Monty Galloway

Win the War in the Spiritual

2011-09-28T04:41:00.001-07:00

I registered for ARC's (Association of Related Churches) Church Planting training program 1.0 The Basics this week.

I'm excited to get this training started. Cara and I discussed trying to raise the support to pay for the cost, but decided that the initial investment on our part would display some initiative and help keep the momentum going.

The first session was a good reminder about how important prayer and fasting is.

My first take away was that I really need to ramp up my prayer life.

I also need to recruit prayer partners. I've already got my first few signed up here. My first goal is to get a solid group of ten.

It was also challenging yet encouraging to hear that church planting is a spiritual battle, not just a practical one.

From Good to Great to Built to Last

2010-10-04T08:05:00.000-07:00

My last Good to Great post. Here are my favorite quotes from Chapter 9 - From Good to Great to Built to Last.

What does it take to start and build an enduring great company from the ground up? (188)

Enduring great companies don’t exist merely to deliver returns to shareholders. Indeed, in a truly great company, profits and cash flow become like blood and water to a healthy body: They are absolutely essential for life, but they are not the very point of life. (194)

…core values are essential for enduring greatness, but it doesn’t seem to matter what those core values are.

Embrace the key concept of preserve the core/stimulate progress. (195)

..holding a core ideology fixed while changing strategies and practices over time. (196)

If we organized the majority of our work time around applying these principles, and pretty much ignored or stopped doing everything else, our lives would be simpler and our results vastly improved. (205)

…the search for meaningful work. (208)

All that matters is that you do love it and that you do care.

What work makes you feel compelled to try to create greatness? (209)

Perhaps it is when you care deeply enough about the work in which you are engaged, and when your responsibilities line up with your own personal three circles. (210)

The Flywheel and the Doom Loop

2010-09-24T09:40:00.000-07:00

Here are my favorite quotes from Good to Great by Jim Collins Chapter 8 - The Flywheel and the Doom Loop.

It was all of them [pushes on the flywheel] added together in an overall accumulation of effort applied in a consistent direction.

No matter how dramatic the end result, the good-to-great transformations never happened in one fell swoop.

Good to great comes about by a cumulative process – step by step, action by action, decision by decision, turn by turn of the flywheel – that adds up to sustained and spectacular results. (165)

We’ve allowed the way transitions look from the outside to drive our perception of what they feel like to those going through them on the inside. From the outside, they look like dramatic, almost revolutionary breakthroughs. But from the inside, they feel completely different, mor like an organic development process.

It was a whole bunch of interlocking pieces that built one upon another. (168)

…it was a quiet, deliberate process of figuring out what needed to be done to create the best future results and then simply taking those steps, one after the other, turn by turn of the flywheel. (169)

…our success was evolutionary as opposed to revolutionary…

We realized that evolution is a whole different concept than change. (171)

…no matter how short or long it took, every good-to-great transformation followed the same basic pattern – accumulating momentum, turn by turn of the flywheel – until buildup transformed into breakthrough. (172)

…the time-honored discipline of under-promising and over-delivering.

Tremendous power exists in the fact of continued improvement and the delivery of results. Point to tangible accomplishments – however incremental at first – and show how these steps fit into the context of an overall concept that will work. (174)

What do the right people want more than almost anything else? They want to be part of a winning team. (177)

Peter Drucker once observed that the drive for mergers and acquisitions comes less from sound reasoning and more from the fact that doing deals is a much more exciting way to spend your day than doing actual work. (180)

When I look over the good-to-great transformations, the one word that keeps coming to mind is consistency. (182)

Equally important is to remember the Stockdale Paradox: We’re not going to hit breakthrough by Christmas, but if we keep pushing in the right direction, we will eventually hit breakthrough. (184)

Alignment principally follows from results and momentum, not the other way around. (187)

Technology Accelerators

2010-09-16T08:49:00.000-07:00

I recently finished reading Good to Great by Jim Collins. Here are my favorite quotes from Chapter 7 - Technology Accelerators.

[A company] will only become a great company if it figures out how to apply technology to a coherent concept that reflects understanding of the three circles.

Technology-induced change is nothing new. The real question is not, What is the role of technology? Rather, the real question is, How do good-to-great organizations think differently about technology? (147)

Walgreens remained resolutely clear: Its Hedgehog Concept would drive its use of technology, not the other way around. (148)

When used right, technology becomes an accelerator of momentum, not a creator of it. (152)

…technology alone cannot create sustained great results.

Technology without a clear Hedgehog Concept, and without the discipline to stay within the three circles, cannot make a company great. (153)

…they emphasized other factors even more – getting people with a farmer work ethic on the bus… (157)

If you ever find yourself thinking that technology alone holds the key to success, then thinking again of Vietnam. (159)

We’re just never satisfied. We can be delighted, but never satisfied.

…motivated by a deep creative urge and an inner compulsion for sheer unadulterated excellence for its own sake. (160)

No technology can instill the simple inner belief that leaving unrealized potential on the table – letting something remain good when it can become great – is a secular sin. (161)

Crawl, walk, run can be a very effective approach, even during times of rapid and radical technological change. (163)

A Culture of Discipline

2010-09-14T11:08:00.000-07:00

I recently finished reading Good to Great by Jim Collins. Here are my favorite quotes from Chapter 6 - A Culture of Discipline.

Few successful start-ups become great companies, in large part because they respond to growth and success in the wrong way.

The professional managers finally rein in the mess.

The cancer of mediocrity begins to grow in earnest.

…entrepreneurial death spiral.

Avoid bureaucracy and hierarchy and instead create a culture of discipline. (121)

We used financial discipline as a way to provide resources for the really creative work.

Abbot recruited entrepreneurial leaders and gave them freedom to determine the best path to achieving their objectives. On the other hand, individuals had to commit fully to the Abbott system and were held rigorously accountable for their objectives. (123)

Build a culture full of people who take disciplined action within the three circles, fanatically consistent with the Hedgehog Concept.(124)

…freedom and responsibility within the framework of a highly developed system.

…[hire] self-disciplined people who didn’t need to be managed, and then [manage] the system, not the people. (125)

…it all starts with disciplined people.

…the point is to first get self-disciplined people who engage is very rigorous thinking, who then take disciplined action within the framework of a consistent system designed around the Hedgehog Concept. (126)
Much of the answer to the question of “good to great” lies in the discipline to do whatever it takes to become the best within carefully selected arenas and then to seek continual improvement from there. It’s really just that simple. And it’s really just that difficult. (128)

It is absolutely clear that the unsustained comparison CEOs brought tremendous discipline to their companies, and that is why they got such great initial results. (129)

Build an enduring culture of discipline, rather than discipline the organization by sheer force. (my paraphrase of 130)

…discipline is essential for great results, but disciplined action without disciplined understanding of the three circles cannot produce sustained great results. (133)

Disciplined diversification – the key point is that every step of diversification and innovation stayed within the three circles. (134)

The more an organization has the discipline to stay within its three circles, the more it will have attractive opportunities for growth.

It takes discipline to say “No, thank you” to big opportunities. The fact that something is a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” is irrelevant if it doesn’t fit within the three circles. (136)

When Nucor faced difficult times, everyone from top to bottom suffered. But people at the top suffered more. In the 1982 recession for example, worker pay went down 25 percent, office pay went down 60 percent, and the CEO’s pay went down 75 percent. (137)

…to create great results requires a nearly fanatical dedication to the idea of consistency within the Hedgehog Concept. (139)

Purpose of a budget – budgeting is a discipline to decide which arenas should be fully funded and which should which should no be funded at all. In other words, the budget process is not about figuring out how much each activity gets, but about determining which activities best support the Hedgehog Concept and should be fully strengthened and which should be eliminated entirely. (140)

…they displayed remarkable courage to channel their resources into only one or a few arenas. (140-141)

“highly undiversified” mean investing fully in those things that fit squarely within the three circles and getting rid of everything else.

The real question is, once you know the right thing, do you have the discipline to do the right thing and, equally important, to stop doing the wrong things? (141)

“Stop doing” lists are more important than “to do” lists. (143)

The Hedgehog Concept (Simplicity within the Three Circles)

2010-09-03T11:20:00.000-07:00

In honor of Labor Day Weekend here are my favorite quotes from Chapter 5 - The Hedgehog Concept (Simplicity within the Three Circles) from Good to Great by Jim Collins.

Hedgehogs – simplify a complex world into a single organizing idea, a basic principle or concept that unifies and guide everything.

For a hedgehog, anything that does not somehow relate to the hedgehog idea holds no relevance.

