John Ortberg and Gabe Lyons
I saw this yesterday and wanted to be sure you watch it. Wherever you are today, we are waking to a new day. We are clearly living in a post-Christian world in the west. Gabe Lyons, author of The Next Christians, and co-author (with David Kinnaman) of unChristian, is a voice we all need to…
Read MorePatching Yesterday’s Garment
When you think about how you’re spending your time, would you say that you’re patching yesterday’s garment? Or designing tomorrow’s pattern? Need definitions? Patching yesterday’s garment would be “making incremental changes to try and improve less-than-optimal results.” Designing tomorrow’s pattern would be creating customized steps that lead to what you’ve clarified as a win.” So…
Read MoreAn Unwavering Sense of Direction
Trying to find a way to connect the widening 60% who are unreachable by the attractional model? To do it, you must have an unwavering sense of direction. The very heart of this series of articles on the keys to grouplife at crowd’s edge has to do with the certainty that the well-worn path never…
Read MoreWhat About a Curriculum Pathway?
“What about a curriculum pathway?” That was the question in a recent email from a reader. Specifically, the question included an interest in predetermining the curriculum “scope and sequence” for the small groups in their system. And after interviews with Steve Gladen on Saddeback’s Leadership Pathway and Eddie Mosley on LifePoint’s Discipleship Pathway, you can…
Read MoreThe Reason for God: a DVD-Driven Study featuring Tim Keller
Looking for material that will provoke a good discussion about faith? I had a chance recently to review The Reason for God, a DVD-driven study based on Tim Keller’s book by the same name and I think you’re going to want to add this one to your list. Designed to help groups learn how to…
Read MoreThe Straitjacket of Conventional Thinking
Want to connect people you’re not currently connecting? Then you need to do things you’re not doing now. Obvious…right? After all, if what you’re currently doing worked, at least to the degree you need it to, we wouldn’t be having this discussion. What’s keeping you from doing things you’re not doing now? Conventional thinking. After…
Read MoreCrowd Friendly Leader Qualification
Want to connect beyond the usual suspects? A key to grouplife at crowd’s edge is crowd friendly leader qualification. Sometimes referred to as “lowering the bar in terms of who can lead a group,” it really has to do with setting appropriate guidelines, procedures and expectations; determining answers to three very important questions: who can…
Read MoreMay Decisions Bring Exponential Septembers
We’ve all heard the saying, “April showers bring May flowers.” And no one questions that practical, Farmer’s Almanac kind of wisdom. Did you know that May decisions bring exponential Septembers? It’s true. When you have the right conversations and make the right decisions in May, you dramatically increase the exponential power of your fall ministry…
Read MoreMy Main Takeaway from Exponential
First of all, I should say the Exponential Conference was great. Loved it in 2010. 2011 was even better. The main sessions were very good. Francis Chan. The usual assortment of representatives from Australia and the UK (Alan Hirsch, Michael Frost, Mike Breen, etc.). Matt Chandler closing. Got to hear TWO Eric Bramlett introductions (this…
Read MoreTop 10 Posts of April, 2011
Here are my top 10 posts for April, 2011. As is often the case, not all of my top posts were from April. There was even an article from 2008! I included two additional posts because a couple of my top 10 posts in April were my About and Subscribe pages. It was also interesting…
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