It’s the weekend…finally (and it’s almost Christmas!!!). The perfect time to grab a cup of coffee and catch up on some reading. Below, you’ll find some articles I came across this week that I found helpful as a leader and parent and hope you do as well.

Before diving into those, in case you missed them this week. Here are the top 3 posts from my blog this week that I hope you find helpful:

• 11 Ways to Know You’ve Settled for a Mediocre Marriage
• Facing Your Fears
• 8 Ideas to Make Your Christmas Eve Service Memorable

Now, onto the posts I liked:

When should you give your kids a phone and what do you need to know before doing that? These are questions Katie and I are asking right now and this article from parent cue was incredibly helpful.

Christmas Eve is this weekend, which means lots of excitement and guests at many churches across America. But will those guests come back in January? Greg Atkinson who consults with a lot of churches on first impressions and guest services has 8 reasons why they won’t. 

The week between Christmas and New Years should be restful but for many of us, we’ll struggle with that. Here are some ideas to help you rest after Christmas.

• Had my leadership group this morning.
• This is one of my favorite meetings of the week.
• Every year, I lead a group of 10-15 guys through some leadership books and talks with the goal of growing as a leader at home, work and in their life.
• The first part is focused on self-leadership, understanding how you are wired and how your upbringing shapes you as a man and a leader.
• Too many people overlook this because it is hard work (and often painful) and isn’t as much fun as vision and team building but the best leaders are self aware.
• The last month we’ve spent reading The Making of a Leader: Recognizing the Lessons and Stages of Leadership Development.
• One of the best and least read books on leadership.
• Seriously.
• I’m often asked what I’m learning personally from reading or other things.
• Our next series at Revolution is a short answer to that.
• It’s called Let Us…
• The big idea is seeing the Christian life as an invitation more than a list of things to do or accomplish.
• I wish I would’ve learned this sooner.
• Got to have some silence this week on Mt. Lemmon which is always helpful.
• I’m learning more and more about how God uses place in our lives, when it comes to purpose, calling, His voice and rest.
• Place matters.
• More than we think it does.
• I was asked by someone what I do on a retreat day.
• I listen to worship music, pray and walk.
• I know some people like to sit but I need to move.
• I think clearer, hear God more and am able to unload my burdens when I move.
• Took me years to figure out what works for me.
• If you sit still, take a nap and rest, awesome.
• We had our first membership class this past Sunday at Revolution.
• Loved it.
• I love how many people want to belong at Revolution and be a part of the vision God has for our church.
• Speaking of vision, we finalized our plans for Christmas Eve, our Christmas series, etc.
• Can’t wait!
• Details are coming soon so be on the lookout.
• Had an awesome conversation with one of our younger leaders this morning about race, the gospel, the national anthem, parenting a black child, white privilege.
• I love that more and more white Christians are wrestling with this, asking questions and listening. 
• Honestly, that is the key on this topic.
• Asking questions and then shutting your mouth.
• Our kids picked The Emoji Movie the other night for family movie night.
• Parents and pastors, if you want to know the cultural narrative of our time, watch a kids movie.
• So many opportunities to bring the gospel into your parenting.
• Time to get back it…

It’s the weekend…finally. The perfect time to grab a cup of coffee and catch up on some reading. Below, you’ll find some articles I came across this week that I found helpful as a leader and parent and hope you do as well.

Before diving into those, in case you missed them this week. Here are the top 3 posts from my blog this week that I hope you find helpful:

• How do I get my Spouse to Notice Me
• How to Know You’re a Christian
• How to Lose Weight as a Leader

Now, onto some more articles and podcasts to help you:

October is pastor appreciation month, which can be nice, but Thom Rainer shares 10 ways to bring joy to your pastor throughout the year. These are great.

Charles Stone shares 5 questions every church staff should ask themselves on a regular basis. These questions are incredibly telling and I think will create some great conversations.

Ever wonder why people aren’t coming to your church or aren’t staying? Carey Nieuwhof shares 12 reasons your church isn’t attracting new people (and many of them will surprise you).

Sometimes in ministry, your heart hardens and when that happens, your joy for ministry and people wains. Here are 10 signs your heart is hardening.

I’m always on the lookout on how to make a sermon series more interesting, attractional or relevant. Joe Hoagland shares 3 ideas from TV series that can be really helpful as you put together your next sermon series.

It’s the weekend…finally. The perfect time to grab a cup of coffee and catch up on some reading. Below, you’ll find some articles I came across this week that I found helpful as a leader and parent and hope you do as well.