Hedgehogs see what is essential, and ignore the rest. (91)

[take] one simple concept and just [do] it with excellence and imagination. (93)

The Three Circles of the Hedgehog Concept
What you Can be the best in the World at?
What Drives Your Economic Engine?
What you are deeply Passionate About? (96)
And if we can’t be the best at it, then why are we doing it at all? (97)

A Hedgehog Concept is…an understanding of what you can be the best at. (98)

…if you cannot be the best in the world at your core business, then your core business cannot form the basis of your Hedgehog Concept. (99)

Suffering from the curse of competence but lacking a clear Hedgehog Concept, they rarely become great at what they do.

…[focus] solely on what you can potentially do better than any other organization is the only path to greatness. (100)

Our study clearly shows that a company does not need to be in a great industry to become a great company.

If you could pick one and only one ratio – profit per x (or, in the social sector, cash flow per x) – to systematically increase over time, what x would have the greatest and most sustainable impact on your economic engine? (104)

…pushing for a single denominator tends to produce better insight than letting yourself off the hook with three or four denominators. (105)

…the sake of gaining insight that ultimately leads to more robust and sustainable economics. (106)

If you successfully apply these ideas, but then stop doing them, you will slide backward, from great to good, or worse. The only way to remain great is to keep applying the fundamental principles that made you great. (108)

You can’t manufacture passion or “motivate” people to feel passionate. You can only discover what ignites what ignites your passion and the passions of those around you. (109)

The passion circle can be focused equally on what the company stands for. (110)

..[ask] the right questions – prompted by the three circles

…not one of the good-to-great companies focused obsessively on growth. (111)

…if you have the right Hedgehog Concept and make decisions relentlessly consistent with it, you will create such momentum that your main problem will not be grow, but how not to grow too fast. (112)

It took about four years on average for the good-to-great companies to clarify their Hedgehog Concepts.

…getting a Hedgehog Concept is an inherently iterative process, not an event.

Do we really understand what we can be the best in the world at, as distinct from what we can just be successful at.

Do we really understand the drivers in our economic engine, including our economic denominator?

Do we really understand what best ignites our passion? (114)

…consensus decisions are often at odds with intelligent decisions. (116)

To get insight into the drivers of your economic engine, search for the one denominator (profit per x or, in the social sector, cash flow per x) that has the single greatest impact. (119)

Confront the Brutal Facts, Yet Never Lose Faith

2010-08-25T08:47:00.000-07:00

I recently finished reading Good to Great by Jim Collins. It was one of those "recommended" books in grad school that I never got around to reading until now. Actually, it was one of those that I started, got about 30 pages into, and put away. Anyways, I finally got around to reading it. Here are my favorite quotes from Chapter 4 - Confront the Brutal Facts, Yet Never Lose Faith.

…the good-to-great companies continually refined the path to greatness with the brutal facts of reality. (71)
The moment a leader allows himself to become the primary reality people worry about, rather than reality being the primary reality, you have a recipe for mediocrity, or worse. This is one of the key reasons why less charismatic leaders often produce better long-term results than their more charismatic counterparts. (72)

…expending energy trying to motivate people is largely a waste of time.

The real question becomes, How do you manage in such a way as not de-motivate people? (74)

…they used questions for one and only one reason: to gain understanding. (75)

…all the good-to-great companies had a penchant for intense dialogue. The process was more like a heated scientific debate, with people engaged in a search for the best answers. (77)

In confronting the brutal facts, the good-to-great companies left themselves stronger and more resilient, not weaker and more dispirited. We will never give up. We will never capitulate. It might take a long time, but we will find a way to prevail. (81)

…a powerful psychological duality. On the one hand, they stoically accepted the brutal facts of reality. On the other hand, they maintained an unwavering faith in the endgame, and a commitment to prevail as a great company despite the brutal facts. (83)

You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end – which you can never afford to lose – with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be. (85)

…they all maintained unwavering faith that they would not just survive, but prevail as a great company.

The good-to-great leaders were able to strip away so much noise and clutter and just focus on the few things that would have the greatest impact. (87)

First Who…Then What

2010-08-23T12:09:00.000-07:00

Continuing on my analysis of Good to Great by Jim Collins. Here are my favorite quotes from Chapter 3 - First Who…Then What.

…they first got the right people on the bus (and the wrong people off the bus) and then figured out where to drive it. (41)

Great vision without great people is irrelevant. (42) LOVE THIS QUOTE

You get the best people, you build them into the best managers in the industry, and you accept the fact that some of them will be recruited to become CEOs of other companies. (43)

I don’t know where we should take this company, but I do know that if I start with the right people, ask them the right questions, and engage them in vigorous debate, we will find a way to make this company great. (45)

If you have the right executives on the bus, they will do everything within their power to build a great company, no because of what they will “get” for it, but because they simply cannot imagine settling for anything less.

The right people will do the right things and deliver the best results they’re capable of, regardless of the incentive system.

…but to get the right people on the bus in the first place, and to keep them there. (50)

The Nucor system did not aim to turn lazy people into hard workers, but to create an environment where hardworking people would thrive and lazy workers would either jump or get thrown right off the bus. In one extreme case, workers chased a lazy teammate right out of the plant with an angle iron.

In determining “the right people,” the good-to-great companies place greater weight on character attributes…(51)

To be rigorous mean consistently applying exacting standards at all times and at all levels, especially in upper management. (52)

The only way to deliver to the people who are achieving is to not burden them with the people who are not achieving.

To let people languish in uncertainty for months or years, stealing precious time in their lives that they could use to move on to something else, when in the end they aren’t going to make it anyway – that would be ruthless. To deal with it right up front and let people get on with their lives – that is rigorous.

Rigor in a good-to-great company applies first at the top, focused on those who hold the largest burden of responsibility. (53)

Letting the wrong people hang around is unfair to all the right people, as they inevitably find themselves compensating for the inadequacies of the wrong people. (56)

But how do you know? Two key questions can help. First, if it were a hiring decision (rather than a “should this person get off the bus?” decision), would you hire the person again? Second, if the person came to tell you that he or she is leaving to pursue an exciting new opportunity, would you feel terribly disappointed or secretly relieved? (58)

The good-to-great companies made a habit of putting their best people on their best opportunities, not their biggest problems.

…building your opportunities is the only way to become great.

The right people want to be part of building something great…(59)

…each core member of the team transformed personal ambition into ambition for the company.

You need executives, on the one hand, who argue and debate – sometimes violently – in pursuit of the best answers, yet, on the other hand, who unify fully behind a decision, regardless of parochial interests.

All of debates were for the common good of the company, not your own interests. (60)

He was good at assembling the right people around him, and putting the right people in the right slots, that he just didn’t need to be there all hours of the day and night. That was Colman’s whole secret to success and balance. (61)

Members of the good-to-great teams tended to become and remain friends for life.

They enjoyed each other’s company and actually looked forward to meeting.

For no matter what we achieve, if we don’t spend the vast majority of our time with people we love and respect, we cannot possibly have a great life.

The people we interviewed from the good-to-great companies clearly loved what they did, largely because they loved who they did it with. (62)

Whether someone is the “right person” has more to do with character traits and innate capabilities than with specific knowledge, background, or skills. (64)

Level 5 Leadership

2010-08-20T08:41:00.000-07:00

…they were self-effacing individuals who displayed the fierce resolve to do whatever needed to be done to make the company great.

…but their ambition is first and foremost for the institution, not themselves. (21)

…fully developed Level 5 leaders embody all five layers of the pyramid. (chart on page 20, 21)

…a dedication to making anything he touched the best it could possibly be – not just because of what he would get, but because he simply couldn’t imagine doing it any other way. (25)

…ambition first and foremost for the company and concern for its success rather than for one’s own riches and personal renown. (25-26)

…But he was not a Level 5 leader, and that is one key reason why Rubbermaid went from good to great for a brief shining moment, and then just as quickly, went from great to irrelevant. (27)

They were seemingly ordinary people quietly producing extraordinary results. (28)

It is equally about ferocious resolve, an almost stoic determination to do whatever needs to be done to make the company great.

Level 5 leaders are fanatically driven, infected with an incurable need to produce results. (30)

The evidence does not support the idea that you need an outside leader to come in and shake up the place to go from good to great. (31)

Level 5 leaders look out the window to apportion credit to factors outside themselves when things go well (and if they cannot find a specific person or event to give credit to, they credit good luck). At the same time, they look in the mirror to apportion responsibility, never blaming bad luck when things go poorly. (35)

…those who have the potential to evolve to Level 5; the capability resides within them, perhaps buried or ignored…they begin to develop.

