I don’t know how many of you are Honest Tea fans, but I had some for the first time when I was down in Texas; and it tasted really good. They jumped out into the market with their branding of using organic ingredients and some funky combinations of flavors. This kind of explains their […]
From Lifestage to Lifestage
I was refreshed this week as I met up with some of our church members. One conversation in particular stuck out for me. As I was meeting with the member, we talked about going through various lifestages; and he shared some of his perspective on “how” he decided to go through the transition for […]
Lessons from Pandora
Photo by nowpublic.com I love Pandora. For those of you who have not tried it yet, you should. It is free music on the internet. I always have it on as I am working on my laptop. In fact, I have about 50 different stations that I have created over the years. The […]
Should We Be Controversial?
Photo by NYTimes Bill Ellis writing for ASSIST News Service wrote an article that asks the question, “Should the Church and its Ministers be Controversial?” Now, I know that there are pastors and church leaders who are controversial for controversy sake. They experience great joy from inciting controversy and “ticking” people off. Then […]
The Need for Evaluation?
Photo by Carmody Consulting John Ortberg wrote an article for Leadership Journal that was pretty insightful. He addressed the topic of “evaluation.” It is clear that there are many people who do not evaluate themselves and their ministry. Ortberg writes, “Some people refuse to ask any questions about effectiveness at all, on the […]
Is Boo-ing Allowed?
Photo by Kentucky Sport Radio Recently, one of my church members forwarded an article to me that drew my attention. The article is titled, “Why Not Boo?” It was written by Terry Teachout, a drama critic for the Wall Street Journal. He was writing how at the famous Metropolitan Opera House in New […]
Bringing the Old with the New
Now this is how nun-chucks are supposed to be used. Believe it or not, I used to practice using nun-chucks on a regular basis when I was in high school. I don’t what it was but I got into this phase of martial arts. Confession: yes, I had the ninja stars and […]
Some Observations about Twitter
Photo by Twitter I don’t know how many of you are fans of Twitter, but it is taking the social network by storm. I have a feeling that it might supersede Facebook one day – kind of like what Facebook did to Xanga… if you are still using Xanga, I really don’t know […]
Lessons from St. Patrick’s Day
History.com Photo It is amazing how many people were out and about today because it was St. Patrick’s Day. One of the staff pastors told me that he even saw a long line outside a bar in downtown Ann Arbor at 6:15AM as he was driving to morning prayer. Then when we went […]
Trip Out Chicago 3.15.09
It has just been about 24 hours since I landed in O’Hare airport yesterday, but already it has been an awesome time catching up with people and also ministering God’s Word. Yesterday, I met up with the leaders at HMCC-Chicago and re-casted the vision, as well as gave the leaders an update of the church […]
Leadership Lesson: Glamour, Gain and Glory – 3 Servant Killers
Photo from “The Passion of Christ” Ever since 1996, I have been trying to teach the members in our church the importance of servanthood. This entails serving God with humility and constantly checking our motives for doing what we do. A lot of times when we examine our hearts, we have to confess […]
Twitter + Etiquette = Twitterquette
As you know, Twitter is taking over the internet. In fact, I find myself on Twitter more than Facebook and other social networks. My blog is second to Twitter when it comes to communicating things. For some time now, I have not “followed” everyone that has decided to follow me. My thought was […]
Leadership Lesson: Why is Change So Hard?
Photo by Zazzle Albert Einstein coined the adage “insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” The reality is that people love the status quo. It is usually correlated with our love for comfort. This is why sometimes, as people get older, it is harder to change […]
The Last Sermon
Photo from FBC website In light of the tragic death of Rev. Fred Winters of First Baptist Church in Maryville, IL, it is hard to believe we have come to a point in this world where people are being gunned down in churches. Even though this is not the first time a gunman […]