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Balance

Most Pastors are looking for balance. We want to balance ministry and family. We want to balance our preaching between evangelistic sermons and discipleship sermons. We want to balance our study time with time for staff.

Here's where I think the problem lies: We look for balance in too small of a time period. We want each day to be balanced and when it's not we beat ourselves up. What I'm learning is to view balance not from day to day, but from season to season. How balanced have I been this month? If I'm out of whack, then I need to make adjustments for next month. The beauty of having a preaching calendar that you plan in advance is you get to look at your year and say, "Where am I being too light? What do I need to emphasize more?"

For too long I sought balance in one 24-hour period. Unfortunately, life doesn't work that way. Ministry flows in seasons. So I just go with it.

Book Review: The One Minute Manager Meets the Monkey

I needed to read this book! The One Minute Manager Meets the Monkey is a short little book, but it hits hard! This is a great book for leaders who love to get involved in way more than they should. This book challenges managers to get out of the way and stop being the bottleneck so their staffs can do what they're called to do.

I am guilty of taking on many a monkey in my ministry (monkeys being projects or tasks that really belong to someone else). I was really challenged by this book to keep my nose out of things that don't concern me and to let my staff handle things without me. Sometimes I give my opinion, not because it's needed, but because I want to give it. What that does is slow down the process of what needs to happen. The book as an easy read and I recommend it.

Here's a couple of great quotes:

"The best way to develop responsibility in people is to give them responsibility."

"Practice hands-off management as much as you can and hands-on management as much as necessary."

"Things not worth doing are things not worth doing well."

10 Things Churches Could Learn from Disney

I was at Disney World last week and as usual was blown away by the level of excellence they have to create a great experience for all their guests. I noticed 10 things churches could learn from them:

1. No beeping - Driving on the Disney property is an amazing experience. No one beeps. It showed me that when people are happy, they get along :)
2. Nothing is more important to people than their kids - I'm amazed at the lines people will stand in and the overpriced food they will eat all for their kids. I wonder what would happen if churches really took children's ministry seriously.
3. They make feeling special common - The cast members at Disney made us feel special every day we walked on the park. They were so kind to my daughter and gave her stickers. It doesn't seem like a big deal, but it was so nice and made us feel as though we were the most important there.
4. Intentionally Creating experiences - Disney thinks through every part of the experience (music, decor, lighting, etc...) in their parks, hotels, and restaurants.
5. Going out of their way in special circumstances - We went to a Disney restaurant and it was totally booked, but they had a cancellation and got us in without us waiting even 5 minutes! That's how you create raving fans!
6. Committed staff is tied to a big vision - They can't create a great experience without a staff that's committed to executing that vision.
7. Constant change is accepted when people think the change will be better - I was amazed by the number of things that were getting remodeled (Ghiradelli's chocalote was one of them). But they have proven over and over again that when they change things it's always better.
8. They know the little things are what get remembered - Every time I leave Disney it's 4-5 little things that bring me back. The big things matter, but it was little conversations with cast members and my daughter meeting the Little Einsteins that I'll reminder.
9. If they can't do it with excellence they don't do it - Disney doesn't do anything halfway. If they can't bring it 100%, they don't bother doing it.
10. They make you want to come back - Disney has a 90% retention rate! Talk about great assimilation!

If you've never read Be Our Guest, let me encourage you to pick it up! It's a fantastic read that explains the Disney magic!

Sunday Stuff...

- It felt great to be back teaching!
- My voice was a little sore afterwards, but it feels good now
- I felt as though I had been gone forever and I only missed last weekend
- Taught on "YHWH-Shalom" today. I wanted to call the message "Serenity Now!", but I went in another direction :)
- I ran out of gas on Friday, which wasn't fun.. but telling the story today made it worth it :)
- Finishing up our "I AM" series next week. I'm teaching on healing. I've never taught a message on the subject, so I'm excited!
- On Mother's Day we're kicking off a new series called, "Frequency:Learning to Hear God's Voice". I am so excite about this series of teachings! I've wanted to teach this for months!
- I'm having the most fun at Calvary Fellowship since we started our church! God is doing great things and I'm honored to be part of it!

Why You Need a Coach

Over the last 18 months I've been involved in a Senior Pastor's coaching network that has been a huge blessing in my life. Honestly, I didn't even know things like this existed before I signed up.

