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The Quest for Efficiency

One of my goals for 2008 is to become more efficient. Bottom line is that I want to be effective in all that I do, and being efficient is part of that bigger picture. I want to get the most out of my time, energy, and effort. Some of the unexpected changes and demands over the last 18 months have led to greater discipline in some areas and less in others. I want to honor God in all that I do and how it is done. I want to lead well in this area and set the pace for my team.

It is time to dial some things in, so here is what I have been doing the past eight weeks to become more efficient.

• I have re-read Getting Things Done. This is a great book that provides excellent guidance in organizing projects, prioritizing what to do, and effectively establishing action steps. A few years back I was an ardent follower of this system, but slacked a bit over the last year. Back at it full steam now and I am really seeing the difference. A decent summary of the book here.

• I started using Vitalist. This has been a great tool for implementing the principles of GTD. In the past I have used Outlook for this purpose, but Vitalist is much better.

• I moved to a ZERO BASED INBOX. My email Inbox was getting the best of me, but no longer. I make several email dashes a day, deal with each item and keep it empty. Sure it feels better, but the real win is that I don't read certain emails over and over again, and thus I am more efficient.

• Prioritized a clean desk. Up until a few years ago, this was a non-negotiable for me. I had to have a clean desk. However, it has become a bit messy over the last two years. Reading that a messy desk can waste as much as three hours a week inspired me to get back to a clean desk. I should point out that I have not yet arrived in this area, but I am getting close. 

• I started using del.icio.us

• Going to bed earlier and getting up earlier. I am trying to max out morning hours more than I have in the past. Typically, I would go to bed about midnight and wake up between 6-7am. Now I am trying to be in bed around 11pm and wake up at 6am.

• Eat less and exercise more. When I am disciplined physically, it has tremendous carryover into other areas.

• Financial Peace University. I will write more on this later, but Carol Ann and I have been following this diligently (most of the time) over the last year and it has been a huge help.

Welcome to Northern Hills

Several people have requested my closing comments from this weekend. Here they are:

As followers of Jesus at Northern Hills we will be ready and willing to be used by God to make a significant difference in our community and our world. We will continue to be a church that is not processed, but possessed by the power of our living God and through the work of the Holy Spirit.

Borrowing the idea form a call to worship from Christ United Methodist Church in Memphis, Tennessee:  

Welcome to Northern Hills! Where we invite you to be part of the praise-offering, hand-clapping, foot-stomping rhythm section of the Lord’s Most Dangerous Band. But more than that, we invite you to open up to the mind-blowing, heartwarming, life-changing power of God–a power that’ll disturb, delight, deliver, and lift.

It’ll make you young when you’re old, and live when you die.

And whether we’re black or white, rich or poor, upper class, middle class or no class, whether we have Ph.D.’s or no D’s, whether we’re young or old, male or female, Democrat, Republican or Independent, politically correct or red-necked, you’re welcome here. Welcome to Northern Hills.

But be ready–at Northern Hills discouraged folks cheer up; dishonest folks ‘fess up; sour folks sweeten up; depressed folks look up; closed folks open up; gossips shut up; conflicted folks make up; sleeping folks wake up; lukewarm folks fire up; dry bones shake up; and pew potatoes stand up.

But most of all, Jesus, the Savior of the entire world, is lifted up... Welcome to the future of Northern Hills!

4 A.M. Worship

A new experience for me this past weekend.

This was Vision Weekend at Northern Hills. I was amped and excited to share where we are headed. Saturday night (or technically Sunday morning), I awoke at 3:30 in the morning. Now that is not all that unusual. When this happens, sometimes I will pray, or God will put something on my heart that I will write down for the following morning's message. At other times I just take the awake time to go through the following days message one more time, then return to a wonderful sleep.

However,  this past weekend when I awoke, I had the unmistakable impression that I was to take some time to worship God. This really did not make sense, so I just started going over the message that I would be giving in a few hours. Doing so proved useless and my restlessness was growing and I wanted to  go back to sleep,  but I could not.

