We all fail! We’ve all said things we wish we could take back and done things we wish we could undo. And the truth of the matter is that we will all fail again, and again, and again and in many different areas of life. So what’s the remedy? Well, if we’re going to fail we better learn how to “Fail Forward” so to speak. Failing Forward is all about what you do immediately after failing! But before we go right into “3 Things to Remember When You Fail” I’d like to share a story because stories stick and I believe this story will help you remember these three things well!

2,000 years ago when Jesus walked the earth he began his ministry by assembling a team. This team was known as the “Twelve Disciples” – one of those twelve was a man named Peter. Peter was a leader, he often spoke first, acted first & took the lead when a problem arose. He was a dedicated follower of Jesus for close to three years! Until one night when Jesus was being led to die – to be crucified for all to see Peter began to shrink back, he shied away from being a leader and in a cowardly way he denied even knowing Jesus (3 times)!

Immediately after he did he wept bitterly! He was ashamed that he would deny the one he followed for years, his friend, an incredible and selfless man, this miracle worker, the very Son of God! Thankfully the story does not stop there! After being crucified before many witnesses and confirmed to be dead this man Jesus rose from the grave! Surely this was the Son of God who came to take away the sins of the world! And who did this man Jesus seek after his death and resurrection? The disciples AND Peter! Scripture records Peter being singled out, as if God wanted to make sure Peter got the message! Jesus then appears to the disciples and countless others over a period of the next forty days! These “3 Things to Remember When You Fail” are discovered by Peter on one particular day after Jesus had rose from the grave:

The Disciples had gone back to fishing and Peter was leading the charge. However they had no luck after fishing all night! Then they heard a voice from the shore saying, “Cast your net on the other side of the boat!” When they did they ended up catching more fish then they could haul in! The disciples recognized who this man was, it was Jesus! Peter then dove out into the water to meet him on the shore and this brings up the first thing to remember when you fail:

1. Run TO God instead of FROM God!

Often when we fail we’re tempted to keep failing. We think to ourselves, “I might as well, I’ve already messed up, why not mess up even more?!” Like Adam and Eve in the beginning of Genesis after they sinned they hid from God! This too is another temptation, instead of running back to God we tend to want to hide and run away from Him. But God greets us with love and desires that even after we fail we would get back up and come to Him! Like the parable of the lost son, God our Father is waiting for us to return with open arms! He loves us and desires to pour His love, grace and mercy upon us! So when you fail (and you will) remember to run to God rather than from Him!

Throughout their conversation Jesus has a few questions for Peter. Three times Jesus asked Peter, “Do you love me?” And three times Peter said, “Yes, you know that I love you!” Each time Jesus responded, “Then feed my sheep!” What was Jesus really saying? What was Jesus pointing Peter to? Essentially Jesus was helping Peter to look to the future He had for him rather than his past mistakes. He was calling Peter to rise up and lead again! To take care of the church and lead well! And this brings up the second thing to remember when you fail:

2.   Focus more on the future instead of fixating on the past!

We all have a past, we’ve all made countless mistakes but we make another mistake if we allow the mistakes of our past to trip us up in the present and negatively impact our future! Just as our windshield is so much larger than our rearview mirror we must focus on what’s ahead of us (our future) rather than gaze at what’s behind us (fixate on our past)! Moses was a murderer, David was an adulterer and the Apostle Paul persecuted Christians! They all had a past but God called each of them to focus on Him and the future He had for them! God’s calling us to forget what is behind and to focus our eyes on what is ahead!

Lastly after this session of Q & A Jesus said one more thing that I’d like to highlight! A simple phrase Peter would have heard a few times before, “Follow me.” Jesus was essentially saying, “Stay close to me, continue to follow me and get back into a place of faith! Remember all the miracles we witnessed together! Remember who I am and who you are! Let’s continue to do ministry together and as you follow me remember to believe nothing is impossible with God!” And this brings up the third thing to remember when you fail:

3.   Continue to follow Jesus and stay in a place of faith!

Scripture tells us a righteous man falls seven times but gets back up! It also says the righteous shall live by faith! We’re going to fall but we’re all called to rise again! We’re called to live not by sight but rather by faith! Simply put we’re not to be so easily impacted by negative things we see around us. Rather we’re called to be impacted by the things we see God pointing us to in His Word and through divine inspiration. Jesus was helping Peter to move past his past and it’s negative connotations. Jesus went even further by essentially changing the story!

If you read the Scriptures it was by a fire that Peter denied Jesus three times AND it was by a fire Jesus restored Peter by inviting Peter to express his love for Him three times! God used the very things that would remind Peter of his failure and He made them things that would remind Peter of his restoration and calling! Jesus was essentially changing the narrative! God was changing the story!

