Here are some lessons I've learned:
1. Thank you Asbury! I am so thankful that my alma mater is Asbury Seminary. I have colleagues who have kept little to nothing from their schools. I found Asbury to be relevant then and 95% of it still relevant today. The Inductive Bible Study classes were so practical and still provide me today with a wealth of insight and knowledge. I've practiced that approach in my personal Bible Study but scanning in all those notes really helped refresh my heart and encouraged me to press on. The notes from Dr. David Seamands' class on Pastoral Counseling - WOW! Asbury Seminary class notes are the ones I didn't throw out after scanning. Thank you Asbury!
2. Focus on foundations not fads. I went through phases in ministry and could follow them by the articles and notes I kept. Honestly, this was tough to swallow. I saw what I would now see as fads, not long-term helpful ministry foundations. It made me ask the question: What am I focusing on today that will be gone tomorrow?
3. Purging is important. I threw away a lot of stuff that I didn't scan. I kept too much. So I'm asking how I can be more discerning? Using Evernote doesn't change my ability to keep things I don't need. In fact, I just deleted a handful of notes I realized I didn't need to keep.
4. Information is good - Access is necessary. Possessing information and having access to that information are two different things. Evernote gives me access to the notes from books I've read (I have several ministry servants type up notes of quotes), articles from magazines such as Harvard Business Review and Leadership, significant and insightful blog posts and more. The most immediate impact has been to my teaching role. Evernote has provided a powerful search engine for the words, articles and books that God has brought my way. Of course, having access to information and actually using it are two different things as well!
Here's one example of some great teaching and encouragement that had been buried in paper files. I'm glad I kept it. I'm really glad I now have access to it!
From the World Methodist Conference in Brighton, England 2001 - a teaching with late British evangelist Rob Frost: "Communicating the Gospel in Today's World."
1. You need a burden for the lost otherwise you won't have the heart to continue
2. All evangelism must be church based
--> During the 1st century of Methodism it reached the unchurched
--> During the 2nd century of Methodism it switched to Sunday School, reaching people within. The invention of Sunday School turned out to be a a detrimental shift in focus from evangelism by individuals through relationships in the community to an internal job of the church.
3. Evangelism must be incarnational - be where people are - Jesus touched, healed, was in the crowd and mixed with outcasts
4. Evangelism must reach the unreached not the already churched or saved - John Wesley liked to say that we should "go to those who need you the most."
5. Evangelism must invite people to belong - not just 4 steps - it's a relationship - evangelism moves people in a relationship of trust
6. Evangelism must be culturally relevant - can't reach surfers in a suit
7. Evangelism must address felt needs: meaning, security, loneliness, spirituality
Evernote has been a tool to help me uncover hidden gems. What could you do with it?
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