ARE YOU S.M.A.R.T.I.N.G FOR BETTER GOALS
September / 20/ 2017
FOCUS ON MINISTRY
Do you know who produces the schedules for those who read the Scriptures, participate in special music, receive the offering, and serve communion?
The answer later in the email
GET S.M.A.R.T WITH YOUR GOALS
Our S.M.A.R.T. Goals may need some tweaking

S.M.A.R.T. GOALS REVISITED
Thanks to a friend of mine, I was reminded the other day about the value of S.M.A.R.T goals. S.M.A.R.T goals for for those who may not be conversant with current productivity models, offer people a strategy for becoming more efficient in their personal and professional lives, by subjecting our goals to well established criteria: Are the goals that we are setting,
  • Specific: has the goal clearly stated what will be achieved?
  • Measurable: will you know if you have achieved the goal?
  • Achievable: Is this a goal that can actively be achieved?
  • Relevant: does this goal reflect value in your life?
  • Time Specific: When do you want to achieve this goal? 

Now my friend was correct in his application of this strategy for improving our effectiveness in the challenges we face at work and at home, but might I offer another series of applications designed for those of us who seek more than mere effectiveness, but impact, and an eternal perspective. Therefore consider:
  1. Spiritual goals: Will this goal glorify God, bring joy to the family dynamic or the family of God, and infuse the culture around us with salt and light? If any goal lacks a spiritual component, how valuable is it in the larger view of eternity?
  2. Maturity: Will our goals encourage a mature outlook on life, or seek only to feed my ego, encourage more pride in me and leave me self-centered. "The World does not revolve around you," we always told our kids growing up; so, will this goal lead to maturity or a stunted spiritual growth?
  3. Accountability: What in this goal makes me more accountable? Every valuable goal in route to a vision worth pursuing should come packaged with the mechanism to bring us into compliance with the authority of God: His desires, his holiness, and his kingdom. I would argue that the spiritual disciplines provide the very tools for accomplishing this and when applied over time, provide a grid for evaluating the spiritual progress in our lives.
  4. Redemptive: We live in a world stained with sin and one that has lost its way. To be redemptive means its pursuit will strengthen the cause of Christ, illuminate the Gospel before this very world, and bring to bear the character of God upon the culture at large.
  5. And finally, Truth: Is this goal, this burden, or activity bound up in truth? Does it speak to the objective truth of God, his sovereign oversight of the world, the kingdom he is bringing about, and the necessity of sacrifice in making it a rule in our life? 

What I've discovered? Jesus was right; this kind of truth can set us free, and that is the S.M.A.R.T.E.S.T thing I've heard today.

Live wisely
MJC.
AND, ABOUT THE REST OF THE WEEK
  WEDNESDAY SMALL GROUP BIBLE STUDY: This week: John 21. Food is served at 6:00... the study begins at 6:10 pm. Good news? We'll be done before the Barn Bible study even begins....

MEN AT WORK: Friday's at 6:30 Cousins Restaurant.

SUNDAY WORSHIP: On The Lord's day let's worship together as He has called us to do. 


AWANA is HERE! THE FUN BEGINS THIS SUNDAY AT 5:15

Books you should read:
Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus by Nabeel Qureshi: I'm working through this one with our High school Bible class. Perfect book to re-acquaint you with the distinctiveness of Christianity. 
Know What you believe, by Paul Little
Through the Gates of Splendor, by Elisabeth Elliott. 
The Scandal of the Evangelical Miind, by Mark Noll. Are Christians losing their ability to think?

Follow the link, and you can find them on Amazon

WHO WE ARE
  Between the Ends is a weekly update from  Pastor Mark Congrove and Bethel Baptist Church. it stresses the days between Sunday and Sunday- between one weekend and the next, as a priority for the believer.

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