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…

In the mid-1800's, pioneers traveled the Oregon Trail on their way to a home on the west coast.   It was a journey that took between four and six months, depending on the weather and the will of the people.  It's estimated that over 400,000 people traveled the trail until the arrival of the railroad hastened its demise. This was no easy journey.  Many of those who set out from the eastern states never arrived in Oregon. As the trail winded its way into what is now Idaho, many travelers would carve their name into a large rock along the trail.  The rock became known as "Register Rock" and it contained the names and dates of those who had it made there safely. Those who carved their names did so in part to highlight the courage it took to travel the trail.  The names also stood as a sign of encouragement…

For those of you involved in the creative process -- writers, designers, preachers -- here is an excerpt from a blog post by Donald Miller.  He's the author of Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality (among others) and it's a great little post about how to jumpstart creativity. Sometimes a writer will sit for an hour or so, just thinking of a creative setting in which to place a conversation. It’s important work, that sitting and thinking, because the scene will engage the viewer or reader much better. And it’s important work in life, too. Here are some tips on creating memorable scenes: 1. Say yes to awkwardness: Is your buddy a mortician? Ask him if you can take him to lunch in exchange for a tour of his funeral home. I did this once. Talk about a memorable scene. I’ll spare you the details, but it was a…

In my last post, I mentioned that we Christ-followers should be buying in bulk great books about Jesus and giving them away for free.  Here's a few I would recommend.  Note: these are not intended to be academic resources.  They are well-written books that present Jesus in a way that connects with modern readers. No Wonder They Call Him the Savior: Experiencing the Truth of the Cross (The Bestseller Collection) - Max Lucado God Came Near (The Bestseller Collection) - Max Lucado The Ragamuffin Gospel: Good News for the Bedraggled, Beat-Up, and Burnt Out - Brennan Manning Moments with the Savior: A Devotional Life of Christ - Ken Gire Intimate Moments with the Savior - Learning to Love - Ken Gire Simply Christian: Why Christianity Makes Sense - N.T. Wright