Over the years, my wife and I developed a habit of getting away the day after Thanksgiving to map out our goals for the upcoming year. For us, it’s a perfect time to think strategically about the future having just given thanks for the past.

But a few years ago, just before Thanksgiving, I discovered something lacking—my enthusiasm. I knew I hadn’t done well on the 22 goals that I set for the year and, like a child that just failed an exam, I had little interest in knowing why. I felt defeated.

With so many goals, I knew my approach was fundamentally flawed. But I had no idea how flawed until I heard a message from my good friend, Pastor Roger Thompson. To this day, I don’t remember what he spoke about (sorry Roger), but I do remember him making an aside observation that men deal with three issues in their lives: failure, fear, and fatigue. His insight unlocked a door for me. I knew those feelings—22 times over.

What transpired from that breakthrough was a new approach to goal setting. One that, I think, is more biblically-based than many of the corporate goal setting workshops you and I have attended.

If you’re in need of a fresh and courageous approach to goal setting,  I invite you to discover what I learned at the next Year of Living Courageously workshop (website) at Cross of Glory Church in Hopkins, MN on February 25th.  Plan to come now because a year is a terrible thing to waste.

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If you’re a pastor in the Twin Cities area, you won’t want to miss out on a very unique opportunity for some serious goal setting. On Thursday, May 13th, I will be conducting, for the first time, a pastors-only version of the highly-regarded Year of Living Courageously workshop.

The Year of Living Courageously workshop is a thoroughly biblical approach to goal setting. I’ve taught it numerous times over the last several years to Christian men in the marketplace. Now, for the first time, I’ll be leading professional clergy through a more intense and extended version.

Why a version just for clergy? Think about it. Most men in the marketplace have a community of other like-minded men with whom they can confide in, explore, and seek support for their God-given aspirations—the men in their church. Unfortunately, that same opportunity doesn’t exist for most pastors. From my discussions with numerous pastors, they often feel uncomfortable sharing openly about their fears, failures and fatigues—the very threats all of us face in the pursuit of courageous goals. As a result, many church leaders find themselves isolated from the very support structure that others in their congregation enjoy.

The Year of Living Courageously: Pastor’s Edition is designed to address that need. Pastors will be provided a unique “sandbox” in which they can explore some of their dreams in the context of a non-threatening community—other like-minded peers. If you’re a pastor longing for a structure and support system for pursuing your goals, the Year of Living Courageous: Pastor’s Edition is just for you. If you’re a lay-person, but want to show your support, let your pastor know about this unique workshop.

The Year of Living Courageously: Pastor’s Edition workshop will be held at Berean Baptist Church in Burnsville, MN on May 13th from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. The cost to attend is $65 and includes a lunch and program materials. For more information, testimonies, videos, and to register, visit www.livecourageously.com

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Attempting anything new, anything worthwhile, involves failure. Toddlers, for instance, don’t learn to walk without falling—a lot. As children, we didn’t even think of these setbacks as failure. We were willing students with encouraging parents to coach us. Is it possible as adults that we’ve forgotten how to learn from our failures? Is it possible that we’ve become so conditioned to immediate gratification that we mistakenly believe that new skills or new habits should come easily? Before you give up on that New Year’s resolution you were so excited to embark upon, reflect on what the “master teacher” may be telling you. Write it down. Then, if the goal is still worthy, commit to pursuing it again. And when the master teacher appears again, thank him for the lesson.

Your thoughts? What goals did you set that you are now learning from?

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Over the years, my wife and I developed a habit of getting away the day after Thanksgiving to map out our goals for the upcoming year. For us, it’s a perfect time to think strategically about the future having just given thanks for the past.

But a few years ago, just before Thanksgiving, I discovered something lacking—my enthusiasm. I knew I hadn’t done well on the 22 goals that I set for the year and, like a child that just failed an exam, I had little interest in knowing why. I felt defeated.

With so many goals, I knew my approach was fundamentally flawed. But I had no idea how flawed until I heard a message from my good friend, Pastor Roger Thompson. To this day, I don’t remember what he spoke about (sorry Roger), but I do remember him making an aside observation that men deal with three issues in their lives: failure, fear, and fatigue. His insight unlocked a door for me. I knew those feelings—22 times over.

What transpired from that breakthrough was a new approach to goal setting. One that, I think, is more biblically-based than many of the corporate goal setting workshops you and I have attended.

If you’re in need of a fresh and courageous approach to goal setting,  I invite you to discover what I learned at the next Year of Living Courageously workshop (website) at Colonial Church in Edina, MN on November 14.  Plan to come now because a year is a terrible thing to waste.

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Can you imagine that headline on a greeting card? Unless you’re giving it to a pregnant woman, it wouldn’t make any sense. Even then, you’d likely get your head kicked in if she were in hard labor. Or, how about a card that says, “Well done on your recent job loss?” Or, “That fire did wonders to your house?” Hardly. Cards like that wouldn’t inspire—and they probably wouldn’t sell.

As a culture, we don’t celebrate contractions. Symbols of celebration are reserved for expansion: new job, new baby, new spouse, new dog. You name it. Expansion equals success. Contraction equals failure…and anxiety.

Here’s another barometer: the stock market. News of employment or production expansion brings a rally. News of economic contraction brings on the bear, and lots of anxiety.

But nature expands because of contractions. To succumb to the thinking that contractions are always failure robs us of our vitality.  Let me illustrate. Jesus said, unless a seed falls to the ground and dies, it cannot reproduce (John 12:23). He drew from nature a true principle for own lives. Multiplicative expansion follows seasons of contraction.

Astronomers tell us that stars are born from contracting gasses that gain sufficient mass to ignite a fusion reaction. It’s only then that they become a star, giving off expansive light, until eventually they exhaust their supply of hydrogen and expel the remaining gasses into a new nebulae. That remnant nebulae supplies the material for possibly hundreds of new stars.

Recently, when I was going through a period of personal contraction. I felt dry, perplexed and unproductive. I felt like a failure and wanted, more than anything, to get back to my highly-productive self. Then it occurred to me: what’s true for nature, as seen in the seeds and in the stars, is true for me as well. Jesus said as much. That was a powerful encouragement. I didn’t need to view a season of contraction as calamity or failure. Rather, I could see it for what it is—the breeding ground for, as yet unexpressed, expansive growth. Instead of pushing myself to resolve perplexity, I could anticipate new discoveries in a strangely peaceful way. A star would be born.

The next time you find yourself in a season of contraction, consider the new growth that is being formed in you because of it. Then, sit down and write yourself a congratulations card to celebrate.

“You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.” James 1:3-4 (The Message)

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