May 30, 2016
Let’s face it! We’ve all gotten in the church van, only to quickly find ourselves dodging the waves of odorous, left over McDonald’s bellowing from underneath a seat.
Wait! Here’s another one. Perhaps you had given yourself ample time to make the routine maintenance appointment for the van, only to find out that there was no fuel in it, thus making you late for the appointment.
Frustrating, right?
Well, take heart! We’ve all been there more than a time or two.
Here is a resource that we designed at New Destiny. Maybe it will help you!
#GoBeyondReason
May 23, 2016
Pastor,
When someone in your church passes to the next life there are a number of things that you and the family should consider, immediately after the death of a loved one.
The family may find themselves overwhelmed with the daunting tasks that lie ahead of them. Grief makes it difficult to focus on priorities and take action.
Here is a simple checklist for survivors to help them prioritize and keep track of what needs to be done immediately following their loved one’s death.
#GoBeyondReason
May 16, 2016
I am on a journey to become an organizational and technological ninja!
In the early 90s, it was the Day-Timer. You know, that dinosaur that we tried to convince everyone was our wallet. Well, at least I was guilty of such weak attempts. It kept all of our information like contacts and calendars organized, and it allowed us to take notes on the fly as long as we weren’t driving. Okay, at least I was never bold enough to attempt to drive and write at the same time. Then we evolved into an electronic version: the PDA.
When they were functional and believe it or not – fashionable, I had several PDAs. You know, that electronic device that functioned as a calendar, address book, notepad, etc. My favorite feature was Voice Pad. It was fierce! The PDA was my hero because my right arm was no longer as strong as my left due to lugging around that huge Day-Timer. Now I had a device on my hip that helped me manage life.
Raise your hand if you have a PDA now. As a matter fact, raise your hand if you have a Day-Timer. On second thought, you better not.
For the last several years, we have had these pocket wonders called smartphones, which possess every great invention known to mankind. Think about it, it has a phone, calendar, camera, recorder, computer, internet, iPod, radio, remote, and text messaging. The list goes on and on. And now, smartphones are killing off separate products–several of the aforementioned things are at the top of its list. “Smartphones are now being used like a digital ‘Swiss Army Knife’, replacing possessions like watches, cameras, books and even laptops,” said David Johnson, general manager of devices for O2 in the UK. Come to think of it, the camera and the “landline” telephone are on the verge of extinction as well because, the smart phone is in the process of choking the life out of their twitching bodies.
Ladies and gentleman, convergence is the word of the day. Many things are being replaced by one thing.
And as people, we too have come to this road of convergence as well. Leaders, executives, ministers, stay-at-home moms, and a host of others, are trying desperately to do all things. We cannot do all things well. So stop trying to. Do one thing!
I was going somewhere with this thought this morning: Are you accomplishing or achieving your purpose? Are you seeing results? Are you growing? Is there laser-like focus in your life?
If you are frustrated in life, which we have all been at some point or another, it’s probably because you’re distracted by many things rather than being focused on one thing.
You need to distill everything in life down to that one thing. What is that one thing that makes you tick? What is that one thing that makes life worth it all? What is that one thing that causes you to stop looking at the clock? Find that one thing and allow that to absorb you.
If you continue to dissipate your focus on “manyness,” you will in turn continue to frustrate yourself and possibly extinguish your fire for living. Stop blowing out the flame and begin to fan the flame by doing that one thing!
One of the most important features that frustrates me the most about cloud based solutions is synchronization. Trying to get the same information on all my devices sometimes fails. When that happens, it drives me crazy! In those moments when my information doesn’t sync, I feel as if I am in limbo. Appointments, commitments, tasks, reminders, and important data are not with me. Talk about the blind leading the blind. I feel lost. I feel out of sorts.
The same sorts of feelings grip us when we’re not syncing our lives to our one thing. #LetThatSinkIn
Every day we need to give much thought to the choices we have made that day. Since we are the sum of our choices, we must make sure that our choices sync with our one thing. We must sync our “being” and “doing”; that is, we must make sure our choices align with what God has called us to do.
It will take some time, but it’s easy to imagine the smartphone completely replacing the laptop for mobile use. We can listen to music, watch video, use the internet, and video chat. One day, desktop computers will be a relic–just like the typewriter.
