I’m thinking about using Advent Conspiracy as our Advent/Christmas programming this year. It looks like a pretty cool idea.
If you’ve never heard of Advent Conspiracy, have a look here:

The Advent Conspiracy Promo Video from theadvance on Vimeo.

If you have used it before:

What did you use for sermons?

Did you use the Sunday School curriculum?

Are you doing it again?

What else can you tell me?

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I had a bit of fun with Anne Rice’s recent apparent turn towards Emergent a couple of weeks ago. Truth be told, I am a great respecter of her life of Christ novel series and I can recommend that you read them – not necessarily for their doctrinal perfection, but for their excellent imagining of who Jesus was at various stages of life.

Christianity Today recently interviewed Anne Rice on following Christ without Christianity. A great quote from the interview:

Are there any other religious authors you read?

I read theology and biblical scholarship all the time. I love the biblical scholarship of D.A. Carson… I still read N.T. Wright. I love the Catholic theologian Karl Rahner. I love his writing on Jesus Christ. It’s very beautiful to me, and I study a little bit of it every day. Of course, I love Tolstoy and Dostoevsky.

You mentioned D.A. Carson, Craig Keener, and N.T. Wright. They are fairly conservative Protestants.

Sometimes the most conservative people are the most biblically and scholastically sound. They have studied Scripture and have studied skeptical scholarship. They make brilliant arguments for the way something in the Bible reads and how it’s been interpreted.

I don’t go to them necessarily to know more about their personal beliefs. It’s the brilliance they bring to bear on the text that appeals to me. Of all the people I’ve read over the years, it’s their work that I keep on my desk. They’re all non-Catholics, but they’re believers, they document their books well, they write well, they’re scrupulously honest as scholars, and they don’t have a bias.

Many of the skeptical non-believer biblical scholars have a terrible bias. To them, Jesus didn’t rise from the dead, so there’s no point in discussing it. I want someone to approach the text and tell me what it says, how the language worked.

Read the rest of the interview here. (HT: Aaron Armstrong)

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Below is the full text of my third column published in print and online at Christian Week. Enjoy. Comments welcome.

By Michael Krahn  |  ChristianWeek Columnist

The virtues of interdependence are largely forgotten in our times. Even where there is very little grass to cut, most of us need to own a mower. Thousands of people hit the highways each day, generally one per car, all going to roughly the same places. Inside each vehicle, the experience is highly customized—temperature, lighting and music are all adjusted to the liking of the solo passenger.

Manufacturers and marketers love this, but we’re losing touch with something along the way. We’ve come to think of ourselves as a collection of self-contained units, all able to get what we want without inconveniencing anyone else.Live this way all week and you’re bound to bring the same expectations into your weekly worship gathering.

If everything else we consume is bite-sized, individually packaged and tailored to our needs, why not our worship experience as well?

We demand personal, individualized expression. And wherever there’s demand, supply is sure to follow. On offer from the worship music industry is a preponderance of songs whose adverbial bias is tilted strongly toward the individual and personal.

As I study the repertoire of my own congregation, the trend is obvious. The text of the most prominent songs we sang in the previous nine months reveal a 6:1 ratio of individual personal adverbs used over words that indicate corporate expression like “we,” “we’ll,” “we’re” and “our.”

Even when we do stand corporately, we sing as individuals, and the way we sing is a metaphor for the way we go about our lives as the body of Christ. This is not to say that there is anything wrong with individual expressions of gratitude and worship; that has its place. But is that place standing with several hundred others engaging in the same individualized activity?

It’s easy to underestimate the importance of the words we put into people’s mouths when we lead in song. People are more likely to leave a worship service with the words of a song, rather than a sermon, stuck in their heads. The sermon does matter, but in the short-term our minds cling to what’s easiest to remember.

I do hope we’d rather lodge in people’s minds a clearly worded song like “In Christ Alone” than the ambiguously worded “Draw Me Close.” Lyrics like “You’re all I want / You’re all I’ve ever needed / You’re all I want / Help me know you are near” could easily be mistaken for a romantic ballad by someone who hears them in the wrong context.

