A friend emailed me yesterday to ask if our company had any openings. His son was out of work and was struggling to support his wife and newborn baby. I hurt for him and his son. As fathers our hearts are so closely connected with our kids. It was a sobering reminder of our shifting [...]
Posts Tagged ‘Connecting’
Five Keys to Reinvention
Posted in Empowering Leadership, tagged building momentum, Connecting, connection, Empowering Leadership, Leadership, vision on November 17, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Salty or Worthless
Posted in Culture, Empowering Leadership, Relevant Ministry, tagged Connecting, Empowering Leadership, Evolving Culture, Leadership, Purpose, Valuable life goal on October 19, 2011 | 3 Comments »
Willow Creek, the poster child for seeker sensitive ministry, is no longer trying to be so hip. At the recent Catalyst Conference, a Willow teaching pastor, Darren Whitehead, surprised us with the new Willow. Thirty years ago Bill Hybels launched Willow and the “Seeker Sensitive” movement from a theater. It was all about being fishers [...]
14 Ways to Raise the Bar
Posted in Empowering Leadership, Evolving Culture, Relevant Ministry, tagged clarity, community, Connecting, Consumerism, Empowering Leadership, Evolving Culture, Leadership, Missional Ministry, Relevant Ministry, Valuable life goal, vision on September 26, 2011 | 1 Comment »
Over 100 years ago, Charles Spurgeon proclaimed every Christian here is either a missionary or an imposter. Recollect that. You either try to spread abroad the Kingdom of Christ, or else you do not love Him at all. You are either doing good, or you are not good yourself. That kind of challenge has been [...]
Cynical Sensitive
Posted in Empowering Leadership, Evolving Culture, Relevant Ministry, tagged building momentum, community, Connecting, connection, Consumerism, Empowering Leadership, Evolving Culture, Leadership, Relevant Ministry on August 22, 2011 | 2 Comments »
Thirty years ago, Bill Hybel pioneered the “Seeker Sensitive” movement and became the poster child for evangelicals. Casual, connecting, creativity, kicking music, themed Sunday school, anonymity and low expectations were in. Recently, Hybel’s “Reveal Study” highlighted surprising trends. A large part of his church failed to become disciples once they were introduced to Christ. Even [...]
A Better Date
Posted in Bahler Family Doing Life, Relevant Ministry, tagged Bahler Family Doing Life, Connecting, legitimacy, love, Purpose, Valuable life goal on August 6, 2011 | 2 Comments »
Friday is typically date night for me and my wife. But after another intense week it’s painfully difficult to slow down and simply be present. Sadly, I can be a poor date. Could this be how Christ and our pastor feel about us on Sundays? With hectic schedules, 100 channels, 24-hour news, Facebook, Twitter, and [...]
Yes, I’m Addicted
Posted in Bahler Family Doing Life, Evolving Culture, tagged Authentic, Bahler Family Doing Life, community, Connecting, connection, Consumerism, Hope, Valuable life goal on June 21, 2011 | 1 Comment »
I’m an addict. I must confess. Maybe you are as well? I took the Father’s Day challenge and unhooked from the web all day Sunday. I even let my smart phone battery go dead. And it was, well…lonely. For 24 hours I lost connection with all my on-line chatter. No news, Facebook, email, text messages, [...]
Taking Risks
Posted in Bahler Family Doing Life, Culture, Relevant Ministry, tagged Bahler Family Doing Life, Connecting, connection, Consumerism, Evolving Culture, Faith, Hope, Leadership, love, missional, Purpose, Relevant Ministry, Valuable life goal on May 11, 2011 | 6 Comments »
Ten months ago, we met our 12-year-old daughter in China. We were scared and overwhelmed but driven by the vision that we were being called to stretch beyond our own comfort. Francis Chan’s words were ringing in our ears: God hasn’t called us to comfort. We’re called to take big risks so that if He [...]
