Skip to content Sleeping Giant - Session 3 Jul 8 · 31 min ...more
July 8, 2026 · 31 min · Sleeping Giant
...more Show the full description Show less Support this leader Liking this video? Support this ministry.
Support this leader
Liking this video? Support this ministry.
Give
Support this leader Liking this video? Support this ministry.
56K followers
Since 2000 Every Man Ministries has been activating men worldwide to live out their truest identity in Christ through its discipleship resources, live events, and steaming platform.
56K followers
Comments No comments yet. Start the conversation.
The Magic Wand Vision Exercise 0:12 Hey, guys. Welcome back to session 3 of the Sleeping Giant training experience. Let's review. In session 1, we talked about why this training and your efforts focused on men are relevant culturally,0:23 globally, and spiritually. We talked about that this opportunity is by all indicators, a historic opportunity for God's men and for the church to do a few things, to0:35 silence the critics, to create a movement of health, and above all, to win souls. Now in session 2, I took you through the sleeping giant revelation and response process. You0:47 needed to see God's pattern and purpose for men in scripture. And based on what you saw, make the conclusion for yourself that what God models for us is meant for us as the church. Now0:58 in this session, session 3, we begin the response work to the revelation of God in scripture. And we're gonna start with a question that I have asked hundreds of pastors and men's leaders I have personally1:10 trained.1:11 So are you ready?1:12 Here's a question. If you had a magic wand and could zap the men's culture in your church, what would happen? I'm gonna ask that 1 more time. If you had a magic wand,1:24 okay, and you could zap the men's culture in your church, what would happen? Now think about it. What behaviors would you see? How1:36 would men's relationships change? What would their spiritual life look like? How would they see themselves in the context of your church? What would their community1:48 impact be? How would their church involvement change? What would the men's culture feel like to an outsider? What kind of guy would it attract? How would it benefit the1:59 man? What results would you consider non negotiable? How would it impact other ministries in the church? How would church health be affected? You know,2:11 over the years, I have captured a lot of responses to that question. I have asked hundreds of pastors. And some of their responses to what I call the magic wand question,2:24 I'll give you some of their answers. Pastors have said, well, our men would be connected to other men. That's what would happen if if if I got to zap our men's culture. And others say they would be men of the2:36 word and men of the spirit. And others say, well, our men would be men of prayer, a blessing to the community, and great husbands. And still other pastors would would be concerned about, well, our guys would2:47 would be behind the vision of the senior pastor and helping the poor and and be great dads. And then other pastors have said, well, our men would be planting needed ministries. They'd be more responsible. They'd be2:59 spiritual leaders in the home. They'd be leading small groups and serving, in the church. Other people answer the question by saying, well, our men would be coaching small group leaders, impacting the marketplace.3:12 They'd be a network in the church that we could use. They'd be changing the world and better tithers. Others say, well, our guys would be standing against injustice. They'll be donating their skill sets. They'd be3:23 trained for ministry. Until others say, well, our guys would be fighting evil and defeating temptations, sharing their faith, and supporting other ministries. My guess3:35 is that your core team would answer with a lot of the the same visions for your men. And what we wanna do is we wanna begin to paint the target in this session.3:48 We want you to build a god sized dream. We want you to begin with the end in mind. We want you to begin to to tell us what you think. We want you to be3:59 fully vested in the sleeping giant training process. We want you to begin to create a meaningful mission and vision. And the reason why we do this exercise and I ask the question is4:11 because you have to have personal buy in and skin in the game as as they say. We do this with pastors because we want them to tell us what they want. We want that4:23 thing that's been bugging them on the inside about what's missing in men's ministry to come out. We want them to look in the mirror and evaluate their own lives against,4:35 the markers that they're putting up. And in the process of making you and these pastors articulate what you wanna see happen, you know what happens? You're able to unearth answers4:47 to several other important questions at the same time. Because based on your your answers to what would happen if you got to zap your men's culture, you answer other questions like,5:00 what unresolved problems will a strong men's culture help solve? You answer the question, what's the sense of urgency? You answer the question of what are5:11 the pervasive problems men are facing truly? You answer the question of how will men's ministry address those problems? In the process, you also answer the question, who will this effort with5:23 men, impact directly? And who's in the immediate blast zone of what happens in men's ministry? When you do the magic wand experience, you answer the question of