This of course is not inherently sinful; after all, the Bible does use male/female “romantic” language at times. But as Keith Drury puts it in his chapter of the excellent book The Message in the Music: Studying Contemporary Praise and Worship: “None of us alone can be the bride of Christ; only together collectively are we His bride.”

Thus, the Church could use more lyrics expressing the love relationship between Jesus and the collective Church, replacing “I, my and mine” with “we, our and ours.”

In this group context, the romantic aspect—even the marriage metaphor—can be wholesome, biblical and proper.

Begin to use this “romantic” language in the context of individualized expression and things start to get a little weird. The lack of clarity may not be intentional, but it does have consequences.

Songs of individual expression have dominated in recent years. This is a result of both what the worship music industry supplies, and the choices of song leaders. We should avoid overcorrecting by banning the words “I” and “me” from our repertoire, but certainly there are songs written as individual expression that can be modified slightly to reflect a more corporate and congregational tone.

We should desire more body coordination and less isolated, individual movement. Changing our song lyrics to reflect that desire won’t cure the problem, but surely it’s a suitable token of our intentions.

Worship is about God, but that doesn’t mean it has no effect on us. We sing, “it’s all about you, Jesus,” but we say it in a way that makes it rather obvious that it’s about us, too. And it is about us too, because worship—if it is true worship—will cause us to be transformed more to the likeness of Christ, both as individuals and as His Body.

**************

Here’s a letter to the editor that came in:

RE: I, my and me
Sunday, June 13, 2010

Before I offer a mild critique of Michael Krahn’s last column, I want to encourage him in his work. I believe it is very important to think about how we worship God and I appreciate how he shares his thoughts on the subject with ChristianWeek readers.

Like Krahn, I am a musician and songwriter and I am sure he will agree that composing a song from a corporate standpoint can be difficult. I really only know how “I” feel. I don’t like to speak for anyone else when I am worshipping God. I really don’t like to speak for God either and refuse to sing songs that are written as though they are from God, unless I’ve amended the words into third person.

This phenomenon of individually expressive worship songs is nothing new. It can be traced back as far as Isaac Watts (“When I Survey the Wondrous Cross”). I often wonder if he appreciates his songs being sung almost 300 years later. He apparently wrote his songs in response to a growing discontent with traditional hymns, but that is another subject.

Krahn also singles out the song “Draw Me Close” by calling it ambiguous and that it could pass for a romantic song. Now, I must admit that I got the exact same impression when I first heard the song a few years ago. It’s kind of like an 80s romantic rock ballad. But who cares? Does Krahn think that God doesn’t know who I am singing to? The One who can read all of my thoughts surely knows who I am singing to. I guess the only danger in composing that song is that people will be tempted to use it out of context. There is an art of worship, and a heart of worship. We can’t fool God.

In the end, though, Krahn is correct. Worship in a corporate setting should be as such. We are a body. The bride of Christ.

From a songwriter’s perspective, I would prefer to avoid “I, we, my, our, me and us. I find it better to use You, and direct it to Him (God). Because that is who it is all about. Either that, or load the songs with biblical truths about Him.

Les Funk
MacGregor, MB

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The Vigilantes of Love experienced a prolonged artistic high spanning all of the 90s and into the 2000s before the pressures of constant touring and little corresponding commercial success caused the outfit to fold. Chief Vigilante Bill Mallonee soldiers on to this day as a solo artist.

This song is one of my favorites from VoL’s No Depession/alt.country era. From the album “To the Roof of the Sky”, here’s “Opposite’s True”. A finer blend of writing, harmonica playing and, well, everything is in place here :

Download audio file (Vigilantes%20of%20Love%20-%20%20Opposite%27s%20True.mp3)
(Click here to listen if the player above doesn’t appear)

I could write about this band for hours. In fact, I have and someday I’ll publish it. In the meantime enjoy the song above. If you like what you hear consider dropping by www.volsounds.com and picking up some more.

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Well, so are the rest of us… but as Hitchens puts it, “the process has suddenly accelerated on him.”

