(Normally, Ministry Inside appears on Thursdays. However, I am going to publish a day early.)

1. Two important posts by John Frye (author of Jesus the Pastor ). See Jesus the Discernment Artist and Do We Believe in the Spirit?

2. You might want to read John Mark Hicks’ post The Church Has Left the Building. John Mark, a theologian, is always thoughtful and reflective in his writing.

3. It is difficult for a church family to rise above the level of its leadership. It is very difficult for people to imagine a faith or a life of discipleship that they have not witnessed in their ministers, preachers, pastors, elders, or others whom they might look to as their models.

I don’t say this in order to be critical of church leaders. I do think we need to wake up. So often leaders believe that what they need to do is to just get the church moving in a certain direction. We may devise various plans in order to get this done. However, this can easily become just another well meaning attempt at constructing a future. Maybe one of the most important places to start in approaching the future is in addressing one’s own soul transformation.

4. There are several tools that I use for my own personal organization. I use Google calendar to record all appointments, special dates, events, etc. Google calendar is easy to use and accesible both on my laptop and iPhone. I enter the information online and also keep a hard copy of my calendar in my notebook. I also use Backpack as a way to organize my projects and the tasks that are necessary in order to complete these projects. (My organizational page is set up with an approach that I have learned through David Allen’s Getting Things Done .) In my notebook, I have a hard copy of each project (anything that requires more than one step in order to get it done.) Under each project, I have listed various actions that must take place in order to make progress on this project.

On my Backpack page and in my note book is a page called, “Next Actions.” This is the closest thing that I have to a “to do” list. The next actions are broken down into the following categories:

• Really Important (two or three actions that are really important today)
• Big Things this Week (one or two actions that really need to take place this week)
• E-Mail (someone whom I need to write)
• On the Phone (someone whom I need to call. Maybe a word beside the name reminding me of the subject)
• Talk with (someone whom I need to talk with)
• To Go (errands I need to do)
• At the Mac (something that I need to do at my computer. Maybe a book to be ordered or something I need to look up)
• Waiting on (someone whom I am waiting on for an ok, for confirmation, for information, etc.)

Last week, I was in Chicago for a three-day class at Wheaton College with Ruth Haley Barton, author of Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership.

The class was great.

It was an opportunity not only to listen to Barton but to reflect on my life and relationship with God. There were wonderful times of silence, teaching, prayer and conversation. One of the blessings of the week was getting to be with the four wonderful people at my table.

Much of her material came from her book. What was incredibly helpful was the opportunity to spend time in another setting thinking my life and about my ministry.

The following are several statements that she made in class that were significant to me. (The quotes here are directly from the book.)

• If Jesus were speaking to us today, he might also point out that when leaders lose their souls, so do the churches and organizations they lead. (p. 13)
• These cries are gut-wrenching and consistent: there has to be more to life in leadership than many of us are experiencing. In all this listening to my own life and to the lives of others, I have become convinced that the more that we are looking for is the transformation of our souls in the presence of God. (p.14)
• Truly, the best thing any of us have to bring to leadership is our own transforming selves. (p. 19)

I once knew a person in a church who routinely referred to the ministry of the church as “business as usual.” He spoke as if this were a good thing! Listen, business as usual is what is killing churches. In far, far too many churches, good, well meaning people are incredibly busy with church activity and yet experiencing no real life. They are simply doing what their leaders are doing. Their leaders are often good people who also are incredibly busy with church activity.

Barton is right. The best thing any of us have to bring to leadership is our own transforming selves. There is something powerful about a man or woman whose life is open before the Lord and who is experiencing real transformation into the image of Christ.

I came away from this class this week resolved to do several things:

1. I want to spend more time in solitude and silence tending to the needs of my own soul. I have just not been as attentive to these needs over the past year as I have been in previous years. I really became aware of this in this class.

2. I want to spend less time on things that just do not matter. I really enjoy this time of life. Yet, I want to spend my physical and emotional energy on things that matter. Yet, so much of the busyness of everyday life often involves doing things that just don’t matter. I find myself thinking: “Why am I doing this? How did I get in the middle of this?” So I am really giving some thought as to how I am spending my time.

