In “Didn’t See it Coming” Carey Nieuwhof outlines seven challenges that can catch a pastor or leader by surprise even though they are ubiquitous. The seven challenges are Cynicism, Compromise, Disconnection, Irrelevance, Pride, Burnout, and Emptiness. Carey calls these seven challenges “epidemics of our age.” While these things have a tendency to catch us off …
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Note: While I focus on pastoral work in this article, I believe anyone who struggles with scheduling creative work may benefit. I debated publishing this, fearing that some may not understand the various pressures and struggles of pastors and others who must address problems without clear solutions or perform other tasks which draw on creative …
Addicted I have an unhealthy infatuation with time. There. I’ve admitted it. My time infatuation wasn’t easy to admit. At first, I wrote, “I’m beginning to realize that I have an unhealthy infatuation with time,” but that isn’t really admitting to the problem. Subscribe!Please fill in the form and submit to subscribeJohnSmithjohnsmith@example.comSign UpForm is being …
I’m beginning a retreat today, but I made the trip a day early for a meeting and to spend some time reading. I love the statement by Steinbeck that you don’t take a journey, a journey takes you. I’ve verified that statement many times. This journey is no exception. Subscribe!Please fill in the form and …
If you want to see what a Leaderbox looks like, here’s my unboxing and first impressions: I told myself I wasn’t going to do it. I told myself it was too much money. But then, I received a 10% off coupon for Michael Hyatt’s Leaderbox and I thought I’d revisit my initial decision. After thinking …
Continue reading "Michael Hyatt’s Leaderbox – First Impressions"
I love reading books. Actually, that’s not quite accurate. I love the thought of reading. Reading, on the other hand, I find taxing. I know many people who love reading. I’m not one of them. What I do love is learning. Since reading provides me the best and, perhaps, the most effective way to learn, …
About a week ago I purchased a Samsung Chromebook Pro. I’ve wanted one of these even before they were available. However, it’s taken me about a year to finally get one. I’ve not been disappointed. In fact, I’ve been extremely impressed. I’ve been so impressed that I decided to do a “Real World Review.” This …
Psalm 61 Where Can We Go? Life gets bogged down. We take two steps forward, but because of unforeseen challenges, we take six steps back. Frustration ensues as our problems loom large and solutions are nowhere in sight. We become so fixated on our problems that we can no longer see past them. We believe …
Psalm 60:1-12 Where was God? You thought you had it all figured out. You planned. You strategized. And then…failure. Not a small failure, but a colossal failure. A failure so big you had to step back and reassess your approach and ask, “What went wrong? Where did I get off track? How in the world …
Psalm 59:1-17 Jokers to the Left, Clowns to the Right I don’t like problems. When I have a problem I try to fix it, or get it fixed, as soon as I have. Problems are enemies which work against my goals and agenda. Imagine my surprise when the psalmist ask God to allow his enemies, …
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Addicted I have an unhealthy infatuation with time. There. I’ve admitted it. My time infatuation wasn’t easy to admit. At first, I wrote, “I’m beginning to realize that I have an unhealthy infatuation with time,” but that isn’t really admitting to the problem. Subscribe!Please fill in the form and submit to subscribeJohnSmithjohnsmith@example.comSign UpForm is being …
I’m beginning a retreat today, but I made the trip a day early for a meeting and to spend some time reading. I love the statement by Steinbeck that you don’t take a journey, a journey takes you. I’ve verified that statement many times. This journey is no exception. Subscribe!Please fill in the form and …
Psalm 61 Where Can We Go? Life gets bogged down. We take two steps forward, but because of unforeseen challenges, we take six steps back. Frustration ensues as our problems loom large and solutions are nowhere in sight. We become so fixated on our problems that we can no longer see past them. We believe …
Psalm 60:1-12 Where was God? You thought you had it all figured out. You planned. You strategized. And then…failure. Not a small failure, but a colossal failure. A failure so big you had to step back and reassess your approach and ask, “What went wrong? Where did I get off track? How in the world …
Psalm 59:1-17 Jokers to the Left, Clowns to the Right I don’t like problems. When I have a problem I try to fix it, or get it fixed, as soon as I have. Problems are enemies which work against my goals and agenda. Imagine my surprise when the psalmist ask God to allow his enemies, …
Continue reading "Purposeful Problems – Reflection on Psalm 59"
Psalm 58:1-11 Psalm 58 Watching the World Burn People gravitate toward the Psalms because of their complete and utter realness. I was taught that if I didn’t have anything nice to say…then don’t say anything. The psalmist doesn’t follow such motherly advice. Instead, the psalmist lets his fury fly. There’s a scene in The Dark …
