like vision . The Bible says that without vision the people perish , the heart doesn ’ t want to do it anymore .
That brings us to our second key : An action plan will help us live for what is important today , not just urgent . I ’ m sure you ’ ve experienced the tyranny of urgency . Nobody feels that more than pastors do . We have so many things clamoring for our attention .
In addition , we discovered as we wrote down our plan that we had more vision than we had time . At least we realized why we were so tired ! Writing down our action plan caused us to get our priorities right . When you have a plan , your life becomes a mission that matters , not a mundane road trip .
How do you write an action plan ? You start by writing down your objectives and activities . In most cases , you ’ ll find out that you ’ re trying to do too much , which is why you ’ re tired . We as leaders often try to do a couple of years ’ worth of work in one year ’ s time , and that ’ s not fun ! And why do we even do that to ourselves ? Because activity is an accomplishment .
A good action plan identifies what needs to be done and how long it will take . For instance , if one of our objective is to see our children living closer to God , with a greater sense of identity and more bonded to us at the end of the year , that won ’ t just happen . It takes time fishing with them , coaching with them , playing in the backyard with them , and having enough talks . Kids don ’ t instantly open up about things . We need to spend time in their world and answer other little questions they have . Then the bond is formed for when bigger things need talked about .
We ’ ve learned to come out of our planning season with a 12-month action plan for the year . And then when the urgent tries to sneak in , when people ask us to do something , we can say , “ I ’ m sorry . I have something scheduled .” Then we minister through another pastor or leader if the need is there . We still have to handle the big things . Sometimes a member wants us to do for them what we couldn ’ t do for every member if they asked . That ’ s just like with our kids . If one of them asked me if I can do something with them , I multiply it by four in my head because I don ’ t want to be unfair to the others . I want all my kids to love me . You do the same with the church . When you make that clear and reasonable , the best people in your church become thrilled that you ’ re focused on what the Holy Spirit wants you to do and how you ’ re making things happen .
“ An action plan will help us live for what is important today , not just urgent . ”
It ’ s challenging to balance life and ministry ! I ’ ve found that outside of God and my wife , my close leader-friends have helped me keep priorities and find reasonable solutions to the demands of ministry . As a result of the power I ’ ve experienced in relationship with other leaders , I founded the Significant Church Network . SCN is a network of
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