I had a big day on Sunday – preaching three services, greeting and talking with lines of people, and participating in a lively, 3-hour marriage ministry leadership meeting with four couples till 5 pm. Geri and returned home at 6 pm.
My sermon was “finished” by Thursday, but then the 5-hour rule kicked in late Saturday night when I took a final look at the message: Add 5 hours to your sermon prep after you think it is finished. That got me to bed after midnight and up early in the morning.
Fortunately, I no longer want to quit on Mondays as in my earlier days. In fact, I woke up excited for the week. I dedicated the morning to a few hours of silence, praying the Psalms, and rereading my highlights of Merton’s Contemplation in a World of Action.
How is that possible?
I have learned a few things over the years about how our outer life for Jesus flows out of a deep inner life with Him. And I’ve developed new practices and rhythms robust enough to withstand the pressures of leading.
Actually, my great burden goes far beyond not quitting on Mondays. God wants us to joyfully lead our people into a deep, beneath the surface spirituality that is so powerfully transformative that they can’t help but go out and transform the world for Christ.
We have just opened up registration for our Emotionally Healthy Leadership Conference on April 20—21. We limit the main conference to 350 participants and our preconference to 60 couples to ensure a high-quality experience. We are excited this year in particular. With the rapid growth of The EHS Course around the world, the release of The Emotionally Healthy Leader book, and our new learnings here at New Life Fellowship, we are particularly excited about what God has in store for us.
So I encourage you to prayerfully consider if God might be calling you to come to NYC this year.
