Personal Mission Statement

Recently, I went through some life coaching to revisit my life and ministry and how to live out of my strengths.

Below is my Personal Mission Statement. This is a statement that holds me in check every day to make sure that every word, action and initiative aligns with what God has led me to be:

I live my life out of God's vision to:

love my God and my family more than myself

love the Lost more than the church

love the real church more than the ideal church

by being relational, creative and leaving no gaps between my words and my actions.

Do you have a personal mission statement? What is it? What do you think of mine?

If you don't have one and would like to develop one, contact me @ revmiller38401@yahoo.com

Simple Relationship or Programmed Religion?

When we consider our relationship with God, reflect on the Tozer quote below:

"The simplicity which is in Christ is rarely found among us---

in its place are

programs,

methods,

organizations,

and a world of nervous activities which occupy time and attention

but can never satisfy the longing of the heart."

We're Not Taking Up an Offering at Church

Can you imagine going to church and hearing: "We're not collecting an offering today!"

That would be a shock!

Yet, that's what happened in Exodus 36.3-7.

Moses hears a complaint from the workers that they can't keep up with all the money, gold, jewelry, grain that the people are brining. THE WORKERS ASK MOSES TO STOP THE PEOPLE FROM GIVING!

I would love to stand in front of a worship assembly and say "You're bringing too much. Let's not take an offering."

A twist on this idea is to collect the Sunday morning offerings but give all of it away outside of the church. That might be a first step to an Exodus 36 Sunday.

But first, leaders would need to wrestle with this question:

What are the marks of a church bringing too much in offerings?

-and-

How do we help our church grow towards an Exodus 36 moment?

Are You Giving Away Tasks or Giving Away Authority?

Be careful about what you give away...

It's not enough to teach, train and discipline people to exhibit the right behaviors and follow thru on completing tasks.

You also have to empower them to make decisions based on the situation around them.

Better yet, you have to give them authority to make decisions on their own.

It's the difference between delegating tasks and delegating authority. (Great insight from Craig Groeschel!)

If you delegate tasks, you'll get mindless followers who constantly look to you to make decisions.

If you delegate authority, you'll get leaders who look to you for VISION.

This is what it looks like if you only give away tasks instead of authority:

Nothing Beats Snail Mail (Google Proves It)

I'm happy to hear that snail mail still is recognized as an effective way to personally communicate. In this email-facebook message-140 character twitter-age, the personal touch can get easily lost.

As leaders, we always need to assume that even though we send out an email, even though we send a message through Facebook, that doesn't mean we've communicated effectively and personally. Nothing beats a phone call, a face-to-face communique, or better yet, a handwritten note.

Don't believe me? Consider Google's comments and it's latest initiative for people this Christmas.

(I know it's not a handwritten postcard, but it is impressive that the internet giant Google recognizes the unique personal touch a postcard possesses).

You Don't Have to be Accurate to Draw

Check this video out. This is what I do when I craft my sermons (although I'm not nearly as good as this guy:)

MILTON GLASER DRAWS & LECTURES from C. Coy on Vimeo.

Budget Meetings You Can Look Forward To

Last week, we had the best budget meeting ever!

We arrived at a balanced budget, every person left with unity of thought, and all our finances connected to the vision of the church.

How?

Every person accountable for a line of the budget provided their 2010 figures to the Treasurer ahead of time. Making no adjustments to the figures, the Treasurer compiled the numbers and brought the first draft of the budget to the meeting.

At the meeting, the budget was projected on the wall (side note: it's frustrating to me to have paper copies shuffling of papers, don't know what line item people are talking about...if it's projected, you can point to what you're talking about.)

We had a dialogue and cut figures and came up with ways to balance the budget.

Then came the fun part...

In order to balance the budget, all of us had to cut out funding in certain areas and had to leave some items unfunded. But that doesn't mean we ignored those items.

We took out large sheets of paper and each of us wrote down a personal wish list of items that we would like funded for 2010. Then, each person got 5 stickers. They could use their 5 stickers to vote for any item on any wish list but they could only vote for only 1 item on their own list.