The problem is not, in my estimation, a death of potential Level 5 leaders. They exist all around us, if we just know what to look for. (37)

This chapter is about what Level 5s are; the rest of the book describes what they do. (38)

Good to Great Introduction

2010-08-16T08:52:00.000-07:00

What did the good-to-great companies share in common that distinguished them from the comparison companies? (7)

Larger-than-life, celebrity leaders who ride in from outside are negatively correlated with taking a company from good to great.

…there is no evidence that the good-to-great companies spent more time on long-range strategic planning than the comparison companies. (10)

…[the good-to-great companies] focused equally on what not to do and what to stop doing.

…technology cannot cause a transformation.

…two big mediocrities joined together never make one great company.

Under the right conditions, the problems of commitment, alignment, motivation, and change largely melt away.

…[the good-to-great companies] produced a truly revolutionary leap in results, but not by a revolutionary process.

Greatness is not a function of circumstance. Greatness, it turns out, is largely a matter of conscious choice. (11)

Level 5 Leadership – Self-effacing, quiet, reserved, even shy – these leaders are a paradoxical blend of humility and professional will. (12-13)

First Who…Then What – People are not your most important asset. The right people are.

Confront the Brutal Facts (Yet Never Lose Faith) – the Stockdale Paradox: You must maintain unwavering faith that you can and will prevail in the end, regardless of the difficulties, AND at the same time have the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.

A Culture of Discipline – When you combine a culture of discipline with an ethic of entrepreneurship, you get the magical alchemy of great performance. (12)

Yes, the world is changing, and will continue to do so. But that does not mean we should stop the search for timeless principles.

It is ultimately about thing: the timeless principles of good to great. It’s about how you take a good organization and turn it into one that produces sustained great results, using whatever definition of results best applies to your organization. (15)
That good is the enemy of great is not just a business problem. It is a human problem.

If we have cracked the code of the question of good to great, we should have something of value to any type of organization.

The best students are those who never quite believe their professors.

One ought not to reject the data merely because one does not like what the data implies. (16)

Madonna of the Future (not the singer)

2010-06-09T08:40:00.000-07:00

Epilogue from Mark Batterson's Wild Goose Chase.

The Madonna of the Future is a story about an artist who devotes her whole life to a single painting. When she dies it is discovered that her canvas is blank.

She never finished because she never started. (163)

What God given dream is collecting dust?

Instead of living by faith, we let our fears dictate our decisions. (164)

Until we come out of whatever cage holds us back, we will live unfruitful and unfufilled lives. (165)

The Wild Goose is eternally evasive. And that is why He is worthy of chasing.

Maybe it's time to stop praying and start acting. If you step out in faith, confirming signs will follow. (167)

God is able to do immeasurably more than all you can ask or imagine. (168)

The hard way is the best way! Quit living as if the will of God is an insurance plan. Dare to dream great things for God. (169)

It's not about you. It's about the One who wants to write His-story through your life. (170)

He died to make us dangerous.

Go after a dream that is destined to fail without divine intervention. (171)

Don't stop making mistakes. Celebrate your failures. (173)

Good Old-Fashioned Guts

2010-06-08T08:02:00.000-07:00

Coming out of the Cage of Fear - Chapter 7 of Mark Batterson's Wild Goose Chase.

...the aversion to loss of a certain magnitude is greater than the attraction to gain of the same magnitude.

It is our indecisions, not our bad decisions, that keeps us in the cage [of fear]. (144)

most of us are educated way beyond our level of obedience. (144-145)

We need people who are more afraid of missing opportunities than making mistakes.

...dream the unthinkable and attempt the impossible. (145)

The will of God is not an insurance plan. The will of God is a daring plan! (147)

More often than not, the will of God will involved a daring decision that seems unsafe or even insane. (148)

Faithfulness is not holding the fort. Faithfulness is storming the gates of hell. (149)

...we need to get out of the comfortable confines of our Christian ghettos and invade some hellholes with the light and love of Christ. (150)

"I want to run a rescue shop within a yard of hell." [quoting T. Studd p. 150)

As we grow, God gives us more difficult things to do. (150)

You will have to climb a cliff or pick a fight with the enemy. (151)

The most satisfying days are not the days when you had nothing to do. (152)

Saul was a spiritual spectator. Instead of playing to win, Saul was playing not to lose. (153)

...the church fosters a subtle form of spritual codependency.

We take the presence of God with us wherever He leads.

...if God is calling us to go, and all we do is give, then giving is actually a form of disobedience. (154)

If we don't do anything, nothing will happen. (155)

"The difference between where you are and where God wants you to be may be the painful decision you refuse to make." [quoting Craig Groeschel p. 156]

The reward outweighed the risk. (157)

You have to stop living defensively and start living dangerously for the cause of Christ.

Stop repeating the past and start creativing the future. (158)

Lack of goals is lack of faith.

You need a vision for your marriage. You need a vision for your family. You need a vision for your life. (159)

You won't accomplish the goals you do not set.

The driving motivation has to be maximizing your God given potential.

We need to dream God sized dreams because they're the only things that will drive us to our knees and keep us living in absolute dependence on God the way we were designed to.

The more vision you have, the less you will sin. (160)

The way to stop sinning is by getting a God sized vision that consumes all your time and energy. (160-161)
Ouch. Okay, I'm convicted. Mark Batterson has an article on how to write life goals. You can read it here. I read last week and have so far come up with 29 goals as my first very rough draft. I'll post those at a later time. They need some more prayer and work.

Sometimes it takes a Shipwreck

2010-06-07T09:10:00.000-07:00

Coming out of the Cage of Failure - Chapter 6 of Mark Batterson's Wild Goose Chase.

...failure also has a way of opening us up to other options. (118)

...sometimes it takes a shipwreck to get us where God wants us to go.

...sometimes our plans have to fail in order for God's plans to succeed. (119)

...it took a snakebite to set up this divine appointment...

But when you chase the Wild Goose, you never know where you'll go or who you'll meet. (121)

A healthy relationship between parent and child moves from dependence to independence. But a healthy relationship with our heavenly Father moves in the opposite direction. (126)

...it is our dependence on God, not our best laid plans that will get us where God wants us to go.

Thank God for failed plans! (127)
Maybe one day I'll be able to say this. At this moment, time, place, I cannot. Failure is a hard pill to swallow. I do everything I can to avoid failure. Maybe that is why most of life is boring. I don't try things that I know that I cannot succeed in.

God is far more concerned about about your future than you are.

God wants to reveal them [His divine plans] more than we want to know them. (128)

God is in the business of positioning us in the right place at the right time. (129)

...our reasons and God's reasons are often very different. (132)

...you have to trust His promptings more than you trust your own plans. (134)

What He shuts no one can open, and what He opens no one can shut. (136)
This Scripture is given an entirely different meaning when read in the context of the One who holds the Key of David. This is a reference to the mayor of the palace of David who had the master key to every room in the palace. The doors he locked, no one could open. The doors he opened, no one could shut. Wow. What a difference. The doors Jesus shuts, no one can open. The doors Jesus opens, no one can shut. How does this effect our efforts to discern God's will?

God seems to be far less concerned with where I'm going than with who I'm becoming.

I think some of us want to know the will of God more than we want to know God.

You can't do the will of God if you don't have the heart of God. (137)

What we call the process, God calls the end. [quoting Oswald Chambers p. 137]

Hard work doubles as gratitude insurance. (138)

The size of our dreams is a measure of our spiritual maturity.

If I couldn't enjoy pastoring twenty-five people here and now, then I probably wouldn't enjoy pastoring a thousand people then and there. (140)

As I see it, you have two options when you don't like your circumstances: complain about them or make the most of them. (141)

"The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want and if they can't find them, make them." [quoting George Bernard Shaw p. 141]

God is in them [your circumstances]. He is capable of working them together for your good. (142)

The Cage of Guilt

2010-06-04T09:10:00.000-07:00

A Rooster's Crow - Chapter 5 from Mark Batterson's Wild Goose Chase.

A critical personality is often born out of psychological insecurity. We criticize in others what we don't like about ourselves. (94)

We become so fixated on past mistakes that we forfeit future opportunities. (95)

He [Satan] wants to remind you of your greatest failures over and over again. (97)

...the heights of grace are attainable only after experiencing the depths of guilt.

We can't appreciate the full extent of God's grace until we realize the full extent of our sin. (99)

Start praying for the difficult people in your life, and it will change the way you feel about them. (100)

Thank God for the pressure valve called prayer. (101)

...the Enemy's attacks become counterproductive when we counteract them with prayer. (102) I would add to this prayer and Scripture and even praying Scripture.