what's5:35 deficient about what we're offering now because people put up what's missing as they answer the question. You also get people's ideas on what's gonna resonate with men and how will the church realize5:47 a tangible value from what we're doing in men's ministry. You also answer what results will men personally experience and and and you also answer what do we see5:59 as meaningful ministry to men? So that process is very important for, beginning to build the building blocks of your mission and vision. And what I wanna tell6:10 you about asking and answering that question is that these, are the questions that breakthrough men's ministries in the local church answer, listen, before6:22 they do anything. And if there's 1 common denominator among churches that are failing to meaningfully reach men that I see, churches that are failing to build a leader engine for their pastor, it's this. They6:34 simply don't know what the target is. So step 1 is clearly define the vision and mission of your men's ministry 1st.6:46 And the clarity that provides will make a lot of things happen. It'll make decision making easier. It'll develop consistency. It'll increase the spiritual impact of your6:58 ministry immediately. Now the Bible says in Proverbs 29 18, if people can't see what God is doing, they stumble all over themselves. But when they7:10 attend to what he reveals, they are most blessed. Now, unfortunately, that image of falling over themselves describes men's ministry in most churches. And it's7:22 because leadership hasn't cared enough about the ministry to clearly define why it exists, for what purpose, and then define the basic strategy to realize goals.7:34 Now this movement, this sleeping giant movement, our church to church movement team, we take time to define the mission and vision. In fact, our own church to church movement team took 27:46 days to to come up with 2 statements, our mission and vision statement. We prayed, we fasted, we worked, and we we discerned our 2 statements that we came to7:58 set out. And that's our vision and mission statement. And if that sounds like a process to you, it was. But the product was worth the process because that vision and mission statement8:10 for our church to church8:11 team has powerfully guided this ministry into great success and impacting the lives of millions of men. So my point is, guys, is you have to,8:23 to hit the target. K? That's your goal. You gotta see the target. And when you see the target, you can start shooting for the target. Now I think of our own church to church8:35 team and I'll share with you our vision. Our vision, just as an example, consists of 3 key words, revolutionize, free, and ignite. K? Our mission for our church8:47 to church team consists of 8 words, get in, get healthy, get strong, get going. So let me summarize. Our vision is our God sized dream. Revolutionize8:59 men's ministry, free men spiritually, ignite spiritual health worldwide. Our mission is the simple strategy to pull it off by getting guys in healthy, strong, and going.9:12 So what does that do for us? Tons. Okay. And here's where I wanna give you the benefits of carving out the time to have a good vision and mission statement. Here's the9:24 benefits. Number 1, it defines what could be. K? Number 2, it motivates people internally when you have a good mission and vision statement. Number 3, it9:36 it draws people forward. K. It pulls you forward towards something. Number 4, it defines very clearly what your priorities are. K. Number 5, it9:47 rallies resources. K. You bring resources to those goals. Number 6, it creates purpose. Number 7, it defines the process. K?9:59 Number 8, it provides common language for the organization that you use over and over again. K. Number 9, it defines how you're gonna serve people. K. And then number 10, finally,10:11 it unites energy and it unites expression toward concrete goals. You see the difference between that and kinda shotgun men's ministry? So you need a strong vision and10:23 mission statement. And now you know why. It's more than just words in a framed showpiece in your conference room. Properly thought through, those 2 statements of purpose and10:35 practice become the guiding force, listen, for everything. So hear me. After personally helping hundreds of men's ministries in the local church, It's not that men don't wanna participate10:47 in the men's ministry. It's that they don't like to associate with things that don't reflect strength, excellence, and quality. Now a men's ministry that knows why it's10:59 there is living out its vision and mission, and shows that it's committed to it is the 1st test of your men's ministry. Our mission and vision, for example, communicates11:11 what we feel we owe churches we serve and the men we help. Say, Kenny, what's that? 4 things. A clear vision, deep relationships, intentional leader development,11:22 and spiritual health. Now those are the same 4 core values every men's ministry owes to their senior pastor and the men they serve in the local church.11:34 If those things aren't deeply embedded in the leaders and in the culture, don't expect the commitment, the energy, the fraternity, the productivity, and the transformations11:46 that accompany those dynamics when they are there and emphasized. So once again, listen. The process is worth the product. So whether11:58 it's an event, a study, a meeting that you're evaluating, a strong mission and vision helps you navigate between could we do this and should we do this?12:10 And the answer so often I