Some “Christians” are apparently “happy” about this (the ones that don’t use quotes around the words Christian and happy.)

I am certainly not happy about it since I quite admire Hitchens as a writer and hope that God gives him many more years to write and explore and think. Take a look at this interview:

Click here if you can’t see the video

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Seriously, marketing department… this was the best you could do?!?! I’m sure you could have come up with a better “jeandea”.

Previous FAILs
Child Safety FAIL
Website Name FAIL

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Saw this in the lobby of an apartment of some friends:

Other FAILs:

Website Name FAIL

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This year’s Global Leadership Summit was a bust. I really did arrive hopeful and ready to be surprised (like I was last year)… instead I was fed a few good sessions with a lot of emotionalism, Americanism, shallowness, and outright propaganda in between.

There were however at least a couple of highlights. One that stood out for me was the interview with W.L. Gore & Associates CEO Terri Kelly.
Here is her bio:

“Terri Kelly is president and CEO of W.L. Gore & Associates, a 50-year old, multi-billion dollar enterprise that is often profiled as an example of the future of management. A pioneer in lattice-based management structure, Gore’s “associates” become leaders based on their ability to gain the respect of their peers and to attract followers. Kelly became president and CEO in 2005, after she was elected by her peers to serve in that role. Employing more than 8,000 associates in 45 plants around the world, Gore produces many unique products, including Gore-Tex® fabric, and is perpetually named on lists of “the best places to work.” Kelly will explain how this unique culture works on a practical level.”

Gore’s leadership structure is unique and has developed under the guidance of a single core question: “How can people feel like they are making a difference?”

There is one foundational idea and one core idea that she keyed in on.

The foundational idea is limiting the number of people in a work environment. When the number of associates gets beyond approximately 250 it starts to have a negative effect on the work environment and and on the work itself. When you get above 250 or so the possibility of knowing everyone at your location decreases dramatically. All other Gore management strategies are built on this foundation.

They believe in dividing so that they can multiply. This results in a different level of ownership, engagement and relationship. These smaller plants are also allowed to adapt to their local environment. (I’d like to hear more about this)

The core idea is that their associates organize around opportunities, rather than having set teams, and the work they do is collective and peer-based. Projects are driven by how many people are passionate about them. You have to convince others that it’s a good idea – if you don’t, the project or idea dies.

If you make a convincing argument for the project, it is submitted to a peer review process and then teams decide which projects get funded. By allowing associates to organize around passion and opportunity, they are motivated to succeed and since they are working collectively with others who are passionate about the opportunity, there is a natural interest in making everyone else successful as well.

Decision making within these teams shifts based on who has the best vantage point on the project, or an issue or component of the project. Thank God for that! I’ve been part of work teams where the obvious expertise of one member was consistently squashed by the team member with the highest seniority and most organizational clout.

When you think about it, all-in-one leadership is very limiting.

This is not neat, nor do I imagine it seems very efficient while in progress, but as long as everyone is working out of the same core values and beliefs it works. Those core values and beliefs are:

1. Everyone can contribute
2. Believe in the power of small teams
3. We’re all in the same boat
4. Take a long-term view

How does this apply to our churches? Especially our megachurches? (You should know that I am a Pastor at a church of over 500 people (which is a good size in these parts), so I’m not a small-church guy throwing stones at big-church folks.)

Last year, we made a strategic decision to do exactly what Terri Kelly advocates. We scrapped our building plan and decided to expand on our current multi-service structure. Now, it’s not just multi-service, but multi-congregation.

We’re still in the early stages of implementing this strategy but I know we’re all more excited about it than we were about the planned multi-million-dollar 850-seat sanctuary we had plans drawn up for last year.

Summary
I have no idea whether Terri Kelly is a follower of Jesus, and there was no humor and very little charisma about her presentation, but she made more sense than most of the mega-church CEO’s that presented their ideas at Summit.

The interviewer wrapped up the session with some thoughts about how what we’d just heard from Terri Kelly is relevant to the church. In the process, he missed a core concept: no more big factory churches. Whether this was a convenient intentional omission or an honest oversight, it was a big miss.

