11. Time management will be one of your greatest challenges. In a normal job you start at a fixed time and end at a fixed time. This is NOT true in ministry. There will be demands from all sides, every one insisting that they are VERY important. Your ability to balance your time and correctly attribute priorities will be one of the things which will mark you as effective . . . nor not. If you have not already read it, go out now and buy Steven Covey's 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and read it/study it and practice what it says. If you have read it - RE-READ it! It will not only give you excellent and practical guidance in time management but provide some excellent and practical advice in other areas.
12. Prayer IS important . . . and will be the first thing pushed out of your schedule unless you are careful. Insist on keeping sacred a fixed time with God, and increase that time until you are regularly (at least 4 times a week) spending at least an hour at a time in focused prayer. This may mean re-learning what prayer really is, it may mean changing how you think about God, BUT PRAYER IS IMPORTANT.
13. EVERYBODY has an agenda. In most cases their agenda is benign or possibly even beneficial. In some cases there will be individuals with an agenda which they believe is beneficial but it runs crosswise with your vision and/or your understanding of God's will for the church or your ministry. In a few cases, there will be individuals with an agenda which is entirely self-serving under the guise of being spiritual. If you remember that EVERYONE has an agenda and pause to consider what that might be BEFORE you act, you will be more likely to find the right path. This may sound easy but I can assure you that it is rarely black and white and the shades of gray can be very confusing. Go slow, pray hard, and make sure you have some godly counselors you can consult if needed.
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