Great article from Rick Warren! Not earth-shattering, but definitely things I needed to read this morning to be more organized and motivated for ministry!

1. Put your plans on paper.
2. Break big tasks into small steps.
3. Decide where you want to start.
4. Establish check points to track your progress.
5. Start on the task whether you feel like it or not.
6. Remind yourself of the benefits of completing the task.
7. Do a small part right now.
8. Be optimistic.
9. Establish an action environment.

I really gleaned a lot from number 7 and especially number 9 (if you’ve every seen my desk and office before!).

He talks about a “game” he plays to get started and do things he doesn’t want to do called the “Five Minute Game.”

Get started! Don’t stall. I play a game with myself all the time called The Five-Minute Game. When I have a big topic or task I need to do, I just say, “I don’t want to do this, but I’ll give it five minutes.” Once I get started, it doesn’t seem like such a big deal anymore.

I absolutely needed to hear number 9 and I am working diligently on that step as I get settled in (finally) to my new office here in Belle Glade! I hope to have a lot more progress in getting the “file cabinet” off of my desk soon! Here is what he says…BOLD is my emphasis…

Create a place in your office where you can get all of your tools together for your task. If you’re preparing a sermon, find a place to get your Bible and your study aids all within reach. You need an environment where you can focus on the task at hand. I clear everything off the desk when I’m going to study because I don’t want to focus on anything else.

I’ve noticed some people use their desks as file cabinets. They say it is because they don’t want to forget what is there. But that’s the problem! You sit down to prepare a sermon and you see your phone list or a book you’ve wanted to read and, suddenly, you’ve drifted off task.

Success comes from focusing on one thing at a time. Clear off your desk. Make a to-do list so you won’t forget what you’ve taken off of your desk. Put a tickler file on your desk of stuff you need to look at every day, but then, when you pull it out and look through it, always put it back – so it won’t distract.

I have to figure out a better workflow as well with my “virtual desk”–my laptop and my phone. I am working on a system of responding to email so I don’t get pulled away from important things by a “ding” advertising for the next best thing…or even worse…an invitation to a Facebook game! I have moved away also from Tweet Deck and Hoot Suite for the same reason–FOCUS. I can be totally rolling along on my message or an email message and that little sounds lures me away on a 5,10,15 minutes excursion of ADHD bliss!! Squirrel! See what I mean? I will open up Hoot Suite on my phone when I have a down time every now and then, but I simply can’t make that work with my personality right now. It’s not that it doesn’t fit with my distracted personality, it is just that it fits TOO WELL with my distraction prone personality for me to get any good level of productivity.

The main problem I have is that it is much like diet and exercise–there is DISCIPLINE involved in setting up these workflows for productivity. I can set up the workflow, but if I don’t have the discipline to use the workflow; I’ve just wasted a lot of time setting up a system that doesn’t help me, but hurts me in the end.

So tell me, how do you stay motivated and on task in your work? What things have worked for you? Not worked?

9 Ways to Stay Motivated for Ministry.

Check out this pilot’s story of the 9/11 tragedy. It is a powerful testimony and God-honoring. Well worth the 15 minutes for sure!

The college football season just started last weekend with a bang. The Glades Day School Gators had their first home game last Friday night. And Taylor boy had his first several tackle football practices this week. It is going to be a great time for him…and me as an assistant coach. (Huge difference between assistant coach and head coach, for sure!) Oh, and the Rolling Stones are rolling along again starting tonight! We are headed for another season as a perinial cellar-dweller in my fantasy league with friends from SW MO. Here are some pics of Taylor’s first practice in full pads! He is so grown up!! Amazing!

I have been told by many people that “leaders are learners” and that “if you stop learning, you stop leading effectively.” I am embarking on a year long journey that I have been wanting to do for many years now–I joined a coaching network for senior pastors. I have been kicking around going back to school and get a Doctorate in Ministry, but the cost and distance learning would be prohibitive at this time. So, an online tele-coaching network really fit the bill for me.

I am really excited about how God is going to use this network to stretch me and make me a better leader! I believe that I am really in the prime of my ministry life right now and I want to “sharpen the ax” to get the most out of these years on into the end of my ministry career. I know that I have so much to learn about how to be an effective leader, pastor, and follower of Christ.

The format of the coaching network is a monthly ninety minute teleconference call where Nelson Searcy coaches us senior pastors (I don’t know how many are actually in the network). After the call, we are required to turn in our notes as homework as well as do a lot of reading and work through several resources each month.  There is also a mid-month Q & A phone call to help us apply what we are learning. I am really excited about the one day, on site visit, where we get to meet with and learn face to face from Nelson.