Applied to church structure, the message we heard was “break into smaller groupings.” No more 15,000 seat auditoriums; no more intentional “gathering” to the point of spectacle or for the sake of boasting. It’s not healthy for the life of the congregation and rarely healthy for the Pastor’s ego.

Smaller work groups and flexible small teams within those work groups are foundational to everything else she talked about.

Looking for relevance? Ignore the funny sound byte guys. Listen to Terri Kelly.

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There’s a reason why I haven’t been writing here as much lately. Ok, there are a couple of reasons. One is general busyness. The other is a healthier one: I’m running.

In the last 5 months I’ve run 400 kms and lost almost 20 lbs. As you can imagine that all takes quite a bit of time. I’m running an half-marathon this year, a marathon next year, and hopefully qualifying for the Boston Marathon the year after that.

The topic of running has begun to change my conversations and my lifestyle and I’m going to start writing about it, so you’ll see the Michael Krahn RUNblog coming at you shortly.

Happy trails!

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Blake Mycoskie – another one I’ve never heard of. Here’s the bio:

“Acknowledged as one of today’s most dynamic serial entrepreneurs, Blake Mycoskie launched five successful companies before the age of 30. He is best known as the founder and “chief shoe giver” of TOMS shoes, a for-profit company with a unique social enterprise model that has drawn tremendous media attention. Providing a new pair of shoes to a child in need for every pair sold, they have distributed more than 400,000 pairs of shoes to children around the world to date. Darren Whitehead, teaching pastor at Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Illinois, will interview Mycoskie on leading organizations with a cause and navigating the start-up phase of an organization.”

And the session notes:

Making Conscious Capitalism Work: The Toms Shoes Story

The idea – a for profit shoe company that gives away one pair of shoes for every pair it sells.

A single unique and generous idea creates impassioned customers. Those customers do a lot of marketing work. Mycoskie’s company spent no money on advertising to launch the idea, but large companies  (i.e. Microsoft) supplied millions of dollars in free online adverts.

He’s taken the idea of viral marketing and free product into the realm of the concrete.

Why not go non-profit?

The for-profit model funds the giving side of the equation. If he had taken the initial capital and bought shoes 40,000 pairs but because he invested in the company, they’ve been able to give away 680,000 pairs and counting.

Giving the opportunity to make a difference. People who wear TOMS love to tell other people about the company.

“You can’t be bashful if you want to make change.”

http://www.toms.com/

http://www.onedaywithoutshoes.com/

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Terri Kelly bio:

“Terri Kelly is president and CEO of W.L. Gore & Associates, a 50-year old, multi-billion dollar enterprise that is often profiled as an example of the future of management. A pioneer in lattice-based management structure, Gore’s “associates” become leaders based on their ability to gain the respect of their peers and to attract followers. Kelly became president and CEO in 2005, after she was elected by her peers to serve in that role. Employing more than 8,000 associates in 45 plants around the world, Gore produces many unique products, including Gore-Tex® fabric, and is perpetually named on lists of “the best places to work.” Kelly will explain how this unique culture works on a practical level.”

Here are the notes form the talk:

Gore is arranged differently than every other company. They work on the basis of asking “How can people feel like they can make a difference?”

They organize around opportunities, rather than having set teams. The work is collective and peer-based, working collectively. Everyone needs to make everyone else successful. Decision making shifts based on who has the best vantage point on the issue/project/component. To be innovative you have to create an environment of collaboration.

Ladder Leadership Structure vs. Lattice Leadership Structure
Everyone is connected around nodes and they can go directly to each other, not up a ladder first.

It’s not neat, but as long as everyone is working out of the same core values and beliefs. Those core values and beliefs are:

1. Everyone can contribute
2. Power of small teams
3. We’re all in the same boat
4. Take a long term view

How does an idea get funded?
Projects are driven by how many people are passionate about it. You have to convince others that it’s a good idea. It is submitted to a peer review process and then teams decide which projects get funded. People are then rewarded through peer evaluation.

Those who make the greatest contribution are paid accordingly – not paid according to rank or seniority.

