5 Takeaways from Preach Better Sermons

Last month, I mentioned the free online preaching conference, Peach Better Sermons. I watched most of the 3.5-hour event last Thursday (The Christian Post wrote an article about the event). It was a great event. The speakers included Perry Noble, Jud Wilhite, Vanable Moody, Andy Stanley, Dr. Charles Stanley, Louie Giglio, Jeff Foxworthy, and Dan … Read more

Spiritual Priming and Shaping Culture

Recently, I’ve written a couple posts on The Circle Maker (see 1.0 and 2.0). One particular section made me think about shaping culture. Batterson writes about “spiritual priming” (127). In it, he talks about the importance of the primer in painting. He states … It may seem like the primer is unnecessary … but it … Read more

Honing My Craft

I recently asked, Are You Honing Your Craft? The question forces you to narrow your focus and to name your craft. While there are several things I’d like to be good at, I realize I only have enough time and energy to focus on a very few number of things to develop at any given … Read more

Preach Better Sermons

I just signed up for an online event that will take place on Thursday, March 15 at 1:00 p.m. EST. It’s a FREE online preaching event With Andy Stanley, Perry Noble, Louie Giglio, Dr. Charles Stanley, Jeff Foxworthy, Jud Wilhite, and Vanable Moody. Learn more and sign up at preachbettersermons.com. The event will focus on … Read more

“Resonate”: Bringing it All Together

This is the final post in a series of posts on Resonate by Nancy Duarte. Previous posts include … Communicate for Change What I Like About the Book The Presentation Form Stories Transform Lives The Big Idea S.T.A.R. Moments StoryMapping Revisited Well, obviously, I love the book. I knew it was going to be a … Read more

Preacher & Prayer

Shortly after responding to my call to ministry, I read a little book by E.M. Bounds called Power Through Prayer (originally called Preacher and Prayer). In recent years, I’ve wanted to re-read the book, as well as other books by Bounds, so I bought The Complete Works of E.M. Bounds on Prayer (a collection of … Read more

When People Change

This week, I was reminded of a list I once heard John Maxwell give. The list also appears in Maxwell’s book, Thinking for a Change: 11 Ways Highly Successful People Approach Life and Work (which I wrote about it 2008). Maxwell says there are three times when people are willing to embrace change, when they … Read more

“Resonate”: StoryMapping Revisited

This is the seventh post (with one to go) in a series of posts I’ve been writing to engage Nancy Duarte‘s book, Resonate (see Communicate for Change, What I Like About the Book, The Presentation Form, Stories Transform Lives, The Big Idea, and S.T.A.R. Moments). A few years ago, I wrote a post on using … Read more

“Resonate”: S.T.A.R. Moments

I’m nearing the end of my series on Nancy Duarte‘s book, Resonate (see Communicate for Change, What I Like About the Book, The Presentation Form, Stories Transform Lives, and The Big Idea). One of Duarte’s chapters is on S.T.A.R. moments, which stands for Something They’ll Always Remember. The S.T.A.R. moment should be a significant, sincere, … Read more

“Resonate”: The Big Idea

I have a few posts to go in my series on Nancy Duarte‘s book, Resonate (see Communicate for Change, What I Like About the Book, The Presentation Form, and Stories Transform Lives). As one who practices One-Point Preaching (see also 5 Years of One-Point Preaching), I was especially interested in what Duarte had to say … Read more