It took nearly 30 minutes to give in and do what God was asking. So I simply started to praise God silently for who he is and what he is doing. Then after several minutes I grabbed my iPod and listened to a playlist that I titled God's Glory. It was really an incredible time of intense focus and praise toward God. Around 5:15AM I went back to sleep and woke up at 7 AM ready to roll.

In reflection, this time of worship was required to make sure that my focus was where it needed to be while speaking about the future of Northern Hills. Not sleeping, brought rest, comfort, and instilled within me a God given passion to communicate his mission. God is good!

255 Coats

This weekend we concluded our Malachi series at Northern Hills. The message throughout the series was to Give God our Best! When we started the series we wanted to come up with a way for people to remember their commitment to give God their best. We wanted to provide a "drive the stake in the ground" - "this is the day" moment. The teaching team decided that on an unannounced weekend we would ask people to give their coat away. Yep, without warning, at the conclusion of the services one weekend we would ask people to give their coat away. Our thought was that most people when wearing a jacket to church, wear their nicest coat or one of their best. To give that jacket away would be a sacrifice and possibly a defining act or at least a spiritually memorable moment.

We had the messages ready; organizations lined up to receive the donated coats; we kept it a secret - only a handful of people knew this was coming; it was all a go except...... the weather.  We experienced near record breaking warmth during the series. Too warm in fact for nearly anyone to wear a jacket each weekend. We decided to put the idea on hold until the weather turned cold. If it did not before the series ended, then we would use the idea another time.

This week it was not actually cold, but it was cold enough for many people to wear jackets, so we went for it. We waited until the end of each service and then we explained what we were doing and what the symbolism was in giving away your jacket. We were very careful to avoid "guilting" anyone into giving away their jacket.

The response was incredible. Many individuals gave their jacket through tears and prayers. And let me tell you - there were some nice jackets given away! It was awesome to see the people of NHCC collectively build an altar of coats as remembrance that we will strive to give God our best through his strength and grace.

In total, 255 coats were given on the spur of the moment. My hope and prayer for each person who gave their coat, is that this weekend will be a powerful reminder of God's goodness, and their personal commitment. Praise God for the incredible way he used this series in the life of NHCC.

People of Norther Hills.....................YOU ROCK!!! I am so proud of you and humbled to do life and ministry with you.

 

1 Corinthians 4 Leadership

As a staff we have been studying 1 Corinthians. It has been timely and insightful for where we are in the history of Northern Hills. Recently we took a look at leadership through the lens of 1 Corinthians 4. Here a some principles that we were challenged to live out as leaders within the church:

1. Leaders are to serve by helping people navigate and apply God's Word. (4:1)
2. Leaders "play" to an audience of one - JESUS! (4:2-5)
3. Leaders get their opportunity to lead and ability to lead from God. (4:6-8)
4. Leaders embrace the reality that leadership stinks at times. (4:9-13)
5. Leaders must lead as a caring parent; not like an arrogant poser. (4:14-20)
6. Leaders model the life they want others to live. (4:14-20)
7. Leaders define reality and give options. (14:21)

Holy Spirit vs. Assessments

OK not a fair fight. The Holy Spirit wins! Sort of... (dang!)

What am I talking about? Figuring out your spiritual gifts. Now we could debate which gifts exist and when someone receives a gift, etc..., but that is not my point.

My experience tells me that most people rely on spiritual gift assessments as the primary identifier of their gifts. I have seen some people who identified their "gifts" through an assessment prior to becoming a Christian. Hmmm...I could rant here, but I won't.  Assessments are quick, easy, fun, and they create a really nice, sometimes prideful conversation. Also, once we figure out our gifting, they give us several reasons not to serve in some ways. "I can't share my faith, I am not gifted in evangelism". "I don't usually have people over to the house, I don't really have the gift of hospitality like you do". (OK, I ranted a bit, but I feel better!)

