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Monthly Archives: July 2011

5 Ways to Find Fresh Ideas

29 Jul

Sometimes even the most creative people get stuck in a rut and feel like they’re all out of fresh ideas. As a pastor/preacher/communicator/blogger here are a few things I do to stoke the coals of creativity:

1. Listen to Someone Else. This can be the most helpful to me. Hearing someone else preach/teach inspires and motivates. Often times, it’s not just the words, but the passion, style and delivery that also help to open my eyes.

2. Read a Book By a New Author. Don’t just stick to those you know best or always agree with. Pick up something controversial. It may be time to get off the well worn paths and venture a little deeper into the unexplored woods around you.

3. Stick With What You Know. The best sermons/messages flow out of life experiences and challenges. What have you been struggling with? What’s been on your mind? How has God used you to help someone else lately? What are the stories you’ve heard recently that have stuck with you?

4. Change Company. Maybe it’s time to get a new perspective by spending time with some new people (or people you just don’t know as well).

5. Get Out Of Town. New geography often inspires new creativity. Maybe it’s time for a change in scenery.

 
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Posted by on July 29, 2011 in Leadership, Preaching

 

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6 Steps to Take When Stymied In Self-Doubt

28 Jul

Recently, the problem of self-doubt has come up in a number of conversation I’ve had with friends. Self-doubt can be a crippling and debilitating form of fear that keeps us from fulfilling God’s plan for our life and from realizing the dreams He has put in our hearts. Obviously, I’ve had (like everyone else in the world) had my battles with self-doubt. Here are a few things I’ve learned through the years that have helped me overcome when I feel stymied by self-doubt:

1. Others have faced this same problem and felt these same feelings. Too often, we tend to think that no one else has ever felt this way before. Just because it’s new to our own personal experience, doesn’t mean it’s new to the human race. Thinking outside oneself always helps to bring perspective.

2. A failure doesn’t make me a failure. Or put another way, ‘Failure is not final’. The reality is, in life, we actually learn more from our loses than from our victories. It’s important to have the mindset, ‘try and try again’.

3. The process is just as important as the goal. God’s works in the process. He molds our character, trust in him and teaches us about ourselves and others.With God, the end never justifies the means!

4. If it’s God will for my life, he will give me the grace to succeed. “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.” (Phil. 4:13)

5. Potential never accomplished anything for the Kingdom of God. We must be strong, courageous and confident in the power of the Holy Spirit and push aside all of our personal excuses.

6. Talk to someone’s who been there. There’s nothing like hearing the story of someone who has faced the same challenge and been successful. Get their advice. Ask them to stand in your corner. Enlist them as a personal cheerleader for you.

 
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Posted by on July 28, 2011 in Leadership

 

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6 Reasons Why I Love Our Internship Program

27 Jul

About five years ago, we began and Internship Program at VALLEY Christian Church that has produced some incredible results for our church family. As a result, I currently have three staff members that were interns and have another intern waiting in the pipeline. Here are six reasons I love our internship program:

1. Internships allow us to identify potential “homegrown” staff members in the church before hiring them. There is a distinct difference between “homegrown” staff and hiring someone from the outside. Someone who is homegrown has already “bought in” to the mission and passion of the church and ministry. Someone who is hired from the outside is looking for a job first, and this often results in a hireling rather than a heartfelt calling connected to our specific church.

2. Internships allow us to cultivate the gifts, talents and abilities of those who may sense a call of God on their life for ministry, but lack confidence or experience. No matter what it is in life, confidence is key. Internships allow us to “coach up” potential staff and give them confidence in the abilities and talents God has given them. It also creates a “safe” environment where interns can try, fail, succeed and learn.

3. Internships allow us to give an intern a real taste of what ministry is like. It serves to give the intern a realistic picture of the “nuts and bolts” of ministry (which is difficult to see from the outside looking in) before blindly making the leap.

4. Internships allow us to decide as a church staff, “This is not the right time or person for this position” without there being hard feelings. It’s also a trial basis for the intern who can decide, “This is not for me”, as well. The cost is just too high to have a bad hire. I’ve had my share, and it is just too painful for a congregation to go through. Internships help to minimize much of the risk when it comes to hiring.

5. Internships allow us to fully engage in the Great Commission (Matt. 28:18-20), as it is the closest thing I know of, to the discipleship process Jesus himself modeled. Jesus never asked someone to become a Christian, he asked them to deny everything in this life, follow him and become a disciple.

