The story follows Martin Jones, an undrafted rookie trying to make it in the NFL. During training camp, Martin is mentored by a seasoned coach named Coach Ken, who shares life-changing lessons to help Martin be the best he can be.

The book is a quick, and good, read, especially if you like football. The lessons are shared in the context of football, but they’re applicable to life, in general. Coach Ken tells Martin, “Making the team is a goal. But striving for greatness is a life mission.”

The coach says …

You see, everyone says they want to be great, but very few are willing to pay the price. … People think it’s all about talent. But talent isn’t enough anymore. Everyone here has talent. It’s about infusing talent with heart, soul, spirit, and passion.

One important lesson is about the nature of purpose and calling …

Regardless of when and how, whether by practical experience, role model, spiritual insight, or lightning strike, the best of the best all had a moment in their lives when their vision became clear. When they said, this is what I truly want. This is what I want to strive for and I will pay the price to make it happen. It was as if they looked through a telescope and saw their future.

On the importance of trying to become your best, Martin recalled his mother’s advice: “To deny being your best was to deny the gift you were meant to give others.” Coach Ken adds, “The best are never satisfied with where they are.”

Coach Ken teaches Martin about the importance of process. He says …

The ideal of the overnight success is a myth. Just as the Olympian must train for years for one defining race, you must wake up each day and practice, prepare, and train to be your best. Don’t settle for mediocrity, but strive each day for excellence. It requires hard work, preparation, and hours of effort, but it’s worth it. … Becoming the best is a process. It’s a long and difficult process and it takes loads and loads of positive energy.

I appreciate the spiritual foundation of the book. Coach Ken tells Martin, “you can’t talk about greatness without talking about God.” He says …

You were made for a purpose and you were created to strive for greatness. But remember that you were made to become great in order to benefit the greater good, not yourself. God blesses us not for our own good but because God blesses through us to bless others.

Coach Ken also contends that it’s not about being the best but about being the best you can be. he says …

… being the best really (isn’t) about being better than anyone else but about striving to be the best you could be and bringing out the best in others.

Are you striving to be the best you can be by developing your God-given gifts and purpose?

1. Find your own voice and be who are.
It was great to see different styles among the presenters. At least two communicators (Mark Batterson and Pete Wilson) said they use manuscripts, a practice which doesn’t seem common (or recommended) anymore. More than one speaker cautioned against trying to preach like someone else, encouraging preachers to find their own unique voice and to be who God intends them to be.

2. Make the most of your prayer time just before preaching.
Prayer is a critical part of the sermon prep process, of course, but I loved the prayer routine Steven Furtick goes through just before he preaches. It was pretty intense. And somewhat quirky. His ritual involves scented anointing oil (I love Prayer Idiosyncrasies). I try to be intentional about my own prayer routine right before preaching (see my Desperate Preacher’s Prayer Guide), but after listening to Furtick, I need to do some work on my routine!

3. Show up every day.
Asked how he deals with writer’s block, Donald Miller talked about the daily discipline of writing. You never know when inspiration will come, and it’s more likely to come if you show up every day. Similarly, preachers must also develop the daily discipline of preparing. It reminds me that Elijah’s prayer during the showdown on Mount Carmel and Peter’s vision regarding Cornelius both took place during an “hour of prayer.” There’s something about showing up every day!

4. Check your motives.
Crawford Loritts said, “Don’t shoot to be the best preacher, but shoot to be a great preacher.” That’s a critical distinction, and an important reminder. One is competitive with others; the other seeks to honor God. Our goal cannot be to be the best, but to be the best we can be!

5. Focus on intimacy with God.
Crawford Loritts said, “You’ll never preach better than who you are.” Preaching isn’t just about developing and perfecting the right skills. The skills simply help us communicate what’s in our heart in the best way possible. The real power of preaching flows from a heart close to God!

These are five things that challenged me. Earlier this week, I wrote Preaching Requires Investment. This event was a great (and free) way to invest in your preaching!

If you missed the event, there will be a replay on May 16, 2013, 4:00 – 8:00 p.m. Sign up here!

Recently, I heard Bill Hybels quoted as saying …

Preaching has been the single most vexing activity that I am engaged in, in Christian work. Nothing beats me up or puts me on my knees for longer periods of time, frustrates me more, or creates a greater feeling of dependency on God than preaching and teaching.

My primary spiritual gifts are leadership and preaching. But it can be challenging to have two passions (I tend to have a one-track mind). That tension goes back about twenty-five years. Not long after devoting my life to Christ, I began sensing a call to ministry, specifically, “a call to preach.” But just before I graduated from college, I heard John Maxwell (before he was internationally known as a leadership expert), and I have been a student of leadership ever since.