It seems to me like we have things backwards. Assessments should be used to affirm what someone has already learned from personal reflection on God's Word and impression from the Holy Spirit. Any assessment should follow studying God's Word, praying and gaining insight from trusted Jesus loving friends. The discovery of gifting is probably going to take more than 30 minutes, and filling in a few dots on the computer screen.

Listening to your assessment results should trail listening to the Holy Spirit.

Trash spiritual gifts tests? No. I believe they can serve a purpose and help people think in terms of their God given wiring. Combined with proper teaching, they can add insight and propel a person to deeper study.  In fact, I believe that there can even be some value in using other assessments that help us better understand our leadership style, personality, etc... However, no assessment can take priority over God's Word and the Holy Spirit. If you want to know who you are and your part of God's story, ask Him.

I took a quick look to see if anyone else had written about this. Yep. More to think about from Tim Challies.

Waste, Indulgence & Gluttony (Part 2)

As of today I have been alive 15,354 days. What have I done with this life? More importantly, who have I been? What has been wasted? What has been misused? What have I done with all that I have been given during these 15k days?

In the United States the difficulties are not a Minotaur or a dragon - not imprisonment, hard labor, death, government harassment, and censorship - but cupidity, boredom, sloppiness, indifference. Not the acts of a mighty, all-pervading, repressive government but the failure of a listless public to make use of the freedom that is its birthright. - Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

To really max out our life for the purposes of Jesus; to live out our part of God's story to the fullest, requires that we embrace the birthright we have through the grace of God as his child. That we also embrace the freedom that we are given through Jesus. Freedom from the bondage of sin. Freedom from our past failures. Freedom from religion. Freedom to live in and through God's power rather than our pride. Living in anything other than that freedom is a ... waste.

Too often we live in a way that is marked by boredom, sloppiness, and indifference. Now in writing this I am not emphasizing more "doing". I am emphasizing more "being".

Paul said it like this, for to me, to live is Christ to die is gain. (Phil 1:21)

Someone said that life is what you are alive to. College football season is about to start, I come alive to that. Some people come alive to shopping. Others come alive to chocolate or a new piece of technology. It is not that coming alive to such things is so horrible. However, it leads to waste, indulgence, and maybe even gluttony, when we are more alive to things, other people, and experiences, than we are to Jesus.

More to follow...

(Part 1)

A Preaching Bonus

One of the most challenging yet rewarding things that I get to do, is teach each weekend at Northern Hills. Sometimes I receive an added bonus.

We are currently going through 1 John and this week we spent time in chapter three taking a look at what it means to love one another.

One of the points of emphasis was that loving feelings produce loving words but not necessarily loving action. However, Jesus kind of love DOES! Love is not so much what we say, but what we do. To emphasize this point I used several examples of how I have seen Jesus kind of love make a big difference. I shared about how many years ago Carol Ann and I had this king size water bed (did I say several years ago? because it was), and around 1A.M. Sunday morning, it sprung a leak and we had water everywhere. The worst part was that I was to preach later that day. As I stood up to preach, I told everyone what had happened, made some joke, and then moved on to teaching God's Word. I didn't think much more about the water bed or my soggy bedroom.

However, when I get home that day, there is a large box on our front porch and it has a brand new top of the line water bed mattress. It was such a cool way that someone met a real need that we had for a dry/water (?) bed and a place to sleep.

So this week after telling that story in first service I joked that my car broke down. Everyone laughed and we moved on. However, between services my oldest daughter came to tell me that her car broke down and some nice people from church picked her up and brought her to the service. So, now as I am teaching in second service I thank the people, whoever they are, for giving my daughter a ride to church and I speak of that act of kindness as being a good example of loving in a very practical way.

Well, my neighbor Sam and his friend Jason are in attendance Sunday. They hear about my daughter's car and after church they just spring into action. They tow the car home, diagnose a faulty alternator, and have everything fixed in a couple of hours. It was awesome and an incredible testimony to my daughter and her dad too.