6. Internships allow us to invest in the future of our church. The most recent intern that is joining our staff, is 18 years younger than I am! The potential for the future of our church is something that really gets me charged up!

So what about you? Do you have an internship program in your church? Why not start one and begin to reap the benefits for your church and your intern.

 
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Posted by on July 27, 2011 in Leadership, Staff

 

Why I Love Road Trips

26 Jul

Call me “Old Fashioned”, but I really do love ROAD TRIPS. It kinda seems like a part of American life that’s been forgotten with a lot of the emerging generation. Today, on a road trip back home from our family vacation, we headed north on I95 through the Carolinas and of course, passed the millions of bill boards for South Of The Border. Just seeing those signs took me back to when my family traveled that same route each year when I was a boy. All that time in the car allows for some experiences, that would be missed if we had chosen to bypass it all and fly as a family to our ultimate destinations. We decided to drive and I have no regrets about it at all. Here are some reasons I’m glad we made it a Road Trip To Remember:

1. Unhurried Conversations. That goes for my wife and I, as well as for the whole family. There’s just nothing like knowing you’re going to be spending hours on end in the car to facilitate some of those conversation that can’t be crammed into the schedule otherwise.

2. Reconnecting With Friends. We were able to spend lots of time with old college friends that we haven’t seen in a decade. Of course, it seemed like we picked up right where we had left off. We even decided to stay an extra day (because we were driving), to allow more time to connect. No flights to change or fees to be paid :)

3. Story Time. While driving through towns to visit friends and family, it allowed ample opportunity to tell some great stories to our kids about their Mom and Dad that probably wouldn’t have come to mind flying the friendly skies.

In all, by the time we arrive home, we will have logged over 3,000 miles in the car as a family in the last month. We could have saved a lot of time had we decided to drive, and also saved a lot of great memories, experiences and conversations from ever happening. I’m sure glad we decided to take a Road Trip! I can’t wait for the next one!

 
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Posted by on July 26, 2011 in Parenting

 

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Roots

22 Jul

Spending some time in Georgia on our family vacation has really been great. We’ve been able to help our kids reconnect with a lot of their roots and heritage that is found in Georgia for generations dating back to Pre-Revolution. There are streets in Brunswick, GA named after my great-grandfather and homes and gravesides we have visited while we are back in the town and area I was born in (and where most of my family still lives). Our kids have met their 2nd, 3rd and even 4th cousins for the first time, and We (my wife Susie and I), can see a great appreciation for our family roots growing before our eyes in our children’s lives.

Today, we’ll visit the church where my family were members for decades, First Baptist Church of Brunswick, Georgia. We also spent time with my aunt on this trip, who hold the incredible distinction of having taught VBS (Vacation Bible School) every year for the last 62 years (with the exception of three)! She is now 83 and once again will teach in VBS next week! This family heritage of faith in Christ reminds me of the importance of passing our faith to the next generation. We see this in the pages of Scripture as Paul reminds Timothy of the roots of his faith in Christ:

5I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well. (2 Timothy 1:5)

I’ve heard it said before, “The inheritance you receive is no as important as the legacy you leave”. How are things coming with the legacy your leaving for your children and your children’s children? I am so thankful today for for the generations of my family, who in the past walked with God and have shown me how to as well. It is with humility that I pray generations after me will feel the same way too.

 
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Posted by on July 22, 2011 in Leadership, Parenting

 

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Follow-up On Shark Fishing

19 Jul

Follow-up on our shark fishing expedition…We caught 10 sharks and I had a blast. All totaled we caught nine Hammer Head (Bonnet Head) sharks and one Black Tip shark. It was a total blast and I can’t wait to do it again off the coast of St. Simon’s Island, GA in just a couple of days. There’s only one problem though; if a shark is the first fish I’ve ever caught, where do I go from here?

Have a great day living at the end of your comfort zone!

 
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Posted by on July 19, 2011 in Uncategorized

 

Life Begins At The End Of Your Comfort Zone

18 Jul

“Life begins at the end of your comfort zone”. I read these words on a t-shirt the other day and have been reflected on them ever since. As you look back over your life, don’t you agree with the truth of this statement? It was asking that “special someone” out for the first time, trying out for that team you didn’t think you could make, applying for the job you weren’t really sure you were qualified for, taking that mission trip or a host of other times you’ve stepped out of your comfort zone that have really made you who you are today.