For many years, I focused on leadership, and preaching took a back seat. That began changing in 2006 when I read Communicating for a Change by Andy Stanley and Lane Jones (see One-Point Preaching and 5 Years of One-Point Preaching). Transitioning to one-point preaching has been the single biggest transition I’ve made in ministry!

Ironically, the transition to one-point preaching occurred while I was working on a D.Min. program with an emphasis in leadership. When I chose a topic for my dissertation, I tried to unite my passions for leadership and preaching. In my dissertation, I used the term “leader-communicator” and looked at how leader-communicators shape a missional culture through preaching and communication. It was an attempt to unify my passions!

Now, I am in the middle of another major transition in my preaching life (I recently wrote What I’m Learning About Preaching). Whereas the transformation in 2006 was related mostly to sermon structure, this transformation is mostly about sermon preparation.

I’ve always known sermon prep was important, of course (see The 4 Ss of Sermon Preparation); it’s just always been a struggle to prioritize. On top of that, it doesn’t usually take me very long to put a sermon together. But, in recent months, I’ve been increasing the amount of time I spend soaking in and studying the text before putting the sermon together!

A major reason for this transformation is Preaching Rocket, a one-year video coaching program with monthly videos. It’s expensive (I’m grateful for my continuing education fund at Centre Grove!), but it’s an investment in my ongoing preaching development!

I can’t really point to anything specific about the Preaching Rocket program (I was one of the first to sign up nearly a year ago, as a charter member) other than it’s simply an opportunity to focus on my development as a preacher. And, the content is good. In the process, I’m gaining an appreciation for more effective sermon preparation!

Preaching Rocket kicked off last year with a free online conference called “Preach Better Sermons.” It was great (see 5 Takeaways from Preach Better Sermons). The next Preach Better Sermons event takes place tomorrow (May 1). There’s a great lineup of communicators, including Andy Stanley, Louie Giglio, Mark Batterson, and a number of others.

I’m especially looking forward to Nancy Duarte, whose book, Resonate, I’ve blogged about extensively (the last one, with links to the others, was “Resonate”: Bringing it All Together). Duarte’s work has been a significant part of my preaching development (the eight blog posts I wrote about Resonate indicate that!).

Well, you can sign up for the free online preaching conference here. I’m looking forward to it. It’s another opportunity to invest in my preaching (and it’s FREE)!

What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast is about early morning routines and making the most of the early morning hours. Vanderkam asserts, “learning to use mornings well is … what separates achievement from madness.” Of course, this is certainly much easier to swallow for morning people than night owls!

Thankfully, I’ve always been more of a morning person. In fact, I’ve been working on improving my own morning routine in recent months. Before we had kids, maintaining a strong morning routine was much easier than it has been in the last five years!

This book has also got me thinking about what the most powerful preachers do before breakfast.

Back in college when I was discerning God’s call on my life, I remember reading about powerful preachers from past centuries. There were differences among them, in terms of theology, personality, and preaching style, but one thing they seemed to share was that they prayed during the early morning hours, usually getting up around 4:00 or 5:00 a.m. and spending two, three, or even four hours in prayer!

So, what do the most powerful preachers do before breakfast? Mostly, they pray!

In my morning routine, I try to include prayer, journaling, and Bible reading. I also try to exercise before breakfast. On the treadmill, I may listen to worship songs, read, listen to an audio lesson, or watch a TED talk.

Vanderkam contends, “The best morning rituals are activities that, when practiced regularly, result in long-term benefits.” She says, “When you make over your mornings, you can make over your life. That is what the most successful people know.”

What’s your morning routine? What do you do before breakfast? How can you improve it to make the most of the early morning hours?

I want to pass on my love and appreciation for the psalms to our kids. I recently wrote about 5 Children’s Books for Family Devotions. The list included Psalms for Young Children. The book, which is nicely done, includes a few sentences from a number of the psalms.

During this past Lenten season, I was re-reading parts of 24 Hours That Changed the World by Adam Hamilton (see my blog post on the book). In the book, Hamilton discusses the psalms, noting that Jesus and the disciples would have sung selected verses from Psalms 113-118 following the Passover seder meal.

Hamilton writes …

Jesus turned regularly to the psalms, drawing from them throughout his public ministry. He taught from the psalms, he sang from the psalms at the Last Supper, and it was the psalms that he prayed as he hung on the cross. Clearly they were an important part of his spiritual life. If we seek to learn spiritually from Jesus, we will want to become familiar with the psalms. Like Jesus, we will draw comfort from selected verses. The Gospels do not show him reciting entire psalms but rather choosing this or that verse, often drawing on beautiful, noble, and lofty verses nestled among less noble, even vengeful, verses in particular psalms.

