1. You might enjoy reading this excellent post on family by my friend Tim Spivey. Tim raises the question: “How much should we focus on the family?” This is a very good post by a good thinker. Tim consistently writes good posts on his blog.
2. Recently I mentioned that I was reading The Drama of Scripture by Michael W. Goheen and Craig G. Bartholomew. The book is excellent. Now I am reading another book by the same two authors that is basically a sequel to the book I just mentioned. This book, Living at the Crossroads (An Introduction to Christian Worldview) is very good as well.
3. Some time ago, I heard about the “Give a Goat” ministry but was reminded yesterday about this fine ministry. (Thanks to my friend Grady King for the 
tweet regarding this.) If you are not familiar with this ministry, you may want to look at this website.
4. A number of years ago, I noticed that when we would visit another congregation and hear someone else preach, that my thoughts tended to be critical. I would listen to a person focused on how I would say this or that differently or how this preacher had missed the meaning of a text. I think this critical spirit stemmed from my own sense of insecurity about my ministry.
The other day, Charlotte and I visited a congregation about 30 miles from our house. (I am on vacation.) I listened with a completely different perspective than those early years. Instead of finding fault, I focused on what this person was doing right, doing well, and what a blessing he was to that church. I don’t ever want to revive that old critical spirit again.
5. I continue to find very good resources from Leadership Network. This is a good website and has a number of links which can connect you to good resources.
6. What a story! “Kermit’s Song” (From ESPN’s Outside the Lines) I found this story about former NFL player, Kermit Alexander, to be very moving.
7. All of us who are ministers need to remember that there are people in our churches who are shy, quiet, hesitant, reserved, etc. In fact, if we don’t really make an effort to speak to these people when the church assembles, we may never really have a conversation with them.
This really was stressed to me a number of years ago immediately after a Sunday morning service. A candid (but truthful) school teacher approached me and said, “You are going to have to make more of an effort to speak to these people!” (Speaking of a particular family who was rather quiet and passive.) She went on to tell me that there are just some people who for whatever reason just don’t have the confidence to initiate a conversation. I’ve never forgotten her words and am so grateful that she called my attention to this. Can you relate?