Leadership
Holistic Leadership Development
You want to develop leaders who will do what Jesus called us to do, leaders who can take the church forward into the 21st century. You look to the fields and see them, as Jesus does, ready for harvest — and you know that’s where your ministry needs to concentrate.
What’s needed is holistic leadership development — the kind of leadership development that comes from the harvest and leads people back into the harvest, resulting in subsequent generations of new believers and new leaders living as Jesus called us to live.
We can help you develop leaders the kind of leaders you need in a way that is both relational and intentional… and ultimately effective in helping your church accomplish its mission.
A day in the life of a network meeting
By guest blogger Dave White Part of a week-long series In yesterday’s blog entry I gave I big picture view of how we run our networks. Today we’re going in for a close-up to see what a typical network meeting for church planting looks like in our setting. I’m sure it...
Church planting networks
By guest blogger Dave White Part of a week-long series In our ministry in the Philippines we’ve changed the way we conduct our training of church planters. We used to gather planers for a four-day seminar and give them enough material to take them through the whole...
First generation Christians
First generation Christians are different. They love Jesus but they don’t know anything about your denomination. My wife once went to a retreat with a new believer who was not from a Christian background. Several songs into the worship (old-time hymns) this woman...
How do you know when it’s working?
Without any clear benchmarks for change, it’s almost impossible to measure whether change is happening. What is transformation? What does it look like? Would you recognize it if you saw it? Here are the 10 signs of change used by the ministry I visited in...
Separate organizations for service and evangelism?
As I’ve mentioned in previous blog entries, a tension often arises between meeting practical needs and making disciples. We are called to serve others and love them, no strings attached. Whether people respond to Jesus or not, we love and serve them no differently....
What does a church planting consultation look like?
I am often invited for consultations in the field of church planting, but many times people are unsure what to expect. Here’s a basic outline for what I do in a one-day consultation. We start by discussing the purpose of the consultation. What do they want to...
Macro thinking vs. Micro thinking
In the midst of a consultation recently it became apparent that the two groups that were there were starting to talk past each other. One group took a macro approach. They asked, “What would this look like if it were completely fleshed out?” They wanted the big...
Asking the right questions
Yesterday I wrote about the growth of urban slums. Which leaves us with the question: “What can we as the church do about it?” Yet our guiding question shouldn’t be, “What can we do to address the challenge of urban slums?” but rather, “What will it take to...
On urban poverty
Population growth rates in urban slums are higher than in virtually any other environment in the world. Currently, 1 out of 6 people in the world live in urban slums. 1 out of 6. Every week urban areas gain another 1.3 million people. That’s 67 million people per...
My trip to Mexico
I recently took a week-long trip to Mexico City, which you’ll be hearing a lot more about in upcoming blog entries. The original purpose of the trip was to check out a church plant formed out of ministry to the poor. Those of you who know me know that this is an area...
Continuous effort: In it for the long haul
Next in my series of quotes from Winston Churchill: “Continuous effort – not strength or intelligence – is the key to unlocking our potential.” How often we believe that if we were only smarter, faster, stronger, better… then we would be able to accomplish our goals....
The importance of context
In coaching, as in so many other important parts of life, context matters. The best response must fit with the current situation. Winston Churchill said, “In War: Resolution. In Defeat: Defiance. In Victory: Magnanimity. In Peace: Goodwill.” The best response depends...