I’ve been on a good run recently of making bad mistakes.

In the past week…

I’ve been insensitive.

I’ve been selfish.

I’ve been a jerk.

I’ve missed the mark by missing opportunities to do things well.

Let me give you a few of the highlights, or lowlights…depending on your perspective, of how I “missed the mark” and put the “Miss” in “Mistake.”

• I sent an angry email without waiting 24 hours to ensure that, sending the email, was really a good idea and the wise thing to do. It wasn’t.
• I assumed something about somebody that wasn’t true.
• I used the “pulpit” of my church as a “bully pulpit” to say something to a group of people that would have been better said to them one-on-one and face-to-face, or not said at all.
• I forgot that my ministry is not all about me.
• I took someone’s differing opinion as a personal attack.
• I forgot the importance of seeking to understand before seeking to be understood.
• I shared a disagreement I had with a decision by one of my teammates publicly (in a meeting) without first sharing it with him privately.
• I made a joke at someone else’s expense.
• I didn’t respond to an email request in a timely manner because I was “too busy to deal with it now” and missed an opportunity to bless someone else.
• Someone made a significant personal sacrifice for me and I neglected to thank him in a timely manner.
• While someone was speaking with me, I allowed myself to be distracted by someone over his shoulder, and abruptly cut the conversation short to go across the room and talk to the other person. That was so rude.
• My son asked me to pray with him before he went to sleep, I said, “I’m on my way” but went on to check a few more emails and, by the time I made it downstairs, he was already asleep. I’m so sorry, Sylas.
• I left a huge mess in the floor of our bedroom and just expected my wife to clean it up…as if that was her job…which it isn’t.  Sorry Babe. I forgot that we’re a team.
• I’m sitting here writing this blog post while my wife is in the kitchen making school lunches for all the kids. What am I doing?!? The irony of this situation is suffocating! I’ll be back! (She was done, so I shoveled the snow off the driveway, so I think we’re cool.  Cool…get it? No, you don’t live in Colorado, so I’m sure you don’t “get” being cool in late April.)
• Someone invited me, by email, to join their professional network on LinkedIn and I put their email request in the trash file.

Actually, that last one is one of the few things I did right in the past week.

I’ve always enjoyed fishing.  Some of my favorite childhood memories are of fishing with my Dad, my Grandpa Chambers, and my Uncle Don Lewis.

You can learn a lot of important life-lessons with a fishing pole or net in your hand.

I was reminded of that while studying for a sermon on Peter.

When Jesus meets Peter, He (Peter) was already an accomplished fisherman.  He’d been fishing for many years and those years had not been a waste of time.  To the contrary, those years of fishing for fish had prepared Peter for years of fishing for souls.  All of those years of nets, storms, casting, mending, and gutting fish served to prepare Peter for the next thing God had planned for him to do.

While fishing . . .

1)    Peter was learning the importance of hard work.

Fishing in the 1st century was extremely hard work. Peter was not fishing for fun; he was fishing for finances and food, so he worked hard at it, all the while–and unknowingly–developing a work ethic that would serve to carry both him and the Gospel from the shores of the Sea of Galilee around the world.

2)    Peter was learning the importance of patience.

Herb Shriner said, “All you need to be a fisherman is patience and a worm.”  While fishing, one will sometimes sit all day without as much as a nibble on the line, but a true fisherman keeps coming back–pole in hand–because he knows “no nibbles” doesn’t mean “no fish”–it just means “not today.”

During those long days and nights when Peter wasn’t catching any fish, he was learning to wait upon the Lord to fill the nets at just the right time.

3)    Peter was learning the importance of having a strategy.

An article from NetBible on fishing in the 1st Century details the strategy required to catch fish with a cast net: “A circular net, with small meshes and leaded around the edge, is cast from the shore into the shallow water in such a manner that the leaded edge forms the base of a cone, the apex being formed by the fisherman holding the center of the net in his hand. The cone thus formed encloses such fish as cannot escape the quick throw of the fisher.”

Catching fish with a net or a pole requires strategy.  One must use the right equipment, the right bait, pick the right location, and all at the right time.

While fishing, Peter was learning the importance of thinking and working strategically to “catch” men and women with the Gospel.

4)    Peter was learning the importance of working with a team.

Studies of fishing in the 1st Century reveal that it took from five to ten men to work a fishing net on the Sea of Galilee.  Team work was essential for successful net fishing from a boat.

