Good Questions Show Good Listening

I admit I am inadequate at asking good questions. This is a skill I need to improve. If the list below intrigues you, check out the source for more information about asking good questions.

According to Robert L. Montgomery, author of Listening Made Easy, the ten most common characteristics of a good listener are:

1. Looks at me while I'm speaking.
2. Questions me to clarify what I'm saying.
3. Shows concern by asking questions about my feelings.
4. Repeats some things I say.
5. Doesn't rush me.
6. Is poised and emotionally controlled.
7. Responds with a nod of the head, a smile, or a frown.
8. Pays close attention.
9. Doesn't interrupt me.
10. Keeps on the subject until I've finished my thoughts.

Source: Good Questions Show Good Listening | Building Small Groups

Five Reasons to Have Hope

Some authors have recently been quite critical of the future of the Evangelical Church. Perry Noble, a pastor in South Carolina, gives 5 reasons why he has hope in the future of the local church. I've only given you his headlines, you need to check out the source to read his explanations. 

#1 - Unconventional Ways Of Spreading The Gospel Being Used!

#2 - I Am Seeing Denominational Walls Being Destroyed!

#3 - I Am Seeing Churches More Concerned With Who They Reach Than Who They Keep!

#4 - I Am Seeing Churches And Leaders That Care About The Quality Of Their Worship Services. 

#5 - I Am Seeing The Spirit Of Religion Being Destroyed.

Source: Perry Noble dot com » Blog Archive » Five Reasons I Have Hope

Consider the Symptoms

 About a year ago I was diagnosed with Type II Diabetes. That diagnoses came totally out of the blue for me. I had just completed my first physical in over 10 years and I had no idea how sick I was. After the diagnosis I read about anything I could find on the disease and found lists of symptoms. I had experienced over 75% of the symptoms, but each one by itself seemed inconsequential.

The quote below warns that there is another condition that many Christian leaders are facing and they may not even be aware. The source at the bottom of this post will take you to a list of symptoms.

Burnout can occur in the physical, emotional, and spiritual areas of life. Sometimes it affects only one or two of these areas, but it often takes its toll in all three, as it did with Elijah. He was physically exhausted from running before King Ahab’s chariot some 25 miles from Mount Carmel to the entrance of Jezreel (I Kings 18:46). He was emotionally drained as evidenced by his wish to die: “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life” (I Kings 19:4). He was spiritually distraught, which was shown by his words, “I, even I only, am left” (I Kings 19:10).

Many things cause burnout. While it is impossible to mention them all, here are the primary causes

Source: Dealing with Personal Burnout in Ministry

The Hardy Boys (and Girls)!

Found the following description of Hardy people. I thought it might be a good reminder to work on some of these area now so that we have resilience when things get tough.

For those of us in ministry, we know it is a demanding and often costly pursuit and calling from the Lord. Reaching others is not for the fainthearted but takes men and women who have a hardy personality. Let’s allow these ten qualities of a hardy personality to make us men and women who are dangerous for God and better equipped to reach today’s student, family, and culture.
• They have a balanced attitude toward pain and pleasure. Pain is not an indication of death, (some thing at all cost to be avoided) anymore than pleasure is an indication of life. They are both merely part of life. The hardy person is not afraid of pain.
• The hardy person is willing to embrace deprivation. The hardy person does not insist on having all his/her needs met, they understand that “going with out” won’t kill them. They are willing to forgo gratification.
• They are not given to addictions. Hardiness does not have to have highs or shots of adrenaline in order to survive and enjoy life. They are not easily addicted to anything.
• They have a new way of looking at control. They do not demand control or abdicate responsibility when others are in control. The hardy person knows that effort counts and that they can make a difference. “I may not change everything, but I can and will do my best.”
• They understand and practice perspective. “The story does not begin or end with me. I’m in the story, but it is God’s story. I’m part of something bigger than me, and even when I don’t understand, I will trust.”
• They possess a growing self knowledge. The hardy person has an extraordinarily high level of self awareness. They are non-defensive. They know their strengths and weaknesses and are comfortable with these, so they don’t have to think about their inner needs all the time. They are free from pre-occupation with themselves.
• They are willing and able to take responsibility. They are comfortable taking credit for the good they do and willing to take the blame for the bad. They are
not blamers! They understand that wherever they are, they are making something better or worse.
• They are givers, not hoarders. They live life richly, giving out of love, energy, resources and time. They are generous, open, trusting, working, and giving.
• They have a wonderful sense of hope. Hope is their anchor to which they hold unswervingly in times of storm; it makes a daily optimistic difference in their lives.
• “I am my own bottom line.” They realize that they need to guard their own heart and nobody is going to rescue them, so they commit to developing themselves. They are not whiny, or passive. Nor are they helpless nor dependent, but interdependent.
They know and practice cultivating one’s personal life and ministry life.