All-in-one leadership is very limiting. At Gore, everyone has a personal sponsor (not a boss) at who helps them grow – sounds like a mentor.

A key component of the strategy: Limit plant sizes. No more than 250 people at each. They believe in dividing so that they can multiply. This results in a different level of ownership and engagement and relationship. When it gets bigger than this and it loses personality. These smaller plants are also allowed to adapt to local environment

How does this apply to our churches? Especially our megachurches?

The job of the CEO is not to be most knowledgeable but to continue to foster adaptation and innovation. A leader doesn’t tell the org what to do. (This is very much like Gary Hamel’s talk last year)

Summary
Excellent session. Unfortunately the interviewer wrapped it up by asking how this might all apply to church and missed a core concept: no big factory churches. Applied to church, Terri Kelly is telling mega-churches to break into smaller groups. No more 15,000 seat auditoriums.

Also unfortunately, we moved very quickly on to another session and weren’t allowed to soak up what she was saying.  I want to hear more.

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Here’s another speaker I now nothing about. Apparently he had his picture taken as he was falling over or something.

Jeff Manion – The Land Between -Finding God in Difficult Transitions

His bio reads as follows:

“Known for his vibrant teaching skills and passion for communicating the Scriptures in a clear and relevant way, Jeff Manion has served as teaching pastor of Ada Bible Church in West Michigan for more than 25 years. His church of 6,000 attendees [obligatory church size reference] was named by Outreach magazine as one of America’s largest and fastest growing churches in 2009. Using video venues and two offsite campuses, they strive to create a small church feeling within a large church setting. Invited to the Summit after Bill Hybels heard a taped message he gave on The Land Between, Manion will share biblical insights on how to avoid pitfalls that can easily entrap those who are living in a time of transition.”

(Update: some excellent notes here)

The land between for Israel was the desert between Palestine and Egypt. We also have desert times and places in our lives.

Guard your spirit in the land between. You would think that after the Israelites had seen the mighty works of God they would have trusted him, but they complained. We tend to do the same thing.

Manion’s doing a good job reading scripture the way they were probably uttered.

He makes a good point that those we think of as the great heroes of the Bible were very much as human as we are. They complained, they lost faith in God, etc.

In Spiritual Leadership you will have moments where you come to the end of yourself. Count on it. “I was prepared for days of disappointment, but I wasn’t prepared for yrs of disappointment or simply being a disappointment.”

It was good to hear a speaker address leadership based on a passage of scripture – on this case, Numbers 11. As @david_norman put it: “It’s so refreshing to hear a leadership Sermon at #wcagls as opposed to Scripture-less truisms. Thank you Jeff Manion.”

God’s provision looks different for everyone, depending on what’s happening in their lives at the time.

“What if, instead of holding on, we release and leave our hands open to receive whatever God would provide for us?”

“God provides. He loves to provide. It’s what He does.”

The land between is fertile ground for provision but also discipline. We respect loving parents who bring timely and appropriate discipline for their children. Discipline is inflicting pain for redemptive purposes.

The land between is fertile soil for transformational growth.

Complaint resists eviction. Trust evicts complaint.

Great job Jeff Manion. We travel to Grand Rapids 2-3 times a year so maybe I’ll check out his church next time we’re there.

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2. Bill Hybels – Liveblogging the Global Leadership Summit 2010 (#wcagls) By way if introduction, Hybels answers the question “What is Summit?” Hybels says: “We are real leaders trying to lead better in this world,” and...
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Here we go – Erwin McManus. The only speaker I really came to see. (fingers crossed for no mention of “cultural architect”)

McManus in Vancouver shooting a documentary called “Crave”. I hope there’s a session somewhere here, not just a promo for Erwin’s documentary.

****

Ok, nope – no speaking. Just a promo for Erwin’s latest video project.

So, I’ll tow the company line and say “Go buy Erwin’s new documentary!” (insert sarcasm emoticon) It was a decent presentation and all but I want to hear McManus speak live about something having to do with leadership.

I want my 30 mins of deep McManus, not 30 second sound bites and Oprah spirituality talk.