I chose this particular coaching network because of it’s focus on Church Health and Church Systems. Much like the body has many systems that (when healthy) make us grow and thrive; the body of Christ has systems that when healthy help the church grow to her full potential. This systems approach is so nice because it can be used anywhere in any ministry context or community. Belle Glade, to say the least, is a very different ministry context that even a few miles to the east or west on the coasts of South Florida; so I am excited to be able to apply the principles of this systems approach to our context at First Belle Glade. I think we are going to see the benefits of me being in this network very quickly here in Belle Glade at this church. It really believe it is a win/win for me and the church to both grow over the next year like we have never grown before.

So tell me, what are you doing to grow in your life right now? In what areas?

Here is a great article on how you can get involved in Disaster Relief. We are entering the heart of the hurricane season around here in South Florida and just missed Hurricane Irene. However, millions of people were not so lucky as she moved north along the Atlantic Coast. I pray for our friends and neighbors who are picking up the pieces today after a horrific weekend of storms. May we take and apply some of these principles and make a difference after these events. We may have a few more major storms come through this season…remember Hurricane Wilma came through Belle Glade very late in the season.

Ed Stetzer – How to Get Involved in Disaster Relief: Helping Before and After a Disaster.

We have our first day of school under our belts down here in South Florida! Taylor said he had “the best first day ever!” That is funny if you know our tender-hearted Taylor. He cried on his first day in Ozark and Carthage in all four grades, “just because mom cried and I didn’t want her to be alone.”

Tuck walked into Kindergarten like he owned the place. His teacher stuck out her hand to shake his hand and he kind of high fived her….classic. Here are some pics from yesterday.

I guess it always pays to be on time from coming back at lunch at The Summit.  We missed a huge announcement yesterday from Bill Hybels on the withdrawal of Howard Shultz from the schedule of the Summit because of an online petition claiming Willow Creek is “anti-gay.” I felt like Hybel’s response was one of the best responses I have heard in a long time concerning homosexuality and the Church.

Patrick Lencioni was amazing as a last minute fill in talking about being vulnerable in leadership.  He broke out principles from his latest book called “Getting Naked.” Looks like a great book for sure!

Here is Hybel’s graceful announcement/response to the last couple of weeks.  Total class act!

I really liked what Ed Stetzer wrote on his blog concerning the announcement.  Here is a portion:

Much could be said here, but let me briefly suggest five principles to consider about the issue of homosexuality and evangelical churches:

1. The issue is not going away and you cannot ignore it or seek to downplay your views.
2. The culture sees this as a “justice” issue– Christians discriminating on the basis of immutable characteristics.
3. Though it is easy to make the case (in the church) that homosexual practice is incompatible with scripture, it will be exceedingly difficult case to make in today’s culture.
4. Building bridges and showing grace and love is needed, lacking, and essential when dealing with people with different views and values.
5. At the end of the day, all evangelicals (including centrist evangelicals like those at Willow Creek) will still have to deal with an issue that the world perceives as narrow and bigoted.

Pray for Willow as they are in the media this week– that they will make much of Jesus, will continue to stay true to the scriptures, and will show grace in the process.

Ed Stetzer – Willow Creek, Homosexuality, and the Future of Evangelical Response.

I have been going to the Leadership Summit since way back in the 90s while I was in seminary. It has always been an awesome time of learning and the Lord always seems to speak to me in buckets. I am praying that this year is no different as I head to West Palm Beach to attend the simulcast with my new staff. I am really excited about hearing from the Lord as well as learn from these great leaders.

Here is the highlights from last year’s Summit.  It was absolutely amazing and came during a really crucial time in my life as well as a very difficult time in my life.

One of my favorite speakers from last year was Jeff Manion. God really used him mightily to hang in there and push through a very difficult time in my life and ministry. I am grateful that I pushed through and God has brought us here to South Florida to help the Church in Belle Glade. I say “Church” in capital letters, because the revival is not going to break out in just one church, but in the entire “Church” here in the Glades. I prayed this morning with a group of pastors in this town for revival to come and it start with us individually as well as in our churches.

I wonder which person, talk, or phrase God is going to use the next two days to lead me in this next season? We will see!

Hopeful!

We are getting our oil changed at Jiffy Lube as we are gearing up for our move to Florida. I hate coming to a place like this because they high pressure sale you to death in front of everybody else in the lobby. I feel a lot like Jerry Seinfeld and this conversation…classic! “See this gasket…I have no confidence in that gasket!” Awesome!!

Today is Jenny and my 16th wedding anniversary! Where has the time gone? We are going to have to celebrate after we get down to Florida as we are busy in moving and getting ready to head down this next week.

I am so thankful to Jesus for Jenny’s friendship and support for all these years! I am blessed!