I’ve pastored long enough to know the mood swings of the holidays:  cheer, euphoria, laughter and loneliness, regret, and depression.

How can you prepare for the “swings of the season?”  Try these six remedies: 

Shoelaces are important.

They hold everything together.  When they are tight, they keep you from falling.  No one tries to walk in loose, floppy tennis shoes without good, snug laces.

YOUR FINANCES HAVE “LACES.”  If they are untended, your entire life could come crashing down. 

What are the 5 financial issues you need to keep “tight?”

All of us face hurt.

Some of us choose to forgive.

The rest of us live in bitterness.

How do you “forgive and forget?” We have a pretty good Example.

Jesus prayed, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

You will hopelessly hold on to hurt until you realize what He knew:

Forgiveness becomes easier when we realize our hurt is really Satan vs. God. People are just caught in the middle.”

How do you “forgive and forget?” We have a pretty good Example.

Here are 4 perspectives that will help you to forgive:

Is it possible that your thought life is holding you back? I’ve watched hundreds of leaders succeed or fail and almost always it goes back to one thing: how much they change their thought life.

Marriage has to have a foundation. If it doesn’t, you will endlessly drift on the sea of culture, disappointment, and changes. I have boiled down my seven most important lessons that give Melanie and I stability now in our 40th year of marriage.

A great deal of your success as a leader is in the ability to spot and recruit talented leaders. King David seemed to be a master at attracting and enlisting top talent (see 1 Chronicles 11-12). Your ultimate legacy will be the leaders you attracted, trained, and released as great warriors. At one time, we had 28 pastors on staff. As I travel around the nation speaking for many of them in their own churches, I am amazed to see their innovation, talent, and ability to multiply.

FEAR is the biggest enemy to your future.

It comes in many forms, mainly having to do with your future: failure, rejection, lack, or death (to name a few). Abram was mighty in battle yet his deepest fear was not having a successor.

How will you overcome the fears that limit you?

Integrity is the currency of influence. Power and success are like paper money but integrity is the GOLD.
“There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil.” (Job 1:1). Job, in the Old Testament, "had integrity."

Jesus said, “Blessed are the pure in heart; for they will see God” (Matthew 5: 8).

Do you want to live under God’s blessing? The nine beatitudes (“beautiful attitudes”) form an “umbrella of blessing” over your life.

Where is “home?” God is Home.

“Real” estate is not “real.” It is like a motel room. This world is tangible but it is temporary. Set your affection on the Person of God Himself and you will enter into true happiness.

Here are a few perspectives to keep your focus correct.

Life, family, health, finances, and relationships can all be “broken.” How can you repair them? By putting them back into order.

Do you ever wonder why some leaders are magnetic and others are not? Is the “it” factor something you can learn? Is it a skill that can be developed? I believe it is.

Therefore, I can help you learn how a disorganized person can become…mainly organized!

How do we get off the merry go round? What can we do to get back control of our lives?

You grieve over missed opportunities, mistakes, and failures. Regret paralyzes you from the next step.

I’ve been there, haven’t you? A dead project. A dead dream. A dead relationship. A dead business. No hope.

Why is it that when it is time to give to others we usually think, “Oh, brother…” instead of “Oh, boy!”?

TRUST is affecting everything in your life: your leadership, marriage, business, parenting, and legacy.

I’ve been concerned lately about the Biblical illiteracy in our generation.  A good friend of mine asked me, “What is an epistle?”  I told him, of course, it is the wife of an apostle! I’ve read the Bible through many times and taught each of the 66 books.

Here are my top ten suggestions for becoming a better Bible student:

I have noticed that children and parents seem to be drifting apart. Weeks go by with little conversation or interaction. My father-in-law, Jim Clark, taught me the greatest secret to raising kids: the “family night.”