And if you too want your story to be changed, simply invite God into your pain, invite Him into your failure and watch what He does! He will take your mess and He’ll make it your message! God has a way of taking our failures and turning them around for something good! So remember these three things when you fail:

1. Run TO God instead of FROM God!
2. Focus more on the future instead of fixating on the past!
3. Continue to follow Jesus and stay in a place of faith!

And be encouraged knowing that failure is never a person, it’s an event. We’ll all experience failure but failure is not who we are! We’re overcomers! So next time you fail… Fail Forward!

Would you like to hear more on this subject?

Click HERE to listen to a recent sermon on Failing Forward!

The post Failing Forward first appeared on John Silkauskas.

Years ago I remember hearing the “prayer evangelist” Terry Teykl (a Pastor in the United Methodist Church) say, “God won’t send live chicks to sit under a dead hen!” This one-liner has stuck with me and God has used it to encourage me to be a man of prayer ever since.

Several months ago I felt the Lord leading me to not only pray but to also start a
weekly prayer meeting for our church. As I sensed God’s leading I eventually responded and in July we launched a weekly prayer meeting for our church! It’s been a rich time of prayer each week and we’ve already begun to see the fruit of it!

Each week we pray for our leadership that God would grant us the spirit of wisdom and revelation, we pray for our weekly services and upcoming events, we pray for our church, community, nation and the world. One of our major focuses however is the lost (If you’re wanting to reach the lost in your life I encourage you to start HERE)! Almost every week we’ve prayed that God would draw people here to our church and to Himself through whatever means possible! Simple but persistent prayers like, “God, use the marquee to draw people in! God, may people just sense your presence as they’re driving by, walking by, or our parking lot for for whatever reason (picking their kids up from school or getting pumpkins, etc.) God, may people just feel drawn to come here from the north, south, east and west and as they come draw them to yourself!” Even more recently we’ve prayed a crazy prayer, “God would bring those who no one else wants…”

Well…Can I just say that God answers prayer?! I’m in charge of our connect cards and I can’t even tell you how many people have been visiting us and when it asks “How did you hear about us?” They’ve almost all checked “DRIVING BY” I don’t see it as a coincidence as I’ve been doing this for a while and I’ve never seen the amount that I have recently all check the same thing!

Now let’s break it down even more: On a Sunday night at a parenting class we were offering we had a new couple who said they saw the Marquee about the parenting class and felt drawn to come and check it out! They have a few little ones but have also been pursuing adoption for a couple years. They came that Sunday morning for the first time and it just so happened to be Fostering and Adoption Sunday (they had no idea as it wasn’t on our website and they didn’t know anyone at the church). They said it so greatly impacted them that they’ve decided they are now going to foster as well!!! (It was their first Sunday here!!)

The last couple weeks people have been just walking into my office off the street needing to talk to a pastor, feeling that they couldn’t go anywhere else however felt they were suppose to come here, pulled in our parking lot and just felt drawn to come in! I’m not making this up!!!

Last week (shortly after praying “God would bring those who no one else wants…”) a man came in very broken needing prayer, financial help and mostly community! He said, “I don’t belong anywhere I go, even churches, no one wants me.” I assured him he is welcome here and that we’d love for him to join our community! He came Sunday and he’s been in close touch almost daily since we met! Then later that day a teenager walked in from the street asking for a bible! When I gave him a bible I asked, “What brought you in here today to ask for a bible? He responded, “Curiosity!” I was immediately reminded of the prayers we’ve been praying!

I could go on! We’ve had visitors from Japan, kids just showing up at our door wanting to volunteer, more and more people saying they just felt like they needed to come and check us out. God answers prayer my friends!!! So whether you’re a pastor, business owner, student, mom or dad may this be an encouragement to us all to pray, pray and pray some more!!! Let’s pray for our hearts to be alive, our needs to be met, our churches to grow, our communities to be reached and definitely for the lost to be saved! Let us pray…

The post Answers to a Pastor’s Prayers first appeared on John Silkauskas.

In my early years of ministry before dad life, even before marriage one of my mentors taught me something that I have not forgotten: Balance! Fast forward to when I first started my family I now had an opportunity to implement this wisdom. I made a commitment to be at home for dinner at least four nights each week. This meant that even if the church had four evening meetings where I was suppose to be present my calendar was already booked! I therefore had to prioritize and determine which meetings I had to be at and which one I could miss. It’s things like these that have helped me lead well at home and work.

I could share a lot of thoughts on leading well like the importance of vision, constant communication, being positive, staying humble, leading by example and many others. However I’d like to focus on these four specific ones today:

1. Think before you _____.

We tell our children to think before they speak and we as leaders need to take heed to this valuable lesson. Not only before we speak but before we act as well! Strategic thinking is probably one of the most lacking things in both our homes and our work! We so easily get lost in the day to day requirements that long term strategic thinking rarely gets done. And it’s easy to see why, we’re so busy wearing countless hats we get lost in the whirlwind of our daily tasks. Don’t make this grave mistake!