If you want to impact someone's life, love them when they least expect it and lease deserve it.

Do you deserve the grace of God? (104)

God's love is proactive. (105)

...forgiveness is the way we unplug from the past.

A tiny seed of bitterness turns into a forest of unforgiveness. (106)

But He [Jesus] did more than heal someone who had come to crucify Him; He also destroyed the evidence against Peter.

Through His crucifixion and resurrection, Jesus destroyed the evidence against us.

It's like Jesus says, "You give Me all of your sin. I'll give you all of My righteousness. And we'll call it even." (109)

What a trade! Especially when you consider that our righteousness is like used tampons.

...all of us have guilty secrets, but it takes a courageous person to confess. (113)

Guilt has a shrinking effect. It shrinks our lives to the size of our greatest failures.

Grace has the opposite effect. ...it gives us the courage to chase the Wild Goose all the way to the ends of the earth. (114)

Jesus reconditioned Peter while the roosters were crowing. (115)

In the same context that Peter failed, when the roosters crowed, Jesus restored him and challenged him to be the Apostle Peter. - My Paraphrase. What does this mean about my failures? Does this mean that Jesus will use the same circumstances, challenges, trials, tests and bring me through it to remind me that in Him I am a success?

Eight Foot Ceilings

2010-06-03T08:25:00.000-07:00

Coming out of the cage of assumptions...chapter 4 of Mark Batterson's Wild Goose Chase. Here's my favorite quotes from this chapter.

...we make far to many assumptions about what is and what is not possible in the physical universe. We do the same thing spiritually.

The smartest people are the people who know how much they don't know. Or to put it another way; the smartest people are the people who make the fewest assumptions. [My paraphrase: "Be Smart; Don't Assume"]

...intellectual humility coupled with curiosity drives scientific discovery.

Humility welcomes the challenge because the desire to know god is greater than the need to be right. (75)

[As adults] we lose 119 questions per day. (76)

Faith is theological.

...faith is trusting God more than you trust your own assumptions. (79)

Our inexperience leads to another false assumption that keeps us caged. (80)

God loves using us before we feel like we're ready.

...you'll never be ready. (81)

Don't stay in the cage just because it's never been done that way Before.

We feel unqualified because of something we have not done, can not do, or do not know. (83)

Quit assuming and start believing.

I CAN do everything through (Christ) who gives me strength. (84)

God is able. (85)

But when I pray, the best I can do is no longer the best I can do. The best I can do is the best God can do.

Prayer is one way we overcome our assumptions and escape our space-time limitations. (86)

Sometimes we fail to connect the dots between our faith and God's faithfulness.

When you give beyond your ability, God will bless you beyond your ability. (87)

Abraham is the patron saint of Wild Goose chases. (90)

"People cannot discover new lands until they have the courage to lose sight of the shore." Andre Gide

You have to be willing to go somewhere you've never been or do something you've never done. (91)

Dictatorship of the Ordinary

2010-06-02T10:27:00.000-07:00

Coming Out of the Cage of Routine - chapter 3 of Mark Batterson's Wild Goose Chase. Here are some of my favorite quotes.

...we take constants for granted.

God is the ultimate constant. (42)

...the sacred becomes routine.

We need to change our routine, take some risks, and try new things. (44)

...if you let routine rule your life, you'll never get where the Wild Goose wants you to go. (45)

One name for God in rabbinical literature is The Place.

The holy ground wasn't the Promised Land. It was right where Moses was standing.

...the inaudible yet unmistakable voice of God. (47)

...have a natural tendency to remember what we should forget and forget what we should remember. (48)

Their (the disciples) experience was four-dimensional, while ours is one-dimensional. (49)

When god wants us to experience a change in perspective, He often does it via a change in scenery.

Change of place + change of pace = change of perspective.

New places open us up to new experiences. (50)

I don't believe in coincidence. I believe in providence. (52)

...how you start is not nearly as important as how you finish.

It seems like I have to run faster and faster just stay in the same place.

You know what you really need? A stop-doing list! (53)

What are your primary God-ordained passions? [question derived from this page] (54)

The way you speed up is by slowing down. (55)

Hurry kills everything from compassion to creativity.

No room for Spirit-led spontaneity. (57)

...spritual maturity - moment by moment sensitivity to the promptings of the Holy Spirit.

When we learn how and forget why, we start going through the motions spiritually. (58)

...people stop thinking about the lyrics of a song after singing it thirty times.

We need new words, new postures, new thoughts, and new feelings. (59)

We need to inject a little imagination into our prayers. [derived from page 60]

Small changes in routine can result in radical change. (63)

Moses' staff symbolized his physical, financial, and relational security. It was also part of his identity.

Who you are isn't the issue; the issue is whose you are. (65)

Goose Bumps

2010-06-01T08:16:00.000-07:00

Chapter 2 of Mark Batterson's book - Coming out of the cage of responsibility. Here are some of my favorite quotes from this chapter.

Ironically, discovering something worth dying for is what makes life worth living. (16-17)

...we turn our responsibilities into excuses. The only way out is responsible irresponsiblity.

...responsible irresponsibility means refusing to allow your human responsiblies to get in the way of pursuing the passions God put in your heart. (18)

[Nehemiah's story] A cupbearer rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem is pretty laughable when you think about it. Most God-ordained passions are. (19)

God often uses us at our point of greatest incompetence. That way He gets all the credit.

...that God-ordained passion becomes your responsibility. (20)

And he said one of the greatest obstacles in his path was his responsibility as a husband and father. He told me that he had to confront the embarrassing possibility of failure and the need to move his entire family back in with his parents if the passion didn't pan out. (21)

...pursuing a God-ordained passion, no matter how crazy it seems, is the most responsible thing you can do.

Supernatural sadness and righteous indignation often reveal our God-ordained passions.

If you want to discover your God-ordained passions, then you need to identify what makes you sad, mad, or glad. (22)

God want us to delight in what we do.

Their ladder is leaning against the wrong wall. (Successful at the wrong ladder)

I would rather fail at something I love than succeed at something I don't enjoy. (23)

If you've never identified your God-ordained passions, let me give you some simple advice. Start praying. (26)

There are some things you don't need to pray about. What you need to do is quit praying and start acting. (27)

God didn't send His Son to pray for us but rather to act for us.

If the twenty-first century church said less and did more, maybe we would have the same kind of impact the first-century church did. (29)

...I think this was a spiritual test. I think God wanted to see if the priests had enough faith to get their feet wet. (31)

If we open His Word, God will open His mouth and speak to us through it.

Signs follow faith.

...signs following. (Mark 16:20)

...signs follow decisions. (32)

God will sanctify your expectations, and you will begin to live your life with holy anticipation. (33)

Supernatural synchronicities - moments when the sovereignty of God overshadows our incompetencies. (34)

...good press is the favor of God. (35)

Your passion is Jerusalem, yet you're stuck a thousand miles due east in Babylon. (36)

...be the best cupbearer you can be.

Don't whine. Don't complain. And don't check out. And faithfully carry out your current obligations. (37)

"Find your own Calcutta." - Mother Teresa (39)

How should end of service hospitality work?

2010-05-29T16:13:00.000-07:00

This is my last post on the book 27 Tough Questions Pastors Ask by Dick Hardy. Again, I higly recommend this book For those of you that are in church work or considering work. Here are some of my favorite quotes from chapter 27.

It is one thing to say "Hi" to folks when they walk in the doors of your church. It is something wholly different to express hospitality to them when they leave.

Guests, in particular, need to know that the church is as real at the end as it is at the beginning.

The last image that guests should have as they leave the church is of the greeter smiling. (My paraphrase) (182)

Create a consistent church hospitality space. (My paraphrase) (183)

Many guests will not come to your church hospitality space the first time they visit.

End of service hospitality for guests is of the highest value.

You want everything you do at the end of the service to connect with what was said from the pulpit and what occured in the service. (184)

In summary, 27 Questions is a great reference guide to anyone wondering about "everything but preaching". This book will definitely stay handy.

How important are Inside Greeters?

2010-05-29T14:04:00.000-07:00

I'm reviewing the book 27 Tough Questions Pastors Ask by Dick Hardy. For those of you that are in church work or considering work, you should buy this book. It is filled with practical insights from a pastoral perspective. Here are some of my favorite quotes from chapter 26.

Greeters are frontline faces for your church. They can make you or break you.

Do not assume that everyone knows how to greet. They don't. (176)

When passing out bulletins the greeter should always give a genuine verbal welcome to the church.

