Would YOU Buy What You’re Selling?

Do you know what the”WD” in WD-40 stands for?
Jon S. Barry, creator of WD-40, died recently. Inc. Magazine’s obituary piece is inspiring. It is inspiring to me because all the man did or cared about, business-wise, was selling WD-40.  Do you know how many different things this product is used for?  No one does: 80% [...]

COR Leadership – Slaughtered

Michael Slaughter, lead pastor at Ginghamsburg UMC,  spoke Friday afternoon at COR Leadership Institute.  Here are the notes I took.
Attractional v. missional –not about getting people into heaven, but about getting heaven into people

If it isn’t good news for the poor, it isn’t good news.
I believe in the new birth (I’ve been born again), but [...]

5 Essential Tasks of a Leader – leading change

Here are 5 main points from Adam Hamilton’s opening session at Leadership Institute 2009.

Lead by example
Clarify the Mission, Vision, and Purpose
Identify problems to be solved and opportunities to be seized
Lead necessary change
Motivate and inspire

Like every other time I’ve listened to Adam, he was very compelling.  This morning he will focus on quality worship and preaching.  [...]

Happy Birthday to Me!

I tend not to be interested in blogs that are too self referential, but since today is my birthday, give me this one….
Rachel and I enjoyed getting to see U2 on David Letterman last March.  Then, when the opportunity arose to buy tickets to their Dallas show (this Monday), I passed.
I passed, but Rachel didn’t. [...]

Strategic Planning

I’m at a Strategic Planning Retreat with the other leadership of Methodist Children’s Home (MCH).  I am also in the middle of 3 days of Day Camp at Glen Lake Camp.  Fortunately, both events are being held at Glen Lake in Glen Rose.
MCH is one of the premier residential care facilities for at-risk youth in [...]

Word of the Ancestors

I’m reading Warren Cole Smith’s A Lover’s Quarrel with the Evangelical Church, the second book I’ve received for review as a Viral Blogger.
In the chapter I just finished, Smith has critiqued the image-driven, multi-media hungry “stereopticon” tragedy of the modern evangelical church.  He concludes:
…dependence on the great stereopticon and rejection of the “foolishness of preaching” [...]

Testing My Pacifism

Donald Miller tells a great story in the midst of his Blue Like Jazz.  The story in the midst of the story is about setting up a confession booth at a city event.  IN the confession booth, though, instead of a priest taking confessions of sinners, various Christians take turns confessing the sins of institutional [...]

Saved from Last Week

I have so much and so many thing swirling around in my head right now, I don’t know if I can blog effectively. This is my third attempt this morning.
Perhaps this doesn’t happen to you, but sometimes when I am listening to someone speak, something he or she says makes several different connections in me; [...]

Final Thoughts from Grand Rapids

I’ll be heading to the airport in a few minutes, the Gerald R. Ford Airport,to begin my trek home.
I have many more things to share with you from my time here, but this list will not include a summary of the presentations or even sections of the 10 or so pages of notes I took.  [...]

Check Out Jim Morrow’s Blog

Check out this discussion on the “Rhetoric of Crisis” over on Jim Morrow’s blog, The Greatest Story Ever Told.
Here is a taste:
the rhetoric of crisis is a rhetoric of power.  It gives power to the speaker…the rhetoric of crisis takes power away from the laity and pastors.
Thanks, Jim, for the great quote, and for the [...]