We compiled all the items that got votes and ended up with 10 items. Each person took the list of 10 items and ranked them 1 to 10 (1 = lowest priority and 10 = highest priority). We added up all the votes for every item and found that there were 2-3 top priority items that everyone agreed that needed to be done.

Now, when God blesses us with more than we budgeted for and when donors come to us to fund projects outside the budget, the whole team (not just me) has the same answer on how that money gets spent.

I can't tell you what our top 3 items are for 2010 (that wouldn't be fair to our church) but I can tell you that this process broke down the silos of ministry and created a unity of vision like none other!

Texas Sized Fair

Wow! My family and I had a great time at the Texas State Fair a few weeks ago. It is GINORMOUS and a lot of fun!

Great fried food! I didn't try the fried butter, but...

Mentoring

I remember in my High School days a leadership event that harkened back to the 1970's for a process to multiply leaders. It was:

I do

I do, you watch

You do, I watch

You do

The problem is, it doesn't capture active participation from both parties and it doesn't reproduce itself.

When I attended THE NINES, here is a modification of that process that answers both limitations:

I do, you watch

I do, you help

You do, I help

You do, I cheer you on

You do and someone else watches

Wash, rinse, repeat.

Is this more effective? How have you seen this in action (or not)?

Permission to Speak Freely

This website

http://www.permissiontospeakfreely.com/

asks a great question:

"What is the one thing you feel you can't say in church?"

Even though this is geared for laypeople, I believe this is also a great question for Pastors because I believe there are some things I can't say in church either.

I wonder what it would look like to have total openness and authenticity in church. Kinda scary but so freeing too!

Moleh-skeen-uh

I've always heard about them but never had the opportunity to get one.

Now I've got one ...

... AND I LOVE IT!!!!

My first MOLESKIN

http://www.moleskineus.com/sketchpocket.html

It works a lot better than my sketchpad that is big and bulky. This moleskin is much easier to carry around. I'm able to more effectively capture my thoughts, sermon ideas as well as keep track of "little things" that people mention (likes, dislikes, goals, dreams, etc.).

You Can Solve Anything With a Picture

No matter what your level of artistic talent is, you can solve any problem with a picture. Consider the health care debate: there are so many different voices, opinions, options, and distractions on the table that it is hard to be clear on what the issue is let alone what the possible solutions look like. Dan Roam has helped sort all this out:

Healthcare Napkins All

View more documents from Dan Roam.

The healthcare debate aside, I believe that any problem in our workplaces, in our churches and in our lives can be solved with a picture.

stop being overwhelmed::start drawing

The White Hat

The white hat is all about information. "The facts, ma'am, and nothing but the facts" is what this hat is all about.

Facts are neutral. There are no feeling with the facts (feelings will come out with the red hat).

The goal of the White Hat is to receive as much information as possible. In a meeting or discussion, facts that would provide helpful guidance for a great decisions get covered up with feelings or side-conversations. By focusing on the facts, you are able to get all the necessary information out in front of you so you can take the next step of interacting with the information using the other hats.

The Point of the White Hat is to be practical.

Danger: too much information is paralyzing.

Examples:

"What are the budget figures for this line item?"

"What was the attendance for this past event?"

"What went wrong with the campaign?"

Leadership Team

My Leadership Team just finished talking about the book "Trust and Teams" by Jane Fryar. As one team member put it, "it ate our lunch". This is a great book which has great questions to help build teams in a religious environment.

Our next book we're discussing is: The No Complaining Rule. That should generate a lot of discussion as well as changing our whole climate of conversation.

Boy, do I complain too much...

Rule the Rules

I recently watched License to Wed and there was a hilarious scene where Robin Williams, playing a priest, is teaching kids the Ten Commandments. Great way to remember them:

God is #1

Cussin the Man is Outta Hand

Say N.O. to Envy

Sunday is God's Fun Day

Dad and Mom are the Bomb

Be Chill Don't Kill

It Ain't Neat to Cheat

Keep it Real, Don't Steal

It Ain't Fly to Lie

Covet? Don't Love it

Of course, now is the challenge to renumber them according to the Protestant numbering and come up with new rhymes. What fun!

Vision

Our church is attending the co::labs offered by Will Mancini. These co::labs walk a congregation through the Church Unique process. We have experienced clarity and have been affirmed that the vision we developed 1 1/2 yr ago is still clear, concise, catalytic, compelling and contextual.