:-(

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I’ve been looking forward to this one too. Ever since I went to China in 2006 I’ve taken a special interest in all things Chinese. His bio reads:

“A prominent Chinese economist, Dr. Zhao Xiao was commissioned by his government to study the success of the American economy. He concluded that a moral foundation allowed the economy to flourish, argued that China’s economy would benefit from the spread of the Christian faith, and embraced Christianity himself. He continues to be a respected scholar and government advisor, speaking openly about the influence of Christianity on economics. Our first non-English speaking faculty member, he will lean on a gifted translator to share his thoughts on the relationship between morality and a market economy, the state of the Church in China, and the challenges of leadership as a Christian in a secular Communist country.”

This session was difficult to parse. He used a translator and even he was difficult to understand sometimes. He was introduced as a “Chinese, Christian, Communist Economist”.

This was by far the strangest thing I’ve heard in a long time and now, having heard the talk I’m a little stunned. A trained economist or historian I am not, but this smacked of straight-up pandering and Chinese Communist government propaganda and people swallowed and clapped – even gave a standing O! (Please check out Jason Postma’s notes on the session here)

Xiao’s bio vid claims that China is looking to use Christianity and other religions to create a “more harmonious society”? Hmmm, that seems to have created harmony in our culture, right? China, we can’t show you how to have a harmonious society. We don’t have one ourselves!

And the evidence that our economy is based on Christian values…? Unbridled consumerism? Is this what you want and all that goes along with it? Rampant obesity? Over-reliance on anti-depressants? There may have been a time when our economies looked a bit more “Christian” but Xiao is looking at the good parts of our system and he want that, but how can he ignore the present reality? Which is, well, kind of a mess.

Then he said: “I want to thank all the missionaries who brought prosperity to China.” His basic premise is based on this: the economy has boomed. During the same time, there has been a growth of Christianity. That proves it. The economy has grown, so has Christianity, therefore Christianity is good for the economy. See, Christianity is good for the economy!

We’re going to need a whole lot more empirical evidence before we can swallow that hypothesis.

- Europe is thriving and reviving? It’s the most de-Christianized area of the world.

- One good influence: No more fake accounting and bribery…. Surely this is because of the influence of North American integrity… no?

He claims that this is America’s past and China’s future:

A city on a hill,

A nation of integrity,

A blessing to the world.

China will become the new America? Prosperity and blessings for all? Don’t worry world, China is a nice gentle giant.

Quote: “To bless today’s China means to bless tomorrow’s world.”

How naïve is this guy? I’m going to have to run this session by my Chinese friends and missionaries I know… maybe I’m all wrong.

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Adam Hamilton is senior pastor of the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas. Leaning on personal leadership experience, Hamilton provides perceptive insights into how and why leaders fall-and how to help preempt such failures within a team before they occur.

Adam starts by saying that “this is not an inspirational talk…” That’s fine, we’ve had enough “inspirational talks” today.

Leaders fall often. Not a week goes by that we don’t hear of one. According to a study by the Francis Schaeffer Institute, among clergy, 30% admit to some kind of sexual impropriety during the course of their ministry.

He talked about a crisis in his own church where there was an improper romantic relationship between two staff members.

4 Ways of dealing with the crisis

1. Say nothing
2. Be evasive
3. The “Scarlet Letter” approach
4. Transparency, honesty, compassion
   1. We are their family. We exist for broken people.

Told staff first. Asked congregation not to throw stones and to pray for the families. Are you going to throw stones or are you going to see these people as Jesus saw the woman brought before him who was caught in adultery? (I’m assuming the staff members were repentant at this point?)

This sermon and response actually drew new church members, some who were there for the first time that Sunday.

“You can recover, but it’s so much easier when you don’t give up on Plan A that God has for you.” Never think that you are not susceptible. The strength of your relationship with Christ does not reduce or remove the need for boundaries.

5 R’s of Resisting Temptation

1. Remember who you are – a child of God, a follower of Jesus Christ
2. Recognize the consequences of your actions – Will I feel better or worse, proud or ashamed after I do this?
3. Rededicate yourself to God – pray
4. Reveal your struggle to a trusted friend
5. Remove yourself from the situation

The Two Big Ideas

1. The aim of the Christian life is sanctification. We’re called to life a life that’s worthy of the calling
2. All of us are tempted as human beings and there are consequences when we fall.