(For the next few weeks, I will be posting a series each Monday entitled “Strengthening the Soul.”)

Question:

Do you sense that many people around you live with a parched soul?

What has busyness cost you?

Welcome!

Normally, I post about four times per week. In July, they are less frequent as I am on vacation/study leave for the month.

So if you are new to this blog, you will notice that the posts will become more frequent beginning August 1. In the meantime, you might enjoy simply scrolling down and glancing at a few posts. Maybe some of these will interest you. You might immediately notice that there are a number of posts entitled “Ministry Inside” which appear each Thursday. Just keep scrolling and you will see more of a variety.

You might glance at the sidebar at the section marked “Categories.” Click on a category that interests you. (Be sure to look at the categories “10 Characteristics” and “41 Things.”

You might enjoy reading some biographical information. If so, just look on the sidebar for the words “You may be interested” and click on the word “background.”

Some of the blogs that I frequent are listed on the sidebar. Most are on my google reader.

Looking for a great video? Look for “Social Networks” and click on “God-Hungry Live.” You will find a wonderful collection of encouraging you tube videos there.

Finally, I encourage you to consider leaving a comment. Just click on the work comment at the end of each post. Feel free to leave as many comments as you wish.

(By the way, a God-Hungry app is available for your iPhone. You can get this by going to the app store on your iPhone or by going to the iTunes store. Key word is “God-Hungry”)

Just wanted to update you regarding the remainder of July.

During July, I am on vacation for a few weeks and also take a few weeks for a study break. As a result, posts are not frequent during this month. “Ministry Inside” (the Thursday series) will appear again in August.

I will say more in August about what I have been doing this month. This has been a great month! In many ways it has exceeded my expectations. I am grateful to God for this.

So–I may have a post or two before August but not much more than that.

I’m looking forward to August. As always, I appreciate you for continuing to read this blog.

This morning I readSeth Godin’s blog and really liked what he said.

He asks a very important question:

What story do you tell yourself about yourself?

I know that marketers tell stories. We tell them to clients, prospects, bosses, suppliers, partners and voters. If the stories resonate and spread and seduce, then we succeed.

But what about the story you tell yourself?

(Read the rest of the post here.)

After reading this post, I continued to think about this. What story do I tell myself about myself? How about you? What story do you tell yourself about yourself? The stories we tell ourselves will impact what we conclude about ourselves. For instance, because of these stories some of us conclude:

• “I can’t.”
• “It can’t be done”
• “I know something bad is about to happen.”
• “I never get a break. You wouldn’t do any better if you had been through what I’ve been through”
• “You can’t expect much from me. I am a victim.”
• “If it wasn’t for ______, I would have done much better.”

Question:

What is your experience with this? What has been the impact of the stories that you have told yourself?

1. Chris Brogan, who describes himself as “non-religious,” recently spoke of a book he liked regarding the author’s journey from atheism to faith. I have not read the book. However, I think it might be useful for ministers to simply listen to Chris in this video explain why he liked this book. It is very, very important that those who are on the edges of faith be heard. You can find the video and the post by Chris here.

2. Porn addiction via the Internet is a HUGE problem in this culture and this includes many people in churches. Recently, radio personality Kim Komando addressed this issue from a technical perspective on her website. (She has a nationwide weekly radio show in which she discusses the lifestyles of those who live in the digital age.) On her website, she addressed some technical issues that might be helpful for those who wish to block adult sites. This can be especially helpful for one who is fighting against porn addiction. You can find this discussion here. (This might be particularly helpful as you work with people who are trying to overcome this addiction.)

3. I like Facebook. Through Facebook I have been able to get in touch with many, many people who I have known through the years, including some people I went to high school with. This has been great. At the same time I realize that some people have used Facebook to develop inappropriate and sinful relationships. You might want to at least be aware of a discussion taking place regarding this. One interesting article is: “Facebook Becoming a Prime Source for Divorce Case Evidence

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