Greg Atkinson

The following is a guest blog by Rich Kirkpatrick, Worship Pastor at Sunridge Community Church – Temecula, CA

Art by committee comes out rather ugly, but art by collaboration shines.

One of the biggest frustrations in any creative endeavor is dealing with committee-driven process. This is not the same as collaboration. Its one thing to sit in a group that nit picks rather than team together to create. Let me contrast the two.

Committee vs. Collaboration

The following is a guest blog by Bill Seaver, Social Media Marketing Consultant

In one way or another we’re all marketers now. Once you got your hands on Twitter or Facebook or your WordPress blog or that Flip video camera for your YouTube channel, you became a marketer. Most of you did that on purpose, and you shouldn’t apologize for that.The question isn’t so much whether you use these tools for promotional purposes as it is this: do you use them the right way?

The way you use social media tools is directly affected by the way you think about them. They are excellent promotional devices when the promoter (that’s you) has the right mindset. With the right mindset you can connect with people and promote whatever you’re doing in ways that were never this cheap or easy.

With the wrong mindset, however, the best thing you can hope for is that you’re wasting your time. The worst thing would be that you’re becoming an annoying jerk who’s losing influence and dragging your organization’s reputation down at the same time. To use the tools effectively, you need to understand the new online culture and acquire the new mindset. The new mindset is to earn people’s attention before you promote anything.

Understanding The Old Mindset
The old mindset was one in which organizations just talked about themselves. The assumption was that people were interested in them. In some cases they were. In a rare few cases, they still are. For most of us, however, we’re just another one of a thousand people wanting someone’s attention.

Twitter is a perfect place to observe the old and new mindsets in action. With Twitter and other social media/social networking tools, a shift is occurring where people can more easily choose not to pay attention to self promotion. Marketers still need to get attention, but rather than screaming for it, they need to earn attention by being valuable to the people they want to reach. To earn attention with Twitter you have to understand it to be the conversation tool that it is. Twitter is a conversation tool that also does promotion.Many marketers seem to think it’s the other way around. As such, I have observed organizations that don’t understand this strategic mistake and don’t have the restraint to keep from over-promoting on Twitter. It’s fine to promote sometimes, it’s not fine to promote all the time.

Scoring The Right Balance
To help organizations strike the balance, I’m proposing a self-imposed Twitter Balance Score that is weighted toward conversation and sharing before promotion. The idea is that once you have scored 10 points, you’re free to promote, sell, or otherwise bring attention to something you’ve done. Until the points are scored don’t promote anything. Be part of a conversation or start a conversation.

Keeping Score
The easy way to think about the Twitter Balance Score is to think about sharing as the most valuable portion of a conversation and then listening. Only after that do you start talking. With that perspective in mind, here’s the Twitter Balance Score:

• Share a link: 3 points
• Retweet: 3 points
• Ask a question: 2 points
• Respond/reply to someone: 2 points
• Update about what you’re doing/thinking/etc.: 1 point

The goal with this scoring system is to Tweet at least four times between promotions.

Negative Points
The downside to keeping score with anything is the ability to “game” the system. As such, someone could look at the scoring method above and just share a lot of stuff but still never talk to anyone. Beyond that, there are numerous tools available that give the appearance of activity and sharing without actually requiring the person to participate, which should result in negative points. Here are a few scenarios where negative points would be applied:

• Provide links in three consecutive Tweets: -3 points
• Three consecutive Retweets: -5 points
• Retweeting compliments: -10 points (I think this is a big Twitter sin as I’ve written about in the past.)

So that’s the Twitter Balance Score. Think it will help?

The following is a guest blog by Scott Williams, campus pastor at LifeChurch.tv Northwest OKC

Leadership is the most commonly used word when it comes down to the success of an organization, product, group or team.  No matter how you slice the success pie, the pieces all boil down to leadership.  There are countless books about how to be a successful leader, 21 laws of leadership, how to go from good to great and the list goes on and on with John Maxwell’s books alone.

There are many reasons that leaders are successful and just as many for why they fail.  I am a firm believer that you can learn as much from your failures and working with poor leadership as you can successful leadership.  I previously wrote about this in a post entitled Stop Complaining and Start Learning.  We know there are many reasons that contribute to a leaders success, What about why they fail?  Below is a list of 4 memorable reasons leaders FAIL in an easy to remember acronym FAIL.

