July 2010
7 posts
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“Management is about persuading people to do things they do not want to do, while...”
– Steve Jobs, cofounder of Apple
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8 Tips for Managing Your Time
I came across this article online via @CatalystLeader and it had some real practical tips on managing your time. Below is the bullet point version, but I encourage you to check out the full article here. It will be worth you “time” (pun intended).
Evaluate your time.
Set daily goals.
Design your own to-do list.
Group similar tasks.
Break down daunting tasks.
Make meetings...
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“Are you doing work worth doing, or are you just doing your job?”
– Seth Godin
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Free Stuff For Churches
Recently churches and ministries have been making their resources available for others to download. Here’s a short list of some different websites were you can get some videos, artwork, teaching and other free stuff.
seeds.churchonthemove.com
open.lifechurch.tv
stufficanuse.com/swag
openresources.org
If you know of more sites that are worth checking out be sure and leave a link in...
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Brainstorming Basics: Part 2
Here are five more tips on effective brainstorming. Be sure and check out Part 1 to get the first five.
Pick a number. Not only do you want to have the right people, but you want to have the right amount of people. To many people and no one can get a word in, to few people and you’re not able to create synergy. There is no magic number, but I find 4-6 people work best. Although you can start...
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Brainstorming Basics: Part 1
I enjoy the creative process of collaborating with others to produce ideas and ways of solving problems. Here are five things that I have found helpful when it comes to brainstorming.
Research the topic before you begin. Come inspired. Arrive with a full brain and leave with an empty one. If you are facilitating this meeting then give the team a heads up so they can begin to cultivate ideas...
June 2010
10 posts
2 tags
Important Vs. Urgent
Our lives are full of deadlines. We all have urgent items that are knocking at the front door, things that demand our attention. Granted, a lot of these urgent items need and should be given attention, but not at the expense of what is important. There will always be a tension between what demands our time and what needs our time. The trick is giving our attention to what is important regardless...
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Volunteer Rap
Check out this video from Kensington Church. I think it is a fun way to show appreciation to volunteers. I know I greatly appreciate all of our volunteers at People’s Church.
Volunteer Rap from Kensington on Vimeo.
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How to Fuel Creativity
Posted by Jody Earley: Follow Jody on Twitter
Inspiration is defined as the process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something, esp. to do something creative. In other words inspiration is the fuel for creativity.
If you feel you lack creativity or creative ideas then all you need is a little inspiration. There is nothing new under the sun. Every idea is inspired from another idea,...
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Edit Your Life
Posted by Jody Earley: Follow Jody on Twitter
In this video Nike president and CEO Mark Parker tells about the advice that Steve Jobs gave him shortly after the release of the Nike+ product line. It’s a simple bit of wisdom that any leader can relate to: “Get rid of the crappy stuff.”
What is the “crappy stuff” you need to get rid of in your life? What are...
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Developing Leaders: Part 2
The following is an excerpt from my Pastor’s blog:
“Don’t confuse micromanaging with developing leaders. Many leaders get confused about this. You are not micromanaging when you are developing somebody. There is a season when you need and must know the details until you develop trust and the developing leader proves they can deliver high quality results consistently. Once the...
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Theology of A 5 Year Old #2
My Daughter Gracie: Sometimes I think Mommy is like God because she's really awesome.
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Do Less For More
A constant tension in my life is to “do less for more”. In other words to try and focus on the most important things in life, the things that bring the most value to myself and others. This doesn’t mean that I have less to do it just means that I spend more time on what is most important. Here are a few things I do to try and carry out this principle:
1. Prioritize. To do what...
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Theology of A 5 Year Old
My Daughter Gracie: Jesus loves everybody even the bad people. He just wants them to be good.
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Developing Leaders: Part 1
The following is an excerpt from my Pastor’s blog:
“One of the mistakes many leaders make is they let go of knowing the details too soon. When you are dealing with a developing leader, you need to let them prove themselves first by getting some wins before you totally turn them loose. As you develop leaders, you have to have the wisdom to know when you can let go of knowing details....
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12 Office Solutions
The following is a list of items that I gave my assistant when she first started working with me. These are few things that I have found helpful in keeping our department running efficiently during our day to day operations.
1. Be solution minded. With every problem give 3 or 4 possible solutions. With every question submit multiple choice answers.
2. Use proper lines of communication. No...
May 2010
9 posts
2 tags
“Change of Pace + Change of Place = Change of Perspective”
– Mark Batterson
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Everyone's A Coach
In the book Everyone’s a Coach by Ken Blanchard and Don Shula, there is an acronym that helps us think about how we’re doing as leaders.
C stands for Conviction-Driven: Do people understand what your values are and where you’re going? Because leadership is about going somewhere. Lead with conviction.
O stands for Overlearning: There’s no such thing as teaching a good thing too much. You...
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The Opposable Leader
The following are some key points from a talk that Andy Stanley gave at the Drive Conference entitled The Opposable Leader: Why organizational tension is essential to progress.
The idea of this talk is that as a leader, you have to differentiate between tensions your organization will always manage vs. problems that need to be solved.
Every organization has problems that shouldn’t be...
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Drive 2010 Highlight Video
Last night I returned home from spending a few days at North Point Community Church attending the Drive Conference. It was amazing, to say the least. I gained a ton of insight and clarity for Kids Ministry and ministry in general. I came back full of vision and direction. I look forward to putting in to practice some of the principles and ideas that I took away. I’ll share some of what I...