If all that is true, then why do we balk and hesitate so often when it comes to stepping outside our comfort zones? The reality is, we love our comfort much more than adventure. We love to play it “safe” more than placing our faith in God’s guidance and protection. When we cling to our comfort, we not only miss out on God’s plan being fulfilled in us and through us, we also simply miss out on the joy and exciting life God’s intends for everyone of us. And we miss out on the stories that make each of our lives so rich as we share them with others. How many of us would be captivated listening to an old man in the later days of his life sharing with us how he played it safe, stayed on the couch, watched TV and arrived safely at death at an old age? Not me!

I am thoroughly convinced, the life God intends for everyone of us is found OUTSIDE our comfort zone, and the biggest temptation to missing God’s best is comfort. All that being said, today, on my vacation, I’m going shark fishing! I’ve never really been fishing before, but a friend asked me to go and I really feel like it’s something out of my comfort zone that I need to do. My brother Scott also asked me to go shark fishing with him in the same week, so I’ll be out on the water two times this week. I’m not sure what all is going to happen, but I do believe that there’s going to be some great stories to be told afterward and my relationship with both my friend and brother will be even stronger after such an exciting shared experience.

What opportunity are you facing today that is outside of your comfort zone? Go ahead and let life really begin for you today, at the end of your comfort zone!

 
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Posted by on July 18, 2011 in Uncategorized

 

Sunburn and Sin

16 Jul

It is my plight in this world. My fair skin just wasn’t meant for the sun. I apply and reapply sunscreen on a regular basis and still, it seems like sunburn is inevitable. As I am experiencing a little redness from the sun on my tummy today, I couldn’t help but thinking about how a sunburn is like the effects of sin in our lives. We try to cover-up and screen ourselves from the effects of sin, but no matter how careful we are, when we expose ourselves to it, we are ultimately going to get burnt.

Today, I thought I was extra careful and I didn’t feel a thing while I was out in the sun (for more than five hours). But as always seems to be the case, after about an hour of being back at our room (on vacation), I suddenly began to feel uncomfortable and irritated on my stomach.

The lesson here: Don’t try to kid myself, God just didn’t create me to be exposed to the sun like this (and God never intended for His children to be exposed to sin as well). If a little burn in this life can remind us of that, we never have to fear an eternal burn ;)

 
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Posted by on July 16, 2011 in Uncategorized

 

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A Whole Lot Of Nothing

15 Jul

It’s important to take some time away to recharge your batteries and to get new and fresh perspective on life and ministry. Although I’ve been pastoring for over 20 years already, I’m planning on making it at least 40 before I look for a change from the day-to-day. Because I’m in it for the long haul, it’s important to understand the work/rest cycle and to live by it. So, here I am in Hilton Head, S.C., with the family for the next week just to relax and rest. We just arrived tonight and I’m looking forward to doing a whole lot of nothing (or nothing to taxing), over the next week. I walked outside on our porch and saw a rocking chair that looked like it was strategically placed there for me. My guess is, if you don’t make enough time for the rocking chair through the years, you’ll never make it to those senior years when you have the time for the rocking chair :)

 
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Posted by on July 15, 2011 in Leadership

 

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Can This Really Be Happening?

13 Jul

As part of our family vacation this year, we stopped in Lynchburg, VA. to visit with some family and also to begin checking out Liberty University as a potential college for our oldest daughter, Michaela. As we toured the campus yesterday, I kept asking myself, “Is this really happening”? Obviously, this time in Michaela’s life didn’t take us by surprise, but it still feels surreal as we embrace this moment. Perhaps it’s because we have been preparing her for the “college” season of her life for the last 16 years of her life. It may also be because I realize how HUGE those college years were for me, not only in preparing me for adulthood, but also by setting the entire trajectory of the rest of my life.

Over the next few days, we’ll venture further south as a family, and meet up with some of our old college friends that we haven’t seen in about 10 years. These were friends who were roommates and in our wedding. We’ll talk about the old times and catch up on the new. Through it all, I know that we’ll walk away with a deep appreciation for ALL that God did in our lives over those college years and it will once again bring me comfort and peace in knowing that God is so big that he will do the same for our daughter Michaela when those college years come around for her too!

 
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Posted by on July 13, 2011 in Parenting

 

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