We’ve got personal goals, and ministry goals.
GoalScape is a way to visually represent these goals – check out the video below, or here.
You can see the full feature list here.
I think it’s a great concept. But in my opinion for most personal or ministry purposes, it’s not worth 89 Euros (AU$118).
Question: what tool/s do you use to keep track of your goals?
At church we recently started a trial – putting Bibles in pews, instead of handing them to people when they arrive at church.
There were a couple of reasons for this:
I realised (after the trial began) that we needed to be clearer on some details before we kicked off the trial. This is what we should have considered (and will consider in future trials of new initiatives):
Are there any other questions that should be added to this list before commencing a trial?
Last night I had the privilege of speaking at St Matthews, West Pennant Hills. I spoke on the topic of parenting in an internet age, and the challenges of protecting kids online.
As promised, here are some resources for parents, teachers and children on the topic of online safety.
Interestingly, there was an article in the Sydney Morning Herald yesterday with the headline: ‘Family holds the key to keeping children protected online‘. It’s worth a read too.
This morning as I came down to Melbourne, I listened to a couple of episodes of the HBR Ideacast.
Well worth a listen – some great insights and tips.
I’ve been thinking through the processes of welcoming and integration at my church, and how these could be improved.
I then realised that I’m not the first person to think through these processes. In fact, many people at churches everywhere have put lots of good thinking into these questions.
The problem is, we don’t usually talk to each other.
We work in silos, brainstorm alone, and are constantly thinking through issues that people in churches elsewhere are thinking through (or have thought through) too!
Surely we can make better use of our collective knowledge and work together on questions and issues that are common to most churches.
As I thought through the question of welcoming, I emailed five pastors from churches around Sydney and asked how they do it. It was a great exercises in learning about different tools and approaches – things I would never have considered on my own.
And I got thinking – how could this extend beyond 5 separate email conversations? How could ministry leaders from across the city learn from each other and sharpen each other in these very practical elements of ministry?
After chatting with my colleague Hayley, I’d like to propose some ministry roundtables (name to be confirmed!).
I’m suggesting that these would take place on an evening over pizza, and discuss a particular topic, for example: “welcoming and integrating people into church”. Only one topic would be discussed each night.
At the roundtable, 5 people from different churches would share their approaches in 5 minute slots. For example on the welcoming night, they might consider questions such as:
This would be followed by a time of questions, and an opportunity for others to share lessons learned.
Do you think this would be a useful exercise for ministry leaders from different churches to meet together, explain how things work where they are, and learn from others elsewhere?
Other potential topics for future roundtables include:
If you’re interested in participating, please complete this online form. At this stage, it’ll only be open to churches in Sydney (where I live). You can also share the topics that you would like to discuss. I’ll then get in touch with you with more details.
I look forward to working with you!
I recently preached on the topic ‘How can a loving God send people to hell?’, and I’ve continued to reflect on this topic, not least of all with all the discussion generated around Rob Bell’s ‘Love Wins’.
On Saturday night after church, I read ‘Erasing Hell’ by Francis Chan and Preston Sprinkle.
For a number of reasons it was a valuable read.
It acknowledged the heart-wrenching difficulties of this topic, and combined this with a strong desire to let God be God, and to honour Scripture.
It provided some correction, for example, the overwhelming lack of evidence for Bell’s contention that ‘hell is a garbage dump’, concluding “Much of what Bell says about hell relies upon a legend from the Middle Ages” (pages 56-61).
I also appreciated the seriousness with which Chan and Sprinkle approach the book. Right up front, they explain what is at stake with this doctrine:
“So I [Chan] decided to write a book about hell. And honestly – I’m scared to death.
I’m scared because so much is at stake. Think about it. If I say there is no hell, and it turns out that there is a hell, I may lead people into the very place I convinced them did not exist! If I say there is a hell, and I’m wrong, I may persuade people to spend their lives frantically warning loved ones about a terrifying place that isn’t real! When it comes to hell, we can’t afford to be wrong. This is not one of those doctrines where you can toss in your two cents, shrug your shoulders, and move on. Too much is at stake. Too many people are at stake. And the Bible has too much to say.” (pages 14-15)
I commend it to you.
