Some time ago, I came across this article about Bob Russell.  He was retiring and in the article he shared his thoughts about how to last in the ministry.  I culled the following keys to ministerial longevity from the article.

1.  Don’t even entertain the idea of leaving.

2.  Foster a sense of duty.

3.  Surround yourself with supportive leadership.

4.  Learn how to cope with criticism and deal with naysayers.

Russell said that he had been collecting all the critical letters he’s received over the years and he was going to use them to write a book on how to handle critics.  That would be an awesome thing to read, I’m sure.

“Usually criticism doesn’t knock you down but it does weaken the structure,” he said. “You have to learn to cope with criticism.”

5.  Keep your eyes optimistically on the “big picture.”

6.  Put your family first.

“When it’s all said and done, the people standing by your side will be your family and the Lord,” he said. “Don’t neglect them for the ministry.”

7.  Remember that you’re in the ministry because you’re called by God.

8.  Take rejuvenating breaks.

Still, Russell said a key reason he endured ups and downs was because his church provided him times of rest so he could recharge spiritually and physically.

9.  Trust the Holy Spirit to guide, humble, encourage and protect you.

“God protected my family from the evil one,” Russell said. “God has encouraged me when I’ve needed it, and he humbled me when I needed humbling.”

The secret of a good sermon is to have a good beginning and a good ending, then having the two as close together as possible.

George Burns
US actor & comedian (1896 - 1996)

I was sad to hear that a local church planter, a man I know, was “asked” by his elders to leave the church that he had founded and pastored for almost a decade.  I sure it must be very hard on him.  He was a good man but it seemed that he lost the “mo” a long time ago. 

At one point, I went to a party and someone familiar with the situation told me that his elders got tired of “changing directions every time the pastor read a new book”.  Now, I don’t know, nor do I want to know all the details, but I believe this is a cautionary tell to all church planters.  The bottom line is that your folks are only going to be able to make so many “turns” without seeing some real fruit so you should pick your challenges wisely.  If not, you may make a turn one day and discover that nobody is going with you.

I think that’s why the Purpose Driven paradigm is so wonderful.  In a world of church growth and leadership fads, this seems to me to be the real deal.  I honestly believe that people are going to be studying the PD stuff 100 years from now.  To my mind, it’s just so Biblical that it can’t be wrong.

I was watching a documentary about the early years of Saturday Night Live and Lorne Michaels said the following…

“As I’ve said endlessly, we don’t go on because it’s ready.  We go on because it’s 11:30 and that tends to be very clarifying.”

I bet that statement resonates with every church pastor in the US.  Sunday’s just seem to come so quickly!  In fact, I once heard Andy Stanley say that, to him, Sundays seem to come around every two days.  That made me laugh…and cry.  :)

I’m really not trying to stir up a Mac vs PC debate or anything.  I just thought this video was funny. 

Man, I just read this post from Perry Noble.  It’s incredible.  Perry always seems to do a good job of getting me to really think about the big picture stuff!

I was playing some music while I cleaned up the kitchen this evening and my 5–year old daughter came in from playing outside as “The Best of My Love” by The Emotions came on.  It’s a song with a strong beat which is easy to dance to and she immediately started dancing.  Then, she asked me to dance with her.  I simply couldn’t refuse the invitation and we danced for a long, long time.  We had such a great time just dancing around the kitchen.

I love to watch my daughter dance.  I love how she loves life.  I love how she enjoys the moment.  Most of all, I love her.

I hope that I please my heavenly father as much as she pleases me.  I hope that I live me life and worship Him with that level of joy and zest for life.  I hope that I make the most of the opportunities that He gives me to “dance” with Him.

Due to the great 48 hour demo program offered by the fine folks at Allegiance Technology Partners, I’ve got a Fujitsu Lifebook P1610 headed my way.  It should be here tomorrow.  I can’t wait to play with it.  I’ve been tabletless for a while now and I miss being able to handwrite my notes.

BTW, the demo program is a stroke of genius.  Historically, one of the most difficult things about buying a tablet pc was that you couldn’t demo it first.  The truth is that tablets have to be seen (and touch) to get the big picture idea and up until now you just couldn’t do that unless you had a friend with one or something.  This program removes that obstacle.

I’m very proud of Gary Lamb and the entire Ridge Stone team.  They baptized 81 people today!  Very cool.

I thought I’d start listing the best blog posts of the week as judged by yours truly.  Here’s this week’s digest.  Let me know if you’d like to see more of this sort of thing in coming weeks.

• Great post from Brian Hunter about how to utilize the summer
• I’m not a Mac guy but this ModBook might make me jump! Very cool.
• Loved this post by Don Record of Action Church regarding keeping your trucks and your life running.  I want a truck like that too!
• Interesting add-on for Outlook from the good folks at YouSendIt.com that allows you to send really large file attachments.  I’ll have to try that out.
• Nancy Beach mourns the end of Studio 60 and I agree.  It was a very interesting show with a main character that was a Christian.  I love the show but it felt like it wasn’t clicking.  Still, I’m sorry to see it leave.  Nancy’s post also reminds me of a quote that I’ll post later.
• The Lego Church inspires me in some odd way.  I don’t know if I want to build my own or perhaps I’m called to reach lego people.  I’ll have to pray about that.
• Steven Furtick continues to knock it out of the park with this post.  His blog is quickly becoming one of my favorites!
• I loved all the mottos and life themes in this post from Mark Batterson.
• I hate to admit that I played this game and enjoyed it.  It was a little weird being Moses and fighting Eve but at least it teaches the kids about the Bible.  Actually, I don’t think it does that at all.  It’s just fun.
• Eric Wright’s post about having a consistent time with God is honest, thought-provoking and helpful.  (Rare things in blog posts!)
• This picture of Al Gore’s office made me feel a lot better about myself.  BTW, that sure looks like a lot of paper in there Al!
• Mood rings (wrap) for your iPod.  Everything old is new again.
• Jimmy hit the nail on the head with this one.  I couldn’t agree more, dude.
• Perry Noble punched me in the throat with this post.  This should be require reading for every pastor/planter out there.  That’s 20 years of wisdom in one post!
• This made me laugh and I’ve never watched one episode of the show.
• Seth Godin reminds us that it’s never too late to grow AND that you can always improve something.