by Leslie Galema

My favorite part of American Idol is the first couple of weeks when folks are auditioning for their golden ticket to be “through to Hollywood.” I can’t hide the fact that I enjoy seeing those well-intended American Idol hopefuls make a “joyful noise.” It is both comical and painful to watch as they stand in front of the celebrity judges and sing a tone-deaf rendition of “I Will Always Love You.” Bless their hearts.

I often ask my husband, “Where are these people’s friends and family? Why do they let them go on national television and make total fools of themselves?”

I think that the reality is, we live in a culture where we are told, “You can be anything you want to be in life, all you have to do is put your mind to it.” The truth is, while that makes us all feel warm and fuzzy, it is the farthest thing from reality. Well, kind of.

You may have heard it said it like this: “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”

This week, we will be reading about another principle of The Happiness Advantage.

Principle #2: The Fulcrum and Lever

Our power to maximize our potential is based on two important things:

1. The length of our lever: How much potential power and possibility we believe we have.
2. The position of our fulcrum: The mindset with which we generate the power to change.

Last week, we read about exercising our Signature Strengths. We all have things we are naturally good at. The key is being self-aware enough to recognize what they are, and what they are not. When we can pinpoint what skills we have, then that is the position of our lever. We all have skills, and strengthening those skills comes from where we place our fulcrum. The author is not suggesting we can be anything we want to be, he is telling us that we can be anything we want to be, once we understand what we are actually good at.

William Hung, a 2004 American Idol hopeful—who gained fame due to his terrible audition of a Ricky Martin song—may not be a great singer, but he does have a gift in something. He just needed guidance in where his potential was and what his limits were. (Sure, we can all be American Idols in the car or in the shower—give me a hairbrush and a mirror and my favorite Adele song and I sound exactly like her. Wink.)

After High School graduation I went to college and because I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life, I lasted two years before dropping out. I had never been great at school and felt that I had no hope in college, so I quit. You see, I don’t think that I started college with the mindset that ministry was something I could do. It wasn’t until I had spent some time doing ministry on my own, watched others do ministry, and was affirmed by others that I began believing that I could benefit from getting my degree. Once I had decided that I could, I did! The reason I was able to finish up my degree was because this time around, I adjusted the fulcrum and lever. I recognized my strength and skill, I believed I could achieve my goal, and then I made the adjustments in my life and heart to make it happen.

God has gifted us all in different areas; the key is having the self-awareness to know what they are and then to use them! Recognize your strengths and grow them!

As a leader, we should hope to engage our team with positivity and inspire them by reminding them the meaning behind what they are doing. Earlier in the book, the author writes about Chip Conley, an innovative hotelier who likes to ask his employees:

“Forget your current job title. What would our customers call your job title if they described it by the impact you have on their lives?”

The fastest way to disengage an employee is to tell him his work is meaningful only because of the paycheck. You can have the best job in the world, but if you can’t find meaning in it, you won’t enjoy it. What we expect from people (and from ourselves) manifests itself in the words we use, and those words can have a powerful effect on end results.

Challenge:

In this chapter we are encouraged to ask ourselves the following questions every Monday:

1. Do I believe that the intelligence and skills of my employees are not fixed, but can be improved with effort?
2. Do I believe that my employees want to make that effort, just as they want to find meaning and fulfillment in their jobs?
3. How am I conveying these beliefs in my daily words and actions?

Everyone is busy, busy, busy.

Ask someone how their week was, and you’ll probably hear the word “busy” somewhere in their description. And honestly, the same would probably be true for you and I. Why do we feel the need to sound busy? “Just staying busy,” is suppose to be a good answer, right?

Being busy isn’t necessarily a good thing or a bad thing, but the question is- what are we so busy doing? Are we being efficient with our time? Are there other methods or tools that we could be using to better do the tasks we do everyday? Are we letting inefficient methods take up out time, or worse, cause a distraction from what’s important?

Let me give you an example:

When I first started working in social media, I did everything manually. As in, I did every post, tweet and pin the moment before it posted. That really meant 2 thing:

1. I was constantly distracted from whatever else I was doing to go post or tweet something. I looked busy, but I was not getting as much done as I could.

