Posts by Mark Howell
Skill Training: Help Your Life Group Survive the Holidays
As your life group approaches Thanksgiving, there are several things you can do to help your group survive the holidays. Now, you might be thinking, “That sounds pretty serious! Survive the holidays? Isn’t that being a little dramatic?” I don’t think it’s overly dramatic at all. Why? It’s just too easy to finish a study…
Read MoreNew from Beth Moore | James: Mercy Triumphs
Had an opportunity today to preview the newest Beth Moore study. The highly anticipated James: Mercy Triumphs is out and will without a doubt be an immediate hit, used by women’s Bible studies and small groups everywhere. DVD-driven, this 8 session study launches with a powerful teaching session that sets the stage and establishes James’ identity,…
Read MoreYou’re Invited: Join My 2012 Small Group Ministry Coaching Network
Looking for an opportunity to grow in your ability to connect beyond usual suspects? I want to invite you to join my 2012 Small Group Ministry Coaching Network; an experience designed to give you the tools and strategies you need in order to build a small group ministry that works in the 21st century. The coaching…
Read MorePursuing God’s Beauty: Stories from the Gospel of John
If you’re like me you’re often asked for a Bible book study recommendation. “Our group just wants to study a book of the Bible. What do you suggest?” Over the years I’ve accumulated a few favorites. You’ll find some of those reviews right here. A few weeks ago I reviewed a new Margaret Feinberg study,…
Read MoreQuotebook: Radical Change Is Logical
Robert Riney, COO of Henry Ford Health System on the need for innovation and change in the hospital industry: “It’s not radical to ‘go radical.’ It’s logical to go radical. How can you look at the situation in our industry and say the answer is to make incremental change?” (p. 80, Practically Radical)
Read MoreThe Paradox of Expertise
The biggest obstacle for most stuck small group ministries? I think it’s what Cynthia Barton Rabe refers to as “the paradox of expertise.” Rabe, a former strategist at Intel, points out that: “What we know limits what we can imagine. When it comes to innovation, the same hard-won experience, best practice, and processes that are…
Read MoreTop 10 Posts of October, 2011
In case you missed them, here are my most popular posts for October, 2011. As is often the case, not all of the posts were written in October. You’ll find a couple 2010s and even a 2008! Much like September, a total of 616 out of my almost 750 posts were read at least once.…
Read MoreThe Second Question Every Small Group Pastor Must Answer
Once you’ve decided what business you’re in (yesterday’s question), you need to figure out what you are going to call success. Some people think about this question as “clarifying the win.” This is very, very important. Oh…it’s tempting to shoot the arrows first and then draw in the target, just like in this well-known Brother…
Read MoreThe First Question Every Small Group Pastor Must Answer
What do you think the first question is? Any ideas? I think the first the question is, “What business am I in?” And I know for some that is an almost shocking idea. After all, are we really in a business? If that’s you…you might want to think of it as, “What am I trying…
Read MoreWhat We Know Limits What We Can Imagine
Love this great line from The Innovation Killer by Cynthia Barton Rabe, a former strategist at Intel: “What we know limits what we can imagine.” Many organizations, she argues, struggle with a ‘paradox of expertise’ in which deep knowledge of what exists in a marketplace or a product category makes it harder to consider what-if…
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