Help! I need a jumpstart!

A big shout out to Joe from @autozone In Avon, IN for helping me change my battery today. He went above & beyond while providing me with excellent customer service. As someone who works with people everyday, I appreciate quality service when I receive it.

I thought about that battery and how we have to get a check up once in a while to make sure our power level is what it is supposed to be. In addition, we have to get rid of the corrosion that sometimes builds up in our life and causes a loss of power and even deadness to our purpose.

Attending church, reading the Bible, worshiping Jesus, fasting and prayer and even giving of our time talent and treasure…are all routine maintenance items we have to do to stay in tip-top performance.

Today is Wednesday… It's not a question on whether I will attend church this evening. I will have my family with me in the house of God because it is the appointed time even if I have to come late. It's a choice I make every week, not because I'm a pastor… but because I'm a Christian and my priorities keep me on point even when I need a jumpstart from time to time.

Attending church doesn't make me a Christian anymore than standing in a garage makes me a car...however...Christians go to church.

How are things in your life? Are you taking care of your spiritual life? Do you have some unfinished business that you need to deal with? Well, put your best foot forward & do what you know to do.

‪#‎NoExcuses‬
‪#‎NoPlanB‬
‪#‎AllIn‬
‪#‎BestFootForward‬
‪#‎YouGotThis‬

My Name Is Not Dude!

Everyone, and I mean everyone, can do better than what they're doing right now.  I'm first in line as I write this blog.


Question:  Are you struggling with a bad habit?  
Question:  Have you let yourself go?
Question:  What do you need to change for the better?


We all have "stuff" we are either working on or need to work on.  When it comes to bad habits, either at home, work, in private or in public...EVERYONE has "stuff" they need to improve on.


How about our work for the Lord?  How's that going?  Are you on top of your game?  Are you seeing the results you want to see?


Perhaps we need to step back from what we're doing and take a long look at it.  After a long look...step back up and make some changes for the GOOD.


Changes to the good...


1. Avoid waiting till the last minute.  Everyone knows this, but we still find ourselves at the deadline unprepared.  In ministry, this is terrible.  Waiting till the last minute forces everyone into a last minute frenzy. 


2. Present yourself in a professional manner.  If you've ever read my blogs, you've seen some major typos.  Even with spell check...I get it wrong.   Thank God for my wife Beverly, who is a stickler for good grammar and correct spelling.  She helps me correct it as quick as possible.  When it comes to presenting yourself.  Consider how others perceive you.  Truly, how people perceive you is how they receive you.  Avoid sloppiness.  There is nothing worse than  sitting in a professional meeting listening to someone chomp on ice or rattle a potato chip bag.  It's rude and annoying.  


3. My name is not Dude!  I'm not hung up on titles, but honestly...calling everyone "dude" is on the low end of professionalism.  When you work in the ministry, you're accustomed to calling people "brother, sister, pastor, etc."  However, we shouldn't get so hung up on titles especially when we're communicating with our peers.  I pastor a church and appreciate the respect given to my role and function.  However, my name is Russell.  I refer to other leaders by their title/office/function primarily when I'm in front of a group.  However, when I'm with them one-on-one I usually call them by their name.  A direct superior may also be a best friend, but authority and submission must remain intact.


4. Be on time.  Don't take advantage of your employer, church, etc., by being consistently late.  Showing up 1 to 2 minutes late everyday is not only disrespectful it sends a message that you don't have to be on time.  There can be two extremes when it comes to work ethic: First, a person can be a workaholic. Second, a person can be lazy.  Neither are good examples, but the latter is an embarrassment, especially to the work of the Lord.  I was taught that if you're on time...you're late.  If you're early...you're on time.  Employees of a bakery don't show up when the bakery opens...they show  up before the bakery opens, ensuring the baked goods are on the shelf, the cash register set and the property is ready to receive customers.  A person who does not honor time parameters erodes trust.  Occasional offenses are forgivable.  A pattern of time abuse shows disrespect for others. 


5. Slapping someone in the Facebook. Electronic social media is huge today.  Having access to Facebook, twitter, blogs, etc. is definitely here to stay.  However, we must remember that having a voice doesn't mean we use that voice to injure others or make ourselves look like trash.  Electronic social media is like standing on a street corner with a megaphone.  Not too many people would air their dirty laundry that way.  An even more cowardly action is bashing a church or an individual.  Clean up your social communications and remember that a whole lot of people are watching.  In fact, God is reading your Facebook too.  It seems that some people have little respect for themselves by the things they say on these forms of communication.  My advice is...less is more...especially when it concerns your personal business. 


We're heading into a spring season...together, lets make some changes for the GOOD!  

Quit Trying!

"Pastor, I've tried everything."  If I received a dollar for every time I heard that statement...well, you know. 


Perhaps you feel that way.  Perhaps you've made that statement concerning your marriage, your ministry, your finances, your kids, your job, etc.


Friend, there is a difference between TRYING and DOING.  


Suppose I asked you to try to pick up an ink pen...and you picked it up.  Then I tell you to put it back down because all I wanted you to do was try to pick it up.


What are you saying?  Well, you either pick it up, you don't pick it up, or you try to pick it up.


The point is that when we say we are TRYING we don't really have to do anything.  It also provides us with an excuse for why we didn't accomplish the outcome we say we want.


In other words, we either do something or we don't do it.  TRYING is really the same as not doing it.  it just makes it easier for us to let ourselves off the hook when we fail.


We are TRYING to do a lot of things...

• Are you trying to live for God or are you living for God?
• Are you trying to lose weight or are you losing weight?
• Are you trying to improve your marriage or are you improving your marriage?
• Are you trying to better your career or are you bettering your career?
• Are you trying to get along with others or are you getting along with others?
• Are you trying to be faithful to church or are you being faithful to church?
• Are you trying to tithe or are you tithing?

Do you see the difference?  It may sound like a small distinction, but it has huge ramifications.

Friends...let's STOP TRYING and START DOING!

1. Take the word TRY out of your vocabulary.  It's not helping us, it just makes us feel better when we fail.
2. Make up your mind to DO or NOT DO.  If you really don't want to do something...fine.  Don't do it.  But don't act like you are trying when really you have no intentions to do it.
3. Be all in!  We're either giving 100% or not.  Decide that you're "in it to win it."

Quit trying and start doing!  We can DO it!