From the category archives:

Miscellaneous

Rocket Town

June 6, 2010 Miscellaneous
Thumbnail image for Rocket Town

Huntsville, Alabama is an interesting place. It was best known as the Watercress Capital of the World until Werner Von Braun and his peers landed there in 1950. They were the original Rocket Boys, and you’ve seen their handiwork. Their Saturn V boosted Apollo into orbit and ultimately got us to the moon. Huntsville is [...]

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Jesus the Socialist

March 30, 2010 Miscellaneous

Straying from Group Life a bit today. I’m sure you’ve never had a discussion like this in your small group… I love Twitter. I’ve learned a lot by listening to my network of peers and watching the thoughts of great ministry leaders go whizzing by. A growing trend, however, is to simply post quotes from [...]

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Patrick: Saint and Small Group Pioneer

March 15, 2010 Ministry Leadership

Patrick may or may not be a saint. It’s above my pay grade and out of my evangelical comfort zone to determine that one. He was certainly a godly man, a relational genius, and ministry innovator. One thing he wasn’t, was Irish. Patrick was born in Britain late in the fourth century AD. Captured by [...]

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Technology and Small Groups, Part Two

February 24, 2010 Miscellaneous

Continuing from the last post… here are some additional ideas on how technology can support small groups: An exciting recent development is the maturing of online video chat services like Skype and TokBox. Plagued for years by spotty service and poor video quality, they’re now ready for prime time. Live video has a “face-to-face” benefit [...]

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Technology and Small Groups, Part One

February 20, 2010 Miscellaneous

This week my friend Reid Smith asked me if I had any thoughts on how technology could support community. I started jotting down some ideas and before long had quite a list! In fact, we’ll split it into two posts. Here goes… Technology can revolutionize routine communication. A FaceBook page (and messages to fans) can [...]

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Help! I Need Somebody!

September 27, 2009 Miscellaneous

On April 13, 1965 the Beatles entered Abbey Road Studios in London, and recorded another Lennon/McCartney hit. It took them 12 takes to get it right: Help, I need somebody, Help, not just anybody, Help, you know I need someone, help. Less than a year later, 25 year-old John Lennon caused a worldwide scandal by [...]

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40 Days in Tracy

September 16, 2009 Ministry Leadership

Tracy, California sits in the Central Valley just east of San Francisco Bay. It’s about 60 miles and 200 years away from the Googleplex, Apple Computer, and Hewlett and Packard’s garage in Silicon Valley. Predominantly agricultural, Tracy has just two seasons, green and brown. We visited during the brown one, and missed the Dry Bean [...]

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Private People

July 14, 2009 Ministry Leadership

The first blast took away her breath, and probably her life. Subsequent shots took away any doubt. She was dead, and according to evidence found at the scene, that’s the way she wanted it. Moments later, one last shot passed through her husband’s head as he pulled the trigger for the final time. They were [...]

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Online Community?

July 6, 2009 Miscellaneous

In 1776, not all Englishmen were distracted by the rebellious colonists across the pond. That was the year a few innovators laid cast iron bars on timber ties to create a “railway.” Someone got the bright idea of using a steam engine (instead of horses) to pull passengers in a carriage, and the quest for [...]

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First They Came

June 8, 2009 Miscellaneous

It was Good Friday, 1939 when an authoritative knock at the front door startled the pastor’s wife. Frau Jones was home, alone, and anxious. In Berlin, unexpected visitors were never a good sign. She slowly opened the door and recognized the uniform. Gestapo. What did they want from her? She wanted to slam and lock [...]

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