I’m guessing it’s not like this for everyone, but I learn a lot about my relationship with God through my marriage and through parenting.

Emily left for a couple of days to visit with her parents. Don’t worry. I’m a big boy. I can fend for myself. There’s plenty to grill while she’s gone.

The crazy thing is she was only gone less than a day, and I was already feeling emotional about not being with her. Those that know me know that Emily and I are more than husband and wife — she’s my best friend. I can’t imagine doing life without her. And, that’s why when we’re not together, it impacts me emotionally. Among other things, I get very mopey.

As I was beginning to come to grips with how this temporary separation was impacting me mentally and emotionally (and apparently even spiritually), God reminded me of the separation Jesus taught about when he was on Earth:

“But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world…’” (Matthew 25:31-34)

Jesus is talking about the future. A separation is going to happen. Some people will be separated from God’s presence. If I feel the way I do after being separated from my wife for less than a day, what might this separation from God be like?

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John Piper on the Purpose Driven Life:

“Frankly, I’m appalled at the kinds of slanders that have been brought against this book by people whose methods of critique if they were consistently applied to the Bible would undo it as the Word of God.”

Check out the video below for an excerpt of the interview between John Piper and Rick Warren:

For the rest of a fascinating interview between John Piper and Rick Warren on the doctrine behind Purpose Driven Life, visit the Pastors.com blog.

As I work with churches across the country, they all have one thing in common — they hire people they think will fit perfectly. In a short time, though, they discover they have made a big mistake. The person isn’t a good fit for the role.

Rodney Cox, the President and CEO of Ministry Insights, shared this story that highlights how we need to change the way we hire new leaders:

“Take a moment to do this simple exercise. First, grab a pen – I’m serious – grab a pen. Now that you have that pen in your hand, answer the following question: Why did you grab that pen with your dominant hand? What if I told you that it was predictable? And, if I asked you to do the same exercise 100 times, 99 out of 100 times you would grab the pen with your dominant hand.

“My brother was left-handed and my great-grandmother was from the old school. In her generation, people who were left-handed were considered to be of the devil. Every time my mom and dad left my brother and me at my grandmother’s house for an evening, we would normally have dinner in her home. My grandmother would spread the table and then cook our favorites. Everything would be wonderful until my bother would pick up his fork and start to eat. Inevitably, my brother would pick up his fork with his left hand. My grandmother would send my brother outside to pick a switch. She would then strip the switch and “switch” his legs. She would send him to bed without dinner.

“Just think about that for a moment! He was designed to eat with his left hand but was forced to leave that behind. How many of you think my brother looked forward to having dinner at my grandmother’s house?”

That’s exactly what happens in the case of hiring people. We try to find someone who will do the job like we would do the job. It’s more about how the task gets done. Instead, we should look at the bigger picture. We need to define what success looks like in the role and how that role supports the overall vision. Then we need to decide what strengths are needed in the job. All of that should happen before we start trying to hire someone for the job.

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This video from Chick-fil-A has been available for a several months. Our daughter shared it with us this evening. What a great reminder for all of us. Doesn’t matter where we encounter people — in our neighborhood, in our workplace, coming through the doors of our churches — they all have a story.

This past Sunday I had the opportunity to share a short message with the volunteers at the Oak Leaf campus. Among other things, I talked about how God’s wisdom is different from conventional wisdom. I’ve always found this verse to be both challenging and encouraging in my spiritual journey:

“Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” (Romans 12:2)

It’s with that foundation that I have practiced what, to the rest of the world, must seem like a backwards approach to life in many ways. For example…

• I’ve made it a practice to not work one day out of every week. My “business” continues to grow even though I’m not doing anything work-related one day each week. (Exodus 20:11)
• Emily and I routinely leave our kids at home to go spend time by ourselves. We love our kids, but they aren’t the priority–our marriage is. By making the kids take a back seat to our marriage, our marriage is healthier…and so are our kids. (Ephesians 5:25)
• Last year, Emily and I gave away more than one dollar of every five dollars we received before taxes. I can’t explain it, but the more generous we try to be with our church, other ministries and people in need, the more “rich” we feel. (2 Corinthians 9:6-8)
• When people begin to attack me personally for my approach to ministry or life, I’ve learned it’s best to stay silent. I don’t know why Jesus taught us to “turn the other cheek” but that practice has never failed. I’ve always found that time and truth walk hand-in-hand. (Luke 6:29)
• When the world says, “If it feels good, do it,” it turns out there’s actually more joy and freedom in pursuing holiness. If you don’t believe that, consider the consequences folks are having to deal with who decided to “just do it.” (1 Peter 1:13-16)

I’m not writing this to encourage you to mimic my practices. I’m writing this to urge you to experience God’s will for your life. His will is good and pleasing and perfect. The crazy thing is that it looks different from conventional wisdom. That’s why you can’t know God’s will apart from God’s word.

