Follow Jesus. Lead the church. Change the world.
I’m continuing my series on Nancy Duarte‘s book, Resonate (see Communicate for Change and What I Like About the Book). As Duarte points out in her 18-minute TED Talk, she discovered a shape or form that exists in all great presentations. Duarte contends, “Most great presentations unknowingly follow this form” (36). It amazes me that … Read more
Just over a month ago, I wrote Transforming Congregations Through the Matthew 28 Initiative. The following weekend, a consultation team visited Centre Grove. At the end of the weekend, the team offered their report, which included a number of prescriptions. Earlier tonight, Centre Grove voted to accept the prescriptions (80% of the people who submitted … Read more
Two years ago today, Joleen and I were in Seoul, Korea, welcoming Sarah into our family (the day we “got” Sarah). Less than two days later, we brought Sarah home and introduced her to her new brother. Yesterday, we celebrated Sarah’s gotcha day at Chuck E. Cheese in Altoona with Grammy and Pappy, eating pizza … Read more
Yesterday, I began a series of posts on Nancy Duarte‘s book, Resonate. The first post was simply about Duarte’s contention that the purpose of communication is ultimately change (which is one thing I love about the book). Before I continue engaging the material, here’s what else I like about the book. The book is well-designed, … Read more
Almost every book I read, I read only once (although I might review my highlights). One exception is Communicating for a Change by Andy Stanley and Lanes Jones, which I’ve read three times in the last five years (see One-Point Preaching and 5 Years of One-Point Preaching). Nancy Duarte’s Resonate, the latest book I’ve read, … Read more
At last week’s monthly mentoring group (which I mentioned here), I led the afternoon spiritual formation time. I used three props to focus on areas that I think are critical for leaders. One of the areas I talked about was putting the “big rocks” in first. In preparation for last week, I remembered reading a … Read more
In preparing for last week’s spiritual formation time at my monthly Matthew 28 pastors group meeting, which I wrote about recently, I came across (and used) a couple great quotes from Andy Stanley’s Visioneering: God’s Blueprint for Developing and Maintaining Vision. Stanley talks about what it takes to pursue a vision. Any vision worth pursuing … Read more
Last Thursday, I met with a group of pastors who are in the Matthew 28 Initiative. We’ve been meeting monthly since January. Each month, a District Superintendent leads a discussion on an assigned book. After lunch, one of the pastors from the group leads a time of spiritual formation. It was my turn this month … Read more
A couple of weeks ago, we took the kids to see the Sesame Street show at the War Memorial Arena in Johnstown, PA. We attended the morning show (there were two shows later in the day), which was lightly attended (same as the Thomas & Friends and Barney shows we had attended before). It was … Read more
Earlier this year, I listed 15 Books That Have Shaped Me as a Leader. One of those books was the classic by J. Oswald Sanders, Spiritual Leadership (I also talk about spiritual leadership in my last post, What Kind of Leader Are You?) The main reason the book (which I read during my time as … Read more