Rite of Passage
With this being graduation time, I got to thinking about when my sons were in high school and I was invited to speak at the Baccalaureate services preceding their graduation ceremonies. I recall sharing the tradition of a Cherokee Indian youth’s rite of passage. According to Cherokee legend the boy’s father takes him deep into the […]
No Summer Slump Here
For most of my life as a Chicago Cubs baseball fan I have had a problem. My team would start off every season full of hope and expectation, only to come crashing down painfully by the end of May. In years past I would say to myself,” I guess it’s just a summer slump.” Summer […]
Dinosaurs to Rabbits: Turning Mainline Decline into a Multiplication Movement
Mainline Christianity has been in a free fall decline since the mid 1960s. Some want to blame it on a changing culture; others say it’s the way all organizations go sooner or later; while others just throw up their hands and give up the ghost. The truth is, we don’t believe any of these excuses […]
Killers that Stunt Your Personal and Organizational Growth
Turn around or growth are usually the result of some action taken by the leadership. Usually its not the little changes that kill a church, but the big changes that go untried. Either leadership is afraid of these BIG changes or they can’t even imagine them. Either way, nothing is deadlier than ignoring the BIG […]
God is a Baseball Fan
Although I have played many sports throughout my lifetime, baseball has always held my heart. It all started when as a young boy I would watch my hometown Chicago Cubs each Spring and Summer afternoon on WGN T.V. That love of the game continues to this day. Baseball has long been known as America’s national […]
Turnaround Is Messy and Lonely
Turning a church around is a messy and lonely responsibility. I know because I did it three times and each time the early years were depressing enough to damped even the strongest spirit. When you consider where the church is and where it needs to go, attempting a turn around appears to be an impossible […]