New Book for Potential Staff Members

Here's a new book we're requiring new staff members to read.

Now, Discover Your Strengths

I've just started on a new book--Now, Discover Your Strengths. The idea is that we will grow as we strengthen our strengths, not work on our weaknesses. That makes sense to me. No matter how hard I work on some things I will never be great at them, but if I can work on things I'm good at--I can become great at them!

Here were my top five strengths according to the book's website www.strengthfinder.com.

• Significance
• Focus
• Futurist
• Maximizer
• Communication

Hopefully, those strengths match up with my job requirements as a pastor! The test doesn't tell you your weaknesses--which is fine since I was already very familiar with them!

Take a Look at this Blog

I found an interesting blog by Pastor Ronnie Floyd of Springdale, Arkansas. It's particularly interesting for pastors. You can find it at www.betweensundays.com.

Purpose and Goals

I was talking with one of our Iowa church planters today who told me that he is focusing on 90-day goals. That seems to make sense to me. I think that I have always intuitively, maybe not knowingly, done that. The church calendar seems to rotate on 90 day cycles through the seasons.

Obviously, 90-day goals should be rooted in the purpose of the organization. I often ask, "What do I need to do that will move us the greatest distance toward our vision?" The answer to those questions become my goals for that next period of time. Those goals then must be transferred to our daily action list. Here are some thoughts about goals:

1. They must be realistic.
2. They must be written down.
3. They must be specific enough to measure.
4. They must have a deadline.
5. They must be take you closer to the vision.

Wins

Each team meeting starts with recounting of "wins" from the previous weekend. Here are four wins that came up this morning:

• Vanessa, our ministry assistant, and her husband had been inviting some friends for a very long time and they came to church for the presentation of The Passion.
• Pastor Rob reported a win regarding our outreach at the Oakridge Apartments--over 270 children were a part of the Easter Egg Hunt at this low-income housing project.
• Pastor Jonathan's win had to do with the great worship we've been having the past two weeks--including the powerful response to the offertory Sunday.
• The win I talked about centered around having over 500 people worship with us each of the past two Sundays!

I'm sure you've got some wins to celebrate, too. Why not post one here on the blog!

On the Radio

I had a great time with Maxine Sielman on 1150 KWKY this morning. We talked about all kinds of things regarding Easter, including the news about The Gospel of Judas.

What cracks me up is that the media and those opposed to Christianity readily accept this "gospel" even though it is a copy of a copy of an original that is no longer in existence, but do not really accept the four gospels. The first gospel (Mark) was written within 20-30 years of Jesus' death, while this gospel of Judas was written 100 or more years later. Which would seem more accurate to you? It seems to me that these intellectual elites just love the controversy and opportunity to discredit the historical reality of Jesus.

What a Day I Had!

Amberly, along with our 10 year-old Grant was gone for a few days to visit her family in Oklahoma. That left me with five year-old Corbin and two year-old Morgan.

We had a great day yesterday. Chuck E. Cheese for lunch. Elmo's World for TV entertainment. Playland at Jordan Creek. Happy Meals for dinner. Bike riding in the evening.

What a day! It really doesn't' get much better than that, does it?

Passion This Sunday

The set is up. We finished a great rehearsal last night. We have dress rehearsal this Saturday. The music, the drama, the set is all coming together. Now, let's keep inviting people to the Passion.

God at Work Starts Easter Sunday

Easter Sunday we launch the new message series: God at Work. We'll discover how God works to meet the deepest needs in our lives. Messages include:

• How to Have the Hope You Need
• The Path to Personal Peace
• How to Live a Joy-Filled Life
• And, much more.

Our goal is to have a compelling series that entices our Easter crowd to return the next Sunday. It should be a powerful series. I'm looking forward to it.

The Passion

I'm so excited about this Sunday's presentation of The Passion. With two rehearsals to go, it's all coming together. Hopefully, we'll post a couple of pics of the set. Those guys lead by Pastor Rob and Barney Hoover really did a great job putting it together. It's the best looking set we've ever had. The musicians and the actors meet again tonight and Saturday for a rehearsal.

Don't' forget our tag team philosophy. You guys are it--so let's get out and invite people to the service this Sunday at 10 AM!

Disturb Me, Lord!

