With or Without God|Mr. Mark's Classroom

We are back to work after the holidays and already overwhelmed with meetings and list making. I am shocked! How did all this creep up on me? I thought I was running ahead of schedule. I just walked out of my fourth meeting today and juggling all the little notes to be compiled into one big fat “To Do” list. To make it worse, I still have Christmas decorations to take down!

How’s your new year starting? Feeling overwhelmed is commonplace in ministry, but it doesn’t make it easier. Begin by making the list since your brain will not calm down trying to remember all that stuff. Next, is triage. That’s right. You need to go through the list and decide what is “A” priority, then “B” priority, and “C” priority. Move the lower ranking items to next week’s list, so at least you have whittled it down. Some of the items are easy wins with a phone call or an email so knock those out in a 30 minutes to one hour window of time. Now, that you have sorted the mess, you can give real concentration to the most important item at hand. When overwhelmed, just do the next right thing. Say that to yourself and do it and you will begin making progress and feel like a champ.

After the dust is settled and you can find the real routine you seek as a daily pattern, be sure to include God. Last year I was able to read through the Bible in a year again. I’m going for my fifth year in a row for 2019. I have a system and I start my day with it. I’m not always perfect with this, but I know working in ministry is not the same as spending time with God. Sometimes people can really get to me, and without the Lord at work in my life, the worst comes out of me. I feel defeated and like a loser. Jesus said, “Apart from me, you can do nothing.” That is so true.

In this podcast video I share some ideas about staying connected to the Lord and how to accomplish a personal Bible study each day. Hint: Don’t start your day with email. That is a vacuum that sucks you right in and away from your healthy start up plan for each day. Get in the Bible and spend time with God.

Your Friend,

Mr. Mark

See Mr. Mark at These Upcoming Training Events

January 11-12, 2019
First Baptist Church, Cullman, AL
Friday | 6:00p.m.-9:00p.m. | Guiding Behavior for Preschoolers
Saturday | 9:00a.m.-12:00p.m. | Learning Centers that Make you a Star Teacher

February 22-23, 2019
Immanuel Baptist Church, Odessa, TX
Friday | 6:30p.m.-9:00p.m. | Equipping the Grade-school Teacher
Saturday | 9:00a.m.-11:00a.m. | Equipping Preschool Teachers

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