Winning at ministry & losing at home?

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Ministry is tough. Being married and in ministry can be daunting. That’s why I’m involved in Encourage. Encourage is a one day training event designed for ministry leaders and their spouses. The day will highlight the vital importance of the spiritual, physical and emotional health of the ministry leader. Unlike other ministry training events and conferences this day isn’t built to give you new ministry tools, inspire you to grow the church you’re leading, or broaden your vision of what God could do through you to make a greater ministry impact in the world. This day is built to help you win at home…sadly a place that many ministry leaders are losing. Don’t miss learning with your spouse from ministry leaders who know what it takes to win at home. Investing in your marriage may be the best step you ever take towards changing not only our marriage, but also the world.

For more information or to register go to click here

Date: Wednesday, February 1, 2012 (from 9:00-2:30)

Cost: $29.00 per couple (lunch and childcare are provided)

Location: Sun Valley Community Church, Gilbert Campus

Posted in Family, Leadership, Staffing

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8 moments that shaped my 2011

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Socrates is credited with saying, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” So with that intent, in no particular order, here’s a quick list of the moments that had the greatest influence in shaping my 2011.

Posted in Family, Leadership

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When Life doesn’t go According to Plan

Sometimes when you’re preparing to teach it has more to do with what God wants to do in you, than what He wants to do through you. This past week I had planned on diving into a teaching series about the life of Joseph. But instead of teaching about it, I find myself living it. Life just hasn’t necessarily gone according to plan this week. So maybe the teaching series will have to wait a little bit. But until then, here’s some of the stuff I’m living in the moment.

Is God being with me dependent upon my circumstances? For many of us I think our faith in God hinges upon the circumstances we find ourselves in. If our life is going good then God is good. But if our lives are in turmoil then God must be mad at us or absent.

But what if we’re wrong? What if the Bible is true? That God will never leave you or forsake you. That He’s an ever-present help in times of trouble. That He loves you. That He works all things, the good and the bad, together for the good of those who love Him. That there is nowhere you or I can run to that He’s not there in the thick of it with us. What if God really does have a greater story that He is writing and the plot is thicker than the one moment we find ourselves in right now? What if it’s just not about the circumstances that we happen to find ourselves in today, what if there is something bigger going on?

Below are just a few transferable principles that we can learn from Joseph’s life. (*To read Joseph’s story for yourself, check out Genesis 37, 39-47)

Posted in Family, Leadership, Spiritual Formation, Staffing

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Stupid Things Christians Say

A year ago my family moved to the Metro Atlanta area. We hadn’t lived in the house for 15 minutes before we met our new next door neighbors, the Abbate Family. We would quickly learn about the loss of their son Luke, who was a sophmore at Harrison High School when he passed away 5 years ago as the result of being a passenger in tragic car wreck.

Before moving to Atlanta, we spent the previous year walking with some dear friends as their 5 year old daughter battled for her life against cancer. In fact I have previously blogged about the ongoing story of Kate McRae and her family.

More recently my family has been going through our own little mini-crisis, as out of the blue we discovered that we were going to be transitioning and have been looking for new job. Hardly comparable to the thought of potentially losing one of my children.

Through all of these moments and more what has amazed me is how inept so many Christians seem to be at expressing real heartfelt love and concern. I mean of all people who should know how to walk with and care for the hurting and the suffering it should be Christians right? I’m not saying they don’t care. And I’m not saying there haven’t been moments of genuine and at times even extravagant expressions of love poured out. But the reality is a sad majority of Christians honestly just don’t know what to do when others around them are going through crisis, and so they do nothing. Or worse they say something stupid. Here are my top 5:

Posted in Family, Leadership, Spiritual Formation

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Where were you 10 years ago?

Monday, September 12, 2011

It was my first day at a new job. I had just joined the Staff of a large Church in the Midwest. That morning I arrived carrying my first box of items into the office; the receptionist was nowhere to be found. Had I beat her in the office my first day? Then I noticed there was no one at their cubicles, offices were empty. Everyone seemed to be crowded around a television in the break room. In this moment I have to honestly say the first thought that went through my mind was, ”This is going to be an awesome place to work.” Seconds later I would discover that five hijackers had just crashed American Airlines flight 11 into the World Trade Center’s North Tower.

Posted in Family, Spiritual Formation