Intentionalizing the spontaneous
I began coaching a leader in a growing organization recently and he came to an important realization: what had been working for leadership development and discipleship in the past wasn’t working as well anymore. Some of the dynamics had changed since the organization...
Considering the long-term impact of our decisions
We need to regularly ask the questions: “What are the long-term effects of this decision?” and, “What might be the unintended consequences of this decision?” For example, if you try to solve your shortage of church planters by recruiting, it has the long-term (and...
Up willow creek without a paddle
Remember when Willow Creek was all the rage? Everyone else began looking to the seeker service as the silver bullet. Yet what they didn’t see was all the foundational work of intentional relationship building before seekers were brought to the service. There was a lot...
The courage to look at the numbers… and then change
Sometimes we just don’t want to step on the scale. It takes courage to actually look at the number, and that can be a big hurdle to get over. It’s the same way in ministry– it takes courage to take an honest look and evaluate our results. And then it takes...