Strategy & Leadership

Fri - January 5, 2007

Question for Church and Mission Leaders

I'm doing some research on how Christian ministries (try to) recognize and assess the fruitfulness of their work. If you have thoughts on this from your ministry, I'd be grateful if you would visit Strategic Christian and answer a brief question there. Thanks!

Posted at 10:13 PM Read More |

Thu - May 11, 2006

Experimenting

I'm trying out some new software, and considering a new blog at the same time. (I was musing about this possibility a few days ago.)

Posted at 03:43 PM Read More |

Sat - May 6, 2006

Motivating Volunteers in Ministry

My guest column on motivating and equipping volunteers for church ministry was published today in the Newport News Daily Press.

This blog is not usually about such topics, because many visitors here are not Christian believers, and such subjects would miss that audience. (I've toyed with the idea of setting up another blog with articles just for churches and church and mission leaders.) Today's Daily Press column is a highly condensed version, though, of some of the main emphases in my daily ministry work:* how can we be more effective in what we do? Or sometimes, "we're sure trying to do the right things but it doesn't seem to be getting anywhere!"

Posted at 06:39 AM Read More |

Mon - April 24, 2006

"Furrowed Brows"

This from Christianity Today takes a poke at (some) Christian leaders who seem professionally upset by the state of the culture wars. It reminds me of what I've thought regarding the displacement of Christmas and other holidays in the West:

What did we expect?

Posted at 04:09 PM Read More |

Fri - March 17, 2006

Celebrating Saint Patrick's Day!

Is it really about green beer? Who was Patrick, anyway?

Posted at 11:26 AM Read More |

Sun - February 12, 2006

More on the Da Vinci Code: A Godly Response to Mockery

"Now as [Jesus] drew near, he saw the city [of Jerusalem] and wept over it, saying, 'If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes" (Luke 19:41-42).

"Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in all their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep without a shepherd" (Matthew 9:35-36).

In some ways I wish the Da Vinci Code movie was out now, while the Danish cartoon controversy is so hot, so that the full contrast of the situation would be apparent.

Posted at 07:25 AM Read More |

Sat - February 11, 2006

Read The Da Vinci Code!

Hang on a moment--did I really say that? Dan Brown's bestseller is an entertaining thriller packed with all kinds of historical information about the early church. "All kinds," in this case, includes quite a bit of the kind that isn't true. The historical inaccuracies of the book are well documented.

I haven't read it yet myself, but with the movie coming out soon, and based on some excellent advice, I plan to do so soon.

Posted at 07:08 PM Read More |

Fri - January 20, 2006

Organizational DNA

How is your church or organization doing? I just took a diagnostic questionnaire based on the book RESULTS: Keep What’s Good, Fix What’s Wrong, and Unlock Great Performance. I'm not going to tell you the outcome because it's too accurate!

Posted at 11:09 AM Read More |

21 Steps to a 21st Century Church

Dan Edelen has compiled a masterpiece among blogs, regarding church strategy, in "21 Steps to a 21st Century Church." I'm going to list his "Table of Contents," as it were, but the good stuff is in the "chapters" there on his blog.

Posted at 10:02 AM Read More |

Mon - November 28, 2005

Christians' Preparation for Avian Flu

From EurekaAlert, we learn of ethicists doing advance thinking about bird flu:

"Coping effectively with a predicted influenza pandemic that threatens to affect the health of millions worldwide, hobble economies and overwhelm health care systems will require more than new drugs and good infection control.

"An international medical ethics think-tank says that all-important public cooperation and the coordination of public officials at all levels requires open and ethical decision making.

"The Influenza Pandemic Working Group at the University of Toronto Joint Centre for Bioethics today recommended a 15-point ethical guide for pandemic planning, based in part on experiences and study of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) crisis of 2003."

This is an important matter to work on in advance. What can Christian leaders do to prepare for the possibility of a pandemic?

Posted at 04:11 PM Read More |

Sat - November 5, 2005

Contemporary Liturgies

Magic Statistics guy Scott Gilbreath talks about a lot more than numbers on his blog, and I like his eclectic style. Today he compares two forms of church liturgy. You may not get his point unless you've been in a contemporary style church.

Posted at 05:30 PM Read More |

Tue - October 11, 2005

God-Talk That Doesn't Communicate

What do others outside our heritage hear when Christians speak? It may not be what we think we're saying.

Posted at 04:08 PM Read More |

Tue - September 13, 2005

Missional vs. Traditional Church

At least three blogs before this one have picked up on a provocative new way of viewing church. I'm taking my turn now to share some strong appreciation and agreement, with just a couple of reservations. This appears to originate in Adam's "Thoughts from the Cheap Seats." He contrasts a traditional model of church to a missional model.

They are illustrated thus:

Posted at 04:10 PM Read More |