Last week I came across a book titled 13 Fatal Errors Managers Make and How You Can Avoid Them by W. Steven Brown. The title of Chapter 3, “Try to Control Results Instead of Influencing Thinking” really caught my eye and is where I began reading. In this chapter, Brown discusses the way employees view […]
Paradigm Before Program
Creating change is difficult in every organization, especially churches. Pastors and church leaders often attend conferences or training sessions, hear a presentation on a new model of ministry and think, “We need to do that at my church!” They return home and immediately begin incorporating new programs into their organizations. However, this packaged-program approach is […]
Sowers and Reapers (Gosh, I sound like a televangelist)
We’re all familiar with the story of the Woman at the Well. (While the Disciples have gone for food, Jesus meets a Samaritan woman, reads her mail, speaks in a few riddles, and teaches her and many others to believe in him.) But within this well-known story, Jesus offers his disciples a lesson on evangelism […]
An attempt to discuss the theology of eternal security…
Growing up with a Pentecostal background, I heard little support for the concept of eternal security. Having recently begun attending and interning at a church affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention, I have had more exposure to this belief in the past 8 months than in the previous 20 years of my life. I am […]
Departmental Missions: Do they complement or compete?
Recently, I was talking to a friend and fellow ministry student about the role departmental mission statements (DMS’s) play within an organization. (I define a DMS as the mission statement held by a specific area or division of an organization seeking to fulfill or support a given component of that organization’s mission.) My friend remarked […]
Random thought…
Quality presentation adds perceived credibility to content. presentation= the way in which an idea is communicated or displayed adds= presentation isn’t everything, but it certainly has a lot to offer perceived= implying viewer opinion, regardless of actuality credibility= trustworthiness content= the idea being communicated SO… We can increase the level to which viewers trust our […]
Successful Branding=Commitment [to what?]
I’ve been thinking the past couple of days about the increasing focus on church branding over the past few decades. This increased focus, I believe, is of great value to churches, bettering their first impressions and creating a better presentation to their messages. And I would definitely argue the importance of presentation. However, my thoughts […]
Is it missable?
This summer at Altitude (middle school ministry), we’re taking a break from our regular Wednesday night corporate worship service. Instead, we’ll be doing weekly small groups at off-site host homes. Because of this, Wednesday night was our last corporate service for the next 3 months. On my way to the church, I was hit with […]
The Chip Shot
So I played golf yesterday. Which really means I walked around with a bag of metal sticks making an absolute fool of myself. I often find I can throw a club further than I can hit the ball. And throw them I do. (Yeah, I’m working on that.) Obviously, it was a bad round for […]
Random thought…
You can measure the enjoyment level of those in a meeting by how quick they are to pack up at the end.