The Power of Encouragement

I love encouragement! (Giving and getting :)  But have you ever thought about the purpose for it, or why it can be so powerful? An obvious answer is that it makes another person feel good, which is great. But most of us can think back to a time in our lives when the encouragement of someone we respected made a real impact in our lives, perhaps making a lasting difference.

Mac Lake shared 7 things that encouragement will do for our friends and/or those we influence or lead, and they're so good I wanted to share them with you --

1. It helps them see the work God is doing in or through their life.
2. It motivates them to continual improvement.
3. It enhances their confidence and courage.
4. It expands their vision. When they know the progress they’ve made has been recognized and appreciated it causes them to dream bigger.
5. It validates their giftedness. Most people struggle with clarity in the area of their giftedness. A specific word of encouragement can help bring needed confirmation.
6. It creates relational bonds between the leader and follower.
7. It teaches them to encourage others.

How about it? Is there someone you know who is in need of encouragement this week? Don't merely flatter with nice words, but let them know how special they are, something specific they're doing really well, a character trait you admire, or a difference you see they're making in the lives of others. Make encouraging others a daily part of your life!

Be Intentional With How You Use Your Time

I was sharing with a friend this week that I didn't have any classes this semester, which meant a bonus 12 or so hours per week for other things. What had I been doing with this for the last 3 weeks? Umm.... has it been three weeks? I don't really know. It's so easy for time to slip through our fingers. We don't consciously choose to waste time, but if we're not intentional with how we use it, we will waste it or let someone else decide how we use it.

Similarly, I asked a number of people what was preventing them from doing the things they feel are important? The answer, for 90%, was "time!" A rare few were more candid in their answers - "selfishness", "poor time management" or "my priorities don't align with my values." They're all the same issue, viewed from a different angle. We tend to waste a lot of time doing things that are not-important or simply not the top priorities compared to what we say we value.

To be more intentional about the use of your time is a great goal. How do we do this? I'm not always the best at this, but here are some thoughts...

1. We have to know what is most important to us if our use of time is to reflect our values
2. Stuff happens, other people need things of us. We must create margin in our lives, not merely for the sake of rest (which is good!) but to make sure that important things don't get squeezed out when pressure increases.
3. Schedule the things that are important to you. Whether that is time with friends, reading the Bible, or enough sleep, if we don't make time for things that don't scream for our attention, they will be neglected.
4. Look more to multi-purpose than multi-task. To multi-task is to spread your focus over two or more tasks at nearly the same time, delaying how long it takes to finish each one and possibly reducing the quality. To multi-purpose is to be intentional about doings things that are important to you at the same time you are doing something you must do. Finding it hard to find time to build relationships and serve in ministry? Do ministry alongside other people and build relationships as you serve. Tough to find time to disciple others and read the Bible? Talk about what you're both learning from your quiet times when you meet instead of adding a second curriculum. No time to serve in the community and spend time with family? Do community projects that involve the family, and do it together.
5. Consider how you are spending your time. If you've ever made up a budget, you were probably shocked to see where your money was really going. Do a budget with your time, and see how you're spending the 168 hours in your week. How does that stack up with the half-dozen life priorities you say you have?
6. Outsource what you don't do well. At home, on the job, at church... don't do something that someone else can do nearly as well. Sometimes you just have to say no! 
7. Do not - no matter what you do - neglect rest and time to relax. Even God the Father and Son observed time to rest and enjoy creation one day a week. Seriously, is your work more important than theirs?! 

There's no way any of us will ever have more than 24 hours in a day, but each of us can be more intentional about doing the things that are most important to us - ideally right alongside the very things we feel we have to do.

A Tip for Married Men

A friend in my small group studying marriage shared this article which gives some great advice for married men - in particular for those who are expecting a new kid. One particularly powerful quote is:

When you find yourself attracted to a woman who is not your wife, sit down with a pen and paper and make a list of the things you like best about the woman. Then look at those attributes as action items on a ‘To Do’ list for self-improvement. It’s never really about the woman. It’s about what’s missing in your own life.
                                                                                                                ~ Dr. Richard D. Grant

What I've learned this month

Lots of neat ideas crossed my radar screen this month - here are some things that really caught my attention...

Some words of wisdom from our Family Ministries Coordinator, Amy Anthony, when asked about how much detail to include in an email -- "One thing I am learning is that it takes a lot of time to get people to understand things (both what we are doing and why we are doing it) and instead of overcommunicating in an email or written form it is better to give them motivation to come and then pray that they come to an understanding once they're there."

An interesting discussion by Mark Howell at Small Group Resources asking "Do Healthy Small Groups Grow and Birth?", "What about Birthing Groups?" and "What is the Most Effective Method for Launching Small Groups? ". The focus of the second article is more 'how can we encourage an environment where birthing is more likely to occur?" rather than trying to force or coerce multiplication of groups.

