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Without a doubt, something that must be maintained in an ongoing manner in order to live deliberately is the delicate task of knowing how to balance your time.

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Prior to my wife and I getting married, we engaged in something called “pre-marital counselling.” This was a weekly activity (for 8 weeks, as I recall) in which she and I met with her pastor and his wife. During each session (approx. 2 hours each time), Pastor Steve and Christa systematically reviewed various aspects of marriage and family life.

As Lindsey and I would be diving right into full-time Christian ministry following our wedding, a major focus in these sessions was how to “balance your time” thus ensuring room for the important things of life, a midst the busyness of ministry and church. Being in full-time ministry themselves, they offered a formula that had worked for them that they had received from another ministry couple who had received it from another ministry couple who… well, you get the idea.

The basic idea to balance your time by breaking down your week into blocks works like this:

• There are 21 blocks of time in any given week: 1 morning, 1 afternoon, and 1 evening for each of the 7 days (3 blocks per day X 7 days = 21 blocks)
• The average person will have 10 blocks set aside for work (usually 5 mornings and 5 afternoons)
• For people of faith, there are typically 2 blocks spoken for to engage in corporate worship, usually Sunday morning and evening church services or another evening for small group
• I add another block (to bring me to three) for what would be expected of the average layperson would do in attending church and ministry and try not to “work” more than 13 blocks.

A few general rules I engage (to which, as a senior pastor, there are obvious exceptions):

• With a young family at home, I endeavor to never be out of the home for more than 2 consecutive evening blocks. As my little boy understands more and more of the life lessons his mom and I are teaching him, bedtime with him has become to me almost a sacrament (small ‘s’). There are often times I have to miss putting him to bed, and that’s to be expected, but I’ve found that missing 2 in a row is generally avoidable.
• Regardless of which time of day they fall on, I attempt to keep it to no longer than 5 consecutive blocks of time away from home. For example, if I’m in the church office Tuesday morning, afternoon, and evening and then again Wednesday morning and afternoon, I can pretty much guarantee you I’m at home on Wednesday evening. Again, with a young family, not to mention the utter importance of re-connect time with Lindsey (who is, of course, at home with our young family for those 5 consecutive blocks without me), any longer than this is just not conducive to our overall life strategy.
• Lastly, to help with planning the family calendar, the Thursday evening block through to the Saturday morning block (inclusive) are generally set aside as family-only time. With the reality of week-in and week-out Sunday morning ministry in our lives, allowing for time on Saturday afternoon or evening to review and rehearse my sermon is of the utmost importance.

If you’ve been looking for help to balance your time, I hope this helps.

What method do you use to balance your time and thus make room for the important things in your life? Feel free to leave your comments below.

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The post Balance Your Time By Breaking Down Your Week Into Blocks appeared first on Charlie Lyons.

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Yesterday the invitation was extended to me by Riverside Baptist Church in Huntsville, Ontario to fill the role of their senior pastor. This past weekend was the second of two in a row in which my family and I visited the church with the purpose of getting to know them better and vice versa. Immediately following the morning service the membership met and voted unanimously to call me as their pastor.

I am both honoured and humbled to accept their invitation and thankful to God for the opportunity to minister with this congregation of believers in Jesus Christ. Lindsey and I are excited about what lies ahead with this new direction and look forward to what’s in store.

Obviously there are several decisions that lay ahead of us with this transition. We are trusting our God with every one of the details.

Thank you to all of our friends and family that have been praying for us throughout these last several months. We appreciate your continued prayers as we move in this new direction.

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It’s true, with so much information available at the click of a button and easily accessed in the comforts of your home, it’s easy to see how this wealth of knowledge can also be very dangerous. Throw in immature children and unsupervised internet surfing and you can end up with a recipe for disaster.

Graphic courtesy of: http://jeanne-nelson.blogspot.ca/

What is a parent to do when everyone in the world is on Facebook (apparently with the exception of your daughter)?

Here are a few tips to heed when the pressures of social media come calling and how to thwart the adolescent angst and keep the peace at home:  