Before diving into those, in case you missed them this week. Here are the top 3 posts from my blog that I hope you find helpful:

• 11 Ways to Know You’ve Settled for a Mediocre Marriage
• What Role a Pastor’s Wife Plays in the Church
• 18 Things Every Husband Should Know about His Wife

Now, onto some more articles to help you:

I meet a lot of people who wonder if they are leaders or wonder if they have what it takes to be a leader. Scott Cochrane breaks down how to know if you are talking like a leader. This is also helpful for leaders to evaluate how they speak to make sure they are moving people forward.

I love preaching. It is one of my favorite parts of my job. So I’m always on the lookout for insights on how to get better at it. Rookiepreacher.com has proven to be a great site for that. On it, they shared 8 principles of great preaching from Dave Stone who pastors a large church in Kentucky. These are pure gold for communicators.

I’ve been doing a lot of reading recently on church health and how a church pursues health and stays healthy. The older a church gets, the harder this seems to get and the harder you must fight for it. Brian Dodd (who always shares great nuggets) listed 11 practices of pastors whose churches have sustained health and growth.

As our church grows and the size of our staff, elder team and volunteer teams continue to grow, I find that I have less and less control over things. This is great for our church and the health of it, but it is also hard for me to handle because I tend to be a control freak. That’s why I love the perspective Ron Edmondson has, to look at the 5 things you control as a senior leader.

• Feels like this week has flown by.
• How about you?
• Last week was a blur, but a great week.
• I got to spend 2 days with my team at the leadership summit.
• If you missed my notes, you can check them out here.
• There were some fantastic talks this year.
• Tons of takeaways.
• Spent the day Saturday on Mt. Lemmon with our kids fishing.
• It was great.
• Our one son Judah has memories of fishing with his birth dad in Ethiopia and started to ask about going fishing together.
• It was a great moment watching him fish and doing it with him.
• Like most things in our family, it was controlled chaos, but a great time.
• I got to kick off our new series at Revolution on Sunday called This is Living. 
• If you missed it, you can watch or listen to it here.
• You can also watch a short clip from the message here.
• This message is really just a snapshot of what I have been learning in the last 2 years.
• Read a great, short book over the weekend, A Theology of the Ordinary.
• Here are some thoughts about it.
• It was heartbreaking watching the footage from Charlottesville.
• It was also a very somber, moving moment on Sunday at Revolution as we prayed this together.
• Last night I had an elder meeting and I was reminded of why I’m grateful for our elders but also thankful for the work we have put in at our church to create the culture we had.
• Last night’s meeting was our time to simply be together, pray and catch up, speak truth to each other and ask some hard questions.
• It is uncomfortable and comforting all at the same time.
• I’m really excited for Sunday because we’re going to unpack what keeps us from living, essentially, how to stop sinning so we can move forward to what God has for us.
• And can you believe it?
• Less than a month til real football starts!
• Back at it…

• I love this week.
• A few reasons.
• First, we are kicking off a brand new series at Revolution this Sunday called This is Living. 
• After doing a topical series on The Bible, feels nice to get back into preaching through a book of the Bible.
• Can’t wait to unpack 1, 2 & 3 John.
• The second reason I love this week is because it is the week of the leadership summit.
• I started attending the summit in college and every year, I get something out of it.
• I love spending these days with our team, learning, growing, laughing and hanging out.
• Speaking of the summit, if you aren’t going or aren’t a good note taker, be sure to check out my blog after each session.
• I’ll be blogging the sessions.
• The third reason I love this week.
• Katie came back last night after a week of traveling and visiting family in the midwest.
• Me and the kids survived, barely.
• Sunday was an incredible day at Revolution.
• I’m blown away by how we continue to grow as a church.
• We’ve grown almost 30% in the last year, which is incredible.
• It is so humbling to be a part of it.
• Someone became a Christian on Sunday.
• Love when that happens.
• We had someone from out of town send our church a very generous check this week.
• I love when that happens.
• Love when people inside and outside of our church believe in what we are doing.
• At the end of the second service, I told a completely spontaneous story.
• It was hilarious, really scary and vulnerable to tell.
• It was such a great moment.
• If you missed it, or went to the first service, you can watch it here.
• I really enjoyed doing a more doctrinal series on the bible.
• There was a ton of excitement in our church about it.
• Last week before Katie went out of town, we binged on The Crown. 
• That isn’t normally like us, but it was a great show.
• Katie and I often get asked about what we’re reading or books we’re reading together.
• Right now, we’re working through Changes That Heal by Henry Cloud.
• Highly recommend it.
• Well back at it…