Life Goals

I am in the process of making a list of goals that I hope to accomplish. I’m not sure how spiritual or realistic they all are, but oh well…

celebrate 50 years of marriage with Becci

take each of my kids on a mission trip

take Becci to Hawaii

take my family to Australia and New Zealand

have a house on the beach or  in mountains

greatly influence my grandchildren

make a family crest

serve/lead a simple church/ministry

walk Ariel down the aisle

have all my kids love God, love others, and proving it everyday

I will upgrade this list regularly.

 

Simple, Not Easy

I value simplicity, but sometimes when I talk about being simple or doing things in a simple way it is mistaken as taking the easy way. That isn’t what I mean at all. In fact, I think it is much harder to be simple than to be complicated. It is incredibly hard to remain simple. And it must be official because someone has named this paradox Meyer’s Law:

“It is a simple task to make things complex, but a complex task to make them simple.”

It is very difficult to take control of my schedule and only do a few things well instead of doing everything there is out there to do. This is true in my home, my job, and my church.

I must constantly be prioritizing and asking…
What should I do more of?
What should I do less of?
What do I need to start doing that I haven’t been doing?
What do I need to stop doing altogether?

What is on your “to don’t” list?

More or Less?

The goal: to build families who love God, love others, and live it everyday!

What do we need to do more of?

What do we need to do less of?

What do we need to start doing?

What do we need to stop doing?

Speaking of Change…

In his book, Focal Point, Al Ries says,

“there are only four different things you can do to improve the quality of your life and work:

1. You can do more of certain things.
2. You can do less of certain things
3. You can start to do things you are not doing at all today.
4. You can stop doing certain things altogether.

Once we know what the goal/desired outcome is we should ask…
What do we need to do more of?
What do we need to do less of?
What do we need to start doing?
What do we need to stop doing?

Why are we so afraid to stop doing certain things?

Wild Goose Chase

Wild Goose Chase, by Mark Batterson, is one of the best books I’ve read. It speaks of our faith being adventurous and dangerous rather than predictable and boring. Ancient Celtic Christians referred to the Holy Spirit as “the Wild Goose” – mysterious, untamed, even dangerous.

Batterson wonders if churches do to people what zoos do to animals – take them out of their natural habitat and try to tame them.
He states the problem clearly…
“Many, if not most, Christians are bored with their faith.”

Batterson talks about six cages that keep us from the spiritual adventure that God wants us to have…

cage #1 – Responsibility
God ordained passions and responsibilities get displaced by less important ones.

cage #2 – Routine
Sacred routines can become empty rituals.

cage #3 – Assumptions
We let our assumptions keep us from Chasing the Wild Goose.

cage #4 – Guilt
We focus on what we’ve done wrong in the past.

cage#5 – Failure
Sometimes our plans have to fail in order for God’s plans to succeed.

cage #6 – Fear
We need to quit living as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death.

Have you been comfortable long enough?
Do you want some adventure?

Pick up a copy of this book and get ready for action!

Upgrade – Principle #6

Principles on change from Reggie Joiner on the Orange Tour…

“People change when the pain associated with the status quo becomes greater than the pain associated with the change.”

Principle #1
If you want to build something that lasts, you have to be willing to change what you build.

Principle #2
There is a tendency to be too slow to upgrade because change seems costly.

Principle #3
The best way to keep a team moving toward your mission is to frequently upgrade your systems.

Principle #4
Every change gives you an opportunity to distinguish between what is core and what is cultural.

Principle #5
When you don’t upgrade the system, you lose the capacity to support a more relevant approach.

Principle #6
Effective organizations create a culture that is intentional about upgrading critical systems.

Five Critical Systems
A. Strategy – how we connect and mobilize leaders
B. Message – how we communicate the message
C. Family – how we partner with parents
D. Community – how we put coaches/mentors in the lives of young people
E. Influence – how we mobilize students and people to serve

Our goal isn’t to do things the easiest way – its to do things the most effective way.

Do we want a different outcome? Do we need to upgrade our systems to achieve a different outcome?

Upgrade – Principle #5

Principles on change from Reggie Joiner on the Orange Tour…

“People change when the pain associated with the status quo becomes greater than the pain associated with the change.”

Principle #1
If you want to build something that lasts, you have to be willing to change what you build.

Principle #2
There is a tendency to be too slow to upgrade because change seems costly.

Principle #3
The best way to keep a team moving toward your mission is to frequently upgrade your systems.

Principle #4
Every change gives you an opportunity to distinguish between what is core and what is cultural.

Principle #5
When you don’t upgrade the system, you lose the capacity to support a more relevant approach.

Relevant means to connect to the matter at hand. We are not trying to make Jesus relevant. He already is. We are trying to connect people to Jesus.

Sometimes we try to make changes in the church but we don’t upgrade our systems. So we fail and blame it on the “software” (program or new idea). Its like trying to run the new Photoshop C4 on the original mac computer. When we try something new and it fails we need to ask, “Do we have the right system to support the new program? Most likely it is a systems issue. Or better yet, lets ask that question before we install the new program.

Are we more interested in who we are keeping or who we are reaching?

What is it that if it were true about our church would make us not want to work here?

Upgrade – Principle #4

Principles on change from Reggie Joiner on the Orange Tour…

“People change when the pain associated with the status quo becomes greater than the pain associated with the change.”

Principle #1
If you want to build something that lasts, you have to be willing to change what you build.

Principle #2
There is a tendency to be too slow to upgrade because change seems costly.

Principle #3
The best way to keep a team moving toward your mission is to frequently upgrade your systems.

Principle #4
Every change gives you an opportunity to distinguish between what is core and what is cultural.

God’s Word is core. Curriculum is cultural.
Worship is core. An organ is cultural.
Relationships are core. Programming is cultural.

Constantly remind your teams and people what is core and what is cultural.

What are the core values and issues and methods in our ministries and families?
What are simply cultural values, issues, and methods?

Upgrade – Principle #3

Principles on change from Reggie Joiner on the Orange Tour…

“People change when the pain associated with the status quo becomes greater than the pain associated with the change.”

Principle #1
If you want to build something that lasts, you have to be willing to change what you build.

Principle #2
There is a tendency to be too slow to upgrade because change seems costly.

Principle #3
The best way to keep a team moving toward your mission is to frequently upgrade your systems.

If we don’t change we sacrifice our mission. Over time we lose our passion for the mission and get diverted by the need to organize and maintain the success we’ve experienced. Our success can end up being our enemy.

What successes could be keeping us from focusing on our mission?

What systems could use an upgrade?

Upgrade – Principle #2

Principles about change from Reggie Joiner on the Orange Tour…

“People change when the pain associated with the status quo becomes greater than the pain associated with the change.”

Principle #1
If you want to build something that lasts, you have to be willing to change what you build.

Principle #2
There is a tendency to be too slow to upgrade because change seems costly.

In the church many times we are slow to change because we are afraid of who won’t like it and what if they leave the church. Maybe we need to be more concerned about the people we will never reach if we don’t change than we are about those who will leave if we do change.

What is the cost if we change?
What is the cost if we don’t change?