Still reading through the book African Friends and Money Matters by David Maranz.
This book goes through 90 general observations about African Life, especially in relation to money. Below are observations: 6, 7, 7W, 8, 9. (Here is 1-5)
6. The fact that most people are overextended financially produces profound effects on society.
“Maranz writes,
“The level [...]
I was reading an article on Christianity Today and came across my exact understanding of small groups laid out in a really simple few paragraphs:
Okay, let’s all say it together: “We don’t want to be a church with small groups, but a church of small groups.” Everybody says it. Well, everybody but Mecklenburg.
We have found [...]
I am continually trying to work out how to better think through and organize our community in a natural and semi-organic way so that we can best live out or mission and our values.
I spend a lot of time thinking about this “organizing for mission” concept and as part of my thinking I brainstormed a [...]
No, not literally. I guess it could do that, if, like, you are so disorganized that you forget where you live and starve to death or something. But, I’ve come to realize recently that I am way too disorganized in my work habits, I waste too much time and I am not focused enough on [...]
A few months ago I made an early announcement of a seminar we are hosting at The Well on the topic of the missional church in suburbia. We are honored to be able to bring in Al Hsu. Al is the author of the book, The Suburban Christian. I read this book last year and [...]
From an article on The Ooze:
Our house church has been thriving now for over 2 years and I can honestly say I’ve not once had to preach a sermon on tithing or giving, and yet our small gathering gave thousands of dollars to the help the poor in our community last year. In fact, [...]
As I stated recently, I am reading the book African Friends and Money Matters in preparation for my trip to Zambia. This book is broken up into 90 general observations about the differences between African and Western cultures. The author appropriately states that these are general observations and, like in any culture, there [...]
I was thinking Sunday morning as I was getting ready for church. I do that sometimes… think, that is. Anyways, we’ve had a number of new people visiting our community recently. There is a general theme going on with their story. Many of these folk have come from either not [...]
I was driving my car today through town and saw this sign on a gas station / car wash. This is one of those higher end car washes that does the whole car, inside and out.
The marquee says, “We really know how to clean your car right.”
Now, on some level this [...]
A couple days ago I was writing how being bi-occupational allowed me to naturally pastor in a way that calls the community to live their gifting and calling for the sake for the kingdom…
In case I wasn’t clear, let me quote from one of my heros, Lesslie Newbigin. He’s talking about the role of [...]
I’ve become a big fan of Patrick Lencioni and his leadership books. I think he sees things that most of just don’t see. The things he sees are those “duh” type of things too. I subscribe to his “Point of View” newsletter. (you can do so here).
Today he sent out [...]
Meetings. We typically don’t like them. In fact, most of us hate them. This is true for many reasons. I’ve blogged about this before.
At The Well we’ve been on a journey to figure out how to best form our meet time so that our time is well spent. I’ll be honest, [...]
I wrote yesterday a bit about how I work bi-occupationally (I have two occupations and one vocation - my vocation is “christian” or “Christ follower” if you like that term better).
One of the challenges of working this way is knowing where to draw lines and boundaries. Both these jobs can be demanding [...]
I am a part-time pastor. Well, I am paid part time to be a pastor.
Many people have asked me over e-mail or in person, how this part time in two worlds thing works. In case you are new here and have no clue what I am talking about, I am [...]
(I posted this post over at my other blog that I don’t think will actually take off again because I am realizing I can’t put energy into two blogs, so I am reposting it here).
If you are a pastor, here’s a question: How do you refer the people in your church? Most [...]
I’ve got my first post of the new MereMission up. Here’s an excerpt:
One of in things to say in churches that claim to be “missional” is something like this: “we don’t have a missions program, our church is a missions program.” This is a great statement, I’ve said it quite often and I am [...]
I’ve been reading Organic Church by Neil Cole. I’ll admit that when I saw the cover I wasn’t too excited to read the book. The coffee cup just kinda turned me off for some reason. Then, at our Ecclesia Gathering Alan Hirsch kept raving about the book so I figured I would give it [...]
No, not those kind of environmentalists. Not the ones who talk about caring for the earth. I’m all for that. But, I’m referring to leaders who create environments that give room for people to change as Joe Myers talks about in his book The Search to Belong,
“Environmentalists” practice restraint when it comes [...]
If you are part of any kind of organization or team, there is a good chance that you don’t look forward to the meetings that come with being a part of this team. This may especially be true if you are part of some kind of board or leadership team. Meetings seem to [...]
For whatever reason, we have a lot of people who visit our community on Sunday mornings. This is all fine and dandy. But, a thought occurred to me recently. I often want to tell those visitors that you can’t judge draw final conclusions about The Well (or any church for that matter) based on [...]