find with churches too, could we do it, is sure, you could. The answer to should we do this depends on what happens when the opportunity before you12:22 collides head on with your vision and mission because the stronger of the 2 always wins and keeps you on track. So that is why step 1 of the sleeping giant12:34 process is step 1. Pray, bring together the right group of men, and grab that wand and answer that question. Ultimately,Step 1: Paint the Target with Mission & Vision 12:46 I want your church to be engaged in the we must do this opportunities and feeling solid traction. So step 1 of the sleeping giant process is developing a12:58 strong vision and mission. You gotta paint the target 1st. Step 2 of the process is for the core team to develop a strong alignment with your senior13:10 or with your lead pastor. Now 1 of the biggest failings of churches that don't do men's ministry good, no vision and mission, the other big failing that I have seen among men hoping to build and maintain,13:23 k, a strong men's ministry in the local church is this. It's about the men's ministry being successful versus serving the pastor and making him13:34 successful. These men's ministries that that I've seen countless times, okay, they forget that God called this man, their pastor, 1st13:46 and that he is the shepherd of the people and that God speaks to him about where he wants to take a body of believers, and most importantly, that he is in authority over them.13:59 He's the leader. K? And we impress upon pastors and men's leadership that what we call rogue men's ministries, they're not tolerated in theStep 2: Align with Your Senior Pastor 14:11 sleeping giant model. In fact, they wouldn't be tolerated in any other organization that has a stated mission and people who care enough to guard it. I mean, in the business or the military context, we14:23 call that insubordination. But so often in the church context, we call a men's ministry. Okay? And what does that look like? Well, that's men attempting to build a ministry14:35 separate from or disconnected from the vision and mission God has appointed the senior pastor to accomplish. So as as we get into this, the sleeping giant process and14:47 everything we do directs, directly connects and keeps reconnecting us to the success of the senior pastor. So men's ministry,14:59 its leaders, and those participating in it need to know that ministry traction is synonymous with giving your senior pastor more muscle for his mission. Listen.15:11 His success is your success. So to wake the sleeping giant in your church, both the pastor and the men of the church need to15:23 kinda see each other differently and see the partnership 1st. Gotta see the partnership 1st between senior pastor and the men to realize the powerful advance God15:35 wants. So right now, I wanna talk to the pastor and talk to you about your power to empower your men. I love Jesus's words when he talks about the shepherd and the sheep15:47 knowing his voice. In the New Testament, Jesus says, the watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name, and he leads them out.15:59 And when he has brought out all of his own, keywords, his own, he goes on ahead of them and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger. In16:11 fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger's voice. That's from John chapter 10 verses 3 through 5. So pastor, I'm gonna16:23 ask you to indulge me, when I say this. Men are a lot like my dog, Rusty. K. Let me tell you about Rusty. Rusty shows up in front of me with his16:35 deflated soccer ball in his mouth hoping that I notice him. And I notice his desire to play. And he's hoping that I'm willing to engage him. K. He's so16:46 predictable. K? And I can predict every day almost with near accuracy when he's gonna go get his ball and he's gonna come up to me and want me to play with him. K? After I do16:58 that, after I have a session of throwing his deflated soccer ball, retrieving it, doing the whole tug of war thing and wrestling, with him, he's totally content and he doesn't bug17:10 me anymore looking for attention that day. K? Here's the problem. The problem is when I don't engage him. K? In our home, I'm the alpha male.17:22 And Rusty responds to me and my voice and my body language totally different17:28 than17:29 to everybody else's. And, it's because we've got this unique kind of connection and affection, and the rest of the family is well, they're just jealous. Okay?17:41 So here's what happens. When I'm gone for a few days doing conferences and churches, he starts to act weird with Chrissy and the kids. And by that he means literally, he starts17:53 to bully them. I will call and I can hear him barking in the background. He he barks more and he acts like he's in charge, you know, and he thinks he can order people around with his18:04 relentless barking until he gets what he wants. Now my relationship to him, my authority over him, my ability to motivate him are unique to me, and the family's really18:16 glad when I'm in the house. Now what's the lesson here? K? Here it is. Listen, pastor. Disconnection to him brings destructive tendencies with others in the18:27 family. Now let's build a bridge. The men in your congregation show up on the weekend. They're wondering if you see them, if you value them. K? They're like Rusty sitting there in18:39 front of you. And make no mistake, although their outsides are kinda stoic, their inner tail is wagging. They have energy. They have enthusiasm, but they're just not sure if18:51 you really notice