Lightbulb Conversations

A few days ago I had a conversation with a friend who is also a network leader. I was telling her about the kind of work I’m going to be focusing on next—helping people return to the work of Jesus at a grassroots level, living missionally and incarnationally in the...

The starfish group

One woman in my church plant has started a new group. One of the members, new to both the group and the church, wanted to call the group “the starfish group,” after the book The Starfish and the Spider—with the idea being that the group is set up to multiply right...

Follow the promptings of the Spirit

One of my friends went to the grocery store last week. As he was checking out, he had a strong impression to buy a rack of ribs. He didn't need ribs, but the sensation didn't go away. So he bought a rack of ribs anyway. As he drove home, he decided to give the...

Along-the-way-learning

Imagine being an expectant first-time mother or father taking a parenting class. The instructor starts out talking about early infancy, and all of the pregnant women and their husbands are nodding and taking notes. But then their expressions become increasingly...

Information overload

Why do we keep doing it? We try to cram everything someone could possibly someday need to know into their orientation or training. We overload them with information, and their practice doesn’t have a chance to catch up. Essentially, we are educating people beyond...