The first step in the Church Unique process is to discover our Kingdom Concept. A Kingdom Concept helps a church to discover the unique actions that a church can do better than any other church around them.

The idea is not for our church to "copy and paste" Saddleback, Willow Creek or other growing churches. The assumption is that we should discover our uniqueness, focus on what makes us unique and do the best we can to live that uniqueness out in to our community.

Click here to discover our Kingdom Concept:

If you want a preview of the book, click here.

My leadership has been to 2 out of 6 sessions of the co::labs. We are very excited about this process and can't wait to dig into the other 4 sessions!

6 Thinking Hats: Intro

I am currently reading a book titled "Six Thinking Hats" by Edward De Bono and applying it to church, specifically to church meetings. In Six Thinking Hats, De Bono explains that while we are meeting, we try to do too much all at once: experience emotion, ingest information, create hope, inspire creativity and make decisions. Wouldn't it be great to separate all that out so that we have clarity and clearer communication?

De Bono asserts the following positives for this process:

* everyone in the group (regardless of intelligence, experience and knowledge) can provide input

* saves time (one company set aside 4 hours for a discussion on an important decision. Using this method cut their meeting down to 45 minutes with more buy-in from everyone)

* removes ego (Six Hats helps you to analyze and dissect ideas instead of people)

* provides clarity

What are the hats?

WHITE = facts and figures. Information here is neutral and objective.

RED = emotion. How one feels about a decision, idea or fact.

BLACK = weaknesses of an idea. This hat sees caution and carefulness in every idea. De Bono asserts that this hat comes naturally to many people.

YELLOW = hope and optimism. Seeing the positive aspects of an idea or thought.

GREEN = creativity and new ideas. Looking for growth and new direction.

BLUE = organizing the thinking process. Goals and step-by-step action items.

In future posts, I'll summarize each "hat" and how to use them.

It's The Simple Things

Went strawberry picking today here. The strawberry shortcake was awesome tonight!

(Forget those store-bought strawberries)

They just melt in your mouth...red, plump and sooo refreshing!

What are the simple things that refresh your spirit?

Town Hall for Hope

Here is the facebook page to watch Dave Ramsey's recent Town Hall for Hope. Enjoy!

The Spirit and the System of Worship

I am big into creating a system that helps to organize worship Sunday in and Sunday out.

But, I shouldn't forget about creating the spirit of worship.

I too easily overlook the envornment I'm creating for worship.

The system that is used to organize worship should create an environment, or spirit, for worship.

One question that a great friend of mine asked that helps me tackle the spirit of worship:

"What lie do we give up at worship?"

Last week in worship, we gave up the lie: we have to earn salvation. This week, the lie we'll give up is: tapping into God as a last resort.

What would the elements of worship look like if we organized them around the "spirit" or environment of worship?

and

What lie did you give up at worship recently?

Storyboarding Worship and Sermons

I came across this very useful tool. It has helped me plan out worship services as well as sermons. This tool helps me to visualize the movement from one point into another point and to think through making smooth transitions.

It's a free resource called PocketMod. It's a free recyclable resource to help plan, think, and organize your thoughts.

I use the widget called "Writing Guides: Storyboard" to help me organize my sermon thoughts. Be sure to click on 'Help' to find out how to mix and match the widgets together.

Lastly, the video below helps you to fold the regular sheet of paper into an easily transportable storyboard.

http://pocketmod.com/v2/

Swine Flu

There are many personal hygiene habits that would help us avoid contracting the swine flu.

I haven't heard anyone suggest to not do the above yet ...

What Would You Be Known For?

Over the past week or so, I've been asking myself a few soul-searching questions. There have been a lot of events that woke me up and made me ask: "Why do I do what I do?" and "What legacy am I leaving behind?"

In the midst of this glorious and joyous season of Easter, reminders are all over the place of why Jesus came in the first place:

In my church, one of our church families experienced the loss of his dad. His dad left him with a great appreciation for music. My favorite quote from him is: "Music is the language understood by all cultures."

