PastorHacks

Ed Stetzer: Deposits and Withdrawals

I just returned from vacation and then several days of travel. The vacation was needed and is what prompted this post. Donna and I went on a cruise and had an excellent time hanging with some old friends and decompressing a bit. It was a welcome respite from the cold weather back home. In Nashville it was frozen, but in the Caribbean it was very warm.

I love getting away with my wife, and we work hard to invest in our relationship. Why? Because it pays dividends.

People often ask me how I balance work and travel. Sometimes it is really a question. Other times, they are just reminding me to be sure to do that. By no means, do I think I have it all figured out, but my wife says she thinks we have a good balance.

When I invest in relationships it is the same as putting money in the bank, and that's important because I have to make frequent withdrawals. I travel a lot, work a lot, and am probably not easy to have as a husband or father. Those withdrawals demand frequent deposits.

With that in mind, and knowing that I am not the perfect example by any means, let me share how I try to make relational deposits in the life of my family...

Read the rest here

Sacred Rhythms

"One of the new challenges for our generation is the impact of technology on our spirituality. This warrants serious consideration. If we are not careful, technology has a way of compromising our ability to be present to ourselves, to God and to each other- all of which are fundamental elements of the spiritual life. I don't know about you, but I am sad when I have set aside time to be with friends and, because a cell phone is left on, we are at the mercy of all manner of intrusion. We think nothing of taking phone calls in the middle of meetings, restaurants and family gatherings. I am disturbed by my own compulsion to check email late at night and first thing in the morning. When left unchecked, this lack of discipline imperceptibly robs me of rest in the evening and silent presence to God in the morning. I can become exhausted by the intrusion of the media and technology into every corner of my life, resulting in constant overstimulation of body, mind and emotions. All of this convenience wears me out!
Exhaustion sets in when we are accessible too much of the time. A soul-numbing sadness comes when we realize that a certain quality of life and quality of presence is slipping away as a result of too much "convenience." Breaks in the day that used to be small windows of replenishment for body and soul- like driving in a car, going for a walk, having lunch with a friend- are now filled with noise, interruption and multi-tasking. What feels like being available and accessible is really a boundaryless existence that offers no protection for those things that are most precious to us.

...No wonder we feel disconnected from God: we are rarely able to give Him our full attention in solitude and silence. Thoughtful reflection is constantly sabotaged by the intrusion of cell phones, pagers and e-mail messages. No wonder our human relationships are so unsatisfying as they get reduced to snippets of interrupted, disembodied phone conversation. What feels like convenience is actually robbing us of those things we value most. We are left with bits and pieces of everything rather than experiencing the full substance of anything."

- Ruth Haley Barton, Sacred Rhythms

Best of 2008: Wasting Time?

"When we really believe that we have no time to waste- no time to simply enjoy without excuse or guilt, without having to show anything for it- then the cult of utility is utterly ascendant. It has vanquished all rivals. 
Do you want to had the god of utility that much territory?Isn't there still, stirring somewhere inside you, a streak of defiance? Isn't there at least the faint pulse of subversion?
When last did you take a day just to play? Or even an hour? Half an hour? When did you last initiate a game with your children and not much care about what time the clock said? Some grown-ups have neglected play so long, they've lost all instinct, all reflex, all capacity for it. Maybe you're one of them. Start slow. Try a card game, or saddle yourself up on a park swing and see how high you can go. Read a book different than this one. Or a comic book. Watch a Monty Python movie. Or an old Peter Sellers one. 
Dance."

-Mark Buchanan, The Rest of God

"When we really believe that we have no time to waste- no time to simply enjoy without excuse or guilt, without having to show anything for it- then the cult of utility is utterly ascendant. It has vanquished all rivals. 
Do you want to had the god of utility that much territory?Isn't there still, stirring somewhere inside you, a streak of defiance? Isn't there at least the faint pulse of subversion?
When last did you take a day just to play? Or even an hour? Half an hour? When did you last initiate a game with your children and not much care about what time the clock said? Some grown-ups have neglected play so long, they've lost all instinct, all reflex, all capacity for it. Maybe you're one of them. Start slow. Try a card game, or saddle yourself up on a park swing and see how high you can go. Read a book different than this one. Or a comic book. Watch a Monty Python movie. Or an old Peter Sellers one. 
Dance."

-Mark Buchanan, The Rest of God

Best of 2008: It's Okay to Disconnect

Memo to self: It's okay to disconnect.

You don't have to answer the phone. They'll leave a message. In fact, you are under no legal obligation to even have the phone on. Go ahead. Turn it off for a bit.