them. They don't know if you're gonna ignore them, chastise them, dismiss them, or just be ambivalent. Now the game changer with my dog is when I look at him and I say,19:03 Rusty, what are you doing? That's his cue. I say his name. And then when I say his name, he starts turning in circles and he bends really low because he knows that there's19:14 an engagement coming. He lives for me to say those words. And he knows there it's not gonna come all the time because he would play all day. That's not gonna happen. But a good session every now and then goes19:26 a long way to keep Rusty in line. Now let's build another bridge. Make no mistake. The men in your congregation want the leader of the house to see them.19:38 They want you to recognize their desire to be integral to your success versus just incidental. And they're wondering if you're willing to actually19:50 engage them personally and meaningfully. They're waiting, pastor, for you to call out their name and at some point, affirm them in a positive way. Now here's the20:02 problem. The problem is when you don't engage your men personally and meaningfully. It's just the way God has wired men. You're the alpha male in the household.20:14 Your men respond to you a ton differently than they will to anybody else in the church ranging from other pastors that you assign men's ministry to,20:26 to their wives at home, to lay leaders. Senior and lead pastors have a very special and a very powerful connection to their men if20:38 they're intentional and purposeful in the relationship. You can you can get your men acting on a simple voice command. If there's the perception among your men that you see and that you20:50 value them, they'll respond to your authority, and they'll over respond to direct attention and inclusion in any way. And they will become so loyal just21:01 like Rusty's so loyal to me. But when pastors discharge their men to junior staffers and laymen, the voice of those people, will not be the21:13 same as yours. And your men, guess what pastor? I hate to tell you this. Your men will start acting out of character within your own congregation or just not activate at all. Know what they'll do instead? They'll start21:25 to assert themselves in your own house. They'll take liberties. They'll bark more, k, and act like they're in charge until they get their needs for validation21:37 met. So I want you to hear me. Your relationship to your men, your spiritual authority over your men, and your ability to motivate them are unique to you. K?21:49 They are a much more critical member to the family than my dog And as such, a much more impactful force for good or bad depending on how they perceive the22:00 church through their senior pastor is perceiving their value. That is on you, pastor. Now let's address the core team.Empower Men: Pastors Engage, Teams Align 22:12 The Bible says to you, the core team from Hebrews 13 7, remember your leaders who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life22:24 and imitate their faith. Now in that passage, there's 2 key actions, remember and consider. The object of those 2 actions of remembering and considering are your22:36 leaders. K? The opposite of those 2 words describes the way most men in the church view their pastor's authority in their lives. Instead of strongly remembering22:48 and strongly considering it, they just forget and ignore the fact that in God's family, there is a structure of spiritual authority that is purposed to move God's purposes23:00 forward in your life and through the church. And this approach to their pastor can be, you know, intentional. It can be23:12 cultural or adopted out of just being ignorant of what the Bible says. And so when when men don't have this respect for their pastor modeled and if they're not mentored in23:23 that, and we're just fueled by that, hey, church exists for me, spirit of the age, and we just have this ambivalent church culture. Man, I feel bad for the pastors23:35 because pastors today fight an uphill battle when trying to build a culture that strikes a balance of true community and authority among their men.23:47 And what I see is I help hundreds of churches is that pastors are so panicked over numbers. They don't wanna offend anyone. And other pastors just simply lack23:59 that relational capital that gives their authority any real meaning in the lives of their men. Now here's what's more telling. More telling is that the majority of pastors don't have24:11 someone that they would call their pastor. Someone who is a mentor and spiritual father that is free to speak into their lives with clarity, authority,24:23 and authenticity. You see, men's culture within the church can be either be healthy or unhealthy. And I've seen healthy churches who possess a healthy balance among the men, starting with24:35 the pastor, of community and authority. I've also helped many churches who lack it. And man, the difference between the 2 kinds of church cultures is stark.24:47 My conclusion after being inside so many church cultures is this. Most churches do not even know what they are missing in terms of that bond between pastor and the men because they've been24:59 inoculated by imbalance for so long. It's become their their normal. Now on the other side, churches that have a healthy admiration and earned respect for their pastor,25:11 they can't imagine existing any other way. And it's just it's just such a stark contrast. In 1 church culture, the men proudly refer to their leader as my pastor. There's a a friendly, warm, and strong25:23 