Transitions seem to come more often than they used to — or is it just me? This invites thoughtful reflection to be built into our lives. Reflection can be difficult. Waiting is hard. Here’s how I said it in a recent sermon: “Not only do we want to read the Bible but we also want the Bible to read us.” This involves thoughtfulness and sensitivity. Consistent reflection invites us to regularly “check in” on the state of our spiritual and emotional lives. It’s an honest look at ourselves to consider both our strengths and giftings as well as our growth areas and strongest temptations. The Latin phrase for living in God’s presence is coram Deo, which is translated “in the presence of God” and summarizes the idea of Christians living in the presence of, under the authority of, and to the honor and glory of God. Reflection makes room for us to be on the lookout for God — in our own lives, in the lives of those around us (Christian or not), in our church, and in our world. Reflecting on who we are, who God is making us to be, how God is working in us, and how God is working around us will allow us to live more fully thoughtful and focused lives.

Reflecting means that for the moment we turn from reading to understand to asking questions to understand. One set of questions that I have returned to through the years are the following ten. Consider taking some time in the next few days to get alone with God and reflect honestly and pray through them.

I adapted this exercise from an interview H.B. London conducted with Bobb Biehl. The interview was on the topic of leadership. Biehl described a leader as one who knows three things:

1. What to do next? (What do you need to do next?)
2. Why it is important? (Why do you need to do that?)
3. How to appropriate the resources to bear on the need at hand? (What will it cost? Hint: It’s not always about the money.)

Reflect in the following ways:

Stage one: Write down everything you know you need to accomplish in the next 3-6 months. Make two lists, combining work and personal objectives.

Stage two: Ask yourself, “What brings me joy?”  There are big joys and there are small joys.  What are those — big and small?  Add joy to your schedule.

Stage three: Walk through these questions prayerfully and with determination. Ask for input from trusted friends as/if needed.

1. What is my single greatest strength? What do I do best? What is that one thing?
2. What three (upcoming) decisions are causing me the greatest stress?
3. What tends to overwhelm me? (Be specific)
4. What seemingly impassable roadblock has me stuck?
5. If I could only do three things in my lifetime (Either three goals I wish to accomplish or three problem’s I’d like to solve), what three things would I do?
6. Is there anything that I need to stop doing or resign from? (Remember the definition of insanity: Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting the result to be different each time.) Remember, knowing what NOT to do is just as important as knowing what TO do!
7. What may need to be postponed? The plans of the diligent lead surely to advantage, but everyone who is hasty comes surely to poverty. –Proverbs 21:5
8. What things on my to do list could others do 80% as well? Let them do it.
9. What are the elephants in the room? Either at work or at home, what are we not talking about that needs to be addressed? Addressing these issues will take some thoughtful and careful planning. Communicate your desire and go into the meeting with a humble heart and listening ear. Seek first to understand and then to be understood.
10. What are the three things I could do in the next sixty days to make a 50% difference?

Reflect, pray, plan, pray, and lovingly lead your life.

[God], You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.  –Psalm 16:11

To him [God] who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.  –Jude 1:2-5

Relax, God’s got this.

When VitalChurch Ministry has the opportunity to come alongside a church, one of the things we almost always do is conduct a series of all-church workshops to help a church reaffirm their values, mission, and vision. In the last several years we have also seen the need for a church to clarify their theological stances, particularly on secondary issues.  The workshops generally seek to accomplish three things:

1. To help a church look back and ask, what have we done well? As well as ask what could we have done better?
2. To help a church embrace their current reality. Think of Revelation 2-3, where Jesus addresses seven churches. There is both affirmation and rebuke in His diagnostic of each church. Churches need to ask, what would Jesus affirm at this church? What would He rebuke?
3. To look forward. I would say that for the vast majority of churches, their best days are ahead of them IF they’re honest, humble, and open to God’s leading.

Every family has dysfunctions. Social scientists tell us that approximately 96% of all families suffer from mild to severe dysfunction. Churches are extended families and suffer from various dysfunctions as well.  Will a church be able to “fix” all of their dysfunctions? Heavens no. But once we’re aware of them we can make adjustments more quickly.  For instance, one of my dysfunctions is that I am a reactor on a lifelong journey to become a responder. I know I need accountability in this area and I have grown enough to understand when I’m more prone to react.

A few years ago I began to ask the question, “What were the core values of the first church that launched in the Book of Acts? What are the underlying concepts, or principles that fostered this NT Church to be successfully launched and to flourish?” That is what I’d like to consider in this article.

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A critical success factor is a performance area of crucial importance in achieving organizational excellence. There are at least two broad categories of critical success factors that are common to virtually all organizations: 1) systems processes, and 2) human processes. The focus of this post is on the human process areas, yet this is not to imply that they are more important than the systems processes. Both are essential to building great organizations.

