Links: Daily Round-up

I’m finally back from Summer camps, and I think I’m going to be able to get back into the blogging groove again (at least until I leave for a mission trip to Bolivia in a couple of weeks.)  I’ve tried a few different formats for my daily links, but the categorized thing was starting to get on my nerves.  I think I’m gonna settle on the format.  Input is valued!

• Success Covers a Multitude of Sins (from Out of Ur) - This article highlights one of my biggest fears in ministry: letting success get in the way of ministry.
• Optimize Your Productivity with Daily, Weekly Routines (from Zen Habits) -  This is something I’ve been working on myself for the last few weeks. I’d be interested in hearing about your weekly/daily routines, especially as it relates to ministry. 
• Is Your Gospel Robust? (from Out of Ur) - I don’t generally post overly-theological posts, but I thought this one was worth sharing.  In my experience, youth ministries often do more harm than good when it comes to addressing theology, especially when it comes to things that we deal with routinely, like salvation.  Whether you agree or disagree with the article, it’s still food for thought. 
• Death By Ministry Part 2 (Mark Driscoll) - Mark shares some statistics regarding ministers and their families.  Grabbed my attention the most: “The majority of pastors’ wives surveyed said that the most destructive event that has occurred in their marriage and family was the day they entered the ministry.”
• 27 Skills Your Child Needs to Know that She’s Not Getting in School (from Zen Habits) - This isn’t specifically ministry related, but I strongly believe that we need to move towards caring for the whole person more.  I would be very interested in seeing how people could incorporate some of these ideas into youth ministry. 
• Discipline of Sermon Prep (from Church 2.0) -  An interesting take on sermon prep.  I’m not sure that this would work for me, but I do think that youth ministers (and preachers in general) should a lot more time per sermon than they currently do.  Messages need to be deep, not just done.