Take away – Think strategically on where you’re going and how you’re going to get there!

2. Time outs are essential!

Time outs often help kids to pause, focus, reflect on their actions and adjust their attitude. As leaders I believe we should all take time outs! I’m a better dad when I get a little time to myself, I’m a better pastor and leader when I remove myself for a short time to pause, to focus, to reflect on my actions, my attitude and all that’s happening around me. The best way for me to make time outs a regular practice is by scheduling them in advance. It’s actually part of My Morning Routine!

Take away – Take a moment right now to schedule some time out this week to focus, reflect and adjust accordingly.

3. If it stinks, change it.

This doesn’t just refer to diapers, it refers to everything that’s not working. If something is not working whether it’s our parenting style or one of our processes at work, we need to be willing to make some changes. In a culture that is ever changing some of the ways we do things need to change as well. For example people’s eyes are fixed to small screens whether it’s a laptop or a smartphone. We are literally a screen culture in a digital age and we need to learn to leverage it rather than resist it. Some of our old ways of doing things aren’t working and we need to change!

Take away – Think about what’s currently not working whether it’s at home or work and be willing to make whatever necessary changes may be needed.

4. You need to share!

We’ve all heard this one growing up but how well are we practicing it today? Some of the best leadership principles out there came from Jesus (just like this one)! Think about it, Jesus lived a life of ministry but he also invited his disciples to do the same! He invited the disciples to do what he was doing and we ought to be inviting the people around us to do the same! As much as possible work as a team with the people around you, it will pay dividends in the long run! Work as a team, share responsibility, and delegate where needed. It works both at home and work and as leaders we need to share responsibility and delegate well in order to accomplish all that God has called us to!

Take away – Ask yourself, “Where do I need to share? What things do I need to delegate?”

Lastly, remember to first lead well at home, for this will position you to lead well everywhere else!

The post 4 Keys To Leading Well at Home and Work first appeared on John Silkauskas.

If you’re like me there’s been times where you’ve truly felt overwhelmed with so much to do on your plate and not sure how you’re going to get it all done. Between family, friends, work, school and church, life can easily become overwhelming. Things that should be on the forefronts end up on the back burner, areas get neglected and you’re no longer thriving you’re surviving! So how do you balance all these areas of your life well enough to actually see growth rather then decline and neglect? I’m glad you asked! I’ve discovered 3 Keys to Holistic Growth and here they are – 

1. Develop a Growth Mindset – 

If you want to see consistent growth in multiple areas of your life you have to develop a growth mindset! A growth mindset is like that of a student eager to learn, to grow, to improve! A sad reality is that many in this day and age have become critics! It’s easy to find dirt in a gold mine! Just like it’s easy to complain and be a critic in life but the moment you become a critic you’re no longer a student! You stop learning, growing and improving!

Another way to put it is this – develop a learning lifestyle, where you read regularly, listen to podcasts, sermons, etc. You invite mentors to speak into your life. You set goals and go after them. You not only seek your growth but you also seek to help others grow. A mindset and lifestyle like this will surely set you up for great success in every area of life!

(A growth mindset is plainly seen in the Gospels, the book of Acts and each one of Paul’s epistles. Proverbs 1:5 specifically stands out, “A wise man will hear and increase in learning.”)

     2.  Think Strategically – 

With a growth mindset you’re off to a great start but it doesn’t stop there! You have to think strategically – how are you going to grow, improve, get better in all these areas of life? How is your marriage going to get better? How are your finances going to get better? How are things at your job going to get better?

Personally I’ve created “accounts” so to speak, I determine what needs to be done in my work account, family account, finances account, etc. Once I’ve established my goals for each account I create a plan to make steps toward my goals. If I see an “account” that needs my immediate attention I make whatever necessary changes I need to. However this happens less and less once a plan is in place and followed.

(Strategic thinking is clearly seen all throughout Scripture, from Moses to Joshua, Jesus to Paul! God’s given us all great minds and we’re called to use them.)

      3.  Schedule Time – 

In order for both a growth mindset and strategic thinking to really work well it’s absolutely necessary to schedule time in your day, week, month and year for each account. First you must schedule time to determine your goals and create a plan for each “account” in your life. These times are almost like drawing the blueprints, you have to first establish an end goal or a final destination – where are you wanting to go? You then create a map – how are you going to get there?

Once your goals are established and your plan is created then you have to schedule actual time with each account. So if my goal is to have a closer friendship with my wife by the end of the year I’m not only going to take the time in planning special dates and intentional conversation I’m going to then also go on those special dates and set time aside for that intentional conversation. You must schedule time for both! Planning and implementing those plans!

