How’s this for kicking off the new year? A book on making change lasting and effective. When you train people, most of the time you need to explain and describe. Some of that is necessary, and it results in intellectual knowledge. But if you want the result of...
I recently read Exponential by Dave and Jon Ferguson. They talk about the 5-step model of Jesus, which I’ve used for years, but they did make one very helpful addition to it. They insert “we talk” between each of the original steps: I do, you watch, we talk. I...
Recently I watched a baby of about one year old who was trying to learn to speak. As conversations were carried on around him, he mimicked the sounds and actions he was observing. When people were talking, he would make word-like sounds in their direction as if we...
Which is harder for you to give—your time or your money? In a lot of cases, time is the more precious resource. I’ve often found it easier to give money than time: “Why do I have to spend four hours washing cars at this youth group fundraiser? Can’t I just write a...
Your ministry flows out of your values. Picture the whole church as a tree: the values are the roots. You can’t see them, but they are responsible for virtually everything that happens above ground. The roots produce the fruit. If the fruit is good, you assume the...
A significant dimension of my continuing education is reflecting on my conversations and experiences. What did I learn? What principles did I discover, affirm or deepen? What common threads do I see? How does this connect with other situations? What patterns can I...
