Browsing all posts in Spiritual Growth.

Stoked About Sunday?

So it’s tempting as we head into the weekend to say things like "so stoked about Sunday" or "so pumped about our next (fill in the blank for the service or event here). 
But why are we stoked?
Are we excited:

because we’re speaking?
because we organized the event?
because we’re trying to get or we have momentum?
because we’re trying [...]

The Math of Methods and Outcome

Most of us want to be good at what we do. Most of us would love a little more than that – we’d love to be great at what we do.
Think about this math.  If you’re going to get top 10% results, you’re probably not going to get them using the same methods that 90% [...]

Marathon (7): Persevere

Perseverance is highly underrated.  
I sometimes wonder if more than a few leaders who quit were one step away from a breakthrough right before they stepped back.  The temptation to quit is always strongest right before the critical breakthrough. 
To be honest with you, I think one of the reasons I’m still able to lead in [...]

Marathon (6) – Never Make Tomorrow’s Decisions Based on Today’s Emotions

 Life is emotional.  Very emotional.  
One of the worst mistakes you can make as a leader is to make tomorrow’s decisions based on today’s emotions.  

You send the drippingly sarcastic or angry email…and regret it the next morning. 
You are so hurt by the betrayal of a friend that you decide to close yourself off emotionally [...]

Marathon (5): Cultivate a Community of Accountability and Support

So let’s resume our blog series after a brief break (this is a marathon after all).
It’s the 2% that will kill you. 
This one’s huge friends.  Not cultivating a community of accountability and support is a great short cut to getting into serious moral trouble, losing your family, failing the people you lead or simply not [...]

Marathon (4): A Spiritual Walk that Has Little to Do With Work

Ministry might just be the perfect storm.
If you have a marketplace job, your life has some definable components: your work, your family and your personal life.   You might get up, spend some time with God, head off to work, come home and hang out with your family. 
In ministry, these worlds get fused.  You wake [...]

Marathon (3) – A Rhythm of Rest and Refuelling

I was terrible at this for years.  Rest was for people who just couldn’t handle a real workload.  If you went home at 4 p.m., it was because you really weren’t committed to the cause.
There was a strange justification that happened in the back of my mind that told me the harder I worked, the [...]

Marathon (2): Grieve Your Losses

Chances are you’ve had it happen before – you completely navigate a difficult situation and your friends ask "how do you stay so calm and composed when everyone’s losing it?"  You don’t really know the answer to that question, but you make something up and tell yourself you’re doing really well.
Then someone cuts into your [...]

Marathon (1) – Process Privately

You got into ministry or serving in a local church with a sense of calling and passion, and months or years later, the flame looks more like a pilot light.  Your passion is all but barely detectable and your cynicism is at a personal high.  
What happened?  The stories vary, but the bottom line is [...]

Marathon

Most of us start out in ministry with a burst of enthusiasm.  And enthusiasm can get you far.   In fact, it’s a great start in ministry.  But enthusiasm won’t get you to the finish line.
I’m haunted by the widely quoted statistic that over 15,000 pastors leave ministry each year.  (Whether that stat is accurate [...]