Fake-  A leader who attempts to be someone they’re not instead of simply being themselves has a difficult time succeeding, at some point it just catches up to them.  This also applies to the leader that has a different face, different persona, different tone, different everything… when certain people are around.  In other-words when the big boss comes around they put their fake-face on.  Not to say a leader might not make some adjustments when company comes around; however the super-fake-face comes from insecurity of how they act normally.  Remember: Don’t be fake, be yourself… “Do You! It’s A Statement… Not A Question!” Fake Leaders Fail!

Attitude- One of the primary reasons that a leader fails is because of a poor, negative or a no-can-do attitude.  If a leader thinks he can fly and has a positive can-do attitude; even though they may not be able to fly they will come darn close.  The reason why attitude is important is because that leader’s attitude will rub off on their team members and their followers. Remember: “Attitude reflects leadership, Captain.” ~Julius in Remember The Titans

Integrity- If a leader doesn’t exhibit a high degree of integrity they will fail.  The integrity issues will either catch up to them (what’s done in the dark, will come to light) or those that follow them won’t respect them.  If team members or followers don’t respect the a leader, it puts the leader in the place of pushing a snowball up hill… it’s a difficult task.  These integrity issues run the gamete: profanity, lying, cheating, stealing, affairs, flirting, yelling, substance abuse, pride-filled decisions etc.  I have worked with many high capacity leaders in both the secular world and ministry that have failed because they allowed their integrity to get off track.  Remember:  Integrity is doing the right thing, even if nobody is watching.

Lacking-  Although I believe that everyone has potential for some degree of leadership in them; the bottom line is that some leaders fail because they are either: a.) Not the leader they think they are, or b.) Promoted above their leadership capacity/leadership role has outgrown them, or c.) Not a visionary, or d.) Not a leader at all!   They are lacking what it takes!  Remember: Just because someone has an office, role, title or responsibility doesn’t mean they are a leader.  Leadership is an art, a skill, a craft, a gift… and it must be developed!

Share your thoughts or add some additional reasons to the list?

The following is a guest blog from Eric Bryant, Navigator at Mosaic

In an article called “More Minority Babies Will Be Born In 2010 Than White Babies, Demographers Predict,” Hope Yen writes:

Minorities make up nearly half the children born in the U.S., part of a historic trend in which minorities are expected to become the U.S. majority over the next 40 years.

In fact, demographers say this year could be the “tipping point” when the number of babies born to minorities outnumbers that of babies born to whites.

The numbers are growing because immigration to the U.S. has boosted the number of Hispanic women in their prime childbearing years. Minorities made up 48 percent of U.S. children born in 2008, the latest census estimates available, compared to 37 percent in 1990.

“Census projections suggest America may become a minority-majority country by the middle of the century. For America’s children, the future is now,” said Kenneth Johnson, a sociology professor at the University of New Hampshire who researched many of the racial trends in a paper being released Wednesday.

To read the rest of the article, go here.

Rather than fighting this diverse future, we should be at the forefront of our quickly-changing world to love, serve, and create diverse communities.

For more thoughts, check out “The Human Mosaic,” “Enjoying Diversity,” “Loving Foreigners is Hard for Former Foreigners,” “The Minority Majority,” and the posts filed under diversity on my website.

The following is a guest blog by Cynthia Ware, Executive Director of the Center for Church Communications

“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”. – Albert Einstein

This past week concludes one of the busiest weeks of the year for many of us who are church staff members.  It takes work to pull it off all the things associated with Good Friday and Easter.  When you put a lot of effort into something, it helps to define how you’ll measure your success right? It’s foolish, for example, to go to all the trouble of going on a diet but never weigh in and see what your progress has been!  I read that in a book.  So, does your church put effort into whatever they communicate during Easter?

Great communicators want results.  So, great communicators measure. They are constantly re-calibrating their message so they can connect with their intended audience and produce a result. This doesn’t mean the message changes; this means the message is specifically tailored for a particular audience. And then, the astute communicator will consider whether the message accomplished its intended purpose. Think of all the letters the Apostle Paul wrote to different audiences based on unique circumstances and particular needs.

