Listen up preacher geeks. I’ve got a book recommendation for you. Check out Chris Erdman’s Countdown to Sunday. I usually read about one book on preaching a year and this is my book for 2007. It’s really a collection of essays on preaching that are loosely related. There is some practical text to sermon stuff […]
Fall in the Northwest
While my blog was down last week, I was in the Pacific Northwest, staying in a cabin in the woods near Bellingham, Washington, where we once lived for six years. No phone, email, or TV. Just a nice cabin, a wood-burning stove, a pile of books, and silence. It was great. Autumn in the Northwest […]
November 14, 2007 by 6 Comments
Tulsa Workshop Leadership Adjustments
My good friend Terry Rush has an important announcement about the Tulsa Workshop over at his blog.
November 14, 2007 by 5 Comments
Up and Running Again
Looks like we’re up and running again. The company hosting my site switched servers and knocked me off line for almost a week. They may not be my hosting company much longer . . . I appreciate the cards and calls of concern.
November 8, 2007 by 9 Comments
Harry Potter the Christian
Dumbledore may be gay, but Harry appears to be a Christian. Rowling’s discussion about the religious themes, especially those of the Christian sort, in HP has been lost in the hubbub about Dumbledore’s sexual orientation. Good quotes: (SPOILER ALERT! The rest of this story discusses the conclusion of “Deathly Hallows.”) That was the plan from […]
October 28, 2007 by 5 Comments
Christianity: Starfish or Spider?
In the last post, I asked if churches work best when they are centralized or decentralized. Let’s back up a step and ask whether Christianity is more of a centralized or decentralized religion. First, you could say that pre-exilic Judaism was a centralized temple-based religion. During the exile, Judaism was forced to decentralize with multiple […]
October 25, 2007 by 4 Comments
The Starfish and the Spider
Just finished The Starfish and the Spider: The Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizations. It’s a quick read with some great stories comparing decentralized and centralized organizations. Here is the book description: If you cut off a spider?s leg, it?s crippled; if you cut off its head, it dies. But if you cut off a starfish?s […]
October 23, 2007 by 10 Comments
Dallas vs. New England
I think the Cowboys will lose, but I hope not. Post-Game Update: The Cowboys didn’t play poorly. Yes, way too many penalties, but even if they hadn’t had all the penalties it was no guarantee of a win. The Patriots are good on O and D and you’ve got to play almost perfect to stay […]
October 13, 2007 by 8 Comments
Play Terrible and Win Anyway
Six turnovers and you still win? Don’t try that next week Tony Romo!
October 8, 2007 by 6 Comments
Catalyst 2007
Heather and I are having a great time at the Catalyst Conference. Too many reflections to post right now. I’ll update later.
October 5, 2007 by 2 Comments
Telling Stories, Asking Questions, Learning Lessons