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7 Things I Wish Someone Would Have Told Me Before Starting Ministry
If you’re in ministry, at some point you probably told yourself, “I had no idea it would be like this.”
I can’t tell you the number of times I thought, “I wish somebody had taught me this in seminary.” (My friend, Read more →
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The Top 5 Traits Church Leaders Want From 2015 Graduates
You’re so close. You can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Four (at least) years of all-nighters, 15-page papers and exam stress are almost behind you. Congratulations, you’re going to be a 2015 college graduate. … What’s next?
Some of your pe...
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2 Secrets to Blurring the Line Between Work and Ministry
Barna Group recently reported (February 2014) that three-quarters of U.S. adults (75 percent) say they are looking for ways to live a more meaningful life. Whether female or male, in ministry or in secular work, people crave meaning in their lives....
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Why Your Dream Job May Be a Lethal Drug
Idolatry is a subtle and scary business.
You simply don’t know all the lies lurking in your desires, ambitions and decisions—even the good ones. In fact, Tim Keller says, “The greater the good, the more likely we are to expect that it can satisfy ou...
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How to Be Both Practical and Faithful in Your Ministry Job
“However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results.” —Winston Churchill
Looking at the results and making decisions based on how it affects those results is called being pragmatic. It is a process of dealing with things sen...
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Millennials, 3 Quick Tips to Prioritize Your Life
Every previous generation seems to enjoy pointing out the generalized shortcomings of the millennial generation.
We’re narcissistic. We’re lazy. We’re relativistic.
I tend to roll my eyes. Plenty of people want to point a finger, not many want to l...
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Do You Ever Wonder Why You’re Here?
You are.
You are tempted to fill in a blank at the end of that sentence. You are ___. Most of what you might place in that blank is not worthy to be compared to the revealed glory that you are.
How is it that you are?
That is a w...
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Does Your Work Fit Your Personal Mission in Life? (How to Know)
I believe we tend to focus too much on time management and too little on energy management. Yet in many vocations and in many places in life, it is energy, not time, that is the more valuable commodity. Like time, energy is limited and needs to be us...
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Why You Must Spend Time Alone, Undistracted, Every Day
Never Offline.
These words on a recent Time Magazine cover are intended to unnerve us with the ominous future of a techno-invasion. Computers are getting stra...
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3 Big Things That Destroy Dreams (and How to Avoid Them)
Are you working to fulfill your own dream or someone else’s?
Chances are, the work you are doing is helping someone else free up their time, increase their bank balance or follow their heart. You’re a chess piece in their game.
You’re doin...
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How to Retire by 20 (Already Past 20? This Is Still for You.)
What did you want to be when you grew up? Tapping into that dream has the potential to change your life.
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Why Having a Title Is Overrated (Do What You Love)
Like every human, I guess, my husband, Zac, wanted a booming voice from the sky as it came time to choose his path. After years of waiting for the voice that wasn’t coming, he looked up and realized he was already doing what he loved, what came so ea...
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What Time of Day Are You Most Creative? A Test.
Recently, while speaking at a conference in Singapore, someone asked me the secret of creative output.
“Phil, how do you come up with creative material for writing and speaking—not to mention your normal production work?”
I answered him by saying t...
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6 Things to Do to Prepare Yourself for a New Church Job
Are you heading to your first church? Maybe your second? You probably feel a combination of passion and uncertainty. How you start out in your church matters greatly.
Olympic coaches and runners have taught us that how a sprinter comes out of the bl...
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What Is Your Biggest Life Regret? 50 People Answer One Question.
In this man-on-the-street interview, 50 random people are asked a poignant question: "What is your biggest life regret?"
Their answers run the gamut from failed sports dreams to missed opportunities, but there is a common thread at the heart of all...