Don't Be Selfish

I read recently in John Maxwell's book 25 Ways to Win With People that 86% of the time we think of ourselves. Only 14% of the time do we think of others. The Bible says "look not only to your own interests but also to the interests of others" (Philippians 2:4). Ask yourself: What is one unselfish thing I can for someone today? If you act on it, you'll take one small step to becoming more like Christ.

What is Excellence?

You don't have to have achieved John Mayer level success by age 22 to live a successful life. Excellence is doing the best you can with what you have. Leverage every moment, every resource, and every skill God has blessed you with, and use it to advance God's kingdom today.

How to Pray for Your Kids

In Billy Graham's book Nearing Home, he gives six suggestions on how to pray for your kids. I have these six suggestions in the notes section of my phone and often pray in this way for my own children. I hope you find them as helpful as I have. Here they are:

1. Keep them safe
2. Guard them from temptations
3. Give them the desire to do what's right and avoid what's wrong
4. May they always seek Your will for their lives.
5. Help them see the wisdom of following Jesus and choose to do so each day of their lives.
6. Then pray over any decisions and/or difficulties they are currently having/experiencing.

If you haven't already done so today, why not cover your kids in prayer right now?

Identify Your Constraints

Today I read a great management tip in Brian Tracey's book Full Engagement that I've found helpful and think you will too. He said one important aspect of management is to identify your constraints. In other words, it's the manager's job to figure out what's holding the organization back. 

At New Day our bottom line is destinies, not dollars. So today I asked myself "What's holding us back from making more disciples of Jesus?" What one problem, if I were to solve it, would have the greatest positive impact on our church? I'm sure you're interested to know my answer, but that's besides the point :) 

I share this post as an encouragement to ask similar questions in your own department. What's holding your department back? What one problem, if you were able to solve it, would have the greatest positive impact on our church? Asking yourself such questions will help you identify what important tasks you really ought to be working on. It's these hurdles, that when jumped over, will really add to our bottom line. So take some time to think about these questions, then get to work!