Robert Pooley

Top Ten List For Ministry and Life Management

I don't remember my source for where this came from originally, but it is good stuff. I have made a couple of small changes.  Enjoy!

10.  Account for your time

How did you spend your day? Write it as you go and evaluate how you did at the and of the day. Now look for ways to improve and ask yourself, "What am i going to do about this tomorrow?"  Always be looking for ways to improve.

9. Plan your time offensively

Act like your time belongs to you! Learn to say no to things you don't need to do. This is so important. 

8.  Keep your priorities in order

Remember, if you don't have priorities you can't keep them.  

7.  Delegate to the faithful

What are you doing that someone else can be doing? What is it that only you can do?  Learn to recruit and recruit and recruit.  Share the joy of serving with others.

6.  Plan for interruptions

When everything is said and done, there is more said than done.  Things don't always happen the way you plan them.  Keep margin in your life for the unexpected.

5.  Respond rather than react in a crisis

There is more than one side to every story.  In church work there is usually about 36.  Do your homework  Its ok to say I'll get back to you, I don't know a smart answer.

4. Don't procrastinate

Do what you can do now... don't put it off till later. Really.

3.  Get some help

Make some phone calls, network, read a book, listen to a cd or podcast.  Get a mentor.  Don't try to reinvent the wheel.  Learn from others.

2. Plan for growth

Remember people follow people with a plan.  Have a plan for spiritual growth, organizational growth, and numerical growth.

1. Pray

Things happen when we pray that just don't happen any other way!  Make time to pray

A Question for Dino Rizzo

Just finished reading Dino Rizzo's latest book Servolution. I picked it up while at the ARC Conference last month.  First of all, let me say I really respect Dino. He's the real deal!  When he writes about serving, he's writing about something he understands and does...  This isn't theory, he's speaking from experience.  The book servolution is filled with amazing stories, but beyond that, it is a practical tool for establishing a culture of serving in your church, and practical ideas for serving. I think everyone involved in ministry should read chapter six.

Dino, has the nickname Father Teresa among the folks at ARC...  I like that.  At Coast we have a huge heart for serving others... and two people that have influenced us more than anyone else have been Steve Sjogren and Dino Rizzo.    One of the things that I really appreciate about Dino and Healing Place Church is the way they work with other churches in their area to serve their community.

I had the opportunity recently to ask Dino about that.  Here is my question to Dino and his response.

How is the best way to begin to network with other churches to make a difference in our community?

Robert, thanks so much for being a part of the tour.  Coast has been such a great ally for us at Healing Place Church.  You’ve blessed us over and over and I just wanna say thank you again.

Partnership is so huge for churches who want to truly make an impact on their community.  It just means doing stuff together, laying down egos and logos and just working together to meet needs.

Often, it seems like there’s some confusion about what to actually do when serving our communities.  It think the way to work together to serve your community starts with beginning to see yourselves as part of the community.  Join in.  Engage.  Listen to what’s being said, what people are doing.... Get out in your community, and keep your head on swivel and your ears wide open.  It’s likely that you’ll find that it is less mysterious than we may have expected.  Needs become obvious when you’re looking for them.

For example, yesterday one of our police officers was injured in the line of duty.  We visited him and took a meal to him and just served him.  It wasn’t a huge question of discernment - it was just a common sense response to a need.

And while we’re looking for those needs and opportunities to serve our community, we should also keep a continuous radar on how we can partner with others in our communities (churches as well as other organizations) to meet those needs.

I think you’ve found this to be true yourself there at Coast - once you begin to look for needs and ways to partner, you see that they’re all around you.

 

Thanks Dino for taking the time to share some ideas and strategies for working with other churches in our community to reach out to those in need in our community.  If you would like more information on Servolution, you can go to their website here or you can order it here at Amazon.com 

 

I highly recommend this book... It will help start a revolution of serving in your church.

 

 

Channnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn

I thought this was pretty cool  Gary and Beth Hodges, our worship leaders, were at the Exponential Conference and told me how they intrdouced Francis Chan when it was his turn to speak...  Too funny. Enjoy!

