Recently I attended the Story Conference in Chicago. It was a two day conference for the creative-minded packed full of the best ideas available to communicate our story to the world. It was a well-planned and scripted time and Ben Arment, the conference founder, is to be commended for the event.
The greatest moment for me, however, happened…
Could this be enough to bring back the bowl cut?
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14
It is always a balancing act…the balance between extending grace so much that it ignores truth and holding too tightly to truth that there is no room for grace.
Have you ever struggled with that balance?
Daniel Pink, author of the recent best selling book Drive, shared a message on motivation; specifically what motivates people. When people are motivated, they achieve more, do better work, and our more satisfied people.
Daniel then shared what research shows motivates people best:
I was sitting with a staff member recently who presented me an idea. I had reservations about the idea instantly. It was actually a “red flag” idea and I knew it. I love ideas, however, and I’m consistently encouraging our staff to dream, take risks, and improve upon what we are doing. So I listened intently and we discussed the pros and cons of the idea. The next day this staff member came back to tell me he had thought about our discussion and had changed his mind and was going a different direction. I was thrilled with “his” decision.
In that instance I used relational authority….
Yesterday we announced that Grace Community Church is going multi-site. We will be one church that meetings in two locations, adding our second location at Kenwood High School. (I wrote more about it HERE.)
As expected, we couldn’t answer all the questions in the time we had yesterday. This post addresses some of the most common questions I or members of the staff have received since yesterday’s announcement.
Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck! Psalm 69:1
This is my favorite safety pull verse! Helpful always, but especially in emergency situations…
If you are leading a team or organization, I have some simple advice for you. This is based on years of experience. I have been guilty of trying to lead on my own. I once had the false idea that I had to lead independent of others and that if I shared my struggles with other leaders, somehow I would be less of a leader. I felt like a sign of strength was to prove that I didn’t need help, but, as many of you know, this is never true for any leader.
Even still, I have been in organizations where there was no one on my team I felt I could confide in with a weakness. If this is your case, or especially if you are the only leader:
The Friday discussions have been fun. Thanks for participating. I hope you will join the dialogue. Remember, I like discussion, so don’t be bashful.
Today I want to know your thoughts on the subject of boycotting something you don’t support or believe in as a Christian. Recently I saw a group boycotting a business in another city. I won’t share the companies name, but apparently this company supports activities the Christians didn’t support. It made me curious:
It took years before I felt comfortable teaching about parenting. I don’t feel adequate to teach about parenting adult children now, since I’m still doing that, but I feel better about helping parents of younger children. Our boys have become healthy, well-adjusted, God-fearing children.
This week is Orange Week; a ministry of The ReThink Group. It’s a week to talk about the Orange strategy of partnering churches with parents, believing that the combined effort works better than either one of them working independent of each other. I’m happy to participate. Our church uses and believes in the Orange strategy.
We owe all our success at parenting to God’s grace, but…
I’m exploring options…thinking through some ways that I can invest in the current and future leadership of the church. One of the most common themes these days among leaders I admire is to start a coaching network, basically as a way to “coach†a small group of leaders for a determined period of time. I’ve never been one to copy what everyone else is doing, but I don’t want to miss opportunities either.
So I’m curious…would you help me by answering a few questions?
It’s a strange phenomenon…I’ve seen people serve in leadership roles who I don’t even think are qualified to lead, yet they are leading and people are following. And, many times, they are achieving results…
The reason is not their abilities as much as the way they have positioned or presented themselves to a group of followers.
Here’s one principle of leadership:
If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Luke 6:32a NIV
I wonder if Jesus got an answer to this question!
Be honest…it is easier to love some people than others. Some people quite frankly are just difficult to love. (No names necessary, but you know who I’m talking about.)
Jesus doesn’t always call us to easy tasks, does He? We don’t live under the same standards as the rest of the world, do we?
This week I was at the Story Conference in Chicago. Ben Arment and a team of volunteers put together a conference designed to help us creatively tell the story of Christ’s redemptive love for the world. I was challenged personally to be a better storyteller.
It got me thinking though…
We all have a story…. We should share some of them…
Let’s share some of them today.
Here are 10 questions…Answer all…one…or as many as you want to answer…
I realize there is room for debate and even disagreement on this Friday discussion post. I decided when I began this series that I would not shy away from issues only because they may appear controversial. My criteria is really issues I’m wrestling with personally or have a special interest in the discussion. Today’s post fits that category.
Should churches be comparing numbers of attendance with other churches?