Constant interruptions break your concentration. When you constantly break your concentration, you are making your job way harder than it has to be. Studies have shown that it takes approximately 15 minutes to reach a place of focused concentration. Thus, constant interruptions will stop you reaching that place. Now, I’m not talking about the breaks you needto take to clear your mind and get refocused. Things like getting a snack, going for a short walk, or reorganizing your space can definitely be good. No, I’m talking about the counterproductive interruptions that could have been easily avoided by a little bit of pre-planning on your part. Writing a blog post that should only take me about an hour has ended up taking me at least twice that long. Interruptions may seem harmless, but freeing yourself up from distractions that you can control and allowing yourself to concentrate can do wonders to your productivity!

2. I was inconsistent. Not that I have it totally nailed down to a science just yet, but I’ve come a long way.

Don’t get me wrong, sometimes the best tweets are the ones you think of the on spur of the moment, but you also need consistency. Being consistent across your different social media channels helps you make a reliable name for yourself in your industry, a constant channel for engagement, and a trustworthy source as a brand.

It’s not that I am any less busy now, but my social media work is more efficient. My quality of time is on the up and up, and my so-called “busy” work is on the down and down (I know, not a real phrase, but why not?)

When we become efficiently busy with an unbroken focus, a powerful thing happens. And when we join forces with technology built specifically for better time management, a really powerful thing happens. You see, when we take the time to evaluate what we are doing now, determine the right tools for the job, and make the necessary changes to do that which we are doing better, we form healthy habits for success. We start taking time to assess productivity, and in turn, find ourselves freeing up time for more important tasks. It seems our efficiency can always be improved upon, and it’s up to us to make it happen!

But here’s the question: Do you have the right tools? Do you even know the tools available to you?

When it comes to productivity tools for social media, there are manysocial media aggregators available for free. HootSuite and Sprout Socialare two of the most popular, so we won’t discuss them today. However, check out this social media aggregators article if you want to read more about them.

Below I’ve listed social media tools that let you plan, schedule, manage, or track your posts, tweets, or pins.

1. Pingraphy
For: Pinterest

Being a pinterest fanatic, I recently started using Pingraphy. You can upload pins in one big batch, and then schedule them in your Pinterest feed to go out throughout the day, week, or whenever you prefer. Keep in mind though, research by Pinerly, the Pinterest analytics tool, says the optimal time for pinning is Saturday mornings and late weekday evenings between 8pm – 1am EST.

Read more helpful tips about Pingraphy here.

2. Tweetdeck
For: Twitter

Tweetdeck lets you to monitor and manage a large number of Twitter streams at once.  I like the ability to pick and choose which feeds I want to see at once, side by side. The activity column delivers real-time engagement news on the recent follows and favorites from the accounts I follow, which I love because I’m always looking for good new connections. It wasn’t for Tweetdeck, I’d probably never see these new connections.

Features: Plan, schedule, manage

Read more helpful tips about Tweetdeck here.

3. Post Planner
For: Facebook

Some of you may enjoy Facebook’s option to schedule a post, by clicking on this button on your Facebook page:

However, did you know there are even more ways to plan facebook posts? Post Planner lets you put together schedule posts in the same format that Facebook does. What’s different and neat about Post Planner is the “suggestions” feature, which really comes in handy on those days that you can’t get your mind in gear; it gives you ideas from a wide variety of categories to help you decide what to post about.

Read more tips about Post Planner here.

Originally posted February 15, 2013, on Roar.pro, by Summer Pridemore. Used with permission.

by Gary Fenton

Read any book about leadership and the word vision is addressed throughout. For good reason, the strength of a leader is often tied to their ability to communicate and rally support behind their vision. But it is easy to misunderstand the definition and application of a church leader’s vision.

Every ministry leader has a vision for their ministry. Sometimes a ministry’s lack of energy or a church’s stagnate growth is attributed to the absence of a leader’s vision. While some leaders are better than others at succinctly communicating their vision, they all have a picture in their mind of what they want their ministry to be and to become. A leader’s vision may be that things never change. And the problem isn’t that the leader lacks vision, the problem is that their vision doesn’t produce an attractive or relevant ministry environment. When conflict arises on a church staff, it is nearly always because two ministry leaders have competing visions and not that either has an absence of vision.

