Ed Stetzer is a guy I pay attention to. His leadership and insight has brought a lot of value to both paid and unpaid church leaders. He recently posted about the positive connection between technology and faith. Of course, I had to check that one out!
Ed listed twelve but three really stood out to me: Continue Reading…
It exasperates me when I talk to church leaders who see their church management software (ChMS) only as a glorified rolodex or tool for tracking contributions. I am so passionately opposed to this viewpoint that I encourage our sales team at Church Community Builder to point those leaders to a different solution. Sure, we can do those things but that is so far removed from our mission and calling that it would only frustrate us and the church if we chose to serve them.
It is frustrating to see innovative churches adopt technology as a way to measure, manage, and improve the core processes of their ministry and yet see others who still wonder if a ChMS is worth the money, time, and effort. I have some grace here because I understand this opinion is largely the result of existing technology that simply can’t deliver on this promise or wasn’t designed with that vision in mind. There are, however, some amazing solutions available today that will, over time, change this perception. Now THAT is exciting to me! Continue Reading…
Ron Edmondson recently posted 3 Reasons We Need The Church. I really like Ron. He is one of those pastors that really understands why Church exists and consistently calls leaders back to the heart of why we do what we do. It’s easy to make being a Christ-follower complicated and full of checklists when it should be simple: love God and love others.
His second point really hit home: We need each other. Continue Reading…
Larry Osborne loves to say, “If churches spent as much time and energy counting faces as they did dollars, they would not have a growth problem.” I couldn’t agree more.
The ironic thing is many church leaders say they agree with Larry, too. Unfortunately, they sometimes end up making different decisions. For example:
I just finished a thought-provoking book called Leadership and Self Deception from the Arbinger Institute. It eloquently addresses the tendency we all have to sabotage our own leadership by ignoring our “gut” and not following through on actions which will benefit those we lead, serve, or simply do life with. As Christ-followers, that “gut” feel is the Holy Spirit and we often betray or ignore it. This leads to self-betrayal, which then leads to conflict and unhealthy attitudes towards others.
For me, this is almost always an unconscious act. I have no idea I am ignoring my gut until I see the damage on the other side. James 4:1 provides some insight into what is happening here:
“What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you?” (NIV) Continue Reading…
I was thrilled with the opportunity to provide a guest post on Tony Morgan’s blog recently.
It reminded me of a post from Dave Ferguson that I’ve been thinking about for a few weeks. Dave writes about how churches need to be focused on the one stat that matters the most: making disciples.
“Jesus explained the one thing that matters most: ‘Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.’” (Matthew 28:19,20)
I’ve captured many of my thoughts related to Dave’s question in these posts: Continue Reading…