In my community, one of our favorite news anchors, Dan Miller died suddenly while in his hometown of Augusta, GA. Caught everyone by surprise. The one thing everyone says is that the Dan on the screen was the Dan in the office and on the street. Dan was authentic and real.

In my town, William Malone is walking through the valley of the shadow of death. He is a local dentist and gave back to his community in so many ways. And, Suzan Kinzer, age 38 was taken off life support. She would host garage sales to give to people in need. Both William and Suzan leave behind a legacy of giving.

I certainly don't want to take anything away from the families as they mourn and process what life will look like for them. They are continually in my prayers and I am looking for tangible ways to express my care and love for them.

But these events cause me to not only pray for these families but also take stock of my own life.

So, a couple of questions for you:

What would you be known for when all is said and done?

And, does that change the way you think and act today?

Mule Day

My family and I are having a great time at Mule Day here in Columbia TN!

If you've never been to Mule Day, you haven't lived!

What a great opportunity for a city slicker like me to know the finer-points of country living.

Good times...Yee haw!

Double Filet O Fish

My birthday was yesterday and guess where we celebrated?  At McDonalds!  When you have kids, your birthday is no longer your own.  Actually, I wanted to try the double filet o fish and it was yummy!

Check out this hilarious vid (well, it made me laugh)

Long and Short Meetings

What was the longest meeting you've ever attended?

(mine: 5 hours @ a church council mtg once a month...thankfully, not at the current church I serve!)

What was the most effective meeting you've ever attended?

(mine: 45 min @ a youth mtg to chart out service ideas and actions)

When you compare the two, did you notice how preparation, focus and input ahead of time affected the length of the meeting?  How?

Death by Meeting!  That's what Patrick Lencioni's fable concludes: that we're killing ourselves by meetings all day long.  My experience of meetings is that they turn out to be all talk and no action.  This is very frustrating to try to get things done.

I came across a post by Seth Godin re: meetings and how to make them more effective and productive.

Some takeaways from Seth's post:

1. Schedule meeting in incriments of 5 minutes: this would be interesting to try out.  It would force us to keep the meeting moving, not get bogged down on one item, and cover items succinctly.  It would also force people to be prepared.  If you find it hard to share everything in 5 minutes, check out the book Say It In Six!

(Well, of course the book shows you how to share your thoughts within 6 minutes and with a 5 minute timeframe, you'll have to really hone your skills!  But you get the idea...)

2. Remove all chairs: I've heard of this and have tried it a couple of times with great success!

3. Short Email summary: I take this to the next level and use Google docs with my teams.  Every member of the team can interact and add their progress and thoughts on a project.  The doc can be easily accessed by anyone else on the team.  Then, when it comes time for the meeting, all the thoughts and ideas have been posted and the meeting can go beyond the initial "idea-share" and getting to the action of "how are we going to proceed?" During the meeting, the doc is updated in real time based on our conversation.  Ideally, though, I'd love to jump on Comapping so that it gives my team an accurate picture of how our brains process information.

Mind Break

Click here to check out this video.  Not only does it give your mind a break but it also has a great beat to it!

Solving any Problem with a Picture

I drive my staff crazy because I'm always drawing pictures during meetings, discussions and while I write out sermons (click here to check out this blog post of Billy Chia; a buddy of mine who thinks through sermons by using pictures).  I have a big whiteboard in my office which I use constantly and I have computer programs that help me mindmap (Freemind, Visio, etc) but two problems:

1. After I sketch my thoughts out on the whiteboard, I can't print it out and have a hard copy of it.  I have to manually copy everything from the whiteboard down to a piece of paper.  I don't have one of those fancy machines that takes a pic of the whiteboard and instantly prints it out.

2. If I use computer programs, the are much slower than my train of thought.  My mind is racing and thinking out loud but the computer programs force me to slow down way too much.  I spend the bulk of my time orienting my thoughts to the program, which inhibits creativity and problem solving.

I finally figured my solution thanks to Dan Roam:

Dan Roam was recently in Las Vegas doing a presentation for Microsoft outlining the basic philosophy of solving any problem using a picture.  Click here to view it.

A tablet laptop and a simple pen and I'm a dangerous man...

Are you Communicating to share Information or Inspiration?

