Follow Jesus. Lead the church. Change the world.
As I mentioned a few days ago, Leadership Network held a free online leadership event today called, Aha!, a 4-hour (plus) series of videos from around 40 different presenters talking about their aha! moments. I had the event running on my computer (to the TV) the entire time, but I didn’t catch nearly all of … Read more
I am grateful for my time at Asbury Theological Seminary for the doctor of ministry program (2004-2008). It was certainly worthwhile … and formational. One of the statements that has shaped me the most came out of one of the three required courses, “Theology of Ministry,” taught by Dr. Stephen Seamands (author of Wounds That … Read more
Last fall, Leadership Network offered a free online leadership event called, The Nines (see my posts, The Nines Marathon and More on The Nines). Now, they are offering another online event called Aha!. Aha!, which is expected to last about four hours, will focus on fresh ideas in the church coming from about 40 different … Read more
Picking up where we left off five months ago (due to parental leaves), our Covenant Groups resumed last night (see Simple Church 1.0). Our Covenant Groups (a requirement of our ordination process) are discussing Thom Rainer and Eric Geiger’s book, Simple Church. Since we had only read chapter one for our September 2009 meeting, we … Read more
There’s sort of a common joke among church leaders that pastors write many Monday morning letters of resignation. Along these lines, I once heard Rob Bell use the term “pastor’s hangover” in a sermon, and it’s stuck with me ever since. Perhaps it’s because I know what it feels like (although, mine are normally mild). … Read more
Following up on yesterday’s post, Personal Growth Plan, I’ve been thinking about the things I think I need to be doing (virtually) every day (while similar to a post I wrote a year and a half ago, Routines, this post focuses more on the *everyday* routines). I came up with a list of five daily … Read more
I have written about the value of learning and personal growth before. See Shaping a Learning Culture, Lifelong Learning, and even Still Learning from last week. One of the people I’ve heard talk about having a personal growth plan is John Maxwell. I don’t remember where he writes about it — maybe Developing the Leader … Read more
At last week’s Bishop’s Retreat, Gilbert Rendle talked about the change that’s taking place in the world and in the church as well as the leadership that’s needed, as a result of the cultural change. At the end of his presentation on Tuesday evening, Rendle challenged attendees to discover the “ten percent” (the amount of … Read more
We are at the halfway point at the 2010 Bishop’s Retreat of the Central Pennsylvania Conference of The United Methodist Church. We arrived at the retreat, which is taking place at the Willow Valley Resort in Lancaster, PA. Last year, our first time to attend the annual retreat, we came a day early to get … Read more
New Year’s is one of my favorite times of the year, and the week between Christmas and New Year’s — the last week of the calendar year — tends to be a time of reflection (looking back) and refocusing (looking ahead). And the fact that it’s our first week back after family leaves, makes it … Read more