Make sure greeters have plenty of hand sanitizer nearby and that people coming to church know they do.

If your churches chooses to not have greeters shake hands, then you as the senior pastor need to communicate that at some point from the pulpit.

The greeter needs to avoid at all costs looking past the person they are greeting in that moment. (177)

It is important that greeters non get caught up in the fun of weekly reconnecting with friends to the exclusion of identifying guests.

..when assistance is needed a system needs to be in place for care to be provided.

If assistance in the form of a wheelchair is needed, the greeter needs to konw where to get one. (178)

I urge you in the strongest possible way to take the filling of these positions seriously.

Then train, train, and retrain those folks to be all they can be for you and for the church. (179)

3 Types of Outside Greeters

2010-05-29T12:54:00.000-07:00

I'm reviewing the book 27 Tough Questions Pastors Ask by Dick Hardy. For those of you that are in church work or considering work, you should buy this book. It is filled with practical insights from a pastoral perspective. Here are some of my favorite quotes from chapter 25.

It seems the church is very friendly with itself.

It happens because the church normally does not create enough waves of hospitality to engender a genuine lasting sense of welcome to newer people to the church. (170)

I suggest creating your first wave of hospitality on the parking lot. (170-171)

Parking Lot-Entrance Greeters
I recommend you place two people at each of your entrances to welcome all the cars.

This is a great place for high school or college age students to serve.

Car Parkers
Car parkers take their ministry role seriously. One of the things you need to do is to make sure they remember "service" and not "boss-man-on-the-lot." (171)

...people want to park where they want to park.

It is recommended that the church provide special up-close parking for those potential new friends of the church. When appropriate, the car parker can briefly tell the guests about whatever hospirality expression the church has following the service, e.g., a place to met the pastor, a place to have some coffee or goodies, a place to mingle with leaders of the church, etc.

Sidewalk Greeters
You will be amazed at how your folks and guest to your church will respond when they are greeted by someone before they expect it. (172)

Please note for churches with colder winter settings, providing an outside space heater for greeters makes it a whole lot easier to recruit for this important role.

...find ways to create hospitality outside the building. (173).

The 9 Facets of the Art of Welcoming Guests

2010-05-29T11:17:00.000-07:00

I'm reviewing the book 27 Tough Questions Pastors Ask by Dick Hardy. For those of you that are in church work or considering work, you should buy this book. It is filled with practical insights from a pastoral perspective. Here are some of my favorite quotes from chapter 24.

How do we create a sustainable welcoming culture?

...the sense of welcoming new people to the family gets harder and harder the longer the church exists. (164)

Building a culture of evangelism starts in the pulpit - it must be seen as your heartbeat. (164)

Develope a culture of evangelism and guests will return because of relationship. (164)

When people give of their time and resources thier arms are open. When arms are open, guests feel it. (165)

...not meeting guests is analagous to a senior sales manager saying he is too busy directing things to meet with a new prospect who shows up on the showroom floor. (165)

Whatever you do make sure you provde the very best for your guests. (165)

Go visit your guest. This must be done right... No effort should be made to enter the house. (166)

You will get smaller attendance than your monthly guest count, but those who attend [a Sunday welcome lunch] will be the most interested in the church. (166)

Make sure your signage make sense to those on the outside, not just folks on the inside. (166)

Be consistent. The same level of consistent friendliness and openness must pervade your church culture. (167)

...Kent Mankins - hey, I know this guy! :)

How to Not treat Visitors

2010-05-29T10:09:00.000-07:00

Start from Scratch Budget

2010-05-28T17:02:00.000-07:00

The Basics of Discipleship

2010-05-28T16:01:00.000-07:00

Staff Disloyalty

2010-05-28T14:00:00.000-07:00

Interviewing a Potential Staff Member

2010-05-28T13:00:00.000-07:00

You've Got to Have Timing

2010-05-28T12:00:00.000-07:00

Music

2010-05-28T10:00:00.000-07:00

I'm reviewing the book 27 Tough Questions Pastors Ask by Dick Hardy. For those of you that are in church work or considering work, you should buy this book. It is filled with practical insights from a pastoral perspective. Here are some of my favorite quotes from chapter 9.

It makes no difference what anyone's preference is inside the church.

The church service is for the proclamation of the gospel.

...all aspects of the church service should focus on that which draws non-believers. (66).

The philosophy of the church must shift in word and action to a focus on non-believers.

What kind of a culture do we need to create for all people to be Kingdom-minded in their entire approach to ministry?

...you are finite in your ability to culturally reach and draw all people with any measure of success (67).

It is the fact that few people turn their lives over to Christ after age 50 and almost no one after ages 60 and 70.

I recommend for the future you begin now to change the way the retired folks of 2020 and 2030 and beyond will view the church and the Kingdom. Work now to get ahead of the curve then.

If you are going to grow and reach the most people who will make decisions to follow Christ, you must reach those under age 40. (68)

It is about the musical preferences of those vastly more likely to give their hearts to Jesus, the younger crowd.

Your job is to create a culture where older people and younger people want to see the largest number of people give their lives to Christ.

We give up on no one, but we reach to the largest of the masses. (70)

6 Reasons to Copy Another Church

2010-05-28T08:00:00.000-07:00

3 Congregational Obstacles to Growth

2010-05-27T21:30:00.000-07:00

Something is Missing

2010-05-24T21:09:00.000-07:00

I'm reviewing the book 27 Tough Questions Pastors Ask by Dick Hardy. For those of you that are in church work or considering work, you should buy this book. It is filled with practical insights from a pastoral perspective. Here are some of my favorite quotes from chapter 6.

Growing a church is far more about removing obstacles to growth than implementing a formula or making growth happen. (48)

The Absence of the Understanding of Prayer
Design and implement a time of corporate prayer.
Teach and pray.
Plan for the long haul. (49)

The Absence of Actions Regarding Lost People
The churches that go out on the cultural edge to talk to lost people sometimes find the saints in the church in an uproar. (49)

...church service is not about them, their tradition, their music, etc. It is about lost people. (49)

A telling sign of whether your folks are about lost people is seen in how frequently they request prayer for friends who are far from God compared to prayer requests for finances or physical health (49-50).

The Absence of a Strong Compelling Vision
The vision must be bigger than we are.
Seek the word from God that is unique to the Body you lead.
Make sure the compelling vision is clear from Scripture. (51)

5 Pastor-Driven Obstacles to Growth and How to Remove Them

2010-05-24T20:58:00.000-07:00

I'm reviewing the book 27 Tough Questions Pastors Ask by Dick Hardy. For those of you that are in church work or considering work, you should buy this book. It is filled with practical insights from a pastoral perspective. Here are some of my favorite quotes from chapter 5.

Life comes as growth abounds. Death comes when growth ceases. (p. 42)

The Lack of Growth in the Leader
The church will only grow to the level the senior pastor will take it. (p. 42)

As a leader you cannot expect the body of believers under your care to move poast where you are on the spiritual continuum. (p. 43)

The unwillingness to Lose People
The leader must position his thinking to be willing to absorb loss. (p. 43).

You must move forward knowing that while you reach to the unbeliever you may offend a long-term member. (p. 43)

The Senior Pastor Always See Greener Grass
Quit telling yourself that the grass is greener elsewhere. (p. 45)

Quality of Hires
I recommend you plan to compensate the high-quality staff member at the 75 percentile level of that position's value, regionally or nationally. You get what you pay for. (p.45)

Get good people and keep them. (p.45).

Constant Turnover of Staff
Maintain your senior leadership role. You are not necessarily to be everybody's best buddy. (p. 46).
Lift staff members in the eyes of the congregation. (p. 46)

The 3 Foundational Elements Necessary for a Church to Grow

2010-05-24T20:49:00.000-07:00

I'm reviewing the book 27 Tough Questions Pastors Ask by Dick Hardy. For those of you that are in church work or considering work, you should buy this book. It is filled with practical insights from a pastoral perspective. Here are some of my favorite quotes from chapter 4.

Everything grows or it dies. (p. 38).

Please know that having any or all of these elements in place does not guarantee growth. (p. 38).

Good Preaching
The same openness that exists for all sorts of bad theology and spiritual searches is open to good biblical preaching. (p.39).

Good Music
The most likely group to consider a change and come to the church is the under-40 crowd. Their world is filled with outstanding music. It is your job to make the music at church the best it can be. (p. 39).

Don't settle! Go for the best in your challenge to them (music team). (p. 39).

Good Ministry to Children
There is ministry to children and then there is good ministry to children. (p. 39).

