As an Education Minister now for going on 7 years, I haven't yet been able to find a good conference just for ministers who serve in Education roles. I have to go to different conferences specifically for preachers and youth ministers and apply those things to my teaching every week. I'm finally back to teaching an adult class every week, and I also work with the kids here at Graymere on the other side of the spectrum.

I went in to Better: Southeast knowing that I would need to filter some things for myself. Some things that were directed at preaching every week would need to be applied to me teaching every week. And it was a valuable exercise. While I do not have the rigor of preaching every Sunday, and the things that go along with being a preacher every Sunday, I am a teacher every Sunday and minister to the people in this congregation.

Suffice to say, it was a great experience to be at Better, both from the fellowship standpoint but also from the practical standpoint. I was able to take away quite a bit not just about preaching and teaching, but ministry as a whole.

Dale and Jeff Jenkins were able to line up some very adept speakers for this conference, and the content was dynamic. Here's just a few notes from a selection of the speakers. Not a comprehensive list of the entire conference, but here's what I found helpful as an Education Minister.

Jeff Jenkins opened with ten things we should do to plan our preaching. Jeff said that he has a yearly plan of what he's going to preach every calendar year, planned out for twelve months. My takeaway: As a class teacher and minister on staff, I have flexibility where some others would not. I came away from this talk inspired to plan a 12-month "Personal Teaching Calendar." I have never had difficulty in finding things to teach, only picking what I should teach next. This will help me be better organized and plan for 2022 - something I haven't been able, like so many others, to plan in a couple of years.

Doug Burleson talked about Being an Effective Textual Preacher, which may have been the most informative and practical session of the entire conference for me personally. My takeaway: It translated well to a full-time Bible teacher, and it further reinforced my recent thinking on not just being better prepared when I teach, but being accurate and representing the text better when I teach. Meaning does not change in Scripture, but application will vary.

Dr. Bruce McClarty, former president at Harding University, taught us on remaining true to the Word of God. I have heard Dr. McClarty very few times, but this lesson did not disappoint. My takeaway: A quote from Bruce said it best:

"We won't be perfect, but we must be genuine. We need to share a piece of our God-touched soul every week."

Chuck Monan was a treat to hear. I had never heard him speak before, and he spoke to us about Preacher Failings. He had six simple things that he illustrated wonderfully and sometimes humorously: 1) Don't bore people to distraction, 2) Don't wear people out with Greek, 3) Don't mangle pronunciations, 4) Don't be hypocritical, 5) Don't neglect doctrine, and 6) Don't be afraid. I found it entertaining as it was powerful and practical to hear.

Lastly, Craig Evans talked about starting a new work. Craig has started several new works in his ministry career, most notably his last at Mt. Juliet Church of Christ here in Tennessee. But Craig quickly moved from the topic to a more broad discussion of things that every minister should do (in my opinion), when starting a new work or even ones established in ministries. He said a lot, but here's a mostly complete list:

• Before you start, do your research!!
• Call the previous minister! (25+ years)
• Try out sermon: preach like YOU
• Get WRITTEN EXPECTATIONS - job desc, financial, time off, etc.
• Am I going to be a hireling or one of the sheep?

• "If you don't heal what hurt you, you'll bleed on people who didn't cut you"

• First, work on your relationship with God

• Make WISDOM your constant prayer request
• Spend time with people - from the smallest child to the oldest member
• Ask: what is our vision? (Elders, Deacons, Staff)
• Spending time with leadership/staff outside of meetings
• Let people know you care: hospitals and funerals
• Listen more than you talk
• Pray for people when you listen (How can I pray for you this week?)
• Pray for people in their presence
• Our job is to be focused on souls
• "Connection before correction" - friends speak in love
• Be slow to make changes at a new work (wrecking ball, not a builder)
• You cannot be a minister at two churches at the same time
• Focus on your family
• Set healthy boundaries (hours worked)
• Get physically healthy (shows self-discipline)
• Ask: Am I missing something? (Find someone to help you, a mentor)
• You need a core group of friends
• Pace yourself as you start (one new sermon a week, one old sermon per week)
• Help people to love God's Word more
• Don't know what to preach? Preach about Jesus! (Sermon on the Mount)

Overall, I was refreshed and renewed coming away from Better. If I could say one thing, it would be to encourage every minister in every role (pulpit, education, youth, etc.) to find a conference like this to attend. Personally, I needed this. I needed to be a part of a conference I didn't have to help plan (we have two here at Graymere I help plan), and I needed some energy back in my batteries, so to speak.

