One of the things I learned last week on my vacation is the importance of staying power. I learned this at Graceland - Elvis Presley's home. Elvis has been dead for 30 years this week. That is hard to believe. But at Graceland on Saturday afternoon there were literally thousands of people there to see his home, buy his CD's, shirts, pink Cadillac replicas, and other trinkets. He is as big today - and certainly brings in more money - than he did when he was alive. His "kingdom" is as strong as ever. That is amazing, Elvis fan or not.

Something to think about is what kind of impact will your life, ministry, etc. have 30 years after you are dead. For pastors I realize that we are not building kingdoms for ourselves, and we're not rock stars. But in relation to your church - the one you're planting or the one you're pastoring - what kind of long-term impact is it going to have? A lot of guys start churches that shoot up really quickly but then fizzle. Does your church have staying power? It may also be that your church has staying power - it has been around for maybe 100 years or more - but is it still impacting lives? Do people stand in line to get in?

My trip to Graceland really has me thinking about the short term - but also the long-term impact of Rocky River Community Church. I want God to be changing lives today but also for the generations to come...