Fred was one of the leaders in his business and his church. Working 55 plus hours a week and serving in several positions at church, Fred was lucky to have two nights at home each week. Those two nights were consumed with yard work, needed tasks, and repairs. His quality time with family usually consisted of breakfast on Sunday morning- each member running in and out of the kitchen as they prepared for church, and the drive to church and back home – when the kids weren’t going home with a friend.

A schedule like Fred’s can have several devastating consequences and will lead to burnout. Eventually, the proverbial well will run dry. Every person needs not only to pour out into life’s arenas, but also to be poured into. It is great to be busy, in-demand, and hard working. Yet, staying busy at the expense of your own physical, mental, and spiritual health will have devastating consequences.

When the well is empty, you feel you have no more to give. You are physically, mentally, or emotionally exhausted, or all three. It is wise to take inventory of your schedule from time to time. Here are a few tips to help avoid running the well dry.

• Understand yourself. Know your strengths and your limits.
• Realize it is okay to say “no” to things not in your strength mix.
• Plan and protect personal time, daily if possible, or at least three times per week. Even 15 minutes can give you a fresh start.
• Find something you enjoy doing that has no relation to your job or other obligations, – a hobby, sport, or relaxation event.
• Avert situations and people who drain you, leaving you frustrated or exhausted.
• Build relationships with people who are positive and encouraging.
• Build quality family time into your schedule, at least weekly. A date night, family outing, or game night.
• Acknowledge when you need help and voluntarily ask for help.
• Have a prayer partner or two with permission to challenge you about your well running dry.

Perhaps most importantly,

• Start your day with a minimum of 15 minutes with your creator, God Almighty and His Word, The Holy Scriptures.

Perhaps you have built-in other ways to keep your well from running dry. Share them with me and others. Whom do you know who does a good job at keeping the well from running dry? What will you commit to today to ensure your well is not running dry?

George Yates is an Organizational Health Strategist and coach, assisting churches, organizations, and individuals in pursuing God’s purpose for life. Click here to receive this blog in your email inbox each Tuesday.

Having an effective, fruitful organization (church, ministry team, business) requires more than pulling a group of people together and calling them a team. Effective organizations create a culture within that cultivates successful fruit bearing results. Here are some components for that type of culture.

1, A continuing system of training. Leaders are made, not born. Train up everyone to be a leader of their own abilities. Not everyone can be the leader, but everyone has the potential to be a leader. Provide quality ongoing training that assists each person in rising to his/her potential. Training is a key component missing in many churches and organizations today. Provide ongoing training and resources that enable each person to be equipped for the task and furthering their personal growth.

2, Open avenues of communication – from the start. Open, two-way communication is vital to the effectiveness of any organization. Many leaders stifle two-way communication, wanting only top-down communication to get the job done. This stifles communication and effectiveness. Two-way communication means observing, listening, adhering, and implementing wise and usable input from anyone on the team.

3, Improve the environment. Regardless of your length of existence, age of facilities, or size of your organization, there is always room for improvement. Every member’s desire should be to provide the very best environment possible, for everyone. One person should not desire a plush comfy, $200 chair to sit in while everyone else is expected to sit in metal folding chairs. Provide the best quality furnishings and resources to be afforded on your existing budget.

4, Cultivate a team approach to leadership. Whether you are the pastor, CEO, or top person in your organization, or you are the newest member of an organization, opportunities for shared experiences and responsibilities are critical. Teams provide support for one another. Also, fruitful teams provide friendly accountability. Friendly accountability is not holding others oppressed under your thumb. It is lifting their tired arms in Aaron and Hur fashion (Exodus 17:12-13). A team approach always holds each member in equal esteem assisting each one to perform at his or her best.

5, A positive, caring atmosphere. People will always perform at higher levels when in a positive, caring atmosphere. Knowing that we are accepted and cared for fulfills one of man’s basic needs and it breeds fruitfulness. A caring, positive atmosphere removes anxieties and stress allowing each person to work/serve without many of the stresses of life.

Certainly, these are not all inclusive of the makeup of a fruitful team. However, build these into any team and you will have an effective, fruitful team. Which of the five components will you focus on first, this week, with the teams to which you are affiliated?

George Yates is an Organizational Health Strategist and coach, assisting churches, organizations, and individuals in pursuing God’s purpose for life. Click here to receive this blog in your email inbox each Tuesday.

Can people really be motivated to do something they are not prone to otherwise undertake? Can one person really motivate another – especially volunteers? The truth is only God can motivate a person to undertake something that person is not prone to willingly undertake. Yet, there are some key prompts for different people that will get the motivation juices flowing – and not one of them is money, though in some cases, money may motivate for a short time.

