Who needs God when we've got ideas like these?

And since we're on the subject of top ten lists, here's another. This time it's looking at the top ten ways to grow your church without God.
I suspect that anyone reading the list will recognise virtually every item on it as being something they've done or tried at some time. That's the scary part.
The good thing might be that most of us have begun to realise these aren't the ways that God necessarily grows the church: He seems to have other ideas, and fortunately, is far more creative!

Todd Rhoades comments on the list (and adds ten ways to slowly kill your church WITH God while he's at it) which was originally produced by Ray Baumann.

Keeping Time

John Sweetman, on the Neoleader blog, makes several good points about watching how you handle your time as a minister.
A couple of these are of particular value:

Keep a to-do list. It's better to have a list of jobs to do (it can be updated daily) rather than trying to keep things in your head, and hoping you'll remember what's important. Otherwise it's easy to get sidetracked onto less important tasks. And keep the list handy: if it's hard to access, like being in some program on your computer, you'll be less likely to pay attention to it. (Paper and pen are still valid tools in the postmodern age.)

Let your diary be your protector and pay attention to it. It's perfectly valid to book yourself up on so many days of the year, but not on others. An essential number of days need to be kept free for family, relaxation, retreats, exercise and friends. It's a good idea, John writes, to block out these days at the beginning of the year, and make them non-negotiables. Only true emergencies should take them over.