Quotable Quotes

“My primary assessment would be because American Christians tend to be incredibly self-indulgent so they see the church as a place there for them to meet their needs and to express faith in a way that is meaningful for them...there is almost no genuine compassion or urgency about serving and reaching people who don’t know Christ."

“I think the bottom line really is our own spiritual narcissism. There are methods and you can talk about style, structure and music, but in the end it really comes down to your heart and what you care about.”

~ Erwin McManus on the decline of churches in America

link via these guys

If I Could Save Time In A Bottle

There's a great post over at the Swerve Blog on time management. I've really been working hard on time management for the past year or so. Has it improved? Yes and no. Yes I have made substantial improvements in many areas but no, I still don't have it all together.

Time is an ever-changing constant. Confusing? Think of it this way - we all have the same amount of time; it's how we choose to use it that matters. Time is constant (unless you subscribe to chaos theory!) but how we use it consistently changes.

Here are some strategies, thoughts, books, etc. that have impacted me:

* Getting Things Done - great book, great ideas, difficult to implement
* Getting up early - when I get up early I'm much more productive
* 3 MIT's - what are the three most important things to get done today - write them down!
* Email - I try to keep my inbox completely empty (spam is making it difficult!) and have been using my Blackberry to keep it organized
* Home Wall Calendar - we've implemented a family wall calendar and it has really kept us on track
* Google Reader - an aggregate reader has saved me HOURS of time
* Avoid the "tyranny of the urgent" - I'm not very good at this one, but it can mess up your time management in a hurry

These are just a few time management (and organizational) strategies I have used. I'm no where near where I need to be. How about you? What time management strategies can you recommend?

Out of the Mouth of Babes

Our youngest daughter Emilee (she just turned five) stopped suddenly the other evening and said, "We need to pray right now." She then proceeded to start her prayer like this, "God, I love you. I love you a lot." She then finished her prayer quickly and went on about her business.

It's amazing to see Emilee's authenticity when it comes to God. So many of us get caught up in the "technical" aspects of prayer (what to say, when to say it, etc.) instead of just opening up a conversation with God. Prayer should truly be like the faith of a child instead of the convoluted systematic process that we are so prone to fall into.

When is the last time you simply had a conversation with God? Has prayer become a ritual or routine? Maybe it's time to take a moment, stop what you're doing and thank God for being a loving and accessible God.