Posted in Evolving Culture, Relevant Ministry, tagged Evolving Culture, Relevant Ministry on December 3, 2008 | 1 Comment »
In my last post, I asked the question, “Is suffering a precursor to learning?” Could it also be a precursor to becoming a great Christian, a great parent, or a great pastor?
Here are some insights from two books: Geoff Colvin’s “Talent Is Overrated” and Malcolm Gladwell’s “Outliers”:
Talent is overrated. You are not a natural-born clarinet [...]
Posted in Evolving Culture, tagged Evolving Culture, learning, Digital Age, Broadcast Age on December 1, 2008 | 9 Comments »
Most traditional churches are struggling to connect in this Digital Age. This isn’t breaking news to anyone anymore. Traditional businesses are struggling with the same thing, for that matter.
That’s why we met recently with authors Alan Jamieson and Len Sweet in the mountains of West Virginia. Jesus often retreated to the mountains to reflect and [...]
Posted in Empowering Leadership, Evolving Culture, tagged Authentic, Evolving Culture, Empowering Leadership, Michael Jordan, Authenticity, A.W. Tozer on November 29, 2008 | 4 Comments »
Here’s a story to make you smile from my friend Scott Couchenour’s blog:
The story is told about a time when Michael Jordan scored 69 points. The Chicago Bulls’ lead was so big that in the final minute Coach Phil Jackson put in Stacey King—a seldom used rookie substitute. King scored two meaningless free throws. Some [...]
Posted in Evolving Culture, tagged Evolving Culture, love on November 24, 2008 | 8 Comments »
Here is some encouraging news to be thankful for this holiday season. Recent Gallup Polls conducted in more than 140 countries show that the highly religious are more likely than less religious to engage in these three “helping behaviors”.
The tendency for highly religious people to donate their time and money is even more impressive [...]
Posted in Evolving Culture, tagged Evolving Culture on November 21, 2008 | 17 Comments »
This seems to be a good time for a light Friday post, so here you go…
Researchers at Oxford University compiled the top 10 most irritating phrases:
1. At the end of the day
2. Fairly unique
3. [...]
Posted in Evolving Culture, tagged Evolving Culture, Obama on November 19, 2008 | 6 Comments »
Here’s some insights about our president elect. The fact he left a stag party when the stripper arrived and he befriended street urchins when he lived in Indonesia inspire confidence. However, his teenage drug use and absence of spiritual experiences seems troubling.
Which encourage or scare you…why?
• He was called “O’Bomber” in high school for his [...]
Posted in Evolving Culture, Relevant Ministry, tagged community, Evolving Culture, love, Missional Ministry, Relevant Ministry on November 17, 2008 | 3 Comments »
Has anyone ever told you they’re a Christian but that “church” just isn’t their thing? There’s far too much of that today. You may have felt it yourself.
The Search Institute, a Minneapolis based research firm, recently discovered 55 percent of young people (6835 from age 12 to 25) say they are more spiritual now than [...]
Posted in Evolving Culture, Relevant Ministry, tagged Evolving Culture, future, love, Relevant Ministry, Sacrifice on November 14, 2008 | 3 Comments »
I wasn’t sure exactly why I was crying as I walked through Dulles airport last Friday. I had just passed a magazine rack where stories and pictures of Obama were everywhere, and it took me back 33 years…all the way back to my freshman year at Purdue University.
My roommate and I were moving into Shreve [...]
Posted in Evolving Culture, Relevant Ministry, tagged connection, Evolving Culture, millenials, Obama, Relevant Ministry on November 11, 2008 | 48 Comments »
We’ve often discussed how Millennials (those under 30) view the world quite differently. Many suggest that it was the Millennials that put Obama in the White House. Here’s the world through their eyes.
Amber is a Sign Language Interpreter and Brock is finishing an M.A. in philosophy. He plans to pursue a PhD in philosophy of [...]
Posted in Evolving Culture, Relevant Ministry, tagged Evolving Culture, Relevant Ministry, Soul Cravings on November 10, 2008 | No Comments »
“The Christian Right isn’t Christian or right” is the belief of 80% of New Zealanders. New Zealand author and pastor Alan Jamieson surprised us with that observation last week at our West Virginia retreat. Alan was with us to share his research on why people leave church. His findings are captured in his recent [...]
Posted in Empowering Leadership, Evolving Culture, tagged Empowering Leadership, Evolving Culture on November 9, 2008 | 1 Comment »
The people at the Washington Post Magazine decided to conduct an experiment. They had Joshua Bell, one of the world’s leading violinists, set up as a street performer at the entrance of a Washington, D.C., Metro station and start playing his violin. Would people notice? Would he be showered with money? Would there be a [...]
Posted in Evolving Culture, Relevant Ministry, tagged Relevant Ministry, Connecting, Evolving Culture, connection, connecting online, Participation on November 6, 2008 | 12 Comments »
I’m hanging out here in the West Virginia mountains with Bible historian and futurist Len Sweet. He’s been a significant voice into the Christian community authoring over 25 books.
Today, Len suggested that we now live in a Google era. The past 500 years we’ve been in a left-brain world, a linear, modern world…think accountants [...]
Posted in Empowering Leadership, Evolving Culture, Relevant Ministry, tagged Relevant Ministry, Evolving Culture, Empowering Leadership, mega church, Rex Miller on October 27, 2008 | No Comments »
So what were you thinking last month as the dominoes fell one right after another? The demise of Lehman Brothers tipped into the rushed sale of Merrill Lynch to Bank of America, which was followed by the federal takeover of AIG and the $700B bailout. What does this financial crisis change for you?
In a [...]
Posted in Evolving Culture, tagged business administrators, Evolving Culture, ministry on October 17, 2008 | 4 Comments »
Maybe we shouldn’t be so quick to blame those guys on Wall Street for all of our financial problems. Take a look at these debt statistics for Americans. (Each is inflation-adjusted to 2007 dollars and the total debt includes personal, government & business)
Our total debt last year was $53 Trillion compared to $4.8 Trillion in [...]
