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I’ve started reading “My Utmost for His Highest” again recently. It’s a great, short, daily devotional written by Oswald Chambers. In fact, I get it delivered to my email each morning (which also goes to my BlackBerry) and each day I have a Bible reading and devotional right there for me. You can even get it by RSS as well.

Well here’s one I read today.

It Is the Lord!

“Thomas answered and said unto Him, My Lord and my God.” John 20:2

“Give Me to drink.” How many of us are set upon Jesus Christ slaking our thirst when we ought to be satisfying Him? We should be pouring out now, spending to the last limit, not drawing on Him to satisfy us. “Ye shall be witnesses unto Me” – that means a life of unsullied, uncompromising and unbribed devotion to the Lord Jesus, a satisfaction to Him wherever He places us.

Beware of anything that competes with loyalty to Jesus Christ. The greatest competitor of devotion to Jesus is service for Him. It is easier to serve than to be drunk to the dregs. The one aim of the call of God is the satisfaction of God, not a call to do something for Him. We are not sent to battle for God, but to be used by God in His battlings. Are we being more devoted to service than to Jesus Christ?

I consider myself spanked. How about you?

“Discipleship is Only for New Christians” is a myth I’ve been asked to speak on at Elevate, our young adult ministry at SSCC. I’m speaking in two Tuesdays (August 26th) and by God’s grace the group should be somewhat inspired to grow closer to their Teacher throughout their entire lives. So as I study up I wanted to ask for two things from you guys:

1. Prayer. Seriously. God’s grace and anointing will be key to communicating His truth.
2. Your input. Got any ideas? Questions? Any input would help me direct my talk towards what’s on your minds.

I appreciate any comments back no matter how little you think they are. Even a “neat” in the comments helps me know people are reading.

Thanks. God bless.

Courtesy a blog post by Tony Morgan, I found an article in Inc.com spelling out tips from the country’s top innovation consultants on how to stay creative. Being one whose job it is to be creative, I read through it and gained lots of valuable insight into staying creative.

For those of us with short attention spans… here’s Tony Morgan’s summary. If you’re interested in the full version, read Inc.com.

1. Get multicultural. – You need to get around people that are different than you.
2. Provide lots of free time to think. – Give staff freedom with their schedules, and encourage them to be “off” and dream big.
3. Encourage risky behavior. – Maybe my wife will let me ride a scooter.
4. Write it down. – Encourage your team to write and share their lives with others. (More blogging!)
5. Hire smart. – Hire risk-takers. You need people that are willing to embrace change.
6. Bring in outsiders. – Bring in outside perspective to expand your thinking.
7. Be flexible. Very flexible. – The same strategy doesn’t work for every situation.
8. Do it for free. – Give your team the ability to give their work away and serve others.
9. Mix up your people. – Let people step into new team environments for a season.

To the readers my coworkers – Fred, Travis, Justin, David – after reading this, how can we get more creative and encourage an environment of creativity?

Your thoughts?

Link to: Tony Morgan’s post
Link to: The Inc.com article

Here is one of the most practical and view-altering videos I’ve seen on church growth. Rick Warren is being interviewed regarding church discipleship and growth and his response to the Reveal Study by Willow Creek. It’s about 30 minutes long and well worth it.

During my first year of college I started attending First Baptist Brunswick, GA. There I met several ministers who so graciously sowed into my life and really affected the direction of my life. Over those five years I took away so many good tips, experiences, and ideas for ministry that I know I wouldn’t be the person I am today without them. One tip in particular has application throughout all areas of ministry and secular events.

“Kill it before it dies”, Waller Boyer said to me one night while he and I were leading a Disciple Now down in Jacksonville, FL. “Leave them wanting more.”

That statement rocked me.

So I started the implications of doing just that with different areas of ministry. How many sermons, music sets, dramas, videos, _____insert ministry here_____ have started out strong but the end perception was boredom or disinterest? Ministers, have we “lost” our audience and wondered why? This could be the answer.

When writing sermons, blog articles, and tutorials I try to use the “kill it before it dies” method. I get rid of all the extra stuff and try not to repeat myself unnecessarily. When possible I provide pictures to illustrate my point so I don’t have to beat the point to death. I try to write a 30 minute sermon, condense it to 15 minutes, and then when I go over (like usual) the message ends up being 25 minutes – the perfect length. I believe that I should be able to illustrate my point within the alloted time. If not, there’s probably too much “extra” stuff that could be removed, condensed, or otherwise better said. I also believe that a sermon should rarely be finished at church. There should always be some takeaway for the audience to have to work through and thus finish the sermon in their hearts. Leave room for that. Leave room for God to work.

Application to worship music? We need to keep a bead on the crowd and not let the songs go on too long. Luckily I am in a situation where that doesn’t happen much. If anything I want more. I could stand another 10 minutes of music easily, but maybe that’s the point. Leave me wanting more. Force me to seek out that satisfaction.

In my line of work it has applications on the non-sermon side of things as well. When being approached by someone to build a website I pass on a tip to them regarding their site content. I tell them, “Write what you want to say to the reader. Come back the next day and get rid of half the words. Then come back the next day and get rid of half of what’s left. You are then left with all the information you wanted to communicate in a smaller and easier to digest package.” It is more likely to be read and remembered if there is less to read and remember.

So that’s my little takeaway. Apply this to whatever you do in ministry and I believe the perception thereof will be more pleasant and engaging.

Please comment and let me know your experiences with this. Good or bad. Did this click with you? Do you disagree? Let’s talk.