Chris Forbes at Ministry Marketing Coach answers a number of questions on Church Assimilation. What I particularly liked about this post was the list of questions that Saddleback considered in their strategic planning process which led to their popular CLASS system. I'm very familiar with the outcome of that, but it was very interesting to see the questions that guided the development of the system. (Speaking of assimilation, here's some thoughts on "Sticky Church")

Some innovative uses of technology for ministry. Bill Reichart at Ministry Best Practices pointed out a service called Issuu which allows you to publish a document online in a way that's very flexible and allows readers to interact. You can even embed such a 'magazine' on a blog or web-site. Tim Stevens describes a 90-second video approach to the tricky issue of making announcements in service that they use at Granger, called "The Feed ." The Pyromarketing blog had some ideas on using technology to help people connect in social organizations (well, clubs, actually but draw any inferences from that!)

Speaking of innovation, just today I saw that Granger is making videos of their talks at Innovate 2008 available to watch!

Tim Stevens also summarizes some very key points on "Why People Serve" - in a nutshell:

People choose to serve because...

  1. They see a real need

  2. They have confidence they can do it

  3. There's not someone already doing it

And because of that, we must do three things:

  1. Make the vision clear

  2. Help people determine their strengths and gifts

  3. Always have open roles for people to serve in

Bob Hyatt pointed out an excellent resource on "Preaching in a Postmodern World". It's actually a set of lectures available on iTunes (for free), by Tim Keller. I listened to a few of them in podcast format, and he made some excellent points both on the need for Christ-centered preaching as well as some specific thoughts on how to engage a postmodern audience.

James Higginbotham at Agile Ministry posted his notes from a recent conference by John Maxwell called “How To Be A Real Success” - "Defining Success" and "Real Success". I love the definition given right at the top of the talk:  "Success is knowing my purpose in life."  The other post by James that I really liked was "Church Coordinators are Marketers".

Ed Stetzer had some thought-provoking posts - one was a discussion of "Coaching, Mentoring, and Life-Change", and another (somewhat heavier) was "The Emergent/Emerging Church: A Missiological Perspective".

What did you learn this month?

Interesting posts

Quite a few really interesting blog posts in the past few days - here's a few I particularly liked...

Perry Noble - "Four Leadership Questions that are Stretching Me"
I really like his first one - 'What do I need to stop doing?'

Mark Howell of Small Group Resources highlights a new DVD-driven small group curriculum "A Life that Matters." Based off Rick Warren's book "Purpose Driven Life", but with a very different format of engaging stories, not your typical talking-head study.

Mark Batterson's blog on leadership shows his enthusiasm for a new program they're starting at NCC - a "Protoge Program" of two-year ministry internships that are really win-win for the church and for those serving. He makes reference to their being a 'Teaching Church' (like a Teaching Hospital) and that this is also their farm system for new talent.

Some techie posts by David Russel on Twitter (great for attending conferences with collleagues) and by Tony Morgan on switching from Outlook to GMail. Tony also has a very thought-provoking post on "9 Do's and Don'ts for Ministry Growth".

Carlos and Tony spotlight an amazing promo for an upcoming series "Anything Short of Sin" that emphacizes doing whatever it takes (short of sin) to introduce people to Jesus Christ in a way that's relevant for them. Read more about it on the links - the video is embedded below.

Brevity is Beautiful

Teach less so others can learn more.

Random thoughts for the day

Today was an "in-the-zone" day (all by grace, nothing I did!) Finished something I promised a while ago for a client with three minutes to spare. Boss says he's scared for the first time in a while that new sales prospects are so good we may get swamped with work. Friend got a book I've been dying to see as an advance review copy. Installation of new software on my machine went flawlessly. Dinner was off-the-charts good (BBQ ribs), with cheesecake for dessert. Got to meet and talk to some new folks for dinner and they seem like wonderful people. Then a Q&A session on our recent vision presentation that went very well, and people asked questions. The day just couldn't have gone much better - thanks Lord!!

Two tidbits - first is one from recent reading though I wish I could remember the source:

"What is the difference between a committee and a team? A committee sits around and plans what other people are supposed to do. A team gets stuff done."

Second, the '7-second rule', used by Amy A. in our question and answer session tonight. "After asking a question, or opening up the floor for questions, close your mouth and keep in closed for at least seven seconds. Smile, but don't say anything." To us up front it seemed quite long, but to my shock, someone would finally ask a question. It was always a good question, but never came until after a good 6-7 seconds. That little tip kept our session going, and helped us not close early with a 'few closing songs.' I think time like that is important, to help as many people as possible understand the why behind things, not just the what.