Here are seven motivation prompts to keep in mind.

1. Motivation is prompted when a personal connection is made with the task to be undertaken. If you are asked to contribute to the purchase of new seats in your church, you may not be quickly prompted to comply. However, when it is shared with you of the plush comfort of the new seats in contrast to the existing seats you sit on, your motivation factor is prompted to join in.
2. Motivation is prompted from inside an individual. External motivators are fleeting, while internal motivation brings action. The scenario in number one above is an example of an internal motivator.
3. Motivation comes from past successes. Jane did not want to make personal visits for our church, but agreed to help with childcare so others could go. Within a few months, after hearing testimonies from friends Jane asked to serve on the card writing team. A few months after this Jane asked to accompany others on some in-home visits. The testimonies and successes advanced Jane’s motivations to serve.
4. Motivation is prompted from a culture of love, acceptance, and concern for others. This one is self-explanatory, build a culture of love and you build a culture of acceptance and care. It is within everyone’s nature to be a part of this type culture and to do likewise.
5. Motivation is prompted through caring relationships. When you first learned to ride a bicycle, there was likely someone right there with you, holding the bike up while you learned your needed balance. Even when you failed the first few attempts, that person was there encouraging you. One of our greatest motivating prompts comes through caring relationships.
6. Motivation is prompted through acknowledgement of appreciation. Heart-felt expressions of appreciation are high currency (big money) for motivation.
7. Motivation is prompted at the point of realization that people spiritually separated from God are truly condemned to a horrible Hell for eternity. I saved this one for last because it is likely the most forgotten, and underrealized factor of our existence. We have pushed this so far back in our mind that the thought of our neighbors and loved ones being condemned to this horrific eternity, is non-existent. When a believer comes to this realization you can see the motivation factor kick into gear.

Everyone has motivation prompts. The key for leadership is understanding the various prompts and with whom to apply the differing prompts. Strive for accomplishing number seven, then the first six will no longer be needed. Until then, use all seven at appropriate circumstances.

George Yates is an Organizational Health Strategist and coach, assisting churches, organizations, and individuals in pursuing God’s purpose for life. Click here to receive this blog in your email inbox each Tuesday.

Robert found himself at yet another crossroad on his journey. With four options in front of him, which would lead to where he needed to go? A decision must be made. Going straight will keep Robert on the same path he has been traveling. Turning left will take Robert west, a right turn will have him heading east. And of course, if he is unsure, he could always turn back and retrace where he has come from.

Throughout our lives as well as in the life of the church we come to many crossroads. At each crossroad or intersection a decision must be made. In which direction will we proceed? Each of the intersecting highways leads not only in a different direction, each leads us distinctly away from the point of intersection – the point of decision.

The decision to be made takes into consideration…

1. North – straight – Does the path we are on take us to where we want to go should we continue straight ahead?
2. West – Left – Turning left (west) leads to new horizons. Are we pioneers heading off into new territory with a great sense of adventure or simply heading off into the sunset?
3. East – Right – Will this bring the spectacular sunrises and new dawning we are seeking and need?
4. South – U-turn – turn around and go back – live in the past and stay in familiar territory.

Assessing each we find:

South – Our history, where we have been, no forward progress.

North – Is the same course we are currently on going to provide what we need to sustain our future or future life of the church and kingdom growth?

East and West – These are different for every individual, church and ministry. Are we pioneers, ready for blazing a new trail or looking to fade away like the sunset? Are we ready for a new beginning, the dawning of a new chapter in our lives?

In all of our lives these crossroads come. We must make a decision at each one. The decision we make leads us towards the next crossroad intersection. The decision we make determines the next leg of our journey. Will we be moving forward or retreating to what we know, where we have already traveled?

Are we ready to strive for new horizons? Is what we are looking for a new beginning like the dawning of a new day, a new journey? Then we are turning east. Perhaps the idea of pioneering, heading west is appealing. Or a west turn could have us coasting for the sunset of our lives.

In life you have just come through a crossroads, you are at a crossroad, or you will soon be approaching one. What are you contemplating as you decide the next leg of your journey? How will you determine which is the best path for your journey?

George Yates is an Organizational Health Strategist and coach, assisting churches, organizations, and individuals in pursuing God’s purpose for life. Click here to receive this blog in your email inbox each Tuesday.