To a large extent, every human process issue is a critical success factor. Every person has been important since people first formed organizations to accomplish tasks too big to be performed by individuals working alone—and every person will continue to present unique challenges as long as people work together. The shape each person takes is constantly evolving to fit changing circumstances, but every once in awhile, major shifts occur which dramatically change what’s required in each of these critical areas. We’re experiencing such a shift right now—moving deeper into a knowledge-based economy.

Globalization and information technology are placing different, challenging demands on leaders and organizations in virtually every performance area. Following are some highlights of these changes…

1. Leadership/Management: “Command and control” leadership carried many organizations to very high levels of financial performance during periods when competition was not so great and things didn’t change very fast, but its time has passed. The demands on the total organization are too great for a few people at the top to call all the shots.
2. Communication: In most organizations, there have been 3 pervasive patterns that will no longer work in knowledge-based organizations: a) the primary flow of information was vertical — within departmental walls that were often impermeable, b) information was hoarded and used as a source of power over others, and c) people at the top often withheld crucial strategic information from those lower in the organization in the belief they couldn’t handle it.
3. Teamwork: Teamwork is more crucial to producing results today than ever before, and at the same time, the very nature of teams and their functions are changing rapidly. In the past it was typical to go for long periods — even an entire career — as the member of one functional team. Today, membership on more than one team is the norm, and it is unlikely that anyone entering the workforce will remain on the first team they join for more than a year at most.
4. Alignment: Process reengineering and systems thinking are moving strategic alignment back to the top of many organizational agendas. It has become crystal clear that many of the greatest opportunities for productivity improvement lie at the interfaces of the processes used to achieve organizational goals — and it is fruitless to excel in one process while lagging in others.
5. Conflict Management: The new economy increases the potential for conflict in virtually every area of organizational life. Stakeholders are more informed and frequently more demanding. Staff are being asked to do more with less — without the promise of job security that existed in the past; aligning self-interests with corporate interests is not as simple as it used to be. Different cultures are constantly being reintroduced and set the stage for major internal conflicts and power struggles. Developing good conflict resolution skills needs to be high on everyone’s personal and corporate agendas.
6. Embracing Change: Individuals and organizations that change before they have to will be the winners in this new organizational season. People vary a lot in their tolerance of change and in the degree to which they actively seek change in their lives. It is difficult to grasp the potential for the continuing acceleration of change on a global scale. With more people having more access to information, it is reasonable to expect more innovation and more competition on a daily basis. Merely accepting change and learning to tolerate it will not be enough to successfully engage the opportunities that present themselves. We must become eager seekers of change.
7. Organizational Learning (Life-long Development): Leaders and managers have always given lip service to the notion of people being their most important asset and to the need for continuous training and development. In most organizations, however, it has been no more than a notion. Most have not been consistent in this crucial area. The same organization that will spend $5,000 a year to maintain a copy machine will not spend $500 to develop a staff member. Of all the key success areas, this one is changing the most. The future belongs to learners — to individuals that take responsibility for updating their skills and knowledge, to teams that consciously develop the deep dialogue that enables team members to learn from one another, and to organizations that continuously improve their ability to transform data into value-added, actionable information to serve stakeholders.

Former Supreme Court Justice Jeff Souter in a 2012 interview: “[Republic] government wasn’t threatened by foreign invasion or a military coup, but by civic ignorance…What I worry about is, when problems are not addressed and the people do not know who is responsible…some one person will come forward and say, ‘Give me total power and I will solve this problem.’  That is how the Roman Republic fell…That is the way democracy dies.”

One the ways we can reverse “civic ignorance” is to learn to distinguish between fake news and real news.  Fake news got its start by advertisers seeking to drive traffic to websites in order to earn ad revenue. Tragically, there is a lack of civic and media literacy in our world that causes people to be vulnerable to “fake news,” which includes sponsored content and traditional corporate advertisements. To strengthen your ability to tell real news from fake news, begin by asking the five most common interrogatives of any stated news item:

1. Who wrote it? Real news contains a real byline of a legit journalist dedicated to reporting facts. Once you find the byline, look at the writer’s bio. This can help identify whether the story is a reported news article (written by a journalist with the intent to inform), a persuasive opinion piece (written by an industry expert with a point of view), or something else entirely.
2. What claims does it make? Real news will include multiple authentic sources when making a controversial claim. Fake news may include false or out of context sources that can be disproven through some basic research. When in doubt, dig a bit deeper. Real facts can be verified.
3. When was it published? If it’s “breaking news,” be extra careful.
4. Where was it published? Real news is published by trustworthy media outlets with a strong fact-check record. If you get your news from social media, verify that the information is accurate before you share it.
5. How does it make you feel? Fake news, like all propaganda, is designed to elicit strong emotions. So if you read a news story that makes you feel angry, double-check the claims by comparing it to the news on other “trusted” outlets. Weigh and investigate the angles of each outlet to determine the legitimacy of the news. There is no substitute for critical thinking.

If you consistently ask all five of these questions whenever you read a news article, then your basic news literacy and civic awareness will grow stronger.