Ken

There are two forces at work, shaping our lives.  The first is our memory which calls us back to the past, our upbringing, our foundation.  We often make decisions without even being aware of the influence our past may still hold on us. This is not all bad.  We learn from our experiences and hope to repeat what was good and avoid what was harmful.  Yet, we may also feel bound to maintain a tradition or legacy that no longer serves its purpose. The second force at work is desire which leans forward into the future, our hope, and our dreams.  Desire is a powerful force, prompting people to do strange things.  When used properly, desire can motivate us to seek out new avenues of growth and to take God-inspired steps of faith. When we only act out of memory, we may miss opportunities that lie in front of us.…

One of the guys I follow on Twitter is @MaxLucado.  Many of you may know him through his books (I think he's written one or two and sold a few copies of each).  I've had a long-distance admiration of Max for many years, probably due to the fact that we shared a common Christian tradition -- we both were born and raised in the same type of church. He recently sent this tweet that caught my attention: “How we handle our tough times stays with us for a long time.” If you're not familiar with Twitter, each "tweet" can only be a maximum of 140 characters.  That means you have to be short and sweet.  By my math, this tweet was all of 13 words. Isn't it amazing how much truth can be packed into only 13 words? I've seen leaders, marriages, and business owners all tested by tough times. …

We had a great kick-off to E4U at Mountainview last night.  E4U is our new spiritual formation initiative, based on four tracks (or themes) of spiritual development and growth. Overall, we had more than 120 people involved in a Bible class last night (including our Women's Encounter group).  This isn't including the over 100 kids and adults involved in 24-7, our Tuesday night kid's program.  It was exciting to see the building buzzing with activity. I'm teaching "Introduction to the Bible" and had 30 students.  It's going to be a fun class because it's a great topic and the people are eager to learn.  One of the things I enjoy the most is fielding questions during class.  The end goal of the class isn't just information; it's transformation.  As I told the class last night: "The goal isn't to master the Bible but to have the Bible master us." Our…

The following is from a post entitled "10 Power Principles on Church Strategy" by Will Mancini. #1  Programs don’t attract people; people attract people (Aubrey Malphurs) #2  Think steps not programs; strategy makes the next step simple, easy and obvious. (Andy Stanley) #3  Strategy is a missional map, therefore communicate it visually (Church Unique) #4  As a whole, cluttered and complex churches are not alive. (Thom Ranier) #5  Growing people grow people; consuming people consume programs. (Church Unique) #6  Strategy as assimilation should not be confused with spiritual formation; one is about getting individuals into the body of Christ, the other is about getting the life of Christ into the individual. #7  Strategy connects programs and events vertically with the mission and horizontally with one another. (adapted from Bill Donahue) #8  The fewer specials you have the more you sell. (An executive chef  said this in an Auxano Vision Pathway, talking…

Yesterday morning I spoke to our middle schoolers at Mountainview about building relationships of influence with others.  To help underscore the point, I relayed the story of Philip and the chariot-riding eunuch from Ethiopia (Acts 8:26-40). This particular part stands out: "The eunuch had gone to Jerusalem to worship, and he was now returning. Seated in his carriage, he was reading aloud from the book of the prophet Isaiah.  The Holy Spirit said to Philip, 'Go over and walk along beside the carriage.'  Philip ran over and heard the man reading from the prophet Isaiah. Philip asked, 'Do you understand what you are reading?'  The man replied, 'How can I, unless someone instructs me?'  And he urged Philip to come up into the carriage and sit with him" (Acts 8:27-31, emphasis mine). Each day we are surrounded by people who are on a journey, whether they know it or not.  Some…