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How to Be A Rockstar Volunteer
Recently my Pastor posted “The Signs of A Great Volunteer” on his blog. I thought I would pass it along.
1. They love Jesus
2. They love their family
3. They love the local church
4. They love people
5. They know that church is not all about them
6. They come to church asking how can I be a blessing, not just receive a blessing
7. They find an area of ministry and serve faithfully...
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Book Review - Plan B
Plan B by Pete Wilson is a book that helps you gain clear perspective when the circumstances of life become unclear. It addresses the question: “What do you do when God doesn’t show up the way you thought he would?”
Each of us either have or will experience a time in our life when we must answer this question. Pete Wilson does a great job of using stories from both the Bible...
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Top 10 Reasons to be a Kids Ministry Volunteer
One of our rockstar volunteers, Mike Koehler, sent me his Top 10 Reasons to be a Kids Ministry Volunteer at People’s Church. Even if you don’t go to People’s Church I think you will agree with some of these reasons for your church as well.
10. Who needs caffeine on a Sunday morning when you have a room full of 3-year-olds?
9. Six-year-olds never leave you hanging for a...
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5 Catalyst of Spiritual Growth
I recently listened to a teaching by Reggie Joiner of Orange Leaders on the topic of spiritual growth. This is an important subject for those of us that are ministering to the next generation. It really encouraged me to be more strategic about creating environments that cultivate spiritual growth. We can assume because people are showing up that they are growing. Here is a brief summary of his...
April 2010
5 posts
5 tags
2 New iPhone Apps for Ministry Leaders
Check out these two new iPhone Apps that are sure to overload your brain with ministry knowledge.
1. Orange Leaders App - Orange Leaders is a gathering of leaders who are passionate about engaging churches and families to influence the faith and character of the next generation.
Here is what you can do on this app:
Listen to free podcasts
Read and comment on blog posts
Keep up with...
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Life Lesson #2
The success of your personal life is more important than the success of your professional life.
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Life Lesson #1
Be more concerned about who you are and who are becoming than by where you are at and where you are going.
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“99% of the time, in my experience, the hard part about creativity isn’t...”
– Seth Godin
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The 50 Most Innovative Companies →
BusinessWeek has released their annual rankings — the 50 Most Innovative Companies — and for the sixth consecutive year Apple is number one. Click on the link above to see the full list.
March 2010
10 posts
3 tags
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Palm Sunday
The next day the huge crowd that had arrived for the Feast heard that Jesus was entering Jerusalem. They broke off palm branches and went out to meet him. And they cheered: Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in God’s name! Yes! The King of Israel!
Jesus got a young donkey and rode it, just as the Scripture has it: No fear, Daughter Zion: See how your king comes, riding a donkey’s colt. The...
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“Genius is the ability to reduce the complicated to the simple.”
– C. W. Ceram
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3 Public Speaking Rules
I like these 3 rules that Tony Hsieh (pronounced Shay), the CEO of Zappos, shared on twitter. Obviously there is a lot more to public speaking then this, but I definitely think these rules will help make you more interesting to listen to and create buy in with your audience. What do you think are some other good rules for public speaking?
Be passionate
Tell personal stories.
Be real.
By the...
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5 Great Online Reads
Here are some great blog posts and articles that I’ve come across recently:
Asking the Right Questions via Andy Stanley
5 Tips for Brainstorming via Brad Lomenick
Required Reading for Creatives & Storytellers via Dan Scott
Thoughts on Systems via Coach Shef
What Do You Measure? via Tim Stevens
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“The goal of life is to take everything that made you weird as a kid and get...”
– D. Freeman
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Me and My Big Mouth
Today we started a new series entitled “HUSH” at People’s Church. Proverbs 17:28 says, “Even fools are thought wise when they keep silent; with their mouths shut, they seem intelligent”. Our words are very important. So to keep in theme with our current series I thought I would share seven sayings that remind us that sometimes the smartest thing we can say is...
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WatchThe internet is a powerful tool.
February 2010
5 posts
4 tags
What on Earth Am I Here For?
Why am I here? What is my purpose? Today I finished a book that addresses these questions. The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren has been sitting on my bookshelf calling my name and I finally read it. I’m sure you’ve heard of it because it is has been on the New York Times Best Seller list for one of the longest periods in history.
Here are some things that I walked away with:
...
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WatchThis Sunday is Big Day at People’s Church.
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“Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in...”
– John Wesley
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God's Take on Sex
This weekend at People’s Church we are starting a series called Sexual Revolution. Everybody has an opinion on this topic, but we are going to share God’s take on the subject. So if your in the OKC area (or even if you’re not) make plans to be at People’s Church this Sunday as we kick off this exciting series with a special performance. Check out the promo video below for...
January 2010
14 posts
2 tags
WatchThe Old Testament in 60 Seconds (Check out the New Testament in 60 Seconds here.)
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“Art is what we’re doing when we do our best work.”
– Seth Godin
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Just Quit
Last week I shared one of my favorite books is Wild Goose Chase by Mark Batterson. I’m currently reading his first book In A Pit With A Lion On A Snowy Day and thought I would send some inspiration your way by sharing the “Lion Chasers Manifesto”:
“Quit living as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death. Set God-sized goals. Pursue God-ordained passions. Go after...