When you have the opportunity (or curse) to stand in front of people and talk, do you revert to sharing information or inspiring the group to greatness?  Which one would you rather do?

For 49 weeks in the past 5 years (I get 3 Sundays off), I have had the opportunity to communicate in front of people.  You think it would be an awesome opportunity (which it is) but sometimes it is tough to be inspiring and heart-provoking week-in and week-out.  It's much easier to share an information dump than it is to inspire and paint a picture of a better future.

Andy Stanley's book "Communicating for a Change" outlined a great system for communicating and recently put his thoughts in a Leadership Podcast:

"Effective Communication"  .mp3

A few things strike me:

-Plan out my messages in advance: I've started to do this by planning out worship themes for the whole year.  This has helped chart what sermons looks like from week to week.  It certainly has helped me remember the message since I'm marinating on it for longer than 3 days.  But I still need to work on getting the details of my sermon movement worked out ahead of time (this will certainly give my .ppt person smiles!)

-Tangible item: For every sermon, I think of questions and thoughts for the people to take home with them so the sermon lasts longer than 30 minutes.  I encourage people to talk about these questions over their lunch or later on in the week.  Now my challenge is to give them something tangible to take with them as a visual.

What about you?  What changes do Andy's insights cause you to make when you're faced with a public speaking setting?

What Do You Make Time For?

In an exercise from Pencil Dancing, there were 2 questions that rocked my world.

Question 1: What things do you make time for?

My Answer: My family, connecting with people who don't know Christ, Trinity, Columbia Counseling Ministries, Toastmasters, and Reading

Question 2: What things do you need to make time for that would increase your creativity?

My answer: running/walking, rock climbing, taking an art class, visiting a museum.

Now the task is figuring out how to carve time out to add in my answers from question 2.

What about you?

If you had to narrow down the items you invest your time in, what would that currently look like?

If you wanted to increase your creativity or productivity, what would you need to make time for?

Friend Wheel

Found this feature on Facebook that shows you the web of relationships that you have with your Facebook friends.  It searches for how many connections your friends have with each other and color codes them.  Check it out:

The names on the left have lots of connections with each other and the names on the right have few connections with each other.

So I ask the question:

If you were to map out relationships at your church, office, family, etc., what would it look like?

And, what would you do to change it?

The Little Things...

Little things make a huge difference:

-new paint on the walls

-saying 'thank you' to someone who wasn't expecting it

-carving out time from your busy day and surprising someone you care about by being with them

-shiny floors

-washing the car

Those were little things that I experienced (and did) last week which made a big difference in my life and in someone else's life.

What "little thing" will you do this week?

Let me know...

What I am Reading on Google Reader

When I read a post that I like and I want to remember it or refer to it later, I star it.

Then, those starred posts are automatically posted for you to see what I'm reading.

It's like an instant magazine that I've put together for you to read!

Randy's Starred Items On Google Reader

I hope this inspires you and helps you to pick up some insights or two.

Horror of All Horrors!

This past weekend, I talked to 110 high school youth about living out their faith and beliefs.

During one of the talks, I used twitter as an illustration and quickly saw some blank stares.  I stopped mid-sentence and asked: "Do you know what twitter is?"  None of the youth raised their hands.

I thought I was old but after this weekend, I found out that I'm not....at least not yet.

If you have Twitter, follow me here.

Opportunity From Conflict

Read this great article on Conflict from the Alban Institute.  Based on Acts 6, I find many applications to church leadership, parenting, corporate systems, etc etc.

Finding the Optimal Level of Conflict

Insights I have as I interact with this article:

* "an organization's culture matters more than its structure": I've seen this play out so many times.  It doesn't matter what formal structures you have, but it's the underlying culture that rules the day.  Don't worry about changing structure; change the culture THEN change the structure to reflect the new culture.

* "start behaving as if the culture has already arrived": so don't wait to change the structure or the culture: the first person you change is yourself.

* "this passage begins and ends with ... growth": conflict is sandwiched in between Acts 6.1 and Acts 6.7 which talk about growth.  Whenever we address conflict in a healthy way, growth is a result.

