Systems Take Time - Systems Make Time

Over the years, I have been guilty of spending an inordinate amount of time on the front end of a task or project. I sometimes live by the old adage “kill two birds with one stone.” Instead of only completing the task or project, I also create a system to make completing future tasks or

Quietly Allow Results to Speak for Themselves

Years ago, our team decided to undertake a massive endeavor and recreate and redesign all our brochures. Now, you may think in your mind that this was a simple task. But it was not a simple task. We started from scratch and it took us a little over a year to effectively craft what we

Overwhelm With Excellence

I think an important value that we should subscribe to in a ministry setting is excellence. For far too long, I have seen quality take a back seat to expediency. Getting it done has eclipsed getting it done well. Over the years it has been a sad stain on so many ministries to see them

Measure Twice, Cut Once

Over the years I have been friends with many carpenters. For some reason, God has placed many different individuals in the construction industry in my life. I hung out with them and I sought to try to learn their trade, really to no avail. I’m just not a handy guy! Regardless, I learned something very

He Who Chases Two Rabbits

I have seen ministry leaders be less effective because they are chasing too many rabbits at once. In my backyard I have plenty of rabbits. I don’t like them. However, it is often fun when my young children try to chase and catch a rabbit. As you well know, they never catch the rabbit. A

God's Word is Gripping

One of the most important things to be passionate about is the communication of God’s Word. All the tasks, duties and responsibilities of the children's pastor can never eclipse the beauty of God’s word.  The Bible should not take a secondary place to order, organization, volunteers or check-in systems. Keep the main thing, the main

Eat That Frog

A number of years ago, while sitting in an airport, I saw an interesting book by a name that I vaguely recalled.  The author was Brian Tracey and it turns out that Brian Tracey is a productivity guru. The book is entitled Eat That Frog. Let’s imagine that you sit down to dinner with your

Don't Recruit Disunifying People

I made a significant mistake early on in my ministry career. I made several decisions that were unpopular — but that was not my mistake. We are going to make decisions that don’t please everyone. That is a good case of the normals. My mistake was in recruiting some of the individuals who were the

Blocks Don't Stack Themselves

You know, God has created the universe in such a way that things go from order to disorder — from order to chaos. It literally takes effort to build a ministry, like it takes effort to build anything. It takes energy to take blocks and stack them on top of one another. It doesn’t magically

Chill Out

You know, I’ve been in ministry for a long time. Early on, when our nursery director would text me or call and let me know that four people have called in sick at 7 p.m. on Saturday night, I would freak out! I would freak out because we were going to be massively short-handed. And