the equation

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Just like an equation we work diligently to solve life’s problems; plugging in one guess after another, believing, eventually, we’ll reach the answer. But equations are funny and no one knows how the answers will land. Sometimes there’s no solution, other times infinite solutions, but most of the time only one. Is life a problem to be solved, or just a mystery to be lived?

Come and be a part of a brand new teaching series beginning Easter Weekend at Sun Valley Community Church. Click here to get the service times at one of our three locations Gilbert, Tempe, and Casa Grande.

Posted in Creative Arts, Spiritual Formation

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the blame game

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Anyone who has watched an episode of Donald Trump’s “The Apprentice” has witnessed how the “boardroom” explodes when an initiative fails. Team members rarely choose to take responsibility for their actions and, instead, they resort to pinning the blame on a convenient scapegoat. What results is executive-level combat in which the candidates sell each other out in a bid to survive.

You can find the same less publicized bickering and back-biting in churches all across America.

When a church engages in the Blame Game, it is often because the creative process has failed. But unlike the Apprentice, church leaders must go on working together. And what is it stake is more than a job at Trump Enterprises; it’s often the well-being of our ministry and our community’s ability to live out its mission.

The creative process falters for a number of reasons. Sometimes the church rushes into creativity without being thoughtful about roles or infrastructure to support it. Other times, communication channels are unclear, creatives are micro-managed and relationships become strained.

Too many times, when our church’s journey to be creative takes a downward turn, we resort to finger-pointing. Fault is often assigned to the wrong things and the wrong people.

During my 25 years as a leader in the creative ministry, I have found the following issues to be at the heart of the Blame Game:

Posted in Creative Arts

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top 10 reasons why ideas fail

Monday, March 5, 2012

Only one in ten new products succeed. That’s only a 10% success rate! What if only 10% of the hires you made worked out? What if your financial reports were only accurate 10% of the time? What if your local pizza joint only got your pizza right 10% of the time? You’d find a different place to buy a pizza wouldn’t you? Nine out of ten new products fail because the ideation process that the majority of companies and organizations use is broken.

In their book, “Lightning in a Bottle: The Proven System to Create New Ideas and Products that Work,” authors David Minter and Michael Reid detail why current ideation tools fail and provide a proven 7 step system that you can follow to better ideas. Below are the top 10 reasons they’ve identified why most ideas fail:

Posted in Creative Arts, Leadership

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final destination

Thursday, January 19, 2012

What happens when we die? Will we know our loved ones in heaven? Do we become angels? What about ghosts? Can the dead see us? What does the Bible really say about heaven, hell and our Final Destination? This weekdend we’re beginning a 6 week series on all three Sun Valley Campuses unpacking what the Bible teaches about what happens after we die. If you’re in the Phoenix Valley don’t miss it!

[vimeo http://vimeo.com/34747801]

Posted in Creative Arts, Spiritual Formation

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less clutter less noise

Monday, January 16, 2012

If you work in a local church, then chances are you spend the majority of your time trying to effectively communicate the most life-changing message that the world has ever known. But have you ever stopped and wondered why people aren’t getting that message?

In church-world we most often excuse such things away by complaining about how we don’t have the financial resources that the big church down the street does. As a result there’s no way we can keep pace with their level of excellence, their billboards, mailers, websites, brochures, videos, promotional campaigns, and gobs of print media that they seemingly pump out every week.

I don’t think I’ve ever met a church staff member who would turn their nose up at the idea of having more resources to do their job. But, what if I told you that money won’t solve your communication problems? What I told you that there are real practical solutions and proven strategies that you can learn and implement that will cut through the clutter and crystallize your message?

Posted in Creative Arts, Leadership