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Read MoreDilbert on Strategic Decision Making
How’s this for strategic decision making?
Read More5 Keys to Clarifying the Win for Your Church-Wide Campaign
Preparing for your next church-wide campaign? What will you call a win? Will you declare what a win will look like in advance…and then aim for that? Or like the well-known Brother Juniper cartoon, will you just shoot an arrow into the fence and draw the bullseye afterward? Clarifying the win, being clear about what…
Read MoreAn Analysis of the Sermon Based Small Group Strategy
I am regularly asked about the wisdom or effectiveness of a sermon-based strategy. Underlying the question many times is the sense that providing a study to be used will keep groups from straying from the well trodden pathway. And I have to admit that at some level there is wisdom behind what they are asking.…
Read MoreA Potentially Game-Changing Mashup We’ll Be Testing in September
I’ve written a lot about how to use the HOST strategy combined with a church-wide campaign. In my mind those two strategies represent two of the most powerful ideas in small group ministry. If you’re looking for a way to jump start lots of groups and connect way beyond the usual suspects…I’ve not found anything…
Read MoreAdd “Pressure Points” to Your Church-Wide Campaign Short List
Looking for your next church-wide campaign? Don’t miss an exciting new development at LifeWay. This fall’s launch of the Bible Studies for Life curriculum series needs to be on your radar. Pressure Points, a six session study based on the book of James, is the first study in the series. Everyone faces the challenges of…
Read MoreBe Aware of the Self Serving Bias When Diagnosing Your Ministry
One of the greatest challenges in diagnosing your own ministry is successfully overcoming the self serving bias. You know this term, right? A self serving bias is “the tendency of people to attribute success to their personalities and failure to external factors.” For example, while diagnosing the previous ministry year one might determine that Event A…
Read More2013 Summer Reading List
Have your reading planned for the summer? I think there are a few books that you need to be reading to be up on the grouplife conversation. For starters…I think you need to be reading DiscipleShift: Five Steps that Can Help Your Church Make Disciples Who Make Disciples. Trust me…this is one you’re going to…
Read MoreSkill Training: 6 Keys to Keeping Your New Group Going
So you started a new group. You’ve overcome your fears. You’ve gone where you’ve never gone before. And now–believe it or not–you’re enjoying your new friends and looking forward to your next meeting. Who knew that could really happen! The question is, what do you need to do right now to keep your new group…
Read MoreSeven-Mile Miracle
Had an opportunity over the weekend to review Seven-Mile Miracle, a new study from Steven Furtick, founder and lead pastor of Elevation, one of the fastest growing churches in America. A dynamic speaker, Furtick provides a characteristically powerful message in this study. DVD-driven, Seven-Mile Miracle: Experience the Last Words of Christ as Never Before is…
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