tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1951002336190667172025-01-24T13:35:26.892-06:00Personal Productivity for PastorsJayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17005660504732359039noreply@blogger.comBlogger113125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195100233619066717.post-20249846721128267172015-02-05T00:41:00.000-06:002015-02-05T00:42:44.321-06:00

The sad truth is you must know who your blockers and whiners are.  And you have to find a way to change them, placate them, or ignore them. When you're trying to do something different, you will always get pushback.  Change is very difficult for some people. When you're about to change something, think of the stakeholders.  Put them into three columns: Those who will block

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17005660504732359039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195100233619066717.post-34440362699864247082014-04-18T13:34:00.000-05:002014-04-18T13:35:42.344-05:00

I can't find it now, but earlier this week I saw a post that said something like: Pray for the pastors this week who know their Easter sermons will be inadequate to represent the depth and glory of the resurrection. Pray extra for the pastors who think their Easter sermons will be adequate.

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17005660504732359039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195100233619066717.post-69297478985375044092013-10-23T18:26:00.001-05:002013-10-23T18:27:25.708-05:00

Dear Disgruntled Church Member; You are an important part of the Body of Christ.  You are a part of the Royal Priesthood.  But you have not been chosen to be the pastor of this congregation. I know you have been trained by our denomination to think that your input is as valuable as anyone else's.  But it's not true. Next time God gives you a call to the pastorate, please take it

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17005660504732359039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195100233619066717.post-26650248075232108642013-01-11T00:16:00.002-06:002013-01-11T00:17:06.452-06:00

I used to be a sermon-writing machine!  At Cornerstone, I preached 45+ weeks per year in well-crafted sermon series.  My sermons were biblical, interesting, relevant, balanced, and Christ-centered.  Sometimes I might have an off week, but in general, my sermons were awesome! But over the last 6 years, I have preached very little by comparison.  At Renew, I preached for the

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17005660504732359039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195100233619066717.post-51933583555946987832012-12-16T17:31:00.004-06:002012-12-16T17:33:50.322-06:00

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17005660504732359039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195100233619066717.post-20702923464278631282012-11-26T14:07:00.001-06:002012-11-26T14:07:47.578-06:00

From One Size Doesn't Fit All by Gary L. McIntosh, p.102: "I've heard two viewpoints.  One says not to change anything during the first year.  The other says to change as much as you can in the first year.  Which is correct?" "I suggest that in the early years of ministry in a new church you follow the Law of the Snake Pit: Keep moving, but don't make any sudden jerks."

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17005660504732359039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195100233619066717.post-75047777916266820002012-11-06T13:43:00.000-06:002012-11-06T13:43:46.942-06:00

From One Size Doesn't Fit All by Gary L. McIntosh, p. 80: McIntosh says you should run every decision that you make as a pastor and as a church through this grid to make sure you are focusing on the right things: The Principle of Visionary LeadershipA church grows when decisions are made based on the intention of bringing new people into the church. The Principle of Human Resource UtilizationA

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17005660504732359039noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195100233619066717.post-29005089824695254102012-09-06T14:57:00.001-05:002012-09-06T14:58:45.768-05:00

I've been on the ground in my new church district for almost three weeks now. I've been doing a lot of unpacking and moving things around and trying to get settled into our new house.  Kendra has started her new job teaching a couple of classes.  Nathaniel has started second grade at a new school and gymnastics at a new gym. I've preached a sermon in each church and I've attended an

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17005660504732359039noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195100233619066717.post-28924541539657545132012-08-22T11:56:00.000-05:002012-08-22T11:56:37.869-05:00

We recently packed up all of our things and made a cross-country move from Minnesota to California.  I will be the Senior Pastor of the San Luis Obispo Seventh-day Adventist Church and also have oversight of the Morro Bay SDA Church.  The people here are wonderful and I'm really looking forward to leading this exceptionally gifted church district! I have been an expert at setting up

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17005660504732359039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195100233619066717.post-80605072434947707572011-11-16T16:13:00.002-06:002011-11-16T16:16:21.182-06:00

Jack Dorsey tells us how he keeps on top of everything important as he runs two companies. He organizes his days by theme.Monday: Management meetings and "running the company" workTuesday: Product developmentWednesday: Marketing, communications, and growthThursday: Developers and partnershipsFriday: The company and its cultureSaturday: HikingSunday: Reflection, feedback, and strategyRead more

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17005660504732359039noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195100233619066717.post-48944909924662328502011-11-14T22:24:00.003-06:002011-11-14T22:26:42.697-06:00

Great video by Scott Williams about how to manage your time with God as your No. 1 priority.

