Breaking All the Rurals

Let me share with you 5 things I did not learn in Seminary:
#1 How to Communicate Vision
#2 How to Lead a Staff
#3 How to "Exhort" the Church Bully
#4 How to Handle membership Loss
#5 How to Love Your Wife as Christ Loved the Church

The Youngs deal with all of these in this video conversation. Thank you Ed Young and Dr. Ed Young Sr. for this dialogue. Father and son learning from ...

Everyone around you is looking for encouragement and acceptance. It is up to you and me to give it, or create chaos in a life. Your words are the only thing, once it has left you, that you cannot get back. You can speak power into them or drag them down with poorly-put words. James 3:6 says, "the tongue...sets the course of his life..." Let me illustrate this truth with ...

Dr. Sam Chand ask this question; "What is your leadership capacity?". He stated there are 7 areas we must be increasing capacity as a leader.
Let's look at these seven areas:

#1 Pain
You will only grow, if your threshold for pain is growing. Leaders will and must experience pain. You will only know blessing if you have been troubled.

#2 Relational
Your marriage, your friendships, your co-workers are growing your relational leadership ...

Ed Young Sr. gave some practical advise for pastors and church leaders here at C3. He is a 74 year old man and SBC pastor of 50 years. Here is what he says hinders church growth and promotes church growth:

10 Things that HInder

#1 Poor Location
#2 Committee-Led Church
#3 "Right Size" Mentality
#4 Negative Preaching
#5 Fear of Debt
#6 Staff that does not Function
#7 Church without a Leader...(Pastors MUST Lead)
#8 Threatening Atmosphere to the Unbelieving
#9 ...

Ok, many have asked what I learned from my first (and definitely not last) marriage counseling appointment:

#12 Cindy is the best wife on planet earth!

#11 The appointment was for Shannon more than for Cindy.

#10 Intimacy heightened due to counseling. (Thank you Jesus!)

#9 Every Pastor and Leader must schedule marriage counseling.

#8 Told my wife "I LOVE YOU" like nothing I have done in recent years.

#7 Went in with little to work ...

John 4:23-24 "Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."

I have friends that love the sensational and I have friends who love scholarship.  Jesus says he is looking for worshipers who love both ...

Don't compare them to anyone.
Be courteous at all times.
Embrace the present moments without fear or guilt.
Live by the Golden Rule (Do unto others as you would have them do unto you).
Give your full attention when talking.
Become their biggest fan and cheerleader!
Toast each other over breakfast or dinner to say I love you.
Tell them how they bring love to your life.
Laugh about kids ...

I love Valentines, (we have three children born in November) I mean I really, REALLY, love Valentines! Love is such a beautiful word and it's meaning is so much deeper than a feeling...it's a covenant. So is my marriage to Cindy. To enhance this covenant marriage I have 5 Valentine events scheduled for her:

1) Prime Rib dinner and flowers on the 13th (Provided by BNC).
2) Comedian Todd Oliver (Vegas, Branson ...

The call to ministry involved God's leading, and some remarkable influences at the same time. It's hard to believe that this summer I will celebrate my 20th year of full time ministry. I encourage you to study these lives and let God challenge you through their passion, wiring, and remarkable stories.

#1 Keith Green
After reading the book "No Compromise", my life call began to surface. His life, and not to ...