ALWAYS Plugged In

Here's a message from Tim Sanders that I need to hear often...

Turn off your alerts and email notifications: "

Today I attempted to do everything in uni-task mode (as opposed to multi-task).

The secret for me was to turn off all the distractions that make it difficult to concentrate. Let me see…Yahoo Mail alert, my Entourage alert (sound, plus the little envelope icon in the toolbar), Yahoo alerts, my cell phone, instant messenger, etc.

Each one of these alerts provides an avenue for interruption. Not only does these little intrusions hamper our concentration and productivity, they are annoying.

When I participated in the New Economy Depression Study with Heartmath Institute in 2003, we noticed that information overload, combined with constant interruptions (decision shift in psych speak), leads to stress and depression.

I know its tech-cool to be 100% one, Twitterfied and ready for any stimuli, but really – don’t you want to do GREAT work?

So, unless you are waiting for a critical announcement or offer 24/7 instant response service, turn off your alerts and protect your sanity. You can find these alerts in the preferences of your email client, instant messenger or web service. At the very least, turn off the audio portion or ability for it to generate pop ups.

"

(Via Sanders Says.)

NCCPN Meeting #1

The first meeting of the north Cincy's church planting network went well. The planters seemed even more excited about the conversation and gathering than I expected. Today's meeting was invested in sharing our church planting call and story. It was very cool to hear each planter's story and how they landed in norther Cincinnati.

It will be fun to watch relationships form in and from this group. Over the next several months, we plan to tackle our biggest leadership challenges as we gather quarterly for a couple of hours. I am looking forward to the conversation!

I am glad I sent that email...

North Cincy Church Planters Network

In the past couple of years, I have been amazed by the number of new church starts ups in the northeastern quadrant of Cincinnati. After a little research, I have a count of 18 new churches and I am sure I likely missed a few.

I am convinced that church planter is one of the loneliest ministry roles one can assume. It is so easy to go into hiding and lose the valuable connection with others who are walking a similar ministry road.

I have decided to pull this group together for quarterly conversations over lunch. There will be very little agenda other than creating a safe circle where people can share the emotionally load that often accompanies the church planting animal.

Our first meeting will be tomorrow. I am really looking forward to the meeting and seeing how God uses this ongoing conversation.

My New Favorite Red

It's no secret that I love baseball. I have been a Cincinnati Reds fan as long as I can remember. I grew up listening to the voices of Marty and Joe on 700 WLW. I have fond memories of Pete Rose, Johnny Bench, Barry Larkin, and the Nasty Boys. I remember the 1990 world series sweep like it was yesterday. I have watched or listened to parts of a majority of the Reds games for the better part of twenty years.

With all that in view, last night was truly one of the coolest moments I can remember as a Reds fan in a really really long time. If you do not know Jay Bruce you will. Jay Bruce, a 21 year old baseball stud, reached in all five plate appearances in his MLB debut. It doesn't get much better in baseball.

Welcome to the show Jay Bruce! I'm glad you are on our team.

Memorial Day

Today was a great day...

It began with dropping 1,000 bottled waters on the West Chester Memorial Day parade. This was the fourth year Journey has participated. We now have a reputation at this event and it's a good one. Great work Journey peeps!

The afternoon and early evening was invested in hanging with family and friends. Good times!

I cannot believe June is upon us. Where does time go?

Gathering With Bill Hybels

This afternoon, I am having lunch with Bill Hybels. Dave Workman invited 30 other Christian leaders in Cincinnati to join him for the gathering.

I have one question: how did my name end up on that list?

I have always had a deep respect for Bill's leadership and ministry. I have very vivid memories of several of Bill's sermons. I can recall content, tone, and how I responded internally. Those moments were life changing in my early twenties.

I am very honored by the invitation and I can't wait to hear what he has to say. I plan to twitter from the gathering. You can follow that here.

Favorite WiBo Quotes and Tweets

"We underestimate God…by a lot. Our dreams are too small. We all need dreams that are way beyond our ability to accomplish." - Mark Batterson

"Mark Batterson is talking about cognitive shifts. It's going to take a major cognitive shift for me to understand it." Tony Morgan Tweet

"Jesus was called a friend of sinners. Could that be said about you?" -Vince Antonucci

"Leverage the culture or risk losing your impact." - Tim Stevens

Whiteboard Sessions

Wishing I could be here today. I love the concept of this conference: 1 day, 8 influential church leaders, 30 minutes each.

I'll be watching parts of it live here.

Library Additions

I added three books to my library today.

1) Pop Goes The Church
2) Vintage Jesus
3) The Four Seasons of Marriage

Pop Goes The Church was too intriguing to pass up. I dig Tim Stevens and had to pull the trigger. I am doing a teaching series in June on Jesus. Couldn't pass on a little Driscoll. The book on marriage is begging to be a Journey Church weekend teaching series.

Purpose Driven Network Summit

I have been following some of the action of the summit here. It is worth a few moments of your time.

Blogging Tools

I have managed to finally sync a few programs I use on my Macbook Pro with my blog. This will ensure the consistent addition of content to this blog in the coming days.

I'll be using MacJournal and NetNewsWire to add content with only a couple clicks of the mouse.

Now I just need an option for blogging from my iPhone and I'll be all set for a full re-entry. Pumped!

Twitter

I have recently developed a new communication passion. It's called Twitter. You can learn more about Twitter here and here.

You can follow my Twitter here. I hope to see some of you faithful readers on Twitter. Find me so I can follow you too!

Out of Hiding

I'm bringing my blog back online. If you are still following then leave me a comment.