Peeling Groups

October 9, 2009 Guest Authors

This post is one in a series by guest authors who embrace the value of “thinking small.” You can read the author’s bio at the end of the post. My interest in oranges would have been short-lived if my only attempts at eating them had been with the peel still on. As it is, I [...]

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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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Windows

August 24, 2009 Ministry Leadership

They say we’re at 30,000 feet, more or less. I understand that it’s a beautiful day, because the pilot just announced it over the intercom. He also said that if I look out the windows on the right side of the plane, I’d see the Kennedy Space Center and the shuttle launch pads. I’d love [...]

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Sticky Church: Velcroed for Growth

August 17, 2009 Book Review

This post is one stop on the Sticky Church Blog Tour. To read other posts in the series, visit the Tour Hub. I’ve added Larry Osborne’s Sticky Church (Zondervan, 2008) to a list of books that I should have read sooner. His experience with discipleship at North Coast Church may have clarified or changed my [...]

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Answers? Questions!

August 13, 2009 Guest Authors

This post is one in a weekly series by guest authors who embrace the value of “thinking small.” You can read the author’s bio at the end of the post. I was involved in a conversation about small groups the other day when someone asked the question, “Are we responsible for inputs or outcomes?” In [...]

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Motivation for Ministry

August 6, 2009 Guest Authors

This post is the first in a weekly series by guest authors who embrace the value of “thinking small.” You can read the author’s bio at the end of the post. Growing up, I never watched sports, played sports (unless suffering through P.E. counts), or owned any sporting equipment. My husband Donn, however, is a [...]

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A Note To Follow So

August 2, 2009 Ministry Leadership

This week the three of us went camping. They don’t make a tent big enough for two adults and a Golden Retriever puppy, so Vicki and I did our best to stay in our corners and let Vinny have the center to himself. We loved being outdoors where God puts all the fresh air as [...]

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Wooden’s Socks

July 21, 2009 Group Leadership

Vince Lombardi famously started each season’s first practice with the same speech. “Gentlemen, this is a football.” One year a player (probably a lineman) responded: “Slow down, coach. You’re losing me.” Lombardi knew that you had to hammer the basics year after year, or risk loosing games because players couldn’t execute the fundamentals. Block. Tackle. [...]

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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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