As a person who helps churches communicate as effectively as possible, I’ve got a vested interest in understanding what tools help us communicate effectively.  And these days churches are beginning to embrace a somewhat holistic approach to communication involving many channels and many tools.  By evaluating both their online and offline communication resources, churches are ensuring a consistency of message and the possible complementary use of multiple communication platforms to accomplish the task of addressing those who have ears to hear.

We know that offline communication resources have been used by churches for years. These channels include word-of-mouth, traditional print (newspaper articles & ads, Yellow Pages ads) media, billboards, flyers, posters, banners, postcards, bumper stickers, radio, tv, etc.  Newly popular online communication channels would include e-mail campaigns, websites (with SEO positioning), webinars, blogs, micro-blogging, RSS feeds, podcasts, livestreaming and Internet Campuses.

When a church is using (and measuring) both off and online communication, it’s known as an integrated communication program.  The goal of selecting certain elements of a proposed integrated communications program is to communicate effectively and consistently across media platforms.

There are several macro-trends your church leadership could be aware of in order to communicate more effectively via an integrated communication program.  Note these shifts:

• From “traditional media” to multiple forms of communication (everything from webinars & podcasts to micro-blogging & vidcasting).
• From limited internet access to 24/7 internet availability and access to messages and services across any mobile platform.
• From a big business dominated culture to a user-generated content & consumer-influenced culture.
• From a “we take care of our own” mentality to a refocusing on benefits for the common good (community).
• From broadcast-style media to more specialized narrow-casting or niche media, often centered around specific target or need-defined groups.

Following last weekend’s Easter services, I recommend debriefing with all those who helped your church communicate over Easter.  Did you use an integrated communication program?  Whose attention were you trying to attract?  Was your communication directed towards those who attend your church services or towards those who don’t?  Was your message tailored to fit a particular group or was it generic?  Did you see results from what you communicated and how?  Did you measure your success? Will you do the same thing for the next church event or will you make changes?

And most importantly, if your church excels in communicating with excellence, please speak up.  The Center for Church Communication is searching for great church communicators to showcase.

The following is a guest blog by Nelson Searcy, Lead Pastor of The Journey Church of New York City and Founder of Church Leader Insights

I have a serious question for you. There is only one right answer to this question, so get ready. If you answer incorrectly, don’t be too discouraged. There is hope. But this question is a barometer that can’t be ignored. Here it is: Did you take your cell phone with you on your most recent date night with your wife?

If you did, let me assure you that you are not alone. A recent study by Hewlett-Packard found that 62 percent of the adult population is addicted to cell phone technology – that is, texts, tweets, Facebook updates, instant access to emails and, of course, phone calls. Pastors and other church leaders are not immune to this phenomenon. In fact, we may be among the guiltiest parties. We are a techno-connected bunch. We righteously clutch our Blackberries and iPhones, as we accuse the outside world of being unable to free themselves from technology’s hold. But how often do we disconnect? How often do we allow ourselves to step away from our pressing responsibilities and spend uninterrupted time focusing on things more eternal?

You may already be arguing with me: “But being connected allows me to stay right on top of urgent issues in my church.” Okay. “My associate pastor needs to be able to contact me anytime.” Really? “If I am out of touch, something might slip through the cracks – or worse, there might be a crisis that I’m not there to handle.” I hear you. But consider this: What if allowing yourself to disconnect at important times for appropriate time periods is really a statement of trust – an acknowledgement of God’s ability to handle the world without your help.

When to Disconnect

A few years ago I was attending a seminar led by a well-renowned speaker. Just before the seminar was about to begin, I, like most of the other church leaders in attendance, was busy shooting out a couple of last-minute emails and responding to a text message or two. When the speaker stepped onstage, the first thing he said was, “Why don’t you all give yourself a gift and turn off your cell phones for the duration of our time together. I want you to be able to focus your hearts and minds on what we’re going to be discussing.” His choice of words hit me squarely between the eyes – disconnecting from my cell phone for a period of time could be considered a gift I give myself. And by doing so, I would truly be able to center my attention on the critical information he was about to convey, without the distraction of a buzzing pocket. That’s the day this truth began solidifying itself in my mind: There is nothing wrong with being connected most of the time, as long as we realize and respect the importance of wisely disconnecting.

