Ten Things I Learned In 2005

This is a list of things I've discovered in 2005.  They are in no particular order and may not be all that profound:

1. Church planting is NOT an acquired taste. You either love it or hate it. If you don't love it, you will never learn to love it - it has to be your calling and in your blood or you'll be miserable. However, if you are called to it, you'll never be happy doing anything else!

2.  I'm pretty sure that the words "church planter" in the original Greek and Hebrew translations means - poverty.

3. You can always start another church, but you can't replace a godly wife!

4. Worship leaders are weird. Why is it that they always feel that they have to "take the church to Throne Room every Sunday morning", when all we want to do some days is rock?

5.  Coffee is over-rated!  I've tried every drink on the Starbucks menu and it all still tastes like liquid cigarettes.

6. You is who you is! The world doesn't need another Erwin McManus, Ed Young Jr., Rob Bell, Andy Stanley, John Maxwell, Rick Warren, Bill Hybels, etc.

7. It's better to pay the IRS your self-employment tax on a quarterly basis instead of waiting until the end of the year and paying the penalties. So that I don't end up with a 4-year missionary trip to a federal corrections facility, that's all I'll say about that.

8. When you can't be strong, be still.

9. No matter how small you are, there will always be someone bigger that is afraid of what you might accomplish.

10. Preaching other people's sermons (SermonCentral.com, CreativePastors,com, etc.) may be easy, but it's not very life-changing.

BONUS THING:  You can never out-dream God!  Sappy, but nevertheless true.