Category Archives: Pastor

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3 Things You Missed In The Nativity

It is time to take another look at the nativity. One more look at the nativity will reveal three things that are easily overlooked.

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  1. Look At The Star – It Says, “God Wants Me To Find Him” – Matthew 2:9-10
    1. “ After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold the star that they had seen when it rose went before them and came to rest over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.”
    2. God is not playing the childhood game of “hide and seek!”
      1. “…Where is he who is born King of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and we have come to worship him.” V.2
    3. Where would I have been if I had not found the star? When you follow God you do not need a crowbar to be pried loose or a cattle-prod to be motivated!
      1. When you find God you will find your purpose
      2. God has provided a travel guide for you – your star of Bethlehem!
    4. God wants you to be a star for others – you are to be a star to lead others to Jesus. Your void and emptiness will never be filled without God!
  2. Look At The Stable – It Says, “God Wants Me To Know Him” – Luke 2:1-7
    1. Men of nobility found him. Shepherds found him. God wants us to find him. He provides celestial phenomena or angels singing in the heavens for the shepherds – bottom line – God want us to find him.
    2. When you stop long enough to think about it, the only people that had a difficult time in finding Jesus were religious people. They gave Him a lot of difficulty!
      1. Religious people always know how the church is to be run and how the preacher is to perform.
      2. Until we become broken over fruitless church activity, we should not talk about how the church is to function.
    3. Look at God – He passed up good people to get to bad people. He passed up well people to get to crippled people.
      1. His love is a “HESED” unconditional love for us.
    4. God says; “I do not want to do thrones – I want to do ‘cow-sheds!’”
  3. Look At The Manger – It Says, “God Wants Me To Be Blessed By Him” Luke 2:7
    1. The manger was most likely hewn out of stone and not wood. This represents longevity, free from rot and serious erosion, a symbol of blessing because food is provided there.
    2. Jesus is the Bread of Life and Living Water
      1. Here is the real meaning: God takes the extraordinary and places it in the ordinary because He wants to be accessible.
        1. We will never surprise God by our behavior.
        2. Religious people are always disappointed in God’s unconditional love.
    3. This is an IQ TEST: “Why would you not want a God who wants you to find Him, know Him, and bless you?”

 

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5 Mistakes in Goal Setting in 2015

A goal without a plan is just a wish! Have you heard this quote before? At this time of the year while we are in a full court press toward Christmas Day, many are thinking about what have they accomplished in 2014.164185866-300x300

Consider the following:

  • 95% of people who set weight loss goals will regain that weight
  • 1 out of 7 change their lifestyle habits after a heart attack
  • 25% of New Year’s resolutions are abandoned after 1 week
  • 60% of New Year’s resolutions fail after 6 months
  • People will make the same New Year’s resolution 10 times without success

I would suggest that traditional methods of goal setting is not working and lands in failure most of the time. So don’t feel bad because your goal setting effort is not working – you are using a method that is out-dated and broken.

I want to impress upon you first of all to consider the following 5 mistakes in setting goals. This will give clarity why some goals are destined to fail before you start. Simply stated our goal setting is based upon faulty premises and not solid thinking. Here are the 5 mistakes that you can make in goal settings:

Mistake #1 – Set your goal based upon what you know you can do. 

  • This is usually based upon what you have already done in the past. With this mind-set we stop playing to win and start playing to not loose.
  • At some point in life you have to get outside of your own “knowing” and enlarge your circle of understanding.
  • Nobody wakes up in the morning and declares to the world: “I want to be average today!”
  • CAUTION: The world does not care about how big your goals are. You will get “sucker punched!”

Mistake #2 – Set your goals based upon what you think you can do!

  • The problem here is that by the time you set your goals based upon your comprehension of the circumstances, the circumstances have changed. Your goals become irrelevant and outdated!
  • The whole world is in a state of change. Life is either blossoming or decaying.
  • If you are not in touch with this reality your goals may attempt to give life into a decaying market. Understand the world around you.
  • CAUTION: When your plan fails, you may find it hard to admit the mistake and you will tend to lower the expectations. You can over-obsess the plan and forget the goals!

Mistake #3 – Set your goals based upon knowing how to do something

  • If you declare that you do not know how to do something, you may quite because of the opinion of others. In this case OPINIONS WIN!!
  • Setting goals based upon knowing how to do something is not goal setting at all. It is a “TO-DO-LIST.”
  • Admit this to yourself: “I do not know how to do anything until I have done it the first time!”
  • CAUTION: Suspend the right to know how to do anything!

Mistake #4 –  Questioning whether you are worthy of the goal

  • Critical mistake!
  • You do not ask whether you are worthy of the goal. You ask whether the goal is worth me trading my life for?
  • Re-evaluating our life from time to time is not a dress rehearsal on life as though there is something else. This is the show – every minute of every day of every year. There are no dress rehearsals! Make TODAY COUNT!
  • CAUTION: There are no rewind buttons on life!

