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December 2011
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February 2012

When You're Feeling Overwhelmed by Your Workload

Michael Hyatt has an excellent BLOG packed full of practical advice. Here is part of his recent post on what to do when you're feeling overwhelmed with your workload, which I'm sure we all experience from time totime. MICHAEL: Here are six things you can do to cope. Trust me, I am preaching to myself! 1. Acknowledge you can’t do it all. The idea that you will eventually get caught up is a myth. It’s impossible. You have more work than you can reasonably expect to get done. And unfortunately, your workload is not static. Even now, while you are... Read more →


Kids in Church

For a bit of a laugh ... 3-year-old Reese: "Our Father, Who does art in heaven. Harold is His name. Amen.' A little boy was overheard praying: "Lord, if you can't make me a better boy, don't worry about it. I'm having a real good time like I am." After the christening of his baby brother in church, Jason sobbed all the way home in the back seat of the car. His father asked him three times what was wrong. Finally, the boy replied, "That preacher said he wanted us brought up in a Christian home, and I wanted to... Read more →


2011 Leadership Book Awards

They say that "leaders are readers" and "readers are leaders." Without doubt, each of us can only give out what we have inside. We fill our inner world through prayer and reflection on God's Word, through meditation and grappling with our own thoughts, but we are especially aided by engaging with others. Books are a terrific way to stimulate your thinking and help you engage with a wide variety of relevant issues. Leadership Journal is an excellent Christian magazine for leaders in every sphere of society. They recently released their list of book awards for 2011. If you're looking for... Read more →


WORD and SPIRIT

A few thoughts from my prayer journal this morning ... WORD and SPIRIT, Mark. These are your two legs for walking on. EVERY DAY, soak in My WORD and My SPIRIT. Allow them BOTH to saturate your soul - your mind, will, and emotions. In doing so, you will become STRONG in Spirit. Your inner world will develop a strength and resistance that will be much greater than the pressures increasing in your outer world. One without the other will cause you to be ineffective and will lead to imbalance, immobilizing your forward progress and movement. EXCEL in both aspects... Read more →


10 Trends in Multi-Site Church Ministry

Jim Tomberlin is an expert on what multisite churches are talking about these days. Recently he noted 10 trends in multi-site in the USA. The multisite model continues to grow in its acceptance as a legitimate and effective vehicle for outreach, volunteer mobilization, leadership development and regional impact with more than 3,000 expressions of multisite church across North America. Even though 50 percent of megachurches have multiple campuses and another 20 percent are thinking about it, the multisite movement has outgrown the megachurch movement. Each multisite church has a unique church-print but there are some common trends and buzzwords emerging... Read more →


Reflections on Jesus' Model Prayer

Jesus taught his disciples to pray using this simple but powerful model prayer: Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us today the food we need And forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us. And don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one. [If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not... Read more →


Mega-Church Downsizes - Cuts Non-Essential Members

[Below is a news release from Lark News. It's exactly that, a lark - "to engage in spirited fun or merry pranks." Enjoy it. It may also be thought-provoking] WINSTON-SALEM — Julie and Bob Clark were stunned to receive a letter from their church in July asking them to “participate in the life of the church” — or worship elsewhere. “They basically called us freeloaders,” says Julie. “We were freeloaders,” says Bob. In a trend that may signal rough times for wallflower Christians, bellwether mega-church Faith Community of Winston-Salem has asked “non-participating members” to stop attending. “No more Mr. Nice... Read more →


God's Blessings - the Beatitudes

The Gospel of Matthew records five main teaching discourses from Jesus. Matthew 5-7 is Jesus' call to righteousness, which is about doing the will of God. Jesus is teaching his disciples and the multitudes from the mountain. Jesus begins with what is commonly called The Beatitudes which are the blessings of God (Matt.5:1-12). The Latin word for "blessed" is beati. God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs. God blesses those who mourn, for they will be comforted. God blesses those who are humble, for they will inherit the... Read more →


Barna Group: Top Trends of 2011

The Barna Group recently released a list of trends it has observed during 2011 from its research in the USA. Although Australia is very different ftom America, there are similarities, and the profound influence of America on the world continues. Here is the first trend ... 1. The Changing Role of Christianity in America. This year, Barna Group delved into many subjects of faith and culture in America, including the changing role of faith and Christianity. One of those shifts is the relative unknown nature of Christian leaders. Only Billy Graham, the Pope, Barack Obama and Joel Osteen were mentioned... Read more →


Faith for the New Year

Today begins a new year - a new season and a new part of our journey. It's not time to press 'Rewind' then 'Repeat.' It's time to move forward - into new things. Uncharted territory. New horizons. New experiences. We haven't been this way before ... so we must stay in step with the Spirit. We need God's presence to lead and guide us each step of the way. Thankfully, God promises to never leave us or forsake us. He is 'Emmanuel' - God with us. God has a purpose and a plan for our lives. He has already begun... Read more →