There are four scenarios where I believe it is not only important, but wise, to turn off your cell phone and focus completely on the moment:

1. When you are on a date night with your spouse
2. When you are spending time with your kids
3. While you study and prepare for your Sunday teaching
4. On your Sabbath day

Do you know what one of the best gifts you can give your wife is? Your undivided attention on date night. Do you know what your kids need from you more than anything else? Your undivided attention during your quality time with them. Know what your congregation trusts you to give to your preparation of each week’s teaching? You got it – your undivided attention as you seek and study the truths that are going to help them draw closer to God. And on your Sabbath day, do you know what God wants from you? He wants your focus to be on him. We can’t give our full attention in any of these four arenas when we are constantly dinging, vibrating, ringing, answering, scrolling, updating, reading, responding… you get the point.

In my experience, the most difficult to honor of these four disconnects is the Sabbath day, so let me be clear: I am not proposing that you put your cell phone in a drawer for the entire day. In ministry, that is practically impossible. But I am saying that you make a concerted effort to focus your attention on God, family and rest, rather than the emails that you “could” catch up on or the phone calls that you “should” make while you have down time. If you need to send an email or two, fine. For the most part, however, create distance between your cell and yourself, and direct your energy toward engaging in a true Sabbath. The day of rest and reflection was God’s idea after all, so I’d say we should take it seriously.

The Fear Factor

There is only one thing that keeps most of us from being able to disconnect (besides our proposed addiction) – the fear that we will be needed during the time we’ve made ourselves unavailable. That’s why being able to intentionally disconnect is both a statement and a test of faith. By powering down when you are involved in activities that deserve your complete focus, you are releasing control of your people and your church back to God. You are essentially saying, “God, I am not the commander. You are. I acknowledge that the world will not fall apart if I spend a few uninterrupted hours away from my phone.”

The biggest trap that keeps many of us over-connected is a self-created, constant sense of urgency. We have something of a savior mentality, so we too often make problems more problematic than they really are. We make ourselves too invaluable. If we could step back and gain some perspective, we would remember that we are not actually in control. Don’t misunderstand – we are called to have our hand to the plow. We are called to diligence, discipline and excellence. But we are not the ultimate determining factor in our lives and our churches. God is. What a relief! Given the fact that God is God and we are not, we would be wise to practice putting more trust in his sovereignty and less in our own. As we do, we will be able to periodically step away from the onslaught without fear, thereby honoring God and acknowledging his true position.

Consider this scenario: A couple calls your office because their lives are falling apart and they are on the brink of divorce. They need help. They need to talk to you. You are their last hope. So, your secretary texts you and lets you know that they want to meet with you today, as soon as possible. But you are booked solid until 6. What do you do? Well, the savior mentality kicks in, so you want to jump on your white horse and save the day. You want to sit them down, point them to God’s truth, show them a way out of their pain, patch it all up and send them on their way. So nine times out of ten, you will call your wife and tell her that you aren’t going to make it home for dinner. You’ll tell the kids goodnight over the phone. And then you’ll go save someone else’s family.

I contend that you are making the wrong decision for all of the right reasons. You should be available to meet with the people in your church who need you – especially those who are dealing with urgent life situations. But here’s the truth that we all know and yet usually fail to acknowledge: If this couple’s world is in shambles and they are considering divorce, the situation is going to be the same three days from now as it is today. If your secretary tells them that you can meet with them during work hours later in the week, they will wait to talk to you. You don’t have to charge into the battle at the expense of spending quality time with your family. Of course there are exceptions but, in general, nothing is as urgent as we make it out to be. And we are not as indispensable as we like to think. This mentality is what lays the groundwork for our hyper-connected lives, forcing us to be continually engaged as we bounce from one “crisis” to the next. The great news is that God has it all under control; let him lead you into learning to let go of the perpetual urgency.

Finding Focus

The problem of being unable to wisely disconnect continues to compound. The Hewlett-Packard study referenced above also found that “today’s dependence on daily technology, including e-mail and cell phones, can be slightly more detrimental to your IQ than smoking marijuana…. Continual e-mail use and text-messaging lowered the average worker’s IQ by as much as ten points. Smoking marijuana regularly, on the other hand, causes only a four-point drop in intelligence.” Now that’s scary stuff. We are unknowingly inflicting damage on our brains worse than that caused by drug use. Jesus didn’t mince words when he taught us that our body is our temple. We wouldn’t consider damaging our mental capacity with drugs, and yet we do just that when we allow our focus to be continually skewed by our “smart phones.” Ironic, don’t you think?