Mistake #5 – You believe that the purpose of the goal is the goal

  • The purpose of any goal is not the acquisition of things as a result of the goal achieved.
  • The purpose of any goal in life is to BECOME! Grow into and become God’s maximum expression of your created talents and abilities every day and in every place.
  • The purpose of goal setting is to discover first what you LOVE! This leads to a life of MEANING! This leads to fulfilling your PURPOSE!
  • CAUTION: God does not make LOOSER’S!

OK, now that I have that off of my chest – I am guilty on all counts. However, I made some significant changes in my life a number of years ago to set meaningful goals based upon what I love and not what I want to GET!

Leave a comment or voice message. I would be interested in your thoughts.

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The Science of Goal Setting in 3 Steps for 2015

I am a huge fan of setting goals for my life. Early in my college days I had a professor who repeated a 1,000x (it felt like it) the mantra; “If you don’t know where you are going, any road will take you there!” or  t4_265695425.octet-stream“If you aim at nothing, you will hit it everytime!” I can still hear Dr. Barcalow speaking even now as I type this blog.

While I do not ever remember hearing about the science of goal setting, I am learning there is quite a bit of writing about this topic. There have been major developments in the field of neuroscience that aids in our comprehension of behavior and achievement. While the volume of the book could be wrote on this topic I will limit myself to 3 key elements in establishing goals as we prepare for 2015.

GOAL #1 – Set BHAG Goals ( Big Hairy Audacious Goals)

The science of goal setting  would indicate there is a relationship between big goals and performance. Said another way, the bigger the goal the more apt we are to attempt the goal. According to Kerr and LePelly as quoted in the book; New Developments in Goal Setting & Task Performance, that bigger goals tend to generate sustained enthusiasm  and higher levels of performance. So as you think about 2015 – set the goal higher than anything you have attempted before. As long as you are committed to the goal, you might surprise yourself in what you are capable of accomplishing. When was the last time you thought of something for the first time?

GOAL #2 – Big Goals – Big Performance

Big goals are better than “to-do-lists” because these lists are vague. A to-do-list does not define what is effective, so we are left with more questions than answers. So here are four steps that assist in the accomplishment of big goals and big performance.

  • Big goals orient a person toward big accomplishments and away from the irrelevant.
  • Big goals activate a persons knowledge base on how this goal will be accomplished.
  • Big goals lead a person to work harder at a task than something that is vague.
  • Big goals require feed-back from key people to assess performance and accomplishment at key points in the journey.

GOAL #3 – Journal The Journey

If you cannot articulate your goals in written form, then you are probably day-dreaming. The science of goal setting suggests that by writing your goals out you are 42% more likely to succeed. When something is written it brings clarity and focus in a way that no other exercise can provide. Dr. Gail Matthews suggests those who share their written goals  with trusted friends increase their likelihood of success even more.

Leave your comments about setting goals. Do you try anymore? What are some of your goals for 2015 – I will go first.

 

 

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Stay “Mission True”

Remaining true to your life mission personally and organizationally is the greatest challenge of our time. Rapid changing IMG_5705-1280x853environments are forcing decisions that may or may not allow organizations and individuals to stay on task with guiding mission principles. In terms of the religious world of North America, Thomas Rainer reports from his research that 90% of churches are loosing ground in their communities. He reports that it takes 86 church members to gain one person for Christ in a 12 month period. Yes, there is pressure! Yes, drifting is a real possibility! However, drifting is not inevitable!

I would suggest three truths to keep you and your organization missionally true!

  1. Remaining mission true is built on knowing why you and your organization exists. This begins with a comprehensive understanding of the historical journey that has brought you to this time and place. Celebrating victories and learning from failures. This journey of comprehension gives you the ability to articulate the reason for existence.
  2. Remaining mission true differentiates between means from mission. In other words you need to know personally and organizationally what is immutable/unchangeable! Gains can have compromise attached to it – will you choose the gain and sacrifice the mission? You must settle where you will budge and where you will absolutely STAND!
  3. Remaining mission true only changes when the core is strengthened. To remain mission true does not imply that you become stagnant. Change is eagerly embraced when it strengthens the core reason for existence and thereby allowing expansion for the right reasons. Expediency forces poor choices that can lead to drift.

Andy Stanley, pastor of North Point Community Church states that we should be stubborn about the vision. Be flexible with your plans – strategies and timelines are always up for grabs. Remaining mission true always begins with understanding purpose. Defending the purpose becomes the chief responsibility in your life and for the board member of any organization.