Vision and strategy are different. Vision is what a leader wants the ministry to be or become. If vision is to be communicated, it must move from a mental picture to a word picture. The vision is the destination. Strategy is a tactical plan for how to move toward the destination. Developing leaders sometimes confuse strategy with vision, creating a plan that may or may not work toward fulfilling the vision. For example, a staff member may propose an event to intentionally attract unchurched families to the church campus. But what do you want to accomplish in the lives of attending nonbelievers? Do you want them to just show up? Or do you want them to take a first step toward becoming disciples? Vision driven strategy will always include plans to help newcomers return to the church where environments and mentors are waiting to disciple those same people. Conversely, many churches have the stated vision of reaching non-believers, yet their strategies (and church culture) only appeal to existing Christians. Vision must precede strategy. Vision without strategy is wishful thinking. Strategy without vision is simply a way to organize busy work.

You may have to ask a senior pastor to help you understand his vision. Invite the senior pastor to paint a picture of what the church looks like one year and three years from today. Without understanding his goals for the church, you may be running on a track parallel (or perpendicular) to your senior leader’s goals. And when you understand your pastor’s vision, you can shape the vision of your own ministry to support the bigger picture goals. It will be much easier to gain the mindshare of your senior pastor when you can speak his language, helping him to see how your ministry vision aligns with the overarching goals for the church.

Keep in mind that not all church leaders can explain or interpret vision well. They may struggle to put their goals into words. Other staff members and influential lay leaders may be better at vision interpretation than the pastor. Because there is always a subjective dimension to interpretation and application, it may help to seek the perspective of key staff and church members.

Learn about the history of the church’s vision or mission statement. Sometimes a vision is a reaction to a previous (or ongoing) problem in the church. Occasionally, the official mission incorporates goals imposed by a pastor or a committee and without explanation. Understanding how the vision was formed can help shape its application inside your own ministry.

Design the events and environments under your leadership to support the big picture goals of the church. Use the vocabulary and imagery of your senior pastor’s vision to describe the goals of your own ministry. When promoting your ministry within the church, begin with the end in mind. Talk about what you want to ultimately accomplish rather than focusing on what problem you want to solve. For example, invite prospective volunteers to make an eternal impact rather than draft workers to fulfill a state mandated childcare ratio.

Dr. Gary Fenton is the senior pastor of Dawson Memorial Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. Gary blogs at www.CharacterPath.com and can be found on Twitter @CharacterPath.

What do you get when you combine Tripp and Tyler with Jon Acuff? A “fun night” at Orange Conference 2013. Here are some entertaining games we learned:

1. Mexican Roulette: Go to a mexican restaurant, don’t look at the menu, order a random number, and see what you get. This is a really good date night idea.

2. Phone Roulette: Take your friends phone, blindly scroll through their contact list, pick one person, press call, hand back to friend. See how long it takes them to figure out who they’re talking to. Rule: They cannot ask the person who they are, nor can they mention this is a game.

3. I’ll Give You a Million Dollars: The next time you’re hanging out with your youth group/ small group/ d-group/ community group/ access group/ accountability group, say, “I’ll give you a million dollars if you can name what (cereal, color, car, just whatever category you want) I’m thinking of. Ready, go.” See how many guesses it takes people to guess what you’re thinking. It may take 10 guesses, it may take 200 guesses, but either way, when someone guesses it, fun times had by all. This is an especially fun game to play in a public crowd—when the guesser says the right answer, make the biggest and loudest scene possible yelling: “You just won a million dollars!” By the way, when they guess the correct answer, the million dollars isn’t real.

Originally posted on April 25, 2013, by Summer Pridemore on Roar.pro: http://roar.pro/tripp-and-tyler-at-orange-conference-shoot-christians-say-with-jon-acuff/

God can quiet your spirit even while gluing hair on a caterpillar.

It’s been one of the busiest seasons for me personally in ministry, maybe you can relate. On this one particular day projects were piling up, my inbox was full and there were lots of calls to return. When I looked at my calendar I saw that I was supposed to be volunteering in both my kindergartner and second grader’s classrooms. This was probably the busiest day I had all month. And I was so tempted to call their teacher and explain that I just couldn’t make it today. But knowing how much my kids look forward to me being in their classroom I decided I would go. After all, I had made a commitment.

I was rushing through the projects my child’s teacher had asked me to do, and I was excited because I thought I’d be able to get out of there early—after all I had a ton to do. And then she sweetly asked me if I could do one more thing.