You don't have to have your email program/Outlook/Entourage/whatever open all the time.

You don't have to be in touch 24-7. Remember when going to the beach or the mountains for the day meant actually going to the beach or the mountains? You were out of reach. You checked messages when you got home. Didn't that feel good?

But people today have been conditioned by instant communication to expect instant replies. Maybe it's time to start conditioning them differently?

BlackBelt Productivity has a great run down on some ways to turn off and drop out, even if it's just in bits and pieces, and begin to get some sanity back...

We all know that the information that is available to us is growing exponentially. We are being engaged through email, cell phones, and IM. The number of decisions that we have to make each day is growing. It seems we are all living life in fast-forward.

So how so we break away and get some solitude?

1. Limit your availability.

- It is ok to turn off the cell phone and computer for a while. In spite of popular opinion…turning off your electronic gadgets will not cause a part of you to die.

2. Limit distractions

Set boundaries for distractions

- Check email at set times. Turn of email notifications. Feel free to use an “out of office” to inform others of your email times.
- Only watch preplanned television. Plan ahead (with your family if need be) what you will watch. Do not just surf channels.
- Don’t just surf the internet. Have a purpose when you are online.
- Use commute time (if you commute) to think and reflect.

Click here to read the rest..

Sacred Rhythms...2

"It's not that I am averse to technology; I too have a cell phone, an office phone, a home phone and an email address, and they are much needed. However, I am aware of longings that run much deeper than what technology can address. I am noticing that the more I fill my life with the convenience of technology, the emptier I become in the places of my deepest longing. I long for the beauty and substance of being in the presence of those I love, even though it is less convenient. I long for spacious, thoughtful conversation even though it is less efficient. I long to be connected with my authentic self, even though it means being inaccessible to others at time. I long to be one who waits and listens deeply for the still, small voice of God, even if it means I must unplug from technology in order to become quiet enough to hear. 

Constant noise, interruption and drivenness to be more productive cut us off from or at least interrupt the direct experience of God and other human beings, and this is more isolating than we realize. Because we are experiencing less meaningful and divine connection, we are emptier relationally, and we try harder and harder to fill that loneliness with even more noise and stimulation. In so doing we lose touch with the quieter and more subtler experiences of God within.

This is a vicious cycle indeed."

- Ruth Haley Barton, Sacred Rhythms

Busyness... or Gluttony?

“A paradox has emerged in this new millennium: people have enhanced quality of life, but at the same time they are adding to their stress levels by taking on more than they have resources to handle. It's as though their eyes were bigger than their stomachs."
- David Allen, Getting Things Done

It's more than likely that you've heard a message, read a book, or done some thinking about "busyness" in the last year or two. Slightly less likely, but still entirely possible that you've heard a message, read a book, or done some thinking on "gluttony" during the same time.

It's highly unlikely that the two were connected, however. And maybe they should have been.

Why do we say yes to so much? Is it because we are guilt-ridden, co-dependent angst monkeys who lack the willpower to say no?
Nah- we say to a million things a day. Usually to things that are good for us, but still... When we want to, we know how to say no just fine, thank you.

Is it because we have a drive towards self justification that works itself out in our work and an ever-increasing load of commitments through which we seek to earn the favor of others and God? In part, yes...

But maybe, it also has something to do with our appetites?

You know, our appetites for recognition and "importance." To be liked, appreciated, admired... Even our appetite to "get things done."

And honestly, there's nothing inherently wrong with that. But like all things in this broken world, left unchecked by the Spirit and unsubmitted to God, our appetite to be liked and our appetite to achieve will run out of control.

I've been thinking about busyness as though it's a problem to be managed- increase my productivity and I could, of course, accept and do more commitments, more on my plate... more to feed my ego.

Maybe the problem with busyness isn't it. Maybe it's me. Me and my ego and pride.

Conceived of this way, busyness isn't an issue of time management and productivity, it's an issue of desire. When is enough, enough? When am I doing enough good things through which that God-given desire to feel productive and useful in this world can be fulfilled? When do I cross the line between finding satisfaction in the good day's work I put in and trying to find my identity through an ever-increasing load of ego-enhancing commitments?

Don't get me wrong- I want to continue to work on productivity/time management and all the rest. But until I work through the inner issues of why I try to do so much, all the productivity hacks in the word really just add up to enabling.
In other words, most days I don't need any more help being productive or managing the stress of work. I think I need help in managing my appetite for applause and the stress of opportunity.

I fear my busyness is simply a sign of my gluttony.

It's okay to disconnect...

