Top 5 Posts from March

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Thank you for making the month of March a great month on Helping Churches Make Vision Real! You made these the top 5 Posts from this last month. If you missed out on any of them, here they are all in one nice tidy little spot for your convenience!

#1 3 Reasons People don’t Give to Your Church

A few months back I did a series of posts on 6 big ideas about “Engaging the Givers in your Church.” And just like there are real actionable steps that churches can take to engage givers, there are also things that churches do to repel givers. More often than not they’re doing these things and they don’t even know it. In this post I walked through three guaranteed generosity killers that are running rampant in churches today.

#2 6 Indicators You’re Leading an Insider Focused Church

How do you know if you’re leading an insider-focused church? In this article I shared 6 indicators that you and your team can use to evaluate your church and discover if you’re leading an insider-focused church.

#3 My Interview with Two Women about their Choice to have an Abortion

I don’t typically post talks that I give, but every once in a while there’s one worth sharing. In this post I share a recent incredible opportunity that I had to interview two very courageous women about their choice to have an abortion, their experience with “church people,” their journey towards healing, and the grace and forgiveness they’ve experienced in Jesus.

#4 4 Leadership Lessons I was Reminded of by the Birth of my 4th Child

Lisa and I were blessed in March with the addition of our 4th child! And I’m not biased or anything, but he’s absolutely incredible! While we’ve gone through this a time or three before I’m still surprised by the depth of amazement, excitement, awe, fear, and loss of control that all collide in my heart at the birth of each of my children. And while we’re playing zone defense and filling up the minivan there are four distinct leadership lessons that this experience has reminded me of…I share those in this post.

#5 4 Ways Leaders Build Culture

Culture is the squishy stuff in an organization that leaders talk about but usually have a hard time articulating. Even more difficult is identifying clear actionable steps to build and reinforce a desired culture. In this post I share four steps you can begin to implement this week to start building the desired culture in your church or organization.

Posted in Leadership

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My Interview with 2 Women about their Choice to have an Abortion

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

I don’t typically post talks that I give, but every once in a while there’s one worth sharing. This weekend I had the incredible opportunity to interview two very courageous women about their choice to have an abortion, their experience with “church people,” their journey towards healing, and the grace and forgiveness they’ve experienced in Jesus. It will definitely go down as a high water mark in my ministry experience. If we’re honest about it, the Church hasn’t always handled this dialogue very well. We’ve historically postured ourselves in such a manner that we come off as not only anti-abortion, but anti-people who have an abortion. The in-congruency shows up when we take a look at the Scriptures and realize that Jesus isn’t anti-anybody. So here’s hoping that this talk inspires you, challenges you, crushes your heart for what crushes God’s, and perhaps challenges your thinking a bit on this emotionally and politically charged topic of abortion. If nothing else fast forward to the 12:21 minute mark to check out the interview segment.

Posted in Creative Arts, Spiritual Formation

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Catalyst One Day Bonus: Andy Stanley’s interview with Judah Smith

Friday, February 1, 2013

I’ve enjoyed sharing my notes and take aways from Catalyst One Day with you this week. My hope is they’ve been helpful. Truth is my notes can’t relay all the great stuff shared by these guys so I’d encourage you to check out the Catalyst One Day website and watch for One Day coming soon to a city near you this year! Here are ideas some I wrote down from an interview that Andy Stanley did with Judah Smith who hosted the Seattle One Day.

When you go on vacation don’t go to church. That’s not a family vacation that’s a ministry trip to look at other churches.
Leadership is acknowledged not appointed. So try out young leaders. Give them something and see what they can do with it.
Acknowledge leadership in young leaders who have a proper view of authority and demonstrate a teachable spirit
The test of any church is how it responds when the lead personality is gone
Adjustment and progress are better words than change
If past leadership is trusted you’ll have the opportunity to be trusted
Every change a new leader makes is a critique of the past
Remember everything is where it is
It’s unrealistic to expect everyone to just get in line with the picture you have of the future and where you’re going
Expect tears and pain in change
Demonstrate extraordinary empathy to the past and the value of all that has come before you
Work through powerbrokers and influencers. Each influencer receives honor differently and there are keys to everyone’s heart so don’t approach them all or treat them all the same.
Don’t play with false humility
Honor is convenient when everyone is on the same page but real honor comes in a moment of conflict and conviction and when you have to put personal agenda aside and do what is best for the people
People want Jesus and the Gospel works!

This is your last chance to grab more Catalyst Resources for yourself and your team for free! I’m giving away a brand new copy of “The Power of Momentum” a 4-part video teaching series from Andy and Craig. Just sign up here and I’ll let everyone know who the winner is next week!

Posted in Leadership

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Counterculture Part-2

Monday, March 8, 2010

This past weekend we jumped back up into our series Counterculture at Cornerstone, and I had the opportunity to interview 3 women about their personal experience with abortion. God’s story that He has written in their lives of grace, forgiveness, and freedom is absolutely amazing. I was so humbled to see God use this moment and watch men and women come out of hiding on this issue and walk towards freedom and forgiveness in Christ. To think that a community of people called Cornerstone decide that they were going to be a safe place for this moment to happen, and offer grace to others as freely as they have recieved it was nothing short of beautiful!