I'm reading a great new book by Craig grayscale, Chazown: A Different Way to See Your Life. Chazown is the Hebrew word for vision, dream, and revelation. Here's a powerful excerpt:

"Sir Francis Drake once prayed a prayer that was later quoted by a missionary named Jeanie Curyer in one of her prayer letters. This prayer has changed my life. It went:

'Disturb us, Lord, when we are too well pleased with ourselves. When our dreams have come true because we dreamed too little. When we arrive safely because we have sailed too close to the shore. Distrub us, Lord.'

Are you willing to let God disturb you with dreams so big the you don't know how they'll be accomplished? A vision that can only come true if He pulls it off?"

Great Fun in Newton

I had a great time in Newton over the weekend with Pastor Jeff Arp and the church family. We did a volunteer appreciation dinner with some great bar-b-que, a strategic planning session with the board, and the Sunday night service. The church is moving ahead to reach that city. There is more going on in Newton than Maytag, I'll tell you that.

Spring Forward

I hate the spring time change! Why do they have to do it on a Saturday night? Why not Friday night when there is no church the next morning? Just a thought. Pastors must not have been consulted on this! ;)

Who Would Have Thought It?

Can you believe this year's Final Four? LSU, Florida, George Mason, and UCLA. Not a number one seed in the bunch. You add their seed numbers together and it gets gaudy! Nobody really expected these teams to get there. They didn't look like that had the stuff that it takes.

That leads to two different thoughts. Nobody thought they could get there--except them! Nobody else may believe it, but if you believe it then it can happen.

Second, there are probably going to be a lot of people in heaven that nobody expected to be there, either! And, a lot of number one seeds who may not make it! Just a thought!

High Performance Teams

If I looked under the hood of a high performance automobile like an IRL or NASCAR vehicle, it would look like nothing more than a bunch of wires, tubes, pieces, and parts. In his book The Performance Factor, Pat MacMillan says thats how high performance teams look to most people. The book examines the six characteristics of high performance teams:

• Common Purpose--the power of the team flows out of each member's alignment to the purpose.
• Crystal Clear Roles--Roles are about how we design, divide, and deploy the work of the team.
• Accepted Leadership--Even great teams lose their way without clear, competent leadership.
• Effective Processes--This is the playbook that the team operates by.
• Solid Relationships--Teams don't have to be made up of best friends, but they must possess solid relationships.
• Excellent Communication--Without communication, there can be no cooperation.

41 Hours in a Wal Mart

Sklyer Bartels spent 41 straight hours living in the Windsor Heights, Iowa Wal Mart SuperCenter over Spring Break. It was sociological study and writing project for the Drake University sophomore. What he discovered is Wal Mart doesn't have it all, after all!

He was able to survive on snacks, yogurt, and sandwiches from Subway, but there was no good place to take a nap. He estimates that he slept only 4 of the 41 hours. And, there was no place to shower. After 41 hours, the store kind of caught on to him--those eagle eye greeters--and he left without incident.

So, you can't live at Wal-Mart. Who knew?

You can learn more of his story at http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060327/OPINION01/603270342

Mental Toughness

During the NCAA tournament time, you hear a lot about mental toughness. What does that mean? According to Dr. David Cook, a sports psychologist, mental toughness is one of the two greatest predictors of success for athletes. What does mental toughness look like?

• Embrace the pressure (James 1.2-4 says that pressure can be a great ally)
• Practice the emergencies (Know your response before you start--Matthew 4.1-11)
• Put on your game face (Be prepared--Ephesians 6.10-11)
• Trust your talent (Dance. Don't count your steps. Philippians 4.13)
• Persevere (Never give up--James 1.12)

By the way, the second key predictor? Goal orientation! I think that means shooting at the right goal--something I failed to do in a 8th grade basketball game! ;)

It's Always Too Early to Quit

This Sunday marks the second message in our series It's Always Too Early to Quit. Somehow this value has always been embedded in my life:

• As a child, my grandmother would read my the book The Little Engine that Could over and over again. It was my favorite!
• When I wanted to join band in 5th grade, my parents told me that I could as long as I promised to stay through 12th grade.
• My dad didn't miss a day of work in over 25 years--when he did miss it was for cancer surgery.

You can see I come by this It's Always Too Early to Quit mindset honestly!

God wants to help us develop a never quit attitude. That's what we're going to talk about this Sunday.

March Madness is Underway!

What a great Sunday. I'm excited for the many people who decided to rebound to victory during the service yesterday! We had 420 in the morning worship service plus 85 in the KidsCount Bus Ministry.

That means we ministered to 505 people over the weekend! That's exciting!

Word Verification

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