph trips with me.

In the South, Christianity is basically a hobby for many people. It can probably compare to a social club or society…show up to see and be seen, give a little money here and there, feel good about yourself and go home. Throughout scripture believers are called to make the Gospel their life. It takes a lot of nerve when people (me included) turn the name of Christ into some sort of category in our life…I collect autographs when I have the time and a player’s signature I actually care about is available to me. Collecting happens when it is convenient for me. For many, following Christ is no different.

We would see a radical transformation in Tallahassee if believers moved from the hobby stage of Christianity into a life of surrender to the One who came and died for shady people like us.

Next on the autograph list? I am working on a USA baseball signed jersey. I already have 8 players on it…including two top ten picks from last year’s draft.

Thomas J. Watson is the former chairman of IBM. He once said that “nothing so conclusively proves a man’s ability to lead others, as what he does from day to day to lead himself.” Leading oneself is tough stuff. It means you have to be honest with your own shortcomings and acknowledge daily that you need improving! What makes that tough is that we all think of everyone else as the folks who need some work. As Lee Corso says…not so fast my friend!

Here is what I do to LEAD ME.

1. Stay in the Word:
This is more difficult than it sounds. It is easy to go through the entire day..do lots of ministry and forget to be in the very thing that God himself says, “corrects, rebukes, and encourages.”

2. Read great books:
When you are the leader, you need to be seeking the wisdom of other leaders. I make sure I keep myself sharp and current by being well read. I break up my reading by being in 3 to 4 books at once.
I read:
-Some sort of systematic theology or biblical studies work
-A leadership book (usually John Maxwell)
-Some sort of Church creativity work
-Different leadership magazines, journals etc.

3. Spend time around sharp people:
It is really important to be around people who challenge you. I will not put “yes” people on our leadership teams at the Well. I also visit churches around the southeast to spend time with their leaders.

4. Look in the mirror:
When I am honest and follow Paul’s instructions of “examining myself,” I always immediately find myself in prayer asking God to continue to mold me into the person (before the leader) that he is calling me to be.

How do you lead yourself?

I don’t know what it is about going off on religious people that gets me excited. I am going to miss that series. I hope the motives of beating up on the religious mind-set found all over the American church was to point people to a true understanding of the Gospel. And selfishly…I got to hear “Losing My Religion” every week, one of my all-time favorite songs.

I am VERY PUMPED about the amount of families we are seeing walk into the Well on Sunday nights.

I have had a major lack of sleep recently with my mind racing about where the Well is headed in the future. Please pray for me!

“The Fam” series is starting next week. This is going to be a real treat for everyone because you are going to get to hear a bunch from Krissie. All you have to do is check-in with one of her small group ladies and they will tell you that she has a ton to offer. This week we will be talking together about married life.

The NFL Draft party was great as usual. Props to my hurricanes for another player taken in the first round! We call it a tradition. More props to Miami baseball for sweeping UVA this weekend.

I had breakfast with one of our college ladies and her mom this morning. Her mom came up to Tallahassee from South Florida to help her get all her stuff back home for the summer. It was a great time and I always enjoy the chance to meet the parents of our students when they come into town.

What really stuck with me from breakfast (besides the bacon) was the important role our Church has played in the student’s life this past year. She was pretty homesick and actually didn’t want to come back to FSU after Christmas break. This past semester she connected with the Well family and it made all the difference in the world. Community Group, College Dinners, Sunday night worship gatherings…she did it all. Connecting with a Church family is a huge deal. God made us relational people and one of the biggest mistakes a college student can make is failing to connect with a Church. There is such a culture of church-hopping in town and basically all the kids do is show up for a worship service so they can call their mom back in Orlando and tell her that they went to church.

I appreciate that many of our adults understand the importance of students connecting at this stage in their lives and go out of their way to establish relationships with them. It is amazing to see the amount of adults that continue to grow in our gatherings every week. I thank God for them and their willingness to be on board with us.

It is no secret that I love being around students. Seeing an 18-22 year old connect is one of the joys of my life. Hearing stories like I did at breakfast continue to convince me that God’s hand is on our Church. Let’s be faithful to our calling to take an everlasting truth to an ever-changing culture…it is making a difference.

I am going to be spending a lot of the summer putting the right leaders in the right places. John Maxwell coined the now famous quote that “everything rises and falls on leadership,”so it is critical for the Well that the leadership engine is forming for the future.

There is an absolute I hold to when it comes to the person I (along with Matthew Robinson) ask to step into a leadership role…btw, Christian character is an obvious.

*Is the person on board with the vision?
To be in leadership at any church the individual should eat, sleep and breathe the vision. Apart from Christian character this is the most important thing…so crucial. We will not budge on this.

I am thrilled that Sarah Scruggs is in the process of becoming the coordinator of the Well’s community groups. I cannot think of a more perfect person to lead this area of our Church. She gets it big time when it comes to living out her faith in the culture where God has placed her. The team is starting to come into place. The awesome thing about the body of Christ is that all of us are part of the team. Where is it that God is leading you to step up and serve?