• Age: And of course this is always taken with a bit of caution, though Facebook states that their members need to be 13 to officially open an account, certainly a tech-savvy ten-year-old can finagle their way in and into the cyber sphere in a matter of minutes. But a good rule of thumb would be to know your child; some middle-school aged kids are very mature and responsible whereas there are teens and young adults who could use a few lessons on social etiquette. Before you begin the process, sit down with your child and discuss how they would feel if something they said (or was said about them) were to suddenly appear before them and 500 of their schoolmates. Bring up a situation and then ask for their response, (what if you wrote something you heard but it turns out it was untrue? How would you feel? How do you suppose they would feel?). Conversations before something happens could give your child a moment of pause before they keyboard something in haste and learn to regret it later. At the very least, one good rule of thumb is in order to have a Facebook account they have to ‘friend’ you. They’ll be less likely to share anything too inappropriate if they know mom or dad is also reading through their comments.
• Social Media Options: Of course, one of the most popular social media sites is Facebook, but another one to consider is Instagram. Again, it is easy to open an account and with young people it is extremely popular. No hassles, or frills, simply sharing personal photos in an instant. As a parent it would behoove you again to ensure that if this is an option for your child that you use privacy settings that way when she shares photos it is only with her friends, however, this begs an additional question: Who exactly are your friends?
• Be Discerning: Of course, we all want to protect our children and family from those who would potentially cause harm, but is there a way to really know everyone one of those so-called friends your son shares photos and personal information with? Does there seem to be someone who seems to spend an inordinate amount of time with your son online, someone not from his close circle of friends, or worse, from out of state? What about his online gaming time, does he play with people he doesn’t know? If a particular person seems a little too interested in your child, one way to alleviate any worries would be to do a quick search online. A site like www.peoplesmart.com can do a quick and lost-cost search to find out if BryanW2255 is really a fifteen-year-old from Snoqualmie, WA and when to make a call to authorities if things don’t seem on the up and up.

At the end of the day, good or bad, social media is here to stay. But if you are a diligent parent, the good news is that sites like Facebook can actually be a great tool to use for keeping in touch with family members but is also effective when restrictions are put in place to help bring up low grades or missed curfews. Certainly for a social butterfly teenager, the thought of a weekend without gabbing with friends online might be a great future deterrence. When raising kids, finding their currency is the key to success, reward them for their successes but keep a wary eye when they may need a little re-evaluation.

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The post Cutting the Technology Leash: When is Social Media Okay? appeared first on Charlie Lyons.

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If you’ve never seen the What Are You Living For? video by Francis Chan, you’re missing out. This video explains the very essence of why I seek to apply the tagline of this blog to my daily life: Live Deliberately.

With such importance of subject matter, while at just over 4 minutes long, it’s one of those videos that you don’t have the time not to watch.

As Francis mentions, no one’s guaranteed tomorrow; so, live deliberately today and watch this:

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Eye-opening at best, this infographic is a telling tale of what the average North American family’s Christmas spending looks like over the holidays. In an age where it’s so easy to get caught up in the hype and glitter of the commercialism related to Christmas, spending too much can often be a byproduct.

My hope is that you gave strategic thought to the “why” of your Christmas spending, and not just the “what”…

• Did it broaden your horizons or those of a loved one? Or, did it cause you or them to focus more narrowly self-ward?
• Did it generate positive memories and bring your family closer together? Or, did it drive a wedge into your relationships?
• Did it bring richness, meaning, or fulfillment to others? Or, did it serve to pull down, degrade, or otherwise leave you or others looking for more?

Here we are now, more than halfway through January; how quickly we forget about “peace on earth” and “good will toward men.” It’s almost as if we believe these notions are meant only to receive a seasonal nod. After 4 or 5 weeks of hearing them mentioned in carols or seeing them displayed on ornately painted decorations on our Christmas tree, they are briskly packed away with all the other accoutrements of Christmas.

But these are the ultimate reason for Christmas: peace on earth and good will toward all men, “for unto you, this day, is born a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.” As we all went through the checkout line at Walmart leading up to Christmas, with our carts piled high, we weren’t reminded by the cashier that the reason we give gifts at Christmas is for the symbolism and commemoration of the gifts Jesus Christ received on the first Christmas night so many years ago.

What about you? Was your family’s Christmas spending above or below the average? What was it focused on?

Christmas Spending by the Numbers…

Christmas Spending by the Numbers

(Gleaned from Carl Fillerup at Your Daily Business Insight.)

Perspective Changer

This past Christmas morning, my wife’s parents started a new tradition. I’ve always been very thankful for and humbled by their generosity, they opted to give less gifts to us and the rest of the family and instead give three gifts on behalf of the family through non-profits and their local church. The positive effect is intended to be felt on three different levels: locally, nationally, and globally.

As my children grow up, I’m excited about what this new tradition will do as we consider our future Christmas spending. I’m also excited about brainstorming other ways to give as a family.

Other than the positive (hopefully), lasting family memories, was your Christmas spending an investment or merely spending? I welcome your comments below.

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The post Christmas Spending by the Numbers = Perspective Changer appeared first on Charlie Lyons.

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To gain a reputation online you first need to be known by the online community. This is a tricky problem, since most of the First World is part of the online community. Therefore, your first step towards growing your online reputation is targeting the portion of the online community who will benefit the most from knowing about you.

Image courtesy of: Cityvisitor.co.uk.

If you are an e-commerce website or business in general, your target audience will be your potential customers. If you run a blog, then your potential audience will be the people interested in your niche. Do not forget that some people who are interested in certain niches can be converted into customers, for example a gardening blog may aptly drive traffic to a gardening tools website.

