In the last few weeks I have been transforming my study habits (with help from a great book) and have been extremely happy to find pockets of conversation within my fields of interest that I didn’t even know existed.  New ideas have built on old ones and my notebooks and blog post have been filled with insight I gained because of my new habits.  For many the practice of continual study sounds nice, but the reality of busy schedules means it doesn’t happen.  This was me about a month ago, and this post is me urging you from the other side.

Invest in yourself! When you do we all benefit.  When you are more informed, more inspired, and more knowledgeable you are far more valuable a friend, colleague, or acquaintance and I would venture to say you’ll be even more productive than before.

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With the help of a new book called Accidental Creative (visit accidentalcreative.com for more) I am struggling to give my life routine that will help me churn out the necessary brainpower that is required for ministry.  As I go forward I am facing two struggles: Church life is not routine and I am not good at self discipline.  Luckily I have learned over my first year of ministry that facing a problem with bad solutions over and over again will not fix the problem.

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So much going on in life.  My calendar is constantly packed, the church calendar is even busier, and there is even more that I could be doing if I just wasn’t so tired and worn out.  But is busyness really the goal?  I sure hope not.  I think the goal is committed discipleship, yet at times that seems so easily lost.  All of our activity pushes us onward with direction-less frenzy until finally individuals and families are driven away from the church searching for sabbath.  Oh the irony.   [Read more →]

If you have read any of the last several post you know that my current ministry position is centered around forming new expressions of church for people who claim to be young adults.  I am about three weeks into the gig and am enjoying every minute of it.  While we are starting a new expression of church, we are not starting a new church.  Our ministry is growing out of a healthy congregation that has plenty of resources to expand their reach.  There is so much potential, so much opportunity, so many choices for direction.  I have been blessed by dozens of people who are excited and interested in helping us get started, yet, everyday I have to remind myself to take a deep breath and don’t do anything.   [Read more →]

From graduation day until I start my job I have roughly 45 days to get my head on straight.  I am spending this time doing two things: dreaming big and preparing to protect myself from dream crushers.  My recent blog posts show I am obsessed with being creative right now.  And figuring out how to get that creativity into the church.  One of the biggest reasons for this fascination is my main man Seth Godin and his stellar book Linchpin.

The world is experiencing a revolution.  Not the “government overthrow” kind, the “oh my god electricity is useful” kind.  Our schooling, culture, and desire for self preservation have convinced us to seek jobs that are secure and easy to do.  But those jobs are gone and we are left with a new world where showing up is not enough.  This new world demands creativity, risk taking, and innovation.  Take a look at the last three words of the last sentence….can these things happen in church????? [Read more →]

Why does a group of creative people immediately lose their creative ability when they enter a church? Out side of the church people may bring incredible creativity to their work, their families, and their hobbies. But when they step into the building where the church gathers the ability to create seems to disappear. Here are a couple reasons I think this happens… [Read more →]