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17005660504732359039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195100233619066717.post-52909335390571257072011-11-04T22:32:00.004-05:002011-11-04T23:04:54.257-05:00

So... I'm still on a leave of absence from pastoring (read more here). But our pastor is leaving for another church. And I'm the head elder.So... I find myself planning to preach quite a bit in the upcoming year (quiet "hurrahs" fill my soul; how I've missed preaching!).I've been working on the sermonic year (assuming we don't have a preaching pastor for a while). This time the pent-up series

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17005660504732359039noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195100233619066717.post-48751622787212796322011-11-01T20:35:00.003-05:002011-11-01T20:43:29.118-05:00

Over on Ja Cook's Don't Survive, Thrive! he has a great post about what disqualifies someone from being a leader. Not sexual blunders or embezzling (although, I'm sure those are also disqualifiers).Ja's list hits close to home with things like...You cannot lead if you cannot love those you leadandYou cannot lead if you cannot lift others up to be better than youandYou cannot lead if you cannot

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17005660504732359039noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195100233619066717.post-23533910505273739312011-09-02T20:41:00.002-05:002011-09-02T20:51:36.286-05:00

As you may have noticed, I've quit updating Juggling Sheep. In April of 2010 my mom came to live with us as she undergoes further cancer treatment. I took a voluntary leave of absence from pastoral ministry in July of 2010. This gave me an opportunity to care for my mom while doing web design at Big Idea Web Design (out of my home). I've mostly been focusing on designing websites for churches

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17005660504732359039noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195100233619066717.post-28524970346514248842010-09-14T06:22:00.002-05:002010-09-14T06:44:19.082-05:00

Today is a special day! Today is September 14, the date of the long-awaited release of the Get-It-Done Guy's book - 9 Steps to Work Less and Do More.Think of this book as a VERY PRACTICAL 7 Habits for Highly Effective Hipsters.Stever Robbins has a refreshing, fun, witty way of hitting each of his points home with clarity and practicality. Did I mention it's practical? Because you can actually

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17005660504732359039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195100233619066717.post-36059353644842869652010-07-30T11:17:00.001-05:002010-07-30T11:20:42.597-05:00

What topics/series do you typically use as a sermonic year framework? What topics do you always address around the same time each year? Why?

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17005660504732359039noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195100233619066717.post-52832509311138629142010-07-29T13:32:00.000-05:002010-07-30T11:16:02.425-05:00

So, as I've mentioned before, I really like preaching topigetical sermons in topical series. The cool thing about this is that your six sermon series may be on one topic, but the whole series doesn't have to come from one scriptural pericope (because the series is topical, not exigetical). Each sermon, however, should be exigetical from one pericope that addresses a specific sub-topic. This is

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17005660504732359039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195100233619066717.post-81188821382740892752009-11-20T10:15:00.012-06:002009-11-20T18:31:48.856-06:00

One of the unexpected benefits of owning an iPhone is that I now have more time to read the Bible and other books.Sure, the first couple of months were full of finding new apps, tweeting more regularly, facebooking from anywhere, etc. But a couple of the apps have actually helped me to be more productive. *SHOCK*I'll write another post about the iPhone apps I use for GTD, but this one is about

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17005660504732359039noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195100233619066717.post-59566681429611648722009-09-14T10:51:00.005-05:002009-09-14T11:32:18.591-05:00

Here's a novel concept:Everything that benefits the family counts as work.Both spouses "work" the same hours.Both spouses STOP "working" at the same time.Make a schedule and stick to it.Let me tell you why this is such a novel concept for me.I'm a half-time pastor (I work Tues, Thurs, half of Fri), a part-time web designer, and a half-time stay-at-home dad. My wife is a full-time teacher.For the

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17005660504732359039noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195100233619066717.post-37237037687559569182009-06-19T15:36:00.000-05:002009-06-19T15:38:36.604-05:00

Getting Things Done. 45 minutes of teaching from the master himself.

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17005660504732359039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195100233619066717.post-53962496179300838622009-06-12T16:42:00.003-05:002009-06-12T16:53:59.269-05:00

We all want church members to find their spiritual gifts, their passions, and their place in building God's kingdom and reaching the community. Or do we?If we really want these things to happen, we need a process (or processes) for making them happen. If the members have the "what" and "why," we should readily give them the "how."Let's say a church member comes up to you and tells you God has

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17005660504732359039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195100233619066717.post-39672884616796012682009-05-18T09:12:00.004-05:002009-05-18T09:35:46.351-05:00

You may have noticed in my little blurb about me that "I'm on a journey toward becoming a more effective and efficient pastor."Stephen R. Covey says:"While you can think in terms of efficiency in dealing with time, a principle-centered person thinks in terms of effectiveness in dealing with people.”I've too often made the mistake of trying to be efficient with people... putting the end results

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17005660504732359039noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195100233619066717.post-33828263080517171482009-04-16T13:31:00.003-05:002009-04-16T13:43:38.733-05:00

When we started our new church from scratch, one of our core convictions was that church be more simple. This doesn't mean simplistic. It doesn't mean that we plan to ignore any of the purposes of the church. But what it does mean is that 1) we know our discipleship process, 2) we create core ministries to move people through the discipleship process, and 3) we say no to everything else.We

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17005660504732359039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195100233619066717.post-71635990391012695292007-10-19T10:12:00.000-05:002007-10-19T10:27:35.964-05:00

Since June, we've been working on starting a new church in Shakopee, MN. Renew Community Church had its very first preview service last weekend (October 13). And we'll be having one preview service per month until we launch weekly services April 12, 2008.We had two (yes, 2) guests. We knew we wouldn't have very many people at our first preview service, because we had been spending so much of

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17005660504732359039noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195100233619066717.post-75728913270794352772007-09-18T05:37:00.000-05:002007-09-18T05:42:21.023-05:00

David Allen is going to be having an ongoing GTD column on the Huffington Post. It's goal is to introduce the system to people who don't know. What a great opportunity to refresh! You can read his first post here.I'm excited. The more people who live by GTD principles, the more people who are reliable and productive. What a great thing to go mainstream (if by mainstream we mean left-leaning.

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17005660504732359039noreply@blogger.com2