I read 20 books in the 1st quarter. Some of it was great, and some of it wasn’t worth the paper it was printed on. But I thought I’d give what I felt were the highlights: 1. Smart Couples Finish Rich by David Bach 2. Writing Tools by Roy Clark 3. The Success Principles by Jack Canfield 4. Hire and Keep the Best People by Brian Tracy 5. The Aladdin Factor by Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen Happy Reading!
What Do You Know about Meat?
I was at a steakhouse on Monday night picking up some take out and the guy at the bar asked me, “What’s the difference between Pittsburgh and Char-grilled?” At first I was in a state of shock, thinking, “You work at a steakhouse. You should really be familiar with all things meat related!” But then I realized that he was a bartender and what he knows is… well, tending bar. It did make me think about something: people who come to our churches expect every staff member to be fully versed in all things about God. It doesn’t mean every … Read More
Questions
There’s a question I asked in the message yesterday that seemed to get a lot of traction in the hearts of people. I was speaking in reference to change, and I asked, “How would the person you want to become handle this?” This is a question I ask myself regularly. “How would the leader, Pastor, father, husband, friend I want to become handle this situation?” I believe if we starting acting the way we answer that question, we’d eventually become that person.
Sunday Stuff… (Monday Edition)
– Without the help of the Easter Squirrel, Sunday went great! – I am loving teaching 3 times on Sunday. – Band was great. I’m amazed at how many solid musicians we have. – Spring Break hurt us today. I’m hoping it doesn’t carry over too much into next weekend. – We still had a lot of first time guests! That was great! – Our set up guys are amazing! Their commitment is inspiring! – I love our “I AM” series. Teaching some of the names of God has been good for our church. – I’m looking forward to our … Read More
Summaries
I like to read. I believe leaders should be readers and that reading is one of the main vehicles to our development. My goal this year is to read 80 books. But since there’s so much more to read that I may never get to, I like to read book summaries also. What I love about summaries is they will give you a 200-page book in 8 pages. They eliminate most of the stories and just give you the big ideas. I like to read summaries of books I’ve already read as a refresher of the big ideas. Anyway, here’s … Read More
How Much Yellow?
I color code my message notes and the color I use for scriptures that I’m going to read is yellow (I don’t know why I picked yellow, I just did). One of the things I look at each week before getting up in front of the church is, “How much yellow am I sharing?” I love sharing stories and I feel storytelling is one of my giftings, but I want to always have plenty of yellow on my pages as I communicate.
Everything is Spiritual
I Watched Rob Bell’s Everything is Spiritual the other night. Absolutely phenomenal! Rob spoke for over an hour with no notes, recited Genesis 1 from memory. and recited a lot of technical info without so much as a reference sheet. Rob is a master communicator that we could learn a lot from. Rob walked us through the creation story, gave us a great science lesson, and then brought it back to what the meaning of all it was. I was challenged, encouraged, moved, educated, and entertained (I appreciate not being bored) by his presentation. I would highly recommend that you … Read More
Post # 1,000!
This is post # 1,000 for me! When I first started blogging 2 1/2 years ago, I didn’t think it would be as much fun as it has been! I saw myself approaching 1,000 posts and I started to think about how things have changed since I started blogging. Here are my thoughts: 1. The content has changed from “This is what I think” to “This is what I’m learning”. I think this is healthy. 2. Blogging is finally getting some respect. We can thank guys like Seth for that. 3. I’ve gotten to know a lot of guys through … Read More
Book Review: The Aladdin Factor
I have been recommended The Aladdin Factor several times by friends and just finally got to reading it. Let me say, I loved it! I liked it so much I bought the audio and went through it again! The book is about learning how to ask. Most Pastors struggle with asking. We struggle asking people to serve, to be committed, to give, or to sacrifice. This book really helped me get to some of the core of why I don’t like asking. It was a fun read. I really enjoy Canfield and Hansen’s style of writing. Here’s a few good … Read More
Sunday Stuff…
– Today was absolutely amazing! – The numbers were just under 1,000! Awesome! – Lots of people said yes to Jesus. Lots of first time guests. – We did 3 services for the 1st time. I loved it. – 3rd service was completely overflowing! – It was also the weirdest day in the history of our church – We lost power at 8:30AM and never got 100% power back. – Why you ask? A squirrel. I’ll tell that story later. – Our volunteers were unbelievable! – I really believe there was a special anointing of this Easter. It’s so exciting … Read More