A Year Later

We’ve had a few annual events take place recently that have taken me back a year ago, when we were still very early in the process of planting Liberty Grace Church. These events have caused me to reflect, and they’ve made me grateful.

• A year ago on Maundy Thursday I took my family to Liberty Village for the first time for dinner. One year later we live in Liberty Village and love it.
• A year ago this month my wife went to Pastor’s Wives Conference. At that point, we were the entirety of Liberty Grace Church. A year later, we have a group of people who are walking with us, including some who have moved into the community with us, and others who are planning on doing so.
• A year ago I was attending an annual study group I’m part of, wondering about all that would happen before I returned in May 2013. I’m sitting in the airport boarding lounge right now filled with gratitude for all that’s happened, and excitement about our near future.

A year isn’t a long time. It’s long enough, though, to take a step back and to celebrate what God has done.

One thing has been clear: I have begun the process of planting this church in weakness. Despite this, God has been gracious. I have been reminded so many times this year that God is able, and that I’d better trust in his strength rather than rely on my own. It’s almost as if God has given me extra coursework here, but I’m still learning.

If you’ve been praying for us this far, thank you. Please continue to pray. We have lots of events planned for the community in the coming months, and we are working towards a public launch in September.

Please pray that God would continue to build our team, and that we will have a heart to love the people in the community around us. Pray for our practical needs as well, as I have quite a bit of work to do in fundraising before the Fall.

God has been so good. I’m glad he’s taken us on this journey.

What I'm Learning from Strategic Coach

Strategic Coach is a company that has headquarters in Liberty Village, Toronto, and offices in Chicago and the United Kingdom. I first heard of this company through an entrepeneur, and then again when we began to plant a church in Liberty Village.

I’m not the kind of client that they’re looking for. Strategic Coach is designed for high-income entrepreneurs; I’m a church planter. That hasn’t stopped me from ransacking their store to see what resources they have that could benefit me. I’ve learned that they have lots to teach me. I have to filter some of it, but I’m still learning lots.

Here are the top three things I’ve been learning from Strategic Coach:

Learn and focus on what you do best. I’m good at some things, moderately good at some things, and lousy at others. Strategic Coach teaches that our best contribution comes from the essence of who you are and what you’re about, combining your talents, passion, and skills. It’s similar to what Howard Hendricks said:

There are many things in life you “can do” for God. And the more success you have, the more opportunities will come. (You will know more people, you will have more resources, etc.) But most opportunities are distractions in disguise. Therefore find the one thing you “must do” for God.

Strategic Coach offers a book called Unique Ability that I’ve found really helpful in wrestling with and applying this concept. It’s already paying off.

The right question is powerful. Strategic Coach teaches a question (they call it the R-Factor question) that you can use:

If we were meeting three years from today, what has to have happened during that period, both personally and professionally, for you to feel happy about your progress?

Simple, I know, but potentially profound. They also teach a follow-up question to do with dangers, opportunities, and strengths. I’ve found this question really helpful personally and in ministry. It has a way of clarifying one’s thinking and focusing on the future. Their short book, The Dan Sullivan Question, is perhaps not the best named book out there, but it does a good job of explaining how and why to use this question.

Use some days for your most important work, some days free from work, and some days to prepare. Strategic Coach teaches a pretty radical system when it comes to time. They teach that we should divide our time into three different kinds of days:

• Free Days for rejuvenation (150 a year, including weekly days off, vacation, and other holidays)
• Focus Days that are free from non-productive tasks so that you can do your most important work (135 days a year)
• Buffer Days to do the preparation work necessary for you to take Free Days and Focus Days (80 days per year)

They teach that one’s productivity increases dramatically using this system.

150 Free Days sounds pretty radical to me, but taking 4 weeks vacation (28 days) plus stat holidays (12) and a weekly Sabbath (52 days less the 4 already counted under vacation) already brings you to 92. Add another weekend day and you’re almost there.

As I adapt this system, I’m learning the value of taking some days off completely, and taking other days to focus on my most important work. Their book, The Time Breakthrough, explains more about this system.

There’s tons more, but this is a start:

• Learn what your best contribution is, and focus your efforts there.
• Ask good questions that get to the heart of what you’re trying to do.
• Spend some days on your most important work, and some days completely free from work, and some days preparing so that you can do this.

Check them out at StrategicCoach.com.

Four Biggest Lessons

Tomorrow marks a year since I finished at Richview and began the process of planting a church. It’s been both the most exciting and the most difficult year of my ministry so far.

A year in, here are the four most profound lessons I’ve been learning.

1. Spiritual attack is real. I wasn’t prepared for the intensity of attack in the past year. Our family has been through some intense periods of suffering. I’ve been learning the truth of what Spurgeon once said: “When you sleep, think that you are resting on the battlefield; when you walk, suspect an ambush in every hedge.” Church planting is a battle.


2. Idolatry is rampant. I can’t wait to read Jared Wilson’s forthcoming book The Pastor's Justification: Applying the Work of Christ in Your Life and Ministry. The reason: it’s so tempting to find my justification in ministry, either past ministry at Richview or my current performance as a planter. Of course, my justification can only be found in the finished work of Christ, but I’m often tempted to look elsewhere.


3. Busyness is a struggle. I honestly thought I would have more time than when I pastored an established church. Was I ever wrong. I am currently recalibrating my schedule because the work is so intense, and things can get out of control very quickly.


4. Planting is an overflow of one’s relationship with Christ. Adam Sinnett told me this, and he’s right. “Fight to remain Jesus-centred, not planting-centred,” he told me. “It is easy to make planting the focus, and miss God.” It’s probably the best advice I heard all year.

Some New Year's Resources

Here are some great articles and resources to get you started in 2013:

• Consider Not Setting Goals in 2013 - "Instead of identifying goals, consider identifying areas of focus." I enjoy Peter Bregman's insights.


• Seth Godin has a bunch of new resources out. The Icarus Deception is classic Seth: "The challenge is to take advantage of this brief moment in time, a time when connection is easier to find and cherish than it will ever be again." You can also read through a book of his blog posts (much better than it sounds) or browse through his new full-color ABC book for adults. I love Seth's work.


• Paul Tripp has some good things to say about New Year's Resolutions. "Yes, you and I need to be committed to change, but not in a way that hopes for a big event of transformation, but in a way that finds joy in and is faithful to a day-by-day, step-by-step process of insight, confession, repentance and faith."

Happy New Year!

See You Saturday

This is what my next week looks like:

See you on Saturday once we've moved into Liberty Village. I'll have links ready.