If you want a different life, you have to live life differently.

Later today, I have a call with Ben Stroup. He and his team have been working with me to produce my next writing project. Beginning this summer, I’ll be releasing a new series of eBooks. It’s called The Leisure Suit Series. Here’s a sneak peek of the cover from the first eBook in that series.

One reason I’m particularly excited about this new series is that Church Community Builder will be partnering with me on this project. As I’ve written previously, Emily and I have decided to donate any profits from this project. Church Community Builder has agreed to provide a substantial contribution to Engage Burkina. Over the next couple of weeks, I’m going to share more about what Engage Burkina is doing to bring the Gospel to one of the poorest, and most illiterate countries in the world. I want to give you a chance to partner with Church Community Builder and me to support this organization.

In the mean time, I just wrapped up a series of three eBooks that you may want to download. As with all the eBooks in The Leisure Suit Series, all of these previously released eBooks are available for free. You can read more about these free resources on my website.

One more thing… If you happen to have a leisure suit, I’d like to see your picture wearing it. Email me with the shot. You never know where it might show up.

For churches that have embraced Google Apps, I really think this is going to be a great option to get computers that are easy to maintain and much less expensive in the hands of the majority of your team. Check out the intro video from Google:

No, these Chromebooks won’t work for everyone on your team. But for those folks who primarily need email, calendars, documents, web browsing and access to a web-based church management solution, this is a perfect solution.

Part of what I do when I start a church consulting engagement is make sure all the critical pieces for a healthy ministry are present. Secondly, I ask questions and review communications and practices to see what elements get the most focus.

I believe a healthy organization includes all six of these elements:

• Purpose – This is the mission of the organization. Though all the other elements are required for a healthy organization, a clear purpose is the most important. Without this, the most common question is “Why do we exist?”
• Strategy – This is the current plan to carry out the purpose of the organization. It may (and should) change through the years. Without a strategy, the most common question is “What should we do?”
• People – You have to build a solid team to accomplish the purpose of your organization. Outside of the purpose, I believe it’s the next most important aspect of a healthy organization. Without good people in the right roles, the most common question is “Who is with us?”
• Structure – The structure of your organization needs to support the strategy you embrace. Just like the bone structure in our body changes as our body grows, the structure must stay fluid as your organization grows. Without structure, the most common question is “Who is responsible?”
• Systems – The systems clarify the processes for carrying out the strategy. Within a church, systems are the simple, replicable processes to help people move from where they are to where God wants them to be. Without them, the most common questions is “How should we do this?”
• Metrics – Theses numbers and heart-change stories provide the measure for whether or not the purpose is being accomplished. A lack of supporting data may mask an unhealthy organization even where life-change stories are prevalent. A lack of life-change stories may mask an unhealthy organization even when numbers look positive. Without metrics, the most common question is “Are we accomplishing our mission?”

Now, as I mentioned, these elements are critical for organizational health, but not all of them are equal. I still believe the “purpose” has to be the priority. If that’s not the case, the organization can get unbalanced and unhealthy.

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A couple of years ago we were riding down the road in our family minivan. In the front of the van, Emily and I had been discussing the “church consulting” part of my ministry. Among other things we must have talked through some the recent staffing conversations with one of the churches I had engaged.

From the back of the van, one of the younger Morgans piped up. “Why is it that churches let people stay on staff when they don’t do a good job?”

It’s always interesting how children view life. Out of their innocence, they’re not afraid to ask the politically incorrect questions. The fact is, though, because we are a people of grace, we tend to enable poor performers in the church.

Part of the reason we do that is because we’re afraid to engage conflict. However, coaching and redirection typically require conflict to generate honest, healthy conversation that ultimately leads to better outcomes.

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I’m not sure what exactly prompted the recent conversation at the Morgan household, but the kids started whining about how we as parents aren’t fair. I think it may have been the recent gift we gave one of the kids while the others received nothing.

You may think we’re bad parents for treating our kids differently on different occasions, but we think we’re preparing our kids to leave our house and live in the real world. Life is not fair.

Of course, in church world, I see organizations all the time embracing the “fairness doctrine.” You see it most prominently on display when it comes to communications. Every ministry, regardless of priorities, has information linked to the home page of the church’s website. Every ministry, regardless of priorities, has access to announcement time and the bulletin. Every ministry, regardless of priorities, has their own logo and their own platform. We do that to be fair.

When fairness drives your communications strategy, your least important message has the same weight as your most important message. That leaves people wondering what’s most important. When fairness rules, the communications also become very confusing very fast, because every ministry wants a piece of the action. As ministry leaders, we feel like we’re doing the right thing because all our staff and volunteer leaders feel like they’re being treated fairly, but the people who we’re trying to reach or help take their next steps are left confused and overwhelmed by all our competing messages.

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