Are you feeling stressed? Overwhelmed? Over-worked? Like you can never complete everything you are supposed to complete? Do projects never seem to be as good as you want them to be?

Here’s an illustration I hope will help.

Here’s a way to discipline yourself to increase creativity on your team or in your organization…especially during times when money is tight.

When you are ready to make a purchase, ask yourself this question:

Just discovered this Ted video with Billy Graham talking about technology and faith. He’s humorous, engaging, and helpful about how to deal with technology in the future. He’s talking to a secular audience in 1998, but his words are still practical.

Enjoy some time listening to this honored man:

In my job I hear far more junk than I care to hear. The larger our church gets, the more mess we encounter among the people to whom we minister. We have designed our church to reach hurting people, so we are simply reaching our target audience, but some days it is more difficult than others to hear such sad stories.

One part of the drama of messiness that always frustrates me is how gossip begins about other people’s problems. As if dealing with the consequences of sin is not enough, many times some of the hardest repercussion is the gossip that occurs about the people involved and the situation that occurred. I have never found gossip to be helpful to the people involved or to the Kingdom of God. I have literally become a hater of gossip because I have seen it destroy so many people! Gossip hurts innocent people who are caught in the middle, it exaggerates the situation, and it keeps the one who did wrong loaded with guilt and frustration, and from experiencing the fullness of God’s grace.

With that in mind,here are 7 suggestions for how to stop the spread of gossip.

I posted recently 7 pitfalls of being an introverted pastor. In that post I indicated I would share how I address each of these pitfalls to keep them from adversely impacting my ministry.

Here are 7 ways I work with my introversion to protect my ministry:

I am an introvert.  From all public appearances on Sunday morning that surprises many people, but in my private life and with those closest to me there is no questioning of that fact.  If anything, I have become even more introverted the larger our church has grown.  I can wish I was otherwise, but this is how I am wired.    Being an introvert has its downsides as a pastor.

Here are 7 pitfalls of being an introverted pastor:

I recently posted an important leadership and life principle I have learned the hard way. When you get a brilliant idea, before you quickly rush to complete it, sleep on it. You can read that post HERE. I want to continue that thought process with another principle that builds from that one. Let me illustrate it with a practical example:

Here is a principle you must understand for organizational efficiency:

Sometimes the best person for the job may not be the person who (you think) can do the job best.

Let me explain…

Think you have a great idea….sleep on it…

If you read this blog regularly, surely you have learned that I’m a risk-taker by nature. I love to encourage big dreams and I want to be a catalyst for idea generation and innovative thought. I’m even a church planter!!! Talk about risk…

In spite of that tendency in me to act quickly, I have learned one principle of leadership by personal experience…this is one of those wisdom learned by mistake kind of things…so listen closely…

In an organization the unwritten rules are just as, if not more, important than the written rules. If you are considering making changes, implementing something new, adding staff, or any of dozen other decisions in your organization, you need to also consider the unwritten rules of the organization.

Here are a few examples: