Here are some general rules for life and ministry I find myself adopting as the years go by:
- Devote Sunday night to hand-writing notes to first time guests.
- The louder the internet clamor becomes on certain political & cultural issues, the less it needs my voice to join in.
- People prefer feedback that is painfully honest to that which is glowingly deceptive.
- Don’t go more than two weeks without listening to Don Henley’s The Boys Of Summer.
- If I never play tennis again, I will always be as good as I used to be.
- Our goal is for people to have a living relationship with Jesus Christ, not a personal attachment to a preacher.
- People give you bad news in segments. They give you good news all at once.
- Even the cleverest tweets don’t change anyone’s mind.
- Back, bicep, and leg on one day followed by chest, tricep, and shoulder the next.
- Celebrate what your parents did right and understate what they did wrong . . . because one day, that’s what you’ll want your kids to do with you.
- Spend the first 15 and last 5 minutes of each day disconnected from the internet and the media. (Exception: The Daily 4U Prayer — use technology for that and then disconnect so you may reconnect with your Father in heaven.)
- Consensus within Scripture results in fidelity beyond it.
- If you ever think you’re too much of a “visionary leader” to visit shut-ins, you need to re-think your vision. And your leadership.
- One cliché that is true: you can’t outgive God.
- Don’t mix flavors of chocolate. Instead, just get a second helping of the same chocolate that tasted so good the first time.
- Listen to and take notes on Andy Stanley sermons when you can.
- Remind people that they didn’t get into their predicament overnight and they likely won’t get out of it overnight, either.
- Treasure the blessing of having children with good senses of humor.
- But pay more attention to your marriage than you do to your kids.
- Instead of telling people you will pray for them, stop and pray. Then and there. That includes typing an email prayer in reply. Which you are free to do with someone today.