loyalty. In the other church culture, men refer to their church name 1st when they identify themselves. You know? And and in that instance, the church functions sorta like a brand. It's something you wear that says, hey,25:34 I go to that church. I'm on the team. But doesn't go deeper than that and it shouldn't. On the other side, in the the close church culture, it just screams relationship and honor and25:46 connection. My pastor. K? In the other, it kinda mutes those qualities and communicates a kind of a a distance and safety and image. When you're in 1 church25:58 culture where there's respect and honor for your pastor, there's a unity that goes beyond affiliation to affection for him and his role in your life. In the other, there's26:10 a lot of sincerity, but it it lacks that that glue like affinity for the man. And you see, this sense of loyalty that I'm talking about right here and this point in the sleeping giant26:21 process, we talk about it because it leaks into the church at every level for better or for worse. It manifests itself in the freedom for both the staff and the members to to26:33 feel honor and defend their pastor with each other. Or on the other side, the negative side, complain about him and criticize him down through the rank and file. And you know what, man? You have to take the lead on that.26:45 Exactly because it seeps into the DNA of every ministry and every leader in the church. And you know what it does? Is it is it fosters the creation of what we call rogue men's26:56 ministries. Okay? And when you have that affection there in a church for a pastor, it squashes rogue men's ministries. So every pastor would love a culture27:09 where there's this connection between them and their men. Why? Because, when you have that, you have basically a coach and and and a mentor. K? If you don't have27:20 it, it's a team of men who just tolerates the leader and plays nice functionally just as long as their own agenda is served. And here's how you know which culture you have. All you have to27:32 do to find out which culture, either of affection or ambivalence is prevailing, is to announce some change to a group ministry and measure the reaction. Now there's always a loss when things change,27:45 and, you know, when you eliminate something. I'm not talking about that. That kind of normal expected reaction. What I'm talking about is the hot volcanic reaction that comes about when you27:57 eliminate a ministry or cancel a ministry. You know what that suggests? It suggests that the ministry didn't exist for the church at all, but for the visibility and edification of a28:09 few at the expense of the larger mission in the community. So in our work on this whole topic of aligning with your senior pastor, I've28:21 had to intervene in several men's studies that were meeting on church property, ordering church food, using church media, taking advantage of church resources that had no interest in supporting the the28:33 vision of their church or of their pastor. And when you ask a few simple questions to establish the connection between what you're doing and how is it benefiting both the man and the28:45 church? You know what we find? We find what we call bless me clubs. Okay? Inhabited by men we call spongebobs. These are groups who the men love each other. They love their little28:57 bible study leader, and they love to soak up knowledge, but they have no interest in producing leaders or serving the interests of the church or the pastor. So how do you know that you have an29:08 unhealthy men's ministry in the church that's disconnected? Here it is. Number 1, no defined goals for the man. Number 2, no close pastoral supervision. Number 3, no29:20 willingness to change the format to receive new believers. Number 4, got the same people coming every time. Number 5, stagnant or declining growth. Number29:32 6, poor response when somebody pokes their head in there and asks, what are you doing here? Number 7, usually have a talking head teaching or knowledge focus. Number29:43 8, there's no sending out from that men's ministry to service or missions or there's no synergy within the church or collaboration with other ministries.29:55 Number 9, there's an unwillingness to change the format, you know, for for church initiatives. You know what we call that? We call these men's ministries that have gone rogue. They become unpredictable and dangerous to30:07 the church in the process. And I'm gonna say it 1 more time. The sleeping giant process directly connects and keeps reconnecting the success of men's ministry, its leaders, and those30:19 participating in it to the traction it gives the senior pastor to achieve the vision the vision and mission of the church. Now having seen many men's cultures,30:31 the most explosive men's cultures I have seen around the world, they get that. Pastors and their men guarding the vision God has given and raising30:43 up men who know their job is to drive the vision. So let's finish up. With your mission and vision intact,30:55 as well as a strong alignment with your senior pastor, you now have both the clarity the mission and vision provides and the unity necessary to reach men31:06 effectively. I'm looking forward to exploring steps 3 and 4 of the sleeping giant process in our next next session. So we'll see you then.In this video 0:00 The Magic Wand Vision Exercise12:44 Step 1: Paint the Target with Mission & Vision14:03 Step 2: Align with Your Senior Pastor22:11 Empower Men: Pastors Engage, Teams Align
Comments
Keep it kind. Comments are public.