(We’re called to make the most use of our time for this life is but a vapor (Ephesians 5:15-17, Psalm 39:4-5, 90:12), may we number our days and redeem the time.)

        Summary –

I’ve used these key principles to establish ministries, write books, plan family vacations and take my work to the next level! If you commit to having a growth mindset, where you think strategically and schedule time for both planning and implementing those plans you will see consistent growth in all areas of your life!

And if you’re looking for more helpful strategies on holistic growth visit my Resource Page where you can download free ebooks or become a JSM Partner and join my monthly mentoring calls! And if you haven’t already received my FREE audio training Create A Life You Love, sign up for my weekly emails and it will be my gift to you!

The post How to Maintain Consistent Growth in Multiple Areas at Once first appeared on John Silkauskas.

If you’ve ever squandered away a morning or afternoon at work and wondered how time flew by without you accomplishing anything worthwhile you’re not alone! Countless people waste time each day for various reasons. Maybe they don’t know how to manage time well or allow too distractions to keep them from what they actually should be doing. Maybe they’re not focused or clear on their purpose. Over the years I’ve had plenty of days come to an end leaving me unfulfilled and at a loss as to whether my day was productive at all! That was until I learned a few very important things that I’d like to share with you. In this blog I share 3 keys to making sure your day is both productive and fulfilling! Here is my Morning Routine:

Key # 1

Start the Night Before

“It’s incredible to realize that what we do each day has meaning in the big picture of God’s plan.” -Bill Hybels

If you want to assure you’re going to have a meaningful and successful day you have to start the night before. Every night before bed I spend some time in thought and I identify all that I want / need to accomplish the next day! I then write those things down and prioritize them! I ask myself if I were to only get one, two or three of these things done which should I do first? Lastly I make sure to get to sleep at a decent hour so that I’m ready to go early in the morning!

Key # 2

Establish a Morning Routine

“This is the beginning of a new day. God has given me this day to use as I will. I can waste it or use it for good. What I do today is very important because I am exchanging a day of my life for it. When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever, leaving something in its place I have traded for it. I want it to be gain, not loss — good, not evil. Success, not failure in order that I shall not forget the price I paid for it.” -Unknown

Mornings are sacred! How you start your day will greatly impact how the rest of your day goes. Most people allow this time to be haphazard at best never realizing the potential it has. But those who accomplish great things in life have discovered the great importance of establishing a morning routine! Here is my morning routine:

Pray – In His presence He makes known the path of life and fills us with great joy (Psalm 16:11) It’s in this time of prayer that I receive direction, I am filled with life and greatly inspired! I also take time to pray for those dear to me, those I’ll encounter throughout the day and those hurting around the world.

Read – First and foremost I read Scripture however I also read devotionals, articles or blogs on faith, family, leadership, success and other subjects that pertain to things that are important to me.

Speak Life – Similar to the quote above, “This is the beginning of a new day…” I’ve created a list of declarations that I make daily. I speak God’s Word over my life, my family, my ministry, etc. This is a greatly affirming and faith building time each morning and it also clarifies my assignment and all that I’m believing God for!

This list isn’t exhaustive but these are some of the most important things. Of course I eat breakfast, get cleaned up for the day, love on my family and work out a few times a week as well! The bottom line is you need to create a morning routine that works for you and then stick to it (at all costs)!

Key # 3

Know You Why

“The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.” – Mark Twain

When you don’t know why you’re doing what you’re doing you’ll often lose motivation, get easily sidetracked, be less productive and often feel unfulfilled. However, on the other hand something powerful happens when you discover your “why.” Purpose becomes clear, focus and productivity go through the roof and great fulfillment is derived all from knowing your “why.”

John C. Maxwell shares a story of a man who came across three bricklayers hard at work. The man asked the first bricklayer what he was doing. “I’m laying bricks,” he replied. He then asked the second bricklayer the same question. “I’m putting up a wall,” he said. The passerby then asked the question one more time, this time to the third bricklayer. His response was, “I’m building a cathedral.”

It’s clear one was working for a paycheck, one maybe a sense of accomplishment but there was one who knew not just what he was doing but why he was doing it! He had caught the grand vision of people one day gathering from all over to worship, he knew the importance of his work and it was certainly for more than a paycheck!

It’s through my nightly and morning routines that I not only become more clear on my “why” but I also keep it always before me! It’s the power of vision and it’s what has compelled all the greats throughout history!

So, remember if you want to have a productive and fulfilling day start the night before, become clear on your goals, establish your morning routine, pray, read, get inspired and know your “why.”

What’s your morning routine? What are the practices that help you have a fulfilled and productive day? I’d love to hear! Please comment below! And if this has been helpful consider sharing it with friends, colleagues and on social media.

The post My Morning Routine first appeared on John Silkauskas.