Three Thoughts on How to Design a Ministry Strategy
During the Great Awakening, George Whitefield and John Wesley preached and ministered faithfully. Most would say Whitefield was the superior preacher. He was known as the phenomenal communicator of his day, even impressing Ben Franklin with his oratory skills. But years later, as historians compared the impact of Whitefield’s ministry to Wesley’s, they believed Wesley’s […]
Four Essentials to a Simple Ministry Strategy
As a football season is about to begin, imagine a head coach stands in front of the team he leads and, with great passion, declares, “Here is our strategy. We are going to win! We are about winning! Let’s go win!” The team breaks from the huddle with no idea how they will win. Practice […]
My Five Favorite Personal Productivity Tools
People often ask me what tools or systems I use to maximize productivity, to stay organized, or to complete tasks. My answer is typically perceived as underwhelming, as I don’t have a project management system (though I am not against them) and the tools I do use are a bit “old-school.” The five productivity tools […]
Four Huge Distractions in Meetings and How to Fight Them
Disengagement in meetings can quickly snowball. You have seen this. When a few people disengage in a meeting, others are soon to follow. One of the biggest culprits of disengagement in a meeting are distractions. Distractions can steer emotional energy, creative thinking, and collective wisdom away from the important matters being discussed. Here are four […]
Two Simple Ways to Reinforce Culture
Culture is powerful. Peter Drucker famously declared it more important than strategy when he said, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” Culture is the shared values among a group of people that drives their behavior. Every single organization has a culture; some are healthy and some are harmful. How do you identify the culture you are […]
Four Practical Ways to Change Organizational Culture
Changing the culture of an organization is extremely difficult, and it is not something that can be done with a new logo, a purpose statement, a white board session, and a few media slides. In fact, Tom Peters has accurately stated, “It is easier to kill an organization than it is to change it.” And […]
Eight Steps to Leading Change: From Nehemiah to Kotter
Perhaps the most definitive business book on leading an organization to change is John Kotter’s book Leading Change. When ministry leaders speak or write about leadership, they often look to the wisdom found in the Book of Nehemiah, as it chronicles Nehemiah’s leadership in rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem. Nehemiah led wide-scale change. Nehemiah never […]
Getting Hired: 3 Lessons from My Wife
My wife, Kaye, is an awesome teacher. And I am not just saying that because she is my wife (objective evidence: she was “teacher of the year” when we lived in Cincinnati). She is super-encouraging, creative, and passionate about helping children learn and become who they were created to be. When we started having our […]
5 Steps for Creating a Disciple-Making Culture
Today I am excited to post a portion of an article written by my friend, Robby Gallaty. Robby is the Senior Pastor of Brainerd Baptist Church in Chattanooga, TN. He was radically saved out of a life of drug addiction on November 12, 2002. The Lord is using Robby in significant ways at Brainerd and […]
6 Ways to Build a Loyal Team and Become a Better Leader
Today’s blog is from my friend and colleague Todd Adkins. Todd serves as our Director of Leadership at LifeWay. We first served together in student ministry, more than a decade ago in Cincinnati, Ohio. I headed to Miami, and Todd went off to McLean Bible Church to serve as executive director of Frontline—the young adult […]