It’s obvious from how Peter depended on the Church for prayer and support that the lessons he learned on the water about the importance of teamwork kept him afloat in his ministry to and with the Church.

You see, Peter wasn’t wasting time when he was fishing for all those years before the call; he was preparing to do what God was going to call him to do.

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Whatever you’re doing now, do it with the awareness that God can use whatever you’re experiencing now to do–more effectively–whatever He calls you to do.

No, you’re not wasting time; you’re preparing to catch some fish.

I’m on a flight to Nashville that is full of pilots. They’re all heading to a “Women in Aviation” conference, which is interesting because this post is about a guy pilot in seat 17A.

When we sat down, and I asked about “all the pilots on board,” he told me that he’s heading to that conference, too.

Which is not what this post is about.

I’m struck with how much this guy loves to fly.

He can’t stop looking out the window.  He seems to be studying every aspect of our flight–the de-icing, each movement of the wing flaps, our air speed, and a bunch of other things of which I have no idea.

At first, I was a little nervous.

Put yourself in my seat…17C.  You’re sitting next to a pilot who can’t stop looking out the window and you’re not going to be a little nervous?

Not too long into our flight it dawned on me that this guy just loves to fly.

He loves everything about it.

I hope his passion for flying never dies.

I hope my passion for preaching never dies.

I pray that, 50 years from now, a young man listens to me preach….in a back room in some nursing home in Joplin, Missouri…and thinks to himself, “This guys loves to preach.”

Because I do. I love everything about it.

Here you go.

5 Key Elements for Building a Strong Team

I asked my friends on Facebook to give me the top things that drain their ministry.  I got a lot of good responses, so I decided to put together a list of the top 10 things that can drain your preacher.

10 Drainers*

1. When, after a sermon, someone from the congregation asks, “May I give you some constructive criticism?”
2. When, at a board meeting, a deacon says, “Let me play the Devil’s advocate.”
3. EGR’s: Extra Grace Required People.
4. Having to see your salary posted on the wall outside your office when you know that every other Elder and Deacon makes twice as much as you do and thinks that you are overpaid.
5. When someone approaches you and says, “The Lord told me to tell you…”
6. When, after a speaking engagement, someone hands you a check and says, “I hope this is enough.” For the record: This is a no win situation because if the guest speaker looks at his $50 check for delivering 3 sermons, a lesson, and preparing a small group lesson for a weekend church retreat and says, “No, that’s not enough,” you’re liable to immediately judge him as a preacher who is only in it for the money, but if he looks at it and says, “Sure, it’s enough,” you’ve forced him into a situation where he may have to be dishonest to not appear to be greedy. Just pay your guest speaker enough to cover his expenses, to recognize the value of his time with you and the time away from his family, and the amount of work it took to prepare for the event and I’m sure it will be enough.
7. When someone walks into your office without knocking or checking with your Administrative Assistant, sits down, and asks, “Preacher, you have a moment to talk?”
8. Those people in the church who turn every conversation into a benevolence request.
9. When you do a wedding for a young couple and they pay the DJ $1000, the photographer $1500, spend $500 for the cake, $5000 for the reception hall, $1000 on flowers, $2000 on a dress, but—a month after the wedding—send you a $25 gift card to Golden Corral as payment for doing their wedding.
10. When someone uses the Prayer Request Card to deliver a harsh and anonymous criticism.

What would you add to the list?

*Disclaimer: None of these reflect the actual experiences of the author of this blog. Any similarity to any church leaders or church members real and alive in this world is purely coincidental…and the result of this blog post being written with an EGR looking through the author’s office door window while knocking and waving a benevolence request form back and forth ensuring that the author of this blog post will be late for his dinner date with his wife to Golden Corral. 

Technology is a blessing and a curse.

I’m on Facebook, Twitter, I have a blog, and I’m on Pinterest.

And, before you ask me to give up my man-card, you may want to hear the recipe for cinnamon roll waffles I picked up on Pinterest the other day.

Why have I embraced technology?

I want to stay connected with my friends, my congregation, my children, my extended family, and with my culture.

For example, here’s how I use Facebook as a ministry tool:

1) Keeping in touch with people in the church.

2) I’ve found it’s great for use as focus group (help with sermons). I routinely ask questions like, “What’s your biggest fear?”, “What drains you?”, and “What did you want to be when you grew up?” and use the results in my sermons.