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Psalm 57:1-8 Should I Stay or Should I Go? Some problems can’t be fixed no matter how hard we try. The problems are bigger than we are. I used to try to fix my problems. After much frustration, I finally admitted that some problems can’t be fixed, or at least not by me. Subscribe!Please fill …
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Psalm 56:1-13 Stuff Happens Bad things happen. How do you respond? What do you do when life doesn’t work out the way you want? What’s your reaction when someone actively seeks your destruction? Perhaps destruction is too strong of a word. Maybe somebody tries to destroy your reputation, limit your opportunities, or steal your thunder. …
Continue reading "Bad Stuff, Deep Trust – Reflection on Psalm 56"
Psalm 55:1-23 Betrayed You can’t believe what you are hearing! Your friend, your best friend, shares what you told them in confidence. You’ve been betrayed! If it was anyone else you wouldn’t be surprised, but you though your friend was on your side. Now you wonder if he was ever really a friend. Perhaps all …
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Psalm 54:1-7 Hiding I remember wonderful times of youth, playing Kick the Cans or Hide and Go Seek. In my neighborhood, all the kids would gather across the street and we would play until it was too dark to see. I was pretty good at hiding, which was extremely helpful in both games. I could …
Continue reading "How to Rest in Hope – Reflection on Psalm 54"
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Looking for a Lenten Devotional? My friend Curt and I wrote one. It reflects on the four soils Jesus mentions in Matthew 13. Along with the reflections, there is space for your own thoughts as well as some spiritual practices. You can find more information and get the Kindle or paperback version at: Amazon Listing …
Psalm 44:1-26 Confused and Abandoned Sometimes all we can do is cry out to God. Life, as wonderful as it can be, also brings difficulties and confusion. Even our best attempts end up leaving us wondering what went wrong. We believe and hear that God loves us, but at times, we wonder what it means …
Psalm 42 Disturbed Twice the Psalmist asks, “Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me?” Can you identify? Something’s wrong, deep within. Perhaps, like the psalmist, we can’t figure out what’s wrong. The psalmist asks his soul for answers, but gets none. Maybe we all have these experiences. Life comes at us …
Failed Attempts Right now, many are setting New Year’s resolutions. We should all be pretty good at this practice considering many of our resolutions are the same failed resolutions from the past. (Yes…I really will lose the weight!! Just like last year). Now for Something Completely Different… This year I’m trying something different. I’m not …
He was to overthrow Israel’s enemies. That was the hope. The Jewish people expected a Messiah who would set them free. They knew things were not the way they were supposed to be. Their dream was one day God would send a hero, a Messiah, who would put everything back to rights. God did the …
I’ve heard that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. If that’s the case, then Jesus should be ecstatic. After all, a number of years ago there was a campaign that went viral called What Would Jesus Do (WWJD). The point of the campaign is pretty self-explanatory so I won’t go into detail. If you …
This statement brings together the main teachings of the spiritual masters. For them the inner life’s purpose was to empower the outer life. We breathe in God’s Spirit so we can breathe out in service to the world. Their life was not simply about silence and solitude, but also about service.For too long we have …
Thanks to someone in Men’s Group (Gary), I was finally able to find this clip after what seemed like years of searching. I have no idea when I saw the film, but I always remembered this prayer. At the time, I was a bit put off by it to be honest. Now I view it …
by - [-] Rank/Rating: -/- Price: - I received the electronic version of this book free in exchange for an honest review. There will be some who will not like this book. They will give it low ratings and pontificate about watering down the gospel or how the authors are wrong on one point or …
Continue reading "Review – Mystery of God by Steven D. Boyer and Christopher A. Hall"
I just recently stumbled upon this article. I’ve noticed the while UMs seem to believe in prayer and try to promote prayer, we really don’t pray. We might have prayer before meetings, or in our services, yet it feels like we are simply trying to do what we are expected to do. When we relinquish …
About a week ago I purchased a Samsung Chromebook Pro. I’ve wanted one of these even before they were available. However, it’s taken me about a year to finally get one. I’ve not been disappointed. In fact, I’ve been extremely impressed. I’ve been so impressed that I decided to do a “Real World Review.” This …
Yes, the Logos Android bible app runs just fine on a Chromebook. Here’s a short screen-cast. The app works extremely well and has all the functionality of running it on a phone or tablet. Subscribe!Please fill in the form and submit to subscribeJohnSmithjohnsmith@example.comSign UpForm is being submitted, please wait a bit.Please fill out all required …
NOTE: I changed the title from “Four Tools to take ChromeOS Beyond the Browser” to “Four Tools to take a Chromebook Beyond the Browser” to reflect that Linux is used rather than native ChromeOS. Thanks to Philotech Mueller from the Chromebooks GooglePlus community for pointing it out! I’ve already written about why I use Chromebooks. …