* 3 learnings: Move toward conflict, the presenting issue isn't the real issue and involve the complainers in the solution - I lead with these 3 insights in mind.  In fact, whenever I try to involve the complainers in a solution, they usually bail out because it takes away their right to complain.

What's On My Google Reader

I love Google Reader.  Google Reader is great:

* if you read blogs but the feeds tie up your email

* if you forget to check the blog

* if you have a hard time managing the posts

The features I use most often:

> sort blogs in folders

> share posts easily with others

> star favs so I can go back and easily find posts that are important to me

Google reader automatically checks for updates from the blogs you subscribe to.  It's a great way to have blog posts automatically come to you.  Here's what's on my google reader:

BEYOND RELEVANCE

NELSON SEARCY

CHURCH MARKETING SUCKS

DAN ROAM

ED YOUNG

BEN ARMENT

CRAIG GROESCHEL

TODD RHOADES

PERRY NOBLE

SETH GODIN

MARK BATTERSON

VINCE ANTONUCCI

RUSS ADCOX

BILLY CHIA

ED VANCISE

SARAH GILLIAM

Do We Do Too Much?

"We are not called to do everything

We are called to do the right things"

-Randy Miller on 2/23/09 while reading Acts 

(but I'm sure someone else said it earlier and better than I did)

Staying Creative

A friend of mine put a tweet out asking the question: "what are some tricks to be creative?"

I find these tools to help me:

Back of the Napkin by Dan Roam

The Creative Leader by Ed Young

Pencil Dancing by Mari Messer

"Pencil Dancing" is a new book I picked up and has tons of little exercises to get the creative juices going.  

I also look at Tony Buzan and Michael Gelb for inspiration.

...the Bible helps too

I also believe that everyone is creative: it's written in our DNA but lost when we get into Junior High when we are forced to behave and "tow the line".

63 Days

Today, our church began a journey to grow in our walk with God. Over the next 63 days, we will be walking through the New Testament of the Bible from Matthew to the maps.

There are 3 reading plans to choose from. Here is a brief description of each one:

Step it up: great for first time readers and for people with hectic schedules
Mix and Match: perfect for those who want to bounce around the New Testament.
Git-R-Done: people who want to read 4 chapters a day, straight through, with no interruptions.

Below are the downloads for the bookmarks and prayers associate with each bookmark. The prayers are based on a theme from the New Testament that we will be walking through each week.

I hope that you would join us. (If the links below don't work, let me know @ revmiller38401@yahoo.com)

New Testament Reading Plan

Prayers Each Week

(adapted from Nelson Searcy's New Testament Challenge)

Hudson River School of "Aeronautic" or "Economic" or "Church Transformation" Miracles

Loved this image from Dan Roam, author of "The Back of the Napkin".  

Here's how I would apply this to my church:

1. Acceleration: building excitment and anticipation for change and what "could be"

2. Smash: I think hitting the "you mean these changes affect me?" with churchgoers would qualify at hitting the wall.

3. Flame out: and fallout from decisions people don't like

4. We're going to die: that's right where we're at too, but God is stretching ourselves to reach number 5...

5. Landing on a non-traditional surface: very very curious to see what this looks like for us.  Can't wait!

6. Safe and Sound: Let's take the ride all over again.

Trust and Teams

My leadership team (preschool director, treasurer, office manager, buildings and grounds, children's minister, and I) and I are reading  Trust and Teams by Jane Fryar (a quick read, very concise and packs a punch!).  

As a part of drilling home chapter one, I came up with this exercise that bonded us tighter as a team:

1. Does ___(fill in team member name)____ have:

-my best interests at heart?

no way! 0 - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 yuppers! 100%

-my church's best interest at heart?

no way! 0 - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 yuppers! 100%

After each team member filled this out for each person on the the team, the next question was asked:

2. What is (1) action/behavior that ____(fill in team member name)_____ might be able to do to build your trust in them?

Each team member shared their perspective on what the other person might be able to do to build trust with them.  As the team member spoke, the other person couldn't react or say anything in defense, right or wrong.  This was an opportunity to hear each other give constructive criticism and be able to hear and feel how fellow team members view each other.

So what did my team members say that I could do to build their trust in me?  Read on...

