I’ve discovered my life will be richer and my ministry more effective if I set goals for myself. I’m talking about personal goals, in addition to the goals leaders are setting for our congregation.
But setting the goals is just the beginning. Checking myself against my goals is key, of course, and June 1 prompted me to look again at the goals I set in January. Let me share them with you and tell you why each one is important to me.
Read MoreJeffrey and Katelyn are recovering drug users. Each of them has been clean for almost 6 years. But some would use the word ugly to describe many of their years in their past. Jeffrey and Katelyn would probably agree. They’re very open about the seamy life they’ve left behind. They’ve even put it in print. But before you read the details, let me tell you more.
Read MoreI answered my cell phone’s ring and heard a longtime friend on the line. He asked me, “Are you sitting down?”
“I’m driving,” I answered.
“Well, pull over. I have something to tell you.” I did, and he said, “My wife has taken our daughter and left me. I had an affair, and she just found out about it. I don’t know what I’m gonna do.”
I got on a plane the next morning, and when I saw him, I said, “Are you willing to do whatever it takes to restore your marriage?”
Read MoreEveryone’s talking about Tiger Woods this week. Not only because he won the Masters golf tournament, not only because that was his 15th major win, but most especially because it was his first major win since 2008.
The years since then were marked with a series of dark chapters. Sex scandal. Divorce. DUI arrest. Debilitating back pain. At one point his world ranking dropped to below 1,000.
And while commentators hailed his victory as “one of the greatest career revivals in the history of sports,” I see something more. To me, the Tiger Woods comeback is a redemption story that shows all of us how to make our own turnaround. We are all Tiger Woods. He took at least four actions that will put anyone on the road to redemption.
Read MoreLast week I took the risk of being real. I shared five confessions about myself and my feelings about ministry. Not because I’m in trouble or on the verge of quitting. But because ministry is hard, harder than those outside of ministry realize. I’m doing this in an effort to encourage other ministers who may be harboring and hiding some of these same thoughts.
Thank you for allowing me to be real. And think with me about five more confessions.
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