We all have what we might consider empty parts of our lives. These leave holes in our heart. I have friends and family who have lost children in the womb or shortly after birth. That loss leaves a hole in the heart that is carried for life. I have friends who have lost young children, teenagers, and even lost their children in the adult years. All of these leave empty spots, a hole in the heart carried for life. My wife and I can sympathize but not empathize with these, because we have not experienced the same. Yet, we too have a similar hole in the heart. We have no children. Ours was by choice due to health-related issues in our younger years. The empty spot, the hole in our heart is real and engenders similar emotions to those of our friends.

My wife, Pam, and I had the pleasure of visiting with friends in Tennessee this past weekend. We always enjoy their encouraging company. While this weekend was a busy, harried, and tiring one for our friends, she, suffering and awaiting surgery from a torn meniscus, he with a busy work schedule, we still had a great God-blessed time. Before we left the church parking lot Sunday to head home, I shared the following with our friends. My greatest, God moments for the weekend did not come through our friends but through their grandchildren.

When we arrived Friday evening a little after six o’clock, Rebecca, Pam’s best friend through junior and high school, was in a play area of their well-shaded side yard with her two grandchildren. The six-year-old granddaughter we had met before, we had not met the eighteen-month grandson. While we were talking and the kids were playing, I was leaning against a playset. I felt the little boy’s hand on the calf of my leg. He had reached through the playset to reach my leg. I guess realizing I was a real person, he came right away in front of me and looked up as if wanting to be picked up.

I lifted him up and he instantly laid his head on my neck and chest as if to find rest and security. It made me melt. His grandmother stood up from her seat on a swing and captured the moment in a photo. Perhaps, this would melt any heart, but to someone who has no children or grandchildren, I realized it as an act from God, stating, “I know the hole in your heart. I have you, you are my child.”

I had a similar experience with his six-year-old sister the next day as we took her home and said good-bye. More than the words she said, “Good-bye George” was the voice tone and inflection and the look in her eyes. Once again, instantly I realized the voice of God with the same message, “I know. You are my child and I fill the hole in your heart.”

We all have areas in our lives that seem empty, leaving a hole in the heart. God is the only source that can fill that hole and take away the emptiness. I do not live in depression for not having children because I have a God, a risen Savior who fills the hole, the emptiness with love and compassion. If you do not know God in a personal, intimate way, let me encourage you, try Him. He alone can fill the emptiness of any heart. And sometimes he’ll use an eighteen month or six-year-old child to say, “I know, and I love you.”

George Yates is an Organizational Health Strategist and coach, assisting churches, organizations, and individuals in pursuing God’s purpose for life. Click here to receive this blog in your email inbox each Tuesday.

Jesus recast the gospel to meet the understanding of the people/culture in front of Him. To Nicodemus, He said, “a man must be born again.” To the rich young ruler who asked, “What must I do…” Jesus said, “go and sell all that you have.” To another man, He said, “let the dead bury the dead.” Circumstances, cultures, generations, vary, the truth of God’s word remains the same. Jesus was not changing the truth of the only way to heaven. Rather, He was applying the same truth to the heart of the person’s he was speaking to.

The church today must learn to do the same. We live in an ever-changing culture that needs the gospel of Jesus Christ. He is the only way to heaven. Leonard Sweet wrote years ago at the turn of the 21^st century, “The shift of postmodern culture from representation to participation requires a transition from performance modes to participatory modes…”

The need for this shift today is even greater than when Sweet wrote it. The people of all active generations today need participatory models and practices. Teaching the truths and principles of scripture is vital and a must. However, teaching facts and figures alone never changed a life. The church today must move to a participatory model. Not only in the worship services and inside events of the church (bringing a dish to a potluck), our model must be demonstrative of actual living 24/7 outside the walls of the church with the immediacy of people experiencing Christ.

People in our churches today need to be given examples and opportunities to practice the Jesus lifestyle. When today’s people of all generations truly understand that they have something that God wants to use, and are empowered and encouraged in the use of those, God will work wonders. Pray for the utilization of your own giftings then begin sharing how God opened your eyes and began a new work through you.

People will serve out of their passion. Think about it, you are not passionate about something you do not like or that you have no skill for. God gives you passion for the things He has gifted you. We only need to help people understand their God-given passions and how to connect those passions to ministry that will lead people to see who God really is and wants to be in their life.

If you preach or teach, teach on unearthing passion and finding your niche for fulfilling God’s purpose in your life. Give people ideas on how to develop and use their passions for God’s kingdom work. When God designed your purpose in life, he also gifted you with a passion to fulfill that purpose. Churches flourish when her members unearth and develop their passions for serving God by serving others.