The final word cannot be judgment – it must be grace.

Great talk. Christ-saturated.This was one of the pleasant surprises. I’ve never heard of Adam Hamilton before but I’ll be looking at more of his work soon! his blog is here.

(PS – a number of people commented that Adam looks a lot like Rob Bell. I agree. Unlike Bell however, Adam had both the appearance of substance AND genuine substance beneath.) ;-)

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Sports dude. Don’t really know anything about him. Football maybe? (Kinda looks like Mike Tyson got at his ears…)

Interviewed by Craig Groeschel, pastor of a big church somewhere in the USA.

One simple idea: your only job is to help your players play better. This was different form how things were done at the time.

It seems like you kind of need to know a bit of Tony’s story to understand this… or maybe that you just need to know something about football. If you want to know about him go here. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Dungy

Someone once told him “Stubbornness is a virtue of you’re right.”

To be good at something, it doesn’t mean that you have to do only that one thing. Balance is important, especially balance including family and church. So how do you enforce “life balance”?

Model it – feel free to have your family come to work with you. Kids around during meetings.

How do you find a mentor? Find someone you admire and ask them to mentor you. It doesn’t have to be an icon.

Does a mentoring relationship need to be formal? What does it look like?

Depends on the mentor. How can I help you? You have to tell me. The formal part is important but the informal part is very powerful.

Don’t be afraid to offer yourself as a mentor. Go to someone and tell them what you see in them, then help them along.

How are you different because of Jesus?

This relationship reordered his priorities. What profit is it if you gain the whole world (or win a Superbowl) and lose your soul?

Good talk.

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2. Terri Kelly – Liveblogging the Global Leadership Summit 2010 (#wcagls) Terri Kelly bio: “Terri Kelly is president and CEO of W.L. Gore & Associates, a 50-year old, multi-billion dollar enterprise that is often profiled as...
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Fellow Pastors…
Let’s keep this in mind: all of the Pastor/speakers we’re hearing from today have churches anywhere from 300 to 3000 times larger than yours and mine that are located in or near large, metropolitan areas. Let’s keep that in mind as we take these ideas back to our very different contexts.

I suggest next year the main event is a mutual interview between Mark Driscoll and Joel Osteen. Both guys have huge churches and books to sell and it would drive ticket sales through the roof – which is to say: it seems to meet all the requirements of getting a speaking gig at Summit…

Erwin McManus
I see in Erwin McManus’ bio page that his title is “Lead Pastor and Cultural Architect”. I forget what I said I was going to do if I ever  heard him referred to as a “Cultural Architect” again… was it ‘throw up’ or ‘bang my head on a wall’? For the record, McManus is one of the reasons I’m at Summit this year, I just hate that pretentious title.

Culture Anyone…?
I find the business speakers more interesting because they make cultural references that fall outside of the world of parallel Christian culture. Jim Collins mentions Hunter S. Thompson. People laugh politely. Have they ever read Hunter S. Thompson or seen “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas”? I imagine very few. Could a Pastor get away with such a reference? Maybe “The Cultural Architect” will.

Product Anyone…?
Maybe I didn’t notice last year, but it seems like the commercialism of this years event is a little over the top. Everyone is pushing a book and they’re pushing product in between the sessions too.

Alright, let’s get back at it.

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Her topic: “Leading on the Edge of Hope”

Here’s the exciting part of Summit – listening to people I’ve never heard of. They’re not all pleasant surprises but I’m sure there will be at least one.

Here’s her bio:

“Known for her ability to communicate profound messages of hope and inspiration, Christine Caine has a heart for reaching the lost, strengthening leadership, championing the cause of justice, and building the local church globally. Part of the leadership team and pastor at Hillsong Church in Sydney, Australia for 20 years, she also directs Equip & Empower Ministries. Recently she founded The A21 Campaign, an organization dedicated to the care and healing of victims of human trafficking. An avid believer in the hope-giving power of the local church, she is the author of A Life Unleashed, Stop Acting Like a Christian-Just Be One; Run To Win, and her latest book, Can I Have (and do) It All, Please?”

