The apostle John, in this short letter, warns of the traits that cause spiritual leaders to lose their spirituality and influence. Five characteristics of a dangerous spiritual leader are t a big ego, isolation, slander, an us/them mentality and an iron fist.
Dr. Larry Osborne has served as a Senior Pastor and Teaching Pastor at North Coast Church since 1980. He has helped oversee the growth of the church from a fledgling group of 128 meeting in a rented school, to a multi-site ministry that reaches over 10,000 in weekend attendance. Larry is also an author and a nationally recognized trainer of pastors. His books include: Thriving in Babylon, Accidental Pharisees, 10 Dumb Things Smart Christians Believe, Spirituality for the Rest of Us, Innovation's Dirty Little Secret, Sticky Church, Sticky Teams, The Unity Factor. In addition to his work as a pastor and writer, Larry also serves as an adjunct professor in the doctoral program at Trinity Evangelical Seminary and as president of the North Coast Training Network - an arm of North Coast Church dedicated to helping pastors across the country maximize their ministry. North Coast Church has been recognized as one of the ten most influential churches in America as well as one of the most innovative. Pioneers in the use of Video Worship Venues, North Coast launched the first ever Video Venue in 1998, starting what is now known in ministry circles as the "Multi-Site Movement." Each weekend, North Coast offers over 20 different worship options on multiple campuses - each targeted at a specific demographic or geographic audience. North Coast Church's Sermon-Based Small Groups take the weekend sermon and dig deeper into its application with a participation rate of 80% of the weekend adult attendance. It's a model that has spread across the nation as churches discover its power to both disciple and slam the back door shut. The church also has an extensive community outreach, averaging nearly two service projects a day throughout the year. In 2007 and 2008, they closed the doors for the largest weekend of service ever held by a single church. During a 48 hour span, over 5,000 members from North Coast Church fanned across the community to complete nearly 100 projects and over $1,000,000 in finished work. Larry holds both a Master of Divinity degree and a Doctorate from Talbot Theological Seminary. He and his wife Nancy live in Oceanside. They have three grown children.