The psalms represent the heart and soul of the Bible, and Jesus’ use of them during the last twenty-four hours of his life beckons us to become more familiar with them. (32).

Are the psalms an important part of your spiritual life? How do you read the psalms?

The one-hour program included a few songs, some readings, a “video book” (an edited video of each child reading a page from a book), planting four different kinds of seeds in small containers, and refreshments. It was a nice program!

We continued the celebration at home. For dinner, we had “crazy bugs” bug-shaped macaroni and cheese. And, for dessert, we had “dirt dessert.”

Interestingly, here’s an article with the backstory of Earth Day: Pentecostal Origins of Earth Day. Also, Joleen found a children’s book that’s good for a God-centered celebration of Earth Day: God Gave Us the World

Here are a few photos from the day …

Two guests from Sierra Leone are currently touring churches in our conference, reporting on the work in their country. We met both of them this past weekend, and one of them, Rev. Solomon Rogers, stayed with us Friday afternoon through lunchtime on Sunday (Ethel Sandy was also with us Friday afternoon).

The significance for us is that Solomon is the pastor of the church Centre Grove partners with (Kercher). Solomon is also the district superintendent of the Kenema district where West Side’s partner church is (Rorucks), as well as a second church one of Centre Grove’s Sunday school classes partners with (Dodo).

We enjoyed having Solomon in our home, and the kids enjoyed having a guest, as well. The Kercher church presented Joleen and I with nice, locally made shirts, and pants for Joleen. We wore them on Sunday, which matched the shirt Solomon wore.

Solomon spoke at West Side on Saturday night. He began Sunday morning at Centre Grove with breakfast and speaking during the Sunday school hour. Solomon attended and participated in worship services at Centre Grove and West Side. Both churches prayed for Solomon and the work in Sierra Leone.

The United Methodist Church is growing and vibrant in Sierra Leone (as it is throughout much of Africa), in spite of tremendous challenges. We are grateful for the privilege of connecting with Solomon. Communications in Sierra Leone can be pretty challenging, but we hope to be able to communicate more in the future.

Thanks to church photographers, John Kordish (Centre Grove) and Russell Unick (West Side), here are some photos from Sunday services at Centre Grove and West Side …

For most of my life, I’ve taken sleep for granted. When I was a kid, I thought sleep was a waste of time. But, for most of my life, I haven’t had trouble sleeping. In recent years, however, I haven’t been intentional about getting enough sleep.

I am a morning person, but after becoming a parent, I started doing more after my normal bedtime. This led to a downward spiral by going to bed late and not getting enough sleep (this probably played into issues with my heart rate during the past year).

For my Lenten practice this year, I simply decided to try going to bed at a decent time (by 10:00 p.m.). My hope was that I’d also get up earlier, and therefore, have more quality time for devotion and my morning routine. I didn’t really force a get-up time because I knew I was still catching up on rest. It work pretty well; I usually got up between 5:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. (though the quality of my sleep still isn’t as good as it used to be).

I’ve always known I should try to rest or nap in the early afternoon; our schedule is such that we need to, sometimes. Our days start early in the morning and sometimes go well into the evening, so, it’s imperative that we carve out time to rest during the day. We just aren’t always good about doing so!

Schwartz’ article cites a study of violinists, which revealed that the top performers not only practiced, they also got plenty of sleep, getting an average of 8.5 hours of sleep per 24 hours, including a 20-30 minute nap.

To increase my sleep, I’ll need to go to bed earlier (as early as 9:00 p.m.), because it’s important I get up early (especially with kids). Hopefully, the quality of my sleep returns and improves over time!

What about you? How much sleep do you get? Are you getting enough?

In Doing Church as a Team, Wayne Cordeiro writes, “When we stop learning, we just stop.” Cordeiro relates the story of Jigoro Kano, who …

founded the art of Judo and became the highest ranking black belt in this world-renowned sport. Nearing his death, Kano made one last request of his students. He asked that they bury him wearing a white belt, the symbol of a beginner, a learner. (11)

We should all be learners!

A number of years ago, I heard John Maxwell teach a Maximum Impact Club lesson on systems. Systems are simply routines for accomplishing certain tasks. They are uniquely personal, even quirky. The key is to find something that works for you!

What follows are some of the systems I’ve developed over the years related to preaching approach, the use of notes, and sermon preparation.

Preaching Approach
I started out in a preaching class in college more than 23 years ago. I learned the typical outline format of multiple main points with multiple sub-points. Within a few years, I transitioned to more of a Rick Warren-approach where all of the main points are action steps. In 2006, I transitioned to Andy Stanley’s one-point preaching approach, which I’ve been using and developing ever since (see 5 Years of One-Point Preaching).