But this experience has been a huge blessing to me and the church I'm honored to lead. Here's the truth: everyone needs a coach. Tiger Woods is the greatest golfer on the planet and he has a coach. Why? Because we all have room to grow. I don't know a Pastor that couldn't benefit from a season of coaching.

What would happen ? Here's 5 benefits:

#1 - A Bigger Vision - One of the benefits I didn't expect from coaching as a building of my faith. I believed if God did it somewhere else, He could do it in my areas as well. My faith was built up.

#2 - A Better Leader - Before God grows your church, He wants to grow the leader. Coaching forces you to grow by reading, listening, and interacting with other leaders God is using for the Kingdom.

#3 - A Blessed Church - I believe that the church is blessed and healthy when it is balanced around God's purposes. Coaching allowed me to see where my church was unbalanced and fix it.

#4 - A Breakthrough Season - We were stuck when I 1st started in a coaching network. Thankfully, God has allowed us to break the 500 barrier and march towards 750 boldly. But I believe had it not been for an outside coach looking at our church, we'd still be stuck.

#5 - A Broader Perspective - Being around 12-15 other Pastors allows you to hear about what God is doing in other parts of the country. Some of the best ideas/ solutions I've gotten have come over lunch talking to another leader that's part of the coaching network with me.

I'm looking forward to co-leading with my friend Nelson in his Tampa network. I'm excited to invest in leaders in the same ways someone invested in me.

Just a Couple of Sox Fans...

New Blogger to put on your radar!

I never thought I'd live to see it, but my friend Nelson Searcy is blogging! Great content so far (especially his latest post :)

As you may know, Nelson has been very instrumental in my life over the last 2 years or so. His resources and coaching have stretched me and challenged me to think differently about church and ministry.

So add him to your bloglines or google reader or however you read blogs. This is quickly going to become a top blog in the church world.

Book Review: The Blessed Life

Absolutely fantastic! That's my review of Robert Morris' book, "The Blessed Life". I couldn't put it down. It is one of the best books I've ever read on the subject of stewardship. I was totally challenged in reading it. I was inspired to trust God more. I was grateful for how God has blessed my life.

There are so many quotes that rocked my world. Here's a few:

"No one is a natural born giver. We are all born takers."

"The days of the blessed person are filled with divine "coincidences" and heavenly meaning."

"God doesn't need you to give - you need to be blessed."

"True tithing comes from the heart - not from a legalistic mindset."

"The only people who get offended when you preach on money are those who don't give!"

"People who have the gift of giving respond to a strong vision with clear objectives."

"God is not going to give us more money if we can't even be faithful with the money He has already given."

"Jesus is into rewarding stewardship!"

There's probably 200 more gems that I underlined. But hopefully this will be enough to cause you to pick up the book. I'm going to buy several copies of this book and give them out! You'll want to do the same! Buy it!

Sunday Stuff...

- Not much for me this weekend.
- I wasn't in church today. I'm still fighting my bought with Bronchitis. I'm getting better, but I still can't really talk.
- Mark taught today and my sources tell me he did a great job.
- He was having issues with his voice after the 3rd service. Doing 3 back-to-back-to-back with very little time in between is a challenge.
- But it's causing me to think about taking care of my voice better and strengthening my vocal chords.
- I did watch some TV preachers. I don't understand how people who can go to church stay home. It's beyond me.
- Looking forward to hanging with some Pastors in NC this week. Should be fun.
- Doing a lot of reading and listening while laying on the couch. But I'm starting to go nuts! I need to get back in the action :)

Book Review: Leadership Gold

I try to read just about everything John Maxwell writes. His books have helped me so much in my development as a leader. I've had my staff reads many of his books as well as I have sought to develop them to their fullest potential as leaders. Leadership Gold is the best book John has written since The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. It was packed with great quotes, insights, and wisdom that had me thinking long after the chapter was done. I also liked the format: 26 pieces of wisdom in short, 5-7 page chapters. I highly recommend this this book. I would encourage you to buy this book for yourself and for those on your team.

Here's a few of my favorite quotes:

"Walk slowly through the crowd."

"Good leaders are like tour guides."

"The defining moments of leaders can have a dramatic effect on others."

"When you're out in front of the crowd, everything you do attracts attention."

"Some leaders are like seagulls. When something goes wrong, they fly in, make a lot of noise, and crap all over everything." :)

"We attract who we are, not what we want."

"You can't define reality if you won't face reality."

Anyway, I have 100 more of these, but this should be enough to motivate you to pick up the book.