Today’s generations hunger for finding purpose. There is no greater purpose than the one God created you for. The people in your church family need to be offered opportunities to unearth their God-given passions and giftings to fulfill His purpose for their lives. Instead of attempting to force certain ministry opportunities on the everyone, give them the opportunities to make decisions, choices and commitments to serve God as He has gifted each one. In this you will move your church members from representation to participation.

George Yates is an Organizational Health Strategist and coach, assisting churches, organizations, and individuals in pursuing God’s purpose for life. Click here to receive this blog in your email inbox each Tuesday.

“You are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the spirit of the Living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of the human heart.” (2 Corinthians 3:3) These words written by the Apostle Paul were His ingrained belief that when the Word of God truly gets into a man, there is no mistaking it. The Word of God becomes part of the man just as much as the man’s heart, eyes, and lungs.

Unfortunately, we have many people today who have been in church for many years listening to the Word being preached and taught, yet the Word is not “in” them. The Word of God needs to be fully digested and absorbed into the bloodstream of our flesh and spirit. If your life (every aspect thereof) were inspected by a jury of your peers for true biblical content, what would be found? Would there be enough evidence for others to call you “a letter from Christ”? If others are not being challenged to be Christlike by your total life, how can you be considered such a letter?

The Bible has been handed down through the generations. It lives on and always will. The truth’s found in God’s Word are timeless and have proven to be constant and factual in every generation. We are to feed on His Word (the Holy Scriptures) and to absorb them into our very nature. God uses other people to speak His word into our lives. This also means you and I have a responsibility to learn, digest, and absorb the truths of scripture into our lives that we may also instruct others.

We cannot make the Word come alive for others. God’s Word is always alive. As believers we must take caution not to drain it of life with our diluted boredom and mediocrity. I fear this mediocrity has become commonplace and the norm in the lives of many, which comes from the ways they have been taught.

In my first book, Teaching That Bears Fruit I wrote of the teaching techniques of Jesus and how He (the Living, breathing, walking Word of God) changed the world. He trained and taught His Apostles by His living and then left them to turn the world upside down – and they did! You and I have those same techniques and skills at our disposal. Perhaps we only need to get back to those basics of Christ.

Jesus used the means of the day to get His message out. God has given us many more avenues of delivery with technology and instant world-wide communication. If we are as Paul wrote, “…a letter from God,” what is stopping us from turning the world upside down for Christ?

Let it not be said of us that our teaching, our living, demonstrated God’s word boring and useless or antiquated. God’s Word is a Living Word and when absorbed within His people, it will become a living letter to our neighbors, coworkers, and the world around us. What is your needed first step in greater absorption of the Living Word? How will you act on that step this week?

George Yates is an Organizational Health Strategist and coach, assisting churches, organizations, and individuals in pursuing God’s purpose for life. Click here to receive this blog in your email inbox each Tuesday.

In today’s culture leaders need navigational tools to guide you (and your organization) from where you are today to where God is calling you to go. This oftentimes means the learning of new skills. Many however, attempt to rely on past experiences. While learning from past experiences is beneficial, yesterday’s skills alone will not serve you fruitfully into tomorrow’s needs. In our everchanging culture, continued learning for an adaptive skillset is advantageous. This not only applies to leaders, but this is also another principle that applies to every man, woman, and child.

We are no longer in the industrial age. During the industrial age leadership mainly consisted of showing people “how to do”. How to perform a certain job, how to run a certain machine, how to type on a typewriter, how to cook a particular meal. The industrial age is now decades behind us.

Today’s leaders and the leaders of tomorrow need to be, “how to be” leaders, not “how to do” leaders. People today are quite capable of self-navigation as long as we are asking the right questions. I have written in books and in several articles that I believe we are not asking the right questions. As long as we’re not asking the right questions, we will never get to the correct answers. Therefore, our people, our organizations cannot be the fruitful vessels God created them to be.

Yet, we are still operating out of a “how to do” mentality. Perhaps the biggest question leaders in every industry and organization (including the church) continually ask themselves begins, “How do we get them to…” This is an industrial age question. Perhaps a better type question to ask in this post-modern culture is more about me (the leader) and my approach to leading for top potential from all in my organization (even in my family).

Let me pose the following type question for effective, fruitful leadership in today’s culture. “What is within my power to encourage and equip others to reach for their full potential in this organization?” While this question is posed to the leader, the results will move the leader to higher skillset and pave the higher skillset pathway for each person within the organization. This question focuses on “how to be” instead of “how to do”. How can you be a better leader, guiding and assisting those in your charge to reach for his/her potential. You are helping him/her to BE who God created them to be.

