8 Tips on How to Access Free Advice from Any Expert or Mentor
The best people to learn from our often the most busy. How do you access great mentors and expensive experts to get free advice? Here are 8 tips.
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The best people to learn from our often the most busy. How do you access great mentors and expensive experts to get free advice? Here are 8 tips.
[...]On Tuesday this week, Mark DeMoss addressed a group of fifty senior pastors on the topic of social media. As a well known Christian public relations guy, I expected a list of pros and cons. But Mark shared 30-minutes worth [...]
Great pastors care about a lot of things and a lot of people. But with the non-stop opportunity to minister to peoples' never ending needs, every pastor must eventually face a crazy question: "Is it possible to care too much?"An [...]
The discipleship results of your ministry are not defined by content of your preaching alone. One significant factor that impacts disciple-making is tool-making. Unfortunately, you might not recall any seminary classes or conference breakouts on making ministry tools.Why not? The simplest What's the bottom line? If you are not adding ministry tools to the lives of your people, you are not close to maximizing a disciple-making culture. You are probably not equipping people that much. Before explaining why, let's define what we mean by a tool. Now that we have defined and illustrated what a ministry tool or device is, let's get to the heart of the post. Why do disciples need ministry tools more than sermons? Why should we not rely on preaching alone if we are #4 - A ministry tool creates energy. A tool helps people feel excited about ideas. It helps people win. And by the way, many pastors can unintentionally create a sense of failure for their people. As people listen to sermons [...]
I was having a conversation with Bryan Rose on the Auxano team recently. We broached the topic of "pastors who get it." That is, we discussed the kinds of pastors who really press through the vision process to gain great clarity. Client profile: Jason Webb at ElmBrook Church recently completed a 9-month vision framing process. "Rookie" doesn't reflect Jason's stellar church planting track record. But as a 30-something leader walking into a 5,000 plus attendance church, others might assign that adjective. (Especially when #3 - The newly stuck pastor: "I have barrier that I now realize is not going away and I am not exactly sure how to fix it." The newly stuck pastor has a very simple story. You keep growing until you For example, attendance may be flat, but you put your hope in the fact that the church had slightly more attendance at Easter. Or you keep focusing on a few months where giving is slightly higher. You take momentary relief #4 - The rapid growth pastor: "I don't want to grow bigger, unless bigger is better." There are two types of rapid-growth pastors: those who fixate on attendance only and those with a passion for disciple-making in a growing church context. I [...]
Most church teams enjoy hanging out together. The weekly rhythm of doing church brings staff and volunteers together across a broad span of activities– the laughing and praying of our leading and meeting. While no church is perfect, many staff [...]
Blog readers please note: Starting in 2016, I will be routinely posting content from one of the most innovative content sources in the church world: SUMS Remix Book Summaries for church leaders. SUMS takes a practical problem in the church and [...]
I've enjoyed a few interactions with Jon Tyson over the years, who I met for the first time at Discovery Church in Orlando. Ten years ago he planted Trinity Grace Church in New York City. He tweeted a quote from Church [...]
Join me and 15 other like-minded executive pastor leaders this August in Colorado. The four-day certification experience is designed for executive pastors, network leaders and denominational coaches. Slots are open on a limited basis to for-profit consultants. There is a [...]
Blog readers please note: Starting in 2016, I will be routinely posting content from one of the most innovative content sources in the church world: SUMS Remix Book Summaries for church leaders. SUMS takes a practical problem in the church and [...]
Restarting the Conversation for Long-range VisionWhen it comes to vision statements, many church leaders have lost interest. And for good reason–most vision statements are generic and useless. I like to say that your church really doesn't need a vision statement, [...]
It has been said that your greatest strengths reflect your greatest weaknesses.Mark Driscoll grew a wildly successful church in Seattle–Mars Hill–with a strong following locally and nationally through his speaking, books and the Acts 29 church planting network.A little over [...]
I want you and your ministry to experience the benefits of stunning, God-given clarity. As a pastor turned vision coach, I’ve worked with an unprecedented variety of churches from growing mega-churches and missional communities, to mainline revitalization and church plants. I started several interconnected organizations that help the church embody the movement that Jesus founded. My visionary planning tools, the Vision Frame and the Horizon Storyline, are used by thousands of churches every year through my calling to raise up other consultants and trainers. In 2004 I started Auxano, which I sold to LifeWay. In 2014, I founded Younique to deliver gospel-centered life design through the church. It is now the world's only comprehensive, open source, life planning system. In 2019, I founded Denominee to help networks and denominations reinvent how they bring value to the church. I've written seven books, including Future Church, Younique, Clarity Spiral, God Dreams, Innovating Discipleship, and Church Unique. I enjoy speaking about how to live a life of more meaningful progress. I live in Houston with my wife, Romy, and I have four children.
I currently work with a small group of churches and leaders. If you are interested in life planning or executive coaching individually or taking your church through a Vision Framing engagement based on Future Church, just reach out to set up a conversation.
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