Escape the rut and live your masterpiece life.
Church planting has been one of the most difficult and rewarding things that I have ever been blessed to do in my life. In the first post in this two-part series, I talked about the first four of the eight lessons that I have learned as a church planter. You can read the first post here. In this post I will cover lessons 5 through 8 that I have learned since planting Harvest Christian Fellowship in 2007. [Read more…] about 8 Lessons Church Planting Has Taught Me – Part II
I have learned a lot since January 2007 when Harvest Christian Fellowship began as a church plant. The truth is I never thought that I would be a church planter. I never sought to be a church planter. I never contemplated what being a church planter entailed or would be like until 2006. In spite of all of that, the undeniable truth is that being a church planter has taught me a lot about life, myself, leadership, faith, and people. There have been more surprises than I would have ever imagined, and I believe the lessons deserve to be shared with everyone. [Read more…] about 8 Lessons Church Planting Has Taught Me – Part I
I have been involved in something called the My 500 Words Challenge for the last 18 days. The challenge, begun by Jeff Goins, has been to write at least 500 words every day for 31 days. The premise behind the challenge is to making writing a habit for those who desire to or love to write. I have had the desire to write a book for a number of years. In fact, I have at least two active book ideas that I am “working” on right now. The problem has not been with the idea to write a book, but with the actual “writing” of the book. This is where the My 500 Word challenge comes in. Every published author that I have spoken to has reiterated the importance of writing every day as a habit key to their success. So I embarked on this challenge just under three weeks ago in an effort to develop a habit needed to fulfill my goal. And then…I hit the wall. [Read more…] about What To Do When You Hit The Wall
I can remember trying to put puzzles together as a child. I started with the small six or seven piece puzzles and progressed to the more challenging ones. There was a season when, along with my mother, I was helping put together puzzles with hundreds or thousands of pieces. These puzzles had elaborate portraits of exotic places or delightful things on the box top. Putting the puzzles together was sometimes very frustrating, and I must admit that there were times when I wanted to give up. Honestly, I did give up on a puzzle or two, and left my mother to complete them by herself. The older I have gotten the more I realize the similarities between life and puzzles. [Read more…] about How to See Life as a Puzzle and Get it Done
I came across this picture on social media this past week. The message in the picture had an impact on me. I immediately thought of my two children; one now a sophomore in college and the other a sophomore in high school. I thought of my wife and the almost twenty-three years we have been married. As I thought of how quickly the time had passed between their birth and the present, I could hear the first verse of an old hymn…”Time is filled with swift transition, naught on earth unmoved can stand.” [Read more…] about How to Avoid Family Regrets