What are your thoughts? Have you been part of mission drift personally or with an organization? How did you recover? Leave an comment or voice message. I will respond to your comments.

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6 Keys For Successful Ministry

Every Minister is looking for the right KEY to unlock the door to success in their church. keyyyysThomas Rainer recently reported on the state of the North American church and Christianity 2014. He stated that 72% of people surveyed do not believe that the church is an institution that influences the American culture.  Within the next 12 months 50,000 churches will look for a new leader and 4,000 churches will close their doors permanently. WOW!

So that we do not miss the obvious – there are no short-cuts to success! However, there are six keys that will lead to successful ministry and a fulfilled life of ministry. These six keys are:

  1. You do not GROW in a day but grow daily – You have to be willing to invest in yourself before you invest in others. You cannot lead anyone or church beyond your THINKING! Question: “How would your effectiveness change if you sacrificed dollars spent on a hobby or entertainment?”
  2. Connecting the world we hope for to the world as it is – The minister lives between these two tensions. If I have hope only in this life I am among men most miserable, the biblical writer states. Yet the reality is we do live in this world! Engage this world with a message that challenges beliefs and hopes – raise expectations to a preferred world to come. Our primary goal is persuasion.
  3. Think strategically – this assumes that you have a vision and mission for your ministry and that you know how to excite others about this vision and mission. What is the vision for your community? What are the missional action steps to accomplish it? If you do not know where you are going, any road will take your there!
  4. Build a legacy NOW – Start writing your obituary today on how you want to be remembered. You must be INTENTIONAL and PURPOSEFUL in this area of life. Do not let others write your legacy – It is your life!
  5. Understand your community – What organizations and  individuals can you connect with to make a difference in your community. How do these connect? Consider joining the Chamber of Commerce. This is a great way to connect with all levels of the community to see the linkages and connections.
  6. Focus your energy – With the noise of our world begging for a piece of our time, you must be disciplined and stay focused on the BEST and surrender the good! Stay true to your calling in life.

Your definition of success is different from others. However, these keys are universal and they affect the outcomes of leadership. You can ignore these keys, but you cannot ignore the pain when failing to heed them. I would love to hear your thoughts. LEAVE a comment below, share your thoughts. Let us learn together!

 

 

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Netflix Vs. Church

I have noticed recently a number of articles that have been written NetflixBuilding4about the business model of Netflix and how they have dominated the live-streaming entertainment business. They shut-down Blockbuster. We are watching a rearrangement of cultural desires and patterns of life taking place before our eyes. We are given front-row access to this shift in our culture. So what does Netflix have to do with the church? Is there anything that we can take away from this cultural shift that is occurring?

I do believe there are some take-aways from the business model of Netflix and how it is impacting every aspect of our culture. Here are a few observations.

  • We consume content on our terms – think about that for just a moment. Live-sports venues are about the only time that someone else’s schedule is OK with us. Otherwise technology has given us options of when, how, and whose content, commercial free, we will even listen to. Also we have the capacity to stop and start content so that it fits our rhythm of life.
    • There are two subcategories that emerge – one being that our traditional time-slots for doing church is up against the flexibility of people’s lives. Secondly, evidence seems to point out that relationships and mission are going to be more important than singing and preaching in the coming years.
  • Content consumption is personal – technology allows content to be available on multiple platforms and devises. I may start content consumption on my computer, continue in  my car’s bluetooth capacity, and conclude it at Starbucks on my phone.
    • With this new freedom people consume religious content in much the same way – multiple platforms and time schedules.
    • Also there is a great opportunity to call people to a higher purpose. Mission focused, mission driven churches will draw people who are longing for something bigger and more significant than themselves.
  • People pay for content they do not use, until one day they won’t – It is an interesting phenomena  currently. People are paying for cable television they do not watch because it does not fit their life-style rhythm. Until one day people, just like me, decide to stop paying for something that does not meet the need any longer. Netflix has changed the playing field on content consumption.
    • I have noticed a shift in just recent years on church attendance patterns from people that I call stable solid Christians. The freedom to consume content and the various platforms on which it will be consumed gives people new choices that did not exist.
    • Could it be that if our church only offers minimal set times to consume religious content that we may wake up and realize that people may not keep something that is not used that often.
    • If the churches content is that good, then we need to discover multiple ways to make available that content, yet while challenging people to purposes that are bigger than themselves.

I have declared for years that the way we do church today is not the way church will be done at the end of time. I know that our traditions are sacred to us and we are willing to stand up and be heard. I will say that the changing perceptions of the church and the changing patterns of life  should force a new dialogue on what is the main reason for the churches existence? That is a question for future blog posts.

Leave a comment below or use the voice message at the right. Let me know what you think on this subject. Consider your own patterns of content consumption and see if things have not already changed in your life. Let’s talk!