“Could you glue this yarn to the caterpillar in the hallway?”

“I’m sorry, could I what??”

Okay, now I’m not talking about one piece of yarn, I’m talking about gluing 100s of tiny pieces of yarn to the six-foot paper caterpillar on the wall. The one that I knew would be removed from the walk in two weeks. The one that sticky little hands would be playing with as they walked down the hallways each day.

“Why, I’d be happy to!” I heard myself saying before I realized it.

It was quite a site. I had glue stuck to my hands, my arms, my clothes, yarn was everywhere—everything was sticky as I glued one string at a time to this very hungry caterpillar.

I settled in for what promised to be a tedious task. That’s when there was this moment, I felt a sense of quiet for the first time all day. It was such a mindless task, but in those 30 minutes of gluing yarn, I was quiet enough to listen. To realize that maybe God gave me this job to quiet my spirit for a brief moment. Maybe this was really a gift, a calm before the storm of projects I needed to do. A way for me to refocus, to remember my priorities, to remember that I can’t do the things I need to do in my own strength.

I finished up and left feeling refreshed, ready to get back to work. I think I was more productive after my caterpillar craft than before.

Did you know that research shows we are actually more productive when we have intense effort for shorter periods of time (45-90 minutes), followed by intentional rest and recovery; and ultimately more productive than moderate, continuous effort for a stretch of hours? (Taken from The Way We’re Working Isn’t Working by Tony Schwartz.)

It’s so easy to get frustrated when things seem to get in the way of our own agenda. When our kids need something, and our first reaction, is I just don’t have time for this. When we are stuck in traffic, or there is a particularly long line in the grocery store, because the person in front of you has 17 items in the “10 item only” check out line. You know, you counted.

Maybe these hiccups throughout the day are really little reminders for us to slow down. For us to refocus on God, to refocus our priorities, to remember that God can speak to us even while gluing hair on a caterpillar.

To learn more about The Way We’re Working Isn’t Working, check out our book preview in YouLead, our library of leadership development resources.

Wanna know what songs were performed during the main stage sessions of The Orange Conference 2013? Download the PDF of all the information!

OC Music 2013

by Leslie Black-Galema

I have a confession to make: I am in student ministry and I despise playing group games. I am “THAT” person that purposely and shamelessly gets “out” on purpose as to not have to continue playing. When I was in the 1^st grade, my parents signed me up for T-ball. I remember my first game! I wore my team hat, and jersey along with my anklet socks and cleats. I will never forget telling my parents that I didn’t want to play anymore because my coach told me to “GO HOME!” I am just not built for competition.

Sure! I understand the concept of playing games—it gets us out of our comfort zone and helps us to get to know people we wouldn’t usually get a chance to talk to. The truth is, I don’t like games because it makes me step out of my comfort zone and I don’t like to be uncomfortable! I have also learned that when I am willing to change my attitude and participate with enthusiasm, I always have so much fun and never regret doing so! I usually get to know someone who, like me, can be found playing in the dirt, picking dandelions, and turning cartwheels in the outfield, while the game is going on. My new, like-minded friend and I will spend the game laughing at each other and making the most of it!

These ideas of positive thinking and “making the most of it” are what Shawn Achor had in mind when he wrote his book, The Happiness Advantage. In this month’s book study, we will pull up our front row seat as Shawn unpacks his experiences at Harvard University, where he has dedicated the last decade of his life researching happiness and positive thinking’s effect on our personal and professional lives.

During this week’s reading, we will dive into Part 1 and swim page by page into the findings that prove time after time to be a game changer in the lives of people who were simply primed to positivity and how it affected their performance. We will also be introduced to the first of seven principles of positive psychology that Achor believes will fuel success and performance at work.

Principle #1 The Happiness Advantage

Big Idea: Success doesn’t make us happy, rather, happiness brings success.
While Achor gives plenty of data and research to back this up, he also gives examples of successful organizations that do this well. Google allows their employees to bring their dogs to work, Yahoo! has an in-house spa, and famed CEO, Richard Branson, has said that “more than any other element, FUN is the secret of Virgin’s success.” Smart companies cultivate happy experiences because it cultivates creativity. Fun leads to bottom line results! The best leaders use the Happiness Advantage as a tool to motivate their teams and maximize employee potential. Achor is clear that organizations don’t have to be on the same level as Google to implement happiness boosters. It is true of all of us that we want to be valued and encouraged and that what we do is important! Valuing someone takes no money out of our budgets and delivers the same results!

