Thursday, April 22, 2010

Using Time Effectively

Leaders of effective churches make certain that their family and work life is balanced, says Dr. Thom Rainer, president and CEO of LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention. Their research team asked over 200 pastors to provide them with an hour-by-hour calendar of a typical 168-hour week.

The study included 101 pastors who researchers called effective leaders because their churches ranked in the top five percent in conversion growth in American churches. A comparison group of pastors of similar number were leading churches that did not have significant conversion growth.

The following results show some of the most significant differences between the pastors of the effective churches versus the pastors of the comparison churches:

- Pastors of effective churches sleep slightly over six hours per day. Pastors of comparison churches sleep almost eight hours per day.
- Pastors of effective churches spend twenty-two hours in sermon preparation each week versus four hours for pastors of comparison churches.
- The effective church leaders spent ten hours each week in pastoral care (counseling, hospital visits, weddings, funerals) compared to thirty-three hours for the comparison group pastors.
- Effective church leaders average five hours per week in sharing the gospel with others. Most of the comparison church pastors entered "0" for their weekly time in personal evangelism.
- Comparison church leaders spend eight hours a week — more than an hour each day — performing custodial duties at the church. The typical custodial duties included opening and closing the facilities, turning on and off the lights, and general cleaning of the building.
- Leaders of effective churches average 22 hours a week in family activities. The comparison church leaders weren't too far behind with 18 hours of family time each week.

The time allocation of effective leaders seems to complement the way they describe their own leadership styles. In order to accomplish what they considered priority functions, they had to sacrifice in other areas. Thus, the effective leaders cannot do many of the responsibilities often expected of them as pastors — such as numerous hospital visits, counseling everyone and all of the custodial duties that may be expected of them — but they can oversee those responsibilities.

[ChristianPost.com]

Will You Stand Up for God in America?

Today is an incredible time in our nation's history. The very public mention of God, of praying in public, and of the role of Almighty God in our government and country are being stripped away. Consider this:

  • U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb last week issued the decision that the 1988 federal law designating a National Day of Prayer in the United States is unconstitutional.
  • President Obama would not formally observe last year's National Day of Prayer at the White House. (He did not cancel the National Day of Prayer in Washington as it has been rumored.)

I believe America has been successful because we, as a people and nation, have honored God, we have made Him preeminent in our lives, and He has been recognized within our government

WHAT YOU CAN DO

1. GET INVOLVED in this year's National Day of Prayer on MAY 6. There will be prayer vigils in Washington, D.C. on the steps on the U.S. Capitol, at the Washington Monument, and at the ellipse near the Jefferson Memorial. Thousands of other local gatherings are planned in cities and communities across our great land.

2. ADD YOUR NAME to the DECLARATION FOR PRAYER petition. Join in telling President Obama that Christian prayer -- prayer to no other God but the God of the Bible -- is vital to the present and future of our nation. The petition urges the Obama Administration to immediately appeal the recent court ruling which struck down our rights to a day of national prayer.

SIGN HERE —>The Declaration For Prayer-Petition

Please take 3 minutes right now by clicking the above link and adding your name to the DECLARATION FOR PRAYER petition and forward this email to as many Christians as possible.