3) Encouragement. I use it to offer encouragement to people in my congregation.

4) Shepherding. More than a few times, I’ve found out about a need or a crisis from Facebook. I can then follow up immediately with them.

5) Keeping informed.  Facebook helps me to better know what is going on in the lives of people in my congregation.  It’s common for me to comment to people on Sundays about something I read about on Facebook.  This is not always good. I have also discovered things about members…like what they like to do in Vegas, how they look in a bikini, and where they put that tattoo they got while drunk one night in college …about which I’d rather not have known.

6) Prayer prompter. Almost every day, I’m prompted to pray for someone about something they shared on Facebook.  Even today, I’ve already let about 4 people know that I’ll be praying for them today.

7) Outreach. I use technology to maintain and build relationships with my non-Christian friends because I care about them and hope they one day know how much Jesus cares about them.

8) Promoting church events.

9) Help people to get to know me, which can be both good and bad…but hopefully, mostly good.

All that being said, technology can drain us and keep us from being effective.

1. Create boundaries for your use of technology at home.

There should be times and places when you’re not on your smart phone, checking emails, or updating your status.

If you love to tweet I’d recommend things like TweetDeck that allow you to set up all your tweets conveniently.

2. Create boundaries for your use of technology at work.

It’s rude to be texting while someone is talking to you in the church lobby.

It’s ineffective to not be present in a meeting because you are present on the internet.

3. Turn off your phone when you need to “be where the bein’ is.”

I typically turn off my phone at 9 at night and on Sunday afternoons.  I tell people in the church that, if they need me, they can always knock on my door.

We’re really not that important.

When I see a preacher who feels like he needs to be accessible to his people  24/7; I see an insecure man who needs his people more than they need him.

4. Don’t start measuring your value to the Kingdom by how many followers you have on Twitter or friends on Facebook.

I heard Perry Noble share that he took a picture of his daughter and she asked him, “Dad, will you please not put that on Twitter? Let’s just keep it a Daddy and daughter thing.” He said that was a wake-up-call.

5. Turn off your email when you’re on vacation.

6. Don’t text anyone of the opposite sex but your spouse or coworkers.

Of all the couples I’m working with who are trying to survive an extra-marital affair, every one started with texting.

I’m so excited to be speaking at the Florida Bible Conference in Central Florida next week. If you’re in the area, I encourage you to come for at least one of the sessions.  There are some amazing speakers on the program.  If you’ve never heard Glenn Bourne or Jim Smith, you’ve missed out on a huge blessing.

Hope to see you there!

The Apostle John loved life. He used a form of the word life sixty-nine times in his gospel. He was not alone in this passion. Luke talked about life thirty-two times, Matthew twenty-nine times, and Mark thirteen times.

John, however, talked about life more than twice as much as any one of the other Gospel writers. Why was he obsessed with life? We know that he was one of Jesus’ closest friends—so close that while on the cross, Jesus entrusted John with the care of his mother.

I think John was obsessed with life lived in abundance because he walked with the very source of life for more than three years.

I read that every person over the age of thirty-three is obsessed with death. Death will inevitably arrive for each of us, but first we must live.

I want to be obsessed with life.

Jesus was and is obsessed with life. He didn’t come so that our lives would be busy. He came so that our lives would be full.

I want to have an abundant life—as Jesus defined it. And I want the same for you.

One of my favorite movies is Braveheart. It is the story of a Scottish rebel, William Wallace, who led an uprising against the cruel English ruler Edward the Longshanks who wanted the crown of Scotland for himself. In the movie, after Wallace’s wife is killed he begins a long quest to make Scotland free once and for all. Near the end of the movie, Wallace is visited in his prison cell by the daughter of the king, who has grown to like him. He is to be executed and she enters his cell to beg him to confess and swear allegiance to the King of England. Wallace will not compromise; he will not surrender. The princess, knowing there is no hope for Wallace unless he confesses, says, “You will die! It will be awful!” To which Wallace replies, “All men die, but not all men truly live.”

That quote leaves me feeling both convicted and motivated. Conviction comes when we ask ourselves, Am I truly living? Motivation comes when we embrace the conviction our answer brings.

Are we truly living? We get up; brush our teeth; hug our kids; and go to work, school, or to the couch. We inhale and exhale shallow, safe breaths. We pay our bills. We confront a multitude of stimuli throughout the day. But is this living?

Are you really living?