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I’m a big fan of Chromebooks. I purchased my first Chomebook, a Toshiba 1st Generation, a few years back. Even though I am comfortable with technology, I love the simplicity, affordability, and how Chromebooks just work allowing me to focus on what matters; my work. More times than I can share, Windows would “get in …
I posted a couple of messages on the Google+ Chromebooks community about an issue I’ve been having with version 53 (dev with Android Apps) and running Linux via Crouton. It took me a while to realize that Linux seemed to be causing my Android Apps to crash. Since I was on DEV I assumed it …
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What this Review Is And Is Not I thought I’d do a review of the Acer R11 Chromebook focusing on how it fits within my daily workflow. This review will not address the technical specifics of the Chromebook, but more day to day usability. If you are interested in specifications, octane speeds, etc., there are …
Around March of this past year I was in the market for a new laptop. My laptop had seen better days and I was getting frustrated with the fan continuing to come on for, what seemed to be, no reason at all. I was also frustrated by spending way to long letting the thing update …
The Computers / Background From time to time I become discontented with my computing situation. I’ve moved away from having the latest and greatest PC. Now I would much rather have a cheaper PC and find ways to get it to run well. My life is surrounded by four different computers. I have a computer …
I’ve been trying to incorporate Organic Groups with Forums in Drupal 7. What I’m wanting is a private group where group members can post various types of content and also have a private forum for discussion. OC has changed a bit from Drupal 6. It is now recommended to use Panels as well. I’ve been …
I received copy of Rewired: How to Work Smarter, Live Better, and Be Purposefully Productive in an Overwired World for review. Even though my background is in technology, and I love technology, I have found it, at times, intrusive. I’ve also wondered if my connection to technology has, in some ways, affected my ability to …
Note: While I focus on pastoral work in this article, I believe anyone who struggles with scheduling creative work may benefit. I debated publishing this, fearing that some may not understand the various pressures and struggles of pastors and others who must address problems without clear solutions or perform other tasks which draw on creative …
If you want to see what a Leaderbox looks like, here’s my unboxing and first impressions: I told myself I wasn’t going to do it. I told myself it was too much money. But then, I received a 10% off coupon for Michael Hyatt’s Leaderbox and I thought I’d revisit my initial decision. After thinking …
Continue reading "Michael Hyatt’s Leaderbox – First Impressions"
I love reading books. Actually, that’s not quite accurate. I love the thought of reading. Reading, on the other hand, I find taxing. I know many people who love reading. I’m not one of them. What I do love is learning. Since reading provides me the best and, perhaps, the most effective way to learn, …
One of the best books I’ve read on leadership is “The Leadership Challenge” by James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner. The book, in its fifth edition and over twenty-five years old, outlines five vital practices for effective leadership. As I stumble my way into and through leadership, the five practices have helped my leadership …
4 Tips that Help You Remember what You Read Are you Sure that Leaders are Readers? I used to think that leaders were readers because I kept reading that they were and the belief just seemed right. Many leaders do read, sometimes quite a bit. If you want an example, just check out Bill Gate’s …
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Unimportant Words There was a Peanuts’ Cartoon where Charlie Brown was making a sign and Lucy, because the sign was wordy, kept marking out words one after another until all Charlie Brown had was a one word sign. Apparently, some words are unimportant. We can communicate without them. However, some words are important, such as …
Wheels of Progress In over twenty years of pastoring, I have not known the church to be on the “cutting edge” of culture. There may be an argument about some mega-churches focusing on innovation, but for the majority of churches, the wheels of progress move quite slowly. The statements of “We’ve never done it that …
A Book Really Changed Your Life? Some might say the title exhibits hyperbole. Perhaps, but I’m not completely convinced. I don’t name this post lightly. Let me share why I say a book changed my life. Along with several other churches, my church was participating in a transformational process sponsored by our conference. One of …
This post contains both a confession and a vision. Over the past three or four years I have been facilitating pastor peer groups for one of our conference programs. The objective of the groups are that each pastor can become the transformational leader he or she is called to be. A few times, after reading …
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