What's Absent?
Ministry to youth is not included. Why is that? Children come before youth. Churches all over the country do it backwards. When a church begins to grow, the first staff person they often hire is the youth pastor. If they were really do it right, it should be the children's pastor. (p. 40).

Discipleship - It starts in the pulpit. Discipleship emanates first from good preaching. (p. 40).

The 3 Cultures Necessary For a Church to Grow

2010-05-18T20:52:00.000-07:00

The 3 Cultures Necessary For a Church to Grow

These three cultures do not develop on short notices and they certainly do not do so by osmosis...Further, the three cultures are not a magic wand to grow the church you serve numerically or spiritually. (p.34)

Prayer

Start teaching, cultivating, encouraging, and leading the charge to possess a culture of prayer. (p. 35).

How? A little help here? Anyone?

Change

How can you possibly stay the same and grow? Impossible. (p. 35).

So the only thing constant is change. Got it.

The Bible never changes. The manner in which the Bible message is communicated changes all the time. (p. 35).

Your role as pastor is to help coach and teach the Body and other church leaders about the role of change in the life of the church. ...the only thing constant around there is change. (p. 35)

Ok. How?

Ministry to Young Families

Which demographic of people is most likely to make decisions for Christ? Any idea? Children. The younger the person the more likely it is that they will make a decision of this magnitude. The older the person the less likely it is that they will make this decision. (p. 36).

5 Reasons Senior Pastors Don't Lead Their Churches

2010-05-18T20:38:00.001-07:00

5 Reasons Senior Pastors Don't Lead Their Churches

...pick your time. Be wise, be deliberate, and be patient. Then confront the detractors to your leadership, and communicate clear and concise leadership. (p. 27)

The stronger the congregational form of government the harder it is for the church to grow. (-. 27).

...start communicating this to the congregation in a growth-excitement manner. Keep them fully in the loop so they feel less a sense of "we are not voting anymore" and more "we still are hearing the inside scoop on decisions." (p. 28).

You are the leader. Act like it. (p. 28).

The pastor/leader cannot be seen as a dictator; he must communicate that input is critical from staff members. However, at the end of the day, regardless of the decision or direction, the team must coalesce behind the pastor/leader. (p. 29).

Nothing is worse than no leadership from anyone. (p. 29).

Buy-in means strong staff leaders hearing, understanding, challenging, debating and owning the pastor/leader's vision or adjusted vision. (p. 30).

If the church wants to lose, then shake the dust off your feet and move on. Where the entrenchment of leadership other than the senior pastor exists, the church lacks vision. (p. 31).

Count Everything

2010-05-17T20:45:00.000-07:00

Count Everything

...in many cases, arguments against numbers are driven by an inability to see results (p. 20).

I struggle with this statement because I have been taught through classes and experience that numbers aren't everything. In retrospect, this normally comes from people that lack vision, purpose, or results. At the same time, I have heard numbers quoted flippantly without regard for the people, relationships, and stories behind those numbers. It is a fine line.

If the church is percolating in children's ministry and youth ministry but their adult Bible fellowship or small group ministries for adults are tanking, it will show in the overall attendance (p. 21).

I appreciate this outlook on attendance. It is more holistic and gives attention to the overall growth in the church while not forgetting the details.

A far better way to compare one year to the previous is to average the 52 weeks up through and including the current week (p. 22).

Maybe this is an obvious question, but does this apply to church plants and multi-site venues as well? If so, how? If not, then what?

Develop a systematic evaluation of the quality of all ministries. That quality will be a direct reflection of the quantity shown in the measurements. (p. 22).

This is a great approach to counting everything. It seems that all ministries would need to be counted and evaluated a little differently so that nuances do not skew what is important.

The more you measure the better steward you will be of that which God has entrusted to you. (p. 23)

So the more you measure, the more God will give you to be faithful in. Sounds like the principle of the servants and the talents.

God wants every person on earth exposed to the gospel. So count. Numbers matter to God! (p. 23).

I appreciate this take on counting everything. People are not just numbers. But each number represents a life in need of Jesus.

Yawning Angels - Wild Choose Chase Chapter 1

2010-05-04T20:31:00.000-07:00

Here are some of my favorite quotes from Chapter one of Wild Goose Chase by Mark Batterson.

Most of us will have no idea where we are going most of the time (p. 2). I really identify with this quote right now. I have no idea what to do next.

Nothing is more unnerving or disorienting than passionately pursuing God (p. 2). All I can say is, Amen. Do I feel unnerved? Do I feel disoriented? Yes, and yes.

I wonder if churches do to people what zoos do to animals (p. 5). I have asked myself the same question. I think most Christians feel caged and a lot of people wonder why they would want to become a Christian. Do Christians lead a life that others would want?

But when was the last time you asked God to make you dangerous? (p. 6). Danger is not my middle name. I need to take more risks.

...I am sending dangerous people back into their natural habitat to wreak havoc on the Enemy. (p. 6) Are we really? Or do we just challenge people to lead safe, boring lives?

No guts, no glory. When we lack the guts to step out in faith, we rob God of the glory that rightfully belongs to Him. (p. 10) This is very challenging. If we are gutless, then God doesn't get the glory through our lives.

Our greatest responsibility: pursuing the passions God has put in our heart (p. 12). I hope that I can see my life like this. The most important thing I can do is pursue what God has for me.

As we age, many of us stop believing and start assuming. We stop living out of right-brain imagination and start living out of left-brain memory. And we put eight-foot ceilings on what God can do. (p. 12). God help me to remove the glass ceiling from my life. Help me to stop living out of memory and start living in imagination.

The Five S's of my Weight Loss

2010-04-02T13:10:00.001-07:00

Several people have been asking me what I've been doing to lose weight. So, here are my "secrets". I call them my Five S's.

1. No Sugar - I've been avoiding sugar like the plague.
2. No Seconds - The hardest one for me. I love to eat, so eating "normal" portions has been a challenge. I've come up with a silent prayer for this, "God, help me to honor you in my eating." It helps.
3. No Soda - I was drinking a lot of diet sodas and other no calorie drinks. When I cut these out, my weight loss took off. This is not to say that I don't enjoy a Coke Zero or sugar free lemonade every once in a while. Just not everyday.
4. No Sitting - I've been walking with friends at work and trying to become more active. The nice weather lately has help with this.
5. Sip Water - Not only am trying to drink a lot of water, I'm trying to drink it throughout the day. This has been a hard one also because sometimes I want to drink something with some taste.

Although I've stumbled on all points here and there, but the important thing is that I've tried to stay on track (another S?). So when I mess up, I get back to the focus of losing weight as quickly as possible.

Perhaps another important point is that I've told people about what I'm going through. I've been posting my progress via Twitter and Facebook. The encouragement and feedback that I receive helps. I also have mini goals along the way. Every 20 pounds I get a small reward. This way the next reward is only a few pounds away and not completely out of reach. When I hit my ultimate goal, I get to purchase an iPhone.

These are the "how's". Maybe I'll do a post later on the "why's". See you in a few pounds!

Mark Batterson's Primal: A Quest for the Lost Soul of Christianity

2009-12-28T21:27:00.000-08:00

I'm only one third of the way through Mark Batterson's latest book Primal, and I'm already challenged beyond compare. I agree that the problem with Christianity is not Christ, its us, the Christians. We are not as great as the Great Commandment. I can see instances in my own life where I do not live up to the Love4 (Love God with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength). It is so easy to compartmentalize our walk with Jesus. And honestly, I have come to the point to where my Christian faith is like stale bread in the middle of the desert. I need to discover new ways of loving God. It is true that people respond to compassion, as Mark calls it, the ultimate apologetic, and that we need to start a revolution of compassion to show the world the real Jesus. Personally, after reading the section about income ceiling, my wife and I are considering ways we can downsize our lives in order to greatly live out the Great Commandment. From the mundane, to the challenging. Batterson sheds new light on the primitive nature of the Christian Faith. We need to get back to our roots. We need to get back to something Primal. Thanks Mark for reminding us.

Modern Day Tower of Babel

2009-11-13T12:55:00.001-08:00

I was reminded today that even if you speak the same "language" it does not mean you are "communicating." I'm amazed how the same English words can be interpreted so many ways. Even in our technical age with tools like Google Translate, we still are not connecting with our communication. Perhaps as the whole becomes more global, we are becoming less connected. A new and more powerful but less evident Tower of Babel is emerging. Perhaps on the venue that this comment is being written and read?

