Colossians 4:5 (nlt) --- Live wisely among those who are not believers, and make the most of every opportunity.
One of the biggest take-aways from the Catalyst Conference this year an encouragement to start a new list. Not a "to-do list" but a "stop-doing list". That's right.
We do ourselves a disservice and we hurt our lives, work, ministry and family by continuing to pile on new things and not lay anything aside. We "burn the candle at both ends" or find ourselves "burnt out" or in a great deal of trouble because there is not enough of us to go around. Yes, it would be nice if we got a bonus 2 hours each, or better each day.
Time is the same and there is just as much of us to go around. Don't try to be a super-hero or the one who can do it all and answer all the questions. You cannot. God can. Be who God made you to be. Use time and talent wisely. Make a stop-doing list today!
Tony Morgan wrote an interesting blog post today. Read it here . Let me leave you with a few of his comments that ought to give us some room to work, room to grow and some decisions to make.
What is blocking the essentials? Sometimes the awesome in something is being blocked by other things — can you remove those things to show the awesome and let it shine? Remove the noise to let the music be heard.
Within churches and in my life, I see so many opportunities to embrace simplicity. For example:
- Fewer meetings equal more meaningful relational connections.
- Fewer commitments equal more time with family.
- Fewer words equal a more focused message.
- Fewer ministry programs equal a clearer path for discipleship.
- Fewer rules equal more time to love God and love others.
Where do you see the "less is more" principle playing out in your life and ministry?
This hits home, as Cindy Hall one of our leaders at The Community Fellowship , pointed out for me this morning. We are gearing up for 2009 with a these of "love more...expect less". To be the best God wants us to be, we have to simplify our lives. We have to do the best things, not the good things.
Jim Collins , author of Good to Great , also spoke of the "stop-doing list".
Mark Batterson , author of In a Pit with A Lion on a Snowy Day and pastor of National Community Church in Washington DC, talked about this principle yesterday at his blog. Read it here .
What do you think? Are you, like me, trying to pack 8 days into 7 or 26 hours into 24? Are we stretched so far that there is not enough of us to go around? One of the core thoughts we've talked about at The Community Fellowship is that we want to be good at a few things. The traditional church does so many things that often they are not good at very many. Therefore, just as I am leading our church, I need to be good at what I do and stop doing the things that just don't matter.
Start today. Make your "stop-doing list"!
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