Here is the irony of it all: These future phones will abandon the one thing that gave them their name to begin with, a phone.
Don’t become a relic, but continue to re-invent yourself by being relevant and making sure you are syncing to your one thing!
Share your thoughts with me. How do you stay connected to the one thing you knock out of the park?
#GoBeyondReason
May 9, 2016
We are all creatures of habit. Habits help us through our days and tend to be those things that do not require an extraordinary amount of mental or physical energy because of the degree of familiarity.
We have hundreds of habits! Many of which, we are totally unaware. There are good habits. Of course, there are bad habits.
Well, for everyone that is on a mission to make the most out of your life, I humbly submit that you consider developing another habit. I am sharing a weekly Monday practice with you, in hopes that it’ll add some value to you and yours.
Doing these things every Monday has helped me tremendously and it only takes 5 minutes tops!
- Once-over your tasklist. Whether you a full-time pastor, support pastoral staff, entrepreneur, volunteer soccer coach, stay-at-home parent, student, or corporate employee a tasklist brings organization to your life. Prioritize the things that must get done this week. You may need to purge some outstanding items that have already been completed or are no longer necessary. This is a great opportunity to empower someone else via delegation too.
- Calendar. What does your week look like? What appointments do you have this week? Any conferences coming up within the next month? When is your vacation? When is your family dinner? What about your personal devotion? All of this should be on your calendar.
- Goals. I realize we have life goals, however, these life goals are accomplished on a daily basis. Don’t forget about your short-term goals too. Goals are fulfilled in one simple word- grind! For those that are not well-versed in millennial lingo, you can substitute ground with the word discipline. Grind daily and you will fulfill your goals! Take time to figure out what goals you need to work on this week. Make sure that you are realistic and taking into consideration the season of life that you are in.
- Create. You know that great idea that you jotted down on that Starbucks napkin? C’mon, you remember the jolt of inspiration that coursed through your veins born from this revolutionary concept. It is time for that idea to get some traction, leaving the world of the abstract, entering the material realm. Schedule some time to work on this idea.
- Review. Take time out to assess what you’ve accomplished and what you’ve learned from the prior week. You may discover that you missed something.
Check out some suggested APPS for task management via APP Advice here. For quite some time, I used a white screen and a blinking cursor to manage my task list, however, for the past year I’ve used Apple’s Reminders and Evernote with much pleasure.
What APPS do you use for task management?
#GoBeyondReason
May 2, 2016
Risk! All of us are innately enamored and captured over the notion of abandoning all for the sake of a particular cause. The allure of conquering the unknown or fulfilling a dream is so intoxicating, that subsequent feelings of soaring ensue because we all want to accomplish our dream!
Surely, there are a number of things that can provoke risk taking, however, none impel risk taking like another four letter word. That word is love!
Where love is present, you’ll feel safe. If you know that you are loved, you will risk losing everything you own, because you are loved!
It is a leadership truth, that you will not grow, if you will not change. You will not change, unless you risk something. You will never risk, if you don’t feel loved (affirmed) or safe.
I have a friend, who had two opportunities available to him. In both instances, the position on the pastoral staff was the same. However, he decided to pursue the opportunity where affirmation and love, were obvious. In his words, he knew he would need a lot of attaboys.
Let me translate. He realized that his dreams needed to be in an environment of love (affirmation). This has stretched him greatly, over the last three years. The growth in his life, is almost immeasurable, however, he would’ve never taken certain risks along the way, had he not felt safe (loved).
Make sure that your ecosystem is one of love. If it isn’t, perhaps, it is time for a change.
“Churches where words of kindness and encouragement are plentiful have the aroma of life. I have walked into congregations and felt the health and joy that exist because of their culture of blessing. The opposite is also true.
Congregations and staffs that are filled with criticism, backbiting, and gossip have the stench of death. Wise leaders use their words to build up others and strategically create a culture of affirmation in the church. Although we may be tempted to be critical and negative, the antidote for this behavior is learning to bless.” – Kevin Harney, Leadership From The Inside Out
Isn’t it interesting that love takes place, when someone risks vulnerability?!?
Care to share some of your experiences?
#GoBeyondReason
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