Considering a Hospital Chaplain position

2009-11-12T19:33:00.000-08:00

Those of you that know me...what are your thoughts? Does this sound like me? https://www5.recruitingcenter.net/Clients/vanderbiltjobs/PublicJobs/controller.cfm?jbaction=JobProfile&job_id=17022

An Age of the Spirit

2009-11-02T21:01:00.000-08:00

Harvey Cox in Chapter 1 of The Future of Faith begins with the history of Christianity in three ages: the Age of Faith, the Age of Belief, and the upcoming Age of the Spirit. Briefly describing each, Cox contrasts the difference between Faith and Belief. After outlining these differences, the more lively Age of Spirit is presented. Cox says, and I would tend to agree, that the Age of the Spirit will look more like the Age of Faith than that of the Age of Belief. I must admit that living in the transition between the Ages of Belief and Spirit can be quite difficult. Yet, there is a freedom in living in the Age of Spirit. First of all, having a line list of “beliefs” can be quite burdensome, especially for those (like myself) that have terrible memories. I have always struggled with the “beliefs” because of all the study required to memorize all of those things I am to believe. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not against studying, and we should study to show ourselves approved. However, true Faith is not shown just in the study, but also in the deeds.

Another point of tension is how divided the study time can become. We spend a great deal of time studying what we believe, but never practicing/doing what we believe. And the problem with beliefs, especially in the context of our times is that present day Christians are better known for what we believe we are against (homosexuality, abortion, and pre-marital sex) rather than what we are for (faith, hope, and love). Jesus said that people would know that we are His disciples by our love, not by our beliefs.

Cox also describes this coming Age of the Spirit as one that will rediscover “the sacred in the immanent, the spiritual within the secular” (page 2). I agree. People are looking to see how we can live our whole lives as worship unto Jesus. No more compartmentalization – Love the Lord your God with ALL your heart, soul, mind, and strength. People are looking for something to live for now, not just the hereafter.

I agree that our Faith in Jesus should be more about a direct encounter with Jesus. After all, I am a Pentecostal. However, my only contention with Cox’s proposal so far is that the Christian Faith is never to be lived in polar extremes. Just as Cox points to the abuses of creeds and party line stances, many can point to abuses of the freedom of the Spirit. A life following Jesus is not just our reasoning out our beliefs, but it is one of weighing out what the faithful hear the Spirit saying. Does it line up with what has already been revealed in the Holy Bible? Yes. I believe and trust and have faith that the Spirit who blows where He wills speaks to us today. Never should we only look to one aspect of our faith. We should always have a healthy, holistic, Spirit filled Faith.

Social Media Article

2009-11-02T15:53:00.001-08:00

Interesting article on communication barriers and the influence of social media from a furniture retailer's perspective http://issuu.com/westernreporter/docs/january_09/13

My New Retirement Fund

2009-10-29T19:35:00.000-07:00

I earned $0.01 today via Google AdSense on my blog http://montygalloway.blogspot.com/. Now I can retire and live in the lap of luxury.

Harvey Cox's The Future of Faith

2009-10-29T16:09:00.000-07:00

Philip Clayton and Harvey Cox both have new books out and they are taking them out on tour. One of the blog tour stops will be here, but as you can see below they will be making their rounds over the next month until they wrap things up in Montreal at the American Academy of Religion's annual meeting. There they will be joined by an illustrious panel including Eric Gregory, Bruce Sanguin, Serene Jones, Frank Tupper, and Andrew Sung Park to share a 'Big Idea' for the future of the Church. These 'Big Ideas' will be video tapped and shared, so be on the look out for live footage from the last night of the tour.

Philip's new book is Transforming Christian Theology for Church & Society and Harvey's is The Future of Faith. Both are worth checking out at one of the many tour stops. If you can't wait you can listen to them interview each other.

I will be reviewing Cox's The Future of Faith. Below are links to the blogs of others that are joining in on the fun.

Joseph Weethee , Jonathan Bartlett, The Church Geek, Jacob’s Cafe, Reverend Mommy, Steve Knight, Todd Littleton, Christina Accornero, John David Ryan, LeAnn Gunter Johns, Chase Andre, Matt Moorman, Gideon Addington, Ryan Dueck, Rachel Marszalek, Amy Moffitt, Josh Wallace, Jonathan Dodson, Stephen Barkley, Monty Galloway, Colin McEnroe, Tad DeLay, David Mullens, Kimberly Roth, Tripp Hudgins, Tripp Fuller, Greg Horton, Andrew Tatum, Drew Tatusko, Sam Andress, Susan Barnes, Jared Enyart, Jake Bouma, Eliacin Rosario-Cruz, Blake Huggins, Lance Green, Scott Lenger, Dan Rose, Thomas Turner, Les Chatwin, Joseph Carson, Brian Brandsmeier, J. D. Allen, Greg Bolt, Tim Snyder, Matthew L. Kelley, Carl McLendon, Carter McNeese, David R. Gillespie, Arthur Stewart, Tim Thompson, Joe Bumbulis, Bob Cornwall
This Tour is Sponsored by Transforming Theology DOT org!

Directionally Challenged by Travis Collins

2009-10-28T20:05:00.000-07:00

I picked up this book because this is exactly how I feel...Directionally Challenged. We all feel this way at one time or another and Collins does an excellent job of laying a good foundation on expressing these feelings of "lostness" into words. And yet, lays out a map to finding your way again. Through stories and anecdotes, the author keeps your interest while driving the point home "you may FEEL lost, but there IS a way to the other side." Chapter 3 titled "The COMPASS" alone is worth the price of the book. In it, Collins outlines a guide to find your way in troubled times. Like a real compass, this spiritual map is practical and handy, but does not show you every step of the way. Although the book could have been 100 pages shorter, it is a helpful guide through the muck of mediocrity. Directionally Challenged provides real world examples of those that seemed to wonder aimlessly only to find their place in this world. Not only does Collins' work assist those looking for direction, the book also challenges your direction. We must always remember that our path is one of what Collins labels "follower-ship" in which we are only told to follow Jesus. In this path we are lead to life of courage and mystery.

Contemplating these questions:

2009-10-27T11:08:00.000-07:00

What can I do?

What are those things that I am physically, mentally, emotionally, capable and gifted to do?

What I should I do?

What are those things that I am being told by God, my wife, my family, my community, and by society that I should do?

What will I do?

Of these things, (the can and should) which of them am I willing to do?

What must I do?

What are the non-negotiables?

What am I compelled to do?

Which of these do I have a drive/desire/passion to do?

What do I do?

In light of the questions above, what is the next step?

You Can't Teach Interesting

2009-10-23T08:20:00.001-07:00

One of my graduate professors told me once that you can't reach a person how to be interesting. You either are or you are not. This may be true. However, in light of a recent conversation with my wife, I'm wondering if this has more to do with the person making the observation of the individual in question. In other words, is it because I AM boring or because YOU THINK I'm boring that makes me boring? Maybe like beauty, boring is in the eye of the beholder. I remember when I was a kid having to hang out with my parents and their friends one afternoon. All they wanted to do was talk! How boring!!! Now that I'm older, I find enjoyment in conversations with friends. Maybe the "un-interesting" has more to do with context than the personality of the individual. Or maybe you've fallen asleep reading this blog. Either way, one man's boring is another man's enjoyment.

Abrupt Story Endings

2009-06-12T12:56:00.000-07:00

Genesis 50:26 So Joseph died at the age of a hundred and ten. And after they embalmed him, he was placed in a coffin in Egypt.

Period, the end. I hate it when books or movies end this way. I guess I'll have to read the sequel "Exodus."

Procrastinator's Creed

2009-05-27T09:15:00.000-07:00

Mark Twain

from Quotes of the Day

"Never put off until tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow."

God's Interstate & Highway System

2009-05-26T08:51:00.000-07:00

^{Isaiah 40:3-5
3} A voice of one calling:
"In the desert prepare
the way for the LORD;
make straight in the wilderness
a highway for our God.

⁴ Every valley shall be raised up,
every mountain and hill made low;
the rough ground shall become level,
the rugged places a plain.

⁵ And the glory of the LORD will be revealed,
and all mankind together will see it.
For the mouth of the LORD has spoken."

The point of this passage is to remove all obstacles in front of people so that they can see/experience God. In the in the New Testament this passage is used by John the Baptist to prepare the nation of Israel for the coming of Jesus.

Around my hometown they are making a highway that streches only about 17 miles. The old highway was two lanes, but led to the city of the old part of the next town. So, the Highway Department starting preparing the land for the new four lane highway. If you've spent any time on the interstate/highway system (at least where I'm from) it takes a LONG time to get the land ready for a highway. They survey, and survey, and survey the land again. Then they plan, re-plan, and plan. They negoiate with the landowners, homeowners, and figure out exactly where the roads are going to be. After the plan is done, the land mover rigs come in. They grate, flatten, and move earth around until they have a solid road.

