Our world is suffering. The wide-spread abuse of power is birthing some of the worst atrocities known to man. This morning I preached a message at our church titled, "Darfur, AIDS, and Sex-Trafficking: Why?" It was the final message in a series we've been doing...
One of the essential ingredients to personal growth is curiosity. Curiosity is like a built-in catalyst that keeps your mind fresh and your appetite for growth alive. Some people seem naturally curious. Take Thomas Edison for example. Edison was known as the "Wizard...
Change! Every ministry, church, and organization faces the challenges associated with creating change. The big question is HOW. Brad Powell articulates some good thoughts in his book, Change Your Church for Good: The Art of Sacred Cow Tipping. Rather than giving you a...
There is a common issue that arises when programs become a deeply ingrained part of a church or organization's culture. I call it, "The Divorce of Mission." The divorce of mission occurs when a program becomes more important than the mission it was created to fulfill....
This Wednesday, June 24th I'm launching a new "Connect Small Group Coaching" series. This is a series of 7 one-hour coaching calls on Wednesdays at 10:00 AM (CDT) designed to help you launch or grow a healthy small group ministry. The sessions includes:Developing and...
This post wraps up the series on the five stages of decline from Jim Collins' latest book, How the Mighty Fall. The first four stages include:Hubris Born of SuccessUndisciplined Pursuit of MoreDenial of Risk and PerilGrasping for SalvationThe fifth stage of decline is...
"Grasping for Salvation." That's how Jim Collins describes the forth stage of decline in his book, How the Mighty Fall. "Stage 4 begins when an organization reacts to a downturn by lurching for a silver bullet." Collins asserts that the organizations in stage 4 of...
Okay - so let's review. In Jim Collins's book, How the Might Fall, he articulates five stages of organizational decline. The first stage is "Hubris Born of Success." It's arrogance about current practices and past success that leads to the second stage of...
Today I came across a blog post from Kem Meyer--Communications Director at Granger Community Church. Her post is titled, "We Scrapped Our Job Descriptions", and in it Kem articulates the following exercise that helped each staff member on their team summarize their...