More recently, I’ve also been learning from Nancy Duarte’s book, Resonate. I’ve written a number of posts on the book; the latest one includes links to the others, so begin with “Resonate”: Bringing It All together. Duarte’s work fits well with Stanley’s one-point preaching approach.

Use of Sermon Notes
I once wrote about my use of sermon notes. I’ve also shared about the attitude of early Methodists on preaching with notes.

Basically, I’m trying to use fewer and fewer notes. Early on, I wrote or typed extensive notes, but over the years, I have scaled back, dramatically. StoryMapping was part of that journey.

Since switching to one-point preaching, my notes have been pretty minimalistic. Nowadays, my notes normally fit on a single post-it. My goal is to use the fewest notes possible. When I have too many notes, I generally feel too inhibited, too scripted.

Sermon Preparation
The area I’ve been focused on the most lately is sermon preparation. In fact, my sermon preparation is currently the best it’s ever been!

I’m still developing the The 4 Ss of Sermon Preparation. I’m trying to extend this process over a longer period of time.

I used to write out my sermons on a computer either as a manuscript or extremely detailed notes. Later, I started using mind-mapping in my preparation (hence, StoryMapping). The sermon files on my computer from this phase are not very extensive; they’re simply the maps I created for my sermon notes.

In the last year or so, I have been using post-its to map out the content for my sermons (see StoryMapping Revisited). The downside of this approach is that I don’t have a digital file of my sermon (but I rarely ever refer to previous sermons, anyway).

My current strategy (i.e., the 4 Ss) for sermon preparation involves …

1. SOAKING in the Scripture texts of upcoming sermons a few weeks ahead of time. I generally do this Monday through Thursday, and I use an app called iAnnotate. This allows me to hit the ground running by the time I get to the Study phase.
2. STUDYING the text on the Monday before I preach the sermon.
3. SHAPING the sermon on Tuesday and Wednesday. Using Duarte’s terms, Tuesdays are for “divergent thinking” (brainstorming) and Wednesdays are for “convergent thinking” (pulling it together and building the message around a big idea).
4. SIMMERING by letting the sermon sit for a while. I may polish the map a bit on Thursday, but I will let it rest until Saturday morning when I work on reviewing and internalizing the message.

Interestingly, I recently heard Pete Scazzero in an online webinar talk about the sermon prep process in terms of birth, death, and resurrection. As I understand it, birth represents the initial idea or inspiration. Death occurs after study and the discovery of many possible directions in which the sermon could go. Resurrection happens when a big idea emerges from the heap of ideas. For me, I’m finding that death usually occurs after I’ve done divergent thinking and there are many possible ideas on the board. Resurrection happens after convergent thinking brings back focus.

Next Steps
As I said, this is a journey. I must keep growing because there’s always a better way!

1. I will continue developing, honing, and/or changing my systems. In other words, I will continue to look for better ways of doing things.

2. I will re-read Resonate by Nancy Duarte. There’s so much there; it’s going to take time to process and incorporate it!

3. I may continue to try to work further ahead.

4. I will look into using Evernote as a tool for gathering and collecting digital information. A number of preachers and communicators recommend Evernote.

5. I will look into ways to store and track some basics like sermon titles, texts, bottom lines (sticky statements), illustrations, S.T.A.R. Moments, etc. Evernote could be used for this as well.

Well, this is what I’m learning, so far. If you’re a preacher or communicator, I hope this is helpful to you. What are you learning?

I’m writing a series of prayers for the Church, offering a prayer on a different topic each week. So far, I’ve prayed for awakening, transformational leaders, urgency, hope, health, compassion, action, unity, power, and favor.

Endurance is an essential quality for followers of Jesus. And, it’s been on my mind a lot lately. Last Thursday, I preached about Jesus’ determination, persistence, and endurance (see Nothing Kept Jesus From the Cross). Yesterday’s sermon focused on persistence in prayer. Endurance is required!

O God, thank you for calling us and sending us into the world as witnesses of Jesus Christ!

We are witnesses of Jesus, who was crucified, buried, and then raised from the dead. Jesus said if the world hated him, it will hate us, too. Because of this, we need endurance!

Thank you, Jesus, for enduring the cross for the sake of the joy before you. Help us to keep our eyes fixed on you so that we will be able to endure the trials we face as your people in the world!

Your church is engaged in battle, not against flesh and blood, but against the spiritual forces of the evil one. Empower us to stand strong, dressed in your armor. Help us to keep moving forward as we advance your kingdom!

Thank you, Lord, that the gates of hell will not be able to stand against your Church. Thank you for being with us until the end of the age. And, thank you for sending your Spirit to be with us always. With your help, O God, we will endure to the end! Amen.