Only after all of this does the actual road go down. This is a whole other process. Packing the dirt, paving with the asphalt, both lanes, putting up barrier if needed, painting the lanes, putting up the speed limit signs, and I'm sure a dozen other processes I'm not even aware of.

I wonder, do we put that much work into "making straight paths" for Jesus? Do we take this amount time, effort, money to ensure that people see Jesus and not all of the stuff that gets in the way? Or, do we just clear a walking path that slows people down, or worse, one that no one can use or even knows exists?

Should we not have a spiritual/cultural DOT for everyone of our faith communities? Perhaps a group of people that keep their eyes on the road, so to speak, for those things that get in the way of people seeing Jesus? At the very least, should we not view all of our processes in the same manner? Should we not look at everything we do with "highway tinted glasses"? Isn't this what being relevant to our culture is all about?

The Weaked Eyed Blessed One

2009-05-21T09:49:00.000-07:00

^{Genesis 29:17} Leah had weak eyes, but Rachel was lovely in form, and beautiful.
^{Genesis 29:31} When the LORD saw that Leah was not loved, he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren. ³² Leah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Reuben, for she said, "It is because the LORD has seen my misery. Surely my husband will love me now."

³³ She conceived again, and when she gave birth to a son she said, "Because the LORD heard that I am not loved, he gave me this one too." So she named him Simeon. ^c]">

³⁴ Again she conceived, and when she gave birth to a son she said, "Now at last my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons." So he was named Levi.

³⁵ She conceived again, and when she gave birth to a son she said, "This time I will praise the LORD." So she named him Judah. Then she stopped having children.

Leah, the "weak eyed" unloved wife of Jacob was the mother of Levi (The Priestly Tribe) and Judah (The Kingly Tribe).

No application here. I just find this interesting.

Seeking an occasion to confront the Philistines

2009-05-21T09:40:00.000-07:00

Judges 14:1 Samson went down to Timnah and saw there a young Philistine woman. 2 When he returned, he said to his father and mother, "I have seen a Philistine woman in Timnah; now get her for me as my wife."

3 His father and mother replied, "Isn't there an acceptable woman among your relatives or among all our people? Must you go to the uncircumcised Philistines to get a wife?"
But Samson said to his father, "Get her for me. She's the right one for me." 4 (His parents did not know that this was from the LORD, who was seeking an occasion to confront the Philistines; for at that time they were ruling over Israel.)

Interesting. God was seeking an opportunity to confront the enemies of the people of God. He used an outside the box (at least culturally to the Israelites) solution to create conflict in order to bring peace.

I wonder, what in our lives is Jesus pushing us into conflict in order to bring peace?

Opportunity dresses down

2009-05-19T13:20:00.000-07:00

“Trouble is only opportunity in work clothes.” - J. Kaiser

I'm Investing in You as a Person

2009-05-18T14:48:00.000-07:00

Cara said this to me last night. The context was I requested Coke Zero from the grocery store per my sugar fast with my Pastor Jon Hammond. My request was for one 12 oz - 20 oz bottle. One drink. Cara brought back a 12 fridge pack of 12 oz cans. I said, "I really only wanted one." Her response, "I'm investing in you as a person. If buying you a case of zero calorie soda keeps you from eating donuts at work, then it's worth it." Wow. I've never seen marriage as an investment in another person. Maybe more marriages would be saved if we all viewed our marriages this way (example: Fire Proof movie, Love Dare book). Perhaps all of our relationships should be viewed this way...an investment in another person.

The result? I've only had one of the Coke Zero's today and have not been tempted by sugar at all. This investment makes me want to give Cara a greater return on her investment. Her return? A healthier Monty.

So True...

2009-05-14T14:03:00.001-07:00

Elbert Hubbard - "Genius may have its limitations, but stupidity is not thus handicapped."

What is success?

2009-05-11T15:45:00.000-07:00

William Feather - "No man is a failure who is enjoying life."

Pizza Epiphany

2009-04-20T14:53:00.000-07:00

Eating my leftover Stuff Crusted Chicken and Bacon pizza from Papa Murphy's (which I highly recommend) I had an epiphany. Normally we buy the cheapest pizza from another pizza chain. This pizza is good, but its nothing special. It's a one topping medium for $5, and does the trick when I'm hungry and want pizza. However, the Stuff Crusted Chicken and Bacon pizza from Papa Murphy's was amazing. It's the best pizza I've had in a very long time. In fact, it's my new favorite.

This got me to thinking...I could have the $5 pizza anytime. It's quick, cheap, and satisfies my hunger. It's convenient as the $5 pizza is just down the street. Don't get me wrong, it's a good $5 pizza. However, it's nothing like my new favorite.

Relevance? Well, I could live a life of $5 pizza. Quick, cheap, and convenient. But, is that the life I really want to lead? Or, do I want to lead a life I REALLY ENJOY? A life in which I look forward to partaking? I know that MOST of life is mundane, but should we not take every opportunity to LIVE life and not just endure it?

The acts of the sinful nature are obvious

2009-04-09T14:01:00.000-07:00

I've really been struggling lately with Galatians 5:19-26

¹⁹The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; ²⁰idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions ²¹and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

²²But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. ²⁴Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.

There is a parallel here in my own life between fits of rage vs. patience and kindness. Lately it's been really stressful at work. Although I haven't yelled, screamed, and cursed out my co-workers, I haven't exactly been patient and kind. The acts of my sinful nature have been obvious. Jesus doesn't command us to be patient and kind ONLY when things are going well. It's when things ARE NOT going well that we must stand up to the stress and be patient and kind.

So, my focus today has been to be patient and kind to everyone I encounter today. So far, I'm about 50/50. I pray the day improves.

This Prayer Sabbatical

2009-04-07T13:56:00.000-07:00

Is harder that I realized or imagined it would be. I'm reading a devotional book by A.W. Tozer. His take on prayer is basically this, it's the most important thing we can do. That is, we need to be in constant contact with God before having contact with men. Tozer's rule of thumb is that you should spend a LOT more time with God than man. Yet, prayer (communication with God) is the easiest thing to neglect. Why is it that the thing I need the most is the one thing I can never "make" time for?

Weapon of Mass Destruction

2009-03-11T15:32:00.000-07:00

The tongue - it contains lies, deceit, hurtfulness.

Just a thought.

The New

2009-03-05T13:30:00.000-08:00

As People we're always concerned about the New. New clothes, new shoes, new songs, new tv show, new episode, new (insert here). What about Jesus? I think he was concerned about the New, but not like you or me. What about new life, new community, new purpose, new meaning, new day, new hope. Maybe this is what Easter is really all about. The New.

Blaise Pascal Quote

2009-03-04T11:45:00.001-08:00

"We are generally the better persuaded by the reasons we discover ourselves than by those given to us by others."

It is better to know some of the questions than all of the answers.

2009-02-26T08:17:00.000-08:00

James Thurber - "It is better to know some of the questions than all of the answers."

2009 Article Ideas

2009-02-11T13:49:00.000-08:00

Here are my 2009 Article Ideas

Friendship Evangelism Makes Me Sick
The Chillax (Chill & Relax) Method of Evangelism
An Interactive Faith with an Interactive God
The Priesthood of Unbelievers
Secondary Church Plant Leaders
Play Evangelism (hangin out for Jesus?)
Organized Miracles (how miracles can flow through organization)
Barnabus - The Invisible Church Planter
Is God Proactive or Reactive?
The pursuit of God-ordained passions.
Personal Philanthropy
The Preacher Gave Me the Finger (it's not the one your thinking)

My goal is to write one a month. How's that going you ask? I'm already a month behind. :)

Ordination Confirmed

2009-02-10T14:59:00.000-08:00

I just got off the phone with the credentialing specialist at the Northwest Ministry Network office. The presbyters have confirmed my request for ordination and are sending their recommendation to the national office tomorrow. :)

The ordination ceremony will be at the Northwest Network Conference on April 29th.

Thanks for all your help, support, and prayers.

EPIC Church

2009-02-07T17:54:00.001-08:00

I dream of an EPIC Church.

A place where people will Encounter God and Experience His presence. A place where people will Participate in Journey, in the Mission of God. A place where people can Imagine what God can do through them using their unique gifts and talents. A place where Connectedness to God, other Christians, and others on a journey is the primary ethos.