> "continue to help me (team-member) prepare presentations so I (team-member) look good when making them"

> "continue to care, listen and allow me to make mistakes"

> "communicate more clearly the picture of where we're going: share your vision and plans (I feel like we're on a boat adrift in the sea)"

> "let me know what your schedule looks like so I can 'cover' for you"

2009 GOALS: What Am I Going to STOP Doing

Goals are great.  I make lots of them.  But what often happens is that I make a huge list of goals only to find that by mid-year, there's no possible way I can achieve them because I lack 

TIME (clock capacity) or 

PASSION (emotional capacity) or 

RESOURCES (people, talent, $$$ capacity)

I love the Subway commercials where buttons are popping off people and pants are spliting.  It illustrates that our bodies only hold a certain capacity of food.  When we stretch that capacity, we become unhealthy.

It's like my life is a plate of 1/2 dessert and 1/2 pasta.  I know I need to eat more veggies (aka my 2009 goals) but there's no room on my plate.  So, I'll just plop the veggies on top and try to eat the whole plate.  Unfortunately, one of two things happen:

1) Something unintentionally falls off the plate: when I pile things on my plate, something inevitably falls off.  It would be better to strategically figure out how something is going to fall off rather than to "just let it slide".  If I'm strategic and intentional, I can be in control of achieving my goals.

2) I try to do it all only to realize I'm giving myself an ulcer.  I need to stop listening to the lie that says "I can do it all" because I can't possibly do it all.

Whether it's setting goals as a team or setting your own personal goals, we need to make a list of what we are NOT going to do.

Here's mine:

1. I'm not going to check my email and google reader 3x per day.  Usually, I jump online first thing in the morning, during lunch and before I go home.  This is a time killer.  I'm going to set aside 1 hour per day to check emails, google reader and reply to emails.

2. I'm not going to be on the phone all day.  I will set aside a part of my day to make, receive and return phone calls.

3. I'm not going to take my member's ideas and run with them.  Recently, a couple of church members had the idea of doing a progressive dinner.  Great idea!  But guess who took the idea, ran with it and implemented the whole thing: you guessed it!  The idiot whose blog you're reading.  I take peoples' ideas because I worry that it won't accomplish the vision of our church.  So I vow to listen to someone's ideas and coach them on how to best implement it so that it will accomplish the vision of our church.

4. I'm not going to read books.  Ok, well you know me too well.  I'm always reading at least 4 books at one time.  But I also have this goal to read the whole Bible this year.  So, I'm going to read less of my other books and read more of the Bible.  It'll disappoint Amazon.com but I think it'll be worth it.

5. I'm not going to do ministry by myself.  I am going to delegate and empower more peole this year so they are more of a part of ministry.  

What's your 2009 STOP doing list?

GHAG

It's a new year and I've thought through my "Ginormous Hairy Audacious Goals" for 2009 (borrowed and adapted from Jim Collin's phrase "Big Hairy Audacious Goals").

Some things you'll notice:

*  I gotta set goals: The old saying is true: "If you aim at nothing, you'll hit it every time."  I don't know if I'm an effective leader if I don't know where I'm headed.

* I set way too many goals: I'd rather have too many goals than to have only 3, achieve them and be bored the rest of the year.  Lots of goals always gives me something to shoot for. 

* Goals always meet reality: When I set goals, it also means that I have to give up something.  I have limited time, and my life is full of tasks and things to do.  When I set up new goals, I also need to give up doing something in order to make room emotionally, spiritually and logistically in order to to accomplish them.  You'll see that list next week.

Here are mine for 2009 (hey, that rhymes!)

-baptize 15 people

-launch 6 new small groups

-mentor each small group leader by meeting with them one-on-one at least once this year

-lead our church in a community-wide "serve Columbia" campaign

-use videos during worship services

-project all of our worship services

-new church website

-podcast sermons

-develop sermon groups where people help me write and be creative about sermon topics

-develop questions based on the sermon for people to take home with them and talk about during the week

-invite my church to literally "open up their Bibles" during every message

-connect with parents at our preschool/childcare ministry by opening the front door 2x a month

-bring 8 new members to church

-develop a venue for our Junior and Senior High Youth to connect once a month using a youth-led band

-read the Bible from timelines all the way through to the maps