How Do I Know If I’m a Workaholic?

It’s not a question of whether I’m addicted to Workahol.

Rather it is these questions here that shed some light on how I view work.

…had a realization about myself and about ministry today that I’m still stirring over. So I thought I’d stir over with you on the RadBlog. I’m curious as to the accuracy of this questionaire. Maybe that’s because I answered “yes” so many times… hmm…

This article puts some explaination to what we’re experiencing as a connected culture that finds it difficult to stop working.

Forbes Magazine offers a Workaholilcs quiz here.

Good stuff to keep in mind as the stats for ministry family implosions continue to loom. Sorry to be such a bummer. This will brighten your day. Or fatten your day.

How Do I Become A Morning Person?

Good question. You’re probably asking for the same reasons I did:
1. Seems like most people who have it together are up before sunrise
2. I am not a morning person and find the sunrise despicable

Some of the hardest working and most committed leaders I know are morning people. I’m sure that there is a percentage who, like me, would prefer to sleep in until 9…or 1.. but a vast majority of successful leader/entrepreneuers are morning people. It’s a common thread and distinct correlation that is difficult to ignore.

But it’s also difficult to ignore my own body clock. Or is it? Here’s what I’ve found online that helped me start making the shift to becoming, if not a morning person, a person who manages to get up at or around 6:15 AM — every day (yes, Saturday too).

Seattle Times Article: How To Rise & Shine

Steve Pavlina presents How To Become an Early Riser on his blog — Personal Development for Smart People.

Keith Drury answers the question in his own way here

Here’s hope. Hope for those who, like me, wish it felt even remotley natural to wake up before lunch.

SNL

NBC’s Saturday Night Live has a very cool website flavor. Choose either main or backstage view here. Would it be neat to use this format for, say, a ministry site?

WireLESS? Wireless-less? Wireful?

From ExperiencingWorship.com:

“Can your church use existing wireless systems after 2009? No. Not reliably. Can your church buy a comparable wireless system to the one in use today, that is future proof? No. There are some options, but these systems have 2W output power, require a license to operate, are digital and very expensive compared to what most people have now. Like $3k per channel +/-. I feel your pain right now. I just purchased $10k of Shure UHF-Rs and need to replace 8 Sennheisers still. It’s all junk in two years, three years max.”

A college professor once raised the question: “How long until we run out of bandwidth?” At the time — 1998 — I thought that was about as hip as asking “why can’t we use Betamax?” Looks like it’s a valid question for the church, and that Bill Hybels was right to insist on a wired lav. Read the entire article here.

Linkfest 2 – For Planners, Leaders, Bored among us…

Linkfest. Celebrating what’s there.

Planning Center Online is a web-based service planner that we’re currently experimenting with. Anything to get away from Microsoft Word based Worship orders. So far it’s working pretty well. We’ll see what it looks like when we get around to Easter.

Speaking of Easter, we are now in the season of Lent which began on 2/21/07 – Ash Wednesday. We tend to see Easter as the “big Sunday” (which it is) but tend to miss the crucial 40 days before. Check out Worship Planning Ideas For Lent and this Individual Spiritual Disciplines guide for some perspective and perhaps a new idea or two. Protestants are starting to get an itch for the ash.

The title of Executive Pastor in church leadership may not be the title that some emergent organizations prefer, but no one can doubt the significance of the administrative role in ministry. I came across this indicator to show where you lean as a ministry leader/facilitator. I thought it was interesting…

It looks like the concept of Worship Evangelism is being looked at differently by the author.

Dave Barry always has something worth clicking. And sometimes worth not clicking. There. Disclaimer placed!

Again with the iPhone! I love it, but 99% of the world agrees…at $500 it’s just too expensive. It took a study to prove this? Nevertheless, Cingular is dancing on Verizon’s grave.

That’s My King

S.M. Lockridge gave a powerful message about the Kingship of Jesus that simply rocks. We used the audio with accompanying video (not of Lockridge but of images with text) in a service not too long ago. Someone was gracious enough to share this video on their site and so I’m passing the word here, as a few people said “where’d you get that?”

He’s incomprehensible. He’s invincible. He’s irresistible. I’m coming to tell you this, that the heavens of heavens can’t contain Him, let alone some man explain Him. You can’t get Him out of your mind. You can’t get Him off of your hands. You can’t outlive Him and you can’t live without Him. The Pharisees couldn’t stand Him, but they found out they couldn’t stop Him. Pilate couldn’t find any fault in Him. The witnesses couldn’t get their testimonies to agree about Him. Herod couldn’t kill Him. Death couldn’t handle Him and the grave couldn’t hold Him. That’s my King!

Albert Einstein Quote of the Day (updated monthly)

“Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius — and a lot of courage — to move in the opposite direction.”

-Albert Einstein

The End of an Era?

Dr. Gayle Beebe served as president of Spring Arbor University for 7 years and is now being called to the next vocational station. Will he be missed? Absolutley. Gayle leaves big shoes to fill. But I would like to think that he will just take the shoes with him to Southern California. Leaders love change. Leaders hate change. We love it when an individual brings healthy change to an organization and yet we dislike it when the leader changes. Such is life.

Those of us who were fortunate enough to see Dr. Beebe serve at SAU have a deep understanding of the kind of difference a godly leader can make, just as I saw both as a student and now in one of the “neighborhood churches”. My prayer is that the Lord would bring the right person to lead the university as we understand the gravity of this position. And we trust His soverign hand will continue to be at work, both in Spring Arbor and around the world.

It’s not the end of an era. It’s the continuation of something great.

Crayon Factory!

I found it… I’ve been looking for this crayon factory video for years. If you were a child (or even a parent) in the 80’s, you’ll remember. There are two versions. The Sesame Street featurette (complete with cool 80’s Rock Anthem Instrumental) here:
How Crayons Are Made

…and the Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood Factory Tour here:
click here, then click video

For Nostalga!

Online Leadership & Personality Indicator Links

This past weekend I participated in a conference with The Other Craftsmen in Ottawa Lake, MI. In the Teambuilding workshop I talked about the importance of knowing your leadership strengths and weaknesses. While there are many in-depth tests that can give a very detailed assesment, here are a few online profiles that will help give an idea of where you’re at:

Leadership Potential

Leadership Indicator

Leadership Style

MBTI Personality Test Light