Thanks Sam and Jason for being doers of the Word. What a blessing!

I was once again reminded of the importance of responding to need out of Love. Loving by doing. Loving not for what you might get in return; not for the accolades; not so that someone will change for the better - although that often happens; but loving to be like Jesus.

 

Waste, Indulgence & Gluttony (Part One)

In the United States of America, by my calculations, (please check if you feel led), we "use" 2637 trees per weekend to create the church bulletins that we quickly read (maybe) and then throw away.

Here is how I arrived at 2637 trees:

• US Population = 301,139,947 (Source)
• 47% of Population attend church weekly. (Source) Personally I believe this is high, but we will go with the research.
• Total weekly church attendance = 141,535,775
• Bulletins produced at rate of 1 bulletin for two people = 70,767,888
• Sheets of paper (8.5 x 11) used per bulletin = 3 (This is my guess, but I think it is probably more)
• Total sheets of paper used per weekend for bulletins = 212,303,663
• Sheets of paper per tree = 80,500 (Source) (Source) Estimates vary here from 15,000 to 200,000
• Trees used per weekend = 2637
• Trees used per year = 137,140

My point has very little to do with conserving trees. I am all about wisely using what we have been given by God. Plus we now have more trees in the U.S. than at anytime in the last 70 years. Each year the U.S. forest community plants 1.5 billion seedlings. More than 5 trees are planted each day per person and millions other grown naturally. (Source) Thats a lot of trees!

My point is that the weekly church bulletin is the poster child for waste. It is the paper plate of periodicals. It serves a purpose for about 10 minutes and is then discarded. I would call it waste. Sure, most churches use the WEB more than ever, but most churches still crank out weekly bulletins. Last year I was handed a weekly bulletin from one of the largest churches in the nation, and I counted 17 different pieces of paper inserts of different sizes and colors. Wow!

However, the ol' bulletin is not the biggest waste in the church. Not even close. The biggest waste is related to those who ARE the church. Often we are ineffective in living out our part of God's story because we waste - OUR STUFF, OUR TIME, OUR OPPORTUNITIES, and OUR GOD GIVEN GIFTS and TALENTS.

Oh what could be if we eliminated the waste in our lives.

By the way...  the trees being used each year to produce church bulletins would supply enough wood for 25,876 houses. (Source) Wow!

Stay tuned for part two...

Pure Passion

Teaching through Song of Songs in our Pure Passion series has been a blast. Challenging, but rewarding. I have been very encouraged by how this series has been received by the people of Northern Hills. The most common feedback that I have received is, "why haven't we studied this before" and "this is really important for our young people to hear". The evidence suggests that God is doing some incredible work in marriages and "pre-marriage" relationships. It has been awesome to experience and I look forward to the next five weeks.

Here are some of the lessons learned so far:

• Be intentional and creative when it comes to your relationship leading to marriage or in marriage.
• Value devotion to God and character above all else.
• Shower the one you love with encouragement, honor, respect, and heart felt compliments.
• Refuse to compromise on your values and refuse to trade your character for “love”.
• Consider proximity when spending time together. In marriage to enhance your experience, in dating/courtship to avoid a "premature" experience!
• When dating consider the thoughts from your Jesus loving friends about the one you are dating and your relationship with that person.
• Men - pursue in a God honoring way.
• Women allow yourself to be pursued rather than chasing after just any man because you have this great urgency for relationship.
• Trust is built through vulnerability, long conversations, and at the appropriate time sharing of hopes and hurts.
• Embrace singleness as a gift from God and max out those opportunities to serve.
• Casual, random and reckless dating prepares a person more for divorce than for a life long partnership.
• Don’t say no to your sexual desires, say not now.
• God brings healing, renewal and purity to those who have been out of bounds in their relationships and ask for his forgiveness and help.