Morning and evening notes here. Single use here. First six months of notes here.
Michael Hyatt’s parting message
When Michael Hyatt stepped down as Thomas Nelson’s CEO this week, he was asked, “Knowing what you know now, what advice would you give to a new CEO?” His counsel is appropriate to all leaders, pastors included.
1. Your position is a role not your identity.2. Your position is temporary not permanent.
3. Your position is a privilege not a right.
4. Your position is about faithfulness not achievement.
5. Your position is about them not you.
6. Your position is about stewardship not ownership.
7. Your position will require more than you can provide on your own. Read Hyatt’s brief expositions of these points here: He concludes:
There’s one last thing I would say to new CEOs: take care of yourself. Make your spiritual, emotional, and physical health a priority. During your tenure, you will experience more stress than you can imagine. You need all the resources you can muster. You will be tempted to put yourself last. But if you die of a heart attack, burnout emotionally, or lose your faith in God, you will be of no use to anyone.
How to love your wife (or husband) less
Every time a husband takes a lustful look at another women, a little bit of his love for his wife dies.
Every time a wife desires the loving affection and attention of another man, a little bit of her love for her husband dies. Why kill your love?Caring for the depressed (4): Stigma
There is still a stigma attached to mental illness and to depression in particular. Ignorance and misunderstanding have filled the public mind with many prejudices and falsehoods. As a result, many still view disorders such as depression as a choice or as a sign of weakness or as an excuse to opt out of life.
Depressed people may also share these mistaken beliefs, which increases their sense of guilt and failure. Consequently, they will often be reluctant to admit what they are feeling, resulting in their going for many long months, or even years, without asking for help or seeking treatment.
The church can also help by making clear that Christians do not have to be problem free and by demonstrating that when people do experience problems, they will not be ignored or avoided.
Also, the preacher should present a balanced view of the Christian life, as represented in the Psalms, over a third of which deal with fear, anxiety, and despair. This is part and parcel of normal Christian experience in an abnormal world.
We should remind ourselves again and again: “For who makes you differ from another? And what do you have that you did not receive? Now if you did indeed receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?” (1 Cor. 4:7).
Edited extract from Christians get depressed too. Available at RHB and Ligonier. Kindle version here.
CrossReference: The well of living sight
Here’s the third in our preview series of ten films on the Old Testament appearances of Christ in the Old Testament.
The first two videos will be permanently available online. (Episode 1, Episode 2). The other eight episodes will be released once a week for the next eight weeks. Each of them will be available for online viewing for seven days.
Visit Ligonier or Reformation Heritage Books to order a DVD of all ten films and a Study Guide, or download the films in HD from HeadHeartHand Media ($5).
Here’s a sample of the Study Guide
How not to pastor (video)
Watch this and follow the advice if you want to destroy your pastoral effectiveness.
On the other hand, if you want to be a CEO…