One of my favorite ‘motivational’ blogs is the Time Management Ninja (Craig Jarrow). Recently, Craig gave 10 ways to get motivated. Here are my favorite five: Win Early The early bird not only gets the worm, but has a spring in its step all day long. Get something done early, and you’ll get things done all day long. Change the Game If you aren’t winning, you may need to change the game. Change the rules, even break them. Do things differently if you want different results. Celebrate the Small Wins Big wins aren’t going to happen every day. Learn to celebrate the small progress. It’s...

Sydney Finkelstein, the Steven Roth Professor of Management at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College, published “Why Smart Executives Fail” 8 years ago. In it, he shared some of his research on what over 50 former high-flying companies did to become complete failures. It turns out that the senior executives at the companies all had 7 Habits in common. Finkelstein calls them the Seven Habits of Spectacularly Unsuccessful Executives. Matt Steen and I take a look at this ‘business’ list and relate it to the church and ministry world. What are the 7 habits of...

I’m not sure that Louie wanted all this publicity after being chosen to pray at the inaugural. He’s now being lamblasted as antigay.  From the Advocate: The most LGBT-friendly president in U.S. history will once again have a minister with a history of antigay statements deliver a prayer at his inauguration ceremony. Pastor Louie Giglio of the Passion City Church in Atlanta, chosen to give the benediction, or closing prayer, January 21 at President Obama’s second inauguration, gave a sermon in the mid 1990s in which he said being gay is a choice and a sin that merits eternal damnation and...

Lake Superior State University compiled its annual “List of Words Banished from the Queen’s English for Mis-Use, Over-Use and General Uselessness” for 2013. The list, which was first launched in 1976, accepts nominations for banned words year-round. Matt Steen and I take a look at the words for 2013, and add a few of their own that we think should be banned from the church world in 2013. CLICK IMAGE TO WATCH VIDEO (Length:  5 min 46 sec) Subscribe to MinistryBriefing on YouTube What words would YOU add to the list?  Leave a text or video comment...

According to CNN, Washington’s National Cathedral is set to bless and wed same-sex couples: When laws went into effect in three states for same-sex couples to marry, many were quick to line up at their city halls to exchange vows. Now they may do so in one of the nation’s most prominent churches – the Washington National Cathedral. Most Americans know the house of God, also called the Cathedral Church of St. Peter and St. Paul, as a place where sacred rites are carried out on behalf of the nation. It has been host to the funerals of numerous presidents and of inaugural prayer services...

Check this out… very creative from the folks at Elevation… the Old Testament in 60 seconds. Of course, you can’t fit every story from the OT in just sixty seconds (and some of my favs are missing), but still… a pretty decent look, don’t you...

From the Huffington Post:  On Sunday, Britain’s first atheist church held its very first meeting at The Nave, a former church-turned-performance space, in Islington, North London. According to the Islington Gazette, stand-up comedians Sanderson Jones and Pippa Evans founded the so-called godless church because they wanted a space where non-religious folks could commune and edify one another. The Huffington Post UK explains that the church, dubbed “Sunday Assembly,” has been “championed as [a] chance for disillusioned former believers, nostalgic atheists and anybody...

Here’s another great ministry video report for the year for Granger.  Granger always does a great job communicating and casting vision through video...

The average pay of a senior pastor serving a Southern Baptist church in America for 2012 was $60,774.  That’s for pastors that live in church housing.  For those who don’t, the average is more like $72,840.  That doesn’t include cash payments that most pastors get as reimbursements (like for mileage, conference reimbursements, books, etc. That’s the synopsis from SBC Voices. LifeWay and GuideStone collaborate on the compensation survey. The  latest is available here. Thoughts? Does this strike you as high, low, or just...

Rick Warren’s statement about Hobby Lobby: Every American who loves freedom should shudder at the precedent the government is trying to establish by denying Hobby Lobby the full protection of the First Amendment. This case is nothing less than a landmark battle for Americas FIRST freedom, the freedom of religion and the freedom from government intervention in matters of conscience. Religious liberty is often called our First Freedom because it is the first phrase of the first sentence of the First Amendment of our Bill of Rights. Freedom to practice your religion is listed before the freedom of...