As a generation of technology addicts, we are slowly losing our ability to focus on anything for an extended period of time. Most of us would be hard-pressed to think about one thing for a solid hour, without the distraction of a phone call, text message or email. Try it sometime. I have; it’s difficult. I have become convinced that lack of focus, disguised as work overload, is one of the biggest issues pastors face. If our ability to focus is as lacking as all signs indicate, then those of us who feel overworked are probably not as overworked as we think. We are overly distracted, and that distraction is sabotaging our productivity. Not to mention the fact that instant access is decreasing our capacity to focus on God. When we are constantly connected, we are putting ourselves in a position where we can’t simply “be still” and hear God’s voice. And since we are in the business of advancing his kingdom, not our own, this can prove to be quite a problem. Our tendency to over-communicate with each other is often resulting in a breakdown of communication with the one we need to hear from the most.

So what is the solution? Learn to disconnect. You hereby have permission to master the art of periodic unavailability. Let it be a gift you give yourself. Go about your work with zeal and integrity, but when it is time to focus on your wife or your studying, focus with the same zeal and integrity. I challenge you to take the dangers of this phenomenon of distraction to heart and prayerfully make the necessary changes. Decide to disconnect when it’s called for so that you can find focus in all areas of your life. When you manage the time and resources God has given you well – as he intends rather than as our culture demands – you unlock the door to unimaginable blessing. So do yourself, your church, and the ultimate purposes of God a favor – turn off your cell phone and go play with your kids.

Easter is over! Are you glad? Are you exhausted and relaxing today? I hope so. I’d love to hear about your Easter services. Tell me how things went at your church. I got to experience a number of Easter services. Friday night I watched the live stream online of Church of Hope in Ocala, FL. Saturday night, I went to church online with LifeChurch.tv and Flamingo Road Church. Sunday, we drove to Atlanta and went to North Point Community Church – awesome!

Today, I’m taking my family to Opening Day baseball game at the Atlanta Braves. I took my son to Opening Day last year with the Texas Rangers. As you know, I love going to baseball games. I’m really looking forward to our family taking in the first game of the season together this afternoon. I grew up a Braves fan and have fond memories.

I’m so grateful to all my friends that have been guest blogging for me so I could concentrate on my book. I’ve been able to get some serious writing done. I have a few more guests that I want you to hear from starting back tomorrow.

Again, tell me how yesterday was for you!

The following is a guest blog from Brad Lomenick, Executive Director of Catalyst.

I played point guard on my high school basketball team. We were pretty good. Not great, but pretty good.

But I learned some solid leadership lessons playing the point, and when I watch great point guards play basketball still today there are lessons that emerge. Here are a few that we can apply to our own leadership paradigms:

1. Making a great pass is as important as making a great shot. Helping someone else on your team succeed is in many ways more important than you being the star.

2. Know the team better than anyone else. Point guards have to be aware of the strengths of each member of the team and understand how best to motivate them and bring out their best.

3. Preparation, knowledge and awareness. As a point guard, you have to be a coach on the court. An extension of your head coach. Part of your responsibility is to call plays, read defenses and adapt.

4. Keep your offense in rhythm and on task. Point guards distribute the ball to the playmakers. You have to understand who’s hot and make sure they get the ball, while keeping everyone still involved in the rhythm of the game. This is a tough skill to master.

5. If needed, take over the game and make a play. Great leaders and great point guards can do this on command. Spread the offense out and take the game winning shot. Put the team on your shoulders if needed.

The following is a guest blog by my friend, Shawn Wood, Experiences Pastor at Seacoast Church – Mt. Pleasant, SC

I first heard of the concept of “Creating on Demand” from @toddhenry of the Accidental Creative. The concept goes like this.  When we think of create on demand we usually think of products.  Widgets and Woozets.  Someone stands in the same place and creates the same things over and over again – on demand.  The old factory model.

But in the last few decades the rise of the creative class has created a whole new factory.  A creative factory, but instead of widgets and woozets the assembly line now creates thoughts, ideas, innovation and ultimately…art.

An art factory.  Sounds great doesn’t it?

The only problem is that is not how creativity works.  At least it is not how it works for me.
Some days I have good ideas.
Some days I have bad ideas.
Some days I have good ideas that turn into bad ideas.

But truthfully, many days I have no ideas at all.

So then I was thinking about this whole create on demand thing and it hit me.