Monday Rambles

• Great day at Coast yesterday...  Talked about "Damaged Emotions" in our "Leaving the House of Blues" series.  Have gotten lots of comments telling me how God worked in people's lives yesterday...  Yeah God!
• We dealt with the three biggies that wreck our emotional stability... Guilt, Grief, and Grudges.
• The message should be up on our website within the next day or so.
• Hard to get a gauge on the two services yet.  Yesterday looked like a pretty even split in numbers between the two...  with maybe a little more at the first service... (I haven't seen the numbers yet.)
• Great to see all the teens at Coast last night.  Jordy and Kara do an awesome job. I'm very excited about the potential of this group.
• What's up with the local youth sports leagues having ball games on Sunday mornings?
• There is so much work to be done over the next few months at Coast...  Head spinning just thinking about it.
• Growth is good... but also challenging...  Working on structure to sustain growth.
• Just finished reading Geoff Surratt's book "10 Stupid things that keep churches from growing."  The Bad news:  I have done some of them.  The good news: I haven't done them all... and the ones I have done, we have already started to get a good handle on them.
• The book was a great read!  I thought it might be a repackaging of the same old ideas... but Geoff really has a fresh look at the issues with workable solutions to making a difference.  At the close of every chapter he does an interview with a pastor to get their perspective, and then adds questions so that you can work through the issues with your staff.  I highly reccommend this book for pastors and church leaders.
• Getting ready to start Dino Rizzo's book, "Servolution."  Should be awesome.  Dino and Geoff both have a wicked sense of humor.
• The church looks kind of cool right now...  It has guitars hanging all over the stage for the "Leaving the House of Blues" series.
• Looking forward to staff meeting tomorrow... lots to work on...  We are moving forward with everything in us.
• One last reminder...  There is no greater cause that you can give your life to than the cause of Christ!

All Access

Just got back from the All Access Conference sponsored by ARC.  Thought I would share some of my thoughts and highlights.

• First off C3 Church in Clayton NC were amazing hosts... out in the middle of the boonies, and running thousands, these folks have a tremendous servant heart.  Their pastor Matt Fry kicked off the conference witha  bang.
• Pastor Rick Bezet said that C3 is so far out of the way, that to get there you drive until you get lost and its on the right.
• The worship all week was tremendous.  Some times you see bands who are out being rockstars... Not at C3... it was obvious Jesus was the rockstar... and we were there to give him praise.  The speakers were amazing all week... but so was the worship.
• On Monday night after the meeting I was interviewed on a live internet taping...  Was great being able to share my thoughts about ARC with others.
• Dino Rizzo kicked off Tuesday with a strong word on longevity.  The 3 key words were Honor, Honesty, and Humility.  Humerous would have fit in there too... Dino is an amazing communicator.  His new book "Servolution" was just released... He has such a servant heart that the ARC guys call him "Father Teresa."
• Greg Surratt was next...  He and Billy Hornsby are the poppas of ARC.  Right now, under their leadership, ARC is planting a church every 3 to 5 days.  Amazing.
• Greg exhorted us to base our preaching on the simplicity of the gospel.  Its the gospel that changes lives.
• Chris Hodges spoke next... always powerful... always straight to the point.  The ARC guys call him the total package and he is...  His church is the fastest growing in America right now.
• Ed Young Jr. spoke later that evening.  It was like something off of comedy central... except that one minute you were laughing, and the next you were thinking... what a powerful point.
• Ed said that ministry is brutiful.  Part brutal and part beautiful.
• All of the speakers were very transparent about some of the hurts they have experienced while in the ministry... which was good for a lot of these young church planters to hear.
• Ed told us that Betrayal happens during defining moments in our lives... and then told his own story of being betrayed.  He said that after a betrayal we can choose to break down or break through.
• Wednesday started with a great word by Pastor Rick Bezet.  He said he used to be Rick Bezet pastor... now he is simply known as "Kris Allen from American Idol's pastor."
• Ed young Jr spoke again on creativity.  I had heard some of this stuff from the Buzz Conference a few years ago, and from reading Ed's book, the Creative Leader... but it was still good.
• His rant on crazy people was worth the expense of the whole conference.
• Joe Champion and Stovall Weems rounded off the day...
• The day finished with us praying over all the new church plants that are scheduled to start in 2009.    It was extremely moving.
• Had a blast twittering throught the conference.  If you want to follow me on twitter, you can at www.twitter.com/robertpooley
• Again thanks to Matt and Martha Fry, and all the folks at C3 church... and to the ARC for a great time of refreshing.