Ask Yourself these 7 Simple Questions to Clarify your Personal Values
Every pastor needs what I call “true north” values, core convictions we refuse to compromise even when external pressures tempt us to do so. Such values are like the difference between a compass and a gyrocompass. A simple compass points to true north because it relies on magnetic north. Unless, that is, you bring a
Peek-a-Boo Porn in a Pastor’s Life
In my studies on the brain, I was intrigued to read this quote from one of today’s most well-known neuroscientists, V. S. Ramachandran, in his book The Tell-Tale Brain. (Kindle e-book location 4219) He writes, “A picture of a nude woman seen behind a shower curtain or wearing diaphanous, skimpy clothes-an image that men would
Data Overload: Is Your Church Guilty of Infobesity?
In today’s world we’re bombarded with information overload. One author coined this problem infobesity (Pearrow, 2012) to describe this data overload. When we get too much data our thinking brain shuts down to new information. British psychologist Dr. David Lewis coined a term to describe what happens from infobesity as ‘Information Fatigue Syndrome.’ Symptoms include
Avoiding Ministry Failure: 5 Questions to Ask when you do a Ministry Pre-mortem
Ministry initiatives in the church often fail. A simple planning tool called the pre-mortem, however, can minimize ministry failure. In a recent post I suggested 7 good reasons to conduct the pre-mortem, a tool credited to Dr. Gary Klein. A pre-mortem is an exercise that assumes your plan spectacularly fails and considers beforehand what might go wrong.
7 Benefits of an Often Overlooked Planning Tool: the Pre-mortem
Jesus recognized the role good planning plays in life and ministry. He said, Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? (Luke 14.28) Unfortunately, lack of planning often torpedoes otherwise good ministry ideas. Scientist Gary Klein, author of
5 Ways to Deepen Your Integrity
Daniel and his three friends are some of my favorite bible characters. They modeled what it means to live a life of integrity. Several years ago James Patterson and Peter Kim authored the book, The Day America told the Truth. They conducted a survey by asking Americans what they would be willing to do for 10 million
5 Essentials Google Discovered that Create Effective Teams
Google is ubiquitous. As the largest search engine, it has become a common term in our vernacular as, just ‘Google it.’ A couple of years ago Google assigned a team to discover ingredients for effective teams. Five key learnings surfaced from that study. In this post I’ve summarized them with a key question for each
6 Tips to Keeping New Year’s Resolutions
Every January millions make new year’s resolutions. The top ones include lose weight, quit smoking, use money more wisely, and spend more time with friends. Unfortunately, 50% never keep their resolution for more than 6 months and only 10% make it through the year. So, should we avoid setting resolutions (goals) for the new year because
Sticky Church Vision: a 4-step Process that Works
I’ve served in churches for over 40 years and I’m still learning how to craft a sticky church vision. In my current church, WestPark Church in London, Ontario, I delivered our vision for my first year after being there for only three months. That may seem quick, but I sensed it was well received. In
How a Leader’s Brain Works, Part 2
In my previous post I explained how two basic systems operate in a leader’s brain. In today’s post I give an example to illustrate how this process might work in real life. Here’s an excerpt, however, to bring you up to speed. “The brain’s overall operational process incorporates two sub-processes: the X-system, from the ‘x’ in