Challenge
So what if you are like me, and thinking positively doesn’t come so naturally, how can we start redirecting our attitudes? Achor gives several practical examples of ways to flex our happiness muscles, (pages 51-55).

Reflection/Prayer: When I was in college I took a class on Faith Development of the Individual. One day, our professor cleared the room of desks and tables and had each student sit on the floor with our legs folded and hands in our lap. We took a few minutes to sit quietly, and then she encouraged us as we inhaled to think “BE STILL AND KNOW” and as we exhaled to think “THAT I AM GOD.” I have to admit that one lesson has served as a tool for me in so many situations in my life. I have never felt so peaceful and at rest with God than when we learned about reflection and prayer that day.

Find something to look forward to. Anticipating future rewards can actually light up the pleasure centers in your brain as much as the actual reward will. Get something on your calendar! For me, it’s The Orange Conference! (No, they did NOT tell me to say that!) Going to Orange Conference each year has fueled me and allowed God to speak to me through other leaders and has reminded me WHY I am doing what I am doing!

Commit CONSCIOUS acts of kindness. Pick one day a week and make a point to commit five acts of kindness on purpose. What if we chose five volunteers from our team to love on each week to honor them for the sacrifice they make to keep this wheel of ministry rolling! It is always life-giving to give!

Infuse positivity into your surroundings. Think about your office or workspace. What feelings does it inspire? Make time to go outside, change your scenery and get a breath of fresh air! It’s always fun to people watch or sit on a bench in a park and just breath in what God has created. I truly believe it evokes creativity in us and how we lead!

Exercise. Physical activity can boost mood and enhance our work performance by improving motivation and feelings of mastery, reducing stress and anxiety. Go swimming, take a dance class, go for a walk, run, play, stretch, jump rope—it doesn’t matter as long as you get moving! In ministry, it is easy to feel like most of your time is spent on others. As a runner, what I have learned is that, for one hour every other night, I get to do something just for me! It has been a great stress relief!

Spend money (but not on stuff). Spending money on other people is called “prosocial spending,” and it can boost happiness! Treat a friend to lunch, buy something for someone, or donate to a charity. Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also! Sure, it feels good to buy ourselves a new book we have wanted to read, or a new shirt we have had our eye on but nothing ever feels as good as giving something away. 252 Basics describes Generosity as “giving something away to make someone’s day.” It’s fun and great soup for our souls to make someone’s day.

Think Tank:
As you practice some of these exercises, I am interested in hearing how it made a difference in your mood or your attitude. If you practiced this with your team, what did you try? How did your team respond? What changes did you see over time?

Carey Nieuwhof, senior pastor of Connexus Community Church, interviews Mark Beeson, senior pastor of Granger Community Church. Granger Community Church received national recognition in 2001 as one of the fastest growing, most relevant churches of that time. But over time, Granger began to lose their vision. Hear Mark’s perspective on why this happened and what they did to get back on track. For more information about Mark and Granger Community Church, check out Mark’s blog at: http://www.markbeeson.com

YouLead Feature: Mark Beeson Podcast

Developed by Orange, YouLead is designed to develop the leadership skills of yourself, your team and your volunteers. It centers on answering three basic questions: What can I do to continue learning as a leader? How can I be intentional about connecting with my volunteers consistently? What can we do to stay on the same page as a team? We do this by creating materials that can be digested in 20 easy minutes. Click here to learn more about a subscription to YouLead.

I believe the phrase, “running around like a chicken with its head cut off” is a common analogy for many in ministry. Busy weekends bleed into weekday staff meetings, programming preparation, rehearsals, and email writing. It’s so easy to get caught up in the busyness of what we do that we neglect matters of the heart. I will never forget when I got my wake-up call to slow down a bit and prioritize. I was busy preparing for a huge family ministry event and “running around like a chicken with its head cut off”—all while my little boy was waiting for me to pick him up on early release day at school. After he patiently waited for an hour, I got a call from the school inquiring if someone would be picking him up. My heart sank—I had been so wrapped up in what I was doing that I had forgotten one of the people who mattered the most. I arrived to find a scolding look from the front desk clerk but a huge smile and hug from my six-year-old—thankfully. I held him tight, apologized, and he just looked up and said, “I knew you would come!” I’m so grateful that his faith in me didn’t wane because I certainly had lost a bit of it in myself that day.

