Here’s an inspiring story from Pastor James Emory White: Just a few weeks ago, on a Thursday afternoon, a young woman came by the office to give me something. She was going to put it in the offering plate, but decided to just hand it to me. I was in a meeting, so she left [...]
Posts Tagged ‘Faith’
Why We Do What We Do
Posted in Empowering Leadership, Evolving Culture, Relevant Ministry, tagged Empowering Leadership, Evolving Culture, Faith, Hope, Leadership, love, Purpose, Relevant Ministry on October 10, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Do Young People Desire Anguish?
Posted in Empowering Leadership, Evolving Culture, Relevant Ministry, tagged Authentic, building momentum, Empowering Leadership, Evolving Culture, Faith, Leadership, legitimacy, Purpose, Relevant Ministry, Valuable life goal, vision on July 14, 2011 | 6 Comments »
They may frustrate you with their expectations or intimidate you with their social connections. They’re “Digital Natives” while we struggle as “Digital Immigrants”. What they want from church is very different as well. Here is research data from Dave Tonen regarding what the 18-30 year old crowd want from you and I at church: Community [...]
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 [...]
The Courage to Ask
Posted in community, Empowering Leadership, Evolving Culture, tagged Empowering Leadership, Evolving Culture, Faith, Purpose, Relevant Ministry on January 28, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Success isn’t having all the right answers. It’s the courage to ask the right questions. This was pointed out to me in a conversation with a pastor friend who built a large mega church of over 12,000. His ministry was built on one key question: Who are we trying to reach with the gospel? My friend went [...]
Never Give Up
Posted in Empowering Leadership, Evolving Culture, tagged building momentum, Empowering Leadership, Faith, Hope, Leadership, love, trust, vision on August 13, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
We can commit to years of preparation for a great cause or challenge. Even so, things beyond our control can cause deep disappointment. Those are moments of great truth. Those are moments that define us. 400 meter British Olympian Derek Redmond had a defining moment on the back stretch of the 1992 Olympics. Despite 13 [...]
Lasting Influence
Posted in Empowering Leadership, Relevant Ministry, tagged communication, Empowering Leadership, Faith, Hope, Leadership, Relevant Ministry on August 7, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Protestant pastors nation-wide were asked to identify the top three living Christian preachers and leaders that most influence them. The top 10, based on the number of times they were mentioned, are: Preachers Billy Graham Charles Swindoll Charles Stanley Rick Warren Barbara Brown Taylor David Jeremiah Max Lucado John Piper Andy Stanley Leaders Billy Graham [...]
Every Monster
Posted in Empowering Leadership, tagged Empowering Leadership, Faith, Hope on July 31, 2010 | 1 Comment »
Ten days ago Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said, “We also recognize that the economic outlook remains unusually uncertain.” Unusually uncertain…that’s not an assessment that leaves me feeling overly safe. How about you? After all the recent uncertainty and church budget challenges, it’s easy to imagine a monster around every corner. That’s why Seth Godin’s recent [...]
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 [...]
Fast-Food Fasting
Posted in Evolving Culture, Relevant Ministry, tagged Consumerism, Empowering Leadership, Evolving Culture, Faith, Leadership, Purpose, Relevant Ministry on July 2, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Outreach magazine reports that Brian Davis, the externally focused director at LifeBridge Christian Church in Colorado, challenged the congregation to fast from fast-food for 30 days and donate the money saved to the local food bank. The Fast 4 Food campaign raised more than $40,00 in one month at the 3000-member church. One family reportedly [...]
Gotcha!
Posted in Evolving Culture, Relevant Ministry, tagged Authentic, Bahler Family Doing Life, Evolving Culture, Faith, Hope, legitimacy, love, Purpose, Valuable life goal on June 18, 2010 | 10 Comments »
We found out yesterday that our “Gotcha Date” is July 12th. That’s the date we actually pick up our new 12-year-old daughter in China. “But why the term Gotcha?” I asked Sara Lang at Madison Adoption. Sara explained that at age 14 the Chinese government considers orphans adults, which terminates their availability for adoption as [...]
Too Easy…Too Secure?
Posted in Evolving Culture, Relevant Ministry, tagged Empowering Leadership, Evolving Culture, Faith, Hope, Leadership, Valuable life goal on April 24, 2010 | 1 Comment »
What do we do with thoughts like: 20% of us own 80% of the world’s stuff. Is that OK? (Claiborne) Woe to you who are complacent…Amos 6:1 (Chan) We pin on politicians what we and the church should be doing ourselves. (Claiborne) Nothing is more important than to hear these two words when we die…”Well [...]
March Madness And Christianity?
Posted in Empowering Leadership, Evolving Culture, Relevant Ministry, tagged Consumerism, Empowering Leadership, Evolving Culture, Faith, Leadership, Valuable life goal on February 27, 2010 | 7 Comments »
It happened Wednesday night. All Big Ten basketball player Robbie Hummel, of my Purdue Boilermakers, blew out a knee ligament. His year was over. #3 ranked Purdue was 23-3 and playing with the kind of confidence that gets you to a final four. It’s been 31 years since their last one and this was the [...]
Who Will Save Us?
Posted in Empowering Leadership, Evolving Culture, Relevant Ministry, tagged building momentum, clarity, Consumerism, Empowering Leadership, Evolving Culture, Faith, Hope, Leadership, legitimacy, love, missional, Missional Ministry, Relevant Ministry, vision on February 3, 2010 | 2 Comments »
Who will save the church? That depends on what you mean by ‘save.’ If you mean “what will keep things just as they are?” then the answer is nobody will. It’s over. And if you mean “who will maintain that handy place where we get encouraged on weekends, have our weddings and funerals, hang with [...]
A Holding Tank with Pizza
Posted in Empowering Leadership, Relevant Ministry, tagged communication, Connecting, connection, Empowering Leadership, Evolving Culture, Faith, Hope, Leadership, legitimacy, Relevant Ministry, trust, Valuable life goal on January 29, 2010 | 5 Comments »
“Teens are looking for more than a holding tank with pizza,” said Ed Stetzer. “They look for a church that teaches them how to live life.” Even though they may hesitate to acknowledge it, teens do want insight and guidance when it comes to dealing with challenges. In a recent Bible study at Purdue University, [...]
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