Divorcing Facebook
Posted in Evolving Culture, tagged communication, Connecting, Evolving Culture, love, trust on February 20, 2011 | 23 Comments »
The Leadership journal recently reported that Rev. Cedric Miller of Living Word Christian Fellowship Church in New Jersey has banned Facebook. He has ordered about 50 married church staffers to delete their accounts or resign. And he has called on his 1,100-member congregation to do the same. The problem isn’t lost productivity while checking out [...]
Why Traditions Scare Our Kids
Posted in Empowering Leadership, Evolving Culture, Relevant Ministry, tagged Connecting, connection, Empowering Leadership, Evolving Culture, Leadership, legitimacy, missional, Relevant Ministry, trust on November 29, 2010 | 3 Comments »
With pain in their voices, two friends recently shared how their teenage kids weren’t embracing their faith traditions. They had a healthy relationship with them but the kids were no longer buying into what the parents believed. Could this be due to the new challenges that kids must navigate? They’re growing up in a multicultural, [...]
Why Men Hate Church
Posted in Empowering Leadership, Evolving Culture, Relevant Ministry, tagged communication, community, Connecting, Empowering Leadership, Evolving Culture, Hope, Leadership, Relevant Ministry on November 13, 2010 | 4 Comments »
In his book Why Men Hate Going to Church David Murrow writes that women make up more than 60% of the typical congregation. The church caters to women, children, and the elderly by creating a safe, predictable environment. In order to reach men, Murrow says that churches must “adjust the thermostat” to embrace the masculine [...]
Money Can Buy Happiness
Posted in Empowering Leadership, Evolving Culture, Relevant Ministry, tagged Connecting, Hope, Leadership, Purpose, Valuable life goal on September 23, 2010 | 2 Comments »
The Bible clearly tells us that money can’t buy happiness. So why do we still pursue careers and promotions as if it can? Forbes magazine recently reported research from the University of British Columbia showing that once we reach the median income in the US of about $60,000, the happiness we get from additional income [...]
Barnes & Noble, USA Today, and The Church
Posted in Empowering Leadership, Evolving Culture, Relevant Ministry, tagged alignment, building momentum, communication, community, Connecting, connection, Consumerism, Empowering Leadership, Evolving Culture, Leadership, Purpose, Relevant Ministry, vision on September 7, 2010 | 6 Comments »
I used to love hanging out at Barnes & Noble, sipping tea and browsing books. But I haven’t been there in months. Here’s a great read from the “Church and Culture” blog that explains why Barnes & Noble has been floundering and offers excellent advice for the church: “How did Barnes and Noble fall so far [...]
Danger Love
Posted in Bahler Family Doing Life, Empowering Leadership, Relevant Ministry, tagged Bahler Family Doing Life, Connecting, connection, Empowering Leadership, Evolving Culture, Faith, Hope, legitimacy, love, missional, Missional Ministry, trust on July 23, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Li Mei is a 16-year-old orphan here in Guangzhou that nobody ever came for. She’s now too old to be adopted and is no longer eligible for government support. An Indiana couple we’ve gotten to know met her on one of their previous adoption trips and have introduced her to an American missionary here. The [...]
The Most Important Person
Posted in Bahler Family Doing Life, tagged Bahler Family Doing Life, communication, Connecting, Consumerism, Faith, Hope, Leadership, legitimacy, love, Purpose, trust, Valuable life goal, vision on July 16, 2010 | 4 Comments »
Pastor and sociologist Tony Campolo explains the concept of “The Looking Glass Self” like this: We see ourselves as we believe the most important person in our life sees us. Tony tells us that if we make Christ the most important person in our life and recognize that he loved us enough to die a [...]
Wish List
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged community, Connecting, connection, Empowering Leadership, Evolving Culture, Leadership, Relevant Ministry on June 3, 2010 | 6 Comments »
As we are all so aware, many young adults are leaving the “church.” The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada researched Canadian youths and developed this list of things young adults (18-30) wish they could find in church: Community Authenticity Mentorship Passionate Leaders Interactive Environment Involvement Relevant Engagement Intellectual Challenge Technology and Internet Presence Should we become [...]
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