I do realize that the “How to do” will always be part of leadership, yet it should not be our focus as leaders.

Leadership should not be focused on how to do, rather on how to be…all that God created each individual to be.  What will you do this week to transform yourself into a “How to be” leader? Plan your first steps today.

George Yates is an Organizational Health Strategist and coach, assisting churches, organizations, and individuals in pursuing God’s purpose for life. Click here to receive this blog in your email inbox each Tuesday.

Challenges in our lives are important as they provide opportunities for growth on multiple levels. Growth opportunities provided from challenges include personal and professional, mental, emotional, and spiritual. When a challenge arises we can embrace it and pursue pathways to meet and overcome the challenge, or we can run from it, literally or figuratively.
When we meet or accept a challenge, healthy endorphins are released by the brain promoting a beneficial and encouraging state of mind. This positive outlook helps a person overcome the challenge before him/her. Endorphins have been described as the body’s natural pain reliever. When released they produce positive, happy emotions.
When engaged in any challenge, all positive sensations promote encouragement which can lead to higher capacity in overcoming the challenge. If you are challenged by your doctor to lose 30 pounds due to increasing health risks, it may be difficult to get overly enthused about change in diet and exercise. However, every positive small result promotes this opportunity for growth (better health).
Every victory inside a challenge, big or small, builds confidence in completing or overcoming the challenge. Each challenge overcome builds self-confidence. Along with this self-confidence you build your inner-trust, trust in your ability to overcome future challenges.
Additional benefits of overcoming challenges include building your skills, talents, and expertise in the area of the challenge. Overcoming a leadership challenge will assist you in building your leadership skillset. It is important to take mental note (at least) of all the small learning points while endeavoring a challenge.
Building your skillset will increase your leadership ability and your awareness of potential similar challenges. Do not be intimidated about learning through challenges. Whether facing leadership, parenting, health or any other challenge, new or improved methods and discipline will always benefit you in future situations and challenges.
So whether you are facing internal challenges (fear, impatience, lack of confidence) or external challenges (insufficient resources, health, or social issues) determine to meet challenges head on. Those challenges have a beneficial advantage for you and those in your life.
Determine to accept all challenges as opportunities for growth on multiple levels in your life.
George Yates is an Organizational Health Strategist and coach, assisting churches, organizations, and individuals in pursuing God’s purpose for life. Click here to receive this blog in your email inbox each Tuesday.

Isn’t life filled with challenges? Certainly, everyone’s life is. Some challenges seem daunting. Some people face repeating challenges such as overcoming our anxieties. I know a young mother who had a terrible car rolling accident on icy roads. It took some time before she was able to get behind the wheel of a car. Her anxieties and fears came rushing back each time she did. Even years later when she must drive in bad weather conditions, she faces those same anxieties. Those are repeating challenges in her life.

Others are inspiring challenges motivating us to undertake the challenge. We all love success and every challenge in life brings opportunity for success. When a new, unexpected challenge presents itself, how do you respond? The attitude with which you respond to challenges goes a long way in determining how you will prosper.

Challenges can be both motivating and draining. Challenges always require some action on our part. The level of action given to any challenge will determine the amount of reward as well as the amount of drainage to our being. For some, the thought of drainage is more than he/she is willing to expend and they are likely to give up and abandon ship. Yet, the drainage can be part of our reward. An athlete vigorously exercises and trains throughout the year for a short season of competition. The drainage of those workouts are producing strength, skill, and endurance that is rewarded during competitions.

Likewise, in life we should be motivated to pour into our challenges knowing that the physical and mental drain is assisting us in meeting head-on and overcoming the challenge before us. The mental and emotional drain can be as depleting as physical drain. Physical drainage is easier to recognize and identify than is mental and emotional drainage. Each one is real and can cause unforeseen issues if not addressed.

Therefore, as we work through challenges, we must also recognize the need for rest and restoration to our body, mind, and soul – our complete being. Your body will tell you when it is physically spent. This is more easily recognized than emotional or mental depletion. For some reason most people do not want to accept the thought that we might be mentally or emotionally exhausted. Time away from our normal, harried mental practice is imperative for complete restoration.

What will you do this week to build a systemic restoration process which you can engage in following the challenges of life? What can you do to refresh your mental and emotional capacity and take care of your physical health as well? How will you safeguard that you will undertake these actions following your life challenges?

Build this restoration process in your life and defeat the drainage of challenges!

George Yates is an Organizational Health Strategist and coach, assisting churches, organizations, and individuals in pursuing God’s purpose for life. Click here to receive this blog in your email inbox each Tuesday.