Memo to self: It's okay to disconnect.

You don't have to answer the phone. They'll leave a message. In fact, you are under no legal obligation to even have the phone on. Go ahead. Turn it off for a bit.

You don't have to have your email program/Outlook/Entourage/whatever open all the time.

You don't have to be in touch 24-7. Remember when going to the beach or the mountains for the day meant actually going to the beach or the mountains? You were out of reach. You checked messages when you got home. Didn't that feel good?

But people today have been conditioned by instant communication to expect instant replies. Maybe it's time to start conditioning them differently?

BlackBelt Productivity has a great run down on some ways to turn off and drop out, even if it's just in bits and pieces, and begin to get some sanity back...

We all know that the information that is available to us is growing exponentially. We are being engaged through email, cell phones, and IM. The number of decisions that we have to make each day is growing. It seems we are all living life in fast-forward.

So how so we break away and get some solitude?

1. Limit your availability.

- It is ok to turn off the cell phone and computer for a while. In spite of popular opinion…turning off your electronic gadgets will not cause a part of you to die.

2. Limit distractions

Set boundaries for distractions

- Check email at set times. Turn of email notifications. Feel free to use an “out of office” to inform others of your email times.
- Only watch preplanned television. Plan ahead (with your family if need be) what you will watch. Do not just surf channels.
- Don’t just surf the internet. Have a purpose when you are online.
- Use commute time (if you commute) to think and reflect.

Click here to read the rest...

Cell Sin...

Driscoll on Cell Sin:

"This past summer I enjoyed some great vacation time with my wife of fifteen years, Grace, and our five children. We went to the high desert and spent most of our time enjoying the sunshine by playing catch, swimming in pools, inner tubing down rivers, going for walks and the like. For the first time in my life, I actually did not turn on my cell phone and did not take any calls or emails while on vacation. I made it a full three weeks of fasting from digital demons such as my BlackBerry, iPod, and second cell phone. Within a few days I also stopped wearing a watch and stopped really caring about time and instead enjoyed my wife, kids, and vacation. In short, it was wonderful. Unplugging my technology and simply having nothing on my body that required a battery seemed like a new kind of spiritual discipline for our age that refreshed and renewed me more than I could have imagined."
and
"I know in years past I too have been guilty of these same digital sins against God, my family, and my own well-being. Now that I see it as a sin that destroys silence, solitude, fellowship, prayerful listening, and meaningfully and attentive friendship, I am deeply convicted that there is a new spiritual discipline of fasting from technology to be mastered. In this way, we can enjoy the life and people that God puts in front of us rather than ignoring them while we peck away with our thumbs and chat about nothing, which in the end is rarely as important as the people we are ignoring all around us."

Read the rest here

72 Ways to Simplify Your Life

My life is complicated. Is yours? This pastoral gig... I think from the outside, it seems like a pratty simple thing. But from the inside?

Of course, the real blame lies with us, right? I mean, your life is (generally) only as complicated as you allow it to be, right?

Right?

From Zen Habits...

Simple Living Manifesto: 72 Ideas to Simplify Your Life

Photo by whitneybee

“Simplicity is the peak of civilization.” - Jessie Sampter

A simple life has a different meaning and a different value for every person. For me, it means eliminating all but the essential, eschewing chaos for peace, and spending your time doing what’s important to you.

It means getting rid of many of the things you do so you can spend time with people you love and do the things you love. It means getting rid of the clutter so you are left with only that which gives you value.

However, getting to simplicity isn’t always a simple process. It’s a journey, not a destination, and it can often be a journey of two steps forward, and one backward.

If you’re interested in simplifying your life, this is a great starter’s guide (if you’re not interested, move on).

The Short List
For the cynics who say that the list below is too long, there are really only two steps to simplifying:

1. Identify what’s most important to you.
2. Eliminate everything else.

Of course, that’s not terribly useful unless you can see how to apply that to different areas of your life, so I present to you the Long List.

The Long List
There can be no step-by-step guide to simplifying your life, but I’ve compiled an incomplete list of ideas that should help anyone trying to find the simple life. Not every tip will work for you — choose the ones that appeal and apply to your life.

One important note: this list will be criticized for being too complicated, especially as it provides a bunch of links. Don’t stress out about all of that. Just choose one at a time, and focus on that. When you’re done with that, focus on the next thing....

Read the list here

Rest...

I've been thinking a lot about rest and Sabbath recently, particularly as I've been reading Mark Buchanan's great The Rest of God: Restoring Your Soul by Restoring Sabbath

More on that later, but my friend John Johnson has some good thoughts on rest here