"Forget about what's happened; don't keep going over old history. Be alert, be present. I'm about to do something brand-new. It's bursting out! Don't you see it?
There it is! I'm making a road through the desert, rivers in the badlands."
Isaiah 43:18-20 (The Message)
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In the spirit of "something brand-new" and "a new thing" (other versions), welcome to the first shot of A.I.M. The mission of this blog is: To Inform & Inspire leaders. Here's praying it does so to the glory of God & for the good of OTHERS.
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"The object of a New Year is not that we should have a new year. It is that we should have a new soul and a new nose; new feet, a new backbone, new ears, and new eyes. Unless a particular man made New Year resolutions, he would make no resolutions. Unless a man starts afresh about things, he will certainly do nothing effective." - G.K. Chesterton
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------10 Wishes from a Pew Sitter
(from the blog "Holy Soup" by Thom Schultz - founder of Group)
At the start of a new year, as a pew-sitter, I have a few wishes for the church leaders I know and love:
1. Banish the "stand and greet your neighbor" time in the worship service. I know your intentions are good, but it's forced, fruitless and goofy.
2. Forget everything they taught you about three-point sermons. You're wildly successful if you can get across one point. Just one point. Then sit down.
3. Get out and spend time with real people. Schedule lunches at your members' workplaces and schools. Listen. Get a feel for how real people live.
4. Encourage regular evaluation. Use comment cards. Ask us what we remember from last week's sermon. Then take us seriously, and adjust.
5. Crank down the volume of the band. Allow us to actually hear the voices of the flock.
6. Burn the fill-in-the-blank sermon guides. They're insulting, distracting and ineffective. (Can you imagine Jesus using them? Let's see, "Feed my _______.")
7. Show hospitality. Encourage people to enjoy a cup of coffee-during the service.
8. Let us participate. Entertain our questions-during the service. Let the real people around us tell how God is working in their lives.
9. Relax. Make some real friends. Spend more time with your family. Don't schedule every evening with church meetings.
10. Get rid of the pews. Really.
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Meet the High Council... follow & pray for the proceedings as these men & women meet later this month to determine The Salvation Army's next international leader...
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The Best Books We Read in 2010...
Rev. JD Pearring Growing Healthy Churches, Director
(GrowingHealthyChurches.org)
Each year we ask planters and leaders to share the best book they read – here’s titles that made the list for 2010:
“Rework” by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson - JD Pearring, Director of GHC Network
“Experiencing God” by Henry Blackaby - Lori Pearring, GHC Network Coach
“What is a Healthy Church Member?” by David Heinemeier Hansson - Tom Cullen, GHC Network Projects Manager
“Fields of Gold” by Andy Stanley & “The Me I Want to Be” by John Ortberg - Karl Roth, church planter in Madera, California
“The Christian Atheist” by Criag Groeschel, “Tribes” by Seth Godin, & “Leadership and Self-Deception” by Arbinger Institute
- Steve Bentley, church planter in Flint, Michigan
“Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions” - Randy Balling, church planter in Modesto, California
“A Million Miles in a Thousand Years” by Donald Miller - Rachel Kihlthau, GHC Network assessment specialist
"Delivering Happiness" by Tony Hsieh - Micah Foster, campus pastor in Santa Rosa, California
“Effective Bible Teaching” by Jim Wilhoit and Leland Ryken - Bob Eusebio, pastor in Daly City
“Stop Acting Rich” by Thomas J. Stanely - Dave Bennett, GHC Director of Development
“Desiring God” by John Piper - Russ Johnson, church planter to Chicago, Illinois
“Rework” by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson - Rich Ayala, church planting partner serving in Elk Grove, California
“Crazy Love” by Francis Chan - Mike Holba, church planter in Ripon, Wisconsin
“Integrity” by Henry Cloud - Josh Wroten, church planter in the Silicon Valley, California
“The Shack” by William P. Young, “The Poisonwood Bible” by Barbara Kingsolver - Kevin Wood, pastor in Burlingame, California
"Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand - Matt Rawlings, church planter in Portsmouth, Ohio
“Leadership Without Easy Answers” by Ronald Heifetz - Todd Hahn, church planter in Charlotte, North Carolina
“The Truth About Leadership” by Kouzes and Posner, “Church Unique” by Will Mancini, & “Sticky Teams” by Larry Osbourne
- David Cooke, pastor in Placerville, California
“The Hole in Our Gospel” by Richard Sterns - Jeff Weber, church planter in Greensboro, North Carolina
"Wasting Time with God" by Klaus Issler - Glenn Sayers, church planter in Natomas, California
“The Influential Leader” by John Edmond Haggai - Paul Mints, church planter in Mansfield, Texas
“Church in the Making” by Ben Arment, “Church Planter” Darrin Patrick, “Confessions of a Reformission Rev.” by Mark Driscoll, “How to Multiply Your Church” by Ralph Moore and Ed Stetzer, “Launch” by Nelson Searcy, “Ten Most Common Mistakes Made by Church Starts” by Jim Griffith and Bill Easum - Brian Becker, church planter in Portland, Oregon
“Bonheoffer” by Eric Metaxas and Tim Keller, “Passionaries” by Barbara R. Metzler, “Cross-cultural Servanthood” by Duane Elmer
- Bill Hoyt, GHC Regional Consultant
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Into Africa! Please pray for the Del Oro/Golden State Divisions' Kenya III
Mission Team, (Jan. 26 - Feb. 9).
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Speaking of prayer... http://www1.salvationarmy.org/IHQ/www_ihq_csld.nsf/vw-dynamic-index/B05FBA162E1B296C8025766A00502835?openDocument
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Praying With Dallas Willard (from MissionChurchNetwork.com)
Here is Dallas Willard’s paraphrase of the Lord’s Prayer. He suggests that we paraphrase the prayer from time to time because its richness lends itself to much meditation.
Dear Father always near us,
may your name be treasured and loved,
may your rule be completed in us-
may your will be done here on earth in
just the way it is done in heaven.
Give us today the things we need today,
and forgive us our sins and impositions on you
as we are forgiving all who in any way offend us.
Please don’t put us through trials,
but deliver us from everything bad.
Because you are the one is charge,
and you have all the power, and the glory too is all yours-forever-
which is just the way we want it!
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I raise a cup of (really good) coffee to whatever "new thing" you are up to for the Kingdom this year. May it bring about roads
"through the deserts, & rivers in the badlands." May God bless you, your families, your ministries and your communities with every good & perfect gift in 2011!
IN CHRIST & OUTreach!
rob
