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Archive for the ‘Evolving Culture’ Category

You Deserve That

Posted in Empowering Leadership, Evolving Culture, Relevant Ministry, tagged , , , , , on June 30, 2009 | 4 Comments »

Are you as uncomfortable with today’s “YOU DESERVE IT” mentality as I am? Is it my imagination or do most commercials lately end with,
“Get the car…health insurance…body…or credit YOU DESERVE!”
Somehow we think we’re all entitled to an attractive body and an upper middle-class lifestyle regardless of how much work we put in. Where did this [...]

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Lessons From Neda

Posted in Empowering Leadership, Evolving Culture, Relevant Ministry, tagged , , , , , on June 23, 2009 | 6 Comments »

Iran and the Middle East may never be the same. The street riots and haunting pictures of Neda, the woman shot unlawfully during a political protest in Iran, have eroded the Muslim clerics influence. All they have left is callous power typified by their recent threats to make examples of the jailed protesters. Didn’t Gandhi [...]

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Come Together, Right Now

Posted in Empowering Leadership, Evolving Culture, Relevant Ministry, tagged , , , , , , , , , on June 20, 2009 | 4 Comments »

Back in 1969, I doubt John Lennon had Christianity in mind when he recorded “Come Together.” But 40 years later that is what’s happening within Christian circles.
We’re coming together around a commitment to serve versus defend and compete. More and more of us are grasping that survival of Christianity in the Western world may very [...]

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Business Would Die For That

Posted in Empowering Leadership, Evolving Culture, tagged , , , on June 16, 2009 | 6 Comments »

Nine out of ten businesses will tell you that their revenue is off 20-40% from last year. And who could have imagined the government becoming the majority shareholder of GM, Chrysler, and a myriad of banks? It really is the broadest and deepest downturn in 60 years.
Yet a March 2009 survey of 1,168 churches by [...]

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King David Was Chilling

Posted in Culture, Empowering Leadership, Evolving Culture, Relevant Ministry, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on June 9, 2009 | 2 Comments »

In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem.     2 Samuel 11
King David, the warrior of warriors, decided to sit this battle out and chill at home. It [...]

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I Am My Own Yoda

Posted in Evolving Culture, Relevant Ministry, tagged , , , , on June 6, 2009 | 8 Comments »

May the force be with you.
I was raised in a caring, Christ-centered home and didn’t connect with the Star War craze. Thirty years ago, most people still trusted the church for insight regarding the “force” in their life.  Not any more.
Today 71% of adults develop their own set of religious beliefs rather than accept the teachings of [...]

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Trendy Is Not Remarkable

Posted in Culture, Empowering Leadership, Evolving Culture, Relevant Ministry, tagged , , , , , , , , , on June 4, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

Your message should be timeless and not trendy. Sure, trendy is catchy. Trendy is noticeable. But trendy is not remarkable.
That’s an important challenge from church communication consultant Anne Jackson. Churches that engage people and inspire hope must have a compelling message. Without it, we’ll never capture mental space in the minds of our audience. The [...]

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What Makes Us Happy

Posted in Bahler Family Doing Life, Culture, Evolving Culture, Relevant Ministry, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on June 1, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

Even though it was a joy, it took some serious grace to make it through last week. Annette and I, our 6 kids, 4 in-laws, 5 grand kids and 1 nanny made the annual pilgrimage to Hilton Head Island. You wouldn’t believe how much food, laundry and dishes 18 people can go through in a day. Yep, even my heart [...]

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Six Boys And Thirteen Hands

Posted in Bahler Family Doing Life, Evolving Culture, tagged , , , , on May 25, 2009 | 8 Comments »

Here’s a long but powerful story that forever changes my perceptions of the battle of Iwo Jima and the boys who fought it. It may yours as well. Its a videographer’s account that vividly captures the kind of story Memorial Day was set aside to remind us of.
“Each year I am hired to video a [...]

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Conquering Fear

Posted in Empowering Leadership, Evolving Culture, Relevant Ministry, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 21, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

Hollywood does a remarkable job of making fake things real. Christians can do a remarkable job of making real things fake.
Tough times pressure all of us to try to be something we aren’t. With the demand today to be relevant, this is especially true for ministries. When we do this, we take the power of [...]

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The Muslim Challenge

Posted in Evolving Culture, tagged on May 15, 2009 | 6 Comments »

You may be among the six million (and counting) who have viewed the startling video below titled “Muslim Demographics.”  It is spreading virally with blinding speed.
Here’s the short version: the birth rate of Muslims compared to non-Muslims is combining with immigration to result in Muslims taking over the planet.  We’d better start having babies and [...]

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It’s Not About Cool

Posted in Evolving Culture, Relevant Ministry, tagged , , , , , , , , , on May 11, 2009 | 17 Comments »

We had 35 high school students over for dinner Saturday evening and we asked them the question that Francis Chan asked at the Exponential09 conference:
If you were marooned on an island from birth and read a Bible for the first time, what character attributes would you think a Christ follower would have?
We split them into [...]

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God Will Make You

Posted in Empowering Leadership, Evolving Culture, Intentional Facilities, Relevant Ministry, tagged , , , , on May 4, 2009 | 2 Comments »

God will always make you the best you can be, but he won’t make you someone else.
My friend Marla Saunders twittered that thought last week. It helped me center a bit, and I thought you might appreciate it as well.

I’m in Orlando tonight getting ready to kick off our Alignment4 Conference here tomorrow. We’ve learned [...]

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So You Think You’re a Leader

Posted in Empowering Leadership, Evolving Culture, Relevant Ministry, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on April 23, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

The challenges just keep coming at this Exponential09 Conference. If we hope to multiply our talents, there is work to do.
Leadership always looks attractive, right? Well, if you want to lead you must first:

See what others can’t see
Do what others won’t do
Be willing to be completely broken

That’s a bit less attractive it seems. These challenges [...]

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A Broken Spirit

Posted in Evolving Culture, Relevant Ministry, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 22, 2009 | 4 Comments »

Here are more thoughts from the Exponential09 church planting conference. The theme is “The Art Of Movement” and the talk of the day was about the need for collaboration to create Christ-centered, transformational movements.
Dave Ferguson shared that geese can fly 71% further when flying together in formation. So must we work together to build movements. [...]

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