Craig Groeschel

The it-ish understand: failure is a part of success.

For the sake of those who don't know Christ, think big.

Ministries that have it tend to be focused on a limited set of targets. They do a few things as if all eternity hinged on their results, and they do these things with godly excellence. Their vision is characterized by specificity. Selectivity. Exclusivity.

Have you ever tasted stale popcorn? The only thing worse is stale vision. If a ministry loses the vision, it's only a matter of time before they lose what made them special in the first place. Without vision, the people will quickly lose it.

Instead of whining, "We can't reach certain people," with-it people exclaim with faith, "We will find a way."

It-owners know that setbacks can be setups for better things to come. They study their failures and learn from them.

When we love deeply, love makes us do things we wouldn't otherwise do.

The first-century church in Jerusalem clearly had it. And they didn't have any fancy accoutrements. So it can't possibly be stained-glass windows, hand-carved cherubs, custom silk tapestries, gold-inlaid hymnals, thousand-pipe organs, marble floors, mile-high steeples, hand-painted ceilings, mahogany pews, giant cast-iron bells, and a three-piece, thousand dollar suit. It doesn't stick any better to a young, hip, shaved-headed pastor with rimmed glasses, a goatee, and tattoos than it does to an older, stately gentleman in a robe. Nor is it spotlights and lasers, video production, satellite dishes, fog machines, shiny gauze backdrops, four-color glossy brochures, sexy billboards, loud "contemporary" music, free donuts, coffee shops, hip bookstores, break dancing or acrobatics, sermon series named after television shows, a retro-modern matching chair and table onstage, or blue jeans and Heelys. It is not being on television, being on the Internet, or being on book and magazine covers. It is real. It is genuine.

As long as you're afraid of intimacy and spiritual partnership, you won't likely experience it. To have it, you have to share it with each other. Just as there's no I in team, there's no it in independence.

Love overcomes obstacles.

A church that has it recognizes that reaching people is not just the pastor's job. It's everyone's job.

As you seek God and he rekindles it in your heart, I believe he is going to speak to you.

If your ministry has become focused on the already-convinced, I'll bet that your ministry doesn't have it.

Ministries without it are usually the ones playing it safe, doing only what is sure to succeed.