Many thanks to Jeff and Dale Jenkins for their hard work putting this on, and for Heritage Christian in Florence for hosting.

A classic from Seth Godin that I had forgotten about:

I’m sitting on a black couch in the lobby of a nice theater. The couch is cracked and peeling, with seven strips of black gaffer’s tape holding it together. And you don’t have to be an interior geologist to see that it has developed this patina over time, bit by bit.

The question is: Who was the first person who decided to fix the couch with tape?

The third or fifth person did a natural thing–here’s a ratty couch, let’s keep it the best we can.

But the first taper?

The first taper decided that it was okay for this theater to have a taped couch. The first taper didn’t make the effort to alert the authorities, to insist on getting the couch repaired properly.

The first taper decided, “this is good enough for now.”

This is how we find ourselves on the road to decay.

That's right, Ministry Bits will be back August 7. We still have the same old feed so you can just search iTunes or your favorite podcatcher and listen or re-listen to some old episodes, some of which have aged incredibly well.

I heard from so many people about how the podcast helped them with technology, so I'm bringing it back. The reason why it left in the first place? Well, in a sense, time. I just didn't have the time to dedicate to it like I wanted. But I miss it, and I want to help as many people as I can make their ministries better with technology.

Chris Bowler over at The Sweet Setup is blowing my everloving mind. What he's done is exactly what I'd like to do - have my own notes and my own database all in one place, locally accessed by my app of choice, in this case - Ulysses.

It would be a lot of work to get all the Biblical text into one app (it's over 800,000 words, but it is just plain text, after all), but I think to have everything in one place would be amazing.

How to use Ulysses for long-term research - The Sweet Setup >

Notebooks I've filled up just this calendar year. 

I used to write everything down. In college 13 years ago, there was no iPhone for me. No App Store with great organization apps, no awesome Getting Things Done pieces of software for my Mac. It was just my 12-inch PowerBook, Microsoft Word 2003 (yuck!), and the web. That was about it.

Alongside that, though, I had a steady stream of notebooks. Mostly Moleskines, and I would write nearly everything down. Even if it didn't matter, I would write it down. I wasn't too particular about pens or pencils or even the notebooks I chose to write in. And it worked.

Somewhere along the way, I abandoned pen and paper. In an effort to become more streamlined and paperless, I put my notebooks in storage and started to use apps like Things and Simplenote to keep track of all my tasks, and later Elements and Editorial to organize all my text files. It was good (and still is), but keeping track of everything was difficult. Long-form writing and classes and sermons was ideal; small notes and bits of text was not. And as a minister, I live in small notes and bits of text.

This past year I've fallen back in love with Field Notes. In case you're not familiar with them, Field Notes are little notebooks, just a little bit bigger than a standard index card, with durable covers and high-quality paper. They're perfect for your pocket and durable enough to carry around with you anywhere.

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Current Field Notes collection. Yes I have a problem. 

Just in the last 6 months alone, I've filled up 10 notebooks. With what, you ask? Everything. It has greatly helped me be a more productive father and minster when I just write everything down. It may seem silly to you, but writing everything down in an analog way has helped me in a way digital never did. It just seems easier to forget anything that was typed out on a tiny keyboard. The more I find myself using my iPhone and its apps as a communication and organization tool and not the by-all end-all, I find I'm more productive in my day-to-day work and relationships.

Sample of my Daily Log. 

For example, I've started keeping a daily log. It has been extremely valauable for me to look back at my workdays and see exactly what I did at any given time. It's not as cumbersome as I would have thought, it helps me with accountability and gives me a reference and record on the many different things I do throughout the day. Plus if anyone ever says, "What do you do all day?" I can just say, "Here."

I've also found my retention better when taking analog notes, especially during sermons or classes. There's science behind this. I sometimes try to sketchnote, which is just a fancy way of saying that I draw out pictures and doodles as I take notes. For example, when Andrew is preaching he might mention a verse that has the word "gift"in it, and I'd draw a small package with a bow. Sketchnoting helps break up the layout of just text in your notes and it's also good fun.

I highly recommend Field Notes, but there's some bigger formats that might interest you like the Panobook from Studio Neat or even the Dime Novel Field Notes special edition.

As everything moves more and more digital, I find myself going back to analog to keep track of things. If you're not locked into a system where you work and are able to go back to analog note taking, I'd say give it a try for 30 days and see how much more productive you are. You might be surprised, like I was, on how much better you remember things by writing them down with good 'ol pen and paper.