Posts by Mark Howell
Thinking Thursday: Tony Salvador: The listening bias
Listening to both customers and colleagues to gather insights and information is a key ability that successful people possess. Tony Salvador shares some strategies for being a better listener : to lose preconceptions, to be vulnerable and open to new ideas, and to not be afraid to hear what we’d rather not hear. Can’t see…
Read MoreQuotebook: Capturing Imagination
Michael Frost spoke about the need to tell a better story in a main session at Exponential West. So good! In his introduction he said “if you want to change the world, if you want to change people, tell them a different story.” Doesn’t that ring true to you? Since I’m always trying to figure out…
Read More7 Things You Must Do TO and FOR Your Small Group Leaders
Can I let you in on a little corner of reality? Small group leaders are no different than the rest of us. A few of them (maybe 5 to 10%) are self-starters and have the internal wiring to take the right steps to grow on their own. The other 90-95% of all small group leaders…
Read More5 Symptoms of a Healthy Small Group Ministry
Is your small group ministry healthy? How can you tell if your small group ministry is healthy? Is there a set of symptoms or indicators of health? I think there is. Just like a doctor can look at your blood pressure, heart rate, and pulse to determine the health of your heart, there are a…
Read MoreTake a Look at 40 Days of God’s Kingdom
What do you know about the Kingdom of God? Not a foreign concept to most of us, right? But what about the members of your congregation? Considering the number of times Jesus referred to the Kingdom of God (or the Kingdom of the Heavens), isn’t it something that you might want to share with your…
Read MoreQuotebook: On Being a Friend of Sinners
Every time I listen to Hugh Halter or read his writing I am more persuaded that what he is saying is very important. In a breakout at Exponential yesterday talking about his new book he said this: “We think you have to condemn or condone. Jesus would tell us, ‘I don’t want you to do…
Read MoreQuotebook: Why Are You Developing Leaders?
I don’t know about you, but I’m always trying to find and develop more leaders. I heard Mac Lake say this today at Exponential West: “When I ask why people want to develop more leaders, the most common answers are that they don’t have enough leaders or they need more leaders. Those are actually the…
Read More5 Secrets of Building Ministry Momentum
Momentum. Few of us have it. All of us want it. How do you generate momentum? And how do you build and sustain momentum once you have it? I believe there are some secrets to building momentum. I also believe that none of these secrets are easy to do. If they were, everyone would have…
Read More5 Ways to Blow Up Your Small Group Ministry
You’ve worked hard to build your small group ministry. It’s humming along; firing on all cylinders. And at just about any moment there are a few things that can blow up most of what you’ve worked hard to accomplish. What are they? 5 Ways to Blow Up Your Small Group Ministry 1. Changing your small…
Read MoreHave You Seen Stepping Up: A Call to Courageous Manhood?
I spent some time this week with a very powerful men’s study from FamilyLife and LifeWay. Stepping Up: A Call to Courageous Manhood is a 10 session study that is based on Dennis Rainey’s book by the same title that is designed to help men discover what it means to step up and live a courageous life.…
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