The great thing about social media is that it allows for some of the most targeted communication on the Internet. Many social media platforms hold significant amounts of demographic information that the users input of their own free will. Take the biggest social media site, Facebook, as an example; the users enter their location, age, sex, previous working places, interests, places of education, and many other snippets of demographic information. You may use this information to target and test your marketing ventures online.

When you know what motivates your potential audience, it is time to jump in and start conversing with them. If you simply use social media as an advertising platform, your struggle to gain a reputation is going to become a lot harder. You need to communicate within the social media of your choice and gain friends/followers. You must engage your potential audience and build a reputation in the same way that an executive would at a networking party.

Social media is one of the biggest time vampires on the Internet, so you must have a concise and well thought out plan of action for your social media campaigns. You must create a plan and set time limits for yourself. Create a goal and detail how you are going to achieve that goal, and how you are going to achieve it within a certain time limit. Do not set a vague goal such as “Increase reputation in six months.” You must create a goal that is measurable and very specific such as, “Gain two hundred followers within four months and convince them to click the Like button on my website.”

Your online reputation is going to be as fragile as your offline one, which means you must take care not to betray your followers. The most commonly seen method of damaging an online reputation is to make poor quality posts. This often happens because the social media profile owner has been advised to post information on their social media profile at least twice per week. Sometimes, they will run out of interesting and original things to post, so they will post poor quality content. This is a mistake, as it is better to post nothing than it is to post something poor.

Do you know what is being said about you online, professionally or personally? What steps have you taken to build the right reputation?

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The post Grow Your Online Reputation Using Social Media [Guest Post] appeared first on Charlie Lyons.

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Talking about our problems is our greatest addiction. Break the habit. Talk about your joys. – Rita Schiano

“Out of the abundance of one’s heart, the mouth speaks.”

What goes in, will come out.

What’s coming out of your lips?

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The post Our Greatest Addiction… Break The Habit appeared first on Charlie Lyons.

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It is official… the Associate Pastor position I’ve spoken of in previous updates has been removed from our family’s path.

As much as the church thought us a good fit in many areas, there were a couple of elements where alignment didn’t seem possible. We believe God’s will has been done and we are thankful for the opportunity to be considered there.

Moving forward, we continue to seek God’s clear direction for our family. For now, that means serving where we’re planted and we look forward to the opportunities that come up around us everyday.

Thank you for praying and for your continued prayers.

Blessings in 2013,

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The post Final Update on Associate Pastor Role I’ve Been Considered For appeared first on Charlie Lyons.

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Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbours, and let every new year find you a better man.

[via Gentlemint]

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“…always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.” 1 Peter 3:15

What message will we bring to a non-believing world? Will it be a message of a liberating, light-bearing Saviour who loves us unconditionally? Or will it be one of an intolerant, legalistic, judgemental God? Am I fit for His service?

Image courtesy of worradmu / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

For years I have taken to heart the Bible’s message to “love my neighbour as myself.” No problem there. Where I fall on my face is when Jesus tells me to “go and be fishers of men.”

This sounds so simple, but I have wrestled often with how I can do this when my verbal skills are woefully lacking. When I try to tell others about Jesus, I get overly anxious. What I know in my heart does not come out of my mouth! Frustration with myself, along with the other person’s frustration with me, quickly ends any meaningful dialogue. 

I have learned I am not one capable of verbally carrying a good theological argument. At that point, I am usually left begging the question, “Lord, how can I be salt and light when I turn more people away from you than towards you”? During these encounters, I have never truly felt fit for any service call from God!

Knowing this about me, Jesus has mercifully bestowed a much needed gift upon my discouraged shoulders: the gift of being able to express my love and relationship with Him through my writings. What joy I get from putting words on paper about what He has done for me over the years. Not that it is easy going for me, but computers help make it easier to reword or rework those words.

Joseph Stowell’s book The Trouble with Jesus tells us we can be salt and light by…

• Declaration – Speaking up for Jesus… For me I have learned it is through the written word that I can communicate this best.
• Demonstration – Showing up for Jesus… Wherever He places me, in a mall distributing shoes boxes, helping out a friend in need, or just being there to comfort someone who is mourning the loss of a loved one.
• Compassion – Reaching out for Jesus… I show others He is my first line of defence from which I obtain all my help or answers in my times of need.
• Community – Loving for Jesus… Even loving those I find unlovable. It is amazing how Jesus can soften the hardest of hearts, including my own.
• Consecration – Living for Jesus… When I read His Word and spend time with Him in prayer, it brings me much joy and peace. It also brings me the patience to wait upon His timing, and not to push forward with mine.

Jesus is able to use my service when His goals become my goals, His desires my desires, when I begin to care more about relationships than my own achievements. I have discovered that doing all of this is when I truly become ‘Fit For His Service.’

How fit for His service are you this Christmas season? Will you share His message, the true message of Christmas, that God became man to die for all men?

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The post Fit For His Service (Guest Post) appeared first on Charlie Lyons.