The Church is the ultimate create on demand culture in the world.  It does not matter how many times you look at the calendar Sunday comes every 7 days – even in leap year.

So our job it would seem is to create on demand every 7 days an environment that leads to an experience that can move people, usher people into the power and the presence of God and  ultimately a work of art.  Even 200 Pomegranates to an audience of one.

So here is my question.  How do you do this?  Something fresh and moving every week.  Something worth a mom and a dad getting all the kids up and dressed, dealing with the traffic of parking and walking into our churches and giving us an hour of their lives.  Here are just a couple of things to remember and then I would love to hear your tips in the comments:

1.  Give the other artists (all the attenders) in the church the tools to help you create.
This is not a spectator sport.  We are not supposed to finish the canvas by Sunday, the rest of the artists are showing up to help.  Our job is to make sure the supplies are out, the canvas is ready and that an environment is there that leads to an experience with God.
One example of this is our response time at Seacoast.  We leave margin at the end of each service for three songs of worship and give people space to respond to what God is doing in their lives.  We provide the tools.  Some music.  Response stations (cross to pin confessions of sin, candles to light in prayer, prayer teams, communion stations, offering boxes) and allow the artists to pant their own canvas.

2. Don’t pre-chew the food for everyone.  That’s just gross.
Can you imagine having to eat all of your food pre-chewed.
We sometimes do that as artists for our church  Don’t over-plan everything.  Planning is good, but make sure you leave some room in your services for people to contribute and be a part.  Don’t over-dictate the mood so much that there is no room for a mood shift.  Don’t have a big-idea so chosen that when God decides to use the theme of the service in a different way you can’t move with him.  Planning is awesome.  It’s a essential and infact I believe that planning leads to flexibility.  Just make sure to allow that to happen.

The following is a guest blog by Michael Robison, Lead Pastor of Grace Church – Kingsport, TN

Did you know that only 1 out of 10 men who pastor will retire from that position? Something that is so often overlooked is the toll ministry will take on a person and their family. Before I was a lead pastor I had a very wise man, another great pastor friend, explain that you have no idea what this job requires until you’re doing it. WOW, he couldn’t have been more correct. I have been serving in ministry for nearly 10 years now. But, until I became the pastor, I had no idea what ministry really looked like. There were so many things I was sheltered from, protected from and exempt from as a youth pastor. I look back now with greater respect and gratitude for the pastors I served with in my previous ministries. As the pastor we take the blows, mentor our staff and raise them like a family, shepherd 100’s or 1,000’s of people and sacrifice our time and many desires along the way. Sometimes it can feel quite lonely. No matter how much someone loves you and supports you, if they haven’t served in that position, they don’t know what you walk through daily!

The reality is that ministry, especially the spot of lead pastor, can truly cost more than we can ever imagine. The toll comes in our physical health, our mental health, our spiritual health and our family life. Being the pastor requires 100% of our lives. The reality is that many of us truly do LOVE this calling and opportunity to serve. I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world. I wake up each day with a renewed sense of opportunity and privilege that God has given to me. But, as time goes by I realize even more how much God has called me to do.

Pastors, it is imperative that we take care of ourselves. You and I need a regular routine of exercise to relieve stress and stay fit. We need a regular time of learning and increase in our mental faculties. We need a regular routine of letting down our guards and having fun without worrying about being “on call”. We need regular time with our families; things such a Date Night and special times with our kids. More than anything, we need a dedicated time to pray and study the Word. We can’t simply be in the Bible only for sermon prep. Without these things, we will go crazy!

However, I believe one of the most important things we need as pastors is the ability to rely on each other and care for each other. No one beside a person who has been where we are will understand the level of stress, responsibility and burden that is placed on our lives. We need to constantly be encouraging each other, praying for each other and helping each other stand accountable to our calling.

My challenge to each of you is that you make it a regular habit of loving and encouraging other pastors and leaders. You have no idea how much good it will do and how God can use your simple words and gestures. We need to build each other up and hold each other accountable. “But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” Hebrews 3:13 ESV

Without these things in our lives, we will most definitely find our selves as one the statistics……HMMMMMM, only 10% of those who pastor retire from that position? Why? Burnout, Stress, Mental & Physical Deterioration and Moral Failures. Don’t let yourself become one of those statistics! Let’s work together to make it 10 out of 10!