Regardless of what your particular role in your church may be, I believe it’s safe “the way we’ve always done it” isn’t working anymore. The world around us has changed dramatically due to the advances in technology and our changing economy. We’re living in a new reality that requires us to go against conventional wisdom and rework the way we do what we do.
One idea that is especially relevant to me right now is the idea that Constraints are a Blessing.
We tend to avoid things that hinder us. Freedom is always preferred over constraint. We’d rather have more than less. But as we’ve seen in the changing world we live in….small is the new big, less is more, and yes, even constraints are a blessing.
Tim Schraeder via TS blog.
You’re talking, people are listening, but do they understand what you are saying?Example: the teacher [or any adult figure] in the Peanuts cartoons:
The teacher is saying something. Linus, Lucy and others can understand her and are able to communicate with her, but to the average person [you and me] watching it all sounds like nonsense.
When people come to our churches and hear what we’re saying, or if they are reading something on our website or in print, do they have the same experience?
Andy Crouch talks via Q Talks.
The West represents the wealthiest and most educated people in the world. As beneficiaries of this environment, how are we as Christians to think about such power? Do we have a special responsibility to take a countercultural view on the privileges that come with this power? Thought-leader Andy Crouch addresses these issues and provides a different perspective on power, one that does not demonize it, but helps us understand its proper use.
An understanding of the Christian story demands that we approach our world in terms of how things ought to be. In order to fulfill his WWII draft obligation, Max Kampelman volunteered for the infamous Minnesota Starvation Experiment where for one year he was subjected to extreme starvation. He served as Ambassador and head of the United States Delegation to the Negotiations with the Soviet Union on Nuclear and Space Arms in Geneva. President Clinton awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom and in 2008 at the U.S. State Department, he received the Democracy Service Medal. Ambassador Kampelman calls us to live a life of service and sacrifice with the defining perspective of how things ought to be.
Interpreting the Bible has become a divisive issue for some and little more than sport for others. Some want to talk about the “authority” of Scripture. They’re asking questions like, “How is the Bible authoritative in our lives today?” Others are wondering if the word “inerrancy” is making a comeback. Is it? Or is the term only useful for theological debates, to separate those who are “in” and those who are “out”? How then should we interpret the Bible as God’s word for our culture today?
The theme of the conference was Wonder… and I think that it could have not been a more fitting idea. It was incredible how all of the speakers, though from all different backgrounds, churches and organizations, all basically said the same thing.
I don’t necessarily consider myself and artist, but I do feel more at home with artsy people. I have some flair, but I’m not necessarily a full-fledged artist per se.
We all have ideas, but, as Thomas Edison famously said, “Genius is 1 percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration.
“In his new book Making Ideas Happen, Scott Belsky, CEO of Behance, argues that ideas are worthless if you can’t make them happen and offers this simple equation… Making Ideas Happen = The Idea + Organization and Execution + Forces of Community + Leadership Capability
Deadlines, rough drafts, deciding which font to use, racing to get your files to the printer, frustration over the time it’s taking for a video to render, forgetting to save the document you’ve been working on only to delete it, agonizing over the perfect image to use, people asking for way too much with so little time… it’s easy in the life of church communications [whatever that may look like for you] to lose your focus.
What we do matters but why we do it is more important.
Tim Schraeder via TS blog
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It’s really easy to lose perspective.
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