In the last chapters of Tony Dungy’s book, Quiet Strength, we journey with Dungy on some of the lowest and highest points in his life. Even during the darkest days and the greatest triumphs, Dungy consistently displayed his faith and character that was instilled in him by his parents and mentors. Here are some of the key points to take away as you read these last chapters:

Team Matters: In the game of football, every player has a role on the road to the ultimate prize—a Super Bowl ring. Some men may get more press and glory, but it takes the efforts of each individual and his gifts to raise that Lombardi trophy at the end of the season. The same is true in ministry—each leader and volunteer has gifts and abilities that contribute to the team. It takes a united and synchronized effort to reach children, teens, and families in our communities. We need to be confident in our roles and do what we do best in order to have the greatest reach for Christ.

They’re Watching You: Ministry is chaotic; a downright circus at times. How you react and respond in times of stress and distress will speak volumes to those you are trying to reach. I love Dungy’s wisdom in the book: “I think there are times when I believe God welcomes the circus into our lives to give us an opportunity to show that there’s another way to live and respond to things,” (p. 189). Even in times of adversity and challenge, we can be a light for Jesus just by how we respond and react.

Guard Your Priorities: No doubt, we believe what we do is important; it can be life-changing for the people we serve and reach. But if we do great things yet sacrifice the things that are dear and important to us, what do we truly gain? Dungy may not have always gotten it right, but he has been a life-changing example for many in prioritizing his faith and his family. “Higher priorities, such as spending time with God and family, must not be afterthoughts jammed into your schedule. But doing so requires faith—faith in your preparation, faith in your outcome, and for me, faith that God is watching over me, even when I can’t understand His plan,” (Dungy, p. 247). At the end of the day, your example to others, in the areas of your own faith growth and time spent with your family, may be some of the most important messages you communicate to your team, your families, and you community; don’t neglect these matters of the heart.

Think On This
How well are you working as a team in your ministry? How are you helping each person on your team develop and grow in their areas of service? How do you publicly react to the stresses and strains of ministry? What are you doing to assure that you’re growing in your own faith? How are you guarding your time with your family and keeping them a priority?

by Perry Noble

Charisse, my five-year-old little girl, looked up at me with really big eyes just the other day and informed me that I was going to need to start putting the toilet seat down because she had recently went to the bathroom and “fell in!” (Lots of men have had this same conversation with their wife/daughters!)  It brought FIVE things to mind . . .

1. When we get in a hurry as leaders we tend to not pay attention to how our decisions might impact others. (If we are going to lead like Jesus we MUST be way more concerned about others than we are ourselves!)
2. If a leader will take a little extra time and make sure the details are covered it makes it a lot easier for those who are following him/her. (A person who does not take a little time now will have to take a lot of time later repairing the damage from the “mess”—I can promise you she will not forget “falling in!”)
3. Laziness as a leader will often result in unfortunate circumstances for those who follow. (I can promise she was not happy about “falling in!”)
4. When unfortunate circumstances take place (falling in the toilet) a good leader will always ask “what could I have done differently in that situation” (put the lid down), instead of blaming someone else for the mess. (Sure, I could have told her to make sure the lid was down. The reality is that if I had taken the extra time and did what a good leader/father should have done, then she would not have gone for a swim!)
5. Two of the MOST POWERFUL WORDS for a leader to say are, “I’m sorry,” when they are confronted with a careless mistake that they made rather than trying to rationalize the situation.

BELIEVE ME. From now on, I am going to make sure the lid is down! (And every woman out there said, “Amen!”)

Perry Noble is the founding and senior pastor of NewSpring Church, which has campuses in Anderson, Columbia, Florence, and Greenville, South Carolina. At 11 years old, the church averages over 10,000 people across all campuses. Perry is a gifted communicator and teacher, convicted about speaking the truth as plainly as possible. God has given him a vision and a passion for helping people meet Jesus, and each week he shares God’s Word and its practical application in our daily lives. Perry, his wife, Lucretia, and their daughter, Charisse, live in Anderson, South Carolina.