Her intro video is brutal. Is it supposed to be a preview for the next Mission: Impossible movie? The narrator says “Christine!” about 35 times in the 2-minute video. Not a good start… Oh good, she mocked the intro video saying: “Wow, based on that introduction, I’m really looking forward to hearing myself speak!” Good for her for mocking her own intro video…. but that was probably scripted too.

She didn’t really say much about leadership… interesting life story. Odd follow-up to Jim Collins. Lots of humor. Seemed like a stock talk with a few references to what her topic was supposed to be and a few scripture references thrown in.

She’s an effective Evangelist… if you consider knowing how to peak a talk at certain points and get people to clap on cue effective.

OK, so I’m a little cynical today… and that wasn’t the pleasant surprise I was hoping for.

After lunch: Tony Dungy

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I was looking forward to this one. I’ve read Collins’ book “Good to Great” (read the review here).

Collins’ talk is titled “Never, Ever, Give Up”. Hybels informs us that Collins is always one of the top requested speakers for Summit every year. Collins is engaging, honed in, and inspirational, using pauses to great effect. What an intense glare.

First money quote: “Greatness is a matter of conscious choice and discipline.”

Collins used a personal story to illustrate organizational decline. His wife was an ironman champ but had cancer. Still looked healthy on the outside.  Orgs can be the same.

5 Stages of Decline

Stage 1 – Hubris Born of Success
Outrageous ignorance to think that because our intentions are good and noble are automatically good. Bad decisions made with good intentions are still bad decisions.

(Quotes Hunter S. Thompson. Thank you very much. I wonder how many attendees have any idea who that is…)

All good leaders have this is common: It’s not about them and they never give up. Humility is the signature of a great leader.

So far, this is too much like a verbal presentation of “Good to Great”. If you’ve read that book, you’ve heard this talk.

Stage 2 – Undisciplined Pursuit of More
Leads to over-reaching, grasping for too much. This is what brings down the mighty.

Packard’s law: if you allow growth exceed your ability to have good people in the key seats to execute on the growth, you will fall.

Regulate growth and reach by asking: Do we have all of our key seats filled with fantastic people. If not, you must resist growth until we have them.

Stage 3 – Denial and Risk of Peril
When a culture of denial takes hold, trouble is on the horizon. Looking great on the outside makes it easy to deny.

Stage 4 – Grasping for Salvation
Reviews the flywheel principle. Momentum. There is no one big push, it is a succession of small pushes

Stage 5 – Capitulation to Irrelevance or Death
Here it’s over, everything is squandered. Out of choices and options. The game is over.

Why are some companies resilient?
Enduring great enterprises have a reason to endure, beyond success and money. If you measure you success by money, you always lose. They answer the question: What would be lost if we disappeared?

“The signature of mediocrity is chronic inconsistency.”

Collins finishes by giving us a ToDo List

1. Do your diagnostics (at www.jimcollins.com – free tools)
2. Count your blessings (in a spreadsheet)
   1. List all the good things that have happened to us that we did not cause
3. What is your “questions to statements” ratio and can you double it in the next year?
   1. Good leaders to have all the answers, but they ask the right questions.
   2. Invest more in being interested than in being interesting
4. Answer the questions: How many key seats do you have and ow many are filled?
5. Teams up/ down diagnostic
6. In your next meeting, create an inventory f the brutal facts
7. Create a “stop doing” list. Productivity results not from the things we do, but by the things we are disciplined to stop doing
8. Define results and show milestones, clicks on the flywheel. Tangible expressions
9. Double your reach to young people by changing your practices with out changing your core values
10. Set a big hairy audacious goal

I’d listen to Collins again in a heartbeat.

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4. Francis Collins on Faith and Reason Francis Collins (Wikipedia entry): “Faith is not the opposite of reason. Faith rests squarely upon reason, but with the added component of revelation. So such...