Skill Training: 5 Keys to Becoming a More Caring Group

How deeply do your group members care for and support each other? Are they like the 1st century believers in Jerusalem who were of “one heart and mind” and believed that nothing they had was their own but “held everything in common?” (Acts 4)  Are they like the believers in Philippi who “looked not only…

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Top 10 Posts of April, 2013

Miss a day or two?  Here are my top 10 posts of April, 2013: Top 10 Things I Need to Know about Discipleship (September, 2012) New from Beth Moore | The Law of Love: Lessons from the Pages of Deuteronomy (August, 2012) Skill Training: Design Your Group Meeting for Life Change (March, 2013) 10 Commandments…

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Don’t Miss this Great Resource: The Art of Neighboring

I’ve been working my way through The Art of Neighboring: Building Genuine Relationships Right Outside Your Door.  Written by Jay Pathak and Dave Runyon, The Art of Neighboring was prompted by a joint church movement developed in Denver in response to a comment made by Arvada, Colorado mayor Bob Frie.  When asked, “How can we…

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5 Things You Need to Know about Connecting Unconnected People

There are a few things I know about connecting unconnected people.  And let me tell you something.  While there are definitely exceptions to just about every rule…if you can think of examples counter to these five you are thinking of exceptions.  Build your ministry off the rule and not the exception. I’ve said many times…

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This Question Might Be Step One

Ever been in the middle of a conversation and hear something that sort’ve stops time?  Almost like an E.F. Hutton moment? I had a moment like that last week in Atlanta at a gathering of some of grouplife’s sharpest leaders*.  Couldn’t tell you with certainty what the exact topic was, but all of a sudden…

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Raw Material + Process = End Product

It’s been a long time since I actually worked an algebraic equation.  I’m guessing it’s the same for you.  Still, I’m working on an insight that is helping me form theory and practice for an essential question in grouplife…and a kind of equation is proving helpful for me. Here’s the equation: Raw Material + Process…

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Quotebook: Easy First Steps

I hear this (or something like it) a lot. “We don’t want to just connect people.  We want to help more of our adults become disciples who make disciples.  We know what we want to end up with.  We’re just finding it hard to get the majority of our adults to answer the call and…

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