source: EFCA National Ministries Update

It’s Monday Morning, so somebody please remind me Why I Do This?!

I read the story below and thought it was a great encouragement that gives purpose to the headaches that come with ministry. 

Being a pastor/church leader does not make me immune to the Monday Morning Blues, especially after a weekend of intense and focused engagement where I’ve loved, led, helped, created, pulled people together, taught, preached, led small groups and managed crises. Like everyone else, I need to be reminded why I do what I do. So here are the reasons why I love being a pastor:

1. It’s my calling. It’s what God called me to do. I know deep down in my bones this is what I was made for. If you don’t have a calling, you may never understand why we often say we can’t walk away from the ministry. That would be to live in open defiance to God. And that’s not something we can do.

2. I love the gospel. It’s changed my life. I’ve lived it many decades and it’s still as powerful, still as sweet as it ever has been. Jesus loves me. This I know, for the Bible tells me so still moves me as much as it did 35 years ago when I met Jesus Christ.

3. I love people. I love being around people who come together with the same purpose, same heart, organized around a great mission to accomplish something really great for God and good for people.

4. I’m a leader. I was born that way. I’ve also been working hard to be made that way. I love leading people, influencing people to become more together than we ever could become separately.

5. I love pastors. I love being around them. The majority are loving, good, committed people; smart, fully-engaged, learners, leaders who love God and want to make a difference in the world.

6. I love what happens when a person is converted as a follower of Jesus Christ. I love seeing life change. I love seeing marriages being put back together. I love seeing people be set free from addictions and sinful habits that are destroying their lives, into a lifestyle of love, freedom, and joy.

7. I love being part of something that redeems culture in the world in which I live. I love being a part of a movement that knows no geographic or cultural barrier; that like water, finds its way into every crease and crevice of humanity.

8. I love being a pastor in leadership and ministry because it forces me to engage the Scripture in a way that transforms my life. I’ve never had a problem in the false dichotomy between reading and studying the Scripture for my own personal improvement, or reading and studying to teach. I can’t divide the two. I have to teach out of the overflow of what’s going on in my life as I engage the full scope of Scripture.

9. I love the Bible: not the pages, not the ink, not the leather; but the words, the ideas, the concepts that teach me that I serve a great God.

10. I do this because I believe that the gospel is the only hope of the world, that when church is done right, it is absolutely amazing.

11. I continue to do this because I accept the fact that the church of Jesus Christ can at one moment be an amazing and healthy, loving, growing environment, and in another can be a very toxic, destructive place. How could we expect anything different when we get broken people coming together confessing the reality of their own sin and brokenness? There are bound to be sharp edges among us.

12. I do this because I believe in advancing the good. The best way I can do that is promoting the redemptive mission of the gospel.

13. I do this because it is the best way I can spend my life. I’ve got to do something. I might as well be doing something that matters for eternity.

14. I love pushing myself to greater understanding and innovative ways of redeeming culture.

15. I love being around people who don’t get it, who struggle, who have questions, but are hungry and are open. I love presenting the gospel to them knowing it’s not my job to convert them.

16. I am in this work because I’m a seeker of truth. I love the truth. I embrace both mystery and certainty all at the same time. I do believe that Jesus is the answer, but not all the answers are available to me right now in the state I’m in.

17. I do this because I love being a part of a worldwide movement that has indeed changed the world and it continues to change it. It is not bound by lines on a map, or by race, creed, or color.

These are some of the reasons I do what I do and why I’m a happy pastor. How about you? What motivates you?

Source: MondayMorningInsight.com > Confessions of a Happy Pastor: It’s Monday Morning, so somebody please remind me Why I Do This?!